I think that if the great patriotic writer of the American Revolution Thomas Paine were alive today and if he was a church member of a mainstream denomination, he might be inspired to write something like this:
“We are living in times that try the souls of loyal church people. The irregular attender and the nominal Christian will, in this present crisis, shrink from service of God’s Kingdom, but whoever stands by Christ now, deserves the love and thanks of future generations. Heresy, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What grace we obtain too cheaply, we will esteem too lightly: it is only sacrifice and cost that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; so it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as the BIBLE should not be highly rated.”
My friends, for some time now, I have been deeply troubled with the theological divisions that our national church is currently experiencing. I have wrestled with its present policies and latest decisions with regard to ordination and marriage. I have tried to be open to the bidding of the Holy Spirit and constantly prayed for guidance for what to do and say. I am at a loss because I feel that we are at a significant crossroads which may lead us either to greater glory or take us down a path which ends in a blind alley.
As I personally struggle with this, I wonder why God has blessed our wee church with all of this expansion and renewal. In the midst of both an economic and theological crisis we, as a congregation, have undertaken one of the biggest building projects in our history. We have been led to do this as an act of faith and I wonder what lies ahead for Erin church. It’s as if God is preparing us for a time when all of these issues will be resolved, therefore I believe He’s making us ready for what is yet to be revealed.
Today’s Gospel passage (John 6:60-69) is about a significant turning point in Christ’s ministry. His teaching is being questioned by His very own followers and at the end of the day, only a faithful remnant will remain of His Galilean entourage. His team will be divided and the number of his disciples will fall dramatically. Complaints will be made that Christ’s demands are too hard to live by or accept. The summer disciples and fair-weather followers will abandon Jesus, leaving him to even question and doubt the loyalty of the Chosen Twelve.
This is not a passage that many church people remember. We tend to think that Jesus was like a divine Pied Piper who went from town to town accumulating followers and disciples, so that when He at last came to Jerusalem, thousands of people were with Him. But here we get a picture of something entirely different. We have perhaps hundreds of people abandoning Christ because His demands for conforming to His Way were just too much for the crowds to endure.
I think that the common crowd wanted Christ’s miracles of restoration without His message of repentance. They wanted to live and make their own choices, instead of choosing Christ and live His life.
And that is precisely what is wrong with the mainstream church today. We want cheap grace without a godly commitment. We want prosperous lifestyles instead of living to please God. We want the church to reflect our culture and see to our needs, instead of reflecting Christ’s teaching and asking what does God need of us?
It is indeed a hard teaching and very difficult to be a Christian, but then again the symbol of our faith is a Cross, so who said it was ever going to be easy?
On 25 July, 1814 the Battle of Lundy’s Lane took place near Niagara Falls on Canadian soil. It was one of the bloodiest battles fought between British and American forces during the War of 1812.
No one actually won the battle and both sides were exhausted and depleted by the unusual amount of hand to hand fighting that took place. Most of the casualties, however, occurred through friendly fire. There was so much confusion on the battlefield that troops from either side were constantly firing at their own units. Leadership and strategy were ineffective from the command structure in both the British and Americans forces. At the end of the day, as the generals and commanders ordered retreat from both sides of the battlefield, it was obvious that there were no winners and that the real losers were all of the men who were killed or wounded in action at the heart of the battle.
This is one of my greatest fears for mainstream Christianity and in particular our own denomination. The antagonists on both sides of the theological divide are rupturing the whole church and it’s the people in the middle who are having their faith killed. As conservatives and progressives scramble to gain footholds and control of the national Church, a lot of church members are becoming disillusioned and spiritually wounded. The heresy that exists on both sides of the issues is killing and contaminating the ordinary simplistic faith of many people in the pews.
And of course, the media is having a field day by sensationalizing the whole process and not truly reporting what actually took place or what decisions have been made.
We need to rediscover leadership in the church and that is why I’m proposing that we study the Book of Acts together Sunday after Sunday for the next two years.
Why the Book of Acts? Well it’s all about the Early Church which was constantly led by the Holy Spirit. Time and time again in this wonderful book, we can read about the Holy Spirit inspiring ordinary people to do extraordinary things for Christ. In fact, I call the Book of Acts the “Gospel of the Holy Spirit” because the good news is that we as Christians are not left alone to work out what we should be doing in the world, we have a Counselor, Comforter, Advocate, and Guide who will actively help us be Christ’s church in our community.
My hope over the next two years is that we become so focused on what the Holy Spirit did for the New Testament Church in the past that we will be able to see where the Holy Spirit is leading Christ’s church into the future. If we do that then we will not be caught in the current theological crossfire, but instead Erin will emerge as a church that is intentionally led by the Holy Spirit and will become a resurgent missional community of the Presbyterian Church in this area.
So, starting next Sunday, we begin a new journey of Erin’s faith-life by experiencing the Book of Acts together. And at the end of the process, I believe that a new Holy Spirit inspired and Christ centered church will emerge and we will know that this is why God has called us to build in the midst of such troubling times that try all our souls.
At the end of the day, when many of Christ’s followers had abandoned Him, Jesus was left with the Twelve. In a very tense moment and a crucial crossroads for Christ, He dares to ask the Twelve if they will also go away. Even although Jesus is the almighty Son of God and has the whole power of the universe at His disposal, He cannot compel the disciples to continue to follow Him. They must make their own choices and do it of their own free will. The whole salvation of the world hangs in the balance.
And then the Big Fisherman speaks the words that every Christian should have written on their hearts: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?”
And that, my dear friends, is why we are all here. Schisms and divisions, heresies and hypocrisies will damage, disturb, and diminish the Church until Christ returns, but the Gospel will always prevail. As long as people are born, live, and die we will always be looking for everlasting life. And to whom will we go? To Jesus Christ our Lord, for He alone has the words of eternal life.
So where are we going? We are going on a journey that is led by the Holy Spirit. And where will journey end? With Jesus, in Eternity; for only He can get us there.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are all heartbroken for the divisions that damage Your church and we ask for forgiveness for our part in the process. We pray that You will allow us the Living and Sacred Presence of Your Holy Spirit in our church. We ask that You will teach us the lessons of the First Christians and lead us onward to a new journey of faith. In Your Holy Name, we fervently pray. Amen.
Questions for Home Study and Personal Reflection
1. What teachings of Jesus do you personally find hard to accept?
2. What kind of life does the Spirit give to you?
3. What must Jesus have felt when many of his disciples no longer followed Him? Does this event surprise you?
4. What are the words of eternal life that Peter says that Christ has? How do you apply those words to your own life?
Other Useful Links
Lectionary Bible Study:
One Family Outreach Study
Catholic Word Study
Seattle Sermons: Stumbling Blocks
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