{"id":1131,"date":"2024-12-18T09:32:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T15:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/sensingt\/?p=1131"},"modified":"2024-12-18T10:22:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T16:22:10","slug":"confessing-jesus-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/sensingt\/2024\/12\/confessing-jesus-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Confessing Jesus Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Charge to the Graduates<\/h3>\n

Graduate School of Theology Covenant Service<\/h3>\n

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess<\/strong> with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, \u2018How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!\u2019 But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, \u2018Lord, who has believed our message?\u2019 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Core Affirmation: Because God<\/em> has raised Jesus from the dead, we believe and therefore confess Jesus is Lord!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Plot Line: *Once I recall being asked to give expert testimony. *So, what is the role of a witness. *Yet sometimes expert testimony is not received or given. *Nevertheless, we are still called to the ministry of testimony. * Therefore, we are being sent with beautiful feet. Why? Because we behold Jesus raised from the dead. *And we profess our faith that Jesus is Lord.<\/p>\n

Episode One:<\/strong> Once I recall being asked to give expert testimony for the case of the Sailor\u2019s Mystery Signature<\/em>. Walt\u2019s Last Will & Testament<\/em> was being contested. One of the key points of the dispute was his signature. Why me? Why was I asked to give expert testimony on a man\u2019s signature? Because I had witnessed the signing of one of the only legal documents accessible, the Cape May Courthouse Church of Christ incorporation papers. Walt was a retired maritime sailor and a founding corporate member of our church plant. So, I took the stand, and I pledged my oath. I reported that the signature on the incorporation papers belonged to Walt. And within thirty seconds, I was dismissed. That was my one and only time to give expert testimony in a court of law.<\/p>\n

Episode Two: <\/strong>So, what is the role of a witness? Mislov Volf in After Our Likeness<\/em>, uses the language of confession to describe our Christian witness.[1]<\/a> Confession as testimony is Declarative: Volf says, it announces what the community believes about Jesus. We confess the saving word of the gospel of Jesus, a word that is effective, convicting sinners of their sin, bringing them to repentance, and eliciting faith in Jesus as Lord because God raised Jesus from the dead.<\/p>\n

Also, confession as testimony is Performative: Volf says, it transforms cognitive assent into active commitment. It commits the life of the confessor to the life and values of the community.<\/p>\n

Therefore, confession as testimony is Public: Volf says, we confess together as a community, and we invite others into our community.\u00a0 We behold, therefore, we declare to others.<\/p>\n

We \u201cBehold\u201d \u2014 You\u2019re standing on the street corner. A yellow F-150 runs the red light and hits the black sedan. You are the witness because you beheld the event in question. Therefore you \u201cDeclare.\u201d Whether it is simply giving your statement to the police or going to court to testify, you are giving your voice to the events in question. While some will discount testimony as mere perception, our whole legal system is based on the fact that testimony is not perception but the report itself. And then the jury, once convinced by the testimony, is persuaded to act on the testimony as evidence. The event affects the witness; the testimony affects the jury.<\/p>\n

What is the role of a witness: To behold and to declare.<\/p>\n

Episode Three: <\/strong>Yet sometimes expert testimony is not received or given. Paul stands before the jury frustrated, lamenting, about the unbelief (11:20,23), lamenting about the disobedience (10:16, 21), and lamenting about the misguided zeal (10:2\u20134) of many of his fellow Jews. More precisely, Paul is frustrated that his fellow Jews have not taken the witness stand to proclaim that in Christ God has included the Gentiles. And so Paul makes arguments about Jews who have heard the gospel of inclusion preached through the words of the Law and Prophets, and do not participate in the confession. If Jesus is the telos of the Law, then confession that Jesus is Lord follows. And Paul aches for his people because the \u201cstory of glory,\u201d with respect to the inclusion of the Gentiles, has come to a screeching halt with Israel\u2019s failure to sit in the witness stand.[2]<\/a> Sometimes expert testimony is not received or given.<\/p>\n

Episode Four:<\/strong> Nevertheless, we are still called to the ministry of testimony. We were not witnesses of the actual events 2000 years ago. We rely on the faithful testimony of eyewitnesses. We deem them reliable and therefore we believe. We are not left alone with just the eyewitness accounts, but God\u2019s Spirit testifies to our spirit the truth of these events. And from our belief in a resurrected Jesus, we have experiences with a living Christ. And from our experience of a living Christ, we then give testimony that \u201cJesus is Lord.\u201d And the chain of witness continues.<\/p>\n

Like a hinge\u2014We Behold>therefore<We Declare. You cannot declare what you do not behold. And if you behold, you have the opportunity, if not the responsibility, to declare \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d. This is the salvation we profess. And it will take you a lifetime to work out.<\/p>\n

You are not graduating this day with a law degree, an accounting degree, a psychology degree, or any other degree you will see on that stage tonight, but you are graduating with a theology degree. Because God<\/em> has raised Jesus from the dead<\/em>, we believe and therefore confess Jesus is Lord! <\/em>We give testimony and declare to the fact that Jesus makes a difference in me, makes a difference in my vocation, and makes a difference in my community of faith.<\/p>\n

Matthew Love has a recent take on the preaching of John Henry Newman\u2019s preaching motto: Heart speaks to heart <\/em>\u2014 God\u2019s modus operandi for reaching humans with the gospel is to summon from one heart to another. \u201cHow are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?\u201d (Rom 10:14) Paul asks. But preaching, as the Apostle declares elsewhere, involves more than declarations preached before others; it involves contemplation, study, and prayer. So, Paul\u2019s preaching and praying is coterminous. His aim for these Christians is this: \u201cthe eyes of your heart enlightened\u201d (Eph 1:18). Such preaching assumes an anthropology wherein listeners are not simply couched as \u201cthinking things\u201d who require filled heads; they are understood as requiring moved hearts. Such an anthropology displays an understanding of Phillips Brook\u2019s famous dictum concerning preaching as \u201ctruth through personality,\u201d or even Paul\u2019s self-disclosing vulnerability: \u201cSo deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us\u201d (1 Thess 2:8). Preaching is communion between persons\u2014 Heart speaks to heart.<\/em>[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

So, you are here ready to receive your diploma with beautiful regalia. Some of you didn\u2019t think twice about the clothes you are covering up with your gown. Others took special care to select your wardrobe, maybe even something new. But did any of you check your feet. Yes, some of you even bought new shoes. Consider your shoes, they protect and support beautiful feet.<\/p>\n

The line in the hymn we sang is about you. \u201cTake my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord to Thee; \u2026 Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee.\u201d<\/em> It is with this word \u201cbeautiful\u201d that Dr. Lee has recently written that our affections are formed. He describes it as a \u201cconversion\u201d into a way of life for those of us vocationally called into theological practices.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

All the saints of God are baptized. From the baptized, some are called vocationally in service to God\u2019s people. And those called have beautiful feet. You know you have beautiful feet if you are one who beholds the living word of God who is Christ and swivels in the chair of the study or rise from your knees of prayer to your field of service to proclaim what is seen and heard. The person who receives your ministry and beholds the transforming power of God in their hearts likewise turns to life, family, work, and community to live out their faith.<\/p>\n

Episode Five:<\/strong> Therefore, we are being sent with beautiful feet. Near us and even in us is the transforming word of salvation. We are changed, forgiven, renewed, and enriched. That in a nutshell is a theology of proclamation as testimony \u2014 the witness or preaching, the witness of serving, the witness of ministry. We are called to the ministry of beautiful feet. Because we behold Jesus raised from the dead … (Refrain)<\/p>\n