The lust of humanity for gold that glitters

There's a line in The Lord of the Rings that reads, "all that is gold does not glitter" which is Tolkien's rearranging of the well known proverb from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, "all that glitters is not gold".  Tolkien was trying to emphasize that not all things of value shine on the outside, whereas Shakespeare's point is that not everything that looks good on the outside is worth it on the inside, but both metaphors utilize the fact that gold has a hold on the imagination of humanity.  It has been sought after, fought after, killed and died for, for as far back as we have records.  I just finished watching "Klondike" on the History Channel last night, a mini-series based on the actual experiences of miners who went to Dawson City in the Yukon during the gold rush that lasted from 1896 to 1899.  In those few years, an estimated 100,000 people headed for the Yukon with only about 30-40,000 surviving the journey and only about 4,000 of them finding any gold.  After Dawson City the gold craze moved on, just as it had before from California and before that North Dakota; the list goes on and on back into history.  The craze for gold continues to this day, it actually has intrinsic value now in the electronics industry beyond its age-old use for currency and jewellery.  The show "Gold Rush" on the Discovery Channel chronicles the lives of would-be gold miners, some of whom work like professionals and some of whom appear to be still amateurs.  The human stories behind the quest for gold are interesting, but the question of why man has been so fascinated with this substance remains.
Gold isn't the only rare thing that has caused empires to rise and fall in history, but it does seem to rise above more practical commodities and has certainly been a part of some of the worst crimes of humanity against itself from the horrid working conditions of the South American mines of the Spanish Empire to the gold extracted from the teeth of Jews killed by the Nazis.  The insatiable quest for gold over thousands of years has yielded roughly 377 million pounds of gold; surprisingly, that amount would only be a cube of 68 ft. on each side.  All that risk, all that killing and death, for a pool sized cube of metal?
If gold didn't exist, humanity would be fixated on something else.  Gold isn't the cause of the sickness that is associated with it, simply the window through which the human soul is illuminated.  The same attributes and potential terrors can be ascribed to the pieces of colored paper that replaced gold as the currency of humanity, or even the electronic money that doesn't even exist apart from the computers that keep track of it.
Which topic does the Bible spend the most time talking about?  Which human vice fills more pages of God's Word than any other?  To hear many preachers and Christian lay people talk, you think it would be sexual sin, whether that be pre-marital or extra-marital sex, pornography, homosexuality, or abortion.  We certainly have great troubles in society connected to our misuse of God's gift of sex, but it isn't the number one vice discussed in the Bible.  The Bible spends more time talking about the proper use of, and abuse of, money than anything else (over 800 times) except love.  So why are we so reluctant to talk about money?  Perhaps it is because we as Americans have so much of it.  Perhaps it is because we do such a lousy job of utilizing our money for the good of the kingdom of God and such a great job spending it on ourselves. 
How often do I preach about money?  I haven't analyzed each of my sermons over last seven years to have stats, but since I normally preach verse by verse through a book on the Bible once I start, I'm guessing that its pretty often.  Do yourself a favor, don't skip over the next part of the Bible you read about money, actually take some time and figure out if you're doing what the Bible says you should be doing with the money that you've earned through the blessings of work, life, and health that God has given you. 

Sermon Video: Who is on the Lord's side? - Acts 12:19b-13:12

Is it better in life to pick a side, win or lose, or stay on the fence?  There are a lot of people who think that they can sit on the fence with God, that they don't have to make a choice.  The truth is, they already have, each of us is either a child of God, forgiven and living according to his Word, or we are not.
In Acts, Luke tells us two men who opposed God and lost, three men who followed God's lead in service, and one man who was willing to listen when God's message came to him.  Herod Agrippa had long opposed the work of God and lived a life of false piety as part of his quest of personal gain.  When the people of Tyre and Sidon tried flattery in their negotiations with him by saying, "This is the voice of a god, not a man", his doom was sealed because Herod accepted their praise and gave no glory to God.  Immediately, Herod was struck down in pain and died five days later.  It was not just that moment that caused Herod's demise, but a life lived apart from God that was confirmed in that supreme moment that cost him his life.
Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit calls Barnabas and Paul to leave Antioch and begin the first missionary journey, with them goes Barnabas' cousin, John Mark.  These three obey God, drop everything, and serve.  When they arrive in Cyprus they are called to explain their message by the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus.  Sergius, an aristocrat, actually listens to Paul's message about Jesus and believes.  Sergius' mind is open to God's call despite the best efforts of a local Jewish man named Elymas ("sorcerer") whom Paul condemns for his continued actions against the will of God.  Elymas is already spiritually blind, Paul conveys to him God's judgment of physical blindness as well.
Each of these men in Luke's narrative was clearly either on the Lord's side, or not.  Herod and Elymas had walked down a path that led toward destruction for a long time before God's verdict came against them.  Likewise, Barnabas, Paul, and John Mark were already serving God in Antioch before the call to serve him more came to them.  Lastly is Sergius, a man who had been oblivious to his need for Christ until the moment Paul told him the truth, but that was a situation he quickly remedied when he believed.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Sermon Video: The Deliverance of Peter - Acts 12:1-19

The story of Peter's escape from prison in Acts 12 with the help of the angel of the Lord is famous, but when read in its context falls immediately after the martyrdom of John's brother James.  These two disciples were both members of the "inner circle", along with John they witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus.  Why is James left to die at Herod's hand, but Peter rescued?  There certainly couldn't be any theory that accounts for the difference by elevating Peter above James, as if Peter deserved to be saved but James did not.  So, what answer is left to us?
In verse five, Luke tells us that the church of Jerusalem was earnestly praying for Peter's release, perhaps this is the answer.  The church really prayed for Peter, therefore God delivered him from certain death.  There's just one problem with that cause-effect theory, it assumes that the church failed to pray for James.  We're not told anything about the presence or lack of prayer concerning James, but our own experience as individual Christians and as a Church confirms that fervent, earnest, tear filled, on our knees, prayer doesn't guarantee that God will act.  The will of God remains what God has told us it is, a mystery beyond our understanding.  We cannot force God to act because God is not an idol made in our image that we can control, God is our Creator, we are in his image.  God will continue to act according to his own wisdom, love, mercy, and holy nature.  We wouldn't want the ability to force God to change, God is already perfect, we're the ones that need to be transformed.
If prayer isn't about getting God to do what we want him to do, why are we praying?  The short answer: God told us to.  The longer answer involves what prayer actually does best and that is changing the person who is praying by allowing us to open our hearts and minds to the will of God.  In addition, prayer for those in need, especially public corporate prayer, allows us to demonstrate the compassion that our heart feels for them and to publicly declare that we have faith in the love, mercy, and grace of God's will.
God saved Peter from certain death, James he did not.  I don't know why tragedy happens to some good people and not to others, but I do know this, I can trust the God who was willing to send his Son to die for my sins.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Happiness without God?

Some words of wisdom from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity,
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing.  That is the key to history.  Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong.  Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin."
I don't see how anyone can look at the world we live in today, or at any point in human history, and argue with that conclusion.  Where is the panacea of happiness and harmony that mankind has ever come even close to achieving.  What great pinnacle of humanity can we point to that isn't marred by the lust for power?
I know that the lives of celebrities seem to be what everyone should want: fame, wealth, glamour, power.  And yet, never has a year gone by without multiple accounts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and suicide by these whom we are supposed to idolize.  If they haven't found happiness, with everything a consumer culture tells you to want at their fingertips, then nobody can.
This is one of the great tools of evangelism for those who follow Jesus Christ.  We don't have to convince people that their lives are missing something very important without God.  They already know it, they might be trying to fool themselves a little longer with something in God's place, but they know it.  What God's people need to be doing is living lives in obedience, fellowship, charity, and love worth emulating when those who long for what is missing turn their eyes to the Church of Christ.  Our task is not to convince the world that it needs God, our task is to prove through our lives that we've found him.

Is it time for you to take a Sabbatical?

One of my fellow ministers here in Franklin is leaving today for an extended Sabbatical until after Easter.  The first thought that most of us have on hearing something like that is a bit of jealousy.  Wouldn't we all love to walk away from our job for a while and get a break that last longer than the standard two weeks?  The idea of a Sabbatical, which comes from the Hebrew Shabbat (Sabbath), is actually something that God intended to be an integral part of the way that society functions.  We are all familiar with the weekly Sabbath, for Jews Saturday, for Christians Sunday, that reflects the seventh day of rest at the end of the Genesis account of Creation.  That weekly break from labor is certainly something we can see the value of, and something we ignore at the peril of our own health, but God inteneded it to be part of a greater scheme of rest that went far beyond a weekly break.  In the Law given to Moses, the people were commanded to let the land have a rest, and themselves as well, every seventh year.  In other words, they were to work the land for six years, and then take one year off.  We have much the same concept regarding the land today with crop rotations and allow the land to lie fallow from time to time, but the idea of giving ourselves longer breaks from labor has always failed to gain hold when practical considerations overrule such considerations.  Today, only professionals, especially academics and scientists, consider a sabbatical to be a part of their career path, although most of these use that time away for an intense level of work on a special project such as writing a book or doing field research.
Do any of us ever really take time AWAY from our 24/7 connected and wired-in world anymore?  What would it be like to walk away from e-mail, voice-mail, facebook, and who knows what else, for not just a few days, but for a few months?  The problem with never stepping away from the daily grind is that we don't take the time to step back and look at how we do what we do, or why.  The next day's work is coming too fast, no time to think about priorities, no time to evaluate the quality of life we're living, nor to consider the opportunities that pass us by to help others.  What could you accomplish with a sabbatical?  What would happen if you took the time to look at your life from the outside for a change?  God knew what he was doing when he told his people to include rest in their lives.  I wish my fellow minister well in her time off, and I wonder, who will return to us after it ends?  Hopefully, and I mean this in the right way, not the same person who left.