Streams of Living Water: The Evangelical Stream
Rev. Nancy Gowler Johnson
Puyallup First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

January 7, 2007
 

As I prepared for this week’s sermon, I came across an important source for interpreting our story this morning.  It’s from that great theologian and biblical scholar, Dave Barry, who writes,

It is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men - Gaspar, Balthasar and Herb - went to see the baby Jesus, and, according to the Book of Matthew, "presented unto Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact:

There is no mention of wrapping paper.

If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:

"And lo, the gifts WERE inside 600 square cubits of paper.

"And the paper WAS festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.

"And Joseph WAS going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she saideth, 'Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'

"And Joseph DID rolleth his eyeballs.

"And the baby Jesus WAS more interested in the paper than, for example, the frankincense."

But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped.  This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:

1. They were wise.

2. They were men.

Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off.  This is not just my opinion: This is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys I know.  One is my son, Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift is, quote, "if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the person opens it."

The other is my friend Gene Weingarten, who told me he does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift.

"No one ever had to wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas," Gene said. "They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs."

Dave Barry goes on to present his very own Gift-wrapping tips for men.

Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh….

If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on Christmas morning:

YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?

YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!

YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.

YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!

YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.

YOU: I also got you some myrrh.

In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt.[i]

According to Dave Barry, there are two things we know for sure about those visitors to the baby Jesus.  They were wise and they were men.

Who are those guys?

What’s a Magi?  Oh we call them all sorts of things: Wise Men from the East. Perhaps they were ancient scholars, philosophers. Later traditions would call them kings, but there’s nothing in the story that would lend itself to that interpretation. …or maybe just rich guys with way too much time on their hands.  The text lends itself to a different understanding: Astrologers or sorcerers.  Stargazers who were practiced in the interpretation of the movements in the heavens.

In any event, they’re not from around here.  No mistaking it, they were foreigners.

Matthew says they’re from the East… ancient Persia?  Central and middle Asia, modern-day Iran and more.  Perhaps they were practitioners of Zoroastrianism, part of a priestly caste well known in that area of the world.  Their priests had a reputation for being reliable interpretation of the stars. 

What else do we know about them?

They’re late.  And not just fashionably late.  I mean late, late.  If we follow Matthew’s gospel, they’re up to two years after the birth of Jesus. 

Our nativity scene up front looks complete now, with Mary, Joseph, shepherds, barn yard animals, baby Jesus, and three extravagantly dressed Magi.  But again, if we were following Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus closely, we never would have set up the crèche at all.  You see, in the gospel of Matthew there are no shepherds, no wooly sheep, no manger, none of it.

No, with gospel of Matthew the only visitors to the new family would be those Magi.  And they would be far too late to see the baby’s first smile and much more likely to find the holy child in the beginning of the terrible twos with that golden halo slipping a bit.

They’re foreign, they’re late, and…

They get lost. 

They do quite a good job getting to Palestine by simply following a sign in the stars at night, but they miss the final destination.  By about nine miles.

They wind up in Jerusalem, the capital, at the doorstep of King Herod.  It’s an easy mistake to make, you know.  After all, if you were searching for a newborn king, the first place you’d go would be the current king’s palace, right?

They were men, but, they were wise men, so they ask for directions.  The locals get over the initial distrust of foreigners and consult ancient texts for a better road map.  Soon the Magi are on their merry way and eventually they leave Jerusalem, head down the road to the little village of Bethlehem and to the home of Joseph, Mary and the little boy Jesus.

Over the course of this Advent and Christmas season, we’ve been exploring the great traditions of Christian spirituality.

• Contemplative
• Holiness
• Social Justice
• Charismatic
• Incarnational

Today we consider the evangelical tradition.   The term evangelical has a rather tarnished reputation nowadays.  It’s been hopelessly connected to fundamentalism and the Christian Right political forces that it’s easy to forget that the word evangelical is derived from the Greek word for good news - and is translated as the word gospel.

Richard Foster connects the evangelical spirituality with living a “Word-centered life.” 

Word-centered.  Often evangelicalism embraces a distorted view of Scripture, elevating it above everything else in Christianity.  This is not what I mean here.  Word-centered in the broadest, theological sense.  Last week we heard those beautiful words from the beginning of John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The Word was with God in the beginning.”  It is that wonderful, over-arching image of the Word of God present at the beginning of time itself, working throughout human history to reveal God’s nature to us, and made present in the person of Jesus.  Word-centered with a capital W.

And this understanding of the Word is Good News, very good news.  God draws near to us, not in some one time event centuries ago, but constantly.  That God loves the world and is at work reconciling the world to Godself through Christ.  Good news!  Evangelical spirituality is passionately consumed by the amazing completeness of God’s love for us. 

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,” would be a fitting theme-song for the evangelical movement.

So what would a “good news” spirituality look like?

It would flow out of the understanding that God does not only work in ways we understand or hold dear.  God’s love for all creation cannot be restricted by human limitations.  The good news is that God reaches out to us, all of humankind.

 The Word-centered life finds the presence of God reaching out to us in many ways.

• Creation.  The Word was with God in the beginning.  God works through and reveals Godself to us in the world.  Those wandering astrologers from the East were led by their study of the cosmos. 
• A recent statement by leading evangelical leaders on the environment and global climate change called for evangelicals to take seriously the challenges to our environment as seriously as any other social issue now addressed by evangelical Christians.
• The Word-centered life is one rooted in Scripture.  Not in a “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it” kind of way.  Nor in a piecemeal, take what you agree with and disregard the rest, but in an honest, searching, intellectually rigorous way way.  As Disciples we take seriously the place of Scripture in the life of the church.  We all need to read, teach, study and pray the Scriptures, breathing them into our lives.
• As Christians we believe that we see the fullest revelation of God in the person of Jesus.  In Christ we see the Word become flesh to dwell with us.
• Wonder of wonders, the evangelical spirituality says to us, wonder of wonders, God comes to us where we are, in many different ways and times, calling us into relationship with God.  There is a humility that comes with true evangelical spirituality.  A humility that recognizes the shortcomings of human existence and rests in the unbounded grace of God.
• Personally, I have a deep debt to evangelicalism—born and raised within it. 
  • deep love of Scripture that led me to seminary
  • and there I encountered the even more amazing and radical grace of God for me present in our sharing of communion.

On this Epiphany Sunday we chalked the door to our sanctuary, marking this space as a place of welcome for seekers. 

In our world there are many folks who are seeking after something under many different names: meaning, purpose, spiritual connection, fulfillment, God.  “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” is a common response when people are asked about their beliefs.

An evangelical spirituality meets people where they are on their spiritual journeys.  No beating folks over the head with a narrow understanding of Truth.  It also does not assume that the only or even primary way one will find God is to be in church on Sunday mornings.  There is no way that will make connections with today’s spiritual seekers.  Asking folks to assent to a dusty old collection of theological statements about God will not make a difference in their lives.

Evangelical spirituality welcomes the young seeker, the wise sage, the wandering Armenian, all those who are yearning for something deeper in their lives.  Sharing the good news as we have experienced it in our own lives.  And open to the possibility of learning of God’s activity in the lives of others.

The church, you and I, the people of God are called to be a welcoming community—sojourners—fellow travelers in a faith journey. 

Over the past six weeks you may have found yourself more at home with one stream of Christian spirituality.  Perhaps you’re the contemplative type, one who is drawn to a life of prayer centered on God.  Or you may be strong in the Social Justice tradition, passionately consumed with God’s call for justice for the poor and marginalized in society. 

The six traditions all have strengths to offer us on our faith journeys.  We can be challenged by traditions less familiar or comfortable to us.  We may learn from one another ways to deepen our spiritual lives.  And as God continues to work in our lives, transforming us more and more into the people God would have us be, our lives will manifest not one but pieces of each one of those faith streams. 

So come one, come all.  We are all called by the spirit of God into lives shaped by the wisdom of our Christian traditions: the contemplative, holiness, social justice, charismatic, incarnation, and evangelical. 

Our spiritual journeys are particular to each individual; and although we are a spiritual community, none of us follow exactly the same path.  As we finish our study of the streams of Christian spirituality and as we begin a new year, I want to offer up some wondering questions for us. 

I wonder where is God calling you to grow this year? 

I wonder how the spirit of God is moving to change and transform your life? 

I wonder where are you most in need of God’s grace? 

I wonder in what new ways can you share your experience of God’s wondrous mercy with others?

I wonder where God is calling us as a congregation to grow, move, and change?