Give Me Your Eyes, Lord – Acts 10

1. A young adult, Heidi[1], said you know what captures well the sense of our passage are these words from a Brandon Heath’s song, SLIDE

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach

Give me your heart for the once forgotten

Give me your eyes so I can see

I’ve been there a million times

A couple of million eyes

Just moving past me by

I never thought that I was wrong

Well I want a second glance

So give me a second chance

To see the way you see the people all alone.[2]

2. In all the OT there is one book that is unlike any other. It contrasts the way the way God sees and the way that His people saw – the book of Jonah. He cannot see the people of Nineveh as ones who need a second chance, but God did, SLIDE Jonah 3:10. SLIDE BACKGROUND

A. The story of Jonah is mirrored in another story that transpired in the life of Simon bar Jonah, Peter. In the case of Peter, the incident is the longest in Acts, 66 verses, longer than the Day of Pentecost. It is told, immediately retold, referred to a third and a fourth time. Wow, this is important.

B. But, first Jonah’s story, the big fish and all. Jonah was called to preach judgment against the wicked people of Nineveh. He responded by fleeing as far from Nineveh as possible. The ship in which he had taken passage was overtaken by a storm. So the sailors threw Jonah overboard to placate his God. Jonah was saved by a big fish, sent by the Lord. Jonah prayed for deliverance and the fish coughed him up on shore. Jonah went to Nineveh, preached, and the people repented. God also repented and did not destroy them. Jonah became angry. He had presumed that his preaching was not to produce repentance, but to give the Lord a good excuse to destroy them all. But the Lord went and forgave them. Jonah didn’t sing Brandon Heath’s song as he sat and sulked.

3. Second we look at Simon bar Jonah’s story, as told in Acts 10. SLIDES Acts 10:9-22, Cornelius and his family was devout, generous, prayed regularly to God. A senior in the roundtable noted, “If ever there was a case of one’s goodness getting an individual into heaven, this Cornelius would be that one. The passage indicates, however, Cornelius needed a Savior.”[3] SLIDES 23-29,34-36,47,48.

A. SLIDE BACKGR. What do you see here? A foreigner, a Haitian, a people who are getting what they deserve. A brother, not from our congregation said to me last week, “We’ve helped them so much and now we are bailing them out again. When will it ever stop?” Or do you see a child, homeless and without his parents in desperate need of compassion? Here in Acts 10 a teen in our roundtable noted, “I was impressed with the faith of both Cornelius and Peter., a willingness obey God’s will completely.[4] A Boomer noted, this is historic, this is dropping of the Atomic bomb, launching the world into the nuclear era. Since then the world has been different. It’s Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery.[5] Every generation has a watershed event that changes everything. What would you compare it to?

B. Watershed/ turning point. I see this in the unique parallel with the story of Jonah. The parallels are striking: SLIDE 1. It’s Joppa where God directs his reluctant messengers to preach to the Gentiles, Jon. 1:3; Acts 9:43.

2. We see a hesitancy with both Jonah and Peter, but which is dismantled only after God intervenes with a great fish, Jon. 2:1; and not one, but three visions, Acts 10:16ff.

3. God commissions them with the same words: “arise and go” to the Gentiles, Jon. 3:2; Acts 10:20.

4. The Gentiles believe the Word spoken and were forgiven, Jon. 3:5; Acts 10:43,47,48.

5. Gentile conversion resulted in a hostile response, Jon. 4:1; Acts 11:2.

6. This is followed by God’s rebuttal, Jon. 4:2-11; Ac 11:17-18; 15:13-21.[6]

B.#2 looks specifically at Acts 10:20, “Do not hesítate…” Why would he hesítate, why was it so hard for him to see as God sees? Jonah hesitated because he saw as the Lord’s job to destroy the wicked. Elijah’s confrontation on Mt. Carmel. And the Lord was not for foreigners, Ezra dissolving marriages of Israelites with foreigners. So Nineveh was in double trouble. But then Peter? SLIDE BACKGR

3. In France during WW II, some soldiers brought the body of a dead comrade to a cemetery to have him buried. The priest gently asked whether their friend had been a baptized Catholic. The soldiers did not know. The priest informed them that in that case, he could not permit burial in the church yard. So the soldiers dug a grave just outside the cemetery fence, and laid him to rest. The next day the soldiers came back to add some flowers, but discovered that the grave was gone. They were about to leave when the priest came up, “I could not sleep the last night, I was troubled by my refusal to bury the soldier in the  cemetery. So early this morning I got up, dug up and moved the fence, so it would include the body of the soldier who had died for France.”

SLIDE “Truth demands that we build some fences. But grace demands that the shape of those fences be flexible.”[7] SLIDE BACKGR

A. Peter had built a fence that was not flexible, like some of us. He was a Jew from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. Like his ancestor Jonah, he was absolutely convinced that God’s people were solely Jewish people. “Get up Peter, kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” An oxymoron, “No, Lord.” Two words that do not logically go together.  Kind of like Matthew 16 when Jesus says he’s going to the cross, Peter says, “Never Lord.” Peter had been trained well to show prejudices and hate toward Gentiles. He tags his problem, and at the same time the solution to see as God sees, Acts 10:34.

B. How’s your eyesight? How’s your child’s eyesight? One wife at the roundtable shared how important were the words of her mother-in-law. She would say to her son, “Don’t judge your classmates, don’t show favoritism among your fellow-classmates.”[8] I love Memphis, its barbeque, the warmer climate, Elvis, we lived there for 3 years while doing grad work in the 70s. But one thing that was true then and now, everything is seen thru the filter/lenses of Black and White. One preacher tells of how in 1965, in the midst of the civil rights turmoil, a group of African-Americans determined to worship at his church. Some men of the church decided they’d line up in front of the building to prevent them from entering. Fortunately, the minister stepped in and encouraged calm and got them to withdraw.[9] Racism is still with us today. I see it most in how fellow-citizens react to Hispanics. How does God see it?

C. Peter renounced racism, we must renounce it. If your neighborhood overtly has a strategy to exclude anybody, change neighborhoods. If you bridge, tennis or golf club excludes someone because he is black or Hispanic, oriental or poor, change your club.

CONCLUSION. A Boomer shared how he had visited a church in Florida that put on a Queens’ banquet. They went out and invited the area prostitutes to it, gave them new clothes, pedicures, then invited them to the next day. Five came back.[10] Moving. Give me you eyes, Lord.

[2]http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/brandon_heath/give_me_your_eyes.html

[3]Comment by Bill Frye, a Builder, February 17, 2010.

[4]Comment by Caitlyn Blake, a Millennial, February 17, 2010.

[5]Comment by Kent Planck, a Boomer, February 17, 2010.

[6]Robert W. Wall, “Peter, “Son” of Jonah: The Conversion of Cornelius in the Context of Canon” Journal for the Study of the New Testament no. 29 (February 1987): 80.

[7]Susan Andrews, “Full of grace and truth: Demonstrating the Divine,” Sermon preached January 24, 1999, at National Capital Presbytery, Covenantnetwork.org.

[8]Comment by Heidi Baddely, a Buster, February 17, 2010.

[9]Sanders L. Willson, “‘God Does not Show Favoritism’:

Acts 10” Presbyterion 29 no. 1 (Spring 2003): 4.

[10]Comment by Kent Planck, a Boomer, February 17, 2010.

THE STAIN GLASS MASQUERADE by Steve Teel

A teen suggested this song for our sermon.

Is there anyone that fails, Is there anyone that falls, Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small,

Cause when I take a look around, Everybody seems so strong, I know they’ll soon discover, That I don’t belong.

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay, If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too,

So with a painted grin, I play the part again, So everyone will see me the way that I see them.

Are we happy plastic people, Under shiny plastic steeples, With walls around our weakness,

And smiles to hide our pain, But if the invitation’s open, To every heart that has been broken,

Maybe then we close the curtain, On our stained glass masquerade.

A. The song, Our Stain Glass Masquerade, by Casting Crowns, calls for closing the curtain on the masquerade in church. Acts 5 starts with a masquerade. But wait a minute this is that exciting, pristine moment in the early church. Exciting is with all the rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire, the shaking of the earth. More than that electrifying noise, Pentecost stands as the watershed moment in biblical history, the plan of God to redeem mankind climaxes here.

B. Personally it meant salvation for 3,000. A young adult connected this with her baptism, “I was the daughter of divorced parents, who weren’t there for me spiritually. I asked, ‘Where are you God?’ Then when I found the church, was baptized, it was like God saying I am here. My baptism was like being on cloud nine for a month.”

2. Now imagine 3,000 on cloud nine, the healing in the temple – just like Jesus used to do, the imprisonment of Peter and John and their standing up to the executors, then a prayer session in which God responded with an earthquake, everyone caring for each other. Then slam, SLIDE Acts 5:1-11.

A. The plot: SLIDE “They lied, they died, they were carried outside!” Some texts are hard to understand. This one gives us problems because it is too plain. And what’s an application? SLIDE (click) “Come to our Church and Be Struck Dead!”

B. How about this, SLIDE They died because they lied! In the first Stain Glass Masquerade. J.W.McGarvey, 120 years ago stated: “Every time a member of the church … exaggerates how much he gives he is guilty of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira; every time he misrepresents how much he makes so he can give the impression that his giving is sacrificial, he is guilty of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. If all such individuals were to drop dead today in our churches, there would be a thinning of the ranks.”Commentary Acts:88 Today?

C. “Oh, I’d like to give to that urgent need, but the wife and I just barely get by.” While in reality, I just don’t want to help. I lie and when I do, I die a little bit inside. Money more than anything else forces the issue of honesty. So in the case of A. and S. masquerade–   SLIDE They died because they lied – about their money.

4. Your 20 year old TV breaks down, you go shopping, you consult consumer reports and buy a new LCD. You’re happy, but if you are like me, you continue to watch the ads. You try to convince yourself you got the best deal. Buyers regret kicks in, maybe you could have gotten a better deal. “Givers” regret. “All could I have bought with that money, I gave last Sunday.” And there’s a conflict inside.

A. 5:4 they were under no obligation to give. The problem really was not that they divided their giving, the problem was that their giving divided their heart, caused the conflict. Torn between selfishness and giving, they tried to have both, the best of both worlds, recognition for being generous and money for themselves. It didn’t work, it doesn’t work, this or any other masquerade. When we buy into this, we open the door and guess who walks in? The one who masquerades as an angel of light, 2 Cor. 11:14, 5:3. SLIDE They died because they lied – with a divided heart.

B. The euphoria, the mass rally effect clearly had kicked in chs. 1-4. Danny will share with you about the “Friday night high”, it’s the last night of camp, last chance to get right with God and there’re these mass responses. As Frank Floyd noted, “A. and S. liked what they saw, wanted to sit on the front row in church. God’s response—sure, absolute, what seems to be the problem in our society today.”

5. Their masquerade stands in sharp contrast to SLIDE Acts 4:32,34-37. SLIDE BACKG. Barnabas is a good, gentle, and unassuming man – always dedicated, encouraging. Do you suppose that Ananias and Sapphira notice how his gift was received? The applause, recognition, the thank-you’s, “Sapphira, what if we gave” Were they trying to show him up with a more impressive gift? Barnabas gave because people were hungry, Ananias gave because he wanted others to see him give.

A. They had forgotten that we give to God, Mal. 3:8. They had forgotten that we stand before God, Acts 5:4 “You have not lied to men but to God.” They had forgotten, if they ever knew, that true religion is based upon a relationship with God. SLIDE They died because they lied – to God.

B. The story a contrast between genuine and counterfeit Christianity. Matt 6:2,5,16. True religion is between my heart and my God. Without that, faith is shallow, an empty shell. Carnal, not spiritual.  A Stain glass masquerade. SLIDE BACKG.

CONCLUSION The story goes that a preacher of a large church felt compelled to build a huge edifice, a cathedral, that would draw everyone to it. On a mission the minister no longer had time for the his wife, for his daughter, for the ministry to the poor. It was build or bust, but … the funds weren’t coming in. Oh, but a rich widow would finance it, if the church named it after her late husband. The more she talked, the more it appeared it would be a monument to a man and not to God. The preacher just couldn’t accept her terms or her money. So he prays that God would answer his plea, that he would show him a sign. He does, so the story goes, he sends him an angel with a name, Dudley. At first the preacher doesn’t believe it is an angel. But the angel works his way into his life – shows him again how to care for his wife and his daughter. The angel even reaches into the rich widow’s life in such a way that she willing gives her money to the church, not for the edifice, but for the poor. SLIDE The Bishop’s Wife. The story is about a minister who is made to see what’s really important – not an edifice but a home, not fame but faith. SLIDE BACKG.

A. The individual who introduced me to this story may have known I needed to remove the clutter in my life and return to what’s core. It’s a reality that one can settle for a counterfeit faith, not real, a masquer.

1. Dave Bland, welcome! What a trek, leaving Memphis at 9 and arriving here at 10. In our trek through the Bible, we used the image of SLIDE a puzzle for unity, God created all living creatures that are meant to come together as one. Most of all He desired oneness with His creation and that man/woman might be one. But sin enters the world in Gen. 3 and the rest of the OT points to how elusive oneness is for fallen man. It is best seen in Genesis 11,12, where prideful man sought to build a tower to God, not unlike man quest with his technology do everything, SLIDE the space shuttle. By contrast we see that the man that God calls out of Ur, builds an altar in order to regain a relationship with God; SLIDE a festive table helps us imagine Jesus gathered around a table. In one such occasion in Luke 14, drives home the point that you don’t take the best seat, you don’t exalt yourself. Unity never exists where there is pride. SLIDE a class room at HVL middle school illustrates the diversity that exists, and how that makes for challenges as we try to be one with those who are different from ourselves. Not only diverse, but a fractured, divided, a hate filled was their world. SLIDE the Bucket List helps us imagine what was on Jesus’ bucket list. He’s clear that it is that we might be one, John 17:21. SLIDE Planet Earth captures the ultimate goal envision for our unity, that the world would come to believe, John 17:23. What image would you put to the theme of unity, what action?

2. For the last three years we’ve started off the year with an in-depth look at a gospel: Luke in 2007, Mark in 2008 and this year John. In January we will turn our focus to Acts. There are many connects, between the gospels and Acts, one being the Holy Spirit. Though it is called Acts of the Apostles it could just as easily be Acts of the Spirit. At every turn the Spirit is present, at work – 61 times in 28 chapters. Dramatic, powerful, tongues of fire, healing, raising people back to life, even blinding one. And for most of us this seems distant, foreign to our Christian experience, normalcy in down home HVL.

A. It is until, we look in on Acts 4. There the apostles give a man named Joseph a new name, SLIDE Acts 4:36 This name directly connected to the one Jesus used for the Spirit in SLIDE John 16:7 παρακλητος  or Parakletos – translated Comforter, Counselor, Advocate. While Joseph is given the name υιος  παρακλησεως or paraklesis  translated “Son of Consolation,” Comfort, Encouragement. The two designations come from the same root Greek word. And that’s not by chance for Barnabas is described as one “full of the Spirit.” Acts 11:24.Unlike other power packed manifestations of the Spirit, here what is manifested is Barnabas’ consolation, his encouragement, what brought people together. Reminds  us – “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Eph. 4:3. And Barnabas does just that.

A. Well as we delved into our reading for today, a Millennial said, “You know I talk a lot about sports, but as I look at these passages on Barnabas, all he did for others, it really reminds me of the kinds of things good coaches do.” SLIDE PHOTOS/ COACHES. “So tell us what a coach does?” “The coach’s objective to bring together a group of players, so that they play as one. A good coach takes a player under his wing, builds confidence, makes him a part of the team.” So the church’s coach? Barnabas?

3. Most coaches sacrifice a lot for their team. SLIDE Acts 4:32, 36,37. Barnabas cares for his new found brothers, and in real, concrete terms, he sold and gave, he couldn’t imagine his Lord who fed the hungry 5,000 doing anything less.

A. Free loaders plague many churches. In our 11 eleven years in Monroe, I would not have anything to do with registering the offerings of members, I didn’t want that to taint, influence my preaching. On one occasion I had to step in and help out. I was amazed that some of most loudest squawkers gave very little. But I was also amazed at the Barnabases, individuals whose contribution were genuinely a sacrifice for them. You want to build unity in this body, give sacrificially. As a dear member did, dropped off 140 flip flops for the children of Honduras who need them to prevent the parasites. What does it do? It encourages, draws us together as we unite to make a difference.

4. Acts 9, is my Bible: Persecutor turned Preacher. He was rounding up Christians to kill in Damascus. Then he sees the light, the Lord. He gave his testimony one too many times, and they want him dead. He narrowly escapes Damascus. Now he heads to Jerusalem, imagining how he will be received. SLIDE Acts 9:26.No one will have anything to do with him. Scared to death of him. Suspect – this is a ruse. All do, the apostles, the pillar – James, all except, SLIDE Acts 9:27.

A. This Son of Encouragement took a risk on someone. Do you remember the pressures of raising a family, making the bills, the tension to compromise for the boss? Do we remember what it was like, lost and searching for an answer? Finding this worship thing so strange? Around us are those who need someone to take them under your wing. Barnabas, the coach, urges us to get to know those who at first glance are different, believe in them though they are younger.

B. Peggy said to me, “You know I think I’ve got a Millennial spirit in a Builder body.” Beth says, “So, are you trapped?” To which Alicia responded, “What we need to happen is for you Peggy and Grant to stand up in church together and say this is the same person.” What we experienced in bringing the oldest and the youngest, all generations together was a merging of spirits, a oneness, though there are significant differences, a oneness grew as we came to understand and love each other. But that involves taking a risk, being vulnerable. Barnabas could get outside himself and get to know Paul and willingly put his name on the line for him. Will we do that today?

5. SLIDE Acts 15:36-42. The coach shines with this unifying spirit that says I’m willing to give him a second chance. A judgment spirit estranges, a forgiving one unites, a critical one alienates, forges bonds that will never break. Where would the church be today if Barnabas had not reach out and coach Paul along? Where would the church be if he had not done the same for Mark? The Gospel

CONCLUSION. Our seniors will remember that Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play baseball in the major leagues. In doing so he faced hostile crowds. One day in 1947 in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. The fans jeered. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the crowd booed. Without saying a word, shortstop Pee Wee Reese went over and stood next to Jackie. He put his arm around him and faced the crowd. Suddenly it was quiet. Robinson later said that that arm around his shoulder saved his career. The world jeers our attempts to live for Jesus, we all need those who will stand at our side and reassure us of our place here.

1. And Louis Armstrong would sing, SLIDE “I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white, The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces, of people passing by, I see friends shaking hands, saying “how do you do?” They’re really saying, “I love you” I hear babies cryin, I watch them grow, They’ll learn much more, than I’ll ever know, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world!” The version that I have is of Armstrong singing this in the late 50′s. Pervading that generation was much optimism, WWII and Korean behind them. The US was advancing throughout the world and the baby boom was in full swing.

A. Ever thought about the words of  ”It’ a Wonderful World,” and Armstrong? A friend of ours use to house Armstrong and his band. She told us that Armstrong would come to town, and play in the clubs. There would be no hotels for Colors in the very segregated America. Not so wonderful. We all want to believe it’s a wonderful world, but corruption abounds, wars, starvation which we will see in Honduras, murders. Einstein nailed it, “Our world is drifting to catastrophe.” SLIDE BACKGROUND

2. A biblical perspective for all this can be found in the fourth gospel. John’s gospel was written at the close of the first century. Christians who had experience a certain level of acceptance were by this time being thrown out of synagogues and the Jewish communities. Increasing pressure was being applied by the Romans, more martyrs.

A. So while the other three gospels say little about the world, John will focus on it in Jesus’ statements. In fact, the “world” or cosmos is referred to more in John than in any of the other book in the Bible – 78 times. Besides the 5 references to the world as the universe, most point to a hostile world, in direct opposition to Him and His disciples.

B. Maybe you feel it more and more today – the world’s attacks. Angela Worrell has brought our attention the attack on a coach who gave a prayer in school. Of course none of this new, not long after we hear, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Not long after we hear God affirm with each day of the creation, “It was good.” Not long after His creation came together in perfect harmony, Not long after His walks in the cool of the evening with Adam and Eve, the tempter came, referred to by John as the prince of this world. Sin entered this world.

C. One consequence, SLIDE Isaiah 59:2. Where there was once unity, harmony between God and man, disunity and division dominated. Sin is at the heart of every church split, and every new naming of a denomination. The story of the Bible is God endeavoring to reunited them, erase sin’s devastating effects on his union with us. The OT has its heroes who walked the God, who were men after God’s own heart, who were His spokesmen, but they are the exception, not the rule. What ruled was a world replete with evil, hate, anger, disobedience, death.

D. So it’s not surprising that when Jesus, the Son of God entered the world, SLIDE John 1:10,11; 14:17; 15:18,19. And yet when John announces Jesus’ mission, SLIDE 1:29. Sin – that which corrupts relationships. 5 times he noted that Jesus is the Savior of the World, SLIDE 3:17; 4:42; 6:33,51; 12:47. 3 times John notes that Jesus overthrows not the world, but the prince of this world, SLIDE 12:31; 14:30; 15:11. Instead of reprisal against the world Jesus himself affirms, SLIDE 3:16.

3. Now how will the world come to know that, come to believe that? Jesus says it happens this way, SLIDE John 17:20-26.

A. A Boomer in the roundtable, summed it up this way, “True unity convicts the world, the lack of it convicts us.” This is when the lesson gets hard. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia : a comparative survey of churches and religions in the modern world David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, Todd M. Johnson. Edition: 2nd ed. (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2001) there are 33,909 denominations. SLIDE OF CHART What divisions! While every generation in our roundtable felt disparage, it has most touched the already skeptical Buster generation. One voiced his opinion in the book, UnChristian, SLIDE “Most the people I meet assume that Christian means entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders, they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.” UnChristian:26. While I don’t like that criticism, I believe it we can learn from it.

B. One might be inclined to throw up his hands and say it’s bigger than me, what can we do? But the prayer has direct application to the HVL church. When Paul wrote the individual churches a primary concern was that which divided them, eating meat in Romans, personal wrangling in Phil., or racial divides of Eph. His prayer forces me to humble myself before my brothers, or as a Builder noted, “You know we are given crosses to bear, unity is that, that it calls me to shallow my pride, even take things on the chin.” It forces us to make this a vehicle by which we realize our mission in this world. SLIDE B

C. Grant stated, “The three, the trinity, is unified by love, right? And they are willing to do things for each other through love for us. Everything is connected through love. So if we are talking about going out into the world and showing them how we can all be unified, then love and God is a big factor in it. We can show the world that we are offering something better than what the world has to offer. Let’s say, you come up to a random person and give them $100. They will think that it set up for some trap. Instead we can show them a better way through love, that leads to eternal life, a life worth living here, then we can unify the world.”

3. SLIDE 1. Be appreciative. First celebrate all that has been done. Remember how Rachel McLaughlin with tears described how D.J. was deathly sick and Andy with 20 or so showed up. A Boomer (Beth) stated, “If we continue to focus on our differences we miss it all those things that unite us.” If you stay around long you will witness how lovingly this church unites in compassion in your moment of need.

SLIDE 2. Remember that unity is not uniformity. Our elders’ just a month ago, encourage us. Their motto: We’re here to not to divide, but provide. That happens only when we realize the difference between unity and uniformity as Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 12.

SLIDE 3. I am a part of something bigger than myself. And just as it’s a mystery how God makes me one with him, and so is this insistence by Jesus for unity with my brothers for the purpose of drawing the world to Jesus. Like in the allegory in John 15, I’m to see myself a twig somewhere on that big vine, and a twig that bears fruit.

SLIDE 4. Get your hands dirty. Or in concrete terms I must look for ways to interface with the world, be it on the softball team, Dave Ramsey outreach, inviting someone to a small group, working with those in need at the Boys-Girls Club, Interfaith as Kent is doing, Open Arms as Dianna has done. Yes, it involves sharing the message, but Jesus insist that they will be drawn by our unity to know and believe in Him.  SLIDE BACKGROUND

CONCLUSION

“To dwell above with saints we love, oh that will be such glory. To dwell below with those we know … well, that’s a different story.”

17:21 – that all of them may be one
17:21 -just as you are in me and I am in you.
17:21- that they may also be in us

17:21- that the world may believe that you sent me.

17:22b – that they may be one

17:22c,23a – Just as we are one

17:23 – that they may be brought to complete unity
17:23c – that the world may know that you sent me.

?A. Each of these blocks of four lines consists of three that/ hina clauses with a just as / kathos clause separating the first and second. The first and second that /hina clause in each involves the oneness of the believers, while the third involves the effect on the world. The second that or hina clause does not merely repeat the first, but develops the notion of unity. The just as/kathos clause in each block holds up for the believers the model of unity.
?B. Implications: Unity is bound up in that which is spiritual, it is divine in origin. It�s not some idea we came up with. SLIDE Eph. 4:3 SLIDE Unity is not a human project, but the work of the Spirit. A senior in our roundtable, �Oneness is not a choice, but a condition of being a believer.� Another: �Our differences aren�t as important as our oneness.� Boomer: �I can�t reject some of God�s children without that affecting God.�
3. Seen on a Starbucks cup of coffee: SLIDE �The irony of commitment is that it�s deeply liberating � in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic … To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. � Anne Morriss. Unity is from God, but it does take commitment.
?A. This is borne out in John 17:22. What�s this glory? Throughout this gospel the cross of Christ is his glory. Jesus calls those who would follow Him to take up our cross, Luke 9:23. We might think of our cross as our penalty, but we must think of it as our glory. The harder the task we give a student or surgeon, the more we honor him. We are saying we believe only he could attempt that task. So when it is hard to be a Christian, we must think of it as our glory, an honor given to us by God. SLIDE Rom. 8:16,17. Unity is bound up in that which is spiritual; it is found through humble, selfless sacrifice. SLIDE BACK
?B. Practical Application: One clear way for you to experience unity is to get to know you fellow-Christians, their sacrifices, which are not unlike yours. Second: Striving for oneness is like striving for sinlessness. It comes from what he has already for us. Realizing that He made us sinless, we seek to live to our live to show Him our love. Oneness is the same. We are one because God has made us one, so let�s be considerate of those who are different from us.
?C. Think of it this way, you are on your death bed the family is gathered. What a mother most wants is for the kids to settle those differences over silly matters, forgive other each, rally, be one. Jesus is about to die and he brings them in close to beg them to be one.
CONCLUSION. In just 100 days in 1994 some 800,000 people died in a genocide in Rwanda. The government of Rwanda called on its Hutu majority to kill everyone in the Tutsi minority. Machete-wielding, Hutu militia set about to exterminate Tutsi. Caught on TV, a man confessed to a murderous rampage two nights earlier. His party killed 17 schoolgirls and a 62-year-old Belgian nun. They broke into the school compound, ordered them to separate themselves � Hutus from Tutsis. But the brave students refused to do so. To a person, the girls said they were simply Rwandans. So they were beaten and shot indiscriminately. May God bring us a unity that is larger than ourselves. Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda (New York: Picador US, 1998), pp. 352-353.
??

Jesus Table – A Round One? – Luke 14:1-24

1. SLIDE – (Photo of Little Rascals) The Little ?? Rascals. A birthday party for the Rascals SLIDE (Photo of my 5^th Birthday) a la Panama City, Florida. My world and that of you who are 50+ was very different from that of our young people today. Ours was one in which we suspicion the foreigner, with movies that featured the demise the Japanese and Nazi Empire; then there were the Communist. One end of our basement was a wall of shelving with can goods, water in a huge jug, spam, beanie weanies — all in preparation for a possible nuclear attack from the USSR. We didn’t like foreigners. All members of my junior high class were White, no African Americans, the closest thing to a minority group was the kid that moved in from Ohio. A senior[1] was reminded of a song from the movie, The South Pacific.

You’ve got to be taught

To hate and fear,

You’ve got to be taught

From year to year,

It’s got to be drummed

In your dear little ear

You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid

Of people whose eyes are oddly made,

And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade,

You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,

Before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate,

You’ve got to be carefully taught![2]

Well, it’s different for our HVL Middle school 8th graders not
only are there African Americans, but 50 or so are foreigners or who have parents who are Hispanic, Arabic, Chinese. SLIDE (Photo of a class there) What a difference! I count in 5 Hispanics, 4 African Americans and 2 Asians. Notice these figures.[3] SLIDE OF TABLE How do you suppose that is shaping their perspectives? It was Jesus who asked, “To what can I compare this generation?” They are like children… fickled. John has a demon, Son of Man is a glutton.(Matt. 11:16-19) He would also call it wicked, perverse generation.(Matt. 12:39, 45) SLIDE BACGROUND

A. How would we assess this youngest generation? Not easy when it’s different from our own. Unlike the independent spirit of the 20/30 somethings,[4] our teens come together, find their identity in group, it’s Facebook and the like.[5] My fight with prejudices, the rigidness and intolerance of my parents, are not a part of this generation. Now Caitlyn was honest, “It’s not easy at times, like in Memphis. We share the same faith but working with the inner city kids was tough. In fact we got down on ourselves and were judging each other’s actions until one of our own told her story of heartache, being abandoned, and alone. We all had tears in our eyes, it humbled us and brought us together.”[6] Unity is our topic. Every church wrestles with unity, every church to which Paul wrote struggled. What’s the answer?

2. Luke gives us an answer, SLIDE “together and had everything in common,” “one in heart and mind,” (Acts 2:44; 4:32). Unity must have that same commitment, because it will be tested. How committed are you to unity? Practical suggestion: focus on similarities – bible, God, beliefs. The tests came –Ananias and Sapphira contrive to lie to the Holy Spirit, Acts 5. From within opposition arose as non-Jews came into the church. In Acts 10 Peter has a vision and baptizes a Gentile, Cornelius. The word’s out and in the next chapter, the “circumcised party,” attack Peter’s actions. The conflict was resolved, unity restored with these words, SLIDE Acts 11:18b.

A. There is a tendency to romanticize this period and despair
with the division we witness among Christian people today. But their prejudices about Gentiles converts did not go away, for 50 years it remained a source of conflict. Paul and Barnabas confront the challenge of the circumcised party who said Gentiles must be circumcised, obey the law.

B. Amazingly both Peter and Barnabas who had defended the
Gentiles are guilty of favoritism to Jews over Gentiles in Antioch. Paul harshly rebukes to their actions in Gal. 2:11-16. And then follows with a statement that we tend to pull from its context, but which is the basis for unity, SLIDE Gal. 2:20. Oneness is found in Christ’s selfless sacrifice, “I have been crucified with Christ,” and his humility, “who gave himself for me.” Another answer: Realize that our unity issues from our unity with Him.

3. In our roundtable we looked at passages that are windows into the fracture, divided world of the first century. SLIDE Rev. 6:15, are mentioned as the sixth seal is opened, while SLIDE Rev. 19:18. SLIDE See PowerPoint Slide Though the context is apocalyptic in nature, John’s words reveal the political and socio-economical divides of his day. Paul also sees his world fractured SLIDE Gal. 3:28. SLIDE TABLE Unity is found in Him.

A. Later Paul adds other divides, SLIDE Col. 3:11. SLIDE TABLE
The last two groups were considered the worst of the worst. Barbarians were disdained because they did not speak Greek; the Scythian was the lowest kind of Barbarian.[7] Both Socrates and Plato showed these same prejudices they stated SLIDE “I glad that I was born a human being, not a beast, a man and not a woman; thirdly, a Greek and not barbarian.”

B. That splintered world was also riveted by slavery. 40% of
the Roman Empire was composed of slaves. 1000s gathered in the arenas for the sport of gladiatorial fights which ended with brutal killings. Life was cheap.[8] The Kings, Princes, Mighty, Rich enjoyed all the privileges. How, in such a torn world, could a minuscule band of Christians stand a chance of surviving, much less creating a unified body of believers?

4. Remarkably, those early believers achieved what the world could not imagine. Ancient history speaks of the brutal, fierce revolts by slaves in the Roman Empire. By contrast Christian slaves were to show respect and humbly serve their masters, SLIDE Eph 6:5,9. SLIDE TABLE Remember these words were written, in a time when reprisal for the death of a master resulted in the deaths of four hundred slaves. But here Christian masters were instructed to show no favoritism. While the Roman Empire forced more and more slaves into its mines and massive building projects, Christians rigorously collected funds for the ransom of slaves.[9] What is that counter-culture thing you might do for a brother or sister? The practical suggestion from a Boomer[10] in the group: Get to know someone you are not drawn to.

A. The port city of Corinth was a melting pot with multiple
ethnic groups, cultures, and pagan religions. Immigrants arrived daily hoping to make a fortune. Not surprisingly, the church in Corinth struggled to maintain unity. A party spirit developed, “I follow Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:11)Wait a minute, who died for you? Practical suggestion from a Builder[11]: Squelch our human tendency to form cliques. Paul will also indicate their Jews and Gentiles, slave and free divide, SLIDE 1 Cor. 12:13. SLIDE TABLE Paul then gives a principle of reciprocity, SLIDE 1 Cor. 7:22. It is understanding our identity through the eyes of God.

B. Paul urges them not to wrangle over who has the superior
gift, but imagine the church as a body. Their gifts must not cause competition, but an opportunity to serve each other. The body has to accept diversity for it actually depends on it. Individuality and unity must co-exist. We must be careful not to confuse this with individualism and uniformity[12] – cookie cutter.

CONCLUSION SLIDE We’re one, But we’re not the same, One love, One blood, One life, You got to do what you should, One life, With each other, Sisters, Brothers, One life, But we’re not the same.[13] The song by U2 was inspired by the falling of the Berlin Wall and the uniting of east and west Germany. A young adult[14] Wednesday suggested this song as representative of what we find in God’s plea for oneness among His people. He however reversed Bono wording, SLIDE “We’re one, but we’re not the same” to “We’re not the same, but we’re one.” SLIDE 1 Cor. 12:12, 13.

[2] http://www.soundtracklyrics.net/song-lyrics/south-pacific/youve-got-to-be-carefully-taught.htm

[3] Gary McIntosh, One Church, Four Generations (Grand Rapids; BakerBooks, 2002).

[4] Ibid.

[5] James L. Knapp, Understanding the Generations (San Diego: Aventine, 2005), 69.

[6] Comment by Caitlyn Blake, a Millennial, August 12, 2009.

[7] Doug Heidebrecht, “Distinction and Function in the Church: Reading Galatians 3:28 in Context,” Direction 34, no. 4 (Fall 2005):181.

[8] Paul Hanly Furfey, “Social Action in the Early Church, 30-180 A.D., The Dignity of the Human Person,” Theological Studies 3, no. 1 (February 1942):89.

[9] Carolyn Osiek, “The Ransom of Captives: Evolution of a Tradition,” Harvard Theological Review 74, no. 4 (October 1981): 385.

[10] Comment by Suzanne Gore, a Boomer, August 12, 2009.

[11] Comment by Bill Frye, a Builder, August 12, 2009.

[12] Richard E. Oster, 1 Corinthians, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1995), 289.

[13] http://www.lyrics007.com/U2%20Lyrics/One%20Lyrics.html

[14] Comment by D. J. McLaughlin, a Buster, August 12, 2009.

Jesus Table – A Round One? – Luke 14:1-24

1. The last verse of the OT, Mal. 4:6, envisions a future time, the great day of the Lord, when the God will bring about a oneness of the generations. He will turn the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children. Fast forward 400 years and the NT opens with God’s messenger, Gabriel who seeks out one who has the favor of the Lord, about whom it is said, “the Lord is with you,” (Luke 1:28). The preposition is very important here. Mary is told that God the Holy Spirit will come upon her, she will have a son. His name will be Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Mat. 1:23). Once again the preposition is significant. It points to God’s purpose, His aspiration of having oneness with His creation.

A. Gabriel promises, SLIDE (Luke 1:32,33). When Jesus launches his ministry, His first sermon begins with, “The kingdom of God is near.” (Mark 1:15a). His first prayer request, “thy kingdom come”(Mat. 6:10). Jesus describes what that kingdom is like in images: Sower whose seed fall on 4 soils, the Growing Seed, the Mustard Seed. These images capture the Kingdom’s organic/dynamic/growing nature. There’s kingdom parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son in Luke 15 which point to the kingdom’s purpose: to seeking and saving the lost. In Mat. 13 kingdom is like a hidden treasure, like a merchant looking for fine pearls. It is of great value.

B. A prominent image of the kingdom of heaven is that of a
king who prepared a banquet (Mat 22:1). You get a glimpse of it in Jesus’ interchange with the Pharisees about his failure to fast (Mark 2:19-20) and Jesus’ references to a bridegroom and a wedding banquet. The banquet motif draws on numerous OT passages, SLIDE (Isa. 25:6-8). The image is found in the cherished 23rd Psalm (Psa. 23:5). That image of a feast in the desert is mirrored in Jesus’ feeding 5,000 in a desert – and what a banquet!

3. The festive setting SLIDE PHOTO, a party is where the tables are spread with mouthwatering morsels, guests gather in the perfect ambiance, lots of noise, laughter, fun. We know a party when we see one. But we also know that not all are the same. Like the towels in the guest bathroom that are there to be admired but never touched, some festive gatherings focus more on display than on people. Other such gatherings are known more for who is not invited than who is. Some are held to celebrate, others to commiserate. As diverse as festive banquets can be, they all have one thing in common: their purpose and tone are set by the host.[1] So who’s the host here SLIDE (Luke 14:1-14). SLIDE BACKGROUND

A. Everyone at the roundtable Wednesday affirmed that there is one key word here. It denotes how one is act at the banquet table with humility. It’s not described here, instead the antithesis to it is what we observe. A member of the roundtable who still can remember his World Lit and English Lit. classes noted, “It an example of hubris, an overweening pride, arrogance.”[2] And then recalled the Greek mythology about an inventor and his son, Daedalus and Icuras, who escape from prison on Crete by making wings of feathers held together with wax. The flight was successful until the son ignores his father’s warning, flies too high. The hot sun melts the wax holding together his wings, he falls into the sea and drowns. Pride is flying too high.

B. From the outset the arrogant, hubris tone is set, they
are watching him,(Luke 14:1). The man with dropsy is a plant. His condition was likely caused by congestive heart failure, it results in a pooling of fluid in the legs. Jesus heals the man who quickly leaves. Jesus destroys them with two questions, to which they have no reply, just silence. The party is not getting off to a good start.

C. Next Jesus is upset how the individuals are jockeying for the best seats. Certainly he had seen this before, but this time he must say something. Boomer, buddy, noted, “The passage does not indicate where Jesus first sat and where he ended up sitting is not indicated here. But I picture Jesus sitting in a place of humility and his host being OK with that and Jesus being perfectly content with that.”[3] A Buster added, “Wherever he sat became the head of the table. If he sits at the place of least importance, suddenly it becomes the most important.”[4]

D. The question was asked: What does this passage have to
do with unity in the church, with this theme of oneness?[5] I answered the question with another question: Can oneness be ever achieved if pride is present? Remember the clique in the 7th grade, all the popular kids, felt they were better than the rest. The results? Whether you are in the 7th grade or 17 or 70, the price is the same, the price is the same — divisiveness.[6]

4. What if is God is the host? SLIDE (Luke 14:15-24). A woman had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. So as she was getting her things in order, she contacted her minister. She told him the songs, the scriptures she wanted in the service. She requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. When he was leaving she remembered, “There’s one more thing.”� “What’s that?” “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” “What?!” “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes are being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part, I knew that something better was coming, velvety chocolate cake or apple pie. So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand, and ask, ‘what’s with the fork?’ Tell them: ‘Keep your fork, the best is yet to come.’

A. The best is to come figures in the host’s words and Jesus’
parable (Luke 14:15). The host wanting to somehow salvage the banquet exclaims: “Great will be that future banquet!” In Jesus’ response, his parable. A Millennial noted, “Their excuses center around what they had. ‘I have a piece of land, an oxen, a new wife.’ Pride all too often manifests itself in our clutching to what we have.”[7]

B. You sense that God, the host, continues to push the envelop.
He’s got a big banquet table and it must be full. He insists that people I don’t invite to church come – anyone, everyone. The homeless, the beggars from downtown, widows from over at the Mission, street kids, really poor people. God is inclusive – the marginals of society. And that forces me to swallow my pride.

5. There is the two tier effect here. In 14:1-14, it’s oneness or the lack of it in their one upmanship ploys. In 14:15-24, it’s about oneness with my God and his efforts our prideful resistance to it.

A. How does this affect us with our wide ranges of ages?
A Buster shared, “Well, each of us has a preference when it comes to worship or specific ministries. But if we all take the seat of humility, and have the ultimate goal is to be worshiping God, and you have a bunch of people humbling themselves, it’s a lot easier to work together.”[8] Then a Builder help us with a reality check, “Easier said than done.”[9]

CONCLUSION. I end with the words of a teen, from our youngest group, a Millennial, who insisted that, “It’s willingness instead of pride. With Jesus he knew that with every miracle he was setting himself up for the cross, but he was willing to do that for us. We too must be willing to give up ourselves, give up our pride.”[10] It’s Jesus’ first step, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself…” (Mark 8:34).

[2] Comment by D. J. McLaughlin, a Buster, July 24, 2009.

[3] Comment by Fred Gore, a Boomer, July 24, 2009.

[4] Comment by D. J. McLaughlin, a Buster, July 24, 2009.

[5] Comment by Martha Davis, a Builder, July 24, 2009.

[6] Edward F. Markquart, “You May Not Want to Invite Jesus for Dinner.” http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_you_may_not _want_to_invite_jesus_to_dinner.htm

[7] Comment by Marissa Blake, a Millennial, July 24, 2009.

[8] Comment by D. J. McLaughlin, a Buster, July 24, 2009.

[9] Comment by Martha Davis, a Builder, July 24, 2009.

[10] Comment by Grant Rivers, a Millennial, July 24, 2009.

The Allusiveness of Oneness: The Story of the O.T., Gen. 11,12

1. From our roundtable a Builder, one of our seniors summed up our lesson for today this way, “God complicates the lives of the unfaithful, and He blesses the lives of the faithful.”[1] A Millennial or teen noted simply, “God keeps his promises.”[2] The oneness achieved by God in the creation, the harmony with man created in his very image and joyful union of man and woman is now severed by sin. �”You will be like God,” (Gen. 3:5), was Satan’s bait. �Eve and Adam took it. They sense immediately, something is wrong between them and the Father, so they “hide” 3:8b and God banishes them from the Garden, (Gen. 3:23). �Sin is in the world; not only did alienate, it destroyed. �The oldest, Cain “attacked…and killed,” (Gen. 4:8), his brother.

A. In what follows there are two positive examples of oneness with God, Enoch and Noah, SLIDE (Gen. 5:24; 6:9). �They model a close relationship with God as they “walked with” Him. It’s glimpse back to God’s original walk with Adam and Eve, (Gen. 3:8). Enoch and Noah are exceptions, for SLIDE (Gen. 6:5). �It’s so pervasive that God destroys the world with a flood. �Though righteous, Noah’s descendants aren’t; they give in to their selfish pride on the plain of Shinar, (Gen. 11). �Together they plan to make a name for themselves. God won’t allow it, confuses their language, and scatters them.

B. Oneness with God seems so allusive, thus He takes the initiative. �He begins again with Abraham and his descendants. Those descendants grow into a clan and then a nation. �Four hundred years pass and they find themselves in bondage to the world’s superpower. �From a burning bush, God startles Moses, SLIDE (Ex. 3:7, 10, 12). �Nothing goes unnoticed by God, He really cares. He restates the objective with the enduring walk motif, SLIDE (Lev. 26:12).

C. That walk shines brightly during Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land, but flickers dim, SLIDE (Judges 2:10; 21:25). �God’s hope for unity resurfaces with David – two hearts that were one. �The criteria for choosing David was God’s looking in on his heart, SLIDE (1 Sam. 16:7). �David and God dialogue as close friends. This relationship results in a compelling description of David, “a man after my own heart,” (Acts 13:22). �Such is the theme of the Psalms.

D. But in the hands of David’s grandsons, Jeroboam and Rehoboam, the united kingdom fractures, for Israel is unfaithful to its loving God. �Broken promises to Him, aping the idolatry of its neighbors, God’s people seek to shape Him in their images of wood and stone. �Without God, internal disunity takes them to the brink of annihilation. The Assyrians in 721 B.C., the Babylonians in 586 B.C. invade and destroy, only “a remnant,” (Ezra 9:13), will survive.

E. As before, God always holds out hope for a renewed oneness. This time He will not breathe life into a man made from the dust of the earth. �Instead He breathes life into dry, lifeless bones in Ezekiel’s fantastic vision of a valley of dry bones. �God foretells of a time when, SLIDE (Ezek. 37:14). �Then God envisions an enlivened people who have His way imprinted on their hearts and minds in (Jer. 31:33). �The last verse of the O.T. is His vision for future oneness. It’s been so allusive, but there’s coming a day, SLIDE (Mal. 4:6a).

2. That’s the panoramic view.� It is known as Redemptive History.[3] It is the kind of thing that one encounters in the Restoration work of Robert Milligan, the Scheme of Redemption.[4] a good place to see this up close is Genesis 11,12. �They are two stories side by side. First they attempt to pierce the sky. SLIDE Photo of Space Shuttle[5]

A. SLIDE (Gen. 11:1-9). There was a time when the whole world had only one language and they had a plan build a tower. 30 such tower ruins have been found in this region today; known by archaeologists as SLIDE Ziggurats.� These two photos is photo of a Ziggurat from Ur in present day Iraq. �They wanted to reach to the heavens, to be famous, to control their destiny. Not unlike our grandiose visions. SLIDE BACKGOUND

B. Three times they state, “Come, let us…” Where is God in all their plans? In Gen. 11:5,7 “the Lord came down…” is wording that is anthropomorphic. �It’s Moses framing God’s actions in human terms so that those refugees from Egypt might understand. God was not distant, He did not have to move in for a better view. �It’s instead a beautifully fashioned satire. �Those builders thought that they were on the top of the world, piercing the clouds. �But to the infinite almighty creator of the universe it’s nothing. �He “comes down” is the image of God stooping to see the work of these pygmies.

C. What was it that God feared?[6] This was a question that the roundtable found difficult to answer.� He feared what man, what Hitler, Shadam, what we might do to when we unite and have only our interest in mind.

D. In 1976 at a wedding reception I sat beside in B. B. Baxter, then chairman of the Bible department at Lipscomb. I was impressed with his optimism and candor. We were preparing to go to Argentina and plant churches, so I wanted all the wisdom he could offer. He was candid about the pride factor in church growth. He took me back to the mid-1950s, when the church was rapidly growing and the wonderful opportunity opened up for a nationwide TV program, Herald of Truth. He stated that the non-institutional or anti-corporative movement caused a huge riff in the churches of Christ. But did not have to happen; it wouldn’t have happened, had certain key individuals been selected to host the program.[7]

E. It is the story of Babel. �At the heart of their disobedience, that of Eve, Cain, the contemporaries of Samson, the northern and southern kingdom, is pride. �Both our Busters, young adults, asked the why question at this point. “We want to be one as a church – but why? �What’s our purpose? �We may want a building, why or better who?”[8] Who’s behind the plans? The other Buster illustrated this with a question that her campus minister asked 10 years ago, “What’s the difference between us and a sorority down the block?”[9] It must be God, that His purposes dominate, they didn’t in Genesis 11. “In trying to create unity, the people of Babel lost it.”

3. In Genesis 11 the people of the earth unite to erect a tower, to make a name for themselves. �Genesis 12 is about Abraham, the one through whom God’s name would be honored. �He surrenders his life to God’s will. A Boomer enlightened the group with this observation, “They built a tower, while Abraham would spend his life building SLIDE altars to God.”[10] SLIDE (Gen. 12:1-7)

A. On April 20, 1999 several teens faced the ultimate test at the Columbine High. �Two fellow students went on a shooting rampage. 13 died and scores wounded. �The second individual they pointed their guns at was Rachel Scott. �Three weeks earlier, she had shared her faith with them. �They shot her in the leg and then in the back, and asked, “Now do you still believe in God?” “Yea, you know that I do.” They shot again, she died.

B. Cassie Bernall was asked, “Do you believed in God?” She paused and then said, “Yes!” They asked, “Why?” but didn’t give her a chance to respond.[11] Much has been said about Cassie who had only a few months earlier gotten her life on track with God.� Though the circumstances are very different, Abraham understood that God was calling him to be faithful. For Cassie it meant her life. For Abraham it meant his life lived for Him. SLIDE (Heb. 11:8-10). All this caused a Boomer to reflect, What is God prompting me to do differently that I am resisting because it is outside my comfort zone.”[12]

CONCLUSION

1. The Dallas Morning News reported in its April 23, 1980 edition that a 26 year-old stewardess posed for Playboy magazine and subsequently lost her job. The tragedy, as reported in the newspaper was not that she lost her job, but her reasons for her decision. She had learned that lung surgery was needed and might die. She decided to pose so that the world would remember her. Most people are not so candid about their motives, the world is filled with people who desperately wish to be remembered. All of us are inclined to build monuments.[13] Which will you build a tower to the heavens or an altar to God?

[2] Comment by Caitlyn Blake, a Millennial, July 10, 2009.

[3]Geerhardus Vos, Danny E. Olinger, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. A Geerhardus Vos Anthology:Biblical and Theological Insights Alphabetically Arranged (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2006).

[4]Robert Milligan, Exposition and Defense of the Scheme of Redemption,(Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1972).

[5]Suggested graphic for the sermon by a Buster, Roundtable, June 10, 2009. The graphic was suggested by a Buster who sensed that this illustrates what is our contemporary version of building a tower to the heavens.

[6] Comment by Alicia Bright, a Buster, July 10, 2009.

[7] This was an illustration from my past that was meant to speak to the Builder generation.

[8] Comment by D. J. McLaughlin, a Buster, July 10, 2009.

[9] Comment by Alicia Bright, a Buster, July 10, 2009.

[10] Comment by Beth Greene, a Boomer, July 10, 2009.

[11] Greg Toppo, “10 years later, the real story behind Columbine,” USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm. This illustration was meant to speak to the Millennial generation.

[12] Comment from a Boomer in Roundtable, July 10, 2009.

[13] “People,” The Dallas Morning News, April 23, 1980, 3. This illustration was meant to speak to the Boomer generation.

The Origin of Oneness – Unity, Genesis 1,2

1. You will find in the bulletin and in the foyer an Opinion Survey. The purpose of the survey is to gauge our unity; the objective of Wednesday night roundtable and a summer sermon series is seeking “the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace,” Eph.4:3, here. So I ask in SLIDE 9. I feel that significant things are being done to maintain the unity of the church. (Appendix A) Please answer that. Our first attempt to encourage unity takes us back to the creation. SLIDE BACKGROUND

A. “And God stepped out on space, And he looked around and said: I’m lonely – I’ll make me a world.

And far as the eye of God could see, Darkness covered everything, Blacker than a hundred midnights, Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled, And the light broke, And the darkness rolled up on one side, And the light stood shining on the other, And God said: That’s good!

Then God reached out and took the light in his hands, And God rolled the light around in his hands, Until he made the sun; And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.

And the light that was left from making the sun, God gathered it up in a shining ball, And flung it against the darkness, Spangling the night with the moon and stars. Then down between, The darkness and the light, He hurled the world; And God said: That’s good! …

Then God sat down- On the side of a hill where he could think; By a deep, wide river he sat down; With his head in his hands, God thought and thought, Till he thought: I’ll make me a man!

Up from the bed of the river, God scooped the clay; And by the bank of the river, He kneeled him down; And there the great God Almighty, Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky, Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night, Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand; This great God, Like a mammy bending over her baby, Kneeled down in the dust, Toiling over a lump of clay, Till he shaped it in is his own image; Then into it he blew the breath of life, And man became a living soul. Amen. Amen.” James Weldon Johnson[1]

A. This was creation according to the African American poet, James Weldon Johnson, who died in 1930. An interesting, colorful perspective on the creation. One of our Millennials Wednesday night pointedly noted that after every day of creation the statement was made, “God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:3, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) She went said that is motivation for us that our actions, those things we are a part of should be “good.”[2] From the beginning man and woman were made by God to know oneness, harmony with their Creator and with each other. It’s the way we were originally wired.

2. SLIDE Genesis 1:1-5. Here’s an outline of Genesis 1,2 provided by Dr. John Willis of ACU, SLIDE Literary Structure.[3]

Lewis Carroll asks, SLIDE “Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”[4] It’s the kind of thing that the Israelites would have been asking. It’s the kind of thing that our seniors best capture in an in-depth look of the passage. Many a Bible student have missed it when endeavoring to understand this passage. We who are Moderns, who want to put the microscope to everything, have tried to apply scientific research to the creation story. SLIDE BACKGROUND

A. Yet our seniors can best grasp what’s going on here. You can remember the hardships, when you had a victory garden and not as a hobby, fuel rationing, sacrificing for the good of the country, doing without – well, everyone did. You still cherish the photo and remember when your mom received the knock at the door and the telegram that your older brother had been killed in France.[5]

B. You look right into the eyes of those to whom Moses wrote this creation story and get it. Their plight – dire! Parents feeding their kids and going without. Slaves to the world’s superpower. 400 years prior the family left it all in Canaan to now have nothing in Egypt, no nationality, no homeland, no education – what Pharaoh would have thought of schooling slaves, no leader, no hope… until Moses.

C. So you get it. God wanted Moses to narrate this creation story and give them a sense of identity, worth. They weren’t orphans, but God’s chosen nation. For you and for them, SLIDE PHOTO TWO PIECES God becomes one with his creation. Or as one of our Builders said Wednesday night, you step out in nature and gaze into creation and know He’s there for us.[6]

D. Our Builders also appreciate best, SLIDE Genesis 2:21-24. You can jump up and down, like Adam, you celebrate what God gave you in your bride of 47 years or was it 53 years.[7] You are the examples to the rest of us of loving, of sticking it out to make marriage work. Love abounded and bonded your marriage.[8]

3. Some will remember SLIDE Dick and Jane and Captain Kangaroo. The television star of Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, noted, “Childhood, for every child, should be as close as possible to the ideal world of Dick and Jane.”[9] In their books father, mother and the children went to church. In Sunday School we learned, the Golden Rule, and that Jesus loves the little children.[10] “Father Knows Best” was not only a title of a TV sitcom; it was a culture.

A. But something happened, the boys were drafted into the army and sent to Nam, where they witnessed death and returned home to be spit upon as Don Yelton relates. Others became hippies, protested the war and rejected rules of home and country.

B. It’s true that this is not an ideal world, though Genesis 1,2 portray one in the Garden of Eden. Surprisingly the answers to your quest for meaning and for relationships are found there. SLIDE Gen. 1:26-31. SLIDE BACKGROUND What does it mean to be created in the image of God? One Millennial noted that, “We are mini-creators and go around creating as God the Creator did.” It is the case that of all the creatures that God created only man creates a mansion, imagines and paints a beautiful landscape.

c. The creation story of 6 days point to a transcendent God – amazing, powerful, so far above us. Yet here and in chapter 2 he proves to be very near, very involved, very caring.[11] It’s called the immanence of God. The passage says three times man and woman are made in God’s image or in His likeness. What does that mean? It’s not explained, but the context clarifies it. We are made to walk through the crisis that Adam experienced as he names all the animals, and in doing so, he realized that none of them fulfilled his need for a “suitable helper,” Gen. 2:20. What made Adam complete, one, whole was relationship. [12]

C. God made them two, and yet the two were made to become one. This takes us back to God’s nature. The Trinity, the three who are one, created human beings “in his image” and says the two are to become one. [13]

D. All this struck a cord with a Boomer Wednesday night, “God’s creation was to all work together, in order for the survival of all and the continuation of all. As he spoke of being fruitful and multiply. He envisions future generations, then all my actions and thoughts should be to that end also – coming together,” to become one.[14]

4. “That was just a dream, that was just a dream, That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion trying to keep up with you, and don’t know if I can do it. Oh no, I’ve said too much, I haven’t said enough.” R. E. M.’s song, Losing My Religion,[15] sums up the experience of many in the Buster generation. They have been the brunt of society’s worst ills: divorce, HIV, drugs, parents who needed parenting, abortion, lots of abuse.[16] No wonder they are losing their religion. They are the least likely to show up in church.

A. Perhaps the one word that stand out for a Buster in the passage is “alone.” SLIDE Genesis 2:18-21. In a way it is a commentary on God, the concept of “alone.” He did not have to create man and woman, but He choose to do so. He says, “Let us make man.”He was not alone, but existed in perfect harmony, unity. And that perfect unity finds expression in love. He created us for two purposes: He created us as an object of his love, and he created us to love him. His desire is relationships, a oneness. SLIDE RED PIECE PUZZLE Genesis says to the Buster generation there is a place – a connectness.

CONCLUSION. As the Wednesday night group tried to get their heads around the thrust of Genesis 1,2, a Buster suggested,� “It seems to be compelling us to ask how can we get this back again?”[17] So it was suggested that we try to remember Christmas. “Remember what it was like when we were kids. It was the biggest thing in the world. Then when we got older we and before we had kids, we had to get presents, travel to the parents. But when we had that first kid and for the first time, they see that tree with all those presents, it reminds us again of how great Christmas was. In the church, when the new generation comes along, they have that the naivety, to look at what at what it could be, not worrying about the conflicts that us older jaded generations see. They can look at something for what it can be again – one with our Father.” [18]

[2] Roundtable comments by Caitlyn Blake, a Millennial, May 27, 2009.

[3] John T. Willis T. Genesis. (Austin, TX: Sweet Publishing,

1979), 16.

[4] www.dictionary-quotes.com/who-in-the-world-am-i-ah-that-s-the-great-puzzle-lewis-carroll/

[5] McIntosh, Gary. One Church, Four Generations. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2002.

[6] Roundtable comments by Peggy Price, a Builder, May 27, 2009.

[7] Roundtable comments by Bill Frye, a Builder, May 27, 2009.

[8] McIntosh, 50.

[9] Carole Kismaric, Marvin Heiferman, Bob Keeshan, Growing up with Dick and Jane: Learning and Living the American Dream. (New York : Harper San Francisco, 2004),p.7

[10]McDevitt, Barbara Jo. “Preaching Across the Generations.”

D.Min. diss., (McCormick Theological Seminary, 1999), 17.

[11] Roundtable comments by Fred Gore, a Boomer, May 27, 2009.

[12] Ibid.

[13]Kevin Vanhoozer, “Human beings, Individual and Social,” in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine, ed. Colin E. Gunton (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 163.

[14] Roundtable comments by Beth Greene, a Boomer, May 27, 2009.

[15] http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rem/losing+my+religion _20115307.html

[16] Thomas Beaudion. Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998), 104.

[17] Roundtable comments by D.J. McLaughlin, a Buster, May 27, 2009.

[18] Ibid.