Anne Rice is a best-selling author of gothic and religious-themed novels. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.  As a child, Rice had connections with the Catholic Church.  As she grew older, however, she left that church.  She also left the Christian faith in general.  Rice became so removed from all religious faith that she eventually described herself as an atheist.  In 1998, however, Rice returned to the Christian faith and to the Catholic Church.  She announced she would now use her life and her writing to glorify God.  It was a surprising conversion, one that shocked many of Rice’s readers.  But twelve years later, on July 29, 2010, Rice publicly renounced her affiliation with the Catholic church.  Yet she steadfastly proclaimed her commitment to Christ.  Here is her announcement from her Facebook page: “For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.“  Rice followed that post with this one a few hours later:  “My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.”

Rice was driven from Christianity by Christian doctrine.  She could not embrace Christian doctrines regarding things like homosexuality and abortion.  But she was also driven from Christianity by Christian character.  She found Christians to be “quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous.”  There was something about the way Christians behaved which led Rice to turn her back on Christianity.  Her story shows that the wrong Christian character keeps people from the Christian faith.   

A new study from the Barna Group found that many in the United States have had an experience similar to Rice’s.[i] The study found that about 1 out of every 8 adults in this country who used to be Christian, Protestant or Catholic now report being atheist, agnostic or a member of a non Christian faith.  When asked why they left Christianity, some of the common reasons given were the following: feeling disillusioned with church; feeling the church is hypocritical; having negative experiences in churches; and feeling the church is too authoritarian.  The wrong Christian character keeps people from the Christian faith.

And this is particularly troubling because that wrong Christian character is keeping people from something that is tremendously valuable.  Paul’s first letter to Christians in the ancient city of Thessalonica reveals just how valuable the Christian faith can be.

1 Thessalonians is probably the earliest letter in the New Testament.  This letter was written before any of the Gospels.  It is our first look into what happened when people were first introduced to the Christian faith.  Paul, Silas and Timothy visited this city during what is called Paul’s second missionary journey.  Paul travelled much of the world of his day as a missionary.  During his second major road trip, he stopped in Thessalonica with his coworkers Silas and Timothy.  Luke records their visit in Acts 17.

Thessalonica was located on a main highway which ran from east to west.  It also had a good harbor.  And this location on land and water routes made it a major trade and distribution center—an ancient Memphis.  It was the largest and most important city in Macedonia.  As the capital, Thessalonica had temples of Roma and of the Roman emperor.[ii] It’s possible that citizens in Thessalonica were required to pledge an oath of loyalty to Caesar and to Rome.  An example of this oath was found in another ancient city.  The oath read as follows: “I swear…that I will support Caesar Augustus, his children and descendants throughout my life in word, deed and thought…that in whatsoever concerns them I will spare neither body nor soul nor life nor children…that whenever I see or hear of anything being said, planned or done against them I will report it…and whomever they regard as enemies I will attack and pursue with arms and the sword by land and by sea…”[iii] Luke tells us that when Paul started preaching in this city that was filled with people who had sworn loyalty to Caesar, there was a riot.  Paul was accused of treason and sedition against Caesar and Rome.  As a result, Paul and his friends were run out of town.

But while they were in Thessalonica, Paul and his friends were accused, in Luke’s words, of turning “the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).  Spiritually speaking, that’s just what they did.  The Thessalonians who came to believe in Jesus went through the greatest turn-around they had ever experienced.  Their lives were turned spiritually upside down by Paul’s Jesus.  Paul puts it this way in 1 Thess. 1:9: you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.  The Thessalonians completely rejected the empty spiritual beliefs and practices taught them by their parents and grandparents and fully embraced the truth about God found in Jesus.  They finally found a God worth believing in and discovered the joy of grace and mercy.  They were ushered into a world in which they had purpose and meaning and a connection to the God who created it all.

Paul’s experience in Thessalonica reveals that the Christian faith turns lives around. Though Paul was run out of town and many rejected the Christian way, when these Thessalonians embraced the good news their lives were changed forever.  They were turned around 180 degrees.

The truth is that in your workplace, in your school, in your neighborhood, and right here at Highland there are people just like the Thessalonians.  They’ve accepted a wrong view of life, a wrong view of the world, and a wrong view of faith given to them by their family, their friends, their church, or their culture.  They may not be worshipping idols, but they’ve devoted their lives to pursuits that will leave them empty and purposeless.  And the Christian faith still has the power to turn their lives around.  The Christian faith still has the power to turn this world upside down.  There is nothing more valuable than this Christian faith and its amazing ability to turn lives around.

But the question is how?  That’s what we are taking up in this four-part series.  We’re learning four practices from Paul for sharing this faith so that it can turn lives around today.  This morning we are going to tackle the difficult dilemma of character.  One the one hand the wrong Christian character keeps some from the Christian faith.  On the other hand, the Christian faith still has the power to turn lives around.  What do we do?

Here’s what Paul did: 3For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed— God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. (1 Thess. 2:3-6 ESV)

Traveling philosophers and traveling orators were common in the Roman Empire in Paul’s day. They moved from place to place, entertaining people and seeking a following.  Their primary motives were fame and fortune.^[iv] They were teachers and eloquent speakers who would draw large crowds and from these crowds they would gain wealth and notoriety.  They were often ill thought of.

What then do you think the Thessalonians thought of Paul, Silas, and Timothy when they strode into town and started speaking?  The Thessalonians assumed this was another trio out to attract a following and gain fame. They assumed this was another trio full of hot air and slight-of-hand.  They assumed this trio was just another group of hucksters and entertainers looking for a quick buck.

We American Christians are not the first ones who have had a character gap to bridge in order to gain a hearing.  Paul faced what we face: people who are fiercely skeptical because they assume, based on past experiences with similar people, that we have ulterior motives, that we aren’t who we claim to be, that we are here just to use people to get something we want.

Thus Paul draws a specific contrast between how they acted and how the run of the mill orators and philosophers of the day acted.  Paul refers to his message, his motivation, and his method.^[v] All three were expressions of a very different kind of character than people in Thessalonica were used to.

• First, the message.  Paul says in vs. 3 that their “appeal” or message does not spring from error.  This word “error” refers to something that strays from what is known to be true about God and about life. ^[vi] Paul did not change his message for his audience.  He didn’t come to Thessalonica to say whatever people wanted to hear.  Other traveling philosophers and orators may have done that.  But not Paul.  His character was different.  His message had no error.
• Second, the motivation.  Paul says in vs. 3 that their message did not spring from impurity.  The word “impurity” refers to moral uncleanness or moral impurity.^[vii] There was nothing morally questionable driving Paul’s preaching in Thessalonica.  More specifically, Paul mentions in vs. 4 that he did not speak to please man.  His goal was not to gain a large following.  Further, Paul writes in vs. 6 that he didn’t seek glory from people.  He didn’t come to make a name for himself.  Ancient travelling philosophers and orators may have done this.  But not Paul.  His character was different.  No impurity.  No people-pleasing.  No glory seeking.
• Finally, the method.  Paul writes in vs. 3 that he did not come with any attempt to deceive.  The word “deceive” literally refers to something used for catching.^[viii] It can refer to a decoy.^[ix] A decoy is something that looks like a duck or a deer, but once you get up close you realize it is not what it appears to be.  Paul is saying that he was no decoy.  He was no fake.  He didn’t look like a sincere follower of Jesus who, upon closer inspection, was not what he appeared to be.  Further, Paul says in vs. 5 that he didn’t come with any pretext for greed. This word “pretext” refers to a “cloak” used to hide something.^[x] Paul is saying that his teaching and ministry were not a cloak hiding the fact that all he really wanted was their money.  Ancient philosophers and orators may have used these kinds of methods.  But not Paul.  His character was different.  No attempt to deceive.  No pretext for greed.

Paul knew that he operated within a culture in which the wrong character of orators and philosophers had caused people to look upon any teacher with skepticism and distrust.  Paul knew that this could easily lead people to reject what he wanted to teach about Christ.  Thus Paul focused on demonstrating the most Christ-like character possible.  Paul understood that true Christian character can draw people to the Christian faith. By his own conduct, Paul could be a living example of the kind of turn-around the Christian faith can provide.  He could become a living sample of the Christian faith which allowed the Thessalonians to taste and see how good Christ was.

Elsewhere Paul shows just how much attention he gave to character:

• You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. (1 Thess. 1:5 ESV)
• You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you… (1 Thess. 2:10 ESV)

Paul understood that true Christian character can draw people to the Christian faith.  For that reason he was deeply intentional about living out a Christ-like character before those to whom he preached.

The Christian faith is still able to radically turn lives around.  But the way for us to help that happen is not through a tested program or a canned strategy.  It’s not going to happen when we get the “professionals”—the staff and elders—out there converting people.  It’s going to happen when every one of us understands the critical impact of Christian character and commits to living among outsiders with true Christ-like character.  If we want people to hear the good news, every one of us must first become that good news.

That is why in November we are holding what we call “Go MAD Sunday.”  “MAD” stands for “Make A Difference.”  We’ll have an abbreviated worship service that Sunday—no Sunday School—and then we’ll be dismissed to go and do some act of service to some person in this area.  Reach Groups, Sunday School classes, Huddles and individuals will be challenged to leave this building and immediately do some act of service and show some kindness to a neighbor, a coworker, a poor family, a stranger, or a classmate.  Why?  Because we want to practice being good news.  We want to demonstrate the right Christian character.  We want to help people see that what they may have thought about Christians is wrong.  We want to live out Christian character so that we might then speak out regarding the Christian gospel.

Author Michael Green shares this story to remind us of the impact of our actions: [xi] I read about a missionary candidate in language school. The very first day of class the teacher entered the room and, without saying a word, walked down every row of students. Finally, still without saying a word, she walked out of the room again. Then she came back and addressed the class. “Did you notice anything special about me?” she asked.   Nobody could think of anything in particular. One student finally raised her hand. “I noticed that you had on a very lovely perfume,” she said. The class chuckled.  But the teacher said, “That was exactly the point. [It] will be a long time before any of you will be able to speak Chinese well enough to share the gospel with anyone in China. But even before you are able to do that, you can minister the sweet fragrance of Christ to these people by the quality of your lives.” Our character becomes the perfume of Christ.  The sweet fragrance of good, honest, caring, and kind conduct among non Christians becomes the aroma which draws them to Christ himself.

Joe Stowell writes of this experience at a Starbucks:[xii] The guy in front of me was in a tense argument with the clerk. In loud and no uncertain terms, the customer was complaining that all he wanted was the copy of the New York Times that he was holding in one hand while he was waving a fifty-dollar bill in the other. The fight was over the fact that the clerk did not have enough change yet to break the fifty-dollar bill, which made it impossible for him to sell the paper.  It dawned on me that this was an early morning opportunity to commit one intentional act of [goodness]…So I said to the clerk, “Hey, put the paper on my bill; I’ll buy it for him.” This immediately defused the tension, and the grateful New York Times guy walked away saying, “Thanks a lot. All I have is yours!” Which evidently did not include the fifty-dollar bill.  To my surprise, when the barista handed me my coffee, he said, “Mister, that was a really nice thing for you to do. This world would be a lot better place to live if more people were like you.”…His comments caught me totally off guard, and I knew that I could say something at that point that would point the glory upward…but nothing came…As I was walking down the sidewalk, it came to me. I should have said, “Well, this world would not be a better place if more people were like me. But it would be a better place if more people were like Jesus, because he taught me how to do that.” Your character can help people realize just how good this world could be if more people followed Jesus.  True Christian character can draw people to the Christian faith.

Where does it all begin?  It starts with what I’m calling “My Turn.”  My Turn is your chance to put this message into action.  Take some time today or this week to prayerfully address the following: Because I believe that the wrong character turns people from the Christian faith and the right character draws people to the Christian faith, I will 1) pray each day this week for God to transform this character flaw________________; and 2) demonstrate Christlike love and kindness to this person who may be far from God ____________________ in this way __________________.

[ii] Christopher R. Hutson, “1 Thessalonians” in The Transforming Word edited by Mark Hamilton (ACU Press, 2009), 979.

[iii] Ben Witherington III 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Eerdmans, 2006), 7.

^[iv] Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1 Th 2:6). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[v] Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1 Th 2:3). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[vi] Strong, J., S.T.D., LL.D. (2009). Vol. 1: A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (58). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[vii] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (381). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[viii] Liddell, H. (1996). A lexicon : Abridged from Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English lexicon (208). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[ix] Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.

^[x] Strong, J., S.T.D., LL.D. (2009). Vol. 1: A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (62). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[xi] Michael Green, in Alice Gray’s (editor) Stories for a Faithful Heart (Multnomah, 2004), 95.

[xii] Joe Stowell, Jesus Nation (Tyndale, 2009), 80-81.

Summer Celebration – Lipscomb University – July, 2010

In a recent article for Christianity Today Ed Stetzer surveyed multiple studies of the Christian faith in America and then provided these concluding thoughts:[1] “Mainline denominations are no longer bleeding; they are hemorrhaging. Increasingly, they are simply managing their decline. For evangelicals, the picture is better, but only in comparison to the mainline churches. Southern Baptists, composing the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., have apparently peaked and are trending toward decline. The same is true of most evangelical denominations…. There is little doubt in my mind that the cultural expression of Christianity in America is declining. True, Christianity is losing its “home-field advantage” in North America.” There is little doubt that Christianity in America is facing significant challenges and that fewer Americans are embracing the Christian faith.

Twenty years ago I was part of that massive group of “unchurched” Americans.  I was far away from God and from church.  Yet God used a high school senior named Gary Cox to lead me to faith in God and participation in church.

So, on the one hand many of us recognize that we Christians aren’t doing even a mediocre job in leading people in America to faith in God.  On the other hand, as my story illustrates, we know it is possible to lead people to faith.  And, I think, most of us want to see that possibility become reality.  We want the hurting people in our communities to know the joy of faith in God.  We want to bring an end to the decline Stetzer writes about.

That is what makes Matt. 5-10 such an important season of Jesus’ life to explore.  These six chapters may be the most important six chapters from Jesus’ life for those of us who no longer wish to see our country being one of the unchurched nations in the world. 

Matt. 5-10 begins with a vision.  It’s a vision which many of us share.  As Matt. 5 opens, Jesus dreams a dream.  Jesus sees us who follow him as salt which can remove and prevent decay in the lives of people around the world.  And, Jesus sees us who follow him as light which can dispel darkness around the world.  Here’s how Jesus puts it: You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  (Matt. 5:13, 14-16 TNIV)  In Matt. 5 Jesus gives his vision: “Imagine being salt and light.”  Jesus believes we and our churches can be so salty and so full of light that people around us will “glorify your Father in heaven.”  That’s how Matt. 5-10 begins. 

Notice how this section ends.  At the end of Matt. 9 Jesus urges us to pray for the Father to send out people to be salt and light: The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  (Matt. 9:37-38 TNIV).  Jesus urges us to pray for the Father to send people out to be salt and light.  Then in Matt. 10, Jesus answers that prayer.  In Matt. 10 Jesus actually sends us out to be salt and light: Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness…These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions… (Matt. 10:1,5 TNIV).  Jesus begins Matt. 5-10 by urging us to imagine ourselves as salt and light—agents who can lead lost, lonely, and hurting people to faith in the Father.  Jesus ends this section by sending us to be salt and light.  In Matt. 5 we get the vision: “Imagine being salt and light.”  In Matt. 10 we get the commission: “Go and be salt and light.”   

But how do we get from that vision to that commission?  How do we turn that possibility into reality, especially in a changing culture like ours?  That’s what Matt. 5-9 is about.  In Matt. 5-9 Jesus presents all that is necessary for the dream to be put into action.   Specifically, in Matt. 5-7 Jesus gives us instruction.  Jesus instructs us on the kind of character and lifestyle we and our churches must have if we want to be salt and light.  Also known as the Sermon on the Mount, this instruction is the clearest teaching in the Gospels of the kind of people we need to be in order to be salt and light.  In Matt. 5-7 Jesus instructs how to be the salt and light. 

Then in Matt. 8-9 we find demonstration.   Jesus demonstrates how to be salt and light.  Jesus lets us tag along as he interacts with lost, lonely, and hurting people and becomes salt and light in their lives.  Jesus models the kinds of practices which we and our churches can do that will lead people to faith in the Father. 

But before we dive into Jesus’ demonstration, there is a mindset we must embrace, because it sets the context for everything else in Matt. 8-9: 14Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matt. 9:14-17 ESV)   John’s disciples ask, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”  John’s probably referring to the common practice of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays.[2]  And he wants to know why Jesus’ disciples don’t fast on Mondays and Thursdays. 

To answer, Jesus borrows imagery from Is. and Ez. in which God is described as a bridegroom. 

Here, Jesus describes himself as a bridegroom.  He imagines his ministry as a wedding, a time of joy and happiness.  Thus, he says, now is a time for feasting, not fasting.  As Matt. 8-9 will make clear, now is a time of celebration because people are being healed, forgiven, and freed from evil spirits.[3] But eventually, when the bridegroom is taken—a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion—then it will be a somber time, a time more suited to fasting. 

Then Jesus uses this wedding imagery to address a larger issue. [4]   A key ingredient of weddings in Jesus’ day was wine.  When you hosted a wedding, you provided wine.  So, having described himself as a bridegroom, and his ministry as a wedding-like celebration, Jesus now talks about wine.  He says that if you put new wine, which is still in the process of fermenting, into an old wineskin, that wineskin may burst. In Jesus’ day people would sew animal skins together to make a container for liquid like wine.  Once filled with wine, the container would expand as the wine fermented.  But once these skins stretched to their limit and hardened, they could expand no more.  Taking one of these old and inflexible wineskins and filling it with new wine would cause it to burst.[5]

Why does Jesus raise this issue of wineskins?  His comment comes in the context of growing conflict between himself and the religious leaders.  Jesus is busy in Matt. 8-9 demonstrating how to be salt and light, but the religious leaders keep criticizing him: 

• For example, in Matt. 9:1-8 Jesus restores mobility to a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, but the teachers of the law respond by muttering, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 
• In Matt. 9:9-13 Jesus establishes friendships with people far from God but the Pharisees respond by critiquing him for eating with sinners and tax collectors. 
• In Matt. 9:27-34 Jesus drives an evil spirit out of a man but the Pharisees snap, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.” 
• And here in this text about wineskins, we find even the disciples of John, one of Jesus’ greatest supporters, wondering about Jesus’ methods.

To use Jesus’ imagery, we could say that the religious establishment is not satisfied with Jesus’ wineskin.  The wineskin is the external expression of Jesus’ ministry.  It’s the words and actions Jesus is using to demonstrate how to be salt and light.  That’s the wineskin.  And the religious leaders don’t like what they see.  They don’t like Jesus’ wineskin.  Why?  Because it doesn’t look like the wineskin of their traditions and customs.  They are used to doing religion in a certain way.  And here is Jesus doing it in a different way.  In fact, Jesus’ wineskin, his way of being salt and light, looks so different that they have been accusing Jesus of abandoning the Bible.  Earlier in this section Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…” (Matt. 5:17).  Jesus says this because that’s what he has been accused of doing.  Jesus’ way of being salt and light is so revolutionary that that the religious leaders accuse him of abandoning the Bible.

And in the face of this controversy, Jesus says, “It’s time for a new wineskin.  What I’m here to do for lost, lonely, and hurting people is so revolutionary, it calls for a new wineskin.  It’s not going to look the way religion’s always looked.  It’s got to be given new expressions, forms, and practices. 

And this statement provides the foundational key for us becoming the salt and light we long to be.  Because the truth is that we American Christians have strayed from Jesus’ way of being salt and light.  We and our churches have developed our own customs, our own habits, our own ways of doing church, and ministry, and outreach.  And some of these have actually gotten in the way of our being the salt and light Jesus envisions and commissions in Matt. 5-10.

Here’s one piece of evidence to consider:  In January of this year, Church Relevance collected studies of the fastest growing churches in America from 2004-2009.  Based on these studies, Church Relevance put together a list of the Top Ten churches which consistently experienced high levels of growth over this 6 year period (I’ve inserted the founding date of each church (based on the church’s website)):

1996 – Crossroads Community Church (Cincinnati, OH)

1988 – Lancaster County Bible Church (Manheim, PA)

1996 – LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK)

2001 – Church of the Highlands (Birmingham, AL)

1980 – Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA)

1993 – Woodlands Church (Woodlands, TX)

1988 – Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC)

1990 – Community Bible Church (San Antonio, TX)

1998 – Bay Area Fellowship (Corpus Christi, TX)

1995 – CedarCreek Church (Perrysburg, OH)

Notice that all of these churches are 30 years old or younger.  There is no church above 30 on the list.  Why does age seem to hinder consistent and significant growth?  It has to do with our wineskin.  We in established churches have developed our own wineskins, our own ways of being salt and light.  And sometimes those ways are so different from Jesus’ way that when Jesus tries to pour his wine, his salt and light ways, into our wineskin, it just doesn’t work.  Jesus’ way of being salt and light requires new expressions, forms, and practices.

This is especially true given the radical changes taking place in our culture.  Here in America we are witnessing two “cultural revolutions.”  One cultural revolution is the shift from Christian to non-Christian.  One of the most comprehensive studies of the spiritual lives of Americans presents these findings (2008):[6]the number of Americans who report being members of Protestant denominations now stands at barely 51%; From 1972 through 2006 those with no religious preference have increased from approximately 5% to over 15%.  Our culture is shifting from a Christian one to a non-Christian one.

A second cultural revolution is the shift from Modern to Postmodern.  “Modern” and “Postmodern” are different worldviews, different ways of thinking about life.[7]  

1. Modernism believed that reason, not religion, offered the best hope for understanding and explaining life.
2. Modernism believed in human autonomy.  It said that humans are independent from God, do not need God.
3. Modernism believed in the positive progress of human history.  Through reason, science, technology, and effort humans could create a bright future characterized by prosperity and peace. 

But this Modern way of thinking about life is being replaced by a Postmodern way of thinking about life.  In my book Preaching to Pluralists I use seven characteristics to describe Postmoderns. 

1. The most dominant characteristic is pluralism.  Pluralism is the belief that there is not just one Truth, but many truths.  As a result, postmoderns are turned off by what they view as the intolerance and exclusivity of Christianity.
2. A second characteristic of the postmodern culture is its anti-institutional bias.   That is, postmoderns are not interested in the institutional element of Christianity—the church.
3. Pragmatism is a third quality.  In terms of spirituality, they are primarily interested in having a better life before death, not in securing a better life after death.
4. Fourth, postmoderns are uninformed about basic Christianity.  Because they are growing up in a non-Christian culture and not pursuing a faith within Christian institutions, they know little about the Christian faith.    
5. A fifth characteristic concerns their spirituality.  Postmoderns may not be Christian.  They may not be in church.  But they are interested in spiritual matters. 
6. Sixth, Postmoderns are experiential.  When it comes to their spirituality, they do not care if a place offers the correct doctrine about God.  They care more if a place offers a stimulating experience of God.
7. Finally, Postmoderns are relational.  Of those who do darken the doors of a church, many say they are looking for some kind of community. 

And here’s the challenge: most established churches developed a wineskin, a way of being salt and light, that fit a Christian culture filled with people who had a Modern worldview.  But that Christian culture is turning more toward a non-Christian culture.  And that Modern worldview is being replaced by a Postmodern worldview.  As a result, our wineskin needs reinvestigation.  We may, more than ever before, need to set aside our customs, our comforts, and our habits and embrace the new expressions, forms, and practices of Jesus. 

Last summer I read Barbara Kingsolver’s New York Times Bestseller The Poisonwood Bible.[8]  It is the tragic story of a Christian who refused to set aside his own customs and embrace the ways of Jesus.  The narrative takes place in the early 1960’s and focuses on a Georgia Baptist preacher and his family: Nathan and Orleanna Price and their girls Rachel, Leah and Adah (twins), and Ruth May.  Nathan moves his family to the Congo in order to lead the Congolese to faith in the Father.  Nathan ends every sermon in the Congo with these words: Jesus is bangala!  Bangala was a native word.  Pronounced one way, the word means “great.”  Pronounced another way, the word refers to a poisonwood tree which will, in the words of one of the story’s characters, “make you itch like nobody’s business.”  What Nathan means is “Jesus is great!”  But because he pronounces the word wrong, what he actually says is, “Jesus is poisonwood!”  And the novel reveals how, even though Nathan wants the Congolese to believe Jesus is great, Nathan actually makes Jesus poisonwood to them. 

How?  It has to do with Nathan’s wineskin.  The way Nathan goes about being salt and light actually makes Jesus unappealing to the Congolese.  Nathan assumes that what worked in Georgia will work in the Congo.  He makes this assumption about everyday kinds of things.  For example Nathan started a garden in order to demonstrate to the tribe’s people how to grow food.  Just as he had in Georgia, he planted his garden on a flat plot of land.  But one tribesperson urged him to create large mounds on which to plant the seeds.  Nathan refused.  At the first torrential rain, all of Nathan’s seeds washed away.  The tribespeople knew that to grow crops in the Congo, seeds must be elevated.  But Nathan was unwilling to consider that what worked in Georgia wouldn’t work in the Congo.

Worse, Nathan did the same thing in his ministry.  For example, when the Price family first arrived, the tribe welcomed them with a feast, a feast that cost the tribe a great deal.  The tribe’s leader asked Nathan to say a word at the end of the feast.  Nathan immediately started preaching about Sodom and Gomorrah.  At the end of his remarks he grabbed one of the tribe’s women—all of whom wore no clothes on their tops—and he condemned her for her nakedness.  What Nathan failed to realize was that none in the tribe considered going without a shirt to be immodest.  They did consider it immodest to show one’s legs.  But Nathan allowed his wife and his girls to go around the village in pants that revealed their legs.  Nathan couldn’t fathom that what worked in Georgia wouldn’t work in the Congo.

And at his first Sunday service, Nathan urged all the tribe’s people to follow him to the Kwilu river to be baptized.  Nathan envisioned hundreds of them in white clothes being baptized into Christ in the Kwilu river.  Upon hearing the invitation, however, the tribe’s people were alarmed.  Why?  The Kwilu river was filled with crocodiles and children had been devoured in that river.  Still, week after week Nathan urged people to be baptized in the Kwilu river.  Jesus is bangala Nathan kept preaching.  He wanted them to believe Jesus was great.  But his way of being salt and light was ultimately making Jesus poisonwood.

There is a sense in which some of our customary ways of being salt and light may be as unfit for a post-Christian and Postmodern culture as the customary ways of a Georgia preacher are unfit for the Congo.  There is sense in which in some of our attempts to be salt and light, we may be leading people to conclude that Jesus is poisonwood instead of concluding that Jesus is great.  Like Nathan, we may need to reinvestigate our wineskin.  We may need to confess that our ways are not the revolutionary ways of Jesus.

Fortunately, it’s not as complex as we may fear.  It is hard.  It is daunting.  But it is not complex.  Ultimately what it takes is a return to the simple and ancient practices of Jesus, those he demonstrates so well in Matt. 5-10.  As we survey those chapters, we see five revolutions, five changes we may need to consider if we truly desire to be the salt and light Jesus envisions.

First, Jesus’ words in Matt. 8-9 about wineskins call us to move from our customary ways of ministry, created for a Christian and Modern culture, to a more contextual way of ministry that takes into account cultural changes.  It calls for a more incarnational approach to ministry. Jesus’ example in these two chapters reminds us to be open to new ways of thinking about and approaching outreach.  Many of these I cover in my book Preaching to Pluralists.    

Second, Jesus demonstrates character.  We see the power of character in Jesus’ interactions with people in Matt. 8-10.  In Matt. 8:2-4 Jesus interacts with a leper: 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”   Notice what Jesus did.  He touched the man.  He not only drew close to him.  He touched him.  He showed great compassion.

We see the touch of Jesus’ character throughout Matt. 8-9:

• When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.  He touched her hand and the fever left her…(Matt. 8:14-15 TNIV)
• While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died.”…After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up… (Matt. 9:18,25 TNIV)
• As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”…Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored… (Matt. 9:27, 29-30 TNIV)

For Jesus, it was rarely enough to just say something.  Jesus also wanted to do something.  Jesus touched people.  In every encounter in Matt. 8-9 Jesus becomes the good news the people so desperately need.

And just in case we miss the point, Matthew includes this description of Jesus in Matt. 9:35-36 :35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  (Matt. 9:35-36 TNIV).  Matthew uses these words as a summary of Matt. 8-9.  For Matthew, this is how Jesus demonstrated salt and light: by showing compassion.   It was the power of his character which elicited faith in people.

We also see the critical role of character in Matt. 5-7.  This Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ summary of the kind of character it takes to be salt and light.  Jesus understands that it is not enough to tell good news, we must be good news.  The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ description of the kind of character we must have in order to become salt and light.  Imagine the impact a church could have in this changing culture if it focused on being a Sermon on the Mount community.  In my book Rebuilding Relationships I focus on this call.

Jesus’ compassion in Matt. 8-9 reminds us that being salt and light is not simply about telling good news but about being good news.  Jesus heals, restores, and serves people in these two chapters.  His example reminds us of the power of being good news.  It shows the impact of character.  In a non-Christian and Postmodern culture where people may not be interested in what we say to them, they will be open to what we do for them.  When we are good news, people respond better when we tell good news.  In this changing culture, we need to focus once again on imitating Christ’s character and move from simply telling good news to being good news.

Third, in Matt. 8-9 Jesus demonstrates closeness. Jesus leaves the safety of the mountain where he’s gathered for the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and draws closer in Matt. 8-9 to those who most need his salt and light.  In Matt. 8:1-15 Jesus draws close to three people: a leper, a centurion, and a Jewish woman.  A scholar named Frederick Dale Bruner suggests that we can picture these three people—a leper, a centurion, and a Jewish woman—in terms of how far each is from the center of the temple in Jerusalem.[9]  As we consider the temple in Jerusalem, we can imagine concentric circles.  

• At the center is the Holy of Holies, the place where God resided.  There, only one person, a Jewish male, could enter one time each year. 
• Next is the Holy Place, a space where only Jewish males could enter. 
• Next is the Court of Women.  Women were welcome in this space, but could go no closer. 
• Then, there is the Court of Gentiles, the only place in the temple where Gentiles were permitted. 
• Finally, there is Jerusalem and then outside Jerusalem. 

Bruner suggests we can imagine Jesus being at the center, the Holy of Holies—after all, he is God—and each of these three people—the woman, the centurion, and the leper, being at various distances from that center.  But Jesus leaves the Mount and draws close to each of these three—people believed to be successively farther and farther from God.  Jesus practices closeness.

But because many of our churches originated in a Christian and Modern culture, we’ve tended to rely on a certain way of being salt and light called “attractional” or invitational.[10]   Here’s what “attractional” outreach looks like:

• “Drawing in”—the goal is to draw in as many as possible from the outside world;
• “Starting where we feel at home”—outreach begins by getting outsiders to come to the place we feel at home;
• “Seating”—the goal is to fill as many seats in the church building as possible;
• “Come to us”—we ask those in need to come to us for help;
• “How many people come to our church services?”—this is one way churches measure success.  They count the number of people who come to church services.

There are examples of attractional ministry in Scripture.  For example, in John 4 a woman who has met Jesus at a well outside of town invites her fellow towns-folk to “come and see” this Jesus.  In addition, if a church is healthy, it will be naturally attractive.  Some attractional outreach is still effective.  But in our post-Christian and postmodern culture, there will be some who will not be attracted to Christian events.

That’s why we need to supplement our “attractional” outreach with “missional” outreach:[11] 

• Attractional outreach is drawing in—missional outreach is sending out. 
• Attractional outreach is starting where we feel at home—missional outreach is starting where they feel at home.  It is Christians leaving their “turf” and going to places where non Christians feel at home;
• Attractional outreach is seating—missional outreach is sending.  The goal is to empty as many seats as possible by sending Christians into the lives of non Christians;
• Attractional outreach is come to us—missional outreach is go to them;
• Attractional outreach asks “How many people come to our church services?”  Missional outreach asks “How many people does our church serve?”

Just like Jesus, we cannot remain on our Sermon on the Mount and just invite people to come to us for what they need.  We have to leave that Mount and go to them.  Jesus’ example calls us to shift from our attractional strategies in which we tell people in our community “if you need salt and light, come to us and we’ll give it to you” to a more missional practice in which we tell our community “since you need salt and light, we’ll go to you.”  If we want to be salt and light, we’ll need to practice more closeness: a move from attractional to missional.  We’ll need to learn to spend time where non Christians are.  We need to get out of our Christian ghettos and rub shoulders once again with the irreligious.

This practice ultimately calls us to move from a focus on evangelistic programs with canned speeches and answers to a greater reliance upon people:  relationships and learning to be salt and light within the context of friendships.  In this changing culture, we need to focus once again on imitating Christ’s closeness and getting involved in the lives of people far from God, moving from attractional to missional and from programs to real people.

Fourth, in Matt. 8-9 Jesus demonstrates conversation.  Jesus shares the story of the kingdom.  Throughout Matt. 8-9 there are references to Jesus’ preaching and to the power of his word:

• In Matt. 8:13 Jesus speaks and a paralyzed servant is healed.
• In Matt. 8:16 Jesus drives out spirits with a word…
• In Matt. 8:32, Jesus commands “Go!” and demons flee from two men.
• In Matt. 9:1-8 Jesus’ words bring healing and forgiveness.
• And in Matt. 9:35 Matthew writes this summary statement: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom…

Thus, one thing Jesus demonstrates in this section is the practice of conversation.  We learn that being salt and light involves telling good news.  In fact, when Jesus sends us out in Matt. 10 he says, As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” (Matt. 10:7 TNIV).  One of the ways we act as salt and light is through conversation: telling the good news about Jesus.

Jesus’ example calls us to reconsider how we tell the story of the kingdom in this new culture.  Because of our legacy in a Modern and Christian culture, we’ve tended to focus on sharing pixels, very small pieces of the story of the kingdom.  We could assume that people already had the big picture in their heads and just needed guidance on some of the details.  But now in this non-Christian and Postmodern culture in which some know nothing at all of the Christian story, we’ll have to focus again on sharing the image, the big picture of the Bible.  Through this ancient yet new wineskin, we too can have a revolutionary impact on people around us.  On my website, www.chrisaltrock.com, under the Story button, I provide some examples of how to share the story, how to share the whole image rather than just the small pixels.

Finally, Jesus’ demonstrates the importance of community.  In Matt. 10 Jesus sent disciples, not a disciple.  He sent a community.  Mission was to be done in community.  And these disciples were to invite new people into a community.  They were not merely inviting people to Jesus.  They were inviting people into Jesus’ community.

This calls for a revolution from “me” to “we.”  Mission is not just about “me.”  It’s about “we.”  It’s not something “I” do.  It’s something “we” do together.  The Modern world with its individualism and optimistic view of humanity tended to focus on outreach that was individual and done 1 on 1.  But the postmodern world, with its hunger for relationships and its awareness of the need we have for each other, will be best reached by community.

At Highland we are attempting to practice this revolution by means of an emphasis we call “Thru You.”  Let me briefly walk you our brochure…

[2] Ben Witherington III, Matthew Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Smyth & Helwys, 2006), 200.

[3] Warren Carter, Matthew and the Margins (Orbis, 2005), 223.

[4] Witherington, 201.

[5] Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Eerdmans, 1999), 301.

[6]  “U. S. Religious Landscape Survey 2008” The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, http://religions.pewforum.org/. 

[7] Michael Goheen & Craig Bartholomew, Living at the Crossroads (Baker Academic, 2008), 23.

[8] Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible (HarperPerennial, 1999).

[9] Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew Volume 1: The Christbook (Word, 1987), 299-310.

[10] Based on postings by Steve Hays in response to “Attractional vs Missional Services” http://mattstone.blogs.com; “What is a Missional Church?” Friend of Missional http://www.friendofmissional.org; Chad Hall “Missional:Possible” Leadership (Winter 2007), http://www.christianitytoday.com; Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch The Shaping of Things to Come (Hendrickson, 2003).

[11] Hays etc.

“Spiritual but not religious” seems to capture the tension many people feel.  On the one hand, we are attracted to the spiritual, to God, to Jesus, to prayer and to the transcendent.  On the other hand, we are fed up the failings of religious institutions and religious people.

We’ve been exploring this tension as it is seen in Mark’s Gospel.  Mark focuses on ten conflicts between Jesus and the religion of his day.  Ten times Jesus and religious leaders spar, box, or debate.  In these conflicts we learn a lot about what it means to follow Jesus rather than just be religious.

Conflict #2 takes place along a lake shore: 13He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.  15And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mk. 2:13-17 ESV).

As we heard last Sunday, Jesus has been at Peter’s home in Capernaum.  There he healed a man who was paralyzed.  This Sunday Jesus leaves Peter’s house and according to verse 13, “went out again beside the sea.”  The word “sea” refers to a large lake called “the Sea of Galilee.”  It was called the “Sea of Galilee” because is sat near the province of Galilee.  This large lake lies in the lower section of the Jordan Valley amidst a range of mountains.  In the time of the New Testament the Sea of Galilee was surrounded by towns like Capernaum, Bethsaida, Korazin, Magdala, and Tiberias.^[ii] Here is a photo of Capernaum nestled on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus leaves Capernaum and “went out again beside the sea.”  This is not Jesus’ first visit to the popular lake.  Earlier in Mk. 1:16 Jesus was at this lake when he called Simon and Andrew and James and John and urged them to follow him.   The large lake has been place of important ministry for Jesus.

During this visit we hear in verse 13 that “all the crowd was coming to him.”  This is probably the same crowd which had earlier gathered around Jesus at Peter’s house and in front of whom Jesus healed the paralytic.  Afterwards, Mark tells us in Mk. 2:12, “they were all amazed and glorified God saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’”  That amazed crowd cannot get enough of Jesus.  So they follow Jesus out of Capernaum to the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

But somewhere along the shore, Jesus stops teaching this crowd and starts talking to just one person: 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.”  Levi is also known as Matthew, one of the original twelve disciples, one of the apostles, and the author of the Gospel According to Matthew.  Jesus looks beyond the crowd and singles out this one person: Levi.

Levi, Mark tells us, is “sitting at the tax booth.”  If we are to understand anything from this story we must get straight in our minds what Mark means when he tells us that Levi was “sitting at the tax booth.”  A person who sits at a “tax booth” was called a “tax collector.”   Levi’s tax booth probably sits on a commercial road that runs along the shore.  Here he collects taxes on goods being transported on that road.[iii]

• That job, in and of itself, earned Levi a certain bad reputation.  After all, who likes the person who collects your taxes?
• In addition, being a “tax collector” meant that you worked for the hated imperial power of Rome and the equally hated local dictator, Herod.  That is, tax collectors were despised because their boss was a disliked dictator and their boss’ boss was a maligned Caesar.
• Further, tax collectors were considered to be greedy, dishonest and immoral. ^[iv] Jewish Rabbis would not allow tax collectors to appear as witnesses in a court.  In this regard, they were on the same level as gamblers, robbers, shepherds, and slaves.  Even the family of the tax collector was considered disreputable and ungodly.^[v]
• Finally, tax collectors were ceremonially unclean because, in their line of work they had to be in contact with non-Jewish people.^[vi] Even the handle of a tax collector’s staff was considered unclean.  And an entire house could become unclean if a tax collector entered.^[vii]

It is important for us not to romanticize Levi the tax collector.  He’s not just a good ol boy.  He’s not a likeable red-neck.  In modern terms, Levi is a…

• BP oil executive who mishandles the worst oil spill in history.
• a university sports coach whose cheating is discovered by the NCAA and results in heavy fines for the university.
• a white supremacist who shoots police officers dead after they pull him over.
• the head of a Mexican drug cartel responsible for record murders in border towns.
• a dead beat dad who leaves his family and rarely sends support.
• a pimp of several prostitutes in downtown Memphis.
• a television minister who uses money contributed by church members to support a lavish lifestyle. Levi is all of these.

Later, in verse 15, tax collectors are lumped together with “sinners.”  The word “sinners” is used four times in this story.  It literally means “not hitting” or “missing.”[viii] “Sinners” are people who are “off target,” “off base,” “off course,” and “off track.”  And since tax collectors are lumped together with “sinners” in this story, we can appropriately apply that label to tax collectors as well.  Of all sinners, Levi the tax collector was considered to be a human being who was grossly “off target.”  He had missed everything that was important about being a Jew, about being a man, and about being a human.  Levi was “off-target.”

And we’re about to see that one of the major ways in which Jesus and religion differ is how they deal with off-target people. If you want to find out quickly whether a group or a person is just religious or really following Jesus, all you have to do is look at how they deal with off-target people.

Three surprises greet us as Jesus meets this off-target man named Levi:

• The first surprise comes when Jesus says, “Follow me.”  Jesus invites an off-target man to follow him. Jesus tells a man on the spiritual most-excluded list to “Follow me.”  Jesus does not say, “Clean up your life, then follow me.”  Jesus does not say, “Go get a seminary degree, then follow me.”  Jesus does not say, “Get into a tax-collectors-anonymous group, work the program, and then follow me.”  He simply says, “Follow me.”
• The second surprise is this: And he rose and followed him.  This off-target tax collector named Levi follows Jesus. Not only must the crowd be speechless when Jesus says to Levi, “Follow me.”  But they must be picking their chins off the floor when Levi gets up from his chair, walks out of the booth, and follows Jesus.  Not only is it unfathomable that Jesus would recruit someone like Levi.  It is also unfathomable that someone like Levi would actually follow Jesus.
• The third surprise comes next: And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. The only party Levi can get an invitation to in Capernaum is one that he throws.  And the only kind of people willing to come to a party hosted by one of the most excluded people in town are people equally excluded: other tax collectors and sinners.  And what is shocking is many of these sinners and tax collectors were also following Jesus.  Mark notes, “for there were many who followed him.”  Mark is saying that there were many tax collectors and sinners who followed Jesus.  Not only has Jesus reached out to one outcast named Levi.  But now it seems that every outcast in town is eating with Jesus and following Jesus.

The religious leaders have also shown up at this party.  Not as invited guests.  Not as willing followers.  They’ve shown up as spiritual paparazzi, as tabloid journalists.  They are here to get some dirt on Jesus.  It’s a wonder, given the fact that all these tax collectors and sinners would have made Levi’s house very unclean, that these religious leaders can even get close enough to Levi’s house to see what’s going on.  We can imagine them standing outside, peering in through the open door, holding their noses from the unclean stench, and blocking their eyes from the moral filth.  Here’s how the New Living Translation puts it: 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” Why would someone claiming to be a religious leader attract people like this?  It doesn’t make any sense.

In reply Jesus uses an ancient proverb: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” In other words, a doctor is attracted to one kind of person: the sick.  A doctor attracts one kind of person: the sick.  Similarly, Jesus was attracted to one kind of person: the sick, those who are “sinners.”  Correspondingly, Jesus is attracting one kind of person: the sick, those who are “sinners.”

And in that closing proverb we begin to see some of the central differences between just being religious and really following Jesus.  First, we see that Jesus is drawn toward the off-target.  But the religious leaders are driven from the off-target. The very ones religion runs from are the ones Jesus runs to.  Jesus is drawn toward the off-target.  The religious leaders are driven from the off-target.

Religion functions within what is called a “Bounded Set.” A bounded set is one in which there is a clear and hard boundary between those who belong and those who do not.  The boundary is there to keep the off-target people out.  If you want to be “in,” if you want to cross that boundary, you cannot be off-target.  You have to get your life together.  You have to look right, speak right, and act right.  Once you are right, then you can cross the boundary.  Religion, as a bounded set, is driven away from the off-target.  The boundary exists to keep the off-target people away.

Jesus, however, functions within what is called a “Centered Set.”  In a centered set, there is not a hard and fast boundary defining who is in and who is not in.  Instead, there is a central set of values, and people are seen as either closer to or farther from those values.  Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch suggest that the difference between the bounded set and the centered set is the difference between fences and wells.[ix] In some farming communities, farmers might build fences around their property to keep their livestock in and the livestock of neighboring farms out.  But in rural communities where farms might cover very large areas, fencing becomes impractical.  So, the farmer sinks a bore and creates a well.  It is assumed that the livestock, though they may still stray, will not roam far from the well, lest they die.  In Jesus’ way of life, Jesus is the well.  Jesus places himself at the center.  And he invites all to drink.  He invites all to follow.  Especially the off-target.  Jesus doesn’t try to keep the off-target away.  Instead he invites them to come and drink.

A second-century Greek philosopher named Celsus is said to have made this speech regarding the Christians in his day:[x] Those who summon people to the other mysteries [i.e. other religions] make this preliminary proclamation: “Whosoever has pure hands and a wise tongue.” And again, others say, “Whosoever is pure from all defilement, and whose soul knows nothing of evil, and who has lived well and righteously.” Such are the preliminary exhortations of those who promise purification from sins.  But let us hear what folk these Christians call. “Whosoever is a sinner,” they say. “Whosoever is unwise, whosoever is a child, and, in a word, whosoever is a wretch, the kingdom of God will receive him.” Do you not say that a sinner is he who is dishonest, a thief, a burglar, a poisoner, a sacrilegious fellow, and a grave-robber? What others would a robber invite and call? Why on earth this preference for sinners? Living in the second-century Celsus says that others religions called only people with pure hands and wise tongues, those pure from all defilement, and those who have lived well and righteously.  Only those kinds of people were invited to join other ancient religions.  But Christians called sinners, the wretched, the dishonest, and the thief.  They actually had a preference for sinners.  And where did they learn that?  They learned it from Jesus.

But not only is Jesus drawn toward the off-target.  The off-target are drawn toward Jesus.  The off-target people actually like Jesus.  They want to be around Jesus.  They want to eat and drink with Jesus.  They’ll even leave lucrative careers to be with Jesus.  And with religion, it’s just the opposite.  Not only is religion driven from the off-target.  But the off-target are driven from religion.  The off-target people want nothing to do with religion.  They are turned off by the religious.

And this is both comforting and challenging. For those of you who see yourself as off-target, it’s comforting.  Maybe you’ve tried religion, but you’ve been put off by it.  You’ve been burned by it.  Have you tried Jesus?  Chances are you’ll love him.  Some of the most off-target and religiously suspicious people in Jesus’ day ended up loving Jesus.  Give up on religion.  And give Jesus a try.  He’s drawn to people like you.  I think you’ll be drawn to him.

But the challenge comes for the rest of us.  The off-target were drawn toward Jesus.  But are they drawn toward us?  How many off-target people love to hang out with you?  Are off-target people drawn to you like they were to Jesus?  Or are they driven away from you like they were from religion?  And what about us as a church?  Are we the kind of community to which off-target people are drawn?  Are we as a church a bounded set or a centered set?  Do we have an implicit list of expectations that says before you worship here, before you Sunday-School here, before you get help here, you’ve got to have everything fixed in your life?  Or, are we are a centered set where what matters most is the Jesus who is in the center?  Do we, like Jesus, invite all, especially the off-target to come and drink from his well?

Where does this start?  It starts where it did for Jesus—at a table.  That’s why we’ve designated this week—June 27-July 3 as Divine Dinners.  We want to encourage you to find a Levi and invite him/her into your home for a meal.  You don’t need to worry about baptizing him/her.  You don’t need to worry about fixing him/her.  Just find a Levi this week.  And invite him/her to a meal.

^[ii] Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (1173). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

[iii] Robert Gundry, Mark, (Eerdmans, 1993), 127.

^[iv] Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition (4th ed.) (Mk 2:13–17). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press.

^[v] . Vol. 8: Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964- (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (102–103). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

^[vi] Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition (4th ed.) (Mk 2:13–17). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press.

^[vii] . Vol. 8: Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964- (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (101). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

[viii] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

[ix] Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come (Hendrickson, 2003), 47.

[x] www.preachingtoday.com

Christianity, of course, is blamed for all sorts of things: intolerance, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and slavery, to name a few.  Jonathan Hill, however, shows that rather than being a plague on humanity, Christians have made a positive impact on human life.

• For example, Hill notes that the fall of Rome left most of Western Europe without secure political or social structures.  That instability resulted in a life for the average person that was “poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”  In other words, life after Rome’s fall was awful.  But Hill shows that the only group that stepped into the gap to try to improve people’s lives and provide relief was the church.  Socially, the church was the only stable institution in the lives of many at that time.
• Hill also describes the positive role which the Popes played in ancient Rome.  For example, when Attila the Hun invaded Italy in the fifth century, only Pope Leo I rode out to persuade him not to sack Rome. By the time of Gregory the Great in the late sixth century, the Pope was responsible not only for the spiritual welfare of people in the city of Rome, but also for feeding, policing, and protecting them, too. That wasn’t because the Popes had seized power.  Instead, they and the church were the only ones capable of caring for the daily needs of Rome’s people.  Over all, Hill argues that Christianity has had a tremendously positive impact around the world.

“What has Christianity ever done for us?”  “What good comes from following God?”  As the Jews travelled to and from Jerusalem three times each year to religious festivals, at least two of the songs they regularly sang asked and answered this question.  Here they were, headed to a religious festival where they would visit the temple of God and worship God.  The journey there was a good time to ask “Why?”  “What has Judaism ever done for us?”  “What good comes from following God?”

One of the traveling songs which asked and answered this question was Ps. 128: 1 Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!  2You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.  3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.  4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.  5 The LORD bless you from Zion!   May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!  6May you see your children’s children!  Peace be upon Israel! (Ps. 128:1-6 ESV).

In verse 1 the song describes someone who fears the LORD… and walks in his ways. This song is describing a person who is inwardly is devoted to God—fears the LORD, and is also outwardly living according to God’s ways—walks in his ways.  The song is not describing a person who just warms a seat in a worship service each Sunday and lives Monday-Saturday his own way.  The song is not describing a person who dabbles in spirituality.  If that describes you, this song is not for you.  There’s really not much good that comes from following God for people who just play at it.  This song is about the good that following God brings to the few who are willing to fear God and walk in his ways—those willing to be inwardly devoted to God and outwardly living a godly life.  And the question is: What has knowing and following God ever done for that kind of person?

The singer answers this question in three ways:

• First, the singer states that knowing and following God brings blessing to career: 2You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. The song is saying that your career, the time you spend at the office, or in the classroom, or on the work site will be better when you fear the LORD and walk in his ways.
• Second, the singer states that knowing and following God brings blessing to kin: 3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. The song states that kinship–home life–will be more meaningful and peaceful when you know God and follow God.  Married life and parenting life will improve when you fear God and walk in his ways.
• Third, the singer states that knowing and following God brings blessing to community: 5The LORD bless you from Zion!   May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!  6May you see your children’s children!  Peace be upon Israel! Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner suggests that in these final verses, the singer is demonstrating that fearing God and walking in God’s ways ultimately bless or improve the entire community.[2] The song is saying that the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel—the larger community—will experience blessing, prosperity, and peace as people fear God and walk in his ways.

When people know and follow God, career improves, kin improves, and even the larger community improves.

• This song leads me to think of Jim and Mildred Kennon.  These longtime Highland members recently celebrated 67 years of marriage.  I think they could testify this morning of the blessing that knowing and following God has brought to their kinship—to their married life.
• This song leads me to think of David and Brenda Hill and Donnie and Suzanne Pike.  After last Sunday’s worship, my family and I went to a barbeque place down the road with the Hills and the Pikes.  The Hill’s adopted three girls and a boy several years ago.  The Pikes have four girls and two sons.  Between them, they have ten children.  I think they could testify this morning of the blessing that knowing and following God has brought to their kinship—to their parenting life.
• This song leads me to think of Kevin Chadwell, a Highland member and partner at a large accounting firm.  I think he could testify this morning that his faith in God has helped him deal with the enormous pressures and laborious pace of his career.
• And this song leads me to consider Christian ministries in Memphis like Families in Transition (FIT).  FIT provides care to homeless and pregnant women.  It’s not hard to see how our larger community is a better community because of the way the people at FIT fear God and walk in his ways.

This song shows that following God and knowing God benefits life before death, not just after death.  But too often we end the discussion right here.  For many of us, God is the means to the end of a better career, a better kinship, or a better community.  But God is only a means to those ends.  For some of us, we really only follow God and know God because we want that better career, kin, or community.  But there is a deeper reason to follow God and know God.  And Ps. 131 explains it: 1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  2But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.  3 O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. (Ps. 131:1-3 ESV).

The image in verse 2 is central to understanding this song.  The image is of a young child resting contentedly in his mother’s arms.  The song tells us this is a “weaned child.”  There was a time when this child desperately sought one thing from his mother: milk.  He would cry for it.  Every three hours he was begging for it.  Without it, he was fretful and anxious and discontent.  At that stage in his maturity, Mom was primarily a means to that one end.  Mother mattered primarily because she was the source of milk.  But now something has happened.  This child no longer desperately seeks milk.  This child is no longer begging for milk.  This child has been weaned.  Now, all this child wants is Mom.  Mother is no longer the means to an end.  Mother is the end.  The child rests contentedly simply because he is in the presence of Mother.

The singer suggests that there was a time in his life when he was like the young child prior to being weaned.  There was a time when his heart was lifted up; when his eyes were raised too high; when he did occupy himself with things too great and too marvelous. At that stage in his maturity, this singer had big plans.  He had big agendas.  He would not be satisfied until he had achieved everything on his ambitious to-do list.  We can guess that, as a religious person, he was turning to God as the means to those ends.  The reason he feared God and walked in God’s ways was that he wanted God to help him achieve his lofty, great, and marvelous dreams.  All that mattered to him was turning those dreams into reality.

But like a weaned child who’s given up that milk, this singer has given up his dreams.^[3] He no longer frets away after these ambitions.  God is no longer the means to those ends.  Now, God is the end.  All the singer wants now is simply God.  And he urges others to also find their hope in simply being with God: O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.  The traveler is urging all of us to find the hope in God that he’s found.  He’s urging all of us to find contentment simply in God.  Not in God as a means to our ends.  But in God as the end.

Taken together with our previous song, this song says that knowing and following God not only brings blessing to career, kin, and community.  But it also brings blessing to the core of our being.  This song implies that even if career is taken from us, death or disease or divorce hits our kin, and injustice and poverty hammer at our community, it is still possible to find hope and contentment in our very core, because God himself is enough.  Simply having relationship with God is the greatest blessing of fearing God and walking in his ways.  What good comes from knowing and following God?  This song says the greatest good is God himself.

These two songs mean a great deal in light of our upcoming Special Contribution for World and Urban Missions.  Twice a year we collect money for world and urban missions.  Our Spring contribution is on May 23.  For those of you visiting, the word “contribution” may make you wince.  “I knew it,” you may be thinking, “this church opens up and on just their second Sunday they start talking about money.”  I’m sympathetic with that reaction.  But hear me out.  I think you may actually like what I’m talking about.

3L.2

There are 8 urban ministries/ministries to those in need which Highland supports through this Special Contribution: 1) Memphis Urban Ministry, which ministers comprehensively to the poor of Memphis; 2) Raleigh Community Church of Christ, an urban church plant which leads individuals and families to faith in God; 3) The counseling center at Agape which provides assistance to children and families in the city; 4) Familes in Transition, a ministry in Memphis to homeless and pregnant women; 5) HopeWorks, a ministry providing job skills to the unemployed in Memphis; 6) Lifeline, a ministry that provides assistance to people in need who contact Highland directly; 7) Home, a ministry providing assistance to Highland members with financial difficulties; and the Christian Student Center, a ministry to students at the University of Memphis.

In addition, there are 6 world missions supported through this Special Contribution: 1) the Melanesian Bible College and its Medical Clinic, run by Jab Mesa, which trains preachers and plants churches in Papua New Guinea; 2) missionaries Nathan and Karen Luther who work at the Shiloh Christian School and with a local church in Bacolod, Philippines; 3) the Ministry of Theological Education, which equips leaders in churches around the world; 4) missionaries Joe and Betty Canon who minister in Ukraine; 5) The Bila Tserkva Church of Christ in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine and its preacher Kostya, and 6) The Ukrainian Education Center, a ministry to students in Kiev, Ukraine.  On May 23 we hope to give these ministries $133,000.

Why do we support these ministries?  It’s because we know the truth of Ps. 128 and Ps. 131.  There are people in Ukraine, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and in this city whose careers are filled with meaninglessness, whose marriages or families are crumbling, whose communities are torn apart, and who experience despair and at the very core of their being.  This Special Contribution allows these people to experience the blessing in career, kin, community, and core which can only come by knowing and following God.  This Special Contribution allows Ps. 128 and Ps. 131 to become their songs.

In January, Lawana Maxwell, David Ralston and I visited Nathan and Karen Luther in the Philippines.  While there, we toured the Shiloh Christian School which is run by Nathan and Karen and Nathan’s parents, Alvin and Fe.  The school began when people in the Philippines noticed what a healthy marriage and family Alvin and Fe had and they asked Alvin and Fe to help them have healthy marriages and families.  People in Bacolod saw how knowing and following God had blessed the kinship of Alvin and Fe, and they wanted that blessing.  So, Alvin and Fe began tutoring children and their parents in the ways of God.  Eventually, that turned into the Shiloh Christian School.   The school is renowned in Bacold and hosts children from England, China, and around the world.  Many of the children and their parents eventually become Christians.

While at a meeting of the church at the Shiloh Christian School, we met a man named Wayne.  He’s on the left in this picture.  Wayne’s father is on the right.  Wayne’s parents were baptized by Alvin Luther years ago.  Wayne grew up in the Bacolod church and graduated from Shiloh Christian School.  He went on to study engineering in college.  He now teaches engineering at two colleges in the city, leads worship at the congregation, and is in the rotation to preach regularly at the church.  The Luther’s knew the blessing of knowing and following God, passed that blessing on to Wayne’s father, who passed it on to Wayne, who now passes it on to others.

While in Bacolod, we also met a 9th grader named Ariel.  Ariel’s parents are separated.  His home life has been difficult.  Ariel started attending Shiloh and then started attending the congregation.  The Luther’s believe he’ll be baptized very soon.  Ariel is a man who knows the despair of life without God.  Soon, he’ll know the joy of knowing and following God.  Our Special Contribution makes all of this possible.

Joe and Betty Canon, who serve in Ukraine, recently hosted a guest from Bila Tserkva named Marina.  Marina was just a young girl when she met Betty in Bila Tserkva.  Betty began teaching Marina English and helped Marina read the Bible.  Eventually, Joe baptized both Marina and Marina’s mother.  Both are regularly attend the Bila Tserkva Church of Christ.  We recently interviewed the three of them.  Here’s the story they shared: Did you catch her answer to my question, “What do you like most about being a Christian?”  She said, “Hope.”  Marina has experienced what Ps. 131 promises to all who know and follow God – hope.  Even when all else is removed, at her core she has found that hope comes simply from being with God.  Our Special Contribution makes all of that possible.

Highland did not move from East Memphis to the suburbs to keep the blessing of knowing and following God to ourselves.  We are not here to make a Christian ghetto where church becomes all about us.  This new facility and new campus is a fountain head from which the blessing of knowing and following God is going to flow to others.  Our Special Contribution on May 23 is one way that flow begins.

We want you to know this blessing as well.  Having heard Ps. 128 and Ps. 131, you may realize this morning just how much you need God in your life: for your career, for your kin, for your community, and for your core.  You may realize you’re not living with the peace and blessing that comes from fearing God and walking in his ways.  We would love to talk more with you about this.  This morning, you can stop at the Shepherd’s Corner where a couple of our elders will be happy to carry on this dialogue—it’s at the table and chairs adjacent to our offices.  Or, I invite you to email me, or any staff member, this week and we’ll set up a time to talk more about making these two songs your songs.  Right now, we’re going to stand and sing.  Some of our elders, staff members, and spouses will move into the aisles.  They are happy to pray with you about your walk with God as we sing.

[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150 Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (IVP, 1973), 443.

^[3]Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:887

Chris Altrock – February 28, 2010

Recently, the New Orleans Saints won the National Football Leagues’ Super Bowl.  It is the most important professional football game in the United States.  And the Saint’s win is all the more remarkable given where their road to victory began.  After being founded in 1967, the Saints went more than a decade before they finished a season with a .500 record.  Ten years of games passed before the team managed a season in which they won half their games.  In addition, it was two decades before the Saints celebrated a winning season.  They played twenty years before they had one season in which they won more than they lost.  In fact, in 1980, the Saints lost their first 14 games.  A local sportscaster urged Saints fans to wear paper bags over their heads.  Many of the bags had written on them the word “Aints” rather than the team’s name, “Saints.”  And even after their first winning season, it would be another two decades before the Saints made it to this year’s Super Bowl.  The end of their story is all the more amazing given its humble beginnings.

The same is true regarding the story Paul’s been telling in Eph. 4.  During this Sunday morning series, “Meant for More,” we’ve been exploring the more we are meant for in Christ:     

• Paul has revealed that we Christians are now part of a community meant for more than just this—more than just the ordinary routine of every-day life.  Instead, as Christians we are part of a community that participates in a cosmic restoration process.  We get to join God in putting the pieces of people’s lives and of all creation back together.
• Paul has also revealed that we who have faith in Jesus are now part of a community meant for more than just me—more than just loneliness or relationships which revolve around me.  Instead, as people with faith in Jesus we are now part of a contrast community in which real and deep relationships thrive.
• Paul has revealed that we Christians are now part of a community meant for more than just “us” and “here.”  Instead, as Christians who confess that God is Father of all and that he is working through all creation, we belong to a community that places no limits on God’s love and labor and places no limits on our own love and labor.    
• Paul has further revealed that we who have faith in Jesus are now part of a community meant for more than just religion.  We who have faith in Jesus are part of a community pursuing increased intimacy with and imitation of Jesus Christ. 
• And finally, Paul has revealed that we Christians are part of a community meant for more than just sitting in the stands.  Every Christian has been given an ability to do the work of ministry which impacts people’s lives. 

All of this is ours as Christians.  God has invited us into this amazing community of “more.” 

But that community of “more” is even more amazing given its humble beginnings.  In Eph. 1:11-14 Paul reminds us of our beginning: 11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:11-14 ESV). 

For a brief moment, Paul speaks about how he, and others like him, took their first steps into this community of “more”:  11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  Verses 11-12 are about Paul and other Jews who were some of the first to put their hope in Christ.  Paul says that for him and for other Jews, this community of “more” began when they put their hope in Christ. 

But in verse 13, Paul moves from “we” to “you”: 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  The “you” refers to the Ephesians, and more largely to the non-Jews or Gentiles in Ephesus.  How did they become part of this amazing community of “more”?  Here’s how it began: 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  These formerly pagan Gentiles were now part of the great community of “more.”  But how did they get there?  Paul mentions three parts of their beginning. First, they heard.  The Ephesians heard about Jesus.  Paul travelled to Ephesus and spoke to them this “word of truth” about Jesus.  It all began when Paul started talking to them about Jesus and they heard about Jesus.

Second, they believed.  Once Paul shared with them the story of Jesus, they wrestled with it, dialogued about it, and processed it.  And eventually, they believed it.  They trusted it was true.  It all began when one morning or one late night their hearts and minds finally decided that this “word of truth” really was true.

Third, they were sealed.  Paul writes that they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.  In the ancient world, cattle and slaves were branded with their owners seal.  It was a mark of ownership and way of protecting them.  Someone of ill-will might leave something alone if they recognized on it the seal of an important owner.  Paul’s not calling us cattle or slaves.  But he is saying that when the Ephesians heard about Jesus and believed in Jesus, they were sealed, marked, or branded by the Holy Spirit.  God took possession of them.  He took ownership of them.[i]  The fact that Paul calls this Spirit the “promised” Holy Spirit should cause our minds to go back to Acts 2 when Peter preached about how God had promised in the Old Testament to “pour out” his Spirit on “all people.”  Then, later in Acts 2, 3,000 are baptized and receive the Spirit.  Thus, Paul is reminding the Ephesians about the day when they were baptized and they received this Spirit.  They heard about Jesus, believed, and were sealed by the Spirit when they were baptized.  It all began when they got immersed in a pool of water.  This amazing community of “more” began in that humble way: when they heard, and believed, and were sealed. 

The same is true for every one of us who follows Jesus.  Our first steps into this community of more began when we heard, believed, and were sealed.  Do you remember the name or names of the people who shared with you the word of truth about Jesus?  Maybe it was parents, a preacher, or a friend.  For me, it was Gary Cox, a high school senior and Marlon McWilliams, a rural small-town preacher.  Do you remember those days when you started taking seriously what you had heard about Jesus, when you really began considering that it might be true?  For me, it was the first few months of 1984.  The story of Jesus got into my heart and wouldn’t let me alone.  And do you remember the day of your baptism?  Do you remember who spoke the words: “I baptize you into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”?  That’s how all of this began.

With that in mind, listen to how Paul closes Ephesians: To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Eph. 6:18-20ESV)  Paul wants to proclaim the good news about Jesus.  He wants to share it with boldness and courage.  He wants that so much that he begs the Ephesians to pray for him as he tells others about Jesus.  As Paul wraps up the letter what matters most to him is his mission of sharing Jesus with other people. 

Why?  Because Paul knows that this is how it begins.  Paul wants every person to participate in this community of “more.”  He wants every person to know the joy of living for more than just this, and just me, and just us, and just religion, and just sitting in the stands.  And Paul knows that this is how that begins: someone has to share the story of Jesus, so that another person can hear, believe, and be sealed by the Holy Spirit.

The reality is that there are millions around the world and thousands in the Mid-South who are not a part of the community of “more.”  And the only way they become a part is the way the Ephesians became a part: they must hear this word of truth, believe in it, and respond to it through baptism, being sealed by the Holy Spirit.  If you have not done that, you are not a part of the community of “more.”  You need to begin this morning by believing in the word about Jesus and responding to it through baptism.  That’s why Paul could think of nothing else at the end of this letter than telling others about Jesus.  Because that’s where it all begins.

But it may be tempting to leave Ephesians and assume that only a trained professional like Paul can help others begin this journey.  We might close the last chapter and assume that only someone like an apostle can share Jesus well-enough for others to hear, believe, and be sealed.  But if we take the Ephesian’s story back one more chapter, we’ll see that this is not the case. 

The very first Christians lived in the city of Jerusalem.  But there came a day when many of them were driven out of Jerusalem.  Here’s how Luke records it: And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1 ESV).  Notice what happens: the apostles—the spiritual elite—remain in Jerusalem.  But average and ordinary Christians get run out of town.  And notice what these ordinary and average Christians do: 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. (Acts 11:19-21 ESV).  Some of these average and ordinary Christians who had been run out of Jerusalem make their way to a city called Antioch.  They are so average that Luke doesn’t even name them.  These Christians aren’t even important enough to be named.  But in Antioch, these nameless and ordinary Christians share the word of truth with Jews and Gentiles.  And many of these Jews and Gentiles hear the word, believe the word, and are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Luke says “a great number” of them do.  Then, they form a church.  And it is that church in Antioch which ultimately sends Paul to places like Ephesus where the word is preached and the Ephesians hear, believe, and are sealed.  The real beginning to what Paul has shared in Ephesians is right here in Acts 11: ordinary, unnamed Christians sharing the story of Jesus.

The point is that for every person, the journey into this community of “more” begins in the same way: it begins by hearing, believing, and being sealed through the waters of baptism.  And who does God use to bring about that beginning?  For sure, he uses seasoned preachers like Paul.  But God also uses ordinary and average Christians like us.  Through you God can create a beginning for the people in your class, in your neighborhood, at your work, and in your family.  You can share that word of truth so that the people around you can enter into this community of “more.” 

How?  There are a lot of different ways.  But one way is demonstrated by what we are calling “throughYOU.”  “ThroughYOU” is based on how Jesus himself enlisted people into his community of more.  We’ve handed out a description of it this morning.  I’ll share some of it with you.  In Matt. 5-10 Jesus demonstrates the four simple ways in which God can work through you to lead people into this community of “more”:

1. Cultivate the Character of Jesus.  In Matt. 5-7, also known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to not merely tell others good news, but to become good news.  His Sermon reveals that we become salt and light through who we are and not just through what we say.  If every person at Highland became a living example of Jesus’ teaching in Matt. 5-7, that alone would attract others to Jesus.
2. Pursue Closeness like Jesus.  In Matt. 8-9, Jesus leaves the summit where he’s retreated with his followers and draws close to people who are far from God.  He touches them, serves them, and befriends them.  Every one of us needs to find ways to get onto the “turf” of people far from God and to draw close to them.  Simply put, more of us need to start spending more time around non Christians. 
3. Initiate Conversations about Jesus.  In Matt. 8-10, Jesus shares good news about himself.  Then he sends his followers to share that good news with others.  Every one of us can initiate conversations about Jesus with people around us.  We need to start talking to people about Jesus once again.  If you’d like some guidance on how to do this, look for the web address on the Sermon Notes section of the Link.  At that address you’ll find three resources to help you tell others about Jesus.
4. Invite them to participate in the Community of Highland.  Leading people to Jesus is not a solo activity.  It requires community.  At some point, you’ll want to invite that individual to participate in the community of Highland.  This community has four primary expressions: ministry, worship, Sunday School, and Reach Groups.   You’ll want to invite someone to participate in one or more these expressions.

These are the four practices through which God can lead people through you to faith in Christ.

We believe there are certain habits which can help you live out these practices.  Those are listed on the handout.  And, during the next year, we’re planning several specific activities to help you live out these practices.  Those are also listed.

Pat Wilemon is long-time Highland member.  For several years Pat and her husband Bud have coordinated the Welcome Center prior to worship at Highland.  Pat is a seasoned Christian with a sincere faith.  But she had never talked at length about Jesus with a non Christian until several weeks ago.  Pat decided to take a step of faith and ask her neighbor to study Jesus’ story with her.  Her neighbor said “yes.”  And a few days ago, Pat shared that her neighbor was thinking of being baptized into Christ.  A new beginning—and it all started when an ordinary Christian started talking about Jesus.  Let’s watch this video of Pat [VIDEO].

“Echoing the Story: Living the Art of Listening”

My friend Brady Bryce has written a wonderful book which unfolds the drama and narrative of the Bible in a compelling and understandable way.  He’s what inspired “The Story We Find Ourselves In” below.  Check out Brady’s book here.

“The Story We Find Ourselves In”

This series of spiritual conversations leads you and a friend from Genesis through Revelation, seeing the whole big picture and “big story” of God.  Click on the images below for a PDF of the conversations and a guide for using them:

“The Main Thing”

This is a series of topical Bible studies I and others have used for several years to share an overview of the story of Jesus and its significance for our lives.  Click on the image below to see/print a PDF of the series:  

 

James Choung summarizes Scripture with his “Big Story.”  James uses four circles written on a napkin to describe the Story and show why that Story matters today.

1. Christianity Today interview with Choung in which he describes his summary and its importance.
2. Part 1 and Part 2 of a video (3 minutes  each) in which Choung presents his summary of the “Big Story” on paper and then answers questions people might ask.
3. Here is James’ summary in book form (True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In) and booklet form (Based on a True Story).

 “Reverse the Curse”

John Mark Hicks summarizes the Story using a “curse” theme in 8 brief articles.

Reverse the Curse 1

Reverse the Curse 2: The Beginning

Reverse the Curse 3: Israel

Reverse the Curse 4: The Ministry of Jesus (Matthew)

Reverse the Curse 5: The Ministry of Jesus (Luke)

Reverse the Curse 6: The Early Church (Acts)

Reverse the Curse 7: The Early Church (Paul)

Reverse the Curse 8: Consummation (Revelation)

 “Theodrama in Five Acts”

John Mark Hicks provides this 5-part summary of Scripture in one article. 

 “Present”

John Mark Hicks summarizes the Story of Scripture as presence in this article. 

 “The Sycamore Series”

This spiritual conversation tool is developed by the great folks at Let’s Start Talking and published by Leafwood Press.  Each booklet is designed to help you share a portion of the story of Jesus with an irreligious friend in a 1 on 1 or small group setting.

In some ways the church founded in Jerusalem after Pentecost failed to recognize the nature of the journey onto which the Spirit was calling them. These Christians immediately settled into a pattern they thought exemplified God’s mission as they met at the temple as Jews had done for centuries, and they met in small settings as extended households with a sense of belonging and fellowship. They saw themselves as basically a Jewish movement that was the completion of God’s people…

Then the boundary-breaking, assumption-challenging Spirit took some unknown Christians from Jerusalem north toward Antioch where they encountered Gentiles who had heard about Jesus and wanted to learn more. What happened next was outside the imagination of those early Christians and could not be controlled by the church in Jerusalem. As they spoke to the Gentiles about Jesus, the Holy Spirit fell upon them and a new kind of church was birthed in Antioch, comprised mostly of Gentiles. Nobody expected this turn of events…

We might say, using our own categories, these first-century followers of Jesus were moved from a well-defined attractional way of doing church into a missional imagination of being the church in the world. The church in Jerusalem was an attractional model of church life because it sought to draw people into the center of a predetermined understanding of what it meant to be God’s people. It was a Jerusalem-centered movement shaped by the assumptions of Judaism. They saw Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who had come to fulfill the promises for the Jewish people….

We believe something similar is happening in the life of the church in North America; a stirring is taking place; the Spirit is up to something where we least expect the presence of God to break out. People are tiring of the attractional pattern as the primary focus of their churches; they are hungering for a different journey.

Last Sunday we held our annual Trunk or Treat outreach event (that’s my daughter Jordan hiding under a trunk to scare kids).  Even after all these years, it’s still a great outreach event.  We had 400-500 people and hundreds of them were guests.  I met several who came from the neighborhood nearby, some who came with Highland friends, and some who came because the small ad in the paper.  We fed them, loved them, interacted with them, and talked about life and God with them.  I’m thankful for the dozens of volunteers who work hard to make this such a great event.

The first theological issue Pelikan raises is introduced in Acts 1:2-3:  ²until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. (NIV)

These are hard words. As we’ve seen in Matt. 5 Jesus calls us the salt and light of the world. Jesus envisions us as agents of enlightenment and preservation. Then, as we’ve seen in Matt. 10, Jesus sends us out to be salt and light. In between those chapters he instructs us in and demonstrates for us the art of salt and light. The question is not really “Why is the world dark?” or “Why is the world decaying?” The real question is, “Where is the salt and light?” Where are we?

I think most of us want to be salt and light. We’re ready to stop bewailing the world and start being its salt and light. Fortunately, in Matt. 8-9 Jesus shows us how to do just that. We’ve been following Jesus in these two chapters as he demonstrates how to be salt and light.

Two Sundays ago we walked with Jesus as he challenged us with words about wineskins and the practice of contextualization. We learned that Jesus’ new way of being salt and light requires new expressions, forms, and practices. Being salt and light in today’s culture may not fit traditional forms. Last Sunday we followed Jesus as he came down from the mountainside and practiced closeness with a leper, a Gentile centurion, and a Jewish woman. We learned that In order to become salt and light, Jesus drew close to people far from God. This morning we explore a third practice of Jesus’.

This third practice relates to something very familiar to most of us. Throughout Matt. 8-9 there are references to Jesus’ preaching and to the power of his word:

· In Matt. 8:13 Jesus speaks and a paralyzed servant is healed.

· In Matt. 8:16 Jesus drives out spirits with a word…

· In Matt. 8:32, Jesus commands “Go!” and demons flee from two men.

· In Matt. 9:1-8 Jesus’ words bring healing and forgiveness.

· And in Matt. 9:35 Matthew writes this summary statement: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom…

Thus, one thing Jesus demonstrates in this section is the practice of conversation. We learn that being salt and light involves telling good news. In fact, when Jesus sends us out in Matt. 10 he says, As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” (Matt. 10:7 TNIV). One of the ways we act as salt and light is through conversation: telling the good news about Jesus.

I suppose that if we were to use an image to summarize this, it would be the image of a mouth. Take your fingers and touch your mouth. The mouth is an important image regarding our role as salt and light. Jesus’ mouth spoke words that brought transformation into the lives of people. We too, can speak words that turn darkness to light and decay to life.

But, for some of us, the mouth is the only image we have regarding salt and light. We think of outreach only as drawing close to irreligious people and then opening our mouths and telling them the good news. Regarding our role as salt and light, we often focus exclusively on the mouth, on telling good news. This is not only true for us Christians. It’s true for people of different faiths. For example how many of you have ever had members of a religious group come to your home and try to persuade you to join their faith? And how did they attempt to persuade you? They used their mouth. They talked about their faith. I remember two specific times in Memphis when members of a religious group visited our home and tried to persuade me to follow their faith. Both times the only thing they did was talk. People of faith tend to focus exclusively on the mouth, on telling good news. And there is good reason for this. Jesus used words. We must as well.

But focusing exclusively on the mouth, on telling good news often doesn’t work because of people’s distrust of religious people or religion in general. Frankly, I didn’t know or trust the guys that came up to my house to recruit me to their religion. They looked nice enough: clean cut hair, white button up shirts, shiny black shoes. But I didn’t know them. And I didn’t trust them. There’s no way I was going to join their faith just because of what they said.

And this experience is distrust is common today. America used to be a Christian and Modern culture in which the church had a prominent public position and a positive image in society. We are living, however, in an increasingly non-Christian and postmodern culture. In this new culture, the church has been marginalized and is viewed negatively.

For example, a colleague of mine recently did an online search for the word “church” to see what news headlines had been posted that day about church.[2] Here are some of the headlines he found: “Soldiers in Afghanistan Give Bibles, Told to ‘Hunt People for Jesus’”; “Two Catholic Priests Stole $8 Million From Church”; “Hate on Display: The Westboro Baptist Church Protests the White House”; “UK Flooding is God’s Judgment on Society.” The negative press about church went on and on. We live in a changing culture in which increasing numbers are distrustful of church and of Christianity. This means that people aren’t going to simply take us at our word. And that presents a challenge.

Thankfully, Jesus models another ancient practice that addresses this challenge. Let’s follow Jesus once more as he interacts with the people of Matt. 8-9. In Matt. 8:2-4 Jesus interacts with a leper: 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matt. 8:2-4 TNIV). As I mentioned last Sunday, skin diseases like leprosy brought physical and spiritual pollution. They were contagious and deadly. And they caused a person to be ritually unclean. Yet Jesus not only drew close to this leper. He healed the leper. Not only did Jesus heal the leper. By touching him, Jesus shared in the man’s uncleanness—he entered into the man’s suffering.[3] Then, Jesus told the leper to not broadcast the miracle. Jesus did not want anyone, including this man, to think that the healing was Jesus’ way of getting public attention. Jesus intended the healing as a simple act of compassion. [4] And finally, Jesus told the man to go to the priest. This would be the only way the man could be reintegrated into the community. Once the priest declared him clean, the man would be welcomed back. [5] Jesus not only wanted to restore the man’s health, he wanted to restore the man’s place in community.

Max Lucado helps us imagine the leper’s story:[6]

· One afternoon I plunged my hands into a basin of water intending to wash my face, and the water reddened. My finger was bleeding…I didn’t even know I was wounded. How did I cut myself?…Had I slid my hand across a sharp edge of metal? I must have, but I hadn’t felt anything. “It’s on your clothes, too,” my wife said softly…Before looking at her I looked down at the crimson spots on my robe. For the longest time I stood over the basin staring at my hand, and somehow I knew that my life was to be forever altered.

· “Shall I go with you to tell the priest?” she asks. “No,” I sighed. “I’ll go alone.”…Standing next to her was my daughter. Squatting, I gazed into her face and stroked her cheek with my good hand…I stood and looked again at my wife. She touched my shoulder, and I touched hers. It would be our final touch…

· The priest didn’t touch me. He looked at my hand, now wrapped in a rag. He looked at my face, now sadder than sorrow…He covered his mouth and extended his hand palm forward. “You are unclean,” he told me. With that one pronouncement I lost my family, my farm, my future, and my friends. My wife met me at the city gates with a sack of clothing, bread and some coins…By now friends had gathered. What I saw in their eyes was a precursor to what I’ve seen in every eye since—fearful pity. As I stepped out, they stepped back. The horror they felt as a result of my disease overtook their concern for my heart…

· Five years of leprosy left my hands gnarled. The tips of my fingers were missing, as were portions of an ear and my nose. At the sight of me fathers grabbed their children and mothers covered their eyes…

· I grew so tired of it all, sleeping in the colony, smelling the stench, so tired of the damnable bell I was required to wear on my neck to warn people of my presence…

· Several weeks ago I dared walk the road to my village…I only wanted to look upon my fields and gaze again upon my home and see perhaps the face of my wife…

· [Then I saw Jesus.]…I waited until he was just paces from me, and I stepped out. “Master, Master.” He stopped and looked in my direction, as did dozens of others…People’s arms flew in front of their faces. Children ducked behind their parents. “Unclean!” someone shouted. Again, I don’t blame them…I’d seen the panic a thousand times.

· His compassion, however, I had never seen before. Everyone stepped back except him. He stepped toward me-toward me!… “Lord, you can heal me if you will.” Had he healed me with a word I would have been thrilled…But he wasn’t satisfied with speaking to me. He drew near me. He touched me…

· Energy flooded my body like water through a furrowed field. In an instant, in a moment I felt warmth where there had been numbness. I felt strength where there had been atrophy…He cupped his hands on my cheeks and drew me so near I could feel the warmth of his breath…He smiled. “Don’t tell anyone about this. Go and show yourself to the priest….”

· So that is where I am going. I will show myself to my priest, and I will embrace him. I will show myself to my wife, and I will embrace her. I will pick up my daughter…and I will embrace her. I will never forget the one who dared to touch me. He could have healed me with a word, but he wanted to do more…He wanted to honor me, to validate me, to christen me. Imagine that. Unworthy of the touch of man, yet worthy of the touch of God.

And this is no isolated practice. Read these other encounters out loud with me:

· When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her…(Matt. 8:14-15 TNIV)

· While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died.”…After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up… (Matt. 9:18,25 TNIV)

· As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”…Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored… (Matt. 9:27, 29-30 TNIV)

For Jesus, it was rarely enough to just say something. Jesus also wanted to do something. Jesus touched them. In every encounter in Matt. 8-9 Jesus becomes the good news the people so desperately need.

And just in case we miss the point, Matthew includes this description of Jesus in Matt. 9:35-36 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matt. 9:35-36 TNIV). Matthew uses these words as a summary of Matt. 8-9. For Matthew, this is how Jesus demonstrated salt and light: by showing compassion.

Jesus shows us that being salt and light not only involves the mouth—telling good news, it involves the hand—being good news. What it takes is a hand willing to touch and enter into the hurts of irreligious people.

And in a postmodern and non-Christian culture where people are so distrustful of religion and religious people, that’s one thing that will get through. They may not listen to what you tell them. But they will remember what you do for them. The more we become good news, the more they’ll open up to hearing the good news.

Amy Bethea is a member of the Sunday School class I attend. She told our class that she had recently overheard a conversation between two people at Highland. In the conversation one shared with the other a struggle he was going through. Amy told us how surprised she was to hear that because from the outside it looked like everything was perfect with that individual. And Amy said to our class, “It reminded me that you just never know what struggle the people we pass by are going through.” Not only is that true here. It’s true for irreligious people where you live, work, and play. Someone in your workplace, classroom, or neighborhood is in the midst of tremendous difficulty. Everything looks OK on the outside. But on the inside, that irreligious person is like that leper. Jesus is calling you to become good news. He’s calling you to reach out your hand and touch them. When you leave here this morning, consider not only what your mouth might share with an irreligious person, but how your hand of mercy might bring hope and help to that same person.