3 January 2001
Boy,O boy. Girl, O girl. Man, O man. Woman, O woman. Person, O person.
Dolphin, O dolphin. Cedar, O cedar. Stone, O stone. That should about cover it.
It amazes me the extent that we must go in this new millennium of American
culture to be correct, excuse me, politically correct and not insult any of our
brothers, sisters, relatives, or ancient ancestors. Since I have most of the
personal bases and a few more covered, I would just like to say to all the
above, these last couple of months have really been faith building and trying
times for me. One might think I was the new President of these here United
States, or something. Even on the darkest day, a little light must fall,
sometimes it seems as if it just hits me in the head.
Well, on Monday along with all the football and related activities, I'm sure
you all took a little time to celebrate the circumcision, or baptism, or
dedication of the baby Jesus. After all that was the original reason for
setting Christmas on December 25th, and not on the actual darkest day of the
year. There I go again, I probably offended someone already, without even
trying, and three days have not even past in this first week of the true new
millennium.
Since there have been some things that have been bugging me for a while I
might as well get them off my chest. I really felt miserable from after church
on Sunday, I went to bed at about 10 o'clock and would have slept clean through
the NEW YEARS except I was awaken by what sounded like gun shots. Close by, and
I'm sure it wasn't fire crackers, the report is much different. But since I was
awake anyway, I listened to a lot of those too. Did you know that those bullets
coming down, can if you are in the wrong place, really ruin your attitude.
The Huskies, won the Rose Bowl, and their million dollar coach seems to be
not such a jerk as he was reported to be, and Oregon State really beat up on
the Irish from South Bend, those were cool things on what was really a nice day
in Seattle, except it was too warm, fifty degrees. While much of the rest of
the country was digging out from under a deep blanket of snow, it was almost
like spring. I moved the Frasier Fir in its pot back outside, after its two
week time in front of the front window, and it was really too nice to celebrate
the baptism of our Lord. Bah, Humbug!
It was a nice time however, to reflect that Langston Hughes really had
something to say when he said,"There are
some things that drive me crazy and they don't seem to bother you, but I'm
going to keep on thinking crazy and doing crazy things until they bother you
too."
I was looking through a Christian Book catalog during the Christmas shopping
season when I was struck by one of the theology advertisements. In Norman
Geisler's book Chosen but Free, he was
reported to have labeled Calvinism as "theologically inconsistent,
philosophically insufficient, and morally repugnant." In response, James
R. White is reported to have written a gem entitled, The Potter's
Freedom. Now the great thing about five
point Calvinism, is that out of all the great doctrinal truths of theology, it
is the one I understand the best, and agree with the most. My, God is it cut
and dried, I like that! My only problem is, if I understood the concepts of the
Trinity, justification, election, propitiation, and a whole host of other
concepts as well, then I truly could get into the deeper issues of the faith.
Cut and dried, is that the same is being dead? With a little digging on the
internet and other sources you will find that this issue has been a bone of
contention between, Calvinists and primarily Lutherans for almost 500 years
now. So please, no one send me the books, I have my mind made up and I'm
getting too old to change now.
For Christmas, I gave myself the Bible on cassette. The great thing about it
is that you hear some words in a new way, the parts and words you have a
tendency to skip over when you read them for yourself, like: Thus you have made
the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did
Isaiah prophesy about you saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their
mouth, And honor Me with their lips,but their heart is far from Me, And in vain
they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'" (Matthew
15:6b-9) This is repeated again in a slightly different form in Mark 7:6,7; on
the next tape.)
I have to confess, confession is a good thing for a new year. I have a whole
lot more problem with both the Calvinist and Lutheran doctrines of worship, or
what ever they call it, than I do with some of their other differences. But if
we really think about it, the same problem covers the whole spectrum of modern
Evangelicalism. At least those more confessional and reformational types spent
the time somewhere, at some time, to write it down. These old fashioned people
say that God meets with His people primarily through Word and Sacrament. In the
context of the Reformation where church was really the only place illiterate
peasants could hear the Word of God preached and the community of God was
assembled, they have a very valid point. In that assembly the underlying
assumption of the Creation of creation was also assumed. I guess my problem is
that these structures of doctrine and organization do not now exist and that
their "man's doctrine" has not, nor can not be updated by new
confessions and traditions, unless they write new ones, which would make them
no better than the rest of us, except of course they would probably try and
write them out again. That sure would not be spiritual
Genesis, that book of old myths, in the front of the Bible, speaks of Enoch.
In Chapter 5:24 it states, "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for
God took him." I know I am inferring much but I doubt seriously, if there
is any truth in this old story, that his walking with God occurred only for an
hour or two, each week while attending church. This walking with God thing is
really troubling for us in this day and age. Especially in modern western
culture, but it is a biblical term. The prophet Micah in Chapter 6:8 states: He
has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But
to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
O man; there is one of those politically correct statements again. Written
before being politically correct was cool. Could this be the Potter's freedom,
He chose for the ideal of mankind? "Well check out the chandeliers Martha,
'cause we gonna be swingn' from um soon!" But notice that too is really a
Sunday go to meetin' kind of a statement. The true spiritual life is lived in
church where the Spirit is free to move. The corollary, or the coronary of that
must be that the Spirit is not free to move, again except for a couple of hours
on Sunday.
The thing that got Francis Schaffer in trouble with his Presbyterian friends
is that his doctrine started with the choice between a meaningless life of no
reason, or a life of reason and purpose with a Personal God who created all
things. The choice is either you evolved from nothing and are headed nowhere,
or you were created by a Personal God, for a reason, and your job, your
purpose, your enterprise is to begin to understand, that God given unique
opportunity. A few hours in church each week doesn't get you there. That be
whether you get good doctrine as Schaffer taught, bad doctrine, or as in most
cases in Evangelicalism, no doctrine at all.
Since Constantinople in 381, the church has slowly evolved in the direction
that church is an entity separate and distinct from the world. The called out
ones, overtime have not only been called out from the world, they have left it
all together. Is it any wonder then, it has ceased to be an influence in our
world. For all its well intentioned focus, Christian moralism and or legalism
will not change the world. The only thing that will change the world is for the
congregation of boys, girls, men, women, other persons, dolphins, cedars, and
stones to walk humbly with God. Enoch learned that lesson, Micah prophesied
that lesson. The whole canon of Scripture speaks of the personal nature of God.
This begins with: In the beginning, God; and ends with; Amen. Even so, come,
Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
To walk with God, perhaps it would be wise to see what the Bible says for
the church, and not what we hope, or wish it says, through our written or
implied doctrines and traditions.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you,
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
(Matthew 28:18-20)
And He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe; In My
name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will
take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt
them, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark
16:15-18)
Let us see, we are not to make converts, but disciples, we are to preach the
gospel, we are to baptize, we are to teach all the politically correct how to
walk with God all their days. Contrary to our modern interpretation on the
subject, the signs follow and do not proceed. In that respect I doubt they are
all that flashy because most probably occur when the TV camera is not rolling
in the service. What kind of anointing is that anyway, a miracle during the
pits of life. It could have only come from God, and not this ministry. I
personally wonder also if preaching to dolphins and hugging trees will make
many disciples in their communities, but perhaps the stones will cry out.
How then shall the real people know the good news? This gospel message is
well summarized in 1 John 4:10-11: In this is love, not that we loved God, but
that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved,
if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. May this truly begin to
be the message of the church in this new millennium, not just on Sunday
morning, but all week long. Amen.