HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
November 27, 2002
Text: Luke 14:25-35
We gather this evening for worship, singing, and prayer to God who has
given us life and who leads us in this life. The occasion for this
special time of worship, of course, is Thanksgiving. As a nation, many
will have the opportunity to gather together to celebrate with
thanksgiving.
As Christians, all of us have reasons to be thankful. Just ask the Sunday
School teacher who once asked each child in her class to make a list of
things for which they were thankful. One little boy, Johnny, wrote down
that he was thankful for his glasses. The teacher was impressed. Some
young people resent having to wear glasses. But here was a young man
mature enough to appreciate what wearing glasses did for him. Johnny,
she said, I see that you put your glasses down at the top of your list
of things to be thankful for. Is there any special reason? Yes, maam!
My glasses keep the boys from hitting me and the girls from kissing me.
So, you see, there are plenty of reasons to be thankful.
One reason that I am thankful during this season rests with something
which is not tangible; that is, we cannot reach out and touch this
reason. In thanksgiving, there is an opportunity to reflect upon the
past, present, and future. This is very important to us as human beings.
And we need to be in touch with each of these areas in order to enjoy a
balanced life. For me, Thanksgiving seems to make me particularly
sensitive to this kind of reflection which helps me give shape to how I
should live.
Thanksgiving immediately conjures up images from the past. I suppose a
major reason for this is the historical event itself with which our
holiday rests. It is easy to remember the history and the stories about
that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and the Indians: How the winter
ravaged the small band of settlers, and how the natives helped teach them
to survive. How they decided to band together to give thanks, even though
they were to shortly face another harsh winter, and even though their
future was uncertain. This is a story of faith and courage and endurance.
I suppose another reason for Thanksgiving memories comes from the family
traditions we have experienced. You have those recollections, too. It is
proper to remember those times and to pass along those stories and events
that are remembered.
Most important, though, is remembering the works of God. I am amazed at
how important the theme of remembering is throughout Scripture. The
Psalmist reminds us of this in Psalm 103: Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals
all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with
love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that
your youth is renewed like the eagles... He made known his ways to
Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.
Over and over, the people of the Old Testament were called upon to
remember the deeds of the Lord - to remember how they were once in
bondage, and how the Lord led them out of their bondage; to remember His
great acts of salvation and redemption.
Similarly, we are called upon to remember Gods mighty works as a people
of the New Covenant. We are to remember Gods works of salvation and
redemption through Christ Jesus. Just as the Hebrews were once slaves to
the Egyptians, so were we once slaves to sin and darkness. And just as
Gods miraculous power saved the Hebrews from their slavery, so He has
saved us from our slavery. We are to remember Gods works, as did Paul
when he wrote in Romans 6:6, For we know that our old self was crucified
with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves to sin. Remembering the works, acts, and deeds of
God forms the foundation upon how we should live.
Thanksgiving also stands for the present. Our celebration is based upon
the heritage of our past, but we also add to it our present - and our
presence. Giving thanks is for the present. We are to be thankful for the
past in which God has moved, and there will be Gods grace in the future
for which we can be thankful, but we have to be thankful now if we are to
be thankful at all.
The Pilgrims recognized this, for their Thanksgiving celebration was very
much a present reality to them. Dr. David Bartlett wrote this about the
Pilgrims: Yet despite all these difficulties, when the first full year
was ended, the Pilgrims gathered their modest harvest and invited their
Indian friends who had helped them live in Plymouth. Together they shared
a simple meal of thanksgiving. The bounty they had received was nothing
compared to the bounty most Americans know today. The dangers they faced
were very great. Yet in the midst of danger they gave thanks to God,
partly for material blessings, but especially for the grace and courage
that had sustained them in the New World.
Life was not a movie for the Pilgrims. The grief they had experienced
from death of family and loss of property was very real. Nor did they
live happily ever after once Thanksgiving was over. Yet in the midst
of the danger - their present reality - they gave thanks to God.
God is like this, too. Scripture shows that He is a God of the past. He
has done deeds. He is also a God of the future. He will bring about His
kingdom in the days to come. But, most importantly, He is God of the
present. I say most importantly, because we do not worship some spirit of
the past. Neither do we worship a spirit that is yet to reveal itself in
future events. We worship the present, living God who is at work in our
midst. Hear how God refers to Himself as He revealed Himself to Moses:
God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the
Israelites: I AM has sent me to you. A very clear revelation by the
present God.
In the New Testament, Jesus spoke about himself in the present. As walked
among and talked with his contemporaries, he made it clear that his
relationship with the Father was present tense. He did not say, I was
the way and the truth and the life. He did not say I will be the way
and the truth and the life. No, John recorded Jesus saying, I am the
way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me. How should we then live? As if God is present now and each moment of
our lives. He is.
Thanksgiving also makes us aware of the future. Perhaps because of
Christmas around the corner with shopping to be done, cards to be sent,
and programs to be planned. At any rate, we must include the future
whenever we think about how we should live.
In this 14th chapter of Luke, we are given some rather disturbing
pointers for planning our future. Speaking for myself, I find that
comparing my life to a Scripture passage like this can bring to the
surface feelings of guilt. Can I honestly make the claim that I have
given up everything I have? No, I cannot. How, then, can I deliver a
message with sincerity and integrity?
And, if I recognize such inadequacies, might not many of you also
experience similar feelings? It is a risky business for any Pastor to say
those things which may conjure up such feelings and make people feel
bad.
But God has never allowed our feelings of guilt to stop Him from His work
or to make demands upon us. One very important lesson I have learned is
that I do not have to do or say anything to generate any feelings of
guilt. Anyone of us who strives to live our lives as a reflection of
Jesus Christ - to model our lives for the world to see - knows of the
gulf that exists between the Holy God and fallen humanity. And
recognizing that gulf automatically moves us into a sense of guilt. This
was driven home to me in a newspaper article from several years ago
written by Elise T. Chisolin entitled 'Christmas Divides Haves,
Have-Nots.' Here are some excerpts from that article: My friend had been
crying. I could tell by her voice. She said she had been wrapping the
Christmas presents for her children and family, and 'I suddenly find I am
crying. Crying hard.' 'Why?' I asked. 'I don't really know, it's just
that I feel guilty. I am wrapping all these nice things, and I am
thinking how much time and money I've spent on these things, and there
are people out there'... 'It happened when I wrapped the Wedgwood butter
plate. I had just driven by a long gray line waiting for food at a
church. And then I saw an elderly woman with a cane in a worn coat and
rundown shoes. She tried to cross the street. No one helped her. How's
her Christmas going to be? That's all, I just feel guilty. I am thinking
Wedgwood, and the hungry and the infirm need clothes and food... Oh, I
sent a check to the food committee, Salvation Army, Santa Claus
Anonymous, the church and the Goodwill but it's not enough. It's never
enough. I wish those Wise Men hadn't brought gifts.'... But I wonder like
she wonders - how can we make it different? How can we make a dent in the
sea of hopelessness at Christmastime? What else can a friend say? Both of
us know that it's not the presents she is wrapping that upset her. It's
the wish to give the essentials to those in need - food, shelter, caring
and, above all, love. Because somehow along the glitzy commercial road
paved with material things, we have lost the real meaning of Christmas.
And that's heavy baggage for all of us."
Discipleship within the context of Christianity does provide a source of
guilt - "heavy baggage." However, it is a guilt which is motivational
rather than destructive. We are called upon to do the impossible - to
give up everything we have; to count the cost - and at the same time to
not freeze in our tracks when we discover the truth of this
impossibility. For you see, discipleship within the context of
Christianity is discipleship within the context of grace! We cannot
escape the fact that we are constantly nurtured by the untiring love of
our all-powerful God.
Are we any different than Paul when he wrote in Romans 8:15 that "I do
not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the
very thing I hate."? Yet Paul was far from immobilized even by this
revelation of the gulf between himself and the Lord. This is the type of
guilt that motivates us to compassion, to good works, and to the living a
life of grace. It is also a guilt which will never be erased. God forbid
that it should ever be erased in my life, for that would mean that I no
longer acknowledge the Spirit at work in my life! The whole world is the
Lord's, and the tasks He sets before us are formidable. But let each of
us do what we are called to do and let God take care of His world. We
cannot go wrong with such an action.
The word which we use to describe such an action - the word I have
already been throwing around - is discipleship. When Jesus used this term
he added significantly to its original meaning in Greek culture. Within
Greek life, disciple was the usual word for apprentice or pupil. Jesus
used the word in this same context, but he also expanded its use to
include "the existence of a personal attachment which shapes the whole
life of the one described as disciple, and in which its particularity
leaves no doubt as to who" is the authority (Kittel, TDNT, p. 441). "The
call of Peter to discipleship (I will make you fishers of men) is also a
call to work with Jesus (Luke 5:10). This is no accident, nor is it
exceptional. It perhaps corresponds to the fact that the disciples called
by Jesus are His disciples. As He Himself does not turn inwards into
Himself, but girds Himself for service, so He directs the gaze and powers
of His disciples 'to His task, which by their association with Him is
also theirs." (Kittel, p.452).
And so it is that Jesus warns us, as he warned those close to him, to
count the cost of discipleship. We are told to hate - a relative term
meaning to "love less" - father, mother, wife, children, brothers,
sisters, even our own life. We who become disciples of Jesus must be
committed exclusively to him; we cannot be bound to anyone or anything
else, especially ourselves.
How should we then live? How can we respond to such an ultimate call?
First and foremost, we must come to God in prayer; seeking to turn our
lives over to Him, asking how we can respond to His grace and compassion,
and being ready to hear His answer. We need to search the Scriptures and
the fellowship of other believers in order to find direction, nurture,
and support. We must be willing to face our own imperfections in our
response to God and be willing to turn to Him in the attitude of
confession and repentance. We must learn to overcome the "easy answers"
of culture, politics, and economics as we speak out against injustice and
oppression.
But what can one person do? That is the question posed by the demonic
side of guilt. It is meant to immobilize our attempts at discipleship
even before we get started. Roger L. Dewey, founder and executive
director of Christians for Urban Justice, writes: "So years later, when
God impressed on me His desire to use the architectural skills He had
given me for the poor instead of building status symbols for the wealthy,
it seemed natural to leave architecture to follow him... When years after
years of batterings began to overwhelm me, God gave me the prime clichés
of my life: 'You can only do what you can do'; 'God doesn't require us to
be successful but to be faithful'; 'Don't confuse your material condition
with your spiritual state'; and 'If God's blessings are so material,
isn't it strange how He has blessed the Mafia?' ...'Do for others what
you would do for yourself.'
Another Bible cliché is: To know to do good
and to do it not is sin. But this is too big. What can one person do to
work for justice in Christ's name? There's even a cliché for that: 'All
of us know one thing to do that we're not doing. God expects only that we
start to do that one thing."
In just a few weeks, a new year will be upon us. One of our traditions is
to make New Year's resolutions. What will be our resolutions for 2003?
Will we resolve to be nicer to our in-laws, or will we resolve to respond
to the compassionate cry of Christ? Will we resolve to keep our temper,
or will we resolve to reach out and save a life? Will we resolve to lose
that twenty pounds or will we resolve to live as God's disciples all year
long? Some year's ago, a slogan for the Thanksgiving and Christmas
seasons became "Jesus is the reason for the season." Friends, "Jesus is
the reason for every season." This is how we should then live.
Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN
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