Dennis Chupik, Atheists for Jesus, and Christian circular reasoning.

Ah, circular reasoning. That particular monkey has been on our backs for quite a while, hasn't it? Basically, it goes like this:

The Bible is true because the Bible says that the Bible is true because the Bible says that the Bible is true. Aha. But that really doesn't mean anything, does it? If my only motivation to open the Bible is to read about how accurate the Bible says that the Bible is, then what the heck do I believe in anyway? Well, the good people from the time of Jesus were having those same questions. These were people who had listened to scribes their whole lives, who had taught them, but without any real authority (Mark 1:22) They had been taught their whole lives about there being a separation between church and state - that is, there was the Temple and the Synagogues, where you'd go to hear God's word, make sacrifices, pray, etc. And then you had your life, your regular life, where you were ruled by a pagan Roman empire, you used their coins, obeyed their laws, and you didn't necessarily think that there was much of a spillover. There was as much of a gap between their world on Saturday and their world on the rest of the week, as there is with our world on Sunday vs the rest of the week. There are so many Christians out there who sincerely believe that you can sign up to the idea of Christianity without it affecting anything you do or say. And even a great many of us in the pews would come up with the same answer of defending our faith, that the Bible is true because the Bible says that the Bible is true.

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"

-1 Peter 3:15


"What reason do you have for the hope that is in you?"

-Dennis Chupik.





That was Dennis Chupik's insightful question to the confirmation class when his daughter was about to be confirmed. Right out of scripture. And really hard. All of a sudden, the entire role of confirmation class and the grilling that goes along with it, changed. We're used to getting questions about the Apostle's creed, the Lord's prayer, the 10 commandments, all that, questions that you can just spit out an answer to that you've memorized. And how do you know that all that is accurate and true? Because pastor Jim says so? Not good enough.
The teaching that Jesus gave his people was teaching that had authority. Teaching that they had to engage with. Teaching that went outside the Synagogue, outside the Temple, and met people in real life. The truth that Jesus brought, it wasn't just applicable to people in churches, in holy spots who would then have to leave it behind when they returned to their real lives. Nor was it truth that was only evident "because Jesus says so." It was good and right because it worked. When Jesus talks to people, very few of them come away with the idea that what Jesus says is isolated or off in a box somewhere. His message carries such amazing force because deep down we know that if were able to follow it, the world would be a better place. All his advice isn't fantastic and wonderful just because he says so, and he's the son of God, but it works even if you remove that element from it.

Yes, on the left, that's Richard Dawkins, celebrated anti-theist. And there he is, wearing an "Atheists for Jesus" t-shirt. Even he who loathes religion can still recognize that the teachings of Jesus, at least on moral issues are good, and worth following. You see, what Jesus did was to break so far out of the circular reasoning that we're all accused of, and to present his teachings on the poor, the weak, the meek, the oppressed, the rich, in such a way as we could test them and find them to be true. It's not "Jesus is right because he says he's right," it's "Jesus is right because he's reminding me of what I have known to be the truth, deep down, all along."
It's never been good enough for any of us to say 'the Bible is true and that's that,' but it's required of us (by St. Peter) to know what we believe, and to be prepared to engage the world with it. Why do you believe in the scriptures? Because they work. Because you trust Jesus, who has shown his trustworthiness. Because they have stood the toughest test of all, your test.

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried” – G. K. Chesterton

It takes work to know why you believe what you believe, but I can promise you that it is worth it. That's why we have Bible Study, Sunday School, Confirmation classes, and sermons, to wrestle with God, and to prevail. Knowing what you believe is such a key element in your Christian life, because it's your faith; not Dennis Chupik's (unless he's reading this right now), not St. Peter's not Pastor Jim's and not G K Chesterton's. And certainly not Richard Dawkins'. It's yours. Stand ready to give a reason for that hope.


PJ.

Andrew, cold sores, and salvation.

Readings from Sunday:
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20

On Sunday, I talked about the disciples, and why they were so keen to follow Jesus so quickly. Why were they so happy to follow Jesus as soon as he showed up. After all, Jesus didn't give much of an argument as to why his disciples should follow him. He just shows up on the beach, strolling along, wearing sandals, and comes across a pair of fishing boats, and says "follow me." And they do. They leave everything, they drop their nets, their fish, their fathers, their boats, their lives, and follow him. Why? What is it about Jesus that was so magnetic that they went to him right away, leaving everything over two words?



Well, as I said on Sunday morning, a large part of the reason that they left everything so quickly to follow him was that they understood their need for him. Andrew is the key to all of this. Before the event in the boats, Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist. As a disciple of John the Baptist, he was with him when he pointed out Jesus and referred to him as the Lamb of God. If you've ever read the beginnings of the gospels, you will see how John talks. He's got a lot of tough things to say to people. He has rules and edicts, and he has some difficult things to listen to. And most of all, he reminds his people that they are sinners, through and through.

There were, and are, two reactions to that. You can either react as the Pharisees did, and say that you don't have any sin, so really, what's to worry about, or you can react as the disciples did, and seek the one who might take that sin away. Once it's been pointed out, what do you do with it? It's like any sort of disease: you don't see the need for a cure until you realize that you have the disease. You aren't going to rush out and buy some abreeva until you recognize that you have a cold sore.

The cold sore analogy is a better one than I had initially thought, because, of course, you can't see it for yourself. Someone else, in the absence of a mirror, has to tell you it's there. You can feel its effects, you can feel that you have some sort of lump on your face, but you can lie to yourself all you want and say that it's just an ingrown hair / a blemish / a pimple / a zit. But if you take a good look at it in the mirror, or have someone point it out to you, then you can do something about it.

The mirror is the law. God's commandments. In his law, God shows us where we go wrong, and how often we go wrong. If we hold the mirror of the law up to our lives, we will see how many areas we are lacking in. But that only works if we really give it a solid look, if we actually hold up the mirror to our lives and take an honest look at ourselves. The other thing is to have someone like John the Baptist show up, and point out where we are lying to ourselves, and where we have gone wrong.

You'll see in the New Testament, there are plenty of folks who don't appreciate their cold sores being pointed out. The Pharisees are key to all this. Because they don't see that they have sin as a real problem, as a real condition, then they don't see their need for salvation. John and Jesus can preach about salvation all they want, but unless people can see that salvation is for them, then they're not going to be interested.

This is going to get a little bit long now, but bear with me. The Pharisees are the people we see all around us. They're the people who feel as though God owes them salvation, who feel as though they're good people by and large. And people do feel that way. And us going out into the world with the message of salvation, of forgiveness of sins, often doesn't mean anything to anyone. If people don't see that they have a problem, if they refuse to look at the cold sore, they won't want your tube of abreva. Andrew and Simon, James and John, they were quick to follow Christ because they'd been looking for him all this time. He was the one who had been promised for a long time. He was salvation for their sins. The Pharisees and Saducees could happily ignore him, because he claimed to solve a problem that they weren't having.

So how best to talk about the sin of mankind? You know about the sin of mankind. It's everywhere. We talk about it constantly. News anchors always start off by saying 'good evening' right before they tell you why it isn't. And when it comes to things like what we see in the news, well, we know what sin and greed and cowardice look like. And the ultimate question to ask is 'how would I behave in a similar situation?' I can promise you this much: Things would be better for everyone if they viewed themselves as sinners in need of salvation, rather than as flawless and resenting any idea that they might need to be saved. Most of us think that we're mostly okay, and that we have teh right idea about protecting the weak and frail. Good for us. But the law is there to show us before the ship sinks that we're not as brave or as honest as we could be. We're not as noble and compassionate as we think we are. When the ship sinks, and the icy water creeps into the cabins, then your 'good person' image you've made for yourself is put to the test. Will you elbow other, weaker people out of the way to get to the lifeboats, or will you help children to board before yourself? You may not know how you'd react, but if you know that one is wrong and the other right, before you end up in that situation, really think about how you'd react. If your impulse is honestly to hop on board the nearest lifeboat, then join the club. But that's what repentance is all about: knowing your weaknesses, confessing them, and having your sin taken away. John will point that out to you, Jesus will point that out to you, the 10 commandments will point that out to you. We either ignore it, or reach for the abreva.

Those are the medi-facts.

PJ.

Happy Birthday, KJV!

Yes, roll out the party hats and get into the party spirit, someone is celebrating a milestone birthday this year. Yes, King James, come on out. You don't look a day over 367. For those who don't know, the beloved and reviled King James Version, or Authorized version, is turning 400 this year. Originally published in 1611, it was the first major English translation of the scriptures. And as such, it's had quite the hand in shaping the language it was written in. The language that we speak today owes a lot to the old faithful KJV, partially because it has been so ubiquitous. For a long time, and I mean centuries, the KJV was the Bible. There was no other translation, and even when one showed up, the KJV still commanded a lot of attention. Because it was the authorized version, so rich with thees and thous, and because it always had an air of divine authority attached to it, many people never quite got over it being the only official Bible. The KJV has a lot of rich poetry in it, and a lot of words that seem outdated and almost like they're in a foreign language, which they sort of are - it's English that has fallen out of usage. There are a lot of people who will feel as though anything else is sacrilege, though, and that the KJV is God's own Bible. It's good, but it's not that good. Though I enjoy it a great deal, sometimes you need to break out another version that's a little closer to the way you actually speak. After all, that's why the New Testament was written in Greek, because that was the language that the people were speaking.
Now, lest you think that I think that the KJV is all archaic and only fit for the pit, I would like to take you on a quick trip down memory lane. I have a few copies that I'd like to go through. Like the translation itself, they've all got their own personality.


Hey, it's my first Bible! The one that I keep in the box and don't use because it's too nice! When I say my first Bible, I'm not joking. I got this the day I was Christened (baptized, for you non-British folks). It's very pocket sized, but I'd be too terrified to take it out in a pocket, for fear it would get a little over-worked. So, in its box it remains, in pristine condition.




This second Bible (on top of the first one, for size comparison) is the one I bought myself when I got ordained. It came in the mail from England, and I was all a-twitter when I opened it. It's bound with genuine calfskin leather, and has a zipper closure. So, it's like the first one, but you can zip it shut to keep its gilded pages safe. Still relatively pocket sized, so long as you have plenty big pockets. It's only major failing is that it has a ribbon in it, which keeps on getting stuck in the zipper. I know, I know, first world Christian problems.














This next one is sort of regular paperback Bible size, the size of a normal book, and I include it mainly because it has the strangest bookmark I've ever seen. Ever.


What the? How did that pristine one dollar Canadian bill get in there? And it's pristine, too. Like totally untouched. Remember those? The Canadian one dollar bills? Before the loonie? Oh, wow. Kids, this goes to show that you should always read your Bibles all the way through. You never know who's been depositing unusable, outdated currency in Ezekiel.



















This next guy seems to be the smallest of the bunch, right on top. But the funny thing about him is that he's a transetto Bible, from the new line of books called flipbacks. What that means is that the book opens sideways, totally flat, so that each page reads vertically. One at a time. This way, the print is much bigger and more readable, even though the Bible is smaller. It's the smartest idea. It was a Christmas gift this year.

But this brings us to my paranoia about wrecking Bibles. You see, with the translation being 400 years old, the books are going to get worn out. It's unavoidable.

This is the KJV that I have that's in the worst shape. Pages missing, spine busted, well-worn and well loved, but no longer overly useful. More of a museum piece. And Joshua Kurtenbach asked me recently what the correct protocol is for disposing of a Bible that is beyond reasonable use (as this one is verging into). Well, his question got me thinking, and so I looked it up on Gene Veith's vocation blog, and he has this to say.

You don’t burn them. You never, ever burn them. An unwanted holy book, be it Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or any other scripture, can be disposed of humanely and appropriately, but not burned. A holy book is afforded the same respect as a human being in every religious tradition in the world — except, apparently, the one practiced by one pastor in Florida. You bury them.

www.geneveith.com/2011/04/05/protocol-for-disposing-of-old-bibles/

Okay. Well, it looks like I've got one venerable KJV that has done its duty. Thankfully, the word lives on beyond this one particular copy of the book. These are just the KJVs that I have on hand, and there are countless more copies throughout the world. If this one brave soldier falls, I can assume that he's done his duty, and another soldier will rise up to take his place in the struggle. Thanks for indulging me down memory lane with these copies. If any of you have Bibles that are really beyond possible usage, maybe we could dispose of them together, and give thanks to God for the inspiration they were able to provide over their lifetime.

PJ.

Listen up!

This week's Old Testament reading was from first Samuel, way back in the Old Testament. And in first Samuel, we get a picture of God's call to Samuel, and more importantly, we get Samuel listening. Now, I love the story of the call of Samuel from 1 Samuel 3, primarily because it helps us get past a pretty big problem we've got at the heart of our faith. It's a problem with the nature of God, in which we say that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and totally good and gracious. The scriptures tell us that God desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. So, why was Samuel called while so many others were not, most specifically the sons of Eli that are mentioned in Samuel's first oracle?
Well, as I mentioned in the sermon, what made the call of Samuel so important, plus all the other calls that we see throughout the Bible, is that the person who was called actually listened. Now, we live in a world in which people assume that the idea of God is a funny holdover from an old, superstitious time, and that we have long since outgrown it. As they may. But everyone who claims that the idea of God is just a funny holdover, they've got to come face to face with the idea that, like it or not, if it's a funny idea, it was a popular one. Not only do we here in this place have an idea of God, but so does every single other country in the world. All the people throughout the world have suspiciously enough all come up with the idea of God. Now, you can go one of two ways with that: You can assume that everyone needed an explanation for the way the universe works, and they all happened to come up with a similar ridiculous idea, or you can think that God has called a great many people towards him.
You see, the New Testament is full to the brim of stories of Jesus sharing his message with all sorts of people, and most people getting it wrong. They leave angry, they miss the point of the story, they get confused, and the message of God gets a little bit lost in the shuffle. And the idea is that the message is clear enough if you just stop talking for a while, if you just stop giving your opinion to God, if you stop telling Him how you think things should be, and just let him say what he's going to say. If he's going to tell us how things should be, what he would have us do, or most importantly, what he has done for us, it's only going to work if we listen.

The question as to whether to talk or whether to listen is always a difficult one. We want to talk. We want God to answer to us, we want him to listen to us in a big way, but that's not the case. CS Lewis, in his essay "What are we to make of Jesus Christ" puts it this way:

The question is, I suppose, whether any hypothesis covers the facts so well as the Christian hypothesis. That hypothesis is that God has come down into the created Universe, down to manhood – and come up again, pulling it up with Him. The alternative hypothesis is not legend, nor exaggeration, nor the apparitions of a ghost. It is either lunacy or lies. Unless one can take the second alternative (and I can’t) one turns to the Christian theory.

What are we to make of Christ?. There is no question of what we can make of Him, it is entirely a question of what He intends to make of us. You must accept or reject the story.

The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say, “This is the truth about the Universe. This is the way you ought to go”, but He says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life”. He says, “No man can reach absolute reality, except through Me”. Try to retain your own life and you will be inevitably ruined. Give yourself away and you will be saved. He says, “If you are ashamed of Me, if, when you hear this call, you turn the other way, I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise. If anything whatever is keeping you from God and from Me, whatever it is, throw it away… Come to Me everyone who is carrying a heavy load, I will set that right. Your sins, all of them, are wiped out.. Do not be afraid, I have overcome the whole Universe”.

That is the issue.

PJ.

Bible Study - Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why do bad things happen to good people? That's one of the most basic questions that people have when it comes to faith. They ask themselves 'if God is great and good and all-powerful and magnificent, why do bad things happen to good people?' It's a fair question, when we stare down the injustices done to people by a cruel and indifferent universe. We want to know why tsunamis hit people, why earthquakes hit islands, and why good and nice and well-meaning people end up getting used and abused by their fellow man. That all happens. And we say how terribly unfair it is that these people are chewed up by the world.

Well, yes. I suppose. And this was a topic in the latest book by Richard Dawkins, who has written it for younger readers. There's a chapter called 'why do bad things happen?' In this chapter, he makes the case that a great many things that happen, bad or good, just because they do. The universe is indifferent to us, and doesn't care much if we live or die. We are not rewarded for being virtuous, nor are we punished for being bad. Things just happen, bad or good. And that's fine, I suppose, but it misses a couple of key points.

First of all, the entire notion of bad and good works us into a bit of a moral corner. We are capable of seeing things as overall bad and good by means of whatever moral compass we have, Christian or otherwise. We have an idea about what might be called good or bad, but these aren't scientific answers. When Dawkins gets close to it, he mentions that lions are bad for antelope, but antelope are also, should they be swift, are bad for lions. So what is good and what is bad? What is good for us is bad for something else, and what is bad for us is good for something else! So what is overall good, and what is overall bad? What we understand as good and bad is usually something couched not in terms of science and biology, but in terms of morality. Virtue, justice, sacrifice, love, truth, charity, all these things are good, but won't come up much in nature at all.

Of course, this gets us to the point where we can understand that diseases and parasites can get us, and if we kill them, it's bad for them, and if they kill us, it's bad for us. Okay. But Dawkins never gets to the biggest point of all: why do bad things happen? Not just because the universe is cold and indifferent, not just because nature is red in tooth and claw, but also because we are bad to each other. Actively and directly. We are incredibly capable of hurting each other, of being cruel, being vicious, or, more often, not caring who or what we crush on the way. Yes, the biggest problem we have in our world is that we human beings, people who know, unlike the cold universe what is good and bad, so rarely choose the good, and so frequently choose the bad. And this is much greater in the face of the disasters mentioned above. We are used to people being callous and cruel to each other on a daily basis in small things. They cut us off in traffic, they drive past us on the shoulder, we see them cutting in front of us in line, and so on. And we know that we do these things, or things like them on a regular basis. Do we care much about the people we cut off? Are we very interested about the people whom we wrong? Do we care about the makers or producers of the movies and music that we download for free?




Manny Perry would like you to pay to see movies.


If we are so careless with those whom we hurt, and those who are hit by natural disasters, why should we be surprised when others do this to us, and those we care about? The big question is not 'why are bad things happening to good people,' but 'why am I, a good enough person I suppose, not caring more about the bad junk I do to others, whether they're good or bad? Why don't I care?'

Romans 7:18-20 says "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." ESV

If this is how St. Paul saw himself, as someone who wanted to do the right thing but could not quite carry it out, and he was a saint, then you can see how we, those of us who are regular people, might contribute somewhat to that. We are not so good. We are the reason that people do bad things to each other, and why natural disasters get worse, through our handling of them.

But is there no hope? Well, not quite. Romans carries on in chapter 12:1-2
"I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." ESV.

So, there is a measurement of good and bad. And so we are called by God to do what is good. And what is good? We find it in Romans 12:9-21. If you want bad things to stop happening to good people, stick to this.

"Marks of the True Christian

9Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,g serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.h Never be wise in your own sight. 17Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave iti to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." ESV

It's a good way to be. It's good directives to be good in this way. Will you fail at keeping this? Yes you will. But that's why we are forgiven. And seeing ourselves as people who are and need to be forgiven, curiously enough keeps us humble, and more capable of doing what God would have us do. Not to earn his salvation, but because it has been given already.

Star Wars

Hey all,

I figured that it was time that I started at least filling in some gaps, and expanding a little bit on what was said on Sunday morning. Because, you see, there is never enough time to say everything, and goodness knows most folks don't want to hear me drone on and on. But, I did want to say a little more about sin and redemption in the Star Wars franchise. Because I think it's important.

If you start at Episode one (which nobody should ever do), a few funny things happen. First of all, Shmi Skywalker mentions, sort of off-hand, that there was no dad in the picture when Anakin was conceived. Curiouser and curiouser.

Star Wars Family Tree

Yes, a virgin birth. Okay, so Anakin, the chosen one, doesn't have an earthly dad. That sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? Sort of Christlike, in a way. But that's not all, not really. In that family tree, you see other things happening. You see characters becoming other characters. Regular folks becoming sith lords, or whatever. And why do they do that? Because they choose the quick and easy path, and allow, in the words of Yoda, "anger, fear and aggression" to dominate.
But the whole story of sin and redemption sort of falls apart with the whole notion of light side versus dark side. It starts out well enough, but the guys on the dark side acknowledge and flat out state that they're on the dark side of the force. They admit it, wear black, talk with evil voices, and, in the case of Darth Vader, directly claim that there is no conflict, no good in him.

Vader says that he has no good in him.

But the point of sin and forgiveness is that if you're a sinner, a real profligate sinner, you don't think of yourself as bad. At all. Vader, the Emperor, Darth everybody, they all knew they were bad guys. They talk about being evil, about not being good, about being on the dark side of the force. And when you get bad, you don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about how bad you are. You spend a lot of time thinking about how you're okay. You spend more time thinking about how the rest of the world needs to catch up to you, and about how out of touch everyone else is, and so on. Once you cross over a certain point, pretty much nobody thinks they're bad. And that's, as I said on Sunday, when you get into trouble. After you've gone so far, then you resent anyone telling you that you're doing anything wrong. Because you seriously and sincerely believe that you're in the right, no matter what you're doing.

That's what makes the Christian message so difficult to preach now, is that the gospel seems wholly unnecessary. People don't see themselves as being part of the dark side, they don't see themselves as more machine than man, twisted and evil. They don't understand that they are sinful and twisted and broken. And we Lutherans, who love the Gospel, are quick to point out the redemptive work of Christ, we are less likely to point out that that redemptive work has to redeem something. Something like us, who need to be redeemed.

It's a real thing, isn't it? You can spend your entire life thinking you're pretty good, but after a good long look in the mirror, you realize how far you still have to go. That's why the whole sin and forgiveness stuff is so important. In Star Wars as well as in life.

PJ.