Archived Sermons
“Taste the Sweetness”
Oct. 25, 2009 / Psalm 34:1-8 / Rev. Steve Young
Someone has said that Christianity is not a religion--it’s a relationship. And perhaps no one intuitively understands that idea better than children.
Two little boys visited church for the first time, and one of them came home and told his non-churchgoing Dad, “I know what God’s name is.”
The father responded with amusement, “You do, do you? And just what is God’s name?”
The boy answered, “Andy. God’s name is Andy.”
“Andy?” the father responded. “How in the world did you get Andy?”
The boy said, “Oh Daddy, we sang it in church today. ‘Andy walks with me. Andy talks with me. Andy tells me I am his own.’”
His older brother immediately corrected him, “No, that’s dumb. God’s name is not Andy. You’re wrong, little brother. God’s name is Howard.”
“Howard?” the father said with more surprise. “Howard?”
“Yes,” the older brother insisted. “That’s what they prayed in church. They said, ‘Our Father who art in heaven. Howard, be thy name.’”
Well, sometimes children get the names wrong. But I believe that many times they understand better than we adults that Christianity is not at its foundation a religion, but rather a relationship with God.
A religion is an organized system governed by a commonly accepted list of religious beliefs and by a commonly accepted list of religious practices. Those who are part of a religion give their credence to those religious beliefs and try to live by those religious practices. They often judge their own religious standing by how faithfully they adhere to those beliefs and how faithfully they perform their religious duties.
But when people say that Christianity is not a religion, but that it’s a relationship, they are saying that Christianity is not adequately defined by enumerating its official beliefs and practices. Rather, Christianity is barren and lifeless without delineating the importance of a vital personal relationship with the Lord.
The heroes of our Hebrew and Christian tradition all possessed a religious faith characterized by a vital personal relationship with God that went beyond the established religious traditions of the day. I’d like to lift up three of those heroes this morning.
Go back three thousand years ago, to the 10th century BC, to a shepherd by the name of David. He is composing songs of devotion to God. He makes music with the harp and lyre. It is not for no reason that he is referred to as “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1).
The rudiments of some of those heartfelt songs of David are reflected in our book of Psalms. Many of the psalms are very personal statements of communication with God. In the psalms the psalmist pours out his heart in praise or thanksgiving or lament or supplication. When David sinned, he poured out his heart in earnest confession (Ps. 51).
Although there were the expected religious celebrations in which he as Israel’s king would participate, David’s religion was very much one of the heart. It was a spiritual relationship with his God.
And in that personal relationship David had tasted the sweetness. David had discovered in his experience that the Lord was good.
Let us leave David behind for the moment, and fast forward one thousand years, to the 1st century AD, to another man who lived in close relationship with the Lord. He, too, had tasted that the Lord was good. His name was Simon--Simon Peter.
When Simon Peter’s faith failed and three times he denied that he knew Christ, Christ forgave him and gave him another chance. Christ three times said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me? And when Peter answered yes, Jesus responded: “Feed my lambs”; “tend my sheep”; “feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Simon Peter’s religion was a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When the religious leaders attempted to silence Peter’s preaching after Pentecost as being detrimental to the established religion, Peter answered, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). And when Peter had a vision from God that ran counter to the prevailing religious ideas about whom the blessings of God were meant for, Peter was obedient to that revelation of the Lord. And Peter went to preach to a Gentile named Cornelius, and he ended up baptizing him (Acts 11:1-12).
For Simon Peter, faith was not a religion of prescribed beliefs and practices, it was a relationship with the risen Lord. Peter tasted the sweetness of the Lord and discovered in his own personal experience that the Lord was good.
Now let us leave Peter behind for a moment and let us fast-forward another 1000 years, to a place called Clairvaux, about 150 miles east southeast of Paris. To a young 25 year-old named Bernard, who has been commissioned to start a new monastery there.
(You can tell that we’ve come a long way as a church when we can lift up a Roman Catholic as an example of godliness on Reformation Sunday. That would never have happened fifty years ago!)
In Bernard’s day the learned theologians of the church had become increasingly rationalistic and logical and intellectual in their approach to God. And in his day monks began to live with far more attachment to the things of the world than they did in earlier generations. Into this sterile and worldly religious setting Bernard began to preach a religion of ready communication with God, of mystic communion with God. And he began to practice and promote an austere and humble lifestyle as the appropriate lifestyle of a monk.
Bernard’s leadership led to a revival of piety and spiritual devotion in the church that had been absent for a long time. When one of Bernard’s friends was elected pope, Bernard wrote him a treatise saying that the reformation of the church ought to begin with the sanctity of the pope. Imagine that! The temporal accoutrements of religion Bernard deemed as far less important than piety and meditation, the true religion of the heart.
It was in his personal relationship to the Lord that Bernard had tasted the sweetness and experienced the Lord’s goodness.
All three of these men whose home was in three different millennia--David, Peter, and Bernard--illustrate the priority of a personal relationship with God, rather than adherence to a human system. The essence of faith is not participation in a human organization; it is a spiritual relationship.
And now from the three spiritual heroes to their writings. I want you to note how the importance of a personal relationship with God plays out in their writings.
Now we can’t be absolutely sure that David authored Psalm 34, our Old Testament lesson for this morning. And we can’t be sure that the little historical superscription to the psalm was original and that it reflects accurate historical knowledge. We cannot prove it, but it is certainly possible.
The superscription of Psalm 34 says: “Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” This superscription most probably refers to an incident in David’s life when he was fleeing for his life from jealous King Saul and when he tried to hide out with the Philistines (1 Sam. 21:10-15).
Now they were probably not the best people to hang out with. Remember Goliath? Eventually David became suspicious of what the Philistines might try to do to him. So to make himself seem as harmless as possible, he portrayed himself as a nut case, scratching marks on the doors and letting slobber run down his beard. And he fooled the king of the Philistines, so that the king dismissed him as being no threat at all. And David was able to escape.
Well, if this psalm looked back upon that incident from the life of David, then it reflects David’s conviction that it was the Lord who had delivered him. “I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4). “This poor soul cried and was heard by the Lord and was saved from every trouble” (Ps. 34:6). David attributed his deliverance from trouble to the hand of the Lord. And the psalm was a song of thanksgiving to the Lord to celebrate that deliverance. The psalmist was exulting in the sweetness of the Lord’s saving him from his enemies. And he encourages others to experience the same thing that he discovered: “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8).
Now it is important to note that the goodness of the Lord does not mean that God’s people will always escape danger or affliction or suffering. It’s a naïve view of the faith that says: trust in God, and everything will always be hunky dory. As a matter of fact, later on in Psalm 34 we read: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Ps. 34:19). David certainly had his share of afflictions. He was continually on the run from jealous King Saul. And later on he had to deal with wayward sons, one of whom chased him out of Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:13-17).
But the goodness of the Lord is revealed in the middle of our afflictions, when times are tough, when we’re suffering, when our hearts are broken and our spirits are crushed. It is at times like these, when we call out to the Lord, that he helps us, he delivers us, and he saves us.
The psalmist had tasted this sweetness of the Lord. He says, “Happy are those who take refuge in him” (Ps. 34:8). David’s personal relationship with the Lord is vividly expressed in his heartfelt psalms.
Move with me, if you will, once again to the 1st century, to a letter traditionally attributed to Simon Peter, 1 Peter, our New Testament reading for the day. We can’t know for sure if Peter wrote this letter. He may have, but we can’t be sure.
In his letter Peter reminds his readers that they have been born again--born anew--from a parent who is immortal, through the living Word of God (1 Pet. 1:23). It is the gospel preaching has given them the new birth. They have a new spiritual relationship with the Lord. They have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Pet. 2:3).
But notice that according to Peter the new birth is not all that there is. They need to grow in their walk with the Lord. He counsels his readers to drink the pure, spiritual milk, so that they may grow into salvation (1 Pet. 2:2). Or, as the Good News Bible puts it: “by drinking it you may grow up and be saved.”
That’s not religion, my friends! That’s a spiritual relationship with the Lord. It’s a relationship, a communication, and a communion whereby we are spiritually nourished, through the Word of God. And by which relationship we grow in love and holiness.
Two spiritual heroes, two writings attributed to them.
Let us move to the third. To a bit a verse from the 12th century, translated into English from the Latin. We don’t know for sure who wrote it, but tradition ascribes it to St. Bernard. We do know that the sentiment of the verse is congruent with what we find in Bernard’s prose writing. Bernard certainly could have been its author.
The English translation goes like this:
“Jesus, the very thought of thee
With sweetness fills the breast,
But sweeter far thy face to see,
And in thy presence rest.
O hope of every contrite heart
O joy of all the meek,
To those who fall, how kind thou art!
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah, this
Nor tongue nor pen can show;
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but his loved ones know.”
Are you familiar with this poetry? It is our hymn “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”.
What is Christianity? Is it a system of rules and beliefs and practices? Or is it more fundamentally a relationship? Bernard would attest to the latter. He had tasted the sweetness of the Lord. Bernard had experienced the goodness of the Lord.
Fast forward a thousand years or so. Here we are--at the 21st century. We are people seeking authentic faith. We are people seeking salvation. We are people seeking to be right with God.
And what is it all about? Is it the number of times we’ve attended church in the course of the year? Is it being able to say the creed by memory and to believe every word in the Bible? Is it the record of our tithes? Is it the store of good deeds that we have accumulated in our life?
What is it all about?
Don’t our Scriptures teach us that at the center of our faith is really our relationship with God?
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
“Look to him and be radiant “
“Happy are those who take refuge in him.”
I think of the wonderful witness of one of our members, Sally Nardozzi. You know that Sally has been in Arizona for many months now, staying with her sister, as she copes with a cancer that the doctors say is incurable.
Friends, I want to assure you that Sally is completely healthy spiritually. She has tasted the sweetness of the Lord. She has a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s not a religion with Sally; it’s a relationship. And she will freely share how she believes that Jesus is bringing healing to her. Sally once said to me, with an incredible lightness in her voice, that if God didn’t bring physical healing to her, then it would just mean that she would join the heavenly choir before the rest of us!
Sally Nardozzi has experienced the goodness of the Lord.
How else shall we illustrate?
Imagine, if you will, these six ingredients for a recipe:
½ cup of sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Does that sound like a group of ingredients with potential for something good?
You better believe it. They are the ingredients that go into making some of the best chocolate pudding around.
But how would you know, unless you followed the recipe and made the pudding and then tried it?
So it is with the Christian faith. We can know intellectually all the elements that go into being a Christian. The truths about Christ and forgiveness and the Spirit.
But until we actually try it, it’s just a recipe of words.
But when we do try it, when we taste the sweetness, oh, what a joy!
With the spiritual life, as it is with the chef’s dessert, the proof is in the pudding.“Down from the High Horse”
Oct. 18, 2009 / Mark 10:35-45 / Rev. Steve Young
It was a happy occasion one Sunday at church when a family presented their infant daughter to be baptized. Mother, father, grandparents, aunts and uncles looked on with delight. They were all aglow. All except for the infant’s five-year-old brother. In the car on the way home from church he was sobbing uncontrollably.
His mom and day were perplexed; they couldn’t figure out why Junior was crying. “What in the world is the matter?” his father asked him. “This is a happy occasion.”
The little boy could barely restrain his sobs. He finally was able to bawl out, “The preacher said that he wants sissy and me to be raised in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys.”
As someone said once, being a regular churchgoer doesn’t make you a Christian.
It helps. But it isn’t enough.
And being chosen to be one of the twelve disciples of Jesus was no guarantee of a halo either. Even when you remove Judas from the mix, you can’t give a halo to these guys.
Look at our story this morning from the Gospel of Mark. Wow! The twelve disciples were looking anything but holy.
In a lot of ways they were acting just like we do.
Note the immediately preceding context in Mark. Jesus had just told his disciples that they were going up to Jerusalem where he would be handed over to the authorities, condemned to death, beaten, and killed. And then rise again (Mark 10:32-34). And according to Mark this was the third time that Jesus had told them this (Mark 8:31; 9:31-32).
But they just weren’t getting it.
Look at James and John. To be sure, they were two of the three disciples who were the closest to Jesus. They were two of the three disciples who witnessed the transfiguration (Mark 9:2). They were two of the three who witnessed the healing of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:22-23, 35-37). They were two of the three he invited to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-33). And we know that the disciple John was even referred to in the Gospel of John as the beloved disciple. The one to whom Jesus gave the care of his mother while he was on the cross (John 19:26-27). Without a doubt James and John were special to Jesus.
But these two guys were not getting what Jesus was really about.
After Jesus’ prediction of suffering and death, as they are walking in the direction of Jerusalem, where the disciples assume that Jesus will receive his royal kingdom, James and John sidle up to Jesus. And they ask him for the special seats of honor in his upcoming kingdom. Imagine that! They wanted to have the two thrones alongside Jesus’ throne in the kingdom of God--one on his right side and one on his left.
Perhaps James and John felt that they, rather than any of the other ten, deserved those positions. And perhaps there was a little bit of jealousy of Peter’s privileged position with Jesus (Matt. 16:17-19) that led them to want to get the jump on him. Or perhaps their elevated economic status among the twelve disciples--keep in mind their family fishing business was successful enough to hire servants (Mark 1:19-20)--might have led them to think that they deserved this privilege. James and John wanted to advance their cause.
And in doing so are they really that different from many of us today?
They were certainly like many others of their day. This striving for the best seats in town was common in Jesus’ time. Jesus once remarked how the scribes wanted the best seats. They wanted the best seats in the synagogue and the places of honor at banquets (Mark 12:38-39). I’m not sure if that was the first pew or the last pew in the synagogue! Jesus himself observed it when he was invited to a meal at the home of a Pharisee. He noticed that a lot of people grabbed for the seats of honor at the place closest to the host (Luke 14:1,7). Jesus used it as a teaching moment, and he counseled those present to choose the less prestigious seats. Jesus said that whoever exalted himself would be humbled and that whoever humbled himself would be exalted (Luke 14:8-11).
James and John asked for the best seats. But Jesus said that those seats were not his to give (Mark 10:40).
And how did the other ten disciples do when they found out what James and John had done? Did their noble-mindedness put James and John to shame? Not exactly. Upon hearing what James and John had done, the other ten were furious. They were filled with envy. Why James and John? Why them and not me? How is that fair? Down the line each disciple bristled at the blatant power move of James and John. No haloes that day!
And when Jesus settled them down, he acknowledged that that type of grabbing for power and influence was certainly the way things were done in their society. Those in power lorded it over others. They loved to exercise their authority over those beneath them. The Gentile rulers and authorities—that’s the way they did things (Mark 10:42).
As someone has said, the problem in society is that when so many are scrambling for the best seats, the most power, the most privilege, and the most wealth, those who are young and poor and without power are likely to get trampled in the stampede.
In the late 18th century in England, one way you could distinguish who belonged to the aristocracy and who did not was by observing the horse they rode. The aristocracy rode on tall horses. They could afford to buy the most majestic animals, and they did. And so they literally towered above others whom they passed by on the road, riders and pedestrians alike. And so the expression “on one’s high horse” came to mean someone who was trying to act like aristocracy, assuming high and mighty airs, expecting special privileges, asserting certain prerogatives.
Jesus invited his disciples to get down off their high horse and to remember that his followers are called not to enjoy status and privilege and make a name for themselves, but rather to serve. Jesus said that the greatest of his disciples would be the one who served the others the best, and the one who would be considered the first in importance would be the one who most acted like their slave (Mark 10:43-44).
Talk about turning the world’s values upside down!
But that was what Jesus did. Jesus was the one who got down off his stool and onto his knees in order to wash his disciples’ dirty feet (John 13:3-5). Jesus was the one who got down on a child’s level to lay hands on them and bless them, and he bent down to take them up into his arms (Mark 10:16).
And Jesus spoke favorably once of a Samaritan who got down off his donkey to minister to a critically wounded man along the side of the road. The Good Samaritan put that critically wounded man on his donkey and carried him to the nearest inn where he could be cared for and recover. And he agreed to cover the tab (Luke 10:30-35).
And Jesus got down off his Palm Sunday donkey and bore his cross down the Good Friday road to Calvary in order to complete his mission of love and redemption. Indeed, he gave his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Today I believe that the task of the church is for us to get down from our high horses and to see some of the people whom we ride right by in life. The ones who don’t ride at the same level of life as we do. Or the ones who do not ride at all. The ones who walk or the ones who crawl. The little ones, the vulnerable ones, those without a voice.
On this Children’s Sabbath we want to step down from our high horse in order to take notice of the children at risk in our land.
Now I think we need to acknowledge that among many families in America children receive the very best of care and enjoy the very best of opportunities. Many of the children in our church live in families where they receive the very best of all that life has to offer. And just as you don’t get between a momma bear and her cubs, you don’t get between most human mommas and their children. Moms look out for kids—that’s just what they do. They want their kids to have the best. And they will sacrifice to see that their children have the very best opportunities that they can provide for them. And moms will defend their child to the nth degree if they feel that their child has been wronged. Many parents and children ride with us on high horses.
But unfortunately there are other children in our country who don’t have a reliable mom or dad to look out for their best interests. Perhaps these children have loving parents, but the family lives in poverty, and all their energies go into the struggle to put food on the table. But perhaps some of these children have parents who do not possess good parenting skills and who do not make good decisions for their family. On Children’s Sabbath we are reminded that there are children who grow up at a distinct disadvantage compared to children in more privileged families. And we are invited to climb down from our high horse in order to see them.
The Children’s Defense League tells us that one out of every six children in America grows up in a home that is considered poor by society’s standards. Children from poor families often are rarely seen by those who ride on tall horses. We pass right by them and are hardly aware that they exist.
Again, we are told that one out of every nine children in America does not have adequate health care coverage. And if those figures are correct, it means that nine million children in America do not have adequate health care. Nine million--that is the population of the five boroughs of New York City! These are children who do not receive regular health check-ups by a pediatrician. Who perhaps lack their immunizations. Who, when they are sick, fill our emergency rooms, or maybe they don’t go anywhere at all for medical assistance.
When we’re on our high horse we may miss things like that.
And we’re told that one out of every three black boys born in America will likely spent some time in prison during their lifetime. That’s a heartbreaking statistic. One in three!
Is there anything that we can do about these grim statistics?
Mother Teresa once wrote, “The point is to do something, however small, and show you care through your actions, by giving your time. Sometimes this may mean doing something physical (such as we do in our homes of the sick and dying) or sometimes it may mean offering spiritual support for the shut-ins…If any ill person wants medicine, then give him medicine; if he needs comfort, then comfort him.”
We start where we are with what we have. Because we cannot do everything, we do not hesitate to try to do something.
And we are doing some things! Some very good things!
For several years now, our Virginia Conference has supported a Camp for All God’s Children to provide a week of supervised Christian camping for children whose mothers are in prison. Hundreds of little boys and little girls have been ministered to with the love of Christ in this way. Their lives have been indelibly touched for good.
United Methodist Family Services is doing a wonderful work for children and youth. Family Services provides counseling and group homes for teenagers who have special needs. Family Services facilitates foster care and adoption services so that children at risk might have hope for a brighter future.
Again, our Virginia Conference sponsors Camp Rainbow Connection one week each year at Blackstone to provide a joyous Christian outlet for youth and adults who have mental and developmental disabilities.
In our own community, many adults support the Boys and Girls Club, which provides healthy socializing and group play for kids after school. A portion of every dollar in our collection plate goes to support the Boys and Girls Club of Gloucester.
And many in our church and community volunteer their time to support the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, that wonderful organization that ministers to children who need medical care.
Bethany United Methodist Church takes seriously its ministry to children and youth in our community. Did you know that there is no financial requirement for children and youth to be able to participate in our church ministries? There are no family dues. There is no minimum tithe. It is our church’s policy to provide meals for children’s and youth events without charge. And it is our policy not to charge parents registration fees in order for their children to attend retreats or other Christian events sponsored by our church.
At Bethany we believe that all God’s children deserve an equal opportunity to share God’s blessings. We believe that all God’s children deserve the opportunity to hear about God’s love and God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. At Bethany we want to see no child let behind. At Bethany we are taking the time to dismount our high horses in order to see the little ones languishing about us.
Let me close by telling a story that I’ve told before and that I particularly love:
A businessman was vacationing along the western coast of Mexico and early one morning was walking along the beach. From a distance he observed a boy who appeared to be bending down in a repetitive dance-like move on the beach. But as he drew closer he saw that they boy wasn’t dancing at all. Instead, he was picking up one starfish at a time and gently throwing the starfish into the surf.
“What are you doing?” the businessman asked.
“I’m throwing starfish into the ocean, Senor. These were stranded on the beach during the night. The tide has gone out, and the sun is beginning to rise. These starfish will dry up and die if left here.”
The businessman shook his head. “There are miles and miles of beach and hundreds and hundreds of starfish on the shore. You can’t possibly make a difference.”
The boy listened politely, and then he bent down and picked up another starfish and gently threw it beyond the breaking waves.
“It made a difference to that one, Senor,” he said.“How to Approach a Holy God”
Oct. 11, 2009 / Hebrews 4:12-16 / Rev. Steve Young
Scary things are happening at Busch Gardens this month.
And I don’t mean Busch Gardens being sold off to the Blackstone Group. That change in ownership will probably not adversely affect the theme park.
But there are other scary things happening at Busch. I visited their website recently. They’ve got attractions designed to frighten people of every fear tolerance level. They’ve got ghosts that emerge from graveyards, goblins that hide in the trees, axe murderers that stalk the fields, witches anxious to cast spells, and werewolves that haunt the forests.
According to their website you can tell just how scary each of their attractions is by the number of jack-o’-lanterns placed next to each one, with one jack-o’-lantern being the least scary, and five being the scariest.
Well, it’s the sights and sounds of Halloween that seems to dominate our culture during the month of October. It’s the season of scary movies in the theaters and on TV, ghoulish displays on people’s front lawns, grotesque Halloween costumes, and, of course, Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens.
Perhaps this is also the season to remember that there is a scary side of God, too. Did you know that?
At least that’s what the Scriptures suggest. Listen!
Our Old Testament scripture told how the young prophet Isaiah was worshiping in the temple and had a vision of Almighty God. Well, the vision just about scared him to death. He is convinced that he is a goner because his eyes have seen the holy God. He is painfully aware that he is a sinner and that God is perfectly holy and that human sin and the divine holiness do not mix. It is not until an angel brings a hot coal and cleanses his lips that the anguish of guilt and fear is taken away (Isa. 6:1-7).
According to the Scriptures there is a scary side of God.
Moses sees a bush in the wilderness that is burning, and he hears a voice that calls out, “Come no closer! Take off your shoes, for where you are standing is holy ground!” And Moses takes off his sandals and covers his face and trembles (Exod. 3:1-6).
The Scriptures tell us about a scary side of God.
And when Moses climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to meet with God, the Israelites waiting below are given strict instructions not to approach the holy mountain, not even to touch it. Anyone who so much as touches the mountain would be put to death (Exod. 19:10-20).
There is this scary side to God.
The Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of Israel’s tabernacle, was so holy that only one man might enter behind the curtain, the high priest, and then only on one day a year, Yom Kippur, and then only after having made careful preparations. The high priest wears bells on his robe, presumably to let God know of his approach, lest he die there (Exod. 28:31-35).
There is this scary side to God.
And later during the time of King David, when the young man Uzzah is helping to bring the Ark of the Covenant, Israel’s holist piece of furniture, to Jerusalem, and the oxen pulling the cart holding the Ark jolt, and the Ark begins to teeter, and Uzzah reaches out his hand to steady the Ark, he is struck dead (2 Sam. 6:1-9).
According to the Scriptures there is a scary side of God.
Now a common reaction to all this is to say, “Well, that was the Old Testament. People didn’t understand God as well as we do today. They thought that God was angry and vindictive and that he did those sorts of things. We know better. We believe in a God of love.
But, friends, we even see the scary side of God in the New Testament.
Do you remember the story of two would-be followers of the Way named Ananias and Sapphira? They lied to the Holy Spirit about how much money they had given to the apostles. Caught in their lie, they both were struck down and died on the spot (Acts 5:1-11).
And then we find Jesus himself talking about some of the frightening aspects of God’s nature, too. Granted the use of metaphor and figure of speech, but it’s still scary:
A number of the scary images relate to fire. Evil-doers being cast into the furnace of fire on the day of judgment (Matt. 13:36-42); people like trees who do not bear good fruit being cut down and thrown into the fire (Matt. 7:15-19); Jesus’ instruction to lop off your hand if it is causing you to sin—better to face the future with one hand than with both hands to go into the eternal fire (Mark 9:43-44); those who show no mercy to “the least of his brothers” are sent into “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41-46); and the rich man who ignored poor Lazarus at his door died and was in agony in the flames (Luke 16:19-24). So much for fire.
But there are other scary metaphors that Jesus used, as well. The wicked slave supposedly in charge who beat the other slaves while the master was away—this wicked one would be “cut in pieces” (Luke 12:42-46); the lazy slave who buried his one talent in the ground would be thrown into the outer darkness (Matt. 25:24-30); and the unforgiving slave, who had been forgiven much by his king, was to be tortured until he paid his debts (Matt. 19:23-35).
Scary imagery, to be sure. In the New Testament of all places. On the lips of Jesus, no less. Five jack-o’-lantern stuff!
Hebrews is a book of the bible that often reminds us of the scary side of God. Hebrews says that “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29), and “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).
Now we have a theological name for this scary side of God. We call it God’s holiness. Holiness is that aspect of God’s nature that is diametrically opposed to human profaneness. It is that part of God’s nature that cannot abide with sin. “Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,” the prophet Habakkuk put it (Hab. 1:13).
Hebrews 4:12-13 reminds us of the scary side of God, as well. We’re told that the capacity of God to get to the bottom of things with us is like a two-edged sword. It’s sharp, and it’s penetrating. It goes far beneath the surface. It can pierce all the way down to the heart, to our inmost being, where our secret thoughts and intentions are lodged. And lay it all bare.
Today, the field of medicine has all sorts of ways to find out what is going on inside us without cutting us open. There are X-rays and CAT scans and PET scans and MRI’s. A member told me recently that he swallowed a camera that took pictures all along his digestive track to reveal parts of his innards that didn’t show up in more conventional tests.
The Word of God likewise is that which gets beneath the surface. It can get underneath the pleasant and proper façade that others see. It can get beneath our public image. It can reach down to where we live and see what we truly are.
And what if it finds there hypocrisy and insincerity and pride and lukewarmness and other lurking sin?
That can be a scary thing!
Jonathan Edwards, the 18th century theologian and preacher from Massachusetts, once preached a five jack-o’-lantern sermon. If anyone still had a bit of the devil lingering in him or her, then I’m sure that this sermon scared it out!
Here is an excerpt of Edwards’ sermon:
“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath towards you burns like fire. He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire. He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight. You are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince. And yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.”
Jonathan Edwards reminded his congregation in no uncertain terms of the scary side of God.
And there is much in Scripture that does the very same.
But look! In this book of Hebrews, that scary stuff about God’s two-edged sword piercing our inner being is juxtaposed with some of the most comforting words in all of Scripture that follow in verses 14 through 16.
The bottom line is that we sinners ought to come to God boldly and unafraid. “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” verse 16 entreats us. Verse 16 invites us to come near to God, without reluctance, hesitation, or fear. The presence of God here, far from being a place of fearful judgment, is now a safe place to be!
How can this be? Anxious fear in verses 12 and 13. Confident faith in verses 14 through 16.
Well, according to the theology of the book of Hebrews (and most of the rest of the New Testament, too), something huge happened to effect this welcome change.
Something that we call the high priestly work of Christ.
In the manner of the Jewish high priest who offers sacrifices to God on behalf of the people, so as to remove the consequences of their sin and to reconcile them to God, so Christ, our great high priest, has made an effective sin offering, too. But in contrast to Israel’s high priest, the offering that Christ made was once for all. Christ’s offering never needed to be repeated. And the offering that Christ made was not limited in its efficacy; it was sufficient to cover the sins of the whole world (John 1:29). And further, the offering that Christ made was not that of the blood of bulls and goats, but that of his own life, his death upon the cross.
What Christ did to remedy our relationship with God was huge.
Our great high priest’s offering was the means by which our stubborn sins are atoned. All the things that kept us from having fellowship with a holy God have been taken away by our great high priest. All the things that weighed down our hearts with guilt, all the things that kept our spirits shackled in fear, have been decisively dealt with by our great high priest. He did all that was necessary to remove the grievous obstacles that existed between sinful humanity and a holy God. As the Apostle Paul once wrote: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).
The breach between God and humankind was great, but the divine action to mend the breach was greater still. And the cross of Christ was sufficient to bridge the gap.
Hebrews 4:16 invites us now to come confidently to the throne of God, no longer afraid, but expecting God’s blessings. The debt of sin has been paid. We don’t have to fear God’s judgment now. “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Some commentators on this passage have seen two different things promised to us as we come. First, mercy offered to us for our past sins. Forgiveness for our sins of omission and sins of commission. The divine mercy that gives us a clean slate. Our past sins have been wiped away.
And second, grace is promised for today and tomorrow. Grace is that spiritual strength that God offers to help us at our point of need. The Apostle Paul wrote about this grace, when he heard the Lord reassure him with these words: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). Grace is the spiritual strength that God gives to enable us to remain faithful while we’re tempted. Grace is the spiritual strength that God gives to enable us to endure pain and suffering. Grace is the spiritual strength that God gives us to keep from giving up, even when the going gets rough. Grace is the food pantry that always has available the bread of life for when we are spiritually hungry. Grace is the clothes closet that always can provide the clothes of righteousness when we’re dressed in spiritual rags.
If there is a scary side of God, exhibited in his holiness, there is also a merciful side of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, his Son.
It is the merciful side of God that does not want anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).
It is the merciful side of God that says: “Come to me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
It is the merciful side of God that says: “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).
It is the merciful side of God that says: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).
And it is the merciful side of God that says: “Behold, I am standing at the door and knocking. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you with me” (Rev. 3:20).
How do we approach a holy God?
We approach a holy God through Jesus Christ his Son. He is our mediator and our intercessor. He is our Savior.
When we come to him humbly, conscious of our sins and penitent in spirit, he offers us the forgiveness of sins and a new lease on life.
And, my friends, that is not scary at all!
“So Simple a Child Can Understand It”
Oct. 4, 2009 / Mark 10:13-16 / Rev. Steve Young
Sometimes kids get some of the grown-up things in the Bible a little mixed up. The following children’s explanations to biblical concepts and biblical characters were collected from church school teachers:
Do you know the name of Noah’s wife? Well, she was Joan of Ark, of course.
And you know the greatest miracle of the Bible—it was when Joshua told his son to stand still, and he obeyed him.
And the twelve people whom Jesus called to follow him—they were the 12 decibels. Obviously they were quiet people.
And you know what the epistles were? They were the wives of the apostles. Of course!
And you knew that when Samson slew the Philistines he used the axe of the apostles. You knew that, didn’t you?
Children don’t always get some of the stories in the Bible straight.
But sometimes children get the gist of what the gospel is about better than we adults do.
Occasionally on Communion Sunday, visitors to our congregation will make a comment, not a negative one, but one of surprise. They will comment about young children taking communion here at Bethany. Little ones--some as young as three or four years old--processing forward, kneeling at the rail, eating the little cube of bread, drinking the little cup of grape juice.
Some of us came from religious traditions where kids had to be older to receive communion. They had to have been confirmed and to have received catechetical instruction first. They had to be in the seventh or eighth grade. As I remember, I was about twelve years of age before I first took communion in my home church.
These little children who come forward--do they know the deep theology of Holy Communion and how Christ is present in the sacrament? The answer is no. But if the truth is told, few adults do either. Charles Wesley once wrote in one of his communion hymns: “Who shall say how bread and wine God into man conveys?” And he concludes: “Sure and real is the grace, the manner be unknown.”
Little children can’t understand the Real Presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, but they can understand that God loves them and that Jesus welcomes them. Little children can understand when they are welcome to join in the holy things of God and when they are not. Little children can sense when they are accepted by God and when they are not. We believe that God’s grace goes out to little ones, too, even if their theological understanding is incomplete and imperfect. Our United Methodist liturgy welcomes little children, as well as adults, to the communion rail.
As a matter of fact, Jesus, rather than teaching that little children were not quite ready for the prime time of the kingdom of God, put them forward as examples of how persons should enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 9:33-37; 10:13-16). And Jesus said that those who didn’t enter the kingdom of God as a little child would not enter it. Imagine that!
We are so blessed to have this wonderful stained glass window at the front of our church sanctuary. It illustrates our New Testament Scripture today. Our stained glass window pictures the scene after Jesus overruled his overprotective disciples. We don’t see those officious disciples at all in the window. (That guy on the right with his back to Jesus is not one of the twelve apostles, but Stephen, the first martyr.) We imagine the twelve instructing the parents, “The Master is busy; he is too busy to take time out for children. He has more important things to do.” Of course, they meant adult stuff. But Jesus dismissed the disciples’ misplaced concern and said, “Do not stop them. For of such as these is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).
In our stained glass window we see three mothers bringing their children to Jesus. One mother holds her little girl on her shoulder. Another mother has her shy and retiring daughter at her right side. And on the other side of Jesus, a third mother stands behind her son and daughter. And we see Jesus in the center with three other children, with his right hand resting upon the head of a boy in blessing and his left arm on a girl’s shoulder as she nestles in Jesus’ side, while another child gazes up at Jesus.
These were just young children. They were not old enough to have memorized the law. They most likely could not have explained the fasts and feasts of their religion. They may not have been able to quote a psalm or to recite a creed. Certainly they would not have understood the messianic speculation of the day swirling around Jesus. But Jesus indicated that these children possessed the keys as to what receiving the kingdom of God was all about. “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). These little children knew some things about the kingdom that we adults sometimes forget or miss.
Perhaps we would have liked in this Bible passage for Jesus to have been more specific as to what he meant by receiving the kingdom as a child. Jesus does not elaborate here. But there are two things that come to my mind when I think of the attitude and response of a little child to Jesus. I think of the qualities of humility and trust.
Humility is unpretentious, deferential, modest, and respectful. Although we may know some children who would be quick to rush up to Jesus, humility bespeaks the shy child who must be coaxed to come into his presence. The humble child does not thrust itself into the presence of Jesus bringing a list of achievements and accomplishments—“I fed this hungry soul; I clothed this person; I took care of the sick; I welcomed the stranger.” The humble one doesn’t insist, “Here are the reasons I deserve to be in your presence.”
No, for the humble, coming to Jesus is all about the Master’s gracious welcome. None of these children has done anything deserving of Jesus. It’s simply Jesus’ love that welcomes them nigh. It’s the pure grace of the Master.
“Just as I am thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
We may believe that these little children came to Jesus with humility, and it was their humble hearts that won God’s approval.
And then there is the trust. To trust is to have confidence in someone; it is to rely upon someone. Trust acts as if it is safe to be close to Jesus. Because it is safe to be close to Jesus.
Was it an understanding of his divinity, his Sonship, his heavenly mission that drew children to him? No, most certainly not. It was not the knowledge of an adult that drew them. But assuredly there was something about his gentleness, his smile, and his voice that appealed to these little children. Jesus was totally safe. He’s not a Pied Piper that will lead them astray. He’s not one to mess with their minds. He’s not one to smother their personalities. He’s not one to imprison their wills in legalism. He’s certainly not one to take physical advantage of them.
Children came to Jesus with trusting hearts. They were totally safe with him. And he proved worthy of their trust.
Blessed are those adults who can set aside their suspicion and their doubts and their fears and put their trust in Jesus. For Jesus said that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child shall not enter it.
Sometimes children, even if they don’t understand the deep matters of Christian theology, still get the gist of the gospel. Someone shared with me a while back the 3rd grade classroom report of an eight-year-old boy who lives in Chula Vista, California. In the report he explained to the class what he believed about God. This is what he wrote:
“One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn’t have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.
“God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have.
“Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren’t any who come to our church.
“Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn’t want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them, and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his Father, and he told his Father that they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them, and God said okay. His dad appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth, so he told him he didn’t have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important. You can pray anytime you want, and they are sure to help you, because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.
“You should always go to church on Sunday, because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God! Don’t skip church to do something you think will be more fun, like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides, the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.
“If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely. Because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know he’s around you when you’re scared in the dark, or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.
“But you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here, and he can take me back anytime he pleases…And that’s why I believe in God.”
An explanation of God by a third grader by the name of Danny Dutton. Not perfect theology, mind you, but didn’t he have a grasp on some very important things about the gospel?
The late Karl Barth was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century and a preeminent Protestant theologian. He was also one of the wordiest. His Church Dogmatics total 14 volumes, each about 1000 pages long. Can you imagine? No, I haven’t read the health care bill either.
In our Christian Believer class last year we read several short excerpts from Barth’s works. Most of the class would agree with me that he was one of the most difficult of the writers to comprehend, because his sentences were often overly long, full of qualifying clauses communicating in abstract theological concepts.
In 1961 at the age of 75 Karl Barth visited America and held a press conference at Princeton Theological Seminary in the student lounge. During the question-and-answer period, a reporter from the New York Times asked the distinguished theologian, “What is the most profound theological statement ever made?”
Barth paused for a long time and reflected thoughtfully. Then he answered with simplicity and sincerity, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Friends, it behooves us not to make the good news of the gospel any more complex than it is. Not to overthink it. Not to overanalyze it. Not to overcomplicate it.
You see, according to Jesus, the gospel is easy enough for a child to understand. It’s about humbling ourselves before God and trusting our lives into his care.
And, you know, if we demonstrate the humility and the trust of a little child, we’ll be able to enter God’s kingdom, too.