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Sermon
Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – February 10, 2019
Centenary United Methodist Church Psalm
138; I Corinthians 15:1-11 This morning's lesson is a summary of what the Apostle Paul was
proclaiming as the faith that he had received.
What has been written, however, contains a number of issues that
should give us pause. Paul
wrote the following: I passed on to you what I received, which is of the
greatest importance: That
Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures, that he
was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as
written in the Scriptures . . .
(I Corinthians 15:1-3f) In spite of how refined and true Paul's theology is, it is
impossible that these words came from Paul. Paul wrote his two letters
to the followers of Jesus living in Corinth while he was in Ephesus
around the year 53-57 AD.
The first Gospel to be written was by Mark many years later.
Mark had accompanied Paul on one of his missionary journeys.
(Acts: 13:5b)
A fact remains that Paul's
letters were written prior to any of the four Gospels.
Yet, twice in the same sentence, Paul allegedly wrote, as
written in the Scriptures. It took centuries for various Church Councils to
sort through the material that was available in a collection of books
that eventually became known as
The New Testament. What
we do know is that the Church in Rome was quite determined to stamp out
as heretical the other
branches of Christianity that existed. Were these words attributed to
Paul an example of how Christian
Scribes later added theological statements to some of Paul's
teachings so that Paul's letters conformed to the teaching of the Roman
branch of Christianity? There is more evidence that this was taking place.
All the challenging words that Paul wrote about the role of women
in the church, were definitely added by future Scribes.
How do we know this? Earlier editions of these same letters from
Paul have been discovered.
They do not have these references about women as part of the texts.
They were added by the Scribes of the Roman Church to support its
position with respect to the role of women. It is interesting to review the origins of our
faith. Few of us have ever
taken a course in Church History let alone develop a passionate interest
for wanting to do so. We are where we are in our beliefs due to
countless sources. We seldom appreciate anyone
muddying the waters for us by bringing a new understanding unless
what surfaces supports many of our doubts about certain interpretations
of Scripture. What we
welcome are more enlightened interpretations of passages that many of us
never understood. A few years ago, a television program featured a
number of Baptist pastors who had remarkable credentials and were
pastors of large congregations that numbered in the thousands. The
pastors were videoed in the
shadows and had their voices disguised so they could speak freely
without being recognized. All of them claimed that they no longer had faith
in the beliefs that they once cherished.
Yet, they had these large congregations who were counting on
their leadership. They had bills to pay, building debts to satisfy, and
the faith of innocent people who depended on what they were teaching as
being the gospel truth.
Afterall, many parishioners had been taught
the path to salvation since
their childhood. What was worse is that these pastors despised what
they were doing because they knew they were hypocrites who were
increasingly becoming masters of deception.
Besides, what would they tell their superiors who presided over
the Southern Baptist Convention? Who could replace these articulate,
charismatic pastors that had attracted such a following? What does all of this have to do with our faith
today? We do not need to
become confused about what some Christian authorities say is true and
others claim is false.
The words that can be considered
authentic from Paul came from his personal experiences, not the
Scriptures. In our lesson
today, Paul wrote:
By the grace of God, I am what I am.
The grace that God gave me has greatly influenced my life.
I have worked harder than any of
the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing but God's
grace working in me. (I
Corinthians 15:10f) When we hear terms like
God's grace, we can easily substitute
Love for the word
Grace.
Only once did the Apostle Paul meet the Apostle Peter.
They disagreed on many issues that Peter and the other disciples
had been teaching in Jerusalem. The men parted ways holding on to what
they each believed. The story of this fifteen-day conference can be
found in Acts 15. There is
no evidence that the two ever met again. Beliefs
are always the culprit.
Beliefs can easily divide people.
When beliefs become divisive, those participating in both sides
of an argument have to ask themselves, "What has my faith created in me
that makes me so defensive and unhappy with those that believe
differently?"
What works for us is among the more important qualities of our lives,
particularly when we are able to give other people the courtesy of
living what works for them.
When we experience God's love being sufficient to
fuel our lives, what else do we really need?
If we are happy and highly energized by what we know, it does not
matter what other people have found that inspires them. What difference does it make to the quality of our
lives if God created men and women
by placing them into our
world as stated in three different traditions, i.e., Genesis 1:1-2:3,
Genesis 2:4b-25 and Genesis 6:4, or by allowing them to evolve from much
earlier primates? Yet, the
Evolutionists and the
Creationists still argue
today. Faith that relies solely on external sources like Scriptures, pastors and teachers, often lacks the validation that comes from our personal experiences. Paul had experienced Jesus talking to him while
this venomous Pharisee was
traveling on the road to Damascus.
(Acts 9:3-5) Paul had been blinded by the experience and was
healed by Ananias. (Acts
9:17) These and other experiences transformed his life from being a
highly energized servant of the
Laws of Moses to becoming an independent thinker. Paul abandoned
his
truth in order to embrace a
faith that was quite different.
His faith developed from his experiences. (Philippians 3:8-11)
This change of emphasis has taken centuries to alter the thinking of
Christians. This evolving
process is still taking place. The first time that I tasted alcohol in my life was
after my seminary education.
I was a very young pastor,
green as they come, celebrating Mass with a group of Roman Catholic
priests that belonged to our county's Clergy Association.
We all drank from the same chalice. When the mass had ended, I
noticed that a good number of priests were crying.
My good friend, Father Aldo P. Patrini, explained their tears: For years we have wanted to celebrate Mass with our
Protestant brothers, but were forbidden to do so by Rome.
Prior to our meeting today, we decided as a group that we would
break the ice and celebrate Mass with all of you.
What you see are tears of joy.
Right now, all of us are standing outside of the Church's
sacred rules.
It feels wonderful to make a
stand for what we believe. We
are one and today we decided to demonstrate what we teach. Christianity began changing more rapidly in the12th
and 13th Centuries.
The authority of
the Body of Christ began to
shift from the collective to
the individual. The building of cathedrals throughout Europe ended
during this period. People began to take responsibility for their
own salvation rather than
being obedient to the dictates of
the Church that many believed had lost its way. (Philippians
2:12b-13) Today, for many people, their Bibles have grown
dusty. What has replaced
the Scriptures is our autonomy as individuals, our economic security,
and the pragmatism of feeling secure with thinking for ourselves.
Christians no longer felt that
they had to park their brains
outside when entering their churches.
We search for what works for us and what does not.
There are risks when people assume responsibility for their own
spiritual destiny. There is
absolutely no one else that they can blame for the quality of life that
their choices have created. We can be taught people-skills.
We can learn polite manners, common courtesies, and generosity.
By an honest effort, we can teach ourselves better habits. We can
even duplicate the attitudes of the most dedicated and sincere
Christians. Such qualities can be good for business. People who display
these qualities often have a
darker side to them that tells of a different quality of their
character. The Apostle Paul
dismissed the validity of such practices.
The authenticity of a
loving spirit cannot be faked.
Paul wrote: I may be able to speak in the language of angels,
but if I have no loving energy, my speech is nothing but noise.
I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have knowledge
and understand countless mysteries; in fact, I may have the ability to
conquer all the barriers in the way of my success, but if I lack the
ability to express loving energy, I am
a zero in the universe. I may
be generous to a fault, but if I do not give from a loving spirit, I
remain a zero in my spiritual
growth. (I Corinthians
13:1f) What Paul realized was that the display of attitudes and
accomplishments was not enough.
What was important was
the spirit that was being communicated through such qualities.
This spiritual-energy cannot be
taught. Love has to grow
from our desire to keep our life-energies flowing away from us to
others. It took the voice of Jesus, a light that blinded him, and the
healing of Ananias to provide guidance for the rest of Paul's life. This
is why his new knowledge was completely unshakable.
His
faith did not come from the New Testament Scriptures that did not exist
during his lifetime. His faith came from his life-experiences.
He knew that God's love was all that he needed. Paul carried himself with the same enthusiasm and fearlessness as
did the disciples who saw Jesus die on the cross and then saw him again
on numerous occasions. No
religious-symbol would have the same value as the experience of talking
to Jesus after his crucifixion. (I Corinthians 15:5-8) Today, it
is our unspoken purpose to live among others while humbly communicating
our trust that God's love is all that we need.
God will do the rest.
PRAYER
Loving, generous, and always present God, we often come together for
worship unaware of what to expect.
It is a challenge to let go of the distracting influences that
pass through our minds and emotions. We long for experiences that
transform how we interpret life’s events.
Help us to remember that without death we would not be able to
experience the joy of being spirit-beings. Without experiencing people
who are unkind to us, we would not have the opportunity to forgive.
Without hardships and challenges, we would become like
fair-weather sea captains.
Cause us to remember that the more we trust in your guidance, the
stronger our trust becomes.
Amen.
PASTORAL
PRAYER
O God, there
is so much about life that we find difficult to understand. We
look eagerly for the winds of inspiration that give flight to our
spirits. We give thanks for
the stream of divine energy that no one can see.
Your presence surrounds us and inspires our confidence that all
of life’s complications will eventually work out.
We thank you
for faith that enables us to take risks that broaden our horizons.
Thank you for the course corrections that call us away from the places
where we know we should not be. We thank you for all the
experiences that we cannot explain.
Those moments always come in a form that feeds our imaginations.
Help us to remember that in spite of how challenging life appears
sometimes, we are never without choices that are inspired by your
presence.
As we leave
our worship experience, we realize that we take very little with us if
we cannot give hands and feet to patience, if we cannot authentically
care for those who exhibit few life-skills, and if we easily allow
others to hurt us with their opinions. Give us vision, O God, to see
others as students who are at different levels in their spiritual
evolution. Open our minds to understand that our destiny has more to do
with healing our world than with finding the perfect job, the right
partner, or financial security. Inspire us to see ourselves more as
sowers of seeds, than as gatherers of crops.
We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ,
who taught us to say when we pray . . . |