Let us pray.
Lord, guard our hearts, guard our minds, guard my lips. May we be faithful to you. Even as you distinguish between right and wrong, between belief and unbelief, may the divisions come from you, not from us. Give us wisdom and discretion as we look into your word today.
One of the watchwords of our society is unity. We are in the midst of a huge ecumenical movement, where people holding to all sorts of different belief systems try to find their commonalities. We see statements like, "doctrine divides, service unites." We have international commissions trying to figure out what all Christians hold in common. We have groups trying to see if there are some things held in common by all different religions, to see how Christians and Buddhists can get along together. We have prayer services where Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus all get together and try to lead one another in prayer. We have people asking why we can't just all get along together. The new brand of "tolerance" means embracing, no, celebrating people's beliefs even though they are directly contradictory to mine.
What are we to do? Isn't Jesus the one who has broken down the wall of separation between man and God? Aren't we called to be one in Him as He is in the Father? Are we right to apply that to the rest of the world? Aren't there people who genuinely believe in their Eastern religion? Aren't there sincere atheists? Isn't there a basic brotherhood of man? After all, we were all created in the image of God, right?
Maybe I've pressed long enough on this idea. We've all heard it. And deep down there is something attractive about it. We'd like to think people of very different backgrounds can get along together. We'd like to think there are some common human values for us to hold. And by and large we do see some of that. Really, as we confess that fallen humans are depraved, at the same time we see that there are people who are not believers in Christ and who are kind, compassionate, caring, generous, honest - just like I pray that believers in Christ will be. I can buy a cup of lemonade from the little girl selling it and not worry that she has laced it with rat poison. My unbelieving neighbor is not a threat to me, even if he wants to borrow my lawn mower. And the Islamic guy who gave me help when I called the computer help desk? He told me what I needed to know. Yes, there is some commonality, and it's good. But it doesn't give us a complete picture of our world. It is a one-sided picture. Just like looking at a coin from only one side may not show you all about the coin, looking at our world through that lens doesn't give us a complete picture.
What did Jesus say about his mission? Let's read it again.
Luke 12 49-53 (ESV) "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
Jesus' mission is not entirely a smooth reconciliation of everyone with everyone else. On one level Jesus has come in judgment. He is making a distinction between belief and unbelief. He is making a distinction between righteousness and sin. He will allow that distinction to show up even in family relationships. And the difference between belief and unbelief is a difference that can wrench apart our households. It can create enmity. It can cause as much strife as it does peace.
What is this divisive message? Here's the divisive message of Christ as we confess it in the Apostles' Creed.
"And [I believe] in Jesus Christ, [the Father's] only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead."
Did you ever think about how divisive that is? Let's look at some of these divisive claims of the Gospel that we've just heard.
First, Jesus is the only son of the Father. We have just set ourselves apart from every other world religion. Even those who believe in one God will never confess a triune God. But Christians boldly proclaim just that.
We also contend that Jesus is our Lord. He is not just a theoretical savior. He is not just someone who was a good moral teacher. He is not someone who is as much a Lord as you make him. He is the Lord. there is none like him. And when the Lord is with us, when he reveals himself to us, when he tells us to go in his name and to baptize and teach we do it. He is our Lord. That's divisive. Our society doesn't like it. But it is what Jesus has given us.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. His very birth was supernatural. He was not an illegitimate child who realized his god-consciousness. He was not someone like the rest of us. Yet with his human mother he was completely like us, only without sin. Christians confess that Jesus is completely God and completely human, two natures, unconfused, dwelling in one person. We confess Jesus' divinity and sinless nature makes him able to be a righteous sacrifice. We confess that Jesus' full humanity makes his death on our behalf valid, for he is one like we are. This is divisive. But it is what Jesus has given us.
Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified. He really died. He was really buried. Wait a minute! God died?? Who are you trying to kid?? But that's exactly what the Scriptures relate. Jesus was betrayed. He was convicted in a hasty trial by Pontius Pilate, a real Roman governor who is attested in history as being the governor at the time of Jesus' death. He was put to a criminal's death, fulfilling biblical prophecies. He died. The centurion who was in charge of certifying death, who knew what dead looked like, attested to it. He was dead. Jesus was put in a real tomb, in a real place. Other religions don't know what to do with this. Either Jesus is God and can't die or Jesus must not be God. But we confess that Jesus is the living God who dies in our place. And we confess that he really did it. This is divisive. But it is what Jesus has given us.
We confess that Jesus descended into hell. In modern days this is contested. The biblical evidence seems a little weaker for it. Yet throughout historical Christianity we have confessed that Jesus proclaimed his victory to the underworld. We have several biblical passages that document it. We don't know why it was such an important topic to the early Church, but it was. And we can have confidence that our Lord showed his victory to those who are held captive in death. This is divisive. But it is what Jesus has given us.
We confess a real bodily resurrection and ascension of our Lord. He is not just a disembodied spirit. He rose, was seen by people, was touched by people, ate with people. We believe in a bodily resurrection. Though people of many religions try to escape from the body, we confess that we look forward to a bodily resurrection of all people, of believers to eternal reward and of unbelievers to eternal condemnation. Our world doesn't like this. It is divisive. But it is what Jesus gives us.
We confess that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father - the place of authority, the place of giving counsel, the place of trust. This affirms Jesus on an equal footing with the Father. And when we confess that Jesus will come to exercise judgment we confess him to be the one who holds the right to judge. This is also divisive. But it is what the Lord has given us.
The power of the Gospel is for salvation, yes. Jesus died to atone for your sins and for my sins. He died for the sins of the world. And he is able to take them all away. This, in a nutshell, is that divisive thing the Lord has given us. Why does it bring division? Because belief in Jesus' finished work applies that forgiveness to us but rejection of the Gospel brings condemnation. We can't have one without the other. We have to keep both sides on the coin or it is no more a coin. We have to proclaim both deliverance and judgment or we proclaim neither.
Does this unify? Does it not rather divide? It is a message which brings joy to those who believe but angers those who do not believe. It is a message which divides us and can tear us to shreds. The Gospel is at once the most powerful unifier in the world and the most divisive claim we could possibly make. And while Jesus does not desire that anyone should perish, while his desire is that everyone should come to repentance and receive his forgiveness, he will ultimately let us reject him if that is our determination. He will ultimately let us tear our lives and our families, our very society apart as we deny the life he lived and the death he died on our behalf.
This is a sobering message. There's so much Gospel - more than the world can hold. Yet at the same time we tend to reject that Gospel, which was given for us. Let it not be! Let us trust in the Lord, not in ourselves. Let us look to Jesus for the forgiveness he has purchased on our behalf. Let us hold firm to this doctrine of Jesus' atonement for our sins. Let us use doctrine to unite, not to divide. And let us be united in the exclusive claims of Christ, that it is only through faith in his name that we can stand before the Father. Yes, this is divisive. It is not what our society wants. But it is what our Lord has given us. It is biblical. It is our one hope.
Are we for him? Are we against him? What is our confession going to be?
Let us rise and pray.
Our Lord, we confess publicly that you are the Lord of all creation. You alone have granted forgiveness from sin. You alone are the judge of all people. You alone have determined what is sin and what is righteousness. You have demonstrated what that righteousness is. And you alone can apply your righteousness to our lives through faith in you name. Grant us that we may ever believe this Gospel, that we may be united in you, that we may be one in you as you are in the Father. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, amen.
We now join in confessing our common faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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