From Sampler to Sower

Late last month, I attended a Holiness Summit on the campus of my alma mater Olivet Nazarene University.  I began blogging about the different presentations at the Summit, as well as my reactions to them.  I returned home to my wonderful family, and much to my chagrin, my 4 year old daughter who loves notebooks took a shying to the Moleskine Ruled Reporter Notebook in which I had taken such careful notes of each of the sessions.  It soon disappeared and was only unearthed recently by by loving wife.

My notebook now restored to me, I return to the Summit, already in progress . . .

On Tuesday morning, March 24, 2009 we returned to the sanctuary of College Church of the Nazarene for the final day of the Summit.  After the mixed bag of presentations the previous day, I was unsure what to expect.  But I was looking forward to hearing Dr. Frank Moore, a theologian whose writings I have enjoyed in the past.  Little did I know the best sermon of the day would come from Michael Benson, Olivet’s chaplain.

In his introductory remarks, Benson noted that Jesus is the person who defines who God is.  As God-incarnate, Jesus is the kind of God that God is.  In light of that fact, Benson suggested the best 3 point, 8 word sermon he had ever heard read thus:

See Jesus.

See Jesus run.

Run like Jesus.

Perhaps the best holiness sermon of the entire summit.

Especially meaningful to me during the worship time were the words of the classic/modern hymn “Adoration”.

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim.
With gold of obedience and incense of lowliness,
Kneel and adore Him the Lord is His name!

Fear not to enter His presence in poverty,
Bearing no gifts to present as your own.
Bring forth in its beauty and love in its purity
These are the offerings to lay at His throne. (Verse One by John Monsell, Verse 2 by Ken Bible)

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(Recently, one of my students texted me a question that I couldn’t answer.  Not so much that I didn’t know what to say, but rather that every time I got ready to say something, I said to myself, “Yeah, but what about…”  After spending some time wrestling with it, here’s where I landed.  Below you’ll find my response, posted with the student’s permission.)

*****

You asked me “Is it possible to ‘do everything right’ according to the Bible, as far as living a Christlike life and be unhappy?”

I don’t know if you realize just how hard a question that is to answer, though if you manage to read all of this you might get a sense of it.

It’s difficult on two levels.  First it’s difficult because one has to wonder if it’s even possible to do everything right. Phrases like “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” “No one’s perfect,” and “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” come immediately to mind. Fortunately our acceptance in the eyes of God does not rest on perfect performance.

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