Off the Chain

Introduction- JDD

In a moment of vulnerability with you all as my congregation, I have been exploring a lot lately the possibility that I might have a rather mild case of ADHD.

We’ve done a lot of reading about it in our family, and it all kind of lines up for me.

Case in point:

The other day, we were getting ready to leave for hockey, and I was eating lunch in the living room.

And so Sarah came in and made the incredibly reasonable request:

Take my dishes to the dishwasher.

And lock the front door.

And so I stood up, very intentionally and deliberately put my dishes in the dishwasher, and then very intentionally and deliberately turned on the outside light.

And I thought…no…that wasn’t it.

So I turned around, and very intentionally and deliberately picked up Josh’s socks from the living room.

And I thought…no…that wasn’t it.

And so I went back in the hallway and very intentionally and deliberately turned off the outside light…

This happens to all of us, right?

I have routinely said that there have been times where I have walked into the laundry room, where the list of possible activities is exactly one…and forgot why I was down there.

The Original Sin- We Forget

A friend of mine was studying the Old Testament, and said that if you read carefully, the original sin of the people of Israel is that they forget.

God has done all this wonderful saving work among them, and while they are at the foot of the mountain observing the flashes of lightning and thunderous voice of God in their midst as Moses is hearing the commandments from God himself the People of God who have just been liberated from Egypt by this very same lightning and thunder God in front of them…

…make a Golden calf.

It’s like Spiritual ADD.

And you know what?

We’re still struggling with it.

2 Timothy

Paul is writing from prison.

Paul has been experiencing persecution at the hands of the Romans, and so he finds himself in prison.

You can kind of imagine him writing this letter, shackled to the wall in chains, and this image strikes him.

I am bound in chains like a criminal right now.

But the Word of God is not.

The Word of God is not chained.

This is not the Bible.

So many folks assume and interpret this to be the Bible is off the chain, that the Word of God is this book and it goes where it needs to go.

And yes, that’s true!

The Bible is chuck full of verses in here that are liberating and freeing and unchained.

But…a few problems with this:

Pauls isn’t talking about the Word of God as the Bible, because he is (unknowingly) writing the Bible.

He doesn’t have a vision of a complete Bible in mind.

But also…this is much too small.

The word for…word…here in Greek is the word “Logos.”

Logos

Sometimes words in Greek sound like their English counterparts.

Logos can mean Word, or commandment, or saying.

But it also means Logic. Logos…logic.

Which, when you hear this…some things start to click in to place.

Listen to the beginning of John’s Gospel with a slightly different twist…

The Word Was God

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

God has a logic.

A way things work.

A way of organizing the world.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

You want to see what that Logic looks like?

Look at Jesus.

Look at the Logic of God in the flesh, to see how we’re supposed to move, act, and be in the world.

What is God’s Logic?

Mercy

There’s another verse in John.

The religious leaders of the day catch a woman in the very act of adultery.

And they all pick up stones, because the law says she deserves to be put to death.

And they ask Jesus what they should do, and he gives the famous answer:

Let the one without sin throw the first stone.

One by one they drop their stones and walk away.

Jesus says “did no one condemn you?”

She says no.

Jesus replies “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

So the Logic of God is all about mercy.

Even when you’re caught red handed, the Logic of God says that it won’t condemn you, and invites you to go and sin no more.

Which…sounds a bit like something else.

Healing

There’s a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years.

Which…feels like a long time.

She’s seen all the doctors, and spent herself into poverty, and no one can help her.

So she sneaks up behind Jesus and touches his robe, because she’s been taught that the Messiah will have healing properties.

When Jesus finds out who it was, he says one of his favorite sayings: “Your faith has made you well.”

See, Jesus could have admonished her, but the Logic of God is about mercy.

And the Logic of God is about healing.

The Logic of God is about making tomorrow better than today.

The Logic of God doesn’t tell the woman to go and sin no more because he intends to condemn her later. He tells her that because living in sin is painful, and the Logic of God is about healing.

The Logic of God doesn’t want us to hold on to bitterness.

Or envy.

Or jealousy.

The Logic of God wants us to be healed of all of that.

Love

The Logic of God is sitting around and teaching his disciples all about God’s logic, and he says this:

John 15:12–13 ““This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Remember, this Logic is what created the universe.

Apparently, the universe was not created with a Logic of dog eat dog.

Apparently the universe was not created with he who has the most toys at the end wins.

Apparently the universe was not created with only the strong survive as its foundation.

No, the universe was created with love.

And we’re supposed to love one another the way that Jesus showed us.

That’s the Logic of God, shown to us in the flesh of Jesus Christ.

It’s a Logic of mercy.

It’s a Logic of healing.

It’s a Logic of love.

What happens when we let the logic of God off the chain?

First of all, off the chain is a phrase that I’ve been assured that no one says anymore.

But this is what Paul is saying here in 2 Timothy.

Mercy? The idea that we are forgiven and can forgive others?

What would it look like for that to be unchained in your life?

What would it look like if you didn’t put any limits around mercy?

What if mercy didn’t play by any of the rules of our world?

What if mercy wasn’t restrained?

What if it was off the chain?

Healing? The idea that we can be better tomorrow than we are today?

What if healing was unchained in your life?

What if you were honest about what was hurting in your life?

Or what if we we more open to celebrating the healing others around us were experiencing without jealousy or judgment?

Love? What if we let love off the chain?

What if in this world we defined ourselves by who we were for, rather than what we were against?

What if, in this particular world, we offered our enemies our love rather than our tweets?

What if, we could take the chains off our hearts, and let love loose in the world?

Spiritual ADD

If you’re like me, we do this, but…that spiritual ADD kicks in.

I was supposed to lock the door, but instead I turned on the lights.

I was suppose to be merciful, but instead I got judgy.

I was supposed to be healing, but instead I got bogged down in my own stuff.

I was supposed to be loving, but instead I chose vengeance.

So Paul gives us this great little verse here:

2 Timothy 2:14 “Remind them of this, and warn them before the Lord that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.”

Remind them of this Logic of God.

Remind ourselves that mercy rules the day.

Remind ourselves that healing is important.

Remind ourselves that love is the highest calling.

But then, did you notice that he also tells us what makes us forget?

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”

Ahhhh. That’s the word. Ashamed.

The shame monster.

That’s the one that makes you forget.

What does it look like when we let the Logic of God off the chain, and instead tie up that ugly shame monster?

Key Tags

NA- A Key Tag for Different Levels of Sobriety.

A while back, a church I was in began hosting a Narcotics Anonymous group.

I had gone over the first two meetings or so just to show them where the bathrooms were and make coffee for them, and then planned on leaving them be.

But…I couldn’t.

They invited me, someone who has never struggled with drugs in the least, to stay in the circle with them.

And what I saw every night was the quite simply, the Logic of God let loose of the chains.

One of the nightly traditions was the NA keychains.

They had this box of keychains, each a different color, and each representing a different level of sobriety.

If you were clean for one day, you got a white key tag.

If you were clean for one month, you got a blue one.

If you were clean for 5 years, you got a red one.

Or something like that…I just remember that the one day key tag was white.

When someone comes up for a white key tag.

Because one night, someone who was up in the 5 or 10 years clean level stood up, and came forward to collect the white key tag.

Which mean that someone with 5 to 10 years of clean time had relapsed.

He had failed.

He was wrong.

What were the possible reactions?

Frustration?

Judgment?

Anger?

Fear? Am I next?

Condemnation?

What was the actual reaction?

I watched slack jawed, as the whole room slowly started applauding this guy.

And then one by one by one everyone stood up and gave him a hug.

He failed

But he came back.

He could have just sat there, not collected a key tag, and never let anyone know he relapsed.

But he had the shame monster rightly chained up.

He could have found a cold shoulder, but instead he found a room full of love.

And here’s the dangerous thing I was thinking as I sat in my corner of the room:

How come church isn’t like that?

It’s because somewhere, on some level, the Word of God, the Logic of God is chained in us.

We need to let it off the chain.

This is what happens when we let the Logic of God off the chain.

We chain up the shame monster.

I have absolutely no interest in keeping anyone locked in shame.

Neither does the Logic of God.

Present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed.

And if our brothers and sisters are approved by God, with no need for shame, well then we ought not to shame each other.

Whatever sin we struggle with.

Whatever personality defect we carry with us.

Whatever secrets lie in the closet.

Whatever creepy crawlies live under the rocks of our lives.

No shame needed.

We remember mercy.

We remember the words of Christ:

Does no one condemn you?

Has no one had the ability to throw that first stone?

Is no one else able to put that shame on you?

Well then neither does Christ.

Go in the freedom of mercy, because God has given it to you already.

We remember healing.

And when you go…go and sin no more.

Set down that pain you’re carrying with you.

Set down that ailment that won’t let you go.

Leave behind your bitterness.

Let go of resentment.

Let tomorrow be better than today in the light of Christ.

Remember that healing is in the logic of this world.

We remember love.

We remember the words of St. Paul, John, George, and Ringo:

All you need is love.

The one thing that the Logic of the Universe has asked of you is to love one another as He has loved us.

You don’t need to reach for anything else.

Just reach for love.

And when we can’t remember…we remind each other.

Let the Logic of God off the chain.

You’ll be glad we did!