OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH

             Two men are neighbors.  Both are good neighbors.  They are honest, family loving, hardworking, faithful, conscientious friends.  One is a Christian and the other is not.  Why?  What makes one a Christian?  Hopefully, Christians are characterized by good works, honesty, love for neighbor, and many other desirable qualities, but none of these provide the one essential mark that Identifies us a Christian.

               Is not the one mark simply the fact that we believe in and are committed to Jesus Christ and thus wear his name?  Jesus said in Matt 10:32, “Everyone who confesses me before others, I will also confess before my Father in heaven.”  We do this when we become a Christian and we do it every Sunday when we confess our faith at the communion table.

               The confession of faith we use is actually a composite of several that are found in the New Testament.  When we say it we are saying what people like Peter, Paul, and all of the earliest Christians said.  The four parts of our confession come from four places in the New Testament.

               Consider first, “JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”  This is what Peter said in Matt 16:16 when Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  They had been hoping for the Messiah, the Christ, for centuries and Peter comes to the remarkable conclusion that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the Son of God.

               Second, “AND MY PERSONAL LORD.”  This reflects the shortest and probably the earliest confession of faith in the NT: “Jesus is Lord.”  Paul says in 1 Cor 12:3, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”  In the Roman context Caesar was Lord; in a world of slavery, the owner was Lord and master; among the Jews it was applied to God.  But now, believers in Jesus confess that he is Lord.

               Next we add: “AND SAVIOR.”  In Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested for preaching Christ.  After a night in jail they were brought before the highest and most powerful Jewish authorities who challenged them: “by what power or by what name have you done this?”  Peter’s answer included these words about Jesus:  “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  It is no accident that the very name “Jesus” means “savior.”  And so we confess him as savior.

               We begin with: “I BELIEVE WITH ALL MY HEART.”  Should this be part of our confession?  Yes, Paul says in Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

               What does it mean to believe “in your heart?”  Or “with the heart?”  The Bible consistently uses the word “heart” to signify the “whole inner self, the source of the inner life, thinking and feeling and volition” (Thurston, Bonnie, God Alone 18).  It means that I believe this so much that I am willing to invest all that I am, my very being in it. 

               This confession of faith is the essential mark that says to the world: I am a Christian.   Will you say it with me now?

I BELIEVE WITH ALL MY HEART THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD AND MY PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR.

ALL THINGS NEW

Psalm 47:1-2; Revelation 22:8-9

               A new year will soon be here.  Have you made your resolutions? When the New Year came to ancient Israel a procession of praise wound its way up Mount Zion to the Temple.  It was a time of festive celebration.  “On New Year’s Day, the first rays of the sun, rising over the Mount of Olives, shone in a straight line through the outer Eastern Gate of the Temple, then on across the Temple court and over the great altar inside, between the two pillars on either side and on down the long corridor into the holy of holies, the sacred recess at the western end.  These first rays of New Year’s Day were called “the radiance of God” and symbolized God’s entrance into the sanctuary. – Just at this moment, the shofar or ram’s horn sounded, and the procession began …” (Jeter, Joseph R. Jr, ReMemberiing).  As they wound their way up the hill and into the Temple area they probably sang the opening of Psalm 47: “CLAP YOUR HANDS, ALL YOU PEOPLES; SHOUT TO GOD WITH LOUD SONGS OF JOY.  FOR THE LORD, THE MOST HIGH, IS AWESOME, A GREAT KING OVER ALL THE EARTH.”

               As the new year began they were reminded that, as the Psalm says,  “THE LORD IS AWESOME, A GREAT KING OVER ALL THE EARTH.”

               As we approach the New Year the media will draw attention to the past and often to a lot of negatives.  Terrible storms, terrorist attacks, the polarization of congress, a contentious political race, war that escalated rather than ending, and if we get personal we can probably think of enough bad things that happened to us to make us miserable.

               Instead, maybe we should adopt instead the view of the psalmist and ancient Israel and place our focus on the Lord, a great king over all the earth.  Or take our cue from the way the book of Revelation ends.  The book summarizes everything that has gone before: the fall of mankind, the strife and sinfulness that followed, and the death that came upon all.  But it also includes the God who sits on the throne and says, “BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW” (21:5). 

               What can we do that will help us look to the future with faith and hope for the fulfillment of this promise?  Hear the answer in the last chapter of the Bible:  NOW I, JOHN, SAW AND HEARD THESE THINGS.  AND WHEN I HEARD AND SAW, I FELL DOWN TO WORSHIP BEFORE THE FEET OF THE ANGEL WHO SHOWED E THESE THINGS.  THEN HE SAID TO ME, “SEE THAT YOU DO NOT DO THAT.  FOR I AM YOUR FELLOW SERVANT, …”   Then he added two words: “ WORSHIP GOD!”

               Two words: worship God.  Remember that we have an awesome God, a King over all the earth.  In the New Year the key to hope for the future lies not in our resolutions but in our worship of God.  In a sense, each Lord’s Day is a New Year, and new beginning, and the Lord’s Table is the place where we can come to worship God and hear him say once again, “BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.”

FIRST AND LAST

               There is something special about first times: first fish caught, first time to drive, first kiss.  Likewise, there is something special about last times too: the last time you play for the school team, the last time to attend a class in High School or college, the last time to sleep in your old room, or the last time you see your parents.

               This “last supper” was special to the disciples because Jesus spoke of the bread as his body and the cup as his blood and then said, “do this in remembrance of me.”  Those words were full of meaning for them.  Certainly it meant, remember our days in Galilee the excitement as God’s Kingdom of love and power seemed to be breaking in everywhere --   the healings, the defeat of demons, even restoring life to the dead.

               Certainly it meant to them, remember his teachings.  And so they remembered the crowds of thousands, and also the small groups pressing close to Jesus to catch his every word.  But as time went by, and Jesus was crucified, then resurrected, it meant more precisely and simply just what he had said, “remember me!”    

               The last supper was both a last and a first event.  It was the last time they would eat the Passover with Jesus, but it was the first time that their breaking of bread and drinking from the cup would focus on him.  It was the first of weekly, even daily, times of remembering him.  Now I am asking you to simply remember him.

"THE DANGEROUS MEMORY OF JESUS CHRIST"

“THE DANGEROUS MEMORY OF JESUS CHRIST”

            Recently I came across a phrase coined by the German theologian, Johann Baptist Mertz, that made me stop and think.  It spoke of “the dangerous memory of Jesus Christ.”  Why should remembering Jesus be dangerous, I wondered?  Mertz linked it with the Eucharist and with remembering the story of Jesus’ suffering and death.  Remembering this confronts us with the terrible realities of misunderstanding, injustice, and innocent suffering.  This is true, but I felt there is more to it than that.  There have been many, many others who also suffered injustice and died innocently but we don’t consider it dangerous to remember them.   Why should it be dangerous to remember Jesus?  It must be that there is something different about him that makes it dangerous for us.

            The best answer I could come up with consists of two interlocking parts.  One is that Christ was resurrected, lives today and is with us in the Spirit.  The other is that he comes to us as we remember him with the same authority he manifested during his ministry.  He comes to us as the way, the truth, and the life.  At the end of the Sermon on the Mount the people were amazed at the authority with which he spoke.  And that authority is with him yet.

            Consequently, remembering Jesus makes demands on us.  We see those demands in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the Gospels.  For example, when we remember Jesus we also remember his command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us; his command to turn the other cheek; his admonition to lay up treasure in heaven rather than on earth;

·       to not judge one another; and later, his call to be his disciple, to take up our cross and follow him.

            To remember Jesus is to remember all he stood for and all he called for.  That can be dangerous.  It can undermine our prejudices, challenge some cherished opinions, and destroy our selfish ambitions.  To really remember Jesus may turn our lives around and lead us in a different direction.

            But that’s OK.  In fact, we might find out it’s a whole lot better than just OK.  So let’s try it.  Let’s live dangerously.  Let’s remember Jesus Christ.

"THEREFORE"

            In all of life – personal, business, social, vocational, medical, whatever – we are always called upon to make cost/benefit decisions.  How much will this cost me, in money, time, energy, etc., and what are the benefits?

            Anyone who had contact with Jesus had to make cost/benefit decisions.  Peter, James and John were faced with that when Jesus called them to leave their nets and follow him.  But later, when he was arrested his closest disciples fled and shortly after Peter denied knowing him.  At that time they felt that the costs outweighed the benefits of knowing him.  The resurrection changed all of that and his disciples became so convinced that the benefits outweighed the costs that they were willing to die for him.

            The early evangelists and writers of the NT understood that people are always going to raise the cost/benefits question. Consequently, their message about the risen Christ always included a “therefore” – how responding to the gospel would impact our lives.  How it would benefit us and what it would cost.

            For example, they spoke about benefits.  One is peace.  Paul wrote in Romans 4:25-5:1, He was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.  Therefore, … we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And in Romans 8:1 he said:  There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  Peace, reconciliation with God, no condemnation – these are some of the benefits.

            What will it cost us to accept the crucified, risen Lord?  Hear what Peter told the people in Jerusalem in Acts 3:  You killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead … Therefore, repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away and times of refreshing might come.” 

            Also, hear Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15, after he has spoken of the resurrection: Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

Yes, it will cost us something to accept the living Christ.  It calls for repentance and for steadfast service and more but there are benefits attached – forgiveness … times of refreshing and the satisfaction of knowing that our labor is not in vain.

We come to this table to remember both what it cost the Lord and what it costs us to receive the great benefits he offers.  Jesus paid the price willingly because it was worth it to him.  How much is it worth to us?  

IT'S A MYSTERY TO ME

While in doctoral studies at San Francisco Theological Seminary I participated in a small discussion group.  The minister of a church in Oakland told us one day of a man who started coming to church by himself, sat on the far right, about two thirds down, and left quickly after the service.  One Sunday the minister caught him as he left and in the process of getting acquainted asked what drew him to the service and the man said simply, “The mystery.”  He went on to explain, “I am a scientist at the University of California and deal constantly with hard, cold facts and so I feel the need to experience the mystery.”

             Neal Windham of Lincoln Christian University, wrote in a recent issue of The Christian Standard, “When asked what’s missing when churches marginalize the Lord’s Supper by breaking bread casually and infrequently, Eugene Peterson replied, ‘Mystery’”.

             Peterson wasn’t using the word “mystery” in exactly the same way Paul does who spoke several times about the long held plan of God which, he said, has been hidden but has now been revealed in Christ and the Gospel.  That which had been hidden through the ages and only hinted at by Moses and the Prophets has now come to light in Jesus Christ.

             But Peterson put his finger on something very important.  There is still mystery involved in the Lord’s Supper and what it signifies.  How can God love all human beings, sinful, slimy, despicable, inhumane, bumbling, self-righteous, and stubborn human beings so much that he would send his son to die for us?  It’s a mystery to me.  How can an innocent, sinless Jesus, as Paul says, “become sin for us” and obediently suffer an agonizing death on the cross?  That’s a mystery.  Or when Jesus takes the bread and says, “This bread is my body – this cup is my blood.”  Or, as in John 6, “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” How can that be?  It’s a mystery to me.

             Two disciples, a few days after the crucifixion, are sadly making their way home to Emmaus when someone they do not recognize joins them.  Soon he begins to teach them from Moses and the Prophets that the Messiah must suffer and die.  Perhaps wanting to hear more they invite him to eat with them.  Although it was their home he takes the bread, breaks and blesses it and gives it to them.  And their eyes are opened.  Immediately they run, find other disciples and say, “We recognized him in the breaking of the bread.”

             There is a hymn that expresses the mystery this way:

Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face,

Here would I touch and handle things unseen;

Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,

And all my weariness upon thee lean.

             Yes, it’s a mystery, but one that draws us in and gives us life.  How?   I don’t know, but it does, and we need that kind of mystery in our lives every week.

OUR ELDER BROTHER

            Hebrews 2:11-15 is one of the great theological statements in the New Testament about Jesus and his death: 

The one who makes others holy, and the ones who are made holy, all belong to the same family.  This is why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters, when he says, "I will announce your name to my brothers and sisters;  I will sing your p;raise in the middle of the assembly," and again, "I will place my trust in him," and again, "look, here I am, with the children God has given me."  Since the children share in blood and flesh, he too shared in them, in just the same way, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and set free the people who all their lives were under the power of slavery because of the fear of death. (N.T. Wright, Hebrews for Everyone).  

            This text says we are all in the same family.  A number of texts in the New Testament speak of the church as a family with God as Father and us as brothers and sisters.  The Gaithers wrote a song about it:  I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God …”.  But  this text focuses on something that the others do not.  It is all about the elder brother in the family.

           

            Elder brothers have not always enjoyed a good reputation.  Sometimes they are patronizing, bossy, and look down on their siblings, or just ignore them.  But even when there is squabbling among brothers and sisters, if an outside threat appears, the elder brother or sister will do everything possible to protect the others.  As in Sprague, WA last recently when a young man attempted to kidnap a toddler and his oldest sister screamed and chased him until others joined in and saved the boy.

            When I was a boy about 12 years old I had a newspaper stand in down town Milwaukie where I sold Portland papers on Saturdays.  One day a bigger, stronger bully showed up who wanted to take over and threatened bodily harm if I returned the next Saturday.  I didn’t know what to do.  I didn’t have an older brother to take along for support.  Fortunately, my Dad learned about the problem and went with me to make sure nothing happened.

            Hebrews is saying that we have an elder brother who has acted on our behalf.  The biggest bully on the block, the devil, had threatened our very lives.  He held the power of death and there was nothing we could do about it.  But then our elder brother came and, as Hebrews says, through death he destroyed the one who has the power of death and set us free.  He fought the fight for us.  He laid down his life on our behalf.  Which is why we hear him say to us now:  “This bread is my body, given for you … this cup is my blood shed on your behalf”.  And we respond, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord – our elder brother!”