Off message?

A few days ago in The New York Times, a blog post called "Mystery and Evidence" by Tim Crane opined:

When Christians express their belief that "Christ has risen", for example, they should not be taken as making a factual claim, but as expressing their commitment to what Wittgenstein called a certain "form of life," a way of seeing significance in the world, a moral and practical outlook which is worlds away from scientific explanation. (Bolding
mine.)

What the... what? I mean, I'd agree when we make the claim we aren't trying to explain the event scientifically, since one of the many things Christ did in addition to justifying us to God Perfect and Eternal was to break the shell of human knowledge and show us, as Shakespeare so perfectly said, "There are more things in heaven and earth... than are dreamt of in your philosophy." But that doesn't change the fact that a huge percentage of Christians -- those who are orthodox -- are, indeed, making a factual claim when they say "Christ has risen."

When we fail to make it plain that this is, in fact, our claim -- when we stop placing emphasis on "Christ the firstfruits" of our eternal life in resurrected bodies perfect and outside the laws of physics, then we are reduced to discussing the relative merits of ethical systems -- are we correct in emphasizing that evil thoughts are the same as deeds, or are Jews correct that only deeds count? Which faith's rules of behavior do we like best? A paltry portion indeed compared to what God has actually prepared for us.

And more to the point, there's little in a discussion of ethics that can possibly captivate non-believers. The atheists claim "you don't need God to be good," and aside from the quibble that you can't be good 24/7 with or without God, any thinking person can go right down that road with them. The only problem being it's not the road that leads to factual eternal life.

It's imperative to be unequivocal in affirming the factual content of our belief, even when the facts stretch the boundaries of what we think we know. We don't need to get wound up in internal discussions such as that between Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong and the Rt. Reverend Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in which Spong accused Williams of pretending to believe in the resurrection and Williams responding that he's really more conservative.

On the other hand it really isn't new news, is it? Even among the earliest Christians there was waffling and stumbling in this matter, according to St. Paul:

"How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? ... For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, then your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (I Corinthians 15:12, 16-19)

Let's do our best not to waffle or stumble when proclaiming the fact of Christ's bodily resurrection. Let's not cave before the demands or ridicule of those who adhere to the limited subset of human knowledge we call science. Yes, the resurrection is a "mystery" -- the Bible even says so. But it's also an awesome fact.

Are churches creating "fake Christians"?

If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning:

Your child is following a "mutant" form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.

Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.

Click the post title to read the entire article on the CNN website.

August 15: The ACTION of Living by Faith

Text: Hebrews 11:29-12:2


"We all want to do things and intend to do them, but then sometimes we forget. Sometimes we have bad habits, like procrastinating or else failing to finish what we start. Other times we veer off course by forgetting the reason it was important to do the thing in the first place. Or we can try stubbornly to find an easier way to do it," Fr. David enumerated as he began our Sunday meditation.

The passage in the Book of Hebrews we were considering was written to a church that had grown tired and, for one reason or another, was no longer vigorously pursuing its mission. In order to rally these believers, the author of Hebrews recounts many old-time heroes of faith. The implication is that the heroes faced harder struggles than the contemporary readers but still persevered.

The Israelites were able to breach and overrun the fortified walls of Jericho because they were obedient to God regardless of the unusual tactics they were commanded to use. "They weren't stubborn and didn't look for an easier or even more logical way to meet the foe," Fr. David explained. "God told them to march around the city blowing trumpets for seven days, and on the last day to end with a shout! I think what they shouted was probably 'hosanna', but whatever it was, when the Lord gave them the way forward and the task at hand, they didn't procrastinate, or equivocate, or fail to finish. They acted with faith in Him and this is what God also desires of us."

Rahab, a resident of Jericho, also appears in the roll call of heroes. Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, doesn't seem like a person God would call to be a hero. In fact, she seems like what another of the day's texts would call a "wild grape". Isaiah 5:1-7 presents a parable of a vineyard planted and tended on a fertile hill, but instead of juicy grapes it yielded only hard little wild grapes. Many times throughout scripture we are shown instances where the Lord seeks to bless His chosen ones, but people who were less "choice" serve Him instead. Thus, Rahab.

"Rahab understood that nothing would stand in the way of God's will and decided she would assist with His plan even though it meant changing her loyalties. She hid the Israelite spies and even lied to save their lives. And she also made a bargain that she and her family would be spared when the invasion finally came," said Fr. David.

"We'll have to reconcile the lie (and the manifest flaws in all the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews). Rahab and the others exercised a faith that transforms sinners -- restores, heals and honors them. In her case, her honor was to later become the great great grandmother of King David and a member of the lineage of Jesus Christ. She became great through her great faith."

Fr. David next drew our attention to verses in Hebrews that "sometimes get skipped over. We're told that we're united with the saints who went before us, but that 'apart from us they should not be made perfect'. There's something we need to do for them. What could that possibly be?"

Theologian John Piper interprets this as follows:

I take verse 39 to mean that when the believers in the Old Testament died, their spirits were made whole and perfect (as 12:23 says), but they do not receive the full blessing of God's promise, which is resurrection with new bodies in a glorious new age with all God's enemies removed and righteousness holding sway and the earth filled with the glory of God. They did not receive that promise yet.

Why not? Why must the saints wait, without their new resurrection bodies? The answer is given in verse 40: 'Because God has provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect'. In other words, God's purpose is that all his people -- all the redeemed -- be gathered in before any of them enjoys the fullness of his promise. His purpose is that we all come into the fullness of our inheritance together.

Because of this, the writer of Hebrews concludes, we need to "run with perseverance the race set before us" -- in other words, not neglect the harvest or our witness -- "looking to Jesus... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross".

"The Lord's desire," Fr. David concluded, "is that we should 'get it'. See the eternal importance of the task before us, forget what lies behind and focus on the prize before us, that multitudes would come to a saving knowledge of Christ. This is God's will. This is what the heroes of faith are desiring for us, that the great task might be complete. Let's renew our faith, strongly commit to the ACTION of living by faith and go forth to serve the Lord, Amen."

BEING ESTABLISHED IN THE FAITH

What is God’s answer to the deadliness and troubles we experience on a daily basis? 

We, who are believers in the Lord Jesus, are actually accosted by the onslaught of the philosophies, words and actions of those in our culture who are not god-fearing people. 

We are either keenly aware of this fact or we are ‘numbed out’, yet without question the Christian Believer is in the midst of spiritual warfare daily, just as the Scriptures point out:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.   Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.   For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.   Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Ephesians 6:10-13

Indeed, we do need our thinking transformed and our whole way of approaching the challenges of our lives these days transformed. The Bible tells us that the way our outlook is transformed is by the renewing of our minds in Jesus, as stated in Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Reading the Scriptures and being prayerful (filled with prayer) are two actions that need to be pursued in order for us to be faithful (faith filled). Meditating upon God’s Holy Word and practicing daily prayerfulness help us to remain steadfast so that we can be ‘more than conquerors’(Romans 8:37) through Jesus who loves us with holy love (agape).

What will help us in the midst of the philosophies and opinions that are so empty, yet which seek to make us their prey? We need to become ‘established in the faith’ (Col.2:6).

Come, join us this Sunday as we reflect together on God’s Holy Word about these matters.  
Our message this Sunday is based upon Colossians 2

     As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 

May God bless you with New Life and with renewed strength for living in Jesus Christ.

                                                                                                                    In Christ, David+