At the Heart of the Gospel- Genesis 15:6

 “[Abram] believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it as righteousness.”

What is taking place here?  Abram knew all about unrighteous that comes with living in this sin-filled world; yet, God counted him righteous.  Why?  The answer is that Abram trusted God and believed in His promises.  The Lord consequently laid out a new life and new future for Abram, even giving him a new name, Abraham.  Abraham did not overcome his own unrighteousness, he simply found a new righteousness imputed to him through his faith-relationship with God.  In other words, Abraham did not deal with his own sin, God did. 

Other world religions acknowledge that the problem that stands between us and the divine is the problem of sin.  Genesis 3 tells the story of sin and rebellion entering creation.  The result is separation from our Heavenly Father forever (i.e. spiritual death).  What can we do about it?  The answer is nothing; our sinful nature runs too deeply.  We cannot save ourselves. We need a redeemer. 

Speaking of other world religions, they tend to be mankind’s attempt to overcome sin and nullify the consequences of sin.  For instance, Islam attempts to overcome the effects of sin by adherence to the five pillars of their faith, which are the five things one must do in order to assure going to heaven.  In the 2000 years of Christians history, we have also been guilty of this same sort of heresy.  We Christians know this as “works-righteousness.”  Many Christians today are still guilty of this heresy, either knowingly or subliminally. 

But if religion is man’s attempt to do something to be right with God and overcome the consequences of sin, then Biblical Christianity is not a religion at all.  We aren’t overcoming anything.  What needs to be done has already been done, and we didn’t do it.  The work that needed to be done was done 2000 years ago by God Himself, Jesus the Messiah, at His Cross and Resurrection.  All we do, like Abraham, is accept the gift of grace, answer the invitation, trust God, and enter a salvific relationship with Him.  We are saved by God’s grace though our faith-relationship with Christ.  In this sense, Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship.

Therefore Genesis 15:6 takes us to the heart of the Gospel- "[Abram] believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.  St. Paul clarifies this in Rom 3:23-24, “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…”  Abraham was not any better or righteous than you or I.  In fact, the story of Abraham reveals Him to be a bit a scoundrel.  His grandson, Jacob, another OT Patriarch, was a deceiver and trickster who became a man of faith.  God thus claimed him as His own, set him apart, and made him into something new.  Like us, the Patriarchs fall short of the Glory of God, but what they did do was submit to God in faith, belief, and trust.  It was credited it to them as righteousness.  So it is to be with us!

So, salvation comes only through God doing for us that which we cannot do for ourselves.  But this is just the beginning of our journey heavenward.  We now open ourselves to the Holy Spirit who promises to make us what we already are, which is holy and sanctified in the eyes of God.  This is an exciting adventure of growth, transformation and sanctification.  May the Lord be glorified in your pilgrimage as you journey with Jesus to the throne room of God.  Amen!

Fr. Rob Hartley, Lent 2, 2019

Sermon- Funeral Service for Marylin Poston, Saturday, January 29, 2022

1 Corinthians 15:22    “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”  

Two things in this verse:

·       First, as sons and daughters of Adam, we are reminded that we all die.  We hardly need reminding of this, do we.  We are destined to live 3 score and 10, as Psalm 90 puts it, only to return to the dust from which we came, as it says in Genesis 3.

·       Secondly, this passage tells us that for all who are “in Christ,” (St Paul’s favorite phrase) we are all made alive.  What does St. Paul mean? He goes on to tell us. He says that “in Christ,” the perishable (that is, we mortal humans), put on the imperishable (immortality).  Paul tells us, for those who are in a saving relationship with Christ, death no longer has its sting; that is, the curse of Genesis 3 (which is the story of humankind’s rebellion against God) is broken and replaced with the eternal blessing of fellowship with God forever.    

This is amazingly good news to a world that is perishing, and it is well hidden from many but revealed to all who are in Christ.  This "Good News" is not only revealed to us who are in a relationship with Christ but also actualized and made possible through our relationship with Christ.

This service this afternoon celebrates this great Truth in the context of the life of our dear Marylin.  Of course, we grieve her loss to us and will miss her.  To all the family, know that those of us gathered here grieve with you, but we also celebrate with you.  God has gathered Mimi to Himself forever.  Using the beautiful words from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah from whom we just read, Christ brings to us “the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.”  God has done this for Marylin; God has done this for us.

So, we celebrate:  We celebrate Marylin; we celebrate God who gave Marylin life and gave her to us; we celebrate that God has now granted Marylin an eternal place at His great banquet table in Heaven, the marriage feast of the Lamb to His bride, the Church; and finally, we celebrate the great reality that, through Marylin’s relationship with God in Christ, death does not have the last word in Marylin’s life, God does.

Our relationship with God, therefore, is very important, life and death important.  In God’s grand scheme of things, all relationships are important.  At times like this, we should think about our relationships, such as the relationship we had with Marylin and our ongoing relationships with each other.  Most of all, we should think about our relationship with God.   

Some think that Christianity, particularly when viewed from the outside, is about following rules when it is really about relationships.  Breaking God’s rules can be forgiven, and God is quick to do that, but relationships, especially our relationship with God, can either be made or lost forever.  It is true that we Christians seek to follow God’s rules and the boundaries He has placed around our lives, but we do so simply because it is an expression of our relationship with Him.  Relationships not rules are what we find at the heart of Christianity.

From God's perspective, to be in a relationship with Him is the reason He created us.  Christ came to be our way back to a relationship with the Father unfettered by our sin and rebellion.   Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  Through Jesus, Heaven’s gates are opened wide to a forever and perfected love-relationship with God.  On this side of the grave, we struggle to understand what such a forever relationship with God looks like, but Marylin knows what it looks like; she is now liveing it.

If we are paying attention, God’s purposes for our lives should become clear  in times like today, and it involves our relationship with Him and with each other.  The full, unfettered, and forever relationship with God we call Heaven.  The full, unfettered, and forever relationship with one another we call the Communion of Saints in Heaven.  Through Christ, we will someday take our place in Heaven alongside Marylin and all the saints.  “Thanks be to God!”

Science and Religion

As a young man about to go off to college, I felt the tug to do one of two things with my life- become a priest in God's Church or explore the world of science.  Amazingly, God opened doors in my life that allowed me to do both.  I spent 31years enjoying science, math as the language of science, and a career in electrical engineering (the application of science).  

Retiring from that career, I am now a priest who is further exploring God's creation and my relationship with our Creator.  Hopefully, as a priest and pastor, I am helping others do the same.

I never have considered faith and science as mutually exclusive or involving incompatible worldviews.   My Trinitarian Christian Faith has revealed to me the "why" of my existence, and science continues to open ever-widening vistas as to the "how" I have come to be part of this amazing world in which we live.  It has been an incredible ride!

Relationships, Not Rules

God-intended human life involves relationships.  Without relationships, life is an incomplete and faded image of what God intends it to be.  Jesus said that our first and greatest relationship is with the God who created us- He says in Mark 12:30-31, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The next greatest relationships are with one another- “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Therefore, Christianity is first and foremost about relationships.  Some think Christianity, particularly Christianity viewed from the outside, is all about following rules and loosing autonomy to a distant God.  But in God’s great economy of things, breaking God’s rules can be forgiven, which God is very quick to do.  We follow God's rules and acknowledge His boundaries simply because we love God.  God placed these rules and boundaries in our lives simply because He loves us.  Following God's commandments is surely an expression of our relationship with God.

From God's perspective, being in a relationship with Him based on love is our purpose for being and  why God created us.  God came to us in our fallen humanity in the person of Jesus to be the way back to an unfettered love-relationship with Him.  Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  Through Jesus, heaven’s gates are opened wide for us to enjoy a full and forever relationship with our Heavenly Father.

God’s purposes become clear to us when we realize that God did not create any of us just to live "three score and ten years," as Psalm 90 puts it, and then pass into oblivion (or worse), but He created us to be in a love-relationship with Him and, by extension, with one another.  This full, unfettered, and forever relationship with God is called Heaven.  This full, unfettered, and forever relationship with one another is called the Communion of Saints in Heaven.  In Christ and through Christ, someday we will take our place in the full presence of God among the saints in Heaven. Alleluia!

Rob Hartley 01-07-22

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas, year C, 2022- "What is Truth?"

The Christmas season, as you know, is 12 days long, beginning with the celebration of The Feast of the Incarnation on December 25 and ending with The Feast of Epiphany of January 6, but not all Christians celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation on December 25.  Churches such as the Eastern Orthodox, churches in Russia, Greece, and the Middle East, celebrate Christmas on January 6

This amazingly allowed Nancy and me to celebrate Christmas twice one year.  We attended Christmas Eve midnight mass here at home and then flew to Egypt on a study tour of Coptic Christianity with a group from my seminary.  We again attended a Christmas Eve midnight mass with our Coptic brothers and sisters in Cairo 12 days later. 

Sadly, the very next year this Coptic Christmas Eve service was attacked by Islamic radicals, and many people were killed and injured. This act of hatred and violence could not be further from the great Truth that was being celebrated that night in Cairo.  They were celebrating what St. John writes about in the prologue to his Gospel, “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth.” That night, Truth and the lies of this world came face-to-face.  Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).  Jesus came into the world embodying Truth, the truth about us, about God, and about this crazy world in which we live.

 Years ago, a noted Psychiatrist, Dr. Scott Peck, wrote a book titled People of the Lie.  Dr. Peck makes the all-too-real connection between untruth and human evil.  Living the lies of this world, simply stated, is the source of evil; after all, Satan, who roams this world, is the Prince of Lies.

 So, knowing Truth is important.  St. Paul in our Epistle reading today writes about Jesus coming to us bringing wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of God’s will, he writes.  Paul celebrates that Jesus not only brings salvation, He also brings truth, truth about what this life is really all about.

To us fallen and sinful humans, Truth is an elusive commodity.  Our culture even denies that there is such a thing as transcendent Truth.  We thus leave it to the individual to construct his or her own truth.  Of course, we followers of Christ find all this modernist talk about there being no transcendent truth quite absurd.  We know that ultimate Truth about life and about God is not a product of the human mind; rather, it has its source in the mind of God, which is why we Christians strive to continually grow in our knowledge of God. 

Barney Lamar whom many of you know from the men’s Saturday morning fellowship, sent me a link to an article on this topic written by Anthony Deblasi (Dec 19, 2021).   Deblasi points out that, if what we think or believe is not the truth, then it is not knowledge; in fact, it is the opposite knowledge, it is a lie.  This is important because it is true knowledge that guides us to a fulfilled life.  Jesus told us that He came that we might have life to the fullest.

Simeon and Anna in our Gospel today give us a picture of what it looks like to live into what is true. Truth had been revealed to Simeon and Anna through God’s Word, the Law and the Prophets, and they were now seeing its consummation in the presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple.  Simeon exclaims, “Lord, now you have set your servant free to go in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” We hear in these words the Christmas and Epiphany theme of light as a metaphor of truth and knowledge breaking into this world just as St. John writes about in His Prologue, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

So, “What is Truth?”  I’m sure you recognize this as Pilot’s insightful question to Jesus at Jesus’ trial.  Jesus had told Pilot that He came to bear witness to the truth.  As Christ’s followers, therefore, are not we also to bear witness to the truth?  That is a rhetorical question… of course we are?

 In closing, let me mention a few truths to which we are to bear witness:

 ·       We are to bear witness that we are creatures made in His image of our loving Creator, that God created us out of love, to be the objects of His love, with the ability to love Him in return. 

 ·       We are to bear witness to God’s invitation to be in union with Him, something made possible through Christ who rescues us from our fallen human nature and invites us to new life in Him. 

 ·       We are to bear witness that, by the sanctifying power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives, new life begins now, today, right here among the lies and deceits of this present world, by letting light break into the dark world through us. 

 ·       We are to bear witness that the chief purpose of man is to live a life that glorifies and honors God.  This requires repentance, submission and obedience to God’s good and perfect will for our lives.  

 ·       Finally, since the big, in-your-face untruth of our time is about human sexuality, we are to bear witness that God did indeed has placed boundaries around human sexuality for the healthy ordering of our lives and our society.  Against this great truth, our culture is in open rebellion. 

 You and I know the answer to Pilot's question, “What is truth.” We know the answer because we know Jesus. 

The Rev. Rob Hartley, Christmas II, 2022

Some facts about the Christian virtue of generosity

·      God is the source of all we have, and we are stewards of all He has given us.

·      We are accountable to God for how we respond to His generosity toward us.  

·      Faithful stewardship is a key to the abundant life that Christ came to give us. 

·      We are most like God when we are giving. 

·      The biblical tithe is where things get real.  

Conclusion  If you want a Godly foundation for living in this materialistic world, seek God’s perspective on your money and possessions, and seek to grow in the Christian virtue of Generosity.

 Matthew 6:32-33  “…indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God  and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”   

Sermon for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, 2021- "From Self to Self-Giving"

 Readings:
            Amos 5:6-15
            Psalm 90:1-12
            Hebrews 3:1-6
            Mark 10:17-21

Into            Throughout Scripture, the Lord is persistent in challenging our worldly tendency to place ourselves and our material possessions ahead of Him and ahead of the needs of others.  What we do with what the Lord has materially given us is a big deal with God.

Readings   This morning in our reading from the Prophet Amos, God rebukes the people of God for building houses of hewn stone and planting pleasant vineyards, He says, while at the same time trampling on the poor.   

In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges the rich young man to sell all that he has, give it to the poor, and follow him.  Jesus is not so much focusing on the fact that the young man is wealthy, because God is the source of all things; rather, Jesus is challenging this young man on two things more specifically: first, on what he is doing with all that God has given him; and secondly, that he has placed the love of mammon ahead of his love of God, although, interestingly, he is a man who seeks to be devoted to God.  Jesus says in Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” God says in Exodus 20:2 that we are to have no other gods before Him, which is the first of the 10 Commandments.  Anything we put ahead of God in our lives is, by definition, an idol.  Wealth and possessions can so easily become our idol.

The Rich Young Man          The young man apparently thinks that his abundant possessions can provide abundant life.  This is a malady common in our today’s materialistic society. To think that life in abundance can be found in material possessions is simply an impoverished view of life, at least life as God intends it.  Jesus says in John 10:10 that He came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  The abundant life Jesus is talking about is one of submission to God, perfected relationships, mutual love, sacrificial giving, radical generosity, having God’s transcendent purpose for living, and having a clear vision on where we are headed as children of God.  Jesus’ point to the rich young man today is that he will only find these things by following Him.

This rich young man is on the same journey that we are all on, and he sadly choses to take a different road.  Our Christian journey is to be from self-centered-ness to a Christ-centered-ness, from self-absorption to self-giving, from a life focused on the kingdom of this world to life that seeks the Kingdom of God. 

Our pilgrimage is, of course, a life-long journey and one we cannot make on our own.  The Holy Spirit empowers us for the journey and Jesus promises to walk the road with us.  The fact is that we are all a work in progress.  In Christ, we are ever moving heavenward, until at our last day Jesus takes me by the hand and presents us to the Father, unblemished, healed and perfected. We can all say amen to that.

Spokes of a wheel       A helpful visual for me has always been life as the spokes of a wheel.  Each spoke represents some facet of your lives… our family, career, relationships, hobbies, spirituality, our wealth, whatever.  But something needs to be at the center… the hub of our existence, so to speak.  Given our human nature, tainted by this world as it is, we place ourselves and our material needs at the center.  To the world that sounds right, and Jesus Himself said in Matthew 6 that God knows we need all these things, but the center of our lives needs to be God Himself.  God calls us to a much more transcendent and meaningful life than what the material world can provide, one in which all the various facets and spokes of our lives are submitted to Him.  That is the Christian call.

My on-going journey from self to self-giving       Let me tell you a bit about my journey as it relates to all this.  It was over a half-century ago that Nancy and I got married- (I love now being old enough to mark my journey in half-centuries.  It helps me realize how long and far Christ has taken us).  We married right out of college in 1970.  We soon discovered all the American middle-class struggles of mortgage, career, balancing finances, raising children and securing their future.  Family and career became the center of my existence.  God was there, but He was, in effect, somewhere on the fringe, just another one of those spokes in the wheel.  

One Sunday morning, while standing in the churchyard where we were attending, about to go into adult Sunday School, I was contemplating these things.  Nancy was off doing her ministries.  The kids were in Sunday School and nursery.  It was just God and me.  From what I knew about being a Christian, it was not rational to have God in some compartmentalized fringe of my life.  I thought of Jesus’ words in His Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 6, “…²⁵ [be not anxious] about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

That morning in the churchyard was a watershed moment in my life, a Nicodemus, John 3, born again moment. Perhaps you have had a similar encounter with God.  God invited me to receive him as the hub of my life.  I have been stiving to do that ever since.  

Because it is the topic of God’s message to us today, let me mention one thing Nancy and I did soon after, which was to move to the biblical tithe as a submission of our finances to the Lord.  Of all the facets and spokes of our lives, our pocketbook tends to be one of the last things we sanctify to the Lord.    

Closing      So, in closing, know that God has much to say about how we are to deal with wealth and material possessions with which He has graced us.  The rich young man was not ready to hear the words of our Lord; as for you and me, let us follow Jesus.