Back Home

After a week in Idaho, our family is happy to be back home! We helped to plan and participated in the wedding of my mother-in-law. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Pugsley!

One of the things that we did in preparation for the reception was to hang plastic sheeting from the ceiling of the building where we held the reception. The sheeting was meant to cover and hide much of the stuff that was in storage in the building. It occurred to me later that often our lives are very similar--we cover up things that might seem distasteful or inappropriate for everyone to see. While this is not a problem, the real problem arises when we try to do the same with God.

God knows the sin in our lives, and any attempt to cover it or conceal it is not only futile, but it often keeps us from being authentic in our relationship with God. Throw back the curtain and share your burdens with God--it will ease YOUR mind!

Peering Into the Future: A New Way of Life

In 1969, Rusty Schweickart went up into outer space as the lunar module pilot for Apollo 9, the third manned flight of the Apollo series, and first manned flight of the lunar module. His experience of being in outer space for 241 hours, traveling at 17,000 miles per hour and orbiting the earth every 90 minutes, had a profound effect on him.

After his return, he said that his experience had changed him:

“When you fly in space and you look in at the earth, it is indeed an incredibly beautiful place. I can’t tell you the difference it makes in the way you feel, and the way you relate to the earth, after that experience. When you fly around it again and again, the world comes into you in a different way. You see it in a different way. It doesn’t come in through the head, it comes in through the heart.”

It must have been incredible to have this big picture of the earth—to see it first-hand. John also gives us a glimpse of this “big picture” view in the 21st and 22nd chapters of Revelation. He invites us to step back and see what he calls the New Jerusalem--The city of God. It was way too big to see up close, he tells us it was 1500 miles on every side—length, width, and height. He tells us that in this city, there is no need for a Temple – because all will be holy. There is no need of sun or moon or even street lights – because there is no darkness. The gates of the city are always open to for all to come in, yet everything that enters will be holy. Finally, a river of life runs through it, and on its banks, a tree of life bears fruit always, with leaves meant for healing. All of these things sound wonderful and the beauty of John’s writing catches your heart
- even if you miss the symbolism!

But there is symbolism here. Sometimes if something seems out of place or is hard to understand, it is because it is a reference to something else—something that we might not understand, but the original readers might have understood. John tells us that the city is a cube, and this description is found, to my knowledge, only one other place in Scripture. In the centermost part of the old holy city, at the holiest part of the temple was Jerusalem’s most sacred spot. There God was present at the heart of his people as nowhere else. This place, the Holy of Holies was described as 20 cubits, by 20 cubits, by 20 cubits (1 Kings 6:20).

John is trying to tell us something here. The New Jerusalem is an enlarged Holy of Holies. No one ever lived in the old holiest place, it was visited only once a year by one human, the high priest. There he made atonement for himself and all Israel at the mercy seat, the lid of the ark. It was a dangerous place to visit, and the high priest had to prepare himself in a long and elaborate ritual to even go in or he would be struck dead. But now in the New Jerusalem, we can forget the fear, exclusiveness, and restrictions. All those who trust in the name of Jesus will be in there with God and the Lamb.

Watchman Nee, an influential Chinese theologian, writes that the New Jerusalem is the final glory of God—the ultimate goal of God. Further, the church is meant to be a reflection of the New Jerusalem until that glorious day when the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. Until then, in every city around the world, the church is to be a reminder of the New Jerusalem. A place with no darkness, whose gates are always open to for all to come in. A river of life runs through it, and it is to be always bearing fruit, to be always a place of healing and love--a place where God dwells and comes face to face with humanity.

New Jerusalem is a symbol of the Body of Christ. You’ve heard that old song, “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together…” We who call ourselves followers of Christ are the city, and we walk its streets. The river of life runs through it, Jesus Christ alive in us. We are called to always bear fruit, and we are meant to be always ready to forgive and to heal the wounds of each other. Within us grows a Tree of Life with leaves for the healing of the nations, planted by God, nourished by the Holy Spirit, and cared for by those in our lives who love us and show us how to live—maybe that your mother, or some other person who loved you and inspired you.

The New Jerusalem is not just a new city, it is a new way of life--a way of life that begins not in the head, but in the heart by putting our trust in Christ, letting the river of life flow through us, bearing fruit and cultivating healing. The New Jerusalem is a picture of the ultimate glory of God in the future, and it is a picture of how God calls us to live together today.

Peering Into the Future: The New Realm

Preached at Hallam and Martell UMCs, May 6, 2007.

My wife is always amazed when I get an idea for building something. First, that I have to do it, and in order to do it I will set aside other things—sometimes more important things. Second, that I usually don’t have any written plan for how to accomplish it, and third, that despite the lack of a plan, it still turns out OK.

For instance, I have a saddle that my father bought 50-60 years ago. My kids had it restored for me for Christmas—it was held together with baling twine—and it is beautiful. Yet I had no way to display it, so I decided to build a saddle rack. I just went out to the garage and built one. All I had was an idea of what it should look like, knowing that as long as I had a vision of it, I could build it.

Today’s scripture reading from Revelation 21 describes Johns’ vision of what the future holds. It is a future beyond what you or I can imagine without this vision. John shares with us to give us hope in the world that God will build—a new heaven and a new earth.

When we read this passage, we see that new things are on the horizon. God's home will be with us, there will be neither sorrow nor death any more.

This is a vision of what ultimate hope is, and it differs radically from what we might imagine it to be. Our final hope is not about "going to heaven when you die." It is greater than that—our ultimate hope is beyond heaven--in the new creation, death and mourning and pain are no more, and our final hope is in recognizing that God is making a new heaven and a new earth and is coming to dwell among us "down here." That is our ultimate hope!

God will cause a renewal of the natural order AND the human order. John also describes a new city, the new Jerusalem, which he describes as the bride of Christ—all those who put their trust in his grace.

So what does this vision of the future have to do with us? All of these things may be centuries in the future or they may be tomorrow. Is that what lies ahead of us? Do we just wait for that day when Christ returns--suffering along, bearing our crosses? Is that what this text tells us? Does all our hope wait for us in heaven? Or is it beyond—in the new creation?

Ask yourself these questions: do I really believe what the Bible tells me? Do I have the courage to live that way? If death is no more, how can I live in ways I am now afraid to do? If mourning is no more, how will I serve differently, since there is nothing to lose? If pain is no more, how can I love in ways I had not dared to?

Are you really willing to really believe what the Bible tells us?--that living can be without fear of death, that serving can be without fear of loss, that giving is really a source of gain, that loving can be without fear of pain?

Take it a step further…how can you bring all these ideas together to serve God? By reaching out to those around us and simply letting them know that there is a place where they belong--Right here, in this church.

Just as John shares God’s vision for all of creation, I want to share with you what I believe to be the future for our church. It will be a place where all people are welcome, where they can find wholeness and healing in relationship with God and in relationship with others through small accountability groups, service clubs, or simply in worship. The church is to be a place without rivalry, bitterness, and anger. A place where all of us can express our gifts in service to God, whether those gifts are time, talents, or money.

Won’t you join me in this vision for the future? Come with me--I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it--be a part of something bigger than yourself! Reach out to your friends and family and neighbors--encourage them to come along with us as we live out this vision and rejoice in our ultimate hope!

Change is Vital

If there is a constant in society, it is that all societies change. Whether this change is fast or slow depends on a number of factors, as well as whether it is dangerous or safe, yet change it must. It is important to understand, however, that culture does not change itself. The locus of all change, or where the change originates, is in the minds of people within the culture. The result is that people change a culture as the need arises.

The things which provide impetus for change are varied. Revolution, war, or historical accident are all rapid change agents, whereas cultural drift, diffusion, and style may be more gradual forces encouraging change. Regardless of the speed at which change is facilitated, those who would win the world for Christ must be advocates for change to a biblical worldview. The rate of change to such a viewpoint is dependent upon the readiness for change. If individuals within a culture perceive a need, change will be faster. This explains the rapid growth of Christianity in China and most of Africa, while North Americans, with a comfortable lifestyle where many needs can be perceived as satisfied in a number of ways, languish in slow evangelism and churches find themselves losing members. This also explains the importance of being relevant to a culture. If the church is seen as irrelevant to the needs of the culture, it has little to offer.

Individual change is much easier to accomplish than cultural change. But, as mentioned above, individuals are the ones who change culture.

Busy Week

I apologize to all who have been expecting more content on this page. This week, combining multiple meetings, trying to get the lights at Hallam working correctly, and attempting to write three papers for school, as well as prepare for Mother's Day....oops, got a little overwhelmed. Before the weekend, I hope to get last week's sermon on this page. Check back soon!

It's all about context!

Contextualizing the Gospel message is the task which lies ahead of anyone who wishes to share the Good News. Ensuring that the message conveyed is not condemning, but moves the person or culture toward blessing and wholeness, is crucial to the success of an evangelization effort. A gospel which shares the truth and love of God must begin with people as they are, allowing the Holy Spirit to woo them into relationship, and then into lives which are appropriate in both the culture in which they live in, as well as the context of biblical truth.

But contextualization, while remaining in the realm of the missionary to the target culture is perhaps not the ultimate goal. Throughout this class we have exhorted each other to be able to contextualize, while remaining true to the apostolic faith. The task which lies ahead, and perhaps the task that lies ahead of all who would be missionaries, as well as those they witness to, is to be able to identify with, to understand, and share the gospel unflinchingly with other cultures. In order to achieve this lofty goal, the missionary must do more than simply understand other cultures and share the gospel with them. The missionary must also work within the culture to develop leadership with in the culture which will challenge the structures of the culture which do not align with the gospel, and further, to begin to understand the gospel as something that is not only within their own culture, but ultimately beyond their own culture, and in fact, supracultural.

This leap of understanding brings people to a place where they are equipped to spread the gospel to other cultures, recognizing and valuing the beauty and diversity of the expression of God within various cultures.