I absolutely love that I have the privilege of serving a church like Concord that is mission-minded. When faced with a challenge–whether that be hungry families, flooding in Arkansas, or school children in need of supplies–our church rushes to fill those crucial needs and provide out of our own resources. Which all of this is important to reiterate because we often need reminding about why all this is important. Why do outreach and missions at all? What does scripture have to say about serving neighbors in need?

In the many religions of our world, one common ethical theme is that people believe that good deeds lead them to be like God or some other divine figure. By fasting, giving to the poor, or being compassionate, religious folk all across the globe believe that doing these kind actions will lead humans to achieve some degree of perfection. We’ve even seen this in our 7 Churches of Revelation series and how it is tempting to boast about our accomplishments, rather than pursing a deep love for Jesus Christ. Churches often struggle with this prideful temptation, too.

But we in Christianity have a much different approach to the matter. Of course, we believe that doing mission work allows us the privilege of being Jesus’ “hands and feet” in our broken world, but the message of Matthew 25 paints quite a different picture.

As we explored on Sunday, Jesus’ teaching on the separation of the sheep and the goats reveals to us the true nature of God’s judgment. God is not like what we find in cartoons with fiery judgment. Instead, God’s judgment is one that primarily examines our hearts. God judges us according to what we have on the inside. Likewise, as Jesus taught in Matthew 25, if we reach out in love to the oppressed, disenfranchised, and strangers in need, we welcome Jesus himself.

In other words, Jesus’ sense of ethics is flipped. Instead of doing good deeds to earn our way into heaven or to become like a god (as other religions might presuppose), Jesus commands us to welcome those who are poor and lost simply because when we do that, we welcome Jesus himself. Jesus isn’t something we become by being good people. Jesus is located among the broken parts of our world, and by preaching the good news of the gospel message, we participate in God’s resurrection of all that is dead.

It is remarkable that when God speaks of judgment, he often refers to our calling to help the marginalized. If we don’t do this and worship worldly wealth or ignore the cry of the needy, then God’s judgment is rather harsh for us for failing to be true disciples. During a speech several years ago at the National Prayer Breakfast, Bono of the band U2 offered these words about his work with AIDS victims across the globe (he actually did a bit of preaching!):

It’s not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It’s not an accident. That’s a lot of air time. You know, the only time Jesus Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor. “As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” I believe that’s Matthew 25:40.

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God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

We can experience God in so many different ways. Perhaps you feel God’s presence during your favorite hymn at church or when that one Christian song plays on the radio. Maybe you encounter God when you witness a sunrise or experience the wonders of creation. But we should never forget Jesus’ teachings about where God truly is. Jesus is with those who are broken. Jesus is with those who are hungry or thirsty. Jesus is in the prisons, hospitals, or anywhere people people need hope. And Jesus calls us to be a beacon of light to those dark places.

The church of Pergamum struggled with several false teachings in Revelation 2. On Sunday we explored how easy it is to be deceived with lies in our world. While we might not struggle with teachings of Balaam or the Nicolations like Pergamum did, we saw how there are many viewpoints in our world that we might believe, yet these false teachings don’t square away with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is where things like the historical creeds of the church come into play. It is important for us to know these kinds of writings because in many ways, they help us as Christians define what following Jesus is all about. Disciples throughout history have used the creeds as a way to summarize and focus in on what it means to be a Christian. As we noted on Sunday, the Apostles’ Creed was compiled very early in the history of the church–perhaps as early as the year 120AD.

So what makes a creed like this so special? Is there anything magical about these words? Not exactly–but it does give us a significant summary of what the Christian faith is all about. Here is a commentary to explore the Apostles’ Creed, which we say most Sundays at Concord.

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I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

We believe that God created our world. God is also revealed to us as our heavenly parent (Father Almighty) as part of the trinity.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;

God’s son, Jesus Christ, is the second member of the Trinity, equal to God, and revealed to us through the incarnation. We also worship Jesus as our Lord and savior.

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

God became incarnate in our world through Jesus Christ. Jesus was literally born as a human baby.

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;

the third day he rose from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

We believe that Jesus atoned for the brokenness of our world through suffering on the cross. His resurrection three days later showed us that God’s love is indeed stronger than death, and that God offers this hope of salvation to everyone. Jesus also ascended to heaven and will judge the world.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, is God’s spirit who is with us always. This was promised in the gospels and we believe God has guided the church throughout the ages through that Spirit.

the holy catholic church,

The word catholic means that we believe Jesus established a universal church. In other words, it doesn’t necessarily matter what denomination someone belongs to, only that they earnestly repent of sin and seek to follow Jesus.

the communion of saints,

As Christians, we are part of a fellowship of all believers in God’s kingdom. We often refer to this as the “communion of saints”, which signifies all the people who have passed on and entered into God’s eternal life.

the forgiveness of sins,

God offers us forgiveness through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God gives us new life and does not hold sin against us as Jesus offered himself up for you and me.

the resurrection of the body,

As Christians, we believe that God makes all things new, and that also includes experiencing resurrection for our own selves.

and the life everlasting. Amen.

We also believe that God promises us abundant life, which in addition to renewal here on earth, also includes eternal life in God’s presence after we die.

On Sunday, we talked about how American Christians have a complicated relationship with money. A lot of teachings in our culture today often argue that God rewards the faithful with material blessings. How did this temptation of prosperity come about in our world? Here’s a very brief history lesson on the matter!

As the United States became more industrialized after the Civil War, there were obviously many changes to daily life. New businesses and industries gave countless people the opportunity to make more money than traditional employment in agriculture or pre-industrial trade. Even with farming, machinery allowed people to work with greater efficiency. This continued on during the beginning of the 20th century with goods like cars becoming more available and booming economic cycles during of world wars. Of course not everyone became “rich” overnight, but with better working conditions in factories, higher wages, and more job creation, many Americans came to believe that wealth and financial security were finally within reach.

Likewise, Christians had to deal with a huge cultural issue surrounding money: is more money in life OK, or did the bible still caution against newfound wealth in America? Many Christians continued to warn against greed, arguing that it is always ungodly to serve money.

But one response to wealth and opportunity was prosperity theology, which essentially argued that God will reward believers with worldly benefits in exchange for faithfulness. Perhaps you’ve heard of this kind of teaching before–the “health and wealth” gospel. Things like retirement savings, bigger houses, or status symbols like cars and club memberships were viewed as signs of God’s reward. Some preachers even taught that healing from medical conditions was a way that God rewarded faithfulness. And likewise, if someone died or continued to be poor, that was supposedly a sign of unfaithfulness!

Prosperity gospel teachings increased even more during the 1960s with the rise of televangelism and the use of widespread media. Suddenly, programs and sermons could be broadcasted to a lot of people, right in their living rooms. Religion became more of a business. Preachers could amass millions of dollars by proclaiming a message of financial salvation to people.

Here are some core beliefs of “health and wealth” or prosperity thinking:

• Poverty is a result of some kind of personal sin. After being faithful to God, someone is able to overcome that sin of poverty and become raised out of it.
• Religion is a tool to better oneself materially. People have “dominion” over the physical earth, and are entitled to more worldly resources and higher status.
• Worldly success is directly connected with God’s blessing. If someone is rich, that means he or she is in “good standing” with God.
• The more you give, the more you will receive financially. (We’ve heard this all before: “Call the number at the bottom of your screen right now and…”)

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As you can probably tell, I personally believe that there are countless problems with this message of health and wealth. So let’s take a look at scripture.

The bible does have some passages that appear to promote worldly wealth, particularly in the book of Proverbs. Perhaps most notably, we find sayings like these:

• Proverbs 3:9-10– “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
• Proverbs 13:25– “The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.”

These standalone verses might appear to promote a divine reward system, but there is definitely more to the picture. Elsewhere in scripture, it is clear that God intends for us to have a more comprehensive view of money, wealth, and material blessing. Riches might be satisfying in a worldly sense, but there is more to life than having money. We are called to worship God alone, and not obsess and worship material wealth:

• Proverbs 16:16– “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!” God clearly tells us that something like divine wisdom is much more precious than money.
• Matthew 6:19-21– “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus directly tells his disciples that our true treasure is found in God’s kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world.
• Luke 9:23-24– “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” We must recognize as Christians that we need to crucify the desires of the flesh, which also includes giving up our obsession with money in order to truly follow Jesus.
• Romans 5:3-5– “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” God even promised that we would suffer, yet as Christians we realize that troubles in this life allow us the chance to refine our faith and offer ourselves unto God.
• Philippians 2:5-8– “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” If anything, the calling of a Christian is to mimic the life of Jesus and to serve others in need, continually giving so that others might be raised into new life.

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So yes, God does want you to be rich according to the standards of God’s kingdom. God wants you to experience the abundance of new life in Jesus Christ. In dying for us, Christ gave us more than we could ever ask for or even imagine. But God continually reminds us throughout scripture of the dangers of worldly wealth. Just as the church in Smyrna realized, God wants us to always have joy in Christ alone, even if we experience poverty on earth.

We sang a classic hymn on Sunday, and the lyrics are worth posting here, too. Remember where your true treasure lies in a relationship with God:

This world is not my home I’m just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore
Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore