In Ordinary Time, Christ-followers are invited to explore how we internalize, live out, and share our newness in Christ. This cannot be done unless Christians can be confident in the presence and power of God.
The theme for this week is God has all things in hand.
- The call to worship Psalm speaks about God’s omnipresence — there is no place we can go to escape his loving presence.
- In Genesis 28, Jacob saw a vision that, in part, bore witness to God’s continual activity on the earth.
- The passage in Romans speaks to Christians as children of God who can have hope in our Father to fulfill his desire to redeem all creation.
- The Matthew scripture presents a parable that illustrates that God will not fail to dispense judgment and justice, bringing all things to their proper end.
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 • Genesis 28:10-19a • Romans 8:12-25 • Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
SPEAKING OF LIFE
In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded his followers to go into the world and make disciples. Few believers could argue against the idea that Christians are commissioned by Christ to engage in mission. However, our missional mindset matters. Do we believe we are taking Jesus somewhere? Or are we joining him where he already is? Many Christians have been taught that we need to take Jesus out of the four walls of the church – where he has made his home – and into our communities. Do we really believe we can “take” Jesus somewhere?
Scripture reveals that we don’t take Jesus, we join him. He is already at work in our neighborhoods. In Genesis 28, Jacob is given a vision of God’s activity on earth.
He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”
Genesis 28:11-16 (NRSVUE)
The angels ascending and descending on the stairway symbolize God’s continual work on the earth. The promises God made to Jacob would come about by God’s effort not Jacob’s. Jacob thought he was sleeping in an ordinary place. However, he came to realize that God was already there and at work and he was unaware. Even before the creation of the Promised Land, God’s presence was already there.
The same is true for our neighborhoods. As we go and engage our neighbors, we should have the mindset of participating in the work of Jesus Christ. Instead of doing what we think is right, we should be looking to see what Jesus is already doing.
The truth is we cannot bring (or take) Jesus anywhere. He already fills all things and holds everything together. As Jacob learned, there are no ordinary places because God is everywhere. This should give us the confidence to love our neighbors and bear witness to the greatness of our Lord. As we go, not only is Jesus with us, he is already at work all around us.
Mi nombre es Heber Ticas, Hablando de Vida.
SERMON REVIEW
Secure in Christ
Romans 8:12-25
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, ‘Abba,[b] Father.’ 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[c] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Few things can inspire schadenfreude like a tabloid. If you are unfamiliar with the term, schadenfreude is a word that describes pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune, and tabloids export it in mass quantities. Right now, if you walk into any supermarket and stand in the checkout aisle, you will see at least one headline promising details on the immanent divorce of some famous couple. You would likely see tantalizing articles on a feud within Britain’s royal family. Infidelity would probably have a strong showing with words like “scandal” and “exposed” in bold print. If you are lucky, you might even read headlines that promise hard evidence of alien abductions that were covered up by the government.
You may want to read some recent headlines to make your point.
Most adults understand that tabloids do not hold themselves to high standards of journalism, and a lot of what we read in them is untrue. Yet, many people still find them irresistible. Why? Certainly, it has something to do with the outrageous nature of tabloids. The stories seem expertly crafted to stimulate the guilty pleasure centers in our brains. While there are many reasons why people read tabloids and some of them may be perfectly innocent, one thing to consider is that tabloids consistently broadcast the breakdown of our institutions and the things we hold dear. They dish out stories about divorce, conspiracies, indiscretions by role models, and the worst of human behavior, and we eat it up. The stories make us happy we do not share the circumstances of those written about in the articles, but at what cost? Could tabloids and similar media be contributing to the erosion of our sense of security and belief in truly good things? Might we be becoming more cynical as a people, doubting that anything good can last?
Tabloids and “the media” cannot be solely blamed for the decline in belief in institutions and people’s trustworthiness. In all areas of our society, we can find betrayals of trust by those who should do better. Myriad church scandals have made many people distrustful of religious leaders. To some, it seems that once a church leader achieves a certain amount of notoriety, a fall from grace is almost inevitable. It should come as no surprise that religious affiliation continues to decline in America and a majority of the Western World.
In this season of Ordinary Time, we are exploring how the church bears witness to the King and his kingdom in the world. As we go and share the Good News with our neighbors, we will encounter many people who neither trust our message nor our motives. There is a credibility gap Christians must bridge with our neighbors as we demonstrate in word and in action that Jesus is Lord. This cannot be done apart from the Holy Spirit. However, we do have a part to play. As we follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and go into our communities, we should do so believing in a God who is completely good. It is problematic to ask people to give their lives to Jesus if we ourselves feel unsafe putting our lives in his hands.
If we are not careful, the sense of cynicism and distrust of people in our society can manifest itself in the Christian church. We can look at our relationship with God as something that is unstable and subject to falling apart like so many celebrity marriages. If nothing in our world is solid, how can we be sure that God is solid? What is to keep him from changing his mind about us and casting us aside? Many believers are guarded in their relationship with God because they have learned to distrust male father figures, people in power, or anything that seems too good to be true. They do not commit fully to God because they are waiting for the other shoe to drop. While no Christian can have perfect faith in this life, we should be continually growing in our conviction of God’s love and faithfulness. Yet, in our brokenness, our ability to trust him can be stunted for a season.
In his letter to the church in Rome, one of Paul’s goals was to help his audience to feel secure in their relationship with God. The recipients of his letter were experiencing uncertainty in their identity in Christ due to divisions between Jewish and non-Jewish (Gentile) Christians, and the persecution they faced from the Roman authorities. The believers seemed to be disagreeing on whether the keeping of Jewish dietary laws and sacred days was necessary in order to follow Christ. Being wrong meant making significant life changes to be acceptable to God — changes that may have been too difficult to make.
We may not be able to relate to this particular disagreement. However, we can certainly see Christians today feeling insecure in their faith over disagreements in their congregations about politics, LGBTQ+ questions, COVID safeguards, and culture. How can God be good if his people are divided? We should certainly be able to understand how a loss of trust with people, especially those who identify as Christian, can lead to one feeling insecure in their relationship with God. Paul wrote to reassure the church in Rome of God’s faithfulness, and his words can bring comfort to us as well. The apostle said:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation — but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:12-17 NIV)
Paul used the metaphor of adoption to help his audience understand God’s deep, binding love for them. Interestingly, the Jews and Gentiles in the church in Rome had to share knowledge in order to understand what the apostle was trying to communicate. Based on what we know, there did not seem to be state-sanctioned adoption in Jewish culture. Yet, it existed in Greek and Roman culture. In Roman culture, for example, it was not uncommon for a biological child to be given up for adoption in order to maintain family legacy for a couple that had no male heir. Otherwise, the family title and estate could be forfeited. While there were other mechanisms in place to compassionately care for orphans and other children in need, but there were no real mentions of adoption in the Mosaic Law or Jewish writing. For the Gentile Christians, the concept of God as a Father was foreign to them. From what we can tell, Jewish people were the first to see God as a loving Father to humanity. Therefore, both Jewish and Gentile worldviews were needed in order for believers at that time to see God as their adopted Father.
In the institution of adoption, a child moves from one family system — with its religious, social, and cultural traditions — to another, likely different, family system. This shift impacts the building blocks of a child’s self-concept to the extent that one could argue that adoption causes a fundamental change in a child’s identity. Adoption is initiated by the adopter who opts to be legally bound to the adopted child. Under Roman law, adopted children had the same rights and privileges as natural-born children.
Therefore, adoption is a metaphor for the redemption and inseparable connection to the Father of those who follow Christ. We were part of a dysfunctional family system that was destroying us, and God made us his own. Now, we are part of a family system that gives us eternal, abundant life. He sought and adopted us on his own initiative. Out of his unfailing love, God willingly bound us to himself with ties that cannot be severed. The Father exceeded the requirements of the law and made us joint heirs with the immaculate Son of God. We can even call on the Father using the same name for God that Jesus himself used — Abba (translated “daddy” or “poppa”). So, we can be secure in our relationship with God. The Father — through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus — not only connected us to himself but changed our very identity. We can no longer be anything but his children, and our insecurities do not alter that fundamental truth.
In a world where it seems like no good thing lasts and people always let us down, we can be sure of God’s immutable love for us. He is ever faithful, and we need not worry about him changing his mind about us. Consequently, as Christ followers, we should do all we can not to change our minds about God. We need to be careful to avoid alienating our affections from God because of the things we suffer in this life. In Romans 8, Paul continues:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:18 -25 NIV)
The Holy Spirit prompted Paul to acknowledge the suffering of the church in Rome. He did not minimize their pain, and he even recognized their inward groaning. Can you relate? Do you sometimes look at the condition of the world and groan inwardly? Do things sometimes look so bad that you feel like losing hope? Can you sometimes feel yourself growing cynical and apathetic? We all have at some point. In this world we will suffer. Yet, we cannot allow our suffering to overshadow the reality of our adoption. No matter how dark the world looks, it cannot stop God’s glory from being revealed in us. We do not yet see that glory fully manifested in us, but we have been given blessed assurance by Christ. He has ensured our salvation and eternal adoption. He has triumphed over the world for us, and we belong to him. Nothing can snatch us out of his hand.
The suffering we experience in this life will be forgotten when Christ returns, and we can fully experience our adoption. So many of the things that seem so important to us today will be beyond insignificant in eternity. We have to remember that one day there will be no tabloids or schadenfreude. These things, along with every other manifestation of pain and suffering, will pass away so we need not let cynicism and apathy take root in us. Jesus has, is, and will redeem all things. This is good news for us and the world. This is part of the Good News Christ calls on us to share.
In a world where everything seems made to be broken, we can be secure in our relationship with God because of Christ. If we ever feel like the world is tumbling down around us, we need only to look to him and find stability in God’s unchanging love. We can find shelter in our relationship with our adopted Father, and in Jesus we can find hope. As the song says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
SONG OF RESPONSE
GOING DEEPER
Clarifying Our Theological Vision, by Gary Deddo
Introduction: Our Journey of Theological Renewal
By Dr. Joseph Tkach
As a denomination, our renewal began in the early 1990s with the transformation of our doctrines. That doctrinal renewal began with a new understanding of the nature of the covenant of grace that God, in Christ, has with all humanity, and how that covenant relates to the provisional Law of Moses and to what Scripture refers to as an “old covenant” and a “new covenant.” Recognizing that Jesus fulfilled the covenant on our behalf (as grace and truth personified), gave us a clearer focus both doctrinally and theologically, with the result being the transformation of our Christology (doctrine of Jesus Christ). By God’s grace we came to understand that Jesus is the center and heartbeat of God’s plan for humankind. In our minds and hearts, we became Christ-centered.
This renewal of our Christology led to asking and answering the vital question: Who is the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ? The answer led us to embrace a theological vision that we now refer to as incarnational Trinitarian theology.
That theology (with “theology” meaning “knowledge of God”) is incarnational in that it is Christ-centered, and Trinitarian in that the God who Jesus reveals to us is a Trinity (one God in three Persons): Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We came to understand that in the fullness of time, God the Father sent his eternal Son into time and space to become human, thus assuming our human nature as the man Jesus Christ. And when Jesus ascended, he raised human nature with him in glory and, with the Father, sent the Holy Spirit to be with us in a new and deeper way. The self-revealing, sending God thus sent us both his Living Word and his Breath.
Our incarnational Trinitarian theology is rooted in Scripture (the New Testament writings in particular) and has been worked out in the writings of teachers in the early (patristic) church including the Didache (a first-century church manual with instructions about baptizing into the one name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and the great Creeds of the church: the Apostles Creed (2nd century), the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (4th century), the Chalcedon Definition/Creed (5th century) and the Athanasian Creed (5th century). Our theology is thus biblical and historically orthodox.
Our understanding of this theology has been greatly aided by the writings of several early church leaders, including Irenaeus, Athanasius and the Cappadocians. We have also found helpful the writings of several 20th-century theologians who, in the providence of God, contributed to a resurgence of interest in this ancient Trinitarian theological vision in many parts of the body of Christ over the past six or seven decades. These theologians include Karl Barth, Thomas F. (TF) Torrance, James B. (JB) Torrance and Ray S. Anderson — men whose faith and understanding traces back to the Bible and to the early creeds of the church. Their understanding also aligns with the central concerns of the Protestant Reformation framed largely by Martin Luther and John Calvin, especially on the matter of grace. We have been (and continue to be) greatly aided in our journey of theological reformation by Dr. Gary Deddo, who stands in this ancient and orthodox stream of theological renewal. We are blessed to have this theologian on our Grace Communion Seminary faculty and, as you probably know, Gary serves as President of GCS and as a special assistant to the GCI president.
Over the last decade or so, as we’ve worked out the many details of our incarnational Trinitarian theology, we’ve used terms in varying ways to communicate its core concepts and precepts. At times, our use of a few of these terms was imprecise, leading to minor points of confusion, particularly in matters related to the nature of the church and the Christian life. For that confusion, we apologize, and now we seek to refine our terms and concepts so that there will be consistency and clarity in our communication. These refinements do not change our core theological convictions, nor the practices that flow from them. We are simply continuing to build on the solid biblical foundation that has been laid, with Christ being its living cornerstone.
To help in the important task of clarifying and refining our theological vision, I asked Dr. Deddo to assemble an Educational Strategy Task Force. ESTF members were Gary Deddo (chair), Russell Duke, Charles Fleming, Ted Johnston, John McLean, Mike Morrison and Greg Williams. All have advanced degrees in theology or ministry, taught at Grace Communion Seminary (GCS) and/or Ambassador College of Christian Ministry (ACCM) and had administrative leadership roles in GCI.
As part of its work, the ESTF identified problems with the way we articulated certain aspects of our theology, and so I asked Dr. Deddo to author an essay titled Clarifying Our Theological Vision to help clarify our theological terms, and thus refine certain key concepts in our theological vision. The goal is greater consistency and clarity in our publications and in what we teach in our courses. I also pray that the essay will help sharpen what we teach in sermons and studies in our congregations.
I’m grateful for the journey God has us on and for where we now are. Have we arrived? No, our journey continues, with its ultimate destination being a new heaven and new earth in which there will be a new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-4, 22-23). Thanks for being part of the journey, for your loyalty, patience and willingness to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thanks also for being a faithful teacher of the glorious gospel of Jesus.
And now the essay from Dr. Deddo.
Part 1: Clarifying Two Key Terms: “All Are Included” and “Union With Christ”
As noted by Dr. Tkach in the Introduction, the goal of this essay is to clarify some of the key terms we use in communicating the wonderful truths of our incarnational Trinitarian faith. As he also notes, though we’re not making significant changes, we are providing some clarifications to help us in our ongoing journey of theological renewal.
All are included
A key understanding of our theology has to do with what God has accomplished for all humanity in and through his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. For many years, we’ve summarized that understanding with the phrase, all are included (and the related declaration, You’re included). By all we mean believers and non-believers, and by included we mean being counted among those who God, in and through Jesus, has reconciled to himself. We thus mean to say that God has reconciled all people to himself.
This theological declaration is based on the biblical revelation that Christ died for all and that God has loved and reconciled the world to himself (Rom. 5:18; 2 Cor. 5:14; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:19, Heb. 2:9). Jesus is “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29), and he is the “ransom” for all (1 Tim 2:4, 6; 4:10; Matt. 20:28). Because this reconciliation is accomplished, and thus a present reality, God’s desire, which is fulfilled by the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, is for all people everywhere to come to repentance and faith so they may personally experience (receive and live into) this reconciliation and so not perish (2 Pet. 3:9; Ezek. 18:23, 32). Thus when we declare that all are included we are affirming several important truths:
- Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of all humanity
- He died to redeem all
- He has atoned for the sin of all
- Through what he did, God reconciled all people to himself
- Jesus is the mediator between God and all humanity
- He has made all (people) his own by virtue of his redeeming work
- He is for all and against none
- He is judge of all, so that none might experience condemnation
- His saving work is done on behalf of all, and that work includes his holy and righteous responses to the Father, in the Spirit — responses characterized by repentance, faith, hope, love, praise, prayer, worship and obedience
- Jesus, in himself, is everyone’s justification and sanctification
- He is everyone’s substitute and representative
- He is everyone’s hope
- He is everyone’s life, including life eternal
- He is everyone’s Prophet, Priest and King
In all these ways, all people in all places and times have been included in God’s love and life in and through Jesus and by his Spirit. In that we rejoice, and on that basis we make our gospel declarations. But in doing so we have to be aware of some potential for confusion. We must neither say too little or too much about inclusion (reconciliation). Perhaps, at times, we’ve said too much, making inferences concerning the reconciliation of all humanity that the Bible does not support — ones that are neither logically or theologically necessarily true.
It’s about relationship, which means participation
To avoid making unfounded inferences, it is important to note that when the Bible speaks about reconciliation (inclusion), what it is referring to is a relationship that God, by grace, has established in the God-man Jesus Christ between himself and all people. That relationship is personal in that it is established by the person of the eternal Son of God, and it involves human persons who have agency, minds, wills and bodies. This reconciliation involves all that human beings are — their whole persons. Thus this personal relationship calls for, invites, and even demands from those who have been included the response of participation. Personal relationship is ultimately about interaction between two persons (subjects, agents), in this case between God and his creatures.
By definition, personal relationships are interactive — they involve response, communication, giving and receiving. In and through Jesus, God has included all people everywhere in a particular relationship with himself for just these purposes so that what has been fulfilled for us objectively in Jesus by the Spirit, will then be fulfilled in us personally (subjectively) by the Spirit via our deliberate, purposeful participation (response) as subjects who are moral, spiritual agents. What Christ did for us, he did so that the Holy Spirit could work a response out in us.