Friday, May 21, 2021
Sermon May 23, 2021
May 23,2021 “What’s A Holy Spirit?” Rev. Peter Hofstra
The
Holy Spirit is our focus today. Our Acts
passage is the ‘usual’ for Pentecost. The
promise of the Holy Spirit comes earlier, from Jesus, in John 15. Jesus is going to heaven and is sending
another. As the church receives the Holy
Spirit, a baptism of the Holy Spirit, as did Jesus. From Luke 3: “John…(said)…“I baptize you with
water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming;… He will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and fire…Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus
also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22and
the Holy Spirit descended upon him…like a dove. And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Luke wrote Acts, notice the foreshadowing,
baptizing with the Holy Spirit AND fire, the tongues of flame.
In
John 15:26, Jesus speaks of the role of the Spirit. 26”When the
Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth
who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” The Spirit testifying on Jesus’ behalf, by
the descent upon the disciples, is establishing the church, the finalized House
of God. And as Jesus finalized so many
things of God begun in the Old Testament, so it is here. In Exodus 35, we find the Holy Spirit at the
establishment of God’s first house, the Tabernacle.
30Then Moses said to the Israelites: See,
the Lord has called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the
tribe of Judah; 31he has filled him with divine spirit, with
skill, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, 32to
devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 33in
cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. 34And
he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the
tribe of Dan. 35He has filled them with skill to do every kind
of work done by an artisan or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue,
purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of
artisan or skilled designer.
The
last half of the Book of Exodus lays out in extraordinary detail what went into
the creation of God’s house. It can be a
snooze-fest to read if we do not remember how significant this is, God dwelling
among God’s people, foreshadowing what is happening here in Acts. The tabernacle was limited, focused. The church is not, she is the tabernacle
perfected through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, perfected by the
permanent descent of the Holy Spirit to create something beyond simple human
capacity for the worship of God.
Under
the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit inspired the leaders of God’s people. After the people settled in the Promised
Land, they were led first by the judges, local leaders who rose up to deal with
local emergencies and insurgencies. The
Holy Spirit is recorded as coming upon some of them, people like Joshua and
Gideon and Samson. It made them into
powerful war leaders. The Spirit came
upon the kings as well. When Samuel was
going to anoint Saul as king, we read in 1 Samuel 10:10, we read 10”When they were going from there
to Gibeah, a band of prophets met (Saul); and the spirit of God possessed him,
and he fell into a prophetic frenzy along with them.” But the Spirit could come and leave. David was anointed to replace him and we read
in 1 Samuel 16, “13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed
him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to
Ramah. 14Now the spirit of
the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from
the Lord tormented him.”
What we know about the Holy Spirit in
these instances is that it made those it took hold of into more than they were
before. Artisans became
super-artisans. Men became kings and war
leaders. The power of God took things up
a few notches. But it had
limitations. It did not remove sin from
those it took hold of. We see that as we
watch Saul fall out of favor with God.
Even under the power of the Spirit, sin leads him away. For David too, read the story of his life and
you will see that alongside this faithful man of God there is a tremendous
amount of sin and the suffering that is its consequence. So, the Spirit upon us today is the same, it
makes us more than we are by ourselves, but it does not purge sin from our
souls. Because God’s plan was never
about removing the sin from our beings, but rather forgiving it by the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we
shared last week and today, as Jesus was ascending into heaven, he sent the
disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of another, for the Coming of the
Holy Spirit, which would do for them as it did for Jesus at the beginning of
his ministry. But the difference to what
came before is that the promise of the Holy Spirit is one of permanence, that
God is always with us, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, in fulfillment of
God’s Plan in the world.
So
what then is this Spirit? Is it like a coat
of transcendent paint over the sinful walls of our being? Well, the bible speaks of two parts of the
human construct, the spirit and the flesh.
Throughout the New Testament, the flesh part is the sinful part, while
the spirit is what is being renewed by God-until the Second Coming, when the
flesh will be renewed as well. The key
is renewal, of something already a part of who we are.
I
think we can see this in the creation story.
In Genesis 1, it says we are created in God’s image, male and female, we
were created in God’s image. Genesis 2
talks about the mechanism. Man was created from the dust and God breathed
into this dust the breath of life. Where
theology went sideways was to impose a misogynist view of the ENTIRE bible from
the creation of woman from Adam’s rib.
The church is still, all to often, stuck in ‘woman as helper’,
therefore, second class. Which, in
Jesus, is plain old WRONG. Male AND
female were created in God’s image. And
despite some of Paul’s sidebars, he is the one to remind us that, in Jesus,
there is neither male nor female. We
fall into the sin of hierarchy, a sin undone in the coming of the Holy Spirit.
But
that is a tangent that easily distracts us from the very idea of the breath of
life. It is specified upon humanity, as
being made in the image of God.
Elsewhere, in Ecclesiastes, Solomon, the wisest person ever, builds on
this when he talks about the life of humanity being like, but still different
from, the life of animals. There is
something in being in God’s image, of the breath of life, that establishes
humanity as a creation apart. That folds
into the language of the human spirit, something corrupted in the fall of
humanity, forgiven in the resurrection of Jesus, and renewed in the Holy Spirt.
I
believe the sense of the Bible is that we, as humans, are beings of spirt and
flesh, both fallen to sin. The Holy Spirit
is the divine that, when we surrender to it, renews the human spirit with the
power of God’s own spirit. I think that
is where we get the stories of the calm of martyrs in the early church. They were in the arena, facing off against
lions and whatever other cruelties the Romans could come up with, but there was
peace. They knew what is next, that the
pain and destruction of this life cannot match the peace we have in Christ when
the renewal of our spirit and flesh is made complete in the life to come.
It is
a moment I have been privileged to witness with certain people, who have come
to the end of their journey on this earth, know the peace of God as they
prepare for the next step into the life to come. But that Spirit does not just show up on the
doorstep of death, it can be seen throughout the lives of people who have given
themselves over to the power and wonder of Jesus Christ. You know how every Sunday we offer the peace
of Christ one to another? It is in the
power of the Holy Spirit that makes the possibility of this peace read in our
midst.
The
human spirit is ultimately what makes us so powerful. It is illustrated powerfully in the first Captain
America movie. They wanted to make a
super soldier. And who was Steve
Rogers? Was he the big, gorgeous
specimen that the serum made him into?
No, he was the scrawny kid getting beat up all the time. But with the indomitable spirit that said, “I
can do this all day.” You could kill
him, but you were never going to beat him.
It was that spirit, that moral center of goodness, that sense of
fairness, that made him the ideal candidate for the serum, because those
qualities anchored him in his newly found physical abilities.
There
is a modern day parable for you. The
little guy with the huge spirit, the big heart.
The power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is that it renews our
own human spirits into that huge spirit.
Jesus calls the Spirit the Advocate in the gospel of John. The Spirit will glorify Jesus, according to
verse 14, because it will take what is of Jesus and declare to we who have the
Spirit within us. And what is Jesus
about? Love, sacrifice, giving his own
life in place of his friends. It is
Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus with
us. The Holy Spirit upon us. It pushes God from being head knowledge into
heart knowledge, not just something we think about, but something we feel,
something we do things about.
That
is the lead-in to Pentecost. Where do we
go from here? Look up the fruit of the
Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. Paul
is very eloquent about that. It is
pretty awesome that which we receive from God, by Jesus, through the Holy
Spirit. Its what those men and women
received in Jerusalem some ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven. And, to continue through Acts, it is the Holy
Spirit that is the a game changer. A
hundred and twenty then, if memory serves, to billions today.
Order of Worship May 23, 2021
First Presbyterian Church
May 23, 2021
10:00 AM
Order of Worship
CALL TO WORSHIP (Ps. 104)
When you send forth your
spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may
God rejoice in all God has made — who looks on the earth and it trembles, who
touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord
as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be
pleasing, for I rejoice in the Lord.
Bless the Lord, O my
soul. Praise the Lord!
Let us worship the Living God.
*Hymn
of Praise: “Come Holy Spirit, Our Hearts Inspire”
1.
Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire, let us thine influence prove; source of
the old prophetic fire, fountain of life and love.
2.
Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee the prophets wrote and spoke), unlock the
truth, thyself the key, unseal the sacred book.
3.
Expand thy wings, celestial Dove, brood o'er our nature's night; on our
disordered spirits move, and let there now be light.
4.
God, through the Spirit we shall know if thou within us shine, and sound, with
all thy saints below, the depths of love divine.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)
Merciful God, You poured your Spirit upon gathered disciples
creating bold tongues and ready ears. We confess that we ignore your Spirit
among us; we are silent about you when we should speak, and listen to almost
any voice but your own. We do not listen for your word of grace which invites
us; We do not speak the good news of your love which invites others. Have mercy
on us, O God. (silence for individual prayers of confession) Gracious God,
Transform our timid lives by the power of your Spirit. Fill us with a flaming
desire to be a believing and witnessing people, doing your will for the sake of
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*SILENT PRAYERS
OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Scripture announces that this is a true
saying and is to be universally accepted: Christ came into the world to save
sinners. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Friends, in Christ you
are forgiven. Know this and be at peace.
*THE GLORIA
PATRI
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
INVITATION: “Dear Lord, I
need You, please come into my life today.
Amen”
LESSON:
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
15:26 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27
You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
4b
"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with
you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where
are you going?' 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has
filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your
advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come
to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove
the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because
they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the
Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of
this world has been condemned. 12 "I still have many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide
you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak
whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14
He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15
All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what
is mine and declare it to you.
LESSON:
Acts 2: 1-21
When
the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And
suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided
tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of
them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now
there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in
Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was
bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of
each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these
who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each
of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia
and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors
from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our
own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All
were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But
others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
14 But
Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of
Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to
what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for
it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was
spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and
glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.”
SERMON: “What’s A Holy Spirit?” Rev. Peter Hofstra
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (The Apostle’s Creed)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and
earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he
rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand
of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the
dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of
saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting. Amen.
PASSING OF THE
PEACE
THE OFFERING OF
OUR TITHES & GIFTS
God has blessed us to be a blessing.
With the gifts we have received, we give back to God so that God’s mission in
the world may be advanced and God’s glory may abound.
*DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from
whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him
above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*PRAYER OF
DEDICATION (John 17:6)
Generous
God, from your abundance you have freely given; now from our abundance we give
you what is yours. Receive now what we offer so that your world of which you
have not grown weary, and your glory in which the world abides, may know more
of your abundance. In Christ’s name we pray, amen
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Christina Rossetti, 1830-94)
O God the Holy Ghost who art
light unto thine elect, Evermore enlighten us. Thou who art fire of love,
Evermore enkindle us. Thou who art Lord and giver of life, Evermore live in us.
Thou who bestowest sevenfold grace, Evermore replenish us. As the wind is thy
symbol, So forward our goings. As the dove, So launch us heavenwards. As water,
So purify our spirits. As a cloud, So abate our temptations. As dew, So revive
our languor. As fire, So purge out our dross.
Our
Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory
forever. Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN: “Holy Spirt,
Truth Divine”
1. Holy
Spirit, Truth divine, dawn upon this soul of mine; Word of God and inward
light, wake my spirit, clear my sight.
2. Holy
Spirit, Love divine, glow within this heart of mine; kindle every high desire;
perish self in thy pure fire.
3. Holy
Spirit, Power divine, fill and nerve this will of mine; grant that I may
strongly live, bravely bear, and nobly strive.
4. Holy
Spirit, Right divine, King within my conscience reign; be my Lord, and I shall
be firmly bound, forever free.
*BENEDICTION
*THREE FOLD AMEN
Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Jerry Andrews,
pastor of First Presbyterian Church in San Diego
Saturday, May 15, 2021
May 16, 2021 Order of Worship
First Presbyterian Church
May 16, 2021
10:00 AM
Order of Worship
CALL TO WORSHIP
We gather today in the
name of our God.
We come to worship God Almighty,
in whom we believe.
We place our trust in our
God.
We trust in God whom
Jesus called Abba, Father.
Let us worship the Living God.
*Hymn
of Praise: “All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name”
1.
All hail the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall; bring forth the
royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all. bring forth the royal diadem, and
crown him Lord of all.
2.
Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, ye ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves
you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. hail him who saves you by his
grace, and crown him Lord of all.
3.
Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget the wormwood and the gall, go spread your
trophies at his feet, and crown him Lord of all. go spread your trophies at his
feet, and crown him Lord of all.
4.
Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty
ascribe, and crown him Lord of all. to him all majesty ascribe, and crown him
Lord of all.
5.
Crown him, ye martyrs of your God, who from his altar call; extol the Stem of
Jesse's Rod, and crown him Lord of all. extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod, and
crown him Lord of all.
6.
O that with yonder sacred throng we at his feet may fall! We'll join the
everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)
We pray, O Lord, not due to our own wisdom, insight and strength,
but through you. You intercede for us because we do not know how to pray as we
ought. You even hear and know our sighs, which are too deep for words. Forgive
us, O Lord, when our prayers are filled with empty phrases and meaningless
platitudes. Forgive us, O Lord, when our prayers fail to express our love for you
and our neighbors in need. Forgive us, O Lord, when our prayers do not lead to
engagement with justice and peace. Fill us with your word and grant us a new
beginning in you. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, we pray. Amen.
*SILENT PRAYERS
OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Romans
8:34)
Hear the good news. Who is in a position
to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ
reigns in power for us and Christ prays for us. My friends, hear and believe
the good news of the gospel.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Thanks be to God!.
*THE GLORIA
PATRI
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
INVITATION: “Dear Lord, I
need You, please come into my life today.
Amen”
LESSON: Luke 24: 44-53
44 Then
he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the
psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the
scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is
to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these
things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay
here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.50 Then
he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed
them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried
up into heaven. 52And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy; 53and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
SERMON: “Repentance Came First” Rev. Peter Hofstra
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (from The Apostle’s Creed and A Brief Statement of
Faith)
We believe in God, the Maker of
heaven and earth. In sovereign love God created the world good and makes everyone
equally in God’s image, male and female, of every race and people, to live as
one community. Yet God acts with justice
and mercy to redeem creation. In everlasting love, the God of Abraham and Sarah
chose a covenant people to bless all families of the earth. Hearing their cry, God
delivered the children of Israel from the house of bondage. Loving us still, God makes us heirs with
Christ of the covenant. Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child, like
a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home, God is faithful still.
PASSING OF THE
PEACE
THE OFFERING OF
OUR TITHES & GIFTS
As God’s blessings shower upon us, we
respond to God’s amazing grace with our hands, our feet, our hearts, our
prayers and our tithes and offerings. Let us bring our gifts in gratitude and
praise.
*DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from
whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him
above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*PRAYER OF
DEDICATION (John 17:6)
Christ has
made the name of the Lord known to us, so we give thanks. In your name, O Lord,
use these gifts, and the time, talents and very lives they represent, for your
glory as your kingdom breaks forth in this world. Amen.
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Psalm 1; John 17)
As Christ prays on behalf of
his disciples, let us pray on behalf of all those Christ loves. God of grace,
the world is full of those who delight in your teachings and those who scoff at
your ways. We pray that we might meditate on you day and night, that we might
be an influence for good in the world.
May we be like trees planted
by streams of water.
God of wisdom, the world is
full of those whose faith seeks understanding and those who discard the truth.
We pray that we might receive your Word and know that you are the truth that
transforms our lives.
May we be like trees planted
by streams of water.
God of justice, the world is full of those who
seek to do what is right and those who seek only their own self-interest. We
pray for those who protect the innocent and seek to overcome systems that
oppress. May we carry your light until all might see your way.
May we be like trees planted
by streams of water.
God of healing, the world is full of those who
are sick, injured, alone and in need of care; and those who dedicate their
lives to caregiving and healing. We pray that your holiness and wholeness will
draw near to all those who are in need, that they might be filled with your
presence.
May we be like trees planted
by streams of water.
God of unity, the world is
filled with those who claim that they belong to you and those who actively work
against your plans and purposes for a new creation. We pray for reconciliation,
courage and faith for your church; that your followers will be sanctified in
the truth; and that we might proclaim the good news of redemption in you with
great joy to a world in desperate need of good news.
May we be like trees planted
by streams of water.
As Christ prays on behalf of his disciples, we
lift up to you the prayers of our hearts for those we know and love, trusting
them to your protection and care. (Silent prayer.) Hear our prayers and give us
confidence and courage that we might join our voices together, praying with the
words that Christ himself taught his disciples,
Our
Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory
forever. Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN: “Blest Be The
Ties That Bind”
1. Blest
be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred
minds is like to that above.
2.
Before our Father's throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes,
our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.
3. We
share each other's woes, our mutual burdens bear; and often for each other
flows the sympathizing tear.
4. When
we asunder part, it gives us inward pain; but we shall still be joined in
heart, and hope to meet again.
*BENEDICTION
*THREE FOLD AMEN
Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Matt Rich, pastor
of Unity Presbyterian Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina
May 16, 2021 Sermon
May 16, 2021 Luke 22: 44-53 Rev. Peter Hofstra
There
is a meme that shows a historic painting of Jesus ascending into heaven. But being this little one-celled attempt at
humor, the caption goes something like, “Help me you morons! I am being kidnapped by aliens.”
That
is how Ascension Day is locked into my mind.
A dumb cartoon. But as I have
reflected on Ascension Day for this sermon, my thoughts have been disturbed. When Jesus ascended into heaven and the faith
He brought to us really took off, it ended up leading to some really crazy
stuff. Like how many people faith has
killed due to religious wars. And this
is not just like the Crusades attempting to reconquer the Holy Land back in the
1100’s and such. It is the religious
wars that tore Europe apart after the Reformation. There is a little talked about chain of
thinking that says one of the reasons that Christianity is so weak in Europe
now is precisely because of the toll of violence that has been committed in the
name of Jesus. And lets not even talk
about how heretics have been dealt with.
How about how Christianity continues to bleed into political debate to
this day?
All
of this has happened since Jesus left.
Makes you wonder. But consider
what Jesus said on his way up. The
Messiah was to suffer and then to rise from the dead on the third day. That was supposed to take the place of the
suffering of the world. The new deal
that Jesus was laying down for us was a two-step process. There is the repentance and the forgiveness
of sins. That is the message that is to
be proclaimed to the world. Repentance
and forgiveness, this is the mechanism of Third Level Love, that we talked
about last week.
A
quick recap: First level love is loving
God with everything. Second level love
is loving neighbor as ourselves. Third
level love is to love one another as Christ has loved us. The way to make that happen is through what
Jesus speaks of today, the repentance and forgiveness of sins. Everyone is our neighbor, not everybody is our
friend, because under God’s law, we are called upon to love our neighbor but
not necessarily to love one another.
I
think I should clarify a little piece here.
Jesus speaks of the repentance of sin and the forgiveness of sin. It is relationship building that he is
talking about. Because it was in the
destruction of a relationship where this all began. If you think about it in today’s terms, Adam
and Eve ate a piece of fruit. Yes, God
told them not to. Yes, this was a
deliberate human choice to turn away from God.
But it was a fruit. An apple, a
pear, a pomegranate, a banana, something.
And
it was not that they happened to be walking past that tree and they went
“Ohhhh, yummy.” They were tricked,
deceived, thrown out of Paradise due to the work of the serpent.
If
you go back and read the story of Adam and Even getting evicted, in light of
what Jesus says that the disciples are supposed to go and share with the whole
world, I wonder if there was another way that story could have ended. Because I was raised on two possible endings
to the story of Adam and Eve. They ate,
they sinned, they got evicted. Or, they
did NOT eat, they did not sin and there is no need to renew the heavens and the
earth because our first parents got it right.
Jesus was able to stay in heaven and compliment them as good and
faithful servants.
But
what if there was a third way? When God
confronted Adam about what happened with the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, what was Adam’s response? Let me
quote: ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me,
she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’
And then Jesus moved along the chain of
events. He went to Eve. And she said, let me quote: ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ And it takes Jesus as the Second Adam to come along and fix everything
up in our relationship with God. So we
know from Jesus’ ascending words that the forgiveness of sin is because of this
founding event in the capacity of humans to screw up.
But what if Adam and Eve did the first thing Jesus says
here. Jesus tells the disciples to
proclaim the repentance of sin. What if
Adam said, “I am sorry Lord, I screwed up.
Eve came to me, it looked good, and we ate.” What if Eve said, “I am sorry Lord. I messed up.
The serpent got me talking and thinking and I blew off the one
commandment you set before us. I am
sorry.” What if they had repented,
instead of passing the buck? Adam blamed
the woman AND he blamed God. “The woman
whom YOU gave to be with me.” Eve blamed
the snake.
Would it have made a difference? What I can say for sure is it wouldn’t have
hurt the situation. In light of what
Jesus is saying at his ascension into heaven, it makes me wonder. Remember how the passage starts: "These
are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything
written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be
fulfilled."
24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures… What were they understanding? That the Messiah must die and be resurrected
three later. Why? So there is the proclamation to the world of
the repentance of sin and the forgiveness of sin. We hang so much on the forgiveness of sins as
the gift of Jesus that it blinds us to the reality that the repentance of sin is
ALSO the gift of Jesus from the cross.
If we
understood that, it would change everything.
Because every time power, whether military or political or social or
legal or moral or whatever kind of power it is, every time power has been used
in the name of Jesus to change somebody else’s behavior, it is
unchristian. Because when we use power
to change someone’s behavior, in the name of Christ, we are presuming that, in
so doing, we are bringing them into the forgiveness of Christ. We justify it by presuming we are doing them
a favor. But if we have not given the
person the opportunity to come to Jesus on their own, to repent of their sin of
their own volition, we are NOT carrying out the word that Jesus commanded the
disciples bring to the world.
I am
NOT saying that there is not a time to use military, political, social, legal,
moral, even peer power to change somebody’s behavior. But do not presume to be doing it in the name
of Jesus. There is persuasive power and
there is coercive in the world. Christianity
is built upon the principle of persuasion, not coercion-presuming the power
comes from God into our hearts.
I
think we can define pretty well what forgiveness of sin means. To be forgiven by Jesus is to be spared the
consequences of our sins, the punishment we would otherwise have inflicted upon
us. That again goes back to the story of
Adam and Eve. What was the consequence
for eating of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil? It was exactly what the serpent denied would
happen, that they would surely die. We
have been dying for our sins ever since.
That
is divine level forgiveness. How about
human level? It is the means of
repairing relationships. Somebody screws
up, there is a way to fix it. Somebody
has deliberately gone out of there way to be mean, evil, or otherwise take
advantage of others and they have a change of heart, there is a way to fix it
with the other person, to get that place Jesus spoke of last week, to love one
another, to be friends.
But
what does repentance really mean? It
means owning up to what you have done.
It is inclusive of asking the person whose been wronged for their
forgiveness, engaging the second part.
It includes making amends, being willing, as far as possible, to fix
things. But it means something else as
well. It means forgiving yourself.
There
is a step in the twelve step system used by AA about making amends for what you
have done to others because of your alcoholism.
It is not about forcing your repentance on someone else, they may not
want anything to do with you. But the
step talks about going as far as you are able.
Because there are times and moments where you will not be forgiven. It might be by choice, someone is so hurt by
what was done that they cannot find what it takes to offer forgiveness. It might be by circumstance. You may not know who you wronged. Or they may not be available to you to repent
to. The best examples I have of that are
broken relationships between parents and their grown children, when the parent
passes on before things are resolved.
Repentance
is the mechanism by which, through the love of Christ, a person can lay their
own ghosts, their own guilt, and their own fears to rest. Because the first response to repentance is
divine forgiveness. That’s Jesus’ love,
his death and resurrection on the cross.
In Christ we can lay down our ghosts, our guilts, and our fears.
Knowing
that, owning that, living into that, can be harder than offering forgiveness to
someone else. There is much truth in the
statement that we are our own worst enemies.
But I believe that is why Jesus lays out repentance first as the message
for the world. It is the law of love
working in us. First, it is the love of
God made manifest in God’s forgiveness of us.
Then it becomes the love of neighbor when we can, in turn, forgive and
be forgiven. That builds level 3 love,
where we love one another as Christ has loved us.
It is
when sinful humanity attempts to insert human power into this process, defining
what should be repented, what needs to be forgiven, that we quickly get to a
place where there is blood on our hands.
Please understand that I get it, there is a place for a power and there
are times and situations where there will be blood. But do not call that Christianity. The blood spilled and the body broken and the
human killed on the cross-out of love for us-is what wound up that part of who
we are and what we are as people of faith.
And
so it will be by that new way, by repentance and forgiveness, offered, neither
coerced nor demanded, that will change the world as well. That is the power of God breaking into the
power of the world. That it will not
happen as quickly as we like, or as profoundly as we hope for, that is when we
fold our hands and bow our wills into God’s plan. But when I have repented, been forgiven by
God, followed that with my forgiveness of self, I stand ready to truly be God’s
servant to the world in need of His love.
That is the message Jesus sent through his disciples. Amen.