"The Blessed Hope"

I Corinthians 15-16

I had a professor who said, "A key to understanding a person's theology (their understanding of God) is hearing his or her eschatology (their understanding of last things)." What he meant was that knowing how you believe everything turns out in the end will shape the hope you have in what happens on the way there. For instance, if one's eschatology is based on "an escape hatch" version of the rapture in which people don't have to worry about the ills to come, then the approach will tend to be about getting people ready for the rapture and less concerned with taking on the major issues in society (world hunger, nuclear proliferation, over-population, inter-religious dialogue, globalism in its positive and negative effects, the communication revolution in its positive and negative effects, scientific and technological advances in their positive and negative effects, and developing the next generation of Christian leaders to deal with those challenges). If one's eschatology is that there is no hope for history or for us when we die, then one's approach to faith and life will be fatalist (taking care of oneself, "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die"). My own eschatology sees God at work in history working for reconciliation, redemption and re-creation, pictured in Christ's dominant image of the kingdom of God. I understand the church to be a demonstration of that kingdom as an alternative society. When Christ comes again in glory, it will be to establish that kingdom forever and ever. Until that happens, we witness to that kingdom and invite the world into that kingdom through relationship with Jesus Christ and the adoption of kingdom values in society. On offense, we continue to creatively proclaim the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit, inviting people to become followers of Jesus. We continue to work diligently and creatively for making this world more like the kingdom to come. On defense, we stand in solidarity with those who cannot speak or act for themselves and we confront the forces of darkness that cheapen human life, degrade creation and fracture relationships. My eschatology is both hopeful and activist. What is your eschatology?

The church in Corinth expected Jesus to have already made his triumphant second coming. Now they were having to deal with things they hadn't counted on - ongoing problems in the church, persecution of their brothers and sisters, false teachings that corrupted some, and most of all, the death of their first generation (I Corinthians 15:6). Paul's hope is first of all based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his appearances to the first disciples and other witnesses. Second is his own experience of the risen Christ on the Damascus Road.

A haunting question comes to all of us: What if this is all there is? It confronts us most dramatically at funerals, but it happens at other times, too. Is the resurrection just something we wish was true? That's why Paul's arguments are so carefully given here. First, the witnesses to Christ's resurrection are many, including to as many as 500 people at a time. The critics claimed that Jesus' resurrection was a fabrication, but there are just too many witnesses (with enough variety in their accounts to let us know they didn't just copy it from each other!). Second, the changed lives of thousands of people were also witnesses of the resurrection power of Jesus. Third, we have the promise of Christ that there would be resurrection for him and for us.

But Paul is right, if there was no resurrection of Jesus and there is no resurrection of our dead loved ones, then we are "of all people most miserable." Without the resurrection, we have all been victims of a crazed hoax. But, if the resurrection is true (and I believe it is) then we are of all people most blessed and most hopeful. We are part of what people will one day see as a victorious movement of faith, hope and love.

This passage was obviously written to answer some questions, which includes "What will our heavenly bodies be like?" I do wonder how people will recognize each other in heaven. What age will I be there? Will I be perfect? Will I play a harp? Again, we are only given a glimpse, here. One thing for sure, death does not have the final answer. Resurrection life in Jesus is the final answer.

The last chapter is a personal summation, including the collection of an offering. I won't take an offering, but I do want to conclude this study and our classwork together, with a note of great gratitude for sharing in this journey of faith with you. I continue to be amazed at your deepening walk with Christ and your willingness to embrace the challenge before us as the Church. My heart is blessed that more and more people at St. Luke's are hearing God's call to be ministers in their day-to-day world. I truly believe that will be the story of the 21st century Church, no matter what the denomination or non-denomination. This is the century when the gospel escaped the walls of the Church and went to where Christ wanted it all along - in the marketplace, in the neighborhood, in the schools and universities, in the courts, in politcs, in manufacturing, in technology. Look out. The gospel is back on the streets. That's where miracles happen. That's what changes the world. Have a great day.

The Gifted Church

I Corinthians 12-14

When these three chapters are read as a unit, the power of a united church and what holds her together becomes obvious. We know earlier that the fractured state of the Corinthian church was over personality (Paul or Apollos), worship, morality, and even the love feast. Now Paul brings another point of division, the use of spiritual gifts.

"The Big 9" (12:1-11)
Paul lists nine manifestations of the Spirit: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. In our spring semester on "Gifted for Ministry", we will study each of these "gifts" in detail, so I won't deal with them here. But the word "gifts" in this passage is not really accurate. A gift is something you recieve and share, where this is really where the presence of God works in and through us. Christians in ministry are called to make use of both their natural inherited and developed gifts as well as their spiritual gifts that emerge and develop through our walk with Christ. But these manifestations can happen through anyone at any time. It is the need of the one with whom we are doing ministry that determines how we are used. It is true that some of these manifestations may happen more often through us than others, but we are not limited to a certain one or set of these manifestations.

The other question to ask is if these nine are the only manifestations (an exhaustive list). I would say they are a guiding list and that they probably did describe the way the Holy Spirit was working in the Corinthian Church, but the Holy Spirit is not limited to any list. At the same time, it is important to bounce any manifestation off the teachings of Scripture. We are taught to "test the spirits," because not every spiritual insight or power we experience is true or holy. Our own biases and desires can and do get in the way. I find it interesting that the "discernment of spirits" is one of the big nine.

As varied as these manifestations are, they are from "the same Spirit." Paul hammers this phrase home throughout this passage. The diverse ways God works are not to be a source of division and competition. Each manifestation finds its purpose and function in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is still a powerful message for our day in differences are made into polarized divisions rather than as part of a greater whole.

"Body Language" (I Corinthians 12:12-31)
We have already covered this in our study of Ephesians earlier. We are an organic ministry in which each of us contributes who we are, what we have, and what we are becoming into a greater whole. We are not and can never be the total package of ministry. Our usefulness to God is directly related to our willingness to work with others, owning both our abilities and our limitations. This is a powerful corrective to the individualism in our society and the growing individualism in the Church. "Jesus and Me" is not a Christian theme.

Paul correct their competitive value system by noting that those that seem least important (some manifestations and ministries are more public than others, but not more valuable) may be what is needed the most. The other is that we succeed and fail, celebrate and hurt together as the body of Christ, and eventually we win as that same body. Jim Buskirk, retired pastor at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa said about his golf game, "I have learned to enjoy the game of golf. I do my best, but I know that God has called me to complete more than compete. There is real joy and freedom in that." Do I hear an Amen? What if we applied that to marriage and family, to relationships at work and in the church, to the work of churches of various denominations and specialities in our city, etc. Lord, help us discover the freedom and joy of completion and help us cast aside our unhealthy preoccupation with competition.

"Prophecy and Tongues" (I Corinthians 14)
Again, these will be handled in detail in our second semester. In Pentecostal and charismatic settings, there has been a revival of these gifts in worship. Prophecy is where a person will speak a word from the Lord to the people. Sometimes it is offered in the first person, like the Old Testament prophets did as they spoke for the LORD. You may even hear the phrase, "Thus saith the Lord," or a more contemporary version. Prophecy happens sometimes in my preaching and counsel with people, but I have never been comfortable speaking for God in the first person. I will say something like, "I think I may have a word from the Lord for you," or "God has really been speaking to me lately about this." This is not prophecy of future events. There is actually very little of that kind of prophecy in the Bible. The prophets of the Old Testament were not foretellers (predictors of the future) as much as they were forthtellers (speaking forth the word of God in Spirit and power). Prophecy here described in I Corinthians 14 is forthtelling.

Speaking in tongues is where God gives the message to a person in a tongue they have never learned. There seem to be two varieties of this that have operated in the history of the Church. The first is "ecstatic utterance," a form of spontaneous babbling, what Michael Green calls, a love language to the Lord. Others call it a prayer language. In charismatic or Pentecostal worship it is often spoken or sung. Musically, it tends to be ethereal sounding and variations off a single chord that can happen for several minutes. It can be quite beautiful. Often, because the purpose is worship, there is no interpreation of this kind of speaking or singing in tongues. Those who participate in this kind of worship also speak or sing in tongues in their personal devotional life.

When "speaking in tongues" is offered as a message for the people, it is the biblical standard that someone will give an interpretation of the message. Again, most of the time this is in an ecstatic utterance, but occassionally it will be in a language. I will never forget the high praise of a friend at Oral Roberts University that was spoken out in perfect church Latin. I asked him later if he had a Roman Catholic background or had learned the mass as a child. He said, "No." Then, I suddenly realized that the message he had spoken was for me, and I should have given the interpretation, because I was the only one who knew what he was saying (because of my extensive learning of church Latin in my musical background). In most cases, there is not such a direct correlation between words and interpretation. Once the interpretation is given, it forms the same function as prophecy, as a message of God for the people.

It is interesting that Paul says that the main function for speaking in tongues in the worship service is for the unbeliever. Like the "signs and wonders" of Jesus' ministry (as well as the early apostles), speaking in tongues is one of God's attention getters, to let the people of God and those who are aroud them know that He is present. The miracles were never meant to be an end to themselves. They pointed to the one who was doing them and the kingdom of God for which they stood. Speaking in tongues is meant to point people to the Holy Spirit, the source of our power to live our Christian lives and do ministry that changes the world.

The last section of this chapter is about how to share prophecy and tongues in an orderly manner in worship. Anyone that has been in a charismatic setting and witnessed these in operation know why there is this concern. If we are not careful, these very showy gifts of the Spirit can start to become a spectacle to themselves rather than as a means by which God speaks to His people. I have been blessed by those who have shared such gifts and in order and in the power of the Spirit, it can be very moving. But there have been times when I have seen this gift used improperly and unscripturally. I guess that will be true of anything we do, as long as fallible human beings share of themselves of the holy things of God. Again, we must find a balance of being as open to the Spirit as possible and being willing to test what is shared for its authenticity. Fortunately, God is gracious.

"The Ultimate Unifier" (I Corinthians 13)
I have discussed this chapter last to show its role in this passage and in the Church. This may well be the second most popular passage of scripture to "the Lord's Prayer". For those who get caught up in the drama and spectacle of spiritual gifts, Paul gives a centering word. You can be the most spiritually gifted person in the world and it is worthless unless there is love. The word here is "agape," that love which makes the other person the focus, without requiring that we feel common attraction or even will be loved in return. A friend shared recently that God is moving people from preference to deference, from what I want to what others need. I really like that. It is really a shift from religious self-centeredness to holy love.

We want to be popular. Paul says, "Be loving." We want to be significant. Paul says, "Be loving." We want to be heroic. Paul says,"Be loving." In the end, love is not as much about feelings, as it is about an attitude, a disposition, of way of being and doing. It is both theory (an understanding of our relationships with each other in light of our relationship with a loving God) and practice (in which we love becomes a verb not a noun). Verses 4-7 could be combined with the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 for a great study in what it means to be characteristically a loving disciple of Jesus Christ.

In the end, love is all we have and what we do in ministry. It is what made us disciples of Jesus Christ in the first place. It is what holds us together. And it is what will get us through to the fulness of our personal salvation and the salvation of the world. I find a great word here. Love in Christ is the center of who we are and what we are about, and we can only be Christian and do ministry well when that is at the center. I'm doing some checking about the places where the love of Christ may not be central for me. How about you?

See you in our great love feast at the Southwest Campus tomorrow.

Worship Wars

I Corinthians 11

As you can see, I have decided to slow down this study of I Corinthians. There is just too much material to handle it within a week. Expect me to continue this study two or three more days beyond tomorrow.

The contemporary church has been in turmoil over worship for 40 years. It is a symbolic fight, for the issue is really the reinvention of the Church. The worship wars in the Corinthian Church were more about invention than re-invention, but the question they were facing is not unfamiliar to us: “How are we to be the Church together in such a challenging and secular age?” The first thing to notice in chapter 11 is how much custom has to do with these conflicts. In a patriarchal society, for Paul, the woman wore a covering on hear head to show that she lived in submission to her husband, and females to men in general. But 11:11-12 helps offer some balance, especially when you consider how much men ruled women in Greco-Roman and early Church times

,“In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.”

We also notice that in the first century it was considered wrong for men to have long hair and for women to cut theirs. In the 1960's, with the emergence of the hippie culture, this passage was often cited to support that long hair for men was sinful. There are still fundamental churches today who do not allow women to cut their hair, based on this passage. This brings up the issue of how much of the biblical behavior guidelines are from the LORD and how much are reflections of custom. The role of custom is unavoidable. How much of a role does custom play a role in our own worship in today’s churches? Where are there collisions based on competing customs (in age groups, in ethnicities, in backgrounds)? How can we bring these customs out in the open so that competing groups can find common ground in Jesus Christ?

The Holy Communion presented in chapter 11 is likely the “love feast,” which was much more than broken bread and wine. It was an entire meal, more like the church potluck than our monthly communion observances. Tina and I were at a love feast in Matador recently. If you wanted to eat from the best desserts and the feature dishes, you might want to be near the front of the line. The truth is there was enough great food their to feed the congregation twice over. Talk about blowing your diet! Corinthian Christians used this feast as yet another place of competition and division, and had turned a holy gathering into something cheap and ugly. Paul reminds them of the real meaning of the Lord’s Supper, and invites them to examine their hearts before they take the sacrament. We regularly pray a prayer of confession at communion as a way of addressing that need, but it, too, can become perfunctory and empty. Failure to examine our hearts before taking communion and taking the sacrament in triteness or even with a sinful attitude is actually to bring judgment rather than spiritual feeding to ourselves.

Two illustrations come to mind. First, my dad was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church. One of their key responsibilities was to serve communion. One morning the crowd was larger than expected and they ran out of communion elements. Dad had to inform one of the patriarchs of the church that they were out of elements and he would not be able to serve him communion. Dad apologized, but he was not prepared for the other man’s response, “I’m sorry, too, because Holy Communion means a great deal to me.” While the man’s response made Dad feel bad, it was a gift. Dad began to examine his own attitudes about communion and how rote and trivial the sacrament had become. Since then, Dad considers it his highest privilege to receive and celebrate the Lord’s Supper with people. It is truly a celebration of the broken body and shed blood of Christ that feeds his soul.

Second, a young adult refused to take communion when we celebrated each month. I went up to Brian and said, “I noticed you haven’t been taking communion. You are a member of this church and we have an open table, so I wondered if there was something that you were dealing with. He said, “Nothing much, really. I just don’t feel worthy. I don’t always have the attitudes that I should and I don’t love everybody the way I should.” I said, “That could be said for all of us. And none of us are worthy to share in Holy Communion. This is a feast of grace. We come and celebrate communion because we don’t hit the standard of God’s love and need His presence and grace.” He then started to take the Lord’s Supper. So our examination of conscience is not to prove our worthiness, but rather to come clean with God about our need for grace.

Every generation of the church has had hang-ups about communion, sometimes over methods (passing the pews, kneeling at the altar, dipping bread in the cup, using only unleavened bread or using the yeast variety, etc) and sometimes over liturgy. John Wesley taught his sermon on “the Catholic Spirit” partly in response to conflicts over the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. One of the important benefits of communion is that it reinforces our unity in Christ. That’s why Paul is so offended that they have used the communion love feast as a place of division. John Wesley’s guidance in that sermon is important, “If your heart is as my heart, then take my hand.” The word “communion” has with in itself the words “common” and “community.” We celebrate the feast because we are one in Christ and our oneness in Him is enhanced and strengthened through the celebration itself, when our hearts and minds are right. There is also a need for balance. The feast is neither trivial or nor legalistic. It is the Lord's Supper, a holy feast for unholy people. What a special blessing it can be for us all.

Practical Ministry Training

I Corinthians 9-10

“Preacher’s Rights?” (9:1-18)
The ninth chapter is all about Paul’s status as an apostle. To be an apostle, you had to have seen Jesus in the flesh. Paul did not do that, but he did have a special encounter with Christ on the Damascus road. He is an apostle of a different sort. Paul obviously tires of being a bi-vocational minister, part tent-maker and part apostle. Those churches that pay their preachers tend to use chapter nine, verses 7-14 as their support. Historically, the priests were always sustained by the food and money given by the people at the temple. Paul sees himself and the other apostles in a similar role. Yet, he himself does not get paid for his service to the gospel. Famous preachers like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren do not take salaries from their churches. Instead, their book sales have paid them much more than their churches ever could. This also allows them to be absolutely free to preach what they wish to preach and lead the way they wish to lead.

“Go! Fight! Win!” (9:19-27)
When I was a District Superintendent there was a traveling gift given among them. If you received “Winnie” (a rainbow colored stuffed bear), then you could award it to another superintendent. Winnie was so named because there was a district superintendent who described every pastor in his district as “winsome.” I received “Winnie” when I became pastor at St. Luke’s. I later passed the bear to Lewis Holland when he was appointed to Plainview. And with the bear I attached I Corinthians 9:19-22: “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not have the law I became like one not having the law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might WIN SOME.”

Paul finishes his “win some” speech with the illustration of Olympic competition. We do fight to win in the Christian faith, but it is not for a crown or a belt, but rather for the winning of lost people for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Winning people for Christ takes intentionality, time, persistence and effort. What are you doing and who are you sharing Christ with? May you “win some.” Maybe I need to get a rainbow-colored bear for our class.

“Learning from History” (10:1-13)
The history of the children of God, Jew and Gentile is mixed at best. Paul mentions three kinds of sin to which the Israelites fell: idolatry, sexual immorality and grumbling against God. Is there any denying that human beings are prone to do all three of these kinds of sin? Therefore, we are to be diligent over the quality of our lives in following Jesus.

The rest of chapter 10 continues the discussion on eating food sacrificed to idols. As Christians we are free, but we are also responsible. In Paul’s words, “Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive.

"Man, Man is for the Woman Made" - Some Words on Marriage (Saturday's Reading)

I Corinthians 7-9

My sincere apologies for getting behind on the blog. This is really a continuation of Paul's earlier discussion on sexual immorality. His material in chapter 7 is in response to questions the Corinthians had. It is worthy remembering that I Corinthians may be the second oldest New Testament letter (Galatians is the oldest).

I Corinthians 7 (Marriage and Singleness)
Paul has a bias for singleness (out of his own experience), but he also knows human sexuality. He therefore calls for free sharing of sex in marriage in which each one gives themselves for the other. Notice the difference between that and the contemporary way (as well as the Greco-Roman way) of seeing the other as the source of one's own personal fulfillment.

Paul's teaching on separation and divorce in verses 10-16. It is much like the teachings of Jesus, a radical departure from the easy divorce culture in both Greco-Roman and Jewish society. Even when the marriage involves an unbeliever, he urges the believer to stay in the marriage.

Food Sacrificed to Idols - I Corinthians 8
Nearly all food was dedicated to the Roman imperial cult. Paul did not believe it was sinful to each such food. At the same time, he understands that some are more conservative on the issue. The common ground for this issue in our day include things like social drinking, dancing, going to the movies (especially R-rated ones), etc, where faiths differ from each other. The general rule is that the free person chooses to yield to the conservative stance of another. There will be other opportunities to enjoy a particular activity, but causing another believer to stumble out of our own sensitivity can do long term damage. For USAmerican Christians, who tend to give high value to self-determination and freedom, this teaching is difficult. The perspective her offered is important. If we see the conservativism of others to be a restriction on our freedom, then we will resent the others for infringing on us. If we see the conservativism as an opportunity to show yielding love, then the resentment tends not to be there.

Because of the late hour, I am going to stop with chapter 8, and add chapter 9 to Monday's reading.

Churches Behaving Badly (Friday's Reading)

I Corinthians 4-6

In the Apostle's Creed we say, "I believe in one holy catholic Church." Protestants seem to choke on this, but only out of misunderstanding. It means in our own language, "I believe in a unified, holy and universal Church." When Jesus said to Peter, "Upon the rock, I will build my Church," it was in the singular. We read similarly in Ephesians earlier, "There is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." That's the ideal unity we are called to work towards. But the Corinthian church was neither one, nor holy, nor catholic. It was divided, sinful and cliquish. Today's reading deals with the moral corruption in the Church.

The Problem of Spiritual and Personal Arrogance - I Corinthians 4

An individual sat in my office and said, "I'm closer to God than most people and I have seen and experienced things from God that most other people have not." At first I was surprised and then I was thankful. At least this person's arrogance was right out in the open. The tone of this chapter drips with irony and sarcasm. In divided churches, there is often a self-appointed group that will see it as better than others, because it thinks it is spiritually more mature, has a better angle on the truth, has been around a lot longer, or has more money and power. In chapter 1, verse 12, the Corinthian church was divided into three camps: one for Paul, one for Apollos, and a holier than thou group that was "for Christ."

What is the leader's role in such a situation? Paul begins by defining himself. He cannot be pulled into this divided and messed up situation by trying to please all the groups or choosing one of them. Nor is he going to allow the competing groups to determine his value (vs. Apollos or anyone else). He is called by God and he is accountable to God. Last night, we went to see the Cactus Theatre's production, "A Tribute to Michael Jackson", which featured our own Kasey Birchfield. One of the assistant leaders did a version of Michael Jackson's "The Man in the Mirror." Notice the words. They're actually quite true to scripture,
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
In ministry, we are often called to wear many hats as God uses us to meet the needs of people. At the same time, we can be pulled in different directions at the same time because of the demands of people. In those moments, we must prayerfully define ourselves so that we can keep a clear picture of God's direction and a clear sense of who we are in Christ.

Paul, with mocking approval, takes on the self-superiority of the arrogant Corinthians. They are pronouncing judgments on his ministry without having to pay the price themselves for ministry. They are like people in the football crowd who question the quality of the play by players and the coaching by the coaches. None in the crowd are in the huddle dealing with the challenges of the moment. None in the crowd were in practice and endured the extraordinary difficult regimen of training. None are balancing the physical, emotional, relational, mental difficulties that the team may be facing at the moment. None are looking at the long time welfare of the team or the players involved. Yet, we all enjoy being experts in the stands. Bottom line: True Christian maturity is always marked by humility and the power of the Holy Spirit. Where there are power groups forming around personalities to do war with other groups, there can be no good thing come out of them. I am not saying that the Church should be "conflict free." There will always be different opinions because we see and experience things differently. Conflict can be healthy, but it is carried out in the context of holy and loving dialogue, not in arrogance and political wrangling.

Sexual Immorality in the Church - I Corinthians 5:1-13, 6:12-20

Because religion and sexual immorality were so linked in Greco-Roman pagan culture, it seems that the New Testament Church faced this issue more than we do. But the sexual behavior of Christians, clergy and laity alike, is still one of our dirty secrets. And when those secrets come into the open, the damage is huge and long-term. No accurate estimate can be given to the damage done by the sexual misconduct of clergy, Roman Catholic and Protestant, in this generation. The specific damage can be assessed to some degree in the hurt and pain that have come to individuals and churches, but the overall loss of credibility for witness and leadership in society cannot be fully assessed (it is too catastrophic). Nor can there be an accurate assessment of laity sexual misconduct in families, workplaces, and even, regrettably, in churches. Wherever there are human beings, sexual misconduct will happen. It's part of our sinful nature. The issue is that in the Church we often cover that misconduct up and it becomes a major block between us and God as well as better us and our field of ministry in the world. Paul chastises the Corinthians for looking the other way about the sexual misbehavior in their church.

Paul's strategy is two-fold. First, call the sin for what it is and call for repentance. While "no one knows what goes on behind closed doors," everybody can be hurt by it. Second, if there is no repentance, then we separate ourselves from them. That is indeed difficult. As a District Superintendent, I had to be part of asking for ministerial credentials of a pastor for sexual misconduct. The damage was horrible - in my relationship with that pastor, on that pastor's relationship with his family, and on that church. It is important to write here that such separation is not done out of self-superiority. We are all human beings and woe to the person who does not think he or she can be lured into this kind of sin. So we are not to be judgmental (we're above it and superior) but we are to make just judgments (holding true to our standards of faith and justice). As Paul says in 5:12, we are responsible for keeping the church as holy as possible for the sake of the gospel.

Paul finishes this emphasis in chapter 6, by appealing to the Corinthians according to their identity and their connection with Christ. We do not have to be led around and enslaved by our bodies. Our bodies can be temples of the Holy Spirit, where our bodies are used as vessels for God's glory and for the transformation of the world. The vivid illustration is that sexual relationships make us one with the other person. As Christians we have already declared ourselves to be in relationship with God. It is the basis of our unity together. We are one with God and one with each other (as our communion ritual says). When we participate in sexual immorality, we violate that oneness by becoming one with something or someone else. Notice, lest we see this passage as primarily about someone else, he adds to the list of sins by adding being greedy, idolatrous, gossiping, drunkenness and stealing. Shucks! It looks like we are all going to have to claim grace after all.

Lawsuits in the Church (I Corinthians 6:1-11)

Every time church members take each other to court there is great damage. We end up putting our Christ-formed relationships and challenges out as dirty laundry before the world and allowing the world to judge us. Usually, all parties involved end up leaving the church. Paul's encouragement is to be a fellowship where reconciliation is the rule. I'm not sure that the polarized 21st century Church gets this at all, but reconciliation is one of the core values of the Christian faith and being the Church. Some will see reconciliation as weak and a failure to hold people accountable for their behavior. The truth is that the multiplied pain and costs of non-reconciliation are much greater, and communities, churches and society all become weaker.

The Tough Work of Unity

I Corinthians 1-3

“Divide and Conquer” (1:10-17, 3:1-23)
I don’t know a better parallel in the New Testament to the contemporary struggles of today’s church than Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. One of the questions I am often asked is, “Why are there so many different denominations? Don’t they worship the same Lord and aren’t they all going to the same place?” As of today’s date, in the United States alone there are 250 different kinds of Baptist Churches and at least 50 different kinds of Methodists. We seem to be attempting a “divide and conquer” strategy in winning the world for Christ. We divide and then we try to use those divisions to win new people to our cause. Regrettably, the percentage of those who regularly attend church in the USA is down about 6% over the past twenty years (from 42% to 36%). But here is the scarier statistic. For those in the 20-35 age group the number has declined from 15-18% to 4-9%, depending on what part of the country you live in. So much for “divide and conquer.”

The divisions in the Corinthian Church were according to three things: history, personality and style. Most of the denominations began as movements of God for renewal and reform within an already established church structure. For instance, Martin Luther never wanted to create a Protestant set of denominations, but rather wanted to “protest” the corruption he saw in the Church and stir it to “reform.” John and Charles Wesley died as Anglicans and were only dragged kicking and screaming into the creation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland in 1784. Just before Charles’ death in 1788, he sent for the rector of the nearby Anglican Church saying, "Sir, whatever the world may say of me, I have lived, and I die, a member of the Church of England. I want you to bury me in your churchyard." Yet established churches (including individual local churches) have a tendency to be change and reform resistant, which pushes these movements of God into becoming churches of their own. Three groups formed in the Corinthian Church, one around the ministry of Apollos (who must have been quite a dynamic personality), one around Paul, and one that claimed to be aligned only with Christ. But in their purest sense, they represented encounters with Christ that people were having.

But the divisions became more fixed around the personalities themselves. It is impossible to talk about the history of Christianity in America without talking about personalities: Roger Williams, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, George Whitfield, Dwight L. Moody, E. Stanley Jones, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Martin Luther King, Jr., and T. D. Jakes just to name a few. It is impossible to talk about the history of St. Luke’s apart from Leo Gee, Ed Robb and others who have served. The division between those who followed Apollos and those who followed Paul became counter-productive, so Paul calls on the image of different builders of a building to describe their valuable contributions to each other’s ministry.

Style differences will show more as the letter develops, but chapter 1, verses 4-9 give a hint as he begins to talk about imparting a “spiritual gift” to the Corinthians.

“Fool’s Wisdom” (1:18-2:16)
I will never forget my Music History professor who was teaching a class made up primarily of college sophomores. He was a very intellectual type who actually owned the Deutsche Grammaphone Store that sold classical recordings. He also had a strong background in English literature and tended to count off for misspellings or grammatical errors in our test answers. He won few friends by saying in one of his opening lectures, “You do know what sophomore means, don’t you? Fools wisdom.” Paul talks here of a wisdom of the Holy Spirit that looks like foolishness to the world. Human beings have always tended to call “stupid” what they don’t understand. Electricity, automotives, airplanes, personal computers, cellular phones and the internet were all called “stupid.” Paul argues that what the world calls “foolishness” is actually a dramatically higher wisdom. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’ strength (vs. 25).”

At the same time, this is a wisdom that is given to those who are not seen as the greatest or the wisest. So if we should want to exalt ourselves because God has chosen us, we should notice who the others are that he has chosen (wild eyed dreamers at the edge of mental illness, locust-eating eccentrics like Elijah and John the Baptist, dense and flakey disciples, etc). While it is indeed a special thing to be chosen, it is often in spite of us as much as because of us. When I see myself for who I am (warts and all), I am sometimes amazed that I was chosen at all. And the power of what we share is not based on our own wisdom either. I have 24 ½ years of formal education, but I am an absolute fool, if I think that is what will make me effective in ministry for Christ. My training is but a tool that must be informed by my growing relationship with Christ and empowered and liberated by the Holy Spirit. Ministry is never just about us, but rather it is a work of God in which we get the privilege of being a part.

Am I just participating in false modesty at this point, so that others will say, “But you really aren’t that stupid?” No, for even though we follow Christ based on grace, we are given the blessing of being part of wisdom that is astonishingly wonderful. Paul puts that privilege in a phrase, “the mind of Christ.” Through a growing relationship with God in Christ our ways of thinking are transformed so that we are enabled to “think with God.” Again, we must be careful. For thinking with God never leads us to self-superiority, but rather to humility. So this is our story. We are a people not considered wise by worldly standards, who end up participating in life at a level beyond our wildest dreams. It’s not always a “walk in the park,” but it is a place of very special privilege. I’m with Paul who rejoiced that he could be “a fool for Christ.” How about you?

"Lost" - The Eternal Episodes

Luke 15:1-10

The "Lost" series has been very popular the past few years as one of the most interesting of the reality TV productions. But I would suggest that the three "lost" parables ("The Lost Sheep", "The Lost Coin," and "The Lost Son") have much more to say. This blog entry will cover only the first two of the parables, though you could certainly read the third on your own. But before we jump into the parables, it is crucially important that we read the setting

,"Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'"

To be with Jesus in ministry is not where its safe, neat or necessarily good for your reputation.

The Lost Sheep (15:1-7)
One of my grandmother's favorite hymns was "The Ninety and Nine" by Ira D. Sankey (it's in the Cokesbury hymnal). When she was sick I sent her a tape of me singing it. It would be best to combine this with Jesus' discussion of "The Good Shepherd" in John 10. A good shepherd literally slept at night at the gate of the fold, so that he could be startled by sheep (who were quite prone to wander) or by predators (animals or humans). A good shepherd did at times give his life for his sheep. This parable has been often misunderstood, that it describes the responsiblity of the pastor or lay person in ministry to please all the members and never lose a one. The sheep here do not represent the church members, but rather represent all people. There are many who are outside the walls of the church who are lost and need God's love. The priority of the shepherd is reaching the lost. The priority of heaven is seeing the lost come to faith in Christ. That is also to be the priority of the Church.

Notice the celebration that happens when the lost sheep is found. Shepherds did that when they found a lost sheep. They threw a party and invited others to join in. Why don't we throw a party when someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ? Heaven does. Why is receiving someone into the church just an empty formality? God doesn't think so. Is it because we're not sure that coming to faith in Jesus Christ is that big a deal?

The Lost Coin (15:8-10)
The coin here lost might have been a major part of a lifetime of savings. When you are poverty stricken, even losing a little is huge. Again, a party is thrown and again a heavenly celebration joins when a sinner turns to Christ. The word "repent" in these two stories is a military term. It literally means "to do an about face." Have we lost the vision of what a transformed life can be like, when someone changes their negative and selfish direction in life and becomes new (new life, new direction, new hope)? I fear we have.

In closing, I invite you to notice that we cannot win the lost if we are not in relationship with those who are lost. Most churches choose to assoicate mainly with those they already know and play it safe, never really getting involved with the brokenness of "sinners." Can we do that and honestly say we are followers of Jesus?

Counting the Cost

Luke 14:25-34

Jesus did not pander to people so that they would become his followers. He knew that while the love of God is there for everybody, only few will pay the price of ministry. This is one of the great fallacies of the church in our generation. We court people and try to convince them that we are the ones who offer more of what they want. The result is that we make more consumers than we do disciples. Jesus does not say, “Go and make customers of all nations,” but that is what we have done. Jesus does not minimize the demand of what it will take to be his disciple. Instead, he offers them something terrific (life in a whole new dimension) and a reason to give the rest of your life away (the kingdom of God). It is an appeal closer to the Peace Corps (“the toughest job you’ll ever love”) than Burger King (“Have it your way…”). Consumers choose what parts of the Jesus and the gospel they want to accept and ignore the rest. Disciples allow Jesus and the gospel to be the primary force that helps them make choices that are godly in the rest of their lives. Which are you, a consumer or a disciple? Which am I?

The day I gave my life to ministry was in September of 1975. Kathryn Kuhlman was the preacher. What an odd lady, but that day she had a message I could not ignore, “Who Will Pay the Price to Fully Follow Jesus?” Of the 4,000 students gathered there, more than 1,000 went forward to do just that. I couldn’t have stayed in my seat if I tried. I
wonder if that day was as much of a turning point for the others as it was for me. Kathryn died the following February and I discovered in reading her biography by Jamie Buckingham (Daughter of Destiny) that September sermon at Oral Roberts University was her last. He records the amazing move of God’s Spirit that happened in that service. But the appeal she made was not about having the most profitable and comfortable life possible, it was about paying the price that God was calling us to pay as his disciples. People really do look for something they can give their lives for.

Jesus communicates about paying the price in three ways. The first is offensive, saying that following Christ means “hating” those we love the most. This is clearly a use of hyperbole, but he is saying that our love for the kingdom must be foremost above all. Jesus is not a convenience Savior. The symbol of our faith is the cross, an object of scorn and sacrifice. The price of following Jesus is high. He is either Lord of all or not at all.

The illustration of the tower emphasizes that when we follow Jesus we are in it for the long haul. We don’t follow Christ on merely an emotional experience or as long as it feels good or as long as I am getting the answers to my prayers that I want. In the words of the old chorus, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back.” The price of following Jesus is long term.

The illustration of the king going to war has the same basic theme, but then Jesus finishes it with a greater demand,

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

We all squirm at that one. The place of total relinquishment seems over the top. But how interesting it is that when it all becomes God’s, God ends up giving it back to us better than it was before. I gave the Lord music as a profession and he gave it back to me as an avocation and special joy. I gave the Lord my plans for the future and he gave me a future I never dreamed possible. I gave the Lord my ministry and he has used it in ways that have surprised me and he has multiplied it in other people. I’m not yet even close to the point of total relinquishment, and to the point I am not there is the point where I have yet to see the full generosity of God. How about you?

"Table Manners"

Luke 14:7-24

“Seating Arrangements” - Luke 14:7-11
In the New Mexico Conference, I was responsible for the annual Pastor’s Retreat at Sacramento Methodist Assembly near Cloudcroft (actually nearer to Weed, if you know where that is!). The office manager at the camp said to me one day in frustration: “These preachers sure are a demanding lot, needing special this and special that. Each one of them seems to think he or she is baby Jesus!” From then on, when I called her, I would tell the secretary to tell the office manager that baby Jesus was on the line. She would get on the phone and laughingly say,“Hey, baby Jesus. How are ya?” I enjoyed working with her.

It is human for all of us to desire status,to think we have earned a special place, or that we deserve to be the exception to the rule. But the guideline for ministry from Luke 14 is that we humble ourselves and take the lesser position. At biblical banquets, the person seated closest to the host (especially on the host’s right side) was considered the guest of honor and the further away from the host you sat, the lesser your status was. Jesus tells his disciples to choose seats farthest from the host, and quite possibly, they would be invited forward (a whole lot better than being embarrassed at having to give up a seat for a lesser one). In Philippians 2, in one of the church’s earliest hymns, Paul talks about how Jesus “emptied himself and took the form of a slave.” We follow his example, and even if our humility is not honored by others, God is pleased. There is a little chorus that sings, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. And he will lift you up, higher and higher, yes, he will lift you up.”

“The Invitation List” – Luke 14:12-14
Lately, my wife Tina and Kristen Gilmore have been talking about the invitation list for Tyler and Kristen’s wedding. As we all know, the number of guests invited will determine a great deal of how much the rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception cost. Yet, figuring out who to invite or not to invite is difficult, especially when it involves relatives or long-time but distant friends. And do we only invite those we think will send gifts? Luke makes a radical suggestion - that we might want to open up our dinner gatherings to people that would never be able to reciprocate. When I served Trinity-First UMC in El Paso, we were constantly surrounded by the homeless. It was our regular practice to have extra food at every church meal that we would serve. The homeless were invited to sit with us and enjoy the food.

As children, we learned the old adage, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Mutual care is important. Last week, in class, we talked about how important it was to see mission as something we do with people, not for or to people. From a position of humility (as discussed above), we don’t see ourselves as above those with whom we share. But even though we assume that a relationship will be mutual (in which have something to offer and so do they), we don’t require a mutual response. We don’t scratch another’s back so that our back will be scratched. It would be nice, of course, but we don’t expect it. We offer our love and service, asking nothing in return. There is something freeing and joyful about serving those who cannot pay you back. You can do it “just because…” How long has it been since you did that? It will make your day.

“R.S.V.P.” – Luke 14:15-27
The Parable of the Great Banquet is a powerful picture of ministry. The banquet is lavish and it is a high privilege to be invited to it. Yet, many of the people the host invites do not choose to come. They are people of privilege, busy people like you and me. One by one they offer their excuses for not responding to the invitation: one has to work, another has to get married, etc, etc. The truth is, despite their words, those invited don’t care for the master as much as they say they do.

As we follow Christ in ministry, we, too, will be surprised and at times disappointed with the responses of people. Those you think would be the most responsive and had the most potential to serve Christ will be distracted, preoccupied or simply not want to join in. But the gospel has always done well with those who are down and out. The Methodist revival in England and the United States with John and Charles Wesley was mainly a movement of poor factory workers and families. The Wesleys feared the day when the income and privileges of the people called Methodists would increase and they would end up with “a form of godliness, but lack the power.” Our walk with Christ can follow a predictable pattern. We experience the amazing grace of God and receive him into our lives. Then we get better at what we do and get paid better, we buy things to which we become attached and indebted, and we get busy keeping up with our accumulating obligations. Soon our availability and passion has been all but drained out of us and very little is left for God.

The host then calls for the invitation to go out to the very people that Jesus said to invite to our dinner parties: the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. For his desire is that his house be full of people enjoying his banquet. Here we have a picture of God’s passion for us and for those with whom we do ministry. God lives to share with us the joy and the greatness of life. The question is whether we or the people with whom we share are really open to receive that joy and greatness.

Writing all this has made my hungry. I think I’ll go eat a late lunch. Have a good day.

"Actions Speak Louder than...."

Luke 6:37-49

Snap Judgments (37-42)
Are we really not supposed to make judgments about the actions, words, character and motivations of people? If we don't, aren't we setting ourselves up for everyone to take advantage of us? If we don't, aren't we coddling the people who are doing wrong? Often children and others use this very passage to avoid accountability for their words and actions. When we read the entire set of verses, what Jesus is countering is hypocritical judgment, which includes: 1) condemning the behavior in others for which we are guilty ourselves, 2) condemning the behavior and seeing ourselves as better than others when there are other behaviors for which we are just as guilty, 3) condemning the behavior of others without knowing the full picture, and 4) condemning the person as well as the behavior, not passing on the forgiveness we have been given by Christ. We are not to be indiscriminate and ignore the wrong behavior of others, but we are to be very aware of our own hypocrisy.

Two principles are given by Jesus to moderate our tendency to judge others. The first is that what we give we get back. If we are judgmental, then we should expect to be mercilessly judged by others and by God. In fact, the illustration of the lap garment that cannot hold all its wheat gives the idea that what we give in judgment comes back to us overflowing. Of course, the reverse is true. If we offer mercy and forgiveness, that comes back overflowing in our lives as well. The predominant style of religion in that day was clearly judgmental. In many ways, it still is. In fact, it seems that we are one or the other, overly judgmental or overly permissive. There is a Christ-like balance we need to follow in which we "speak the truth in love" from the disposition of honesty and mercy (holiness and love).

The second principle is that we make our judgments based on a keen self-awareness of our own humanness. One of the key skills that people must have for effectiveness in ministry (or in relational work of any kind) is self-awareness. Jesus uses hyperbole to talk about our tendency to be blind to our own faults. The judger points out the speck of sawdust in someone else's eye, but fails to see that he has a plank in his own eye. Yes, go ahead and picture, a person with a plank protruding from his or face and you get Jesus' picture. The hypocrite is a blind judge, unaware of the biases and the limitations from which he or she judges. There is a real practical aspect to judging. In most cases, you and I will not be able to change the attitudes and behavior of others very much. The one we have the most ability to change (and only by the grace of God) is ourselves. We "first take the plank out of our own eye..."

Bad Fruit - Bad Tree (43-45)
We have seen this before. As we humbly see our words and actions, what is revealed is the condition of our own hearts. That's why it is so important that we take time for self-examination (an "examination of conscience")to ask ourselves why we say what we say and do what we do. It is not enough to just clean up the behavior (which will only work for the short term most of the time). We need to ask, "What about my relationship with God (or with others) is not where it needs to be?" Then we can claim grace to become new from the inside out.

Practice, Practice, Practice (46-49)
We have sung the song in Sunday School. "The wise man built his house upon the rock...the foolish man built his house upon the sand." We then tell the children that they need to learn God's Word so they can be strong in the tough times. Or we might tell them that believing in Jesus is like putting your house on rock; not believing in Jesus is like putting your house on sand. That only gets to the smaller part of what Jesus is saying. Knowing God's word is not the issue; putting what Christ has taught us into practice is the issue. There is a strength and integrity that becomes part of our lives when our actions and words line up with Christ's actions and words. We then are not defined by the whims of our feelings or whatever is popular in the moment, we are defined by who we are in our growing relationship with Christ.

Just as in Matthew's version, I come to the end of Luke's "Sermon on the Plain" and I am keenly aware of how high Jesus sets the bar for our attitudes, words and actions. I am nowhere near what I must become in order to be a full follower of Jesus Christ. I have much to learn and I am in need of more grace than I even realize. The same is true for those around me. For me, that is a call to humility, openness to God, and mercy with those around me. How about you?

The "Plain" Truth

Luke 6:20-36

The "Sermon on the Mount", found in Matthew 5-7, is given by Luke in part in Luke 6:20-49. We will take today and tomorrow to look at it. The first thing to notice is that 6:17 records that "Jesus cames down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon." For this reason, some scholars call Luke's version "The Sermon on the Plain." It is not only briefer, it is a little more edgy and confrontive than Matthew's version.

Both Matthew and Luke record that this sermon was given to disciples and the onlooking crowd who are wanting miracles from Jesus. We have just had the listing of the disciples and then in verse 17, we are told about a crowd of disciples. Jesus had an inner circle and a larger outer circle of disciples. I think it was some of that outer circle that left Jesus when he became controversial. But notice the role of the disciples. Jesus is beginning a movement for the kingdom of God (that would become the Church), and he does that first of all by creating a leadership core. It seems that God is stirring that same kind of strategy in our day and time. A spiritually devoted, equipped for ministry core is being developed in churches of every size and denomination. God must be up to something big, and you are part of it.

There are only four of the eight "beatitudes" of Matthew included in Luke's version, and look what he does with them. They are not only blessings, but also have parallel woes. It's interesting to put them together

."Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God...but woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation" "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled...but woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry." "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh...but woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep." "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man...but woe to you when all speak well of you,for that is what your ancestors did with the false prophets."

This is the gospel's theology of reversal in which the first are last and the last first. To share the gospel with our generation means often turning the world's values on its head. The world and human nature tends to shun the poor, fill themselves with either too much food or junk food and allow the hungry to even get hungrier, isolate those in grief, and seek to be popular with as many people as possible. Should we call that set of values into question, we will become controversial. But before we share it, we need to ask how that gospel of reversal addresses us. How can we who are not poor, well-fed, not in sorrow, and well thought of be disciples of the kingdom? Luke is clear that we must be people who advocate and empower those who are the least and the lost, not as ones who are above them but as those who are among them.

Speaking of reversing our natural ways, Jesus then in verse 27 talks about loving enemies. The natural way is to do in your enemies before they do in you. If you are done wrong, then you retaliate with an escalating force. If someone takes something from you, you take even more away from them. Unfortunately, what results is an unending cycle of conflict and warfare. Even if we win, there is likely to be revenge by those who lost to us. Jesus calls for a revolutionary approach. Stop the retaliation and choose to act for the benefit of those you hate rather than their demise.

To be in ministry means setting the bar higher in relationships. We love those who do us wrong, because we have been loved by Christ even when we have done him wrong. We used to live at odds with the Lord and he has turned us into friends. That is the pattern for us in our relationships with other people. We forgive as we have been forgiven and we are merciful because we are receivers of mercy from Christ. Do we dare trade our "survival of the fittest" ways in for the "the thriving of the loving" ways? Indeed the bar is high, but it is the way out of our conflicted and war-torn situation. Do we really trust Christ enough to follow in this risky way? I need grace, how about you? Have a great day.

God Calling

Luke 6:12-19

We are now to the point of our study together when we should be asking some important questions. How has God worked in my life and what do I have to offer? In what way and where is God calling me to be in ministry? Today's reading includes the listing of the disciples. Are you ready to place your name there?

I think the movies and childhood Sunday School have made the choosing process by Jesus too simple. I grew up thinking the reason they followed him was because they couldn't resist his appeal and power. I didn't hear about Jesus praying all night praying before he made his choice? I didn't hear that some of the disciples struggled with following him. The gospels can come across so immediate. But what if Jesus spent a lot of time (weeks and maybe months) with prospective disciples before he chose the twelve (building relationships, talking about life and about faith in God). We know from other passages that not all twelve were chosen at the same time. This listing of disciples is a summary statement. How has God been working in your life to bring you to this point in your walk with Him?

The picture of Jesus' miracles in verses 17-19 seems so very natural. Compare this to the emotional buildup that is often present at prayer meetings, worship services and crusades. The gospels are clear that the root of Jesus' power to heal was his deeply felt compassion for the people. Jesus went where the hurting people were, saw and heard their need, and offered compassion and healing. The disciples were given the same agenda, and so have we.

The hit song for Back to the Future was "The Power of Love." The people felt the power coming from Jesus. There is a power that operates in and through us when we have Spirit-filled compassion. The old adage is "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." As you share of yourself in the name of Christ this week, may you be filled with the power of love. Who knows? You might see a miracle or two, or maybe just the early beginning of one.

"The Armor of God"

Ephesians 6:10-24

Our study of Ephesians concludes with a key metaphor, the coat of armor. Paul states that our primary adversaries are spiritual, that we contend with spiritual forces and against cosmic powers of darkness. I have come to believe that this is more true than we may want to admit. There is a spiritual dimension to evil that is hard to ignore. Organized crime markets drugs to children through candy and stickers, so they will become lifetime customers (addicts). That's evil, really wicked. National governments use propaganda to marginalize and dehumanize our enemies so that we are willing to do just about anything to them. We market our violence to children through toys, video games, television and other digital media. Racism is passed from generation to generation through families, communities and even laws and policies. These forces have a bigger than life power in them that makes them hard to defeat. I think that's what Paul means with his vivid language of "forces" and "powers." This isn't Star Wars, this is real life. These forces are particularly powerful when they are set loose in groups: gangs, crowds, and more insidiously in economic , military, political and even religious systems.

While I am not one to look for demons under every rock or blame the devil for all the bad things I do or that others do, I do believe that there is a need for us to be in spiritual warfare against those forces that threaten the hearts and minds of our young and our society at large. We do need to put on our spiritual armor. Verses 14-17 present another opportunity for meditative reading.

"Stand, therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Mentally picture a soldier clad this way with labels for the respective parts. If you are an artist, you might want to try and draw it: the belt of truth (what color do you imagine it?). the breastplate of righteousness (how does our righteousness and spiritual purity protect our hearts?), shoes for your feet (blessed are the feet of those who bring good news), the shield of faith (the Romans soaked their leather shields in water to guard against flaming arrows), the helmet of salvation (how does our assurance of and growth in salvation protect our minds?), and the sword of the Spirit (God's word written and spoken to our hearts, what is called a "two-edged sword" - Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 1:15).

Do you have a battle-ready faith? Remember that we represent an alternative kingdom and we must be ready to do spiritual battle, often before we do social, personal, or legislative battle. Might churches be guilty of producing wimpy Christians that end up as cannon fodder against even mild worldly forces?

Paul finishes with a call for prayer, prayer that is "in the Spirit" (fervent and connected with God, not just repeated empty words) and openly seeking God's presence and favor. There must also be prayer for others. St. Luke's has an unusual commitment to prayer that has helped my own faith. It may be the strongest weapon we have in spiritual warfare. So as you face the challenges of this day, don't go out without your armor. God has a suit for you, and it's just your size. On guard!

"The Cruciform Life"

Ephesians 5:1-6:9

Chapter 5, verses 1-2 give us a guideline for the whole next section on behavior and relationships.

"Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City has a cruciform seating arrangement. There is a central section that goes from the altar to the narthex , but part way back two wings open on each side for further seating. Outside cruciform structures include First United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas. There are examples of cruciform printing, in which each page is displayed in the form of a cross. But the early church fathers talked about a cruciform life, a life of self-sacrifice for the kingdom of God in which the vertical arm of the cross represented our devotion to God and our the horizontal arm represented our service to the world.

The Vertical Dimension

In this version of the cruciform life, our holy life is our vertical dimension. We renounce impure actions and conversation and choose to follow Christ. It's worth remembering that much of the unholy behavior of the Gentiles had a religious dimension - the following of the emperor's religious cult where Caesar was Lord and pagan religious sexual promiscuity. To follow Christ was to be an alternative society in the Greco-Roman world. We still are that alternative society. Paganism just tends to get redefined and the idols and selfish practices change from generation to generation. Our own generation's addictions to materialism, entertainment, over-preoccupation with sports, and ultimate trust in technology would be contemporary examples. And just a casual watching of TV or the movies will reveal a definite sexual emphasis in our society that is both unhealthy and encourages promiscuity. We are to be "light" in a world of "darkness," something I share in each baptism we do.

The choice to live in holiness is a moment to moment commitment. The King James Version in 5:16 tells us "to redeem the time." We use our time for holiness rather than selfishness. I have noticed from observation and personal experience that sinful behavior is often just a waste of precious time. In verse 17, he gives an important principle, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Holy Spirit." Most people did not get drunk on one drink, especially in biblical times when the wine was less potent. Similarly, one filling of the Holy Spirit will not sustain you for a lifetime. We must keep on being filled with the Spirit (the Greek here does refer to repeated action). One of the ways we do that is in fervent and open-hearted worship. Every once in a while, I am with Christians who really sing, pray and participate in the sermon. The place becomes electric with the presence of God.

The Horizontal Dimension

The horizontal part of the Christian life is discussed in 5:21-6:9. These verses have been profoundly misunderstood and abused throughout Christian history. Some have asked whether Paul is pro-patriarchy (men in authority over women), supportive of no rights for children, and pro-slavery. While Paul's Pharisaic background does show through, we can easily miss the revolutionary character of his words. He does not denounce the order of families and relationships in his day, but Paul does introduce mutual yielding. "Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church. "Fathers do not exasperate your children." "Masters do not abuse your slaves, for you have God as your master." Wives, children and slaves were the property of the Greco-Roman household and, to some degree, the first century Jewish household. When I was learning to study in school, I was taught to pay attention to topic sentences. Ephesians 5:21 is the topic sentence, ""Be subject to one another out of reverence to Christ." We are talking about mutual submission and responsibility. If you are in the authority position, the role is as a servant leader. And where we are in the following position, we choose out of our strength to offer ourselves in love.

There is no justification here for oppressive leadership by those in authority, nor is there justification for abdicating our roles as servant leaders. I have observed a reaction by those in authority that if they cannot lead according to authoritarian whims, then they will not lead at all. Parents, bosses, teachers, preachers, government officials and others are called by the bible to neither authoritarianism nor abdication, but rather to a servant leadership that leads to growth and transformation around them. But the focus of the one in leadership is never on themselves. It is leadership for the benefit of others. When leadership turns selfish, it becomes counterproductive and even demonic.

Cruciform marriage is about spouses offering themselves fully for the benefit of the other. It is not a 50-50 relationship, but rather 100/100 in which both are fully giving and fully receiving, fully leading and fully serving. Tina and I have a partnership marriage. There are certain parts of our relationship that draw on Tina's leadership. When it comes to organizing, long-term planning, and keeping details, Tina is the clear lead. When it comes to providing a sense of groundedness, overall responsibility, and filling in the gaps, that would be me. But there is much of our marriage where leadership shifts according to the time, resources, sensitivity, passion and availability. It might be easier for me to be the head of everything, but it would not honor what God has put together, nor would it be as interesting or enjoyable. We submit to each other in Christ, and Christ is who holds us together. We're still learning what that means and expect to be learning for quite some time.

Cruciform parenting is about parents providing the love and boundaries necessary for healthy growth of the children. It is interesting that Paul does not talk about mothers here. Because fathers were "the authority" in Greco-Roman structure, they were the main exasperators. Now that authority is shared by parents, we can also be equally exasperating. Our boys would probably agree with that. It is absolutely crucial that children learn obedience - obedience when they don't agree, don't understand and don't want to. Watchman Nee was correct when he taught, "To be in authority, you must first learn to be under authority." We live in an anti-institutional and anti-authority society. Teaching children obedience to authority is not only biblical, it is a key life understanding. The exercise of authority as servant leadership offers clear boundaries in love, always for the benefit and growth of the child.

Cruciform employing is probably the best parallel we can give to the master/slave relationship. We live in power relationships every day: boss/employee, nurse/aide, owner/manager, teacher/student, etc. When we are in subordinate positions, we serve those in power over us as we serve Christ. In fact, our service to those over us is an act we do for Christ. When we are in the leadership position, we understand ourselves to be accountable to God for how we lead. Just as those under us are under authority, so are we. In truth, even if we are the business owner, we are not "our own boss."

The cruciform life is not easy. It means dying to some very natural ways of acting, thinking and speaking. But the more we do it, the freer we become and the more God is able to use us for His glory and the changing of our world. Have a great day.

"E pluribus unum"

Ephesians 4

It's written on our money, and it means "out of many, one." The phrase affirms our nation's unity in her diversity. We find a similar emphasis with Paul in Ephesians 4. Verse 4 pounds home the idea of unity: one body , one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. It is a seven-dimensional oneness we have in Christ. Yet in that oneness is a wonderful and complementary variety of gifts from Christ Himself.

The gifts mentioned are not meant to be exhaustive. But the purpose of the giftedness is two- fold: to equip the people of God for ministry (outreach) and to build up the body of Christ (inreach). Churches seem to choose one over the other, with the great majority choosing "inreach." I have seen a few churches do outreach to the exception of inreach, but I have much more often heard people say, "We can only do outreach and we have completely cared for those we already have." The truth is that we will never fully care for each other and learning to care for those outside the walls and relationships of the Church teaches us better how to care for each other. The call here is for balance, and out of that balance the church grows in number and depth.

Take a moment to consider how God has gifted you, partly through your genetics and partly through your walk with Christ. Are you putting those gifts to work both inside and outside the church? That's God's design. You have been gifted for a purpose, for a mission.

Beginning in verse 17, Paul returns to the BC/AD discussions we have already had. Have you noticed how Paul tends to circle back and give a new angle to things he has already discussed? So it is here. We are truly called to a different way speaking and acting when we follow Christ. Our actions and our tongues are to give evidence of a changed heart and a renewed mind. That takes a partnership of the grace of God and personal discipline. We can't do it on our own, but we do have to work at it. We are to "put off" our old ways - an act of disposing of the way we used to talk, act, and think. It is intentional on our part. We "just say no" to our own selfishness and sinfulness. But we don't stop there, we say yes to something better. Jesus told the parable of the man who was cleansed of a demon but just remained empty. The demon goes and finds seven more friends and fill the void and the man was much worse off. That's why negative religion ends up leaving us cold. We must be adding the positive - the new life in Christ.

When I took a new appointment to a downtown church from a rural setting, my district superintendent said, "You are going to have to update your wardrobe." We need to do the same thing spiritually when we follow Christ. The remaining verses I covered in a recent sermon on "Grieving the Spirit." We put away lying, resident anger, stealing, and wicked conversation. We put on kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness. So what have you been wearing during this past week, spiritually, that is? Paul sums it all up by inviting you and me to be "imitators of God." In my sermon, I said, "It's like jazz band. You fake it until you make it. We act Christ-like until we become Christ-like." I hear the heavenly department store is having a clothing sale...very affordable. In fact, it's almost as if the clothing is being given away. The price? An open heart, a consecrated mind, and a yield life...and the grace of a crucified, risen Savior. Thanks be to God.