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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

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Wait for One Another – 1 Corinthians 11:33

The Corinthian church would have celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a true, full meal, likely in the evening at the house of a wealthy congregant. The problem was that they were treating the meal like just a meal, and going ahead and eating on their own, to the extent that Paul said “your meetings do more harm than good.”

In our western culture in particular, we can easily fall into this kind of behavior because we are a very individualistic culture. This can also cause trouble when we interpret scripture, because the time when the scripture was written was a much more collective age.

The root problem, though, was that by treating the Lord’s Supper as just another meal, they were missing the remembrance and memorial of what Christ did. If they had kept that event and truth front and center, they would not fall into the hoarding and self-centered behavior that Paul calls out.

As People of the Banquet Table, we are called to imitate Christ’s self-sacrifice, to wait and to give and to bring others in. Our role in this life is to exchange all the things that seem to matter, even the seemingly good and religious things, for the opportunity to feast and share at the table of God.

We cannot live in a scarcity mindset when we serve the one who fed the five thousand. We do not need to grasp so tightly or fear that there is not enough. God has more than enough to satisfy all our needs and even our deepest desires.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, September 18, 2022

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Women and Paul – 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Being a pastor is not about having an overarching vision or being a great speaker or even about being a good leader. It is about enabling the multiplicity of gifts within the church to come together and play out as different people all serve God in various ways. It is about loving and laying your life down for those you have been entrusted with.

But many young men in seminary do come at it from a different direction, one of ambition and vision.

This passage, and a few others from Paul, are used to restrict the roles of women in the church. And at a first reading, it certainly looks like that’s what he’s saying. But a second look, especially if looked at through the lens of Jesus’ life and teachings, reveals something different. We can’t just pick and choose what we like from Paul, or treat him just as one stream of Christian thought. We treat all scripture as authoritative, and must view it holistically.

That means taking the life and teachings of Jesus as the ultimate guide, with Paul as the strategist, putting those teachings and truths into practice within particular cultural, social and political contexts.

In this case, he is writing to Timothy, the bishop of the church in Ephesus, where there are clearly specific issues around men (plural) being angry and violent, and women (plural) being vain and spending unnecessary money and time on appearance.

But then in verses 11 and 12, it shifts to singular, implying that he is talking about a very specific situation between a husband and wife. The verb here is an explicitly negative term, also used for murder – it is never ok for one person to dominate another, and in this case it is about women (or a woman) towards men (or a man).

But if you look at the context of Paul more broadly, his vision is of all people using the gifts they have been given to serve. Women versus men never comes into those commands, women are never barred from any of those lists of gifts, including apostleship! (See also, Junia.)

The gospel is subversive, by its nature opposed to the powerful and the popular. In the Roman Empire, the hierarchical power structure was an unbroken line between Caesar to fathers to children. The empire was the household, or oikos, of Caesar – but Paul uses that same term here in Timothy to describe the new world Jesus is building, the oikos of peace, the oikos of Christ.

As Christians, we are to go against the grain. Supporting the powerful over the powerless, supporting men over women – there is nothing subversive or radical about supporting that. That is the natural, worldly order of things. But Christ’s household is different. Christ’s household includes the Samaritan woman at the well, who went into her town and preached, proclaimed the truth of Jesus. Jesus did not tell her to stop teaching and wait for Peter, but chastised the disciples for trying to restrict her.

Let us not put human restrictions on what God has set free.

– Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, August 21, 2022

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Sugar and Spice – Judges 4:1-16

Deborah was a respected judge in Israel, despite being a woman – in fact, the scripture hardly remarks on that fact. She passes instruction from the Lord to Barak, a warrior. Barak agrees to obey, but asks that Deborah come with him.

Some readings of this passage see this request as one of cowardice – but that is not supported by scripture. In reality, both Deborah and the author of Hebrews give Barak film credit as faithful and bold. In reality, Barak’s request to Deborah is itself a sign of faithfulness, because he sees that she has wisdom and the favor of God.

Deborah’s presence in the Bible is a reminder that cultural distinctions between men and women are not God’s distinctions. The gifts God gave at Pentecost he gave to both men and women, and the gifts He gives today are the same.

Both men and women are called to kindness and gentleness. Both men and women are called to boldness and courage. Some women are gifted in ways society sees as unfeminine, and some men are gifted in ways society sees as unmasculine. But God is bigger than our cultural boxes and how He calls us to serve Him is not dependent on them.

So men, do not fear to be nurturing and kind. Women, do not fear to be bold and courageous. And all of us, let us support our brothers and sisters in their gifts.

– Sermon Notes, Alison Robison, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, August 14, 2022

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A New Heart – Ezekiel 36:26-27

“Once an eater, always an eater.” The world around us is very cynical when it comes to the ability of people to change. It’s not unreasonable, when you look at all the high profile failures and broken trust across the landscape. At the core of this cynicism is a focus on the externals, what other people see, rather than thinking about ourselves and others from the inside out. But that is the core of the work of the Holy Spirit – and that is the kind of work that only the Holy Spirit can do.

We believe in the power of transformation and renewal, but all around us we see decay and oppression and dishonesty and often-justified cynicism.

Calluses are built up to protect our skin, hands and especially feet. We build up calluses emotionally as well, and to some degree that is healthy. We need to be able to “gird ourselves up” and persevere through difficulties. If we felt everything, we would not be able to function.

But the life and words of Christ call us to something higher. We see this perhaps most clearly on the cross, where in the midst of pain, torture and death He has the grace and presence to extend forgiveness to his tormentors.

When we think about being like Christ, though, we tend to think of striving and powering through. But that itself is the opposite of the softness and empathy that we are called to be renewed into.

And that renewal in some ways feels more necessary than ever, with the pandemic accelerating trends in declining church participation and upending our understanding of how and what and who church should be.

We need our heart of stone transformed into a heart of flesh, a soft heart. All the “woke” beliefs and activism will accomplish nothing if they do not spring from a soft heart. We have developed calluses from how we have been hurt, and we need to take the time to mourn that hurt and loss and betrayal. We need God to breath new life into our dry bones.

What are those places of death in our hearts that keep us from experiencing a renewed experience of God? Let us ask God for that gift of renewal, for that heart of flesh.

– Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, July 24, 2022

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The Dance – Genesis 1:26

The Covenant Church has a three-legged stool concept of church planting, balancing strategy, chemistry and spirituality. Some people are more task-oriented and logistics oriented, others are more concerned with interpersonal relationships and others more oriented around communing with God. If any leg of the stool is too long or too short, a church will struggle.

This paradigm echoes the Trinity. Within the unity of God we see the relationality of love. We cannot know who we are fully outside of interaction with the other. The persons of the Trinity are in a dance – the technical term being “Perichoresis.” Western culture has moved to a more radical individualism than where Christianity started and what we are called to.

When we look at the passage of scripture, we see God speaking in the first-person plural – the nouns are plural but the verbs are singular. It covid be argued that this is just the “royal we” but in reality it is more likely that we are seeing an early revelation of the Trinity, along with the “spirit of God hovering above the waters,” and the participation of the person of the Son as described in John 1.

If we see this “us-ness” in the Trinity and the nature of God, and if we are made in the image of that “Us”, then we too are built to be an “us.”

God did not “need” to create, but Creation is a natural outgrowth of this relationality of the Trinity. God Himself is community and creation is the expression of that communality.

What would the church look like if we put the “we” central rather than the “I”? If we considered our actions in the light of how they affect the whole?

We are most ourselves in community. In fact, if we seek after our own personal identity first and foremost, we will come up short. If we seek our identity in community, our individual identity will be clarified and sharpened in a way far beyond we can accomplish at atomized individuals.

The Spirit works through us as a community, bringing different voices, gifts and offerings together. We have a tendency to raise up the individual leader rather than the body, echoing the desire of the Israelites for a (tall) king. But we are called to more.

This unity in diversity is a call on the church to be a light in a broken world, riven by race, class, politics, gender, age and more. When we bring together the body on mission for Christ across those lines, we shine a light into that darkness around us. In a time when disconnection seems to be the word of the day, who is God calling on us to connect with?

– Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, July 17, 2022

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Living Spirit-led – Romans 8:12-15

Tracing the story of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, first we hear of the Holy Spirit coming on Mary and bringing about the incarnation. We see it in the story of Simeon, upon whom the Holy Spirit rested, who was led by the Spirit to see the Christ and prophesy over him. We see the Holy Spirit come down in the form of a dove at Christ’s baptism, and then drive Him into the wilderness to be tempted. Then when He returned, he enters the temple where he inaugurates His ministry with the words of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Luke 4:18‭-‬19 CEB

If we look back in our own lives, we can see the story of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, transforming us from and even through our own brokenness.

That is what Paul writes about in Romans 8, as he addresses the two primary competing forces in our lives as Christians, the Holy Spirit and our own flesh or selfishness. Paul here does not mean to set up a gnostic dichotomy between body and spirit. The Greek here for “flesh” is “sarx” as opposed to “soma” or “body,” meaning to misuse the body, living in a way that centers on the self. The CEB translates it as “selfishness” or “self-centered” and that is the true counterpoint to the Holy Spirit and the temptation that pulls us from the Spirit’s guidance.

But the Holy Spirit is our inheritance as children of God – not something we have earned, not something we even could earn. We are often the older son in the parable of the Prodigal Son, lamenting how hard we have worked. But God says to us “all I have is yours.” As Paul writes earlier in the chapter,

So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1‭-‬2 CEB

Paul also writes that “All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters.” We can ask of our Father with the freedom of children.

The Spirit-led life and church is one that overflows and spills over into the lives and neighborhoods around us. The “vampire,” self-focused love will leave us all shriveled and sucked dry. Let us be a people led by the Spirit, a nexus of His grace and goodness and healing in the world around us.

– Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, July 10, 2022