Here is an important distinction wi... - Fleming Rutledge - Quotes.Pub

Here is an important distinction with far-reaching implications for Christian behavior. The deeds of Christians in this present time — however insignificant they may seem, however “vain” they may appear to those who value worldly success — are already being built into God’s advancing kingdom.

The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ Quotes

Fleming Rutledge Quotes

Here is an important distinction with far-reaching implications for Christian behavior. The deeds of Christians in this present time – however insignificant they may seem, however “vain” they may appear to those who value worldly success – are already being built into God’s advancing kingdom.

Our lives are eschatologically stretched between the sneak preview of the new world being born among us in the church, and the old world where the principalities and powers are reluctant to give way. In the meantime, which is the only time the church has ever known, we live as those who know something about the fate of the world that the world does not yet know. And that makes us different. – Will Willimon, Conversion in the Wesleyan Tradition.

The New Testament writings all presuppose that the fallen human race and the equally fallen created order are sick unto death beyond human resourcefulness.

If our preaching does not intersect with the times, we are fleeing the call to take up the cross. We can learn from the example of Dostoevsky, who in The Brothers Karamazov used material that he read in the newspapers to give a human face to the problem of evil.

If we think of Christian theology and ethics purely in terms of forgiveness, we will have neglected a central aspect of God’s own character and will be in no position to understand the cross in its fullest dimension.

Sentimental, overly “spiritualized” love is not capable of the sustained, unconditional agape of Christ shown on the cross. Only from the perspective of the crucifixion can the true nature of Christian love be seen, over against all that the world calls “love.” The one thing needful, according to Paul, is that the Christian community should position itself rightly, at the juncture where the cross calls all present arrangements into question with a corresponding call for endurance and faith.

Nothing in the Bible makes any religious sense unless we are people of faith who believe that God's own self speaks to us in this living Word.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Justice for everyone is an alarming thought because it raises the possibility that it might come upon oneself after all. As the author of Ephesians puts it, “by nature” we are all “children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:3).

The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ Quotes

When are we closest to God? When we see ourselves as we really are:

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Although people feel blessed in the presence of a holy man who wants the world to be right and people to be happy, the holy man cannot make that happen.

The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ Quotes

Gross injustice demonstrates a basic premise: in our world, something is terribly wrong and cries out to be put right.

The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ Quotes

Here is what Isaiah says: "Verily thou art a God who hidest thyself, 0 God of Israel, the Savior" (45:15). God isstill active, still living, still in charge, still the subject of the verb: God hides himself.' God is active even when hidden, even when seemingly absent.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Now it's very interesting that although we are told that modern Christians don't believe in the Last Judgment anymore, no one objects when a judge in a courtroom hands down a judgment. We believe in that kind of judgment - as long as it's a judgment on someone else, someone who deserves it. So in our minds we are already dividing the righteous from the unrighteous, with ourselves - of course - on the side of the righteous.But isn't that a rather perilous place to be? How much effort does it take to remain on the right side of that balance sheet? And by what criteria, and by whom, will this determination be made?

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Paul the apostle, dictating his fierce message to the Galatians, writes, "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beingsthat by nature are no gods; but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?" (4:8-9). Notice how he quite deliberately changes the sentence so that God is not the object, but the subject. Wouldn't that make a tremendous difference if preachers everywhere did that?

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

If you and I are resting or shirking or slacking, his Spirit is nevertheless on the move with somebody else somewhere else, for "behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:4). God is always accomplishing his purposes.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

America had, I believe, a divine founding. Call it American exceptionalism if you like. But that makes America all the more vulnerable to God's judgment if we become accustomed to glamorizing war, excusing lies, and parading our might and dominance.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

When I say theologically mature, I mean just this: formed by the Bible, proudly Trinitarian, grounded in justification by grace through faith, dedicated to the person of Jesus Christ, convinced of his incarnation as Son of God, recognizing his death on the Cross as redemption from sin for the whole world, boldly convinced of the truth of the Resurrection, and committed to a worldwide mission of witness in Christ's name.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

From this time forth I make you hear new things, hidden things which you have not known. They are created now... Before today you have never heard of them." (48:6-7)Notice the most radical announcement here. "Before today you have never heard of the things that God will do. They are not accessible to human imagination. "They are created now." They are "hidden things which you have not known." This feature of Second Isaiah is what has led interpreters to call this prophet the first apocalyptic theologian - meaning, the first to show in an unmistakable way that God will interrupt the normal progression of things by arriving in - indeed, invading - the midst of human events from a sphere of power capable of calling into existence the things that do not exist (as Paul says in Romans 4:17).

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Studying the Bible and trying to make sense of it in our own lives has been called "thinking God's thoughts after him." The Bible is unique among books because it is written from God's point of view. Let's pause over that for a moment, because it is a staggering claim. That claim could not be made if it were not for one conviction: that God has truly revealed himselfin his Word. If it is true, then the Bible - despite the assertions of a great many textual critics and historians of religion - is written not from the point of view of North or South, Israel or Egypt, Jew or Gentile, but from God's point of view. And God knows what he is doing with his right hand and what he is doing with his left. We don't, but he does. And it is God's right hand that does his proper work, his ultimate work. His left hand is doing his penultimate work, his alien work, the work of judgment that will finally be taken up into his saving work, the work of his right hand.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

If some of those who listen to our sermons reject the message, that is not our worry - as long as it is truly the kerygma that we preach, and not some feeble imitation of it. Rejection is built into the vocation of the preacher. But hear this: The incarnate Word of God is a mighty sword put into your hand. Those who hear it will feel their chains cut off, their prison unlocked, their lungs filled with oxygen:

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.

The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ Quotes

Whenever we are sure that we are among the righteous, we immediately find ourselves among the arrogant.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Because this is an urban church in a downtown neighborhood, it is not so easy to avoid the presence of the poor. We see them. I wonder if that is not part of our vocation, to see the poor, to be the Lord's eyes - because the Lord sees the poor, and he loves the poor, and he sends his people to serve the poor. That is a message that pervades the Scriptures from end to end. There is something seriously out of balance in American Christianity. I am personally opposed to abortion, but there is nothing explicit in the Bible about abortion. There is nothing explicit in the Bible about prayer in the public schools; there is nothing explicit in the Bible about the American flag or the right to have a gun. There are, however, thousands of explicit words in the Bible about justice and compassion for the poor. There are thousands of words in the Bible about defending those who are defenseless.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

Now if God had answered job in the way that we would expect, with soothing explanations and comforting reassurances, then the answer to the question "Is there a God beyond what we can imagine?" would have to be "No." Anyone can imagine a God who does what we expect. The reason that so many people have complained that God's answer to job is no answer at all is that they want a God who fits their preconceptions. Job, however, is manifestly satisfied. The God who is really God has come to him and has revealed himself as the One who was already present, already powerful, already at work before there was anyone to imagine him. God is the author of creation; the creation is not the author of God. This was revealed to job by the living voice and presence of God's own self. That was enough.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

In the final analysis, the book of job is asking this great question: Is there a living God beyond what we can imagine? Is there a Being independent of us, beyond the boundaries of earthly life and earthly struggle? Is there a God who speaks with a voice that is not simply projected out of our human religious consciousness ?6 Is there a God who can deliver us from the dust? Job's great longing is for revelation. He craves a God who is really God. He wants to be shown that God has a power that he cannot discern in the world that he knows.' That is why he is different from his friends, whose entire message is bound up with their need to believe that there are "explanations" for everything.

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament Quotes

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