Romans 10:5-13 April 13, 2008
One Step At a Time, Part 1
What is a Christian?
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
The original edition of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten became an instant classic, dominating the New York Times Bestseller List for all of 1989 and much of 1990. This collection of essays was the second longest #1 bestseller in 23 years. The essays reflect the truth in everyday form, and that’s what we need from time to time – we need to be reminded of the truth in everyday ways. So, just in case you forgot some of those kindergarten lessons, here’s part of the list:
“Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.”
Sometimes it helps to return to the basics - and this goes for our faith-life as well. We need to be reminded, in a way we can all understand, what we’re supposed to be about as people of faith. If we are really doing what we’re supposed to be doing as a church, then in this sanctuary this morning, there should be people who have been Christians for a long time, and people who are still trying to figure out what being a Christian is all about. It is my prayer that as we return to basics in these next few weeks, that all of us will find our way forward to increased devotion to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Let us pray:
Holy God, please help me preach your Word with clarity and passion. Please open our ears to hear the truth that will satisfy our hungry souls. May you be blessed by all that goes on here, for we intend that all that goes on here would rise to you as an act of worship and praise for all you have done and continue to do. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
We begin today with the question: What is a Christian? Webster’s Dictionary defines a Christian as “a person professing belief in Jesus as the Christ or a person professing belief in the religion based on the teaching of Jesus.” Uh oh. Sorry Mr. Webster: According to Scripture, that “or” is not allowable. There is no either/or about being a Christian as we are about to discover.
The word Christian itself means “little Christ,” and is used three times in the New Testament according to the Greek Text:
Acts 11:19-26, “Meanwhile, the believers who had fled from Jerusalem during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the Good News, but only to Jews. However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was upon them, and large numbers of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this proof of God’s favor, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And large numbers of people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to find Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching great numbers of people. (It was there at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)
In Acts 26:27-29 we read of the Apostle Paul’s defense against King Agrippa. Paul asked the king, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?” Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you, but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am.”
1 Peter 4:12-19, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world. Be happy if you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God will come upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his wonderful name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin first among God’s own children. And if even we Christians must be judged, what terrible fate awaits those who have never believed God’s Good News? And “If the righteous are barely saved, what chance will the godless and sinners have?” So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.”
In the days of the early church, being known as a Christian was a dangerous label, because Christians were persecuted and even killed for being followers of Jesus. You could, of course, try to be a Christian and hide it (and some of us do that today), but those who had truly come to faith in Jesus simply couldn’t live with themselves as secret believers. Because of their courage to be counted for Christ, we have the opportunity to do the same today for those who come after us.
I want to look now at a few verses in Romans 10, beginning in verse 8. “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Up until the time of Jesus’ birth, only the people of Jewish descent were considered God’s chosen people. Jesus himself was a Jew. Over the centuries, God had delivered the Hebrew people into places of hope and new life, all the while telling them that a Ruler was coming to restore their heritage of being God’s children, set apart for God’s special purposes. The people of the nation of Israel (Jews, the Hebrews, the Israelites – all the same people) were looking (that kindergarten lesson) for the coming King. Unfortunately, they were looking for the wrong kind of king with the wrong part of their body; they should have been looking with the eyes of their heart, and then they would not have missed the One sent by God who stood before them, teaching, preaching, healing, and casting out demons. When Jesus came, he was the image of the invisible God to those who had the eyes of their hearts open. He broke down the walls between people, and welcomed men and women, adults and children, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, into the family of God. Many Jews, because of the sin of pride, simply would not believe what Jesus taught, holding firmly to what they considered to be their rightful place (by bloodline) that they did not want to share (breaking kindergarten rule #1) with non-Jews, and that they cherished as their reserved seat into heaven. Many of the Jews continued to try to please God by doing, doing, doing, teaching, preaching, judging – instead of taking the time to really consider (with their heads and with their hearts) the information Jesus made personally available to them.
I think this is what many people do; they do good things, give money to good causes, refrain from behaviors that cause harm to themselves and others, maybe perhaps try to do everything on the list of things learned in kindergarten – and then they choose naively to believe (at some level) that these activities will guarantee their reserved seat into heaven. The Bible is really clear on this: Romans 9:30-32, “What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone.” The stumbling stone is pride in our own good works that the devil uses to convince us that we don’t need to believe anything in particular about Jesus.
“If you confess with your lips that Jesus is LORD, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) The verse doesn’t say, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is YOUR Lord. It doesn’t say, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is A Lord.” The verse is clear: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is LORD.” In other words, out of our mouths must come the fullness of what we have been called to believe in our hearts – that Jesus, who was truly God in flesh, came and lived among us, died on the cross to satisfy the just penalty set forth by God against our sin, and rose again to open the way for us to live like Jesus here on earth, and live with Jesus up in heaven. A Christian is one who believes that Jesus is LORD over all, and whose life is being continually transformed by that belief.
Muslims believe that Jesus was a highly respected prophet, second only to Muhammad. They believe he was born of a virgin, but he was neither killed nor crucified, nor suffered death. They believe he went into heaven where he now lives in Paradise. Jesus, for Muslims, is not the necessary gateway to eternal life. Good works are what is most necessary to attain reserved seating in paradise.
A true Buddhist cares nothing about Jesus, in fact, the question of God’s existence is a totally meaningless question. The goal of a Buddhist is to get out of the cycle of reincarnation and get into nirvana, which is a place of nothingness. To attain nirvana is to be in a place of nonexistence.
A New Age Spiritualist has no need for Jesus either. They believe that God is in all things and therefore all things are divine. God can be defined in whatever way best suits each individual, and a god-like state and status can be achieved through meditation and mysticism. This is precisely the belief of Oprah Winfrey and the teaching she is brainwashing people with through her “The New Earth” class.
The Mormans, “The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints” might be the most deceptive one of all because the name of Jesus is in their identification. However, Jesus Christ alone is not enough for the Morman. They believe that new insights and truths came since 1820, and one must know and believe this new information from the latter day saints in order to achieve eternal salvation. Mormans believe themselves to be connected to a lost tribe of Israel, and therefore revert to a theme of “I belong because of my bloodline” that many of the Jews were so blinded by when Jesus walked among them. Many Mormans are among the “cleanest” living people in the world, but their good works fall short now, and will fall short later on the day of judgment.
A Christian, by definition, believes that Jesus is exactly who he said he was. C.S. Lewis challenges his readers with these words in his book, Mere Christianity: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."
So the question is, “Do you believe that Jesus is who he said he was?” And if you do believe this with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and are pursuing a real relationship with him, saying, “Yes, Jesus is LORD over all things!” and “Yes, Jesus please be LORD in my own life, and help me make my life’s decisions based on your will not my own,” then I don’t think there should be a doubt in your mind or anyone else’s mind who knows you, whether you are a Christian or not.
I don’t mean to imply believing this is easy. I don’t mean to imply that at all. But, according to the Scriptures, believing in Jesus is where it has to begin, not in the religion of Christianity or in the traditions of the Church. Believing in Jesus is where it must begin, and when we do believe by faith, then God begins to pour out his power and grace into our lives by the Holy Spirit, who lives within those who believe.
Listen to these words of Jesus from Matthew 7, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. “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.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
A Christian is a “little Christ,” who believes and who lives out that belief in the way Jesus taught us to live. Allow me to ask a couple hypothetical questions. How would you answer these questions?
Can you be a Christian and intentionally reject the work and worship of the church long-term, which is (by God’s design), the Body of Christ in the world today?
Can there be people who come to church week after week and year after year who are not Christians?
Can you be a Christian and not consider whether the priorities of your life come in line with what Jesus taught?
Can there be people who do prioritize their lives according to Jesus’ teaching and yet are not Christians?
Can you be a Christian, and not show compassion to those in need?
Can you sponsor a child through Compassion International and not be a Christian?
Can you be a Christian and spit words out that demean others and tear down their spirit?
Can you talk calmly and kindly, and not be a Christian?
Since 1974, I have been a Christian. There were definitely times in my life when I was more committed to living like Jesus than other times, like most every other Christian I know. But through these last 34 years, I knew I belonged to God, not by my bloodline or by the quality of my works, but by the shed blood of Jesus that I asked to become my lifeline to true joy & real peace. We sang in the song, All in All, “Lord, to give up, I’d be a fool.” That’s how I feel every day, no matter how tough it might get. “Lord, to give up, I’d be a fool.” I have been so blessed to be part of the household of God, whatever church we’ve been in, because I have invested myself into the mission and ministry of each one. Sometimes things aren’t done the way we wish they would be done, but according to Scripture, being a living, breathing part of the Body of Christ is how Christians most assuredly receive the greatest encouragement in our faith, and most assuredly receive the toughest discipline we need to live out the teachings of Jesus. Let’s face it, without encouragement and discipline, our hearts are prone to wander.
It is so important that we who are believers in Jesus as LORD, take our responsibility seriously to display Christ to the world. We have to practice what we believe in order to stand firm in the time of trial. Do you think that Mario Chalmers, who made that last second 3-pointer for Kansas at the NCAA Championship game last Monday night, made that shot without practicing it hundreds of thousands of times? Of course not! As Christians, we have to practice, too – or we get sloppy and slow, lose our joy, forfeit our peace, and become of little use to God in fulfilling the Great Commission.
I am grateful to the 16 sponsors who use part of their resources to care for the physical, educational, & spiritual needs of children all over the world. I am grateful for the many ways so many of you care for each other, and for people in the community. I am grateful to be a Christian alongside you in this unique place of strength and serenity. We’ve made some beautiful strides in living out the sacrificial love of Jesus together, respecting each other, welcoming new faces, and giving generously as the Lord leads us. But we must pray continually for ourselves, never growing prideful or arrogant that we’ve hit our stride, for it’s not our stride we’re trying to hit. We must be looking to Jesus, knowing HE IS LORD, and allow him to determine our steps and sift our speech. That’s what it means to be a Christian.
I trust the Scriptures, along with the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our midst, have taught you what you needed to know this day. I can’t say for sure who in this room is a Christian. I can only answer for myself – which is the case for you, as well. Only God knows the heart of a man, woman, or child. But the Scripture does tell us in Romans 8:14-16, that the Holy Spirit confirms our adoption as children of God in a way that causes us to cry out to God as our Heavenly Father! Jesus endured the cross for the sake of the joy set before him – the joy of seeing you and me saved from guilt, shame, condemnation, loneliness, worry, bondage to addictions, worship of stuff, and everything else that keeps us living in hopelessness and darkness. He’s done that for me, and he can do that for you. I join with the Apostle Peter in saying, “Praise God for the privilege of being called by his wonderful name!” But with that privilege comes responsibility. Let us continually pray for those who have yet to believe, and LOOK for opportunities to share the Good News about Jesus with confidence, sensitivity, and joy! Amen.
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