The Genius of the And

The Sermon Study Guide is here.

Micah 6:8; Isaiah 61:1-6; Luke 4:14-21

August 18, 2013 • Portage First UMC

VIDEO INTRO

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to one of my regular podcasts, one of those radio shows that offers a Christian perspective on news events and culture. If I mentioned the name, many of you would recognize it. And usually they are spot on. But that day, as I listened, I got to hear the United Methodist Church singled out as one of three denominations specifically mentioned because, according to this broadcaster, we do not preach that a person can find salvation in Jesus Christ (BreakPoint, August 8, 2013). The perspective of this broadcaster is that we in the United Methodist Church are all about social justice rather than personal salvation, and apparently in this person’s thinking, those are two mutually exclusive ideas. You can either be a church that proclaims salvation in Jesus or one that is active in making a difference in the community and the world.

That’s a choice many feel they have to make. For the last couple of weeks, in this series called “Out of the Box,” we’ve been talking both directly and indirectly about the difference between inwardly-focused churches and externally-focused churches. We can put it on a grid of sorts, like this. If one side represents “social justice” or “good deeds” and the other side represents “good news” or “evangelical proclamation,” then churches sort of fall into one of four categories. The first, we would call “Come To” Churches, as these churches are good at teaching the Scriptures, building up the saints, and caring for those who are in the church. But everything happens “in here” because they believe “we need to take care of our own needs before we take care of others.” So the focus is on getting people into the building. A second type of church would be called “Servant” Churches. They’re really good at serving people in the community and are often very active politically. But they don’t talk much about Jesus. They simply “do” and believe people will see Jesus in them. They do lots of “good things,” but have little Christian witness. A third group could be called the “And” Churches. They serve in the community and they preach the good news about Jesus. They don’t believe you have to keep quiet about your faith in order to serve others, and they believe in the combination of truth and grace. And then a fourth type of church we would call “Evangelistic” Churches. Their sole focus is on proclaiming salvation in Jesus Christ. They go into the communities, but usually only to hand out flyers about the church. There is little to no service in the community, because the main point is helping people find Jesus (Rusaw & Swanson, The Externally-Focused Church, pgs. 125-127). Now, I hope you know that I’m not trying to condemn any of these models. If the church has honestly and prayerfully come to the conclusion that this model or that is where God has called them to be, then they should pursue it with all their hearts. They’re not doing bad things. But as I read the Scriptures, and as I understand our heritage, and as I pray about our calling as a church here at Portage First, I become more and more convinced and convicted that our calling is to pursue what Jim Collins several years ago called “the genius of the and.”

Jim Collins is the business guru who, several years ago, wrote a monumental book called Good to Great. Several years prior to that, however, Collins had spent six years at Stanford University studying visionary companies, and in the book Built to Last, he introduced the idea that many companies live in the “tyranny of the or.” In other words, many businesses live and function as if they are caught between two choices: profit or benefit to society, speed or quality and so on. Companies make choices believing they can only do one thing, but Collins found that truly visionary companies realize they can do both at the same time. Companies can make money AND provide benefits to society; they can increase production AND provide quality products. Collins called that “the genius of the and,” and he said it’s what sets truly great companies apart, still today (Rusaw & Swanson 121). Now, I’m not always a fan of taking business methodology and applying it to the church, but here I believe it works and it’s true. We aren’t called to choose evangelism or social justice. The truly visionary and great churches do both, and seek to do both well. Tell others about Jesus AND make a lasting impact in our community and in our culture.

As I’ve shared the last few weeks, this is our heritage as Methodists. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, is famous for saying, “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness” (Jackson, ed., The Works of John Wesley, Third Edition, Vol. XIV, pg. 321). By that statement, he meant two things. One, we were not meant to practice our faith in isolation, as (to use his words) a “holy solitary.” And two, we were meant to do good to all because of our faith. Our faith must work itself out in good deeds, in works of mercy toward others. Wesley himself, though he was a person of privilege and rank in British society by being clergy, left much of that behind in order to reach out to those who were considered “common.” One area in particular that concerned him a great deal was the health of the ordinary person, the one on the street who had little access to healthcare and often lived in conditions we wouldn’t put our dog in. Wesley is considered by some to be the “greatest health educator of the eighteenth century in Britain” as he sought to raise the ordinary person’s standard of living. He even wrote a book full of common medical cures. That book, quaint by today’s standards, went through thirty-eight printings in England and twenty-four printings in America (Malony, The Amazing John Wesley, pgs. 102-108 iBooks version). We might think it strange that a preacher would involve himself in medical matters, but for Wesley, it was about making a difference in the life of people—spiritually, to be sure, but also physically and emotionally as well. Evangelical gospel AND social justice. That’s our heritage. And that’s also the example Jesus set for us.

We read today’s Gospel lesson not that long ago, when we talked about learning to read and study the Bible, and we focused then on the way Jesus read and used Scripture. Today, however, I want us to hear what it is he’s saying when he preaches on that Scripture. Just a quick refresher course as to what’s going on in Luke’s Gospel, leading up to this story. Jesus has been out in the wilderness, being tempted by the devil, and once those forty days are over and he has “passed the test,” he returns from southern Israel to the northern part which is his home. He comes to Galilee, not worn out as you might expect after forty days of fasting, praying and facing the devil. No, Luke says Jesus comes back home “in the power of the Spirit” (4:14), and he immediately begins teaching in the various synagogues. Galilee is an interesting choice for a home base for Jesus. It’s a beautiful area, still today. It’s lush, and green, and there are often breezes off the harp-shaped lake. But Galilee got its name because it was surrounded by pagan nations, by non-Jewish people. The name “Galilee” means “circle.” These were people who were in the middle of a circle, so to speak, surrounded by all these other influences. They were a people who were always generally progressive in their thought, and were often ready to follow a leader, to participate in an insurrection against Rome or whomever had conquered them. It was said they were people who were never without courage. More than that, the place Jesus grew up, Nazareth, was situated where much of history had taken place and much of the world would pass by on trade routes (Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, pgs. 44-49). So they’re used to hearing new ideas. They’re used to radical thinking. But, even with all of that, there was still one thing they would have agreed on with those down in Jerusalem. They had no use for Gentiles, for non-Jews. Generally, they believed God had created Gentiles as fuel for the fires of hell (Barclay 48). Yeah, not much subtlety there! But add to that the idea their belief that the poor were poor because they were sinners and God had forsaken them (Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, pg. 69), that the rich were rich because of God’s blessing (an idea that’s still around, by the way), and you have an interesting setting in which Jesus comes to proclaim good news.

So Jesus, most likely at the end of the synagogue service, is invited up to read the final Scripture for the day, and he is handed the scroll of Isaiah. No chapter markings, no verse notation like we have today. Jesus rolls through the scroll and finds what he wants to read. It’s from Isaiah 61, written centuries before Jesus’ time: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (4:18-19). Now, there’s a lot in that quotation, some of which we explored a few weeks ago, but I want us to hear clearly the mixture in that passage of salvation and good works. Jesus proclaims good news, but not just to the privileged. Not just to the Jews, even. Good news to the poor. Healing is part of Jesus’ work—sight for the blind. Freedom is part of Jesus’ work—and we often interpret that as “spiritual freedom,” meaning freedom from sin, but I think Jesus also intends us to hear freedom from whatever binds a person, whatever imprisons a child of God. Addiction, worshipping the wrong things, the need for approval, pornography—whatever it is that holds a person captive, Jesus came to bring freedom. To set the oppressed free—that’s a proclamation of equality for all. Proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor—that’s a reference to the year of Jubilee, a time prescribed in the Old Testament book of Leviticus when all debts would be cancelled and slaves would be set free. Justice for all. Equality for all. And the radical part of this for the people in Jesus’ time is that he’s not just promising these things for the Jews, for his own people. He’s proclaiming this for everyone, no restrictions. Justice for all, salvation for all. Luke says “all spoke well of him,” but that can also be translated as they were amazed at him—amazed that he was speaking about God’s grace as if it were available to all sorts of people. When he gets to the end of his sermon, they’ve gone from sort of confusion/amazement to being “furious,” angry enough to try to kill him by throwing him off the cliff that sits at the edge of town. Why are they so angry? Because, according to Jesus, God is setting out to save everyone. And in their estimation, God is saving the wrong people (Wright, Luke for Everyone, pgs. 47-48).

And that leads me to wonder who the Gentiles are in our lives. Who are the ones we consider not worth saving? They are usually the same group whom we think, if we were to reach out to them, if we were to offer them acts of kindness, we would be wasting our time. Usually, they are the people we dehumanize in our minds. We convince ourselves they are less than human. Or we generalize “those people” into a large group and dispense of them as a whole. Who are the Gentiles, the ones you wish God would not bother with? The ones you hope God doesn’t call you to be nice to? The ones you certainly think the church shouldn’t bother with, or the ones who will most bother you if we do try to reach out to them? The ones we tend to blame for every problem that confronts our community or our nation? Who are the Gentiles in your life?

This Jesus, who rocked the world of Nazareth in the synagogue that day, went on to constantly remind his disciples they are called to do more than just preach good news. That, certainly, but also more. In fact, in the Gospel we read two weeks ago, Jesus called them, you remember, to be “salt” and “light,” to preserve and flavor the culture and to push back the darkness of our world. And he said we would do that though acts of kindness, good deeds. In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (5:16). Sometimes, when we set out to do good, when we set out to pursue works of mercy and kindness, when we seek justice, it can get frustrating. We don’t always see the results we want, or if we do, sometimes it takes a long time. So it’s important to briefly remember what purpose so-called “good deeds” serve.

First of all, good deeds benefit others. That may seem obvious, but it needs to be said. Paul wrote in Galatians, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (6:10). He doesn’t say “only” to the family of believers, though he goes give them preference. But he says do good to “all” people. Make a difference for everyone. John agrees with Paul: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18). Andy Stanley tells of a time in 1987, when he was new in ministry at his father’s downtown church in Atlanta. They got word that the Gay Pride parade, which took place on a Sunday morning, was going to pass by their church at about the time they would be dismissing the worship service. The church leaders got wind of that, and decided to let everyone out of church early, and to send people out the back door. Well, he says, that just made the church members more curious and what was meant as a protest ended up just being a lot of confusion. More than that, Stanley says, across the street from their church was St. Mark United Methodist Church, and in front of that church were members handing out water and holding signs that said, “God is love.” Stanley commented, “The contrast could not have been more pronounced. It was embarrassing” (Deep & Wide, pgs. 69-70 Kindle version). Cups of cold water—symbolic of good deeds that seek to reach out, benefit others and build a bridge of reconciliation.

The second thing good deeds do, according to Jesus, is to glorify God. Good deeds aren’t about others seeing how good we are. It’s about helping others see Jesus in us—which is why it’s important to reach out to our Gentiles, to the people whom, without the power of God in our lives, we could not begin to be around, let alone be kind to. The church historian Eusebius tells a story about a plague that broke out in the Roman Empire, and how those who had no faith fled, but the Christians stayed. They took care of the sick, buried the dead, and gave bread to those who were in the city with them. “When this became known,” Eusebius writes, “people glorified the Christians’ God, and, convinced by the very facts, confessed the Christians alone were truly pious and religious.” Our good deeds bring glory and attention to God, not to ourselves.

Third, good deeds validate the good news. They are proof that something is different within us, that Jesus makes a real change in a life. Good deeds are the way we “prove” our faith to be real. Most do not know that when the communists took over in Russia in 1917, they did not outlaw Christianity. Their constitution guaranteed freedom of religion. However, they did make it illegal for the church to perform good deeds. They could not, in the name of their faith, feed the hungry, teach the young, care for the sick or house the orphan. The result was a church with no power to transform the culture. I have to wonder about our own times, in an age when “freedom of religion” has subtly been redefined as “freedom of worship,” when Christian groups like Catholic Charities are being curtailed in their acts of mercy and even shut down in some states. Will our own agencies that relieve human suffering, like UMCOR, be told they can’t do such things in the name of Jesus? You see, freedom of worship is not the same thing as having the freedom to practice our faith openly. Our faith is lived out in our works, and the works validate the truth of the good news.

Fourth, good deeds move people toward Jesus. In fact, that’s true of not only those who receive, but of those who want to give. Many churches have discovered that the younger generation wants to make a difference and will partner with churches to do that, if the church is active in the community. They associate, then, with Christians and begin to see that this faith does make a difference and isn’t just a bunch of words. It’s also a way for us to share the love of Jesus with those who are in need. When we give to the food pantry, when we offer water along the trails, when we raise money for neglected kids and when we feed children in the school system it’s a way of practically demonstrating the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the love of God. Now, let’s also be clear that good works can be the bridge to the good news, but the good works are not the Gospel itself. There are times when we need to also speak about the love of Jesus. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “Preach Christ always; use words if necessary.” We sometimes focus on the “if necessary” part, but we also should hear his call to use words when we have the chance. “It is in tying loving God to loving our neighbors as ourselves that puts legs to our faith” (Rusaw & Swanson 116).

And, then, finally, good works create goodwill with our city and community (Rusaw & Swanson 116-120). It shows our community that we are interested in being an active part, contributing to the solution to the problems in our city rather than being a passive observer or, worse, part of the problem. I want you to hear from our Mayor, Jim Snyder, and his perspective on churches in the community and how churches can impact the community. Mayor Snyder is a deeply committed Christian, as many of you know, and he’s also a man with a passion for our city. This is not a political statement; whatever your feelings are about the city and the mayor, it’s important for us to hear from our leaders, to create goodwill with and make connections to our city. Take a listen.

VIDEO: Mayor Snyder

So, last Sunday I asked you what you believed was the biggest problem facing our community today. And I asked you for one issue; some of you were overachievers and filled your card fully! And there were some that were more “city” problems or “internal church” issues than an interaction between the two, but many of the cards you turned in fell into a few broad topics. One of those areas had to do with youth and children—what is there for our youth to get involved in? Where can they go where it’s safe and healthy? There were several who were concerned about addiction issues—drugs and alcohol, in particular, some to do with teens and others to do with adults. Where do people go to find help in recovery? Families were a concern: single parents, affordable child care, after hours child care. Other issues popped up, like the lack of public transportation and issues revolving around the elderly who are going through significant changes in their lives. Jobs were also an issue—helping people find and keep meaningful and profitable employment. As you can see, many of these issues that are on your hearts and minds are intertwined, and none of them are as simple as waving a magic wand and getting a simple fix. That’s especially true with the two issues mentioned the most: poverty and hunger. Poverty is huge, and taking it on is not as simple as writing a check. The roots and reasons are many and varied. The same is true of hunger. I wasn’t surprised to see that come out as the number one issue that’s on the heart of this congregation; that’s been evident over the last few years as we’ve stepped out to stop hunger, as we’ve fed the “lambs” (and become the single largest contributor to that program), and as we’ve worked in other ways to provide food for those in need. So that’s the mood of this congregation. You’re people with big hearts, people who want to make a difference. The challenge is this: are we willing to do whatever it takes to grapple with the challenge of some or all of these issues? It won’t be easy. It won’t happen tomorrow. But that’s the question we’re faced with this morning: what kind of a church do we want to be? Which of these four do we want to be known as? Are we willing to do whatever it takes—all of us, not just your leaders, but all of us—to make it happen?

Several years ago, we distilled what we are about into six simple words, and if you’ve been here any length of time, I hope you know them: love God, love others, offer Jesus. Six words that describe who we are as a congregation, as a body of Christ. Those six words include people finding salvation in Jesus, and they include reaching out in acts of love, kindness and compassion to the world around us. That is who we are. That is who we are striving to become. We are becoming a community where all people encounter Jesus Christ, and we do that by loving God, loving others and offering Jesus. Everything we do is defined by that. We have a car show not just to look at cool cars. We have a car show to reach out to the community and to make a difference for kids we may never meet this side of eternity. And we do it in the name of Jesus. We’re building a road not just because we like construction or we like to deal with governmental red tape. We’re building a road to make room for others to be able to encounter Jesus. We develop youth ministries so that kids and youth can learn how to love God, love others and offer Jesus. We feed children in schools with the love of Jesus. We love God by loving others. Do you get the picture yet? That’s who we are. That’s what it’s all about. Love God, love others, offer Jesus. Not the tyranny of the “or” but the genius of the “and.”

Centuries ago, a prophet speaking for God brought a case against God’s people. He wanted them to remember who they were, or who they had been called to be. All of the religious ritual they were going through wasn’t who they were. God had blessed them and led them to the promised land for something more. What was that “more”? Micah, the prophet, told Israel, reminding them who they were: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). That’s our call as well, today and always. Let’s be who God calls us to be.