The Truth Project tour #4 - The existence of God and the reliability of the Bible

We will be delaying this tour until March 23 due to inclement weather. Put March 9 on your calendars for our Ash Wednesday dinner and worship service.

Beyond Self-Justification

The text for the sermon this week is Matthew 5:21-32 (Additional readings for the week are Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 119:1-8, and 1 Corinthians 3:1-9). 

I’m reading the Newberry Medal winning book, When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. The narrator is a 12 year old named Miranda. There is a girl in the book named Alice Evans who apparently has a small bladder. A group of mean girls likes to keep her occupied when they see she has the need for the restroom. Their goal is always to embarrass her. During a music assembly at school Miranda has an epiphany:

                                                      

…Alice Evans was about to pee in her pants.

I turned to Alice. “Hey,” I said, “I have to go to the bathroom. Be my partner?”

Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean. It’s like how turning on a light makes you realize how dark the room had gotten. And the way you usually act, the things you would have normally done, are like these ghosts that everyone can see but pretends not to. It was like that when I asked Alice Evans to be my bathroom partner. I wasn’t one of the girls who tortured her on purpose, but I had never lifted a finger to help her before, or even spent one minute being nice to her.

She stopped squirming and looked at me suspiciously. “You have to go?” she said. “Really?”

“Yeah.” And in that moment, I wanted nothing as much as I wanted Alice to feel safe with me. “Really.”

As I reflect on Matthew 5 and Jesus shining a new light on our lives with his explanation of the law, I feel the same way. What seemed like obedience before now is revealed as totally lacking love, therefore totally breaking the law. Frederick Dale Bruner says, “Jesus’ ethic is not heroic in being geared to unusual situations but in asking for unusual Christians in all the usual situations.” Thank you, Rebecca Stead, for capturing the truth through the eyes of a 12 year old girl.

The Truth Project tour #3 - Anthropology

This week at Wednesday Night Live we are going to be viewing tour #3 of The Truth Project - Anthropology (the study of the nature of humans). Next time we'll look at theology (the study of God). John Calvin affirms the importance of understanding both of these as he opens his famous Institutes of the Christian Religion this way: “Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, chapter 1, paragraph 1.)

One of the key questions in this video segment is, "What is evil?"  

Cornelius Plantinga Jr., in his book Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: a Breviary of Sin, defines shalom, evil, and sin this way:

• Shalom = the way things ought to be. (“In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.” p.13)
• Evil = any spoiling of shalom
• Sin = culpable shalom-breaking. (“any act – any thought, desire, emotion, word, or deed – or its particular absence, that displeases God and deserves blame…let us therefore use the word sin to refer to such instances of both act and disposition.” p.14)

 I'm eager to hear what comments and questions come up during our discussion.

"Jesus' Short Sermon"

The sermon on January 23 centered on Matthew 4:17 where Jesus preaches, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 

I can hardly believe that I'm preaching a sermon on this without even mentioning the movie "Cars." The story is not about the kingship of Christ, but the transformation that takes place in Lightning McQueen is a great picture of life in the kingdom. I won't spoil the ending, but it still makes me a bit teary.

Here is the man-on-the-street video clip where no one names the kingdom of God as Jesus' main message (but admittedly there are some great answers in the bunch!):

Herman Bavinck sheds light on the nature of the kingdom of God (in quotations to long to preach). (Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.)

 “Accordingly, to the extent that the rule of God is not immediately fully realized in believers here on earth, and they on their part do not yet fully receive and enjoy the goods of that kingdom – eternal life, the vision of God, complete salvation – the kingdom is indeed still in the future. But insofar as it is established here on earth by the person and works of Christ it is planted in human hearts by rebirth, faith, and repentance, that kingdom is present, and believers are already citizens of and participants in it.” (247)

“In the Synoptics, Christ appears on the scene as a preacher and founder of the kingdom of God. That kingdom includes within itself the love of the Father, the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal life; and Jesus, in his capacity as Messiah, ascribes to himself the power to grant all these benefits to his disciples. Just as he has power to heal the sick, so he also has the authority to forgive sins. By this combination of powers, he proves that he is the complete Savior of his people. For that reason, too, there is no way of gaining admission into that kingdom and no participation in those benefits except by faith in his name. For it is he himself who gives his life as a ransom for many and who, in his death, breaks his body and sheds his blood to inaugurate and confirm the new covenant with all its blessings.” (383)

The Truth Project: tour #2

visit The Truth Project website

This week at Wednesday Night Live (1/26/11) we'll be watching the second "tour" of The Truth Project: Philosophy and Ethics

“The Cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.” This is Carl Sagan’s opening statement in the video series “Cosmos.” Dr. Tackett calls this the “cosmic cube.” It is a worldview that says nothing exists outside of this box. There is nothing that cannot be sensed or materially perceived. Dr. Tackett contrasts this with a Biblical worldview that claims that God is outside of the box – God created and sustains the box. The fundamental beliefs in this Biblical worldview are that God exists and that he has revealed himself to us in creation and through his Word.

These are not simply mental questions; they are very practical issues. Our view of the nature of things will affect how we answer the question, “What is right and what is wrong?”

The Truth Project