Sunday's Coming--The Ascension

As Christians we talk alot about the death of Jesus and we talk alot about the resurrection of Jesus.  And so we should!  The cross and the empty tomb are indespensable elements in the truth of the gospel.  But what we don't talk about much is what the risen Lord is doing now.  

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are in the past; what's Jesus up to today?

A whole lot--if we understand the witness of the church.  Jesus is alive and active.  He is Healer, Priest, Prophet, Savior, Counselor, Friend, and more!

And the event that the early church used to signify the ongong ministry of the Risen Jesus was the Ascension.  Jesus has ascended and taken on a role that places him at God's right hand.   Jesus' ministry has such power because he is intimately connected to the Father.  Because of his ascended role, according to Justo Gonzalez, "we have been given admission to the very heart of the Trinity!"

So maybe it's time to get the whole story together--crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension!  Because Jesus didn't just die for our sins and receive a resurrection body for nothing.  Jesus is working to usher in redemption and a new day.  And it the chapters of his story on crucifixion, and resurrection are powerful, just wait until we see the completion of what he is doing as the ascended, victorious Lord.

Hear the words of Andrew Purves:

“As the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus does not now sit in heaven with his arms folded waiting for us to do something religious that he can affirm (an image from Karl Barth).  Jesus is not our cheerleader from the heavens hoping we will get faith and ministry right.  Neither does Jesus want to get more involved in our ministries.  Why would he?  Our ministries are not redemptive.  We don’t raise the dead, forgive the sinful, heal the sick or bring in the reign of God.  Rather, Jesus has his own resurrected ministry to do—raising the dead, forgiving the sinful, healing the sick, bringing in God’s reign (note the present tense!)—and he wants us in on it.”

Do you hear the challenge of Ascension?

New Series at Northlake!

A Defense for Doctrinal Preaching

“A faith which does not find its justification outside itself remains imprisoned in its own ego and cannot be sustained.”  --Wolfhart Pannenberg

As a minister I am often asked for advice about some aspect of living.  “How can I improve my marriage?” “What scriptures should I read to deal my problems with anger or addiction?”  “Do you have a good book on prayer?”  Such questions I gladly receive and I do try to be helpful.

There are also times when people ask me to preach on related themes, themes that exude practicality and address the current political or cultural conditions.  And I am sympathetic to such requests.  I believe that Scripture has a word to say to ordinary living and working.

And so, it may seem strange to many of you that I announce a series of sermons that have no seeming pragmatic, life-application purpose to them.  Just to get it out in the open, I propose to take the next eight weeks and preach from texts that simply declare core convictions or beliefs of the Christian faith.

Doctrinal preaching—there I said it.

Some of you may be already thinking that February would be a great time to spend the weekends at your in-laws in North Carolina—except that you would have to spend the weekend with your in-laws!

But here is the catch.  And I want you to know that I believe what I am about to say with all my heart.  I believe that these “doctrinal messages” are the most vital, life-giving, and practical messages that I could offer to those who have ears connected to hearts.

Are you still with me?

Doctrinal preaching is exciting and quite down to earth if we remember two things.  First, the most important thing in life is not a thing—it’s relationships.  And living the Christian life is, at its core, living in a vibrant relationship with God and others.  This one is relatively easy for most of us to agree with.  Sure, we understand that the Christian faith is about relationships.  In fact, that is why we often resist the thought of studying something as stodgy and dull as doctrine!

However, if we wish to have a real, authentic relationship with God and with other humans, then we will have to do more than just work on our manners (and this is the second thing to remember!) We are going to have to look at the very core of the person we wish to be close to.  And to be close to God, to really know and love and relate to the Eternal One means that we will have to get to know Him better!

So if we are really serious about a relationship with the One who Creates, Renews, and Sustains, then we might find it helpful to delve into Scripture and reflection on Scripture that helps us understand and follow God.

So for a few weeks in our Sunday assemblies we will look at some of the most central ideas and claims of the Christian faith—in order to know God better.  We may explore things you already know, but I expect that even as you continue to learn more about a favorite uncle or aunt, you will find out more about God that will cause you to smile or even be amazed!

By delving into the heart of the faith, we will also become better acquainted with God’s Story.  And the better we know the story, the better we will come to know the One who breathes that story over us ever day.  So join us as we explore what makes living and knowing and loving God worth doing—worth living and sharing with others!

God's Passionate Love

Working on the Sunday's sermon and thinking about the trinity . . . .  All week I have been musing about the first line of John Donne's Sonnet 14.  It doesn't really fit with the Sunday's sermon, but perhaps it is still worth meditating on!

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. 

JB and Christmas

John 1:19-28 and 6-8.

Probably the most obvious thing I could say is that Christmas is only two weeks away!  Christmas parties with friends and co-workers, holiday music on the radio, commercials on nearly all programming—it’s everywhere!

But what is not so obvious is what the spotlight should be on.  There are lots of candidates:

• The joyful smiles of little children enjoying the magic of colored blinking lights on a decorated tree
• The smell of evergreen in Christmas wreathes
• The pleasures of egg nog, pecan pie, chocolate fudge, rice krispy treats, and a ginormous country ham!
• Perhaps a few days off from work, travel to see family or friends, or maybe a trip to warmer climes!

However, for not a few of us, there are other memories:

• The loss of a family member
• Loneliness of an empty table or bed
• The absence of family and friends who are estranged
• Loved ones living and working in far away places

And so our memories and our emotions and all too often, our wallets and our leisure time, can get caught up in the frenzy and the craziness of this special and yet, frantic season.  Is there a word in the stories of John the Baptist (JB, I call him!) from gospel of John for us?

It has always struck me odd that JB figures so prominently in the texts leading up the Jesus birth.  First, there is the chronology of it all.  JB is only a few months older than Jesus.  Both men are in their 30’s.  We have long passed up cute baby stories.

Second, the stories of Jesus birth are so serene and pastoral.  Mary and Joseph huddled in a barn with the sweet smell of hay on a cold winter’s night.  While the stories of JB are in the blinding heat of the Judean desert at it meets the muddy banks of the Jordan.  It is quite a contrast.

What gives here?  When it came time to teach the story of Jesus, why did the church rearrange all of this and start with JB and then get to the Christmas stories?

Strange.

Is there something about JB’s resolute relinquishment of his own identity and agenda that speaks powerfully to our quest for a healthy focus at this time of the year? 

We will find out Sunday!

Sunday's Coming--The Climax of Mark

Sunday we arrive at the climax of Mark’s drama.  Like a good storyteller, Mark has foreshadowed his theme all along.  He announced it at the very beginning—“the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  And every so often, he keeps disclosing Jesus’ identity.  However, even knowing the theme of the story we have been surprised and amazed at the twists and turns along the way.  No king ever took such a circuitous course to the throne!

Our surprise is that the revolution that Jesus brings is one that uproots hearts not governmental practices.  The twists in the people’s expectation is that Jesus does not press to expel haughty Rome; he presses to expel haughty religious claims.  The turn Jesus demands is repentance not to arms.  And so we have been stunned at the depth of Jesus’ devotion to God and to human beings.

And in following this story,  our guts tighten as we begin to fear that Jesus’ words and Jesus’ deeds are going to get him killed.  So the one thing that is no surprise is what happens in the dead of night in an olive grove on the lower reaches of the Mount of Olives.

Jesus is betrayed and taken into custody.  Will Jesus’ secretive mission to usher in God’s rule into the world languish at the hands of those have the most to lose in this clash of worldviews?  How will the unlikely king establish his rule now?

Jesus is enthroned--but it won't look anything like Westminster Cathedral.  And the most unlikely testimony to the coronation will be offered in "The Military Report."  See you Sunday!