{"id":2587,"date":"2021-08-15T13:00:48","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T20:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/pentecost-11-sunday-august-8-2021-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-08-12T16:12:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T23:12:39","slug":"pentecost-12-sunday-august-15-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/pentecost-12-sunday-august-15-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentecost 12 – August 15, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMessy Spirituality\u2026 Unbelievable Teachings\u201d \u2013 John 6:51-69<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Introduction – deck chairs <\/strong><\/h4>\n

There is a Peanuts cartoon (by Charles Schulz) that starts with Lucy at her ten-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for advice about life.<\/p>\n

She says, \u201cLife, Charlie Brown, is like a deck chair. Have you ever been on a cruise ship? Passengers open up these canvass deck chairs so they can sit in the sun. Some people place their chairs in the rear of the ship so they can see where they\u2019ve been. Other people face their chairs forward\u2026 they want to see where they\u2019re going. On the cruise ship of life, Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair facing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking befuddled, Charlie replies, \u201cI\u2019ve never been able to get one unfolded\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

On the cruise ship of spirituality, and maybe especially Christianity, which way is your deck chair facing? Despite the surplus of instructors, pastors, teachers, and gurus out there eager to explain God\u2019s plan for the placement of your deck chair, do you sometimes feel like you can\u2019t even unfold it? When you open up your Bible\u2026 anywhere\u2026 do you get that befuddled Charlie Brown look on your face? When you listen to a sermon, does it go over your head, or in one ear and out the other? When you try to pray, do words refuse to come to your mouth, or even to your heart? When you\u2019re supposed to be singing, does your mind travel elsewhere \u2013 to planned afternoon activities, to a previous conversation, or to a person that you can\u2019t stop thinking about?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Messy Spirituality<\/h4>\n

You know, for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a godly person. I went to Sunday School when I was a kid. Then I went to confirmation classes. Although I would say that my parents made me go, it was good, and I started memorizing Bible verses and getting to know God through His interactions with people in the Bible. In high school and youth group, my faith became my own. I wanted to know God better so I took part in youth group Bible Studies. I studied to be a teacher, but that didn\u2019t seem to be enough\u2026 I wanted to serve God more fully, saying thanks for His overflowing grace. I went back to school, studying to be a pastor. I didn\u2019t want to be a Billy Graham or a Martin Luther. For the last 37 years, I have been content to be a parish pastor in relatively small to medium sized congregations. I have been trying to follow Christ most of my life. But I haven\u2019t exactly been a superstar follower. Sometimes I\u2019m a stumbling, bumbling, clumsy kind of follower. I haven\u2019t been a model father. I have failed in various ways in my marriage. I have said and done things that have hurt people in my churches. The recent developments in Canada have uncovered some of my own prejudices. My prayer life has not exactly sped along in overdrive\u2026 more like mediocre meandering. And I will stop short before telling you about the sins that continually heckle and torment me. Sometimes, far from facing the front or the back of the Christianity cruise ship, I have struggled to unfold my chair.<\/p>\n

I kind of guess that some of you, maybe a lot of you, well, probably ALL of you can relate to what I have just said. And that is to say that following Jesus, spirituality, is a messy kind of business – always has been, always will be. Think about it\u2026 \u201cspiritual\u201d is a word that is commonly used by Christians to describe people who pray all day long, who read their Bibles faithfully, who never get angry or rattled, who possess special powers, and who have the inside track to God. \u201cSpirituality\u201d is a word that reminds us of \u201csaints\u201d who have forsaken the world, taken vows of poverty, and isolated themselves in cloisters. So\u2026 is there a spirituality for us common, ordinary, broken, screwed-up people who couldn\u2019t be Godly if our lives depended on it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a02. The Bible\u2019s \u201cmessy spirituality\u201d people<\/h4>\n

The answer is \u201cYES\u201d and it\u2019s found in the Bible as we read about imperfect, nonreligious people, who, in the end, reveal to us that ANYONE can be spiritual.<\/p>\n

After the flood waters receded, Noah triumphantly left the ark and\u2026 got drunk, and got naked \u2013 not exactly a model man of God. But he had found favour in the eyes of the Lord. He was spiritual.<\/p>\n

Jacob was a liar, a trickster, a deceiver, but God changed his name to Israel and made him the ancestor of God\u2019s covenant people. He was spiritual.<\/p>\n

While he was king, David committed both adultery and murder. He is described as a man after God\u2019s own heart. Not many of us would describe him in that way. Not many of us would hold him up as someone to be imitated. But David was spiritual. Read the Psalms and you\u2019ll find out.<\/p>\n

When we turn to the New Testament, we read about Zacchaeus, that cheating tax collector who one day invited Jesus over for dinner, changed his tune, gave away half his possessions, and became a faith-full and spiritual son of Abraham.<\/p>\n

Paul had it in for those faith-less Israelites who followed that Jesus guy. He was threatening them, and arresting them, and taking them to prison\u2026 until he personally met that risen Jesus guy and became the outspoken great missionary of Jesus to southeast Europe. No one can argue that Paul wasn\u2019t spiritual.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But for every one of those people and for dozens more in the Old Testament and the New Testament, spirituality was messy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Hard teachings\u2026<\/h4>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0a. in the Bible<\/h4>\n

I think that every bona fide, Bible-believing, Christ-following person who wants to know God better and to live a Godly life still has trouble with certain things about God in the Bible and about the Christian faith. What are some of the hardest teachings of Christianity for you to accept? I have been leading a small group of people who are reading through the Bible from front to back, and one of the things some of those people struggle with the most is how God, in the Old Testament, calls for the mass destruction of various people groups all so that the Israelites can settle the Promised Land.<\/p>\n

Maybe you have a hard time with that unbelievable 6-day creation account from the Bible, when the scientific evidence \u201cproves\u201d the Big Bang creation and evolution alternative. Did a flood really<\/em> cover the entire<\/strong> earth? Did Jonah really survive inside a whale for 3 days? How could Mary have still been a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus? Is there truly life after death \u2013 sounds too good to be true!<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0b. of Jesus<\/h4>\n

There were people who had a tough time with what Jesus was saying. Most of those people were the pharisees and religious leaders of the Jews. Jesus was saying that blatant sinners \u2013 using today\u2019s terminology \u201cthose with messy spirituality\u201d \u2013 would enter the Kingdom of God before those apparently holy and righteous religious people. Those same religious people had a tough time with what Jesus was doing \u2013 healing people on the Sabbath, not following the ritual laws of cleaning, and hanging around with those messy people \u2013 prostitutes, tax-collectors, lepers. But the religious people weren\u2019t the only ones who were challenged by Jesus. In Mark 10, Jesus said to a rich man who inquired about discipleship: \u201cSell all your belongings, give them to the poor, and follow me.\u201d That rich man walked away from Jesus with a sad and downcast face, because he couldn\u2019t accept Jesus\u2019 tough teaching.<\/p>\n

Now, in John 6, we find that some other people walked away from Jesus because they had a tough time with what He was teaching. The chapter started with Jesus feeding a crowd of 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. Actually, the crowd was likely 4 or 5 times that many, because the 5,000 were just the men. That miracle led to a long section of Jesus teaching. It started with, \u201cI am the bread of life,\u201d continued with \u201cI am the living bread that came down from heaven,\u201d and included the messy, offensive statement, \u201cUnless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, be honest\u2026 is that one of the teachings of Jesus that you find hard to swallow? When we think about that in the context of Holy Communion, our doubting minds can\u2019t fathom Jesus\u2019 flesh in the bread and Jesus\u2019 blood in the wine. Our imaginative minds are quite naturally drawn to pictures of cannibals boiling a missionary in a big vat of water. If you find that teaching challenging, you are in good company. As we read in John 6, many of Jesus\u2019 disciples considered it a hard saying, and many of them no longer followed Jesus. (Now, just to clarify, it wasn\u2019t Jesus\u2019 twelve disciples that left, but some other people from the larger crowd that hung around Him.) This teaching of Jesus was a deal-breaker for them.<\/p>\n

You know what a deal-breaker is\u2026 it\u2019s when a young man is thinking about proposing to a young woman but then he hears that she doesn\u2019t want to have children \u2013 that\u2019s a deal-breaker for him, and he breaks off the relationship entirely; it\u2019s when your boss at work asks you to turn a blind eye to the promotion he is planning to give his undeserving son-in-law \u2013 that\u2019s a deal-breaker, and you quit your job.<\/p>\n

For these wanna-be disciples in John 6, eating Jesus\u2019 flesh and drinking His blood was a discipleship deal-breaker. They allowed reason to overtake faith; they permitted human thought to outdo divine words; they chose logic over mystery. And let me tell you that while it is not wise to turn off our brains entirely when it comes to believing, we do need to give mystery a place in our relationship with God. After all, we can\u2019t even see God, so He, Himself, is mysterious. The Triune God is a mystery. The virgin birth of Jesus is a mystery. The forgiveness and new life in Baptism is a mystery. If we take away all the mystery, we couldn\u2019t really call it a Christian FAITH!<\/p>\n

So, we have the detractors with their logical, doubting, deal-breaking, messy spirituality response: \u201cThis is a hard teaching\u2026 who can swallow it?\u201d<\/p>\n

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4. Peter\u2019s response<\/h4>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0a. Sometimes messy, sometimes spot-on<\/h4>\n

Then, in contrast, we hear Peter\u2019s response. Not to say that Peter\u2019s spirituality wasn\u2019t messy at other times \u2013 When Peter had to be convinced to go out fishing one morning, and then Jesus had enabled him and his fishing buddies to catch a boat-load of fish, Peter admitted, \u201cLord, I\u2019m a sinful man.\u201d When Peter was befuddled at Jesus\u2019 transfiguration appearance with Moses and Elijah, and didn\u2019t know what to say, he managed to say, \u201cI\u2019ll build three tents so you can all stay here.\u201d When, at the last supper, Jesus predicted that all His disciples would abandon Him, Peter piped up, \u201cI\u2019ll never deny you, I\u2019ll die with you.\u201d But at other times, Peter\u2019s understanding was spot-on \u2013 When asked who the disciples thought Jesus was, Peter boldly declared: \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,\u201d and when an apparent phantom walking on the water identified himself as Jesus, it was Peter who courageously said, \u201cLord, tell me to come to you on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

On this occasion, when the detractors turned away from Jesus, Peter\u2019s response was again solid. Jesus first asked, \u201cSo, have you Twelve had enough, too? Was that teaching too difficult for you? Are you done with me, are you leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0b. \u201cLord\u201d<\/h4>\n

Peter replied with the word, \u201cLord.\u201d Right off the bat that indicated a relationship, a trusted relationship with this unique man that he had followed already for a year or two. Peter could have called Jesus \u201cRabbi,\u201d and the disciples had used that term before, for Jesus was their teacher. But Peter called Him \u201cLord\u201d to indicate Jesus\u2019 divinity and authority, and Peter\u2019s trust in Him.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0c. \u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/h4>\n

Then Peter says, \u201cto whom shall we go?\u201d That\u2019s like saying that no one compares to Jesus. There is no other rabbi, no other prophet, no other religious leader of any kind that carries the authority and strength that Jesus carries. When the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, part of their victory song proclaimed, \u201cWho is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?\u201d Psalm 115 and Isaiah 40 also declare the greatness of God, saying that gods of silver and gold made by human hands pale in comparison to the true God who made the heavens and the earth, and who rules the world with power and justice. In the same way, Peter is saying that there is no other religious authority that he would even consider listening to and following. And why is that?<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0d. \u201cWords of eternal life\u201d<\/h4>\n

Peter understands that Jesus has the \u201cwords of eternal life.\u201d Jesus had just finished saying the same thing: \u201cThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.\u201d He had said that to Nicodemus in their night-time conversation: \u201cWhoever believes in the Son of Man has eternal life.\u201d He would say something similar to Martha a few months later, after her brother Lazarus had died, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will live.\u201d Jesus\u2019 words were not just about superficial conversation \u2013 the weather, Olympic results, and the latest pandemic numbers. Jesus\u2019 words had meat to them: \u201cWhoever feeds on this bread will live forever,\u201d and \u201cWhoever drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,\u201d and \u201cMy flesh is true food, my blood is true drink,\u201d and \u201cWhoever believes has everlasting life,\u201d and \u201cWhoever comes to me will neither hunger, nor thirst.\u201d On a couple of notable occasions, Jesus\u2019 words forgave the sins of individuals that He encountered. In order to back up the forgiveness part, Jesus did something, put His money where His mouth was, He put His body behind what His mouth said. Jesus died, He sacrificed His body and spilled His blood so that YOU would BE forgiven of all your sins, and so that the \u201ceternal life\u201d words would be backed up by deeds. Peter knew that Jesus had those words of eternal life and he would soon see that Jesus also lived out the actions of eternal life.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0e. \u201cYou are the Holy One of God\u201d<\/h4>\n

Next, Peter said \u201cwe have believed and we know that you are the Holy One of God.\u201d Oh, yes, in our messy spirituality there are some hard things to comprehend, but we believe\u2026 we acknowledge the mystery, and we believe\u2026 sometimes, like the dad who was called upon to believe that Jesus would heal his son, we say: \u201cI believe, help my unbelief!\u201d \u201cWe know that you are the Holy One of God.\u201d \u2013 that was similar to Peter\u2019s confession, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God,\u201d and it was similar to Thomas\u2019 post-Easter confession, \u201cMy Lord and my God.\u201d No matter how hard the teaching, no matter how challenging to understand it all, no matter how messy our own spirituality is, that\u2019s the main thing\u2026 to keep Jesus as the undisputed Lord and Saviour and center of your life.<\/p>\n

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5. Keep Jesus as your Lord and Saviour<\/h4>\n

That\u2019s what John 6 points to today. You see, Peter \u2013 like Noah, and Jacob, and David, and Zacchaeus, and Paul, and like you and me \u2013 Peter had a messy, confused, sinful spirituality. But that day he got it right. Jesus, the incomparable Holy One of God has the words of eternal life. My spirituality is up and down, here and there, sometimes confused, sometimes uncertain, always messy in its own way. Yours might be, too. But the main thing is to keep Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of your life, because in that simple truth anyone can be spiritual, and everyone can be saved.<\/p>\n

Jesus accepts people who have a messy spirituality, who don\u2019t have it all together, who don\u2019t believe every last word that He said. Don\u2019t let any of those things cause you to turn back from following Him. Come, follow the incomparable Jesus, come, be his disciple, for He has the words of eternal life and He gives the reality of eternal life. Amen.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching Children to Get Along\u201d – Ephesians 4:17 – 5:1<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Introduction – kids and summer<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This is every kid\u2019s favourite time of year, isn\u2019t it? Summer!! – when you can sleep late, hang out with your friends, do pretty much anything. We don\u2019t have small kids at our house anymore, but we can hear the splashing of the children kiddy-corner across our back yard as they enjoy the pool that was installed last year. When we were at Katepwa Beach a couple of weeks ago, the children were having the most fun – building sand-castles, running into the lake, and generally just having a good time. Last Sunday, we attended an outdoor concert in Abbotsford. The children were having a blast sliding down the grass on toboggan sized hills on their stomachs. (I\u2019m not sure their parents were going to have a blast doing the laundry the next day.) Last month, the children at our Bible Camp had a lot of fun singing, playing games and learning about Jesus.<\/p>\n

This is a great time to be an adult, too. Things are easing up after an 18-month long exile in a pandemic. Work might be happening on a more relaxed schedule, and not always and only on the computer. You can do things. You can meet up with family and friends once again. You can load up the kids in the van and go places. You don\u2019t HAVE to wear masks anymore. The weather\u2019s been\u2026 HOT!!<\/p>\n

As you watch children interact with each other, it\u2019s interesting isn\u2019t it? Sometimes they cooperate and play well together\u2026 sometimes not so much. After all, they are sinful, just like everybody else. What wouldn\u2019t we give to find the formula for children to get along with each other! As with most things, there are two different views when it comes to raising children – the permissive approach and the authoritarian approach. Wise parents look for something in between the two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. God our Father, we His beloved children<\/h4>\n

Our heavenly Father is the wisest parent, and in our Epistle reading this morning, He teaches His children to get along. He knows the best of all teaching methodologies, and that means neither extreme, but the strength of both approaches. Human parents can draw some very good advice from this word of God, but God isn’t really speaking to us as parents. He’s speaking to all of us as children, His children.<\/p>\n

That is evident as Ephesians chapter 4 transitions into chapter 5. Paul writes, very briefly and clearly: \u201cBe imitators of God, as beloved children.\u201d We are children of God – all of us, at every age. As I mentioned last Sunday, that was clear in the first 3 chapters of Ephesians where Paul wrote that we are adopted children of God, that we are forgiven, and blessed, and made alive, and saved by God\u2019s grace, that we are not strangers and foreigners but members of God\u2019s household, and that we are named with the very name of our Heavenly Father. We ARE children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. At the end of chapter 4, Paul adds one more detail: we are sealed as God\u2019s children. The Holy Spirit did that in our Baptisms. You may not remember it for yourself, but you have probably seen it in other Baptisms\u2026 that a child or an adult is marked – on the forehead and on the heart – with the cross of Christ to show that God puts His seal of grace and blessing on us.<\/p>\n

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\u00a02. Our Father teaches us<\/h4>\n

By that act, God also takes responsibility for raising us, for teaching us those things a parent teaches a child\u2026 like how to get along with one another. The first three chapters of Ephesians were theology – what we believe about God, and who we are in Him. The last three chapters are about putting that theology into practice. They emphasize how we are to live with our fellow Christians, the rest of God\u2019s children. You see, just like kids, we sometimes get along well, sometimes not so well. Kids may argue about who gets to bat first, or who gets the best seat in the car for the first leg of the road trip, and kids may complain and cry because they got surprised with a water balloon right on the chest with water splashing all over their face. Adult squabbles are similar but take on a more mature (or is it a less mature) trajectory. Instead of shouting over who gets to bat first, adults may hurt another person\u2019s reputation by gossiping. Instead of fighting for the best seat in the car, adults fight for the best job in the company. Instead of soaking each other with water, adults find it easy (and tempting) to soak someone else with verbal abuse. Those kinds of behaviour are no more acceptable among adult Christians than they are among kids on summer vacation. How does Paul say it\u2026 \u201cDon\u2019t live any longer as Gentiles do.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Side trip: \u201cDon\u2019t live as Gentiles do.\u201d]<\/p>\n

[Now, this really merits a little explanation. Ephesians 2 was about God in Christ breaking down the barriers between Jews and Gentiles. Jewish people generally had this us\/them mentality – us, the Jews, the chosen people of God, and them, the Gentiles, the wicked and unbelieving and rejected ones. Paul wrote that Jesus made peace between the two through His blood shed on the cross. In Christ, there was no longer any distinction – they were all God\u2019s children. So, why say, \u201cDon\u2019t live as the Gentiles do,\u201d when in fact the Ephesians were generally all Gentiles – that is, not Jewish? The answer is that Paul really created a third grouping of people. There were still Jewish people who followed the Old Testament rules and regulations, people who didn\u2019t accept Jesus as the Messiah. Then there were followers of Jesus – both of Jewish and Gentile origin. The third group was still called Gentile, but called Gentile because they were immoral, unbelieving and far off from God. Paul is saying, \u201cDon\u2019t live like them,\u201d which is really saying, \u201cDon\u2019t live like you Gentiles used to live before you became children of God through faith in Jesus.\u201d He goes on to say, \u201cPut off your old self, your corrupt and deceitful self, and put on your new self that was created to be holy and righteous like God, Himself.\u201d I guess that\u2019s like saying, \u201cLike father, like son, like daughter,\u201d or \u201cBe imitators of God as His beloved children.\u201d]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Not the permissive extreme<\/h4>\n

OK\u2026 so God intends for us to be like Him – kind and forgiving instead of bitter and angry. How do parents make that happen with children in the context of their household? How does God make that happen in the context of His family?<\/p>\n

Remember there are two approaches. In the extreme permissive approach, the parent gives a lot of responsibility for development to the child. The parent lets the child learn on his or her own how to get along. The idea is that independence lets the child develop his or her creativity to the fullest. Every day becomes a summer free for all. Unfortunately, children who grow up in such totally permissive homes often develop an egocentric \u201cme first, me always\u201d view that leads way past water balloons. What\u2019s more, children in such environments often develop resentment for parents who don\u2019t seem to care enough to provide guidance and parameters for behaviour.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0a. He cares, and He grieves<\/h4>\n

God certainly doesn\u2019t take this laissez-faire \u201canything goes\u201d attitude with His children. He cares. He really cares for His children. Paul says that the Holy Spirit can be grieved by God\u2019s children when they sin. The Holy Spirit teaches us God\u2019s will, and He grieves when we ignore it. The Holy Spirit shows us God\u2019s love, and He grieves when our lives don\u2019t reflect that love.<\/p>\n

Human parents grieve: when their son or daughter intentionally hurts someone else\u2019s child; when their child rejects the morals and values of their home and everything the parents have done for him, storming out of the house at age 18, vowing never to come back; when their child takes a self-destructive path in life, abandoning God and pursuing addictive behaviours and life-styles.<\/p>\n

In the same way, the Holy Spirit grieves when God\u2019s children hurt one another physically or emotionally, when we reject everything God has done in creating, redeeming and caring for us, when we hurt ourselves by falling into self-destructive sins. God cares about us too much to sit back and see whether we\u2019ll learn how to get along on our own. He doesn\u2019t take a \u201cchildren will be children\u201d attitude when Christians hurt one another.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0b. Some \u201cdos\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019ts\u201d<\/h4>\n

He definitely has some dos and don\u2019ts for getting along. Listen to the end of Ephesians 4 again: \u201cLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

It is inconsistent with the Christian faith for believers to fight, to carry grudges, to talk evil about other believers. God does not permit these things. A couple of verses earlier, Paul stated a great principle for any marriage relationship, any family relationship: \u201cDo not let the sun go down on your anger.\u201d If you go to bed angry with your spouse, you will both stew about it, lose sleep, and probably wake up still angry with one another tomorrow morning. Resolve any ill feelings before you close your eyes for the day. Then you can sleep with a good conscience. Those are the don\u2019ts. The dos are: be kind and compassionate and forgiving. Practically that would be caring for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, supporting those who are feeling weak and those whose lives are floundering, and bearing with the sins and failures of a Christian brother or sister. God is no \u201csit back and watch\u201d permissive parent. He cares, He longs, He aches for us to be kind and compassionate. By His commands He actively teaches us to get along.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Not the authoritarian extreme<\/h4>\n

On the other hand, neither is God a parent of the other extreme approach – a strict authoritarian. You know what that approach is like – lots of rules\u2026 \u201cdo it because I said so,\u201d and \u201cif you don\u2019t, you\u2019re going to get it.\u201d This approach gets outward compliance but inner resistance, and more resentment than the permissive model. As soon as the threat is gone, the compliance stops.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0a. The Family Map<\/h4>\n

When I do marriage preparation classes with a couple, one of the pages of the report includes their responses to statements about the family they grew up in. Have a look at this Family Map.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Along the bottom axis is a set of words that describe how close the family was – from the overly connected extreme, doing everything together, to the disconnected extreme, with four or five pretty separate individuals just living in the same house. Along the left side are words that describe flexibility, and this is really the permissive \/ authoritarian continuum. Overly flexible along the top refers to a lack of rules, with the inflexible row at the bottom being about lots of rules, very defined roles of the parents, with very little change. It\u2019s desirable – according to the psychologists who developed the statements and the chart – to be in the middle section on both axes: close but not too close, flexible but not too flexible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0b. Not rules that lead to resentment<\/h4>\n

God doesn\u2019t want grudging outward action, a resentful following of the rules, so He doesn\u2019t adopt the extreme authoritarian approach with only rules. He wants hearts, so He brings about loving outward action by working inwardly\u2026 on our hearts. He showers us with huge doses of love. We are called BELOVED children. He proved His love for us when Christ gave Himself up for us as a sacrifice. That\u2019s the greatest demonstration of love, isn\u2019t it? – giving up one\u2019s own wants and desires for the beloved, giving up one\u2019s own life for the beloved! And that\u2019s what Jesus did – dying on the cross for us because God loves us. Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection removed and forgave the sin that separated us from Him. Oh, when it comes to dos and don\u2019ts, we DON\u2019T have to do anything for our salvation, because Jesus DID it all on the cross.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0c. A fragrant offering<\/h4>\n

Paul calls that sacrifice of Jesus a \u201cfragrant offering.\u201d What is your favourite smell? Apple pie fresh from the oven? Clean laundry from the drier? A just-bathed baby? Coffee? Bacon? A steak on the grill? The smell of wet soil after a rain?<\/p>\n

For people familiar with the Old Testament Jewish faith, a fragrant offering may remind them of the smoke of incense that was to represent the prayers of the people rising up to God, or maybe the smoke of burnt offerings that were sent up to God as a pleasing aroma. Jesus\u2019 offering of Himself as the sacrifice for our sins was a pleasing aroma to God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Imitate God \/ God\u2019s love<\/h4>\n

That love of God for us teaches us to love one another. We are called to imitate God, to imitate His love. The Greek word for \u201cimitate\u201d is where we get our English word \u201cmimic.\u201d That\u2019s the way children learn, isn\u2019t it? They hear their parents speaking and they learn to mimic the sounds. They see a brother or sister sharing, and they begin to share. They see Dad saying sweet things to Mom, and they learn to encourage and compliment. They see family members helping each other around the house, and it rubs off on them. We learn by imitating.<\/p>\n

God uses that same technique on us. He teaches us by example how to get along. He wants us to love, so He loved us first, and richly, lavishly. He wants us to forgive, so He shows us how by first forgiving us. Even more important, God\u2019s love and forgiveness motivate us to love and to forgive and to get along.<\/p>\n

They say that a child learns what they live. If a child lives with criticism, she learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule, she learns to be shy. If a child lives in a house of ill will, not only will he not learn how to love, but he won\u2019t want to. The anger he\u2019s received will be anger that has to come out. That means that the corollary is also true – a child lives what they have learned.<\/p>\n

But a child who grows up in a loving family wants to be nice to other kids, wants to love other people. We Christians are all growing up in the most loving family – not a perfect family, but a family with a perfectly loving Heavenly Father. In spite of all our sins, we are loved. In spite of our unworthiness, we are blessed every day. In spite of our \u201cbitterness and wrath,\u201d \u201canger,\u201d \u201cclamor,\u201d \u201cslander\u201d and \u201cmalice,\u201d all who put their trust in Jesus and His fragrant offering have eternal life. That kind of love motivates us to get along nicely with our brothers and sisters. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMessy Spirituality\u2026 Unbelievable Teachings\u201d \u2013 John 6:51-69   Introduction – deck chairs There is a Peanuts cartoon (by Charles Schulz) that starts with Lucy at her ten-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for advice about life. She says, \u201cLife, Charlie Brown, is like a deck chair. Have you ever been on a cruise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"yoast_head":"\nPentecost 12 - August 15, 2021 - Hope Lutheran Church Port Coquitlam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/pentecost-12-sunday-august-15-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentecost 12 - August 15, 2021 - Hope Lutheran Church Port Coquitlam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMessy Spirituality\u2026 Unbelievable Teachings\u201d \u2013 John 6:51-69   Introduction – deck chairs There is a Peanuts cartoon (by Charles Schulz) that starts with Lucy at her ten-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for advice about life. 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