The Torah Club (FFOZ) materials that explain salvation through the lens of Hasidic Judaism

There is much that we, as disciples of Jesus gathered together in the Church can learn from both ancient and modern Judaism.  The scriptures themselves contain many of these truths and lessons, but when and where other sources connected to Judaism contain Truth, we should not allow pride or prejudice to stand in the way of embracing it.  To an extent, this same principle applies to every other philosophy and religion on the basis of the general revelation that the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 1.  Truth is Truth even when those who hold it have only a small piece of the whole.  With respect to Judaism there is an added layer because the descendants of Abraham were chosen by God to be his covenant people and given ongoing insight through special revelation from the time of Moses through the time of their greatest prophet, Jesus of Nazareth.  It is useful, then, for Christians to consider Truth when it is found in the Talmud (for example), for many of its rabbinic sources were men of faith looking forward to the Messiah (Hebrews 11).  Given that these oral traditions were not codified until the 4th century (Jerusalem Talmud) or the 5th century (Babylonian Talmud), the influence of the editors/compilers who rejected Jesus as the Messiah is also to be expected.  Nevertheless, texts like these retain some value for the Christian study of the Hebrew Scriptures in particular, offering us insights into how the text was interpreted in ancient times by the Jewish people.  

All this is what the First Fruits of Zion purports to be doing, and if this was all there was to it, I'd be supportive of their work as it would mirror my own educational efforts with respect to original authors and audience of God's Word.  But that's not where it ends.

When utilizing sources from those who do not believe in Jesus, if they are those who believed in the God of Abraham, as is the case here, or those who did not, like the Greek philosophers that have influenced Church history, it is necessary that we proceed with caution especially when the topic at hand relates to the message of the Gospel.

For example, what the Talmud says about Isaiah 53 is of interest to the Church {For a useful discussion: Isaiah 53: The Forbidden Chapter - by R.L. Solberg} but ultimately this prophecy is about Jesus of Nazareth and those voices within Judaism which point in a different direction (that Israel itself is the Suffering Servant) have historical but not theological authority for Christians.  Let us treat these voices within Judaism, both ancient and modern, with respect and dignity, but they have no authority over those who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Which brings us to this example from the Torah Club lesson The Beginning of Wisdom #16 published in 2022 by FFOZ.  It is of historic significance for the Church to understand how various voices within the diverse opinions that constitute Judaism through the centuries have discussed the issue of salvation.  This is a worthwhile topic of study.  What did they believe that mankind needed to be saved from?  What did they think God's role in this salvation was and what was the role of human beings?  What is the role of faith, works, and grace in their view?  Answers to these questions have value and are worthy of study by Christian writers, theologians, and teachers.  But at the same time, we must recognize that if the source we're studying doesn't accept Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, neither the foundation nor the conclusions offered by that source can have any theological authority for followers of Jesus.

If Jesus isn't the heart and soul of your explanation of God's offer of salvation to humanity, what you have to say at best is helpful so that I might properly share the Gospel with those who believe as you do, but at worst your ideas are, to use Paul's term, a "stumbling block."  Again, this is true whether that source comes from Judaism, Greek Philosophy, Islam, Rationalism, Hinduism, or any other.  As Acts 4:12 makes abundantly clear, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

So when FFOZ shares one of the ways in which Hasidic Judaism (they spell it Chasidic) defines the cause of the human condition and God's response to it, it has historic value, but it cannot be presented by any orthodox understanding of Christianity as divine Truth.  On page 10, Daniel Lancaster prefaces this forthcoming tale of the preexistent soul's journey by saying, "Its an incredible journey."  On page 11, there is an attempt to connect this idea of the preexistent human soul to the Gospel message of repentance, Christ's atonement, faith, and forgiveness, which is a good thing, but the yeast has already been mixed in with the dough.  If FFOZ wanted to present this material as something to take note of, but not something it expects Torah Club members to believe, they would need to say so loud and clear, but they fail in this particular case and reinforce that failure by using the study questions #2 and #3 (see picture above) to reinforce the teaching that they took from Paul Philip Levertoff whom they say borrowed the ideas from Hasidic Judaism.  This is not a one-off bit of sloppiness where admiration for an early Messianic Jewish leader got the better of Lancaster who has taught over and over again in this series that he believes that accepting that our souls existed in paradise with God before we were born is a foundational teaching, one that has come up in roughly every other lesson, each time with a stamp of approval.

And this ultimately is the danger of not exercising discernment about the sources that are trusted to teach Christians about theology.  It isn't that FFOZ doesn't teach the Truth at all, at times they sound like an evangelical organization, but this Truth is always mixed with a wide variety of errors that were condemned by the Early Church (such as Subordinationism and Modalism), or as is the case here, come from modern Jewish mysticism.  The resulting mish-mash is something that neither Judaism nor Christianity can stomach as it attempts to shoe-horn Jesus into categories and concepts that were made by those who rejected Jesus as Messiah, all the while telling Gentile Christians who don't know better that this is the "authentic" and "original" belief of those who first followed Jesus.  The end result isn't pretty.

Sermon Video: We are made in God's image - Genesis 1:26-31

At the culmination of Genesis' Creation account, God pauses to explain that his creation of humanity will differ from all the other living things that have come before, for this living thing will be made in the very image of God.  What does this mean?  The implications are plentiful but they include: (1) We are intimately connected to God, (2) equal to every other human who has ever lived, (3) and qualitatively more important than all the other living things that we have been tasked with stewardship over.  In addition, we owe our creativity, delight in beauty, logic, and ethics to the way in which God created us.

A House of Card: Going full-on mysticism Daniel Lancaster imagines the conversations your preexistent soul had with God (Lesson 7)

 

If you had any doubt that the Torah Clubs (FFOZ) following Daniel Lancaster's teachings are purposefully subverting, more than that, outright jettisoning, the sole authority of God's Word, the proof is there to be seen in the actual Torah Club materials.  Now, you could also look at Rethinking the Five Solae - by Jacob Fronczak, First Fruits of Zion's failed attempt to label Protestantism as inherently anti-Semitic, a book that FFOZ is publishing and selling to see just how antagonistic this organization is to scriptural authority.

Here in The Beginning of Wisdom lesson 7, the Jewish mystical teaching of a pre-existent soul, a concept not found anywhere in scripture, is fully embraced to the extent that this idea becomes the very rationale for our time here on earth, "That's why we came to this place." (p. 6) We came here, according to FFOZ, to learn things that our souls in heaving couldn't because they were already in God's presence.  In other words, God needed us to disconnect from him so we'd learn to want to come back though life's "innumerable difficulties, trials, and temptations." (p. 6)  Thus FFOZ is not only imagining our purpose, but God's as well, both dependent upon the notion that we don't remember our time spent with God before birth.

Once you have this extra-biblical idea firmly in place, FFOZ will teach you that Jacob's journey out of the Promised Land and back (necessary because of how thoroughly he had cheated his brother) is an analogy for our journey from heaven, to earth, and back again.  Why on earth (no pun intended) would Bible believing Christians sit under this teaching?  Are you going to strain this filth out of the food they're serving?

Lancaster isn't finished, he's cheeky enough to invent God's dialogue with your pre-existent soul, of course we can't remember that warning because our memory was wiped clean when we slipped on our bodies "like clothing."  {see: Torah Club lesson #6 takes a bizarre turn toward Gnostic Dualism in support of an anti-Trinitarian view of Jesus}

The Group Discussion question in section 3 of lesson 7 is this, "What do you think of the Jewish idea of the preexistent soul?"

*FYI, it isn't a Jewish idea, it is one form of Jewish mysticism.  FFOZ wants you to view Judaism and Jewish thinkers as some sort of monolith that they can represent to you and teach you about, it is as pathetic as saying, "What do you think of the Christian idea of Calvinism?" or "What do you think of the Church's idea of priestly celibacy?"  Anyone with an ounce of knowledge of Christianity and the Church knows that some Christians adhere to Calvinism but many do not, and a portion of the Church has embraced priestly celibacy, for a portion of that segment's history, but most do not and never have.  Note: Torah Club/FFOZ materials rarely, if ever, cite sources for what they define as "Jewish thought" or when they say, "Judaism teaches."*

What do I think about the idea?  (1) It is extra biblical, (2) more akin to the ideas of Eastern religions about reincarnation than to anything Jesus taught, and (3) a dangerous wedge to begin teaching people to embrace an authority beyond, and ultimately against, the Word of God.

Torah Club lesson #6 takes a bizarre turn toward Gnostic Dualism in support of an anti-Trinitarian view of Jesus

 

I'll admit, I didn't see this one coming.  It would never have occurred to me to use the story of Jacob and Esau to redefine the Apostle Paul's use of "flesh" (Greek: sark) in purely physical dualistic terms.  There is a reason for that, of course: The Apostle Paul isn't talking about our physical bodies (in opposition to our soul/spirit) when he writes about wrestling with the "flesh," which is why the NIV has chosen to translate Paul's intention "sinful nature" rather than a more literal English word like "flesh" which has a physical connotation that's hard to let go of.  

And here we have Daniel Lancaster's Torah Club material stating that the cause of Paul's inner wresting was his "flesh" because he believes this is connected to the Hebrew idiom "flesh and blood" and therefore dovetails nicely with the idea of pre-existing souls that only wear a physical body like clothing.  There are several problems with this whole line of thinking, including that these ideas were troubling enough to the Early Church to have been condemned as heresy at the Council of Constantinople.  This path leads toward the Gnostic Dualism that so troubled the Apostle John in his first letter {1 John 4:2-3 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.} and went on to cause enormous trouble for multiple generations within the Church before that idea of a divide in humanity between flesh/bad and spirit/good inspired by Greek philosophy died out.

When I fail to live up to my calling as a disciple of Jesus, it isn't my material body that's to blame (as if my spirit/soul is a helpless victim unable to stop that nasty body), it is me, all of me.  I'm a whole person, not a collection of competing parts.  Jesus Christ died to save all of me, not just my soul, and the Holy Spirit works to transform all of me, not just a corrupted flesh, so that on the day of Resurrection I will be fully renewed, body, spirit, and soul; one person made new by the power of God's grace.

The previous post from lesson #1 of The Beginning of Wisdom {The very first Torah Club lesson (covering Genesis 1:1-6:8) undermines the Trinity} presents, along with Daniel Lancaster's disturbing The Only Begotten Son {The boldly heretical anti-trinitarianism of Daniel Lancaster (One of the key leaders of the FFOZ and Torah Clubs) in his own words}, a picture of the Word of God as an avatar of God (not a person) who simply indwells the human man Jesus of Nazareth {who presumably had his own preexistent human soul}, with that same idea, "The spiritual aspect of a human being dwells within the body like a man living in a tent." (p. 10)  

If Jesus Christ was a human being indwelt by an avatar of God, "like a body wearing clothing," as FFOZ is apparently teaching its followers, then that same dualism makes sense for the rest of us as well.  "The word of God then divested himself, like took off his outer garment so to speak and clothed himself in a human body.  Kind of like the word would dwell in the Tabernacle or would dwell in the temple." - Daniel Lancaster, The Only Begotten Son

But of course that's not the nature of Jesus described in the scriptures or accepted by the Church throughout its history at all, not even close.  The spirit and body of Jesus Christ was made one (the hypostatic union) at the Incarnation when the eternal Word (2nd person of the Trinity) permanently took upon himself humanity, including a human body, that same body that was resurrected on Easter Sunday.

It can be difficult to wrap your mind around such concepts that are so far removed from the orthodoxy of the Church, but that's the rabbit trail of dangerous error that Daniel Lancaster and FFOZ is leading countless people along.

An observation about social media comment sections in light of the Witch Walk furor

Let's be honest, the uproar that ensued after this week's post on the St. Patrick Parish FB page about the Witch Walk brought out the worst in a whole lot of people.  Like many of you, I read a good number of the comments (before they were all restricted somewhere north of the 3k comment mark), and the vast majority of them revealed a level of anger, pettiness, and judgmentalism that we sadly have come to expect from the worst aspects of social media.

My follow-up post on the subject: What the furor over the Witch Walk in Franklin can teach us about Christian cultural engagement was received with much less rancor and positive interaction than the original St. Patrick post was written in response to, thank you to everyone for that.  Much of the difference can be attributed to the nature of the posts themselves, one inflamed passions and the other was trying to calm them, but I've notice a significant difference when comparing the comments that have since occurred about my post on my personal page vs. on 1st Baptist's page.

What's the difference?  For those who know me, at least well enough to be FB friends, the comments have been almost universally polite, even kind.  But on the 1st Baptist's FB page, where those commenting have been much less connected to myself personally (and my comments appear as the institution speaking, not a specific person), the comments have been significantly less gracious, with several veering off into being argumentative, even mean.  This same phenomenon held true when I posted the link to my blog post on someone else's thread, with those responding not being my own FB friends, but friends of that person instead, the end result was less civility, less grace.

{FYI, I've noticed this for years, as a person who maintains a blog, I share posts in relevant threads online from time-to-time, the reception of them there is almost always worse than when sharing the same content on my own feed only.  The level of misunderstanding increases, especially when it comes to people assuming that I have horrible motives behind my words.}

It is as if (and this is no novel observation), that lack of human relationship between people, even one as tenuous as a FB friendship can be, acts as a permission to be the worst jerky versions of ourselves.

As a Christian, this says something to me about fallen human nature, it echoes the lesson of William Goldin's Lord of the Flies that, "the beast is us," and it only takes the addition of a little bit of anonymity to unleash it.  It is a reminder of our universal need for a Redeemer.

When it is Christians, or at least those claiming to be Christians, who are using anonymity to behave in this reprehensible manner, it tells me something deeply sad about the health of the Church in America today.

But it also reminds me of something I've always known, something that buoys my optimism about the future: Relationships matter.  No matter how much of our daily lives gets sucked into our phones, social media apps, and anonymous interactions online, we crave real genuine face-to-face contact with people who know us and care about us.  We can't help it, our Creator made us as relational beings.  For this reason, I'm not putting stock in the future of online churches.  You can't get a warm handshake, even a hug, see someone else's smile, hear their laugh, when you're interaction is through a screen.  If your church, like my church, actually welcomes new people with kindness and genuine acceptance, you have something that people in this world need, and something that our society is leaving them more and more desperate for.

Long story short, we shouldn't be surprised that after the St. Patrick Parish's Witch Walk post went viral, and the majority of those commenting had no idea where Franklin is, what St. Patrick Parish is like (ie. that they run a food pantry that helps people in our community every month), or even the name of its priest, that the commentary became meaner, darker, and uglier by the minute.

Do yourself a favor, spend less time in front of a screen interacting with people you don't really know, and more time in the same room as people who know you, can grow to like you, and by the grace of God love you too.

Sermon Video: Seeing isn't Believing - Romans 10:16-21

The Gospel message of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus is an easy one to share and comprehend, children are more than capable of fully believing it.  So, why did the Israelites in Jesus' generation, who saw his miracles, refuse to believe in him?  What is it about humanity that we're capable of this?

Willful and stubborn human pride is the answer.  The human heart is capable of looking at overwhelming evidence and ignoring it because we would rather not believe it.  It isn't the Gospel message that needs to change, but the hard hearts of those who won't accept God's love for them.

Sermon Video: Live According to the Spirit - Romans 8:5-13

What is the difference between living according to the flesh (the fallen human nature we were born with) and according to the Spirit?  Death vs. Life.  The contrast could not be more stark.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to live according to the Spirit, a transformative process that begins with "putting to death" the actions, attitudes, and thoughts of our old selves.  Christ has set us free, therefore we can live by the Spirit.

Sermon Video: The Law reveals the depth of humanity's sin - Romans 7:7-13

Having established that we have "died to the law", the Apostle Paul next tackles the question: What then is the relationship between the Law of Moses and human sin?  On the way to the answer, Paul points out that the failure of the Law rests with the human beings whose hearts seized upon the commandments of the Law to add rebellion against it to the list of sins they were already committing (which the Law now explicitly forbade).

In the end, the primary achievement of the Law was to showcase, through a multi-generational failure to keep it on the part of the covenant people, that humanity absolutely needs a savior.  God gave humanity (through the representation of the Israelites as the test case) a system for living in fellowship with him, a system containing both blessings and curses (carrots and sticks) here in this life, but it wasn't enough to overcome the depravity of fallen humanity.  In the end, the Law showed up how far gone we really are, how dependent we are upon God's amazing grace.

Sermon Video: Slaves to God? Romans 6:15-22

Contrary to post-modernism, American culture, and the tendency of Baptist theology, we are NOT autonomous individuals.  Here's the thing, there's only two choices: (1) Continue to be a slave to sin, or (2) become a slave to God (and righteousness).  That's it.  "Free agency" is not a thing when it comes to your immortal soul.

In case you're wondering, slavery to God is the path to hope, purpose, fulfillment, and joy.

I'm not afraid, should I be?

 

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

In the Empire Strikes Back, young Luke Skywalker is trying to convince the Jedi Master Yoda to train him, a task that Yoda deems both too late and unwise due to Luke's rashness.  Luke tries to change his mind by claiming, "I won't fail you, I'm not afraid."  After a nice long dramatic pause, Yoda replies, "You will be...You...will...be."

Here's the thing, I'm against 'Christian' Nationalism and embracing strongmen/autocrats to solve our nation's problems, not because I'm naïve like Luke, but because I'm sober-minded enough, and grounded in history and theology enough, to know better.

I will never embrace solving America's problems by abandoning the democratic process in favor of a 'savior', not because I don't love America as much as those advocating such a drastic move (see for example: Eric Metaxas and Rod Dreher), but because I know human history.

Autocracy has never saved a democracy.  

Power always corrupts, the greater the power the greater the corruption, do you really think that one person wielding the power of the American military and economy without checks and balances, without elections and judicial review, would be a force for good in the world?  We've seen how much evil has been done with the power Xi Jinping wields in China, do you think an American strongman would be any different?  Only a fool would think this plan disconnected from both human nature and world history is anything but a national suicide pact.

Immorality has never helped the Church

I will never embrace 'helping' the Church by utilizing evil as a tool, not because I don't love the Church as much as those advocating such a Faustian bargain, but because I know the nature of God.

Many of those not quite willing to abandon our democratic rights have nevertheless been convinced, or have chosen to convince themselves, that the 'greater good' and the urgency of the moment demands that we abandon the luxuries of Truth, Honor, Integrity, Kindness, Mercy, and the like in favor of Realpolitik, 'might makes right', and 'win at all cost' means and measures.  Only a fool would think this plan disconnected from both the nature of Evil and the Holiness of God is anything but an act of faithless rebellion.  Evil is never the path chosen by God for you or for us.  Choosing evil to confront threats to the Church instead of righteousness is not realistic, it is cowardly, it is faithless.

I'm not afraid of the present, there's nothing new under the sun.

I'm not afraid of what comes next, God is always in control, my faith rests in him.

I'm not afraid of the future, God's final victory is assured.

The Early Church was a tiny minority living in a hostile pagan Empire that would soon be torturing and murdering the disciples of Jesus.  And yet, the Apostle Paul never even hinted at trying to overcome evil with evil, in fact he specifically rejected it {Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.}.  If the disciples of Jesus, who watched their Lord be brutally murdered at the hands of evil men, and the early generations of his followers, who faced the mightiest Empire the world had ever known, were told to not lost heart, to not compromise their character, but to serve and sacrifice with righteousness and love, what on earth makes 21st century American Christians so important that our fears, real or imagined, allow us to not follow in their footsteps?

Yoda also said something else that is appropriate here, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side."

I'm not afraid, my God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, why should you be?

See Also: The downward spiral of Bonhoeffer biographer Eric Metaxas

The Bible doesn't mandate that Christians support Democracy, BUT preventing the Evil that Autocracy would unleash in America does

The Watchman Decree: 'Christian' Nationalism's 'name it and claim it' dangerous prayer

Sermon Video: The insanity of: "Let us do evil that good may result" Romans 3:5-8

Thor: Love and Thunder - A scathing and accurate dismissal of Paganism's anthropomorphic gods

 

* This is a spoiler free commentary *

The villain of the newest Marvel movie, Thor: Love and Thunder is Gorr the God Butcher, a mortal played by Christian Bale.  Through events that the movie makes crystal clear, Gorr has grievances with one particular god that he then is intent upon generalizing as he begins the process that earns him his nickname.

The indictment of Gorr against his particular god, and then all such similar gods, is thoroughly believable and just.  It is, in fact, the exact complaint that could have been levied in the Ancient World against any of the gods of Paganism whether they be Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, or any other besides that of the Jews.  Why?  For a very simple and very powerful reason: All such gods with the exception of Yahweh who revealed himself to Abraham, were anthropomorphic.

An anthropomorphic god is made in the image of humanity, that's a problem.

The gods of Ancient Paganism were immortal and powerful, but beyond these qualities they were just like you and me.  They experienced greed, lust, rage, petty jealousy, pride, and a the whole range of human sinfulness.  They were just like us, but bigger (often with bigger, more spectacular, sins too).  They could be grossly evil when it suited them.

Which leads to a problem we can see from a mile away: Immortal powerful beings like us are NOT worthy of worship or devotion.  In fact, such a being would be a menace to be feared, not a Father to be loved.  Imagine the harm that any human being would do with immortality and god-like power.

The actions taken by Gorr in response are their own moral question, but his anger and disappointment are not only justified, but inevitable because his god is just like he is.

The God of Abraham made us in his image, not the other way around

In contrast, the God that you meet when reading the Bible deviates significantly and consistently from human nature.  We change, he does not.  We are tempted toward selfishness, he is not.  We would make use of evil if we thought it would benefit us (or our causes), he would not.  As the Scriptures unfold, the God who will reveal himself as Father and eventually send his Son to save the world and his Spirit to guide his people, persists in love, compassion, mercy, and justice.

God calls us to be like him, to discard our fallen human nature with its vices, and by faith embrace his nature and actually be transformed to be more like him (aiming at ultimate full Christ-likeness).

Does God answer every prayer, are his people always happy with him and his decisions?  No, and the Bible doesn't shy away from these hard truths, offering us the book of Job to contemplate and Ecclesiastes to ponder, but the nature of God: pure and holy, right and just, loving and merciful is what endures through the ages.  

The Jews had a God unlike any of their neighbors.  When the Apostle Paul and his generation of Jesus' disciples brought that God to peoples who had only known petty and cruel gods, their enthusiastic willingness to abandon their gods made in their image, and embrace the God who made us in his, makes a whole lot of sense. 

Sermon Video: The Crucifixion of Jesus - Mark 15:16-26

With so many gruesome details involved in a Roman crucifixion, we can become numb to the physical and emotional suffering that Jesus endured on our behalf.  While contemplating Mark's text consider this: (1) The soldiers' mockery and beating of Jesus served no purpose.  The flogging was public and intended to be a deterrent (whether it worked or not is a separate conversation), as was the crucifixion itself, but the mockery/beating was a relatively private affair, just the soldiers having fun at the expense of someone their society had just labeled an 'other'.  This shows us the depth of human depravity, the savageness that is far too often unleashed against the innocent or weak. (2) The crucifixion itself, while showing us humanity at one of our lowest points, shows us God at his highest, revealing love beyond our ability to properly describe its majesty with words.

Sermon Video: "Yet not what I will, but what you will." - Mark 14:32-42

Jesus submitted to the will of the Father. In the Garden, though it cost him anguish that few people will know, he submitted. There was no other plan, the Incarnation proves the necessity of Jesus' Passion, salvation for humanity had no other champion. The divinity of Jesus did not shield him from the pain of his Passion, knowledge of the victory to come did not make it any less real.

The advice given by Jesus to his slumbering disciples speaks to us as well, "watch and pray". We don't know what our time of trial will consist of, nor when it will come, but we too need to submit to the Father and we too need vigilance and the power that prayer conveys.

Sermon Video: Where defilement comes from - Mark 7:14-23

 Where does evil come from? The answer from Jesus is simple: the human heart. Surface level things do matter, but they need to be kept in perspective. In the end, we need to recognize the root cause ("The Beast is us" as Simon says in Lord of the Flies) in order to combat it. Thankfully, Jesus is both the great physician who correctly diagnoses the disease, and the cure.

Sermon Video: His own did not receive him - John 1:6-11

 Following his soaring introductory paragraph, John speaks of the precursor of the Light of Mankind, John the Baptist, and his work to prepare his people for the coming of the Messiah. Then John tackles a difficult issue, while Jesus is the True Light, the very Son of God, his own people (for the most part) rejected him. Not only that, a majority of humanity has never accepted Jesus as the Savior of the world, why is that? It isn't the plan from the Father that is flawed, nor the execution of the plan by the Son, nor the 'tech support' to that plan offered by the Holy Spirit. The flaw resides with the recipients of God's grace. Fallen humanity exists in rebellion against God, with darkened hearts and minds, capable of believing lies and rejecting Truth. 2020 has reminded us of this, with both the pandemic and the election spawning countless false narratives and outright hoaxes, believed by millions. Yet the True Light remains, the Gospel retains its power to transform lives and save souls.

An unhealthy overemphasis on politics

 

I'll admit, I've been sucked toward the rabbit hole of politics more in 2020 than any year since my youthful fascination decades ago.  With so much of consequence happening, between the pandemic, race relations, and the election, I can't be alone in this.  At the same time, the ongoing Culture War and hyper-partisanship have made our political theatre more and more toxic to those who both participate in it, and to those who observe it.

Perspective is lacking.  We need to refocus, particularly as Christians, on 'things above', {Colossians 3:1 (NIV) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.} but how do we do that?  By putting politics back in its rightful, secondary, place.

1. God directs history, not man - Psalm 2

 Psalm 2:1-6 (NIV)

1 Why do the nations conspire

    and the peoples plot in vain?

2 The kings of the earth rise up

    and the rulers band together

    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,

3 “Let us break their chains

    and throw off their shackles.”

4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

    the Lord scoffs at them.

5 He rebukes them in his anger

    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

6 “I have installed my king

    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

The thing is, as impactful as human decisions and choices are in our own lives, and as important as our collective decisions are for the future of our nation and culture, God is still in control, both individually and collectively.  The will of God is not gainsaid by anything that human beings do, or fail to do.  The ultimate example of the futility of striving against God is the 'victory' of Satan when Jesus Christ was betrayed, falsely convicted, sentenced to death, and horribly murdered on a cross.  This apparent defeat of God's champion, whether Satan knew him to truly be the Son of God or not, was not a derailment of God's purpose in sending the Messiah, but its fulfillment.  In 'defeat', God was victorious in establishing his will, destroying both Sin and Death through the resurrection of Jesus.  Because God was able to accomplish this humanly impossible victory, he certainly can handle the simple plots of, relatively, powerless humans.  This is not a denial of human freewill, but rather advocacy for the supremacy of God's will.  God, being God, is able to give humanity freewill AND still accomplish his will.  Another example?  Joseph's time in Egypt as a slave: Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  Likewise, note the futility of Saul of Tarsus' efforts to thwart the will of God: Acts 26:14 (NLT) We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.[b]’ [26:14b Greek It is hard for you to kick against the oxgoads.]  Whatever politics is, it is not what determines the future.  We have given it too much credit, at the expense of trusting in God.

2. Human nature is unaffected by governments/society - Ecclesiastes 1:9

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NIV)

What has been will be again,

    what has been done will be done again;

    there is nothing new under the sun.

Solomon, in his wisdom, grasped that human nature doesn't change.  This may seem like a fantastic claim to post-modern individuals living in the information age in a democratic society, but the people in our modern world are no different than the people of the Ancient Near East who lived in an agrarian society of kingdoms and empires where oral history was the primary means of retaining knowledge.  As much as technology and information availability have changed since the Industrial Revolution, a pace of change that has accelerated dramatically since the invention of the internet, human nature has 'evolved' not at all.  Human beings still respond to the same motivations, still have the same flaws, hope, and dreams.  The details change, but the substance does not.

What then is the impact of the static nature of humanity on politics?  It reminds us that whatever change a new election or new form of government may bring, that change impacts the surface.  Deep down, humanity remains what we have always been.  Beings created in the image of God who have fallen from grace and are powerless to alter that state and are thus dependent upon a Savior.  Those truths remain the same, whether one lives under a despotic emperor or has the right to vote for representatives.  Don't get me wrong, humanity is better off with political freedom, those blessings are of great value, but even they don't change human nature.  Our ancestors were less free, but they were no less human, and our freedom hasn't made us any more human.

3. The Church's victory is not dependent upon temporal power (or a lack thereof) - Matthew 16:18

Matthew 16:18 (NIV) And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

The Church does not require power to fulfill its mission.  In fact, the more power in society that the Church has wielded, the more mixed the results of evangelism and discipleship.  While the history of Christianity in Japan is the prime example that, 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church' is a myth.  Extreme and prolonged persecution can destroy a church.  The opposite of persecution, power, is also a danger to the church.  When Calvin merged the Church in Geneva with the State, making city business into church business, it was not 'heaven on earth', nor was it sustained long-term.  Likewise, when the Lutheran Church in German was at its most elevated status, it fell prey to Bonhoeffer's 'Cheap Grace', a form of religion without the commitment of the heart.

In the end, neither persecution nor power can deny the universal Church its final destiny as the Bride of Christ.  While local churches, denominations, or even national churches may thrive or fail as time wears on, the mission of the Church is not to conquer the physical/political world, but to share the Gospel with all peoples.  We are called to be servants, not rulers, and that calling is irrevocable. 

Revelation 19:6-9 (NIV)

6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!

    For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

7 Let us rejoice and be glad

    and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

    and his bride has made herself ready.

8 Fine linen, bright and clean,

    was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

The final victory was secured at the Empty Tomb, the final chapter of the story has already been written.  The ebb and flow of human striving for temporal power pales in comparison to the drama unfolding through the generations as individuals are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.

4. The corrosive nature of politics - Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The most detrimental thing to me, personally, during the heightened awareness to politics throughout 2020 has been the emotional pain caused by experiencing despicable human behavior being rewarded as 'good politics'.  When fellow citizens are pitted against one another, competing to outdo 'them' in duplicity and character assassination, we turn character and honor into a weakness, and make a lack of conscience or integrity a strength.  This may win elections, but it warps and degrades the electorate.  Christians, unless they choose to forgo these tactics and compete with integrity, are stained by joining in with 'politics as usual'.  

In addition to the corrosive impact of the way in which politics is waged, there is also the influence of vast sums of money.  It was Lord Acton who famously warned, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely."  The same is true with money.  Money tends to corrupt, vast amounts of money tends to vastly corrupt.  We should not be surprised by this in the least: 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Maybe after November 3rd things will calm down a bit.  Maybe our fascination with the machinations in Washington will subside for a while and we can get back to focusing on what's happening with our families and community.  But it won't happen if we don't make it happen.  Elections matter, who governs our nation and how they govern matters, they just don't matter nearly as much as our current toxic political drama implies.

Sermon Video: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:13-17

After preaching yet again to large crowds, Jesus decides to add to his group of disciples by making an unorthodox addition: the tax collector Levi (Matthew).  After this stunner, for the tax collectors were viewed as traitors and thus outcasts in Jewish society, Jesus goes a step further and has dinner with Levi and his friends.  The Pharisees, shocked by this co-mingling with 'sinners' ask for an explanation.  Jesus famously replies, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, bu the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  Jesus reaches out to society's outcasts, 'lost causes', and villains, hoping to find there those who recognize their lost state who might be willing to repent.  Jesus calls us to do likewise, finding ways to connect with those who aren't like us, remembering the grace we have received, that we too might help the 'sick' find the Great Physician.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: The Messiah Needed - Ecclesiastes 7:20

Are good people in heaven?  The problem with this question is that it assumes a definition of the term "good" that is not connected to the holiness and righteousness of God.  If we ask the question according to that standard of purity and perfection, the answer would be "yes", but with the important caveat that there are no such people.  A theme in the Bible, expressed here by Solomon in Ecclesiastes, is that humanity is fallen, in open rebellion against God, and without hope on our own of rectifying the situation.  It is not enough to claim to do 99 morally upright deeds for every 1 immoral act, nor even 999 to 1, for even such lofty aspirations fall short of the standard of righteousness that God set forth for the Messiah: sinless perfection.  Thus our need for a savior, a Messiah, comes into focus, if God had not come to save us, humanity would have remained in hopelessness.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: The Messiah foretold - Genesis 3:15

In what direction does history flow?  Is it cyclical, like many in the East believe (Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism) and many of the ancients believed (Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Gnosticism), or is it linear, proceeding from a definite starting point and heading toward a defined goal?  From the beginning, Judaism (and later Christianity) has viewed history as linear, with a starting point being the creation of the universe by God, and a final goal, the reconciliation of that same creation to the will and love of its Creator.  Contrary to the views of many, evil has not always existed, for it has no independent existence of its own, but rather is only a marring and a mockery of that which God has created.  Evil is rebellion against the will of God, and as such, it has no long-term prospects, for God will certainly bring all things once more under his dominion.  This much is made clear to Adam and Eve, in the garden where God placed them to act as stewards of his work of ordering the chaos.  When Adam and Eve chose to follow the path of Lucifer (now Satan) who had rejected obedience to God's will in favor of an illusory independence, God reasserted his sovereignty by declaring that one day a descendant of the woman would crush forever the rebellion led by Satan (although at great cost to himself).  In the end, there will be no more death, suffering, pain, or indeed, evil.  History is moving forward to its glorious goal, the hinge of which is the arrival of the promised Messiah, a promise made by God from the very beginning.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Standing Firm Against Temptation - 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

"God will never give us more than we can handle"  Really?  Whether or not this popular phrase is valid depends upon how one defines the terms, but it certainly isn't true, as some contend, that God's people are immune to being broken down by life's turmoils.  Rather than a promise of victory over life's circumstances, what the Apostle Paul offers instead in 1 Corinthians is practical wisdom regarding the nature of temptation.  The goal of our lives, as followers of Jesus Christ, is not happiness or success, but rather righteous living in service to the Kingdom of God.  With that in mind, Paul assures us that we can stand firm against temptation for two crucial reasons: (1) The temptations we face are the same as those faced by everyone else.  We are not unique as individuals, nor are our situations unique with respect to temptation.  Others have faced these same temptations to sin, with the same strengths and weaknesses that we have, and others have been able to resist. (2) When faced with temptation, we are assured that there is always a morally upright way out of our dilemma.  Choosing sin is never required, and while we may not like the moral path, and it may cost us (financially, social standing, etc.), but it is always available because God has promised this to us.  These two truths give us a far deeper truth than, "God will never give us more than we can handle", for it assures us that, "God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear."

To watch the video, click on the link below: