Very often I will be left with a decent amount of material that had to be cut out of a sermon because of time considerations. While conservative Evangelical pastors usually get about 45 minutes for a sermon, we mainliners start to hear grumbles if we go over 20 minutes. So, since that sermon series is over, here are the leftovers that were cut from the September 15 sermon, "What is the Discerning Christian Thing to Do? Part 4." I offer them without any further commentary on them.
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The first thing we have to know is that the New Testament cannot exist without the Old Testament. To study the New Testament without knowing the Old Testament is like trying to play a game of baseball with only home plate. Home plate is extremely important; it is, in fact, the most important base. However, it is only important because it is the fulfillment of the journey from first, second, and third bases. For Christians, first, second, and third base are the Old Testament. Home plate is the New Testament. Our Jewish neighbors would, understandably, disagree.
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Even the gospels seem to tell the story of Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection in ways that emphasize and address the particular concerns of the particular congregation that produced that gospel and that utilized it first before it was ever shared with other congregations. Many of us probably have some sort of idea that the gospels were written by some holy person sitting on top of a mountain receiving dictation from God in heaven. That doesn’t seem to be how they actually came to be. While as Christians we certainly believe that through the Holy Spirit God not only inspired the original authorship but that God also meets us in the Scriptures to guide us this very day, it seems that the way the gospels came about was something much more organically human than what we probably imagine. Like the old saying goes: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Well, in this case, necessity was the mother of biblical authorship. The early Christian communities needed ways to be guided in the ways of Jesus Christ. They needed it put on paper because the apostles were dying off, as were all those who had personal memories of Jesus. Plus, they were going through some very difficult times and they needed encouragement, not just a pat on the back but encouragement from their Lord himself.
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Catholic historian Gary Wills in his book What the Gospels Meant, writes, “Mark’s Gospel was written in, with, and for a particular community.” The same is true for the other three gospels. There are times in the gospels in which it is almost like Jesus is turning to the originally intended readers, which would be the community that produced the gospel, and speaking directly to them about something that is going on in their own congregation at that moment, answering questions that they in particular have been asking. The 13th chapter of Mark seems to be like this, as does Matthew 24, as does the 21st chapter of John, and numerous other passages.
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Although it may make us feel uneasy, in the gospels, when Jesus speaks of “my brothers” he is talking only about his disciples. When Paul writes about brothers and sisters, he is talking only about his fellow Christians. In John’s gospel, and especially in his three letters, when John says brothers and sisters he is only talking about his fellow Christians too, and in John’s case he may even be talking about only those Christians who are in his congregation. In the Presbyterian Church (USA), the letter of James is one of our favorite documents in the New Testament because of its emphasis on faith being accompanied by action, especially action on behalf of the poor. However, James’s letter isn’t about how Christians should treat just anyone. When you read it closely you see that James’ letter is about how Christians, especially Christians within a particular gathering, are to treat one another. He isn’t dealing with how any rich people treat any poor people. An honest reading of the letter makes it obvious that he’s concerned about how the rich Christians in his congregations are treating the poor Christians in his congregations. The rich Christians are being favored over the poor Christians. Even the most famous passage in all of James is often used out of context, especially by us Presbyterians. It reads, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” All you have to do is read the letter of James to see that he is talking about what members of his congregation should do for one another. Again, any time brothers and sisters is used in the New Testament to refer to anyone but a biological sibling, it refers to fellow Christians.
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With all of this in mind, I take us back to my original point, which is that almost every document in the New Testament seems to be concerned with how members of a particular congregation interact with members of that same particular congregation, and only sometimes is it concerned with how they interact with those outside that particular congregation. Although it would be very helpful for us to know 2,000 years later, the New Testament says very, very little about how Christians should interact with non-Christians and just about as little about how Christians from one congregation should interact with Christians from another congregation. Back then, in most cities it seems there was just one congregation and the distances were so vast and travel so hard that only a handful of Christian travelers would ever interact with Christians from a different congregation. The Ephesian congregation and the Corinthian congregation were not getting together for a Thanksgiving service with dessert afterwards. They were 240 miles apart. A world in which there might be thirty or forty congregations in one town of only 15,000 people, churches of different denominations with very different ways of being Christian, would be a completely foreign concept to the authors of the New Testament. When first century Christians read Jesus’ prayer in John’s gospel in which he prays for his disciples to have unity with one another, they were not thinking of Catholics and Baptists. They were likely thinking of life within their own congregation or at most between the followers of different apostles.
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In modern Western societies we have come to speak of the brotherhood and sisterhood of the human family and we have come to refer to every single person on the earth as a child of God. We say, “We are all children of God. All people are our brothers and sisters.” I like this kind of talk because it is helpful to peace between peoples, but this way of talking does not come from the New Testament, although it may have evolved from what the New Testament says. The Scriptures do tell us that every single person was created by God in God’s image, that God cares for every single person, and that, to a certain extent, we are to care for every person too. However, this is not the way the Bible, especially the New Testament, uses the phrases “children of God” and “brothers and sisters.” John 1:12 is a great example. It reads, “To all who believed [Christ] and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” The New Testament works out of the theological assumption that through Christ we have been adopted as a child of God, as a member of God’s family. The Presbyterian (Reformed) understanding of baptism flows from this biblical understanding. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we claim our place as a child of God (what often happens in confirmation), and with Christ himself as the eldest brother (a status that was much more important back then than it is now because of inheritance laws and customs) all who have claimed their place as a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ are now brothers and sisters with one another (this is why we call it a church family). While we are called to love all of our neighbors, even our enemies, we also need to be informed enough about the Bible to understand what the Bible is actually saying, instead of what we wish the Bible said. The New Testament is saying something very profound about the Church that the Bible does not seem to be saying about the rest of humanity--we are family and we have even more responsibilities for one another than we have for others. Again, this is not being judgmental or exclusive; this is being biblical and it is being family.
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Paul writes things like this: “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” and “What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not.” You only write those things if you think that Jesus is coming back immediately.
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1 Thessalonians, which is believed by some to be the oldest Christian document that we have access to, is a letter that Paul writes to the little congregation in Thessalonica in response to their concern that they were told that Jesus was returning any day now, yet this has not happened and even worse than that, people have started to die (of natural causes), which has them worried that these people who have died will miss out on the second coming and the salvation that will accompany it for those who have put their trust in Jesus. Here is pretty convincing proof that Paul thought Jesus was coming back very soon: "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). Paul expected Jesus to return during the lifetime of the congregation members and wanted the Thessalonians to comfort one another by reminding one another of that expectation.
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If you still don't believe me that the earliest Christians were convinced that the world was ending, read 1 John 2:18, "Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour." Convinced yet?
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Judging by the fact that about a quarter of you fell asleep during the sermon this past Sunday, it appears that my sermon was certainly long enough. So aren't you glad I cut all this out? If I hadn't, we'd still be there. Hey, it could be worse. It could be like at the Native American PC(USA) churches I served during my seminary internship. I'd finish preaching and then one of the elders would stand up and say, "Thank you, Everett, for the sermon. Who else has a sermon to preach this morning?" Usually one or two or sometimes three other people would preach long rambling impromptu sermons, which caused services to go into the 2-3 hour range. So just remember, it could be worse!
