OUR CORE VALUES ARE THE CORE VALUES
OF ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS
Isaiah 64:1a; Job 38:1-11, 39:26-7; John 1:1-5
Rev. Paul Wrightman 12/10/23
MOST OF US KNOW THE STORY OF JOB
AND HOW GOD ALLOWED JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING
TO BE TAKEN FROM HIM:
HIS CHILDREN, HIS WEALTH, AND, FINALLY
EVEN HIS HEALTH.
HIS WIFE URGES HIM TO CURSE GOD AND DIE.
HIS FRIENDS, INSTEAD OF MOURNING WITH JOB
AT HIS LOSSES, AGGRAVATE HIM
WITH THEIR ENDLESS THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS
ABOUT HOW JOB MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING
REALLY, REALLY, BAD TO DESERVE
SUCH DRAMATIC PUNISHMENTS FROM GOD.
IN RECENT SERMONS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT
SOME MAJOR PRINCIPLES
OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION.
ONE OF THESE IS THE PRINCIPLE
OF ACCOMMODATION,
WHICH MEANS THAT GOD CONDESCENDS,
AS IT WERE, TO MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY'RE AT
IN TERMS OF THEIR OWN LIMITATIONS IN TERMS
OF HISTORY, CULTURE, AND PERSONALITY.
AT TIMES, HOWEVER,
WE DEFINITELY GET THE FEELING
THAT GOD IS GETTING IMPATIENT, IMPATIENT
WITH THE SLOWNESS OF PEOPLE TO CATCH ON
TO WHO GOD REALLY IS
AND HOW GOD REALLY OPERATES.
BY THE END OF THE BOOK OF JOB
GOD HAS COMPLETELY LOST PATIENCE
WITH JOB'S FRIENDS,
WHO KEEP MOUTHING THE PLATITUDES
THAT GOD IS A GOD OF
VIOLENCE AND PUNISHMENT,
A GOD WHO IS EAGER
TO CATCH PEOPLE IN THEIR SINS
AND MAKE THEM PAY THE CONSEQUENCES.
AT THE VERY END OF THE BOOK OF JOB
GOD TOTALLY REJECTS
THE BAD THEOLOGY OF JOB'S FRIENDS
AND ASKS JOB TO PRAY FOR THEM,
THAT THEY MAY NOT REAP THE FOLLY
OF THEIR OWN STUPIDITY.
WE SAW LAST WEEK --
IN THE MIDDLE OF JOB'S SCREAMING
AT HIS FRIENDS,
THE REMNANT OF HIS FAMILY THAT'S LEFT,
AND, FINALLY, AT GOD,
THAT IN THE MIDST OF JOB'S INTOLERABLE PAIN,
GOD GIVES JOB A GLIMPSE OF GOD
NOT AS ETERNAL POLICEMAN,
THE PRIMITIVE UNDERSTANDING OF HIS FRIENDS,
BUT OF GOD AS ETERNAL REDEEMER,
A REDEEMER WHO IS SO WITH ONE
IN TERMS OF LOVE AND COMPASSION
THAT DEATH CEASES TO HAVE THE FINAL WORD
AND JOB CATCHES A VISION
OF ETERNAL LIFE WITH THIS LIFE-GIVING GOD.
IRONICALLY, IF THE POLLS
ARE ANYWHERE NEAR RIGHT,
THE HUGE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANS
ARE MUCH CLOSER TO JOB'S FRIENDS
IN TERMS OF THEIR THEOLOGY
THAN THEY ARE TO JOB HIMSELF.
SOME 2500 YEARS HAVE PASSED
SINCE THE WRITING OF THE BOOK OF JOB.
IF GOD WAS IMPATIENT
WITH THE BAD THEOLOGY OF JOB'S FRIENDS
BACK THEN,
ONE WONDERS HOW MUCH MORE IMPATIENT
GOD MUST BE NOW,
NOW THAT GOD HAS DEFINITIVELY
REVEALED GODSELF IN THE PERSON –
JESUS OF NAZARETH --
WHO WAS THE INCARNATION
OF GOD'S GOODNESS, COMPASSION,
CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE,
AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
MOST OF THOSE
WHO CALL THEMESELVES CHRISTIANS TODAY
STILL DON'T GET IT
AND FOLLOW THE THREATENING WAY
OF JOB'S FRIENDS
RATHER THAN THE REDEMPTIVE WAY
OF JOB'S GOD.
GIVEN THE OVERALL THEOLOGICAL TRAJECTORY
OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES BEING ONE OF
INCREMENTAL YET RELENTLESS GROWTH
IN TERMS OF GOD BEING REVEALED
AS A GOD OF COMPASSION, AFFIRMATION,
LIBERATION AND LOVE TOWARD ALL PEOPLE,
IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE MAJORITY
OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANS ARE MISSING THE BOAT
IN INSISTING THAT WHEN GOD FINALLY
DID TEAR OPEN THE HEAVENS AND COME DOWN
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS OF NAZARETH,
GOD CAME DOWN TO IMPOSE ON HUMANITY
THE DEMONSTRABLY FALSE DOCTRINES OF THE
PROSPERITY GOSPEL,
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM,
WHITE SUPREMACY,
AND GOD’S HATRED OF THOSE WHO ARE GAY.
TO PUT IT BLUNTLY,
ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN STATED BELIEFS,
THE MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS IN THIS COUNTRY
STAND FOR VALUES WHICH ARE
THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE VALUES
PREACHED AND LIVED BY JESUS IN THE GOSPELS.
IF WE FOLLOW THE LIFE-AFFIRMING TRAJECTORY
OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES THEMSELVES,
WE SEE THAT THE CORE VALUES
OF COMMUNITY CHURCH
ARE FURTHER EXTENSIONS
OF THE THEOLOGICAL TRAJECTORY
OF THE FIRST (NOT “OLD”!) TESTAMENT.
THIS IS WHY WE CAN CLAIM
THAT OUR CORE VALUES
ARE THE CORE VALUES
OF ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE FIRST TWO
OF OUR CORE VALUES.
THE FIRST IS THAT "GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE."
THIS MEANS THAT GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE,
EVEN PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY.
I’M MAKING A POINT OF MENTIONING
“PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY” HERE
BECAUSE LGBTQ+ PERSONS ARE
THE FOCAL POINT OF SO MUCH BAD
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY TODAY –
JUST AS THOSE WITH LEPROSY,
PERSONS WHO WERE JEWISH OR ISLAMIC,
PERSONS WITH BLACK SKIN – IN FACT,
ANYONE WHO DIFFERED FROM
THE SOCIETAL NORM OF BEING WHITE, STRAIGHT,
AND CHRISTIAN WERE SCAPEGOATED IN THE PAST.
“GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE,”
CARRIES THE FURTHER IMPLICATION
THAT GOD LOVES ALL PEOLE
WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
IN OTHER WORDS, ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO
STOP BEING GAY – OR JEWISH OR ISLAMIC
OR RED, BLACK, BROWN, OR YELLOW –
FOR GOD TO LOVE THAT PERSON.
OUR SECOND CORE VALUE STATES THAT
"WE WELCOME ALL PEOPLE,
WHEREVER THEY ARE ON THEIR LIFE JOURNEY."
THIS CORE VALUE FLOWS DIRECTLY
FROM THE MINISTRY OF JESUS HIMSELF,
WHO WELCOMED ALL PEOPLE --
ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO WERE OUTCASTS
IN THE CULTURE OF HIS OWN TIME.
PEOPLE LIKE JOB'S FRIENDS --
PERSONS WHO HAD A MUCH MORE
CONVENTIONAL AND TRADITIONAL
TAKE ON THINGS--
WERE ALSO WELCOMED BY JESUS,
BUT HE EXPECTED THEM TO GROW INTO
THE COMPASSION OF HIS OWN MINISTRY,
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CAME
TO THOSE REJECTED BY THE REST OF SOCIETY.
SO I SEE OUR CORE VALUE, EXPRESSED
IN OUR CORE SLOGAN:
"WHEREVER YOU ARE ON YOUR LIFE JOURNEY,
YOU'RE WELCOME HERE,”
AS CONSIDERABLY MORE COMPLEX IN MEANING
THAN IT FIRST APPEARS.
WHEN TIED TO THE MINISTRY AND MODEL
OF JESUS HIMSELF,
IT DOES NOT JUST MEAN
THAT ALL POSITIONS ON THE SPECTRUM
OF FAITH AND PRACTICE
ARE OF EQUAL VALUE TO JESUS.
ALL PERSONS ARE OF EQUAL VALUE TO JESUS,
ALL POSITIONS ARE NOT. (REPEAT)
"WHEREVER YOU ARE ON YOUR LIFE JOURNEY,
YOU’RE WELCOME HERE,”
MEANS THAT THIS CHURCH IS A SAFE PLACE
FOR EVERYONE,
FROM THE MOST DIED-IN-THE-WOOL
CONSERVATIVE,
TO THE MOST TIED-DYED, SPACED-OUT LIBERAL.
JESUS' CHALLENGE TO BOTH THESE EXTREMES,
JESUS' CHALLENGE TO EVERYONE,
WHEREVER THEY HAPPEN TO BE ON THEIR
LIFE JOURNEY,
IS TO BECOME MORE LIKE HIM.
TOO OFTEN, I THINK,
WE USE THIS CORE VALUE OF OURS
AS AN EXCUSE NOT TO GROW,
NOT TO ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE CHALLENGED
IN TERMS OF OUR FAITH AND PRACTICE.
AFTER ALL, IF GOD LOVES US JUST AS WE ARE,
WHY CHANGE?
THE REALITY IS
THAT GOD LOVES US JUST AS WE ARE
PRECISELY IN ORDER TO EMPOWER US TO CHANGE,
TO BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS,
WHETHER WE HAPPEN TO BE
LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE,
PASSIVE OR PASSIONATE,
REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT,
LIBERTARIAN OR INDEPENDENT,
BLACK OR WHITE OR BROWN OR RED OR YELLOW,
STRAIGHT OR GAY, MALE OR FEMALE,
OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN.
BUT DOES THIS MEAN
THAT WE'RE ALL SUPPOSED
TO THINK AND ACT ALIKE?
OF COURSE NOT!
WHAT ISN'T GOING TO WORK, HOWEVER,
IS TO QUOTE THE BAD THEOLOGY
OF JOB’S FRIENDS – THE BASIS FOR THE
BAD THEOLOGY OF THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL –
AND CLAIMING THAT SINCE IT’S IN THE BIBLE,
IT’S AUTOMATICALLY A GOOD ARGUMENT.
THE BAD THEOLOGY OF JOB'S FRIENDS
IS IN THE BIBLE PRECISELY TO BE REFUTED.
THIS WOULD BE LIKE COMING AT JESUS
WITH THE ARGUMENT THAT
SINCE IT'S STATED IN THE BIBLE,
"LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND HATE YOUR ENEMY"
MUST BE THE WAY TO GO,
WHEN GOD'S SPIRIT HAS SPOKEN THROUGH JESUS
TO CORRECT THIS BAD THEOLOGY,
CHANGING IT TO,
BUT I SAY TO YOU, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES."
SO IF WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS, DEBATE,
AND SOMETIMES DISAGREE,
WHICH THIS CHURCH ENCOURAGES,
LET'S AGREE TO DISCUSS, DEBATE,
AND PERHAPS DISAGREE
ON WHAT JESUS MEANS.
AND THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM
FOR DIFFERENCES OF OPINION CONCERNING JESUS,
ALL THE WAY FROM WHAT HE TAUGHT,
TO WHAT HE DID,
TO WHO HE WAS AND IS.
BACK TO JOB.
JOB AIMS SOME BARBED WORDS
OF COMPLAINT AND CHALLENGE AGAINST GOD:
"O THAT I HAD ONE TO HEAR ME!
(HERE IS MY SIGNATURE! LET THE
ALMIGHTY ANSWER ME!)
O THAT I HAD THE INDICTMENT WRITTEN
BY MY ADVERSARY!
SURELY I WOULD CARRY IT ON MY
SHOULDER;
I WOULD BIND IT ON MY HEAD LIKE A CROWN;
I WOULD GIVE HIM AN ACCOUNT OF ALL MY
STEPS;
LIKE A PRINCE I WOULD APPROACH HIM."
(Job 31:35-37)
THESE WORDS OF JOB ARE FOLLOWED
BY SIX MORE CHAPTERS OF BAD THEOLOGY
BY YET ANOTHER POMPOUS FRIEND,
BAD THEOLOGY IN WHICH GOD
IS AGAIN PRESENTED IN TERMS OF
VIOLENCE AND VIOLENT PUNISHMENT.
FINALLY, GOD APPEARS ON THE SCENE,
APPEARS ON THE SCENE AS A WHIRLWIND,
AND LITERALLY BLOWS AWAY ALL OPPOSITION.
SPEAKING SPECIFICALLY TO JOB,
GIVING JOB AN INCREDIBLE VISION
OF GOD'S INCREDIBLE CREATIVITY
AND FIERCE INVESTMENT IN GOD'S CREATION,
GOD GOES ON FOR THREE FULL CHAPTERS
BRAGGING ABOUT GOD'S CREATIVE POWERS
AND -- MUCH AS IN A SHOW-AND-TELL SESSION
IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL --
GIVES JOB A SAMPLING OF ALL THE
EXTRAORDINARY CREATURES GOD HAS MADE.
WE GET A SMALL TASTE OF THIS
IN TODAY'S SCRIPTURE READING,
WHICH REPRESENTS ABOUT ONE TWENTIETH
OF THE BRAGGING THAT GOD DOES.
CHARLES SWINDOLL WRITES:
“DURING ONE OF OUR VACATIONS
MY WIFE AND I RENTED A HOUSEBOAT
UP AT LAKE SHASTA.
AND WHILE WE WERE THERE, A COUPLE OF NIGHTS
WE DECIDED WE WOULD SLEEP ON TOP
OF THE HOUSEBOAT.
SO WE DRAGGED OUR SLEEPING BAGS UP THERE.
WHEN WE PUT OUR HEADS BACK ON THE PILLOWS
AND WE LOOKED UP AND ALL THE LIGHTS
WERE OFF, OF COURSE, AND THE WHOLE PLACE
WAS QUIET, THE STARS BY THE THOUSANDS
SURROUNDED US.
I MEAN, IT WAS LIKE YOU COULD REACH OUT
AND TOUCH THE MILKY WAY.
GOD LOVES VISUAL AIDS.”
OUR QUESTION IS THIS:
GIVEN THE FACT THAT GOD HAS ALLOWED
JOB'S WORLD TO COMPLETELY FALL APART,
OF WHAT POSSIBLE HELP
CAN ALL THESE VISUAL AIDS --THESE THREE RELENTLESS CHAPTERS DETAILING GOD'S GLORIOUS CREATION --
POSSIBLY BE TO JOB?
LET'S TRY TO PUT OURSELVES IN JOB'S POSITION.
JOB IS SO EXTREMELY DOWN-AND-OUT
THAT GOD GIVES JOB AN EXTREME VISION
TO COUNTERACT HIS DOWN-AND-OUTNESS.
THE HORIZON OF JOB'S VISION
HAS BEEN PRETTY MUCH LIMITED
TO HIS FAMILY, HIS VILLAGE, AND HIMSELF.
GOD EXPLODES JOB'S NARROW VISION
AND REPLACES IT WITH A VISION
THAT INCLUDES NOTHING LESS
THAN THE WHOLE OF CREATION.
GOD IS BASICALLY SAYING TO JOB
THAT VILLAGE, FAMILY, AND SELF
ARE NOT FIRST IN THE ORDER OF THINGS;
GOD AND THE WILD DIVERSITY OF GOD'S CREATION
ARE FIRST IN THE ORDER OF THINGS.
THE IMPLICATION IS THAT IN ORDER
TO FINALLY FIND FAMILY AND SELF,
WE MUST FIRST FIND GOD
AND CELEBRATE GOD'S CREATION.
ACCORDING TO THE VISION OF CREATION
THAT GOD GIVES TO JOB,
THE ENTIRE WORLD,
ESPECIALLY THE ENTIRE WESTERN WORLD,
NEEDS A GIGANTIC REMEDIAL COURSE
IN GETTING OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT.
GOD SEEMS TO BE SAYING TO JOB,
AND TO US THROUGH JOB,
THAT UNTIL WE PUT GOD FIRST
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO FIND OUR TRUE SELVES;
THAT UNTIL WE HUMANS BECOME
BENEVOLENT STEWARDS OF CREATION –
ANOTHER OF OUR CORE VALUES! --
AS GOD TEACHES
IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS,
RATHER THAN THE USERS AND PILLAGERS
OF CREATION WHICH WE HAVE BECOME,
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO FIND OUR TRUE SELVES.
I WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE
WITH A TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER,
WHICH, LIKE THE DECIMATED
NATIVE PEOPLES THEMSELVES,
I BELIEVE IS VERY CLOSE TO GOD'S OWN HEART:
O GREAT SPIRIT
WHOSE VOICE I HEAR IN THE WINDS,
AND WHOSE BREATH GIVES LIFE
TO ALL THE WORLD,
HEAR ME! I AM SMALL AND WEAK,
I NEED YOUR STRENGTH AND WISDOM.
LET ME WALK IN BEAUTY, AND MAKE MY EYES
EVER BEHOLD THE RED AND PURPLE SUNSET.
MAKE MY HANDS RESPECT THE THINGS
YOU HAVE MADE
AND MY EARS SHARP TO HEAR YOUR VOICE.
MAKE ME WISE SO THAT I MAY UNDERSTAND
THE THINGS YOU HAVE TAUGHT MY PEOPLE.
LET ME LEARN THE LESSONS YOU HAVE HIDDEN
IN EVERY LEAF AND ROCK.
I SEEK STRENGTH,
NOT TO BE GREATER THAN MY BROTHER,
BUT TO FIGHT MY GREATEST ENEMY -- MYSELF.
MAKE ME ALWAYS READY TO COME TO YOU
WITH CLEAN HANDS AND STRAIGHT EYES.
SO WHEN LIFE FADES, AS THE FADING SUNSET,
MY SPIRIT MAY COME TO YOU WITHOUT SHAME.
AMEN.