God Will Have a People

Last year Mary Jo’s closed.  For decades this local warehouse of fabrics and sewing accessories was a regional destination for those inclined toward needle and thread crafting.  You could find just about any kind of fabric there, in bolts, or simply remnants.  There is now no “remnant” left.  It has been replaced by a mall of modern shops.

The Bible has many examples of what has been called remnant theology.  A remnant is defined most often as a body of people who are left after a catastrophe, such as the people left in Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC.  The prophet Isaiah (37:31-32) makes the case:

The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; for from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out, and from Mount Zion a band of survivors.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Sometimes scripture describes a remnant as those who are left after God has winnowed the people in order to prove a point:  Gideon, whose army is whittled down by God to 300 men, nonetheless vanquishes the Midian army of tens of thousands so they may know that the victory comes from the Lord.

Remnant theology often represents the need for purification of God’s people.  The prophet Malachi speaks of the Lord coming like a refiner’s fire to make the people fit once again.  Sometimes the people need to be purged, to be sifted, to remove the dross for the people to be refined - to be made holy.

I have been drawn to remnant theology lately, particularly as I have become more disillusioned with the church in the United States.  I am disturbed by the virulent witness of conservative evangelicals, disheartened by the steady decline of mainline Protestant churches, appalled by the Catholic church’s abusive history, and distressed by the internal squabbling of my own denomination.  Yet, I see in remnant theology a sign of hope.  God will have a people.  

In every age, since the time of Abraham and Sarah, God has chosen people to introduce redemption and renewal into the world.  And while God’s people often fall into accommodation, rather than offering an alternative, to the world, again and again in history God manages to use a remnant of holy people to refine and restore God’s intentions for all of creation.  No matter how bleak the historical context, God will have a people.    

I am encouraged by the words of Paul in Romans 11:5, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.”  Will you and I be among that remnant?  

Who Speaks for Jesus?

I am sorry to have to write this but there are times I feel embarrassed, maybe even ashamed, by what some Christians say and do.  There are those who claim the name of Jesus and then spew the vilest words of hatred and prejudice imaginable.  I am appalled.  And I apologize to those who have been wounded by these so-called Christians.

In my more than twenty-five years of ministry I have made it a point to not criticize my brothers and sisters of other denominations.  One of the worst things we can do to damage our witness to the world around us is to have a squabble among ourselves. But when I sense that Jesus is being dishonored by these voices I cannot remain silent.  I am reminded of Jesus’ own words to those early disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

There is a rising spirit of inquisition among some Christians.  There are those who have appointed themselves as the arbiters of truth, morality and proper doctrine and woe be unto any who stray from their definition of the right path.  I am afraid those of us who allow for some ambiguity in thinking, and who interpret truth with a large measure of grace, have been silent for too long, for fear that these inquisitors will make us their targets.  And for too long these distortions of Christian faith have been in the public spotlight, leading the media to make of us a caricature of the real thing.

The real thing is Jesus, of course, who lived a life of sympathy for the suffering, a life of mercy for the sinner, a life of simplicity regarding possessions, a life lived compassionately toward those on the margins, a life suspicious of power, and made perfect in weakness, a life of sacrifice for others.  A life summed up in his commandment to his disciples, “Love one another, as I have loved you, so you are to love one another.”  A love that was demonstrated in his submissive act of washing his disciples’ feet. 

If the voice you hear speaking on behalf of Christians does not sound like the Christ described in the preceding paragraph, then you can be sure the voice is that of a false prophet, and does not represent the Jesus to whom the Bible testifies.  However, if the voice speaking on behalf of Christians sounds like love, and even better, if the voice is backed up with actions of mercy, then you can be confident that Jesus is being represented in that witness.  Again the words of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

   

Working the Angles

I heard a story about a man who moved into town, started a business and thought, “I should join a church. That would be a good way to network and make some contacts for my business.”

So, he went to church and on that first Sunday, heard an announcement about a Monday night meeting of the Fishermen’s Club. “Well,” he thought, “I like to fish.” He decided that attending that meeting might give him an inside track on his networking plans.

He was surprised to discover that rather than sitting around talking about the one that got away, this club met to canvas the neighborhood, inviting people to church and looking for opportunities to witness to the saving grace of Jesus. In good Biblical fashion, this was a “fishers of men” club.

As a newcomer, this man was paired with the leader of the group, and as they went from house to house, and he saw the devotion and integrity of this leader, and heard his unembarrassed testimony to Jesus, he was drawn to him and his compassion and humility. A voice in his conscience said, “I want to be like him.”

He continued to worship on Sundays and to visit from house to house on Mondays and in time he became a deeply devoted Christian and church leader with an integrity of his own. This man who had come to church in order to work the angles for his own purposes ended up getting used by God for God’s purposes.

I think his story is not that unusual. I believe most of us go to church for utilitarian reasons. Like good capitalists we're looking for the pay-off. We’re looking for some advice, or some well-worn wisdom we can use to make our lives a little better. In today’s phrasing, we’re looking for a “take-away,” that we can apply to our lives – to help us in our marriage, to help us cope with some relationships at work, to help us raise our children, etc. We want this religious stuff to work for us!

However, if we hear the gospel rightly, we don’t necessarily get what we want, as Mick Jagger used to sing; but we get what we need. Instead of a little practical advice for daily living, we hear we must be buried and raised with Christ. Instead of a simple take-away, we are told we must be born from above. Instead of making some contacts that’ll be good for business, we get recruited into the Body of Christ to work for God’s kingdom. We come to church looking for some way to use this “God-thing,” to our advantage, and instead we hear the voice of God saying, “How can I use you?”

So, here is fair warning: If you think church is another way you can work the angles in order to get the life you have in mind, don’t be surprised when God ends up working on you to give you the life God created you to have. And if my experience is worth anything, it will be both a more challenging, as well as more blessed, life than the one you had in mind.