SERMON SERIES ON “A COMMUNITY OF GRACE”

ROOTED IN TRADITION

Scripture: Psalm 77; Colossians 2:6-10

INTRODUCTION

Two years ago, our young people dazzled us with three evening performances of the popular musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” More than 80 children and teenagers were involved and all the money they raised helped to support our summer youth mission trips.

For those of you who saw the show, who could ever forget young Jeremy Senterfitt in the role of Tevye, with the chorus around him, reciting those familiar lines in the opening scene: “Because of our traditions, we’ve kept our balance for many years. Here in Anatevka, we have traditions for everything…Because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do” (And the chorus responds “Tradition! Tradition!”) … Then Tevye concludes, “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as…as a fiddler on the roof!”

Well, the youth musical was a great success! And I thought to myself how profound and truly remarkable it was, that all of our young people, who live, as we do, in a modern day, fast paced, constantly changing contemporary culture, were speaking out and singing about the importance and abiding influence of tradition in our lives!

This morning, as we continue our sermon series on what it means to be and to become “A Community of Grace,” I want us to explore the affirmation in our Statement of Purpose which says that this congregation is “Rooted In Tradition.” And the truth is, without our tradition, we would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.

In 1998, we celebrated the 150^th anniversary of our church. During that year, there were a number of special events which helped us remember the past and give thanks for the generations of Christians who preceded us in this place, going all the way back to those men and women who were guided by God to lay the foundations of this church in 1848.

The history book we published, “A Church On Peachtree” and the memorial book which pictures and describes the exquisite beauty of our sanctuary, chapel and other rooms and buildings – all of that tells the story of a Presbyterian congregation in the heart of this city which has held firm to its traditions of worship and witness, ministry and mission in the name of Jesus Christ.

Yet, as all of know, our tradition reaches back even further in time to the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century, to the early church which emerged out of the first century A.D. and to the original covenant which God made with Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 12-17) around 2000 B.C. as they began their journey toward the Promised Land.

So to say that we are “Rooted In Tradition” actually covers a span of more than 4,000 years of Judeo-Christian history. And the book which tells that story – the old, old story of God’s amazing grace and love, of our rebellion and need for redemption, of the gift of salvation given to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus – the book which tells that story, in all of its pain and glory, is the Bible.

Our Old Testament lesson today from Psalm 77 reminds us how the ancient Hebrew people were rooted in their tradition. The first ten verses recount the sense of fear and isolation which they felt, Crying aloud to God, that He would hear their prayers (verse 1).

And then, as they asked the question, Has God forgotten to be gracious? (Verse 9), they remembered the past, and called to mind the deeds of the Lord (verse 11) who parted the waters and brought the people through the sea on toward freedom, following their leaders, Moses and Aaron, every step of the way (verses 16-20).

In the midst of discouragement, on the brink of despair, the psalmist reminded those ancient people that God had been there in the exodus to deliver them out of slavery in Egypt. And as the Hebrews remembered their tradition, they found confidence and courage to go on instead of giving up.

II.

It was a similar message which Paul sent to the Colossians toward the end of the first century. That church was located in Asia Minor, which is now Turkey, and they were a diverse congregation of Gentiles and Jews who were caught up in controversy.

The culture around them was pagan, and the heresy of Gnosticism, which questioned both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, alongside the heresy of astrology, which Paul called “the elemental spirits of the universe” – those heresies had infiltrated the Christian community in Colassae.

The apostle encouraged them to remember and to hold fast to their tradition, rooted in Jesus Christ and established in the faith (Colossians 2:6-7). For in Christ, said Paul, the whole fullness of God dwells…and you have come to the fullness of life in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority (verses 9-10). (See the Daily Study Bible Series, “The Letter to the Colossians” by William Barclay, pages 116-117).

All these centuries later, we Christians, living in the dawn of the 21^st millennium, have much to learn from our biblical forbears in the faith. The witness of the Hebrew people reminds us that when times are tough, when the going gets rough, we can trust in God to show us the way from bondage to freedom, from despair to hope and from fear to love.

In our Lenten booklet, entitled “From Fear to Love,” Fr. Henri Nouwen helps us remember that “The steadfast love of God endures forever” (page 8, quoting Psalm 138:8), and that He has promised to be with us, even when we can’t see or feel His presence. Fr. Nouwen prays, “Almighty God, may I always remember that you are with me, whether I am aware of it or not” (prayer on page 9). That’s what the exodus experience was all about, and that is a promise which we can hold onto still today, especially in times of trouble and doubt.

Moreover, we can learn from the Colossians that as the culture around us becomes more secular and less attuned to the traditions of faith, we Christians need to stay focused on Jesus Christ. For He alone is the head of the church, the center of our life together and God’s personal revelation of grace and salvation to the whole world.

III.

That is what we believe as Presbyterians, and it is consistent with what our Protestant forbears believed almost 500 years ago as they developed the framework of the Reformed Tradition. John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland and John Knox in Scotland, together with many other faithful men and women, envisioned a church which would life up and proclaim the sovereignty of God, the centrality of Jesus Christ and the authority of the scriptures to guide us in living the Christian life.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) and this local congregation stand firm today on those essential tenets of the Reformed Tradition. Every member who joins this church makes a public confession or re-affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord of their life. And every minister and every elder, ordained and installed in this church and across our entire denomination, promises to “trust Jesus Christ as Savior and acknowledge Him as Lord of all and head of the church,” to “accept the scriptures…to be the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ…and God’s word to us,” and to “receive and adopt the essential tenets of the reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church…and to be instructed and led by those confessions as they lead the people of God” (From The Book of Order, Constitutional Questions in the Ordination and Installation Service of Ministers and Elders).

Those confessions – which include the Nicene and the Apostles’ Creed, the Westminster Confession of Faith (1649), the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934), the Confession of 1967 and the Brief Statement of Faith written for our Presbyterian Church Reunion in 1983 – those confessions were forged on the anvils of controversy and conflict, and they helped the church to clarify its theology and discover a deeper sense of unity. And those confessions, to which all of our ministers and elders subscribed, which guide all of us as Christians, have withstood the test of time.

CONCLUSION

Now I’m wondering this morning what would happen if we, as officers, members and staff in this congregation, decided to learn more about and become more immersed in our Reformed Tradition and the Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (USA)?

That question reminds me of the story about a frightened American citizen who lived during the days of President Monroe and who was suspected of not being a true patriot. He protested to an angry crowd who threatened to beat him up: “I didn’t say I was against the Monroe Doctrine, I love the Monroe Doctrine. I would die for the Monroe Doctrine! I merely said that I didn’t know what it was.”

Could it be that we, who are Rooted in Tradition, don’t know as much as we think we do, don’t know as much as we ought to, don’t know as much as we could know about the Bible and the Reformed Faith and the Confessions of the Church which have been passed on to us by previous generations?

If that is so, then what better time than now, what better place than here in this Presbyterian congregation, to re-discover the roots of tradition that have shaped our lives, nourished our souls and helped us to be and become the community of grace that we are today.

And as we do that, I think we will find that the watchwords of the Reformation still speak to us in this place and in our time:

“Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda” – the church reformed, always reforming…which means, my friends, that we Presbyterians still have a long way to go and that God isn’t finished with us yet! In fact, God holds great things in store for us in the days and months and years which lie ahead.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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