No Religion but Social Religion, No
Holiness but Social Holiness
My life this week has been lived out very “socially”……we travelled 550 km
to Durban (on the southern east coast of Africa) to visit and meet our first
grandson, Caleb Samuel Poole, who is one week old as I write this, and nine
days old as I preach this.
Our grandson, Caleb Samuel Poole ....and no, he didn't actually drink his first babychino, I just couldn't resist buying him one on his first outing :-)
In Durban we also visited my older brother Kevin,
who is one week into healing from a bad fall off a ladder! So, 12 hours on the
road, 48 hours with friends and family, a few more hours (as those of you who
know us can imagine) spent in various coffee shoppes……as you can see, a very
“social” week. And in all these places (yes, even on the road….and yes, even in
the privacy of my family’s homes), hopefully I have lived out the consequences
of the Resurrection on my life in all these places, because……there is No Religion but Social Religion, No
Holiness but Social Holiness. Our religion is not religion, our holiness is not
holiness, if they are not lived out by us, incarnated (given flesh) by us among
the people that we share our homes, streets, workplaces….and yes, even our
coffee shoppes with. There is no such thing as solitary or private religion!
(John Wesley)
So with that theme in the background, let’s work through our readings
As I read this, pointing upwards for God, to the screen for Jesus, and to
the congregation for us, the church, notice the social aspect of this part of
Jesus’ High Priestly prayer….notice
how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, are primarily social…they can’t exist without each
other, they refuse to live without
each other, and…they invite us into their social circle……..ETERNALLY!!!
20 “My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that
all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in
you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have
sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave
me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them
and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world
will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved
me.
24 “Father, I want those you
have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the
glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the
world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent
me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will
continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in
them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus’ prayer is that as we come to faith, that we would find some kind
of oneness with other believers and that we experience a level of love that is
similar to being in the very presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit….so
that the world may know God’s love
through Christ for the world. Christianity is a social religion and there is No Religion but Social Religion, No
Holiness but Social Holiness
Now, let’s read through our reading from Acts and see where social
religion and social holiness might take us (please note, you might not like
where it leads to)
16 Once when we
were going to the place of prayer, we
were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She
followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting,
“These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way
to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he
turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command
you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19 When her
owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul
and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They
brought them before the magistrates and said,
“These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by
advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The
crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After
they had been severely flogged, they were
thrown into prison, and the jailer was
commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he
received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in
the stocks.
25 About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the other prisoners were listening to them.26 Suddenly
there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were
shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains
came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw
the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about
to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But
Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer
called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He
then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied,
“Believe in
the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then
they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his
house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer
took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household
were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his
house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had
come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Of
all the people mentioned in this reading,………. the female slave, her owners, the
spirit, Paul and the others, magistrates, the crowd, the jailer, other
prisoners, ………. Who is free in this
reading? Certainly not the slave girl! She is not only in bondage to an evil
spirit, but is controlled by evil persons who use her "gifts" for
their own profit. Perhaps it is the owners of the slave girl who are
free...free to live a life of luxury because of the "great deal of
money" they make from the slave girl's fortune telling gift…but then they
are not really free, they are in as much bondage to her as she is to them. There
is no question that Paul and Silas are free. But are they really? Accused of
"advocating customs unlawful for us Romans," Paul and Silas find
themselves chained to the wall in a dark prison cell. This doesn't sound like
freedom to me! Perhaps it is the jailor who is free. The prisoners are chained
to the cell wall. The jailor is free to play a game of solitaire, sleep, and
walk around the jail compound. He is free...that is, until the earth shakes and
the prison doors fly open and the prisoners are unchained. How will the jailor
explain this to the authorities he reports to? He ends up thinking it would be
better to commit suicide than to face the consequences of this event. This
doesn't sound like freedom to me! Who is free in this reading? Who is free in
this congregation this morning?
Are
you free? Is there something you long to be free of?
One question opens the door to freedom: "What must I do to be saved? (from this thing I long to be free of)" Only one answer brings freedom: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!"
Being free for you and for me is only a question away! Perhaps like me you find yourself praying a prayer like this: God, sometimes I wonder if I can really be free from those things that seem to draw me away from you. If you do, then try adding this to your prayer: Keep prodding me to ask the question: What must I do to be saved? so that I can hear your Word: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."
Cedric, what does that really mean in my life,
today?
Let’s see if our third reading (the last 9 verses
of the Bible) helps us to answer that question:
12 “Look,
I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each
person according to what they have done. 13 I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End.
14 “Blessed
are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree
of life and may go through the gates into the city.
16 “I,
Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the
churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright
Morning Star.”
17 The
Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say,
“Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the
free gift of the water of life.
20 He
who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The
grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Many people act as if the Bible begins with Genesis, chapter
3: the sin and fall of humankind; and ends with Revelation 20: the lake of fire
and death. But Genesis, chapters 1 and 2 are the beautiful story of God
creating the heaven and earth, plants and animals, humankind, and more. And
Revelation, chapters 21 and 22 tell of God's creation of the "new heaven
and the new earth." These are
the boundaries within which we are called to live out, to incarnate, social
religion and social holiness,…..not the boundaries of sin and hell, but the far
wider boundaries of holiness and heaven, on earth, now!
In light of the rest of the Bible, these last words of Scripture are words of comfort and assurance, of freedom, to us who live in a broken world which certainly seems to be imprisoned by sin and death or hell.
In light of the rest of the Bible, these last words of Scripture are words of comfort and assurance, of freedom, to us who live in a broken world which certainly seems to be imprisoned by sin and death or hell.
Here is the message of the last few verses of the Bible: God
is in charge! We do not have a God who tells us: "Look, my children,
whatever will be, will be." God does not say, "Shape up! Accept what
is. That's the way the cookie crumbles."
Instead, our God assures us with these words: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End." In other words, "I have everything covered; from A to Z. I am in charge!" I recently conducted various Memorial services for Louis Luyt, and at each of these those who paid tribute to him described him as “large and in charge”, be it in his family, in his work, in SA rugby….Large and in charge. Now, exactly how true those words were of Louis is obviously debateable, but they are infinitely more true of our God……whether it looks that way or not, in your personal life, in your home, in your workplace, in your church……our God is large and in charge! Remember this truth, because it is linked to another amazing promise from God, a promise which when taken to heart enables us to experience the freedom we long for, right now, which in turn sets free in us a religion which is social and a holiness which is social….right now!…….Here’s the promise God makes to you and me NOW: "Yes, I am coming soon." Did you hear that?........... "I am coming soon."
Instead, our God assures us with these words: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End." In other words, "I have everything covered; from A to Z. I am in charge!" I recently conducted various Memorial services for Louis Luyt, and at each of these those who paid tribute to him described him as “large and in charge”, be it in his family, in his work, in SA rugby….Large and in charge. Now, exactly how true those words were of Louis is obviously debateable, but they are infinitely more true of our God……whether it looks that way or not, in your personal life, in your home, in your workplace, in your church……our God is large and in charge! Remember this truth, because it is linked to another amazing promise from God, a promise which when taken to heart enables us to experience the freedom we long for, right now, which in turn sets free in us a religion which is social and a holiness which is social….right now!…….Here’s the promise God makes to you and me NOW: "Yes, I am coming soon." Did you hear that?........... "I am coming soon."
When Dr. Martin Luther King was asked, "How long must
we wait?" he answered: "Not long, because truth crushed to earth will
rise again!" How long? "Not long, because no lie can live
forever!"
Instead of thinking of Christ's return in chronological terms, think of His words, "Yes, I am coming soon," as a way of saying: Christ is near to us. Near to you now, to set you free….near to you now, calling you and equipping you for a religion, a faith, which is social, calling you and equipping you for a holiness which is social.
I suggest we end with the words our reading ends with, as a prayer from our hearts: Come, Lord Jesus….
Instead of thinking of Christ's return in chronological terms, think of His words, "Yes, I am coming soon," as a way of saying: Christ is near to us. Near to you now, to set you free….near to you now, calling you and equipping you for a religion, a faith, which is social, calling you and equipping you for a holiness which is social.
I suggest we end with the words our reading ends with, as a prayer from our hearts: Come, Lord Jesus….
And I will end with the last words in our Scriptures: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s
people. Amen
