New Light Dawns for the Church

Transcribed from the sermon preached December 24, 2006

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

St. John’s Presbyterian Church

2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705

elephone 510-845-6830    Fax 510-845-6837

office@stjohns.presbychurch.net    http://www.stjohns.presbychurch.net

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 11:1-11, Luke 2:1-14
Today I am here to report to you that there has been a real paradigm shift in the American Church. The old stereotypes and enemies no longer have clear lines. There is a new generation of evangelical Christians who have taken to heart the overwhelming scriptural evidence that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news to the poor. They have taken a more grace filled scholarly approach to scripture, which acknowledges the likelihood of our own socio-cultural bias along with the socio-political context of scripture. This group has been pegged the "Emergent Church" and they can be seen and heard in the most amazing places.
 
At the same time there are those of us from the Left who have recognized the importance of personal spirituality and the powerful saving grace of God, which we see so beautifully demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ. There is now a group in the middle, which has come from both sides, like shepherds and wise men. We are coming from different locations  - heck from different gospels - to worship the Messiah.
 
We know of Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners Magazine and author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. We know and have participated in the network of spiritual progressives. And a couple of months ago a long list of evangelicals sent a letter to the President concerning global warming and the care for God's Creation. There is also Barack Obama, who has emerged as a breath of fresh air in American political and religious life. Then one day I was listening to Christian radio, something I have done for twenty years, considering it important to know thy enemy, and I was shocked at the healthy, compassionate listening and advice given by the radio counselors. I listened again and again and sure enough they are good. The show is called New Life Live and it is on AM 1100 at 1 PM. Then just last week on the same station, one of the local talk show hosts interviewed Tony Compollo, an old school good guy evangelical who is so sharp and biblical that most conservatives know they are better off ignoring him. I was again surprised that the talk show host admitted that he was being challenged to rethink his faith. Compollo said, "Of course you are. You can't read the Bible honestly and think Jesus is about an isolated faith. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news to the poor and liberation to the oppressed. You can't celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace without his birth calling into question our imperial ambitions and our war in Iraq where over 100,000 people have been killed." I couldn't believe I was hearing this on Christian radio.
 
And then there is a new movement labeled the Emergent Church. Rob Bell is one of the stars. In the epilogue of his book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, he tells a story where he realized the effect church has on God's people. While he was sitting in a pew, the pastor was calling for people to be saved. When nobody responded, the preacher falsely acknowledged hands going up around the room. Rob's father worried this experience would change Rob's path away from Christianity. However, Rob comments that the experience only emboldened him to help change the face of Christianity.
 
While at Wheaton College, Bell along with friends formed the indie rock band, Ton Bundle, which was reminiscent of bands like R.E.M. and Talking Heads. He then went to Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. But Fuller has really grown up; it has some real, solid scholars and can no longer be pigeon holed into its fundamentalist roots. I believe a big part of the change at Fuller is the impact of foreign mission experience where people have a chance to experience people and places outside Rome. I mean the U.S.
 
With the help of a large Calvary congregation, in February 1999, Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church. Within a year the church was given a shopping mall in Grandville, Michigan and purchased the surrounding land. Today over 10,000 people attend three "gatherings" on Sundays.
 
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith is Bell's first book. The title is inspired by the actual black velvet painting of Elvis he has tucked away in his basement. Whoever "painted that picture was creating a work of art for a time and place. That time and place have now passed. Christianity," Bell says, "is a lot like that painting. It is not static and artists paint it afresh for each new generation."
 
Mars Hill is giving millions of dollars to global mission projects to fight against AIDS and poverty. They are very active in their local community. They feel called as Christians toward sustainable economics and stewardship of creation, and constantly call into question American consumerism. This advent, speaking on the Prince of Peace, Bell came out hard against the war in Iraq. Bell commends yoga and Eastern meditation. It was, after all, the wise men from the East who also read the signs of the times and showed up to pay homage to the newborn king. All the while he preaches that the grace of God through Jesus Christ can change individual lives in the world.
 
The fact that Bell has come from the evangelical community to create a progressive biblical church with personal faith and a call to justice and peace has created quite an uproar in conservative Christian circles. He is receiving tremendous criticism for being a heretic.
 
"When people say that the authority of Scripture or the centrality of Jesus is in question, actually it's their social, economic and political system that has been built in the name of Jesus that's being threatened," Bell says. "Generally lurking below some of the more venomous, vitriolic criticism is somebody who's created a facade that's not working."
 
I know that sometimes it feels like we are a bit like Isaiah or John the Baptist, "a voice crying out in the wilderness." But it does seem that there has been a real shift within the church, that Christ is being born again today, into our lives and community. Jesus and the bible are no longer possessed solely by ethnocentric, jingoistic televangelists. We are taking it back and the tables are starting to turn. There is a new life and new light of God here at St. John's and we are not alone. Hungry for community, spirituality and grace, people who have left the church are coming back, and new people are being transformed by the grace of God. I bring good news of great joy. Today the Messiah is born.