Sunday Sermon Notes: July 29, 2018

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Jesus Teaches in Parables

Text: Mark 4:1-20

Parallel Texts: Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:1-15

With the beginning of chapter four, we see a shift in Mark’s narrative to a battery of parables. Parables are interesting things, little stories that teach a moral lesson. They are not literal, and the stories themselves are not intended to be understood literally; they are instead, metaphors. The literal interpretation, for literalism fans, of a parable is that it is a metaphor… just so we are clear.

Teachers use parables to teach moral lessons in a non-threatening way, so that each listener may perceive the part of the parable that applies to his or her situation, without the teacher needing to point fingers at any certain individual, which enables the lesson to sink in more deeply than if it needed to be filtered through a defensive perimeter. Jesus made frequent use of parables, but He is certainly not alone in doing so; there are parables in both the Old and New Testaments, used by multiple writers, as well as in secular history. In American history, Abraham Lincoln is especially famous for his clever us of parables in both legal and political argumentation. Indeed, modern-day speakers still use parables in their teaching; Ronald Reagan was known to make frequent use of them, for instance.

The parable of the sower is the first in this series and is commonly known in churches today. For our purposes, I’ll let you read the text and then we’ll talk about Jesus’ explanation when you get back…

Jesus explains His parable to a smaller group after His teaching session from the boat beginning in verse 10.  Isn’t it interesting that He begins to explain by quoting Isaiah 6? Jesus ties all of this to His preaching on the Kingdom. For those who are outside of His Kingdom, these matters will be a mystery, but for those within His kingdom, they will be plain.  Doesn’t this remind you of Paul’s discussion of how the things of God are but “foolishness” to the world, and the wisdom of this world is but foolishness to God?

Jesus goes on to elaborate on His metaphor, by describing the various soils that the farmer’s seed contacts, how the birds gobble up the seed on the path, and the lack of roots in the rocky soil and how that causes the seed to sprout quickly and then shrivel and die when the hot sun shines down on the young plants. Then He points out how the seed that falls in good soil develops roots and withstands the sun, growing to maturity.

I’ve heard countless sermons that focus on the rocky soil and that have gone on to discuss those who come to faith, are very excited and then fall away. I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to very many who actually noticed the fact that in verse 11, Jesus tied this into a Kingdom context. His focus wasn’t so much on the products of the rocky soil, but rather on what happens in good soil: Those seeds grow to maturity, and then produce more seeds. Some seeds produce 30 new seeds, or 60, or even 100. These are His disciples, who in turn produce more disciples for the Kingdom, some 30, some 60, and some 100. Disciples who make more disciples are the object of all of this, not the rocky soil and falling away…

What kind of soil are we planted in? Can a mentor (disciple) work with that soil and remove the rocks that are in the soil of a “younger” brother?

Interesting question, wouldn’t you say?

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TLP Op-Ed: July 28, 2018

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Don Merritt

I haven’t done a very good job of keeping up with this column over the last several weeks; it always seems to me that I’m about to write a piece that I’ve already written. Of course, that’s how the news seems these days. The names and faces may change a little bit, but it’s always the same old story: Someone says something, usually it’s Mr. Trump, and then everyone goes crazy with fake horror and phony outrage, and another manufactured crisis is underway, only to be forgotten in three days’ time when it’s replaced with the next one.

Yet this week, there was something that seemed to me to be unusually ominous that sprang up in this story from the New York Times: “Mueller Examining Trump’s Tweets in Wide-Ranging Obstruction Inquiry”.

The gist is that Robert Mueller is now examining Mr. Trump’s Tweets to see if he can pin obstruction of justice on the President. To be sure, Mr. Mueller is fully aware of the fact that even if he managed to do that, he couldn’t indict a sitting president even if he wanted to. With that in mind, how can we not wonder what is really going on in this investigation of his.

Mr. Mueller has long been a highly respected Republican attorney in Washington. He was appointed Director of the FBI by then President George W. Bush in 2001 and severed with distinction until 2013. Yes, he is respected on both sides of the political aisle and is a valued member of the Washington Establishment. When he was appointed Special Prosecutor to investigate allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian Government in an alleged attempt to fix the 2016 election, I was hoping that he would do a comprehensive job of getting to the facts in a timely manner and thought he was a great choice for the job, assuming it was a job that needed to be done in the first place.

So far, however, that has not happened. Yes, there have been some indictments: Michael Flynn has entered a guilty plea for misleading investigators in the matter, investigators who have themselves been charged with various activities, including lying to their own bosses at the FBI and to Congressional investigators, which should bring doubts to the mind of any reasonable observer. Mueller has also indicted Paul Manafort, a political consultant who served as Trump campaign chairman for about 10 minutes, on charges that are completely unrelated to the case, as well as a number of Russian operatives for their alleged attempts to influence the election from afar.  As we know however, none of the Russians will ever have to answer those charges, since extradition is prohibited by the Russian constitution, rendering those indictments rather meaningless.

Now, having apparently found nothing to support the collusion allegations, Mr. Mueller is investing Mr. Trump’s Tweeting habits.

This whole thing would appear comical and stupid, if it weren’t for the fact that U.S. Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has steadfastly refused to show Mueller’s engagement instructions to legitimate Congressional Oversight investigators and has generally obstructed every attempt to discover what the bounds are for the Mueller probe. This obstruction has become so great that several members of Congress actually tried to introduce Articles of Impeachment against Rosenstein that had to be quashed by Congressional Leadership just yesterday.

When Mueller was appointed by Rosenstein, the American Public was told by Mr. Rosenstein that the investigation was launched for the purpose of investigating the allegations of collusion. Yet now, more than a year later, it has become clear that this was not actually the case, and that apparently, Mr. Rosenstein, deliberately or otherwise, misled the American People.

This all leads me to a question: Mr. Rosenstein, Mr. Mueller and Congressional Democrats: Why shouldn’t the American People suspect that this whole fiasco is nothing more than a coup attempt, to overturn the results of a duly constituted election and undermine the very foundation of this Republic?

Of course, I’m nobody, and my question can only be answered in the way this mess plays out. Yet if any of those good people did actually respond to my question, they would most likely say that I am a kook, a far-out nutjob, unhinged, extreme, out of the mainstream, unstable, racist, sexist, homophobic and of course, dangerous. Sadly however, name calling isn’t an answer− it’s a dodge and that kind of dodge is most often a confirmation.

By the way, have I mentioned recently that I am not a Trump supporter?

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TLP Inspiration: July 28, 2018

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Don Merritt

Beautiful but Deadly

Good Saturday from the Heartland.

There are some things in this life that are absolutely beautiful.  Some are alluring, some are natural while others are man-made.  They might catch our eye or arouse our senses.  They may seem entirely harmless… and they might be good in and of themselves…

…but they can be deadly.

Take this gorgeous tiger for instance, God outdid Himself in the design, it’s simply beautiful, but I don’t think I’d want to walk up and pat him on the head.

Kitty, kitty, kitty!

That beautiful creature just happens to be a killing machine…

More often, we become entranced by things of beauty and make them more important than they are in our lives.  I really enjoy old Victorian architecture; it is beautiful.  Every little detail can be a work of art, and nobody can say it’s immoral.  The question is how important will I allow it to become in my life?

I know people who define life by discovering Victorian treasures in unusual places, who live for the day that they can buy their very own Victorian… be careful what you wish for.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I can enjoy things, I can appreciate their beauty, but when a “thing” or a pleasure becomes the object of life, I will die spiritually just as certainly as I would die physically if I walked up to a sleeping tiger and patted him on the head.

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The Lessons from Mars

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Don Merritt

It’s been quite a journey and I’d like to thank all of you once again for making it so great with your comments and insights: Wonderful!

We began with a simple hypothetical: Suppose we had the chance to be the first colonists on the planet Mars and we wanted to have a church there. What would we need to establish worship? We began with simplicity in group worship, but as we went along, details began cropping up, and the devil, as they say, is in the details. Soon we began to have disagreements and the notion that these disagreements can never be overcome began to creep into the discussion. After that, we took a side trip into our own individual attitudes about worship and prayer and how we relate to God. What is really important in relating to God? How do we draw close to Him? Then we considered a metaphor for setting aside everything of “self” to draw close to Him, and when we did that, a couple of things began to clear up.

For one thing, we saw that most of us have a number of barriers between us and God, barriers entirely of our own construction. Sometimes, we even try to keep secrets from God, secrets about pride or motives, secrets about holding back and not quite giving Him our all. We might call this ego, we might call it shame or we might call it something else; Paul called it “self”.  “I like this”, “I don’t like that”, “that is a deal breaker”.

No wonder that unity within the Body of Christ is hard to find!

With that said, I must add that it may be hard to find, but it isn’t impossible to find.

So, we come to the real question in this journey of ours: What does it take for us to begin anew as Christ’s followers? Yep, that’s the question.

Paul told us a number of times in his writings that when we are baptized into relationship with Christ, our old man is dead, and our new man rises up, that we are now new creations in Christ. This of course, is what Jesus referred to when He told Nicodemus that he must be born again. Yet people will say that this all goes against human nature, but what Jesus and Paul were both trying to tell us is that our human nature is dead and gone and that the time has come for us to embrace the new nature within us. Sadly however, very few of us ever manage to do that, for we cling tenaciously to that old human nature.

Our metaphor illustrates this so well: Do we dare to be completely naked in the presence of God− naked and unashamed?

This is where unity or disunity is determined− we cannot blame someone else.

As I write this a thought comes to mind: This is just like starting to eat right and loose those extra pounds. Everyone says they’re going to do that− soon. So, what is keeping us from doing it?

Well Don, it’s because of the Western diet; it’s all around us, we just eat too rich a diet, and we eat too much.

I’m so busy that I have to eat out all the time.

I tried but everyone else is bringing donuts to the office; I can’t help it!

I know I should, but I don’t have the time, and besides the family doesn’t like healthy food.

I just don’t want to give up the things I like.

Essentially, these are the same excuses we have for not growing spiritually.

The more I think about it, the one thing we need to accomplish both of these goals is commitment. Can we commit ourselves to an intimate relationship with our Lord? Can we commit ourselves to letting whatever vestiges of “self” that remain, to fall away and stop holding us back? That, dear reader, is what it all comes down to.

I cannot change the world and neither can you: I can only change myself. Even then, I can only do so much, but God is right there with me. He is the One who provides the “New” to the new man, and when God is in the picture, all things are possible. Could it be that if I finally commit myself to getting out of His way, and if you did too, that those around us might be attracted to Him when they see His love working in our lives, and through us to those around us?

Would you like to find out?

I’m in if you’re in.

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Love and Hate; Light and Dark

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Don Merritt

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

1 John 2:7-11

In these verses, John gives one more comparison and contrast: This time it is love and hate, light and darkness. If we are in Christ, then we must love our brother and sister.  If we claim to be in Christ, yet we hate our brother or sister, then we cannot be in Christ; I think this is a fair summary of John’s point.

You will recall from the previous passages that John made the point that if we are in Christ, we must live our lives like Christ. In fact, he has made this point several times in various ways, but recall in particular 2:3-6.  Where in the Gospels can we find any indication whatsoever that Jesus ever hated anyone? Far from it!  We see Him showing love in all cases, even when He let the Pharisees have it with the seven woes.  Remember, right after that, Jesus is lamenting the fact that despite all that God has done, they insisted on turning against Him; Jesus was clearly grieved by this.  (Matt. 23:37 ff.)  When you reduce the Christian faith down to its simplest form, and I am a fan of doing this, its central idea is love God; love your neighbor. There is no room for hate in that formula.

Our brother may irritate us now and then, he may also let us down.  In truth, our brother may well be every bit as imperfect as we are, but we are to love him anyway, just as he is to love us anyway, just as Jesus loves all of us anyway. Remember that love means that we put the interests of the other person ahead of our own.

To this message from John, I’d like to add my own observation:  How much damage do you suppose has been done over the years to the Gospel by people calling themselves Christians, who fail to demonstrate His love to others? How many thousands have said “no” to Christ because of some so-called believers, who show an attitude of hatred for other people? How many have left the faith because of this behavior in the church?

Those who hate rather than love can call themselves whatever they like, they may fool many people, but they cannot fool God, and I would respectfully suggest they repent, and do so quickly.

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In the Home Stretch

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Don Merritt

Yesterday I received an amazing comment from paulfg that I’d like to share:

Two thoughts merge.

The first is your picture for these posts. The space-suit. Anyone could be within. That suit brings me naked to this fellowship. I am not “me” with the image to maintain. The suit is my “image” – the same image each of us have. We are – when suited and booted – as good as naked. Our personal appearance does not matter. Ergo – we are naked before each other.

The second is these posts and blogs. How they bring an essence of each, yet leave behind the unnecessary. Leave behind the day-to-day. The “ordinary”. They bring the extraordinary. The common connection between all. The connection of soul and love. A connection where each is heard and each is known. A place of healing and safety.

So why not begin with that stripped-back minimalist worship: (symbolic) “suited” nakedness before each other and God, and (actual) “soul” nakedness before each other and God. Worship that could take place without the need for physical proximity (and all the trappings of personal preference … “baggage”? …) that proximity brings.

And then once that connection is firm and has breached the “ordinary day-to-day stuff” (baggage) … I suspect coming together in physical proximity would no longer give rise to all the obstacles to “worship” that have been discussed here.

Today I am bringing this comment to your attention because Paul has found the whole point of this exercise, as several others of you have as well.  If you take our metaphor of nakedness and compare it to the spacesuit, the two might seem at first to be opposites, but in reality, they are parallel; here’s how:

To be naked is to be vulnerable. A naked person is vulnerable to the environment in a number of ways. There is no protection from the sun, no protection from the cold and no protection from rough or sharp surfaces. Of course, we are also vulnerable socially and emotionally if there are others around. It takes a certain degree of trust to be seen naked, and a certain degree of trust to enter God’s presence naked. If we are wearing a spacesuit we are also vulnerable, for even the slightest puncture or tear means we are literally in a life or death situation. Emotionally, we would be moving around in an environment that is so hostile that we could be killed at any instant, and we would have this terrible reality in the back of our minds at all times.

Socially, wearing a spacesuit with other astronauts takes away our individual identities, for we are part of a team; there is only a group identity. To be “naked” in community is also to set aside our individual images, for all are equal, no one is able to project anything other than humanity, and once again, that is the power of the metaphor.

To be naked before God, in community, does not require, however, any great trust for the community, it only requires that we trust God.

In short, it means that we trust God enough to put the other members of the community ahead of ourselves, leaving the outcome in God’s hands. Can you think of another way to describe this state of being?

Yes, that’s right: It is love in action.

Please take a moment to think this over; feel free to comment, of course. Tomorrow we’ll wrap up our most amazing conversation in what I expect to be the last post of this series; see you then!

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My Dear Children

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Don Merritt

 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:1-2

Here at the beginning of the second chapter, John restates what came at the end of chapter one about the forgiveness of sins, although here, he adds a different twist.  Rather than simply saying that if we acknowledge our sins God is faithful to forgive them, thus putting forgiveness in a covenant context, (faithful being a covenant term) now John reminds us of how this is accomplished. It is because of our “advocate” Jesus Christ.

He has also spoken as the Elder, starting out with the words “my dear children.”  John is the last of the Apostles of Christ remaining alive in the body, and his writings in this vein are filled with truth, grace and love for his “children.”  His desire is that we shouldn’t sin, thus he compares and contrasts light and darkness that we might clearly understand the difference as we journey through this life.  Knowing that we will all stumble, he gives us the reassurance that all will be right, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ… and this is always a comfort to me, I don’t know about you, for I am prone to stumbling.

I also would mention that at the end of verse two, John tells us that Jesus has paved the way for our sins to be forgiven, just as He has for the sins of the entire world.  Sometimes, I think that many of us might have the feeling that Jesus has enabled us to have been forgiven, and then we look at the world, and the forgiveness of the world.  We share this with others that they too can be forgiven, and then we stumble ourselves again and forget that our new sin is forgiven also, just like our previous sins.  In fact, I have watched many faithful followers struggle with this concept, and if this is ever our plight, take heart with John’s words here in verse 2.

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

1 John 2:3-6

I read with interest, and sometimes sadness, when people write that we need ever do anything as Christians, because there are no conditions in the New Covenant.  They seem to suggest that since grace is free, we need accept it, and then we’re set for life, so to speak, with no obligation to ever do anything or behave in any particular way.  Most of the time, I conclude that they are probably just wording things a little bit wrong, and don’t really mean to go quite that far, but sometimes, I think they entirely misunderstand the Christian walk.  John makes it quite clear in these verses that we are to obey the commands that Jesus gave us.  In fact, Jesus commanded that we should teach others to obey Him also. (Matt. 28:18-20)

The overriding standard in this obedience is to live our lives as Jesus lived.  How is that? Love your neighbor; serve others by putting their interests ahead of our own.  Spread the Good News to the lost.  Love God, and place His priorities above our own, and to love our brother.  John seems to me to be pretty clear, that we must live as Jesus did, and if we are not willing to do so, we may have a serious problem.

As John continues, he will elaborate on this theme further, and we’ll see where he takes it when we get together next time…

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Photo of the Week: July 25, 2018

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

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Mars and the Way we “do” Church

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

We are at the point where our hypothetical first church on Mars, and our metaphorical naked before God intersect. This meeting place is found when we must ask ourselves what role personal preferences should play in community, specifically in the context of the Sunday worship assembly. I’d like to illustrate this intersection with a little story from my past.

Once upon a time, I was brought in to help a floundering congregation back to health. This group had once numbered in the 75-80 range, depending upon who was speaking, but when I came on the scene there were 9 active members. Sadly, those 9 thought they had 25-30 members, the others were just so busy, or struggling with this or that issue…

I observed their Sunday services for a time, got their membership list, interviewed everyone present, and most of the missing on their list. Through other sources, I also was able to speak with several people not on the list. It’s always quite incredible to compare the observations of the ones who remain and the ones who do not.

It was very easy to figure out who was in charge of this congregation, which hadn’t had a “permanent” pastor for a number of years, and I spoke to those individuals about their thoughts on worship, community and what a church should “do” and not do. What I discovered was that a church should be reverent above all. It should reach out to the community in reverence, its services should be reverent, worshipful and silent.

The ones who were not in charge said they were on the verge of leaving unless I could turn the place around, but they didn’t see how that was possible if I went against the ones who were in charge, because anybody who does that is shown the door. In speaking with the ones who were no longer there, they reported that they hadn’t simply left because they were too busy, or had problems, although they might have said that was the reason to avoid an argument. Rather they left because the church was run by a small group of people who insisted that everyone go along with whatever they wanted: Reverence, silence, formality. I came to understand that this had taken all of the joy out of following Jesus Christ and replaced it with a rigid system of duty and obligation that simply did not ring true to the rest of the people. No, they were not going back, for each and every one of them were happy members of other congregations.

In short, the church I was studying had a terrible reputation in the community, and the leading people had no idea that was the case.

Former “interim” pastors gave the same report.

Needless to say, my report was not well received by the leaders.

I’ve told you this story because it happens all too often in our day and age, because we all have opinions and ideas about what worship should and shouldn’t be, and because we all have our personal likes and dislikes. If we seek to impose our preferences on a congregation, the result is nearly always disaster, and we will not be standing naked before God in community, for we will be garbed in the costume of a Pharisee.

You might think that last statement was a tad harsh, and maybe you’re right, but I see it more as passionate. Yes, I am passionate on this subject because when this sort of thing happens, we damage our brother and sister in Christ, we put a stumbling block in their path and we cause them to question their faith and often, to turn their backs entirely on the Body of Christ, and I do not know how to explain that to the Lord when I meet Him face-to-face, do you?

Whew; I finally told you what I think about all of this, what do you think?

Here, let me pose a better question:

If we have gotten to the place where we can really be naked and unashamed before God, will we actually continue to think that our personal preferences about corporate worship have any particular significance, as long as the worship remains faithful to Scripture?

It’s your turn, what say you?

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Come Into the Light

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:5-7

Earlier we looked at the introduction to this letter, and here, we enter the first section of the letter which begins at verse 5 and continues through 2:14. This section is given context in verse 5: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. Thus, this section is all about John’s declaration of light versus darkness, and it contains comparisons and contrasts.

Before we take a look at it, keep in mind what John wrote in John 1:4 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” All through the Gospel story, John used “light” as signifying the presence of Jesus, contrasted with “darkness” denoting His absence.  Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at our text. After proclaiming that God is light, John gets down to his explanation claiming that if we claim to be in fellowship with God, but walk in darkness, we lie, and are not in the truth.  This is a rather easy statement to understand, for if we are in darkness, then we aren’t in His presence, and if we aren’t in His presence, we couldn’t possibly be in fellowship: There is no half-way.

The contrast is that if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship… because we are with Him in the light.  If we have this fellowship in the light of His presence and truth, then His blood purifies us from all sin.  The reality of the statement is that we can’t be in fellowship with Him until our sins have been forgiven by His sacrifice on the cross.

Sometimes, we may walk a ways in darkness, and by this I mean that we may stray from time-to-time.  John doesn’t suggest that our errors kick us out of fellowship as we will see a little farther through this text, but that there is a way to return to the light of His presence, by confessing our sins., as we see in the next paragraph:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:8-10

I think we all would agree that a claim by any one of us to have never sinned would be little short of crazy.  John seems to think it’s worse than that− all have sinned, but take heart, for there is a way out, confess your sins and He will forgive; this is our covenant promise.  There is simply no need for us to wring our hands and carry around a burden of guilt and shame before God, for when we confess our sins (acknowledge them) He will forgive; we have His Word on that.

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