Community Church Sermons
November 11, 2007
Pentecost
24
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5; 13-17
Listen to this Sermon!
Many people are surprised
when they learn that the early Christian communities of the New Testament
period were not particularly “religious” – as we think of the term today. They
did not spend time studying the Bible because there was no Bible to be studied.
They did not sit around discussing the meaning of the Trinity, or whether it
was better to be a pre-millennial, post-millennial, or a-millennial dispensationalist.
None of the doctrinal things people fight about today were part of the life of
those early Christians.
And surprisingly enough, those early Christians did not worship like we worship. In the beginning, they attended Sabbath services in the synagogues, and participated in the very ritualistic liturgies of the Jewish religion. They kept the holy days and festivals. The early Christians worshipped on Saturday, and came together in peoples’ homes on Thursday nights for what was called the agape meal, breaking bread together in a common supper, praying, and remembering Jesus. It was all very simple and humble. There were no beautifully robed choirs singing four-part harmony, or padded pews on which to sit. There were no video screens projecting the latest worship DVD, or people with arms upraised singing “How Great Thou Art!”
So if the earliest Christian communities were not particularly “religious”, what WERE they like?
Well, it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians” which simply means “Christ-like”. And what was Christ like? Listen to how Peter described Jesus to a Roman centurion by the name of Cornelius:
“Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
This simple description of Jesus found in Acts 10 tells us two important things about Jesus and what he was like. First, that he told good news, and second, that he did good deeds for others.
That’s what it means to be “Christ-like” – to do good deeds like Jesus did - and to speak good words like Jesus spoke. Wouldn’t the Christian Church be a lot different today if we became a little less religious and a lot more Christ-like?
Seldom in the New Testament do we hear the call to become more religious. But frequently, there is the call to do good deeds and to speak good words. Did you hear Paul in our reading from Second Thessalonians?
“May our Lord
Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us
eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you
in every good deed and word.”
Good deeds and good words. That’s what the early Christians practiced.
I was moved to tears a week or so
ago when I read Major Chris Norrie’s letter about the powerful impact our
backpacks of school supplies and soccer equipment made on the lives of the
Iraqi school children who received them. What a joyful moment in the lives of
those children, and what a hopeful gift that may well affect the way Iraqi
children think of us! Major Norrie said of his own experience the day the gifts
were given: “Yesterday was the best day of 372 that I have had in Iraq.”
Thank you for that good deed!
And last Sunday evening, when Harriet Schneider and Paul Ottaviano had finished their program of piano and organ music, more than $4000 had been raised to go toward the house we will construct next Spring with Habitat for Humanity.
Thank you – Harriet, Paul and all of you - for that good deed!
We are a “good deed” church, and I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am to be a pastor of such a Christ-like congregation. You all may not be able to spell Deuteronomy – or even find it in the Bible – but you sure know how to spread God’s grace into the lives of others. It would be impossible to even count the number of good deeds that go out from this church through its people every day, but I want you to know that God knows the good that you are doing.
We are pretty good and getting better at the “good deeds” part of the Christian call, so rather than focus on that, lets spend the time we have today on the “good words” part of being a Christian.
Good words.
Words are powerful.
We Christians would do well to go back through the Bible and see how frequently words are used to bring about the miracles and wonders of God’s kingdom. When Jesus says to a person, “Your sins are forgiven,” we see miraculous new beginnings take place in peoples’ lives. When Moses speaks to Pharaoh and says, on God’s behalf, “Let my people go!” it is the start of an oppressed people’s miraculous journey from bondage to freedom. When Nathan the prophet tells King David a parable that confronts the monarch with the evil of his actions, it is the beginning of repentance and change.
Words are powerful.
Words can be a force that creates new hope and life, like the words God spoke at creation when the world was brought into being. But words can also be a force that diminishes and destroys peoples’ spirits – like racial slurs, gossip, and destructive criticism. Most of us can remember today all the negative and criticizing words that have been spoken to us and we know how they sucked the life out of us and made us feel unloved and devalued.
Words.
Children begin to learn about the power of words the moment they are born and their parent responds to the sounds they make. The noises babies make, you see, is speech of a kind, and soon enough infants learn that those noises get results! And babies listen, too, to the sounds their parents make and soon enough begin to imitate them. Vocabulary begins to be formed at an early age. A study at Virginia Tech revealed that by the time a child is 4 years old, he or she has 5,600 words in their vocabulary! By age 10, over 30,000 words are in the inventory. And by the time that child is a college sophomore about 120,000 words are known. I wonder how many words are in your vocabulary at your age?
Not all of them are good words. But many ARE! And one of the basic building blocks of living as a Christian in the world is figuring out what words create goodness and life in people, what words don’t, and learning the Christian discipline of speaking “good words.”
Out on the golf course a few weeks ago, we were talking about compliments you can offer when someone in your foursome really stinks. Things like, “Gee, I’ve never seen a ball go that far left before!” Or, “You have a really athletic swing!” Or my personal favorite, when there’s nothing else good to say, “You have a really nice personality!”
Well, those words may be useful on the golf course when someone’s having a bad day – if for no other reason than to produce a laugh – but the Christian art of speaking “good words” is not for the purpose of just making people feel better. Christ-like words are words that lift people up to the image of God in Whom they have been created. Good words call people higher.
Did you hear what Jesus said to his listeners that day on the Mount? They were people living in a land occupied by an abusive foreign enemy. They were living among many who wanted to retaliate and fight back. And there in that setting of violence, oppression, vengeance and retaliation, Jesus looked at his followers and said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God.” In the midst of a world that has surrendered itself to the inevitability of violence, Jesus spoke words that said, “You can do better than that!”
Good words call people higher.
Even while I want to be effusive in my praise of all the wonderful good deeds that are done by the people of our church and community, I think its nonetheless important to speak the “good words” that we can do more. We can do better! We are not just a bunch of weary old people who are incapable of doing anything more exciting than playing bad golf, going to the chiropractor, and getting to bed before 9 o’clock which is Tellico midnight.
No, we are the daughters and sons of God! We are the offspring of the greatest creative force for good in all of life! We are the children of the One who specializes in lifting the poor, releasing the captives, and loving those no one else will love!
Oh, we can do better than we are doing! As much good as we are contributing to our community right now, we can do more!
Good words call people higher.
And good words draw people to God.
I have to admit that there was a time in the early, zealot days of my faith that I thought “bad words” had the power to draw people to God. In fact, like many of you, I grew up in a religious culture that specialized in making people feel badly enough about themselves that they would come running to Jesus to escape the wrath that is coming upon them. I used to love passing out those little tracts with what are called “The Four Spiritual Laws.” Law number one was that God loves you and has a purpose for your life. Whenever I shared that Law, you could see peoples’ spirits perk up! Wow! God LOVES me! I have a purpose! My life means something!
But then comes the whammy. Law number two – all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And with great eloquence, I would explain to people what terrible awful sinners they are, everyone in the world is, and why it is they’re in for an eternity of punishment if they don’t get with the program and come to Jesus.
And they WOULD come to Jesus! Scaring people into a religious response is very easy, and very effective.
But it doesn’t produce Christ-like people. It produces
people who are very good at seeing the bad in others, not the hope. And when
you see others in terms of their sin, you’ll soon find all sorts of excuses for
treating them like dirt – denying them human rights, withholding from them your
love, sometimes even destroying them because they are “infidels.” Sin-centered
religion is the most destructive form of religion there is.
But Jesus never called anyone a “sinner.”
Even when he held others accountable for their sins and evil deeds, he never took from them the dignity of who God created them to be. No, rather he reminded them of the image within, he called them to rise up to their identity as God’s children, and Jesus told them God loved them with all God’s heart!
And those who came to Jesus and followed him did so out of love, not fear.
Our job as Christians – Christ-like people – is not to judge others. Jesus specifically told us not to do that. We are never called to judge, but we are constantly called to love. And one of the ways we can measure our own spiritual health is by putting judging on one side of the scale and loving on the other and honestly gauging which one outweighs the other in our daily living.
And in our speaking.
Good words draw people to healthy faith in a kind and loving God.
Our faith is not about religious exercise, theological understanding, or keeping a law. Our faith is about becoming more and more like Jesus. Peter said it well – Jesus spoke good news and went about doing good deeds.
Go this week, and be “Christ-like.”