February 8, 2009

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39

The Way of Life in God’s Kingdom 

            In Jesus first day of ministry, Mark gives us a typical day in the life of Jesus to bring the Kingdom of God into the lives of those he touches. Jesus enters a synagogue, teaches with authority like no other; and when confronted by the world of unclean spirits, he uses his authority to banish an unclean spirit from a possessed man. His fame spreads. Immediately then he goes to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law who is sick with a fever and lifts her up to wholeness. And you know what happened next? The whole town gathered at the door, with many wanting healing and wholeness; and he ministered to them for the rest of the day. But Jesus did not give in to the hero worship of the crowds who wanted him to remain in their midst; he moved on to other towns to teach the good news and touch the lives of others with God’s healing grace. But how much can just one person do? 

It soon became critical to the growth of God’s kingdom for Jesus to multiply himself through the ministry and work of his disciples. We read later in the gospels where Jesus instructed his disciples to go out two by two to teach and preach and to be housed and fed by those to whom they ministered. And this was the accepted practice of the church leaders in the first centuries of the new church.  

But the Apostle Paul did not follow this normative pattern and made a lot of people angry. He would not take money from the churches he established, deciding that it would be better to earn his own living as a tent maker. And in our reading from Corinthians he is defending himself, stating that he is not going to claim his rights for remuneration nor for a wife and do it his way by teaching and preaching the gospel free of charge.  And he will reach the Jews by obeying Jewish customs and law in his work and relationships with them (even though he does not have to). To the weak, which here are the Jews still needing to be good Jews, Paul will be weak, also.  And he will reach the Gentiles by being free from the Law of Moses and living only under Christ’s commandments of loving God and his neighbor as Jesus loves him. The law of Christ demands more than the Law of Moses, he says, because it demands love. “I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some.” Now is the time to play Frank Sinatra’s famous song, “I did it my way”.  

The actual compassion ministry of Jesus combined with this “being weak to the weak” statement of Paul’s are a side of the gospel that we don’t dwell on much. The church usually does the opposite. Throughout much of the church’s history it has utilized power, judgment, and condemnation to bring the gospel to others. In the middle ages, priests forced Jews to listen to Christian sermons in their own synagogues.  The Crusades used bloody force to bring Christianity back to its birthplace. Missionaries forced western customs on people to whom they brought the oftentimes bad news of the gospel. And today we still demand the weak to become strong and like us if they are to be accepted in the church.  

Jesus says, “I have come not for the self-righteous and strong, but for the sinner, the lame, the hungry, the marginalized, and the weak.”  He knew there was little fertile ground for the gospel with those who wielded power from self-righteousness. How are we to bring the good news of God to those who need to hear it today? Certainly not by using power of coercion and the power of intimidation and lording it over others who do not live up to our standards - hopefully not. We, who have been healed by our Lord’s mercy and know ourselves to be brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ by God’s saving grace, must simply respond as Peter’s mother in law did and serve others in Christ’s name. For others of us we must also teach and witness in word and deed to God’s saving grace.  

May I make a few practical suggestions for us to put this into practice?  

1) What and who you really love affects how you live. Who do you love? What do you love? Think about it. What you read, what you do when you get up in the morning, what you value, what hurts you deeply, what drives you, and what gives you joy is the living of your life. There is so – so much that enslaves and destroys us. Fall in love with God. Go off in solitude as Jesus did and spend time in prayer. Read the words of our Lord Jesus and read them again. Let God into your life so that he can love and transform you into one of his children.  

2) Take God out of our little religious box that is in our control, and let his love through us infect the world in which we live and move. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”  Telling others of this is evangelism. Evangelism is touching others with God’s love and drawing them into a relationship with God, the source of our love. This produces fruits of the spirit that our world so desperately needs – joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Love that we intentionally choose and give is our real power  

3) The love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord has nothing to do with  denouncing people who do not live up to our moral standards, and God surely is not interested in saving the free world – as we define it. This is just our stuff. God’s love, mercy and forgiveness are universal and are what the gospel is all about. Let’s keep it simple, and let’s not muck it up with all our cultural and prejudicial stuff.  

4) Just because our church doors are open for a few hours on Sunday mornings does not mean that people will come hear the good news of the gospel. We have to spread the good news around of our understanding of God’s grace in words and deeds in our everyday lives.  Let’s not get hung up on our inside, mysterious, religious words of justification, sanctification, eschatology, Christology, or whatever that no outsider can ever understand. Let’s talk about God’s way for his children. Jesus did not come to found a new religion. He came to tell and show us the love of God, his Father. He simply asks us to follow him and do it his way. 

5) We know our mission. It is “to know Christ and to make him known.” We have a vision to implement it. We know at our church that there is room here for great diversity for people on the way – seekers and believers. We will share the good news of the gospel and not bad news. We have made that decision. We will build up one another and not tear each other down. Sometimes that is hard work for church people. We will bear one another’s burdens, and we will let God use us to touch others with his compassion. Our day and time is much different than the Apostle Paul’s, but we do have the same mission. Let us stand and affirm together our vision of God’s mission here at FPC Huntsville to which we have committed.  

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