"A Touch of Stillness"

“A TOUCH OF STILLNESS”

July 28, 2013

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Psalm 46

Galatians 5: 1-15

 

 

 

 

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present^* help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³ though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
        
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of the city;^* it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns.
⁶ The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.^{*
        
8} Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ ‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.^*

 

 

Galatians 5: 1-15

 

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

 

2Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. ⁴You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor un-circumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working^* through love.

 

7You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth? ⁸Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. ¹¹But my friends,^* why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offence of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!

 

13For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters;^* only do not use your freedom as an

opportunity for self-indulgence,^* but through love become slaves to one another. ¹⁴For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ¹⁵If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

 

 

 

I.

 

Each year, around this time of the year, I take time to reflect on my of ministry with you.  I began my 29^th year with you as our pastor back on the 1^st of July.   I am also into my 38^th year since ordination—first ordained to serve churches n Davenport, Iowa and then Evanston, Illinois.  In reflecting on all these years of ministry and knowing “I never throw anything away” I went back to look at some of my original sermons from when first ordained. 

 

My first official sermon was delivered to the Department of Candidates back when I was being considered by the Presbytery of Denver for ordination.  This sermon was titled “A Touch of Stillness”.  We didn’t have computers back then so my one and only copy of this sermon was typed with lots of scribbles in the margins.   Just the same, I thought it might be interesting to share with you a “reworked” version of that 39 year old message …. and yes, I had to make some cuts because the original sermon was way too long! J  What really amazes me in going back to this old sermon:  all the concepts and themes, I am sure you will recognize, that I have been carrying with me throughout my entire ministry!!!

 

“A Touch of Stillness”

A middle aged Native American Indian came to Chicago to accept a position in one of the downtown businesses.  He spent his younger years on a southwestern reservation.  He received a special scholarship, went to college and became a successful man in business.    

It was no secret that this man missed the life he left behind him when he was on the reservation with the large family he loved and the heritage that stood firmly behind his existence as a Native American. His culture and his family and his style of living were all things he had to leave behind to survive in the world of a big city and big business.  And remember, this was almost forty years ago!

One specific day during his lunch break this man, this native American, was walking down the street with some of his associates.  He suddenly stopped in his tracks, looped his hand around his ear, and listened.  His friends were amazed at this strange behavior.  This man stood perfectly still as he listened.  All his friends could hear were the elevated trains and cars on the busy streets. People were rushing up and down the streets with conversations that made hearing, listening even more difficult.  Amid all the familiar sounds of the city, they wondered:  What could our friend be hearing?

This man stood still…..waited, and listened to something that his friends could not hear.  After a few moments he took his friends into the alley and showed them a little cricket that was chirping away from behind a trash can.  This man, by heritage an Native American Indian, was a skilled listener.  He was able to hear something of value to him…the chirping of the cricket that was almost completely buried…..cloaked by the sounds of the streets in the large city.

This man and his friends continued their walk in discussing this simple, unusual experience.  They had been sensitized to something important to their friend and his heritage.  This man learned something about himself….and his past that he could carry with him his entire life.  This man also learned something even more important.  He was able to experience a phenomenon of being able to commune with his world, the world of his little friend the cricket, and the world that could exist apart from all the noises of the streets of the city and of people running from one place to the next.

“Be Still and Know that I am God”, says the Psalmist.  This scripture comes to mind in thinking about hearing sounds that might otherwise go unnoticed.  “Be Still and Know that I am God” – is this what we long for?  The moments in life when we can hear God?  When we can get away from the hassles of a busy life in order to be with and know God.  The analogy is in hearing the cricket in the silence of the noises of the streets; or to feel the wind blow; or to see the growth of a small child as he first reaches out for little toy with his or her little hand – something I look forward to experiencing with our grandson Tommy in just a couple of weeks.

There are two aspects of our talking about the presence of God I would invite you to consider with me today.  First, of all, we talk about the presence of God in our activities, in our doing things for others,  Second, what about the presence of God that emerges from our activities in our being with each other as friends and neighbors.  The presence of God in our doing….and the presence of God in our being…the presence of God known in a “Touch of Stillness”.

There is one pre-supposition that can be brought to this discussion.  This is a topic and theme I have been carrying with me throughout my ministry.  Lodged in the confessional standards of the church and the Westminster Catechism and the question: “What is the chief end of man (or humankind?)”  We affirm in the answer that our highest goal and achievement is in “glorifying God and enjoying God forever”.   How many times have I referenced this question from the catechism over the years?  At least a dozen times if not more….. 

Let me suggest we enjoy God and glorify God by recognizing God’s presence with us.  God is with us in our activities. God is with us in our relationships. God is with us in our doing and our being.   

In this discussion we can also find ourselves amidst personal questions:  Where is my life going?  Where is God in my life?   There seems to be a magnetic longing to enjoy God…enjoy life.  Something inside us beckons our giving glory to God.  Discovering and affirming God’s presence in our lives is like finding that chirping cricket ….that allows us the freedom to live active, loving, caring, fulfilled lives in all that we do.

The message of active freedom, the presence of God participating in our lives, is found this morning in Galatians.  “For Freedom Christ has set us free.”   Paul was writing, not as a legalist, but as a free Christian to the people of Galatia at a time when they weren’t enjoying God or glorifying God.  They weren’t recognizing God’s active presence with them in their relationships.  So Paul says, “You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth?”  In affect he was saying:  You used to be Godly bunch of people.  What happened?  You seem to be out of touch with the God! 

Can we be found like the Galatians running away from the truth that Christ’s love, his affirming presence, sets us free?  We look at the Easter Cross.  Christ died and then rose for us so that we might be free to live our lives for the glory of God and for the love of neighbor.  We at times deny God’s presence with us.  Can we ever deny the cross and what Jesus went through for us on that cross?  

We are in the position of needing to pay close attention to what Paul teaches.  To be in Christ is to be free from all the obstacles that limit us, constraints that can break our relationships, separations that keep us from honestly facing the perplexing questions of life as to how we can actively glorify God or actively enjoy God?

There are many things in the church that excite me.  There are people in this church and in my life that make me feel like I am glorifying God and enjoy God’s presence.  I cannot deny the reality of these positive feelings.  I cannot deny the reality that the power of the Spirit of God is at work in this Church.  On the other hand, I cannot deny the fact that there are real things in the world and in the church that are unsettling:  sickness, suffering, depression, loneliness….to mention a few concerns that some of you bring to this place. 

God is with us at all times participating in our breathing, as the poetic words of one song suggests:  “The presence of God is in every breath of air, and in the wisdom of the children, and the graceful way of flowers in the wind.”  We can go a step beyond poetic words and music in acknowledging the fact that each of us has real feelings.  What are the feelings that come from enjoying God, not in our merely doing things, but in our being together as his people.  What are the feelings that come from enjoying God and glorifying God?  How does it feel to know God’s presence?

Throughout the years I have spent a fair share of time struggling with my feelings relating to the question of the presence of God.  I have found myself at times frustrated in affirming God’s presence in my life.  In his presence I ask:

“O God, toward which end should I direct my life so that I can know you?  Learn from you?  How does being in your presence allow me to be all that I am in loving and caring for my neighbor?  What about the times when I can’t do more for my neighbor?”

The psalmist can help us all find an adequate response to difficult questions. 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change, though the  mountains share in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.  

These are words of intense feeling describing a time of chaos upon the earth.  A time of great unrest, anxiety, fear, disruption of life.  One reads along and finds amid these images describing God as the ever-present fortress—the powerful words:

 

GOD IS SPEAKING:  Be still and know that I am God.  I am exalted among the nations.  I am exalted in the earth.  GOD IS SPEAKING:  Be still and know that I am God.
 

Let’s give it a try.  When things are stirring, the blood is boiling, the anxiety levels rising:  Take a deep breath.  Be still!  Be still!  Be still!   Search for and know God.

Be still!

 

 

Amen.

 

Invitation to Christ

“Invitation to Christ”

July 21, 2013

SUMMER COMMUNION

©Thomas B. Cundiff

 

 

Luke 22:  14-20

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶for I tell you, I will not eat it^* until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ ¹⁷Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ ¹⁹Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁰And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.^*

 

I.  INTRODUCTION

The title of a short article caught my attention.  It is titled, “Holy Communion in Three Tenses”.[1]   The author, Marney Wasserman, was talking at a national church conference about our hunger for spiritual nourishment in the context of our being a missional church.  She has helped me ask and respond to two questions: 

(1) In our hunger for spiritual nourishment, how does the sacrament of communion feed us personally? 

(2) And once fed personally in the spirit of our Lord, how does this spiritual nourishment help us in our call to share our talents and resources with others as a mission-oriented, missional church.

The answer to these questions can perhaps be found in looking at “Holy Communion in Three Tenses.” 

II.  The First Tense—The Past Tense

The First Tense—the Past Tense:  We contemplate communion as a memorial meal, a Passover meal in remembering that Jesus broke bread with his disciples over 2000 years ago.  As a Passover meal this was a time for reflecting on the covenant relationship they had with God and that God is the provider of all good things – in fact, God is the provider of everything including life itself!

Thinking about the sacraments historically:  You may recall that we have two sacraments in the Presbyterian church:  Baptism and Communion.  You may recall from previous sermons that a sacrament, according to St. Augustine, is a “visible sign of an invisible grace:”   These sacraments are outward, visible signs or gestures we can see and feel and touch and taste of what God is quietly doing within us, invisibly, spiritually.  

The symbols for these sacraments are:  The Water of Baptism;  the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation – visible signs that remind us Christ is present with and in us as we worship God – visible signs of invisible grace!

Jesus along with his disciples during the Passover meal thousands of years ago becomes part of our breaking bread this morning. 

This first, past tense of the sacrament is my lifting the bread and saying:

“Take, eat.  This is my body, given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me” ….  And in lifting the cup I saying in the present tense:  “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”  

Through this sacrament we remember from where we come, in whom we believe, and what God has given us through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.  We remember.  And in remembrance celebrate the fact that Jesus is with us in this sacred place today.  

III.  The Second Tense—The Present Tense

The second tense, the present tense with the sacrament of communion is contextual.   What is the context in which we live in this world today?  Our world isn’t anything like the world of Jesus 2000 years ago.   At the same time, the words from the past carry some of the same meanings in the “present tense” as they did thousands of years ago in the “past tense”. We reflect on the same mysteries of grace in sorting through questions like:  Why did God give us Jesus?   Historically, what did Jesus give us?   Why did Jesus have to die for us.  And in the present tense:  Why does God continue to give us Jesus.  What does Jesus give us today?  And again, why did Jesus die for us?  Of course, part of the answer in the present tense, is knowing that Jesus died for the sins of the world.  Jesus died giving us hope in eternal life.  Jesus died so that through his resurrection we can have him, present with us, in our midst today.  

We are no longer living in a world dressed in robes sitting in on cushions on the floor literally breaking large loaves of bread and sharing in the drinking of wine.  The sacrament of Holy communion has evolved and become institutionalized.  We are using small cubes of bread instead of sharing a full meal in breaking bread from common loaves.  We are using little plastic cups of juice instead of large chalices of wine.  We say the same words in the present tense that Jesus shared in the past tense:  “this is the bread of life, this is the cup of salvation.”  In the present tense, we partake and dine together.  As Marney Wasserman says, we are “first and foremost to eat and drink together, to love and serve one another.  This is a meal.  It happens in the present tense.”  It is the present tense we search for answers to the questions that were asked:  Why?  Why did Jesus come and live and then die for us?  Perhaps so that through his resurrection we can know Jesus continues to live in the THEN and in the NOW!

III.  The Third Tense—The Future Tense

The third tense is when the meal is over.   This is where our becoming a “missional church” or “mission oriented / focused church” comes into play.

Just as Jesus’ disciples got up from the table musing over all the things Jesus had just told them….destined to walk the horrible walk with Jesus toward the cross and to grieve his death.  These same disciples who broke bread with Jesus in the “Past Tense” met Jesus following his resurrection.  They learned of his mission.  It was after Jesus’ resurrection his disciples learned what it would mean for them to continue breaking bread together – to find ways to spread the good news of the gospel to others…..near and far. 

The Gospel of Matthew recording these experiences emerged and became for Jesus’ disciples (past tense) and for us (present tense) the “Great Commission” (future tense):

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded…”  Matthew 28: 19-20

So today, in the present tense, we partake of the elements of the bread and the cup reminding us we have a charge to be making disciples of all nations…..and we do this in sharing the gospel with others missionally.  We share the gospel with children through Summer Magic by imparting our values as a church with these youngsters.  We don’t preach to them.  We share our values with them.  Through our actions we share God’s love.

SUMMARY:  So in the past tense, we know historically about Jesus and his life and death and resurrection.  In the present tense we revisit these experiences with Jesus through the sacrament of communion.   The elements do more than just feed our personal, spiritual souls.  What do these elements nourish?  In the third or future tense, these elements remind us that Christ wants us to walk in the world and into the future with those who need his love and justice – his care and compassion for others!  We are called, in the future tense, to share what God has given us.  The sacrament of communion isn’t just about what God feeds me.  It is about what God feeds others through us! 

V.               Invitation to Christ

This morning you are “Invited to Christ”.  This means we are called to partake of elements that remind us of this universal affirmation:

WE ARE THE LIVING, VIBRANT BODY OF CHRIST!

I INVITE YOU TO CHRIST….to become the living extension of Christ continuing to do his work in the world today.  . 

You have a sacred responsibility in partaking of these elements of bread and cup.  Through this sacrament you accept the “Invitation to Christ” entrusted to use what God has given all of us “rightly, fully, and well.”[2]

My friends:  I pray that you accept this invitation to Christ.  Prepare to consider once again the call from God to give your life to Christ….to become with those around you the living body of Christ.  Past, present and walking together into the future, may God continue to bless us in doing finding meaningful ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  

AMEN

                                           

---

[1]    Article by Rev. Marney Wasserman of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tuscon, Arizona.  http://www.pcusa.org/news/2013/4/24/holy-communion-three-tenses/

                                                                

 

[2]   Invitation to Christ, a GUIDE TO Sacramental Practices.

 

 

 

Biblical Authority

“Biblical Authority”

July 14, 2013

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Genesis 1: 1-5

Colossians 2: 6-11

John 1: 1-14

 

 

Genesis 1: 1-5

Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

1In the beginning when God created^* the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God^* swept over the face of the waters. ³Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Colossians 2: 6-10

Fullness of Life in Christ

6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives^* in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe,^* and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹

John 1: 1-5

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life,^* and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

 

I.

 

The Bible!   Holy Scripture!  God’s Holy Word!   Spanning thousands of years, over a dozen authors writing from different locations, this bible contains a compilation of some of the most sacred literature known to humankind.  66 separate writings that make up the bible with 27 books found in the New Testament and 39 in the Old Testament.  The Bible book started to emerge as “God’s Holy Word between 3000 and 1800 years ago.  The Bible contains the best of what we have in God speaking to us in our time and this place and in our lives.  

 

Now I am biased, but I truly believe holy scripture, inspired by God, is the greatest book ever written!  

 

So this question today:  What influence does the Bible have in leading, steering, guiding, empowering, directing – with authority in our living our lives as Christians with a special and sacred relationship with God? 

 

We live in a world surrounded by numerous voices from a variety of perspectives telling us everything from how fast we can drive down the streets to who we can or cannot fall in love -- and what we can carry with us or what we must have with us at all times as some form of identification.  

 

With all the laws and voices of authority around us in this world instructing us in how to live our lives, is there any room left for the Bible to inspire and motivate and help us do what we believe is lawful and right and just in the sight of God?

 

These are the questions I asked in putting together this sermon.  For me the foundation of this sermon is this lodged in these two questions:  Is the Bible the true, relevant, authoritative Word of God?   In answering this first question a second related question:  What is truth?

 

II.  What is truth?

 

What is truth?  To quote a respected preacher whose writings and preaching I have been following for years, Dr. Laird Stuart who is now retired and residing in Saugatuck, Michigan:[1] 

 

“The Bible gains authority in our lives as we discover it is a reliable source of truth. We can also say in brings grace and goodness to us.  We can also say it brings a power to our lives that helps us.  But it is the truth we find in the Bible, over and over again, that makes it increasingly reliable for us and that allows us to give it more and  more authority for our lives.  By this process, the Bible acquires the kind of authority by which it not only guides and inspires us but also disciplines us, changing us and challenging us to revise our beliefs and our behavior.”

 

Over and over as we worship weekly and hear God’s word read and proclaimed – there can be no doubt that the concepts found in scripture, lodged in human experiences, will have more of an authoritative impact on those who engage in  regular worship and the regular study of the Bible.    This is not to say the casual reading of the Bible doesn’t influence us.  To use this image from our scripture from Colossians, truth and authority grow roots from disciplined reading and hearing of God’s Word.  To put this in another way, it is easier to internalize something if we have read it or heard it over and over again.

 

For example:  We learned the Lord’s Prayer not just because we heard it or prayed it once or twice.  Over time it has become part of who we are in worshipping God….. 

 

The Creation Story found as our Old Testament lesson this morning, has been around for several thousand years.  In church we’ve had a chance to hear this story a few times.  A loose translation:

 

“In the beginning when God created^* the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep…..and God created the winds and the water and the light and all that grows and walks this earth—woman and man….

 

The Gospel of John, a thousand years later after Jesus was born and proclaimed the Son of God, we have a newer version of the creation story that builds on the original stories: 

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God.

 

The Ten Commandments found in the Old Testament -- another example.  Over time the Commandments have grown in authority to the point that some governments would like them posted in front of court houses and other public places.

 

And perhaps scripture becomes even more authoritative in the lives of people around the globe because key concepts are found in the scripture or texts from different religions in addition to the Christian Bible:  The Golden Rule we find repeated over and over in our culture:

 

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

 

In faith we listen for God’s authoritative word that is credible, influential---the foundation from which we can say with confidence:  This book is important!   It is inspired truth!  It has authority for me in helping me live my life.

 

III.  Variations on Truth

 

So the second question:  What do we believe to be true in reading scripture?  The critical problem in answering this question:  Nobody has a corner on truth.  Truth can be different things to different people.  Therefore, authority ascribed to scripture is going to have different variations: 

 

For example: 

 

Some believe every word in the Bible, literally, has come from God.  Then I have to ask?  Which language?  Which translation?   The original texts were written in Greek and Hebrew.  That’s why all Presbyterian preachers are required to learn Greek and Hebrew in translating scripture from original sources so we can be responsible in the work we do in interpreting scripture.  And for clergy like me, we are lucky that there are a lot of credible resources to help us do this work of translating and sharing with you what we affirm and believe to be “inspired” and “authoritative” and “true” – not inerrant or without error.

 

So where do we find God’s truth?   What authority does scripture have in guiding us in living our lives?  It takes time and patience and practice to truly experience what we can know and affirm to be true and inspired and authoritative Word of God!

 

IV.            Worship and the Study of Scripture

 

I found what I believe is a useful illustration that helps us to imagine where God’s Biblical authority may come – from hard work and study and patience and practice – in searching the Bible for God’s truth:[2]

 

Years ago I started using what is called a cell phone.  These gadgets are now called Smart Phones.  In many ways they are but small computers.  t has taken me a long time to figure out all the things these Smart phones can do…and I am still learning.    

 

I can look at maps of different places around the globe.  I can look up your address and see a satellite picture of your house.  If I get lost I push a button and my phone will tell me where I am currently located.  

 

With Nancy’s travels, I can check her flight status and also see an animation of where the airplane is over the country at any given time.  

 

I not only have the Bible on this phone but can access about twenty different translations…..and two versions that can actually read texts to me while driving down the road  (except we’re not supposed to text and drive J ).

 

My favorite tool, quite simple:  My I can do what is called “face time” with my daughter and grandson in California.  I just have to call Emily and push the “face time” button and we can talk face to face. I can see my grandson Tommy and all that he is doing.  

 

And this point:  Every time I turn on this phone I learn something new.  If only we would open our Bibles to learn something new as often as we turn on our cell phones and computers!

 

Historically, the Bible is actually relatively new in history –

 

The Ten Commandments and Book of Moses came to us about 1400 BC, and the first Greek manuscripts of scripture emerged around 315 AD with the New Testament written by Athenasius the Bishop of Alexandria.  The first hand-written English version of the entire bible as we know it was written in 1380 AD by Oxford Scholar John Wycliffe.  And then the  flood gates opened with the creation of the Guttenberg Printing Press in 1455.  And now with computer technology in doing some of the work of translating …. we get one or two new and updated translations of the bible every year.

 

The bible is something that evolves – and we need to learn how to use it!  We need to know that everytime we open up the bible and read and study it we will learn something new about God, Jesus and our relationship with our Creator.

There is no biblical authority if we don’t open and read and study what is within this book. 

 

True authority in scripture comes in hearing and using scripture on a regular basis….and here I am again preaching to the choir.  It takes patience and practice and regular participation in worship or at least regular Bible study – to fully grasp God’s majesty and power and authority – and how to apply God’s Word to our contemporary circumstances.

 

We need to never stop searching for God’s truth and learning and growing what it means to have God in our lives.  That’s why our Sunday School teachers are having a meeting – because we need to continue searing for good materials to help us teach our children the stories of the bible at a very young age so that this book, the bible, can have meaning as they grow.

 

V.

 

Finally, Paul in talking to the Colossians this morning….the source of supreme authority for our faith and life is Jesus Christ.  Rooted and built up in him, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life….life God has given each of us in order to grow in faith and stature—in the likeness of Christ our Lord.

 

So my invitation this morning:  From time to time let’s open our Bibles….and read and study God’s word.  Wouldn’t it be neat if we read the Bible as often as we talked on our phones!   What if we were to nurture the kind of relationship with God that we like to nurture with friends and family on the other end of the phone?  

 

Let’s learn together, through worship, what God is saying to us through scripture….authoritative words of wisdom.  Let’s search our hearts to discover what is true.  Let’s keep God close to us.  Rooted and built up in Jesus, let’s continue to search for what it means that he is “the way, the truth and life”.

 

Sounds like a pretty good plan for me…..to spend more time opening our bibles to learn and accept the fact that true authority in knowing about God comes from God’s Holy Word, the Bible.

 

AMEN                                                                               

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[1]   Dr. Laird Stuart:  Some of the resourcing and inspiration for this sermon comes from the work of Dr. Laird Stuart, former pastor of the Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.  He authored an article I had in my files.  I don’t have a detailed citation. 

 

[2]   Stuart, Ibid.