To Boldly Go . . .

Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 2

Outline:

Introduction: Fear. Scientists afraid of what the Bible says. Christians afraid of what science discovers.
Confidence
Wonder
Perspective
Conclusion: nail the goal of encouraging confident study of our God.

Theme: Christians confidently study to know God better.

Goal: to encourage Christians to study to know God better.

Need: Often we study as if it is separate from getting to know God better.

Sermon in Oral Style:

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Movie director James Cameron does a good job making movies and making money. He is a director, and he knows what he is doing when it comes to selling his movies to all of us. His most famous movie was Titanic. He spent $200 million to make the movie. That’s a lot of money. But its all okay. Because of the way James Cameron knows how to make movies and make money, the movie brought in almost 2 billion dollars in ticket sales.

But recently, James Cameron has become famous for his newest adventure. He spent two years creating a documentary that many of us heard about during the weeks heading up to Easter. It was called, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.” Cameron created this documentary using some archeological evidence from the 1980’s. They found a tomb in the Holy Land that had bone-boxes with the names Jesus, Mary, and Judah on them. According to the documentary, this was the family grave of Jesus, his wife and children. Isn’t that nice. Jesus. His Wife. And his kids.

When information like this hits the media it brings an ongoing question to mind. Can science and faith ever get along? Is one or the other going to totally win out? Will science change our mind about what we believe? Will what we believe ever trump what we study in university and find in the laboratory? Who is going to be living in the cardboard box? The Pastor or the Scientist?

The answers to these questions could be pretty frightening. A couple of Sunday evenings ago Pastor Jake asked the question “what if . . .” What if Jesus never rose from the dead. We would be believing in vain, our sins wouldn’t be forgiven, and all that we have ever done in the name of Christ would be completely worthless.

That is reason enough for some people to be afraid of the world of science and discovery. Some people think that studying the world, scientific exploration, is just one more way of trying to disprove the claims of Christianity. Some believe science is just one more way to discredit the belief and the person Jesus Christ, that we hold so dear. We are afraid of what is out there to be discovered in our world.

But as we talk about Christian education this morning, it is a good day for all of us to talk about what the relationship is like between science and faith. And though this we should see that no Christian should be afraid of science. In fact, Christians should confidently study our world to better understand the truth of God that is all around us.

When it comes to faith and science, the first thing we need to have is confidence. We don’t need to be afraid.

There is nothing to fear. There is nothing out there that is going to disprove Christianity. There is nothing in the studies out there that are going to change or take away our salvation. We should be confident that God’s word and the creation are always going to be working together to show us the truth about this world.

The reason I chose to read the passage we did from Romans 8 is because it is just one place where it shows that the world isn’t something that goes against God and his Word. Romans 8:20 says, “20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

This world that scientists study is just one of the players, just like the rest of us. It isn’t something to be fear. The world was perfect before the fall. Then when mankind sinned, the earth was cursed right along with it. And because this creation is in agony with us under sin, you can see how sin affects the planet. Because the creation is in agony, it is crying out, waiting for the day that Christ will make all things better again. This world is not at odds with Jesus Christ. This world is waiting for him, expecting him. The world can’t wait until it is rescued from the effects of sin as well.

In fact one of the ways that Christians can help in the redemption of the planet is exactly by studying in the sciences. What better way to live out what God expects humans to do on this planet. Through science we can advance in our understanding of the planet and the universe. Through study and exploration we can better care for our world.

We need to have confidence. Science and the Scripture are not working against each other. In fact, Science and Scripture, when they are done right, actually work together. Belgic Confession article 2 tells us about how God intended both Scripture and the Creation to be text books about him and his love.

So first we need confidence to study science. Second we need to realize that science and study of the creation can fill us with wonder at the power of our God. Just as God’s Word can. The study of all different parts of our world fills us with wonder.

Article 2 says, “We know him by two means:

First, by the creation, preservation, and government
of the universe,
since that universe is before our eyes
like a beautiful book
      in which all creatures,
      great and small,
      are as letters
      to make us ponder
      the invisible things of God:
           his eternal power
           and his divinity,
           as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20.

All these things are enough to convict men
and to leave them without excuse.

Second, he makes himself known to us more openly
by his holy and divine Word,
as much as we need in this life,
for his glory
and for the salvation of his own.

On Christmas Eve, as the Apollo 8 spaceship was flying somewhere over the landscape of the moon. They broadcast a Television message back to earth for everyone to hear. With the full view of the earth, one of the astronauts began reading a passage from Scripture. Genesis 1:1-10. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” From way up above the earth, the view of the world lead the astronaut to marvel at the power of God. It lead the astronaut, and probably all those others who were seeing footage of the planet we live on. That view of the world inspired people to be so amazed at what God has done.

It doesn’t matter if you are looking through a telescope seeing stars and galaxies that are millions of light years away and millions of times bigger than our earth, or if you are looking through a microscope at some of the tiniest creatures and bacterium on our planet, seeing those things should lead us, not to conclusions that God doesn’t exist. It should lead us to wonder. To overflowing praise at the goodness of God. To wonder at the care that God used to make this world so beautiful. To wonder at the power, and might of a creator of the universe.

We can study our world in confidence that it will confirm what we know to be true about God’s power and might. We also study our world expecting it to fill us with wonder because of what our study of the world shows us about our loving, caring, and all powerful God.

As we study the world though, we have to avoid one of the ideas that is so prevalent in the world today. Some scientists believe that science can be done with out any sort of faith. Some believe that you can’t mix your faith with your learning. And you can’t mix your faith with you scientific studies. Many believe that faith gets in the way of doing real science.

The point they won’t tell you is that it is impossible to study the world without allowing your beliefs to affect the way you see things. If you believe that Jesus Christ was buried in a tomb with his supposed wife and kids, you are going to find a way to prove it. Especially if there is money to be made on the matter. If you believe that miracles are impossible in the world, then you are never going to find an answer for a persons sudden healing from a terminal illness. It is impossible to study the world without it being affected by what you believe.

Since that is the case, the third thing we need to talk about this morning is that Christians need to bring the proper perspective to the study of the world. And that is where Scripture is so important. The Bible was not written as a science text book. God never intended it to be that. But he intended it to be a book the formed us and shapes us. It teaches us about the grace of Jesus Christ and how we can be saved. And Jesus Christ, in Scripture gave us a worldview that comes right from God. He gave us a way to see the world. The world is just that much clearer through the glasses God gives us.

This means whatever area of life we begin to study in, we should allow God’s word to Give us the Proper Worldview, the proper perspective about the things we study and do in the world.

Take a rainbow. Anyone can see a rainbow and understand it comes from sunlight shining through rain. But it takes the eyes of faith to see deeper beauty behind the colors. The beauty of the promise God has made not to destroy the earth with a flood. Or take a healing. Anyone can see that the disease disappeared. But it takes the eyes of faith to see that God was at work all along.

And even a grave with the names Jesus, Mary and Judah. Coming with the perspective of faith leads you to ask questions that wouldn’t be asked by someone who is convinced they have found the grave of Christ. Good scientists have done that. They have studied the evidence from James Cameron’s movie. The determined it was a cardboard cut out version of the truth. On the surface it sounded good, but when you study the details you find it isn’t the real thing. Scientist have determined that James Cameron’s movie was not good science. They have not found Jesus’ bones or a grave that proved he was married with children.

The Bible gives us perspective on the world. The world helps us see the wonder of our God. With that balance, we can go into our work and our study, thankful for both science and scripture as tools to help us understand God and his world.

This is God’s will from his word. And all God’s people say. AMEN