Over the last few weeks, we have talked a lot about calling and discernment. We began with the baptism of Jesus and the call of the disciples and the invitation we are offered time and time again to follow in the way of Jesus and live in the Kingdom of Heaven that has come near. Last week we heard the beginning of the sermon on the mount, as Matthew’s gospel calls it, and today that sermon continues with a plea – and an expectation – that we are who we have been called to be!
The good news about all of this is what? [Pause for an answer.] Yes! Jesus is the good news, and the way all of what we have been talking about proclaims the good news of Jesus is that all of it – the invitation to discipleship that begins with repentance, the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven that is found in the kin-dom or family of faith-full fellowship, God’s calling to justice and righteousness tempered by compassion and humility – all of it is a team sport, my siblings in Christ!
That means that none of it is all up to any one of us, and each of us has the support of the rest of us to get it done! We are like geese flying in formation. Most of you probably know this, but the geese fly in a V to share the aerodynamics of the wind. The one in the front has to work harder, and so they each take a turn up front. Not only that but if one of them becomes ill or injured, another one or two will accompany it in hopes of flying together after healing to either rejoin or make the trip together.
I love that analogy for the church! I love it more when I see it in the church. It happens when we elect new officers. It happens when people take minutes for a committee meeting. It happens when church members call one another, and when we gather for prayer and study. It happens when we work together to get to whatever end we feel God has called us to move toward.
I like the idea that we are always on the move, but it’s important to remember that the geese do eventually get somewhere. It’s also important to remember that Jesus never said, “Just take care of each other.” No, in fact, Jesus said, “You are to be salt and light in the world. You are to be like a city on a hill and a lamp on a stand. In fact, if you aren’t, then what’s the point?”
He goes on to say how he is doing these things – given that he’s just called for a reversal of everything else in the beatitudes – by saying that he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, and not a stroke of a letter will be removed until it has been fulfilled. Then he said that if we want to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees!
The good news here is that Jesus doesn’t actually think the Pharisees are very righteous. That’s not to say that he was lowering the bar in any way, but rather he was telling us that righteousness doesn’t come from following the letter of the law any more than it comes just from the intent of the law. Righteousness is about fulfilling the law and satisfying the demands of God expressed through the prophets to the end that we are in a right relationship with God and one another and, indeed, all of creation.
Isaiah spoke about this, too, and it seems that there is nothing new in approaching faith like a set of rules to follow or a checklist of accomplishments. People have been doing that all along. In this case God says pretty much the same as God said through Micah. “First off, acknowledge the neglect in your social order. Then, if you will make sure that everyone has food, clothing, and shelter – don’t wait on me to do it, you do it – if you root out oppression – don’t wait for me to do it, you do it – if you stop playing the blame game and figure out how to love each other – don’t wait on me to do it, you do it – then you will see how active and present I am.” Thus says the Lord (paraphrase).
I say all of these things not as a condemnation of those who are present but to say that this is a core teaching of scripture: God’s expectation for us is that we will find unacceptable the things that God finds unacceptable, namely the suffering of the innocent for the comfort of others – even our own comfort.
That’s important background info as we come to Paul’s letter to the goodly, Godly folk in Corinth! So far he has spoken about unity in Christ and the folly of the cross – this crucified God who suffers with us. Now he’s gone on to say that the only ones who really understand this are the ones that have received a special, spiritual revelation and who have the mind of Christ.
To us who are used to it and comforted by it, this probably sounds pretty normal and, well…comforting. To those who are not, or who have experienced manipulation and abuse by those claiming to have “spiritual understanding,” this sounds pretty darn culty.
The thing is, we used to think of the idea of spiritual manipulation and cult-like behavior as a minority in Western Christianity, but I’m not so sure that’s the case these days. Whether that is true or not, it is clear that the generational shift has finally caught up with us, and there are plenty who are raised outside of the church looking in.
That matters, because those who see the light that we broadcast and taste the saltiness that we offer are watching to see if the church is truly a force for good in the world.
Now, as I said before, the good news of Jesus Christ is that we are all in this together. The only shoulders that can bear the weight of every problem are the shoulders of Jesus, and he is the one who embraces us all and forms us to be his body, which is broken for the world again and again and again.
As the Body of Christ, we must – as Paul said – discern things spiritually. That means that we do not merely think about things rationally. It means that we compare our experiences of God with one another – spirit to spirit. It means that we let that which is divine in us discern together what God might be doing in and through us.
That may sound complicated, but we sang this song about it last summer at Montreat…
The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you! It’s so easy, so easy, so easy to love!
[Lead them through it a few times.]
Amen! Amen! Amen!
You see, this discernment work that Paul is talking about is really the work we do inside the church. It’s the housekeeping for our souls. It’s the maintenance of the building. It’s the creation of the architecture of relationships for those times when it is hard to love; for those times when the headlines seem to make us reach for faith as a lifeline; for those times we wonder if we are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic instead of building the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Discernment, at its core, is essentially a way of understanding the world around us in light of faith. It’s not a “one and done” kind of thing. It is, in fact, an ongoing aspect of a life of faith. Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” and I would say that a life of faith without discernment is about as good as a flashlight without a battery.
The good news about Jesus is that not only is he the battery to our light of faith, but through him, each of us may be one to one another as well. Can we get into trouble by claiming to have the “mind of Christ” or assuming that we have had all the secrets of God’s spirit revealed to us through God’s spirit? Yes. Yes, we can – especially if we try to do it on our own.
Can we still discern what is of God and what is not; what is close to God’s heart and what is not? Absolutely – especially if we do it together! In truth, we pretty much already know what God desires, and (while our salvation does not rest in pleasing God) there is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by the end of things like poverty, the sin of racism, and the destruction of God’s good creation. How do we do all of that? We do it together, because we are salt and light and because the Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you, and in them, and in those that would attempt to divide and conquer what Jesus has already won on the cross…at least I pray it may be so for you, and for me and for all of creation, and all to the glory of God. Amen!
The good news about all of this is what? [Pause for an answer.] Yes! Jesus is the good news, and the way all of what we have been talking about proclaims the good news of Jesus is that all of it – the invitation to discipleship that begins with repentance, the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven that is found in the kin-dom or family of faith-full fellowship, God’s calling to justice and righteousness tempered by compassion and humility – all of it is a team sport, my siblings in Christ!
That means that none of it is all up to any one of us, and each of us has the support of the rest of us to get it done! We are like geese flying in formation. Most of you probably know this, but the geese fly in a V to share the aerodynamics of the wind. The one in the front has to work harder, and so they each take a turn up front. Not only that but if one of them becomes ill or injured, another one or two will accompany it in hopes of flying together after healing to either rejoin or make the trip together.
I love that analogy for the church! I love it more when I see it in the church. It happens when we elect new officers. It happens when people take minutes for a committee meeting. It happens when church members call one another, and when we gather for prayer and study. It happens when we work together to get to whatever end we feel God has called us to move toward.
I like the idea that we are always on the move, but it’s important to remember that the geese do eventually get somewhere. It’s also important to remember that Jesus never said, “Just take care of each other.” No, in fact, Jesus said, “You are to be salt and light in the world. You are to be like a city on a hill and a lamp on a stand. In fact, if you aren’t, then what’s the point?”
He goes on to say how he is doing these things – given that he’s just called for a reversal of everything else in the beatitudes – by saying that he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, and not a stroke of a letter will be removed until it has been fulfilled. Then he said that if we want to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees!
The good news here is that Jesus doesn’t actually think the Pharisees are very righteous. That’s not to say that he was lowering the bar in any way, but rather he was telling us that righteousness doesn’t come from following the letter of the law any more than it comes just from the intent of the law. Righteousness is about fulfilling the law and satisfying the demands of God expressed through the prophets to the end that we are in a right relationship with God and one another and, indeed, all of creation.
Isaiah spoke about this, too, and it seems that there is nothing new in approaching faith like a set of rules to follow or a checklist of accomplishments. People have been doing that all along. In this case God says pretty much the same as God said through Micah. “First off, acknowledge the neglect in your social order. Then, if you will make sure that everyone has food, clothing, and shelter – don’t wait on me to do it, you do it – if you root out oppression – don’t wait for me to do it, you do it – if you stop playing the blame game and figure out how to love each other – don’t wait on me to do it, you do it – then you will see how active and present I am.” Thus says the Lord (paraphrase).
I say all of these things not as a condemnation of those who are present but to say that this is a core teaching of scripture: God’s expectation for us is that we will find unacceptable the things that God finds unacceptable, namely the suffering of the innocent for the comfort of others – even our own comfort.
That’s important background info as we come to Paul’s letter to the goodly, Godly folk in Corinth! So far he has spoken about unity in Christ and the folly of the cross – this crucified God who suffers with us. Now he’s gone on to say that the only ones who really understand this are the ones that have received a special, spiritual revelation and who have the mind of Christ.
To us who are used to it and comforted by it, this probably sounds pretty normal and, well…comforting. To those who are not, or who have experienced manipulation and abuse by those claiming to have “spiritual understanding,” this sounds pretty darn culty.
The thing is, we used to think of the idea of spiritual manipulation and cult-like behavior as a minority in Western Christianity, but I’m not so sure that’s the case these days. Whether that is true or not, it is clear that the generational shift has finally caught up with us, and there are plenty who are raised outside of the church looking in.
That matters, because those who see the light that we broadcast and taste the saltiness that we offer are watching to see if the church is truly a force for good in the world.
Now, as I said before, the good news of Jesus Christ is that we are all in this together. The only shoulders that can bear the weight of every problem are the shoulders of Jesus, and he is the one who embraces us all and forms us to be his body, which is broken for the world again and again and again.
As the Body of Christ, we must – as Paul said – discern things spiritually. That means that we do not merely think about things rationally. It means that we compare our experiences of God with one another – spirit to spirit. It means that we let that which is divine in us discern together what God might be doing in and through us.
That may sound complicated, but we sang this song about it last summer at Montreat…
The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you! It’s so easy, so easy, so easy to love!
[Lead them through it a few times.]
Amen! Amen! Amen!
You see, this discernment work that Paul is talking about is really the work we do inside the church. It’s the housekeeping for our souls. It’s the maintenance of the building. It’s the creation of the architecture of relationships for those times when it is hard to love; for those times when the headlines seem to make us reach for faith as a lifeline; for those times we wonder if we are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic instead of building the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Discernment, at its core, is essentially a way of understanding the world around us in light of faith. It’s not a “one and done” kind of thing. It is, in fact, an ongoing aspect of a life of faith. Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” and I would say that a life of faith without discernment is about as good as a flashlight without a battery.
The good news about Jesus is that not only is he the battery to our light of faith, but through him, each of us may be one to one another as well. Can we get into trouble by claiming to have the “mind of Christ” or assuming that we have had all the secrets of God’s spirit revealed to us through God’s spirit? Yes. Yes, we can – especially if we try to do it on our own.
Can we still discern what is of God and what is not; what is close to God’s heart and what is not? Absolutely – especially if we do it together! In truth, we pretty much already know what God desires, and (while our salvation does not rest in pleasing God) there is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by the end of things like poverty, the sin of racism, and the destruction of God’s good creation. How do we do all of that? We do it together, because we are salt and light and because the Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you, and in them, and in those that would attempt to divide and conquer what Jesus has already won on the cross…at least I pray it may be so for you, and for me and for all of creation, and all to the glory of God. Amen!
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