From the pulpit Sunday, Oct. 7th 2012
Introduction: Rules or Relationship
One of the great challenges of the Christian life is simply the quality of that life;
by that I mean, is the Christian life a load or burden for you or a life?
That was a popular sermon topic during my growing up years as it was one of the three sermons the Rector of my Church seemed to weave into all of his sermons: Christianity, a load or a lift. I think he was fascinated with the alliteration: load/lift Aand I must admit that over thirty years later I still remember the idea.
But in some sense it’s a pointless question; because the answer to the question should be obvious to Christians and non-Christians alike. Of course Christianity is supposed to be a lift and not a load or a burden; It’s supposed to help us live full lives rather than drag us down; It’s supposed to fill us with hope rather than fear; Supposed to bring us closer to love rather than to mere duty. That’s the way it’s supposed to be — that’s what looks and sounds like Jesus to me. Any authentic Christianity or life with God ought to remove burdens or at least make them more manageable. But as with many things in life, I’ve learned that what is supposed to be is not the reality in many cases.
The fact is a great many people do not experience Christianity as a lift. Instead, trying to live as a Christian is an additional load for them to bear. Far too many people believe Christianity involves something else — for many people it involves rules, regulations, obligations, responsibilities instead of removing weight from our daily loads in life, it adds to it. For these people, God is not experienced as a loving Father or Parent who wants the best for His children, instead God is experienced as a stern taskmaster.
He is seen as some kind of patrolman in the sky, watching our speed and making us obey all the rules.
I hope I’m wrong, but I fear the prevalent image of the Christian gospel, in church and out of church, goes something like this. God wants us all to be good; He has given us the Bible as a book of rules to show us how to be good; He calls people like my fellow clergy me to teach the rules and remind you to be good. God watches our every move and records our behavior in a grade book; we receive gold stars for our good deeds and black marks for our bad deeds and when we die, God totals up the gold stars and black marks.
If we have more gold stars then we go to heaven; if more black marks – hell.
And that’s the Gospel, I wonder? That’s the good news?
That’s not good news, that’s bad news.
With that picture of the Christian life in mind is it any wonder that people are afraid?
Afraid to be part of the Christian life, afraid, when they are involved in Christianity to go all in and live in a close relationship with God. I mean who is going to measure up all the time and who can keep track of all the rules and expectations. I had a friend who was talking with one of his associates for months about his faith; and after presenting the Christian life in as positive a manner as possible my friend asked if he would like to become a Christian, and the response was, “No thanks, too many rules.”
Well, here’s the good news about this challenge of rules versus relationship. The rules have been given to us, or those who have grown up with the faith, as a means for getting some direction in this life with God. But God is not so interested in the rules.
God is interested in relationship. God is interested in you and in me.
The great Christian thinker, C. S. Lewis, once wrote, “God does not love us because we are lovable, but because He is love.” God knows that we will never measure up, try as we might. That’s part of the reason Jesus came to show us a way of life, a way of relationship with God and a way of forgiveness because we won’t measure up.
You see, God is soft hearted; God has a heart for mercy and loves us, just because we are;
and the rules, the hundreds of rules that are in the Bible and that have grown up around the Christian faith are not there to make us worthy of God’s love but are about our response to God’s love, God’s presence, God’s forgiveness. They are signposts in our lives with God, but not the ultimate destination. In other words, it’s not about the rules alone, but about a living relationship with God.
Jesus and the Rule Followers, the Pharisees
And that’s what Jesus is trying to get across to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel. On a first reading, they’re asking questions about divorce and remarriage; but the underlying premise, the real issue centers on rules versus relationship. Centers on justifying their lives before God; on trying to earn God’s favor through following the rules but apart from the love and mercy of God and apart from God’s soft heart.
Let me explain—like many of us, the Pharisees are religious people.
Actually they are very religious people who are trying to live Godly lives and who are trying to follow God’s law, as handed down by Moses so that they can earn their gold stars and be worthy of God’s pleasure by what they do and how they follow the rules.
In this case, the issue is divorce and they ask Jesus whether it’s lawful or acceptable for a man to divorce his wife. Expecting Jesus to trip up in some way so they can discredit Him or to give them another way to tip God’s scale in their favor. But Jesus has heard this kind of approach to the life God is calling us to live before and calls their bluff.
Reminding them that God’s intention is for men and women to become one and to stay one, and that Moses only gave them the commandment, the rule allowing divorce because of their hard hearts; because they felt they needed some way to justify themselves when a marriage failed.
Now Jesus, like many of us, knows that sometimes marriage don’t work out, and that there may be a more fullfilling life for the man and the woman apart from one another rather than together. But there’s no justification for it; there’s no way to reconcile the choice before God except for the mercy and the love of the God who forgives except for the soft heart of God. And whether it’s marriage or work or church attendance or being kind or giving away 10% of your income for God’s purposes there is no way to earn our way to God apart from God’s soft heart apart from God’s desire to want to be in relationship with us and to forgive us out of His great love.
You see, God knows what it’s like to be human. God knows what it’s like to be born and to grow up; to run and play and study, to be part of a family and to work hard; to see marriages that succeed and those that become broken; God knows about rules and God knows about relationships. God knows because He created all that is and sent His Son, sent Jesus to live as one of us. God knows because He was willing to become like one of us and to suffer and to die for us. So that we would know the God forgives sins; and that God wants a relationship with you and me and not just a bunch of rule followers. We can never measure up on our own and the good news the magnificent news is that we don’t have to; God loves us, God forgives us, and God wants us because God has a soft heart.
And we can have soft heart, too, once we accept the grace-filled love of God for our own.
We can have soft hearts for ourselves and for others when we accept God’s love for us and offer that heart to others.
Stewardship and Soft Hearts
This Sunday, we begin our annual financial stewardship campaign; when we consider what we will pledge or give to God beyond our time and talent. It’s the month when we consider our giving as a rule of life or as part of our relationship with God. It’s one of the most fearful aspects of the Christian life for many of us—giving our hard earned money away for God’s purposes. For we rule followers in the congregation, the rule is 10%;
God calls us to give away ten percent of our income for His purposes. Here, at St. David’s and out there in the world; that’s about as clear a rule as there is in the Bible—make your pledge and check your box for a potential gold star.
And for those of us who are seeking to live in relationship a with God the call is ten percent, a tithe, before or after taxes, you decide. The difference? It’s not in the amount;
It’s in the intention; it’s in the purpose of our giving. It’s not the rule it’s the relationship. Be generous toward God and God’s purposes and you will be drawn closer to God;
And be part of God’s soft heart for the good of God’s world; I know you will find it much, much more fulfilling if your intentions are connected to your relationship with God and not just following some rule.
And so I invite you today and every day to allow God to lift you to a higher life —to the life of a living relationship with this God who loves us so. Amen.
WFA
No comments:
Post a Comment