First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
May 9, 2010
6th Sunday of Easter (mothers day)
Psalm 67
Acts 16:9-15
Witnessing to the Gospel
Witnessing to the gospel is a wonderful and rich topic. Even the word conjures up fantastic ideas of excitement in some, dread in some, and in Presbyterian circles the word usually prompts a broad roll of the eyes. We as Presbyterians do not do this very well do we? We will visit more about that in a minute.
My first memory of “witnessing” happened during a revival of one of the local churches in Covington. I have said before that as a child, I was exposed to the tension between two different traditions; one happened to witness and the other was very much Presbyterian…who did not “Witness” in the traditional sense.
What happened was this; I was probably about ten or eleven, I am not sure because after this happened, my family never spoke of the ‘incident' again. I was taken into our living room (the only room I was not allowed in and only the ladies bridge club seemed welcome) where some men sat who I did not know. They said, Conner we are going to pray for you. I said OK.
After they prayed over me they asked me if I wanted to ‘open my heart to’ the Lord. Two men and my father looking down on me in the forbidden room…“Hey sure, what ever you say that will get me out of this spot”.
So I prayed what we commonly call ‘The sinners prayer’, we all shook hands and they went away and everything was normal again. The only problem was that I was left with this “What was that all about?” mentality. I do not know if that ‘incident’ was the key to my salvation or not, it may have been, so I have never made light of it. I am grateful to those who felt a calling to pray for me that day.
I certainly left the experience with exponentially more questions than I had answers to. After that I was so confused I could not even formulate questions! What was I supposed to feel? What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to feel something? I didn’t! Did something go wrong? I remember feeling scared, uncertain; anything but peace and security of ‘eternal life’ they had talked about.
The second ‘incident’ regarding witnessing occurred while I was in college at UT Martin. One particular group of students were especially…what’s the word…publicly evangelical. One of the guys was a guy I had graduated high school with. We were in kindergarten all the way to college together. And now he was part of a group whose plan of attack (literally) was to stand beside the sidewalks as classes were changing, waving a bible wildly in the air and screaming at the young men and women as they walked by trying to look at their feet trying to escape un-noticed. It reminded me of the way we all did in school to keep the teacher from calling on you. These screams were not of salvation but of charges of evil, sin and debauchery. It was like having to walk past Jeremiah just to get from biology class to chemistry class.
Still, I do not judge others or their methods. I must believe that someone benefited from these well intended individuals. We are also familiar with the Jehovah’s witnesses, the Gideon’s, very reputable and long standing organizations who do untold good for the kingdom of God.
I even remember attending a church where in Sunday school; there was a form the children had to fill out each week documenting how many people you witnessed to that week. That is all well and good.
13On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.
Here we have a lovely image painted by Luke who, most believe to be the author of the majority of the book of Acts, points out that the group was simply looking for a quiet place to pray. Sometimes it is not simple to know that you need to do this.
An aside ~ my daughter and I recently left a school function at about 8:45 at night on a school night. We decided to just go find an old gravel road to drive down out in the country; you know, just to get out. I was not planning what happened next.
As we drove along between two pastures and a couple clumps of trees, the whole area was just exploding with lightning bugs. There were little frogs crying out, we saw a shooting star. I ended up on a gravel road where we stopped and turned off all the lights. Before I knew it, she had crawled on top of my truck tool box and was simply staring up at the night sky. I got into the bed of the pick up and just laid there
So, there we lay, looking up at the sky full of stars, lightning bugs so dense you could practically read by them, and the spring frogs crying and chirping so loud; a gentle spring breeze came in from the south. We did not speak a word…we did not need to…we were at peace.
That is all the apostles were looking for in this passage. They simply but methodically (we need to notice this) sought out a quiet place and a quiet time.
The women were simply encountered in the routine activities of the group. This was a chance encounter, but it was still an opportunity to witness to the grace of Christ and the truth of the gospel.
“We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.”
There are three things going on here. 1) The apostles are PREPAIRED to speak of the word of God; 2) the women are OPEN to the word of God and 3) the Holy Spirit is working to RELATE the word of God.
All the witnessing in the world won’t amount to a hill of beans if these three things are not at work.
If we claim to follow God and His Son Christ Jesus, we are called on to understand his teachings. You know what? Before I can tell someone else, I first have to understand for myself. That is what this is all about. If I am not clear on my relationship with God the Father and my Lord, Christ Jesus, I am ill prepared to speak to others about their relationship with Him.
Now, I am not talking about being a biblical scholar, which I certainly am not. I am speaking of witnessing to the love and grace and peace of Jesus in your own life and being square with how that love peace and grace has affected you directly. That is in other terms, a personal testimony.
Second, Jesus says all through his ministry, “All who have ears, let him hear”. Have you ever wondered what that really meant? It reminds me of times teaching my children about math, telling time and what all the different coins of money were. On the level of a child…and some adults…these things are difficult to comprehend.
That is what Jesus is saying here, “Open your mind. Think big.” Follow what I am saying.” A popular saying among alcoholic and substance abusers in recovery is “I couldn’t understand until I hit bottom”. This is why I preach so much about our perspectives. There are so many people, the vast majority in my opinion, whose world view is limited by their own needs and desired and wants. There is SO much more to life.
14One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
So at this point we have a prepared person in casual conversation with someone who is interested and open. This is where ONLY the Holy Spirit can close the deal. Sometime it happens and sometime it won’t. But mostly we have to acknowledge that all things happen in God’s time in accordance with God’s will. We can not force the deal closed; whether in someone’s living room or yelling at people on the way to class.
As I have worked at other churches in New Member and Exploring the Faith classes I have witnessed another type of witnessing to the gospel. Over many years of working with people from all walks of life and backgrounds there is one common thread.
In these comfortable and non threatening setting, people work through their faith journey as a part of discerning if joining a church is the right thing to do and if it is the right time in ones life. An opportunity has always been provided to describe the journey they have had and to speak of one person who has been the most significant to them.
Without question answers would come back, “My mother”, “My Grandmother” and then the details would flow branching into all facets of individual lives. This is always a very tender time. I see how mothers affect lives. I have lived this, as I realize how often I mention my mother here. I have witnessed lives being changed by the legacy left behind by mothers.
Have you ever thought of how a mother’s unconditional love, whether easily shown or not, is parallel to the love and grace of Jesus? Remembering mothers who have gone on before us is an important part of Mothers day. Being with our mothers on this day is also important. Today is a day set aside to honor our mothers.
What better way to honor them than to think back on how our mothers have affected our lives. Who has been most influential in your spiritual growth? I bet if we took a survey here this morning, a vast majority would speak of mom. Mom has been witnessing to us all along! Think of that beautiful gift and be thankful.
I am reminded of the well known story of monk who took a student with him into the near by village. All day long they indiscriminately helped people, visited with people and shared a kind word with everyone they met. Near the end of the day the student asked, ‘Master, all day long we have done these menial tasks and been so occupied and busy, when will you preach a sermon?’
To which the master said, “All day long we have been preaching a sermon, it is only occasionally necessary to use words”.
Thank you mothers and may God bless you all!
AMEN
Monday, May 10, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Sunday May 2, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
May 2, 2010
5nd Sunday of Easter
Psalm 148
Acts 11:1-18
Politics of Religion
Around my house growing up there were two things you did not discuss. One was politics and the other was religion. We have always seen these two topics as somewhat independent of one another. We have politics over here and religion over here. They are separate.
But are they? What we really mean to say is the Institutional religion and institutional politics are stand alone separates. Fostering that notion is the separation of Church and state. This separation is mandated because somewhere along the line people figured out that when the line separating spirituality and devotion to god and devotion to state got blurred, some very bad things could happen.
Here is one instance where humans have indeed observed and learned from history…so far.
But the idea that I wish to convey in my message title this morning is more of the politics with a small “p”. That is, political behavior in institutional religion. Now, if it is your opinion that this type of politics does not exist in institutional religion…I almost admire you.
Perhaps you have never been involved in organizing a church program; perhaps you have never participated in any group event at church. Perhaps you have never tried to replace a burned out light bulb and been confronted with an irate member; “You can’t change that bulb! My father donated that bulb!”
Politics have been around since Cain and Able. The story of Jacob and Esau is pure politics at its core level. Who can gain an advantage, hold that advantage and further the cause dear to them? That is politics in churches, civic groups, boy-scout troops and where ever people gather together and interact. It is made up in our DNA.
However, the patience to deal with politics of religion is not. Large churches, small churches, Sunday schools, bible studies, stadiums filled with cheering Christians; whatever you like…politics are involved.
I have heard sermons describing the exact details of Peter’s vision. I have heard the theological expositions of the meaning of each element in the vision. That is not what I want to concentrate on here. This 5th Sunday in Easter, I want to remain focused on the grace that is ours in the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Without that saving act of sacrifice and through the love and compassion of God, we would be lost in our own sin and worldliness.
So in this continuing Easter Season, I want to make sure we keep our focus on the more global Christian movement…the salvation of ALL mankind!
What we see in verse 1The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
“Of all the nerve Peter…what are you doing with those , those, …people (shiver)? We can’t let them in, they are not like us, they are not clean, they don’t have the mark; they are not the chosen race or the line of David! How can you hang out with them?”
Sound familiar? The fact is that ALL people have access to God the Father through Jesus Christ! Not just the ones who think like you, or who look like you, or heaven forbid, pray or worship like you. Do you remember the criticism our president got recently when he reached out to the world’s Muslim leaders? World politics aside, this is the same type of divide that separated the circumcised from the uncircumcised in the crowd Peter was facing!
“I don’t care what Jesus did…I can’t stand that guy because he prays funny!” You can just hear that as an undertone in this passage in Acts 11. But what is really going on here. Who are the real players and what are their real motives? Who are “The circumcised”? Who are the “Un-circumcised”? What does each group have to gain or loose?
Some of the most pure, un-abridged and raw politics in the world do not exist in the United Nations or capitols of Nations. The type of politics I am talking about now is too large for State Capitol buildings too. The Kremlin, the Polit Bureau, Parliament, the Vatican; all pail in comparison to this type of politics I am thinking of.
I am speaking of the politics of the playground, of the cafeteria, of the study hall, the politics of adolescence. I am a veteran of one teenager and am well under way with our second. These politics shape individual thinking, development, attitude, personality, relationships, sexuality and destiny. There is no forgiveness, no mercy and rampant cruelty; if you don’t wear the right thing, like the right thing, hate the right thing and say the right thing in the right way…you’re toast! Your life can become miserable in a matter of seconds! Adolescent suicides are at an all time high in our country due to this at times unbearable pressure.
All of these are opposite of the teachings of Christ. From childhood we bring these behaviors along with us into adulthood, we are conditions by the world around us to think like this. Jacob and Esau were great role models for the way we think…but we are wrong!
That is what is so dramatic about the teachings of Jesus and the life He prescribes. We see Peter in a situation not unlike selling ice cream to Eskimos. No one wants to buy what Peter is selling. This can’t be right; even the un-circumcised? Are you sure about this Peter?
The fact is that we can not escape our biases, our thought, our prejudices…our sin…without help. In our passage this morning, our help comes in the form of the Holy Spirit of God; the third leg of the trinity stool. You see, by ourselves, we are indeed powerless to change.
I have experienced change myself and I can tell you it is not something I could have done alone. I have witnessed the healing power of the Holy Spirit on many, many occasions and can testify to it. However, there is still a boundary to the Holy Spirit. We lack vision and we want things our way. We are impatient.
8"I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
Even Peter had to be reminded several times in his own vision. “It’s all right Peter. My gift of grace is for everyone!” Our little problem is that we become threatened by that. I asked a minute ago, “What does each group in our story have to gain or loose? Have you figured that out yet?
Power; position, prestige, leverage, privilege, advantage, and on and on and on!
Are you sure you want to make THOSE PEOPLE equal to us!? Come on!
Not only does he make THOSE PEOPLE equal to us through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are called to be servants of ‘those people’. You may define ‘those people’ however you may, but ultimately I have come to realize a simple truth.
‘Those People’ refers to everyone else but me. You see, it is ‘those people’ who come to God just as I do, lost, broken, repulsive and dirty. It is Christ who makes that approach possible. I believe that you can not get your mind there without the Holy Spirit of God.
15"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with[a]water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
I hope young people hear me; it is this Holy Spirit, which you can not understand now, that is your helper. I have found to be of great help, praying for two things.
First, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you think beyond the moment you are in. Pray for insight and for peace and for your horizon to expand beyond where you are to include some of the infinite possibilities God may have in store, most of which have never occurred to you. It was these possibilities that those who criticized Peter could not fathom.
Second, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you think beyond yourself. Jesus taught us over and over that it is not about you. It is not about me, it is about serving others! This is the very point I want to bring you to. If Peter can not serve others by reaching out to the un-circumcised, how can he spread the ACCURATE gospel message of forgiveness to ALL! When confronted by opposition, Peter did not become defensive or self conscious. He became passionate and convicted.
So what of the trappings of power, position, prestige? They were never truly yours anyway. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we can begin to see the world for what it really is; a creation of God. Just as an artist or a sculptor creates, just as musicians play notes combined into a beautiful symphony, just as a writer casts images across the mind, creativity is not confined to a single event or item, nor is it finite. The creative capacity of God the Father is infinite and unimaginable.
What a limited view we have of life, of love and of eternity if we will not trade our earthly power and prestige for what we are offered by God, in this life, or in the next.
Peter said in verse 17So if God gave them (the uncircumcised; you know…THOSE PEOPLE) the same gift as he gave us (the apostles), who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"
18When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."
Politics are a human invention. Unfortunately, politics will be with us for the rest of human existence. But rejoice in the fact that God does not choose us the way we chose sides at recess!
Thanks be to God for the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.
AMEN
Ripley Tennessee
May 2, 2010
5nd Sunday of Easter
Psalm 148
Acts 11:1-18
Politics of Religion
Around my house growing up there were two things you did not discuss. One was politics and the other was religion. We have always seen these two topics as somewhat independent of one another. We have politics over here and religion over here. They are separate.
But are they? What we really mean to say is the Institutional religion and institutional politics are stand alone separates. Fostering that notion is the separation of Church and state. This separation is mandated because somewhere along the line people figured out that when the line separating spirituality and devotion to god and devotion to state got blurred, some very bad things could happen.
Here is one instance where humans have indeed observed and learned from history…so far.
But the idea that I wish to convey in my message title this morning is more of the politics with a small “p”. That is, political behavior in institutional religion. Now, if it is your opinion that this type of politics does not exist in institutional religion…I almost admire you.
Perhaps you have never been involved in organizing a church program; perhaps you have never participated in any group event at church. Perhaps you have never tried to replace a burned out light bulb and been confronted with an irate member; “You can’t change that bulb! My father donated that bulb!”
Politics have been around since Cain and Able. The story of Jacob and Esau is pure politics at its core level. Who can gain an advantage, hold that advantage and further the cause dear to them? That is politics in churches, civic groups, boy-scout troops and where ever people gather together and interact. It is made up in our DNA.
However, the patience to deal with politics of religion is not. Large churches, small churches, Sunday schools, bible studies, stadiums filled with cheering Christians; whatever you like…politics are involved.
I have heard sermons describing the exact details of Peter’s vision. I have heard the theological expositions of the meaning of each element in the vision. That is not what I want to concentrate on here. This 5th Sunday in Easter, I want to remain focused on the grace that is ours in the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Without that saving act of sacrifice and through the love and compassion of God, we would be lost in our own sin and worldliness.
So in this continuing Easter Season, I want to make sure we keep our focus on the more global Christian movement…the salvation of ALL mankind!
What we see in verse 1The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
“Of all the nerve Peter…what are you doing with those , those, …people (shiver)? We can’t let them in, they are not like us, they are not clean, they don’t have the mark; they are not the chosen race or the line of David! How can you hang out with them?”
Sound familiar? The fact is that ALL people have access to God the Father through Jesus Christ! Not just the ones who think like you, or who look like you, or heaven forbid, pray or worship like you. Do you remember the criticism our president got recently when he reached out to the world’s Muslim leaders? World politics aside, this is the same type of divide that separated the circumcised from the uncircumcised in the crowd Peter was facing!
“I don’t care what Jesus did…I can’t stand that guy because he prays funny!” You can just hear that as an undertone in this passage in Acts 11. But what is really going on here. Who are the real players and what are their real motives? Who are “The circumcised”? Who are the “Un-circumcised”? What does each group have to gain or loose?
Some of the most pure, un-abridged and raw politics in the world do not exist in the United Nations or capitols of Nations. The type of politics I am talking about now is too large for State Capitol buildings too. The Kremlin, the Polit Bureau, Parliament, the Vatican; all pail in comparison to this type of politics I am thinking of.
I am speaking of the politics of the playground, of the cafeteria, of the study hall, the politics of adolescence. I am a veteran of one teenager and am well under way with our second. These politics shape individual thinking, development, attitude, personality, relationships, sexuality and destiny. There is no forgiveness, no mercy and rampant cruelty; if you don’t wear the right thing, like the right thing, hate the right thing and say the right thing in the right way…you’re toast! Your life can become miserable in a matter of seconds! Adolescent suicides are at an all time high in our country due to this at times unbearable pressure.
All of these are opposite of the teachings of Christ. From childhood we bring these behaviors along with us into adulthood, we are conditions by the world around us to think like this. Jacob and Esau were great role models for the way we think…but we are wrong!
That is what is so dramatic about the teachings of Jesus and the life He prescribes. We see Peter in a situation not unlike selling ice cream to Eskimos. No one wants to buy what Peter is selling. This can’t be right; even the un-circumcised? Are you sure about this Peter?
The fact is that we can not escape our biases, our thought, our prejudices…our sin…without help. In our passage this morning, our help comes in the form of the Holy Spirit of God; the third leg of the trinity stool. You see, by ourselves, we are indeed powerless to change.
I have experienced change myself and I can tell you it is not something I could have done alone. I have witnessed the healing power of the Holy Spirit on many, many occasions and can testify to it. However, there is still a boundary to the Holy Spirit. We lack vision and we want things our way. We are impatient.
8"I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
Even Peter had to be reminded several times in his own vision. “It’s all right Peter. My gift of grace is for everyone!” Our little problem is that we become threatened by that. I asked a minute ago, “What does each group in our story have to gain or loose? Have you figured that out yet?
Power; position, prestige, leverage, privilege, advantage, and on and on and on!
Are you sure you want to make THOSE PEOPLE equal to us!? Come on!
Not only does he make THOSE PEOPLE equal to us through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are called to be servants of ‘those people’. You may define ‘those people’ however you may, but ultimately I have come to realize a simple truth.
‘Those People’ refers to everyone else but me. You see, it is ‘those people’ who come to God just as I do, lost, broken, repulsive and dirty. It is Christ who makes that approach possible. I believe that you can not get your mind there without the Holy Spirit of God.
15"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with[a]water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
I hope young people hear me; it is this Holy Spirit, which you can not understand now, that is your helper. I have found to be of great help, praying for two things.
First, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you think beyond the moment you are in. Pray for insight and for peace and for your horizon to expand beyond where you are to include some of the infinite possibilities God may have in store, most of which have never occurred to you. It was these possibilities that those who criticized Peter could not fathom.
Second, pray for the Holy Spirit to help you think beyond yourself. Jesus taught us over and over that it is not about you. It is not about me, it is about serving others! This is the very point I want to bring you to. If Peter can not serve others by reaching out to the un-circumcised, how can he spread the ACCURATE gospel message of forgiveness to ALL! When confronted by opposition, Peter did not become defensive or self conscious. He became passionate and convicted.
So what of the trappings of power, position, prestige? They were never truly yours anyway. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we can begin to see the world for what it really is; a creation of God. Just as an artist or a sculptor creates, just as musicians play notes combined into a beautiful symphony, just as a writer casts images across the mind, creativity is not confined to a single event or item, nor is it finite. The creative capacity of God the Father is infinite and unimaginable.
What a limited view we have of life, of love and of eternity if we will not trade our earthly power and prestige for what we are offered by God, in this life, or in the next.
Peter said in verse 17So if God gave them (the uncircumcised; you know…THOSE PEOPLE) the same gift as he gave us (the apostles), who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"
18When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."
Politics are a human invention. Unfortunately, politics will be with us for the rest of human existence. But rejoice in the fact that God does not choose us the way we chose sides at recess!
Thanks be to God for the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.
AMEN
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