Text:  Isaiah 44:6-8                                                                          9^th Sunday after Pentecost

The Scandal of the Specifics

            In the name of the Lord, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the Lord Almighty, dear friends in Christ:  They say, “The devil is in the details.”  It’s an old adage that means great big, wonderful, broad, sweeping plans often go awry because of teeny little problems.  As a former military officer, I can tell you that it’s true.  A large part of learning to be a strategist is studying the great campaigns of generals who should have won their battles, but didn’t because of a minor mistake or small oversight.

            Or for some other good examples, we could look at the history of the U.S. space program.  Who knows how many hundred highly skilled engineers, scientists, and technicians were involved in building and launching the space shuttle Challenger?  Nevertheless, I’m sure many of you remember watching in horror as it erupted into a fireball during launch, and how the long, tentacle-like plumes of smoke traced the path of its shattered fragments plummeting to the earth.  What went wrong?  An O-ring, just a simple seal, had failed.  If you were looking at the long list of component parts for the rocket, you would have passed right over it.  But it brought an abrupt and tragic end to the mission and to the lives of the astronauts aboard.  Or you may remember Apollo 13, and how it ran into a problem on its way to the moon.  I understand that a defective hose coupling, a seemingly insignificant, little part, constructed and put in place more than two years before the launch, was the suspected culprit. It cost the crew their one chance to stand in the company of the handful of pioneers who walked on the moon in the twentieth century, and it very nearly cost them their lives as well.  I guarantee that those are three men who really understand that “The devil is in the details”.  And I’ll bet you understand it too:  no matter what your walk of life, you’ve almost certainly experienced some of your big plans and projects coming to naught because of glitches in what seemed to be piddling little particulars. 

            And because you know it first hand, it should come as no shock that the same thing is true in theology:  an apparently minor error in what looks like the fine details can completely ruin a church’s entire system of doctrine, or cause an eternally fatal flaw in an individual’s faith by directing it away from the finished work of Jesus to something else.  And here the old proverb takes on a whole added dimension, because it really is the Devil who is in the details, messing things up and distorting the truth in order to spoil the plans and purposes of our heavenly Father.  And it’s vital that we understand this.  It’s easy enough to identify the fatal flaws in Atheism (the belief that there is no God) or in various Pagan religions (the worship of false gods).  In these cases, Satan’s victory over people’s hearts and minds is plainly seen.  But what is not so easy to see is how he works soul-destroying errors into the details of the faith of those who call themselves Christian.  But he’s no dummy.  He understands that it’s not necessary for a person to openly deny Christ or adhere to some obvious heresy to make a wreck of the faith.  All the Devil has to do is hamstring a few vital details.  That’s why keeping all the details straight is so very important.

            But I want to pause here for a moment and make something absolutely clear: I fear someone may take what I’ve said thus far and think, “Oh, there goes Pastor again, saying we’re the only ones who’ve got it right and everyone else is going to hell.”  I did not say that; nor would I ever say that.  But, do I believe the doctrine and practice of this church is correct?  Of course I do.  I could not stand here in this pulpit and address you if I didn’t.  A better question is, do you believe the doctrine and practice of this church is correct?  Let me suggest that you shouldn’t sit there and listen to me if you don’t.  You should either find a church that teaches the Word of God correctly, or you should send me packing and change the name and denomination of this church to the one you think is right.

But now, take it a step further.  If you think that we have it right, where there are differences between what this church teaches and what another teaches, is it appropriate to say that we’re right and they’re wrong?  I hope you say, “yes”, because anything else is either dishonest or a form of intellectual suicide.  Two contrary and mutually exclusive statements cannot both be true. But I hasten to add that not every theological mistake or error destroys someone’s Christian faith.  Just as your car can stay running and get you places with any number of broken parts and malfunctioning systems, so a person can have saving faith in Christ and hold a number of the details in error. However, it must be remembered that no error is good, and that all errors are at least potentially destructive.  Again, you can drive your car if the windshield defroster isn’t working.  This time of year you can get along fine without it.  But there are times in the winter when you couldn’t because you wouldn’t be able to see where you were going – car runs fine, but you can’t get it out of the driveway.  So also with doctrinal errors:  there are times and conditions when any false belief can stall the faith and make it ineffective.  And so, just like you want everything on your car to be working right, so you can go where you want, efficiently, reliably, and in any weather conditions, you should want your faith to be free of errors – even in the seemingly minor details. 

            And let’s make it clear:  we aren’t just talking about head knowledge of a long list of religious facts and figures. The Devil is in the details, and he has a good reason for being there:  it’s because that’s where the Lord is.  God is in the details.  The Triune God comes to us in his Word and reveals himself in rich digital clarity and living color.  He’s not a generic, faceless, unknown entity that floats nebulously out there somewhere doing who-knows-what.  He’s specific.  He’s personal.  He’s active.  And he wants to have a real, living, person-to-person relationship with you.  And so he gives you lots and lots of details about who and what he is, and about his plan and purpose for you, and about how he has designed to save you through his Son, Jesus Christ. Today’s Old Testament reading from Isaiah is a case in point.  In that short, 3-verse passage the Lord describes himself with seven different titles – and each one is loaded with meaning and significance that is informed by the whole of God’s revelation in Scripture.  “King of Israel”, “Redeemer”, “Lord Almighty”, “First and Last”, “The Rock”:  each concept is loaded with details that the Lord wants you to know so that you will know him, if it were possible, as well as he knows you.  Satan’s goal is to confuse and cloak the specifics so you won’t know the Lord as he is, and more importantly, so that you won’t trust the Lord to be your King, Redeemer, Rock, and Savior.

            But deviling the details, as effective as it is, is not the only trick in his book. Especially in our times, he has another even more insidious attack on the church, and that’s the deception he’s foisted upon our culture that says the details are not important – or worse, that details are actually dangerous and destructive because they cause division. Much better, people think, to settle on the vague concepts that we all hold in common, like a belief in a God who is essentially good and just who, in one way or another, is the Father of us all. Thus, since we are all his children, we should set ourselves about the task of promoting the general welfare and brotherhood of mankind.  And so, we should avoid getting wrapped up in the specifics, because as soon as you do people start arguing about religion.  They insist on dividing truth from error, and deciding who’s right and who’s wrong.  This leads to contention, bitterness, anger – things that are surely an offense to a God who wants us to all get along peacefully.  And so, you see, the specifics – the very things through which God reveals himself – become scandalous in the eyes of many.  To present details of the Christian faith as the truth is offensive. It’s prejudiced.  It’s “hate speech”.  It should not be tolerated.

            And unfortunately, many people within the Christian church have bought in to this deception.  To some degree, we’ve all come to believe that the specifics are scandalous.  And this is major problem for us because in the same Old Testament passage where the Lord gives us so many details, he also gives us an important mission.  “You are my witnesses”, he says.  You’ve got a job to do:  through your life, your words, and your actions you are to bear witness of me to the world.  Why? He goes on to explain, “[Because] there is no other God besides me.  There is no other Rock.”  The Lord who made himself known to you in specific details wants you to make him known to others, because there is no other Rock – that is a sure foundation, a defense, and a salvation – apart from him.  The question is:  what kind of witness will you be?

            Let’s say you go into one of these gas station convenience stores to buy a doughnut … one deep fat fried, filled with creamy, calorie-laden goo, and dripping with white, sugary icing.  No, on second thought, let’s just make it a simple doughnut – I don’t want to make this a sermon on the excesses of the sinful flesh.  Anyway, as you’re about to check out, a guy comes in and starts waving around a gun and making demands.  You know him.  Let’s say you went to high school with him, and he’s been hanging around town, in and out of trouble, ever since.  You know where he lives.  You even know what kind of car he drives, and after he robs the place and gets away, you notice that he’s driving that same old car. You even see and remember the license plate number.  And let’s add two more things:  first, for some reason, he didn’t recognize you.  He was one of those guys who never went to class much anyway – kind of a ne’er do well who didn’t socialize much.  And the second thing is, well, you didn’t have a lot of respect for him in the past, and now, after being threatened and robbed by him, you have even less appreciation.  You really hope he gets caught and sent to jail.  So, when the police show up and start doing their investigation, you step forward:  “I saw the whole thing, officer, and I want to testify.”  “Great,” he says, and he sits you down to fill a sworn statement while he questions the clerk.  You work for a long time on it, getting it exactly like you want it, and then you hand it to the officer. It reads, “I came into the store to buy a doughnut; and while I was here, somebody robbed the place.”  The officer stares at you in disbelief.  “Is this all you want to say?  Don’t you have anything more to add?”  “No”, you reply, “That pretty well sums it up.” Now, your statement is one hundred percent accurate; but the question is what kind of witness did you give?  The answer is:  a terrible one.  It was utterly worthless.  It didn’t help the investigation in the slightest bit because there was no detail.

            So also is any nonspecific, generic, or vague witness to the Lord.  No one is going to know him by your witness unless you give the specifics.  And let me give you a couple contemporary applications of what I’m talking about. I’m sure that most of you have heard of the recent decision of the 9^th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals declaring unconstitutional the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.  The decision was met by an immediate uproar of disapproval by the Christian community.  And riding the wave of popular sentiment and seizing the opportunity to look good for their constituents, we saw congressional representatives assemble on the Capitol steps to recite the pledge, with heavy emphasis on the offending words, and concluding with a rousing chorus of God Bless America.  Okay, it plays well to the majority of the public, but what’s it really all about? Is this an attack on the church? Have we lost a powerful witness to the Gospel?  Is our Christian faith being threatened?  No, no, and no.  The vague reference to “God” in the pledge could be any god.  There’s nothing particularly Christian about it – and deliberately so, they didn’t want to offend anybody.  The reference is to that nameless and faceless god of American civil religiosity of whom no specifics can be spoken.  I shudder to think how much time, effort, energy, and money will be expended by Christians who think they’re standing up for the faith by fighting to maintain this absolutely meaningless phrase in the Pledge.  It’s nothing but a devilish red herring that will keep Christians occupied instead of doing the true work of witnessing of the scandalous details of the Lord Jesus and his saving work on the cross.

            And now an example that’s a little closer to home because it’s causing so much discord within our own church body.  Many well-intentioned Christians are hailing the participation of Dr. Benke, the president of our synod’s Atlantic District, in a program that was called “A Prayer for America”.  It was a nationally broadcast multi-faith mixture of celebrities, music, patriotism, and prayer in response to the horrific attacks on our nation last September. And people watched as a parade of clerics, priests, and Imams offered prayers on behalf of the nation.  It was a highly emotional time, and the event played well to the majority of the public as it was designed to do.  And I know that after hearing a lot of prayers to Allah, Vishnu, the Great Spirit, Mary Queen of Heaven, and who knows what other gods, many people breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Dr. Benke stepped forward. At last, someone to pray a Christian prayer and bear witness to Christ!

            But did he?  Whatever he might have said was overpowered by his very presence with the others. In a culture that is used to and wants to hear the message, “all religions are equal and the details don’t matter”, that’s what was communicated.  There’s no Christian witness there.  But someone will say, “He prayed in the name of Jesus.  Surely that’s a Christian witness, isn’t it?” Well, I don’t need to tell you that not everyone who uses the name Jesus in a sentence is making a Christian witness. Often times it’s far from it. But beyond that, in his prayer Dr. Benke, for fear of getting too specific and offending someone, referred to Jesus as “a” Son of God.  He did the same thing George Burns did in the movie O God.  In that film, George Burns, who was portraying God, was asked, “Is Jesus your Son?”  There was a pause in the action for the viewer to consider the impact of the answer.  If he said yes, Jews and Moslems would be deeply offended.  If he said no, the Christians would be.  So, with a twinkle in his eye, Burns finally said, “Yes, Jesus is my son.  And so is Muhammad, and Guatama Buddha; and so are you if you try to do what’s right and get along with people.”  Dr. Benke copped out the same way in order to avoid a specific witness to Christ – and without the specifics, there is no witness.

            And if you remain unconvinced, consider this:  in one of the charges filed against Dr. Benke for his participation in this service, the person accused him of “dragging the Lord God down to the same level as Allah”.  Rising to Dr. Benke’s defense, the president of our synod’s Texas District (and now I’m quoting from an article in the New York Times), “expressed particular disapproval of the suggestion that Allah, the God of Islam, was somehow inferior to the God of Christianity.  ‘I would not have used those terms, even though I believe a Muslim is not a saved person,’ he said, ‘Still, I need to respect that man and his God.’”  Excuse me?  What kind of Christian witness is it to say that Allah is equal to the God of Christianity?  And help me out here:  I understand the need to respect every person – but how much sense does it make to respect a god who can’t save the people who believe in him from hell? Lord, we understand that your Word offends the world, but save your church from Christians who are scandalized by the specifics!

            Which brings it back to you and me.  “You are my witnesses”, says the Lord.  Your life, your actions, and your words are to convey the truths of the Lord Jesus and his love for lost mankind, because that’s how the Lord has chosen to make his salvation known – and it can’t happen as well as it could if your witness is peppered with errors or obscured with vague relativism.  And that implies two things:  first that you make it your goal to become a better witness by getting the details straight.  You do that by drawing closer to the Lord in his Word.  There he shares with you himself – he interacts with you, driving out your fears, and confusion, and your uncertainties, and he assures you of the great salvation he’s given you by forgiving your sins in his Son.  There he shares with you his own Holy Spirit, builds up your faith, and gives you the courage to testify boldly – so that you have the ability and desire to do the second part: and that is share the witness of the Lord in all its glorious detail to those who need to hear it.  May he so give us the grace to be his faithful and specific witnesses.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!