Breaking the Chains

8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

11 Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself.

Dealing With False Teachers

14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

As we have gathered this morning, the focus is on the message of this table.  It is a Disciples of Christ tradition that the floor slope towards the communion table and that is why the pulpits are off to the side so the congregation can focus on the table.  In our scripture this morning, Paul shows us that this table is absolutely essential to the message of God.  Paul says that he may be bound by chains but God’s word is not chained.  I always wondered how Paul could always seem so up-beat, so positive in all of his letters that he wrote from prison.  If I were in his shoes, I am certain that my focus would be on getting out of prison.  My focus would be on how my situation is not fair and why was God punishing me in this way?  I think I would find it very difficult to have anything nice to say about my faith if I found myself in Paul’s situation.  Yet, most of his letters were written while he was bound in chains.  The difference between Paul and myself is that Paul undoubtedly understood that the Romans could never find a prison where they could contain God’s message.  One thing we have to understand about this table is the essential truth behind it.  Have you ever noticed how lies and rumors can have quite an impact initially but eventually the truth comes to the fore front?  These lies and rumors can have very strong impacts on our lives for a small amount of time but eventually, the truth sets us free.  Christianity, from its beginnings was no different.  All sorts of people tried to squash Christianity by killing its leaders, by spreading rumors and lies about what Christians believed.  Yet Paul and others stayed firm in their beliefs despite the persecution that followed them because they understood something that seems lost on us today:  they knew without a doubt that mankind could not kill something immortal because they had already tried by hanging Jesus on the cross.  

From our scripture this morning, we also know that Paul understood something something else that seems to escape us nowadays.  Paul’s suffering and imprisonment was not for the benefit of his faith alone.  When we encounter situations that seem difficult we often wonder why God is putting us through certain situations.  We often pray that there is a lesson for us to learn.  Instead of thinking about your faith in this manner, I encourage you to look at it quite differently.  Next time you encounter a difficult situation, do not be so concerned about how that situation or circumstance will affect your faith, instead think of others.  Paul’s sacrifice was so that we could learn from him.  Jesus’ sacrifice was so that we could learn from Him.  Our sacrifices must be so that others can learn from us.  The focus of our faith is to become as Christ-like as possible which means we walk this earth just as Jesus walked, we suffer just as Christ suffered and we live eternally just as Christ does.  When anyone has to suffer for their faith, let us remember that our suffering makes the road easier for someone else who is still to come.  In suffering, we bear our own small portion of the weight of the cross of Christ and do our own small part in the bringing of God’s salvation to others.  

Our scripture this morning also includes one of the first hymns of the Church.  When I first read verses 11-13, I was certain it was a Psalm so I looked and looked for which Psalm Paul was mentioning and I could not find it.  After more research, I found that this was a hymn that was sung in the early Church.  We have to remember that there was not very much written down in the times of the early Church so they had to pass the faith on through hymns or narratives and this was one of those hymns.  Let me read these verses to you again:  “If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”  If we die with Christ, we will also live with him which means that we share in all that Christ did and this includes the cross and the resurrection.  If we share in the cross, if we share in the suffering and shame of the cross so we are humbled before God and others we will also share in eternal life.  It is easy for us to focus on the last part of this verse, we want to share in the eternal salvation but how many of us really want to share in the suffering of Christ?  Honestly, I would rather avoid the suffering part if I could but this is not what we are called to do.  Our suffering paves a road for others just as Christ paved the road for us to get here today.  “If we endure, we will also reign with him.”  If we endure through the suffering of this life, all the while professing the name of Jesus Christ, we will also reign with Christ. Reigning with God completes the circle of faith.  First we suffer with Christ on the cross, then we share in the resurrection and finally we receive our crown in heaven.  Cross, Resurrection, Crown and that is will of God lived out by Christ and that is will of God laid before each of us.  We cannot have one of these without the other.  We cannot receive our crown if we live a life that shows others we believe in the resurrection and we will not live eternally if we do not believe in the cross.  There is a point here that seems obvious but I feel needs mentioned:  as we walk this earth we are not called to judge how someone is sharing in the suffering of cross or whether someone believes in the resurrection of Christ.  We are called to focus on our faith alone and let God judge.  The focus of the communion table is not whether or not we think someone has a faith worthy of heaven.  The essence of this table is found in us making everyone welcome to join us here and from that point on it is between them and God.  We help pave the road to the table and God takes it from there.  If we disown him, he will also disown us and if we are faithless he remains faithful.  Upon reading these lines of this hymn, it is easy to think they contradict each other.  If we disown Christ then he disowns us but if we are faithless he remains faithful.  In Matthew 10 Jesus says, “ So everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my father who is in heaven.”  This is a tough pill to swallow and can even be more difficult to do.  When we look at Peter, who denied Christ 3 times, we know he was granted access to heaven so why is he different?  There are two different kinds of denial.  Denying Christ and asking for forgiveness is much different than denying Christ all together.  We have to remember that the mercy and grace of God is far beyond the grace and mercy we can show to others.  Peter messed up, he made a mistake and I do not doubt he was reminded of that mistake when he met God for the first time but Peter provided a lesson for us.  We learn from Peter that God can also use our mistakes to spread his message if we are willing to acknowledge them as so.  But we must understand that Christ cannot vouch for anyone in heaven who has refused to have anything to do with him but Christ is for ever true to the person, who no matter how badly they have failed, has tried to be true to him.  Peter failed miserably in that particular story of the denials yet he still tried to be true to Christ and that is why Peter’s story turned out the way it did.  Even in our weakest moments, when our faith in God is at its lowest, God still has faith in us and this is the essence of hope.  How many times have we fallen and there was someone there to help us up?  When we turn our backs on God, He is still full of faith and hope in us and that is something that cannot ever be taken away from us.  

So where do we go from here?  Verse 14 calls us to action, “Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.”  If we look at House of Representatives and the President, we see a lot of words being thrown around.  No matter your political views, we see those press conferences and see the bickering back and forth.  I would much rather they all sit down and get things done instead of these silly press conferences that tell us nothing and only mention how bad the other side is acting.  Our faith is one of action, words are not simply enough.  It is through action that we spread the message of Christ.  If Christ would not have lived out his words by dying on the cross and all we had were the parables that he spoke, would our Christian faith exist today?  Definitely not, it is because of actions of Christ that we have the written word of the Bible.  It is because of the actions of Christ that there were those so willing to die, willing to be martyrs for the Christian faith.  It is because of the actions of Christ that we are inspired, not his words.  His words help us deal with situations in a Christian manner but it is because of those actions that we are gathered here today.  It is because of those actions that we are going to partake in the sacraments together and welcome all to this table of hope, this table of redemption, this table of action, this table of love.  As we prepare ourselves to become people of faith and people of action, there is one action that we must do first: accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.  If you want to become a person of faith who carries the cross, who lives eternally, and who reigns with God, you must first accept Christ and the love he has for you.  Amen.  

This is the first week that construction has started on the church so I will be posting weekly pictures to keep everyone up to date on the progress.

God Bless,

Clinton

Fairview Christian Church