That is why the lesson this week is on the Lamb of God.  That is the organizing principle, the organizing image for the Church.  It is not the Lion of God and the Church triumphant but the Lamb of God, the servant Church.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The Church is the Church only when it exists for others.”

That sounds fair but then he went on to say, “To make a start, it would give away all its property to those in need. The clergy must live solely on the free-will offerings of their congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling. The Church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.”

Jorge Mario Bergoglio put it this way when he became Pope Francis:  “The only purpose of the Church is to go out and tell the world the good news about Jesus Christ.”

These are organizing principles that are not pleasant to think about but they are the principles of the Church as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  Unfortunately, from almost the very beginning of the Church we have confused what it means to obey the one command of Jesus. “Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

We have instead turned that organizing principle into re-making the world into our image.  We have turned the Church too often into a means to an end.  I was on the phone this week with a Christian leader wanting to discuss ways to get more people in church.  That sounds fine until you think about his reasons for doing that.  If we get more people into church then we will naturally create more conservative voters and people who will bring back our kind of culture.  More people in church means a return to the way things should be and, ideally, will impact the 2014 elections.  It’s good for the country and good for God at the same time.  What’s not to like about that?

Just this morning there was an article about the disenchantment of evangelicals with the Republican Party and their candidates.  Why are the politicians and consultants concerned? “Their absence could mean fewer votes for the Republican nominee in closely contested swing states. And perhaps more important, it could also mean fewer campaign volunteers to staff phone banks and knock on doors. Active churchgoers can be among a campaign’s most effective ground army.”

That’s not the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is like sowing seed.  It is like yeast.  It is like treasure hidden.  It is like salt and light.  Salt dissolves before it can work.  It loses itself before it does what it is intended to do.  Too much of it ruins everything.  Light does not draw attention to itself.  It makes other things visible.  No one says, “Turn on the light so I can see the lamp.”  The kingdom of God is like that.  Yes, Jesus says we do not hide our light under a bushel but that is saying the same thing.  Light is for making other things visible and eliminating darkness – not for being the center of attention.

The kingdom is like a field of wheat and tares.  It is not perfect and pure.  It is complicated – even contradictory at times.  The good and the bad grow up together and a life spent pulling weeds and making sure we identify the tares for everyone to see is not the kingdom of God.

The organizing principle of the Church is not the power to make the world into our own image but 1 Peter 1:22: “Love one another deeply”.  It is 1 Thessalonians 15:12-13: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands…so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”  It is Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  The evidence of the Holy Spirit is not secular power and prestige but humility.

I think this is one of the reasons so many Protestants and evangelicals have been attracted to Pope Francis.  I’ve been reading a biography by Paul Vallely – Pope Francis: Untying the Knots.  In it he lists the many changes the Pope has made already.  He gave up the ornate papal chambers for a simple apartment.  He often cooks his own meals. He stays in Rome during the hot summers instead of moving to the summer palace in the hills outside Rome. He wears simple clothes instead of the wildly expensive robes.  He embraces the poor.  Even the Popemobile has been downsized.  He celebrates Mass with the Vatican’s low level staff.  He is using symbols to send the message that he has no interest in pomp and prestige.

“It is important here to realize that the pope is popular with evangelicals not because he’s doing what they already do, but rather because he is doing what they are not doing but wish to begin doing. As I scour the landscape of evangelical leadership (authors, speakers, mega-church pastors), it is difficult to find a man like Francis. In the age of best-selling books and church auditoriums that rival arenas, we do not see many leaders take the route of Pope Francis. And perhaps this is why we enjoy him so much: He is leading us in a way we are not leading ourselves right now.”

It is being the Lamb and not the Lion.  It is humility and not power.  It is not being the lamp but being the light.

Do I like this?  Not really.  I would much prefer the Church being a Lion and not a scapegoat or a sheep.  I would rather we be conquerors instead of “more than conquerors”.  I like the idea of people conforming to my vision and values and life being simple.  Unfortunately, that is not reality.

2.  From the very beginning there have been two ways of seeing things and there will always be, I suspect.  It’s only to be expected. Let’s look at Acts 18:23-19:7:

23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor[a] and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.”

Here in Ephesus we see the evidence of the different organizing principles of the Church.  The first is that of John and that is the baptism of repentance.  Repentance is a good and necessary thing but it is not the heart of the Christian message.  It is pre-Christian and still requires a perpetual getting right with God – just like the Old Testament Day of Atonement.  There is no once and for all reconciliation with God.  The Gospel of Repentance requires a constant awareness of our sins and separation from God.  It leads to self-denial and a life of constantly making amends and offerings of self-sacrifice.  It is the best possible natural life – upstanding, righteous, moral, and ethical but life without the Holy Spirit.  It is what we might call the Christian ethic but not the Christian life.  It is Christian-like values but not a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.

But, without the Holy Spirit all we have is a new Law that only desires obedience and constantly increasing demands.  The Christian ethic without the Holy Spirit is like capitalism without a moral base.  One ends in greed and other in the hopeless task of continuously striving to take away the sins of the world.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”  C.S. Lewis

3.  What is the difference between Apollos and Paul and why does it matter?

Apollos was everything you could desire in a church leader.  He was from the intellectual center of the world.  He was learned with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.  He spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately.  He spoke boldly and was effective in vigorously refuting the Jews in public debate proving from Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.  He was sophisticated, well-read, polished and extremely popular.

Paul distrusted human wisdom and confessed a number of times that he was weak in appearance and speech.  He was argumentative and disturbing.  Look at what happened when he came to Ephesus.  “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.  Handkerchiefs and aprons that touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

I can imagine Apollos and his disciples were probably embarrassed by all this.  I know I am.  My father told me how he used to read C.S. Lewis while listening to the Happy Goodman’s sing southern gospel songs – especially “The Eastern Gate”.  He liked to imagine both of them taking different routes to the same place.

I will meet you in the morning,
Just inside the Eastern Gate;
Then be ready, faithful pilgrim,
Lest with you it be too late.

If you hasten off to glory,
Linger near the Eastern Gate,
For I’m coming in the morning;
So you’ll not have long to wait.

Keep your lamps all trimmed and burning;
For the Bridegroom watch and wait;
He’ll be with us at the meeting
Just inside the Eastern Gate.

Oh, the joys of that glad meeting
With the saints who for us wait!
What a blessed, happy meeting
Just inside the Eastern Gate!

He liked to imagine C.S. Lewis and the Happy Goodman’s getting to the same place in completely different ways.

But there was more.  There was a riot and uproar as well.  Paul never had the same success with opposition that Apollos did.  Instead of convincing he typically alienated and caused violent reactions.  I cannot imagine Apollos in prison and writing a list of sufferings as Paul does in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29:

“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

I think the point is this:
The Gospel without the Holy Spirit is like the preaching of Apollos and the Baptism of John.

It is accurate about Jesus but inadequate.

It is bold and knowledgeable but inadequate.

It is learned and thorough but inadequate.

It is intellectually appealing but inadequate.

It has great fervor and energy but is inadequate.

It can teach the Christian ethic but it is inadequate to empower the Christian life.

4.  But the preaching of Apollos changes through the instruction of Priscilla and Acquila and the disciples of John are baptized into the name of The Lord Jesus.

We need both Apollos and Paul in the Church but the organizing principle is the same.  It is the principle of the Lamb and not the Lion.  It is the principle of humility, service, deep love for the brotherhood, an ambition for a quiet life – not dominance or power or control.  The world will see this as weakness or compromise or even worse.  It doesn’t matter.  It is the way of the Lamb of God.

In John 12:24 Jesus tells his disciples: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Too often, as I’ve said before, we want to be beautiful seeds.  Polished and attractive seeds.  Seeds that people admire and want to emulate but we don’t want to be seeds that fall into the ground and die.

Sadly, the only way to produce many seeds and ultimately a field of wheat is to become hidden, to lose ourselves, to dissolve and become a new life marked by the power of the Holy Spirit.