from the VCC Newsletter on 3/16/2020: Coronavirus, Courage, and Christian Mission.

From the earliest days of the church the church understood that life in Christ was more than life here and now. This liberated the church to be courageous in the face of death unlike any other religion in history. The people of God were convinced that to live was Christ but to die was gain. This was not some haphazard caution to the wind, it was not a lack of respect for the precious gift of life, but rather it came from the deeper conviction that eternal life was at stake. Not their own eternal life, which was secured in Jesus, but the eternal life of those who were perishing around them. The thought of others dying and facing a Christless eternity drove them to be courageous, confident that losing their life now so that others might live eternally was worth the risk. 

One of the reasons that there are Christian hospitals today was that the early church led the way in caring for people in times of plague, disease, disaster, and uncertainty. They were not afraid of dying from disease, if that meant they might share the gospel with those who were dying. There in a person's greatest hour of need countless Christians gave their lives for the sake of the gospel. Likewise in times of famine Christians were known not for hoarding to survive but saving for sharing, until they had nothing left. Remember that when Elijah was held up in the home of the widow that it was her willingness to share her last morsel with the prophet that ultimately saved her life and the life of her son. God blessed them not for hoarding but for sharing even though they were not Israelites. The history of the church has been “they loved not their lives, even unto death.” 

So here we are in a crazy time of people hoarding, running amuck in fear, worried about the Corona Virus 19 (CoVid19). The stores are already out of hand sanitizer and toilet paper. (It’s not a stomach virus, so why are we out of toilet paper?)  My point is that panic has set in and the passing of misinformation is dangerous. So let me be clear, masks do not keep you from getting sick. They keep you from passing your sickness. It stops your germs when coughing and sneezing from spreading your infected droplets. It does not filter out airborne viruses from reaching you. If you put a mask on and you can still smell your dinner, proof that it’s not keeping things out, only in. The best solution for stopping the spread of viruses is still washing your hands (20+ seconds), and covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough with your elbow, not your hand. 

So then, as much as I hate getting sick, my real question is, what should we do? First we should pray. Pray for healing, pray for the stop of the virus spreading, and pray for all of this to stop. 

Second, we should ask God what he is doing and join him in his work. So that might mean we attend to those who are ill, so that we can be the hands and feet of the gospel to those who are sick. Sometimes faith is spelled R-I-S-K and the risk is real. You might get sick! 

And what if the threat actually becomes life and death? What do we do then? The answer is we do what we are continually doing even before the covid19, we die to ourselves. Do we close down services? Probably not, people need comfort in times like that, but you might need to refrain short-term because of your health. I urge you to be wise and to be innocent of evil. Do the right things, get rest, be kind, don’t hoard, don’t spread misinformation, and be helpful to others. And as you go, make disciples of Christ from among the lost whom you serve in their hour of need. 

Grace and peace,

Hal  

From the VCC Newsletter on 12/17: The Faithfulness of God- Something to Celebrate

Have you ever considered that Christmas is more about the birth of world missions and less about the birth of a child?The God who gave us his Son did so because he loved the world and wanted that no one would perish but have everlasting life. The first coming of Jesus (Advent) was not just a sweet story about pregnant Mary and her fiancé traveling to Bethlehem, to avoid judgement by the neighbors or even to pay taxes to Cesar. It is the fantastic account of God’s faithfulness to humanity, keeping his word from Genesis 3, and his multiple promises to the people of Israel, the Kings, and the Prophets. It is a story of redemption, not just for a lucky few nor a cover up, but an important chapter in the very long story of redemption, forgiveness, and love.  In one week from today we will be celebrating that God took this mission so personal that he sent no one less than his own Son.

At this time of year I am often asked if celebrating Christmas is something we should do in light of the many non-Christian winter festivities that have become part of Christmas tradition. Actually, I think that is one of the best reasons to celebrate Christmas. Jesus took the extraordinary step of becoming fully man while retaining all of what it meant to be fully God. His incarnation becomes the message itself. The very heart of missions is that we engage the world with the gospel by becoming all things to all men, so that we might save some. And our God takes sinful humanity and makes us Saints. He takes all of our failings and turns them into the message of reconciliation. So then he who redeems all things, redeems our winter festivities,  traditions, and our cold hearts and makes them new. If I can believe in the redemption of the humanity and creation (Revelation 21.1-5) then can anything be too hard for God to make new?

In the spirit of missions, redemption, and Christmas, I hope you will invite your friends, family, and neighbors to hear the Good News on Christmas Eve at one of our two services (4:00 or 6:00 pm).

Merry Christmas!

From the Vcc newsletter on 10/15: How Sages Validate the Bible

I would like to talk about how we validate the Bible without arguing or demeaning others. A hint: it doesn’t begin with just knowing what it says, but instead it begins with the collection of writings, genres, and even methods of study. We will discuss the history as well as the content of the Bible.

It is important to know what the Bible actually says versus what we believe about it, or what we have been told. Yet there is so much more to validating the Bible in the mind of worldly people than what we think of in the church. For most of us in the church we have been taught to prove the Bible through reason, debate, and proofs. While these things really help build our faith, they generally do very little for post-modern people whose idea of truth is fundamentally different than church folks. For most of them the greatest test of the Bible is you, your life, your attitude toward them, your family, and other believers. Is the Bible life-giving or something harsh, critical, judgmental? Too often we use the Bible and what it says to win an argument, and all that tells non-Christians is they don't need to know anymore about your God or your Bible.

Having the right attitude begins with the very character and nature of the Bible. The Bible is a collection of 66 writings, written over a span of 1,500 years, in four languages. It is a very large body of work, with a lot of cultural assumptions, and time specific events. It is full of history, poetry, wisdom literature, apocalyptic literature, stories, parables, Hebraic law text (which are very different in spirit than Western law codes), and many different writing styles. This ought to humble us and make us recognize that becoming biblically literate is more about being acquainted with the heart of God for his people than knowing all of the content. I have spent the last 30 years of my life learning the content, and I have a long way to go. One of the things I like to teach people who want to become acquainted with the Bible is the big story: the overarching narrative that runs cover to cover, the story of the kingdom of God and the redemption of creation. Once we know that story, our biblical literacy begins to rise, and our attitude can be aligned with the spirit of the whole rather than an attitude expressed in a single text.

Learning about the numerous genres of literature, the complex cultural and historical nature of the text, and magnitude of the Bible itself should make us more patient with people who don’t share our good vibes about the Bible. When people speak half-truths, when they disparage the Bible because of a single text taken out of context, there is nothing to get angry about. They are not stupid, and they are not necessarily doing the work of the devil. It is likely that the Bible has been quoted at them to correct, malign, or to judge them or someone or something they believe. Respecting the giant and complex nature of this text may make us cautious about how we wield a sword around others and help us understand how they might be confused, hold onto misrepresented truth, or feel beat up by the Bible unjustly.

Last, but not least, knowing more about the different kinds of literature, history, and how cultures all fit together in the Bible can help us grow and even be helpful to others. This is why I cannot stress enough the need for courses like Introduction to the Bible and How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth. Since we, as Christians, are putting so much stock in the Bible it only makes sense that we know its origins, how it is put together, the different kinds of literature, the central theme, and how to read for understanding. So that we might rightly apply the word for the purpose of giving life rather than using it to hurt those we disagree with.

Next week I want to focus on how we deal with the relationship between science and Christianity.

Small Things Done with Great Love

Little things done with great love will change the world. It is a concept borrowed from the life of Mother Teresa; the idea that the little things we do are what make a real impact rather than the big things we do on occasion. It is the idea that the real heroes of our lives are not just those who in moments of bravery act selflessly, but those who act selflessly day-by-day.

In the mundane get-by-world there are a thousand little decisions we make every day about our responses to others. Responses that communicate love and value or communicate disappointment, disillusionment, and dissatisfaction. It is that moment when grace and mercy call us to reflect on the way we disappointment with our own short-comings and to recognize that any grace and mercy we extend is just something we loan because we will inevitably need it back.

Jesus’ example reminds us that he first loved us. That was why he came to give his life as a ransom, a task which first meant living a mortal life in which he died to himself every day on his way to the cross and to perfection. His everyday little deeds made him perfect, that we might be forgiven. See how little deeds done with great love did indeed change the world?