Christ Crucified

Christ Crucified

(1 Corinthians 1:18-31) Windsor UBC, J G White

10:30 am, Sun, Feb 2, 2014

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a "show and tell" assignment of bringing something to represent their religion.  The first boy got in front of the class and said, "My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish and this is the Star of David."

The second boy said, "My name is Joey. I'm a Catholic and this is the Crucifix."

The third boy said, "My name is Tommy and I am Baptist and this is a casserole."

It is better for us to claim the cross as our symbol, eh?

Last Sunday morning here, I ended with 1 Corinthians 1:18, which today is our beginning.   For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. What powerful things does our God do for us by the Cross, by the sacrificial death of Jesus?  Four things are listed in one sentence at the end of this chapter. (30-31)

He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."  

Wisdom: Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God.  We gain some true wisdom by knowing Jesus Christ and the salvation of our souls.  

26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

Eugene Peterson paraphrased this, saying:  I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you… and, decades before, Clarence Jordan put it this way, in his Cotton Patch Version of Paul’s Epistles: It appears as though God deliberately selected the worlds “morons” to show up the wise guys, and the world's weaklings to show up the high and mighty, and the world's lowly and rejected – the nobodies – to put the heat on the somebodies.   

Salvation does not depend upon being the brightest lightbulb, being well-educated, having a certain IQ.  God’s wisdom is enough; and it is simply seen in what Jesus has done for us.

Also, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, because what Jesus did can appear very unwise.  He got arrested by the local authorities during a religious festival.  He and His disciples has just observed a feast called the Passover, and after dark were out in a nearby orchard.  When some of his fellows rose up to fight and defend themselves, Jesus said ‘put down your sword.’  Then, Jesus gets tried and questioned, amid being tortured and treated badly.  He does not fight back.  And when He is finally hung on a cross to suffer and die, He does not call on the divine powers at His disposal.  We sometimes sing the scripture, Matthew 26:53, this way:

He could have called ten-thousand angels

to destroy the world, and set Him free.

He could have called ten-thousand angels,

But He died alone, for you and me.

Was this wise?  We who have received the blessed impact of Jesus’ sacrifice know how wise and powerful this submissive action was, the sacrifice of God for humans.  God’s wise way of reaching people and saving us is not anything humans would have thought up as strategic or even possible.  Yet, the message of the cross is the... power of God.

Jesus became for us Righteousness. We have things made right because of the Cross: we are made right with God, made right with ourselves, made right with one another.  Because the ways we do wrong are overtaken by the ways Jesus does what is right.

In the next letter, Second Corinthians, we can read: For our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)  It is hard to live rightly; we cannot do it on our own.

To live rightly with one another is the challenge of human life.  To fix things when broken is not simple.  In relationships, I mean.  

I think of an image, a scene from the movie, Ordinary People, based on the novel of the same name.  The story of an ordinary family, a woman, a man, two teenage sons.  Or, rather, one son; the other died in a boating accident; and the three that are left struggle with the grief and guilt and a mess of emotions.  It is a family breaking apart.  

And I see the scene where the mother, who never expresses her emotions, always keeps up appearances in the nieghbourhood, breaks a plate in the kitchen.  "I do think this can be saved; it’s a nice, clean break," she says.  Crazy Glue might mend a plate, but there is no quick fix for a fractured human life.  

Our brokenness can be saved… by God.  There is no simple way for us to save ourselves.  The ways we don’t do right can be touched and rebuilt by our Lord.

So, as it says here, we have nothing to boast about in and of ourselves.  We have Jesus to boast about.  Our righteousness, our being right and doing right, is like filthy rags, Isaiah chapter 64 says.  But, the cross of Jesus can bring us into a place of being counted right.

Sanctification. This means holiness: to be made holy, be special, be separate.  In the simplest terms, this is being improved, by God.  This improvement is ongoing, by the work of the Holy Spirit of God. It is when we put ourselves in the hands of God that we get clothed in righteousness and holiness.  

It is Superbowl Sunday.  This is not a religious holiday, though, with the festivities today one might think so!  And undoubtedly, quite of few Seattle Seahawks fans will wear the green and blue clothing of that team, and many Denver Bronkos fans will wear blue and orange.  The fans of a sports team identify with the actual team by the clothing, the team colours, and then cheer their team on with determination.

But it is not by our own Christian determination and efforts that we get clothed with holiness.  It is by the grace of God that we begin to resemble and shine with the pure goodness of the One we love, who died for us.  The cross, the death of Jesus, has the power to transform us.  Simply putting a t-shirt on with a Christian message will not make us holy, nor coming to worship on Sundays.  Renewal of the inner person matters, and is the work of God, so we cooperate with the Spirit in His work.  

Amazingly, it is as Jesus bleeds and dies that the way is paved for us to be reunited with the Holy God. In Judaism, the religion of the Messiah, a dead body was unholy, unclean.  In Jesus, Holy God comes down into unholiness, and dies… so we can be holy again, and be with God.  

Fourthly and finally, Redemption.  Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.  This means to compensate for something bad, or to exchange something by paying, or to set free.  This is why the Bible talks of Jesus’ dying to pay for us, or, for our sins.  We get set free from the result of our wrong; Jesus ‘pays the price.”

Anyone here originally from New Brunswick?  Have you noticed that New Brunswick has a different culture from Nova Scotia?  The big highways we call 101, 102, and so forth, they call 1, 2.  We eat clams; they eat fiddleheads.  And there are redemption centres in New Brunswick - for recyclables.  

Well, in the theological sense, Windsor Baptist is a ‘redemption centre,’ a people and a place for freedom from evil and wrong to be provided.  A fellowship building ourselves upon the Cross of Jesus, where He is the One we rely upon to bring us back from the damages and powers of sin.  

The Choir has sung Chris Tomlin’s song…

He became sin Who knew no sin

That we might become His Righteousness

He humbled himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing; Love so amazing.

Jesus Messiah, Name above all names,

Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel,

The rescue for sinners, The ransom from Heaven,

Jesus Messiah: Lord of all.

The Power of the Cross

The Power of the Cross

(1 Corinthians 1:10-18)

Sun, Jan 26, 2014. Windsor UBC; J G White

The message of the cross… to us who are being saved … is the power of God. (1 Cor 1:17)

There is power from our Lord to do good: in us, with us.  There is power from our God to heal and forgive and reconcile people.  There is power from our Saviour to save and keep on saving!

This scripture text is being read today in many churches across the globe.  It’s a prescribed reading in a list that is used by many: the Revised Common Lectionary. I have not been using this much at all for the past three years, but I am just now.  Many believers today are hearing these words read, and then preached, in many languages…

10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.  It’s a good text for the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The author, Paul, appeals to his congregation in Corinth.  In the English of 400 years ago – King James – “I beseech you, brethren.”  Some of you have already heard my subtle appeal this year, an appeal to find joy and rejoicing.  As we discover the ways we are built upon Christ, and also see the ways we try to build our church family on other things, God can grow and transform us.  The Spirit can unite us, that we may be in agreement, have no divisions, be of the same mind and purpose.  I, for one, believe in the potential to be positive!

Sharon was excited a week or so ago to get in the mail a book she had ordered, Marva Dawn’s ‘Truly the Community: Romans 12 and How to be the Church.’  It looks to be a lovely book.  The 31 little chapters can be read devotionally, and in a small group, one for each day of a month.  And in Marva Dawn’s delightful, deep and challenging way, I’m sure she inspires a better sense of community for the local church.  One main theme she picks up on in Romans is a deep cheerfulness that is a mark of the Christian family. 

In her preface she says: As I travel around the country to teach, I am deeply saddened by our failure to be what God designed the Church to be.  People who have been Christians for a while are not very often characterized by the profound gladness that marked the earliest followers of Jesus and that frequently bubbles forth in present-day new believers.  (p.xi)

Instead of joyfulness bubbling up among us old-timers in the Church, what comes to the surface often is correction, complaints, discontent, and problems.  In February I plan to read through Marva Dawn’s book, one day at a time, to seek joy in the God who gave us Romans 12.  Now, back to this other letter, 1 Corinthians, chapter 1.

11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."  This is what Paul had been hearing, and though the little congregation had written him for advice on other matters, he starts his letter off with this trouble.  Here they are, caught up in their squabbles over church leadership.

13 Has Christ been divided?  Paul asks.

Later on in this letter – 1 Cor – and in other bits of the New Testament, we are given the picture of belonging like parts of one human body – the Body of Christ.  The little church in Corinth Greece was likely only five years old.  Already, they were splitting up from within.  That little body of Jesus was threatened with being dismembered, drawn and quartered!  No wonder Paul appeals to them, beseeches them.  Has Christ been divided?  Of course not.

Georges Florovsky was an Orthodox Christian priest of the 20^th century.  He claimed:  Christianity entered history as a new social order, or rather a new social dimension.  From the very beginning Christianity was not primarily a ‘doctrine,’ but exactly a ‘community.’  There was not only a ‘Message’ to be proclaimed and delivered, and ‘Good News’ to be declared.  There was precisely a New Community, distinct and peculiar, in the process of growth and formation, to which members were called and recruited.  Indeed, ‘fellowship’ (koinonia) was the basic category of Christian existence.” 

So, we remember that each person is part of Jesus’ body now on earth.  We remember this when we think about someone, or talk about that person, or speak with that person. 

Was Paul crucified for you?

Of course not.  This rhetorical question gets me thinking about Paul’s actual role with this congregation.  Here is a little gathering of Christians in a major city in ancient Greece.  Paul had been in on the founding of the fellowship in Corinth, in on their first training and teaching the things of Christ.  A few years later, he is away, and writes to them this long letter.  He, of course, did not go to the cross to die for the sins of the people of Corinth, nor is Paul their Saviour.

It still happens that church people idolize a former pastor or leader who was used excellently by the Lord.  This sometimes draws attention away from Jesus Christ, and, as in Corinth of old, can divide people into factions.  Those who liked that leader better than the new ones, yadda yadda yadda…

I remember with appreciation my organist and choir director in Parrsboro Baptist Church, years ago.  Donna was very devoted to Christ, and devoted to her music.  But at times she lived in the shadow of Mrs. Reynolds, who had been the organist and director before her.  Mrs. Reynolds had retired, and died, just a few years before I got to that Church.  I heard stories of her that painted a great picture of her wonderful personality, her demanding choir-directing, and her exquisite musicianship.  The old drawbar organ in the choir loft – she could make it talk, as they say.  Mrs. Reynolds’ upright Heintzman piano is still in the church sanctuary today.  My new organist and director, Donna, was not the same – of course.  But, thankfully, I think it was seldom that anyone criticized or compared Donna to Mrs. Reynolds. 

Neither of those wonderful, musical women was the saviour of Parrsboro Baptist Church.  Jesus was and is their Saviour.   Various leaders were servants of the Master, doing good work.  So it is here, today, for Windsor Baptist, thanks to the grace of God.  Jesus is our Saviour; He suffered and died for us.  Some of us happen to be on the serving team, helping lead the way. 

Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

No.  Paul knows this; those folks in the Corinth church knew this too.  Paul’s point is this:  it’s not about who the leader is.  People are baptized in the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  You and I don’t show we are believers by the pastor or local church we follow.  We show we are believers by submitting to God.  Baptism itself shows we are all on common ground: every one of us as good as dead; raised up by the supernatural love of God! 

Paul goes on. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.  Ah, we see him going on about how he did not want to detract from the Master and the Message.   His preaching was not eloquent, and this was a good thing!  A danger of being a great orator is that people clamour to hear you, not the Lord.  [Your online talks go viral; may Jesus go viral.] The amazing singer gets applauded instead of God.  [The soloist is a christian Idol; may the Lord of song alone be worshipped.] The brilliant strategic thinker is hailed as the one who set a church free, rather than Christ and the Spirit He sent.  [The…

Paul speaks of the cross of Christ: the power of the cross.  As people representing Jesus to others, it is important we be clear about the cross.  Yes, the cross is a wooden object.  Yes, it is now a main symbol of our religion and Christ.  But when we talk in our faith of the cross, we usually are getting at the event – the execution of Jesus.  We don’t mean the wood, we mean Jesus dying.  Jesus gets killed, and He submits to this for us.  There are many ways – from the Bible – to explain this to our hearts and imaginations.  The event – Jesus’ death, and then His being brought back to life – is the power outlet that can give each person life.  Life much more as it should be.  Life that conquers death.  Life that overcomes sin and evil and wrong. 

In the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus sings, “To conquer death you only have to die, you only have to die.”  This He does.

Paul wrote: 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  Our souls are free because of Jesus! 

More about this next Sunday... For now, remember in every circumstance that God, our God, is with us, and has power to redeem – to set free!  Praise God!

Joy and Strength

Joy and Strength
(Nehemiah 8:9-12; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9) J G White
10:30 am, Sun, Jan 19, 2014, Windsor UBC

Is it a joyful day for you?
Is it natural for you to have joy today?
  People ask me – a pastor – how are things at my Church.  “It is the best of times, it is the worst of times” is what I tell them.  Which is my experience of the past while.  I think of myself as a joyful, positive person, but it is not always easy.
It takes strength to be joyful!  Because life is hard.
D'ya know Amy Grant's song: We believe in God, And we all need Jesus / 'Cause life is hard, And it might not get easier.
“Fake it 'til you make it” is not adequate.
“The joy of the LORD will be your strength.”
Sometimes joy is a miracle, it takes a miracle.
And act of God, of grace.
Nehemiah 8.  The Joy of the LORD is your strength.
Strength comes from the Lord to us.
Phrase written on a piece of furniture in the room of a college student: “You have to try really hard to be happy.”
It takes attention upon our God to find deep joy.
     Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, (Brenton Brown, Ken Riley)
     We will wait upon the Lord, We will wait upon the Lord.
   In the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, (400 BC) when the people of God had returned to the Promised Land, which was by then in a sorry state, they found and heard some of the Old Testament that had been lost.  The crowd is struck by the lessons of scripture and words of the covenant – promises they had not kept and ways of life they had completely forgotten.  They weep, because of how far they had fallen from living as God intended.
   But on that day of confession and mourning, they are told to celebrate.  Modern thinkers call celebration a spiritual discipline, an activity that helps put people in a place where God can work with them and transform.    Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to the LORD; and do not be grieved...
   A holy celebration can come out of sadness over failure.  The failure of oneself, the failure of circumstances.  Failures in you, failures surrounding you.
   Finale of Habakkuk (3:17-19):
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.
There can be joy, despite circumstances.
There can be joy, despite our own failures.
   Joyful celebration comes when truth from God shows us our failures.  At least we know now!
   Like the words of Psalm 32 (1, 5).  Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
   Like getting the diagnosis of an illness.  Knowing helps a lot – eases our mind, we know what we can do, and have clearer expectations about our future.
   “Knowledge is power” - knowing gives us real options and actions.  The unknown leaves us helpless.
When those folks, 2400 years ago, heard the Law read for six hours that day, the laws of the Old Testament, they were deeply saddened.  But they were urged to celebrate, for God had met with them in the reading of the word, and now they knew.  Now they knew, once again, the patterns of life and worship that the Bible reveals.
   1 Corinthians 1.  A letter from Paul to a church.
   I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind...  (4-5)  Sounds very positive, eh?  You are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Oh, how very complimentary.  
   Yet look through the rest of this long letter.  Paul writes to them to deal with some serious problems.     There are division in the church – groups following certain leaders (1).  There is sexual immorality going on among the church people, even worse than the pagans (5).  Some are going to prostitutes! (6)  They are taking one another to court to solve their problems (6).  They are divided when they have fellowship meals to celebrate the Lord's Supper (11).  The church people are mixed up in their attitudes on how each one uses spiritual gifts in the fellowship (12-14).  And, they are confused about life-after-death: what the resurrection of Jesus and of them is like (15).
   Sounds like this little church, in a bustling Greek city, was in a mess.  But, as Paul says in his intro, Jesus Christ will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (8-9). At the end of the letter, Paul says, My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus (16:24).
   God strengthens us by gracious forgiveness.  This, of course, comes by Christ crucified.  God strengthens us by the presence and power of Himself, the Holy Spirit.
   The reading of the Bible Law to the Hebrews, 400 years before Jesus, had shown their failures. A few decades after the time of Jesus, Paul deals with the failures of the Corinthian believers.  All the warnings in the letter are instructive, and part of the healing and renewal those disciples needed.  They were still loved and included, by Paul, and by our Holy and Almighty God.  We are loved and included... by God.  There is our joy.

We believe in God, And we all need Jesus
'Cause life is hard, And it might not get easier
But don't be afraid To know who you are
Don't be afraid to show it.
If you believe in God, If you say you need Jesus
He'll be where you are
And he never will leave you
Sing to me now words that are true
So all in this place can know it...
We believe in God, And we all need Jesus
We will hear more about forgiveness next week.
The joy of the Lord will be your strength!

PRAYERS of the People
Today, a bidding prayer; you know what a bidding prayer is? You pray according to my bidding, my suggestions. In the silences will be our prayer. Let us pray.
God - our Joy, God - our strength, God - our Saviour:
We count our blessings this morning, and rejoice in all that You provide: we thank You for blessing us...
God of holiness, God of spirit, God of love, God of truth, God of oneness and threeness: we also express our love and thanks for You - Who You are...
God of creation and redemption, we know many failures in our lives, and we come before You as sinful creatures, confessing...
God of grace and God of glory, Your forgiveness & new life for us is amazing, coming to us in Jesus on the cross; we receive the promises of spiritual healing and reunion withe You...
God of mercy and power, so much of our praying is for one another, & those closest to us: we pray for some of them now...
God whose farm is all creation, as stewards of all that is around us, we pray for Your earth, and our part in it...
God whose so loved the world that You gave Your Son; we look with Your vision to people far and wide - many in need - and we pray to You...
God the Son, Jesus Christ, true and only head of the church; hear us pray for our own life and ministry as a fellowship called by You into mission...
God the Spirit, Comforter of the afflicted and Afflicter of the comfortable: we pray for justice and peace among people - both locally and globally...
God the Father, Giver of Joy; we rejoice in You now: may we rejoice in You always. AMEN.