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Transcript

The New Kin-dom · Faith at Work

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  SPEAKER_00: Most excellent God seekers,
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  SPEAKER_00: all you out there processing your faith,
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  I can see that you deeply desire to learn how Christians
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  worship their God.
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  SPEAKER_00: You have so carefully and earnestly asked your questions about them.
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  What is it about the God that they believe in and the form of
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  religion they observe
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  SPEAKER_00: that lets them live so freely in the world and disregard death?
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  SPEAKER_00: Why do they reject the Greek gods and the Jewish superstitions alike?
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  SPEAKER_00: What about the affection that they all have for each other?
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  And why have this new group and their practices come to life
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  only now and not long ago?
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  That is almost exactly how the epistle of Mathedes,
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  the word Mathedes translated means disciple,
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  SPEAKER_00: to Deuganides, which translated means the God-seeker, begins.
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  SPEAKER_00: Almost exactly, with a little bit of hairy renditions in there.
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  SPEAKER_00: This epistle survived its 130 CE authorship only in one manuscript.
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  SPEAKER_00: Initially,
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  SPEAKER_00: and very interestingly discovered,
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  SPEAKER_00: in 1436,
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  SPEAKER_00: being used as wrapping paper in a fish market in Constantinople.
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  This second century apologetic or reasonable defense of a
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  religious belief is one
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  of the earliest known Christian apologetic works and provides
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  helpful insight
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  alongside of biblical and historical accounts of how the early
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  church behaved and
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  SPEAKER_00: perceived themselves in the early days.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today,
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  we are going to look at the ways that the early church applied
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  the teachings of
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus as taught to them by the apostles and the disciples.
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  We are going to ask ourselves the same questions that they ask
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  themselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: What is this movement of God among us?
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  SPEAKER_00: And what must we do to become part of it?
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  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere around 30 to 33 CE, Jesus was crucified.
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  SPEAKER_00: He died and he was buried in a tomb.
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  SPEAKER_00: That part of the story is undisputed by scholars.
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  SPEAKER_00: Though some people even doubt that part of the story,
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  SPEAKER_00: despite the volume of historical documentations that support it.
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  Part of the story that comes into question is,
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  was Jesus physically resurrected?
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  SPEAKER_00: Did he then spend 40 days with his disciples?
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  And did he physically ascend into heaven and subsequently send
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  the Holy Spirit to
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  SPEAKER_00: empower his disciples to continue his work and ministry?
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  SPEAKER_00: Some say yes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some say no.
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  Today,
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  we will follow the movement of those who said,
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  yes,
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  his story does continue.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's first consider the Acts account that we just read.
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  It reads sort of like a CNN hourly broadcast of the most
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  current events happening
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  SPEAKER_00: one after the other,
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  SPEAKER_00: instead of what is actually true,
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  SPEAKER_00: that it is a written history of some 60 years.
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  SPEAKER_00: years of the apostles and the disciples figuring out what they were,
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  SPEAKER_00: who they were,
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  and what they were to become in light of the work and message
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  of Jesus Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: continuing to live among them.
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  So Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47 is not an account of
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  what happened the day
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  SPEAKER_00: after Pentecost.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rather,
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  it is a summary of the most important practices of this new
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  Christian movement
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  SPEAKER_00: after about 60 years of figuring things out.
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  SPEAKER_00: For me,
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  SPEAKER_00: that gives me comfort as we seek to become a discerning church,
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  recognizing that we will not likely figure out how to apply the
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  movement of God in
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  SPEAKER_00: our time any more quickly than they did.
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  SPEAKER_00: So we have about 60 years to work on it, folks.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: For we too are on a journey of trial and error that demands prayer,
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  SPEAKER_00: plenty of prayer and conversation among the fellowship of believers.
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  Other sources written around the same time provide similar
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  summaries of this New
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  SPEAKER_00: Testament church.
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  SPEAKER_00: A guy named Pliny the Younger,
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  SPEAKER_00: who lived between 61 and 113 CE,
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  served as the governor of Bithynia Pontus and was charged with
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  policing this new
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  SPEAKER_00: subgroup of citizens.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he wrote to the Roman Emperor Trajan saying, they, the Christians...
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  declared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to
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  no more than this,
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  They had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant
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  verses alternatively
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  SPEAKER_00: among themselves in honor of Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: who they saw as a God.
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  And also to bind themselves by oath,
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  not for any criminal purpose,
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  but to abstain from theft.
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  SPEAKER_00: robbery and adultery,
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  to commit no breach of trust and not to refuse to return a
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  deposit upon demand.
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  SPEAKER_00: And after this ceremony,
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  it had been their custom to disperse and later to take food of
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  an ordinary,
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  SPEAKER_00: harmless kind.
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  SPEAKER_00: But they had,
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  SPEAKER_00: in fact,
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  SPEAKER_00: given this up since my edict issued on your instructions,
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  SPEAKER_00: which banned all political societies.
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  This made me decide it was all the more necessary to extract
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  the truth from two slave women.
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  SPEAKER_00: They called them diaconesses by torture.
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  I found nothing but a degenerate sort of cult carried to
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  extravagant lengths.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the Apostle of Mathedes,
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  SPEAKER_00: we read,
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  SPEAKER_00: for the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country,
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  SPEAKER_00: nor language,
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  SPEAKER_00: nor customs which they observe,
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  SPEAKER_00: for they neither inhabit cities of their own,
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  SPEAKER_00: nor employ a peculiar form of speech,
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  SPEAKER_00: nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity.
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  The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by
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  any speculation or
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  SPEAKER_00: deliberation of inquisitive men,
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  SPEAKER_00: nor do they,
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  SPEAKER_00: like some,
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  SPEAKER_00: proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrine,
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  SPEAKER_00: but inhabiting both Greek
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  SPEAKER_00: and barbarian cities,
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  SPEAKER_00: according as the lot of each of them has determined,
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  SPEAKER_00: and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing,
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  SPEAKER_00: food,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the rest of the ordinary conduct,
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  they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking
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  methods of life.
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  SPEAKER_00: They dwell in their own countries,
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  SPEAKER_00: but simply as sojourners.
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  As citizens,
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  they share all things with others and yet endure all things as
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  if foreigners.
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  Every foreign land is to them as their native country and every
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  land of their birth
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  SPEAKER_00: as a land of strangers.
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  SPEAKER_00: They marry as do all others,
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  SPEAKER_00: and they beget children as do all others,
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  SPEAKER_00: but they do not destroy their offspring.
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  SPEAKER_00: They have a common table, but not a common bed.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.
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  SPEAKER_00: They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.
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  They obey the prescribed laws and at the same time surpass the
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  laws by their lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: They love all men and are persecuted by all.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are unknown and condemned.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are put to death and restored to life.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are poor and yet make many rich.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are in lack of all things and also abound in all.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are dishonored and yet their very dishonor is glorified."
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  They are evil spoken of and yet are justified and repay the
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  insult with honor.
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  SPEAKER_00: They do good, yet are punished as evil doers.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life.
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  They are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted
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  by the Greeks.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.
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  SPEAKER_00: This was the summary of the life of the early Christian church.
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  How they applied the teachings of Jesus that defined their
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  Christian existence.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is how they understood that Jesus wanted them to live on earth.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as we have seen in these multiple writings,
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  SPEAKER_00: it was a consistent lifestyle mentioned by believers and detractors,
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  SPEAKER_00: proselytes and persecutors.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was a new kinship.
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  A new kingdom of sorts between humanity and humanity and
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  humanity and God that
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  overruled and overarched the old paradigms of royal
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  consciousness and kingdom rule.
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  If you ever wondered what it was like to live as part of the
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  early church so close
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  SPEAKER_00: to Jesus,
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  hopefully what you have just heard from first and second
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  century authors has helped
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  SPEAKER_00: a little bit.
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  SPEAKER_00: If not, I'm going to give you a little summary of my own.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the early church, there was patient witness.
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  SPEAKER_00: The early church grew not through political power,
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  SPEAKER_00: but through a persistent,
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  SPEAKER_00: attractive way of life and worship that drew people in.
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  They held a distinct identity of their own in whatever culture
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  they were living in.
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  Worship and practices like shared meals and charity created a
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  unique community,
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  SPEAKER_00: making Christians seem like resident aliens,
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  SPEAKER_00: who offered a different way to live to all people and all nations.
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  SPEAKER_00: Early Christians were known for their radical love for one another,
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  SPEAKER_00: care for the poor and marginalized,
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  SPEAKER_00: and communal living,
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  SPEAKER_00: which stood in stark contrast to the surrounding society.
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  SPEAKER_00: They focused on catechesis and formation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Worship wasn't just for believers.
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  It was a primary way that new members learned and were shaped
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  into the faith
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  SPEAKER_00: formation that was the Christian church at that time.
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  SPEAKER_00: A process sometimes seen as more important than evangelism itself.
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  The commitment to following Jesus' ethical teachings
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  demonstrated a transformed way
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  SPEAKER_00: of life that served as a powerful testimony.
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  SPEAKER_00: They grew despite exclusivity and secrecy.
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  SPEAKER_00: Due to persecution, early services were often closed to outsiders.
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  SPEAKER_00: The catechumens,
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  SPEAKER_00: which the worship was called,
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  SPEAKER_00: creating a mysterious image to non-believers,
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  SPEAKER_00: which was exciting,
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  SPEAKER_00: enticing,
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  SPEAKER_00: and inviting.
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  SPEAKER_00: They embodied missional worship.
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  SPEAKER_00: The focus was on embodying the gospel of Jesus Christ with worship,
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  SPEAKER_00: preparing the people to live out their faith,
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  SPEAKER_00: making the community itself the primary evangelistic tool.
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  SPEAKER_00: The way the believers lived their lives
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  SPEAKER_00: provided the credibility to their proclamation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Their actions matched Jesus' words.
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  We have the same demand on us to match our actions in our day
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  to Jesus' words.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, some of that may look similar, some of that may look differently.
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  That is why we must be ardent in our efforts to become a
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  discerning church and to
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  SPEAKER_00: join in the movement of God among us.
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  The question that Diognides asked nearly 2,000 years ago
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  remains our questions today.
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  SPEAKER_00: What is the movement of God and how do we become part of it?
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  The answer then and now is found not primarily in correct
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  doctrine or impressive
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  SPEAKER_00: programs,
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  SPEAKER_00: but in a community that lives so different,
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  SPEAKER_00: so radically,
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  and serves so selflessly that the world cannot help but take
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  notice and ask the
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  SPEAKER_00: reason for the hope that is within us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.