Faith

I Want to Believe Amidst the Storms

March 28, 2016 by Patricia Leave a Comment

I Want to Believe Amidst the Storms
Sycamore Creek Church
January 24/25, 2016
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

In 2016 Sarah and I will celebrate nineteen years of marriage. It’s been a great nineteen years, but the first couple of years were really fully of storms. I never thought we wouldn’t make it, but we argued a lot. Sarah and I are two leaders and no followers. We are two oldest children. One of us grew up in an intact family and the other in a divorced family. Sarah is an extrovert, and I’m an introvert. Sarah thinks out loud, and I think to myself. The first year of marriage I was constantly finding myself having to tune Sarah out to do any reading. This has unfortunate consequences. One day she was doing the dishes and she exclaimed out loud, “I cut my finger. I think I need to go to the ER.” I don’t think I even heard her. She said stuff like this all the time. But then she said it again, LOUDER. I probably responded, “It’ll be OK.” I was used to her crying wolf. But then she got in my face and said “I NEED TO GO TO THE ER.” Turns out she had cut her finger all the way down to the knuckle and had to get several stitches. At one point the surgeon looked at me and said, “You better sit down. It looks like you’re about to pass out.” Yep…That was the first year of our marriage. Add to this the storm of working together at the same church. You know how you’re usually polite to your fellow staff at your job, even if you don’t like them or what they’re doing. Well, when you work with your spouse, most of that politeness goes out the door in favor of the familiar blunt shorthand you use with one another in your home. One time we were in staff meeting, and Sarah and I were disagreeing with one another when the pastor said, “I think we’re in a marital moment here. We’ll let you two figure it out and we’ll all come back in a moment.”

Well, not everything was bad those first couple of years. When we moved into our first apartment, we found that the cable company forgot to turn off the cable from the previous renter. So we got free cable for a year. Every night we’d sit down in front of my little fifteen-inch TV and watch old episodes of The X-Files. I don’t know why we began watching the X-Files. We just did. But soon we were caught up in the whole thing. The X-Files is a show about storms. Science vs. the paranormal. Skepticism vs. faith. Good vs. evil. Two lone FBI agents vs. the grand governmental conspiracy. Truth vs. deception. Trust vs. distrust. Belief vs. unbelief. And the chemistry of FBI special agents, Mulder and Scully who it took until season seven for them to finally kiss!

We became huge fans of the X-Files. It was our nightly ritual amidst the storms of learning to be married. My dad, who collects Barbie dolls—yes, you heard me right…my dad collects Barbie dolls—saw his opportunity to get his son on board with Barbie doll collecting. He bought me the collectors’ Mulder and Scully Barbie dolls, which I love, but alas, I did not dive headlong into my dad’s Barbie doll hobby.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the X-Files, let me give you the brief plot rundown. The X-Files is about two FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who are assigned to the X-Files, unsolved paranormal cases. Scully is the doctor, scientist, and skeptic who is initially assigned to debunk Mulder the unorthodox brilliant believer. On Fox’s office wall is the iconic UFO poster with the words, “I want to believe.” The X-Files was compelling on one level because gender roles were reversed. The female lead was the skeptic and the male was the believer. The X-Files was for a long time the longest running Sci-Fi television show in U.S. History. It ran for nine seasons and two-hundred and two episodes (compare that to the original Star Trek which only ran three seasons). Add to those nine seasons two summer movies. And this weekend, the original actors are all back for an X-Files six episode miniseries! Thus, this three-week X-Files themed series. The X-Files left TV Legacy in the following shows: Lost, Fringe, Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more.

So in a nod to the X-Files exploration of the paranormal, the mysterious, and belief vs. skepticism, we’re going to spend the next three weeks looking at a paranormal story in the Bible that is full of mystery and skepticism. One mysterious paranormal story. Three different witnesses. Three weeks.

There are four books in the Bible that tell the story of Jesus. Three of those books all tell the story of Jesus walking on water. So here’s how these three weeks will unfold:

Matthew: I want to believe amidst the storms of life.
Mark: I want to believe amidst the questions I have.
John: I want to believe but I’m afraid.

Three witness tell the same story, but their details are different. We’ll dive into those differences, but why are there differences to begin with? Is it a conspiracy? Or is there some other explanation? There’s a scene in the X-Files episode, Bad Blood, where Scully first tells the story. The sheriff who shows up to help solve the X-File, played by Luke Wilson, is a handsome heartthrob. But when Mulder tells the story, he’s a buck-toothed red neck. Who’s right? Which of the details is correct? Amidst these kinds of questions, it’s easy to miss the big picture. Both agree that a local sheriff showed up to help them solve the X-File. The details are a little different but the big story is in agreement.

The Gospels work in a similar fashion to the way that Scully tells the story with some details while Mulder tells it with other details. The Gospels aren’t “journalistic history.” They’re artistic biography

They’re like painted portraits (not like photographs). The details between each Gospel are a little different, but the big storyline is still the same. Jesus was a Jew born amidst unusual circumstances, he grew up and got a lot of attention with his teachings and lifestyle. The authorities of the day were threatened by him and had him executed and his followers scattered. But three days later the tomb was empty and his followers were claiming that he had been resurrected.

One of those followers was a fisherman named Matthew. Matthew tells the story of Jesus walking on water, and it’s probably the version you know best. Let’s dive in and read the story.

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
~Matthew 14:22 NRSV

Jesus makes his disciples go out on the water and into the eventual storm. The Greek word for “made” is Anagkazō which is a really strong word. Jesus compelled, drove, entreated them to get into the boat and go. There’s no gentle prodding. Their life depends on getting in the boat and going.

Early Christians read this story and immediately understood the boat as a symbol of the church. It’s a place of refuge amidst the water for a community of friends. It keeps them afloat amidst a world of wind and waves.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
~Matthew 14:23 NRSV

Jesus is “alone” and the disciples are “alone” without Jesus for the first time. But while they are not with Jesus, they are not really alone. They are together, in the boat, the community of faith.

but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.
~Matthew 14:24 NRSV

While the disciples are in the boat together without Jesus, they end up in a storm. A big storm. A life-threatening storm. Jesus compelled them to get into the boat and go, and he’s not with them, and now there’s this really big storm threatening to sink the whole endeavor.

We all wrestle with storms. I think there are at least three kinds of storms: individual storms, community storms, and mission storms. Individual storms might be a health crisis. I get the diagnosis I most feared. Or a financial storm. I lost my job and don’t have money for rent. Some of us might be in a family crisis, stuck in a dead and lifeless marriage. Or maybe you’re facing a parenting storm. My kids constantly do [fill in the blank], and I don’t know what to do. Or maybe you find yourself in a faith storm. You don’t know what you believe anymore. All of these things can add up to an identity storm: Who am I? These are the individual and personal storms we all face from time to time and maybe you’re facing one even today. The wind of life is against you and you are far from land and battered by the waves.

A second kind of storm we can face when we’re part of a church is an internal church storm. These are not pretty storms. There’s the storm of mission drift when a church becomes internally focused rather than externally focused. There’s the lukewarm faith storm. Our own fervor for reaching new people for Jesus cools to lukewarm at best. Then there’s all too often storms of church scandal, immoral or unethical behavior. There’s the storm that ensues when a church lacks any kind of discipline. Anything and everything goes. Or maybe there’s the church financial storm due to a lack of faithful stewardship. A church can experience a storm when there’s leadership transition or disunity and even schism. And churches face storms when they don’t agree on the basics of belief (unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials, and love in all things). These kinds of storms tend to pull a church further and further away from its purpose for existence.

The third kind of storm a church can face are mission storms. Mission storms are the challenges and obstacles of the rescue mission of Jesus into enemy occupied territory. Stanley Hauerwas, an ethics professor of mine at Duke who was at one time named by Time Magazine as the “Best Theologian” says of this story:

“The church is an ark of the kingdom, but often the church finds herself far from shore and threatened by strong winds and waves. Those in the boat often fail to understand that they are meant to be far from the shore and that to be threatened by a storm is not unusual. If the church is faithful she will always be far from the shore. Some, moreover, will be commanded to leave even the safety of the boat to walk on water.”

There’s a fallacy we all wrestle with. We are tempted to hope and think that following Jesus means smooth sailing. But the opposite is actually true: following Jesus means going into the storm! Following Jesus means getting out of your comfort zone into the storms of those around you. Following Jesus means that the harvest is great but the workers are few. One of my mentors says that if you have enough money and enough people, your mission and vision are too small! Then there’s the storms of trying to discern what is the best strategy, method, systems, and partnerships to accomplish your mission. And unfortunately a church is made up of humans who don’t always get the right strategy, the right method or systems or partnerships. Another mission storm is the stress rest storm. We grow best when we’re stressed for a period of time and then rest for a period of time. And lastly, there’s the spiritual resistance storm. The evil side of creation doesn’t want the church to accomplish its mission. Here’s the basic point, if a church is living into its mission, it is going to face storms because of that mission!

Here’s the basic problem that we all share: we face storms of many kinds. What storms are you facing right now? Into these storms comes Jesus…

And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.
~Matthew 14:25-26 NRSV

Jesus shows up in the midst of the storm that his followers find themselves in, but they think he’s a ghost! I asked my Facebook friends if they’ve ever seen a ghost and twenty-two of them said they had! I’ve never seen a ghost, but the closest I’ve come was working one summer at a church in Richmond, Virginia that was built on a plantation. The offices were the old historic plantation house. The front steps up to that house were treacherously steep. The story was told of the young girl who intended to elope one night. Her fiancé pulled up in a carriage and she rushed out the front door to get away before her parents could stop her. Sounds like a Jane Austen novel so far. But then in her haste she trips down the stairs and breaks her neck falling down those treacherously steep steps. She was said to still haunt the house today. I never saw her or heard her, but one night I was in that big house all by myself and I kinda spooked myself out thinking about it all!

So who is this Jesus? Who walks on water? To the modern mind Jesus walking on water is a miracle of defying gravity or a symbol of “doing the impossible.” But to the ancient mind, Jesus walking on water was an example of divinity conquering chaos. Only the gods could conquer chaos and walk on water. The ancient mind would read this story and see a claim to divinity. Jesus confirms that claim in what he says next:

But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
~Matthew 14:27 NRSV

Jesus confirms his identity saying, “It is I.” But he actually says even more than you probably notice at this point. The Greek is literally translated, “I am.” Jesus sees their fear and apprehension that he is a ghost, and he says, “I am.” I am what? A ghost? No. Jesus is actually referencing the great name of God in the book of Exodus:

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
~Exodus 3:13-14 NRSV

“I am” is literally the name of God. Jesus claims in this moment to be “I Am.” But Peter isn’t buying it.

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
~Matthew 14:28 NRSV

Peter says, “If…” Peter seems to be doubting. Actually, he might be doing more. Peter’s doubt is reminiscent of Satan’s tempting of Jesus. When Satan tempts Jesus he says, “If you are the Son of God, then command these stones to become bread. If you are the Son of God then throw yourself down from the temple heights so the angels can save you.” Satan not only tempts Jesus but he tests Jesus. At Jesus’ crucifixion the crowds do the same thing: “If you are the Son of God…come down from the cross.” In each instance the accusers command Jesus do something and tempt and test him. Is that what Peter’s doing? Well, not quite.

He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
~Matthew 14:29 NRSV

Why does Jesus command him? Why give into Peter’s “if” test? Why not say, “Get behind me Satan!” Unlike Satan, Peter asks to be commanded by Jesus, to submit to Jesus’ command! Command me to do your will. Command me to follow you. Command me to accomplish that which I can only do with you! Peter actually doesn’t command Jesus but he asks Jesus to command him. He says in essence, “If you are I AM then command me to obey you.” And Jesus responds saying, “Come.” In doing so, Peter does what he cannot do alone. Peter begins to overcome the forces of chaos just like Jesus!

Here’s the whole point of this message: Ask Jesus to command you, and when you obey you will overcome any storm you face. When you are doing what Jesus wants you to do, when you are obeying Jesus’ command, there’s no storm that can ever swamp you. Let me flesh this out a little bit more.

I have a tendency to command Jesus to help me succeed. I find myself saying, “Jesus, I’ve done a bunch of work on this. Please…please…please! Help it succeed.” This has the whole command thing backwards. Instead of asking Jesus what he would have me do, I tell Jesus what I want him to do for me. Help me be successful.

One area where our family has allowed Jesus to command us is in the practice of hospitality. Sarah and I have practiced hospitality in our home for most of our married life. For most of these nineteen years, we’ve had someone not in our immediately family living with us. A couple of years ago we were wrestling with whether we could continue this practice with me being a pastor. One day after we were done talking about it, we sat down for lunch. We picked up the prayer cube on our table and here’s the prayer we prayed that day: “Lord Jesus Christ, help us to share everything we have with those who are in hunger and need. Amen.” Well, Jesus, can you be any more explicit about what you’re commanding us to do?! So we invited someone to share our home with us. When Jesus commands you and you obey, there are no storms that can swamp you. And yet the storm may still rage.

But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
~Matthew 14:30 NRSV

Stanley Hauerwas points out that “Peter does not begin to sink and then become frightened, but he becomes frightened and so he begins to sink.” Overcoming the forces of chaos is chaotic and scary! Facing the mission storms in life can be frightful, even if Jesus was the one commanding you into the eye of the storm. But Peter isn’t alone.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
~Matthew 14:31 NRSV

I feel the sting of Jesus’ rebuke of Peter: You of little faith.” I feel that sting until I notice that it doesn’t keep Jesus from acting immediately. I see this in Jesus all the time. He calls it like he sees it, but it doesn’t keep him from immediately coming to help us. Jesus is full of truth and grace. Thank you God!

When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
~Matthew 14:32-33 NRSV

Not everyone is in the boat. Not everyone worships Jesus. Not everyone asks Jesus to command them. But for those who are in the boat who Jesus does command, what’s left but to confess that Jesus is “I Am”, the Son of God? And Jesus followers do what is only appropriate to do with God: they worship Jesus. And if Jesus is the Son of God, then we are his brothers and sisters, adopted into the family of God, together in the boat of the church battered by the storms of life asking Jesus to command us and looking to Jesus to hold us when we begin to fear and sink amidst the storms of life.

So there’s four actions I want you to do in the midst of the storms you find yourself in.

Get in a boat.
Do you have a church family? Do you worship regularly? Every week? Are you in a small group? Get in a boat. Don’t do the storms of life alone. January is our Group LINK month for our spring semester. You can sign up for one of forty-three small groups this next semester. There’s a boat for everyone. Boats for men, for women, for couples, for co-ed. Boats that go out in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Boats that meet during the week and boats that meet on the weekend. Don’t wait for a storm to get in a boat. Find a boat before the storm hits.

Ask Jesus to command you, and then obey.
Where are you neglecting to invite Jesus to command you to come? Jesus, command me to come but not in my finances. Jesus command me to come but not in my commitment to stay married. Jesus command me to come but not in my commitment to save sex for marriage. Jesus command me to come but not in my time commitments or in loving the people around me I don’t like. Where is Jesus commanding you to come and you’re not obeying? Get in a small group. Worship regularly. Serve and volunteer. Join as a partner in the mission of Sycamore Creek.

Worship through the storm.
Where are you becoming frightened by the wind and the waves around you? You can worry about the storm or you can get in the boat with other followers of Jesus and worship through the storm. One storm brewing in our family is my dad’s recent diagnosis of Lewy Body Disease. LBD is a disease very closely related to Parkinson’s. It leads to a slow steady degeneration and eventually death. In this instance we felt like Jesus’ command to us was to offer hospitality to my dad and step-mom. So after much thought and prayer, we offered to my dad and step-mom the option of moving in with us. They haven’t taken us up on the offer so far, but they appreciated that this was an option for the future. If they do take us upon this offer, will it cause our household storms? Absolutely. But they’re storms we’ve been practicing for for nineteen years. We won’t be facing those storms alone. We’ve got a boat full of followers of Jesus who will worship Jesus right along with us through the calm and the storm.

Build another boat.
What does it look like when we ask Jesus to command us together? We build another boat! This fall our church will launch a third venue that meets in another place on another day of the week. We’ll be building a boat for another group of people. That will require building a launch team. It will require apprenticing people. It will require a group of “critical mass missionaries.” We’ll have to secure a venue, find a venue coordinator, fundraise for it and then invite, invite, invite. Alongside of this we’re developing a teaching team. I’m not preaching three days a week fifty-two weeks a year. Sounds like some storms are ahead for us.

Lord, if it is you, command me to come!

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: crisis, Faith, problems, storms

Do You Believe I Can Do This?

April 30, 2015 by Patricia Leave a Comment

The Counselor – Do You Believe I Can Do This? *
Sycamore Creek Church
April 19/20, 2015
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

If you’ve read much of the Bible you’ve come across a curious fact about Jesus. He likes to ask lots of questions. Jesus asks hundreds of questions and in our current series, The Counselor, we’re exploring four of those questions:

Why do you doubt?
Why are you so afraid?
Do you want to be well?
Do you believe I can do this?

Today we’re looking at the last of those questions. Jesus asks two blind guys: Do you believe I can do this?

Before we dive into this question fully I’d like to take a moment and reflect on a mission we’ve been a part of that seems just about impossible to accomplish: Imagine No Malaria. Imagine No Malaria is a campaign to eradicate Malaria from Africa. Yes, eradicate it! Unlike many other diseases that are awaiting a cure, malaria was eliminated in the U.S. in the 1950s. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa, malaria continues to kill a person every 60 seconds. In our generation we can beat malaria once and for all. 90% of Malaria victims are pregnant women and children under 5. Since 2007 United Methodists have helped cut Malaria deaths nearly in half! We participated in this mission in our Christmas Eve offering. We gave $3000 of our Christmas Eve offering to help Imagine No Malaria. That feels a bit like a drop in a bucket doesn’t it. Do you believe that Jesus can take our $3000 and eradicate malaria? Well, our $3000 has been added to all the offerings of the United Methodist Church in Michigan in the last two years to total $1,542,269! Friends, that’s pretty amazing. But wait, there’s more! In 2006 the United Methodist Church across the world set a goal to raise $75,000,000. Yes, 75 MILLION DOLLARS! Since 2006 together we’ve raised over $60,000,000. Yes, 60 MILLION DOLLARS! We have effectively cut malaria deaths in half. Our $3000 went to help accomplish a goal that seemed at one time almost impossible. And today, Jesus asks us again: Do you believe I can do this?

What are you having a hard time believing that Jesus can do right now? I’d like to explore this question today by diving into a story of Jesus healing a couple of blind guys. The context of this story comes right after Jesus has raised a dead girl back to life. Whoa! That’s pretty impressive! So right after this he gets lots of attention. Here’s where we pick up the story as Matthew, one of Jesus’ closest followers tells it:

After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
~Matthew 9:27 NLT

When these guys shout “Son of David” they’re making a faith statement. They believe he is the messiah, the anointed one who has come to save them. This title makes the religious leaders of the day furious, but the blind guys shout it anyway. Speaking of “shouting”, the word here for “shout” means “to cry with an animalistic cry.” It shows up elsewhere in the Bible describing a woman screaming out in labor during childbirth (Revelation 22). I’ve heard this kind of shout twice, and I’ve taken measures to make sure I never hear it again short of immaculate conception! So these guys are crying, shouting, howling out because they figure that if Jesus raised a dead girl back to life, then it’s likely that he could do something much easier: give them sight.

I don’t really know what it’s like to be blind but I almost blundered into temporarily blinding myself once. When I first began backpacking I read up about protecting yourself from bears, and I bought a big can of bear spray. A can of bear spray is like an air-freshener size can of mace. Yes, it’s big. I bought it at the local backpacking store and before I went out on my first solo hike, I read the instructions about how to use it. The instructions suggested that you carry it on your belt (it’s no good to have it buried in your backpack when a bear is charging at you!). They also suggested that there’s plenty of spray in the can to give it a test spray so you were familiar with how far it would spray and what it would look like. Now, bear spray works a little different than the kind of personal mace you carry around for self-protection. Self-defense mace sprays in a direct stream. Bear spray sprays out in a big cloud so you don’t have to be a very good shot when you’re crapping in your pants as a grizzly charges at you. So I put the bear spray on my belt, and practiced popping the hood and pointing it forward. Remember, I was going on my first solo trip and was all by myself at the trail head. I tried this several times then figured I was ready to actually press the trigger. So I pulled it out of the holster and pointed it forward all in one fluid motion and pulled the trigger. The mace came out in a big cloud and in that moment I realized a strategic error I had just made. I was facing into the wind. The cloud quickly came right back at me! I began to cough and felt my eyes beginning to sting as I did my best to take evasive maneuvers with a forty-pound backpack on my back. Well, I didn’t lose my sight that day, but it’s not an experience I ever want to repeat. So back to the real blind guys…

They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?”
~Matthew 9:28a NLT

They follow Jesus right into the house, and Jesus turns on his inner counselor and asks them a question: Do you believe I can make you see? A good counselor always asks good questions, and Jesus’ question is spot on at this moment and for us today. Do you believe I can do this?
“Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”
~Matthew 9:28b NLT

They respond with faith: Yes, Lord. We believe you have the power to make us well.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” 30 Then their eyes were opened, and they could see!
~Matthew 9:29-30a NLT

Jesus responds to their request because of their faith. Not according to their income, their church attendance, or the brand of clothing they’re wearing, but their faith. God responds to faith. The anonymous author of the book of Hebrews in the Bible says that “it is impossible to please God without faith.” (Hebrews is usually attributed to Paul but nowhere in the book does it claim to have been written by Paul. The most interesting theory I’ve heard about the authorship is that it was written anonymously by a woman because no one in that day and age would have read a book written by a woman.) If we have faith we can move the heart of God.

Now before we go too far into this we need to clear up some baggage that churchy people have given to this kind of thinking. Churchy people have taken what should be encouraging and turned it into something discouraging. It can be discouraging because people say: You weren’t healed because you didn’t have enough faith. Or maybe because you didn’t pray right. You didn’t pray long enough or hard enough. You didn’t sign off with the right formula: “In the name of Jesus” or “in the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit” or “in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit.” Or you didn’t shout loud enough or bind up the devil or put your finger in your ear and pat your head and turn around three times. Whatever!?

All this confusion comes from a logical fallacy. Just because God responds to faith, doesn’t mean that if God doesn’t respond, that you did something wrong or don’t have faith. I respond when my kids say “please” but do I always respond when they say “please”? No. Of course not. I take into account all kind of things that they’re not even thinking about. No you can’t “please baptize your brother in the bathtub.” Yes, God does honor faith, but if you don’t get what you ask for, don’t fall into a false sense of guilt that you necessarily did something wrong. What I want to share with you are three types of faith that God honors.

1. God honors the faith that believes when it doesn’t see.
We read again in Hebrews:

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
~Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Let’s be honest about this. Faith has to do with things we can’t always see. Is the world that you can access with your senses all that exists? Or are there some things that can’t be accessed by your five senses? Faith is a confidence and assurance that while you can’t see God, God is at work in your life. Back to the two blind guys:

They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?”
“Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”
~Matthew 9:28 NLT

Before they saw the results, they believed. Jesus hadn’t even healed them yet, but they believed. Whatever your challenge today—whether physical, financial, or spiritual—do you believe God is able? All things are possible with God. And of course, the churchy answer is, “Yeah, I believe God can do it.” But our actions and our words betray us. We don’t act as if we have faith and often we don’t talk as if we have faith. We say things like, “All we can do now is pray.” In other words, “I guess we’ve tried all the sensible things and the last thing is a hail Mary prayer to God.” No, the first thing you do is pray.

Over the last seven days what were you praying about? For most of us, it’s not much. If you don’t pray for much, that shows that you don’t believe much. The size of your request reveals the strength of your faith. If you’re praying for safe travel, well, you’re probably going to get there safe anyway. If you’re praying for the food to nourish your bodies…well…actually given what some of you eat, that may take real faith! Instead, are you praying for your marriage to be healed? Are you praying to be healed of an addiction? Are you praying to overcome cancer? Lately, I’ve been praying two things for our church:

Lord, double our church in one day.
Lord, double our church in one year.

Those are big prayers, aren’t they? We came really close at Easter. We average about 225 each weekend across our three services and two locations. I was praying that we would reach 450 people at Easter. This Easter we were one church, celebrating Easter on three days in three locations with five services. 1 – 3 – 5. We had a record attendance this Easter of 413 people! So close to doubling in one day. I think it’s going to take 1 – 3 – 6 next year! Then compared to last year at this time we’re up 25% year to date in attendance. But I’m praying for us to reach so many new people that in one year we’re up 100%. Double in one day and double in one year. That’s my big prayer lately. I can’t quite see how we’ll double in one year, but I’m praying and I believe that God can make it happen even though I can’t see it yet. God honors a faith that believes when it doesn’t see.

2. A faith that persists when nothing changes.
Let’s get back to the two blind guys:

After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him…
~Matthew 9:27 NLT

So these guys start following Jesus even though he hasn’t yet promised anything. They just follow. They persist even though nothing has changed. Have you ever persisted in following someone? I had an unusual experience one year following my congressman. I got the idea one year to try to meet everyone who held an office that I had to vote for. I figured it would be pretty easy to meet with my local mayor of Petoskey and ward representative, but didn’t imagine I’d get much further than my state representative. But then my congressman from the House of Representatives came to town for a town hall meeting. I figured that was the best I was going to get so I went. During the Q&A time I asked him a question and after it was over, he came right up to me and talked to me. In that conversation he invited me to spend the day with him the next time he was in town. So a year later his office called and I spent the day with him following him around Petoskey. That day he invited me to come spend a day with him in Washington D.C. I happened to be going to Washington D.C. in a couple of weeks so I ended up following him around D.C. for a day. Have you ever wondered what your congressman actually does? I learned in those two days. When he was in Petoskey he met with people who asked him for money for various projects. When he was in Washington D.C. he met with committees and asked them for money for various projects! I don’t know how much changed in our world in those two days, but I learned a lot persistently following him around.

Paul tells the Colossians to be persistent when they ask God for things:

Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.
~Colossians 4:2 GNT

Jesus tells the parable of a widow and an unjust judge. The widow is so persistent in seeking justice that while the judge didn’t care about justice, he gave her justice just to get her off his back. Jesus summarizes saying that if an unrighteous judge responds to persistence, how much more a loving God?

For many of us who have been around Sycamore Creek Church for a long time, we’ve had to be persistent. Fourteen year of setting up and tearing down in a school is a long time to persist. I’ve only been around for five of these years, but in my second year I had a problem of persistence. I am the second pastor of SCC. I followed Barb Flory, the founding pastor. Second pastors have their own unique set of challenges including a not unusual or unexpected drop of 30-50% in attendance after the founding pastor leaves. We didn’t experience anything quite like that, but in my second year we lost about 20% of our attendance. It wasn’t very much fun. Toward the end of my second year I began to wonder, should I throw in the towel? Five years into it now, I’m glad I persisted although at the time I wasn’t sure anything was really changing. I’m glad we persisted. God honors faith that persists even when it appears that nothing is changing.

3. A faith that works when it doesn’t make sense

There is a difference between hope and faith. Hope is a desire. Faith is a demonstration. Let’s explore that further through the story of Abraham and Isaac. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his child, Isaac. Isaac was a miracle baby, born when Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children. Sometimes you’ve got to wonder what God is doing asking Abraham to sacrifice his child, but you read the story and you find out that just as Abraham is about to do it, God sends an angel to him to stop. There are at least two main points to this story. The first point is to teach that in contrast to other ancient religions, God does not require child sacrifice. But the second is to show trust and faith in God.

In the New Testament we see James, Jesus’ brother, reflecting on Abraham’s faith:

“You see that [Abraham’s] faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
~James 2:22 NLTAbraham shows a lot of faith in this moment. But there’s also someone else who shows a lot of faith, maybe even more than Abraham: Isaac. In fact, the Jewish Rabbis don’t call this story “The Sacrifice of Isaac” they call it The Akedah or “Binding of Isaac.” You see, we often think of Isaac as a little boy in this story. But if you read the story carefully you’ll see that he’s probably a pretty strong young man, and Abraham is probably not the strongest old man. So Isaac has faith to allow himself to be bound. Both Abraham and Isaac show amazing faith in the face of something that doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

The blind guys in the story we’ve been reading have a similar faith. They are like any of us. We have a problem, and we tend to magnify the problem. In the midst of it all we lose sight of God. In their culture if you were blind, people thought it was because you or your parents sinned. But these guys ignore all that. Nothing makes sense. But they realize that there are some actions they can still take. I can’t see, but I can hear. I can’t see, but I can talk, and I can yell. I can’t see, but I can walk, and I can follow Jesus.

Sometimes there are things you can’t do, but there are still some things you can do. You can’t heal yourself from cancer, but you can seek God and change your diet and go to the best doctor. You can’t erase temptation online, but you can pray for deliverance, and install a filter, and delete apps on your phone. You can’t change your spouse, but you can continue to love your spouse as Christ loved the church. You can’t rescue every sex slave or help every inner-city child get an education, but you can do some things…

You see, our faith is not in our faith, our faith is in the faithfulness of God. It may not make sense, but we trust that God is in control.

Some of you may say, “You go ahead with your blind faith.” But I say that I would rather be blind and have faith that God can heal, than have sight and have no faith at all. So God help me have:

Faith that believes even though it doesn’t see.
Faith that persists even when nothing changes.
Faith that works even when it doesn’t make sense.

*This sermon is based on a sermon that was first preached by Craig Groeschel.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: belief, Faith, persistance

Why Do You Doubt?*

April 7, 2015 by Patricia Leave a Comment

Why Do You Doubt?*
Sycamore Creek Church
Tom Arthur
Easter 2015

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Or did he? Maybe we’re just deluding ourselves. Some people don’t wrestle with doubts. They say: “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.” But some of us, myself included, are more naturally skeptical. We think, “What if this isn’t true? What if we’re being brainwashed? What if we’re making ourselves feel better? What if we’re being told a lie?”

The church is not always a friendly place for people who have doubt. Church people can be mean to other church people. If you have doubts, you may not be one of us. If you have doubts, you may not be saved. If you have doubts, you may not have faith.

But what I want you to know today is that if you don’t lean into some honest doubts, you may never have faith. Is doubt the end of real faith? I don’t think so. Doubt can be the beginning of real faith!

Today I want to look at the story of Doubting Thomas. Poor guy. That’s how we know him. “Doubting Thomas.” Not “Faithful Thomas” or “Believing Thomas” but “Doubting Thomas.” But what I want to show you today is that who Thomas becomes is evidence that even the biggest doubters can become the biggest followers of Jesus. Let’s begin the story a little after Jesus raises from the dead. He meets some of his followers on the road but surprisingly they don’t recognize him. Eventually they “break bread” with Jesus and recognize him. Then he disappears. They get together with the other disciples and here’s what happens:

And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!
~Luke 24:36-37 NLT

They all saw him dead. But now he’s alive! I’d be freaked out too. I’ve buried a lot of people, and if one of them showed back up, I’d pee in my pants!

“Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt?
~Luke 24:38 NLT

Jesus is probably thinking, “Didn’t I tell you this was going to happen? Did you forget?” And guess who wasn’t there…Doubting Thomas.

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin/Didymus), was not with the others when Jesus came.
~John 20:24 NLT

Thomas missed church. You miss a lot when you miss church. He missed the presence of Jesus, the power of Jesus, the proof of Jesus, the “Peace be still” of Jesus. If you haven’t been here since Christmas, you missed a lot. A lot.

But [Thomas] replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
~John 20:25 NLT

Thomas sometimes gets a bad rap here. He’s chastised for not having faith. But I see something much more positive at work here. I think Thomas is saying, “I don’t want second-hand faith…I want first-hand faith.” So many people just kind of believe because their parents/grandparents/other people believe. One day, something happens, and it shakes us, “Do I really believe?” If the claims of his resurrection are true, it demands a response. Thomas says, “If it’s true, it changes everything.” For many, the doubt is the beginning of faith. Thomas and many of us are saying, “I need a little more…” Jesus doesn’t blush.

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked;
~John 20:26 NLT

That’s pretty cocky, isn’t it? Jesus walks into a locked room. David Copperfield move there. I don’t really get it, but it’s no crazier than being raised from the dead in the first place!

Suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
~John 20:26-27 NLT

Jesus cares about the one who wants to believe, and talks only to Thomas. Nobody else. He says, “Stop doubting and believe.” Jesus didn’t put Thomas in a time out: “You sit in the corner. You can’t be my follower.” Jesus gives Thomas what he needs. Today Jesus is going to give some of you what you need to believe too.

I resonate deeply with Thomas and not just because we share the same name. I grew up in the church. I grew up believing what my church and my parents told me. I was very active in our church’s youth group. I chose to go to a Christian liberal arts college. When I got there, I began to have some pretty significant doubts. I began to ask some pretty hard questions. I was looking for complete certainty but I wasn’t finding any. During that time the Smashing Pumpkins covered a Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks song called Landslide. They lyrics of that song felt like they expressed where I was at with doubt and faith:

“Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you.”

The landslide of my doubts left me without any faith. I left Christianity for a period of time and life became very dark. What I noticed when I went to the side of unbelief was that I didn’t gain any certainty. I was still as uncertain as before. The big difference was that when I believed, I had some sense of meaning and purpose and hope in life. But when I didn’t believe, I had no hope, no ultimate meaning, no ultimate purpose. And so in the midst of that dark place, I made an intellectual decision to believe in spite of uncertainty. What I learned was that faith is not the absence of doubt or uncertainty but faith is the decision to believe in spite of doubt or uncertainty. And I found that my life did begin again to have purpose, meaning, and hope. Jesus was faithful to provide all three. I had ended up back where Thomas ended at the end of the day:

“My Lord, and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
~John 20:28 NLT

MY. We’re talking about a first degree faith here. A first hand faith. Believing Jesus, not just belief in Jesus. This is what is going to happen to some of you today. You’re going to receive from Jesus whatever it is that you need to have that kind of faith in spite of uncertainties and doubt. It happened to all of Jesus’ first followers:

Peter’s Story
Peter was one of Jesus’ closest followers. He was in the inner circle. But when Jesus was arrested Peter denied Jesus three times. But after the resurrection, Peter becomes “the rock.” He preaches to thousands and thousands put their faith in Jesus. He is ultimately persecuted for his faith and tradition tells us that he was crucified. But he refused to share the same crucifixion that Jesus had, so he was crucified upside down. From runaway doubter to crucifixion upside down. Jesus gave Peter what he needed to believe.

James’ Story
James was Jesus’ brother. What would your brother have to do to convince you he was the son of God?! James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Tradition tells us that ultimately he was pushed off the temple, but miraculously he doesn’t die. While lying on the ground he prays that his persecutors be forgiven. Then James is clubbed to death. From Jesus’ brother to martyred church leader. Jesus gave James what he needed to believe.

Paul’s Story
Paul hated Christians. He was one of the religious leaders of his day and he was given legal permit to hunt down and kill Christians. They blasphemed against God claiming that Jesus was God’s son. But on his way to Damascus one day to catch and kill some Christians he meets the resurrected Jesus who blinds him. Eventually he regains his sight and becomes the first missionary of the church of the entire Mediterranean region. He would eventually say, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” The persecutor became the persecuted and he was beaten and imprisoned. Tradition tells us that he was beheaded. From Christian bounty hunter to Christian missionary, Jesus gave Paul what he needed to believe.

Thomas’ Story
Then there’s “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas got what he needed. He saw Jesus. He traveled to India to tell those who lived there about Jesus. His message was met with resistance and he was met in a cave and speared him through. “Doubting Thomas” believed enough to die for Jesus. Do you believe enough to live for him?

Sometimes my faith is talking so loud, I can’t hear what my doubt is saying. When I bring my doubts to God, God gives me faith to believe in spite of my doubts.

Recently I’ve had the chance to hear about how Jesus has given someone else what she needed to have faith and believe. Noelle currently works in our nursery. She started attending SCC about a year ago. About a month ago she emailed me to tell me that she had just had an amazing experience with God and had chosen to believe. I asked her if she’d be willing to meet to tell me more about her life and story. Here’s what I heard.

Noelle grew up being abused in every way possible for about seven years of her childhood. At the time she was attending church regularly with her grandma. While there she would pray for God to make it stop but nothing changed. The abuse continued. She felt like God had abandoned her so she abandoned God. The abuse made her very skeptical of men, but she still didn’t want to be alone. Over her teen years she made many unwise choices that led to lifestyle habits that she isn’t proud of. About a year ago she met Thomas online and began dating. Thomas had grown up at SCC but was no longer regularly attending.

One thing led to another and within a couple of weeks they were pregnant. The pregnancy was somewhat miraculous. They were using three different forms of birth control! One of those forms of birth control should have caused the child to be miscarried.

A month into dating Thomas, it was time to meet his parents for the second time and tell them they were going to be grandparents. Noelle knew that Dotty was very active at SCC. She expected judgment, cruelty, and shaming. What she received instead took her by surprise. She was shown kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love.

Dotty began to invite her to church and she came somewhat reluctantly expecting more judgment, cruelty, and shaming. But at SCC Noelle was again surprised to find kindness, gentleness, compassion, and acceptance. She liked a church where you could ask questions and the pastor shared his own doubts and uncertainties. She felt safe.

Noelle began to open up to Dotty about her past abuse and decided to marry Thomas while being very pregnant. Dotty invited her to watch several “corny” Christian movies (“same actors with basically the same plot”), but one, Courageous, really touched her. It was about four dads who made a commitment to protect their children and raise them in faith in God. After that movie she did something she had never done: listened to God. While listening she heard God saying: “I am here. You are not alone.” Noelle began to see how God had protected her and was with her through her past.

The pain has not gone totally away, but Noelle has begun to make some changes. She finds herself being more open in her relationships. She has begun to feel that God is calling her to help others who have suffered from abuse. As a nursery worker, she attended an abuse prevention training program for the United Methodist Church and is actively looking to help make our children’s ministry an even safer place for children. Noelle still has questions, uncertainties, doubts, struggles, and some pain. But she’s also experiencing some health and healing. She knows God is with her, and she has a renewed sense of purpose in her life, in spite of the doubts and uncertainties.

Friends, doubt is not the end of real faith, it is the beginning. Maybe right now you’re feeling that tug of God’s presence, God’s love saying, “Come home child. Believe. I have never let you go. I am here. You are mine. I am yours. Rest in my arms. Trust. Surrender.” If that’s where you’re at, here’s a prayer:

Prayer
God, I have honest doubts. Thank you for meeting me in the midst of those doubts. In spite of my doubts and uncertainties, help me to believe in and follow your Son, Jesus. I trust you. I give myself to you. Help me see how you never leave me alone. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time today, or if you prayed it anew, would you let someone know? Drop me an email (tomarthur@sycamorecreekchurch.org) or tell a trusted friend who is also a follower of Jesus. Then would you consider taking the series challenge. You’re here today, but when you miss church you miss a lot. Take the challenge to come each week of this series: The Counselor. You’ve met Jesus when he asked “Why do you doubt?” How will you meet Jesus when he asks you more questions? Come and see.
*This sermon is based on a sermon first preached by Craig Groeschel

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: belief, Doubt, Easter, Faith

Planes: Fire and Rescue – Resisting the Fires of Temptation

July 21, 2014 by Patricia Leave a Comment

God on Film – Planes: Fire and Rescue
Resisting the Fires of Temptation
Sycamore Creek Church
July 20/21, 2014
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

Today I want to talk about the fires of temptation and what you have to do to resist. Temptation is well known by many of us. Mae West, the 20^th century actress, is reported to have said, “I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.” Oscar Wilde writes in Lady Windermere’s Fan, “I can resist anything except temptation.” The Barna Group, a research firm that studies contemporary cultural and religious trends compiled a list of today’s top ten temptations. They are:

Eating too much (55%)
Spending too much time on media (44%)
Spending too much money (44%)

Speak of spending too much money. A poor country pastor who was struggling to make ends meet got really upset at his wife one day for buying a new very expensive designer dress in the mall. He confronted her asking, “How could you spend that much money on a dress?” His wife responded, “Satan tempted me to buy it. He said, ‘Buy this dress. It looks great on you.’” The pastor said, “When I’m tempted by Satan I resist by saying, ‘Get behind me, Satan.” His wife said, “I told him that and he said, ‘It looks fabulous back here too.’”

Ok, back to the list. Number four:

4. Gossiping (26%)

Ok, one more pastor joke. Really. Just one more. Four pastors got together one weekend for some R&R in a cabin. The first night they were there they decided to be open with each other about their biggest sins. One pastor went first and he said, “I’ve got a really bad sin. I look at inappropriate pictures of women all the time. I don’t even like sports but I have a subscription so that I get the swimsuit edition.” The second pastor said, “Mine’s worse. I’ve got a drinking problem. I drink way too much.” The third pastor said, “I’ve got a pretty bad sin too. I gamble. I play lots of poker and slots and blackjack, and I’m losing all my paycheck on a regular basis.” The fourth pastor responded, “Men, I’m afraid my sin is the worst of all. I struggle with gossip. And if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make some calls.”

Ok, enough of that. Back to the top ten list of temptations:

5. Feeling jealous (24%)
6. Viewing pornography (18%)
7. Lying or cheating (12%)
8. “Going off” on someone via text or email (11%)
9. Abusing alcohol or drugs (11%)
10. Doing something sexually inappropriate with someone (9%)

I asked my friends on Facebook what their favorite temptation song was. Tempted by the Fruit of Another by Squeeze just kept coming up over and over again. You know the chorus:

Tempted by the fruit of another
Tempted but the truth is discovered
What’s been going on
Now that you have gone

What’s your temptation? What are you most tempted by? One of my worst temptations lately is to argue with people in my head. I craft wonderful arguments with people in my mind and that puts me in a great position ready to pounce whenever the opportunity arises. The other day I got Sarah really good. I was arguing with her in my head, and I knew she’d walk right into my trap, and she did. I pounced. I got her so good that she even apologized to me! But then I felt guilty and apologized for being ready to pounce and not dealing with my frustration in a constructive manner. I was tempted by the argument in my mind, and I gave into it.

The Bible talks a lot about temptation. Paul, the first Christian missionary, wrote several letters to churches around the Mediterranean and those letters have become books in the Bible. He wrote one letter to the church at Ephesus and he said:

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground,…
Ephesians 6:13 NLT

Today I want to explore what else Paul says about temptation and resisting it so that you are able to resist the enemy, and so that you are left standing when you find yourself caught in the fires of temptation.

C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia said:

“Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is…A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.”
~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

When I lived in Durham, NC I had a friend named Grace. Grace lived with us for a while to get on her feet and overcome an addiction, and then she moved out into her own apartment about a quarter mile down the road. A quarter mile may not seem like a very long way away, but Grace was a very large woman. I’m not sure she had ever walked a quarter mile in her life. Whenever she wanted to come over to our house we picked her up in a car. One day Grace showed up on our porch after walking that quarter mile to get to our house. Along the way she fell on the railroad tracks but got back up and kept walking. When she arrived she was huffing and puffing. She took twenty minutes to rest and let her breathing go back to normal before she could tell us what this was all about. She said, “I got the taste in my mouth for the drugs that were being sold by some kids in my back yard, and I knew I had to get away.” She just about killed herself running away from temptation. When was the last time I ran from temptation so strenuously?

Today I want to look at a parallel that exists between those who fight fires and those who resist temptation. When it comes to fighting fires, what you “wear” helps you resist the heat of a fire. Firemen wear what is called a turnout suit. It is specially crafted in all kinds of ways to help a fireman resist the heat of a fire. It has several layers of insulation. There is an internal harness that will allow another fireman to pull you out should you collapse. It is fully waterproof as well as fireproof. The helmet is made out of hardened leathered and has special ridges to deflect falling debris and water. There is a plastic helmet within the leather helmet to absorb the shock of falling debris. The outer coat has large pockets for keeping spare rope and carabineers should a fireman need to exit quickly out of a second story window. Every detail is given special attention to help the fireman fight the fire.

In the same way that what you wear helps you fight fires, what you wear helps you fight and resist the fires of temptation. Paul describes what he calls “God’s armor” that will help you resist temptation.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:13-17 NLT

I’d like to look at two wardrobe essentials to resisting the fires of temptation.

1. Put on Faith
Paul tells us:

In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
Ephesians 6:16 NLT

What is faith? I think it’s worth pointing out that there are degrees of faith. Some have faith that a God exists. It is the faith of the theist or deist. Then there are some who have faith in a religious way of some sort like a Buddhist, Hindu, or Muslim. Then there are those who have the faith of a servant of God. Perhaps they fear God but do not love God. Then there are those who have the faith of being a child of God. This person knows that she is adopted into the family of God.

We find a pretty good definition of faith in the Bible itself. We read:

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
~Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Martin Luther says that “faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.” John Calvin another Protestant reformer from Luther’s day says, “A perfect faith is nowhere to be found, so it follows that all of us are partly unbelievers.” Eugene Peterson, a contemporary pastor says, “Faith is not a feeling. It is simply an act of assent, of openness, and often doesn’t feel like much at all. Faith has to do with what God is doing, not with what we are feeling.” Flannery O’Conner, the southern writer describes faith saying, “Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It’s not about certainty, but about trust.” I like to sum up all these definitions of faith by saying that faith is the decision to believe and trust, in spite of uncertainty.

So how do you put on faith? Perhaps it is important to know that faith is a gift of God’s Spirit. So if you need faith or if you don’t feel like you have much faith, then pray for faith and ask God to give it to you. But there are also some active ways that you can seek to put on faith.

Paul describes faith as a shield in the armor of God. A shield that keeps you safe from the fiery darts of the enemy. A shield is a defensive weapon primarily. And a shield is most effective next to other shields. The Romans had a formation they called the testudo (http://www.destructoid.com/ul/260995-review-total-war-rome-ii/testudo-620x.jpg). It was when a group of infantrymen all held their shields up in front and above each other so as to create what was known as “the turtle.” They would move together able to protect one another from incoming arrows or spears. The Vikings called it a shield wall. In the History Channel’s series, Vikings, there’s a great scene of the English encountering a Viking shield wall for the first time:

Just as a shield is best used alongside other shields for the defense against fiery darts and arrows, so is faith put on best by standing alongside others of faith within a community of faith. The faith of others strengthens your own faith and helps you to withstand the fires of temptation.

2. Put on Peace
The second wardrobe essential I want to look at today are the shoes of peace. Paul says:

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
~Ephesians 6:15 NLT

What is peace? Peace is closely related to salvation which is what Paul tells us to put on our heads. So from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet we find peace and salvation as essential for resisting temptation. In another letter to the church of Rome Paul says:

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
~Romans 5:1 NLT

Peace is being made right in God’s sight. It is the result of faith, faith in what Jesus has done for us in his own faithful life, death, and resurrection.

So how do you put on peace? There are all kinds of ways we try to put on peace. We try to put in with thick skin (If only I never let anyone hurt me again). We try to find peace in someone’s arms (If only I find the right person). We try to put on peace through our kids (If only I make sure my kids don’t make the same mistakes I made). Or perhaps in our education (If only I know the right stuff). Or maybe in our 401K (If only I have enough money). We try to find peace in volunteering (If only I’m good enough). Or maybe in therapy (If only I dig deep enough into my past). Some of us seek peace in the gym (If only I am healthy enough). Others seek peace in our plans (If only I am prepared for every possibility). And yet with all these efforts peace eludes us. There is only one way to put on ultimate peace: to have faith in Jesus Christ.

Blaise Pascal, a 17^th century French philosopher who was also a Christian said:

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in us a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This we try in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.

Many have paraphrased Pascal as saying that each of us has a God-shaped vacuum or God-shaped hole in our hearts. We try to fill that hole with all kinds of things, but the only thing that can fill it is God. We will always be tempted to seek peace by filling that hole and that longing with all kinds of things until we fill it completely and totally with God. You resist temptation when the eternal and divine longing of your heart is perfectly filled by Jesus.

Pascal has also become known for his wager, “Pascal’s Wager.” Here’s how it goes:

If you trust God and God does not exist, you have lost little.
If you do not trust God and God does exist, you have lost much.
If you trust God and God does exist, you have gained everything.

So what is keeping you from putting on faith and peace today through God’s son, Jesus Christ? If the hole in your heart is longing for God today, then I invite you to pray along with me:

God my heart longs for you. I am tempted to fill it with so many other things. Let me find peace in you alone. Give me your salvation, your righteousness, your truth, your faith, and your Word so that I might resist the temptation to put anything before you. In the name of Jesus, the one who brings Good News. Amen.

Want to know more about following Jesus? Visit my blog here.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: Faith, peace, temptation

One Fish Two Fish Why Do I Do This?

April 29, 2013 by Patricia 1 Comment

One Fish Two Fish Why Do I Do This?
Sycamore Creek Church
April 28/29, 2013
Matthew 14:17-25
Tom Arthur

Peace Friends!

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Evangelism.” For many of you evangelism probably brings up a lot of negative associations. It does for me too. There are certain “tribes” of Christianity that I occasionally run into that make me feel like I’m taking a test. If I don’t get the test right, that probably means I’m not a Christian and need to be converted to their tribe.

I also think Sarah’s experience with a Mormon who came to our door one day. We had a sign on the door about morning and evening prayer times, and Sarah saw the Mormon evangelist look at the sign, start to walk away, and then come back to the door and knock. Sarah went to the door and the Mormon evangelist said, “Do you know why God sent a flood on the earth?” Sarah responded, “I’m a student at Duke Divinity School and married to someone who is studying to be a pastor. Are you sure you want to get into this conversation?” He said sheepishly, “No.” And then he gave her his pamphlet and left!

I recently asked my friends on Facebook this question: What negative associations come to mind when you hear the word evangelism? What bad experiences have you had with evangelism? Either sharing your faith or someone trying to evangelize you? Here are some of the answers I got [the full answers are at the bottom]:

Two guys showed up to my dorm room unannounced and started grilling me with difficult theological questions that I had no clue how to navigate.

A single narrow minded focus on ‘Christianity’ and if you do not agree completely with their beliefs you are the enemy…

A focus on altar calls and “getting saved.”

I was always afraid of having to “do evangelism.”

I also have been in situations where I’ve somewhat hidden my faith because friends/acquaintances may feel that bringing up my faith in any way is an attempt to either make them feel inferior or change them in some way.

Young men in suits knocking on my door and trying to tell me (while kids cry, dinner burns and I try to escape) why their version of Christianity is the “right” one.

Evangelists just are too pushy and long-winded. They make me feel uncomfortable.

Caring more about my soul than my health and welfare.

The people who come to my door and preach without asking if I already am a Christian, or do ask but still preach anyway.

Walking down a crowded street a guy with a bull horn waited until I was right in front of him before he lit it up yelling about hell. He’s lucky I didn’t send him there.

Earlier in life it made me think of Tammy and Jim Bakker.

Whew! That’s quite a load of negative associations with evangelism and sharing your faith. I want you to know that we do it differently here at Sycamore Creek Church. We’re a church that is curious, creative, and compassionate. And we are told quite often that people find this a place that isn’t pushy and is very welcoming, no matter where you are in your spiritual journey and what questions you’ve got. I’d like to introduce you to someone who has been recently coming to SCC and is finding this a good place to seek answers to her spiritual questions. Meet Marian Wilson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zpVU23XL-A&feature=youtu.be

Marian may be physically blind, but the eyes of her heart are seeking God and finding SCC a good place to do that. And she even plays the keyboard for us! And if you were here a couple of weeks ago when she first joined the band, you know that Marian is a real gift to us, even as she’s still seeking answers to her God questions. That’s the spirit of evangelism that we have here at SCC.

Today we begin a new series called One Fish Two Fish How Do I Do This? It’s a series about sharing the faith. Today I’m going to answer the question: Why do I do this? Why share the faith?

There are three basic motivations that Christians have for sharing the faith, and you can find all of them in the story where Jesus calls his followers to leave their fishing nets and fish for people. Let’s explore each of these three motivations for sharing the faith.

Concern for Eternity

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 4:17

For many, the weight of eternity is a significant motivator for sharing the faith. They look around at the people they come in contact with and see that they’re heading away from God for eternity. They desire for all to repent, which originally was a traveling term that simply meant “to turn around”, and head toward God for eternity.

One key tool Christians have used over the last fifty years to make this point is often times called the bridge diagram. There is actually a free app you can download to your phone that walks you and someone else through this bridge diagram. Here’s a video about that tool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tNvEBnUj15k#at=67

http://www.howtoshareyourfaith.com/images/BridgeDiagram-8.jpg

The basic storyline of this diagram goes something like this:

God created us to be in relationship, but we rebelled and sin entered the world causing a big gap to form between us and God. The result of this gap of sin is death.
We sense this distance between God and us, and we try to do good works to cross over this gap. None of our good works is good enough to get us across the chasm.
God saw the predicament we were in and sent his son, Jesus, to bridge that gap. Through his life, death, and resurrection, he conquered sin and death and created a bridge between us and God.
To cross over this bridge and be in relationship with God we ask Jesus to be our forgiver (Savior) and leader (Lord). Where do you find yourself in this diagram?

There are some key motivators for those who feel the weight of eternity. At its worst, the weight of eternity can lead to a motivation of fear, especially a fear of hell, and a desire to make sure one has the right “fire insurance” to not end up there. When those who are motivated by eternity act out of fear, it is often clear to everyone else around them. Fear as a religious motivator can be powerful, but also very dangerous and off-putting.

At its best the weight of eternity motivates because we recognize that we’re all mortal. We all will die. What’s the number one cause of death? Birth! If you were born, you will die. Our culture does a lot to tell us we’re immortal, and sometimes we need a reminder that we don’t live forever. While concern for eternity has and continues to be a big motivator for many Christian to share the faith, for me personally, this is not a big motivator. I am much more motivated by the next two.

Obedience to the Truth

A second motivator for many to share their faith is obedience to the truth. As we continue reading the story of Jesus calling fishermen to join him and fish for people we read:

As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20

“Follow me.” This is a command. And it’s a command that implies that the “me” that you’re following is worthy of being followed. Jesus tells us what this means elsewhere:

“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:31-32

Here Jesus is inviting us to be obedient to the truth of his word, to be obedient to him. What is the truth of who God is and who Jesus is? If we find any book in the Bible that lays that out systematically, it is the book of Romans. St. Paul doesn’t lay it out as systematically as we might sometimes like, but his letter to the Romans is the closest thing we’ve got. Christians have recognized this and created at times what is called the Romans Road. It is a path through the book of Romans that succinctly describes the truth of Jesus. What you do is write the Romans Road in the margins of your Bible and then all you have to do is remember where the first verse begins. You look up that verse and beside it is the next verse. The content is pretty self explanatory. There are several versions of the Romans Road, but here is my take:

Romans 1:20—Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.

Romans 3:23—All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23a—For the wages of sin is death,

Romans 6:23b—But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8—But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9-10—If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

Romans 8:1—There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:16—It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Romans 8:38-39—For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 12:1-2—I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.

One of my favorite ways of describing what the truth of Jesus is comes from a third and fourth century church leader named St. Athanasius. In his book, On the Incarnation, he begins by describing how we were made in God’s image so that we could have a relationship and friendship with God. But sin distorted that image and broke the friendship. Jesus came to restore that image. Here’s what St. Athanasius says this about the truth of who Jesus is:

What, then, was God to do? What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Saviour Jesus Christ? Men could not have done it, for they are only made after the Image; nor could angels have done it, for they are not the images of God. The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image.

In order to effect this re-creation, however, He had first to do away with death and corruption. Therefore He assumed a human body, in order that in it death might once for all be destroyed, and that men might be renewed according to the Image. The Image of the Father only was sufficient for this need. Here is an illustration to prove it. ‘

You know what happens when a portrait that has been painted on a panel becomes obliterated through external stains. The artist does not throw away the panel, but the subject of the portrait has to come and sit for it again, and then the likeness is re-drawn on the same material. Even so was it with the All-holy Son of God. He, the Image of the Father, came and dwelt in our midst, in order that He might renew mankind made after Himself, and seek out His lost sheep, even as He says in the Gospel: ” I came to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19. 10) This also explains His saying to the Jews: “Except a man be born anew …” (John 3. 3) He was not referring to a man’s natural birth from his mother, as they thought, but to the re-birth and re-creation of the soul in the Image of God.

C.S. Lewis, influenced by St. Athanasius, summed this up even more succinctly: “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” I sometimes make Lewis a little more gender inclusive by saying: In Jesus, God took on the character of flesh so that flesh might take on the character of God or In Jesus, God became friends with us so that we might become friends with God.

If all that seems too complicated, John Wesley comes to our rescue with a simple description of the truth: “Always remember the essence of Christian holiness is, simplicity and purity : one design, one desire : entire devotion to God.” Love God with everything you’ve got!

For those who desire to be obedient to the truth, there are some key motivators for sharing the faith. At the worst, this motivation can become intellectual hair-splitting. At its best one is motivated by truth, integrity, reason, honesty, and fidelity. Why share the faith? Because we are called to be obedient to the truth.

Joining an Adventure & Rescue Mission

A third reason why one might share the faith is because you’re inviting those around you to join an adventure and rescue mission.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Matthew 4:23-25

Now that’s what I’m talking about! For me this is a huge motivator to share the faith. I want to join the adventure and rescue mission of Jesus to heal and transform the world!

One recent tool that has been developed to tap into this motivation is sometimes called the Four Circles or The Big Story or the True Story. It is somewhat of a reaction to the bridge diagram. The bridge diagram is very individualistic. As you’ll see the Four Circles diagram is very community oriented. Here’s a quick video that describes the four circles:

http://vimeo.com/24231464

To see how this works if you drew it out, here’s a more home-grown video of the Four Circles being explained by it’s creator, James Choung:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCVcSiUUMhY

http://openchurchnz.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/choung4circlestruestory.jpg

Here are the four circles:

Creation – Designed by God for good.
Fall – Damaged by evil and living self-centered.
Redemption – Jesus restores for better, and his life, death and resurrection show that sin, evil and death don’t have the last word.
Mission & Adventure of Following Jesus = We are sent together to heal to become an agent of mission to change the world. The goal is to transform you and send you to transform the world by bringing God’s kingdom now.

I have a hard time coming up with worst case motivations for this, but if I had to, I’d say that because it is a reaction to the Bridge Diagram, sometimes this motivation can be simply reactionary. But at it’s best, wanting to join the adventure and rescue mission of Jesus I am motivated by: compassion; justice; ending or reducing poverty; tearing down the walls of racism, sexism, classism, etc.; and bringing God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Now that’s what gets me up in the morning!

I like this way of thinking about evangelism and sharing the faith because it is also communal. We don’t do it alone. We are sent together to heal. We invite people to join in that adventure and rescue mission. Who doesn’t want to be involved in transforming the world for better? And a key doorway into this mission is through worship. Worship is the staging ground for this adventure and rescue mission. We attempt to make this as easy as possible for you by providing three to five Big Sundays every year. Easter was our last Big Sunday. So you know that we had almost three hundred people here on Easter? That’s amazing!

Imagine with me a community of people that were motivated to share the faith because following Jesus led to personal transformation. Addictions are broken. Marriages are healed. The lonely find community. The “worthless” find worth. The least become the greatest. The last become the first. The lost become found.

Imagine with me a community of people that were motivated to share the faith because following Jesus leads to joining an adventure and a rescue mission to the world. The homeless women and children at Maplewood find a home. Those on the edge of society find a welcoming place at Open Door. Those who are forgotten because of their age and health find friendship and love at Holt Senior Care. Those in need of basic supplies for life find them at Compassion Closet. Those who need medical assistance in Nicaragua find health and healing and hope. Do you know that these are all places where our church is already reaching out to the community and world? We do it by receiving money and giving it away. Do you know that we have over the life of our church received and given away almost $80,000 in special offerings that have gone to meet the needs of our community and world? SycamoreCreekChurch is joining the adventure of Jesus and his rescue mission to save the world. That’s why we share the faith! Will you join the adventure?

God, sometimes we’re not very motivated to share the faith. Sometimes we’re even scared and overwhelmed. Give us motivation when we don’t have any. Help us have a concern for eternity. Help us be obedient to the truth. Help us join the adventure and rescue mission of Jesus to transform the world. Amen.

Friends, I want to let you know about two things. First, there are three books that have been influential to me in working on this series. I’d like to encourage you and/or your small group to pick one up and read it. They are:

God Space by Doug Pollock

This book is a short (127 pages) easy to read book about how to get into spiritual conversations with those around you. I heard Doug speak about a year ago and was deeply moved by his approach to evangelism. His approach is really about how to listen well and ask good questions. I don’t think you can go wrong with this book. If you’re not sure about which book to pick, pick this one.

Coffee Shop Conversations: Making the Most of Spiritual Small Talk by Dale Fincher and Jonalyn Fincher
This book is a little longer (219 pages) but covers more ground than Pollock’s book. It deals with the same topic, how to start spiritual conversations, but also spends a lot more time covering what the Christian faith is and how to respond to possible “arguments” against the Christian faith. If your group wants to go deeper than just how to get into the conversations and needs some help with answers to possible questions that come up, this book would be the one to go with.

True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In by James Choung
This book is the most readable even if longest (222 pages) of the three because it is almost all a narrative (And at times is a page-turner!). It is a “fictional” conversation between a college-age Christian, a mentor professor, and his non-Christian love-interest. This book doesn’t dive at all into how to get into spiritual conversations, but shows how to talk about Christianity in a way that is compelling to our current culture. The book attempts to correct some past ways that Christians have tended to present the gospel that have caused our culture to tune out Christians.

Second, in the fourth week of this series I’m going to be doing a live Q&A with you answering the question: What about objections? I’m going to give you the opportunity to ask the kinds of questions you’re afraid will come up if you talk about your faith with others around you. I’m not preparing much for this message because I want you to see what it looks like to answer these questions unprepared and on the spot. I want to model for you how you might answer objections to the faith, and I may even have to model how to say, “I don’t know. Let me get back to you on that one.” So begin compiling your questions and bring them on week four!

Facebook Questions & Answers

Full answers from my friends on Facebook to the questions: What negative associations come to mind when you hear the word evangelism? What bad experiences have you had with evangelism? Either sharing your faith or someone trying to evangelize you? Here are all of the answers I got:

Back in college I attended a ministry on campus. Once they had my contact information, two guys showed up to my dorm room unannounced and started grilling me with difficult theological questions that I had no clue how to navigate. I was young in my faith and they knew it. After fumbling through my responses, they left. At no point did I feel they actually cared about me. They were there with an agenda. They had no intention of hearing my thoughts. It was as if they only cared about results and could care less about fostering a friendship. Needless to say, I never returned and they never wondered where I went.

A single narrow minded focus on ‘Christianity’ and if you do not agree completely with their beliefs you are the enemy…

A focus on altar calls and “getting saved.” Specifically, I think about when this big production with BMX bikes and loud music came to my high school gym one Friday night. If you didn’t attend the event, you must not have been a Christian. If you didn’t go up front at the altar call, you must not want to be saved. Shame on you! A similar pressure was present at other church events like concerts and such. It never happened at Lake Louise, Lake Michigan, or Wesley Woods… all UMC camps. I love being United Methodist!

I was always afraid of having to “do evangelism.” I saw a poster once that showed a polar bear on this empty frozen wasteland. The caption read “Now this is my kind of neighborhood for evangelism.”

What I don’t like about being evangelized to is the feeling that there is only one belief and if you don’t agree fully with every single facet then somehow you are “less than” as a person. I personally don’t like to evangelize to others because I don’t necessarily “fit” the traditional Christian mold. I also have been in situations where I’ve somewhat hidden my faith because friends/acquaintances may feel that bringing up my faith in any way is an attempt to either make them feel inferior or change them in some way. For example, I know religion is a touchy subject with most members of the LGBT community, and even though I personally feel that God is love and everyone has the right to seek personal happiness, bringing up my faith could be seen as passing judgment or even an attack.
My short answer? Evangelism is awkward for me. Religion and faith place me in a box that I personally don’t fit into.

Young men in suits knocking on my door and trying to tell my (while kids cry, dinner burns and i try to escape) why their version of Christianity is the “right” one.

When I rebelled against God I disliked Christianity, especially those who evangelized their faith. As I mature in my Christian faith I respect those that profess their faith and encourage their enthusiasm. In retrospect, I am thankful to God for those annoying evangelists who sparked contempt and fear into my heart.

Interesting you should ask that, that was the exact question my worship committee discussed this month as we gear up for a sermon series on evangelism: what is it and what it isn’t. I hope God is blessing this conversation for you and your church!

Evangelists just are too pushy and long-winded. They make me feel uncomfortable.

Caring more about my soul than my health and welfare.

The people who come to my door and preach without asking if I already am a Christian, or do ask but still preach anyway. If I believe the same thing, I shouldn’t be offended or feel uncomfortable when you talk about it. I can only imagine how much worse it is if it is a non-believer who answers the door.

Walking down a crowded street a guy with a bullhorn waited until I was right in front of him before he lit it up yelling about hell. He’s lucky I didn’t send him there.

Hmm today at sm group we watched a Nooma video called bullhorn, it’s about a bullhorn guy screaming hell fire and brimstone. I loved how he talked about how Jesus “evangelized”

I don’t think of evangelism the same way as I did when I wasn’t as far along in my faith walk. Earlier in life it made me think of Tammy and Jimmy (?) Bakker. Anyway, it was a turn off, pushy, intrusive. Now I see openly talking about faith and how I can lean on God through faith feels comforting and “looks” totally different from “The Bakers.” I don’t feel fake like the big hair and clumpy makeup or the loud pushy preaching.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: adventure, eternity, evangelism, Faith, obedience

Why – Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?

April 17, 2013 by Patricia 1 Comment

Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers?
Sycamore Creek Church
April 14/15, 2013
Tom Arthur

Peace Friends!

Today we continue in our Why series dealing with the question: Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? I recently came across this prayer written by Tina Fey in her book Bossy Pants. Here’s a slightly edited version:

“The Mother’s Prayer for Its Daughter”

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it…

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and [making out] in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for…Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a [witch] in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that…I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

Do you think Tina Fey’s prayer will be answered? If not, why not? Well, we all have prayed prayers like this or other prayers. And whether you think God will answer Tina Fey’s prayer or not, you’ve prayed prayers that you thought God could and should have answered but didn’t. You may have even claimed Jesus’ promise in John:

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
John 14:13-14 NRSV

It seems that God did some pretty amazing things in scripture. He made the sun stand still for Joshua. I can barely comprehend what that might mean for the laws of physics. He saved Daniel in the lion’s den (and I’m not talking about a porn shop off the side of the highway). Jesus regularly healed people, especially children who were dying or deeply suffering. If God answered these prayers, why doesn’t God answer my prayers for the same thing?

I think about the issues I wrestle with on a daily basis. Sometimes I find myself as a pastor in a paradox. I am often praying for people to be healed when I have my own health issues too. I’ve prayed for body parts to be made well all the while having a bum back that continually gives me problems with aches and pains. What’s up with that?

Maybe you’ve prayed for a girlfriend or boyfriend but none came along, especially the hottest girl you were praying would dig you. You prayed to pass a class in school but you didn’t pass it. You prayed to be healed of a disease but weren’t. You prayed to conceive a child but didn’t. You prayed for your parents not to get divorced, but they did. You prayed for a loved one to come to know Christ, but he only got further away.

If you’re here today as a guest and are not a Christian, you may have the impression that Christians pray and ask for things and always feel like they get what they’re asking for. But that’s not true. Just because you seek to follow Jesus doesn’t mean you experience all your prayers being answered. I certainly don’t. Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you don’t ask, Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? That’s the question we’re here to deal with today. I’d like to make four suggestions of why it might be that God isn’t answering your prayers. Each one begins with the word “maybe” because it might be this or it might be something else entirely. So here are four reasons why God might not be answering your prayers.

Broken Relationships
Maybe God isn’t answering your prayers because you have a broken relationship. Our horizontal relationships with those around us matter for our vertical relationship with God. It’s not like you can compartmentalize your spiritual life from your day to day life. Your day to day life is your spiritual life! Jesus tells us that when it comes to something like forgiveness, how we forgive others will have an impact on how we experience forgiveness from God:

Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.
Mark 11:24-25 NLT

John, one of Jesus’ closest followers, reflects on how our horizontal relationships affect our vertical relationship, saying you cannot say you love God if you hate your brother:

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters,are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sisterwhom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.
1 John 4:20 NRSV

Peter, another of Jesus’ closest followers, takes this idea and runs with it in your family:

In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. If you don’t treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.
1 Peter 3:7 NLT

And some of us husbands may not be married to someone who is “weaker” than we are. So you better watch out on both fronts!

The book of Proverbs, a collection of wisdom sayings, takes this into the realm of our relationship with the poor:

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.
Proverbs 21:13 ESV

Have you been paying attention to the new pope, Pope Francis? I really like this guy. During Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, he took the time go and wash the feet of youth who were in prison. He washed and kissed their feet! And he broke with tradition by washing the feet of young women. Now here’s a pope who has his ear to the cry of the poor. You better watch out for what Pope Francis is praying for!

Christina Rossetti, a 19th century English poet, sums this up nicely when she says:

I pray for grace; but then my sins unpray
My prayer: on holy ground I fool stand shod.

The way we treat those around us has consequences for our prayer lives. Maybe God isn’t answering your prayers because of the broken relationships you aren’t paying attention to.

Wrong Motives
Maybe God isn’t answering your prayers because you have the wrong motives when you pray. For example, a man was circling the block searching for a parking spot. Finally, after the third time around, he prays, “God, if you help me find a parking spot, I will go to church every Sunday and tithe ten percent of my income.” Immediately, a spot opens up, and the man prays, “Never mind, I found one.”

James, Jesus’ brother, says:

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
James 4:3 NRSV

OK, let’s be honest. How many of you have prayed to win the lottery? Now let’s be really honest. What were your real motives? To live a life of luxury or a life of generosity? My dad still to this day plays the lotto. When we were kids he would bring home lotto tickets and give them to us to fill out. One time when my family was having some financial troubles I came within one number of winning $14,000,000! I picked the number 19 instead of 29. Instead we got $2500. Not bad. My dad was bummed at the time, but recently I asked him about it, and he says he gives thanks to God that we didn’t win the lottery. He thinks it would have torn our family apart. And he’s probably right. Most people who win the lotto don’t lead happy lives. Winning the lotto seems to have a negative effect on many who win it. Perhaps that’s because if they were praying to win the lotto, they were praying in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. I’m reminded of Garth Brooks’ song Unanswered Prayers:

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

If we turn to the book of Proverbs again we read that our motives are known by the Lord:

All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.
Proverbs 16:2 NRSV

Maybe God isn’t answering your prayers because your motives aren’t the best.

Unbelief
Maybe God doesn’t answer your prayers because you don’t believe God will do it. Whenever I think of belief and unbelief I think of the Grand Canyon Sky Walk.

You can say you believe that it will hold your weight, but your belief is shown by your actions of walking out on the glass, 4000 feet above the Grand Canyon floor!

A father comes to Jesus looking for his child to be healed from a spirit of seizures that throws him into water and fire. He asks Jesus to heal him if he is able. This is what Jesus says:

If you are able! — All things can be done for the one who believes.
Mark 9:23 NRSV

I’m thankful for the honesty of this guy’s response. He says, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Then Jesus heals his son!

Your faith matters when you pray. You often hear Christians, even myself at times, say something like, “All we have left to do is pray.” No! The first thing we have to do is pray! And believe that God hears our prayers and can and will answer them.

Now this can be seriously misconstrued. I’m not teaching a name it and claim it system of belief. I’m not even saying that all the time the reason God doesn’t answer your prayers is because you don’t believe. Maybe sometimes this is the reason. God is not obligated to answer your prayers. God is not your cosmic sugar daddy. Just because you have faith, doesn’t mean God has to do it, but your faith does matter.

I think of how we’re teaching Micah to say “Please” when he asks for food. He has learned this so well that he now says please whenever he asks for food or just about anything else. Of course, he has learned to say please whether we think it’s a good idea to give it to him or not. Who gets to decide when he says please? We do. Are we obligated to give him something whenever he says please? No. Is it important that he says please? Absolutely!

Again we turn to James, Jesus’ brother:

But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
James 1:6-7 NRSV

Something Different
Maybe God doesn’t answer your prayers because God has something different in mind for you. In an opening interview with Gary Chapman in the audio book to the new edition of his Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman tells about how he and his wife wanted to be missionaries to Africa. He wanted to teach in a seminary. But the mission board turned them down because of his wife’s health. They did not think she would do well in Africa.

Fast forward many years and Chapman has now written a book that has sold over 5 million copies and has been translated into almost 30 languages. When it is translated to a new language, his publisher sends them a box of the books and he and his wife pray for the people that will read it.

One day when he received a box of books, his wife began to cry. He said, “What’s wrong?” She said, “Remember how we wanted to be missionaries and weren’t able to. Now you’re book is teaching people all around the world.” God has something different in mind for the Chapmans.

God’s will matters more than our will. Looking again to John, one of Jesus’ followers:

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.
1 John 5:14-15 NRSV

Notice the key phrase here, “according to his will.” If you ask God something that God already wants for you, you’re golden! That’s a prayer that God wants to answer. When Micah asks me for more lettuce and says “please” that’s a request I want to answer.

But sometimes we don’t get what we ask for because God has something better in mind. In those times I’m reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They wouldn’t bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s God, so he threatens to throw them in a fiery furnace. Here’s how they answer the king:

If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”
Daniel 3:17-18 NRSV

In essence they say: I believe God can, I believe God will, and even if God doesn’t, I still believe. Now that’s powerful trust in the goodness of God.

Maybe God ultimately wants something to happen in us in prayer. The movie Shadowlands tells the story of C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia which have recently begun to be made into movies, and his marriage to Joy Gresham. At an early age Joy is diagnosed with a terminal cancer. Lewis has married her legally at this point just so that she can have British citizenship. But when he realizes she has cancer he decided to get married to her in the church. He prays for her healing. In one scene, a friend of Lewis’ says that God is hearing and answering his prayers. Lewis responds, “That’s not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me.” Maybe that’s the something different, the something better that God has in mind. Prayer changes me. Let’s pray.

God, show me where there might be broken relationships that are getting in the way of my prayer life with you. Give me the courage to confess those areas and to seek healing and reconciliation. God, show me where I am asking for something out of selfish motives. Help purify my intentions. God show me where I say that I trust you but my actions betray my talk. Help my unbelief. God, even when you don’t answer my prayers, let me trust that you have something different, something better in store for me. May my prayers change me. Amen.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: Faith, prayer, trust, unbelief, why

Old Testament, Part II

September 4, 2012 by Patricia Leave a Comment

Bible 101 – Old Testament, Part II
Sycamore Creek Church
September 2, 2012
Tom Arthur

Peace Friends!

Today we wrap up a series that was originally supposed to be one week on the Old Testament and one week on the New Testament. But once I began working on trying to give you an overview of the Old Testament, I found that I couldn’t do it in one week. In fact, two weeks is still pushing it. So I’m putting the New Testament off for another day. And what was a Bible 101 series has become an Old Testament 101 series.

I have struggled with the Old Testament. In fact, as I was getting ready to go to seminary I was on the verge of another faith crisis around several questions I had about the Old Testament. I know it’s a little weird to hear someone talk about going to seminary to be a pastor and being on the verge of a faith crisis because of the Old Testament, but I’m just telling you how it was. I thought that my Old Testament class was going to be a serious challenge to my faith, but what I found instead was that my Old Testament professor, Ellen Davis, saved my faith. She didn’t save me (that’s Jesus’ job), but she did renew my faith and trust in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament.

I’m not the only person to struggle with the Old Testament. I hear questions all the time about how to understand the Old Testament. It seems so, well, old. Any anything that is old just smacks of old underwear, old moldy cheese, old fashion, and old technology. Who would want to spend any time with old stuff that is outdated? I’d sum up people’s concerns about the Old Testament in this way:

The Old Testament is hard to understand, scientifically inaccurate, and presents an immoral angry and vengeful God. Given all this, why would I care to spend any time at all in the Old Testament?

These are important questions, and let me speak to the guest for a moment. If you’ve joined us today and have these kinds of questions about the Bible, you’re not alone. We’ve got them too. Hey, I’m the pastor at Sycamore Creek Church, and I’ve still got questions like this. Your questions are welcome. We’re a curious church. We’re curious about God and the Bible. You don’t have to check your questions at the door when you come here. You are welcome, questions and all.

So last week I began to unpack these questions with another question: what does Jesus think of the Old Testament? And because Christians think Jesus is God’s son, we can rephrase the question this way: What does God think of the Old Testament? We get a glimpse of an answer to that question when Jesus is arguing with some of the religious leaders of his day. He says:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.
Matthew 23:23 NRSV

In this argument about tithing, giving ten percent of what you make back to God, Jesus points out that the religious leaders of the day are following the letter of the law so closely that they’re missing some weightier parts. Jesus thinks there are parts of the Old Testament (although he would have simply called it “the scriptures” because there was not yet a compiled New Testament) that carry more weight than others.

I use dumbbells in the morning to exercise. Some are light and some are heavy. They’re all dumbbells but because of their different weights they’re used for different things. Light weights are used in high repetition to build endurance. Heavy weights are used in low repetitions to build strength. They are all useful for training to get stronger, but they are not all used in the same way because some are weightier than others.

So here’s the main point of these two weeks on the Old Testament:

Main Point: All scripture is inspired, but not all scripture is equal.

If that makes you a little nervous to say that, then we can say it exactly the way Jesus would have said it: all scripture is inspired (God breathed), but not all scripture is equally weighty.

The big question then is how do you know which parts are more or less weighty? I think one key to understanding the weightiness of a section is to read slowly, carefully and humbly paying special attention to genre. Genre? Yes. Genre.

You may not know the word but you know genre. Let me explain it this way. Here’s your Bible quiz for the morning. What does “Bible” literally mean? Bible means library. The Bible is a library of sixty-six books and thirty-nine of them are in the Old Testament. A library is like a bookstore, it is arranged with different topics in different sections. Those different sections are the different genres: fiction, cookbooks, biography, gardening, memoir, etc.

When I recently went on vacation I picked up two kinds of books from the library: historical fiction and some cookbooks. You read these kinds of books very differently. I read the fiction for long stretches of time in my bed before I go to sleep. I read the cookbook in short spurts in the kitchen paying very close attention to details. The difference between one teaspoon and one tablespoon can be disastrous. You would think I was weird if I took the cookbook to bed and read it for hours at a time before I went to sleep. There are different kinds of books for different kinds of situations that are read very differently.

Another kind of reading I do is magazine reading. Where do you read magazines? I prefer to read magazines while sitting on the throne in the throne room of my house, if you know what I mean. So you even read some kinds of books or reading material on the toilet. What do you read on the toilet?

So there are three big sections of the Old Testament:

1. Story of Israel (Pentateuch/Torah & History)
2. Wisdom (Emotions & Wisdom)
3. Prophets (Major & Minor)

Last week we looked at the first big section: the Story of Israel. We saw that this section is made up of books that tell the stories that define who the family of Israelis and is not (Israelliterally means “those who wrestle with God”). Today we’ll look at the other two big sections of the Old Testament: wisdom and prophets.

Wisdom
Within the wisdom books I’d suggest that there are two big sections: wisdom “proper” and emotion books. That may not be quite right, but that’s what I’m going with today. The wisdom “proper” books include Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The emotion books include Psalms, Song of Songs, and Lamentations.

Before we get much further let’s talk about a definition of wisdom. Wisdom is what is true for most people most of the time. Wisdom is practical common sense knowledge. Wisdom is not a promise. Take for example this very popular proverb about parenting:

Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.
Proverbs 22:6

Many parents get very confused and end up feeling very guilty because they take this as a promise from God. It’s as if God is saying to each parent: if you do the right things, you can rest assured that your child will grow up and do the right things.

Now of course, that is what Sarah and I are planning. We are being perfect parents so that Micah will be a perfect child and later a perfect adult. We read the Bible religiously and do all that it says in regard to parenting. We add to biblical knowledge all the contemporary parenting books. We will make no mistakes. So far in about two years of Micah’s life, we’re doing pretty good. We’re raising him in the right way, and we expect it to pay dividends. When he is an adult, we look forward to kicking back, enjoying his lucrative career and having him take care of us in our old age. All the while we expect that he will be a model Christian completely and totally holy without sin always doing exactly what God would want. Proverbs 22:6 is a promise to this end. Right? NO!

It’s not a promise because it’s wisdom literature. It tells you what happens most of the time for most people. But to think that it’s a formula for 100% success in raising children completely and totally neglects the reality of free will. God has given us the wonderful and terrible freedom of choosing or rejecting God’s love. Children are given this freedom just like the rest of us. Hey wait. We were all once children!

OK, the point of that was to say that if you’re not paying attention to the genre of wisdom, you’re going to miss something really important about how to read the proverbs. You’ll be sitting in bed with your cookbook reading it for hours. All scripture is inspired but not all scripture is equal.

Emotions
Then there’s the emotional wisdom books of the Bible: Psalms, Song of Songs, and Lamentations. Often in these books we learn more about the emotions of the person writing the book than we do about God who it is written to or about. Consider some of the psalms that we often have a difficult time with: the cursing psalms.

One of the worst cursing psalms is Psalm 137. It is written during the time of exile in Babylon. Remember from last week the big historical timeline ofIsrael? They began in Egypt as slaves and were delivered by God through Moses. They entered the promised land and were ruled first by judges and then by kings. There was civil war that split Israel in half. The Assyrian empire sacked the northern kingdom of Israel and then the Babylonian empire sacked the southern kingdom of Israel, calledJudah. It was in this sacking that the temple was destroyed. In both instances the attacking empire took the wealthy and elite away from their homeland and into exile.

Imagine with me for a moment the devastation of having your city sacked and then being carted off into exile in a foreign land. Imagine this happening today to us. Psalm 137 is written by a worship leader so let’s imagine this happening to our worship leader, Jeremy. Jeremy’s pregnant wife has been killed in the siege. The foreigners have also killed his son. Then they’ve carted him off to their homeland away from everything that is familiar to him. When they get there they rub salt in the open wounds by asking him to sing one of those praise songs that he used to sing at SycamoreCreekChurch. He says, Sure. I’ll sing you a praise song. You’ve killed my wife, my unborn child, and my two-year-old:

Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!
Psalm 137:9

Now in that context, are you learning more about God or more about Jeremy? When you are reading the books of emotion, be careful to make that distinction. All scripture is inspired but not all scripture is equal.

Prophets (Major & Minor)
Last week we looked at the books that tell the story of Israel and today we’ve looked at the wisdom books. There’s only one more section: the prophets. Within the prophets there are major prophets and minor prophets. What’s the difference between a major and minor prophet? It’s not the key he sings in. (That was a joke.) It’s simply the length of the book he wrote. The major prophets were more wordy than the minor prophets.

The Major Prophets are: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel & Daniel (Apocalypse).

The Minor Prophets are: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

A prophet is generally someone who speaks for God who reminds the family of God when it is living into God’s story and when it is not living into God’s story. There are several ways that the prophets go about doing this. One way is through apocalyptic literature. Apocalypse simply means “revelation.”

Large portions of Ezekiel and Daniel are apocalyptic. Here’s a taste:

In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form. Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings…As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle.
Ezekiel 1:5-12 NRSV

I think one of the most helpful ways to understand apocalypse is as an ancient political cartoon. If you saw a political cartoon today that had a donkey and an elephant in it you’d know immediately that we’re talking about the democrats and republicans. If the cartoon has the colors red, white, and blue in it, then you know we’re talking about the USA. In the same way, apocalyptic literature uses symbols that everyone in its day understood but today we’ve lost the meaning because we aren’t in that culture. So it takes some extra work to unpack the symbolism of apocalypse.

Another way that prophets speak for God is through “sign acts” or what I like to call “performance art.” In the performance art of the prophets we get a taste of what God’s emotions are like. Hosea was called by God to marry an unfaithful wife to symbolize Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. Whew! Here’s another somewhat startling performance art act by the prophet Isaiah:

At that time the LORD had spoken to Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take your sandals off your feet,” and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot. Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia…”
Isaiah 20:2-3 NRSV

Isaiah walked around butt-naked for three years to make a point about God! Teenagers, tell your parents next week when you come to church that you’d like to go naked and barefoot to make a point about God. See what happens.

I like to think of the prophets as ancient hippies. In fact, this November we’re going to be doing a series called Ancient Hippies looking at four of the prophets: Micah, Amos, Hosea, and Jonah. Within the words and performance of these ancient hippies we see within God a deep passion and love for you that sometimes looks like the passion of a middle school girl for Justin Bieber. It makes God do some crazy stuff. Maybe that’s why we at Sycamore Creek Church talk about igniting authentic life in Christ. But we not only ignite it, we fan it into an all consuming passion for God.

A third way that the prophets remind God’s family who they are and are not is through proclamations of justice. My wife and I named our son Micah because of a famous verse in the book by the prophet Micah about justice:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 NRSV

It is our hope that he would grow up to be one who does justice, loves kindness, and walks humbly with God. That’s why we named him Micah. And now we are back full circle to what Jesus thinks of the Old Testament and what is weighty and what is not so weighty. Let’s read that argument again that Jesus was having with the religious leaders:

What are the weightier matters of the law? Justice. Mercy. Faith. If you want to know what to pay special attention to in the Old Testament look for the moments of justice, mercy, and faith. All scripture is inspired but not all scripture is equal.

Practical Suggestions
So here are some really practical suggestions for how to do that:

Read together – Read with other people and don’t forget the people who have come before you. Read what other Christians have thought historically. Also, don’t forget to read with people who are different than you. Sometimes you’ll be blind to something obvious that someone from another culture or ethnicity will notice.
Pray a psalm a day – The psalms are emotion filled prayers. Pray one each morning. There are 150 of them. So it will take you roughly five months to work your way through them. Over time you will find that the psalms provide you words to pray when you don’t have your own words.
Read a proverb a day – The proverbs are full of practical wisdom for living today. Read one proverb a day. I have an app on my phone that displays one proverb each day.
Read with a good Bible dictionary – If I had to pick one book besides the Bible to help me read the Bible it would be a good Bible dictionary. My favorite is Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary. When you’re reading a book of the Bible, look that book up and read the brief entry about the context and themes of that book. When you come across the name of a place or person, look that up in the dictionary and learn more about that person or place. It will help you know whether that part of the Bible is weighty or not.
Read with a good atlas – My favorite is Baker’s Atlas of Christian History. In the Bible you’re reading about a foreign land. It is helpful to see a map and know where you’re reading about. Is it happening in the dessert, on a mountain, or on the coastlands? These will give you clues to deeper meanings.
Read with a good handbook – Lastly, pick up a Bible handbook. My favorite is How to Read the Bible Book by Book. You’ll find a chapter on each book of the Bible with helpful guides for what to look for as you’re reading it. Another helpful guidebook is Philip Yancey’s The Bible Jesus Read. Yancey unpacks much of what I’ve said in his characteristically deep and meaningful way.

Here’s the problem we’ve been wrestling with today:

The Old Testament is hard to understand, scientifically inaccurate, and presents an immoral angry and vengeful God. Given all this, why would I care to spend any time at all in the Old Testament?

Here’s one answer to that problem:

Where did Martin Luther King Jr. get his inspiration for his I Have a Dream speech? The Old Testament:

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 40:4-5 KJV

All scripture is inspired but not all scripture is equal.

Prayer
God, sometimes the Old Testament seems very difficult to read. Help us pay attention to which parts are weightier than others. Help us read slowly, carefully, and humbly while paying special attention to the kind of genre we’re reading. Help us meet you in the pages of the Old Testament so that our lives are transformed into ones that seek justice, mercy, and faith. Then use us to transform the world. Amen.

Each week we provide discussion questions for small groups that meet regularly to discuss the message for the week. Want to find a small group to join? Email Mark Aupperlee – m_aupperlee@hotmail.com.

What do you like or not like about reading the Old Testament?
What is your favorite or least favorite story from the Old Testament and why?
Read Matthew 23:23. What do you make of Jesus’ statement that some parts of the Law/Old Testament are “weightier” than others?
What resources (books, apps, websites, etc.) have you found helpful for reading the Old Testament or Bible?
How can we pray for you in your discipline of reading the Bible?

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: Bible, Faith, Old Testament, scripture

The Old Testament, Part I

August 28, 2012 by Patricia Leave a Comment

Bible 101 – The Old Testament Part I
Sycamore Creek Church
August 26, 2012
Tom Arthur
Matthew 23:23

Peace, Friends!

Anything called “old” must not be very good. Right? Well today we begin a Bible 101 series on the “Old” Testament. The Bible is split into two big sections: Old and New. The Old Testament happens before Jesus. The New Testament happens after Jesus.

I’ve got to admit: I’ve struggled with the Old Testament. When I went to seminary I had several unanswered questions about faith and the Bible. I even anticipated having a big faith crisis when I began to really dig down and study the Bible, especially the Old Testament. I had grown up being taught that the Bible was “inerrant.” That means that it was “without error.” I was told that if the was ever an error in any part of the Bible, then all the rest of the Bible was suspect. And it seemed to me that if you were going to find an error in the Bible, it was going to be in the Old Testament. Of course, “error” always ends up equaling someone’s very literal interpretation of some passage here or there. But the struggle with this idea and with the Old Testament almost cost me my faith.

But then I had a surprise: I expected my Old Testament class in seminary to seriously challenge and test my faith. Rather what I found was that Ellen Davis, my Old Testament professor, saved my faith. She didn’t save me (Jesus did that), but she did save my faith. Or maybe not exactly my faith but my faith and trust in the Bible.

Today I’d like to take on an almost impossible task. I’d like to give you an overview of the Old Testament, thousands of pages, in thirty minutes. Actually, I originally intended this series to be two weeks, one week on the Old Testament and one on the New Testament. But after wrestling with this task of teaching the Old Testament probably as much as I’ve wrestled with the actual Old Testament itself, I’ve decided to make it two weeks on the Old Testament and save the New Testament for some other time.

I have a fear about this message: that it will be a little too “professorial.” I’ll do my best to not get too “teachy” but bear with me and I think you’ll gain a deeper appreciation of the Old Testament when we’re done and some helpful guidance for how to make use of it in your life.

I’m not the only one who has struggled with the Old Testament. I asked my friends on Facebook about their own struggles with the Old Testament. Here’s some of what I heard:

I have a difficult time relating it directly to my life.
It’s SO negative and punitive. It depresses me to read it.
The fact that god is needy, insecure, vindictive and overly punitive.
Not understanding all the customs and circumstances of the age.
It’s longer than the New Testament.
Sometimes the repetition from one book to the next makes me less enthusiastic to continue reading. And sometimes I feel like I don’t want to read the OT because of all the repetition. Then there’s the repetition.

Here’s the problem: The Old Testament is hard to understand, scientifically inaccurate, and presents an immoral, angry and vengeful God. Given all this, why would I care to spend any time at all in the Old Testament?

If you’re a guest here today, I want you to know that these kinds of questions really are live here atSycamoreCreekChurch. We’re a curious community. We’ve got questions about God, the Bible, and especially the Old Testament. We want to invite you to be curious about God with us. Your questions are welcome right alongside our own questions.

Jesus’ View of the Old Testament

So what to do with the Old Testament? Let’s begin our exploration today with Jesus’ view of the Old Testament. What does Jesus think of the Old Testament? Since Christians believe that Jesus was not only fully human but also fully divine, we could rephrase the question this way: What does God think of the Old Testament?

I’d like to focus on one verse today to help us answer that question:

So Jesus is arguing with the religious leaders of the day and calls them out for being hypocrites. They follow to the letter the laws about tithing. They take this so seriously that they tithe their herbs and spices! Anybody here tithe? Anybody here tithe their herbs and spices?

So Jesus lays into them. What does he say, “You neglect the weightier matters of the law.” Implied in this critique of the religious leaders of the day is a view of the Old Testament: some things in it are weightier than other things. In other words, they’re not all equal. It’s like the rubber bands and dumbbells I use for exercising in the morning. They all help me exercise but some are weightier than others.

So you may wonder: “Is this just Jesus’ view in the New Testament? But what does the Old Testament think of itself?” Well, there’s actually quite a conversation within the Old Testament about what exactly is really important in the Old Testament. Consider Psalm 51 as it reflects on all the various commandments and details about offering sacrifices at the temple to God, a major part of some of the books in the Old Testament. Psalm 51 says:

For you [God] have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 51:16-17 NRSV

So one part of the Old Testament tells us that God doesn’t take delight in sacrifices while another part tells us all the details of how to offer sacrifices. What’s up with that?

Here’s the main point of today’s message, the one point take-away: All scripture is inspired, but not all scripture is equal. Or you might say, “All scripture is inspired, but not all scripture is of equal weight.” But how do we know which parts of scripture are more weighty than others? One key to that is to read slowly, carefully, and humbly paying extra attention to genre.

Genre?

What is “genre”? You already know it. What’s your favorite mystery novel? How about romance? Fantasy? Biography? Memoir? Graphic Novel? Self-help? Politics? Cookbook? They’re all books, but they’re not all the same kind of books. If you pick up a cookbook and you’re expecting to read a romance novel, you’ll be seriously confused and disappointed. You don’t even read those books the same way. You read a romance sitting in bed over long stretches of time before you go to bed. You read a cookbook little bits at a time in your kitchen.

Here’s your Bible quiz for the day: What does “Bible” mean? “Bible” literally means library. The Bible is a library of sixty six books. I’ve got this really cool version of the Bible that shows that really well. It’s a boxed set where each book of the Bible is individually bound. There are thirty nine books of the Bible that are written by dozens of authors over thousands of years. Just like you read a cookbook differently than you read a romance novel, you can’t bring the same expectations to each book of the Bible, or even different parts within the same book. All scripture is inspired, but not all scripture is equal.

There are three big parts to the Old Testament:

The Story ofIsrael
Wisdom Literature (sometimes called “The Writings”)
The Prophets.

Let’s look at each part one at a time.

1. Story of Israel

The first big part of the Old Testament is the Story of Israel. These are the family stories you tell and retell that define who your family is and is not. For example, my family likes to tell the story of my Grandpa White who was being served pie by my grandma. She served up a piece of pie and before she could turn back and dish out some ice cream, he had eaten the entire piece of pie! That tells you something about my family. It tells you something about my family especially when you compare it to a more recent story that Sarah’s family likes to tell about me and them. The first time that Sarah’s family served me s’mores, her mom put all the ingredients out on the table: marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. After her dad had roasted one marshmallow for each of us, Sarah’s mom began putting everything away. I protested: you can’t call them s’mores if you only get one! These are stories that we tell and retell over and over. What stories does your family tell and retell about themselves? How does the telling and retelling of those stories define who your family is?

The first big part of the Old Testament is the Story of Israel. Within the Story of Israel are two more big parts: the first part is the Pentateuch often called the Torah and the second part is the History. Pentateuch means “five books” and Torah means “teaching.” The five books of the Torah are Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Genesis has two big parts: the pre-history and the story of the matriarchs and patriarchs. The pre-history sometimes reads like it was taken out of the Lord of the Rings. For example:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.
Genesis 6:4 NRSV

Did everything written in the pre-history happen exactly as it is written? Some of it I think should be read metaphorically like the story of creation in six days. Other parts of it, I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But nonetheless, these stories define who the family ofIsraelis, and consequently who we are.

Exodus is the story of the, well, Exodus. Numbers is the story of the number of people who traveled through the wilderness fromEgyptto the Promised Land. Numbers is one of those books we love to hate because it just has one list of people after another. We don’t know how to pronounce their names and we really don’t care. But here’s a trick, just read the names with authority. Nobody else knows how to pronounce them either. Let’s practice:

From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur. From Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. From Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab. From Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar. From Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon. From the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. From Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni. From Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. From Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran. From Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel. From Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
Numbers 1:5-15 NRSV

I used to not get these lists of names. But then I went to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall inWashingtonDC. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I cried as I read through the list of one name after another on this amazing memorial. I cried at a list of names! Do I want to stand at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial every day and read all those names every day? Probably not. But I did gain an appreciation for the power of writing down and reading names. Or take the one-year anniversary of 9-11. Do you remember what they did at ground zero? They read each of the three thousand names who died. It took a very long time. But it was powerful to listen to and remember all those names of people. That’s what the book of Numbers is about.

Another book we love to hate is Leviticus. Countless jokes are made about Leviticus. It is a book of law, many of which seem completely irrelevant to us. But not all laws are made equally. There are ceremonial laws, ethical laws, and civil laws. Buried within this book are amazing gems. Do you know what the second greatest commandment is according to Jesus? Do you know where Jesus got that from? The book of Leviticus:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Leviticus 19:18 NRSV

“Deuteronomy” literally means “second law.” Once again we’re in the law. Irrelevant? Do you know what the greatest commandment is according to Jesus? Do you know where Jesus got that commandment from? Deuteronomy.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5 NRSV

That’s the Pentateuch or Torah. That’s the first part of the Story of Israel. The second part of the Story of Israel is the history. Here’s how the history of Israel works:

There are several books that describe what life was like before there were kings that ruledIsrael: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel

There is much in these books that is disturbing. But when we read books of history, we need to remember that often times what we’re reading is simply reporting what happened without a lot of commentary on whether it was wrong or right. But one big piece of commentary we get from the book of Judges is this:

In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
Judges 17:6 NRSV

One of the big stories that rubs people the wrong way is Lot offering his daughters to be gang raped by a mob. When you read this story, you must keep in mind that there is nothing in the story that says that God toldLotto do this. What you read is simply a report of what happened.

But that doesn’t totally get us off the hook in these difficult moments. We read in Samuel:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did in opposing the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”
1 Samuel 15:2-3 NRSV

YIKES! If you’ve got questions about stuff like this, well, you’re in good company. I’ve got questions too. When I come to sections like this it is helpful to remember that there are other parts of the Old Testament that tell a very different story. Consider this passage from Micah:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Micah 4:3 NRSV

The Old Testament can be very bloody, but it also almost always points to, even longs for, a day when war will be a thing of the past. All scripture is inspired, but not all scripture is equal.

Moving on in the books of history there are several books that describe what life was like after kings took power in Israel: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles. Here’s where much of the repetition comes from. The books of Kings was written by one group of people. The books of Chronicles tells the exact same story by another group of people. Some parts of these books are identical.

So during the king part of the Story of Israel there is a civil war and Israel is split into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah. This civil war weakened Israel and Judah and soon the empires of Assyria and Babylon came and sacked these two kingdoms and took the people of Israel off to Exile. One book that tells what it was like to live in Exile is Esther.

Soon another even bigger Empire,Persia, takes down Assyria andBabylonand allowsIsraelto return to their land. Two books tell this story – Ezra & Nehemiah.

So we’ve covered the first big part of the Old Testament: the Story of Israel. There are two big parts left to go, but you’re going to have to come back next week to learn about those.

All scripture is inspired, but not all scripture is equal. When we really take this point into account we will read slowly, carefully, and humbly with special attention to genre of what we’re reading. I think that this kind of reading takes a lot of work. It doesn’t come easily. Next week we’re going to look at some practical strategies for how to do this kind of work.

When we read the Old Testament in this way it transforms our life and the lives of those around us. Lately I’ve been on a community learning tour. I’ve been visiting various places in our community and this past week I met our county sheriff, Sherriff Wrigglesworth. One of his deputies, Steve Martin (not the comedian) gave me a tour of the jail. Steve retires in about two weeks. He’s a seasoned policeman. As Steve walked me around showing me all the ins and outs (it was serious maze!), he told me about how he treats the prisoners: with respect. He said that he doesn’t yell at them or curse at them. If he has to speak words of discipline to an inmate, he takes him aside away from his buddies so as not to shame him in front of others. He told me how some of the younger deputies don’t treat the prisoners in this way and how they often end up having to resolve issues physically. After Steve told me this, I said to him, “I don’t know your faith history, but I’d say you’re treating the prisoners with a basic biblical dignity.” He went on to tell me that he was a Christian and that while many of these inmates have done some pretty heinous stuff, they are worthy of being treated with respect as humans because they each bear the image of God. Where do you think he got that idea from? The Old Testament.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: Bible, Faith, Old Testament, scripture

Bathroom With a Drop

April 30, 2012 by Tom Leave a Comment

Sometimes I have to indulge in a little bathroom humor. Now this would be quite an experience!

Source…

Filed Under: Ponderings Tagged With: Faith, humor, trust

Big Bang Faith

April 10, 2012 by Tom Leave a Comment

Science and faith are contradictory. Are they? God is just a psychological crutch. Sure about that? Evolution proves God isn’t necessary. Does it? Miracles don’t really happen. Never? Join us for a four week exploration of modern science and faith. Along the way we’ll meet scientists who are also people of faith. In the end you’ll have a better understanding of how faith and science complement one another. Or do they?

April 15 – The Who Banged It Theory (Faith and the Beginning of the Universe)
April 22 – The Reverse Projection Theory (Freud and Faith)
April 29 –The Evolution of Faith and Evolution (Darwin and God)
May 6 – The Faith and Medicine Algorithm (Healing and Faith)

May 6 – Special Film Screening: Test of Faith (Details TBA)

Meeting at Lansing Christian School
3405 Belle Chase Way
Lansing, MI 48911

www.sycamorecreekchurch.org
517-394-6100

Sunday Worship & Nursery – 9:30 AM & 11:15 AM
Kid’s Creek and StuREV – 11:15AM”

Map

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: Faith, science

I Want to Believe Amidst the Storms

Do You Believe I Can Do This?

Why Do You Doubt?*

Planes: Fire and Rescue – Resisting the Fires of Temptation

One Fish Two Fish Why Do I Do This?

Why – Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?

Old Testament, Part II

The Old Testament, Part I

Bathroom With a Drop

Big Bang Faith

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