When Christians are UnChristian. NOTE: This sermon is mainly a summary of the ideas in the book by Adam Hamilton called When Christians get it Wrong

Transcription

1 Rev. Joan Pell Byron United Methodist Church Sermon: 01/04/15 Series: When Christians Get It Wrong Scripture: Luke 15:1-2, Matthew 2:, 2-26 When Christians are UnChristian NOTE: This sermon is mainly a summary of the ideas in the book by Adam Hamilton called When Christians get it Wrong <Luke 15:1-2> Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them. <show video - The narrator of this video is United Methodist pastor Rev. Adam Hamilton from Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. And he wrote this book: When Christians Get It Wrong. And I share his sentiments. In the United States, in California, in far East Contra Costa County, young people and young adults are rejecting Christianity in droves. And, they want no part in coming to church. We are not the only congregation with folk in the pews asking where are the young people? Or saying we want more young parents bringing their children here. So we are going to spend the next 5 weeks trying to understand a bit more about how the younger generation perceives the Christian faith and the type of Christians and church that we are called to be here in Byron. This is not intended as a finger-pointing exercise, although some humility and careful self-examination is always good. You personally do not have to be saying or doing these things, but when enough Christians act this way then the whole of Christianity gets tarred with the same brush. Listening to and understanding the concerns of others is a step towards young people being attracted to Christianity rather than them being repelled by it. When they come here and say Tell me some more about Jesus let s make sure we are not doing the very things that turn them off. Today we are going to start with the unchristian ways that some Christians act. Non-Christians say about Christians that they are judgmental, hypocritical, and insensitive. But when asked what they think Jesus stood for, they say love. And they are right! So when Christians act in unloving ways there s a disparity which the younger generation is both feeling and naming. 1

2 Here s a challenge for you: This week, go and find a young adult, anyone under age 40 who doesn t go to a church. Ask them 2 questions: - Why have they rejected Christianity? - What do they think Jesus stood for? Here s one young man s description of a church youth group bring a friend day with a trip to a water park. <tell story> 1 This experience and those hypercritical judgmental unloving actions left this young man determined not to go back to church. When talking with young people who have opted out of church, it has been found that young people rejected Christianity because of the beliefs, attitudes and actions of Christians they knew - their peers and the adults in their lives. It is a judgmental, hypocritical, unloving spirit from people in churches that turns people away. Jesus confronted the same issues in his day. Jesus never got angry with prostitutes, adulterers or ordinary sinners. He drew sinners towards himself & made them feel at ease as we heard in our opening scripture. But he did rebuke the religious folk of his day. The primary opposition that Jesus encountered was from the Pharisees those who were set apart. They believed in separating yourself from sin and obeying God. The Pharisees were repulsed by Jesus associating with people like that people that were sinners by their definition. They had failed to see that God s primary concern is not the following of strict rules but a loving relationship with all people. Jesus was angered by the Pharisees judgmentalism, hypocrisy & failure to love. Jesus says some pretty harsh words to the Pharisees. One of the words he used was hypocrite. It s the same Greek word as used to refer to an actor in a play. It can mean a pretender. So he told the crowds: <Matthew 2:> therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. And he talked about four different expressions of hypocrisy that the Pharisees practiced: wrong motives, judging others, majoring in the minors, being two-faced. I m going to say a little bit about each. 1 Adam Hamilton, When Christians Get It Wrong, Updated & Revised (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010 & 201), 9. 2

3 ONE. Wrong motives. <Read Matthew 6:2,5,16 (from the Sermon on the Mount)> 2 So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. 5 And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. 16 And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. The Pharisees drew attention to themselves as they gave to others, and as they prayed and fasted. Today we might use the expression that they proudly tooted their own horn. These things are the right things to do but we should not be doing them so that others can see how religious we are or to further our careers and stature in the community. TWO. Judging others. Jesus used this wonderful metaphor about specks and logs. <Read Matthew 7:-5 (also from the Sermon on the Mount)> Why do you see the speck in your neighbor s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, Let me take the speck out of your eye, while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor s eye. The Pharisees acted with a superiority and with pride and readily pointed out the sins of others. Jesus said that pride is an issue. We have enough shortcomings in our own lives that we don t need to harp on at others. THREE. Majoring in the Minors. <Read Matthew 2:2> 2 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. The Pharisees were so worried about paying their tithe putting so much energy and time into calculations and giving God exactly 10% of every tiny thing including herbs and spices, that they missed and neglected being merciful and living a life of justice. We Christians fight over the tiniest of things. We get into so many theological battles losing sight of what is most important. We argue over forms of Baptism, how to receive communion, the interpretation of minor points of scripture, even the music we use in worship, all the while neglecting the poor and the outcast.

4 FOUR. Being Two-Faced. Jesus was frustrated at the scribes and the Pharisees claiming to be one thing and then acting in a different way. <Read Matthew 2:25-26> 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and selfindulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. When I leave the dregs in my coffee, and then when I forget my cup and pick it up the next morning, it looks fine on the outside but inside is pretty gross! I think Jesus us asking us whether our religion is window dressing or does it change our values, our hearts, and our daily lives? It s not just the Pharisee that struggled with these four tendencies. We all do. And it s ok to struggle. All Christians get it wrong sometimes. I love the image of the church as being a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. We re here to turn our lives toward Jesus and to change and be transformed. As John Wesley would say to move on towards perfection. Our lives still need sanctifying. And nonreligious people know that. They know we are not perfect. They know we struggle to live up to Jesus teaching. They struggle too to live up to their ideals and are well aware of falling short. And so they see us as hypocrites when we try to pretend that we have everything all together and spend our time pointing out where they do not have things together. That s what turns them off. When we are not honest with where we are; when we act in an UnChristian manner while proudly claiming the label Christian; when we do not share Jesus love and compassion. Paul described the traits that we should be demonstrating. <Read Galatians 5:22-2> 22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 2 gentleness, and self-control. There are Christians who get it wrong and who are driving our young generation away from organized religion. And there are Christians who get it right. They are not perfect. They daily seek to live out their faith. They go out of their way to care for others. They are compassionate. They live generously with time and money. They work for justice. They serve the poor, sick and oppressed. They befriend rather than condemn those who are outside the church. And I have seen that happen here. I love the way you reach out to those with cancer and feed the hungry without conditions, and give generously to all sorts of mission projects. And hopefully, most of the time, that is what we stand for here. 4

5 So let s all take some time at the start of this New Year to examine our own lives for where we fall into the trap of hypocrisy and ask God to fill us with honesty and humility. Because when we get it right, then people can be drawn to our faith, rather than be repelled by Christians. I know that s the type of Christian, I want to be, and I m sure you do too. Thanks be to God. Amen Let us pray. O God of Love, We know that Jesus warned us not to judge, not to be hypercritical, and to love our neighbors and those with whom we do not see eye to eye and yet sometimes we fail to act with a loving spirit. Teach us to honestly own our struggles and claim your power to transform us. Fill us with humility so that we can witness in ways that draw young people to you. In this day of new beginnings, do a new thing in our midst. AMEN. Resources Hamilton, Adam. When Christians Get It Wrong. Updated & Revised. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010 &