From the Pastor |
I recently heard the phrase: “Don't believe everything you think.” It seems to me that, in a nutshell, this was the basic message that God called the prophet Jeremiah to share.
Other prophets claimed to receive God’s word in dreams, and they assured the leaders and people that everything was fine, and the nation would continue to live in peace and safety; protected by God. However, when Jeremiah shared God’s word it must have sounded like an unpatriotic, seditious, and judgmental message. He told them to stop giving the people lies and false messages of comfort and hope because disaster for the nation was just around the corner. For his twenty-three years of faithfulness to God's call, Jeremiah paid a price… he was beaten, threatened, imprisoned, thrown down a well, and derided as an unpatriotic crank and traitor. Considering how he was treated when he delivered the word of God… it’s not surprising that the other so-called prophets only wanted to give good and uplifting news. But the people ignored his warnings, and history proved his message to be right. In 586 BC Babylon ravaged Judah and Jerusalem, just like Jeremiah had warned… despite all the platitudes and false comforts of the ones Jeremiah called “lying prophets”. Those lying prophets and the people who listened to them did exactly what Jesus himself warned about in today’s Gospel reading: “He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” They failed to read the signs of what was happening around them. They failed to recognize what is really going on and what was likely to happen. The false prophets led them astray. Jesus warned that this problem would continue… He told his followers to be careful for “False [messiahs] and false prophets will appear, and they will offer signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen.” (Mark 13:22, CEB) This has been true throughout Christian history… and it is true today. There are many voices in our world that ‘prophesy’ lies in the name of God… they ignore the signs and preach a gospel that is what people want to hear… not necessarily what God wants said. There are many who are eager to ‘prophesy’ prosperity. Those people who preach that if you have faith you will get that promotion… that raise… you will be blessed and will prosper. Yet this is not the message Christ brings. Our reading from Luke today is a continuation of Jesus’s criticism of people storing up wealth on earth. Jesus never once promised that faith would bring prosperity, good health or happiness. Quite the opposite. He told those seeking to follow him to give away all their wealth… he even spoke of the suffering his followers would endure. Then, there are those who claim that all that is necessary for salvation is to recite a “Believer’s Prayer”. Say the words and boom you will be saved. Now, scripture does indeed tell us that we are saved by our faith alone, however, true faith brings transformation that results in our striving to be more and more like Jesus. It is a continuous, never-ending process. You know… It’s funny… One thing I have noticed is that in our society… there are many Christians who do not like being told that “conversion” is a lifelong process. That it is not something we can simply do once and then cross off the to-do list. There are those who are eager to ‘prophesy’ that there is no valid concern when it comes to climate change, and we do not need to make any changes in our use of resources or our lifestyle. However, whether you believe in the science behind the cries of “Climate Change” or not, we are called to be the stewards… the caretakers of God’s creation. And we must be honest, we are terrible at this job. We need work harder to better care for this wonderful world God created. There are also FAR too many preaching a gospel that is filled with anger and intolerance. They declare that if someone does not believe as they do… look as they do… act as they do… think as they do… those people are not Christians and will be burned in the fires of hell. (Pause) I've grown more cautious in my journey of faith over these last 7 years as I have had to tackle some of the messages of the “lying prophets” of today. There was a student at Moscow University who once told a visiting American Professor… “You Americans make being a Christian sound so simple and easy; for us Russians it's more difficult.” Think about that… We Americans do make being a Christian sound SOOO easy. You get baptized with some water… you go to church sometimes, pray occasionally, donate some money and maybe wear a cross… and that is the life of a Christian. Unlike other countries, we have the freedom to worship God any way we want and as a result we seem to have watered down our faith by making being a Christian seem to be an easy thing to be. It’s not! Being a Christian is anything but easy! The word Christian means, “Follower of Christ”. During the 1st century, people were called “Christians” because their behavior, activity, and speech were to be imitations of Christ Jesus. If we proclaim to be a Christian, it means we are striving to be like Christ… living as Jesus demonstrated, following and living out his teachings… having our everyday behavior, actions and speech reflecting the image of Christ for others to see. I wonder… How many of the Christians in this nation… how many OF US… can honestly say we successfully fulfill that definition? There are too many Christians out there who ignore the signs of injustice and poverty, and are instead focused solely on themselves… their own salvation… instead of answering the call to share the light and love of Christ with the world. They have been taught that “accepting Jesus into your heart” is the means to escape eternal punishment and secure that great eternal reward. But faith is not about simply guaranteeing a future in heaven… it is an invitation… to be changed… and then to make changes in our lives… to strive to live life differently here and now… to see ALL people as God’s children to be loved, honored, and cared for. When we look around we can truly see the evidence of Christ’s own words: “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” We are divided… even within the church… because… Like the people of Jeremiah’s day… too often we listen to the false prophets and fail to hear the actual word of God… then we also fail to speak the word of God faithfully. Perhaps if we focused more on the Kingdom of God rather than any earthly kingdom we might be better at it. We need to take the time to look at the world around us… to look for the signs God provides. As Bob Dylan sang in his song, ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ (1965), “You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”. Dylan’s message was to look around, think for yourself, and do not let untrustworthy authorities tell you what is going on. This is what Jeremiah was saying… what Jesus was saying. If we can see for ourselves which way the wind is blowing, then surely we should be able to apply the same independent reason to interpreting God’s signs in the here and now. This is why we can never stop in our journey of faith… why we need to keep growing and learning… it is why each and every Christian needs to study God’s word… spend time praying and communing with God… so we can look around… think for ourselves… not simply trust the word of those who might actually be false prophets. Every single day… Every Follower of Christ… is faced with a choice. We can choose to adopt an ‘escapist’ faith, ignoring the pain of the world while waiting for heavenly bliss after we die, or we can do the work of listening, watching and understanding the times in which we live. We can prophecy what is easy, comfortable and expedient for us… that which requires little sacrifice and work, feels good, but changes little… or we can draw attention to the signs of injustice around us, we can call out corruption and exploitation, and we can hold ourselves and our leaders accountable to care for the marginalized, poor and needy. In other words… we can be more like Jesus… we can be Christians! Unfortunately, that path is not without cost. By living as Christ followers, we just might face the suffering of getting involved, for we will have to actually do something about the issues we expose. We may also face the anger and aggression of those who disagree with us or who are invested in maintaining the status quo. We may find ourselves upsetting the peace, and being labelled “divisive”, “fanatics” and such. The question is do we have the conviction and courage to follow those who have gone before us in service of God’s reign, or not. This is a choice we will face every single day. Jesus came to bring division… The word of God is not often welcome or popular… That is why we have our community of faith. The church is not just an obligation or a holy building, but a place where we can come to be encouraged, lifted up, equipped, and then sent out from in order that we may make a difference to the world. And it is also a place that we can return to when living like Christ creates division and conflict. Because it will. But it will also create joy. Because the one who sends us out is both with us and for us as we come to church to be reminded of our identity as God’s beloved children and are sent out again in mission to tell others in word and deed that God loves them as well.
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Yeon Shin
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