Pastor Bill's Page

The picture on the left is from our 2008 Haiti Mission trip. We met her in 2007 on our trip to Bon a Dos. Naomi was unable to walk because of rickets. Thanks to the generosity of Gloria Dei members and the Tomah community we've been able to pay for her to be cared for in a facility for handicapped women. The picture on the right is from our visit to the center in February 2009. She is in school, receives a health diet, and has been able to walk a few steps without crutches and has developed a strong Christian faith. Rod Wray, the tall man next to me, is a missionary in Haiti. He and his wife Debbie have taken Naomi into their hearts and visit her often. They tell us that Naomi prays every day. Check out the pictures page to see more of our 2009 Haiti mission.

Senior Pastor: William Rice srpastor@charter.com

What does it mean that Christ has risen from the dead? We come to celebrate this today and really every time we gather as Christians we do so because we claim to believe that Jesus died and rose again. But do we understand what this means for our life right now, how this should form our lives every day?

I ask you to consider this. If what we come to celebrate today is the truth – if there was a man, born to woman, who grew to adulthood like us, who was put to death, his body growing cold and placed in a tomb, and then came back to life – life in that physical body and yet living on a different level now than the rest of us, a level where decay no longer existed, then this is the most important life and the most important event in the whole history of humanity. Nothing can be its equal. It means that life can extend beyond death. It also means that this one who accomplished this has a special authority – an authority greater than that of anyone else who has ever set foot in this universe. He ranks above every emperor, above every teacher, above every general. No one can stand alongside this Jesus. So what does that say to you and to me?

1. Because He has the authority to do just what he says – he can grant to us the forgiveness of our sins and the same eternal life that he has achieved for us.

The human situation, by itself, is not so great. Let’s not pretend anything else. There is evidence that we are created in the image of God and there is more than enough evidence that we do not live up to that. We sin. But we are not without hope because we have a God of immense love and power. Paul states it simply and well:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NIV)

The first part of that is not emphasized like it once was – but it means this: To disobey the one who gives us life, to live not according to his will, but to some other standard, results in death. This death refers to being separated from God, it is the lack of all that is good, it is the most miserable existence one could have. Jesus speaks of those who will be thrown out and “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” I understand that the original phrase referred to the deepest grief, the most profound regret and sorrow that one could have. That is what turning away from the Source of Life brings.

But God offers us something else. We cannot achieve full obedience, but God wants to gives us life through the dying he accomplished in Christ. He does the dying so that we can accept his gift of living. As the One who has died and lives again, he has the power to do this for us and to offer it to any who “repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”

When we trust in him, he has the power to forgive our sin and give us the same eternal life. Seven weeks after the resurrection, on that Day of Pentecost, when Peter concluded the first testimony to the Risen Christ, those who heard it asked what they should do. Peter’s answer is true then and now:

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

In Christ and in Christ alone is there any hope for our sin to be forgiven. Our response now is no different than it was then: to repent, to be willing to submit to his will and to his grace and to receive life.

And [Christ] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15 NIV)

The expectation of a full faith is that one is “in Christ.” That’s one of Saint Paul’s favorite phrases to express the relationship believers should have with Jesus. If that is what we believe to be truth, then our lives should be formed by this truth.

If the life we are promised comes only from Christ, then we live in Christ and should live for Christ. Ourselves, our agendas no longer matter, but only the truth of the one who died for us. Because he achieved that which we could not accomplish for ourselves, then we live in this new life when we live in him. The Lord is to be everything to the believer.

Of course, we never achieve this either, but that’s the goal. The more we are centered in Christ, the fuller is our life – again, that’s only logical. The closer we get to the source of life, the greater our life will be.

Now what does this mean for right now? We can put it this way – everything is going to be okay.

Does it mean that those in Christ will have no problems? Does it mean that every day of the believer’s life is filled with joy? Of course not! A loving heart can be a broken heart. Even in Paul’s day, he saw that Christians would not always be well received. Near the end of his life he wrote to Timothy:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12 NIV)

Not only do those in Christ still struggle with really accepting Him and following Him, but we live in a world that often rejects Him and always struggles with Him. We seek to be that fountain that overflows to enrich all around us, but we should never be surprised if that water is sometimes thrown back in our faces. The accounts of the church are filled with accounts of martyrdom. But standing for truth always comes at a price. Satan is not weak, but neither can he ultimately win. Paul further told his young friend:

⁵But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. ⁶For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:5-8 NIV)

The final word is always the Lord’s. Death could not contain Jesus and neither does defeat or decay or death have ultimate sway over those who have opened their hearts to Him.

A pastor told the story of being with a woman from his church, sitting in the emergency room because her 61 year old husband had just suffered a massive heart attack. The nurse came out and said, “I’m sorry. We couldn’t save him. We did everything we could.”

This woman had buried their 27 year old son seven months before this. Now she’d lost her husband, and she said to her pastor. “I’m going to be okay.”

There was pain in her heart. She cried. She had lonely days. But she trusted the world of faith, the risen Christ who could forgive sins and grant eternal life to those who were in Him. She believed that the day of reunion would come with her son and with her husband. She was going to be okay.

Well, do you believe – do you open your heart and let the Holy Spirit help you to believe? It is the risen life that can fulfill your life. The author of life lives. He has the authority to forgive sins and to grant eternal life.

“Dear God, I admit that I have sinned against you. I believe Jesus died and rose again from the dead to pay the penalty for my sins. With this prayer, I receive Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. Please forgive me of all my sins in His name. Thank you God for cleansing me of all my sin and giving me a brand new life, peace and eternal life through Messiah Jesus. Please help me to live my life for you and to be faithful in learning to trust you and love you more each day. Amen.”

³⁸Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴²there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Our text for this day, when we remember and honor some of the outstanding women of the Bible, is the very well known episode of Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary. We often see this as a contrast between the worker – Martha – and the more thoughtful and studious or even “dreamer” – Mary. Those names have found their way into our language. Most people know what we mean when we that we need to balance our Martha and our Mary. And, as we usually understand this lesson, that is wise. But let’s set that usual view aside because it is not precisely accurate. The problem is not Martha’s work but her focus. She is not as centered in Christ as is her sister and that shows itself in a life that is worried and distracted. Christ calls us into a close relationship with him as the center of our lives. When we have that kind of relationship, the work, real effective work, will be the fruits.

We need also to see that this is not an issue of salvation but of sanctification. Both Martha and Mary value Jesus. Martha welcomes him into their home. In terms of the church today, we’d say both Mary and Martha are good church members. They will both receive the resurrection to eternal life. They have those mansions reserved in their names. But Mary is growing more in faith than is Martha. Mary knows and experiences more of the fruits of faith in this life. And this is what Christ offers to all the Martha’s today. It’s not a matter of going to heaven. Your welcoming of Christ assures that. But it is a matter of knowing more of how Christ’s presence in your life can transform you to be more like Christ and to know those fruits of the spirit in your life right now. Paul lists these as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV) – and is there any one of us who could not use a greater harvest of these?

Let me first confess that I have much more understanding of Martha than I do of Mary. Staying busy is important to me. Getting things done matters. I have both written and mental to do list that I’ve never reached the bottom of. Over the years, I’ve been given good advice about taking time to read scripture and to pray and just to enhance my personal relationship with the Lord. I’ve done these. But too often, these just become something else on the list to get done; and nearly as often, things with not quite the priority on my to do list as getting another sermon ready or going to see someone in the hospital or preparing for another meeting or answering e-mail or spending time with someone who dropped by the office or even spending time with some fairly meaningless activity.

Martha’s problem is not her work. Jesus does not tell her that she is working too hard. He says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.”

Jesus offers something better. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Mary is centered. She has the chance to be with her Lord and to learn and she will not let anything distract her. She gives not just of her time – she gives of her full self. It is this Mary who will pour the jar of pure nard on Jesus just before he enters Jerusalem.

Why should we be like Mary and value Jesus so much? In two of the often quoted teachings that were recorded by the Apostle John, Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 NIV

And later he revealed to the disciples, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NIV

The Word of God shows us a savior who offers us something better than we so often know. In spending time with him, in time when we too sit at the feet of Rabbi Jesus, when we learn from his word, when we trust that he is truly portrayed in the Gospels; then, like Mary, we will have chosen the better part that will not be taken from us. The Lord’s ministry transforms. He heals us. He restores us. He re-forms into his own image.

How do we do this? As a church, Gloria Dei can and has and will offer times of Bible study and fellowship. Taking advantage of these can be a time of sitting at the feet of Rabbi Jesus. But there is something better. Willow Creek Community Church, one of the great mega-churches in our nation, took an intense survey of themselves and of some other congregations and learned that programs of a congregation can only take someone so far in the process of being a Christ follower. Attending worship, serving in ministry, joining a small group are all significant, but those who had the best relationship with Christ were those who spent time on their own with their Lord.

Haddon Robinson has had a long career as a professor of preaching at several prominent seminaries shares this from his own days as a student.

When I was in seminary, a pastor from a Christian Reformed church in Chicago came to the campus. One evening he told us the story of a couple in his church, a mother and her son. The father had died when the boy was young. The mother and son had a very special relationship. This was back before television, and folks would spend evenings listening to the radio or reading to one another. They both enjoyed listening to good music.

In his early twenties, he met a young woman at the church, fell in love with her, and they decided to be married. Back then, during World War II, housing in our large cities was very difficult to get and the mother, "We have a two-story house. I can make an apartment for myself in the second story. You and your bride can live in the first story. I only ask is that we spend some time together because I'm going to miss the reading and the music."

The couple married. For a while, the son stopped by a couple of times a week. But eventually days and actually weeks went by with only a call from downstairs or a brief glimpse.

On the mother's birthday, the young man bought her lovely dress. She opened the package and looked at the dress."Oh, Son, thank you. I appreciate so much what you've done."

He said, "Mother, you don't fool me. We've been together too long. What's wrong?"

The woman turned and opened her closet. She said, "Son, I have enough dresses there to last me for the rest of my life. I guess all I want to say is that I don't want your dress. I want you."

Out of this quaint story of long ago, I hear God saying that to me. With all of our business, we better simplify our lives because, ultimately, God doesn't want your life as much as he wants you.[1]

That is the difference between Mary and Martha. Yes, there is work that needs to be done. And it will get done. Luther is often quoted as saying that he had so much to do today that he needed to spend more time in prayer. Let’s hear the invitation of Jesus. Spend time sitting at the feet of Rabbi Jesus. If we get our focus right we will not be so worried and distracted and we will better know that full life he offers.

[1] Haddon Robinson, "Don't Just Do Something, Sit There," Preaching Today, Tape No. 138.

- - - - -

Romans 3:19-28

Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, likes to share this story as an illustration of how challenging it is for us to trust God.

A famous tightrope walker once strung a cable across Niagara Falls from the American side all the way to the Canadian side. To the applause of thousands of people, he would walk across that tightrope right on the very edge of the falls, the rushing, cascading waters thundering underneath him. He would walk back and forth, people applauding wildly. Then to further wow the crowds, he would put a blindfold on and go back and forth. Then he would ride a bicycle back and forth, and then he would push a wheelbarrow back and forth. Every day, people came out to watch him. He quite simply was the greatest.

One day while pushing the wheelbarrow back and forth, he called out to the crowd on one end, inquiring whether or not they thought he could successfully push the wheelbarrow across with a human being riding in the wheelbarrow. The crowd went berserk: "Yes! Yes! You are the greatest." To which he responded, "Then someone volunteer. You come right up here, single file, form a line, and get in the wheelbarrow to prove your trust in my ability." A deafening silence overtook the crowd. There were no takers.[1]

We are asked to trust God with something even more important than our lives. God wants us to trust Him with the care and ultimate safety of our eternal souls. In many ways, this Reformation Sunday is really about doing just that. In many ways, being a Christian is about doing just this.

As we look at the lessons for Reformation Day, I want to emphasize two things: Luther’s journey to a true faith in Christ and how his experience points our lives to that same faith.

On this day, Lutherans and some other Protestants all over the world remember the events that historians credit with the official beginning of the Protestant Reformation. It was on 31 October 1517, that Dr. Martin Lutheran, professor at Wittenburg University, nailed 95 theses to the door of the castle church. His statements challenged the claim of Roman Catholic Church to be the final authority that defined Christian faith.

This was not a casual act. It came from the very depth of what Luther understood to be truth – truth that was revealed to us by God, truth that defined God, the only truth, through which humanity could know real freedom from sin and real hope for eternal life.

The walk to the church door was only a few of the many steps Luther had taken to get to this point. Luther’s early relationship with God was very troubled. He had lived trying his very best to please God. He did all the things that Church told him to do. He prayed. He fasted. He made a pilgrimage to Rome. He confessed every sin he could recall. He even beat himself. Yet here was no peace. He knew he was failing to please God.

Luther had an unusual commitment to excel in the practice of faith, but his practices were not that different from others of his time. Too many had come to think that faith was things you did. You went to the required worship services. You made offerings to help the church. You engaged in holy activities like viewing the relics of saints, making pilgrimages, practicing certain devotional activities like fasting and praying for long periods of time. All this was supposed to build up your merits so that you would not spend too long in purgatory, and, if you were really good at it, you might go directly to heaven.

But Luther did something that was a little unusual for that time. He studied the Bible. Luther would read words of freedom here in Romans.

²¹But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

He came to understand that it was not by his actions, it was not by adding up a list of churchly deeds, it was not even by the quality of this life that he could redeem himself from being a sinner, but through the sacrifice of Christ. It was God’s love that made the difference. It was what Paul called “grace.” Our sins were all forgiven by God. We did not have to remember every one. We did not have to balance every bad act with a good one. We did not have to punish ourselves. We did not have to build up our merits. We were forgiven! God did this for us in Christ. We simply had to believe it and then we could know peace.

Luther was not a revolutionary. The faith that came to him had come to many before him. This was the faith that inspired and drove every disciple and made Saul into the great missionary we know as Paul. It was what changed the lives of those first believers who often chose to face death rather than to deny its truth. It is the faith that has changed lives today and will do so in the future.

So what about today? There does not seem to be many who are trying to build up their merits, at least not like they did in Luther’s time. We certainly don’t have a long list of people wanting to fast, or to spend many hours in prayer. But it does remain that too many think they get into heaven through own efforts, and, frankly, how we define those efforts seem to have little to do with God’s revealed truth.

In my previous life as an Air force chaplain, I spent much more time with the “unchurched” than I do now. When the topic of religion came up, the most common response I remember was basically – I live a pretty good life. I have done anything so bad that I will go to hell. Of course the standard used here was not the Bible, but just a general sense of having been a pretty decent person.

Well, that’s not how it works. God’s law never says that you just have to be good by our own standards or by the common standards of your culture. Only God’s Law defines true goodness and the only passing score there is 100%. Anything less than that means you have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. You need to trust the God who redeems sinners in Christ, who gives us His Spirit to walk through the path of faith.

We often need a reminder of just what that means. I was sent this in an email earlier this week and it is worth taking with us. Maya Angelou’s poem, When I say I am a Christian testifies to this faith that sustained Luther and that is what sustains and guides us:

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say. "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow."

There is always an invitation is these words. This is the invitation offered to humankind in every generation. It is the invitation Luther read in Romans. It is the invitation we offer to people watching on television, and to those who join us at worship. Hear and believe and trust the message that gave hope to Paul and to Luther and to so many others: ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

[1] -- Bill Hybels, "Christianity 101," Preaching Today, Tape 43.

Warning labels are something I have seen come into our world within my life time. Yes, children (meaning those a bit younger than myself), there was a time when we did not have television, computers, cell phones, and the only print on a product label identified what it was and who made it. There was nothing there telling you all the things that could go wrong if somehow your relationship with that product did not work out as the wise and kind hearted manufacturer intended.

Max Lucado speculates what would happen if we took these warnings to the extreme. There would have to be someone in the delivery room reading something like this: Warning. If you should chose to continue in this process of birth and leave the place you are now residing you may find your life to be difficult and not always fair. You may experience natural catastrophes like earthquakes, droughts, floods, tornadoes. You may be a victim of war, of a crime, or some other injustice. Worst of all, you will make plenty of these mistakes yourself. It is very likely that most of the problems you will have will be your own fault. Welcome to your new life.

Christianity 101 accepts that all this is pretty much a true description of life. And it teaches that it is all our fault. We call this sin; and point out that this is not how God created it all. God made it all good, very good. Sin comes when human beings choose to disobey the teachings of God and attempt to determine right and wrong by our own created standards. The result is not a higher form of justice, but the corruption of the universe – and once corrupted we cannot change it because it was not our creation in the first place.

But God has a solution. Because he is the creator and creation is the first act of love, he does not leave us alone. God has created a place for his people that we can go to that is called Church.

Now this church is an interesting place – really its not a place but a gathering of people; and what a gathering it is! This church is sinners, those who disobey God; and there are all kinds of sinners in church. There are the prideful (always plenty of these), the greedy, the lustful, the doubters, the gossipers, the self-indulgent. Murders, thieves, drunkards, cheats, adulterers – these type of labels and more fit each and every one of those who gather as church.

Here is something amazing and what makes church different than other gatherings on earth. Church claims that they are going to go back to paradise when they finish this life. They claim that the Creator God forgave all their sins through the death and resurrection of his special Son, Jesus Christ. They claim that God’s Spirit has brought them together in the gathering called church. And they take care of each other by constantly reminding each other of this teaching. They believe that by doing so they keep their hope of true and total forgiveness alive and that doing so brings healing into their lives right now. Oh, they keep on being sinners. They never outgrow their need for this grace, but it also helps them trust God more and trust themselves less. They can walk with each other and lift each other up and sin becomes less powerful in their lives.

They also get their new borns into church just as soon as possible. Many of them get a few selected friends to stand up with them on a special day when they bring the child to a designated place and make promises on the child’s behalf. They promise this little one will be a frequent attender of church. They promise the child will learn Christianity 101. They even declare their own belief by speaking together a summary of this called the Apostles Creed. So when the child is no longer so small, she or he will be able to stand up in front of church and say that they are now claiming this faith as the definer of their lives. They will be responsible for gathering with church and for continuing to learn Christianity and to be healed by that gathering and that learning and to be an agent of hope and healing for others.

Today we celebrate this confirmation at the next worship service, but it begins in that act of baptism when we bring children to this font. It is not just a celebration of birth, but it is an acknowledgement that even this little one needs the hope and healing that comes through the ministry of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and is represented in the baptismal waters, and embodied in the gathering called church.

Today can and should remind us that we are to be a healing place. There are many images of the church that can help us see who and what God wants us to be, but this is one of the most important. We are called to be the place to be when life is tough and not fair. We know that our very reason for needing God’s grace, our sin, means that we will be constantly challenged to be this place, but it is a primary reason for being so.

I have heard far too often from people who were going through some tough times that they would get back to church when all this was over. You’ve probably heard this too. It seems to reflect a view of church as the gathering of those who have no problems, whose lives are pretty well together. If they in church do sin, they are not troubled by those sins that have power in this life to be so destructive.

We ought to be the place to come when life is tough. When someone loses his job because he made some serious mistakes and is frightened of the future, church should be the place where he can hear of the God who is in charge of the future, who accepts the repentant, and promises always a new beginning. When a family collapses because of alcoholism or because of abuse or because of other sin, where better to be than with the family of God? When there is a temptation that you cannot defeat on our own, especially those temptations that threaten to rip your life apart, then come to the place where the tempted find strength and a hand up when they fall. If we here are not that place, if we are not trying to be that place, then are we really church?

Yes, it is a constant challenge. But if we are the place to bring the new born, if we are the people God gathers together to bring hope and healing to each other in this tough and unfair world, then we cling to Christianity 101 -- summarized in the Apostles Creed, the faith of baptism, the faith claimed in confirmation – and we call all to gather with us, especially those in whom this sin seems especially destructive, to know God’s love in a powerful, life changing way.

What is life’s number one issue? Even though several things might come to mind, there really is a clear answer. We are either simply mortal beings – an animal form destined to live and to die with no more significance than that; or we are beings designed to live forever beyond the limited functions of this physical body. We are either mortal or immortal. We who gather to worship God at least think there a significant possibility that the right answer is number two. If so then, if we are at all rational, our number one concern must be how do we ensure that the eternal life to come is a pleasant experience? We know there are two options – pleasant or unpleasant, heaven or hell – and we want option one. Such a concern is imbedded in the dispute between Jesus and his opponents. The issue they raise brings Jesus to state the real human problem. In our very nature we oppose God and do that which is evil, that which will bring the worst of the two options for eternal life. It is so deep in our nature that we cannot change it. So where can we have any hope? That comes to us in the very ministry of this same Jesus – in His Gospel and in the life we can live within it.

The setting of our Gospel lesson is a dispute about being clean. It’s not about personal hygiene, but about one’s status before God. The Old Testament law urged Jews to distinguish between clean and unclean. Most of the rules for that are in Leviticus. Washing hands before eating was actually not in the Old Testament law. It was taught and practiced as an extra step, an addition to the Law (which Moses had prohibited), to keep one from making the food that you were eating unclean. That specific issue is not very important for us – but what Jesus teaches in response to this is. What makes one unclean before God, what defies a person, does not come from the outside, but from within. It is so important that we hear this and know its truth because we cannot receive His grace, we cannot accept His gift of salvation, we cannot live a life of grace, unless we know how dearly we need it. We cannot know and live in the joy of His blessing to us unless we know what an awesome blessing it is.

Here these words of Christ: For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Some Christian commentators use the terms counter-cultural and counter-intuitive to describe a teaching of our faith that goes against the philosophy of our society and against our own feelings. This is one is definitely counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. We like to think that people are generally good; that we mostly want to get along and to do what is right and to take only our fair share. We like to think that our individual instincts are generally on target. For judging what is right we will hear and say things like “Go with your gut,” or “What does your heart tell you?,” or “I know this is right because I feel it in my heart.”

But the Biblical revelation does not support this. Beginning with Genesis chapter three, the rebellion of human beings against the will of God is documented. Some time in my early of ministry I read an observation by someone whose name I’ve long forgotten who pointed out that most peoples, most tribes, have some stories of their origin, stories of their journeys, stories that show how special and good they are, that serve to give them an identity. Some of the Bible’s critics claim that the Old Testament is basically just that for the Jews. But this writer pointed out that there is a radically different emphasis in the Bible. We do read that the slaves of Egypt, who were descendants of Abraham, were freed by the intervention of God who thus fulfilled his covenant made with Abraham and claimed them to be his special people. But the story is not about how wonderful these people turned out to be. We read mostly of their failure to be faithful to God who has done nearly everything for them. We read of the faithfulness of God and faithlessness really of humankind.

Even though they had been freed from the power of the greatest nation on the earth at that time, they thought their enemies in the land God had promised them were too great and they feared to enter the land so instead they had to spend forty years wandering before they could finally possess the land.

Once there, they ignored God’s command, a very strong command, not to worship the gods of the Canaanites. God has told them that they are getting this land not because they are so good but because the Canaanites are so corrupted. Their worship, their spirituality was focused on all kinds of sexual excess and the sacrifice of their children to their gods. God says literally – You’re getting this land because they made the land sick and it vomited them out. We read this in Leviticus 18 and 20.

As the years went on, God sent prophets who told them of God’s great desire to be close to them, who would forgive them, and restore the covenant if they would only come into obedience, but they managed to reject the prophets and their kingdoms were eventually destroyed.

Yet God kept reaching out and kept calling them back. That is hardly a history a people would invent for themselves. It is recorded and reported because it is truth. It is not just the story of Israel and God but of all humankind and God. It is the story of humanity’s faithlessness and God faithfulness.

We are corrupted not by what is outside us – not by what we can remove by soap and water – but by our very natures.

That is our teaching also in the Lutheran understanding of scripture – both Old and New Testaments. Some will remember our liturgy from the old Service Book and Hymnal (the red book). The minister began our confession of sins by saying, “Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners confession unto thee, that we are by nature sinful and unclean, and that we have sinned against thee by thought, word, and deed.”

In our current liturgy, we all say “we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”

We confess that our corruption is just as deep as it can get. No self-improvement program will change this. We confess that we have no right to make any claims upon God.

So where is there hope? The minster continued, “Wherefore we flee for refuge to thine infinite mercy, seeking and imploring thy grace, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the righteous one, died for our sins, rose again, victorious over all his enemies so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe but only everlasting joy. Yes that is the Gospel. That is the word of hope revealed in holy scripture, and it is why we must come to say that this thick book as the true and inspired and inerrant and infallible Word of God.

Believing this not only gives us option number one for eternal life, but is the power of cleansing, the power of transformation for our lives right now. It is not easy to really believe the Gospel as the foundational truth for all life. We don’t just here this once and say “oh I believe that.” True belief must go deep into us, it must go so far that it confronts the corruption, the uncleanliness that is our very nature. This is a process – a this life-long process, the completion of which happens only in the resurrection to eternal life in option one. To live in that Gospel means not only that sinners have hope but that sinners are constantly being transformed to become more Christ like everyday. The more we see our need for the Gospel, the more we accept the ministry of Christ to us, the more this grace power sinks deep into our lives, then in place of the evils what comes out of us is pure love and not lusts, humility and not pride, generosity and not greed, contentment and not envy, wisdom and not folly.

We are still in this flesh, still with the corrupted hearts. That means that the biggest obstacle we face in believing the Gospel and truly receiving His grace and in being transformed to be more like Christ is me.

So we are called to be active in a life of faith – really a life of grace, a life in the Gospel because we never outgrow our need for the Gospel. It is the only hope we have. Come to worship every week – and if the number one obstacle to receiving the Gospel is ourselves, then we need to come most when we feel like it the least. And read the Bible, commit the passages of greatest challenge to memory or at least try, get into a group with others – so you can share and learn with and care for each other. Take advantage of those opportunities to serve your neighbors – and again maybe especially when you don’t feel like. James is so right that we have to be doers of the word because our action not only witness to Christ but transform us.

We are eternal beings. We are created to be in fellowship with the very God of the universe. We rebel in our hearts but that same God offers us His incredible grace. In that life of grace, we can learn the great lessons of the Bible - our thick and infallible word from God – that though you and I will too often still be faithless, God will always be faithful and bless us by cleansing us and bringing us restored into eternal life.

The first is the promises of Jesus that bring us to eternal life. “Who eats this bread will live forever.” We understand this best when we see it as a metaphor to illustrate the dependence he asks us to have on him. He asks us be in more than casual friendship. He calls into a total need. Just as our bodies totally need food to survive, so our spirits totally need to be sustained by Christ.

The second really comes from this first one. This tells us what to do when in our dependence in Christ we encounter teachings from God that are difficult for us to comprehend – that may even seem wrong to us. That happens in this lesson. Some are offended and leave. But those who have come to know who Jesus truly is respond through Peter, ‘’Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Thursday morning I saw a video on Google (video.google.com) from the teaching of Dr. John Piper, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis called “The Gospel in Six Minutes.” Dr. Piper is one of the many wonderful teachers and writers we have in the larger Christian community. His words really ministered to me and helped to understand both these themes, mostly clearly the first but the second of the themes is totally dependent on the first. If I were more computer able, I’d have figured out how to set this up and shared it with you, but I wasn’t confident enough to even make a serious effort. However, for those who do the internet, go to video.google.com when you get home and check out John Piper’s “The Gospel in Six minutes.”

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the righteous one, died for our sins, rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies; so that there is no condemnation for those who believe but only everlasting joy. That’s the Gospel.

“Never, you never, now listen to this – you never, never, never, never, never, never, never outgrow your need for the Gospel.”

There is a wonderful and moving passion with which Dr. Piper speaks these words. I am sure that Jesus’ passion for his audience was even greater. John Piper, like you and me, is a receiver of the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the Gospel. When we hear his words today is offering Himself to the crowd because only in Him can they receive that which they absolutely need.

The crowd pursues him because they have been given bread, they have eaten their fill from the loaves and the fish. They want him to continue to bring these gifts into their lives. Just like us, they want their worries eased and their burdens lifted and their lives right now to be better. There is nothing wrong with that. He has fed them. He encourages us to even pray for our daily needs.

And he says that there is more – he wants to give them and us so much more. Filling our stomachs is a good thing, but it is not necessary. In the wilderness where the Hebrew tribes were sustained by the manna they still died. No matter what comes into this life, no matter how easy it is, no matter how many loaves we eat, we still die.

So Jesus says here: the flesh is useless. It is the spirit that really matters. Jesus is saying: Don’t be a casual friend with me. Come close. Come very close. Have a hunger for me that can only be satisfied by a total intimacy. Food for the body is good. Food for the spirit is essential. The one sustains us for the years of this life, helps us stay healthy to enjoy the time of this life. The other sustains us for eternal life, and brings us incredible blessings and strengths for this time with end living that can be a part of the right now of our lives the sustenance they really need. That is the Gospel and you never, never, never, outgrow your need for the Gospel.

Now I said there are two themes and this second one can only be dealt with when we believe the first.

At one point in “The Gospel in Six Minutes,” Dr. Piper lifts up the Bible and explains why it is so thick – because it must speak to the whole of our human need. The Gospel brings those eternal life giving words into all life. “When you immerse yourself in this book.” he says, “always with an eye for what Christ has purchases for you in this thick book – he will give you what you need.”

And sometimes you need words of comfort because you are anxious or just scared, and sometimes, because we do have rebel hearts that want to live by our own rules, we need to hear words that are hard. Some of those who were with Jesus that day found his teaching hard. “This teaching is difficult,” they said, “who can accept it?”

Because we hear this through the teachings of Christian faith, I’m not exactly sure what they found so difficult. It was very likely his teaching that he was God come to them as a man and their need to have this total closeness with him.

Jesus says: “Does this offend you?” Sadly, the answer many give then and now is “yes” and they go away.

But the Bible is a thick book speaks to the whole breadth of human lives – our lives too. There are and will be hard teachings for us within its pages. The Law still says to worship only the one God and do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not slander your neighbor, do not covet. The prophets still call to us into obedience and call on us live with justice and with God’s own compassion for the poor and the powerless. Paul still calls on us to put aside those behaviors that keep us out of the kingdom of God.

To immerse yourself in this think book means to hear God’s word about money – yes it does say that you should share at least a tenth. It means to hear his word about sexuality; and yes it says that relationship of marriage between one man and one woman is sacred. It means to hear God’s word about our pride – humble yourself, submit yourself to His authority. And there is word of judgment. There shall come that day when we have to fully claim his grace and still be accountable for the way we have responded to his Gospel. Jesus says: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Are you offended? If there is nothing in the Bible that does not offend you, that does not bother you, that does not make you squirm then you haven’t read it enough.

So Jesus says to the Twelve and through the inspired memory of John, also asks us: “Do you also wish to go away?”

When His word challenges us, confronts us, is not what we want to hear, how should we respond? Remember what is at stake. It is the spirit that matters. The flesh is nothing. We should say thre same words as Peter. Before hearing those again, let’s remember together Peter’s life and those Gospel words from Pastor Piper that you never, never, never quit needing the Gospel. Peter grows as a witness to Christ, but he never grows so far that he outgrows the Gospel. Even after this episode he would try to rely on his own strength and would fail when he denied his relationship with Christ. God would have to give him a powerful vision to get him to baptize a non-Jew named Cornelius into the Christian faith. Even after this, he would have to be confronted by a convert named Paul who probably had never seen Jesus before the resurrection but who had a deeper understanding of Christian fellowship. Peter never, never, never, never, never quit needing the Gospel.

Neither do we. And we need the whole Gospel word, every part of this thick book, the encouraging ones and the hard ones, and we say with Peter: Lord, do whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

“Never, you never, now listen to this – you never, never, never, never, never, never, never outgrow your need for the Gospel.”

Therefore, Lord, when your word is hard for me, when it makes me squirm, when it offends me, I will not go away because only from you may I be fed with the words that bring eternal life.

If I would take a survey this morning to learn how we feel about our lives, I’d guess that most of us would be fairly satisfied. We’d be basically happy with our lifestyle, with our community, with our church, with our family. Oh, there’d be a few things we’d change – especially if it didn’t take too much effort. We might like to have some more money, to live a bit healthier, to be more patient, to have more leisure time, to get better organized. But over all I’d guess that our average grade for our lives would be at least a B+.

But now we come to a problem, one that infects life in many Christian communities. We read in Paul’s correspondence with the church in Ephesus he lifts up a call that accurately reflects the teachings of Jesus. Just as Jesus called his audiences to live in the abundance of life, so Paul urges congregations to live into the fullness of Christ. He knows there is another stage we can experience, and he wants all who follow Christ to be there.

¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now that’s a good translation, but the English rendering is a bit difficult to really feel. So, in a few moments, I’ll read these same verses from Eugene Peterson’s The Message translation which puts more emphasis on readability in English. But before that we need to remember to whom Paul was writing. All his readers were believers. All were all people who had made a significant change in their lives when they became ones who said that Messiah is Jesus. The congregation in Ephesus was a bit of a mixed group. The initial believers came from the synagogue, where Paul taught for three months. Then for two years the group met at the Hall of Tyrannus drawing more Jews and apparently a large number of Greeks or Gentiles into the community. Before Paul writes the letter they has endured attacks from the idol selling industry who were upset that followers of this new religion were not buying their product. So these were not casual Christians. They walked with Christ and were willing to endure opposition because of it.

16 I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit - not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength - 17 that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, 18 you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! 19 Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. 20 God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. 21 Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes! (The Message)

Even though the congregation has demonstrated a significant depth in their faith, Paul is encouraging them to expect more, to be open to knowing more and to go beyond where they are. Reach out and experience it all.

So now here we are. A group of people, Christian people, yes. We make it worship. We are involved with the ministries of the church. We contribute from our time, talents, and treasures. We certain like to hear of God’s mercy that will bring us into heaven, and we trust that this is true.

But many of us, including me, are comfortable. If asked I’d say, “I’m fine. Not perfect, but not with any immediate needs in my life. Yes, there are some things I’d like to be a bit different, but not many. I guess if it were as easy as pushing buttons, like that Easy Button on the TV commercial, I’d push the button for a pretty good list of things; but there’s not that much that I really want to exert much effort to change. I’m pretty happy with a B+, maybe even an A-, life.”

But the words of Paul, the call of Christ, does not leave me alone. I’m confident that if Paul would walk in our sanctuary right now he’d share the same message – God through Christ has begun the promised salvation and you’re witnesses to it, you’re living in it. You’re in this covenant with God that will bring you into eternity with all the goodness of God being poured out for you. So why do you sing with such quiet voices (well, except for a few of you who shouldn’t sing any louder)? Why do you let something else in your schedule block your time of worship? Why do you harbor anger against another? Why do you hesitate when you hear the Lord calling you to serve? Why do you fear when your Lord has already defeated sin and death?

No matter where you are in life, Christ will never stop leading you into and surprising you with more. So Paul keeps reminding Christians today. Comfortable Christians life us. Don’t just sit back and stay where you are. Grasp those chances to experience it all. Trust what God can do.

I have an assignment for you. Once this week, read the first three chapters of Ephesians. Maybe read these more than once. If you have more than one translation at home, read it from each of these. Read the chapters slowing, not all at once, but a few verses at a time. Don’t read to learn how to be a better Christian. Read only to learn how much we can trust God. As God has done so much to bring you into and keep you in His family, we can trust that He not let us down. There can always be more. There is even more fullness. Reach out. Rise to the heights. Live to the fullest.