Sermons: Why The Cross?

Jesus' Cross: Why?

    You can tell just from hearing the Bible passage read, that Jesus knew what was happening, even was somewhat, somehow at peace about it.  But in the Garden of Gethsemane, even Jesus was full of doubt, full of longing that this not happen.  You'll soon see why.

    I did many different kinds of research about what happened to him, and this evening I'd like to share some of what i found with you.  Note that I said Some.  This is not one of those gruesome sermons, intended to scare you into believing in Jesus.  This is not a bloody passion play.

    However, it is reality that Jesus of Nazareth, in Galilee, died this way, and to fully appreciate the contrast between Good Friday and Easter, we have to look at a few details.  He died for us- the least we can do is look at how.



First, let's talk about the 4 kinds of Crosses:

• Crux Decussata- in the shape of an X... also called St. Andrew's Cross.
• Crux Comissa-the T shape.  Also called St. Anthony's cross.  The 2 criminals in The Passion used this type of cross.
• The more modern Greek cross- known for having equal length pieces...
• Crux Immissa- upright beam projected about crossbeam- most likely the cross Jesus died on, since the Bible tells us they nailed a message above his head.  Dropped into a hole in the ground after being hoisted up.

The Cross Was...

• Detested by the Jews  because of  Dt. 21:23- cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree
• The Romans hated it so much, Roman citizens were exempt from it...considered the death of a slave....The death of treason, sedition, desertion, meant to produce shame.
• If they are nailed on- A stupefying drink was always given to deaden the agony- this would be the vinegar wine they offer- but Jesus refuses it!  In fact, the suffering was so horrible that even among the raging passions of war, pity was sometimes excited in those watching.
• The Foot support:   along with the way they were attached eventually asphyxiated the person when they could no longer support weight with their legs.  Hands out posture accomplished this.
• All the swelling produced an unbelievable headache.
• The blood and water flowing from His side in John suggests a rupture of the heart.

    So, Why crucifixion?  Why did Jesus have to die in such a horrible way?  For that matter, why did Jesus have to die at all?  From all that we see of him, he seems like the best of human beings.  Gentle and wise, loves children...    Healed the sick, the blind, the deaf.  Why would he, of all people, be killed, and especially, in this way?  Let's talk  about that, about why it happened.



B.  Why it happened

• He was a challenge to the status quo (as we saw on Palm Sunday)

    *His popularity was growing... weekly.

    *He was a fulfillment of prophecy- and people were realizing this...

• His views of who was lovable challenged deeply held religious beliefs/societal standards about the clean and unclean.

• He was the rightful ruler:   the greatest fear of any usurper. Is that what the Sanhedrin was?  Did they think that they were something more than God's chosen leaders of the people, God's servants? 

    Jesus  gives us an example of this in his story/parable about how the master of a house will return to find his servants acting unlike their role.

 (Matt. 24:45-51   Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.  I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
       But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, My master is staying away a long time, and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. )

        *But when we think about it, we realize that Jewish leaders aren't alone in this.  Many times in history we see the servants becoming confused, thinking that they are the masters, that they make the rules, not God.    The crusades    ...The Spanish inquisition  ...  Through the church's response to slavery, then civil rights... up through the catholic church's use of Latin only in the mass early in the last century, though none of those attending spoke Latin.  And surely we're not the first generation of the church to think we have no problems, no blind sides.  We're just too close to recognize them yet.

    There's something in our human pride that does not like a challenge to the organization we've set up here on earth... even when that challenge is from our master.  The servants have partied too often while our master was away.




But much more importantly-

• Jesus was crucified because this was his reason for becoming human, this was the plan from all time.

There are 6 stages of this plan that I'd like us to look at quickly.

• God is holy.  Completely holy.  And completely just.

• As such, he cannot tolerate sin.  Not will not, cannot.

• Sin must be paid for, or in religious language, "atoned" for.  Things must be made equal.  Or God cannot be near us.  Whether by Bull, Lamb, or dove. A Guilt offering. We learn about this aspect of the cross, from an unlikely place:  Isaiah 53:

Isa. 53:5-6   But he was pierced for our transgressions,he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,and by his wounds we are healed.

  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.



Isa. 53:10-11   Yet it was the Lord's will to crush my righteous servant and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities

Isaiah speaks of our iniquities, our going astray, like sheep.  This speaks to the next point....

• We cannot live perfect lives.  We are born into sin.  All have sinned 

Rom. 3:22-24:  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

•  Paul speaks of Redemption:  saving from slavery.  God saved Israel from slavery too.

• The only thing that could pay for the horribleness of sin, was the most horrible death  possible, paid  out to a completely innocent human being.

    Perhaps 1or 2 of you are here tonight because I write a little column for the Journal/Opinion newspaper.  Journalists have 6 steps too- not that I ever remember to use them- The classic questions posed when writing an article are called 'the 5 Ws and an H, symbolizing WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? and HOW?  When employed, this way of writing should capture the facts.  Just the facts, Ma'am.

     Who?  Jesus.  What?  Died a death considered shameful, even for criminals  When?  33AD.  About 2000 Years ago.   Why?  For reasons that I've just described to you, he was wounded for our transgressions.  And How?   Innocently, that's how.

    But the most important question of all is not one that journalists often ask.  That's why the songwriter Bruce Cockburn calls the journalistic world "The newsprint nightmare:  a world that never was/ Where the questions are all:" Why? and the answers are all: Because."

    The most important question is, now that you know the answers to these 6 questions, what are you going to do about it?

    I said at the beginning of this sermon that I wasn't going to use the facts of the crucifixion to guilt you or emotionally blackmail you into a relationship with Jesus.  And I won't.  But nevertheless these facts remain.  There was a man from Nazareth, in the Galilee region of Israel.  He claimed to be the one way to heaven.  He lived a saint's life-and more, but died a criminal's shameful  death.  And why?  So that you and I and the pharisees and the Sadducees, and the inquisitors and the crusaders and the Latin-speaking priests could all come before a completely sin hating, completely just God with our heads held high and have a relationship with him.  As I see them, those are the facts.

    And it's not what I'm suggesting for you is like signing up with some crazy cellphone plan where you're locked in.  That's what we're all afraid of with God, isn't it?  That having a relationship with Him, with Jesus, is like joining a cult, and you get hypnotized, you stop being yourself.  That you'd second-guess your choice and then you couldn't get out?

    But that's not the case.  I've been honest with you up to this point, trust me on this too- all you need to do is say, Hello?  Then say, Is someone there ?  And I will guarantee you, you will feel God say, Yes. I've heard it said that for every step you take toward God, he will take 2 steps toward you.

    Will you hear an audible voice?  Probably not.  Will your life drastically improve?  Maybe, maybe not.  That depends how you measure Improvement.  Will you feel euphoria?  Maybe, maybe not.  This is not like signing up for a magazine subscription.  That's why it is called faith, and not business.  The Bible says that faith is 'the belief in things not seen'.    Faith is trusting in that inkling that you feel in your soul that you can't keep quiet.

Revelation Sermons: Ephesus

A Letter To Ephesus

by Rob Kristoff's Writing on Monday, March 14, 2011 at 9:30pm ·

    Have you ever gotten a really great letter?  These days, I guess I'd have to say a really good email, but I'm not sure that's the same thing.  Because I'm not sure you can duplicate seeing the person's handwriting on an envelope, that nice feeling of knowing what's inside.  But have you ever gotten a really great letter?  When someone has really had an insightful line or image that stuck with you?  Maybe news from home, when you were traveling, or away at school?  A really good letter is the next best thing to having the person there with you.  We're going to look at a very powerful letter this morning, from a long time ago.  But first, let me ask you another question.
    Do you have a hero?  A favorite person?  Someone you look up to for one reason or another, that you want to emulate?  We all have different desires, different goals, different ways we wish we could be, so we all have different heroes.... in fact, some of us have multiple heroes, for different areas of their life.  For example, my cycling hero is a racer named Travis Brown.  But I certainly wouldn't look to him for faith advice.  In that realm, I'd say my hero is more like Eugene Peterson, a pastor, professor and author.  When I asked Kathy who her hero is, she told me Martin Luther King Jr. or Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  But I know for a fact that Bono, the singer of the rock band U2, is who she really wishes she could be.
    But what about if we think of our church here?  Could we ever agree on a church hero?  A few weeks ago, I talked  to you about why we sometimes would like to be able to emulate the first century church.  Back then, I said that it isnÕt that there were no problems in the church of that time, just like there are problems for us.  But the church that had the actual disciples of Jesus as its members and pastors, those who were present at the crucifixion of Christ, who saw him after he rose from the dead,  church couldn't help but have some insights for us to look up to.
    In the next weeks, then, we're going to look at a sermon series, not of my own devising, but from the mind of Jesus.  We're going to look at messages, letters, to these churches Jesus delivered  through a vision given to the Apostle John, who was then imprisoned on the island of Patmos.
    The part of the vision we'll look at is a series of messages that Jesus gives to John, to deliver to these churches.  The overall message is that Jesus has been watching what they do.
    Like Pastor Bob was saying  about how God wouldn't break a bent reed, or snuff out a spark...  Like I told our children, when we looked at the cowbell... God sees the fall of every sparrow- and we're much more important to him than sparrows.
    It must have been a shock for them to receive these messages.  Even though they'd been saying in their worship that it was true, that Jesus walked among them, this must have been a startling proof of that.  This could be bad or good news, depending on how they really felt about Him.  Does it startle us to realize that hes watching us just the same?
    Jesus hasn't written one of these letters to us, specifically, but I know that we can learn from his messages, what he wanted for their churches.  And by extension then, what he wants from our church.
    I don't know whether any of you will remember or not, but in the short series I preached when I was first among you here in fairlee,   I also spoke about the Revelation.  And if you've done any reading in that book of the bible, my interest in this book may come as a surprise to you.  But I guess my interest in it comes from the very fact of the book's reputation in Christian circles.  As bible believing Christians, we believe that the whole book is the word of god, capable of drastically improving our lives.  And yet, even when I talk to people who've been a part of the church for years, I'll bring up a passage from say, Habbakuk, or Joel, and those folks will say, What?  Is that a book of the Bible?  The Revelation to John is like that.  The revelation- one revelation.  A good sign of the fact no one ever reads it is the fact that most people call it Revelations- but yes, there's just the one.  Now you know.
    So, let's turn to the book, get a little bit of a feeling for the overall work and the context these messages come to us in, before we dive into specifics.  One of our greatest mistakes in interpreting the Bible can come from trying to simply flip open the Bible and receive a daily nugget of truth.  Certainly the whole Bible is inspired, but that doesn't mean that the things it has to say don't unfold in logical ways, step by step, that depend on one another for their meaning.  In the same way, it would be a mistake to simply begin speaking to you about these verses in  the book without putting them into their place in the overall work.
    First of all, who wrote this book?  The author identifies himself as John.  According to things I read, the evidence overwhelmingly points to this being John, the son of Zebedee and one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.  It was written in his later years.  The same piece of scholarship suggests that most scholars put the date around 90AD-   ­or about 60 years after Christ's resurrection.
    The verses we are going to look at both today and in the immediate future, occur fairly early in the book.  They are the first of many Sevens in the book.  Letters to the seven churches, followed by the opening of seven seals, the blowing of seven trumpets, and the pouring of seven bowls.
    The reason this may sound strange to you, indeed, the reason the Revelation has always been viewed as somewhat strange, revolves around the fact that it is a type of literature called Apocalyptic.   Apocalypse can also mean unveiling.     This form of writing is not literal, but in fact is highly symbolic.. or veiled.  It's a little bit like algebra.  X  is not the letter itself, or algebra would be a mixing of letters and math.  No, the X stands for a concept, for a number to be determined, and has to be conceived that way.  The Revelation to John is the same way.
    The book begins:  The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw That is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
    So it is a revealing, unveiled by Jesus, given to Him by God the Father.  He made it known by sending an angel to John, his disciple.
    John says quite plainly the circumstances into which this revelation came a little later, in verse 9:    I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was o  n the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.    On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,   which said: Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands,  and among the lamp stands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe   reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.

    The book is in the first person, which is odd to begin with, and John tells us that he was on the island of Patmos, because of the word and the testimony.  He was in fact imprisoned on the island, which was a Roman prison.  This island is about 50 miles off the coast of what is now Turkey.  John was eventually released from Patmos, around 96AD.  These verses are important not only because of the context they give us, explaining what John is doing on the island, but also because they introduce the major themes of the whole book:  The suffering Christians undergo, the coming kingdom of God, and the rewards that patient endurance in the faith will bring.
    Secondly, from these verses we're given the list of the churches to whom this revelation will be sent.  These places are all about fifty miles apart and occur in a clockwise circle starting with Ephesus.  All of this takes place in what is called Asia in the book and would now be called Western Turkey.
    And then John's revelation begins.  He has told us that it was the Lords day, and he was in the spirit.  He is worshiping God on the sabbath, and the fact that he is In the spirit tells us that this was a vision he had, not a dream that he had during normal sleep.  He heard a voice speaking, turned around, and saw an angel, walking among seven lamp stands.  These lamp stands represent the churches he is writing this for.
    Well, this book is simply dense with things to explain, and if you're   like me, you live for unraveling the symbols, but we'd be here all month looking at them all.  Suffice to say, it is not simply an angel that comes to him, but the risen Christ himself.  He tells John the interpretation of what hes seen so far.  These lamp stands are churches, which he oversees, via seven angels which guard them.  And he has a message for each of them.
    It is these messages which we'll be looking at, this week, and in the coming weeks.  Today, we begin with the message to the church in Ephesus.  Yes, the same Ephesus, to whom Paul wrote the letter that is known to us as simply Ephesians-- one of the books of the Bible.
    Ephesus, one of the great cities of the ancient world.  By far the largest city mentioned in these seven letters.  Ephesus was known as the Temple Warden, a reference to the large temple to the goddess Artemis, also known as Diana.  You'll remember that in the letter of Paul, he was nearly killed in a riot, when the silversmiths of Ephesus thought he was ruining their trade.    A huge mob shouted Great is Artemis of the Ephesians in the 19th chapter of Acts.  The center of this Temple of Artemis was something known as the Tree of Artemis.  We don't need to get too worried about what this tree stood for in their religion, but as we'll see at the end of the passage, Jesus was well aware of the tree. 
    Here again, then, is what Jesus has to say to them:  These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden  lamp stands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
    But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.   He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
    To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

    The first thing we notice is the introduction, the way Jesus prefaces what he is about to say.  He describes himself as the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, and walks among the seven gold lamp stands.  The stars represent the angels leading the seven churches.  The lamp stands represent the churches themselves.  Scholars are divided as to whether these Angels are actual angels who watch over the churches, whether this is just a way of describing the earthly leaders, the pastors, of the churches, or whether these Angels are simply a personification of the prevailing spirit of each church.  Going on the assumption of the first two, then, what hes doing is reminding them that HE in fact, holds the leaders of the churches close to him.  As well as reminding them that he is walking amongst their seven churches.  As I said earlier, a reminder that he is indeed intimately acquainted with the church, both theirs and ours.
    It is  with that reminder, then, that  he transitions to the message he has for them:  I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance.  He begins by noticing positives, and we can learn from even that.  He mentions their intolerance of false teachers, and commends that as well.      But this message isn't what we used to call in college a ÔSunshine NoteÕ.  He isn't just writing to tell them this, but to correct their errors.  I hold this against you, he says, ÔYou have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.Õ  They don't pursue their faith in the way they did at first.  Is this love their love for one another?  For the church?  For him?  We aren't told, but we can assume that the Ephesians know what he meant!  These things that they did in the earlier days of the church were a Height, from which they've now fallen.
    I think I can understand what Jesus is telling them.  And IÕd like to share that thought with you:  As I look around at many traditional churches,  I see the church used more like an attic than like a holy place.  I see traditions that aren't being passed down, so that in some churches they don't even know what some of the parts of the church are for.  I've told you before, my feelings about tradition:  I think rituals-- and by that I simply mean things that we do each week- are  a wonderful thing, provided they are alive and vibrant.
    Some churches have a building like ours and history like ours, and just wish that they could trade it in.  They wish they could just meet in a brand new building- and maybe for them, that works.
    But I think a better option, I think the option Jesus calls us to here in Fairlee, is for us to strive to revitalize those traditional ways of doing things that have fallen into disuse. To strive to make them our own.   Some of them got dusty because they didnÕt work, and weÕll just have to thank them for their service and leave them to the sands of time.  But other traditions simply became forgotten because of circumstances, and those we should dust off, and enjoy.
    IÕve noticed in talking to various people since I arrived here in Fairlee, even before, in fact, that there were a lot of things this church did in the past.  Whether this meant dinners we once had, or plants that once grew at the church, they said something like  Ò Òwe used to do that, but lately....Ó  and they sort of became lost in thought.
    What they mean by that nonverbal communication, of course, is that they donÕt understand why that has happened.  Why the church doesn't do these things anymore.  And why should they?  It shouldnÕt have happened!
    But hindsight is 20/20, they say.  And of course, there ARE reasons why these things have fallen into dis-use.
    But as in JesusÕ message to the Ephesians, I say that this year, we make it our goal to remember our first love, the things we did at first. To not be an attic of old times, of what they used to do.  Instead, letÕs each live this year to proudly carry on being the church those people once envisioned.  The church they worked to carry into the future.
    So that next year, we donÕt look back on times ten, twenty, or fifty years ago, but on 2005, as the year when big things happened here, as the year when the biggest events in our churchÕs history unfolded.
    Now, we   canÕt do that right away, I donÕt think.  But we can make it a goal.  To not be Ògood for nowÓ or Ògood under the circumstancesÓ, but GOOD.
    So thatÕs my description of what Jesus is saying here.  My description of what many churches might call REVIVAL.   And isnÕt that what God is in the business of doing?  Of giving second chances, of restoring fresh spring where there once was the finality of winter?

    LetÕs return, though, back to JohnÕs time.  Back to this message that Jesus is giving the Ephesians:  He has prefaced his remarks, he has told them what good he has seen, and he has told them the bad.  But lest they only remember the bad, he continues:  ÒBut you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.Ó  Whoa.  The nico-what?     who is that?
    The Nicolatians are a sect of the early church which was found to be heretical.  They had worked out a compromise with pagan society.  They taught that spiritual liberty gave them enough wiggle room to practice idolatry and immorality.  These then, mightÕve been those that Paul referred to when he wrote the famous question to the Roman church, ÒShould we go on sinning that grace may increase?Ó
    The people of Ephesus seem to have had no problem condemning false teachers and sects.  Their problem wasnÕt that, but the fact that theyÕd lost their first love.  They may have become more interested in judging others than in examining their own souls.  More excited to find fault than to find the freedom Christ gave from their own sin.  This seems to be the reason for the words commanding them to Ôdo the things they did at firstÕ.  Christian acts neccesarily relate to people, usually.  Certainly the lesson is clear to us:  condemn what Jesus condemns.  But leave the judging to him, and instead, spend   your energy on your own relationship with Him!
    I told you that Jesus prefaced this message.  In fact, he will go on to preface each message, with an introduction appropriate to that church.  He will also end in a similar formula.  LetÕs look at it:  ÒHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.Ó  In each of these messages, he will repeat that first sentence, and change what he offers to be appropriate to each church.  In this case, He offers the right to eat from the tree of life.  The tree of Artemis, the symbol of Ephesus, is referred to in JesusÕ words here.  If they continue to choose Jehovah God over Artemis and all she represents about secular society, then they will be privy to an even greater tree-- the tree of life in heaven.
    So thatÕs the first of these 7 letters.  I think we can learn quite a bit from each of them, about Bible times, about the beginnings of the Chris  ÿtian church, and then, the most important thing, how those first two can change our life here and now.
    From ChristÕs message to the Ephesians, we learn that we all have things we must endure.  Because of our fallenness, we all must overcome the world around us.  Life is not easy when we try to be more like Christ.  He had to carry a cross, and he tells us that we will, as well.  Probably not physically, but in spirit.
    For the Ephesians, that meant loving others, in spite of their sin.  It meant that they needed to be less concerned with how others did or didnÕt follow God, less concerned with judging, and more concerned with their own walk with Christ... more concerned with loving.
    What does this message mean to us?  Are we like the people Jesus is talki  ~ng to here?  More interested in how weÕre different from unchurched people we know, than how weÕre similar?  Do we find ourselves impatient with their spiritual life?  If so, Jesus has a message for us:   return to your first love, to the things you did before.  When weÕd just come to faith ourselves.  When we were anxious to share what weÕd found.  When we considered ourselves just like them, except for this one thing weÕd discovered.
    If weÕll do this, if weÕll overcome, as Christ says, weÕll have our life, but more abundantly than we ever imagined.  For the Ephesians, he phrased it that theyÕd have a holy tree all right- the tree of life, in Heaven.  What would he say to us?  What is our choice?
    I pray that each of us, in his or her quiet time today, will be able to consider that question for themselves.  Am I judging them?  Or loving them and leaving the judging to God?  Am I   Üchoosing the Tree of Artemis, or the tree of life?
    Because, when you sit down and think about it, maybe the choice is that simple.  Pray with me.....
Lord God, show us which we choose, the tree of artemis, or the tree of life.
Show us whether we go along with societyÕs whims, or choose to take up our cross- the overcoming, enduring way which means following you.
Help us to choose rightly, Lord.
Like the father in MarkÕs Gospel, we declare Lord, that we do believe, as much as we can, but we ask you to help us to always be shrinking our Unbelief.
We desire to be yours, Lord.  Help us.

modern ancient ruins in Ephesus...

Revelation Sermons: Smyrna

A Letter To Smyrna

    Usually, traditionally, a pastor will start out their sermon with a joke, a story, some sort of introduction that gently introduces the concept  to be covered that week.  And that was my intention as well.  I planned to talk about my new-found  love of birds, about how I'd planned to get ahold of a bird feeder, how I'd made the trip to VINS in Queechee, and how that ties into the city that we'll read about this week.  A city, a church, of Christians who were not strangers to suffering for the gospel, a church to whom Jesus message is not only that hes seen the suffering they undergo, but that more suffering is coming.
    That was my plan.  But as the week went on, and the number of people lost in Asia rose and rose, that began to feel less and less the right thing to do, began to feel like I was avoiding the tiger sitting in the corner of the room.
    When we talk about suffering, about destruction and rebuilding, which the city of Smyrna did go though- after the city was completely destroyed in 600 BC.- we have to talk about the tsunami, about what's happening in our world.
    The city we'll look at this morning does offer a subtle message of hope.  As I said, it was completely destroyed, but rebuilt itself.  For this reason, it was symbolized in the ancient world by a phoenix- a beautiful bird that, according to legend, dies in flames, only to rise up out of the ashes of seeming destruction, as a fresh young chick.  What a great image of hope.
    But before we get into that, let me just say this about what's happening in Asia right now.  Since this was a natural disaster, people will soon ask me, probably will ask you too, how did God allow this to happen?  If hes so powerful, why didn't he stop this?
    I have no answer to that question.  I simply don't.  But I do have a few things for us all to think about in responding to these questions.
    First, is it God's fault that there was no warning system for the Indian Ocean, as there is for the Pacific?  Couldn't it be that God in fact inspired that system, and human agents chose to not use it in that area of the world?
    Secondly, the Bible tells us, in  Rom. 8 that The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  What I understand this as meaning, is that through original sin, the Fall of Adam and Eve, decay, not-rightness, entered the whole world.  That is why we seem to have a fatal flaw in our hearts, and that may be why creation acts the way it does as well.
    Lastly, Jesus was once asked a similar question- about two instances, one in which people had been killed while making sacrifices, another in which people had died when a tower fell on them- His response was:  Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
    Just last week, I told you all how hazardous it is to simply quote a passage without context, but I will hazard it.  Jesus answer isn't that those who died werenÕt important, but rather, to ask why the people ask the question.  Mourn those who were lost, yes, but the best way to honor them is to live your life in a better way because you've learned through their loss.
    Life itself is a hazardous proposition- those people in Asia knew that the same way we do.  Anything could and can happen.  But to respect life while you are a part of it, to care for those in need, whether they live around the world or across the street, does honor to their lives and their loss.
    To consider your own mortality, and therefore to live a more compassionate life, a life more thoughtful of your soul's destiny, does honor to their loss.  Questioning and cynicism don't help anyone, don't honor anyone.   It's understandable to be confused or shocked, but I'm afraid that the people who choose that reaction are concerned about something else, are using this disaster as a distraction for other questions they have to answer for themselves.
    I hope I've helped your thinking about this in some small way, but for now, let's turn to our Biblical passage for this morning.  As I've said, the phoenix was also the way that people in the ancient world pictured the city of Smyrna, the church we'll look at this week.  It was a prosperous port city, not unlike the picture you might have of sophisticated, worldly, and busy ocean ports like New York City or San Francisco.
    So the phoenix represented Smyrna, the way the tree of Artemis symbolized Ephesus.  There might've been some irony in this symbol for the Christians in Smyrna, however, as we'll see now, by turning to today's text.  It begins:
 To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.
    As I said last time, Jesus uses this part of every church's message as a place for reassurance, or for correction, whichever he feels a particular church needs to hear.  He introduces himself, then, in light of the part of himself that most applies.  That is, he does what any of us would do.  If you have skills as an auto mechanic and find someone broken down on the road, you introduce yourself that way-- Hi, I'm a mechanic, how can I help?  If you're a doctor, and see someone having health problems you say quickly, I'm a doctor.  If you see something bad happening, though, you'd speak with more force.  If you are an off duty police officer, and you see a crime being committed, you say, Stop, Police.
    Jesus, then, introduces himself in the same manner.  For Ephesus, who was judgmental and having problems loving, he reminds them of his power over them, that he holds the churches in his hand, that He constantly walks among them.  To those in Smyrna, who as we'll see are under persecution, he gives a reminder that he existed at the beginning-the first- and he'll be there at the end- the last.  He reminds them that he has indeed defeated death, something that may soon be a very real possibility for them.   The text continues:
I know your afflictions and your poverty Yet, you are rich!  I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Again, the Lord is here reminding these early Christians that he is among them and intimately acquainted with the situation.  Unlike his message to the Ephesians, where he used similar sentiments, in this case the statement is one of comfort.  They are not alone in resisting the Jews of Smyrna or the State Religion of Emperor Worship.  No, he sees what is being done to them.       
    These afflictions, this poverty, is most likely a direct result of their faith.  This was not a popular or easy choice in their city.  Smyrna was closely aligned with Rome, and with the Roman Empire, and as such, there was great societal pressure to be a part of the Emperor Cult, the state religion of worshiping the head of the Roman empire.
    There was also a history of Jewish bitterness toward Christians in this city.  It is referred to by many Christian writers. The bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp, was martyred in 160AD, about 70 years after this letter, for resisting the state religion,  and as part of that martyrdom, he was called a Puller down of our gods by the Jews of Smyrna.  So we can well imagine the relationship that led to his death was well underway at the time of this writing.
    The use of the name Satan here is significant.  This word is from Hebrew and means The accuser... that is why these Jews are referred to as Synagogues of Satan.  Since he is referring to Jews, even though they're Jews by name only, Hebrew, the language of the Jewish scriptures, is used.  It is important to notice that Jesus points out that these are not in fact Jewish believers.  Their Jewishness is only an act, a distraction from who it is they really follow.  I'm quite sure that this and passages like this have been used over the years by anti-Semitic groups.  That use of this verse is completely unjustifiable, completely unfounded.
Jesus continues:
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil (Gk, diabolos, accuser) will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

    In light of what hes told them then Jesus asks the Christians of Smyrna not to be afraid.  He who is telling them this, is the author of life.  He sees what is happening to them.  He knows what is coming.  They are not abandoned, but watched and cared for.  It is not they who are in the wrong, but these Counterfeit Jews.
    Having referred to the enemy as Satan to highlight the False Jews, he reminds them that it is not really their neighbors they're battling against.  They are only pawns, only tools of the greater enemy (as all of us are, to him).  It is the devil who is persecuting them.  Here he calls him devil, a translation of the Greek name diabolos- again meaning, The accuser.  They are being accused by these neighbors who are only tools of the great accuser.
    He tells them that a time of testing is coming, so that they can prepare.  Be faithful he says, and you'll be given the crown of life.
    This crown was explained in numerous places I looked to not mean a royal crown, but rather, a victor's wreath, likely a laurel wreath is envisioned, a victor's wreath like athletes would receive.  This is no ordinary wreath, but the victor's wreath of eternal life.  Again, Christ is giving perspective.  Yes, you may make the ultimate sacrifice- hes saying- but like an athlete who makes great sacrifices in his own way, you'll win a great victory.  You give your life on earth, but you get eternal life in a better place.
    These are poignant verses, particularly in today's climate of violence and terrorism.  Yes, He knows and cares about what is coming for these Christians, but Jesus tenderly and lovingly, like a parent, prepares them for these events with obvious love and care.  He puts things into perspective, he reminds them that He is aware of whats happening, directs their gaze away from the pain of the near future and onto of the greater victory in store for them.
He finishes, then, with these words:
He who has an ear, let him hear what   the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.

    This is the standard ending for these messages.  He who has spiritual ears, an ability to understand, listen!  The one who overcomes... won't be hurt as a result of God's final judgment.  This is a reminder that these people around the Smyrna Christians can kill the body, but God is in charge of the eternal life of souls.  A much longer time, a more important proposition.
    You may be hurt by the mortal death, he assures them, but THEY will be hurt more- and you not at all- by the second death, that is to say, God's judgment.

    Sadly, this kind of persecution wasn't just something that happened back then-  it's also a trial that churches in the world right now go through-  today, there are people who are in jail simply because they are Christians.  And they are throughout the world, including in modern day Turkey, where Smyrna was located.  If you're interested in finding out more about this, about how you could  help people like that, how you could communicate with them and give them encouragement, let me know and I'll try to steer you to those who know more about it than I do.

     Which brings us back to us, here in our church building on January 9th.  What should this make you and I do?  Are we in danger like they were?  Not really.  So what, then?  Do we just disregard this message?
    I have to tell you, which may be plain common sense, but studying this stuff can get you kinda tangled sometimes-  I don't know exactly how you should apply these words to your lives.    I don't know enough about each of you to tell  you that.  And anyway, you'll make that decision yourself.  But what I can do is tell you how I'm affected by this message.
    For me, this brings to my mind that there are Christians like this in the world.  People who are in such imminent danger that they need consolation.  These verses make me question what I can- or must- do for them.
    Unfortunately, even though I know the hope and deliverance of faith , my life is still motivated too often by guilt, and too seldom by love.  So part of what I get from these verses is fear- am I guilty if I don't help people like these people?
    However, I also take from this message, that Jesus is not living in a castle far out in the middle of nowhere.  For some reason, ever since I was a small child, I've had that picture of where God lives, of heaven I suppose.  Honestly.  But these verses show us that this is simply not true.  He is here, with us.  He isn't a bureaucrat, reading long boring reports about each of our churches.  Rather, he is intimately involved with what we do.  That gives me a great surge of hope, and I hope it does the same for you.  We aren't alone, but we have Jesus here with us.  We may feel alone, but heaven is intimately aware of what happens in Fairlee, Vermont.  It brings to mind the verses that tell us that there is joy in heaven when one sinner repents.  These things feel small to us, but there is a place, there is a God here among us, for whom our actions as a church have immense significance.
    That makes me feel a lot better.  And I hope these verses lift your heart, as well.

Go here and watch this:
http://bewareofchristians.com/

Update November 2011

Just want everyone (anyone?) on here to know that I am not abandoning this blog, but it's no lie that I'm trying to devote most of my writing time to my www.robkristoffwriting.blogspot.com blog. 

Of interest to you might be that I recently wrote a little 2 part series on there called "Why I love Jesus but don't attend church".

Also, I was watching something with the kids in class today, talking about how the Pilgrims came to the new world so they could practice their Christianity/religion however they wanted.  Interesting, since I sometimes feel I'd go to a new world to experience the same thing!

Bye for now.  Come visit at the other blog!

Links and Connections

This one time, a guy came to our churchplant.  The one that met in the movie theater.  And he introduced himself as a reporter of some kind, and asked a few of us questions, and went away.  Later, he published a story in The Christian Science Monitor that was not very flattering- I would say for good reasons, and it wasn't mean-spirited.  I was quoted in that article.  And then it got picked up by USA Today, and maybe the Associated Press.  Have some fun, google my name and "The Church of Higher Tech".  There's a crazy sermon from a pastor in Ontario about how our little church was pretty much the devil.

Anyway, I'm working on putting together my portfolio of writing and thought I'd look up this article.  As part of that, I found this article by the same reporter, though much newer and in the New York Times, and I must say, it reflects a lot of what drove me from or keeps me from pastoring.  Well worth a read.

Being Christian & Being Mediocre

"When I first started writing songs ...  I started off thinking I wanted to change the world, and most kids experiment with sex and drugs when they’re teenagers and I was really interested in religion... What I found is that, instead of maybe me changing the world, it really changed me. I found out through that whole process that I wanted to learn how to write songs and make music better than I had before, and I realized that a lot of the fundamentalist people didn’t care about that, or were judgmental about that. It seemed that they had a very utilitarian view of art. That art was only to serve one purpose, which was to get across their point of view, and I didn’t agree."-Sam Phillips

*******

Due to some weird problems at blogger last month, the post I originally wrote to accompany these photos (actually, the writing came first) never came back.  But fear not, I have not forgotten what they represent.   Now let me attempt this again.

Why, I ask you, do Christians seem to have some sort of genetic compulsion to imitate?  Let me start with the two images above.  I used to love a band called the Altar Boys (this was before the catholic abuse scandals, so don't even think it), a Christian rock band, and they had a song called Life Begins At The Cross- I assume that's where the above clip-art image originated.

That was all fine and good- until much later, when I heard the XTC song called "Life Begins At the Hop".  Awfully close title, yes- but also, the chorus sounds almost identical.  What had sounded to my naive mind like great creativity had in fact nearly been outright artistic theft.  Now, all artists borrow from one another, faith aside.  But that feels a little too close, to me.  We're not talking about a riff of music- we're talking a whole hook, lyrics and all, practically.

But it's not just the Altar Boys.  It's T-shirts that say "God's Gym" and copy the graphic design of Gold's Gym down to the font.  It's a culture that's artistically always one step behind and derivative.  For that matter, why is there a Christian pop-culture, anyway?  Bible study guides and faith-specific merchandise, sure.  But why are there Christan diet plans?  Christian record labels?  Christian book publishers?  I'm talking about the Christian boy-band that comes out the year after NSync has a hit.  I'm talking about "Turkey Soup for the Teenage Soul"- I made that one up, but you know what title I didn't make up?  A series of books called The Yada Yada Prayer Group, by Neta Jackson.  If you're not conversant with the book world, that would be a direct ripoff of "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood".  That lack of thinking for ourselves is what makes the secular world condescend to us and think of us as idiots.  Honestly, can you blame them?

There are exceptions.  Hammock.  Don Miller.  Artists that are simply going in their own direction and are Christian as a matter of personal choice rather than professional stance.  Sam Phillips is a great example.  Julie and Buddy Miller had some connections to Xian music once, but now are simply known for the high-quality music they make.  Period.  (PS- you know who else was a Christian musician?  Katy Perry.  Too bad we couldn't have kept her in the fold, eh?).  And of course, if you ask me, the prime example of all:  U2.  Biggest band on earth, perhaps.  Christians.  But instead of the Yada Yada prayer group, you instead see the rest of the world copying THEM.  That somehow sounds a lot more Christlike to me.....

THAT is how it should be, whether we're authors, plumbers, painters, guitarists, or whatever.  It's not that Christians need to be these super-great wonder-artists.  It would be nice, but that's not what I'm saying.  But I do not believe that it does any kind of service to Jesus if we're given some sort of cultural "pass" because we're creating for a religious subculture.

And it doesn't just apply to artists.

*******

"I think that love is always the most important thing, and what I felt a lot about the fundamentalist doctrine and their behavior was that they became exclusive, that they were excluding people who didn’t believe in the same thing, or they were excluding gay and lesbian people, basically excluding a lot of people, and that didn’t feel like love to me. Love is always my gauge in anything, or any kind of philosophy or group, whether it’s religious or political, if love isn’t apart of it I have a dubious view of it... I feel like I am closer to having a spiritual life rather than a religious life."
-Sam Phillips