July 14th, 2024
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
"Before I read the 2nd lesson – feel the need to offer a faith
response to the events of yesterday afternoon.
Was actually up most of the night, thinking about rewriting
this sermon, but decided that what I had written actually bears on these issues. Will certainly see the irony in the beginning.
With a clear voice let me, without reservation , denounce
what was attempted yesterday. There is absolutely no justification for such an act.
But let me also say, that it is not that far of a leap, from the
regular, ongoing, verbal character assassination that masquerades as political discourse and campaigning these days.
What we have allowed to occur as regular politics, comedy,
and public discourse as we talk about those who differ from us is often shameful.
Philippians 4: 8 counsels us to speak and think on those
things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable and excellent.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, and our local, state, and country
better served if our public conversation reflected those attributes."
response to the events of yesterday afternoon.
Was actually up most of the night, thinking about rewriting
this sermon, but decided that what I had written actually bears on these issues. Will certainly see the irony in the beginning.
With a clear voice let me, without reservation , denounce
what was attempted yesterday. There is absolutely no justification for such an act.
But let me also say, that it is not that far of a leap, from the
regular, ongoing, verbal character assassination that masquerades as political discourse and campaigning these days.
What we have allowed to occur as regular politics, comedy,
and public discourse as we talk about those who differ from us is often shameful.
Philippians 4: 8 counsels us to speak and think on those
things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable and excellent.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, and our local, state, and country
better served if our public conversation reflected those attributes."
Fake News: Accountability vs. Forgiveness
Psalm 51
Matthew 18: 21 – 35
July 14, 2024
As some of you may know, as a part of my preparation for worship, I put together a preaching calendar that identifies preaching topics and scriptures months in advance. That allows our musicians to select music, hymns, and anthems that are supportive of our preaching themes and provides some focus for the teaching that is offered to our children every Sunday.
It is not as though these selected scripture and preaching themes are carved in stone. Sometimes life events occur that need to be addressed immediately in worship. While it is unclear whether it was Steve Jobs or Jack Welsch who said it, it is nonetheless true that “culture eats your three-year plans for breakfast.” But we plan nonetheless, and we hold a gentle, but loose hand on that planning.
Preaching series are the same way. Since May we have been preaching – really – about life in the kingdom of God. We have thought together about purpose, patience, about a trajectory of growth towards Christlikeness. We have spent time considering the freedom we have in Jesus, about the absence of guilt and the presence of grace offered to us by that same Jesus.
While I get that periodic absences from worship and the difficulty of connecting dots that are a week apart make an awareness of preaching themes clear only in my mind; nonetheless, the overarching theme, the metanarrative, the look from the 40,000 feet level – choose whatever management catchphrase makes the most sense to you – the theme has been what life in the kingdom could look like right here, right now.
The reality is that we believers live in two different worlds, don’t we? We have the “real” world – the world of flesh and blood, the world of work and relationships, of bills and politics, of friends and enemies. And then we have our spiritual worlds – our faith convictions, our spiritual disciplines, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And for far too many of us those worlds are only distantly related.
For some, we echo a political conviction and do all we can to keep the church and state – our faith and secular lives – separate. We go to church on Sunday morning, we watch a worship on livestream, maybe we go to youth group on Sunday evening, but Monday comes and the real-life pressures of our world resume and the coping measures that we have developed for life in that world sometimes do not reflect our convictions expressed on Sunday.
The opposite can also be true – but much less so in our part of the world. Our spiritual lives can be an escape, an oasis discovered, a kind of a spiritual gated community where we don’t allow the pain and heartache of the secular world impede or diminish our focus on heaven. Monday through Saturday are only endured until our passage into eternal glory in heaven.
Both of these extremes commit the same mistake, the same fundamental error of keeping our faith and secular lives separate. That separation may seem practical. That separation may feel functional. We may sense that our lives are well served by keeping these two competing kingdoms at arm’s length – the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world.
But let’s be honest. This separation may be practical, but it is not biblical. This separation may seem to work in the short term that is our life here on earth, but it is not faithful – neither now or in the future.
Being called to life in the Kingdom of God is one of being called to life in the here and now according to kingdom principles. It is not the maintenance of a secular and faith separation. It is the integration of kingdom principles in our very real world. Kingdom of God principes have real life application – or at least they can.
A call to a faithful life of integrated principles is to name the heresy of maintaining an active separation of life and faith. A call to Kingdom of Jesus principles is a rejection of cheap faith, an even cheaper grace, and a works salvation. A call to kingdom living is the taking up of a task, is a choice to travel a road less taken.
But take it, we must. Proclaiming it is a central requirement of preaching today. Brian Zahnd – author, theologian, and pastor has written:
“The task of preaching in the current American moment is to alert the beleaguered to an alternative kingdom that comes from the heavens – a kingdom marked by justice, mercy, and humility; a kingdom where faith, hope and love trump the lies of Babylon. Preach the kingdom of Jesus!”
That sounds like a radical call to us, but did Jesus really say it any differently when he said in the gospel of Mark, chapter 1, “The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” I don’t think so. The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Jesus is not some kind of parallel universe that only touches our related world at isolated times and places. The Kingdom of God is meant to be realized in this world – even if incompletely so.
Boy, do we need that realization now more than ever!
Kingdom principles, these things we have been talking about since May, should be, need to be, must be principles for daily living if our faith is going to have any kind of practical relevance. Let me give you an example.
We are called to be a people of mercy, compassion, kindness, and love. All of these are at play when we are called to forgive as Jesus has first forgiven us.
We all know the expected drill. We offend someone, we do someone wrong. We recognize our guilt. We repent, we say we are sorry, and we promise to never commit that same offense again. But – as the ones offering forgiveness - we have long memories, don’t we? We use phrases like “forgive but never forget.” We say we have forgiven, but our relationship is unavoidably changed…… for the worse. We are a little more guarded, a little less transparent, a little less trusting. That is the fake news of forgiveness as we all too often experience it.
That fake news may be practical….. in this world. That fake news may be operative in real life….. in the secular kingdom. But real life is not the standard, the measuring stick, the example for us. Jesus is. Kingdom of God principles are.
That means, like Jesus hanging on the Cross, we should be able to say, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Father, forgive them, even when they are doing me wrong. Father, forgive them, even when they don’t recognize their offense. Father, forgive them, even when – perhaps, especially when – they glory in their offense.
Forgiveness is not a commitment to being polite to those that have offended you. Forgiveness is a willingness to imitate Jesus and not hold their offenses over their heads as a justification for treating them in an unloving fashion. Forgiveness is actively seeking God’s best for the offender.
We are a culture, a political arena filled with carefully maintained ad nurtured grudges. Oh, we dress them up as a call for justice, but – in most cases – justice has long since left the building. We are called to be a forgiving people, even when that forgiveness has not been asked for.
A commitment to obedience and righteousness; mercy, compassion, and kindness; justice, service, and joy – this is life in the kingdom of God. This can be life in this world, as well as the next, if we are willing to do the hard work of faith integration. Kingdom life is a call to spiritual relevance. It is the singular following of Jesus. It is our joy to discover that reality. Amen.
Psalm 51
Matthew 18: 21 – 35
July 14, 2024
As some of you may know, as a part of my preparation for worship, I put together a preaching calendar that identifies preaching topics and scriptures months in advance. That allows our musicians to select music, hymns, and anthems that are supportive of our preaching themes and provides some focus for the teaching that is offered to our children every Sunday.
It is not as though these selected scripture and preaching themes are carved in stone. Sometimes life events occur that need to be addressed immediately in worship. While it is unclear whether it was Steve Jobs or Jack Welsch who said it, it is nonetheless true that “culture eats your three-year plans for breakfast.” But we plan nonetheless, and we hold a gentle, but loose hand on that planning.
Preaching series are the same way. Since May we have been preaching – really – about life in the kingdom of God. We have thought together about purpose, patience, about a trajectory of growth towards Christlikeness. We have spent time considering the freedom we have in Jesus, about the absence of guilt and the presence of grace offered to us by that same Jesus.
While I get that periodic absences from worship and the difficulty of connecting dots that are a week apart make an awareness of preaching themes clear only in my mind; nonetheless, the overarching theme, the metanarrative, the look from the 40,000 feet level – choose whatever management catchphrase makes the most sense to you – the theme has been what life in the kingdom could look like right here, right now.
The reality is that we believers live in two different worlds, don’t we? We have the “real” world – the world of flesh and blood, the world of work and relationships, of bills and politics, of friends and enemies. And then we have our spiritual worlds – our faith convictions, our spiritual disciplines, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And for far too many of us those worlds are only distantly related.
For some, we echo a political conviction and do all we can to keep the church and state – our faith and secular lives – separate. We go to church on Sunday morning, we watch a worship on livestream, maybe we go to youth group on Sunday evening, but Monday comes and the real-life pressures of our world resume and the coping measures that we have developed for life in that world sometimes do not reflect our convictions expressed on Sunday.
The opposite can also be true – but much less so in our part of the world. Our spiritual lives can be an escape, an oasis discovered, a kind of a spiritual gated community where we don’t allow the pain and heartache of the secular world impede or diminish our focus on heaven. Monday through Saturday are only endured until our passage into eternal glory in heaven.
Both of these extremes commit the same mistake, the same fundamental error of keeping our faith and secular lives separate. That separation may seem practical. That separation may feel functional. We may sense that our lives are well served by keeping these two competing kingdoms at arm’s length – the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world.
But let’s be honest. This separation may be practical, but it is not biblical. This separation may seem to work in the short term that is our life here on earth, but it is not faithful – neither now or in the future.
Being called to life in the Kingdom of God is one of being called to life in the here and now according to kingdom principles. It is not the maintenance of a secular and faith separation. It is the integration of kingdom principles in our very real world. Kingdom of God principes have real life application – or at least they can.
A call to a faithful life of integrated principles is to name the heresy of maintaining an active separation of life and faith. A call to Kingdom of Jesus principles is a rejection of cheap faith, an even cheaper grace, and a works salvation. A call to kingdom living is the taking up of a task, is a choice to travel a road less taken.
But take it, we must. Proclaiming it is a central requirement of preaching today. Brian Zahnd – author, theologian, and pastor has written:
“The task of preaching in the current American moment is to alert the beleaguered to an alternative kingdom that comes from the heavens – a kingdom marked by justice, mercy, and humility; a kingdom where faith, hope and love trump the lies of Babylon. Preach the kingdom of Jesus!”
That sounds like a radical call to us, but did Jesus really say it any differently when he said in the gospel of Mark, chapter 1, “The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” I don’t think so. The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Jesus is not some kind of parallel universe that only touches our related world at isolated times and places. The Kingdom of God is meant to be realized in this world – even if incompletely so.
Boy, do we need that realization now more than ever!
Kingdom principles, these things we have been talking about since May, should be, need to be, must be principles for daily living if our faith is going to have any kind of practical relevance. Let me give you an example.
We are called to be a people of mercy, compassion, kindness, and love. All of these are at play when we are called to forgive as Jesus has first forgiven us.
We all know the expected drill. We offend someone, we do someone wrong. We recognize our guilt. We repent, we say we are sorry, and we promise to never commit that same offense again. But – as the ones offering forgiveness - we have long memories, don’t we? We use phrases like “forgive but never forget.” We say we have forgiven, but our relationship is unavoidably changed…… for the worse. We are a little more guarded, a little less transparent, a little less trusting. That is the fake news of forgiveness as we all too often experience it.
That fake news may be practical….. in this world. That fake news may be operative in real life….. in the secular kingdom. But real life is not the standard, the measuring stick, the example for us. Jesus is. Kingdom of God principles are.
That means, like Jesus hanging on the Cross, we should be able to say, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Father, forgive them, even when they are doing me wrong. Father, forgive them, even when they don’t recognize their offense. Father, forgive them, even when – perhaps, especially when – they glory in their offense.
Forgiveness is not a commitment to being polite to those that have offended you. Forgiveness is a willingness to imitate Jesus and not hold their offenses over their heads as a justification for treating them in an unloving fashion. Forgiveness is actively seeking God’s best for the offender.
We are a culture, a political arena filled with carefully maintained ad nurtured grudges. Oh, we dress them up as a call for justice, but – in most cases – justice has long since left the building. We are called to be a forgiving people, even when that forgiveness has not been asked for.
A commitment to obedience and righteousness; mercy, compassion, and kindness; justice, service, and joy – this is life in the kingdom of God. This can be life in this world, as well as the next, if we are willing to do the hard work of faith integration. Kingdom life is a call to spiritual relevance. It is the singular following of Jesus. It is our joy to discover that reality. Amen.
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