Focus: Not merely claiming to obey.
Function: To help people do the Word.
Form: Biblical Topic study
Intro:
Skit: A man has two sons, One said he would obey and didn't the other said he wouldn't and did. Which one did the will of the Father?
The passage we read for our scripture, James 1:22-24, has been one that Brethren have prided themselves on throughout their history.
As a matter of fact, the beginning of our denomination started out with ideas that said If Jesus said it, if the Bible says it, then we are going to do whatever it takes to follow it.
Because of that, some of them lost their lives, some of them lost their property, some of them were thrown in prison and finally most all of them left Europe for the Americas 300 years ago.
During that time, they were so adamant about it that it caused division. In Ephrata, PA, where I lived, this one group decided that based on 1 Corinthians 7, engaging in marriage would prevent them from being true to the Word and faithful to the great commission so they started the Ephrata Cloister, a celibate community, that died out when there were no children to carry on.
That same group split over other issues, like whether or not to worship on Saturday, or Sunday.
The big one for them was contemporary Christian Music. They advocated it, of course, in fact that sort of invented it the modern hymnal. At that time it was 4 part harmony hymns. The Old Order German Baptist just had another split, and that was a big issue in their split as well. They are moving away from the monastic hymns, sung in unison, without accompaniment to 4 part harmony, gospel hymns.
All of these splits and thousands more come from Christians taking this passage seriously and figuring out how to be faithful to God's Word. Faithful to the Word. Bold enough and gutsy enough to obey it no matter the cost.
That concept is a big part of what we are. If God's Word says it, then whatever it costs us, we will obey it. That was and is the idea.
So what is important here? Be doers and not mere hearers. Those who speak it, without the action are people who deceive themselves.
The exact illustration is this, You see yourself in a mirror, but then you forget what you really look like. You imagine that your look is good, when maybe it isn't. He is saying, sometimes, it takes several poses until you get one that actually looks good and then you go away imagining that you look like that all the time.
But maybe the camera doesn't lie. If I suck in my gut, place my hand under my chin, make a big smile that shows just a little bit of my teeth, and the light is right and it catches the glint in my eye, it might be an attractive look. So, if I look until I find it, and then go out with confidence thinking that I look like that all the time, I might only be fooling myself.
I am sort of jealous of Kathy (my wife), she doesn't have that problem, she always looks good.
James wants us to maintain an honest and frank appraisal of ourselves all the time.
Here is another issue for me about being self aware. We develop the sense of ourselves when we are young. I remember when I was a kid, I could squeeze through a crowd by taking up a small space and slipping buy. But I can't do that anymore. I fit a bigger space. But my self image still says I can, so sometimes in a crowd, I bump into people. I was getting dinner last Thursday at the cafeteria at Sinclair college, and this student had this backpack that must have stuck out 2 feet. I am surprised it didn't break her back! She was completely unaware that she was blocking the forward progress of everyone.
The point is: if we look in the mirror only once and call it good then we stop checking ourselves in relationship to what God commands us in His word.
We can say to ourselves: “we were okay last year, so we must be okay today.” But God wants us to constantly consider what His word says to us today.
You all may have heard about the man who says: “I am not going to church anymore.”
When asked why, he says: “I have heard hundreds of sermons, and I can't say that I actually remember one, I guess they mean nothing.”
So the responder asks him: “do you remember what you had for dinner last night? Do you remember what you had for dinner last week? Do you remember what you had for dinner last month?”
And of course, the answer was “no.” But the point was this, without that food he would have starved to death.
So what about it? What about us? What about us being doers of the Word and not merely hearers?
I wonder if the actions that happened at the Cloister in Ephrata were as much a desire to prove themselves to each other as much as it was to obey God?
Remember Cheeseburgers. I keep that statement written down before me. Remember Cheeseburgers. Some Orthodox Jewish people, in an effort to be true to the OT Command, “Don't boil a baby goat in its own mother's milk” refuse to eat a Cheeseburger because there is a very slight possibility that the beef which was originally a calf came from the mother that the cheese was made from.
As a matter of fact, the rule goes so far that still today, a proper kosher kitchen as two sinks, one for meats and one for dairy so that they two don't come in contact with each other.
Now the Spirit of law they were trying to keep from breaking had to do with the pagan practice of boiling a baby goat in its own mother's milk as a statement of celebrating evil. The very sustenance that was to give life becomes the substance the brings its death. The pagan practices that celebrated cruelty, the reason why God displaced the people in the land of Canaan, were not to be continued.
It is the same reason the same section of the law states that you can't make a garment out of two pieces of cloth, or you couldn't have a special haircut that symbolized a pagan religion.
He isn't condemning fashion, God is condemning a pagan practice that we have no real recollection of at this time.
That cheeseburger principle actually took God's word much farther than God intended. And in so doing, actually gave them an excuse to disobey because what they were doing appeared religious, but it missed the point entirely.
Here is how it became an excuse to sin: They believed that they were so dedicated to God's word that they wouldn't even eat a cheeseburger. That dedication must be righteous people. But most often righteous means “just.” The righteous are the people who make sure that their actions are just and merciful.
And so, those Pharisees could foreclose on the house of a widow, throwing her on the street, perfectly acceptable under both the law. It was their property, held in security until the person could pay it off. But Jesus commanded them to trust God, give up their greed and ensure that the widow woman had a roof over her head.
They claimed to be righteous because they wouldn't eat cheeseburgers but at the same time, they hardened their hearts and allowed the poor to be displaced.
Jesus condemned this attitude and for that, they killed Him. I have often said that Christians have hidden behind other irrelevant because the relevant issues can cost us a lot. To not be able to sell a house that is foreclosed on is a business loss. It costs us.
But the Bible says to lend money without charging interest. The Bible says to give without passing judgment. The Bible says to turn the other cheek. The bible says to stop, and take the time to help a person who is suffering. All of this costs us either money, time or pride. Wouldn't it be easier to claim that we are Christians just because we don't eat cheeseburgers? Of course, you understand that I am using an exaggeration, but that same sect of Jews actually does refuse to eat cheeseburgers.
I am not mocking them. At times I would like to point out the silliness of our own rules, but I won't. Most often, our rules come from hearts that are grateful for grace and want to respond with a faithful obedience that expresses our gratitude.
However, if we do that we must keep to the major issues, the main thing. It is important that we keep the main thing the main thing.
He doesn't say: “you should.” He doesn't say: “if possible....” He doesn't say: “when it is convenient...” No, the statement is this, love for Him means obedience to Him. Obey Him even if it isn't convenient, even if it costs us our money, our time and or our pride.
He gave us eternal life. He reconciled us to God. He forgave us in spite of ourselves. He loves us even when we don't love ourselves. And because of that, our faith has a natural response, we obey Him.
But what does that obedience mean? Does it mean we love Him so much that we too, will refuse to eat cheeseburgers? You know I am speaking with a silly example so that I don't have to confront a more painful example.
But man, there are a lot of commands in here. How can we obey them all?
Well, we go back to Jesus. He said it this way: “A new command I give you, Love one another.” John 15:17.
It is impossible to fulfill them all, but all of them are fulfilled in the one command.
So, let us look at that in relationship to being doers of the word and not merely hearers.
In Matthew 12, one day, on the Sabbath, a day where people were not allowed to do any work, Jesus as traveling. The disciples were hungry. The OT law makes it an exception that it isn't stealing if while walking down the road, you get hungry, and the wheat is ripe, you can grab some handfuls and eat it.
The OT law was given so that people can love and take care of each other, not hoard things.
Now the Pharisees were following Jesus, taking notes on everything Jesus and His disciples were doing and they witnessed this action. Now, you are probably thinking: “They are going to accuse them of stealing.” At least, that is what we would do.
But the law gave all kinds of commands that caused people to make sure that the weary and poor were taken care of. Those who live by faith know that everything given to the poor will be paid back to them by God.
Their tactic was not to accuse them of stealing. Their tactic, a tactic that is made to appear that they are being true to God's word, was to condemn Jesus because His disciples worked when they husked the wheat with their hands.
I realize that when we claim Jesus, people are watching us as to whether or not they believe we are representing Him.
But the promise from Jesus, to us believers is, that some people are merely watching just so that they can jump on your actions, twist them and accuse you.
They said: the disciples broke the rule of the Sabbath.
And Jesus gives no quarter to their religious hypocrisy. You cannot use the Word of God to condemn people just because you don't like them.
Jesus points out just how much they were merely hearers of the Word, not doers.
He tells them that God didn't care about their Sabbath infraction. They didn't understand at all about God's law.
God's law is not an end unto itself used to make us feel better about someone we don't like or are in conflict with.
God's law is given as a practical guide to teach us how to love Him and others. That is why Jesus said, “a new command... …love one another.”
So Jesus turns their religious abuse upside down.
He gives them a story of King David. In the law, there was the bread of presence. Only the priests were allowed to eat it. If anyone else ate it, they were to be put to death.
But David was an hero and a prophet.
And Saul was angry at him because people had accused David to Saul as being unpatriotic.
And David was fleeing for his life with a small troop of soldiers. He is in a hurry, he is hungry and he convinces the priests to give him and his men the bread of presence.
Jesus tells them that both God and those ancients were completely okay with that, even though it was a capital offense.
Jesus explains how it is important to remember that the Spirit of the Law, Love God and Love one Another takes precedence over the letter of the law.
God gave us the law to set us free to love Him and others. And Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will obey Me. If you want to obey me, be completely obedient, then make it simple: Love one another.” Don't ever look for ways to condemn someone you don't like with scriptures.
In verse 8, of Matthew 12, Jesus tells them, I desire compassion, not your religious activity.
Don't say you will obey me when your actions do not reflect His passion.
So, let us go back to the skit with Chris, Noah and Ethan.
That is taken directly from scripture.
And I have a very personal story about it.
My 3rd year of Bible College, we picked Micah 6:8 as our year verse. Do justice, Love Mercy and walk humbly with God.
In this very conservative, both politically and theologically, my understanding of doing justice was really threatened.
And I was really struggling because my value system was being threatened. I seriously thought that the poor were poor because they were lazy and that God really was punishing our country because of our loose moral values.
But that same year, I was studying Isaiah 58, and I saw that from both Isaiah 58, and Romans 1, that God's punishment wasn't because of our loose moral values, that the loose moral values were actually a result of the selfishness and materialistic way we lived our lives. And, we were using our Pharisaical religious practices, our proverbial refusal to eat cheeseburgers as a way to justify our lack of actually doing the word.
I was actually crying while I was driving downtown and I cried out to God: “What do you want us to do?”
And I heard a still small voice from God tell me to look up. I thought God was talking about raising my eyes to heaven when I was praying, but I as driving!
So, I looked up a little. And right then, I saw a sign that read “Matthew 25 clinic.”
The newspaper ran an article about it that week. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church had a Matthew 25 clinic. You probably remember that Matthew 25 is where Jesus says to the unrighteous people: depart from me, I don't know you because when you encountered the hungry, the naked, the sick and the prisoners, you encountered me, and if you did nothing to help them, then you also refused to help me. He also says to the righteous: You may not even know you are righteous, but every time you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, you do it to me. Bear Creek: every time you send me to the prison to do a Kairos weekend, you send me to Jesus on your behalf.
I remember reading that article and thinking, well, that doesn't mean anything because they are Roman Catholic and Roman Catholics cannot be real Christians.
So, when I saw that sign, I reminded God that He was wrong because their doctrine was so far off.
Of course, I didn't really know why it was so far off. I just knew that several people told me it was.
And God didn't laugh at me. He is patients. He loves us. And God reminded me of this parable, it isn't the one who says the right thing, it is the one who does the right thing.
We can quote scripture, and its principles all day long and it means nothing of we merely hear the word and do not do it.
It means nothing of when we hear the word we do not put it into action.
And brothers and sisters. Sometimes, many times, those actions call us to do very hard things. Very hard. But to be true, to stand for justice of the poor against the rich, the powerful among the powerless.
Doers of the Word, no matter what it costs us.
Doers of the Word that haven't plateaued. It is easy to think we have arrived and stop letting the word change and confound us.
Can we embrace our heritage, again?
No comments:
Post a Comment