Then there are the window candles.  We didn’t do this until we moved to Kenbridge, but it’s become one of our favorite decorations – candles in the window, symbolically inviting the Holy Family to find shelter here:  “There may not be room in the inn, but I have room for you!”  Every tucked-away electrical outlet finds its annual purpose, and our windows shine with welcoming light throughout the night.  I can see and feel their warmth as I’m coming home in the evening, or during my morning walk before the sun rises.

There are times, though, when the light gets out of hand.  What is warm and welcoming outside becomes an uncomfortable burden inside.  Like when we notice the bright new addition to our monthly power bill.  Or when we have to make an unexpected trip to the store to get those tiny (but expensive) light bulbs.  Or when it’s time to leave for a trip, and we have to find all those tucked-away outlets again to unplug the lights.  For someone like me, who sometimes has a hard time falling asleep, the extra bright lights in our normally-darkened bedroom windows make it difficult to tune out the world.  For someone like Tanya, who loves a clean and tidy house, the extra lights at nighttime take away one of the merits of nighttime – the short-lived illusion that everything’s as tidy as it should be.

Sometimes it’s enough to make you want to pull the plugs on the things!

We welcome the warm glow of the Light of Christ at Christmas time.  How special this season is, how nostalgic and moving!  But when it comes to letting the Light of Christ into our lives – into all the parts of our lives – things get a little more complicated.  And why?  Because the light that started off as a warm glow from the darkness of a stable, became an almost unbearable brilliance from the darkness of a tomb.

The light can be costly at times, asking us to give things up.  In some strange way, the Light requires that we keep opening doors and windows into new and painful areas.  Like a floodlight, that Light finds its way into even the darkest rooms of our hearts, and shows us things we’d rather not be reminded of.  Sometimes its brightness keeps us awake, spurring us to thought or action at times we’d rather be resting.

“There may not be room in the inn, but I have room for you!” we say.  “Once Christmas is over, though, you’ll need to leave – or at least you’ll need to move into the back bedroom before you get too bright.”

But no matter the cost, the Light heals and frees us, the Light makes us whole.

Oh Jesus, Light of the World, bring your Light into my heart this day.  Let the Light find me out, in spite of myself.  Let it show me the things that need fixing, remind me that things are not as tidy as they should be, spur me to action at times when I’d rather be resting.  And let its brightness consume all the darkness that is in me, until all that’s left is the Light.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

I still remember, and I’m sure that I’ll ever forget, where I was on that fateful Tuesday morning in September 2001.

I still remember the images and sounds, as if I had just been there this morning:  smoke billowing from buildings;  shaky footage of people running from what looked to be a solid wall of dust and debris;  reporters frantically switching between New York and Washington, trying to make sense out of the chaos.

I still remember the tears, the looks on people’s faces as they watched the terrible events unfold.

I still remember the words of disbelief I heard that morning, echoed in my own mind.  “This looks like a movie…” “It can’t be really happening.”  “Maybe it’s some kind of hoax.”

I still remember how the realization gradually settled in that this was really happening.  And I remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach – sorrow, anger, fear.

Little as we want to admit it, that group of men accomplished their goal that September morning.  Their goal was not simply to fly planes into buildings and kill lots of people.  At least one set of hijackers ended up in a field in Pennsylvania.  But simply killing lots of people was not their goal.

Their goal was that of all terrorists – to plant terror in people’s hearts.  To create panic and fear so deep that it changes the way we look at things, the way we think about things, the way we live.  Anyone who flew on an airplane before 9-11, and has flown since, can attest to the simple fact that all these things have changed for us.

I still remember, and I’m sure you do too.  How could we ever forget?

But I still remember other things, too.

I still remember the awed voices of reporters, as new videos showed men and women rushing back to Ground Zero to help anyone they could.

I remember the litanies of fallen heroes, and photos snapped of their lives before the tragic day – firefighters, police, ordinary people.  A group of passengers who courageously took matters into their own hands.

I still remember the images of bright lights cutting through the darkness so volunteers could continue the search for survivors throughout those long nights.

I still remember watching with pride and approval as local, state and national governments worked swiftly to respond to the crisis.

I still remember being amazed how tiny towns, cities, small businesses and large corporations came together in those few days to do amazing things – providing care for victims and families; feeding the many workers who tirelessly dug through the rubble; giving shelter and food to millions of passengers whose flights had been displaced.

Our divided nation came together that day, as the world gathered around us.  We put aside our differences for a time – black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, pro-life, pro-choice.  Finger-pointing was put on hold.  Congresses passed new legislation quickly and efficiently.  For those few days and weeks following the attacks, we were the United States of America.

For the first time in my young life, I was proud to be an American citizen.  I was proud to see how my country could come together to meet the challenges  before us.  I was proud of our president and the many leaders who stepped up and did what was right in a difficult time.

The spirit of those times was astounding and comforting.  For once, we could clearly see God’s hand at work in a powerful way.

And I wonder… where is that country now?  Where is that spirit?

I’m not talking about all the current controversies and issues today.  Do we need healthcare reform, and what should we do about it?  Whose fault is the state of the economy, and how can we fix it?  What laws should we have about divisive matters like abortion, immigration, and gay rights, and how can we ever find a balance?  These are certainly important questions and decisions, but there’s an American spirit that has transcended those kinds of things in the past.

I’m talking about the spirit that brings us together in the face of challenges.  It’s the spirit that brought us together then, and in many other crucial times in our nation’s history.  It’s a spirit that assigns value, not blame.  A spirit that points out needs, not fault.  A spirit that puts aside differences, not friendships.  A spirit that seeks the good of the other, not the good of the self.  A spirit that values brotherhood above borders.  A spirit that seeks to build, not destroy.  A spirit of reconciliation, not divorce.

We’re a melting pot, for sure.  We will always have differences of religion, cultures, philosophy, morals, and values.  Since the earliest settlers first set foot on these shores, that’s the kind of place this has been.  We’ve seen the spirit that can divide us because of our differences, but we’ve also known a spirit that can rise above all that.  It’s the spirit that brought us together to fight for our freedom, and that drew us through contention to unite into a nation.

Who says this other spirit has to be the status quo?  Who says we have to wait for tragedies like 9-11 or Hurricane Katrina to bring out the true spirit of America?

I still remember.

I remember the spirit that has driven us toward greater things.  And I think that together, you and I might just be able to bring it back.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

This sermon was inspired by my own experiences here in a rural community – a big shift for me.  It was also brought on by a good friend – a farmer – who passed away last week.

Here’s the link:  http://www.kenbridgebaptist.org/2009/09/sermon-the-seeds-august-30-2009/

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

My seminary experience gave me some perspective on this.  As Protestants, we focus on Christus Victor – the Victorious Christ, the Risen Lord who is victorious over death and sin.  This is the lowly Carpenter’s Son who would soon resume his place as the King of Creation.  All this earthly stuff – death, suffering, crying, blood, hunger and thirst – all those things would soon be washed away in the glory of Easter.  It’s certainly a wonderful thing to celebrate!

But Catholic theology places much focus on the Incarnate Christ.  This is the Jesus who was living and breathing, the Christ who was both Divine and human, but who chose for this time to allow his human side to show clearly.  This is the Christ we can identify with – our High Priest, as the writer of Hebrews points out, who has experienced life as we did.

This is Emmanuel, the God-With-Us who is still with us in every part of life – not just the victorious parts.  This is the Christ who is with us in our moments of sorrow (remember what Jesus did when his good buddy Lazarus died?), hunger and thirst, doubt (”My God, my God…”), and even fear and reluctance to do God’s will (”If it is possible, let this cup pass from me…”).

And yet we Protestants rush past these embarrassing moments of weakness – Good Friday is not a place to stop, certainly.  It’s only a speed bump on the way to Easter.  Let’s not worry about Good Friday, and not talk about the cross without talking about the empty tomb as well…  And by making the crucifixion a speed bump, by focusing on how Easter will make a difference in the life to come, we skip over the very thing about Jesus that will make a difference in the here and now.

Is it any wonder that we, as Protestants, have a hard time coming to grips with the bad things that happen to us?  Is it any wonder that we’re embarrassed by things like depression, doubt, and suffering?  We can’t excuse them, and we can’t see God in them, so we choose to gloss them over by saying things like, “God has a plan,” or some such saying – true, but pithy – that makes light of the present circumstances in favor of what’s to come.

While the fact is, it is in precisely these times that Jesus draws as close to us as he will ever be this side of eternity.

In The Rainbow, D.H. Lawrence wrote, “Is the flesh which was crucified become as poison to the crowds in the street, or is it as a strong gladness and hope to them, as the first flower blossoming out of the earth’s humus?”

A few days ago, the girls and I planted some peanuts in a pot so that we can watch them grow in the weeks ahead.  Already, we’re seeing little sprouts pop up out of the dirt, and it’s exciting to think what they’ll become!  Even now, Abigail’s talks excitedly about eating the peanuts we’ll supposedly grow…

But to get to that exciting time someday soon, I knew better than they did what kinds of things would be required.  Watering, watching and waiting.  Trying to keep the pot away from probing fingers until the plant is strong enough to withstand the exploration of a three-year-old.  And of course, there’s that inevitable moment when we had to get our hands dirty and put those shriveled seeds into the soil.  To me, that was a special moment – and no matter what the peanut plants do (and knowing my luck with plants, they’ll probably die), I think I’ll long remember sitting in the floor with my girls, my hands wet and dirty, smelling the earth.

“… or is it as a strong gladness and hope to them, as the first flower blossoming out of the earth’s humus?”

Are we willing to linger on Good Friday?  Are we willing to stay here long enough, in the dark sadness, to let its lessons seep into our souls and do us some good?  May God grant us peace to linger here, by the crucified Christ, so that we may better understand what was required to make that Easter morning possible.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

I have been forced to rethink and clarify my ideas about Maundy Thursday and communion this year, for various reasons.  And I’m wondering if this might not be more what that original communion was like.  We’ve made communion such a somber thing – meditative, deathly silent, ritualistic.  But that night was a celebration – it was Passover, the all-important festival in the Jewish year, an occasion for family and friends to commemorate and celebrate.

The disciples had no clue what was coming in the hours ahead.  As well as serious moments – like Jesus washing their feet, for instance – I can only imagine there was also laughter, singing, and memories shared.

In retrospect you and I can understand what Jesus meant by “this is my body,” and “this is my blood.”  But the disciples were probably confused – or perhaps it held a different kind of meaning to them.  They’d been hearing Jesus talk about his death for a while, and it made them uncomfortable.  By now, they might even have been rolling their eyes – “there he goes, talking about dying again…”

For all they knew, this night Jesus was doing something traditional – the Passover meal – and something different alongside it.  Something different, and something special.  And the key phrase that most of the Gospels record of the evening was “remember me.”

When I first started looking at this and preparing for our Maundy service, I heard “remember me,” and I thought of how we often shield children – or even grownups at times – from seeing someone who is deathly ill, someone who has sustained serious injuries, or someone who has died.  We justify it by saying something like, “We don’t want them to remember her like this.”

I admit that to some extent it’s irrational – as if people were two-dimensional photos, and like a good photographer we could choose the perfect setting to capture them in, and discard the rest.  But I see the value in it.  After all, I think we all try this kind of “snapshotting” when we interact with others.  We want to leave a certain impression with people, so we act a certain way or say certain things – we try to control the way they will “remember us,” though we’d never use those terms.

So I think it’s significant the moment that Jesus asked his disciples to “remember him.”  It wasn’t when he was hanging on the cross, struggling for breath as he died for their sins.  It wasn’t after he was raised from the dead, proving that he was alive.  It wasn’t in the midst of his greatest miracles – feeding thousands, walking on water, healing the sick.

No, Jesus knew his followers would remember those times without fail.  But in this time, in this setting that was ordinary compared to the exciting things they’d experienced with their Master, Jesus asked them to remember him.  Sharing a meal together.  Laughing and sharing memories around the table.  Keeping the old Passover traditions alive and meaningful.  As a brother, a close friend who loved them so much he was willing to wash their feet.

That was the snapshot Jesus wanted to capture.  That was the moment he wanted them to remember for years – and centuries – to come.

So when we sit around the table and enjoy our fellowship together, when we share a meal together in our churches or our homes, when we work together to bring our traditions and rituals to new life and meaning, when we serve one another, when we share each other’s joys and sorrows as friends…

When we do these things, we are as close to Jesus as we ever are.  When we do those things, it’s a perfect time to remember Jesus.  When we do those things, Jesus is there among us, laughing and crying, sharing joy and sorrow.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

We’ve all seen movie posters.  They tell us everything we need to know about a movie that’s coming – trying to entice you to pay $10 to sit in a theater and watch it.  They use clever graphics, descriptive fonts, and subtly faded portraits of the main actors to sum up the story in one snapshot.

Most posters have words of some kind.  And you can tell what’s important by how big the words are.  Most modern movie posters have the name of the movie in huge letters.  Next smallest are the key stars – the ones who get the top billing.  Then are the “other” stars.  Finally, in itty-bitty print at the bottom of the page… everyone else.

That’s now.  But do you remember back in the day, what was the main draw on movie posters?  The lead actor and/or actress.  Nowadays, you go see a movie because you read the book, or because the topic is intriguing to you.  But once, you went to see movie stars!

Do you remember what those movie posters looked like?  The star’s name in BIG LETTERS – sometimes bigger than the title of the movie.

Here’s a ridiculous thought – what if you saw a movie poster this week that had JON PARKS in big bright letters!  “Who’s that guy??” people would ask.  Oh, he’s just an extra.  Do you think people would go to see the movie then?

So now it’s time to wrap up this series on Romans.  But as we do, I think it’s worth looking back over the whole book to make sure we understand Paul’s big points.  We don’t want to “major on the minors,” get things out of order.  So let’s walk through what we’ve learned from Romans, chapter by chapter:

1. God has reason to be angry at human beings, who have been sinful.  We can’t claim ignorance – we know God is real and what he asks of us, but we still disobey.

2. Therefore, we have only one judge – God.  We cannot judge each other because we have all sinned and we are all sinful.  There is no place for division because of the quantity or quality of sin.

3. We can do nothing, by our own actions, to draw closer to God.  So God has chosen to draw closer to us, and to allow our FAITH to be counted as righteousness (rather than our careful observance of the Law).

4-7. Once we were slaves to sin and to the Law.  But God has freed us to choose whom we will serve.  But even then, we still fall short.

8.   So Christ makes up the difference.  His work and his death allow us to be adopted as God’s children, and for our sins to be covered.  God has done this – nothing can undo it.

9-11. Since all human beings are sinful, all are in need of redemption.  And God has chosen to use US as his way of spreading the good news!

12-13.  Our lives therefore should be lived totally in God’s service, no matter what we are doing.  Our conduct, both within the Body and without, should fulfill the Law of Love.

14-15.  The burden is upon us to live at peace with each other.  If someone disagrees with us, we can’t use that disagreement to justify division and fighting.  Rather, we must take all efforts to live in love and harmony with each other.  And this is not for our sakes, but so that God may be glorified by the way we live.

Paul covers the sweep of human history and God’s work.  And lest we put the wrong name in big letters, it’s important to see whom Paul recognizes as the big star in this story.

GOD

It’s so simple, you say.  But the fact is, we tend to put ourselves at the center of the world.  We start off this way as children – after all, for the first year of our lives or more, we’re not even aware that anyone else really exists.  But that tendency doesn’t stop with infancy.  Even in our spiritual lives today, we try to put ourselves at the center of God’s universe.

• We think, “why should I do anything for God?”
• “How does this make a difference for ME?”
• “Why does God ask so much of ME?”
• “Sure God did all this, but what has he done for ME lately?”
• Or, we look at all the things God has done, and we say:
  • Look at everything God has done, just for ME!
  • We make the story of redemption about “God and me.”
  • The buddy-buddy mentality, so focused on our own personal relationship.

It’s good to remember that God loves you and me personally – that’s wonderful news!  But I think sometimes we take this too far and begin to see ourselves as the whole reason God exists.  As if the reason God existed at all was to create us, to save us when we messed up, and to build our mansion in glory when we pass on.

Do you see how wrong this is?  Do you see how human-centered that understanding is?  Sure, I’m exaggerating things, but isn’t it true that we often put ourselves higher than we should?

A glance over the whole book of Romans gives us a different picture.

WE are not at the center of the universe.  GOD is.

WE did not choose God.  GOD chose us.

WE could not bridge the gap that came between us and God.  But GOD could overcome it.

WE do not do the work to save ourselves.  GOD does.

WE do not have the power even now to live the lives he asks of us.  But GOD gives us that power.

As we finish this look at the Letter to the Romans, I hope that we are not as impressed by Paul’s eloquence or thoughtfulness, as much as we are impressed by Paul’s GOD.  This God who has made us and who acts on our behalf – not because he must, but because he chooses to.

That God deserves top billing in my life, and in yours.  Does he have it?

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

Closing Things Out
Romans 15-16

The beginning of chapter 15 carries on from Paul’s discussion in chapter 14, where we left off last time.  As we learned then, it seems the manner in which we disagree (not the content) on things in the Body of Christ really does make a difference.

Romans 15:1-13 (NIV)

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. ²Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” ⁴For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs ⁹so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name.” ¹⁰Again, it says,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” ¹¹And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples.” ¹²And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him.”

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Notice Paul continues by showing on whose side the burden lies in a disagreement.  If two people disagree, and it is primarily a matter of maturity of faith, those who are more mature should bear with those who are less mature.  This is a simple solution – after all, if a child disagrees with us because she doesn’t understand what’s going on, we don’t expect them to just grow up and deal with it.  As Paul points out, this is just what Jesus did.

But again, Paul stresses what he’s been focusing on since chapter 12.  From the beginning of his letter, he laid out the story of redemption – humankind’s sinfulness, our inability to reconcile ourselves to God, God’s steps to be reconciled to human beings.  How then shall we live?  We ought to live in obedience and love for God and for all God’s children.

Keep the Peace

And as the Body of Christ, we ought to maintain love and unity at all times.  Why?  Because it is one of the primary ways God shows his glory to the world!

After all, the natural order of the human world is decay, corruption, division, and death.  Every civilization in history so far has become corrupted and has fallen.  Every government deals with corruption.  Every person comes into some kind of conflict with another person.  And all together, our normal response is to be intolerant, spiteful, to hold grudges, to want revenge.

So when a group of people can live together in harmony and in love – respecting our disagreements but not allowing them to divide us, forgiving when we are hurt, giving to each other so that all may have what they need – when a group of people can live together like this in unity and peace, the world will notice.  And we can tell them – the only way it’s possible is because of God.

In fact, most of Paul’s instructions to the church from chapter 12 onward are directed at keeping peace and unity.  This seems to be his primary concern.  It’s understandable, considering the recent history of the church in Rome.  The fights between the Jews and the Jewish Christians had gotten so bad that Claudius expelled all Jews – both Christian and non-Christian – from the city of Rome in AD 49.

Five years later, Nero allowed all the Jews to come back into Rome, but by that point the Gentile Christians had probably grown distrustful of the Jewish Christians.  It’s obvious from Paul’s letter that there has been a lot of conflict there in the recent past.  This concerns Paul greatly for theological reasons: Jesus had commanded his followers to live in unity (John 17).  But it also concerns him for practical reasons – who would want to become a Christian if it automatically meant fighting and getting kicked out of your home?!

So Paul’s instructions toward peace and unity make perfect sense.  As an apostle and an evangelist, he’s concerned about how Christians present ourselves as a witness to the world.  Our conduct as a Family of God speaks more to people than our words ever will.

If last words are any indication of the main point Paul was trying to get across in this letter, his final instructions in 16:17-19 should tell us what he urges above all else:

¹⁷I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. ¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. ¹⁹Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Final Plans

Next, Paul moves from theology and exhortation, to more personal details of his travels and his plans.  In 15:14-22, he recounts what he’s been doing and why he hasn’t been able to visit the churches in Rome.  He has felt God’s call to minister to the Gentiles in Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece.

Now he is free at last to tackle what he imagines will be his greatest challenge yet – Spain.  During most of Paul’s tenure in each town and city, he would first look for an established group of believers.  If he found none, he would then connect himself to the Jews in the synagogues.  Often, the Jewish people would resonate with Paul’s message of God’s messiah, and they would gladly receive Paul’s message of the Gospel.  This was a perfect starting point as Paul encountered places where the Gospel hadn’t yet taken root.

But in Paul’s time, Spain was almost completely pagan – there were no Christian believers, no Jewish synagogues.  Paul would be starting “from scratch,” working with people who had never even heard of Jesus of Nazareth.  You can hear his excitement building from verse 17:

¹⁷Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done- ¹⁹by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. ²¹Rather, as it is written:
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.” ²²This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

²³But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, ²⁴I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Paul considers Spain the ultimate challenge – the starting point of what Jesus meant when he “ends of the earth.”

But he has to take care of one thing first – he has a gift to deliver to the believers in Jerusalem.  The Gentile Christians have heard of their distress, and they have sent monetary gifts to assist the Jewish Christians.  Paul recognizes this generous overture – after all, the Jews had shared their faith.  The Gentiles could certainly share their wealth in return.

Acts tells us that Paul did make it to Jerusalem, and he eventually made it to Rome – but not as he had planned.  Paul acknowledges in 15:30-32 that his visit to Jerusalem could be dangerous.

³⁰I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. ³¹Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, ³²so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.

But he didn’t realize how dangerous it would be.  Paul had become one of the best known Christians during his time – his name was spoken across the Empire by both believers and non-believers.  But Paul had been a Jew once, and a very zealous Jew.  Remember that Paul was one of the first to persecute the Christians before he was converted.  Once he had been a model Jew.  Now he is a model Christian.  You can imagine how the Jews felt about that…

So when they got their hands on Paul in Jerusalem, they arrested him and accused him of being a trouble-maker.  Paul recognized his opportunity – he invoked his right to appeal to Caesar, and ended up traveling to Rome in chains…

But that’s a story for another time.  If you want to hear where Paul goes after he writes this letter, read Acts 21 and onward.

Greetings and Commendations

Finally, Paul wraps up his letter by sending greetings to the believers he knows in Rome.  Notice how many people he knows in the church, even though he’s never visited it!

Notice also, that Paul mentions 11 women among the almost 30 people he names.  Two of them appear to be leaders, including Phoebe – who was either a deaconess or a minister.  The other is Junias, whom Paul calls an “apostle” before he was!

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

It’s important to ask the right questions in life – in fact, much of our education focuses around finding the right questions to ask, and the best ways to answer them.

Have you ever played the game “Psychologist?”  Tanya used to love to play this game with her youth in Birmingham.  It’s kind of an enhanced version of “20 Questions.”  One person is dubbed the “psychologist” and is sent out of the room.  While that person is gone, everyone else decides what’s “wrong” with them – for instance, everyone thinks that they are Michael Jackson, or everyone thinks they are a dog.  Then the psychologist comes back into the room and has to ask yes/no questions to figure out what’s wrong with everyone.

It can be quite comical – and pretty frustrating, too, if the group chooses to have a problem that’s complex.  For instance, each person thinks they are the person seated directly to his or her left.  It takes some good question asking to figure out what’s going on!

Of course, questions are important in real life, as well.  Take asking directions – unless you get lucky and stumble upon a really good direction-giver, if you don’t know how to ask good questions you can end up more lost than you were to begin with!

Or think about doctors and nurses and healthcare professionals, trying to figure out what’s wrong with someone.  If you focus on the symptoms, ask the wrong questions, you can end up nowhere – or worse, you can end up with the completely wrong diagnosis!

Jesus was a master of asking questions that got to the heart of the matter.

It’s the same in matters of faith.  Each sermon I work to find the questions that are vital to us today, here in this place and time.  Some passages have questions that are easy to find.  Some don’t.  This is one of the latter.

We could ask all kinds of questions about this passage – but only by asking the right questions will we get to the heart of what Paul is saying, and what it means to you and me.

Wrong: Weak Vs. Strong

First is the question, “Who is WEAK and who is STRONG?”  After all, we always want to know where we stand in our faith.  What does God think of us?  What do others think of us?

Admittedly, Paul seems to be acting a bit superior here.  But I don’t think that’s Paul’s tone at all.  After all, Paul has spent several chapters now discussing our relationship to the Law – not just the old Mosaic Law, but to any certain set of practices and rites.  We are free in Christ, he says, to follow the LAW of LOVE and not the old strict laws.

And, Paul has also been very clear to make sure that everyone is seen as equal in God’s eyes – no matter their background, social status, or level of spiritual maturity.

So we can’t get caught up into splitting ourselves into “WEAK” and “STRONG.”  That’s God’s job, not ours.  No matter how strong you might think you are, there are always others somewhere, sometime, who have a stronger faith in some ways.  No matter how weak, there are always others who are newer and less mature in their faith.  And besides, how are we going to classify strength and quality of faith?  What criteria will we use?

These distinctions don’t matter to you and to me.  They don’t even really matter to God.  This question is only a distraction.

Wrong: Looking at the Issues

Another trap we can fall into is looking at the specific issues Paul brings up – vegetarianism, celebration or non-celebration of certain days.  And it would be an easy trap.  We could go on for several sermons digging into the biblical roots of vegetarianism, into the debate over the true day of Sabbath.

But Paul is not talking about the specific issues here – his language shows that these are only examples of where he’s really going.  The issues he raises are rooted in the culture, time and place of the people to whom he was writing – they have no real meaning to us.

Obviously, there were disputes among the Christians in Rome over these two issues.  The

• Vegetarianism – was both a pagan and a Jewish practice.
• “Certain days” are not clarified. Could be the continued observance of Saturday as Sabbath, or the celebration of some cultural holidays observed by the state.

In our context these kinds of issues can take many forms:

• Seventh-day Baptists/Adventists,
• Working on Sunday
• Celebration of Halloween (or Christmas, or Easter), previously pagan holidays
• dietary restrictions,
• praying before meals,
• using contemporary or traditional music
• the style of our worship – formal or informal

In these things that are not explicitly set out in scripture or that are unclear, we must TRUST our brother or sister in Christ to examine God’s word, allow God to speak to them, and follow the convictions given to them by the Holy Spirit.

Right Questions: What is Essential and what is Non-Essential?

How should we respond when we have different opinions?

Here’s the bottom line – Paul is telling us to make a distinction in matters of faith between what is VITAL and what is NOT (14:17-18). Notice that Paul is very clear on excluding certain sinful practices throughout his writings – he’s not being overly tolerant of any and every thing.  Neither is he promoting any kind of religious pluralism.

Rather, he’s cautioning us to be careful to distinguish between ESSENTIALS of the Christian life and NON-ESSENTIALS.  Stand up for the essentials, absolutely!  But on the non-essentials, we have a God-given task to overcome our differences and continue in worship and witness.  Our goal is not to achieve the perfect set of beliefs, but to glorify God by our love and unity (15:5-6).

This was the problem the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day faced. They were so busy looking at the details of the non-essential things that they missed the most important essential of LOVE.  That’s why Jesus boiled it down for them – the most important commandment was not one of the myriad little ordinances in the Mosaic Law.  Rather, it was a summation of the whole Law – “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Paul points out the most important essentials in 14:17-18:  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Focal Questions:

• What are our ESSENTIALS?
• What strong convictions do we hold outside those Essentials?
• How can we preserve love, peace and unity when we disagree about these non-essential things?

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Context

In the previous passage of his letter, Paul has begun to elaborate on how we are to live in community.  First, he discussed life in the Body of Christ, then he urged us to “live at peace with everyone (as far as it depends upon you).”  Now Paul reflects on how civic government shapes our lives and relationships.  The passage itself is straightforward and easy to understand.

But to understand what’s going on, we should also consider the context of the letter.  Paul was writing to people who had just recently been allowed to return to Rome – Jews and Jewish Christians had caused such an uproar that in 49 AD, Claudius ordered them all to leave the city.  This wasn’t persecution of a people because of their religious practices – it was a way for the emperor to quell a public disturbance.

Paul knows he is addressing people who have a tendency to get carried away with their opinions and demonstrations.  So he is using this opportunity to give them some instructions about how they can conduct themselves in future arguments.  And of course, his point is theologically tied in with everything that comes before.

It’s also important, in context, to realize that Paul is not making an entire statement here about how Christians are to relate to the government.  This is not a blanket, end-all instruction for being completely submissive to government.  This was written before widespread persecutions were carried out against the church.  Otherwise, I imagine Paul would have been much more careful in the way he worded this section.

If you look through the ministry of Paul and the other apostles, you’ll see they don’t always simply submit to what the governing authorities tell them.  Sometimes, they’re even outright law-breakers!

• In Acts 4, Peter and John tell the Sanhedrin that they will continue to speak about Jesus, even though the authorities have told them not to.
• In Acts 5, all the apostles were arrested and thrown in jail for preaching Christ. But God sent an angel to let them out, and ordered them to go back into the Temple to preach again! When they are re-arrested, Peter gives this famous response: “We must obey God rather than men.”
• In Acts 9, knowing that the Jewish authorities in Damascus meant to kill him, Paul escaped the city at night in a basket – in effect, he was “resisting arrest”
• In Acts 12, we see another “jailbreak.” Herod has killed the apostle James, and planned to kill Peter also. But again, an angel came and let Peter out.

We also find times when the Apostles use their “altercations” with the authorities to further God’s work:

• In Acts 16 we find probably the best-known miraculous jailbreak. Paul & Silas were in prison in Philippi, when an earthquake shook the building and broke the walls. But Paul and Silas stayed in the prison and cared for the other prisoners until the jailor arrived because they knew their escape would mean his death. They used the opportunity to share the Good News with the jailer, and his entire family was saved!
• In Acts 22 – and following, Paul is arrested and allows himself to go through the legal process because he knows that this is his way to reach Rome with the message of the Gospel.

Our Allegiances

So what is our relationship to government as God’s people?  The United States has always been a place where the people have a voice in the government – we are free to express our opinions, and to agree or disagree with the policies and practices of our elected officials.  The word “submit” stirs up all kinds of feelings here!

Is Paul saying that we must submit ourselves completely to every government?  Of course not.  He’s saying that we must abide by the laws of the place in which we live.

So how then can we understand what we see Paul doing in his own ministry – sometimes submitting, sometimes using, sometimes even rebelling against authority?

In order to understand Paul’s actions, and in order to understand how we must make decisions about our allegiances, we must understand one crucial point:  You and I are dual citizens.

This is not an unusual concept for us.  We are actually used to thinking of ourselves as being bound to more than one group.  And we also understand that our allegiances are arranged in a hierarchy.

For instance, my passport shows that I am a citizen of the United States of America – that I have all the rights of a citizen, and that I am bound by its laws as well.  I am also a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia by virtue of my residence here.  That means I am given the specific rights, and bound to the specific laws, of this Commonwealth… as long as they are not in conflict with the rights and laws of the US.  The same holds true for the county and town in which I live – the laws and rights of each are trumped by those that are “higher.”

I’m also a member of several kinds of groups and organizations.  I’m a COSTCO member.  I have a Blockbuster card.  I’m a contributing member of the National Geographic Society.

Membership is chosen.  We can take it or leave it.  If I decide tomorrow I don’t want to be a COSTCO member, then I can call and cancel my membership and I won’t owe them any more “allegiance.”

Citizenship is a reality.  You can’t just cast off your US citizenship so you can print fake money in your basement.  Citizenship is something that is not chosen but conferred.  My highest citizenship will always take precedence over any other citizenships or memberships.

So I don’t owe equal allegiance to each of these.

• If the army called to draft me, I couldn’t say, “I’m sorry, you’ll have to wait because I have a movie from Blockbuster and I can’t do anything until I’ve watched it and returned it.”
• If I was a member of a club that decided to blow up a public building in protest, I would have a definite conflict of interest – and would find myself in violation of laws at all kinds of levels.
• If Kenbridge decided its citizens didn’t have to pay any kinds of taxes in 2009, that would be nice. But it wouldn’t stop the IRS from coming to our door next year.

You understand what I’m saying.  No one owes allegiance to just one government or group.  Therefore, no one has only one law or rule to consider when they are making a choice about action.

Our Highest Citizenship

Paul is showing us the order of our citizenships, and he makes reference to the fact that our highest citizenship is not that of our nation.  Our greatest and highest rights and responsibilities lie in our status as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Being a part of God’s Kingdom is not a membership we can revoke or cancel when we don’t like it anymore.  It’s citizenship, conferred by the reality of who we are – God has chosen us.  It is as natural and binding a citizenship as any other – but it’s higher than any other.

Generally, being a good citizen of the Kingdom will automatically mean being a good citizen of our other groups.  As Paul says, we will respect those who govern over us.  We’ll pay our taxes to support the work of government.  We’ll strive to live within the law.

Sometimes, our duties as Kingdom citizens and as citizens from some other group may come into conflict.  When they do, we can’t simply withdraw from the Kingdom for a little while.  But we must remember that the Kingdom is our HIGHEST citizenship!  Our obedience to God trumps all other duties we might have to perform.

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

It’s hard to put political feelings aside, I realize.  But I recognize that I’m part of a greater citizenship than that of a particular political party.  I’m a citizen of a heavenly kingdom first, and of a great nation second.  I think most of us recognize that.

So again, it’s amazing to me to see people already plotting our new President’s demise, after only three days in office.  I see them everywhere – CNN, Fox News, OpEds in papers, religious forums… even on Facebook.  There are, of course, the continued gripes about his policies – whether real or only imagined.  And then there are the petty jabs about something he said or did that was awkward… as if, just like our previous presidents, Mr. Obama is not a real human being who makes mistakes from time to time.

Is it possible that seeds of anger and division are already being sown, when the soil is only newly plowed?

I don’t suffer from the “savior delusion” many are claiming.  I’m as skeptical as many of you.  Barack Obama is not Jesus – he won’t be able to fix all our problems.  This side of heaven, no one is going to be able to fix all the ills that plague humanity.

But whether John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Franken or even Fred Thompson had become president this week, I have concerns that are greater than any awkwardness those people might present in their first days in office.  In fact, a bit of awkwardness might be expected… if nearly anyone stepped into the most powerful office in the world without a bit of awkwardness, I’d be worried.

No matter who you voted for, Barack Obama is our president in a historic and crucial time for our nation.  In the midst of several great crises – economic, energy, environmental, and international relations to name a few – how can someone root for our elected leader to fail, and thereby allow our nation to slide into even worse condition than it already is?  Just because they hold a personal dislike for someone?  Because they want someone they “like” to swoop in and “save” us all instead?

Many imply it, but only Rush Limbaugh has been brave enough to actually say it so far: “I hope he fails.”  Granted, Mr. Limbaugh can say something like that, since he has millions of dollars and his reputation is already secure.

Perhaps Mr. Limbaugh is not governed by certain “Laws” and “Policies” that affect me as a Christ Follower.  Didn’t Jesus say to love and to pray for our enemies (Matt. 5 to for a start)?  Didn’t Paul urge us to respect and pray for our leaders and authorities (1 Tim. 4, Romans 13)?  Is there anywhere in the Scriptures where bitterness and discord are encouraged?

This is the time to support our president in prayer and in action, and work for the good of our country.  It’s the season to sow seeds of encouragement and unity, to work together to nurture the ideals that have made this nation great.  It’s time to look carefully and critically at the policies and practices of a new president, not his dance moves or his verbal stumbles.

The seeds we sow now will be reaped later.  What kinds of seeds are we sowing in these crucial days?

©2010 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.