Do You Hear Me Now? 4/21/13

       Who is Jesus?
       Who are you, Jesus, was the way the crowd asked it of him when he walked in the
midst of them. Figuring out Jesus was the question du jour – and still is today. Are you the
messiah we've been expecting?, the Jewish community of that day asked him. Tell us
plainly.We need a simple answer. Don’t keep us thinking, guessing, considering,
pondering, wondering.
       Evidently people were talking about Jesus - the crowds he was gathering, the stories
about his works that were spreading, the feedings, the healings, the teachings. In Mark’s
gospel story Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27-29) The
answers given were: a new John the Baptist, a new Elijah, a new Jeremiah, and another
prophet like Elijah, Jeremiah and John. “So who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus goes on to ask.
Peter says, “You are the Messiah.”  In Matthew’s telling, Jesus goes onto say that famous line to Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church….”(Mt 16:18)

The answer...
       Who are you Jesus? Jesus answers that question two ways: one, he says that he’s
already told them, if they listened. And second, if the words don’t come through, look at his
works. This is what Jesus told John the Baptist, too, when he sent from prison to ask. Jesus’
words and works match – he has so integrated the message of God into his living that he is
totally consistent in his speaking and living. Most of us haven’t gotten that far in our own
faith and living – we still have ideals which draw us, even as we know we usually fall short.
We WANT to live up to the compassion and faithfulness we hear God call us to, we WANT to
be that integrated – and sometimes we manage to do it – not every time, but sometimes.
        Just like those physical therapy folks who make the exercise more difficult as soon as you are getting better at it, my experience is that God continues to give us a deeper spiritual exercises, just so we don’t get complacent and think we've “mastered” this Christian thing.

Another take on Jesus' answer
        Another take on Jesus’ Q & A is to see that it points up the doubt we all are prone to
feel in difficult circumstances. Even John the Baptist wondered about Jesus. On the one hand, we KNOW God is with us; on the other hand, sometimes we wonder where God is, or if we’ve heard right, or if God really hears and cares. A father who brings his son to Jesus for healing, phrases it this way – “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24) Many times we have to have something affirmed and reaffirmed to let it sink in; we have to hear it several times, especially if it’s vitally important.
       The conference I attended up at Mercy Hospital last weekend talked about the role of parish nurses, for eexample attending doctor’s appointments with us as a second set of ears to hear just what the doctor says to do. Sometimes when we’re in crisis, things go right past us – a second set of ears at the doctor’s is often a good thing. I think affirming Jesus as the Messiah is one of those important things we might
have to hear a few times.

Predestination??? Free will?????
       Jesus then adds a confusing statement – people asking can’t “hear” him, his words or his actions, because they are not his sheep – his sheep DO hear his voice and know him, and no one can snatch them away.
       That might be reassuring if we are among the sheep who hear Jesus’ voice, and a reassurance that we cannot be snatched away. But for those on the “not-hearing” side, it sounds strangely like they DON’T hear Jesus because they CAN’T hear Jesus. Or, as some have taken it, they don’t recognize Jesus’ voice because they aren’t chosen, or elected, or predestined in the first place. I’m deeply uncomfortable with that take on Jesus’ words, and wish this were just a translation difficulty…but there are other puzzling statements like this in Scripture that lead to the difficult concept of predestination …. or double predestination – ie that some people are predestined to be among the sheep, and some are predestined NOT to be among the sheep, a kind of determinism or fate type of thinking.
       I’m uncomfortable with that kind of take on Jesus’ words because it leaves behind other Scriptures that indicate God’s love for ALL people was the reason Jesus came, and that we are given this time to decide, to choose whether to trust God. Being raised in the Baptist tradition which emphasizes our free will and our free choice to respond to God’s grace, this kind of strict predestination is bothersome. Yet we as Presbyterians look to Calvin as the font of our Reformed heritage, and Calvin was a proponent of this view of predestination in his great work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Many have tried to reconcile these two views, but, like on other issues, the Bible sometimes speaks in various voices. After all, it does contain many books from many authors, and all over a great many years - all relating to the One God, all reflective of deep faith, yet sometimes with a different take on things. So these kinds of verses are there, but so are the other.

Modern hyper-Calvinism
       There’s a resurgence of interest in Calvin these past few years, and some believers have been drawn into a strict interpretation of John Calvin’s writings on this topic, now being referred to as Hyper-Calvinism. Calvin as well as Luther both revived the earlier teachings of Augustine of Hippo about predestination and election. In this view, some are elected to salvation, and the rest are therefore are elected to not believe. Therefore Christ didn’t really die for ALL people, but just for the elect. The choice has been God’s, as God is free to do what God wants. And although we might fall into sin again, our election and salvation are sure, as they are hidden in God. The point of this doctrinal understanding is in order to ensure that salvation is totally of God’s grace; that our actions have nothing to do with earning or deserving our salvation – in fact, according to Calvin, we can’t do anything good anyway, as we are totally depraved. God’s grace is totally responsible for our election, our salvation, our hearing and responding. Even our faith is a gift of grace – God is the first mover in any of our responses to God. Lest we think there’s no need for outreach, however, Calvin reminds us that we don’t KNOW who the elect are, however, so we must still proclaim the gospel so the elect can hear.
         It’s reassuring to me that people of faith have disagreed on Augustine’s interpretation of predestination in the whole history of the Christian church, as well as with Calvin and Luther’s strict interpretations. It’s important to see the context in which Luther and Calvin lived and did theology in order to understand why this emphasis on grace alone was so vital to them. We might remember that Luther’s arguments with the church of his day centered around the place of pious works and godly observances in our salvation. The church of Luther’s day had swung way off to the side of emphasizing good works, to the point of holding these things up as the means of salvation. In addition, if a person didn't have enough pious works they could purchase some goodness with a monetary gift – this was called the buying of indulgences. Luther despised this as unbiblical and heretical – our FAITH was what mattered, not our works. Our righteous works (or lack of) were not the point – God’s grace was the point, and our hopelessness without it.

IMHO
       In the evaluation of many, Luther and his followers swung a little too far to the other way. Luther couldn't even read James’ letter about how our good works showed our faith, but wanted it struck from the Scriptures. We can see and appreciate the corrective response to how the church had become off base as to the place of holy living and pious actions; and we certainly want to affirm the grace of God in seeking us and providing for our salvation in Jesus Christ.

Other voices in Scripture
However, as I said previously, Scripture often doesn't speak with one voice about how God works. Even in the gospel of John, there are those beautiful words of Jesus in John 3:16 - God loved the whole world so much that Jesus came, so that the world might be saved. Acts and Romans state that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. In Mark’s gospel, we believers are sent to the world to proclaim the gospel to all creation. John the Baptizer recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and that Christ came into the world to save sinners. “Whosoever” was the King James word – whosoever believes, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  A seminary professor used to suggest that we think of this problem like a door that from the outside says “Whosoever will;” yet from the inside it says, “Elected from the beginning of time.” I kind of like that. Even Luther and Calvin said that in the end it all comes down to mystery.

Conclusion
       However we resolve this tension, or whether we just live with tension and let it be, this idea of election or predestination is never a reason to sink into an “us/them” mentality,that is, we are the elect and saved and we must be greater than those outsiders. Even the purists of predestination theology say that our election has nothing to do with our virtue or goodness or superiority, so there’s no reason here for boasting on our part, or for looking down on any people as less worthy.
      My prayer this morning is that we indeed hear Jesus’ voice calling us to follow, telling us that Jesus and God are one, & therefore Jesus rightly reveals who God is; and that when we hear Jesus, we are hearing God. May we also hear that even if we doubt or stumble, our trust in God’s salvation is sure. AMEN.

Transcending & Transforming 4/28/13

       We can always tell when a critical scene is coming in a movie – the music comes up with a tense feeling, the story moves moment by moment, every word, every act – this is important, we say. Although several normal days or weeks have been condensed, suddenly we are watching a knock at the door, the door opening, seeing the faces react to the sight of the other person, we hear the dialogue. If it’s a crime movie, all the boring stuff like surveillance and waiting for test reports are skipped, but we see and hear every skid of the tires in the chase scene. We might even switch whole countries, skipping the trans-Atlantic flight as the characters move from New York to Paris, say, then watching every moment of a dinner or a party while the spies do their thing… If it’s a love story, it condenses all the days between meetings and centers on the encounters of the future couple, or every fight if they’re breaking up. Books do it,too (except for the music); the author suddenly starts devoting whole paragraphs to every detail of the moment, every thought, every word, every action. They emphasize what’s important to the story moving forward and the development of characters – narrating the car drive from DC to Boston isn't usually part of the plot.
       Now the book of Acts is the same. It chronicles the spread of the gospel from post-resurrection in Jerusalem all through the journeys of Paul, the adventures of other disciples and how various groups of believers in Christ are set up in various cities around the Mediterranean. So there’s a lot to tell. Yet this encounter of Peter and Cornelius is given two whole chapters, which include multiple retellings of this dream and what Paul did about it.The travels and persecutions stop for these chapters while this huge change in perception, the addition of the Gentiles, is detailed.
       This is a critical and vital part of the story of the church, this opening of the gospel to Gentiles.That so much space is devoted to it tells us what a significant development and change this was. Boundaries are transcended; people are transformed – and Christianity is
transformed. We see the astounding new direction the Holy Spirit leads these early believers to go.

The basic short story...
       We read the story, how Peter saw his vision and so responded to Cornelius’ men who came for him. And how they showed the same signs of the Spirit, and were baptized. And how Peter was questioned when he came back, before the whole community would recognize God’s work and move forward into the spread of the gospel. Peter ends with the great question, Who am I to hinder God? Indeed.

Yet the huge change...
       We might not realize how big a change this was for those early Christians. Most believers nowadays are what our Jewish forbears would call 'Gentile,' so we're used to Gentiles in church. To point out the radical change, we might think about a parallel situation in more recent American history, when some believers began to share the gospel with our African-American sisters & brothers, honoring their personhood and being concerned with their souls. Recall the furor that erupted as those assumptions were challenged. ore recently, recall the furor when some began to honor the gifts of women, their souls and their leaderships, and wanted to welcome them to service in the church as deacons, elders and clergy. Notice the current fervor because some believers are welcoming people of a different orientation and challenging those assumptions. 
       Would that believers of those days and this day would have the courage and health to do as Peter’s community did – respect Peter’s personhood and faith, listen to his answers and motivations, and then seek to discern the moving of the Holy Spirit. Instead, many respond with anger, blame, shame, loud voices, accusations and nasty words, as if the one who yells the loudest is right, starting a new denomination where everyone thinks like me. The Christian church has a less seemly side of our history in addition to our faithfulness is hard times.

The response of Peter's community
       Now usually when I preach on this passage, I emphasize the courage of Peter and later Paul ,going to these groups considered outside the bounds of acceptable. Today I want to look at the actions of the group of believers that Peter returns to after welcoming these Gentiles, because this is vital, too.
        The group of believers in this passage actually respond to the challenge of this new action Peter took in what is now recognized as a healthy way of a healthy system. Not all conflict is bad; and they had every right to question how Peter decided to do this new thing, and to challenge him. We believers are the church, the community, the body of Christ. We do not act in a vacuum – how we each live our faith reflects the whole body. What do we do when there are differences?
        What they did was to go straight to Peter and express their concerns in a respectful way. Then they listened, knowing Peter was an apostle, respecting his faith and commitment enough to actually consider and measure what he said. Peter also responded in a healthy way, listening to their questions, and explaining the work of the Holy Spirit in him in a forthcoming way. Finally the whole group validated the word of God to Peter and affirmed his response, praising God for pouring out the gifts of the spirit on Gentiles. The whole church moved together into welcoming these new believers. Not that there weren't more discussions later as they faced how to work out this new thing.  Sharing the gospel of Christ and the church with Gentiles wasn't a quick and painless change.

Indirect ways they MIGHT have responded...
         What if the community had responded in some of the unhealthy ways of communication? What if they didn't go to the person concerned, Peter, but did indirect things like talking about Peter with other people? Did you hear what Peter did? He went to some Gentiles house, actually ate with him and others. That is SO not our norm! Who does he think he is? Why did he do it? Then the rumors and gossip starts…I heard that he’s been having trouble with the other disciples, I heard that Cornelius has a cute daughter, Remember how he denied Christ back on the night he was killed? Maybe his faith is weak! He’s just so arrogant to go off and do this on his own! Why weren't we asked our opinion first? We would have set him straight!           Peter, not being addressed, doesn't know what’s being said and wonders why people aren't happy about the new believers, why no one is talking as freely to him as they used to. He notices that former friends aren't coming to the meetings when these new people come. He notices that people seem to respond to him differently when he talks.
       Or in another indirect method, the rest of the believers might go to Steven or Mark and try to rope them in, saying something that sounds kinda pious like, You know, I am really concerned about Peter - it really worries me that he went off on his own like this – do you think someone should talk to him? I’m sure we all just really want what is best for the gospel, you know, and I really care about Peter except that he’s so independent –I’m sure he means well, but we can’t have someone thinking they know what God wants all by themselves – I’m so worried – could you go talk to him about my virtuous concerns?
       If this other person is healthy, they’ll come back with, Wow, you’re telling the wrong person, and since it concerns our leader Pete, and might have a negative effect on his ministry for this kind of thing to be said behind his back, let’s go to Peter right now and ask him! And if person #1 is unwilling to ask directly, then person #2 will say, “Well then, if it’s not important enough to pursue it with Peter, let’s agree to just drop it, and not spread rumors, gossip & speculation, but support each other in love.” But if person # 2 is also unhealthy, they’ll enter into a nice cozy destruction of Peter’s reputation and undermining of his respect.

Shaming ways they MIGHT have responded...
       Another unhealthy thing those believers might have done was to try and attack Peter, do the shame and blame thing. Yes, they go to him, but with accusations like, You’re destroying the church we’re comfortable with! You don’t care about our opinions! You've gone off on a tangent! You think you’re so great! Are you so arrogant that you think you’re the only one the Spirit talks to? You’re being divisive and destroying the peace! Shame on you! This confusion is all your fault!  See, they don’t really want to listen to him and get an answer; they are actually not seeking the good of the church and the good of Peter; they rather want to cut him down, no matter the cost to the mission of the church. They have no respect or care for his faith or leadership, they just enjoy causing trouble for him.
       If those of Peter’s community acted like this, the door for the Gentiles might have slammed shut before any transformation happened, God would have been hindered, we may never have had Scriptures to read, and you & I, as Gentiles, may never have heard the good news of Christ. Unfortunately, people in the church HAVE acted this way towards one another in challenging times.  Unfortunately, we all bring our unhealthy ways as well as our healthy ways when we come to Christ, and not everyone seeks to grow. Who knows what works of the Spirit have been cut off or delayed by responses like these? Who knows what tender and faithful hearts have been cut to the quick by harsh and accusatory words?

Good thing they were healthy communicators!
       How fortunate for the Gospel and for our salvation that Peter’s community came to him in a wise way, asking about his action, yes, yet in a way that was ready to listen and in a desire to faithfully discern the leading of the Spirit, a way that respected his faith and sought to build up each other in love – not seeking to shame or destroy or make trouble.
       Yes, Peter was the one who received the vision and went with Cornelius’ men to preach to the Gentiles. But the community was healthy enough and faithful enough to listen and discern that God was indeed speaking, and to open the way for all people to enter the kingdom of heaven and receive the love and forgiveness of God… instead of cutting things off at the knees out of destructive and adversarial motives.
     Our prayer is today that we may have this same loving spirit in our times of tension and challenge; that we may seek to act in ways that build up the body of Christ and each other, lifting each other up in love; that we may seek to grow in health and wisdom so that we honor each other as children of God; and all for the glory of God and the gospel. AMEN.