Are you a ‘lite’ Christian or a ‘LIGHT’
Christian?
RUMC
5-17-2015
"The “LITE” CHURCH: 24% fewer
commitments, home of the 7 1/2% tithe, 15 minute sermons, 45 minute services;
we have only 8 commandments—your choice Everything you’ve wanted in a
church…& less.”
If you walk down the grocery aisle, or
watch TV commercials you know that you can get almost anything in a “LITE”
version these days. It might have started with Miller “LITE,” but it caught on
big time. “More of what you want, less of what you don’t.”
The Food and Drug Administration says
that in order to be considered “LITE,” a food has to have 1/3 fewer calories,
or half the fat, or half the sodium than a comparable product. In other words,
something is left out, and invariably the manufacturers claim that you can’t
tell the difference. They claim that the “LITE” version tastes just as good as
the original. That leads to the question, “If the “LITE” tastes just as good,
and is better for us, why have the original at all?”
One might also ask:
• Why
have the original version of the food when the “LITE” version leaves out ½ the
salt and ¾ of the flavor?
• Why
have full service airlines, if there is a “LITE” version where everyone just
sits on the floor?
• Why
have full service banks, if there is a “LITE” version down the street that
offers more interest at just ½ the security?
• Why
have full service mechanics, when you can get a “LITE” version that offers
brand new old parts for 1/3 the price?
NO ONE WOULD DO THAT
So why have full discipleship churches
when we can go around the corner to a “LITE” church that promises all the
salvation at half the commitment? It caters more to me and less to God.
A Lot of people do, you know!
They call themselves Christian, but
they have their own idea of what Christian means with cherry picked
commandments, a proof texted Bible, a pew that looks an awful lot like a bass
boat, and a tithe that only counts the income they don’t want. They can call
themselves whatever they like, but I just don’t think Jesus would say that
qualifies as discipleship. At best, it is the “LITE” version of Christianity.
Jesus has another word for people who claim to
be something they are not. And it is not a very nice word… “Hypocrite.” A
hypocrite is someone whose actions don’t match his or her words. They might
look good from the outside, but there is nothing good on the inside.
The Queen Mary was the largest ship to
cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades, and a
World War, she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and
museum in Long Beach, California.
During the conversion, her three
massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the
dock, they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which
the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of
paint that had been applied over the years. It looked good from the outside,
but there was nothing good on the inside.
That is hypocrisy is. All paint and
polish, none of the commitment or discipleship.
One of Jesus’ most stinging critiques
is launched at the hypocrites in Matthew chapter 6.
“Beware of practicing your piety before
others in order to be seen by them; for
then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not
sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, so that they may be praised by
others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give
alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that
your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward
you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, so that they may be seen by
others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you
pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Notice what Jesus was criticizing…He
was not criticizing the practice of faith. He was criticizing those who go
through the motions of faith IN ORDER TO BE SEEN BY OTHERS. Jesus is not
criticizing “practicing your faith before others.” He is criticizing trying to
look good from the outside, when there is really nothing on the inside. He is
criticizing anything we do when the motivation is to puff ourselves up before
others.
• Notice
he says: “do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.”
• Notice
again: “they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, so that they may be seen by others.
Doing faith in order to be praised by
others is hypocrisy. Religion on the outside and nothing on the inside is one
kind of hypocrisy. That is a form of LITE Christianity.
Frankly, this particular form of “LITE”
Christianity doesn’t concern me too much in this congregation. I’m not saying
that we are immune, we are not, but I think we tend to lean away from that
particular “LITE” faith. Toward the other end.
I think we lean that way because
somewhere along the line we have had “go into your closet and pray” drilled
into us. Perhaps it is the German heritage in this area. I don’t really know.
• Somewhere
you have had that drilled into you to the point that some of your are afraid of
doing anything that might appear remotely religious.
• Others
are more than willing to do the right things, but don’t want anyone to know why
you do it.
You have, “Jesus said, ‘Go into your
closet and pray’ ” down pat. But he wasn’t saying what is what DISCIPLES should
do. He was saying that’s what the HYPOCRITES should do.
Did you notice that Jesus was TO the
disciples, ABOUT the hypocrites? He was not describing the behavior of a
disciple, but warning that those who are empty on the inside would be better
off locked away in a dark closet?
This is the counter point in Jesus’
description of kingdom life.
The Sermon on the Mount starts describing
kingdom behavior in chapter 5.
There are the beatitudes, the passage
about salt and light that we read today, and Jesus instruction to go beyond
what the law requires.
The whole of chapter 5 is Jesus’
description of kingdom life, or discipleship including, “You are the light of
the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp
puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to
all in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before others, so that
they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Then as chapter 6 opens, Jesus turns to
the crowd and says, BUT if you are only doing these things to impress me or
anyone else, we are all better off if you just lock yourself in the closet and
hide in the dark.
Jesus FIRST choice is for us to let our
light shine for him, but he essentially says, “If you can’t shine for me, get
out of the way”
The kingdom life, then, is to shine because of
Jesus.
The Disciple’s job then is to shine
because of Jesus.
The Christian’s job then is to be a light
in this dark world because of Jesus.
One kind of Hypocrite pretends he has
it when he doesn’t. But the one who pretends he doesn’t have it when he really
does, is just a hypocritical.
• The
Christian who hides the light of Christ under a basket, is no better than the
one who stands in the dark closet.
• The
Christian who is afraid to let others know why she acts the way she does, might
as well be doing it in a dark closet.
• The
Christian who lives the kingdom life, but is embarrassed for people to know
that he did it because of Jesus, may very well be a nice guy, but he brings no
more light to the world than the one who sits in the dark by himself.
• You
might be all love, and generosity, and service, and forgiveness, and
compassion, but if others don’t “see your good works and give glory to your
Father in heaven” you are missing the boat. Basically, Jesus is saying, the
light doesn’t shine for the light’s sake. The Light shines so the world can see
God.
I know that rubs against your grain. I
know it may take some time for you to get used to letting your light shine for
others. But that’s OK. We are on this journey together. That is why we changed
the sharing time last week. We need to start thinking, not just in terms of
what has God done for me this week, but what I have done because of Jesus. What
have we done because of Jesus?
I am not trying to get o you brag. What
I am trying to do is to get you to take the basket off your light. The Light of
Jesus shines so brightly in you… but so many of you want to keep that a secret.
Let’s take the basket off and shout it from the mountaintops. NOT TO BRING
ATTENTION TO OURSELVES! BUT TO BRING ATTENTION TO GOD.
I’m not saying that we beat people over
the head with our bibles. I’m talking about simple things,
• How
about wearing a clearly Christian t-shirt when you serve?
• How
about when they thank you, replying, “Your welcome, we do it because of Jesus.”
• How
about putting the church banner up in front of a project we are doing?
Not very hard, not very risky,
certainly not offensive. It’s really pretty easy to let our lights shine for
Jesus.
Did you know that color does not really
exist? Color is really just a trick of the eye. You see, light is in fact made
up of energy in varying wavelengths. That is why we have rainbows. When light
hits an object, that light will either be absorbed or reflected.
If, for instance, an object absorbs
every wavelength except for blue, and it reflects the blue light, that object
will appear to be the color blue.
If it absorbs every wavelength in the
light but red, and it reflects the red light, it will appear red, and so one.
Get the picture?
If an object absorbs all the light
waves, and reflects none, it appears to be black.
That is the person who lives in the
light of Christ but never lets it shine so others can see it and glorify God.
If you absorb the light of Christ (for yourself) but don’t reflect it back, you
might as well be under a big basket or be a dark closet because no one can see
Jesus in you.
BUT if the Light of Christ shines on
you, and you reflect the light of Christ in what you do… People will see Jesus
in everything you do. If people see Jesus in you… if people know that you do
what you do BECAUSE OF JESUS. You are a light to the world.
GO- “let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in
heaven.”
Go, have a light faith. Go light our
world.
AMEN
(Straight into video)
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