Thursday, June 26, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Values, Addicts and Chuck Noll
God’s grace, peace and mercy be with
you. … My theme is God gives us personal value. My focus is Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a
servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher,
and the servant like his master.”
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the
psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the
Lord.’”[i]
Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we
listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply
as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
You
got a happy dance? Pharrell has a song for your happy dance. His “Happy” video features
people dancing the 4-minute song for 24 hours. A 24-hour video!
Of
course, Happy is not the first song to promote happiness. The list includes Don’t
Worry, Be Happy; Happy Together; You’ve Made Me So Very Happy; The Happiest
Girl in the Whole USA; Happy Days; and Oh Happy Day.
I
begin a sermon entitled God gives us personal value with happy thoughts because
many view happiness as a personal value. So, let us look at Value, Pauline
Values, Matthean Values, and because we are planning summer vacations, my
Prescription for Spiritual Laziness, which may be your key to happiness.
First,
value. Although our founding fathers penned “pursuit of happiness” into the
Declaration of Independence, they did not define it as we do. Definitions
evolve. For example, the word nice comes from the Latin word nescius meaning “ignorant.” In the 14th
century, it meant “foolish,” then evolved to mean cowardice, and then shyness.
Today, when someone says you are nice, you take it as a compliment.[ii]
In
the context of the Declaration of Independence, happiness was about one’s
contribution to society rather than pursuit of self-gratification.[iii]
I contribute to society the personal values I learned and modeled as a child.
These personal values provide an internal reference for what is good. In a
society where people come from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, our cultural
values emphasize those that people broadly share.
We
derive our Christian values from the teachings of Jesus and from Christian
teachers throughout the history of our religion. What we believe and practice as
Lutherans is not exactly what Baptists, Methodists or other Christians believe
and practice, but we share some basic Christian values.
To
sort out Christian values, we return to our roots, and turn to my second point
– Pauline values.
Paul
came to believe, practice and hand on to Jesus’ early followers what the Holy
Spirit revealed to him as essential. He was sophisticated enough to understand
that the teachings of Jesus, like definitions, may not mean the same thing to
all people.
Learned,
practicing 1st century Jews in Jerusalem understood the deeper
meaning of Jesus’ Last Supper differently than Gentile converts reared to
worship other gods. Hence, Paul taught a new theology of baptism and communion
that Jews and Gentiles alike understood and appropriated.
Paul
did the same with sin and grace, redemption and sanctification. He conveyed to
cultures that lacked Scripture the concept that humans are sinful by nature and
by choice. Once he presented this, Paul could
teach that because our loving God values us, He redeemed us through His Son.
Today,
we take for granted Paul’s teaching on sin, redemption, baptism and Christian
values. We even take for granted a brand new term that Paul coined –
sanctification.
Do
we fully understand what Paul meant when he wrote present yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification?
… Recall the story I told last fall of Minh Dang, enslaved by her parents until
she broke free as an adult.[iv]
Minh understands the concept of slavery quite differently than we do. We have
no personal experience of what it means to be a slave.
I
see myself as master of my own destiny. No one tells me how to live, how to
think, how to behave. I am my own man. That makes it difficult to grasp the
meaning of Paul’s words. We might understand the concept of presenting ourselves
as slaves to righteousness leading to
sanctification if we considered ourselves not as slaves but as addicts.
In
the Roman Empire, addicts were bankrupt people given as slaves to their
creditors. Addict comes from the Latin addictus,
meaning “a debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor.” In the 1600s, it meant
giving yourself to someone or some practice. By the 1900s, addict became associated
with dependency on drugs.
So,
when Paul says we are slaves to sin, he means addicted to sin. This addiction
extends beyond acts of murder, theft, adultery or gossip, and goes to the heart
of sin – idolatry. … We are addicted to thinking that we control our own destiny.
God is not my master. I have no master. I am my own master.
From
his encounter with the Risen Christ, Paul knew better. As sinners whose debt
was paid through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we, the baptized,
should live as addicts of the Holy Trinity. That is what “present yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification”
means. You are addicted to God. As a drug controls the life of an addict, the
Trinity controls the life of a Christian. Addiction to God leads me to my third
point, Matthean values.
The
kernel of today’s Gospel is that Christians resemble their Teacher and Master,
Jesus Christ. When baptized, we put on Christ, but often fail to resemble Him. By
grace, Christians become more like Christ by prayerfully reading God’s Word and
receiving Holy Communion.
Paul
pointed out that God favored the Jews over Gentiles because He chose them and
remained faithfully present to them. We are favored because God remains
faithfully present to us through Word and Sacrament. Word and Sacrament are
essential to our worship and life. They are essential to other Christians as
they too attempt to become more like Christ. However, other denominations
interpret Word and Sacrament differently.
We
should understand that although we agree with denominations whose personal and
communal values are formed by the teachings of Christ, when it comes to the
interpretation of Word and Sacrament, we view these quite differently. Some
denominations, such as Methodists and Presbyterians, teach that Christ is only symbolically
present in Holy Communion.[v]
They practice open Communion even for the unbaptized.
We
have more than a symbolic presence. We have the true Body and Blood of Christ
in, with and under the forms of bread and wine. Because that true Body and
Blood of Christ is available to us and because God calls us to be like our
Teacher and Master, think how deep can our relationship with God could be if we
made ourselves present to Him in Word and Sacrament?
Imagine
how deep your relationships would be if you made yourself present to each
member of your family. Now, imagine yourself as the hot water heater. Everyone
takes for granted the hot water heater. No one notices it until something is
wrong. We all have relationships like that. Family members take us for granted
or never notice something is wrong until we break down.
How
do we respond when faithful friends and family members treat us like the hot
water heater? How does God respond when we treat Him like a hot water heater?
My
friends, summer vacation means taking time away. Unfortunately, for some that
includes time away from Word and Sacrament. Like our relationship with the hot
water heater, we become spiritual lazy. Hence, my final point, my Summer
Prescription for Spiritual Laziness.
Oswald
Chambers once wrote, “We are all capable
of being spiritually lazy saints.” We are all capable of being spiritually
lazy saints. Now, before I give you this prescription, let me tell you the
story of a man who never became spiritually lazy.
Maximillian
Kolbe was born in Poland in 1894. As a young man, he saw religious indifference
as the deadliest poison of his day. A missionary in Japan in the early 30’s, he
returned to Poland to found a newspaper and radio station, tools to spread the
Gospel and to speak out against Nazi atrocities.[vi]
In
1941, the Nazis arrested Kolbe and incarcerated him at Auschwitz. That July, a
prisoner escaped. As punishment, the commandant announced 10 men would die. As
the 10 were being marched away to the starvation bunkers, Kolbe, Prisoner
Number 16670, stepped from the line, and requested, “I would like to take that man’s place. He has a wife and children.”
The dumbfounded commandant kicked the doomed sergeant out of line and ordered
Kolbe to go with the nine. They were stripped naked as their slow starvation
began in darkness. … There was no screaming from the prisoners. Instead, they
raised their spirits by singing. By August 14, the jailer came to finish off
Kolbe as he sat in a corner praying. Kolbe lifted his fleshless arm to receive
the bite of the hypodermic needle filled with carbolic acid. The Nazis burned
his body with all the others.
Kolbe
could not have witnessed for Christ in Auschwitz
if he had not formed a deep, full, rich intimate relationship with Him
throughout his life. We may never find ourselves condemned to death by
starvation or as slaves to cruel masters, but daily we have the opportunity to
witness for Christ.
When
faced with adversity – religious harassment, ethnic persecution, war, death,
divorce, faithless family and friends, unemployment, poverty, sickness,
incurable disease and impending death – we have the opportunity to witness for Christ, our Master and Teacher. In order to do so, experience
tells me to prescribe something to counter spiritual laziness – the five P’s of
Prayer: Passage, Place, Posture, Presence and Passage.
Passage. Depending on the circumstances,
choose a Scripture passage. Slowly read it several times until a word or phrase
rises to the surface.
Place. Choose a place where you will not
be disturbed. It may be in your home or a quiet church.
Posture. Find a sturdy comfortable chair
that will allow you to sit upright. Posture is important. Do not slouch or lie
down.
Presence. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Start
there and gradually increase your prayer time to 25 minutes. Close your eyes so
you are not distracted. Be present to God as He is present to you. Thoughts,
feelings, physical discomforts and audible distractions will occur. Stand firm
in the stream and let these distractions flow by as flotsam and jetsam go
downstream.
Passage. When you get distracted, return to
the passage and refocus. When your minutes have passed, close your meditation
by reciting aloud The Lord’s Prayer.
Because
Jesus personally values you, try this for 25 minutes a day for the next 30-some
years – the lifespan of Jesus. I guarantee you a deeper, richer, fuller, more
intimate relationship with our Triune God. If it does not work, you can return it
for your old relationship with God.
If
you are satisfied with your present relationship with God and are living a
respectable Christian life, consider these words of the recently passed Chuck
Noll, the only NFL coach to win four Super Bowls. Asked at his first news
conference if his goal was to make the Steelers respectable, Noll said, “Respectability? Who wants to be respectable?
That's spoken like a true loser.”[vii]
Be
a champion for Christ. Step out of line and witness for Christ in the manner
Maximillian Kolbe did. Like a true champion, witness for our Teacher and Master,
Jesus Christ, and not Satan, sin and self. … We are more likely to witness for
Christ if we are addicted to Him and not ourselves. When we step out of line in
faith and love, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding,
will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[i]
Psalm 122
Christian values - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_values
Abortion and life - http://www.wiscnews.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/article_31b18dea-805d-5436-9008-1bab22907fa2.html
American Heritage Girls - http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/non-profits/PR051614090617106
[iii] See
page 36. http://www.civicenterprises.net/MediaLibrary/Docs/national_conference_on_citizenship_2005.pdf
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Amos the Poetic Prophet
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist
wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the
Lord.’”[1] Now that our feet are within your gates, we
rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds
and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most
Holy Trinity. Amen.
No one wakes the dead like the Irish. Although
the Irish no longer wake the dead in their parlors, one cannot help but be
moved by a poem set to music sung at an Irish funeral. The most moving funeral
experience I witnessed was listening to an Irish tenor sing “Danny Boy” toward
the end of the funeral for a police officer with family, friends and fraternal
colleagues filling the church and spilling onto the street. That poem set to
music sung in that setting softens hearts and moistens eyes. To quote a
Lutheran scholar, “A major function of prophetic poetry is persuasion. Through
[poetry], the Holy Spirit works to influence and change people. … The carefully
articulated words of Amos in memorable, compelling, persuasive poetic verse
are, at the same time, ‘the words of Yahweh’ (8:11).”[2]
Rather than seeing Amos as a street preacher
barking revelations from God to a world of heathens and backsliding sinners, we
should see him as a sophisticated agricultural entrepreneur firmly devoted to
Yahweh, subtly lambasting his hearers with poetry. Read Amos as you would
Whitman, Poe, Dickinson, Angelou – poets who move hearts and minds with
creatively crafted words. Martin Luther King wove Amos’ words into one of
America’s most memorable speeches at the March for Civil Rights in 1963 – “Let
justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”[3] In his day, Amos
creatively constructed God’s words to deliver a poetic message of divine
punishment and redemption. Poetic justice, perhaps?
This evening, I will read you chapter three;
reflect on two questions that the writers must have asked aloud; and finally,
how the passage challenges us today.
First, the chapter. Listen to the words of
Amos, the Word of God, words and woes for Israel.
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken
against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out
of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore
I will punish you for all your iniquities.
“Do two walk together, unless they have
agreed to meet?
Does a lion roar in the forest, when he
has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the
people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city, unless the
Lord has done it?
“For the Lord God does nothing without
revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who
will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on
the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the
oppressed in her midst.”
“They do not know how to do right,”
declares the Lord, “those who store up violence and robbery in their
strongholds.”
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “An
adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and
your strongholds shall be plundered.”
Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd
rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the
people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch
and part of a bed.”
“Hear, and testify against the house of
Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts, “that on the day I punish
Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the
horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the
winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares the Lord.
Chapter 3 poses two questions. The first
question is: Isn’t Israel elected by
Yahweh? The second: Who is Amos? The
answer to the first question is: Yes, Israel was elected by Yahweh, but for a
purpose.
Amos and Israel knew that Yahweh delivered
more than just their clan from Egypt. In 9:7, Amos wrote, “Are
you not like the Cushites to me, O
people of Israel?” declares the Lord. “Did I not bring up Israel from
the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor
and the Syrians from Kir?”
Israel alone, however, was granted a special
relationship. Israel was not merely known, but favored by Yahweh as His
covenant partner. God initiated this partnership. We read in Jeremiah: “Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated
you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”[4] Paul, too, realized God
had chosen him. In Galatians, the Apostle wrote: “He set me apart before I was
born, and called me by his grace.”[5] Like the prophet and Paul,
Israel knew it was chosen to be protected by God in order to bring people to
Him, to Christ. Israel knew that its
relationship with God was special.
Because Israel went over to false gods, God
visited Israel in its guilt. When God visits people in their guilt, He brings
the Law and the Gospel. He can either punish you – as we read in Exodus – You shall
not bow down to [false gods] or serve them, for I the Lord
your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me[6] – or He can absolve you –
as we read in 2nd Samuel – David’s heart struck him after he had
numbered the people. David said to the Lord, “I
have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord,
please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”[7]
Amos’ rhetorical questions in verses 3-6
bolster his assertions in verses 7-8. (Open the Bible to this passage.) The expected
answer to each question is no. The unexpected response of
verses 7-8 answers my second question – Who is Amos? Amos is a prophet, and he prophesies
like a roaring lion because God revealed His Word to him.
The prophets, God’s servants or right-hand
men, were like a circle of trusted intimates. Like the circle of angelic holy
ones,[8] God graciously invited his
prophets into his council to hear his Word so that they could preach it to the
people.
In God’s council, the prophets received
visions. In fact, in chapter 7, King Amaziah labels Amos as a “seer.”[9] Having been in God’s
council, Amos carried with him an authority that no king or apostate priest
could nullify, try as they did. His message was not his, but God’s.[10]
Amos’ message from God reminded Israel that
those who worship and defile holy things intentionally or unintentionally will
be punished by death.[11] The only solution is that
God will wipe away their guilt through blood sacrifice.
For that sacrifice, Israel praised God
through the Psalmist. “When iniquities prevail against me, you
atone for our transgressions. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to
dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the
holiness of your temple!”[12]
Scripture reminds us that there are prophets
who are neither major nor minor. All who believe in God and worship Him are His
servants, His prophets. In Leviticus and Numbers we read, “For it is to me that the people
of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of
Egypt: I am the Lord your God.[13]
… Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his
Spirit on them!”[14]
The final prophet is Christ. The Son revealed
His Father’s redemptive plan that involves judgment and salvation, Law and
Gospel. Because of his atonement and reconciling work, we the baptized have
gained access to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Word
and Sacrament, we are in communion with our Triune God.[15]
Finally, how the passage challenges us today.
… It is quite easy for me to pose questions about how we are faithless to a
faithful God. … How we prefer our ways
to God’s ways. How we want to influence people and events more than the Holy
Spirit. How we want more Facebook followers than Jesus. How we determine what
God’s will must be for me.
Instead, my thoughts were piqued by the
writings of Reed Lessing, Scripture professor at Concordia Seminary. Lessing
challenges the ordained when he writes, “Pastors are called into the apostolic
office to be ‘stewards of the mysteries of God.’ Imitating Paul, they are not
to shirk from proclaiming ‘the whole counsel of God.’ The divine command is
revealed in God’s Word, which pastors are ordained to preach to God’s people
and to all. They announce that ‘the mystery of God, which he evangelized to his
servants the prophets,’ will be fulfilled at the seventh trumpet, upon the
return of Christ.”[16]
Like Israel and Amos, we are called into a
covenantal relationship with God. We who believe and worship our Triune God as
ordained and lay people are called into a serious, loving relationship through
Word and Sacrament. If we are in a serious relationship, then we need to be
engaged in that relationship. If we are not putting the time and attention into
serious relationships – friendship, marriage, family, church – then we are
disengaged. So, the challenging question for us is: Am I engaged in a prayer
life that demands both time and attention? In addition to reading God’s Word,
receiving Communion and offering a few prayers for family and friends, is my
prayer life deep, full, rich?
When I think of Amos comparing himself to a
roaring lion, he could do so because he took seriously the call from God to
prophesy, to announce the mystery of God. He took seriously his role as God’s
right-hand man, and he loved it. Being a prophet 2,700 years ago was no easier
task than it is today. It is a privilege to be called, is it not? And we take
seriously our divine call by spending quality time with our God in prayer. Let
God comfort and challenge, afflict and disturb, energize and engage you. … If
there is anything I can ask you to do, it is to take seriously your role as
prophets in the world and your commitment to God in prayer. As you do, may the
peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.
[1] Psalm
122
[2] R.
Reed Lessing, Amos. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009. p. 70.
[3]
Amos 5:24
[4]
Jeremiah 1:5
[5]
Galatians 1:15
[6]
Exodus 20:5
[7] 2
Samuel 24:10
[8]
Psalm 89:7
[9]
Amos 7:12
[10]
Lessing, 220f
[11]
Leviticus 7:18; 17:16; Exodus 28:43.
[12]
Psalm 65:3-4
[13]
Leviticus 25:55
[14]
Numbers 11:29
[15]
Lessing, 221
[16]
Lessing, 221
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