Fourth Sunday of Easter

Richard Davenport May 8, 2022 - 4th Sunday of Easter Acts 20:17-35 Every so often when I'm going through material for a sermon or Bible study, I reflect back on my time at Seminary, specifically my Master of Divinity classes. We had to take a wide variety of classes on different topics. Being a pastor is different from a lot of jobs because it requires a wide array of skills. We take classes on administration, just managing our own time and energy and that of those we work with throughout the week. We take classes on counseling, talking to people and helping sort out their problems from a pastoral perspective. We take classes on education, learning how to pass along our knowledge to young and old. We take classes on history, that of the Reformation and the early church and a smattering of the things in between. We take classes on preaching, which is one area that sets us apart from many Protestant denominations that don't consider that sort of thing important. We also take classes on leading worship. That's mostly just the nuts and bolts of the service and what is required of a pastor. We might tailor things to the specific needs of the congregation, but we need to at least have a sense of the basics before we go tinkering on our own. We aren't trained to be experts at any of those things, in large part because there just isn't time. They don't focus on one of those things over another to any great degree because the needs of one congregation may be very different from the needs of another. One may need a great administrator because they have a lot of people and a lot of things going on. Someone needs to help make sure everything stays on track. Education is always a part of the pastoral office, but at a big congregation with multiple pastors and other staff, it's possible a pastor may not be all that involved in the education side of the congregation's life. In addition, what your first congregation needs may not be what any subsequent congregation that calls you might need, so you need to know a little bit of everything. It's a bit like being self employed and needing to run your own business. Still, all of those diverse classes probably make up only about half, perhaps less, of what we have to take. The other half is made up of the broad study of theology and the nitty gritty study of Scripture. Even those could only scratch the surface, but the professors worked hard to give you a solid understanding of at least a few of the major books of the Bible so you'd have a foundation to work from. A class on Isaiah and the Prophets was about 80% Isaiah and then a quick overview of the other major Old Testament prophets. A class on the books of Moses spent most of its time on Exodus and then a brief look at the others. The professors would have loved to do more, but, again, there just isn't enough time. At four years, an MDiv course is already one of longest master's programs out there. At some point you just have to call it quits and get to work. On the one hand, it makes sense why we would take some time to study the Bible, after all, it's the most important part of what we do here. On the other hand, it's also a bit strange. I mean, if there's one thing we can do just about any time we want, it's read the Bible. People in churches around the world do it all the time. People dive into the word of God and read what he has said throughout the ages. People read about sin and about salvation through Christ. They read about forgiveness and eternal life. Learning how to be an administrator, a counselor, an educator, a preacher? These aren't things most people ever learn how to do, but anyone can pick up a Bible and start reading. Of course, just because anyone can doesn't mean anyone actually does. Biblical literacy in our country is at an all time low. Some church bodies do better at encouraging their people to read their Bibles at home, but we Lutherans aren't exactly bad at it. The problem is more than few of us make it a priority. The problem is bad enough that many pastors have considered or implemented making their confirmation class a three year program, where one year is just going over the basic Bible stories you could generally assume everyone knew in generations past. If the Bible is so important to who we are, why do we spend so little time with it? Obviously there are a million different reasons, none of them good, but we all have them. The regular busyness of the day intrudes and all of those things we know we should be doing are the ones we never find the time to get around to. You think, "Well, I know I should read my Bible more, but I just have too much going on. Besides, that's why we have a pastor." It's true that a pastor in the Lutheran church takes a lot of classes that dig deep into the text of Scripture, but that doesn't stop pastors from getting it wrong either. The Acts reading for today is a brief lecture from Paul to the leaders of the church in Ephesus. He has much more to say to them in the letter writes to them, which we know as Ephesians, but he takes every opportunity to build up the church wherever he is. He knows he will be leaving soon, so he doesn't squander this time he has with them. Hear again what he leaves them with, "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." We typically think of those attacking the church as coming from the outside, heathen persecutors from false religions, others who hate Christianity because they hate anything that condemns their pet sins, those who have been driven away by bad experiences in the church, whatever the case may be, now they have set their sights on the church and attack it ferociously. We think of those here in America who champion things God finds abhorrent and who seek to tear down the church and all it does. We think of those groups in other countries, particularly in Africa, the Middle and Far East, who persecute the church and try to stamp it out because it presents a threat to their rule or their ideology, much like the Roman Empire did two thousand years ago. St. Paul acknowledges those kinds of things happen and will continue to happen and we must be on guard against them. However, there is another danger, one that is more insidious. There will arise people within the church "from among your own selves" who will subvert the truth of God and seek to draw people away. You hear about the cult leader wackos that turn up in the news every so often, but St. Paul isn't really talking about those sorts of folks. These are not people who were ever actually a part of the church to begin with. No, he's talking to people like us, people who have been a part of the church for years, or even all their lives, people who, probably without setting out to do so, undermine God's word and set themselves up as the arbiters of what is true and God pleasing. How does this happen? It happens right when we think we've got it all figured out. Either we stop reading the Bible because we think we already know what we need or we go to the Bible with our own notions of what's true, instead of being open to letting God explain it to us. Lifelong Christians get it in their heads that they know better and they get some idea or another that bears only a vague resemblance to what God actually says and suddenly everything starts coming apart at the seams. You might think St. Paul is primarily talking to the pastors and the elders of the church, but no, the warning is for everyone. It only takes one person to let pride take the reins and hold themselves up as the authority on truth to fracture a church. You might also think you'd never have this problem, but Adam and Eve did, and they didn't have the problems with sin that we do. The whole conversation between Satan and Eve would have gone very differently if, when Satan asked, "Did God really say...?" Eve then responded, "I don't know, let me check." King Solomon, with his unparalleled wisdom reminds us in Proverbs, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", and "the beginning of knowledge." St. Paul warns us because the danger isn't just out there in the world, it's right here in my own heart and mind. He calls us to put aside our pride and to accept that the ideas and convictions we've held about ourselves and world may be wrong, very wrong, and may be harmful to ourselves and to the church. We pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," but letting God carry out his will is a constant battle, for that will doesn't start out there, it starts here by calling us to repentance and faith. He calls us to be disciples who, like Mary, are willing to simply sit at our Master's feet and listen as he teaches us things we could never understand on our own. We trust him to care for us, and he does as he promised. He forgives us for our pride and, like children who think they are grown up enough to not need parental supervision, our attempts to run things without him. Let his voice be the one you hear before even your own. An article I read recently by Ken Ham, the director of the Creation Museum talked about our relationship to God in the field of science and he referenced something the great astronomer Johann Kepler said. Ken Ham wrote, "Yet it wasn't very long ago that one of the world's greatest scientists, Johann Kepler, stated, as he was involved in his research, that he was merely thinking God's thoughts after Him. Kepler and many other great scientists were great because they started with God's Word as the foundation for their thinking." Kepler, not a theologian, but a scientist, understood what formed the basis for all good things. Anything that starts with something else is doomed to fail. Luther also wrote what has come to be known as his Sacristy Prayer. It was something to keep him grounded in his work as a pastor. I have it on my wall in my office. Luther prays, "O Lord God, thou hast made me a pastor and teacher in the church. Thou seest how unfit I am to administer rightly this great responsible office; and had I been without Thy aid and counsel I would surely have ruined it all long ago. Therefore do I invoke Thee. How gladly do I desire to yield and consecrate my heart and mouth to this ministry! I desire to teach the congregation. I, Too, desire ever to learn and to keep Thy Word my constant companion and to meditate thereupon earnestly. Use me as Thy instrument in Thy service. Only do not Thou forsake me, for if I am left to myself, I will certainly bring it all to destruction. Amen." We fervently pray, "Thy will be done," even if that means starting with us, even if God has to readjust our notions of who we are and even our notions of what is true and God pleasing. He calls to you to tell you you are forgiven for your pride. He calls to you to come and sit, learn and grow. He has so many wonders to share with you.