Is there a support group for "over-preachers" of passages?
Last year, at Venice Beach Fellowship, we did a series on Romans. I loved it! For myself, I felt like I discovered a whole new depth of the super-awesome-goodness in this amazing letter. I was also super excited to tag along with NT Wright as a Theological Trail Guide in the wild terrain of Pauline theology.
BUT! The problem was that Romans has 16 chapters and it took me A YEAR to get through it! I used Romans at Christmas, Romans at Easter, I slept, ate, and breathed Romans (and forced everyone else to do the same). And now... I am looking down the barrel of another series on the book of Acts - a book that has 28 CHAPTERS!!! I'm about to preach a fourth sermon on Sunday and I haven't even got to the second chapter! And more than that, I am experiencing this ardent desire to take four weeks on Pentecost...
My name is Rich, and I am an over-preacher.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
New Series on Acts
This past Sunday I started a new series on the book of Acts at Venice Beach Fellowship. One thing that is special and different about this is that I published the sermon as a podcast. You can find it and hear it at vbfellowship.podbean.com
To be honest, though, I'm a little terrified about this. I usually edit my emails and anything I write about fifty million times to make sure I'm saying just what I want to say. Now I'm publishing off-the-cuff comments, theological claims, and declarations about God and FOR EVERYONE TO SEE!
What if I say something wrong? What if it's too obvious that I've been reading NT Wright this past week and borrowing his good ideas? Worse yet, what if I botch and misrepresent those good ideas or others?
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of my fears.
But then, why not? If I don't have the courage to join the dialog, even though I may be dead wrong, what's the point? Theology is relational! Theology is relational and always aimed at discovering how to be in that one, primary relationship.
Okay... so... Acts!
The first 11 verses of Acts blow me away. There is just a ton of stuff right at the outset. Like... The ascension! What is the ascension and why is it basically ignored by evangelicals? I have some thoughts on that but... for another time, when my fingers have more energy.
Or... What the heck happened during those 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension? What kind of things did he say as he taught them about the kingdom? That must have been awesome. He basically blew the doors off their understanding and turned their world upside down.
First, they put their trust in this Messiah, were convinced by him, and had hope come alive because of him. Nevertheless, while they were relationally committed, at least half of what he said was confusing and misunderstood.
Then, after finally finding the one for whom their hearts longed, their universe shattered when he turned out to be a failed Messiah dying at the hands of the Empire. Then, while they are reeling from this immense disillusionment, he showed up raised from the dead. Then, he spent 40 days "emmaus-ing" their understanding. Wouldn't you love to have been their for the breakfasts and ah-has that must have filled those forty days?
But again, my fingers are too tired for that topic.
And yet another cool part in that first eleven verses of Acts is how Luke says his first book (the gospel of Luke) was all about what Jesus BEGAN to do and teach.
BEGAN. In other words - the virgin birth, the silent first thirty years (excluding the incident as a boy in the Temple), the initiating of his public ministry with the call of the disciples, the temptation, the travels in Galilee, the teaching in synagogues, the controversies, the time in Samaria, Jerusalem... His persecution, the last supper, his arrest, his trial, his death, his resurrection, his appearances, his teaching for forty days, and his ascension. ALL of that... All of it! Is just what Jesus BEGAN to do and teach?
How cool is that? We don't follow a Savior who "was" but a Savior who "is." He lives and breathes and DOES and TEACHES and ACTS now! He was dead and he is alive and, behold, he holds the keys to death and hell.
Okay. I keep trying to communicate that my fingers are tired... So the last thing I was impressed about in those first 11 verses was tipped off by an online article I found by NT Wright arguing that the whole book is about KINGDOM. The disciples ask the question: "Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom?" Jesus responds, "It's not for you to know the dates and times." We usually read that as a "no" whereas we ought to read it as a "yes."
"Yes. I rose victorious as king! Now, I ascend into heaven to take the throne of the kingdom that will never spoil, fade, or end. And YOU! YOU will be my witnesses! To carry THAT declaration of good news to Jerusalem, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!
In the crucifixion of Jesus, he was brought on trial to the kings of his day. He was taken to Herod who represented the "kingdom" of Judea. He was taken to Pilate, who represented Caesar and the kingdom of Rome. But meanwhile, his was the kingdom that mattered. He was given a purple robe, a crown of thorns was placed on his head, and, mockingly, the title "king" was hung upon the cross.
This was the true coronation of the true king, against the kingdoms of the world.
And this is the pattern that the book of Acts follows. The good news proclamation is that Jesus is Lord and King. Chapters 1-12 show the church bringing this message over and against the kingdom of Herod, with Peter at the forefront, and Judea as the arena. Then, Chapters 13-28 show the church bringing this message over and against the kingdom of Rome and Caesar, with Paul at the forefront, and the Roman world is the arena.
And we, I suppose, carry the implication at the end of the book that the proclamation is to go out to "ends of the earth." Whether Venice Beach, 2010, or anywhere else. Who are the kings and lords of our age? Whoever they are, the good news is the same. Like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (which is stuck in my ipod as a Christmas leftover) declares: "Born a king on Bethlehem plain, gold I bring to crown him again, King forever, ceasing never over us all to reign."
To be honest, though, I'm a little terrified about this. I usually edit my emails and anything I write about fifty million times to make sure I'm saying just what I want to say. Now I'm publishing off-the-cuff comments, theological claims, and declarations about God and FOR EVERYONE TO SEE!
What if I say something wrong? What if it's too obvious that I've been reading NT Wright this past week and borrowing his good ideas? Worse yet, what if I botch and misrepresent those good ideas or others?
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of my fears.
But then, why not? If I don't have the courage to join the dialog, even though I may be dead wrong, what's the point? Theology is relational! Theology is relational and always aimed at discovering how to be in that one, primary relationship.
Okay... so... Acts!
The first 11 verses of Acts blow me away. There is just a ton of stuff right at the outset. Like... The ascension! What is the ascension and why is it basically ignored by evangelicals? I have some thoughts on that but... for another time, when my fingers have more energy.
Or... What the heck happened during those 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension? What kind of things did he say as he taught them about the kingdom? That must have been awesome. He basically blew the doors off their understanding and turned their world upside down.
First, they put their trust in this Messiah, were convinced by him, and had hope come alive because of him. Nevertheless, while they were relationally committed, at least half of what he said was confusing and misunderstood.
Then, after finally finding the one for whom their hearts longed, their universe shattered when he turned out to be a failed Messiah dying at the hands of the Empire. Then, while they are reeling from this immense disillusionment, he showed up raised from the dead. Then, he spent 40 days "emmaus-ing" their understanding. Wouldn't you love to have been their for the breakfasts and ah-has that must have filled those forty days?
But again, my fingers are too tired for that topic.
And yet another cool part in that first eleven verses of Acts is how Luke says his first book (the gospel of Luke) was all about what Jesus BEGAN to do and teach.
BEGAN. In other words - the virgin birth, the silent first thirty years (excluding the incident as a boy in the Temple), the initiating of his public ministry with the call of the disciples, the temptation, the travels in Galilee, the teaching in synagogues, the controversies, the time in Samaria, Jerusalem... His persecution, the last supper, his arrest, his trial, his death, his resurrection, his appearances, his teaching for forty days, and his ascension. ALL of that... All of it! Is just what Jesus BEGAN to do and teach?
How cool is that? We don't follow a Savior who "was" but a Savior who "is." He lives and breathes and DOES and TEACHES and ACTS now! He was dead and he is alive and, behold, he holds the keys to death and hell.
Okay. I keep trying to communicate that my fingers are tired... So the last thing I was impressed about in those first 11 verses was tipped off by an online article I found by NT Wright arguing that the whole book is about KINGDOM. The disciples ask the question: "Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom?" Jesus responds, "It's not for you to know the dates and times." We usually read that as a "no" whereas we ought to read it as a "yes."
"Yes. I rose victorious as king! Now, I ascend into heaven to take the throne of the kingdom that will never spoil, fade, or end. And YOU! YOU will be my witnesses! To carry THAT declaration of good news to Jerusalem, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!
In the crucifixion of Jesus, he was brought on trial to the kings of his day. He was taken to Herod who represented the "kingdom" of Judea. He was taken to Pilate, who represented Caesar and the kingdom of Rome. But meanwhile, his was the kingdom that mattered. He was given a purple robe, a crown of thorns was placed on his head, and, mockingly, the title "king" was hung upon the cross.
This was the true coronation of the true king, against the kingdoms of the world.
And this is the pattern that the book of Acts follows. The good news proclamation is that Jesus is Lord and King. Chapters 1-12 show the church bringing this message over and against the kingdom of Herod, with Peter at the forefront, and Judea as the arena. Then, Chapters 13-28 show the church bringing this message over and against the kingdom of Rome and Caesar, with Paul at the forefront, and the Roman world is the arena.
And we, I suppose, carry the implication at the end of the book that the proclamation is to go out to "ends of the earth." Whether Venice Beach, 2010, or anywhere else. Who are the kings and lords of our age? Whoever they are, the good news is the same. Like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (which is stuck in my ipod as a Christmas leftover) declares: "Born a king on Bethlehem plain, gold I bring to crown him again, King forever, ceasing never over us all to reign."
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