Between God and Mammon

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Category: Sermons

God is near, and He is powerful.

February 10, 2025 /

February 9, 2025                     Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen.

Please be seated.

We live in very uncertain times. The threat of trade wars in North America, wars in Ukraine and the Holy Land, and the upcoming elections in Germany are making many people uneasy. The people in Judea and Galilee in Jesus’ time also had much to worry about: Roman occupation, periodic uprisings, brutally high taxes, self-centered elites. Many Jews longed for the coming of the Messiah, who they believed would put all things right. Why is God waiting so long to rescue us, they asked? For many people, God seemed so far away, just as God does for many today. But God wasn’t far away. God the Son became incarnate in the man Jesus of Nazareth. He lived and walked with the people on earth, making His plan of salvation a reality.

Both today’s Gospel and epistle readings recount miracles of Jesus. Luke tells us about one of Jesus’ early miracles, in which He filled Simon Peter’s nets with fish. In the epistle, Paul tells the Corinthians about Jesus’ greatest miracle, His resurrection and subsequent appearances.

Did Jesus really perform the miracles reported in the New Testament? The Enlightenment philosopher David Hume defined a miracle as a violation of a natural law and argued that our uniform experience is that natural laws are never violated. Accordingly, he asserted, no account of a miracle can be credible. C.S. Lewis disagreed with Hume’s definition. “I use the word Miracle to mean an interference with Nature by supernatural power.”[1] Even if we assume that natural laws cannot be violated, and I see no compelling reason why God can’t violate the laws He created, Lewis’ broader definition of miracles allows them to occur. For example, the law of gravity predicts that if I drop a coin, it will fall to the ground. So, if I drop a coin and it lands in my outstretched hand, does the coin violate the law of gravity? No, I simply intervened in its fall. If God created the Universe, He could certainly intervene in the process of natural laws.

There is good reason to believe that miracles not only occurred in Jesus’ day but continue to occur today. New Testament scholar Craig Keener has written a two-volume scholarly work on miracles and a shorter follow-on book. Both works are carefully researched and documented. One of the most striking examples is Delia Knox, who was injured in a car accident and was confined to a wheelchair for more than 22 years. Her healing in a revival service was captured on video.[2] Church leaders and members vouch for her paralysis and healing.[3] If you want to see the video, go to YouTube and enter “Delia Knox healing.” Were all the events described in Keener’s book real miracles? I’m not sure, but they’re well documented. It’s hard to believe that these were psychosomatic illnesses.

Now, I’m not calling for Christians to reject modern medicine in favor of faith healing. Modern medicine is one of God’s great gifts to humanity and should be received with thanksgiving. But even today’s medicine has its limits.

Why don’t we see more miracles today? Craig Keener believes healing miracles are more common in Africa and Asia than in the more secular West in part because people in the majority world are more open to the possibility of miracles. Matthew 15:38 tells us that Jesus did not do many miracles in his hometown of Nazareth “because of their lack of faith.” Also, God uses miracles to get people’s attention and add credibility to His message. In many parts of the world, the Gospel is just getting established, and so God may use miracles to add credibility to this new teaching. We see this reflected in the New Testament. Jesus used the miracle of the full nets to persuade Simon Peter to follow Him, which was a critical event in Christian history. The book of Acts shows that miracles accompanied the apostles, which lent credibility to the new message and so persuaded many of them to come to faith.

The epistle reading gives us what is probably the first written account of the greatest miracle of all: Christ’s Resurrection. Paul probably wrote 1 Corinthians in 53-54 AD, that is, about 20 years after the Resurrection. But 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 goes back much earlier. Scholars believe it is a creedal statement that Paul received from Peter and James when they met in Jerusalem three years after Paul’s conversion, which would place it within five years of the Resurrection.[4] Since the passage was already in the form of a creed, N.T. Wright argues that it was probably formulated within two or three years of the Resurrection.[5] This means, the belief in Christ’s bodily Resurrection could not have been a legend: There was simply not enough time for a legend to develop, and most of the eyewitnesses were still around. New Testament scholars consider it strong evidence of what the earliest Christians believed. Let’s take a closer look at this passage.

“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.” Paul is saying that Jesus, the Messiah, died to redeem us from sin and that it was in accordance with the scriptures. N.T. Wright argues that Paul is not referring here to individual proof texts from the Old Testament but to “the entire sweep of biblical narrative,” which has been fulfilled in Christ.[6] The creed continues: “and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,” which again refers to the entire sweep of the biblical narrative. Jesus’ death and Resurrection fulfilled God’s overarching goal in the history of Israel, which was the plan of salvation. Paul continues: “and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” The resurrected Christ didn’t just appear to a small group of insiders but to many of his followers, many of whom still lived and could testify to what they saw. Jesus also appeared to His brother, James, who was an unbeliever prior to the Resurrection.

Paul continues: “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.” Acts chapter 9 tells us that the resurrected and ascended Jesus appeared to Paul, who was traveling to Damascus to arrest believers and take them back to Jerusalem for punishment. Christ forgave Paul, a persecutor of the church. Accordingly, Paul writes, “I worked harder than any of them — though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

Christ’s Resurrection from the dead is the most important event in human history, and its significance is broad. It means Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins was accepted by the Father, and so we are reconciled to God. It means that death and the grave have been defeated, and so those who are in Christ will rise with Him to eternal life. It means the powers and principalities that for so long controlled the world have been defeated. It means that the reign of God has been inaugurated on earth, so Jesus is Lord, and Caesar isn’t. That includes today’s Caesars. Of course, we live in what theologians have called the “already and not yet” era of history. The reign of God has already begun, but the powers of evil are still with us. God’s people still have much to do, spreading the Gospel, making disciples of all nations, and working for freedom, justice, and peace for all.

The world today seems totally out of joint and chaotic, and we have no idea what the future will bring. Many of us experience chaos and uncertainty in our daily lives. Some of us may have suffered terrible loss and are unable to understand why. But Romans 8:28 tells us, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” We should remember Jesus’ words at His Ascension: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection show that God is not far from us but is always with us. And our God is a powerful God, as His miracles show. As Paul writes, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31). Ultimately, no one. Not even Caesar. Amen.

[1]  C.S. Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study, (San Francisco; CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 5.

[2]“Delia Knox healed and she sings at Bay Revival 2010” YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNg7GWnXV_c&t=580s Accessed on Sep. 9, 2023, 2:30 p.m. (CET)

[3] Craig S. Keener, Miracles Today, (Grand Rapids, MI, 2021), 51-54

[4] Gary R. Habermas and Mike Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2004), 52.

[5] N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, Vol. 3 of Christian Origins and the Question of God,(Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 319.

[6] Ibid., 320-321.

God never promised us a rose garden

November 18, 2024 /

Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Wiesbaden, Germany November 17, 2024                  Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25; Mark 13:1-8

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen.

Please be seated.

Some of us are old enough to remember a song by Lynn Anderson, “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” When we look around at the state of the world, many of us don’t see a rose garden. We just went through a pandemic that killed millions throughout the world and disrupted our lives. This was followed by a nasty bout of high inflation. There are horrific wars going on in Ukraine and the Middle East, and many in Western Europe might be worried about them spreading to our still-safe countries. Of course, even here, we live with more and more uncertainty. Germany’s government has collapsed, and new elections are on the horizon. The elections in the U.S. have just taken place, and some of us are worried about the outcome. Elections are a time of change, which can be frightening.

The Lord has also never promised us a rose garden on earth in this age, before His second coming. He does, however, encourage us to start planting and caring for one! This is what N.T. Wright calls, “building for the kingdom.”

In our Gospel reading, Jesus is with His disciples in Jerusalem, in what we now call Holy Week just before His crucifixion. When they marvel at the massive stones of the Temple, Jesus tells them that the Temple will be destroyed and “Not one stone will be left upon another.”

Christ’s prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD, less than 40 years after His death and resurrection. The First Jewish-Roman War began in 66 AD, when the Roman governor seized money from the Temple treasury and arrested numerous Jewish leaders. The Jews revolted and won some initial successes, but were ultimately defeated by the Romans, who set fire to Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. The war ended in 73 AD, when the Romans took the last Jewish fortress of Masala. The aftermath of the war was catastrophic for the Jews: an estimated one-third of the population was killed or enslaved. The Romans later built a pagan colony, Aelia Capitolina, on the ruins of Jerusalem and erected a shrine for worship of their god Jupiter on the Temple Mount.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells the disciples about other problems: wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines. We see these troubles today everywhere in the world around us.  Just as an aside, I’m not predicting the imminent end of the world; we’ve had these troubles throughout history. And Jesus said this was just the beginning of the birth pangs, not that the end was imminent. Christ’s return will be like a thief in the night, when no one is expecting it. Anyway, back to the passage. Jesus also tells us there will be many who come in His name “and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.” There have been many false prophets throughout history, and some who have falsely claimed to be the Messiah. Bar Kochba, for example, led a revolt in 132 AD with initial success. Much of the populace hailed him as the Messiah, who would reestablish King David’s rule.  Bar Kochba was killed in 135 AD, and the revolt was completely crushed a year later. The Jews suffered an even worse demographic catastrophe than the destruction of Jerusalem brought, with most Jews in Judea killed or sold into slavery. The Romans renamed Judea  Syria Palaestina, in an effort to erase all memory of the region’s connection to the Jewish people.

Imagine that you were a Jew or Jewish Christian in 70 AD, when the Temple was destroyed. Imagine that you were a Jew in the diaspora, who heard about the slaughter of your people in Judea at the end of the Bar Kochba revolt. It would seem like the end of the world. But the world did not end. We today can learn from this. No matter how bad things look, it’s not the end of the world. Or if it is, it’s because Jesus has returned to establish His visible reign over the new heaven and new earth.

I’m not saying that we should just keep smiling because everything will be OK. History shows us that countries can grow and flourish but also decline and fall. This includes Christian countries. The Roman Empire officially became Christian in 380 AD under Emperor Theodosius. A century later, the Western Roman Empire fell to Aryan Germanic tribes. In the seventh century, invading Muslim Arab armies wrested historic Christian lands – Palestine, Syria, Egypt, North Africa – from the Eastern Roman Empire, and ultimately went on to conquer Spain. In the 13th century, Mongols vanquished the Christian Kievan Rus, today’s Russia and Ukraine, and in the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks occupied Constantinople and reigned over much of the Christian Balkans. In the 20th century, Communism took over the Russian Empire and then subjugated Eastern Europe, brutally suppressing Christianity. And here in Christian Germany, the atheist-pagan Hitler seized power in 1933. Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich fell 12 years after it began, leaving Christian Germany devastated and divided and millions of innocent people dead.

Almost two thousand years after the destruction of Jerusalem, a Jewish state has reappeared in Judea and Galilee. But the Jewish Temple has not been rebuilt, even though Israel controls Jerusalem. There is an important Moslem Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, on Temple Mount, and destroying it to make room for a Jewish Temple would mean war with the entire Moslem world. The reading from Hebrews tells us that the Temple is no longer needed anyway. The primary purpose of the Temple was to offer sacrifices to God for the sins of the people. Hebrews 10:12 tells us, Jesus Christ offered “for all time a single sacrifice for sins” and so made any further sacrifices superfluous. According to Psalm 51:17, the sacrifice God wants from us is “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,” that is, repentance, which God, will not despise.

God never promised us a rose garden. But in John 16:33, Jesus tells His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Paul writes, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). When Jesus gave Simon the name Peter, meaning rock, He told him the gates of Hades would not prevail against His church (Matt 16:18). Roman emperors like Nero and Diocletian tried to destroy the church but failed. Shortly after Diocletian’s terrible persecution at the end of the third century, the Emperor Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christianity. Later, in 380 AD, the Roman Empire officially became Christian. The Empire that had crucified Jesus and destroyed Jerusalem now bowed the knee to Him. Closer to home, under the Nazis, the so-called German Christians accepted Hitler’s anti-Semitism and made it their own. Some even rejected the Old Testament and the “Rabbi Paul” as too Jewish. The German Christians won the church elections in 1933 and so dominated the Protestant church. The Nazis persecuted the faithful remnant, the Confessing Church, which included Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemöller. But when World War II ended, the Confessing Church took the reins of the new Protestant church. Here, too, the gates of Hell did not prevail.

Someday, according to today’s Old Testament reading, God’s people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. The saints who have already died will not be forgotten: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” Daniel’s prophecy is that we will receive eternal life, and Jesus promises it anew in John 3:16.

So, no matter how bad things get, let us persevere in faith. Jesus tells us, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10). We have our orders, the Great Commission. Shortly before His ascension, Jesus told the eleven remaining apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20). All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus (Matt 28:18). Christ is Lord, and Caesar isn’t. His victory over the powers of evil is assured, and if we remain faithful, we, too, will share in His victory. There really is a rose garden in our future after all. Amen.

Paradox

August 27, 2024 /

September 1, 2024                  Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Deut 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen.

Please be seated.

The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines paradox as “a statement or situation that may be true but seems impossible or difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics.” Now, this does not include direct contradictions, such as “1 plus 1 equals 2 AND, simultaneously, 1 plus 1 equals 3.” That is a contradiction, and both statements can’t be true. But if I say, “Last Sunday was a sunny day” AND “Last Sunday was a rainy day,” both statements might be true. For example, last Sunday was a sunny day in Wiesbaden, which made our picnic memorable. But in Hawaii, not only did it rain, but the big island got hit by the edges of Hurricane Hone. When I was a schoolchild, we read a story about a spoiled prince who wanted a dessert that was both hot and cold. A contradiction? Well, he was served a hot fudge sundae, which was both hot and cold, so it was a paradox, not a contradiction. For contradictions, we talk about “either-or.” For paradoxes, we talk about “both-and.”

            Christians are familiar with paradox. The nature of God, the Holy Trinity, has a paradox at its core. In the Godhead, there are three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the three persons share the same Being or essence, hence God is one. Similarly, the nature of Jesus appears at first glance to be a contradiction: How can Jesus simultaneously be both truly God and truly human? God and humans are of two very different natures, yet Jesus combined both natures in Himself. Christian theologians have struggled with these paradoxes for centuries but have been unable to find simple answers that satisfy the human intellect. That’s because God is so much greater than our finite human intellects can comprehend.

            Today’s readings present a similar paradox when it comes to our salvation, although this is not immediately apparent. The Old Testament reading tells us that we should not add or subtract from God’s commands and must observe them diligently. A bit later, in Deuteronomy 6:5, we are told to Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. Jesus repeats this later in Mark 12:30. He then adds, quoting Leviticus 19:18, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.

            Today’s Psalm tells us, “Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from his heart” may abide on God’s holy hill. In the epistle, James tells us we must rid ourselves of all sordidness and wickedness. Religion, he continues, consists of caring for orphans and widows in their distress and keeping ourselves unstained by the world. In the Gospel reading, the Pharisees confront Jesus, because some of His disciples were eating without washing their hands, which contradicted the tradition of the elders. Jesus replied that it is what comes out of our hearts that defiles us, not what comes from outside. Simply following rules is not enough: Our hearts must be righteous.

            So far, you might wonder, “Where’s the paradox?” God is telling us we need to obey His commands, put Him first, love our neighbor as ourselves, lead a blameless life, and have a righteous heart. That sounds clear enough! Here’s the problem: we can’t do it! The first of the Ten Commandments tells us, we should have no other gods before Him. Well, we don’t worship Baal or any other deity. But if a “god” is whatever we put first in our lives, do we worship money, success, power, fame, social status? If so, we’ve broken the first Commandment. Let’s not even talk about the other nine! Have we observed God’s commands diligently? Have we led blameless lives? If we’re honest, I think the answer must be “no.” Have we done enough for the needy and kept ourselves unstained by the world? For most of us, very much including myself, the answer again is “no.”

            Do I love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength? Realistically, no. I might ask, is half of my heart and soul and strength enough? The answer should be obvious. Why should my Creator settle for half? Do I really love my neighbor as myself? No, not even close. I might comfort myself and point to someone who is even worse than I am. But does God grade on a curve? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48). Perfection is God’s standard, so He doesn’t grade on a curve. We might also comfort ourselves by saying there are some terrible sins we have never committed, such as murder. But God’s standards are higher than ours. Jesus tells us, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matt 5:21-22). Have I ever been angry with a brother or sister? The answer is obvious. And James writes, “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (Jas 2:10, NIV).

            So, to sum up the problem: we can’t meet God’s standards. And realistically, there’s nothing we can do to meet them. That’s what God’s Law and today’s readings teach us.

            Here’s the paradox: God demands that we obey his Law perfectly, but we can’t do it. But God loves us and wants everyone to be saved and spend eternity with Him. Jesus tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). So, even though I don’t come close to meeting God’s standard, I can still “abide on God’s holy hill,” in the words of the Psalmist. I have been promised everlasting life. Why? Because God loves me, so He offers me the gift of salvation if I believe in His one and only Son. That’s it. Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9, NIV).

            Now it’s important to be clear: faith is more than just intellectually accepting some propositions, although that’s part of it. To have faith means to enter a relationship with Jesus, in which we accept Him as Both Savior and Lord. Accepting Him as Savior is critically important but not enough. It’s not enough to just receive the gift of salvation that Jesus earned for us on the cross. We need to follow Him as Lord. What does this mean? Jesus tells us, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). His commands can be summarized in the Law of Love, mentioned above: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Gospel singer Amy Grant recorded a song called “Fat Baby,” in which a man “knelt at the altar and that was the end, he’s saved and that’s all that matters to him.” He accepted Jesus as Savior, but as Lord? No. Is he really saved? I don’t know.

            And so now we return to today’s readings. In these passages, and many others, God lays out His standards, which we can’t meet. God offers us a way out: He sends His only son, Jesus, to bear the consequences for our sins in our place, and so offers us the gift of salvation. But God expects us to make progress to meet His standards. That’s what accepting Jesus as Lord means. We should strive to follow Him and do what He wants us to do.

And so, our salvation and God’s standards are a paradox. Salvation is a free gift that Jesus offers to sinners: We can do nothing to earn it, and we need do nothing to earn it. God accepts us as sinners but still expects us to meet His standards, which we can’t do on our own. The good news is that God doesn’t leave us helpless in our efforts to meet His standards. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, helps us not only to believe but to move along the path of sanctification.

            In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.” God is “delighted with the first feeble, stumbling effort you make tomorrow to do the simplest duty. … On the other hand, you must realise from the outset that the goal to which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal.” [1]

             May God work in us to make us more like the people He wants us to be: People who love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.

[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (London: William Collins, 2012), 203

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