They Left Everything

O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in; it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.

This is Jonathan Edwards, from his Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God sermon.

              Jonathan Edwards is remembered as the instigator of the First Great Awakening. The religious revival of the 1730s that swept New England and then moved south.  This revival has often been seen as the beginning of the revolution that came soon after Edwards.  Shared experience of religious revival was the foundation of political unity.  Edwards is sometimes cast as the instigator of the patriot's dream.

              There were four evangelists who caused the colonies to be awash in religious fervor some three hundred years ago.  There were the Wesley brothers, Charles and John, and George Whitfield.  Although some would argue these three had the greatest impact, certainly the longest as many hymns in our hymnals would attest as well as a small organization known as the Methodists, although their reach continues to this day, it is Johnathan Edwards who is remembered, and his Endfield sermon of anger and wrath and fire, which shaped the American psyche perhaps more than any other leader of American history before the Civil War. So much of who we are comes from this sermon.

              The best way to describe the fire and brimstone of Edwards is to first realize he never raised his voice. He was known for his flat, monotonous speech.  He simply made one thing clear: you are not in hell because God chooses to keep you from the fire.  You are sinners in the hand of an angry God.  Nothing you can do to change this.  Your only hope is gratitude, to humbly accept this lot with contrition and fear. 

              The power of Edwards, though, was not his images or tone of voice, his power was imminent doom.  Edwards preached fear.  You are going to die soon, very soon, probably tonight.  The judgment of God is coming soon, very soon, probably this year.  In a flash you will see and understand the grace holding you from the fire, you will see because you will be engulfed in torment.  Edwards scared the living day light out of people.

              To make this point clear, people who were "out of Christ," known reprobates, were invited to sit in the front pew when he preached, known as the "anxious bench."  Our modern court rooms are based upon this design.  The accused sits before the judge presiding from a raised dais.  The accused is expected to be convicted or confess from this front row seat.  This was part of the fervor of the Great Awakening.  People did repent, did weep, did seek to come into a right standing with Christ. 

O sinner!  Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell.  You hang by a slender thread....

              Fear is a powerful thing.  Bruce Springsteen said that. Fear will take your God-filled soul and fill it with devils and dust. Fear is a powerful thing.

              Beginning in the 1940s, America experienced a third Great Awakening, a revival spanning decades.  Churches were filled, stadiums chalk full of people looking to experience salvation, to be saved.  Many evangelists offered messages of fear, doom.  Many preached the end of the world, the imminent return of Jesus.  The greatest voice, defining voice, the Johnathan Edwards of the latest revival, though, was not a doomsayer.  The greatest evangelist of our lifetime, Billy Graham, didn't preach fire and brimstone.  To his credit, his message was not death and destruction, but love.  Billy Graham's message was not that you are sinners in the hand of an angry God, but you are loved and will be embraced by God, if you would just confess your sins and accept your savior Jesus Christ, personally accept your savior. 

              Known as the "sinner's prayer" the simple confession acknowledges sin, powerlessness, and surrenders to the mercy of God to be found in the redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus.  Where Edwards made clear how angry God was with you, you sinful lot of wretches, Graham made clear the love of God for you, you lost lamb who will be gathered to the shepherd's arm as we sing How Great Thou Art.  Edwards had a stick, Graham a carrot.

              One of the greatest evangelists to follow in the wake of Billy Graham, someone preaching love and acceptance, was Rick Warren.  Warren built massive churches, sold millions of books, and was may still be a leading voice in evangelical circles.  His advice for growth, for success was seen as the gold standard.  And his advice to churches, to pastors, to denominations about how to succeed in growth, how to reach the lost, how to gather the sheep, his advice was found in a simple anecdote about fishing. 

              Warren wrote, when people go fishing, they only know one thing: they know they want to catch a fish.  Makes sense.  But, he said, when a fisherman goes fishing, when someone who has fished since childhood and caught many fish, when a fisherman goes fishing, they only want to know one thing: they want to know what the fish want to catch.  Warren built his churches on this principal.  His main church, Saddleback in southern California, used this anecdote to create a profile.  The profile was what he called Saddleback Sam. 

              Saddleback Sam was a man in his late thirties, early forties.  Sam was educated, married, had a couple of kids.  Most likely he and his wife were professionals trying to pay off a mortgage, were raised with some connection to a church, somewhat conservative, and they were in relatively good health.  Warren built his church on this question: what does Sam want to catch?  What is his spiritual need?  What will feed the soul of Saddleback Sam? His plan was to build a new church on the answer to what does Sam want to catch.

              If you are thinking, hey, that is just market analysis as the basis of a business plan, if that is what you are thinking, then you are right.  Market analysis as the basis of commercial growth and success.  It is a sad truth that such basic questions of market share seemed revolutionary to church leaders in the 1980s. But it was.  Who would have thought: asking a customer what they wanted to buy, when and where do they want to buy (what do fish want to catch), who would have thought such an idea could be applied to the church?  Well, Rick Warren.  And it worked.

              The skeptic in you might be wondering, I get the relationship between the market data of a specific demographic of Southern California and a business model, but how does this match with the gospel, if that is what you are wondering, please award yourself a gold star for the day.  A big part of Warren's success is that he shaped his messages and his church around what Sam wanted.  But how are we to be sure what Sam wants is the gospel?  I want a lot of things, most of which will neither save me, nor keep me from danger.  What if what Sam wants is not good, let alone not the good news Jesus preached?

              Turns out, Sam wanted practical advice for living, an affirming sense of God's love, and good music.  Good signage, small groups, and comfortable chairs were a help too, but the real issue came down to offering a message Sam needed so to help him have faith; he wanted to hear something that would make him a better person/believer.  Turns out Sam really didn't want a stick, and just a bit of carrot.  What he really wanted was the power and freedom to live a happy life.

              The good news, and this is good news, this is very, very close to what Jesus preached.  Freedom from fear, freedom from the demons robbing us of peace, freedom from greed and anger, freedom to live a happy life, such was the message of Jesus.  His gospel, his good news, what he said to catch the first four disciples, his message was not wrath and fear, the stick of Edwards, nor was it the carrot of Graham. 

              In the Gospel of Luke Jesus doesn't tell people God loves them.  He certainly doesn't tell them that his death and resurrection appease an angry God.  His message was not fear or love.  Jesus told the disciples you can be free if you trust humility so your love is genuine, you can be free if you find courage so to not fall to despair.  Fear is a powerful thing, but you can overcome it.

              In the end, this is some pretty practical advice for living a happy life.  Humility will lead you beyond arrogance and self-hatred and pettiness and greed.  Humility is the path that leads to freedom.  But humility is not enough.  You also must have courage; you need to see how strong and resilient you are despite all your shortcomings and sins and darkness.  You can overcome fear.  Again, as the Boss makes clear, that is tough, because fear is a powerful thing.  Hard to overcome, but you have the power within you.  The kingdom of God is in you.

              This might be surprising, but Jesus didn't talk about God a lot.  He talked about himself even less.  His parables, his miracles, his examples where not images of an angry God or a loving God.  Neither was his message.  That God is angry or loving, wielding a stick, or offering a carrot, was not the point of his message.  You can be free if you lose your life; you can live unto freedom if you trust humility. 

You have the power of courage to rise above fear in you right now, no anxious bench, no sinner's prayer, just you and the soul God crafted.  This was the message causing the four to leave everything to follow Jesus.  Humility and courage so to live in freedom.

              We just completed some market analysis.  Turns out we need better signage, better pads in the pews, a more accessible chancel.  And more coffee; more coffee is always a good business plan.  We already have good music and adequate parking.  All of this is good news.  Lot of churches would love our problems. 

              If we wanted, we could, like Warren, create a profile of First Pres Paul or First Pres Patty.  We could.  But in the end no matter the profile or the amount of coffee it all comes down to a very practical hope of a happy life.  A life you will find in humility if you have the courage to try.

              Don't you want to try? Don’t you?

              I like good plans and demographics, but in the end, I just want to be free, free to live this day in joy.  Don't you?  I want to rise above fear and live in freedom.  I'd leave my nets for such. I trust you would do the same. Amen.