Why Should I Go To Church?

I've started to put together some ideas for this week's sermon, which is from Mark 13:32..36...

³² “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

The part that really stood out to me was in verse 34: "...each with his assigned task..."

There's an accountability that each of us has to be doing our own assigned task as part of the serving team. Sure, we work together and depend on one another in order to get our jobs done, but there is a sense of individual accountability to our Master for our own work. There is a need to be prepared for when He returns.

Paul echoed this idea in 1 Corinthians 3 when he rebuked the Corinthians on getting caught up with personalities and allegiances instead of simply working together for the Master.

As I was browsing the web I came across a number of sites posting reasons why Christians should be committed to attending a local church, and it was pretty much all good stuff. I think the bigger question than "Why should I attend church?" is actually "How can I play my part in being the Church?". Church services are very important, but they are one part of what it means for us to be the church together -to be the community of Christ's servants who are committed to fulfilling their tasks together. Again, as Paul writes in 1 Cor 12 and the New Testament commands all over the place, we can only fulfill our duties by working together and supporting one another.

So going to church is one part of what I do in my quest to be the church.

(God Willing) I'll post more information on how that works when I finish the sermon. The idea that is speaking to me right now though is that as God's people we need to focus less on the event of church services and our opinions of that event, and focus more on the big picture of how we are being the Church, and our personal responsibility (individual accountability to Christ) for how we are doing that.

The God Delusion pt 1

My basic plan is to jot down a few initial reactions as I read through "The God Delusion". Later on I hope to work through the various issues raised by the book in a more detailed way, but I don't want to get too bogged down at this stage - I do have other things to do! Because I'm just jotting down some thoughts, I'm sure that I will misread, misinterpret and misremember things on occasion, but I'm not afraid of being corrected where necessary.

It's an important exercise, as I wrote about in the "Richard Dawkins and the Johari Window" post. As someone who asks others for a hearing on significant issues and seeks to bring about some change in belief and behaviour, it is only right for me to give others the same chance to speak to me.

So here goes. Chapter 1....

Dawkins' rightly begins by clarifying what sort of God he is talking about, since there are so many divergent images that people have in their minds when the read, hear or speak about "God". He shows "deserved respect" for the metaphorical god (god is a metaphor for the Universe in all it's complexity) or pantheistic god (God is the universe - we are all part of god), perhaps even for the deist god (god got the universe going but does not interfere in its operation - the clockmaker god). None of these 'gods' are the God that he is attacking in the book. He is going after the supernatural, interventionist, personal God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Making the distinction is important. Too many Christians (including preachers) are quick to grab quotes from intellectual luminaries like Alfred Einstein and claim his support for our belief because of things he said about "God". It does not give intellectual credibility to our beliefs when we deliberately or accidentally misrepresent the views of others.

There is an interesting quote from Carl Sagan which concludes "A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed to us by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths."

That has always been my experience of Christianity. Certainly it has been what Louie Giglio has been tapping into with his presentations such as "Indescribable" and "How Great is our God" which utilise the latest images of and information about the grandeur of the Universe to bring a fresh appreciation for the incredible nature of the Creator God. Of course, to say that they are the creation of this God is a statement of faith, not science, but nevertheless it is one example of how religion has been enriched by the discoveries of science.

The second part of chapter 1 is concerned with the "undeserved respect" which mainstream religions receive in society. Dawkins takes aim at the many concessions and privileges which religious institutions and dogmas receive which are not afforded to non-religious organisations, demographics and ideas. The obvious product of this is that religion becomes a tool for wielding illegitimate influence and power. All sorts of abuses and injustices can follow.

Of course as a Christian I want my views to be respected by society and I want to be free to live according to my beliefs and express them publicly. Am I willing to extend that same courtesy to others? Sadly many Christians (and people of other faiths) can be quite ungracious in this regard. I need to be able to express my disagreement with other religious and non-religious ideologies and movements, and I need to be able to tolerate it (and even listen respectfully) when others express their disagreement with my views.

Dawkins goes on to list some of the worst examples of 'religious' violence and intolerance. I agree with his condemnation of these episodes, but I would disagree that these should be categorised as religious. There are all sorts of sociological & historical factors involved. I would agree though that in some cases religion has been the trump card played by people with a vested interest in cultivating hatred & violence.

At the same time, it is unfair to suggest that intolerance and hyper-sensitivity are the norm for religious people.

In my culture for example, the name of my precious Saviour is used as an acceptable expletive. Yet you don't see me attempting to blow up T.V. and radio stations where this sort of language is being broadcast! Generally, I ignore it as a learned behaviour which is not meant to cause me any personal offense. The best I can do is ask people around me to respect my feelings on the issue in the same way that I try to avoid causing offense to them.

However reasonable and responsible the majority of religious people may be, there will always be a minority who are sufficiently militant or aggressive to provide ammunition for some people to conclude that such behaviour is the product of their religion. Violence and aggression make the news, but people coming together in communities and living out their faith in harmony with one another isn't the stuff of headlines.

endnote: SBS Television programme "Insight" recently hosted a discussion on faith-based schools, which included a discussion on interfaith dialogue and respect, as well as the difference between education and indoctrination. It's worth a look, including the discussion that arose online afterward. Go to http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/in_good_faith_547814
the discussion is here: http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/do_religious_schools_unite_or_divide_the_community_547825

Sermon - The Widow's Coins

The Widow’s Coins

Mark 12:41-44

1/6/08

Introduction

I love hearing stories of good things that people do for others. This week I was looking up stories of philanthropists. I don’t know what sort of person you think of when you think of a philanthropist – or even if you have heard of the word before! (It literally means someone who has a love for people, but it is normally used of those who are generous toward others.) When I think of philanthropy I tend to think of rich people who give some of their spare money to good causes.

I think of people like Bill and Melinda Gates, who with Bill’s father set up the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which gives huge amounts of money to projects to help disadvantaged people.

"Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world" (www.gatesfoundation.org). They are involved especially in education, healthcare, disease prevention and community development.

The foundation has over 500 employees, and has assets of around AU$40 billion. It has given away over $16 billion in grants since it was formed, and in 2007 made over $2 billion in grant payments.

That’s impressive isn’t it!

Many of you will have seen Paul Newman in movies. He has been very successful as an actor. In 1980 he and a friend were making salad dressing in a bathtub to give away as Christmas presents. After filling all of the giveaway bottles there was lots left over, so they decided to bottle it and try sell it to some upmarket local food stores. Paul had been making his own salad dressing for years, and was quite a connoisseur. The salad dressing was a hit, and so a business was formed. As it grew, Paul decided to give the profits to charity, and since then over $200 million has been given away from profits of the “Paul Newman’s Own” brand.

That’s impressive too!

One more story…

In 1977 TIME Magazine carried an article about an ordinary, everyday person who was also quite a philanthropist.

Thomas Cannon, 53 was a postal worker in Richmond earning $16,000 a year, who in the previous five years had somehow managed to give away more than $33,000 of his own money. Most of it has gone, in $1,000 checks, to strangers whose misfortunes or good deeds he has read about. Some of his beneficiaries: a Colombian orphan who needed heart surgery; a couple who have been foster parents to 40 children; a civic-minded, wealthy businessman who quickly returned the gift. Why does he do it? Cannon and his wife Princetta believe that "the quest for money and acquisitions can be very self-destructive." So they give away as much as they can, while living in a house with a leaky roof and driving a battered 1963 Chevy.

That’s impressive too!

Recap: 16 billion, 200 million and 33 thousand. Very different amounts from people with different levels of resources, but all impressive!

Keep that in your minds as we turn to the gospel of Mark together this morning – Mark 12:41-44.

The Setting – Jesus teaching in the court of the women (John 8:20 also records Jesus teaching here)

Approaching the Passover. Jerusalem’s normal population of around 25,000 had swelled to around 100,000. Some of these people camped with relatives or friends in the city, others stayed in the villages surrounding Jerusalem. Jesus and His disciples stayed in the village of Bethany, which was a few kilometres to the east. Each day they traveled into Jerusalem and spent a lot of time in the Temple courts teaching and debating.

Mark 12:41-44

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.

Along the wall of the courtyard were 13 chests for putting money into. They were known as “the trumpets”, because they were shaped like trumpets – narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. 2 of these “trumpets” were used for the compulsory giving of the annual tax for the upkeep of the temple.

The other 11 were for things such as money for the purchase of animals, wood and incense for offerings, other articles and furnishings of the temple. As you came to the temple you could purchase animals yourself to take to the priests for them to sacrifice on your behalf, or you could put money into one of the “trumpets”. Each day the money would be taken out by the priests and the correct number of animals would be purchased and sacrificed all in one hit.

The purpose of each of the trumpets was marked, so as Jesus watched people put their money in He would be able to see what they were giving the money for.

Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Value of the coins: 1/64 of a days wages - in Australia today the equivalent would be about $2.50

That’s the story – that’s what Jesus saw. He then uses what He saw as an opportunity to teach His disciples an important lesson.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

So what is the lesson that Jesus was teaching, and why does it matter to us today?

I want you to know that God is very impressed when people give everything to Him. It’s not about money, it’s about giving ourselves. Romans 12:1 says that this is our “spiritual act of worship”. In Luke 14:33 Jesus says “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

In verse 26 He listed father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—“yes, even his own life”.

This widow honoured God with everything she had to live on. She voluntarily placed herself in a position of complete dependence on God. He would either provide for her needs or not, but she worshipped Him with everything she had. Jesus was very impressed by that.

When I was a kid I would sometime notice what people put into the collection. Sometimes you'd see the colour of a note or hear the jingle of a large number of coins and be very impressed. Some churches even make special mention of the more impressive contributions that people make, even to the extent of naming buildings or putting plaques on things that have been purchased through the generosity of particular patrons. We love to notice the big givers.

Jesus was training His disciples to look at people the way He did. God once trained the prophet Samuel the same way when Samuel was looking to anoint the next king of Israel. He was impressed by what he could see in David’s oldest brothers, but God said to him “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

You know the great thing about this? It means that we can all be impressive!

We don’t need to be a Bill Gates or Paul Newman or Thomas Cannon, as great as what those people have done is. We don’t need to be a Billy Graham or Rick Warren or whoever else other people might be impressed by.

It is enough to give God everything you have, not whatever someone else has.

God doesn’t care about amounts, He cares about our hearts.

We can either say to God “You are my King and I give You my whole life. Everything I am and all that I have are Yours”; or we can say “God, I am Yours up to this point. You can have this much of my finances and this amount of my time. You can be present in these relationships and these places, but not these other ones. You can have my weekends but not my weekdays. You can have my home life but not my work life. You can have Sunday morning but the afternoon is mine.” However it is you say it you restrict the worship of God to a certain part of your life.

In Jesus' economy you can donate a million dollars to charity and still be a scrooge! On the other hand you can give a couple of bucks and be a big giver in His eyes. It's the condition of your heart in giving that is the point, not the amount which you give.

Giving everything to God does not mean selling everything you have and giving it to the poor. It does not mean giving away your last few dollars. It does not mean working full time for the church for no pay or some pay. It does not mean going to some remote corner of Papua New Guinea to spread the gospel. It simply means giving yourself completely to God to shape and to use however He wants to. That’s not a once-off decision. That’s a decision that needs to be made every day, several times a day.

You can do that. You must, because that is the kind of worshipper - the kind of disciple – that Jesus wants. It’s the kind of worshipper that God delights in.