Are you crazy?

The Church of the Resurrection Mark Booker
15 April 2007

Sermon: Are you crazy?

Text: Hebrews 11.8-19

Introduction

Last September we began a series on Genesis and we spent the fall on the primeval narrative which comprises Genesis 1-11. After Advent we picked up the story of Abraham in Genesis 12 for the Epiphany season during which we particularly concerned ourselves with themes on his journey and the various things he encountered. Having completed our Lenten series on Deadly Sins, we will now, for the next 5-6 weeks, return to the life of Abraham with a series about resurrection faith.

But before getting to Genesis, as a way of kicking off this series, we’ll actually look tonight at the passage we have read from Hebrews and make some general observations about the faith of Abraham and Sarah as seen through this New Testament epistle.

We’ll do this in three, related steps:

• Part I: Are you crazy? – the acts of faith
• Part II: The invisible reality – the object of faith
• Part III: Directing the “eyes of your heart” – the gaze of faith

Part I: Are you crazy? – the acts of faith

There are three acts of faith that the author of Hebrews praises Abraham for in this passage. First, 11.8-9, Abraham leaves home even though he didn’t know where he was going and he lives in this land of promise as a foreigner in a tent. Second, 11.11, Abraham believed that he and Sarah were going to conceive and that Sarah would give birth to a child even though she was past the age of child-bearing and, because they believed, she did conceive. Third, 11.17-18, Abraham offers up his son Isaac, the one through whom God’s promises were to be fulfilled, on the altar as a sacrifice to God.

Others must have looked at Abraham and Sarah and said again and again, “Are you crazy?” How could you leave behind your father and mother, your people, your friends, your career, your house that you just finished building, your land, the best schools for your children, your bank accounts and IRAs, and just leave without even knowing where you’re going. There are all kinds of dangers out there. How could you do that to your wife, your children, your parents? That’s not only crazy but it’s downright mean and insensitive. You’re out of your mind Abraham! It makes much better sense to stay here in Ur or Haran and to build a life here where you know people and where you’re known. Here you can have influence and do so much good, you can be an ambassador for your God here and your wife and family will be blessed and cared for.

Are you crazy Abraham? Do you really think that even though your wife Sarah is past menopause, that you can have a baby together. That’s physically impossible. Get real – I don’t care what you say your God has promised you. Why don’t you just take your wife’s younger servant Hagar and produce an heir through her, that’s what we all do when we can’t have children. If you want an heir then stop pretending and get with the program – that’s your only option.

Or again – sacrifice Isaac, your only son? You’re insane. God gave you that child, miraculously no less. This is the one through whom God’s promises are to be fulfilled and now you’re going to put a knife through his heart. That’s not only crazy it’s downright wrong and cruel. This is the most precious thing in the world to you; you can’t offer him up to God like this. You’ve got to hold on to him for yourself and see how God will use this precious gift to bless you and so many others. Don’t give him up. Hold on to him.

Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?

Part II: The invisible reality – the object of faith

There are, of course, two ways that we can walk in the world. We can walk by faith or we can walk by sight. Paul talks about this in 2 Cor 4.18 when he says, “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” And he goes on a few verses later to say that “we walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Cor 5.7. Walking by faith or by sight – these are our choices in life.

Abraham can answer the question, “are you crazy?” by declaring that they are walking by faith. There is an invisible reality that is far greater than any other reality in their lives – God himself – in whom they believe and in whom they trust and he and his words/promises accounts for their crazy actions. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, an Anglican theologian, writes, “In striking contrast to the man whose values are entirely those of this present world, the Christian is animated by the conviction that it is the very things which are not (yet) seen, those things which he appropriates by faith, that are real and permanent.”1 Abraham believes that this God exists, that he has spoken to him and promised him certain things, that he is powerful and trustworthy, and that he will reward him for following him.

So he obeys, even when it seems crazy. In the words of Luther, “this is the glory of faith, simply not to know: not to know where you are going, not to know what you are doing, not to know what you must suffer, and with sense and intellect, virtue and will, all alike made captive, to follow the naked voice of God...”2 This God and his promises account for their crazy actions which are none other than trusting and obeying God.

Each of these actions is done – this is the key phrase throughout Heb 11 – by faith. Faith is the difference maker which recasts the apparent crazy actions of the faithful into the very acts to be exalted and emulated in our own lives. To do something by faith, then, is to do something because of the realities of God and the unchangeable nature of his word and not because of what makes sense in the visible world. God and his words define my life and actions, not the world around me with all its reasons and temptations.

This reality of God and his promises is what moved Abraham and Sarah. In v.8 we see that Abraham obeyed the word of God which included a command and a promise – go and I will make you great and give you a land. In v.11 we see that Abraham considered him faithful who had promised. We also read in Romans 4 about Abraham’s faith:

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Abraham looks not to the hopelessness of the situation in the world of sight – but rather he recognizes, lives by, and acts upon God’s omnipotence and faithfulness to his word. He was fully convinced that God was there and that God was able to do what he had promised, that God had the power to bring life from death, the power of resurrection – that is, according to Heb 11.1, he had the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.

Part III: Directing the “eyes of your heart” – the gaze of faith

Now because of this God of who has promised much, Abraham can say, I’m not living for worldly security and gain and comfort. I’m not living within the confines of what is naturally possible, for our God is the creator and giver of life and he can bring life from death. I’m not holding onto that which is most precious to me, the dearest thing that God has given me, the one through whom I expect my name to be perpetuated, but I’m going to give this up to God if he so requires. I trust in God, I walk by faith, and this means that, far from being crazy, I have set my sights on the future which my God has promised – so I believe in and trust in and obey my God.

We cannot talk about faith without also talking about sight. For those who believe in God and who trust in him give expression to that trust by directing their gaze away from the world, the way of sight, and toward God and his promises as the sole objects of their desire. In other words, a life of resurrection faith involves a longing for the things of God more than anything else in the world. The eyes of our hearts, to borrow a phrase from Paul (Eph 1.18), are set upon the promised future of God and this directs our steps in the present world.

Looking at our text, we see that Abraham was “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (11.10). His sights are set not upon the loss of his worldly comforts and securities but rather upon the future that is promised from God himself. He is “seeking a homeland” v.14, and “desiring a better country” v.16. Therefore he, and others like him, are not looking back to that land from which they had gone out, a place of familiarity and comfort, a place to which they could have returned if they had wanted (but at what a price!) but instead they are moving forward, single-mindedly, with the knowledge that “God is the strength of their hearts and their portion forever” Ps 73.26.

They say with Jesus, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Mk 8.36.

And so in a world that walks by sight, they are “strangers and exiles,” merely passing through a place that is overcome by sin where people are intensely self-oriented. For they no longer fit with the mainstream here, and as a result they, at times, look crazy indeed. But there is something far better promised by someone far bigger than any of them really know that has captured their gaze. Their hearts are set upon it. Their affections are given over to it. As those whose “citizenship is in heaven,” their lives are lived, “straining forward to what lies ahead,” as “they press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” Phil 3.13-14.

They want this more than anything, even more than something as precious as Abraham’s son of promise. I was riding in the metro with Chloe this week just gazing at her with amazement and love, lost in the wonder of my own child. Occasionally, as her eyes wandered around the metro car, she would catch my stare and smile back with a blush and a sense security and honor. It was a great moment. But as precious as this little girl is to me, tonight’s passage forces me to ask – is God more valuable to me than Chloe? Is God more valuable to me than my wife? Is God more valuable to you than your hoped-for future spouse? Is God more valuable to us than our careers? our security? our comfort?

Conclusion

Some of you might be asking, “Why?” Why should God be so valuable to me? Why should I risk my entire life on him? Such questions deserve more of an answer that I will give them here, so please seek out myself or others who can talk through these things honestly with you. But what I will say that this is what you were created for. You were created to know God, to walk with him, to love him, and to serve him. And he has expressed his love for you in the cross of Jesus, his Son, who was crucified on your behalf and was resurrected to new life by God’s power. So, despite having neglected God for so long in your lives, God is offering you life with him by grace, because of nothing you have done. And he is calling you to walk with him, to fulfill the design for which you were created, to turn away from the world of sight and a world of rebellion and to walk by faith, embracing his ways as THE ways of life, truth, and joy. And there is nothing more valuable. God is the pearl of great price and when we see his value we sell everything we have so that we can go get that pearl (Matthew 13).

Now for those of us who claim to know God – how might we know the honest answer to these questions of God’s value in our lives? Let me suggest one question: do people ever call you crazy? Think about this for a moment. Is there anything in your life that can only be explained by the fact that you walk by faith, that you believe in this God of resurrection? If there’s not, then I think we have to ask ourselves the hard questions that maybe we’re not really walking by faith. Maybe we say we are, but maybe we’re really just walking by sight while talking about faith. Maybe we’re not really longing for the city of God but we’re really just perfectly happy with the city of man, with accumulating things here, praise at work, comforts at home, etc…If that’s us then this is a call to repentance for having set our hearts upon other things. And the glory of the gospel is that God stands ready to forgive, to embrace us by grace and to lead us forward in the way of faith. People should call us crazy sometimes. In fact, if they don’t we’ve got a problem, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” Lk 6.26.

Since God is who he is, my brothers and sisters, since God has promised us such a glorious future with him, we need to have no fear to do the extraordinary, empowered by his Spirit. Faith – which rests in God and which gazes upon his promises – enables us to risk, to respond to the radical word of God – don’t hoard and stockpile money for yourself and your family but sell your possessions and give to the needy, don’t seek self-preservation but take up your cross daily, don’t lord your position or authority over others but become a slave to all, don’t fight back but turn the other cheek, don’t neglect those who can give you nothing in return but visit orphans and widows in their distress, don’t neglect your wife and take her for granted but love her as Christ loved the church, don’t hold a grudge against that person and withhold forgiveness but forgive as Christ forgave you, don’t’ gossip and tear down with the tongue but let every word that you speak be for edification – while being buttressed by the glorious promises of God – that he will never leave us or forsake us, that we will inherit the new heavens and the new earth, that we will live forever with Jesus in a world of peace and love and joy.

What is it that we’re afraid of? Are we afraid that we might not have enough to eat? Are we afraid that our life might not count for anything worthwhile? Are we afraid of danger or death? Are we afraid of failing? “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world [all those who walk by sight] seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom [walk by faith] and these things will be added to you.” Lk 12.29-31. As Jesus said to Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe” Jn 20.27. So what if we have to give up the things most precious to us, so what if we die? Really, so what?

“If God is for us, who can be against us?...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” Rom 8.31b, 38-39. God is ours, we are his. We have the opportunity every day to be normal, to walk by sight, to look back to the world of self-preservation and self-interest. What I’m saying is this – as the beloved children of God let’s walk by faith, let’s not settle here but let’s set the eyes of our hearts upon God and his promises, let’s look forward to a better city, let’s desire a better country, let’s seek our true homeland. Being led by the Spirit through prayer, let’s move into a Clapham community together, let’s move in to Anacostia together to serve and be present, let’s buy a church bus and serve the children of this neighborhood, let’s lay down our lives. Let’s be crazy and let’s do it together for the glory of God and for the good of his world. Amen.

DEADLY SINS: SELF-SUFFICIENCY
The Church of the Resurrection
March 18, 2007
Dan Claire

We continue tonight with our Lenten sermon series entitled “Deadly Sins.” Catholic tradition is right to point to the deadliness of pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. But we are convinced that the Scriptures go even further in saying that all sin is deadly. “For the wages of sin—all sin—is death.” (Rom 6:23) Thinking and talking about sin isn’t much fun; on the contrary, it’s depressing. But if something is going to kill us, we want to know about it and make every effort to avoid it. For this reason, what we are doing each week during Lent is identifying various sins that are particularly insidious for us as Washingtonians.

Self-Sufficiency is Deadly

Tonight, our topic is Self-Sufficiency. This is an attitude of utter confidence in one’s own ability and resourcefulness in life. Thinking: “I am the captain of my own destiny, I have what it takes, I can do it.”

Self-sufficiency is woven into the fabric of the American mind and spirit. Rugged individualism has fueled exploration, invention, and achievement. The self-made man is the great American hero. We want you to find your own way, to get out on your own and make it, and so we celebrate individual expression and adventure. Burger King wants you to “Have it your way.” The Army wants you to “Be all that you can be.”

But remember while you’re living life to the full to also be a responsible citizen and not interfere with anyone else’s freedom. In other words, go for it, be all that you can be, but also mind your own business and don’t hurt anybody else. Responsible autonomy: the way of life for self-sufficient Americans.

Let me give you some examples of what this sort of Responsible Autonomy looks like here in Washington.

Some people major on autonomy and minor on responsibility. In this case, Responsible Autonomy means adopting the SoberRide program as a way of life. For the uninformed, the SoberRide program allows you to “be all that you can be” with green beer on St. Patrick’s Day, and then make it home without killing anybody by means of a free cab ride. If you apply this philosophy to sex, it means people ought to be able to do whatever they want with their genitals, so long as it’s safe sex. If you apply this philosophy to religion, it means that people ought to be able to believe whatever they like, so long as they tolerate the beliefs of everyone else.

Others major on responsibility and minor on autonomy. In this case, Responsible Autonomy resembles a real life chess match. Play by the rules, but play to win. So, make as much money as you can, and do with it whatever you like, so long as you pay your taxes and give a little to charity. My house, my car, my clothes, my home entertainment system, my eating habits, etc. may seem a little extravagant, but I’ve earned it and I’ve given God and Uncle Sam their fair share. Play by the rules, but play to win. This approach can be very philanthropic: through hard lobbying and political favors, you convince the school board to spend more money on your kids’ school, even though it means less money for the poorer kids across town. Too bad for the folks across town; they could have played to win too. C’est la vie.

This is Washington. Labels come easily. We know these two approaches—life as a SoberRide program, or life as a chess match—as liberal and conservative, respectively, and each of us is inclined to identify more with one or the other. They seem very different to us. But what does God see?

We are all in love with ourselves. Democrat or Republican. Liberal or Conservative. Responsibly Autonomous or Autonomously Responsible. Either way, at the end of the day, everybody comes to this city to make it, to move up, to take care of number one, to “be all that you can be.” Regardless of political persuasion, our culture says that self-sufficiency is a supreme virtue. God says it’s a deadly sin.

You have to choose. You can’t be self-sufficient and also love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. You can’t be self-sufficient and also love your neighbor as yourself. You can’t “take care of number one” and also take up your cross and follow Jesus.

No Need for God, No Need for Neighbors

We have read some of the greatest passages of the Bible tonight. In James 4 and in Luke 12, self-sufficiency is shown for what it truly is: foolishness. “He who dies with the most toys” doesn’t win anything—he still dies, just like everybody else, and then it’s too late to bring ‘deferred spirituality’ to the forefront. The Bible teaches that there is no such thing as complete self-sufficiency. You can try to make it on your own, and in some cases you may even achieve fame and wealth in the process, but in the end, as Paul says, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). If you have spent any time with evangelical Christians, you have heard this. You can’t save yourself from death, judgment and eternal punishment for sin; only God can do this. How do you get this gift of eternal life? Give yourself fully to Jesus Christ, and in so doing be reconciled to God. Give up self-sufficiency, and trust in God. Again, you have to choose. You can’t be self-sufficient and also love the Lord our God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

But this isn’t the only problem with self-sufficiency; yet sometimes you don’t hear the rest of the story from evangelical Christians. Here’s the other side of it: you can’t be self-sufficient and also love your neighbor as yourself. The wisdom of Ecclesiastes 4 points to this: “Woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.”

Not only does a self-sufficient person say, “I don’t need God,” but he or she also says, “I don’t need you.” So, the wealthier the neighborhood, the less likely it is that the people really know their neighbors. “Who needs them?” This is not to say that self-sufficient people are anti-social. In fact, they may be very popular people. But social relationships remain within controlled boundaries, because self-sufficient people by definition don’t “need” friends. This is why when self-sufficient people come to their senses, they often say, “I was surrounded by people but I still felt all alone.”

In the Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis takes readers on a fanciful bus tour through heaven and hell. He imagines hell as a city of self-sufficiency run amok:

“It seems the deuce of a town,” I volunteered, “and that’s what I can’t understand. The parts of it that I saw were so empty. Was there once a much larger population?”

“Not at all,” said my neighbor. “The trouble is that they’re so quarrelsome. As soon as anyone arrives he settles in some street. Before he’s been there 24 hours he quarrels with his neighbor. Before the week is over he’s quarreled so badly that he decides to move. Very like he finds the next street empty because all the people there have quarreled with their neighbors—and moved. So he settles in. If by any chance the street is full, he goes further. But even if he stays, it makes no odds. He’s sure to have another quarrel pretty soon and then he’ll move on again. Finally he’ll move right out to the edge of the town and build a new house. You see, it’s easy here. You’ve only got to think a house and there it is. That’s how the town keeps on growing…. And time’s sort of odd here. That place where we caught the bus is thousands of miles from the Civic Center where all the newcomers arrive from earth. All the people you’ve met were living near the bus stop: but they’d taken centuries—of our time—to get there, by gradual removals.”

“And what about the earlier arrivals? I mean—there must be people who came from earth to your town even longer ago.”

“That’s right. There are. They’ve been moving on and on. Getting further apaprt. They’re so far off by now that they could never think of coming to the bus stop at all. Astronomical distances. There’s a bit of rising ground where I live and a chap has a telescope. You can see the lights of the inhabited houses, where those old ones live, millions of miles away. Millions of miles from us and from one another. Every now and then they move further still. That’s one of the disappointments. I thought you’d meet interesting historical characters. But you don’t: they’re too far away…. The nearest of those old ones is Napoleon. We know that because two chaps made the journey to see him. They’d started long before I came, of course, but I was there when they came back. About fifteen thousand years of our time it took them. We’ve picked out the house by now. Just a little pin prick of light and nothing else near it for millions of miles…. He’d build himself a huge house all in the Empire style—rows of windows flaming with light, though it only shows as a pin prick from where I live.”

“Did they see Napoleon?”

“That’s right. They went up and looked through one of the windows. Napoleon was there all right.”

“What was he doing?”

“Walking up and down—up and down all the time—left-right, left-right—never stopping for a moment. The two chaps watched him for about a year and he never rested. And muttering to himself all the time. ‘It was Soult’s fault. It was Ney’s fault. It was Josephine’s fault. It was the fault of the Russians. It was the fault of the English.’ Like that all the time. Never stopped for a moment. A little, fat man and he looked kind of tired. But he didn’t seem able to stop it.”

Self-sufficiency in the Church

As I said earlier, evangelical Christians often talk about our need to be reconciled with God, but rarely do we hear the importance of being reconciled to one another. The reason for this is simple. God is invisible, inaudible, and super cool anyways if we don’t do what he says. (!?!) But people are altogether different. Can you imagine the mayhem if we were to attempt being utterly and completely reconciled with one another?

If you have been a part of this community for any length of time, there are undoubtedly people here whom you have written off, saying in effect, “I don’t need you.” Sometimes it’s a matter of demographics. Maybe you’re single and they’re married. Maybe you’re an adult and they’re children. Maybe you’re young and they’re old. Sometimes it’s a matter of personal ideology or taste. Maybe you’re “conservative” and they’re “liberal.” Maybe you’re fashionable and they’re not. Maybe you’re charismatic and they’re not. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of broken friendship. This person has offended you or hurt you or wronged you somehow, and rather than be reconciled, you simply say, “I don’t need you.” Whatever the case, it’s a lie. You do need this person. Your act of self-sufficiency is a deadly sin. It does no good to talk about racial reconciliation, to celebrate our connection to the ethnic unity of the Church of Rwanda, if we don’t have peace with one another.

1 Cor. 12:20-27. But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

If it is God who has put us together in this congregation, how dare we say, “I don’t need you”? Reconciliation with one another is not optional. Apart from reconciliation and mutual dependence, we cease to function as a body. This kills the church. If the body dies, the parts die with it.

Self-sufficiency will destroy this church in the same way it undermines neighborhoods. Smile and nod to neighbor what’s his name as the garage door closes. Shake hands with brother what’s his name on the way out the door.

Combating Self-Sufficiency

What can you do to combat self-sufficiency? Two things.

1. Be reconciled to God. Repent of self-sufficiency and acknowledge your need. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. Acknowledge each day that you are “just change in his pockets, and he can spend you however he pleases.” This is the place to start.

2. Be reconciled to one another. When we pass the peace in worship, this is not an ancient way for greeting newcomers to the church. It is a necessary part of our liturgy. We have confessed our sins against God and our neighbors. We have been assured of God’s pardon. We are about to go to the table together to celebrate our reconciliation with the Lord. Before we do so, we better confirm that we are reconciled with one another. Jesus commanded this same practice for worshippers in his day when he said, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matt 5:23-24).

Hope for the Self-Sufficient

Let’s conclude by talking about what happens when churches seriously undertake both of these. The result is genuine community—what we all long for, and many of us talk about so much. Allow me to illustrate what this looks like with two examples, first, from the early church, and then something more contemporary.

A. The Early Church. I went out of my way at the beginning to show that self-sufficiency is a deadly sin for both conservatives and liberals. Both are “taking care of number one.” The early Christians, in contrast, were taking care of one another, as well as the world around them. Let me read to you ten values of early Christians, developed by sociologist Rodney Stark, and summarized by the Rev. David Fairchild.

1- They refused to attend blood thirsty entertainment. They wouldn't go to gladiatorial events because they believed it defiled humans who were created in the image of God. This made them appear to be anti-social.
2- They did not serve in the military to support Caesar's wars of conquest, which made them appear weak.
3- They were against abortion and infanticide. In this culture, both were considered acceptable.
4- They empowered women by showing their value and dignity in places of learning and service which had previously been exclusively for men.
5- They were against sex outside of marriage. This fidelity was considered odd and against culture at a time when sex was viewed as just another bodily desire.
6- They were against homosexual relationships. This too was odd in a time when same sex practice was not considered taboo.
7- They were exceptionally generous with their resources. They shared what they had with one another and welcomed others in with unparalleled hospitality.
8- They were radically for the poor. In a time when the poor and downtrodden were viewed as getting what they deserved, they were aggressively committed to loving and serving people in the margins of society.
9- They mixed races and social classes in ways that were unseen in their gatherings, and for it they were considered scandalous.
10- They believed that Jesus was the only true God, and they refused to worship other deities. This was in a time when everyone had a god and could believe something entirely different and it was totally acceptable to be polytheists and pluralistic.

If we followed the model of the early church and 1-Refused bloodthirsty sports, 2-Refused militarism, 4-Empowered women, 8-Were radically for the poor, and 9-Mixed races and classes, we might be mistaken as liberals.

On the other hand, if we followed the model of the early church and opposed 3-abortion, 5-sex outside of marriage, and 6-homosexuality, and if we 10-Insisted that Christianity is the only true religion, we might be mistaken as conservatives.

But if we followed the model of the early church and adopted all ten of these values, we would be neither liberal nor conservative. We would be Christians, and they would know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35).

B. The Modern Church. I continue to urge you to see the film, Amazing Grace, which tells the story of William Wilberforce’s heroic efforts to abolish the slave trade throughout the British empire of the day. What it doesn’t show is the essential role of his church in Clapham, in this and all his other endeavors. The reason I keep returning to this week after week is because this church is such an important model for us. Like the early church, the Clapham Saints as they were called were impossible to label in any way except as Christians—people who put the needs of others ahead of their own (Phil 2:3-4). They lived in genuine community with one another. They prioritized reconciliation with God, and they kept short accounts with each other. They were tireless in their concern for the poor and the oppressed, both locally and around the world. Whereas any one of them working independently would have given up long before, together they persevered and changed the course of the world during a period of 40 years.

Because there are so many parallels between our circumstances and theirs, one can’t help imagining how our congregation might take a similar course. When I have been asked what is keeping us from so doing, my initial response has been to say “Money,” because I do think that we need to provide affordable housing in close proximity in order to genuinely live in community with one another. But if the money comes, it will do us no good unless we repent of our self-sufficiency. What good does it do to live in community if we are still saying “I don’t need you” to one another?

Do you want to be all that you can be? Repent of self-sufficiency, for it is a dead end. Trust in Jesus. Take up your cross and follow him, as he leads you into peace with God, and peace with one another. Amen.