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Church Politics: Christian Responsibility in the World

January has seen the launch of a boat-rocking sermon series that looks at the role that Christians play in society.  I am looking specifically at how Christians think about engaging their culture, or how we should be "in, but not of the world."  The first two sermons have been preached and you can download the podcasts of those sermons from the church's website here>>.

In the first of the two sermons I take direct aim at a number of what I think are unhelpful ways in which to engage culture, one by Mark Driscoll, one by Stephen Boissoin, and one by Canadian Family Action Coalition.  Then, I develop three pillars, built on important Scripture texts, that I feel are fundamental to Christian engagement in the world. 

In the second sermon, I spend some time unpacking what I feel is at the heart of Paul's theology: the cross, and specifically the cross as the agent of the destruction of the dividing wall between people.  I spend a great deal of time meditating on Jesus' as our peace/peacemaker, and then go on to look at how Deut. 24, and its focus on gift might effect how we engage society.

In the past I've been criticized for not taking a clear stand.  Well, in these sermons I do.  I take on the unthinking devotion many Christians have towards both ultra-conservative right wing values; and towards so-called "dominionist" theology.

This whole sermon series is dedicated to The Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria.  It was there that I became convinced that this series needed to be preached and we as a church needed to talk about these issues.  It also was done in response to the perceived inadequacy of the Gospel, Culture, Church conference by our denomination as an attempt to do what people felt was lacking at that conference.

The Prophetic Perspective

I have posted a fragment of this sermon already.  Here it is in full.  Read this sermon to learn about the radical changes that happen to the prophets after Solomon's reign.  And, wrestle with the implications for today, regarding the present day church and its cultural captivity.

Download prophetic_perspective.pdf

King Solomon

These two sermons look at the rise and fall of King Solomon, Israel's most illustrious king. His rule intersects our own lives in many interesting and important ways.  In particular, King Solomon reveals the strange, but honest ambiguity of the Old Testament book of Kings.

Download king_solomon_two_sermons.pdf

Learning from the Church in Africa

I wrote this sermon in Nairobi and it is an attempt to wrestle with the fact that as a church, we are a global family of believers. So, in some sense, we are all tied together across continents and languages and ethnicities.  This sermon presents three issues that we need to pay attention to as a global church.

Download 20070708.pdf

Abudance and Scarcity

Borrowing heavily from a Brueggemann article called "The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity" this sermon looks at how the liturgy of abundance as narrated through the Exodus manna story in Exo. 16 clashes with the myth of scarcity that permenates human thinking.   I then use James 3.13-4.10 to weave in some Girardian themes of envy and jealousy as lying at the root of human evil. 

Download 20070506.pdf

Everyday Spirituality

Following up our church retreat on everyday spirituality has been a short series on the book of James.  This sermon based in large part on James 2, argues that real, living faith brings our beliefs and lifestyle into alignment.  This is a pervasive Biblical theme.  I also try and expose the whole faith vs. works debate as fundamentally flawed, because our God is a God of mercy and forgiveness.

Download 20070429.pdf

The Cost of Discipleship

Recently, I spoke at our church's retreat on the subject of everyday spirituality.  I developed a series of talks that challenged people to look at the images of the church in the New Testament and make the connections between the images and our daily lives.

Here's the sermon I preached, a fun little romp through a ridiculous text in Luke 14.

Download 20070421.pdf

Easter 2007 Sermon

This very personal Easter sermon reflects on the simply fact that Jesus knows us and names us and loves us.  Even though our world teaches us to hide, Jesus' resurrection proves that we do not need to hide: that we can be who we are and not fear shame.

Download 20070408.pdf

Jesus and Pilate

This sermon walks slowly through the trial of Jesus by Pilate in John 18.28-19.16, challenging us to ponder the significance of Christ's death for us as we anticipate the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

I attempt to resist the strange Christian fascination with seeing Pilate in a positive or sympathetic light.  I am worried that reading Pilate's interaction with Jesus positively opens the door for anti-Semitism to creep in.  I wonder if we want Pilate to be on Jesus' side, because as westerners, we identify with Pilate and don't want to be seen as Jesus' opponents.  Interestingly, the Ethiopian Orthodox church has canonized Pilate as a saint.  Strange to canonize the guy who ordered Jesus killed.  Anyhow, read the sermon.

Download pilateandjesus.pdf

Sermons on John 17 and John 18

Here are the last two weeks of sermons. The first one, based on Jesus' farewell prayer, is an attempt to use an explicitly missional theology to interpret this passage.  I also tried used the image of a Native Plant Garden as a model of mission.  If think it worked pretty well! 
Download Jesusfarewell.pdf (John 17)

The second sermon, on John 18, has strong Girardian undertones to it.  I am using Mark Heim's new book Saved from Sacrifice extensively.  It is a great book that I think does the best job yet of showing just how pervasive the themes of scapegoating and the end thereof are integral to the Gospel. It also clearly written and makes extensive use of Scripture.  It is particularly good at appropriating the Old Testament in a positive way, that many Girardians don't.
Download John18.pdf