So, How are We to Live?
So, How Are We to Live? by Rev. L. John Gable
September 29 , 2019
We come to the end of a series of sermons I have loosely referred to as “About Being Presbyterian” because they have been based on the information we discuss with our new members in our Inquirer’s classes. You may recall we began by discussing the Presbyterian distinctives we call the Preliminary Principles which serve as something of our “Bill of Rights”, universal and inalienable principles which guide and shape our life together: “God alone is Lord of the conscience”, “truth is in order to goodness” and “persons of good character and principle may differ.” We then unpacked the questions we ask of new members when they join the church, questions you heard, and hopefully responded affirmatively to, when we received new members this morning. Each of these ask us to affirm the foundations of our faith: belief in one Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the God uniquely revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and the conviction that Christ has done something for us that we cannot do for ourselves, namely save us by His sacrificial death and resurrection, an affirmation that is marked by the waters of baptism. Then last week we discussed the Presbyterian motto that we are “reformed and always reforming according to the Word of God” noting that we believe the inspired Word of God continues to speak to us today, just as it has through the centuries. As one has put it, we believe “there is still more light to shine from God’s Word.”
All of this bring us now to the question, “So, what difference does all of this make? How are we to live, and perhaps live differently, now that we have affirmed these basics of our faith?” This lies at the heart of the third question we ask of our new members: “Do you promise to make diligent use of the means of grace, to share faithfully in the worship and service of the Church, to give of your substance as the Lord may prosper you, and to give your whole heart to the service of Christ and His Kingdom throughout the world?” Note again, no mention of Tab or the Presbyterian Church in any of these questions. These are affirmations and commitments anyone who calls themself Christian can and should make. So, how do we live in to and out of these commitments?
Dr. Frank Harrington was the long-time pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, for many years the largest of our Presbyterian churches. Whenever he met with new members he asked them to commit to four specific practices which are visible demonstrations of their Christian commitment. When I heard them I thought they were so helpful I have incorporated them in to our expectations of new members, and of all members of Tab. The four are the commitment to “worship regularly”, “live worthily”, “serve eagerly” and “give generously”. As we consider these this morning I will ask you to commit to these practices as a demonstration, not only of your church membership, but of your being a follower of Jesus Christ, beginning with the commitment to “worship regularly”.
As Christians, worship for us is essential, not optional. Take away everything else we do, every other program and ministry and mission outreach and we are left with this core ingredient of our faith: the worship of God. We see this evidenced whenever we hear of a church building that has been burned or bombed or destroyed by a natural disaster, when no other services are available the people of God still gather to worship, often in those devastated places they once referred to as being their “church”. This is evidence that the church is not a building; it is the people of God gathered to worship God.
In worship we define who we are and to Whom we belong. In worship we very intentionally place ourselves in the presence of God, the One Who alone is worthy of our worship and praise. The word “worship” itself means to “ascribe worth to” which means we “worship” what we value, even if it isn’t God. We will ascribe worth, or glory, or goodness or value to something, a possession, a person, a position we hold; something will claim our ultimate allegiance, devotion and praise, so as Christians we are saying that the ultimate placeholder in our lives is God and God alone, and we demonstrate that by our regularity in corporate worship, worship together, beyond and supported by our daily devotional practices.
I was told of a 95-year-old man in the church my brother in law served who was blind and nearly deaf but was in church every Sunday. When asked “Why?”, he responded, “I want to show who’s side I’m on!”
What do we mean by “regular”? Each of us must determine that for ourselves, again “God alone is Lord of the conscience”, but historically and Biblically the standard is weekly on the Sabbath day. As we understand that worship is essential to who we are as Christians then to commit to doing so weekly is not so much something we “have” to do as it is something we “get to” “are enabled or allowed to do”, as there are many of our brothers and sisters around the globe who are not afforded this same privilege in freedom and safety. So, the first response to the question “How are we to live?” is to “worship regularly”.
The second is to “live worthily”. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he writes, “Only live your life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that, you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the Gospel.” Live your life in a manner “worthy” of the Gospel of Christ. What is the “worth” or the value of the Gospel? Another way to put that is, what are we worth in God’s eyes? What is the cost of our salvation? It is the very giving of His own Son, the One we call Savior and Lord. Friends, the price of our salvation has not been paid by us but by God Himself; the exact price of our salvation was the cost of His Son on the cross. This then is the “worth” of the life we have been called to lead in His name. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, “We have been purchased with a price” (I Cor. 7:23); which means we are no longer our own. We belong to Him, so we must live our lives in a manner that reflects His life, His character, His presence, His Lordship. A tall order to be sure, but to do so begins with a desire to live in such a manner, perhaps by making the commitment to live fully in to the two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. It is not unrealistic to say that you are the closest some people will ever get to seeing what a “real follower of Jesus” looks like, so we must commit ourselves to living in such a way that we reflect Him to others, that is, “to live our lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel”, not just in here but perhaps even more importantly, out there.
Worship regularly, live worthily, serve eagerly.
One day a couple asked to meet with the pastor. They were both high-profile in the community, affluent and influential. They expressed their interest in joining the church but went on to explain that they were both very busy, otherwise over committed, and that they were away most every weekend, so they told him “Don’t expect us to get too involved.” After talking for a while they were surprised when the pastor basically uninvited them from joining, saying, “I don’t think you would really want to be members of our church. I think you’d be happier at the church three blocks down the street.” They were even more surprised when they drove past the church he recommended down the street because it was boarded up, overgrown with weeds and abandoned.
Elizabeth O’Connor from the Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C. writes, “On the ship called the Church there are no passengers, all are members of the crew.”
Service lies at the heart of the Christian life. It is the natural, or better God-given response, to having heard and received the Gospel message. Once we understand what God has done for us, we want to be a part of extending that same blessing to others. Even as we have been recipients of God’s “service” to us in Christ, so we are called to be sharers and bearers of God’s service to the world; by our sharing of the Gospel, through our witness and evangelism and acts of caring and compassion. This isn’t the responsibility only of those who are called in to “professional ministry” as pastors and staff, like the fellow who when asked by the pastor to serve in the soup kitchen said, “Don’t we pay you to do that?” No, you don’t! All who are called by Christ are called in to service. As Elton Trueblood put it, “A non-ministering Christian is a contradiction in terms.”
Frederick Buechner writes, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” All of us are blessed when we find that place and believe me when I tell you it is worth the search. God desires that each of us discover the gifts and talents He has given us and then employ them, or deploy them, in the work of His Kingdom. This is what it means to “serve eagerly.” It is the using the gifts and talents and abilities God has given you, not for your own ends and purposes alone, but for His Kingdom purposes, in the worship and service of God. When we do that, our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.
The qualifier to this phrase “serve eagerly” seems to suggest that all Christian service is easy or even enjoyable. We’d be mistaken to think so, some is downright difficult, or disgusting, even dangerous, but we do it still, why? Out of obedience to Christ; as an act or expression of our discipleship. As we read in our lesson from Hebrews, “Consider Him who endured such hostility against Himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.” When we find Christian service difficult we are encouraged to “consider Him”, to remind ourselves, “We do this for Him because He did that for us.”
The fourth and final encouragement as we seek to faithfully and fully live out our faith is to “give generously.” We are entering what we commonly call the stewardship season here at Tab when you will be receiving information about giving opportunities and financial commitments for 2020. Bob and Kathy Donaldson have graciously agreed to head up our stewardship program appropriately titled “Gracious giving”. But it is unfortunate that we think about stewardship as being confined to just one season of the year, that season when we are asked to open our checkbooks and consider our finances, because in reality we talk about stewardship as an important aspect of Christian discipleship throughout the year. I have never heard anyone call for the offering better than Oscar. Every week he gives a concise and insightful stewardship sermon, and we appreciate it because he reminds us not just what to give or how to give, but why we give. It is in response and gratitude for all that God has already given us.
It may surprise you to know that Jesus talked about stewardship, finances, money, possessions more than any other single topic; more than He did about love or grace or forgiveness. Why? Because He knew how important those things are to us and the stranglehold they can put on us. So He talked about money, a lot, which means even if the church didn’t need our money, which of course it does to carry out our mission and ministry, we would still owe it to you as your pastors to talk about money and our good use of it as an important aspect of Christian discipleship; yet another way to demonstrate who has Lordship over our lives.
Scripture speaks of the giving of the “tithe”, 10% of our income to the Lord’s service. We have found that to be a helpful guide and standard for our giving. Is that too much, too little, again that is for you to decide, that Preliminary Principle “God alone is Lord of the conscience” comes in to play again here, but it is important for each of us to carefully and prayerfully calculate and consider how God is being honored, or not, in our use of all that He has given us. I don’t think Wesley’s guidance to those early Methodists is outdated at all: “Give 10%, save 10%, and live responsibly with the remaining 80%”.
Yet bear in mind as we talk about “giving generously” we are talking about more than simply the good use of our money, but of all of the resources of our lives: our time, our talents, our relationships, our opportunities, as well; all that God has given us.
So, in response to all that we say we believe, “how are we then to live?”
By worshiping regularly;
By living worthily;
By serving eagerly; and
By giving generously.
All to the honor and glory of God. Amen.