Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Why I Am a Christian”*

*#2: “…and Not a Muslim”*

Pastor Greg Henneman

January 14, 2007

 

Text:          1 Corinthians 1:18-25

 

Theme:      The cross makes all the difference.

Goal:          To better understand our own faith by learning about Islam.

Also: To reflect on how to treat people of other faiths.

*Introduction*

 

I encourage you to come to the Christian Unity Service next Sunday night at the First Congregational Church.

It’s the beautiful white church next to Pine Knob, or should I say DTE.

It will be a great time for the churches around Clarkston to affirm their unity in Christ.

Last week we talked about atheism.

Today we’re talking about Islam.

We live in a society that is increasingly diverse; and it’s important that as Christians we reflect on our faith.

Why are we Christians and not atheists or Muslims or Hindus?

How should we relate to people of other faiths and people of no faith?

You’ll discover as I’ve discovered that by learning about other faiths, it helps you understand more about your own faith.

So our goal in this series is twofold: 1) To help us deepen our own faith, and 2) To help us be better salt and light in our diverse society.

On your outline you’ll see…

 

*A.

Brief History of Islam*

*          “Islam” = “submission”*

*          “Muslim” = “one who submits” (to God)*

 

It’s interesting that we call ourselves “Christians” because we follow Christ; but Muslims do NOT call themselves Muhammadens, because they do not worship Muhammad the way we worship Christ.

Although they honor Muhammad as the greatest of all the prophets, they believe he was just a man who pointed the way to God.

So the real point of Islam is to “submit” to God.

We Christians, however, believe that Jesus Christ was more than a prophet; more than a man who simply pointed the way to God.

We believe that he was God in the flesh who deserves our worship.

Although Muslims do not worship Muhammad, they consider him to be the greatest man and prophet who ever lived.

They do not believe that Muhammad started a new religion but that he simply restored the original faith of Adam and Abraham.

They believe that God gave the Koran (their Bible) through Muhammad.

So let’s look briefly at…

 

*          Life of Muhammad*

*1.

Muhammad born in Mecca, 570 A.D.*

 

*[PUT ON SCREEN MAP OF MECCA AND MIDINA]*

 

His father died before he was born and his mother died when he was six years old.

So he was…

 

*2.

Orphaned, poor childhood*

 

He was raised by his uncle Abu Talib and grew up rather poor.

As he grew older he became a shepherd and a trader and did rather well.

At the age of 25 he…

 

*3.

Marriage*

 

…a wealthy widow by the name of Khadija.

Although Khadija was fifteen years older than him, they enjoyed a happy marriage and had two sons who died in infancy, and four daughters.

Muhammad became a…

 

*4.

Successful merchant*

 

…well-respected and prosperous.

*5.

Age forty: (610 AD) first revelations*

 

He believed that the angel Gabriel spoke to him and called him to become a prophet.

After a couple of years of personal struggling with his call, he became convinced that God has really spoken to him, and so he started…

 

*6.

Preaching in Mecca*

 

At first many of the people rejected him.

Their economy was intertwined with worshipping all sorts of gods, and Muhammad preached that there was only one true God; and they didn’t like that.

He ended up having to…

 

*7.

Flight to Medina, 622 A.D.*

 

…a town about 200 miles north of Mecca, where he was welcomed.

Medina ended up become his home base.

No longer was he just a religious figure, but he was now becoming strong politically.

He was able to unite several of the tribes and he ended up becoming the ruler of Medina.

Muslims today celebrate Muhammad’s flight to Medina.

They call it the hegira, which means “flight.”

The Islamic calendar starts in 622 AD.

So this year for devout Muslims in NOT 2007 but 1427.

You would think it would be 1385 but they use lunar years not solar years.

Over the next several years after 622 Muhammad…

 

*8.

Established Islamic community*

 

…in Midina, becoming stronger and stronger, while his home town of Mecca had all sorts of trouble, so that in…

 

*9.

Returned to Mecca, 631 A.D.*

 

…with a force of over 10,000 men and took over Mecca with very little resistance.

He forgave the leaders who had fought against him in recent years, winning their support and appreciation.

Most of the surrounding Bedouin tribes followed suit, giving up their gods to believe in Allah, the one true God.

Muhammad allowed the Christians and the Jews to remain and not change their beliefs, but he made them pay special taxes and tributes.

Muhammad…

 

*10.

Died 632 A.D.*

 

…at the age of 63 of a sudden but natural death.

Now Muhammad did NOT write the Koran himself.

He received revelations from God over a 23-year period.

As Muhammad received these revelations he would share these with his devout followers, who would memorize his sayings and write some of them down.

After Muhammad died his closest followers wrote down what he said.

It’s interesting that the Koran is not in chronological order and does not tell a story the way our Bible does.

It’s basically a collection of sayings.

It’s a little shorter than our NT and it has 114 chapters or suras; and generally the longest chapters are first.

Now let’s talk briefly about…

 

*          Spread of Islam*

*          1.

About 1.3 billion adherents*

 

Roughly one out of five people on the planet today are Muslims.

We tend to associate Islam with the Middle East because it’s in the news all the time, but the fact is only 15% to 20% of Muslims are Arabs.

The greatest population of Muslims is in Asia…

 

*          2.

About 778 (900) million in Asia (69%)*

*          3.

About 6 million in North America (.5%)*

Likewise, on the internet I found different statistics for the…

 

*4.

About 200,000 in Detroit area*

 

I found an interesting article that was in the Detroit News in 2004.

It’s entitled “The Remarkable Moderation of Detroit Muslims.”

Here’s just a part of it…

“The study provides an interesting profile of the active Muslim in the Detroit area.

The average participant in a mosque is 34, is married with children, is well-educated, is an immigrant or born to immigrants, makes more than $75,000 a year (but is a little stingy when it comes to giving to mosques), is either progressive (38 percent) or traditional (28 percent) in religious practice.

The average Muslim is also politically conscious (68 percent registered to vote), a bit ethnocentric — there is some evidence of ethnic clustering around mosques — and is a political liberal (supports affirmative action, universal health care and tough environmental protection laws) but is socially conservative (worried about sexual promiscuity).

According to the institute’s report, there are 33 mosques in Metro Detroit, up five in the last three years.