What's the point if there is no point?

From Genesis to Revelation, it is all about Jesus and salvation. That's the point. When Christians begin pointing to Easter just once a year, that's when we get into trouble and start working on getting to heaven on our own steam or denying what we have to others.

Yesterday I "fanned" a site recommended by a member of my church. On the Facebook page I thought the "mission statement" sounded a bit academic, almost jargon of the type that often signals trouble ahead. My years as a liberal didn't fail me. I clicked over to the webpage of this group that attempts to save people from some of the horrors of this life--mostly political and material--evidence that we do indeed live in a fallen world. There was not a word about Jesus on any page I looked at. It was Christ-less, God-less and hope-less, and it quickly brought me back to 1974 when I looked out the dining room window of my nice home in the suburbs with adorable healthy children and happy marriage and realized I didn't know God and it meant nothing.

The Gospel is also for believers. It is by hearing it from our pulpits or in our small groups or in our mission work, even if some think it's too often and too much, that the good news takes us out of our own little séance of navel gazing, thinking it's all about us.

Too often organized Christianity uses the misfortunes of others either to whip themselves into guilt over material blessings or to elevate themselves by doing good works. The poor and hungry need the gospel just as much as the CEO out in the suburbs with the comfortable home and fat investment account, so let's not leave them without hope in the event we don't get the well dug or the school opened or the home built as we move on to the next crisis that hits the headlines.

Where's the Good News?

My husband was listening to me complain, for the umpteenth time, that so many Christian Life (a subject category) books are about 80% fluff and cotton candy. I showed him "God's Gift for Mothers" a Thomas Nelson (2008) inspirational paperback. It has about 100 meditations on marriage, parenting, friendships, careers, children, etc. arranged by subject, beginning with ABIDE and ending with WITNESS. Very little about Jesus except in the most generic, general way, not even in the Preface, where the Good News might have been a foundation for building on other topics. I read to him the LOVE passage--it's not untrue, it's just not the TRUTH about love as revealed in Jesus:

"Poets have tried for centuries to capture the essence of love. The Bible tells us quite simply that real love is caring more about others than we care about ourselves and our own needs. Be a model of selfless love in your relationships. It will be contagious." p. 75 (John 13:34)

My husband said no daily meditation book could include the Gospel in every selection. But there is one that hits the mark about 99%. Concordia Publishing (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) manages to produce 4 times a year a daily meditation pocket or purse size booklet, Portals of Prayer, where the authors of most entries begin with a scripture, then 1) introduce the day's topic with an anecdote, 2) move to application in your life, then close with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in some form--usually in two sentences. Sometimes the (3) authors will switch the template around a bit, but usually this is the pattern. I mean, how hard can it be to say, You are a sinner unable to please God, but Jesus has died on the cross for your sins and risen from the grave, and you will too as a believer? Yet, that powerful message, the theme of the Bible from the fall to the 2nd coming, seems to be the toughest for Christian writers and publishers to either quote directly or paraphrase!

Here are some examples: April 2 (which begins with the role of an architect in construction)

"Regardless of our diligence, we cannot earn favor with God. But Jesus earned God’s favor on our behalf. Christ accomplished the work of our salvation when He carried our sins on the cross. His resurrection was God’s mark of approval that proclaims Christ’s victory over our sin. We cannot add to His gift, but daily work, done in faith, can be a grateful response that honors our Master Architect."

May 26: Here's the concluding paragraph for the Memorial Day selection which began with an explanation of the holiday, then an opinion on war, then the Good News about how our works are judged:

Those who die in Jesus do not appear before Him empty-handed. "Their deeds follow them." A soldier returning to headquarters is followed by a report stating what he has done. All believers report to God because their names are written in the Book of Life, and all that they have done by faith in the Son of God follows them. In that day, we will rejoice as all that God has done in us will be remembered to His glory and our blessing."

The June 25 selection includes background on the Augsburg Confession, in which Lutherans call the Roman church away from abuses in the church and concludes with:

Without clear proclamation of Jesus as Savior, the Church would fail. No matter what things disturb the Church, Jesus must remain the center of preaching and teaching. This was the concern . . . of the reformers. . .and it remains the concern of the Church until Christ returns in glory. Jesus, the Center, will sustain us, forgive us, and grant us life until that final day."

Amen, Christian writers and publishers.

Why does it matter if you already know the Gospel and walk by faith? Why can't you start or end the day with something fluffy, pink or sweet? The number one reason to remind believers of the Good News is so they will keep their eyes on Jesus and not slip back into a works mentality, believing it all depends on them, or it is pay back time, or they need to run ahead to see what needs to be done.

How do you plan to get to heaven?

I don't know how you're doing, but I'm not good enough to go to heaven. Someone else is getting me in for free. Jesus. Jeff Marian, one of our pastors at UALC, noted in the church newsletter,

A recent study asked church-goers: Can a good person earn his or her way to heaven?
52% of Presbyterians,
54% of Lutherans,
58% of Episcopalians,
and 82% of Roman Catholics said YES! Are you among them?

The truth is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, not by any good deeds that we do. The Bible tells us that salvation is not a program, but a relationship with Jesus! People still need to hear that very basic message of our faith. Are you willing to be a messenger of God’s free gift?

The people in the pew need to hear this every Sunday from the pastors too, because they can be lulled into a works mentality--particularly in our American culture where "bootstrapping" is considered a virtue. They can get so busy and so proud of their accomplishments (or so discouraged by their lack of them) that they forget what the good news is all about. I don't mean the entire message of the sermon has to be on the cross and resurrection followed up with an altar call, but it needs to be the foundation of the sermon. Peter and Paul always laid the ground work when writing to the young Christians in the first century of the church. Then they moved on to the "to do list" of faith.

Accompanying that sermon, it also helps to have a well written liturgy that expresses "and for HIS sake forgives you all your sins," a fabulous, spirit-led choir and director , and some solid hymns that reinforce the good news. That will send us out eager and ready to be a messenger.

What's so bad about the Good News?

After last night's "Scenes from his nativity," a musical banquet performed at our church to coincide with The Friends of the Creche fourth biennial convention in Dublin, Ohio, I was floating. Words can't describe how beautifully the program and music led to the manger of Bethlehem. It began with scenes from the crucifixion in "God so loved the world," by John Stainer, which is really the heart of the Christian faith, and then took us back and developed the theme of the coming of the Savior. The spectacular final piece, "Is it really you?" [Words by Carolyn Martin, Music by Michael G. Martin] was commissioned by TFOC and tells the story from the perspective of one of the Wisemen, asking at the end, "Is Jesus Christ born in you?" Yes, this was a program filled with the hope, promise and power of the gospel.

Then this morning I went to check a date on our church's website, and came crashing to the ground. Such a disappointment. You can find the gospel on our website if you first Google "What we believe" + UALC" but it would be a challenge to find even a snippet any other way. Using the website, you'd have to know to first click on the link for visitors, then click on "What we believe" (it isn't there), then on "What worship means," and then from there follow a link to a pdf file, "What we believe." This pdf spreads at 45% to 2 pages, and is comprehensive. Does that mean shorter items about forgiveness, grace, Christ's death, sin, etc. couldn't be sneaked into other links? (The Alpha link doesn't count because that's an international program hosted by our congregation.) The Visual Arts Ministry, which spent weeks hammering out a mission statement that would explain why we are a ministry to reach the community for Christ and not a committee, is lumped with "fellowship groups," and has no spiritual message at all on this site.

Let's not waste my time and yours here quibbling about the God words or whether programs for visiting nursing homes or martial arts for little kids are really forms of "the gospel." Announcing that "we seek to live in and for Jesus" is happy talk, not the gospel. The gospel tells people about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Gentle, non-threatening phrases filled with chummy, non-threatening God words and wussy verbs declare nothing, believe nothing, and move no one.

The emerging church message is not new--it's a battle in Christendom that returns each generation under different names. I attended liberal, main-line Protestant churches with limp messages for 35 years. I know that no one is saved in a liberal church unless like me, they become so desperate for hope and truth, they are driven to look elsewhere. I was that desperate when I attended UALC for the first time in 1974. There were no websites then, or 8 page newsletters, or multiple campuses or large staff. Just a minister (Luther Strommen) with a 3 point sermon, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Let's prepare the webpage so there is room for Jesus this Christmas!