On the Mind of Christ

On Having the Mind of Christ

Based on Philippians 2:5-11

Palm Sunday 2018

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            Ticker tape parades are not your garden variety parade. Do you know what I mean? There’s always a parade for Independence Day. A lot of cities will have a parade on St. Patrick’s Day. Columbus has one of the largest Pride Day parades in the country. You can count on those parades year after year.

            But a ticker tape parade is different. Those only happen after special events, usually sports victories. Philadelphia had a big ticker tape parade when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. And one of these days, when the beloved Cleveland Browns get their Super Bowl victory, it will be the ticker tape parade to beat all ticker tape parades. These parades are all about celebrating the accomplishment of our fellow citizens. Whether it be a football team, the first astronauts to land on the moon, or some other great accomplishment, part of celebrating the achievement is to throw a parade.

            And so it was, on the Sabbath leading up to Passover that one year, that Jesus got his ticker tape parade. News about his amazing achievements had spread across the land. He taught with authority. He healed people of blindness. He cast out demons. He changed water into wine. He even brought people back to life with a simple word of command. No one could do what Jesus did. He was a VIP but also a man of the people. The religious authorities were suspicious of him. And Jesus was quick to call them out on their hypocrisy. Jesus represented the average person. He wasn’t one of the elite. He was one of us. And what power he wielded. Many thought me might even be the messiah. And so here he was, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, while people along the parade route lay cloaks down on the ground for Jesus to walk on so that dust wouldn’t be kicked up to soil his clothes. And people waved their palm branches with shouts of victory, crying out, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” It was quite a scene, this first century ticker tape parade that Jesus received in his honor.

            How quickly things changed. In a matter of days Jesus was betrayed by Judas and abandoned by his disciples. The crowd turned on him in blinding speed. He faced his accusers, was slapped and spit on, mocked, flogged, nailed onto a cross and displayed for everyone to see, a public execution of the most cruel form. A lynching would have been more humane. In just a matter of days, the great hero, the hope of the people, died, not as a common criminal, but as an enemy of the state, the worst of the worst. It is difficult if not impossible to wrap our heads around how fast Jesus fell from grace.

            But, after all, this is what Jesus had come to do. He knew his purpose. He knew how he would have to go about destroying the power of sin and death in order to save the world and initiate new creation. His crucifixion was all part of the plan.

            And this is part of what makes Jesus so amazing. He did not save the world like a super hero. He didn’t take out the bad guys with his physical strength, his super powers, or anything like that. He didn’t call up a special team like the Avengers or the Justice League to save humanity from eternal destruction. It wasn’t like any super hero story that had ever been told before or, to my knowledge, has ever been told since.

            No, Jesus saved the world in the most unexpected and upside down of ways, a way that no one would have ever expected. Jesus defeated the powers of sin and death by letting those powers win. He surrendered to the powers that be. He did not resist being accused, beaten and crucified despite the fact that he was an innocent man. Jesus won by first losing. And he did this all along knowing that he was setting up a trap that would destroy forever the power of sin and death, a victory that we will celebrate with abandon next Sunday. It was a stealth operation that took everyone by surprise. The savior conquered by freely laying aside his status, his privilege and prerogative as the son of God, and embraced the role of a disempowered nobody of a slave. Rather than calling on a legion of angels to come down and deliver him or take out the powers that be, Jesus allowed himself to be led like an innocent lamb to the slaughter. No one divests themselves of their status like Jesus did. No one who had such power and glory freely and willingly set that aside to be treated so disgracefully like Jesus was, without saying a mumbling word.

            Paul captures this upside down way of Jesus’ saving work by quoting this contemporary hymn of his day which captured the scandalous trickery of Jesus. He who was in the form of God did not regard his equality with God as something to be exploited. He wasn’t going to use the “son of God” card to get out of having to serve others. No, Jesus emptied himself of all that status, of all that privilege and prerogative, taking the form of a slave. How scandalous. Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, and not just any death. The son of God, equal in power and glory to God, was killed on a cross, a method reserved for the worst of criminals. It is incomprehensible that a person who possessed such status and glory would stoop to such degradation. But what did God do? God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, even Caesar, and that every tongue should confess, even Caesar, that Jesus Christ is Lord, not Caesar. Friends, that old Christian hymn is fighting words. That hymn is a barely veiled subversive attack on the powers that be. I am not being hyperbolic when I tell you that if people in those days were caught singing that song in public, they could have been charged with sedition and potentially could have found themselves nailed to a cross as well. We do not fully appreciate how politically charged the Christian movement was in those days. Let’s not forget that while Paul was writing this letter to the Philippian church, quoting this hymn, he was sitting in a prison cell chained to the floor. They all knew how what Jesus had done had completely subverted the order of the world, giving the lie to the powers that be, that the powers of sin and death that the powers of this world yield has been broken by Jesus, who never stopped being equal with God even as he willingly emptied himself of all that status and allowed himself to be disposed of as an enemy of the state.

            OK, let me stop for a minute. Maybe some of you are wondering, “Pastor Kevin, what’s with the ear beating about status, sedition, Caesar bending the knee, enemy of the state talk? That’s sounding pretty political there.” Let me say this. The suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus has many meanings and a multiplicity of implications. The political impact of what Jesus did can’t be overlooked. Let’s not forget that Jesus was crucified because the case was made that Jesus was seeking to lead a rebellion that sought to overthrow the power of Rome. But, of course, what Jesus did is about much more than politics. What Jesus was up to was making possible everlasting life.

            That said, Paul had a reason for quoting this hymn about Jesus. He states the point he is making a few verses earlier, where he writes, “Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord…Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” Paul was likely having to make this point because he had heard that the believers in Philippi were getting into some status seeking and protecting. He doesn’t give any examples. But what might have been going on? I wonder if there were some people in the church who had ambitions of being in positions of authority where they could call the shots. Maybe there were some believers who were attempting to undermine others so that they could then move in and take control. Maybe there were some who were team players in public but in private were plotting ways to undermine the leadership and then take over. Or worse, plotting to start their own group. Maybe there were some believers who felt like they were being overlooked or not given proper respect. They were being asked to clean toilets when they thought they should be running meetings and telling others what to do. Or maybe there were some leaders who thought certain work was beneath them. Maybe there was a whiff of arrogance drifting into the house of believers there in Philippi.

            Paul writes in verse 4, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” He is saying to them, “Hey, this isn’t about what you want, your preferences, your comforts, what works out for you. The kind of Christian community we need is one where everyone is looking out for everyone else, sacrificing your own comforts and preferences and instead tending to the needs of others.” In this way, Paul writes, they will have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. I mean if there is anyone who could sit in the leader’s chair and tell everyone else what to do, it’s Jesus. But that’s not what he did.

            Just think about it. Here is Jesus, the very son of God, equal to God in status. He didn’t need to prove himself to anyone. He had more status than Caesar himself. He knew who really had all the power. Jesus knew who he was even as he humbly took on the role of a servant and was obedient even to the point of death on the cross. Not once did he think he was a worthless slave. Not once did he think somehow he deserved to be treated like he was. If everyone wanted to throw a parade for him, fine. If the crowd wants to scream out “Crucify him,” fine. He didn’t change what he thought about himself, his value, his status. It didn’t matter how anyone treated him. He wasn’t there to impress anyone with his skills and talents. He was there to proclaim the good news, heal the sick, cast out demons, teach how to love God and love neighbor, be killed, and then rise from the dead and ascend back into the heavens. He knew what he was about and what his task was. He was not here to make a name for himself.

            So this is the thing. What Jesus did, taking on the form of a slave, being obedient even to the point of death on the cross, didn’t take anything away from who he is, the son of God and equal to God in status and power. He was still that even as he lived his life of sacrificial service to others. Nothing was beneath him. He freely chose to do whatever was needed for the well-being of others. He knew the power and authority he had and he chose to use that power and authority for the well-being of others and not for his own hunger for power and status.

            The same can be true for us. We don’t have to be chasing after status, scheming to be the one in charge or making a name for ourselves. Why? Because we know who we are. Who are we? We are beloved children of God, every one of us. Of course we aren’t like Jesus. But we are sons and daughters of God. We are, every one of us, extremely precious to God. We are not nobodies, no matter what anyone tells you or how the social pecking order places you or me. Where we fit as far as worldly status takes nothing away from who we are…sons and daughters of God. Our identity as children of God cannot be taken from us no matter what anyone says about us, how we are treated or mistreated, or where we fit in systems of power. Who we are does not depend on where we fit in this world. And you know what? To the extent that we can claim our identity regardless of life circumstances we tap in to a power that is stronger than any other power in this world. The power of claiming your identity as a beloved child of God is no trifling power.

            So what would it look like if we had the same mind as that of Christ Jesus? Maybe a way to get at that answer is to consider what motivated Jesus to do what he did, to take the form of a slave and to do whatever was necessary for the well-being of others. What do you think Jesus was motivated by? Surely, Jesus was motivated by love. When you love someone, you are willing to sacrifice your own interests if need be to care for the interests of the one you love. Parents who love their kids sacrifice their own needs for their kids. Kids who love their parents sacrifice their own needs to care for their parents. That’s just one example. People who love their country sacrifice their own needs to serve the needs of their country. We know that love is what motivates us to put the needs of the beloved above our own. We are motivated in many different ways. We are motivated to make money. We are motivated to feed our need to be needed. We are motivated to be in control. But Paul would urge us to be motivated by love just like Jesus was. Imagine what our family, our church, our community, our nation, our world, would be like if we all claimed our true identity and were motivated by love to put other’s needs above our own? It would turn this world upside down. In fact, the world would be completely new. For once, God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. What a vision to live in to.

            As we begin the journey through Holy Week, and we hear again the story of Christ’s passion, my prayer, for myself and for all of you, is that we will probe deeper into the mind of Christ, be moved deeply by the actions Jesus allowed to happen to himself so that the power of sin and death could be broken for all of us. May we be inspired and challenged to have the same mind as Christ Jesus and live a life of sacrificial love as sons and daughters of God.

The God of Hope

Based on Jeremiah 31:31-34

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            As you know, Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day. This day has become an excuse for people to drink an excessive amount of alcohol, wear green, and celebrate all things Irish. No Irish person in America back in the 19^th century would have had any idea how much Irish culture would be celebrated in this country. Back then, Irish people were fleeing Ireland which was being ravaged by the potato famine. For survival, they risked the trip across the Atlantic Ocean to come to America, a place where they hoped they would be able to carve out for themselves a better life.

            I am sure that it was better for the Irish over here than it was over there. But that doesn’t mean it was a great life for Irish people. The bigotry they experienced from the English didn’t magically disappear on this side of the Atlantic. The Irish in America were widely discriminated against. They were driven into ghettoes, prevented from anything other than menial labor, and stereotyped as drunks, crooks and disease ridden. It was a brutal existence.

            But the Irish that came over to America kept carving out a space for themselves. They clung to the hope that one day their children and grandchildren would have a better life. I doubt if anyone told their kids that one day an Irish Catholic would be president, or that the Chicago River would be dyed green and there would be parades celebrating Irish culture all over the country. But there was hope that one day the Irish would claim their place in the American experiment. There was hope that future generations would thrive in this land of promise and possibility. Hope is what kept them going during those times of turmoil in 19^th century America.

            There was a time several years ago when Kim and I were facing financial ruin. We took advantage of access to easy credit, loaded up our credit cards, and then found ourselves struggling just to make the minimum payments. We seriously contemplated filing for bankruptcy. It was stressful. All that debt weighed very heavily on us. But we had hope that eventually we would claw our way out of this mountain of debt. Slowly but surely, and with the surprising windfall we received from my mom’s sister when she passed away, we were able to get out of that hole. It was hope that our finances would some day recover that kept us making the sacrifices necessary to get to a better place.

            This is the power of hope. In times of struggle and turmoil, when it seems everything is against you, the obstacles are too great, the breaks never come your way, that despair is lurking to pull you down into the abyss. But hope…hope is what has the power to lift you up and pull you forward. Hope is what keeps us believing that one day things will be better.

            Israel found themselves in a terrible situation. They were in need of some hope. Jerusalem had been razed to the ground. The Temple, the center of Israel’s religion, the place where God dwelled, had been torn down stone by stone. The best and the brightest had been herded to Babylon to live in exile. Everything was in shambles. God’s chosen people had lost the land God had given them. It appeared they were a God forsaken people. It was a time of unspeakable loss.

            Israel knew it was their fault. They knew that as a people they had failed in their loyalty to the God who had once delivered them from slavery in Egypt. They didn’t keep God’s commandments. They worshipped other gods. They oppressed the widows and orphans that lived among them. They knew that God was punishing them for their overall failure to be faithful and obedient.

            But this was bad. I mean they were decimated. Their future looked really grim. The question had to be asked; has God forsaken us? Do we have a future? I imagine that there was a real concern that a line had been crossed. Perhaps there was no return. Maybe God was through with them. They would die off in Babylon. God would go choose another people who would be more faithful. It was just a matter of time before Israel would fade away into the dustbin of history.

            So Jeremiah went into action. He offered his people a word of hope, a promise that Israel does have a future. Jeremiah told the people that God has not given up on them. God is faithful. God’s love is steadfast. And this is what God will do at some point in the future. God will write the law, not on tablets of stone but on the tablet of the heart. In that day everyone will know God, not just in their heads but in their hearts. Israel will intuitively know what is the right thing to do. Their hearts will be in the right place. And God will forget the sin of Israel. It will be a fresh start. God will see to it that the people will know God and live the right way. Never again will the people be punished for their rebellious hearts because God will make their hearts right. God is bound and determined to have a people who will love, be faithful, and obedient to God’s commandments.

            Now Jeremiah tells them this is what God will do in those days. That’s an open ended time period. He didn’t give a specific time of when God would do this. And to be honest what Jeremiah said would happen still hasn’t come to pass. God hasn’t written the law on the heart of Israel. The future society that Jeremiah described was a vision of utopia, a perfect society that has not been realized. Utopia doesn’t exist.

            So did Jeremiah give Israel false hope? I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right to say that a prophecy from God would in any way be false. Maybe this vision that Jeremiah presents to Israel will some day come to pass. Sure, this vision was given to Israel perhaps 2500 years ago. Who’s to say that this vision won’t become reality 2500 years from now?

            Whether or when this vision becomes reality, maybe the more important point is that God will not give up on Israel. This is what Israel needed to hear in their time of turmoil, that all was not lost, that God still loved them and had not written them off. Israel needed to hear a word of hope so that they would not fall into the depth of despair. And God, through Jeremiah, gave them that word of hope. They had a future. Things will get better. God will make a way for them.

            Skipping ahead about 500 years, Paul was writing his letters to the churches, sometimes while sitting in a jail cell. He wrote about faith, hope, and love. We talk a lot about faith. We talk a lot about love. But let’s not forget about hope. Sometimes hope is what we need to get through tough times.

            In life we sometimes find ourselves in terrible situations and wonder if there is any hope. All the options are bad. The goal you set for yourself appears way out of your reach. As you lay awake in the middle of the night and run through your mind all the conceivable possibilities to get out of the jam you’re in, nothing seems to work. The problem is so big, so much out of your control, there’s nothing you can do to fix it. There’s no hope.

            Maybe there are times when we are in hopeless situations. If you are Alabama and you are down by 20 points against Villanova and there’s only 2 minutes left…you are not going to win that basketball game. If you have a D grade in English and the last assignment for the class is a final essay, I don’t see how that essay will be good enough to get you an A if that is your goal. Toys ‘R Us discovered that their business model of big box stores to sell toys in an era of online shopping was hopeless. If you are supposed to be in San Diego this afternoon to attend your friend’s wedding but all the flights at Boston Logan, where you are, have been cancelled because of a blizzard…you aren’t going to make it to San Diego that day.

            But just because we find ourselves in hopeless situations does not mean there is no hope at all. God is known by many names. And one of the names for God is hope. God is a god of hope. God is always with us. So we always have hope, even in hopeless situations. God is always engaged, opening up new possibilities for our lives. We are sometimes in hopeless situations. But in life there is still hope because there is still God making a way out of what appears to be no way. With God there is always hope.

            When Jeremiah gave to Israel that vision of hope, he didn’t tell them that everything would go back to the way it used to be. He didn’t say there would be a rebuilt Temple and a restored Jerusalem. He said that what God was up to was establishing a new covenant. Now in some ways the covenant is the same. God is still the one who initiates it. God is still committed to Israel. God still has commandments that need to be followed. But in other ways the covenant is different. The law will be written on their hearts. All their sins will be forgiven and forgotten. No one will have to teach them to know God because everyone will intuitively know God. God will still be their God. They will still be God’s people. But it will not be the same. You might even say that what God is up to is establishing something better. God is establishing greater possibilities for covenant faithfulness. There is where the hope rests, not in the repeating of the past but the establishment of something different, something new, something better.

            This is what hope is about. Hope is about trusting that things will be better some day. Being better means they won’t be the same. Things will be different. Not a copy of the glory days of the past. Not the realization of some utopian fantasy. But things will be better than they are now. Some how and some way God is going to work it out, open up new possibilities that brings about better outcomes, life that is more flourishing, community that is more aligned with God’s desires. This is what hope is about, trusting that tomorrow will be better than today.

            Jerry was living a good life. He was working in management, making a six figure income. He had a family. He was achieving his life goals. But then he got tripped up with addiction. He lost his high paying job. Then he lost his marriage. Then he lost his car. He kept losing until he found himself without a safe place to lay his head. He had spent time in the city’s shelters. It was in those shelters where he had to deal with people who were not properly treated for their mental health issues, where he had his stuff taken, where he caught some weird illness that compromised his lungs and put him in the hospital for a few months. He would have nothing to do with the shelters anymore. So at night he would slip over to the public library and get between the outside walls and the hedge to bed down for the night. In the morning he would rise, gather his things and slip away before the library opened.

            Jerry was hurting. He had lost so much. From living well to struggling on the streets in such a short period of time was incredibly hard to adjust to. It was the way people looked at him, or, more accurately, didn’t look at him, that hurt the most. It was humiliating. His will to keep going on was severely tested. He wondered if his life even had any meaning. There were nights he wished he didn’t wake up the next morning.

            Nevertheless, Jerry didn’t forsake the faith he learned as a child. He didn’t understand why this had happened to him, but he didn’t give up on God. Over time, he began to appreciate the little things. He became a humbler person. And one day he came across a pastor who didn’t just blow him off. The pastor took him to Wendy’s where they could have a bite to eat and begin to build a relationship. The pastor helped Jerry any way he could. Someone in the pastor’s church had a spare bedroom and was willing to take Jerry in. As the weeks and months passed, Jerry’s life stabilized. His life on the streets had taken a toll on his health. He still was having to work through some of the trauma he had experienced during his time of spiraling down. But he was in a different place, a better place. And Jerry gave the glory to God, who he believed watched over him and kept him alive during his most difficult times. God had brought him to a better place.

            This is our hope, that God never gives up on us. No matter what we go through in life, God never forsakes us. We don’t know how things will work out or when things will turn around. But if we can just hold on and trust that God is with us, then there is hope. And to have hope is not a small thing when everything around you is falling apart and you have lost so much.

            Please join me in prayer with these words from Paul’s letter to the Christians living in Rome: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13) Amen.

The Healing Power of Christ on the Cross

Sermon

March 11, 2018

Fourth Sunday in Lent – Year B

Based on John 3:14-21

The Healing Power of Christ on the Cross

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            Have any of you been snake bitten before? How about a spider bite? Bee sting or wasp sting? Those hurt don’t they. The sting is painful enough, but as the venom starts working its way through your body, the pain gets worse and worse. For some, the body reacts to those stings and bites so badly that if they don’t get medical treatment quickly they may die. The sting is bad enough. But that poisonous venom, that’s what really hurts.

            Sin is sort of like getting snake bit. I believe that’s what Jesus has in mind when we hear these words from John 3. Jesus compares his saving work to when Moses lifts up a bronze serpent in the desert. Sin and being snake bitten go hand in hand. You see, sin is more than just doing something bad. Sin is more like poisonous venom that lingers in you and will harm you, even kill you, if an antidote isn’t applied. Sin is like snake venom coursing through your veins.

            When Jesus talks about Moses lifting up that bronze serpent in the desert, he’s referring to this story we find in Numbers 21:4-9:

            From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

            We can see how Jesus takes this story from Israel’s past as a symbol for what happens when Jesus is lifted up on the cross. The bronze serpent, when gazed upon with faith, brought healing. Just so, Jesus, the one who took on himself all the sin of the world when lifted up on the cross, brings healing to those who look on him with faith. They receive healing from the poison of sin. Yes, Jesus was lifted up on the cross so that no one might perish, but have everlasting life.

            This is the good news of the gospel! We can be healed from the corrupting poison of sin by looking upon Jesus and believing in faith that he can heal us. There is healing for our sin-sick souls. All who look upon the crucified Jesus in faith will be healed.

            Yet, so many people refuse to do this. So many people refuse to acknowledge the depth of their sickness and their need for healing. They know their lives aren’t right but they don’t realize how messed up they really are. They think that if they just try harder, that somehow everything will work out all right. Most of you have heard of Alcoholics Anonymous. The program has twelve steps toward recovery. The first step in the program is to acknowledge that you need help, that you don’t have enough power to help yourself. Many people acknowledge that their lives are a mess. But they will not acknowledge that they need help. It is hard to admit that you are helpless, that you can’t do life by yourself. We don’t have all the answers. We don’t have enough strength. We can’t make it through life on our own. We need help. The first step toward healing, whether it be from addiction or from sin, is to admit that you need help.

            What today’s scripture teaches is that those who admit that they are powerless over the effects of sin, and are humble enough to stand in the glaring light of God’s truth, warts and all, trusting in the healing power of Jesus, that they will receive healing from the poison of sin that is ruining their lives. This is such a crucial step, to humbly stand before Jesus, completely vulnerable, aware of how sick you are, hoping that Jesus won’t reject you but will heal you. John Wesley spoke of the “almost Christian.” An “almost Christian” is one who believes that Jesus saves us from sin. But the “almost Christian” has not become humble enough to stand before Jesus, fully aware of how much they need to be saved, and trusts that Jesus can heal them. An “almost Christian” believes Jesus can heal. A true Christian believes that Jesus is healing them.

            It is hard for us to admit how bad it is, how sick we really are. It is hard to let the light of God’s truth shine on us, in those dark places where we try to keep things hidden. We try to avoid being honest about how messed up we are by thinking to ourselves, “I’m not that bad a person.” We wouldn’t say we were as pious as Job but we are good people. But let’s look at Job for a minute. Job was so pious even God was bragging about him. But when the time of testing came, eventually, Job grew angry with God. The testing revealed in Job the sin of pride. Job could not understand why God was letting this happen to him. He didn’t deserve it. He demands of God to explain Himself. Then, God finally answers Job by blowing him away with a string of questions that reveals to Job how arrogant he was. The light of God’s truth shined brightly on Job. But instead of being defensive, Job recognized he had messed up. Job said to God, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I had heard of you, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” In spite of how pious he was, so pious God himself was bragging on him, the glaring light of God’s truth made him realize that he was not well at all.

            Dorotheos, a great spiritual teacher from many centuries ago, taught from experience that the closer we draw to God, the more evident it becomes to us of how sinful we truly are. We all live with blinders on, even those of us who have given our lives to Jesus. We have heard and believed the gospel, but have we seen God? If we did, would we not realize just how corrupt we still are? Surely, like Job, we would despise ourselves and repent in dust and ashes if we stood before the glaring light of God’s truth. We would beg to look upon the cross of Christ and be healed from the poison of sin coursing through our veins.

            We have to let the light of God’s truth shine upon us. It will be painful. Like all of you, I believe in Jesus. I trust in Christ alone for my salvation. But when the searchlight of God’s truth gets flipped on, I join Adam and Eve and run for cover! Am I the only one? How hard it is to be completely honest before God and acknowledge how sin sick we are, even as believers. In Psalm 26:2, the psalmist sings, “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind.” How many of us would want to endure that kind of test?

            For many of us, including me, we have to increase our trust in the power of Jesus to save us from our sin. We have to trust not in our own goodness, but rather trust in God’s mercy, who sent Jesus to be the one who can draw the poison of sin out of us. This is the good news for us: we can’t save ourselves, but God can save us. God has provided the remedy for the sin sickness that is killing us. We can look upon the cross and be healed, believing that if we look on the cross and trust in the healing power of the cross of Christ, that we will have everlasting life. The poison of sin is drawn out of us when we gaze upon the cross of Christ. That is what Jesus taught. And it is a mystery. We don’t know how it works. But it is what God has revealed to us. The cross of Christ is the means by which we are healed from sin. The more we can truly believe that with all our heart, the more we are able to let our lives stand before the bright spotlight of God’s truth and be able to say, “Do not look on my many sins, but have mercy on me, O God, in your loving compassion, and save me.”

            I know it can be scary. It’s scary to acknowledge that we are hopelessly messed up. It’s scary to confront the painful truth of ourselves. It is scary to acknowledge that our lives, which may last seventy, eighty years, even longer, are but a puff of wind, a flower that blooms during the day but at night dries up and withers away. It is scary to admit that all our hopes and dreams, our successes and disappointments, our goals and plans, are but a flash in a pan. The years of pain, rejection, and abuse we are inflicted with, the wearing away of our bodies, all leads to death. It’s scary to admit that we are going to die.

            Sarah Foulger offers a powerful perspective on this. She finds it interesting that God has Moses make a bronze serpent, that which the people feared most. The people didn’t want to see poisonous snakes. They were frightened of them. Those poisonous snakes were the source of so much death. But, if they could muster up enough courage to gaze upon what they feared, the poisonous snake, then they would be healed. If they could confront their fear, and realize that the power of God can overcome what they fear, then they will be healed.

            Foulger makes the connection for us. We fear rejection. Christ was rejected. We fear pain. Christ suffered. We fear being abused. Christ was abused. We fear death. Christ died. As we gaze upon Christ on the cross, we realize that our fears of abuse, pain, suffering, rejection, even death, can all be overcome because we can know that God does not condemn us. God does not condemn us, God loves us. God does not reject us, God forgives us and claims us as one of His children. We come to realize that God’s love for us is steadfast. Nothing can separate us from God’s love except our own choice. We discover that the poison of abuse, suffering, rejection, and death, has lost its sting in Christ who conquers. We need not be afraid of anything, because perfect love casts out fear. And to live without fear is to live a full and abundant life.

            This is the gospel. We can stand in the glaring spotlight of God’s truth, and allow our life, our thoughts, our deeds, be tried by God. And we can be assured that we will flunk that test. Yet, God loves us anyway because God knows of what we are made. God knows that we are but dust and ashes. We can be assured that God loves us, in spite of our many shortcomings. We can always look upon the cross of Christ and be healed.

            I invite you to pray with me:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

From him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation.

My fortress; I shall never be shaken.

On God rests my deliverance and my honor;

My mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.

            - portions of Psalm 62

Committing to God's Code of Conduct

Sermon

Mar. 4, 2018

Based on Exodus 20:1-17

“Commitment to the Code of Conduct”

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            Someone once came up to Jesus and asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” And Jesus answered, “The greatest commandment is to love God with your heart, mind, soul, and strength. But there is another one equally important, which is to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. If you follow these two commandments, you are living right.” Love God, love neighbor. The key word is “love.” If you live a life of love, then you are living within God’s will. It could not be more simple, right? Well…it’s easy to say. It’s easy to remember that living right means to love. But it’s not always easy to do. We sometimes don’t feel very loving. There are some people we find extremely difficult to love. We have had our love spurned and it broke our heart, making us leery of making ourselves vulnerable again. Sometimes love requires doing or saying difficult things. Love is easy to say, a word that gets thrown around a lot. I love you and I also love rocky road ice cream. Love has the power to transform the world. Love also can be demanding. Love is what makes life worth living.

            Love is also a great way to understand what the Ten Commandments are about. These commandments are more than just what you see on those billboards when driving along the highway or something people argue about being displayed at county courthouses. These commandments are not meant to be an exhaustive list of do’s and don’ts. No, these commandments emerge from a place of love. They are intended to serve as a set of guidelines that help us understand what living a life of love looks like. They are a teaching rubric. I want us to take some time today and revisit the ten commandments and think about their purpose and intent. There’s no time to explain each commandment. So I invite you to focus with me on why these commandments exist and how they can guide us in our journeys through the wilderness.

            The ten commandments are grounded in what God did for Israel. God saw what the Egyptians were doing to the Hebrew people, how they were enslaved and oppressed. So God called forth Moses to lead the people out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. God initiated all this. God saw their oppression. God raised up Moses. God worked amazing signs of power. God led them through the wilderness. God brought them to Canaan, to their land of freedom. God did all this.

            Now that God had done all this, having delivered them from bondage and brought them to a land where they could live in freedom, the question for Israel became, “How can we demonstrate our gratitude? Because you are our God, how do you want us to serve you?” See, this is the important point to remember about these commandments. God had acted to save the people from slavery. God acted first by claiming Israel as God’s people. Israel was the recipients of God’s gracious act of liberation. It was only natural for the people to want to know how the God that delivered them wants them to live. They couldn’t just say, “Thanks, God. We’ll take it from here. Why don’t you go on and find some other people to save.” That’s ridiculous. They owe their freedom to God. Without God they would still be enslaved. It was only right and natural for them to want to know how they might serve the God who had freed them. And so, God provides the people these commandments to help them get a sense of what was expected of them. God gave these commandments so that they have some direction on how to properly love God and love one another as a community.

            What God gives Israel in these commandments is a kind of hedge. By that I mean a boundary line. If you stay on this side of the hedge all is good. But if you cross over the hedge you are straying into dangerous territory. One way to look at these commandments is God saying to Israel, “Whatever you do, make sure you obey these commandments. If you do these things, stay within the lines, you’ll be good.” Also, note that these commandments are all about action. They are about worshipping God instead of any other gods. They are about not making idols. They are about keeping the Sabbath, honoring your parents, not killing, or committing adultery, or coveting your neighbor’s stuff. These commandments are about how you live your life. There is nothing about having correct beliefs. There is no theology in these commandments. These commandments are all about how we do life together. They are commandments that provide boundary markers that keep a community together, that keep a community ordered, that keep a community healthy, safe and life-giving. These commandments provide boundaries that make possible the flourishing of love for God and for your neighbor as yourself. If you want to be a part of a community of love, these commandments set up a hedge of protection for such a community. When the people ask their liberating God, “What do you want us to do?” God’s reply is, “Obey these commandments, and you are doing what I want you to do.”

            So what about us? God gave these commandments to a specific people in a specific time in history. Are we meant to follow these commandments as well?

            First of all, the God of Israel is our God too. As Christians, we believe there is only one God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the source of power, the source of love and life. There is no other God. Our faith is not one that affirms the existence of a multitude of gods and goddesses. We believe there is only one God.

            But also, let’s face it. The ten commandments provide an excellent code of conduct for us. These commandments are not all inclusive. They don’t cover every possible ethical challenge. And we can always boil it down to the bumper sticker: Love God, love others, love self. That’s it in a nutshell. But these ten commandments provide a bit more explicit direction for us as to what loving God and loving others looks like. They are boundary markers for us as well. We can be assured that if we abide by these ten commandments that we are on safe ground, that we are living a life of love that honors God.

            Still, we have to acknowledge that abiding by this code is not always easy. Just for a few examples, in these times it is extremely difficult to keep the Sabbath. Long gone are the days where everything is closed on Sunday. It seems in these days many of us have to be flexible and choose some day other than Sunday as a day of rest, but even then we are tempted to run errands and respond to email. One day a week of “doing nothing” just feels wrong in a society where we are driven to always be doing something productive with our time. And Jesus challenges us by saying things like, “You have heard…’You shall not murder,’ …but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment…You have heard…’You shall not commit adultery,’…but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” In an age of fake news, it’s pretty simple to retweet false information about people, or repeat stuff we read in the news about what anonymous sources tell reporters, also known as gossip and hearsay. Is not the passing along of falsehoods and half-truths bearing false witness against your neighbor? And there is endless debate about what “you shall not kill” means and how to apply that, even the translation of the word: is it kill or murder? Is it ok to kill one person in order to save the lives of many? So, yes, this is an excellent code of conduct. But life is often messy and the application of these commandments is not always simple. Love, just like life, is complicated.

            God knows how hard this is for us. God knows that the power of sin, which has been broken by Jesus, is still active and effective. God knows how we struggle sometimes with knowing what is the right thing to do, much less actually do what we know to be right. God knows that we don’t always act with love. God knows that sometimes we harm others without intending to. God knows that sometimes when we are hurting, or confused, or tired, or angry, or afraid, that we are not our best selves and do and say things we later regret. We sometimes get it wrong. We are prone to miss the mark. None of this is a surprise to God. This is why God’s grace is so amazing. This is why it is good news that God is quick to forgive. This is why God is patient with us. This is why God’s Spirit dwells within our hearts, always working to heal, to stir up our conscience, to deepen our awareness, to mature us and make us wiser. We are works in progress and God is constantly working on us. And the work that God has begun in us will be brought to completion.

            I think what it all comes down to is whether or not we will commit to this code of conduct. We’re never going to be perfect. I know it is part of the Wesleyan tradition we are a part of to expect to be made perfect in love in this life. When I was ordained, I had to say “yes” to that question. I do expect to be made perfect in love in this life. This means that every thought, word and action is led by love. Being perfect in love doesn’t mean not making mistakes. It means acting out of a place of love. But that’s not always easy. Sometimes the repeated failures of living out of a place of love becomes discouraging. Sometimes we are tempted to give in or give up. But God does not give up on us. And if we don’t give up on God, if we don’t give up on love, keep ourselves committed to this way of life, then it will be o.k.

            Also, remember that this commitment to follow these commandments is a commitment we make with God and with each other. You might remember last week I talked about how we are called to be a cross-carrying community. We are to confront and work through our suffering together. To survive we have to come alongside others who love us and who can ask us the question, “Where does it hurt?” The same is true for our commitment to God’s code of conduct. We make this commitment with each other and look to each other to help us when we aren’t sure what is the loving thing to do. Peer pressure has a role to play. What I mean is, it’s a lot easier to follow through with commitments when you are surrounded by people who share the same commitments. One of the reasons why I go to the gym on a regular basis is because I know some regulars there and I don’t want them to be wondering about why I haven’t been around lately. I have to show up. We are a community that has committed ourselves to observe the commandments of the God who loves us. How might we apply peer pressure with each other to live by these commandments? Now, you know what I mean. I’m not saying we need to be bullying each other or guilting each other to live by God’s commandments. That wouldn’t be loving, now, would it? The only point I’m making is that we can’t help but influence each other, for good or ill. So we have the potential to influence each other in how we live out our commitments to God.

            So which commandment do you need to work on the most? I wonder if there is a particular commandment that you are struggling with. I know a lot of people struggle with keeping the Sabbath. Maybe if you are honest you may have a few idols you sometimes place ahead of God. Or maybe you struggle with bearing false witness or you sometimes covet something your neighbor has. Take a moment now and reflect on the commandments. Let me read them to you in a simplified format I came across:

1.      Worship only the Lord God.

2.      Don’t worship idols.

3.      Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.

4.      Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

5.      Honor your parents.

6.      Do not commit murder.

7.      Do not commit adultery.

8.      Do not steal.

9.      Do not lie.

10.  Do not covet what other people have.

            Which one of these speaks to you as one you need to focus on? Is there someone you can talk to about this, who can encourage you and keep you accountable? If you are drawing a blank, I invite you to keep thinking about it. Talk to God about it in prayer. Ask God to help you keep your commitments to this code of conduct, even as you express your gratitude to God who loves you and will never abandon you.