Less is More: Singing a New Song

Advent is a season of preparation and anticipation. It is the season of preparation for the coming of Christ and the season of anticipating and longing for his coming. At a minimum, preparation entails a change of routine, e.g. "I have to leave work now and go home and prepare dinner." However, when God asks us to prepare for his coming, the change of routine becomes a change of heart, a change of lifestyle, a switch from the mundane to the sanctified. During this season of preparation, we will be looking primarily at the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the consummate man of preparation who "give[s] his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 1:77).

During Advent this year, where do we need to change?

The text today is in two parts, each with its own song. Throughout the Bible, God intervenes in people’s lives, and they respond in song: God parts the Red Sea and Moses & Miriam sing (Exodus 15:1-21); God delivers David from Saul, and David sings (Psalm 18 [1]); the Israelites defeat a Canaanite army led by Jabin & Sisera, and Deborah & Barak sing (Judges 5); Jesus first appears in a vision to John as a lamb, and the response of the angelic beings & the 24 elders is a new song (Revelation 5:6-10); Gabriel comes to Zechariah and Mary with pronouncements of miraculous births and the advent of the Messiah, and their responses here today are songs.

Luke 1:39-56

Commentary

v39 The sense here is that Mary goes almost immediately to Elizabeth. Other evidence: Gabriel says that Elizabeth is in her 6th month (v36); and Mary stays with Elizabeth for three months (v56).

v42 Elizabeth is the one person who can truly believe & affirm Mary. How often do you have a chance to sympathize with people who are struggling with the same issues that you have dealt with?

Note: We are not told that Mary told Elizabeth that she was pregnant. Could it be that Elizabeth’s exclamation is a prophetic sign for Mary? (i.e. Mary is pregnant by only a few days, could it be that Elizabeth’s supernatural knowledge confirms to Mary something that she is not sure of in her own body?)

The Archbishop of Canterbury cautioned missionaries to India to never read these verses in public. When the kingdom of God becomes manifest in a place, everything must change.

Are you ready for everything to change? God is ready. God is for you as much as he is for Mary. What is holding back that change? (Hint: it’s not God!)

Luke 1:57-80

Commentary

v66 All through our childhood, people tell us the stories of our lives—good things we have done, bad things we have done, silly things we done—to the point that the trajectory of our lives are often cast in concrete before we reach adulthood. What chance does the child have who has always heard, "You were a mistake!"? What chance does the child have who has always heard, "You are an angel!"? The question here, "What is this child going to be?" is the same question as for all of us. In John’s case, the hand of God is clear. In our case, the hand is God is ready to either sustain the trajectory that others have put us on, or to alter it.

v67 Zechariah’s song is actually two songs, I think: a hymn of praise to the faithfulness of God and the reality of his salvation; and a commission to his son to prepare the way for the Lord.

Consider how Zechariahs’s and Mary’s songs are similar: they both begin with praise; they both recall the faithfulness of God throughout the generations of Abraham; they both speak of God’s mercy. What words and concepts are in common between the two songs?

Application

Nine places in the Bible use the phrase "new song": Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelvation 5:9; 14:3. In each case the new song, or the call for a new song, is a response the mighty saving power of God. It’s as if the composer says, "No words exist for describing what I have seen you just do; therefore, by your grace and by your Spirit, I offer unto you this new song." Mary and Zechariah are certainly singing new songs as well.

Points to Ponder

What is the trajectory you were set on as a child, i.e. what messages did you hear growing up?

Regardless of the trajectory of your life, God is at work in you. Is it to sustain you or to change your course?

When God acts, how do you respond? Apathy? Joy? Confusion? Confidence? Fear? Pleasure? Other?

The whole idea of a new song is that old songs seemed to fall short. If our "song" is our response to God in our lives, are we open to a new song, or are we trying to muddle through singing the same old songs? (I am not talking about hymns, I’m talking about how we live our lives in response to God!) What does the God who says, "I make all things new!" desire to do in your life?

End Notes:

1 - Psalm 18 is just one of many psalms David writes as a response of God’s work in his life. Just for fun, take your Bible and read the superscriptions (the introductions between the chapter number and first verse of each psalm and see when/how David perceives God working in his life.

Less is More: It's Not All About You

Advent is a season of preparation and anticipation. [1] It is the season of preparation for the coming of Christ and the season of anticipating and longing for his coming. During this season of preparation, we will be looking primarily at the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the consummate man of preparation who said of Jesus, "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30).

During Advent this year, where do we need to become less and let God become greater?

Luke 1

Commentary

v27 Technically, parthenos, the word translated twice in this verse as "virgin," can also refer to a young, unmarried woman (i.e. a woman of virginal characteristics). Likewise, alma, the word used in Isaiah 7:14 and translated as virgin, can also refer to a woman before the birth of her first child.
v28 The verb tense here is significant, meaning literally, "Hail, one favored continually now [by virtue of] having been favored in the past!

This prompts the question: If God favored you in the past will he continue to favor you as well?

v34 The NIV softened the sense of Mary’s question, which is literally, "How will this [be] since a man I am not knowing [i.e. having sexual relations with]?" We can quibble over the various meanings of words, but Mary’s question is unambiguous.

v35 The first 2 of the verbs of Gabriel’s answer sound ominously irresistible. Compare the other instances of "come upon" (Luke 11:22; 21:26; 21:35; Acts 1:8; 8:24; 13:40; and James 5:1) and "overshadow" (Luke 9:34; Acts 5:15). When the Spirit acts, how often is the human response fear and awe?

v36 I mentioned prophetic signs last week. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I guess one can view Gabriel’s revelation of Elizabeth’s pregnancy as such a sign.

Application

In the mythologies of the time, the coupling of heavenly beings—gods, angels, or demons—with humans was a common theme. [2] For example, many Greek epic heroes—Achilles, Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, et al—were alleged to be the offspring of gods. However, the mythic coupling of humans with heavenly beings was usually savage—frequently rape—and often had dire consequences for the human mate and/or their families. Paramours of Zeus were frequently victimized by Zeus’ wife, Hera. The heroes themselves were frequently involved in prophecies that brought death and destruction to the family.

Perhaps the most famous mythic rape of a mortal is portrayed in the William Bulter Yeats poem Leda and the Swan. Zeus assumed the form of a swan and raped Leda, wife of Tyndareus, King of Sparta, thereby conceiving Helen (later known as Helen of Troy).

Is that what happens when God enters into our lives? Does God, our Creator, Lord of the universe, to whom all will eventually bow (Philippians 2:9-11) force his way into our lives? Do we have any say, any right of refusal, to what God does in our lives? The Bible says:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

What, then, shall we say in response to this? Do we have the power to tell God, "No thanks, I’ll pass for now."? Do we have the right to tell God, "Not today, but ask me again tomorrow."?

"What, then, shall we say in response to this?" This is Paul’s exact question in v31! He answers his question with another question: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The answer is: ourselves! We want God to work in our lives ... but only so far. We want God to fix the things we want fixed ... but leave the rest alone. Frequently we are scared to let God loose in our lives. Even if God is for us, we can be against ourselves!

But consider the difference between the story of Mary and the myths of Leda and others: The story of Mary begins with a proclamation of favor—great favor, continual favor. The God that loves Mary—and you, and me—loves with a sacrificial love:

I love you so much I will put my godhead aside for a bit. I will come to earth as a normal human being. I will live with you. I will suffer with you. And I will die with you. But my death will be for you, and because I die in your stead, if you give yourself to me, you will live with me forever.

No other god in the panoply of religions makes an offer like this! No other god in the panoply of religions loves as the god of Mary loves. The gods of other religions mirror human love. Love is legal tender that is demanded from those who owe you something; love is an egocentric emotion related to how good another makes you feel; love is the polite face for lust, vanity, pride, and envy. The "lover" often hurts the "beloved."

However, God loves us before we ever think of loving him (Romans 5:8). God pours out his love on those who never love him in return, who never even think of him. God never demands that we love him back. What a self-effacing love, for the Creator of universe to create you, to love you, and never to demand that you do anything for him. However, when we turn to God, when we respond to God’s favor, as God’s children made in his likeness there is only one response that works: surrender. Complete surrender. We don’t surrender because he forces us to; we don’t surrender because it is our duty; we surrender because anything less is not loving him in kind. Anything less than surrender is loving the way the world loves—not the way that God has loved us.

In v38, as Mary surrenders herself to God, one may imagine her still fearful, one may imagine her confused, or worried. However, one must imagine this child of God responding with a love that mirrors her Father’s sacrificial love for her.

Points to Ponder

You will never know the full power of God in your life, you will never know the joy of full surrender, until you know the reality of God’s love for you. Do you know in your heart that God loves you?

If you are not sure that God loves you, are you holding on to something—some past secret, some private sin—that you think is keeping you from God? God knows you better than you know yourself, and he still loves you. Can you admit to God what you’re holding on to and ask him to take it away and give you love in its place?

Can you let go & trust in God to care for you?

End Notes

1 - How is your preparation going? (I don’t mean the shopping; I mean the preparation of your heart for God!)

2 - Curiously, of the Ancient Near East religions, Judaism was perhaps the only one with no myths of conjugal visits by deities. This is a big deal! When one religion stands in stark contrast with all other religions, one needs to examine what’s going on. Judaism testifies to the holiness, transcendence, and one-ness of God; the God of the Jews would never be confused with Zeus! (Curiously, though, Jewish folklore does contain stories of fallen angels mating with humans to form the Nephilim.)

Less is More: Return & Hope

Advent is a season of preparation and anticipation. It is the season of preparation for the coming of Christ and the season of anticipating and longing for his coming. During this season of preparation, we will be looking primarily at the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the consummate man of preparation of whom Jesus said:

This is the one about whom it is written:"I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you." (Luke 7:27)

In Luke’s gospel, the birth of John is intimately tied into the story of the birth of Christ. For there is no coming of Christ without prior preparation; there is no life in the Spirit without a prior quickening of our spirit; there is no meeting God face-to-face without a prior turnabout in our lives to face him.

We consider John the Baptist to be holier than ourselves, but Jesus says otherwise. "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28). You belong to God, now live the consecrated life to which you have been called.

Luke 1

Commentary

v5 "Zechariah" means "the Lord remembers" and Elizabeth means "my God is an oath," or, in other words, "God is absolutely faithful."

v5-7 Miraculous births abound in the Bible, e.g.: Sarah (Gen. 18:11); Rebekah (Gen. 25:21), Rachel (Gen. 29:31); Samson’s mother (Judges 13:3); Hannah (1 Sam. 1:19); Ruth (Ruth 4:13); Isaiah 7:14 (& Jesus!).

v11-17 The angel says, "Your prayer has been heard." Which is more likely: (1) that an aged Zechariah was praying for an inconceivable answer to a personal need "on company time" in the temple, or (2) that the angel is saying, in essence, "That prayer you prayed years ago and gave up on was heard and has never been forgotten."?

Based, in part, on the command to abstain from alcohol, some scholars believe that John was a Nazirite, i.e. wholly consecrated for God.

The heart of preparation is proper orientation: people to God, parents to children, and the disobedient to wisdom.

The reference to Elijah is a fulfill-ment of prophecy (Malachi 4:5-6).

v19-20 The superficial interpretation is that Zechariah is being punished for his disbelief. However, Zechariah’s enforced silence is also a prophetic sign—a miracle given at the time of a prophecy as evidence of the veracity of the speaker. The miracle is nonetheless full of irony; the one who did not believe is now incapable of confessing belief.

Application

"The Lord remembers." For this reason alone, we can have hope:

We head into the bleak winter season when everything looks as good as dead. But the Christmas wreaths symbolize the promise of eternal life, for God has not forgotten us.

By ourselves, our lives are barren, busyness without purpose. Sometimes we simply stop, feeling that we have failed, that our opportunity has already come and gone. Perhaps we no longer even pray, feeling that progress is no longer possible. But the touch of God can make all things new, and God has not forgotten us.

We may be busy, or living in darkness, or living in despair, but God has not forgotten us. At just the right time (often that’s when life seems darkest) he comes to us. He comes to us, and like a flower turning to face the warming sun, we turn towards him. We turn towards him and wait in joyous expectation for him to act.

This Christmas story is received with great joy by the misfits, the miscreants, and the mistreated. They receive the good news from angels, stars, and prophecies, and they are changed. The circumstances of their lives may not have changed (e.g. the shepherds) but everything has changed as they turn back to God with hope for the future. The circumstances of their lives may have turned upside down (e.g. Zechariah and Elizabeth) but they continue to live day-by-day until the time when God chooses to act again. This is what it means to live in hope—you wait with without despair until the Lord acts.

Points to Ponder

In looking at miraculous births, I am struck by similarities between the story of the conception of John the Baptist and the conception of Samuel. Later in life:

both will become life-long Nazirites,

both will have to deal with obdurate kings (Saul for Samuel, Herod for John), and

both will herald the coming of God’s anointed (David for Samuel, Jesus for John).

What similarities can you find between the stories of their conceptions?

More to the point:

Where have you given up waiting for God to act?

Do you think that God has forgotten you?

What if you gave this season of preparation unconditionally over to God? What would have to happen for you to turn to God and make him top priority for the season?

Zechariah was speechless during his season of preparation for fatherhood. John was a Nazirite during his season of preparation for the Christ. What could you change for this season—what could your "Nazirite vow" be?

At this church, we sing Christmas carols with gusto from the first day of Advent on. However, some churches don’t sing any carols until Christmas Eve; they claim this type of "fasting" heightens the anticipation. What does this type of "delayed gratification" remind you of in today’s story?

I Will Remember You (Sarah McLachlan © 1999)

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

See in this song a picture of God’s faithful love & remembrance of us.

End Notes

1 - I fear that Advent has been subverted and as preparation has become synonymous with shopping and anticipation has become synonymous with waiting for Santa to bring us gifts. And we who know better have let it happen by going along with the culture and rarely trying to elevate the discourse!

2 - Oddly, we are never told her name!

3 - Although theories abound, best guess is that this virgin (or young maiden—the Hebrew being a bit vague) is Hezekiah’s mother, given: (a) Hezekiah is a big part of the first half of Isaiah, and (b) the interpretation of the prophecy given in Isaiah 7:3-16.

Less is More: Sacrificing Your Religion

Last spring I began a sermon on Galatians 6:11-18 by asking the question:

Which is better: a bad Christian or a good non-Christian?

The consensus (and orthodox) answer I got was what I expected to hear: "It is better to have prayed to be saved and be a poor excuse for a Christian than to never have asked to be saved and life an otherwise good life apart from Jesus." Would it surprise you to know that someone worshipping with us last spring left this congregation because of precisely this response?

I don’t blame that person for being upset. Paul’s point in that passage was bad religion counts for nothing. More to the point, being in the "insider" group or the "outcast" group counts for nothing; the only thing that matters is becoming a new creation through Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:15).

Bad religion counts for nothing. Not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" will be saved (Matt. 7:21-23); action that changes how we live counts for more than mere words (Matt. 21:28-32); the power of Christ can be at work even in those whom we (in our arrogance) call outsiders (Mark 9:38-41). Nowhere is the contrast between a bad believer and a good non-believer more pronounced than in today’s story.

Luke 10

Commentary

The context for this story is curious. In Luke 10:1-24, Jesus sends 72 disciples of for "field ed." They go out as evangelists and return with great success stories. Is it possible that there is more to serving God than that?

v25 Curiously, Jesus is asked this question on another occasion (Luke 18:18). In each case Jesus points them to Torah, but he gives each a different answer! Could it be that the act of going to God for the answer is more important than the answer itself? Could it be that what God asks of you depends on where you are in your walk and, therefore, what he asks of you will be different that what he asks of another?

v29 The word "justify" here means "make righteous." OT scholar Bruce Waltke says righteousness is "the willingness to be disadvantaged for the sake of another." Who in these verses is justified/righteous?

v30 Most likely the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was in a wadi: a gully or dry riverbed. It was probably narrow, with sharp bends and crevices, making it an ideal place for bandits.

v31-32 A priest or Levite encountering the half-dead man in a wadi would have difficulty ignoring or avoiding him. "Passing by on the other side" might have involved something as ridiculous as scaling the sides of the gully.

v33 The compassion the Samaritan feels is the same word as the compassion Jesus is feels for those in need (Matt. 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 20:34; Mark 1:41; Luke 15:20).

The Samaritan does not merely do what is required; he is merciful because he goes over and above the law.

Application

Jesus does not elaborate about the motivation of the priest or the Levite. Certainly there are all sorts of rules about ceremonial cleanliness which pertain to touching dead bodies (e.g. Leviticus 21:10-12; Numbers 19:11-22). However, the parable’s main points are:

your neighbor is whomever God puts in your path, and

religiosity is no predictor of mercy; the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Gal. 5:6).

In 1970, sociologists John Darley and Daniel Batson ran an experiment based on the parable of the good Samaritan ("From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Study of ... Helping Behavior"). As part of the experiment, Princeton seminary students were asked to walk across campus and give a speech about the parable of the good Samaritan. On the way to the speech they encountered a "victim" in shabby clothes who appeared drunk, possibly dangerous, and in physical discomfort. Most of the students ignored, or walked around, the victim without offering any immediate assistance. How ironic, to be preparing to give a speech about the good Samaritan, but to play the part of the priest or the Levite!

In Darley and Batson’s experiment, three results emerged:

the students who were behind schedule were least likely to offer help ("... ethics becomes a luxury as the speed of our lives increases"),

the students who were the most likely to offer substantial help were the least sensitive to the victim’s descriptions of his needs (i.e. they were likely to minister in certain ways—taking the victim to the cafeteria, or witnessing to him—irrespective of what help the victim asked for), and

the students who were most likely to offer help were the ones most concerned with finding meaning in life (however they often did not render the most help—the theory is that they responded to the perceived needs of the victim).

Americans are driven by two idols (at least): the clock, and a simplistic view of holiness. Most of us try to cram too many activities into too little time. Our sacrifices to our clock idol are those things for which we have no time. We take on commitments with the best of intentions, but later we are forced to sacrifice those commitments in the service of limited time (and more important commitments!). One of the sacrifices we make we may not even notice: our awareness of our own surroundings. The busier we become, the less we notice trouble around us; psychologist Edward Tolman called this "the narrowing of the cognitive map." The busier we are—the smaller our cognitive map is—the less we are able to make moral judgments. We want our moral decisions—our pursuit of holiness—to be black or white, yes or no, stay or go. However, a simplistic holiness is frequently insensitive to the needs of those to whom we wish to minister! We forget that holiness comes from the power of God at work in our lives.

Best guess is that the priest and the Levite were either too busy or too obsessed with their view of holiness to deal with the victim as a person. They forgot what God requires most: justice, mercy, and humility (Micah 6:8). They struck out on all counts (oh no, a baseball metaphor!). If they had sacrificed their time or their sense of holiness, in the eyes of their peers they would have been a pariah like the Samaritan, but they would have done what God required. That would have been righteousness.

Points to Ponder

Where do you worship a clock idol? What sacrifices do you make to it? Do you sacrifice your devotional time before it? Do you sacrifice time with those your care about before it? What needs to change in your life for you to stop being driven by a clock?

Where do you worship holiness or religiosity? Are you more concerned with justice (for others!), mercy (for others!) and humility (yours, before God) or maintaining your own righteousness? If righteousness, as Waltke says, is to be disadvantaged for the sake of another, where have you been willing to be disadvantaged, inconvenienced, or even taken advantage of?

Who are the people that don’t belong at church? What would have to change for you to befriend and minister to them? (Hint: if the answer doesn’t involve you having to change, think again.)

What if God called you to a ministry that made you look like a "Samaritan" to your Christian friends? What if you had to give up your notions of religion & holiness to follow God? Could you do it? Why or why not?

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 'I will not,' he answered, but
later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?"

"The first," they answered.

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. (Matthew 21:28-32)

Veterans Day Prayer, 2007

Recently the commander of the United States forces in Iraq was vilified in the New York Times as someone who betrayed his country. Although we may disagree as to how the current conflicts in which we are engaged should be fought, although we may disagree as to when and how military forces should be deployed, we are united in our support of our men and women in the military. They know—as they have always known—that they fight in service to the country. They lay down their lives—as they have always laid down their lives—believing in death before dishonor. They will—as they always have—lay down their lives rather than betray their country.

When the God sent the Jews into the promised land he told them: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deut 31:6) God will not betray, will not forsake, those who died trusting in him. We should do no less.

Lord, you say, "Greater love has no man than this: to lay down his life for another" (John 15:13). This is the pattern that you have given us, as you came to earth as a man we called Jesus, and you showed your love for us in this: that while we wanted nothing to do with you, you did not leave us or forsake us. Rather, you came and died for us. This is the pattern that the men and women we honor here today followed. Like you, they were willing to lay down their lives for another. They have died to free slaves. They have died to liberate countries. They are risking life today for a foreign nation that seems to resist liberation.

They have died rather than forsake their sacred trust. These brave men and women had no other choice. They chose to overcome evil with good. We choose life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; but they have chosen to lay down life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the sake of countrymen they do not even know and a foreign enemy that would kill them.

Lord, in light of their example, and out of respect for their sacrifice, help us to live likewise. Help us to remember our veterans today and in the days to come. Help us to serve, support, and encourage our brothers and sisters in the military ... that good might prevail and evil fail.

To our men and women currently serving, we pray:

Deliver them from their enemies, O God; protect them from those who rise up against them. Deliver them from evildoers and save them from bloodthirsty men ... We watch for you; for you, O God, are their fortress. (Psalm 59)

To our departed brothers and sisters, we pray:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

Amen.

Rumors of Another World ...

Rumors of Another World is the name of a Philip Yancey book that I highly recommend. I borrowed the title for this blog entry because I think the message here captures a bit of the spirit of Yancey's book, to wit: to what extent do we bear witness to another world, i.e. the kingdom of God?

We still live in the world, but we are called to be as aliens or strangers in the world (1 Peter 2:11). We're supposed to march to a different drummer, be out of sync, out of step. None of this is is to be done to glorify ourselves. Rather, the daily direction we receive from God should be apparent to others (should they be paying attention) when we go into the world. Do you believe that?

The question for today, then, is:

How should we engage the culture in which we live; specifically, what should we do with songs, movies, activities, etc. that may run contrary to our beliefs as Christians?

Just to ground this in a real-life example, there is a film coming out soon, The Golden Compass, which is has been highly criticized by the conservative Christian community. Reviewers have asserted that: (1) the author of the trilogy on which the film is based is an atheist, (2) the books/film have an anti-church message, (3) the books are about "killing God" (a direct quote by the author during a 2003 interview in The Sydney Morning Herald). snopes.com, a website established to quash rumors of all sorts, validates all these assertions.

Now I haven't read the books; certainly I have not previewed the film, scheduled for release in December, 2007. How should I—more importantly, how should you—engage this work of art AND engage people who have seen the film/read the books and want to talk?

Richard Niebuhr in his famous book Christ and Culture, suggested five paradigms of how Christ interacted with culture (the implication being that these five options are available for us to follow as well). For Niebuhr, Christ & culture are a duality, just as law & grace, body & mind, or revelation & reason are dualities. In each of the five paradigms, how the dualities co-exist leads to a different Christian ethic:

Christ against culture: The dualities are mutually exclusive. It's a fallen world and, for us to be holy, we need to separate ourselves from the world. Adherents might say, "The Bible is the only book I need to read." By this logic, we would have nothing to do with the movie, and, if people asked our opinion about the movie, we would only quote the Bible to support our position.

Christ of culture: If Christ against culture is one extreme, this is the other. The dualities co-exist easily. If there is good in any culture, that goodness ultimately points back to Christ. Adherents might say, "God can be found in Koran, the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, the Torah, etc." By this logic, we would be open to watching the movie—deciding for ourselves if there was any good in it—and, if people asked our opinion about the movie, we would speak about what was good in the movie in terms of the movie.

Christ above culture: The dualities are vertical; Christ is over and above a fallen, sinful world. Christ comes down to humanity with gifts that humanity cannot attain without supernatural intervention. Whatever good may exist in a culture, the grace of God through Jesus is necessary to complete it. While "Christ in culture" adherents might talk about goodness in terms of the culture, "Christ above culture" adherents might take the goodness of the culture as a starting point for talking about the goodness that comes through Jesus. By this logic, we would be open to watching the movie, and, if people asked our opinion about the movie, we would be ready to help them "connect the dots" between goodness in the movie and Christ's goodness.

Christ and culture in paradox: Life is an uneasy tension as we live in both realities simultaneously. There are places where Christ is good for culture, and places where the culture is good for the Christian life, but ultimately the Christian's heart is ruled by Christ, not culture. Adherents here might talk about living "in the world" but not being "of the world." By this logic, we would have a "take it or leave it" attitude about the movie, depending on whether we thought the movie was edifying.

Christ transforming culture: Life is an uneasy tension as we live in both realities simultaneously here as well; however, the role of Christ in the world is to change the world, just as a bit of yeast works through a whole batch of dough, changing it (Matthew 13:33). Adherents might talk about being the light of the world. By this logic, we would be open to watching the movie, and, if people asked our opinion about the movie, we would be ready to talk with them about their reactions to the movie and in the process sow the seeds of the gospel in their lives.

My apologies to anyone who thinks I've trivialized or misrepresented Niebuhr—you're invited to describe Niebuhr's 5 paradigms in your own terms in a comment.

By the way, being clueless and just getting by day-to-day without thinking about it any more than you have to is no an option. If you're so steeped in the culture that you don't think about where you are, where you're going, or where Christ is the the scheme of things, you may think that you believe in Christ, but your actions don't bear it out. You're part of the culture. Now, what would it look like if Christ really came to you and showed you a different way to live, a way that wasn't just about getting by day-to-day, wouldn't that be a good thing? Something in your life would have to change--probably something involving your reward system, i.e. what floats your boat--but what if you gained more than you gave up? It turns out this is exactly what following Christ is all about (Mark 10:28-31).

You can find Biblical justification for all five paradigms. Each of the five may be necessary at some point in your life. However, which of the five best describes how you live in the world? Your response will determine how you live out Peter's charge to "be prepared to give a reason for the hope you have" (1 Peter 3:15).

For me, the problem is not the culture, but being called to witness to people within the culture. My problem when I try to discuss movies with kids at the high school, for example (although I have the same problem with many adults), as that they usually don't know what they've seen and frequently can't describe it very well. If a kid at the high school comes up to me and says, "How did you like that movie? What did you think when X happened?" frequently they'll totally misunderstand / misinterpret X. So I end up: (a) having to explain X; (b) explaining why X is wrong; and (c) giving a Biblical interpretation. If I trusted a kid's understanding of what they'd seen, we'd never get very far. (Pop quiz: what paradigm does that make me in this case?)

PS: I realize there's more to the story. You go to a movie and you're voting with your dollars as to what is important. Some went to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ in order to make a statement after it got panned by mainstream critics. Some boycotted The Da Vinci Code because they disagreed with its revisionist church history and unorthodox theology ... even as others said, "Hey, it's only a movie." In the tension between Christ and culture, only culture can ever say, "It's only a movie, [so, God, just stay out]." The story of Christ redeeming the entire world has no place for a worldliness apart from Christ. Therefore, what are we saying as Christians when we say, "It's only a movie."?

The Gospel of Baseball: Two Kinds of Baseball

Here in Maine, most people openly root for the Red Sox (while some secretly root for the Yankees) and I ask those stalwart fans:

Why do you hate the Yankees so?

Why did you stick with the Red Sox for so many years when they failed to win the World Series?

And how does it feel now, to have won the World Series twice in four years?

Red Sox playoff lore is replete with scapegoats and villains, most recently:

1978: The Red Sox blew a 14 game lead over the Yankees, resulting in a one-game playoff. Leading 2-0 in the top of the 7th, the Sox surrendered a 3-run homer to Bucky Dent and never led the rest of the game. Manager Don Zimmer took the rap for blowing the lead and the game, and the Sox never played in the postseason again until 1986.

1986: Leading 3-2 in game 6 of the World Series, the Sox needed 6 outs to win their first World Series since 1918. Manager John McNamara replaced star pitcher Roger Clemens, citing Clemen’s request to be taken out due to a blister, but Clemens later denied that he asked to be lifted. The Mets scored a run off reliever Calvin Schiraldi to send the game into extra innings. The Sox led 5-3 in the 10th, but the Mets rallied in the bottom of the inning. Three straight singles off Schiraldi and a wild pitch by Bob Stanley tied the score, and then Mookie Wilson hit a slow grounder between Bill Buckner’s legs, scoring the winning run from second. cNamara had kept Bill Buckner at first base, instead of inserting Dave Stapleton as a defensive sub. The Mets went on to win game 7, and McNamara, Schiraldi, Stanley, and Buckner became the scapegoats.

2003: In game 7 of the AL championship series, with a 5-2 lead and 6 outs between the Sox and their first World Series appearance since 1986, Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in to pitch against the heart of the Yankees’ order. Martinez gave up 3 runs before Little could get a relief pitcher warmed up, and the Sox lost in the 10th inning when Tim Wakefield, pitching relief on 3 days rest surrendered a lead-off home run. Little became the scapegoat and has replaced by Terry Francona.

Since then, the Red Sox have won two World Series (2004 and 2007). The question is: What have you learned from winning?

Hebrews 12:1-6

Commentary

The theme for these verses is laid out in the previous chapter, where faith is depicted as belief that changes how you act:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for ... These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews
11:1-2,39-40)

v1 Greek athletes frequently competed in the nude. The connotation of this verse is to "strip down for action," removing everything that could be a hindrance.

Perseverance is needed in order to produce a good crop (Luke 8:15) or to attain life in the middle of persecution (Luke 21:19).

v2 The word "fixing our eyes" implies away from one thing in order to concentrate on another. Remember a summer sermon on perfection called "We Did Everything Right but Win"? The perfecter of our faith is taking our immature faith and making us mature. The implication in v2-3 is that the maturation process will involve pain and persecution.

v4 This verse troubles me greatly, for it says that what I feel to be troubles and trials don’t amount to much, and my battle against sin is superficial and immature.

v5 Rebuking refers to exposing sin for the sake of bringing correction. (Matt 18:15; Luke 3:19; John 3:20, 8:46, 16:8; 1 Cor. 14:24; Eph. 5:11-13; 1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:9, 2:15; James 2:9; Rev. 3:19)

v6 God does not discipline us because of what we are, he disciplines us because of what he is calling us to be, i.e. Christ-like.

Application

There are two kids of baseball teams, and (at least) two kinds of baseball fans ...

the select few who win the prize, and

the majority who lose and spend the off-season ruminating about what might have been.

How is this like your spiritual life?

where have you won? (and what did you do when you won?)

where have you lost? (and what did you do when you lost?)

In theory, a championship team should always be looking ahead to defending their title; however, recent experience suggests that many owners disband a team once a World Series has been achieved:

In 1998, Wayne Huizenga, owner of the Florida Marlins who won the 1997 World Series, sold off most of his good players, citing financial pressures, and the 1998 team finished an NL-worst 54-108.

Likewise Jerry Coangelo, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks who won the 2001 World Series, had gone heavily into debt signing free agents, and by 2004 the Diamondbacks had dropped to 51-111.

On the other hand, an also-ran team should be trying to make an honest effort to improve. However, teams generally make one of two errors:

either they blame the failure on scapegoats—like Bill Buckner in 1986 or Grady Little in 2003, or

they refuse to make big and necessary changes—arguing that they almost made it—and actually end up doing worse in subsequent seasons. [1]

What if building a winning organization was more important than the actual winning?

Points to Ponder

Speaking spiritually ...

... what if we could see that focusing on spiritual victories is idolatry?

... what if we could see that looking for scapegoats is denial of real problems?

.. what if becoming Christ-like was more important than the actual winning or losing?

What God is calling you to be is more important than what you acheive day-to-day. Perseverance helps you keep your focus on Jesus without losing heart or becoming distracted by day-to-day troubles.

Believe that God is working on you as a long term project.

Believe that God is calling you to become Christ-like.

And now live—and act!—on that belief.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart & mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

Endnotes

1 - Consider the recent histories of the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants. Although Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds are marquee players, their exorbitant salaries have made it nearly impossible to amass a solid team around either superstar. Since 2003, neither team has won a pennant, & Rodriguez is moving up the lists of most games (1,904 - 42nd) and most home runs (518 - 4th) by a player who has never appeared in a World Series.

Less is More: What are You Fishing For?

In this world, you will stay busy 24x7 doing something. The question is, "What are you doing, and for whose sake are you doing it?"

Luke 5:1-11

Commentary

Of the synoptic gospels, Luke has the longest account of the calling of the fishermen, giving us many details omitted from Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20). What details can you find?

v1 Lake Gennesaret is the Grecian name for the Sea of Galilee. The name came from the town Kinnereth, a town of the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 19:35) on the NW side of the lake.

v5 This is not Simon’s 1st encounter with Jesus. Luke 4:38-39 puts Jesus at Simon’s house, and John 1:35-42 indicates that Simon met Jesus shortly after Jesus’ baptism. Simon’s response to Jesus here shows the high regard Simon already had for Jesus.

v7 What happens when God gives you your heart’s desire? At least in this case, the fishermen are about to be done in by their prosperity. The word translated here as "sink" is only used one other place in the Bible (1 Tim. 6:9) and it connotes dragging down to ruin.

v10 Matthew and Mark both report that Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men;" however, that’s not Luke’s account. Let’s look at the two big differences:

"Don’t be afraid!" The most common reaction to God’s revelation is fearful awe (in Luke look at 1:13, 1:30, 2:10, 5:11, 8:35, 8:50, 9:34, & 9:45).

"Catch men." The verb here has nothing to do with fishing, but rather catching something alive. [1]

What do these differences suggest to you?

Application

This is a story of the transformation of Simon.

In the beginning, Simon was an ordinary fisherman. Nowadays people might practice catch-and-release; however, Simon certainly planned to eat or sell everything he caught. For Simon, fishing was a predatory practice, a means of survival. As soon as the fish were caught, they’d begin to spoil, [2] and the key to survival was to catch & dry (or sell) the fish as soon as possible.

Simon already knew Jesus; however, the focus of his life was fishing [insert your favorite fisherman joke here]. Fishing was Simon’s means of survival. No doubt Simon dreamed of, and prayed for, a bonanza: a really good catch, a windfall profit, one good stroke of luck that would turn things around for him. Be careful what you wish for, Simon! [3]

God gives Simon the catch of Simon’s dreams, and it threatens to drag him down. Simon asks for help from his partners, and still the catch is overwhelming. Simon is smarter than most. Instead of persisting in trying to haul in the fantastic catch, he realizes that the real prize—Jesus—is already in the boat. He realizes that he has been taking the real prize for granted. In his transformation, he judges himself [correctly] as being unworthy.

There is a better way, Jesus implies:

Instead of survival, how about real life?

Instead of bringing death to your catch, how about bringing your catch to real life?

Instead of feeding the body alone from the death of your catch, how about feeding your spirit from the birth of new life in your catch?

By the time Jesus tells Simon not to fear, Simon has already been transformed in how he perceives life: what feeds him & what gives purpose to life. Until Simon’s epiphany, obeying Jesus was a duty: a chore competing with Simon’s instinct for worldly success. But now, but seeing Jesus as the real prize which will order his life, Simon can put his worldly fears aside.

"Not a Fishy Smell" (2 Corinthians 2:15)
For we are to God
the aroma of Christ
among those who are being saved ...

Points to Ponder

For what do you labor?

For Peter the fisherman, survival depended on catching and killing fish. On what does your survival depend?

For Peter the fisherman, the biggest catch of his life brought him to the brink of disaster. What is your fantasy success? Realistically, what would probably happen if that fantasy became reality? [4]

For Peter the fisherman, transformation came on the heels of the revelation that the real catch of the day was Jesus and that Jesus was the source of everything he needed. Have you ever had such an epiphany?

For Peter the catcher of men, Jesus’ first words after the miracle are, "Don’t be afraid!" Transformation cannot happen for us as long as we are afraid of what God will do to us. What is your fear?

For Peter the catcher of men, survival now consists of catching people and bringing them to spiritual life. Transformation cannot happen for us as long as we fear for our survival. Look at your life as it is now: where would following Jesus, becoming like Peter, and becoming a catcher of people put your survival at stake?

Are you willing to trust that God is greater than your fear?

Later, after the resurrection, when Peter was lacking direction, he reverted to fishing for a while. That story is in John 21:1-19. What parallels can you find between the story in John and today’s story? There will be times when we revert back to our old ways, but God loves us too much to let us do that for long. At the conclusion of the story in John, Peter is no longer a fisherman, or even a catcher of men: now he is to assume the role of a shepherd (but that’s another sermon for another day). Likewise, if we, in our frailty, revert back to old behaviors, God is ready to reinstate us, and even use us for bigger things.

Postscript

For those of you who are wishing for more baseball sermons, I offer up this little newspaper article "Batting for Jesus" about the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies, National League champions for the first time ever, decided a couple years ago to build a team based on character instead of on good pitchers or good hitters. A prosperity theology might try to argue that a Christian team will be a winning team, thanks to God’s blessing. However, Christians are more often called to suffer in the world for their beliefs, and the truer testimony of the Rockies is not whether they win, but rather how they stand up under adversity.

Endnotes

1 - Strangely, the only other place the word is used in the Bible refers to Satan snaring us (2 Timothy 2:26).

2 - Jake Curtis, who is taking culinary arts at the high school, told me this week, "The reason you keep fish on ice is that the flesh decomposes exponentially faster for each degree that they are above freezing."

Gov. Mike Huckabee, Republican candidate for President, during an interview by Glenn Beck on TV on Oct. 19th, said, "Baptists are like fish; they begin to spoil as soon as you take them out of the water."

3 - We labor after worldly things, thinking that their attainment will fix everything. However, frequently achieving our dreams changes nothing—if anything our troubles increase. For example Jack Whittaker, the $315-million Powerball winner in 2002, pledged 10% of his winnings to Christian charities. However, his life has been a tangled mess of arrests & court suits ever since.

4 - Herein is the paradox:

Until our hearts are right, material success cannot bring happiness; if anything, prosperity brings greater trials because we have greater temptations, and nothing has changed for us spiritually.

After our hearts are right, material success is inconsequential to happiness. If anything, prosperity brings greater opportunities to give to others, because we already have what we need.

Less is More: Far from the Maddening Crowd [1]

The temptation at church is always to do more:

We give food to about 30 families each month through the food pantry. When the town asks for help giving Christmas presents to many of the same families, what should we do?

We work hard to have a fun, safe, and engaging children’s ministry program on Sunday mornings. This summer we did not do a VBS program. How much should we beat ourselves up about that?

The temptation for me as a pastor is always to do more:

It’s Friday; I’m really behind on my sermon, and the funeral home calls, asking if I can meet with a bereaved family—strangers—and conduct a funeral service on Sunday afternoon. What should I do?

My in-laws are in town, and a family calls with a crisis that will take all day and all night to handle. What should I do?

The temptation for you, personally, is always to do more:

You go to church, sometimes, and you try to read your Bible, but you sense something is wrong. You think you should knuckle down harder, maybe go to a Bible study. What should you do?

You go to church, Bible studies, women’s groups, service projects, Casco Inn, etc., etc., etc. You feel burnt out, used, unappreciated, and cynical. What should you do?

What could Jesus possibly have to say about this?

Mark 1:35-39

Commentary

This story also appears in Luke 4:42-44. The contexts are very similar, but we can pick up some details from each account.

The action takes place right outside of Capernaum. The day before Jesus had exorcised a demon from a man in the synagogue (v21-28), healed Peter’s mother-in-law (v29-31), and spent the evening healing the sick and exorcising demons (v32-34). What do you do as an encore after a day like that?

v35 The "solitary place" is a desert or wilderness, far removed from the town and the action of the day before. Where else does a desert, wilderness, solitary place figure into stories about Jesus? (Hint: get a concordance or an online Bible and see where Jesus+solitary appear in the same verse.)

v36 Luke indicates a somewhat bigger mob of people went out to look for Jesus.

v37 What would be the motivation of the townsfolk to look for Jesus? What do you think they intended to do? (Hint: Luke 4:42 gives more details here; figure out what you think the mob wanted to do, and then check with Luke.)

v38 "Let us go somewhere else ..." This goes against every human inclination; when something good happens for us, we want to milk it for all it’s worth. A good response to a sermon? Preach it again! A good response to a Beth Moore Bible study? Do more Beth Moore!

"That is why I have come." During this phase of his ministry, Jesus has a very narrow focus: preach, heal, and exorcise in as many Galilean towns as possible.

v39 This summary verse summarizes exactly what he did the day before in Capernaum and it reveals exactly what Jesus saw as this phase of his ministry.

Application

Refreshment Needed

As a pastor, frequently great temptations come immediately after great successes. I might feel successful helping someone one day, and get criticized for not helping somebody else the next!

Pride & fatigue tend to be the extremes at work here, threatening the Spirit-led life.

I see this in the life of Jesus. Often he goes off by himself to pray in the desert after what most of us would have called a great success. I imagine Jesus is praying in order to protect himself, keep his focus, and find out what comes next.

What happens in this story if pride or fatigue get the better of Jesus?

"Let us go somewhere else ..." Jesus says. Let’s consider, for a moment, what Jesus does not stick around to do:

He does not stay to teach. (The townsfolk might well be looking to recruit him to be their new rabbi.)

He does not stay to disciple and commission others. (How many townsfolk wanted to be disciples?)

He does not stay for fellowship. (Insert your favorite mother-in-law joke here.)

He does not stay to make sure that all the people he helped are OK.

Strangely, the man calling himself the Good Shepherd begins his ministry by being—on the surface—a lousy shepherd. I realize that this is a provocative thing to say, but seriously, what would you think of an evangelist or a pastor who acted this way? Certainly Jesus must have known that it would be nice to do all these things—he certainly does them all at other times with other people—so why not be nice?

What else doesn’t Jesus stick around do?

He does not stay to be thanked.

He does not stay to be worshipped. (He even silences demons calling him "Son of God," Luke 4:41)

In v38, Jesus tells the disciples, in effect, "That is NOT why I have come." Jesus does not stay in Capernaum, because his call at this point is to go through all of Galilee (v39).

At best, to stay in Capernaum is to get slowed up, distracted.

At worst, to stay in Capernaum is to disobey his call.

The proverb, "A camel is a horse designed by committee," reveals a truth: groups frequently make so many demands upon an object that it can no longer perform its original purpose well. What might a rabbi designed by committee look like? The townsfolk would probably like him to continue to heal the sick and exorcise the demons. They’d probably like him to continue to preach with authority. They’d probably like him to teach, train others, come over for dinner, and care for them. In return, they’d extol his virtues as the best rabbi they’d ever had.

Without thinking, the townsfolk would be trying to take this wild phase of Jesus’ ministry (and face it, miraculous healings & exorcisms are wild stuff) and attempt to domesticate it. But there is a problem: If they had dissuaded him from his call, how long would he have retained the power and authority to do anything? Jesus’ ministry was to prepare the way; in three years or so, after the resurrection and Pentecost, when the apostles began to fan out from Jerusalem, how many in Capernaum would then receive discipleship, fellowship, etc.—and the Spirit—in God’s good timing?

Whatever they’d like him to do, whatever a rabbi designed by committee might look like, Jesus fiercely resists the pressure to conform. He knows the purpose of his ministry at this time, the purpose given to him by his Father, and he will doggedly pursue it.

Points to Ponder

Where are you a Christian designed by committee? Put aside the many things you are doing for God. What is God calling you to do? (All the rest is nice, but don’t allow it to dissuade you from your calling.)

Earlier, I gave two examples, "You go to church ... but you sense something is wrong. You think you should knuckle down harder," or, "You go to church, Bible studies ... etc., etc., etc. You feel burnt out, used, unappreciated, and cynical." Can it ever be the case that doing more of what you’re not called to be doing at this time is right? Could it be that you are missing God’s call—that you are off-purpose?

Would you rather have a pastor designed by committee, or a pastor following God’s calling?

Would you rather have a church designed by committee, or a church following God’s calling?

What if the God’s call is to do a new thing? (Psalm 33:3, Isaiah 43:18-19, 2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15)

End Notes:

1 - The sermon title comes from the Thomas Hardy book of the same name, which in turn comes from the Thomas Gray poem Elegy Written in a Graveyard, which says:

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray

In Hardy’s book, the main character is a shepherd who strives to win the love of a woman who goes through several tragic relationships before marrying him. It sounds our relationship with the Good Shepherd!