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.

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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.

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Sermon Video: "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." - Luke 19:37-40

As Jesus enters into Jerusalem to the joyous proclamation of his followers that he is the long-awaited Messiah come in the name of the Lord, he is confronted by the request of the Pharisees that he squelch the enthusiasm of the crowd.  In response, Jesus tells the Pharisees that, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."  Hyperbole?  It feels like it, but pointing to an important theological truth: The glory of God will not be denied.  God, being God, and being holy, righteous, and abounding in loving kindness, must be praised; it will happen.
What then is our response?  How effective and sufficient is our praise of God?  Is our worship all that it should be, as individuals, and as a church?  Do we encourage others to praise God, or get in their way?  These are important questions of self-examination we ought to actively pursue.

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When Protestants and Catholics agreed: the sun revolves around the earth

Despite the mathematical proofs of the Greek mathematicians Pythagoras (580-500 BC) and Eratosthenes (276-194 BC), the later of whom calculated the earth's circumference within 2% by comparing the angles of shadows at different locations on the earth, it was still possible to find Early Church leaders hundreds of years later who rejected the notion of a spherical earth based upon references in the Scriptures to the "foundations of the earth, "corners of the earth", pillars of heaven", and the "waters above the firmament".  While the prevalence of those believing in a "flat earth" prior to Columbus is often over-stated by prideful modern people disdainful of the wisdom of the ancients, it is clearly true that some within the Church had theological reasons for doing so that had nothing to do with scientific observations.

Eventually the Church embraced the Ptolemaic system (Ptolemaeus AD 83-161) which continued to place the spherical earth at the center of the universe and posited ten concentric spheres which rotated around it containing the heavenly bodies.

"The geocentric model represented the best that science had to offer during the time when it was firmly held.  It was entirely consistent with both naked-eye observation and philosophy.  It was equally accepted and endorsed by both science and religion.  The problem is that while scientific conclusions are always tentative, the Christian Church - just as some did with the ancient cosmogony - decided to build an elaborate theological and scriptural defense of the geocentric model.  By failing to apply the lessons of the past, the church once again foolishly committed itself to a popular scientific theory supposedly based on the testimony of the Scriptures." (Gordon Glover, Beyond the Firmament: Understanding Science and the Theology of Creation)

In the 16th century, when Copernicus proposed that the earth and all the planetary bodies revolved around the sun, a theory which would soon be confirmed by observation's made by Galileo Galilei with the newly invented telescope, it became a theological issue rather than merely an astronomical one because the Church had previously decided that the Ptolemaic system had the support of Scripture.  Thus Copernicus and Galileo would eventually be condemned as heretics by the inquisition; a stain upon the reputation of the Church that remains to this day {Galileo was not officially rehabilitated by the Catholic Church until Pope John Paul II did so in 1992}.

Protestants might want to snicker at the following words of Pope Paul V in response to Galileo, but they might want to hold that thought.  "The first proposition, that the sun is the centre and does not revolve about the earth, is foolish, absurd, false in theology, and heretical, because expressly contrary to Holy Scripture.  The second proposition, that the earth is not the centre but revolves about the sun, is absurd, false in philosophy, and from a theological point of view at least, opposed to the true faith."

There were few issues of agreement between the leaders of Catholicism and Protestantism during the 16th and 17th centuries, the two sides couldn't even agree to present a united front against the ongoing threat of Ottoman invasions.  And yet, both sides had chosen to elevate the language of Scripture into the scientific realm, turning any contrary scientific observations and theories into challenges to Church authority and potentially heresy.

Martin Luther (1483-1546): "People give ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon.  Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new system, which of all systems is of course the very best.  This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth." (Martin Luther, Table Talk)

Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560): "The eyes are witnesses that the heavens revolve in the space of twenty-four hours.  But certain men, either from the love of novelty, or to make a display of ingenuity, have concluded that the earth moves; and they maintain that neither the eighth sphere nor the sun revolves...Now, it is a want of honesty and decency to assert such notions publicly, and the example is pernicious.  It is the part of a good mind to accept the truth as revealed by God and to acquiesce in it." (Philipp Melanchthon, Elements of Physics)

John Calvin: "We indeed are not ignorant, that the circuit of the heavens is finite, and that the earth, like a little globe, is placed in the center." (John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis)

With hind-sight, the words of these respected and often brilliant theologians seem both appallingly arrogant and exceedingly foolish, and yet they are a symptom of a larger problem that even those gifted by God to lead his Church can fall victim to: The Pride of Certainty.  I'm all for certainty in its proper place, without it we have only shifting sands and chaos.  We, as a Church, must be certain about the core tenants of our faith and the essence of the Gospel.  But what happens when we elevate other issues, other ideas and interpretations to the level of dogma and with disdain dismiss those who disagree with us as heretics?  In that case, not only does the Church suffer a lack of humility and grace, not only does it foster anger and divisions, but it also appears foolish to the Lost, to those with whom we are called to share the Gospel.

Consider, then, how the lesson of these futile attempts to deny that the earth revolves around the sun might be applied to the Church in our world today.  Let us take great care to distinguish between the Truth revealed to us by God's Word, a Truth that never changes and has no fear of knowledge and fact, and the interpretations and theories of men, however brilliant we might think them to be.

Sermon Video: An immoral people cannot expect God's blessings - Haggai 2:10-19

Utilizing an illustration involving consecrated food and the defilement associated with touching a dead body, the LORD utilizes the prophet Haggai to show his people the danger of disobedience.  During the 16 years when the temple was not being rebuilt, the LORD tried to get his people to pay attention by affecting their harvests and limiting their material successes.  This was not evidently noticed by the people because they didn't act until the prophet made the connection clear to them.  Moving forward, however, God promises to once more bless his people because they are no longer disobedient.  What then is the connection for the Church?  While not under the blessings and curses of the Covenant of Moses, we too are held to a high standard of holiness and righteousness as well as being required to put away immorality.  We do not look to the harvest for confirmation of how we're doing, nor do we need to, for the Word of God has made clear to us our obligations and the Spirit of God now dwells with God's people.

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