Blessing/Grace First

Matthew 5:1-12

31 January 2010

Sermon by Rev. Gerard Booy

How is this for a way to start a sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”? If there ever was a way to get people’s attention right away, then this is it. With this word on blessing, Jesus starts His sermon on the mount. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he says, and follows it up with a crescendo of eight more words of blessings. 

All of us desire to be blessed. Our hunger and thirst for happiness is one of the driving forces in our lives. We want to experience deep, lasting happiness; we long for lives that are meaningful. And so we pursue things that we believe will make us happy. We spend time with loved ones, participate in sports, start a hobby, create special events, go to the movies, read a good book, take a long relaxing bath, go on vacation, exercise, or work hard to ensure our promotion. At the same time, we eliminate and avoid things that will make us miserable.  

We are in serious pursuit of happiness and yet, true, lasting happiness is not a common thing. Jesus’ blessings sound rather strange in this world where there is so much pain, suffering, and injustice; where people are so self-absorbed; where we experience so little peace and grace. Jesus’ blessings sound out of place in this world where people have so much to live with, but so little to live for, as Victor Frankl described our times. To be fair, the blessings sounded just as strange in Jesus’ own time and in the early church where people faced temptations, often lived in desperate poverty, were insulted, false accused, and persecuted.

We can say clever things about happiness, such as that you can have everything that your heart desires and still be deeply unhappy. I read somewhere that Oscar Wilde said one of two disasters can happen to us. One, that our dreams do not come true, and two, that our dreams do come true. We also know that it is true that you can search for happiness your whole life long and never find it, because happiness is actually a by-product, and not something in itself. 

The blessing that Jesus talks about, lie in the opposite direction of where we would normally look for it. He talks about a profound happiness, but when we read the beatitudes, we quickly realize that Jesus is not talking about ordinary joy. The blessings that Jesus proclaims, is not dependant on our circumstances, or on an abundance of things or opportunities to enrich our lives. It is often in spite of circumstances and the lack of things and opportunities. Blessing is not the emotional high of someone who is on cloud 9, nor is it a matter of positive thinking. It goes deeper. It is more existential. Jesus talks here about the ultimate form of well-being. It is like the biblical concept of shalom, a peace that we have with ourselves, with others, and with God. It is wholeness and fullness of life. It is the joy of salvation, and the joy of being loved and cared for. 

Jesus’ ministry just started at this point. In chapter 4 of Matthew we read about His temptation in the wilderness, how He begins to preach and teach in the synagogues, how He calls people to follow Him, and how He blesses people by healing the sick, the afflicted and the possessed. Many people are following Him. And then we see Jesus interrupting this very successful ministry of healing to preach. In Matthew’s gospel, the Sermon on the Mount literally interrupts the narrative on healing at the end of chapter 4 and the narratives of healing in chapters 8-9. The One who blesses people with healing, the Messiah, is now talking to His people. He sits down like a rabbi and begins by connecting all the aspects of their lives - their needs, their work for the Lord, and their suffering for the Lord - to the grace of God.

The Beatitudes (these sayings on blessing) is the introduction to the sermon. The body of the sermon contains strong ethical teaching. It is the main body of ethical teaching in the New Testament. It is often thought that Jesus referred to this Sermon when He said before His ascension, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” There is an interesting parallel between the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments that Moses received also on a mountain, and which is the main body of ethical teaching in the Old Testament. Jesus’ Sermon goes beyond the Ten Commandments though, affirming them, but also pointing out the surpassing righteousness of those who belong to the kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount became the standard for Christian living. 

Like the Ten Commandments, the Sermon starts not with exhortations and obligations, not with law and demands. It starts somewhere else; it first announces grace. In the Old Testament, the people are first saved from slavery in Egypt, and included in a covenant relationship with God, before God gives the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament the Messiah is born and He starts to heal people, before He delivers this Sermon. The Ten Commandments start with these words, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery,” before it goes on to say, “You shall have no other gods before me.” In the Sermon we first hear, “blessed are the poor in spirit,” before we hear, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

Why is this important? It teaches us about Jesus and who He is. Jesus does not come to us with demands. He first offers grace. He gives Himself and then instructs us on how to live in His grace. First, blessing, because in Christ the grace of God breaks into the world and into our lives. “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another,” John writes (John 1:16-17), “for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” He meets us in our poverty, in our sadness, where we lack power and hunger thirst for righteousness and He offers healing and salvation – grace! He meets us where we are serving the world in His name, and He offers love – grace! He meets us where we are suffering for His sake and He gives joy and hope – grace! 

Jesus’ loving, graceful presence makes the difference. Without Christ, the kind of life spoken about in the sermon would be impossible. Without Christ, the blessings announced in the Beatitudes would be simply impertinent. No one else can say these things, but Him who brings God grace to the people of this world. The blessings show our dependence on Him in everything.  

The Beatitudes also become our agenda. As followers of Christ, we are called to be a community of grace. As people who are picked up and healed by God, we are sent to minister in His name. And when we are beaten down and persecuted for doing that, He stands by us and picks us up again, and sends us out again. Frederick Bruner, in his commentary calls this our spiritual aerobics. He uses a wonderful scheme to explain the Beatitudes. According to him, there are three groups of Beatitudes:

1.      Beatitudes of grace and faith, addressed to those in need, those who are poor (no. 1-4)

2.      Beatitudes of service and love addressed to those who are following Christ’s example in ministering to the world, those whose lives are full of mercy, purity, and peace (no. 5-7).

3.      Beatitudes of joy and hope addressed to those who are hurting, who are taking flack for serving Jesus Christ (no. 8-9). 

What this scheme, with its sequence shows, is that the beatitudes is our agenda. We are a people called to offer the grace of Christ to the people of this world. Our scope, like the scope of the beatitudes is wide. It includes the church (disciple group), but it goes beyond the church (crowds). Our scope is as wide as the love of Christ. Christ wants to reach all people, those who are miserable, grieving, powerless, and justice-deprived, and also those who are merciful, pure, peacemaking, and persecuted. Jesus wants to save people, and in following His agenda, we let Him reach out wherever He wants. That is our purpose. And that is our joy.

                You Did Not Choose Me, But I Chose You

John 15:9-17

24 January 2010

Sermon by Rev. Gerard Booy

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.” (John 15:16)

This is an extremely important text to come to terms with as we consider what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. It is the starting point for considering our purpose. It helps us to understand what it means to be a people who are called to ministry, a people who have been chosen and appointed to be disciples, a people whose lives do not belong to themselves but to the One who called them as Paul poignantly describes in these verse:

·         “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

·         “None of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:7-8)

·         “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

The concept of being chosen and called, of not belonging to ourselves but to God, is strange in this world, isn’t it? We are taught from early on to value our independence and freedom. We like to think that we are self-made, that our clever choices brought us where we are. We live in a culture where the freedom to choose for ourselves is everything. William Willimon writes that choice has been elevated in our time to the defining characteristic of human beings. “I choose therefore I am,” he writes tongue in the cheek. 

It seems logical then to think about discipleship along these same lines, and to view Christian ministry, for example, as we would view a career path or a course of study that we have chosen for ourselves, or a club that we choose to join, or an activity we choose to do. I choose, and I do it according to my interests and the perceived benefits that it might have. Or I might choose not to become involved. The bottom line is that we think that like those other aspects of our lives, being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a voluntary thing as well. Christians can choose to be disciples or not to be disciples. We think you can be a Christian and choose not to have a ministry. We see ourselves as volunteers, and God has to be very glad when we decide to do something. It is up to us, we think, to choose according to our interests and passions, and for our own fulfillment, enjoyment, and entertainment. Nothing is further from the truth.

The Bible is, from beginning to end, a book about God calling people to do God’s work on earth, and of God’s ongoing commitment to equip them for service by making them into people who are faithful to His will. The Christian life is a life of discipleship. Christ calls people to follow Him, to be fishers of men, to bring the message that the Kingdom of God is near, to go and make disciples of all the nations, to baptize them and to teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded. “As the Father sent Me,” Jesus said, “I send you.”

Discipleship is not our idea; it is not our making; the initiative for discipleship does not come from us; it is not a volunteer activity. Discipleship is God’s idea. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.” 

The early disciples obviously knew the truth of Jesus’ words. They experienced it literally. In the time of the New Testament, the practice was for students to go out and choose a rabbi under whom they want to study, and then to join that rabbi’s school. For the Twelve disciples, things worked different though. Rabbi Jesus was the one who went out, saw them, walked by, and called them to follow Him. He chose them. “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” The initiative for our faith, for our salvation, and also for our discipleship belongs to Jesus. He claims our lives and brings us together in His Body. We are indebted to Him as we are indebted to our mothers for our lives, our genes, and our values. As we do not choose our parents, we also did not choose Christ. He chose us. 

He chooses us to be His friends. “You are My friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:14-15) The word used for servant in the text is also the word for slave. The context usually determines the meaning. In this instance I believe the context call for slaves, to bring out the contrast with friends even more clearly. The change of address from servant/slaves to friends is significant. It shows that Christ chooses us to be in a unique relationship with Him. We choose our friends and take them into our confidence; we share our dreams and purpose with them; we walk closely with our friends; we come up for our friends and would give our lives for them. The same is not true of slaves who simply receive instructions and follow them. Christ calls us friends. He lay down his life for us and gives to us the greatest love possible. And He calls us to remain in His love.  

That is the fruit we are called to bear. “Remain in My love” is the other big theme in this passage. In the verses before (1-8) Christ uses the image of the vine and the branches and calls His disciples to remain in Him. Now we know what that means. To remain in Christ means to remain in His love, to be fully immersed in His love, to dwell in it and to make ourselves at home in it. Jesus’ ministry is the result of the Father’s love for this world; of the Father’s resolve to make things right, to save the people of this world, and to restore the world. The same is true of our discipleship. It is steeped in the love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is our foundation, and that is our pattern. 

The love that Jesus talks about is not a touchy - feely thing. Jesus connects it to obedience. Again, it is based on and shaped after Christ’s obedience to the Father. John mentions Jesus’ obedience quite frequently throughout the gospel. Thus it is with us. Love is seen in obedience. “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2-3) Augustine once said, “Love, and do what you want.” This sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? But what he meant is that when you know love, you don’t need any of the other commandments. Love is seen in Christ’s self-giving for us, and our self-giving for one another. And it is seen in our prayers.  

Love is what we are chosen for. Love is how we continue the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is how we participate in the redeeming and resurrecting work of Christ. Love is how we bear fruit.

Is it surprising then that He talks about joy in this text? Joy is mentioned seven times in the upper room discourse (John 13-17) versus only one time elsewhere in the gospel. This seems strange, doesn’t it? The upper room is such a solemn place. But, where God’s purpose is fulfilled, where salvation breaks into people’s live, and where people learn to remain in Christ’s love, you expect nothing less than joy. The joy of Christ, and therefore, also, our joy.

Our calling is to recover this sense of discipleship, of being chosen for God’s purpose. We do it by remaining in His love and bearing His fruit. Our challenge is to think more in terms of discipleship and less in terms of church. When we think discipleship, we are a movement of the Holy Spirit, of people under the control of the Spirit who bear the fruit of Christ’s love. When we think church, we are an institution that grinds along with great difficulty. When we think discipleship, we consider ways to obey, to love, and to pray. When we think church, we have a whole different set of priorities, such as survival, maintenance of facilities, procedures, structures, etc. 

Having a clear sense of Christ’s call, of being chosen for ministry makes a huge difference. When we carry on outside this purpose, we lose our connection with the vine and wither, we become less able to inspire others and to attract outsiders;  we become slaves of our own idols. We become small and petty. We also burn out. James Fowler said that burnout is often the outcome of the call of God that has been ignored, suppressed, or violated in our lives.  

But when we live within Christ’s call, our ministries have meaning and purpose, hope and energy, direction and perseverance, conviction and passion, and more love. 

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”

             The Vine and His Branches      

John 15:1-8

17 January 2010

Sermon by Rev. Gerard Booy

The image of the vine and its (his) branches is attractive and clear, and its logic is undeniable. We don’t have much trouble understanding what he says. Our problem has to do with living it.

It forces us to consider personal questions like these: Do I abide in Christ? Do I cling to Christ like a branch to its vine? Do I draw my spiritual nourishment from Him? And it poses those same questions to the church. This text is also a text for the church. We should not mistake it for a personal text only. Jesus talks to His disciples, using the second person plural to address them all as a group. So, do we abide in Him? Do we depend on Christ and draw our spiritual nourishment from Him? Do we bear the fruit of Christ in our community? Does the will of God come to fruition in our lives? Branches abiding in the vine and bearing fruit to the glory of God – is this true of the church?

We do not have to look at the church for too long to realize that the church is not doing very well in our time. Many congregations are struggling. And that is not just a local issue; it is a global problem. The church is struggling, losing members, facing financial hardships, closing doors, fighting battles over the interpretation of scripture, and on and on it goes. The church (I’m talking about church in a more general way) is facing an identity crisis, a crisis of faith. It is also losing its foothold in society, and in many places is side-railed as irrelevant, and/or blamed for many of the problems societies are facing. In the light of all of this, desperate measures are being taken and churches are trying all kinds of things in the hope that it would make them more attractive and that they will appear more relevant.

There are no easy answers to the problems the church is facing, but after reading John 15, I cannot help to wonder how much of this happens because the church simply does not remain in Christ? Could it be that the church came to depend too much on itself? Could it be that the church became too much of an institution, and too little of a living body of believers?

Abiding sounds simple, but the living of it is not simple at all. The failure to remain is Christ is indeed at the root of our problems.

The metaphor of the vine and the branches is a wonderful way of teaching us that Christ has a special purpose with His disciples. It is not unlike a gardener who expects his/her vine to be fruitful. We, however, often turn things around. Instead of asking, what does Christ expect of us, we ask, what do we expect of the church? What do we want the church to be like? These are the wrong questions. The real question for disciples of Christ is, what does the Lord expect from us? What is Christ’s purpose with our lives? And what then are we supposed to be like?

Christ’s purpose with us is that we bear fruit. How do we understand this? To explain the concept of fruit, I want to go back to the Old Testament where the image of a vine is used to depict the relationship between Israel and God. God brought a vine (Israel) out of Egypt. He cleared the soil and planted the best vines. He watched over it, and waited for it to bear sweet grapes (Isaiah 5). These sweet grapes are explained in Old Testament texts in terms of justice, righteousness, faithfulness to the Lord, trust in the Lord and so forth. But Israel bore sour grapes instead, as the prophets tell us.

This expectation did not change. We are the new people of God, the branches that are grafted on the vine (Christ). He prunes us and nourishes us so that we can bear fruit; so that the will of Christ will come to fruition in our lives. We are called to live obediently and to do the will of God; to represent the love of Christ in a world full of hate and suspicion; to serve one another in the way that Christ served us; to repent of our sins; to follow Him and learn from Him (discipleship); to depend completely on Christ in faith; to be controlled by the Spirit; and to be faithful witnesses so that others would come to Christ through our ministry.

There is something we have to know though. We cannot, and we shall not, bear fruit by ourselves. We can only bear fruit if we remain in Christ; in other words, if Christ, through the Spirit bears fruit in us. The text emphasizes the negative – not by yourself. It is said in three different ways. Not by yourself – we have to hear this very clearly. Why? Because it is the nature of sin and sinful people to try and be independent; to think that we can do it on our own. We insist on that. We rely on our own strength, our experience, our knowledge, our efforts, our traditions and habits, our innovations and creative thinking, our financial reserves. The history of the church is full of examples of people who have lost their dependence on Christ, who did their own thing for their own reasons, who became distracted and lost the way, and became false witnesses instead. When, for instance, the emphasis in ministry shifts from worshipping God to the way we are supposed to do it (which could be anything from our worship tastes and traditions, to how others do it these days), we are in danger of relying on ourselves instead of Christ. When the emphasis shifts from doing ministry to managing the affairs of a congregation, we are in danger of forgetting Christ’s call. When the emphasis shifts from mission and stewardship to maintenance and facilities, we have to ask whether we are remaining in Christ. When we emphasize pragmatism over prayer, we have to see the red lights flashing. When we stop questioning our motives and reasons for doing ministry, we are in moving in dangerous terrain. “Not by yourself,” Christ says. The third time he puts it even stronger, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” We are branches. Apart from the vine, we have no existence.

“Remain in Me”, Christ says, and repeats it 8 times in this short little text. What does he mean? The metaphor shows a close organic connection between the vine and the branches, a relationship if you like. The branches are grafted into the vine and grow from the vine. Christ is talking about a relationship by which the branches depend for their life on the vine. The life-giving sap flows up from the vine, through the branches and enables them to bear fruit. “Remain in me” reminds us that a personal relationship with Christ is at the heart of Christian living. Again, the church keeps forgetting it, replacing it with activities designed to keep people busy, and with the notion of doing work for the church. Doing work for the church, and working alongside other Christians are good things, but they can also become substitutes for a personal walk with Christ. “Remain in me,” Jesus says. It is personal. We are not invited to remain in some sort of doctrine, nor in some form of church government. We are not called to remain in the church. “In Me,” Christ says. The author to the Hebrews writes, “Keep your eyes upon Jesus.”

Christ has more to say about remaining in him. “Remain in Me, and I in you”, he says. There is a double sense of remaining at work here: you in me and I in you. The relationship is not one-sided. He dwells in us and fills our lives with the Spirit.

It is actually overwhelming to think this through for a while. The words sound so ordinary, but who is it that dwells in us? It is Christ the Lord, not just a man. I-am-the-vine is one of seven I-am-sayings in John’s gospel. I am the bread of life; I am the light of the world; I am the gate for the sheep; I am the Good Shepherd; I am the resurrection and the life; and I am the way, the truth, and the life, are the others. Jesus’ I-am-sayings are divine self-disclosures of Christ. He identifies Himself as the Lord, YHWH, who revealed Himself to Moses saying, “I am who I am.” He is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord who heard His people cry and came down to save them, the Lord who led them through the sea, the Lord who gave His life and rose again. He remains in us and we in Him!

What does it mean in terms of our lives to remain in Christ? Verse 7 gives a clue as it combines “remain in Me” with “and My Word remains in you.” Paul wrote to the Colossians along those same lines, “let the Word dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16). Remaining in Christ, means that we have to take the Word more serious, and that we live in such a way that the Word transforms our minds, informs our decisions, directs our steps, and sets our goals. Jesus therefore also connects “remain in Me,” with obedience (John 15:9) and with discipleship (John 15:8).

Christ gives us a wonderful promise. When we remain in Him, our lives will be fruitful. The sap of His life will flow through us, His death, His victory over sin, His resurrection, His love and grace will bear fruit in our lives. Our prayers will change. There will be more joy in our discipleship. And, we will be pruned by His word to bear more fruit.

Pruning is the work of the Father through the Word of Christ. Pruning is an act of love. A gardener who does not prune his/her trees does them no favour because they soon start to grow wild and are in greater danger of breaking. Trees that are not pruned properly actually bear less healthy fruit. Pruning may be painful, but unless God clears away the branches that bear no fruit, the excess wood, and the wild shoots, unless God prunes that which is false, deceptive and destructive, that which is a waste of time, and the idols that we build, we are not going to be fruitful. There is a great need for pruning in our lives. Even though we are rooted in Christ, there are still habits, thoughts, attitudes, motives, and behaviours that have to be pruned so that Christ will bear more fruit in us. We therefore take great care of the Word and let it have its rightful place. That is the only way by which we will be the people God has called us to be. Only so shall we stand, established in faith; shall we endure and survive the trials that come our way; shall we be kept from falling from the way.

The Father’s purpose is that we remain in Christ and bear much fruit. Christ’s purpose, and therefore the purpose of the church, is to glorify God by doing just that.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

                             The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

December 27, 2009

Sermon by Gerard Booy

Here, at the end of the year, I would like us to think about worship. What happens when we worship? Why do we worship? Why do we need it? Worship is at the heart of who we are as a church and what we do. It shapes us; it shapes our beliefs, our community life, and the way we approach life. How we worship determines to a great extend how we live. It is good therefore to get back to the basics, and to be informed by a great text like Revelation 5.

We read in the text that the Lamb, who was slain, purchased with His blood people for God from every tribe, language, people and nation. Well, we are that people, purchased for God and established by the Lamb to be a kingdom of priests who serves God.

Chapters 4 and 5 of the Revelation describes an awesome scene of worship that takes place in heaven. It begins with John seeing a door that stands open in heaven. He hears a voice calling him, inviting him to enter (the voice of the Christ). John enters and immediately finds himself before the Throne where God sits in majesty, in grace, and in holiness. Light shines forth from the throne and around the throne are gathered the people of God through the ages, the church (symbolized by the 24 elders) and all of creation (symbolized by the 4 living creatures). All of them are fully engaged in worship. They fall down before God, lay their crowns before the Throne, offer songs of praise and adoration and lift up the prayers of the people. They worship, and are joined by thousands upon thousands of angels. All these voices rise in a growing crescendo to the glory of God. Everything and everyone is swept up in praise.

I don’t know about you, but every time that I read this vision I get goose bumps.

Now here’s the thing, this is what we are involved in when we worship. We are part of that worshipping crowd. We participate in the worship that takes place in heaven. With the believers through the ages, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Mary, Elizabeth, Ruth, Lydia, Paul, Timothy and John, with the angels we are gathered before the throne of God and the Lamb. We too fall down and submit ourselves. And all of this happens while we sit in these pews, reading from the NIV Bible, singing from the Book of Praise, bringing our meagre offerings, and listening to yet another sermon by Gerard. All of this happens when you take hands and bow your heads in prayer as a family, when you kneel beside your bed to pray, when you seek God’s guidance and presence during a meeting. We are involved in something grand, something eternal. There is nothing ordinary about worship.

It is sad, therefore, that we so often turn it into a war zone about style; that we are so terribly pragmatic about it, making it into something that is so predictable and so mechanical; that we have made it into something that is about us, subjecting it to our imperfect tastes; that it gets twisted into a program for our entertainment; that we seek so hard to control our worship; that we expect so little of it; that we come so unprepared.

We have lost that deep sense of participation in the heavenly drama that takes place when we worship. We have lost the meaning of what it is about, what is going on, and what it is for.

Worship brings us into the presence of God, of the God who talks. People of God have always known Him as the God who talks; who communicates with people, making Himself known to them, calling them to service, revealing His will, showing their sins, and making clear the purpose of their lives. In worship, we participate in this conversation. We respond to the God who talks. Worship is both God’s word and our answer to it.

But something else happens as well when we engage in this conversation. We become participants in the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation. We are named and invited to participate in God’s saving grace. Chapter 5 is very dramatic. It begins with the vision of a scroll in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. When you hear the word scroll, you immediately think about the papyrus rolls on which the Torah and Books of the Prophets were written, don’t you. You think about the pictures you have seen of scrolls in the synagogue. The Scroll represents God’s Word. It includes scripture, and points to God’s purpose with creation, God’s purpose for the people He created, God’s plan with the church. It contains the story of the judgement of sin and of salvation through sacrifice of the Lamb.

Several prophets had visions of similar scrolls. Isaiah saw a scroll that was sealed. The words could not be read. It was closed because the people worshipped God with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him. They came to church, but they merely followed the rules (Isaiah 29:11-12). Ezekiel is given a scroll to eat, a scroll written on both sides with laments, mournings, and woes. He eats and then is told to speak (Ezekiel 2). David saw a book in which all the days of his life were written (Psalm 139:16). And Daniel is told to seal the book that contains the prophecies about the future (Daniel 12). The scroll is full, it is written on both sides and contains the story of salvation, the unfolding of history and the fulfillment of God’s purpose.

The scroll is God’s. It is in God’s hands.

But it is closed. An angel goes out to look for someone worthy to take it from God’s hand and open the seals. The one who receives it has to execute God’s plan. But no one is found. The angel goes through the whole created universe. He searches on the earth, above the earth and under the earth. But not one of God’s created beings is worthy to do it. Marva Dawn puts it this way, “Creature powers cannot unlock the secrets of the mysteries of the Creator.” Not a single thing, not a single person in the whole of creation can take the scroll and open it. John weeps bitterly. We’re lost.

Worship teaches this. Salvation cannot be found anywhere in this world. Everywhere else we go, the emphasis is on us, on what we can do, or say, or should do to make the world a better place. Everywhere else we hear the message that with enough effort we can save ourselves. Worship reminds us that this is nonsense. There is one thing that our efforts, our power, our knowledge, our money cannot achieve and do for us. We cannot take the scroll and open it. We cannot save the world. Saving the world is not the work of gifted teaches, or great leaders, or skilled workers, or smart scientists. Neither is it the work of passionate evangelists and committed Christians. We can’t. No amount of work, of money, of goodwill, of power can make us worthy to take the scroll and open it.

As John continues to weep, an elder taps him on the shoulder and says, “Don’t cry. Look! The Lion of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed.” There is One who can! The Lion of Judah is worthy to take the scroll and open it. He can bring about what is written. All of a sudden John’s memory is flooded with Old Testament promises and prophecies. Indeed. Of course he can. God promised His coming. The Lion will come with Lion power, judging the wicked and saving God’s people.

John turns to see. What he sees comes as a surprise. He doesn’t see a Lion, he sees a Lamb who was slain. Not a fierce and vicious Lion, but a meek Lamb led to the slaughter. In worship we come to see the unfolding of God’s plan, not through the brute force of a Lion, but through the willing sacrifice of a Lamb. And yet, the Lamb stands. He is alive and standing strong. He stands at the centre of the throne. His power is perfect (symbolized by his seven horns. Horns in Jewish symbolism stand for power). And from Him the Spirit goes out into the world to convict the world of sin, and God’s righteousness, and to lead the believers in the truth (John 16).

The Lamb is worthy. He takes the scroll from the right hand of God and we learn to view history, life, through the lens of the Lamb. That is why worship is Christ-centered. There is nothing to sing about if the Lamb does not take the scroll. There is no real answer to our prayers unless Christ opens the scroll. Without Christ there is only bitter weeping. Without Christ there is no hope, no grace, no salvation. Christ is the one through whom we are invited, through whom we know God, through whom we are saved, through whom God’s kingdom is established.

Worship is not about us. We are often led to believe that worship, like everything else in a consumer-driven society, is a commodity for us to us. We start to behave like consumers, picking and choosing our way through the isles of the worship stores, subjecting it to our likes and dislikes. We have to like it, we are told. Liking it becomes the criterion. We are led to believe that we own our worship; that we are in charge of it. Worship, we think, is about us. Nothing is further from the truth. We are invited, we are included, we are given a role, but worship is not about us. Worship is about God and the Lamb. It is Christ-centered.

Worship therefore is also Word-centered. The Word directs our attention away from ourselves to the work of God. The Spirit of Christ uses the Word to reveal the truth about Christ, about God, about the condition of the world, and about the condition of our own lives. The Spirit of Christ uses the Word to train us in godliness and holiness.

There is a tendency to move away from the central role of the Word in worship. Many worship leaders and many worshippers want to reduce the role of the Word in worship, replacing it with other nicer things to do. But that is only to put ourselves back in charge again.

Worship on the other hand is to submit to God. The word of choice in this text is “to fall down”. The elders and the creatures fall down before the throne, they fall down before the Lamb. They fall down and as they do, they “lay their crowns before Him who sits on the throne.” Falling down, we submit to God and we learn to accept the way of the Lamb as the way for our lives as well. Falling down, we say Amen. To say Amen is to say Yes. It is an affirmation. In worship, we come to know God’s Yes to us – the Lamb who was slain. And we respond by falling down and saying, “Yes” to God.

My prayer is that this vision about worship will direct what we do and how we go about doing it in the new year.

Amen.

Do our Christmas celebrations make a difference?                    

Titus 2:11-14 

December 24, 2009

Sermon by Gerard Booy

Christmas comes around annually and usually it is a very special time of the year (unless you’re a Grinch of course). We all look forward to our Christmas celebrations with family and friends. For a few days we manage to put aside our usual business as factories slow down and offices close. Even the stores manage to close for one day. For the most part we also manage to put aside our usual differences. We get together, we laugh, we play, we eat, and we enjoy each other. The atmosphere is different. We are relaxed and for a short period we manage to make time for that which is most important.

For a little while each year, the anticipation and the celebration of Christmas awaken something different in us – a childlike joy, hope and dreams of a better world, goodwill, and love. Then, all too soon, it is over and life returns to normal. By Boxing Day consumerism kicks in again, and in a few days we are back to business as usual. Gone are the goodwill, the peace, the dreams, and the joy that we experienced over Christmas.

So my question this year is, does Christmas, our celebration of the birth of Jesus, really make a difference? Is it a life-altering event? Do our lives look different because of it? Does it change who we are, causing us to repent? Does it have a positive effect on our relationships? Do we look at the world differently because we have celebrated the birth of Jesus? Do we respond differently to unbelief and injustice in the world? Does it make a difference to the way we think and feel about God? Do we love God more deeply, pray more intently, and worship more passionately? Do we have more compassion, more patience, better self-control, and more joy? Are we kinder, gentler, and more truthful in our dealings with others? Do we have deeper commitment to holy living?

And, do the changes last? Or does it wear off quickly?

It often seems as if the only difference Christmas makes is to the balance owing on our VISA’s, the amount of junk we collect, the recycling we have to put out next week, and to our body-fat-indexes. If that is the case, then something is wrong. And the reason is obvious. Christmas, like so many other things, has simply become a ritual that we keep. It has become a time when we are busy with many things: buying and wrapping gifts, planning meals, decorating, sending greeting cards - the things good people do. We are busy with many things, but we don’t encounter Him whose birthday we celebrate. It is the Martha-Mary syndrome all over again. Instead of making time to sit at Jesus’ feet or to linger at the manger, instead of focusing on the person of Jesus and the meaning that his birth has for our lives, we focus on our own gadgets and celebrations. Instead of focusing on the formation of the Christ-life in us, we keep ourselves busy with chores.

Formation of the Christ-life in us, formation of Christian character is what Paul’s message to Titus is all about.

There is one thing that the apostles and gospel writers never allow us to forget, namely that Jesus Christ was born for a reason. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11). Paul doesn’t specifically speak about Christmas. The early Christians did not celebrate it as we do. He talks about the grace of God. The birth of Jesus is part of God’s grace. It is part of God’s plan to restore a relationship that went terribly wrong. It is God’s way of making things right. It is God’s will to save people and to heal them. It is God’s readiness to forgive that is displayed in the Christmas events. It is God’s way of redeeming people from slavery to sin, from the God-denying lives they live, to lives of freedom and holiness. The birth of Jesus is part of the whole package of God’s grace incarnated: birth, life, rejection, suffering, cross, death and resurrection.

God’s grace has appeared. And behind it is the sad truth of our sin. Matthew tells the story of the angel that appeared to Joseph, announcing that Mary will give birth to a son. “You shall call him Jesus,” Gabriel said, “because he will save his people from their sin.” His name means “the Lord saves”. That is who He is. That is why He came. That is why we celebrate His birth.

To redeem us for God, He gave Himself. What a tremendous act of love and grace! There is nothing else like it. And this self-giving of Jesus, like nothing else, calls us to a new way of living. It calls for the formation of Christian character. It insists that we become more Christ-like; that we think, and talk, and act differently.

This is important. Our time on earth is meant for growing up in the Lord. Paul calls it a time of waiting, during which we expect the coming of Christ in glory. This waiting however is not an idle, empty time. It is a time filled with activities by which we prepare ourselves for Him who comes. Think for example what happens when a couple expects a baby? The time of waiting is filled with activities by which they prepare themselves for their new role as parents. The same happens with a bride and groom preparing for their wedding. What happens when we expect guests? We prepare ourselves and our house to receive them, we vacuum the floors and dust the furniture, we put the meat in the oven and set the table, we brush our teeth and comb our hair…

As Christians we prepare for the coming of our Lord. And God’s grace is our teacher, Paul writes to Titus. The Greek word he uses (paideuo) is related to the word for child (paidos), and it is also the word that we get our word pedagogy from. God’s grace has a purpose similar to the role of parents in raising a child, working with us like a parent would intentionally work with her/his child; it instructs us about life; it models a different way of living and calls us to imitate it; it repeats the same life-lesson over and over again until we get it.

God’s grace first of all teaches us to say NO. The ability to say no is a tremendously important aspect of character formation. If we are to live well, we have to know where to draw the line. The grace of God teaches us that we can say no. By saying know, we exercise the freedom we have in Christ. By saying no, we grow stronger roots in the grace of Christ, which then enable us to stand. The grace of God also teaches us to discern so that we know when to say no. This is crucial for good living, don’t you think? Saying no is an art. It is a life-skill that we acquire as we are deeply engaged with Christ. At times, saying no may mean that we refuse to follow a certain way, at other times it may be that we refuse to agree with something, or it may mean that we refuse to pay attention to something, and then there are times when saying no means that we have to turn our backs on something. The problem, of course, is that we live in a time where the lines are really fuzzy and unclear. Christmas, celebrating the birth of the Saviour, can be a great help in clearing things up, in revealing the grace and the intentions of God, in letting us see Jesus whom we follow.

When Paul talks about the things we learn to say no to, he uses two very broad terms: godlessness and worldly passions. With these, he talks about a life of ignoring God, of denying God’s claim on our lives, of pushing God to the periphery of our lives, and of indulging in our own desires. Much of what goes on around Christmas time actually promote worldly desires and godlessness. We therefore need to turn our backs on that and to turn eyes to Jesus. God’s grace, revealed in Jesus, teaches us to do that. It teaches us to say no to a life where God gets only the crumbs under the table, and to a life where there is no room for others excepts for using them to serving my needs. It teaches us to turn our backs to godless, indulgent living, and to turn to a better way of living.

God’s grace teaches us , not just to say no, but also to say YES. Christians aren’t simply a bunch of naysayers. Christians can say no. They have the courage and conviction to say no when it is called for and they know when that is. But because they have learned to say no, they are also able to say YES! (Only people who can say no, can wholeheartedly say yes.)

Here is what we say yes to. We say yes to a life of freedom, to a life that is redeemed and purified by Christ. Isn’t that fun! Again, Paul uses broad terms to describe the life that we say yes to. This time he uses three terms. We say yes to a life of wisdom, a life of righteousness, and to a life of godliness. It covers every aspect of our being, our thoughts, our relationships and actions, our devotion; our inner lives, our public lives, and our spiritual lives.

· Wisdom: we say yes to a life of thinking well, of thinking in accordance with God’s will and purpose, in accordance with God’s love and grace.

· Righteousness: we say yes to a life of doing good, of being truthful and just in our dealings with others; to a life of compassion, service, forgiveness, mercy, and kindness.

· Godliness: we say yes to a life of devotion, worship and prayer, godly life that is.

In this way, Paul writes to Titus, “we make the teaching about God attractive” (Titus 2:10).

I pray therefore that your celebration of the life of Jesus will really be life-altering this year. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.”