2019 July 21st - Christian Education Sunday sermon - Faith
Hymns:
Opening hymn #394 - Holy Spirit, truth divine
To prepare us for the scripture readings #502 - Lord, thy word abideth
Offertory hymn #344 - The wise may bring their learning
To prepare us for the sermon #371 - Love divine, all loves excelling
Closing hymn #672 - Jesus calls us, o’er the tumult
(NIV) Psalm 121 - A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains-
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip-
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you-
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm-
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
(NIV) Luke 18:18-30 - The Rich and the Kingdom of God.
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good-except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Good morning everyone. Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Christ, our Strength and our Redeemer, amen. Thesis statement: In this world gone wrong, God saves us through his son Jesus, who calls us to express our faith in him by helping those who suffer. Faith must be action.
According to Matthew Henry’s biblical commentary, some call Psalm 121 the soldier’s psalm. It is believed that David wrote it during wartime, and it speaks about David trusting God with his life in the midst of battle. Others call it the traveler’s psalm (for there is no mention of battle) and it is believed David wrote it while he was going abroad as a comfort and companion for all travelers. For our purposes in the Digital Age, we need not interpret this psalm one way or another; the fact remains that we are exposed to danger far more often than we realise. It is not possible for us to take into account all the variables that surround us on a daily basis; in other words, we cannot predict the future. The psalm directs us to have faith in God by committing ourselves entirely to his care. God will save us.
When David lifts his eyes to the hills to look for help, he is probably referring to the hills on which the temple was built: Mount Moriah and the holy hill of Zion, where the Ark of the Covenant, the oracle, and the altars were. However, the psalm does not stop there. By saying that our help comes from the Lord, it directs the reader’s attention above the hills to the sky; the traditional place for Heaven. Today, we know that Heaven is not in the sky, a hill, a temple or an Ark, but found through Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the Cross opened the gates of Paradise. If we have faith in him, he himself will take us to Heaven where we will share the joy of our Lord.
The psalm continues, saying that the Lord watches over not only the nation of Israel, but every one of us individually. David is telling us that God is far greater than any earthly king or ruler. Earthly rulers cannot be concerned with the life of the individual, but the life of a nation. If an earthly ruler decided that one human life was more important than their country, they would either quickly be removed from office or their country would suffer neglect, leading to chaos. As such, all earthly rulers are limited to making decisions that are best for their nation’s wellbeing, often sacrificing people in the process. David says that God has no limits and is able to look after everyone individually while also directing the course of human history.
Christ embodies this tremendous, all-encompassing love. Jesus is not only the God of big things, like the universe and the Earth, but also the God of small things, like you and me. For our sake the Word became flesh and dwelt among us in order to reconcile our human condition with God. The incarnation was necessary because no other power could possibly form a bridge between Heaven and Earth. No human atonement could ever forgive sin; only God can forgive sin.
The psalm ends with the assurance that God will watch over our coming and going forever. He not only redeems you, but also helps you with your daily life. You would think that such a mighty being would only worry about mighty problems, but he manages both the big and the small as I said earlier. He feels sorry for us because we are his children and he loves us. Love is infinite, so it embraces our daily cares as well. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 (NIV) “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus knows that we have chores to do and family to look after, but he advises us to begin each day with our minds focused on him first, because he helps us with all of our little duties, too. When we start each day, we think that all of the problems are waiting for us, but love has already gone before us in the person of Christ. When we tackle each day, we meet Jesus already waiting for us wherever we are needed.
To examine the Gospel reading I am using a corresponding theological analysis by Jürgen Moltmann from his book, “Theology of Hope” (1967):
“That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”
The rich young ruler is depicted in Heinrich Hofmann’s famous painting that illustrates the scripture passage. The young man - who has everything going for him - is not satisfied with his life. He is so disturbed and so troubled that in the public eye he runs after Jesus, flings himself on the ground before Him and begs for an answer. However, despite his dissatisfaction with the world, despite his yearning for eternal life, he is too attached to mortal life. He cannot give up the things of this world to inherit an even greater glory in the next world. It is very significant that Jesus said “follow me.” In essence, he told the young man that giving up all his wealth was just an act of faith. By itself, faith does not lead to salvation; donating all his stuff to charity would not save him. Salvation comes from God alone, and Jesus said as much; “follow me.” Here was God simply asking the young man to follow him, but the young man turned away. I am sure it hurt Jesus a great deal when the young man walked away, because Jesus loved him anyway.
Jesus does not stop after redeeming us. In the psalm, David calls for help; indeed, the entire world was crying out for a Messiah. Christ answered that call, entering the world and offering salvation. However, that is only the beginning. Once we have the indwelling Christ, he makes us restless, as Moltmann said. We yearn for his kingdom, which is why so many hymns beg God to bring his kingdom to Earth as quickly as possible. The desire for God’s kingdom prompts us to help others who are suffering. This is faith as action. Indeed, in John 15, Jesus gave us a commandment to love one other so that our joy may be complete. We must not limit our love to ourselves, our friends and relatives, but extend our helping hands to those who need help. This world has gone wrong, and there are many people who are mentally and physically ill, disabled, homeless, and victims of oppression. Christ calls us to aid both the innocent and the guilty, as he did. By looking after his sheep, we not only express our faith in him, but also declare the coming of his kingdom. Amen.