Sermon Video: The people who made Paul's ministry possible - 1 Corinthians 16:10-24

As he wraps up his letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul reminds them of his partners and colleges in the work of the Lord, from Timothy to Apollos, to a trio of men who assisted him, to the husband and wife team of Priscilla and Aquila. The point? The work of the Lord is a team effort. We need everyone in the local church to contribute, and we need partnerships with other churches and para-church groups. We're in this effort together, and everyone who works along with us to accomplish the Lord's work is our teammate.

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The foolishness of "stay in your lane"

The slang phrase, "stay in your lane" has recently been invoked by the NRA to tell doctors that their opinion (in reality, bloody and often horrific expertise) is unwelcome in the controversial debate in America regarding gun control.  {Washington Post 11/11/18 - ‘Being silenced is not acceptable’: Doctors express outrage after NRA tells them ‘to stay in their lane’}  Rather than weigh in on the topic of gun control, a topic I have already bemoaned regarding its vitriol and lack of civil discourse {If I say anything about guns}, let me instead pontificate a bit about the phrase itself, "stay in your lane".  It should seem obvious that when such a phrase is used to try to keep women or minorities, for example, in "their place", that it blatantly violates a Christian worldview based upon Biblical principles.  After all, the Word of God takes pains to point out repeatedly that from God's perspective, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, NIV)  There is no such thing as a legitimate "place" that belongs to men, or to women, to any ethnic or racial group, to the rich or the poor, to citizens or non-citizens, or any other such distinction.  That such "places" do indeed exist in both the minds of many, in the rules and regulations of society and institutions, and is even enshrined in laws, is a testament to the fallen nature of humanity and our endless capacity to divide each other in order to lessen our God-given equality and God-ordained responsibility toward our fellow human beings.
That man-made groupings used to belittle or devalue other people ought to be anathema to the people of God is illustrated by Jesus choosing to make the hero of one of his parables (the Good Samaritan Lk. 10:25-37) and the recipients of his healing (The centurion's servant Mt. 8:5-13, the Canaanite woman's daughter Mt. 15:21-28) be foreigners whom the self-righteous of his day would have certainly told to "stay in their lane" and away from the Messiah.  Jesus didn't stop with demonstrating God's love for people beyond the Chosen People in terms of race, he also made sure to touch lepers when he healed them, breaking a powerful taboo in the process.  For Jesus, nobody was out of bounds, nobody was a lost cause.
Beyond the affront to Biblical principles of equality, the use of "stay in your lane" also exhibits a gross misunderstanding of where problems come from in society and how they can be mitigated.  Societal problems, whether gun violence, drug abuse, prostitution, gambling, or a host of others, do not exist in a vacuum, do not affect only those involved in them, and cannot be lessened without the help of more than those directly involved with them.  Should doctors be involved in gun violence issues?  Yes.  Should teachers be involved in the opioid crisis?  Yes.  Should ministers be involved in homelessness?  Yes.  Why?  Because we are all created in the image of God, we have all been given the task of combating evil in our midst, and while we hold out no hope that the world's ills can be "solved" while humanity remains in rebellion against God, we do certainly believe that we can and must work together to shine the light in the darkness.
I, as an ordained minister, will not "stay in my lane", whatever that is supposed to be.  I will also not tell non-ministers that they have no business commenting on the affairs of the Church, on theology, or on ministerial ethics.  I am willing to, and I ought to be willing to, listen to the laity of the church, to involve them in ministry, and to heed both their advice and their warnings concerning my ministry.  Arrogance is not an option, dismissal of the value of the contributions that can be made by the overlooked or the outcasts is not an option.  I am a shepherd of the sheep, an honor and a burden, but I am also no more than another worker in the field of the Lord.
We as a society face daunting challenges, this is no more nor no less true today than it has been for thousands of years.  If we are to make a positive difference in confronting these challenges, if we are to help those in need and thwart those intent upon evil, we must do so united, willing to accept help where it can be found, willing to give help wherever we can.  There is no room for "lanes" in the Church of Jesus Christ, so don't worry about staying in one.

Sermon Video: Completing the work of the Lord - Colossians 4:7-18

As Paul finishes his letter to the church at Colossae, sending greetings and vouching for those accompanying the letter, a pattern emerges that enlightens us about the Early Church: Paul had a lot of help.  The Apostle Paul may get most of the limelight, and the average Christian may know about his inner circle of helpers like Silas, Luke, and Timothy, but the team that was required to support the ambitious Gospel mission of Paul was far larger and more capable than most people realize.  For us, then, as a modern Church with paid staff leadership in varying configurations, the lesson from Paul's reliance upon a network of helpers is simple: Don't forget the laity.  If we are to be the Church that Christ has called us to be, we need a wide and deep level of involvement from the people sitting in the pews on Sunday.

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The History of the Bible, five minutes a week.

Having taught my history of the Bible class several times now, I'm looking for ways to share this crucial information with those who have been unable to attend the whole class.  Two weeks ago I started something that I'll likely be continuing for months to come, that is working through the material of my six hour class (it gets longer each time I give it, imagine that) five minutes at a time at the end of the Sunday morning worship service.  During the first one, I talked about how the Bible's original languages were Hebrew and Greek (with a smattering of Aramaic), last week we covered the obstacle that the original autographs (those written by the hand of the authors) have not survived, leaving us with copies of their work.  This coming week we'll begin to look at the evidence we have from the copies that allow us to overcome the hurdle; and so on, and so on.  Eventually we'll get to the end of the story where our modern translated English Bibles emerge.  As a teacher, it isn't easy to open up a topic, talk about it for a few minutes, and then wait until next week because I want to keep going with the story.  It reminds me of reading the Sunday comics as a kid, there were several strips that only appeared in the Sunday edition, and to see what happened next, you have to wait till next week.  If the people are left wanting to hear more of the story each week, that isn't a bad thing.

There are crucial aspects of Church history, such as the history of the Bible, that God's people need to know about, things that are easier to cover in hour long classes, but we always miss some people when we limit this knowledge to those willing/able to come to a class.  Perhaps this is the start of something, at least it is my way of affirming that the Church is only benefited when the laity know its history.

Sermon Video, Sharing the Ministry - Acts 6:1-7

What is the proper role of a pastor?  What duties, responsibilities, and obligations should be carried out by the person(s) entrusted to lead God's Church?  The Early Church ran into this dilemma in its own way when some of the widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.  The disciples, keenly aware of their calling to witness and make disciples, declined to become personally involved in this aspect of the Church's ministry.  Instead, they had the church choose seven men with reputations for wisdom and spiritually maturity from among themselves.  The disciples then turned this ministry over to them and continued to concentrate upon prayer and the ministry of the Word.
The episode in the life of the Early Church beautifully illustrates the need for lay leadership in the church and the obvious truth that no pastor(s) can, or should, do everything.  The reasons why churches fail to share the burden of ministry vary, from ego to timidity to laziness, but the end result if the same: burnt out ministers and churches more dead than alive.  When God's people answer the call of service, there is no limit to what God can do in their midst.

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Sermon Video