Future Church Now » Sermons

How (not) to speak of Christmas

Graeme — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:22:30 +0000

Sometimes I really do despair of evangelical Christians. I claim to be one, on the basis that I believe the Bible when it teaches us about God and how He is reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus, and that we as humans need to respond to that fact. As such, I do understand that there is an imperative to share what I believe with the world. I try to do this humbly, acknowledging that truth exists throughout the world and that I do not know it all. But I also do it boldly, believing that God is knowable, personal and involved in the world, and has revealed Himself to us. I believe this is good news for everyone.

But I do sometimes cringe at those who also call themselves evangelicals and take a very different approach to telling others of the “Good News”. For many, more fundamentalist evangelicals, the only version of the good news they ever tell is that “if you trust in Jesus you won’t go to hell when you die”. This might be true, but it is nowhere near the whole truth.

Last Friday night (23 December), my 12 year old daughter excitedly invited two of her unchurched school friends to join her at a special pre-Christmas youth group evening event, with a group of about 30 other young teenagers. They were expecting an evening of fun activities and a brief Christmas themed talk to wrap things up – a fairly standard evening at the youth group. What they got instead was a long “Gospel” message from one of the church’s pastors that went something like this:

You might be a young teenager, but you still need to think about death. When I was at high school, two of my friends died: a motor cycle accident and falling off a cliff. It could happen to you. If you die without knowing Jesus you’ll go to hell. So, make sure you take this seriously and accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour so that if you die you’ll go to heaven. You’re never too young to think about this.

Although I might argue with the theology of this, let’s leave that aside for now. This is not an appropriate message 36 hours before Christmas. This is not the message the angels brought to the world. It’s not what Mary thought of as she gave birth to the Saviour. How can this be “good news”? The good news was good news for everyone. It was news that a King had been born. Yes, this king would die – and rise again. Yes, this king would be a Saviour. But the good news was not that “you can avoid eternal conscious torment when you die.” The message had to do with the king and his kingdom.

Surely a more appropriate Christmas message is that God, the Creator and Sustainer of this universe and our world, is so committed to restoring His Creation to its original glory that He was prepared to humble Himself and come into His Creation to be born as a humble child into a humble family in a nation that had been humbled by history. He came to show us that God’s Kingdom is breaking into the kingdoms of this world, and that what is wrong will be made right; what is broken will be fixed; what is shattered will be restored. Jesus did not come to solve your personal sin problem: He came, as promised, to be the culmination of God’s story unfolding across time, and to reconcile the world to God through His life, death and resurrection.

Our response is not to accept His message because we fear the consequences of what might happen if we don’t. The correct response to the good news of Christmas is to realise that the One who created the world has also supplied us with a model of how life is supposed to be lived in the world He created. That model comes in multiple forms: there is the model of a family, of a nation, of a temple, of leaders and rulers, and the ultimate model of the God-man, Jesus. Our task is to learn what it means to live a life worthy of the calling we have received in Christ, and to do our part in “making earth as it is in heaven” as we await the final transformation of this world into the paradise God-connected place it was always meant to be.

There may be place in this story for a bit of fear and dread. But that time is not a few hours before Christmas. And I’d suggest that this approach to evangelism, especially of young teenagers, is precisely why so many of them abandon what faith they might have when they leave school. It is not a good foundation on which to build a life of discipleship.

To put it more plainly: it’s wrong!

Christmas reminds us very clearly and very precisely that the coming of a Saviour to the world was – and is – first and foremost: good news! It would be a very strange definition of “good news” if it is nothing more than escape from hell after you’re dead.

Reflections on Christmas and Christianity in the USA

Rob Bell on the agony of explanation – and what he believes

Graeme — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:31:28 +0000

Rob Bell is a preacher, pastor, author and leading thinker on theological issues. Earlier this year, he wrote a book called “Love Wins” which caused a huge controversy (buy it at Amazon or Amazon.co.uk). One of the upsetting things was the number of detractors who were prepared to “critique” his book without even reading it. Insane, but true. I was sent one which was even printed in the best selling Christian magazine in South Africa where the reviewer freely admitted he hadn’t read the book.

Apparently, people who attend Rob’s church in Grand Rapids were put upon by all and sundry and had a torrid time trying to defend their pastor. On 27 March 2011, Rob started the service with a statement which he labelled “The Agony of Explanation” in their official podcast. I think it is a remarkable few minutes.

He states his beliefs. And there is nothing in any of his books which would contradict this very traditional set of beliefs. He then talks a bit about what he was trying to convey in the book. If you’re not going to read the book, you might as well listen to what he says the message is. He also talks a lot about the attitude one should have. An attitude like Jesus’, I believe.

Anyway, for many reasons, it’s worth listening to Rob in his own words, as he interacts with one of the leadership team of the church:

You can find the full podcasts from the church in their free iTunes channel: Mars Hill Bible Church

What is an ‘easy Gospel’? Rob Bell, Love Wins, Galatians and Good News

God is not a Christian

Graeme — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 13:41:32 +0000

Desmond Tutu, the irrepressible retired Anglican Bishop from South Africa, is one of my favourite people of all time. His speeches are some of the best in history, and always delivered with verve, humour and passion. He is a remarkable man, and I have had the privilege of meeting him a few times and listening to him speak live.

A collection of his speeches and writings – especially his most controversial ones – has just been published (with two different sub titles, confusingly): “and other provocations” or “speaking truths in times of crisis” (Buy it at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com or Kalahari.net).

The Huffington Post provided an extended extract. You can read it here, or below. I have highlighted my favourite bit. It’s from the speech that book is named for: God is not a Christian. What a profound thought.

God Is Not a Christian

This talk comes from a forum in Britain, where Tutu addressed leaders of different faiths during a mission to the city of Birmingham in 1989.

They tell the story of a drunk who crossed the street and accosted a pedestrian, asking him, “I shay, which ish the other shide of the shtreet?” The pedestrian, somewhat nonplussed, replied, “That side, of course!” The drunk said, “Shtrange. When I wash on that shide, they shaid it wash thish shide.” Where the other side of the street is depends on where we are. Our perspective differs with our context, the things that have helped to form us; and religion is one of the most potent of these formative influences, helping to determine how and what we apprehend of reality and how we operate in our own specific context.

My first point seems overwhelmingly simple: that the accidents of birth and geography determine to a very large extent to what faith we belong. The chances are very great that if you were born in Pakistan you are a Muslim, or a Hindu if you happened to be born in India, or a Shintoist if it is Japan, and a Christian if you were born in Italy. I don’t know what significant fact can be drawn from this — perhaps that we should not succumb too easily to the temptation to exclusiveness and dogmatic claims to a monopoly of the truth of our particular faith. You could so easily have been an adherent of the faith that you are now denigrating, but for the fact that you were born here rather than there.

My second point is this: not to insult the adherents of other faiths by suggesting, as sometimes has happened, that for instance when you are a Christian the adherents of other faiths are really Christians without knowing it. We must acknowledge them for who they are in all their integrity, with their conscientiously held beliefs; we must welcome them and respect them as who they are and walk reverently on what is their holy ground, taking off our shoes, metaphorically and literally. We must hold to our particular and peculiar beliefs tenaciously, not pretending that all religions are the same, for they are patently not the same. We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.

We should in humility and joyfulness acknowledge that the supernatural and divine reality we all worship in some form or other transcends all our particular categories of thought and imagining, and that because the divine — however named, however apprehended or conceived — is infinite and we are forever finite, we shall never comprehend the divine completely. So we should seek to share all insights we can and be ready to learn, for instance, from the techniques of the spiritual life that are available in religions other than our own. It is interesting that most religions have a transcendent reference point, a mysterium tremendum, that comes to be known by deigning to reveal itself, himself, herself, to humanity; that the transcendent reality is compassionate and concerned; that human beings are creatures of this supreme, supra mundane reality in some way, with a high destiny that hopes for an everlasting life lived in close association with the divine, either as absorbed without distinction between creature and creator, between the divine and human, or in a wonderful intimacy which still retains the distinctions between these two orders of reality.

When we read the classics of the various religions in matters of prayer, meditation, and mysticism, we find substantial convergence, and that is something to rejoice at. We have enough that conspires to separate us; let us celebrate that which unites us, that which we share in common.

Surely it is good to know that God (in the Christian tradition) created us all (not just Christians) in his image, thus investing us all with infinite worth, and that it was with all humankind that God entered into a covenant relationship, depicted in the covenant with Noah when God promised he would not destroy his creation again with water. Surely we can rejoice that the eternal word, the Logos of God, enlightens everyone — not just Christians, but everyone who comes into the world; that what we call the Spirit of God is not a Christian preserve, for the Spirit of God existed long before there were Christians, inspiring and nurturing women and men in the ways of holiness, bringing them to fruition, bringing to fruition what was best in all. We do scant justice and honor to our God if we want, for instance, to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was a truly great soul, a holy man who walked closely with God. Our God would be too small if he was not also the God of Gandhi: if God is one, as we believe, then he is the only God of all his people, whether they acknowledge him as such or not. God does not need us to protect him. Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. It is often said, half in jest, that God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment, saddling God with his own narrow prejudices and exclusivity, foibles and temperamental quirks. God remains God, whether God has worshippers or not.

This mission in Birmingham to which I have been invited is a Christian celebration, and we will make our claims for Christ as unique and as the Savior of the world, hoping that we will live out our beliefs in such a way that they help to commend our faith effectively. Our conduct far too often contradicts our profession, however. We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion; we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians we often sanctify sociopolitical systems that belie this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer, where we seem to sanctify a furious competitiveness, ruthless as can only be appropriate to the jungle.

Source: Huffington Post

God’s Kingdom Meets the Real World

Graeme — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:12:06 +0000

A few months ago, I spoke at a men’s conference in Johannesburg, at South Africa’s leading Methodist Church. They asked me to speak on being a Christian in a world gone mad. I used the opportunity to do a bit of a “preach” on what I think is an absolute essential for any Christian man (or woman) who wants to make sense of the world: we need to change our view on what we think we’re here for.

You can listen to the podcast recording of the session at the church’s conference website (if you battle to listen or download it, please let me know, as I have an MP3 copy). If you want to download a copy of the slides I used and was referring to, I have created a PDF file and you can get it here.

Welcome new readers – a quick intro to the conversation thus far

Graeme — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:14:56 +0000

Every now and again I’ll do a quick overview of my favourite posts – and that can act as a nice introduction for new readers and a navigation tool for those who want to “catch up” with some of the thinking and conversations on this blog.

The purpose of this blog is to help Christians and those seeking faith to find new ways to think about what it means to be a Christ follower. I have been writing and blogging on this topic since 1995, and this blog includes a selection of new and old stuff I have been working on. Some of it I’d die for, but some of it is purely experimental (I try and let you know which is which). The point is not to present a fully worked through systematic theology, but rather to allow you to enter into an ongoing conversation with me. If you like, this is just my journal – and you get to look in…

So, with that said, here is a brief intro to some of the posts on this blog:

The Transformation Gospel vs the Gospel of Evacuation – I first heard this analogy at a conference in Uganda a few years ago. It is remarkable, and has shaped my thinking since.
The Present Future – a book review and summary of a remarkable book on what the church should be doing
The marks of a genuine Christian – reflections on a sermon
Living in an age of transition

You will find this blog coming back over and over again to our responsibility to social issues, and especially to poverty, development and social justice. Here is a sample:

The poor you will always have with you
Jesus and the “Social Gospel” – by Dr Reg Codrington (my father)

This obviously impacts on what the church is meant to be doing:

Church is not the end, it’s the means
Five Things Every Adult Christian Should Know About Youth Ministry
Gary Hamel speaks to church leaders on Shifting Tides
The Challenge of an Ageing Population
Generations @ Church – understanding different generations is a passion and area of expertise of mine

And on theological issues:

I have a passion for helping people to read the Bible properly, and develop helpful hermeneutics:

That’s a brief intro. There’s lot to read and discuss – join the conversation.

And stick around. We’ll head into fun waters soon. I plan to start looking at the issue of homosexuality over the next few months.

Talk: Famous Last Words

Graeme — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:26:42 +0000

This is a talk I gave at a youth group a number of years ago.

I have in my hand a chocolate bar, which I will give to the first person to give me the answer to a quick quiz I am about to give you. I will give you the famous last words of this person, and you must tell me who he was.

Et tu, Brute.

ANSWER: Julius Caesar

On the 15th of March, 44BC, Julius Caesar, the Emperor of Rome walked into his government to conduct business as usual. As he stood to speak, Senators rushed forward and stabbed him. Legend tells us that over 50 senators were involved. Caesar had been expecting this – it was part of the way things were done in those days. I must admit, that it sometimes seems a pity that we have to vote some of our bad politicians out of office, rather than get rid of them the way the Romans did.

It wasn’t so much the fact that Caesar had been killed, but rather that it was one of his closest friends and advisors that was also involved. If William Shakespeare can be trusted on this point, Brutus was the last to put his knife in. It was the fact that his closest friend had shafted him that really hurt Caesar. It was his dying thought. I wonder how many of you have had a good friend let you down badly – maybe talk behind your back or do something that really hurt you. Maybe you haven’t ever forgiven that person. The problem is: Friends let you down. They hurt you.

It’s not only friends that let you down, though, but family as well. You know, three years ago, my brother and sister and I arranged a wonderful party for my parents. It was their 25th wedding anniversary. Last year, they were divorced. Three weeks ago, my father married a woman just a few years older than me. That hurts. Some of you know how much it hurts. Et tu, my friend?. You, too? People let you down.

Take out another chocolate bar

There was another man in history, and you probably won’t guess his name if I tell you his last words, so I am going to tell you his name, and the chocolate goes to first person to tell me what he is famous for. This man was old, and as his friends gathered around his sickbed, he said:

Go away. I’m alright.

And then he died.

His name was H. G. Wells. What was he famous for?

ANSWER: He was an author.

H. G. Wells was a famous author, who lived at the end of the last century and into the beginning of this one. He was the first author o write a book about time travel, and in 1989 wrote a book called, War of the Worlds, which was the first book written about aliens invading the world. In fact, the movie, Independence Day, had some very similar scenes as that book. His book was so popular that it was put into script form for radio reading, and when it was first read, people thought it was the news, and ran out into the streets screaming.

In 1946, as he lay on his bed, very sick, he turned to his friends and said, “Go away. I’m alright”. And then, he died. It’s not that funny – many of us do that everyday. Your buddy comes up to you and asks what’s wrong, “I can see that something’s bothering you. What is it?”. “Leave me alone, I’m fine”.

On the outside, you put up this mask that everything is great – I’m doing OK. But on the inside, you’re dying. Little by little, you’re dying. You know what I mean – smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside.

Go away, I’m alright.

Take out another chocolate bar

Then there was another man. I don’t know if these were his exact last words – no-one will ever know his exact last words, but in a suicide note, he said:

I hate myself and I want to die.

ANSWER: Kurt Cobain

If they don’t get it, give details from this next paragraph as a clue

On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain took a shotgun and blew his head off. The album that Nirvana were working on at the time was going to be called I hate myself and I want to die. That is, if Sony would let them use that title. In his suicide note, he explains that from the age of 7, he had begun to die inside, and now hated himself for it. He no longer enjoyed music. He felt that he should put a clock-in machine at the entrance to the stage, and clock in and out every concert. That’s no way to be a musician, and he knew it. He couldn’t stand to fool himself or his fans anymore. He hated himself and wanted to die – so he did.

Some of you know how that feels. Some of you know what it’s like to hate yourself and want to die. Some of you have even tried that. You are so dead inside that it doesn’t make any difference anymore whether you are living on the outside or not. You are so hurt that there seems no way back.

I hate myself and I want to die.

Take out another chocolate bar

There was another man I want to tell you about. He was also a musician. As he lay in a pool of his own blood, from a gunshot wound, he said:

Please help me.

If they don’t get it, give details from this next paragraph as a clue

On 8th December, 1980, at about 10pm, Mark Chapman got an autograph from John Lennon, at John’s New York apartment. At 10 minutes to 11 that night, John Lennon left his New York apartment, probably to go and get something at the shops. Mark Chapman shot him dead as he left his apartment. As he fell to the ground, he was heard to say, “Please help me”.

Some of you know what it’s like to have friends and family let you down, to look OK on the outside, but be dying on the inside, to hate yourself and wish you were dead – and maybe some of you have asked for help. Others of you know that you need help, that you can’t fix this on your own, but you haven’t yet asked. By the time John Lennon asked, it was too late – it was too late for anyone to help.

I want to tell you that it’s never too late. I want to tell you about one more man. I don’t have a chocolate for this, because I know many of you know this man’s last words. This man said:

It is finished.

He lived about 40 years after Julius Caesar was stabbed to death. He lived in Israel. His name was Jesus. He was shafted by one of his close friends, who betrayed him to the Jewish leaders and then to the Romans as well. Late one night, he was taken before a slapped together court and give a railroad trial – declared guilty. All his friends and family left him and ran away. The next day, he was beaten up by the Roman soldiers, whipped until his back was just a mass of blood and flesh, a crown of thorns shoved into his forehead until the blood streamed down his face to blind his eyes. He carried a rough wooden cross through the city and was crucified outside, like a criminal. And as he died, he said: “It is finished”.

He wasn’t just talking about his life. He wasn’t saying, “Oh well, it’s all over”. No, three days later he rose from the dead, to prove that it wasn’t just all over. No! When he said, “It is finished”, he was talking about what he came to earth to do.

Jesus came to earth to prove that He loved you. He was dying to love you. When your friends let you down, and your family is falling apart, Jesus wants you to know that He is a friend you can trust. He is a friend that will never let you down. He wants you to know that you can trust him completely.

Jesus wants you to know that he can see right into you. When you tell other people that you’re OK, Jesus sees how you really are inside. He knows where it hurts, and He knows why it hurts. And he understands. You can’t hide anything from Jesus, because he can see right into your heart. There is no need to try to keep the mask up for him – he knows what it’s like to be hurt, and he wants you to know that he understands, and that he can help.

Jesus also wants you to know that he loves you. You might hate yourself, but Jesus loves you. He knows why you hate yourself. In fact, he understands you better than you understand yourself – he feels your pain and your hate – but he still loves you. And there is nothing you can do that will ever stop him loving you.

Jesus came to give you His love. He came to change your life. He came to give a purpose, and a mission, and a sense of love and peace and joy. He came to change your life.

Jesus wants to be your friend. He wants you to love him too. You may wonder how this is possible, and what you need to do to make it happen. It’s actually very simple. There are just two steps.

The first step is to admit that you need help. Like John Lennon, you have to be able to ask for help. You need to admit that your life is a mess, and you need help to fix it up. The Bible refers to the mess that your life is in as “sin”. Sin is very simple – take the middle letter of the word, I – that is sin. Doing everything for yourself. Trying to survive by your own strength. Doing it your way. That is sin. It is rebellion against God, who wants to help you.

You need to admit that this is wrong, and that you need help. You then, secondly, need to trust that Jesus can help you. You need to trust Him.

If you want to do that tonight, all you need to do is pray a simple prayer. It goes like this:

I need help. My life is a mess. Jesus, please help me. Thank you.

It’s not even the words that really count. It is the attitude of your heart. If you want Jesus to be your friend and your guide to sort out your life, then please pray that prayer with me right now:

I need help. My life is a mess. Jesus, please help me. Thank you.

If you prayed that prayer, I ask you to please speak to your youth leader, or come and speak to me afterwards, so that we can explain to you exactly how Jesus can help you. You need help, and Jesus loves you enough to offer that help to you. Please, don’t leave it until tomorrow or next week. Speak to us now – to me or your youth leaders, or anyone – and ask them to help you to understand how Jesus can give you all the love in the world.

This talk was inspired by a friend, Clive Garton, an evangelist gifted by God. He is awesome enough to have created it himself, but probably got it out of a book somewhere.

How to talk when we don’t agree – an object lesson from President Obama

Cheap Grace

Graeme — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:31:20 +0000

A sermon outline originally posted on 13 March 2005

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his 1937 book, The Cost of Discipleship (buy it at Amazon.co.uk or Kalahari.net), wrote: “Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has…. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because if calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: ‘ye were bought with a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.”

In the lead up to Easter this year, let us remember that “salvation” is about “justification” AND “sanctification”. To emphasize one over the other is unbiblical. To my mind, this is the single biggest failing of the church at the moment – to be so heavenly minded that it is no earthly good. To emphasize what Jesus came to die for, and to neglect all he came to LIVE for – the establishment of His Kingdom ON EARTH as it is in Heaven!

If we lived more like Christ’s intent, we wouldn’t have many of the issues I talk about elsewhere on this blogsite.

Here is a sermon I preached just before Easter a few years ago:

On February 4, in 1906, a baby boy was born in Breslau, in eastern Germany. His name was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At about the age of fourteen, he began to study theology, graduating with a doctorate by the age of 21. He then was the pastor of churches in Barcelona, Spain, and London, England.

After Adolf Hitler took charge as chancellor of Germany in January of 1933, Bonhoeffer watched as many of his friends began to support Hitler’s anti-Semitism. Very few, if any, churches stood against Hitler and his policies. The oppression of the Jews increased, and Bonhoeffer wished to help them. In the spring of 1933, he helped to found a Confessing Church which had already begun to aid the Jews. Many other German parishes in England joined with Bonhoeffer’s new church. But this church closed in 1935, due to pressure from the Gestapo and other Germans.

So Dietrich Bonhoeffer returned to Germany. He started up a seminary course that was a direct attack against the Nazi ideology, but his teaching and ministry was declared illegal in August 1937, and his seminary was shut down and many of his former students arrested. In January 1938, he was officially banned from Berlin. In 1939 Bonhoeffer joined a secret group of high-ranking military officers based in the Abwehr, or Military Intelligence Office, who wanted to overthrow the government by killing Hitler. In September 1940, the Gestapo forbade Bonhoeffer from public speaking and publishing. In 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested and remained in several different prisons for nearly two years. In February, 1945, he was moved to a concentration camp in Buchenwald. He was hanged at Flossenburg on April 9, 1945, just days before Allied forces liberated the camp. He was 39 years old.

With a story like that, his life really qualifies Dietrich Bonhoeffer to have something to say on ‘The Cost of Discipleship’. In fact, that is the title of his most famous book, written in 1937. The theme of the book is about the difference between cheap and costly grace.

He wrote this (pg 43ff): “Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before…. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

“Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has…. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: ‘ye were bought with a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us, Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

It’s Easter in just two weeks time, and as we focus on what Jesus did on the cross it’s a good time again to remind ourselves of what it is exactly he achieved. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus became the Saviour of the world. Because he died, we don’t have to. He died in our place, and his death satisfies God’s anger against sinners.

This evening, I want to focus on our salvation. We know it is a free gift. But just because it’s free doesn’t mean it costs nothing. Let me explain what I mean, and I hope you don’t mind a quick theology lesson.

When we talk of salvation, there are many small steps that we actually are referring to. To go back to the beginning, we believe that everyone has sinned and falls short of the glory of God. We believe that God is so holy, that he cannot even look at sin. We believe that the penalty for even one sin is death. Jesus’ death was the propitiation for our sins. (Note: Propitiation is the turning aside of wrath.)

We refer to this fact that God can now accept us, as our being “justified”. (Just as if I’d never sinned). For many people, that is all they think of when they think of salvation. But the Bible is very clear that this is only the starting point. Salvation also includes “sanctification”.

John 12:23-26
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

The Christian life is a costly one. It often requires us to step out of our comfort zones. It requires discipline, self control, and expects more than you can give. It is in stretching ourselves beyond ourselves that we truly find ourselves, in Christ.

There’s a guy named John Wimber, who founded the Vineyard Churches. John lived a rather wild life: he had been a rock musician, dabbled in drugs, and gone down a rotten path. One day, he picked up a Gideons Bible, and started to read it. He couldn’t put it down. The message so moved him, that he began a search for Jesus. Very soon after that he had a dramatic conversion to Christ. The next Sunday he went to a local church for a service, and in his leathers and wild look, sat right in the front of the church – really freaked the pastor out. He took everything in, but was more and more concerned. As a professional rock musician, he really didn’t like the music, and the preacher’s words left him cold.

On the way out after the service, John asked the preacher: “So, when do you do the stuff?” And the preacher replied somewhat bemused: “what stuff?”
And John replied, “You know, the healings and the exorcisms and feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked. You know – the stuff? “
He had been reading about these things in the Bible and was eager to see them done for himself.
And the pastor replied, “Oh we believe in those things, but we don’t do them here.”
To which John replied: “Oh man, I gave up drugs for THIS?!”

The church has often offered cheap grace. By making it too easy to become a Christian, we have made it very difficult to live like a Christian.

To be honest, the way that the offer of salvation is often made to people, you’d have to be an idiot not to accept it. If you study the offer as it is often made, you will realise it is a no lose proposition. You get eternal security, with nothing in return, no future payments, just a simple verbal assent. It is a no cost fire insurance policy. This is cheap grace. It is only half the story.

Like a marathon or endurance race, the impressive statistic is not how many people start the race, but how many people finish it. Its interesting that the Gospels refer to Jesus as Saviour only 16 times. This is the get out of hell free part of salvation – justification. But, they refer to Jesus as Lord 420 times. The life of discipleship part of salvation – sanctification. We cannot accept Christ as Saviour without embracing him as Lord.

Let me be really very clear about what I’m saying. Salvation is by grace alone, and a free gift of God. But there is simply no biblical reason for saying that the glorious truth of justification by faith alone is more important than the astonishing reality that the risen Lord now lives in his disciples, transforming them day by day into his very likeness. Justification and sanctification are both central parts of the biblical teaching on the Gospel and salvation. To overstate the importance of the one is to run the danger of neglecting the other. I think churches today are in danger of doing this. (Refer Ron Sider, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience – but it at Amazon.co.uk).

If being a Christian does not make a difference in our lives, then maybe we’re not really Christians. Salvation is not something you did, and now it’s over, and you’ve got your ticket to heaven. No, salvation is something that must be worked out on a daily basis, and through the power of the Holy Spirit is something we become.

The Bible is very clear about this:

Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. EMPHASIZE PERFECTOR

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:12
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed– not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence– continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling

Colossians 2:6
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him

and so on…

Every year, I buy one of those desk calendars with a tear off for each day. Unlike some more spiritual people, who buy the ones with daily Bible readings, I tend to buy the ones with cartoons, jokes or last year’s one: World’s Dumbest People. The entry for June 6 told this story: On this day in 1981, Doug Whitt and his bride, Sylvia, were escorted to their hotel’s fancy bridal suite in the wee hours of the morning. In the suite they saw a sofa, chairs, and table, but where was the bed? Then they discovered the sofa was a hide-a-bed, with a lumpy mattress and sagging springs. They spent a fitful night and woke up in the morning with sore backs. The new husband went to the hotel desk and gave the management a tongue-lashing. “Did you open the door in the room?” asked the clerk. Doug went back to the room. He opened the door they had thought was a closet. There, complete with fruit baskets and chocolates, was a beautiful bedroom!

That’s kind of like many Christians. They’ve got into the entrance room of Christianity, but haven’t investigated any further.

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” We often use this as an evangelistic verse, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, it’s actually directed at the church. It’s said to Christians. Jesus is in the entrance hall, and all he sees around him are locked doors. The door to your wallet is locked tight. The door to your thought life locked tight. The door to your attitudes towards others, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, gender bias – all locked up tight.

So, let me ask you very simply: What difference does being a Christian make in your life?

As I prepared this sermon, I had a list of things you should do to respond to this. As I looked at it, though I realised it was just MY list. I then tried to put myself in other people’s shoes, trying to think what the most common issues were.
Tithing, racism, materialism, greed, gossiping, giving to the poor, lack of self control, lust, sexual issues, and my list just went on and on. But then I realised that this list wasn’t for me to create, that I could trust the Holy Spirit to do that work in each person here tonight. He has done that work in me already as I prepared this sermon.

So, what is the issue in your life that God has been putting his finger on tonight, and maybe over the past few weeks?
You need to respond.
He will not keep asking you forever.
It is his invitation to you, to go to the next level with him.

Unless you take it, you will never be truly happy.

Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.

Crucified with Christ
By Phillips, Craig and Dean

When I look back at what I thought was living

I’m amazing at the price I chose to pay
And to think I ignored what really mattered
‘Cause I thought the sacrifice would be too great
But when I finally reached the point of giving in
I found the cross was calling even then
And even though it took dying to survive
I’ve never felt so much alive

For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

Not I but Christ that lives within me
His cross will never ask for more than I can give
For it’s not my strength but His
There’s no greater sacrifice
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

As I hear the Savior call for daily dying
I will bow beneath the weight of Calvary
Let my hands surrender to His piercing purpose

That holds me to the cross yet sets me free
I will glory in the power of the cross
The things I thought were gain I count as loss

And with His suffering I identify
And by His resurrection power I am alive
And I will offer all I have
So that His cross is not in vain
For I’ve found to live is Christ

And to die is truly gain

1992 Dawn Treader Music/SESAC

What the Incarnation Means for the Church

Graeme — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:40:05 +0000

Originally posted on 1 May 2006

These are notes I used for a study on the issue of the Incarnation.

One of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith is the Incarnation. This is a technical theological word that describes the fact that God became a human. Jesus Christ was both 100% a man and 100% God. The implications of this has kept theologians both thinking and fighting with each other for the past 2000 years. I am not sure that we will ever fully understand the Incarnation, but I want to share with you tonight what I believe the Incarnation means for the church – for us, today.

When Jesus was on earth, he taught us how to live lives pleasing to God. It is not just His words and his preaching that are important. Its His example and what He actually did that are important, too.

When we think of the Incarnation as a model for us, we probably immediately think of missionaries who leave the land of their birth and go to a far off country where they have to learn a new language, wear strange clothes and participate in weird customs. But that isn’t the only application of Jesus’s example. The Incarnation is a model of ministry for us here in our church.

Right at the start of His ministry, Jesus called a select group of 12 disciples to be with him, and live with him in community for 3 years. In addition to this group, there were at least 72 others who regularly lived with the disciples and travelled with them. There were many hundreds who offered them hospitality and, of course, many thousands who would come every now and again to hear Jesus preach.

In calling the first of the 12, Jesus used a particular invitation, that was culturally appropriate for these fishermen.

Mark 1:16-18 (NLT)

One day as Jesus was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother, Andrew, fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and went with him.

Our view = lone man on the rocks, throwing line into heaving ocean. Or lone man, half asleep on the banks of river. Waiting. Hoping.

Their view – correct interpretation = collaborative event. Nets, dragging, active, going out onto the water. Dredging. Then, they’d come back to shore to do two things: (1) sift through what they’d dragged up in their nets to see what was valuable and what was not, and (2) mend their nets, and get ready for the next expedition out to sea.

These two views of fishing explain a radical shift taking place in the world right now. Some people refer to it as the emerging church. Others prefer to call it the missional church. Whatever its called, there is a growing movement around the world that is questioning the way we’ve done church our whole lives. One of the key shifts these people are seeing is the move from an attractional model of Church to a missional model.

EXPLAIN: Attractional

Focus is on church activities; inviting non-churched to come to us; being “seeker sensitive”; creating programmes, groups, activities and events that church members can invite their non-Christian friends to, where their friends will hear the Gospel. This is includes everything from Billy Graham type “crusades”, to youth groups, outreach services and Alpha courses.

It is these types of ministries that the church usually supports with money and publicity.

EXPLAIN: Missional

I believe we need to move to model that is much more relational – that focuses more on friendships than programmes. The emphasis must be on us going out there, rather than getting them to come here.

The problem is that we have successfully separated our “spiritual” lives from our “secular” lives. We have church in a box, and don’t see ourselves as being incarnated in the world, to be salt and light wherever we are.

So, for example, when we think of the ministries of the church, do we think of asking each church member what they are already doing in their neighbourhood and places of work? Do we make an attempt to identify the medical practitioner who has changed their approach to patients by providing counselling and practical support rather than just the diagnosis and prescription of medications. Do we support people who have joined the community police Forum so that they can assist in containing crime and supporting the beleaguered police force? Do we pray for the support the teacher who has started working in a township school with all the issues of poverty affecting her pupils?

Our church rightly supports a number of orphanages and homes for children affected by HIV/AIDS. But, when a family who is living in one of the richest suburbs in the richest city on the poorest continent decides to pay their domestic worker more than triple the minimum wage, so that she can support her family and help her own children to have an education and escape the cycle of poverty, should we not see this as an important ministry of the Kingdom of God?

We need to see that business man, students, lecturers, electricians, homemakers, plumbers, accountants and everyone else has potential missional roles to play in their worlds.

If a business person started a prayer breakfast in a local restaurant, churches are likely to notify their members and support the event. But if that same business person attempts to use her influence to develop ethical schemes through her business to invest in social causes that will create jobs for the unemployed, we traditionally don’t see this as mission. We don’t see the strong creation of friendships that parents make through the local school as being anything to do with mission – unless they’re inviting them to church. We don’t see the regular gathering of skateboarders at the local shopping centre as part of the net that catches people into the kingdom of God.

But we should!

We need to move to a missional model of thinking about church.

Jesus calls every single one of us to be fishers of men. How can we do that? Who are the “fish”? What are our nets?

Well – fairly obvious who the fish are – the people that God wants to bring into His Kingdom.

The Nets? The connection between fisherman and fish = the web of relationships you have with these people.

I believe that we need to understand the sacred nature of our relationships with our non-Christian friends. In fact, let’s start by not calling them non-Christian friends. I’d prefer to think of them as “not-yet-Christian” friends. (I don’t think of my wife as “not a man”). Changing our language will display the hope we have in the process.

Everything that we do to interact with them, and to impact them, and to demonstrate Christ and His Kingdom to them, should be seen as ministry. And it should be sacred and recognised as such by the church. It is a sacred and revolutionary infiltration into the world.

We realise it may take some time. It took Jesus 33 years to infiltrate the community he incarnated into. It took him 30 years of socialising before he even started preaching! And, in his whole lifetime, he only specifically targeted 12 people. But, if every Christian spent their whole lives just evangelising one other person, the 1.5 billion Christians in the world would double every 20 years or so, and the whole world would be Christian within 50 years.

Jesus says, “Come follow me, and I will teach you how to fish for people”.

This has been called Friendship Evangelism. (For and Against)

How do we do this Missionally, not just socially?

1. A Commitment to Holiness

Matthew 5:16 – In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Built into the heart of NT teaching on the church is the idea that when Christians live Christ-like lives, their example will be so tantalising and intriguing that it will attract people to ask questions and to want to live in the same way.

Unfortunately, especially in business, this is not always the case.

What different does Jesus make in your life?

We must make the Gospel of the Kingdom of God attractive by living it right under the noses of the people who have not yet embraced it. A consistent Biblical theme.

Micah 6:8 – O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Holiness as a well, not a fence.

Holiness is a goal not a pre-requisite.

Holiness is not meant to be a big stick to hit people with. Its meant to be an attractive lifestyle, drawing people to Christ.

It should not be an entry criteria (for joining a church). It should be a leadership criteria for those responsible for the spiritual health of the community.

Titus 2:7-10

And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. Let your teaching be so correct that it can’t be criticized. Then those who want to argue will be ashamed because they won’t have anything bad to say about us.

Slaves must obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but they must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive in every way.

2. A Commitment to Supporting Evangelists

Although we’re each called to be evangelists in every way we can, there are those that are especially gifted in explaining the Gospel to people, and answering their questions in such a way that they get it. Evangelists are listed together with teachers, pastors and apostles in the Bible.

Every week we make sure that we put ourselves in a place where we connect with teachers. To feed our souls and grow our understanding.

We need to see our role too in connecting our friends with evangelists. If we truly understood the role of the evangelist, they’d be in hot demand for dinner parties, weekends away with mates and informal chat sessions. EXPAND.

It could become such a task that the church needs to subsidise their income, to give them more time to do the work of an evangelist. Part of what our pastors should be involved in. Yet, in most churches, pastors spend all their time looking after the Christians. And if a pastor gets involved in a local jogging club, or bridge group or women’s group, they’re often accused of NOT doing their job.

1 Cor. 9:13-14 — Don’t you know that those who work in the Temple get their meals from the food brought to the Temple as offerings? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord gave orders that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.

(CONTEXT (ch 9) = evangelist and being in not-yet-Christian homes)

3. A Commitment to Prayer

What we are doing is a spiritual mission.

Pray for evangelists.

Matthew 9:36-38 — He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”

Not just foreign missions. This is wherever there are people who are not-yet-Christian.

Pray that the evangelists will be effective.

Ephes. 6:19 - And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the Good News is for the Gentiles, too.

Pray for your friends.

4. A Commitment to Socialising

We need to stay close to those who are not-yet-Christian. We must engage fully with them, not treating them as a project with a deadline, but actively being “friends of sinners”. This was an insult label the religious leaders slapped onto Jesus – but one that He gratefully accepted and made His own.

Friend of sinners –the Incarnation of the very Son of God. A model for us.

We need to live, eat, work and play with not-yet-Christians. We must go to THEIR world, not waiting for them to come to ours. This must be done in their homes, and in ours.

EXAMPLES:

What about the remote controlled racing club at the shopping centre near our house? They meet only on a Sunday morning.

Student friends at varsity – won’t come to church, but want to chat about spiritual things with you.

Your next door neighbours who are living together and often invite you around for an evening of board games with their group of friends.

All the people in your office.

But our commitment to socialising also means a commitment to going outside our comfort zones, to risk being rejected and even persecuted, and to ensure that our group of friends includes the excluded, the marginalised, the weak and the poor.

Col. 4:3-6

Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan—that Christ is also for you Gentiles. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.

Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.

5. A Commitment to Spiritual Community

Stay connected to a church. Some of the examples above might mean you need to spend Sunday morning with your friends, and not at church. That’s OK, as long as you stay connected to a spiritual community.

Feed your soul. Put stuff in, so that there is stuff to come out when the opportunity arises.

6. A Commitment to the Kingdom (to be Jesus MAD – make a difference)

1 Peter 3:15 – Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.

If we do our work: living holy lives, praying for our not-yet-Christian friends, socialising regularly and building genuine friendships with them, demonstrating the Kingdom in how we live, introducing them to our evangelist friends, then God can do His work: giving them the gift of faith and saving them by the work of His Holy Spirit in them.

This is what the church needs to be doing.

I acknowledge inspiration for this article/sermon from the fanstatic book, “The Shaping of Things to Come” by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch (Hendrickson, 2003).

One African Postcolonial Theology: The Imperative to Differ

Graeme — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:23:11 +0000

Dr Kenzo Mabiala gave a brilliant talk at the first Amahoro conference in Uganda in May 2007. I recorded this on a handheld recorder – it’s worth persevering through the low quality because this lecture is sheer genius. Kenzo says that theological work done in Africa has the imperative to differ from theology from the West, and must have the courage to denouce Western theology – which “came of age during the rise of colonialism” – as being used to seeing itself as the centre around which other theologies must orient themselves (in other words: theological arrogance which claims that Western theology is the only correct theology, and all other theologies need to understand themselves in relation to Western theology).

amahoro01_Mabiala_Kenzo.mp3 (size 12 MB’s).

NOTES from a lecture by Dr Kenzo Mabiala at the Amahoro Gathering in Mukono, 2007.

The church in Africa is at a cross roads, poised to become a major force in the world. But we will only be successful in this if we have the courage to differ, to innovate.

In a world that is increasingly becoming a global village, there are not only the obvious changes (like communications, travel, products, etc), but also that we are changing our view of the world. This is as important and profound a change as the shift to the modern era from the middle ages.

Around the world, this is often referred to as postmodernism. In Africa, this is happening, too, under the guise of postcolonialism. This is more than a time or an era – it is a mindset or an attitude, too. There are those who cannot move forward until they have dealt with the demons of colonialism.

Knowledge is never innocent. It is a play between two forces: power and control.

The first generation of African scholars saw the colonial problem, and the solution was to regress to pre-colonial, pre-Christian, pre-Islamic Africa. But, they have realised that this is an impossibility.

The challenge going forward is to integrate all aspects of who we are now (e.g. Congolese, Christian, technologically advanced individual), rather than denying any one of these aspects of who we are.

Why am I attracted to postmodernism, emerging thinking and postcolonialism? Because they are asking the right questions.

Identity is created, not inherited. In Christ, we can be recreated.

When we study theology, we must realise that every theology is a contextual theology – yes, even Calvin and Luther.

Postmodernity is incredulity towards meta narratives. Every story is told around a plot, and that story is not innocent.

Those (like Carson) who are trying to maintain modernity, do not see modernity through the eyes of the oppressed. In Africa, modernity brought slavery and colonial oppression. It is like the “smell of an abusive father” – even when it is no longer there, you still have the smell of him in your nose (this analogy from a Congolese philosopher).

Africa has an opportunity to choose an identity – to choose how to respond and how to integrate. Africans must respond with boldness, creativity and difference.

What we are saved from and what we are saved for – sermon podcast

Graeme — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:30:11 +0000

In March 2007, I preached a sermon at my local church, Bryanston Bible Church, in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is one of my favourite sermons of all time, and deals with something that I actually think is at the heart of what’s wrong with the evangelical church today.

Last Sunday, while attending my current local church, Dundonald, I was reminded of this sermon and the concept behind it. We were having a special outreach service, and as part of it there was an interview of some of our church members. One of the questions that they were asked was: “What’s the best thing about being a Christian?”. The answer was interesting. They said that it was “the hope of spending eternity in heaven and living today without guilt or condemnation.” No doubt, these are great benefits and worth enjoying.

But is it enough? And is this really the BEST thing about being a Christian?

I grew up in a tradition that largely held out the threat of hell as the main reason for accepting Jesus as “my personal Lord and Saviour”. Evangelical churches rightly focus on evangelism. But they often use this approach of fear of retribution. Therefore, the message is primarily about what we are saved FROM.

But, salvation is just as much about what we are saved FOR. Eternal life begins now, and our salvation demands a response – on this earth, in this life. We need to be careful – we are in danger of preaching a watered down, half-truth Gospel. We are saved FOR something, as well as saved FROM something.

Listen to the sermon by downloading it here (13 Mb, MP3 file). You can see the notes I preached from below.

What We Believe: Salvation

Saved FROM, and saved FOR

Puzzles. Mother, holidays. What if swap lids?

What if looking at wrong picture? Then the pieces won’t make sense.

The picture of salvation and of being a Christian that I was given growing up in a conservative Christian home just doesn’t seem to make sense of the pieces I now see in the Bible.

I was told that the point of salvation was that I would go to heaven after I died.

There was a footnote about increasing personal happiness and success through God.

This footnote has been getting louder and louder, and now Christian bookshops and TV channels are flooded with advice about living your best now, claiming your inheritance and being all you can be – in Christ, of course.

There was a smaller footnote about character development.

There was a brief appendix on spiritual experience.

And there was some tiny smallprint about social and global transformation.

But mainly it was about going to heaven when you die.

I was told that because everyone had sinned, God was angry with the world and with all people. I was told that the only way to remove God’s wrath was through the sacrificial shedding of innocent blood. I was told that Jesus had done this, that he was the propitiation for my sin – in fact, for all sins of all people who accept his sacrifice. I was told that his death was a substitutionary atonement for all sins of all people of all time. And I was scared by the stories of hell – a dreadful place reserved for those who do not accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour.

The good news is that pretty much everything I was told is correct.

So, let me be clear about how it works and what it means. EXPLAIN.

Rom 3:23 – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Rom 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 8:31-32 – What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

SO, The good news is that pretty much everything I was told is correct.

But what I wasn’t told is that it is only half the picture.

It only explains why Jesus came to die. But not why he came to live.

It explains what I am saved FROM. But not what I am saved FOR.

It sort of explains what will happen when I die. But it doesn’t explain how I am to live.

It ‘s the truth. But not the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Is the purpose of being a Christian really just to try and live an undefiled life on the warehouse shelf of the world, being protected from disease, rust and defilement until my owner comes to collect me and take me to my new home?

Am I really just in a waiting room watching the clock tick the hours by, until its my turn?

I was at a conference recently where somewhere explained that this could be called the Gospel of evacuation.

STORY OF REFUGEES / EVACUATION

If this is our picture, then we will find the pieces in the Bible that match it, and we can build a part-finished puzzle. But, it will only be half a picture. And there’ll be a lot of pieces that don’t fit, and don’t make sense.

We need to change our picture.

Why do we have this picture of salvation being about our destination after we die?

The Bible speaks often of heaven and eternal life.

The Gospel of Matthew uses the phrase: The Kingdom of heaven often.

Yet, in all other Gospels and Acts, the preferred phrase is the “Kingdom of God”. EXPLAIN

Because Kingdoms are not an immediate reality to us, and because death’s final defeat is not a reality for us, and we see the end of our mortal lives as the end of life itself, we tend to think that heaven and eternal life and God’s Kingdom are all for after we die.

But this is NOT what the Bible intends.

It is NOW. Not sometime in the future, after we die.

When we receive the Spirit, we receive eternal life. It starts NOW.

John 3:36 – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life…

John 5:24 – “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

I Jn 5:13 — I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

And then John defines eternal life:

John 17:3 – Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

In terms of the concept of the Kingdom, the Gospels all start and end with a message of the Kingdom, and so does the book of Acts, as the Apostles and Paul preach the message of the Kingdom throughout the world.

Jesus, himself, started his ministry by announcing the arrival of the Kingdom.

Mark 1:15 – “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

The Kingdom is NOW. My box = heaven/later.

Today, we miss the full impact of that statement. It was a Political statement, not a religious one. For us, kingdoms are tourist attractions. In Jesus day, it was the reigning world order. He had come to change the world – every part of it was controlled by the Roman Empire. Jesus comes and announces a new Kingdom, and a new King.

You could get yourself killed for doing that. In fact, Jesus was killed for that in the end.

This is a theme throughout Jesus’ teaching. The Kingdom is NOW.

Lord’s Prayer

- may your Kingdom come…

- my box lid = may we die & go to your K in H where, unlike on earth, yr will is done.

- my box lid seemed to indicate that God had given up on His creation, and would ultimately just destroy it and start again in heaven. Preaching on this in August.

So, what then is the big picture of salvation?

My box lid says that salvation is all about me. Its about my future, my destination, my sin and my soul. But this is not the whole picture.

John 3:16 – “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.”

Want u to be Christian so you can transform world.

NOT so u can be kept clean & unsoiled so we can evacuate you sometime.

But so you can change the world.

Not just the people, but the world itself.

Salvation impacts on creation:

Rom 8:19-22

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Salvation impacts on the political sphere of life:

Rev 11:15

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

Salvation touches everyone and everything:

2 Cor 5:18-19

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us this message of reconciliation.

Our view of salvation should be a holistic vision of transformation. Not a limited hope of evacuation.

Maybe the one verse that sums this up best is found in the Old Testament.

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, people, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Jim Wallis – get person drowning out of water, CPR = kindness/mercy/grace (NT), and another and another = kindness.

Sometime you need to go upstream to see who’s throwing ppl into the river = justice.

As those who are saved, we have a responsibility and calling to extend the impact of our salvation to the world. We are to ensure that there is justice in the world – at every level.

Mercy and grace have been extended to us. This is what we have been saved FROM.

We have to ensure justice for others, and extend God’s Kingdom on earth. This is what we were saved FOR.

The last part of the verse in Micah refers to walking humbly with our God.

This points to holiness. It is about our spiritual development and usability. We have to be holy, so that God can use us to transform His world.

Unfortunately, my box lid also seems to have holiness horribly wrong.

I was brought up to believe that holiness was about not drinking, not dancing, women not wearing makeup or attractive clothing, demure and pious activities.

I was taught that being holy was about refraining from these outward activities.

But this is NOT what Biblical holiness is. To be holy means to be set aside for God’s use. It is about service for God.

These things are important, but only as a means to an end. Not an end in themselves. Our focus is on being used by God, and being pure enough to be of service.

But my box lid built into me a fear of “works”. When chatting about this topic to someone who was influential in shaping my theology of salvation, she asked me, “But aren’t you preaching the ‘social gospel’?”. What does that mean? She couldn’t tell me.

But the mere phrase was one that alerted her to danger. Our box lid so over emphasized the personal and inward aspects of salvation, that it actually turned us against the other half of the story. This is a trap of the devil, to stop us fully experiencing what salvation means.

Let me give you just a few examples from Scripture:

Phil 2:12-16a

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed– not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence– continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

James 2:17-18

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

Eph 2:8-10

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.

What’s the next verse?

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Titus 3:4-8

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

But why stop reading there? Verse 8 says:

This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Leslie Newbiggin – greatest heresy = doctrine of election where we are elected to exclusion rather than elected to service.

Theme of the Bible: blessed to be a blessing.

What then is SALVATION?

Transformation, not evacuation

On a recent conference of Christian ministries in central and East Africa, I heard a story:

– 3 yr old black girl from the slums of Kampala, taken in by a white missionary and raised as an adopted child. Asked: what do u want to be when you grow up? ‘Muzungu’ = white person. Explained not possible. But why? To help others.

When I grow up, I want to be a Christian…

What r u living for?

Ceased by a higher purpose

Chosen not to live for yourself

Sure, you know what you’re saved FROM. But were you saved FOR?

What are you going to do to show Jesus that you are one of His children?

What are you going to DO with the salvation he has given you?