Community Church Sermons

Year C

August 29, 2010

Pentecost 14

Yesterday, Today and Forever

Hebrews 13:7-9, 15-16

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

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I grew up singing Bob Dylan’s famous song, “The Times, They Are a-Changin’.” This, the title song for Dylan’s third studio album, was released in January of 1964. Many of you remember that the decade of the ‘60’s was a time of tremendous social upheaval here in America. The Civil Rights movement was in full force. The war in Vietnam was being questioned and protested against. And there was this thing called ‘the generation gap.” My parents thought Bob Dylan’s song was awful. I thought it was great!

Come mothers and fathers throughout the land

And don’t criticize what you can’t understand

Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command

Your old road is rapidly agin’

Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand

For the times, they are a-changin’!

For me, Dylan’s song was an expression of hope. For my parents, it was cause for despair. The familiar world in which they had grown up was crumbling around them. Kids were burning draft cards – and bras. Students were taking over buildings on college campuses, and protesters were filling the streets of America’s cities. Music was changing – from the big band sound my parents loved, to protest folk music and then rock ‘n roll. Psychedelic drugs, long hair, free love, disrespect for authority – these were things my parents just couldn’t get their minds around. They were so “square.”

But, as Mark Twain once said about his father: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.”

They say that as we age, we become our parents, and I’m afraid I’ve become mine in many ways. These kids today – with their loud, tuneless music – tattoos – body piercings - pink hair – noses constantly stuck in video games or texting on cell phones.

Oh, “the times, they are a-changin’!” And now I don’t like it so much either!

Change is inevitable, and it is always uncomfortable. But the kind of change taking place in our world today is monumental change – paradigm change – cultural change. And it is more than just a generational divide.

We are experiencing an economic recession of unprecedented severity. 10% of our fellow citizens are without jobs and have very few immediate prospects for a new one. Many have lost homes to foreclosure. People are worried about the stability and integrity of their retirement funds. Young parents wrestle with whether they can trust their children to public schools. Global warming and massive oil spills threaten our quality of life. Did you ever imagine in the world of yesterday that you would one day buy water in a bottle and pay to watch TV?

The times, they are a-changin’!

Iran has gone nuclear. China is emerging as an economic and military superpower. Even the face of America is changing. Higher birthrates among black and Hispanic citizens than those of Anglo-European descent mean that Americans are becoming darker skinned. Spanish is being spoken by growing numbers of people, and when you go to the ATM you have to choose whether you want the instructions in English, or Spanish…or Braille which I’ve never quite been able to figure out how that would even be needed at a Drive-up ATM.

The times, they are a changin’!

It’s an uncomfortable time in our world today. Things are changing all around us. And people are looking for something unchanging that they can anchor their lives to – something solid and dependable enough to help them navigate their way through these tsunami-like waves of change.

The early Christians experienced the same kind of anxiety about the changing world in which they found themselves. As Christianity spread throughout the Gentile world, the Church found itself face-to-face with people who did not share the same values and understandings of its Jewish heritage. It was a world without the Ten Commandments at its center. It was a world of diverse religious views and philosophies. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – indeed, the God of Jesus – was but one of many gods competing for the devotion of the people. In many respects, the world of the early Church looked a lot like the world today.

The times were a-changin’.

And like today, people back then tried to find some solid ground upon which to stand as the floodwaters of change swept over them.

Some thought they should go back to the Bible.

The people to whom the letter to the Hebrews was written were being told by some that the way forward was to go back – back to the Torah – back to the basics – back to the fundamentals of their faith. This is perhaps the most common way people try to cope with change. We see it in our society today as many of us try to deal with the new paradigms all around by calling for a return to the America we once knew. Bring back prayer into the schools. Post the Ten Commandments in public buildings. Use the Bible as our guide for determining how to respond to modern social controversies like same-sex marriage, abortion and divorce.

Some believe that the best way forward is to go back.

Others among the early Christians – also like many of us today – believed that the best way to deal with the waves of change was to hop onto a surfboard and ride the wave into the future. Some of the early Christians were fascinated by every new idea that came down the pike. They dealt with change by adapting to it, modernizing their faith to fit the modern landscape. So in the early times of the Church, books like the Gospel of Thomas were written, incorporating into the Christian faith principles of Gnosticism which was all the rage in those days. In our day, we see a lot of sermons and books that are little more than the religious packaging of pop psychology and self-help techniques. And we can readily see the attempt to keep up with the times as Christians build auditoriums instead of sanctuaries, and worship services take on the look and feel of a rock concert.

Some believe that the best way to deal with change is to dive into it and go with the flow.

What do you think is the best way forward through changing times?

In dealing with this very question, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews offered an alternative to either trying to recreate the past, or dive headfirst into the future.

Here’s what he said is the solid ground upon which we can stand and build our lives:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

You know, I love it when people come along and ask what we believe in this Community Church.

I say, “We believe in Jesus.”

They usually say, “Yeah, but what do you believe in?”

What they’re looking for, of course, is a confession of faith in some theological system. They want to hear what we believe about the Bible, or that we believe in the Trinity, or we believe in premillenial, midtribulational dispensational eschatology.

But…the truth is…that we believe in Jesus. And Jesus is the lens through which we come to understand the Bible, and theology, and the world around us. You see, these things constantly change. Our understanding of the Bible changes. None of us take our stubborn children out to the elders by the gates of the city to have them stoned to death anymore – as much as we would like to, sometimes. Because we read the Bible through the lens of Jesus, we know that atrocities committed against innocent people can never be justified even though there are stories in the Bible that try to make genocide the will of God. The religious world has an ever changing landscape, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

And that means that, while the world changes around us, Jesus gives us some solid ground upon which to anchor our lives. For instance, we can hold onto the unchanging love of God for the world.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but the language of the world today seems to have been taken over by hate speech. People detest each other, and say so. The political rhetoric of our day consists of all the reasons why the other guy, the other religion, the other group, the other party is a bad person. We love to blame. We are immersed in a culture today that teaches us to think the worst of others.

But Jesus did not live that way, nor did he speak that way. Jesus taught his disciples to see the best in others, and how to bring it out in them. In fact, Jesus taught us to consider others as better than ourselves and to be merciful and gracious toward them. Because Jesus knew the power of love, he was able to cross over religious boundaries, cultural boundaries, ethnic boundaries and all the barriers that divide people one from another. Jesus took all religious law and summarized it in one two-part commandment: love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

This is the only way the world can be made right. So in a world that is always pulling us lower, we can look higher to Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

And along with the unchangeable call to love God and neighbor comes the unchangeable call to personal responsibility. Jesus said, “Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of people.”

You see, Jesus put it on US to live out the Gospel of hope. It is not something others can do for us. WE bear the burden of reconciling the world to God and to each other. We are – as the Bible puts it – ambassadors of reconciliation. And that’s an amazing concept when you consider that the world around us tries everything it can to divide people into winners and losers, the righteous and unrighteous.

The very meaning of the cross is that an innocent man gave his life for the guilty. For you and me to take up the cross and follow Jesus means to lay down our lives for people who don’t deserve it – for those on the other side of the divide – even for those who are our enemies! Now that does not usually require being crucified on their behalf. But it does mean sacrifice on our part – we pour our lives - we give of our time, talent, and treasure to reach into the needs of others.

I was so proud this week of Warren Sanders and the village Computer Club. They gave a computer system this week to their 1000^th child in our area! Warren came into the office this week to tell me about it and he said, “You know, of all the things in my life, this is the best and most rewarding!” Warren and those who work with him give countless hours to restoring those computer systems and getting them out to needful families in the surrounding area. That is what “laying down your life for others” looks life!

In the face of a changing world, the unchanging call is to “take up your cross and come and follow me.” Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

And this is true as change and transition takes place in our personal lives, too.

During this week, some of our church families have crossed great milestones. Gwen Fiorillo – our acolyte – had a birthday and turned 11! Rolly Orr had one, too! Rolly is now 4! Last night, I was honored to participate in a renewal of marriage vows between Bob and Judy Kryter on the occasion of their 50^th wedding anniversary! And earlier yesterday, we gathered here in the sanctuary to say “goodbye” to Les Sweeney – Phyllis Snyder’s dad – who passed away last Monday morning.

Birth. Life. Death.

We are all on a journey of change.

Sometimes, these changes are welcome, but often they frighten us. Getting old is not for sissies. Facing death is always unsettling.

But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. “I will not leave you desolate,” said the Lord. “I will send the Holy Spirit to guide you and be with you forever.” “In my Father’s house are many rooms, and I’m going to prepare a place for you so that when the time comes for you to check out from Hotel Earth, we can be together. At just the right time, I’ll come, and we’ll walk into the future together! Don’t be afraid, I will keep my word to you.”

The promise of Jesus is that, as life unfolds, as changes come, as the world around us evolves into new and strange shapes, He will keep us safe, and send the Spirit to strengthen and guide, and will never abandon us. Our future is not up for grabs. Our future is in His hands.

So as this tumultuous new week begins, and the waves of change swell all around, center your life on Jesus.

As Bob Dylan sang, “The times, they ARE a-changin’!”

But Jesus Christ is the same – yesterday, today and forever!