The real hope and change, according to Paul writing to the Romans

Hope and Change has a nice biblical ring and cadence, but it has been misused as a political slogan. Paul explains hope and change in Romans 7-14 with a crash course in Jewish history.

God made a promise to Abraham--that he would populate the earth with his descendants through his wife Sarah, who was beyond child bearing age (and laughed at God's plan). Abraham received this promise through faith, not by being a good person (which he wasn't, at least not good enough).

Even when there was no reason for HOPE, Abraham kept hoping--believing someday he would be the father of many nations. He believed in God who brings the dead back to life and created galaxies and universes out of nothing.

Abraham believed God. That's what his HOPE was based on. He was convinced that God would keep his word. For this he was counted as righteous. And so are we, children of Abraham, believing in the one who raised Jesus from the dead, making us righteous and bringing us to a place of undeserved, unearned privilege and joy. . . and that's the change.

Don't fall for a slogan, a pretty face or handouts from the government to do God's work. Do it Paul's way.

An Analysis of the Pre-Pauline Creed in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Last night in Pastor Eric's class "Ten tough questions" at the Mill Run campus of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church he discussed the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is absolutely central to the Christian faith, and I've been surprised by some who prefer to focus everything on the cross, or everything on good works. Eric showed us the 12 appearances of Jesus over a period of 40 days after his death (after a very vivid description with slides of how and why no one survived a crucifixion). Then he focused on the first Christian creed, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, which predates all the Gospel accounts and predates Paul's own experience (Damascus Road). It's a fairly simple creed, but one the earliest Christians may have been saying to each other 1-3 years after the Resurrection. You are wasting your time hanging around Christian churches for the music, the values, the projects that make you feel good, or even a salary, if you deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. And this is our hope for our future, too.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures
and that he was buried
and that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Eric's presentation isn't on the web site yet (the class is recorded), but here's something very similar.

An Analysis of the Pre-Pauline Creed in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

Short series on the Apostles' Creed

Our latest sermon series has been on the Apostles' Creed, which first appeared around the year 200, and is the essence of and distills the teachings of the New Testament.

The scripture (first reading) today was Colossians 1:15-23. Wow. What a powerful text. I looked at it in several versions when I got home, but still like the NIV the best. If every church committee, board and service group were to read this at every gathering and meeting, I do believe there would be less squabbling about acquiescing to the demands of various movements and contemporary culture. . . "so that in everything he might have the supremacy"

Colossians 1:15-29 (New International Version)

The Supremacy of Christ

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Paul's Labor for the Church

24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Christians call home NOW

Today I was poking around in Internet Archive (digitized media of all type) and just plugged in "Christian" and visual media, and got about 500 hits. For "Islam" and media I got over 8,000. This is media of any kind--from old missionary movies to modern alternative rock concerts by Christians with a message, to audio of sermons from the 60s. Unfortunately, the one I pulled up (among the Christian group) was a very overweight, blond preacher in orange shorts, brown t-shirt, navy bandana around his forehead, wandering around a stage. I won't even give you his name--he should be ashamed. His appearance was so distracting, I didn't stick around to hear the message, could've been a put-on, put-down of Christianity--but from the whoops and hollars from the audience, the "kids" loved it. In the Islam section I found a very nicely done film on God and creation--the Koranic view combined with current science. Flipping through the thumb-nails in the Islam section, I'd say they are serious. I don't know how many techies my church employs, but there are a lot of them, plus volunteers. Someone needs to begin uploading our sermons and Sunday school instruction.

I often wonder how Paul did it. 20,000 miles and 38 years. He managed to convert people FROM their pagan culture to the Christian faith, without partaking in the orgies, pagan worship, lasciviousness, the art, the music or the philosophy which in the Roman world must have been overpowering. Except for one who said,

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Cor. 2:2

Are we watching the end?

I caught a few minutes of the Obama celebrations last night, as he is the presumed candidate of the Democrats. John McCain, the unconservative interloper candidate of the Republicans looks mighty weak and frail, both in thought, word and deed against a young man with no history of doing anything except smoozing with the Chicago machine and various "social justice" think tanks. He's propped up by Move on dot org, George Soros and ACORN, to say nothing of the tenured radicals of the 60s, at least those whose brains have survived the haze of drugs of their youth. I've never cared for Hillary Clinton, but over these past few months I found myself wishing that Thompson or Huckabee or Romney had shown even a fraction of her determination and drive. She out campaigned and out talked Obama at every point, but his machine was stronger than hers, although I don't see a spider's web width difference in their policies and plans.

So I turned to the book of Acts, because none of this is new, it's all there. Nations and leaders rise and fall in God's plan. I am not a dispensationalist; the fascination that some Christians have with the Left Behind series and picking a verse here and there to match up with the newspaper headlines leaves me--well, left out. But the one question I always have, since it only seems to be Americans who get into this, just where is the United States in all the prophecy of end times? Paul probably has the answer, Acts 17:26-31.

He's in Athens and he proclaims the Gospel to a group that might be compared to a lunch bunch sitting around in the Faculty Club at OSU philosophizing over politics, history and biology--most likely they've even bought into man-made global warming and chuckle over Bushisms (the stammering of Obama doesn't bother them). By their own behavior and publications they are admitting they haven't found God, just like the guys Paul encountered that day. Most won't listen to Paul who begins with the announcement that God created the universe, that he is Lord of heaven and earth that they have descended from Adam and they won't find him or serve him with their man made efforts.

"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being."(NIV)

If that's not clear enough, here it is in the New Living Translation, a paraphrase which reads like a sermon on the text:

"From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him--though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist." (NLT)

In short, God is in control; we aren't. And it appears we have frittered away our inheritance and are settling for a false messiah.

Sermon Take-aways

We had a good reminder this morning from the pulpit about building the core muscles of our bodies, and the core of our faith. Usually by this time (2 hours later) I remember little of the sermon, but I recalled this from some medical literature--"Core exercises are an important part of a well-rounded fitness program. Aside from the occasional sit-up or crunch, however, core exercises are often neglected." It reminded me I'd forgotten to pay attention to the core in my exercise program.

The other take-away was to use the gift of prophecy--um, well, we weren't told when to use it (it's the least popular of all the gifts listed in the OT or NT), only not to use it in a critical, harsh way, always keeping before us Paul's letter to the Corinthians and his admonition about love. Immediately before that wonderful chapter 13, come chapters 11 & 12, when Paul tells them (I don't know if this was prophesying or just being cranky Paul) they are doing everything wrong when they assembled for worship. The women weren't covering their heads, the men had long hair, which he considered disgraceful, they were getting drunk when they gathered for fellowship rather than observing worshipfully the Lord's Supper, they were squabbling about who had better gifts and whether the gift of tongues was more important than that of miracles, etc. He says it's OK for women to prophesy and pray--just not with short hair or uncovered heads.

Then in chapter 14, he says to desire especially the gift of prophecy because it edifies the church and is for believers, not unbelievers. He says that if an unbeliever happens across a service where there is prophesying, "he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"(NIV)

Then Paul closes (as he opens with in Chapter 2 and inserts in Chapter 11) with a reminder for all churches (not part of today's sermon). I consider chapter 15 the core of our faith, not Chapter 13, which is a both a description on how to end disputes on gifts and a picture of what perfection will remain when all else passes away: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and (he lists all the people to whom he appeared). . . If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

It may not be the gift of prophecy, but like Paul I nag about this a lot. . . my SALT group, my Women of the Word group, my pastors, my Christian friends, my husband's friends, the Visual Arts Ministry, food pantry ministry, churches I visit, conference speakers I meet, people I encounter on the Internet, Christian writers, books I review--anyone who will listen . The death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a good starting point--it is the point. When you wander away from that, the core muscles of your faith will soon be flabby, your witness will weaken and your service opportunities will dry up.

A template for pastors

Our congregations (3 locations, 10 services) are reading/preaching through the New Testament. This week we start Romans. I was struck by what a wonderful template it is for pastors--both in outline and topics. Always begin with the gospel. Paul goes on to remind the Christians in Rome of many other points--don't conform to the world, be joyful in hope, pay your taxes, bear with the weak, keep your bodies holy--but he starts with the gospel. It won't make any difference what else you've taken as your topic of the day or Sunday School lesson, if you don't ground it in the gospel, it isn't love and it's a clanging cymbal.

One of our pastors, Jeff Marian, has received a call from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minnesota (Minnesota's next to heaven for good Lutherans, I've concluded--at least in the USA). UALC sends him out with love and regrets--he has a large following here, and his oratory is magnificent (I'm sure there's a better theological term, but it escapes me at the moment). So from the book of Romans, here's my send off (modified letter from Paul) for Pastor Jeff:

Jeff, a servant of Christ Jesus,
called to be an apostle
and
set apart for the gospel of God,
the gospel God promised us beforehand
through
His prophets in the Holy Scriptures
regarding
His Son Jesus,
who as to his human nature was a descendant of David
and
who through the Holy Spirit
was declared with power
to be the Son of God
by his resurrection from the dead.
Through him and for his name's sake,
Jeff has received grace and apostleship
to call the people of Minnesota
to obedience that comes from faith in Jesus Christ.
And we also, here in Columbus at UALC,
are among those who are called
to belong to Jesus Christ.

And we well deserve it

The closing paragraph of a powerful presentation on the Book of Acts by Frederick W. Baltz at the Word Alone November, 2007, Theological Conference. Word Alone is a renewal movement within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America:

“Stanley Hauerwas, distinguished theologian of the Methodist tradition, has said: God is killing the mainline churches, and we goddamn well deserve it. Can we expect God to bless denominations or congregations that depart from the biblical paradigm for the Spirit-led? The faithful ministry of the Word still reaches people’s hearts and changes their lives. If we can do nothing else for a denomination whose leaders are not ready to listen, let us demonstrate the blessings that flow from following the biblical paradigms we find in the Acts of the Apostles.”