Community Church Sermons

Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 5, 2002

"Chicken Or The Egg Religion”

John 14:15-21

 

I want to begin this morning by taking a poll. The question is: “What came first…the chicken or the egg?”

 

Have some of you heard this question before? Gee, I thought it would be totally new.

 

Okay, all in favor of the chicken, raise your right hand.

 

And all in favor of the egg, raise your left hand.

 

And those of you who don’t have a clue, don’t even care, and think the only good egg is one that’s scrambled, and the only chicken worth anything is barbecued…raise both hands…and say “Hallelujah!”

 

Now its kind of interesting how people respond to this question about which came first – the chicken or the egg. In some respects, your answer reveals your underlying theology about creation. Those who hold to strong views on evolution, for instance, often theorize that the egg must have come first. This is because evolution takes place at the genetic level, and some mutation in the DNA structure of the zygotic life-form that preceded the chicken is what had to have happened to produce an egg that brought the new life-form into being. That sounds confusing enough to be reasonable, I think.

 

On the other hand, creationists will hold to the view that God is the direct Creator of all living things. From this position, it is not difficult to posit a theory that, toward the end of the fifth day, when God created the birds and every sort of winged creature, God began to feel hungry and said, “Let there be chicken.” Well, that may not be exactly the way it happened, but it gets a laugh. In any event, God spoke, and chickens were created.

 

Now, although I believe that there is an evolutionary process at work in life, I am left unsatisfied with evolution’s historic position which understands creation not as the handiwork of a loving God who wills it and orders it, but as an accidental collision of atoms and random chemical reactions. This renders creation – and humanity - empty of ultimate significance and meaning.

 

At the same time, biblical creationism is so tied to the ulterior motive of defending the view that everything in the Bible is literally true, it cannot account for scientific realities that prove that the world is more than 6,000 years old, that species do adapt and change, and that this God we worship is not limited to our own narrow views of how long a day is.

 

So when it comes to this question – “What came first, the chicken or the egg? – I think I number myself among those who raise both hands and say, “Hallelujah!”

 

Because, to be quite honest with you, I’m not sure that life is always an either/or proposition. Sometimes, its both/and.

 

Like when it comes to the relationship between belief and behavior.

 

This is the subject of our Scripture lesson from John 14.

 

Jesus is in the last days of His life among us. In just a short while, He will be arrested and crucified. So in these final moments of fellowship with His followers, Jesus tries to teach them some of the most important lessons about living as persons of faith. And one of the things Jesus focuses in on is a chicken or the egg kind of problem He knows we’re going to encounter.

 

For the follower of Jesus, which do you think comes first? Belief? Or behavior?

 

Let me put the problem Jesus is concerned about in terms that apply to our world and our lives. And let me frame the problem in the form of a series of questions.

 

Why, here in the Bible Belt, where we have more churches than we have people, are there higher rates of spousal abuse, child abuse, racial oppression, and economic injustice than almost anywhere else in America? See, this is the kind of problem Jesus is concerned about – the disconnect between belief and behavior.

 

Why, on Sunday mornings over the past many months, were top executives of Enron sitting in the front pews of evangelical Christian churches, singing the hymns and professing the faith, and then going to work on Monday morning to cook the books, and destroy the lives of thousands of employees and shareholders? This is the kind of problem Jesus foresees.

 

Why have so many children been hurt by pedophiles among the clergy who are the teachers and preachers of the Christian way? Jesus knew this kind of thing would be a problem.

 

Why will so many of US worship in this sanctuary today, and then go home and live as though we’d never been here in the first place? This is the sort of thing Jesus was worried about when He spoke to His disciples toward the end of His life among us.

 

You see, Jesus really is identifying one of the most insidious religious traps we can fall into. It is the notion that belief is more important than behavior – that theological confession is more crucial than keeping Jesus’ commandments – that identifying yourself as a believer in Christ is more critical than being kind and loving and good.

 

So the question I want to pose today is one that rattles me and perhaps will rattle you. “What good does it do to believe in Jesus, if it doesn’t change the way you live?”

 

Put more simply, “What comes first? Belief? Or behavior?

 

Now Jesus never asked such a question, but He did make a bold statement at the beginning of today’s reading from the Gospel of John. He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And, of course, we should remember that Jesus once summarized all the commandments in one great commandment that tells us to love God with all we’ve got, and to love our neighbor, too. And then, at the Last Supper, Jesus gave us a new commandment – to love others as He loves us.

 

So, for Jesus, the answer to the question, “What comes first, belief or behavior?” is not either/or but both/and.  Belief AND behavior are inextricably bound! The measure of our belief is in how we love. And the motive for our love is found in what we believe!

 

Back a few weeks ago, during Holy Week, we came across a problem. We had our Tellico Village Easter Sunrise Service all set, except for one thing. We had no one to play the music! So I talked with Pat Provart about it, and we thought and mused and racked our brains, and all of a sudden, Pat said, “Patti Wilde!”  I thought that was a brilliant idea Pat came up with. Now, knowing that Patti is a very busy person, owning her own business, and being on the road a lot, I decided to call her mother who is Irene Trent. I told Irene I wanted to ask Patti to play at the sunrise service. Irene said, “I don’t, know, that’s awfully early.” “Tell me about it,” I said to Irene. And I said I’d understand if Patti didn’t think she could do it. Well, a short while later, the phone rang, and it was Patti. Yes, she’d love to play at the sunrise service. Thanks for asking! I mentioned that it was awfully early in the morning. And this is what Patti said, “I’m so happy just for the chance to get up that early to play music for the Lord!”

 

And by the time Patti got done thanking me for giving her the chance to get out of bed early to play for the Lord, I thought to myself what a genius I was for thinking of her in the first place!

 

As a church, we are blessed to have many people who have such a strong relationship with God, that they are willing to go just about anywhere, at anytime, to do anything they can to serve the Lord! Their belief inspires faithful behavior and God’s love is spread all over the place because of them! And if you are such a believer, I want to urge you to actively embrace the behavior that Jesus calls us to. Your belief MUST connect to loving behavior to have any effect.

 

But we also have among us many who haven’t quite sorted out all their beliefs yet. There are searchers among us, and today I want to tell you searchers something important. Sometimes the best way to belief is not through your mind, but through your behavior! Jesus said in our passage today that, if you keep His commandments, He will send you the Holy Spirit who will lead you into deeper truth. Not only that, but that Jesus Himself will come to you. And not only that, but you will come to see Him. Check it out…it’s right there in the passage. “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him, and show myself to him.” You see, Christian behavior leads to deeper belief! Don’t you remember how Jesus called the disciples to come and follow Him. It wasn’t until three years later that Peter became the first of them to believe He was the Messiah!

 

When the Singley family finally started going to church, way back fifty years ago or so, it was my mother who was the driving force. She was and is a woman of deep belief and commitment. My dad, on the other hand, was sort of out on the fringes. He had a faith of sorts, but not a very deep one, and not one that had much affect on his living.

 

One of the really great things about the church we attended is that it was a church overflowing with redemptive love. What I mean by that is that you didn’t have to be a saint to belong. Even people whose faith wasn’t quite formed yet were welcome. Including my dad.

 

And you know what? They made him the Treasurer. He was an accountant by trade and the comptroller of a large company by career. And they made him the basketball and baseball coach because he had some gifts there. And when they needed to someone to teach the high school boys’ Sunday School class, he volunteered to do it. And when a black family moved into the apartment next to the church, and the neighbors were going to lynch them and our Pastor who’d rented the place to them, he rounded up all us Singley’s and down to the apartment we went. He made us welcome that family, and taught us how important it was to break down those racial barriers. And he sent a subtle message to the neighbors that, if you mess with this black family, you mess with the Singley’s too.  And as time went on and there were acts of Christ-like love needed to be shed on someone’s life or into some situation, there he was – my dad. The man whose belief’s weren’t yet quite up to snuff, but whose behavior was becoming more and more Christian.

 

And then one day it simply happened. It was at a Faith At Work conference held at our church. Somehow, somewhere during the course of that conference, the veil was lifted, and for the first time in his life, my dad knew the reality of the living Jesus Christ. He would spend the rest of his life telling people about Jesus, and living the faith through acts of love and kindness.

 

It was behavior that led my dad to belief.

 

So if you are still searching, and your belief hasn’t quite come together yet, I want to assure you that you are welcomed here. There’s a place for you here. And I want to encourage you to let yourself discover belief not by just thinking about it, but by actively engaging the behavior of faith. Love God with everything you’ve got. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love as Jesus loved. Become engaged in the daily behavior of Christian love. And you’ll be surprised what happens to your belief!

 

So what do you think comes first, the chicken or the egg? Belief or behavior?

 

I, for one, am happy to not raise my right hand for one, or my left hand for the other. I prefer to raise both hands together, and simply say, “Hallelujah!”

 

What about you?