Genesis 11:4 - Confusion

 Genesis 11:4 - "Let us make a name." To make a name implied self-direction. The struggle for humanity: to grow, to develop, to become all that being in the image of God promises without perverting that image through pridefulness and violence. The Lord gave the people a name: Babel! They aspired to the wrong goals, and the result was God's judgement. Babel means confusion. Aspiration was not bad; it is good. Building, creating--being a steward of talent and resources is good. To use talent and resources to make a name, that is, a life apart from God is not good, and such perversion of ability leads to confusion.

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Humility. I believe that almost every spiritual problem can be solved by humility. One way to understand humility is to see it as accuracy. Humility means seeing and describing yourself as you are without defensiveness or exaggeration. Humility requires self-awareness which means to recognize your strengths and to recognize your weaknesses and limitations. In this understanding pride is a subset of humility. To take pride in one's work and to be willing to offer one's abilities in service to others is good. Such pride produces a confidence that is well-founded. A humble person can be confident. So self-awareness includes this desire to be a good steward of one's strengths. At the same time humility requires the desire and commitment to improve one's deficits to the degree possible. Humility is both self-awareness and self-forgetfulness. To be self-forgetful as an expression of humility means that a person is eager to listen to others, to work at understanding others and to be helpful as wanted and needed by others. Listening is first an inclination and then a skill. People who have assertive personalities may need to work harder at wanting to listen. If they do not have the inclination to listen they can still become listeners through discipline. Listening is essential to understanding, but understanding often requires more, particularly, when cultural, racial, language, education, gender, life experiences, and parenting differences create world views that diverge. So pridefulness, unwillingness to see things as they really are is the opposite of humility, but pride is a subset of humility. In Genesis 11 the people became prideful which led to confusion and destruction. Peter reminded the church that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

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As in all matters of virtue grace is the beginning point. Humility is a picture of salvation. Jesus told a story of two men who went to pray. One man, religious leader, prayed with gratitude that he was not like the other man who had come to pray. He was grateful not to be a sinner. The second man fell on his face and acknowledged his sin and prayed to be forgiven. Jesus asked which man left the place of prayer right with God. Sin, wrong doing, separates us from God when we do not acknowledge it. In everyone's life, except perhaps one who is mentally ill, there is an awareness of right and wrong. To refuse to accept this reality of sin is to persist in wrong doing and to separate oneself from God who is both loving and righteous. God's loved expressed in grace that offers forgiveness puts us right with God when we acknowledge and ask forgiveness for our sins.

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Grandchildren. Yesterday I showed Stone, our four-year old grandson, a picture of himself with his siblings when he was less than one year old, and I asked him if he recognized everyone in the picture. He named them all, and said, "I'm the baby!" I have enjoyed watching each one of my grandchildren grow from infant to child and now to watch our granddaughter become a teenager. Each stage is wonderful. At the dinner table last evening the youngest was crying, and the oldest was helping him with instructions: "take a deep breath, drink some water." The wonder of family humbles me. We grow into maturity and help the one behind us grow, too. It is a good picture of the church family. We have in every church different ages of faith, and those ages are not necessarily matched by years. Some are older chronologically but younger spiritually. Still, the goal in our church family is to help the ones who are younger to grow to maturity. It is a wonder of family life.

Genesis 10:1 - Is it the end?

Genesis 10:1.  Even after the catastrophic flood--which changed the world--life did not come to an end. The end belongs to the providence of God. What belongs to people living is a responsibility before God to give thanks for the life that was passed to us, and to accept our responsibility to act in a way that will bless those who live into the future beyond us. Although we cannot determine what others will do, let us who believe do all within our power to leave the world a better place for the future.

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A friend, Frank Johnson, gave a talk one Sunday night years ago at Memorial Baptist Church in which he made reference to the writings of the son of Adoniram Judson. The son wrote that anyone who is prospering today can look back and see that his or her prosperity (spiritual not just financial) is tied to the suffering of someone who went before us. Likewise, when we suffer we can know that God will redeem our suffering in order to bless someone who comes after us. This understanding of the connection between generations and between people living in community is biblical. There is a corporate identity in the Bible that westerners sometimes miss with our individualism. This corporate identity is the basis of Christian humanitarianism. 

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There was a time in English villages when a bell would toll from the church to announce news of the death or near death of someone in the community. John Donne (1571-1631) wrote a devotional about the bell that tolls.

Now, this Bell tolling softly for another, saies to me, Thou must die.

    Perchance hee for whom this Bell tolls, may bee so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; And perchance I may thinke my self so much better than I am, as that they who are about mee, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for mee, and I know not that . . . .As therefore the Bell that rings to a Sermon, calls not upon the Preacher only, but upon the Congregation to come; so this Bell calls us all: but how much more mee, who am brought so neere the doore by this sicknesse . . . . No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were; Any Mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

(Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 1624), Meditation 17.

Genesis 9- The Rainbow

Genesis 9:13. The rainbow reminds humanity that God is not against us. God created life. God is always at work to bless us with the beauty and the truth of creation. It is God's covenant promise to the world.

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Wednesday, July 13, 2022.  Our extended family and friends gathered at Arlington National Cemetery for the graveside service of Knox Clinton. My cousin Cynthia--whom I have known all my life--was married to Knox. They were together delightful in ways that are now lost to us. We mourn the passing of this good Christian man who exemplified the virtues of cheerfulness, courtesy and constancy. He was a helper to all within his circle and was one who easily expanded his circle to include the stranger in need. Knox understood that God made all of us, and as God loves us all, so we, too, should love all. I am grateful and enriched to have known Knox.

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The Day is Done

A wind in the red maple this morning

with its leaves like hands of children waving,

on the way, perhaps, to school, giggling. 

I smile as they send to me their greeting.

Not so welcome is the afternoon's harsh breeze.

The wind grows for it is not here to ease.

Unpredictable, dangerous it seems

strong now as youth, only itself to please.

The wind changes again by evening.

It suits me better to see the leaves

at peace once more as the dark descends and

colors disappear, and the day is done.

Genesis 8 - Noah with Thoughts on the Supreme Court

The Lord promised Noah as recorded in Genesis 8:22 that "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." The continuity, regularity, dependability of the natural order stands as a grace of God. This order enables humanity to learn, to produce, to prosper. This grace blesses all living creatures and gives life profound potential, marred only by sin (21) which God chooses to engage and change without reducing human freedom. 

God entrusted humankind from the beginning with the power to bring life into existence through the union of a man and a woman. This union is part of the natural order which God reaffirmed to Noah. The questions of life and death have accompanied the stewardship entrusted to humans from creation. Today we focus those questions primarily on the matter of abortion though people have struggled with war and capital punishment and euthanasia, rationing of health care, the contrast of resources for the basics of life that exist in different ways for the poor and the rich and other matters that influence who lives and who dies and when. Sometimes, lost in the discussion is the reality that all who live will die. The question is how they will live and when they will die. God in his providence has given humans the ability to bring life into existence and to participate in the decisions that may bring life to an end. 

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday June 24 that the question of abortion will be dependent upon the people of the nation working through their representatives in state government. Pro-life advocates and pro-choice advocates will work together through their elected officials to find a way to meet the concerns of all. "To work together" is euphemistic. It will be a struggle for power. The Supreme Court has pushed this question of life and death back to the people to face. It will create controversy and many will feel hurt by the decisions that are made. From a pro-life viewpoint the ones with the most to lose are the unborn, and they, of course, have no voice in the decisions to be made. Both sides in my experience tend to talk past each other and see no possible way that the other side could have an insight that deserves to be acknowledged or incorporated into a decision for the state to follow. 

This inability or unwillingness to listen to the other side has not always been hardened in the way it is today. 

In 1971 the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution on abortion that read as follows: "Be it resolved, that this Convention express the belief that society has a responsibility to affirm through the laws of the state a high view of the sanctity of human life, including fetal life, in order to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and Be it further resolved, that we call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of emotional, mental and physical health of the mother.  

By 1989 which was ten years after the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention the resolution on abortion was different. In 1989 the only basis that the Convention affirmed as a possible reason for abortion was "to prevent the imminent death of the mother." The Convention had become more conservative on multiple issues, not just abortion, but this position change may have been influenced by the Supreme Court's decision on Roe v. Wade in 1973 which took the question of abortion out of the state legislatures. In this way the Court made it difficult to search for points of agreement so that most people joined one side or the other.

The Catholic Church has held a consistent position on abortion and on the question of when life begins. However, the Catholic Church does allow procedures to save a mother's life which may result in death of the unborn child. In these cases the Church does not call the procedure an abortion. 

I am hopeful that the coming debate--power struggle--concerning abortion will go beyond shouting the other side down. I am hopeful that Christians, in particular, will understand that abortion cannot be treated in isolation from other pro-life questions. I am hopeful that a consensus will develop in the nation. I am pro-life. I believe that the promise to Noah means that God has given us responsibility for producing life, protecting life, enriching life. I am grateful that the Supreme Court has pushed the question of abortion back to the people so that we can make decisions together that respect our shared life in this country and that we will all make our arguments as best we know how with respect and kindness toward others. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. Even if we think people who disagree with us are "enemies" we have the guidance of the Lord to treat those "enemies" with love.

What Made Noah Righteous - Genesis 7:1

 Noah's righteousness. Noah's righteousness was qualified. His righteousness was greater than those around him but not perfect. His righteousness was explained--he did all that the Lord commanded (5). Righteousness comes to us as we obey; righteousness is not within us, not even Noah. Only in connection to the Lord are we made and counted and seen as righteous. Our moments of obedience are just moments. None of us is always obedient and in right standing with the Lord. Only God's grace which we see in Christ provides the assurance of a right relationship to God, even for Noah.

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SBC Meetings are being held this month in California. As almost always there is controversy on the agenda. SBC leadership and the messengers at the convention will keep working on the challenge of how to put into the structure of the denomination a means of helping churches address sexual abuse. The controversy on this matter has arisen from past failures. It is good to face the issues, hold people accountable and to come together to find a way to be faithful as churches in protecting people from abuse.

Past controversies in the SBC remind me of a professor I had in seminary whom I consider, now, many decades later as an influence for good on my life that only grows. He was a teacher in a time when professors in SBC seminaries were being challenged on their faithfulness to Scripture; many were dismissed based on these challenges. The professor who meant so much to me was, in my mind, a candidate for challenge and dismissal because he simply did not use the acceptable language of the day in describing the Christian life, Scripture, church, ethics or much of anything else. He was a mystery to students and faculty alike. He was different in tone and language--even body language. He moved in a calm that made one slow down and think and in my case become more prayerful and I hope, more faithful. When I became a pastor in San Francisco I would visit him from time to time just to talk. Always, I left our conversations puzzled but invigorated in ways I could not explain. On one occasion I simply asked him, "How have you survived? You are so different from everyone else! I would think they (the challengers) would have you on their list." Quoting from Shakespeare's "King Lear," he told me, "I am one of God's spies." I am still trying to understand what he meant. I have thoughts about his comment that make me believe, I too, would do well to be one of "God's spies."

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Grandchildren, a Theological Conversation. The "Littles" (aged four and six) had a "sleep over" with us on Saturday evening last. At breakfast on Sunday morning (when I say morning, I mean early morning. The six year old woke us at 4am asking when the sun would come up. Judy got him back to bed, but both boys were up at 6am putting on their "fancy" clothes for church)--so, at our early morning breakfast of pancakes, the question of death came up. The youngest asked if my parents, Maw Maw and Paw Paw, were dead. We replied, yes. The youngest asked if we buried them, again yes. Judy told them that these loved ones were in heaven, so the six year old asked, "Is heaven under the ground?" Talking theology with children reminds me how little I know and how difficult it is to share what I believe I do know. We talked about body and spirit. The body is buried and the spirit is with God. (I know theologians dispute this picture, but I find it in the New Testament). The six year old said, "That's right, the spirit leaves and God catches it--like a football!"  

I love all our grandchildren for being who they are individually and as a part of the family, and I love the fact that they keep me thinking and hopefully, growing. My professor friend, mentioned above, once said that he hoped his last words would be, "what will I be when I grow up?" Stay close to children and youth. They are a blessing. They challenge you intellectually as in all the other ways that youth have always challenged their elders. 

I am sure that I do not always give the right answers to my grandchildren, and from time to time, I remember my faulty attempts at parenting my three sons. Like Noah I need God's grace. Occasionally, I am obedient--for a moment--but all my moments of obedience are far less than children, grandchildren, friends, all I love, need from me. I cast them and myself upon the grace of God.

Any They Chose - Genesis 6:2

 A sexual perversion arose.

It was some form of behavior that contradicted the purposes of God, the ideal for male-female relationships, for marriage, for child bearing. This behavior typified the "wickedness" of humanity. In the midst of the wickedness, the man Noah stood out as one who refused to participate in the wickedness which had become widespread in his community. God chose, called and instructed Noah to build an ark that would provide safety to him and all within the ark as the flood of God's judgment came upon humankind.

The ark that Noah built has become a symbol of the church. The flood in Noah's day cleansed the earth of mankind's sinful behavior. In the New Testament the baptism of water symbolizes death to sin, the cleansing of God's grace through Christ's death on the cross and resurrection to a new life. As the ark brought Noah safely into a new world, so baptism into the church brings the believer into a new life.

Here is an experiment in thought: what if there had been multiple ark builders in the days of Noah? What if some folks had believed that judgment was coming, and they decided to create their own vessel of salvation? Would the arks that they built have survived the flood that brought God's judgment? To carry the experiment in thought forward: what if there are churches today that are built to the specifications of someone other than God? Will those churches be a safe place?

Escape from judgment was not the basis for building the ark.  Noah received his call because he "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). He was not escaping. He was being saved. Sexual perversion or any other kind of sin--violence is mentioned in Genesis in particular--will result in judgment. No amount of ark building on one's own will offer an escape from the flood. Only the call of God brings salvation. In history the ark has become a symbol of the church, but the ark is a safe place only when God calls his people to take refuge. An ark built for escape or pleasure or pride or social service or cultural acceptance or any other reason will not survive the flood.

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"It's Unlikely"

"It's unlikely," said the four year old.

He was serious, seeming almost old.

We stifled a laugh as he left for home.

We'd asked for a hug from out little gnome.

Hug yes, but to ask for a smile was bold.

So, we asked him, "a hug without so cold

and mean a face?" Once again we were told

and his stern face made him seem almost grown:

"It's unlikely."

We closed the door so our laugh we could hold

and not show humor at what we'd been told.

For we both knew,  a good night's sleep at home

with us tomorrow he'd be not so grown.

Withhold hug and smile? One another we told,

"It's unlikely."

Male and Female He Created Them-Genesis 5:2

" He Created Them and Called their Name Adam"

  The world descended from Adam, that is, Adam and Eve--one couple--two halves of humanity, male and female. Equal but not identical. The mystery of human gender is like the mystery of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5). The church is the body of Christ, but the church is not divine--so Adam and Eve are united, but they are not the same; however, each is present in the union.

Trip to the UK and Ireland

    Judy has put photographs on Facebook. I am writing a few words of comment. The tour guide for our trip was Mike Smith and his wife Sharon. I have known them both from childhood or youth. I don't remember when I met Mike; he was just always there in church and in school. He was a college roommate and the one who introduced me to Judy. Sharon I met in Junior High School before Mike and Sharon became an item. Mike and I entered ministry at the same time and have had the blessing of serving the church for many years. He with his gift of music and me as a pastor. In retirement Mike transferred his experience in mission and choir travels to become a travel expert for trips like the one we took. He also continues to do mission trips, particularly leading choir ministries. We were eager to spend time with him and Sharon on this tour.  

    The trip was inspirational, as any trip with Mike would be (check out Crosskeys). We saw the Olney Church where John Newton wrote "Amazing Grace." We saw Coventry Cathedral which proclaimed in the ruins from WWII and in its re-building the theme of forgiveness. 

    In Scotland we walked Edinburgh and St. Andrews. We met friends Scott and Leslie McHaney for lunch. They live in Crief and drove in to see us. The country side was magnificent in Scotland and Ireland. The Gorse against the Barley was dramatic in its beauty.

    Of course, much more could be said. The trip was filled with sights and experiences I have not mentioned, including Judy's wrenching the hand off a knight's armor. We made new friends and heard marvelous music from Mike and other musicians in our group. I did not have to sing (I did give one devotional), but I basked in the wonder of music and laughter and hills of gold and green. 

A Poem for Children and Grandchildren

Puddle Jumper

Puddle jumper loves to cuddle,

melting my heart into a muddle.

A hug for every greeting,

a hug for every parting.

In between, many a snuggle.

Whenever it rains a puddle

I remember Jumper's cuddle.

My heart burgled, a tear flowing.

Puddle Jumper

Puddle Jumper grew to settle 

somewhere else; still I see a puddle

and it comes again, the melting.

Hugs and cuddles I am remembering.

Being far away, still in a muddle,

Puddle Jumper

What Have You Done?

 

The Lord asked Cain, “What have you done? The question, of course, was not for information. The Lord was asking Cain to face the reality of his evil, the anger and the subsequent sin in his heart. Had Cain thought about the consequences of his act of rage? People who commit crimes of passion do not think of consequences. Passion is ruled best ahead of time. The Lord had warned Cain to beware, “Sin is crouching at the door” (verse 7). There is a ripple effect to sin, and it often begins by putting ourselves or our thinking in the wrong place. The way to keep passion controlling us is to move ourselves and our thinking to a better place. Cain remained in the wrong place. He did not heed the Lord’s warning, and his feeling of rejection moved to anger and to hate and to violence. 

The parental warning many of us have heard in childhood—“Keep the right company” is a form of the Lord’s warning. Think where you are emotionally. Where are your thoughts and words residing? Find the right company. Get your passions under control or they will rule you with consequences that do injury to yourself and others, sometimes, deadly consequences.

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    75th Anniversary of Memorial Baptist Church. Judy and I returned to Memorial in Arlington on Sunday May 1 to participate in the anniversary service. We enjoyed Sunday School,  the Worship Service, the Fellowship and the Dinner afterwards. The anniversary committee, pastor and church staff put together a wonderful day including communion, inspiring music, scripture and prayers, a mission emphasis, photos from church history  a memorial time for those who had died in recent years and time for people in attendance to visit and take pictures and catch up on the ways our children have grown. Our family was represented by Justin, Mairin and the Grands. Justin sang for the service a song that he wrote many years ago which is entitled "Benediction," and is used that way by Memorial regularly. Luke was not able to attend because he was preaching at Linden Heights, but he was ordained at Memorial and has a close connection. Jason is in California and could not make the trip. He was, also, a part of the church as a young adult. So, the people at Memorial where I served as pastor for almost twenty years know us and our family well. I am grateful to God for this ongoing connection to folks there. I am grateful for the pastor, Dr. Drew Hill, who leads them so well now.

    Our membership now is at Memorial Baptist Church in Staunton. We love this church, too, and are grateful that the Lord has given us this family of faith to share our lives and pastors who care for us. Judy and I have decided that we will only join Baptist churches that are named "Memorial." We couldn't do better!

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    Grandchildren. Stone, our four year old grandson, is learning the skill of negotiation. At a family gathering Saturday night we were celebrating Stone's Uncle Sean's birthday. Each person received a cupcake. When Stone got his cupcake he told his mother, "I want two cupcakes." She gently and firmly said "just one." Stone was immediately incensed and declared, "If I don't get two cupcakes I will never ever eat a cupcake again!" His negotiating technique reminds me of a story from the childhood of U. S. Grant. The father of the future general and president sent his son to purchase a horse. Grant wanted the horse badly. When he arrived to negotiate the purchase he told the owner, "Papa says I may offer you twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won't take that I am to offer twenty-two and a half, and if you won't take that, to give you twenty-five." Grant was eight years old. I'm sure that Stone will have improved his negotiating skills beyond the  president's technique by the time he turns eight years old, but for now his negotiating "threat" only sent the group into an uproarious laugh

Where Are You?

 "Where Are You?"

Genesis 3:9

God's question could have created in Adam and Eve a moment of self-reflection. "Where are you" could have been understood to mean, "what have you done," or "what were you thinking," or "what sense does it make to hide from God?"

Shame, guilt, blaming--these struggles all flow from disobedience. We don't want to be seen in our nakedness, that is, we don't want to be seen as we are. Exposure of sin and the destruction of innocence cause us to hide from the One who can clothe us, give us a future that accommodates our sin, and prepares a way for us to be forgiven and restored.

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I like reading mysteries. Occasionally, I come upon a sentence or two that strikes me as an insight to life. Anne Perry, speaking through the character, Elena, wrote, "You do not need to believe evil, only to use its methods. You will get accustomed to them, until eventually they are not your last choice, but your first. For a while you can justify it to yourself, and then eventually you will not bother. You have forgotten what you are fighting for; now winning is the only objective! And the more you win, the more you justify it, until the whole idea of right and wrong disappears and only winning matters."

Anne Perry wrote the words above in the 21st century. Here is another insight on the subject of evil from the 17the century. Jacob Spener, called the father of pietism, wrote, "The evil circumstances of our time are . . .to be borne with compassion rather than bewailed with anger."

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Grandchildren. Today our four-year-old grandson came for a visit. He, like all the four year old siblings before him--except Mr. Happy--struggles or have struggled with disequilibrium, a nice way of saying, his anger can get the best of him. I continue to be amazed at the parenting skills of my son and daughter-in-law. They have found a way to help with disequilibrium. Today our grandson brought with him a timing clock and a book mark and a series of stickers. He told us that we should time him for fifteen minutes. If he managed, he said,  "to go without shouting or hitting or saying bad words or making a mean face," he was to receive a sticker to put on his bookmark. We dutifully timed him, and he went more than three hours! He got stickers every fifteen minutes for the whole time he was with us.

 

Genesis Two - One Flesh

Genesis 2:24

". . . and they shall become one flesh."

History has unfolded in ways that separate men and women so that they often seem to have competing interests. Men and women are meant to work together; what's good for one is good for the other. Because of size and strength men have been able to dominate women, but this domination is not God's will. Theories abound on relationships between men and women, but only occasionally does one hear the message of Genesis 2:24 celebrated. It is essential to start with this teaching: we are one flesh. In that message is the unity God intended. 

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Perhaps, you've had the same experience I've had when visiting friends and family. I feel closer to my loved ones when I've made the commitment to travel to them in person. The hugs we share and sitting together for a meal make for an intimacy that a phone call or email message cannot create. To laugh or cry with the ups and downs of our lives gives perspective that enriches and strengthens my life. 

Judy and I have visited in North Carolina and South Carolina. We have visited in Greensboro, the Myrtle Beach area, Beaufort, Columbia, Black Mountain and Asheville. Now we are in Cookeville, Tennessee and plan to stop tomorrow in Marion, Virginia on our way back to Charlottesville. In over a thousand miles of travel we have seen the landscape change. Each place has beauty of its own: ocean, marshland, farmland and mountains, as well as towns and cities. These sights bring blessings when I pause to appreciate them. Trees and birds and weather are different in one area from those in another. The housing is different. The stores--if you look for the local offerings--are different, too. The exploration delights me.

It pleases me to meet people in the regions we've traveled.  Friendliness abounds. A dulcimer player sitting on a sidewalk in Asheville entered into a conversation with Judy about the joys of music and moved into encouragement for her to pull her dulcimer down from the wall. On occasion casual conversations have moved to discussions of faith, but whether the conversations move deeper or not I have a sense of the humanity we share with others, even strangers, when I travel. 

The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove near Black Mountain North Carolina was on our itinerary. We attended a concert, spent the night at Pilgrim's Inn and toured the Chapel. The retreat was brief but meaningful. We plan to return soon for a stay that includes a seminar and time for hiking and  a visit to the Ruth Graham prayer garden. 

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Congratulations to the John Leland Center for Theological Studies! This week a team from the Association for Theological Schools visited Leland. In the coming weeks Leland will receive a report from the ATS team that visited. I am hopeful the report will lead to re-accreditation for Leland. I am grateful to God for all the team that prepared for this visit from ATS. To complete the self study and go through the visit from ATS is an accomplishment that came as a result of the faculty, staff, administration, board, students and alumni all working together. I know it was an accomplishment that required sacrifice by many. I am grateful that Leland has completed its study and accreditation visit. I am confident God will continue to bless Leland. Congratulations to the new president of Leland, Dr. Kenneth Pruitt. He will do the work with excellence and lead Leland into a new era of growth and impact for the work of the kingdom.

 In the Beginning God

Genesis 1

“In the Beginning God”

This picture in words gives us a place to start as we meditate on what it means to know God. Earth, our human dwelling place, had a temporal beginning; it is not eternal. God has provided it as a place for the purpose of bringing forth human life. The earth was made beautiful, orderly and good. The creation was to be a place of time. The creation was to be a place of continued flourishing. The creation was to be a place in which human beings—male and female—were meant to take responsibility. This dominion over the earth was a trust, and this stewardship from God helps us understand that what we do with life on earth—how we treat this place—gives us insight to our relationship with God. To be human—in the image of God—means, in part, to be responsible to God for creation given and creation continued.

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Readers of this blog will be generous, I hope, in excusing my “hit and miss” publishing. If I expect people to read what I have written I know that I have a responsibility to publish something on a regular basis. Thank you for reading my blog. I hope it is interesting and helpful. My resolution for this year is to write and publish consistently. 

The entries I make about the Bible for this blog will be at the top of each page. They are comments I have recorded in a journaling Bible.  I have a collection of comments for every chapter of the Bible. They are not meant to be explanatory as one finds in a typical commentary on the Bible. Those commentaries are helpful. My comments, I hope, will be helpful, too, but in a different way. I intend them to be devotional and theological ideas that have come to me morning by morning as I have read the Scripture. Perhaps, they are an insight to how a preacher—as I have been for decades—comes to an idea for a sermon. I would hope that for preachers and teachers who read this blog the entries could become a “starter,” that is they would lead you to your own musings about the text and would give you ideas for a lesson or a sermon. Of course, I pray each day as I read and write. You will, too, if you hope to be guided by the Spirit to an insight that God has for you.

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In the past I have often included a report from the antics or the sayings of my grandchildren. Today’s entry is an observation on the skill I admire in our daughter-in-law’s parenting. One of the children cannot abide the different foods on his plate touching, so Mairin carefully separated the foods that the restaurant had placed too close to each on the plate served to our grandson. As she did this work of love she told the child, “turn your eyes away, please.” Maybe it is her training as a doctor who tells a child who is about to receive an injection, “look away.” I don’t know how she came to the technique, but it worked. Our grandson looked away until his Mom had finished, and he was pleased to see everything arranged properly when he turned back to the plate. Yesterday was Mairin’s birthday. I am grateful she was born, that she married Justin and that she brings to her children and to all of us her love and patience.

Unknown God

Acts 17:23

In my first philosophy class in college on the first day of class the professor said, “Everyone is a philosopher; the question is whether you want to be a good philosopher.”  He wanted us to be thoughtful about life, but our professor knew that becoming thoughtful about one’s life takes more than meeting the requirements of a course in college. As a Christian he believed and taught us the importance of a foundation of faith as well as the importance of reason and history and literature and science. He understood, as well, that trial and error were teachers, too, but they were oft times cruel in their methods of instruction. Thus, one did well to learn as much as possible from the experience of others whether that learning came from books or came from relationships with family and friends. Most of all, reflection on life meant prayer and Bible study and worship and service and giving. To learn philosophy from the professor I had, Dr. Paul Brewer, helped me, and I am grateful that I studied with him.

In Acts 17, the text I am reflecting on in this blog, we find Paul the Apostle in Athens engaged with philosophers. Just like my teacher in college these philosophers sought to find meaning in daily life that transcended daily matters. He spoke to a meeting of the council that gathered on the hill named Areopagus. He preached to Epicureans, and Stoics as well as Pagans who worshiped multiple gods. Paul characterized the people of Athens as “very religious” (verse 22). Paul’s critique of Athenian religion two thousand years ago speaks helpfully to me about the religious culture of America in the 21st century.

In the west the culture appears to be increasingly irreligious. People appear to be, in the words of Schleiermacher, “cultured despisers of religion,” but the seeming irreligion of the west is in my view best understood as religion in a different language, not as irreligion. All people are theologians. Secular people who do not use religious language are, nonetheless, as religious as those who use religious language. As the theologian, Paul Tillich, explained, people are doing what religious language means by theology whenever they express their dedication to an unconditional concern. The concern can be the climate or one’s family or politics or art or business or pleasure or a career or any other endeavor that is pursued unconditionally. Whatever one addresses with unconditional concern is one’s god, and that concern is the practice of what I understand to be the doing of theology. 

Paul Tillich wanted to develop vocabulary that both religious and secular people could share in order to engage with one another about their respective unconditional concerns. Tillich affirmed that Christian faith requires a decision about the claims of Jesus that is unavoidable. However, Tillich saw that people sometimes decide against a faith commitment because they reject religious language with which they cannot identify and don’t fully understand. Even people who have grown up in what we call religious homes have sometimes matured in ways that make the religious language of their youth inadequate for the concerns they have as adults. 

In Athens Paul the Apostle attempted to find a bridge in language between himself and his audience. In the ancient world Christians were accused of atheism because they rejected the Pagan pantheon of gods, and the philosophers were offended by talk of resurrection. They did not take such talk seriously because it did not fit into their understanding of what was possible. Paul extended himself to the people at the Areopagus by speaking of the “unknown god,” and quoting the words of one of their own, explaining that God is not far from any of us because, “in Him we live and move and have our being.” The message of Paul resonated among some of the listeners at the Areopagus, and they wanted to hear more. The Gospel found a hearing. The cross and the resurrection touched hearts and minds. A church started. (34).

In follow up blogs I want to reflect more on how Paul’s witness in Athens helps me think about my witness. It makes me ask the question, how can I communicate with “cultured despisers” who need as all of us do, the Gospel? How can I grow in compassion and appreciation for those who seem dismissive but are in fact searching for meaning? I have missionary motives.

I have another motive as well. It is my hope that America can be a place of freedom of expression for all religions. For Baptists freedom of religion as well as the separation of church and state have been convictions from the denomination’s founding. Freedom and church-state separation can suffer if a “hidden church” in the guise of irreligion can assume power to enforce its views on others. It is important to democracy and the free exercise of religion for this “hidden church” to be identified so that respect and theological dialogue can be brought into the open. Everyone is a theologian, and everyone will benefit when we can talk with each other and disagree with each other about theology without fear that our religious views will be sanctioned by government.

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Travels. Judy and I took a vacation to see Jason and Amanda in Madison. Wisconsin. Their house is on Lake Mendota which provides views each evening of the sun sinking and rippling across the water. We went with them to Milwaukee to see an exhibit of Van Gogh. It was a digital immersion. The experience plunges one into the works of the artist. Van Gogh’s work appears on the four walls, the floor and the ceiling. I have seen his paintings in galleries and studied Van Gogh, but this exhibit gave me new insights to my favorite artist. One day we went to the farmer’s market which surrounds the state Capitol. I brought out my camera to capture the flower stall displays. Judy bought cheese curds to share. We walked more than usual (our doctor son getting us the exercise we need). We browsed book stores which is a favorite Smith family past time. We, also, visited a place called The House on the Rock. Mostly we visited with each other and talked about matters big and small, sharing meals and “catching up.” For a parent who lives a thousand miles from a son this time was a treasure. Jason and Amanda are in process to become foster parents and in time adoptive parents. Madison is often described as a good place in which to raise a family. We are excited with them for the joy ahead in sharing life with a child.

On the way to Madison we stopped in Georgetown, Ohio to visit the “Boyhood Home of U.S. Grant.” We spent the night down the street from Grant’s home in a bed and breakfast which had been the home of friends to the Grant family. A meeting of a committee for the Grant boyhood home met at the bed and breakfast where we were staying. It was fun to interact with people whose interest in U.S. Grant is as great as mine.

On the way home we visited Janice Brazil in Richmond, Indiana. She is a friend of over forty years. Her son, Ben, and his family live in Richmond where Ben is a professor at the Earlham School of Religion. I enjoyed talking with Ben about theological education and seeing Laura, his wife, and the children—all living on the same street as Janice, just a half block away in a neighborhood that might be the set for Bedford Falls (It’s a Wonderful Life).

Having a son who turns fifty this December and friends whom I’ve known for forty years makes me realize I am a senior adult! Actually I have a few friends of sixty-five years, a few cousins of more than seventy years, a brother of more than sixty years. All these long time relationships make me grateful for each day of life with family and friends. Though, in fact, time is not the most important aspect in my relationships. I have friends and family that I’ve only recently met (Grandson Stone is only three), but new friends, just as long time friends and new family, just as family of long knowing, are as dear to me as life itself.

Church Beloved

Ephesians 5:25

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . .”

This statement in Ephesians that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” does not mean that Christ loved the church only or loved the church instead of the world or loved the church more than the world. The passage in Ephesians does mean that Christ gave himself to his disciples in a unique way. Jesus gave up his ministry of physical presence on earth so that the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, could begin its work of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. In this sense the church is beloved. The church is not loved more than the world. The church is beloved by its being entrusted with the Gospel.

In John’s Gospel we find these remarkable words of Jesus “. . .whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these . . .” (John 14:12) No one could take these words of Jesus to mean that the church would do anything greater than the cross and the resurrection. So, these words, “greater works,” mean something else.  

In only one way is the church greater. The church has taken the Gospel, the news of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead to the world. Jesus went to the Father. He ascended after the resurrection. To the church he gave the ministry of evangelism. To the church was given the work of spreading the Gospel to people who never heard the voice of Jesus or saw his wonders. This truth recalls the encounter between Thomas and Jesus in one of the post resurrection appearances. Thomas made the declaration before Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus responded to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) The church has received the blessing of faith, and the church has been the means by which God has given this blessing to the world.

Speaking of "beloved church," tomorrow (Sunday July 11) Judy and I are going (DV) for worship to Memorial Baptist Church in Arlington where Dr. Drew Hill is pastor. This church is beloved by Judy and me. We spent almost twenty years at Memorial for which we are grateful to God. After service we are going to a birthday celebration for one of the church members, Mrs. Nellie Grant, who turns 100 years old. Nellie is a friend to whom I will be grateful forever because she reached out to my parents with attention and love, especially in the days of their illnesses and deaths. Many will want to come to share this special day with Nellie because she has cared through the years for many just as  she cared for my family. 

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Grandchildren. On the 4th of July our granddaughter, with parental help, hosted a party for their immediate neighbors in the Belmont neighborhood in Charlottesville where they live. Mostly young adults with their children attended the party. The weather cooperated. We enjoyed food, drink and decorations made by the children. Listening to the neighbors of my son and daughter-in-law as they visited in the back yard, I realized that these young adults were remarkable people who talked of significant matters with civility and thoughtfulness. Although I was taken with the high level of education and significant work they were all engaged in doing I was humbled by the way they talked without drawing attention to themselves. Gentle, thoughtful, convicted and open to hearing and learning. It was a party to remember. Leaving I felt confident about a future in the hands of these folks. As we began to leave we came upon our youngest grandson, age 3, crying inconsolably. His big sister, age 12--the party organizer--was trying to console him. He had seen someone leave the party, and he knew it meant the party would soon be over. He didn't want it to end. It was poignant for me to feel his sensitivity, the realization at a child's level of understanding, that good things come to an end. In time he will be relieved to learn that bad things come to an end as well, and most of all I want him to learn that "all things" (happy or sad) when put in the hands of the one for whom time never ends or begins--all things work together for good.

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Reading. I have learned--I think--not to recommend books. What I like in a book may be due to a  moment in my life which the book addresses, and that moment likely does not match what is happening in someone else's life. A  book seems right for me, but it's not right for you. I like to share what I am reading, not in order to get you to read it, too. I share what I am reading in the thought that someone else may be reading the same book with appreciation and in that shared appreciation I may find a friend or a colleague whom I didn't know I had.  Less and less do I read books all the way through. I am an impatient reader. However, here is a book I am reading for the second time. The first time through I stopped reading it multiple times because I was unhappy with what I read, but for some reason I felt compelled to pick it up again. I finished it, and I am now reading it through for the second time, and I am underlining and making notes in the margins. The book is a collection of essays by Wendell Berry put together by Norman Wirzba. The book is entitled The Art of the Commonplace: the Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry. Many years ago I read fiction by Wendell Berry, and I liked his fiction, especially Jayber Crowe. I knew from what others told me that he was a bit of a Luddite, so I didn't read more than his fiction until now. I wonder if I should have read him sooner, but that speculation doesn't get me anywhere. I rest on the thought (see above) that "all things work together for good." When the right time came the book appeared.

Of course, as a student and now as a teacher I have read books on assignment, and I have assigned books. So, I am not consistent. What I wrote in the previous paragraph is not exactly the way I do things. I do recommend the Bible to people with caution. Reading the Bible straight through is seldom the best way to approach Scripture. It is better to start with more accessible parts. Read the "Sermon on the Mount," Matthew 5-7. Read the "Love Chapter," 1 Corinthians 13 or read the "Gospel of John." Read Genesis 37-50. Read the book of Proverbs. Read Esther. Read the prophet Amos. As the Bible gets into your "bones" (Jereimiah 20:9) you will enjoy expanding your reading, and you will read the Bible all your life. The Bible is an adult book. Do not think it will be easy reading. It will be profound. It will satisfy your thirst and hunger for meaning in life (Psalm 42:1), but it will not be easy. Mark Twain was asked, "Doesn't it bother you all the parts of the Bible you don't understand?" He replied, "No. what bothers me are all the parts I do understand." 

Genesis One

In the Beginning God

Genesis chapter one is a picture in words. It gives us a first look at how we can view what it means to know God. Earth, our human dwelling place, had a temporal beginning; it is not eternal. God has provided it as a place for the purpose of bringing forth human life. The earth was made beautiful, orderly and good. The creation was to be a place of time. The creation was to be a place of continued flourishing. The creation was a place in which human beings—male and female—were meant to take responsibility. This entrusted dominion over the earth helps one understand that what we do with life on earth—how we treat this place—gives us insight to our relationship with God. Te be human—in the image of God—means in part, to be responsible to God for the creation given by God  and the creation continued for God.

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My reading bag. I carry around a canvas bag filled with books that I am reading. Occasionally, I read something else, too, usually a mystery of some sort. But in my reading bag this first week of 2021 I have nine books.

Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace (second time through) 

Ellen Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture

Edwin Friedman, Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, A Failure of Nerve (second time through)

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

Paul Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery (African Studies)

Don Reid, The Music of The Statler Brothers: An Anthology (Music and the American South) 

Alan Taylor, Thomas Jefferson’s Education

Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, Religious Institutions

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Our grandchildren continue to teach us. This new year I greet 2021 as they have taught me when they jump from the car and run toward me with laughter shining in their faces, “Hi Pal!” Life, each day, is a gift to greet with joy.  

Too Small to Fail

 Zechariah 4:10 "Small Beginnings"

R. James Breiding wrote a book published in 2019 entitled “Too Small to Fail.” The title is a play on the phrase, “Too Big to Fail” which became popular in the mid-80’s to describe the theory that some corporations are so big that the government must prevent their failure for the good of the national economy. Breiding proposes in his book that smallness can be a strength, too. In fact, he shows that many small nations are achieving success in education, health care and satisfaction among citizens that larger nations find difficult to achieve.

Breiding’s book is not written from any religious perspective that I can detect although he has an appreciation for the contribution religion makes in the creation of social cohesion, and that cohesion is an important quality for a successful democracy. So “Too Small to Fail” is not a religious book, but it has implications for the church. Zechariah 4:10 written in reference to the small beginnings of the exilic Temple project reads,  “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin. . .” (NLT).  For many people bigger churches are thought to be better than smaller churches, but that operating assumption is beginning to show weakness. Two pastors of very strong (meaning larger) churches have told me this week that they see a shift coming. Partly, the Covid-19 pandemic is responsible, or better said, the pandemic is accelerating a trend which had already begun toward the recognition that smaller can be and often is better. Some church growth strategists see the next expansion of the church happening through extension or creation of new churches rather than a large church just getting larger.

One church I know about has gotten ahead of the “curve” in this matter. The church grows to a certain size, and then it starts a new church in its own building. The pastor issues a call to members of the congregation to walk down the hallway to the chapel where a new mission church is starting. The mission holds worship at the same time as the “mother’ congregation. The mission incubates or grows inside the “mother” church until the new congregation has the numerical and financial strength to purchase property in another neighborhood, and the mission moves out to form a new independent church. The “mother” church then grows until it fills its building again and repeats the process. Several churches have been formed in this way.

Another model is for a stronger church in partnership with a smaller church develop a strategy in which the larger church issues a call to its membership for fifty people to go on mission. Their call is to join the smaller church partner that is struggling financially and struggling in finding leadership and struggling to connect with its community. The fifty missionaries stay with the smaller church until it gains viability. At that point some return to the “mother” church and some discover a new place of ministry in the smaller but now better functioning church. Instead of growing bigger and bigger the “mother church” re-seeds smaller congregations which enables those smaller churches to flourish.

It may be that the small to medium size neighborhood church is growing more attractive as a way to gather for worship, fellowship and service. The Covid-19 crisis has helped people see the benefits of smaller groups. Also, people are discovering that even though the phenomenon of video conferencing helps the church to stay connected, it is a poor substitute for in person community. The desire for community is leading to a new appreciation for the smaller church which offers a way to know and be known, a way to experience an extended faith family. Large congregations have an important place in church life, but today people are seeing that smaller congregations, also, have an important place in church life. They are not too big to fail; they are too small to fail.

Wearing Masks

The Lone Ranger, starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, was a television show that I did not miss as a child. When the opening musical theme began, the “William Tell Overture,” I was in place. Sometimes with my own cowboy hat, holster and set of six shooters strapped on. Sometimes I wore a mask because, of course, the Lone Ranger wore a mask. The masked man, the Lone Ranger, and his partner, Tonto, committed themselves to righting wrongs in the old west. This television show was on in the 1950’s. Movie versions have appeared, too, though nothing quite replaces for me the affection I have for the weekly tv shows. There were other masked heroes in my childhood as well, Batman and Robin, for example. Spiderman wore a mask. (Superman did not wear a mask. He disguised himself by wearing a pair of glasses when he was not in his super hero mode.)

So, masks are nothing new to me. From my childhood they have been part of my experience. Not only the experience of watching the Lone Ranger but children wore masks as part of the annual Halloween celebrations. Our grandchildren like masks, too. Ninja masks are especially popular with them. I suppose the mask wearing helps one imagine his or her assumed role as a hero. Earlier this year I saw a cartoon in which a doctor (they sometimes wear masks) was invited to stand with a group of super heroes. The caption to the cartoon read, “Welcome to the Club.” Having family members in medicine I liked that cartoon. Many doctors, nurses, and first responders have served us heroically during the Covid-19 crisis. I am grateful for them.

Of course, masks are used by people who do bad things to hide their identity. Criminals don’t want to be caught when they commit crimes. A mask helps them in their unheroic behavior. As an adult, until this year, I have thought of bank robbers and other criminals, not the Lone Ranger, when I have considered people wearing masks. What made the Lone Ranger unique is that he was one of the good ones, but he wore a mask. Mostly, I have associated the bad ones with mask wearing.

That is, I had thought of mask wearing as a shield to criminals until I started visiting in the East, particularly the Middle East. There I saw women who masked their faces out of religious conviction and modesty. After being in Saudia Arabia for two months I accepted mask wearing as typical. Women who didn’t wear masks seemed different, not the other way round. Of course, one does not have to move to the Middle East to experience some challenges in the messages communicated by clothing. I remember how surprised I was in my first months living in San Francisco when I went to the dry cleaners and stood in line with a Buddhist monk dressed in an orange robe. Of course, I knew that Buddhist monks existed and dressed in orange robes, but it was different for me to stand in line with my neighbor at the dry cleaners. Living in Virginia I have felt some dislocation related to clothing as well. On a Sunday evening I came back from a church service, perhaps, it was a funeral, and I was wearing a suit. I stopped at a local diner in rural Virginia about dinner time. Everyone in the diner, except me, was dressed in camo.

All this to say that what we wear is not typically in itself good or bad. How we dress is a complex blend of culture and personal style. Sometimes how we dress reflects our work. Surgeons wear masks and lots of medical people wear scrubs. Firefighters and police officers wear uniforms, as do priests and baseball players. Clothing communicates: our job, our style, our culture and even our religion.

Clothing styles change. Watch a sports news clip from a baseball stadium in the early 50’s. Young people may be surprised to see that almost every man at a professional ball game was dressed in a suit and a fedora. People who traveled by air in the 50’s often “dressed up.” As did people who went to church. Now, it is the other way round. Of course, the stylish slacks and untucked shirt may cost more than a man’s suit. The style of dress does not reflect cost or even attention to dress. People use their clothing to communicate. It is not always clear what is being communicated, but clothing requires some choice and some reason and consequently, some message.

Mask wearing during the Covid-19 pandemic has for some people become a political statement. Recently, the President affirmed mask wearing in a way that may de-politicize it. Hopefully so, since mask wearing seems to be a way to reduce risk of getting or giving the virus. At least, that is the theory of most of our medical leaders at this point in time. So, mask wearing is something I’m doing as a matter of health, for myself and for others.

I’ve read that in early pandemics people became quite creative in designing masks that were stylish. Some folks today are doing the same. A person’s mask gives opportunity to promote your favorite sports team or your school, your business or, of course, your political viewpoint. There is no way around it. Clothing, including masks, communicates. We do or don’t wear them. We style them in a particular way. We send signals to each other. 

I hope most people will wear masks for the sake of health. If you feel the need to make a statement then draw something on your mask or find some other creative way to fashion a mask message. If you have been reluctant to wear a mask then imagine yourself as the Lone Ranger, one of the good ones. Your mask wearing can mean what you want. Don’t let the mask itself mean something. Turn it into something positive for you. Make your own statement, and maybe the mask will be important to the health of all of us as well.

Sermons Should be Forgotten

All my adult life I have been a writer of sermons. I have worked hard at composition and delivery. I have done this work from a sense of calling. The church has supported me financially so that I have had the freedom to fulfill this vocation, and I am grateful. I am grateful for the calling, and I am grateful for the support. Along with the preaching vocation I have, also, been a pastor. To be a pastor and a preacher is the usual pattern. Some preachers only preach; they are evangelists or apologists or commentators of some sort. That model or way of preaching is not typical. It has special challenges I would think, but my life is the typical one: a life of writing sermons to give to the church in worship as a pastor. I believe these sermons of mine, and most sermons are best forgotten.

Sermons are forgettable because most sermons are meant to be effective as a part of a worship service. The sermon is part of something important that is happening in worship as the congregation is called to an awareness of God. When a congregation gathers for worship they enter a moment that cannot be repeated. The people gathered for worship in those particular circumstances will never in all eternity be together in the same way or have exactly the same experience. 

A sermon given in worship cannot be repeated. Even a sermon preached to an early service on Sunday morning and then repeated at the later service on the same day is not the same sermon. It is not the same because the purpose of the sermon in worship is to point us toward God. Through the preacher we see a man or a woman struggling, hoping, working, sometimes finding an insight which brings us closer to the one whom we worship. The sermon’s purpose, and the preacher’s vocation find fulfillment in those moments when a window is opened, and a member of the congregation glimpses the glory of God. This glory is never captured, but what a gift is given to the people gathered in worship when a preacher opens that window if only for a moment. The sermon may be forgotten, but the encounter with God is eternal. That sermon is ephemeral, but the sermon is also ineffable; it is a holy and unrepeatable moment given by God. 

Christians and the Old Testament

The Old Testament: Essential to Faith

When we become Christians the Old Testament becomes our personal history and the history of our people. Children raised in the church learn to sing, “Father Abraham has many sons, and I am one of them.” Girls as well as boys sing in celebration of their heritage because the word son in Christian faith does not exclude the full participation of all, just as being Gentile and not Jewish is no barrier to our identification with Abraham. Jesus was generous with those who did not qualify to walk with him by the usual standards (Mark 7:26; 9:40). Paul, following Jesus, made it clear that the Gospel excluded no one (Gal. 3:28). So, Christians embrace the Old Testament as their story, too. They, along with the Jews, are God’s chosen people.

The Old Testament history shows us how God the Creator of the universe has shaped us into his people. We learn that we are more than individual believers—we are certainly that, individual believers, but we are more—because we belong to one another as the body of Christ, and through the body of Christ we are made part of God’s chosen people. Paul used the metaphor of a wild shoot being grafted onto an olive tree. Gentiles have been grafted into the covenant people. Along with the Jews, all of us, have been called to believe and to receive a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31). It is God’s grace that all people are called to join the covenant. Christians are not to take this gift for granted and are not to boast over their acceptance into the covenant (Romans 11:18). With gratitude and humility we accept our place as members of God’s chosen people.

We live in the wonder of our history, recounted in the Old Testament. We live with knowledge of its twists and turns, its glorious moments and its times of abysmal failure. With the prophets we acknowledge that we are a stubborn people; we acknowledge God’s righteousness and our sinful failure to keep covenant. The Old Testament teaches us that our personal relationship to God has a corporate, familial, national dimension that stretches back to Abraham and even further because all people are created in the image of God, and all people are called to live before their Creator, to be accountable for the life entrusted to them as individuals and the life they live in relationship to others.

The Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, is God’s word. Through these ancient writings God continues to speak to us, his people. We read. We listen. We respond. Although we can never exhaust the wonder and mystery of God’s revelation, with reverence and with joy we read the Bible and wait upon moments of divine guidance. Like Samuel we pray, “Speak, Lord, for your servant listens” (1 Samuel 3:10)

Listening to a Sermon-Part Three

Listening to a well prepared sermon delivered in an effective manner is not difficult, and such sermons can help people in their worship of God. What’s difficult is listening to a poorly prepared sermon. In the first and second essays of this series I suggested the importance of a listener taking responsibility for the worship experience, and I listed five practical strategies for listening to bad sermons with the idea that an active listener can benefit even from a bad sermon. However, there are sermons to which we do best not to listen.

For this third essay the most important matter to remember is the fact that a poor sermon is not limited to sermons that are boring or sermons that seem superficial. A gifted orator who seems profound can preach a bad sermon, and the worshiper is more likely to suffer harm from such gifted and attractive preachers than the ones we usually call poor preachers. Paul the Apostle warned against false teachers and warned that they can appear winsome and intelligent which is no surprise, since, as Paul wrote, “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 14-15).

Even if a sermon is a delight to the ears and the preacher is pleasant to watch as he or she delivers the message, the sermon is a bad one if it fails to be true. The repercussions from false teaching are serious for the life of the church and individual listeners, especially young people. Bad teaching has been a problem from the first century until the present. 

Here are some examples: legalism and its opposite, moral relativism (“do your own thing”). Whenever a preacher emphasizes rules and regulations the preacher has lost hold of the Bible’s message of salvation through faith and grace. Such legalism creates despair as people fail to meet the legalistic standards of the sermons. Then comes hypocrisy as some people pretend to meet those standards even though they cannot; in fact, the preacher cannot meet them either, and the church becomes filled with suspicion and accusation as people see their own hidden sins and suspect that others are hiding sins, too. One errant way to relieve the guilt of self accusation is to accuse others of the sin hidden in one’s own life. Such behavior in a church is, indeed, toxic.

The opposite approach is bad, too. Some preachers proclaim an easy or cheap grace (see Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship) and the result is a church in which people lose sight of the message of holiness and righteousness which are the qualities that arise from God’s grace. The message of grace and faith and hope and love bring a lifestyle filled with gratitude and joy. The bad teaching of relativism which holds that there is no absolute law is as bad as legalism. Both approaches misunderstand the Gospel and the power of spiritual transformation. 

Reliance on the Bible as the sole authority for faith and practice is an important sign of true preaching and will help the preacher avoid the failures of legalism and relativism. A good preacher will speak from the Bible and will shape his or her messages to conform to the teaching of the Bible. Doctrines taught in the sermon will arise from the preacher’s knowledge and continual study of the entire Bible.

Unhappily, bad preachers can quote Scripture. Even demons can quote Scripture. It is important that the preacher yields his or her own opinions to the clear teaching of Scripture. It is important that every sermon includes and depends upon the Bible’s message of God’s salvation in Christ.

Even if a sermon has truths in it, that sermon is a bad one if it fails the Gospel.  A sermon on prayer or social justice or Bible study is not a good sermon if it fails the Gospel. There is a place in the church for teaching, but the teaching ministry never replaces preaching of the Gospel.

The Gospel is the message of Jesus’ birth, the incarnation; God has come to us in person. The Gospel is the message of the cross, Jesus’ death. Through the cross Jesus defeated sin and death by giving himself up on behalf of the world and winning the victory over evil. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is essential to the Gospel; the resurrection illuminates the cross and shows us Jesus as Christus Victor (see Gustaf Aulen). The Gospel is the promise that Jesus will return to make all things right. In the end justice will prevail. The Gospel is the message of Jesus’ life which calls us to live with the power of the Holy Spirit, as disciples or learners. We are being saved or transformed day by day as we await our own resurrection to the next life which God the Father has prepared for us who believe. This message is the heart of true preaching. (See C. H. Dodd, Gospel and Law, for a review of Scripture on this subject.)

Another essential theological teaching is the Trinity. Christians are Trinitarians. Christians believe that God is one in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If a preacher fails to lay the foundation of the Trinity in his or her preaching then that preacher is giving a bad message. Usually, the error shows itself in a diminution of Jesus. In some way the preacher hints from time to time that Jesus is a good teacher, a good man, and a good prophet but not divine. When the preacher refuses to acknowledge and affirm in the clearest terms that Jesus is God in person, in flesh then the message is bad. In bad messages one will often hear how there are many wise religious teachers in history from Zoroaster to Buddha, Mohammed and Gandhi. Without, perhaps, saying it directly the preacher will imply that Jesus belongs in that list but is not divine. Such preachers have strayed from the Bible and strayed from the doctrines long established in the ecumenical church. A good preacher will give attention to the Trinitarian message that God is Father, Son and Spirit and will give the right emphasis to all three persons in preaching and teaching.

Another way that preaching goes wrong is the political sermon masquerading as prophecy. To use the pulpit to express political opinion is not prophecy, but it is bad preaching. The best way to address political issues is for the preacher to teach Biblical principles from the pulpit. The people in the congregation can take these principles into their personal lives, including their politics. Most congregations have Democrats and Republicans sitting side by side. The preacher does well to respect the faith of Christians who hold different political opinions. To attempt to think for the people or to demand that they think the same way the preacher does on political issues is bad preaching, not prophecy. 

Much attention has been rightly given by critics to the error of what is called the “Prosperity Gospel.” It is a popular message because it promises that God will always deliver material and emotional security to people who have the right faith practice. Any such message that teaches that a Christian can avoid suffering is bad preaching. In reality good and faithful Christians suffer. They may be persecuted. They may be caught in tragic circumstances. They may be materially poor. God’s grace sustains us in all these circumstances, and with God’s grace and with our trust in God’s providence we can make our suffering redemptive. We may not see the results of our witness in this life, but we live and are justified by our faith. It is bad preaching that downplays or ignores redemptive suffering which is, of course, most clearly seen in the cross of Christ.

Theology as expressed in preaching is a big subject. Although much more could be written, hopefully this essay raises some questions for the reader and will help listeners to evaluate sermons theologically as well as rhetorically. So, what can a listener do when the preacher does not speak the truth? My conclusion seems simplistic; however, if a preacher persists in teaching that fails the Gospel, the Trinitarian message, the call to grace, the authority of the Bible and offers false prophecy, then, simplistic as it is, the answer to bad teaching and preaching is, finally, “don’t listen!”