You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone!
Acts 2:14a; 36-41; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35
God has given us many sacred things. In fact, some times we don’t realize how sacred those things are, until they’re gone. Please consider that the following song written by Joni Mitchell, a song that was first sung in 1970, might actually be a pretty solid piece of sacred music.
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot;
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot.
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone!
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot!
They took all the trees
Put ‘em in a tree museum;
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ‘em!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone!
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot!
Hey, farmer! farmer!
Put away that d.d.t. now!
Give me spots on my apples,
But leave me the birds and the bees,
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone!
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot!
Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot!
Late last night
I heard that screen door slam.
A big brown tractor came
and took away my house
and took away my land!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot!
I was looking in the 2004 Discipline of the United Methodist Church the other day and came upon something that I refer to every time I do a confirmation or membership class. It is called the Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church and was enacted by General Conference in 1808. That was 200 years ago. There are 25 Articles of Religion in that document. Then, following that are16 more Articles that comprise The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church. All of these articles, together, make up an outline of essential United Methodist beliefs. Indeed, if anyone wants to get a summary of what the basic beliefs are supposed to be of a United Methodist Christian, they need only look there.
For instance, Article I tells us that one of our beliefs is that there is (and I quote) but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts; that God is of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. Then, the article goes on to tell us that in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Of course, many of us might wonder whether any of this in its detail really makes any difference whether you believe it or not.
Then, Article II goes into more detail, likewise, about the nature of the Son of God - that Christ is the very Word of the Father. Article III goes on to say that Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, and ascended into heaven and remains there until such time that he comes again to judge all at the last day.
Each of these 41 articles of faith goes on to intricately lay out the beliefs of United Methodist Christians. Article IV, for instance, explains our belief in the Holy Spirit. Article V lists the books that we shall consider to be the Bible and explains that these Holy Scriptures are sufficient for our salvation.
As one reads through these articles, explanations are given concerning our understanding of such things as Original Sin, Free Will, Justification, Good Works, the Church, the Sacraments, including Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and so on. Then, following these articles are at least fifty more pages that go on to more thoroughly explain those beliefs, including the Social Principles and the Social Creed of the United Methodist Church. And all of that is in just the first 125 pages of the United Methodist Discipline, an 830 page book!
Theology (the study of God) is an intriguing undertaking that is more intricate, logical, and systematic than most people realize. In fact, when a student studies theology in seminary the class is usually called, “Systematic Theology.” In short, the study of systematic theology offers tools for understanding the scriptures and helps one to develop a belief structure that can be coherently and concisely explained to others. Of course, one of the interesting things about systematic theology is that what one may believe about one thing in that theology may drastically affect what is believed about another thing in that theology. For instance, what is believed about the person and work of Jesus Christ may dramatically affect what is believed about the nature of the Church. Or, what is believed about Free Will may dramatically affect what is believed about justification and grace or God as Creator. In other words, once one has developed a systematic theology, one has to be mindful about tweaking any particular part of it out of concern for changing the whole structure.
So, what we believe about God and Jesus, what we believe about worship, what we believe about the bible, what we believe about baptism and membership in the church and our role together as ministers – what we believe about what may seem like just little things – may be much more important to the whole structure than we might think. What we believe about the role of Christians in society, or our understanding of our role in issues of peace and justice, what we believe about caring for God’s creation, what we believe about sin and good and evil, what we believe about the power of Satin vs. the power of Jesus Christ, what we believe about why God made us – all of these things, even some of the little things – may seriously affect our personal systematic theologies. And whether our personal systematic theologies are healthy or unhealthy, sound or not so sound, comprehendible or incomprehensible, stable or unstable, may depend upon more than you may think.
Of course, we all remember singing hymns like, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” It’s wonderful to say that all you need is Jesus. Certainly, Jesus is the gateway to the Christian faith. But, exactly what you believe about Jesus, will depend on how you define Christ and on how you explain the term “Son of God,” and “Trinity,” and how you explain the person and work of Jesus Christ, the nature of the church, and worship, and creation, and the world, and good, and evil – and all those other things that may not seem so important. While it is convenient getting everything narrowed down to “only Jesus,” there is a whole lot more to putting together an explanation of what it is that we believe as the Body of Christ.
The bible is also woven together like this. When you read the bible you have to understand that not only is there meaning to individual chapters and verses, but that everything that is in the bible – from beginning to end – must speak to us as a whole. That’s why it can be disasterous, for instance, for a person to read just a few verses or a few parts of scripture and take it out of context. Instead, taking the scripture and interpreting it in light of tradition, experience, and reason – an informed systematic theology – is what the Church is supposed to help us to do. And that’s one of the reasons that we’re a part of the Body of Christ.
This morning’s gospel lesson is a beautiful example of how this works. It’s the evening after the resurrection of our Lord and two disciples are walking down the road from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus. As they’re talking about the events of the last few days, including Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his confrontation with the religious and political leaders, his arrest, his crucifixion, and the news of his resurrection, the risen Lord suddenly joins them on the road. But, as they’re walking along, they don’t recognize him. Yet, on their way, Jesus opens the scriptures to them and explains the holy mysteries to them. Then, they stop at a house and Jesus breaks the bread. And we’re told that they recognize him in the breaking of the bread. And then he disappears from their sight. Then the two disciples get up, joyfully, and go and share the news with the other believers that they have seen the risen Lord.
This scripture lists some pretty essential beliefs for those of us who are Christians. I’ve listed some of those things on the back of this morning’s bulletin, so I won’t go into them, here. But that list points out the importance of God’s people being seriously engaged in bible study, together, informed by a sound systematic theology, enlightened by tradition, experience and reason, all of that done under the prayerful guidance of the Holy Spirit. And I’m worried that God’s people aren’t taking that seriously enough. I’m worried that we’re wandering away a bit too far away from all of that. And once you’ve lost some of these things, it’s hard to get them back.
The disciples at Emmaus recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. But then he disappeared from their sight. The question for us is, “How do we continue to keep Jesus in our sight?”
It’s been 2,000 years since Jesus rose from the dead and the Body of Christ began to grow and the apostles wrote down their teachings concerning the faith we hold so dear. But, are we still faithful to those teachings? Or is where Jesus left those disciples at Emmaus and where we are, today, so far away from each other that we wouldn’t know Jesus if stared us in the face? Those disciples had spent three years with Jesus, but they still couldn’t recognize him until he broke the bread. And even then he disappeared.
Have we spent enough time with Jesus over the years? Have we been reading the bible, together as the church? Do we really know what we believe? Do we take those beliefs seriously or do we dismiss them too easily? Can we even begin to explain our faith in Jesus Christ to someone else? Would we – will we – recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread?
The words of Joni Mitchell’s song do ask a question that should make us think: Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone!
Amen.