July 4, 5, 2009

Sermon: "The Man, the Mission, the Message"

Scripture: Acts 6: 1-6

Reverend Larry Gerber

God, our Father, Creator of the universe was an entity with a mission and a message. He is ageless.

Mary, the mother of Jesus was a young girl with a mission and a message. Now around 2024 years old.

Jesus Christ, our Savior was a man with a mission and a message, now 2009 years old.

John Calvin was a magnetic but often-misunderstood leader of the Protestant Reformation, born July 10, 1509. He was a man with a mission and a message. Now 500 years old.

Martin Luther, John Wesley, and others were God fearing and God serving men with a mission and a message through the ages. They were all reformers in their own right.

The theme through all of our church leaders, past and present: "It's not about you."

That's the first line of Rick Warren's mega-best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life. "If you want to know why you were placed on this planet," he goes on to say, "you must begin with God." Rick Warren is a contemporary church leader and reformer, a man with a mission and a message.

This is a very God-centered agenda, one that's based on the belief that you cannot discover your life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. Instead, you have to turn to your Creator, and discover the reason God has put you in this world. Remember - God has a message and a mission for His Kingdom. From Jesus to John Calvin to Rick Warren and other church leaders of today:

It's not about you. It's all about God.

Famous for his floppy hat, plain dress and stern expression, Calvin seems to be the antithesis of a laid-back, California-cool pastor such as Rick Warren. But both men believe that knowledge of self requires knowledge of God. And both believe that God was acting in love when he created the world and everything in it. "There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world," said John Calvin, "that is not intended to make us rejoice."

Born in France on July 10, 1509, Calvin turns 500 in just 5 days. He was a brilliant young man who intended to be a Catholic priest but entered law instead. After encountering the writings of Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther, Calvin had a conversion experience. "God subdued and brought my heart to docility," he said.

Breaking away from Catholicism, he left France and settled in Switzerland as an exile. In 1536, Calvin published one of the greatest theological works ever written, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. This major systematic theology, which begins with God the Creator and ends with reflections on civil government, stands as one of the most important expressions of Reformation thought.

Not bad work for a 27-year-old.

The city of Geneva became a magnet for Protestant exiles from all over Europe. One of them, John Knox of Scotland, described Calvin's city as "the most perfect school of Christ since the days of the apostles." He was man with a mission and a message.

Calvin's theological themes

Sovereignty of God. For starters, Calvin emphasized the sovereignty of God and wrote that "God is Lord over all!" (Institutes, 1.14.3). This was good news then; it's good news now. He stressed that no human being -- whether king or bishop -- could demand our ultimate loyalty, and this attracted people who were suffering under the authority of oppressive churches and governments. This belief in God's sovereignty has shaped Christian thought through the centuries, and it had a dramatic impact before World War II, when a group of faithful Germans took a stand against Hitler in a statement of faith called "The Theological Declaration of Barmen." It rejected the attempts of the Third Reich to "become the single and totalitarian order of human life."

These faithful Germans gave ultimate loyalty to the Lord alone. Some were imprisoned and even killed for their beliefs.  It's not about us; it's all about God.

In his opening to the book, Calvin says, "Before God nothing remains for us to boast of, save his mercy, whereby we have been received into hope of eternal salvation through no merit of our own" (Institutes, PA 2).

We are saved through no merit of our own but by grace alone. God's mission was to create humanity in his likeness and his message was, and is, that His grace is sufficient.

The Apostle Paul appeals to the Lord, and Christ answers with the promise, "My grace is sufficient" (vv. 8-9). "When Paul calls upon God in an absolute sense, he immediately adds the name of Christ," says Calvin (Institutes, 1.13.20). So the grace of God is really the same as the grace of Jesus Christ.
 

 "We must shake off sloth and carelessness," says Calvin, lest "we be overwhelmed by the stratagems of our flesh" (Institutes, 3.3.14). We shouldn't let ourselves become more self-confident than the apostle Paul, who discovered that Christ's power was made perfect not in strength but in weakness.

Jesus said: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." We aren't saved by our merit. Nor by our works. Nor by our attempts at human perfection.

It's grace alone, according to Jesus and Calvin and others. Grace: A completely free gift from the God who is Lord over all.

This was good news for the people of the 16th century, especially those who felt oppressed by powerful kings and religious leaders. It also appealed to people who couldn't figure out how to make it through life's many struggles and complexities and earn a spot in heaven. The city of Geneva drew them like a magnet, promising the chance to live their days in a "perfect school of Christ."

And Calvin's insights continue to offer us hope today. Whenever we're feeling overwhelmed, oppressed, unclean or unqualified, we can reach up and grab hold of the free gift that is offered by our loving Lord. "My grace is sufficient for you," says the Lord Jesus to us, "for power is made perfect in weakness."

 It's not about us; it's all about God. We can't blame our bad decisions on God. God didn't make you do it. God offers us grace and invites us to receive what he in his mercy has taken the initiative to proffer. In life and in death, we belong to God. We don't have to be ruled by doubt or fear, or constantly worry that we aren't doing enough good deeds to earn a spot in heaven. Our sovereign God is in control and is offering us the gift of grace. That's a promise we can hold on to.
 
In the end, Calvin believed it was all about God -- not about him. He chose to be buried in an unmarked grave so people wouldn't be tempted to make pilgrimages to pay him homage. He wanted our focus to be on the Lord who is God over all.

From Jesus to Martin Luther to John Calvin to John Wesley to Rick Warren to Larry Gerber to Susan Brims to Franklin Greene to James Bonsell here's the thread throughout Christianity:

It's not about you. It's not about us.
It's not about him. It's not about her.
It's not about your boss. And it's not about loss.
It's not about work. It's not about play.
It's not about money. It's not about the economy.
It's not about your parents. It's not about your kids.
It's not about your wife. It's not about your husband.
It's not about your friends. It's not about your enemies.
It's all about God. It's all about God.

Sources:
Cochrane, Arthur. The Church's Confessions Under Hitler. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962.
"John Calvin leads Genevan reform." Glimpses of Christian History, March 2007. christianhistorytimeline.com.                                                                                               Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.