2005 Sermon Notes
Back to Sermon Notes PageJanuary 2, 2005 The Gospel as tragedy, comedy & fairy tale
January 16, 2005 Grazing at the Bioethics Buffet
January 30, 2005 Servant PatternsThe Gospel as tragedy, comedy & fairy tale January 2 2005
I. The Gospel as Tragedy
“Come to me all who are weary & burdened…” (Matthew 11:28)
There is more to that verse, but we must stop here for now.
“Gospel” means ‘good news’ but in order for the good news to be really, really good, we must be honest about the bad news…
… the tragedy, the truth.The Tragedy Around Us
Enjoying your holiday on the beach. Taking in a morning stroll. A 40 wall of water races toward you. No time to run.
A mother holding her infant in one hand, and her 5 year old in the other. She has to let one go otherwise all three will die. She has to choose.
Death toll approaching 150,000.
It is the tragedy of human existence in a fallen world. A world where there can be such beauty, yet such evil.Poem from Stephen Crane:
A man said to the universe, “Sir, I exist”
“ However,” replied the universe, “the fact has not
Created in me a sense of obligation.”
The Tragedy Within Us:
The gospel is truth. The way things really are. Reality.
The truth isn’t the forced smile you put on your face as you walked in this morning, rather that you have contemplated suicide several times already.
The truth isn’t the husband and wife pretending their marriage is fine, when reality is that they are on the verge of separation.
The truth isn’t the nice home you live in or the toys that line your driveway, it is the fact that you are in major debt and close to bankruptcy.
The truth isn’t the mask we wear so often around others….it is that our heart aches in loneliness and despair.
The truth isn’t some pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking, Polyana view of life where everything looks perfect….but it is just plastic, artificial & phony.
The Tragedy Within Us:
Tragedy is that sin, brokenness, corruption pervades the human heart. My heart. Your heart.
….And we are quickly reminded of our need for a savior.The need for a savior:
A savior to be beautiful, when I am ugly.
A savior to be good when I am not so good.
A savior to be self-controlled when I lose control.
A savior to be generous, when I am greedy, selfish and stingy.
A savior to be all the things than I am not…and cannot be on my own strength. I need a savior. That is tragedy.
Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’
Poor naked wretches, whosoever you are
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your loop’d and window’d raggedness,
Defend you from seasons such as these?Q: Who are the ‘poor naked wretches’? WE ARE!
The tragedy of the gospel is the truth about ourselves.
II. The Gospel as ComedyQ: What makes a joke funny? What is comedy?
à Irony, the unexpected, outlandish behavior, a delightful surprise.
Not just slipping on a banana peel, but as one jumps over the banana peel and falls into a hole in the sidewalk…that’s funny.Now for the remainder of our verse: “….and I will give you rest.”
That is the comedy…the unexpected, the great holy joke. That though not a one of us deserve it----Joy is at the end of it all.This is Comedy:
Imagine your grandparents, in their nineties, telling you one day “We’re expecting!”
God promised Sarah & Abraham great things.
Years rolled on and on
Now, Abraham is 100, Sarah almost 91. Thoughts of children long have left them. Suddenly, an angel tells them the good news.
At first it is a snicker, the more she tries to control the laugh, the worse it becomes. Soon all are holding their sides.
God intervenes. He laughs too. All share in the great joke b/c God is doing the unexpected, the impossible...and it is truly wonderful!God displays an extravagant kind of love…things we would call foolish if it weren’t for the fact that God is the one doing it.
Like Paying a full day’s wage for only one hour of work.
Like leaving 99 perfectly healthy, safe sheep to go after one.
Like the son who takes his inheritance, early mind you, squanders it on booze & sex…and then chooses to come, not out of guilt or emorse really, but rather the fact that he is starving, and knows he will get 3 squares a day.
And what does the father do? He runs to meet him, hugs & kisses his son, and throws the wildest party they had ever seen. And of course the older brother doesn’t like this.Quote from Buechner:
He is a caricature of all that is joyless and petty and self-serving about all of us. The joke of it is that of course his father loves him even so, and has always loved him and will always love him, only the elder brother never noticed it because it was never love he was bucking for but only his due. The fatted calf, the best scotch, the hoedown could all have been his, too, at any time he asked for them except that he never thought to ask for them because he was too busy trying cheerlessly and religiously to earn them.
Luke 15. 3 parables. All 3 make the same point. The extravagant love of God.
Q: Who is the one who rejoices in the parables? The angels or God?
In the parables, God is seen as the one rejoicing!III. The Gospel as Fairytale
We love fairytales. We love to read about knights fighting evil witches & kissing the sleeping beauty.
We love to see the wicked vanquished.
We love to see the lowly hobbit, the most unlikeliest of creatures, become the hero.
Fairy Tales are when impossible things happen. They capture our heart & imagination because deep down we want them to be rue. We hope that impossible things can indeed happen.
Like:
Wooden puppets become real boys
The bruised, battered, abused stepdaughter becomes the princess.
The ugly duckling becomes a beautiful swan.…Maybe above all, Fairy Tales are about transformation.
Where all creatures in the end are revealed for what they really are.
The frog is revealed to be the prince.
The beautiful but wicked Queen is unmasked in all her ugliness.
Where the faithful are rescued in the end.
Where the evil heart is transformed into one where love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness & self-control are the norm.
Where sinners become the actual bride of Christ.Like a fairy tale, the gospel starts in a world of darkness, of tragedy. But beyond and above all there is the joy of it. The tale of a light breaking into the world that not even darkness can overcome.
2 Cor 3:17-18
17 They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! 18 All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
THE MESSAGEà It is the hope of transformation. We all have that hope. You see, unlike a fairy tale, the gospel is true.
1 Cor 11:23-26
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.Tragedy --- the truth of our condition
Comedy --- the extravagant love of God
Fairy tale – the hope of transformation, of an eternity with Him.Remember….the best is yet to come.
Read lyrics to Frank Sinatra song.
The Best Is Yet to Come LyricsOut of the tree of life,I just picked me a plumb
You came along and everything started to hum
Still it's a real good bet, the best is yet to come
The best is yet to come, and won't that be fine
You think you've seen the sun,
but you ain't seen it shine
Wait till the warm-up is underway Wait till out lips have met
Wait till you see that sunshine day
You ain't seen nothin' yet
The best is yet to come,
and won't that be fine
The best is yet to come,
come the day that your mine
Come the day that your mine
I'm gonna teach you to fly
We've only tasted the wine
We're gonna drain that cup dry
Wait till your charms are right,
for the arms to surround
You think you've flown before,
but you ain't left the ground
Wait till you're locked in my embrace
Wait till I hold you near
Wait till you see that sunshine place
There ain't nothin' like it here
The best is yet to come,
and won't that be fine
The best is yet to come,
come the day that your mineJanuary 16, 2005
Grazing at the Bioethics Buffet
What is on the table?Reproductive issues
Abortion
Assisted reproduction
Surrogacy
Gender selectionDeath and dying
Withdrawal of life support
Physician assisted suicide
Euthanasia
Capital punishmentPeople at increasing risk
Elderly
Handicapped
UnbornResearch
Human cloning
Stem cells
Genetic engineering
Factors for your bioethical Diet
Sanctity of human life ethic
Life is from GodSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. … God saw all that he had made, and it was very good Genesis 1:27, 31
Life is valuable in all its stages
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me
Psalm 138:8 English Standard VersionIs this promise only for “healthy” people?
Biblical principles guide our understanding and decisions
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. Genesis 9:6
Study complex issuesCompassion ministry
MercyJanuary 30, 2005
Servant Patterns
A God Encounter
Isaiah 6:1-4In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
· Causes us to deal with sin
Isaiah 6:5-7"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
· Causes us to volunteer and serve
Isaiah 6:8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
A God Example· Our model
John 13:1-5
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
· Our mandate
To be served
John 13:6-11He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
To serve
John 13:12-17When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Romans 12:5-8
Remember!
We Are Shaped for Serving God
Spiritual Gifts Heart Abilities Personality Experiences
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.
I Peter 4:10
Ministry is serving God by serving others!
Learn to Serve Like Jesus By Being …
1. Available1st Barrier: Self-centeredness
2nd Barrier: Perfectionism
3rd Barrier: Materialism
2. Grateful
1st Barrier: Comparing and Criticizing
2nd Barrier: Wrong Motivations
3. Faithful