However, within a few years, I started going to Tall Timber Presbyterian church camp. I didn’t feel the same loneliness. I don’t know if it was just because I was older, or because I was a more seasoned camper. But the most significant difference between the two camps was that at Tall Timber, I wasn’t alone spiritually. I was with other Christians. Doing Christian things.

It is part of God’s design that we should not live alone.

From Genesis to Revelation, Christianity is a social religion. God said “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

We need people. We are energized by our relationships. They give our life meaning. We realize that our life is not simply about us and our needs but it is about something bigger… life is about being in community. Sharing experiences in common.

As we continue the story of Elijah in 1Kings 19:13 we find Elijah feeling very alone.

As a consequence of his calling as a prophet Elijah felt very isolated. A prophet’s job is to call people to turn away from their indulgences back to serving Yahweh. Sometimes the prophet’s audience turns toward the message. But most often,  people turn away, leaving the prophet alone in the world.

If you have a Bible, turn to 1Kings 19:13

13 And Elijah pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.      Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Elijah said: “Look God, I am the only one left! Everyone has abandoned you and started worshiping Baal. They broke the altars erected to you and now they’ve killed the prophets. It’s just me now, and I’m

lonely.”

When I preach in August, I’m going to talk about depression and how one of the Bible’s stories about Elijah describes some God-ordained means for dealing with depression. But for now, we are going to focus on one aspect of depression which is isolation.. Isolation can be a symptom of depression.

Depressed people often start believing the lie that their friends don’t care about them. As a result, they purposely keep to themselves and eventually become a self-fulfilling prophecy, all alone.

In Elijah’s depression he had come to believe that the entire nation had turned away from God. Under this faulty assumption he hid himself away in a cave. Away from the very people who could have supported him.

But more often then not, we are never as alone as we believe we are. While most had turned from God, there was still a remnant. And so one of the ways that God ministers to us in our loneliness is to open our eyes to see that we are actually not alone.

Picking it up at verse 15 we read “The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”

God told him “Look, Hazael, Jehu and Elisha… they are still faithful to me. And there are 7000 people out there whose knees have not bowed down to Baal. Not only that, I have someone special for you to meet. His name is Elisha and he is going to work alongside you. You will have the opportunity to mentor him so that when you are gone, there will be someone to carry on your work.

Today you might find yourself in the position I was at camp. Even though you are surrounded with people you still feel alone. Perhaps you wrestle with depression and isolate yourself away, making people prove their love for you by waiting for them to take the initiative.

You need to hear the words of God to Elijah. You aren’t alone. There is a community of believers here that are available to walk beside you in both the joys and trials that life brings you. We do not have to suffer in loneliness as Elijah did.

God collects His people into churches so that they can give each other mutual help, contribute each of their gifts, talents, and passions to produce a whole that is greater then the sum of its parts, and together benefit from a common reward.

Hebrews 10:25 instructs us to ”not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.

God says it is not enough to have your morning devotions at home alone. You need to meet regularly with other believers or else you will find yourself like Elijah thinking “I am all alone.” This might mean meeting Sunday morning in a church service like ours. But you actually don’t need to meet in the traditional matter that we do with a set order of worship and building. You might be meeting in a house with 10 other Christians in the middle of the week. It might even just be two or three gathered together. No matter what the setting, we need to not give up meeting together. We need to be around each other or else we will feel all alone as Christians.

But not only are there are Christians in Menno to support you, there are also Christians in Ritzville and Moses Lake. Grant and Adams County.

My life has been enriched this year by a very unique church situation. When we moved back to Moses Lake I knew I wanted my family to be in a church inside the city limits of Moses Lake so that we would be living with and ministering to our neighbors and coworkers. Eventually I found Journey church which meets in the Fairchild Cinema. But I also knew that I wanted my family to grow up knowing you all because you have become an adopted family for us. And I have chosen to be a Mennonite regardless of the denomination of the congregation we worship and minister in weekly. But then I was hired to play for the worship service of Living word Lutheran church.

What I have experienced from this is that there are opportunities for community, to minister, and to be ministered to by fellowshipping with a broader group of Christians then those that we worship with on Sunday morning.

It is also important for us to remember that the church is not our only recourse against loneliness. Psalm 68:6 says God sets the lonely in families. Whether your family is Christian or not, God has ordained the family to be a place of love. For most people there is unconditional love from mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. From our extended families of grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. One of the hazards of living so far away from Deana’s and my families was that we didn’t have the immediate support available to us that we had when we lived in the same town. So when families are apart it is important to make use of the technology we have been blessed with, whether the phone, email, chat, or text. Brittany sends me pictures of my Grandson Luke on my cell phone. And I can video conference with Alexis on Skype.

Finally, while I’ve been talking about how we need to _seek out_ others to avoid the loneliness that crippled Elijah each of us needs to also be challenged to be that loving person that others can go to. Some people have found their experience of churches to be toxic. Church hasn’t been a safe place for them. They’ve felt judged or found it’s members at war with each other. For these people maybe you need to be just the second person of two or three gathered so that someone who believes the church is toxic can have a community of believers to meet with. To encourage that person. To pray with them. To share a meaningful passage of the Bible with them. To listen to them. To be ministered to by them. We need to not only go to church, we need to be the church for those with a negative experience with the church.

Other people have grown up in toxic families. Their parents area either distant or abusive. Their siblings are unsupportive. I believe that when Psalm 68 says “God sets the lonely in families” I believe it is also an invitation to us to be a family to those without one. For better or worse, our home has always been open to children and teens with troubles in their family. Sometimes it has meant them living with us for a short or extended time. The first time it was a teen whose mom had died of cancer. Later it was children of a neglectful mother. In other cases it has just been providing a loving place for them to hang out during the day. But God has continued to give us the opportunity to minister to those whose families are not there for them 100%.

So, to combat loneliness we need to be sure and take the time to gather with other Christians. Take the time to be with your family. And don’t isolate yourself to just your church or family. Take the time to _be_ the church for those without one and _be_ a family for those without.

*********************One who truly loves the truth may hereby test the soundness of his faith so that no one should exalt himself but know instead from whom one might ask and receive wisdom.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. [Proverbs 1:7]

Hans Denck

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist

One who truly loves the truth may hereby test the soundness of his faith so that no one should exalt himself but know instead from whom one might ask and receive wisdom.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. [Proverbs 1:7]

Hans Denck

Brothers, we read and hear that many sects and so-called heresies (to speak without malice) had grown up in days gone by. Some of these are partly growing up again in our day. Indeed, among any twenty scholars of one party, one will hardly find two who agree with each other in all aspects of doctrin. This would never be the case if one were to heed the only true teacher, the Holy Spirit. Scripture gives clear testimony of his teaching. But this happens in such a way that it appears to be contradictory in many places to any who are not sealed by the spirit of God. This is fully evident in certain sects in which everyone defends his own case, one quarreling with the other on the basis of certain parts of Scripture. There is no regard for the fact that the opponent’s Scripture is the truth, too.Now if we are to find the ground of truth, these [parts] must be seen together, compared and reconciled with each other. As long as we fail to do this, there will be no end of quarreling. Two opposites [gegenschrifft] must both be true. But one is contained in the other, as the lesser is in the greater, time in eternity, finitude in infinity. One who leaves antitheses without reconciling them lacks the ground of truth.How blessed we would be were we to recognize how little we actually have. We would then bemoan our poverty and hunger after the bread of life, namely, the Christ of God, our Father. He has sufficient for all wants, but tends to give to the hungry only. For this reason then I have gathered these opposites (we could have found a great many more in Scripture) so that — god willing — they may serve to enrich his own people. Amen.Here then are forty opposites.The First:a). Who knows the mind of the Lord [Romans 11:34]b). He has made known to us the mystery of his will [Ephesians 1:9]The second:a). Without him was not anything made. [John 1:3]b). Pride was not made for humanking. [Ecclesiasticus 10:18]The thirda). God did not make death. [Wisdom 1:13]b). Fire and hail, famine and death, all these were created for vengence. [Ecclesiasticus 39:29]The fourtha). Whoever comes to me I will in no wise cast out. [John 5:37]b). It does not depend on human will or effort, but on God’s mercy [Romans 9:16]The fiftha). You abhor none of the things which you made. [Wisdom 11:24]b). Jacob I loved; Esau I hate [Romans 9:13]The sixtha). God did not repent of his gift and grace. [Romans 11:29]b). I repent of having made Saul king [1Samuel 15:11]The seventha) I am not come to judge the world but to save the world [John 12:47]b). For judgement I came into the world [John 9:39]The eightha). If I testify on my own behalf that testimony is not true [John 5:31]b). If I testify in my own behalf that testimony is true [John 8:14]The nintha). I can do nothing of myself [John 5:19]b). No one takes my life from me; but I give it of myself [John 10:18]The tentha). Those whom he called he also justified [Romans 8:30]b). Many are called; few are chosen [Matthew 20:16]The eleventha). For who can resist his will? [Romans 9:19]b). You have always resisted the Holy Spirit. [Acts 7:51]The twelftha). Everyone who asks, receives [Matthew 7:8]b). You ask, but you receive nothing. [James 4:3]The thirteentha). God is no respecter of persons [Romans 2:11]b). Whom shall I look upon but the poor and the broken in spirit [Isaiah 66:2]The fourteentha). Preach the Gospel to all creatures [Mark 16:15]b). Do not throw pearls to the pigs [Matthew 7:6]The fifteentha). By one suffering he has perfected all those who are sanctified [Hebrews 10:14]b). I complete in my flesh the full tale of Christ’s afflictions for his body’s sake [Colossians 1:24]The sixteentha). I will not be angry forever [Jeremiah 3:12]b). And these will go to eternal punishment. [Matthew 25:46]The seventeentha). God wills that all humankind should be saved. [1Timothy 2:4]b). Few are chosen [Matthew 20:16]The eighteentha). God does not tempt anyone [James 1:13]b). God tempted Abraham [Geneses 22:1]The nineteentha). Thou art not a God who is pleased by evil. [Psalm 5:4-5]b). He hardens whomever he will. [Romans 9:18]The twentietha). His tender mercy is over all creatures. [Psalm 145:9]b). To whom he will, he is gracious. [Romans 9:18]The twenty-firsta). The broken reed he shall not crush [Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20]b). You shall shatter them like a potter’s dish [Psalm 2:9]The twenty-seconda). No one has seen God. [John 1:18]b). I have seen the Lord, face to face. [Genesis 32:31]The twenty-thirda). Whoever drinks of the water which I shall give, will never again thirst. [John 4:14]b). Whoever drinks me will still thirst. [Ecclesiasticus 24:21]The twenty-fourtha). Whoever overcomes, I shall grant to sit with me on the throne [Revelations 3:21]b). It is not in my power to grant to you who shall sit at my right, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. [Mark 10:40]The twenty-fiftha). Judge not so that you will not be judged. [Matthew 7:1]b). Judge justly. [John 7:24]The twenty-sixtha). In Christ shall all be made alive. [1Corinthians 15:22]b). The Son gives life to whom he wills. [John 5:21]The twenty-seventha). God has put all under unbelief in order to show mercy to all. [Romans 11:32]b). Whoever does not believe shall be condemned. [Mark 16:16]The twenty-eighta). This is my body. [Matthew 26:26]b). If they say this is Christ, do not believe them. [Matthew 24:23]The twenty-nintha). I will be with you until the end of the world. [Matthew 28:20]b). Me you do not always have with you. [Matthew 26:11]The thirtietha). All he wants, he has done. [Psalm 115:3]b). You have always resisted the Holy Spirit. [Acts 11:30]The thirty-firsta). He is himself the atonement for our sin; not for our sins only but for the sins of all the world. [1John 2:2]b). I do not pray for the world. [John 17:9]The thirty-seconda). It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. [Matthew 19:24]b). My yoke is easy and my burden is light. [Matthew 11:30]The thirty-thirda). The bars of the earth have encased me forever. [Jonah 2:6]b). Then God spoke to the fish and it spewed Jonah onto dry land. [Jonah 2:10]The thirty-fourtha). To the just no law has been given [1Timothy 1:9]b). Whoever conforms to my statutes and observes my laws and walks in truth is righteous. [Ezra 18:9]The thirty-fiftha). The law entered so that sin may increase. [Romans 5:20]b). God has commanded no one to be wicked, nor has he given license to commit sin. [Ecclesiasticus 15:10]The thirty-sixtha). For it hereby comes about that the former law is annulled on account of its weakness and uselessness. [Hebrews 7:18]b). Do we cancel the Law through faith? Far be that from us. Rather, we set up the Law. [Romans 3:31]The thirty-seventha). With whatever measure your measure it shall be measured for you. [Matthew 7:2]b). Double for her the strength of the potion she mixed. [Revelations 18:6]The thirty-eightha). I am God and there is no other. I bring forth light and create darkness, I give peace and cause evil. [Isaiah 45:7]b). When the devil tells a lie he speaks his own language. [John 8:44]The thirty-nintha). Why do you provoke God by laying upon the shoulders of these disciples a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? [Acts 15:10]b). The commandment which I give you is neither too strange nor too far off. It is not in heaven that you should say, “Who will go and fetch it for us that we may hear and do it? etc. [Deuteronomy 30:11, 12]The fortietha). I desire to harden Pharoah’s heart says God. [Exodus 4:21]b). Pharoah hardens his own heart. [Exodus 8:15; 9:34]To the Reader:The prophet Isaiah says in the twenty-ninth chapter, “and the vision of all this (that is, everything which points to God) has become to you like the words of a sealed book. Give it to a scholar and bid him read it and he will say that he does not know it by heart. Give it to an ignorant person and he will say, “I cannot read” [Isaiah 29:11f]This prophecy has already been fulfilled in our own day. We can easily test this in above and similar statements. For we understand the mysteries of God even less than an ignorant animal. One who cannot read should go with full confidence to the only teacher who instructs all learned doctors. He alone has the key to this book which contains all the treasures of wisdom.O Lord, give whatever you will to whomever you will. Amen.Their folly will be plain to all [2Timothy 3:9]Hans Denck, 1526

In the article: “A call to faithfulness: Dutch Mennonites facing the storm in 1940,” Gerlof D. Homan tells of the Mennonite churches situation following the Nazi invasion.

“On May 10, 1940, Nazi legions invaded the Netherlands, a nation that remained unscathed during the First World War and hoped it could also escape the ravages of the new conflict that descended upon Europe in September 1939 when Hitler attacked Poland. The Dutch resisted the German invasion, but the struggle against overwhelming odds was short-lived, and on May 15 the Dutch military capitulated. At that time few Dutch citizens realized what horrors lay in store for them in the next five years of Nazi terror. 

Dutch Mennonites would share in the general agony and pain as they and other citizens were subjected to many humiliating and cruel measures. Many of them would lose their lives, suffer mentally and economically, and in a few instances see the destruction of their houses of worship. How well were they prepared to face the storm? 


Knowing they faced an bleak future, F. Dijkema, one of the pastors of the large Mennonite congregation in Amsterdam and member of the executive committee of the the Dutch General Mennonite Conference sought to inspire the church to faithfulness by holding up the example of the great cloud of witnesses, the 16th century Anabaptist martyrs.

He wrote to the struggling church:

“We hope that you feel with us that we must, with God’s help, do everything that is in our power to bring the ship of the Brotherhood through the turbulent waters to a safe haven. Our fathers did that too in times that were equal in difficulties and dangers, yes, which in that regard, in many ways, even surpassed them. Thinking back to those stirring times of our Brotherhood, here and elsewhere, we can look up to that cloud of witnesses who “kept what they had,” and we must do that with thankfulness towards those faithful, and with the humble prayer that the Almighty God will strengthen us as He did them… For four centuries our Brotherhood has resisted the undermining and destructive powers of the world. Ours task is to extend the burning torch, given to us by the ancestors.”



Today is Reformation Sunday a time when Protestant churches remember the time of the reformation of the church in the 16th and 17th century. The Mennonite Church has seen it as a time to remember the work of the anabaptist of that time, the radical reformers.

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite, preaching, sermons

Cloud of witnesses. What can we learn from those that came before us.

Hebrews 12:1, 2

Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How this text is understood Biblically.

What is the cloud.

Cloud: Mass of clouds. Not a single cloud

The metaphor refers to the great amphitheatre with the arena for the runners and the tiers upon tiers of seats rising up like a cloud.

Who are the witnesses?

Hebrews 11

1. They lived by faith

verse 1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.

2. They were our elders. Those who came before us.

verse 2 For by this, the elders obtained testimony.

Could go on with the whole chapter. Pick it up at verse 35

3. Some were martyred

Verse 35 “Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth. 39 These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise, 40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

The witnesses in the great ampitheater are not mere spectators, but testifiers who testify from their own experience to God’s fulfilling his promises as shown in chapter Heb 11.

They speak to us. Through their witness.

verse 2 says that through their faith, they attained God’s testimony.

So, those of whom God testified are testifiers of us today.

How this text has been understood by the Church throughout history.

We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.

My Grandmother who died. I continue to dream of her occassionally. She is still alive in my memory of her. Not in some hoodoovoodoo spiritual sense. Have you ever had an argument with someone and then later on continued the argument with that person in your head? Who are you arguing with? The person inside your head. Your memory of that person. That person exists to you in your memory of them. Same with my grandmother. Same with the cloud of witnesses. As long as we have a memory of them, they still exist to us.

As long as we remember them, they are still at work in us.

Ever wonder where the idea came from of the Saints praying for us? From this passage.

For us, that cloud includes the Anabaptists who became the Mennonite church.

In my study, I had two things that were important enough to the Mennonites to die for. Today, I’m going to share about one of them, and we’ll pick up the rest next year on the next Mennonite Heritage Sunday.

1). How to maintain a holy church.

What is a holy church?

Ephesians 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it; 26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, 27 that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Melchior Hoffman wrote “And the bride has now so covenanted herself with the Lord under the sign of the covenant, which is baptism, and so given herself over to him and he to them, through his Word and again with the bread, that many brides are become one congregation and bride of the Lord and he the husband and the Bridegroom.”

According to the anabaptists, we are each brides and together the bride of Christ, set apart from the flesh, made holy by the bridegroom Jesus himself.

The leaders of the church are Christ’s emmissaries sanctifying the church. Through leadership, through example, through discipline.

1. No longer coercion

Walter Klaassen writes, p. 211

“Virtually all the Anabaptists we know by name had experienced church discipline at the hands of the Catholic and Protestant church authorities. What we today call persecution was regarded in the sixteenthg century by those who did it as church discipline. Anabpatists were always regarded as members of the churhc, Protestand or Catholic, who had gone astray. The church authorities therefore felt responsible for them.”

“This discipline was often severe, involving imprisonment, torture, exile, deprivation of property and even death. The deat sentence as the ultimate act of discipline had a long history. In a society in which everyone was regarded as Christian there was no longer a world into which the offending member could be excommunicated. Thbe only way of getting rid of an incorrigible heretic was to put him to death.”

2. Instead the ban.

Anabaptists said that physical violence was not permitted the Christian. And because Anabaptists saw a clear distinction between church and world, when someone was excommunicated, that person was sent out of the church, God’s kingdom into the world, the kingdom of Satan.

Matthew 18:15-17 15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.

Lovingly.

Matthew 5:43, 44

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,

Hans Denck, an early anabaptist wrote :For the children of love may not for the sake of love act against love. Here all the wise need wisdom and all the friends of God need love so that they do not prefer the love of man to the love of God.

We must act in love. Otherwise the ban becomes coercion.

We must be quick to forgive

Luke 17:3, 4

Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

John 20:23

Whoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever’s sins you retain, they have been retained.”

Conclusion

Take you back to the words of pastor Dijkema,

“Thinking back to those stirring times of our Brotherhood, here and elsewhere, we can look up to that cloud of witnesses who “kept what they had,” and we must do that with thankfulness towards those faithful, and with the humble prayer that the Almighty God will strengthen us as He did them… For four centuries our Brotherhood has resisted the undermining and destructive powers of the world. Ours task is to extend the burning torch, given to us by the ancestors.”

Our task is to extend the burning torch given to us by the ancestors.

Let us be known to God and to the world as a holy church without spot or blemish.

Let us be known for love even in times when a brother or sister is caught in sin.

Let us be known as a place that forgives sins.

I was having a sleepless night–an evening cup of coffee, my husband’s abnormally loud snoring, and details about an upcoming trip were keeping me hopelessly awake. Even after I slipped into the guest bedroom, I still had trouble. Finally, at 3:15 a.m., I crawled back into my own bed, next to a now half-awake husband.

“Honey, I can’t sleep,” I whispered. “I start to drift off and even dream, but then I wake up with a jerk.”

“Wait a minute,” my husband said, now fully awake. “I am not a jerk!”

Karen Wingate, Coldwater, Kansas, Christian Reader, “Lite Fare.”

Alcohol.. the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and now marriage.

A friend of mine said “you better watch out, the offerings are going to go down.

Practical

Practical aspect of the Bible. It speaks to areas of our everyday life.

Vision for marriage

How does the world see marriage?



Cynical

50% of marriages end in divorce. myth

Pollster Louis Harris has written, “The idea that half of American marriages are doomed is one of the most specious pieces of statistical nonsense ever perpetuated in modern times.”

It all began when the Census Bureau noted that during one year, there were 2.4 million marriages and 1.2 million divorces. Someone did the math without calculating the 54 million marriages already in existence, and presto, a ridiculous but quotable statistic was born.

Harris concludes, “Only one out of eight marriages will end in divorce. In any single year, only about 2 percent of existing marriages will break up.”

J. Allan Petersen in Better Families. “To Verify,” Leadership.

1 in 8 is still too high. But significantly, We believe that statistic because it appears to be true around us. Broken marriages have become such a part of our landscape that we’ve grown cynical to the Biblical vision of a Godly permanent marriage.

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite, mennonite, sermons

What the Christian vision for marriage is.

Love. Love your neighbor as yourself. No one is your closer neighbor then your spouse.

Help for each other. I can make breakfast for myself… but I will forget to take care of myself and eat cheetos and coffee if Deana doesn’t put a lunch and dinner in front of me.

Children.

Are you lacking in love? Not helping each other? Then hopefully this time will be useful to you.

Me as an example:

I’ve grown up in the church and been to bible studies and conferences. I’ve noticed two tendencies among Christian ministers regarding marriage. Teach either principles that aren’t grounded in everyday living. Or testify that they almost lost their marriage, but now thanks to these three steps their marriage is made in heaven and so can yours.

Here’s my problem with that: neither are realistic. Biblical principles are lived out in the trenches of the real world. And it’s unrealistic to paint a marriage as perfect.

My approach: No magic bullet. It has been hard. We’ve had to work hard. We’ve been in a dark tunnel with no apparent light at the end.

But as H. Norman Write says “All the experiences that we’ve had are a rich storehouse of memories. We learned from the difficult times, and we learned from the times of laughter as well. I’m not one to look back and say I wish I would have done this or that differently. I’m more of an optimist who says, “Let’s learn from what we’ve done in the past and let’s look forward to today and tomorrow.”

H. Norman Wright, Marriage Partnership, Vol. 7, no. 3.

If you are struggling in your marriage, we are humble about ours and want to help anyway we can. No magic bullets. Just good ears. And our own story. And scripture.

Household Code

What are the rules, spoken or unspoken that your family lives under?

If someone gets a toy for a holiday, they are the only one that gets to play with it for a season… few days, week.

Tap Tap seat back.

“Calling” it. I call the front seat.

When Deana and I are gone, Alexis or Brittany are in charge. I will support them 100%.

The world we live in has a code for marriage.

1. It should make you happy. If it doesn’t make you happy… if someone else comes along who makes you happy.

2. Group of men at Buhl talking about prenuptial agreements. ONe of them asked if the other had a prenuptial agreement. He said “yes. we agreed that my wealth would become hers, and her debts would become mine.” Code = plan to get out.

3. Another code is for the women to become more like men and for the men to become more like women.

Clothing, hairstyle

I used to have _really_ long hair. Honestly, I prefer having my hair long.

But I became convicted that I needed to help discriminate between male and female.

I don’t think I looked like a woman.

But in spite of all the progress of liberalism in this world, we still associate long hair with women.

This has a profound effect on our marriages.

Is a marriage better when the man becomes more like a woman, and a woman becomes more like a man?

Does the Bible discriminate between men and women when it provides instruction on marriage?

Read Ephesians 5:21-33

21 subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body. 24 But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it; 26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, 27 that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. 29 For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly; 30 because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. 31 “For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly. 33 Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Area where we are equal: Submit to each other.

Areas where our roles are different.

1. Men love your wives as yourself.

2. Wives respect your husband.

In Love and Respect, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs writes

“The wife is the one who asks “Does my husband love me as much as I love him?” She knows she loves him, but she wonders at times if he loves her nearly as much. So when he comes across as unloving, she typically reacts in a negative way. In her opinion, he needs to change into a more sensitive and caring man.

“On the other hand, a husband does not commonly ask, “Does my wife love me as much as I love her?” Why not? Because he is assured of her love. I often ask husbands “Does your wife love you?” They reply, “Yes, of course.” But then I ask, “Does she like you?” And the answer usually comes back, “Nope.”

In many cases the wife’s dislike is interpreted by the husband as disrespect and even contempt. In his opinion, she has changed from being the admiring, ever approving woman she was when they courted.”

According to the Bible, each spouse has a unique role to play to make sure that their marriage is great. The husband is to love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife needs to respect her husband.

Confusion about this even in the church:

A 2002 gender survey conducted by Christianity Today International’s research department shows that most readers are unsure what the Bible really means in what it says about the roles of men and women.

Of the 750 respondents, 88 percent agree that “there is a lot of confusion about male and female roles in the Christian world today.” Only 19 percent say that the Bible’s teachings on the matter are “very clear and plainly understood,” while 39 percent say that the teachings are “clear in principle, with much room for personal choice and practice.” It’s no wonder, then, that 78 percent of respondents think that “Christian leaders need to speak out on proper roles for men and women,” while only 9 percent say they don’t need such guidance.

Eighty-nine percent of our readers agree with the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s tenet that “God made men and women to be equal in personhood and value but different in roles.” But, when asked specifically about the often-debated roles, a surprising number of respondents seemed to move away from the belief that men are by divine right in charge of churches and families.

“Adam and Eve in the 21st Century,” Christianity Today (3-11-02)

Let’s walk through this.

1. First, submit yourselves to each other.

Philippians 2:3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

I Peter 5 5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

1Corinthians 7:4 The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife.

Humility.

Not manipulative. We’ve both encountered books that were using male female distinctiveness to manipulate our spouse into becoming what we want in our relationship.

Not passive aggressive.

I am to subject myself to Deana. She is to subject herself to me. The importance of where the chapter verse breakdowns happen.

2. Wives Respect and Submit to your husbands.

One evening my husband, Mark, and our preschooler, Krystal, were on the couch chatting. “Daddy, you’re the boss of the house, right?” I overheard her ask sweetly.

My husband proudly replied, “Yes, I’m the boss of the house.”

But Krystal quickly burst his bubble when she added, “Cause Mommy put you in charge, huh Daddy?”

Rhonda Mony, Lake Elsinore, California. Christian Reader, “Kids of the Kingdom.”

We need leadership. God has appointed leadership.

We need people whose job it is to see the bigger picture and to help make decisions to move towards that bigger picture.

Husbands are a gift to their families to see the bigger picture and lead towards it. Submitting then is taking the divinely ordered place in the marriage relationship.

Submission is not subjugation. Subjugation turns a person into a thing, destroys individuality, and removes all liberty. Submission makes a person become more of what God wants him to be; it brings out individuality; it gives him the freedom to accomplish all that God has for his life and ministry. Subjugation is weakness; it is the refuge of those who are afraid of maturity. Submission is strength; it is the first step toward true maturity and ministry.

Warren Wiersbe, Leadership; submitted by Kevin A. Miller, vice president, Christianity Today International

Submitting is allowing your husband to fill the role that God has place him in.

How?

1. Keep on the lookout for some small decision that needs to be made. “You make the decision.”

2. After.. keep on the lookout for a large decision.

Illustration

Example:

A case in point is an episode from the life of Don Balasa, a Chicago lawyer and CBMW’s legal counsel, and his wife, Kate Balasa, who homeschools their daughter. The Balasas were visiting Buffalo, New York, when the terrorist attacks suspended air travel. They had airplane tickets for September 13 but weren’t sure they would be able to fly home that day.

“An area that Don usually defers to me is travel,” Kate told me. “So he asked me, ‘What are our options?’ After giving him all the scenarios, I told him I’d prefer to wait at the hotel and fly home.” But Don thought it would be safer and a better use of time to drive home to Chicago immediately.

“I told Don, ‘I’m deciding to submit to you here, but I really disagree with your decision.’ He just very lovingly, very kindly said, ‘I think this is the direction we need to go,’ ” she says. They ended up renting a car and, “as it turned out, we would have been stuck there for several more days.”

Does she feel resentment when Don goes against her wishes?

“No bitterness has built up,” she says. “I trust God that he has put Don in a place of headship in our home, and Don’s leadership is loving.” She adds that many times Don is clearly opposed to something she wants to do—like a recent home renovation—yet he gives her a go-ahead.

Warning

Just because your husband is leading doesn’t mean that you are respecting his leadership.

Just because your husband isn’t leading doesn’t mean that you are submitting to him.

There is a story about a little boy who was instructed by his teacher to sit down and be quiet. Because of his rebellious nature he did not want to do this, but was forced to by his teacher. Later, the children in the class were chiding him by saying, “Boy, you really sat down and shut up when the teacher approached you with the paddle.” The rebellious boy replied, “I may have been sitting down on the outside, but I was still standing up on the inside.”

Scripture to study

Genesis 3:16

1Corinthians 11:3

1Corinthians 14:34

Colossians 3:18

1Timothy 2:11, 12

Titus 2:5

1Peter 3:1-7

3. Husbands love your wives.

On February 14, the business of Valentine’s Day is to ardently pursue love interests and warmly renew those already in progress.

Daniel Webster, a 19th century lawyer and statesman, was courting his wife-to-be, Grace Fletcher. As he held skeins of silk thread for her, he suggested, “Grace, we’ve been engaged in untying knots; let us see if we can tie a knot which will not untie for a lifetime.” They stopped right then and tied a random silk knot that would be almost impossible to untie. Grace accepted Webster’s proposal.

After they passed from this world, their children found a little box marked “Precious Documents.” Among the contents were letters of courtship and a tiny silk knot—one that had never been untied.

Those who know the love of Jesus can boldly say, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).

Jim Bassett; Source: Clifton Fadiman, The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes, (Little, Brown & Co., 1985)

Romantic love.

When you first dated.

These verses put such demands upon the Christian husbande that it is impossible to see how a charge of male shauvinism could justly be made against the Bible or how a license to exploit women or wives could eve be claimed from such texts.

How?

1. Sacrafice

Wayne Grudem, a CBMW council member who coedited the complementarian magnum opus, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Crossway, 1991), made a big sacrifice for his wife, Margaret.

For several years, she has lived with constant pain due to fibromyalgia. The soreness eased whenever the two visited hot and arid Arizona, and they entertained the idea of moving there. The move could have hindered Wayne’s career. A scholar at the well-known Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, Wayne found one school he could work at in Arizona: the little-known Phoenix Seminary.

“I came to , ‘Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies,’ ” Wayne later wrote in a newsletter. “If I were to love my own wife as I love my own body, then shouldn’t I move [to Arizona] for the sake of Margaret?” Wayne applied to teach at Phoenix and the two moved last year

2. Don’t be bitter against them.

Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

Having the authority doesn’t give you license to be a jerk.

3. Proverbs 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.

Rejoice.

Touch.

This is one of the most incredible sections in the Bible.

1corinthians 2:6-16

6 We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written,

“Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear,

Which didn’t enter into the heart of man,

These God has prepared for those who love him.”

10 But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. 12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.

No matter how well you know me, you can never know me truly. Verse 11 says “who knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him.” Only I know myself.

Also true of God.

“No one knows the things of God, except God’s spirit.”

But then the most incredible verse in verse 16.

“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him?”

But we have Christ’s mind.

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite, mennonite, sermons

Earlier in verse 12 he said that we have received the Spirit which is from God that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.”

The Spirit imparts the mind of Christ on us.

Isn’t this remarkable?

Read Text: Ephesians 5:18-20

Couple problems with being full.

First:

10%. I don’t know if this is a myth or not, but I’m pretty sure we don’t use our brain to it’s full capacity.

Can our brain contain the mind of the infinite Holy Spirit?

No of course it can’t.

Even if it was functioning at full capacity, it couldn’t contain the infinite holy Spirit. the Mind of God. the mind of Christ.

Second:

We leak.

over time our passion wanes.

it is very difficult to sustain the fire of our salvation.

struggle to maintain the disciplines of filling ourselves with the Word of God and communing with God in prayer in worship, the activities that give the Holy spirit increased place in our lives.

easy to get formulaic which also quashes the spirit. to rely on our rituals.

Keep on seeking to be more full.

Prayer: “Lord give me more of the Holy Spirit. Let me know more of the mind of Christ. ”

Who? The Holy Spirit

Comforter John 14:16

Teacher of what Jesus taught

John 14:26

Hans Denk “Whoever thinks that he can observe the law by means of the Book ascribes to the dead letter what belongs to the living Spirit. Whoever does not have the Spirit and imagines that he will find him in Scripture looks for light and finds darkness, looks for life and finds only death.”

Testifies to Jesus

John 15:26

Guide you into all truth

John 16:7-15

Power

Acts 1:4, 5, 8

To be witnesses

A.W. Tozer “if the Holy Spirit were taken away from the first century church, 90 percent of what they did would come to a halt. But if the Holy Spirit were taken away from the 21st century chruch, only 10 percent of what it does would cease to exist.

We’re not seeing the same results as the early believers because we’re not relying on the same power they did.

What?

Pentecostal

Gifts of the Spirit are still present

When?

Pentecostal cont’d

Not just when we become a Christian

Seek fillings of the Spirit.

Repeated filling

Acts 4:8, 10-12

Acts 4:31

Acts 13:9

Contrast

“Believers often fall into one of two camps regarding the ministry and gifts of the HOly Spirit. One extreme emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit in practically everything they say and do. They have conferences on the Spirit, sing songs about the Spirit, and constantly talk about the work and the gifts of the Spirit. Often they are so busy seeking direct revelations from the Spirit of God that they overlook the clear written revelation in the Word of God. Although these believers may have a genuine love for the Lord, their desire to witness “power” has led them into unscriptural practices.”

“At the other end of the spectrum, we have Christians whose focus is on Bible exposition. They study the Word, learn the Word, and memorize the Word (as we all should). Unfortunately, however, sometimes these zealous students or Scripture are close-minded to the working of God’s Spirit. They can be very knowledgeable about the Spirit and yet quench the Spirit by not allowing Him to move in their lives outside their time-honored traditions.”

“The key is balance: knowing the Word of God and implementing the practical power of God’s Spirit.

Example of this: Acts 2:16 Peter put speaking in tongues and prophecying in the context of God’s Word. “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.”

Balance.

What does it mean to be repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit?

“You will only revive the burning power and passion of Christ in your life by opening yourself to the power of God’s Spirit, by anchoring your daily life in the disciplines of worship, Bible study, prayer, and faithful service, and by welcoming god’s direction in the everyday routine of your life.” – Greg Laurie A Passion for God p. 13

Three word pictures in the Greek help us to understand what the term “filled” means.

First, it was used of the wind filling a sail and pushing a boat through the water. To be filled with the Spirit is to be moved along by God Himself. He becomes our source of motivation. When we are filled with the Spirit following His commands becomes a delight instead of a drudgery.

Second, being filled carries the idea of permeation and was used of salt permeating meat in order to flavor it and preserve it. God wants His Spirit to permeate our lives and influence everything we think, say and do.

Third, being filled means to be under the control of something or someone. Remember that the problem with drunkenness is that it controls you. When you are drunk, it controls your body, your mind, even your mouth. When you aren’t drunk, it controls you by drawing you to the time when you can get drunk again. Being filled with the Spirit is similar, only in a much more positive way. It means placing every thought, every decision, every act under the Spirit’s control. Galatinans 5:16 promises “Walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” When you walk in the Spirit you have the resources to do what God wants you to do and not do what God doesn’t want you to do.

How?

Vision: First Partner together to share the gospel with seekers.

Second: Provide opportunities for hearts to grow closer in their relationship with Jesus

One of those is to be filled with more of the Holy Spirit.

“Be filled is a command. Doesn’t really give us an option.

But paradoxically, the greek shows that it is not something that we can achieve through our own efforts,

It is something done for us and to which we submit.

Hayford’s Bible Handbook p. 640

We do our part and the Holy Spirit does His.

So, what is our part.

1. Ask

Luke 11:9-13 9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

keep asking. not just asking once.

keep seeking. not just seeking once.

keep knocking. not just knocking once.

2. Expectant waiting.

Acts 1:4-5 4Being assembled together with them, he charged them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5 For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

How do you know if you are being filled with the Holy Spirit?

Changes your conversations.

repeat

Verse 19 and 20 says

singing, and singing praises in your heart to the Lord

speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

20 giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;

Conclusion:

Prayer.

Silence. Asking God to fill you again with His Holy Spirit.

Benediction:

Go in peace,

and may the holy God surprise you

Christ Jesus be your partner

and the lively Spirit call your steps.

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite, mennonite

“Within the expanding discipline of Mennonite studies, few scholars have paid any attention to the cultural and religious importance of Mennonite cookbooks. Yet when we consider how central food has been for Mennonites[2] over the years, we might expect to see a burgeoning literature pertaining to the ways in which such things as cookbook publication, food preparation, potlucking, food folklore and food relief efforts relate to the historical construction of Mennonite identity and theology. In the absence of any systematic attempt to grapple with the significance of Mennonite cookbooks, Katie Funk Wiebe finally threw down the gauntlet in 1999 when she declared,

“I believe one of the future records of the Mennonite history will be our cookbooks. . . . ”

Read the rest here

Taking Jesus Seriously

“Surely all Christians take Jesus seriously? To question this seems unnecessary, even offensive. But for many centuries the church has struggled with the radical teaching and example of Jesus.

The fourth-century shift of the church from the social margins to the centre made it increasingly difficult to hear and obey what he had taught. Christians had so much invested in the new status quo (which was supposedly Christian) that it was often easier to marginalise his teaching or to interpret it in ways that were quite bland and did not threaten those in authority or their own new status.

The Sermon on the Mount was especially problematic and various devices were used to evade its disruptive and costly teaching. Through the centuries, it was marginalised groups like the Anabaptists, with far less invested in the status quo, which provoked the church to look again at this passage and many others, to take Jesus seriously.

As Christendom comes to an end and churches in western culture become accustomed to being once more on the margins, there is a fresh opportunity to rediscover the radical teaching of Jesus and to explore ways of taking him seriously in many aspects of Christian discipleship.

This study course wrestles with many practical issues and focuses on the Sermon on the Mount.”

Available in PDF at the anabaptist network.

Leaving Munster: anabaptist resources for a post-Christendom world

also

Leaving Munster’s Anabaptist blog aggregator

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite

re: liturgy.

i too have gone to catholic mass periodically. even attended an episcopal church once. years ago i bought a book of common prayer (they aren’t really expensive… you can get a pew edition for like $10).

at least two or three reasons. first, i have two impulses faith wise. i enjoy the cultural sweep of the historic church handed down from age to age. the episcopal and anglican churches represent the culmination of the western church’s spirituality but with some protestant corrections of roman catholicism. my other impulse though is what is called “primitivism,” a desire to reclaim the freshness of the early church from the time of Christ to before emperor Constantine. in terms of my upcoming new blog, westminster represents the culmination of western spirituality whereas schleithiem and anabaptism represent the 16th century impulse to reclaim the first century church. so my first reason for liking liturgy is that i like to be grounded in the historic church. i like the smell of the dust. i like the sound of the stone cathedral. i love to pray prayers and sing hymns that are 1000′s of years old and represent the human devotion to Christ that has been handed down from the ages.

second is that i am a “frustrated pentecostal.” i put it in quotes because it is a phrase i use to describe myself. i grew up in a pentecostal church and for the most part agree with pentecostal theology (my pastoral ministries bachelor of arts is from an assembly of God bible college). and my picture of a biblically functioning church is that it’s members are spirit-filled in the pentecostal sense, though i do not believe that speaking in tongues is a necessary component of that. however… though i can speak in tongues, i rarely do (only in private… i believe that paul prohibits public speaking of tongues as the pentecostals practice it, only allowing it when their was supernatural interpretation). and my experience of God is not so spectacular as that claimed by some pentecostals. but I _do_ experience God profoundly when I pray prayers that someone else wrote, or pray the prayers of the psalms, or run my finger through a lap sized labyrinth or listen to the compline service at st. mark’s episcopal cathedral. so, ironically, i _experience_ God as the pentecostals describe, but I do it through liturgy.

there. two paragraph sized reasons. i thought i had three, but i can’t think of a third.

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite, reformation

I want to take a moment and study this subject of examining our life before taking the communion so that we can take it in good conscience and let it be the celebration it was intended to be.

Open your Bible to I Corinthians 11. We will be reading verses 23-28

23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a manner unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

Let a man examine himself.

Scary business. If I look at my own life, I quickly would become convinced that I am indeed unworthy to go through any spiritual exercise.

Are we supposed to be sinless to take communion? This would be impossible. 1John 1:8 says If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us

How should we view ourselves as Christians who sin?

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, sermons, worship

Important to understand what changed when we became a follower of Jesus. Prior to following Jesus we were sinners. It was a part of our very nature to sin.

When we are saved, our nature is changed. We are justified by Jesus. Our sinful nature is changed. We still have the flesh battling against our spirit.

So, instead of being in nature sinners, we become in nature children of God who battle the flesh and sometimes lose giving in to sin.

It is important to keep this in mind because other wise we can wind up wallowing in a rehearsal of our unworthiness.

Three mistakes in understanding our sinfulness.

Self-loathing. “I’m a depraved sinner. There is nothing of worth in me.” There can be a certain pride in our humility. Which does an injustice to the work that Christ has done in us.



Pride “I may not be perfect, but I’m better then they are.”



Apathy. “I know I sin, but I can’t do anything about it, so I won’t try.”

Dignity. “I’m a child of God who still sins. I confess my sins to God and move on.”

So, when we examine ourselves in preparation of communion it is with the understanding that we are child of God who still sins. So we need to examine our lives, confess our sins, repent, take steps to walk away from sin and prepare to celebrate the abundant life we’ve been given by the sacrafice of Jesus on that tree.

Next we will look at four areas that we should examine our life before communion.

There’s a wonderful story by Isak Dinesen called Babette’s Feast, about a strict, dour, fundamentalist community in Denmark. Babette works as a cook for two elderly sisters who have no idea that she once was a chef to nobility back in her native France. Babette’s dream is to return to her beloved home city of Paris, so every year she buys a lottery ticket in hopes of winning enough money to return. And every night her austere employers demand that she cook the same dreary meal: boiled fish and potatoes, because, they say, Jesus commanded, “Take no thought of food and drink.”

One day the unbelievable happens: Babette wins the lottery! The prize is 10,000 francs, a small fortune. And because the anniversary of the founding of the community is approaching, Babette asks if she might prepare a French dinner with all the trimmings for the entire village.

At first the townspeople refuse: “No, it would be sin to indulge in such rich food.” But Babette begs them, and finally they relent, “As a favor to you, we will allow you to serve us this French dinner.” But the people secretly vow not to enjoy the feast and instead to occupy their minds with spiritual things, believing God will not blame them for eating this sinful meal as long as they do not enjoy it.

Babette begins her preparations. Caravans of exotic food arrive in the village, along with cages of quail and barrels of fine wine.

Finally the big day comes, and the village gathers.

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, Mennonite, sermons, worship

The first course is an exquisite turtle soup. The diners force it down without enjoyment. But although they usually eat in silence, conversation begins to take off. Then comes the wine: Veuve Cliquot 1860, the finest vintage in France. And the atmosphere changes. Someone smiles. Someone else giggles. An arm comes up and drapes over a shoulder. Someone is heard to say, “After all, did not the Lord Jesus say, love one another?” By the time the main entrée of quail arrives, those austere, pleasure-fearing people are giggling and laughing and slurping and guffawing and praising God for their many years together. This pack of Pharisees is transformed into a loving community through the gift of a meal. One of the two sisters goes into the kitchen to thank Babette, saying, “Oh, how we will miss you when you return to Paris!” And Babette replies, “I will not be returning to Paris, because I have no money. I spent it all on the feast.”

When we come to communion, it is a feast that was prepared with the cost of a life. Jesus gave his life so that we might have an abundant life. Yet like the austere Dutch in this story, we often take it with such seriousness that we lose the joy that it was meant for. Part of that may be because we have divorced it from the love feast that the original church celebrated. As I’ve been reading from the early Mennonites on this subject I also notice that they took communion fairly regularly. I’ve also read The Puritan writer Richard Baxter. He warns us to “Take heed lest your mistakes of the nature of this sacrament should possess you with such fears of unworthy receiving that you unfit your souls for the joyful exercises of faith and love and praise and thanksgiving to which you are invited.” This can be caused by setting this sacrament at a greater distance from other parts of God’s worship than there is cause; so that the excess of reverence overwhelms the minds of some with terrors. By receiving it so seldom as to make it strange to us and increase our fear, whereas if it were administered every Lord’s day as it was in the early churches, it would better acquaint them with it and cure that fear that cometh fron strangeness.

He gives another reason that I found fascinating for an author writing in the 1600’s. He says that some people’s spirits are in such a constant state of distress that it leaves the mind capable of almost nothing but fear and trouble even in the sweetest works. He is talking about depression. Living in a state of untreated depression can cause that which should most comfort them, troubles them the most.

Another reason that we struggle to experience the joy of the Lord’s Supper Baxter says is that by studying more the terrible words of eating and drinking damnation to ourselves, if we do it unworthily, than all the expressions of love and mercy, which that blessed feast is furnished with. So that when the views of infinite love should ravish us we are studying wrath and vengence to terrify us, as if we came to Moses and not to Christ.

Next we will look at how as Christian who still sin we can ever have an examined life worthy to enter communion.