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: The tragedy that broke Paul's heart - Romans 9:1-9

Having extolled the wonders of God's love for those who have been called to faith in Jesus in chapter 8, the Apostle Paul begins a 3 chapter exploration of those close to his heart who have not believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: His own people.

What kept the first century Israelites from accepting Jesus as the Messiah?

It wasn't a lack of preparation, Paul runs through that extensive list.  And it wasn't a failure on God's part to fulfill his Word, as Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy after prophecy.  So what happened?

In this introductory message we see that far from being a unique generation, the one that rejected Jesus is symptomatic of not only the Israelites as a whole throughout their history, but importantly, of humanity as a whole too.  The reaction to Jesus would have been similar in any nation in any generation.

What do we do?  Love those who have not yet believed, witness to them, and keep praying for them.

Doubt and Faithfulness are not polar opposites: A Lesson from "Doubting Thomas" - John 20:24-29

 

I find Caravaggio's The Incredulity of Saint Thomas to be a fascinating painting.  One of the reasons why is that the text of John's Gospel, which is the basis for the moment the painting portrays, never actually says that Thomas touched Jesus' wounds, only that he declared he wouldn't believe that Jesus had risen from the dead without doing so.  The painting aside, the episode of Thomas' doubt is deeply illustrative of how God deals with doubt throughout the scriptures.  Again and again we see heroes of the faith depicted as having doubt: doubt in themselves, doubt in what they've been told by angels, even doubt after working miracles in God's name.  From Abraham's twice invoked "she's really just my sister" routine in Genesis, to Moses' attempt to put the responsibility on his younger brother instead of himself in Exodus, to Gideon's repeated requests for confirmation in Judges, to Elijah's exhaustion because he thinks he's the only one fighting for God in 1 Kings, to Esther's hesitancy to step forward in Esther, and finally Zechariah's doubt while standing in the Temple itself talking to the angel Gabriel in Luke, we see these great men and women who accomplished amazing things by the power of God, expressing their doubt and hesitancy.

And here's the key thing: In none of those instances does God search for the 'smite' key {A reference to one of my favorite Far Side cartoons} and ditch the person expressing how they really feel.  Instead, in each case God offers a second chance in the form of reassurance and patience until the person with doubt is able, thanks to this act of grace from God, to overcome it and continue fulfilling their purpose in God's plan. The point is, they were still useful to God.

How does the Church treat doubt?  I'm not talking about those who deny the Trinity or the Virgin Birth, for example, thanks to heretical teachings, that's false conviction not doubt, but rather those who have genuine doubts about God, his will or purpose, because the life they've lived has brought these feelings into focus.  Too often the Church can feel like the last place you would want to admit that you're struggling with doubt, anxiety, fear, even anger toward God.  It feels like a judgmental place, a place where, "nobody has doubts, but me."  Why?  Not because that's true, not because you're the only person who has been wounded by life, but because for whatever reason we choose to portray faith as an all-or-nothing proposition.  In reality, faith is a journey, a commitment, the kind of thing that can take a hit, get knocked down, but then rise once more and continue on, even if the person holding onto it has some scars from the experience.  Faith isn't made of glass, it is capable of dealing with reality, looking at difficult questions with humility, and acknowledging when we don't have all the answers.  Why?  Because faith is primarily a relationship with God, not an intellectual pursuit on our part.  Yes, our minds are involved, we need to know and accept who God is and what God has done for us in order to have faith, but that faith is IN God, a person, not a concept or construct, a person (who just so happens to be the Creator of the universe, a key thing faith has going for itself).

If you're having difficulties, if your faith feels battered and bruised, you won't be alone if you go to church, God be merciful on us if those you find there make you think you are, because you're not, they may not be willing to admit it, but a number of the people sitting, singing, and prayer with you know just how you feel because they were there once too, and maybe still are.  In the end, God isn't going to give up on you, for each and every person who faith and hope are in Jesus Christ is an adopted child-of-God, we're safe in our Father's arms, especially when we have to ask God to 'hold us tighter'.

Sermon Video: When we exasperate God - Mark 8:1-21

 God gets frustrated with human beings. That shouldn't be surprising given what people say and do. After a second miraculous feeding of a large crowd, Jesus becomes frustrated with the self-righteous pride of the Pharisees who demanded a new 'sign', and of the hard-hearted blindness of his own disciples who didn't see the spiritual lesson he was attempting to impart to them. What is the solution? Letting go of self-righteousness would be a smart place to start, secondarily, we must do what Jesus did for his disciples when they erred: refocus on the kindnesses and power of God.

Sermon Video: A warning about immorality - 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

Those who don't learn from history...The Apostle Paul reminds the church at Corinth about the failure of the people of Israel during the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land for a very specific reason: that they might learn from the mistakes of others and not repeat them.  The lesson is clear, the people of Israel, members of the Covenant and blessed richly with God's presence, failed to enter the Promised Land due to repeated episodes of immorality and unbelief.  If the Church does the same thing, why would we expect different results?  God will not tolerate immorality among his people, if it persists, a local church, or a whole denomination, can cease to function as a true church.  In other words, churches can commit suicide.  May we, by the grace of God, continue to walk in holiness and righteousness.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" Luke 24:1-12

In Luke's account of the resurrection of Jesus, there is no effort taken to hide the initial reactions of the women at the tomb (frightened, confused), nor of the apostles (disbelief, confusion, wonder).  Luke's Gospel is not a sanitized version of events, but rather an account of real people grappling with incredible news at a time when they were still trying to process the emotionally and psychologically devastating news of Jesus' execution.  God's Word does not condemn, initial, hesitancy or doubt, rather it requires that we move from that beginning toward trust and belief.  What brought this period of confusion/doubt to an end for the first witnesses of Jesus' resurrection?  His appearance personally among them.  And while we of this generation have not been afforded the blessing of seeing Jesus face to face, we can still get to know Jesus more, still deepen our faith and set doubt aside.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Why both right action AND right belief matter

In response to the action taken  by the United Church of Canada against the self-proclaimed Atheist minister Gretta Vosper, a blogger named Christian Chiakulas wrote that their decision to defrock her for her beliefs (technically, lack of any belief) is why mainline denominations are dying.  The full blog post explains his position, but in a nutshell it appears that he thinks that judging someone for his/her beliefs is wrong and that only our actions matter.  In the post Chiakulas quotes an author named Roger Wolsey as saying, “[Progressive Christianity] emphasizes orthopraxy instead of orthodoxy (right actions over right beliefs); embraces reason as well as paradox and mystery — instead of blind allegiance to rigid doctrines and dogmas…and does not claim that Christianity is the only valid or viable way to connect to God.”  While this may fit the definition of Progressive, it certainly doesn't fit any historically relevant definition of Christianity.  And that is the whole point, what we're dealing with here is an attempt to redefine Christianity by refusing to define any belief, or lack thereof, as being out of bounds.  In other words, progressives like Chiakulas and Wolsey want to remain a part of Christianity whether or not they believe in Christ, whether or not they believe in God, and whether or not they believe in the Gospel, belief evidently has nothing to do with it.
To accept the notion that right belief doesn't matter you have to surrender to two fundamental presuppositions both of which are extremely dangerous and both of which are anathema to what the Church has been and stood for during the past two thousand years.  The first premise is this: There is no such thing as Truth with a capital T.  All truth must be relative, the Bible must be a collection of stories, not a revelation from God.  If there really is an absolute Truth, it would certainly matter whether or not a person embraces or rejects it, so Truth has to go.  The second premise: That mankind is inherently good.  If right behavior is all that matters, mankind must be capable, on his own, of being good.  This however flies not only in the face of human history, but of the explicit teachings of the Bible.  We cannot possibly please God, on our own, simply by doing what is right, because our very nature is sinful and we cannot fellowship with a holy God until we are reborn in Christ.  
Lastly, in his blog post, Chiakulas claims a remarkably stunning thing, "Jesus welcomed everyone who was willing to follow “The Way.”  Everyone.  And there was no religious test to becoming an apostle, other than a willingness to forsake all for the Kingdom of God."  What Chiakulas is failing to understand is that the disciples whom Jesus called to follow him were already believers in the God of Abraham, in the LORD, they already believed.  That Jesus allowed them to follow him until they saw that he was the Son of God, instead of requiring it first, was certainly not an affirmation that such a affirmation must come from them eventually.  That this claim of Chiakulas can be refuted by Jesus' own words, easily, ought to prevent someone from claiming it about how he conducted himself, but here it is.  If Jesus cared so little about what his followers believed, how could he say to them, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14;6)  And how could John end his Gospel with, "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31)  The list of Biblical quotes that utterly refute such an asinine assertion that Jesus didn't care what his disciples believed, could go on and on and on.  
What we belief absolutely matters, for as anyone remotely familiar with the writings of Paul knows, it is by grace we are saved, not by our works, when we call upon the name of the Lord.

Sermon Video: The Sign of Jonah - Luke 11:29-36

How does God respond to unbelief and doubt?  While it is true that God often shows exceeding amounts of patience, especially to the Lost who do not know him, God also responds with disappointment, even anger, when those who should already know him persist in not hearing his word and obeying it.  Jesus was asked by a crowd of his fellow Jews, people of the Covenant who have the Law and the Prophets to guide them, who have the Temple and the priests, and who were raised to know the name of the LORD, for a sign from heaven.  This request for a sign came on the heels of yet another miraculous healing by Jesus.  The response to the request by Jesus was to tell the crowd that no new sign would be given to them except “the sign of Jonah”.  Jesus then explains that the people of Nineveh, a wicked people with no advantages of Law and no prophets before Jonah, had repented when he warned them of God’s impending judgment, and because they repented, despite their lack of advantages, that the people of Nineveh would condemn the generation who listened to Jesus and rejected him.  When you consider all the advantages those listening to Jesus had in comparison to the people of Nineveh, it is little wonder that God would be exasperated with them.

                Jesus then offers a second analogy, comparing the curiosity of the Queen of Sheba, who came to hear of Solomon’s wisdom after hearing a rumor of it, to the stubbornness of those listening to Jesus who though they already know of God, are not interested in listening to his emissary.  After having told the crowd that no new sign would be forthcoming, Jesus concludes by comparing the doubt and unbelief of those who know God, or know of God, but won’t listen to him, to someone who lights a lamp and then places it under a bowl.  The purpose of a light is to shine forth, if the Covenant people are too darkened by sin and unbelief to accept the light, then that light will go elsewhere. 

                The warning to the Covenant people that the Gentiles, who found God’s grace despite not being a part of the Covenant, will stand in judgment against them, is a warning that applies equally to the Church.  There will be no excuse for those raised in the church, or those living in lands where the Church of Christ is active, who fail to respond to the message of the Gospel.  What excuse do a people have who live in freedom, who have an abundance of Bibles, and a Christian neighbors demonstrating the love of Christ, if those people fail to accept God’s offer of forgiveness?  None.  The warning is dire, but so is the need for humanity to accept the grace of God through Christ.  As Christians, such a warning ought to spur us on to vigilance in our own house (both family and church) knowing that each must choose Christ, and it ought to give us further incentive to continue our efforts of personal evangelism to those in our lives who have not yet found the light of Christ.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video