Liberal Adventist Pastor

Teach your Children

2012-01-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

Sabbath, January 14, 2012

Text: Deuteronomy 6:1-12, 24-25.

Recently, we were sitting around in thekitchen talking. My kids were going on at great length about theirpolitical views. I was sitting there mostly listening, thinking, Mywhat smart kids. They agree with me!

Why is it that frequently, young peoplewho regard themselves as Independents, have Independent parents, kidswho think and argue Republican views have Republican parents andDemocrats have parents who vote Democrat? It's not universal, ofcourse. We are not locked in to the political views of our parents,but commonly political perspectives run in families. Parentalinfluence is powerful.

Last Sunday I went for a hike with ayoung friend. We stopped for lunch at a dramatic overlook at the topof a cliff. He began peeling an orange. He tossed the first piece ofpeeling over the edge. I reacted in horror. “I have a trash bag,”I said. “Let me have your peelings.”

He was as surprised by my reaction as Iwas at his act of tossing orange peelings off the cliff. He waswilling for me to pack out his peelings, but he didn't get it. Orangepeelings are organic. We were out in the middle of nowhere. Wecouldn't see the bottom of the cliff. What was the harm in tossingorange peelings. Maybe a bird would build a nest with it.

“No.” I said. “Birds won't use itto build a nest. And it won't rot. At least not very fast. Out here,orange peelings are litter. There are trails down in the valley thatmight take people to the base of the cliff. The rule is: pack it in.pack it out.”

His littering made sense, given hisfamily history. Not an environmentalist among them. No one tochampion “leave no trace.” No one to articulate the idea of ourresponsibilities as stewards of creation. No one to help himunderstand the importance of packing everything out.

The Bible directs us to teach ourchildren. It is a weighty responsibility. And the reality is, whetherwe are aware or not, we are teaching them. So we might as well payattention to what we are doing.

Deuteronomy 6.

These are thecommands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach youto observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,so that you, your children and their children after them may fear theLORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees andcommands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

Hear, O Israel,and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that youmay increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just asthe LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

Hear, O Israel:The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with allyour heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandmentsthat I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them onyour children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walkalong the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them assymbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them onthe doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The LORDcommanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God,so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the casetoday. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD ourGod, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

Moses says: I am teaching you thesethings so you will fear God and so your lives will go well. And youare to teach them to your children so they will fear God and theirlives will go well.

Repeatedly throughout the Bible, theimportance of passing on the wisdom of God shows up.

God said aboutAbraham: For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his childrenand his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing whatis right and just. " Genesis 18:19.

There were"schools" of the prophets, groups of men under theauthority or at least influence of the leading prophet at the time.(E.g. at Ramah, 1 Samuel 19:18; Bethel, 2 Kings 2:3; Jericho, 2 Kings2:5; and Gilgal, 2 Kings 4:38.)

Jesus told hisfollowers: You are the light of the world (Matthew 5). It's notenough to “be in the light.” We are to shine.

In Matthew 28,Jesus said, “Go into all the world and teach them everything I havecommanded you.”

In Acts, justbefore he returned to heaven, Jesus told his disciples, “You are mywitnesses, both in this neighborhood and to the entire world.” Acts1:8.

In your sermon suggestions, one of thequestions you asked me to address was What are we here for? What isour purpose in life.

According to Moses, one great purposefor parents and communities is to transmit wisdom. Human babies arenot born with most of what they need to know to live good lives. Theymust be taught. That is our job.

My mother was afraid of water. Shecouldn't swim. She hated riding in small boats. She had nearlydrowned as a kid and the mere thought of being in water over her headterrified her. But she determined not to pass that on to her kids. Soas soon as we were old enough, she enrolled us in swimming classesthrough the “Y.” When we headed off to summer camp, instead ofwarning us about the dangers of drowning, she encouraged us to takeevery swimming class we could. All six of us kids learned to swim.All six of us qualified as life guards. Because Mother was determinedto pass on wisdom instead of fear, competence instead of disability.

The Bible urges us to be deliberateabout passing on wisdom, especially the particular wisdom that isours as Christians.

Much of what we teach our children isthe same as would be taught by a Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist parent.Do good. Tell the truth. Be nice. Show respect. Be compassionate.

In addition to these universal moralideals, we have a special story to tell. It is the Bible story. Thestory of a God who loves us so much he would rather die than livewithout us. A story that offers a unique understanding of thereconciliation of justice and mercy. A story with a special vision ofthe potential of humans to spend eternity with God. The Bible storyis the unique treasure of the church.

To do right by our children and theworld, we need to teach them both the universal ethics shared by allreligions AND the unique story that is our special treasure.

In teaching the Bible, we have twoassignments. We want to give our children a familiarity with thestories. The Creation and Noah. Abraham and Isaac. David and Saul andGoliath. Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Jesus and Peter,James and John. Paul and the garish images of Revelation.

Second, we want to teach our children awise approach to interpreting the Bible. We ought to teach them touse the Bible as a tool for enriching life. (The Bible is a powerfultool and can be misused as an instrument of evil.)

So, following the message of the Bibleitself, we teach the Bible – the stories and words of the book, anda wise, good approach to interpreting it.

This far, I'm repeating the essence ofwhat I said last week. As a church, as parents, as grandparents, weought to deliberately expose our children to the Bible. Biblestories. Videos. Memory verses. Bible story books. The focus here iswords. Words matter. Words are important. Let's make sure our kidsare thoroughly exposed to the words of the Bible, and our own wordsof interpretation.

So to you who work in the children'sdepartments: Thank you. From me and from God. To you who read yourchildren Bible stories at night: Thank you.

Now let's go beyond words. Beyond thewords of the Bible. Beyond our words of instruction. What we saymatters. Who we are and what we do matters even more. No matter howloudly we shout, our actions will always speak more loudly than ourwords.

If you have ambition for your children,the first, most important, most influential step you can take to helpthem achieve that dream is to move yourself in the direction you wantyour children to go.

Do you want your children to berespectful. Practice showing respect TO THEM!!!!!

Do you want your children to begenerous, examine your own habits. Do the needs of your family(including the needs of your kids) consume all your resources?

Do you want your children to bespiritual? How much time and energy do you put into the cultivationof your own spiritual life? Is going to church sufficient? Are youspending some time in devotional reading or in praying or inmeditation?

Do you want your children to study? Howmuch serious reading or study have you done over the last year?

I don't ask the questions to scold.It's just that every parent I know dreams of good character for theirchildren. We dream that our kids will grow up and do great things forGod and humanity. We lay the foundation for that greatness byembracing in our own lives habits that support greatness.

I sometimes hear college kids talkingabout their dreams when it comes to their own children – childrenthat, as far as these students are concerned, are way off in thefuture. These students dream that their children will be great—good,smart, strong, wise, a blessing to society.

How do we get there? How do we help ourchildren live out these grand dreams? We work to create patterns inour own lives that will support goodness.

When I pray for children inbaby-dedication services, one element I nearly always include goessomething like this: “Lord, help these parents to live in such away that their kids can safely copy them.” Because our kids willcopy us. They will copy even elements in our lives they don'tobserve. The subtle influence of our secret lives will impact ourkids.

So pursue holiness. Pursue sweetnessand kindness. Pursue health. Pursue wise financial management. Pursueeducation. Shape the culture that will shape your kids.

This is a challenge for us as a church.We must provide good Sabbath Schools for our children. Let me be veryblunt: Sabbath School for adults is not as important as SabbathSchool for kids. Some of you who are sitting in adult Sabbath Schoolneed trade off. A year in adult Sabbath School, then a year inchildren's Sabbath School.

Secondly, we are called to make ourlife together safe for children to copy. Build quality friendships inthe church. Do things together with someone outside of worship. Worktogether. Play together. Eat together.

Church is a potent agency for enhancingthe well-being of kids. The world is better when we do our job well.Our kids are more likely to go to college. More likely to marrysuccessfully. More likely to do well financially. More likely to dowell health wise.

The final step in teaching our childrenis to trust them. Give them freedom.

Teaching is not the same as sculpting.Our children are not blocks of marble or granite that we can chisel intowhatever shape we wish. They are free. We can make sure they knowwhat we know. We can require them to know what we value and what webelieve. But ultimately what they believe and value will be chosen bythem, not us.

Knowing this, wisdom dictates we givethem freedom before they demand it.

The final exam for the teaching byparents and church comes when we let go. You can't put off the finalforever. So don't try to.

To return to the call of Moses:

Do this. Then trust God and your kids.Let them run the church. Encourage them as they run the world. Theywill do at least as well as we have. Cheer them on.

How Jesus Used the Bible

2012-01-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship, Sabbath, January 7, 2012.

I did not complete a manuscript. My texts are Luke 4 -- Jesus sermon in Nazareth -- and Luke 6 -- Jesus' comments about Sabbath-keeping.

In Nazareth and in his teachings about Sabbath, Jesus used the Bible to challenge the status quo which was, in the view of the clergy and conservatives of his day -- firmly rooted in the Bible. Jesus aim in challenging the status quo was not mere agitation. He wasn't just trying to "shake things up." Rather Jesus exhibited profound overriding concern for human well-being.

When we use the Bible to fuel our condemnation of outsiders and sinners we are using a very different approach to hermeneutics than Jesus used.

When we use the Bible to fuel our defense of outsiders and sinners, when we use the Bible to fuel compassion and protection for the vulnerable, we are coming close to Jesus way of interpreting and using the Bible.

Maybe I'll get a manuscript posted tomorrow or Monday.

Grace and Peace.

John

The Bible, Tool for Freedom and Goodness

2011-12-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

Sabbath, December 31, 2011

Text: Matthew 4

Jesus was at a dramatic turning pointin his life. For thirty years he had been part of a carpenter'shousehold in Nazareth. Now he was getting ready to launch into ahugely popular and intensely controversial public ministry.

The first thing he did was get baptizedby a famous preacher, John the Baptist, then he was directed by theHoly Spirit to head out into the wilderness where he spent forty daysfasting.

Near the end of his time out there inthe desert, the Devil showed up and tested Jesus with threepropositions. The gospel writers picture this as a dramatic showdown.The Devil puts together his best offer. Jesus shuts him down cold. Nohesitation. No bargaining. No deal. The Devil finally leaves in ahuff.

So what was the secret. How did Jesusavoid the trap, resist the seduction, see through the sales pitch?Jesus countered every move the Devil made by quoting the Bible. Jesusis impervious to demonic suggestion because he is so familiar withthe words of the Bible.

Which has important implications forus. We dream that our kids will grow up, get an education and moveinto positions of power and influence in society. What can we do togive our kids an advantage in dealing with the seductions of powerwhen they succeed?

What can we do to help ourselves liveindependent of the wily influences of advertising and cultural norms?What can we do to prepare ourselves for successfully brushing off theDevil?

On Thursday of this week Kitty sent outan email for me, asking for suggestions about topics for preaching.Among the responses I received were a couple of questions from BobKasprzak:

“How can we live in this modernworld without being part of it?

“With halfclothed men and women on TV, how can we avoid the temptations thatthe media seems to use to sell all of their programs and product.”

How do we – whether we are young orold – avoid becoming mere cogs in the wheels of contemporarysociety? How do we help ourselves live wisely and freely? How do weprepare ourselves to be of great value for the world we live in?

One powerful tool for preservingfreedom and preparing ourselves for service is a deep familiaritywith the Bible. It worked for Jesus. It will work for us.

As I mentioned, Jesus was baptized then headed out into thewilderness where he spent forty days fasting. At the end of the fortydays he was, naturally, famished. The Devil shows up, not lookinglike the Devil I presume, and says to Jesus, “If you are the Son ofGod, make these stones turn into bread.”

This was a reasonable suggestion. Jesuswas starving. There were rocks sitting there looking like loavesof bread. Jesus had just spent forty days in prayer in preparationfor a ministry that was going to be jam-packed with miracles. Soproviding himself some bread would have been a logical first step ashe broke his fast and headed out into the real world for ministry.

[Note: Jesus could have rationalizedmaking the bread as a parallel to the first act of the ProphetElisha. Elisha was a “type” or model of Christ, as Elijah,Elisha's predecessor, was a type or model of John the Baptist. Elishareceived Elijah's mantle. And his first act with the mantle was tomiraculously part the Jordan River so he could return to civilizationand begin his ministry.]

Jesus immediately responded to theDevil's suggestion by quoting a famous Bible verse: “Man shall notlive by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth ofGod.”

The Devil then offers his own Biblequotation, a passage in the Psalms: “And he shall give his angelscharge over you. They will bear you up in their hands so you won'tsmash your foot against a stone.” On the basis of this clear Biblepromise, the Devil urges Jesus to throw himself down from the top oftower overlooking the temple courtyard.

Jesus doesn't bite. Instead he offers acounter quotation: “It is also written, 'You are not to tempt theLord your God.'”

Now the Devil goes for broke. He causesa vision of all the glories of earth's civilizations to pass beforeJesus. He shows him royal courts and bustling markets, merchant shipsand the library of Alexandria. He displays the best and brightest ofhumanity, then offers, “all this I will give you if you will justonce bow to me.”

Jesus laughs in the Devils face. “Itis written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shallyou serve.' Now, beat it. Get out of here. We're done. Get lost.”

And incredibly, the Devil packs off.After that he never really had a chance against Jesus. Every time heplayed a hand, Jesus trumped him.

This is God's ideal for us. The Devilis not invincible. He's not really all that tricky. We can know thetruth. We can know God's plan. We can be wise. And one of the greattools available to make us wise, to make us strong, to make usskillful in doing good and resisting evil is the Bible.When we are deeply familiar with thewords of the Bible those words become ready defenses against theassaults of evil, available ammunition for our own advances againstdarkness.

As we look to the New Year, I challenge you: make sure you are deeply familiar with theBible. Allow the Bible to be a counter-influence to the messages youreceive through advertising, through overhearing conversation atwork, through the begging of your children.

If you have small children at home,here's a very specific suggestion. Every night before your kids go tosleep, read them a Bible story. If they are under five years old, readthem the same story every night for a week. By the end of the week,you'll be able to leave out words in sentences and the kids will beable to tell you the words you leave out.

SoDavid picked ________ stones from the middle of the creek bed. Heput them in his _____. Then he walked up out of the creek toward thegreat, big ________.

You will probably find its better toread these stories out of books that are especially designed forchildren, written in children's language and featuring colorfulpictures.

Every night have your kids repeat afteryou the words of their memory verse. Make it a habit. Make it atradition. Fill your kids' minds with the words of the Bible. Here'sa test: are your kids more likely to reference something they saw onTV or something you have read to them from the Bible?

Part of wise parenting is creatingtraditions, creating habits that will provide spiritual resourcesthat your kids can draw on in tough situations. The reason Jesusquoted the Bible in response to the Devil was because he was deeplyfamiliar with it. You can help set your kids up for success byfeeding them the words of the Bible.

You can't cram it. Kids need small,frequent exposures to the Bible. Don't try to give them too much at atime. If you haven't been in the habit of giving them small dosesregularly, don't think you can suddenly force feed them chapters at atime.

Early this week, a young person askedme a bunch of questions about the Bible. Is it historically accurate?Is it reliable? Are there any other ancient books that are alsoreliable? What do we do about the fact that different people seedifferent and conflicting doctrines in the Bible?

These are smart questions. The Bible isnot a simple book. Often in great debates over moral, spiritual andreligious issues, the question is not should we do what the Biblesays. Rather,the great question is what does the Bible mean?

It is a mark of tragic blindness when people who disagree about religious and spiritual matters accuse each other of willfully ignoring or distorting the Bible. In reality the Bible is so complex honest, smart people often come to differing conclusions about which statement or idea is to take priority in resolving contrasting perspectives. (But see below about the most important truth.)

Jesus' conversation with the Devil inthe wilderness throws an interesting light on the question of Bibleinterpretation. Jesus began by quoting a passage that celebrated theadequacy of the words of God in the Bible. “Man shall not live onbread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The Devil then tries to use Jesus' expressed confidence in God's words as his premise in an argument along the lines of the fundamentalist bumper sticker, “God saidit. I believe it. That settles it.” The Devil quotes the Bible insupport of his idea for Jesus to jump from a pinnacle of the temple.The Devil's logic is something like this: Since I have quoted the Bible – and quoted it accuratelyas you acknowledge – you are duty-bound to agree with what I say it means.

NOT!

Just because a fundamentalist quotesthe Bible in support of their views, this is not proof that they areactually speaking in harmony with the God of the Bible.

All the words of the Bible have theirproper place. But not all the words of the Bible have the sameweight. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he didnot hem and haw. He didn't say, “Well, how can you say which one ismost important? They're all important.” Jesus was emphatic. Themost important truth is this: Love God with your entire being. Andright up there with that one is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.

The point of reading the Bible is help ourselves live out these two ideals. The highest purpose of filling ourminds with the words of the Bible is to aid in loving God. And thesecond highest purpose in filling our minds with the words of theBible is to help us love our neighbors as ourselves. If we are spiteful, critical, faithless, lazy, combative, fearful or greedy, that's evidence against the appropriateness of our interpretation of the Bible.

As we embrace becoming skillful in love as the highest purpose for reading the Bible, some of thequestions that engross people become less interesting. For example, the question, is the Bibleaccurate in every historical detail? is perfect fordiverting people from the real purpose of the Bible.

Fundamentalists who answer the question, Yes! anddevote intense energy to proving it, often end up condemning everyonewho does not understand every detail the same way they do. In theirzeal to “prove” the historicity of the Bible they run right pastthe exalted spirituality and ethics that is the real purpose of theBible and get lost in endless arguments about details of archeology and ancient history.

Skeptics who answer, No! and devoteintense energy to demonstrating the errors in biblical history, areoften corrected at least in part by later archeology and scholarship. More importantlythey frequently get sucked into meanness and silliness. Pugilisticskeptics are, of course, not helped by visions of compassion,generosity and nobility found in the Bible, and seldom findalternative sources to fuel these virtues.

The point of the Bible is not to giveus facts about the ancient world, but to give us wisdom for thisworld. Those who cultivate the practice of regularly reading theBible experience multiple benefits spiritually and socially. These benefits are documented in sociological studies. Theirlives work better as the wisdom of the Bible permeates their lives.

So for this coming year, I encourageyou to create some habit in your life that will regularly expose youto the words of the Bible. Reading the whole Bible from cover tocover is not a very good goal for most people. People tend to getbogged down in the boring parts and sometimes never get to some of the really good parts. Another problem for this approach isthe very size of the book. Most people are a bit daunted whenthinking about reading a 1600 page book. Set a closer, smaller goal.

If you have never read the Bible, youmight want to begin by reading a kids version of the Bible. Or read Bible story books written for kids. This will make it moreaccessible and will actually help you get a better handle for theflow of the overall Bible story.

Read a graphic Bible.

Baby steps. But do something.

If none of these work, and you'd likesome further help figuring out an approach that works for you, talkto me and we'll find something that works just for you.

I think it would be fun to annoy theDevil. I think it would be a wonderful thing for us as a church toprepare our kids to resist the Devil and extend the kingdom of light.

One simple, concrete step we can takein that direction is to fill our own minds and the minds of ourchildren with the words of the Bible.

So, do it.

Christmas Power

2011-12-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, December 24, 2011

So on Christmas Eve 2000 years ago, thebaby was about to be born, the baby who would grow up to change theworld.

That's how great things begin. Theystart so small you hardly notice.

Who would have thought in 1968, thatthe nerdy teenagers Bill Gates and Paul Allen would start a companythat would change the entire world through their computer software?

How could anyone have known that thelittle computer designed by two young adults, Steve Jobs and SteveWozniak would transform the way people interacted with technology?

Such tiny beginnings. Such transformingpower.

The Angel Gabriel, told Mary the babykicking inside her was a boy. She was to give him the name, Jesus.“He will be great,” the angel said, “He will be called the Sonof the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his fatherDavid, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdomwill never end.” (Luke 1:26-33).

Joseph, too, had been alerted that thiswas no ordinary pregnancy. The angel told him, “She is pregnant bythe Holy Spirit. Name the baby, Jesus, because he will save hispeople from their sins.” (Matthew 1:23).

So just like Bill and Paul and Steveand Steve, Jesus started small. God started small in his strategy fortransforming the world. God started small, tiny, really. But God'splans projected astonishing power.

Here's how the prophet Isaiah saw it:

For unto us achild is born

to us a son isgiven.

And the governmentwill be on his shoulders

and he will becalled

Wonderful,

Counselor,

Mighty God,

EverlastingFather,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase ofhis government and peace

there will be noend.

Isaiah 9:6-7

We start with a baby. A sleeping,nursing, pooping, peeing little, tiny human being. And we end up withsomeone capable of ruling the world. And not just capable. We end upwith someone who is going to do it. The baby will take the throne.And because he is on the throne, the world will be suffused withpeace.

Every national leader portrays himselfas a benefactor. “My people love me,” they insist. Gaddafiboasted his people would die for him. Then reality set in and he waskilled and dishonored. Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea diedthis week. Under his leadership, millions of his people starved todeath. His nation's economy shrank. His nation withered. Only peopleunder the control of his propaganda machine mourned his passing. Intruth, there was nothing to lament. It was good riddance. What tookyou so long to disappear?

What a contrast to Vaclav Havel. Hedied and was widely mourned by people inside and outside his country.By people who had opposed him politically and people who had been hisallies.

What made the difference? Primarilythis: For Gaddafi and Kim Jong-il the highest objective was thepreservation and enhancement of their power. For Havel, the highestobjectives were freedom and the rule of law. Havel used power tobenefit his people. Kim Jong-il used his people to preserve hispersonal access to power.

The birth of the baby 2000 years agowas a dramatic statement about God's relationship with power.

Unto us a child isborn

And the governmentwill be on his shoulders

and he will becalled

Wonderful,

Counselor,

Mighty God,

EverlastingFather,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase ofhis government and peace

there will be noend.

Who is it that is going to call thisbaby-grown-to-be-a-ruler all these wonderful names? The people will,the people whose lives are touched by his rule. People who are fullyinformed, people who are free to say what they think, people who arefree from the manipulation of propaganda, people in touch withreality.

The deeper and broader Jesus' ruleextends, the richer and sweeter will be the peace.

No wonder we celebrate his birth. Itwas such a tiny beginning. It has flourished into such a magnificenttree. A tree of life. A tree of blessing.

This story presents a welcome to all ofus to participate with God in heaven's power play.

2000 years ago God dramatically steppedinto human history in the person of a little baby. And every time ababy is born, God steps again into the world. And we have theopportunity to cooperate with God in swelling the kingdom of heaven.

Many of us are parents or grandparents.Or aunts or uncles. Or brothers or sisters. We have the privilege andresponsibility to touch the life of a growing human being. We canhelp another human being grow into the Mighty One God destines themto be.

This is the instinct behind givinggifts. In our giving we are paying forward the grace God has pouredinto our lives. We are acting out the grace of God.

This is the wisdom that lies behind thelights people hang on their houses. In the dark heart of winter, thelight shines. In the dark heart of evil, of pain and suffering, inthe heart of the kingdom of coldness and death, light shines and willnot be quenched.

The truth that fuels our triumphantmusic is the good news that the baby wins. Goodness and sweetnessultimately will outlast and outshine the darkness.

So Merry Christmas. The baby is born.

The Gift

2011-12-17T09:19:00.001-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, December 17, 2011

Based on Luke 1 & 2.

It took special eyes to see theastonishing value of the gift earth received 2000 years in the birthof Jesus. In fact, to see clearly the nature of the gift in themanger, it took vision supernaturally informed by heaven.

First, there was the visit of the angelGabriel to Mary, the finance of a man named Joseph.

“Greetings,you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

The angel's greeting spooked her. What was this about?

“Don'tworry,” the angel said. “Don't be afraid. You have found favorwith God. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You areto name him Jesus.

He will begreat and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God willgive him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the houseof Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.”

Wow! That's pretty amazing. But howcould it happen? Mary was a virgin. And she wasn't naïve. She knewhow babies were made.

The angel explained, “The Holyspirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High willovershadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son ofGod.”

Mary agreed. “I am the Lord'sservant. Let it be to me as you have said.”

Soon after this, Mary took off to visither cousin, Elizabeth, who lived several days travel south ofNazareth. Elizabeth was six months pregnant. Her baby, too, had beenannounced by an angel. It was a miracle. Elizabeth as long pastmenopause. In fact, when an angel first told Elizabeth's husband thatthey were going to have a baby, he laughed. After all thesedecades? No way.

When Mary got to Elizabeth's house,called out her “Hello?” Elizabeth's baby kicked with delight andMary broke into a fantastic prophecy.

My soulmagnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has beenmindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on allgenerations will call me blessed,

for the MightyOne has done great things for me – holy is his name.

Mary was like all the rest of us. Shewas just a regular person. But the angel showed her that carryingthis baby and caring for this baby was a task of dazzlingsignificance. In her womb she was carrying the Son of God, the heirto the throne of David, the person righteous dreamers had beendreaming about for more than a thousand years. She was going tomother the boy who will turn out to be the hinge of history.

To uninformed watchers, her work willappear to be the ordinary work of ordinary mothering: nursing herbaby, burping him, taking care of his messes, wiping his nose,kissing scrapes and bruises, snuggling with him, teaching him to sayplease and thank you, telling him stories. To the uninformed it wouldlook ordinary, but for those with the secret knowledge, the insideinformation . . . ah, what words could capture the magnificence ofher privilege?

Mary's prophecy goes on, celebratingGod's power and his long-awaited decision to use his power to upsetevil and establish righteousness:

God's mercyextends to those who fear him,

from generationto generation.

He hasperformed mighty deeds with his arm;

he hasscattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has broughtdown rulers from their thrones

but has liftedup the humble.

He has filledthe hungry with good things but has sent the rich empty away.

He has helpedhis servant Israel,

remembering tobe merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,

even as he saidto our fathers.

Using modern words: Mary celebrates thedeliverance God has accomplished in the past and has promised for thefuture. She envisions the grand, final comeuppance for the “highand mighty,” for all who act as oppressors.

Her son is going to be God's agent forall of this. HER son. What a fantastic privilege!

Mary is traveling with her fianceJoseph when she goes into labor. There are no vacancies at any of theinns in town, so Mary and Joseph camp out in a stable. She givesbirth, bundles her baby in blanket and uses a feed box, a manger, fora crib.

If you had been in the barn, what wouldyou have seen? An ordinary delivery. If you had looked at the babylying in the feed box what would you have seen? An ordinary baby.Unless you had special knowledge.

Mary, of course, had special knowledgefrom the Angel Gabriel. Joseph, also, was in on the secret becauseof a visit by an angel.

Legend has it that the animals in thebarn were in on the secret. I don't know about that, but it's a cutestory.

Luke tells us that there were someanimals that you might say were in on the secret. That night, anangel visited a group of shepherds out on the hills outsideBethlehem.

Can you imagine? You're camped way outin the middle of no where, sitting around in the dark, watching thestars and talking with your friends when suddenly a dazzling whitebeing shows up. Spooked the shepherds, for sure. The Bible doesn'tmention the effect of the angel on the sheep.

The angel reassured the shepherds:Don't be afraid. I am bringing good news of great joy for allpeople. Today, in the city of David (That was a nickname forBethlehem.), a Savior has been born. He is Christ, the Lord. Thiswill be a sign to you. You will find him lying in a feed box.

Then that first angel was joined with ahuge crowd of angels. The choir blasts the night air with song: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwilltoward men.”

The shepherds raced off the Bethlehem.They found the baby. They saw the King, the Messiah of God, the maincharacter in the dreams of prophets for a thousand years.

Because of the angels, they, too, couldsee that that ordinary little person, lying in that feed box in astable on the back streets of Bethlehem was, in fact, extraordinary.He was the greatest gift of heaven.

Afew weeks later when Mary and Josephtook their baby to the temple in Jerusalem to dedicate him, topresent him before God, it happened again – a moment ofrecognition.

While Mary and Joseph were engaged inthe ceremony required for first born sons, an old man came into thetemple and made a bee line for them. His name was Simeon. Simeon tookthe baby in his arms, then looked into heaven and said,

Almighty God, according to yourpromise,

you may now dismiss your servant inpeace.

My eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the sightof all people,

a light for revelation to theGentiles

and for glory to your people Israel.

Simeon saw through the disguise. He sawthe gift of heaven in this tiny human being.

And then there was Anna, theprophetess. She came into the temple right behind Simeon. She, too,had been given the secret by God. She recognized the baby as God'spromise kept, as the great gift of heaven. And Anna did not keep thesecret. She told everyone who might be open to the secret.

With ordinary vision you could not seethe fullness of the gift of heaven living in the body of the ittybitty person, the son of Mary. But that was all right because Godgave extraordinary vision to a few people. To Mary and Joseph, toElizabeth, to the shepherds, to the old man Simeon, to Anna.

These people did not keep their secret.And now we know it, too.

The gift of heaven was born 2000 yearsago. The wisdom of heaven was cradled in Mary's arms. The power ofGod lay in a feed box. And we have seen his glory, the glory of God,full of grace and truth.

Because we know the secret of the birthof God 2000 years ago, we are able to see more clearly the treasurethat lies in every child. Every child deserves royal treatment. Everychild deserves respect and nurture, high expectations and sweetaffirmation. Every child deserves medical care and a socialenvironment that encourages the development of their minds andbodies. Every child deserves quality education and clean air. Everychild is related to the royal baby in Bethlehem. Every child isconnected with the Great Gift of heaven.

Because of the great gift of heaven, wecan say we have seen the Son of God, full of grace and truth. And wehave pledged ourselves to be his associates in filling this worldwith treasures made available through heaven's greatest gift.

Christmas Wisdom

2011-12-08T13:19:00.001-08:00

Sermon for Sabbath, December 10, 2011, at North Hill AdventistFellowship
Final draft.

This is how the birth of Jesus cameabout: His mother, Mary, was engaged to a man named Joseph. Beforethey came together, Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph, learning of her pregnancy, wasastonished and hurt. Still being a good-hearted man, instead ofpublicly shaming his finance, he planned to break off therelationship quietly. While he was still thinking through what to do,an angel appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph,” the angel said,“don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The child she iscarrying is from the Holy Spirit. When she gives birth, give thechild the name, Jesus, because he will save his people from theirsins.”

So, if Joseph was your son or yourbrother and his finance was pregnant and he knew there was no way hewas the father what would you advise him to do? Obviously the smartthing, no matter how much he loves this girl, is to move on. If shemesses around on you while you are engaged, the likelihood of a longand happy marriage is pretty out there. Wisdom would tell Joseph toget out while the gettin's good.

Except in this case, getting out wasn'tthe wisest course of action. Sparing himself heartache wasn't thesmart choice. Yes, Mary was pregnant. And no, the baby was notJoseph's, biologically speaking. But Mary hasn't been messing around.She hasn't been unfaithful. Instead, the child she is carrying is thebaby of prophecy, the anointed of God. Mary's baby is going to savepeople from their sins. In fact, Matthew tells us, “All this hashappened to fulfill what God predicted through the prophet, 'Thevirgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and they will callhim Immanuel – which means 'God with us.'”

Which means Joseph is going to be thestepfather of God, the stepfather of the Messiah. The head of thehousehold of God!

Joseph did the truly wise thing. Hekeeps Mary as his beloved. He embraces Mary's mystery baby as hisvery own son.

The wisdom of Joseph's choice washighlighted months after Jesus' birth. Joseph was in his carpentershop working on a table for the mayor of Bethlehem when Marybreathlessly summoned him to meet exotic visitors.

Their story goes like this. They hadshowed up in Jerusalem a few days or weeks earlier looking for achild king. Back in Persia, they had seen an extraordinary star whichfrom their study they understood to be the announcement of the birthof the great king of Jewish prophecy.

But in Jerusalem, no one knew anythingabout the baby. The king, King Herod, had invited them to aninterview. He had quizzed them about the star and their study andtheir travels then sent them off to Bethlehem to search for the king,because according to what Jewish scholars had told him, Bethlehem wasthe town pinpointed in prophecy as the birth place of the Messiah.

When the Wise Men arrived at Joseph'sand Mary's house, the star appeared over the house. This was theplace! They had traveled for months and hundreds of miles to payhomage to their baby.

I imagine Mary and Joseph recounted thestories of the visit of the angel to Joseph and the visit of theangel to Mary. They probably repeated the story the shepherds hadtold them about the vision of angel song they had experienced outsideBethlehem the night Jesus was born. And the story of Simeon in thetemple. The Wise Men were satisfied. They worshiped the baby. That isthey admired him. They adored him. They paid homage, made obeisance.They presented rich gifts. Then headed home even wiser than when theyfirst headed out.

Wise because they had seen the King.

These two stories set up one of themajor themes of the book of Matthew – the secret wisdom of God. There is a deep wisdom that is hidden from the titled andcredentialed and revealed to and through babes.

To all obvious appearances, Jesus wasjust an ordinary child. Or, you might be tempted to say, adisadvantaged child. He makes his first impression on Joseph as theapparent evidence of Mary's indiscretion. Jesus appears to be proofof Mary's foolishness, irresponsibility, unfaithfulness. Turns outthat was wrong, but that's what it looked like until an angel helpedJoseph see the truth.

The point of the Christmas story is notto emphasize the difference between Jesus and every other human.Rather, the point is the closeness of Jesus to ordinary humanity.Jesus is like every child. Every child is like Jesus. And every manis like Joseph. And Joseph is like every man. And every mother isMary. Every child is in a sense divine.

We can see fully the glory of childrenwhen our eyes have been enlightened by the wisdom from heaven. Thelittle one making messes in her diaper and keeping you awake with hiscrying and spitting up on your good clothes and vomiting on thecarpet is also Immanuel. God is with us in the person of the littlepeople.

That's the meaning of what the angeltold Joseph. That's the meaning in our world of what the Wise Menlearned from the star and from their study.

You might wonder if I'm just makingthis up. Is this really what Matthew wanted his readers to understandfrom these stories at the beginning of his book. If you do wonder ifI'm pushing this too far, consider what Matthew writes elsewhere inhis book.

In chapter 4, Matthew describes thebeginning of Jesus' ministry and offers a very brief summary of anastonishing healing ministry before launching into a three-chapterrecitation of Jesus' wisdom, the famous Sermon on the Mount. At theheart of Jesus sermon is this definition of wisdom: “Love yourenemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may bechildren of your Father in heaven. . . . So be perfect as your fatherin heaven is perfect.”

According to Matthew the essence of thewisdom of God, the bedrock foundation of God's identity is hiscapacity to see every human as his son or daughter. And we becomemost like God as we acquire similar habits. We are wisest when wesee with the eyes of God.

After outlining Jesus' great, definingsermon, Matthew offers details of how Jesus interacts with people.Earlier he had given a quick broad-brush description of Jesus'sweeping healing ministry. Now Matthew describes specific cases. Thevery first case involves a leper who was legally untouchable. Jesustouches him any way. Jesus sees in this man, a beloved son. And byhis action of touching the man, Jesus offering the crowd wisdom.Misshapen, ugly people are mere disguises for the beloved of God. Theman is not untouchable. He is beloved.

The next story Matthew tells is about aRoman officer. The crowd knows this man is a foreigner. He is notpart of the people of God. He is not, to use Adventist-speak, part ofthe Remnant. Jesus tells the crowd this foreigner has a richer,purer, greater faith than anything he has seen in any person who isan insider.

Church people in Jesus' day could havecited chapter and verse for their opinion that this Roman armyofficer was further from God than they were. They could have toldexactly where in the Bible it was written that Jewish people weremore highly favored by heaven than outsiders. But Jesus offered asuperior wisdom. A wisdom that was even deeper than the actual wordsof the Bible.

Then in one of my favorite stories inthe book of Matthew, Jesus tells about two daughters. One is thebeloved, beautiful dream child of a wealthy, religious leader. Theother is a woman with an incurable, unmentionable, and (in hersociety) disgusting physical problem.

The way Matthew tells the story, heleads us to open our hearts to the beautiful 12-year old first. Weget caught up in the emotions of the father as he desperately triesto get Jesus to his house in time to save his dear one. Then Matthewthrows us a curve. While our hearts are open, while we are fullyengaged with the father, urging Jesus to hurry, hurry, hurry, Matthewsuddenly confronts us with another daughter. Jesus stops, driving thefather of the 12 year old into greater desperation. Jesus turns searching the crowd for someone. We look through Jesus' eyes,checking the faces. It's all a blur, then a woman comes into focus.She moves toward Jesus in response to his demand that she showherself. This is not a beautiful 12 year old. This woman is claimedas daughter only God. She is wanted and treasured and prized only byGod. If we don't close our hearts too quickly, we get sucked into thevision of Jesus, the wisdom of God. We see this woman is a daughter,too, the beloved of God, our dear sister, our treasure.

The wisdom of heaven teaches us to seevalue, dignity, honor where ordinary eyes might see nothing special.

In chapter 11, Matthew reports Jesus'words about John the Baptist. This man who is in jail with no hope ofreprieve, this man who had alienated the king, this man, says Jesus,is great. In fact, no one greater has ever been born.

Don't let prison fool you. Don't let aconviction or some jail time fool you.

Then Matthew comes to the grand climaxof Jesus' teaching. It's the story of the final judgment. Allhumanity is arraigned before God and separated into the good and bad.

Good and bad are exactly the same inone sense: they are being tested using an invisible God. Neitherneither good people nor bad people pass the seeing test. The goodpeople didn't see God when he showed up. And the bad people didn'tsee God when he showed up. In this respect they are exactly the same.They had no angel to inform them this is no ordinary baby, noordinary person. None of them discern God when he shows up to givethem the test.

So what made the difference? The goodpeople treated God in disguise the way he deserved to be treatedbased on his identity as God. The bad people treated God in disguisethe way he deserved to be treated based on the identity of hisdisguise.

The bad people insist they would havedone better if only God had let them know it was him. And, of course,that's true. No one in their right mind would mistreat God to hisface. The challenge is that God often comes in impenetrable disguise.

Which brings us back to the openingstories of the Book of Matthew.

God comes as crying babies, as childrenwho are rude and insensitive, as rebellious kids, as impossible kids.Yep, that's God all right. Sure doesn't look like him, but don't befooled by the disguise.

The heart of the pro-life movement isthe recognition that every infant carries divinity. Every infant isprized by God. It is this identity that makes abortion evil.

It's vital that we carry our pro-lifecommitments beyond prohibiting abortion. Prohibiting abortion iseasy. It is doing the necessary things for children after they areborn that is the challenge. Recognizing the person of God in the faceof children means providing them quality schools. It means limitingmercury emissions by power plants. It means working to address theimpending environmental devastation caused by global warming. Itmeans preserving National Parks. It means doing any number of thingsas a society that cannot be done by individuals alone.

When we receive heaven's wisdom fromthe story of Jesus birth – that God comes among us in the disguiseof needy children – we will do all we can in every area of life tomake the world a safer, better place for children.

Seeing children as divine naturally hasprofound implications in the family setting.

If you are a parent or grandparent, Iencourage you to cultivate this vision of the grand, noble identityof the little people in your world. Because of their potential, Iurge you read to them every night. Turn off the TV. Take them to thepark and push them in the swings. Play with them. Hug them and kissthem. Tell them, “I love you.” Make them do their home work andpractice the piano or violin or whatever musical instrument they arelearning. Make them clean the bathroom and sweep the kitchen floor.Require them to vacuum and to make their beds. Help them learn aBible verse every week and repeat it every day. They are kings andqueens in the making. They deserve all the instruction and structureyou can give them. It would be such a tragedy to waste all theirtalent and potential.

Don't beat them. Don't spank them. Ifyou find you are spanking your children repeatedly then quit.Obviously, it's not working. Try something else. Train your childrenfor greatness. Remember that the child born in your house, the childcarrying your DNA is not ultimately yours. Even Mary who was part ofJesus' biology, did not “own” him. She was entrusted with him.She was given the privilege of mothering him. But she did not ownhim. So with our children. They carry our DNA (unless they areadopted). They carry our hearts (in any case). They own us, but we donot own them. We are trustees of God, serving the children of theking.

Two thousand years ago, a child withquestionable parentage was, in fact, the Savior of the world, Godwith us. His own dad couldn't see it without a special message fromheaven. But it was true and Wise Men came a thousand miles to confirmthe words of the angels.

Christ is born. The Savior of theworld, looking like a mere child. Who knows what grand, fantasticdreams God has for the little ones in your home.

Admiring Jesus

2011-12-07T18:59:00.001-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, December 3, 2011

[At the beginning of the sermon, I invited people to text the names of people they admired. My rationale for doing this was John's teachings that those who cannot love their brothers whom they can see cannot really love God whom they cannot see (See 1 John). Similarly our admiration of real, live, down-to-earth people is connected to our capacity to admire God. Admiration is a matter of focus.

Here are the texts sent in response to my invitation:

Josh Grobin
Martin Luther King

President Obama
Hillary Clinton
Bill Gates
Nadine and Karin [women in the church] for facing an uncertain health future with courage and determination
Whoever started Occupy Wall Street
My dad
Mohammed Yunis, banker to the poor.
MLK
My daughter
George Meuller
My mom because she is so strong [This is an abbreviation of a sweet message celebrating a gutsy woman who faces daunting challenges and still adds joy and life to our worship services.]
Herb Montgomery
Mom Lauren for faithfully and cheerfully taking care of her paralyzed husband for seven years.
My wife and kids.
Jerry, Ed, Dawn, Ernie, Dave, Ann, Ken, Jean, Alan, Suzzy, John, Karin, Vivien, Vi [all members of North Hill. After church people who do not text told me of additional people they would have named if they'd had the requisite technology.]
Church kids
God's Gals

I talked a bit about the list. It's obvious that these are not perfect people. Especially the public figures on the list could generate debate about their respective merits and demerits. However, everyone on the list is admired for some good they accomplished or at least pursued. Admiring people, even "imperfect people" is good for our soul. Admiring makes us happy and helps form our own lives in admirable ways.

Occasionally in the middle of the newson All Things Considered, there will be a puff piece, an unabashedadmiration of someone. A famous artist or writer or humanitarian hasdied and it's time to remember them.

The host of the program will saysomething like this: Henry Smith wrote thirty novels that exerteda major influence on the English language. His works were translatedinto forty languages. Some say he gave the Northwest its fullestliterary identity since Jack London. His wheat farmers and fishermen,engineers and rock singers, small town mayors and governors – allwere somehow more real and grander for having been touched by hispen. Here, with an appreciation is Jill Adler.

I like that: Instead of calling it anobituary, they call it an appreciation. These pieces are notanalyses. They make no pretense of being careful, balanced reports.They celebrate the good stuff. The reporter clearly admires theperson featured.

One of the central elements of worshipis admiration. In worship we admire God the Father. We admire Jesus.This is the heart of our worship. It is the heart of our faith. It isthe center of our theology.

The New Testament – the book createdby the Christian Church and the book that serves as our constitution– begins with four appreciations of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke andJohn. Each writer offers his own special version of an appreciationof Jesus. They admire Jesus and their point in writing is fuel ouradmiration as well.

Matthew begins his book with thesewords: “This is a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the sonof David, the son of Abraham.”

Jesus has the right genealogy. He comesfrom good stock. He is the direct descendant of Abraham and David.And not only “a descendant.” He is “the descendant.” Jesus isthe “seed” promised to Abraham, the dynastic heir promised toKing David. The Jewish people, prompted by prophets and the entireethos of their religion, have anticipated a special person who willset the world right. The perfect king, the perfect priest, thesupreme prophet. That's Jesus. He will be the Lamb of God, the holysacrifice, the gleaming lamp of the temple, the ultimate shrine ofGod's presence.

Before Jesus was born, an angelappeared to his father and confirmed that Jesus was fathered directlyby God. Adam and Eve were the children of God, every other humanafter Adam and Eve was a grandchild. Until Jesus. His mother wasMary, but his father was God Himself!

After telling Joseph that Jesus' fatherwas God himself, the angel told Joseph what to name the baby: Callhim Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.

In concluding this section of his book,Matthew declares, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord hadsaid through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and willgive birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means,'God with us.'”

No wonder we admire Jesus.

To make sure we get it, Matthewincludes in his book the story of the Magi from the east who came toadmire Jesus. These men, nobility if not royalty, traveled a thousandmiles to admire Jesus in person. Wise men admire Jesus. Fools,scoundrels, losers – these are the people who get sucked intojealousy or merely fail to awaken to admiration.

Here is the great heart of our faith.There are many good things we share with many other religions. Basicmorality is exhorted by every major religion. Compassion, honesty,faithfulness, integrity – these are not distinctively Christianvirtues. They are universal virtues.

Our special heritage, our specialspiritual treasure is Jesus – the perfect embodiment of all thesevirtues. All these virtues are admirable. And we are privileged towitness them in Jesus, so our admiration of virtue becomes anchoredin a person. We admire Jesus because he embodies all the mostwonderful virtues. And we see the great virtues more clearly and morehappily because they are embodied in the person of Jesus.

Admiring the goodness of God as it isrevealed in Jesus helps to shape our own lives into a more admirablepattern.

Recently I got to thinking about anacquaintance. Everything I remembered from our conversations wasnegative. If the conversation touched on politics, he made a point ofsaying that all politicians were wholly corrupt. The only reason theywent into politics was for fame and power. They had no interest inactually helping anyone. Doctors: well, everybody knows the onlyreason they decided to become doctors was because they had dollarsigns in their eyes. When I protested that my friends became doctorsbecause they dreamed of making people whole, Bill dismissed mynaivete. Bosses were all jerks. They regarded employees merely asexpense centers to be minimized as much as possible without incurringlawsuits. Truck drivers: they're all uneducated men stuck in jobsthey hate and lacking the brains to do anything else. Bibletranslators: they twist the Hebrew and Greek to support the theologyof the people paying their salaries.

As these memories were running throughmy head, I checked myself. That's the way I remembered it, but surelyBill wasn't really that negative. He couldn't despise everybody. Sothe next time we visited, I asked him, “Bill, is there any one youadmire?”

Bill thought and thought. Finally, hesaid, “No one comes to mind right off.”

No athlete. No politician. Nomissionary. No doctor. No aunt or uncle. No scientist. No one. Billdidn't admire anyone, at least, no one came to mind. Bill is big onhuman depravity. All people are thoroughly infected by the corruptionof sin, so how could any of them be admirable?

A little later in the conversation, hefinally thought of a preacher he liked. I asked if he knew thepreacher personally or just knew his sermons.

Bill said he didn't know the preacherpersonally. He just liked the man's preaching. Which made sense. Thepreacher specializes in denouncing human evil, self-deception andpride. He's down on people. He constantly hammers away at humandepravity.

Which highlights the importance ofadmiration. We tend to move in the direction of that which we admire.If we admire people who are abrasive, negative, condemning, guesswhat . . . over time we will enhance our own tendencies to benegative, abrasive and condemning.

If we spend time listening to preacherswho berate their listeners, who scold and condemn, and spank andscorn sinners, why would we be surprised if we tend to becomenegative parents, negative spouses, negative friends?

Admiration matters.

And as Christians the center of ouradmiration is Jesus.

Matthew admires Jesus as the wisest ofall teachers. The rabbi who perfectly teaches the way of God.

The gospel of Mark sets up a differentpicture of Jesus. Mark says nothing about Jesus' birth. He pays noattention to Jesus' ancestors. He focuses on Jesus activity as aminister, as a rabbi, a teacher.

Jesus is baptized, then immediatelytriumphs in a daunting confrontation with the devil in thewilderness. Coming out of the wilderness, Jesus enlists Peter andAndrew and James and John then charges into ministry. He drives outdemons, heals so many people no one can keep count. He welcomeslepers back into the community and cures their leprosy. He managestheological controversy with compelling authority. Thousands hang onhis every word.

Mark shows us a man that nearly everyone admires. Even his enemies recognize his power and goodness, evenwhile they do everything they can to trip him up.

The gospel of Luke takes us back to thestories surrounding Jesus' birth. Not only was Jesus birth special,the birth of his cousin John was also supernatural. John's father wasvisited by an angel and after John was born, Zechariah uttered afantastic prophecy. John's ministry set the stage for Jesus.

Luke traces Jesus' genealogy not merelyback to David and Abraham, but all the way back to God. “Jesus wasthe son of Adam who was the son of God.”

Luke tells of a choir of angelsvisiting shepherds on the night Jesus was born. They announced thebirth of a Savior in the city of David. A clear reference to Jesus asthe Messiah.

Luke tells of an old priest in thetemple, Simeon, who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. Even though fromall outward appearances Jesus is merely the unremarkable son ofpeasant parents, Simeon is informed by God and announces the deeper,more wonderful reality: This is the Messiah of God.

The Jesus we admire is fully human.True. It is equally true that he embodies the presence and grace ofGod. He is Immanuel, God with us. He is the Savior, the one who willrescue us from condemnation.

Jesus was born of the right ancestry.His birth was announced and witnessed and celebrated by angels. As ayoungster, he increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor withGod and man. We admire him because he made God accessible. We admiredhim because he did the things we hoped God would do.

John, in his gospel, zooms way back intime. Before the angels sang to the shepherds, before the Wise Mensaw the star, before Jesus began preaching. John goes back beforetime. “In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God andthe word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All thringswere made through him and apart from him nothing was made.”

Here we are invited to admire Jesus,not merely as the best human ever, not only as one who made Godpresent among us. We admire Jesus as God, as one, who unlike anyother human had an existence that stretched backward into the reachesof unimaginable antiquity.

In John, Jesus is the light of theworld, the bread of life. He is the judge of all, the being whoenlightens every human who is born, the gift from heaven that secureseternal life for all who believe. John, Jesus is not “born.” Hearrives. And in him, God arrives and sets up his tent next to ours.

Have you ever camped with a group offriends. Do you remember how sounds go right through thin nylonwalls. You know your friends in a whole new way after you've campedtogether. Jesus camped with us. He set his tent up in our campsite.And we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth.

No wonder we admire him.

As we move through this Christmasseason, I encourage you to admire Jesus. Put away any need to be“above” sentimentality. Dismiss your need to be skeptical, yourneed to demonstrate your imagined perspicuity. Christmas is a time tounabashedly admire. Sure, human beings provide us with amplejustification to be suspicious, wary, cautious, on guard. Buthealthy, happy life includes admiration, unabashed affirmation of thegoodness, beauty, competence, generosity and nobility exhibited bypeople.

If Jesus thought enough of us to comeand live among us, if he admired us that much, we ought to admire oneanother. As we cultivate our admiration of one another and of Jesus,our worship will become richer. Our relationships will becomesweeter. We will find ourselves practicing for heaven. And ourpractice will make even this world a sweeter, holier place.

God's Grief

2011-12-05T12:26:00.001-08:00

This is a chapter from my book The Faith I Highly Recommend: Adventist Spirituality for Thinkers and Seekers published by the Review and Herald Publishing Association.

It was also in the earlier version of that book published by Adventist Today under the Title: Fifth Generation: The Spiritual Treasures of Mature Adventism.

I'm posting it here because of a reference to it in a chapter in my memoir, God, Rocks and Souls.

Ihad been in my new church just a few weeks and was making my roundsgetting acquainted. It was not very many minutes into my visit withLois when she began telling me about the great hole in her life leftby the death of her daughter, Angela. Her grief was sharp and freshlike Angela had died just yesterday.

Ilistened closely as details spilled out. Angela had drowned. Shehad been a beautiful girl, sweet, thoughtful. It was a hot summerday. She and some friends had gone to the lake.

Itdid not quite make sense to me. The way Lois talked, I was sure theaccident had occurred only a short time ago. But Angela sounded likea teenager. And Lois was eighty years old. Finally Lois mentionedthe detail I had been listening for. Angela had died on her sixteenthbirthday, more than forty years before.

Amother’s heart does not forget. Her grief does not go away.

Accordingto traditional Christian teaching, when someone dies, he or she goesimmediately into the presence of God or enters the torments of hell. And in modern American funerals, it is nearly always assumed someonewho dies is headed for heaven. In this view, before death, God islimited in his interaction with people by the separation betweenheaven and earth, but death erases this separation and leadsimmediately to the joy of unhindered fellowship between God and hischildren. So for God, death is a great boon. We who are left berefton earth may be wracked by grief, but God’s heart is gladdened bythe homeward flight of his child.

TheAdventist understanding of what happens when people die paints anentirely different picture of God. When someone dies, the personceases to exist as a conscious, communicating personality. Certainlythe person is not lost to the heart or memory of God. But as anactive, thinking, loving, talking human being, the person no longerexists. In the language of the Bible, the person “sleeps” (John11:11-14). A dead person has no awareness of anything. The personremains “unconscious” until the resurrection. At the secondcoming all of God’s people are united and taken into the presenceof God together. They all arrive at the heavenly party together(Hebrews 11:39-40).

Inthis view, God himself is as deprived of the living companionship ofa person who dies as are the grieving family and friends. Instead ofdeath being a boon to God, death robs God of the worship of hispeople (Psalm 115:17). When people die, the heavenly Father nolonger hears the voices of his children in praise and prayer. He hasmemories to cherish, but he is not in fellowship with their vital,interactive “souls.”

Inthe story of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, we read that moments beforeJesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he wept. Given Jesus’divinity, this incident portrays God’s identification with humanpain. Jesus knew that Lazarus was not going to remain dead, but theheartbreak of his friends brought Jesus himself to tears. It is atruism that when children hurt, their moms and dads hurt as much asor more than the young one. And God, our heavenly parent, hurts forhis children. When grief batters our hearts and wets our eyes, Godhurts because we hurt. But there’s more.

God’sgrief is not simply the response of his heart to the arrows of painthat wound us. God himself is wounded by the separation caused bydeath. Death interrupts God’s own conversation with his child. God bears the emotional cost of the system he has designed and allowsto continue even in its broken condition. When it comes to enduringpain, God asks nothing of us that he does not require of himself.

Thisperspective of God as a grieving parent has large implications forhow we view the “delay of the Advent.” Why Jesus hasn’t comeback to earth as he promised? What’s taking him so long? Explanations include: God is waiting because he wants to save morepeople. He is waiting for some predetermined time or for evil toreach its full flower or for the gospel to be preached in all theworld or for the character of Christ to be perfectly reproduced inhis people.

Eachof these theories has something to recommend it, and each hasproblems. The Adventist understanding of the nature of death doesnot answer the question, whydoes God wait? It does, however, change the emotional content of the question. Inaddition to asking why God doesn’t hurry up and rescue usfrom ourtrouble (a very good and proper question), this picture of God’sgrief prompts us to ask as well, whydoesn’t God spare himself? If the redeemed are sleeping in their graves waiting the greatresurrection morning described so vividly in the New Testament, thenevery day God delays the second coming is another day he carries thewounds of a bereaved parent. Since God loves every human moreintensely than a mother loves her only child, the Adventistunderstanding of death is a picture of a brokenhearted God.

Sowhy does God continue to put off the end of human history? I don’tknow. But knowing the pain the delay causes him gives me increasedconfidence that there must be some powerfully compelling reason. IfGod’s heart is as tender as the heart of Angela’s mother, thenthe delay must cost him terribly. If he misses his children whodied four hundred years ago as much as Lois misses her girl who diedforty years ago, then the enormity of his grief is beyondimagination.

Inthe traditional view of death, there is little motivation for God tobring human history to an end. Every day God is finding freshdelight in the addition of earthlings to the heavenly court. Everyday he is welcoming children home. But in the Adventist view, everyday that passes adds to the grief that weighs on God’s heart.

Goddoes not ask us to bear burden he himself does not carry. He doesnot encourage us to be brave in the face of pain that he himself doesnot feel.

Iremember sitting in the back at a funeral in Akron, Ohio. The frontrow included four or five kids. The coffin held an eight-year-oldboy, killed when the front wheel of his bicycle hit a rock and heswerved in front of a car.

Thepreacher was trying to make sense of this senseless tragedy. Hespoke directly to the young people on the front row. “Try not totake your brother’s death too hard. I know you miss him, but Godneeded him up in heaven and that’s why he took him. God must havesome very important job in mind for your brother up there. Stayclose to Jesus and some day you’ll join your brother in heaven, andhe’ll show you around the New Jerusalem and tell you all about whathe’s been doing while you were down here working for Jesus.”

Irespect the pastor’s effort to find meaning in a senseless andheart-numbing accident. He was doing what a pastor is supposed todo–mining the spiritual and theological resources of his communityfor all the comfort and solace he could find. But sitting there onthe back row, it was all I could do to keep from jumping up andinterrupting.

“Soare you telling me,” I imagined shouting, “that every time Godruns low on kitchen help in the heavenly cafeteria he throws rocks infront of little kids’ bike tires? Is God really that hard up forhelp in heaven? When they run short of tenors in the heavenly choirdoes he tell an angel to go knock off another kid? What kind of Godis that?”

Thepastor was trying to announce good news, but the picture of God hepainted was repugnant to me. If I were to take his words seriouslyit would mean our deepest wounds bring great joy to God. People whoare the most lovable and leave the greatest hole here on earth whenthey die, bring instant joy in the courts of heaven. We on earthbear all the cost of improving heaven’s work force.

Thetraditional view of death does give some comfort. It places thosewho have died in a good place far from all pain. And for the personwho dies, this traditional view accurately describes his or herexperience. When a believer dies, the very next moment in theirexperience will be the resurrection and the presence of God. Thetime in the grave that we who are alive feel all too keenly aware ofdoes not exist in the experience of the one who has died. Believersdie, and the very next instant, as far as they know, is resurrectionmorning.

TheAdventist view, on the other hand, addresses the reality of painconfronted by those who are still alive. For those who survive thedeath of a loved one, the only “immediate” reality is grief andhurt. And the Adventist view of death shows that one of thesurvivors, one of the mourners is God himself. There is no benefitfor God in the death of his children. He is not knocking offchildren to fill the heavenly kitchens. He does not forget our griefin the great joy of his communion with his children who have escapedinto his presence from their earthly prisons. Instead God enters thevery depth of our grief. In fact, our purest, deepest grief is inreality a mirror of his own.

Thedeeper our grief, the closer we come to understanding one aspect ofthe mystery of God.

Saved by the Law

2011-12-03T09:21:00.001-08:00

Saved by the Law

Preliminary draft for a presentation to the Pacific NorthwestAdventist Forum

Volunteer Park Adventist Church

3:00 p.m., December 3, 2011

Announcement on the Pacific Northwest Adventist Forum website:

Volunteer Park SDAChurch, Seattle

1300 E. Aloha Street

LEGALISM: THE WAY OF SALVATION

ByJohn McLarty

Whatdo we mean when we use the words, save, saved, salvation? What arepeople saved from? What are people saved to?

Savedfrom hell?

Savedfrom self-destructive behavior?

Savedfrom oppressors?

Savedfrom feelings of guilt and shame?

Savedfrom moral indebtedness and divine condemnation?

Savedfrom habits that ruin their children or neighborhoods?

Savedfrom cancer?

Savedfrom pain?

Savedto heaven?

Savedto a radical, all-consuming religiosity?

Savedto social, spiritual well-being?

Savedto meaningful, purposeful life?

Savedto happiness?

Savedto prosperity?

Savedto health?

Savedto satisfying marriage?

Obviously,some of these goals are gifts we cannot earn. It is equally obviousthat some of these goals are best pursued through smart habits.Behavior matters more than faith.

Informing a healthy church community what is the proper role forlegalism? Classic Adventist legalism made “overcoming allhereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil” a condition ofsalvation (salvation understood as the opposite of damnation). Mostof us have rejected this notion.

Iunabashedly advocate “neo-legalism.” Neo-legalism promotesattention to and obedience to wise laws as the most effective way topursue salvation (salvation understood as a synonym of well-being).

“Savedby grace through faith” is a useful understanding of one element ofreligious life. It is not a summary of the whole.

JohnMcLarty is Pastor of North Hill Adventist Fellowship in Edgewood,Washington.

Manuscript for my presentation.

Thanksgiving dinner at our housefeatured a large crowd of mostly young adults. We were seated aroundtwo long tables set together in an “L” shape in our kitchen. Theconversation was boisterous, bordering on raucous. Politics,religion, ideas, current research, dreams, relatives – nothing wasoff limits. The kids – forgive me for calling these youngprofessionals, 'kids,' were telling stories from their practices andresidencies and projects at work. These young people have beengathering around out Thanksgiving table long enough their particularcontributions to our feast have become traditions in themselves –Bonnie's pies – pumpkin, apple and berry – Katrina's kubokasquash soup, Naomi's avocado and grapefruit salad.

I savored my food and wondered at theprivilege that gave me a seat at this table. Surrounding me was agaggle of attractive, accomplished young adults, doctors, a lawyer, acouple of M.D./Ph. D.s, a musician, a couple of missionaries, anadministrator with a Federal agency, some married, some single. Alldoing well. All actively involved in church.

How does such a thing happen. What isthe key to prosperous, happy life passed from one generation toanother? Legalism. A long, steady embrace of the disciplines ofstudy, health, spirituality and relationships.

These kids were born to privilege. Thatwas a grace. They were born intelligent and physically attractive.That, too, is a grace. They grew up in homes and churches thatplanted deep tabus against alcohol and drugs and promiscuity. Thosesame churches and homes surrounded them with a pervasive expectationthat normal life includes higher education. That was all grace.

So these kids studied hard, practicedfor thousands of hours, avoided the prohibited destructive behaviors,ate healthy food, engaged in a variety of physical disciplines.That's legalism. And it has launched them into lives full of promise.

Legalism is the key to good life.

Interaction with the audience: Whatdo you mean when you use the word legalism? And what do you mean by“salvation?”

I am deliberately being provocative.For many of us the word, legalism, emblemizes the dark underbelly ofAdventist theology and experience. It conjures emotional weeks ofprayer in which preachers warned us that a single unforsaken,unconfessed sin would doom us when our name came up in theInvestigative Judgment. Legalism referred to the sometimes tacit,sometimes explicit conviction that our standing with God was strictlycontingent on our conformity to Adventist notions of Christianperfection.

Then we heard the gospel. Morris Vendenor Des Ford or some other preacher opened the windows of heaven andfilled our lives with the light of grace. Venden famously insisted,it's not what you know, but who you know. It's not about behavior,it's about relationship. Ford used the theological language and themetaphors of Reformed theology to bring hope and release to thousandsof guilt-bound Adventists.

Many of us have spent most of our adultlives trumpeting this good news and battling the evils of Adventistlegalism.

Now, I'm calling for a restoration oflegalism. I expect an argument, but I'm right. The fact is, legalismis the key to the good life we want for our children andgrandchildren. If we want young people to do well, to finish collegeand grad school, to make good money, to enjoy good health, to have afighting chance for lasting marriages, to participate in church asadults then we will do everything we can to promote legalism.Legalism is an essential ingredient of any kind of life you woulddream for your kids.

Let me sharpen my challenge: It isabsolutely vital that we who are in our sixties or seventies oreighties quit trying to shape a church that will serve us well.Instead, we must work for a church serves well our children andgrandchildren. And their greatest need is legalism.

What I mean by legalism.

What is legalism? A deep appreciationfor the value of rules or standards. A legalistic life, is a lifelived in harmony with rules and standards. In a more philosophicalvein: legalism is the idea that the entire universe is lawful, thatGod himself is constrained by law.

What do I mean by salvation?

In much of the conservative Protestantworld, the great, burning question in spiritual life is: How can aperson be saved? Salvation in this context is merely avoiding thetorments of hell. In this world view, the default status of allhumans is damnation, i.e. eternal torment. Salvation is rescue fromthis looming fate. Adventists softened this somewhat by redefiningdamnation as painful annihilation, but, in general, we still think ofthe default destiny of humans as damnation. The most valuable actiona person can perform is to move another person from their naturalstate of doomed to hell to being saved.

If, indeed, the great, burning questionof our lives is how can I avoid hell, then legalism is useless. Noamount of ordered living will protect you from hell. And based on thestory of the thief on the cross, just the slightest nod to the Saviorwill accomplish your salvation. Concern for law in any sense becomesirrelevant at best.

I reject the idea that the defaultdestiny of humanity is damnation. If God is the Savior, then I assumesalvation is the default destiny. Otherwise God is necessarily viewedas a failure. Since I reject damnation as the default destiny ofhumanity, I don't view rescuing people from damnation as the highestcalling for Christians.

I regard the natural destiny of humanbeings to be reigning with God. One of the principle goals of thekingdom of heaven is human well-being. Our calling is to help peopleexperience well-being for themselves and to share it with others.Being saved means enjoying well-being. This well-being begins in thislife as health, happiness, wealth, pleasant relationships and isfully realized in eternity. Salvation understood as the fullness ofhuman well-being is inseparable from legalism. It is the behaviorscommanded by the law and a view of the world that insists even Godhimself (and thus all other possible authority figures) is subject tolaw that contributes most to salvation or the experience ofwell-being.

The Benefits of Legalism

First, it is an essential conditionof a good life.

Legalism is the foundation for thequality of life enjoyed by the young adults around our table onThanksgiving. They are living well now because when they were youngertheir behavior was constrained by a comprehensive corpus of smartregulation.

Legalism – assenting to andpracticing particular habits – is the key to well-being in everyarea of life.

Do we want our kids/grandkids to avoidthe epidemic of obesity? We will inculcate habitual behaviors inregard to food and physical activity.

Do we want our kids to be accomplishedmusicians? We will do our best to provide lessons and to supportregular practice. There is no other way.

Do we want our kids to be financiallyindependent? We will model and teach habits related to earning andmanaging money.

Do we want our kids to be involved inchurch as adults?

Do we want them to experience lasting,happy marriages?

In the United States, one of thegreatest predictors of success in marriage is for both partners tofinish college. I'm sure that teaching our kids grace will help thembe better spouses. We hope that as they experience God's grace theywill find joy in passing it on to their spouses. However, at presenthelping our kids complete college appears to be more effective as anaid to good marriage than giving them proper theology.

Completing college is an exercise inlegalism. Showing up for class, meeting the demands of teachings,paying bills, paying attention to the requirements spelled out in thebulletin. Legalism. It is the key to finishing college. And finishingcollege is the key to marital and economic success in the UnitedStates.

Second, legalism is the foundationof pious liberalism.

Since God himself is bound by law, wedare to challenge specific biblical prescriptions when they violatethe great law of love. Whatever was the situation in Moses' day, wereject stoning as an appropriate response to Sabbath-breaking orrebellious sons or inappropriate sexual encounters. We rejectgenocide. We insist genocide is immoral. We simply dismiss the Bibleanecdotes that suggest otherwise.

In thinking about homosexuality andslavery we dismiss certain explicit Bible passages condemning orcondoning respectively using the words of Abraham, “Shall not theJudge of all the earth do right?” We hold God and the church andreligion to standards embedded in our notion of universal law.

Legalism – a world view that sees Godhimself subject to norms of fairness and justice – liberates usfrom the tyranny of fundamentalism, the swagger of ecclesiasticalauthoritarianism, and even from the tyrannical impulses of scientismand democracy.

What About Morris Venden?

Morris Venden used to famously say,“it's not about behavior, it's about relationship.” This is agreat line. And in the context of Venden's time it communicated animportant truth. But what was Venden's central, overriding message:spend an hour a day in thoughtful contemplation of the life ofChrist.

His conversion story which I heard anumber of times featured him going through the book Steps to Christand underlining everything it told him to do. After doing this acouple of times, he boiled Christian life to this: Read your Bible,pray and tell others what you found in the first two. In hispreaching this was distilled further to spending time with Jesusevery day. The young people who heard him preach understood this tomean spending time reading the Bible or Ellen White with emphasis onthe Gospels in the Bible and Desire of Ages among the works of EllenWhite.

The people I hear decades later stillexpressing gratitude for the impact of Venden's preaching on theirlives are the people who embraced his call to a specific behavior –daily devotions.

Venden's discovery of the “way ofsalvation” in Steps to Christ, did not deliver him from thenecessity of behavior, rather it reduced the hundreds of picky rulesabout eating and entertainment and thinking and believing to asingle, simple rule: spend time every day with Jesus. Venden arguedthat if you did this, everything else would take care of itself. Godwould inspire you to do whatever it was he expected you to do.

It didn't really work that way, but thepractice of daily devotions does have an impact on one's spirituallife. Doing something daily to cultivate spiritual life will – notsurprisingly – lead one to a greater sense of involvement with God.

One point where Christianity, Hinduismand Buddhism agree is that spiritual life can be cultivated. And thiscultivation takes time. Ideally this will involve a daily practice.Whether you call this daily time: devotions, a quiet time, prayer,Bible study, meditation, contemplation or worship, all of thesereligions agree that the ideal cultivation of spiritual life involvesa daily habit. A behavior.

Another of Venden's proverbs was, “it'sall about relationship.” Or “It's not what you know, but who youknow.” Again, this was a wonderful corrective to the excessivelycognitive-based Adventist spirituality of the time. Venden worked tomake the person of Jesus the center of our religion, displacing themaze of prophetic interpretations and the details of doctrinal andlifestyle teachings.

But if take Venden's proverb out of itscontext and make it a universal principle, it describes the world ofcorruption and abuse. In nations and cultures where it's really “allabout relationship” poverty and systematic injustice are the norm.When “it's all about relationship,” then whether you get signedoff on a building permit or not depends on your connections with theinspector, not the quality of your work. When it's all aboutrelationship, what happens in court has less to do with the factsthan your connections with the judge or prosecutor. Pushed farenough, relationship can even trump the money you spend on a lawyer.

“All about relationship” governmentgives us Egypt under Mubarak, Tunisia under Ben Ali and Syria underAssad. Relationships apart from a sturdy framework of law aresusceptible to all sorts of distortions.

Domestically, “it's all aboutrelationship,” allows incest and other abuses. As long as theabuser/molester claims to love, the behavior is justified. Glenn Beckfamously asserted in one of his 9 Principles, “4. The family issacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority.”

When aman and his wife are the ultimate authority, who is to say they havegone too far in disciplining their children. Recently the SeattleTimes had a front page story about a girl who died from theadministration of discipline by her adoptive parents. People areunderstandably outraged by these parents' behavior.

Our outrageis an expression of legalism. Mom and Dad are not outside the law.Even supposedly “well-intentioned” harm to a child is damnableevil. Good motives are not excuse for starving a child, beating achild, demeaning a child. Love does not justify all behavior. Loveitself requires definition. And law provides the definition.

Goodrelationships are inseparable from a sturdy appreciation of the rulesand norms that in other contexts are called “the law.”

So Venden, like every other preacherand prophet, must be understood in the context of his times. Adoctrinaire application of his words in a different context can turnhelpful truth into toxic ideology.

What about Richard Rice's Believing,Behaving, Belonging?

Rice correctly highlights the profoundvalue of a sense of belonging. Young people growing up in a communityneed to know they have a place, a home. Ideally, belief and behaviorflow out of this sense of belonging. We believe what we do and behavethe way we do because particular beliefs and behaviors are congruentwith our identity.

Those who argue for the priority ofbelieving, seek to liberate us from the oppressive weight of classicAdventist soteriological legalism which demanded a person achieveperfection in order to earn salvation. In rebutting thisanxiety-producing theological, gospel Adventists say, “Onlybelieve.”

Many of us who in our teens andtwenties embrace this liberating gospel discovered as we got olderthat behaving was, in fact, easier than believing. Especially men whowere devout in their teens and twenties and got a graduate education,over time the details one was required to believe in order to besaved or even a member in good and regular standing became more andmore problematic. It was easier to keep the Sabbath than to believe6000 years. It was easier to go to church than to affirm withoutqualification every aspect of the forensic model of salvation. It waseasier by far to be a vegetarian than to believe the “ABCs ofPrayer.”

People need some kinds of markers ofbelonging. Belief can be one of those markers. Behavior is another,and for some, a more accessible marker.

Conclusion

We set up our children andgrandchildren for the richest success in life by inculcating a deep,abiding respect for ordered, healthy habits – the habitsprescribed by law – and a deep sense of the subordination of every“authority” to law.

Of course, a healthy community willmake provision for the inevitable failures to perfectly embody law inour performance. The willingness and disposition to extend grace toourselves and to one another is, in fact, one of the foundationallaws of happiness and health.

Legalism, a high regard for law both inour opinions and in our behavior, is an indispensable condition ofhuman well-being. And human well-being is the highest definition ofsalvation.

The Next Step:

Where I want to go next is to list anddefend some specific rules and norms that I think the church shouldactively promote.

The goal of these rules and normsshould be human well-being. We should recognize that most rules aresituation specific. Smart rules of a hundred years ago need to bemodified if they are going to be smart rules for today. On the otherhand, no community can be called “smart” if it is unable toarticulate specific, concrete behavioral norms for the children andconverts maturing within it.

Some rules I would defend:

Friday night as a Sabbath celebration
Church attendance
Higher education as a norm.
Public vegetarianism
Strong anti-drug stance, including a Teetotaling approach to alcohol
Sabbath afternoon hikes/walks
No in-between meals snacking
A preference for non-combatancy

Admiring Jesus

2011-12-03T09:07:00.001-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Church
December 3, 2011

Admiration is a source of joy and character formation. When we admire some one, it makes us happy. We tend to become like those we admire, so it is smart to be judicious in our admiration.

As Christians, we admire Jesus most highly of all humans. In fact, worship can be thought of as a form of admiration. The four gospels are admirations of Jesus. Admiring Jesus will naturally shape us. It will make us more compassionate, less violent, less hostile, more concerned for little people. Admiring Jesus will help us relate properly to the powerful and the rich. We will neither demonize them nor kowtow to them. Admiring Jesus will guide us in relating to people "beneath" us. We will not demonize them nor coddle them. The more we admire Jesus, the more skillful we will become in cooperating with God in what he is up to in the lives of people around us.

God Gives Thanks

2011-11-25T15:32:00.001-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

Sabbath, November 26, 2011

(This is an unusually long manuscript for a sermon. I will try to cut it before tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll have to try cutting it on the fly.)

I was checking out at the grocery storelast week and making small talk with the cashier. She bragged abouther son. He is an amazing cook. He watches shows on the food channeland tries all kinds of recipes. His master piece is a spinachlasagna. It's fantastic.

When I asked about clean up, sheacknowledged he's not so great in that department. When he's doneevery surface in the kitchen is cluttered and the sink is piled full.But the food he produces is superlative! She's proud of him.

A friend of mine has an amazingdaughter. She used to work with him. He has his own business and sheacted as his business manager and bookkeeper. Eventually they had tosplit up. She was too bossy, too much of a driver. Her dad tells methis with a gleam in his eye. He loves her toughness, her brilliance,her drive. Every time I talk to him, he talks about his girl,pleasure and pride written all over his face.

For most parents, at the top of ourlist when it comes to giving thanks is our children.

Which makes us a lot like God. Goddelights in his children. He brags about his children.

The book of Job opens with aconversation between God and the devil. The devil claims he's beenwandering the earth. I'm guessing the devil makes this comment like atalk show host or a gossip. He's been out collecting information –and it's all dirt. Like some human beings, the devil relishes badnews. He loves collecting it and repeating it. There's a reason whyhis nickname is “the Accuser.”

The devil announces his bad news: “I'vebeen traveling around the earth.”

God responds with good news, “And didyou notice my servant Job?”

God's next words sound just like aproud Mama or Papa: “There is no one on earth like him; he isblameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

It's easy to understand God being proudof Job. After all, he is a blameless and upright man. What parentwouldn't be proud? But what about God's his lesser children? How doesGod regard his children who are not blameless?

Consider this passage in 1 Kings 15:

Abijah became kingof Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem three years. . . .

Abijah committedall the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fullydevoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his greatgrandfather had been. Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his Godgave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him andby making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in theeyes of the Lord and not failed to keep any of the Lord's commandsall the days of his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

There was warbetween Judah and Israel throughout Abijah's lifetime . . .

Abijah died andhis son Asa succeeded him as king.

Asa reigned inJerusalem forty-one years. . . .

Asa did what wasright in the eyes of the Lord, as his Father David had done. Heexpelled the male prostitutes from the land and got rid of all theidols his fathers had made. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah asqueen mother because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cutthe pole down and burned it. Although he did not remove the highplaces, Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. Hebrought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and thearticles he and his father had dedicated.

Atone point in his reign, Asa paid the king of Damascus to help himretake a strategically important city named Ramah which was locatedon the northern border of the kingdom of Judah. After they capturedthe city, Asa drafted every able-bodied man in the nation. Theyhauled off all the stones and timbers of the city of Ramah and builta two garrison towns to protect the northern border. The book ofKings comments, “As for all the other events of Asa's reign,all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are theynot written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

Abijah was not perfect. “His heartwas not fully devoted to the Lord his God.” Instead of taking afterhis great grandfather, David, he mirrored his father Rehoboam who wasa weak king and tolerated all sorts of idolatrous practices in thenation. But even though “his heart was not fully devoted to theLord his God,” still, because he was the great grandson of David,God showed him favor. God blessed him with military victories and thecontinuation of his dynasty.

EVEN THOUGH his heart was not fullydevoted to the Lord his God, God regarded Abijah as part of thefamily. God claimed him. God blessed him. God showed him the ultimatehonor. He allowed him to pass the throne to his son. He allowed hisdynasty to continue. God does not need perfect children in order togive out blessings. He needs children like you and me.

There is one sentence in this passagethat trips me up every time I read it:

For David had donewhat was right in the eyes of the Lord and not failed to keep any ofthe Lord's commands all the days of his life—except in the matterof Uriah the Hittite.

David was perfect except for theBathsheba affair. Yeah, but the Bathsheba affair was huge. Itinvolved adultery with the wife of one of his senior militaryofficers, then arranging for the extra-judicial killing of theofficer in an attempt to cover up the affair. This is hardly a minorexception to his otherwise perfect record!

And to this exception, we could add hiscensus-taking which caused the death of 70,000 Israelites.

And then there was his mishandling ofthe rape of Tamar which set the stage for a civil war. At least20,000 rebels died.

Still God's affection for David shinesthrough repeatedly in the Bible. God constantly cites David'sdevotion as the gold standard. Objectively, David was not morallysuperior. On occasion, he demonstrated wonderful moral backbone. Onother occasions he was less than admirable. But God looked at himthrough the rosy glasses of a loving Father and bragged about hisson.

Over and over, the prophets rememberthe special relationship of God and David and compare later kings tothat ideal.

Notice the details of the nextcharacter in this passage.

Asa did what wasright in the eyes of the Lord, as his Father David had done.

The passage goes on to outline some ofthe specific policies of Asa's administration. Asa was an activist.He eliminated a variety of idolatrous practices. He was so determinedin his opposition to idolatry that he even removed his grandmotherMaacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had set up ashrine for pagan worship.

Asa did right like his father David.God was proud of his son David. God was proud of his son, Asa.

I like the sentence, “Although he didnot remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to theLord all his life” (verse 14). Asa was not flawless. An objective,outside observer could see room for improvement in hisadministration. But God is not an “objective, outside observer.”God is a Father who looks at his children through love-coloredglasses. “Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heartwas fully committed to the Lord all his life.”

Many Christians think every failure tomeet or exceed every conceivable notion of moral and spiritualexcellence is somehow proof that we are not yet quite in tune withGod. This kind of thinking is corrected by the story of David. TheBible says about David, “He did what was right in the eyes of theLord and did not fail to keep any of the Lord's commands all the daysof his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

God announces to the world about you,“She has done what is right in the eyes of the Lord and has notfailed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of herlife—except that one time . . . . . . .” You fill in theblank. What have you done that sinks to the depths of David seducingUriah's wife, then having Uriah killed?

We are God's children. He looks at usthrough love-colored glasses. He tells his friends about us, “Theyhave done what is right. They have not failed a single time . . .well, there was that one time, but other than that, not a singletime.”

God has a memory colored by a father'slove, by a mother's love. He introduces his son Asa this way, “Asadid what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his Father David haddone.” This in spite of the fact that near the end of his life heblew it big time. God does not specialize in the failings of hischildren. He specializes in our successes.

This is highlighted by another featureof the stories of Abijah, David and Asa.

When we go to the version of thesestories in the Book of Chronicles, we find some interestingdifferences from the details of the stories in Kings.

The record in Kings says that Abijah'sheart was “not fully devoted to God,” but that God blessed himanyway. Telling the story this way highlights the privileges offamily. God blesses his kids out of the riches of his heart, not outof the purity of their performance.

In 2 Chronicles 13, we read an outlineof a sermon Abijah preached to an invading army and of God'ssubsequent routing of that army “because the men of Judah relied onthe Lord, the God of their fathers.” So Abijah was not “fullydevoted” to God, but his devotion was real enough that the book ofChronicles records a sermon he preached.

God treasures the successes of hischildren, even when those successes are not uninterrupted, even whenthose successes are not “the whole story.”

The story of Asa begins with thesewords in Chronicles: “Asa did what was good and right in the eyesof the Lord his God.” Not a bad commendation.

The writer then describes Asa's policyachievements. He repeats what we read in Kings about getting rid ofidol worship, then adds something extra. Kings says about Asa: Hisheart was fully committed to God, but he DID NOT remove the highplaces. Chronicles says he DID remove the high places. Kings writesthat Asa was involved in perpetual war with Basha the king of Israel.Chronicles writes, “the land was at peace . . . No one was at warwith Asa because the Lord gave him rest.”

Chronicles was written later thanKings. In the Bible, with the passage of times, the failings of God'speople become smaller. They vanish from memory. This reflects theheart of God.

Just as in a healthy family, thefailings, the fights, the disappointments and disagreements of thepast slowly get swamped by the goodness of shared life and love, soin God's kingdom the failings of his children get lost in the largerstory that God is writing going forward. God takes great delight inhis children. He treasures every evidence they value him. Heremembers every effort they make in the direction of goodness andrighteousness. He buries their transgressions in the abyss of theocean.

So in the check out line, what he tellspassing customers is how skillful they are in cooking. He does notrecite their failings to clean up. He does not mention the fact thatthey have been out of work for a year. He does not mention theyflunked out of school. He celebrates their cooking, their fantasticspinach lasagna.

The glasses through which God regardsus are no less intensely love-colored than are the glasses worn bythe most doting parent or grand parent among us.

This Thanksgiving, God is giving thanksfor you. If you are like Job, he needles Satan, by asking, “Heyhave you noticed?” If you are like Abijah, whose heart was notfully devoted, he still makes sure the records of heaven record yourbest moments, the times when you did God proud.

If you are like Asa, he celebrates yourreal achievements. He acknowledges your failures. He has to writedown the fact that late in your reign you became too infatuated withyourself. But that failure does not erase his pride in your genuineaccomplishments, his gratitude that you are his son, his daughter. Ifyou are like David, he continues to brag about you and to celebrateyour extraordinary love even if it was followed by an extraordinaryfailure.

God delights in you. He takes pleasurein the slightest evidence you give of a sensitivity to him.

One more story for those who might betempted to think I'm exaggerating the parental affection of God. (See1 Kings 21).

Ahab is notorious as one of the mostwicked kings ever. Nearly every anecdote we have from his reigndetails some moral failure on his part. Then at the end of his reign,after he has allowed his wife to arranged for the extra-judicialkilling of the owner of a choice piece of real estate, and after Godhas sent him a message of condemnation and doom, Ahab puts on sackcloth and gives at least the appearance of contrition.

You and I, reading the story, assumethis is merely regret for getting caught. We presume Ahab is sorryfor the consequences of his actions, not for the actions themselves.But how does God respond? God says to Elijah, “Have you noticedAhab? How he has humbled himself? Let him know I'm going to delaythe doom I predicted.”

“Have you noticed Ahab?” Almost thesame words God spoke to Satan about Job. And for the same purpose.God has caught someone doing something good.

Have you noticed? When God asks thatquestion, he's leading up to good news. He's leading up tothanksgiving. He's leading up to bragging about his kids. About you.

You are here this morning and God givesthanks. Even if you've been gone from God's family a long, long time,when you come home, God is pleased. If you've been gone a really longtime, I imagine he shouts to the heavenly court, “Hey, have younoticed So-and-so?” And he is not pointing our direction in scornor condemnation. He is delighted. He gives thanks.

When we give thanks for our children,we are merely repeating the habits of heaven. When we magnify ourchildren's accomplishments and minimize their failings, we arepracticing for heaven. When we welcome one another, when we help oneanother believe we are treasured in heaven, we are cooperating withGod. We are engaged in the very highest spiritual work.

Since it's Thanksgiving, let me add myvoice to God's. You, especially you saints of North Hill (and beforethat, the saints of Akron, Advent Hope and Babylon and Huntington,you have carried me these years we have lived and worked together. Iwas called by God to preach his amazing grace. To the extent that Ihave fulfilled that calling it is largely because of yourencouragement, correction, affirmation, and admonition. Thank you.

God gives thanks for children like you.He invites us to share in his joy by learning to treasure oneanother.

I Trust You

2011-11-19T09:47:00.001-08:00

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

Sabbath, November 19, 2011

Final version -- only slightly modified from the version published earlier.

I received a phone call this weekasking if I would be participating in something called “The OneProject in Seattle.” I googled “One Project Seattle.” Here'swhat I found:

EventDescription

The ONE Project is committed to theidea that a Jesus-driven, Jesus-bathed, Jesus-backed, Jesus-led,Jesus-filled, Jesus-powered, all-about-Jesus Adventist Church is theuncompromising directive from our past, the joy of our present, andthe hope for our future. . . .

The ONE Project seeks . . . tostimulate preaching, worship, and adoration of Jesus within theAdventist church.

The two days set aside are simply torefresh yourself with leaders of all ages passionate about followingJesus, excited about honest open conversation, and celebrating thesupremacy of Jesus in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Jesus. The organizers of The ONEProject seem to really like Jesus. You might even say they arehappily obsessed with Jesus.

I couldn't help contrasting thehappiness evoked by the supremacy of Jesus with the emotions evokedby other powerful people who have been in the news over the last yearor so.

First it was President Ben Ali inTunisia. He had been in power since 1987. At the end of 2010, thenation erupted with protests against him. He was forced from power.Then his friends were forced from power. Enough! He thought he wasbeloved. In reality, he was hated. And when he was gone, there wasdancing in the streets.

Then there was President Mubarak inEgypt. He imagined he was indispensable to the well-being of hisnation. He insisted he loved his country and his country loved him,but tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated otherwise andcelebrated his fall.

Muammar el-Qaddafi ruled Lybia for 42years. When protests began, he denounced them. He would never leavepower. He would squash them like rats. In the end he was pulled froma culvert and battered and killed and most of the population wasjubilant.

Most recently, it was SilvioBerlusconi. He had served as prime minister three times beginning in1994. He was in love with himself and thought Italy could not prosperwithout him. Then suddenly economic realities forced him to resign indisgrace. Many people in Italy and elsewhere rejoiced.

In contrast to these men who imaginedthemselves beloved only to find themselves despised, Jesus moved fromobscurity to fame and global affection. What makes the difference?Why is Jesus the focus of The ONE Project? Why is Jesus the subjectof hymns he did not commission, the focus of poems written by poetshe did not pay, the model for artists he did not control?

What is the difference between Jesusand Ben Ali, Qaddafi, Mubarak, and Berlusconi—men who imaginedthemselves beloved and indispensable and found themselves suddenlydisgraced, rejected, despised?

Ben Ali, Mubarak, el-Qaddafi andBerlusconi were similar in their love for themselves and their loveof power. Their first objective was preserving their privileges,their prerogatives, their power.

Jesus' first objective was thewell-being of others. In dramatic contrast to Ben Ali, Mubarak,Qaddafi, Berlusconi, and the Democrats and the Republicans, andGoldman Sachs and Bank of America, Jesus freely gave power away.

We celebrate Jesus because he pouredlife into the world instead of sucking into himself. He calls us todo the same.

In one of the most dramaticconversations in the New Testament, Jesus asked his disciples, “Whomdo people say that I am?”

The disciples answered, “Some say youare John the Baptist risen from the dead. Others say you are Elijah.Still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

“What about you?” Jesus asked. “Whodo you say I am?”

Peter said, “You are the Christ, theSon of the Living God.”

“Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah,for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”

Or, to put it into everyday English:Right on, Peter. You got it exactly right (Matthew 16).

Who is Jesus? The Messiah of God, theone destined to rule the nations with an iron rod, the one who willsteamroll evil and every person and force that opposes the triumphand righteous transformation of God's people. The Savior of theworld. The King of Peace.

Jesus is the One the world has beenwaiting for. Now, there will be no more waiting. Put Jesus in chargeand there will be no need to ever again hold elections. No need everagain to ask who should be in charge. One boss for all people for alltime. We're done.

That's how we see it. But that's notthe way Jesus voiced it. Notice his segue out of his affirmation ofPeter's declaration:

“You are right Peter. Your insightcomes straight from God. And I will build my church on this truth.”I would expect these words to mean that Jesus will remain in chargeforever, the single figure at the pinnacle of an eternal pyramid.(This is the picture behind the papacy and most other denominationalvisions of the church. In these visions, the denomination is theindispensable extension of the singular authority of Jesus.)

The classic interpretation of Jesus'sresponse to Peter's affirmation is something like this: After eons ofwaiting for the perfect boss, he has arrived, to remain in chargeforever (along with his lieutenants, the clergy). That's how Qaddafiand Mubarak and Berlusconi saw themselves. They were God's gift tohumanity. They could not imagine that anyone could ever come close tothem in wisdom and force of character. Their nations, theireconomies, their legal systems, their cultures could not survivewithout them.

But this is not where Jesus goes.Instead of pointing to his own permanent spot at the pinnacle power,Jesus immediately segues into announcing his replacement. Jesusannounces he is going to build his church on the truth of hisown rightful claim to power and authority. And to this church he isgoing to give the keys of the kingdom. Jesus' successors will have somuch authority that whatever they bind on earth will be bound inheaven. Whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Jesus gives away his power!

How does this apply to us?

First, it is a wonderful affirmation.Jesus trusts you.

Last week, I focused on the words ofJesus in John 8, “Neither do I condemn you.” Jesus is not intocondemnation. He does not attempt to batter people into repentance.He does not berate people for their failures and their sins. Insteadhe calls them forward into a renewed pursuit of holiness andwholeness.

Today, I pointing an even moremysterious wonder. Not only does Jesus not condemn us. He trusts us.He gives us power and authority.

In Matthew 9, Jesus calls a taxcollector to serve in his inner circle. Not only did Jesus forgivesomeone who had a very questionable livelihood. Jesus trusted him toexercise leadership. (In that historical setting, tax collector wassynonymous with corruption. Tax collectors were widely regarded byJewish people as traitorous both religiously and politically).

The Apostle Paul was part ofChristian-eradication campaign when Jesus called him. When Jesus (invision) sent Ananias, a Christian leader, to go meet the transformedpersecutor, Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard many reports aboutthis man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.”Jesus responded to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrumentto carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before thepeople of Israel. Acts 9:13

Jesus did not merely refuse to condemnPaul. Jesus trusted him.

Jesus trusts you. He gives youspiritual authority. He trusts you to pour blessing into the lives ofpeople around you.

In Matthew and Mark, there is thefantastic story of a woman who sneaks into a banquet and poursfantastically expensive perfume on Jesus. Others present criticizeher for this shocking waste. Jesus not only refuses to condemn her.He celebrates her. “She has done a beautiful thing..” He says.“Wherever the gospel has been preached, this will be told inmemory of her. Mark 14:6 and Matthew 26.

Jesus trusts her. Even when she blows ahuge amount of money on a sentimental, extravagant act. Jesus honorsher. “She has done a beautiful thing.”

And God trusts you.

Then there is the story of the demoniacin Mark. He is a raging, uncontrollable beast, living among the tombsoutside of town. Jesus releases him from the demonic possession, thencommissions him – IMMEDIATELY – as a preacher. “Go, tell thepeople who know you what God has done for you.”

It worked. The same people who thatafternoon urged Jesus to leave their district, a few months laterwelcomed Jesus and sat spell bound listening to him for days.

Jesus trusted a man just minutes out ofdemon possession.

Jesus trusts you.

As a capstone on the Bible witness toJesus' confidence in you, consider this:

The words I say toyou are not just my own words. Rather, it is the Father living in me whois doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father andthe Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of themiracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in mewill do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things thanthese, because I am going to the Father.

And I will dowhatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to theFather. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:10-14.

Jesus says the charm and force of hiswords is rooted in their origin in the Father. By implication, Jesusis challenging his disciples to allow the Father to speak with equalcharm and power through them.

Jesus speaks so highly of his disciplesthat if anyone other than Jesus said these things we would be temptedto think it was blasphemy.

“You will do greater things than Ihave been doing.”

“I will do whatever you ask in myname.” Really? WHATEVER?

We tame these words down by citingother passages. We tame them down because we have asked for stuffthat did not work out the way we asked. How to think about thedifference between our requests and what we observe to happen is animportant question. But before we chase that question, let's makesure we have heard what Jesus said. “Because I am going to myFather, if you have faith in me you will do what I have been doing.And even greater things will you do.”

In this passage Jesus did not presenthimself as indispensable. He presented you and me as indispensable.

He was leaving – of his own freewill. By leaving he was creating space for us to work. He wascreating a stage that begged for our performance. Jesus trusted us.

Just before he went back to heaven, hetold a small group: It is not for you to know the times or dates theFather has set by his own authority. But you will receive power whenthe Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses inJerusalem . . . and to the ends of the world. Acts 1:8.

Our job as Christians is not to pretendto know the date of the end of the world, rather we are to share whatwe really do know: our testimony about the goodness of God. We are tobear witness to the character of the One who will have the last sayin the course of history.

And Jesus trusts us to do it. Jesus isnot wringing his hands. Jesus is not kicking the walls and punchinghis fists through hollow-core doors in frustration. I can'tbelieve these stupid people. What was I thinking when I allowed themin on this?

Jesus trusts us. We can do it. We aredoing it. Let's keep doing it.

And let's trust each other. We may notbe flawless, but we are good enough. We have enough potential that itworth developing. We have enough goodness, that we have no excuse fornot putting it to work.

Let's trust our kids. Surely they arenot less likely to succeed than we were. Let's trust younger peoplein the church – people who are younger chronologically and peoplewho are younger in experience, new converts, non-clergy.

[If we accept Jesus as our model, we will not imagine that God's plan for his church involves "getting back" to some mythic golden era. Trying to recover the zeal and spiritual life of our pioneers is NOT the way forward. God calls us to our own work, to lives and ministries that serve the world we live in. Our cooperation with must necessarily look different from the cooperation with God practiced by anyone in any other era.]

Since Jesus trusts us, we willdemonstrate our fullest partnership with him in the ways we trust oneanother.

Ultimate Spiritual Life

2011-11-18T15:32:00.001-08:00

An outline for the sixth and final session of Spirituality for Thinkers and Seekers.
Friday night, November 18, 2011
North Hill Adventist Fellowship

The Adventist religion prescribes anumber of behaviors:

Obey the Ten Commandments

Keep Sabbath

Pray

Read/study/memorize/contemplate thewords in the Bible

Eat well

Exercise

Practice forgiveness

Get baptized

Take communion

Go to church

What is the purpose of all thesepractices? They are intended to help people live out the ideals ofour religion. And what are the ideals of our religion?

Micah 6:8. “to do justice, to lovemercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Mark 12:28-34. A religious expertasked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Hearing Jesus' answer,the expert agreed. “Well said, teacher,” the mane replied. “youare right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. Tolove him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and withall your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is moreimportant than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Paul writes, after giving all sorts ofspecific rules,“He who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

So one way to answer the question, whatis the purpose of religious practices, is this:

Religious practices are to help us loveGod and love people.

What does it mean to “love”someone? To feel affection for them. To seek their well-being. Todesire them. To value them. To honor them. To claim them as yours.

We can appropriately evaluate ourreligious practices by measuring their usefulness in helping us love.Especially religious practices may be – and I would say, ought tobe – evaluated using the yardstick of effectiveness in helping uslove. Studying the Bible, praying, going to church, keeping Sabbath,reading Ellen White's books are not ultimate goals. They are methodsfor cultivating love. If your involvement with these practices is notincreasing your experience of love, then the practice ought to berevised or abandoned.

You will notice that I've given a twistto the usual Adventist approach. I have not described the point ofreligion as knowing, believing and obeying the Bible. The Bible is atool, a valuable, powerful tool. When we think of the Bible as atool, this highlights the importance of the user. A chainsaw is afantastic aid to someone living in the forest who heats his housewith wood. It is a diabolical instrument of death in horror movies.

So the Bible served Aaron, a methaddict here at North Hill, as an instrument of release fromaddiction. In the South I grew up in it was constantly used as aninstrument of oppression. (Southern Protestant churches dogmaticallydefended all sorts of racial oppression on the basis of the Bible.)Also in the South, Blacks found in the Bible hope and sustenance indealing with the oppression heaped on them by White Christians.

Vibrant, healthy spiritual liferequires cultivation. Religious practices are indispensable for vitalspirituality. They are most potent when they are practiced regularlyand are deliberately put in the service of love.

The Bible does not “make thingstrue.” Something is not true “because the Bible says it.”Rather the Bible, like the apostles bears witness to the truth. Ourfocus must be beyond the Bible on the truth toward which it points.And the greatest truth is God and his, just as the greatestobligation and accomplishment for us is loving God and other people.

The Bible testifies that Jesus is thelight that lightens every human (John 1:9), that God is light and inhim is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5) and that both Jesus and Jesus'disciples are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14, John 8:12; 9:5).

The light that is in us allows us toread the Bible with wise lenses. Because Jesus is our light, we seelight in the words of the Bible. We join Jesus in opposing thedarkness that some people extract from the words of the Bible(Matthew 5:21ff, John 8:5, 11; Mark 2:25). We join Jesus inreceiving and transmitting the light of God that shines from theBible (Matthew 9:13; 12:7).

Oops. I've been overruled.

2011-11-17T15:39:00.001-08:00

I announced I was moving my sermons to a new blog. However, I have been overruled by people half my age. They disapproved of the move. So my sermons will continue to be posted here.

Replacing Jesus?

2011-11-17T15:38:00.001-08:00

Preliminary manuscript for a sermon at North Hill Adventist Fellowship, November 19, 2011.

Criticism invited, especially criticism received before 8:00 a.m. Nov. 19.