Broken Records & Scratched CD’s

Sermon From 2016.07.10:  Broken Records & Scratched CDs
1. I have a character flaw…
a. It’s not a secret
b. Everyone who follows me on Facebook knows about it.
c. When I see a post that’s inaccurate, or misleading, or untruthful, I just can’t move past it and get along with my life.
d. I feel compelled to reply, usually with thorough and often well researched rebuttals.
e. In theory this is a good thing, because I believe there is value in truth.
f. In actual practice though, maybe not so much.
2. A month ago or so, a friend of mine, who is agnostic, liked a meme. (For those who are unfamiliar, a meme is a picture with a caption, usually humorous, and often sarcastic, designed to make a point.
a. When he liked the meme, it came up on his page, which caused it to show up on my news feed.
b. Now I don’t remember the exact wording of the meme, but the essence of it was that the Bible is unreliable because it’s just a collection of stories that were told for a thousand years before being written down.
c. In typical Carl fashion, I couldn’t let it go.
d. I posted a rather long and thorough explanation of why, for the New Testament at least, this is completely inaccurate…
e. I ummm… I didn’t realize at the time that I was responding to the post on an atheist Facebook page.
f. What ensued was a large number of people responding to a post that eventually reached nearly a thousand responses; twenty of which were mine, and several of mine were quite long.
g. I was surprised that, for the most part, the conversation was quite respectful. But there are a few things that I learned from this exchange and I wanted to share them with you today.
3. Our word “Gospel” is derived from the Greek word “Euaggelion” (yoo-ang-ghel’-ee-on) which means “Good news”.
a. It is also the root for our words “Angel” (Bearer of Good News), “Evangelist”, and “Evangelism”.
b. As I said two weeks ago, each and every one of us is called to be a bearer of Good News, an evangelist.
c. 1 Peter 3:15 says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
d. We need to know that certain questions are going to be asked of us, so it is advantageous for us to know the answers beforehand.
4. I’d like to begin with the meme itself. I’d like for us to think critically for a moment, and to facilitate that, I’m going to rephrase the meme:
a. Jesus was born, lived among us, and gathered a group of a dozen close followers.
b. His followers claim to have seen Him:
i. Turn a few hundred gallons of water into wine (A little unusual, right?).
ii. Heal the sick, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, a voice to the mute, mobility to the lame.
iii. Cure incurable skin diseases.
iv. They claimed that He walked on water, that He calmed a storm simply by rebuking it.
v. They claim that He raised at least two people from the dead.
vi. His followers claimed that He was crucified, died, and was buried, and that three days later He appeared among them, alive and well, and still bearing the marks of His crucifixion.
vii. Oh, and He said He was God.
c. His followers took this history changing, life altering message, dropped everything, and went out and told everyone who would listen.
i. They bore this message through trials and persecutions.
ii. They bore this message even though it cost 7 of the 12 their lives.
iii. Then those to whom the story had been told, told everyone who would listen to them, and they told all who would listen to them, many of them suffering persecution as well, and some of them being martyred.
iv. And then, three hundred years later, someone said “Hey, maybe we should write this stuff down.  Does that sound reasonable to anyone?
d. Now let’s dig a little deeper.
i. Luke was the author of the gospel bearing his name, and also the book of Acts. In all, these two books comprise nearly a third of the New Testament.
1. Luke was a physician, and as such was highly educated. He could not possibly have become a physician without having been able to speak, read, and write both Greek and Latin.
2. Luke, though he never personally met Jesus, dropped everything, including a very lucrative career, to become a follower of Paul, accompanying Paul on some of his missionary journeys, and eventually giving his life for his testimony.
3. Can we find ANY reason to believe that Luke wouldn’t have written down this life changing message himself? Especially when he begins his Gospel with the statement “With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, mostexcellent Theophilus”, and begins Acts with “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach”
e. Paul for certain wrote 7 of the books of the New Testament and is thought either to have written, or to have had a hand in writing up to 7 more.
i. Paul was a Pharisee, and as such was highly educated. He would absolutely, for certain have been able to speak, read, and write Hebrew, and since the priests used the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures that was already 300 years old by the time Paul was born, he would absolutely for certain have been able to speak, read, and write Greek as well. In addition he most likely spoke, read, and wrote Aramaic, as this was the common language of first century Palestine.
ii. Paul was a persecutor of the Christians, who had an encounter with the risen Christ.  He was blinded by the encounter, lived with a Christian family, learning until his sight was restored.  We are told that he visited Peter, James, and John in Jerusalem, but the English translations fails us here because the usage of the Greek word we translate “Visit” would best be translated “Interrogated”  Paul went to Jerusalem to learn all he could about Jesus from those who were closest to him.  Then he dropped everything and become the Apostle to the Gentiles.
iii. Paul was imprisoned multiple times, beaten multiple times, stoned, shipwrecked twice, and ultimately executed for his testimony.
iv. Can we find ANY reason to believe that Paul wouldn’t have written down this life changing message himself; especially when he said in Galatians 6:11 “See what large letters I use as I write this in my own hand”?
f. When you stop to think about it, the idea that it took three hundred years to write this all down is ludicrous. Couple this with the fact that there is an existing fragment of the Gospel of John, the last of the gospels to be written, that is dated to around the year 130, and the thought that the story wasn’t committed to paper for three hundred years becomes exactly what it is… An old wives tale.
5. I told you that I learned a few things during the exchanges on this post and one of the things that I discovered is the fact that the word “Sin” produces an effect similar to that of a broken record or a scratched cd.
a. I know that at least a few of us are old enough to have owned a vinyl record or two that had a scratch that cause the record to constantly return to the same place. You’d hear the “pop”, then the song would play on for a moment, and then “pop” you’d hear the pop again and the song would restart itself from the moment of the pop. This would continue to happen until you went over and moved the tone arm past the scratch so the song could continue.
b. For those not old enough to have had this experience, you’ve probably had a similar experience with a scratched CD that would hang in the same place and keep repeating the same fraction of music, but the broken record is a better analogy.
c. No matter what I would say, no matter how carefully I would explain, no matter how non-judgmental I was, once the word “Sin” was uttered, the conversation was incapable of getting past it.
d. The question that was asked of me over and over again was “How can such and such be a sin”?
e. It’s nearly impossible for people to shed the idea that the word sin means to do something evil or hurtful and nearly impossible for someone to shed the idea that being a sinner means being an evil or hurtful person.
f. Now it’s true that sin is a critical issue, but if sin isn’t understood in its proper context, you may never get past the word, which is why, even though it seems counterintuitive, it’s probably best to avoid the word or the issue initially.  When the seeker is ready you can return to the issue.
6. More important is the second thing I learned.
a. Almost every question that I was asked was rooted in a lack of trust in God.
i. “Why does God allow evil to happen?”
ii. “Why does God call me a sinner when this is the way I am?  Didn’t He make me this way?”
iii. “If God was really a loving God he wouldn’t (Or would) fill in the blank…
iv. The fact is, if someone is able to believe that our God is a loving and benevolent God, then these questions will eventually answer themselves.
b. When I answered the questions these folks were asking (And to be completely honest, though claiming to be atheist, most of these folks were earnestly seeking answers to their questions about God) their questions revolved around a desire to understand the nature of God.
i. They wanted to know why God didn’t run the world the way they think He should run it. They see ample evidence of unfairness, inequality, pain and suffering, and evil, and want to know why God doesn’t just step in and put an end to it.
ii. And these are actually really GOOD questions, aren’t they?
iii. The truth is, it’s not possible to understand the answers to these questions without being willing to accept the basic fact that God is good, and it’s hard to accept that fact when the evidence appears to contradict it.
7. So how do we reach these people???
a. That’s the million dollar question, but the answer is right in front of us.
b. Jesus’ first commandment is the one to love.
c. In the mid second century, there was a devastating plague in Rome that killed nearly 30% of the population.
d. So virulent was the plague that anyone who exhibited even the slightest symptom was avoided like… well… like the plague. Even family members were left to fend for themselves.
e. But to everyone’s shock and surprise, the Church of Jesus Christ stepped in and began caring for the sick, costing many of the Christians their lives. This loving act caused an enormous spread of Christianity among those who witnessed it.
f. Now I’m not advocating going out and doing something that is life threatening… but I AM advocating doing something that is life altering! Love extravagantly! Let God’s love so shine through your life that others can’t help but wonder why you are the way you are.
g. St. Francis of Assisi once said “Spread the Gospel, use words if necessary”.
h. When people do ask questions about your faith, focus on the fact that God is good, and worthy of our love. If they ask why you are so kind or so loving or so helpful, tell then outright that it is because of God’s love living in you.
8. The third thing that I leaned is that the church of Jesus Christ is under attack.
a. I expected there to be some anger or resentment, but I was totally taken aback by the amount of vitriol pointed towards God and particularly towards Christians.
b. Yes, the Church of Jesus Christ is indeed under attack, but…
i. It’s not under attack from atheists or agnostics.
ii. It’s not under attack from other religions or denominations, at least not in the US
iii. The church is under attack from within.
c. The church is under attack from people claiming to be Christian, most of whom don’t know Christian theology from a hot dog.
d. My wife Jackie was watching a video on her phone the other day; it was a video of someone from a very famous church that has made a name for itself by telling people that God hates them.
e. The woman in the video had cornered some unfortunate soul and was screaming at him at the top of her lungs, telling him how much God hated him and telling him that he was going to burn in hell.
f. As she railed on and on for an interminable amount of time, nine words kept repeating themselves in my head:
i. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
g. Jesus explained that you would know a tree by its fruit. You know when you see apples on a tree that it’s an apple tree and if you see oranges then you know it’s NOT an apple tree. So it is with Christians.
i. When you see a Christian, you should see the fruits of the Spirit in ample evidence: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
h. Now it’s not my place to judge, my place is to love; but I didn’t see any of these fruits of the Spirit evident in this woman’s tirade, and I guarantee the person being screamed at didn’t either.
i. If those who are seeking, or if those who are claiming to be atheist or agnostic, were able to see Christians whose lives and actions were abounding in these fruits of the Spirit, the process of explaining the goodness of God would be so much easier than trying to explain the goodness of God when the seeker looks at the Christian church and sees this woman screaming hatred and judgment.
j. John 3:17 says “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” If we are called to emulate Christ, which we are… Then we also are not in the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through our witness to Him who saves.
k. Let us fill ourselves with the knowledge of the Word
l. Let us be prepared in every circumstance to answer questions about our faith and our hope.
m. But above all, let us live lives of extravagant love.