This week I was in Northern California for work inspecting several properties for a client. And since I had never been to the wine country there I took the opportunity one afternoon to drive to the Sonoma Valley. Even in the winter time the countryside was every bit as beautiful as I imagined. While I was there, I had a chance to talk to a winemaker. I was able to learn a lot of interesting things about winemaking. For example, the Sonoma Valley actually has several microclimates that produce 25 different varieties of wine grapes from the cooler Carneros region in the south that produces lighter, fruitier grapes like Merlots or Pinot Noirs to the Dry Creek Valley in the north where it is much hotter and drier, producing bold grapes like Zinfandels and Cabernets. He told me all wine grapes need plenty of sunshine, a dry growing season, low humidity, and cool nights. And Sonoma Valley provides all of those.
But here is what really caught my attention: the winemaker told me that the best wines are produced by vines that have grown under difficult circumstances. He said if you want to make a rich, deep wine with a lot of character, you provide very limited water to the vine, or you plant it in poor, rocky soil. That way, the vine is forced to grow its roots deep. When that happens, the massive root systems are able to draw more nutrients and the minerals from the soil that produce a deep complex character necessary for making truly fine wine. Otherwise, he said, if you give the vines plenty of water and fertilizer, the vines have no incentive to go deep and the root systems remain on the surface, which not only makes the vine weak, but the fruit also lacks character. The oldest vines, some being 100 years old, are the ones with amazingly deep roots because they have been put under difficulty and tested over time, and they produce incredible wines full of depth and character.
We live in a risk-adverse society. Protection and self-preservation permeates everything we do. We have life insurance, health insurance, auto insurance, homeowner’s insurance. We even have AFLAC – which is insurance for when we don’t have enough insurance. We do everything we can to hedge our bets and minimize our risk. And even more, we try to find diversions when we do find ourselves in the midst of pain or hardship. Someone commented to comedian Jim Gaffigan on social media regarding the shootings in Connecticut, saying “You’re a father and a funny comedian. Say something to make us feel better right now.” Gaffigan’s response was appropriate: “We shouldn’t feel better.”
We live in a world that is rotting away because of sin. And we as people of God must be willing to be stressed and tested for the sake of living out the gospel. We must begin seeing that the testing of our faith causes our roots to go deep, producing fruit that is full of depth and character. (see James 1:2-4) Instead of running from suffering, we should be on the front lines of it for the sake of this decaying world. The question is: are we really willing to be “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”? (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)
I suggest that we will not be willing to do that until we understand the truth that “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) That, by the way, was written by a man who was received thirty-nine lashes on five separate occasions, beaten with rods three times, stoned and left for dead once, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and ultimately beheaded. (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-28) The crazy thing is that he truly believed all that to be momentary light affliction in light of the weight of glory that was being produced in him. Think of that for just a second; can you imagine what Paul’s back must have looked like after countless beatings? In fact, Paul finally told the Galatian church, “From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17) And yet, all the gaping wounds that probably never fully healed and those deep, painful scars he considered just momentary, light affliction when he compared it to what it was producing in him – an immense weight of glory.
There is a world out there that is hurting and looking for answers. But here’s the deal: they are not interested in rhetoric. I think that that is probably one of the reasons that the church here in the South has made itself irrelevant to the culture in so many ways. The world is tired of hearing rhetoric. They have grown weary of our lists of do’s and don’ts because we somehow think that if we improve their moral condition, all will be well. Or, on the other hand, we think there is some benefit to wagging our fingers at them and telling them that they chose their path; therefore, they must live with their consequences. Thank God that He did not do that to us.
No; what the world is waiting to see are people who are living out transformed lives. “The anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19) There needs to be a people in whom “Jesus Christ is publicly portrayed as crucified.” (Galatians 3:1) “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21) When will we be able to say that “our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”? (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
When that begins to happen, the world will start looking to the church again because it will be relevant to the culture, not with simple rhetoric but with life-changing transformation.
Sam Adams, the proudly liberal and openly homosexual mayor of Portland, was approached by local churches in 2008 asking to partner with them in serving the Portland community by addressing six needs including hunger and poverty, homelessness, health and wellness, human trafficking, environment, and public schools. “We wanted to bless the city,” one of the church leaders remarked. “We wanted the city to miss the church if we were to leave.” So the mayor and city officials hesitantly agreed, and the churches mobilized some 26,000 volunteers to service projects in each of the six areas of need. The mayor and other city officials were surprised by the integrity of the churches in keeping their promises as well as their contribution of so many resources to the projects. Mayor Adams was asked how his perceptions of Christianity had changed as a result of the work. He said he realized he’d bought into groupthink and media stereotypes about Christians. Adams admitted “It’s been very humbling having the tangible experience of one’s own bias. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’re better for it.” (Information retrieved from How the Church Can Change a City)
Is that the goal, simply betterment of the community? No, but it is a start. And it is a clear witness.
Our daughter Grace was telling us about the schools in Kona where student discipline had gotten so bad with fighting and constant disruptions in the classroom that the school officials finally had to shut the school down and send the kids home. Where did the school officials turn to for help? They turned to local Christ-followers. They asked Youth With A Mission, the organization my daughter serves with, to provide mentors for the troubled kids, because they knew they had something to offer that no one else had.
Tragedies such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary serve as a reminder of the horrendous corruption of the human heart caused by sin. And the church is placed here to provide the answer to it, not in words only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction – even in the face of risk, hardship, and suffering.
Pastor Doug Wilson wrote, “This is a darkness that must be confronted, and it can only be confronted by believers who are prepared to wield the gospel—not as a sectarian talking point, but as real gospel for real sin, real balm for real pain, real light for real darkness.”
The bread and the cup of communion before you are to serve as a reminder that Christ suffered in the flesh to redeem this rotting and corrupt creation, leaving us an example to follow in His steps. “Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
Three Rivers Church 