Hidden In Church Worship
Sermon
The Christ Who Is Hidden
Sermons For The Lord's Supper
One Sunday morning Clarence Jordan, who founded the Koinonia Farm experiment and authored the Cotton Patch Version of the Bible, was standing across the street from the church he attended. He was watching the people, with their fine clothes and hats, go into the church. About the time he decided to cross the street and go into the church himself, the town drunk wandered up to him. They stood and talked for a minute or two. Even the fascination of the well-dressed folk going to church caught the drunk's eye. Referring to the sight, he said to Dr. Jordan, 'Isn't it ridiculous they are going to church and hell, too?'
Is it dangerous to go to church? Jesus tells a parable about two men who go to church. In this parable, Jesus indicates that people go to church for different reasons.
Jesus summarizes one this way:
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.'
(vss. 11-12)
The Pharisee, according to this parable, went to church to report to God what he had done. Jesus pictures this man's attitude, as he stands in his church, by saying that the man 'prayed thus with himself.' This man did not go to church to pray to God, to seek God's will for his life, or to express his love to God. His prayer had nothing to do with thanksgiving, nor with praises to God. In his prayer, the Pharisee said nothing about his love for God, nor did he say anything about the unconditional love and mercy of God.
No! This man went to church to inform God -- to report --
about all the good work he had done. He 'prayed thus to himself.' He went to church to pat himself on the back and say to God, 'Look at me, God! I'm a great fellow. See all I've been doing for you. Surely, God, you love me more than any other because of all that I do.'
This Pharisee's attitude in going to church reflected something more. It reflected his philosophy of life. He trusted in his own goodness for salvation. His faith was in his good works. He said, 'I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' Even the law of Moses did not require that much of anyone. But this man went beyond the requirements of the law. And then he had the nerve to remind God of all his deeds.
The Pharisee had found salvation in his good works. The theologian Paul Tillich reminds us that every person has a 'god.' That is, every person has something -- or someone --
to which he or she has as an 'ultimate concern' -- as the center of life. Of course, it is easy to see the Pharisee's 'god.' His ultimate concern was recognizable. His purpose -- or central reason -- for going to church was not God-centered. Rather, it was self-centered.
In his report to God, he bragged that he was better than anyone else. In effect, his prayer said, 'God, I am a much better Christian than that old tax collector over there. I do so much more for your kingdom than he does.' His churchgoing made him feel good. He left church feeling 'real good' about himself. He was not sure, but it just might be that God could not get along without him.
In truth, there is nothing wrong with church-going making you feel good about yourself. In fact, it should make us feel good. It ought to lift our spirits and help us see life differently. But for the Pharisee, his going to church made him selfsatisfied, comfortable with who and what he was. He did not need to change a thing about his life. He did not see any need for change in his life.
Some years ago a milk company advertised its product by saying that its milk came from 'contented cows.' If I hear the gospel of Christ correctly, it cannot do anything with or for a person who is 'contented.' If a person is contented, he or she needs nothing from God. God has nothing to offer such persons. Such a person has everything he or she wants already. Thus, God simply had nothing the Pharisee needed or wanted.
It is like the lady who told her minister, 'I want you to know right now that I am the hardest worker and the best Christian in this church.' At that point, she began to list the things she did for the church. 'If I quit coming to this church,' she concluded, 'it will die and the doors will have to be closed.' Do you think God had anything she needed? I don't think so. She was satisfied. She was in love with, and comfortable with, who and what she was. She had no room for change.
It is at this point we must say a word about the deeper sin involved here. A self-satisfied attitude always breeds contempt for others. Persons like this Pharisee begin to think and act out the idea that God loves them more than anyone else. They are special. God needs them more than others. They think that they are God's right-hand person. Such thinking causes them to feel super-spiritual. When this happens, such persons begin to treat and speak to other persons as if they are inferior.
Their attitude becomes a life style. It becomes their way of relating. There is an ancient rabbinical prayer that says it well. A rabbi of old writes, 'O Lord God, if there are only two righteous men in all the world, I and my son are the two; but, Lord, if there is only one, I am he!' Does that sound familiar? Does it sound like anyone we know? Do we hear ourselves in it?
The person who goes to church only to report will certainly go away empty-handed. That person will receive nothing from God, because that person will ask nothing of God. Is it dangerous to come to church? Some years ago John Warwick Montgomery wrote a small, intriguing book titled, Damned through the Church. He talks about the dangers of going to church. He says, 'Damnation through the church is possible only when one is indifferent to or rejects the grace of God.'
And moreover, says Jesus, this person will go home condemned in the sight of God. That is, he or she has rejected what God offers as a gift.
Jesus describes the other attitude that is brought to church by some people: But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
(vs. 13)
When the tax collector stood in church, he did so differently. He was there because he needed something from God. And he knew that what he needed could be found in no other place. If he was going to find what he needed, it would be in the church of the living God who brings salvation.
Can you see him? He stood with his head bent, with his chin touching his chest. In deep pain, he cried out, 'O Lord God, I don't deserve your great love. Please be forgiving to me, a sinner.'
The attitude of this man was one of repentance, not reporting to God when he came to church. He came to ask God for a new start, with the old life passing away. Who among us does not need or want a new beginning?
'Do you know anyone who is perfect?' asked a minister of her congregation. It really was only a rhetorical question. She did not expect or need an answer. Yet, in the back of the church, a little lady spoke up, answering, 'Yes, my husband's first wife!' We are not perfect. That's the Bible's truth. We all have fallen short of God's needs and expectations of us. We have not lived out what God intends us to be.
Years ago I read about a mountaineer who gained a reputation as a marksman. Everywhere one could find targets where he had hit the bull's eye. After many years of such a reputation, he was asked how he was able to always hit the bull's eye. His answer was, 'It's easy. I just back away from a tree or fence and shoot. Then I draw a circle around it.'
In the Bible, sin is understood as missing the mark. We do not really talk much about sin anymore. In fact, there has been such a silence about sin that several years ago a psychiatrist -- of all persons -- wrote a book titled, Whatever Became of Sin? According to the author, Karl Menninger, no one in the church is concerned with or wants to talk about sin in our modern-day society.
It is when we discover that we are not perfect, but stand in need of the grace of God, that our church-going takes on an appropriate attitude. Our church-going becomes a time of repentance. It becomes God-centered, not centered in ourselves.
Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, put into words what I am trying to say. He writes somewhere these words: 'There are many sorts of love… and every distinct sort of love has its distinct expression, but there is also a love by which I love God, and there is only one word in the language which expresses it… it is repentance… as soon as I love God… I repent.' Now, that's the philosophy of the tax collector as he goes to church.
Going to church should be a time of repentance, a time of need. We all stand in need of God's grace. As Christians, we must remember that we never reach the point where we do not need to receive the love and forgiveness of God. Jesus said, 'This man went down to his home justified.' He went away in a right relationship with God. Going to church ceases to be dangerous when we come with an attitude of need.
What does this say about coming to the table of the Lord? There is a lovely story of a young woman whose life had been broken upon the reefs of moral errors. She attended a communion service in a little church in the Scottish highlands. When the invitation was given, she hesitated. The minister, knowing her life, held forth the sacred elements to her and said, 'Take it, lassie; it's for sinners!' The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is always at this altar for sinners. And we are saved by grace -- not by our works. So receive God's grace with thankful hearts.
When we come to church, we are in the midst of God's grace, and how we leave church depends on how we respond to that grace. If we come to the table of the Lord simply to report, we will certainly receive nothing from the hands of God. But, if we come repenting, then we will be given the grace that heals and forgives.
Is it dangerous to go to church? Jesus tells a parable about two men who go to church. In this parable, Jesus indicates that people go to church for different reasons.
Jesus summarizes one this way:
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.'
(vss. 11-12)
The Pharisee, according to this parable, went to church to report to God what he had done. Jesus pictures this man's attitude, as he stands in his church, by saying that the man 'prayed thus with himself.' This man did not go to church to pray to God, to seek God's will for his life, or to express his love to God. His prayer had nothing to do with thanksgiving, nor with praises to God. In his prayer, the Pharisee said nothing about his love for God, nor did he say anything about the unconditional love and mercy of God.
No! This man went to church to inform God -- to report --
about all the good work he had done. He 'prayed thus to himself.' He went to church to pat himself on the back and say to God, 'Look at me, God! I'm a great fellow. See all I've been doing for you. Surely, God, you love me more than any other because of all that I do.'
This Pharisee's attitude in going to church reflected something more. It reflected his philosophy of life. He trusted in his own goodness for salvation. His faith was in his good works. He said, 'I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' Even the law of Moses did not require that much of anyone. But this man went beyond the requirements of the law. And then he had the nerve to remind God of all his deeds.
The Pharisee had found salvation in his good works. The theologian Paul Tillich reminds us that every person has a 'god.' That is, every person has something -- or someone --
to which he or she has as an 'ultimate concern' -- as the center of life. Of course, it is easy to see the Pharisee's 'god.' His ultimate concern was recognizable. His purpose -- or central reason -- for going to church was not God-centered. Rather, it was self-centered.
In his report to God, he bragged that he was better than anyone else. In effect, his prayer said, 'God, I am a much better Christian than that old tax collector over there. I do so much more for your kingdom than he does.' His churchgoing made him feel good. He left church feeling 'real good' about himself. He was not sure, but it just might be that God could not get along without him.
In truth, there is nothing wrong with church-going making you feel good about yourself. In fact, it should make us feel good. It ought to lift our spirits and help us see life differently. But for the Pharisee, his going to church made him selfsatisfied, comfortable with who and what he was. He did not need to change a thing about his life. He did not see any need for change in his life.
Some years ago a milk company advertised its product by saying that its milk came from 'contented cows.' If I hear the gospel of Christ correctly, it cannot do anything with or for a person who is 'contented.' If a person is contented, he or she needs nothing from God. God has nothing to offer such persons. Such a person has everything he or she wants already. Thus, God simply had nothing the Pharisee needed or wanted.
It is like the lady who told her minister, 'I want you to know right now that I am the hardest worker and the best Christian in this church.' At that point, she began to list the things she did for the church. 'If I quit coming to this church,' she concluded, 'it will die and the doors will have to be closed.' Do you think God had anything she needed? I don't think so. She was satisfied. She was in love with, and comfortable with, who and what she was. She had no room for change.
It is at this point we must say a word about the deeper sin involved here. A self-satisfied attitude always breeds contempt for others. Persons like this Pharisee begin to think and act out the idea that God loves them more than anyone else. They are special. God needs them more than others. They think that they are God's right-hand person. Such thinking causes them to feel super-spiritual. When this happens, such persons begin to treat and speak to other persons as if they are inferior.
Their attitude becomes a life style. It becomes their way of relating. There is an ancient rabbinical prayer that says it well. A rabbi of old writes, 'O Lord God, if there are only two righteous men in all the world, I and my son are the two; but, Lord, if there is only one, I am he!' Does that sound familiar? Does it sound like anyone we know? Do we hear ourselves in it?
The person who goes to church only to report will certainly go away empty-handed. That person will receive nothing from God, because that person will ask nothing of God. Is it dangerous to come to church? Some years ago John Warwick Montgomery wrote a small, intriguing book titled, Damned through the Church. He talks about the dangers of going to church. He says, 'Damnation through the church is possible only when one is indifferent to or rejects the grace of God.'
And moreover, says Jesus, this person will go home condemned in the sight of God. That is, he or she has rejected what God offers as a gift.
Jesus describes the other attitude that is brought to church by some people: But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
(vs. 13)
When the tax collector stood in church, he did so differently. He was there because he needed something from God. And he knew that what he needed could be found in no other place. If he was going to find what he needed, it would be in the church of the living God who brings salvation.
Can you see him? He stood with his head bent, with his chin touching his chest. In deep pain, he cried out, 'O Lord God, I don't deserve your great love. Please be forgiving to me, a sinner.'
The attitude of this man was one of repentance, not reporting to God when he came to church. He came to ask God for a new start, with the old life passing away. Who among us does not need or want a new beginning?
'Do you know anyone who is perfect?' asked a minister of her congregation. It really was only a rhetorical question. She did not expect or need an answer. Yet, in the back of the church, a little lady spoke up, answering, 'Yes, my husband's first wife!' We are not perfect. That's the Bible's truth. We all have fallen short of God's needs and expectations of us. We have not lived out what God intends us to be.
Years ago I read about a mountaineer who gained a reputation as a marksman. Everywhere one could find targets where he had hit the bull's eye. After many years of such a reputation, he was asked how he was able to always hit the bull's eye. His answer was, 'It's easy. I just back away from a tree or fence and shoot. Then I draw a circle around it.'
In the Bible, sin is understood as missing the mark. We do not really talk much about sin anymore. In fact, there has been such a silence about sin that several years ago a psychiatrist -- of all persons -- wrote a book titled, Whatever Became of Sin? According to the author, Karl Menninger, no one in the church is concerned with or wants to talk about sin in our modern-day society.
It is when we discover that we are not perfect, but stand in need of the grace of God, that our church-going takes on an appropriate attitude. Our church-going becomes a time of repentance. It becomes God-centered, not centered in ourselves.
Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, put into words what I am trying to say. He writes somewhere these words: 'There are many sorts of love… and every distinct sort of love has its distinct expression, but there is also a love by which I love God, and there is only one word in the language which expresses it… it is repentance… as soon as I love God… I repent.' Now, that's the philosophy of the tax collector as he goes to church.
Going to church should be a time of repentance, a time of need. We all stand in need of God's grace. As Christians, we must remember that we never reach the point where we do not need to receive the love and forgiveness of God. Jesus said, 'This man went down to his home justified.' He went away in a right relationship with God. Going to church ceases to be dangerous when we come with an attitude of need.
What does this say about coming to the table of the Lord? There is a lovely story of a young woman whose life had been broken upon the reefs of moral errors. She attended a communion service in a little church in the Scottish highlands. When the invitation was given, she hesitated. The minister, knowing her life, held forth the sacred elements to her and said, 'Take it, lassie; it's for sinners!' The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is always at this altar for sinners. And we are saved by grace -- not by our works. So receive God's grace with thankful hearts.
When we come to church, we are in the midst of God's grace, and how we leave church depends on how we respond to that grace. If we come to the table of the Lord simply to report, we will certainly receive nothing from the hands of God. But, if we come repenting, then we will be given the grace that heals and forgives.
