Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

My sermon this morning is about the cross. And in keeping with mysermon theme I’ve entitled, "A Vision for Ministry in the Twenty-firstCentury," the cross cannot be diminished to a secondary role in the life and ministryof the Christian Church. The cross cannot be relegated to the back seat of Christiantheology. The cross of Jesus Christ, with all of its ambiguity and shame, must be frontand center of every church that wants to effectively reach people in the twenty-firstcentury.

Now one would think the opposite to be true. The cross is not apretty symbol of faith and perhaps not the most up-beat symbol with which the ChristianChurch could march into the next century. The cross is as much an obstacle that will likekeep people away from the kingdom as it will be attractive to others.

In the history of the church, the symbol of the cross has beenblasphemed and misused as often as it has stood as the symbol of our salvation. In thethird century, after seeing a vision of a cross in the sky, the Roman Emporer Constantineembarked on the "Christianization" of civilization through conquest. In the nameof the cross entire countries were brought into submission to the laws of the Roman state.This event in our world’s history has resulted in the murky misunderstanding of therelationship between the church and state even to this day.

In the twentieth century, the symbol of the twisted cross became themark of the most deliberate eradication of a single group of people in the history of theworld under the Third Reich. And up until the present, the burning cross has been a symbolof racial superiority and fear for those who trace their ethnic heritage to the Africancontinent.

Yes, the cross of Jesus Christ has been misused, misunderstood, andabused, but that’s not all. It has also been trivialized. In our consumer culture, wehave turned the cross of Christ into an object of jewelry we wear around our necks. Wehave made the cross of Christ into plaques we hang on our walls. We have displayed thecross of Christ from the rear-view mirrors in our cars, we have placed it on ourletterhead, and we have printed it as a monogram on our shirts. Sometimes I wonder whichis worse, to turn the cross into a symbol of hatred for our own ends, or to trivialize itto the point of becoming a meaningless symbol?

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian Christians speaksabout the importance of cross for those who believe. For the next few moments, I wouldlike for us to turn our attention to the text that has already been read for us and see ifwe can discover why the cross of Jesus Christ has such a central place in the life andtheology of the Christian Church. And of course, if it occupies such a place for thechurch, the natural question we must ask ourselves is: "What place does the model ofthe cross have in my own Christian experience."

It is important to note before we look at this passage that Paul hasjust concluded pleading with the Corinthian Christians, in the name of the Lord Jesus, tobe in agreement and let no division be among you. And at the conclusion of Paul’srequest (chapter one, verse 17), Paul makes his final plea. "For Christ did not sendme to baptize but to proclaim the Gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the crossof Christ might not be emptied of its power."

Paul is saying to the bickering, divided, and petty Corinthians ineffect, "I don’t want to be part of your squabble. I have not come to be areferee or to take sides. I am here in my weakness to proclaim the cross of Christ. And inso doing, the power of that same cross will be plain to see." The cross will not beemptied of it’s power by Paul’s use of eloquent phrases or learned wisdom. Thecross, for Paul, contains all the power that is necessary for him and the CorinthianChurch to get on with business that Christ has called them to—which is to proclaimthe good news of the Gospel.

This leads me to make my first observation about the Model of theCross for twenty-first century ministry. In our weakness the power of the cross isdisplayed for all to see. Now this cuts across everything we believe about power andweakness in our culture. Anybody is anybody must be careful to exhibit their strengthbecause the moment our weakness is revealed, so to is the very place where our opponentswill focus their effort to de-throne us. To exhibit weakness in the public forum like VicePresidential candidate Edmund Muskie did in the seventies, when he began to cry on thecampaign trail can end careers. Those who will survive, cannot reveal their weakness, orit is finished.

Paul is suggesting just the opposite. What this means practically isthat anyone can allow the power of the cross to be exhibited in and through their life ifthey choose to do so. The power of the cross is not exclusively reserved for the mosteloquent or most highly educated among us. The power of the cross revealed in our weaknessdoes not require a seminary or graduate education. The power of the cross is revealedthrough those who are courageous enough to trust God at those places where they are mostweak.

I have always been amazed by the ministry of Billy Graham. In thecourse of his ministry, he has hob-nobbed with the most important and powerful people ofthis century. This self-proclaimed simple-minded Evangelist from the South exemplifieswhat I think Paul is taking about here. Graham’s message from the time he began hisministry until now, has been straight forward, without flash, and not overly complicated.Yet this week, Billy Graham has been invited into the hallowed halls of Harvard Universityto speak about this plain Gospel and debate it’s integrity with some of the brightestminds our culture can produce. Indeed, if Paul is saying anything to us this morning, heis saying, by our weakness, the power of the cross is revealed for all to see.

From this profound observation about the significance of thecross for the life of the believer, Paul makes another alarming statement about messagethe cross. Paul says at verse eighteen and following: for those who do not understand thecross, the cross is meaningless. The power of the cross is not only revealed in ourweakness. The power of the cross, says Paul, is nonsense to the one who thinks they arewise enough to understand the ways of God without it. (Repeat)

You will notice that Paul reinforces this point by askingrhetorically, "Where is the one who is wise? Where are the scribes? Where are thedebaters of this age?" In the midst of a culture where Greek philosophy prevailed,and where one’s standing in that culture was measured by one’s ability to engagein the intellectual debates of the day, Paul goes for the juggler when he says (andI’m taking some textual liberties here) "if you believe that you can think yourway into God’s favor, your nuts. It’s utter nonsense." God has chosen toreveal God’s wisdom through the foolishness of our proclamation.

Have you ever found yourself in a predicament where you tried tothink your way out of it? You thought if you relied upon your own reasoning prowess, youwould be able to make the correct decision? Or have you ever hesitated speaking about thefoolishness of the cross because you were more embarrassed by how you might be receivedthan allowing God’s power be revealed by your foolishness? Have you ever marveled atthe simple way that children see the world and understand God?

This past week, Faith Wallenstein, whom some of you know, invited meto attend a meeting of people who are important to her to help her negotiate throughlife’s difficult turns. It was faith’s meeting and there we all sat. People wholove Faith—social workers, psychiatrists, pastor, family members and caregivers. Andin the midst of all the things we talked about that day, do you know what was the mostimportant thing for Faith was. It was to display some poetry that she has written aboutthe love of Jesus. And I don’t know if any of those other health professionalssitting around that table got it, but I witnessed that day that the power of the cross isfoolishness to those who think they are wise enough to understand. Thank you Faith.

Paul says that God in Christ is powerful and wise at those places wecall foolish and weak. God is revealed when we would least expect to find God— on ajunk heap outside the city, splayed naked and bleeding on a cross. This unexpected, weirdconfusion of power and weakness, wisdom and foolishness in the cross is dramaticrevelation that things are not what they seem. Pilate saw in the cross, justice. Caiaphassaw peace. The people saw revolution, or miraculous healing, or some other self-evidentpower to do good. Jesus was nailed to the wood only for these things we think good. Thereon the cross, God took our piety, our patriotism, our noble ideals and stripped themnaked, madethem foolish, when the world thought we were making Jesus look foolish. As Paulputs it, on the cross God was busy making nothing of those who strut about seeming to besomething.

Do you see that God wants all of us to be somethings, but not on ourterms. When those who seemed to be something are reduced to nothing, it is now possiblethat our lives might be reconstituted into a new something, some fresh, new realityoutside ourselves and beyond our devising. We who once sustained ourselves by our ownsuccess, power, prestige, and glory, are now free to lean on a reality greater thanourselves—the wisdom of God in Christ which is modeled for us in the cross.

What is it you lean on when the rug has been pulled out from underyou? Where does your source of security lie? Where is that which needs to be stripped fromyou and brought to nothing by the word of the cross before you will pay attention longenough to let the power and wisdom of God be revealed in your weakness? This is theGospel. It will never make the New York Times best seller list or receive a golden globeaward, but for those who believe, it is the power and wisdom of God revealed through thosewho are courageous enough to let God make something of their lives. May it be so for you.

Sermon preached by
Reverend Bradley J. Bergfalk
at Concord Covenant Church
in Concord, New Hampshire
on January 31, 1999

Text: Matthew 17:1-9

I picture those disciples trudging up the mountain with Jesus, maybegoing up there thinking that they were climbing the mountain to get a better view of theworld. People sometimes use mountains for that. Other times, they simply climb mountainsto get married and then they are able to say "since our wedding, it’s been alldown hill!" But, there the disciples were, walking alongside Jesus who, from allappearances, looked fairly much like them, a man among men, a fellow Jew, gifted teacher.Then there, on that solitary mountain, Jesus was transfigured (literallymetamorphed—changed) right before their very eyes. On the top at that mountain thedisciples caught a vision that they weren’t expecting. They got a glimpse of Jesusthey’d never seen before. There, on that mountain, they heard a voice, they caught avision, they were every bit transformed as Jesus and they didn’t know it. For onebrief moment, the tough crust of mundane reality was peeled back and the disiciples sawJesus as the long-promised Christ, the one sent from God to save them.

And when the disciples walked back down that mountain, they enteredinto a very different world and as very different people. The world to which theydescended was now much larger than the world they had left the day before.

Now what had changed? Had the world changed overnight? Probably not.Had the thinner air caused the disciples to lose their intellectual faculties? Idon’t think so. Did an encounter with the transfigured Christ on the top of thatmountain change those disciples in such a way that they would never be the same again? Ithink so.

You will notice in the text, the disciples did not immediatelyrecognize the significance of this remarkable encounter with the Lord. And let me sayhere, we seldom do either. It isn’t until long after the fact sometimes that we areable to look back at our life or a particular set of circumstances, or people that playedan important part in our lives and see that yes, indeed, we have encountered thetransfigured Jesus, and it has made all the difference in the world.

But Peter, poor Peter, slow of heart and mind Peter, is moreinterested in preserving a Kodak moment than paying attention to this divine encounter.Instead, Peter suggests that they build some huts in which Jesus, Moses and Elijah canstay. Now this is a curious thing for Peter to say. Then again, I’m not sure if Icould have come up with anything better had I been the one standing there in the presenceof Jesus, Moses, Elijah. Nevertheless, I believe that if Peter had a camera, he would haveburst out with excitement and said something like this, "Hey Jesus, can you and Mosesand Elijah get a little closer—Yah, put your arms around each other so I can get youall in the picture. There’s a special at Wal-mart this week, I’ll get you allduplicates. Now, say cheeze!"

Here’s the point. When disciples of Jesus encounter thetransfigured Lord, their lives are seldom the same. And if we’re not careful, we willbe so busy trying to preserve the moment, trying to hold on to the mountain topexperience, that we will miss the significance of the very encounter itself. Friends, Godprovides countless opportunities for us to encounter the transfigured Lord. Oh, perhapsnot on the top of a mountain, but perhaps through the thoughtful encouragement and prayersof a good. Or maybe God provides an opportunity for us to encounter the transfigured Lordthrough a passage of scripture that we’ve read a thousand times before, but this timeit startles us to see Jesus and his love for us in a way that we’ve never recognizedbefore. Sometimes we can encounter the transfigured Lord in the midst of personal pain orhardship. Even though that famous parable of footprints in the sand is over-used andsomewhat of a cliché, the sentiments of that parable are absolutely correct. When ourlives are often difficult Jesus often has to carry us.

Sometimes the best vantage point for us to understand thesignificance of a living encounter with the transfigured Christ is not at the moment ofthe encounter, but sometime later when we reflect upon the past and can say toourselves—there, yes, Jesus was with me there. It is good for us to look at our livesfrom time-to-time in order to see more clearly those times when the transfigured Jesus wasthere and we didn’t even know it. There was that time at summer camp, or a moment ina college religion class, or perhaps a relationship with a pastor to which we can pointand say, I met the transfigured Christ there, and I didn’t even know it. I climbed tothe peak of a mountain and stood in the presence of Jesus himself, and I didn’t evennotice until now. When we encounter the transfigured Lord our live will never be the sameand sometimes we don’t even recognize it until long afterwards.

Looking at the text again, the voice of God calls to the disciplesfrom the mountain mist and says, "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased. Listento him." The text tells us the disciples fell on the ground and were overcome byfear. The disciples didn’t get it. They didn’t understand Jesus and theycertainly were not clear about the reason why Jesus invited them along for thismountain-top experience. To help clarify this transforming event for the disciples, Godspeaks from the heavens saying, "pay attention, this guy is my flesh and blood andhis reason for living is to please me." His reason for living is to please God.

A professor tells the story of attending a funeral of a very dearsaintly woman from his church. And of all the texts that the pastor could have chosen forthe occasion, the pastor chose this transfiguration text for his funeral sermon. Theprofessor thought it odd that the pastor would attempt to speak about the verities of lifeand death from a text like this, so he listened more carefully than usual to see what thePastor would do with this seemingly incongruent text for the occasion at hand.

The pastor observed that one can appropriately read this text in thefollowing way, "This is my son, who pleases me." And then the pastor went on todescribe how this dear saintly woman, for as long as he had known her, spent her lifeseeking to please God. And then he asked, can the same be said of us? One way to discernthe answer to this is the way we pray. When most of us pray, we pray in this fashion,"please, God…" On the occasion of this dear woman’s funeral, thispastor took a text that we would never associate with a funeral and finally said, when theobject of our faith and life is to wipe that comma out of that sentence so that ourprayers can be to "I want to please God" then, and only then do we understandthe significance of our encounter with the transfigured Christ.

When the disciples of Jesus recognized for the first time that theministry of Jesus was primarily about pleasing God, they fell on their faces infear—or perhaps shame. Now, most commentators on this text will say that thedisciples fear was provoked by the voice of God and perhaps the recognition of theauthority of God imparted on Jesus himself. And I will not argue this point. But, I wonderwhether any of their fear or apprehension, or shame came from a fundamental recognitionthat the life of a disciple is meant to be lived just like the life of Jesus—toplease God. And if it was true for them, to what extent is this also true for us?

Do we spend more time whining "please, God help me out of thiscircumstance and I promise…" Or do we genuinely pray daily, "God, my lifeis yours and I want to please you with every fiber of my being today? When a discipleencounters the transfigured Jesus it is appropriate that we fall on our faces and pray Iwant to "please God." When was the last time you did that?

Returning to the text, Jesus does not let those disciples grovelthere in the dust too long before he reaches out and touches them and invites them back totheir feet. Following this transfiguring experience, and the recognition of the purpose ofJesus life—and likewise theirs was to please God, the disciples must now go back downfrom the mountain and live in the valleys. They must leave that transfiguring experiencewith Jesus behind, and go about their everyday business with one caveat. After Jesus hasbeen raised, then they are free to shout from the mountain tops about their experiencewith the transfigured Christ.

This leads me to my last and brief observation about this text andits meaning for us today as we dedicate our friends to the task of short-term mission. Onethe disciples of Jesus have experienced the transfigured Christ, and come to the placewhere their ready to please God, then a disciple of Jesus cannot help but be propelledinto mission. That’s what the disciples did. We have the written record of theirextraordinary response to this encounter with the transfigured Christ in the book of Acts.We witness how God used a bunch of dim-witted disciples who, at first followed Jesus forall the wrong reasons until that fateful day on the top of a mountain. Until that day whenthey heard the voice of God proclaim with utter clarity, "this is my flesh and bloodand he pleases me—what about you?"

The mission of the Christian Church should always be driven by anencounter with the transfigured Christ. There are certainly other reasons why the churchshould engage mission and ministry, but none of those reasons can provide the stayingpower of a transforming vision of Christ. "What are you saying Brad, Are you sayingthat I shouldn’t be involved in personal mission until I’ve encountered thetransfigured Christ?" Yes. And I am also saying that if you can point to a time whenyou have had just such an encounter, then you have no excuse for not participating in justsuch a mission. Unless of course, you still have that comma in your prayers between PLEASEand GOD. If you do, then I recommend you follow the example of the disciples and fall onyour face and wait for Jesus to tap you on the shoulder. And don’t you worry. Hewill. And when he does, there will be no telling the extent to which the momentum formission that began on that mountain top will have an impact on the lives of people righthere in central New Hampshire.

Sermon preached by
Reverend Bradley J. Bergfalk
at Concord Covenant Church
in Concord, New Hampshire
on February 14, 1999©

Text: Isaiah 6: 1-5 and Revelation 4:1-11

Today marks the second in a series of sermons I’ve entitled"Ministry for the Twenty-first Century." Now, some of you will be quick toremind me that we are not in the twenty-first century yet. And if you really want to be astickler about it, we will not technically be in the twenty-first century until the year2001. Nevertheless, I have elected to address a number of themes in my preaching for thenext few weeks that I believe will be increasingly important for the Church of JesusChrist to understand as we approach ministry in the next millennium. Among these topics Iwill be preaching on "The Mirth (the joy—the gladness) of Worship today. I willalso preach about "The Momentum of Discipleship," " The Model of theCross," and "The Movement of Mission." Worship, Discipleship, The Cross,and Mission. All of these are essential components of any church that wants to make ameaningful impact in the twenty-first century. Now, we will consider the mirth of worship.

Webster’s Dictionary gives this meaning for the word‘mirth’ as "gladness or gaiety accompanied by laughter, hilarity, andmerriment." When I discovered this word in the dictionary as I was trying to find all"M" words for my upcoming sermons, I was delighted to use it in correlation withworship. Now, let me ask you, now that you know the dictionary definition of mirth, whenwas the last time you described your worship experience using this word? When was the lasttime you associated gladness, gaiety, laughter, hilarity, or merriment with getting up onSunday morning, hustling to get the kids ready and in the car, all in time to make it ontime?

I’ll be honest with you. I’ve never used the word mirth orit’s synonyms to describe my worship experience. I might occasionally describe myworship experience as interesting (especially if the pastor had a particularly thoughtfulsermon that stimulated my intellect). At other times, I may describe my worship asordinary (because it is part of the regular routine my life and the life of our family.And it would be so whether I was a pastor or not). Sometimes I’ve described worshipas inspiring when I’ve particularly been struck by the words of a hymn or a phrase ina prayer. But in all the years, and hundreds of worship services I’ve attendedI’ve never used the word mirth.

The more I thought about this word—mirth, in conjunction withthe scripture texts that serve as the basis of my sermon this morning, the more I havecome to the place where I am willing to go out on a limb as say if our individual, andcorporate, worship experience cannot be described this way from time-to-time, thenwe’re in trouble. If there is not a sense of gladness, joy, hilarity that wells up inour hearts as we gather from week-to-week to recite the story of God’s love forGod’s people, which includes us, then we are missing something rather rudimentaryabout worship itself.

But how do we from here to there? How do we recapture the characterof mirth and gladness that should be the hallmark of Christian worship? What needs tohappen in order for us to be able to describe our worship using terms like these ratherthan words like routine, mundane, or some of the others to which I have already alluded?In the time that remains, I want to highlight three principles of worship from thescripture that we have read from both the prophet Isaiah and the Revelation of John. Butbefore I do that, let me offer you some context from which we may begin to understandthese two scriptures.

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah the prophet received avision of the Lord sitting on the throne, high and lifted up. And as if Isaiah is given aglimpse into the throne room of God himself, Isaiah describes that the train of God’srobe filled the temple. Isaiah describes these six winged creatures called Seraphs, whoattended to the throne of God. And theses Seraphs circled the throne singing theses words,"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory."And at the sound of their voices, Isaiah describes that the ground shook, and the templewas filled with smoke. And then we observe Isaiah’s response to this remarkablevision of God. Isaiah said, "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips,and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord ofhosts!"

Isaiah’s response to this fantastic vision God provides me withthe first principle of worship. Worship is about God and not about us. Isaiahrecognizes immediately that in the presence of a holy God there is nothing that he can dobut reflect upon his own unworthiness. Isaiah discovers that in the presence of God, itdoesn’t matter much what he thinks, says, or does. It isn’t until the seraphtouches Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal from the alter that Isaiah can even beginto speak holy words with clean lips.

Worship is about God and not about us. The oft used, and perhapsover-used illustration that demonstrates that worship is about God and not about us wascoined by the Danish theologian Soren Kirkegaard in the nineteenth century when hedescribed worship like a great play. Those who worship are the actors, the preacher is theprompter, and God is the audience. We tend to turn the whole thing on its head asevidenced by the conversation in our cars on the way home from church. "So, honey,what did you think of the sermon this morning?" or "I wish we’d sing somesongs that are more familiar," or "could you believe how long communion wentthis morning, I was afraid we’d never get out of there."

But if God is the audience, the worship leaders and pastor are theprompters and we are the actors, such questions as these are irrelevant to God. Our firstquestion when we walk into the worship setting should be the same as Isaiah’s,"Lord, I am a person of unclean lips, tell me what to say this morning." When weunderstand after all that there is no good reason why we should have the privilege ofbeing in the presence of a holy God save the faithfulness of our savior Jesus Christ, wewill suddenly understand that worship is about God and not about us.

The second principle of worship that I derive from the Isaiah textis this: Worship begins with listening. Immediately after Isaiah lips are cleansedby the touch of a burning ember, Isaiah doesn’t embark on a monologue to end allmonologues. Rather, the text suggests that Isaiah paused long enough to listen for thevoice of God. And when he did, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, " Whom shall Isend, who will go for me?"

This text is often used as a missionary text to inspire people to goto some long lost mission field. As I look at this text, before we can ever contemplategoing anywhere in the name of God, we better stop long enough to listen to what God mightbe saying to us. And the place that is built into the discipline of the Christian where wecan listen for the voice of God is worship.

Perhaps you have noticed that our bulletin divides our worshipservice into three sections on most occasions. Since you do not have a bulletin thismorning, you’ll have to trust me here. The first section of our worship is entitled,"We gather as God’s People," the second section of our worship is entitled,"We Listen for God’s Voice." Indeed, if worship doesn’t provide uswith the opportunity to hear the voice of God, then we might as well stay home and listento Mozart on our stereos.

God speaks in a variety of ways throughout scripture, and for thisreason, when we worship, if we are attentive to what we are doing, God may speak to us inthe silence. Another time, God may speak to us through the words of a hymn that we’vesung a thousand times before, but this time it hits us right between the eyes. Or God evenoccasionally speaks to us through the words of the preacher. It doesn’t matter howGod chooses to speak, what matters most is how prepared we are to listen.

The third principle of worship I offer to you from the Revelation ofJohn. Worship takes place in the company of others. This episode in Revelationchapter four shows a striking resemblance to what we have already observed in Isaiah. Johnis ushered into a place that looks like a throne room. Once there, he sees a throne withtwenty-four thrones around it. And seated on those twenty four thrones are elders dressedin white and with crowns on their heads. Just like Isaiah, John describe living creatureshovering around the throne, each with their own distinctive quality. And just like thecreatures in Isaiah’s vision, these creatures are singing a familiar song that goes,"holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty who was and is and is to come." Andthen John makes this interesting observation. Whenever, these creatures give glory andhonor to the one who is seated on the throne, the twenty-four seated around the thronefall on their knees and worship singing, "you are worthy, our Lord and God, toreceive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will theyexisted and were created."

In our age of individualism, it is hard for us to imagine that thereis anything that we cannot do alone better than in the company of others. We used to viewmovies at large screen theatres, now we rent a video and sit at home alone in the dark. Weused to ride trains to go anywhere, now we drive alone in the comfort of our own carlistening to our favorite radio station. We used to go to the local meeting place to greetand meet people in the community, now we enter chat rooms and take on identities that arenot our own. And if we are not careful, some of us will even be led to believe that we canworship alone better than we can with others.

I am convinced that worship is a central activity for the church inthe twentieth century as well as the twenty-first century. And I am further convinced thatGod never intended for our worship to be anything but an experience that leads to joy andgladness. To approach worship in any other way, is to misunderstand the fundamentalcharacter of worship itself. For every time we gather, we are not here for our benefitalone, but we are here because there is one who sits on the throne and every time thecreatures begin to sing, "You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honorand power." The only appropriate response is to join the song and sing...

Sermon preached by
Reverend Bradley J. Bergfalk
at Concord Covenant Church
in Concord, New Hampshire
on January 17, 1999