January 21, 2007, Rev. Dr. Richard M. Knight

John 17

- one of the finest chapters in all the Bible

- some people call it the Real Lord’s Prayer

- what we call the Lord’s Prayer of course is the prayer Jesus gave his disciples to pray. That could be called the "Disciples Prayer"

- here we find the prayer of our Lord at the Last Supper

Part of Jesus’ beautiful and passionate prayer is this: "They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world."

You’ve probably heard of the phrase - "In the world but not of it."

This is Jesus’ desire for us.

This is Jesus’ prayer for us and for his church.

In the world but not absorbed by the world.

In the world but not obsessed with this world.

In the world but finding one’s ultimate meaning and identity somewhere other than this world.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once asked about how hard it must be to be a Christian, to be a person of faith, and live in such a poor and destitute country. She said, "No, it’s not hard at all. I would think it would be much harder to be a Christian living in an affluent society."

She’s probably right. We have so much - so much to occupy our time, so much to take care of, so many things to organize and store, so many gadgets to try and figure out how they work, so many manuals to read or not read, so many channels to choose from, so many movies to watch, buy or rent, so many restaurants, stores, parties, so much sports to watch, so many distractions.

In the world and not of it? Or, in the world and overwhelmed by it most days?

It’s tough being a Christian in a consumeristic society.It’s tough to be a good Christian and a good Consumer at the same time. But we try. We work very hard at it because we want it all.

Illustration. Article - "Tax tricks you shouldn’t try"

A young Amish man tried to take a deduction for his buggy that he had dressed up a bit - with velvet interior, dash lights, kick plates, tinted windshield, speedometer, hydraulic brakes and dimmer switches. He was legitimately Amish and used his buggy for work. The standard buggy costs $2,675; his fully loaded version ran $3,545. The IRS of course knows their buggys and only let him deduct the cost of a standard buggy. The simple life, with just a few luxury items thrown in for the ride. Sounds pretty good.

Illustration. Years ago I did a high school youth retreat for one of the Mennonite churches in our area in Pennsylvania. They’re great kids - like ours - committed to God & mission. In addition they have the idea of a simple lifestyle impressed upon them from an early age. But still the tug of the world is strong. I’ll never forget one boy who very honestly said,"I hope I make enough money to tithe to the church, to give all sorts of money away and still drive an awesome sports car."

We want it all. We live simultaneously in two worlds - the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. And the powers of this world are quite strong, pervasive and appealing.

Now please don’t misunderstand me this morning - I am not saying that having nice things is bad. I’m not even saying that wanting nice things is bad. I think Jesus had a few nice robes. "You look nice today, Lord" I think he built fine furniture and quality homes. The problem is that modern society is built on a hyper-consumerism, which has become a way of life and almost a religion. Of course we have to consume things to live. The problem is not consuming to live - it’s living to consume.

I read recently that shopping is the #1 leisure activity of Americans. Have you been to the new Target stores? They’re amazing! If I didn’t have such a full schedule, I think I’d go there just for fun, just to go - not needing anything. And that’s bad.

I read an article on consumerism recently in Leadership Journal, and the author quoted a sociologist & philosopher named Jean Baudrillard, who wrote: "Consumption is a system of meaning. We assign value to ourselves and others based on the goods we purchase. One’s identity is now constructed by the clothes you wear, the vehicle you drive, the music on your iPod. In short, you are what you consume." Another writer puts it this way - Consumerism "occupies a role in society that once belonged to religion - the power to give meaning and construct identity." Consumerism "represents an alternative source of meaning to the Christian Gospel."

Here are some of the major problems with our Almighty Consumeristic Society.

1. Overindulgence. People have not always lived with their primary identity being that of consumer. I read this week that the Industrial Revolution produced "previously unimaginable quantities of goods- far more than the market needed. Manufacturers suddenly needed a way to artificially increase demand for their products. Advertising was born." In years past people did not sit around on a Sunday afternoon going through all the flyers in the newspaper to see what they "needed." "Let me see what I need!" If people consumed only what they needed our economy would collapse! Consumerism schools us in insatiability and overindulgence.

2. Consumerism also leads us to believe that life all about us. Consumerism taps into our selfishness and our egos - "You need this car. You deserve it!" Consumerism is inherently self-centered and self-reliant. Instead of - "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," it’s - "I am my own shepherd, I shall not lack of anything - so help me God and my credit cards!" Consumerism tells us that personal enrichment and fulfillment of desire is the highest good.

Illustration. I was reading a book on stewardship once that talked about when congregations build new churches or put up a big new building - it only happens when people make real sacrifices - they give up their family vacation for the year, they go lighter on Christmas, they truly live on less so that a great work of God can take place. And I thought to myself - imagine how it would go over if a church leader ever said - "Now, to accomplish this new project that we all feel God is calling us to do - we’re all going to have to sacrifice - some of us should consider giving up that vacation this year or that new car you’ve been wanting or that HD TV that you’ve had your eye on." Imagine people’s reaction - "You want me to curb my personal fulfillment? Who are you? How dare you! I’m going to another church where they don’t tell me how to live! I can take my business elsewhere." - just like a good consumer!

Consumerism tells us that personal enrichment and fulfillment of desire is the highest good. This is in stark contrast to Christian discipleship which values such things as sacrifice, self-lessness, service to others and a fulfillment of God’s desires as the highest good.

3. It gives us too many choices. I think about this a lot at the grocery store - Can’t I just get a loaf of bread? Do they have just regular simple coffee anywhere? Why are there all these choices? Choice is King in consumerism. The more choices, the better because people will spend more. Choices feed our insatiability.

There’s another downside to having too many choices - it again makes it all about us. I think the iPod is the best example. With iPods kids never have to listen to songs they don’t like.

How will that impact the church in years to come? How will a generation who never bothered to listen to a song they didn’t initially love - how will they choose hymns to sing? How will they agree on the hymns?

Don’t get me wrong, I think ipods are cool. They’re very helpful for our van rides on the mission trips because I really don’t like rap music! But it is a bit odd to look back at everyone sitting on their own little island, listening to their own person choices. It’s more fun in the vans that agree on the type of music and often sing along - I remember a Country music van and another one hooked on songs from Disney movies (this van was all girls except for one very smart 16 yr old boy).

Churches - Some churches have different worship services for different age groups. A Traditional service with hymns and a choir. A Pop-rock service for Baby Boomers. - "All you need is love and a guitar." Then there’s a much louder, "alternative" service for 20-Somethings. Some churches have these different services going on at the same time. Does that build community? I don’t think so. Choice doesn’t always build community.

We often do what’s call a Blended Worship Service - we utilize traditional church music and contemporary praise music side by side. Some of you like one style over the other and that’s human nature. I read of one church consultant who said, "The problem with blended services is that half the people are happy half the time." I don’t think that’s the case with us, but even if it were, isn’t that what community is all about. Sometimes we do it your way, sometimes we do it our way - but we’re all in this together. A community mindset is different from a consumeristic mindset. Consumers are out for what makes them happy. Christians are part of a team, a family, community.

4. There’s one other danger of consumerism that I want to mention and that’s what some call iChurch - when the church becomes just another commodity, another business to be marketed, a brand to be packaged, and something to simply help us with our personal fulfillment like everything else we consume.

We have our Confirmation Class orientation today. In the letter we sent out I wrote, "We strive to make the classes fun and engaging." I’ll bet Father Moody never wrote such words!

I’ll bet he said things like: "We strive to build Christians! To equip them to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, to share with them eternal truths that will shape their lives to live for Christ in this world and enjoy his presence forever."

Father Moody lived before our consumeristic age, so he didn’t have to worry about being light and fun, hip and relevant. He just worried about being faithful. Sometimes when we package or market the Christian message today it gets watered down and loses its soul, its depth and its fire. Augustine said we’re to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Today we tend to do just one at the exclusion of the other - it’s a better marketing strategy.

"iChurch" is about making you happy and keeping you happy. The real church is about trying to make us holy and keep us holy. There’s a huge difference.

One gauge for us is last week’s service. What was your heart’s reaction when Gina sang, "Fix Me Jesus"? Did you say to yourself - "Wow! That’s awesome! Listen to the purity of those high notes! What a great singer, what a great service, I feel so moved and uplifted!" Or instead of saying all that to yourself, did you pray? Did you pray "Fix Me, Jesus" as she sang it? That’s how you know if you’re a consumer here to be entertained or an apprentice of Jesus here to be discipled.

In closing, in a Consumeristic Society such as ours, the church being the church is more important than ever. We are a countercultural movement - in this world but belonging to another. The values of our faith are in stark contrast to the consumeristic society we find ourselves in. Let me list again a few of our values.

- community - generosity - contentment - gratitude

- self-control - sacrifice - selflessness - service

If we can live these out we have a chance of being in the world but not of it. Think about it.