Forgiveness is one of those topics that shows up throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It appears all over the Hebrew Bible in the form of sacrificial offerings, the Day of Atonement, and any number of passages that tell us that we serve a God who is slow to anger and quick to forgive. In the New Testament, forgiveness is a theme of Jesus’ ministry and teachings, and it shows up in the parable for today. It is at the cross, however, where Jesus embodies forgiveness by taking the sin and brokenness of the world upon his own shoulders, and he bids us to go and do likewise.
Wake Up Call
Romans 13 may appear to be about politics and power because it begins with a call to obey governing authorities, but by bookending a brief statement about “the authorities” with two clarion calls to the transformed life, Paul is effectively dwarfing the importance of Roman power and prestige in favor of offering a “wake up call” to the Roman church to that which matters most. He wishes to remind them that light is breaking through, the world that is filled with darkness is passing away, and as the author of Revelation puts it, “the kingdom of the world is becoming the kingdom of the Lord” (Rev. 11:15). It’s time to wake up!
Transformed
At the beginning of Romans 12, Paul calls us into the flames of sacrificial living. That is, he calls us to be a “living sacrifice.” The image is stark and evocative, and it plays with the themes of life and death. After all, sacrifices aren’t supposed to live, are they? But, then again, someone who dies a torturous death isn’t supposed to live either, and yet that’s the fundamental claim of Christianity. Of course, Paul doesn’t stop there. He connects being a “living sacrifice” with being transformed, and it is Romans 12:9-21 where he describes, very clearly, what the transformed life looks like. Let’s dig in!
Gifted
Today we talk about the gifts of grace we’ve all been given. In Romans 12, Paul talks about these gifts as necessary parts of being in community with one another. Our giftedness is an essential part of what it means to be the body of Christ. Sinclair Ferguson says that these gifts are not for us, but for others. “They are gifts of service, not self-advancement.” As a congregation, we need to talk about what it means to use our gifts, especially during this difficult time.
Praying and the Battle
Sword of the Spirit
Though we will conclude the Armor of God series next Sunday with a sermon on prayer, which is how Paul concludes this section of Ephesians 6, today we talk about the final piece of armor: the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The two key elements here are that the sword is both “Spirit” and “word of God.” This is not our sword but is the sword God gives us through the giving of the Spirit and the Word of God. The interplay between Spirit and Word of God is of critical importance because both of these are necessary to wield the sword well. Let’s dig in!
The Helmet of Salvation
“Have you been saved?” This question would certainly sound one way if there was a burning building behind you, and it was asked by a television news reporter to you, with lights flashing all around you, and a group of firefighters standing close by. And the same question would sound completely different if you were at a church camp meeting, and a camp counselor was asking you the same words. The word salvation is a buzz word used throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, and it’s usage varies depending upon the context. This morning, let us dive deep into what “the Helmet of Salvation” might mean, and why it is of vital importance to us.
The Shield of Faith
Today we talk about the shield of faith. Faith, like the other words we have looked at in the armor of God, has been shrunken down to mean less than it does when it appears in Scripture. For the authors of scripture, faith is an action word. It is not just a belief that sits in the head, as if Scripture is merely asking you to believe that God, Jesus, and the stories of Scripture are real. Faith is trust and allegiance that leads you to live your life according to the fact that God, Jesus, and the stories of Scripture are real.
Shoes of Peace
“Peace” is one of those words we hear around Christmastime, like Joy, and Love, and Hope. It’s an ideal that we’re all seeking and hoping for. It’s something that we want in our personal lives, and it’s something we want for our world. I mean, who’s against peace? No one. But when God calls us to put on the armor of God, God doesn’t only want us to desire peace, God wants us to go out and make peace. To be peacemakers in our world.
The Breastplate of Justice
Some of you might be a little confused by today’s title. If you are passionate about Scripture and have read about and studied the armor of God before, then you might be thinking: “I thought it was the breastplate of righteousness, not justice.” And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But you’re not entirely right either. And that’s what we need to talk about today. Justice is a primary theme that runs from the front of the Bible to the back, and those of us who follow Jesus are called to do justice. Unfortunately, this call to justice can be obscured by the language we use. So today, let’s talk about the breastplate of justice/righteousness and what it means for our lives.
The Armor of God Sermon Series: The Belt of Truth
Today we begin our deep dive into the pieces of armor that make up the “armor of God” from Ephesians 6. The first piece is the “belt of truth.” Truth is desperately needed in our world, but now more than ever it seems inaccessible. There is a deep irony here. On the one hand, the internet has given us access to more knowledge than any other time in human history. At our fingertips we have “truth” within seconds. But the inundation of knowledge has proven to complicate truth rather than clarify it. Truth has been mixed with half-truth and downright lies, and it is difficult to know the difference. If we are going to navigate this post-truth world wisely, we must understand what it means to be a people of God who wear the belt of truth around us.
The Armor of God
This week we kick off our first week in an 8-week series here at SRBC! We are centering these next weeks around "Common Conversations" that we will be having at all age levels of our church. Our children, youth, young adults, and older adults will all have opportunities to discuss the various facets of Ephesians 6 and the armor of God. We hope that these conversations bleed into your daily conversations as families as well as with your coworkers and friends in the community. We will be talking about things like truth, justice, peace, faith, salvation, and more. Today, we begin the series with an overarching sermon about the strength of the Lord and where we find our own strength.
Listen Up
I am afraid, as a culture, we have forgotten how to listen. We are so busy making our own voices heard that we have stopped listening to what the other voices have to teach us. In particular, with the increased polarization of society, it is increasingly difficult for us to listen to the “other,” to the one who is not like us and does not think like us. Our tribes keep us comfortably sheltered in the echo-chambers of our minds, listening to the thoughts that reaffirm what we already believe and dismissing that which is challenging and different. The Scriptural narrative, however, teaches us a different way. A way in which the outsider gets a voice to challenge the insiders. When this happens in our own lives, are we prepared to listen?
Finding God in the Face of the Stranger
They say we live in a tribal culture, and I tend to agree. What I think they mean is that our so-called tribes have sharp divides that mark boundaries of what we do and do not believe, what we do and do not value, and what we do and do not do. Our tribes have clear-cut ways of keeping people in or kicking people out of the tribe. But let’s not kid ourselves, our so-called tribal cultural is only so metaphorically. In contrast, some of the Old Testament is written in a tribal time. Literally tribal; no metaphors needed. It turns out that their tribal culture has much to teach our tribal culture about where to find God. In what must be one of the most underrated and underreported aspects of Scripture, we find that the Hebrews often found God in the face of the stranger, the one who is not part of the tribe. Can you imagine?
Trinity Sunday
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, which follows on the heels of Pentecost, which follows on the heels Easter. On Trinity Sunday, we have the opportunity to wrap together the lessons of Easter and Pentecost into a single doctrine. On Easter we discover that Jesus is Lord and to be worshiped. On Pentecost we discover that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit flows from the Father and the Son. And on Trinity Sunday, we discover that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in an eternal unity. What this means for us, as creatures made in the image of God, is that we are communal to the core. We are created for community. To live otherwise is to live apart from our design.
Waiting on Pentecost
Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples are still sitting and waiting for something to happen. Jesus has ascended to heaven, and they’re just waiting. Surely they want to know, “What’s next? Where do we go from here?” And then, without notice or forewarning, the building is filled with wind and fire, and the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. I think most of us are in a place of waiting right now. Waiting on what’s next. Wondering where we go from here. On this Pentecost Sunday, may we follow the spirit’s prompting and discover what God has in store for us.
What Philip Learned
As we saw last Sunday, at the beginning of Acts 8 Philip makes it to Samaria, and they received him with joy. But Philip hasn't yet completed his training. He has more to learn from crisis he survived. By going to Samaria, Philip continues fulfilling the calling of Jesus back in Acts 1:8: to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. This week, staying in Acts 8, we find that the ends of the earth are coming to Philip! On the road to Gaza he meets an Ethiopian Eunuch. He learns that the harvest is ready, that the world is open to God in a way we should not underestimate, and it is our job to continue to share the good news in good times and bad.
Moving from Crisis to Calling
Chapter 8 is a turning point in the book of Acts. To this point, the apostles and disciples have been hanging around Jerusalem and Judea. They have been teaching at the temple, making more disciples, and creating the bonds of community. Important stuff! But something needed to happen. Jesus had given them clear instruction before leaving. An unmistakable calling. They were to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth (1:8). They hadn’t left Judea. But with the death of Stephen at the end of chapter 7, crisis hits, and everyone is scattered. It was no longer safe to remain near Jerusalem, and so the first thing we read about is Philip preaching to Samaria. That’s right, the next stop on Jesus’ list. It is a crisis that drives the disciples back to their calling, and just like that they are back on track to fulfilling the mission that God has set before them.
Forgiveness
In Acts chapter 7, we read about the last moments of Stephen’s life. He is standing before a council that is prepared to stone him to death for blasphemy. In the midst of this assembly Stephen has a moment of clarity where I would argue he see three things. First, he looks up to heaven and is able to see Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father. Second, he sees through the actions of the council, stones in hand, and utters words nearly identical to Jesus at his death. He offers forgiveness. He pleads with the Father and Son on behalf of those who are about to kill him and asks that they not hold their sins against them. But why? That gets to the third thing. I have to imagine that he sees himself with clarity too. As one in need of forgiveness standing before the Father and the Son, he therefore offers it to any and all he encounters, even to his death.
Further Up and Further In
The phrase, “further up and further in,” comes from C. S. Lewis’ final book of his Narnia series in which the storyline heads toward a grand conclusion and a heavenly habitation. The phrase itself should be understood as a summons. It is a call to keep one’s eyes ever on goal that awaits us: union with God. It is God who stands up on the mountain and calls us to himself. And until we arrive at that place, we will always be “sojourners and exiles”, as 1 Peter puts it. We are midway through a journey that will take us past death and into life. We are called to higher things. And so as we journey on, there is always further up and further in.