VBS Message 2025

 

What was this week all about?

OK, Monday was about remembering those who gave the last full measure of devotion for their country. It was about those who gave their todays for our tomorrows. We should remember those who did not return every day that we live in liberty.

The rest of the week was this thing called Vacation Bible School or VBS. But why?

Why do VBS?

It’s not that anyone who was teaching or making snacks or leading songs didn’t have anything else to do this summer.  Do you know anyone these days with time on their hands?

So why?

It’s a money maker for us, of course. Not. VBS is fairly expensive in time, resources, manpower, and money. 

So why VBS?

Parents, would you let you children experiment with drugs so they could decide if they wanted to use heroin or meth or maybe a little acid? Would you let their 12-year-old mind contemplate those choices without some education and counsel?

Parents, would you just give you 9-year-old the car keys and say, “Good luck” or send them to the tattoo parlor with $200 and then go to Wal-Mart for a couple hours and see what your kid looks like when you come back?

So you thought a swastika on your forehead would be cool? Oh, it was a by one-get one deal. You got a what, where? At least it was on sale.

Would you just let them eat junk food all the time? It’s their body and their choice, right? I can’t believe that some of you let your kids eat frozen chicken nuggets. Put those things in the microwave for 38 seconds first.

The world will tell you just those things. The world will tell you to let your child choose their own gender even though your child may not understand gender. Many of them are still wondering about cooties. If you follow the science, there is really no such thing as a sex change.

You can play Mr. Potato Head all you want, but you were born with two Xs or an X and a Y, and you can’t change that.

What’s that got to do with VBS?

Would you let your child go through their formative years without education, guidance, or counsel?  Do you want them to know the truth?

Of course we do!

So, is the purpose of VBS to indoctrinate? No, it is to educate.  But what then?

Then, these young people need to look at the examples of those who believe in God and profess his Son, Christ Jesus as Lord. It’s simple education and example.

The education part sounds good, but I don’t know a single Christian who hasn’t made a whole bunch of mistakes, some very serious.

And for those who have been educated in the ways of the Lord, we know that the world doesn’t always forgive, but God does.

God forgives!  For the believer, God has promised to forgive us whenever we confess our sins—our missteps, our mistakes, our attempts to hit the target of right living that just missed the mark.

God forgives.

There is a way in which we should go that God has prescribed. It is for our own good and we are blessed to follow it, but nobody can get it right every time.

Don’t throw in the towel because God has loved you with an everlasting love. He knows you and your struggles as well as your victories. He knows you and he loves you.

Why VBS? People need to know:

·       God is real. He is more than a concept.

·       God is good. God alone can define what is good.

·       God is important. He is not an option. He is central to life.

·       Knowing God is important.

·       Trusting God is important.

·       Receiving God’s love through Christ Jesus is important, most likely the most important thing anyone of us will ever do for ourselves.

·       Bringing up our children in the way they should go is absolutely important, and surely the most important thing you will do for them. Parents, don’t leave your children’s future to chance. Bring them up in the way of the Lord.

VBS is about education. It’s not just rules to follow but what happens to us when we fall short, and we all fall short.

VBS is about knowing that God will always love you and wants the best for you. His law was given for our own good.

His forgiveness comes from a divine heart of love. He did not create us to throw us away but for us to realize everything that we can from life. God wants us to have full lives.

I didn’t say trouble free lives for you will have trouble in the world.

Do you want to know how much God loves you? While we were still sinners Christ died to take away our sins. God through Christ did everything to make us right with him.

I see this meme too often online. I sinned more than you could imagine, but God dropped the charges.  It sounds good but it is nonsense. God did not drop the charges. You were charged and found guilty. The sentence was death.

Jesus stood in your place and took your punishment so you could live. The gift of God that we know in Christ Jesus is life, life abundant, and life eternal!

It’s a gift. We did nothing to earn or deserve it. We have nothing to brag about. It is 100% gift.  All we have to do is receive it. We receive it in our profession of faith.

One day, these VBS students will wrestle with the idea of life and the many theories of what life is all about. They may flirt with worldly models and concepts. They may explore the world’s religions.

In my day, many were becoming Buddhist because it was the cool thing to do. Some explored other Eastern religions. The common denominator among them is the ultimate goal in life is to reach a state of nonexistence.

Some of us grew up with cogito, ergo sum or I think, therefore I am. That was Rene Descartes for those who want to fact check this message.

I think, therefore I exist, but my life goal is not to exist. Tom has to put that one in the that dog don’t hunt category.

I’m not here to beat up Eastern religions, but I hope that we train our children to think about and become educated about what they say they believe.

I can’t imagine what it was like to grow up as a child in my household. One of the kids would say “I’m all about that,” or “This is what I believe,” and Tom—Dad—would say, “Let’s examine that.”

So much for casual dinner conversation. I’m sure that ranked right up there with reading A Message to Garcia a dozen or more times. That’s each, not total.

One day, these young people will need to make some serious life choices. Most of these children are not quite mentally or emotionally equipped at this time to wrestle with what God says and what the world says. They rely on their parents for a while and we pray they believe in the one true God and the One he sent to do what we could never do—make us right with holy God.

This week these young folks learned about magnifying the Lord. On the surface, it sounds like an oxymoron. How can we—people created by God—make God appear greater than he is?

In the context of this week and most of the Bible, magnify is to exalt—to lift up and proclaim God’s greatness and righteousness and most of all, his love.

It is for others to see God in our very lives. My heart, my soul, my very being exalts the Lord. The Lord is magnified as he lives in me and I live out his commands the best that I can.

Others will not see a faultless human just because we profess Jesus as Lord. They will see a fault-filled human who is forgiven. We are forgiven!

I hope that these VBSers—when you are the preacher, you get to make up your own words—know these things:

·       God is Great!

·       God is Good!

·       God loves us!

·       God wants us to believe in him and profess his Son as our Lord.

·       God want others to see his love in us so much that we are known as his followers by our love.

Do you remember how we began our service?

GOD LOVES YOU – LOVE ONE ANOTHER

There is more to it, of course, but if these VBSers—I have used that term twice now so it’s officially a word—can remember that God loves them and they are to love each other, the week was a success.

And if they know this, magnifying the Lord becomes our first nature. Exalting God is always on their minds.

OBTW—God loves you, love one another applies to parents as well.

Kids, remember what you learned and learn more, for one day, the world will try to teach you anything but the truth. Give yourself a chance to Stand firm when the world wants you to give in to whatever it is selling this year or decade or century.  Stand firm in the truth.

Parents, while you have the chance and these years go by so quickly, bring them up in the way of the Lord.

·       Do not let them become victims of your own comfort zone.

·       Lead them to worship.

·       Bring them to Bible Study.

·       Pray at home.

·       Forgive as God has forgiven you.

·       Be an example of love. Be known by your love.

One day, these young folks are going to ask, “What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? Why am I alive? Why?”

I hope they come to this conclusion or something like it. The purpose of life is to bring glory to God and to enjoy him very much.

Our lives should be lived so that God is glorified through them.

Note, the second part of that is not to enjoy life but to enjoy God. That’s part of our purpose. As it turns out if you are enjoying your relationship with your Creator, you are very likely enjoying life—even in the struggles and trials that come with it.

Bring glory to God and enjoy him very much.

I have covered quite a bit, so, we will wrap up our short time together with something to take home that is easy to remember.

GOD LOVES YOU – LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus

 

Read 1 Corinthians 16

We have been studying Paul’s course on church business that was first introduced in Corinth about two millennia ago. Not.

We have been navigating some complex instructions that Paul was contracted to produce for the church in Corinth. Not.

We have been auditing the short course on Big Church Matters. No, we have not.

We have been reading a letter. We have been reading other people's mail. Once upon a time, letters such as these were shared or forwarded to another recipient. That was the nature of the age.

I remember a time when you didn’t read other people’s mail. That was just rude.

Today, it’s all out there for anyone and everyone. Our information is everywhere.

I’m not worried about the NSA and CIA getting my information. I can hear the exasperated cry from Big Brother: Enough Already!

Twenty centuries ago, a letter was a big deal. Now, information on everything and everybody is all around us.  I like the meme that says, “Don’t post your rant online and end it with Mind Your Own Business. I’m on Season 3, Episode 4 of your business.”

But a letter in Paul’s time was a big deal, but it was also a letter. It contained greetings and salutations. It might include a blessing in the salutation or a prayer within the text.  It had instructions. It had admonishments and affirmations. And it had a closing. Paul had to wrap this one up, so we get the laundry list of closing remarks.

It would be great if the offering we talked about for God’s people in Jerusalem would be completed when I got there. I gave you a model.

If I came now, it would be an ever-so-short stay, and I want to stay longer with you. Perhaps, I can spend the winter with you. Paul doesn’t say it, but I can hear him thinking now.

Winter in southern Greece or in frozen Thessalonica… That’s a tough one.

In the meantime, be nice when Timothy comes. He is doing the work of an evangelist and of the church of which Christ is the head. Play nice.

Apollos has his own schedule and I don’t seem to be able to influence it much, but don’t count him out.

 I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus arrived because they have supplied what was lacking from you—some encouragement.

I am being very effective right now. The saints here have taken this gospel to heart. You know the deal about inertia—a body in motion tends to stay in motion—and this one is moving at a good clip. You know the military adage—reinforce success.

How about strike while the iron is hot. And the iron is hot here.

I’ll get to you, but my main effort is here in Asia now. I sometimes wonder if this was a little subtle motivation for the church in Corinth. These guys here in Ephesus and the surrounding churches are on fire and I am adding fuel.  Sometimes such statements make people angry. Sometimes, they motivate people to do better.

Or it could have been a statement of fact with no other motive than to explain Paul’s travel plans.

OBTW—everyone here sends their greetings to you.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

I really do care for you guys. As you can see, I wrote this last part myself—no scribe.

This is a letter. We are reading other people’s mail. We shouldn’t be ashamed. God wants us reading the letters in the huge text he gave us.

But let us be discerning. The letter goes all over the place. It’s all about Christ. Kick that bum out of the assembly. Here’s how you do the Lord’s Supper. Gifts are great. We each have at least one gift and one or more roles to play in the body of Christ. Quit coveting gifts and use the one God gave you.

Put this front and center—love. It all comes down to love. What God did for us was always rooted in love. Our response must be built upon love. Desire love above all else.

But it’s a letter. As the centuries passed, chapters and verses were added, but it is still a letter, and Paul wrapped it up with what we call chapter 16.

Let’s be discerning. If a letter can go all over the place, why not our lives? In fact, letters go all over the place because our lives go all over the place.

In this time, we desire to recognize, analyze, and divide, put subheads on topics, and make things fit into our worldly thinking patterns. There must be a box for everything, and everything must fit in a box.

Let me tell you something. Life doesn’t fit well in boxes. That doesn’t mean we don’t try to make it fit.

Our work life and our home life.

Our worldly life and our church life.

Our eyes on ourselves life, and our look out for others life.

·       Business and personal.

·       Faith and secular.

·       Home and away.

·       Prudent and hold my beer.

We have life, and that life comes from God. Abundant life is from God. Eternal life is from God. It’s all from God.

There is no such thing as a professional life and a private life. It’s life. We have different work and social circles, but we have one life. Yes, we have things that we leave at the office. That office can be well furnished, a clipboard on a production floor, or the North 40. Yes, we don’t share everything with everyone, but this heart-mind-soul-spirit-body combination we walk around in knows life, and for all that it is composed of, it’s one life.

The fact that school, VBS, summer baseball, Sunday worship, night shifts, lock-ins, board meetings, paying taxes, earning money to pay those taxes, and Taco Tuesday are in different colors on our calendars doesn’t mean we live other lives.

Sometimes it seems like it, but it shouldn’t. We have one life for all contexts.

People know us in different contexts, some more than one, but it’s the same me. It’s the same you.

We have a life. It’s not a secular life and a faith life. It’s life, and it is from God. So, let’s take something from the organization of Paul’s letter. Love and logistics, gifts of the Spirit and gifts to the poor, sticking to the gospel and sticking the one rebelling against God out in the cold, travails and travel plans all have a place in Paul’s letter.

Everything we do must be governed by our relationship with the one who loves us most. That’s God.

Yes, we have something for 2025 even in this First Century closing to Paul’s letter. It’s all life and once you know your purpose in life, it’s all just grist for the mill. Everything somehow contributes to living out your purpose.

Until then, it might seem like you are living two or three or a dozen different lives. Once you start living know him and make him known, things change. You have one life with many aspects that contribute to your God-given purpose.

Paul had one last thought as he closed.

Get off the fence. Be blessed or be cursed. There is no sugar coating here. You either love the Lord or you do not. While we preach the gospel everywhere we go, we don’t make concessions to gain and maintain people.

You love the Lord or you don’t.

Come, Lord Jesus!  Maranatha!  Come, Lord Jesus, come!

To live is Christ. To die is gain. We get that. We are in this for the long haul—however long God intends for us to share his good news.

But we who love the Lord long for his return. We long for the reconciliation to be complete and our Master to bring order to this disorder that governs our lives too much.

We don’t long to be right in our argument. Others can just be wrong.

We don’t long for getting the car paid off. Though those days without a car payment would be nice.

We don’t live for who won or lost the election. Some results seem better than others to us.

We don’t long for the good old days. We love to reminisce but don’t want to turn back time.

For those who love the Lord, we do long for his return. That doesn’t mean we halt our discipleship. No, we fan the flames of the Spirit that lives within us and live a life worthy of the calling that we have received, but we do long for the Lord’s return.

Live loving or hating the Lord, but know he is coming. Live your life knowing that Jesus is coming and that sitting on the fence of discipleship, not of salvation, for salvation is assured to those who truly believe and profess—but sitting on the fence of discipleship is sitting on the wrong side.

There is no middle ground. It’s all about him. Quit carving out parts of your life that belong to the world.

There is one God, and he loves us.

We have one life with many facets, but it is one life.

So, quit carving out parts of your life and giving them to the world.

Live as if you loved the Lord with your whole being.

How will you know that you do? Your heart will continue to cry out: Come, Lord Jesus!

Amen.

Fully to the Work of the Lord

 

Read 1 Corinthians 15

Let’s begin near the end of the chapter.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

We like the words love fulfills the law, until we understand that this is more work than just rote obedience to the law. Jesus raised the bar. We go beyond the words to the intent of God’s heart.

Sin and Death are lifelong companions. Bad company corrupts good character, so we don’t want anything to do with these two characters—Sin and Death.

But there they are constantly taunting the believer to play the old game that we can never win. Instead of being bound by rules, we are charged to be unleashed by love.

This takes effort—more effort than rote obedience. There is nothing wrong with obedience. In fact, obedience is good. It is essential.

But we don’t obey for fear of going to hell. We obey out of love and sometimes that obedience takes many forms.

Most of the time it is not doing something at a specific time and place or building a stick hut in your backyard. Most of the time, we meet the demands of the law by loving our neighbor, lifting the chains of oppression for someone we probably don’t know, or just finding how to live in one accord and bring glory to God.

What’s all that mean?

To live by the law in order to achieve salvation is fruitless, even futile—only Jesus ever fully lived by the law. The hearts of the religious leaders of the day were so immersed in rote obedience to regulation that they never sought the divine heart of God that we receive through Jesus.

We have received right standing with God because the righteousness of Jesus has been imputed to us. That’s how we got here. Now, you get some familiar words from me.

How will we respond to this incredible gift?

Paul says give yourself fully to the work of the Lord. You don’t have to quit your job, but you are called to live for the Lord in your job or in school or in your retirement or…

 

How do I do that?

Love. Well, that’s a little broad, don’t you think?

Show mercy. We are supposed to love being merciful, but we want to show mercy like the pagans do—to those who reciprocate.

Forgive. Same as mercy. We like the pagan model. We don’t want to forgive those who should not be forgiven. Better take all of the mirrors out of our houses.

Help when you are able. We are better at this than other things.

Pray not only for yourself and your family, but also for those you don’t even like. I told you that this was tougher than rote compliance with the law.

Reconcile. I might forgive, a little, but I won’t forget and you can forget this whole reconciliation business. I’m down with the pagan model.

Share the good news of life in Christ Jesus. Not again.  Can’t you check this one off and move on.

Speak the truth in a spirit of love. Speaking the truth in a spirit of love, share the good news. No wimping out!

As much as is possible, get along with everyone.

Bring up your children in the way they should go. That’s not playing fair. I would have to do all of those other things to be a good example for my children.

Let the word of God judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. C’mon Tom, you are not playing fair.

Bring glory to God. There is a lot of latitude in that one.

Enjoy him very much while we do things in his name. You won’t hear that one much outside of those in the reformed tradition. I didn’t say enjoy life. I said enjoy God. As a collateral benefit, we get to enjoy our lives as well.

The church in Corinth was a mess, but they were saved from sin and death. We should take some consolation in the fact that whatever our mess is, God has seen it before and still loves us in spite of our mess.

It is in our messes where we often experience growth.

Forgiving something that doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter.

Now that we are free of sin and death, we are expected to forgive something that hurts a lot. We are forgiven.

Giving to the Lord when it’s from our leftovers is hardly what you would expect of a joyful giver who will not taste death.

Being at odds with another believer might seem justifiable to you, but it won’t stand up when we stand before the Lord.

Here’s the short and sweet of it.

Church, you are a mess, but you are saved from your sin and will be with God forever.

Respond appropriately to the magnitude of the gift that you have received.

Live for God.

Live in one accord with other believers.

Be known by your love.

While we would all like to live long and profitable lives in these bodies, we know that much more is waiting for us. Knowing this, live for the Lord with everything you are, have, and hope for in the days ahead.

These things that we do that we don’t want to do bring glory to God and distinguish us from the unbelieving world. They fall under the umbrella of love.

As it turns out, we are to be known as followers of Jesus by our love.

I don’t know about you—well, maybe I do—but I don’t want to blend in with the unbelieving world. I want to be known as a disciple of Jesus by my love.

That distinction is becoming more pronounced these days.

I want to bring glory to God’s name.

I want to live as what he made me to be—a victor. I want to live in the victory of Christ Jesus over sin and death.

Yes, I am a mess, but I am living in the victory of Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Where O Death is Thy Sting?

 

Read 1 Corinthians 15

 I begin with the trilemma that C.S. Lewis left us years ago.  Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. He proffered this in response to many saying Jesus was a great moral teacher. He was really good but he wasn’t God.

A summary of Christian apologetics on this quote gives us this:

Lewis's trilemma is an apologetic argument traditionally used to argue for the divinity of Jesus by postulating that the only alternatives were that he was evil or mad. One version was popularized by University of Oxford literary scholar and writer C. S. Lewis in a BBC radio talk and in his writings. It is sometimes described as the "Lunatic, Liar, or Lord", or "Mad, Bad, or God" argument. It takes the form of a trilemma — a choice among three options, each of which is in some way difficult to accept.

Paul begins what we mark as chapter 15, telling the Corinthian believers to stick to the gospel that they heard from him. Despite all of his corrective counsel, this was something of an affirmation, though its delivery was a bit didactic.

They are saved by the gospel that Paul noted he delivered to them. Their salvation is in Christ alone. Elsewhere, Paul notes that there is no other gospel.

We get a little history. A few followed Jesus for about three years. They were his disciples when he walked the earth as a man. Paul didn’t come into his apostleship until later. He was the odd man out.

He told these believers that for that reason, he worked even harder. He had persecuted believers until Christ revealed the truth to him. He didn’t list his credentials as he did when he wrote to the church in Philippi.  There, he said if you want to compare resumes among the apostles, bring it on, but I count all of those titles and things of religious status as nothing now that I serve Christ.

I serve a risen Savior!

However, some questioned whether Christ had risen. Paul challenged those who said they believed in Jesus as Lord but doubted his resurrection to check their thinking.

If Jesus did not rise from the dead then what is the point of worshipping a dead Savior. His death was essential to our salvation. Our sins are no longer held against us.

But is this life all there is? If Jesus did not rise from the dead, what should we expect for ourselves?

If this is all there is, why not eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you may die?

Our salvation hinges on the fact that God loved us enough to send his own Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and that on the third day he was raised from the dead.

It’s what Paul summarized for us in his letter to the believers in Rome.

 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

 The doubters and naysayers asked how. What kind of body will we have?  There are some unanswered questions. I’m not sure that I want to believe until I get some answers.

Paul gives some analogies here. The seed and the plant that comes of it look different. Eventually, the new plant will produce seeds, but the seed ceases to exist as a seed as it becomes a plant.

Jesus liked to compare the things of this world to those of his Father’s kingdom. Paul took his shot at the same.

Thinking about seeds and the plants that come of them, consider that our bodies are perishable. Some parts wear out faster than others, or hurt more until they wear out. Know this: these earthly vessels were not made for eternity.

We will receive an imperishable body. That means a lifetime guarantee—and that’s a good deal when you will live forever.

Here it is again in Paul’s words.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

This last line is a rhetorical presentation of the premise.  The people knew that there was a physical body. Paul notes that the believer in his or her profession of faith has stated that there is a spiritual body.

God raised Jesus from the dead, and he will raise us as well. We must firmly establish this in our hearts and minds, and all arguments to the contrary must be dismissed.

Paul offers further analogies with Adam and Jesus. The sine qua non here is that without Jesus and his death and resurrection, we are living our lives fully subservient to our sins. Sin rules.

But we know better.  Yes, we still sin but we are no longer sinners. We are a new creation. Our identity is no longer in the world but in Christ Jesus.

Again, let us consider Paul’s words to the believers in Corinth.

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

I have talked to you about pagan symbols in the church. I’m not talking about bunnies or trees, but the symbol of the power and authority of the world. We bring it into our sanctuaries and put it front and center in most cases.

You know that I am talking about the cross that is always before you.  It was the symbol of Roman might and what might happen to you if you messed around with the Big Dog of the day.

Why would we bring such a symbol into our sanctuaries?

Because on that cross Jesus overcame the world. He did it willingly for us. He is no longer on that cross or even in the tomb. He lives, and in him so do we.

The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, took away our sin. He did it all.

“Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

For all the problems the church in Corinth experienced, salvation was still theirs through Christ Jesus. They should be neither discouraged nor dissuaded.

They should respond to this fantastic gift by giving themselves, their work, their words, their worship, and everything they were to the Lord. Jesus is Lord. We belong to him.

In him alone can we claim victory over sin and death.

Despite all of the trials, tribulations, and turmoil that we experience in the postmodern world, we claim the same victory.

Jesus has won the victory for us. Let us live victoriously in him

“Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?”

We are forgiven. We belong to God himself. He will not abandon us. He loves us with an everlasting love that we in this age know best through Christ Jesus.

Let us live in his victory by bringing glory to God and enjoying him so very much.

We think that we struggle in this life, and we do, but not to obtain salvation and life. That victory is won.

Consider the runner who gives it his all and almost collapses at the finish line. He still has energy for that victory lap. He is instantly refilled once the race is won.

We are in our victory lap. We are redeemed and refilled. The pressure of sin and death impacting our eternal destination is off. God’s got us. We trust him.

Trouble and tribulation will come and go, but we know that weak or strong—let’s be strong, ill or healthy—healthy is still preferred, rich or poor—having a little money does help, that in any condition we are victorious.

We will be with the God who created us and loves us beyond measure for eternity.

We are now free to live as we are designed to live, unencumbered by fear of damnation.  We live in love and perfect love casts out fear.

Let us never shy away from sharing the love of God, salvation that we know in Jesus, and victory over sin and death with all we encounter during this earthly journey.

Let us live as forgiven people. Let us live as victors in the battle with sin and death. Jesus won this battle for us!

“Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?”

Amen.

Directives for Orderly Worship in this Disorderly Century,

 

Read 1 Corinthians 14

We come to the most beneficial words in all of Paul’s letters, perhaps in the entire Bible. Two straightforward verses that we should heed beginning with verse 34.

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

Some of you are wondering how I’m going to handle this one without alienating half the congregation. In some manuscripts, these verses follow those at the end of the chapter.

Which is?

But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

In Paul’s time, it would have been appropriate—fitting and orderly—for the man to be the one to speak in the assembly. He would speak for the entire family. That was the culture and disrupting this culture—surely more of Hebraic roots than Hellenistic ones—was not beneficial to worship.

Historically, the world has known a male dominated culture for most of our recorded history. In some cases, Paul helps us out by saying “ I say” or “It is not I but the Lord who says” but not in this case.

Today, if the women didn’t speak up, we might forget half of what we should remember. Paul’s statement was surely based on the culture of the day and his desire to have orderly worship and not an eternal edict.

This don’t speak in the gatherings of believers is from Paul. For all that he did that will transcend the ages, this directive will and generally has passed. It is not in the Levitical law nor the Hebrew commentaries that accompanied it, but has its roots in Genesis 3. For Paul, that would have been the same as the law.

Yes, the man is the head of the family. He leads and provides. That’s his role. The best way to do that is to lead his family to God through belief in Christ. In so doing, he has provided the real sustenance of life.

He also needs to have a job and provide for the physical needs of the family. I have met with young ladies that needed help with a bill and noticed someone sitting in the car. I asked who it was. The answer was my husband or my fiancé of 7 years or my live-in boyfriend.

This is why they call me the mean guy. After making sure that the man in the vehicle was not tending to 3 young babies—who would be welcome as well—I would tell the young lady to go tell the head of the family to get himself in here.

Half the time I see the car drive off instead of the young man manning up for a conversation.

As far as the women go, how can they be excluded from full participation. The Gentiles had been brought into those who God claims as his own. How could the women be excluded. We all belong to God and the desire of his heart is to have an eternal relationship with him.

It’s like the vision that Peter had about unclean foods. Yes, the foods had been previously proscribed, but what God had made clean was clean. Realize that was not the end of the story. People were also being made clean by God, in our context, the Gentiles.

For Paul, this was the natural extension of the relationship defined in Genesis. To him, it was the law. Even the law that we know in the Torah has been surpassed by Christ.

Women will not be prohibited from speaking in the assembly of believers, but there will be restrictions. You know what I am talking about. You have seen the railroad tracks memes. None of these multiple lines of thought in the same sentence stuff will be allowed. That one will be enforced with the same measure that we prohibit dry humor in the sermon.

So, is there nothing for us in this chapter? Not exactly. We are still to be orderly in our worship.

But I want to be spontaneous in my worship!

For years, I have said that the best way to be spontaneous in worship is to be prepared for worship. This is not a popular mindset, especially in a last-minute culture.

But I don’t depart from it. Preparation produces fruit. Preparation, individual thinking that precedes group thinking, front-end analysis, and the like are some things that I have put before you in various venues and they don’t fit the last-minute, immediate gratification culture of this modern century. We want to show up and see what happens.

But we want the Spirit to lead us in our worship!  Fine. Which spirit?

The spirit of the world or the Spirit of God?

Why the Spirit of God, of course.

Then why prepare to have the spirit of the world lead you?  Why just come as you are out of the world? Why bring the very things that we are not to conform to into worship?

I thought come as you are was a modern mantra for the church. It is when we call the unbelieving world to know God or the disconnected to come home, but the believer should prepare for worship.

The faithful prepare for worship.

I just want the Spirit to move me during worship.

The Spirit will do what the Spirit will do, but why not put out the welcome mat? Why not invite the Spirit that lives within you to lead you in worship?

That’s exactly what I want!

Then prepare for worship.

I like to cruise. I enjoy disconnecting from the world during these few days as much as is possible. I enjoy not being able to see land in any direction. I enjoy fantastic sunrises and sunsets at sea.

But I prepare to go on a cruise. It’s simple time, space, and logistics. I budget. I schedule.  plan a route. I pack. I pack the stuff that I forgot to pack. I find a hotel near the port. I reserve my parking. I plan. I prepare.

Then I go. For all my preparatory efforts, there are always some last-minute changes, enroute detours, or stops of opportunity, but I am not Forrest Gumping this. It’s an orderly thing. We can be spontaneous along the way, but I am prepared when I travel and cruise.

Paul tells the Corinthians not to Forrest Gump this thing called worship.

People were talking in tongues, and nobody knew what anyone was saying. The Corinthians seemed to value this gift of tongues above the others, but these gifts added nothing of value to the worship experience.

They were just side conversations that all could hear.  Paul’s remedy was that if there was someone to speak in tongues, there also should be someone to interpret. It is the prophecy—the message from God—and not the gift being displayed that is most important.

Then he comes back to this stumbling block business. Don’t look for the word stumbling block in the text, but that’s what he is talking about. If a non-believer or an inquirer were to visit the service when tongues were spoken without interpretation, they would think we were all a bunch of maniacs.

If you have the gift of tongues, that’s great. Use it at home. If it’s just you and God, then use the special language he gave you and talk with him to your heart’s content.

If it is for the edification of the body, then someone must be present to interpret. 

Tongues are not an issue for us. As far as I know, our worship has never been disrupted in this way. So, once again, is there nothing here for us?

Be orderly in our worship. A sense of peace not disorder, should prevail in worship.

What’s that mean?

It doesn’t mean that you won’t be challenged in the message or by the word of God itself. OK, so what does it mean?

You have been given the scriptures in advance. We are going through Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth and we are 14 chapters into the first one. Read your chapter.

Study your chapter.

Anything else?

Leave the things of the world that are governing so much of your lives behind. This is time just for you and God shared in the company of believers.

Come in reverence. This worship is to be real. God has called us friend, but he is also holy, almighty, and sovereign God. Come in reverence.

Park your hats and caps on the rack outside.  That’s reverent head covering culture for this age in an age that changes culture more often than we change our socks.

Empty your bladders before you park in a pew.

Pastors and elders, pray for the worship that will come from the assembly of believers in this place. This isn’t the short prayer that we have before the service. This is before you even get to the church building.

Pastors and elders, be prepared to pray in any situation or circumstance.

Choir, technically the leading choir, practice so that you may lead.

Congregation, follow the leading choir and sing!

Parents, teach your children reverence, respect, and a hunger for the things of God. Also, make sure you teach your children to pick up their candy wrappers and coloring sheets and remind their parents to take their bulletins with them and not store them in the hymnals for future generations.

Leave the extended conversations for later. The hymns are for all to sing or make a joyful sound unto the Lord. The occasional remark won’t hurt us, but we are people who like to talk, so be wise that one remark doesn’t lead to something that distracts us from the worship of holy God.

It is good that we like each other so much, but we are vulnerable here to taking our eyes off Jesus and returning to the trials and tribulations of the world in our conversations instead of being engulfed in the wonder of worship in the assembly.

Practice ahead of time not having to check your phones for this short time we are gathered.

Stop the concurrent activities. This is worship. Do we want to perpetuate the world's ways, or can we set aside time exclusively for God and show him that we love him?

Make your restroom break before the service. Hey! You already said that. That one got some people’s attention. Besides, do you know how hard it is for me to sneak out during the service.

There are probably more, but some of you are thinking that just tell the women they can’t talk would have been easier than all of this.

I will have these regulations posted on the website by this afternoon, or not!

We are not people looking for more rules though there is nothing wrong with the rules, guidelines, or suggestions in themselves, but we are people who desire order in worship. We desire passion and peace in our worship and those two need not be a dichotomy.

Instead of posting Directives for Orderly Worship in this Disorderly Century, let’s just examine ourselves each day and see if we are preparing ourselves to worship the Lord.

Everything we do every day is our worship. Our lives are a living sacrifice and our reasonable acts of worship and service, and we have much latitude in how we live.

But when we gather, our worship should be orderly. What we do should not distract from the worship experience of others.

If you want to raise your hands in worship and it bothers someone, that’s on them.

If you think your pewmates are off key during the hymn and it bothers you, then you can sit somewhere else or just get over it if it is a joyful sound made unto the Lord.

But when you can’t leave the conversation for another time or think your fingernails can’t wait another hour to be clipped, that’s disrupting worship.

So, am I posting a list of rules for orderly conduct or not?  No!

Then how do we get there?

Parents, lead your children in the way they should go.

Elders, lead the members of this body in the way they should go.

Let the word of God judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Here it is in a nutshell: Everyone should examine themselves and see if they are prepared to worship or if they are just Forrest Gumping the thing.

It’s not so much a plan as a state of readiness to worship.

Prepare for worship. Come to glorify God in your worship. Don’t be a stumbling block for others' worship.

We don’t need rules. We need reverence.

We need reverence!

Don’t worry about being spontaneous. Be genuine in your worship.

If we are genuine, some will be broken and some will be singing victory songs. Some may visit both places in the same servce.

With preparation and reverence, orderly worship will be an easy thing. So easy, we can even be spontaneous in our reverence.

How do we get there?

Be humbled but overjoyed when we come to worship together.

Realize that we were once sinners but have been redeemed and we come because we belong to the One who redeemed us.

Realize that we were formed from the earth—the humus—but it was the breath of God that brought us life and we come to worship him.

We are in the world, but we are of God not of the world. We are foreigners in the world but we are not strangers here in the presence of God and fellow believers.

We come anticipating a reunion with an eternal friend but in awe of who that friend is. We come to worship holy God.

We don’t need rules for worship. We need reverence. Then we might expect our worship to be held in spirit and in truth and it will be genuine.

Amen.