Sermon Tone Analysis

Keeping Faith Focused

Romans 10:5-13

 

         *Well, it’s that time again...  the time of the year, that is, when I clean out my closets.*

It happens when I switch my clothes for summer.

I sort and I route and I toss all sorts of things.

And I love the way it feels when I shed myself of so many of the things I don't really need any more.

*You may not know this, but in lots of ways I'm a pack rat.

*Someone once accused me of having a “Great Depression” mentality-- you know, keeping things I don't really need for a rainy day.

And to some degree that's true.

But every year, about this time, I TRY to shed myself of some of the stuff I pack away every winter.

*If you haven’t used it for two years you probably won’t miss it... *  Well, the year we moved to Cleveland, I decided to use that as my guide.

I gave away just about everything... and then one Christmas our younger daughter, Carey, came home looking  for something or another to take it back to  college with her.

In the middle of the big search for whatever it was, I realized I had given it away.

That, needless to say, didn't set well.

She accused me of caring so little for her that she won't have anything to inherit.

SO I went back to my pack rat ways.

But every Spring I TRY HARD to shed just a little bit.

*  The truth is, in a world of attics and closets and garages and storage bins and utility sheds and rental places for storage,* *we all collect far more “stuff” than we need for our journey in life.*

And all it does is weigh us down and wear us out, trying to keep up with it all.

·                   *When I first started off to college, *I could have fit all my worldly possessions in the smallest U-Haul- It you could rent and even that was only half full.

·                   *When I was in seminary* the minister I worked under at Second Presbyterian Church in Lexington, KY told me how he and his wife agreed when they first got married that they would NOT accumulate a lot of furniture and other “stuff” because /if/ and /when/ God called them to go someplace they didn't want to be bogged down with a lot of worldly possessions.

I really wish I could travel more lightly in this world than I do.

*It would probably be good for all of us to travel a little more lightly.*

Instead we tend to accumulate sooooooooooo much unnecessary baggage in life.

And this is true spiritually as well as just in our secular ~/material lives.

It would be so much healthier for us if we would keep our faith clear and simple and focused - to the point … If we could just focus in on what Jesus taught and did, how he lived... and not clutter it up with so much of our own stuff, -- I mean like creeds & doctrines, dogmas, & traditions & policies.

I think we'd all be  a lot better off in our spiritual lives if we could do that – keep it simple...  Of course, I don’t mean “simple” in the sense of stupid or uneducated, but “simple” in the sense of clear and focused... not complicated and uncompromised.

*            **When I was in school I wasn’t “hot” on the professors or text books that used such overly academic language  that  I couldn’t understand  what they were talking about.

*And I cared even less for the students who used theological jargon all the time… because only the professor knew what they meant.

*That’s why William Barclay became such a favorite of mine.*

Barclay was a classic Bible scholar  --  highly educated in history, languages, cultures  Biblical criticism, and the like  -- but when he wrote or lectured or led prayers, he used language that the average, ordinary person like me could understand.

And the way I saw it, Jesus did pretty much the same thing -- especially when he chose to teach in parables -- stories from everyday life which contained timeless truths.

*Likewise hen it comes to our faith, I believe we all need to keep it focused … prioritized … boil it down to the heart of the matter … keeping  simple enough that everybody can understand.*

After all, isn't that what Jesus did in his Sermon on the Mount… with the Beatitudes… and with his parables… and lessons about God's Realm?

Some Bible interpreters have suggested that might even be why Matthew’s gospel comes first in the New Testament.

-- Not because it was the earliest written, because it wasn't -- or not because it was any more important  than the others, but because Matthew organized his gospel around five blocks of Jesus’ teachings, which functioned to make them easy to remember.

Certainly for the Jewish people, it made Matthew’s gospel the popular.

And, as I said, some have suggested that this is possibly why it comes first in the New Testament.

*Or look at Paul’s Letter to the Romans.*

No doubt Romans is the most theological of all of Paul's letters.

You might even say it's difficult and complex in parts.

But  its basic themes are very straight forward and to the point.

*1)  Take the theme of “righteousness” for example.*

Righteousness simply means… having a right relationship with God, SLIDE:  and with your fellow human beings.

*2)  Or “salvation”*-- Paul says … very simply … yet deeply profound, in Ephesians 2:8 “you are saved by grace … through faith.”

*/Who can’t remember that?/*

It means:   God’s grace … God’s love for us … is so great that God wants everybody to be saved … to find fullness of life … both in this world … and the next.

God’s grace is offered to everyone, yet it's only by faith that we receive it.

Simple … yet profound.

*The righteous shall live by faith … and the faithful shall live by righteousness**.*

These were two of the most important and to the point things Paul had to say about what it means to be a Christian…

 

*And * *what /does/ it mean, what does it /take/ to be a Christian anyway?*

The truth is, throughout the 2000 years or so of Christian history, churches and Christians have so complicated the answer to that question with so many different creeds and doctrines … rules and regulations … policies and moral rules of conduct … that people don’t’ know which way is right.

We debate such thing s all the time even still.

Yet listen to what Paul says in Romans 5:9.

It’s put so clearly and simply: “If you believe with your heart … and confess with your lips … that Jesus is Lord … you will be saved.”

Believe and confess … believe and confess … believe and confess.

How straight forward and to the point that is.

 

    *        Why is it that we Christians so often clutter it up and make people jump through doctrinal or behavioral hoops?*

But, of course … the key to such a simple, straight-forward statement as Paul's is to make sure you say what you mean and mean what you say.

If you say it but don’t mean it,  it's no good.

And whether or not you really mean it is witnessed in your daily life style and your priorities.

*Jesus was a Master at keeping the faith focused and to the point.*

When someone came up to Him and asked, “What is the greatest and most important commandment ?"  he replied “You shall love the Lord with all your heart … and with all your soul … and with all your mind … and with all your strength.

(Mark 12:30)  And, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

(Mark 12:31)  This is what we call The Great Commandment.

It summarizes all of the Law and all of the prophets.

*How much clearer - or simply put - could it be?

* *Love God and love your neighbor.*

But we clutter that up, even those of us who think we don't.

*What it means to be a Christian has just got to be confusing to someone who's not been raised in the church...* And according to statistics, there is a HUGE group of people out there in that category today -- people who really need to know Christ and the Good News Christ brings to lives.

*/Could you confidently -- or even lackingly so – answer their questions./*

·        Precisely what does an unchurched person – some want to know -- one who may be contemplating Christianity need to believe in order to follow Christ?

·         Is being a Christian the stuff you believe or is it the way you live? 

·        Are you really Christian if you say you believe something, but then you turn around and live inconsistently with that belief?

I could list more...

The world has all sorts of questions that we need to be able to answer -- both in our words and by our living .

 

*            If we’re ever going to be able to speak adequately about what it means to be a Christian, with answers that make sense in today's world, I think we're going to need to learn to speak in simple, focused language (like Jesus.)*

We're going to have to *LIVE what we PROFESS*.

We're going to have to figure out what's really at the center of it all... *set aside some of our theological prejudices* and keep our faith focused and to the point;   which will  enable us to get along better as Christian brothers and sisters.

Which will help the world SEE what it means to be Christian... Otherwise we’re clanging gongs and noisy cymbals...

 

*And I'm not just talking about in any one particular congregation here; I’m talking about as Christians across the board.*

We’ve somehow managed, since Christ walked this earth,  to divide ourselves up into so many little theological camps, we Christians, that we can’t even count them… and we get all hung up on which way is the best – spending far too much time focused on things that don't really matter, and not nearly enough time on things that do – on BEING Christ’ s arms and legs in this world.

*We bicker over so many things that we don't have any time left** **to do justice … to love kindness … and walk humbly with our Lord!* (Micah 6:8)  Which IS, I think, the essence of what it means to love God and love your neighbor... and also what it means to be a Christian as well!

The world today is very complicated and confusing -- and getting more so all the time.

*Being a Christian shouldn’t – & /doesn’t have to/ /be/ -- all complicated and confusing.

That’s not to say it isn’t challenging… But it shouldn’t be impossible to understand… that’s one of the reasons I love the UCC so much… we TRY not to *complicate our faith journey with too much excess baggage and other stuff, but  to keep it as simple and to the point as possible.

*Love, God, Accept and Love your neighbor... and Work for a better world in the name of Christ.*..  So, my prayer today both for us as individuals AND as a congregation, is that we would

·       ...*focus our hearts and minds upon /Jesus/ *--  all that he said, all that he did, and all the ways he lived and  invited US to live;   

·       ...that we would strive to */learn/ more and to /grow/ more in our faith* every day -- giving that truly top priority in our lives; 

·       ...that we would to be */open and receptive and responsiv/*/e/ to the surprising movement of God's Spirit in our midst – who is always, always calling us to acts of justice, kindness, and humility… for* that is the Way of Christ.*

*If indeed we do these things and live in these ways, we’ll show the world by our very living that what it means to be a Christian!*

PRAYER:  Dear God, help us to focus clearly and simply on what it means to belong to you, to always say what we mean, and mean what we say … and may our daily living reflect that we mean it.

Lord, help us to shed the excess baggage of both our spiritual and secular lives -- that we might find the freedom and fullness of life that you offer.

We pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

*Cookie Cutter Christian* \\ Sermon by Brett Blair \\ Romans 8 : 28-30 \\ Ordinary Time 17

*Exegetical Aim:* Key verse: 29.

\\ \\ *Props:* Cookie dough or Play-Dough /(TM)/ and two or three different cookie cutters, and enough cookies to give one each to the children.

\\ \\ *Lesson:* Do you know what time it is?