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Sermon Archive - November 11, 2001
Pentecost 23
Think Different
Pastor Holmer
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What would it mean to live as a “practical atheist”? I first heard
this
term several years ago, and at first hearing I didn’t get it:
What’s practical about not believing in God? But then I got a
grasp on
the concept: One who claims to believe in God, but practically
speaking,
lives as if God really wasn’t there, lives as though God really
didn’t
matter; one who shows up on some Sundays, but for whom during the
rest of
the week, God is for all practical purposes out of sight, out
of
mind.
Characteristics of Practical Atheists: They operate on the basis
of what
they know for sure, instead of on what God promises. They trust
their
own experience and instincts more than they trust the Word of God
(they
do so because they view their own experience as much more real
than
anything in Scripture). They allow the world to set the agenda
for their
life rather than God. That is, they care more about Dow Jones
than
Isaiah, Oprah than Mary Magdalene, Soccer Coach than St. Paul,
What
neighbors think than what apostles and prophets think.
To be practical atheist is to be both in the world and of the
world: to
be formed, determined and motivated by the values and priorities
of this
world and not by the Kingdom of God.
Practical atheists are able to do what for earlier believers was
unthinkable: construe their lives and live out their days without
reference to the claims of God.
They can pray the Lord’s Prayer by heart, but never stop to
consider what
it means to say: “Thy will be done”.
Now they say there are no atheists in foxholes so perhaps in
trying
times there are fewer practical atheists. But what about when
things are
going well, when it seems we can think of everything without any
direction from God?
There’s another way to come at this issue. If it suddenly became
illegal
to be a Christian, could they find enough evidence to convict you
--
besides owning a dusty confirmation Bible and showing up on
Sunday? As
the old saying reminds us: Being seated on the premises is not
the same
as standing on the promises.
What is it that’s distinctive about being a Christian, anyway?
There’s
got to be more than wearing a cross around your neck or a WWJD
bracelet
on your wrist!
Is there any difference between being Christian, and simply being
a “good
person”?
- In one sense: No, there is not. Good is as good does. You don’t
have
to be a Christian to do good. Non-Christians do all kinds of
things that
Christians agree are good. Virtues like honesty, justice,
kindness,
generosity, and mercy are not unique to Christians.
- But yes, there is a difference a difference that matters.
Christians
are called to be Peculiar People, Holy People holy meaning set
apart by
God for a purpose. Jesus didn’t come to confirm the status quo:
to tell
us, “Everything’s great just the way it is.” Jesus came inviting
us to
“think different,” “act different.”
Christianity is God’s odd proposal about how we ought to think
and how we
ought to live “odd,” because it goes against the grain of what
the
world considers a good life.
You and I are called not to be conformed to this world, but to be
transformed by the renewal of our minds and hearts by the
working of
the Holy Spirit, through the mystery of faith.
God would have us be a “New Creation” people living with a new
set of
MOTIVES, a new set of GOALS.
Many of us live as we do because we can’t imagine, we don’t know
how to
live otherwise. The Holy Scriptures, God’s hand, is addressed to
us
precisely for this reason.
Listen again to God’s hand in our second reading: “God chose you
as the
first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit
and
through belief in the truth.” To be sanctified = to be made holy
= set
apart for a purpose. Changed by: Holy Spirit Believing in the
Truth.
“God called you … so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord
Jesus
Christ”. God’s plan for us is that we become like Jesus: Not
Donald
Trump, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jordan, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were
taught”. Not
worldly traditions, but holy traditions. Don’t go with the flow.
Dare
to deviate. Don’t settle for being like all the rest.
Do you remember “Chariots of Fire”? True story. World Class
Olympic
sprinter Eric Lidell refused to compete on Sunday, on the
Sabbath. He
gave up a likely gold medal for his faith. People thought his
behavior
odd back then. Today, Lidell would be seen as ridiculous, even
unpatriotic. People didn’t get it. The gospel story tells us that
many
in Jesus day didn’t “get it” either.
Some religious leaders called Sadducees came looking to trap
Jesus. They
didn’t believe in resurrection or in any life beyond this one. So
they
set up this scenario where one woman has seven husbands who all
die, one
after another. They then ask: so in the resurrection whose wife
will
she be?
They just didn’t get it. They’re so tied to this world, this
reality
that they can only see things in terms of what they already know.
They
can’t imagine something “new” or “better.” They can’t conceive of
a God
who can transcend the present world order. The Sadducees can’t
“think
different” so they don’t “live different.”
Jesus says to them: Those who belong to this age marry and are
given in
marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that
age and
in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in
marriage”.
The Sadducees can’t see beyond this age they are in it and of
it.
Jesus calls us to live in this time, but with hearts and minds
rooted in
and trusting in the age to come: residents of earth citizens of
heaven.
Can we do this? Can we think different, live different? During
WWII
communities of Christians all across Europe turned their backs on
the
Jews. They ignored their plight. Some actively helped the Nazis
to
round them up.
Yet in France, there was a little village called Le Chambeau a
community of Protestant Huguenots. Throughout the war these
Christians
sheltered hundreds of Jews, right under the noses of the Nazis.
At great
risk to themselves, they dared to live different. When
interviewed after
the war why they did it, the general consensus of those villagers
was
this: “We did it because it did not occur to us to do otherwise.”
They
simply felt this is what Christians do.
How about us? What shall we be know for here at St. James? A
beautiful
house of worship? Friendly people? Excellent music? Fine
programs?
Interesting sermons?
This is all good stuff but we could have all that and not be
very
Christ-like, not be all that different from the world. In
addition,
could we also be: A community of Hope: pointing beyond ourselves
to the
living God, to our Redeemer who lives? A community of Compassion:
People
who share both joys and sorrows, servants who are eager to bind
up the
broken hearted? A community of Faith: A community that trusts the
Lord,
knows what it believes, has the courage to act on its
convictions? A
community where God is alive and active: Forgiving sins,
Changing
lives, Encouraging the dejected, Calling those who are richly
blessed to
be a rich blessing to others, Making all things new.
I keep a quote on my bulletin board. The words are engraved on
the wall
of an old English church: “In the year 1653 when all things
sacred were
throughout the nation either demolished or profaned … this church
was
founded, whose singular praise it is to have done the best things
in the
worst times, and hoped them in the most calamitous.”
They dared to be different.
In this world a world that places great value on the pragmatic
it may
be both inconvenient and impractical to follow Christ. But in the
end,
it’s the only life worth the living.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who
loved us
and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort
your
hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Amen
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