witness

Feb

2022

Why church?

I initially sketched out the thoughts of this post as a conversation starter for a church committee. I’ve reworked the thoughts for sharing here. Feel free to join the conversation here via comments, or to share with others if you find the thoughts useful.

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Why church?

Our mutual need for spiritual encouragement

Attendance at church services was dropping year by year before COVID happened. Getting people back into church settings after pandemic lockdowns added further challenges. When anyone can access anything they want online, including spiritual videos and writings, who needs church?

We do need church … although not necessarily in the sense of buildings we meet in. Martin Luther reminded us that a building “should not be called a church except for the single reason that the group of people assembles there.” Those who gather give the house of worship the name “church” by virtue of their assembly (Large Catechism: Apostles Creed). We gather in order to connect with each other and with the Lord, to keep “encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:25). The first Christians (in the first century) didn’t have church buildings to meet in. They gathered in each other’s homes. They met wherever they could meet, knowing that holding onto hope and living in love wasn’t easy (cf. Hebrews 10:23-24). Like those first century believers, we still need community with each other and communion with God. As another writer on this blog has attested: “The benefit of having a close community with your church is immeasurable–a family of believers who all look out for one another in love, support each other in faith, and build each other up” (The Electric Gospel, 6/13/2014).

Image credit: Liturgy.co.nz

As Christians, we want to share the life and fellowship that we have with others. We invite others to join us in church–to be included in our prayers, in our songs, in listening to words from God together with us. At the same time, we seek to extend Christ’s message outside the church walls too, in every form of outreach available to us. Technology has been a blessing, allowing us to connect with persons near and far through blogs, emails, videoconferencing and live streaming. Where the ancient church used letters (“epistles”), disseminated from congregation to congregation, we rely on the information technologies of our time to stay in touch. If you’re reading this as someone outside the church, and you’re not yet comfortable stepping inside a church, by all means explore, browse, stream, investigate from where you are. Look for ministries that convey Christ’s love and welcome for all people. Listen for the warmth of Christ that says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I pray you will find a gospel-focused ministry in your area that could become a church home for you.

I’ve known plenty of people who have been uneasy about churches and ministries, as they had been deeply hurt by religious institutions and individuals. There are now institutes and studies examining religious trauma, which usually stems from struggles within an authoritarian religion or religious group, and then persons begin to “question the true extent of what they’ve been taught to believe” (Apricity Behavioral Health, 2020). There are podcasts, such as Cafeteria Christian, for listeners who want a connection to Jesus but have been disillusioned by the actions of many professed Christians. It’s understandable for non-churchgoers to be skeptical of the church. It’s imperative for those of us who are churchgoers to show our neighbors that they truly are welcome in our community. The church is to be a place for mutual spiritual uplifting, a place where Jesus guides how we treat one another: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). When someone is in need of encouragement and seeks spiritual guidance (whether by attendance at church or accessing ministries online), we want them to know they have a friend in Jesus–and in us.

Let people come together–inside the church and through the extended outreach of the church–in ways that provide mutual spiritual encouragement in the spirit of the Savior.

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Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, thy love unknown
has broken ev’ry barrier down;
now to be thine, yea, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

– “Just As I Am,” Charlotte Elliott (1835)

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Feb

2022

Keep fishing

for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany
David Sellnow

Christ calls us to reach out to others, even when it seems an impossible task

If you are a church member, you recently became part of a minority in America. For the first time, the percentage of Americans who belong to a church or synagogue or mosque fell below 50%. When Gallup did its first poll about church membership in 1937, 73% of Americans said they belonged to a church. That number remained consistently around 70% up to 1999. Since then, the numbers have dropped precipitously, down to 60% by 2010, down to 47% as of 2020. (1) Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 2000 to 13% in 2010 to 21% by 2020. In the United States overall, persons who attend church regularly represent 24% of the population, compared to 29% who never attend religious services at all. (2)

In broader terms, you’re not a minority yet, but your majority status is shrinking. Apart from church membership or attendance, how do people see themselves? Fifteen years ago, for every person in this country saying they were non-religious, there were five persons who professed to be Christians. Today, for each non-religious person, there are maybe two Christians as their neighbors in the community. (3)

Jacopo Bassano, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, National Gallery of Art, via Wikimedia Commons

I hope such news doesn’t make you uncomfortable. I hope, rather, that it makes you feel like going fishing. I don’t mean giving up on your religious life and spending all your time at the lake. Quite the opposite—I mean that we devote ourselves to living the faith in the way Jesus called us to be “fishers” of men and women. We learn something about our calling from way Jesus called his first disciples–fishermen by trade–to come follow him (cf. Luke 5:1-11). After a long night out on the lake, catching nothing, Jesus told Simon Peter and his colleagues to go out again and let down their nets–in deep water and in broad daylight. This was not how Galilean fishermen approached their work. They used trammel nets near the surface. In deep water, the fish would typically not be within their reach. (4) Also, until the introduction of transparent nylon nets in the 20th century, “trammel net fishing was done only at night. In the daytime, the fish could see the nets and avoid them.” (5)

So, when the fishing partners caught so many fish that their nets began to break (Luke 5:6), with loads of fish so heavy they barely could keep their boats afloat, this clearly was a miracle of Jesus’ doing. It also was an object lesson in what “fishing” is like for us in a spiritual sense. Fishing isn’t easy. It takes great patience and persistence. Sometimes you can fish and fish and fish and catch nothing. Sometimes the fish just aren’t biting, no matter what lure or bait or method you’re using. Bringing others into the family of Jesus is like that. You can do outreach effort after outreach effort, and nobody seems to respond. You try every traditional method you know to do ministry and evangelism, but people from the community aren’t interested. On that day at Lake Gennesaret, it took a miracle by Jesus to bring fish into the nets of Peter and the other fishermen. On any day that we seek to bring a person’s soul into the arms of our Savior, it takes a miracle of God’s Spirit to make that change happen. After all, “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Perhaps many decades of cultural dominance by Christianity in America have made us think ministry should be easy. Historically and globally, that has not been the usual situation for witnesses of the gospel. In the present day, the world watch list details the fifty countries around the world where being a Christian is the most difficult and dangerous. Relatively speaking, here in the United States, while things are changing for us, we still have a much easier path for faith and ministry. Back in the first years of the Christian mission, times were enormously challenging. Persecution and opposition were common. For the most part, the apostles died as martyrs for the faith. (6) The early Christians had no church buildings or public presence. They met together in each other’s homes. They met wherever they could meet, sometimes in secret. They encouraged each other, but they were going against the flow of the society around them.

It was during those same years, though, that the Christian faith grew exponentially. One prominent sociologist has estimated that during the 300 years following Jesus’ death and resurrection, the number of Christians increased by about 40% per decade–continuing at that rate decade after decade until the Christian church came to be dominant in the Mediterranean world. (7) What enabled the early Christians to have such a steady, growing influence on the people around them, so that people wanted to know more about them and more and more people began to join with them?

One thing those early Christians had was a powerful story that they shared, “a better story than their neighbors. … Christians told their neighbors a story about a big God who was deeply good and who loved human beings … who out of love for humanity, stepped down into humanity to lift human beings up to himself.” (8) That story transforms the way we live our lives. Let me share an example. Some years ago, there was a woman in my congregation in Texas, just a regular person, someone like you. At her workplace, there was another woman, a single mom, who was struggling to get through the day most days. The women frequently took breaks and lunchtime together and talked about life. One day, the younger woman said to her older friend, “How do you do it? You seem to have such a sense of calm about you. Somehow you always are pleasant, even when I keep dumping my problems on you because I’m so tired and stressed and frustrated. What’s your secret? Where do you get your strength?”

Image via depositphotos.com

“Oh, dear,” her friend replied, “I don’t feel like I’m all that well put together. I have plenty of days when I’m frazzled and at my wits end. But the thing that gets me through is faith. I just keep hanging onto Jesus, because I know that when I am weak, he is strong. I go to church to get strengthened, because I need the comfort and forgiveness and encouragement I get there.”

The two hadn’t talked about faith before, but they began to talk about faith and the gospel quite a bit from that day on. That’s how relationships of faith begin. You have the same strength of faith at work in your hearts and lives, the power that God “put to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19,20). Our lives have been resurrected with Christ–already now in the hope that we have, and knowing that through the resurrection that is to come, “we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17,18). So we encourage one another with these words, and we can encourage our friends and neighbors too.

When the early church was constantly growing and influencing people, “people were drawn into Christianity because of an experience of the resurrected Jesus.” (9) The knowledge and confidence and joy of the resurrection radiated in people’s lives. Remember why it was that Christians chose Sunday as their day for gathering to commune together. If anyone ever asks you, “Why do you go to church on Sundays?” you have a powerful answer. Every Sunday is a reminder that Jesus came back from the dead, alive again. That miraculous truth is the center of our hope as Christians. We “know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). That truth is of primary importance, for if Christ did not rise from death, our faith would be futile and meaningless (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:17). “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. … God gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 57). So, as believers of that truth, we can be “steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord,” because we know that in the Lord our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

You may feel like laboring for the Lord is too much for you, like the call to be an evangelist is too hard a thing to do. You’re in good company if you feel that way. Every faithful servant called to go and speak for God has had similar misgivings. Moses said, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent … I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10). When Isaiah was called, he said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:6). When Jesus filled Peter’s nets, preparing to send him as someone who would fish for people, Peter said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). When Paul was called by Jesus, he was stunned and for three days didn’t eat or drink anything (Acts 9:9). So if you don’t feel up to the task, that’s understandable. But remember what God showed Isaiah. His mercy had touched Isaiah’s lips. All Isaiah’s guilt was gone, all sins and shortcomings forgiven (Isaiah 6:7). Paul felt that he was unfit to be called an apostle, because he previously had persecuted the church of God. “But by the grace of God I am what I am,” Paul said. He realized that God’s grace toward him was given to him for a reason (1 Corinthians 15:9,10). God’s grace has been given to you for a reason too. Each of you has a story to tell. You have a message to share.

Maybe, though, you feel like your opportunities to reach out are limited. Around the region where I live, there are many rural churches facing declining numbers in both congregation and in community. When we think of our congregations in rural America, the weaknesses and challenges tend to be the only things we see. But one ministry advisor has focused on a key strength of small congregations in small communities. ““People in rural churches share common experiences,” he said. “That’s certainly a strength of these churches. [They understand that] people are more important than programs. … Relationships are key. Everything in a small church, a rural church, revolves around relationships.” (10) I might add that relationships are key for all Christian congregations, in urban and suburban settings too.

Perhaps in the past we’ve had the mindset about our churches that if we have a building, they will come. If we have church services, they will come. If we have programs and activities, they will come. But that’s not generally true. The mission of the church is not to figure out what strategies to use to get people to come. Rather, our mission is to see what opportunities exist for us to go into all the world and speak the good news to every person (Mark 16:15). That doesn’t mean buttonholing everyone you meet and saying, “Are you saved? If you were to die tonight, where would you be?” Conversations don’t start that way. Relationships built on trust don’t start that way. The strength of your witness for Jesus is in how you relate to others, human person to human person–like the story I shared about the woman and her work friend in Texas. It’s about how you extend hope and healing and heartfelt caring to people in daily life. The first followers of Jesus “initiated the largest movement in the history of the world, and they did it without an invite card.” (11) They didn’t even have church buildings to invite people to. You can share the faith simply by a willingness to live in faith and talk about your faith.

So, keep fishing. Keep putting your nets out in the water in the community around you. Drop a line to someone you know who needs good news. Christ calls us to reach out to others, even when it seems an impossible task. Jesus also promises to work miracles of his Spirit as we do what he calls us to do, just as he demonstrated that he could bring all sorts of fish into the boats that day on the Sea of Galilee. Keep fishing, my friends … knowing that when Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations, in the very next breath he said, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He is with you, and you will be his witnesses (Acts 1:8).

(1) Jeffrey Jones, “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time,” Gallup, March 29, 2021.

(2) Church Attendance of Americans 2020,” Statista, January 15, 2021.

(3) Gregory A. Smith, “About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated,” Pew Research Center, December 14, 2021.

(4) Cf. “Fishers of Fish,” by Gary M. Burge, Christian History Institute.

(5) David Bivin, “Miracle on the Sea of Galilee,” En Gedi Resource Center, June 14, 2019.

(6) Cf. Ken Curtis, PhD., “Whatever Happened to the Twelve Apostles,” Christianity.com, April 28, 2010.

(7) Cf. The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History, by Rodney Stark, PhD, Princeton University Press, 1996. Review available in the American Journal of Sociology, January 1997.

(8) Cabe Matthews, “Evangelism in the Early Church and Today,” Firebrand, October 21, 2021.

(9) Cabe Matthews, “Evangelism in the Early Church and Today,” Firebrand, October 21, 2021.

(10) Dennis Bickers, quoted in “Rural Churches Struggle as Resources Flow to Urban Churches,” by Brian Kaylor, Center for Congregational Health, HealthyChurch.org.

(11) Preston Ulmer, “Stop Inviting People to Church,” Relevant, August 5, 2021.

Oct

2021

Faith of our fathers

Reformation Day remembrance

October 31, 2021

Doing some closet cleaning, I rediscovered a box of my father’s sermon manuscripts. Donald C. Sellnow (1928-1999) served in ordained ministry from 1954 to 1998. When I think of my parents’ faith, I can’t help humming in my head the hymn, “Faith of our Fathers.” Frederick W. Faber, who wrote “Faith of our Fathers” in 1849, was a Roman Catholic priest in England. His lyrics were penned to honor Catholic martyrs who endured persecution in the 16th century, when the Church of England was being established under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Faith of our fathers! Living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword:
Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’er we hear that glorious word.
Faith of our fathers! Holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

My father and mother, who were rigorous Lutherans all their lives, might object to having a Roman Catholic song in mind while remembering them. But Protestants have adopted the hymn, too, and adapted it. Faber himself had a fondness for hymns by English Protestant writers such as Charles Wesley, John Newton, and William Cowper, and he applauded the Protestant project that produced the King James Version of the Bible. When we recall the faith of those who went before us, we understand that all men and women of faith have had strengths and weaknesses. We honor their godly beliefs and consider their foibles with a forgiving spirit—the same way we hope others will regard us in our own practice of faith. Constantly seeking truth is vital. Striving to impose one’s own view of religious rectitude onto others by force is never a gospel-oriented goal.

An esteemed faith father worthy of remembrance is Martin Luther. Like other heroes of faith, Luther had his flaws. We don’t idolize him. We do give attention to the best of his hopes and thoughts and actions. October 31st commemorates the day in 1517 that Luther posted 95 theses expressing convictions about faith. These statements for debate sought to start a dialogue about what truth in Christianity means. They sparked a movement that became known as the Reformation.

I’ll share here a condensed version of a sermon my father preached in October 1973, in observance of Reformation Festival.

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We Cannot Help but Speak the Things which We have Seen and Heard

by Donald C. Sellnow

What do you associate with October 31st? For many people, October 31st is Halloween, the night for tomfoolery, tricks or treats, and other such activities. Certainly, some of these things associated with October 31st are not objectionable. They may even be good, clean fun. But they are not the main thing about October 31st, which is also Reformation Day, the day on which Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg, touching off the great Reformation of the Christian church. By God’s grace, we continue to enjoy the fruits of the Reformation today. As heirs of the Reformation, we pray the Holy Spirit may lead us to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the blessings and responsibilities we have as people of faith. On the anniversary of the Reformation, we are reminded that we cannot help but speak about the things which we have seen and heard.

Such an attitude of faith was expressed by the apostles Peter and John. They had been jailed for proclaiming Jesus as the crucified and risen Savior in the temple courts at Jerusalem. On the next day, they were told by community leaders to shut up about this Jesus of Nazareth, or else. The leaders thought themselves the guardians of their culture; they knew that any concession to the apostles’ testimony would mean an overthrow of their entire religious system. They knew it would mean reformation, and the last thing they wanted was a reformation.

Peter and John answered the threats aimed at them with this courageous testimony: “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19,20). By the power of the Spirit, they had been led to trust in Jesus as their only Savior from sin and death. In his gospel they had found peace for their souls and strength for their lives. They had seen Jesus’ miracles and heard his teaching. They had looked and listened as Jesus lived and suffered and died, then rose from death and ascended to heaven. Through what they had seen and heard, the Spirit of God worked faith in their hearts to place all their trust in Jesus, to cling to him as their priceless treasure. And in such God-given faith, they were compelled from within to share Christ and his good news with others. They knew that is what their Savior wanted, and what he willed became their will and desire. They simply could not keep still. They could not deny the Savior who had redeemed them. They had to confess his truth and share his blessings with others—no matter what the cost. They let it be known by word and deed that they had been with Jesus.

As it was with the apostles, so it was also with Martin Luther. In pre-Reformation Europe, the vast majority of the people understood little of what the Christian faith is all about. They were steeped in superstition. Shrines displayed what claimed to be wood from the cross of Christ, bits of hay and straw from Bethlehem’s manger, wine from the wedding at Cana. These are but a few examples of supposed relics that were to be adored by the faithful. Confused doctrines, like that of purgatory, were embedded in fearful hearts. The gospel of Christ frequently was obscured by man-made rules and regulations.

Martin Luther was born into such religious conditions, and he grew up as a faithful servant of the church as it was. In his earnest searching to find certainty about salvation, he looked to the high church authorities for guidance and direction. He gave up studying to become a lawyer in order to enter a monastery, hoping there to find relief for his troubled conscience. He tried to do diligently all the works prescribed by the church. He later reflected, “I kept the rule so strictly that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his sheer monkery, it was I. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading, and other work.” But the more Luther worked, the more miserable he became and the more his sins tormented him. When one day his Augustinian mentor, John Staupitz, counseled him to love God more, Luther burst out, “I do not love God! I hate him!”

Luther found the love of the Lord he was missing through studying Scripture. Assigned to teach Bible interpretation at the University of Wittenberg, Luther was led into an intensive study of God’s Word. In God’s Word, Luther saw the pure and simple truth of the gospel, so long hidden and obfuscated, that a person is justified by faith alone in Christ without the deeds of the law. The answer to sin was to be found not in what you did to correct yourself but in what Christ has done perfectly and completely for you. The way of salvation is not in human righteousness, which falls far short of divine law’s requirements, but in the all-sufficient goodness of Christ. When Luther, by God’s grace, came to see and believe this central truth of justification by grace through faith, the Reformation was born.

Once Luther understood the truth, he could not help but speak about the things he had seen and heard in God’s Word. He could have saved himself a lot of trouble had he just pondered these things in his own heart. But he could not keep quiet. The love of Christ which had captured his heart compelled him to share the good news. As he continued to search the Scriptures and see God’s truth with increasing clarity, he kept on speaking out. When religious authorities, as well as kings and princes, told him to shut up and to retract everything he had written, Luther appealed to the Word of God as the highest authority. At a meeting of the leaders of the Holy Roman Empire in the city of Worms, Germany (1521), Luther boldly asserted: “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”

Like the apostles, Luther was impelled by the power of the gospel to confess the gospel. He needed to share the blessings he had found with others. And share these blessings he did, through preaching and teaching, through tracts and writings, through hymns and catechisms, and through his translation of the Bible into the language of his people. Like the apostles, he also proclaimed what he had seen and heard in God’s Word by the life which he led—a life of humble faith, of thankful love, of joyful service. The life of Luther, like that of the apostles, bore unmistakable testimony to the fact that he, too, had been with Jesus.

As it was with the apostles, and as it was with Luther, dear friends, may it be so also with us. As in the apostles’ day, as in Luther’s day, truth is clouded and obscured for the many in our day. Many do not honor God or give thanks to God (Romans 1:21). “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:17). By the grace of God—and by his grace alone—the gospel of Christ has been revealed to us. We have seen the truth that sets us free—free in our consciences in the present time and free to live for all eternity. When the veil of spiritual ignorance is removed, we are guided by the Spirit. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17), a freedom that invigorates us to serve God in thankful love and seek to bring the same freedom to the souls of others.

God has given us the freeing truths of his gospel not just to be heard in our own hearts, but also to share. We don’t keep the gospel’s joy to ourselves but give good news also to others, so that their joy and ours may be full. Filled with the joy of Christ, we will talk about the Savior. We will demonstrate by our words and actions that we have been with Jesus. We will support Christian education in our congregations and study the Word diligently in our own homes. We will give toward the work of missions that strive to spread hope and truth in other communities and around the world. In the same spirit as the apostles and the spirit of the Reformation, we will not be timid or silent. Indeed, “we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). God help us all to hold fast to his truth and share it richly with others, no matter what the cost. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Sep

2021

Our Life and Protection are in Christ

We are armed against evil and go forth with God’s truth

Ephesians 6:10-20

Armor of Gustav I of Sweden, circa 1540. Image from Wikipedia.org

We have in our minds an idealized picture of the knight in shining armor. “The Book of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (T.Malory, 1485), did much to create that heroic image in our collective consciousness. The Camelot-style combat uniform was elaborate. Interlocking, overlapping rings of iron were fashioned into headpieces and bodices as the first protective layer. Over this chain mail, they wore full suits of iron and steel, fired and polished to a slick finish, complete with domed helmet and faceguard, leg and arm protectors, metal gloves and boots. They carried a heavy shield to block any blows that the armor did not deflect. They also carried offensive weapons, a lance and sword, for jousting and jabbing and slashing at attackers. Overall, a suit of armor could weigh sixty pounds or more–not including javelin, sword, and shield. It required a strong man just to wear and carry it all, let alone do battle in such armor. In such armor, according to folklore, good and chivalrous knights clashed on the battlefield with those they deemed evil opponents.

Of course, we know the legends exaggerate the goodness of the good guys and the badness of the bad guys. Real battles and warfare were (and are) always more complicated. The Crusades, for instance, were not altogether driven by Christian motives, and there were many atrocities committed. Even to the extent that they were religious wars, as one commentator put it, “The medieval crusades were a largely dreadful misdirection of religious enthusiasm [on both sides] towards painful and bloody ends” (TIME, “Ideas/History,” 10/10/2019).

Warfare on this earth is rarely (if ever) a struggle of one entirely righteous group against an entirely evil adversary. In the spiritual realm, however, there is pure goodness, which is in God. And there is ultimate evil, which rages against God and all those he has claimed as his own. As God’s people, whose life and protection are secured in Christ, we are embroiled in a struggle for our souls. But in this struggle, we are given the protection we need in Christ and his peacemaking power that is our “weapon” for engaging with those around us in this world.

The apostle Paul used the picture of battle armor to portray what we need to take our stand on the side of the Lord and to go forth in the name of the Lord. It’s a picture Paul borrowed from the prophet Isaiah, who revealed Christ our Savior as the one to wear such armor first. Isaiah described the coming Messiah as one who would “put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head,” and would “come to Zion as Redeemer” (Isaiah 59:17,20). Paul used the same imagery to show why we are like knights or warriors, why we need armor and weapons. He said, ““Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11).

We need armor from God because we daily face the devil (the “slanderer”), the accuser against us. He schemes and sabotages, trying to topple us from our position with God. If our life is drawn as a battlefield, the devil is like the fearsome, brutal enemy who seeks to oust us from our saddle, knock us to the ground, and slash at us until we are dead. Our battle with the devil is a fight to the finish.

And what’s worse, there is not just one devil to deal with. They are legion (cf. Mark 5:8-9), a horde of evil forces arrayed against us. “The dark spirits at work in this world are bigger and stronger than we usually think” (Christianity Today, October 30, 2018).

As Paul reminds us, “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

What Scripture describes is an entire army, organized for onslaught against us. They are not mere flesh and blood. They are an army of angels who fell from grace but remain potent in power, using that power now to prey upon our souls. There have been plenty of human agents that have committed great evils in this world, but underneath the flow of human events there is a still more sinister influence. Mick Jagger wasn’t wrong when he introduced the devil as the one who “rode a tank, held a general’s rank, when the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank,” and has been in the background of other horrors in history. As the Rolling Stones sang, he’s “been around for a long, long time, stole many a man’s soul and faith” (“Sympathy for the Devil,” 1968). Behind so many evils is “the old satanic foe who has sworn to work us woe.” As Martin Luther reminds us, “On earth, he has no equal” (“A Mighty Fortress,” 16th century).

That’s why we need to “take up the whole armor of God,” so that we may be able to stand firm on “that evil day” when temptations attack us (Ephesians 6:13). We are weaker than our spiritual enemies, but the Lord our God is stronger by far. One little word can triumph over the devil and knock him backward. The word that the demons hate most is “Jesus”–the name that means “the Lord saves.” They hate the word “Christ,” the title of God’s Anointed One, knowing they are the rejected ones, cast out of God’s presence. Jesus, the Word made flesh, came to this earth “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Because of Christ, there is no longer any condemnation for us; we are protected by Jesus’ name (Romans 8:1). Our accuser, the one who “accuses us day and night before God” has been “thrown down.” We have “conquered him by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:10,11).

Let’s take a moment to consider each of the items of the armor we are given by God.

First, “fasten the belt of truth around your waist” (Ephesians 6:14). Truth holds our whole self together. Knowing what God says–knowing the reality of Christ’s grace, knowing that eternal truth–is what keeps us from being vulnerable to the devil’s lies.

Next, “put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). The breastplate of a suit of armor protects the vital organs. It covers the heart. The righteousness of Christ does exactly that for us. Christ’s righteousness covers our hearts, cleanses our hearts (cf. Acts 15:9), makes our hearts new and alive (cf. Ezekiel 36:26), keeps our hearts safe and at peace with God (cf. Philippians 4:7).

Also, “take the shield of faith” and “the helmet of salvation.” Holding onto the precious gift of faith, we can “quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16,17). Temptations seek to puncture our hopes and confidence. But the Spirit who inspires faith in us strengthens our resolve. And when various influences try to twist our minds away from God, the “helmet” that guards our thinking is God’s promise that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come … will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).

What will it look like when opposition to God’s goodness is threatening us? One commentator put it this way: “If the devil cannot overthrow our faith with one bold lie, he will try to wear it away, to condition us to compromise. … If he cannot seduce us into gross sin, he will try to lead us into Pharisaism” (I.Habeck, Ephesians, 1985, p. 128). Recall Satan’s method back at the beginning. He pressured Eve, while Adam was standing by, asking them, “Did God really say? Did he really give you such a command?” (cf. Genesis 3:1). And then it was, “God is holding out on you. He is trying to keep you from knowing what he knows” (cf. Genesis 3:4-5). Now that Christ has come to redeem us from our fall into sin, as often as not the temptation is, “Did God really give you his promise? Did he really say that you–puny and worthless you–are worthy of his love? Did he really say that you–sinning in all the ways that you do–are forgiven of every sin?” The devil’s big lie seeks to trap us in our guilt and shame and pull us down in despair.

Or the devil, the father of lies, master of twisting words and meanings, connives to make us just as dishonest as he is. We smile and wave and say hello to our neighbors, while inwardly harboring anger or jealousy. We aren’t really interested in our neighbors or their well-being, because we’re too wrapped up in our own concerns.

Or we are tempted to share in the devil’s arrogance, to think our way is the right way and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong. We become “holier than thou” in our attitude towards others. We look down on others. We look at people from a worldly and competitive point of view, rather than viewing every fellow human being from the perspective of Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21). The influence of warped and devilish thinking on our lives isn’t only when we commit acts of violence or speak words of hatred. It also shows itself in indifference, in judgmentalism, in lack of concern and lack of action on others’ behalf.

You see how difficult our struggle is “against the spiritual forces of evil” that are in the air all around us (Ephesians 6:12). The devils’ ways are often insidious and subtle. We think we are being ok, upright and upstanding, making something of ourselves in this world. What we actually are doing all too often is becoming caught up in ourselves, concerned mainly about making ourselves well off, asserting our own agendas rather than thinking of others’ needs. All the while, Christ is calling us to follow his path and “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than [ourselves]” … and look not to our own “interests but to the interest of others” (Philippians 2:3,4).

When our hearts are turned in the direction of our neighbors and our world, we find that Christ gives us also the weapons we need to go forward in our spiritual lives and advance his kingdom. We have “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). With the Word of God we can cut down to size all opposing arguments and philosophies that run counter to the way of hope in Christ. Keep that in mind as the purpose of the Spirit’s sword. God’s word is not something to attack people with; our mission is not to beat down any person’s soul. The Word of God is something we use to cut through falseness and establish the truth, always for the good of others’ souls.

Image from Winston-Salem Journal 4-1-17

As we go forth in Christ’s name, as shoes for our feet, we wear “whatever will make us ready to proclaim the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). We are ready to share the good news of Jesus, ready to step forward and rescue others from spiritual danger, ready to tell the truths that bring people out of darkness into the light. Wearing the full protection of the armor of God, we are ready to run, to do good, to be agents of mercy and bringers of peace.

Do you remember the battle between David and Goliath? When David was going to face that gigantic, menacing opponent, the army of Israel tried to put him in all their weighty battle armor. It was too heavy; David could not move in it. He rejected that human armor and went to face Goliath armed with just stones and a slingshot and the spiritual armor of God. David’s best defense was the shield of faith that he held as a believer in the Lord. The armor the Lord provides us is not a heavy burden; it does not bog us down. Remember what Jesus said of carrying him with us in our lives: “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). When we wear the armor of Christ, our lives are livelier, our attitudes are lifted higher, our spirits run further and freer than we ever could when operating in worldly mode.

We become ambassadors of Christ in this world. When Paul wrote these words of encouragement for us (Ephesians 6:10-20), he was in chains, imprisoned, because his message was perceived as a threat by the powers that existed in the empire at his time. Yet his spirit soared in providing encouragement to the church then and to all Christians ever since. We are not in chains in our society today. We have tremendous freedom to speak our minds and speak the truth. So let’s put on our armor, the righteousness of Christ, and gear up to go out in our communities with faith and love to share.

“We do not wage war according to human standards” (2 Corinthians 10:2). The weapons we use are not the weapons of the world. Our weapons create peace and hope and life, not violence and despair and death. We speak with the gospel of Jesus. We wear the righteousness of God. Faith from the Spirit is our shield.

And as we go forth in Christ’s name, we also pray in his name. Another powerful weapon God gives us is prayer. The apostles urged us (cf. Ephesians 6:18-20) to pray in the Spirit at all times in every sort of petition to God concerning our spiritual task in this world. So in that spirit, let’s close these thoughts with a prayer:

Lord our God, we are strong because of your strength and power. We have life because of your life and grace. Arm us with your righteousness so that we are ready for each day’s battles. Protect us with your truth, with Spirit-given faith, and with your holy words. Make us ever alert to every opportunity to bring peace to others with your good news. Make each of us–and everyone who is active in ministry and witnessing–bold in our witness, so that the mystery of the gospel may be made known to more and more people with clarity and confidence. In Jesus, Amen.

Apr

2021

Raised up with Jesus

From fear to hope and newness of life

Bible readings for 3rd Sunday of Easter: Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36-48

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Are you afraid? A more precise question would be: What fears do you have? We all have fears to one degree or another. A lot of us have a lot of fears that dwell in our hearts and dominate our thinking. The past year of pandemic and political turmoil has pushed fears to the surface even more than before.

I’m afraid of COVID-19. People close to me have died due to that disease. So many people have died overall. I’m not a young man, and I have other risk factors. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to be vaccinated. But I fear we’re not out of the woods yet in dealing with the health threat of the pandemic. I also have other, underlying fears that keep bothering me. I worry about job security. I wonder if I’ll have sufficient funds when I get older and am no longer working. I want to know that my kids all will have stability and happiness in their lives and careers–and so much about the future is uncertain. I fear for our country. I fear for our world. There seems no end of economic uncertainty, societal controversies, international pressures and tensions … and the planet itself seems to be groaning and convulsing with environmental problems along with all our human problems (cf. Romans 8:19-23).

There have been studies and surveys done about what fears are troubling people the most. One survey showed that 83% of Americans fear that the next generation will be worse off than we are today. 76% are afraid we are losing democracy in America. 58% fear climate change will cause harm in the area where they live. A survey in another country, conducted during the pandemic, found that the vast majority of young adults feared losing a relative. More than half expressed a general anxiety about the future. A third of young adults said they were seriously or very seriously afraid that the worst was going to happen, with almost all the rest saying they moderately or somewhat felt that way. Less than 10% said they never feared that the worst was going to happen.

Beyond fears about the external world, we have deeper fears too, that linger in our souls. We have fears caused by our sense of guilt and shame. We’ve heard the news that we are forgiven, but we struggle to believe that news. We can’t shake the feeling that our past sins will come back to haunt us–maybe even eternally. Maybe we still have our doubts about eternity itself–if there is really life after death.

And when we do manage to hold onto faith, we waver in expressing our faith. We’re afraid that the people of this world and the powers in this world are set against us. We fear we’re not up to the challenge of living our beliefs openly in the community. We fear opposition. We fear ridicule. We fear being thought of as naïve or out of touch. We worry about our own inadequacies. We are immobilized by our uncertainties.

What does Jesus say to all our fears? You know what he says: “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36). “Don’t be afraid,” (Matthew 28:10). He said such words when he appeared to the women who found his tomb empty and to his disciples when he appeared to them inside a locked room. I’ve heard it said that the phrase, “Fear not” or “Don’t be afraid” occurs 365 times in the Bible, once for every day of the year. Actually, if you account for the various Bible translations and many different words that describe our fears (anxiety, worry, trepidation, alarm, dread), the Bible actually talks about fear far more than 365 times. It is a constant theme of God’s word to us. He is our God; his love is our strength. So the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, melts our fears and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (cf. Philippians 4:7). That doesn’t mean our fears aren’t real. It doesn’t mean fears cease to exist and we live blissfully unaware of any threats or worries. There is plenty to make us afraid, day after day. But the presence of the living, breathing, miraculous Savior Jesus enables us to overcome fear.

Think of the disciples as they cowered in hiding and did not know what to do in the days after Christ’s crucifixion. They weren’t out in the streets protesting the brutality of the Roman guards who had beaten and killed Jesus. They feared the Romans, and they feared their own community members who had demanded that Jesus should die. They didn’t know what to think when friends of theirs came hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell them Jesus was alive and had been with them while they were on the road. And when Jesus appeared again right there among them, they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus had to ask them for a piece of fish and eat it in front of them to convince them he was real and they weren’t hallucinating (cf. Luke 24:36-43).

Now think also of those same disciples some weeks later, at the festival of Pentecost and in the days thereafter. Having seen the risen Christ and being strengthened by his Spirit, they became bold enough to stand up and speak out about Jesus and his resurrection. Peter, who had bragged that he would never fall or back down (cf. Matthew 26:33), had crumbled into curses and denials when Jesus was put on trial. But then Peter saw Jesus risen from death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:5) and was assured by Jesus that he remained in Jesus’ love and still had a place as an apostle for Jesus (cf. John 21:15-19). A new boldness took over in Peter–not one from his own bravado or self-confidence. Now he lived and spoke as a new person, changed by the power of Jesus’ resurrection. And Peter offered to people who had participated in the killing of Jesus the same path of redemption and forgiveness that he had experienced himself. Peter said to the people: “You handed over and rejected [Jesus] in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. … You rejected the Holy and Righteous One … and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. … And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. … Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:13-19).

When Peter told his fellow Israelites, “You killed the Author of life,” he wasn’t preaching from some high and mighty perch, seeing himself as better than his hearers. He knew well his own shame and guilt. He wanted others–even those complicit in the death of Jesus–to know the rejuvenating power of Jesus’ life. Those who believe in Jesus are brought to new life by Jesus.

We are believers in Jesus’ resurrection. Our confidence that there is a heavenly future for us comes from knowing that whoever believes in Jesus will live, even though we die (cf. John 11:25-26). We stake our lives–our eternal lives–on that promise of Jesus.

I wonder how much, though, we realize the power of Christ’s resurrection in our lives already now. From the moment we first believed, we crossed over from death to life (cf. John 5:24). From the moment we became baptized members of God’s family, our lives changed. We are not just called children of God; that is who and what we truly are, as John reminded us (1 John 3:1). Another apostle, Paul, said this also: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

So, sin and death are no longer the dominant forces in our lives. The life of Christ is the power that is at work within us. The resurrection of Christ empowers us, enlivens us. If we ponder that, what does it mean for our current lives?

It means we stop seeing faith as if it is just knowledge, just a way of thinking. We come to understand that faith is a way of being. It is a life of faith that we lead, inspired and moved and guided by the Lord who went before us into death and came out alive again. Living by the power of Jesus’ resurrection means we are new creations (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). We don’t hang around in our old patterns of sin and shame and falling short. “No one who abides in Christ sins” (1 John 3:6). We strive now to do what is right, just as Jesus is righteous (cf. 1 John 3:7).

And if you think, “I’m not strong enough to do that, to be that person” … let me remind you that the “immeasurable greatness of God’s power,” the same power that God put “to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand” (Ephesians 1:19-21), is also the power that is now at work in you by faith.

So, what will it look like if our lives are empowered by Jesus’ resurrection? What will our character and conduct look like as witnesses for Jesus? Peter, who spoke the powerful words we heard earlier to his fellow people in Jerusalem, described well our life of witness in one of his letters to the church: “In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:15-16).

You don’t need to stand with a megaphone outside a busy coffee shop, haranguing about the evils in society and how all the coffee drinkers on the patio were causing the deaths of innocent souls. (I saw someone doing that on Saturday of Easter weekend, and he was not winning any converts for Christ by his methods.) Your witness for Christ comes from who you are in your daily life and how you speak with others in your daily life. When it is evident that you are warm and caring, that you are alive and eager, that you are full of hope and active in love, people will be drawn to you as a living witness for Christ, and you will have opportunities to speak with them of your faith in Christ. As Jesus himself urged us, everyone will know that we are his disciples by our love (cf. John 13:35).

We have our fears–and plenty of them. Things that cause fear and alarm keep coming at us relentlessly. Inevitably, in this world, we will have trouble. But we take courage in Jesus, who has overcome this world and its trouble (cf. John 16:33). We have life through Jesus and his power over death. Even when sick and ailing, even in the midst of fears and problems, even when facing death itself, we are alive through Jesus. That is our living hope (1 Peter 1:3), our constant way of being because of Jesus. And that will always be our strongest witness to the world–that we exude joy and hope and peace that rest in knowing Jesus. We are “convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, nor from the life that we have now and eternally with him.

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Image credit: Newness of Life by listentothemountains on Flickr, Creative Commons License

Jul

2020

We are his witnesses

by David Sellnow

A message referencing readings for the 7^th Sunday after Pentecost: Isaiah 44:6-8, Romans 8:12-25, Matthew 13:24-30

“Do you promise that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” We would expect to be asked a question like that in a courtroom, if we were asked to give testimony. That’s probably what we picture as what it means to be a witness. We think of it as something formal, something done in an official setting. I wonder if that image of what it means to be a “witness” confuses our understanding of what Jesus meant when he said, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

I knew a church that had an evangelism committee that hadn’t yet done any evangelizing. The congregation knew they had a mission to tell God’s good news to others. So, they established an evangelism committee. That committee began meeting and studying about communicating the gospel. They continued in that study for two years and had not yet made any visits to anyone. The members of the committee were dutifully concerned that they would do everything right, say everything right. But their fear of speaking something inaccurate kept them from fulfilling their intention of giving witness to the Christian message. Do we maybe think that we must have specialized training before we can serve as witnesses?

I wonder also if we consider what we do inside the church as the primary witness of the church. Have we been depending too much on the church itself (as an institution) to be the witness, rather than we ourselves, the people of the church, as the witnesses? We’ve probably worried that the current health emergency (COVID-19) will reduce the church’s witness. We look at our church buildings, which now must limit the number of persons in attendance, as the main place of witnessing. But at the time when God spoke through Isaiah and said, “You are my witnesses” (Isaiah 44:8), there were no churches, no synagogues. For the half of history when the nation of Israel was called upon to be “a light to the nations,” and extend God’s salvation “to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6), they did not do so through local congregations. Solomon’s temple had been built as the singular place of worship. It was not until more than a century after Isaiah, after Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians (six centuries before Christ), that the Jewish people began to establish synagogues as places for religious instruction. Israel was God’s witness in the world long before they had local synagogues to spearhead that effort.

So also, when Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8), there were at that time no Christian church buildings. Christians in the first decades after Jesus’ ascension met together in people’s homes, in public spaces, in whatever meeting place they could find. The people themselves were a driving force of the spread of Christianity in those early days, along with the activity of the apostles. They were his witnesses. Even when believers in Jesus were persecuted and scattered, they continued to live their faith and speak about Christ wherever they went (cf. Acts 8:1-4).

Maybe the present difficulty for churches gathering inside our own buildings will remind us of the essential role each of us has in our everyday contacts outside with people–wherever and however those contacts can occur within a socially distanced environment. In Jesus’ parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9), we hear how God sows his word liberally everywhere–almost seeming like someone who is wasting his seed because so much falls in places where it doesn’t take root. But it isn’t a waste. It’s how God’s word works. It finds its way into hearts according to God’s timing, not ours, according to his will, not ours. As witnesses of God’s truth, we sow seed in that way. We spread our witness all around us, all the time, every day, wherever we are, in whatever we do or say. Being a witness is, in many ways, about simply exuding who we are as God’s people. Our identity as God’s people will be something others will notice.

Think of the way our daily existence was described in Paul’s letter to the Romans (8:12-16): “So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh … If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

Paul went on (Romans 8:18-25) to describe the constant hope in which we live as children of God, hope for the future, hope for redemption, enduring hope even in the face of whatever suffering we may suffer now. That kind of hope, that confidence that God is good and always cares for his people–that’s what we witness to others by the ongoing attitude we embody and demonstrate.

But what if the attitude evident in people who say they are Christians is not consistently illustrating God’s redeeming grace? About a dozen years ago, Barna Group president David Kinnaman, partnered with Gabe Lyons, another leader in looking at trends concerning Christianity and culture. They engaged in three years of research across the United States. They surveyed and interviewed thousands of young adults (ages 16-29) outside of the church, asking about their perceptions of Christians and Christianity from an outsider’s point of view. In the book detailing what they learned (Baker Books, 2007), Kinnamon and Lyons said: “Christianity has an image problem. … Our research shows that many of those outside of Christianity, especially younger adults, have little trust in the Christian faith, and esteem for the lifestyle of Christ followers is quickly fading among outsiders. … [Outsiders] reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians.” Kinnaman and Lyons titled the book unChristian because that “reflects outsiders’ most common reaction to the faith: they think Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind” (p. 11,15). One of the biggest perceived problems is that Christians are not, for the most part, loving people. According to the research, “nearly nine out of ten outsiders (87 percent) said that the term judgmental accurately describes present-day Christianity.” They elaborated: “To be judgmental is to point out something that is wrong in someone else’s life, making the person feel put down, excluded, and marginalized. … Being judgmental is fueled by self-righteousness, the misguided inner motivation to make our own life look better by comparing it to the lives of others” (p. 182). One of the young people interviewed summed it up this way: “Christians talk about love, but it doesn’t feel like love. I get the sense they believe they are better than me” (p. 192).

That’s a stinging indictment, and maybe we feel that’s unfair. But the impression that Christians are more judgmental than they are loving was something even young people within the church said was true. According to the research, more than half (53 percent) of 16 to 29 year-old Christians also agreed that “the label judgmental accurately fits present-day Christianity” (p. 183). And in the years since unChristian was published, those trends have continued. Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of young adults (those in their 20s and 30s) who identify as Christians declined by 16% in America, a greater drop-off than any other age group, according to findings by the Pew Research Center.

How is it that the church’s witness is giving off such a negative impression and turning away even many of our own young people? Maybe churches too often have forgotten what Jesus taught in the parable of weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). In an overzealous desire to keep the church pure of any “weeds,” churchy people point out anything they see as unrighteous in anyone else and try to rid the Lord’s harvest field of any plant that isn’t perfect. Jesus told us not to do that. “No,” he said, “for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest” (Matthew 13:29,30). It will be God’s responsibility at the final judgment to separate “weeds” from “wheat,” those who are faithless from those who have trusted in him. Exercising final judgment over another human soul is not our responsibility; it is in God’s hands. Our task is to nurture and tend to every person as someone who may grow to be one of God’s children.

Our witnessing isn’t about us. It’s not about how tidy and well-groomed we can keep our little corner of the whole earthly garden where God is seeking to grow believers. It’s about extending God’s goodness to all people. It’s about God’s Spirit inspiring a spirit of mercy in us, not a judgmental spirit. As Jesus’ brother James taught us: “You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’” understanding that “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:8,13). Being witnesses of the good news of our God means letting his gospel grow unimpeded, without letting ourselves and our judgmentalism get in the way.

There’s another way that we stumble over ourselves and get in our own way as witnesses. When we hear Jesus say, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16) – what do we think of as the “good deeds” that people are to see in us? Do we think people are watching to see how often our cars are in the church parking lot? Do we think people are listening to make sure no foul language ever slips out of our mouths?

It’s like the church committee I mentioned before that thought they had to prepare a flawless script if they were going to do witnessing. It’s not about whether we say everything perfectly. In our own less-than-perfect ways, we just keep pointing to the one who is perfect for us. It’s not that we know all the answers. We show others the one who holds us in his mercy even when we struggle to answer life’s hardest questions. The same principle holds when it comes to our behavior as God’s witnesses in this world. It’s not about showing our neighbors how righteous we are. It’s not about how much we pray in public places. You may recall that Jesus said, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others” (Matthew 6:5). Jesus called out people who tried to look perfect in public as “whitewashed tombs — which on the outside look beautiful” but inside they are full of deadness and hypocrisy (Matthew 23:27-28). That’s not the sort of witness Jesus calls for.

What did Jesus say? “Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). The witness we give to the world of who God is and what God is like is shown by the love we show to others. How much grace is in our souls, evident in the way we treat every person we meet? After all, if we could speak as perfectly as angels, but do not have love, we are like banging gongs or clanging cymbals (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:1). The world doesn’t need self-congratulatory noise from Christian people. The world needs our consistent, faithful, loving witness. The world needs embodied, lived, expressed testimony of God’s grace in action through us. “God is love” (John 4:16). Living in love thus is the primary ingredient in our witness. By our love we give witness to a Father who loves the whole world so much that he gave us his Son. By our love, we give witness to Christ, who gave up his own life, “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). By our love we give witness to the Spirit of God, whose fruit–the things the Spirit produces–are “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22,23).

Isaiah’s prophecy announced the truth centuries ago. There is no other god besides “the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer” (Isaiah 44:6). There is no other rock, no other solid ground to stand on, no other source of love so strong and so deep. And the Lord, the King, our Redeemer says to us, “You are my witnesses” (Isaiah 44:8). May we, as his witnesses, live up to what we sing in a familiar song:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

– Father Peter Scholtes, “We Are One in the Spirit” (1966)

Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jan

2020

Let your light shine

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on January 28, 2018.

Shining like the brightness of the heavens

by Sheryl Persaud

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Have you ever been in a church with stained glass windows on a sunny day? It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Light passes through the windows in colorful, detailed patterns. And often, stained glass windows are not merely patterns of color, but persons and events from the Bible are illustrated in the glass. The windows shine in ways that tell stories of faith.

Think about the time and preparation it takes to make a stained glass window. First, you will need to decide what design you want to make. Then you’d choose each color and shape carefully in order to make that design. At first, it is just a mess of broken glass, but when you arrange the pieces together into the story or symbol you wish to convey, you have a beautiful masterpiece.

As God’s people, we are like stained glass windows. God sees the beautiful plan and design he has for us. We cannot see this plan because sometimes our life is like a big, messy pile of broken glass. We may also feel the pains of broken glass. There may be so many trials we are facing in our lives that we don’t think anything good can come from it. However, God looks at each broken piece and he sees art. He sees how each broken piece will fit together perfectly. He needs us to be patient, in the same way an artist exercises patience as he is creating his art. We wait to see and understand God’s master plan for us. At times we may want to give up, but we hang on in trust that our Savior is working in our best interest.

When a stained glass window finally goes up and the sunlight shines through, all you can do is step back, admire it, and praise the person who created it. We want God’s Word to shine through us and those we come into contact with. We are able to shine a light to others because Christ has put a light into us first. He did this through his death on the cross, that we may become shining pillars reflecting his love and mercy, bright enough for all to see. How awesome it would be to show others the wonders of our awesome creator! We become a fulfillment of what God foretold: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).

Just as sunlight shines through and illuminates figures in stained glass windows, we glow beautifully when God’s Word shines through us.

Prayer: Dear God, give us the courage to put our full trust in your plans for us. Help us to be illuminated by your light, reflecting Christ’s love and grace in all we say and do. Amen.

Jan

2020

The priesthood of all believers

Originally shared on the Electric Gospel on September 24, 2017. This message was written as a contribution for a devotional booklet published in the 500th anniversary year of the Lutheran Reformation.

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“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

All God’s People Are Priests

by David Sellnow

Harold stepped into the pulpit and addressed the congregation.

“I am not a pastor,” Harold said. “I never studied at a seminary. I’ve raised cotton, and now I work for an association of cotton growers. I am not a professional preacher or public speaker. I don’t generally get up in front of other people and give talks. So I’m rather nervous about standing up here this morning. In fact, if I weren’t behind this pulpit, you could see my knees knocking!”

That was how Harold began his message on a Sunday when the pastor was away. The church was a small congregation, far from any others of its synod. When the pastor was traveling to a national meeting or other obligations, church council members would lead Sunday services. Harold’s message on this day focused on words from the apostle Peter: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

“All God’s people are priests,” Harold continued. “Priests have the right to approach God directly; we are welcome in God’s presence. Through Jesus Christ we all ‘have access to the Father by one Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:18). When we were baptized, we became part of the priesthood of all believers in Jesus. That gives us the privilege of approaching God ‘with freedom and confidence’ (Ephesians 3:12), and also the privilege to proclaim Christ to the world. We declare the praises of the Lord who brought us out of darkness and into the light, who rescued us from death and gave us life. We all share in that gospel mission.”

The Reformation reaffirmed the truth that all God’s people are equal members of God’s kingdom, a universal priesthood of those who pray and proclaim in the name of Jesus. Martin Luther wrote, “If a group of pious Christians settled in a wilderness and had among them no priest consecrated by a bishop, and if they were to agree to choose one from their own midst to baptize, give communion, announce forgiveness and preach, such a man would be as truly a priest as he would be if all bishops and popes had consecrated him. This is why anyone may baptize and give absolution in case of necessity, which would be impossible if we were not all priests.”

Harold fulfilled such a role in his congregation in the pastor’s absence. Each of God’s people fulfills a more general role of worship and witness in everyday life. God’s Spirit is with all of his people—all of his priests—as we come to him in prayer and go for him to others, with news of his grace.

Prayer: Jesus our Lord, we praise you for what you have done for us. Embolden all of us as your people—a royal priesthood—to come to you for blessing and to speak for you, extending your blessing to others. Amen.

Jan

2020

To change a nation, you must change souls

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on July 3, 2017.

To change a nation, you must change souls

by David Sellnow

Blessings to you as we celebrate Independence Day in the USA. Political turmoil has abounded in recent months. For a holiday installment of The Electric Gospel, I thought I’d dig out a bit of a sermon I once preached on 4th of July weekend. I’ll just post a snippet from the sermon here, but enough to make the point.

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There were two men from two countries. Both men were married. Neither man loved his wife. In the one country, the divorce laws were very lenient. Divorce was a casual affair. So the man in that country summarily divorced his wife and gave the matter no further thought.

In the other country, laws were stern and severe. Divorce was almost unheard of; it was only rarely granted. Only with strong proof of infidelity or deadly abuse could a divorce be obtained. So the man in that country did not bother going to court. He knew the law. He stayed married to his wife. But he never loved her or showed her any love.

Which wife was happier? Neither. One was unhappily divorced; one was unhappily married. What would have made a loving wife happy in either country had nothing to do with the divorce statutes. It had everything to do with her husband. A change of heart and soul in him was needed, not just a different set of laws.

As we look at the country we live in, we see plenty of problems and moral confusion. Some may think the solution is to legislate stronger city and state ordinances, enact constitutional amendments, insist that the Bible’s commandments must be enshrined as the law of the land. But you can’t change a nation’s character with laws any more than you can pass a law that makes a husband love his wife. To change a person, you must change his soul. The change a nation, you must change the souls of the people within it.

Whatever messes we see around us in society, the way to effect change is not merely through political action but spiritual activity. We’re not going to save souls by picketing city hall or state capitols to try to force everyone in town behave as we would like them to behave. Besides, if we’re honest, we each must admit that our own behavior isn’t pure and perfect either. We ourselves have needed a Savior just as much as any of our neighbors need him.

Our calling in Christ is to get out and speak God’s truth. His “word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:10). The Lord “richly blesses all who call on him” (Romans 10:12). So we make it our mission to represent Christ as his ambassadors in the world, “as though God were making his appeal through us,” imploring people on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). And if the world around us puts pressure on us because of our Christian confession, we take that all in stride, heeding what Christ’s apostle urged us:

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. … Even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:9,14-16).

Dec

2019

His healing grace

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 10, 2016.

His Healing Grace

by Molly Peavy

A country of abuse, neglect, and unhealed hurts. It didn’t take long for this aspect of current Chinese culture to imprint itself in our minds. Dogs and cats being beaten outside of our apartment, women in the market with hand-shaped bruises around their necks, our screaming neighbors … these memories cannot be quickly forgotten. Where once pride and honor were of highest priority, men beat wives and children and sons assault their mothers while fathers look on with amused expressions.

These sad images are all symptoms of a sickness, the sickness of souls … a sickness which pervades cultures everywhere on earth. Without faith, we are all born enemies of God, sinners sinking deeper into our condition. How could we expect love and compassion to rule when our Savior rules in so few hearts? Where will people learn of grace? Where will generosity or compassion be experienced? Not in Shanghai’s streets, crowded with the ignored unfortunate, not on the subway where seats are stolen from weary elders with heavy groceries, not in the neighborhoods where confused animals are hurt for amusement.

We felt horror and revulsion, much like Jonah must have felt with the Ninevites. But we then realized that this could easily be us were we without the knowledge of the Lord’s loving forgiveness. The urgent need for his word became obvious. Hope for the downtrodden, forgiveness for the oppressors, reprieve for the wounded of body and spirit—our Lord has infinite riches to offer morally bankrupt human cultures. We were able to bring Christ’s healing word to our students and staff, and reprieve to an abused kitten, but there is still so much work to be done through prayer, offerings, and gifts of time and self. Let us all approach our mission in this world—wherever we may be—with the message of God’s healing love and grace.

Molly wrote this piece while she and her husband Doug were serving in Shanghai, China.

Why church?

Our mutual need for spiritual encouragement

Christ calls us to reach out to others, even when it seems an impossible task

Reformation Day remembrance

We are armed against evil and go forth with God’s truth

From fear to hope and newness of life

Shining like the brightness of the heavens

All God’s People Are Priests

To change a nation, you must change souls

His Healing Grace

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