Ecclesia (Part 3)

Sermon: {TRUST}

The Amazing Accidental Osteen Rebuttal

Scott maintained a very casual demeanor throughout his sermon, and though you sort of got the vibe that he might have been more comfortable with a brush in his hand, he was definitely enjoying conversing with the congregation there at Ecclesia through this medium as well.  He gave his listeners the sense that we were learning and exploring these themes together, even though Scott was actually giving this message for the fifth time and knew his subject matter cold.

Scott started by thanking the band and introducing Jamie, the artist who would be painting over to the side throughout the service.  Ever the visual communicator, Scott brought our attention to a series of images that had been on his mind lately.  He projected each of the images on the screens and explained a little about why he chose them.  I’ve been scouring google image, and I’ve found two of the three, but the first image he used has still escaped my youthful tech-savvy grasp.  It was a man with a bandolier of cell phones, iPhones, and Blackberries over his should and a similarly-loaded belt around his waist as well.  A Bluetooth headset was residing comfortably in his ear, and he had a sense of intensity and purpose about him.  Scott explained that he had been looking at the image a lot lately and thinking about how our notions of responsibility have evolved so much in recent years with the streamlining of communication.  More connectivity means more responsibility, and sometimes that’s a very intimidating thing.

The next image was of a sculpture in London, where a team of artists had simply erected the words “Make This Better” in an untended park with graffitied walls, abandoned projects, and an urban skyline in the distance.  Again, the theme was one of responsibility, this time to our communities rather than just our contacts and facebook friends (like in the previous image).  The final image Scott showed was of a baby in a sink next to dirty dishes, and if this had been a demotivational poster, it might have had a caption like: “Multitasking: Why accomplish one task well when you can do several poorly?”  All of these images were pointing at a key central point: in an age of increased communication, the more social media resources we have, the more overloaded with responsibilities we can become, and the more stressed out we get.  Our burdens start to feel that much heavier.

There are a ton of images online of Scott painting, so I'm just going to go with it.

Scott went over to a whiteboard and asked that we name some of the main stressors in our lives.  Thinking of my mammoth Lakewood writeup and my self-imposed posting schedule, I shouted out, “DEADLINES!”  Scott wrote it on the board along with money (or lack thereof), school, coworkers, relationships, health, patience, mowing the lawn, food, doing laundry, families, alone time, sanity, traffic (next to which he put “evil” in parentheses), maintaining your soul, and exercise (which Scott said that he needed to work on himself, adding humorously, “Yeah, unfortunately, these hips don’t lie.”).  His overall point was that we tend to accumulate responsibilities, but that’s just part of adulthood.

From here, Scott mentioned that, when the sermon topics for the upcoming weeks were being discussed at a staff meeting and the subject of trust came up, the first thing that came to his mind was Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

“Huh, that’s funny,” I thought to myself, “Joel used that same passage last night, except Joel used the KJV, and he made it more about God having ‘big plans’ for us.”  Scott explained that he sometimes has a difficult time with this passage since he sees himself as a bit of a melancholy, cynical type, and he feels that he doesn’t always fully trust in God when dealing with all the little responsibilities.  To address this issue, he played a clip of James Lipton’s interview with Dave Chappelle, a successful comedian and writer/star of The Chappelle Show who one day up and left for Africa out of the blue.  Following his return, this interview was one of Dave’s first times talking about his reasons for leaving the U.S.  This is a slightly longer clip than the one used Sunday evening, and Scott cut it off after Dave told the audience to “get their Africa tickets ready.”  (The rest of the clip pertains to the problem of Hollywood celebrity culture and a few other interesting non-sermon-related topics, but again, this portion was not viewed in the sermon.)

 

From here, Scott explained that the human experience of trust is filled with flaws and brokenness.  Sadly, the people in our lives will fail us from time to time, and sometimes letting someone deeper into your life means opening yourself up to all the more pain (particularly in the case of relationships with family members-- no two people hurt each other more or lift each other more than a husband and wife).  The more we trust the people in our lives, the more we are willing to hurt one another and be hurt in return, and we need to understand that we bring this baggage into our relationships with God as well.  Going back to the Dave Chappelle clip, Scott posed the question, “Have we named our price with God?  Have we set a limit on that trust?”  I mean, we put our trust in money easily enough and expect it to fix all of our problems, but the book of Proverbs warns us otherwise:

Those who trust in their riches will wither, but the righteous will flourish like green leaves. (Proverbs 11:28)

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist.  When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven. (Proverbs 23:4-5)

Better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be crooked in one's ways even though rich. (Proverbs 28:6)

As difficult as it is, we are called to trust in God, not in money and not in our own flawed understandings of trust.

Scott talked about a trip to New Zealand in college, a time when he was very much questioning and exploring and learning what the Gospel really meant to him.  It had worked out so that Scott didn’t have to pay a dime for the trip out of his own pocket, and he was almost feeling a little guilty at all the fun he was having, but God was also working on Scott in that time and using the trip to bring him to a new level of faith.  In particular, there was a chaplain on that trip who would engage Scott in very deep conversations, and the chaplain once posed a question: “You don’t have to answer this now.  In fact, give it a few months.  Still, according to Jesus, what is the Gospel?”  Scott’s initial answer was the Romans Road, the standard set of verses which can be used to walk a new believer through the basics of the Christian faith (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, etc.), and Scott explained that his answer hadn’t been wrong, but it also wasn’t really what the chaplain was looking for.  He had asked for Jesus, and Scott had given him Paul.  Eventually, the chaplain explained that the best answer he had ever heard came from Matthew 11:28 and could best be summarized in three words: “Come to me.”  (It was another verse that had been cited at Lakewood, this time from Victoria Osteen’s story about the airport.)

The Gospel isn’t just a list of ideas or theological concepts like Scott had attempted to communicate with the Romans Road.  The Gospel is Jesus saying “Come to me.”  As Scott explained this, stick figures on the screens acted out people moving toward Christ and moving toward each other.  Scott explained that we are all invited to come meet Jesus and that communities like Ecclesia exist to make sure that we continue talking to Jesus after that initial meeting takes place.  Scott also explained that his understanding of trust has changed pretty radically over the years, and he used to imagine it being something like the “leap of faith” from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:

In that film, Indy made his way safely to the resting place of the Holy Grail by following the instructions in a journal, surviving each obstacle by figuring out the riddles in the book and acting accordingly.  Indy made all the right moves and procured the Grail, but that’s not what faith is really about.  It’s not a set of instructions.  It’s more like this . . .

 

We can’t put our trust in ideas; we must put it in an individual: Christ.  Matthew 11:28-30 says,

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

From here, Scott asked an important question that I hadn’t really considered before: What does a yoke actually look like?  Think about it.  Scott joked about his own mental image of people hauling around big Acme safes, and I have to admit that I had always sort of imagined people walking around in stocks, but that’s not exactly what it is.  If you actually look at pictures of yokes, you will see that they have places for two oxen, and it was with this simple image that Scott painted one of the most beautiful pictures of faith I have ever seen (metaphorically painted that is, not actual painting, even though he is a painter, but you get what I mean).

When a farmer purchases a new ox, the best way to train it is to yoke it to an older and more experienced one.  As the two oxen work together, the older ox teaches the younger one and keeps it in line and disciplines it.  The younger ox starts to imitate the older, and the way to tell when the young ox is fully trained is to watch the two oxen walk side by side in their yoke.  If you look at the oxen walking and can see only one set of legs, the young ox is fully trained.  That’s what it means to accept Christ’s yoke.  It means that we bind ourselves to Christ, and after enough time spent in His loving tutelage, our steps start to resemble His own.  Faith means walking with Christ, learning from Christ, and growing to resemble Christ in our actions.  That’s what Jesus is really saying when he talks about taking on His yoke.

Scott reflected for a bit on his own life under that yoke.  Being an artist hasn’t always been an easy road, and much of his fate has been the result of providence.  After resigning himself to making art his livelihood, Scott faced the constant temptation to call his parents and ask for money, but he decided to keep working on his own and trust that things would work out.  After all, Matthew 6:33 tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.”  It’s a promise that basic needs will always be met, right?  At this point, I guess that melancholy that Scott had talked about earlier must have kicked in, and he told us pointblank that the world doesn’t always work like that.  With societal structures being what they are and constant violence and poverty and famine and starvation and disease all over the world, our basic needs often go unmet, but we must still trust in God to lead us through the hardships.  The passage is really telling us not to be anxious and to take that much greater joy when those basic needs are met.  Obstacles will always come our way, but we should view these as chances to converse with God.  We should look at our stressors as chances to develop our relationship with God, to develop ourselves into more Christlike people, and to develop our trust in the promise of a New Creation.  After all, Christ can heal all wounds and make every person new as we take on His yoke and walk by His side.

As the sermon drew to a close, Scott explained that people come to Ecclesia for a lot of reasons.  Maybe we’ve felt God and are now pursuing that call through worship.  Maybe we seek transformation.  Maybe we’re questioning why we’re not seeing miracles in our own lives and need to let ourselves go down the path toward the miraculous.  Maybe we’re there because church is simply a rhythm for us (whether for good or for ill), or maybe we’re there because we have our own baggage and scars that we’re trying to shed.  It was time now for us to partake in Communion, a constant reminder of God’s presence and a ritual reminding us to walk with Christ and put our trust in Him.  Scott prayed and gave thanks, reminding us that the Gospel is an invitation to come into the yoke of Christ.

Wow.  Just wow.  If you were really paying attention to the Scripture references in Scott’s sermon, you might see why I consider this borderline miraculous: three of his Bible verses had been used by Joel and Victoria Osteen the night before, but Scott took them in a totally different (i.e. healthy) direction.  None of them were in the lectionary for the week, and though they’re fairly widely used, they’re not exactly the most popular t-shirts, so I consider this to be just a little more than coincidence.  One same verse would have been kind of neat.  Two would have been a little uncanny.  Three is just God showing off.

It wasn’t the most flawless delivery of a sermon I had ever heard, but I was blown away by the fact that Scott’s sermon was an almost perfect rebuttal to the theology I heard being espoused at Lakewood.  The entire point seemed to be about enduring through hardship and allowing Christ to discipline us under His yoke.  Scott didn’t give us a magic formula for attaining blessing.  He talked about learning to trust God and grow in that relationship until our footsteps resemble those of Christ.  That is the sort of message that people need to hear.  That is the sort of message that will help people through their daily struggles.

The Gospel is not just about following steps to a blessing.

The Gospel is about “Come to me.”

Communion and Conversation

After a word about the significance of Communion and the elements (which would be taken by intinction with a gluten-free option for those who required it), we were assured that Christ is someone we can trust and that Christ has come for us, that He might know us and be yoked with us and disciple us in His ways.  We said a prayer of confession and prepared to receive the meal together, at which time we could also pray with a staffer and/or talk to someone about joining the church if interested.  “We’re not perfect, but there’s a space for you here.”  The band returned to the stage, and as we processed forward to take the elements, we also sang together.  It was a Jars of Clay song.

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior's name
He has hushed the law's loud thunder
He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame

Let us love the Lord who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes

He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God

Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy's store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more

He who washed us with his blood
Has secured our way to God

Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted him before us
Now their praises fill the sky

He has washed us with his blood
He will bring us home to God

Following Communion, an associate stepped forward and asked that we give a round of applause in gratitude for the band, for Jamie (who had been painting throughout the entire service), and for Scott and the message he brought that evening.  The benediction was a poem about falling through thin ice, being lost and cold but then enveloped in love.  I didn’t really absorb much of it since, frankly, I was still in awe over the whole same-Bible-verses thing.  After taking a few pictures of the gallery and waving to Matt one more time, I decided that I would thank Scott for his words and tell him about the Osteen contrast.

I introduced myself and told Scott a little about the project, to which he replied, “Wow, that’s impressive.  I really don’t think I could handle that much church.”  To be honest, I’m starting to think I can’t really handle this much church either, but I haven’t had a breakdown yet, so steady as she goes.  In his sermon, Scott had mentioned spending a few years in Seattle when he was just starting out on his own, so I asked what it was like being a Christian artist there.  Scott said that it was often tough trying to explain to people that he was a Christian but not quite of the same ilk as Mark Driscoll and the folks at Mars Hill.  It’s tough doing ministry when there’s a “big name” in a city that alters people’s perceptions of what Christianity can look like.  People outside the Church start to assume that all of Christianity resembles their cities’ most prominent pastors and churches, and that leads to a drastic oversimplification of the many forms the Christian faith can take-- everything from Ecclesia to Lord of the Streets to Lakewood.  This seemed like a logical point to tell him about the Lakewood Scripture reference connection, and Scott was floored by the fact that he and Joel had used the same texts in their sermons.  Admittedly, most of his shock was just, “Wait, Joel Osteen said what based on Proverbs 3:6?”  Scott explained that Ecclesia actually sees a lot of people “recovering from Lakewood,” and then he made a comment that I hadn’t really expected.  One of the criticisms that a lot of trendier churches like Ecclesia receive is that they “steal” members from other churches, but on the subject of Lakewood, Scott fairly unapologetically stated that he sees no qualms with helping get people out of a church that preaches prosperity theology.  “Stealing members” seems like a pretty hollow charge when those members weren’t being fed a healthy theology in their original churches.  Lakewood has a lot of redeeming factors too, but I had to agree here.  Joel’s is an ultimately damaging message with which churches in Houston are probably all more than familiar.  Scott also explained, “We’re in the buckle of the Bible Belt here in Houston.  Pretty much everyone attends church, so our focus isn’t so much on converting people to Christianity as refining their existing faith and building up the community between Christians.”  Good point.  Ministry in Houston looks pretty different than ministry in Seattle or L.A. or even just down the road in Austin.  It sounded to me like Ecclesia is familiarizing itself with the needs and challenges of its environment and responding accordingly.  I thanked Scott again for his message, and he wished me safe travels as I headed off to grab a few more pictures.

I walked out to my car still amazed by the similar-but-opposite sermons.  I think that Scott’s explanation of faith in the yoke is going to stick with me for a very long time, and it’s a useful image to have in my mind as I head up to Dallas, after which the next stop will be Memphis . . . and ordination.