Sunday, June 22, 2008

How many of you consider that you already have died? According to Paul, all of you have died, symbolically, theologically’ in baptism. We have been united with Jesus in his death and if we were maybe a different denomination, we would do baptism by immersion. In immersion which is really the best sign for baptism, the person would be totally put under the water to symbolize he had died, and then was raised to new life.

Most of us don’t look forward to life after death. We do in one sense, but to realize that according to Paul, according to what Jesus says, we have already died. We have died to sin from our baptism; and we have been raised to newness of life. God looks to us to live a new life. It’s not always easy to get past that old life, that old self, that old ego that we have, because according to the Bible, the original sin for most of us is idolatry. It is wanting to put ourselves in the place of God.

Going back to Adam and Eve, one of the temptations of the fruit on the tree was that it would make them able to discern between good and evil, like God! The serpent said that you would become like God, that you would not need God anymore to tell you what was right and what was wrong. We still need God to do that. It goes back to the fact that when we are born, an infant assumes and knows that they are the center of the universe. When they cry, their needs are met; it is for us to discern what those needs are, whether they need food or a new diaper or something else. They know they’re the center of the universe. We talk often about the “terrible twos” when we begin as two year olds to discern that we are a little bit different from our parents; and we try to set out again the fact that we are the center of our universe. There is a test of wills at that time. James Dobson, in one of his early books, talked about the “twos,” that two year olds have a very strong will. They want to set out for us and let us know that they are the center of the universe. When we come to our teenage years, we again assume that we know everything, that we are the center of the universe and our parents and other adults, know nothing, again, setting out the fact that we are the center of the universe. Again and again, and it doesn’t stop there. Those are just some good examples. Not to pick on anybody in that respect, all of us have gone through that.

We know at certain times that we are the center; we have that sense of idolatry, that sin that has to die in ourselves, that says when we come through baptism to God, we die to that sin, we die to the power of sin, death and the devil, the devil who continues to tempt us, to say, “Yes, what you’re thinking and doing is exactly what God would do. You are God. You don’t need to consult God; you don’t need to go to God. You know that you’re right”.

Paul says, Jesus said that we have died to those things, but it takes a long time for that habit to go away. We know that in our baptism, we are made new, we are made clean, that our sins and all of the things that have happened to us have been washed away. We grasp that idea; we understand that. In the early church, people wanted to take advantage of that. If you were a rich Christian, you had a priest, a minister on call in your house, 24 hours a day when you got near the end, so that the last thing that happened in your life was that you were baptized.

You didn’t become a Christian until the very end because you knew that if you were baptized as the last thing in your life, then you would be right with God. You would be sure that you would be going to that other life after death. The Church didn’t particularly like that. This is where, in the Catholic Church, you have the right of last rites. You have the opportunity, if you know Catholics, to confess your sins, be forgiven, receive the sacrament, and know that you were right with God. But people said early on, “Well baptism does that!” Yes, it does, it makes us right with God.

But what needs to die is the sense that we are in control, that we are the ones who set the agenda. One of those wondrous statements we like, says that if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. Because, we have wondrous plans, wondrous schemes; but are we listening to God, are we following the one who has said, “I am God. I am your Lord and Savior, I am the one who sets the agenda for your life”. We keep wanting to set the agenda for ourselves.

We have a great story here in our first scripture reading about Abraham. One of the best reasons for not having polygamy, for not having two women in your life is that there will always be conflict, especially if they have children, and they are putting their children’s interests out there. Sarah was okay with letting Hagar be her substitute with Abraham so they could have a son, which they did, Ishmael. And God said, “That’s not my plan; my plan is for Sarah to have a son and so Sarah has a son; and that son is weaned and they have this celebration. Sarah sees those two young boys playing together. She says, “You know, Ishmael’s always going to be older and bigger, and I don’t like that. Abraham, send them away.” Abraham didn’t know what to do. He loves both of his sons; he cares for them. So what does Abraham do? He goes to God and says, “God, I don’t know what to do. I’m between a rock and hard place; I’m between Hagar and Sarah, what do I do?” God says, “It’s going to be okay. Just do whatever Sarah tells you to do and I will make it right. Yes, your main theme for your descendents is with Isaac; but I will also make of Ishmael a great nation. Abraham, you don’t worry.”

Now how many of us in our lives would like to hear from God, “You don’t have to worry. It’s going to get taken care of.” But we spend all of our time worrying. In my family, we just found out in the last year that my dad was a tremendous worrier. We didn’t know that because he had my mother who kept track of all the finances, who kept the calendar, who wrote all the cards, who sent all the letters, who kept in touch with everyone. We never knew he was a worrier; my mom covered for him. She took care of all of his worries. She’s been gone now about four years and he was finally realizing that he had to pick up and do some more things, and he began to worry about all of those things. We finally had to go to him and let him know, “No, you don’t have to worry about those things. We will take care of it. God will take care of it.” We don’t have to spend all of our time worrying and putting all of that energy into trying to make our plans come about. God takes care of Hagar and Ishmael. Now the conflict between Hagar and Sarah, God can’t do anything about, at least not while they are alive. The next time that we know that Ishmael and Isaac get together is when Abraham dies, and they come to the funeral. Sound familiar? In families, you have all of these tensions, all of these problems and then you have a funeral, a wedding, some major gathering and everyone comes together and says, “Why have we been apart so long, why does it take this kind of event to get us together?” God wants us to know that we are freed from all of those things.

We are freed from those worries, from those concerns. God is the one who is in charge and we don’t have to be God. We’re not expected to be God. God is God. We are to turn those things over to Him and listen for what God’s direction is for our life, for our church, for our denomination. We can sit down and make all kinds of decisions. We can make all kinds of plans and we should be listening for God in the background, laughing. This is because God will generally do these things differently, in a different way, at a different time that we expect or hope or want; but we are called to follow God. He is the one who has promised us newness of life, who is there continually trying to redirect us, to remake us, to make us into the people He created us to be, with all of those potentials and all those gifts and all of our obedience.

Reformers talk about the fact that we are freed from sin and death and, yes, the power of the devil. We don’t have to worry about them. We are freed from all of those concerns. We are freed for service, obedience, following and trusting in God. God will give us direction. God will tell us what to do and where to go. But we have to be listening; we have to be willing to be re-directed instead of saying, “You know, I’m the center of the universe. Everything revolves around me, and I have to make it all right. And that’s all wrong. The one who makes it all right is God. God calls us to be faithful, to follow, to trust and to realize that there is life after death, that we’ve already been, in baptism, brought out of that life of sin to the new life of faith and discipleship in Jesus Christ.

Everything that happens from now on, God will be in charge of, and take care of and we don’t have to be that worried about it. We simply have to do what God calls us to be about. We don’t have to be in charge of everything, simply what God places before us and asks us to do. We still like to be in charge. We still do it every day. We have our palm pilot and our blackberries and the like, we schedule our lives wondrously, and God laughs. As I said, we have all of our plans in order; then everything falls apart, yet everything works out.

Kris, my wife, was all set to get on the plane, and the airline people said, “The flight is cancelled. We can’t get you there, even tomorrow.” The ticket counter agent said, “Do you want to fly out of Memphis or Fort Smith?” I said, “Well I can drive her to Dallas”. He said, “Okay, that’s where all the flights are originating; you can take off in bad weather there; you can’t land in bad weather.”

We have one schedule and God has a very different one. God calls us to let those things go, to allow God to be God and for us to be His people, for there is life after death. There is a God who is making us new, making us be born again, born from above, however you want to say it, God is there to do that for us if will allow God in. to take on the control and direction of our lives instead of our trying to be the ones in charge, in control, the center of the universe. We must realize that God is that. He calls us to new life, a life with God, a life following God and being directed by Him. That’s what God calls us to do today. Amen.

It’s never easy to let go of that control. We have all of our hopes and dreams, all of the things that we want accomplished. We make our lists. We make our schedules. We plan all kinds of things instead of making time for God, for listening to what God has for us. We have a wonderful support group here within our congregation, of people who listen, who can tell you how it changes their lives when they have listened and been re-directed by God.

And now we gather together to affirm our faith, to further find direction from God and direction for our lives. So at this time I invite you to join in affirming our faith together, using the words of the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into Hell. The third day He rose again from the dead

He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty,

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen