Do This in Rememberance of Me

February 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I’m sure most of us are aware of the famous statements that were recorded during the landing of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module on July 20, 1969.  We’ve no doubt heard the first intentional declaration to mission control: “Houston…The Eagle has landed.”  Equally famous was Neil Armstrong’s declaration: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

But in a lesser known incident Buzz Aldrin took a moment to reflect on the magnitude of the event saying, “I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.”

Then you know what Aldrin did?  He took communion.  As an elder in the Presbyterian Church, Aldrin brought along a communion kit provided to him by the pastor of his congregation.  Since NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by Madlyn Murray O’Hare over the public reading of Genesis on the Apollo 8 mission, Aldrin preferred to keep this ceremony to himself.  He hadn’t even told his wife that he had taken a communion kit with him.  Only years later did Aldrin tell anyone about his personal act of worship.

There are several things to be noted regarding this incident.  I’ll comment on just one, because I think it fits today’s message.  Aldrin took communion out of the church.  And I think that what he was trying to say is that communion with and celebration of the goodness of our God has a place outside of Sunday.  It belongs to the entirety of our lives.  Communion can be a 24/7 kind of thing.

I wish I were at NCOC to hear Bob Kiser’s message.  Instead, I’m travelling back from Gatlinburg with the teens.  Please say a prayer for our safe travel.  We hope to be in later tonight.

This morning, Bob will be talking with you about our celebration of communion.  If I understand him right, he’s going to be suggesting that we have made communion to small a thing and that “Do this in remembrance of me” is bigger than most of us imagine.  I agree.  I hope you have a big communion with our Great God this morning.

I look forward to seeing you next week.

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Called Out

February 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)

This morning I just want to share with you another wonderful quote from the writings of NT Wright.  It’s from his book For All God’s Worth (Eerdmans, 1997):

What is the most beautiful thing you have experienced this week?

Maybe something you heard. Maybe some beautiful music-perhaps in church, or in the cathedral. Maybe something in the world of nature: the sun breaking through the mist and making the autumn leaves luminous, the curl of a squirrel’s tail as he sat nibbling a nut. It might be something you smelt: the scent of a rose perhaps, or the smell of a good meal cooking when you were very hungry. It might be something you tasted: an exquisite wine, a special cheese, with that same meal well seasoned and well cooked.

Maybe something you experienced in work: things suddenly coming together, an unexpected new opportunity. It might be something you experienced in human relationships: a quiet, gentle glance from someone you love dearly; the soft squeeze of a child’s hand. …

I want to suggest to you…that our ordinary experiences of beauty are given to us to provide a clue, a starting-point, a signpost, from which we move on to recognize, to glimpse, to be overwhelmed by, to adore, and so to worship, not just the majesty, but the beauty of God himself.

Whenever you’re talking about a “calling,” it’s easy to get distracted.  Our particular denomination doesn’t talk about getting “a call” very much.  Perhaps it’s a reaction to the way other denominations have used the term.

I think people mostly understand a call to be to a specific role.  And there are certainly examples of that in scripture.  But there’s a much more basic kind of call, not to fulfill a certain duty, but to be in a certain relationship.

The first call that is offered to all of God’s people is to be in relationship with the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.  It’s not about being a preacher, or a teacher, or a lawyer or a doctor.  It’s about being invited to be a follower of Jesus.  That is the first and most important call that is issued to us every day.

In fact, the call is going out today.  God is calling you this very morning to renew, strengthen and rest in your relationship with him.  Have you been able to hear it yet?  If you haven’t, my prayer is that you will at some point today.

Posted by Robert | Filed Under Amen Corner, Articles 

Knowing vs Knowing

February 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment

According to a recent article from USA Today, you can tell a lot about a person by finding out what their basic view of God is.[*] Researchers from Baylor University surveyed more than 1700 Americans, asking questions about what they imagine God is like.  They reported that the respondents had four basic views of God:

  • The Authoritarian God is heavily involved in every aspect of people’s lives.  This God is angered at human failings and will punish those who do wrong, both in this life and the next.
  • The Benevolent God is also interested in human events, and “still sets absolute standards” of right and wrong.  But, unlike the Authoritarian God, the Benevolent God is “primarily a forgiving God, more like the father who embraces his repentant prodigal son in the Bible.”
  • The Critical God looks on with a critical eye, but does little to intervene. Proponents of this view are “less inclined to go to church or…see God as active in the world.”
  • The Distant God is not so much a being as a “cosmic force” that is the agent of creation.  Now, though, this God is virtually uninvolved in the affairs of the world.

The researchers go on to note that each view of God is likely to influence a person’s political and social attitudes in addition to their religious beliefs.  They did, however, acknowledge that there is a great deal of overlap to be found among people.  Not everyone fits neatly into one group or the other.  I’m glad they offered that last disclaimer.  I have had some experience of God that resembles all of the above profiles.  Some more than others.

So what do we do with these statistics?  I’m sure there are a lot of interpretations to be made.  I’m reminded of Jesus’ statements that “As you seek, so shall you find.”  Which is another way of saying, “You usually find what you’re looking for.”  Before we can claim to understand God we must seek to know Him.

Peter says the same thing in our theme verse for today: 3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us…” (2 Peter 1:3, emphasis mine).  How well do you know God?  What does it mean to know God?  That’s what we’ll be talking about today.

[*] Cathy Lynn Grossman, “View of God can predict values, politics,” USA Today, September 12, 2006 (www.usatoday.com).

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Life and Godliness

February 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Do you think you could devote a year to living like Jesus?  I know, in theory all of us who are Christians are supposed to be living like Jesus.  But I mean radically living like Jesus-trying to live exactly as Jesus would live.

That’s how Ed Dobson spent 2008.  For an entire year this former megachurch pastor and founder of the religious right, who is now the vice president of spiritual formation for a Christian university in Michigan, tried his best to live like Jesus in every way.

It all started when Dobson read The Year of Living Biblically, a memoir by a man who purported to have no religious faith whatsoever but just wanted to see if he could follow all of the rules set out in the Bible.  Dobson thought that if someone with no faith could do it, then a person who claims to be a follower of Christ should be able to, as well.

Most media attention seems to the outward changes he made.  He stopped trimming his beard.  He ate only kosher foods.  (Dobson said that one of the things he was looking forward to the most in 2009 was ordering a chicken and cheese burrito.)  Once a strict teetotaler, he began to drink alcohol in moderation, especially if it gave him an opportunity to speak to people about Jesus.  He kept the Sabbath, only breaking it to attend his grandchildren’s soccer games.

But Dobson says that none of those things were the hardest.  “The hard part is trying to live up to his teachings,” Dobson said. “I’ve realized how far I fall short.”  He reread the four Gospels every week (!).  Throughout the day he prayed, “Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner[*].”  He gave to the poor and visited those in prison.  Not because any of those things are easy, but they are things that Dobson saw Jesus do.

Oh by the way, he also has ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  This year of living like Jesus was one of the ways that he chose to respond to his illness.  He says that it put everything into perspective.  “I’m getting up every day not worried about what doesn’t work; I’m getting up concerned about how do I live out this Jesus stuff.”

We stand to learn a lot from Dr. Dobson.  I think he could teach us a lot about how God’s Divine Power has given us everything we need.  Maybe not everything we want, but everything we need.  I’ll say more about it in my message.

[*] Charles Honey, “Could You Live Like Jesus for a Year?”  http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-01-jesus-year_N.htm

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