"Judaism"

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-3; 15:5-6

It is appropriate that we talked about Judaism on the Sunday we celebrated Holy Communion. The central feature of Judaism is the notion of covenant – the mutual promises that God shares with his chosen people. In our communion liturgy, we recite the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, “This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” This covenant that God first had with the Jewish people, through Jesus Christ, has been opened up to all who choose. And when we consider that Jesus lived and died a Jew, we must consider what this covenant means to us in our lives. It is one thing to say that covenant is important in our faith. But, how specifically does notion of covenant translate to Christianity? What does it mean that Christians are also a part of a “covenant community?” Those are very good questions. We will talk more about that next week. For a preview, follow this link to view John Wesley's Covenant Prayer.

"Islam"

Scripture: Genesis 21:9-30

Yesterday, we continued our sermon series on "Christianity and World Religions." As we discussed the religion of Islam, I was struck by how similar it is to Christianity in so many ways. First, both Islam and Christianity (and Judaism, which we will cover next week) claim Abraham as a patriarch of our faith. Islam recounts many episodes in the Koran that are straight out of the Bible. Both religions emphasize the practice of spiritual disciplines. Obviously, the major difference is that Islam believes that the prophet Muhammad experienced the final and lasting revelation of God while Christians believe that not only did Jesus fulfill that role, but he did it as God in the flesh, Immanuel ("God with us"). And herein lies the greatest difference between Christianity and Islam. Christianity has from the very beginning been an "incarnational" religion, which means that everything hinges on the truth that God loves us enough to become one of us. Islam emphasizes humanity's faithfulness to God by following the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. In Islam, God is revealed, but not incarnate. The challenge for Christians becomes making God's love incarnate in the world so that people might see the truth of Jesus Christ as "the way, the truth, and the life" by the way the Jesus' followers love God and love their neighbor. As I have said in every sermon during this series, let love be our greatest truth claim.

"Buddhism"

“Buddhism”

Philippians 4:1-7

I am truly enjoying our current sermon series “Christianity and World Religions.” First of all, there is value and joy associated with learning something new. However, the reason that I have most enjoyed this series is that it has really helped to synthesize my thinking about my own faith. For example, this week we talked about Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama lived a life of luxury and ease. It wasn’t until he was confronted with the suffering of others that he realized on a deep level that suffering really existed. The existential crisis that resulted from this realization sent him on a journey that gave birth to Buddhism. I share this background because suffering, and the alleviation of suffering, figures so prominently in Buddhism. It is important to recognize, however, that Buddhism teaches detachment as a way to enlightenment. But, enlightenment is something that is to be shared with others. So Buddhists do not ignore suffering, they seek to transcend it, and to teach people to do the same thing. That is an important distinction. As always, as we consider the standpoints of other religions, it is important for us to consider our witness to the world. Even though alleviation of suffering is not the central tenet of Christianity, responding to suffering is one of the ways that God calls us to be witnesses of his love and grace to the world.

"Do Justice"

Micah 6:1-8

Yesterday, we talked about the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There was so much that I would have loved to have shared with you, stories from Dr. King's writings about the struggles of the civil rights movement, but also his writings about hope for all humankind. If you have never read it, I want to encourage you to read or even watch Dr. King's "I Have a Dream Speech," it is time well spent. But, what is most important to remember is not just that Dr. King had a dream, but that Dr. King's dream was informed by his understanding of God's will for all humanity. And this understanding was grounded in a deep knowledge and love for hold scripture. Dr. King's dream was not some made up idea about how he would rule the world if he were in charge. It was his response to God's call on his life. In fact, in my office I have a framed copy of a commitment card that Dr. King made people sign before they could participate in his movement. Follow this link if you would like to read it. Pay special attention to the very first "commandment". It calls people to "Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus." Dr. King's dream was a biblical dream. It was a noble dream. It was a Godly dream. And if we are ever going to "do justice" to our own faith, we will have to take seriously Dr. King's dream and make it our own.

"Christianity and Hinduism"

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

Yesterday, we began our new sermon series, "Christianity and World Religions." We began our series by exploring the religion of Hinduism. HInduism shares common ground with Christianity and also has many differences. The major difference, however, centers around the idea of karma. Hindus believe that good thoughts and good actions create good karma. If a person builds up enough good karma in their lifetime, they are reincarnated in the next life a little higher up on the spiritual chain. This pattern is repeated hundreds, even thousands of times, until this person's soul (Atman) becomes one with the universal soul (Brahman) and the cycle ends with nirvana. In Christianity, it is not our merit or our good thoughts or deeds that earn our salvation. We believe that it is Jesus Christ that has accomplished this. And in response to what Christ has done, we seek to live lives that reflect values of the kingdom of God. One of the things that I appreciated in my study of Hinduism is that it really forced me to think about the Christian doctrine of grace. Like the U2 song says about grace, "it travels outside of karma." But, if I accept that truth (which I do), than logic would tell me that that understanding should make me very humble. Christians claim and proclaim that God is the author of their salvation. But, all too often, we act as if we have done everything ourselves. We are arrogant and even judgmental. But, if we are truly going to accept the Christian doctrine of "saved by grace through faith," the first change in our lives should be to our attitude. That is just something to think about.

If you would like to know more about Hinduism, you can follow these links.

Hinduism - Wikipedia

Hinduism - Religionfacts.com

Christianity and World Religions by Adam Hamilton

"Christianity and World Religions"

We live in an increasingly diverse society. We are often faced with the truth claims of other religions. The claims present questions for Christians. What does God think of other religions? How should Christians respond when confronted with the claims of other religions? What can Christians learn about their own faith when viewing through the lens of the faith of others? Join us as at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church as we explore “Christianity and World Religions” beginning Sunday, January 8, 2012.

• January 8 – Hinduism
• January 22 – Buddhism
• January 29 – Islam
• February 5 – Judaism
• February 12 – Christianity

(On January 15, we will have a special service dedicated to celebrating the life and witness of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Check our website for details. Watch the promo clip (made by the wonderful people at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection)

"What Does Love Look Like?"

Scripture: Luke 1:36-51

I want to share with you something that happened last night and hope that it inspires you this Christmas. At 4:00 p.m. a group of 27 singers arrived to go share the good news of Jesus' birth with others by singing Christmas carols. We went to four homes and even walked one of the neighborhood streets singing carols. It was an inspiring time and I was struck by the willingness of our LOTC family to be there for others. We had all age groups represented in our choir. Shy people, extroverted people, all kinds of people were part of the group. But as all of the voices sang out together, each individual voice grew stronger. It was an object lesson for me about when the church is the strongest - when we are all singing together in one voice. This is an important realization as we consider our time of discernment for LOTC 2.0 in 2012.

Then, when I thought I had learned enough, god had more to teach me. Cindy, Corran and I went over to BJ's for dinner after caroling. Atone point we were talking with our waitress who mentioned she was trying out a new church. Corran said to her, "You should come to our church. It's just over there." And that began a conversation about the virtues of LOTC. Our mission is to be "a welcoming community of faith where spiritual seekers become loving, serving followers of Jesus Christ." My son seems to understand that pretty well. In fact, most of our children do. My prayer is that in 2012, the rest of us understand this. A great place to get started is to invite someone to worship this week. The Longest Night service is on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve services are at 5 pm and 7 pm. We will be having a casual worship service on Christmas Day at 9:30 am. What does love look like? How will you answer that question? God bless.