1^st Sunday in October (Week 40) Faithful Servants (Micah 5:1-4 and 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:1- 5:2; Micah 1, 4-7)

Question: What is the one thing that the prophets abhorred even more than injustice? Answer: “Hypocrisy”. Every prophet railed against hypocrisy. Jesus would later rail against the Pharisees so hotly that the name “Pharisee” would become a synonym for “hypocrisy”. Why did they abhor hypocrisy so much? Because it made a mockery of the fundamental covenant between God and God’s faithful followers. Injustice breaks the covenant, but the covenant still stands in judgment over the injustice. Hypocrisy seeks to erase the covenant altogether. It replaces the heartfelt relationship of trust with phony posturing.

One of the keywords of the postmodern world is the word “authentic”. God doesn’t want phony loyalty, but authentic loyalty. Seekers today are not impressed by skillful words, glorious liturgies, multiple certifications, impressive concerts, or even extravagant gifts. They want authenticity; the real thing; an honest saint.

Team Meditation (Ephesians 4:1- 5:2)

Ephesians 4:22-24  ²² Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts,  ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  ²⁴ and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul faced two challenges in shaping leaders in the earliest church, and we face those same challenges today.

The first challenge is fairly obvious. Christian leaders struggle to overcome bad habits, worldly behavior patterns, and the innate selfishness and egocentrism that burden every human being. Christians are sinners, too. Accountability is a constant challenge.

The second challenge is more subtle. Christian leaders always want to reduce the spiritual life to a simple formula. Legalism, dogmatism, narrow-mindedness, and judgmentalism result. Worship this way, do these rites, repeat those actions, memorize those words, recite these formulas and they think they will pass as “spiritual leaders”. Paul follows in the tradition of the prophets by saying that a true, authentic spiritual life is much more. It requires a fundamental personal transformation of the mind and heart … a new nature … that reveals God in the spontaneity, creativity, unpredictability, of everyday living. It’s not a formula. It’s a way of life and a transformation of heart.

Be imitators of God! What a huge challenge for Christian leaders! Paul does not use the sense of sight as a metaphor, but the sense of smell. Spiritual leaders are a “fragrant offering”; an aroma of Christ; a scent that permeates the room and wafts across the countryside. Spiritual life is hard to pin down. It cannot be reduced to a simple formula. You are like a bottled perfume … the very essence of God … with the stopper removed. It fills the room with grace.

Worship Theme (Micah 5:1-4 and 6:1-8)

The greatest failure of Christendom is that we have literally taught generations of Christians that the only real requirement of Christian faith is that we “go to church.” We talk readily about “going to church”; count how many Sundays we attend worship; insist that our children accompany us as the bottom-line necessity of Christian parenting. The only place we offer faith education is in the building. Sunday worship becomes the single explicitly Christian activity of the week. Our primary accountability question … repeated frequently and unthinkingly … is “Did you go to church this week?”

This is the same situation against which Micah protested so loudly. Israel had come to equate the spiritual life … authentic faithful living … simply with regular sacrifices in the temple, recitations of theologically correct liturgies, and instructions on the proper way to light the oil lamps. Imagine the countless hours of meetings the ancient Israelites must have wasted deciding to make the slightest change in worship.

Why do we have “worship wars” today? Why is it so difficult and emotional to make the simplest adjustments to worship, or to develop alternative ways to worship? The reason is that we have come to really believe in our hearts that the most important thing God requires of us is to “go to church”! Yet that is not at all what God really requires. He requires that 24/7 we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Worship can help us do that. Going to church can be a part of that. But God’s requirement is much, much more.

Here is the bottom line. It is entirely possible to go to church regularly and utterly fail to live a spiritual life. It is quite impossible to live a spiritual life without finding your way into the worship and fellowship of a living church.

Worship Design (Micah 5:1-4 and 6:1-8)

Much of the North American church has embraced Christianity Lite.  It’s less filling and has great taste.  It’s also especially good for the Sunday morning “game” that going to “church” has become.  I’m told that in the 50s, church was often a fashion show.  In the 70s it was regularly youth camp transported to the sanctuary.  And in the 00s (the “naughties”) church is often a stage show.  But it’s less about the worship service and more about what’s behind the whole philosophy of “church” and the North American definition of being Christian. 

Introduce Christianity Lite by watching a clip from the video Dogma (1999).  Use the clip when Cardinal Ignatius Glick is unveiling the new updated Jesus on the front steps of the church.  The clip lampoons Christianity Lite and the ridiculousness of pandering to popular culture. 

But is it so ridiculous?  Take some time to explore North American Christianity by launching into a good old fashioned discussion.  Get out the old flipchart and brand-new markers (there’s nothing worse than using faded markers) and begin the study time by asking the following questions, collecting lots of answers, and engaging in discussion.

1.        What does it take to be “saved”? (Yes, it’s a loaded term.  Good.  It may give you some good discussion just figuring out what that means.)  Hang the answers where everyone can see them.  On a new page ask...

2.        What does it take to be a Christian? (Some will think you’re asking the same question as #2, but now you’re looking for what does it take to behave and live like Jesus expected us to live?)

Once you’ve got an exhaustive list, i.e., you’re exhausted from the discussion, have the group compare and contrast the two.  Which of the two lists is most representative of how the North American church typifies and/or defines a “Christian”? 

Reread the scripture text and show how the Israelites were suffering from some of the same issues.  Faithfulness is about living a life of faith, not participating is a worship service.  Then move on to the last question:

3.        What is church (in terms of resources) and what are the bare minimums it takes to be church (in terms of activities)? 

For each answer, insist that the participants find a New Testament reference that indicates it is a requirement to be church – the list will be short and surprisingly won’t include worship, at least as defined as a gathering of the saints for singing, preaching, etc.

This question should lead to the understanding that church is two or three Christians gathered in Jesus’ name to encourage one another (Matthew 18:20, Hebrews 10:25).  Their list may be longer and include any number of the one-anothers, but ensure whatever citation they use indicates the church is required to practice the activity (for instance, Acts 2:42-47 is illustrative of the early church, but doesn’t prescribe any requirements).

Wind up the session with an introduction to spiritual friendships (accountability partners, etc.) which, in the end, is the working illustration of the church practicing from its most basic core.  Though everyone in this worship service should already be a part of a small group, encourage the congregation to consider the need for an accountability partner.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion (Micah 1, 4-7)

Before the small group meets, each participant should have read and studied this week's Scripture passages.

Micah prophesied to both the Northern Kingdom  of <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">Israel</country-region></place> and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> would be taken captive by the Assyrians and Judah by the Babylonians.  Throughout the book, Micah pinpoints the sins of both Kingdoms, pronounces judgment, and offers scenes of hope for both.  Perhaps what is most interesting, is where the center of sin is located for both Kingdoms.

Discuss the following questions during you small group time 

1.        According to Micah 1:1-5, where does Micah locate the center of sin for both Jacob (<country-region w:st="on">Israel</country-region>) and <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Judah</place></country-region>?  What are the specific indictments that support the judgment?

2.        In 6:3, <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Judah</place></country-region> is asked how God has burdened them.  How has God burdened you?  From what has God freed you?  How has religion burdened you?  From what his religion freed you?

3.        How does Micah define faithfulness to God?  According to Micah, how did <country-region w:st="on">Israel</country-region> and <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Judah</place></country-region>’s religion hinder faithfulness?

4.        Micah 4:1-7 says that in the last days the nations will stream to the Lord’s temple.  What are the nations looking for?  What do you think the “nations,” AKA the strangers to grace, are looking for?  How does the church help/hinder their search?

Bill T-B

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2^nd Sunday in October (Week 41) Faithful Servants (Job 19, 42:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:42-58; Job 1-2, 13-14, 19, 38, 40-42)

I believe there is a direct connection between affluence and the inability to cope with evil. The more affluent, educated, comfortable, and secure a person … the less able to they are to wrestle with the problem of evil. On the other hand, it often seems that people who are poorer and less educated, and who are less confident about comfort and less used to stability, are better able to overcome evil with faith. The poorest and least educated Christians of Africa, for example, who have endured exponential tragedy and hardship, respond to great calamity with enormous faith. The wealthiest and most educated Christians in America and Europe, for example, experience the death of a teenager or affliction of a disease and fall apart in misery, doubt, and disbelief.

I think this is because North Americans tend to hide from the problem of evil with two basic defenses.

• The “free will defense” claims that God allows evil to happen in order to protect free will … but this defense collapses in the face of natural disasters and sudden calamities. I write in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and among the thousands of stories of suffering there is the story of nursing homes attendants fleeing from their institution and allowing over 50 people to died horribly. It is difficult to claim that God would want such suffering to happen simply to test the ethical resolve of a handful of nursing home orderlies.
• The “mystery defense” claims that God’s purposes are hidden and that there must be some “good reason” behind every experience of evil. We live at a time of mass genocide, and natural disasters precipitated by global warming. It is difficult to imagine hidden purposes that could justify this kind of suffering … and if it were imaginable, God would suddenly become to distant and indifferent to any individual’s personal experience as to make God irrelevant.

The real problem with evil is not that there are occasions when humans do really stupid things and pay the price; nor is the problem that tragedies happen that later precipitate breakthroughs in science and morality. The “problem” with evil is that there are too many occurrences of gratuitous evil. “”Gratuitous” means “purposeless” or “meaningless” evil. Such evil strongly suggests that God is not all-powerful enough, or all-wise enough, or all-loving enough to make things different. And if God fails those three tests, what kind of a God is he? Perhaps he doesn’t exist!

Team Meditation (1 Corinthians 15:42-58)

1 Corinthians 15:51-52  ⁵¹ Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

The operative word here is “changed”. Paul is not trying to explain evil. He is not promising a hidden purpose. He is simply saying that in the end, things will be different. Sin will be gone. Death will be gone. Evil will be gone. And we shall be changed. The answer to evil does not lie in a correction of what is, but in a transformation of what is. It is a form of “heaven talk”, but it is not a promise that what we know now will simply be perfected. This was rightly criticized by Karl Marx as a “panacea” or “drug” for the proletariat … something to deceive the masses and keep them quite and malleable. This is a promise that things will be entirely different, utterly changed, and so opposite to what we know that we can only anticipate it with metaphors.

Most clergy were taught the “stages of grief” according to Kubler-Ross and other psychologists. The goal of psychology is “acceptance”. That is not the goal of Christianity. Evil is never to be merely “accepted”. Death is not “acceptable”. We are meant to rail against death; rebel against evil; fight the good fight to even a bitter end. Because death is not the end and evil is not the last word. What you need to accept is that evil really is gratuitous. It really is purposeless, meaningless, and contrary to God’s desire. Do not make excuses. Do not offer glib explanations. Resist it!  

Worship Theme (Job 19, 42:1-6)

Job is an affluent, educated North American whose life is reasonably comfortable and secure. Certainly there are setbacks, trials, and tribulations, but they can always be explained as the result of errors or in human judgment or framed in anticipation of great moral or scientific progress. Then everything changes for Job. Evil comes … terrible and relentless and unexplainable. It doesn’t stop. It keeps coming and coming and coming. Job’s friends try to explain it away, even to the extent of falsely accusing Job of somehow “deserving” it. So also do our “friends”. People are always trying to convince the suffering that they really should not complain so much.

Job keeps on complaining. He takes his complaint to the top. He’s not stupid or gullible or easily manipulated into feeling guilty. He knows he is innocent. It’s not arrogance. It is the simple truth. He doesn’t deserve any of this. The “bet” between God and Satan is really not the point of the story. The point of the story is Job’s endurance … and his trust in God.

When Job declares “I know that my redeemer lives …” he is not trying to explain evil. He is simply trying to endure by trusting God. That, in a sense, is God’s answer to evil: “Trust me!” It would frankly be understandable if we did not trust Him. Faithfulness has never been reasonable. It has sometimes be considered a form of insanity. Yet God asks us to trust Him., no matter what happens.

Affluence, education, comfort, and stability cloud the issue of trust. We assume that God’s grace should be either affordable or understandable, and that it should ease our suffering in a timely fashion and restore the status quo. None of that is necessarily true. Grace cannot be purchased either by money or piety, and it is rarely predictable or understandable. It may not comfort us in the timetable we would like, and it almost never simply restores the status quo.

“Trust me!” God demands the most extraordinary things from faithful Christians. All he promises is that, in the end, it will all be different. Everything will be glorious.

Worship Design (Job 19, 42:1-6)

North America tolerates evil well.  We’d much rather overlook it than confront it, to turn our head rather than turn aside.  And if we do happen to take notice, far too often we’re like Job’s three friends who are better at blaming than in comforting the afflicted or resisting the forces of evil.  As Tom said, trusting God in the face of evil is God’s answer – and we tend to find that a pretty unsatisfactory solution.  And when we do take on evil, we tend to do so in our own power and in our own ways.  But, as Igumen Chariton wrote in The Art of Prayer “So long as you hold on to even a little hope of achieving something by your own powers, the Lord does not interfere.  It is as though he says: ‘You hope to succeed by yourself—Very well, go on trying! But however long you try you will achieve nothing.’”  Although God calls us to resist, we cannot and will not conquer evil for it has already been conquered. 

To launch this service, begin by showing a clip from the movie A Civil Action (1998).  The movie tells the story of a successful lawyer Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) who takes a case against a leather factory that has dumped toxic waste into the water system causing leukemia in the community.  However, at the beginning of the movie he does pretty much everything he can to get out of taking on the corporation because he sees no money in it.  Use the clip  where Jan is trying to walk away rather than dealing with case.  In this scene he tries to reason his way out of it: “It's like this. A dead plaintiff is rarely worth more than a living severely-maimed plaintiff. However, if it's a long slow agonizing death as opposed to a quick drowning or car wreck, the value can rise considerably. A dead adult in his 20s is generally worth less than one who is middle aged. A dead woman less than a dead man. A single adult less than one who's married. Black less than white. Poor less than rich. The perfect victim is a white male professional, 40 years old, at the height of his earning power, struck down at his prime. And the most imperfect, well in the calculus of personal injury law, a dead child is worth the least of all.”  Use the clip to launch a discussion of our proclivities when evil raises its head – to walk away, to turn our heads, and to rationalize our response. 

Evil is not an easy subject to grapple.  Use the rest of the time to consider the effects of affluence on our attitudes about evil.  If you have access to the Sentinel Groups Transformations II DVD, a look at the first cut and the community transformation in the Eastern Arctic region of Canada offers an excellent opportunity for conversation about confronting evil through the power of trusting God, prayer, and resistance.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion (Job 1-2, 13-14, 19, 38, 40-42)

Before the small group meets, each participant should have read and studied this week's Scripture passages.

Some scholars believe that the book of Job was written as an etiology, that is, a story that answers a question.  The question the book tries to answer is “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  Up until this point, according to these scholars, the answer to the question was “You did something to deserve it” and God was pouring his wrath on you.  The story of Job puts the origin of evil in the hands of Satan.  Job would therefore represent the object of the question and his three friends the prevailing societal attitudes. 

Discuss the following questions during you small group time.

1. The account opens with Satan in the heavenly courts and in the presence of God.  How does this image fit your understanding of the devil?
2. If you experienced all the “bad fortune” Job endured, how do you think you would respond?  How would your friends respond?  Your church?
3. Job’s wife doesn’t appear very supportive of her and her husband’s plight.  If your spouse presented you with the same attitude in a time of your distress, how would you respond?  How does that compare to how Job responded?
4. Job’s friends begin so well.  They simply sit with Job for seven days without comment – they’re just miserable together.  But from then on, the friends one-after-another seek to place blame for Job’s plight.  Where do you place blame for evil?  Where would you place blame for Job’s misfortune?
5. Job is harsh with his characterization of his so-called friends.  Later he gets confrontational with God.  Finally God answers him.  In a single sentence, how does God explain the evil circumstances?  Who does God blame?
6. Is God’s answer a satisfactory answer to gratuitous evil?  Why or why not?  What kind of an answer would be satisfactory?

Bill T-B

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3^rd Sunday in October (Week 42) Faithful Servants (Nehemiah 8:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, and 2:1-16, and 3:1-23; Ezra, Nehemiah 8, Ecclesiastes 3, and Proverbs 8 - 15)

The recent withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza precipitated a remarkable scene of joyous reunion. After decades of barbed wire separation from home towns, family and friends, thousands of Gaza families traveled by foot, bus, car, and camel to reunite with loved ones they had not seen for many years. Grandparents and grandchildren embraced each other for the first time; children visited ancestral homes they had only heard about in rumors. The departing troops had literally bulldozed openings in the barbed wire, allowing a flood of people to reunite. The scenes happiness and tears of joy were amazing to behold.

Surely something like this, but even more dramatic, occurred when Nehemiah led the captive Israelites back to Jerusalem after decades of exile. All during that time, the exiles had never given up. They remained faithful to God’s promise to rescue them. Their hope was challenged, but never quenched. That’s the way it is with faithful servants. They can wait. They can have patience. They can suffer without knowing the reason why, and they can question the hidden motives of God without ever having a definitive answer, and still have faith and hope.

This is hard to understand in our contemporary society of “instant gratification”. We lose faith in an instant, and lose hope the next day, if our wishes are not quickly satisfied. It is hard for contemporary people to be faithful, because we have so little patience. Yet patience, too, is a gift of God. If the faithful ask for patience, God will give it to them.

Team Meditation: (1 Corinthians 1:18-31, and 2:1-16, and 3:1-23)

1 Corinthians 1:22-24  ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Hope is the rigorous alignment of faith with God’s purpose. You have to focus on what really matters, and deliberately and sacrificially place yourself directly in line with God’s purpose. When you do so, you will have hope.

This is why Paul is so adamant about the centrality of Christ. This is not a theological debate for him. Nor is this an abstract reflection on the authority of Peter, Apollos, and the regional oversight of the church. Nor is this a conversation about good worship, liturgy, or stewardship. The centrality of Christ is crucial because that is what will give people a reason not to despair, but to have hope. Without Christ, there is no hope. With Christ, all things are possible.

The question you must ask of your leaders is: Do you have hope? Are you able to wait in the midst of mystery, endure in the midst of suffering, and still focus on Christ and Christ alone? Some people today demand signs, proofs, and reassurances that everything will be OK. You won’t get them. Other people today demand rationalizations, explanations, and elaborate theologies that can make radical commitment seem reasonable. You won’t get that either. All you get is Christ. That should be enough.

Worship Theme: (Nehemiah 8:1-12)

Nehemiah 8:9-10   ⁹ And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.  ¹⁰ Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Aside from the Exodus and the reign of David, no experience in Biblical history was so traumatic and revolutionary as the Exile. The citizens of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were carried off to Assyria, never to be heard from again. The Southern Kingdom of Judah lasted somewhat longer, but their citizens were eventually carried off to Babylon. The difference is that these citizens never lost faith or hope. Their hopes were kept alive by spiritual leaders like Esther and Ezra, and by the emergence of a new unit of faith community in Israel called the “synagogue”. These new units of faith community were lead by Rabbis (teachers) who kept the faith alive and helped the faithful Jews adapt to be in the world of their captors, but not of the world of their captors. Eventually, when God was ready and Babylon was conquered in turn by Persia, the Jews returned home. They were led by Nehemiah.

Their homecoming was not accomplished easily. Just as today Jews struggled to reenter and maintain their homeland in the midst of other peoples who had moved into the vacancy, so also long ago Nehemiah had to rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in the face of enmity from neighbors who also called the land their own. Israel eventually forged new alliances, and re-established itself in their ancestral territory, but at great cost.

On the day of celebration, Nehemiah reminded them about their real strength. Their strength did not come from their heritage, nor did it come from the strong walls of a refortified Jerusalem. Their strength did not come from an ideology of nationhood, or even from the new communities of faith in the synagogues. Although Nehemiah once again read the Torah to the people, their strength did not really come from rules, laws, and commandments. Their strength came from the Lord. The real source of celebration was that they belonged to the Lord. They had remained faithful to the Lord throughout all that adversity. The original covenant remained in tact.

It is important today that we understand where our strength really comes from. It comes from Christ, and our relationship with Christ, because Christ is the very embodiment of the original covenant with God. In Christ we belong to God. Through Christ we are forgiven by God, and restored to God’s love. Without Christ we are nothing, but in Christ all things are possible. Our strength is not a discipline, a duty, or a burden. It is a joy. There is nothing as wonderful as knowing Christ and walking in his way.

Worship Design: (Nehemiah 8:1-12)

The joy of the Lord is our strength.  This is the theme as well as one of the hardest sells in the faith.  How can one find strength in the worst of circumstances?  How can we be strongest in our weakness?  Sure, hard-times build character, but find joy?  It’s a conundrum.  Which of course is what it’s all about – if only we could figure it out, internalize it, make it real for us.  

Trying to make it real is the task of this service.  Begin with the Star Wars (1977, Episode IV – you know, the first one).  Use the clip when Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and Darth Vader fight to the death.  Make sure you get Obi-Wan’s final words “If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imaging.”  This sets the scene for a discussion about sacrifice and strength in our ultimate weakness.

Use Tom’s observations about where the returning Jews were ultimately to find their strength – not in the law (scriptures), nor in the synagogue (church), but in God alone.  Especially make note that the joy of the Lord is their strength.

If you would like to use a second movie clip, consider using Stir Crazy (1980).  Use the clip where Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) is being “tortured” in his cell, but keeps making the best of it in a comedic way.  This, of course, is a great illustration of “joy” and making the best of it amidst difficulties – then make the leap from making the best of it to putting on Christ that so encompasses us that nothing can penetrate the Lord’s defenses.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion: (Ezra, Nehemiah 8, Ecclesiastes 3, and Proverbs 8 - 15)

Before the small group meets, each participant should have read and studied this week's Scripture passages.

Although the repatriation of Jerusalem by Judah was a joyous occasion, it was by no means the end of Judah’s trials.  Yes, the walls were rebuilt, the Temple restored, and the faithful remnant returned, but the fact is, the nation never really recovered from the exile.  They were just another occupant of the land bridge between the Persian Empire and Egypt, a wayside stop for Alexander on his world conquest.  Ezra and Nehemiah recount the rebuilding.  Proverbs reflects the collected wisdom of the ages.  And Ecclesiastes expresses the pessimism of a once-powerful, but now humiliated nation that has yet to rise to its former prominence.

Discuss the following questions during your small group time.

1. Ezra recounts the bittersweet joy and tears as the Temple foundation is laid.  Describe a time in your life when you experienced simultaneous joy and sadness.  How did you express yourself in this time? 
2. “The enemies of Judah and Benjamin” in Ezra 4 were those living in Samaria.  Why did Ezra refuse to let them help rebuild the Temple?  What was their response?  Do you think this is may be one of the reasons the Samaritan’s were so despised in Jesus’ day?  Why or why not?
3. Why do you think Ezra was so harsh in his treatment of those who had married foreign wives?
4. The sentiments of Ecclesiastes reflects a world before the reality of Jesus.  What was that world like?  How does Jesus make life different?
5. What Proverbs spoke deepest to you?  Why?

Bill T-B

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4^th Sunday in October (Week 43) Faithful Servants (Jeremiah 31:27-34; Luke 14:15-35; Jeremiah 11-13 and 17:5-18 and 18:1-6 and 31:27-34)

Jeremiah has the reputation of being one of the most dour and pessimistic of all the prophets. True, all of the prophets challenged the status quo and called Israel to repentance, but Jeremiah was the least confident that this would really happen. And it broke his heart. Unlike Jonah, who didn’t like the people of Nineveh in the first place, and was startled and dismayed when they actually repented, Jeremiah really did love the people of Israel and therefore was deeply depressed by their reluctance to repent. His later “lamentations” are among the most pained verses in the Bible.

I can only think Jesus felt the same as Jeremiah. Nobody loved Israel more than Jesus; nobody was so denigrated and vilified by the very people he loved. It must have been very hard to tell the truth, namely, the first would be last and the last would be first. The members who cherished their privileges would be last in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the strangers who had no privileges would be first in the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s pretty tough on church veterans when the Lord decides to take away their membership privileges.

And unfortunately, the anger of the privileged members will often be taken out on their pastors and church lay leaders. It will be tempting to preserve the peace (and avoid personal pain) by accommodating the privileged members. But Jeremiah asks: Is that faithful?

Team Meditation: (Luke 14:15-35)

Luke 14:28-30  ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,  ³⁰ saying, `This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'

Time and again I lead a consultation with a church, only to have leaders complain afterward that the “long time members” of the congregation are “upset” with the assessment and recommendations. What, exactly, did they expect? The reason they wanted to do the consultation in the first place was that they knew something was not right. The spiritual and missional growth of the church was not happening as one would reasonably expect. The problem is internal. The problem is revealed and confronted. Quite naturally people are challenged and some are upset. Did they really expect anything different? Did they really expect that the congregation would be challenged and everybody would be happy?

It puts me in mind of this parable from Luke and the lessons of accountability from Jeremiah.

First, the people originally invited to God’s feast (the “veterans of the church”) turn away from perfect alignment with God’s mission to indulge their own tastes and lifestyles. When strangers (the “newcomers of the church”) are given preferential treatment to feast or worship in their own way, the veterans suddenly realize that the last have become first. It’s no surprise they are unhappy.

But second, these unhappy veterans now blame the church leaders for their unhappiness. And too often the church leaders back away from the recommendations of our consultation, because these veterans are their friends, their mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers, and unable to place Christ before their church family, they fail to implement the recommendations that will realign the church with God’s mission. I pray that does not happen to you.

Before you build the tower, first decide if you are willing to pay the price. Otherwise you will experience the consultation … or start church revitalization … and fail to finish. Not only will the public mock you, saying, “these people began to build a tower but were unable to finish.” It will now be all the harder for the next pastor and leaders to build the tower because the leaders will have lost confidence.

Worship Theme: (Jeremiah 31:27-34)

There is a natural reaction to eating sour grapes. Your teeth hurt. It is an automatic, inevitable, unthinking response to a stimulus … sort of like stubbing your toe at night and cursing. It is automatic to the individual. No one expects to stub their toe at night, and then hear their children cry. Yet that is exactly what was happening in ancient Israel, and it is what is happening today. The parents are stubbing their toes, eating sour grapes, and destroying the peace and health of the world … but it is their children who are crying, cursing, and paying the price of their selfishness. “No more,” God says. “From now on the person that committed the sin will pay the price.”

In order for that to happen, there must be a new, more instantaneous, method of accountability. People can no longer say they were ignorant of the law because they hadn’t read it. Older people can no longer say that their mistakes will be corrected once their children grow up and accept responsibility for the future. No, the covenant is going to be written on their hearts and engraved in their minds, and if anyone breaks the covenant there will be instant accountability.

Of course, God knows this will be a calamity. The world has been living on extended credit for centuries. If we were all to be held accountable for our sins today, who would survive? So the Lord offers amnesty. We can be forgiven … on the sole condition that we “know” the Lord. How can any mortal “know” the Lord? God will reveal himself, fully and completely, in Christ. Then, truly, the covenant will be written on our hearts.

Small Group Discussion: (Jeremiah 11-13 and 17:5-18 and 18:1-6 and 31:27-34)

There are some obvious comparisons being made here between ancient Israel and Jesus’ time … and again between Jesus’ time and the church today. The common thread is that the people who focus on their privileges, rather than God’s mission, will always be judged and rejected by God. They must repent, surrender their privileges, and put God’s mission first.

There are three stages to small group discussion here.

The first stage is the easiest. The small group needs to study the world of Jeremiah, and they will quickly see how the rich and the powerful tried to shape the law around their lifestyles, bringing disaster to the people. Their only hope was the forgiveness of God.

The second stage is a little harder. The small group needs to study the world of Jesus, and slowly see how the scribes and Pharisees tried to protect their privileged status in religion and culture by placing intolerable burdens on the common people, foreigners, and strangers to grace. But it will be hard for you to wrestle with verses like Luke 14:26. Jesus says,

²⁶ "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

This is hard, and the small group will wonder “How can we accept this, when our own core value as a church is to be a “family”?

The third stage is the hardest of all. The small group needs to study the world of their own church … its reality, culture, and negative habits. Slowly they begin to see how “membership privilege” has warped congregational life and undermined God’s mission to strangers. Worship, care giving, and Christian education have been shaped around the comfort zones, personal needs, and cultural agendas of the members as a sign of their privileged positions … and therefore excluded strangers, discouraged newcomers, and sent visitors away unsatisfied. And what will happen to church leaders who stand with Jeremiah and Jesus and call the church to repentance? Will they be valued or supported? What does it mean for the church … your church … your members … to be faithful?

Worship Design (Jeremiah 31:27-34)

Which of God’s rules apply to us?  We’ve pretty much eliminated all those Old Testament rules – “They’re law and we’re under grace!”  And we’ve pretty much eliminated Jesus’ rules as well – you know, the ones about giving up everything (how about giving up anything besides an hour or two a week at church?), about the first being last (ready to trade your wealth with someone in Angola?), and God first (rather than money, shopping, and luxuries like, say, cable TV, chocolate, and multiple cars).  The rules we’re willing to follow are those we find reasonable, convenient, and expedient (come on, do you really drive the speed limit – or do you fudge at a couple mph/kph?).

So the day is coming, says the Lord, when the new covenant will be internalized and not written.  We won’t be able to rationalize it away or ignore it.  As the theme reminds us, we will be held accountable for our sins today, not just someday. 

First, consider singing the song Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin during the worship portion of the service.  This song serves as a strong reminder about the sins of the father being visited on the sins of the children (“My boy was just like me, my boy was just like me...”).

Then to move into the theme of rules of the heart, show a clip from the movie Cider House Rules (1999).  Use the scene where Homer (Tobey Maguire) reads the rules at the cider house to the illiterate workers.  The dialog is below – you may need to edit or be quick on the volume control for offensive language if your context so demands.

(Homer finishes reading the rules)

Peaches: What do they think, go up to the roof to sleep? They must think we're crazy. They think we're dumb niggers, so we need dome dumb rules, is what they think.

Rose Rose: That's it? It don't mean nothin' at all. And all this time I been wonderin' about 'em.

Arthur Rose: They outrageous, them rules. Who live in this cider house? Who grindin' up those apples, pressin' that cider, cleanin' up all this mess? Who just plain live here, just breathin' in that vinegar? Well, someone who don't live here made those rules. Those rules ain't for us. We are supposed to make our own rules. And we do. Every single day.

This could lead into a discussion of what rules Christians are bound by – and what following those rules may actually entail.  The goal would be to come away from the service with a commitment, not to a stuffy set of rules that we could never keep, but to live by Jesus’ model who was unafraid to break the rules of culture in order to touch the lives of people like Peaches, Rose, and Arthur.  To quote Albert Edward Day, “We seek arduously the wealth and power that will enable us to secure ourselves against the possibility of being involved with another’s affliction.  Lazarus sometimes makes his way to our door step.  We toss him a coin and go on our way.  We give [to] our charities but we do not give ourselves.  We build our charitable institutions but we do not build ourselves into each other’s lives.”

Bill T-B

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5^th Sunday in October (Week 44) Faithful Servants (Isaiah 6:1-8; John 6:41-69; Isaiah 1, 6:1-8, 9, and 11)

The disciples once said to Jesus words that, in various forms, have constituted the most common reply to faithful prophets. They said: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Even to faithful servants, God’s word comes in apocalyptic power. It’s like a bolt of lightening, or an unexpected and unsettling insight, or a disturbing influence. Prophets are often “tormented” people, and it is safe to say that any and all “faithful servants” are people who place themselves “in harms way”. Faithful servants do not challenge the church or the world out of a sense of superiority, smugness, self-righteousness, or a “holier than thou” attitude. They themselves accept the power of God’s judgment. It is impossible to speak a transforming word, with being transformed by that same word.

There is no way around it. Faithful living takes you out of your comfort zones. It often hurts … emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and even physically. In order to endure it, the faithful servant must literally leave self behind, and merge with the Spirit. In the Old Testament, this was ecstatic experience. In the New Testament, this is merging one’s life with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Team Meditation: John 6:41-69)

John 6:53-60  ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;  ⁵⁴ he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  ⁵⁵ For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  ⁵⁶ He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.  ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."  ⁵⁹ This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.  ⁶⁰ Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"

Let us get behind the doctrine about Eucharist (Holy Communion), and understand the point of it. However we define communion, and however often we liturgically celebrate it, the point of these words is that faithful servants must merge their lives with the immediate presence and infinite purpose of God. The person and work of Christ (God-with-Us) is all that really matters. Thus, Jesus uses powerful metaphors of “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood” that would have deeply troubled Jews and Christians as being all too reminiscent of pagan cults. The point Jesus is trying to make, however, is the same point Moses tried to make. Faithful servants must undergo a “circumcision of the heart”. They are called into a mystical unity with God and God’s mission.

We all know that people partake of the Eucharist superficially, without every feeling united with God; and people can partake of many other experiences, in which they truly feel united with God. It’s your choice: eat or do not eat; drink or do not drink; come to God, or do not come to God. Yet that is not Jesus’ last word on the subject … nor is it the experience of prophets like Isaiah. The truth is, you have no choice. Christ will die for you whether you like it or not. Christ will be raised for you, whether you accept it or not. Christ will call you, whether you believe it or not. God will come to you, choose you, and claim you, whether you choose it or not. Why is this a “hard saying”? It’s not just because it challenges our decisions. It is because it shatters our pride.

Worship Theme: (Isaiah 6:1-8)

I have often said that most churches, in the heart of hearts, and despite their public statements, do not really want a Biblical vision. They would prefer a strategic plan. This can be said of Isaiah. His clear preference was for the salaried staff and elected officers of the people of God to develop an incremental, five-year strategic plan that would help them avoid the Babylonians, preserve the membership privileges, and pay the hearing bills. Instead, Isaiah got a terrifying vision of the seraphim who seared his lips with a hot coal. In my experience, most churches don’t want that. If God burned everybody’s lips, how could we blithely go to the cafeteria to have lunch?

Why burn Isaiah’s lips? Because he has to “feel it”. He has to be initiated into the mission of God in a manner that will be absolutely unforgettable. Every time he looks in the mirror, he will see his scarred face. Every time he holds a child for baptism, people will notice his deformity. The faithful servant is noticeably, publicly, different. He or she behaves different, talks different, walks different, and lives different that the rest of pagan world around them. Faithful servants are odd, peculiar, and even pariah. Something has happened to them. They are never the same, and because the public sees it, and they feel it, they can never pretend to be the same.

It is this peculiarity about faithful servants that also gives them credibility to speak a transforming or hopeful word to the church and the world. People can more easily listen to a challenging and painful truth if they know that the person speaking has already personally experienced that challenging and painful truth. They have the scar to prove it. People are more ready to follow a faithful servant if they are confident that that leader has already been there and done that. The faithful servant is a veteran of God. He or she knows what it is like to unite with God and follow God’s way.

Why is this a “hard saying”? Because most church people associate faithfulness with the clergy, and God intends this same faithfulness to apply to the laity.

Worship Design: (Isaiah 6:1-8)

Over the past decade or so, the word “transformation” has been glibly tossed around and liberally applied.  A church shows signs of growth, and the judicatory officials attribute it to the church’s “transformation.”  Churches are calling themselves “transformational churches,” suggesting that the people who come to the church are being transformed into fully-committed disciples of Jesus Christ, even though “transformation” is their mission, vision, value, or goal rather than a reality. 

Transformation means being different, not just wanting to be different.  In fact, some transformations happen that people (and churches) didn’t bargain for.  Take Saul, cum Paul.  His experience on the Damascus’ road was transformational.  He went down into the dirt one way, he came up transformed.  Isaiah went into worship one way, he came out transformed.  Once they experienced the power of God in their lives, everything changed and they couldn’t go back.  In the words of Sam Shoemaker, “Once taste God and nothing but God will do” (I Stand by the Door).

The problem is, folks are coming “to church” for the transforming power of Jesus Christ, but they go home with a dose of religion.  Until they experience a touch from God, no transformation is possible – even in “transformational churches.” 

Explore the power of transformation by using a clip from the movie Leap of Faith (1992).  Use the scene at the end of the movie when Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin), a religious huckster,  is leaving town after a particularly disturbing “revival.”  During his faith healing show, Boyd (Lukas Haas) is actually healed and is able to walk – to the amazement and consternation of Nightengale.  And so he decides to “quit the business,” ostensibly because the power of God became real and his thinking was transformed.

To further explore the theme, consider using George Barna’s book Revolution.  The book explores the growing movement of North American Christians leaving the local church to practice their faith in alternative settings.  Review the chapter on the characteristics of revolutionaries and compare/contrast each one with the behaviors of the churched.

Bill T-B

Small Group Discussion: (Isaiah 1, 6:1-8, 9, and 11)

Before the small group meets, each participant should have read and studied this week's Scripture passages.

Lately, “transformation” has become a hot topic in the church – it’s become the word of the day.  But transformation is as old as the stories of God and his relationship with his creation.  Elisha is transformed when he sees Elijah taken in the fiery chariot.  Saul is transformed when Jesus knocks him to the dust on the Damascus’ road.  And Isaiah is transformed when his lips are singed by an angel of the Lord. 

The New Testament assumes we are being transformed by our relationship with Jesus – that we are radically different with Christ than we were before Christ.  But in North America, the sad statistics remind us that a “Christian” is just as likely to commit a crime, to get a divorce, to be addicted to drugs, tobacco, or alcohol, to have an abortion, to practice pre-marital sex, or to have a marital affair.  Statistically, there is no difference between those who claim to be Christian and those who don’t.  Of course, all that changes when someone’s life is transformed by the power of Jesus Christ, but apparently few in the church experience transformation.

Spend your small group time discussing the following issues.

1. Discuss how (by what means) lives are transformed by the power of Jesus.

Again, brainstorm an exhaustive list.  When the list is complete, discuss each item by asking whether or not you’ve witnessed this means of transformation in your life and/or the lives of others.  For instance, to say, “Accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior” may or may not bring transformation – prison is full of people who “accepted Jesus” but whose lives were clearly not transformed.  If the means of transformation doesn’t always work, discuss why you think that is. 

2. What does it mean to be “transformed”?  Discuss what a life transformed by Jesus is like: What are their characteristics?  Their mental models?  Their behaviors?

Begin by brainstorming an exhaustive list.  When the list feels complete, combine like items to make the list manageable for discussion.  Finally, discuss each item.  How difficult is it to achieve each item?  What makes it difficult?  What changes in your thinking would you have to do to achieve it?

Bill T-B