The Church that Makes a Difference (Matthew 16:13-20)

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When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (New International Version)

A lot of research studies have come out in the past 20 years demonstrating that legions of adults, especially between the ages of 18-29, are leaving the Church in droves. This confirms my own anecdotal evidence over the years that about 80% of twenty-somethings drop out of church altogether. So, why are people leaving? Can anything be done about it?

Most of the studies can be boiled down to three major reasons:

The Church is irrelevant to my life and doesn’t talk about things important to me
The Church is judgmental toward others not like themselves
The Church is hypocritical by saying one thing and yet living another way

A good, right, and real confession of Jesus will speak a relevant word into the culture and into various generations, will proclaim the gospel of grace (not judgment), and will live what it believes.

The church that makes a difference is made up of people who confess Jesus

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and his disciples are in the Gentile (non-Jewish) territory of Caesarea Philippi, a city 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Up to this point, the disciples encountered a lot of people and heard a lot of things said. So, Jesus asked them two questions:

Who do people say the Son of Man is?

The disciples gave a variety of answers, which is to be expected, with some of them being a bit esoteric. John the Baptist raised from the dead is a stretch. Elijah was a man who never died, but was just taken to heaven; maybe he’s back. Maybe Jeremiah or one of the other prophets got sent back.

When asking this question to folks today, you will also get a variety of answers as to whom Jesus is – a good teacher, a model humanitarian, a myth or a legend who didn’t really exist. A few times I have been told that Jesus was an alien from another planet. My personal favorite when I asked who Jesus, a guy answered that he was a nudist, and that if we all just took off our clothes, there would be peace in the world.

**Who do you say I am?**

Peter acted as the spokesperson for the group. Given the disciples’ track record of scratching their heads over nearly everything Jesus said or did, one might expect to hear another crazy answer. But Peter got it right by confessing, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

“Christ” is another way of saying “Messiah,” or “Savior.” It literally means, in the Greek language, “Answer.” Peter confessed Jesus as being The Answer, the person for whom everything comes down to. Peter may not have fully understood what he was saying, but he said it.

The church that makes a difference is made up of people who have been called by God

The reason that craziness didn’t come out of Peter’s mouth is that “The Answer” was divinely revealed to him. Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift given to us by God.

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus (Matthew 11:27, NIV)

Peter was blessed – not necessarily because of sincerity, openness, or deserving it – but because of God’s grace which revealed to him that Jesus is the “Answer.”

The Apostle Peter put himself in a position to know by obeying the voice of Jesus to follow him. It took him and the other disciples a while to “get it,” but eventually they did. And if it took years of being with Jesus for the disciples to make a right and good confession of faith, then it’s important that we have a great deal of patience for our friends and relatives.

The church that makes a difference is made up of people who call others to confess Jesus

Jesus proclaimed Peter (which means “rock”) the immovable object from which the Church would be built. The Apostle Paul framed it this way:

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19-21, NIV)

Christ is the one who builds the Church – and not me, nor you. This reality is encouraging and comforting to me. If it was up to me to build the Church, I would screw it up so badly that it would actually be overcome by hell. But I can’t screw it up, because it’s Christ’s Church, not mine.

So, we can move forward and storm the gates of hell, we can move and work and act and call others to confess, all with the confidence and security of knowing that Jesus is building his Church. There’s no need to worry whether we’re getting it right, or not, because we aren’t the ones in control of the project.

However, I admit what Jesus says next isn’t very comforting to me. Christ told Peter that he will give him the “keys of the kingdom of heaven,” and that whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever he lets loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Giving Peter the keys of the kingdom seems akin to giving an 8 year old the keys to the car and saying, “Go ahead, take it for a spin, you can drive it!”

What are the keys of the kingdom?

The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.

How does the preaching of the gospel open and close the kingdom of heaven?

The kingdom of heaven is opened by proclaiming and publicly declaring to all believers, each and every one, that, as often as they accept the gospel promise in true faith, God, because of what Christ has done, truly forgives all their sins. The kingdom of heaven is closed, however, by proclaiming and publicly declaring to unbelievers and hypocrites that, as long as they do not repent, the anger of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. (The Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 83, 84 )

The Church is true to its mission when it proclaims the good news of God’s grace in Christ. We possess the keys of the kingdom. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, that is, the risks and the problems of letting people do the task of proclaiming the gospel. Yet, Christ still tossed us the keys to his Mercedes.

Conclusion

A Church that makes a difference is made up of people who confess Jesus, are called by God, and call others to confess Jesus, too. The de-churched and the disaffected want to see a Church that seeks to understand the world, to provide relevant ministry to others, and to tackle the injustice that exists everywhere.

We must use the power given us with the keys of the kingdom to bestow mercy to the weak, the oppressed, and the lost. We need to live what we believe with a passionate heart and an unashamed faith.

Together, as God’s people, we can extend the hospitality and the kindness to make a difference in the church and the world.

May our confession of Christ shape our words and our actions. And may it give us the confidence and boldness to live as Jesus did, and to enjoy him forever. Amen.

Inclusion vs. Exclusion (Acts 15:1-21)

On August 21, 2023July 22, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

“‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
    things known from long ago.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (New International Version)

*The Council of Jerusalem, by Franz Mayer of Munich, 1883*

What happens when new people come into a group who are different? How does any church or faith community deal with long time members alongside new ones? Is there a way to work through differences without becoming like the Borg, trying to make others to be just like me? (“Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”)

Differences of thought, opinion, and practice are inevitable. Conflict cannot (and should not) always be avoided. Anyplace there’s people, conflict eventually happens. Put a bunch of sinners together in one place (like in a church), add a few grumpy old people, a few know-it-alls, then sit back and watch the fireworks.

It seems to me that every church is about one or two good fights away from being non-existent. It’s a miracle that more congregations don’t call it quits every year, especially after their annual congregational meetings! I myself have a long resume of handling ornery folks, family squabbles, and cantankerous curmudgeons that could make your head swim – or just get you downright angry.

What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings. (James 4:1-3, CEB)

Within the church there are expectations, whether they are reasonable or not. If those expectations are not fulfilled, people feel unfulfilled. So, they look to put unnecessary burdens on those entering the faith – to make them pay their dues by observing rules that they themselves aren’t even able to keep.

Conflict begins with some kind of desire. If unmet, it becomes a demand. And demanding something usually leads to judging other people. After all, if you really care about me and my group, you will meet these demands (desires). If left unchecked and unresolved, the progression ends in trying to punish others by simply withdrawing from a relationship with the intent of hurting another.

A focus on reaching out, on rebuilding and restoring lives, puts our efforts where they need to be – and puts us on the same page together, acting out of a sense of purpose, not preservation.

Today’s New Testament lesson deals with the conflict and debate surrounding gentile inclusion into the family of God. The success of Paul’s missionary journeys in reaching non-Jewish peoples and establishing churches, created tension as to whether these new believers ought to become Jewish in order to be Christian.

This question was at the heart of why the Council at Jerusalem was convened. Those who believed that Gentiles need to become Jews, demanded that the they be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. Others, including Paul and Barnabas, believed that sort of thinking and approach was contrary to the gospel.

The Apostle Peter was there and gave his own experience of observing God work among Cornelius, a Gentile. Peter’s story was more than personal testimony; it was a powerful theological argument about what God was doing and what God is up to with all people, not just the Jews.

Peter’s story demonstrated that God (and not Paul or anybody else) is responsible for including Gentiles among God’s people without making them Jewish. It was God who called and cleansed Gentiles – making no distinction between them and Jews.

People are justified and made right by God’s grace, and not by human judgments of who can be in or out. The upshot of the whole thing is this: We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, both Jew and Gentile. Period.

The only thing needed from Gentiles is to believe, because salvation is an act of God’s grace, and not the result of human effort.

What’s more, the inclusion of non-Jewish persons as the people of God is nothing new; it has always been there in the Old Testament Scriptures. And they were never called to become just like Jews in order to be the people of God. (Amos 9:11-12)

This is instructive for all contemporary faith communities. Our mission is not to make followers of me or you or of a particular faith tradition, but to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Grace brings us in, grace keeps us in, and grace will lead us home.

Our focus is to be on openness, connection, and inclusion, and not in seeking to be closed-minded and closed-hearted – separating from those different from us and practicing exclusion. The following ways may be helpful in fostering a more generous gospel:

Talk less, listen more. Don’t interrupt. Do give focused attention. Use respectful language. Ask how others prefer to be addressed and how they refer to themselves. Asking is a sign of care and respect for the person you are talking to, and is also a way to help them feel safe and comfortable.

Be open. Don’t stereotype. One person doesn’t represent an entire group of people. There are different Christian traditions throughout the world. And there are also different traditions and ways within all major religions, as well as within all people groups, institutions, organizations, communities, races, ethnicities, and genders. Seek to learn, rather than superimpose what you think onto someone else.

Become self-aware. Understand that, although all persons are created in the image of God and are equal before the Lord, there is not equity in human organizations and systems. Being aware of our own privileges is a crucial first step to adopting a more inclusive attitude.

Stay curious. To remain curious means to seek people and situations that allow us to challenge (both in a positive and negative way) our beliefs and our cultural and personal patterns of thinking, worshiping, working, and living.

Generally speaking, exclusion creates conflict, whereas inclusion gives space for others to explore and discover what it means to live into their faith and spirituality.

Loving Lord, give us strength so that we can build places of belonging: To create a community for all to share their gifts, to know that each of us is loved, to help us to see the light of Christ in all that we serve. Help us remember that each of us is loved and important. Amen.

In the Place of Life (1 Peter 4:1-6)

On May 22, 2023April 30, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. (New International Version)

I haven’t been a confessing Christian my entire life. And so, I can relate to Peter’s exhortation. I still remember what it feels like to live my life without any thought to God or spiritual matters. I also have many memories of giving my life to Christ and, for years, having people puzzled as to why I didn’t want to join them in activities which would clearly diminish my spirit and suck the soul out of me.

The thing about partying and immorality is that it’s a life filled with constant movement. Slowing down only makes one come face-to-face with what is truly inside the soul. And if someone has an empty vacuous soul, or a damaged spirit, or a broken heart, then attempting to drink or work away the inner pain makes sense when there’s no regard for God.

The last thing I ever wanted to do was suffer, yet before my own spiritual awakening, it seemed I could never outrun the hurt no matter how hard I tried, even with all the constant locomotion.

But I found in a committed Christianity the slow and quiet place I so desperately needed. I discovered in ancient Christian practices of solitude, silence, and stillness the opportunity of finding my true self.

There are times in our lives when we need to explore the place between our hurting hearts and the hunting for joy. It’s actually a quiet place sandwiched between the ignominy of the cross and the celebration of resurrection.

Within the geography of the soul, this is something of a lost country for many folks. Some people have never had the thought that such a place even exists. Yet, this is the very place which gives meaning and focus to a disjointed and frenetic lifestyle.

To be even more specific and focused, there cannot be a better life, a new life without a death to the old life and dying to self. There must be suffering before there can be glory.

I’m a heady sort of guy. Most things, for me, have to go through my brain. Although I have come to appreciate and value my heart and my gut, I still find myself sometimes gravitating toward my intellect as the answer for my stress. Yet, there are many times (maybe even most times) when I really need to get out of my head, connect to my gut, and wrap my heart around whatever problem or challenge is before me.

I have been a devoted follower of Jesus for many decades now. Yet, I still encounter a sizable chunk of Christians who devalue the place between the real suffering on Good Friday, along with the very real death of Holy Saturday. In the tomb, there is no movement. All is silent and still.

Jesus was in the solitude of a dark tomb. So, there’s no getting around it. If we want a Resurrection Day with all its celebration and glory, then we cannot circumvent the place of darkness and stillness.

To be a Christian means a readiness to follow Jesus and suffer as he did. It involves a willingness to stop our striving, manifested through constant movement, and embrace the disciplines of solitude, silence, and stillness with its contemplation and radical acceptance of what is – and not just what we want something to be.

This requires the sense enough to pray and please a higher power than fair weather friends. It demands a Christian counter-cultural shift to face the ridicule of friends so that we might take some much-needed time to be with Jesus in his life, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Put plainly and bluntly: If you and I want to live with Jesus, we must die with Jesus.

I could give you ten steps to having a better life, but this would ultimately mean nothing apart from the willingness to spend some time and sit in the place of suffering and death.

And, ironically, in doing so, we find the life that is truly life, and discover a way of existence which is far greater and better than we could have ever dreamed.

Merciful and almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we submit ourselves to you, knowing that our lives are in the hands of a gracious and sovereign Being who cares deeply for all creation and every creature. May our longings for transcendence result in the deep and good desires of our hearts to be met fully in Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.

It’s About Love (1 Peter 1:17-23)

On April 23, 2023March 30, 2023 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

*Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil*

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (New International Version)

Love makes the world go round. The cycle of life brings an end to all things. Yet, the permanence of love has always existed, and will never cease to exist. (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)

Biblical godly love comes not because we first loved God, but because God first loved us and gave his Son, Jesus Christ, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:7-12)

So, the Christian’s faith and hope are completely grounded in the person and finished work of Jesus. People are so valuable to God that we were purchased from the slavery auction block with the costliest price ever: the precious blood of Jesus.

To know this love of God in Christ, to be thoroughly captured and enraptured by it, results in a profound and deep love for others. And I’m not only referring to a nice touchy-feely love, but also a steadfast love which is committed to love regardless of what another person says or does.

Love is wonderful. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Being on the receiving end of love is a beautiful thing. Giving love, however, can sometimes get dicey.

Although we Christians really do believe that everything in life and ministry centers around the grace and love of God in Christ, our boots-on-the-ground loving sometimes seems compromised and conditional. That’s because it’s easy to love those who love us back. Yet, what if our love is not reciprocated or requited?

This situation brings us face-to-face with our own selves. The painful reality is that we all discover that our love is sometimes, maybe oftentimes, dependent on an assurance that we will be loved in return.

Mutual love is a beautiful thing, but what happens when only one of the persons is able to give love?

What do we do when grace is our only option, when we must choose to love, knowing that love won’t have a response?

Christians are supposed to give the same kind of love that God shows to us in Christ – which means we need to decide that grace is going to be our lifestyle. It comes down to this: It simply doesn’t matter what condition the other person is in. It doesn’t matter what another is going to say, or not say. Nothing on the other party’s side matters. It…just… doesn’t… matter.

What really matters is our own loving another person deeply from the heart, regardless and in spite of everything else. That, my friends, is real Christian love.

Since we are redeemed people; have acknowledged the truth of Christ’s redemptive events of crucifixion and resurrection; are recipients of God’s great love to us in Jesus; we must choose to live our lives full of grace and love, no matter what.

As God’s redeemed people, purchased by the precious blood of Christ, our default response to others is to be this: We will love one another unconditionally.

Unfortunately, over time, many Christians slowly become disconnected from this fountain of grace and love. It is likely that, at some past point, they were deeply touched by a gracious encounter with Jesus Christ. They found peace, love, and joy. Minds were swept up in the awe and wonder of God. Hearts were deeply moved for a few hours, days, or weeks.

But then, there was a return to the routine grind of daily existence. Gradually, the demands of life took over. Jesus began to be treated like an old friend from another town whom we dearly loved in years past, but have just lost track of.

Of course, it was unintentional. We simply allowed circumstances to drift us apart. We became preoccupied with something else. Now, we find ourselves with a low level of irritation, frustrated with others and unable to love as we ought. We become what the late author Brennan Manning called “Christian agnostics,” that is, people who do not deny Jesus, but just ignore him.

If your days are trivial and/or hectic…

If the clock determines what you do…

If you are numb to the news and headlines around you…

If you are all jangled and jittered by life’s circumstances…

If phones and computers and gadgets rule your day…

If there is little room for responding to humanity humanely…

If you have settled into a comfortable piety and a well-fed virtue…

If you have grown complacent and lead a practical life…

Then you need to be touched again by the grace and love of God in Christ by treating Jesus as if he were your very best friend as well as the awesome Son of God.

We are all still here walking on this earth because none of our failures and lack of faith have proved terminal; we are here today because of grace and love.

The forgiveness of God is a liberation from guilt and regret. It is an extreme amnesty. Through looking in the mirror, and seeing personal sinfulness, we amazingly end up encountering the merciful love of the redeeming God.

The grace of God says to us, “Hush, child, I don’t need to know where you’ve been or what you’ve been up to; just let me love you.”

When we have experienced that kind of love, we are then finally able to love one another deeply from the heart. It’s a new life of love, the kind that comes from God – an unconditional love that’s permanent and will never go away.

Therefore, as Christians loved by Christ and belonging to God, we make the following affirmations of love:

We will love, no matter whether we are loved in return.
We will take the initiative to love, not just waiting for others to love first.
We will love, even when we are imperfect and feel unworthy to do so.
We will give love with the love we received from Jesus.
We will love with a gracious, sacrificial, vulnerable, and desperate kind of love.

Many years ago, I spent some time with someone in a hospital waiting room after her brother had been severely burned in a farm accident. In that place, we were all strangers. Yet, there was a loving vulnerability to our being together. I sat watching and waiting with anguished people, listening to their urgent questions: Will my husband make it? Will my child walk again, even if she survives? How do you live without your companion of thirty years?

Burn unit and intensive care unit waiting rooms are places. And the people who wait are different. They can’t do enough for each other. No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. Each person pulls for everyone else. Vanity and pretense vanish. No one is embarrassed about crying or asking tough questions. In that moment their whole world is focused on the doctor’s next report. If only it will show improvement.

Everyone intuitively knows that loving someone else is what life is all about. By God’s amazing grace we will all learn to live like that without having to learn it the hard way in a place of intense anxiety and suffering.

Christ’s resurrection is not some flash-in-a-pan – it has staying power – it is real and permanent. Christ is the Christian’s hope of living a new life of gracious unconditional love.

Jesus actually expects more failure from you than you expect from yourself. And he gives grace. So, all of our failures to love as we ought can be laid before Jesus because there is grace that covers it all – a deep love that forgives, redeems, and makes new.

God of goodness and grace, we your people are aware of our human frailties and foibles, and yet are overwhelmed by your love for us. We give you praise that there is no human experience we might walk through where your love cannot reach us. If we climb the highest mountain you are there, and if we find ourselves in the darkest valley, you are there. Continually teach us to love you and others, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

Tag: apostle peter

The Church that Makes a Difference (Matthew 16:13-20)