For The Person Who Is Everything
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
For Sundays In Advent, Christmas, And Epiphany
One of life's interesting experiences is learning how to respond to gifts. As a child matures toward adulthood, certain rituals help the child understand the importance of properly responding to those who provide a gift. On the occasion of graduation from high school, a student sends announcements to family and friends. Often a number of these recipients of announcements are people the student has never met. Then, the gifts begin to arrive. As the days since receiving the gift start to mount up, sometimes the student (especially a male student) must be "encouraged" to write a "thank you" note to the senders.
One hopes that by the time the child has reached the state of marriage, he or she is better experienced in understanding the importance of acknowledging and thanking individuals who send gifts.
These two rituals are important due to the fact that the ones receiving the gifts are themselves financially unable to pay back the senders. Acknowledging gifts that cannot be paid back is important. How does one acknowledge the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to bring us near to God? There is no thank you card worthy of being mailed. What words could possibly acknowledge a gift so large as the atoning death of Jesus? By his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has made forgiveness the central reality in our life. Our sins are remembered by God no more. We are free to start over. All charges are dropped. All mistakes are forgiven. All failures are erased.
According to Hebrews, attendance at worship is the appropriate "thank you" card for acknowledging Christ's sacrifice. Why come to worship? Hebrews says because Christ died for us. The author encourages readers to bring out the best in his or her fellow Christians. And the best place to do this, the author says, is in the context of a worshiping community.
This whole issue seems self-serving when the preacher says it. Today's world is witnessing a number of desperate moves to try to increase worship attendance. In fact, much of what passes as contemporary worship is little more than a religious game of "bait and switch." You know how bait and switch works in advertising. A store will carry a few items that have been widely advertised at a low price. Then, when customers are attracted into the store looking for the product which has "sold out," the salesperson attempts to sell a higher-priced product. One attraction gets you there and you are blindsided into walking out with a pricey substitute.
In religious circles, sometimes the guitars, strobe lights, sports figures, food court, and the like get you into the "church" so you can be sold Jesus. Worship attendance has become that big of an issue. Marva J. Dawn's book, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, has tried to analyze the gap between meaningless, routine traditional worship practices and shallow, equally meaningless contemporary worship. In both instances, she notes that members of a congregation seldom hold each other as their primary community.1 The kind of intimacy, encouragement, and persistence alluded to in Hebrews exists in either traditional or contemporary worship.
Let's face it, the clarion call not to forsake worship is difficult to hear in a world of self-interest. When we face diversity, the great temptation is, indeed, to "dumb down" instead of encourage the finest expectations that we can imagine. When one type of worship does not appeal to a contemporary Christian, the "church shopping" process begins. One way we deepen the problem is by holding to the unrealistic expectations of fellow church members. We torment ourselves with the image of perfect churches where people love each other and are each other's best friends, eager to admire one another's accomplishments. This is unrealistic and historically inaccurate. Why do you think people like Paul and the author(s) of Hebrews and other letters and epistles in the first century era wrote so many letters? The congregants were always bickering and arguing. The authors probably couldn't stand to visit them.
The church is a frail, human institution. But it is the one institution for which Christ died. God uses the church and its worship services to touch people's lives. The only way to learn about Jesus is to be with other people who know Jesus and share their lives with you. You must be around people who take great care to protect you from the influences that would corrupt you. You must be exposed to the stories and rituals that contain the heritage of Christianity so they can be passed from you to the next generation.
In a way, churches are like vegetables in a garden. They respond to different outside influences. Some spend more time in the sunlight. Others spend more time in dark, shady places. These will grow differently. Some, like vegetables, grow in crowded areas while others grow in open spaces. The crowded environment church may not be as full or developed as the rural environment church. But it most likely will be tastier!
The point is that all churches have one thing in common: worship is their proper response to the God who is everything to us. Corporate worship is not only the response God desires, but it is also our salvation. We like ourselves best when we like those around us who are also acknowledging Christ's death for us. Our efforts to encourage others come right back to us. As James Barrie said, "He who distributes the milk of human kindness cannot help but spill a little on himself."
This is not to be misunderstood as some kind of psychological triumphalism. To the contrary, worship is attachment to God in proper response to Christ's sacrifice and attachment to fellow Christians in common support. It is a social phenomenon. To be certain, it cuts against the grain of what Will Willimon has called the "Kantian fiction of the individual as the sole center of meaning"2 for our society. As David Buttrick has noted, the Bible cannot be read as a mere collection of facts or as an exclusive message of personal psychological salvation. Such is to ignore its spiritual depth and its social message. The same can be said of participation in Christian worship. It seeks to form God's people in both faith and service. While worship deepens our knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, it also encourages our obedience to God's will in Jesus Christ.3
This cuts through the false battle between the church growth people and the advocates of psychological and spiritual nurturing of individuals. Church is part of a new order in a New Kingdom that embraces the totality of all the citizens in the Kingdom. Worship is the cement that holds this Kingdom together. Consequently, the King who is everything considers worship to be the proper response to the great gift we have been given.
Worship is the primary heart of a church's life. We certainly need to thank God for the gift of Christ in our lives before we can spread that gift out to a world in need. We adults who are so insistent that our children learn to be gracious need to display our own gratitude to God for giving us the person who is everything. Before a jet airplane departs the runway, passengers hear a word of precaution from a flight attendant. It goes something like this: "Should we experience an unforeseen drop in cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down in front of you. Take the mask and put it over your nose and mouth. Breath normally for a few seconds. If you are traveling with small children, put the mask on yourself first and then you will be able to help your child."
When we respond first to the person who is everything to us, we can then help those children who are traveling through life with us. One of life's important experiences is learning how to respond to gifts. How do we respond to the person who is everything to us? Read the epistle to the Hebrews.
____________
1. Marva J. Dawn, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), pp. 26-28.
2. William H. Willimon, Reading With Deeper Eyes: The Love of Literature and the Life of Faith (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1998), p. 23.
3. David Buttrick, A Captive Voice: The Liberation of Preaching (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), pp. 14-15.
One hopes that by the time the child has reached the state of marriage, he or she is better experienced in understanding the importance of acknowledging and thanking individuals who send gifts.
These two rituals are important due to the fact that the ones receiving the gifts are themselves financially unable to pay back the senders. Acknowledging gifts that cannot be paid back is important. How does one acknowledge the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to bring us near to God? There is no thank you card worthy of being mailed. What words could possibly acknowledge a gift so large as the atoning death of Jesus? By his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has made forgiveness the central reality in our life. Our sins are remembered by God no more. We are free to start over. All charges are dropped. All mistakes are forgiven. All failures are erased.
According to Hebrews, attendance at worship is the appropriate "thank you" card for acknowledging Christ's sacrifice. Why come to worship? Hebrews says because Christ died for us. The author encourages readers to bring out the best in his or her fellow Christians. And the best place to do this, the author says, is in the context of a worshiping community.
This whole issue seems self-serving when the preacher says it. Today's world is witnessing a number of desperate moves to try to increase worship attendance. In fact, much of what passes as contemporary worship is little more than a religious game of "bait and switch." You know how bait and switch works in advertising. A store will carry a few items that have been widely advertised at a low price. Then, when customers are attracted into the store looking for the product which has "sold out," the salesperson attempts to sell a higher-priced product. One attraction gets you there and you are blindsided into walking out with a pricey substitute.
In religious circles, sometimes the guitars, strobe lights, sports figures, food court, and the like get you into the "church" so you can be sold Jesus. Worship attendance has become that big of an issue. Marva J. Dawn's book, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down, has tried to analyze the gap between meaningless, routine traditional worship practices and shallow, equally meaningless contemporary worship. In both instances, she notes that members of a congregation seldom hold each other as their primary community.1 The kind of intimacy, encouragement, and persistence alluded to in Hebrews exists in either traditional or contemporary worship.
Let's face it, the clarion call not to forsake worship is difficult to hear in a world of self-interest. When we face diversity, the great temptation is, indeed, to "dumb down" instead of encourage the finest expectations that we can imagine. When one type of worship does not appeal to a contemporary Christian, the "church shopping" process begins. One way we deepen the problem is by holding to the unrealistic expectations of fellow church members. We torment ourselves with the image of perfect churches where people love each other and are each other's best friends, eager to admire one another's accomplishments. This is unrealistic and historically inaccurate. Why do you think people like Paul and the author(s) of Hebrews and other letters and epistles in the first century era wrote so many letters? The congregants were always bickering and arguing. The authors probably couldn't stand to visit them.
The church is a frail, human institution. But it is the one institution for which Christ died. God uses the church and its worship services to touch people's lives. The only way to learn about Jesus is to be with other people who know Jesus and share their lives with you. You must be around people who take great care to protect you from the influences that would corrupt you. You must be exposed to the stories and rituals that contain the heritage of Christianity so they can be passed from you to the next generation.
In a way, churches are like vegetables in a garden. They respond to different outside influences. Some spend more time in the sunlight. Others spend more time in dark, shady places. These will grow differently. Some, like vegetables, grow in crowded areas while others grow in open spaces. The crowded environment church may not be as full or developed as the rural environment church. But it most likely will be tastier!
The point is that all churches have one thing in common: worship is their proper response to the God who is everything to us. Corporate worship is not only the response God desires, but it is also our salvation. We like ourselves best when we like those around us who are also acknowledging Christ's death for us. Our efforts to encourage others come right back to us. As James Barrie said, "He who distributes the milk of human kindness cannot help but spill a little on himself."
This is not to be misunderstood as some kind of psychological triumphalism. To the contrary, worship is attachment to God in proper response to Christ's sacrifice and attachment to fellow Christians in common support. It is a social phenomenon. To be certain, it cuts against the grain of what Will Willimon has called the "Kantian fiction of the individual as the sole center of meaning"2 for our society. As David Buttrick has noted, the Bible cannot be read as a mere collection of facts or as an exclusive message of personal psychological salvation. Such is to ignore its spiritual depth and its social message. The same can be said of participation in Christian worship. It seeks to form God's people in both faith and service. While worship deepens our knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, it also encourages our obedience to God's will in Jesus Christ.3
This cuts through the false battle between the church growth people and the advocates of psychological and spiritual nurturing of individuals. Church is part of a new order in a New Kingdom that embraces the totality of all the citizens in the Kingdom. Worship is the cement that holds this Kingdom together. Consequently, the King who is everything considers worship to be the proper response to the great gift we have been given.
Worship is the primary heart of a church's life. We certainly need to thank God for the gift of Christ in our lives before we can spread that gift out to a world in need. We adults who are so insistent that our children learn to be gracious need to display our own gratitude to God for giving us the person who is everything. Before a jet airplane departs the runway, passengers hear a word of precaution from a flight attendant. It goes something like this: "Should we experience an unforeseen drop in cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down in front of you. Take the mask and put it over your nose and mouth. Breath normally for a few seconds. If you are traveling with small children, put the mask on yourself first and then you will be able to help your child."
When we respond first to the person who is everything to us, we can then help those children who are traveling through life with us. One of life's important experiences is learning how to respond to gifts. How do we respond to the person who is everything to us? Read the epistle to the Hebrews.
____________
1. Marva J. Dawn, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), pp. 26-28.
2. William H. Willimon, Reading With Deeper Eyes: The Love of Literature and the Life of Faith (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1998), p. 23.
3. David Buttrick, A Captive Voice: The Liberation of Preaching (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), pp. 14-15.
