Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · July 6, 2008

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, thank you for meeting us here this morning and welcoming us into your house. Jesus, we thank you for being here, too; and we ask that you will breathe your Holy Spirit into us as we pray, stand, sit, sing, share, listen, and commune with you. May we leave here today confident, certain, sure, and secure about you and our relationship with each of you, Lord. We ask these things in your name, Jesus. Amen.

Scripture

Romans 1:16-17

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Message

Are You Ashamed?

Kris Tenny-Brittian

This passage really hits home for me, because it is another one of my favorites. But also because there was a church in Toronto, Ontario, this past Easter that decided to change the words to the great Easter hymn, “Christ the Lord Has Risen Today.” Now, I know the words to hymns get changed on a regular basis, but not usually as blatantly as what this church in Toronto did. Instead of singing, “Christ the Lord is risen today,” they sang, “Glorious hope has risen today.”

Now, you may be wondering what changing the words to an Easter hymn has to do with this passage from Romans. On the surface, it may not seem too serious, and because Jesus is glorious hope. But the changes come about, because that church in Toronto has decided that people have become turned off by the form in which the Church exists today. They believe that the Church has outlived its viability and that we need to shed our no-longer-credible myths, and doctrines, and dogmas. The church has no longer decided to buy into big Godism. Their pastor says they no longer pray prayers like, “Dear God, step into the world and do good things about global warming and the poor.” They don’t believe that a miracle-performing Jesus, who was given birth by a virgin, came back to life. 

At that church, you won’t find references to salvation. Their pastor says that they don’t want to dress up the theology of the past 2,000 years with new language in the hope of making it more palatable. Instead, they want to get rid of our historic language and build on its ashes a new spiritual movement. She says they want salvation to be redefined, to mean “new life by removing the causes of suffering in the world.” She wants the church to define “resurrection,” as “starting over in new chances.” She wants an end to God as being an intervening, all-powerful God. Rather, she wants congregations to work together as communities to define as to who and what God is, whether that be Big-G God or little-g god. She wants those definitions to be worked out by themselves. She wants to redefine communion to be a symbolic experience of community love.

Are you having trouble with any of this? If you’re not, you’re not alone. Some mentioned to me from the earlier service saying, “Well, that’s in Toronto.” But let me tell you… Any of you who have been to Europe know what the state of the Church is in Europe. It is not in a very good shape.

I moved here from Seattle where we were for eight years. I say this, and I’m not joking, it was like being on the mission field. Let me tell you. There is a mission field in this United States, and it lies on that west coast. On any given Sunday, maybe four percent of the population in Seattle will be in church. Ninety-six to ninety-seven percent of the people in Seattle will not be in church on a Sunday morning. 

What has happened in Europe is coming to Canada and is filtering into the United States. While I thought we were in the Bible-Belt, I saw some statistics recently about us in Missouri. We are no longer just belted to the Bible. 

Let me read Paul’s words to you again. It’s a short little passage, but I think it still calls out to us today. He says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.”

See… the Bible would be the good news about Jesus Christ and what he has done and what he is doing for us. “I am not ashamed of the good news about what Jesus is doing, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

This means that Jesus’ birth, his life including his miracles, his death, and his resurrection weren’t merely historical or mythical magical happenings. They were facts. Jesus came to earth. He lived. He died. He came back, and he is here with us today, because of God’s power and God’s might. Because God loves us so much that he had to come here to earth to tell us about himself, so that we could get our story straight, so that we might come to realize that as much as we would like to think we can, we cannot change the world in our power and in our own might. As much as we would love to be communities of love and peace, we cannot bring about world peace. We’ve been trying to perfect relationship for millennia, and we haven’t been able to do it with any sustainability. It is not humanly possible. It is only divinely possible, and only then through relationships with God and others, by drawing on God’s power and not relying on our own.

I am not ashamed of the gospel – the good news about Jesus and about God’s love for us, and about their desire to be in a relationship with each of us. I’m not ashamed of the gospel – the good news that God has come to earth to save or rescue every one who believes, everyone who will trust in him. 

I’m not ashamed. I don’t feel guilty. I don’t feel I am worthy. I don’t feel humiliation about the gospel. I’m not embarrassed by it. You could say that in a more positive way. We could say, “I feel confident, and certain, and sure, and secure about the gospel, about Jesus’ good news of love and salvation.” 

Some of us have been taught that Jesus is the good news. As the Bible writer, John said, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God’s promises became flesh, became real. It is the news, the good news, the Word about God direct off the pages. We needed to be saved. It leapt off the pages of the scrolls and became real and alive in flesh and blood.

God was tired of all of our misunderstandings, and our excuses, and our odd ideas about God. God was frustrated about our hemming and hawing, and our talking about whose idea it is and isn’t. God was exasperated by our talking about God, rather than talking to God, and consulting with God, because we kept talking, just like we do today – vain, empty words about God – rather than speaking with God.

“So God became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace of truth,” John says.

In and through Jesus, God not only tangibly touched us, God continues to reach out and touch and work in and through us. God relies on us to be that tangible touch. That is good news.

If you look in your bulletin, you should find on an insert some written words. On the top you’ll find four words: power, salvation, righteousness, and faith. You might think about jotting a note or two as we think about them. If I were writing them, I would write in gigantic capital letters, “POWER!” We’re talking about power here. In Greek, the word “power” is “dunamis.” It is the root of our word “dynamite.” We are talking about power. I am not ashamed of the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ himself. We are talking about Jesus, who had the power to leave heaven, who had the power to be born into a human body on earth. We are talking about Jesus, who had the power to die, and after three days in a grave to rise again. He has the power to be in heaven and in some powerful, mysterious way to still be here on earth with us today. 

Do you believe that? Do you believe any part of that? Do you believe that after three days in a grave, Jesus had the power to rise again? Do you believe what we celebrate on Easter Sundays here? Do you believe that Jesus has that kind of power?

The second word there is “salvation.” Do you believe that Jesus, not only has that kind of power to raise himself from the dead, but he has the power to raise us from the dead as well? Do you believe that Jesus has the power to raise us from the dead both in this life and into the eternal life? More than that, do you believe that Jesus can save or rescue you, us, me from whatever pits of hell we may find ourselves in?

Jesus doesn’t merely offer us fire insurance or a “get-out-of-hell-free” card. He gives us freedom today. Can you believe that Jesus can rescue you from whatever temptation, addiction, sin, shame, guilt, doubt, abuse, mishap, whatever it is that holds you and your family and everyone else back from being all God has created us to be? Do you believe he has that kind of power?

Righteousness. Do you see the word “relationship” next to it? That is exactly what that word means. I think I said when I was here last year, before I went to seminary grad school, there were words that made my head spin. “Righteousness” was one of those. How do you explain “righteousness?” Finally, one of my friends said, “Kris, it is so simple. It means “relationship.”

Do you believe that Jesus not only can but wants to use his power on your behalf? Do you believe that God loves you that much? Do you believe that God wants nothing more than to be in a relationship with you – for you to know how much God loves you, and for you to love God back? Do you believe that? Do you believe that God would do anything for you? Anything? Do you believe God wants to give you the desires of your heart?

I had an administrative assistant once who used to run around saying, “God wants to give you the desires of your heart. God wants to give you the desires of your heart.”

After a while, I started running around saying it: “God wants to give you the desires of your heart.” Then I thought, “Maybe I better check that out in the Bible. It sounds good, but is it scriptural?”

You know what? It is! If you are at all interested, it is something I can show you. I have it written down here in my Bible. God wants to give us the desires of our hearts.

Now, first, God wants the desires of our hearts to be in alignment with God’s desires for our hearts. But God is that powerful.  God loves us that much. God has the power to save, rescue, and transform us, and to save, rescue, and transform the world in ways that we cannot possibly imagine.

Faith – It means “from belief to trust.” Do you believe in God? It’s OK if you don’t. Be real. Be honest. Do you believe in God? Do you trust God? Can you believe that you can trust God? How far are you willing to believe? How far are you willing to trust? How far are you willing to go to suspend your disbelief? Let me ask you one more time. Are you ashamed of the gospel? Do you believe that Jesus is the good news? Do you believe that Jesus brings good news? Do you believe that Jesus has the power to save, rescue, and transform your life, my life, this community, this world? Do you believe that Jesus can and wants to work in and through you? Are you ready to trust him to do that?

We cannot be ashamed. We cannot feel intimidated or unworthy to share the good news. To flourish as the people of God, and to flourish as the Church, we are going to have to do whatever it takes to get past our barriers, our intimidations. We have to be able to share, to live, and then share that good news with confidence and certainty, assurance, and security, so that the good news is real. Because it is not only ours for the taking, it is ours for the sharing.

Look at those last five words in your bulletin. Each of us has barriers, or intimidations that keep us from sharing the good news. If we didn’t, this place would be packed. We would have more services and be planting church all over Columbia and beyond. So, together, these five words could be a plan for helping us to move past our barriers and into more fully sharing the good news with confidence.

Move. You saw there, under faith, from belief to trust, the word in Greek for “faith,” is “pistos.” It is a word that is on a continuum. It starts with belief and comes into full trust. So, we pick up in faith somewhere. Maybe it’s just to say, “I’ll give you a little try.” 

I didn’t become a Christian until I was 22-years-old. If I walked in to most churches today back then, they would have been as churches today. They wouldn’t want me. Honestly, I was an addict. I was an alcoholic. I was living with a man I had a child out of wedlock. They would not want me in their church. 

All I knew was I supposed to be in church that morning, and I liked to be different. I wanted my life to be different. I wanted to be respectable. My only friends, well, I guess they were really my companions, were my dog and my 18-month-old daughter. I walked into that church, and they took me in. The pastor had been preaching about children’s ministries. When I left, I said to that pastor, “You know… I’d like to do something with children’s ministries. I was a troubled youth.” Well, I was a pretty troubled young adult at that point in my life. I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe what he said in the pulpit that morning. I wanted to believe my life could be different.

I stand here with you this morning with three stripes on my robe, only by the grace of this good God that we have, who has brought me healing and relief. At my installation, we sang that song, “You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains.” God is a great God, and he has the power to change our lives. 

You have to move from belief, even just to, “God, I’ll try you out,” into trust. To go from the “maybes.” If you are at that point in your life where God is just a “maybe” or an “I’m-not-sure,” give it a try for 60 days. That’s all I ask. Wake up for the next 60 days and say, “You know what, God? I feel like an absolute fool. I’m not even sure if you are out there, but today I’ll give you a try.” 

Then find me in 60 days. I’m going to be back here November 14 and 15. Find me and tell me what you have experienced.

Maybe you already believe. Maybe you’ve moved a little more deeply into trust. Maybe you get up and life lives you each and every day. It comes and it goes. The next day is the same as it was yesterday. Maybe God has a little different plan for you, and you aren’t sure that you might leave that level and trust it. “So, for the next 60 days,” I would say to you, “what if you woke up in the morning and you said, ‘OK, God, what do you want me to do today? I’m going to trust you to tell me.’” And you just sat there and listened to see what might come into your mind. Come tell me on November 14-15, if not sooner. 

We have to move from belief into trust.

Pray. Pray whatever way works best for you. Just pray. If you don’t know how to pray, here’s a four-part prayer. It’s called “PART.” Praise is the “P.” “A” is Ask. “R” is Repent. That’s to ask for forgiveness. “T” is to Thank. So we praise, we ask, we repent, and we thank. P-A-R-T, if you need a model for praying. Pray every day.

Learn. If you are not in a Bible study, get rid of your excuses this week. There are great Bible studies, I know, here at our church. If you haven’t been to a Life Focus Seminar, you need to go. If you haven’t been to Broadway 101, it’s coming up. Get rid of the excuses. Jesus called us to be disciples, not Christians. A lot of us are Christians, but we haven’t moved into disciplehood. To be a disciple means to be a student.

Worship. Every week! Don’t be late.

Share. We have to share our time, our talent, our treasure, our testimony. We have to share the good news. “Do not be ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power for the salvation of everyone who believes.” You. Me. Those we love. Those we don’t love yet.

For our good news Jesus is revealing how much God loves us in the world. If we avail ourselves to that love, each of us is going to get to really live as individuals, as a church, as community, as the good news people of God. It is ours for the taking. All we have to do is believe it and live unashamedly into it. Trust God to deliver on God’s promises.

Amen? Amen!

Benediction

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors. Amen.