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Are You the One? – Matthew 11:2-11

Waiting and longing are difficult parts of life. We all have longings and desires, and when those desires are put off, it is hard. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” The best example for many of us is our longing to be married when we were single. We have a hole that needs to be filled, but have to wait for that to happen, and the waiting is painful.

This was the state of the people of Israel, which we can see in the persons of Simeon and of Anna, waiting and longing for the redemption of Israel for decades.

John the Baptist is in a similar situation in this passage. His whole life, from before he was even born, was bent towards preparing the way for the messiah. He preaches about his coming, calls the people to repentance to prepare, even baptizes Jesus Himself. But now he finds himself in prison, hearing about Jesus’ ministry – and it doesn’t sound like what he expected.

John had been preaching a strict message of repentance, a firm and strong word. It jived with the expectations of the people for a strong military leader who would lead them against the Romans. But John hears about Jesus’ ministry – eating and drinking, sermons of love and joy, healings. John may have expected something very different, and so he sends disciples to demand of Jesus whether He really is who John has been hoping and longing for.

And Jesus answers by pointing to the prophecies of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Isaiah 61:1

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 35:5-6

Jesus makes the point here that His ministry must look very different than John’s – John is a prophet, the greatest of prophets, but Jesus is the fulfillment of all that prophecy. He is here to turn everything upside down – when He came, everything changed.

Today, we live in that change, we live in that kingdom where the least are greatest abs the greatest are least.

But we can still feel like John at times, both in specific circumstances and in our broader faith journey. Like John, we wonder if this really is the place we are to be, we may even wonder if Jesus is who we think He is.

Like John, we should look around us for what work Christ is doing in the world – because he is always at work, healing and loving and bringing the good news of His Kingdom.

–Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, December 11, 2022

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Fire and Fruit – Matthew 3:1-12

We are introduced to John the Baptist in this passage, and he comes onto the scene with one very clear message – repent! This message is not quite the one we think of at the time of Christmas, but it’s hard to miss this clear, hard message from a hard man. John serves as a bridge from the prophets of the Old Testament to the gospel of the New Testament. Elsewhere, Matthew describes John as a second Elijah.

John lived apart from the culture and away from the population centers – he set the pattern later picked up by the Desert Fathers of the early church as well as the broader monastic orders. John serves as the model, establishing himself away from the rest of the world but serving as a magnet for people seeking the truth being shared – truth about sin and repentance.

How do we talk about sin and repentance? Some talk about it in the context of judgement, others in terms of broken relationship with God, others in a more postmodern way, addressing our behavior in relation to our own personal beliefs.

John’s role was to call for paths to be made straight, to point Jesus out to people in a way that was clear, insisting that his listeners reorient themselves around the coming Messiah. John’s whole identity was as a witness to the person of Christ. He spent a lot of time insisting he was not the Christ, but pointed the way to Him.

Carl Ellis describes a matrix of righteousness, addressing the personal and social working out of both piety and justice. As evangelicals, we tend to live in the personal piety quadrant nearly all the time, while other traditions may live more in the social quadrants. The challenge is to seek righteousness in a holistic way.

This was the challenge laid out by John the Baptist, looking ahead to Jesus who will make all things new. Some of that new-making, though, will be destructive, an axe at the root of the tree. These processes can be painful, but “joy comes in the morning.”

As a church we have felt like we have been in a time of wilderness. As a society, as well. And so our responsibility is to, as John instructs, produce fruit in keeping with repentance – to emulate John, speaking the truth that clears the way for the truth of Christ’s love to enter all situations.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, December 4, 2022

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Hope – Isaiah 2:1-6

Christianity is sometimes accused of being naive, the hope offered dismissed as a false hope or crutch in the midst of a hurting world. But in reality, life in Christ is lived in the tension of “now but not yet.” Christ has come, but will come again.

We see this in the Old Testament prophets at well, as they proclaim the coming kingdom and the promise of ultimate peace, but also prophesy judgement and captivity. In this passage, Isaiah proclaims the hope of the mountain of God in the midst of the Assyrian Empire conquering the kingdom of Israel and going into exile.

The mountain of God is identified with the Temple Mount, even though it is not the highest in the region. The imagery is of the mountain rising above all others, and of the peoples of the world’s streaming towards it like rivers. The law of God, the life-giving teachings of God, go out from the mountain, and God Himself judges between the nations and settles disputes.

This justice brought by God is itself a prerequisite for the peace promised in the second half of verse four – you cannot have peace without justice.

That’s the vision we seek to live out as a church, a diverse group of people, like all the nations streaming to the temple to receive life. It is easier to work as a homogeneous group, but we seek out brothers and sisters different than ourselves because that is the picture of God’s kingdom we are promised here.

And so we walk together in the light and hope of God. When people are fighting, we walk as ambassadors of peace. When people are selfish, we walk in generosity. When people are in conflict, we walk as reconcilers. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, November 27, 2022

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The Wonder of the Torah – Psalm 119:17-20

Eugene Peterson who created The Message paraphrase version of the Bible also wrote a book called Eat This Book, referencing John’s actions in Revelation 10 when he eats the scroll an angel gives him. The argument is that we are often too analytical and systematic about our study of scripture, when we should be consuming it like food. “He put away his notebook and pencil. He picked up his knife and fork. He ate the book.”

We should be consuming scripture for sustenance, sucking the marrow out of it, absorbing all the bitterness) nutrients and tasting every nuance. We should be chewing the cud of scripture!

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

That’s what the psalmist expresses here, deeply desiring the instruction and laws of God. This is not natural! We typically react against rules and constraint, but the psalmist sees wonder in the Torah of God – not only the words, but the living ethos of life with God.

We see this attitude also in Psalm 1:

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

We know we should seek God’s word in this way, but often this is a struggle for us.

It is notable that the psalmist calls himself a stranger or immigrant in the land, out of place, unrooted, in a transitional state. Where do our roots come from, then? This is what drives the deep desire for God’s commandments our dependence on God’s word like a tree depends on the streams of water.

Let us feel that need, that wonder deeply into our bones. Let us consume the scripture not as a textbook or instruction manual but as the transformational word of God.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, November 13, 2022

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To God be the Glory – Luke 5:17-26

Wonder is a key to transformation, faith and worship. Understanding ourselves in proper context to God will lead us to a childlike faith and out of the day-to-day grind of earthly life.

False humility is the flip side of arrogance. Both mean that we are failing to give God the glory for what He has done and the gifts that He has given. God may need to work in us to properly orient our outlook and behavior in one direction or the other.

But what do those two truths have in common, and how do they connect to this story of the man lowered through the roof?

The story starts with the earthly enemies of Christ watching him for anything they can use against Him. But Jesus was doing what he so often did, healing the sick.

We would prefer to see ourselves in Jesus in this passage, but so often we are the Pharisees, knowingly or unknowingly putting barriers between Jesus and the people seeking Him.

In reality, we should be seeking to be the friends in this story, loving others with a creative intensity that drives us to seek their good by any means. But the best good did not come from them, but from the infinite power of God through Jesus Christ. God doesn’t need us – and yet we matter to Him and he invites us into what He is doing.

There is a tension and even a paradox here. God’s work is not about us – and yet at the same time, God’s work is about us, transforming us into the person He has already proclaimed us.

Within the church community, we play both the role of the friends and the man on the cot at different times. We cannot be too proud or protective of ourselves to be the one who needs others to lower us down to Jesus. We cannot be too afraid to step into the unknown and the difficult – the possibilities of failure open up broader opportunities as well. God wants us in this vulnerable position so He can do “unimaginable things” that will give Him the glory.

God has put people in all of our lives who will lower us in a cot. Anything we accomplish is bolstered by the people and opportunities God has placed around us to glorify himself through the work He and they do through us.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, November 6, 2022

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Wonder: Who is Like Our God? – Exodus 15:11-13

Advent starts in about a month, which is a preview of the birth of Christ, so we’re going to do a preview of that preview during November called “Wonder”.

Children are the best examples we have of wonder. Everything is new and exciting and they have not yet become disappointed or jaded. They have an openness and vulnerability that we would all like to emulate. When do we lose that? When did the what-ifs become no-we-can’ts? When did curiosity give way to caution? There are obviously good reasons we do this, but it’s still a tragedy, and we should seek not to throw the baby off wonder out with the bathwater of irresponsibility as we mature. As children of God, we should have a childlike wonder for Him and the World he made.

The passage comes from the song of Moses after the passage through the sea – Moses has led the people of Israel out of Egypt, pursued by Pharaoh’s army, trapped between the water and the chariots. What a conflicting time that must have been – on one hand rejoicing at the freedom gained and justice done, on the other hand terrified at the doom bearing down upon them.

But we know the story – God rescued the Israelites miraculously, leading them through the sea, and destroying the army that pursued them. That is the context for this song of relief and rejoicing and wonder.

In our lives, we have also experienced these moments of salvation – job offers at the right moment, just the amount of money needed arriving in the mail, other such rescues. But like the Israelites, we often forget. So let’s reconsider the wonder we should hold at these events.

Wonder is a catalyst for praise and worship. In this story, we see Moses’ song of rescue lead into Miriam leading corporate worship and the spontaneous dancing and playing of musical instruments. Much like David’s dancing before the Ark of God, when we are overcome with wonder it naturally leads to a joyful overflowing of worship.

Second, wonder activates covenant. Even when we have wandered, when we see the wonder of God’s goodness and creation, that re-engages our covenant relationship with God. That wonder itself is a core piece of that relationship. We are saved through faith, but too often we see “faith” as meaning “knowledge” and knowledge becomes the focus of our walk with God. And while that’s a part of it, wonder is unavoidably the core of our relationship with a God as mighty as ours.

That recognition of the greatness of God can also open us up to possibilities and transformation. The mystery of God is core to our relationship with Him, just as mystery is key to love. Our own smallness and the massiveness of the universe and its Maker, opens us up to the changes that God seeks in us.

But often these mountaintop experiences give way to the wilderness and the desert. We can easily follow the pattern of the Israelites, losing our wonder and going right back into “adulting” and the cares of daily life, and the griping that often comes with that. We hold onto the things we have done in the past, instead of being open to the new things God may have for us.

This is why we gather, to come together in worship and wonder, to refresh after our weeks in the desert. But we need to be sure to come in the childlike wonder that Jesus explicitly calls us to.

As we prepare ourselves for Advent, let us do so with that openness, wonder and vulnerability of a child.

–Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, October 30, 2022

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Be Patient with One Another – Ephesians 4:2-6

In this passage we see how the community of believers can demonstrate the power of God through our unity. Unity enables the Body to care for the vulnerable and spread the gospel.

But unity is hard. Living with humility, gentleness and patience is hard. Why is it so hard, given that the same Spirit lives in each one of us?

Looking at the story of Adam and Eve, they’re enjoying the garden, everything was provided. God created everything around for them to enjoy, so what happened? They were living in humility, they were gentle with one another – but sin entered in. Just as it does for us.

Human nature is self-protection. Our natural reaction to being hurt is to react with outrage and to still retribution. Humility, gentleness and patience are not our natural state, but rather our supernatural state, the the fruit of the spirit within us. Holy and early love yourself kindness humility eness very with each other if any of you as a greater than second forget it at the door to my whole life

We can try on our own to be these things all we want, but ultimately it is out of our reach without the work of God within us.

When we love someone, we naturally expect they will love us back. But Jesus teaches and enables a love that transcends that very natural expectation and desire. This is not something we can accomplish with our brain and through our own cleverness and willpower. It’s one thing to know the truth and what Jesus wants for you, and another to follow Him even when you don’t know where He is leading you.

There are so many difficulties we are going to face together. You have to remember who is with you – you need to know who’s in your life. Obviously that means God, but also the community the people who love you and who care about you as you move ahead in God’s calling.

— Sermon Notes, Magdiel Tzec, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, October 23, 2022

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Absolute Justice – Isaiah 32:1-8

One of the main themes of Isaiah is that God is a just God, one of a series of superlatives Isaiah ascribes to God. What is absolute justice?

We can learn some of this from the well known verse in Micah, to “do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” Justice is a combination of action, attitude and right relationships with others and God. God’s mercy invites us to act justly to make relationships right. If we are out of right relationship with God, then we are going to be falling down on the other two.

In order to make that relationship right, we must understand our own brokenness and dependence on God – and that brokenness itself impacts the world around us. We are to be poor in spirit, not, as Tim Keller puts it, “middle-class in spirit.” Being middle-class in spirit means we feel like we have earned or are owed our relationship with God and resulting blessings. We are more likely to look down on those in poverty, whether spiritual or material poverty.

But God sees and cares for the impoverished. Isaiah uses terms like “poor,” “needy,” “widows,” “fatherless.” Today, we may think of “homeless,” “refugees,” “victims of sex trafficking,” “victims of domestic violence,” “victims of racism and sexism.”

There are so many opportunities to work justice in the world around us, so if we are poor in spirit and open our eyes to the world, we will see those around us who need the presence of God in the Body of His Church – which is to say, us.

— Sermon Notes, Phil Assink, First V Reformed Church of Oak Harbor, WA, October 9, 2022

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Forgiving One Another – Colossians 3:11-15

Our choices of clothes are a function of what tasks we have ahead of us, how we are feeling and what we want to convey to others. In this passage, Paul instructs us as to what “clothes” what identity we should put on as renewed people of God. The change that Christ has made in us, as a community erases the divisions among us, and creates a new people devoted to “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” And over all of these, we are to put on love. If patience is a scarf, love is the whole ensemble.

But this isn’t a mystical experience that happens to us without our participation. We have to work it out within ourselves and between each other. The crux of this section comes in verse 13, as all those virtues, especially love, find themselves called upon to support the effort of forgiveness: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

We see this unity of love and forgiveness in Luke 7, where a woman washes Jesus’ feet to the chagrin of the religious leaders. Jesus says that “her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Love plays itself out in forgiveness.

The hard part here is that the onus of forgiveness is put onto the wronged party. What if the sin is ongoing and repetitive? What if it’s systemic? What is if it is manipulative and abusive? Forgiveness is hard.

But that’s why Paul calls us back to Christ. He is our “all and is in all” and His peace is to rule in our hearts.

Forgiveness and reconciliation requires vulnerability and transparency. When we are hurt, our natural inclination is to move to avoidance. When we are hurt by someone or we disagree with someone, we just don’t spend time with them. But in the Body of Christ we are called to more. We are called to unity, even if we are not very good at it.

And that’s why we always fall back on Christ. Lord, help us put on Your clothes and help us forgive one another.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, October 2, 2022

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Sing to One Another – Ephesians 5:15-20

Getting together and singing in unison is something we do in church that is a little weird in our society. There are not that many other contexts where we do that, though there are definitely some.

Why do we do this, then? Music is powerful – it’s one of those things that give us glimpses into the divine. Music is one of the languages God has given us to rejoice, worship, mourn and convey all the aspects of the human experience.

Music can also be one of the things that divides the church, over what kinds of music, whether to clap, what beat to clap on. Music is an area where our preferences are strong, and when our preferences come into conflict with others’ preferences it can divide is. This is especially true in our individualistic, personalized, made-to-order culture.

But that also means music provides us an opportunity to participate in community despite our current, individual states or situation or preferences. It is an opportunity give up our rights and come together with the broader body of Christ.

And when we sing the words of the scriptures, we are reminded of the story of God’s love for us, age even placing ourselves within that story, along with our brothers and sisters in Christ alongside us.

This particular passage is placed by verse 15 into the broader wisdom tradition of Proverbs and other writing, as a “do this, not that” kind of pattern. Meanwhile, verse 16 places it in an eschatological context, as advice for people living in the midst of evil and tragic things.

Given that, we are to be sober, both literally and metaphorically. Ironically, that sobriety can become cynicism that makes the singing seem cheesy or naive. So does that mean the spirit has to fill us first, or does the Holy Spirit come fill us as we sing?

But in reality, it is both/and, because the Holy Spirit comes to us collectively, just as we see during Pentecost. Our faith is not an individual, private exercise. When we come together in songs, hymns and spiritual songs, we lift each other up, we draw closer to each other and to God. When we engage with each other, we become the body of Christ, demonstrating His love for the world. The cheesy songs that the world may mock are also the gateway to the fullness of community that the world longs for.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, September 25, 2022