PEOPLE GET READY
by Bob Wickizer
Scripture: Isaiah 1:1, Isaiah 1:10-20, Psalms 50:1-8, Psalms 50:23-24, Hebrews 11:1-3, Hebrews 11:8-16, Luke 12:32-40
People Get Ready
Bob Wickizer
Isaiah 1:1,10-20; Psalm 50:1-8,23-24; Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16; Luke 12:32-40
People Get Ready
I have some challenging news for you this morning. The Christian life is not easy. Being Christian is not a club with a membership card. The entrance rite to becoming Christian does not amount to saying some magic word about Jesus in front of the congregation, NOR does it begin with baptism. The former is the evangelical entrance rite, the latter, baptismal rite, is observed by Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. Despite our catechism, I maintain that baptism may be a necessary condition for becoming Christian, but it is not sufficient.
So, what is the sufficient condition for becoming Christian?
While many of us have heard the adage that "there is no atheist in a foxhole," I know many veterans of combat who have turned to atheism because they could not reconcile a loving God with the horrors they witnessed being done to their colleagues. I know a surgeon and his spouse who were strong Roman Catholics. When their son required a million dollars in cardiac surgery to reconstruct a two chambered frog heart into a four chambered human heart, they could no longer believe in a god who allowed children to suffer what they witnessed at Boston Children's Hospital.
Rabbi Harold Kushner's book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" will help you understand this better. But we are still faced with the question of what does it take to really be a Christian.
Let's shift the question to another sacramental aspect of life that many of us are familiar with - Marriage. What does it take to be married?
We go through an entrance rite into marriage either in a courthouse or a church. But, how long does it take until we are really "married"? Britney Spears first marriage lasted 55 hours. Do we need to have children first? What does marriage mean after each passing decade? 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years? Does the ...
Bob Wickizer
Isaiah 1:1,10-20; Psalm 50:1-8,23-24; Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16; Luke 12:32-40
People Get Ready
I have some challenging news for you this morning. The Christian life is not easy. Being Christian is not a club with a membership card. The entrance rite to becoming Christian does not amount to saying some magic word about Jesus in front of the congregation, NOR does it begin with baptism. The former is the evangelical entrance rite, the latter, baptismal rite, is observed by Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. Despite our catechism, I maintain that baptism may be a necessary condition for becoming Christian, but it is not sufficient.
So, what is the sufficient condition for becoming Christian?
While many of us have heard the adage that "there is no atheist in a foxhole," I know many veterans of combat who have turned to atheism because they could not reconcile a loving God with the horrors they witnessed being done to their colleagues. I know a surgeon and his spouse who were strong Roman Catholics. When their son required a million dollars in cardiac surgery to reconstruct a two chambered frog heart into a four chambered human heart, they could no longer believe in a god who allowed children to suffer what they witnessed at Boston Children's Hospital.
Rabbi Harold Kushner's book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" will help you understand this better. But we are still faced with the question of what does it take to really be a Christian.
Let's shift the question to another sacramental aspect of life that many of us are familiar with - Marriage. What does it take to be married?
We go through an entrance rite into marriage either in a courthouse or a church. But, how long does it take until we are really "married"? Britney Spears first marriage lasted 55 hours. Do we need to have children first? What does marriage mean after each passing decade? 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years? Does the ...
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