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!” 

The Pruning of the Church

JOHN 15:1  ". . . he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (NIV)

God is at work. Statistics about church decline may tempt us to think otherwise. Reports of denominational wrangles may bring us a measure of disillusionment. (I remember hearing Gordon Cosby say, “Disillusionment is good; it gets rid of our illusions!") Seeing religious interest and participation on the wane in our neighborhoods may cause us concern. Despite these realities in the present day we can be hopeful because we are confident that God is at work. In John 15 Jesus used the image of a vine. He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Let us hope that in America we are being “pruned.”  Pastors and churches are being cut back so that we may bear more fruit.  

The day of the professional pastor has passed. The day of the missionary pastor has come. We are not going back any time soon to the day of the professional minister. This change affects all believers; it brings both a challenge and an opportunity. 

These days I am serving churches in transition. I supply preach, and I serve as an interim pastor while churches look for a settled, permanent pastor. My advice to churches: learn the difference between a professional pastor and a missionary pastor. The professional pastor was good for an earlier time, but that time has passed; the missionary pastor will lead the church into the future.

In my understanding a professional is one who works from a profession of faith or a commitment to a higher standard than one’s own benefit. So, a pastor professes faith in Christ and lives life in service to the lordship of Christ. A teacher professes the importance of learning and devotes his or her life to education. A doctor professes the importance of health and works for the well being of the community without making remuneration or recognition the most important part of one’s service. Likewise, a lawyer professes a commitment to justice and works for justice as a calling that transcends his or her personal benefit. For pastors, teachers, doctors and lawyers there have been standards of conduct adopted by the church or the university or the medical association or the legal society which call professionals to account for their training, their service and their behavior.

Over time the word professional has been stretched. For example, a professional athlete is someone who plays the sport well enough to make it a high paying career. No particular training or certification is required. The word professional just means that the athlete plays the game better than an amateur. In this stretched definition a person is a “real professional” if that person is good at what they do. One could imagine a person saying, “He’s a professional bank robber or professional con man,” and when a criminal can be called a professional the word has been stretched beyond meaning. 

For pastors the day of the professional meant that clergy would train for their profession through university and seminary. These trained clergy would be ordained by a church. They would adhere to a code of ethics and etiquette. The etiquette included such matters as the way one dressed, talked and interacted with other clergy members, e.g. no proselytizing or what is popularly called, “sheep stealing.” (Sheep being used as a term for members of another flock, another church.)

Just as teachers went to the school, and doctors went to the hospital, and lawyers to the court house, so pastors went to the church. The church was a building that was constructed for beauty and permanence. In the days when the word professional had more meaning, a pastor, as a professional, would be asked to serve the community by participation in a civic club or membership on a hospital board or be invited to host and speak at a high school baccalaureate service. The pastor was understood to be a contributor to the welfare of the larger community. 

In the mass media pastors in previous years were most often depicted in positive ways. In 1944 the movie, “Going My Way,” starred Bing Crosby as a priest, and it won seven oscars, including best actor in a leading role, best actor in a supporting role, best director, best writing, and best music. In stark contrast the 2015 movie “Spotlight” won the Academy Award for best picture and best original screen play for its biographical drama telling the story of a newspaper investigation into child sex abuse by priests in the Boston area. The 1944 movie gave an idealistic picture of priests, and the 2015 movie gave a picture of the Catholic Church that reflects a serious failure but also does not leave the viewer with an accurate picture of the church overall. In the media today clergy are more often depicted in demeaning ways and very seldom is religion included in TV shows or movies as a normal part of life.

In the days of the professional pastor weddings and funerals were exclusively in the pastor’s purview. Today, of course, weddings are often done at vineyards and gardens and other beautiful places as well as buildings that are designed for that purpose and are never used for worship. Almost anyone can get a license to perform a wedding. Pastors are not required. Today some people choose not to use pastors for funerals or even to have funeral services.

In days past when the community suffered a crisis such as a natural disaster the clergy were called upon to help the stricken with prayer and assurances of God’s care. Today, “professional” counselors are called. The clergy may minister to their church members, but they are not understood to be contributors to the community in the way they were in the day of the professional pastor.

The Pew Research Center has published studies that show religion is waning in its influence in America.http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ Although there are still many people—a majority—who claim belief in God, the number is in decline. The neighborhood church led by a pastor who has been trained in ministry and is held accountable by peers to the faith professed, is fading. Church buildings still exist in great numbers, but many of them are near empty.

Of course, there are examples of mega churches in every state, and pastors for many years have been encouraged to learn from these mega churches how to reach the community. Some of the mega church models are inspiring because they show the power of the gospel to draw people to faith; some are disturbing because a big crowd does not guarantee a commitment to truth, and some mega congregations amend the gospel to make their message more popular. With Paul (Philippians 1:18) we can rejoice that the gospel is being preached. Still, even with the mega church phenomena the decline in Christianity has continued in the United States. The mega church model has not stopped the move in the direction of waning belief. It appears that mega churches have mostly drawn people out of neighborhood churches and not made an impact on the nation as a whole.

The change in the standing of pastors in the community at large and the shrinking attendance at the neighborhood church reflect a decline across the nation in religious belief. Without a community to give its support and to express its need, the role of professional pastor is less and less viable. The day of the professional pastor has passed. (One could raise the possibility that the idea of professional is changing for teachers, doctors and lawyers, too, but that is another subject.)

The picture of Christianity world wide is much different. The largest religion in the world is Christianity, and Christianity is adding more adherents every year than any other religion. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/20/think-christianity-is-dying-no-christianity-is-shifting-dramatically/What’s more, this phenomenal growth is occurring in the face of persecution in many places. The center of Christianity has shifted from Europe and the West to the Global South, Latin America and Africa, where there are more than one billion Christians.

The words of Jesus in John 15 make us hopeful about North America, too. The Lord has not given up on the church in the West. Let us hope that we are being “pruned.”  Pastors and churches are being cut back so that we may bear more fruit.  

In order to be more fruitful we come to this change from professional pastor to missionary pastor. The role of pastor will no longer be defined in the larger community alongside other professionals. The role of pastor finds its definition in the local church. Whether the larger community looks to the pastor as a professional leader is not so important. What matters now is the church’s view. The church relies on the Spirit to guide the faithful in a search of Scripture for the model of pastor that best serves God’s kingdom in this place and time. The word missionary is not appreciated by the larger community, but the church loves the word because it comes right out of the heart of God. To be on mission is to be sent. God sent his Son for the salvation of the world. We embrace the message and the lordship of Christ. We embrace our missionary role. We embrace the gospel. 

Missionaries are defined by their message. Whether we wear suits with ties or t-shirts with jeans we do not, by that clothing, define missionary. Singing hymns or singing choruses does not define a missionary. A building does not define a missionary. The number of people gathered for a meeting does not define what God’s mission means. What counts is the message.

God was in Christ reconciling himself to the world. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus is coming again to make all things right. We live in and through and by the life of Christ. He is our Lord. He is our message.

Again, my advice to churches in transition: search for a pastor who knows the message; search for a pastor who lives that message as the organizing principle of life. Search for a missionary pastor who will lead the church to embrace its call to the mission field, who understands that our mission field is right here in America.

_______

Grandchildren. One day this week Judy and I took Mr. Happy, our four year old grandson, to our house for the afternoon. On the way we stopped at the drive-through counter of a fast food restaurant to get ice cream. As we were ordering Mr. Happy heard me say that I wanted a cone for him. He shouted from the back seat, “No, Pal!” I was puzzled and turned to look at him. He went on to say, “I want ice cream in a cone.” I clarified that point with the counter person and learned a lesson about pre-schoolers. They are literally minded, and when something is important—like ice cream—they are good listeners and they can be assertive. Maybe he has a legal career in his future.

Mark 10:17-31 The Measure of Goodness

Mark 10:18  “Why do you call me good?”

What does it mean to be good? The conventional and cultural definition of good is easy to identify. Judging by popular news broadcasts, movies, television and novels, today's conventional standard for goodness is tied to one’s care for the poor and one’s absolute rejection of any whiff of bigotry. Entertainers and other opinion makers eschew the earlier standards that popular culture elevated: chastity, temperance, hard work, even truth telling. Along with modesty these old standards seldom get much support on the athletic field or in the movie theater or the nightly news. Today, if one is egalitarian and one helps the poor then one has met the basic definition of good.  

Today, as in the first century, one would find it difficult to enlist Jesus in support of a definition of the good. Jesus refused to be called good. (verse 18) Unlike today, conventional goodness in the first century was defined by the Ten Commandments as interpreted and applied by religious leaders. However, that standard did not meet the definition of Jesus for goodness. It didn’t work in the first century, and it didn’t work fifty years ago, and it doesn’t work now. Yet, the current standard of goodness in America doesn’t work either. These standards do not put us right with God because they are misused. Like the young man in Mark chapter ten the standards--ancient or modern--are most often used to justify one’s behavior. “I must be good because I have kept the Ten Commandments,” or “I must be good because I am not prejudiced,” and “I must be good because I volunteer in my local homeless shelter.”

When the earnest young man came to Jesus with his desire for affirmation he was disappointed. Although Jesus looked upon this inquirer with love (verse 21) Jesus refused to give his blessing to conventional goodness. Jesus simply raised the standard to a level that the man could not reach. (verse 21) It is amusing that current opinion makers will quote this passage to support their idea that service to the poor is the best, the most Christian definition of goodness. However, none of those would-be-ethicists do what Jesus said: sell everything, give to the poor and follow him. Today, just as in the first century people cannot and will not meet this standard of goodness. Even the disciples of Jesus, who had left everything to follow Jesus, despaired in face of this standard. They asked, “Who then can be saved?” (verse 26)

“No one is good--except God alone.” (verse 18) What good we do by any definition of goodness that we propose is never enough to justify ourselves before God. The message of the gospel is God’s mercy which has come to us in person in Jesus, God’s very presence among us. He died and was raised from the dead to give us eternal life, not because we are good but because God alone is good, and God loves us and is merciful to all who call upon him. To seek goodness on our own merit or without reference to God is to go away from the one place where goodness exists. What the world puts first--in the ancient world and today--God puts last. (verse 31)

* * * * *

Grandchildren. Our youngest grandson will be baptized at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville Sunday October 4, 2015. He is ten weeks old. Last night Judy and I took care of him while his parents went out for a couple of hours. He was awake most of the time. He smiled a lot, especially when Sweetie Pie and Mr. Happy huddled around him and gave him kisses, but he also delighted his grandmother with a series of big smiles just for her. I'm still waiting for the youngest grandchild's nickname to emerge. Mr. Happy has called him "Squeaker," and "Floppy." Neither of those names will be allowed to stick. In due time, something just right will emerge.

John 6:51-61 God's Hyperbole: the Church

John 6:61 “ . . . Does this offend you? . . .”

Jesus offended the people who had witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.  In words most shocking he said that he was giving his flesh for the world to consume. Going further he said, “ . . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (6:53) Later in history the enemies of the church would use the words of Jesus and reports on the observance of the Lord’s Supper in order to charge Christians with human sacrifice and cannibalism.

Hyperbole shocks. By definition hyperbole is not meant to be taken literally. For Jews the idea of eating blood was unthinkable, just as cannibalism was. They knew that Jesus, a Jew, did not intend to be taken literally. Thoughtful people, then and now, even if they are adverse to Christian faith, understand the use of hyperbole. By taking offense at his language the people around Jesus were able to avoid facing the authentic challenge in those words. It was easier to be shocked at his words than it was to engage with him on the meaning of salvation and the claim of Jesus to be God’s redemption.

The church is God’s hyperbole. The church often shocks and offends the world. Perhaps, the world takes offense at the pious language of an evangelical preacher or the exuberance of a Pentecostal. Perhaps, the world finds Catholicism too ritualistic or the Anglican way too self-important.  In the eyes of the world all churches are equally subject to the charge of hypocrisy, and it is true that seldom does the church live up to the message it preaches. The church is flesh and blood. It is human. Being shocked at its failed humanity is to miss the point of hyperbole. It is to avoid the real offense of the Gospel. 

The claim of Jesus to be the incarnate God and the means of salvation does offend. His claim shocks us with the seriousness of sin; in order to remove sin the shedding of blood is necessary. God comes in Christ to give that blood. The offense of the Gospel is the message of the cross, the impossibility of human works bringing us to God and the realization and acceptance that salvation comes only by the grace of God’s work in Christ.

As the church, the body of Christ, and the hyperbole of God we will always offend. All our efforts in ministry are shockingly human. Yet, it pleased God to entrust to the church the message of the cross, and the real offense to the world is the cross. Foolishness to the world but to all who have heard and answered his call it is the power and wisdom of God.

Mark 8:31-38 A Reflection on the Cross with Some Personal Additions

Mark 8:33  -  “Get behind me, Satan!” (v. 33)

Certainly this encounter between Jesus and Peter causes any follower of Christ to take pause. If Peter who was a leader of the disciples could be the instrument of Satan, then the possibility exists that any of us could, also, find ourselves opposing the message and ministry of Jesus. Peter received the chastisement of Jesus because he attempted to dissuade Jesus from the cross. Any retreat from the message of the cross puts us over against Jesus.

The disciples were willing to fight for Jesus, and they were willing to die in that fight. In Gethsemane a sword was drawn and a blow was struck. (Mark 14:47) They would fight and die, but they were not willing to take up a cross voluntarily. Peter and all the disciples, despite their protestations, deserted Jesus when he surrendered to the cross. (Mark 14:19; 29;71)

The message of the cross is self-denial. (Mark 8:34) The message of the cross is total abandonment of one’s life to the Gospel. (Mark 8:35) The message of the cross is the decision to choose God’s way over the ways of the world. (Mark 8:38)

Peter found himself following the ways of the world, of evil, of Satan, when he attempted to substitute his own judgment for the Lordship of Christ. The good news is that God’s grace brought Peter to repentance and faith. He embraced God’s  forgiveness and in the light of the resurrection received a new understanding of God’s plan in Christ to reconcile the world. Our first natural response to the cross, like Peter’s response, is to flee. Only in the strength of the Spirit can a disciple bear the cross. Yet those who bear the cross are promised the power of resurrection.

*******

Witness to the Cross today.

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) “Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.”

*******

Grandchildren. We were sitting around the dining room table explaining to Mr. Happy (age 3) his given and family names. He has uncles from both the Burke and the Smith sides of the family who are named William; I told him that he and I share that name too; he responded, “Congratulations!”  We laughed. Then we proceeded to name all the Smiths in the family. Another burst of laughter when he summarized, “God is a Smith!” 

Mark 1:9-15 A Reflection with Some Personal Additions

Jesus begins his ministry.

One finds not a spare word in these seven verses. Information, insight, and instruction fill the passage so tightly that once it is opened it is difficult to repackage into one theme. Messages abound: baptism, repentance, temptation, divine intervention, the reality of evil, the relationship of John to Jesus and the content of the Gospel! Mark squeezed all these important ideas into just seven verses.

Jesus traveled over eighty miles from Galilee to the wilderness of Judah to identify with John’s ministry in which John called people to repentance and baptism. Jesus’ personal intensity of purpose became a dramatic public demonstration as he gave witness with his whole body, descending into the waters of the Jordan in the arms of John and then coming out of the water as one lifted from death to life. Still more dramatic the heavens broke open; they were “torn” open, and the barriers between divine and human were bridged in the person of Jesus when God’s voice was heard. The full meaning of “Son of God” was not clear to the disciples of Jesus early in his ministry, but the message was clear that Jesus was pleasing to God the Father.

Mark pushed the action forward saying, “at once,” Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. Jesus was affirmed by God, but often, as here in the wilderness, he faced challenges to his ministry. Especially he faced the reality of supernatural evil, personified in Satan. The “wild animals” of the wilderness were a true challenge as well and could symbolize the reality that ministry has many natural obstacles. Not every problem has its source in supernatural evil. Angels, the help of God, came to Jesus to minister to him and will come in some form, in some way to all who endure opposition to ministry in the Lord’s name. The wilderness journey was forty days. Just as Israel had been formed through forty years of wilderness life, so Jesus endured this necessary step in his progress toward God’s eventual purpose for him. In the Bible forty symbolizes completeness. God prepared him fully and will prepare the church and all its servants for the ministry God has called them to fulfill.

John was imprisoned. (v. 14) The officials foolishly believed they could silence the proclamation by killing John; instead, with the passing of John Jesus stepped fully into the public eye and preached the Gospel. As John had prophesied one far more powerful (verse 7) had appeared. 

Jesus brought good news: God’s kingdom or rule in the human heart was at hand for those who were willing to embrace the twin gifts of repentance and faith. Repentance was the gift of change; one can change again and again by turning toward God. Faith or trust in God was the gift that enabled the repentant to receive mercy and forgiveness and transformation through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus proclaimed this Gospel in word and deed. Fulfillment of his ministry came with the cross and resurrection--the demonstration of God’s love and God’s power. What Jesus promised in his preaching he fulfilled. Then and now, all who have received the Gospel wait for Christ’s return and the consummation of all things to the glory of God.

*******

Richard Baxter. “Faith is not a collection of opinions. People who dispute . . . are frequently the least acquainted with God. . . . Concentrate on the important things. The least controversial are the most valuable for faith.” (The Saints’ Everlasting Rest)

Marriage. In 1969 I made plans to ask Judy on Valentine’s Day to marry me. However, I was so eager that I asked her on February 13. I was right to waste no time. Forty-six years later I continue to be grateful to God for my dear wife who has blessed me beyond all that I could have imagined.