series: why? part#2

Our primary forebear, John Calvin, opened his massive theological treatise on what Protestants believe – Institutes of the Christian Religion – with these words: “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God;” followed by, “Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self.” When we learn of the world through all its systems of knowledge, we learn of self and we learn of God; when we learn of God, through liturgy, music, preaching, and teaching, we learn of God and we learn of self. Calvin’s purpose was to show “how [the knowledge of self and the knowledge of God] are interrelated,” we might say “inextricably intertwined.” Our theology and liturgy encompass what we know and experience in the world, in its created beauty and its fallen sadness. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 2 Timothy 4:9-13, and is read by the Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.

Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament - what did he mean by that, and what does it mean for us? It means we can neither disregard the Old Testament, nor treat it as perfect on its own. Jesus fulfilled the promise of victory over sin and Satan, blessings to all through God's people Israel, completion of prophecies, and the perfect completion of the moral code. Jesus changed the idea of what it means for us to be righteous: we have been changed on the inside, so we can now live a life that pleases Him. Are you living through the sufficiency of his work, or trying to prove your own?

This is the second sermon in this series.