Eternal Life 101

We tend to think this life is a test and we want to get the test right and Heaven is our reward for passing the test. But, what does the Bible actually say?

In John 17:2-3, eternal life is the knowledge of God -- having a relationship with God. Eternal life is not a destination, it's a relationship. 

God meets us where we're at to take us where He is. God accommodates us -- probably more than we know. 

God is redeeming Creation. Creation will be liberated from death and decay (Romans 8:19-21). 

God's authority over Creation is being restored. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). 

God is reconciling with people. Christ came to reconcile us and re-establish our relationship with God (Col. 1:20). 

We have eternal life now but we experience the fullness of that relationship in Heaven. 

The new creation is the redeemed creation when the influence of evil is no longer a part of the order of things. 

Eternal life grows within us and prepares us for Heaven. Rather like C. S. Lewis' idea in The Great Divorce. 

When we die we enter God's presence in a disembodied state (2 Corinthians 5:6). Hellfire is figurative. 

The Experience of God

This is the final sermon of the "Inherit the Wind" series at Ventura Vineyard. 

Our faith is based on our experience of God. We experience God in our lives in different ways (rather like me connecting a biblical verse to Janice Joplin lyrics or something the Buddha taught). God can reach out to us from throughout creation. 

We can experience God in the depths of great tragedy or the heights of great joy. We can also experience God in the little things of life (like St. Teresa's little way). 

There are eight different ways of knowing: imagination, intuition, emotion, memory (controls our narrative), language, sense perception, reason, and faith. 

Faith as knowledge - two types - a leap of faith and faith based on evidence. These can come together - we know some things as evidence and then leap into action. 

There's nothing wrong with looking for an experience of God - for evidence of God - for a reasonable faith. 

Three types of experiences of God:

1. Strange or unusual episodes we experience with our senses (Paul on the road to Damascus). 

2. We become aware of God without our senses (an inner knowing - like prophets receiving the Word of the Lord). This is the most common. 

3. Mystical experiences. This is the rarest kind of experience. Psychotic breaks can be confused for this. 

The experience of God is purposeful. It is about God - not about us. It is taking us somewhere. It is not precise (we see through a mirror darkly - 1 Corinthians 13:12. It can be unwanted. Think of Moses and Jonah. 

God wants you to encounter and experience Him. People, oddly enough, are more likely to understate the experience of God. Who am I that God should speak to me? But God loves us and finds each of us infinitely valuable. 

Identification and Identity, Humility and Glory

Today's sermon is based on Matthew 3:13-17. The reading is about Jesus' baptism. One lesson from this is that Jesus always comes in unexpected ways. 

Why did Jesus come to be baptized? Jesus goes down into the water with sinners because Jesus is Emmanuel (God with us) because Jesus identifies with us and we are sinners. Jesus was known as the friend of sinners. He is willing to come and be with us. 

His ministry begins in the river amidst sinners and ends on a cross between thieves. 

He who had no sin took a place among those who had no righteousness. Through this we become righteous. He identifies with us that we may identify with Him. 

This is all about identification and substitution. This reminds me of what C. S. Lewis writes about how we put on Christ every day. 

This goes beyond intellectual consent. We live new lives in Christ Jesus. We are no longer slaves to sin. 

Sometimes we feel like and take on the persona of slaves to sin. Our culture tells us we will always be slaves to sin. But this is not true. These chains have been broken. 

The appearance of the Holy Spirit and the voice of God during the baptism reveals something important about the relationship at the center of the Trinity. Our relationships should be modeled on this relationship. 

God announced his pleasure before Jesus' ministry. Our love should not be performance-based. God's love strengthened Jesus. The unconditional love we give strengthens those we love. God's unconditional love for us enlivens us, bringing us out of death and decay into life and peace. 

Christianity brings transformation - a new identity and a new life and a new nature. Romans 8:12 remarks that we are under no "obligation" to follow the prompting of our sinful nature. Obligation? An odd choice of words. Builds on the "slave to sin" idea I think. 

Ultimately we have won. God has put parameters on the power of sin and temptation. Jesus has overcome the world. 

We are not slaves bought for a new master - we are the beloved children of God. We still sin; however, sinner is no longer our core identity. And God brought us this good news in person. We are the beloved sons and daughters of God. 

But we aren't perfect now. But Christ's identification with sinners (which we are totally undeserving of) means that when we sin we can run to Jesus. Performance-based thinking views salvation as a Throne of Merit. But Jesus is on a Throne of Grace - not merit. So we need not hide when we sin (like Adam and Eve) because God is merciful. 

The believer's identity in Christ means we can confidently live in, and function out of, God's love. 

Letting go of ideas of performance-based Christianity and its throne of merit brings joy. Also, because we are cognizant of the mercy we received we can be merciful to others. Humility brings great freedom. 

A People Prepared for the Lord

This sermon is based on Matthew 3:1-12. Do we do the same as those who said, "We have Abraham for our father" when we assume we are okay with God, viewing God as a spiritual Santa Claus who has no real stake in whether we are naughty or nice? Do we shortchange ourselves when we do this - missing out on the transformation possible when we give ourselves to God. 

John the Baptist was very reminiscent of the prophets of old. He was the first prophet in about 400 years. The Jews believed that the next prophet after that silence would announce the Messiah - the prophecy is in Malachi - the last prophet of the Old Testament. Elijah come again would announce the Messiah and a period of restoration, renewal, and judgment. 

Matthew is always pointing us back to the Old Testament. Rabbis of the time relied on the oral memory of listeners, quoting scripture and then expounding on its broader context. 

Isaiah 40:1-11 foretells John the Baptist and is a prophecy of comfort. It is the promise of restoration. The comfort is firmly rooted in the Word of God which endures and reinforces the knowledge that the things of this world are transient and inconstant. True comfort comes from God. Like the Buddha taught, nothing in this world lasts and those who seek comfort from the things of this world are doomed to disappointment. 

The obstacle to the blessing and rule of God is our commitment to sin. 

John's baptism was different from Christian baptism. In Christian baptism, forgiveness is the focus. John's baptism was a statement of our decision to repent and go God's way. Jews typically weren't baptized but Gentile converts were baptized. John's baptism highlighted how far off the path people had gone. 

God is always offering us a choice between two paths - between life and death - and wants for us to choose life. 

Today's definition of repent is to feel remorse or regret. For Greek's it was intellectual change. For Jews it refers to lifestyle change - metanoia (Greek) --a change in one's way of life. For John, the call to repent was a command for an ongoing, continuous action. Repentance is a practice. 

Repentance involves confession (owning), sorrow (godly), and action (renounce, turn from). This is what Catholicism teaches about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is rare in our culture. 

This real lifestyle change and only this opens us to the blessings of God. It's like God's love is a cool refreshing breeze, but it can't get to us if we don't open the window. 

Kingdoms in Conflict

Today's sermon is based on Matthew 2. This chapter is part of the Christmas narrative, beginning with the magi, covering the flight into Egypt, and ending with the Holy Family's settling in Nazareth. 

Herod the Great was a vassal king, appointed by Rome, and not a descendent of David. He reigned for over four decades and was a great builder. He was also ruthless - especially when it came to perceived threats to his rule -  even up to killing his own sons. Caesar said of him that you would be better off being his sow than his son. 

Herod the Great was troubled at the magi's tale because Herod the Great was not the rightful king. Jesus, as a son of David, was a threat to his rule. Herod sought to kill Jesus not because he didn't know who Jesus was; but, because he DID know who Jesus was and all that it implied. 

When the Bible says do not love the world, it's not talking about the grateful enjoyment of the beauty and blessings of God, it's talking about the world system that sets itself up in opposition to God. Ultimately, we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, and that trumps any earthly citizenship. 

The Kingdom of Self is the greatest kingdom in conflict with the Kingdom of God. We are not the rightful ruler of our own lives. The world appoints us a vassal ruler of our own life and this is especially true in our individualistic society. The Self and Individual Rights are the idols of American culture. 

Adam and Eve were the first make believe king and queen. 

C. S. Lewis writes about the need to give up the Rule of Self quite often. We have to realize that we don't reign when our natural tendency is to do everything we can to protect our reign. Ask yourself where in your life are you trying to assert your own rule? Where do we play sovereign? Are we willing to pay the price - the great price - of asserting our own sovereignty? How to we respond to the coming of Christ? Herod the Great did whatever he could to protect his rule. The magi left their place of power and worship. 

We enter the Kingdom of Heaven through forgiveness (God forgives us and rescues us). We dwell in the Kingdom through obedience. This does NOT mean we are kicked out if we make a mistake. This does NOT mean we get into the Kingdom through obedience. 

In entering we are forgiven of sin, in dwelling we are freed from the power of sin. 

When we are make believe rulers, it is really sin that reigns. When we let Christ rule we are set free - ultimately living in the Freedom of Christ - we have a real choice and are more in charge than when we think we are in charge. Romans 6:16 says that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey. But choosing to obey God makes us sons and daughters - not slaves - but this is God's doing, not ours. 

Where do you need to submit? The King is right!

Where do you need to trust? The King is good!

Where do you need to repent? The King is merciful!

Where do you need deliverance? The King is strong!

Jesus has overcome the world. 

Notes from the Sermon

The sermon is titled, "God Miraculously Steps into Our Mess." It is based on Matthew 1:18-25, which tells of the birth of Jesus. 

Life is messy. We all have messes in our lives. We are all hurting. God stepped into our mess to help. 

The Virgin Birth is a sign that Jesus -one of many sons of David - is THE Son of David. Jesus is unique. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. 

Joseph showed mercy to Mary and Jesus showed mercy to the adulterous woman. It was a new dynamic based on the fact that Jesus now pays the price for our sins. He is condemned in our place. He does not negate the Law; He pays the debts we concur. 

Today we say that these things (premarital sex) are not really sins. The Law is old and outdated. This change is not at all doing that. 

Isaiah 54:4 - We will not be humiliated. We will forget the shame of our youth. 

The moral standard has not been altered; but, Jesus bore our iniquities and that leaves room for endless compassion and mercy. 

Jesus brings the rule of God into the world through the forgiveness of sins. The rule of sin is broken. 

Many Old Testament prophecies have a double fulfillment. This is true of Isaiah's prophecies later applied to Jesus.

Jesus was fully God and fully human so that he could be the mediator and pay our debts in full. It's not merely that our sins are removed. Christ's righteousness is credited to us. 

Notes from the Sermon

The series beginning today is titled Wake Up and Live. Enlightenment anyone?

Sometimes we are in a groove. Sometimes we are in a rut. When we are in rut, we sleep through life and don't really live. 

St. Irenaeus wrote, "The glory of God is man fully alive."

Psalm 1:3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. 

The fully awake Christian is like a redwood at Big Sur. Behold the glory that God has wrought. 

The psalm goes on to say the wicked are like chaff and this dried up image makes me think of the drought and how all too often we live in a spiritually drought-stricken land. 

We are as close to God as we choose to be. Like the verse in Deuteronomy where God implores us to choose life. 

We need to be awake and aware of the "company" we keep and steer clear of that which deadens our souls. 

Our delight - leading to life and enlightenment- should be in the Word of God. Can we really delight in the things that deaden and darken our souls? I don't think so. Empty pleasures aren't pleasures at all. Reminds me of The Screwtape Letters - where C. S. Lewis writes that pleasures come from God and Satan seeks to trick us to trade true pleasure for that which isn't really pleasure at all. 

How often, though, does church offer empty pleasures rather than true delights? 

Notes from the Sermon

"You are welcome here wherever you are on your spiritual journey."

"Hello, my name is..."

Today I asked the question "What is at the heart of all American religion?" C. S. Lewis wrote Mere Christianity about those beliefs all Christians share. The sermon began with an example of different ways of doing church. The sermon is on identity. Here we go...

God changed people's name in the Bible - God gave them a new identity. We are a new creation, we have a new destiny, a destiny that is different from our past. 

We are all too often defined by our mistakes - known and named for our failures. God does not define us by our mistakes. God gives us a new start. 

It's never too late. Abram/Abraham got his new start - his new name - when he was 99! Sarai/Sarah was 90 and have birth after a lifetime of barrenness. Good news for a woman in her fifties. 

We are not our past mistakes. We are new. We are set free. Do not believe what the world says about you, do not be defined by world, do not be limited by the past. God has given you a new future.  We are the Children of God and God is LOVE. 

"Hello, my name is...Love."