Christianity’s Inconvenient Truths

Luke16:1-13

My sermon title is a reference to Al Gore’s now famous 2006 documentary entitled “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won two Academy Awards. But let me make it clear at the very beginning that this sermon is in no way political. Concern for the environment should transcend politics. In this respect Al Gore may have been the worst thing that could have happened to the issue of climate change or global warming because his film and his book “Earth in the Balance” politicized a scientific issue. He did not intend this to happen, but it happened nonetheless simply because he is a politician.

Once again let me say that Al Gore was both the worst thing and the best thing that happened to the issue of climate change. He was the best thing because he brought the issue of global warning to the forefront of public discussion. It was the worst thing because people immediately began to take sides on the issue based not on the scientific merit of his case but on political party. People suspected he had a political agenda. If you were a Democrat you agreed with him; if you were a Republican you disagreed with him. Science took a back seat to politics, and that is always bad for science. So let me make it clear that what I have to say this morning has nothing to do with politics. As many of you know I am not a member of either major political party.

This morning I am going to be taking about care for the environment in spiritual terms. Gore also tried to take this approach in his book “Earth in the Balance.” Gore writes: “The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for lack of a better word, spiritual,” (p. 12). He defines “spiritual” as “the collection of values and assumptions that determine our basic understanding of how we fit into the universe.” (p. 12) That is what I am going to be dealing with this morning. I am not a scientist, but I am a Christian who is concerned about what we are doing to God’s creation. Gore is also a Christian. So whether or not you agree with his politics, he is our Christian brother. He writes: “My own faith is rooted in the unshakable belief in God as creator and sustainer, a deeply personal interpretation of and relationship with Christ.” (368) I believe that the human relationship to the earth is fundamentally a spiritual issue. How we treat the earth flows from our spiritual worldview. That is why I am addressing it in a sermon. It was also requested in a Summer Sermon Suggestion.

In the interest of full disclosure for those who are climate change skeptics, I admit up front that I believe that the scientific evidence is overwhelming that the earth’s climate is warming up. I also believe that the evidence points to the likelihood that humans have played a role in that change. Even though people use the issue for their own partisan political agendas – liberal and conservative – if we put that aside, I think that the science behind global warming is irrefutable. I also suspect that the increase in short term extreme weather events that we are seeing around the world and in our country  - from record heat, wildfires, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes - may be the result of this long term climate change pattern, although that connection needs more documentation.

But I am not going to be talking meteorology today; I going to talk about theology and spirituality. I am going to be presenting some of the Bible’s inconvenient truths about the earth and humans’ relationship to it. I am using Jesus’ Parable of the Unjust Steward as my text to expound these truths.

I. The first truth is that the earth belongs to God. The earth is not ours to do with what we want; we are the earth’s, and we and the earth belong to God, the Lord of the heavens and earth. Jesus’ story begins, “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.” I think Jesus’ story can be applied to our environmental situation. The rich man represents God, and man is God’s steward. The accusation is brought that the steward is wasting the owner’s goods. In this same way we can say that the earth is the Lord’s and we have been wasting his earthly goods. In the Psalms David makes it clear who the earth belong to. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Ps. 24:1) The Lord also says to Job, “Everything under heaven belongs to me” (Job 41:11). Psalm 104:24 declares, "The earth is full of Your possessions." In 1 Chronicles 29:11 we read, "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours."

The Earth is God’s creation and possession. This an inconvenient truth because many people – religious and nonreligious – wish that were not true. People would rather have the earth be ours to do with what we want.  Even Christians have twisted the Bible to give ourselves permission to misuse the earth, just like Christians in the American South used the Bible to justify the institution of slavery. In fact many nonreligious people have blamed the present environmental on Christianity. They point to the Genesis command for man to “have dominion” over all living creatures on the earth as the root of all our modern problems. In Ian McHarg’s frequently quoted book (Design with Nature, 1969) he describes this passage  (Genesis 1:26,28) "as one text of compounded horror which will guarantee the relationship of man to nature can only be destruction …. The Genesis story in its insistence upon dominion and subjugation of nature, encourages the most exploitative and destructive instincts in man, rather than those that are deferential and creative … God’s affirmation about man’s dominion was a declaration of war on nature."

Lynn White wrote in his paper ‘The historical roots of our ecologic crisis’ (Science, 155: 1204-7, 1967). "We are superior to nature, contemptuous of it, willing to use it for our slightest whim … Both our present science and our present technology are so tinctured with orthodox Christian arrogance towards nature that no solution can be expected from them alone." It is true that Christians have been a part of the problem, just like nonchristians have been. But it not correct to blame the Bible for our present situation. Any fair examination of the whole Bible – and not just selected proof texts - will reveal that the Bible teaches that the land and animals are to be cared for and treated with respect. On the other hand Christians also blame the secularism and humanism of Western society with its view of nature as a machine and no more than a backdrop for technological advancement and commercial development as the problem. That is not completely true either. It is inconvenient to both of these worldviews to see what the Scriptures really teach. That the world is God’s creation, that it is pronounced good, and that humans are part of that creation.

II. That brings me to Christianity’s second inconvenient truth. Humans are not just part of God’s creation, they have a God-given role that no other species has: to be stewards of God’s creation on this earth. Humans are made in the image of God, which means they are to be God’s representatives on this earth toward the natural world.

There are two creation stories in Genesis. One in chapter 1 and the other in chapter 2. People will quote the first and not the second, but to get the whole story you have to have both. The first story God makes humans in his own image and then says to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (1:28) People critical of Christianity interpret subdue and dominion in a violent destructive abusive sense. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you read how this command was applied in the rest of the laws of the OT you see it was meant in the sense of cultivate the land and domesticate the animals for human use, and to care for those animals not for human use. That is the whole point of Noah’s ark! Why put all these “unclean” animals that humans cannot eat or use on the ark? The whole purpose of the ark was to protect all living animals on the planet – whether or not they were useful for man. The second creation story in Genesis 2 makes it clear when it says “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” (2:15) He was to tend and keep all the plants and trees, to make it a beautiful garden on earth, which meant in this chapter to stay completely away from some of the trees.

I know you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say. Shakespeare wrote “the devil can cite scripture for his purpose.” But if you look at all the evidence then it is clear that the Bible does not give humans a license to strip the earth and abuse it, to decimate whole species, but instead instructs us to care for the flora and fauna of earth as God’s stewards.

III. This brings me to my third inconvenient truth – that we are accountable to God. In Jesus’ parable, the steward was supposed to take care of the master’s goods, but he does not. “an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. ² So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’” We are to give an account before God for how we have fulfilled his instructions as a human race. There is a need for confession and repentance here. I don’t see a whole lot of confession and repentance happening on the national political scene when it comes to the environment. This is where the Christian church can play a leadership role. When you hear discussion about protecting the environment, reversing global warming and protecting endangered species, all the talk is about the effect of environmental policies on economics and politics and international relations.

They mostly have to do with economics – what it is going to cost us. Is it going to help us or hurt us as a nation? There is a lot of talk about what is fair in regard to each country, the developing world and the industrial world, and what other countries are doing or have to do. I don’t hear a lot of talk about accountability to God. That is where religion can play a role. We have been given a job to do on this earth from the very beginning by the CEO of the cosmos. Our task on this little planet is to “tend and keep it.” In the midst of our economic problems and our international relations we have lost sight of the big picture. Before there ever was a United States or a China or a European Union, human beings were assigned a task to do – to care for our common earthly home - and we are not doing it. To use the words of the parable, word has come to the owner of this planet that his stewards are not doing their job, that we are wasting God’s resources. The man in the parable calls his steward to account. “So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’

IV. This is Christianity’s fourth inconvenient truth. We are in danger of being fired from our job as stewards. In this parable there is an apocalyptic urgency to take action. If you want to know what that might look like if we don’t act, then read Alan Weisman’s book “The World Without Us.” It describes what the earth would be like if human beings were no longer present. Wilderness reclaims urban areas. It turns out that it is not so bad for the earth. Considering how we have been destroying habitats, poisoning the ocean, and extinguishing species of animals, maybe we are doing more harm than good to God’s property. Remember these animals are God’s not ours. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50)

I have had the misfortune of being a landlord at various times in my life, both seasonal rentals and long term. If you have ever rented property to tenants then you know that some tenants treat your property with respect and others destroy your property. One of the tenants we had in our little in-law apartment in Pennsylvania ruined the place. It had to be completely redone to make it livable and rentable again. I ended up kicking the guy out, which is not an easy thing to do legally these days. We are God’s tenants here on this planet. God is the landlord – the Lord of the land. Not only are we the tenants, but it was our job to be the caretakers of the property – live-in caretakers. We are assigned the task of managing the property. Look what we have done to the owner’s property! If I were the owner and landlord I would begin legal action to kick us out of the job and off the property. Maybe that is what God has in mind. It seems to be the message of this parable, and not only this parable. Jesus tells a number of apocalyptic parables about people who are judged for not fulfilling their duties.

Look what the steward does in the parable. When he learns that his judgment day is coming, he panics. He says in verses 3-4 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’” Then he spends the little time he has left before he has to leave scrambling to make amends the best he can. He tries to recover as much as he can for his boss in as short a time as he possible can. He doesn’t care if he is not getting the best return on the investment, he is just trying to save his own neck. When the owner finds out what the steward did, he praises him for his shrewdness, cleverness, and creativity. He says in verse 8 “So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.”

This is what is needed in regards to environmental issues today. The ‘sons of this world” are doing more than the church to care for the earth’s environment. People don’t feel any sense of urgency when it comes to this topic. We are more concerned with homeland security and the world economy than the environment. The average person is more interested in family, job, personal finances and health concerns. In this presidential election I don’t hear the issue raised much. There is no sense of urgency. That is because politicians don’t feel they are accountable to anyone but the constituents who elect them and the individuals and groups who give them the most money. I see little sense of accountability to God.

Only the church feels any accountability to God, and not even then all the time. To be honest, with the shrinking role of the church’s influence in society I don’t know if our call to be accountable to God on this issue can be heard. The church seems more concerned with the morality of contraception than the fact that we might be making the planet uninhabitable for our descendants. The consequences of not taking environmental action seem too far down the road for most people to worry about right now. We have more important issues to attend to. That seems to be the prevalent. But that doesn’t mean we can give up. It means that we need to be faithful to what we know to be true. To do our task as stewards on this earth as God’s people, to keep repeating these inconvenient biblical truths at this time in history. 

The Secret of Happiness

Delivered July 8, 2012

Philippians 4:4-9

Rabbi Noah Weinberg tells a true story about a young man whom he met in Jerusalem. This is how the rabbi tells it: “A young man with an unusually happy disposition once came to meet me in Jerusalem. I asked him, "What's your secret?" He told me, "When I was 11 years old, God gave me a gift of happiness. I was riding my bicycle when a strong gust of wind blew me onto the ground into the path of an oncoming truck. The truck ran over me and cut off my leg. As I lay there bleeding, I realized that I might have to live the rest of my life without a leg. How depressing! But then I realized that being depressed won't get my leg back. So I decided right then and there not to waste my life despairing. When my parents arrived at the hospital they were shocked and grieving. I told them, 'I've already adapted. Now you also have to get used to this.' Ever since then, I see my friends getting upset over little things: their bus came late, they got a bad grade on a test, somebody insulted them. But I just enjoy life."

Most of us are not as blessed as this young man. I use the word blessed even though the boy who lost his leg, because in return for his leg he received the gift of happiness. Personally I would rather have both my leg and happiness. Some of us have been studying the Book of Ecclesiastes this summer on Wednesday evenings. The author of this book – traditionally considered to be Solomon – had everything the world could offer, but he doesn’t seem very happy. But sometimes in the book he gets a glimpse of the secret of happiness. Every so often in he says something like this in 3:12-13. “I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.” Solomon goes through the depths of existential despair in this book while seeking the meaning of life, but in the end I think he found at least a measure of happiness.

In our Epistle Reading the apostle Paul tells us that he has found the secret of happiness. He finds it in three qualities of life, and then he gives us practical advice as to how to have these qualities. As always, the context of the text is helpful in understanding the passage. In the verses immediately before our passage Paul is addressing a couple of women in the church in Philippi - Euodia and Syntyche – who are fighting. They are making each other’s lives miserable as well as everyone around them. It is in this context that Paul presents his secret of happiness.

I. There are three qualities of happiness. First, is joy. He says in verse 4 “Rejoice in the Lord always.” This is important enough that he repeats it in the same verse: “Again I will say, rejoice.”  The nurturing of joy is the secret of happiness. Joy is a quality of life that is not dependent on our circumstances – just like the boy who lost his leg in an accident and immediately discovered joy.  It was a “eureka” moment for him - the realization that joy is an attitude toward what happens to you in life and not a consequence of what happens to you. Some people can have everything that one would ever want and still be miserable. We read repeatedly in the press about highly successful, famous and wealthy people who take their own lives in despair. Or they drug or drink themselves to death. Obviously happiness is not found in what the world has to offer. It is found in our attitude toward what happens. Therefore Paul tells us to rejoice always.

Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. In his Letter to the Galatians Paul lists nine fruits of the Spirit; joy is second on his list, second only to love. A fruit of the Spirit is not something we work to achieve; it is something that God produces in our lives. As Solomon says, “It is the gift of God.” Just as the vine produces fruit, so does the Spirit produce the fruit of joy in our lives if we abide in him. That is why Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Joy is “in the Lord” and this joy can be “always” – in all circumstances. We possess everything we need to be happy right now. Nothing has to change in our lives. We don’t have to wish “Oh, if only I had this” or “If only this were different” or “If only that would happen.” Nothing has to change, except our attitude toward life. ^“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

The second quality that Paul mentions is gentleness. He says in verse 5 “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” Once again, he has the context of the Philippian church in mind.  There is arguing and fighting going on in that church. There were two women in particular that appear to be slugging it out. If you have been part of church life for very long you know things like this happen on occasion. One of the best courses I ever took in seminary was an elective on church conflict. Much later I received training in Philadelphia as a marriage and family mediator. The training was in divorce mediation, but I never used it to facilitate divorce; I used it to help couples stay married and families deal with conflict without splitting. An important ingredient in mediation is to lower the temperature in the room. I am not talking about air conditioning; I am talking about emotional temperature. I am talking about lowering the volume of speech and lowering the intensity of the feelings in the room. It is true in churches and it is true in all our relationships. Paul calls it gentleness.

I like the way he puts it: “Let your gentleness be known to all.” Once again he assumes we have it in us, and it is just a matter of letting it be known – letting it be manifest in our lives. Once again it is not really our gentleness; it is God’s gentleness coming through our lives. That is why he adds the words “The Lord is at hand.” God is present to bring forth this gentleness. Gentleness is another one of those nine fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians. The Spirit within us is gentle. The Holy Spirit is often called the humble person of the Trinity. In the Scriptures the Holy Spirit always takes a back seat to God the Father or God the Son. He is always pointing to them and never to Himself. He I humble and gentle, but also very powerful in that gentleness. This is the quality that the apostle is encouraging in our lives.

It is like water. What is more gentle and yielding than water? It always seeks the lowest level. It never forces its way. It would rather go around than go through. And yet water is one of the most powerful forces on earth. It carves through solid rock. It shapes mountains and carves great canyons. Such is the strength of gentleness. Paul says in Ephesians: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” If we practice gentleness, then happiness will become manifest in our lives.

The third quality that Paul mentions is peace. He says in verse 6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Peace is another one of those fruit of the Spirit. All three of these qualities that produce happiness in our lives are the work of God and the gifts of God in our lives. Here Paul tells us to be anxious for nothing. Wow! That is easier said than done, isn’t it? Be anxious for nothing. That is what Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount. He said,

²⁵  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶  …  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?^[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these…. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.³⁴  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

II. Jesus and Paul to tell us not to be anxious and then we will be happy. To let our gentleness be known to all, and to rejoice. But how do we do this? That is the subject of the rest of this passage. Paul tells us how in three points.

1. The first is prayer. Paul says in our passage: “⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” As the old hymn says, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” Prayer is the key to happiness because we know at the deepest level of our being that life is out of our control. Prayer addresses that feeling of insecurity. We have very little control over what happens to us or how people treat us. What kind of control do we have over the economy? Or our health? We have some control, of course. We can reduce some of the risk factors in life, but at the end, anything could happen. Forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, the collapse of the European Union, a terrorist attack, and everything can change in a moment. A drunk driver, a misstep when hiking down a mountain, a phone call from a child or grandchild can put our lives into a tailspin. We all know that is the reality of life. Our control over what happens is very limited. Prayer acknowledges that. It acknowledges that there is one who does have control. That one is God. If we give it all to God – really give it to God in petition and thanksgiving and let go of it -  then “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

2. The second technique of nurturing happiness in our lives is meditation. A lot of people think that meditation is something that Hindu gurus and Buddhist monks do. I am talking about Christian mediation that the apostle Paul practiced encourages us to do. He says in verse 8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.” Condition your mind with what is good.

You already know how to meditate. You don’t need an instructor or a guru. When you worry you are meditating. Worry is meditating on bad things. Most of us know how to worry pretty well. We will meditate for hours on our problems and anxieties - all during the day and sometimes all during the night. You meditate so well for so long that you go without sleep some nights in order to meditate. If you know how to worry, then you know how to meditate. Now you just need to change the things that you meditate upon. Instead of meditating on fearful things, meditate on all the good things. It can be any good things -  whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.”

Instead of meditating on the bad things that might happen, meditate on the good things that do happen. Instead of thinking about your health problems , think about healing. Instead of thinking about what you don’t have, think about what you do have. You get the point. We can meditate on the bad or the good. We have a choice. If we meditate on whatever is bad, then the result will be unhappiness; if we meditate on whatever is good, then happiness will follow – just like your shadow follows you on a sunny day. As the psalm says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

3. The third technique to living the secret of happiness is to imitate those who are happy. Paul says in verse 9, “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” We learn by watching others. That is how we learn as children and that is how we learn as adults. We learn how to be happy by imitating those who are happy. Choose some role models of happiness. There is a book entitled “French Women Don’t Get Fat.” I haven’t read the book, but I did read a review of the book. The French are known for using butter and cream, and eating bread and pastry, drinking wine, and regularly enjoying three-course meals. But apparently French women don’t get fat, the book says. If you want to learn the secret of why French women don’t get fat, this book says to watch how they eat and how they live. Apparently It is a matter of moderation in all things. This book says that we learn how to eat right by watching people who eat right. If you want to lose weight watch how thin people eat and live, and do likewise.

Paul is saying that you learn how to be happy by imitating people who are happy. See how they live, how they talk, what they do with their time, and what they don’t do. Paul is telling the Philippians that he knows the secret of happiness. If they want to be happy all they have to do is watch him and imitate him. “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” We don’t have the apostle Paul living with us to watch and imitate, but we all know people who are happy, who have peace and joy no matter what happens in life. Watch how they do it. Just like that rabbi at the beginning of this message saw how that young man did it. We learn by observing those who know, and by doing what they do. Prayer, meditation, imitation. Those are the secrets of happiness.

How the Baptists Saved America

Delivered July 1, 2012

Acts 22:22-29

 I have patterned the title of this message after the bestselling book written in 1995 by Thomas Cahill entitled “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” In that book the author explores the period of time between the collapse of the Roman empire in the fifth century to the early Middle Ages. He describes how the great libraries of Europe were looted and burned by Germanic invaders. Much of the literature of Western civilization was saved by Irish scribes only one generation past illiteracy. Under the leadership of Patrick, a former slave who became a missionary bishop to Ireland, these scribes copied thousands of manuscripts that served as the repositories for Greco- Roman and Judeo-Christian culture, thereby saving these literary and cultural treasures of Western civilization. 

I am not suggesting that Baptists saved Western civilization the same way that these Irish monks did, but Baptists did have a very important role in the early religious history of our nation, especially when it comes to the right of religious freedom. A strong case can be made that if it were not for the Baptists, there would not be religious liberty in these United States of America – at least not in the strict form of separation of church and state that we have today. I am not saying that folks like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson had nothing to do with the separation of church and state. But Baptists influenced these men greatly and insisted that religious liberty be included in our Bill of Rights.

Before I get too far into this message I should mention that I am preaching on this topic in response to one of the Summer Sermon Suggestions that I received from the congregation. Someone (not a Baptist, I should note) asked me to preach on the “saints” of the Baptist tradition, the early leaders of the Baptist movement. One example mentioned was Roger Williams. So that is how this sermon came about. I know that this is a diverse congregation from many different denominational backgrounds. Most of you aren’t Baptist, even though we are worshiping to day in a Baptist Meetinghouse. But the history of this congregation is Baptist and Methodist, and we are officially related to these two denominations today. So it might be nice to know a little about Baptists.

I could focus on a number of important contributions that Baptists made to America and Christianity. For example this year marks the 200^th anniversary of the beginning of the American foreign missionary movement. I got a newsletter recently from the Baptists describing the events that happened in Salem and vicinity in February. Ann and Adoniram Judson left from Salem, Mass, on February 20, 1812. The Judsons were the first American foreign missionaries. Like many Baptist stories, their story had twists and turns. They were actually commissioned by the Congregationalists and sent out by the Salem Tabernacle Church, which today is UCC. But on the ship while traveling to India they saw the light and converted to the Baptist faith. They left America as Congregationalists, but by the time they reached their mission field in Burma they were Baptist missionaries. So both Congregationalists and Baptists try to take credit for them.

That is the way that Baptist history tends to be. Baptist history is not neat and clean like other religious movements. We don’t have a Martin Luther or a John Wesley as the founder of the denomination. Roger Williams is often mentioned as a leading figure of the first Baptists in America. He founded the first Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. The church is still in existence today, and I have visited there and worshipped there. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a haven for religious minorities. But the only reason Williams established this colony was that he got kicked out of Massachusetts by the Puritans. Williams wanted a place dedicated to religious liberty and that is how Baptists got established in America.  Williams’ advocacy of freedom extended to slavery; he is considered the first abolitionist in North America, having organized the first attempt to ban slavery in any of the original thirteen colonies. So Baptists proudly own Roger Williams. But the seldom told secret of Baptists is that this early hero of Baptist history did not remain a Baptist very long. Roger Williams only remained a part of that Providence Baptist Church for a few months. He became convinced that Baptists didn’t have it right either. No church on earth was good enough for him, and he never again affiliated himself with any church again, even though he maintained cordial relations with the Baptists. But he remained deeply religious and active in preaching all his life.

In this message I want to concentrate on this legacy of religious liberty, which remained the hallmark of Baptists, even more than their trademark mode of believers baptism by immersion. Robert G. Torbet, who has written the classic history of Baptists, wrote: "Baptists have made a unique contribution to Protestantism, for which the world is their debtor, in their consistent witness to the principle of religious liberty." It is not an overstatement to say that if it were not for Baptists, we probably would not have religious freedom in our country today. Today churches of all denominations affirm religious liberty. That is not the way it was back in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the Baptists who championed it when the American colonies had established churches and many Christians wanted some form of Christianity to be the national church like in England.

  

The Baptist concern for religious liberty came out of two sources. One was the Christian scriptures. Baptists have always been a strongly biblical people.  Was it not the lack of religious liberty which nailed Jesus to the cross? The Roman governor Pilate said he found no fault in him. But because the established religious authorities at the time wanted him dead, he was executed. It was nonconformity to the established religion that crucified Jesus. It was the lack of religious freedom in Israel that led early Christians in Jerusalem to be imprisoned, flogged, and put to death by stoning or the sword. It is interesting to note that today in Israel, Christian evangelism, though technically legal, is opposed by the Israeli government according to a 2010 US State Department report on religious freedom in Israel.

In our scripture lesson today from the Book of Acts we heard a story of the apostle Paul. Paul had come to the Jerusalem temple to worship. But his presence caused an uproar among the Jews because he had been preaching the Gospel to Gentiles and bringing them into the church. They dragged him out of the temple and begin to beat him; the Roman soldiers intervene. They take him into custody after allowing him to give a brief sermon from the temple steps. Then they decide to interrogate him under scourging, that is, to whip him until he confessed. But as they were binding him, Paul asks in 22:25, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen?" This caused a stir among the soldiers. They sent for the commanding officer, who asked Paul if he is a Roman citizen. He replies, "I am." The commander said, "I bought my citizenship with a large sum of money." Paul replies, "I was born free." Paul always stresses his Roman citizenship and the rights that went with it. As such he is the model for Baptists. 

            

          Baptist stress on religious liberty also comes from the experience of being a persecuted people from the very beginning in the early 1600’s. The first Baptists were persecuted in England and fled to Holland, returned to face persecution again in England and then fled to America. They hoped to find freedom in America but found only more persecution at the hands of the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. So they fled again and founded their own colony in Rhode Island. Baptists had arrived in Virginia also, and received the same type of reception. In Virginia it was the Church of England rather than the Puritans who were doing the persecuting.  

  

            One of the early Baptists in the 1700's to suffer persecution in Virginia was Lewis Craig. At his conversion he could not contain his joy and so he started preaching the gospel to whoever would hear. He was immediately arrested for preaching without a license. "I thank you, gentlemen, for the honor you did me," said Craig to the grand jury that indicted him. "While I was wicked and injurious, you took no notice of me. But now, having altered my course of life and endeavoring to reform my neighbors, you concern yourselves much about me."  Craig's remarks struck to the heart of one of the jury, a colorful character known as "Swearing Jack" Waller, notorious for his foul language as well as his gambling and his opposition to Baptists. God worked in his heart, and he was baptized by immersion in 1767. The next year John Waller and four of his friends were arrested for preaching the gospel. The authorities offered to set them free if they would agree not to preach, but Waller and two others refused and were sent to jail.  

  

            Another early Baptist was James Ireland, an immigrant from Scotland. He began preaching in Virginia in 1769. The authorities ordered him to stop. He later wrote: "I sat down and counted the cost, freedom or confinement, liberty or prison. Having ventured all upon Christ, I determined to suffer all for him." He was imprisoned and preached to his congregation through the bars of the prison.  

  

            Another Baptist of this era was John Leland. He originally was from Massachusetts but moved to Virginia. He was an influential part of the opposition to James Madison as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention putting together our U. S. Constitution. Leland was a Baptist preacher and well known for his efforts to end slavery in Virginia, eliminate the state church in Virginia, and his support of religious liberty on a national level. He was against ratifying the Constitution because it had no safeguards protecting religious liberty. He met with Madison and they reached an agreement. He agreed to support Madison if he would promise to do everything he could to secure a religious freedom amendment to the Constitution. Madison agreed. Leland was not alone in his objections to the Constitution. Many delegates refused to sign it unless it protected religious liberty. To persuade them to sign, the delegates promised to amend the Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights at the very first session of the new Congress. Two years later that promise was kept. The first of those amendments read: "Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  

  

            Religious freedom and democracy are precious to Baptists. Thomas Jefferson once said that the Baptist Church was the purest form of democracy he had seen. The hymn "My Country 'tis of Thee" was written in 1832 by a Baptist minister named Samuel Francis Smith. The "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. This is the Baptist heritage in this country.  

  

            II. What of today? Religious liberty is still a very important issue in the world today. It is continually in the news. Most recently we have seen it surface in the controversy concerning healthcare and the new government requirement that Roman Catholic institutions pay for birth control. Catholics say that is a violation of their religious liberty. The issue is also being raised concerning several cases of crosses that have been on government land for decades; their presence is now being challenged by atheist groups on the grounds of separation of church and state. The issue of religious clothing worn in the workplace and at school comes up regularly, as does the right of Muslims to build mosques in certain communities. The issue of religious liberty is as important today as it was 400 years ago when Baptists began.

Baptists have historically been champions of the separation of church and state. In 1773, Isaac Backus, a prominent Baptist minister in New England, observed that when "church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together, no tongue nor pen can fully describe the mischiefs that have ensued." The phrase "[A] hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world" was first used by Baptist Roger Williams in his 1644 book The Bloody Tenent of Persecution. The phrase was later adopted and adapted by Thomas Jefferson as a description of the First Amendment in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists. Yet today the Baptist witness on this issue is not as clear as in ages past on the issue. Many are backing off it or reinterpreting it. But Baptists have historically thought it was the only sure way to protect the church from the state, as well as the other way around. Baptists have been champions of tolerance for all people, standing on Roger Williams legacy of making America a haven for religious minorities. In fact it is said that the central T in Baptist stands for tolerance.

That is not always the case today. Unfortunately when Baptists are in the news today it is more likely to be for intolerance. My church history professor in seminary was a man named Bill Leonard. Today he is a professor of Church History and Baptist Studies at the School of Divinity, Wake Forest University. In May he wrote an editorial entitled “A Baptist Shame.” The first line of the article read: “Tonight I am ashamed to be a Baptist.” The reason for his shame was a sermon preached by Charles Worley, pastor of Providence Road Baptist Church, an Independent Baptist congregation in Maiden, N.C., the state where he lives. In a May 13 sermon that “went viral” on the internet, he proposed building concentration camps in America to put all homosexuals in until they die out. He is not the only Baptist preach to say such things recently. Last month Pastor Curtis Knapp of the New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas, another independent Baptist church, said that he believes that gays should be put to death by the government. We are also regularly confronted with the antics of Pastor Fred Phelps and the members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas, who picket military funerals with placards so hateful that I will not repeat them.

When things like this hit the evening news I – like my former professor – feel ashamed to be a Baptist. But I know Baptist history and I know that these individuals and churches have veered away from their Baptist heritage. And I know that there are other groups – like the Baptist Joint Committee for religious Liberty in Washington, DC, who are championing traditional Baptist values. There is a need for all Baptists today to reclaim their heritage. I am not ashamed of my Baptist heritage or the values that Baptists historically stand for. It is because of these early Baptists that we enjoy the right to religious liberty in this land, and have avoided the religious wars and conflicts and terrorism and persecution that have plagued so many other lands today. God has blessed America, and it is because in no small part because of the religious liberty championed by the Baptists. And I am grateful for that heritage.