How do You Picture Jesus?

Luke 24:36b-48

Re-reading our Gospel this week I had a very humbling experience, especially for a pastor. I think my vision of the Risen Jesus has been all wrong or at the very least it needs a mental re-brush. When I pictured the Resurrected Jesus I pictured him as strong, athletic, refreshed, and sporting a brand new Easter tunic fresh off the rack. He is merely inconvenienced by two nail marks on his hands in the same way I’m slightly bothered by a small allergic reaction or a burn mark from touching a hot plate too quickly.

Listen to how Luke describes how the Risen Christ looks and speaks.

In Luke 24: 39-42 Jesus said, “Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.

Jesus was tired and famished from the most physically and mentally exhausting 3 days that any human being has experienced. I used to think that Jesus shared so few words in his first couple of reappearances because he wanted to build intrigue and drama, but what if he was so drained from the experience that the only words he could muster at the moment were, “Peace be with you.”

In Luke’s Gospel Jesus was not given an upgraded body, but God had mercifully restored his own fragile and abused flesh. If Jesus was fully human then he too had to carry his wounds and trauma with him just like we do. His pain did not just magically disappear simply because he was resurrected.

 I wonder if Jesus carefully hid the scars of his whiplashes underneath his tunic to avoid drawing attention to himself in the same way that we hide our own scars of trauma and abuse. I wonder if he heard the abuses of the crowd as he slept. Could he even sleep?

I do not share these thoughts with you to be a downer, but because I think there is an important connection for Christians to make.

I was reading scholar John Dominic Crossan who talked about how in the West we mistakenly view Jesus rising out of the tomb like a superhero in a bronze body. He said, “In the Eastern vision, all of humanity is inside the story. We in the West have far too much substitution, we think it’s going to be done for us or already has been done for us. And that gives us nothing to do. The kingdom of God is here, but only if you enter it. Only if you take it upon you.”

Siblings in Christ, this is good news for us. God did not create us to simply increase the number of people on this earth who are applauding Jesus for his victory over death. God is calling us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. He has important tasks for us to accomplish.

That means if like Jesus in our Gospel today you are running on spiritual fumes go home and rest and recover. If you are feeling spiritually hungry sit around a campfire with friends and talk about what you need in your life to feel spiritually nourished and then actually go out and do it.

Jesus still needs us. We need to join him in walking out of the tomb and into the messiness of the world with radical empathy. We serve a Risen Savior and it is up to us to make sure that his love is still felt throughout the world.

If as Christians we are going to claim that we are Easter people we have to make sure those words are more than just lip service. If we believe that Jesus lives then we should believe that hope always wins.

We also should believe in people just as Christ did. We can believe that people are more than their labels. One of my favorite book jacket Author Bios comes from children’s author Dav Pilkey.

 “When Dav Pilkey was a kid, he suffered from ADHD, dyslexia, and behavioral problems. Dav was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit out in the hall every day. Fortunately, Dav loved to draw and make up stories. He spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books.

In the second grade, Dav created a comic book about a superhero named Captain Underpants. His teacher ripped it up and told him he couldn’t spend the rest of his life making silly books.

Fortunately, Dav was not a very good listener.”

Dav Pilkey and his hero Captain Underpants have helped millions of kids fall in love with reading. All because Dav dared to be different.

We as Christians shouldn’t be the ones tearing up the dreams of unique children, but like Jesus, we should be the ones believing them into existence.

It also means that we should not fall victim to the sin of cynicism. It is so easy to fall prey to the idea that the world is becoming a worse place to live in and that God’s people are becoming less loving.

God’s world can be a beautiful place if we look with the eyes of Christ. Every day thousands of strangers log on to their computers and donate to a go-fund-me, pay to erase the medical debt of a stranger, help a friend in need, or offer an encouraging word to someone going through a rough time.

For every negative troll on the internet, there are 5 kind-hearted people making the world a better place to live in.

If we want to see a Risen Savior in our world, then we just need to look to the compassion in the world around us. We will see the hope that arose from that tomb will not go away anytime soon.

Let us be part of the solution. Let us roll up our sleeves and find ways to show people that hope is all around us. Amen.

Doubt: A blessing or a Curse?

I feel Churches would be better served if at every entrance there were two doors. One door says “Sinners: who have questions and doubts” and that door leads straight to the sanctuary. Another door says “People who have all the answers” and that door leads you straight back to your car.

A church should be a refuge for people who have doubts and questions. I had a friend point out that they recently read Jesus was asked around 40 questions in his ministry and he responded with over 200 questions. That is a 5 to 1 ratio of Jesus providing more questions than answers. Jesus didn’t just tolerate questions about God, Jesus expected them to be a crucial part of his disciple’s spiritual journey.

Yet, too often people feel pressure to only enter a church when they have it all figured out.  Process that depression, that loss of faith, grief, or heartbreak first, and then if you get your ducks back in a row come back and join us again here on the spiritual cruise ship. The only problem is the church Jesus created is not supposed to be a cruise ship, but a raft for those who find themselves struggling to stay afloat in the sea of life.

Pastors, in our country feel the pressure to only provide answers to faith questions a great deal as well. Did you know that many seminaries require students to sign a statement of faith when they enter the seminary and they are expected to sign the same statement of faith when they graduate. Your diploma is basically a $50,000 receipt that in your 3 years of religious study you learned nothing new at all.

I am incredibly grateful that my seminary wanted me to test my faith and ask important questions.  What I am learning even after my studies is that the more I study God, the fewer answers I have about God. Yet, those questions are what have strengthened my relationship with the creator.

Siblings in Christ, I am going to tell you something you did not expect today. Be more like Thomas. Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas doubted the resurrection because for him it was a game-changer. If Jesus was truly Risen from the dead everything about the world was about to change. His whole perspective of viewing his life would have to be seen through the lens of this greatest moment in human history.

Thomas was not just doubting, because he was concerned about one biological fact of Jesus being alive or dead. Thomas doubted, because if Jesus is Risen, than nothing would be the same. Thomas understood the magnitude of what was happening around him.

This is why it is important for us to be like Thomas. I’d rather that every year we doubted the resurrection. Did that world-altering event really happen? Did Jesus really defeat death? How did a dead man become a living Savior?

It is better to have those questions in our hearts then to treat the resurrection of Jesus as if it’s just another thing. An event on our calendar that we treat with as much enthusiasm as mowing the lawn or going to the grocery store.

It is better for us to struggle with the idea of a Risen Savior, than it is to believe in a Risen Savior and never see your Spirit or actions transformed by it.

We want to be wowed just like Thomas was. Thomas felt the Risen Savior and his only response was, “My Lord and my God.” Thomas grew closer to Jesus in that moment not despite his questions and his doubts, but because of them.

Siblings in Christ, I encourage you to keep asking questions and exploring doubts on your faith walk. Don’t settle for a complacent faith that has no substance or enthusiasm. Ask the deeper questions, because in those questions I truly believe you will encounter a God that is seeking you as much as you are seeking God.

Faith is not having all the answers. Faith is having the willingness to approach God with more questions than answers. Today, we come to the Lord’s Table with our questions and concerns in our hearts. For we know that those questions are not something to fear, but something important that will grow our relationship with our Risen Savior.

Keep Rising

Mark 16:1-8

A little 7-year-old boy named Christian grew up loving baseball but he developed a major problem. 7-year-old pitchers are not known for their accuracy and almost every time Christian came up to bat he ended up getting hit by a pitch. Sometimes on his shoulder, his back, his legs, and one even knocked the helmet right off of his head. He got so discouraged that he told his mom that he was going to quit baseball and pursue a safer sport like skateboarding.

Christian’s mom knew how much he loved baseball so she made a deal with her son. If he got a hit in the next game she would give him $5. Sure enough, the very next game he hit a dribbler back to the pitcher that he beat out for a little league single. This was the birth of a hitting streak and it wasn’t long before he forgot all about quitting his favorite sport.

That little boy grew up to be Christian Yelich a professional baseball player.[1] Some of you may know him as the star left-fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers and the 2018 NL MVP.  He signed a 188 million dollar contract with the Brewers in 2020, so I think it is safe to say that Mama Yelich got a pretty good return on investment for her $5.

I share that story with you this morning because as Christians we are called to be Easter people. There are times we will be upset and discouraged. There will be times when life knocks us down or brushes us back and we will have zero motivation to keep trying. Yet, somehow someway we are called to rise just as our Savior did and keep on hoping, believing, and loving.

The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate source of hope in our lives. When our hope glasses are feeling empty it is the perfect reservoir for us to refill our glasses and feel refreshed about ourselves and the world we occupy.

Mark is the first Gospel account of the Resurrection and I love the raw human emotion felt in his gospel. Listen to verse 8 again after the Mary’s are notified that he is no longer in the tomb and he has been raised. “They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

The Marys are so stunned, overwhelmed, and flat-out bamboozled that they don’t know how to feel. They experience every emotion they are capable of experiencing in about the span of a minute. They are in a tough spot. They can think of a thousand wrong next moves to make, but they have no clue what is the right way to proceed.

Who can blame them? They are in new territory. They are like explorers who have set foot on uncharted territory for the first time. There is no playbook for them to follow. Every step they make from that point on is an act of faith and courage.

One of the things I love about Mark’s Gospel is that he tells you of the miraculous resurrection of Jesus and then he just drops the microphone and closes his chapter. He leaves it up to readers of his Gospel account to figure out what a Risen Jesus means to them.

Is this a life-altering, globe-shaking event or is this just another nice moment in history where we give Jesus a gold star for something he did? It is up to us to decide.

Years later scribes and theologians will add verses 9-22 to tie everything up in a nice bow. However, the early Christians didn’t have access to that bow. They had to figure it out for themselves.

Siblings in Christ, this year and every other year we have a choice just like the early Christians did. What does the resurrection of a Risen Savior mean to us? How does Jesus still being alive transform our spirits today?

We recently watch the Disney movie Dumbo with our daughter. In it a wounded World War 1 veteran returns to his life at the circus with his 2 kids after his wife dies from influenza. He is struggling with the pressure of not being able to comfort his children like his wife when a friend turns to him and says, “Your children don’t need a perfect parent. Your children need you to believe in them.”

That was something I desperately needed to hear both as a parent and as a Christian. Christ doesn’t need perfect Christians to follow him. Jesus just needs Christians who are willing to believe in him. Christ doesn’t seek perfection from us. He seeks courage.

Christ needs followers who believe faith trumps certainty, hope trumps cynicism, and love trumps selfishness. Belief trumps fear.

It will be incredibly difficult to uphold so many beautiful things in a world that constantly tries to rob us of our wonder and tries to rationalize everything we experience. Believing in the miraculous power of Jesus will be the most difficult but also the most rewarding challenge of our lives.

The choice is ours.

Will we keep believing?

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[1] https://www.channel3000.com/sports/milwaukee-brewers/thank-you-mom-i-love-you-christian-yelich-grateful-mom-bribed-him-5-not-to/article_88943e55-0e83-575c-8747-3eec3ae0b007.html#:~:text=That’s%20when%20his%20mom%20came,hard%20once%20I%20got%20there.%E2%80%9D

Why a Donkey?

Matthew 21:1-11

            In American culture, we don’t think very highly of donkeys. We consider them to be small, stubborn, and mean. They are often made fun of for how loud and obnoxious they bray. Eddie Murphy’s classic voice over of Donkey in the Shrek movies only cemented that idea in our minds.

            Yet, in Biblical days they were considered a far nobler animal. They were important animals that carried God’s anointed ones. Solomon, King David, and Abraham all rode donkeys. In fact, it was a donkey that carried Mary 80 miles in the desert during a late-term pregnancy to give birth to her son Jesus. A donkey is stronger than they look.

            Farmers loved donkeys in ancient times for their quick response time. Their loud baying would alert shepherds in plenty of time to protect sheep from coyotes or other predators. Donkeys also didn’t wait for predators to do damage before they would kick to protect the herd. Anyone who has been the recipient of a donkey kicks knows that they are not a weak animal.

            Donkeys are also considered symbols of peace. Generals came into town with giant decorated horses, but those who came to bring peace rode donkeys. That is why the humble donkey or colt was not an accidental choice by Jesus. He wanted Jerusalem to see a humble peacemaker.

Think about what a similar display of humility would look like from our leaders today. When our President gets elected they are led to the White House in fancy limousines and Escalades. Imagine if a leader chose instead to be led to the White House by a convoy of Honda Civics, Toyota Corolla’s, Chevy Malibu’s, and mini-vans proudly decorated with My Child is an Honor Roll Student bumper stickers. They would send a message to the nation from day 1 that they do not plan to forget where they came from or who elected them to that position. No inauguration speech would be necessary.

The older I get the less I find myself caring about party affiliation when I elect leaders. The more I find myself asking is this person a servant leader or a self-serving leader? Is this person driven by ego or compassion? I can forgive a servant leader for political differences, but a selfish leader could agree with every stance I have, but at the end of the day they will only serve their own needs and not the needs of the people. Give me the servant leader any day of the week.

Jesus is the greatest servant leader of all. He does not just surrender his time, talent, and money to help us, but he lays down his life to save all people. He teaches us that true power is not strength but sacrificial love.

I was reading Rainn Wilson’s book Soul Boom and he said something really profound. Rain is not a Christian, but he was talking about Jesus so my ears perked up when he shared an outsider’s perspective. He said Jesus started the first religion that is not based on where you live or what tribe you belong to. Becoming a disciple of Christ has everything to do with what you feel in your heart and not where you live or how you look.

When Jesus walked into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday he knew he was beginning a long journey towards the cross. Yet, he also carried some other hopes and dreams with him during the triumphant entry as well. He was hoping to see false narratives of God as angry or vengeful crucified as well. He wanted the idea “That my tribe is better than your tribe” to die with him too. For Jesus, the cross was not the place he was headed to so he could glorify his ego, but a starting place where he could show humanity the path out of darkness is illuminated by sacrificial love.

That is why if we too want to wave our palm branches and shout Hosanna to the king of kings we too must make a path for the triumphant entry. However, that entry will not take place in our church or our tribe. It will not take place in our city or county. It must happen in our hearts.

We too must allow Jesus to have a triumphant entry upon our hearts on our daily faith walk. We have to be willing to surrender our false concepts of an angry or vengeful God. We have to be willing to say my tribe is not better than your tribe. My needs in this life are not more important or more deserving than any other child of God. We must allow the prince of peace to guide us where we humbly need to go.

Palm Sunday is a reminder that the journey to Jesus begins within. Amen.

What does it mean to be a Jesus-Centered Church?

Jeremiah 31:31-34

You run into three friends at the grocery store and get to talking about church. One friend says my church is a contemporary church with a fantastic praise band. Another friend says my church is more traditional and contemplative. The last friend says my church is a Bible-believing church that believes in the inspired word of God. It’s your turn. What are you going to say?

            I think one of the best ways to describe Moravian churches is as a Jesus-centered church. We gather together humbly each Sunday to feel closer to the mercy, grace, and love that Jesus provides us with. We want to walk closer to our Savior. We want to know him better. In ancient terms being a disciple of someone meant following them so closely that you could taste the dust coming off their sandals. That is how well we strive to know Jesus and how eager we should be to follow in his footsteps.

            That is why we as Moravians do not read the Holy Bible as a science book, literature, or a history book. We utilize it as the morning star that points us to the love of Jesus. Moravian Scholar Craig Atwood said, “We do not believe that Jesus points us to Scripture so that we find the answers there, but rather that Scripture points us to Jesus so that we can find answers in him (Atwood, 2014).”

The Word of God spoken by Jesus should carry more weight than other Words of Scripture. Moravians have always made a distinction between the two. We believe that there is no one better than Jesus to teach us how to interpret Scripture.

This is why we consider ourselves a Jesus-centered Church instead of a Bible-centered Church. Jesus is our compass. A Moravian should never have to pick up a Bible to see how they should treat someone. Gospel knowledge pales in comparison to Gospel application.

If we want to find Jesus in our lives. We need to start living more like him.

It is funny, but I read someone who recently shared a criticism about the Moravian Church that I took to be a tremendous compliment. They said those Moravians let the love of their neighbor change how they interpret the word of our God.

Guilty as charged!

Moravians have a rich history of contemplating how interpreting scripture impacts how we treat our neighbor. Learning to love our neighbor better is the very reason Moravians pick up Bibles in the first place and continue to do so.

For a Moravian God’s love is unconditional and excludes no one. For a Moravian to forget about their neighbor when they read Scripture would be to forget about God. It would be ignoring the fact that Christ’s compassion calls us to expand beyond the legalism of the Bible.

That may sound like pastor fluff or just empty platitudes, but this is a crucial piece of our history. Many times when people in power decided to abandon the love of neighbor and turn the Bible into a weapon for their political gain, that weapon was often pointed directly at our ancestors.

Our people have often paid the price when love of the neighbor is abandoned. There are also many disenfranchised groups of people that have paid a far greater price than our ancestors have when the Bible is weaponized.

When Jeremiah is alluding to the second covenant in his prophecy I believe he is alluding to the religion of the heart that Jesus calls us to live. Jeremiah 31:33 said, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”

The love of Christ has been written on our hearts to transform us from judgmental people to merciful and loving disciples of Jesus. We are called to see Scripture through the compassionate eyes of Christ.

A friend and colleague Aaron Linville shared this Zinzendorf quote about Jesus that really touched me. “‘I will know him, as I am known by him’ (ref. 1 Cor. 13:12). He knows me so well; he knows my hours and days; he knows my motions and emotions; he knows my abilities and inabilities; he knows my inclinations and my fears; he knows my danger and my security; in short, I can be nowhere better than in his arms.”[1]

We as Moravians seek the personal transformation that comes from a loving relationship with Jesus. We don’t diminish Scripture, but we also don’t worship it either. It is the light that points us to Christ. Our job is not to keep that light confined to the pages of a book. Our job is to share the light of Christ with the world around us. Amen.

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[1] Zinzendorf, Nine Public Lectures, “That which, Properly Speaking, can Secure Us from all Fear, Danger, and Harm”

What should we do when we Disagree with the Bible?

Exodus 20:1-17

What should we do when we disagree with a Biblical teaching? That is a tough question for us to wrestle with. The Bible has an opinion on everything. No dye in clothing. Leviticus 19:19 said, “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” Leviticus 11 condemns people who touch the dead carcass of an animal. Sorry National Football League, but if you want to throw the pigskin around and go to heaven you are going to need gloves. It is only natural that out of these thousands of rules, there are going to be some we disagree with or that we feel are outdated and do not apply to our current cultural context.

Our message today is focused on why in our country we became fixated on the legalism of all those rules and how we lost sight of the very purpose we had for following all those rules in the first place….to become more dedicated disciples of Jesus.

I want to teach you a little American History today to give you an understanding of how we arrived at the supremacy of the Bible in American Christianity. America after the Revolutionary War was an explosion of self-reliance and freedom. People in the United States no longer wanted to be spoon-fed religion, but they wanted to arrive at their own conclusions.

 Before the Revolution, there were 5 main places that people turned to help them understand Scripture: The Bible, The Pope / European Spiritual Leaders, Intellectuals, Creeds/ Doctrine, Self-reliance.

One of the consequences of abdicating from a foreign king was that Americans had a strong distaste for European authorities. In fact, most American churches went at the time simply severed ties with Europe in the pursuit of freedom. Moravians were considered papists for refusing to do so, even though just a few hundred years ago the Catholic Church launched crusades against them.

Scholars and fancy doctrines were also downplayed. They felt almost too bourgeoisie in a sense and stunk of elitism in a land where people wanted more equality than ever before. Religion needed to be simple and relatable to the common person trying to feed their family.

All that was left for American Christians was the Holy Bible and good old-fashioned self-reliance. How people viewed Scripture changed rapidly in our country. The Bible went from being a Holy book to a perfect book. Furthermore, if no scholars or religious authorities could be trusted to interpret the text it had to speak clearly about all social issues and topics for all time.

The Bible became lifted up like never before.

A guy who understood this really well was a Methodist pastor named Frances Asbury. He built an army of itinerant preachers who carried their bibles on horseback, were not seminary educated, traveled everywhere, preached simple sermons, and were willing to preach to the masses. This led to explosive growth. Mark Knoll reported that there were only 15,000 Methodists in 1784 and there were over 75,000 by 1791.[1] Asbury was an organizational genius who took advantage of the winds of change driving across our country like never seen before.

I want to fast forward to the 1850’s to the biggest social issue of the 1800’s slavery. The reason is most of our arguments in the church over social issues today like human sexuality and abortion often can be traced back to a similar framework. One side believes that the Bible has spoken on that topic for all-time and another side is saying those Biblical words need context and interpretation for the period we occupy.  

Mexico abolished slavery in 1829. Britain abolished slavery in 1833. France and Denmark’ came in the 1840’s. The United States was one of the last to abolish slavery. Why was that?

Despite the horrid evils of slavery, it was good for the American economy. Rich slave planters justified slavery by using their bibles as a weapon to defend slavery. After all, it was talked about in the 10 Commandments….

Exodus 20:17 said, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor”

Jesus was comfortable enough with slavery that he would use it in parables. In Matthew 18 he compares the kingdom of God can be compared to a king who wants to settle his accounts with his slaves.

“Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. ³⁵ So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother^[e] from his^[f] heart.”[2]

Abolitionists said you know Jesus spoke a lot about loving your neighbor instead of those one or 2 passages you are quoting without context. They said it’s impossible to beat, starve, and deny the humanity of your neighbor and love them at the same time. Perhaps living out that Christ-like love is where we should be focusing our energy as Christians.

Sadly, abolitionists were in the minority and they were deemed intellectual elitists. Most American Christians at the time believed if Jesus wanted to end slavery he would have explicitly said it. The fact that a monstrously evil and racially-based slavery that developed in the United States came thousands of years after Jesus walked the earth was deemed irrelevant.

Some people had the courage to push back against this fundamentalism but they often had to do so outside the confines of organized religion. One person was Abraham Lincoln. He never joined a church despite being a believer and very knowledgeable about the Bible. He said, “When any church will inscribe over its altar as the sole qualification for membership the Savior’s condensed statement of the substance of both law and gospel: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and love thy neighbor as thyself,” that church I will join with all my heart.”

Unfortunately, Lincoln couldn’t be part of a church in his time, because seeing the Bible as perfect was more important than Christ-like discipleship.

The consequences of allowing Biblical legalism to surpass Christ-like love was catastrophic in our country. Human beings remained in bondage and the violence of the civil war almost extinguished our great democratic experiment.

I wish I could say we reformed our ways in this country, but there are millions of Christians in this country today who sadly think the only way to be a Christian is to believe The Bible is a perfect book that speaks on all topics and issues for all-time. They would view me as a lesser Christian because I believe differently. I want to propose an alternative Biblical approach for those of us willing to consider a different perspective. Here are 3 questionsto use when approaching a Bible verse or passage….

1. Is this God’s universal truth? Jesus laid down his life for us and offered us the gift of Salvation is the most basic truth revealed to us in Scripture. The passages that call us to love our neighbor and our God with all our heart, mind, and soul are also non-negotiables. They are the essential passages that speak for all time.
2. Is this verse or passage a cultural truth more than a Biblical truth? Relationships are a great example of this. I get frustrated when I hear people talk about Biblical marriage. Whose Biblical marriage are we discussing? Solomon and his 99 wives? Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar? An arraigned marriage between a teenager like Mary and an adult man like Joseph? All 3 of these are examples of Biblical marriages because they were culturally appropriate in the period they took place.
3. Is this verse or passage meant to speak for all time? Our opening examples speak to this. If we follow the letter of law in Leviticus exactly as intended many of us should be condemned just based on the clothes we wear and how we handle and eat food. The wise thing to do might be to understand that not every Bible verse is applicable today.

The passages that lead us to salvation in Jesus and call us to love our neighbor and our God with all our heart, mind, and soul are the non-negotiables. They are the essential passages that speak for all time. However, some passages apply to a very different culture, at a very different time, with a very different understanding of how the world should operate. That is why it is ok for you to have different ideas about marriage and relationships than Biblical writers like the Apostle Paul or the ancient Hebrews. It is ok if you don’t read the book of Genesis as a science textbook. It is ok if you think Jesus used illustrations in parables that were helpful to the people he was ministering to, but those illustrations may be confusing or difficult for us today.

It is our calling as Christians to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We don’t need a perfect Bible to do that. What we do need are committed disciples who want to share God’s love with the world. Our goal as Christians is not to prove the perfection of the Holy Bible. Our goal as Christians is to transform an imperfect world with Christ’s love every single day.

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[1] America’s God, Mark Knoll, Pg.44.

[2] Matthew 18:32-35

Why the Bible is our Chief Ministerial

Mark 8:27-40

Moravians love to recite the Moravian motto. “In essentials unity: In non-essentials liberty, in all things love.”

Some of you may be surprised this is not uniquely a Moravian statement. Another denomination created this statement and we adopted it as our own. Furthermore, if you asked most Moravians across the globe what the motto is more than likely this would not be the phrase they recite. It would be, “Our lamb has conquered. Let us follow him.” In all things love is a uniquely American statement.

Moravians love our motto. It is a meaningful and simple statement of faith, but what does it really mean? What is essential? What is non-essential? Can different things be essential for different people?

When you begin the discussion of the six Moravian essentials I believe you have to start with the framework that we have two categories of essentials: The work of God and the human response to God. Each category contains 3 essentials. The fact that there is an equal balance between God’s actions and our responses says a great deal about the theology of the Unity of the Brethren and Moravians today. It is important to note the concept of the 6 essentials goes back to the Ancient Unity of the Brethren in Moravia and has been part of our theology for over 500 years.

The essentials are creation (God creates), redemption (Jesus Saves), sanctification (Holy Spirit blesses) and we respond with faith, hope, and love. Bishop Sam Gray in a recent discussion at West Salem Moravian Church did a good job explaining the essentials are not what is important to church, but they are simply what is essential to Salvation.

Below the essentials are the incidentals. They are things we care about spiritually that have nothing to do with our Salvation. I call them our stylistic choices: The denomination we belong to, the music we sing, the Biblical translation we select, whether or not our church has a pastor, what we eat during lovefeasts, or how a church does Holy Communion (Does the pastor come to the congregation or vice versa) or Baptism (full immersion or sprinkling). They are all things that matter to us, but they are matters that hopefully most Christians agree do not determine our Salvation.

Why isn’t the Bible an essential? It is neither an essential nor an incidental but it exists in a third category. It is our chief ministerial. Ministerials are things that point us to essentials but they are not essential by themselves. Sacraments such as baptism and Holy Communion would fit in this category. I like to think of the ministerials as the morning stars that guide us to a stronger relationship with Jesus.

Some critics outside and within will never get over the fact that for us the Bible is not listed as an essential. The reason being for us is that we do not worship the Bible, but we worship the Lord that the Bible reveals to us.

The Bible is supposed to show us the path to Christ-like living. We shouldn’t need to pick up the Bible to see if we should love someone as a child of God. Biblical application is always more important to us than Biblical knowledge. Being able to live a Christ-like life is more important than being able to memorize the words he said. Moravians see themselves more as disciples and less as Biblical scholars.

We live in a community where most Christians practice, “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.” You may be pressured by others into thinking that as Moravians we don’t the Bible as seriously as others do, because we do not believe the Bible is perfect.

Siblings in Christ, I want to help you better articulate Moravian Biblical practices when you are out in the community.

We don’t put the word of God on a pedestal. “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it” is the mindset of the church I grew up in (non-Moravian). The ironic thing for me is that once I let go of that mindset my Bible has been getting beat up with use. Let me give you an example.

In the church I grew up in women to this day are not allowed to be pastors. 1 Timothy 2:12 said, “I do not permit a woman[a] to teach or to have authority over a man;[b] she is to keep silent.” The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it. I never gave the idea another thought, because I was told to let my Bible do my thinking for me.

In high school and college, I asked more questions. Those doubts caused me to open up my Bible. I saw stories of female empowerment. They clashed with the worldview I had been given.  I read accounts of strong women like Esther in the Old Testament. Lydia is utilized as a leader by Paul to grow the church. The other big one for me was Jesus calling Mary Magdalene to share the story of his resurrection with the world in John 20 and not one of his 12 male disciples.

Finally, I took the opportunity to hear women preach the word of God and I heard the exact same spiritual gifts that I heard in men. I could not ignore it any longer. The Holy Spirit was showing me loud and clear that I was wrong about what a woman should not do in a church. The Holy Spirit showed me with the Bible and with my eyes that a woman could do anything a man could do.

Biblical fundamentalism can unintentionally kill the work of the Holy Spirit. If we think the world in the Bible is as exactly as God intended it to be then what do we really need the Holy Spirit for today? Just as Jesus did in his day, the Holy Spirit should be challenging us to expand our concept of love beyond our comfort zone. Otherwise, the epithet for God might as well read, “Genesis 1- Revelation 22 RIP.”

Far too many Christians today in our country are proudly mistaking Biblical loyalty for the absence of critical thinking.

Our bumper sticker as Moravians might be “Love: Jesus preached it, we are going to live it, and the Holy Spirit is going to keep teaching us how to grow it.” Sorry, we may need a semi-truck to fit that bumper sticker!

Let us be Christians that use our Bibles to expand our idea of Christian love, instead of using it as a lazy excuse not to. That is the best way to ensure that our chief ministerial does not become our chief roadblock in sharing God’s love with the world.

Amen.

How Should I Read the Bible?

You are on a coffee date at Daily Grind with a friend who has never gone to church before. All of a sudden they start showing a genuine interest in Christianity and the Bible. They ask you about faith and the Church. Then, they turn to the Bible. They ask you this question, “I would like to start reading the Bible to learn more about Christianity. Where should I start?

What advice would you give them?

Start with the Gospels.

Start at the beginning.

Use a Bible App.

It is important to be honest folks. It is not a light and breezy read. The Bible is a tough read. It takes discipline and encouragement to stick with it. It doesn’t always make sense or is easy to relate with. Unless you have a good understanding of 3000-year-old Middle Eastern politics and culture a lot of what is happening in the Old Testament can be head- scratching or downright shocking.

If you have read the Bible cover to cover from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 congrats that is a tremendous accomplishment. I’m going to be honest and share with you I have only been able to accomplish that twice and both times I had people helping me through it: Once in seminary when it was required reading of course and last year thanks to some friends and Bible reading app I was able to read it again. It was not easy!

If you or someone else is reading the Bible for the first time I would encourage you to start with the Gospels and go from there. The most important thing the Bible does for us is reveal the compassion, the actions, the character, and the unconditional love that Jesus has for the world. If we can hold that truth in our hearts the details are not nearly as important. On the Flipside, if we can read the Bible cover to cover and not find the love of Christ revealed to us we will have lost the forest for the trees.

This is not your pastor telling you to skip the Old Testament or the rest of the New Testament. What I am asking you to do is read those chapters through the Jesus lens. See how much Jesus evolves the human understanding of how God works in the world. See how radical the teachings of Jesus are in the historical context he lived in. See how Jesus disrupts the human habit to stigmatize others and turns enemies into brothers and sisters. See how Jesus takes so much violence done in the name of God and shows the world once and for all that God would die for us before he would declare us to harm someone in his name.

Siblings in Christ, if we do that we can see just how transformative the ministry of Jesus is. Jesus wasn’t just a prophet who had nice things to say about God. Jesus showed the world another side of God that they did not know existed. He truly is the Son of God.

The Bible was never written to be an academic textbook read cover to cover. It was created by 40 authors over 1500 years to give you different ways to encounter and understand God. The psalms are there when we need to connect to the poetic side of God or we need help getting through a difficult time. The Gospels are there for us when we are questioning who Jesus is and why he still matters to us. The letters of Paul are there for us if our fire or enthusiasm is waning and we need a pep talk or a pick-me- up.

There are many different genres and styles in the Bible. We should look to connect with the Books that are most relevant to what we are dealing with. If we are dealing with heartache we should look for chapters that address heartache. If we are dealing with grief we should look for chapters or passages that deal with grief.

It isn’t that much different from how we pick up our T.V. remotes folks. It is just like sometimes how we need to avoid the Hallmark channel or Sara McGlaughlin commercials if we are feeling emotional and don’t want to cry. We have to be intentional about how we pick up our Bible and what passages we read.

The Bible can minister to us in many different phases of life if we treat it as a morning star that points us to God and not simply just another book on the shelf.  It can guide us to the love of Christ. It can show us just how vastly different people and cultures have understood God over time. Sometimes they got the right view of God and other times they humbly got it very wrong.

 The Bible shows us that God talks to introverts, extroverts, prophets, kings, prostitutes, shepherds, and whoever is faithful. It is a gift from God that should be engaged and not feared. It is an impactful resource that is here to help us grow our relationship with God.

Transfiguration Sunday

Mark 9:2-9

Transfiguration Sunday is a blip on the radar of the church year. It is one week squeezed between Epiphany and Easter that we have a hard time focusing on. Jesus is transformed before Peter, James, and John and they get to see with their very eyes something truly miraculous. They get to see Jesus have a conversation with Moses and Elijah and they get to witness true greatness.

It makes me think of a quote from one of my favorite Keanu Reeves movies The Replacements, “But what they didn’t know, was that their lives had been changed forever because they had been part of something great. And greatness, no matter how brief, stays with a man.

I’m sure the greatness of this moment stayed with everyone present that day.

Peter gets a lot of criticism for his response to suggest building dwellings for all 3 of these holy men. I think we should lay off Peter a bit. None of us would have known what to say. I think too often we put too much pressure on ourselves that once we see the light of Christ in our lives we will always know with clarity the right thing to say or do.

Spoiler alert, figuring out the right path sometimes can be tricky. The disciples had personal access to Jesus and sometimes they would do or say the wrong thing. In fact, they got it wrong more often than not. Yet, they kept showing up.

Never underestimate the power of showing up. It is what Henri Nouwen defines as a ministry of presence. The greatest gift you have to offer others is yourself.  We are too often too afraid to help someone going through a crisis because we are afraid to say the wrong thing or step on someone’s toes by doing the wrong thing.

Peter said the wrong thing all the time and it never stopped him from doing what needed to be done. The only difference between Peter and Judas is Peter believed all his shortcomings could be forgiven by God’s grace. Judas did not.

One of the greatest examples of forgiveness by Jesus could have been granted to Judas if he only had the patience to look beyond his own mistakes and see redemption waiting for him around the corner.

Here’s the thing about a crisis. People are often too shocked to hear what you have to say. Yet, they can remember you hugging them or crying with them. They can even remember how held you squeezed their hand when you prayed with them.

If you keep showing up to follow Jesus in your life there are going to be times when you see that Christ can transform a sinner just like us to do remarkable things in this world. Rev. Bob Richards said, “God must have loved ordinary people because he made so many of us ordinary. By the grace of God, everyday ordinary people do extraordinary things.

One of them was Mary Prince a little girl born into the evils of slavery in Antigua in 1788. At 29, she secretly joined the Moravian church and taught herself how to read and write. She ran away from her enslavers in Great Britain and sheltered with her church in London.  She proposed an anti-slavery petition to parliament which was shot down. She then worked with Susan Strickland to write her autobiography The History of Mary Prince in 1831. The honesty and vulnerability of her story spread all across Great Britain and required 3 printings. Finally, in 1833 800,000 people were set free across British Colonies mostly due to Mary’s work. [1]

Mary, could have said I am just a small Moravian woman, who is going to listen to me? She could have looked at the blank page as she wrote her story and been paralyzed by the thought, “What if I say the wrong thing” or worse yet “What if nothing changes?” Thank god she did not! She trusted that Christ could do remarkable things through her story.

Siblings in Christ, we have been sent to this period in history by God for moments such as these. We have to keep striving to build God’s kingdom on this earth. Let’s not diminish our ministry of compassionate presence for ourselves and others. Let’s put our faith in Christ even when it feels like we are not doing enough or we are doing it wrong. Let us show the world that Christ can continue to do remarkable things through ordinary people just like us.

We are called to keep showing up.

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[1] https://licc.org.uk/resources/ten-christians-from-history-who-lived-that-whole-life-life/

Fear or Awe?

Psalm 111

There are a lot of times the Pope and I disagree on theology, but last week he said something I strongly agree with. He said a homily or sermon should never go more than 8 or 10 minutes. It should get to the heart of the Biblical issue and it should always be practical.[1] This is very similar to the Moravian approach to preaching. We believe you shouldn’t need a doctorate in theology to understand a sermon. Our messages should be practical examples of how God’s love is making a difference in our lives today.

 I feel like I have drifted towards a lengthier more academic approach, so I am going to ask that you help hold me accountable. Let me know when my messages are not helping you live out your faith on a more practical level.

The verse I want to focus on today is Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Fear is a bad translation. A colleague pointed out that respect would be a better word. Honor or awe is right up there for me as well. The respect or awe of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

In the Moravian Church, we don’t believe we need to fear God. We are in awe of what God can do for us and through us. We know that God is far more powerful than us. Yet, we are not scared of God. We crave an authentic relationship with God.

 How would you define respect? A good way to test if someone respects you is to see how well they honor your boundaries. A good teacher has respect if their students do what they ask the first or second time they ask it. In relationships, I always tell young people to pay attention to how a person you start dating responds to boundaries…. If they pout when they pressure you and don’t get their way, they don’t respect you. That is a serious red flag.

In friendships, is that person only your friend when they can get something from you? Are they still willing to text you or call you when you can’t loan them money or take them someplace? By using appropriate boundaries we can often find out who our true friends are.

We are called to respect the boundaries that exist between us and God. Wisdom comes from knowing that God does not have to provide us with every answer or solution to every problem. Wisdom comes from knowing that God craves a relationship with us more than God wants us to fear the power of his strength.

We can often show our love for God when we maintain the relationship even if one of our prayers is not answered in the manner we would like it to be answered.

Pastor Charles Spurgeon said, “Carnal men love the God that they make, but not the God that made them.” If God believes and acts in the same manner as us we do not worship the Holy one, but a false idol we have made in our image. We are called to leave plenty of space for God to shape us.

 Find that happy middle ground. We don’t cower in fear of God. We also don’t dismiss or belittle God, because the Almighty doesn’t act like our mighty genie. Let us respect God. Let us be in awe of everything the Creator does for us. Let us create a deeper relationship with God based on honor, respect, and trust. We truly have nothing to fear if God is a source of wisdom and love in our lives. Amen.

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[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pope-tells-priests-to-keep-homilies-down-to-8-mins/anr-AA1mUkyD#:~:text=(ANSA)%20%2D%20ROME%2C%20JAN,a%20string%20of%20similar%20pronouncements.