This Sunday, I begin a new sermon
series at Christ United Methodist Church entitled, “The Essentials of
Discipleship.” Jesus calls each of us to
love and follow him, as his disciples.
Following Christ involves an ongoing process of learning, experiencing,
and growing. When we first become Christians,
we are beginners in the faith. But, over
time, Christ intends for us to grow deeper in our faith.
I believe that Christian disciples grow best through
a process that combines “education” and “experience”—that is, learning and
serving. In this series, we will explore
the four core principles for growth and service. They are:
(1) Seek God; (2) Act Inclusively;
(3) Serve others—both human and nonhuman; and (4) Work for Justice.
We begin this week with “Act Inclusively.” To act inclusively means that as a community
of faith, we welcome and include everyone, regardless of age, color, disability,
ethnic origin, family status, gender, political beliefs, race, religious beliefs,
or sexual orientation. To act inclusively
means to welcome and include everyone, with no exceptions.
This principle of Christian discipleship is grounded in many places in
scripture. For instance, 1 John 4:16b
says, “God is love and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in
them.” Since God = love, to live lives that
are filled and directed by love means that we also abide in God. And, when our lives are filled and directed
by love, then we have established the conditions under which God chooses to
abide in us. That is, God cannot be an
intimate part of our lives, unless our lives are filled and directed by
love. This is because God is love. Since God is love, God does not abide in the
hearts and lives of persons who are filled with hatred.
The writer of 1 John considers love of others to be a process in which
we continually grow in our capacity to love.
It is this scriptural understanding of love as an ongoing growth process
which grounds the claim by John Wesley that one can become perfected in love. Although
Wesley, who was the founder of Methodism, never believed that one would ever
become completely perfect—never making another mistake—in this life. He did believe that some people could nurture
and grow God’s love in their hearts so much that they always spoke and acted
out of a love for the other person—even if they made mistakes of judgment due
to human sin and finitude.
The writer of John 1 concludes this chapter by observing:
“We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I
love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not
love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have
not seen. The commandment we
have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters
also.”
That is, we
love others in response to God’s gracious, undeserved, and unmerited love for
us.
Another scriptural grounding for the
discipleship principle to act
inclusively comes from what the scripture says about each and every human
person. Each of us is created in the
image of God:
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image,
according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild
animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth.” So, God created humankind in his image, in the image of God
he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them,
and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue
it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air
and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis
1:26-28)
It is common for contemporary Christians to assume that the “image of
God” must refer to a certain human characteristic, such as our rationality or
our ability to vocalize. However, most
Biblical scholars caution against that interpretation. Instead, they point out that in many of the kingdoms
surrounding the ancient Israelites—such as Egypt and Mesopotamia—the ruler
was seen as possessing the image of that culture’s god. For the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the
god-king was responsible for insuring the safety and security of the citizens
and their land. Further, the god-king
was responsible for insuring that social justice was carried out, especially in
regard to those who were weak, vulnerable, and exploited.
Scholars note that in
Genesis this “royal image” is democratized.
It is not just an individual ruler who is responsible for caring for
creation and working for justice.
Instead, from a Judeo-Christian perspective, all persons are responsible for being good stewards of
nature and working for justice. From
this perspective, God chooses to share power with humans, even when we sin and
fall short of God’s expectations.
A careful study of the
Hebrew words reveals that the Hebrew verb translated into English as “having
dominion” must be understood in terms of “care-giving, even nurturing,
not exploitation,” while the command to “subdue the earth” refers to agricultural
cultivation.[1] The most faithful interpretation of having
dominion and subduing the earth is to realize that humans are to relate to
nature in the same way that God relates to humans. We are to love and care for nature, working
to maintain a sustainable and clean environment. When God blesses humans, “God gives power,
strength, and potentiality”[2] for
this responsibility of caring for Creation.
Taken together, these two
scriptural passages—along with many others in the Bible—provide a strong
mandate to act inclusively, welcoming and including everyone within our
community of faith and our individual lives, regardless of the unique
characteristics which make them different from us. There is a profound strength in our diversity
as a community of faith.
If you live in the
Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to
come and join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, August 26th, as
we begin our examination of the four essential principles of Christian
discipleship. Christ UMC is located at
4530 “A” Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Our two traditional Worship Services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday
morning.
Come, join us. We are committed to acting inclusively because
God loves us all.
[1]Terence
Fretheim, Commentary on the Book of Genesis in the New Interpreter’s Bible, vol 1, (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2002),
CD-ROM Edition.
[2]
Ibid.
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