Wednesday Morning Repentance and Sermon Starters for Sunday

Yes, so I love when I think I did something well and then find out maybe I shouldn't have done what I did in the first place...

I preached on John 8:1-11 last week, one of two passages of Scripture that are believed to not be originally a part of Christian Scripture (the other being the last half of Mark 16) because they do not appear in the earliest manuscripts. It was not in the Revised Common Lectionary, but it was in the Catholic Lectionary. I thought it fit better with my other texts, so I decided to use it instead. Friday afternoon, I was in a panic because I felt that maybe I shouldn't have used it. I called my mom (who at least until I find a wife is the person I always go to for advice because she's typically right and honest about such things) and asked her what I should do. After we talked, she and I both agreed to keep it. And I did.

I thought the sermon went well, and people were generally responsive to it. However, we finished translating John 7 in Greek today, and we talked about how the next little section of John was probably not part of Scripture. I was like, "Whoops." I talked to the professor about it afterward a little, and although he said he personally wouldn't preach on it, I didn't feel so bad because, as I said, it seems to fit (when understood properly) with the rest of Scripture. And since I tied it in with passages from other parts of Scripture, I don't feel as bad.

As I was looking at one of the websites I use for exegetical material (exegeting the text means to draw out details and context to determine what the author is saying), they argue that while it may not be original to the manuscripts and thus to the canon, it is still worthwhile to the church. First, it is in line with the teachings of Christ and his relation to sinners (again, when understood properly and in context), it is in line with the nature/character of the Pharisees, it blends a note of grace with the challenge to live a more godly life, and it has served redemptive purpose in the life of the church. So, if you want to be strict about it, perhaps I shouldn't have preached on this text. But oh well, you live and learn. I didn't teach heresy or anything people shouldn't have heard, so the Spirit must have been at work all the same. I hope he challenges people to do what I felt led to teach: that God forgives us of our sins in Christ and remembers them no longer, but we are called to leave our lives of sin and follow Christ.

On a different note, here is what I'm preaching on this week: it is Palm Sunday, and I am preaching on Isaiah 50:4-9, Philippians 2:1-11, and Luke 22:7-38. The theme is centered around the humility of Christ in coming to earth to die for us, and the fact that the one who wishes to be the greatest must be the servant of all, following in Jesus' footsteps. I haven't done a whole lot with this one yet, but if you're really interested...the place and time for this is Bessemer Presbyterian Church in Bessemer, PA at 10:45AM.

I'm also working on getting the Holy Week stuff together...if all goes to plan, they should be especially neat services. I only hope the people there find it worshipful and meaningful. So if you aren't otherwise engaged, we will have services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at 7PM, and Easter Sunrise at 7AM on Sunday (with breakfast afterward - but let me know if you actually want to come to that so I can put in a reservation), followed by Easter Sunday Divine Worship at 10:45. It's Easter Sunrise that I'm a little worried about - I'm attempting a shortened communion-less (regrettably) Easter Vigil service that morning. It will be interesting - we'll have to see how that one goes.

That's all - have a good one.

Midweek Sermon Thoughts

Greetings! I thought I'd give a little talk about what's on tap for this Sunday.

This week's lectionary texts are Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:4-14, and John 12:1-8...however, I felt that the Roman Catholic lectionary text for this week would fit better with the other two, and so the Gospel text I will be using this week is John 8:1-11. Another and more important reason that I chose this text is that in the RCL, it is not ever used in the three year cycle! I find this rather unfortunate, because I absolutely love how Jesus handles this situation. So I decided that now was as good a time as any to include it with the texts. John 12 is a good story too, but perhaps I will use it another time.

The title of this weeks sermon is, "All is Loss in the Shadow of the Cross," a reference to Paul's passage in Philippians 3:8, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" as well as Issac Watt's hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" ("When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride"). The main idea dove-tails onto last week's sermon, because again the concept is that God wipes away our sins and remembers them no more. Jesus met the woman caught in adultery, and when He challenged those who judged her, He said to her "Go and sin no more." In other words, he had mercy on her despite of her sins, but told her to go away from this encounter and sin no more. Paul gives similar advice in Philippians 3:13-14, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. " The concept is that no matter what we've done, Jesus gives us a second chance, and often times many more chances than that. But the concept is to leave our lives of sin and focus on becoming more and more like Christ, the goal of our lives in Him. And with our eyes upon Christ, straining toward the finish line, we will be able to say with Paul in 2 Timothy 4, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." So while we may not and will not live perfect lives on this earth, we should repent of but not dwell on our sins. Instead, we must recognize the cleansing power of Christ's blood and, rejoicing in His grace, we must press on with endurance toward the victors crown of gold, never quitting the race of life...but if you want to hear more, come to Bessemer Presbyterian Church this Sunday at 10:45AM.

By the way, I split this post in two today because the other post is kinda long. Take some time to read it though, and tell me what you think (although maybe I'll regret this!) Anyway, have a blessed day!

The First Ranting on This Blog

I know most people don't want to hear me banter on, but I had a topic that I felt I needed to address from a pastoral point of view. Since this is my forum for such things, I believe I shall. I apologize that it is long, but I thought I'd take a stab at an answer to the question. Maybe I'll fail, but don't hate me for it, please. :-)

I often times will read the blogs of others, and it's always amusing when I come across the religious musings of another person. Sometimes they are insightful, but other times they make me think.

Today, I stumbled across a person who was discussing how Christians can claim they have the market cornered on truth. They wandered how it is that Christians can claim that their religion is the only way to heaven. After all, isn't religion man-made? So how can it be fair that a person like Gandhi would go to hell by Christian understanding when He exhibited Christ like character better than many Christians?

The problem with such debates is that it misunderstands several things. First, Christians didn't "invent" their religion. The earliest Christians took their religious understandings from Judaism. Judaism has a strong oral tradition by which the encounters between God and His people were passed down, and eventually written down (I would argue at first by Moses, but other scholars seem to think that unlikely, but all the same they were written down). The Old Testament is a recollection of God's encounters with His people, His chosen people. They, we are told, knew and worshipped the true God.

So if Christians get this concept from anywhere, it is from their roots in Judaism. The earliest Christians witnessed the coming of the man Jesus, who they believed to be the Christ, the Son of the True and Living God. Jesus testified that He was who they believed Him to be, but many of God's chosen people did not believe Him because He was not the Messiah (Greek = Christ) who they believed He should be (i.e. they expected a political conquerer who would free them from the tyrrany of the Romans, and not a suffering servant who would conquer sin and death - an even bigger problem). And this presented the religious leaders with many problems. And this is why they sought His death. But it wasn't completely their fault - after all, He came willingly with the purpose to die for the sins of all mankind and redeem God's people, which makes it our fault too in a way...but that's getting off the beaten path.

Nonetheless, many of the writers of the New Testament witnessed not only the earthly life of Christ, but in some way particularly, they witnessed the Risen Christ. Others recorded it first-hand from someone who did. These people who witnessed the Risen Christ are called Apostles (and Paul qualifies as one because He witnessed the Risen Christ in a vision on the Damascus Road). The Scriptures are their testimony to this, and they make that clear (for instance, see 2 Peter 1:16-21). And the Scriptures, and therefore the basic teachings of Christianity are not man-made; they are divinely inspired. Peter tells us this in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "...knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

That being said, Christianity at its very core, is not a man-made religion. It is a testimony to what these Apostles saw and testify to. It is a faith based on eyewitness testimony, which means you have to take it for what it is worth. I won't try to prove Christianity true or their testimony true, because beside the fact that I am not able to do that, doing so would undermine the whole concept of trust and having faith in God, the basis by which man receives the grace and salvation of God. Now, as for it being the only way, while it may seem unfair to us that God would do such at thing, the reality is that if God is real and is Sovereign (meaning He has power and dominion over all things), then does he not have the right to determine what is just and true? And thus would not truth be what God decrees as true and real?

I know I'm skipping a lot of other questions that need to be answered, but follow me here on this: If, even hypothetically, God has this power, does He not have the right to determine what is right, true and good? And if God is the absolute standard of truth because He created it in the first place, and He chose to reveal who He truly is in some way, His revelation would thus be the truth, correct?

Well, this is what Christians claim Jesus came to do. As God incarnate (in human form), He came to reveal who God is and the way that man can know God. And this is what the Apostles are telling us in Scripture. So what does Jesus say? In John 14:6-7, He is quoted as saying, " 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.' " (and this whole passage is a demonstration the Jesus is God, and thus a revelation of who He is. Not only so, but it means He has the authority as God to tell men how they may truly know Him). And there are several other places where Christ seems to claim His power as judge of the world or shows some exclusivity to coming to God, such as Matthew 7:21-23 (where He says not everyone who calls him "Lord" will be saved), Matthew 7:13-14 (the Narrow Gate), or Luke 13:22-30 (when someone asks if few will be saved, He doesn't just answer yes or no, he says to strive to enter through the narrow door, which He says few will really find).

Further, the Apostle Peter testifies to this in his speech, recorded by Luke in Acts 4:10-12: " 'Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.' " And I could go on, but I think I've made my point on that matter.

So what does all this mean? Well, first it means we humans do not know what happens between God and people, so we shouldn't venture to guess where they went in the after life. I don't know where Gandhi ended up, and I would never say where a person ended up after death, because I plain don't know. But perhaps God saves more than we think - if so, wonderful and that's His choice. But from what He tells us, (and my belief is that since this is a part of God's revelation of Himself to us, He will be consistent) He is the way to salvation (and that through faith in Jesus Christ).

And yes, people will still disagree and even complain about that; and they can do that because it is their choice. But remember that it is a part of sinful human nature to complain about God's way of doing things. The Israelites complained about the manna in the desert, but at least God provided for them. And He wasn't happy with them when they did and showed His judgment. They complained that He delivered them out of Egypt to "die in the desert," when it was their sin after the fact that caused this, and they weren't happy in Egypt. God once again punished them for this. The Pharisees complained because Jesus wasn't the Messiah they wanted, but they missed the only Messiah they were ever going to get. And I know this is a stupid analogy, but I know I complain a lot about not finding a girlfriend yet and although God doesn't show His judgement on me (for a good reason - but not in the current scope of this post), He probably is not happy when I don't trust that He will work things out in His time and in His way.

But that is the point: if God is God, and He is sovereign over the whole universe, what right do we mere mortals have to complain about His way of doing things? Will He change the course of human history because we say He should? The problem is also that God has provided us with a means of coming to Him. It isn't man-made. It's God. He blessed us by sending His Son to die for us and rise from the dead, that we might have forgiveness and eternal life. As Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-13,"...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

God went to such great lengths for us, and makes salvation open to all people. And we complain about His method? To do so unfortunately shows a deficient understanding of the nature of God, sin, fallen humanity, faith and grace. Well, I've rambled on long enough. But I will leave on this thought. Jesus says in Luke 9:62, "'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'" In other words, unless we are willing to put faith in and service to Christ above all else, we will never be able to follow Him. After all, as He says elsewhere (recorded twice - Matt. 6:24 and Luke 16:13), " 'No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. ' "

My aim here is not to prove Christianity true or to destroy others in the process. I have love and respect for all human beings (at least I try - I'll regretfully admit I don't succeed at this). But I felt the need to clear up some misunderstandings about Christianity which are out there, and to hopefully show some justification for why Christians claim exclusivity (even though I do think Christians often don't handle when approaching and working in the world with others of different faiths). In the end, I probably didn't succeed in what I set out to do, and maybe made some people mad. That was not my intent if I did.

My true intent is to see that all people I come in contact with experience the grace, love and mercy of Jesus Christ in my thoughts, words, attitudes and deeds. No I don't always succeed at this, but it is my life's goal to do this: to be more and more like Christ every day. So instead of seeing Christians (and ultimately God) as being mean for not letting all people in, I would implore that we should perhaps look at the whole problem from another angle. God tells us in His word that He offers salvation through Jesus Christ to all people, no matter who you are, what you've done, where you've been, or how many times you've screwed up in life. To all who simply trust and place their faith in Him for salvation, He offers it to them. The question is do we take it or do we not? And that's the real question every man and woman must ask himself or herself.

Church Signs and Sunday Randomness

This morning's sermon went well at Bessemer, at least as far as I can tell. The best comment of the day was when I walked in the door and one lady says, "Nathan, I gotta tell ya. You must be God or something...at least that's what these people must think." I burst out laughing. I said, "Well, I'm definitely not!" The reason she said this was because I went visiting with her the other day, and the people we visited were so impressed by the fact that I took time out of my day at school to come visit them. I guess that sometimes what I don't otherwise think to be a big deal is a big deal for the people you do it for - if that makes sense. But nonetheless, that was really cool.

I had a fun weekend. It started by me traveling to Cranberry for dinner on Friday (through the snow - okay the travelling wasn't fun, but dinner was good). Then I went home and visited with one of our friends from church who was at our house for the evening. Saturday, I worked on the house a little and went out to dinner with Mom, Dad, Uncle Tom and Dorothy at the Crane Room in New Castle. That was fun. Today was church, then a meeting to discuss things for Holy Week, and then home for lunch. Now I'm back here, having translated 30 verses of John 6 for Greek, and read 50 pages for another class. And I'm actually done for the night...

The final thought for the evening is about church signs. I find them fun. Thursday, I was talking with one of the ladies at church who normally changes the sign. She said that she didn't like to take care of the sign for the old pastor, but now she's doing it again. I told her I would take care of it the next time I had a chance. So last Thursday before I went visiting, we took care of the sign and put up this past week's sermon. I was going to change it before I left today and forgot...but I still was going to look for a clever saying to put up. Here are a few I came up with so far...

- "Happy Hour here every Sunday!"
- "God allows U-Turns"
- "Sign Broke: Message Inside"
- "Santa Claus Never Died for Anyone"
- "God Expects Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts."
- "Jerry Falwell, Leave the Teletubbies Alone!"
- "Walmart is Not the Only Saving Place!"
- "Thinking about coming? Start now, please!"
- "Don't Let Worries Kill You - Let the Church Help!"
- "Free Trip to Heaven - Details Inside"
- "If you think it's hot here, try hell."

I don't know if I would use some of these, but they're quite entertaining. Some others I could not ever use....

- "True Submission"
- "The Best Position is On Your Knees"

...and so on. As for these ones, I'd never use them (well, unless I was feeling rather bold, but I usually don't feel that way). So anyway, that's pretty much it for now. If you have any other ideas for church signs, leave a comment. Peace out.

Thursday Morning Sermon Thoughts

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if anyone but me actually reads this blog yet, but if you do, then good morning to you. So after completing my Systematic Theology exam yesterday (which = not fun), I was able to catch up on reading (110 pages last night, and there was still more I could have done), got my vocabulary notecards for my Greek quiz tomorrow done, I started writing my sermon for this Sunday. The title is "Lost No More," and it is on the story of the Prodigal Son.

Some of you may wonder how I come up with topics for preaching when I preach every single week. Well, the answer is I cheat...sort of. Actually, I follow what is called the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a list of four readings for each Sunday of the year (Old Testament, Psalter [Book of Psalms], Epistle and Gospel), following a three year cycle (Years A, B, & C). Right now, the lectionary is in Year C. I find this to be the best way for me to preach, because it forces me to look at a variety of different texts and preach on them. It also covers a good chunk of the Bible (although critics of this method point out that it doesn't cover the whole text - but when was the last time I heard a pastor make it a point to preach on the whole Scripture anyway? It's been awhile...). While I find that the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel text do often line up, a good chunk of the time they do not; on those occasions, you pick one to focus on primarily. Usually the Gospel text is the one I preach on, and use the other texts as ways of setting the context and applying the passage to people's lives. There have been times, however, when I've seen the need for something else to be preached, and on those rare occasions, I do "tweak" one, two or even all of the texts. This is rare for me, however.

Nonetheless, here's what I'm thinking about for this sermon. We're discussing the story of the Prodigal Son (or as my professor of Greek, T. David Gordon pointed out, it should be called the story of the Loving Father), and I was thinking this week about outcasts. I have always felt a soft-spot for those who are thought of as outcasts, because for a time in my life (the awkward Jr. High years), I didn't fit in so well either. But just the same way, there are those in the world who don't feel good enough to be in church. They think they don't fit in because their "lives aren't perfect." While I didn't know that any of us in the church were perfect by any stretch of the imagination (I'm not - that's for sure), I think it goes to show how we sometimes deal with the "tax collectors and sinners" of our day, and we often cast them from our presence, and consequently God's presence. But as this parable illustrates, this is not what Jesus had in mind...come to Bessemer Presbyterian Church at 10:45 this Sunday to hear how the rest of it turns out. If you can't make it and want to read the sermon, contact me and I'll send you a copy Monday.

In the mean time, today I'm headed to meet some of the shut-ins and do visitation with a session member (which I probably shouldn't be doing yet as "pastoral" duties, but just because it isn't official doesn't mean I can't go visit people, right?). So, I'm off...

Have a blessed day, and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Amen.

In the beginning...

So this is theoretically where I should be studying for my last of four midterms in the last seven days...but I decided instead to start a new blog. It's not that Xanga wasn't a nice medium for outlet, but I felt that perhaps I should start a blog which is a bit "classier" than my previous one. We shall see what I think. But the purpose of this blog is to talk a little about my experiences and thoughs as I finish college and undertake seminary. It will be a place to share experiences from the pulpit as well as my thoughts on matters in my life.

For now, if you do not know about me, I am a senior Christian Thought major at Grove City College, who will be attending Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in the fall. This is a three year program, which is a part of the process I must undertake to be ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Right now, I am working as a Pulpit Supply for the Bessemer Presbyterian Church in Bessemer, PA. Basically, that means that I preach and lead worship for this congregation of about 100 members (40 on average show up each Sunday morning). Their full time pastor left in December, and because they are unable to afford a full time pastor anymore, they are looking for someone to work for them part-time. It looks as though that person may very likely be me. How, you say, if I am not ordained? Well, for a person who is under care of their presbytery (meaning I've declared my intent to become ordained, and the governing body above my church as well as my home church support me), I am able to perform such functions. But I can't marry people, perform baptisms or the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Communion, and I can't lead their session meetings. But I can do just about anything else for them. So, there are still some details to work out with this, but it looks like they will, along with presbytery, be officially making a decision in the next two months. Things at this point look like they will work out in my favor, and it seems that will make the people at this church very happy (they love having me there and I love working for/being among them). So we'll see how that goes.

Other than that, that's really all there is to know about me. Although my guess is that if you are reading this, you already know quite a bit about me, for good or for bad ;-).

Well, I'm off to band. But I think I'll take in this gorgeous and unseasonably warm March weather on my way. Have a good one :-)