This sermon exemplified one of the downsides of preaching a sermon
series. I had a three-week series in
mind to start my new call to St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton. The first week was the story of the resurrection;
the second week was the story of the lost sheep; the third week (this past
Sunday) was supposed to be about how God’s story was for everyone.
With that theme, I searched for two texts to read (not how they teach us
in seminary). I misread the Exodus text
on the fly and had an extra verse (2:23) and then (after the bulletin was
printed) realized it did not have the personal name “the God of Abraham, the
God of Jacob, and the God of Isaac,” but only referenced the covenant that God
had made with them. I tried to work around
that in the first part of the sermon.
I also probably misinterpreted the Romans text, or at least used what I
wanted out of its original context. I
ended up with a sermon that I think was faithful to who God is, but not quite
as faithful to the texts I chose.
The last story didn’t seem to work in my first draft, but then when I
added the last line of the story (“Worship could begin”) that led to the last
three lines, which made the story work, probably better than I could have
hoped.
“A Story for All” October 16, 2016;
FPC, Troy; Romans 10: 5-13;
Romans
10: 5-13 Moses writes concerning the
righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things
will live by them.” But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not
say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ
down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from
the dead). But what does it say?
“The
word is near you,
on
your lips and in your heart”
(that
is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess
with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart
and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The
scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and
is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.”
Introduction:
Move 1: “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob”
a.
The
Israelites dared not utter “Yahweh,” what we might call God’s name.
1.
they were filled with such reverence for
God, such awe, in some ways such fear of God, they would not say God’s name.
2.
they developed work-arounds like substituting “the
Lord,” when encountering the name “Yahweh” in the text.
3.
Or
other ways of naming god.
b.
One
of those ways was to refer to God as the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the
God of Jacob.”
1.
A reference, of course, to the history of God having made covenant with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.
2.
The “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God
of Jacob,” is one of the names we discover throughout the Old Testament.
3.
A mouthful.
4.
A lot easier to say, “God,” or “creator,”
or even the “the big kahuna.”
c.
But
“the God of Abraham, the god of Isaac, the God of Jacob” becomes an often used title
because it describes God in a couple of very important way.
1.
The
God who is not captive to a particular generation, a particular group of
people, or a particular person.
2.
God may connect with us personally – we often
speak of wanting a personal relationship with Christ or talking to God in a personal
way - but God is not anyone’s private domain.
3.
For any of us to have a personal
relationship with Christ does not make God our private god and prevent others
from having a personal relationship with Christ.
4.
As you may recall, one of the emphases of the Reformation was to provide
God’s Word to people in the language that they spoke so they could connect with
God personally, instead of needing a priest to act as an intermediary.
The God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob is the God who extends God’s self
to all people of all generations.
d.
This expansive name for God also reminds us how God has been at work in
previous generations.
1.
When
the Israelites find themselves in bondage in Egypt, they dare to cry out to God
to save them because they know God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the
God of Jacob.
2.
The God who had made covenant with Abraham and
protected Abraham and his family as they left their homeland to journey to a
new place.
3.
The Israelites could remember that God
had promised Abraham and Sarah a son and Isaac was that son, the son whom God
would rescue from the altar and alter send Rebekah to his wife.
4.
The
Israelites could remember that God had blessed Jacob and his sons who would
become the twelve tribes of Israel.
5.
The Israelites could remember the God who had been at work in the lives
of their ancestors and turn to that God daring to believe that God would rescue
them
6. Their recognition of God as the
God of all generations allows them to hope that God will be present for them
7. The god of Abraham, the god of
Isaac, the God of Jacob was now the God of the Israelites in bondage.
Move 2: “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek”
a.
Paul writes these words to the Romans.
1. There is, of course, a certain irony since Paul had been a Pharisee, one
of those who made it his job to make distinctions between people.
2. He had been involved in
persecuting the early followers of Christ because it was determined that they
were not of God.
b.
Until, until Paul finds himself blind on his knees
on the road to Damascus.
1.
In
that moment, distinctions do not matter.
2.
Paul
becomes like anyone else desperately seeking new hope and new life.
3.
What does he do then? He calls out to God, joining himself with all
those other people.
4.
No wonder Paul writes to the Romans that there is no distinction between
Jew and Greek – what binds followers of Christ together is their calling on the
Lord.
5. All who call on Jesus connect
with God and are connected to each other.
6. That which separates us from each other gives way to our connectedness in
Christ.
Move 3: How do we live our calling as followers of the “god of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,” in whom there is no distinction?
a. Expect God to be at work in the
lives of others.
1.
Instead
of assuming we have the only understanding of God that is valid, or the Holy
Spirit only blows on us, or Jesus only reveals himself to us, look for the ways
in which you see God at work in others.
2.
A
couple of weeks ago the Mission committee hosted a mission mixer in which lots
of different non-profit groups from Denton met and shared what they do.
3.
It was both eye-opening and powerful to hear
the different stories and the multi-faceted ways in which God is using
different groups to meet the many needs in the community.
4.
No
one group had the monopoly on what God is doing.
5.
As
we listen for how God might be at work in our lives, we also acknowledge God is
at work in different ways through others.
b. We also recognize we do not control who
connects with God or how they connect with God.
1.
I had an uncle who loved to share his knowledge
and way of doing things with others.
Within a few minutes of arriving for a visit to your house,
he could tell you how to better manage the glasses people were drinking out of
to reduce the number of dirty glasses and make it easier for everyone to find
their glass.
If you visited him in FL, he would give you detailed
instructions on what sights to visit and when to do go, complete with step by
step driving directions (he was Mapquest before mapquest).
The Disney World instructions included what order to ride
each ride to maximize enjoyment and minimize waiting.
By the time he was done with his instructions, you almost
wanted to do the opposite just because…
2.
God does not call us to sit in judgment of
others and how they connect with God, but to share how we have encountered God
in our lives and invite others to experience that power of God in their lives.
3.
As we extend ourselves to others, we embrace
how they have heard God answer their call in their own particular ways.
c. I was reminded this week of a story I heard
years ago. It was told as a true story,
but it was in a sermon, and you know how ministers are with their stories!
His name is John. He has wild hair,
wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his
wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kinda esoteric
and very, very bright.
He became a
Christian while attending college, although he had not connected much with a congregation. On Easter, he decides to go to church.
He goes
across the street to a church. As it
turns out it was a pretty formal church.
Everyone was dressed up for Sunday worship. They wanted to start a college ministry, but
nothing was currently being done with the college students.
John
arrived just as the service was starting, so everyone was in their pews as he
started down the center aisle. The church is packed, so he can’t find a seat.
There were probably a few pews where the people could have squeezed together to
make room for one more, but no one had done that.
John keeps
walking down the aisle until he runs out of pews. He looks around and with nowhere to go sit,
he just sits right down on the carpet. For
him that was not particularly unusual; they sat on the floor a lot at the Bible
study he attended on campus. To the congregation,
however, it was clearly not the norm.
As everyone
is trying to figure out what to make of this situation, one of the elders gets
up at the back of the church and begins walking forward. He was not only an officer, but one of the
older guard, who had been running that church forever.
He slowly
walks down the center aisle. The drama
of the moment escapes no one; the minister is speechless as he watches; the
anxiety is palpable as people fear what is about to happen. Already people are beginning to rationalize
for what the elder is going to do: "You
can't blame him,” they are thinking, “he’s and old guy who can’t be expected to
understand this young college kid.
The man
finally reaches John.
He does not
say a word.
But, he
lowers himself to the floor and sits with John.
Worship can
begin.
Worship of
the “god of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’
Worship of
the God who invites everyone to call on the Lord.
Amen.
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