What Church Should Look Like: A Community on the Go

            At Shiloh, I have been noticing a positive trend that gives me great joy.

            Recently, a woman told us she wanted to be a part of our church. I would like to tell you, it was because of my marvelous preaching. That was not case.

            A few years ago, this lady was living in an apartment complex and the power went off. It was at night, so darkness enveloped her living quarters. She heard a knock on the door. Lisa Beasley, one of our Shiloh members was there, with some candles in her hand.

            “Here,” she said. “I thought you might be able to use these.” With those words, Lisa entered in and served.

            At that time, the woman was a single mother with two teenage children. In a stressful time, Lisa physically and spiritually brought light into her home.

            Jason Smith was at work a while back. He became acquainted with a young man experiencing challenges in his life—as we all do.

            Jason shared Jesus with the young man; he shared with the young man, from his Bible, about how to respond to Jesus. And the young man did! That relationship is growing, and now others in our church are getting to know this new Christian and sharing God’s word with him.

            I can’t help but think this is the way it should be.

            I love our church building. People from all over the Tyler area are using our building every day. Many are not part of Shiloh. Some are not Christians. I hope people continue to use our building. However, even if everybody in the area wanted to use our building, we could not bring them through fast enough to match the growth of Tyler’s population.

            So, we, at Shiloh, go out.

            The last thing Jesus told His disciples was—go.

            We remember that we are ALL missionaries.

            There is a sign, Shiloh family members pass under, on the way out the door. It says, “You are now entering the mission field.” And we are.

            Sundays are great. I love being with our community of faith and, together, entering into the presence of God. Nevertheless, like Jesus told three of his disciples, we have to leave the spiritual mountaintop and go into valley where the people are.

            Sometimes, they are in difficult places. God is not present where they are, so we take God there. We take with us beauty, and light, and wholeness to face up against the ugliness, and darkness, and fragmentation the Evil One has brought into their lives.

            We minister to them. We serve them. We look for opportunities to put in a good word for Jesus—the epitome of all that is good.

            On Sundays, I believe having five hundred people leaving Shiloh in this way—Tyler will be a better place. And God’s Kingdom will expand.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I would like to see how many had Connecticut, Butler, VCU and Kentucky for their Final Four Brackets. This is why I have never filled out an NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket. I will stand behind what I wrote last week, “I have a feeling we are going to hear the name of Brad Stevens (Butler’s coach) this time every year when major schools are looking to hire a new coach.” All of this notwithstanding, I am predicting Connecticut to win the National Championship next Monday night.

2. I hope Baylor wins the girls’ National Championship. Look out for Connecticut in the girls’ bracket as well.

3. TIME had a fascinating section in their issue last week. It’s called TEN IDEAS THAT CHANGE THE WORLD. One article was titled “Fix the Deficit? We can Do That?” As you might imagine, that caught my attention. Here’s a link: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2059521_2059686_2059682,00.html

4. I just finished my series on Revelation. Never have I been so concerned about a series and it turn out so well. I’m glad I preached Revelation.

5. I have become a fan of Timothy Keller. He is a preacher who lives in New York City. He has written several thought-provoking books. His latest is on the gospel of Mark entitled KING’S CROSS.

What Church Should Look Like: A Community Where Different Economic Groups Can Come Together

             The publication, OUR DAILY BREAD, several years ago included a story about a plainly dressed man who entered a church service in the Netherlands. He took a seat near the front.

            Shortly thereafter, a woman walked down the aisle, saw the stranger in the place she always sat, and curtly asked him to leave. Quietly, the man stood up and moved to a section reserved for the poor.

            After the assembly, a friend of the woman asked her if she knew the man whom she had ordered out of her seat. "No," she replied.

            Her friend then informed her, "The man you ordered out of your seat was King Oscar of Sweden! He is here visiting the Queen."

            I don’t know if this story is fact or legend. I do like the lesson it conveys. When the saints assemble, humility is an admirable trait for any Christian to carry. Pride and selfishness are not.

            In Luke chapter fourteen, we read the following:

             7 When Jesus noticed how the guests sought out the best seats at the table, he told them a parable. 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding celebration, don’t take your seat in the place of honor. Someone more highly regarded than you could have been invited by your host. 9 The host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give your seat to this other person.’ Embarrassed, you will take your seat in the least important place. 10 Instead, when you receive an invitation, go and sit in the least important place. When your host approaches you, he will say, ‘Friend, move up here to a better seat.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.”

             12 Then Jesus said to the person who had invited him, “When you host a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return and that will be your reward. 13 Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. 14 And you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected” (Luke 14:7-14.) CEB

            I personally think that, in the United States, the hardest challenge churches face is crossing the economic divide. As much adversity as we face in reconciling the races—and there is a lot of work still to be done—I feel reconciling the economic groups is an even more daunting task.

            I have seen more people fellowship together from different races than I have different economic groups. I have definitely observed more meaningful friendships from between people of different races.

            I am not sure why people from different economic classes have difficulty meshing. I have some ideas, though. One factor is culture. The impoverished have a culture. The lower class lives in a culture. Clearly, one can find in the U. S. a middle-class culture—the list goes on. Crossing cultural divides can be difficult.

            Another issue can be education. Typically, education is tied to economic class. Too often, educated people don’t want to know what an uneducated person is thinking—and vice-versa.

            Real commitment and real imagination must be deployed to discover common elements between folks who have different educational backgrounds. And humility must be practiced for a person to prove willing to learn from another person out of a different economic group.

            None of this is new. Many of the same elements were present in Luke 14 when Jesus addressed religious leaders. Some of these dynamics were also present when James challenged the Christians in James chapter two to show no partiality to the rich.

            Jesus’ repeated call to deny self lays the foundation here. For a church to consist of rich, poor, and middle class, members will essentially have to make an effort to practice self-denying love.

            Whether you are rich or poor, going in the other direction can prove difficult. When I was young, single, in graduate school, and struggling to make ends meet, I cut corners wherever I could. I hung out with a single’s group much more successful than I was. Every Sunday, they wanted to go out to eat after church. I couldn’t afford that, but I wanted their fellowship. So I would go and make excuses to avoid eating—a small taste of what it feels like to be on the lower rung of the economic ladder.

            Most of the time, I have been the one blessed economically. Often, in situations of seeking to relate to the poor, I have found myself moved by their selfless acts.

            One Sunday, shortly after Judy and I had our first child, we had an opportunity to assemble for worship in the home of some friends. We lived in a foreign country, and these friends were extraordinarily poor. 
            The parents had many children and lived, as I recall, in a two-room house. Their house was located across a creek; Judy will never forget me carrying our baby across that creek--balancing myself on a single log. 
            The mother had suffered severely from tooth decay, and already had lost some of her teeth. The couple had little furniture and no chairs. Entering the house, the mother offered Judy one of her prize possessions—an old barrel. She knew Judy was struggling having so recently given birth, and she wanted to offer Judy her best to sit upon. 
             It took all of Judy’s self-discipline to refrain from weeping; she was so-touched by this action of grace. We have never forgotten the gesture.

            The by-product of the pursuit of relationship and community with those from other ends of the economic spectrum is that these attitudes and practices—in time—contribute to the work of God, which in turn help form us into the image of His Son.

            If this is important to us, living out the teachings of Luke 14 should prove a blessing.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Judy and I saw SOMEWHERE IN TIME the other night with our too oldest daughters. That movie always had a soft spot in my heart. Not my girls. They hated the ending.

2. I am finally discovering the treasure trove of TV shows available on instant view in NETFLIX.

3. I complete our pulpit look at the book of Revelation in a couple of weeks. Never have I dreaded preaching a book of scripture so much. Never have I been so rewarded from preaching a book of scripture. I am so gratified with what I have learned from Revelation.

4. Why do I have an uneasy feeling about Egypt, Libya, and the Middle East?

5. Just when a void appeared after football season, along comes March Madness.

Another Way to Approach the Book of Revelation

Have you ever read to your kids the “Where’s Waldo” books? (You know, Waldo—the dorky looking guy in nerd glasses that hides out in crowds.) That is how a lot of people approach Revelation. Instead of “Where’s Waldo?” it is, “Where is the Anti-Christ?” Better yet, “Who is the Anti-Christ?”

This approach can be fun. Instead of video games or dungeons and dragons, you can spend your time looking for clues that will allow you to predict the future of the world.

A second approach to Revelation is very basic—prove that those, who practice the first approach, are wrong. Much time and study is spent researching Revelation and history, in order to show that Saddam Hussein is not the Anti-Christ. Of course, the problem with this approach is that often, the agenda is set, not by the text of Revelation, but by those who pursue approach number one. 

A third approach to Revelation is done through historical research. The basic assumption is that the letter was written late in the first century and addressed to hearers confronting problems unique to their time. The hard part is applying what you learn to our lives today.

Now, there are advantages to all three approaches. It is important to consider what Scripture says about the Anti-Christ and the end of the world. It is important to hold those who speak on these things accountable. It is important to know about the original audience and its historical context. However, in addition to these, I wish to propose another approach.

Actually, this approach is not original with me. I received it from conversation with others, the most articulate, of which is a work by Eugene Peterson entitled REVERSED THUNDER. (Indeed, I utilize his efforts and words extensively in this post. Many thanks to him for his insight into Revelation. For a complete list of works, with which I have been in conversation, go to http://www.shilohroad.com/Default.aspx?tabid=186)

Another way to approach Revelation is to allow God’s word to expand our view of Him. Revelation affords us the opportunity, yes, Revelation offers us the call, to experience Him on a deeper level.

Revelation it's not simply written to provide us more information on God; it is also written to fire up our imagination about God.

Imagination is not a bad thing. It can be used for bad, like anything good can be, but it is a gift from God. It helps us to see the unseen. Revelation is not only for information, but also for imagination.

We often associate imagination with fiction—with fairy tales. Imagination also traffics in the realm of truth.

Through John’s pen, God wants us to see and feel who Jesus is, what the Kingdom is like, yes, what the future will be like, and, because of all this, what the present is like.

Revelation wakes up our senses. It appeals to our smell, our hearing, our sight, our touch, and even our taste.

Too often, we under-appreciate the gifts that are our senses. Even describing them with pixels and computer screens can evoke bodily sensations. For example, take a break from your computer, grab yourself a shiny, yellow lemon, and take a robust bite. How do you like that taste?

And, I bet while you read those words, your mouth involuntarily secreted more saliva.

What happens when you drive over a part of the highway--by which lays the body of a dead skunk? The kids holler, “Pew, what is that!” Congratulations! You have encountered a dreadful smell that has impacted, perhaps, your entire body. No doubt, though, everyone in the car is experiencing something powerful.

Consider the way the letter of Revelation begins:

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near (Rev. 1:1-3). NIV

These words are to be read aloud and to be heard. John, in verse twelve states,  “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.” God wants us to see the voice.

Mull over for a moment, how Revelation calls for its readers (hearers!) to engage in the five senses: 

1) Hearing.

1.             Revelation 2:7
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

2.             Revelation 2:11
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

3.             Revelation 2:17
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

4.             Revelation 2:29
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.


5.             Revelation 3:6
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
)

6.             Revelation 3:13
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.


7.      Revelation 3:22
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

           

            Forty six times in our NIVs, the text makes a reference to hearing.

 2) Touch.

As you might imagine, the sense of touch appears throughout the letter. Let me cite a reference less obvious.

One of the things I did not realize about the ancient world—numbers were an extension of touch. As you might guess, the ancients, like our children today, initially used their fingers and toes to learn how to count. Consequently, numbers became symbolic because they extended the sense of touch.

In Revelation, numbers direct the imagination in such a way to help us understand the totality of what God is saying. John is accounting for things. The numbers direct our thoughts.

For example, in Revelation 7, the number 144,000 evokes the feeling of the touch of God's action, which produces victory in the face of evil. Deep within the fragmentation of the world lies suffering; the numbering of this massive group of souls of God helps one visualize wholeness, in the midst of fragmentation.

3) Smell.

The sense of smell is associated with prayer. In Revelation 8:3–4, the bowls of incense represent the prayers of the Church. Both can be seen and smelled. 

In the ancient world, smell permeated a person’s entire being. You could not practice it with detachment.

Any of you guys remember a girl you liked years ago? Do you remember a perfume she wore? Have you present day ever smelled someone wearing that perfume, and been emotionally taken back to those days you liked that girl? That is the power of a great fragrance—and the power of the sense of smell. More is involved than your nose.            

It is the same, in Revelation, with prayer and the symbol of incense. Because prayer is invisible, the smell of incense (and the sight) is used to trigger the imagination. The original audience saw, in their mind’s eye, the prayers go up, and the sensation permeated those hearer’s bodies. They experienced it. They experienced God’s presence.

(Right now you might be thinking, “Pff. This is a bunch of 21^st century, touchy-feely drivel.” Let me remind you—we are rich and comfortable; we have the luxury of treating Revelation with detachment. However, I assure you, a Christian in China or Sudan will not hear the words of Revelation with such detachment.

Beware, don’t let the blessings of God and your culture make you so prejudice that you prejudge the word of God, harden your heart; thus, not allow those words to penetrate.)

4) Taste.

The sense of taste is an important part of the message. To the seventh church, Laodicea, in Revelation 3:16, Jesus uses strong words. Jesus is talking about the mouth for a reason. Luke-warmness also represents tastelessness.          

Yet, in Revelation 10:9-11, you have the little scroll, which tastes sweet in the mouth and bitter in the stomach.            

5) Seeing.

Revelation 1:11
-- “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

Over and over again in Revelation, God calls for his readers to see.      

Please understand: I am in no way saying we should not study Revelation. I am the king of study. I have a bias toward study. And there are passages in Revelation that call upon the intellect to engage in analysis. However, I have always, exclusively, studied Revelation. The beauty of God engages our entire being, not just our intellect. And, in Revelation, one thing God wants to do is wake us up to hear his Word.

These are not sentences to be diagrammed, verbs to be conjugated, and words to simply be memorized and kept at arms length. There were plenty of scribes and teachers of the Law, who did this during Jesus’ day. They heard the words of Scripture, but they did not hear the voice of God.

What I am saying is, in the midst of analyzing Revelation, we cannot escape the style of literature that we have here. This is not a logical, unemotional, mathematical document, designed to be fought over and not felt.

We do well to remember, to see to it, that Revelation not only penetrates our minds, but it also penetrates our souls. There are some mysteries, when it comes to God, we cannot fully explain, but in some cases, we can enjoy.

As Eugene Peterson noted, of all people, Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than intelligence. What he meant by that was, intelligence did nothing unless the person used his imagination (or her imagination) to project what should be done with that intelligence.

The primary purpose of reading Revelation is not to provide new information we never received. Every time someone studies it for that purpose, they come up with ideas that are scary–(the Pope is the antichrist!) Revelation is to connect more with the imaginative part of the mind, not to the analytical part of the mind, and that connection creates a desire for action--a desire to respond to God.            

When we engage the intellect, we are engaging only one part of the person. If we allow a revelation to do so, it engages our senses, that is our total person.                      

The intent of revelation is to put us on her knees before the One, who saw the beginning, who sees the end, and who carries us in the arms of His history in between.         

We bow before God in worship and accept His salvation-shaping words in our lives. We're always trying to use Scripture for our purposes. Maybe, for a change, we should allow scripture to use us.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. In case anyone forgot, I picked Green Bay and the Jets to face each other in the Super Bowl—before the season started.

2. Sunday afternoon was one of the most relaxing I have enjoyed—ever. I think it was because I was prepared to work hard in the office Sunday afternoon, visit some folks, and preach a sermon Sunday night. A beautiful snow forced me to cancel plans and go home to my family for the rest of the day. Geared for effort, I had an enforced excuse to relax with loved ones—a great trade.

3. Evil will always be among us. I was sorry to hear a judge from one political party and a congresswoman from another, were victims of what appears to be pre-conceived violence on Saturday. On top of all of that, people outside of government and political service were hurt and killed as well. My thoughts and prayers go out to all families involved, including that of the perpetrator of this wickedness. 

4. Rest in peace, Lesa Landers Monday. You were a friend from my earliest childhood, and I will take with me many fond memories.

5. Thanks to all who said and wrote so many nice things about our oldest daughter, Haleigh, being honored by her peers as her school’s Homecoming Queen. She, and we, are grateful she received this honor. More importantly, we are grateful for the kindness and goodwill so many have blessed us with over the past few days.