As Living Stones

This week at The River we'll have a special guest-speaker. Marty Stewart will lead us in a discussion relating to 1 Peter 2:4-10.

^{1PE 2:4} And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,

^{1PE 2:5} you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

^{1PE 2:6} For this is contained in Scripture:

“BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone,

AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

^{1PE 2:7} This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,

THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,”

^{1PE 2:8} and,

“A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”;

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

^{1PE 2:9} But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

^{1PE 2:10} for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

 As we have considered the direction of our faith community in recent months, I have looked at the scriptures to find the greater purpose of God’s church.  I happened on the above and have listened to what it has to say about our response to God’s love.  

A couple of weeks ago Pastor Jeff made the Mathew reference that the essence of our calling is that we are called to “love God and love your neighbor as yourself.”   I want to focus on the love your neighbor part.  Some neighbors are difficult to love and Christ noted that your enemy is also your neighbor in the Sermon on the Mount, as Pastor Jeff impressed upon us on 9/11.

But how do we do that?  I think we have opportunity but either we don’t recognize it or fear overcomes us and we fail to show God’s love, expressed in Christ living in us, in our relationships with our fellow human beings. Sometimes it is the nature of the neighbor that we can not overcome.  Sometimes it is the heat of the moment that we express ourselves as purely human and fail to reflect the love of God.  Very often we feel ill-equipped to reach out in love and simply avoid the opportunity.  We are not always prepared.

As Peter says, we are being built up as spiritual sacrifices.   How?  I believe this should be a purpose of the church body and leadership to help equip us to boldly reach out in love to our neighbors, and, yes, our enemies and to “proclaim  the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Of the adjectives that we have chosen to describe The River is missional.   I take missional to mean that we are outwardly focused.  Churches have long been marketing to attract membership and numbers and increasing programs to attract more individuals seeking community.  But we claim to be missional.  We are to reach out into the darkness and bring light, Christ’s light.  We are to recognize the oppressed and depressed, the hurting, those in crises, and those in pain that we encounter, and even seek them out, and offer Christ’s love through the Holy Spirit.  Our work is outside the church. 

The church, on the other hand, is for “equipping the saints,” both in spirit and talent.   It is where we get support and rejuvenation.  It is where we get refilled with God’s love and the Spirit.  It is where we are equipped and educated, armed for God’s battle over evil and darkness.  We are to be the light unto the world.

Nothing But the Truth

This Sunday, we're starting a new sermon series at The River:

 

What's the Big Idea?
Exploring the Wonder of the New Testament
Book 1: The Gospel of Matthew

So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets...

You see that phrase a lot when you read the Gospel of Matthew - or at least something very similar. Matthew's Gospel is the first book in the New Testament. Have you ever wondered why? I mean, was it because it was written first? Or maybe because it includes a lot of teaching, and therefore serves as a good introduction to the New Testament? Maybe... probably. However, there is an even better reason Matthew has always been presented as the first of the four gospels: It's obvious Jewish flavor serves as the perfect bridge between the old and new testaments, helping people understand Christ in light of the Jewish Scriptures.

Many Christians would like to take the Old Testament - with all it's scary stories and wrathful violence - and just pretend it doesn't exist. Like a creepy uncle or loud-mouthed cousin at a family reunion... some followers of Jesus would much rather ignore the Old Testament than deal with its foreign-ness and difficulties. Let's face it, God the Father doesn't always come across very Christian in the OT, does he?

But Matthew is a Jew from start to finish. And he writes his gospel with an agenda to convince the doubters of his day that Jesus of Nazareth is the real deal. His primary audience is fellow Jews who know their Old Testament better than we could possibly imagine. (They were taught to memorize large portions of the 'Scriptures' at a very young age.) As such, his agenda is twofold. First, preach the gospel (a.k.a., good news) of Jesus Christ passionately and (of course) more or less as events occurred in Matthew's memory. And yet... when a teacher is trying to convince his students to believe in a way that best conveys a point (i.e., a "big idea")... then the way the information is shaped, structured and presented is paramount. Does that make sense to you? For instance, most sermon stories, though fully rooted in truth, are often shared to make a specific (and hopefully interesting) point, rather than to just recall the cold hard "facts" exactly as they happened. I guess you could call it truthful creative license! :-)

Anyway, like his fellow Gospel-writers Mark, Luke and John... Matthew endeavors to tell the truth (and nothing but the truth)... however, he shapes the story in such a way as to fully convince his fellow Jews that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God. All that to say... Matthew intentionally highlights events in the life of Jesus that best reveal how they "fulfilled" the prophesies of the Old Testament. So the next time you read the Gospel of Matthew, pay attention to the phrase, "So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets" - and perhaps you'll get a better idea of why the Old Testament was so important to him.


I've had dozens of people tell me they don't read the Old Testament because they find it too troubling. My only response to that is that I don't believe a person can ever truly understand the importance of the mission of Jesus apart from reading and experiencing the good, the bad, and the ugly elements of the Jewish Scriptures. Believe it or not... God's grace precedes the life and ministry of Jesus. As Matthew continuously reminds us... the Son of God may be somewhat hidden in those 39 mysterious, troubling, often interesting (and sometimes boring) books... but nevertheless, he can be found in subtle and profound ways if we're willing to spend time and look for him there. Ultimately, I know it's worth the investment... and so did Matthew!

Suspended Animation

This Sunday at The River, we'll take some time to reflect on the events of September 11, 2001 from the perspective of Christian disciples. 

Matthew 5:43-45a says...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

Ten years. Seems like yesterday, doesn't it?

Where were you when you heard a "small plane" had hit one of the WTC towers? How surreal did it seem when the second commercial jet hit the other tower? Then came the real shocker. To think of all the humanity that was wiped out in a brief few seconds as the first tower came crashing down. Under different circumstances, a thing of beauty and grace. But this event was accompanied by utter death and destruction... violence on a level most of us had ever before personally felt and experienced. All those people inside... dead in the blink of an eye. All those innocent lives. All those heroes. Then the other tower collapsed as well. And the reports of what happened at the Pentagon... and of course the infamous plane crash over Pennsylvania. My God, what had just happened to our safe, relatively peaceful world? How could this be happening to us... one nation under God?

That was the first time in my life I can remember everything stopping. Every person in America was glued to the news of this awful tragedy... this impossible, and disgusting act of war against freedom. No funny chatter on the FM stations... no political ranting on the AM stations... no reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond on the cable channels, or sports footage on ESPN. Nope. Every channel suspended regular programming for CNN news. For a moment in time, everything about typical American culture was on hold. No one cared about the stock market, or what Jennifer Lopez was wearing, or even the weather. Suddenly, our country became smaller, more intimate. Everyone was in shock. Everyone was confused. Everyone was glued to the television to continuously watch the footage of what happened that day... and listened as the newscasters tried to help us make some kind of sense of it all.

None of the nearly 3,000 victims got on a plane that morning - or went to work expecting to be part of a horrendous plot against America. No one had a clue that thousands of people would soon be hurled into a skyscraper... or buried underneath a massive pile of rubble that once was the World Trade Center. None of us had a clue of just how much would life change as a result of that memorable day in America's history. On the positive side, it drew us together as a nation. People in large cities and small towns across the nation mourned for strangers in Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and New York City. All of a sudden, we had something in common like never before (or at least not in our lifetime). On the negative side, our new reality was near strip-searches at the airport, "Terror Alert Orange," Homeland Security, and the image of that evil bastard, Osama bin Laden plastered across the screen of every television in the world... smirking at us infidels in the West.

Now, it's ten years later. Bin Laden is dead, but the war rages on. Many more lives have been lost. I think we should take a few minutes and talk about how 9/11 has changed us, shaped us, and informed our idea of what it means to follow Jesus in a world that is not safe. We have enemies... how does Jesus want us to treat them? How do we interpret patriotism in the light of this American tragedy? What sin must we fight against (as a persecuted country) that seeks to destroy our faith in God? How do we process the anger that accompanies injustice? What can we learn about ourselves in the midst of this awful, ongoing war against terrorism?

I'll come ready to lead a discussion. I hope you'll come ready to engage as a community of people who seek to wrestle with God for answers that satisfy a broken heart... and offer a glimpse of hope for the future.