Sermon Notes 10/28, “Christians and Politics” (2 Cor. 5:16-6:2)

The Tuesday after next Sunday is Election Day, Because I won't be here next week I wanted to take this opportunity to put a biblical perspective on the whole election and voting issue. Some of you can't vote yet and some, like myself, have already voted, and I'm not going to try to persuade you to vote for or against anything or anybody.

There is a quote I read recently by John Wesley (John Wesley is considered to be the founder of the Methodist church), that I think gives good advice: "I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them, 1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy: 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And, 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those who voted for the other side." I am going to advise those of you who can vote, to vote your conscience.

I think it is appropriate to talk about the whole issue of the upcoming election for a very important of reason. There is an misguided and unfortunate tendency in politics to try to associate the church with one or the other side. This is completely without basis in the Bible. Jesus is not a member of the Republican or the Democratic Party. If we look at the life of Jesus we will see that he did not involve himself in the affairs of politics. We will recall that some of Jesus' followers hoped that he would use his messianic gifts to rid Palestine of the Romans and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel. But Jesus made it plain that his mission went far beyond rearranging earthly political systems.

Jesus came to establish a new kingdom that will supersede every other kingdom that has ever existed. And he did this not by seeking political change but by seeking change in peoples' hearts.

When we become Christians we become citizens of this kingdom. The apostle Paul tells us this plainly in his letter to the Philippians "our citizenship is in heaven." (Phil. 3:20 NIV). And, in fact, as citizens of this new kingdom we are called to help God to build, we are ambassadors of God's kingdom.

The Text

We might wonder what that looks like in practical terms. So today I have chosen a text from another of Paul's letters to help us to consider the issue. We will be reading from Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church, Chapter 5 verse 16 to Chapter 6 verse 2:

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

6 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,

and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 5:16-6:2 NIV).

The Corinthian Letters

We need to get some background on these verses. Paul had founded the church at Corinth during his second missionary journey. It was one of the first churches that was made up of mostly Gentile believers. Paul stayed in Corinth for a long time but he had a rocky relationship with the church there.

Corinth was a seaport town and pretty free-wheeling in terms of morality. Some who were members of the Corinthian church had trouble letting go of their worldly ways and embracing their new life in Christ. They continued to live as if they had not been born into a new family by baptism into Christ, and they engaged in some really sinful behavior.

Part of the reason for that was because there were other Christian preachers, Paul calls them "false apostles", who denied that Paul was a real apostle, and presented themselves as evangelists of a different gospel that can be summed up in the words, "If it feels good, do it." Naturally, many of the Corinthians thought that kind of a gospel sounded pretty good, better than the one Paul was preaching.

Eventually Paul had a falling out with the Corinthian church Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was essentially a scolding for missing the truth of the gospel and denying his authority. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians was written sometime later, after the Corinthians had reconciled with Paul. The second letter is an extended defense of his ministry along with advice on how to live the authentic gospel.

In the section of the letter we are looking at today we think that Paul is responding to some of the criticisms of his personality. Paul had been accused of not being a strong speaker and leader. This accusation, coupled with the fact that Paul had not been a follower of Jesus before he was crucified, led some people to suggest that he was not a true apostle, but an imposter.

In the bigger picture, Paul responds by saying the truth of his being an apostle is the Corinthian church itself. It was Paul who had first brought the gospel to Corinth. There would be no church were it not for his efforts. Therefore, even though he didn't fit the model of an itinerant preacher in the first century, with a bold stature and a powerful speaking voice, he was nevertheless a true apostle of God. The word apostle comes from the Greek ἀπόστολος which means, "one who is sent." In this case Paul argues that he was sent by God to preach the gospel in Corinth, and that his mission had obviously been successful because God had made converts there.

So this part of the letter is a call to the Corinthians to raise their consciousness above worldly things and try to look at things from a more divine point of view. Paul says, "I once thought about Jesus in a worldly way. I thought only a scoundrel and criminal would end up crucified by the Romans. Anyone who believes in him as the Messiah must be seriously deluded." But then Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus.

Paul, who was called Saul then, was on his way to Damascus to arrest and kill the followers of Jesus there. The scene where Jesus meets Paul is recorded in the Book of Acts:

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. (Acts 9:3-7 NIV).

Can you imagine this? Paul actually meets the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. And from that time on he is changed from Christianity's greatest enemy to become Christianity's greatest missionary. Paul is telling the Corinthians in today's scripture that they too have had an encounter with the risen Lord, and that they too should be changed at the core.

New Creations

Paul goes on to say that after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus he became a new creation because he left the realm of the world (the "flesh") and entered the realm of the Spirit. We have spent a lot of time in Romans thinking about what it means to go from the realm of the flesh to the realm of the Spirit. To be in the realm of the flesh is to be driven by the attitudes and desires of the world. These things would include wealth, power, property, physical strength and beauty, and prestige. To be in the realm of the Spirit is to be driven by the things the Spirit desires. These things would include justice, righteousness, and love.

If we have been baptized into Christ, we too have become new creations. Paul writes, "if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Cor. 5:17 NIV). Our change should be as dramatic as the change Paul experienced. Part of that change includes being adopted into God's family. Paul tells us in Romans, "15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'” (Romans 8:15 NIV). We are no longer orphans, children of the world. We are children of the living God.

And, we inherit everything that comes with being members of that family. So we inherit all things that God has to give (which is everything, in case you were wondering). And we also inherit our stake in the family business. What is the business of God's family? Paul tells us in the next verse in 2 Corinthians, it is "the ministry of reconciliation." If we are "in Christ," meaning that we have had an encounter with the risen Lord, we are new creations, adopted into the family of God, and entrusted with the "ministry of reconciliation."

The ministry of reconciliation is God's reconciling the world to himself. It is reversing the curse of Adam and Eve. It is restoring the love relationship between humans and God. God has made all of this possible through Christ. Jesus has accomplished all that was necessary to reconcile humans to God, by dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our rebellion. But that work, though already accomplished, is not yet fully apparent. This is the "already and the not yet." The work is already accomplished, but it is not yet completely evident. Jesus has already reconciled all things, but the kingdom is yet to be fully realized.

The work of realizing that kingdom is Christ's work. And if we are in Christ, it is our work. Paul writes in verse 19, "he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Cor. 5:19 NIV).

Christ's Ambassadors

And so what does Paul write next? "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." (2 Cor. 5:20 NIV). This is unbelievable. God has lifted us up out of the mud, at great cost to himself, and raised us to the level of ambassadors!

Do you know what an ambassador is? The dictionary definition is, "a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative." An ambassador actually represents the country he or she was sent by in a foreign country. So, for example, the US ambassador to Japan actually represents the United States in Japan. Whatever our ambassador there says or does, it is as if it were being done by the United States, by us.

Today, ambassadors are in close communication with their home governments. But in Paul's time, it might take weeks for communication to occur between the home government and the ambassador, and so the ambassador had great powers to represent the sovereign, the King, or maybe even, the Emperor, and to act in his name. And here Paul is saying that because he is "in Christ" he is an ambassador of God. And if we are "in Christ," we are also Christ's ambassadors.

George Shultz was the American Secretary of State during presidential administration of Ronald Reagan. As Secretary of State he was responsible for all of the US embassies around the world. Whenever a new ambassador was appointed by the President, Schultz would bring the appointed ambassador into his office for a consultation. In his office he had a globe that showed all of the countries in the world, and Schultz would always ask the new Ambassador to go to the globe and find and point to his country. Invariably the new ambassador would go to the globe and point out the country he or she was being sent to.

When Mike Mansfield was appointed Ambassador to Japan Schultz did the same test with him. But when Mansfield went to the globe, he found and pointed to the United States and said, "That's my country." From then on Schultz told that story to all new Ambassadors. He would tell them, "Never forget you're over there in that country, but your country is the United States. You're there to represent us. Take care of our interests and never forget it, that you're representing the greatest country in the world."

I really think that is a great story. And I think it a story that we ought to take to heart when we consider that we have been made Christ's ambassadors. It means that we represent the Kingdom of God and its King to this foreign land in which we find ourselves. It is true that we live in the United States and most of us have citizenship here and it really is our responsibility to participate in the affairs of the country. But as I already mentioned, and we should never forget, we may live here in this country, but, as Paul wrote to the Philippians, "our citizenship is in heaven." (Phil. 3:20 NIV).

Citizens of Heaven

There are a number of different ways that Christians feel they should respond to this dual citizenship. Some Christians choose not to participate in worldly affairs. I can sympathize with this attitude but I don't believe it is biblically grounded. On the other hand some Christians see it as their duty to identify their Christian faith with their nation and even with their particular political preferences within that nation.

For example, Christians identifying themselves as "Evangelical" have identified themselves mostly with the Republican Party in the United States, so much so that now the members of any congregation that wants to call itself Evangelical are branded in the public eye as right wing Republicans. So Jesus becomes identified with a particular political position in the mind of the public. And we see Christians at the same time pretending to proclaim Jesus and denouncing their neighbors who are of a different political persuasion. Let me quote here the Apostle James, "From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:10 ESV).

And this is done not just by misguided Christians but by equally misguided Christian leaders. People who ought to be using the pulpit to proclaim the Good News are instead using it to seek advantage in worldly power struggles. Christian leaders willingly and openly identify themselves and their congregations with particular countries and particular political positions, making the gospel of Jesus Christ a tool for division, exclusion, and condemnation. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

I really believe if Paul were on the scene today he would be writing letters of rebuke like 1 Corinthians to those churches that are trying to link Jesus to their own brand of politics. To try to harness the awesomeness of God for gain in worldly partisan politics, left or right, or to hijack the name of the Great I AM to endorse any man-made creation, structure, or institution, is nothing less than blasphemy. It is idolatry. It stands in irreconcilable opposition to the absolute sovereignty of God.

I'm not saying Christians shouldn't participate in the affairs of the world. Of course we have an obligation to do so. But our participation must be to advance the interest of God's Kingdom, which is our family business. When God's Kingdom comes, it will not be characterized by political positions and borders. It will be characterized by the triumph of justice, righteousness, and love, for all people.

The prophet Isaiah speaks of Christ and those who are in Christ, "I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." (Is. 49:6 ESV). We are that light. Not a light to one nation, not a light only to Republicans or Democrats, but a light to bring God's salvation to the ends of the earth.

Christians in the World

So as we approach the upcoming election we will be called upon to consider how we might best represent Christ to the world. I am not going to suggest that you vote one way or the other, that you vote for one thing or against another, but that you remember that you are citizens of heaven, representing the greatest kingdom and the greatest king.

Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr. provided us with a great example of how to represent the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. King saw how institutionalized evil could be overcome using the power of love and the ballot. King employed a strategy of openly challenging the social structure that perpetuated segregation and race hatred At the core of that strategy was the proposition that he and his followers were not enemies of those who advocated leaving things as they were, but that they must approach them with nonviolence and agape love.

Rev. King was jailed in 1963 while conducting a campaign for black voter registration in Birmingham, Alabama. King was not from Birmingham but was Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Because of this a group of white ministers from Birmingham published an open letter criticizing King as an "outside agitator." King responded by writing another open letter that has come to be known as the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." It is an incredible piece of writing that connects human politics to the heart of the Christian gospel, and I urge everyone to read it. It is freely available on the Internet.

But one passage from that letter stands out as particularly appropriate for the ideas we are considering today. Those preachers who had criticized King had openly identified themselves with the social system that allowed segregation and race violence. In that I really believe they were little different from those preachers who today identify the gospel with politics of any persuasion. But King called them, and us, to a higher vision of the church, and one that I believe is more biblical. He wrote:

"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."

We are called to be prophets. We are called to be ambassadors. We are called to be light. As prophets, as ambassadors of God's kingdom, as light, we must use all of our strength individually and as a church to represent God's love to the world.

Being a prophet has never been easy. Prophets are not popular. In the Bible we see story after story of prophets who were shunned, ignored, abused, and sometimes brutally killed. Thankfully, in our country and our day we have freedom to openly live the life of Christ with no more persecution than that which comes with being out of step with society. That may not feel good, but that is what we are called to as Ambassadors of Light.

As we go into this last week before the election, let us pray that we might faithfully represent our true country, the Kingdom of Heaven to everyone we meet, and let us pray that through our faithfulness we might bring closer the day when God's kingdom will triumph on the earth. Amen.

Let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, the God of all justice, righteousness, and love: Give us all grace and strength to conceive and execute whatever might be for your honor and the welfare of our nation; that we may become, at last, through the merits and intercession of our common Redeemer, a great and happy people, because a wise and understanding, a just, righteous, and loving people, to your honor and glory. Amen

Sermon Notes 10/21, “Signed. Sealed. Delivered. The Deed is Done.” Romans 8:31-39.

I've got some good news for you guys. Our text this morning is going to be in Romans. But before we look at that text I want us to look at another text that I think is one of the most dramatic texts in all of literature. It comes from the gospel according to John, and it describes the death of Jesus on the cross.

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28-30 NIV)

My friends if you have been paying attention at all to anything you know about the Bible you should be in awe at what I just read. Because in those few words we have heard described all that was necessary to reverse the curse of Adam and Eve and bring the world back into relationship with God.

But I want us to consider the word Jesus uses to describe the event. "It is finished." In the Greek the word is tetelestai. Interestingly, it is a word from law and commerce. The root of the word is telos which means end. But in this formulation the word applies to a legal and commercial transaction that is completely finished. So in this way it calls to mind the English idiom "signed, sealed, and delivered."

It indicates that a legal transaction has been completely accomplished. In law, the proper use of the term is "Signed, sealed, delivered. The deed is done." What's interesting about this I think is that I doubt that we think of our relationship with God in legal terms.

I think we tend more to think of things in terms of family relationships. We want to see God as a loving but often disappointed parent who is willing to overlook our waywardness and quick to let us off the hook for our misdeeds. Certainly God is a loving parent. But God is also holy. And because God is holy, no sin can be overlooked. If God could allow sin without consequence, He would not be a holy God. He would instead be a capricious tyrant: holding some, maybe his favorites, to a lower standard than others. That kind of a god would not be worthy of worship.

Today we are going to come to the end of Chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the Roman Church. At the same time we are going to come to the end of Paul's exposition of the Christian faith. As we look back on it we can see that Paul has presented his arguments in legalistic fashion from the beginning. In the section we are going to read today we see Paul summarizing his case. It is like a lawyer making his closing remarks before sentence is passed. Let's look at it:

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 NIV).

Amen.

Let’s spend just a couple of minutes reviewing Paul's argument. We have spent quite a few weeks looking at it and it is quite complex, but we'll try to just focus on the main points and then we'll be able to work our way through this last section of Chapter 8.

The main idea of the first three chapters was that God has a case against every single human being who has ever lived. In the case of the Roman church Paul addresses two groups of Christians: the gentile Christians and the Jewish Christians. Which follows the idea of the way first century Jews divided up the world between those who are among the chosen (the Jews) and those who are not (everyone else).

To those who were not among the chosen God made himself known in nature. Everyone had the requirements of God's law written on their hearts. Yet because of humanity's corrupted nature, people chose to worship created things rather than the Creator. And thus they were deserving of God's wrath. To the Jews, who relied on the fact that they had been given the Law of Moses. Paul pointed out that they had been unable to keep the requirements of the law. And thus they too were deserving of God's wrath.

In legal terms, at this point in Paul's argument what he has proven is that all people are guilty and deserving of the full penalty of law. Thus, the scene that is set at this point is that the criminal is standing before the judge. The guilty criminal is every human, including you and me. The jury has already declared its verdict:guilty as charged. The judge is about to pass sentence: death.

We might think at this point that the criminal would be remorseful, and maybe he or she is. But it's just as likely that the criminal is defiant and disrespectful. If we were watching on a TV show we might hope at this point that the judge will throw the book at this criminal, who isn't even sorry for his crime. That is, until we realize that we are that criminal.

Then, at the end of Chapter 3, Paul makes the most amazing statement. God looks at the guilty criminal, who might be sneering at him in contempt, and says, "You know, I love you so much, I can't stand to sentence you to be separated from me forever. I can't stand to see you spend the rest of eternity without love, eaten up by a longing that can never be satisfied. But the law requires that the penalty for your crime must be paid in full."

And then the most amazing thing happens, the judge calls his own son before the bench. A beautiful, innocent little boy, who has never gotten in trouble, or ever done anything wrong. Who the Father -- the judge -- loves so much that now we see him weeping. And he says to the contemptible criminal, "I am going to sentence my own son to pay the penalty for your crime. I am going to sentence him to death instead of you. Because you will never obey me, and he will, and without obedience the law can never be satisfied. And more than that, I am going to adopt you into my family. And I am going to put into you my Spirit, the Spirit of my son, so that from now on when I look at you I am not going to see your rebellion and disobedience, I am going to see the righteousness and obedience of my beautiful son. And my Spirit will eventually change you from the contemptible creature that you are now to the likeness of my own son. You are free to go." And the son obediently is led away to the most horrific execution, and you are set free. This is mind boggling. You couldn't make this stuff up.

In the world Paul lived in to be adopted into a new family was legally and actually the same thing as being given a new life. Everything about your past was forgotten, and you instantly received the full benefit of being a member of the new family, including becoming an heir to the family fortune, but also becoming responsible for the family business. In this case, becoming the heirs of God makes us incredibly fortunate because God has all things, so that is why Paul is able to say in verse 32 that God will graciously give us "all things." And, becoming a part of the family business means that we are involved in the same business as God's only son Jesus, and that is the restoration of the world.

I know this may sound silly but this is a great illustration of our new condition. And that is the comparison of a cucumber to a pickle. Before the sentence that was passed that set us free we were cucumbers. After, we are pickles. We are fundamentally different than we were before. We can never go back from being pickles to being cucumbers. Now there is a lengthy discussion of the difference between cucumbers and pickles, only luckily for us Paul describes it as the difference between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit.

Life in the flesh is the way we lived before we were saved. This is the way of the world. What does this look like? Look at the values of our culture. We value physical beauty, wealth, power. We think of things in a transactional way; we think that we have to earn our value. We rarely care for others, only when doing so will benefit us. We always worry about what's in it for us. We can't see the future very well. We live for the moment. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah in the slogan of those who are perishing, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." (1 Cor. 15:32 NIV).

Now let us contrast that with what it looks like to live in the Spirit. I can't think of a better description of this that what Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians: "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Gal. 5:22-23 NIV).

Life in the Spirit is a life that is lived to please God. It is a life that is lived to participate in the family business of restoring God's kingdom. It is a life that is characterized by the same kind of obedience we saw from God's own son. The self-sacrificing, self-forgetting love that is willing to give all for the stranger, even for the enemy, without any thought of reward other than the welfare of the other. This is a way of life that values things very differently than the world. This is a life, in fact, that is offensive to the world. That is why anyone who is very good at it is bound to suffer persecution or even death.

Paul tells us that because God gave us his Spirit our lives driven to look like what I just described as life in the Spirit. Here we run into a real conundrum because any of us who are honest with ourselves know that our lives don't always look like that. Some of us, especially when we are new Christians, look a lot more like people who live by the flesh than those who live by the Spirit. So how can we seriously say that we have been given new lives when our behavior makes it look like we're still living the old way?

Part of it, we have seen, has to do with what we intend, what we desire. People who are driven by the desires of the flesh are not concerned about pleasing God. They are only concerned about pleasing themselves. People who are driven by the desires of the Spirit are concerned about pleasing God. The fact that they are not always able to demonstrate the characteristics of life in the Spirit, that they are not always able to produce the fruit of the Spirit, that they are still prone to selfishness and sin; the fact that that causes them to suffer guilt and remorse shows that they are in fact being changed into someone who is a member of this new family. What Paul calls being conformed to the likeness of Christ.

Let's recall how Paul describes his own struggle with sin in Chapter 7 of Romans:

Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! (Ro. 7:21-24 NIV)

"What a wretched man I am!" This is not the cry of a man who doesn't care about pleasing God. And it is not the cry of a man who is free from sin. It is the cry of every Christian; none of us are able to live up to the standards of our new family. Not yet, anyway. But we will be.

"Who will rescue me?" is Paul's agonizing question. And the triumphant answer is, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Ro. 7:25 NIV). Remember the scene I just described earlier in the courtroom, where the judge went off his head and substituted his own son for the criminal. That is the deliverance Paul is describing here.

Let us go back to that scene and finish out the legal scenario. Here we are the criminal who has been acquitted and adopted into a new life of freedom. That life of freedom we now live is not something that will become evident right away. We may not feel that we are worthy of our new life. We may doubt that what we just witnessed was real. After all, it makes no sense whatever. We know we are guilty and continue to accuse ourselves.

And there are others who accuse us. The world, the flesh, and the devil. We can imagine our great adversary, Satan, rising up at the verdict and shouting "Objection!" And we might be filled with fear that our newfound freedom and righteousness will be short-lived indeed. This is where Paul's closing argument poses four unanswerable questions that lead to the assurance of our salvation and ultimate glorification.

The first question is: If God is for us, who can be against us? God is the judge in this courtroom. There is no higher court, there is no one to appeal to. Anyone who would want to see us condemned is without recourse. God's judgment stands, even if it doesn't make sense. If God has acquitted us, no one can stand against us. We will come to glory.

Question number two. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It's not that no one wants to bring charges against us. We can see all of our enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil, angrily pointing at us and accusing us of all of our transgressions, past and present, and even future. Can you imagine it? "How can you do this? How can you let this criminal off the hook?" But since it is only God who judges, and only God who condemns, and since we have already been acquitted by God, the judge's ears are closed to further accusation.

The next question. Who then is the one who condemns? No one can condemn. The penalty for all crimes has been paid by Christ. God's own son is standing at the dock, and whenever anyone suggests that we owe anything to God, he says, "No, dad. I already paid for that. This person has no debt to pay. I already paid it in full. Tetelestai, it is finished."

Finally, Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Christ's love has been demonstrated only because of his love and not because of anything we did to deserve it. God loved us when we were totally undeserving of love. When we deserved to be condemned forever, God loved us unconditionally. Because we didn't do anything to earn God's love, we can't do anything to lose it. And even though for now we may have to endure the conditions Paul describes: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or the sword. In the end, because we are in Christ, we will rise with Christ. As Jesus told his disciples, "In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NIV).

And so we are more than conquerors. Nothing can stand between us and eternal peace and happiness. The curse of the world has been reversed in us and can never harm us again. Jesus paid it all. "Tetelestai. It is finished." As Paul has stated elsewhere in his letter to the Philippians "I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:4-6 NIV)

And so Paul can triumphantly announce:

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro. 8:37-39 NIV).

Signed. Sealed. Delivered. The deed is done.So how should we respond to this? Let's once again take Paul's advice, this time from his letter to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything." (Philippians 4:4-6 NIV).

This week, do something that publicly demonstrates your assurance of salvation. Show someone selfless love. Be public in your joy of salvation. Be a peacemaker. Use forbearance. Be kind. Be good. Be faithful. Be gentle. Use self-control. Let the world know that your life is driven by the awesome Spirit of the living God. Amen.

Let us pray.

Blessed be the Lord our God for the love which you have shown us through Jesus Christ our Lord. In him who loved us we are conquerors over hardship, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and the sword. In the silence of abandonment and solitude, of sickness and death, pour out the riches of your blessing, that we may be ever more faithful to serve you in our sisters and brothers, and that our joy to do your will be ever greater. We bless you and glorify you, for you listen to the silence of our hearts. You act within us with power, healing us and leading us to speak in the name of Jesus, your Son. Send us into the world to carry out your will and to break down the walls of silence which separate us. May we witness to you, our only Savior, being ever more united by “one faith and one baptism”. And may we grow in grace and in the peace of God which passes all understanding, that your name may be glorified. Amen.

Sermon Notes 10/14, Romans 8:28-30 “All Things Work for Good?”

Sometimes when I’m watching suspenseful TV shows and something shocking happens in the middle it gets really hard to watch. For example if the drama is set up in such a way that it seems like one of the major characters has had something really catastrophic happen to them. This is deliberate of course. The writers want you to be concerned and afraid; that’s part of the dramatic effect. I wonder if I really enjoy those parts of the show. If it’s on a DVD or I’m streaming I sometimes will look at the clock-counter to see how much longer I’m going to have to suffer, reassuring myself that the show will eventually be over and the plot complications resolved. And I often have to remind myself – reassure myself really – that this character can’t die or get fired or quit, because they are essential to the plot line. The show couldn’t go on without them. You know that somehow it’s all going to work out because you know the character is in next week’s episode. So I am able to endure the uncertainty of the moment because I know in the end it’s all going to be OK.

Have you ever had that experience? From watching a TV show or maybe from reading a book? What about in real life? The same thing happens in real life doesn’t it? We find ourselves in some uncomfortable position and we endure it by thinking about what it will be like after it’s over. I experienced that quite a bit when I was in the Navy. One of the major topics of conversation of the guys who were my shipmates was how great it was going to be when our tour of duty was over and we got to go to our next duty station. Or home. It was always going to be great. And somehow dreaming about the good things we believed would happen in the future made it easier to endure the suffering that was happening right now.

This week we’re going to go back to Paul’s letter to the Romans. We’re still working our way through Chapter 8 and at the rate we are going we should have it pretty well covered by New Years. That’s supposed to be funny. I will grant that we are working our way through the chapter slowly, but that’s because there is so much to learn from these few verses of scripture.

For example, there have been whole volumes written trying to come to terms with the concepts that are presented in the three verses we are going to look at today. Because these verses touch on two topics that are the most debated and controversial in all of Christian doctrine: Providence and Predestination. It is entirely accurate to point out that wars have been fought, kingdoms toppled, and tens of thousands of people killed defending or trying to promote their own ideas about these concepts. I think that in itself is a tragedy. It is one of those things that non-believers point to when they try to dismiss the Christian faith. “How can they say that they are following Jesus’ commandment to love,” they rightly ask, “when they are busy killing each other over theological niceties?” This is not the way to draw people to God.

Let’s go ahead and read the text, and then we’ll talk about some of the ways it has been controversial, and how we might make some sense of it from a Reformed, or Presbyterian, or Calvinist perspective:

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 NIV).

There is an old maxim that has been attributed to St. Augustine in the 5^th century that goes, “In the essentials, unity. In the non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.” I think this is a good way to approach differences of opinion with our Christian brothers and sisters who believe differently than we do. We do not surrender any truth, but we approach what we believe to be error with the attitude of Christ. I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t burn anybody at the stake.

Now what are we looking at here? It seems to me that we could rephrase the whole thing in one sentence: God makes all things work for good for those who love him, because he has chosen them to love him. Even stating it in this simple way, it must seem unbelievable.

I’m going to spend the next few minutes looking at two things: Providence, the idea of all things working for good, and Election or Predestination, the idea that God choses some and not others to receive his special blessing. Again, I am going to approach these topics from a Reformed perspective because I believe that perspective to be more biblically sound, and because we are a Reformed congregation, but along the way I am not going to disparage anyone who differs with this interpretation.

Let’s look at the first part, “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him….” (Ro. 8:28 NIV). Can this really be true? Isn’t this saying that if I love God I won’t experience hardship and suffering? Doesn’t this seem like the philosophy of one of those New Age prosperity groups who put forward the idea that if you just imagine good things happening they will happen?

I have to say that if that was what was being said here by Paul, that I would have to agree that it was a bald-faced lie. Did you ever think about what that means? Why do you think a bald-faced lie is worse than a regular lie? Well anyway if that was the worst kind of lie there is, this would be one. And we all know it. We all suffer and experience hardship, probably on a daily basis. And we also experience blessings. We are generally healthy and prosperous and surrounded by those who love us. But this is not so because we love God. Lots of people who deny God experience these things.

We don’t suffer because we don’t love God, and we don’t prosper because we do. Just think if that was true we could just work our way into the right frame of mind – loving God (whatever that means) – and we’d never have to suffer and we’d always have everything we want. That would make things a lot easier and more pleasant wouldn’t it? But, for whatever reason, that would not serve God’s purposes. And of course what God intends is supreme: it will happen. God is absolutely sovereign.

And so we have to conclude that whatever Paul is saying in verse 28, it is not that we won’t suffer and will prosper if we love God. I think the first thing we have to settle is what Paul means by “good”. And I won’t claim that I have the definitive answer but I do think we have to consider that what God considers to be good goes beyond what we can experience in the present moment. Let’s look at a really good biblical example of this, in the Book of Genesis and the story of Joseph.

Joseph was one of the sons of Jacob who was renamed Israel. So the twelve children of Jacob were the fathers of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. You all remember that Israel was the people chosen by God to be his coworkers in reversing the curse of Adam and Eve and building a new kingdom of God.

The story of Joseph starts in chapter 37 of Genesis. The first thing we learn is that Joseph was a young and handsome man. He was seventeen when the story begins. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age, and he demonstrated this by making Joseph an ornate robe. This made Joseph’s brothers jealous. Joseph had two dreams that seemed to suggest that at some point Jacob and Joseph’s mother and all of his brothers would bow down to him, and that he would rule over them. Joseph’s father rebuked him for this, and his brothers hated him,

The animosity between Joseph and his brothers became so great that when the brothers had the opportunity they decided to kill him and they threw him into the bottom of a well. But at the last minute, rather than killing him, the appearance of a caravan going down to Egypt gave them the opportunity to sell Joseph into slavery. Once the caravan arrived in Egypt Joseph was sold to Potiphar, who was captain of the Pharaoh’s guard.

Joseph was a good servant to Potiphar and eventually Potiphar put him in charge of his whole household. But because Joseph was young and good looking he had some trouble with Potiphar’s wife. She tried to seduce him. Joseph refused to be unfaithful to Potiphar and to God, but this made Potiphar’s wife angry and she falsely accused him of trying to rape her. In reality it was the other way around, but the upshot of it was that Joseph ended up in prison.

The rest of the story is one of those complicated Old Testament tales, but as time goes by Joseph is delivered from Prison by using the gift of interpreting dreams God has given him, and eventually he ends up in charge of all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. After this the entire region, including Egypt and Canaan, the land where Jacob and his sons lived, experienced a terrible famine. Joseph was wise enough to have stored enough grain in Egypt for the people to survive, and because of that people came from the surrounding countries to try to trade for grain.

Jacob sent his sons down to Egypt to buy grain, and it is there that they once again encounter Joseph, although they do not recognize him. Through another complex series of events Joseph manipulates the situation such that eventually he is able to bring his father and all of his brothers to Egypt. There he cares for them through the rest of the famine. When his father Jacob dies in Egypt the brothers are afraid that Joseph will exact vengeance, and they all bow down before him (just like in the original dream that Joseph had) and say, “We are your slaves.” (Gen. 50:18 NIV). And then we read this in the last chapter of Genesis:

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Gen. 50:19-21 NIV).

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…” Let’s look at this story and see how it fits with what we read in Romans about all things working for good for those who love God. If something like this happened in today’s society, Joseph’s brothers would have all gone to jail for kidnapping and human trafficking. And this would be no small offense; we’re talking about spending decades in prison. And although there wasn’t any state to enforce laws against such things in Canaan where Jacob and his family lived at the time, the offense was little less serious then. Otherwise why would the brothers have been so guilt ridden even years later when Jacob sent them down to Egypt?

And this could not have been a pleasant experience for Joseph either. Think of it. He is the youngest and favorite son. He trusts his brothers, but they take away his prized robe and throw him in a well leaving him to die. Then later they come back and sell him into slavery. He is falsely accused of rape and ends up in prison. I don’t know about you, but if all of this happened to me I’d start to wonder what God had against me. What could I possibly have done so wrong to deserve this calamity after calamity?

There was nothing good about this situation. On the one side you had malice, jealousy, and hatred; and on the other you had undeserved suffering and calamity. I doubt that when Joseph was in the well waiting to die, or when he was in Pharaoh’s prison, he was thinking, “Well, I’m sure something good is going to come from all this.” He could not have seen the good that God was arranging.

And yet, years later when he is able to save his father and brothers and their families, Joseph was able to recognize that all of the suffering and hardship that had befallen him had worked together for the greater good: the salvation of his loved ones. And even then, Joseph could not have seen that this was just one episode in the bigger story of the redemption of the whole world.

Because of the circumstances Joseph had been forced to endure he was able to preserve the children of God’s promise to Abraham, the ancestors of those chosen by God to be coworkers with him in reversing the curse of Adam and Eve and builders of God’s new kingdom of righteousness, justice, and love. Our own ancestors in the faith. How could Joseph have seen that through his suffering he was to play a crucial role in God’s overall plan of salvation? Even if someone had told him, he would probably have thought it was all a lie. And in this I doubt if he was that different from us. He must have thought to whole thing unfair. But we know now, in retrospect, that this was God’s Providence; God working to arrange all things for good for those who love him.

And here I think we can catch a glimpse of the second part of Paul’s verses in Romans: the idea of “Election,” or “Predestination.” Joseph must have spent his whole life asking “why me?” At first it was “why have I been chosen to endure all of this undeserved suffering and injustice?” Later, it had to be, “why was I chosen to rule over Egypt and bring about the salvation of my people?” And in either case I’m sure he would not have been able to come up with a satisfactory answer. Even now, when we can see so much more than Joseph had been able to see, how could we state with any certainty why it was Joseph who was chosen and not one of the other brothers, or someone else entirely? We cannot. It is beyond our reckoning.

But we can say with certainty that God does choose those he wants to do his work of salvation. He does it not because of any attribute that we know of in those who are chosen. If we look through the Bible at those God chose to do his work, we find an amazing array of rogues. We see cheaters, liars, murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, foreigners, tax collectors and sinners rising up to accomplish God’s purposes. These are not the ones we would expect. If we were writing the story don’t you think we would make Pharaoh the major character instead of some shepherd from the middle of nowhere who had the misfortune to be sold into slavery by his jealous brothers? And don’t you think we’d make those brothers come to some unhappy ending for their crimes, instead of making them the revered patriarchs of God’s chosen people?

Now let me just drift away from our main topic here to briefly address this issue of Election or Predestination. Look at the diagram and look at the first item on the list Election. The two basic ideas about how people come to be among the Elect (chosen) are referred to as Predestination and Prevenient Grace. Prevenient grace holds that God makes his salvation available to all people indiscriminately, and that some chose to take advantage of the offer of grace and others do not. The Calvinist or Reformed idea that is more in keeping with the traditions of the Presbyterian denomination holds that God is absolutely sovereign in his choice of who is to be saved; and that those who are saved can neither choose it nor deny it.

The first idea, Prevenient Grace, at first glance seems better. Everybody gets an even break. If you don’t take it, that’s your fault. You go to hell and it’s your own choice. The second idea seems harsher. First off, it seems to violate our ideas of equality of all people. If God has chosen some and not others that means we’re not all equal. And going beyond this is the idea that some people will spend all eternity in hell just because God capriciously chose that way. And finally, there is the idea that if my salvation is determined by God then it doesn’t matter how I behave. If I am not chosen, I can be the most pious person who ever lived and I will still go to Hell. If I am chosen, I can be the worst lying , cheating, back-stabbing, stealing, violent, self-centered, lustful sinner and I am still going to heaven. Does that sound fair?

When we get to Romans Chapter 9 we are going to look at some of the scripture that supports both sides. The main scriptural support for the idea of Prevenient Grace comes from 1 Timothy where Paul tells us God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4). I will not argue with that statement. But as difficult as it may be to accept the witness of scripture seems to be that God doesn’t always get what he wants.

God wanted Adam and Eve to obey, but they did not. God wanted the Israelites to live according to the law, but they did not. The history of God’s relationship with people is one of God earnestly desiring his people to do one thing for their own good, and people rebelliously choosing to do another to their destruction. In his infinite love, scripture tells us from first to last that God wants everyone to be in full communion with him. He wants it so badly that he sent his son to die to make it possible. But when we look around us in the world, I think we have to agree that there are many who have no relationship with God. So we have to admit that it looks like God doesn’t get what he wants.

The biggest problem with the idea of prevenient grace is that it takes away God’s sovereignty. It puts the choice of salvation in the hands of people rather than God. This may sound liberating but it is not supported in scripture. Scripture tells us in various places that those who are chosen are chosen by the sovereign will of God and no other reason. In Chapter 11 of the gospel according to John we read about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Did Lazarus ask to be raised from the dead? How could he? He was dead! Was there no one else in Palestine that died that Jesus could have chosen to raise? I’m sure there were plenty. But out of all of those, Jesus chose Lazarus. Why? I don’t know. Ask Jesus. I don’t know why he did it, but I know he did it. Jesus chose, not Lazarus. Lazarus was incapable of choosing.

On the other side, the objections to God’s sovereign choice are not founded in scripture. The idea that if I have been chosen I can sin in any way I want to and still go to heaven is refuted by a number of scriptures including the chapters in Romans we have been looking at where we have noted that if we are living according to the Spirit we will grow to become more and more Christ-like, the process called sanctification. If I am truly chosen, though I am still capable of sinning, I will more and more choose not to sin because it grieves the Spirit and causes me too much pain.

Secondly, and I think this is the greater objection, how can God just choose to indiscriminately send people to hell? What kind of a loving God is that? This idea brings up the picture of someone standing before the judgment throne pleading for one last chance to repent and God saying, “Nope. Sorry. It’s too late.” And the miserable creature falls through the sky to land in Hell forever.

We can talk on a different day about what Hell is. We can talk on a different day about whether we can hold God to our standards of justice, and how God might go about choosing who is among the Elect and who is not. But let me assure you right now that no one who desires God will ever miss him. No one who desires heaven will miss it. Because if you desire God, that is a desire that God gave you. God chose you to desire him, just like Jesus chose Lazarus.

Look around at those people who do not live as if they were among the Elect and you will notice that they have no desire for God. Ask them. Say to them, “God has a plan where you can live at perfect peace and freedom forever in intimate communion with him.” We have a duty to say that, both in word and deed, to the whole world. How do people respond? Some will jump at the chance, but others will be repelled by the message. “What? Are you nuts? What kind of medieval nonsense is that? I don’t want peace and freedom I want cash!”

Paul tells us in the first letter to the Corinthians, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18 NIV). Even though at first glance it seems to violate our own notions of justice, in the end the doctrine of God’s sovereign choice is both more logical and better supported in scripture. If you desire God, God desires you even more. As C.S. Lewis writes:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.

So I think the best evidence indicates that our election is entirely in the hands of God. But having said that, I will note that there are many who disagree completely with this idea. I am called to love them with the same love that Jesus showed to us. In the end none of us can know the mind of God. But when we are enjoying God forever, we will not be bothered about who was right about election.

Going back to our main topic of God making all things work for good for those who love him, we can’t deny that God is bring all things together for good just because we are suffering. The story of Joseph shows us that even though we may experience what seems to be injustice and undeserved suffering, God has a bigger plan that we can’t see. God knows the end of the story. We each are chosen to play our own part in it. Sometimes it’s confusing. Sometimes it hurts. But God knows the end of the story, and the end is good, for us, and for everyone.

Remember at the beginning of the message today I talked about how sometimes we are in the middle of a TV show and it seems that things are not going well but we are able to endure the drama because we know in the end it’s all going to be OK? It is the same in our lives. We may suffer and hurt, but we know in the end it’s going to be OK. God is the author of happy endings. He has promised us a happy ending. Go and read the last two chapters of the Bible, and you’ll see what God has in store for us. It is so amazingly good.

Let us pray. This prayer is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

“I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:14-19 NIV).

I Pray This for All of You

I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14-19 NIV).

Are We Like The Prophets of Baal?

Well we had a pretty fun retreat up in Julian over the last couple of days. The theme of our retreat was the Holy Spirit. We talked a little bit about the theology of the Holy Spirit on Friday night, and then on Saturday morning we talked about what a Spirit-filled life looks like. This morning we're going to continue our theme with a look at what the Spirit-filled church looks like.

We're going to focus on a story from the Old Testament. You may be familiar with the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. You may be wondering what that could possibly have to do with the Holy Spirit and a Spirit-filled church. Let's read the story first, and then we'll see about how it fits.

²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. ²³ Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” ²⁶ So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” ³² With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³ He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶ At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (1 Kings 18:20-39 NIV)

One of the reasons I chose the theme of the Holy Spirit was because I think we tend to neglect the power that is available to us through the Spirit. We have been looking at Paul’s letter to the Romans for the past several weeks and we have been working our way through Chapter 8 where Paul describes life in the Spirit versus life in the flesh. In this case when we say to be driven by the desires of the flesh we mean to be driven by the desires we would have if we were just “in the world”; if we were not saved and brought back into relationship with God.

We have talked about how being baptized into Christ signified a fundamental change. We saw that we are rescued by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus by being identified with his death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus dies, was buried, and was risen from the dead. We too have died, been buried, and risen from the dead. Obviously that does not mean that our physical bodies have died, but if we are Christians we are nevertheless identified with the risen Christ. The actual glorification of our resurrected bodies is something that is yet to happen, but if we are identified with Christ it is certain that we will be glorified as he is.

Holy Spirit 101

Now at the retreat we looked at who the Holy Spirit is. We learned a number of things about him. He is one of the three persons of the Trinity, co-equal with the Father and the Son. He is no more or less than the Father and the Son. He is a person like the Father and the Son, not “the Force.” The Holy Spirit is eternal and Holy. The Holy Spirit has his own mind and prays for us. The Holy Spirit has emotions. We can grieve the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has his own desires and will. For whatever reasons he wills to give the gifts he gives to whom he chooses. (1 Cor. 12:11). The Holy Spirit is:

• Omnipotent (Zech. 4:6)
• Omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-8)
• Omniscient (1 Cor. 2:10b)

The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to continue to continue the work of Jesus. The Holy Spirit lives in us – both our own bodies and the Church. And then we saw in the Book of Acts how we receive the Holy Spirit: As he was getting ready to be taken up into heaven Jesus was with his disciples and he instructed them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. The disciples obeyed because that’s what people do when someone rises from the dead and starts giving instructions.

After a few days the Jewish feast of Pentecost was celebrated in Jerusalem. Remember that the disciples are still sitting around in a room waiting, they’re not sure what for, and probably timid, rattled, and doubtful. Then in Chapter 2 of Acts we read about this happening:

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues ^x as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4 NIV)

Pentecost was a great festival of the Jews and Jews came from all over the world to celebrate the festival in Jerusalem. After they had received the Holy Spirit the apostles, who had been afraid, who had been scattered, went out into the crowd and began to preach about Jesus. The very first Christian sermon ever preached was preached that day by Peter. Remember Peter had denied Jesus but now he was fearless. How do you think that could happen? And when he was done preaching people in the crowd asked him “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 NIV).

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38 NIV).

Repent and be baptized. What does it mean to repent? It means a complete change of direction. It means completely abandoning one way of life and adopting a new one. (flesh vs. Spirit). It means adopting a moral lifestyle for the reason of being part of Jesus’ saving work in the world.

The Spirit-filled life

Yesterday morning we talked about what it meant to lead a Spirit-filled life. Remember that Peter told the crowds who asked that they should “repent and be baptized.” Baptism is an outward sign of a fundamental change that has taken place that I described earlier. We die but are born again “in Christ.” Once we are born in Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now let’s recall that the gift of the Holy Spirit that the apostles received at Pentecost filled them with boldness and confidence.

Peter was a fisherman, but suddenly he’s transformed into a bold preacher who delights in taking on the religious authorities and suffering for Jesus. How do you think this transformation occurred? This new confidence could not have come from Peter, it had to come from the Spirit he had just received. And if we are “in Christ” then we should also have the same Spirit as Peter.

What does this mean in a practical sense? It means we actually contain within us the power of God. With it we should be able to do anything, overcome any obstacle. Jesus tells us that we can do even greater things than he did, just like John read this morning.

“Very truly I tell you," Jesus says to his followers, "whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these..." (John 14:12 NIV)

The point is here that we should be able to do miraculous, supernatural things. Jesus says we will do even greater works than his own works! Is that what our lives look like? If not, why do you think not?

I think it is because we are neglecting the power of the Spirit within us. In the Book of Acts we see that Peter and James became unbelievably bold preaching the gospel, even in the face of the threat of imprisonment and death. The apostles and the first Christians, filled with the Spirit, were willing to die for the gospel. The history of Christianity in Korea is filled with tales of incredible courage in the face of persecution. In some places in the world today, like in China or in the Islamic world, preaching the gospel can bring imprisonment and death. And yet there are those who risk themselves to spread the good news.

Does my life look like I am walking in the Spirit? How is it not? Do I believe that with the Spirit’s leading I can do works greater than Jesus? What is keeping me from that? Is my life distinguishable from the lives of non-believers? What can I do to be led by the Spirit?

At the retreat I gave a handout that lists some things that we should be able to do if we are being led by the Spirit. I have had a number of them made so that everyone here can have one, and I’d like to suggest that you take it home and read it and consider how you can make these promises come true in your life. There is a copy of this document at the end of this post. We should be really bold. We should not be afraid. Does this describe you?

The Spirit-led Church

So now we come to today and we want to consider what it means that our church is filled with the Holy Spirit. In today’s scripture we read about Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Elijah was a prophet who lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel between the time of David and the exile. During this time the Kings of Israel abandoned God’s law and eventually abandoned God himself. Rather than following God and his law, they worshipped the local God Baal which included idol worship, something God detests.

Elijah was already in hot water with the King Ahab because he had told him to his face that he was a troublemaker – that his worship of the Baals had brought calamity to Israel in the form of a drought. Finally Elijah forced the showdown that we read about today. I want us to just look at a couple of things here and then we’ll end.

Let's first look at the prophets of Baal. They were representatives of the mainstream religion. They were faithful, but they put their faith in the wrong things. They put their faith in their religious actions rather than in God. They thought that if they just did the right things (dancing, praying, cutting themselves) they could get God to respond. They had an energetic and vocal worship service. And nothing happened

Now the prophet Elijah. He was an outsider. He was looked at as a radical and a kook. He could have easily blended in with everyone else and it would have been a lot safer for him. But instead he took on the King himself. He was unbelievably bold. He prayed to God in heaven to send down fire and God sent down fire.

How did he pray? "I am your servant and have done all these things at your command." (1 Kings 18:37). He prayed that his actions would glorify God, not himself. He wasn't trying to get his ritual right, he wasn't relying on the right religious actions or ideas. He wasn't trying to get the words of his prayers to say just the right thing that would move God. He was relying on the power of God to work. He was being led by the Spirit.

What happened? He prayed that God would send down fire and God sent down fire. Just like the fire we saw at Pentecost, the power of God descending from heaven. Except that at Pentecost, God himself came to live in his people, both in the hearts of each of his followers and in the community of believers that is the Church. And that means us.

Now what about the people? What were the people doing in all this? When confronted with a clear choice between continuing to follow the world and following the Spirit what did they do? They did nothing. But after God had demonstrated his power through Elijah what did they do? ^"When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!'” (1 Kings 18:39 NIV). And notice that they didn't glorify Elijah -- they glorified God!

When the power of the Spirit works through his followers, God himself gets the credit, not us. And that is as it should be, because we live by the power of the Spirit. Now what does this have to do with the Spirit-filled church? Do you think that if we called upon God to send down fire in our midst today he would do it?

Do you think for example that if we all together here fervently asked God to set these plants on fire he would do it? Honestly, I don’t think it would happen. Why not? God doesn’t send his Spirit to prove himself or to entertain us with cheap fireworks displays.

But do we even believe that God could send the fire? If we are Christians, we must believe that he has already sent fire. We are filled with supernatural power no less than the followers who were converted on the day of Pentecost.

Do we really believe this? Can people around us see that we believe it? Does our church congregation demonstrate this? Are the people on Miramar Rd. and in the surrounding neighborhood amazed at the power of God we demonstrate here? Do they see what’s happening here and shout “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (1 Kings 18:39 NIV). If not, why not?

If we are not making a visible difference don’t you think we have sold ourselves short? Don’t we look more like the prophets of Baal than Elijah? Don’t you think we have relied on empty religious ritual to comfort us? To give us a way to appease God and maybe manipulate him into granting our wishes? Have we really internalized the unbelievable reality that the Holy Spirit is in our midst? In the middle of us as Christians and as a Christian congregation? And that he wants to perform miracles through us?

Please go this week and earnestly pray that the Holy Spirit will demonstrate his power in your own lives and in the life of our congregation. Don’t be surprised if the Spirit gives you radical ideas. Don’t be afraid to bring those ideas here, so that we can test them and put them in action. Please spend some time in reflection on the things in the handout I gave you about the Holy Spirit. Let’s learn to live the great adventure God intended for us when he put his Spirit in us. Let us pray:

Spirit, we know that we have done wrong by You. Please forgive us for grieving, resisting, and quenching You. We have resisted You through sin, through our rebellion, and through our hardness of heart. At times, we have been spiritually blind. At other times, we knew what You wanted us to do, but we chose to ignore Your promptings. Yet this is not how we want to live now. We need You to change us. Only through You can we truly worship. Spirit of the Lord, You are the one who brings us to a place where we can worship. You are the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of life. Thank You for the truth, the holiness, and the life You give us. We need Your wisdom and understanding as we seek to live this life. Keep us from disbelief, from fear. We need Your strength to help us do what you are asking us to do and to live how You are asking us to live. Speak loudly and drown out the other voices calling us to conform to the patterns of this world. You are the Spirit of self-control and love. Give us the self-control needed to deny our flesh and follow You. Give us a love strong enough to motivate courageous action. Manifest Yourself through us that we may serve and love Your bride, the church, as You do. Come, Holy Spirit, come. We don’t know exactly what that means and looks like for each of us yet, in the particular places You’ve called us to inhabit. But, nonetheless, whatever it means, we ask for Your presence. Come, Holy Spirit, come.[1]

The Holy Spirit Works in My Life

I have benefited so much from taking each of these promises literally, meditating on them, and asking for them. Take time to dwell on each one. Consider how each one is manifest in your life; and if it isn’t, spend some time asking God for that specific thing.

· The Spirit helps us speak when we are in precarious situations and need to bear witness (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:12).

· The Counselor teaches and reminds us of what we need to know and remember. He is our comforter, our advisor, our encourager, and our strength. He guides us in the way we should go (Ps. 143:10; John 14–16; Acts 9:31; 13:2; 15:28; 1 Cor. 2:9–10; 1 John 5:6–8).

· From the Spirit we receive power to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. It is the Spirit who draws people to the gospel, the Spirit who equips us with the strength we need to accomplish God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit not only initially draws people to God, He also draws believers closer to Jesus (Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:26; Eph. 3:16–19).

· By the power of the Spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the body. The Spirit sets us free from the sins we cannot get rid of on our own. This is a lifelong process we entered into, in partnership with the Spirit, when we first believed (e.g., Rom. 8:2).

· Through the Spirit we have received a spirit of adoption as children, which leads us into intimacy with the Father, instead of a relationship based on fear and slavery. The Spirit bears witness to us that we are His children (Rom. 8:15–16).

· The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin. He does this both before we initially enter into right relationship with God and as we journey through this life as believers (John 16:7–11; 1 Thess. 1:5).

· The Spirit brings us life and freedom. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom, not bondage or slavery. In our world that is plagued with death, this is a profound truth that points to real hope (Rom. 8:10–11; 2 Cor. 3:17).

· By the power of the Holy Spirit we abound with hope because our God is a God of hope, who fills His children with all joy and peace (Rom. 15:13).

· As members of God’s kingdom community, each of us is given a manifestation of the Spirit in our lives for the purpose of the common good. We all have something to offer because of what the Spirit gives to us (1 Cor. 12:7).

· The fruit of being led by the Spirit of God includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These attitudes and actions will characterize our lives as we allow ourselves to be grown and molded by the Spirit. The Spirit is our sanctifier (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 5:22–23).^[2]

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[1]Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (Colorado Springs, Colo.: David C. Cook, 2009), 165-166.

[2] Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (Colorado Springs, Colo.: David C. Cook, 2009), 73-76.