Losing my Religion
Acts 10-11
After several years of trying to bring about change from the inside, former President Jimmy Carter announced that he’s severing his ties with the Southern Baptist church over its treatment of women. “I have been a practicing Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me….So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service….. The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable…. The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place – and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence – than eternal truths.”
To be able to break away from tightly held beliefs, there has to be a conversion of the heart and mind. We’ve been talking about conversions this month and today we’re going to look the conversion of the Apostle Peter. Up until this time, followers of Jesus were Jews and they saw the focus of Jesus' ministry to be the Jews. Gentiles were not considered worthy of being saved. Peter held these beliefs until he had the vision recorded in our Scripture today. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." Peter then tells them about his vision and what God said of the Gentiles, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." A conversion had taken place and now Peter saw that Jesus came not just for the Jews but for all God’s children. The first conversion that Peter experiences is from his religious traditions. Likewise, we have some traditions in our life we think are Christian, that we have to be converted from because they are American, not Christian. Many times we have traditions because we’ve always done them but we don’t know their origin, meaning or purpose.
There’s a small-town church in upstate New York who had the same rector for over 35 years. He was loved by the church and the community. After he retired, he was replaced by a young priest. It was his first parish so he had a great desire to do well. After several weeks he began to perceive that the people were upset at him. He was troubled. Eventually he called aside one of the lay leaders of the church and said, "I don’t know what’s wrong, but I have a feeling that there’s something wrong." The man said, "Well, Father, that’s true. I hate to say it, but it’s the way you do the Communion service." "The way I do the Communion service? What do you mean?" "Well, it’s not so much what you do as what you leave out." "I don’t think I leave out anything from the Communion service." "Oh yes, you do. Just before our previous rector administered the chalice and wine to the people, he’d always go over and touch the radiator. And, then, he would--" "Touch the radiator? I never heard of that liturgical tradition." So the younger rector called his predecessor. He said, "I haven’t even been here a month, and I’m in trouble." "In trouble? Why?" "Well, it’s something to do with touching the radiator. Could that be possible? Did you do that?" "Oh yes, I did. Always before I administered the elements, I touched the radiator to discharge the static electricity so I wouldn’t shock them." For over 35 years, the people of his congregation had thought that was a part of the Holy Communion. Traditions get started, and people endure them for a long time and they begin to mix them up with obedience to God.
The second conversion is from religion to relationship. To understand that, we’re going to contrast two mountains. The first is Mt. Sinai where Moses was given the law of God, the Ten Commandments. The second is Calvary where Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world to reconcile us to God and one another. Mt. Sinai is about the law, which says a person's acceptance by God is based on their ability to keep all of God’s rules and regulations. Religion is based on law. It’s about trying to live your life by the law. If you are not faithful, you will suffer the consequences and that is judgment. This is why the crowd who brought the woman caught in the act of adultery was calling for her to be stoned. Because the law said she deserved it for violating the law.
In stark contrast to Mt. Sinai is Calvary. It's interesting that the picture of Sinai is the religious leader Moses coming down with his arms clutched around the law, the Ten Commandments. But on Calvary is the Savior with arms wide open. On Calvary, it's not about the law; it is about love. To the crowd wanting to stone the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said, "Let you who is without sin cast the first stone." And to the woman He said, “Go and sin no more.” That’s love and Jesus was saying, “You don't get it. It's not about the law; it's about love.” People weren't created to serve the Law. The laws were created to serve people to help them live for God, but instead they became enslaved to the law, becoming so focused on following the law themselves and judging those who did not that they forgot the real purpose of following God which is loving God and loving others. Too many Christians base their faith on laws: do this, say this or live like this rather than basing their faith and actions on love.
Jesus died for the sake of our sins that we might be reconciled to God. But God is interested in more than saving people for heaven. God is about restoring us to one another. One of the first acts that happened after the resurrection of Jesus, Jews and Gentiles, males and females, slaves and free persons - anywhere there had been a division between people, were brought back together as one. But for this to happen, there had to be a conversion.
The third conversion is from how we think God works. The Jews had been told from birth that they were God’s chosen people and so they assumed it was only through them that God would act and to them that God would speak. Acts 11:1, "Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God." When this Scripture speaks of the Word of God, it's not talking about the Bible because the Gentiles had not received the Scriptures. It’s talking about God who is active and present, who is working and speaking in the moment. This is a word spoken directly to a person or group. That's called "the living word." To hear that God would speak to the Gentiles, the unclean and untouchable people, whom the Jewish people had been forbidden to work, live or marry, is earth-shattering to say the least. Have you ever had that? Been amazed that God would speak to someone or through someone you’d never imagine?
Most United Methodist Bishops don’t like people who think outside the box and want to change the system for the betterment of the work of the kingdom. I’m one of those persons and had a previous Bishop call me about being assigned to our Board of Ordained Ministry which oversees the training and path to ordination for seminary graduates. As much as I tried to agree with him and honor in the conversation, he got angrier and angrier until he hung up on me in the middle of the conversation. I just stood there looking at the phone utterly amazed and bewildered. A few days later, he called me to his office in Baton Rouge and began to really lay into me for no real reason. And that’s when it happened. He said something and it just struck me right between the eyes. It was a truth spoken and it struck me to the heart. But I knew it was not the Bishop who said these words but God himself. And I remember thinking, “O come on God. Through him? This jerk who’s yelling at me for no reason and who hung up the phone on me. You’re going to use him to speak to me?” That’s just not right. That’s not fair!
The living word of God is actively speaking today. How does God's active presence speak today? Through the Holy Spirit. John 14. It may be an impression, or through a feeling, or a word or phrase or verse jumps out at you while reading Scripture or through the words of another person. But God’s spirit moves and speaks to us today and He can do so through some amazingly surprising people. Look at the conversion in Peter's life. He changed from “I would never do anything that's not in the book.” to “The Holy Spirit, the living word, told me to go with them and not worry that they were Gentiles.”
The fourth conversion is to move from exclusive cliques. Even in church, we have cliques. We've even named our cliques, right? Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Methodists. We have to move from exclusive cliques to an inclusive community. That’s what our mission of “Connecting diverse communities to a lifestyle devoted to Jesus” is all about. And yet, it seems that so many churches have a problem with people that are different from us. In Acts 10:28, Peter told these Gentiles who showed up, "You know it's against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you." We have laws or barriers in church today. To be a part and to be accepted, you have to think like them, talk like them, believe like them and act like them.
There’s the story of a young man who had been attending a Bible study at college for many months to learn about Jesus and one night, he gave his life to Christ. Easter was the coming Sunday and so he decided to go. Unfortunately, he overslept. When he awoke, he saw the clock and realized he had just a few minutes before the service was going to start. He pulled on a pair of cut off blue jean shorts, his favorite t-shirt and slipped his sandals on his feet. He threw some water on his hair but it was still disheveled and then he grabbed his Bible and ran out of his room and down the street to the church. When he arrived, it was just minutes before the service. He walked in and the usher saw this man’s clothing and gave him one of those looks. The young man didn’t even notice because he was so excited to attend his first Easter service. He walked in and the church was full with people dressed in their best suits, dresses, hats and gloves. He walked down the center isle row-by-row looking for an empty seat and before he could find one, he found himself at the front row and no seats available. By this time the whole church’s attention was fixed on this young man with his long hair in a ponytail and clothing. Not finding a seat, he sat down in the middle of the isle. Down walked Mr. Johnson, the head usher and a stickler for following the rules. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief knowing this situation would be taken care of. When Mr. Johnson got to the young man, he grabbed two hymnals and sat down right next to him on the floor.
As followers of Jesus, we should no longer think judgmentally. Instead we should welcome everyone into our community. Every time I look at another person and begin to judge them, I am judging God. God is in that person because they’re made in the image of God. What we need to begin to do as we look at other human beings is to see the image of God. Every human being contains the image of God. No human being is unsalvageable. If I am in the church, anybody can be in the church. To love as God loves is to love and honor all persons. This new community of Jesus is not about finding ways to build walls and barriers. It's about tearing down walls and bringing people in. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." This is why Jesus is the hope of the world. Think about it; light contains all of the colors of the spectrum. Jesus is not about a race, nationality, gender or way of dress. Jesus called himself the Son of Man. He didn't call himself the son of Jews. So Jesus is the hope of every person. It’s about welcoming all of God’s children and connecting them to the light of the world.
The fifth conversion is from devotional faith to missional lifestyle. Devotional faith is about us. It’s about our healing, easing our fears, inspiring our hearts and feeding our souls. It’s bringing a consumer mentality to church and our faith, “What’s in it for me?” What have you done for me lately? But Jesus didn’t save you so you could be more comfortable, he saved you for mission. That’s why it is critical that every day you take the time to listen to God for what he has to say. The movement from devotion to mission starts when God speaks to you. It's not just for personal inspiration or transformation; it is for divine mission. God always works through people. When God wants to do something in the world, God always does it through a human being. You are strategically placed right where you are. Someone right now is looking to heaven and calling out, "God, help!" And how do you think God is going to help them? You and me. Jesus is not only the light of the world; he is the hope and savior of their lives. God is going to connect people to Jesus through you. That can be a frightening thing but here's the Good News: the Holy Spirit has preceded you. He's already prepared their heart. You are working with these folks, living next to these folks or maybe you are married to this person. God has already prepared their heart. We don't have to try to convince the unconvinced. All you need to do is tell them what Jesus has done in your life. You don't have to be able to explain it or argue it. Just tell them what Jesus has done in your life and what he is doing for you and let God do the rest.
