In our cozy churches where sometimes the worst that happens is somebody reads the wrong bible passage or the choir are a little off-tune in the anthem we easily forget that the Church was built upon the experience of martyrdom. One of the first martyrs was Stephen, a deacon chosen by the apostles. A sermon reflecting on Stephen can be found here.
One of the most startling aspects of Stephen’s testimony is the depth of his courage. When hauled before the Sanhedrin to give an account of himself, he could easily have softened his message a little, so as to cause nobody any offence. Indeed, if he’d kept quiet about his faith he would never have been on trial in the first place.
There is something burning in Stephen. You can call it the fire of the Holy Spirit or describe it as passionate devotion for Jesus Christ, whom he called Lord and Savior. However we describe it, Stephen just could not keep quiet about what had been done to Jesus Christ, who had done it and how God turned it all around and had raised Jesus to glory.
That his opponents don’t see things that way, is not so much a cause for despair on Stephen’s part, so much as it is a call to prayer. As they stone him he prays that God will forgive them. There appears no evidence of malice or hatred in what Stephen has said, rather he just laid it out as he saw it. Stephen is executed through stoning. Barbaric, but sadly not even unknown in some parts of the world today.
What a challenge such actions lay before us! Where is our passion? Why are we not motivated to speak out in such bold terms? What if persecution such as the earliest church faced were to come our way? Would we crumble and keep quiet or would we rise up and keep faith?
Not easy questions.
No easy answers.
Prayer: Lord, the faith of the martyrs is such a deep challenge to our easy going expressions of discipleship. We are complacent and content with not making waves. We are often uncertain in our belief and hesitate to take a stand for what we do not fully comprehend. Forgive us. But also renew us. Increase our vision. Deepen our desire. ‘Grant us courage for the living of these days’! Amen.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Tartan Sunday
Tartan Sunday is a Sunday that the Presbyterian Church here in Baldwin takes time out to consider the historical roots of Presbyterian faith in the ministry of John Knox in Scotland. In our P.C. (USA) Book of Confessions (which helps guide the way we interpret our faith) one of the earliest documents is the Scots Confession. Our Tartan Sermon can be found here.
John Knox believed that there were three signs that marked any church as being authentic. Faithful proclamation of the Word of God; faithful administration of the sacraments and effective church discipline. It is probably on the latter of these, church discipline, that he would find fault with us today. Although our Book of Order has a whole section devoted to the matter, it is probably the least referenced section of the volume.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. The most effective form of discipline is self-discipline rather than that of an outside body. There have historically been many abuses of authority on the part of those who felt it their task to rule it over others with an iron hand.
We shy away from the word ‘discipline’ as it implies heavy handedness and judgmental attitudes. Yet it is from the root of ‘discipline’ that we have the much more accessible word ‘disciple’. We much prefer the ‘disciple’ word. That could be because we look at discipleship through rose-colored spectacles rather than the demanding definition that Jesus gave us.
Scripture teaches that discipleship involves taking up a cross, having a love for God that places all other loves in jeopardy and seeking the welfare of our enemies. This is, of course, not the way we function! We do our best to avoid confrontation, are prone to make idols of just about anyone or anything that makes us feel good and rejoice when our enemies get what we feel they deserve!
John Knox was however also aware that Christian life was not an effort of disciplined self-will but a response to the grace of God. In a section in the Scots Confession on the Holy Spirit we read “Our faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that is to say from natural powers within us, but are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost…”
Prayer: ‘Lord, if our faith were to be judged by rules of discipline than we could be in deep trouble. We are thankful that Jesus did not come into our world to condemn but to redeem. As we sense Your grace may we be moved to serve others in the strength of Your love. Amen.
John Knox believed that there were three signs that marked any church as being authentic. Faithful proclamation of the Word of God; faithful administration of the sacraments and effective church discipline. It is probably on the latter of these, church discipline, that he would find fault with us today. Although our Book of Order has a whole section devoted to the matter, it is probably the least referenced section of the volume.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. The most effective form of discipline is self-discipline rather than that of an outside body. There have historically been many abuses of authority on the part of those who felt it their task to rule it over others with an iron hand.
We shy away from the word ‘discipline’ as it implies heavy handedness and judgmental attitudes. Yet it is from the root of ‘discipline’ that we have the much more accessible word ‘disciple’. We much prefer the ‘disciple’ word. That could be because we look at discipleship through rose-colored spectacles rather than the demanding definition that Jesus gave us.
Scripture teaches that discipleship involves taking up a cross, having a love for God that places all other loves in jeopardy and seeking the welfare of our enemies. This is, of course, not the way we function! We do our best to avoid confrontation, are prone to make idols of just about anyone or anything that makes us feel good and rejoice when our enemies get what we feel they deserve!
John Knox was however also aware that Christian life was not an effort of disciplined self-will but a response to the grace of God. In a section in the Scots Confession on the Holy Spirit we read “Our faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that is to say from natural powers within us, but are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost…”
Prayer: ‘Lord, if our faith were to be judged by rules of discipline than we could be in deep trouble. We are thankful that Jesus did not come into our world to condemn but to redeem. As we sense Your grace may we be moved to serve others in the strength of Your love. Amen.
Monday, May 9, 2011
A New Commandment (Mothers Day)
This past Mothers Day in worship we thought words of Jesus from John’s Gospel "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Our sermon can be found here.
The implications of the gospel message are not hard to understand. Counting other people as equally significant as ourselves, treating others like we would like to be treated, loving all people regardless of who they are or where they may be coming from. The complications arise as we try to live out those simple precepts!
Many of us are blessed to have been a glimpse of what unconditional love looks and feels like through the example of our parents. They put up with our worse, they tended us when sick and lifted us up when we fell. They often made sacrifices so that we could have a better life.
At the time we may not have appreciated it. We interpreted their care as being a restriction to our freedom. We didn’t want to come home that early or play music that quietly. We couldn’t understand why they had to know where we were going or who we were with. It is only with maturity and hindsight that we see their actions as flowing from love!
We can be the same in our relationship with God. Religion is seen as restrictive. We don’t want to play by all the rules because we are convinced that we know best. We forget that the nature of God is love and the work of the Spirit is to help us be more reflective of the life of Jesus (particularly in our relationships with each other).
Prayer: Lord, we are thankful for all those who in our life have taught us the meaning of love. May we allow their good example to shape our actions. Help us to grow deeper in Your love that we may reflect the life of Jesus in our daily actions. Amen.
The implications of the gospel message are not hard to understand. Counting other people as equally significant as ourselves, treating others like we would like to be treated, loving all people regardless of who they are or where they may be coming from. The complications arise as we try to live out those simple precepts!
Many of us are blessed to have been a glimpse of what unconditional love looks and feels like through the example of our parents. They put up with our worse, they tended us when sick and lifted us up when we fell. They often made sacrifices so that we could have a better life.
At the time we may not have appreciated it. We interpreted their care as being a restriction to our freedom. We didn’t want to come home that early or play music that quietly. We couldn’t understand why they had to know where we were going or who we were with. It is only with maturity and hindsight that we see their actions as flowing from love!
We can be the same in our relationship with God. Religion is seen as restrictive. We don’t want to play by all the rules because we are convinced that we know best. We forget that the nature of God is love and the work of the Spirit is to help us be more reflective of the life of Jesus (particularly in our relationships with each other).
Prayer: Lord, we are thankful for all those who in our life have taught us the meaning of love. May we allow their good example to shape our actions. Help us to grow deeper in Your love that we may reflect the life of Jesus in our daily actions. Amen.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Doubter
The Doubter
I’ve always had a place in my affection for the disciple Thomas, or ‘Doubting Thomas’ as he became known. We reflected on his experience of the resurrection as we met around the table for communion this past Sunday. Notes from the sermon can be found here.
I find that there is a huge part of myself that is decidedly skeptical. The story is that Thomas wasn’t there when Christ appeared alive to the other disciples. Thomas just won’t take their word for it. He wants to touch and see for himself.
No matter how reliable the other disciples were, or how close they had grown as friends, when it came to talking of impossible things like resurrections you just couldn’t take anyone’s word for it. Not even your closest friends. After all, Judas had been a close friend and look how that turned out! Better to trust nobody.
Things like resurrections just don’t happen. Unless you happen to be in a room and Christ stands there in front of you saying, “Here. Touch the scars”. How do you deal with that? Thomas did the only thing he could do. He bowed down and said “My Lord, My God”.
I suspect I am not alone in having those days when religious faith just doesn’t add up. I don’t want to take any persons word for it (be they friend or foe). I want to see. I want to touch. Don’t give me that ‘Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believed’ stuff, because it is not working; I want something more tangible.
And then Jesus shows up. No, not in the room as a visible person telling me to stick my fingers where a spear had pierced His side, but as a whisper in the wind or a phrase in the midst of an unexpected conversation. As a word of scripture suddenly becomes illuminated or in the midst of a prayer that I’m suddenly aware has become a conversation. I sense a presence and my heart is moved and involuntarily I’m thinking “My Lord, My God!”
Of course you are not going to take my word it. You are not living in my skin. And no I can’t prove it or explain it. In our Easter service we a number of times used the phrase ‘Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed.’ Ah, the mystery of faith!
Prayer: Lord, some of us understand Thomas all to well. We think we need to see. We say we cannot believe till we touch. Grant us eyes that see Your presence in unexpected places and ears to hear Your Spirit whispering our name in places we don’t always hear. May our doubts lead us to Your presence. Amen.
I’ve always had a place in my affection for the disciple Thomas, or ‘Doubting Thomas’ as he became known. We reflected on his experience of the resurrection as we met around the table for communion this past Sunday. Notes from the sermon can be found here.
I find that there is a huge part of myself that is decidedly skeptical. The story is that Thomas wasn’t there when Christ appeared alive to the other disciples. Thomas just won’t take their word for it. He wants to touch and see for himself.
No matter how reliable the other disciples were, or how close they had grown as friends, when it came to talking of impossible things like resurrections you just couldn’t take anyone’s word for it. Not even your closest friends. After all, Judas had been a close friend and look how that turned out! Better to trust nobody.
Things like resurrections just don’t happen. Unless you happen to be in a room and Christ stands there in front of you saying, “Here. Touch the scars”. How do you deal with that? Thomas did the only thing he could do. He bowed down and said “My Lord, My God”.
I suspect I am not alone in having those days when religious faith just doesn’t add up. I don’t want to take any persons word for it (be they friend or foe). I want to see. I want to touch. Don’t give me that ‘Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believed’ stuff, because it is not working; I want something more tangible.
And then Jesus shows up. No, not in the room as a visible person telling me to stick my fingers where a spear had pierced His side, but as a whisper in the wind or a phrase in the midst of an unexpected conversation. As a word of scripture suddenly becomes illuminated or in the midst of a prayer that I’m suddenly aware has become a conversation. I sense a presence and my heart is moved and involuntarily I’m thinking “My Lord, My God!”
Of course you are not going to take my word it. You are not living in my skin. And no I can’t prove it or explain it. In our Easter service we a number of times used the phrase ‘Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed.’ Ah, the mystery of faith!
Prayer: Lord, some of us understand Thomas all to well. We think we need to see. We say we cannot believe till we touch. Grant us eyes that see Your presence in unexpected places and ears to hear Your Spirit whispering our name in places we don’t always hear. May our doubts lead us to Your presence. Amen.
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