Kingdom Vs. Empire

The book of Revelation is challenging to read and understand.  Do you read it literally, symbolically, metaphorically, or some other way?  Is it about the past, the present, the future, or all three?  What do you do with the violent and alarming images found within the book?  Do we ignore it and pretend the Bible ends with the book of Jude?  Or do we spend so much time in the book trying to understand “the end of the world”?

The book of Revelation is actually a book about the Kingdom of God and Empires in conflict.  It is a book about a world of beauty as we read about the self sacrificial love of Christ as he triumphs over evil, death, sin, the Satan, and hell.  

Veritas will explore Revelation this Fall in the series Kingdom vs. Empire from September 25-November 20.  

September 25:        A Vision of Beauty Revelation 1:1-4

October 2:            Lion and the Lamb: Revelation 5:1-10

October 9:            The Table: Meditations,  Simple Meal, Feetwashing, Communion

October 16:            The Lamb’s Roar: Revelation 1:9-11

October 23:            Holy War: Revelation 7:9, 14:18-20

October 30:            5th Sunday Day of Service

November 6:        Jerusalem Bride: Revelation 21:1-2

November 13:        End of the World as we know it. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

November 20:        Kingdom vs. Empire Question and Answer

So invite some friends to join you as we explore the book of Revelation in our series Kingdom vs. Empire.  

Surprise the World Week 3

This week at Veritas we explored the two L's in the BELLS Habits of Rhythm of Life.  And so we did something totally different than a normal sermon.  We do a group Lectio Divina.  So I didn't record the message this week.  

But here is the introduction of the message and then the way we did the Lecio Divina.  Feel free to use this as a guide to engage in the practice of Lectio Divina yourself.  

Today we continue our series inspired by the book by Michael Frost entitled Surprise the World.  The book used to have the title “Five Habits of Highly Missional People” and lays out 5 habits or 5 rhythms of life that missional followers of Jesus (actually each and every follower of Jesus is missional and if they aren’t they aren’t truly a follower of Jesus) live their life by.  5 Rhythms that shape, form, guide and help us become more like Jesus in our everyday lives.  These 5 Habits or Rhythm of Life that Frost lays out in Surprise the World is an acronym- BELLS.  

 

The first habit or rhythm that Matt Wheeler helped us explore together 2 weeks ago was the habit of Blessing.  The challenge in adding this rhythm of life to your life is to bless 3 peopleBlessing 3 people- 1 person from this community, 1 person who isn’t a Christian/follower of Jesus,  and 1 of your choice.  

 

Now what does it look like to bless someone each week.  There can be 3 different forms of blessing.  1.  Words of Affirmation.  2.  Acts of Kindness.  3.  Gifts.  Who might God be calling you to bless this week in one of these 3 ways both within this community and outside this community?  

 

The second habit of rhythm that we explored last week was the habit or rhythm of Eating.  The challenge in this rhythm of life is to eat with 3 people this week.  One from our community, one not from our community, and 1 of your choice.  This can take many forms including coffee, dinner, breakfastAt home, at a restaurant, at a coffeehouse, etc..

 

Today we are covering the next two habits or rhythm of life, both staring with the letter L.  The first one being listening.  The challenge of adding this habit or rhythm of life to your life is that you would spend one period of time each week listening to and for the Spirit’s voice.  Here are 4 pieces of advice as you seek to add this habit to your weekly life and schedule.  1.  Set a designated time.  2.  Eliminate distractions.  3.  Let God in.  4.  Follow God’s promptings.  

 

The second L habit or rhythm is learning Christ and the challenge is to spend one period of time each week learning Christ.  Here are 3 suggestions of ways of living out the habit or rhythm of learning Christ to your life.  1.  Study the Gospels.  2. Read books about Jesus.  3.  further viewing…watch some film version of the life of Jesus.  (See me for a list of books and films that you can read or watch)

 

So today’s “sermon” is a SURPRISE…and is not a traditional message/discussion that we normally have but a corporate way of seeking to live out these two habits or rhythms of life.  We will be spending this time together listening to the Spirit and learning Christ.  To seek to live out these two habits of listening and learning we will use an ancient spiritual discipline entitled Lectio Divina.  

 

Lectio Divina which is latin for divine reading, is a traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word. It does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the Living Word.

So let me run down how we will do Lectio Divina today using our text for the morning- Romans 1:1-6.  

  1. Lectio Divina Shared in Community

(A) Listening for the Gentle Touch of Christ the Word

(The Literal Sense) 

1. One person reads aloud (twice) the passage of scripture, as others are attentive to some segment that is especially meaningful to them. 

2. Silence for 1-2 minutes. Each hears and silently repeats a word or phrase that attracts. 

3. Sharing aloud: [A word or phrase that has attracted each person]. A simple statement of one or a few words. No elaboration.

(B) How Christ the Word speaks to ME

(The Allegorical Sense) 

4. Second reading of same passage by another person. 

5. Silence for 2-3 minutes. Reflect on “Where does the content of this reading touch my life today?” 

6. Sharing aloud: Briefly: “I hear, I see...”

(C) What Christ the Word Invites me to DO

(The Moral Sense)

7. Third reading by still another person. 

8. Silence for 2-3 minutes. Reflect on “I believe that God wants me to . . . . . . today/this week.” 

9. Sharing aloud: at somewhat greater length the results of each one's reflection. [Be especially aware of what is shared by the person to your right.] 

10. After full sharing, pray for the person to your right. 

Note: Anyone may “pass” at any time. If instead of sharing with the group you prefer to pray silently , simply state this aloud and conclude your silent prayer with Amen.

 

Art of Neighboring Week 1: Taking the Great Commandment Literally

So today I tried something for the first time in a long time, I recorded the message using the wonders of modern technology, my iPhone.  So from now on, instead of posting the text of the message, we'll be again posting the audio of the sermons, and we will probably have a page on our website devoted to the sermon audio as well.  

So take some time and listen to our first message in our Art of Neighboring Series, and leave some feedback.  Thanks.  

Dunker Punk Podcast

About a month and a half ago I attended the Church of the Brethren Church Planting Conference in Richmond, IN.  I got to share two workshops, shared about Veritas, and spent time building relationships.  I also got to sit down and record a podcast called The Dunker Punk Podcast.  I have attached the audio below of the entire podcast.  My part of the podcast starts around 8:30.  

Hope you enjoy the podcast.  

A Third Way to Follow Jesus Week 12: Church as missionary

As we wrap up our A Third Way to Follow Jesus series today, we are looking at one of my favorite themes of the last 12 weeks and using one of my favorite passages to do so.  

Over the last 12 weeks we have covered substantial ground and some very important topics.  Foundational themes and beliefs on what it truly means to follow after Jesus both as an individual but probably even more so communally.  

Just a quick recap on what it means to be a Third Way Follower of Jesus (and a Third Way Faith Community).  Being a Third way follower of Jesus and being a part of a third way faith community means having a high view of the Bible, emphasizing the New Testament, seeing Jesus as central to all else, the necessity of a believer’s church, the all out importance of discipleship, an insistence that this is no place in church for division based on class, race, socioeconomic status, etc…, that church is a covenant community, that we are to be separate from the “world”, visibly counter cultural, living out Shalom in the world, and the need for faith communities and followers of Jesus to be servants.  

Today, we cover our last theme, that of church as missionary church.  To be a SENT church.  So let me ask you to share an image, a word, a simple brief thought when you hear the word missionary.  

All of us have some kind of base reaction to the word Missionary.  It might be a good reaction or a bad reaction.  But we all have them. And as a church we need to recover what it truly means to be a missionary church.  To begin to see not only ourselves as individuals but even more importantly to see this community, the Veritas community as a SENT community, sent into our world as missionaries who are about living out, and pointing others to the rule and reign of Jesus.  As the British Missionary, Missiologist and Theologian Lesslie Newbigin said, “The church lives in the midst of history as a sign, instrument and foretaste of the reign of God.”  We need to begin to think of the church as a Movie Trailer for the Kingdom.  

To look at this idea of the church as a missionary, let’s turn to John 20:19-23 and see what it can say to us gathered together here as the Veritas community about being missional in our context  


John 20:19-23 says, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”   After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me,I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

The first thing we notice in this, the third resurrection appearance of Jesus to various disciples is the simple phrase “on the evening of the first day of the week.”  John is making a connoting point with his hearers.  The connection between creation and new creation. The connection between Genesis 1 and 2 and John 20.  The first day of creation and the first day of new creation (resurrection).  The story of Adam and Eve and the story of the New Adam, Jesus.  John also point back to Genesis in this story when we read these words, “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  In Genesis 1 we see God breathing his Spirit into Adam and bringing him to life.  In John 20 we see Jesus breathing new life and new creation into those gathered fearful disciples.  The church is called to the work of new creation.  To be sent into the world as missionaries to be about the work that Jesus started in his life, death, and most importantly, his resurrection.  The work of new creation.  Jesus rose again to set the world right and he allows us to partner with him in seeing that this world is set right again.  Or as the Church of the Brethren tag line goes, “Continuing the work of Jesus: Peacefully, Simply, Together.”  

So the disciples are gathered together on the first day of the week with the doors locked, because they feared that they were next.  That the Jewish religious leaders were now coming for them, and they would end up experiencing the same thing that Jesus experienced- dying on a cross.  To say that mission wasn’t possible is an understatement.   The doors weren’t even open to Jesus.  Jesus had to burst in on them through closed doors, not open ones.  You see before a community of disciples will ever break out of their closed rooms, closed sanctuaries, and closed church buildings, or at least open doors to others to come in- the church must have open doors to Jesus.  Too often we live fearfully behind locked doors just like the disciples.  What are the locked doors that are keeping you from engaging in the mission of Jesus and His Kingdom?  What fears do you have that hold you back from stepping out into the world to be a missionary for Jesus and the moving forward of his Kingdom?    

Whatever lock doors that you hide behind.  Whatever fears keep you from being engaged in the mission of Jesus, His Kingdom, and His rule and reign, Jesus has a word for you.  The same words that he spoke to the disciples in that room on that first night of the week.  He says “Peace be with you.”

Jesus comes and stands in their midst, through locked doors and all.  He comes into their midst not with words of condemnation about how they failed him in his hour of need.  No he meets them with outstretched arms and words of Shalom on his lips.  It is in this place of abject failure that Shalom comes to the disciples.  And so maybe you feel like you have hidden behind locked doors.  Maybe you have failed to partner with the resurrected Jesus in the work of new creation. Maybe you have lived a life of fear and being afraid of what God may be calling you to do, as you begin to engage in his mission in this world.  Know that he has words of Shalom on his lips for you.  But he calls us out of our fear, out from our locked doors, and into his mission where, according to 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear.”  

Jesus speaks words of shalom to his disciples, and then to prove to them that he is indeed Jesus, he shows them his hands and sides and then reiterates his words of shalom to them.  They are blown away by the fact that Jesus, the one that they had seen crucified only 3 days before was standing in their midst.  He had defeated death, evil, and hell by his death and resurrection.  And he stands in their midst and calls them into his mission of new creation.  

His words resound from that closed room, down through the centuries, and into our space this morning.  His words, his challenge, his calling for those of us who would call ourselves followers of Jesus.  He commissions and sends the disciples (and us) with these words, “As the Father has sent me,I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  Third way followers of Jesus believe that this call in John 20:21 from Jesus means that the church is commissioned to go into the world and all society, and to make disciples of all people, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe the commandments.  The evangelistic imperative that Jesus sends us out into the world is given to all who believe.  

In this commissioning we see the Trinitarian call to mission.  All 3 persons of the Trinity are present in that locked room.  We see God the Father sending Jesus the Son.  We see God the Father and God the Son sending the Holy Spirit.  And we see God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit sending the church (those early disciples).  This is another example of God the missionary God sending the missionary church into the world.  To live out the Missio Dei (the Mission of God) in the world.  God’s church doesn’t have a mission in the world.  God’s Mission in the world has a church, and the early disciples were part of the Missio Dei, and we gathered in this room today are also part of the Missio Dei. The church of Jesus Christ is called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission. To adopt a missionary stance to the communities in which we live.  

One of the problems that we have in the United States is the wrongly held belief that we send missionaries elsewhere, and to other countries.  That we don’t need missionaries here in the US.  The church has lost the idea and concept that we are a missionary church.  We have lost the idea that when we walk out those doors we are entering into the mission field.  That when you enter your neighborhood, that is a mission field.  That when you get up and go to work in the morning, that you are a missionary in your workplace.  That when you go home to your family, that also is a mission field.  Everywhere we go, we are in the midst of a mission field.  And God has commissioned us to go into the world, to be a blessing, to share the good news ofJesus, His Kingdom and His rule and reign and to share Shalom and the work of new creation with the world.  

But we aren’t living out the Missio Dei, the mission of God alone.  Look at what happens after he verbally sends his disciples.  The text says, “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  When we go out into the world to live out the Missio Dei, the Holy Spirit is with us.  He is already working where we are going.  He is working within us.  And he is going with us.  The disciples were gathered together in a locked room, fearful of the Jewish religious leaders.   Mission wasn’t even a thought or a possibility.  In a real way the church was still 50 days away.  But when Jesus showed up in their midst, in the middle of the locked room, everything changed.  When he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit” fear gave way to faith.  The locked doors flung open.  Mission was now not just a thought or a dream, but a commissioned and equipped reality.  They had the power to live out the Kingdom of God in the world.  They had the Holy Spirit to help them live out the Missio Dei.  You see the point and purpose of receiving the Holy Spirit is not 1.  a spiritual experience. or 2.  Some type of set apart, better than others, more spiritual then others.  No, the point of receiving the Holy Spirit is so that disciples of Jesus can do in and for the world what Jesus had been doing in Israel.  To speak and live Shalom in the world instead of condemnation.  To continue the work of New Creation that Jesus started through his resurrection.  To live out the Missio Dei in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our places of work, in our homes, in our community, and in the wider world.  To be sent into the world, as ambassadors of reconciliation, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5.  Partnering with Jesus in the work of Shalom.  Working for Shalom between God and people.  Working for Shalom between each other (as followers of Jesus).  Working for Shalom between people.  Working for Shalom between humanity and the creation itself.  Working for Shalom in the wider world, between people groups, nations, etc..  Being sent as Shalom-makers in our world.  That is what we are sent for.  That is what God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit commissioned us for.  You and I are sent.  This church is sent.  The church of Jesus Christ is sent.  

So let’s talk about what it looks like to live out a sent reality.  Let’s took at the Scripture and see what stands out to us and what questions it raises in our minds.  Let’s talk about the locked doors and fears that we have regarding the missio dei and being sent into the world.  Let’s talk about who God may be sending you and our community to.  And let’s talk about what God is saying to you and us and what we should do about it. 

A Third Way to Follow Jesus Week 11: Servanthood

If you were to come up with a list of attributes that make someone great in the eyes of the world, what would be on that list?  Let’s name a few things.  (ask for input)  No doubt that list would include a repeatable vocation, maybe power or position, money, status, well known, intellectual, savvy, and a take charge leader.  Now let’s come up with a list of attributes that make someone great in the Kingdom of God.  (ask for input).  Probably at the top of this list of what makes someone great in the Kingdom of God is the attribute of servanthood.  Being a person who serves others selflessly.  

As we have seen so much of the time, not only in our series A Third Way to Follow Jesus, but especially all throughout the gospels, that the values of the Kingdom of God are radically upside-down, countercultural, and fundamentally different than the values of the Kingdom of God.  And our text for this morning shows the radical difference between what is viewed as great in the Kingdom of this world versus what is real greatness as defined by the Kingdom of God and our King, King Jesus.  

Our text this morning is found in Mark 10:35-45 and is the story of how James and John were arguing again over who was the greatest.  Apparently this is something that not only they, but the entire group of disciples regularly argued about.  And I would have to say that if you spend your time arguing over who is greater, than suffice it to say you are definitely not great, especially in the Kingdom of God.  

So turning to Mark 10:35-45 let’s see what this story from the gospel of Mark has to say to us today 2,000 years ago about this third way of following Jesus.  

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So to truly understand how much the disciples are missing the point, we need to understand the context and the verses that happen before this one.  Jesus continually shares with his disciples about his coming suffering.  In fact, 3 times in this section of Mark Jesus had shared about his suffering, and his upcoming death at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders as well as the Roman empire.  But each time the disciples just never got it.  They got his mission all wrong.  You see, they believed that they were part of a movement, by following the Messiah, that would overthrow Rome and set up an earthly Kingdom ruling from Jerusalem.  James and John wanted to make this march to Jerusalem to Jesus crucifixion into a march of glory, and it was in an upside down way, so they could rule on either side of him as King.  

And so in the midst of their arguing over who was the greatest, James and John come to Jesus and ask him a question, or actually have a demand of Jesus.  Here is the dialogue between James and John and Jesus, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” . “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”   Now talk about boldness.  In fact, later on we see the other disciples getting indignant with James and John.  Not because they were the ones who demanded it, but because the other disciples wanted those positions for themselves.  James and John believed that Jesus was going, as I said, to deliver the people from the hands of the Roman Empire and that he would establish his Kingdom/Government in Jerusalem and they wanted the most prestigious seats in his Kingdom.  The place of honor was the seat on the right and the place of second honor was the seat on the left.  There was no place in their theology for a suffering, servant Messiah.  They thought in terms of self-glorification and not self-sacrificial service.  

Jesus responds to their demands by saying,  “You don’t know what you are asking,  Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  When Jesus refers to the cup and baptism he is referring to his upcoming suffering, violence done to him, and his death.  But I wonder what James and John thought that the cup and baptism referred to, if not suffering and death.  Perhaps they thought that he cup was the cup of rulership.  Perhaps they thought that baptism was a physical baptism, a cleansing ritual in preparation for kingship and rule.  But we know that whatever they thought it meant, that they got it wrong, again.  

And so whatever they believed that Jesus meant by cup and baptism, they affirm the fact that they could drink the cup that Jesus drank and be baptized with the same baptism that Jesus was baptized with.  I am not sure they would have so quickly answered Jesus with the affirmative if they actually truly understood that cup and baptism meant suffering, pain, and possibly even death for them.  In fact, Jesus does say that they will, in fact, drink the cup and be baptized into suffering.  Tradition has it that James was the first apostle to be martyred and while John never died, he was punished and tradition even says that he escaped an attempted murder by immersion in a vat of boiling oil.  

Jesus then responds to them this way, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”  Now so often we think this means that in his glory, and when his Kingdom comes, these seats will be filled.  And I believe there is truth to that.  But I wonder if Jesus was again referring to his coming crucifixion and that in some upside down Kingdom way this was the coming of His Kingdom and His glory. And that when Jesus “sits” in his glory with one on his right, and one on his left, he is referring to being crucified with a thief on his right and a thief on his left.  

So the disciples go back to arguing about who is greatest and who should sit on his right and left and Jesus basically says, “Look guys you are so worried about sitting in places of honor, position, power and authority.  You are oppressed under the thumb of the empire, that you are dreaming about being on top and oppressing others.  You think my Kingdom is all about glory, strength, power and position. And you are partly right n that to be great in the Kingdom you need to have a position.  The position of a servant.”  You want to be great in my Kingdom, that means you are a servant.  You want to be be first, then be a slave.  

Jesus, the only one who had the right to be served, worshipped, given the place of power, prestige, and position, was the one who, according to Philippians 2, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross!”  

Just as Jesus came to be a servant to all, third way followers of Jesus should also serve one another and others in the name of Jesus.  In a Kingdom community status, money, power, and position are not prerequisites for leadership, humble service is the greatest and only prerequisite.  You want to be a leader and great in the Kingdom of God, pick up a towel and wash someone’s feet (both literally and figuratively).  Humble yourself and put others before you.  Serve, not for the good feelings you get from it.  Serve, not because it looks good on a resume or college application.  Serve, not because it looks good on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.  Serve, for the benefit of others.  Serve, because you want to model your life on the greatest person who ever lived.  Serve, because Jesus was a servant.  Serve, because you want to be like him.  Serve, because that is what it looks like to be truly great in this upside down, radical, countercultural Kingdom that we call the Kingdom of God.  

Now this attitude of being a servant, putting others before yourself, of humbling yourself and stooping to wash the feet of another, takes a deep commitment to Jesus, His Kingdom, and being filled and led by the Holy Spirit.  It won’t come naturally.  The flesh will fight it.  The flesh will scream, “Me first.”  But the more we submit to our King.  The more we engage in the spiritual discipline of service and servanthood, the more it will become part of who we are.  One of the things that we need to know and understand regarding service is that it is a spiritual discipline, just like prayer, Scripture Reading and meditation, worship, and fasting.  And just like we need a steady diet of prayer, Scripture, meditation, fasting, and worship to become more Christ-like, we need a steady diet of serving the lost, the least, the needy to become more Christ-like.  The flesh will never truly go away.  But the more we yield to King Jesus in the area of servanthood, the more we will begin looking like our King who wore a towel instead of a crown.  Our King who bowed his knees while washing the feet of His disciples.  Our King who took on the form and role of the lowest servant.  The King who truly defines greatness in the Kingdom.  

Let me share with you in closing before our conversation and discussion time a brief story about someone who was great in the Kingdom of God and truly understood what it meant to be a servant and a slave to the least, the lost, the dying and broken.  I am of course talking about Mother Teresa.  There are many many stories one could tell when it comes to her life of service to not only the needy in India, but more specially to her service in the ways of Jesus.Shane Claiborne, who spent a summer in the slums of Calcutta with Mother Teresa, wrote the following about one of his experiences there: ”People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Sometimes it's like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery—like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget—her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning in Mass, I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn't going to ask, of course. "Hey Mother, what's wrong with your feet?”  One day a sister said to us, "Have you noticed her feet?" We nodded, curious. She said: "Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet." Years of loving her neighbor as herself deformed her feet.

So let’s take a deeper look into the Scripture together and see what stands out to you.  Let’s talk about questions, comments, and insights that you draw from the text.  Let’s talk concretely about ways that you can serve this week.  And let’s end our time together praying for opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus by serving someone this week. 

A Third Way to Follow Jesus Week 10: Peace is at the heart of the gospel

Dirk Willems ran for his life! The year was 1569. The place was Asperen, Holland. Dirk had been accosted by a guard who meant to arrest him. As Dirk sped across the frosty ground trying to make his escape, he came to a body of water covered by thin ice. He darted onto the dangerous ice, endeavoring to evade capture. But suddenly he became aware that the guard, too, had followed him onto the ice but with terrible consequence; the thin ice had broken leaving the guard flailing futilely in the icy water!

Dirk quickly turned around and aided the drowning man, dragging him safely to the shore. The grateful guard intended to allow Dirk to go free, but a stern magistrate would hear nothing of it. He reminded the drenched man he was under oath to deliver criminals to justice. Dirk was bound and sent off to prison, interrogated, and tortured in an unsuccessful effort to make him renounce his faith. He was tried and found guilty of having been rebaptized, of holding secret meetings in his home, and of allowing baptism there—all of which he freely confessed. He was sentenced to execution by fire and died a cruel martyr’s death.

Why did Dirk not just continue on towards freedom?  Why did he turn around and actually help out the person who was coming to arrest him?  Why did he save the man from drowning, because we all know that if the tables were turned the man would have probably let Dirk drown?  

Dirk was seeking to live out this third way faith that we have been talking about in our A Third Way to Follow Jesus series.  Dirk was seeking to live out the reality that we will be talking about today, the fact that peace is at the heart of the gospel.  And that living out the gospel in the world includes a commitment to peace.  And as part of that idea, means that we are called to love our enemies.  Dirk exemplified that belief, a belief that led him to save his captor, even though he knew it would mean his death.  He truly lived out the words of the Scripture that we are going to look at today.

Today, we are looking at the gospel of Jesus which includes a commitment to the way of peace.  We’ll explore what it means to be committed to the way of peace, defining the word peace, seeing how this commitment is definitely a third way of following Jesus, and explore our Scripture together.  

Before we get to the Scripture we need to define a few things first, including what peace is, the two other ways regarding peace and what a third way would look like.  

Now many of you already know where this is heading.  The word that we translate peace is actually the word Shalom which is a Hebrew word that is more holistic than just peace.  In fact the definition for Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Shalom comes from the root verb shalom meaning to be complete, perfect and full.   Another definition that I found that I like is Shalom is the way that things should be.  So Shalom is so much fuller than our english word peace.  

Now so often when we talk about peace we limit it and we limit the scope of it.  Often when some evangelical Christians talk about peace it is just related to peace between God and myself and maybe peace between myself and others.  Other times other Christians, more what we would call progressive Christians, when they talk about peace they might include peace between nations, peace between humanity and creation, and maybe between God and ourselves.  But in this case it isn’t either/or ion regards to peace but a both/and.  Shalom really affects everything regarding our faith.  It includes but is not limited to peace between God and myself.  It includes but is not limited to peace within myself.  It includes but is not limited to peace between myself and other people.  It includes but is not limited to peace between humanity and the creation itself. It includes but is not limited to peace between nations.  It includes but is not limited to peace between all of humanity.  

Third way followers of Jesus, unlike other Christians, would believe that this peace position is not optional, not marginal, and not mainly related to the military.  On the basis of Scripture third way followers of Jesus renounce violence in all human relationships. We see peace and reconciliation- the way of love- as being at the heart of the gospel.  God has given his followers this ethic , not just as a point to ponder, but as a commandment to obey.  It was costly to Jesus, it may be costly to us, and it was definitely costly to Dirk Willems. This way of peace is a way of life.  Peace is truly at the heart of the gospel and as followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we need to be committed to finding non-violent alternatives and learn how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.  Part of living out this upside down, radical, call of Jesus- the true Prince of Peace means doing the hard work, and the difficult call to love your enemies, a call that Dirk Willems lived and died for.  

So let’s now jump into exploring the Scripture that Dirk Willems lived out in his life and even more so in his death, that of Luke 7:27-36 which says, ““But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.   But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

The first thing we need to notice is the context of Luke 6.  Now right before this teaching on loving your enemies, Jesus is sharing some Beatitudes, in what is called the Sermon on the Plain.  This teaching is very similar to the teaching of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5 that we looked at last week.  To get to the place where you can live out this teachingwe have to live our lives following Jesus and his upside down, countercultural Kingdom.  We need the Spirit residing in us to give us the strength to walk this teaching on loving your enemies out, because we won’t have it on our own.  Even to us who seek to follow Him, we can struggle with these teachings, because they don’t seem to make any sense to us.  To live out peace in the midst of violence, hatred, war, strife, and conflict, takes someone who is committed to Jesus, His Kingdom, His gospel, being filled with the Holy Spirit and the fact that this King, His Kingdom and his gospel includes a commitment to the way of peace.  

Now when Jesus was calling his hearers to love their enemies, everyone knew who he meant.  He meant the Roman Empire.  The empire that invaded their land.  Ruled over their land and people.  And ruled by the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, which even though peace is in the name, wasn’t a peace that was brought on by non-violence.  Oh no, the Pax Romana was brought on by the threat of violence, death and execution if you got out of line.  So Jesus wasn’t just calling his disciples to love those who they had a minor disagreement with (though that is included in his call). No, he was calling his disciples to actively resist the call to hate those who hated them, to actively resist the violence that was being done to them by not being violent back, to actively resist the call for revenge, and justice by the sword.  And how were they to actively resist without giving into the call to fight fight with fight, violence with more violence?  Let’s look at the second half of verse 27 and also verse 28, “do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  Talk about upside down.  A call to live out the gospel of peace, means doing good, blessing, and praying, all for your enemies.  I would have to say that this is probably one of the most, if not the most, easiest and shockingly simple Scripture to understand.  There is really no wiggle room at all.  But just as shockingly easy to understand, it is shockingly hard to put into practice and to live it out.  

We follow a God, a King, who instead of killing his enemies in order to build his empire or his Kingdom, chose to let his enemies shed his blood in order to build his Kingdom.  We are called to respond to enemies in the same way.  To not respond to enemies in the way that they respond to us, but we respond to them in love.  The love that God has for them, living and breathing through us.  Because think about it.  If Jesus treated his enemies with hate, and violence, we would be the ones that would be on that end of things…because Scripture says that while we were enemies with Him, he died for us.  We are the ones that he bled and died for, even when we were the enemy.  

We follow a God, a King who could have called down legions of angels to defend him from dying on the cross.  We follow a God who could have used violence to “defeat” his enemies.  We follow a God who did defeat his enemies not with violence but with self-sacrificing love.  Jesus knew and modeled the fact that use of violence is incompatible, especially lethal violence, with Christian discipleship.  And if we follow Jesus- one who embodied the call of Shalom in all relationships, then we are to also be on the forefront of the movement of Shalom in this world.  

The call to Shalom- to peace and to reconciliation- then effects every area of our lives and how we live.  Because of Jesus love for us, we can actually have Shalom deep within our spirit.  Because of Jesus love for us and for others, we can actually have Shalom with others- even those who are our enemies.  Notice I said Shalom but maybe not reconciliation…after all the Bible does say in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  So true reconciliation may not be possible or even something that we should want.  

Because of Jesus love for us and for his world, we can actually have Shalom with the creation itself.  We can work towards the renewal of all things…which includes the very creation itself.  Christians, because of God’s call of Shalom, should be on the forefront of taking care of God’s creation- of his call in being stewards of his creation.  

Because Jesus love for us and for the world, and all humanity, he calls us to live Shalom, and work for it on a national and world level.  We should be on the forefront of the movement to find nonviolent and creative solutions to conflict.  However, all too often, Christians are sometimes the first people to run to war.  In a Gallup Poll in 2008 it showed that the least supportive groups of people toward the Iraq war were non-Christians and people with no religion, and the most supportive for the Iraq War were Protestants and frequent churchgoers.  How in the world did we get here…with the call of Jesus to loving your enemy, praying for those who persecute you, and a call to non-violence- to a place where Christians favor a war?  Favor killing people that our country calls our enemies?  Too me, it looks like we have lost the true narrative of Shalom that runs through the entirety of Scripture and we have lost the calling of Jesus to love our enemies, to respond with non-violence, turning the other cheek and love.  And no I am not expecting our country to be non-violent, turn the other cheek, lover of enemy- because we don’t live in a Christian country and they don’t follow the Kingdom of God, they live in the Kingdom of this world.  

We need more Christians who will work for Shalom through organizations like Christian Peacemaker Teams.  More Christians who will work for Shalom through organizations like the Evangelical Environmental Network or Green Faith.  We need more Christians who will work for Shalom in victim-offended reconciliation programs.  We need more Christians who will work for Shalom in conflict meditation services like On Earth Peace (within the Church of the Brethren).  We need more Christians who truly believe that peace/Shalom is truly at the heart of the gospel of Jesus and in His Kingdom.  

But what does this look like on the ground?  Let’s spend some more time in the Scriptures and see what stands out to us.  Let’s dialogue around what ways God may be calling each of us into his work of Shalom in our lives in and in the world.  And let’s talk about what God might be saying to our community about being more intentional about working for Shalom in Lancaster and in the wider world. 

1.  Take a few moments and read Luke 6:27-36.  What stands out to you as you read the text?  What questions, comments, insights, etc..does it bring to mind?  What questions do you have about the message?

2.  In what ways do you feel God calling you into the work of Shalom in the world?  In what areas of Shalom (self, God, others, creation, world, etc..) do you feel called to engage in?

3.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what are we going to do about it?  How can Veritas be more involved in Shalom-making in Lancaster and in the world-at-large?