Berean Sabbath Sermon 1/2/2016

Sabbath Sermon: “Travailing Prayer” 

Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell, back in the pulpit again after a brief period of Holiday-related distractions.

Today’s Sabbath Worship Service at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta featured the first in a proposed series of sermons based on the Book of Nehemiah. The series is titled “Rebuilding the Ruins.” I learned today that Berean Community Services is planning on working all day tomorrow, so the world will be spared a text synopsis of this week’s Sabbath sermon ( for today anyway), as I had better rest up for the effort. Here, as usual, is a link to the ENTIRE SERVICE. The sermon begins at time marker 1:19:55. It weaves together several topical threads floating around the church these days, including an emphasis on prayer in the new year of 2016, and tangentially, the need for some facilities maintenance. Berean is situated in a beautiful old building benighted by an obsolete and deteriorating infrastructure, kind of like Buckingham Palace. It is usually packed to capacity, but there exists no reasonable way to expand the sanctuary, as all of the walls are bearing walls. The pastor voiced an option, about a year ago,  of just tearing the old building down and starting from scratch. The reaction of the congregation was unanimously against this sacrilege.
Our new pastor, Danielle Pilgrim, inaugurated her service at Berean by leading the Pastoral Prayer, which may be viewed at time marker 28:55.

Pastor Danielle Pilgrim in her first speaking role at Berean, leading the Pastoral Prayer. She is from the Caribbean, but has no trace of an accent.

When I looked at the program for today’s sermon, I saw that it was to be based on the Book of Nehemiah. As it is a short book, I reread it before Sabbath School, curious as to what kind of raw material it might provide for a sermon series. I jotted down a summary for my own use. I may tack it on to this post at sometime, just so I will know where to find it. It ties in a little with the Sabbath School theme of “Rebellion and Redemption.” Our last quarter’s lessons on the Book of Jeremiah ended with many Israelites in a rebellion of sorts against their new Babylonian overlords, despite Jeremiah’s warning to them that “resistance is futile!” The activities described in both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah illustrate a “redemption” (temporary, at least) of the Jewish state.

A few hundred people stayed after the New Year’s Eve communion service in order to watch the movie “The War Room.” Pastor Russell has been deeply touched by this film. He said that it was all about “travailing prayer,” and was thus linked to the first four verses of Nehemiah. In these verses Nehemiah, who is doing OK by himself as a highly placed civil servant in Babylon, hears about the sorry plight of his fellow Jews back in wasted Jerusalem. The key scripture for Pastor Russell’s sermon is Nehemiah 1:4: “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,” Nehemiah was all torn up about the situation, and the pastor informed us that his prayer to God was a “travailing prayer.” Pastor Russell defined “travailing” in terms of it’s scriptural meaning, “as in the pangs of childbirth.” My pathetic contribution is this: it is the French word for plain, old-fashioned work.

Keyboard virtuoso Natalie Ragins. The biography on her website lists many disparate musical styles she is familiar with.

During the offertory, my favorite keyboardist Natalie Ragins (her page, again) displayed her unique, jazz-inflected improvisational skills during that part of the service that often consists of little more than soothing “elevator music.” This interlude starts at time marker 1:03:55. She had a laptop computer sitting beside her during the service, but I am way to shy to go and ask her what it is for. As previously mentioned, one of her day jobs is working for Tyler Perry’s road shows. It is like having Herbie Hancock in the church praise band.

The other principal musicians visible in the video are Elder Bruce Seawood (directly behind Ms. Ragins) on the Hammond organ, and legendary Luther Washington II, seated at Ms. Ragin’s right, on the big organ. A traditional hymn with organ accompaniment is offered at every service. Luther Washington II follows an unvarying, but very satisfying, pattern for this music. For a three stanza hymn the pattern would be: moderate tempo, moderate tempo, interlude with a key change up, and a final, thunderous finale played at practically a snail’s pace. You may witness this typical performance at time marker 11:33 on the YouTube Video. Note: today Pastor Russell mentioned that the Berean Service is one of the most watched church services in the nation. The YouTube numbers are respectable, usually nearing 1,000 views, but the majority watch on streaming sites such as “churchpond,” an Adventist endeavor.

An illustration of the fall of Satan by Gustave Dore, produced for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”

SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON “CRISES IN HEAVEN”

This quarter’s study topic for all Adventists, everywhere, is entitled “Rebellion and Redemption.” It seems that this would be a good time to take another look at “The Great Controversy.”
Lesson 1, “Crises in Heaven,” is complemented by Chapter 29 of “The Great Controversy,” the story of Satan’s fall to earth called “The Origin of Evil.” A compliment to this compliment would be John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.”

John Bunyan  was roughly a contemporary of John Milton, but is much, much easier to read. Chapter 14 of “The Great Controversy,” “Later English Reformers,” skips directly from Bunyan(1628-1688) to Charles Wesley (1707-1788), his big brother John Wesley (1703-1791), and George Whitefield (1714-1770), The last three Englishmen were notable for bringing their brand of Arminianism to the New World. Arminianism is the “free will” rebuttal of Calvinist “predestination,” and is a common denominator to Baptists, Methodists, and Seventh-day Adventists.  Ellen G. White mentions Arminius in Vol. 3, pg. 153 of History of Protestantism, mainly in connection with the Dutch Remonstrants.

Chapter 13 of “The Great Controversy,” entitled “The Netherlands and Scandinavia,” describes the difficult lot that Dutch Protestants like Arminius faced while under the authority of Roman Catholic and Habsburg overlords Charles V and Phillip II. This chapter is not intended to be a comprehensive history, but to serve as inspiration. It cites the life of Menno Simons (father of the Mennonites) as being typical of Dutch enthusiasm for truth. He rejected Roman Catholic notions about transubstantiation (is that bread actually Jesus?) and infant baptism. Mennonites can be found anywhere in this country where farmland is still affordable. I have chanced upon them deep in the boondocks of Tennessee.

, Mennonites are not Amish. They do not have to dress this way, but the ones I encountered did so. You don’t have to be born a Mennonite. You can join up.

These digressions about Protestant history describe a meaningful rebellion, one against error in the church. The rebellion in Heaven, instigated by Satan, is, by contrast, so meaningless as to be inscrutable, a puzzling affair that the conclusion of the Sabbath School lesson admits is “irrational and nonsensical.” It was, however, extremely  consequential for the human race. The introduction of the lesson points to Satan’s rebellion as an evil manifestation of his free will (as noted, a theological concept associated with “Arminianism,” so perhaps the digressions have had some bearing on the subject under discussion).

“Paradise Lost.” like James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” is a famous and highly influential work that nobody seems to have actually read. Scriptural citations that John Milton used for those sections of “Paradise Lost” that deal with Satan’s rebellion and ejection from Heaven are familiar ones. Today’s Sabbath School lesson includes several, among which are Isaiah 14:12-15, which commences “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” The lesson mentions Isaiah 14:4, which introduces the following admonitions by Isaiah as being directed to the “King of Babylon,” but Sunday’s lesson, “The Fall In Heaven,” refers to it’s application to Satan as being an example of a “dual prophecy.”

It tells us that Jesus uses a similar approach in His proclamations about the fall of Jerusalem, statements that are also applicable to the end of the age. In last week’s lesson, Ellen G. White spoke of an analogy between the remnant of Israel that Babylon “left behind,” and the remnant referred to in Revelation 12:17: those  end-time folk who “keep the commandments of God.” Revelation 12:7-16 is referenced in connection with the Tuesday lesson, “War in Heaven.” Sunday’s lesson also mentions Ezekiel’s depiction of Satan, and gives this as an example of scripture’s use of “simile” and “metaphor” in order to couch, in layman’s familiar terms, complicated or abstract ideas. Jesus did a lot of this with His agricultural analogies.

One of Jesus’s most important parables, “The Sower” by Millet. The subject of today’s lesson was bad seed.,

Monday’s lesson, “The Prince of This World,” discussed Satan’s “ownership” of the world. I will condense the page by simply quoting a part of Luke 4:6, a fragment from Satan regarding his suzerainty,  uttered during the Temptation of Christ: “for that (the kingdoms of the world) is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it.”

Tuesday’s lesson, “War in Heaven,” and it’s citation from Revelation 12, has already been mentioned. The author of the lessons, New Zealander David Tasker, points out that the Bible says little about the heavenly conflict that preceded Satan’s expulsion. Revelation 12:7-8 briefly notes that there was a war between Michael and the loyal angels against “that old serpent” and his defecting angelic host. Verse 8 tersely notes that Satan and his minions “prevailed not.” Ellen G. White offers some supplementary insight about Satan’s insurrection in Chapter 29 of “The Great Controversy,” entitled “The Origin of Evil.”

Wednesday’s lesson, “Satan Evicted,” utilizes Luke 10:1-21 (Christ sending the “Seventy” out into the countryside to promulgate good works) in order to illustrate that God’s people are not left defenseless against the enemy. His disciples exclaimed, upon their return, “even the devils are subject to us through thy name.” I once took a shortcut through a cow pasture in Florida. A gigantic Brahma bull spotted me from an adjacent field. He jumped a six-foot fence in order to get into the field I was in, and then madly rushed straight toward me, angry that I was on his turf. I could not outrun him, so I just stood my ground. He stopped his charge about ten feet away from me, snorted, and then turned around and walked away. Preachers love anecdotes like this. I deserved to die that day, as do we all, yet I live.

Brahma bulls stand higher than a man. They originate from India, so they adapt well to the Florida climate. They are often found with symbiotic birds perched on their back, eating parasitic insects.

Thursday’s lesson, “The Continuing Battle,” left me in a slight state of confusion. The author based his comments on John 16:33 (…In the world ye shall have tribulation: I have overcome the world), and Hebrews 12:1-2. The later reference also encompasses Hebrews 11, which enumerates 14 “heroes of the Bible” by name, and appends to this list sundry “prophets.” Paul includes this group (and so does the author of the lesson) into the “cloud of witnesses” that are compassed about us, checking up on our performance. I hope that I have properly apprehended enough Adventist theology by this point to be clear about the matter of the “state of the dead.”

Elijah, like Enoch, was directly taken to Heaven without tasting death, but Paul does not include Elijah in his “hall of fame.” This leaves Enoch, who is undoubtedly in Heaven at this instant, along with Elijah. We can be sure of the presence of the Trinity, and, in addition, an innumerable “Heavenly Host” of angels, among these the five named in the Bible. Thirteen of the “cloud,” along with the sundry “prophets,” are inadmissible as potential witnesses. They would all make excellent “post-game analysts” however. Some people who speak Greek are in agreement with Paul’s assertion. I was hoping they would allow me to cop out of this conundrum through some subtle linguistic hair-splitting. I had better just drop the subject for now!

The conclusion of this week’s lesson quotes from Ellen G. White’s book “Patriarchs and Prophets.” This link features miniscule text, but I just happen to own a non-digital copy of this book. The lesson tells us that Ellen White writes on page 35 that “little by little Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation.” This statement is found on page 3 of my 1970 Pacific Press addition, with brackets displaying [34-35] just to the left of the page number. “What is on the missing 31 or so pages?” I had to stop and ask. The teensy print of the online edition begins at page 17. Pages 17 and 18 are a generic preface, wishing the reader well. Pages 19-28 are an introduction by “U. Smith” defending the “Spirit of Prophecy,” and must have been part of an older edition, placed there in order to answer some criticism that is no longer a big issue.

Partial graphics from an old edition of “The Prophecies Of Daniel and the Revelation” by Adventist Jack-of-all-trades Uriah Smith, first published in 1882.

U. Smith turns out to be Uriah Smith, author, minister, educator, theologian, the longest serving editor ever of the “Review and Herald,” and in true polymath fashion, also an illustrator. In genius style, he was a student at Phillips Exeter Academy.  “Architect’s architect” Louis Kahn designed the “Class of 1945 Library” at this exclusive prep school. My favorite alumnus is James Agee, an east Tennessee native whose boyhood home was just a few blocks from where I used to live in Knoxville, in the Fort Sanders neighborhood made famous in his autobiographical novel “A Death In the Family.”

So now my curiosity gets redirected. “What was on pages 1-16 of the original edition of “Patriarchs and Prophets?” That  question will remain unanswered for now. It may turn out to be just a lengthy Table of Contents.