Listen to the Globe

Listen to the Globe (of People)

(Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-18)

10:30 am, Sunday, February 24, 2013; Windsor UBC; J G White

You learn things when you go to a hockey game with your step-daughter and son-in-law.  For instance, Sherwin said he had horns on his head when he was born.  Now, one might automatically think of... the Devil.  Thankfully Sherwin grew out of his horns.  But, being the scholar of arts and the Bible that I am (ha ha), I thought of Moses.  Moses? you say.  Yes, Moses.

Here is a classic image of Moses.  Michaelangelo's 1515 sculpture of him.  And notice, Moses has little horns on his head.  Why did he have horns?  What did this symbolize?  It was a simple misunderstanding in the Bible translation that was used.  From Hebrew into the Latin Vulgate Exodus 34 said that when Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, he had horns.  When the people saw Moses had horns, they were afraid to come near him. 

Years later, the scholars figured out what the Hebrew word meant here.  Moses did not have horns, his face was shining. 

Now is a time like many others, a time of misunderstanding the Bible, not understanding Christianity, not being able to see the activity of Jesus in the world.  After the life of Jesus, the Apostle Paul made reference to the story of Moses with the shining face and covering himself with a veil.  In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul talks of the veil being analogous to the non-understanding of people in Corinth, Greece.  Whenever the [Old Testament law] is read, a veil lies over their minds [and hearts]; but when one turns to The Lord, the veil is removed. (3:15,16)   Christ makes clear God's Way for humanity that came out of the Hebrew religion, and was completed all that Jesus did. 

There are many people very close to us - in our on county, our own communities, who do not grasp Jesus or what we are all about here.  We must listen to the globe of people around us - glorious things will happen when we do!  We have a missionary task, and it demands missionary efforts and methods.  We must be good listeners to the various cultures of people around us.

For there are many cultures around us today.  Many folks are of the modern mindset: thinking is important, and facts, logic, truth; prove what's true or false.  Others are of what's called the post-modern attitude: what's true for you is fine; it just may not be true for me.  There is a secular culture out there: not religious at all, though many secular people are spiritual and have their own spiritual practices.  There is a growing digital culture in our world today:  how they communicate, socialize, work and play uses all the technological tools. 

I was at a committee meeting in December, outside of this Church, and was actually the youngest person there, by a long shot.  When scheduling our next meeting, the rest got out their little electronic things to type in the appointment.  I got out my black book, and wrote it down with a pen.  One of the committee told me what my book is called: while others keep their calendar on a Blackberry, or iphone, I am still using an elderberry!

But, in my technological defence  this is the first sermon I have sketched out with a ipad on Google Drive.  I still have lots to learn about those in the digital culture in Nova Scotia; it is a different culture from mine.  I think the Lord needs some of us to be missionaries to the digital culture. When we listen, glorious things will happen!

Part of our Vision for the next 5-10 years could be: take up the mission in our neighbourhood.  1- Be missionaries in West Hants, learning the cultures, languages, life of those living here.  2- Get to know our neighbours and be known by them.  3- Listen to the surrounding peoples, and by listen I mean we observe them in every way: hear and see, and feel with them.  4- Become a fellowship that is authentic, open, & integrates people efficiently.

When we listen, glorious things will happen!  The veil can be lifted; they can see and know the Lord.

For the so-called post-modern people, what we need to have to reach them is authenticity.  So says Dr. Steven McMullen of Acadia Divinity College, a pastor and sociologist who has done a great deal of research into the cultures of our day.  One veil over the minds and hearts of many folk today is the inauthenticity of Christians.  A church website declares 'a friendly fellowship,' but a Sunday morning visit soon proves that wrong.  A sermon celebrates the grace of God with a heartwarming illustration; but the story is not actually a true story at all, as a quick visit to the internet will show.  The Church message clearly is about God changing lives from the inside out, but the people from the pews show little signs of experiencing God or of much spiritual enlightenment. 

McMullen and others contend that for post-modern people authenticity is the real test.  Is this not what Apostle Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 4:2? We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

This is tough work!  With some, we might work to prove what is true about Jesus.  But the ones listening might think, 'That's fine; it's nice to know what's true for you.  That's just not true for me.'  What may be more transforming of this unbeliever is to show by our lives how the truth of Jesus is working for us.  Our experience can be convincing, more convincing than logical arguments and Biblical proofs.  Dr. Phil's question is the question of our post-modern age: 'How's that working for you?"  How is Jesus working for you? 

This is but one example of cross-cultural ministry. For some of us, reaching our neighbours in West Hants is cross-cultural ministry.  It is becoming more and more like the stories of mission work in far off places, in foreign languages.  I was reminded recently of the classic missionary story of the Peace Child.  In 1962, Canadians Don and Carol Richardson, with their baby, entered an isolated tribal village in New Guinea, Indonesia. The group, the Sawi, were known as cannibals, but also as folk who appreciated and revered 'white people,' for they brought wonderful tools with them to the jungle: saws and blades and nails, and so forth.  So, the Richardsons settled into the hard struggle of learning the very difficult Sawi language.  Because these white people were in the village, two other villages moved into the neighbourhood. The mission field came to them!

Eventually, Don was able to start teaching about Jesus.  But when he got to the story of Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion, the Sawi rejoiced in Judas and acclaimed him as the hero of the story!  Then it was clear to Don that, in these tribes, there was a culture that honoured treachery as a virtue, and so Judas was a great success.  It seemed the whole mission had failed.  Don and Carol prayed for wisdom from The Lord.  And for help, because two tribes, now together, were starting to fight.  War was starting!  The tribes were jealous for the attention of the Richardson family.  So Don and family decided they must leave. 

The head of the tribe who first welcomed them then intervened with a cultural practice that was the amazing door to Jesus and the gospel.  To make peace, the man took his infant son, and gave him to the chief of the enemy tribe.  He gave what they called a 'peace child,' entrusting one of their own to the enemy, to be cared for and raised.  This sacrifice would make peace.  In their culture of idealized treachery, this was the one way to make peace.

Don Richardson now knew that for these folk, Jesus wanted to be their Peace Child.  The very Son of God was given to humans to be one of us.  This would make peace between Creator and creatures.  And it did, for the Sawi in New Guinea.

When we listen, glorious things will happen!  The Spirit of God wants to encourage us, amid the daunting obstacles to our mission for Jesus.

Look with me at those chapters in the first half of 2 Corinthians: Paul keeps encouraging and encouraging. Paragraph after paragraph begins with strong, hopeful words.  (3:12) Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness...  (4:1) Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.  (4:13) But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with the scripture... we also believe, and so we speak.  (4:16) So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  (5:1) For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  (5:6) So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from The Lord...  (5:11) Therefore, knowing the fear of The Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are known to God... 

In the midst of all these encouraging words, the Apostle speaks of ministry to people whose understanding of Christ and the Word is veiled.  We can tune in to these people in our lives, to reach them for Christ. 

This next story was told as a parable of sorts, about getting to recognize our Master’s voice, Jesus.  But I think of it as a parable of listening to those who need Christ…

Brian Brown tells the story of being at the community pool with his family. Kids were screaming, playing, and splashing in the pool, music was playing, the lifeguard whistles were blowing and in the midst of the conversation, his wife shooshes him. He said, "What are you doing?"

"Shoosh, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" he said.

"Listen!"  And over all of the noise, she had heard their youngest daughter screaming. As she listened to it, she then said, "OK, everything's alright. That's a happy scream."

He said he was blown away that, over all of the other voices, she not only recognized her child's voice but was able to identify what type of scream it was. Why? Because every day she talked with them and in the process knew the sound of their voices.

There are many voices out there, several cultures in West Hants today.  I may be prepared well by God to hear and understand the biologists and environmentalists in the neighbourhood, and help remove their barriers to faith in Christ.  You may be placed in such a time as this because you connect well with teens, and speak some of their language.  Or, you may be deployed by Jesus out there to hear the call of retirees for meaning and spirituality.  You or I alone do not have to do it all, or be able to understand and reach every kind of person out there.  But together, there are many in our communities we can reach, with our open ears, and open hearts.

It may be that our keenness to know our neighbours on our mission field will come in stages.  Before WE can listen well to our diverse neighbours, we need to learn more how to listen to one another, dear believers.  And under this must be a better listening to our God and Master, Jesus Christ. 

When we listen, glorious things will happen!