Christ Memorial Lutheran Church - Houston TX
CMLC 2024-08-11 Sermon (Contemporary)
Howdy. So one of the things that's been really great about being able to be like in the church as a whole is oftentimes being able to see the artwork that is up in churches at different times. And artwork throughout centuries has oftentimes reflected religious imagery. And you can see a lot of different Bible stories and theological ideas in many of the paintings that have existed over time. But one of the things that's difficult though is to try to figure out who exactly painted which things over time. And so there was an art critic that apparently was trying to come up with some different tips and ideas so that if you go to a museum of fine arts and you see a painting, you can try to at least guess who painted that particular work of art. For example, if you were to see one that has a really beautiful baby being held by his mother, then chances are that's a Baroque painting. However, if it's a really ugly baby, it's a medieval painting, okay? Or other times whenever you see things that look like just a bunch of boxes and it looks like somebody opened up their Tupperware drawer to look inside, that's Cubism. And if it looks like your glasses need to be adjusted for the prescription, that's Impressionism. If it looks like all the people in there, including the women, are really, really muscular, then that's Michelangelo. If it looks like the painting has not been finished, it's Leonardo da Vinci. And if it's a painting of Rembrandt, it's by Rembrandt. So all of these things are different ways of being able to say, hey, I think I know who drew that. But for me, the ones that I'm truly looking at and trying to inspect is the artwork that I oftentimes see in the pews here at Christ Memorial. You go around, you look over, and you see that somebody's been doodling, and you're like, oh, what three-year-old, four-year-old, five-year-old has been doodling, and then you find out it's Ed, and you're like, I'm sorry Ed. But with it, though, is you're taking a look. And whenever a child is drawing something, it's not supposed to be all that exact. You're trying to figure out what it was that they're drawing, and you look over, and you see a circle, and there's two arms coming out of the ears and everything, and somehow the legs are coming out of the chin, and you're like, what is this thing? And it's like, that's our family, sure it is, okay. And you're looking over and trying to say, that is a lovely potato, and they're like, that's our dog, and you're like, that's what happens when you overfeed your dog. And with all this happening is that, you see it, and you appreciate the artwork, because it's doing this out of love and joy, you know? This is not an expectation that now this is the perfect piece of art, but also we don't think that now reality has changed because of the art, is that now because someone drew a person with arms coming out of their ears and legs coming out of their chin, we don't think that now people need to change to become arms out of their ears and legs out of their chin. We appreciate what they're doing, but it's not an expression of what reality is meant to be. This idea is here, whenever we try to understand when Paul is telling the Ephesian Gentiles, no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. See the thing is, is that wherever they thought made the most sense, whatever seemed to click in their lives and in their minds, that's what it was that they would do. But they had heart and hearts toward who God was, not because they were trying to heart in their hearts to what God was saying, but because they didn't actually know God in the first place. The thing is is that when we see the people that, among the Gentiles, that they are doing and living lives that are not what God desires, they're not trying to do things that are bad ideas, but the reality is that it's only when we have known Christ Jesus that our lives begin to be shaped and changed the way that God would desire. And we see that in our world today as well. There are many things that the world does that is not the way that God would desire it to be. And Paul goes into some of that here in this passage, but we have difficulty with figuring out how to talk about it. We as the church have difficulty talking about the things that God wants that not everybody would agree with. It talks in this passage about avoiding things of sensuality and desire. We live in 21st century America. How easy of a message is that to share with the world? We see a world where people decide that they're going to be physically intimate with somebody just because they want it, they need it, and they have the opportunity. We see times whenever people are saying that they're supposed to live together instead of getting married because, well, we don't really want to go that far, but it should be okay just to live together for a while and we'll just make sure that everything's okay first. Or the times whenever people are not attracted to the opposite gender, but rather would be with their own, or even pausing to say, "I don't want to be married to you anymore because I just don't like you, and I'd rather just be done." We see a world that has created all sorts of ideas and expectations that may or may not match what God wants, but why is it difficult for us as the church to talk about those things? It's difficult because whenever we do so, we oftentimes end up creating some weird split in our minds that we think either we have to go off and somehow condemn anybody and everybody for everything that we see to make sure that they understand they're not living up to our expectations, or we just decide, "You know what, I don't know how to say this very lovingly, so I'm just going to avoid it." But the reality is that we all struggle in different ways in being like Christ. We all struggle to try to find the direction that God wants us to go. He, Paul, doesn't just focus on one category of sins here. He includes falsehood, anger, laziness, theft, corrupt speech, wrath, bitterness, clamor, slander. How often do we use the word clamor? I don't think we use it all that often. But the reality is that we fall into these so often. How often do we have an argument with somebody, and in the middle of the argument we realize that they were actually right, but we're going to keep arguing with what we're saying because we don't want to give in, or we're going to say in our head, "Well, okay, maybe what I was saying was wrong, but what I wanted to say is right, so I better make sure I keep fighting for that." Are the times whenever we just take a step back and we're like, "You know what? I really don't feel like putting forth any effort." How many times, I remember whenever I was in college and we would put these little ads on our personal web pages because then you could get a few clicks and get a few pennies from that, but oftentimes is how many ways can we look to try to do something where we can try to get money for doing absolutely nothing, and then we just mislabel it as passive income? How often is it that we are angry at a person for something, even if it turns out that they weren't in the wrong, but we let that bitterness fester inside, and it ends up tainting what we say and what we do and clamor, the idea of being so exuberant and angry and forceful, but also everything gets into such a ruckus, everything's all over the place, just because we want to get heard and we want to make sure that we're noticed, and how often is it that we don't really care if what someone is saying is true or not, we're glad that they think and they believe it themselves, because oftentimes as long as we're loud enough and confident enough, then therefore that's the guy. And as a thing about this is that in so many ways is that we are all in places in our lives where we are confident that where we are, and what we're doing is exactly what we should think is the standard, but what does that mean in God's eyes? There's a parable, it was this painter and his master. The painter spent months and months putting together this beautiful painting and goes over there and painstakingly gets every detail exactly right, and at the end he stops and he's looking at his painting and he's like, wow, I did such a great job on this painting, and then he stops, he's not painting anymore, every day he stops and he looks at this amazing painting that he has done, and he's impressed and he's happy and he's thrilled. And then after a few days, a few weeks of basking in the greatness of his painting, he comes in and discovers that his master had slashed up the entire canvas into pieces, and he goes up and he says, what did you do that for? He was perfect and the master said, when you think you finally master perfection is when you stop trying and growing. He was so focused on feeling like he had finally arrived with where he wanted, is that he had stopped even growing and trying, and how often is that where we get, is that we think we finally arrived with the place we wanted to be, and there were nothing growing. I remember whenever I was younger and I was trying to help out my parents with the income, and I decided that I was going to draw dollar bills and five dollar bills with my crales, and that they were going to be so good that I could go to the store and buy stuff with them. And I didn't know which part was the more frustrating to me, was the part that my crayons never really quite got those dollar bills exactly the way I wanted them to be, or when I finally realized that as a four-year-old, I was trying to become a criminal counterfeiter. Because how often is it that we are trying to do something that we see as amazing, but in reality, it may be leading us in completely the wrong direction? See, that's the thing about whenever we talk about issues that have to do with our physical intimacy, and sex, and closeness, and all these things with relationships, is that sometimes we don't pause to remember that being alone is difficult. It's not because the things that we fill our lives with are actually good or okay, but is that we're struggling? We're looking for something to fill the void. The times whenever maybe we had a broken home growing up, and so we're afraid of marriage, but we're trying to find something that allows us to feel like we can commit. Whenever we are in an era where all we do is we're on our phones so much of the time, and then we're afraid to spend time one-on-one with other people, and then we find somebody who makes us feel amazing, and so we want to give them everything without pausing to say, "Is it really a good idea to rush into that so soon?" Or the times whenever somebody may genuinely feel nothing when they are with the opposite gender, and they're just looking for something that allows them to feel hope and love, or even the opposite, is that times whenever maybe nobody else made them feel that they were ever beautiful, and they were just looking for somebody to make them feel that way. Or even the times whenever you're with someone, but you feel so lonely that you just wish everyone would see exactly what you have felt. It's not that these things make them okay, but rather is that the church hasn't learned how to talk about these things with compassion and mercy and understanding, that somehow we haven't learned how to be able to say, "This is not where God wants us to be," and you are loved and you matter, and that the two coexist in the only place that they can, the grace and mercy of Christ Jesus. Because that's the thing about this, is that it's not about trying to pretend that God has changed His word, it's just slowing down long enough to say, "I empathize, and I understand." I don't have to agree, but I can still let you know that you're loved. Because that's the thing about love, is that love does not change God's ways, but instead the love of Christ changes us. Because do we think that we should stay in those broken ways of living? No. But it's not by us trying to go over there and lord things over people's heads, but rather is that the more time that we spend in God's word, in prayer, in time with His spirit slowing down, looking at ourselves, being able to be in this place, not so that we've gone through our checklist for Sunday, but rather to be in this place of God's presence to say, "God, I've messed up and I don't always want to change. Maybe I don't want to, but I'm asking you to change me because I can do it by myself." Because it's the thing about God's spirit, is that all of these things in His word, they're showing us what it is to be transformed in Christ, and it starts with us. It starts with us that we are changed by Christ, not just in how we live our lives, but in the way that we share that with others as well. And that's why we need to be in His word, sharing together, praying together, living this life together, so that together we can keep pointing each other back to the cross. Because that's the thing, is that the Holy Spirit can show what is right while we bear patiently with one another. So when we see the world, I hope that we see a world that does not always follow Christ, but maybe we can also see that we are doing the same, and that we'd be willing to be humble enough, and to take enough of a step back to say, "God, my drawing is not perfect, and it never will be before you come again. So God, please love my art, please love my life, please love my heart." And each day, help me to become better and stronger, because I know that I'm your child, and that your life and your expression is coming through me. Thanks be to God. [BLANK_AUDIO]