The One Thing - Resist the Urge to Dirge

Christ Church of Ballenger Creek

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“Resisting the Urge to Dirge”

The 1 Thing, part 4

Luke 15:11-32

I. Introduction – We’ve spent three weeks now talking about the 1 Thing.

A. Now we know a bit about what the church is not.

1) The church is not a police station. It’s not all about the rules.

2) The church is not a theatre. It’s not all about the show.

3) The church is not a cause. It’s not all about the last issue.

B. The 1 Thing that the church has to offer that you can’t get anywhere else is this: a loving, growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

C. But, there are still a few more images that I want us to look at today and dispel the myth that the church has anything in common with these places.

1) Three more images today.

a) The funeral home.

b) The seminary.

c) And the museum.

2) While there may be some grain of truth in each image, it too often gets over blown and becomes little like that grain of truth.

II. The first image is the church as a funeral home.

A. Isn’t it curious that many equate a dour service full of boring music and extreme formality with being close to God in worship?

1) “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to worship God. So sit still, please be quiet, open your KJV and prepare yourself for the awesome and terrifying experience of the presence of God.”

a) We’ve all seen the TV show where the minister is a prude who is wound so tight he doesn’t get it.

b) It’s as though church is supposed to be a collection of funeral directors!

2) I appreciate funeral directors who can help a family through a very difficult time, but I don’t think a relationship with Jesus means that we have to be serious all of the time.

3) Certainly Jesus wasn’t serious all of the time.

B. Jesus’ teaching and ministry remind us that He was far from serious and dour in some pretty important moments. From these stories we learn that …

1) Jesus appreciated the built-in tendencies of children.

a) Kids are pretty consistent. They act like kids.

b) They can be very funny, but they can also be pretty selfish and severe.

c) In spite of the wild ride, Jesus encouraged his followers to become like children – impulsive, impetuous, spontaneous, and vulnerable.

d) “Stop acting like children!”

e) In our scripture, the father understands the built-in tendencies of his child.

i. He doesn’t like them perhaps, but in the end he embraces them.

ii. It’s those very qualities that (when they mature) he most appreciates about his child.

f) He told us in Matthew 18:3, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

2) Jesus embraced celebration.

a) Yes, Jesus liked to party.

b) Read the Gospels and you’ll discover that Jesus was always at weddings, having dinner at people’s houses, running with a pretty wild bunch.

c) In the Parable of the Lost Son, the father embraces his son when he returns and immediately throws a party.

d) There are a lot of things worth celebrating!

3) Jesus performed his first miracle at a party.

a) At Cana, he turned water into wine.

b) In this parable, there is a hidden miracle.

i. A father ran.

ii. Not going to happen in this culture.

c) When we come home to him (a miracle), God runs to meet us!

4) Jesus exhibited a penchant for the zany.

a) Jesus actually paid his taxes with a fish.

b) He healed a guy with mud and spit.

c) He played in the dirt while people tried to accuse and trick him!

5) There is very definitely a fun side to this guy!

a) I’m not talking about making church a comedy club. It’s not that either, that’s not the 1 Thing.

b) I’m saying that the 1 Thing grows better in a climate of warmth, laughter and relationships.

c) Not cold solemnity and brittle opinions.

C. There’s got to be more going on here than the constant contemplation of all that is serious, solemn, quiet, and passionless.

III. We don’t want to be a funeral home, but we also want to avoid being a seminary.

A. Check the grades on your papers.

1) If you got an A – Please stand. Congratulations, accept our applause for your accomplishment.

2) If you got a B or C – Please raise your hands. Well done, and don’t forget there’s nothing wrong with being average.

3) If you got a D or even an F – Please raise your hands. I’m sorry. But don’t worry, there will be a make up service tomorrow night for each of you to attend and hopefully you’ll do better.

B. Ok, we all know that we aren’t graded, but sometimes we fall into the trap of comparing and contrasting within the church in a way that amounts to getting (and receiving) grades.

1) If someone has a lot of knowledge of the Bible or sounds very wise, we think of them as spiritual.

2) If someone knows a lot about church history, theology, or the doctrine of the church, we think of them as super disciples.

3) These are the keepers and defenders of the faith.

4) But this is not the 1 Thing.

C. We must be careful that we don’t put information before transformation.

1) There’s nothing wrong with information, God wants us to learn more about him and to grow in our discipleship.

2) But we can’t determine the strength of our relationship by how much we know.

a) That’s what the Pharisees did and it cost them.

b) They put the process, the methodology and the facts before the relationship.

D. In Jesus’ parable, the father welcomed his son home with obvious signs of reconciliation and warmth.

1) He embraced him and gave him shoes for his feet, a new robe, and his ring.

2) He didn’t ask for a litany of his wrongdoings or what he would do to repay his debt to the family.

3) What do we do as a church?

a) Do we embrace seeking people with warmth and genuine love?

b) Or do we ask them, “can you pass our test?”

E. Let’s look at two examples from the letters of Paul.

1) 1 Corinthians 1:19-20

2) 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

3) This is the simple lesson of these two passages.

a) Information does not = spiritual.

b) Information does not = discipleship.

4) Knowledge is good, but love is best.

F. God cares more about your love, than about your learning.

IV. Finally, the church is not a museum. [I think this is especially important for us to remember as we move closer toward building our building]

A. Walking in the Cathedral in New York City.

1) During worship.

a) Gift shop was open.

b) Information desk at the back.

c) People wandering around the outside.

d) A small group of 50 or so in a roped off area toward the front as the priest performed the mass.

2) And God said, “If you build a sanctuary without really focusing on a relationship with me, your building will one day serve the same purpose they do here.”

a) Ouch, that’s a wake up call.

b) It’s a message we better hear and understand.

B. Are we on the verge of creating our own little museum? Understand a couple of things about museums.

1) Museums have displays.

a) Museums are full of displays of the way things used to be.

b) Museums are full of attractions. In the church we call them programs.

c) Museums are full of artifacts.

i. “No soccer in the sanctuary.”

ii. Parking lot ministry.

2) Museums attract “looky-lou’s.”

a) Looky-lou’s are people who make a hobby out of looking with no intention of “buying.”

b) Churches that are museums attract people who “check you out”, but have not intention of “buying.”

3) Because they recognize that there is nothing there for them – there is nothing alive there for them.

V. Our culture understands relationship very well.

A. Check out where you hang out.

1) Coffee shops, malls, just about everywhere they’ve made a place for community.

2) There is a strong longing in each of us for relationships.

B. Are we making room for relationships or are other things crowding them out?

1) Like rules, entertainment, artifacts, or anything else.

2) Like anything other than the 1 Thing.

C. Will we be known …

1) As a place of learned, but stifled people who know of Jesus but don’t know him?

2) As a place of solemn and sober worship and prayer, but really, incredibly boring?

3) As a place where a handful of us worship, but a large group gets led around by guides taking pictures of the exhibits in our museum?

D. Or will we be a vibrant, living community where people are growing in their relationship with Jesus and with others – no matter what has to change?

1) Let’s pray.

2) That the 1 Thing remains the 1 Thing.

end

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