Word of Life Church Podcast

We read in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We accept this statement about faith, but how exactly is faith substance and evidence? Some have tried to make faith too spiritual by imagining faith to be a spiritual substance, a force under our control. However this is not how we see faith at work in Scripture. Others have attempted to define faith as empirical evidence, trying to conjure up rational arguments to answer every question raised against the faith. Yet faith is not empirically verifiable because the God who is the object of our faith cannot be found using the rules of empiricism. When viewed in the context of Hebrews 11 and 12, we discover that faith is substance and evidence as it is confessed and lived out in the life of the Church. We become the substance and evidence of faith as we rightly confess and rightly live out the things we believe.

This is the third message in a series of the seven signs John recounts in order to form our faith in Jesus. It's the story of a man paralyzed for 38 years whom Jesus healed at the Pool of Bethesda. In this story we see that what the healing that the Pool of Bethesda promised is what Jesus does! And Jesus is not only the hope of the Jews; he is also the hope of pagan Gentiles. We are all in need of some kind of healing, and Jesus is the healer.

In order to experience natural, open conversation with Jesus, an openness is required. All conversion results from a moment of spiritual openness. But too often we restrict spiritual openness to a single moment of conversion. An over-emphasis on a single "salvation" event ruins us for future spiritual growth. Often, people have their one moment of spiritual openness, and then slam the door forever! But nothing is more essential to spiritual development than spiritual openness. Christianity is an ongoing conversation with Jesus, the Living Word with whom we must constantly engage.

If we treat the Bible as a complete catalog of "do's" and "don'ts", then we can almost always find a way to justify whatever we want to justify. From slavery to genocide, you can find a scripture to "prove" just about anything you want in the Bible. But if we recognize that Jesus is the Living Word with whom we must engage, then we are engaging with the Logos of Life - God's Wisdom of how to live. To believe in Jesus is to believe that he is what God has to say. If you'll believe in the Logos of Life (Christ), your soul will be healed and you will find life.

The kingdom of God is something that happens at a table. The church is not a kind of Temple, it is a kind of Table. The Temple, as understood 2000 years ago in Jewish society, was closed off, restricted to people of a particular ethnicity and nationality. Moving from Temple to Table is part of the reformation work of Jesus. It is the New Covenant. Instead of hierarchical, religion, and purity code religion that excludes outsiders, the center of God's activity is now the shared table.

At the wedding in Cana, Jesus performs his first miracle, and in doing so, reveals his glory and his beauty. Jesus' first miracle is not "crucial". He doesn't heal the sick, or cleanse the leper, or cast out a demon, or calm a storm, or even raise the dead. Jesus' first miracle is to keep a wedding party well-stocked in wine. And it is a sign. In a beautiful and artistic way Jesus is announcing the arrival of the reign of God. It is a sign that there is about to be a huge shift in how we understand our relationship with God. Instead of washing, washing, washing, but never really feeling clean, the Kingdom of God will be more like eating and drinking with close friends. Jesus is signaling a seismic shift in the center of God's redemptive activity. With the coming of Jesus the center of redemption moves from the Temple to the Table! Instead of a hierarchical, sacrificial, purity code religion that excludes outsiders, the center of God's activity will be the shared table.

To first think of the "Bible" when say "Word of God" is a theological mistake. The Bible is the word of God, but only in a secondary sense. That the Bible is the word of God is true in the sense that it faithfully bears witness to the true Word of God: Jesus Christ. We're not born again by reading a book, we're born again by encountering Jesus Christ. We're not followers of a book, we're followers of Jesus! We are not worshipers of a book, we are worshipers of Jesus! There is no word from God that comes after Christ or supersedes Christ. Jesus is the true Word of God, the full Word of God, and the final Word of God. Jesus is how God speaks into the world. Jesus is what God has to say.

The world after Easter is fundamentally different than the world of Good Friday. In the world before Easter Caesar is Lord, because Caesar holds the power of death. But in the world after Easter Jesus is Lord, because Jesus has conquered death. And not by by means of a temporary resuscitation that ultimately again succumbs to death, but by the complete triumph of resurrection unto eternal life! Which is why our ultimate Christian hope is not heaven, but resurrection! When Christ appears heaven and earth will be made one. The resurrection of the dead is the full realization of New Creation. Christ is coming, not to take us away, but to bring heaven to earth. The blessed hope is not that we are going somewhere. The blessed hope is Christ is coming!

The Old Testament story of Job is one of tragedy. In three thunderclaps of horror Job loses his wealth, his health, and his children. Very quickly following this episode, Job's friends show up to comfort him, but in reality, they end up tormenting Job's already shattered soul. These three friends likely intended well, but in their obsession to explain the tragedy they became satanic agents of accusation and cruelty. In the sermon Windbag Speeches by Pastor Brian Zahnd, we discover the cruelty of talking too much.

The Messiah of the Jews was Jesus Christ. That Christ would be worshiped as King among pagan the Gentiles is the great hope of God! God always intended to unite the whole world as one people, without any division. God had to begin with one person, with one people; the Jewish people. But all along the plan was to unite the whole world into one body: the body of Christ! But this unity of worship doesn't come by triumphalism. It doesn't come by the ways of conquest and domination. If you have an attitude that we Christians need to conquer and convert others, you've missed the whole point! Triumphalism is the opposite of the humility of Christ! It comes by suffering! When we absorb enough of the sin and suffering of the world in an imitation of Christ, people are irresistibly drawn to the body of Christ.