God of the Gaps: There is a God, and You are not Him

This sermon kicks off a new sermon series, titled God of the Gaps. The title refers to the theological argument that ascribes to God any unexplainable phenomenon. For example, "Since we cannot prove how life started, it must have started due to an act of God." The problem with this type of theological argument (which many theologians dismiss as spurious logic) is that God is always reduced and exiled to the ever-diminishing realms of the unknown.

We will come back and look at the implications of the God-of-the-gaps argument over the next several weeks. However, to some extent, the argument has merit—albeit not in the way it is intended. A common theme throughout the OT is that whenever life gets too easy, self-satisfied humans tend to drift away from God. Pain, suffering, human limitations, and our innate depravity cut through our delusions of self-reliance and reassert a fundamental truth: as much as we wish to be our own gods (and the self-appointed god for others around us) we are incompetent deities.

Much of what is valuable in Christian spirituality derives not from futile imitations of divinity, but from the humble acceptance of our human frailty. There is a gap between what we imagine ourselves to be and what we are, a gap between whom we were created to be and who we have become. That is the ever-present gap in which we will find God, a gap that will never disappear, because even as we grow in our faith, we realize how far we have yet to go.

Luke 12:13-21

Commentary

v15 John Calvin writes of this verse, "These words point out the inward fountain and source, from which flows the mad eagerness for gain. It is because the general belief is, that a man is happy in proportion as he possesses much, and that the happiness of life is produced by riches. Hence arise those immoderate desires, which, like a fiery furnace, send forth their flames, and yet cease not to burn within."

v17 John Calvin says, "Wicked men are driven to perplexity in their deliberations, because they do not know how any thing is to be lawfully used; and, next, becuase they are intoxicated with a foolish confidence that makes them forget themselves. Thus we find that this rich man lengthens out his expectation of life in proportion to his large income, and drives far away from him the remembrance of death. And yet this pride is accompanied by distrust; for those men, when they have had their fill, are still agitated by insatiable desire, like this rich man, who enlarges his barns, as if his belly, which had been filled with his former barns, had not got enough."

v19 eat, drink, and be merry. Calvin says, "[T]here is an emphatic meaning in this Hebrew idiom; for he addresses himself in such a manner as to imply, that he has all that is necessary for gratifying all his senses and all his desires."

v20 your life. The word here is generally translated elsewhere in the NT as "soul."

v21 stores up. More than prudent stockpiling, the idea here is more like treasure. For a good idea of how this word is used elsewhere in the NT, check out Matt. 6:19-21.

Application

In Our Greatest Gift, Henri Nouwen recounts a time a friend asked him over dinner, "Where and how do you want to die?" Nouwen reflected:

Are we preparing ourselves for our death, or are we ignoring death by keeping busy? (pp xvi)

The rich man in the parable represents the extreme position taken by many in life: amass ever more of whatever is precious to you in a vain attempt to cheat death. Fill your time with whatever brings you the most pleasure in the moment (Eat! Drink! Be Merry!) and maybe you can string together enough pleasurable moments that you can dismiss the nagging fear that life is out of control and you are losing ground, even as you are capturing moments of pleasure. The rich man represents the extreme position many of us take, but the Bible is replete with other examples, many of which are catalogued in Ecclesiastes through Solomon’s vain attempts to find meaning in life, including: wisdom (1:12-18); pleasures (2:1-11); work (2:17-26); achievement (4:13-16); and wealth (5:8-20).

We falsely assume that either God is not out there, he is not interested in our welfare, he is not watching, or he is incapable of rescuing us. The good news of Jesus Christ is that God is out there, he is interested, he is watching, and he has come—and is coming—to intervene in our lives. Like the rich man, we have tried to wrest control of our lives, only to find out that we are out of control and cannot maintain control. Nouwen says:

The main question is not, How much will we be able to do during the few years we have left to live? but rather, How can we prepare ourselves for our death in such a way that our dying will be a new way for us to send our and God’s spirit to those whom we have looked and who have loved us? (pp xvi-xvii)

Praise be to God, his rescue turns out to be something better than we could have imagined. In the giving over of ourselves to God, we find out that a life poured out in service to God—and in turn in service to others—does not drain us. Instead, paradoxically, we discover that we are filled, even as we become whom we were created to be.

The Discipline of Kenosis: Emptying Yourself

If hyper-consumerism and self-aggrandizement are the vain attempts to fill oneself with goods that will fail to satisfy, the other end of the scale is kenosis, the emptying or pouring out of oneself (materially, emotionally, and spiritually) as a sacrifice. As we simplify, as we let go of attachments to the world, as we are pour ourselves out in service to others, paradoxically we may experience identification with Jesus Christ and be filled by Holy Spirit. This, like all spirituality, is a work of God—not a work of our own hard labor.

In the NT, kenosis is best displayed in Philippians 2, where Paul says Christ was poured out for us (v5-11) and Paul himself was being poured out for the church (v14-18).

Points to Ponder

What might a life poured out in service to God and other have looked like to the rich man of the parable?

Many religions, including Christianity, sometimes try to define spirituality through the via negativa—the negative way—defining what it is not. T.S. Eliot described the spiritual path of the negative way in his poem East Coker:

To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not.

The first step of the negative way is today’s sermon title—there is a God, and you are not him. See in the negative way kenosis at work, striping away every pretense that would keep us from a right relationship with God:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:4-5)

So You’re a Priest: Peace in the Here & Now

This is part 30—the final part!—of a sermon series through 2 Corinthians. Paul has been all over the place from hard accusations and sarcasm to forbearance and tenderness. What more is there to say?

Like any parent saing good-bye, Paul will use these closing words to get in just a few last word of advice.

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

11 Finally, brothers:

Rejoice!

Aim for perfection!

Listen to my appeal!

Be of one mind!

Live in peace!

And the God of love & peace will be with you.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss!

13 All the saints send their greetings.

14 May

the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and

the love of God, and

the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

be with you all.

Commentary

v11 I fiddled with the NIV translation a little bit, because the five indented lines are a series of commands. (In fact, 4 of the 5 commands are a single word in Greek; so the sense of the passage is very forceful: Rejoice! Aim! Listen! Be! Live!)

The NIV translated the word rejoice as "goodbye" and I have no idea why they did so; compare this verse with Philippians 4:4-9, another set of closing commands introduced with the command "Rejoice!"

Aiming for perfection will make one crazy! The word denotes restoration and wholeness—being what one is supposed to be. The same verb is used to describe James & John mending their nets (Matt. 4:21), equipping or supplying what is missing (1 Thess. 3:10), or being restored from sin & suffering (Gal. 6:1, 1 Peter 5:10). In any event, Christ is the agent of any perfection envisioned by Paul here, and we must submit to his healing touch.

The third command might be rephrased: Be encouraged! So much of our walk entails trying to get our heart, soul, mind, and strength going in the same direction; therefore Paul’s exhortation is to take what one knows and put it into action.

The last two commands in this verse allow for diversity of opinion and differentiation within the community—as long as members of the community are willing to come together on the important matters of faith & practice.

v12 a holy kiss. Nothing at the time compared to this innovation of Paul’s to promote reconciliation & fellowship.

v14 One of the few verses of the NT that mentions each member of the Trinity explicitly. The verse gives the path to unity within the community in a nutshell: grace through Christ (and not through a different gospel, e.g. 2 Cor. 11:4); love of a God who is for us, saying "Yes!" (2 Cor. 1:18-20); and fellowship through the Holy Spirit that draws us closer to God and to each other.

Points to Ponder

Aim for perfection! The perfection Paul has in mind is mending and wholeness. Can your relationship with God be mended if you are steadfastly not mending your relationship with others?

Aim for perfection! Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said, "In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses? Why were you not David? Why were you not Abraham?' No. In the world to come they will ask me: 'Why were you not Zusya?'" Let the Spirit of Christ restore you—not making you into somebody utterly different, but making you into the person that God created you to be!

So You’re a Priest: Service through Weakness

Mother's Day!

This is part 29 of a sermon series through 2 Corinthians. We have only one more sermon in 2 Corinthians—the farewell—so this passage is the culmination of all of the points Paul has been trying to make.

2 Corinthians 13:1-10

v1 This will be my third visit to you. "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."

v2 I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others,

v3 since you are demanding a test that Christ is speaking through me:

He is not weak in dealing with you,
BUT is powerful among you.

v4 For to be sure,

he was crucified in weakness,
BUT he lives by God's power.

Likewise,

we are weak in him,
BUT by God's power we’ll live with him to serve you.

v5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—
unless, of course, you fail the test?
v6 AND I hope that you will know that
we have not failed the test.

v7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong:

Not that we may be shown to have passed the test
BUT that you will do what is right,
even though we may seem to have failed the test.

v8 For we cannot do anything against the truth,
BUT only for the truth.

v9 We are glad whenever we are weak
AND you are powerful;

and our prayer is for your perfection.

v10 This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

Commentary

I fiddled with the NIV translation a little bit. Three key word groups (test, weak, power) have been consistently translated in order to emphasis the points Paul is trying to make via the contrasts in this passage. Also, Greek has two words that can translate to English as "but": one is emphatic (and is translated as "BUT" here); the other is less emphatic (and is translated as "AND" here). Hence Paul’s closing comments contain at least seven pairs of contrasts:

the "BUT" contrasts set the 2nd statement in opposition to the 1st, while

the "AND" contrasts build upon the 1st statement in the 2nd statement.

v3 test. A test is the proof of quality. Tests at school prove whether students know the subject matter. Tests on an assembly line prove that the manufactured product works as it’s supposed to. Necessarily, tests involve stressing the thing being tested in order to prove its worth or character and to expose any defects.

v3-4 weak ... BUT ... power. The test of Christ’s power, the test of Christian character, ultimately seems to come to this: outwardly one appears weak, BUT inwardly there is power. We think of power in worldly terms—e.g. getting our own way. However, these three contrasts give hints as to the paradoxical nature of Christ’s power:

v3b: it is communal; the power is best seen not in the individual, but in the community

v4a: it is alive in the face of death

v4b: it is self-effacing; we live not in ourselves but in Christ; we live not for ourselves but for others.

v5-6 test ourselves. One cannot test oneself without some kind of answer sheet or checklist, yet Paul appears to give none. However, Paul’s entire letter is an exhortation for meekness: be willing to be thought weak in order to build up another.

v7 you will do what is right. Whether he appears weak or strong, Paul’s motive is changed lives.

v8 truth. God’s power is manifested in words that create, build up, & change lives—words of truth.

v9 weak ... AND ... power. The demonstration of God’s power in us is that we step back and allow God to develop his character within others.

v10 NOTE: There are several contrasting pairs in this verse as well. How many can you find?

Application

For all parents—mothers or fathers—a big fear is letting go. We fear that our children are not yet ready, e.g.:

they will not get it right,
they will get hurt,
they will lose their way,
they will blame us, or
they will die.

With each of these concerns—and with all the others we have for our children—there is an underlying fear about ourselves that we carry. For the above, we might say:

I will be embarrassed when they don’t get it right,
I will be hurt when I see them hurt,
I will never see them again if they get lost,
I won’t be forgiven for letting them go, and
I will be at fault when they die for letting them go too soon.

I ask you to see in Paul’s letter all of these accusations being hurled Paul’s way. Paul, the spiritual father of the Corinthians, is blamed: for being a poor leader; for being a hypocrite; for being weak; for letting them get hurt and lost; etc.

To be a parent is to be blamed. A parent’s job is to train a child to be able to live as an independent adult. Necessarily, when the child is young, the child is supervised all of the time. However, as a child gets older, the parent must step back and let the child take increasingly greater responsibility. This transfer of responsibility is a dance wherein both dancers wrestle for the right to lead. Toes are stepped on, struggles ensue; however, ultimately the parent must let the child learn how to lead.

To be a child is to blame. A child’s job is to learn how to discriminate the good from the bad, the pleasurable from the painful, the precious from the garbage. Necessarily, when the child is young, the child trusts the parent for guidance: "Don’t touch the oven: HOT!" However, as a child grows, one day the child is shocked to discover that the parent does not always know what is good; the child realizes that its conception of pleasure is at variance with the parent’s notions. At this point, everything the parent has taught the child is up for reconsideration; during this period, the parent cannot be considered anything short of a dottering old fool.

Paul says to the Corinthians that his priority is not appearances, but reproduction. Whether Paul appears to be a success or not, his concern is the spiritual life, new life, reproducing life in the church. Not that they would do what is right because Paul is around forcing them, but that they would bear fruit because of the Spirit of God at work in them. At some point, Paul needed to step back and let that new life develop.

My job as a pastor, our job as parents, our job as Christians is the same: regardless of whether we are esteemed or despised, whether we are an apparent success or a failure, our real success is measured by the lives we touch and the lives that live on when we are gone. At some point, those we care about the most need us to step back so they can grow to the next level. At some point, we need to take a chance and accept the trials that lie ahead, risking the illusion of a lack of failure that comes from avoidance of risk against the reality of success that comes from having our character (and the character of those we care about most) proven through trial.

Points to Ponder

Who are you trying to shelter from trials at this time? (It might be yourself, or it might be a loved one.)

What is your fear about going through these trails? Would you look like a failure? Would you have let others down? (Sometimes we have to grieve that things will never be the way we wish they would be.)

Can you trust that God can grow both you and the ones you love through trials? Could it be that God has something in store for you on the other side of your trials? (Can you, "Let go, and let God?")

So You’re a Priest: Tenderness

This is part 28 of a sermon series through 2 Corinthians. In today’s passage, Paul concludes his "fool’s speech" that began at 2 Cor. 11.1 ("I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness ..."). Paul’s concluding "foolish" remarks may seem like a strange choice of sermon texts for an annual meeting; however, the backdrop for Paul’s comments was discord in the church arising from (1) sin within the church; (2) critics of Paul—most likely Judaizers—claiming their own authority and a different gospel (2 Cor. 11:4); (3) inevitable comparisons between Paul and these other, flashier, "super-apostles"; and (4) suspicion about Paul’s planned collection for the poorer churches. Just as Paul said it was hard to hear these verses without feeling like Paul was on the defensive (v19), it is hard to preach on these verses without sounding on the defensive; however, I, like Paul, maintain that what is said is for building you up.

The commentary will be longer than normal, because Paul touches on many side issues along the way; however, I believe that Paul would agree that the main points in this passage are the ones I will amplify later.

2 Corinthians 12:11-21

Commentary

v11-12 Remember, we’re dropping into the middle of an extremely sarcastic speech. Paul’s contention all along has been that, since the Corinthians tolerate the bragging of the "super-apostle" Judaizers, they should be able to tolerate the boasting of a fool, especially a fool who is speaking the truth.

v12 perseverance. While the focus is on the flashy—signs, wonders, and miracles—the implication of this verse is that the other mark of an apostle is dogged perseverance. The "super-apostles" are showy, but then they will leave town. The super-spiritual faction at church will pontificate of how things should be, and then leave in disgust. The leadership that is left—Paul, Titus, and others—is marked by perseverance. This is what incarnational ministry is all about: the willingness to stick around during tough times.

v13-18 The implication is that some had suggested that Paul’s collection for the poor was really an ruse for personal profit. Paul turns the accusation around: (1) as their parent, he claims that he is spending himself on their behalf (v14-15); (2) although self-supporting, Paul did not trick the church by secretly receiving money through Titus and others (v16b-18).

v19 This is the key verse. Jesus said the way is narrow and hard to find (Matt. 7:13-14) and throughout the letter Paul has been describing the life that he has been modeling—humble, forbearing, enduring scorn—as the way that they should be walking. All he has said and done is for their edification.

v19 This is the key verse. Jesus said the way is narrow and hard to find (Matt. 7:13-14) and throughout the letter Paul has been describing the life that he has been modeling—humble, forbearing, enduring scorn—as the way that they should be walking. All he has said and done is for their edification.

v20-21 Behind the threat of what Paul may do, look at this description of the self-styled super-spiritual church: it is a mess! How is it that those who profess to deep spirituality so frequently are the source of this kind of discord instead of evidencing the fruit of the Spirit found in Gal. 5:22-23?

Application

I used to think that maybe there was a time and a place where churches just magically worked—maybe the early church in Acts, or the early Puritan churches in Plymouth, or churches in the Bible Belt. I used to think that maybe I was a failure as a pastor, because I couldn’t get everyone to play nicely with each other. Now, I’m not so sure.

Having suffered with Paul all these months going through 2 Corinthians, I’m inclined to think churches attract trouble. Peter, head of the church in Acts, has to deal with a couple that embezzles money (Acts 5:1-11). The couple is rebuked by Peter and presumably slain by God. Later, as Paul expands his ministry to the Gentiles, Peter presides over the first—and perhaps greatest—church split. Despite a church council and an apparent agreement (Acts 15) the Jewish and non-Jewish Christians start diverging, and they never really get back together, as Paul’s arrest and incarceration years later evidence. Within a generation of the landing at Plymouth Rock, the New England Puritans were struggling with children and grandchildren who did not evidence a conversion experience. How would the church keep these new generations engaged? One solution, the Halfway Covenant, allowed those without a born-again experience to take communion, even though they were not full voting members. This covenant was intended to draw the unregenerate in, to give them a place within the church, to promote opportunities for them to hear and respond to the call of the kingdom of God. However, the effect of the covenant was general dissatisfaction—the more pious members of the church felt that grace had been cheapened, while the outsiders continued to drift away from the church.

We like to think of church as a safe haven within a changing world. We like to think of church as a place the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, as Richard Bush says, "To hear God is to change." We change in two ways: inward, by drawing closer to God; and outward, by engaging the secular world. There is no life in Christ without both. While God may ask us to focus on one or the other for a season, ultimately we must be growing inward and moving outward—the God’s sake, for the world’s sake, and for the sake of our own souls. That change frequently will be painful.

Churches tend to attract trouble in two ways: trouble is frequently the impetus to change; and trouble is frequently the result of resisting change. The friction between Jewish and non-Jewish Christians is the impetus for the council in Jerusalem (Acts 15). On the other hand, the resistance of the Judaizers to new expressions of Christian living is trouble for Paul and his Gentile converts. Do not to miss the description of the Corinthian church in v20-21: for all of its boasting about a super-spiritual way of living, the church is a mess! I wonder if this isn’t generally the case with churches: some quietly live with charity, compassion, and tolerance for all; at the same time others brag about their virtue and criticize others.

This environment is always going to exist, because we are not all at the same point on our spiritual journey. Throughout this letter, Paul has been talking with the Corinthian church about God’s call on them to holier living and greater care and service to others. Throughout this letter, Paul has modeled the virtues that he desires to see in them—humility, forbearance, endurance. However, Christian virtue cannot be taught like so much knowledge read from a book; Christian virtue is learned only by doing. Paul cannot force humility upon the church; all he can do is model humility for them. Paul cannot force charity, tolerance, long-suffering, or any of the other Christian virtues; if he was to attempt to coerce these virtues, he would be a hypocrite and a guilty of pastoral malpractice.

In the end, all Paul can do is expend himself modeling the virtues the make for a deeper, fuller life. Therefore he says, "Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? ... and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening" (v19).

We have trials at church; all churches will. We are called to be continually changing, growing inward in Christ and going outward meeting Christ in the world; all churches, and all individuals, must. During times of trouble, some will live quietly with charity, compassion, and forbearance; others will boast about a better way and criticize others. I cannot force you to do a thing, but I do call you to see in troubles that come your way an opportunity to change and to grow.

Choose this day the way you will go.

Points to Ponder

What is troubling you? What virtue might come out of enduring your troubles through Christ? How might that make you more like Christ?