March 7, 2004
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Stand firm in the Lord,
beloved, Paul urges the church. The world is moving at a fast and furious pace.
The ground is shifting all around us. We used to think that with all the change
happening around us, we could look to the church to be a stable place, but even
the church is changing and while that is good most of the time, the changes
still come quickly. Stand firm,
through every change, God is faithful. Information comes at us at a dizzying
pace, it’s hard to keep up. Changes in our health, in our relationships, in
our work, in our lives can feel like we are in the middle of an earthquake.
Stand firm in the Lord. How shall we stand firm in our faith and in our hope in
these days? We can stand firm and
find good role models. Paul understands that
the Philippian church will need mentors to help them stand firm in their
faith in Jesus Christ. They are a new church start and they will need guides to
help them establish themselves as a community of faith. Like new church starts
today the Philippians needed strong people of faith to show them what it means
to be the church. Now we know Paul was not
lacking in ego. He was not shy
about what he believed or what he wanted others to believe. So we are not
surprised when he says to the Philippians, “join in
imitating me” (v. 17). If you want a mentor,
choose me and my companions. Still it is not all about Paul’s ego. As the
church was growing in the first century, it needed mentors and models as a means
for discerning life’s directions and God’s directions for the church (Texts
for Preaching –Year C. Louisville. Westminster/John Knox Press. 1994, p. 204).
“Let us be the example”, Paul says. “Be like us”, Paul
says. His statements raises a question for each of us. Who were your mentors as
you were learning what it means to be a Christian? Of course we never quit
learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, we continue to grow in
faithfulness as we understand more and more about our relationship with God, but
who helped you learn to stand firm in your growing faith? Who do you think of as
models of Christian living? I think of my parents, and Sunday school teachers
and youth leaders. It was Mrs. Fields, and Mr. Cleaver, Mrs. Nelson, and Mrs.
Pettaway. It was minister mentors like Dennis Short who serves a congregation in
Southern California now and who helped me hear my call to ministry and Enoch
Henry who baptized me, who had me read scripture in public for the first time,
affirmed the call. I still look to women
and men who have incredible gifts for ministry. As I see them use their gifts
well, I use mine in better ways. As I see them act wisely, I learn how to act
wisely, and I pray, to the glory of God. The Philippians needed mentors to help
them stand firm in their faith and so do we. And they needed people to help them
stand firm in the Lord because there was tension in the church. What was going
on? Paul believes that they
do not understand what real freedom in Christ means. Trouble was brewing because
there were in the church people teaching the church that freedom in Christ meant
freedom from personal responsibility. Scholars are not sure of
the exact nature of their teaching but it seems to be that these teachers were
telling the church that because Christ has set us free so we can do whatever we
want – we can treat people as we like without regard to their feelings. We can
indulge in every activity no matter what the end result.
We can treat our bodies and other people’s bodies as instruments for
our pleasure with no thought to their spirit, or ours. What does it matter?
After all, Christ has set us free. At the other extreme,
there may have been people in the church who considered themselves to be so
spiritual that their bodies were little more than shells for their true
hyper-spiritual selves. Our bodies have no true reality, so it matter how we
treat them, or what we put into them. What matters is that our spirits are in
tune with God, so our bodies are of no consequence. They were teaching new
Christians that what matters in their relationship with God are not the
disciplines of the faith, not study, not prayer, not worship.
How did this happen?
Fred Craddock explains it this way: “the missionary preaches had proclaimed
freedom in Christ. Paul himself was a foremost preacher of freedom. To Jewish
ears that message might come as a call to cast off the yoke of restraint, the
burden of all regulations. What more natural way to demonstrate one’s freedom
than indulgence in the areas of former restriction?
To Gentile ears that message might come as a call to be rid of the
physical hindrances to one’s free spirit, one’s eternal soul. What more
natural way to show that the body, once a prison for the soul, is no longer in
control than by treating the body as totally irrelevant to the spiritual life? “Total indulgence,
like total abstinence, announces that the body is not involved in one’s true
identity as spirit. Wherever
Paul’s gospel of freedom from law was heard, it was also misheard. Some
perhaps, were too immature to see that liberty-become-license is really a new
kind of bondage” (Interpretation series. Luke. Fred
Craddock. Louisville, John Knox Press, p. 64-65). Stand firm in the
freedom of Christ. They believe that to
free in Christ is to be free to do whatever they want. They are bound by their
misunderstanding. They have forgotten that we are mind, body, and spirit, so for
them, what they have is all they
will get. Their end is destruction, not eternity. Their god is their belly, not
the ultimate satisfaction of body and soul. They have forgotten that we are body
and spirit, and they have attended to their physical appetites to the neglect of
their spiritual lives. They will rejoice in what really is the source of their
shame because they have misheard the good news of Jesus Christ. To be free in
Christ is not to treat our bodies any way we choose. In fact, it is the quickest
way to wear them out. To have freedom in Christ Jesus is to let go of everything
that gets in the way of being in relationship with Jesus and with the God who
created him and humanity. Paul calls these abusers
if Christian freedom enemies of the cross. They are people who stand in the
shadow of the cross and trivialize the suffering of Jesus by treating their
bodies as if they are anything other than created in the image and likeness of
God; they refuse to participate in any acts of compassion, they will not help
the poor, visit the sick or imprisoned, or do anything to honor the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They would rather talk about Palm Sunday and
Easter than Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. There is still tension
in the church. Today the conflict that threatens to divide the church might be
about the kind of music, or whether the congregation sings from hymnals or from
words projected on a screen. We might choose up sides over political –
theological issues like what is the definition of marriage, and when life begins
and whether abortion should remain legal. As the Holy Spirit
transforms us and this congregation and leads us to ministry that makes a
difference in people’s lives, I pray we are able to have discussions about
these issues without becoming enemies of the cross. I pray that will be able to
stand firm in our faith because we want others to learn from our strength and
faithfulness. People are interested in what we do here, they read our
newsletter, they talk to us, and they are eager as we are to see the next thing
God will do in and from this place. People
are looking to us to learn what this community of faith will become. Stand firm
in the Lord. Stand firm because
someone set an example for me and you as we grew in faith, and even as we
continue to grow and find renewal we are setting examples for others. The next
generation of leaders, people new to the faith, folks who worship with us, are
looking at us. What do they see, what are they learning about the church, about
faith from us? Do they see us acting
positively or negatively? Do they hear us speak words of faith in the future, or
do they hear our fear of failure? Do they look at us and see people in the
shadow of the cross proclaiming the good news of Jesus, or a people so boxed in
and bound up by anxiety that good news cannot be heard anywhere. God give us faith to see
the big long view, to help us understand that while we live and work here, we
will do all that we can to make the world a better place, to build strong
communities, and strong families, and strong churches here, but we are in a
sense resident aliens in this place. This is not our true home. Our true
spiritual home is in heaven and it is from here that the Savior will emerge. We can stand firm and
know that a day of transformation is coming. The time is coming when we will
know a world without end; we will know that the true and living God who fulfills
all we hope for, will show us and give us eternal glory. In the meantime, we can
live as glorious sons and daughters of God. In the meantime, stand firm in the
faith, shown to you by mentors, absorbed by your spirit, and lived in daily life
and shared with others. These are not days of indulgence, but of sacrifice (of
making what we let go of and offer to God sacred and holy). These are not days
of fear, but as Marshall Barnes sang last week, and as Judy read this morning,
it is time to declare, “the Lord is my life and my
salvation, whom shall we fear” (Psalm 27.1)? Stand firm, these are
not days for restlessness, but rather a time for us to stand together in the
shadow of the cross with holy patience, because we have learned to wait on God,
and to be courageous in our waiting (v. 14). We look to mentors and
role models to help us shape our faith. But while we look at people, we can look
higher and deeper to the one who fixes us for life and when the time comes, for
death. We can look to Jesus who is our ultimate model of faithfulness. He
transforms our lives on earth and prepares us for eternity. He is God’s own
son who helps us stand firm in our faithfulness and whose love will not let us
go. Stand firm and imitate people
who imitate Jesus Christ, who know that in Christ, they are free indeed to live
in their body, in their minds in their Spirits as God’s faithful people. The
Commissioning of Deacons and Elders (From the United
Church of Christ Book of Worship) To the deacons and
elders: These people have been called by God and elected by this congregation to
serve among us as deacons and elders. They have accepted their call and election
and are before us in witness to their willingness to serve. Sister and brothers in
Christ, it is an honor to be entrusted with responsibility for spiritual
leadership in the church. Having prayerfully considered the duties and
responsibilities of your ministry, are you prepared to serve with the help of
God in Christ’s name and for the glory of God? (please answer, I am) Do you promise to
exercise your ministry diligently and faithfully, showing forth the love of
Christ? (please answer, I do,
relying on God’s grace) To the congregation: As
we gather here, will you offer your self in prayer and partnership with our
deacons and elders as they serve our congregation? Will you love them and honor
their leadership, and assist them so that together we may be a faithful church
of Jesus Christ? (please answer, we will) We will conclude this
service of commissioning with something different than we have done before.
We began the Lenten season with a cross of ashes on the forehead of
worshipers as a reminder of our mortality, “we are dust, and to dust we shall
return”. Today we offer these elders and deacons a cross of oil, as a sign
that they have been elected by this congregation to be our spiritual leaders. They are also anointed
and empowered by God to be agents of healing, transformation, and ministry as
leaders in our congregation. Let us pray: Eternal God, you have
called these people to serve you in this household of faith and in the world,
which you have entrusted to our care and keeping. Send your Holy Spirit on them
that they may serve among us with honor and faithfulness. Help them to be
diligent in their duties that your church may prosper in the mission you place
before it. May their example prove worthy for all of us to follow, as we are
united in Christ’s ministry, to the glory of your name. Amen. Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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