Saturday, January 15, 2011

Sermon for 1/16/11 - All I Need

Sermon: "All I Need"

Our Lord, you have given your people every spiritual gift, providing for all our needs. Speak now through your word, give us ears to hear and a heart to believe in your great and mighty promises, through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

We've seen these promises before. God will supply your every need by his riches in glory through Christ Jesus. This is God's promise. He intends to take care of all we need. Our Lord will work in and through us. And our Lord is able to keep his promises. But how does he do this?

Yes, or course, through Word and Sacraments. But how is this worked out? In our passage from 1 Corinthians we see that believers in Christ are enriched in all speech and knowledge. Jesus' testimony is confirmed among them. They receive spiritual gifts. And they see Jesus as their sustainer. But by what means does God accomplish this? How does he enrich the saints? Just how does he put this strength, vigor, zeal into his people? How does he work to apply his word to his people?

There was a period of Church history which I think was very unfortunate in this regard. You may be familiar with it. It was called the "Second Great Awakening." This movement, primarily during the 19th Century, had an emphasis on a fervent belief on Christ, personal Bible study and prayer, and a life of holiness. Sounds good, right? We should be fervent in our belief. Look at the apostolic age of the Church. They were praying and proclaiming Christ crucified for sinners – no holding back, even if it cost them their lives. There was this unshakable character about their faith. This is a very good thing. Do we think that all believers should be commited to a thorough knowledge and understanding of Scripture? Sure! Read that Bible during the week. Pay attention to what the Lord says. Jesus is the one with the words of life. We want to take in those words. And how about that life of holiness? The apostle Paul puts it well. Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Don't be ridiculous! Rather, we fight against sin in our lives, striving to live a life of holiness in the Lord.

Indeed, we do believe that Christians should be fervent in their faith, that they should be committed to the Scripture, that they should live a life of holiness. But there was a deep failing in the work of the Second Great Awakening. During that time period, again and again, revivalist preachers would shed whatever they could find from historic Christianity. In their emphasis on personal faith they created an atmosphere of "me and Jesus" where the guidance that nearly 2000 years of Christian life, ministry, and theology could give was rejected. Instead, if you wanted to be truly holy, you were to cast off all that the past had to offer. Don't understand something? Retreat to the cabin in the woods with your Bible and read and pray until you do understand it. Along with this, there was an attitude that said anyone who was a trained theologian or Bible scholar was probably irrelevant and maybe dangerous. Therefore, anything that believers in the past said was suspect. Our world went through a time looking for a new revelation. At the same time, since people became suspicious of established tradition, they were also operating outside of the auspices of the local church. The revivalists threw up tents where they would have their meetings. They would reject what went on week after week in the church buildings in towns. Instead, they would tell people to pursue holiness and a fervent, biblical faith in their own way, the way that the local church wouldn't.

I've seen this over and over again. It's still around. It was around in the church plant a block from my house. My colleagues in the denomination I used to be in asked me to be involved in approving it as a home mission work. They wanted me to be involved in nurturing the young man who was planting the church. I like that young man. He's fervent. He's smart. He knows the Scriptures. But he wants to "do church like it's never been done before." I can't support that. It's departing from orthodoxy. It's rejecting all the safeguards history has given us. It's denying that our forebears had any wisdom at all.

That young pastor is not alone. There are thousands of others like him. There are innumerable para-church groups. Motorcyclists for Jesus. Bungee Jumpers for Christ. Society of Christian Tractor-Pull Enthusiasts. Coffee-Drinkers for Christ. And they all make claims that they will nurture you in your faith, that they will help you know how to live out your beliefs in this world, that they will be able to reach the world for Jesus, with your help and cooperation, in ways it has never been reached before.

Now we want to encourage a fervent faith. We want to encourage people to holy living. Christians shouldn't be in the habit of self-destructive behavior, drinking or eating themselves to death or doing other harmful things. We do think that people should rejoice in the Lord always, in every place. We do think that believers should be ready to pray for one another and encourage one another in the faith. And we think all Christians should be faithful in reading and studying the Scripture, knowing what God's Word says about their world. But we don't want to reject that long history of Christianity, in which people have dealt with all the kind of struggles you are going to deal with in the upcoming week. Do we really think that difficult situations with relatives are new? Do we really think that only modern-day believers have had to deal with difficult bosses or co-workers? Do we really think that we're the first people in the world to have jobs we didn't like but to think we'd better avoid losing those jobs? Really, Christians throughout history have dealt with just the same kind of problems. But I'm afraid there are a lot of times we've been influenced, all too much, toward the kind of "me and Jesus" way of doing theology that came out of that revivalist movement.

The difference I see in historic Christianity is this. Throughout history believers have realized that God's gifts are active in the context of God's assembled people. True, our Lord works in and through individuals, but he most often seems to do it through those people when they are gathered together. He appoints times for Israel to gather for worship and sacrifice. He appoints festivals which will be centered around the proclamation of and instruction in the Scripture. And in the New Testament the pattern continues. Think of how 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14, talking about all sorts of spiritual gifts in operation, happen in the context of the corporate worship. Think about the way in Ephesians 4, verses 11 and following, the various people who are gifts to the Church work among the people, building the people up. You'll see there that it is until we all grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ. And in Romans 10 we see that people need to hear the Gospel, but they will not be able to without some preacher who is sent to proclaim God's good news to them.

Yes, Christians live this life for Christ in a community. We are in this together. And we look to godly people for our motivation and example. We look to the consistency of a local congregation where we can gather and hear God's word. We look to a fellowship of saints where we can turn to one another for prayer and encouragement. We look to our life in community. This is where God will provide us with all our needs. This is where we are enriched in all speech and knowledge. This is where the testimony of Jesus is confirmed. This is where we have spiritual gifts in operation. This is where we see Jesus as our sustainer.

I'd like to encourage you as a congregation. Over the past few months, as it has been my privilege to serve you in Word and Sacraments, I've seen you pulling together. I've seen you encouraging one another. I've seen you depending on one another. You've looked to me for some things and you've looked to one another for other things. This is good and healthy. If I were a permanent pastor, no doubt you would turn to me for some additional needs and there would be some differences in our relationship. But you're doing really quite well. This is why your congregation has remained about the same size it was when Pastor Maynard took another call.

You're now in the process of finding another pastor to call. How are you going to welcome that pastor into your midst? How are you going to encourage him in his faith, even as he is encouraging you in yours? Are you going to be courageous enough to welcome him with open arms, to get to know him, and to let him get to know you? Maybe I should ask the people who have begun coming in the past three months how they think you'll do. Or maybe not. We can all do better. We've all done worse. Another important question is how you will expect your pastor to serve as God's instrument in your lives. Do you really expect that the pastor is God's gift to you, to build you up? Do you really expect that the pastor is going to bring you words that you need, week after week? Do you really expect that the pastor has been called by the Lord and is able to act in the stead of Christ, bringing our Lord's forgiveness to you?

We're to encourage one another, so I'll also ask you to think about how you will serve as God's instrument in the life of your pastor and his family. While he is nurturing you, he can benefit from your encouragement and prayers. Change is difficult. Will you make the transition a joy or a burden?

There's much to be learned from the past. There's much to be learned from the biblical saints and from those who have come before in some two thousand years of Christianity. Let's look to this living hope that we have. Our Lord has given us all his gifts. He has provided us with what we need. And he provides that through his saints, assembled together in his name.

Let us pray. Our Lord Jesus, you have given us all we need. By your death for our sins you took on our sin. By your resurrection from the dead you have given us an assurance of eternal life. You have given us Word and Sacraments. You have given us your messengers to nurture us in the faith. Let us build one another up in this most precious faith, bringing you honor and glory in all things. Amen.


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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com


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