« April 2010 | Main | June 2010 »
May 30, 2010
“The Trinity”
Genesis 1: 1 - 5 & 26 - 27/John 14: 8 - 17
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Today we are in a bit of a conflict. Our nation is on a long weekend that honors those who died in the process of obtaining and securing the freedoms that we have in this nation, or in attempts to offer the freedoms we enjoy to others.
But our church has declared that this is a day for recognizing the fact that our God is a trinity of persons. Now by our church, I mean most organized churches and denominations. The PCUSA planning calendar has this date listed as Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday does not always fall on Memorial Day weekend. It is always on the Sunday after Pentecost, which is itself the 7th Sunday after Easter.
Last Sunday, which was Pentecost, we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit onto and into the church. Today we look at all of the persons of God which are in and proceed from our God.
The doctrine of the trinity is uniquely Christian. No other religion presents a God who is more than one person. And that is why the people of other religions do not understand all that we believe about God. Muslims and Jews are scandalized by this doctrine. Both of those religions are fiercely monotheistic, which means that they only worship one God. We Christians also claim to be monotheistic but in our doctrine of the Trinity Muslims and Jews find reasons to accuse us of being more polytheistic than monotheistic. A polytheist is one who worships more than one God. So, are we Christians truly monotheistic or are we poly-theistic? Do we worship one God or Three?
As we begin to explore this issue we need to acknowledge that the word Trinity is not found in the Scriptures. It is a word that church people invented to describe what they found taught in Scripture. And I ought at this point to add, that passages that are consistent with the doctrine of the trinity are found in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.
One of the best examples of this is in the first chapter of Genesis in the verses Grieke read as our first lesson. There are two interesting verses in this chapter. Verse 2 of Genesis 1 reads “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the water”. What is interesting is that the Hebrew word here translated “Wind” is also translated “Breath” or “Spirit”. And if you look in your pew bibles or some of your bibles at home you will find that in this verse, there is a footnote that says “OR while the Spirit of God or while a mighty wind”. This could well be the first reference to the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures.
And the 26th verse reads “Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness”. God speaks of himself in the plural. Some have passed it off as the royal we that monarchs and others have used, but this is way before queen Elizabeth.
Then there is the Hebrew word that occurs throughout the Old Testament that is translated “God” in all English translations. The Word is Elohim and in all other instances the IM ending is plural.
So while the Old Testament Scriptures are insistent that there is only one God, the word used for that God is plural and would ordinarily be translated “Gods”. This idea that there is only one Gods is grammatically impossible but coincides with the doctrine of the trinity.
Now let me be clear here, it cannot be said that the Scriptures of the Old Testament teach the doctrine of the Trinity, but it can be said that some passages are not inconsistent with the doctrine of the Trinity.
The doctrine of the Trinity is supported much more by the New Testament, especially the teachings of Jesus. Today our second lesson is one of these passages. You may have noticed that this passage is just prior to the lesson we read last Sunday as we were looking at the Holy Spirit. In this passage, before Jesus talked much about the Holy Spirit he talked about the other two persons of God, the Father and the Son. In the first 7 verses of John 14, Jesus had been talking about his Father, His Fathers House, and himself.
In the 8th verse, as our lesson begins, Phillip asked Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus responded by saying “Have I been with you all this time, Phillip, and you do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
In these verses we learn some interesting things about the Father and the Son. In other Scripture verses, while Jesus was on earth, He described the Father as being in heaven. In other words, in those passages we think that the Father and the Son were spatially separated. But here Jesus describes himself and the father as being indistinguishable and joined, so that the words and deeds of Jesus are really the words and deeds of the Father. Everything that Jesus did was really done through him by the Father. During the life of Jesus, the Father and the Son were clearly distinct because only Jesus the Son was visible and audible, but Jesus during that time clearly stressed their unity.
In the later verses of this passage, Jesus clearly stressed the unity of himself with the soon-coming Holy Spirit. In verses 16-17 we read that Jesus said “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”
Last week I dealt with the Greek word that is here translated Advocate. You will remember that the general meaning is “one who is called to the side of.” In this passage Jesus tells them that they will recognize the Spirit of Truth or the one who will be called to their side because was abiding with them. Now Jesus was the one who was presently abiding with them. He was the one who had been called to their side and taught them for the last 3 years. The Holy Spirit was to come onto them at Pentecost.
Jesus was saying that they would recognize the Holy Spirit because the Spirit would be Jesus. They would be familiar with and recognize the Spirit because they had known the Son. We on the other hand, know Jesus because we know the Spirit.
It has been the tendency of Protestant Pastors and Theologians to stress the individual persons and works of each of the persons of the trinity. This has sometimes caused us to almost forget the unity of God and think of Jesus and the Father and the Spirit as three independent entities.
This past week Our Administrative Assistant Stephanie Cardwell and I spent a few minutes selecting the graphic that adorns your bulletin cover. Some of the graphics we looked at seemed to almost teach that God was comprised of three independent beings that were somehow joined together. I chose this one because it clearly illustrates that God has a three-ness about him, but that he is one in being and nature. The lines flow from one part into another part and in a way that it is all clearly one entity.
We Christians believe that God’s three persons have co-existed forever and will continue to do so. We believe that they can all perform their functions at the same time. But we also believe that they are one God, one Being.
The Doctrine of the trinity was formulated to help us understand what the Scriptures reveal to us about the nature and works of God. And although some brilliant minds have added to the formulations, they describe something that is a mystery and will not be totally revealed until the end of earthly time, if then.
We Christians affirm with Jews and Muslims that there is only one God, but was also affirm that he is revealed to us through his three persons. This Three-ness does not distract from or in any way negate his One-ness.
Now, Please join me in affirming the One-ness and Three-ness of God by saying with me the Apostle’s Creed. You will find it printed in the bulletin.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2010
“The Spirit of Peace”
Acts 2: 1-11 & John 14: 18-27
Sunday, May 23, 2010
On the 7th Sunday after the Resurrection of Jesus, 10 days after He ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles during the Jewish festival of Pentecost. This coming of the Spirit was not just to and for the Apostles but to and for all Christians. As Christians we all have the Holy Spirit in and with us, but it is easy for us to take the work of the Spirit in us for granted because He is always present with us. So it is good for us to think about the Holy Spirit and the things He does in us and for us.
On the night of Jesus’ Last Supper with his Apostles, Jesus talked some about the Holy Spirit and the sorts of things the Spirit would accomplish for them and in them. This scripture passage contains words of Jesus that were spoken to His Apostles that evening.
As Jesus spoke these words, he knew that he would be dead within 24 hours. So He told them that he would not be leaving them without help. He said He would not leave them as orphans or parentless children.
The lives of children left parentless has always been of great concern to God. He instituted special laws in the Old Testament to protect them and see that they were cared for. The Christian Church has reflected this concern of God by building orphanages and founding adoption agencies around the world. When I was a teenager I met a lady who had been a missionary to India. During her years of service she had adopted 8 abandoned baby girls and raised them to adulthood. Last evening as I met with the Blyths I discovered that they are continuing this part of the ministry of Christians by adopting a Nigerian child and serving as foster-parents to many others.
But in this saying of Jesus, he spoke to the apostles comparing them to children and he promised to leave them in the care of someone else at his soon coming departure.
In the first paragraph of our second Scripture lesson, Jesus was referring to 2 different periods after his death. The first was that short 40 day period when Jesus would be physically with them after his resurrection. Hence the words “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” We have no record of Jesus appearing after his resurrection to any one who was not a believer.
But then Jesus went on and said, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” Here and throughout the scriptures, Love is spoken of in terms of how we behave. We love God, not by feeling good about Him and desiring to abide with Him forever, nor by speaking well of him and defending him, but by obeying God and keeping the Word or commandments of Jesus.
When we obey God’s commandments, God lives with us and in us. The Father and the Son live in us and with us through the Holy Spirit. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us obey the Words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit keeps our Father God with us and in us through his presence so we are not orphans.
The Spirit also helps us to understand and obey God’s commands. The Spirit makes us more able to obey God and please Him.
In verse 26 Jesus names the presence of God which will be with them and in them. It is the Holy Spirit, who has the role of Advocate. The Greek word translated Advocate is Paraclete which originally meant One who is called to the side of. It came to apply to a counselor or an attorney. As our Advocate, the Holy Spirit is the one who advises us, teaches us, counsels us and defends us. He is also God’s advocate to us, helping us to understand and obey God.
In verse 26 Jesus said the Holy Spirit would remind them of and help them understand the things that Jesus had said while he was alive.
Having spoken of the Holy Spirit as the Presence of God with them and as their advocate he then in verse 27 said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”
Peace is a very important word in the Middle East. In the Jewish and Arab world, Peace is the word spoken as Hello and Goodbye. When you greet or say farewell to someone you wish them to have peace. The Hebrew word for Peace = Shalom. It is much more than the absence of war, strife or contention. It is a blessed state of well-being. It is like saying “may everything in your life bring you blessedness and happiness”.
Unfortunately in their greetings and farewells as they wished for peace for each other, it was just a word. But Jesus was saying that as he would be leaving them and saying “Peace” it would not be just a word and a wish, he would be leaving them with a real sense of peace. That peace is also the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit brings the joy and security of God into our lives and we have peace even in the most difficult and tumultuous times.
The Holy Spirit is with those of us who believe. He is with us living in us as the Father and the Son. He is with us helping us to hear and obey God. He is with us as our advocate, counseling us, advising us, standing along side us. And He brings to us and in us the Peace that can only come from beyond this world from the dwelling place of God.
Let us now celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit within us by participating once again in the Lord’s Supper, remembering that at this meal, Jesus promised to send the Spirit to us.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2010
“Mothers, Brothers, and the Unforgiven”
Mark 3: 19b – 35
Sunday, May 9, 2009
I like to think of Mark’s Gospel as the quick gospel. Mark seems to be in a great hurry to relate the important events and words of Jesus life. There are no birth narratives or genealogies in Mark. As his gospel begins, Jesus is already almost 30 years old and John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing and announcing the coming of the Messiah.
The KJV or the Authorized Version picks up on this quickness of Mark’s gospel, translating certain Greek words with the word Immediately. The word Immediately occurs 43 times in the KJ translation of the Gospel of Mark.
With all this quickness then we should not be surprised that events recorded in the third chapter of Mark’s occurred after Jesus was well established as a popular Rabbi. He was perhaps at the height of his popularity. Crowds followed him everywhere he went and the San Hedrin in Jerusalem had heard about him and sent spies to listen to what he was saying to ascertain if his teachings were orthodox.
All of this happened so quickly that Jesus’ family was not ready for Jesus to be so popular. The passage we are looking at this morning takes us to a time when Jesus had just returned to Capernaum from preaching and healing in other villages. He had become so popular that crowds from the surrounding villages immediately arrived, or followed him back home, and gathered around him to the point that he couldn’t get any rest or take a break to eat properly.
His family, about 20 miles away heard about this and thought that they needed to rescue Jesus. The reports they heard were that Jesus was “out of his mind”, that he had gone over the edge, that he was working way too hard and needed some rest.
Now if they had been successful in “rescuing” their brother and son, they would have impeded the ministry of Jesus and done damage to the plan of God. But since none of us have the son of God in our families, there are sometimes occasions when we do need to help members of our families find some balance in their lives. Some of us need to rescue loved ones from overwork or too much stress, or intervene in their addictions. The fact that Jesus’ family were wrong in this case does not mean that all families are wrong in trying to rescue their loved ones from themselves or from situations they have gotten themselves into.
While the family of Jesus was on their way to Capernaum to take him home by force if necessary, the popularity of Jesus was bringing him some opposition. Scribes or authorities of the Hebrew Scriptures had been sent from Jerusalem to check Him out or to stop Him. They accused him of having a high level evil spirit. They stated that it was by the power of this demon that he was able to do miracles, including the driving out of other evil spirits or demons.
Jesus attacked this accusation on the basis of logic. For one of Satan’s demons to drive out other of Satan’s demons means that Satan’s kingdom was self-destructing. Like us, all they had to do was look around at their society to perceive that Satan’s hold on this world was not decreasing.
In this context, Jesus used the proverb “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand and a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
In 1858, as he was receiving his party’s nomination to run for the United States senate, Abraham Lincoln quoted Jesus in his famous “house divided” speech. At that time, the issue dividing the nation was slavery. Some states and territories allowed slavery and some did not. That was causing some problems and Lincoln argued that this division if allowed to continue would bring down the nation. It took a war to eliminate that division, but every day our news media reminds us that over several issues we are a divided nation. In my own experience I have discovered that the church, including and especially the PCUSA is divided over several important issues. We must pray for unity in our nation and in our denomination and be willing to work toward unity.
Jesus then said something else about his power to drive out Satan’s demons or evil spirits. He said “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then his house can be plundered.”
As I said earlier, It doesn’t take a Christian long to look around in our time and see that Satan has a lot of power in our world. Evil is so prevalent that lesser evils are often taken as good. When we find ourselves in those circumstances it is good for us to remember this saying of Jesus. In this context, The strong man is Satan. And the one who has tied him up so his house can be plundered is Jesus. Ever since Jesus came, Satan is still powerful, but we are the followers of the one who has bound him and we are supposed to be plundering his house, we are supposed to be defeating evil and freeing people from the fetters of unbelief and delivering them to the freedom of faith in Christ.
But in accusing Jesus of having an evil spirit, his opponents had started to go down a very bad road. So Jesus had to warn them. He said that they were in danger of committing the unforgivable sin. As long as they believed Jesus was powered by Satan, they could not accept him as Lord and God. As long as they perceived him to be powered by evil spirits, they could not perceive his works and his words as the works and words of God’s Holy Spirit. And as long as they could not see or even consider that it was the Spirit of God working in Jesus, they could not be saved or forgiven.
Now, since all Christians have allowed the Holy Spirit to reveal to us that Christ is the Son of God and Savior, it is not possible for us to commit the unforgivable Sin. But we can get into a lot of trouble when we do not see the works of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our world. Ask God to open your eyes so you can see the works of the Holy Spirit in your life and in this otherwise dark and evil world.
But today is Mother’s day, and Mary the Mother of Jesus is in this passage. She and her sons finally arrived at the crowded house where Jesus was staying. If they witnessed the conversation Jesus had with his enemies they were probably doubly certain that Jesus needed to be rescued, not only from himself but also from his enemies.
It is interesting to note that Jesus enemies thought he was demon possessed, and his family thought he was crazy. There is not always a lot of difference between those two. Jesus family was not a lot more helpful than his enemies. Now to be fair, the family was really looking out for Jesus good. They just did not understand what was best for Jesus. He needed to be with people and get his message out. He only had a couple of years left. But still, we need to try to be of more help to Jesus than his enemies are
To be fair to Mary we must acknowledge that she was His mother. She still wanted to take care of her son. Mom’s are so connected to their children that it is sometimes difficult to let them go. But in this case, God needed Jesus to do what he was doing and in her love for Jesus and in her desire to protect and save Jesus she was in God’s way.
When Jesus was told that his mothers and brothers and sisters were outside the house waiting to talk to him, he looked at those seated around him and said “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Now I think that there is some chastisement for his mom and siblings in what Jesus said. They were not doing the will of God in trying to take him home and get him some rest. But in a way His words also leave them in their high positions. In using their relationships to Jesus as status to which he elevates all who do God’s will, He acknowledged that being His sibling or His mom was a high and holy status.
Today we ought to thank God for our Mothers, especially those who were Christians. We should also show our appreciation for those fine Christian ladies who are raising their children in our Church. We need to pray for them. It is not always easy being a mom.
But was also need to thank God for raising up all Christians who seek to do God’s will in their lives to being siblings and Mothers of Jesus. What a great privilege he has given us and our Christian mothers.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2010
“Worthy Is the Lamb”
Revelation 5: 1 - 14
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Patmos is an Island in the Agean Sea off the coast of Turkey. It is today a part of the nation of Greece. It is best known among Christians as the location where John the Apostle received a vision from God. John wrote down what he heard and saw in that vision and his account is the book of Revelation in our Bible.
John was on Patmos because of his apostolic activities. He was known as John the Evangelist and he had evidently been so effective at building up the church and converting people to Christ that some court of the Roman Government exiled him to the Island. While he was there and not allowed to leave from there, the Spirit of God came to him and gave him The Revelation. This Revelation contains some of the History and the important parts of the future of the world. The problem is that these bits of future and history are presented in symbols that are sometimes difficult to understand.
In the beginning of the book John informed his readers that it was on a Sunday that he received the Revelation. He heard a voice behind him and saw someone walking in the midst of 7 lampstands. This person was the glorified Jesus. In the first part of the Revelation Jesus dictated to John letters to the seven churches in the province of Asia who were symbolized by the 7 lampstands.
After those 7 letters were dictated, John saw a door in heaven and was invited to go up and observe what was beyond the door. When he passed through the door he found himself in God’s throne-room. God was seated on his throne and before and around the throne were two types of beings. There were 4 whom John referred to as the 4 living creatures and there were 24 Elders each sitting on a throne. The four creatures are said to represent all creation and the twenty-four elders are said to represent the Church.
The 4 creatures led worship in God’s presence by singing “Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” Then the 24 elders threw their crowns before God’s throne and sang “You are worthy, Our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your power they existed and were created.”
Then John saw that in the right hand of God there was a scroll “written on the inside and on the back, sealed with 7 seals.” It was customary to write only on the front of a scroll. That this one was written on both sides conveys the fullness of what was written.
Then John heard a mighty angel proclaim “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” No one came forward to open it. John began to weep because he seems to have understood that he had been transported there to see or hear the contents of that scroll. And now no one could open it.
At that point one of the 24 elders said to John “Do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals”. Then John saw “a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes,…”.
This lamb is a symbolic representation of the murdered, resurrected and glorified Jesus. As John observed, this lamb took the scroll from the right hand of God with the obvious intent of opening it. At that point the 24 elders began to sing a new song. They sang “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God and they will reign on earth.”
Then Millions of angels began to sing “Worthy is the lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
As the rest of the book of Revelation proceeds, John is proved to have been correct in his assumption that he had been taken into God’s throne room to view the contents of that scroll. The rest of the book of Revelation contains depictions of what was written on that scroll. It turns out to have contained the future of the word, the future of the Church, and the future of all those who believe in Christ.
Only Jesus was worthy to open the future. We might think his worthiness would come from his being the divine Son of God. But the elders and the angels said that His worthiness came from his being slaughtered. He was worthy to open the scroll containing the future because by his death and resurrection he had brought that future into being. He had guaranteed that glorious future, full of severe judgments to be sure but also containing victory for us on earth and a glorious eternal life for us in an eternal kingdom.
In a few minutes we are going to be participating in a reenactment of the memorial meal that Jesus instituted on the night before his death. In this meal the slaughter of the Lamb of God is remembered.
As you take the bread and then the wine in this humble place to the accompaniment of restrained organ music, I want you to remember that in heaven angels and elders are singing “Worthy is the lamb to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
In Him, because of his Death and Resurrection, our glorious future is guaranteed. Praise be To God and to His Lamb Forever and ever, Amen!
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)