Sermon Video: "The Word became flesh" - John 1:14

“The Word became flesh”, those words begin John 1:14 and themselves are filled to overflowing with meaning.  The incarnation of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God now joined together with human flesh and blood in a Bethlehem manger, becomes the pivot point of history as divinity is combined with humanity in God’s all-out effort to restore humanity to fellowship with him.  This dual nature of Jesus, far from being just an interested fact, is an essential element in the Gospel message itself that cannot be watered-down because the essence of the Good News is that our faith is IN Jesus Christ, the God-man.  What he accomplished while here on earth is entirely connected with who he was.

                The phrase after that first one is equally full of implications, “and made his dwelling among us.”  To Jewish readers, this harkens back to the term used to describe God’s portable dwelling with his people, the Tabernacle.  God tabernacled with his people, dwelling among them, but in a very unapproachable way, within the Holy of Holies, only accessible once per year on the Day of Atonement, and only by the High Priest.  Now, with the incarnation, God through Jesus is reaching out, letting the children sit on his lap, talking with people, having lunch with “sinners”, and even reaching out his hand to touch the untouchable lepers.  God is “with us” in a far more dramatic way, a step that paves the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to dwell within those who follow Jesus.

                The last third of the verse speaks of the glory of Jesus, an example of the unique glory of God, and the grace and truth that he brought with him.  The glory revealed within Jesus is another reminder of how far short humanity has fallen from that of our Creator, the coming of the Christ was an act of grace designed to rectify that deficit, and the truth preached by Jesus is that he himself is the way through which we can be saved.  Thus Christmas is indeed a time for celebration, a time to commemorate the coming of the Way, the Truth, and the Life to dwell among us, to be one of us, and to save us.

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Sermon Video: "to become children of God", John 1:10-13

As the prologue to the Gospel of John continues, John writes of the lack of reception of the Word of God by first his own creation, which did not recognize him, and then his own people, who did not receive him.  This rejection, both baffling and ironic, could have been a disaster for humanity, but God’s mercy triumphed over man’s obstinacy to extend God’s grace to “all who received him” regardless of who they might be.  That God would continue to work to forgive humanity despite the difficulties that effort continues to encounter is certainly a testament to the mercy of God, but John’s explanation of God’s actions doesn’t stop at his mercy, it continues to and showcases God’s grace.  Those who do receive the Word, the Christ, are not only forgiven, but far beyond that they are also given the “right to become children of God”.  God is not only willing to forgive, and avert the wrath we had earned through rebellion, but also desires to reconcile humanity to himself by making those who accept him part of his family.  This spiritual adoption is a blessing unlooked for, and certainly one that is not capable of being earned, a true act of Amazing Grace from God to us.  What does it mean to be a “child of God”?  There are rights and privileges that come with it, but in the end the most important thing may be the knowledge that God chose you as his own, he loved you enough to seek you out, and that is certainly a reason to know joy at Christmas.

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"No Earthly Good", in defense of Ecumenism

I recently experienced my first significant resistance to our efforts through Mustard Seed Missions to work ecumenically to help the needy.  Thankfully, this opposition did not come from anyone in my church, or even anyone here in our community or in one of the forty churches we partner with.  The objection to the work of Mustard Seed Missions came from people who had no direct knowledge of our work, but rather only an objection to the principle of ecumenism, in most of its forms, regardless of its application in our case and without any first-hand, or even second-hand knowledge of what it is that we actually do for people here in Venango County in the name of Christ.

It did of course bother me somewhat, and sadden me, to know that sincere Christians would object to a ministry that has brought so much hope and brotherly love not only to our clients but to our churches, but it didn’t really surprise me.  There is a long standing tradition in Church history of choosing principles over people in the sense that the people involved are considered to be casualties of the need to hold on tightly to principles and therefore such casualties are regrettable but not avoidable.  As I pondered this situation this morning I was reminded of a song that I knew as a kid that was covered by the Oak Ridge Boys but originally written and sung by Johnny Cash, “No earthly good”.  A portion of the third verse speaks to this point: “If you're holdin' heaven then spread it around, There are hungry hands reaching up here from the ground, Move over and share the high ground where you stood, So heavenly minded and you're no earthly good”.

Principles are an important thing, the fundamentals of the Christian faith are an essential part of what defines us that we cannot afford to lose.  That being said, the fractured and varied Church that exists today is the reality with which we must work.  In an ideal world, there would only be one Church, all in doctrinal agreement and all correctly following the Word of God.  In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t an ideal world.  We have two primary choices then as we face the reality of the divisions within the Church of Jesus Christ: #1 Build a wall around our church to avoid the “corrupting” influence of the theology of churches that we object to and only work with completely like-minded people for the kingdom of God #2 Work with all of our sister churches for the sake of the lost even though we have important differences in our theology.

As someone who grew up enjoying the hard-nosed theology of the Apostle Paul, I can see the appeal of taking a stand on principle, but the words of Jesus Christ compel me forward, “whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  In a world of darkness, I choose to seek out other lights that shine besides my own, together we will shine brighter as we share the light of Jesus Christ.

Sermon Video: "In the beginning was the Word" - John 1:1-5

The story of Christmas, with all its wondrous details of angels, shepherds, magi, and a manger is a compilation from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  The Gospel of Mark begins its narrative of the life of Jesus with the adult John the Baptist’s call to the people of Israel to repent, John’s Gospel, like Mark’s, begins its narrative with John the Baptist, but it does include a prologue that sheds some powerful light upon the Christmas story even without mentioning any of the parts of the story that children love to hear.  Luke begins his story with the coming of Gabriel to Zechariah to foretell the birth of John the Baptist, Matthew with the dream of Joseph where the angel tells him that Mary’s pregnancy is not a sinful mistake but a divine intervention.  John’s prologue backs up much further than either of these accounts of Jesus by starting, “In the beginning”.  The one who will become incarnate at Bethlehem has a history that predates all of creation and even time itself.  Before anything that now is, except for God, had come to be, the Word of God already was in existence.  That Word, which could also be translated as: thought, expression, idea, or speech, was both with God “in the beginning” and that Word was God from the beginning.  With his opening statement, John’s Gospel makes an incredible and amazing claim for Jesus: he was, and is God. 

                This same claim concerning Jesus will be made throughout John’s Gospel, most famously with the “I AM” statements, yet here in the prologue John has already removed all doubt from those who would question his intention.  If John is taken at face value, Jesus must be considered as fully God, anything less is to ignore the Gospel’s claims.  Along with existing before all else, the Word also had a necessary role in the creation of everything that exists, so much so that John assures us that nothing exists that he didn’t have a part in creating. 

                The next thing that John shares concerning the Word of God pertains to life itself.  It is clear that human life is qualitatively superior to all other life as we know it, we alone ask ourselves about where life came from, what its purpose is, and what happens to us after we die.  Such questions have been asked by our ancestors throughout history, but the light had only shined dimly through natural revelation (looking at the world around us) and those who had a connection with God but were themselves imperfect vessels.  All of that changed with the coming of the Word, who was both originator of the life of mankind, as well as a beacon of light shining in the darkness and pointing us toward the Father.  The darkness, for its part, has been entirely unable to understand/overcome the coming of the light of Christ, it cannot understand how humility, service, and self-sacrifice are God’s ultimate tools of victory because hate does not comprehend love.

                John has already made definitive claims about who Jesus, as the Word of God, was and is, as John’s prologue continues, in vs. 10-14, the purpose of his coming among us in the flesh will be made clear.

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What if we fail to act?

The parable of the talents, located in Matthew 25:14-30, and Luke 19:12-27, has been interpreted in a variety of ways, some taking the talent literally and focusing on our use of money, others using the coincidence in English to talk about talents as our skills and abilities, still others focusing on our time or energy.  For the most part, these various interpretations focus upon the obligations and responsibilities of the followers of Jesus Christ as individuals.  The local church, and the Church in a community, as well as the Church as a whole, likewise has a responsibility to utilize its talents, whether that be money, abilities, facilities, or whatever other resources, for the kingdom of God.
What happens when a single church, or a whole community of Churches, instead sits on the sidelines and doesn't do much with what they have been given?  The same response that Jesus explained in the parable for individuals applies to the collective body of Christ as well.  If we fail to act, if we fail to be a part of the solution for peace, justice, dignity, and the value of human life, we will have failed in an integral part of our task as the Church of Jesus Christ.  Our primary focus is, and must always be, the reconciliation of the lost to Jesus through faith in his death and resurrection, but that cannot be the only thing we care about as a church nor the only thing we devote ourselves to working toward.  The passage that immediately follows the parable in Matthew contains Jesus' encouragement and warning that "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."  There is fear in some evangelical circles of mixing the proclamation of the Gospel with social causes, lest concerns for poverty or social justice overwhelm the spread of the Good News, but there is an equal danger of sterilizing the proclamation of the Gospel and robbing it of its power to transform not only individuals, but communities and society too, if we remove Jesus' often repeated concern for the needs of the "least of these" from our efforts.
What will it cost us to properly proclaim the Gospel?  We will certainly have to invest our time, money, labor, and love in the lives of other people through efforts such as: food and clothing pantries, disaster relief, utilities/housing assistance, and whichever other ways we can strive to help those in need.
There is one other area that we will have to stretch in order to fulfill our calling as the Church of Jesus Christ:  We're going to have to work together.  Individual churches will not be enough, the problems are too big, we need the whole power of ALL of the Church, not just those portions of it with which we feel comfortable, not just those portions of it that look, feel, and sound like us.  The calling of the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands more from us than that which we are comfortable giving, if we truly hope to multiply our talents and hear one day, "Well done, good and faithful servant", we've got to get serious as local churches about working together.

Sermon Video: "Give thanks to the LORD" - Psalm 107

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”  A familiar refrain from Psalm 107 that is echoed throughout Scripture.  In this psalm, there is a clear pattern that repeats itself of ABCD, ABCD, ABCD, and ABCD.  For each time through, the “A” is an example of on type of trouble that people endure in life, “B” is the universally appropriate response, “they cried out to the LORD in their trouble”, along with God’s ever-merciful response, “and he delivered them from their distress”. “C” is the description of how God saves, and “D” is the necessary response of thanksgiving from humanity, “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men”.  Thus the “B” and “D” are like the chorus of a hymn, repeated each time through to show that no matter what the problem is, where it came from or what caused it, the proper response is still to cry out to the LORD who will hear and help, and then to follow that deliverance up with thanks given back to God.  The purpose of the psalmists words is to show us that we have only one place to turn in times of trouble, for only God can save and he is willing to do so, and to teach us that we owe God our gratitude for all that he has done for us.  In much the same way as the venerable hymns of Luther, Wesley, Crosby, and our other favorites, not only is the psalm meant to be pleasing with its sound when sung, but thought provoking to our minds as we consider its words.  The last verse sums it up, “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.”

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