Sermon – The Living Word Mar 5th, 2006

Living Dialogue
Have you ever observed a group of women in a long conversation? There is often this amazing phenomenon going on. They are flowing from one subject to another, then someone will toss out the second half of a sentence that has nothing to do with the current topic and the others will respond as though they read her mind and were right on track with her. This used to freak me out, but then I figured out what was happening. Many women have the ability to multi-task subjects. What appears to be a random telepathic change of topics is actually a return to where an old subject left off. They weave on-going dialogue between other topics until a matter is finally resolved. It is all rather clever and mysterious to us men.

This is something like the dialogue Jesus carries on with His followers. Problems, questions, and unresolved sins resurface and He is always moving us toward the solution. When Larry, an elder, or one of us prepares to speak on Sunday mornings, we ask God to guide us. In response, God works out an on-going dialogue that adds the next bit to the individual conversations each of us has with God. This week Dani told me that what Larry said about the curse on Eve of wrestling against the authority of her husband really clicked something in her mind. When Larry mentioned that, God added the next piece of an on-going dialogue and it came right when Dani was prepared to hear it.

Corporate Dialogue
God also continues a corporate dialogue with Harvest as a church. A couple of weeks ago Larry got into the Genesis 17 yes-no-yes-but trouble. Then last week, Paul’s communication meditation showed us what a lousy master doctrine is and Larry spoke on how God resolved the validity of Sarah’s faith. All these things are connected and, step-by-step, God is preparing us for what is next in the life of Harvest CC. This morning I want to be open to how God’s Spirit will add the next chapter based on what we have learned in the previous chapters.

A few weeks before the famous yes-no-yes-but week, in an effort to refute the da Vinci Code movie, we talked about the historicity of the Bible. We looked at the source of the books of our Bible and the divinely guided process followed to ensure their authenticity. With what we have learned since that message, I now want to carry the subject of the word of God forward.

What is Scripture?
2 Tim 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

What did Paul mean when he said “all scripture?” At the time of writing, the Old Testament held the only books bound together as scripture. However, there were other documents circulating among the Christians that were inspired by God and considered scripture. The Apostle Peter considered Paul’s letters as scripture.

2 Peter 3:15-16
Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Peter lists Paul’s letters among the “other scriptures.” There is evidence the early church also had a document we have now lost known as the Q document. It contained quotes of Jesus. The sayings of Jesus would likely be one of the writings Paul referred to when he said “all scripture is God-breathed.”

Logos of God
It is important to note that the Greek term for scripture, grafee, is very different from the term for all of God’s words. That term is logos. Here is the dictionary definition for logos:

Logos (log'-os); something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive.

The logos of God is everything He has ever said or expressed; far more than the few words written in our Bibles.

Primacy of Scripture
When theologians talk about the primacy of scripture they mean the Bible is like the trunk of a tree. There is certainly more to all the logos of God, but all other forms of hearing from God must branch from, or be held up by the scripture.

I think of the Bible as our PMS chart. That is not a chart to tell you how irritable your wife is; it stands for Pantone Matching System. It is a numbered reference system used in the printing industry to insure accuracy of colors. When I used to order stationery and marketing materials the printers would sometimes make the colors a little off. It is important when you are trying to present a coordinated image that everything matches. So we carried a small flip-out PMS chart. Our corporate color was blue-2738 and we could hold the chart up against the stationery and know right away if the color was true.

The logos of God is vast and rich and comes from all directions. Sometimes He speaks through a song, sometimes a friend, sometimes nature. I have even had Him speak through people who did not like me. However, we must continually hold the scripture up against the message to be sure it is the true logos of God.

Internalized Faith
Now I want to change gears and show you something amazing about our faith. We have to go back to where God gave the directions for sacrifice to Moses in Exodus 29:

Ex 29:31-33
And you shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the holy place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them… NKJV

Aaron and the priests were to eat the same lamb that brought them atonement or forgiveness. Sacrificing the lamb brought forgiveness; eating the lamb brought sanctification, which means the process of becoming holy. Why did God want them to eat the sacrificial lamb? Because He did not want forgiveness to be something He did to the Israelites; He wanted it to be something that they ingested and became a part of them. God has always wanted a special people who internalize their faith.

When the Jews could not get beyond the externals of religious rules and regulations, God stated He would start over with a new covenant.

Jer 31:31-33
The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,"
declares the LORD.
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

The New Covenant is fulfilled in Jesus. But the same principle of internalization still applies. God does not want forgiveness through Jesus to be something He does to us; He wants us to internalize Jesus and become one with Him. God wants to live in holy union and dialogue with little puny us!

Melding with God
Jesus is like PVC glue. PVC is plastic pipes that go together with a special solvent glue. Most glues just stick to two surfaces and hold them together, but solvent glue melts a little of both surfaces. The molecules of each piece blend into each other. Jesus is the solvent glue that melts into us and into God and brings us all together until we are one spirit.

John 17:20-23
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me.

This is remarkable. God wants to live in us.

John 14:23
If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

God never wanted an external relationship. He wants to live with us 24-7, guide us, cherish us, hold us, and celebrate His love with us. He wants the presence of His Spirit in our hearts to transform us into a new kind of human. The person living with God on the inside exhibits love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—the fruits of the Spirit. Ever since Adam and Eve had to leave the garden and God’s presence, God has said, “I miss My walks with Adam.” So He made a way through Jesus to be re-united with us.

Logos = Jesus
Let’s go back to the subject of logos—God’s word. I want to show you how logos fits into this discussion. God wanted to re-unite with us and so he took all His words and expressions—His logos—and He compressed it into His Son. Jesus is the full logos of God. Listen:

John 1:1-3
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In every one of those instances where John says ‘the word,’ he is using the term logos. So Jesus becomes man and brings the logos to men. However, as we said earlier, it is not enough to be saved by Jesus, God also wants us to internalize Jesus so that His logos becomes part of us. This is what Jesus said in:

John 6:53-58
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven.

Think of the symbols and metaphors God uses to describe the relationship He wants with us: The Passover Lamb, the bread of life, life in the vine, the yeast of the gospel. Do you know what all these things have in common? None of them does us any good until we take them inside us.

Transubstantiation
Catholic doctrine teaches that when we take communion the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ as they pass into us. This is called transubstantiation. Lutherans teach consubstantiation which means the bread and wine are simultaneously present with the real body and blood of Jesus in us. Debating these doctrines is dealing with pointless externals.

Each one of us has the opportunity to experience the miracle of spiritual transubstantiation everyday when we meditate on our Bible and the Holy Spirit speaks the logos of God into our hearts; not mere head knowledge, but His revelation for what we need at that moment.

The Apostle Paul tells us:

1 Cor 8:1-2
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

The test of when we have correctly used the Bible is when we come away humbled by how small is our grasp of truth and how large is the grace of God.

The challenge to us today is to allow our Bibles, and all the logos of God, to speak to our hearts rather than becoming entangled in the externals of doctrinal systems, correct versions of the Bible, accuracy of words, and all the other activities of head knowledge that leave our hearts unaffected.

Invitation
Are you experiencing God’s living word speaking into the particulars of your life? If you have never opened the door to your heart and invited Him inside, I cannot find the words to describe the joy you are missing. The Bible tells how simple and available this joy is to everybody:

Acts 2:38-39
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.

If you feel Him calling you today, open the door and say, “Come on in”. Jesus is speaking:

Rev 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

How blessed are we to have Jesus—God’s Living Word—in our hearts?


Prayer

Communion Meditation
As we take communion today we have another opportunity for spiritual transubstantiation. As we allow the bread to symbolize the strengthening presence of Jesus that we so desperately need in us, and we allow the juice to represent the sacrifice for forgiveness we must also have, and we take these reminders into us, then the word of God, the logos, will enter our spirit and that is transubstantiation. Don’t just eat a cracker and swallow a gulp of juice. Meditate on how desperately you need the strength, forgiveness, and friendship of Jesus.