06-17-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART VII

    The Christian Church has long taught that faith does not form in a vacuum.  Faith usually forms through a series of steps.  It begins with Scripture, as one comes to know OF God.  It grows through prayer, as one comes to KNOW God.  It starts to take shape, as one comes to SUBMIT to God.  In other words, faith forms from without…because faith begins with God.  That’s what the Church has taught for centuries, yet that does not seem to be what passes for faith today.

    For example, listen to a May 31^st United Press International story.  It seems a Houston, Texas family is gaining spiritual strength from an image of Jesus they found growing in the mold inside the shower of their home.  “The mold began growing in the bathroom a couple of years ago,” the mother of the family said.  “Recently, it took the shape of the face of Jesus.  It gives me inspiration to be a better person.”  Then she added, “Maybe it means something.”  I think it does mean something.  I think it means somebody ought to clean that shower!  Is that what passes for faith these days?

    My little brother was raised in the church.  Although, rumor has it, he may be heading back there now, for years he had nothing to do with the institutional church.  He always said, “I took a class on the gospel of Mark in college.  The minister never says anything I don’t already know!”  Is that what passes for faith these days?

    A minister friend of mine was recently talking with a man in his community.  The man said, “I had my fill of church when I was a kid.  Now, I’ve had it with institutional religion up to here.  Jesus will just have to get over it when I see him!”  Is that what passes for faith these days?

    Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut recently released data from a survey they conducted among Generation Xers.  Many Generation Xers – those born between 1965 and 1982 – walked away from the church are not coming back.  Sociologists have long taken for granted that teenagers typically rebel against their parents’ religion, but then return to it when they have kids of their own.  But Generation Xers – many now in their 40s and raising high-schoolers – are not following that trend.  Most of them are not coming back…and they’re not involving their children in organized religion either.

    New York Times columnist Ross Douthat comments on that in a book entitled, Bad Religion.  He writes, “This does not mean that our country is filling up with atheistic secularists.  These Generation Xers aren’t leaving spirituality behind.  They haven’t abandoned the whole Christian worldview – just the parts that require commitment.”  Douthat does not call them atheists.  He calls them heretics.  A heretic, in his mind, is one who no longer looks outward for spiritual authority.  A heretic, rather, is one who looks inward for spiritual authority.  In other words, the primary spiritual authority for a heretic…is one’s self.  And that, my friends, just might be our biggest problem these days.  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

    This is the seventh in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro, and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    We talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we should not throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Then we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heartfelt convictions of those who serve him.

    Three weeks ago, we encountered Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos.  He tells us who we are and where we are going as Christians.  We are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

    Two weeks ago, we noted how Paul refers to us as saints.  Paul deliberately chooses a word that indentifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does for us.  He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and certainly not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather, he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us.  In God’s eyes, we are saints.  In God’s eyes, we are holy.

    Last week we discovered that God bestows grace to sinners like us.  Yet the grace of God is a lot like water to a swimmer.  It seems as though there is no possible way it could support us.  Yet like the swimmer, we have to lean forward, lift up our legs, and let ourselves go.  To coin a phrase, we need to learn to let go…and let God.

    Now back to the issue with which we began this sermon.  Does faith come from within, or does faith come from without?  Is the primary spiritual authority one’s self, or is the primary spiritual authority God?  In a manner of speaking, Paul takes a stab at that question in the passage we read from the book of Ephesians.  The way he does so is by contrasting the way their lives used to be with the way their lives are now.

    The church in Ephesus was comprised of Jewish and Gentile converts.  It was no small thing for Jews and Gentiles to learn to get along.  The Jews were the chosen people of God.  The Gentiles were everyone else.  Combining the two was a bit like trying to desegregate schools in the South in the 1960s.  Yet they had managed to do so, in the name of Jesus Christ.  How had they done so?  By conquering their individualism.

    Individualism is the habit of understanding spiritual growth as an isolated self-help project.  The individualist is the person who is convinced that he or she can have faith in God without dealing with God.  The individualist is the person who is sure that he or she can love their neighbors without knowing their names.  The individualist is the person who assumes that getting ahead means leaving others behind.  The individualist is the person who, having gained competence in knowing God or people or world, uses that knowledge to take charge of God or people or world.  The individualist seeks to specialize in God without bothering with people, or to specialize in people without bothering with God.  In Paul’s mind, that rings of heresy.

    Of course, we are inherently individuals when it comes to the use of our own intentions and free will.  God does not remove our individuality when we enter the church.  Church, rather, is where we cultivate a submission to the authority and care of God.  Church is where we try to conquer individualism.  Church is where we come to think of God…and of someone besides ourselves.

    That is exactly what Paul is trying to say in verses 19 through 22.  He writes, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, you are citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”

    Paul is talking about the church here.  You become the people of God not as individuals, but as a community in the church.  Yet perhaps even more importantly, your faith grows not from within, but rather, from without…through what God accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ. So what do we say to those who say to us, “I don’t think you need the church to get to heaven?”  I think we say, “Those of us in the church think it’s better to be in the church.”

    Part of the problem, I think, is that we fail to comprehend what the church really is. Far too many people see it as nothing more than a building with a special tax status, or even as a collection of hypocrites.  On a more positive note, perhaps some see the church as a staging ground for getting people motivated to continue Christ’s work.  The problem with both of these views is that they see the church as a human activity to be measured by human expectations.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

    Perhaps what we need to do is to look at the church for what it is, not just for what it does.  The church is the gift of Christ to the world.  Paul says that the church is the body of Christ.  Christ is the head and the church is his body.  In other words, there is far more to the church than meets the eye.  There is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Ladies and gentlemen, that is found nowhere else.  We miss the complexity and glory of the church if we insist upon measuring it and defining it by the parts that we play in it; if we insist on evaluating it and judging it by what we think it ought to be.  For through the church, there is something Christ bestows upon us.

    Paul calls it…peace.  Peace is Paul’s word of choice to help us understand what Christ bestows through the church.  He begins by identifying Jesus Christ as “our peace.”  He goes on to describe Christ as “making peace” and “proclaiming peace.”  The Greek word for peace is eiranain.  When calling Jesus our peace, the literal translation is “harmony.”  Yet when Christ makes peace or proclaims peace, the literal translation is “salvation.”  What Paul is saying is this: Jesus brings us together, Jesus breaks down the walls of hostility, Jesus recreates us as a unified humanity, Jesus reconciles us to God, and Jesus brings us home.   And he does so…through the church.

    To that you say, “Peace through the church?  I’ve been in the church, and I’ve never seen such a bunch of infighting, backstabbing, hypocritical people in my entire life!”  The question now is: Is it God who causes the problems, or is it people?  Listen to this.

    I recently ran into a friend from this church on the street.  She said to me, “There’s a rumor going around about you.”  I rolled my eyes and said, “Now what?”  She said, “Someone said to me that our church pays you over $100,000 a year, provides your house, and pays for your utilities.”  I asked, “Was it a member of our church who said that?”  She said, “No.  I think they go to Stone Methodist.”  I said, “You tell them that’s exactly what I make!” 

    For some unknown reason, people are always trying to stir up trouble.  They are perpetually disturbing the peace.  That’s because Christ’s peace is never a finished product.  It is always a work in progress.  But that does not mean that Christ does not impose peace upon us.

    As many of you know, my mother died last November.  I was sad.  I seem to miss her more as time goes on.  I couldn’t call her and tell her about Travis’ graduation.  I won’t be able to tell her when one of the kids gets married. I won’t be able to tell her when she becomes a great-grandma.  But I did not fall apart when she died.  That’s because I knew in my heart that I would one day see her again.  That’s the peace Christ brings.  That’s the peace Christ brings through the church.

    Today, of course, we want to believe that everyone goes to heaven.  That’s not what Jesus said.  That’s not what Paul says.  Paul says Christ brings peace through the church.  Peace stands for harmony, and peace stands for salvation.  There is more to Church than meets the eye.  Amen.

 

06-10-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART VI

    Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was one of the most celebrated Catholic priests of the 20^th century.  From 1930 until 1950 he hosted a radio program called The Catholic Hour, and from 1951 until 1957, he hosted a television show called Life Is Worth Living.  As you might suspect of a man of his stature, he often lectured to very large crowds.  One time, however, while giving a lecture in Chicago…he encountered a heckler in the audience. 

    Archbishop Sheen was telling the biblical story of Jonah and the whale.  He spoke of how Jonah fled from the call of God, was cast off the side of a ship in a storm, and ended up spending three days in the belly of a whale.  That’s when the heckler reared his ugly head.  The heckler cried, “It is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human being!”  Sheen was a bit taken aback.  He paused for a second, then said, “Well, the Bible says that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.”  The heckler responded, “It is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human being!  Its throat is too small!” 

    Undaunted, Archbishop Sheen replied, “Well, when I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah myself.”  The heckler said, “What if Jonah is with the Devil someplace else?”  To which Sheen quickly replied, “Then you can ask him!”

    That’s the long way of getting around to the questions with which I want to begin this sermon.  Presbyterians don’t talk about the Devil very often.  Do you think there is a Devil?  And if there is, do you think he holds any sway in the world today?  Do you think the Devil has any impact on the decisions we make on a daily basis?  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

    This is the sixth in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    Six weeks ago, we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Five weeks ago we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heart-felt convictions of those who serve him.

    Two weeks ago, we encountered Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos.  He tells us who we really are as Christians.  As Christians, we are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

    Last week, we noted how Paul refers to us as saints.  Paul deliberately chooses a word that identifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does for us.  He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and certainly not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather…he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us.  In God’s eyes, we are saints.  In God’s eyes, we are holy ones.

    Now back to this Devil business.  Is there a Devil?  And if there is, does he hold any sway in the world today?  Do you think the Devil has any impact on the decisions we make on a daily basis?  I suspect that in this day and age, we tend to have our doubts. 

    Frankly, like any competent theologian, I can exegete the Devil out of the Bible.  For example, where does the Devil appear in the Old Testament?  The first thing you want to say is the Garden of Eden, right?  The Devil tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Truth be told, it was a Serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.  It may be implied that the Serpent is the Devil, but that is never expressly stated. 

    The first place the Devil actually appears in the Old Testament is in the first book of Chronicles.  In chapter 21, verse one, it says: “Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to number Israel.”  So in other words, it was Satan who called for the first census!  Now that’s funny!  But truth be told, this verse reflects an evolution that had begun to take place in Jewish thought.  The word “Satan” comes to replace a Hebrew word which was originally translated, “the anger of the Lord.”  In other words, the Jewish people only wanted to associate God with good things in life.  The concept of a fallen angel named Satan was developed to account for evil and misfortune. 

    Then, of course, there’s the book of Job.  Supposedly Satan made a deal with God to make Job’s life go awry.  Most scholars do not take this story literally.  Truth be told, God himself does not come out looking very good in the book of Job if one does take it literally.  The point is that mainstream Judaism does not have a concept of the Devil akin to what Christians have.

    Of course, in the New Testament, Jesus is tempted by the Devil in the wilderness.  The Greek word used for Devil is diabolon.  It means literally, slanderer or accuser.  Yet the word slanderer can actually be looked at two ways.  It can be construed as an outside entity, such as the Devil.  Or, it can be construed as an inside entity, such as the evil that lurks within all of us.  Like I said, I can exegete the Devil out of the Bible. 

    But listen to this.  I like to practice what is called contemplative prayer.  That’s just a fancy way of saying listening prayer.  Contemplative prayer has to do with listening for God.  Christian mystics have long taught that when one is involved in contemplative prayer, one can actually receive messages from God.  The subject of the Devil once came to mind during the course of one of my contemplative prayer sessions.  I asked the question, “Is there a Devil?”  I immediately sensed the word, “Yes.”  So then I asked, “Why?”  And immediately, I sensed the words, “That’s not for you to know.”

    Now some of you may chalk that up to my vivid imagination, and that’s fine.  But for those of us who know God, that sure sounds like God, does it not?  While I can exegete the Devil out of the Bible, I still have a sneaking suspicion that there is one.  I don’t know why.  It makes no sense to me.  As hard as it is for us to accept these days, perhaps there are some things we are simply not meant to know.

    The Apostle Paul believed there was a Devil.  In fact, he goes so far as to say that that’s who the Ephesians were serving before they came to know Christ.  In verses one and two of chapter two, he writes, “You he made alive…when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” 

    Paul’s word for the Devil is the prince of the power of the air.  And he says that the spirit of the Devil is at work in the sons of disobedience.  Do you understand what he’s saying?  Paul is saying that we are serving God OR we are serving the Devil.  There doesn’t seem to be any in between here.  Either we are serving God, or we are serving the Devil.  How does the spirit of the Devil work?  The spirit of the Devil is that which leads a person away from God.  Ladies and gentlemen, the prince of the power of the air…is alive and well in our world today.

    In order to prove that statement, perhaps all I have to do is mention what is being called a zombie attack in Miami.  Honestly, never in my life did I ever think I would use the word “zombie” in a sermon.  I’m not going to say anything else about it here.  The incident was far too gruesome.  If you know what I’m talking about, you understand.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go look it up.  The prince of the power of the air is alive and well in our world today.

    But that’s too blatant an illustration.  It enables us to point a finger at something and say, “Look at that,” or, “Look at them!”  But it’s my job to help us realize that when we point a finger at someone else, there are always three fingers pointing back at us.  How is the prince of the power of the air alive and well in our own worlds today?  How is the spirit of the Devil leading us away from God?  I think the Devil is really quite subtle these days.

    For example, there is a restaurant that recently opened up by The Movies at Meadville called Timber Creek.  Now since we are supposedly in a recession, I wondered how it would fare…or even how it might affect business at The Montana Rib and Chop House.  I drove past the restaurants on a Friday night not long ago.  The Timber Creek parking lot was full, the Montana Rib and Chop House parking lot was full, and the Movies at Meadville parking lot was full, as well.  What recession, right? 

    In the meantime, church attendance has plummeted all across the country.  Churches are having to trim back their budgets, which means cutting back on mission.  Why, we can hardly find enough people to fill our slates of elders, deacons and trustees!  People seem to have all the time and money in the world to pay for their own entertainment, but they come up woefully short when it comes to the things of God.  Oh yes…the prince of the power of the air is alive and well in our world today.  The spirit of the Devil is having a field day leading us away from God.  And the saddest part of all…is that we don’t even seem to realize it.

    Yet it is to sinners – it is to sinners like us – that God sent his only begotten Son.  As Paul notes in verses four and five, “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us – even when we were dead through our sin – made us alive together with Christ.  By grace you have been saved.” 

    By grace we have been saved.  What thus remains for us…is to learn how to live in that grace.  Of course, that’s easier said than done.  Consider the silent reflection portion of your bulletins this morning.  Eugene Peterson writes:

In fifty years of being a pastor, my most difficult assignment continues to be the task of developing a sense among the people I serve of the soul-transforming implications of grace – a comprehensive, foundational reorientation from living anxiously by my wits and muscle, to living effortlessly in the world of God’s active presence.  The prevailing North American culture is – to all intents and purposes – a context of persistent denial of grace.

    So how do we learn to live in God’s grace?  Let me take a stab at what that looks like.  Imagine a swimming pool filled with water.  As you walk into the water, you immediately sink to the bottom.  It seems as though there is no possible way this water could support your body.  But it can.  It can if you trust it to support your body.  So you lean forward, lift up your legs, and let yourself go.  You reach out with ease and confidence…and you find yourself gliding through the water.  The water can support your body…if you let yourself go and trust it to do so.

    Perhaps living in God’s grace is a little bit like swimming.  We can’t see God’s grace.  It seems as though there is no possible way that the grace of God could support us.  It’s so much easier to rely on our own grit and determination.  We have to lean forward, lift up our legs, and let ourselves go.  As someone once said, “Let go, and let God.”  And when we do that, we will find ourselves gliding through life on the grace of God.

    What does that look like in real life?  We’ll get to that in weeks to come.  Amen.

 

05-20-2012 Youth Sunday homily by Libby Volna

THE NARROW WAY

Matthew 7:13-14

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell (the road that leads to destruction) is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

The Narrow Way, it is not easily found, obtained, or traveled. Nor is it always chosen. This “narrow way” is the key to our salvation. This journey in finding the narrow way will be more challenging and difficult than we can even begin to measure.  As modern day people we are easily given the answer to our problems. Even if we have a challenge, the solution is close enough to reach our fingertips. In this case, our solution is not easy enough to just reach our fingertips, nor even measurable.

Let me ask you this. How many of you have cats? You know those long strands of coarse hair billowing off their cheeks, whiskers. Well they are not just for show; whiskers play a key role in a cat’s life. Whiskers provide balance for the cat, sending nerves in and out the tips and back to the nervous system.  They also help detect the width of an opening. When a cat approaches a small enclosed space that is too small, their whiskers send little nerves to their brain letting them know they will not fit. This is similar to our journey to our salvation, except instead of sporting whiskers on our cheeks, we have Jesus Christ. Jesus helps us through every opening, no matter the size. The only difference between our situation and the cat’s situation is that they may not fit through the narrowest path, but with the power and strength of Jesus Christ within us, we can.

We live in a world that is constantly telling us what we can and can’t do. Yes, we are given limitations after limitations after limitations. At some point in your life you will have experienced the wrath of high school. High school can be a great place, full of knowledge, wisdom, and many great experiences, but is the central source of limitations spiritually. As of the 1960’s, religion and public schooling took a spin and somehow ended on opposite poles. This makes no sense, how something as powerful as faith could be scratched from the grasp of our education system. What is learning without growth and faith in Christ? Nowadays, teens rarely go to church or are even exposed to Christianity. The word “God” is rarely even spoken within the walls of school. Students spend large parts of their waking hours in school having to keep faith under the wraps. Church is not considered cool by many unchurched teens, making Christian teens feel uncomfortable wearing a cross around their neck through the hallways. Seven and a half hours a day, seven and a half hours of long, grueling hours that are expected to be spent without God. Without God, that high school hallway is going to be broader, wider, and easier to pass through, making school effortless and carefree. But with God, that hallway is going to be narrower than ever, and the climb through high school will be very rocky. It seems as though all these things are all working against us, but in the end you’ll look down at the view and realize all your time climbing has been well spent.

 

06-03-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART V

    Soren Kierkegaard was a 19^th century Danish philosopher.  He once told a story about a couple of thieves who broke into a jewelry store one night, but who did not steal a thing.  Instead, they rearranged the price tags.  Thus, the next morning, worthless jewelry was sold at a very high price…while priceless jewelry was sold for next to nothing.  The point he was trying to make is that we live in a world where culture has rearranged the price tags on human beings.

    Perhaps nowhere is this switching of price tags more evident than in the realm of self-esteem.  In our culture today, for example, people are valued for how they look, for how far they can hit a baseball, or even for their material possessions.  Rarely are they valued for who they really are. 

    This issue of self-esteem tends to have particularly devastating consequences in the lives of young adults.  Young men perform outrageous, life-threatening deeds just to prove to someone that they are a man.  Young women get involved in unhealthy, even self-destructive relationships…because they believe they are nothing unless they abide by the expectations of their peers.  The question now is: Who puts the price tag on the value of a human being: culture…or God?  You see, when you know what you’re really worth, your life somehow changes.  When you know what you’re really worth, your values are transformed.  Keep that thought in mind as we move on. 

    This is the fifth in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    Five weeks ago, we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Four weeks ago we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heartfelt convictions of those who serve him.

    Last week we encountered Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos.  As Christians, we are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

    In the passage we read from the book of Ephesians today, Paul begins by saying, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and your love toward all the saints.”  Your love toward all the saints?  Who are these saints to whom Paul refers?  Let me say, first of all, that they are not a professional football team from New Orleans.  Nor are they people who have been venerated by the Pope in Rome.  The saints to whom Paul refers are average, ordinary, faith-filled Christians. 

    The word “saint” itself literally means, “holy one.”  The word “saint” is actually Paul’s word of choice for the people of God – men and women who follow the way of Jesus Christ.  Paul uses the word “saint” to describe the people of God nine times in the book of Ephesians.  It wasn’t until many years later that the word “Christian” came to supplant the word “saint” as the common designation for the people of God.  In fact, the word “Christian” only occurs three times in the entire New Testament, and not once in Paul’s writings.  As time went on, the word “saint” came to designate only outstanding Christians.  Eventually it was even further restricted to persons officially designated, after rigorous examination, to a kind of spiritual hall of fame.  The early usage of the word “saint” as depicted in the Apostles’ Creed – you know, “I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints” – the early usage of the word “saint” is all but lost to our modern-day vernacular.  

    Yet Paul refers to us as saints.  Paul refers to us as holy ones.  Paul deliberately chooses a word that identifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does in and for us.  He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather…he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us.  In God’s eyes, we are saints.  In God’s eyes, we are holy ones.

    So let’s go back to Soren Kierkegaard’s price tag analogy.  Culture says that you are a collection of cells that evolved from a monkey.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying anything against evolution here.  We’re not talking about how we came into being.  We’re talking about the value of a human being.  Culture says that you are a collection of cells that evolved from a something else.  Well, if that’s the case, then why not live for the moment?  Why not engage in promiscuity for the thrill of it all?  Why not step on whoever we have to step on in order to get ahead?  After all, if we are nothing more than a collection of cells, then life must solely be about what I can glean from it.  Ladies and gentlemen, culture has put a very low price tag on the human being.

    God says you are a saint.  God says you are a holy one.  God says you are of infinite worth.  How does that affect your values?  Suddenly, life isn’t solely about what I can glean from it, is it?  Now, perhaps, the value of life is life itself…and how I might serve the One who created me.  Therefore, I ask you now: Does God exist to serve us, or do we exist to serve God?  Get the answer to that question wrong…and you’re never going to get any of the rest of it right either.  The price tag God puts on us is very high.  Don’t let culture switch the price tags.

    After designating the people of God as saints, the Apostle Paul goes on to tell them that he is praying for them.  Have you ever thought about how much that means?  What does it mean to you when someone says, “I’m praying for you?” Of course, I remember in seminary when I once got into a theological disagreement with someone.  In my mind, I was winning…because at the end of the conversation he said to me, “I’ll pray for you!”  I wanted to say, “No!  Don’t pray for me! I don’t want God to make me think like you!”  But seriously, what does it mean to you when someone says, “I’m praying for you?”  It means a great deal, does it not?

    The Apostle Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus.  He prayed to God that God might give them five things.  The five things were: wisdom and revelation, an enlightened heart, hope, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power.  The five things Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, he prays for us as well.  These are the things the saints can expect to receive from God: wisdom and revelation, an enlightened heart, hope, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power.  As Paul notes, they come not because of some great accomplishment on our parts.  They come through what God achieved in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ.  The shame of it all is that there are people these days who fail to see that…and who suffer the consequences of it.

    I’m going to tell you two quick stories now that I think will make what I’m trying to say a little bit more clear.  The first story is about an out-of-town couple that recently came to me and asked me to perform their wedding.  They wanted a civil ceremony.  They wanted no mention of Jesus Christ at all.  Jesus Christ was not a part of their lives and they did not want him to have a part in their wedding either.

    While we were talking, I noticed a series of numbers tattooed up the bride’s left arm.  Not being particularly shy, I asked her what they were meant to represent.  She said, “These are the death dates of four of my good friends.”  I said, “I am so sorry.  How did they die?”  She replied, “Two died from cancer…and two committed suicide.”  Do you sense a certain irony here?  The bride and her friends refused the gifts God gives in Jesus Christ – wisdom and revelation, an enlightened heart, HOPE, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power – and a couple of them felt that the only way to escape their problems…was suicide.

    Contrast that story with a story I want to tell you about our own Julia Marshall.  Julia Marshall was born in 1914. She had a Ph.D. in psychology. She taught at colleges and universities all across the country.  She used to sit right in front of me here in the sanctuary, nearly every Sunday morning.  She wasn’t able to stand for the hymns, but she sat there and sang every one of them without even opening a book.  I think she knew every hymn in the hymnal by heart.  Julia Marshall was a woman of deep faith.  She died on the 6^th of April.

    I went to see her in the hospital shortly before she died.  She was having a wonderful day and we had a terrific conversation.  In fact, she told me something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.  The next day, however, she took a sudden turn for the worse.  When I went to see her, she had an oxygen mask over her face and I was having a hard time understanding her.  She said to me, “I want to go home.”  I said, “You want to go home?”  She said, “I want to go home,” as she pointed toward the sky.  And it wasn’t long…before she did.

    God gives gifts to his saints thanks to what he accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ.  Of course, they matter in the life to come.  But as I think you can clearly see…they matter in this lifetime as well.  Amen.