Snoopy: A Theologian

The Faith: Entrusted with and Grounded in

I preached this sermon on 08/29/2010. This is another key passage for Christian growth. It plays a strategic role in Colossians. Col. 2:6-7, which connects to Col. 2:8-15 as a heading, hinges the reality of our salvation in Christ and the commands of living out the salvation through Christ.

“It serves as the hinge between the first major section of the letter (1:3-2:5) and the second (2:16-4:6). The first clause succinctly restates the key theological argument of the letter to this point: Jesus Christ is the Lord, and we have entered into his Lordship. The second clause then summarizes the specific commands and warnings that follow: we are to continue to live in him, to work out just what it means in both our thinking and our acting to live under the Lordship of Christ.” [Douglas J. Moo, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Nottingham: Apollos, 2008), p. 177.]

Paul usually uses the indicative-imperative rhetoric to exhort Christians to live out the gospel. As I wrote in An Approach to Paul’s Life and Theology (If I don’t quote it, no one will.), “In Paul’s writings and thought, the relation between indicative and imperative needs to be considered if we want to understand Paul’s ethical implications. Indicative refers to the fact that God has already done for the people of God in Christ; imperative means that God expects the redeemed people of God to live in a way that is worthy of the calling” (p. 146). Thus, Col. 2:6a points backward; Col. 2:6b, forward. And, Col. 2:7 helps us move forward with guidance and instruction.

This passage is a useful text for Christian education. It is one of the most important areas in the church that we usually fail to pay attention to. Paul said, “Being established in the Faith as you were taught.” It’s in the passive voice. (So do the other two participles, being rooted and being built.) For sure, God is the one who makes us grow (1 Cor. 3:6). It’s a divine action. Besides that, it implies human interaction in a community setting. Not only do we establish and teach ourselves in the Faith, but also being established and taught by others in a Christian community. If we teach, there is no guarantee that people grow. If we don’t teach, we can guarantee no growth.

The Faith is not only our personal faith, but also the ecumenical Faith that all Christians believe as recorded in the Bible and grounded in the person of Jesus Christ. In The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), Michael Horton notes,

“From the Latin credo (‘I believe’), a creed is simply a summary of the church’s faith. Sometimes faith is used in Scripture to refer to the faith that is believed (1 Cor. 16:13; 2 Cor. 13:5; Eph. 4:5, 13; Col. 1:23; 2:7; 1 Tim. 4:1; 6:12; 2 Tim. 3:8; 4:7; 2 Pet. 1:1; Jude 3), while elsewhere it refers to the personal act of believing—the faith by which we believe. In its essence, faith is not a subjective experience or decision but a knowledgeable assent to and belief in Jesus Christ as he gives himself to us in the gospel” (p. 215).

We are entrusted with and responsible for the Faith. We pass it on by teaching and learning. We also pass it on by living, embodying, and incarnating it. “Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish” (Jude 3 The Message).

Scripture: Colossians 2:6-7

Topic: Continue to be grounded in the Faith

I came to the church in the year of 1994. I started to attend Sunday service. From time to time, I also attended fellowship. Christianity was foreign to me at the time. But some of the messages got me interested in it. But I didn’t believe right away. I thought (and I still think) that it was easy to believe. But it wasn’t easy to commit to what I was about to believe. I said to myself, “I either believe it with total commitment or I don’t believe it at all. If I accept that Christ died on the cross to rescue me and commanded me to live a new life, I must take it seriously.” Either believe with total commitment or don’t believe at all. So, it took me about one year and half to search and believe.

You have your journeys. There and then, you struggled to make a decision to believe. But you finally made a decision to accept and follow Christ. Here and now, you are searching for Christ. For those who’ve already accepted Christ or those who are searching for Christ, one thing, for sure, is for all of us: we either believe with total commitment or don’t believe it all. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). Either this or that. This is not my demand. This is His demand on those who believe and follow him and those who want to believe and follow him.

We have to think about what we receive. What we receive is not a toy that we can keep at home or a purse that we can use once in a while. What we receive demands from what we think and do. In other words, not only are we blessed by what we receive, but we’re also expected to do something about what we receive.

Paul likes to use indicative-imperative rhetoric. “Just as you received Christ” is in indicative mood (Col. 2:6a). What it means is that it’s a reality. It’s a fact. It’s non-negotiable. There is no room for argument. No one forces us to receive Christ. God certainly won’t do such a thing. We receive Christ and believe in Christ because we voluntarily make a conscious decision to do so. After laying out such a fact, Paul then talks about what believers are ethically expected to do about what we receive (Col. 2:6b). In other words, the indicative refers to what God has done for believers in Christ, while the imperative calls on believers to live in a way that honors God. Indicative precedes imperative; ethical demands are grounded in what God has first done for us in Christ. “Continue to live/walk in Him” is such an ethical demand.

This demand is general. Paul then elaborates it and makes it more particular. Paul uses four participles (Col. 2:7) — being rooted, being built up, being strengthened, and abounding in thanksgiving—to describe the imperative: Continue to walk/live in Him.

1. Being Rooted and Built in Him.

They are closely related. The participle root points downward—a planted being rooted in soil—go deeper. When I was a kid, I always walked by a tall tree in my village. One day after a hurricane, I saw a tree from a distance, and the tree was bent toward one side. When I walked closer to the tree, the root of the tree came out of the ground. Different circumstances emerge from life, maybe a new transition, an exam, a relationship, job relocation, etc… they are like hurricanes sometimes. They show how deep the root of the tree is. These life circumstances tell us whether our faith is on the shallow ground or being firmly rooted in the soil. These life circumstances tell us that we need to be continuously rooted in him. Otherwise, we grow tall and yet with no deep root.

“Being built” implies that believers are still under construction and not yet a finished product. I have been living in my place for three years. at the corner of my block, right across Keyfood, it was an empty spot. After I moved into the neighborhood, they started to build a condo. If I remember correctly, they spent about 1 year and half to dig the hole and build the foundation. Since then, they have been building up the building on top of the foundation. Now the building is for sale. It's a finished product. For us, one day we will also be a finished product when we see him.

The hymn I Know Who Holds the Future, it said, “I know who holds the future and I know He holds my hand; with God don’t just happen everything by him is planned. So as I face tomorrow with its problems large and small, I’ll trust the God of miracles, Give to him my all!” This is not blind faith. Rather, it’s faith that is grounded in the knowledge of God. This is faith with conviction. The hymn reflects the composer’s theology and conviction. Because he experienced God in the past, he knew that he could anticipate God in the future. Even though we are not so sure in the present, his works in the past are the foundation of our future hope. Our faith is built in Him and his works. I Know Who Holds the Future is a theological statement, a statement of faith, not just a song title.

2. Being Established in the Faith as You were Taught

After we received, we need to continue to live/walk in him, which is, to be established in Him. Paul said that “being established in the Faith as you were taught.”  Someone said, “True Christian growth must—and actually only can—occur within the Faith of the Gospel…Having begun our journey in the Gospel we must move on, and indeed can move on, only in that same Gospel” [J. I. Packer and Gray A. Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2010), pp. 140-141.].

The gospel is the center of the Faith; the Faith is all about Christ Jesus the Lord and its implications. The Faith needs to be taught, and we need to teach the Faith. What we believe has a boundary. What we believe is an objective truth because Jesus Christ the Lord is a historical figure who was born and died on the cross in the first century. He is not a myth. Rather, it’s the visible Christ who made the invisible God visible. God made Himself to be known. Thus, the revelation of God in Christ Jesus the Lord can be taught because He is willing to make Himself known. That’s the purpose of incarnation. We receive this Faith, and we teach this Faith.

We need to learn and be embedded in the Faith. The Faith needs to be taught. In order to continue to live in Him, we must be established in the Faith as we are being taught. In the process of being established in the Faith, you and I only have two roles: We are either teachers or students. If the church doesn’t offer any Sunday school classes, that’s the problem of the church. If the church offers Sunday school classes, you are either responsible for teaching or responsible for your own learning.

Every week, we absorb a lot of information through different media. I dare to say that 95% of the information has nothing to do with the Faith. What it means is that 95% of the information doesn’t help us understand who God is, what the Faith is all about, and how we should live in light of it. I call this “the process of deconstruction.” Every week the only time, for the majority of us, to learn who God is, what the Faith is, and what we should do with it, is in fellowship, Sunday worship, and Sunday school.

Technically speaking, the only time we can learn together is on Sunday. If we’re not teachers on Sunday, we’re learners on Sunday. If we think that our teachers suck, perhaps it’s time for you to pick up the responsibility to teach. It’s time for you to show others how things should be done. I always think that Christian education in the church should be done in certain ways. And I’ve tried to demonstrate it in my Sunday school: how teaching materials should be organized, and how the Faith should be articulated. Teaching and learning is the process of reconstruction: reconstruction of our vision of God and our Faith.

3. Abounding in Thanksgiving

In Newsweek magazine, there is a wine company advertisement. It said, “The earth gives us wonderful grapes. The grapes give us wonderful wine. The wine wins us lots of new friends. Thank you, earth.” The point of the advertisement is to give credit to the real source of all our blessings. We sometimes give credit to something or someone. But they are not the real source of all blessings.

I spent one year in BMCC. That’s where I learned how to write. I met a good English professor there. She taught me well. I am thankful for the professor who taught me the basic, yet fundamental stuff. One of the reasons why my parents wanted me to come to the U.S. was to receive education. It was no way for me to study in Hong Kong. And my parents and I were able to come because my aunt came here like 35 years ago. I was able to learn how to write English from the professor at BMCC because God brought my aunt to the United States 35 years ago. I am thankful for the real source of all blessings.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the heaven… He has made everything beautiful in its time…” (Eccl. 3:1, 11) “Beautiful” means “appropriate” or “good.” It doesn’t mean it looks good. In God’s timing, it’s always appropriate. One theologian said, “God may delay, but he is never too late.”

We can be thankful because we know that he is the God of miracles in between. According to his divine guidance and sovereignty, he has made everything appropriate in our lives. We are able to give thanks to God because we admit and accept that life is mingled with happiness and sadness, good and bad. For everything, there is a season and reason even though we may not fully understand it at the time. We still give thanks to the Giver of all blessings because of our vision of who God is and our understanding of His divine guidance and care. “Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable for him than they are” (Matt. 6:26).

We who received Christ Jesus the Lord, we must put the four participles—being rooted, being built, being established, and abounding in love— into consideration and action. This is how God defines what it means to walk/live in Him.

Me Let Go, Let Me Go

In today’s worship, the worship leader prayed in the middle of singing, saying “Don’t hold on to the past…” Then we sang “I give myself away. I give myself away. I give myself away so You can use me.” It touched and reminded me what the simple gospel demands of me. Jesus said, “No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily” (Jn. 10:18a). One of the spiritual principles in the Kingdom of God is to lay down. Give it away. Don’t hold on to it. He is the good shepherd because he lays down his life for his sheep (Jn. 10:11, 15b).

Nonwen’s personal prayer captures how I start to view and understand the past:

“O Lord, life passes by swiftly. Events that a few years ago kept me totally preoccupied have now become vague memories; conflicts that a few months ago seemed so crucial in my life now seem futile and hardly worth the energy; inner turmoil that robbed me of my sleep only a few weeks ago has now become a strange emotion of the past; books that filled me with amazement a few days ago now do not seem as important; thoughts which kept my mind captive only a few hours ago, have now lost their power and have been replaced by others.” [Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1994), p. 15.]

On the one hand, it’s about me learning to let the past go. On the other hand, the past starts to let me go.

Faith and Sight

I heard a not-so-good sermon today. I feel a bit unsatisfied. So, I got home. I first started to read today’s newspaper. Then I read three chapters out of N. T. Wright’s new book Small Faith—Great God: Biblical Faith for Today’s Christians. 2^nd ed. (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2010). The book is compiled from sermons he preached in and around Oxford. The book was first published in 1978. It was republished in 2010. The sermons preached 30 years ago in U.K. still have something to say to a Christian like me in the U.S.

In the chapter Not by Sight, Wright uses Hebrews 11:6 to talk about faith. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” We usually think that faith casts away doubt and fear. Faith is positive in a sense that it is “a total certainty about the meaning of life, a complete and clear knowledge of God that enables the person of faith to march calmly through life without batting an eyelid at all the problems and difficulties most of us face.” (p. 34) He points out that Hebrews 11:1 doesn’t agree with this understanding of faith. “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.” Wright notes, “Faith is the opposite of sight.” It’s a simple truth, but it clarifies some misconceptions about biblical faith and puts Christians who have “less faith” at ease. Paul would agree with this kind of understanding in 2 Cor. 5:7, “That’s why we live by believing and not by seeing.”

Wright then elaborates, “Faith is the willingness to think and act on the basis of what we know of God (what may be very little) and to trust him that he will not let us down. This is equally applicable to people who have believed in God for years but who need faith to see them through the next day, and to people who have never really been sure whether they believed in God or not and therefore need truly to have that faith for the first time.” (p. 34)

“It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before” (Heb. 11:7a). God told Noah to build an ark before the flood. He built a big ark with time, money, and energy (in a bright, sunny day?). People might walk by and say nonsense to him. Noah himself might even question himself and God while he was building it. But Noah acted on the basis of what he knew of God and trusted that God would not let him down. He obeyed what he heard from God. He started to prepare even though he might do it with fear and trembling (cf. Ps. 2:11).

“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8). Once again, Abraham embodied the Hebrews 11:1 principle—it is not by sight, but by faith. There is no “heavenly map of the world” but only “bare promises.” (p. 35)

The Lord says,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do,

            and he will direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

Peterson's Approach to Pastoring 5

Here is Part 5:

But doesn’t every pastor have to be an administrator, even if that’s not his gift?

Peterson: Every pastor has to make sure administration gets done. If you can’t see to it that it does get done, you’re in trouble. Pastoring in the twentieth century requires two things: One, to be a pastor, and two, to run a church. They aren’t the same thing. Every seminary ought to take their pastoral students and say, “Look, God has called you to be a pastor, and we want to teach you how to be pastors. But the fact is that when you go out to get a job, chances are they’re not going to hire just a pastor, they’re going to hire somebody to run the church. Now, we’ll show you how to run a church, and if you master what we’re telling you, you can probably do it in ten to twelve hours a week. That’s the price you’re going to pay to be in the position of pastor.”

What are some of the things you do to pay that price?

Peterson: I return telephone calls promptly. I answer my mail quickly. I put out a weekly newsletter. I think that’s essential. When the parish newsletter comes out once a week, the people sense you’re on top of things; they see their names and what’s going on. It’s good public relations.

Couldn’t you do this with the Sunday bulletin?

Peterson: No, because too many people would miss it. Every week our one-page newsletter assures the congregation everything is under control. If you want to keep your job, people have to believe the church is running okay.

How does a pastor develop communication with his congregation?

Peterson: I’m not quite sure how it’s taken place with me. Leveling with your elders is important. Many times during my ministry I told my elders how I felt, what I was going through, my sense of ministry, what was important to me, and what I felt I wasn’t doing well. Twelve years ago I quit, because I just didn’t think I could meet the expectations I set up for myself. I assumed they had the same expectations, but I was wrong. They didn’t want me to burn out.

What else can a pastor do?

Peterson: Periodically confer with the leadership of your church and say what is really on your mind. They have a right to the kind of pastor they feel they need. Maybe the combination isn’t right. I think there has to be that sense of expendability I’ve been surprised at how responsive the people in my congregation have been when I’ve shared these things.

How does that communication begin? Who can pastors talk to? There certainly isn’t time in a board meeting.

Peterson: I haven’t solved that problem, but for the most part, I think it’s spontaneous. Several times in my ministry when I felt things weren’t going well, I’ve selected people from the congregation and asked if they would meet with me three or four times. “I’m not quite sure what is going one with me,” I’ve said, “but I’m concerned about the ministry of the church. I want to be the best pastor I can, and I’m confused. Would you let me talk to you?” I’ve made these groups small, five or six people who are in leadership positions, and they are always people who are in touch with the congregation. Sometimes I just need to share my concerns. But sometimes these people have given me solid direction, too.

A number of churches have a group that meets monthly to be sounding board for the pastor, to really hear his concerns, and perhaps to be an ombudsman for him. How would you feel about setting up such a group?

Peterson: I’d feel good about that!

In your weekly meeting with your local ministers, what are the biggest problems you hear?

Peterson: Family and marital problems. I’d say these are the most painful things in terms of pastoral crisis. Another one, which doesn’t have the same sense of acuteness, is the feeling of inadequacy. When pastors don’t have large congregations or don’t receive affirmation from their people, it’s very difficult for them to provide creative spiritual leadership. In fact, considering the little affirmation many receive, I marvel that it’s done at all. One of the key ministries of lay persons is affirmation of their leaders.

Can you recall times when affirmation boosted your sense of growth?

Peterson: Yes, although a lot of those things are subtle and small, and they just accumulate. I’ve been teaching at a Roman Catholic seminary. I’ve done this for two years, and I’m still a little uneasy. I’m in a foreign territory, so I’m never sure I’m doing a good job. Last week I conducted a class, and I didn’t do a very good job. I just didn’t teach very well. I spent most of the period letting the class talk about how they were feeling about Scripture instead of giving them content. I have one student, a nun, who has a Ph.D. She is very sharp and knows more a bout the subject than I do. I’m afraid she feels she’s not getting her money’s worth. However, she called me up two days after the class and said, “I just want to tell you your class is the best thing that’s ever happened to me here. It’s nice to see this subject matter not just as academic symbols on the chalkboard, but as part of my personal development as a Christian.” That really boosted me; the one person I felt I was letting down told me something was happening to her spiritually. That was great affirmation. I could go for a long time on that.

How do you find ways of getting your own affirmation without being dependent on the compliments of others?

Peterson: I think it has to do with discovering my need for spiritual nurture and making sure I get it. Prayer is very important for me—I can’t function without it.

How does your prayer life work?

Peterson: In the mornings I spend a couple of hours alone with the Lord. I get up at 6:00 and put a pot of coffee on. Very often I do nothing except pray the Psalms—I’ve always loved them. They’ve been the church’s prayerbook for a long time. There’s an old kind of a monastic nostalgia in me; in some of the monasteries all they did was pray the Psalms. I also read the New Testament, and then after an hour and a half or so I sometimes read something else or write. If I start writing, I often write for a couple of hours.

Mondays are important. For the first few years of my ministry I never took a day off. There were too many “important” things to do. Now my wife and I leave the house and go hiking in the woods for the whole day, regardless of the weather. We pack a lunch and take our binoculars for bird watching. We’ve been doing that every Monday for twelve years. It’s important for both of us because it’s a completely different environment and something we both enjoy doing. In the morning it’s a quiet time when we can just be ourselves as well as get in touch with ourselves. At lunch we talk, and then often keep on for the rest of the afternoon.

What role has your wife played in your ministry?

Peterson: A very prominent and strong one, for it’s been a shared ministry. She’s a marvelous entertainer, and we have people in our home often. She’s a master at making people feel at home, and she’s good about caring for them. She’s really helped create a sense of community in our church.

I told you that when we arrived, one of our goals was to develop spiritual community. I thought it would be pretty easy: we’d get these people in our home, pray together, sing some hymns, and we’d have it. Well, it just didn’t happen. Sometimes we felt we were making progress, but it never really happened. Then a young woman in our congregation died of cancer. She was thirty-one years old and had six children. About a month after she died, the father was discharged from his job and then lost his house. We took those kids into our home. Suddenly things started happening. Food would appear on our doorstep; people would call up and take the kids out and entertain them. It was almost as if we came to a place of critical mass. Then it just exploded, and we suddenly had community in the congregation. It didn’t fizzle out either. The hospitality increased and people took an interest in each other. It seemed almost like a miracle, and it took just one incident to trigger it. All our earlier attempts to create community now bore fruit because of the meeting of a need that wasn’t part of our strategy.

How can other churches develop community?

Peterson: It’s very difficult to get, and there’s not much community in our country. Most of our relationships with each other are based on needs, or roles imposed on us. There’s no shortcut to true community. We’re immersed in a transactional society where we trade things off, exchange things, and consume things. To get to the point where we’re open and vulnerable enough to just be with people is not all that easy. But the thing that is prominent in my mind now is that at our church we did everything we could think of to develop community, and it didn’t develop. We did one thing that wasn’t part of the strategy, and success, if you want to call it that, came.

An overweening, or overbearing, desire to be successful, it seems to me, inhibits attainment of true community and true success. It prevents us from doing things that are risky, that we can fail at.

Does a long pastorate help in developing community?

Peterson: It’s certainly not the secret formula that ensures success. There are a lot of dangers in a long pastorate.

Such as?

Peterson: You do what meets the congregation’s expectations so you can develop a comfortable society where you’re all nice to each other. Or you do good work and the people come to respect you, and then it’s easy to quit growing and bask in those past accomplishments. There’s also the very real danger of becoming too important to people—your goal is to develop in them a sense of maturity, independence, first-handedness with God.

The other side of the coin is how do you develop community except in a long-term situation? It took about five years before that first incident happened for our church. Only in the last six or seven years have I really felt community is starting to take place. I can now sense that I’m pastor of a community of people, not just a collection of neighbors.

The End

Give Thanks

To a certain degree, I often experience the below reflection in my marriage as well as in my friendships with a few individuals.

"A friend is more than a therapist or a confessor, even though a friend can sometimes heal us and offer us God's forgiveness.

A friend is that other person with whom we can share our solitude, our silence, and our prayer. A friend is that other person with whom we can look at a tree and say, 'Isn't that beautiful,' or sit on the beach and silently watch the sun disappear under the horizon. With a friend we don't have to say or do something special. With a friend we can be still and know that God is there with both of us."

[Taken from Henri Nouwen, "Sharing Our Solitude", in Bread for the Journey (New York: HarperOne, 1997), on March 23.]

Spiritual Journaling

Spiritual journaling is a good spiritual practice for meditation and maturity. It helps me articulate my inner thoughts. Writing spiritual journal captures what is going on around me with words. On the one hand, I know that I can’t write down every detail in life. On the other hand, I don’t want to let each day pass by as if there were nothing to remember. I realize that when I am able to be quiet and still, I have space to think, to explore, to create, and to integrate. Journaling creates a space of quietness and stillness for me to introspect and be invited to the Center.

In Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Encountering God through Attentive Writing (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), Helen Cepero, director of spiritual formation at North Park Theological Seminary, notes,

“One of the best gifts of a journal is that it gives you a place to show up. As you write, you may discover where you actually are. When you know where you are, you may also see what is true, hear your own voice, gain an understanding of something that has troubled or puzzled you or savor again a joy that might have slid right by you almost unnoticed. Most of all, you will gain a clearer view of God’s presence with you, in you and around you. Your journal is a place to celebrate the concrete details of yourself, your family, your community and the world.” (p. 32)

Spiritual journaling is a practice that allows me to hear my own voice. It’s a practice that helps me make sense of what is going. It’s a practice that gives me an angle to see my ordinary life from an outsider’s perspective. It’s a practice that I can trace His guidance when I l look back later. It’s a practice that captures my current thoughts that will surprise me in the future.

Peterson's Approach to Pastoring 4

In this conversation, Peterson mentions that preaching in the old days is different from preaching in the modern time. Back then, preaching was a sophisticated conversation between pastor and congregants because the congregants knew the Bible as well as the pastor. Today, he said, "Most people are biblically illiterate." Thomas Paine said, "The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed." [Quoted from Kristin Swenson, Bible Babel: Making Sense of the Most Talked About Book of All Time (New York: Harper, 2010), p. xv.].


Here is Part 4:

Aren’t you neglecting the unchurched people of your community?

Peterson: We’re not the only church in Bel Air, and I’m not the only pastor. Few places in America are unchurched. Am I going to trust the Holy Spirit to do his work through other churches in my community, or am I going to think that if we don’t do it, it’s not going to get done?

A great deal of arrogance develops out of the feeling that when we have something good going, we have to triple it so everybody gets in on it. Many different ministries take place in the community and in the world, and it’s bad faith on my part to assume the Holy Spirit isn’t just as active in them as in my ministry.

Some people would probably say at this point, “All right, you’ve been in your church for eighteen years; yet you obviously have very little sensitivity for the need of evangelism. If every church acted like yours, how would the world be evangelized?”

Peterson: My answer is that the Lord has many other people. I have to learn how to use my gifts. I’m not an evangelist, I’m a pastor. Some people in my congregation are evangelists and do a good job. I’m not much good to them; I don’t know how to direct them. Another pastor would be able to do a better job with them. I believe evangelism is an essential work, but that doesn’t  mean I should make it the entire focus of my church. My gifts lie in other areas.

Many pastors want to focus their ministries, but when they try, pressures from various groups in the church who want other things keep them from it. They become reactors to their church environment.

Peterson: That’s true, and the pressures are real. I don’t think anybody can do it alone. It helps to have colleagues who are experiencing the same things, friends you can share with.

Do you have a close group of colleagues?

Peterson: I meet with a group of twelve pastors of various denominations every Tuesday from 11:30 to 2:00 for prayer and Bible study. Since we all use a lectionary, we preach from the same passage. Our discussion relates to our pulpit ministries---we exegete the passage, discuss it and suggest ways we might preach from it. We’re all committed to preaching, so we don’t talk about church programs, problems, or how to run the church. When someone is going through personal difficulty, we scrap the agenda and deal just with that. But we don’t let anything else intrude.

How does this sharing of ideas affect your preaching?

Peterson: It gives it depth. It insists on a certain discipline and gives it priority; you can’t put preaching off until Saturday. I’ve had rare weeks when all the sermon preparation I did was in that weekly meeting. Everything fell apart that week, with deaths and other crises, but I was able to stand in the pulpit and have a respectable sermon.

A while ago you pointed out that preaching is in some ways much more difficult now than it was a century or two ago. What has changed to produce this effect?

Peterson: Preaching a hundred years ago was a kind of literate and sophisticated conversation between pastor and people. The people knew the Bible as well as the pastor did, and they all shared the same culture. Today most people are biblically illiterate; they enter the Sunday morning service unsettled, not with maturity and wholeness, but ripped apart by all kinds of things. The Sunday morning congregation is a hospital, and you just can’t do the same things done years ago.

You know it’s a hospital because you’ve been involved with people, you’ve seen trauma and pain first-hand during the week?

Peterson: Yes, you know—the alcoholic, the adulterer, the family whose kid just ran away from home. It’s all sitting right in front of you. Saturday nights I go to the church, walk through the sanctuary for an hour, and think ahead to Sunday morning and the diversity and chaos represented. It can be discouraging. It’s something that Alexander Whyte, one of the great preachers of the last century, didn’t have to face. He stood in the pulpit and his sermon was a conversation with the people who were well versed in Scripture and who read the same books. He made his people read books. He took them into Pilgrim’s Progress, William Law, Saint Theresa, Dante. He was their schoolmaster as well as their minister.

The people I preach to watch television, listen to the radio, take night courses, and go to special seminars for their work. They’re just bombarded. They don’t need me to say, “You must read this book.” I need to say, “Let’s worship God,” and then lead them into Scripture and make that a privileged time in their lives. But on the other hand, there’s an electricity in preaching; you’re suddenly breaking into the humdrum, technological, rat-race world, and you have something really fresh, a new dimension to share. That’s exciting.

What counsel would you give to pastors who are in struggling situations, or who are in small churches, and are judging themselves as failures?

Peterson: That’s tough to answer. I’m convinced many pastors as actually doing a really good job.

But they don’t necessarily believe they are?

Peterson: They don’t know it—that they are preaching and counseling and leading well. They don’t expect to be perfect, but they’re doing a good job. I guess it goes back to the other themes we’ve talked about. A person has to be content to do what he is good at and offer it constantly to the Lord. If you keep trying to do what you’re not good at, you’re bound to fail. Nobody from the outside knows what the work of a pastor is, so they keep asking us to do things—things we’re not good at—and then we end up feeling guilty for not doing a good job.

Something Less than the Best

I preached this sermon on 4/11/2010. When I think about it now, I realize that I like to preach on the Old Testament more than the New. It’s no doubt that preaching on the Old Testament is a bit harder than the New because there are a lot more materials to be covered.

Generally speaking, people don’t know much about the Old Testament, especially in context. We know about different stories in the Old Testament, but we don’t find any coherence in its overall narrative. We miss out a lot if we don’t see how each micro-story fits into the marco-narrative. Each micro-story gives us a point of view about God. It gives us a partial truth. But it’s fragmented. It lacks continuity. God’s story is not fragmented. From the beginning to the end, God has a perfect Story in mind. In the Old Testament narrative, He unfolds His mind and plan gradually in different epochs. Theologically, we call this progressive revelation. He unveils His saving plan to restore and recreate the world according to His divine pleasure. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, etc… are God’s chosen, redemptive agents in the overall redemptive story.  Christ, the Agent, is the apex of this Story. Thus, when we merely understand various micro-events apart from the marco-Event, we fail to see its progression. We miss God’s progressive revelation.

This is one of the main reasons why I covered the Old Testament systematically in Sunday school. I wish I did a similar thing on pulpit. However, I found it too difficult to keep on preaching the Old Testament every week. I remember I preached on the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew from the beginning to the end. If I have a chance in the future, I’ll select a book from the Old Testament and preach on it. I will first select one of the books in the Pentateuch. 

The Story of Christianity can be captured by six “C” words:[1]

1.      Creation

2.      Catastrophe

3.      Covenant

4.      Christ

5.      Church

6.      Consummation

This six-act drama outlines the story of the Bible in a way that it’s easy for us to understand the flow of the overall narrative of God’s redemptive Story.

Scripture: Genesis 4:1-7

Topic: Something less than the best

When I was in college, I took a course called Creative Writing. It was a 300-level course. I took the 100-level course before.  All I needed was a 200-level course. But I wanted to learn how to write creatively.  So, I registered for that course. A week after I handed in my first writing assignment, the professor said that he needed to talk to me in private.  In his office, he nicely said to me that “Wing, I can’t let you stay in the class. Due to your writing skill, it may be difficult for you to pass my course. Even if you try hard, I may not let you pass. It’s better for you to withdraw and register for another class.” After hearing that, I wasn’t offended. But I was disappointed by myself. Then I cut classes and walked aimlessly on the street. While walking on the street, I dialogued with myself, saying “Your writing ability is below average. You have to accept that. What the professor said to you is nothing personal. He just let you see the harsh reality. English is not your first language. You need to accept that. You need to know where you are at, then move on. Read more newspaper and books. Pay more attention to how people write. Make progress at your own pace.” This is what I said to myself I was in college.  I got rejected. I faced the reality. The reality helped me take a deep look at myself and my limitation. In order to improve and grow, we must face a reality, for God only meets us in reality.

Sacrifice was a crucial aspect to Old Testament worship. To worship God, people must be in his presence. But it’s not easy to be in God’s presence. People are sinners—law breakers, covenant breakers. Whoever dares to come near to God’s presence would face God’s judgment. In other words, worship without sacrifice is judgment. Thus, when the people in the Old Testament came before God, they brought their sacrifices to atone for their sins. Worship and sacrifice go hand in hand in the Old Testament. That’s why the Old Testament said that we must not worship the Lord with empty hands.

The story of Cain and Abel is the first story about sacrifice in the Bible. Gen. 4:1-2—“Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.’ Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.”  Cain, the older brother, was a farmer; Abel, the younger brother, was a shepherd.

In Gen. 4:3-5a, it said, “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” Now we see Cain and Abel bringing sacrifices to the Lord. We see two different individuals coming to worship God with their own sacrifices and yet with opposite results.

It has often been asked why God rejected Cain’s sacrifice and accepted Abel’s. Some say that Cain’s offering was not accepted because it was not a blood sacrifice; Abel’s offering was a blood sacrifice. The narrative doesn’t tell us why God rejected Cain’s and accepted Abel’s explicitly. But definitely, the issue is not a matter of a blood versus a non-blood sacrifice. Rather, the key is to be found in the adjectives used in this account.

Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. “At harvest time Cain brought to the Lord a gift of his farm produce, while Abel brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock.” (Gen. 4:3-4a NLT) Cain’s sacrifice is described very plainly; Abel’s sacrifice is described as “choice” and “the best of his flock”.  Cain worshipped God by offering the “fruits of the soil.” Abel worshipped God by offering the “first-fruits” of the offerings. Their offerings tell us their different attitudes toward worship. Cain was careless; Abel, careful. Cain offered something less than the best. Abel offered the best of the bests.

God is not pleased by our offerings. God is rather pleased by our offerings with right attitude and carefulness. Someone said, “Right from the beginning we can see godless individuals trying to get away with something less than the best.” Anything that is less than the best is not biblical worship.

I think Cain’s problem is that he did not pay attention to what he was doing. He might even think that God couldn’t tell the difference between fruits and first-fruits. You and I know that God is not so picky about offering itself. But He is concerned about our attitudes when we approach him. I also think that God accepted Abel’s offering because, before giving to the Lord, Abel asked a few questions, “My God, will you be pleased with this?”, “How do you feel?”, “What is your thought about my choice?”, or “What do  you have to say about my choice?” Don’t think that God can’t tell the difference. I believe that all of us come here to worship, we want to please the Lord. We are here to give Him the attention and honor that He deserves. But worship is more than just being here in our presence and with our presents. For sure, we don’t come empty-handed. We come with offerings. We offer something to him. But to Him we don’t offer something less than the best. To Him, we offer our “choice” to him. To him, we offer with care.

There is a fundamental difference between religious activity and worship. We are pleased in religious activity; in worship, however, we learn to please Him. In other words, religious activity is human-centered; worship is God-centered. Cain fulfilled his religious activity; Abel pursued God-centered worship.

Two attitudes toward worship; two attitudes toward worshippers

Gen. 4:5b—“So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” God rejected him and his offering; he was dejected.  Then, God said to him, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you…” (4:7a). What God said to Cain implies that Cain knew what was right and wrong in terms of what to offer and what not to offer. He chose to offer the fruits of the soil, not the first-fruits of the soil. He still offered with his choice, not the best choice. God said, “Why are you angry? Why do you look so dejected?” God is saying that don’t you see your problem? Do you see that I rejected you with a reason? Do you see that you look dejected without a reason?

“Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Gen. 4:7b). After the fall (Genesis 3), we humans are still responsible for what we do. We still have the responsibility to control and master: our tendency not to offer our best to the Giver who gave us all things in the first place.

When we pay close attention to Gen. 4:4-5. It said that God had regard for Abel and his offering, but God had no regard for Cain and his offering. Not only was Cain’s offering not right, but also as a worshiper, as a person, he was not right. If Cain, as a worshiper, is not right, how can his offering be right in God’s sight? When God rejected him, he didn’t accept the fact that he wasn’t right with God as a worshipper. When God rejected his offering, he didn’t admit that he offered something less than the best to God. To offer something less than the best to God is a sin. His refusal to admit that he offered something less than the best to God is a greater sin, which is crouching at the door. “It desires to have you, but you allow it to master you.” Cain allowed his problem to control him. His refusal to admit allowed sin to take control of him.

As I said in the beginning, sacrifice was a crucial aspect to Old Testament worship. And obedience is always an underlying theme in the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. Sacrifice is an outward sign of an inward reality, which is obedience of the heart.

In Here and Now: Living in the Spirit, Henri Nouwen said that in Latin, the word obedience means to listen with great attentiveness. Without listening attentively, we become ‘deaf’ to the voice of love. To obey is to listen attentively. God said something to Cain, but he didn’t listen attentively. Cain didn’t listen to God attentively. He didn’t listen to himself attentively. He became ‘deaf’ to the voice of God as well as to his own voice deep down in his heart. (pp. 21-22) Later on in the story, his action of attacking and killing Abel tells us that he didn’t listen at all. He didn’t obey. Cain’s unwillingness to listen attentively is another main reason why God rejected him. He rejected the person as well as the offering. He rejected the worshipper and the sacrifice. This is the first story about sacrifice. This is the first story about acceptable worship. This is the first story about acceptable worshipper.

Unacceptable worship is that when God says something to us through his word and his people, we are pissed and even angry at once without putting it into consideration. We look so dejected. Acceptable worship is that when God says something to us through his word and his people, we’re open to what God has to say to us. We learn to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry” (James 1:19).

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”

[1] Adam C. English, Theology Remixed: Christianity as Story, Game, Language, Culture (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010), pp. 31-76.

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Journey Inward, Journey Outward

In Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (New York: HarperOne, 1997), Henri Nouwen captures the dynamic of Christian living. On March 20, the title of daily devotion is A Still Place in the Market. He notes,

“‘Be still and acknowledge that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10). These are words to take with us in our busy lives. We may think about stillness in contrast to our noisy world. But perhaps we can go further and keep an inner stillness even while we carry on business, teach, work in construction, make music, or organize meetings.

It is important to keep a still place in the ‘marketplace.’ This still place is where God can dwell and speak to us. It also is the place from which we can speak in a healing way to all the people we meet in our busy days. Without that still space we start spinning. We become driven people, running all over the place without much direction. But with that stillness God can be our gentle guide in everything we think, say, or do.”

In the outward journey, Jesus heals the sick (Mk. 1:29-34, 36-45). Mark 1:35--“The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray.” This verse tells us that Jesus enters into the inward (and upward) journey. He travels with a sense of stillness between the two journeys. We don’t see that Jesus is rushing to meet the needs of others in ministry. He works; he pauses. There is a rhythm in his ministry. There is an anchor in Jesus’ life.

Jesus has his regular Sabbath moment in the unsabbathed culture. “Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called the ones he wanted to go with him” (Mk. 3:13). In his stillness, “he selected twelve of them to be his regular companions, calling them apostles” (Mk. 3:14a). Before sending them out to do stuff (Mk. 3:14b-15), they stay with Jesus as regular companions. “Being with” is the most fundamental requirement in disciple making. Discipleship precedes ministry; worship comes before service. The theology of Martha is good; Mary’s doxology is better. In other words, outward journey is the fruit of the inward (and upward) journey. Stillness gives a sense of direction in our business.

“The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and what they had taught. Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.’ There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. They left by boat for a quieter spot” (Mk. 6:30-32).

As a leader, Jesus sees what is to come. A leader is always one step ahead of his people. Their silent retreat prepares them to feed the 5, 000 (Mk. 6:33-44). Jesus and his companions need to regain a perspective to meet the needs of others in business and busyness. So far, feeding the 5, 000 is the largest ministerial event in Mark’s gospel. Jesus prepares his regular companions with stillness and silence.

“The Journey inward is the journey to find the Christ dwelling within us. The journey outward is the journey to find the Christ dwelling among us and in the world. The journey inward calls for the disciplines of solitude, silence, prayer, meditation, contemplation, and attentiveness to the movements of the heart. The journey outward in community and mission calls for the disciplines of care, compassion, witness, outreach, healing, accountability, and attentiveness to the movement of other people’s hearts. These two journeys belong together to strengthen each other and should never be separated” [Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird, Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit (New York: HarperOne, 2010), p. 123.]. 

Unsabbathed Culture

Recently, I start to view this period of my life as my sabbatical year. It’s a period of resting, ceasing, integrating, and preparing. I remember I spent a whole year in Hong Kong from June/2001-July/2002. I didn’t do much in that year. I spent a lot of time to do “nothing.” When I look back now, I realize that a lot of the things that I pondered, listened, and learned in that year have been deposited in my memory. For the past few years, whenever I felt arid and didn’t have much to offer, I tended to recycle what I learned in that year.

I borrowed a lot of lectures/talks on tapes from the church in Hong Kong in that year. I think I listened to at least 200 tapes. Whenever I came home, I played them. If they were good, I replayed and listened again. Sometimes, I just sat there and listened. Sometimes, I worked on something while I was listening. No matter what, I have been shaped by what I learned from those lectures/talks on tapes. I now realize that it was my sabbatical year.

In comparison with my other friends in Hong Kong at the time, I didn’t produce as the society expected me to. I was “useless” in a sense. Nevertheless, I believe that that year of “uselessness” prepared me for the upcoming 4 years and half seminary training. At the time, I felt lost. Yet, it was what I needed.

Eight years later, I reach a similar point in my life. The difference is that I am no longer an inexperienced young man waiting to conquer the Promised Land. Rather, I am a married man with good theological training and moderate experience. I sort of know what I can conquer and cannot conquer. Even though I know what I can conquer, I acknowledge and accept that I can only occupy a small piece of the Promised Land. Thus, any personal conquer without cooperating with the community is determined to be a failure. That I didn’t know. But I know that now.

This is my sabbatical year. It’s a period of waiting, integrating, resting, thinking, and learning to enjoy being in leisure. We live in the unsabbathed culture that we want a break from our works; we want to do something in our resting. We don’t enjoy working (Or we enjoy it too much?); we can’t rest in resting either. This is how we usually live our lives. Whatever we do, there is always a sense of absence—the absence of the self at the present moment. While we are here, we’re thinking about getting there. Once we get there, we want to get back here. From here to there, the self is usually absent.

In the period of waiting and resting, I want to become more aware of where I am and who I am. I learn to practice silence and solitude, for I know that they give birth to the true self, which is easily inundated by the surroundings.

In order to produce better (and more) fruits, the land must not be in use for a period of time. Is it the reason why the Bible has such a thing as sabbatical year for the land?

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchman for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.” (Ps. 130:5-6 ESV)