Sermon Video: Having Grace in Disputable Matters, part 3 - Romans 14:15-21

Having established the need for grace in the areas of Christian liberty about which we disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul now turns to the need for love to limit that liberty if exercising it were to cause harm to fellow Christians.

How can it harm others if I follow my conscience with respect to disputable matters?  Two key ways: (1) The who have "weak" faith my imitate you, even though their conscience tells them that they should not, it then being an act of rebellion for them, or (2) those who disagree may look upon your choice as sinful (even though it is not) and have their faith damaged by your seeming hypocrisy at tolerating sin in your life.

In the end, Paul's command to us is to not allow our preferences in non-moral issues to ever bring other believers to harm.  Proactively we must look out for each other and be willing to restrain our freedom if it will help the faith of other people for whom Christ died.

Sermon Video: Love is the Fulfillment of the Law - Romans 13:8b-10

Where does the Law of God come from?  How did God decide upon the commandments that he game to humanity?  Love.  God is love, his Law reflects his nature, therefore his Law is built upon Love.

Thus God's commands are not arbitrary, they pursue the cause of Love, when his people portray what God has commanded, and seek to carry it out, they must do so by love.  When God's Law is silent, or we struggle to fit it to the context we live in, the answer is love.  Which is why, when God's people use any other motivation or method, we cannot succeed and must fail for we have failed to connect to the heart of God.

How Franklin moves forward, together: the Law of Love, Romans 13:10

Franklin PA from above, the 13th St. bridge to the right, and the 8th St. to the left.

It was a tumultuous week here in Franklin, things got real nuts online on Tuesday, it rose to a crescendo on Wednesday and then started to calm down, thankfully with things being peaceful on Saturday.  For those of you who missed it, a social media post by St. Patrick Parish regarding yesterday's downtown business fundraiser, the "Witch Walk", set off a furor of liking/hating, sharing, and increasingly nasty comments online.  That was Tuesday.  On Wednesday afternoon I posted this: What the furor over the Witch Walk in Franklin can teach us about Christian cultural engagement, it was well received (thank you all for the civility and kind words), and I followed it up on Friday with this: An observation about social media comment sections in light of the Witch Walk furor, and this: Light vs Darkness and the reason why Christians should be perpetual optimists.

This morning, Sunday, I just finished doing what I always do which is review my sermon one last time and make any necessary corrections or changes (typically they involve fixing my horrible penmanship so at least I can read my scratches).  I thought I'd share with you what I wrote about Romans 13:10, words that feel providentially appropriate to our community moving forward (for those who prefer the video version, the whole sermon on Romans 13:8b-10 will be available on this blog and YouTube on Tuesday):

10 Love does no harm to a neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Here is where the Apostle Paul gives a glimpse, "behind the curtain" if you will, at the principle upon which God built the Law of Moses and all prior and subsequent expressions of his will to mankind, such as this letter from Paul.  That principle is of course love.  Love for God, love for family, neighbors, and as Jesus expanded the idea, even love for our enemies, is the beating heart of the commands we've received from God.

This tells us a few things, among them: (1) God's commands are not arbitrary, purposeless, or pointless.  They have a rhyme and a reason, and it is love.

(2) Therefore, when God's commands are portrayed by his people in ways that are not love-based, or carried out by his people in ways that are not love-infused, we do a grave dis-service to God.

(3) When we come to an issue or topic about which God has made no law, or where our information from God seems to be difficult to apply to the present circumstances, our path forward is to say, "What does love have to say on the subject?"

(4) Which is why some efforts of God's people, individually or collectively, are doomed to fail because they're not built upon love.  Whatever the other motivations and methods used might be, they won't connect to the heart of God if they are not build upon love, and they, of course, will actively oppose the will of God if those motives and methods consist of hate.

Now, some will say, "That's fine on paper, but this is the real world, we need to fight fire with fire!"  No, no, no, a thousand times no.  As cool as Batman may be, we don't need a Dark Knight to advance the cause of Christ.  While it is absolutely true that methods that utilize anger, greed, lust, or pride may make a bigger splash, get more clicks, have higher ratings, draw bigger crowds, or achieve more sales, they will never have lasting impact for good because they cannot.  Why?  Because they go against the nature of God himself!  God is love, the only way to truly advance the Kingdom of God is through love.  It is far better to "lose" in this life through love, than to "win" in this life through anything else.

Sermon Video: The Debt you cannot repay: Love - Romans 13:6-8a

After telling the followers of Jesus that they have an obligation to pay their taxes, along with other things they may owe to those in authority like respect and honor, the Apostle Paul broadens the conversation to show us that we should discharge all of our obligations to the people in our lives.  Sometimes these things are material (money, time, labor) and sometimes they are intangible (dignity, kindness, hope), in each case we ought to stive to do our part.  However, there is one debt that we cannot possibly repay, yet must continue to strive toward doing so anyway: the debt of love.  We owe God an infinite debt of love (How could it not be infinite when the price paid for our ransom was the blood of Christ?), but rather than focus that effort of love on God who is not among us and has no needs, we are told to consider ourselves in debt permanently to each other, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, with respect to love.

Sermon Video: Love Must be Sincere - Romans 12:9-10

What does a Christ-like community look like?  The Apostle Paul answers the question by starting with (1) sincere love, and then adding to that challenge by requiring that we (2) both hate evil AND do so while loving good (that is, oppose evil with righteousness, not with evil), (3) loving each other, and lastly (4) putting each other above ourselves.

This is what it takes to be Christ-like.  That's what we need faith, grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish.

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #17: Matthew 22:37-40

 

Matthew 22:37-40     New International Version

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In the 1984 movie, The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi (played by Pat Morita) tells his student Daniel (played by Ralph Macchio) who still has much to learn about karate, "Daniel-san, must talk.  Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later, [makes squish gesture] get squish just like grape. Here, karate, same thing. Either you karate do 'yes', or karate do 'no'. You karate do 'guess so', [makes squish gesture] just like grape. Understand?"

I've never tried to learn karate, nor to compete in a tournament against others like Daniel was planning on doing.  I have finished five 50k trail races, with another one coming up very soon, and anyone who has done ultra-running can see the point Miyagi is trying to make: some things in life can't be attempted with half measures.  I can't imagine trying to run 31 miles without training, without the right gear and fuel along the way, "squish just like grape" sounds about right though.

Christianity requires an even more single-minded, all-in, nothing-held-back, level of commitment than anything else you or I may attempt to accomplish in life.  There is no room for split allegiances, no allowances for putting other goals and priorities above our devotion to God.  

The second commandment, as listed by Jesus, puts our devotion to God in its full context.  When we give God our whole heart, soul, and mind, it doesn't eliminate or even diminish our obligations to other people, it actually enables them.  God requires that we treat everyone with love because God is the maker of us all and the redeemer of humanity.  We are not allowed to put labels on individuals or groups of people and thus exempt ourselves from loving them (see the Parable of the Good Samaritan for a powerful rebuke of those who think 'neighbor' is limited).

Which brings us to 'Christian' Nationalism which runs afoul of both the greatest and the second greatest commandments.  {It isn't the only 'ism' guilty of this flaw} The greatest by diluting our devotion to God, the Gospel, and his Kingdom by putting the interests of a particular country on par with them {If you think 'Christian' Nationalism isn't elevating love of country to this level, you haven't interacted with it in its full form either historically or in America today}, and the second greatest by invariably treating our country's citizens as more worthy of love than 'them'.  "America First!", whatever else it may be, cannot be a Christian slogan, nor one which God would approve, as it inherently treats people who don't posses American citizenship as lesser than those who do. 

Go ahead and love your country, if you think it is the best country to live in your faith won't have any problem with that opinion.  But don't, if you wish to obey the commands of Jesus, act as if Jesus mentioned devotion to country when he spelled out the greatest commandment, and don't commit the sin of treating 'them', whoever you may put in that category, as anything less than your neighbor.

Sermon Video: The Fall of Peter: Love and Fear - Mark 14:66-72

Alone in the courtyard while the trial of Jesus progresses, Peter is faced with three increasingly dramatic opportunities to affirm himself as a disciple of Jesus, famously he fails all three times.  Some combination of love, loyalty, pride, and stubbornness brought Peter to this moment, plus failing to heed Jesus' warning to him.  In the end, Peter falls, and reaps a bitter harvest to his lies.  What is the lesson for us?  Many (if not most) of the 'heroes of the faith' have a tragic self-inflicted wound, if they can fall so can we.  The episode of Peter's denial ought to be a reminder to us to shelve our pride, hold back our judgmentalism at the failings of others, and if we do fall, follow Peter's path of repentance with our own sorrow.

Sermon Video: The Greatest Commandments - Mark 12:28-34

We love top ten lists. Enjoy debating the merits of which team, movie, song, etc. is better than another. The rabbis had identified 613 laws in the Law of Moses, so it was natural to wonder which rose to the top, which were the most important.

In addressing the issue, Jesus gives a non-controversial answer, citing the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) that loving God with everything is the most important commandment. And then he ADDS a 2nd commandment as part of his answer, linking it to the first, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Why? Because we can't claim to love God in the abstract if we don't love the human beings in our lives. Devotion to God means loving those also created in his image. Thus the two great themes of God's Word sit together, loving God, and loving each other.

Sermon Video: Jesus loved to the end - John 13:1

 Contemplating the Last Supper (in our celebration of Maundy Thursday) through the eyes of John's commentary at the start of his extended section regarding Jesus' passion. For all of John's deep philosophical and theolgoical material, this introduction to the culminating days of Jesus' mission on earth has but one theme: Jesus loved his friends. What was on Jesus' mind when Judas approached with the mob, when standing before the Sanhedrin, when being mocked and beaten by the soldiers, when hanging in agony from the cross? His love for his friends. A simple truth, but a profound one.

When is governmental action morally justified? The morality of COVID-19 responses to protect less than 1%.

This is a serious question, I'm actually curious about what you would answer:

Given that as of today, 10/13/20, there have been at least 214,000 COVID-19 deaths in America, and given that those numbers are expected to be nearly 400,000 by February of 2021 (that is, only 111 days from now): At what point would governmental (local, state, or federal) restrictions (shutdowns, crowd limits, mask mandates) be justified in your mind?

1% of the current US population (331 million) would be over 3 million deaths. Thankfully, we have avoided this nightmare scenario {thanks in part to mitigation efforts, both voluntary and imposed}. Should we, as a society, take self-sacrificial actions in hopes of preventing the deaths of less than 1%? Is economic hardship justified for less than 1%? Are limitations on the freedom of a country's citizens justifiable for less than 1%?

For comparison: In the U.S., about 28% of the population of 105 million became infected with the Spanish Flu 1918-1920, and 500,000 to 850,000 died (0.48 to 0.81 percent of the population in 1918, those % amount to 1.588 million to 2.681 million Americans with today's larger population)

{COVID-19 death projections}

As of today, we are approaching 1/10th of 1% of America's residents killed by COVID-19 (331,000), and should surpass that number before Christmas. Should we, as a society, take self-sacrificial actions in hopes of preventing the deaths of 1/10th of 1%?

The final number killed by this pandemic will, Lord willing, remain significantly less than 1%. What then does the Christian worldview offer to guide us regarding our level of concern for harms that may come to a small minority among us?

1. Abraham's conversation with God about Sodom and Gomorrah

Genesis 18:20-32 (NIV) 20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[a] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[b] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” 29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

If there had been 10 righteous people in Sodom (sadly, there were not even 10), the city would have been spared. Without knowing the population of the city at that time, it is impossible to judge how small a minority this would have been, but it seems clear that it was less than 1% (i.e. that the city contained more than 1,000 people). While this example involves divine judgement, not governmental policy, it illuminates a principle that can be applied from the former to the latter.

2. Jesus' parable of the 99 and the 1 sheep.

Luke 15:3-7 (NIV) 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

The numbers here are helpful, only 1% of the sheep are in danger in Jesus' parable, yet the shepherd leaves the 99 'in open country', not safe in a pen or with another shepherd, in order to rescue the lost 1. Once again, this is a spiritual example involving God's justice and mercy, but it too vindicates concern for the minority, even one as small as 1%.

3. Any is too many when Peter reflects on God's purposes.

2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Governmental officials, not having the wisdom or power of God, have to make hard choices. They sometimes must make choices that will lead to the harm of some in order to protect others. From God's perspective, there are no 'throw away' people. All of humanity is created in the image of God. Every person has a soul, every person is one for whom Christ was willing to die.

Conclusion: From a Christian worldview perspective, whether one is a libertarian or a socialist, a Republican or a Democrat, or any other political view or allegiance, the biblical model remains clear: One is worth sacrificing for, tiny minorities have value in the sight of God.

What precautions should be taken, and who should be encouraging or ordering them is a political question. Christian men and women of good intentions can and do disagree about HOW to put our concern for those in need into action {and not just on this topic}. However, what we don't have the luxury of doing, as Christ followers, is making a cold calculation that 1/10th of 1% of Americans are not WORTH sacrificing for. That this pandemic primarily affects the elderly and those with underlying conditions is irrelevant from a moral point of view. As Christians, we remain beholden to the Law of Love:

Mark 12:28-31 (NIV) 28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Sermon Video: Start at the beginning - Love one another, 2 John 1-6

Abbreviating themes he developed further in 1 John, the Apostle writes to another church he founded of the need to "love in the truth", as he links the truth about Jesus Christ with the command from God that we "love one another".  How do we know that we're living in love?  We obey the commands of God.  This, in a nutshell, is John's message of the foundation of the Church, its core and functionality.  The linking of truth and love is no mere happenstance, but a deliberate emphasis.  Truth without love is sterile and dead, love without truth is purposeless; the people of the Church very much need both.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: The Greatest of these is Love - 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

In the culmination of his ode to the supremacy of Love, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the permanence of love by comparing it to the temporary nature of three other spiritual gifts: prophecy, tongues, and knowledge.  These gifts exist because of the flawed nature of humanity.  In order for the Church to function, it needs spiritual assistance from God, but this will not always be the case.  After the establishment of the Kingdom of God, when humanity is fully reconciled to our Creator, there will no longer be a need for assistance in bridging the current gap between God and man.  Yet in that day, Love will not cease, but fully come into its own.  Rather than a limited version of God's love, in imitation of Jesus, the children of God will have and experience love in its pure form, no longer marred by the selfishness of sin.  Finally, while faith and hope are also foundation with love, Paul declares love to be the greatest of these, for one day faith will be sight, hope will be fruition, but love will be fully realized and once more in its glory as it was within the trinity before Creation.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Real Love - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Christians are supposed to be known for their love, love for each other, and love for even their enemies.  This, of itself, is beyond our capacity, but when viewed through the Apostle Paul's explanation in 1 Corinthians as to what constitutes real, genuine love, it would seem to make a difficult situation hopeless.  Thankfully, God has given his Spirit to his people, has empowered them to live like Jesus here in this world, because he has called us to embrace all 14 of the aspects of love that Paul highlighted (and perhaps others as well, it is not an exhaustive list, although it certainly is comprehensive).  What must our love be?  Patient and kind.  What must it be free of? Envy, boasting, pride, any willingness to dishonor others, selfishness, anger, and record keeping of the wrongs of others.  Give up yet?  In addition, love must rejoice in truth while rejecting the lure of utilizing evil (even thinking, 'that good may result', a false lie).  Love must always protect, trust, hope, and persevere. 
This is not a question of focus, willpower, or determination.  We cannot accomplish this on our own, not even close.  Once again, we must depend upon the transforming power of the Spirit of God, must embrace our role in the community of believers (for help, guidance, and support; mutually so), and must move forward, toward Christ-likeness, in faith because we all need real love.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: We Need Love - 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:3

What is the center of Christianity?  Having explained to the church at Corinth their need for unity and gifts of ministry from the Holy Spirit, Paul chooses to remind them that these things, are necessary as they are, are not the foundation upon which Christ is building his Church, that honor belongs to Love.  How does Paul know this?  Simple, if one were to have gifts of showmanship/eloquence without Love, one would have nothing.  If one were to obtain deep knowledge and wisdom without Love, one would be nothing.  And if one were to give charitably all that one has, even being willing to surrender one's life for others or even the Gospel, but has not Love, one would gain nothing.
Without Love (and I'm using the capital L on purpose, as Paul is about to define the Love he's talking about in the next passage, and trust me, it isn't the love we toss around all the time), nothing that Christians build will matter.  Love is at the heart of God's will and God's plan, for as John reminds us in his letter, "God is love".  We all need Love.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Our warped definition of Christianity is disastrous

What, and how, we think is important; very important.  What we believe in, and what we believe about important topics and issues profoundly shapes who we are.  But there is more to it than what and how we think.  It is absolutely true that an individual cannot be a Christian if they do not believe in Jesus Christ, in other words, they believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and that he lived, died, and was raised to new life in order to set us free from sin (enslavement to, and debt because of).  {See John 3:16 as an example of this explained in one sentence}  Belief is not the end of the road.  Belief has to be accompanied by repentance {a turning away from sinful behavior} and has to lead to righteous living {by the power of the Holy Spirit} in order for belief to be effective.  In order for it to be real.  A belief in Jesus which does not change the trajectory of a person's life, in ways both small and great, is meaningless.  Herein lies the problem.  Consider the two passages of Scripture below which together illustrate the absolute necessity of "fruit" (ethical behavior) and give nine prime examples of what it looks like:

Matthew 7:16-20 New International Version (NIV)
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Galatians 5:22-24 New International Version (NIV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

To say, "I am a Christian" is not enough.  To have a particular political viewpoint is not enough (and often misleading).  To know the key words one should say in order to "sound like a Christian" is not enough.  To attend a church at Christmas and Easter, or even more often, is not enough.  To own a Bible, or even read it, is not enough.  To give money to Christian charities, or the Church itself, is not enough.  A person could have all of those things, and outwardly look the part, but without love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; they would have nothing. {See 1 Corinthians 11}  Don't get me wrong, someone who goes to church, reads a Bible, and gives money to Christian charities is better off than someone who doesn't; but only if those factors eventually lead to the radical change of mind and heart that gives evidence to the presence of the Holy Spirit and results in the outflow from that person's life of the fruit of the Spirit.  If a person remains "associated with" Christianity, but never moves forward, they will actually be worse off on the Day of Judgment for having known better without acting.  {See Hebrews 6:7-8}

The Church in America, in particular, has a self-identification problem.  We've allowed cultural distinctions and political viewpoints to more strongly define our view of what Christianity is than righteous living.  We've minimized our concern about the immorality that doesn't bother us: pride, lust, and greed in particular, and allowed ourselves to accept the delusion that anyone who looks the part and is on "our side" in the Culture War is Christian enough.  The Word of God says otherwise.  We will be known by God by our fruit, judged as genuine believers in Jesus, or not, by it. 

Those who mimic the look of being a Christian, without the heart-motivated acts of righteousness to go with it, are either self-deluded or charlatans, either a danger to themselves or to the church as a whole.  As long as we accept those who are "like us" as being good enough because we view Christianity as a cultural/political feud to be won, rather than a call to self-sacrificially serve the Kingdom of God that must be obeyed, we will continue to warp Christianity into something which is was never intended to be, with disastrous consequences.

Sermon Video: Jesus and his friends - Luke 22:14-16

Less than twenty-four hours before his brutal death upon a Roman cross, Jesus celebrates the Passover with his chosen disciples; his friends.  He tells them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."  For Jesus there was immense value in this time with his companions before he walked the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) alone.  Jesus' friends bolstered his courage and his hope, helping him find the endurance to complete the Father's plan and drink the cup placed before him.  We too require Christian fellowship to fulfill the tasks assigned to us by the Father.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: "You stood aloof", the failure to love your neighbor - Obadiah 10-21

Having foretold the doom of Edom at the start of his prophecy, Obadiah now explains why God's wrath is imminent: the violence against their brother Jacob typified by their indifference to, enjoyment of, and eventual participation in, the time of woe experienced by God's people.  The Edomites experienced schadenfreude, as they enjoyed the troubles of their rivals, and eventually decided to take advantage of the refugees by killing some and selling others into slavery.
God is not a fan of those who take advantage of the troubles of their neighbors, or even their enemies.  Rather than offering a helping hand to those in need, some people see it as an opportunity.  That this it is a grave mistake to treat people made in the image of God this way should be clear, but it is also an insult to the grace which God's people have themselves received if they fail to show kindness to others.  What is your response to misery and woe?  What do you think of refugees, the homeless, and the oppressed?  If we stand aloof and act as if it is not our problem, we will be judged by God.  If we enjoy the misfortune of others, we will be judged by God, and if we fail to act when we have the opportunity to show kindness to those in need, we will indeed by judged by God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
*Note, this is the 1st video utilizing our new camcorder.  I hope you appreciate the improved quality of the video; thanks to the donor who made it possible.*

Life expectancy dropped in the U.S. last year; despair is blamed, hope is the answer, and we have it to share.

Life expectancy in the United States dropped last year, and not from disease, war, or natural disasters, but due primarily to increases in both suicides and drug overdose deaths.  The statistics can be read in this article: Fortune: Here's Why Life Expectancy in the U.S. Dropped Again This Year  The associate professor who co-authored the report for the CDC, Steven Woolf, said "We are seeing an alarming increase in deaths from substance abuse and despair."  On average, 115 people die in America each day from a drug overdose, six per day from alcohol abuse, and the suicide rate has increased 24% between 1999 and 2014.  As a nation, we are losing young people at an alarming rate from causes whose root is despair/hopelessness.

There are public policy answers that might help stem the tide, there are things that can be done in the arena of public health to mitigate the worst aspects of this crisis and save lives, but these are not solutions to the question of why so many people in America are hopeless.  Our ancestors had less food, less comfortable and secure shelter and clothing, more fear of lawlessness and violent deaths, lived in a less free society with more injustice, worked longer and harder, were more subject to sudden death by disease, lost more of their children to scourges we have cured, had less education, less recreation, and less opportunity to change their lives for the better.  And yet it is here in modernity, with our unparalleled access to recreation and entertainment that despair and hopelessness have taken hold.  Material prosperity is not alleviating emotional poverty, why?

The element that will typically be left unaddressed in the debate that will follow this alarming report is spiritual health.  Hope is not solely a factor of economic or political situations, well off people in free societies (i.e. America) do not automatically have it, and those living in crushing poverty under repressive regimes do not automatically lack it.  Hope is a quality that mankind can possess, which all other forms of life on this planet are unconcerned with.  Hope is a difficult to define state of mind, but one we recognize when it is present or missing.  Hope is built upon things greater than ourselves, it thrives in community and wilts in isolation, and it hinges upon our expectations of the future.

We are less connected to our community than our ancestors, that much is certain.  We may see far more people in a given day than they could have dreamed of, but we interact on a genuine human level with few of them, and our technology has consistently striven to eliminate the need for true human to human interaction.  This is a part of the problem, but not its root, for that we must go deeper.

When Job lost nearly everything of value in his life: his business, his children, and his health, his wife despaired; who can blame a mother for doing so after enduring such pain?  Job chose not to despair, not because he was a unique human being, but because he understood something fundamental about human existence: it belongs to God.  Job responded to his wife by saying, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10)  Later, in response to his friends' attempts to understand his tragedy, Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15).  Job did not understand why he had suffered, he didn't see a purpose or a reason for it, but he did not give in to despair, he did not rage at God or take his own life, because even at the lowest point imaginable in his life he still knew who his Creator was, knew that God's love transcended the circumstances of life, and knew that one day he would stand before God in judgment.  Even when life told him otherwise, Job had hope because he was adamant in his belief in the goodness of God.

Hope is not our own creation, we cannot socially engineer it, we cannot package and sell it, it is a gift from God, a gift for those in relationship with the one who created them, sustains them, and will one day live with them.  As a runner, I can't help but like Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:31 New International Version
but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

To live without hope is to live as a shell of what you were intended to be.  The Church of Jesus Christ is the caretaker of the hope that was given to humanity in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  When he ascended into heaven, having completed the Father's mission by securing the ultimate victory over sin and death, Jesus entrusted the sharing of that Good News (i.e. The Gospel) to his followers.  Since that day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the Church has attempted to share the news that God is willing to forgive those who repent, is willing to save them from the fallen state of humanity if they believe in his Son, and is willing to transform them, by the Holy Spirit, into the likeness of Jesus.  This news is hope beyond our imagination, it is light shining in the darkness, water to those dying of thirst, and it is free.  Freely given, freely received.  It is also available to all, men and women, young and old, of any race or nation, all are eligible, all are invited to join those who have found hope in what God has done for us through Jesus.

Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Ephesus about the transition from hopelessness to hope:  "remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:12-13

Living life while ignoring our spiritual need, a need all human beings share, is the path to despair.  Faith in Jesus is not a magic elixir, it doesn't take away all our troubles, or make us immune to pain and sorrow, but it does provide a foundation upon which we can stand, a shelter in times of storm.  As the writer of Hebrews put it: "we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:18b-19

The local church is a community, a group of people who have acknowledged their own shortcoming and have chosen to put their faith and hope in the sinless person of Jesus instead of themselves.  They are not perfect, but they are will one day be perfected by God.  They are not free from difficulty in this life, but they know that in the next they will see the face of God and all sorrow will be no more.  They worship, pray, and serve those in need, together, because God created us to be social, because we can shoulder each others burdens, and because there is great joy in being a part of the family of God.

Despair has lowered the life expectancy of the average American, but it doesn't have to be this way.  The problem derives from the spiritual barrenness that afflicts so many, and the solution addresses that very problem.  Belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ is faith, and faith belongs to a powerful trio: faith, hope, and love.

Sermon Video: Doing the right thing for the right reasons - Philemon

In his short letter to Philemon, an important member of the church at Colossae, and a slave-owner.  The Apostle Paul encourages Philemon to be merciful to his "son" Onesimus, a runaway slave whom Paul had evidently met in Rome and led to faith in Christ, and whom he is now sending back to Philemon.  Aside from Paul's bold statements of Onesimus' equality with Philemon in Christ, the letter is notable for Paul's unwillingness to utilize his authority as an Apostle to order Philemon to do what Paul clearly believed to be the right thing.  Instead, Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of love, hoping to persuade him to view Onesimus as the spiritual brother that he now is, and for the sake of his friendship with Paul, to send him back to be Paul's helper. 
We, as a Church, often appeal to the need to be morally upright for its own sake; doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.  And while this is true, and will be effective for some, Paul's appeal to love reveals that it is more fundamental to morality than any intellectual argument.  Does God want us to obey and choose what is right because it is the right thing?  Of course, but it cannot stop there, God ultimately desires for his people that they choose righteousness and holiness out of love for him; in the end, morality is relational.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: God's Chosen People: Bound together in love - Colossians 3:11-14

Having already told the people of the church at Colossae of the need to "put to death" their earthly nature with all of its vices, now Paul advocates for the virtues that the people of God must embrace as they disavow vice: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  As a precursor to this list, Paul reminds the church that "here", that is, in Christ, all of the distinctions and categories by which people divide themselves into subgroups no longer apply, for "Christ is all, and is in all."
In addition to the need to develop and employ the virtues listed by Paul, a significant challenge, but one God's people can achieve through the Spirit, we are also told of the need to pursue these virtues while at the same time forgiving each other when we fail.  Lastly, and most importantly, is the need to "put on" love over all of these efforts, binding them together and leading to harmony.

*As a bonus, this sermon begins with an illustration about brotherly love drawn from the experience of the 9 members of the Fellowship in Tolkien's LOTR.*

To watch the video, click on the link below: