Scripture: Ruth 4:14-17; Mark 13:1-8; James 1:27; 1 John 2:3-6; Matthew 25:35-36; Exodus 32:1-4 Series: After Pentecost
Preaching on Jesus’s warning in Mark 13 that ‘many will come in my name’ and lead people astray, Wilson asks how we distinguish true Christianity from idolatry without falling into the no-true-Scotsman fallacy. He turns to James, 1 John, and Matthew 25 for substantive marks of faith, warns that following Jesus means trials rather than a trouble-free life (illustrated by frank talk of campus security and backpacking calm), and names idolatry, via Calvin and the golden calf, as getting what we want instead of what we need. Citing Bonhoeffer, he calls hearers to abandon old attachments and take up the cross, and closes with Ruth clinging to Naomi as the image of clinging to Jesus, found in the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned.
Illustrations: atheist-conversation, no-true-scotsman, covenant-security-plan, backpacking-dont-panic, calvin-idol-factory, golden-calf-focus-groups, bonhoeffer-discipleship-cross, ruth-the-foreigner
November 17
Whose Name?
Ruth 4:14-17
Mark 13:1-8
Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. - Ruth 4:14-17
As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. - Mark 13:1-8
I had a conversation with someone recently there was a surprise that was unexpected. It was the first time this person had ever talked to a pastor. He was in his forties and he was pretty aggressive towards me. He was a strident atheist. He said that the only Christians he knew were drug addicts or moochers asking him for money. He thought it was all fairy tales. He was a grown up and he didn’t need to believe in the Tooth fairy or Jesus Christ. There were other factors going on in this conversation. I didn’t spend the conversation trying to dissuage him of his opinion. I tried to love on him. I tried to listen. I tried to offer the possibility of relationship and further conversation.
Jesus says many will come in my name. Beware. They will lead many astray. Just because someone uses the name of Jesus, doesn’t mean that they’re good. Just because someone claims to be a Christian, doesn’t mean they are. There’s power in the name of Jesus. But, like anything good, there’s opportunity for abuse. We need to be humble and honest about this if we’re going to live by faith in 2024. There are many people whose only experience of Christians is negative They are not lying or wrong to have those experiences There have been many who have been led astray.
Even still, there’s this temptation for the no true Scotsman fallacy. This is a logical fallacy. I’ll just do it in a Scottish accent because it’s kind of fun to do it, sooooo.
Person A: “No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.” Person B: “But my uncle Angus is a Scotsman and he puts sugar on his porridge.” Person A: “But no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.”
The no true Scotsman fallacy posits that there is a a version of your argument or your point that you can endlessly qualify so instead of defending your argument, you’re challenging the person you’re talking to.
This can happen with Christians. No Christian wakes up after 9 AM. My uncle Hamish wakes up after 9 AM. Well no true Christian wakes up after 9am.
What is the thing that we think true Christians do that others don’t? The Bible gives us a few different answers. James makes this distinction:
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27 NRSV
John makes a different distinction in his first letter:
“Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.” 1 John 2:3-6 NRSV
The challenge is, how do we distinguish true Christianity from idolatry, worshipping the false god, from the beliefs of those who have been led astray, as well as not fall into this trap of the no true Scotsman fallacy, by just defending the idea of being a Christian again and again and again without actually positing a substantial account of what that means.
This is not only an apologetic question, that is, it is not only about defending the faith. Jesus’s focus on being led astray concerns people who have already decided to follow Jesus but who are deceived and tempted to go in a different direction.
The book of Ruth offers us a seemingly benign example that is deeply connected to what Jesus says. Orpah and Ruth both marry sons of Naomi. Both of their husbands die. They are faced with a challenge. Naomi doesn’t understand who she is, and in this way she differs from Jesus, but Naomi still offers the path to God. Orpah leaves it. Ruth clings to Naomi. Ruth clings to her and does not let her go.
Jesus knows who he is. Jesus goes to the disciples and says, follow me. He leads them, but not in a direct path. He says, “Many will come in my name.” He doesn’t say who it is who’s coming. He could have. He doesn’t give specific warnings. He says many will come in my name and they will lead people astray. There are going to be wars and strife.
There are going to be challenges. There are going to be trials. And that is not the end There are going to be challenges answering the call to follow me. Responding to Jesus is not accepting a life without challenges. Were it only so.
Sometimes we’re blessed with seasons without challenges and we should give thanks to God for that, but that is not what we sign up for. The God of all creation has been most fully revealed in the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and has offered you life in the midst of this brokenness of the world. There is healing. There is new life. There is eternal life. There is resurrection. There is power. There is purpose. But there will still be challenges. There will still be trials. There may be challenges here during worship. It’s not especially likely, but it’s possible. It’s much more likely to be hurt in a car accident on the way to church or be struck by lightning, but that doesn’t mean we need to ignore it. The reality is that we have a large campus at Covenant. We try to keep it as secure as secure as possible. One aspect of that is trying to prevent people who have ill intent from entering the church.
We’re also aware that that black swan event, that unpredictable thing can happen. As I tell my boys when we go backpacking, the first rule of any challenging situation is: don’t panic. There’s no moment where panicking resolves a situation or makes it better. If God forbid, something does happen, whoever is on the stage will be alerted and will calmly communicate for you all to move to this far side of the sanctuary near this exit that is always locked and is more likely to be safe and secure. It’s not with comfort that I talk about this, but it’s the reality of the brokenness of this world that it needs to be named. We’re not blindly pretending that it can’t happen to us. It is unlikely and we shouldn’t be afraid, but we can be prepared.
Jesus said the rain falls on the just as well as the unjust. Even if we do all the things God puts in front of us. Even if we do it all correctly, there is still injustice that enters our life because that is the state of this world before Jesus has finished with us all and the new creation has been brought forth. Christ is making all things new, but it is not done yet, and it is not a steady state growth. Just like history world history doesn’t move in a steady upward trajectory. It is tempting to think that it does and sometimes history is taught in such a way that all of human existence has been progressively leading up to 2024.
Somethings are better and some are not.
The same goes for the salvation of the world. There’s spurts and declines. There’s revivals and great awakenings and separations from the church.
As well, in every season, there are people who are lead astray. So how do you know that I’m not leading you a string? It’s a good question. Is an important question? I think this is why we have the church together. Why Christ sends the disciples out 2 x 2, why gatherings, assemblies, are the heart of the Christian faith, where we read the Bible together, to discern together what God has for us. not to declare it by ourselves apart from everyone else. We are to serve together, to make sure that our service is to God. We worship together to make sure our worship is of God, to make sure we don’t fall prey to the temptation of idolatry. John Calvin said the human heart is an idol factory. People being lead astray is about people falling prey to idols, to golden calves.
The story of the golden calf is not a simple one. It is often presented as, look at these gullible Israelites, but that’s not the case. The people were impatient. They were looking for God, and they couldn’t wait until Moses got down from the mountain in order to worship God. So Aaron wanted to give them something to do. He responded to the people. It was like they had focus groups and he like listened to the focus groups and he responded. He wanted to give the people what they want. And what resulted from the focus groups was a golden calf. Now, with hindsight, it may not be the best solution, but it’s an understandable one, trying to give the people what they want. That’s how we get let astray. We often get led astray by getting what we want. instead of getting what we need.
We need to continue to let go of the old desires which pull us from love. The desire for glory, for personal safety over communal safety, the desire to be satisfied at the expense of those around us, the desire to be glorified and honored in ourselves. We need to abandon those attachments to the cross.
As Dietch Bonhoeffer said in his great work, Discipleship,
The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
Those are the times when we know we are not led astray, when we are on the path of Jesus.
Advent is coming soon. The Christian new year December 1. I’ll have a devotional on waiting on God. Advent is about waiting for the coming of the baby Jesus, but it’s also about waiting for the second coming of Jesus. As we say in the creed, when he comes to judge the living and the dead, the quick and the dead. Christ’s judgment over this world is coming, over the injustice in this world, over the people who are abusing others, they will have their due.
Ours is not to enact justice. It’s to look for God’s justice and to offer life this day and this season. Ours is to abandon attachment to destruction and cling to life.
Ruth followed Naomi back to her home. Ruth was a stranger. Ruth was an alien. Ruth was a foreigner and she was welcomed. She became the grandmother of King David. She could have been spit out of society, but she became the cornerstone for the coming of Jesus Christ. She loved Naomi. She stayed with her. She stood with her. and she was blessed for it. Let us cling to Jesus, as Ruth clung to Naomi. Where he goes, may we go. And we know where he is by Matthew 25. for when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink when I was naked, you clothed me, when I was sick, you visited me, when I was in prison. you cared for me.
Let us cling to Jesus in the faces of the hungry, the thirsty, and naked, the sick, the imprisoned, let us cling to Jesus, and then we will stay with him. In this season and this life even the life to come.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen and Amen.