Rich in Faith

There is a distinction that is made all throughout scripture.  It is a distinction between the rich and the poor.  The distinction is this: rich = evil and poor = good.  This distinction is important, because, as we know, it's much easier to be evil if one is rich.  Now, in our country, we are the wealthiest people in the world, our poor are in the wealthiest top 4% worldwide.  Our poor here are rich by comparison.  This should come into mind, when we are thinking of rich v. poor in America. All of you probably know someone who is American poor who has taken advantage of someone who is American rich.  It's because, in general, we don't really have poor in this country.  We are all rich by the world's standards.

The point I'm trying to make here is this verse in our proverb reading today: “The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.”  As Paul writes in Galatians: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman: all are one in Christ Jesus.”  There is really only one distinction: Godly (those in Christ Jesus) and Ungodly.  Again it's very much easier to be ungodly if one is rich.  But what we have to work with in America is a difficult task.  We can't know people by their bank accounts here.  We must know them by their fruits.

We live in a country where many wealthy people voluntarily share their wealth with the needy.  Christians give to more charities in addition to church than any other group.  We have more liberty to decide where our money goes, and so we choose the best charities where our money will do the most good.  As John Wesley said, “Make All You Can; Save All You Can; Give All You Can.”  So, we can't tell who is ungodly by their wealth.  We have the “givingest” people in history living here.

So, we must know who is godly and ungodly by their fruits.  This helps us live out the psalms in our lives, fleeing from evil, and embracing the good.  In our epistle of James this morning, we have many clues as to what these fruits are.

Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? (James 2:6-7)

We tend to judge people by appearances, reacting to how people look, not how they act.  As James says, we make distinctions among ourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts. But here in verses 6 and 7 are three attributes of an ungodly person.  It says “rich” but we know by now that we cannot judge by appearances, neither in the positive nor in the negative.  The three attributes are oppression, litigiousness, and blasphemy.  We also can extrapolate the attributes of a godly person from these verses.  A godly person is kind, peaceful, and reverent.

James writes, “Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?”  We have to judge someone on their faith.  Is the faith rich?  That is where the distinction comes in.  Again, it is easier for poor people to have rich faith, because they are free from worldly distractions.  Again, not in America.  The poor in this country have just as many distractions as the rich.  Maybe even MORE.  The distractions are of a different ilk.

James says the rich drag the poor into court.  Again, we can't have that distinction in our time and place in history.  The poor drag the rich into court just as much, if not MORE, than the other way around.  We can't distinguish between rich and poor, but we CAN judge by seeing WHO is dragging people into court instead of exercising a rich faith in God.  How is dragging people into court different from simple oppression?  By being litigious, one is getting another to do his “dirty work” for him.  Using a lawyer or the government to oppress another is, in many ways, WORSE than being simply oppressive.

And by contrast we have the attributes of a godly person: kindness, peace, and reverence.  This past Wednesday Evening Prayer Service, we read the parable of the Good Samaritan.  The parable was in response to the lawyer's question, “Who is my neighbor?”  It was obvious from the parable, that our neighbor is the one who is kind to us, even if that person looks like he was dragged behind a truck, has a long bad history with our family (remember Samaritans and Jews did NOT like each other), and has a different way of worshiping.

The Samaritan has a rich faith, and it came out in his kindness.  These are the things we look for.  How does he ACT?  Does he seek revenge on others through the government or personally?  Does he have a healthy respect for our Lord and Savior?

In our Mark passage, we see rich faith play out in Jesus' ministry.  He has come to minister to the Jews, but this gentile woman has shown a rich faith, and so he heals her daughter.  Once again, his healing was based on the rich faith of the woman, demonstrating that outward appearances, nor family history, nor being familiar with Jewish tradition stand in the way of being IN CHRIST.

Jesus died on the cross for all who have that rich faith in him.  We can be very successful in this world and be healthy and look our best.  We may be shrewd and smart.  And we may come to church every Sunday and read our prayerbook every day and pat ourselves on the back for knowing our Bible and keeping the law.

But all that means nothing without a rich, saving faith.  Without kindness, without peace, without true reverence for God we are lost.  There is no rich or poor, there is no slave or free.  There is only being IN CHRIST or out of him.

Forgetting the Exodus

In our Old Testament passage this morning (Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9), we have a great promotion of the law.    Moses commands Israel to heed the law, so that they may LIVE to enter the promised land.  The law is LIFE.  The law also is PERFECT.  In other words, we must not add anything to it or take anything away from it.

In past weeks we've talked about how people outside the covenant observe our behavior, and when they see us keeping the law, they say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!”  There may be people outside the covenant with God who belong INSIDE the covenant with God, and our behavior, which is a way of preaching the gospel, is a way of evangelizing them.

This law is JUST, and it must be passed on to our children.  Now, wait a second.  We're Christians, right?  We don't NEED the law anymore.  We now live under God's grace, and we can just throw the law out.  In fact, let's just throw the whole Old Testament out.  Good idea?  Why not?

It has to do with order.  We have drilled into our minds this whole Old Testament/New Testament thing.  We have been told that the law is over with, and the gospel of grace is here to stay.  We know that we don't have to try anymore, because Jesus Christ has come to do away with man-centered religion and bring us all into God-centered religion.  Our minds think of OLD WAY and NEW WAY in that order.

Here is something shocking: It was NEVER this way.  There was never an OLD WAY that has been abrogated and now there is a NEW WAY in its place.  The old way IS the new way.  It's just that Israel was doing it wrong, and so we think from our time and place today, “Well, we had better throw that all out, because it didn't work.”

THERE ARE NO OLD AND NEW WAYS.  There is only God's way, and the way we do not follow God's way, which is man's way.  Look at this line in our Deuteronomy passage that doesn't seem to fit in: Verse 7: “For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him?”  We tend to forget that God is in the midst of Israel all this time.

The problem with OLD and NEW is we think that the old way didn't work, and the new way works.  But God rescued Israel out of the clutches of Egypt FIRST.  He saved them FIRST.  The law was given AFTER.  The law does not save.  We know that from Paul.  God saves first, and our response is to keep the law—naturally.  We naturally keep the law.  Not because we studied the words chiseled in stone, but because we remember that God has saved us already.

Look at verse 9: don't forget the things that your eyes have seen and make them known to your children.  What are the things their eyes had seen?  The laws and statutes?  The ordinances?  No, they saw the glorious works of God in saving them out of Egypt, in preserving them in the wilderness, and before their parents died, they passed on those visions to their children, who are now about to enter the promised land.

The law is not a bunch of rules to follow as it is a list of attributes of someone who KNOWS HE HAS BEEN SAVED.  But what did Israel do?  They forgot their fathers, and they began to follow the law as if it were the BEGINNING of salvation, not the result, not the effect.  Paul says this following of the law as the beginning of salvation leads to death, because we can never achieve an effect.  We forget that God is in the midst of us.  We are trying to keep the law, so that God will enter into the midst of us, when what we should know is that God HAS already entered into the midst of us, has saved us, and that our turning to him gives us the faith to keep the law.  Since we are doing it backwards, we forget that God is already here.  We turn our backs on him as we look for him.

I've talked before about the prison cell.  We stand with our hands gripping the bars, and we are looking out there for God to come to us with a key, so we can get released from the cell.  We do all these things, so he will notice us, and open our cell door.  What we never do is TURN AROUND.  There is no BACK to the prison cell.  God has ALREADY taken the back wall away, and the freedom of everlasting life is right outside.  God whispers in our ear, “turn around,” and when we do, our hearts are filled with such gratitude that he has already feed us from our cells, that we live our lives as law-abiding citizens.

In our gospel reading today (Mark 7:1-23), we see the clashing of the two worldviews that I have just been telling you about.  The Pharisees and scribes are arguing for ceremonial washing, which is the tradition of the elders, but as we have just been understanding, the tradition of the elders is based completely on a false understanding of salvation.  All of the ceremonies of the Pharisees is based on God saving us in response to the law, not the TRUTH, which is that God saved us first, and we respond by keeping the law.  Keeping the law is the fruit of our faith.

Jesus argues: God's salvation changes the heart, and the one with the changed heart is able to keep the law.  The Pharisees are trying to change their hearts by keeping the law.  See the difference?  One is not able to change his heart by keeping the law.  God changes the heart first, through salvation, and then the law is able to be kept.

Jesus said, “It is from within, FROM THE HUMAN HEART, that evil intentions come.”  Keeping the law will not change our heart, but God's salvation will.  The Israelites had a physical salvation to look to, the Exodus from Egypt.  They saw it with their own eyes, they taught it to their children, and the people were able to keep the law.  God showed them what a true changed heart looked like.  But then they forgot the Exodus.  They forgot what God had done for them.  They forgot he was in their midst.  Their hearts changed again.  They could not keep the law.  They were then trying harder and harder to follow the letter of the law, to merit their own salvation.

Jesus Christ died on the cross, and like the Exodus, this is an actual, physical salvation for his chosen people, Israel, of which everyone sitting here is a part.  The gospel writers saw it with their own eyes.  They passed it down to their children, to Paul and the church fathers, through saints throughout the centuries, to us today.  The true story of Christ's salvation on the cross: we hear that and our hearts are changed.  The Holy Spirit changes our hearts as we hear the gospel message and understand.  The good news is that there is no forgetting this time, like the Exodus.  God will not let us forget this.  We will not forget that he is in our midst.  Our hearts cannot change back.  This is good news.

Wednesday Evening Prayer Service and Small Groups

Each Wednesday, Good Shepherd has a regular evening prayer service.  We play and sing praise songs, pray from the Anglican liturgy, give intercessions and thanksgivings, and pray for healing.  In order that people may eat and get home from work, we begin the service at 6:30pm at His Dream Center (205 E Baltic St, Nags Head).  It will run no longer than 45 minutes.

On the first and third Wednesdays of the month, Servant Council will convene at 7:15pm.  On those evenings, the Evening Prayer Service will serve as a spiritual centering before engaging in the business of the church.

On the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, the women and men will separate to different places in the building and meet in small groups at 7:15pm.  These groups should include anyone who wants to be a part of them, so members of Good Shepherd should invite everyone they can to these small groups.  The first meeting of these groups will be on September 12th, and on that night it will be decided, by each group, the shape of future meetings: bible studies, activities, dinner together, etc.

If a month has a fifth Wednesday, both groups will assemble together.  On this night we can plan to watch movies together or engage in other activities as a Christian community on the Outer Banks.

We hope you will all want to be part of this big step in the life of Good Shepherd.

Bringing Children

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)

There are at least three aspects to this gospel passage.  The first is the commonly understood “emotional” aspect, which we have learned from children's Bible stories: “Jesus loves the little children.”  Sing it with me: “All the children of the world, etc.”  Our God is a loving God, who picks up the children and puts them on his knee, like  grandfather or like Santa Claus, and he tickles them and he cuddles them.

This is a true aspect, but it is a shallow one.  Of course he loves the children, and he even goes so far as to say that THEIRS is the kingdom of God.  They are more precious and innocent than adults who have become more and more corrupted by the culture over the years.

There is a deeper aspect than this, found in the loaded line, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”  This is the logical aspect of the passage.  Here is something we actually have to get our minds around.  It's NOT heartwarming.  How do I receive the kingdom of God as a child?  This is for the adults who have been corrupted by the culture.  We have to learn how to discard out know-it-all-ness.  We are mature, learned individuals.  We've been working on bettering ourselves for decades.  Now Jesus is asking us to throw that all aside and approach his kingdom with a blank slate, an impressionable mind.  We have to approach with a pure faith, practical innocence, something we definitely DO NOT HAVE.  We need to be empty vessels, like children, and allow God's spirit to fill us.  This is what we usually walk away with from this passage on any given Sunday.

Finally, there's the Baptismal aspect, which we want to go into now.  It comes to us in the overlooked first verse of this passage: “People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them.”  This isn't merely emotional.  We're not just baptizing Silas today into Christ.  He's not just inheriting the kingdom of God today.  This isn't merely logical.  When we reaffirm the baptismal covenant together, we're not just remembering fondly our own baptisms.  Silas isn't going to remember this.  We're not just coming to the kingdom as a Child, rebaptizing ourselves, giving ourselves a believer's baptism, because we didn't remember our own, or it's hazy because it is so far past.

We are bringing this little infant to Jesus that he might touch him.  This isn't about Silas.  This isn't about us.  This is about Jesus.  Were these people bringing their children to Jesus, so they could receive the benefits of his blessing?  A bit, but not all.  Were they doing this because they were reaffirming their own faith and learning to come to Jesus as little children?  A bit, but not all.  They were bringing children to Jesus, because he is the Son of God.

When we stand and say the covenant for Silas, it's not just that we have to because Silas can't.  And were not just saying it for ourselves as a refresher.  We are promising Jesus that because Jesus is the most important object in the universe we are going to continually bring Silas to him.  The parents, the Godparents, and this whole congregation here present, are promising to continually bring Silas to Christ.  We are going to present Silas here today.  We are going to represent him tomorrow.  We are going to model Christian behavior for him.  We are going to go through scripture with him.  We are going to pray for him every day.  We are going to raise him in the faith.

When Silas is old enough to recite the Apostles Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, we are going to be right here listening to him, because all this time we were helping him learn those.  We will have been feeding him spiritually.  The the Bishop will come and hear those same things from his lips, and the bishop will lay hands on Silas and ask God to continue to strengthen and bless the young man in grace.

We learn a lot of things from this gospel passage: we learn that Jesus loves those who cannot confess their faith yet.  We learn that we have to become like those simple people before we can enter the kingdom of God.  Most of all, we learn that we have a great responsibility to continually bring this child to Jesus, in every way we can, and as he grows up, God's grace in our lives ensures that we become external ministers for Silas, as God's Holy Spirit ministers to him at the same time from the inside.

Toler Family Update

One Month...

Yesterday, we celebrated one month in Mexico!  It is hard to believe that we have been here that long already.  We have so many blessing to count from this past month.  Thank you so much for your prayers and encouraging emails and messages.

A day at the pyrimids

We have learned so much this month and know that our learning has just begun.  We have learned that processes take longer here and bus drivers drive faster!  We’ve learned that bus number 29 GREEN does not follow the same route as 29 ORANGE.  We’ve learned that family movie night works just as well in Mexico as it did in the states.  

Family movie night in our living room

We’ve learned that a trip to McDonalds every now and then takes away a bit of the homesick blues.  We’ve learned to convert pesos to dollars in our head so we don’t have a heart attack when we spend $800 (pesos) on school supplies and shoes at Walmart (which is only about $60 US dollars).  We’ve learned that complete strangers can become family in a very short period of time.  We’ve learned to reheat pizza in a pot on the stove top.   

Setting up our fancy two burner stove!

We’ve learned that Skype isn’t a replacement for time spent with family far away, but it sure is a huge blessing to see their faces!  We’ve learned that sometimes all we need is an extra hug to make it through he day.  We've learned to love Puebla and the people who live here.  Most importantly, we’ve learned to trust God for everything.  

Being silly!

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8