Radcliff United Methodist Church
Sunday, October 23, 2011
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NRSV
Hebrews 4:14-16 NRSV
14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God; let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to identify with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested[1]as we are, yet without sin.16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
To Have Faith Is To Have Power.
First, I want to thank all of you for embracing and loving me as part of this community of faith.
That said, I didn’t know how difficult this book of Hebrews was. There is not another book in the complete biblical canon that addresses the Supremacy and Superiority of Jesus Christ the way Hebrews does. It also talks straight away with us because, it is a direct command, a direct order from God that we need to obey.
The historical time is guessed to be between 69-70 and 110 AD. The letter was written for the second generation of Jewish Christians. These Christians started showing a serious inclination toward the old legalistic system. Remember, the system of sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins. That means they started doubting their own salvation through Jesus Christ.
In verse 15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to identify with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
Here, the writer is telling us something that we are highly inclined to forget. That is, Jesus Christ was in the flesh, once he was a man; for instance, he was tempted in everything. He was tempted in things that we can’t even imagine. I think this a very important point, because we know that Jesus understands us. I am sure that Jesus Christ remembers how hard and difficult is to fight against temptation – the assurance of my statement is in this verse also. So, it is clear that Jesus understands our wrong inclinations or wrong tendencies because he felt them. Just think about this: the best person to give advice is the person who had the previous experience and knows how is to be there.
After we acknowledge that Jesus is able to defeat our temptations, then, we need to put it in practice and let Jesus crush them before they become sins. Here, we are going to face the most difficult internal battle inside ourselves. Just, remember what Paul says in Romans 7: 15 “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do what everything I hate.” The description that Paul is talking about is the internal figth between the Holy Spirit who dwells inside us and our natural and sinful inclinations. However, it is just a fight. It is our decision to sin or to stop.
According to John Wesley, in his sermon no. 40 with the titled “Christian Perfection,” Wesley insists that Christians decide to sin or not. Wesley strongly states that it is because we have inside us the power of the Holy Spirit and if we ask for help, the Holy Spirit is going to fight for us the internal battle, and of course, He is going to conquer our wrong inclinations before they become sin. Wesley explains that in this way, each time we win a spiritual battle through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we walk forward in the Path of Holiness or Perfection in Active Love. [2]
Why Wesley was telling us in Active Love? Because it is going to be in active love that we are going to put in motion our faith, because faith is not an inactive action because we are living beings. When we let the Holy Spirit crush the sinful temptations inside us, it is because our faith starts being in action, we are using it. As a result, we obtain and use an active faith; therefore, we are going to be obedient and faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to notice that the motivation for us to have a dynamic faith is love; love for Jesus Christ and love for others.
This is the Sacrificial Love that P. Art has taught us in previous sermons. This sacrificial love means that we are going to think about God’s desires and directions and we are going to neglect our own desires or directions. It is in this moment, when verse 16 comes alive in our lives “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
So, for us that are known as people called Methodists, this has become a way of living since John Wesley’s time. Actually, in England the Methodists were well known for their authentic effort to live a holy life.
The other reality that I want you to understand in this sermon is the second part of the title: To Have Power. To have power sounds very attractive; however, the Christian meaning of this statement is To Have Authority, the authority that comes from trusting in Jesus Christ that whatever happens in our lives we are going to be okay. I am sure that in this community of faith each one of us knows that it is truth.
Well, I am going to explain to you what Authority means. There are two types of authority: there is the external authority and the internal authority. The external authority is the authority that is given to a person through a position or a title that society acknowledges. For example, if a person is a policeman, we, society, know that this person has a given authority: the authority to be a policeman. As a result, this person has the power to execute authority. On the other hand, if someone is not going to be respectful with the authority and obedient, then this person is going to end up in jail or at least be arrested.[3]
Now, the internal authority is the authority that exists in the assurance of important realities that become part of the internal individual beliefs. I am going to translate this. Internal authority is the authority that each one of us is going to obtain when we really believe that Jesus Christ is who He claims to be.[4]
Here is an example of To Have Faith is to Have Power:
The great depression officially started in 1929. Now, the peak of the Great Depression was between 1934 and 1936. Obviously, it was a very difficult time for the majority of Americans. Many people did not have a job, and the people who had one were just making enough money to survive. Things were not expensive; however, people did not have money in order to consume; as a result the economy stopped and the country collapsed- this is the background of our real example.
Around the same years -1934-1936- there was –and still is- a seminary called Union Seminary in New York. This seminary was among the most progressive or open-minded institutions in America in those days, and still is. [5]A great majority of professors and students at Union Seminary were questioning the central statements of Christianity such as the divinity of Jesus Christ, the atonement or salvation through Jesus Christ, the divine authority of the Bible, and the miracles of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible – can you see the parallel between those times and now?
Well, in those years a student whose name was Dietrich Bonhoeffer was accepted at Union seminary. Bonhoeffer came from Germany and wanted to study at Union Seminary in order to learn some American Christian theology. On the other hand, Germany had been one of the factories of real Christian theologians in the entire world from centuries, that is, from Martin Luther in the XVI century until Dr. Karl Barth in the twentieth century. So in Germany, Bonhoeffer had the opportunity to be challenged and educated by some of the most important theologians in the entire world. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a real Christian and indeed a deep theologian.
After he started his studies at Union seminary, it didn’t take him very long to be in shock because Union Seminary did not have any foundation for real Christian theology. It was just discussions about social justice, economy, and mainly against conservative fundamentalism. Bonhoeffer recognized that social justice, economy, and the extremes that some fundamentalists can reach were very important to address in order to reach a healthy and fair balance in any society. However, the seminary and the most churches in New York were not preaching the real gospel that includes the teaching of forgiveness of sin, repentance, salvation, and faith in Jesus Christ.[6]
The most influential professor at Union Seminary was the famous liberal preacher, Harry Emerson Fosdick. Fosdick just had obtained a huge new church that it was built with the most extravagant and expensive features of a mega-church. This church was called the Riverside Church. Riverside was built with the financial contributions of John D. Rockefeller, who was the most important member of Riverside. With all these political and social agendas, Bonhoeffer was deeply disappointed. Actually, he wanted to go back to Germany. However, Bonhoeffer remained in New York and studied his first and only year at Union Seminary.[7]
In this year, Bonhoeffer made very good friends with four other students. One was French, Jean Lasserre; another was Swiss, Erin Sutz; one more was from America, Paul Lehmann; and the most important was Albert Franklin “Frank” Fisher, who was an African-American. One week, when Bonhoeffer was very tired of hearing shallow theology and no serious or deep Christian message from the pulpit, Fisher invited him to go to his church, Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.
Finally at Abyssinian, Bonhoeffer heard the proclamation of the real gospel. He also witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit among the congregants .The pastor in Abyssinian was Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. Powell had a real faith in Jesus Christ. Powell also taught and fed the congregation through his weekly sermons with such themes as who was Jesus Christ and what does mean being a real disciple of Jesus Christ. As a consequence, Abyssinian Baptist Church grew from around 300 members to 14,000 members.
They also built a big church in order for the congregation being comfortable. This church also built one of the first community recreation centers in Harlem. Pastor Powell firmly stated, “That God fulfilled His promise by pouring out blessings upon us that our souls were not able to contain.” –[8]- remeber Kaye's sermon last week, when the Holy Spirit fill us, then the grace overflows toward outside.
Pay attention that we are in the middle of 1930’s with the Great Depression on the shoulders of almost every family in America and Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem became the largest protestant church in America. Pastor Powell and the congregation accomplished amazing things without any help from people who had personal agendas or from people who were not willing to spread the real gospel of Jesus Christ- no money from Rockefeller or any prominent individual.
I just described a real life example of how faith in Jesus Christ has power. Remember that this was 76 years ago and times were worse than now. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we have authority, and God is willing to work great things through us as a church and in our personal lives. This is the main principle of the Kingdom of God:
Seek God first and everything will be added.
This also works as a divine formula: first, the pastor preaches the real gospel; second, people receive and understand the gospel through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit; and third the congregation has the responsibility to work out their salvation. That is, all of us have the responsibility to put in motion our faith.
At the moment that we become consciously aware that we are living in the presence of God and consequently in the midst of our faith, then the grace that comes from above is going to fill us, is going to empower us, and finally, is going to overflow through us toward the entire world around us. This is the way that the early church started growing in the first century.
At the moment that we become consciously aware that we are living in the presence of God and consequently in the midst of our faith, then the grace that comes from above is going to fill us, is going to empower us, and finally, is going to overflow through us toward the entire world around us. This is the way that the early church started growing in the first century.
Summarizing, the most important point of this sermon is, we need to start living in faith and claiming the power and authority from above, from God. God wants to do it. He is eagerly ready to open the gates of heaven and pour out all His authority. Then in our personal lives, we will find mercy and grace in our time of need (v.16). Just see the example from the congregation in Harlem: they found peace, grace, and well-being in their communal and personal lives.
God bless you <><!!!
[1] Or tempted
[2] Albert C. Outler & Richard P. Heitzenrater, John Wesley’s Sermons. An anthology (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1984-1987), 69
[3] The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology
[4] Ibid
[5] Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer. Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy A Righteous gentile vs. The Third Reich (Nashville: Thomas Nelson 2010), 102.
[6] Ibid, p. 101-107
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
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