Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

Sermon Title Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

Scripture:

First Lesson:

Congregational Reading: VU 790 (Parts 1-3) or from Psalms Now by L. Brandt

Second Lesson:

I. Introduction

I am unashamedly a Trekkie. Watching Star Trek is part of our family tradition. Some might think that is a good thing and some may think that is a bad thing. None the less, I am a Trekkie. I have watched the original Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and finally Enterprise. And I have seen all the movies. However, I want you to know that I have never attended any Star Trek conventions, that is going a bit too far even for me.

All the series and the movies are fun to watch. No gratuitous sex; no extreme violence or gross mutilation. This was part of the fun of watching it. And the fact that Gene Roddenberry strove to develop a philosophy of brotherhood, true tolerance and peace also made it good to watch. But what I remember and what I think everyone who has ever watched a Star Trek episode or movie is this. (play audio clip)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdjL8WXjlGI

To boldly go where no man has gone before! Or as it was restated in Star Trek: The Next Generation - To boldly go where no one has gone before.

II. Going Boldly Where No One Has Gone Before.

This is what Paul is saying to you and me - in Jesus Christ, God is calling you to go where no one has gone before.

Up to this point Israel saw to kinds of people - Israelites and Gentiles, those who were in a covenant relationship with God and those who were not. There were division between men and women, slaves and free and between nations. As it seems to always be - you are either in or you are out. The best illustration seems to be with teens. You are either in the in group or you are out. If you are in then you dress a certain way, talk a certain way and act a certain way. If you are out then you are mocked or ridiculed. Now today to do that overtly is not tolerated, but it is still done in so many subtle ways. And let’s be honest, this is not new.

We still hear of things like the old boys club, were women were and are still excluded from positions of influence. There has always been class distinctions, racial bigotry and the haves and the have nots.

Now I need you to listen carefully to this. You need to listen carefully because you and I know this in our minds, but in our hearts, in our hearts, and deep in our souls it is still not true for us. And if our society is honest, it is still not true for them as well.

In our passage today, Paul says, "And for this reason." In a sense he is saying, because of what I have said" or to boil it right down to one word - therefore. In the Bible whenever we read the word therefore or a phrase that means the same thing, we need to ask ourselves what is the therefore there for? What is Paul referring to here.

We need to look back in this letter to the Ephesians to put what Paul is saying into context. Here is a truth for you. You do not need to go outside of Scripture to understand Scripture. Scripture explains Scripture. If you have difficulty understanding something in Scripture, you need to search the Bible for the explanation.

So here Paul says, "For this reason..." - What reason? Paul is referring back to

Now this is a long passage, but central to our theme today.

(The Message)

But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything. The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

This is what you need to hear today. Paul is saying is that there is no in or out. You are all in. What God did through Jesus Christ was break down all barriers we thought separated us. From now on any barriers that you set up are of your own making. From now on any division you make you can't blame on God. All you need to do is accept what Christ has done for you on the cross and he will walk with you to get rid of your prejudices, your bigotry, and your discrimination.

Do you remember what Paul said in (The Message)

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.

This is the mystery, the secret of God demonstrated in Christ and revealed to Paul and which he proclaimed to everyone who would listen - in Christ you are set free to be who God created you to be.

The implications of this are almost beyond our fathoming. Gene Roddenberry an avowed atheist, and critic of how he saw people living their Christian faith (and often rightly so), unwittingly embraced the fundamentals of our Faith. The fundamentals which during every season of Advent we use candles to represent - Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.

The implications are almost beyond our fathoming, but not quite. The Gospels and the letters of Paul unfold these implications, and reveal them plainly to us.

I want you to pick up a copy of “Through the bible in a year”. And I want you to start reading through your Bible starting Monday - Tomorrow. My intent is not simply to give you something to do on a cold winter’s night. My intent is to begin to have you recall these implications and as Paul says in our passage today to understand the "unfathomable riches of Christ", to understand the blessings and spiritual gifts offered to us through our acceptance of Christ.

Think about how wonderful our world would be if we followed what the Bible said.

· Aids and sexually transmitted diseases would be wiped out.

· Our world would not be polluted and dying.

· There would not be divorce or broken families.

· There would be a fairer distribution of wealth.

· People would seek the best of and for others.

Would not this be a great situation to live in?

This is the mystery that Christ demonstrated and which was revealed to Paul and which he shared with everyone who would listen. This is what he wanted to bring to light. This is why he wanted to open people's eyes.

III. Show and Tell

(The Message)

Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.” But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!

This is the new world we want to bring to light and you and I must boldly go and tell people about this new world, this new way of life. Fortunately, unlike in Star Trek, we are not going where no one has gone before. We are going where millions of people have gone before us, and millions have seen the light and have been given new sight because of those people. You and I have seen the light and been given new sight because of those people. Now it is our turn. To bravely go where millions have gone before us - into our world to of Christ way, the Father’s truth, then new life available through the Holy Spirit.

People have called Christians the people of the book. This is a misunderstanding of who we are. We are people of the way, the truth and the life - Jesus Christ. Let our life’s mission be the same as Jesus - to boldly go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (The Message)