Pre-Sermon Coming to a Church Near You

Visited a new church for the first time yesterday. As I sat in the audience I began to contemplate how I might react if the pastor got up before the sermon and shared the following....


Good Morning.

As the senior pastor it's my privilege to welcome you here this morning. We're glad you're here. There's some news I wanted to mention before we get started this morning. As most of you know from watching the news of these past few months, the transition in Washington became official this past week. We now have a new government. Now I have no editorial comments of my own on the transition. There were many who have argued for, and many who have argued against the transition to our new totalitarian state. You can go online to read both positions at great length. The news this morning is that the long awaited transition is now official.

The good news is that the transition was peaceful and everything appears to be running smoothly.

The bad news, if you want to call it that, is that this church has now come under the control of our new government.

The further good news is that we have already had our first semiannual visit from the Office of Religion & Community Welfare and we received a letter on Tuesday congratulating us on passing our first inspection with flying colors. In fact, we performed better than any of the other churches in the area. We received such high marks from the inspection team that their remarks were positive in every respect. I saw the checklist, and I can assure you, it was a long one. The inspection team truly cares about their work and wouldn't have hesitated to offer advice on how we could do things better here. In fact, that's their job. But the team left here feeling like they weren't actually needed. Other than working to fill some of our vacant positions on staff, we were told not to change a thing. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the government has told us not to change a thing. There is nothing we do here that concerns them. There is nothing we do here that has a significant enough influence on our community to cause them to be concerned. In short, we have received an official letter from the government this week certifying that we are innocuous.

As senior pastor I take full credit for these events. And so I wish to announce that this will be my last Sunday addressing you from the pulpit. In truth, when I first took over as pastor, part of me hoped that we would become a church of harmony, perhaps harmonious enough to permit receiving such a letter. But now that I am holding it in my hand....now that I am holding it in my hand...I wish I had never seen it.

And so I would like you to turn with me now in your Bibles. This morning we will be taking a look at the following passages from both the old and new testaments:

Zechariah 11:9-17
Matthew 27:3-10, 26:14-16

Others May, You Cannot (by G.D. Watson)

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)

If God has called you to be really like Christ in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others can brag on themselves, and their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

The Lord will let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hid away in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His glory, which can be produced only in the shade.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making money, but it is likely God will keep you poor because he wants you to have something far better than gold and that is a helpless dependence on Him; that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

God will let others be great, but He will keep you small. He will let others do a great work for Him and get credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when He comes.

The Holy Spirit will put strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do what He pleases with His own, and He will not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealing with you. He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things that you cannot do or say.

Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that others are not dealt with.

Now, when you are so possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this particular personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.

*Hat tip to the Incorrigible Optimist for sharing such a gem.

More to this Life

In our efforts to 'simplify' the gospel, and the life that is lived by it, we have thrown both the baby and the bathwater out the side window. And what's to be done?

If we attempt to retrieve the screaming child, the Christian life again becomes "complicated". If we reach for the child with one arm while holding onto our "simplicity" with the other hand, we find that the child is more than we can carry with just the one arm. The child remains outside.

It is only by first letting go of our simplicity that we will have both hands free to again embrace the child. It is a costly exchange for some, and more than they can bear. But it is the only way.

You see, our Lord was not a simple man, nor does he prize the virtue of simplicity above all others. The Christian life is not simply about repeating a sinner's prayer and convincing others to do the same. No, it is more -- much more than that. Raymond Van Leeuwen put it this way:

"So the Bible as a whole is not intended as a manual for admittance into the world to come. If this were so, most of the Bible would be superfluous. Regrettably, many Christians behave as if most of the Bible is indeed superfluous, no doubt partly because of their view that salvation is something otherworldy, and the mechanism for salvation is quite simple or technological ("Four Spiritual Laws"), able to ignore the difficulty and complexity of life. Yet, the fundamental problem for Christians is not how to get into heaven or how to get others into heaven when they die. The fundamental problems for us all are how to live wisely and righteously in this world here and now (I Cor 3:10-17) and how to train others, including our children (paides), to do so."[1]

[1] Raymond Van Leeuwen, Reading the Bible Whole in a Culture of Divided Hearts, here reflecting on the earlier work of Lesslie Newbigin in Signs Amid the Rubble: The Purposes of God in Human History (2003), 71-75.

It's so simple (or "You're So Stupid")

C.S. Lewis' humility prevented him from declaring himself a theologian. Some today declare, in effect, that they are not theologians because there is not such a thing as theology. Take this quote from a conservative Bible teacher, for example:

"Well, the Bible's so easy if we weren't just so stupid from all this theology and stuff.

I mean, it's just real plain. Kid can understand it. Farmer can understand it. We just been messed up with all these theologians for so long." ~ Michael Pearl, "Body, Soul & Spirit"

It is a fool who thinks to himself that he can teach theology yet without being a theologian. As Lewis would readily admit, one is a theologian whether one declares it or no. A Bible teacher is a theologian. The question is not whether or not he is a theologian -- that much is immediately clear -- the question, Mr. Pearl, is whether he is a good theologian or a bad one.

What I will call "The Gospel of Simplicity", epitomized by the quote above, has flown from the mouths of the Michael Pearls of the world for generations. It has captured the hearts of many who have heard it. Its simplicity is its appeal. Its simplicity is also its vice. Whoever said the Gospel was to be simple? Predictable? Intuitive to a fool? Who was it that elevated such simplicity to the status of a virtue? Was it God.....or simply a bad theologian?

Simplicity v. Christianity

"Man's world is manifold, and his attitudes are manifold. What is manifold is often frightening because it is not neat and simple. Men prefer to forget how many possibilities are open to them.

They like to be told that there are two worlds and two ways. This is comforting because it is so tidy. Almost always one way turns out to be common and the other one is celebrated as superior.

Those who tell of two ways and praise one are recognized as prophets or great teachers. They save men from confusion and hard choices. They offer a single choice that is easy to make because those who do not take the path that is commended to them live a wretched life.

To walk far on this path may be difficult, but the choice is easy, and to hear the celebration of this path is pleasant. Wisdom offers simple schemes, but truth is not so simple.

Not all simplicity is wise. But a wealth of possibilities breeds dread. Hence those who speak of many possibilities speak to the few and are of help to even fewer. The wise offer only two ways, of which one is good, and thus help many.

Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived. The truth is too complex and frightening; the taste for the truth is an acquired taste that few acquire.

The good way must be clearly good but not wholly clear. If it is quite clear, it is too easy to reject." ~ Walter Kaufmann, excerpted from the prologue (1970) to I and Thou, (1923) by Martin Buber

Preachers and Writers

"We, who preach and write books, write in a manner altogether different from the manner in which the canon of Scriptures has been written. We write while we make progress. We learn something new every day. We dictate at the same time as we explore. We speak as we still knock for understanding. … I urge your charity, on my behalf and in my own case, that you should not take any previous book or preaching of mine as Holy Scripture. … If anyone criticises me when I have said what is right, he does not do right. But I would be more angry with the one who praises me and takes what I have written for Gospel truth than the one who criticises me unfairly." ~ Augustine, "Sermo Beati Augustini super Verbis Apostoli ad Galatas..."

To Be or Not To Be

An article in The Washington Post, reprinted in today's Stars and Stripes, talks about the role of chaplains in the military, and focuses on Christian evangelical chaplains especially. The tone of the article seems to be, "Why can't those Christian chaplains just treat their role as a job like everybody else….why do they have to go interject their faith into everything? It's so very unpatriotic."

Welcome to yet another segment of the ongoing culture war here in America. The article went on to list a number of ways that Christians in the military are violating long established traditions and values, and subverting both our military and the nation. Christian chaplains at the Air Force Academy were criticized for encouraging Christian students to witness to their fellow classmates. Another "violation of decency" occurred during a funeral of a Christian sailor when the Navy Chaplain present mentioned, in passing, that those who do not accept Jesus are doomed for eternity. To add to their list of violations, Christian chaplains-in-training were also chastised for daring to pray in Jesus' name….of all the nerve! The article closes with the statement, "Could there possibly be a worse time for this fundamentalist Christianity to be pushed in our military, when we're in a war and the people we are fighting are recruiting their members by saying we're Christian crusaders?"

You see, it's fine to say you're a Christian. By and large, throughout history, it always has been (not to ignore the horror of those times when it has not). But you better not act like a Christian! The Christians hurled to the lions in the Coliseum were not murdered for saying that they were Christians. Christianity was a religion protected by the Roman Empire. The rub came when they failed to acknowledge the deity of Caesar. Hey, call yourself whatever you want, but you better be able to temporarily put aside your religious differences and worship Caesar when the time comes.

It wasn't for claiming to be Christians, that thousands upon thousands of Christians were tortured and murdered in Communist Russia. Article 124 of the Constitution of the USSR explicitly guaranteed all Russian citizens freedom of conscience. It was only when they began to act like Christians that men and women came into direct conflict with the Soviet state. It was not for being Christian, that men and women were slaughtered during the time of the Reformation. It was not for claiming to be Christian, that pastors were rounded up and murdered by the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Adolph Hitler himself stated publicly that "Christianity is the unshakable foundation of our people's ethical and moral law." And yet, any pastors who refused to pledge fealty to Hitler, who refused to endorse him in their sermons, were thrown out of their churches and made to feel the terror of the Nazi regime.

It was not for claiming to be Christians that three Sunday School Teachers were sentenced to 3 years in jail earlier this week – their mistake was that they actually allowed children to come to the Sunday School. You can be a Sunday School teacher, just don't actually try to teach anyone. Sure, "be a Christian," just don't try to teach children at a Vocational Bible School in China right now. You can say you're a Christian all you want. You can write it on Christmas Cards, you can put Bible verse references under your name at the close of every letter you write. You can pray before meals, and even go to church (in China the government actually provides a church for you to go to---you can attend church right alongside some of the local Communist leaders). But it's not about looking like you're a Christian, it's about letting it affect how you live your life.

There have been times in history when merely claiming to be a Christian was indeed as good as a death sentence, but such cases are the exception rather than the rule. You can visit the Voice of the Martyrs Website any day of the week to see a list of a number of believers currently in prison for their faith. They aren't there because they registered as "Christian" in the latest census, or stamped "Christian" on their military I.D. Tags. They came into conflict with the government when they dared to act according to their faith.

It is not what you believe that separates you from the rest of the world, "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless ?" (James 2:19-20) It is not a faith in God that causes enmity between Christians and tyrants the world over. It is a faith in God that is immovable when push comes to shove; a faith that will not bow the knee on command; a faith that will not edit the graduation speech when ordered to do so; a faith that will not remove reference to the name of Jesus in a prayer; a faith that will not hold back from telling another person about the true condition of their soul. Daniel wasn't thrown to the lions for being a Christian. He was one of three rulers over the entire Kingdom of Babylon. The King planned to make him ruler over the entire kingdom. His position was secure. There was just one little thing that he had to do: not pray for a month. Actually, when you think about it, all he really had to do was close the window when he prayed. That's it! That's the one little thing that he was asked to do. Was it too great a request?

Daniel did not conform. To him, that one little thing was worth the lion's den. He was given the chance to keep himself in the clear with the Babylonian government, and he missed it! What of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego? They were rulers over the entire province of Babylon. Again, their positions were secure. They were "in tight" with the powers that be, and they knew it! The request put before them was even easier than the one put before Daniel: The moment you hear the music, bow before the golden image. That's it! All they had to do was bow one little time, to one pagan, government-sanctioned, idol. To them, that one moment's disobedience was worth an excruciatingly painful and agonizing death in a furnace of fire.

Those that do not know God, simply don't get it. They assume that your faith is like everybody else's; important, but not that important when push comes to shove. A pseudo-form of Christianity is all many Americans know; a faith able to be turned off and on when circumstances require. After all, those that follow other religions can turn their faith on and off as needed, why should "evangelical Christians" be any different? You remember the speech by the man who came within a handful of votes of being our nation's current president? Do you remember when he was asked about abortion and responded, "personally I'm against it, but…"? That's the kind of Christianity that America has come to expect; a Christianity that can claim to be genuine without having any effect whatsoever on the way we live or the decisions we make. The communists in Russia, or in China, or in Vietnam, would have had no quarrel with such sentiments. (Perhaps that's why that candidate's picture was on display as a hero in a communist-run museum in Vietnam during the opening months of his campaign) Such Christians are "safe" in communist countries. But how important is it to be "safe?" How important is it to accommodate the voices of secular society that say, "this is a really bad time to be a Christian….we have enemies in Muslim countries that don't like Christians right now."

Martin Luther was put on trial, not for being a Christian, but for having the moral courage to follow through on what he learned from studying scripture. To him, the price was worth it. It was once written of him, "If I profess with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved."

The question remains: To be or not to be? Which kind of Christian will you be today?