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Sermon for Sunday, January 13, 2008

Deacon Ordination

“The Bottom Line”
Matthew 22:34-46

Fred Craddock tells the story of two missionaries serving in China. They were a married couple with two small children. When the Communists came to power, they were told that they had to leave the country. They were also told that they could only take out with them a maximum of 150 pounds.

They inventoried all they owned and began deciding what they would take and what they would leave behind. It was a tortuous decision because they had acquired some beautiful pieces of hand carved furniture during their years of service. Some of the ivory carvings were by the finest craftsmen in China. They also had ink drawings on rice paper which had increased in value over the years.

When they arrived at the dock they had bundled up their goods. A government official approached them with a clipboard in hand. He looked at their packages and then without emotion asked, “Did you weigh your children?” Suddenly their possessions didn’t matter so much. That’s a bottom line there isn’t it?

When you get to the bottom line, simplicity and directness can be a friend in determining the things that are of ultimate value.

Today’s worship is one of simplicity and directness. We have ordained five new persons—Max Haley, Ralph Johnson, Cynthia McCreary, Karen Pennington, and Debbie Powell—to deacon service. They have been asked to serve because of who they are, their faith in Jesus Christ as well as their love for this church and their willingness to serve Christ through its’ ministry. Deacons are needed. They are part of the heart and soul of a church. They help to give guidance to the church not by their ability to rule, but by the gift of their service to those in and out of the church.

We have set these deacons apart for this ministry by the ancient practice of “the laying on of hands.” When we place our hands on the heads of these and whisper words of encouragement and prayer in their ears, we are joining with them in saying that we desire to make God first in our lives as individuals and as a church.

Today’s gospel word from Matthew puts it all in perspective. Tom Long calls this scripture the final exam for Jesus. It comes as the last of a series of questions presented to him by some Pharisees when he arrived in Jerusalem. They had heard that Jesus had “silenced” the Sadducees so they were going to ask the next questions.

It is a trick question from Matthew’s point of view and the Pharisees don’t necessarily have an answer in mind. They ask which is the most important commandment. So when the Pharisees began the test, it was not a friendly “q and a” session. It was a test of the will of One who was challenging the religious authority of His day. It was a game that matched wits with Jesus. Ultimately, it was a test that doomed Jesus in the minds of his greatest critics.

You can see what Jesus did with the question. He did not cloud it up with complexity, but rather he kept it simple. He found the bottom line in their complicated question. The move from complexity to simplicity was a brilliant move on Jesus part.

The Jewish scholars knew how complex the Hebrew law was. It contained 613 laws in the Torah—their bible—the first five books of our Old Testament. Keeping those laws was the goal of all God fearing Jews, albeit impossible. The power to keep all the laws was to reach moral perfection…a good goal but not attainable. Little wonder the question asked was filled with so many implications. “Teacher, if you could hang your hat on just one nail, what nail would that be?” Jesus couldn’t do it with one nail, but he did do it with two: “The love of God and the love of neighbor.”

On a day like today, maybe that is what these new deacons need to hear—simply and clearly—use the principle of love to guide you in your deacon ministry.

We live in a complicated world of hurt and need. The human need alone is massive. It knocks on our doors every day in the life of our church. How do we respond in a way that honors Christ? Another way of asking that question is, “What does God want from me? What is the bottom line of my life as a Christian?”

Jesus answered those questions by quoting two scriptures. They were familiar scriptures to those Pharisees. They knew what Leviticus 19:18 said. They knew what Deuteronomy 6:5 said.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (23:37-39)

They are positive, not negative. They are proactive, not prohibitive. This is the heart and the soul of our faith says Jesus. What Jesus is saying gives us insight into what things are important and what things are worthless.

When I look at some of the ministries of our church, I am praying that they are reflective of those things that are most important based on the bottom line of love.

Our investment in CARITAS is bottom line ministering to those in need.

ALPHA is bottom line concern for the spiritual welfare of people.

In February we will begin our involvement in the Northstar Community ministry. This is in response to the needs of strugglers—bottom line. Deacon ministry needs to be bottom line, helping us be church not only to our congregation, but also to those who come our way. In an ocean of need, we are but a drop of cool water, but it is a drop that can make a difference—now and eternally.

Norwegian novelist, Johan Bojer, tells the story of an anti-social newcomer who moved into a village and put a fence around his property with a sign saying, “Keep Out.” He also put a vicious dog on the property to keep anyone from climbing in. One day, the neighbor’s little girl reached inside the fence to pet the dog and the dog grabbed her, bit her and killed her.

The townspeople were enraged and refused to speak to the recluse. They wouldn’t sell him groceries. When it came time for planting, they would not sell him seeds. He became destitute and didn’t know what to do. One day he saw another man sowing seed on his field. He ran out and discovered it was the father of the little girl. “Why are you doing this?’ he asked. The father replied, “I am doing this to keep God alive in me.”

It is a profound story because you and I know that just our petty jealousies and animosities will cause God and His love to shrivel up in us. When God is not alive in us, when His compassion is not working through us, when His love does not abide in us, we are going to miss the whole point of these commandments.

Jesus avoided the traps of the Pharisees by reminding them (and us) that if we love the Lord, our God, we will look for ways to love our neighbors and fellow church members as we do ourselves. We may be called to ask what Jesus means to us, and what our loving God has done in us and for us. We may have to ask, “What makes me any different than my neighbor who is not a Christian?” It may cost us something.

And the cost of service to Christ weighs not just on five new deacons we have ordained today, or the other nineteen deacons we have. The cost of service is to be borne by every one of us who call ourselves Christian.

The bottom line is this: we are Christ’s body in this world. We give as a simple act of love for the love given to us through Him who loved us all the way to the cross.

— Robert Thompson
Pastor
First Baptist Church, Ashland

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