TEXT: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Isaiah 40:21-31

Isaiah 40:21-3121 Have you not known? Have you not heard?Has it not been told you from the beginning?Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?22 It is God who sits above the circle of the earth,and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,and spreads them like a tent to live in;23 who brings princes to naught,and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,when God blows upon them, and they wither,and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 25 To whom then will you compare me,or who is my equal? says the Holy One.26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:Who created these?God who brings out their host and numbers them,calling them all by name;because God is great in strength,mighty in power,not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob,and speak, O Israel,"My way is hidden from the Lord,and my right is disregarded by my God"?28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?The Lord is the everlasting God,the Creator of the ends of the earth.God does not faint or grow weary;his understanding is unsearchable.29 God gives power to the faint,and strengthens the powerless.30 Even youths will faint and be weary,and the young will fall exhausted;31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,they shall mount up with wings like eagles,they shall run and not be weary,they shall walk and not faint. 1 Corinthians 9:16-2316 If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law.21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law.22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Mark 1:29-39

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.30 Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.33 And the whole city was gathered around the door.34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him.37 When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you."38 He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

"WHY BEING LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH"

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23

"I HAVE BECOME ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE, THAT I MIGHT BY ALL MEANS SAVE SOME."

Interesting conversations over the past couple months. The gist of several was that since I left Vermont I have become much more liberal in my theology and politics, especially since the move to NYC six years ago. To be honest with you that made me feel good. Like getting on the bathroom scale and discovering that you have lost that five pounds of excess weight that you have wanted to see gone.

However, on at least two other occasions within the same time frame, persons whose opinions I hold in high esteem observed, "David, since you moved to New York City you have become quite a bit more conservative." Honestly, I didn't know what to do with that one. My first reaction was as though ten pounds had been added for the five pounds I had lost.

It was then that I re-called the wisdom shared with me by my late homiletics professor Dr. George Buttrick. I am sure that I have related them to some of you on more than one occasion because they made such a profound impact upon me at that time and continue to do so to this day.

He stated, "The older I have gotten, the more biblically conservative I have become with the result being that I am now more liberal in the eyes of many, including myself, than ever before." When pressed to explain himself, he pointed out that the more seriously one takes the claims of Jesus and the gospel of the Kingdom of God to be mandates upon our lives, the more radically we will challenge the social systems and religious traditions of society which would demean and enslave those whom we have been called to reconcile to God. Interesting! Not only was that Dr. Buttrick's dilemma, but it was the dilemma with which Paul wrestled, with which evangelicals wrestle, with which many Baptists wrestle, and with which I wrestle. Perhaps, you grapple there as well.

THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE THAT THE DIVISION BETWEEN SO CALLED CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERALS IN THE CHURCH AT LARGE IS A RELATIVELY RECENT PHENOMENON.
No so. Just within the Baptist community in America for the past hundred and fifty years we have often defined our denominational allegiances based upon the illusive criteria of conservative/liberal. The fact that evangelicals have had no trouble defining "Liberal" is pointed out in that the EVANGELICAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE has a several page article defining and describing "liberal theology" but not a single listing of "conservative theology." "Conservative" apparently is equated with "orthodox" or "correct" belief. No need to define what we assume to be in agreement upon as correct. Or is there?

Risking oversimplification, it could be argued that our Baptist family first split over the liberal/conservative issue of missions. And every split since then has been connected in some way to a conservative/liberal argument

The dictionary defines "conserve" as "to keep from harm, decay, or loss for future use." A "conservative" is defined as one "disliking or opposed to great or sudden change; a moderate." Perhaps the problem we have in the church is not whether one particular group is conservative or not. The problem is most often over what is being conserved.

IN THIS CASE, PAUL'S PROBLEM WAS THAT HE FOUND IT IMPORTANT TO CONSERVE THE GOSPEL MANDATE IN THE FACE OF THOSE WHO WERE TRYING TO CONSERVE RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS.
Paul had been a conservative of one order before his conversion to the way of Christ. He had spent his life opposed to anything which would threaten to change the traditions of his religious heritage. Following his conversion he became a conservative of a new order. He sought to "keep from harm, decay or loss" persons, whatever the cost to his prior precious traditions, so that they might have the opportunity to be saved.

That which was of primary importance in his religious heritage--even the Law, with a capital "L"--while recognized as a good and precious gift from God was for him of little value. It had been seized and perverted by sin into an instrument of legalism and death. Christ was the "end " of the Law in that he had fulfilled it. Christ had made the written Law otiose--new word for me meaning of no practical purpose and not required.

Since we are not related to God by a legal code or observance, but by Grace and Faith, we owe not absolute obedience to Law or tradition, but to Jesus as a person. For that reason, his conservative allegiance to the gospel, Paul became "all things to all persons"--a most liberal sounding and I must say, liberating, statement.

THAT BRINGS US TO US. ARE WE MORE INTERESTED IN CONSERVING OUR CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS, YES EVEN SOUTHERN BAPTIST TRADITIONS, OR IN CONSERVING THE PRECEPTS OF SCRIPTURE WHICH MANDATE THAT ALL WE DO BE BUILT UPON THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL LOVE SO THAT SOME MIGHT BE WON?
Are we willing to be labeled as "liberals" because we believe that God in Christ has called us to "be all things to all persons" so that some might be saved? And how is it possible to be "all things" to all people and yet maintain integrity. After all this we do live in the shadow of "Bill." (Clinton and political and moral integrity)

William Barclay reminded us that "someone once described teaching, medicine and the ministry as the 'three patronizing professions.' So long as that is true of ministry, we will fail in our task."

A member of one of the first churches that I pastored felt that for me to try to follow Paul's example in this morning's text was to endorse hypocrisy, to straddle a fence, to be wishy-washy, to be less that Christian, even, yes-to be a flaming liberal. He was wrong about me. This was not a call from Paul to be hypocritically two-faced. Nor is it such a call from me. Rather, it is a call to Christian consistency in following the Christ. It is to be willing and able to get alongside of anyone--to accommodate oneself to another--so that the redemptive love and power of Christ can be experienced by that individual.

[GET THIS INTO THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO ARE HERE THIS MORNING BY EXAMPLES FROM THE MINISTRY OF JESUS AND THE DIVERSITY OF NEEDS PRESENT IN THIS PLACE OF WORSHIP.]

This morning we will celebrate The Lord's Supper. This has been as divisive a tradition within the church as any other. Again oversimplified, the Conservatives through the ages have tried to conserve the tradition, and the Liberals have tried to conserve the scripture. It's tricky. Words like "my body" and "my blood." Does this really become the body and blood of Christ, or is it just that Christ is somehow present, or is this merely a symbol? The debate goes on. Instructions like "this do in remembrance of me." Absence of guidelines as to "who" is to partake. Is it for baptized believers? Baptized how? By which Baptist denomination or for that matter which church deemed acceptable by that denomination or local association?

The first such supper was shared with the disciples. The gospel records that each was served by the hand of Jesus, just as each thought himself capable of betrayal and that Judas who would in fact betray his master before the night was over. Paul wrote that often those early Christian congregations would come to the table with wrong and selfish or sinful motives. For that reason, the determining factor for whether or not an individual should partake of the meal was to be judged by God. "First, let a person examine herself or himself before the Lord Jesus." Sounds pretty liberal, even radical, but if we are to draw the boundaries, then we might just be excluding those whom God would be calling to redemption.

We often view the Lord's Supper as that which is offered to saints, but TRUE conservative biblical scholarship would teach us that Christ offered it to those who knew themselves as sinners. So at the risk of being Liberal, I invite you to this table this morning. It is open to any and all who willing confess Jesus as Lord of her or his life--that's conservative. This table is open to all, for we are all sinners here--that's liberal. We ask nothing more of you than that asked by the scripture. Before God, let us examine ourselves prior to the Supper being offered to you. First, let us examine how we see others. Then, let us examine how we see Christ. Finally, let us examine how we see self. Then, as a confession of your faith in Jesus as Lord and of your dependence upon Jesus as personal Savior, celebrate the communion which we have with one another as sisters and brothers and with our God through Christ.