shermancox | Sabbath Justice

August 7, 2006August 10, 2017

Peacemaking Remnant – Mission as Talk and Spiritual Life as Escape

In the first chapter of the book The Peacemaking Remnant Charles Scriven questions understanding mission as talk and spirtual life as escape. Scriven sees the dominant eschatology as simply teaching escape or resignation to the powers. Our end time scenario becomes simply telling people the important information that helps them leave the world that is destined to failure.

In contrast to this dominant eschatology, Scriven seeks to teach that the role of the church is to be the Peacemaking remnant in the world. Scriven identifies the group as “a faithful minority [that] bear[s] witness ot he victory of Christ in the midst of last-day crisis.”

Scriven pushes the church to demonstrate the kingdom of God in the world as the witness of the church and not simply to tell others some important words that will allow them to leave and wait. I was immediately struck by the correspondence of such a view with the Sabbath-keeping church ecclesiology that I have attempted to articulate on this blog. As a people we have been called to bear witness to the principles of the Sabbath to the world.

Is the church a demonstration of the principles of the Kingdom of God today? Is the church a demonstration of the principles of the Sabbath (Participation in the Coming Kingdom, Disengagement from the Present World for the purpose of Re-engagement, Celebration of Community).

As we study eschatology and the end time events, let us always ask the question “What difference will this teaching make in the real world?” Let us not have an eschatology that has the same issue that Jurgen Moltmann decries in his book Theology of Hope that robbs our eschtology “…of [its] directive, uplifting, and critical significance for all the days which are spent here, this side of the end, in history.”

Lest you think I attack our emphasis on end time events, instead I affirm and applaud our belief in the end time and ultimately in the Second Advent of Jesus Chirst. I just believe that our eschatology and ecclesiology (understanding of Church) should promote the church BEING God’s hands and feed in the world today.

August 2, 2006August 10, 2017

Transactional Language and Preaching

Ron Rienstra of Fuller Theological Seminary had a post on his blog regarding two worship services that both were problematic for worship that all preachers should keep in mind. In this and the next post we will discuss these worship errors that Rienstra found.

The first problem was that the Christian life was totally framed within transational language. In this version we give God prayer, adoration, etc. And God gives us eternal life. It is only a short jump to God also giving us all the riches down here that many of the Prosperity preachers are presenting as the gospel.

Is this what the Christian life is? Do we do this and God does that? What does this mean to those who end up hurting? What does this say to the one who finds out about Cancer and the doctor says that only a miracle will save?

Rienstra states that “It’s salvation as understood by a community shaped by consumerist values.” The big question becomes what Can we as preachers do to change this “world” that we find ourselves in? In Short, we as preachers must call into question the consumerism that is at the foundation of our society rather than merely using it as some kind of sermon illustration.

July 28, 2006August 10, 2017

When the Beast became a Lamb

Dr. Ciro Sepulveda, chair of the History department at Oakwood College, wrote an article entitled “Reinventing Adventist History.” You can find the abridged version of the article at Adventist Today. The full article can be found at the Oakwod College Website.

Lamb Horned Beast to Lamb Like Beast

In this article Dr. Sepulveda traces the develoment of Adventist understanding of the American power. In this article we see the early Adventists “…considered the United States to be a two-horned beast of Revelation 13, a demonic power in collusion with forces of evil.”

Joseph Bates stated that “Then I suppose we shall begin to think (if not before) that the third woe has come upon this nation, this boasted land of liberty, this heaven-daring, soul destroying, slave holding, murdering country.”

Over time Sepulveda notes, the Adventist understanding of the United States changed from a beast with lamblike horns to a lamblike beast. In his final paragraph he states:

In summary, the historiography of the Adventist church helped create a new identity for the modern Adventist, no longer burdened by the troublesome baggage or worldview of the early founders, and no longer seeing the government as an evil beast in collusion with satanic powers. They no longer pressed to proclaim the second coming of Jesus because the world, after all, is not that bad. Unlike the Adventists of the middle nineteenth century who saw the nation as a warmongering two-horned beast, the modern Adventist feels very comfortable embracing the values and culture of the nation and its never-ending search for power and dominance.

Liberals and Conservatives disagree with the Pioneers

As I think about this work it hits me how many Adventists “conservative” and “liberal” would have problems with this characterization of the United States as an unredeemable beast bent on savagery. We have conservatives among us who seek to defend the policies and practices of the United States at all costs even to the point of taking up arms and dieing in the wars of this nation. Some of these may say that in the future America will be a beast, but would argue that today the United States is the best hope for humanity’s good.

In addition, we have liberals who work for peace and justice in the United States believing that their work can make the United States a better place. They might say that the United States acts beastly, but acting beastly is not necessarily the obvious outcome of all its actions. In other words our work can make the beast less of a beast.

Beast or Lamb?

Is the United States a Beast or a Lamb in its heart? Should we support it when desception is used to rationalize wars? Should we resign in the belief that it is unredeemable? Whatever one’s beleifs on that question we must admit that there have been reforms in the United States throughout history that have made the world a better place.

As an African American I am happy that people did not just assume that America was a beast that could not be reformed. Those in the Civil Rights, peace, and other movements acted in the belief that some good can come from their work. Is it a beast or a lamb? Whatever it is, our calling as Christians is to demonstrate the principles of God in this world. Such a demonstration will place us at odds with the powers of this world. But, our witness to the principles of Christ will be a blessing to others in the world.