Contents
“Putting Up with Serving in the
Hard Places” - Jan.3/21 1Cor.4:9-13; 9:19-27
“Members
or Mimics?” - Jan.10/21 - Rom.12:3-13
“The
High Calling of an Elder” - Jan.17/21 - 1Tim.3:2-7, Titus 1:5-10 (1Pet.5:1-5)
“The
Authority of Jesus – and Our Problem With It” - Jan.31/21 - Mk.1:21-28
"The
Priority of Jesus -- When We're Overwhelmed" - Feb.7/21 - Mk.1:29-39
"The
Compassion of Jesus -- Despite Our Wretchedness" - Lent I Communion -
Feb. 21/21 Mk.1:40-45
"The
Forgiveness of Jesus – for Our Hidden Conditions" - Mar.7/21 Mk.2:1-12
"The
Companionship of Jesus – for Us Outcasts & Sinners" - Mar.14/21
Mk.2:1-13-22
“The
Submission of Jesus – and Our Grudging Obedience” - Mar.21/21 Heb.5:1-10
“The
Nearness of Our Vindicator” - Palm/Passion Sunday Mar.28/21 Is.50:4-9a
“Important
News: Christ’s Appearing, God’s Grace” - Easter Sunday Apr.4/21 1Cor.15:1-11
“Confident,
Cleansed, Confessing” - Sunday Apr.11/21 Heb.10:16-25
“The
Occupation of Jesus – and Our Need for an Advocate” - Sunday Apr.18/21
Heb.7:23-28
“Rejection,
Repentance, Refreshing, and Restoration” - Sunday May 2/21 Acts 3:12-26
“The
Church Expectant” - MOTHER’S DAY Sunday May 9/21 Acts 1:1-11
“Breath
for Brittle Bones” - Pentecost Sunday (communion) May 23/21 Ezek.37:1-14
“God’s
Power in Nature and His People” - Day of Prayer for Camp - May 30/21 Ps.114
“Loving
My Muslim Neighbour” - June 13/21 Lev.19:9-18,33-34 / various
“Owning
Up to a Name” - June 20/21 Father’s Day Acts 4:5-12
“A Lone
Traveler Finds New Direction” - July 11/21 Acts 8:26-40
Discipleship
Keywords 1: “Depending on the SPIRIT of Jesus in My Journey” - July 18/21
Gal.5:16-26
Discipleship
Keywords 2: “To Bless or Not to Bless?” - Aug.1/21 Lk 10:24-37
Discipleship
Keywords 3: “Character: The Stamp of the Master” - Aug.8/21 John 15:1-11
Discipleship
Keywords 4: “Keeping Love the Main Thing” - Aug.29/21 1Jn 4:7-11, 5:1-5
Discipleship
Keywords 5: “The Heart of Jesus’ TEACHINGS” - Sept.5/21 John 6:60-69
Discipleship
Keywords 6: “Becoming a REPRODUCING Follower” - Sept.12/21 2Tim.2:1-10
Discipleship
Keywords 7: “Part of a Better-World COMMUNITY” - Sept.19/21 Acts 2:42-47
“What
Can Satisfy Our Deepest Hunger?” - Oct.3/21 John 6:24-35
“Whose Kingdom Are You With?” - Oct.17/21 Mark 3:20-35
“A
Kingdom Beyond Our Ken” - Oct.24/21 Mark 4:26-34
Power for Nobodies and Lost Causes” - Nov. 7/21 Mark
5:21-43
“Rejection and Repentance: Meeting Obstacles to Belief”
- Nov.14/21 Mark 6:1-13
“What Kind of 'King' Would You Really Want, Anyway?” -
Nov.21/21 John 6:1-21
“Hope vs.Heaviness: The Caution His Coming Affords” -
Nov.28/21 1st of Advent Luke 21:25-36
“Lockdown on Fear: The Lord in Our Midst” - Dec.12/21 3rd
of Advent Zeph.3:14-20
“The Offering that Changes Everything” - Dec.19/21 4th
of Advent ~ Heb.10:5-10
Hello
everybody, and HELLO to 2021! Aren’t you ready for 2020 to be over? What a
year! We had to PUT UP WITH a lot – a pandemic, lockdowns, not being able to
get together with whomever we please or travel where we please, having to wear
those annoying masks – it’s been quite a year! I’m thankful for the discovery
of effective vaccines and the prospect SOMETIME in 2021 of not having to put
up with some of those restrictions any more. Hang on a little longer!
The
Apostle Paul stated in 1Corinthians 9:12b, “...we put up with anything rather
than hinder the gospel of Christ.” It’s difficult to ‘put up with’ all that the
previous year brought us – where does Paul find ability to put up with / cope
with / persevere through ANYTHING rather than hinder the Good News about
Jesus?!
This
isn’t a full-blown sermon, just a short introduction to an interview I did
recently with “Cheryl” who’s from our area, and returning as a “cross-cultural
worker” to a country far away that’s not very receptive to Christian
missionaries. As you listen to the interview, watch for various things Cheryl
has had to learn to “put up with”. She talks about going to a strange country,
where there’s lots of pollution, and crowding, and the internet goes down
often. Would YOU volunteer to go to a place with bad pollution, like Mexico
City, which is notorious for its poor air quality, for example?
When
I was a missionary with Christian Blind Mission in Congo Brazzaville, a hot
humid country on the equator, my Salvation Army boss there observed, “Isn’t it
interesting how many missionaries get called to go to Kenya?” (Kenya although
tropical has higher elevation so the temperatures are cooler and more
bearable.)
Cheryl
also mentions other difficulties. She suffered an abusive childhood due to an
alcoholic father. That can be traumatic for children: at best, suffering
neglect because the parent is preoccupied with their addiction; at worst, being
subjected to physical and verbal abuse when the parent lashes out.
Then
more recently, when she was home on furlough, she broke her ankle and was laid
up for about a year, much longer than she had planned to be out of country. Yet
she redeemed the time by writing a book, “Crushed Innocence: A Journey Into
Promise”. So with God’s help, Cheryl was
able to turn a setback into fruitful productivity resulting in an item that can
bless others who will read it and relate to her journey, and hopefully discover
God’s remedy for their pain.
How
do we learn to “put up with anything” rather than hinder what God’s aiming to
accomplish in our lives, shaped by the gospel?
Remember
who’s writing these words in our passage. Back in chapter 4 Paul gives a brief
summary of what HIS experience as an apostle has been like – it’s no rose
garden! 1Cor 4:9,11-13 - “For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on
display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the
arena...To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are
brutally treated, we are homeless.We work hard with
our own hands.When we are cursed, we bless; when we
are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of
the world—right up to this moment.” Gee! Do you think Paul understood a thing
or two about having to put up with hardship?
In
the closing verses of chapter 9 we find three clues to Paul’s motivation, that
can also spur us on today. First, OUR LIVES OF ENDURANCE INFLUENCE OTHERS
TOWARDS THE KINGDOM. We “rub off” on others, our witness in adversity can be a
powerful inspiration to others to likewise put their trust in God, no matter
what happens. Verse 22, “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.I have become all things to all people so that by
all possible means I might save some.” This parallels 9:19 just previous:
“I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” Jesus
calls us to make disciples, to invite others to follow Him: our sacrifices and
endurance become an advertisement for Him, so others may be won for the Kingdom
and be saved. That’s a big part of why Cheryl’s located where she is so far
away, to be a witness and win others to Jesus in a culture that largely is
ignorant of the faith.
Second,
PUTTING UP WITH HARDSHIP CAN BRING BLESSING IN THE PRESENT. 9:23 says, “I do
all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
There are few greater experiences in the Christian walk than seeing someone
else become born anew in part due to our witness. The apostles put up with so
much suffering in their travels, but they also got to see churches started,
believers’ lives transformed. The burden can be a doorway to blessing. Jesus
taught, Acts 20:35 “It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive.” Giving, like
enduring, serving in the hard places, can prepare us to receive a sense of
blessing from the Lord right now.
Third,
THOSE WHO PUT UP WITH HARD SERVICE ARE REWARDED WITH A PRIZE HEREAFTER. 1Cor
9:24, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets
the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” And v27, “No, I strike a
blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I
myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” The Bible teaches we will stand
before Christ’s judgment seat to receive what’s due for our deeds in this life
(2Cor 5:10). That helps us keep pressing on when it’s tough slogging, and our
flesh cries out for us to quit.
I
was privileged to interview “Cheryl”, recorded in early November. She flew back
November 15; the journey back took 27 hours including 8 hours at the arrival
airport going through procedures, followed by mandatory 2 weeks of quarantine,
but eventually she made it without serious incident. She would appreciate your
prayers for her situation as she gets caught up with her students. Her example
is truly encouraging!
[END OF PREPARED TEXT]
Do you remember Mr.Dressup
and his “Tickle Trunk”? It’s fun to play dress-up...When my kids were young, we
had a “dress-up box” which had everything from a clown’s wig to a policeman’s
hat. It’s amusing for children to try on different get-ups and pretend to be
different characters. Sometimes they would ‘play school’ with them as the
teacher and their stuffies and dolls as the students.
But sooner or later it’s time for supper and the costumes have to come off and
go back in the box.
Unfortunately some adults don’t seem
to grow up when it comes to their religious life – instead of actually being
part of a church they’re content to just “play church”. They’re not members,
but MIMICS - a mimic is someone who imitates or copies or pretends to be
someone they’re not. Today we’re looking at what it means to be a MEMBER of a
church – the real thing, not an imitation or pretending.
Marriage is one of the most precious
covenants and commitments a person can make. Can you imagine marrying an
apartment or a room? That’s not a relationship! Yet that’s how some folks
approach their relationship to church. J.Vernon McGee
said this: “If there is no deep yearning for a life that is well pleasing to
Him, if there is no stimulating desire to know Him and His Word, church
membership is just like a young man falling in love with a furnished apartment
and marrying an electric stove, a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner, a garbage
disposal, and a wet mop! That is just about all it amounts to. Let's stop
playing church today and start loving Christ and living for Him!”
As we look at Romans 12 and this
topic of church membership, there are four main elements that stand out: 1)
it’s about God-consciousness not self-focus; 2) it’s about One-Anothering - being Different BUT interdependent; 3)
membership is a GRACE-gift; and 4) the ATTITUDE with which we serve matters.
Thom Rainer is a well-known church
consultant with much wisdom, and I am indebted to his little book I Am a
Church Member, from which I’ll draw some material today; I highly recommend
you get a copy, you’ll find it edifying as I did!
1)
IT’S ABOUT GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS NOT SELF-FOCUS
Selfishness
is not pretty. When someone is ME-focussed, we can often spot it quickly; it’s
more difficult when WE’RE the one that’s self-focussed.
I was shocked this past Wednesday by
the scenes of protesters breaking into the Capitol in Washington DC, invading
offices, breaking windows, guns being drawn, people killed at the very heart of
the US political system. For a few hours it seemed the nation teetered on the
brink of anarchy. It reminded me of the storming of the Bastille and the French
Revolution. The crowds were incited by a self-focused president who seemed
determined to hang onto power at any cost, making false allegations of election
fraud, willing to risk violence so he might stay in office. Thankfully elected
officials were able eventually to proceed with certifying election results, and
the way was opened to an orderly transition of power. But what chaos and
anarchy selfishness sparks!
The Apostle Paul begins our passage
by admonishing believers to focus on God rather than themselves. Romans 12:3
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself
more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,
in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
Do we hear that? “Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought” – ugh! We like to have a pretty good
opinion of ourselves. The world teaches us: “Look out for Number One.” “My way
or the highway.” Instead, Paul urges, we’re to think of ourself
with “sober judgment” - soberly, honestly, rightly; the dictionary translates
the word in the original language “to put a moderate estimate upon one’s self”.
Not over-inflated. Not in bondage to constantly giving priority to our own
preferences.
And it’s to be “in accordance with
the measure of FAITH God has given you.” Not our ability, or our
accomplishments which we might brag about, but in accord with the amount of our
FAITH, our trust, our commitment and reliance upon God in every detail of our
lives. Is my faith stronger today than it was last month? Last year? Have I
ventured out in obedience to God’s leading in a way that tested and proved how
faithful He was? Faith has to do with my consciousness of and reliance upon
God; am I just planning things in a way that relies on my own steam?
Being a real member of a church
helps us become less selfish. Thom Rainer writes, "The strange thing about
church membership is that you actually give up your preferences when you join.Don't get me wrong; there may be much about your
church that you like a lot.But you are there to meet
the needs of others.You are there to serve others.You are there to give.You
are there to sacrifice."
Rainer offers half a dozen summary
statements in I Am a Church Member that encapsulate the meaning of
membership in a covenant sort of way. Here’s the suggested commitment
introduced in his chapter “I will not let my church be about my preferences and
desires.”
“I am a church member. I will not
let my church be about my preferences and desire.That
is self-serving.I am a member in this church to serve
others and to serve Christ.My Saviour went to a cross
for me.I can deal with any inconveniences and matters
that just aren't my preference or style.”
2)
IT’S ABOUT ONE-ANOTHERING AND UNIFYING: WE’RE DIFFERENT BUT INTERDEPENDENT
Scripture
emphasizes that churches will operate like they should only when every
member is functioning within the body. Every member has received different
spiritual gifts that need to be used in service to the church. Ultimately, the
foundation for exercising these gifts is love, which draws us together even
though we’re different, it UNIFIES us.
In verses 4-6 Paul uses the analogy
of a human body to make his point about how the folks in the fellowship who
seem so different at first glace actually discover an overarching sense of
unity and commonality as they apply their various gifts and skills. Rom 12:4-6A
“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not
all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and
each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to
the grace given us.” Get the picture? Many members, but one body.
It would be shame to have some body
parts without the others. For instance, your mouth and teeth do a great job of
chewing. But just as important in the process is your small intestine; did you
know its absorptive surface area is about 250 sq m,
or the size of a tennis court? Yet you never see it.
Many members, one body. 1Cor 12:20
“As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” 1Cor 12:27 “Now you are the
body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
Back in Romans 12, Paul emphasizes
“One Anothering” – see vv9,10 - “Love must be
sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Hear the “one anothers”? “Be devoted to one another” - “Honour one
another.” Unfortunately some churches fall into the trap of petty divisions and
arguments and tensions because they lose sight of loving those who see things
differently than they do.
Thom Rainer’s research team did a
survey of churches that were inwardly focused, not serving outside their own
walls. There were ten dominant behaviour patterns amongst the churches
surveyed.
A)
Worship wars: One or more factions in the church want the music just they way
they like it; the order of service must remain constant.
B)
Prolonged minutia meetings: Too many meetings, dealing with inconsequential
items instead of the Great Commission and Great Commandment. They failed to
keep the main thing the main thing.
C)
Facility focus: Protecting and preserving rooms, furniture other visible parts
of the building and grounds assumes high priority.
D)
Program driven: The problem develops when the program becomes an end instead of
a means to greater ministry.
E)
Inwardly focused budget: A disproportionate share is used to meet the comforts
of the members instead of reaching beyond the walls of the church.
F)
Inordinate demands for pastoral care: people have unreasonable expectations for
even minor matters.
G)
Attitudes of entitlement: The overarching attitude is one of demanding and
having a sense of deserving special treatment.
H)
Greater concern about change than the gospel: Any noticeable changes in the
church evoke ire, while there’s little passion about changing lives through the
Good News of Jesus.
I)
Anger and hostility: Towards both staff and other members.
J)
Evangelistic apathy: Few share their faith on a regular basis; they’re more
concerned about their own needs, rather than the eternal needs of the world and
their community.
Hmm,
is that ringing any bells? Do we recognize ourselves in any of those
characteristics of inwardly-focused churches? Our differences should not be
leading to division and bickering, but appreciating and loving one another.
During World War II, Hitler
commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among
the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along
with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not faced harsh
persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a
concentration camp.
When the war was over, feelings of
bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they
decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a
quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining
his own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together.
Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there,
"What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As
they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His
control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled
their hearts and dissolved their hatred.
Rainer offers this corresponding
pledge concerning the need for being unified.
“I am a church member. I will
seek to be a source of unity in my church. I know there are no perfect pastors,
staff, or other church members. But neither am I. I will not be a source of
gossip or dissension. One of the greatest contributions I can make is to do all
I can in God's power to help keep the church in unity for the sake of the
gospel.”
3)
MEMBERSHIP IS A GRACE-GIFT
It
is an outflow of God’s rich grace that makes it possible for us to repent, be
born again, receive His Holy Spirit, and be united with Christ, walking with
Him day by day. In vv6-7 Paul underlines that the differing gifts are assigned
according to God’s grace. Rom 12:6-7 “We have different gifts, ACCORDING TO THE
GRACE GIVEN US.If a man’s gift is prophesying, let
him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it
is teaching, let him teach...”
Don’t feel shortchanged or unfairly
dealt with because your gift doesn’t happen to be as high-profile as someone
else’s, or that so-and-so gets to be greeter while you’re delegated to sanitize
the washroom between uses. Don’t feel jealous because Sam is such a wonderful LifeGroup leader while you feel most comfortable tending
little ones in the nursery. Paul emphasizes the gifts are distributed according
to God’s sovereign design, not our deserving or planning. The gifts differ
“according to the GRACE given to us”. 1Corinthians 12:18,24B-25 “But in fact
God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted
them to be...But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater
honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the
body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” It’s the
Lord who has done the arranging / combining, assembling a marvelous diversity
of giftings and personalities in a complex way that’s
capable of impacting all the different types of folks who haven’t yet come to
know Jesus. Divine GRACE is reflected in the different functions: some lead,
some serve, some teach, some give, and so on.
Did you notice how the Apostle began
this section? V3 “For BY THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME I say to everyone among you...”
Exhorting and instructing were gifts of Paul by the Lord’s grace.
Thom Rainer offers this pledge
recognizing membership is a GIFT.
“I am a church member. This
membership is a gift. When I received the free gift of salvation through Jesus
Christ, I became a part of the body of Christ. I soon thereafter identified
with a local body and was baptized. And now I am humbled and honored to serve
and to love others in our church. I pray that I will never take my membership
for granted, but see it as a gift and an opportunity to serve others and to be
a part of something so much greater than any one person or member.”
During the Spanish-American War,
Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba. One day Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt came to her; he wanted to buy food for his sick and wounded
Rough Riders. But she refused to sell him any. Roosevelt was perplexed. His men
needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds. When he asked
someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, "Colonel, just ask
for it!" A smile broke over Roosevelt's face. Now he understood – the
provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be
given freely.
For all of us who are in Christ, we
too have received a gift – the free gift of salvation. This free gift was
costly; it cost Jesus his very life. Yet, it did not cost us anything! Our
ministry in diverse forms springs forth from His grace.
4)
THE ATTITUDE WITH WHICH WE SERVE MATTERS
Fourth
and finally, besides just using our gift, putting it into practice, it matters
HOW we do that – the attitude with which we serve is important. Pay attention
to the progression in the modifying phrases in Romans 12:7-8: “If it is
serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging,
let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, LET HIM GIVE
GENEROUSLY; if it is leadership, LET HIM GOVERN DILIGENTLY; if it is showing mercy,
LET HIM DO IT CHEERFULLY.”
There’s a big difference between
giving grudgingly and giving cheerfully – 2Cor.9:7 “God loves a cheerful
giver.” Jesus commended with special honour the poor widow who put in 2 copper
coins (all she had to live on) rather than the rich folks who made large
donations out of their wealthy surplus (Mk 12:41ff).
Does our attitude shine when we show
mercy? A few weeks ago when wet snow made the roads slick, I passed someone who
apparently had just a few moments earlier gone off in the ditch. Should I stop?
Would I be late for my meeting? Did I hurry on like the priest and the Levite
declining to stop and help the beaten victim at the side of the road? I turned
the car around and made sure the occupant in the ditch had a cell phone and
they had already called for roadside assistance, which was on its way. I
carried on with my schedule, but had to watch not to become perturbed at the
delay. Sometimes it’s you or me off in that ditch!
Parts of verses 10-12 hint also at
the attitude with which we ought to be ministering to others. Do we just ‘do’
the thing at bare minimum, or go above & beyond? Rom 12:10-12 “Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love.Honor
one another above yourselves.Never be lacking in
zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.Be joyful in hope, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION, faithful in
prayer.” Ah, being patient in affliction – now that’s an attitude that shows
real character!
When we are Christ-centred rather
than self-centred, we GIVE ourselves in commitment to Kingdom endeavours rather
than just feathering our own nest. We become what Thom Rainer calls FUNCTIONAL
church members. To what degree have you committed yourself to Jesus’ cause, in
particular through the various ministries of your local church?
A man was coming out of church one
day and the preacher was standing at the door as he always did ready to shake
hands. The pastor grabbed the man's hand, pulled him aside, and said to him,
"You need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "Preacher,
I'm already in the Army of the Lord." The preacher quickly asked,
"How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?" The man
whispered back, "I'm in the secret service." (!)
Let us USE our gifts, and USE them
in such a manner that honours the Lord who blesses us with abilities. Rainer
offers this pledge of commitment in terms of being a “functioning” member...
I am a church member. I like the
metaphor of membership. It's not membership as in a civic organization or a
country club. It's the kind of membership given to us in 1 Corinthians 12:
"Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it" (1
Cor. 12:27). Because I am a member of the body of Christ, I must be a
functioning member, whether I am an "eye," an "ear," of a
"hand." As a functioning member, I will give.I
will serve.I will minister.I
will evangelize.I will study.I
will seek to be a blessing to others.I will remember
that ‘if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is
honored, all the members rejoice with it.’(1 Cor.12:26)”
Perhaps you've heard the church
referred to disparagingly as a "holy huddle" – that sort of implies
it's just a place where believers gather together and focus on one another. But
there's one problem with such a huddle, as someone has observed: the world
around us has a very different perspective of a huddle...When they see a huddle
they see a bunch of backsides and the view is not at all attractive!
The church was never called to be a holy
huddle or a hotel for saints; the church and its members were called to be a
hospital for sinners. To respond to our Lord’s calling we must be willing to
serve someone beside ourselves, as the Great Commission implies. Jesus'
commission to the church is that we are to go and make disciples of all
nations. Now, making disciples does not take place primarily within the walls
of the church. In fact, the early church did not have a building where they met
each week – they usually met in homes or in the temple – and most of their time
was spent fulfilling their regular responsibilities. It was in fulfilling these
responsibilities that they were to make disciples. The same is true for us.
"72-36-14 - hut!" Let's pray.
THE GOLD
STANDARD
Spiritual
Leadership...Is it about being “in charge”? Has it to do with being able to
“call the shots”? Is it about manipulating or intimidating others, wielding the
power to make them cower and cringe with a single memo “From the Desk of the
CEO” or tweet or other disparaging social media post?
The Bible understands “Spiritual
Leadership” to be something far different. In his book Spiritual Leadership
J.Oswald Sanders wrote, “One definition of leadership
is the ability to recognize the special abilities and limitations of others,
combined with the capacity to fit each one into the job where he will do his
best.” Here the emphasis is not on one’s OWN power or ability, but being able
to appreciate and serve others, guiding them into a configuration where each
can share their talents meaningfully.
Today, partly in response to a
request from our own church Elders, we’re following up last week’s message on
church membership in general with one looking at the role of eldership in
particular, how it’s a high and noble calling worthy of aspiring to.
Now, before you tune out thinking
“this doesn’t apply to me”, consider this: When the apostles Paul and Peter
describe qualifications for eldership, what they’re really describing is the
ideal or goal to which EVERY man in the church should aspire. (And pretty much
all of it can apply to a mature Christian woman, too!) If you are truly wanting
to become a mature follower of Jesus, a “disciple” worthy of honour as such,
you need to be reminded of these qualities and characteristics. This is the
“gold standard” when it comes to how a follower of Jesus should be – not just
the limited role of a select few. What woman wouldn’t want a husband that
displays these qualities? What company wouldn’t be happy to have a person like
this on its payroll, nay, its Board of Directors?
There are three key passages in the
New Testament that go into some detail about what should describe an elder or
overseer or bishop or pastor (the titles are used fairly interchangeably) –
1Timothy 3, Titus 1, and 1 Peter 5. Rather than go through the lists in
sequence one by one, I find most adjectives can be combined under 5 broad
headings: to keep it alphabetical – REFERENCE, RELATIONSHIPS, REPUTATION,
RESTRAINT, and REWARD.
THE
ELDER’S REFERENCE
First,
REFERENCE – to what do we REFER to get our bearings? Are we just awash in a sea
of chaos? Or are there compass points by which to chart our course?
The following illustration may date
me (and you), but see if you can complete this sentence: “The beginning of the
long dash following ten seconds of silence indicates...” Well? How many of you
know what comes next? “...indicates one o’clock Eastern Standard Time.” The
official time signal is the longerst-running feature
on CBC Radio, dating back to the 1930s after it took over from Canada’s first
network, CNR Radio. For decades people all over the nation set their timepieces
by the radio’s daily signal. It was especially important for mariners and
surveyors, who needed accurate timing for navigation. In 1975 the National
Research Council developed the world’s first high-accuracy primary cesium
clock, and today we just look at our smartphones which are tied in somehow to
atomic clocks.
The point is, we have a REFERENCE by
which to gauge our own timing. Something that’s sure and stable and reliable no
matter whether the planet spins a little faster (as it has been doing lately
for some reason) or slower.
For Christians, Scripture is that
point of reference, as interpreted by the teachings of Jesus Christ. So Paul
highlights the importance of having a good grasp of doctrine when he writes to
Titus, 1:9-10 “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been
taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who
oppose it.For there are many rebellious people, mere
talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.” Satan is
fundamentally a liar and loves to put his own ‘spin’ on things, questioning
what God has revealed, cozying up to Eve and asking: Gen 3:1 “Did God really
say...?” The world has all kinds of what Paul terms “rebellious people, mere
talkers and deceivers” – you can find a variety of conspiracy theories and
“misinformation” to suit your tastes. Church leaders and mature Christians need
to be grounded in and familiar with Scriptural revealed divine truth. “Hold
firmly to the trustworthy message – as it has been taught” – as it has been
passed on to you from those of a previous generation, extending all the way back
to the first eyewitnesses. Peter could assert (2Peter 1:21) “For prophecy never
had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.” And as Paul reminded Timothy, 2Tim 3:16f “All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.” It’s a blessed GIFT to us to be our prime point of
reference. Useful for not just elders, but parents and group leaders to be
teaching and training those in their care.
Other qualities the apostles mention
relate to this ‘having a reference’. Paul emphasized an elder is not to be
quarrelsome (1Tim 3:8) – the Bible becomes the arbiter of truth for us, not how
loudly we can shout. It’s our authority, so we don’t have to come across in an
‘authoritarian’ bossy manner.
Paul also warns in 1Tim 3:6, “He
must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the
same judgment as the devil.” Get more steeped in Scripture as the years pass
and it will help you not become conceited, thinking overly much of yourself –
the Holy Spirit reminds us of our growth areas, where we still fall short and
need to mature more.
The leader is like a radio station’s
clock, back when people set their watches by the station’s time signal. The
leader sets the pace for our own standards of conduct. So the spiritual leader
needs their own point of REFERENCE in God’s Word.
THE
ELDER’S RELATIONSHIPS
Sections
in all 3 passages about church leaders are devoted to an elder’s RELATIONSHIPS.
In both 1Timothy 3 and Titus 1, the overseer or elder is to be “the husband of
but one wife”. This is not referring to marital status but to moral and sexual
purity. Literally it means to be “a one-woman man” – someone whose wife can
count on him to be faithful, devoted, dependable, focused on loving her and
promoting her happiness and wellbeing. Now, who doesn’t want a man like that?
Another area of relationship is that
of children. 1Tim 3:4-5 “He must manage his own family well and see that his
children obey him with proper respect.(If anyone does not know how to manage
his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)” It’s very true, if you
can learn how to manage your offspring, it stands you in good stead to be able
to provide leadership in the church – or in the corporate world, for that
matter. In the family we learn how to deal with different temperaments,
competing wants, conflicting schedules, having to ‘make do’ with limited
resources and still be fair to all, and so on.
In Titus Paul describes - Titus 1:6
“An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children
believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.” It’s so
true – want to know what a dude’s really like? Study how he interacts with his
kids. Is he short with them, demanding, quick to get upset? Is Christian faith
“rubbing off” on them, at least in the long run? Does he set a good example at
home, in the sight of those he’s in closest contact with? Do they see Dad
reading his Bible and praying, saying grace, being enthused about church life?
Faith is both ‘caught’ and ‘taught’.
What about relationships with those
who are not immediate family? In both 1Timothy 3 and Titus 1 Paul insists
elders must be HOSPITABLE (v3&8, respectively). Literally “a lover of
strangers”. Do we take time to greet and get to know those who aren’t in our
immediate circle? Do we invite new people over after church (when we can)? Do
we invite non-churchgoing acquaintances TO church and a meal after? Or even
just get together for a meal? That’s pretty user-friendly evangelism, right
there!
The Apostle Peter focuses more on
the leader’s manner of relating to others: 1 Peter 5:2f “Be shepherds of God’s
flock that is under your care, serving as overseers— not because you must, but
because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but
eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples
to the flock.” Are we WILLING overseers, or is it just on our “gotta do” list? Are we EAGER TO SERVE, or reluctant,
begrudging? And is our style domineering, LORDING IT OVER those entrusted to
us? That’s not being a good example. Nor is it the style of Jesus.
Once the disciples got into a spat
about which of them was the greatest. This whole issue of domination and
‘lording it over’ was on the table. But Jesus corrected them: Luke 22:25-27
“The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority
over them call themselves Benefactors.But you are not
to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest,
and the one who rules like the one who serves.For who
is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the
one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
Serving, not domineering or
manipulating or ‘one-upping’, needs to characterize our relationships – for our
Lord chose a posture of ministering to us, serving us.
In our relating to others, one way
we can serve them is by seeking to develop those people for whom we’re
responsible. Thomas Monaghan was founder, president, and CEO of Domino’s Pizza.
From 1970-85, Domino’s grew from a small debt-ridden chain to the second
largest pizza company in America, with sale of over one billion dollars in
1985.
But is it REALLY just a PIZZA
company? Is that its real product?
When asked to account for the
phenomenal growth of the company, Monaghan explained, “I programmed everything
for growth.” And how did he plan for growth? “Every day we develop people – the
key to growth is developing people.” Not special cheese, not a tasty crust, not
fast delivery schedules, but people! People are the key to all effective
leadership.
THE
ELDER’S REPUTATION
Benjamin
Franklin once said, "It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation,
and only one bad one to lose it." A good reputation is more valuable than
money – it’s priceless! So it’s no wonder reputation features prominently in
the apostles’ list of qualities for church leaders. 1Tim 3:7 “He must also have
a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and
into the devil’s trap.” When church leaders fall into disgrace, it reflects
badly on the whole church, and does not commend Christ to our peers.
What are some things that contribute
to good reputation? 1Tim 3:2 “Now the overseer must be above reproach...”
Literally ‘un-seizable’, you won’t catch him in any
wrongdoing. Titus 1:6 “An elder must be blameless...” Literally un-accusable,
you can’t pin any accusation that sticks, sort of what used to be called a ‘teflon man’. Titus 1:7 continues “Since an overseer is
entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless...”
Respectability is related to
reputation; being “respectable” is mentioned in 1Tim 3:2. Titus 1:8 adds being
“upright” and “holy”. Do those words accurately describe how others view us?
Not everyone is ‘upright’ – many just follow the path of least resistance. To
be ‘holy’ means being set apart or dedicated to God’s purposes. Are we actually
‘set apart’ or going with the flow? There’s a bumper sticker that reads, “Don’t
follow me – I’m lost too.” Motion does not always mean purpose. Don’t just
follow the crowd, because they many not know where they’re going.
See also part 1, “Reference” – those
who are endeavouring to live with Scriptural standards will often find
themselves going against the flow of culture.
On this matter of having a good
testimony with those outside, John MacArthur notes: “A leader in the church
must have an unimpeachable reputation in the unbelieving community, even though
people there may disagree with his moral and theological stands.How
can he make a spiritual impact on those who do not respect him?”
THE
ELDER’S RESTRAINT
Reference
- Relationships - Reputation - that brings us to RESTRAINT. Much of these
positive qualities is due to a leader’s being able to hold back the wrong
influences and passions that would sidetrack him or her. There’s a cluster of
qualities here relating to self-discipline.
1Tim 3:2 “Now the overseer must
be...temperate, self-controlled...not given to drunkenness, not violent but
gentle...” “Temperate” (literally ‘wineless’) can mean alert, watchful,
diligent, clear-headed. Self-control is also mentioned in Titus 1:8, and is
part of the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5(22f): one might hope that a
leader that’s supposed to be responsible for others, in some position of
control, would begin by having control over themselves!
“Not given to drunkenness” is echoed
in Titus 1:7...Remember that back in these times, water was not usually as pure
as it comes to us today, so drinking wine was very common. A leader needs to
know their limit when it comes to intoxicants: their judgment shouldn’t be
clouded by alcohol or other substances.
“Not violent, but gentle”: can we
restrain our temper, and not become physically or verbally abusive? Jesus
described His own manner this way: Mt 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I AM GENTLE AND HUMBLE IN HEART, and you will find rest for your
souls.” (A little aside here: a good book to read is “Gentle and Lowly” by Dane
Ortlund – I’ve listened to the audiobook version
twice through recently, and it gives great insight into the gentle, humble
heart of our Lord.) When people have dealings with you, do they come away
feeling like they’ve been stiff-armed, coerced,dominated?
That’s not gentle.
And “disciplined” in Titus 1:7 sums
up this area of RESTRAINT. If we would be worthy of governing others or leading
in some capacity, we need first to be able to govern ourselves, hold ourselves
back from wrong pulls.
General Eisenhower would demonstrate
the art of leadership with a simple piece of string. He’d put it on a table and
say: “PULL it and it will follow wherever you wish.PUSH
it and it will go nowhere at all.It’s just that way
when it comes to leading people.They need to follow a
person who is leading by example.” Not by violence or an domineering attitude.
THE
ELDER’S REWARD
Finally,
we come to the REWARD that the Lord promises to leaders who serve well. Some
are now, some are later.
First, let’s rule out what’s NOT
motivating the godly overseer. 1Tim 3:3 “not a lover of money”; Titus 1:7 “not
pursuing dishonest gain”; 1Peter 5:2 “not greedy for money”. Remember one of
our first observations, a good reputation is worth far more than money – it’s
priceless! The false teachers in Paul’s day were milking their hearers and
using the Gospel as a means to make an income; they were mercenaries, not
missionaries. Unfortunately many preachers of the so-called “prosperity gospel”
today have focused more on accumulating wealth than on tending the flock – and
the cause of Christ has fallen into disrepute as a result of these and
televangelist schemes.
So what ARE legitimate motivations
for spiritual leaders? Titus 1:8 “Rather he must be...one who loves what is
good...” Not loving money, but loving what’s good.
Another motivation is to be classed
in the company of other honoured church leaders. 1Peter 5:1 “To the elders
among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one
who also will share in the glory to be revealed...” Peter calls them “fellow”
elders! Imagine – classed alongside the apostle himself. That’s an honour.
He says, “One who also will share in
the glory to be revealed...” That little word “also” is significant – he’s
implying the other church elders will also share in that coming glory! And
remember at the Mount of Transfiguration Peter had already been an eyewitness
of Jesus’ supernatural glory, so he had a good idea what he was talking about.
In the light of THAT glory, our shiniest earthly trophies by comparison will
pale and fade away.
But note especially 1Peter 5:4, “And
when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will
never fade away.” In the New Testament world, crowns were given as marks of
victorious achievements – kind of like medals and trophies are awarded at
athletic events today. But this glorious splendid crown is one that “will never
fade away” – good for eternity! What greater honour could one wish for? What
more enduring one?
BEAN-QUALITY
LEADERSHIP
In
closing, an elder’s high calling involves these five broad categories:
Reference, Relationships, Reputation, Restraint, and Reward. Determining to
become qualified to be appointed to leadership in the church is a noble,
honourable thing, and is something to which EVERY man in the church ought to
aspire to, just be virtue of being Christ’s disciple.
Seek to learn BEAN quality
leadership. Haven’t heard of that before? Let me explain. True leaders always
rise to the top, especially in difficult times. They’re like beans in a jar of
peas. When you place peas and beans in a jar and shake them vigorously, the
peas always settle to the bottom while the beans always come to the top.
So it is with godly men. They can
never be held down when shaken up. If they truly have leadership qualities and
a love for God, they will always rise to the top!
Now, here’s Gary Lisle, our Elder
Board Chair, with a brief “afterword” addressed specifically to our
congregation...
AVERSE TO
AUTHORITY, WEARY OF RELIGION
There is an
epidemic sweeping the land: this epidemic is not coronavirus, it’s not appendicitis
– it’s “know-it-all-itis”. Frankly, we think we know it all, and nobody can
convince otherwise. We have a hard time trusting authority. Your particular
position seems to depend a lot on your sources. Do you choose to listen to CBC
or to Fox News? What does Dr Fauci
or Dr Teresa Tam know? Didn’t you see that YouTube
video your friend sent you saying that COVID is all overblown? Or your other
friend who’s absolutely convinced it’s a communist plot? Or a scheme rigged by
Satan-worshippers high in government and finance? Name a stance, it seems, and
there’s someone out there to support it.
It doesn’t help that younger
generations seem to be increasingly unwilling to trust institutions. A Washington Post article
based on a Harvard poll in 2015 found that millennials “sometimes” or “never”
trust the press (88%), Wall Street (86%), Congress (82%), or the Supreme Court
(58%). As for the general
population, a Gallup Poll in 2020 found that just 45% of people
had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the church or organized
religion; that means the majority, about 55%, had “some” “very little” or “no”
confidence in the church or organized religion. Apparently we’re not in the Age
of Aquarius, but the Age of Thomas (the Doubter).
We’re averse to authority, we’re
practically allergic to it. We don’t know who to trust. Relativism and
subjectivism are the gods of our times: practically anything goes, as long as
you don’t try to impose your views on someone else. Society will tolerate just
about anything except those who dare to hold to objective truth or that such a
thing as absolutes exist.
The restrictions to worship as a
result of COVID become a bit of a test; for the first time in a long time we
can “skip church” without others really knowing. Will this lockdown liberty
become an excuse for some to fall away from regular church participation?
“Maybe I’ll just listen to the podcast instead” – and then it becomes just one
of many podcasts – or perhaps eventually none.
Tuning out from faith-based
institutions is not a new issue. Back in Jesus’ time, rabbis had become the
main speakers in the synagogues. The synagoge was an
innovation begun amongst the Jews exiled to Babylon following the destruction
of the Temple in 586 BC. Wherever there were ten or more Jewish men, they would
organize a regular gathering. There would be praise and prayers and someone
would share about the teaching. Rabbis developed interpretations of passages in
Scripture, upon which other rabbis commented and expanded, and eventually it
became expositions of rabbis’ interpretations rather than a message based on
the original text.
Mark 1:22 “The people were amazed at
his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, NOT AS THE
TEACHERS OF THE LAW.” Robertson’s Word Pictures comments, “They quoted other
rabbis and felt their function to be expounders of the traditions which they
made a millstone around the necks of the people.By so
doing they set aside the word and will of God by their traditions and petty legalism.They were casuists and made false interpretations
to prove their punctilious points of external etiquette to the utter neglect of
the spiritual reality.” (A ‘casuist’ is ‘a person who studies and resolves
moral problems of judgment or conduct arising in specific situations’ - you’ve
got this case, then you try to extend that reasoning to another case with a
different twist, often with slipshod reasoning, and so on.) It became a matter
or what other influential rabbi you could convincingly quote. And so the whole
matter became somewhat tiring and irrelevant.
For instance, in Jewish law there
are 39 categories of work forbidden on the Sabbath. When Jesus healed a
paralyzed man on the Sabbath and told him to pick up his mat and walk (Jn 5:10), that was not allowed by the traditions that had
been developed. By majoring in the minors, Jewish leaders missed the main point
of spiritual life.
Do you ever get tired of religious
details? Do you have trouble trusting in religious institutions because of some
harm that’s been done to you, some unjustified guilt or spiritual abuse that’s
been perpetrated on you in the past? Sometimes sin and abuse of authority creep
into our human institutions. The church is ever in need of reformation, in
light of God’s living word. Fasten your seatbelts: Jesus comes to upset the
religious applecart and help people get back to the key matter of a
relationship with God!
Mark 1:21-22 “They went to
Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began
to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one
who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” We’ll explore more of the
amazing quality of Jesus’ authority in a bit.
POWER
OVER IMPURITY
But
wait – there’s a ruckus over there on the right in the fourth pew from the
front! What’s happening? Who’s that scary-looking guy, shouting loud, with his
face all distorted and gesturing wildly?
Vv23f “Just then a man in their
synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, "What do you want
with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—
the Holy One of God!"
Some translations call it “evil”
spirit, it can also be rendered “unclean” or “impure” spirit. MacArthur notes
there’s some element of being ‘morally impure’. It’s not just a medical or
psychological condition; the New Testament asserts there are actual spiritual
entities at work in our lives, for good (angels) or ill (demons).
Interestingly, this impure spirit seems to have a better appreciation or
discernment of who’s really in front of them than the rest of those gathered
for the synagogue service!
“What do you want with us?” could
also be put, “Do not trouble us!” The spirit seems to understand the power of
Jesus – “Have you come to destroy us?” A fair question; 1Jn 3:8b maintains,
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” The
unclean spirit has reason to be afraid.
The spirit also has an accurate
understanding of some of Jesus’ divine qualities. “I know who you are – the
Holy One of God!” He affirms both Jesus’ sinlessness
(being holy) and His divinity (originating in God). Long before Peter’s
confession of Jesus as the Christ in chapter 8(29), here the Enemy is voicing
clues to Jesus’ true identity.
But Jesus does not welcome this evil
spirit’s admission. He speaks sternly, V25 “Be quiet!...Come out of him!” The
words ‘be quiet’ can also refer to muzzling an ox – something firm like ‘put a
lid on it!’ (though ‘stop your mouth’ would be too colloquial). Jesus is not
messing around, and won’t allow this spirit to cause further disruption of the
worship service.
The hidden power of Jesus is
reflected somewhat in the surprising event that happened next. V26 “The evil
spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” NLT “the
evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion”; NRSV “crying with a
loud voice”. Quite startling compared to your usual tranquil Sabbath service!
But note the firm power of Christ: the unclean spirit can scream, can shake the
man violently, but Jesus is the One in control, and Satan has to leave. As
Colossians 2:15 asserts, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he
[Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
As we’ve noted, the impure spirit
was not just some psychological condition or mental imbalance. But Jesus can
help when we’re upset emotionally or find our mental health under attack. Are
you sick and tired of COVID? Is this lockdown threatening to drive you loopy?
There are the obvious things, like asking the Lord to help you get regular sleep
and exercise and healthy food intake. Venture to share with a friend that you
know cares and you can trust, what’s bothering you; ask them to be praying for
you. Talk to your pastor or maybe a Christian counsellor. Help is available
when you’re feeling isolated, alone, defeated, or discouraged.
Our mouths and memory can help
affirm who we are in Christ by His grace, and keep the enemy powers at bay. One
simple assertion that’s been used in the past is called the Jesus Prayer; it
goes like this – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” (Its
tradition goes back to the monks in the Egyptian desert around 300 AD.) You are
proclaiming Jesus’ name and divinity over your situation, and calling out to
Him, calling on the name of the Lord. Let’s say it again, you can join with me
in your mind or under your breath: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy
on me.”
A more recent memory aid Pastor Phil
introduced us to is the Way of Jesus sayings. These 7 sayings help remind us
who we are and what we’re about as followers of Jesus, when other things would
distract or attack us. Let’s review them briefly; say them along with me if you
can...
I
have begun to follow Jesus and am depending upon the Spirit of Jesus in my
journey.
I
am being sent by Jesus to bless others and invite them to follow Him.
I
am learning to be like Jesus in my attitudes, behaviours, and character.
I
am learning to love God and love others.
I
am learning the teachings of Jesus.
I
am helping someone and someone is helping me to be a reproducing follower of
Jesus.
I
am participating in a community of followers of Jesus on mission to the world.
(If
you ever forget them, just search for “Way of Jesus Markers” on the EMCC
website.)
Lots
of learning going on in those areas, especially during COVID! How is the Lord
stretching you to be a blessing to others, to be more loving in your attitude,
to be ‘on mission’ for him rather than just snugly cocooning? Keep depending on
the Spirit of Jesus in your journey, and there won’t be a way in for bad spirits
to be troubling you.
AMAZING
AUTHORITY WARRANTS OBEDIENCE
Well,
you can guess this whole incident in the synagogue caused quite a stir! Mk1:27
“The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new
teaching— and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they
obey him.’” Not only was Jesus’ teaching a welcome change to the endless
commentaries on commentaries of the rabbis; Jesus used no footnotes, no
references, didn’t quote other famous rabbis – it was as if God was addressing
them personally. As Jesus expressed it in John 12:49, “For I did not speak of
my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to
say it.”
It wasn’t just that: by the
miraculous exorcism of the evil spirit, people could tell divine power was
really active and having effect in and through Jesus. His ability to command
even enemy agents pointed to greater authority than any human teacher they had
ever witnessed. Jesus commanded, and the demon left. He was obviously a force
to be reckoned with.
Let’s reflect a few moments on the
authority Jesus has. As we started out considering today, our society is
authority-averse, we suffer from “know-it-all-itis”, we can’t tolerate anyone
telling us what to do. Trust or confidence in human institutions is sorely
lacking. How is Jesus’ authority different? Why should we trust it, when so
many other sources of authority are imperfect, have let us down, or even turned
out to be exploitive or abusive?
Several Scripture passages throw unique
light on Jesus’ authority. A key overarching one is Matthew 28:18, after His
resurrection confirmed His predictions about suffering and rising from the
dead: Mt 28:18 “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.”
Jesus has authority to execute
judgment: Jn 5:27 “And he [God the Father] has given
him [Jesus] authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
Jesus had authority to yield up His
life, and authority to take it up again – who else do you know that has the
power or right or authority to come back from the dead?! Jn
10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.I
have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.This
command I received from my Father.”
Jesus has authority to give eternal
life! Jn 17:2 “For you granted him authority over all
people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.” A
related power is that of giving those who believer in Him the right or power or
authority to become God’s children. (You do know, don’t you, that not everyone
is automatically God’s child just by virtue of being born of physical parents?
There needs to be a re-birth by faith to become God’s child, a deliberate
choosing and committing, as gets marked by baptism.) Jn
1:12 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave
the right [authority] to become children of God...”
John MacArthur summarizes, “What authority.Authority
to teach whatever He wanted to teach without any resource, without any
precedent, and to make it binding on men and determinative of their eternal
destiny, authority to heal the sick, authority to raise the dead, authority to
cast out demons, authority to forgive sin, authority to designate children of
God, authority to give eternal life, and authority to judge every person.Tremendous authority.”
What about it – are you willing to
recognize Jesus’ authority, and let Him be Lord in your life? Governing your
decisions, directing your choices and aspirations, shaping the course of your
life?
What’s different about Jesus’
authority than other authorities? We understand the need for someone to be
ultimately responsible in government, in the church, in the family, in our
schools or other social institutions; there needs to be order, accountability,
responsibility, so direction is agreed upon and put into action meaningfully.
But how is Christ’s authority different? Is it more than just the authority of
a parent to a small child saying “Because I say so”? Often with some threat of
consequence or punishment lurking in the background. That’s not appealing,
that’s coercive, and it’s less effective the older we get.
Thinking about this, I found there
are at least 3 aspects of Jesus’ authority that stand out.
1) The authority of the DESIGNER:
God made us, He is our Creator, and Jesus being part of the Trinity from all
eternity was part of that. Jn 1:3a “Through Him all
things were made...” Colossians 1:16 “For by him [Christ] all things were
created...” He is the Son of Man as well as Son of God, Jesus understands us,
He ‘gets’ us, has stood where we stand, has walked in our shoes. Heb 2:14 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too
shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds
the power of death— that is, the devil...” The Bible is the Manufacturer’s
Handbook: God has shared with you the best way to live life, to spare you
grief! Jesus knows us inside out like a manufacturer understands the machine or
program they custom-designed. Jn 2:24f “But Jesus
would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s
testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”
Auto maker Henry Ford asked
electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory.
One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn’t find the
problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few
hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life – but Ford got
a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so high.
Steinmetz’s reply: “For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where
to tinker, $9,990.” Ford paid the bill.
Second, there’s the authority of the
DETERMINER. Jesus’ life is bound up with the fulfilment of prophecy from
centuries earlier. The disciples who were eyewitnesses of His suffering on the
cross couldn’t help but be struck by the prophetic aspect of passages like
Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. On the road to Emmaus, as a hidden companion, Lk 24:27
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was
said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Later He ‘joined the dots’ for
the rest of the disciples: Lk 24:44f “He said to them, "This is what I
told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is
written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then
he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”
This prophetic element of the Bible,
seeing things come true after decades or centuries, is a dominant theme that
highlights God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness. Thursday my One Year Bible
reading in Exodus contained a very low point in the Hebrews’ existence: God had
sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let the enslaved Jews go, but Pharaoh resisted,
and made their burden worse, tightening the screws on their suffering. It seems
a breaking point is coming. But God assures Moses: Ex 6:5-8 “Moreover, I have
heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I
have remembered my covenant.Therefore, say to the
Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the
Egyptians.I will free you from being slaves to them,
and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.I will take you as my own people, and I will be
your God.THEN YOU WILL KNOW that I am the LORD your
God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.And
I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to
Isaac and to Jacob.I will give it to you as a possession.I am the LORD.’”
See the effect of God as Determiner?
I will...I will...I will...THEN YOU WILL KNOW that I am YHWH – the One Who
Makes Things Happen. The Lord God, the Supreme Authority over all that happens.
That “then you will know” bit refers to recognition of authority, building
confidence in one who’s Sovereign.
Suppose a tourist comes to the
Goderich area and asks the manager of the motel they’re staying at where they
can catch some fish. The manager says, “I know a guy who’s quite an avid
angler; I’ll have him call you.” So the angler calls the tourist and tells him,
“I often have success at a certain bend in the Maitland just below the
evaporator plant, about ten to 7 in the morning.I’ll
meet you there with some extra gear and we’ll have a go.”
Next morning they’re out there in
the water, 6:30 am, not a fish to be seen. 6:45, still nothing. Suddenly about
five minutes later the tourist’s line begins to jiggle and then there’s a tug
and then a protracted reeling – next thing, a fine catch! Do you suppose that
tourist is going to have some respect for that angling expert as an
“authority”? What he said, came to pass.
In Mark’s gospel, Jesus predicted
three successive times - in chapter 8, chapter 9, and chapter 10 - that He
would suffer and be put to death and rise again. That prophecy was fulfilled.
He has authority as the Determiner.
Third, Jesus has authority as our
DELIVERER. In today’s passage, vv25f NRSV, “But Jesus rebuked him, saying,
"Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing
him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.” Jesus proved His authority
by the man’s deliverance. His own death is the price paid for our freedom from
sin and guilt. Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried
our diseases...But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are
healed.” Jesus has become our DELIVERER at enormous cost.
Mk 1:27 “He even gives orders to
impure spirits and they obey Him.” Do YOU recognize His authority? Will YOU
obey Him as your Lord? What do you discern the Lord may be ordering YOU to do?
We owe Him our own souls (cf Phm
1:19).
We have His command; He’s not asking
us to do anything He hasn’t already done for us, as our Deliverer. Jn 13:13-15,34 “You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are
right, for that is what I am.So if I, your Lord and
Teacher, HAVE WASHED YOUR FEET, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.For I have set you an example, that you also should do
AS I HAVE DONE TO YOU...I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, you also should love one
another.”
The apostle John later wrote about
it this way in a letter to the church: 1Jn 3:16 “We know love by this, that he
laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”
Let’s pray.
Sovereign Lord, thank You for giving
us existence, for granting us new birth through faith, for giving Yourself in
our place so we might be forgiven. Shatter our stubborn resistance and help us
become more obedient to You. Let our hearts break with what breaks Yours, so we
may become vessels of Your love in a hurting world. Amen.
OVERWHELMED
- AND OVERLOOKING
Do you get
feeling overwhelmed at times? Life seems to have a strange progression: first,
we’re busy getting trained - going to school, joining clubs to hone our hobby
skills, taking driver’s ed, becoming proficient in
sports. Then from untrained we go to trained - being able to contribute to
society and our families by serving in our trade or profession, driving the
family minivan to sports practices and music lessons, helping our kids with our
homework. As an adult you may find that training you worked so hard to learn now
makes you indispensable to any
number of people who call on you for help; in fact, between home and business
and organizations (yes, including church!) there’s just not quite enough of you
to go around. So you fall into bed at night wondering where the day went and
why you didn’t get to any of your own projects. You’ve gone from ‘untrained’ to
‘trained’ to TIRED!
So many people with demands upon our
time, many of them legitimate... So many good causes begging more of our
attention. We just feel so overwhelmed, there’s not time to do it all justice.
What happened to those lofty purposes we were charmed by when we were growing
up? How come our pet projects never seem to get the attention needed, something
else always comes up and sidetracks us?
In today’s Scripture reading, we see
our Lord Jesus deal with a sudden surge in popularity at the outset of His
miraculous ministry. What is it that helps Him discern how to say “no” to some
people in order that He might say “yes” to others?
Speaking of being overwhelmed – A
father was watching his young son try to dislodge a heavy stone. The boy
couldn't budge it. "Are you sure you are using all your strength?"
the father asked. "Yes, I am," said the exasperated boy. "No,
you are not," the father replied. "You haven't asked me to help
you."
When we pray, we tap into that far
greater Power that is beyond ourselves.
POWER’S
POPULARITY
We’re
continuing on in Mark 1 from where we left off last week: Jesus was teaching
with astonishing authority at the synagogue in Capernaum, and cast an unclean
spirit out of a man, causing much amazement by onlookers at both his teaching
and the deliverance. We pick up the account at Mk 1:29-31: “As soon as they
left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and
they told Jesus about her.So he went to her, took her
hand and helped her up.The fever left her and she
began to wait on them.”
Yes, surprising as it may be to
some, the Apostle Peter was married and apparently had his mother-in-law living
at his home – she may have been a widow at this point. She may have been
seriously ill: she was too sick to get out of bed, and Luke (4:38) describes it
as a ‘high’ fever, so it may even have been life-threatening. But Jesus takes
her by the hand (a little detail suggesting His tenderness), helps her up, and
the fever is gone! In fact she’s so much better INSTANTLY that there’s no
convalescence needed, she immediately starts thinking, “Now, what can we have
for dinner?” and begins to prepare a meal or otherwise serve them. The Greek
word (diakoneo) is the one from which we get
‘deacon’, meaning to minister or serve or attend to someone’s needs. A pattern
in miniature for the Christian life: we are saved, to serve!
Well – it’s hard to keep such
sensational news under wraps. Word somehow gets around town and, once the
Sabbath day is over – the sun sets – people are allowed to carry things around
again, including stretchers. Vv32-34 “That evening after sunset the people
brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.The
whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases.He also drove out many demons, but he would not
let the demons speak because they knew who he was.”
Christ’s POWER brings overwhelming
POPULARITY. Note Mark’s superlatives - the people brought ALL the sick and
demon-possessed, the WHOLE TOWN gathered at the door. So much for a quiet
Sabbath evening after ‘giving it all’ while you were preaching! Nevertheless
Jesus tends to their needs, healing many, driving out evil spirits. They knew
Who He was – their theology was absolutely orthodox, they just chose to reject
God. Jesus evidently did not want their testimony so did not let the demons
speak. Perhaps they would have spouted wrong ideas about what His Messiahship was like. Robertson comments, “Testimony from
such a source was not calculated to help the cause of Christ with the people.”
Later, Peter would rebuke Jesus for
talk of suffering and dying as integral to the role of being the Messiah; Peter
no doubt was aware of the prevalent hope that Messiah would kick out the Roman
overlords and restore Judea to Jewish control. But Jesus wanted to show them
His Messiahship worked at a different level than the
political one.
Physical healing was associated with
being Messiah, as the Old Testament prophets foretold the Christ would bring
healing. In the day when God saves, according to Isaiah 35:5f - “Then will the
eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.Then
will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy...”
Dr. Randolph C.Byrd,
a cardiologist, created a stir in medical circles when he had volunteers pray
daily for one group of patients in the coronary care unit at San Francisco
General Medical Center. A second group of heart-disease patients served as a
control group. Although neither the patients nor their doctors knew whom was
being prayed for, those in the prayed-for group were five times less likely to
require antibiotics and were less likely to need ventilators to help them
breathe. Byrd concluded: "The evidence strongly suggests faith in God
truly is linked to a long, healthy life." There is power in prayer!
PRAYER’S
PERSPECTIVE
Isn’t
that just the greatest kick-off one could ask for to launch a successful
ministry? A great sermon coupled with a miraculous deliverance at worship,
followed by countless healing miracles later that same day? It seems things are
lining right up for Jesus to become a household word in the whole region.
But, right here, something strange
happens. He abandons it all. It’s like He walks off the platform just as the
main event is about to get underway. What COULD become an overwhelming field of
opportunity is nipped in the bud.
V35: “Very early in the morning,
while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a
solitary place, where he prayed.” He did not get so sunk in the demands and the
busy-ness (even if people had needs that were legitimate – they WERE really
sick, y’know!) – He did not become so submerged by
people’s needs that He neglected to take time to check in with His Heavenly
Father.
We see here the spiritual discipline
of prayer requires at least 3 things: a time, a place, and a deliberate choice
(a willing).
A TIME: “very early in the morning,
while it was still dark” – Mark’s wording indicates sometime in the watch from
3-6 am, before it was fully light; before the crowds could find him like they
had the night before.
Find the time that works best for
you. For me, like many others, first thing in the morning is ideal, before the
demands of the day come rushing in. Ideally right after my daily Bible reading,
so I can reflect on what I hear the Lord emphasizing for me at that moment in
Scripture, and so it’s a being-together and listening to His heart rather than
just me presenting a grocery list of requests.
Prayer requires a PLACE: “a solitary
place”, NRSV ‘deserted’, NLT ‘isolated’. Elsewhere Jesus talks about going into
your inner room and shutting the door, rather than out on the street corner for
people to see (Mt 6:6). A private place, where it can be just you and Him. John
Wesley’s mother, having many children, used to sit on a chair and throw her
apron over her head to create that ‘place away’. If it helps to turn your phone
to ‘silent’, do it.
Prayer benefits from a DELIBERATE
CHOICE, a WILLING. Note the verbs: Jesus got up...left the house...went off...
It’s just not going to happen unless you deliberately make it happen. In case
you haven’t heard, to paraphrase a popular evangelical phrase from years back
and 4 Spiritual Laws, “God loves you and EVERYBODY ELSE has a wonderful plan
for your life”!
Experiment a bit. Try different
times and places until you find out what works best for you, what you can
repeat until it becomes a habit, as unthinking as breathing. Set yourself up
for success in the spiritual disciplines department. Enlist some allies –
recruit your family members to help you protect that one corner of your
existence that’s so important and essential.
Prayer changes things! Sometimes the
thing that prayer needs to change most is US. Often the significant contact
occurs when we quiet the chatter of our soul enough to hear the whisper of the
Holy Spirit.
Nick Thomas found himself at the age
of forty-seven unemployed and under tremendous financial pressure. Though he
had had a successful career in the Air Force and the insurance business, some
reversals had set him back and left him with no place to go. His wife, Liz,
made their situation a matter of prayer. She was in church one morning, praying
about their dilemma, when she thought she could almost hear the words,
"Make the mustard." Her family had a mustard recipe from Russia, and
every Christmas she made gift jars of mustard for her friends. Nick and Liz decided
to listen to the voice. She prepared a substantial amount of mustard. They
packaged it and then called on a local cheese shop. The manager tasted it and
immediately bought out their inventory. Within three months they had cracked
the highly competitive New York major deli market. Because the Thomases committed their troubles to prayer and looked
expectantly to God for guidance, he gave them direction. (footnote: see Liz
Thomas interviewed on YouTube Jan.29/21 here)
PURPOSEFUL
PRIORITY
From
POWER to PRAYER to PURPOSE...Christ’s power worked wonderful healings and
deliverance, pulling Him into a potential whirlpool of popularity that could
have consumed His whole life. But He deliberately made a point of praying to
seek His Father’s direction. That helped Him re-focus back on His original
PURPOSE.
Vv36-39: “Simon and his companions
went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone
is looking for you!" Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else— to the
nearby villages— so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." So
he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out
demons.”
Do you feel the pressure in those
words? “Everyone is looking for you!” “We can’t turn back now! | We’ve got a
good thing going! | Can’t you just feel the intertia
building? | Let’s grab this spinning flywheel and hang on for the ride!” That
might have been the easy thing to do, even the practical thing to do – but it’s
not what Jesus was called to do. At least not right there, right then. The Good
News of the Kingdom of God was drawing Him further afield.
To the surprise of His disciples
(who probably would have been only to happy to stay and hang around their hometown
all their career), Jesus turned around and said “No” to ‘everyone’. He
discerned the Father was calling Him to travel around on a preaching tour of
Galilee, to the nearby villages. Josephus the ancient historian tells us around
that time Galilee was densely populated with some 240 towns and villages.
We hear Jesus’ sense of PURPOSE in
His words: “so I can PREACH there also.That is why I
have come.” Mark adds that He traveled around the area “preaching in their
synagogues and driving out demons”. Preaching was key – sharing the Good News
about God’s Kingdom and how to enter it. Jesus was more than just a Great
Physician: He wanted people to repent and find restoration in their souls and
their relationships, to get back on track loving God and loving their
neighbour, to experience divine grace and extend that grace to others who were
indebted to them. To cast off old resentments and discover freedom from
bitterness and hatred. To build a new people of God, agents to bring the Lord’s
new birth and leadership into lives everywhere, to multiply sons and daughters
of God, displaying His glorious image.
It was about far more than just
physical healing. That’s great as far as it goes, but it can turn into a
“what’s in it for me?” approach to religion, seeing signs and wonders as sort
of spiritual entertainment, rather than allowing our own lives to become
aligned with God’s direction.
Preaching - proclaiming the message
- is an essential piece of the program. In the Great Commission we are charged
to be baptizing and teaching others to obey what Christ commanded (Mt 28:19f).
When our church distributes food boxes, there are Scripture passages included,
so it’s not just material food but pointing them to the ultimate Giver.
A few weeks ago I preached a sermon
about church membership based to some extent on the book “I Am a Church Member”
by Thom Rainer, an evangelical church consultant. Our Elder Board gave support
for me to look into an outreach program developed by Thom Rainer and associates
called “Pray’n’Go”. I’ll share more in coming weeks,
but basically the idea is church members spending some time praying in front of
people’s homes (discreetly) and leaving door hangers that say on the front side
“We prayed for you” and on the back side “We love our community, so we are
praying for our community.” No high-pressure door-knocking, just a polite note
letting them know we care about them and are praying for them. It’s a VOLUNTARY
program, but I’d challenge you to consider it: is there a handful of homes
you’re aware of that (so far as you know) don’t already have a church
affiliation and you’d be willing to pray for? And our elders and Prayer Team
would be praying for YOU as you go out to pray for others nearby.
Here’s a short 4-minute overview of
what Pray’n’Go is about - then I’ll be back with a
short closing story...[INTRODUCTION TO PRAY’N’GO]
I hope you’ll consider and be
praying about whether YOU would be a part of this Pray’n’Go
outreach! There are many things we CAN’T do as a church during COVID-19
lockdown, but praying at a distance is something we CAN do.
We’ve been talking about Jesus
praying, and through that discerning God’s purpose for His next steps. Prayer
changes things – prayer changes US, helps us hear what’s on the Father’s heart,
opens us to let the Holy Spirit shape our lives to be more like God’s Son.
I was an “Akela”
(a Cub leader in Boy Scouts) for quite a few years; part of that’s building Cub
Cars out of blocks of wood.
When Gilbert was eight years old he
joined the Cub Scouts. He had only been a member a short time and during one of
his first meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four
little tires and told to return home and give it all to dad.
That was not an easy task for
Gilbert to do. There was no dad for Gilbert at home. So the block of wood
remained untouched for weeks. Finally, mom stepped in to help figure it all
out. The project began. Having no carpentry skills, she simply read the
directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. They read the measurements
– the rules of what could and could not be done. Within days his block of wood
turned into a "pinewood derby car." A little lopsided, but it looked
good (to mom, at least). Gilbert hadn't seen anyone else's car, so he was
feeling pretty proud of 'Blue Lightning.'
Finally, it was the big night. With
'Blue Lightning' in his hand and pride in his heart he and his mom headed to
the race. Once there, it was obvious that Gilbert's car was the only one made
entirely on his own. All the other cars were father-son partnerships, with cool
paint jobs and sleek body styles designed for speed. A few of the kids laughed
when they saw his crude vehicle. Gilbert was the only boy there without a man
at his side.
The race was a process of
elimination. You kept racing as long as you were a winner. In the final run it
was 'Blue Lightning' and the sleekest, fastest looking car. As the final race
was about to begin, it was interrupted. Gilbert asked if he could pray. The
race stopped. With wrinkled brow, clutching his derby car, Gilbert was on his
knees praying to his Father in heaven for a very long minute and a half. Then
he stood up, smiled and announced, "Okay, I'm ready."
The crowd cheered. The other boy
stood with his father while Gilbert stood with his Heavenly Father in his
heart. Gilbert watched his block of wood swoosh down the ramp with surprising
speed to cross the finish line a fraction of a second before the other car.
Gilbert leaped into the air with a
loud "Thank You" and the crowd roared in approval. The Scout Master,
with microphone in hand, asked Gilbert, "So, you prayed to win, huh,
Gilbert?" To which he answered, "No, sir.That
wouldn't be fair.I just asked God to make it so I
don't cry when I lose."
Let’s
pray. Thank You Father for the power to heal and deliver You showed in Jesus’
life. Thank You even more for His message, His preaching, giving us Your
instructions on how to be carved into His likeness, how to come to experience
Your hand guiding and directing and comforting in our lives. As Jesus went on
to other towns, help us also carry this marvelous message to others near us who
need so badly to hear it and discover You. In Jesus’ name we ask it, Amen.
ON WHAT
SCALE IS YOUR LEPROSY?
Today our
Scripture reading challenges some traditional ideas about God's very nature,
such as those of a stern and angry remote figure away up in the sky, like some
Norse thunder-god, or the “unmoved Mover” of Greek philosophers. It may
surprise us to realize that He is close and caring rather than distant and
remote. We read in Mark 1:40 “A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on
his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’” Leprosy is a terrible
disease. Back in 1981 I visited a leprosarium in Nigeria where many people were
suffering from this disease; it's just terrible to see so many people wrapped
up and different limbs missing, and the sense of gloom and despair
overshadowing the camp.
The origin of the word itself is
interesting. The root word in Greek comes from lepra
(scale) thus describing this disease by its scaliness.
In Hebrew the root is a smiting or a stroke because the sickness was regarded
as an infliction directly from God. The Bible dictionary
says this disease “begins with specks on the eyelids and on the palms gradually
spreading over the body, bleaching the hair white wherever they appear,
crusting the affected parts with white scales, and causing terrible sores and
swellings. From the skin the disease eats inward to the bones, rotting the
whole body piecemeal.” How terrible!
The Bible dictionary goes on to say,
“In Christ’s day, no leper could live in a walled town, though he might in an
open village. But wherever he was he was required to have his outer garment
rent as a sign of deep grief, to go bare-headed, and to cover his beard with
his mantle, as if in lamentation at his own virtual death. He had further to
warn passersby to keep away from him, by calling out, "Unclean! Unclean!”
Nor could he speak to anyone, or receive a return of salutation, since in the
East this involves an embrace." So with the isolation and social
distancing measures of COVID-19 and our recent lockdown, perhaps we're getting
a sample of what the lepers experienced for the rest of their lives.
What is leprosy scientifically
speaking? Centers for Disease Control says
it is known as Hansen's disease is caused by Mycobacterium leprae. “These bacteria grow very slowly and may take
up to 20 years to develop signs of the infection. The disease can affect the
nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose. The bacteria attack the nerves
which can become swollen under the skin. This can cause the affected areas to
lose the ability to sense touch and pain, which can lead to injuries like cuts
and burns... If left untreated, the nerve damage can result in paralysis of
hands and feet. In very advanced cases the person may have multiple injuries
due to lack of sensation and eventually the body may reabsorb the affected
digits over time, resulting in the apparent loss of toes and fingers."
Does leprosy still occur today?
"Each year about 150 people in the United States and 250,000 around the
world get the illness." Thankfully nowadays treatment is available
involving a combination of three antibiotics.
The origins of leprosy were
mysterious in Bible times, and it takes about 20 years for it to develop, and
so it was viewed as a direct smiting from God. It is associated with covering
and hiding and shame and alienation, in essence the person became untouchable,
never able to become intimate or close, they were cast-offs, forbidden from
interaction with society.
What is our leprosy of the soul? In
what areas have we lost sensitivity, become numb to others? To what degree
might this physical illness be representative of our spiritual disease? Last
week we saw a story
of police in Edmonton forcing homeless people to leave an LRT station in very
freezing temperatures, without options of a safe place to go. That seems
heartless. But were the police not just doing their best to enforce bylaws?
When have WE been insensitive to others and forced them to do things which in
hindsight were uncaring? One day this past week I used very hurtful words to my
spouse when I was upset; later on she was able to help me realize how pained
she was by what I said...I was very convicted, and tried to sincerely apologize
– but the damage had already been done, and I know it hurt her deeply.
It's all too easy to be uncaring and
insensitive to those around us, even our neighbors. Recently former MMA fighter
Gina Carano was kicked off
the Disney Plus show “The Mandalorian” for a tweet
which said, “Jews were beaten in the streets not by Nazi soldiers but by their
neighbors even by children...Because history is edited, most people today don't
realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up
thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbours
hate them simply for being Jews.How is that any
different from hating someone for their political views?"
It's all too easy to find excuses to
distance ourselves from others and to put them down. Sin eats away at our
sensitivity, it blocks our love for others, it puts a scale over our souls,
like leprosy infecting and rotting our heart.
CHRISTLY
COMPASSION – A GOD WITH GUTS
If we're
not careful, Pagan notions about God can creep in. We have ideas from Aristotle
of God as some kind of “unmoved mover”; even our catechism descriptions can
become sterile and remote. However we see in this passage God is not like that.
Verse 40 The leper said, “If you are willing [if you choose] you can make me
clean.” Verse 41 Jesus asserts, “I am willing, [I do choose in the NRSV]; be
clean.”
Sometimes life circumstances can
make it seem like God is distant and remote and uncaring, but often God's mercy
and compassion does shine through if we look for it. Recently our red Maine
coon cat named Regal Red was away for several nights, the better part of a
week, and we were sure that we had lost him. There are any number of predators
around which could have disposed of him: a hawk, an owl, coyotes – but after
many nights Patti was surprised to suddenly hear the sound of a cat again
outside that sounded just like Red, and lo and behold, there he was! We were
very happy and thankful that God had spared his life and brought him back to us
safe and sound. So, don't miss the mercies and the compassion of God that we
see when it occurs in the midst of a fallen world where life is painful for
many.
God's feeling and emotion stand out
in this passage. The word compassion literally means bowels as in the
intestines, the heart, the lungs, the liver, and so on. So today we might
express it like this: you feel it deep down “in your gut”. Christ has
compassion on the leper: down to his gut level, His very innards, he is moved.
We also detect God's strength of
emotion in verse 43, “Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning.” NRSV
says ‘sternly’. Robinson's Word Pictures comments on ‘strong warning’ in verse
43: “It is a strong word for the snorting of a horse and expresses powerful
emotion as Jesus stood there face to face with leprosy, itself a symbol of sin
and all its train of evils.”
Here we see God's consternation
having created a good world and yet seeing it rotting away, as a result of the
Fall in the Garden of Eden and the resulting sin and maladies which have
brought plagues and death and destruction on humankind. What must have surged
through Jesus heart at this point!
DON'T MISS
THE VALUE ADDED
Jesus
doesn't just heal the man and that's it; Jesus uses the occasion as an
opportunity for God's glory to be highlighted. Verse 44 "See that you
don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the
sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to
them." . Notice Jesus is emphasizing using this healing as a testimony
that is to shine the spotlight on God's goodness and God's power, God's
graciousness to us in our fallenness.
What's YOUR testimony? In what areas
has God been gracious to you so that you might go out and tell others about His
goodness and His mercy upon you?
John Newton, a one-time slave trader
and merchant in human bodies, following his conversion wrote the famous hymn
Amazing Grace - “how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” We are
wretched in our sinfulness, the hardness of our hearts, the self-focus of our souls...
Leprosy can be cured, but can this deeply-embedded tainting of our very nature
be overcome? We need divine help!
Instead of doing what Jesus says,
the former leper goes out and we read in verse 45, “Instead he went out and
began to talk freely, spreading the news.As a result,
Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.
Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.” So what was healing for one
man became a problem for the Healer. Jesus became the One isolated and lonely
and cut off instead of the leper. So for us wretched and disobedient wilful people, Jesus has become isolated and cut off from
His Heavenly Father at the cross for our sakes, to to
bring atonement for our sins.
The parallels between this passage and
Isaiah 53 are striking. We read there, Is 53:2f :“...He had no beauty or
majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire
him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with
suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not.” Just as people must have turned away in disgust from some of
the suffering of the lepers that they met on the way. Is 53:4 “Surely he took
up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him STRICKEN by
God, SMITTEN by him, and afflicted.” Remember the Hebrew word for leprosy tsara'ath means a "smiting," a
"stroke". Is 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:8 continues,“...For he was
cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was
stricken.” Jesus was cut off for our sakes. Just as we have been suffering lately
from lockdown and isolation and being cut off from those we love, how much more
was the Son of Man cut off for our sakes! Cut off from His loving Heavenly
Father with whom he had enjoyed dear fellowship from all eternity?
In Walt Wangiren’s
story of The Ragman (adapted here),
the Ragman starts out strong and tall and muscular, but in exchanging people’s
old rags for new, the Ragman himself somehow mysteriously ends taking up the
afflictions of those he meets; he becomes himself afflicted, “old and frail,
weeping and bleeding, staggering and falling, his body wracked with pain,
sorrow and disease” – and they instead become healthy, strong, cured, restored.
That is what we are celebrating in Communion: Christ taking our place, shedding
His blood for our restoring and cleansing.
COMPASSION
IN PRACTICE
The leper
went on his way, “talking freely, spreading the news”. The verb for “talking
freely” is literally ‘to proclaim’ or preach, heralding a big announcement.
What difference is your faith-meeting with Christ today going to make in your
sensitivity to others this coming week? As He lifts you from your wretched
rotting sinfulness, are you made whole to have compassion for others?
A recent example of compassion, to
inspire you. In Texas, thousands of sea turtles stunned by the cold waters in
the recent deep winter snap have been rescued by volunteers. They were brought
by the truckload to a South Padre Island convention centre.
The Guardian news reports,
“The South Padre Island convention center started pitching in Monday when its
neighbor, Sea Turtle Inc, could no longer handle the
number of sea turtles being dropped off, and their mostly outdoor operation had
lost power.” There’s compassion again, not just for the turtles, but for one’s neighbour!
Compassion cares for others when
they can’t care for themselves. Ira Byock tells the
story of how years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student
what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. “The
student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was
a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that
in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from
danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for
prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to
heal. A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to
stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to
safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through
difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said." That takes
compassion.
Earlier we referred to Gina Carano’s tweet about Jews being beaten in the streets by
their neighbours. This week BBC carried the story of how hundreds of Dutch Jews - traders, salesmen,
tailors, and others - died in a secret Nazi gas chamber in 1941, much earlier
than previously thought. Yet while the rounding-up of Jews was going on in
Holland, other Dutch people were quietly hiding and protecting Jews until they
could be secretly taken out of the country to safety. You may remember the
story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family: her watch-maker father welcomed and
hid Jews until his own family was found out and taken to concentration camp.
That is compassion – to care enough
for the plight of another to risk becoming involved. Against all social wisdom
of the time, Jesus “reached out His hand and touched the man” (v41). Who needs
your hand?
I close with this quote from Corrie
Ten Boom, that may point to compassion as the way for love to travel when
there’s hurt involved. Corrie Ten Boom asked, “Do you know what hurts so very
much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is
blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We
can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us
dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.”
As we prepare now for communion in
this context of loving compassion, let’s pray. “Thank You Jesus for not being
disgusted by the person suffering with leprosy, but instead reaching out to
make them well. Thank You for not writing us off on account of our
wretchedness, but going to the cross so our filthiness could be exchanged for
your righteousness. Shatter the self-sufficiency of our hearts and hardness of
our souls, we pray. Send Your Holy Spirit to quicken in us Your love and
gentleness and kindness. Make us bold to testify freely and widely about Your
grace to us.
We confess to you our sins in
silence...
We ask Holy Spirit Your presence in
this holy ordinance: make this bread and cup be for us the body and blood of
Christ, that we might become His hands and feet in the world today, led by our
Heavenly Father. We ask it in Jesus’ name who taught us to pray together, OUR
FATHER... [Lord’s Prayer]
Starting from Mt 26:26 we read: Now
as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave
it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup,
and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of
you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the
vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
O Lord, come! Whenever we eat this
bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death til
He comes.
[taking bread] The body of Christ,
broken for you.
[taking
cup] The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Grace be to all who love our Lord
Jesus with an undying love! Amen.
FORGIVENESS
IS FREEING
Forgiveness
is freeing. Nobody likes having a black mark on their record. When we come to
Jesus, He has the power to clear our record and set us free from guilt’s
crippling bondage.
Jay Leno was a long-time talk show
host on The Tonight Show, for over 20 years. Despite his fame, there was a
niggling fault in his past. Once when he was a student at Andover High School
in Massachusetts, he was suspended for 3 days after ‘burning rubber’ in the
parking lot. However the talk show host found a way to make amends after
gaining prominence. He donated a quarter million dollars’ worth of Microsoft
computer software in exchange for getting that black mark expunged from his
high school record.
In today’s passage we see
forgiveness emphasized by the Lord Jesus in connection with a person’s physical
healing. However how Jesus goes about it challenges the unbelief of some of the
onlookers, exposing the need of those who were outwardly well.
OUR
PRESSING PARALYSIS: WHAT’S GOT YOU BLOCKED?
In Mark 2,
Jesus returns to Capernaum, which was to become the “home base” of operations
for his ministry. When v1 says “He had come home” it probably refers to the
house of Peter and Andrew. The door apparently opened onto the street rather
than a courtyard, so it seems to have been a modest, ordinary house. In
Palestine these often had flat roofs with an external stairway so people could
go up and enjoy some breeze in the cool of the evening; the roof even served as
‘overflow’ sleeping quarters when needed.
Anyway, word got out that Jesus was
back in town, so any possibility that he might enjoy a quiet recuperation from
a strenuous ministry tour was soon out the window. Mark 2:2 “So many gathered
that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the
word to them.” Do you get the picture? The crowd is pressing in, filling the
modest house, spilling out onto the street, jamming the thoroughfare. Everybody
wants to hear what Jesus has to say – including the skeptical Pharisees and
scribes who have come to criticize this new upstart rabbi.
Things were jam-packed, confined,
constricted – there was practically no way for Jesus to move. The demands on
Him were mounting, everybody wanted a piece of Him – the stories of miraculous
healings and exorcisms were circulating. Did we mention this is a hot climate?
Many bodies jammed together, no modern sanitation, not a lot of water around
for washing – it was probably just a bit stifling in Peter’s home there that
day.
Have you been feeling pressed in
upon lately? Are the demands increasing to the breaking point? What about the
confinement associated with COVID and lockdown, does the world seem like it has
closed in upon you? Emails and text messages and demands fly at us from all
angles. Sometimes the requests for our attention mount to the point they seem
more than we can handle. Like Jesus, we are confined, hemmed in – and there in
the front row are people who will be only too quick to criticize if we mess up
and get something wrong. Responsibilities can multiply to the point it becomes
immobilizing, we don’t know where to start, things have become unmanageable.
Sometimes obstacles and pressures
mount due to circumstances; sometimes the challenge is more of a physical one.
Vv3-4a “Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the
crowd...” Here’s a physical challenge: being paralyzed – somehow the muscles
and nerves weren’t connecting and doing what they were supposed to. Movement
was impossible. This man was dependent on others for help. At least he had some
buddies who cared enough to carry him; for some with disabilities, their
support circle shrinks as they are no longer able to even get to various
meetings or parties they once enjoyed. And now, upon arrival, the little
bed-carrying-quartet discovers they can’t even get near the One they’ve heard
can do miracles.
What’s pressing in upon you,
threatening to paralyze you? How are you feeling confined, debilitated, stuck?
For some people, it’s physical issues. These can be complicated by sin, unwise
choices we’ve made in the past, such as gluttony or sloth. For example, our
North American fast-food diet can be deleterious to our health, putting us at
risk for diabetes, obesity, or other conditions. Then amongst young people
there’s the pressure to “look” ideal, like a movie star, pushing youth into
eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia.
Sometimes it’s more ‘people’ issues
than physical issues that cause us stress. There can be pressure to choose just
the right college when we’re not too sure what we want to do with our life.
There’s the pressure to have a good ‘ratio’ on social media – number of
followers compared to number of people we follow. Pressure from bullies who
like to assert themselves at the expense of others. If others manipulate or
shortchange us, we can start to feel boxed into a corner. Sometimes we bottle
up anger or emotion until it explodes, impacting others.
This past week a man was found
guilty of multiple counts of murder for driving a van into pedestrians on Yonge
Street in Toronto a few years back. He’s been diagnosed on the Autism spectrum,
but the judge ruled the man was well aware of what he was doing and his medical
condition cannot be used as a defence. Evil sprang
into a deadly plan.
Sin weighs on us, presses in upon
us, and its effects can’t be ignored. Many people deal with guilt by DROWNING
it. Some drown it in alcohol and drug abuse. Besides deaths due to coronavirus,
there is also in Canada an opioid crisis. Why are so many drinking and drugging
themselves to death? We’re trying to escape ourselves and drown the pangs of
our own guilt. Marlon Brando was once young, trim, and handsome – many girls
dreamed of having him. But now he weighs over 400 pounds! He told someone, “I’m
sorry for all the harm I’ve done and for all the troubles I’ve brought to
others in my life. I’ve never been a good parent or a good husband. I’ve been
too busy with my own life to have time for others. Now I’m a guilty old man
who’s ashamed of the kind of life I’ve led. There’s nothing left for me except
eating.” Trying to drown or cover over his guilt with food.
Other people deal with guilt by
DENYING it. As our society has become increasingly secular, it has lost respect
for the authority of the word of God, and that has led to a dangerous and
destructive moral and spiritual chain reaction. If there is no authoritative
word of God, then there are no moral absolutes. If there are no moral
absolutes, there are no ultimate standards of right and wrong. If there are no
ultimate standards of right and wrong, then we can base our rules and standards
on societal consensus. If we base our rules on societal consensus, then we can
adjust them to our own shape and size. We can adjust them downward. We can live
any way we want to, and there is no such thing as genuine guilt before God;
guilt is just a nagging relic of Puritanism, a Victorian antique, a psychosis
to be denied. BUT deep within us our Creator has hard-wired a moral compass,
something called “conscience” that testifies way down in our soul about what
we’ve done right or wrong. The guilt is really there.
Some people deal with guilt by
DEFLECTING it. They blame other people for their failures and faults and
shortcoming. They blame their parents or their environments. This technique
goes all the way back to the garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed
the serpent. We read Genesis 3 this past Wednesday at Prayer Meeting and noted
that’s how the “blame game” begins! It’s NEVER MY fault, is it?!
But sooner or later, all these
techniques fail – DROWNING, DENYING, DEFLECTING - and we find we can’t escape
the consequences of our own sinfulness and guilt. Jeremiah 2:22 says, “‘Although
you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your
guilt is before me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Guilt is the corrosion of the soul.
How can we get rid of it? We can’t drown it, deny it, or deflect it; we can
only DISSOLVE it in the blood of Jesus Christ.
FAITH
BEYOND BELIEF: DETERMINATION OVERDRIVE
So Jesus
was standing there in Peter’s house, crowd pressing in upon Him, critics in
their front-row seats ready to jump on Him for the slightest thing that went
against their traditions. But wait – what’s that noise? Bits of clay and mud
and pebbles started to rain down about where Jesus was standing! Was the sky
falling?
Mk 2:4-5 “Since they could not get
him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus
and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are
forgiven."”
These Palestinian roofs were
typically slabs of pre-baked clay laid across the beams that stretched from one
wall to the opposite wall. After the tiles were set in place, a thin coating of
clayey mud was applied over everything to stop the rain getting through. (They
didn’t have to be concerned about snow load!) So the paralytic’s friends began
to ‘think outside the box’ - they went up the stairs on the outside and tore a
hole about where Jesus was. (It’s not recorded what the homeowner - possibly
Peter - thought about their solution.) What a picture of faith this is – as the
paralyzed man, laying still on his mat, is lowered on ropes inch by inch in
total dependence until he’s nose to nose with the Saviour! Can’t you just
picture Jesus quipping, “I’m so glad you dropped in!”
The text notes, “When Jesus saw
their FAITH...” Possibly meaning the faith of the paralytic as well as his
carrier buddies, we’re not sure. But what faith! Not just some theoretical
‘belief’ – this faith has action built into it: faith that picks the man and
mat up and carries them up the road, bringing the man to Jesus; faith that gets
creative when a roadblock is encountered (the barrier of the crowd all around
Jesus and even out into the street); faith that digs through the roof material;
faith that entrusts their friend so obviously to the Lord, lowering him right
there where He is.
Do you want Jesus that badly? Or
would your faith have wimped out along the way? Seeing the crowd, would you
have thrown up your hands and given up? Or would your faith persevere, get
creative, and scrabble through the roof to get to Him in whom is your hope?
My wife has a good friend who is a
female diving companion from some years back who we’ll call “M” that lives in
London. “M” had undergone chemotherapy before a dive at Tobermory
that went relatively well until she got back on the boat. Suddenly a Vitamin
B12 deficiency due to the chemo kicked in and she found herself paralyzed from
the chest to her toes. She was airlifted to Hamilton and London hospitals,
undergoing hyperbaric treatment, but then spent about 2 months at Parkwood
doing physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Over the time I’ve known her,
I’ve been so impressed by the effort “M” has put into her recovery. Patti and I
would visit her and find her on her exercise bike in the living room, coaxing
an unresponsive leg back into motion. I’m happy to say “M” can now stand and
get around the house and is back to cutting people’s hair as she did before.
She’s not 100% yet but continues to make progress through grit and
determination.
Does your faith have that quality of
‘grit’? Like the friends ripping open the roof? Like “M” refusing to give up?
Jesus saw their faith, their intensity, their passion to come to Him.
THE
SAVIOUR’S SUPERPOWERS: WHOLENESS FOR WHAT WE’RE HIDING
What Jesus
said next might surprise you. Like, isn’t it obvious what the paralyzed man is
there for? But that’s not the approach the Saviour takes. Vv5-7 “When Jesus saw
their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,
"Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive
sins but God alone?"”
Jesus decides to leverage this
incident for extra mileage. He sees the opportunity for ‘value added’ – to take
advantage of a physical healing to make a point about who He is, to challenge
His opponents’ faulty presumptions and expose their ulterior motives.
By the way, we are NOT saying that
all physical ailments are the result of sin (Jesus specifically countered that
in the matter of the man born blind in John 9). Yet there may have been a sin
element in this case that was somehow linked to the man’s paralysis. Perhaps
there was some overwhelming guilt that manifested in nervous impairment.
Whether that was the case or not, Jesus made sure to address the inner man
before dealing with the outer muscles. “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
This immediately sparked outrage in
the religious types perched in the front row, ready to criticize. NLT v7 “What
is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
Precisely! But Jesus responds more
subtly. Over the next moments we see three of His “superpowers” (if you will)
become evident. Superpower #1: KNOWING OUR THOUGHTS. V8 “Immediately Jesus knew
in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he
said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?” Wouldn’t that rattle
them, to realize He knew what they were thinking?! On another occasion, Jesus
predicted one of His closest disciples, Simon Peter, would deny Him before the rooster
crowed – and that came true (Mk 14:30). Jn 2:25
notes, “He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a
man.” So Superpower #1 is Jesus knows our thoughts.
Superpower #2 - HE HAS AUTHORITY TO
FORGIVE. Jesus’ purpose in this interchange can be seen from vv10-11, “But that
you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…."
He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go
home."” The words “That you may know” point to purpose, why He’s doing it:
He wants onlookers to realize He’s more than just a miracle-worker – He also
has the solution for our guilt-problem! Jesus truly has the authority, the
right, the power on earth to forgive sins. How come? Because He is the perfect
innocent Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, a propitiating
sacrifice in our place. Of the cup at the Last Supper He specifically said, Mt
26:28 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins.” FOR many, in our stead. Jesus has authority given to Him
by the Father: authority to judge, and authority to forgive, because He is both
Son of God and Son of Man, He’s taken our nature on Himself, stood where we
stand, shared our pains and sorrows. John 5:27 “And he has given him authority
to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
In Jesus we find forgiveness and
freedom from guilt’s bondage. John MacArthur outlines how COMPLETELY God
forgives repentant sinners...
1) Removes
transgressions as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12)
2) Casts
sins behind His back (Is 38:17)
3)
Remembers sins no more (Is 43:25; Jer 31:34)
4) Casts
sins into the depths of the sea (Mic 7:19)
5) Nailed a
certificate marked “paid in full” to the cross - Col 2:13f “When you were dead
in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you
alive with Christ.He forgave us all our sins, having
canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that
stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” IT IS FINISHED
– Paid in full!!
Jesus’ 3rd superpower is
PHYSICAL HEALING. V12 “He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of
them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have
never seen anything like this!"” Jesus puts so much emphasis on the issue
of sins being forgiven that the actual healing of the man’s body is almost
anticlimactic – but what a wonder! I expect the former paralytic and his 4
buddies had quite a time celebrating!
Malachi 4:2 prophesied about the
coming Messiah: “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will
rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves
released from the stall.”
The sheer power of the healing must
have thrown Jesus’ critics into consternation – how could such a healer be
blaspheming? So Jesus uses a visible miracle - the healing of paralysis – to
underscore an invisible reality, which was really far more profound and
significant: His authority to provide forgiveness for sins.
A CLEAN
SLATE
To
reiterate, forgiveness is freeing. When we come to Jesus in repentance and
faith, a posture of sincere and desperate dependence, He has the power to clear
our record and set us free from guilt’s crippling bondage.
One night, so the story goes, Martin
Luther went to sleep troubled about his sin. In a dream he saw an angel
standing by a blackboard, and at the top of the board was Luther’s name. The
angel, chalk in hand, was listing all of Luther’s sins, and the list filled the
blackboard. Luther shuddered in despair, feeling that his sins were so many
that he could never be forgiven. But suddenly in his dream he saw a pierced
hand writing above the list these words: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jn 1:7) As Luther gazed in amazement, the blood
flowed from the wounded hand and washed the record clean. Let’s pray.
Precious Lord, Like the man on the
mat, we come to you in need – most especially for forgiveness of our sin. There
are many things we have done we ought not to have done, and there is much we
have neglected to do that we should have done...You know it all. You know our
hearts, our hesitancy, the obstacles to belief that trip us up. We lay it all
before You and ask that You would raise us up, forgiven and free, empowered by
Your Spirit to walk before you in fresh ways that please You and our Heavenly
Father. Grant us gritty faith that just won’t quit, along with full
forgiveness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
JUMPING TO
JUDGMENT
Our key
idea today is that Jesus surprised others by His choice of who He hung around
with; He didn’t share common prejudices. He calls His followers to love our neighbour, to treat them as we would like to be treated
ourselves, instead of looking down our nose at them because of their past or
their current condition. We’re even to count others better than ourselves, to
outdo one another in honouring others.
Instead, it’s easy to jump to
conclusions about people, to judge a book by its cover, to form prejudices
based on very limited evidence. Don’t make the mistake this lady did, who
thought she was too good for her room...
A lady visiting New York for the
first time was being led to her hotel by the bellboy. As she walked through the
door she became indignant and snapped at the man, "I tell you that I won't
have this room. I'm not paying my good money for this cramped cubbyhole with a
tiny folding bed not fit to sleep on. And there's no TV, no phone, and I suppose
you expect me to walk down the hall to use the..." The bellboy cut her
short, "Ma'am, this isn't your room, this is the elevator."
It’s all too easy to jump to
conclusions in forming our judgments!
WHAT’S
JESUS DOING WITH *THOSE* PEOPLE??!
As we
continue on in Mark 2, Jesus’ ministry is picking up speed, His miracles are
earning quite a name for Him, He’s starting to attract a large following. V13
“Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he
began to teach them.” A large crowd – all sorts of folks, from all across
society. Some would become disciples that followed Him all the way throughout
His ministry; others would remain at a distance. Jesus’ critics watched
intently – who would this upstart rabbi choose to spend His time with? If He
was smart, and knew what was good for Him, it would be them!
They would never have dreamed Jesus
would pick a tax collector to be one of His closest followers. V14 “As he
walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at
the tax collector’s booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got
up and followed him.”
Now there’s a little bit about the
tax collection system in Palestine at that time you should know. Under Roman
occupation, it had become kind of a mash-up between civic duty and organized
crime. John MacArthur describes the system... “There were 2 categories of tax
collectors: (1) gabbai, who collected general taxes
on land and property, and on income, referred to as poll or registration taxes;
(2) mokhes, who collected a wide variety of use
taxes, similar to our import duties, business license fees, and toll fees.
There were two categories of mokhes: Great mokhes hired others to collect taxes for them, while small mokhes did their own assessing and collecting. Matthew was
a small mokhe.” “Matthew was a publican, a tax
collector, a despised profession in Palestine because such men were viewed as
traitors. Publicans were Jews who had bought tax franchises from the Roman government.Any amount collected over what Rome required,
they were allowed to keep. Thus, many publicans became wealthy at the expense
of their own people.”
Jesus would likely have found Levi
(or Matthew) sitting at the toll-gate on the Great West Road from Damascus to
the Mediterranean. So here he is, at a prime location, with the right to
collect from every trader that happens to come down the turnpike. Maybe he paid
handsomely for this plum spot, but now he’s set for life. Simply rake it in
from his countrymen as they pass by – all with the state’s blessing. We find out
from the context he probably has a fine house, of good size that could host a
banquet with numerous guests.
Christ just says two words - “Follow
Me” - and it’s enough. Levi gets up and follows Him. Had his conscience been
bothering him, collecting over and above what was really due? Had the sneers
and abuse from Levi’s fellow Jews been eating away at the satisfaction of
putting food on the table? For whatever reason, something deep inside Levi
prompts him to respond, to get up and get moving with Jesus. As a result we
have the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Matthew –
with its careful tie-ins with the Jewish Old Testament, the fulfilment of
prophecies, beautiful arrangement of Jesus’ teaching into 5 sub-books. Matthew
or Levi was obviously a careful recordkeeper, good at
his job – but he chose to give all that away to follow this mysterious Messiah.
Way of Jesus saying #1 - “I have
begun to follow Jesus and am depending upon the Spirit of Jesus in my journey.”
Not depending on money, or income, or the power of the government to back my
fleecing of my fellow Judeans. Levi turned his back on all that and committed
his future into Jesus’ hands.
He felt so good about this decision,
he decided to throw a banquet and celebrate. V15 “While Jesus was having dinner
at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with
him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.” NLT “many tax
collectors and other disreputable sinners.(There were many people of this kind
among Jesus’ followers.)”
“Many people of this kind...” Are we
talking about THOSE people? I’m not just talking about people here, I’m talking
about (turn up nose) THOSE people! Did your parents fill you in on THOSE people
while you were growing up? I used to think my parents were pretty unprejudiced,
but we did pick up also by osmosis some of their attitudes toward people they
didn’t really have a very good opinion about.
There were our next door neighbours, who had more kids and seemed to keep on having
more kids, who didn’t really seem to have a regular job, who dressed not as
nice as we did, the kids who sometimes seemed to steal from us when items went
missing. I’m guessing they drank some, and we didn’t. THOSE people.
There were the indigenous people we
never met but Dad had stories about; a man who when he was growing up had
walked right into their home as if he owned the place, took what he wanted to
eat, and left again. That sort of story prompts you to form an opinion about a
whole group of people. THOSE people.
There were the Catholics who
inhabited the north half of the township and attended the big imposing Catholic
church in Dublin. The Protestants in the south half preferred not to have much
to do with the north half. Almost as if there was an invisible dividing line
halfway across the township, and the two groups just avoided each other. THOSE
people. Little did I realize I would be in close partnership years later with
Frere Armand, a Catholic lay brother who would be teaching Braille and other
schooling at the newly-formed National Institute for the Blind in Congo. I
actually got to know him and appreciate him, one time going for a meal with his
other lay brothers in their little community.
Do you have any of THOSE people in
your acquaintance? What measures did your parents use to induce you to put up
invisible barriers that would seal you off safe from THOSE people that might
influence you, that you were better off not having too much to do with? Who for
you are THOSE people, that you’d rather not meet coming down the street?
As for Jesus, He seems to have been
surprisingly ‘at home’ with THOSE people. V16 “When the teachers of the law who
were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors,
they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and
‘sinners’?"” NLT (more bluntly) “Why does He eat with such scum?”
You can almost hear the sneer in their voice!
Old patterns are hard to break.
Robertson’s Word Pictures notes, “It was an offence for a Jew to eat with
Gentiles...and publicans and sinners were regarded like Gentiles.” See Acts
11:2f, even in the early church –“So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the
circumcised believers criticized him and said, "You went into the house of
uncircumcised men and ate with them."” You associated with THOSE people –
for to eat with someone in the Middle East implies acceptance, even approval,
if you break bread together.
Yet, Jesus is not pressured or
manipulated into leaving the feast of the ‘sinners’. He uses a medical analogy.
If they’re going to think they’re better than others, so be it – we’ll let them
be called “the righteous”, if they think they’re such hot stuff! V17 “On
hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners."” In Luke’s account of this story, Jesus’ complete response ends
– Lk 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance."”
Okay, you who presume to be morally
healthy, I didn’t come to call you! I came to call sinners, those who know
they’ve fallen short, those who realize they’re not able to stand on their own
feet before a holy God, those who are ready to submit their attitudes and
priorities and mindset because they’re just not working to give the meaning and
relationships life ought to have. I’ve come to treat the sick, to inoculate
them with this vaccine called the Kingdom of God, to help them re-think their
whole approach to life oriented around what God most wants. You’ve got to be
ready to have your worldview turned upside down to discover how God really
looks at things. You don’t need a do-over on the surface, you need a heart
transplant!
Only those who recognize they are
spiritually sick, that they are not healthy, are the ones Doctor Jesus can
help. They are the ones He came to save: not the righteous, but sinners – those
who have reached the end of their rope and realize there is no way they are
ever going to ‘impress’ God.
G.Campbell
Morgan was one of 150 young men who sought entrance into the Wesleyan ministry
in 1888. He had passed his written exam but faced the test of giving a trial
sermon in front of a panel. When the results were released, Morgan’s name was
among the 105 who were rejected. He wired his father with one word: “Rejected.”
Then he sat down and wrote in his diary: “Very dark.Everything
seems still.He knoweth
best.” The reply to his telegram was quick to arrive. It read, “Rejected on
earth, accepted in heaven.Dad.” As G.Campbell Morgan wen on to
prove, rejection on earth is often of little consequence. Jesus was in fact
hanging out in Levi’s house with rejects, outcasts, those officially cut off
from the synagogue, labeled “sinners”. As Morgan’s father wisely recognized,
rejection on earth is of no consequence in heaven.
RELIGION –
OR RELATING?
Discriminatory
practices extend to religious practices. I’ve already mentioned the Catholic /
Protestant divide in my home township growing up. As we gain some mastery over
sins of various kinds, if we’re not careful it can become a yardstick by which
we judge others, patting ourselves on the back if we think we’re further ahead
than them in moral disciplines. So we conquer the more elementary or baser sins
only to be caught in the devil’s trap – pride.
In our next part of today’s reading,
Jesus comes under scrutiny not just by the Pharisees but by the followers of
John the Baptist, who had initially hailed Jesus’ coming. But with John in
prison, it seems some of his followers had gravitated back toward more
established forms of the Jewish faith – including the traditional fasting on
Tuesdays and Fridays each week (even though the Law of Moses only required it
once a year on the Day of Atonement).
Mark 2:18, “Now John’s disciples and
the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it
that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours
are not?"”
There was nothing wrong with them
fasting. But it was an error to project that onto others as a “have-to” or
shortfall when it was simply part of tradition.
With the many forms of Christianity
today, there could be any number of measuring-sticks used to criticize those of
other churches, other denominations. How come you don’t stand when the gospel
is being read? Or, when the prayer is being said (local tradition here)? How
come you drive cars instead of horse and buggy? How come you drive coloured cars instead of all-black cars? How come you don’t
use an organ? How come you use instruments at all instead of just singing a
cappella? How come you don’t have an evening Sunday service? How come you don’t
allow female elders? How come you allow (or don’t allow) children to take
communion? How come you don’t baptize babies? And on and on.
While we would say some of these
practices conform more or less closely to the Biblical pattern, none of them
really address the core matter, which is a person’s relationship with Christ,
their depth of commitment, their faith expressing itself through love. Do you
want an external works-based religion, where we’re always sizing each other up
according to where we rank on the stairs of righteousness? That’s static and
stale and focused on picky details that aren’t central to what Jesus’ Kingdom
is really about. Or do you want a living, breathing, dynamic relationship, an
adventure that’s responding daily to the leading of our Lord Jesus, for each
one?
To this prideful approach (‘why
don’t your disciples fast’), Jesus responds with 3 images that help us imagine
or picture or visualize what’s most important differently: Party, Patch, and
Popping.
PARTY: As the Christian band Tim
& the Glory Boys are wont to say - “The Kingdom of God is a – Party!” Mk
2:19f “Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he
is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.But
the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day
they will fast.” Jesus’ choice of illustration is very wise – John’s disciples
might have remembered how the Baptist spoke about Jesus back in Jn 3:29, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom.The
friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy
when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.That joy is
mine, and it is now complete.” John the Baptist was pointing to Jesus as the
bridegroom: John was the bridegroom’s friend – so perhaps Jesus is appealing
directly to John’s disciples who are laying this criticism, “Remember how your
teacher rejoiced to see My coming!” Life is about relationship; rules can be
set aside when special occasions come, when the Messiah’s arrival calls for
celebration. All too soon Jesus would be crucified, and at that time His
followers would mourn and fast.
From one dynamic image (party) to
another – PATCH. Listen for the action, the movement going on in this next illustration.
Mk 2:21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.If
he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.”
One might ask, “Is there ‘give’ in
your relationship with God and others? Does it breathe? Or is it just rote
routine?” Are you growing – or stuck and not learning anything new? Have you
been putting into practice what you’ve already learned? John’s disciples and
the scribes of the Pharisees were ‘stuck’ in their religious routines – it gave
structure and order to their lives probably, but prevented them from seeing the
new thing God was doing in Jesus’ ministry, bringing to Himself tax collectors
and ‘sinners’ to whom fasting was probably a foreign concept.
See the focus on context here: in
‘party’ there’s awareness of who the other one is that’s present – the
Bridegroom. In “patch” there’s awareness of the condition of the other one –
unshrunk cloth is different than older material that’s already done its
shrinking. Don’t try to force old established patterns on a new movement that’s
drawing in folks the old community excluded.
Party - patch - and POPPING. Mk 2:22
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.If he
does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will
be ruined.No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”
There’s risk of bursting, of ‘popping’, because the new wine has to ferment and
age and convert fruit sugars into alcohol, that will help preserve it from
going bad. Old wineskins have done their stretching already to the limit,
there’s no “give” left: new wineskins still have their stretchiness and can
accommodate the pressure as the juice turns to wine.
All these examples point to context,
to relationship, to adaptability, to accommodating what’s new and changing. On
an individual level, is our faith alive, listening to the new directions God
would take us in, watching for His next lessons? Are we loving Him and loving
our neighbour? Are there people He has brought us
into connection with that we need to heed, to pay attention to, to come
alongside and mentor or witness to? Or are we content to just hang around the
same old bunch with whom we feel comfortable and who reinforce our notions and
prejudices?
On a corporate level – is our church
responding to the needs of the community around us? Are we really taking the
hurts of our neighbours seriously, dreaming of ways
to help them, or just perpetuating the same old programs we’ve done for
decades? Some of the ‘visioning’ exercise from Carey Nieuwhof
the Elders looked at this past week said: “Clarify what is mission and what is method.The mission is sacred, the methods are
temporary.[AND] Connect the cultural dots (Look for cultural patterns that
provide clues). When church leaders lost access to our building, we behaved as
though we
lost access
to ministry.”
Culture has changed since 2002-03
when this building was built. The iPhone wasn’t introduced until 2007: now
everyone (practically) is online – how do we more effectively engage a digital
culture? Churchgoing patterns have changed just in the past year since the
start of the pandemic – will we adjust accordingly, or plod blindly on as if
nothing has changed? The Elders approved a major upgrade to our AV system
(along with soundbooth reconstruction) because they
sense online church is going to much more important for our church’s ‘reach’
than it was before. So, as culture shifts, we adjust our method – but maintain
the same mission.
COUNT
OTHERS BETTER
In closing,
we saw onlookers were scandalized by Jesus’ hanging out with tax collectors
like Levi, and “sinners” – those who the synagogue had officially
excommunicated. He responded by saying He came to heal the sick, to be a
doctor, calling not the righteous but sinners to repentance. In what ways do we
need to ‘repent’, re-think, jettison old prejudices, quit looking down our
noses at “THOSE” people?
Like those who took pride in their
fasting twice a week, do our religious customs get in the way of us perceiving
the fresh thing the Lord is trying to do in our lives, in our church? Does our
faith-relationship have “give” and ‘stretch’, or is it locked in an
unchangeable rut?
The Israelites in the desert ran
into big trouble when they rebelled and treated God with contempt, despising
Him. We get into trouble when we treat with contempt our neighbour,
the ones our Lord commanded us to love. Who do we need to treat better than we
have been? Who have we been shunning like a tax collector, avoiding as if they
are a person of disrepute? That’s not what the New Testament teaches...
Php 2:3
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than yourselves.”
Rom 12:10 “Be devoted to one another
in brotherly love.Honour one another above
yourselves.”
Mk 12:31 “The second is this: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these."”
Gal 5:26 “Let us not become
conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Beware conceit, arrogance, and
pride: it’s the thing that, if we master every other area of sin, the devil can
still catch us on. The Holy Spirit will help us instead see ways to build
others up, count them BETTER than ourselves.
Can we be self-effacing, like this
example? When Charles W.Eliot, famous president of
Harvard University, was being honored one evening at a banquet, a colleague
said, "Permit me to congratulate you on the miracle you have performed at
the university – since you became president, Harvard has become a storehouse of
knowledge." "That is true," laughed Eliot."But
I scarcely deserve the credit for that. It is simply that the freshmen bring in
so much and the seniors take away so little."
More seriously – take the example of
Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, [IMAGE] a nun in Myanmar
who knelt just this past week in front of police that had been shooting student
protesters. The students ran for safety to a clinic where she was working; she
knelt pleading for the police to stop the killing, and even to take her life
instead of the students’. That is counting others better than yourself. That is
like Jesus coming to give His own life in the stead of sinners, to be a doctor
healing those who are spiritually sick and calling out for help. Let’s pray.
Father, Thank You that Your Kingdom
is a PARTY! Thank You for inviting us to the feast, along with Levi and other
tax collectors and ‘sinners’. You know how much we need Your healing, Lord
Jesus; we need Your stretching, the pouring of Your Holy Spirit, we need Your
help to move beyond stale patterns of religion in order to bring RELATIONSHIP
to our hurting neighbours and world. Like Levi, help
us to leave all behind that would distract us, and follow You. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
OUR GLARING
BLACK EYE: OUR HUMAN IMPERFECTION
Jesus, by a
process of divine appointment and gruelling suffering
and trusting, has become a perfect High Priest for us, the means by which we
can be saved. But left to ourselves, our actions reveal a glaring ‘black eye’
characteristic of everyone who lives to glorify themselves.
Our natural inner person seems set
automatically to want to protect and promote ourselves, even at the expense of
others. This shows up in selfishness, envy, the desire for fame and honour. An
elderly man on the beach found a magic lamp. When he rubbed it, a genie
appeared and told him he would grant him any wish. The man thought for a while
and said, "My brother and I had a fight twenty years ago and haven't
spoken since. My wish is that he would finally forgive me." The genie
clapped his hands, a bright light shot across the sky, and then he said,
"Your wish has been granted." Then the genie said, "You know,
most people would have asked for wealth and fame. But you only wanted the love
of your brother. Is it because you are old and dying?" The man replied,
"Not at all! But my brother is, and he's worth sixty million
dollars."
You don’t have to look far in the
news to see examples of our moral ‘black eye’. A 76-year-old Asian-American
woman in San Francisco was waiting patiently at the crosswalk this past week
for the pedestrian ‘walk’ sign to change, when she was suddenly struck in the
eye. However with the help of a narrow piece of wood she engaged her attacker
with the result he himself ended up needing to go to the hospital! Give this
older gal some credit for her spunk and quick thinking. However, that’s not
exactly what Jesus would have recommended, for He told His followers to “turn
the other cheek.” But, back up a bit to the despicable nature of the initial
crime: who walks up to a 76-year-old (man OR woman) at a stoplight and hits
them in the eye?! So awful.
We don’t just suffer from personal
moral failure; sometime it gets perpetuated and ingrained, to the point it’s
systemic. This past week one of the top women in Canada’s military resigned
over its handling of sexual assault incidents. Lt Col Eleanor Taylor said she
was “sickened” by the military’s repeated failures to tackle the abuse. She
happens to be a combat veteran of the Afghanistan war, served with the special
forces, and has long been seen as a role model in the military. Lt Col Taylor wrote
in her resignation letter: “I have spent the past decade speaking publicly and
passionately about the gains women have made in the [armed forces]...While I
remain fiercely proud of parts of our organization, on the issue of addressing
harmful sexual behaviour, we have lost all credibility.” “I have been both a
victim of, and participant in, this damaging cycle of silence, and I am proud
of neither.” We have a glaring black eye – not just one instance, but systemic.
In late February the Chief of Defence Staff stepped
down after an investigation into his conduct was opened, and his predecessor is
also facing an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
Left to ourselves, we are innately
selfish, catering to our passions and human desires. It’s in our fallen nature
to cast off restraint and live for the moment. There were expressions of shock
at the not-family-friendly performance of Cardi B and
Megan Thee Stallion at this year’s Grammys. Yet even there they had tamed down
the lyrics. So go further – what kind of society rewards songs like “WAP”
by debuting it at number 1 on Billboard Hot 100 and causing it to break the
record for the largest opening streaming week for a song in United States
history?! Somebody is obviously craving such fare! Our glaring black eye is a
leering black eye, insatiable, lusting.
The Catholic Church is not perfect,
but it did get one thing right. Responding to requests for blessing of
homosexual unions, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith determined
God “cannot and does not bless sin”; while affirming “God loves every person and
the Church does the same", and rejects all unjust discrimination.
God can’t bless sin, so how can we
ever be put right with God, since we sin so often and are messed up morally?
Our passage in Hebrews begins by noting the imperfection of even those called
to represent people to God in the Old Testament system, the high priest. People
need sacrifices presented for their sins, but even the one presenting them has
sinned, so has to present a sacrifice for his own sins. Heb
5:1-3 “Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to
represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for
sins...he himself is subject to weakness.This is why
he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the
people.”
We all fall short. The wages of sin
are death (Rom 3:23; 6:23). We need a mediator, someone who can do the job
completely, adequately – but any other mortal is imperfect for such a calling.
It’s not like you can just announce
yourself and presumptuously step up to the plate. Who would qualify? V4 “No one
takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.” On
our own devices, we’re stuck, hamstrung, not one of us would be worthy of the
assignment. Yet we are all too eager to take honour upon ourselves. We worship
our music idols, those who are wealthy, the Elon Musks
and Jeff Bezoses, we admire those who ‘make it’ in
the business world or the arts. When you post something on social media and it
gets traction, a lot of likes or maybe even some shares, that’s a good feeling
— it’s as if others are honouring you. But then it
can become addictive living for the ‘likes’, it starts to swallow up your time
and distract you from those closest to you.
We are imperfect as humans. We need
a Mediator on account of our sins. We love to take honour upon ourselves, to
“look good”, be popular, receive others’ praise. But the reward soon fades,
leaving us strangely unfulfilled once again.
THE
PERFECTION OF JESUS
While we
feel unfulfilled, incomplete, Jesus is COMPLETE, perfect, having reached His
goal. There are primarily two aspects hinted at here: UNTO GOD and FOR OTHERS.
First, UNTO GOD: note how the author
of the letter to the Hebrews describes Jesus’ attitude and approach toward His
Heavenly Father. V5 “So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of
becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have
become your Father."” There’s an appointment going on here, God the Father
designating Jesus as His Son – not that it wasn’t already the case, but
pronouncing it for the benefit of everybody else, honouring
the Son, elevating Jesus’ official status.
And it’s not an honour Jesus reaches
out to grab at: it says He “did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a
high priest.” That’s very similar language to the passage about Jesus’ humility
in Philippians 2:6 - “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped...” Jesus wasn’t ‘grabby’ about being honoured and glorified, but humbled Himself.
The passage describes Jesus’ total
dependence upon God, casting Himself upon His Heavenly Father especially just
before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane: V7 “During the days of Jesus’
life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to
the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent
submission.” There’s a key phrase right there, REVERENT SUBMISSION. “Fear of
God” one translation puts it; reverence, veneration, piety, seeing God large in
your life.
Submission is an unpopular word in
our culture, and our selfish side is not good at submission. I overheard some
dads in our church talking this week about teenage offspring and the “eye roll”
they sometimes get when trying to provide leadership. We too often give God the
“eye roll”, instead of revering Him and being quick to get on board with God’s
will, we try everything we can to do it ourselves, our own way. Jesus was
entirely holy and would have been dismayed and aghast, repulsed and disgusted
at being made to bear all our iniquity and shame, but because He constantly
chose to align Himself with God’s purposes, He chose to go through with the
cross for our sakes. He reverently submitted. V8 “Although he was a son, he
learned obedience from what he suffered...” He learned obedience: like when He
went home from talking to the Temple teachers as a young pre-teen and was
submissive to Mary and Joseph.
Jesus obeyed, He constantly was
careful to remain “in sync” with what His Heavenly Father was saying and doing.
His was a derivative or utterly dependent relationship, as Henry Blackaby used to point out. John 5:30,43A “By myself I can
do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to
please myself but him who sent me.” “I have come in my Father’s name, and you
do not accept me...” Jn 8:29 “The one who sent me is
with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” See how
‘in tune’ Jesus intentionally stayed with what God was about?
God the Father APPOINTED Jesus to
this office of High Priest no ordinary human could fulfill. This is where those
quotes from Messianic portions of the Psalms come in: Psalm 2:7 in Heb 5:5, “But God said to him, "You are my Son; today
I have become your Father."” And Psalm 110:4 in Heb
5:6, “And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the
order of Melchizedek."”
Jesus bowed in reverent submission;
the Father raised Him up, elevated Him in His office, establishing Him for
eternity in that unique role. Echoes of this in Eph
1:20-22 “...he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the
heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and
every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one
to come. And God placed all things under his feet and APPOINTED HIM to be head
over everything for the church...”
Jesus’ completeness or perfection
has to do with His relationship UNTO GOD; second, it has to do with Jesus’
being FOR OTHERS. Let’s revisit verses 1-2 to see how these apply to Jesus
rather than just the Old Testament Levitical priests. V1 says the high priest
is “appointed to represent them in matters related to God”, NRSV “on their
behalf”. Jesus is even now interceding for you, He’s your Mediator, praying on
your behalf to the Father! Romans 8:34 “Christ Jesus, who died— more than that,
who was raised to life— is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for
us.” And Hebrews 7:25, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come
to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
Further, v2 says the High Priest “is
able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray...” Jesus can
“deal gently” with us, because He Himself was subject to our human weakness,
our frailties. Heb 2:17f “For this reason he had to
be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make
atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was
tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Christ relates to
what you’re going through!
Jesus is fundamentally “for others”,
supporting us, pulling for us, interceding and mediating for us. He sympathizes
fully with our hassles and heartaches. Heb 4.15 “For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was
without sin.”
His earthly existence and suffering
qualified Jesus to be appointed our High Priest; but now each day He brings
salvation to us moment by moment. Heb 5:9 “and, once
made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey
him...” He has become the source of YOUR eternal salvation – the One who holds
you safe, who protects you, sanctifies you, is carving you each day more
closely into His likeness, so you increasingly come to reflect His glory to
those around you.
Hell is a terrifying prospect, as
Jesus described it – weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, fire burning,
worms not dying, an “outer darkness” – but God has better things in store for
those who love Him. Jesus saves you from that horror. Rom 6:23 “For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
PRIESTLY –
OR PABLUM?
The context
here is the author of the book of Hebrews writing this extended sermon to
strengthen early Christ-followers and spur them on to maturity of faith. The
church was supposed to be a “kingdom of priests”: 1Peter 2:9 “But you are a
chosen people, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.” Similarly, Revelation 1:5Bf “To him who loves us and has
freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom AND
PRIESTS to serve his God and Father— to him be glory and power for ever and
ever! Amen.”
So, we’re to be PRIESTS, are we? Go
back to those 2 key phrases describing Jesus as the ‘perfect’ high priest, and
how do they apply to us? “UNTO GOD” and “FOR OTHERS” – does that come close to
describing our current priorities, what we’re living for?
Our world is busy living for what
someone has called the ‘unholy trinity’ of “me, myself, and I”. When self is
our focus, we won’t be aiming ‘Unto God’ or ‘For Others’.
The author of the letter to the
Hebrews rebukes his readers for their lackadaisical approach to the Christian
walk. Heb 5:11f “We have much to say about this, but
it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this
time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary
truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”
You’re not ready to be PRIESTS –
you’re barely on PABLUM! Needing milk, not solid food. You’re ‘slow to learn’;
you ought to be teachers by now, but you need someone to go back over the
alphabet with you! Can you tell the author is not too impressed?
So – how can we address each of
these areas - “Unto God” and “For others”?
In the “Unto God” department, one
option is Pray’n’Go, a simple program we’re beginning
that gets us out onto the streets of our community, praying for our neighbours, inviting them to send in their prayer requests
that we will in turn take and be praying for / seeking to help them with. Read
the beginning chapters of Acts and you’ll see the early church PRAYED and then
they did the “GO” – starting from Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, then the
further points of the Roman empire. Our church can’t be healthy and remain
inward focused. God wants us to depend upon Him and be praying for His Kingdom
to make inroads where we are.
There’s also the “FOR OTHERS” area.
Who in your relationships needs you to be Christ ‘with skin on’ for them? Instead
of rushing on with your agenda, can you stop and take time to really pay
attention to what they’re saying, to help them feel they’ve been heard and
validated? Who’s that person in your network that’s been feeling so isolated
and lonely and your phone call or porch visit would brighten their day? What’s
that volunteer agency you’ve been meaning to join but just haven’t bothered to
take the next step?
A little girl's first-grade class
held its "track and field" day. She won quite a few ribbons, among them
one blue ribbon for a first place. Later that day, when she came home, the blue
ribbon was missing, and her mother asked what had happened to it.
"Oh," she said, "Bruce was crying because he didn't win a first
place ribbon, so I gave it to him." Her mother hugged her and told her she
thought it was very generous to give Bruce the ribbon. "Why not?" she
asked. "After all, I know that I won it." That little girl was acting
generously “for others”. If only all of us, adults included, had such a clear
idea of what things are really important in life, and what things are just
decorations!
I was pleased to hear on the news
that Australia is sharing 8,000 doses of its COVID vaccine with neighbouring Papua New Guinea. Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison said: “They’re our family, they’re our friends.They’re
our neighbours.They’re our partners.They
have always stood with us and we will always stand with them.This
is in Australia’s interests, and is in our region’s interests...I want to
assure the people of Papua New Guinea and my dear friend [PNG Prime Minister]
James Marape, that Australia as always, we’ll stand
with them as they meet this challenge and support them in every way that we possibly
can.”
Christians are called to love our neighbour as ourselves, to be there “for others”. Often
that means sharing resources in practical ways.
A SAVIOUR
WHO REALLY HELPS
We’ve been
talking this morning about our moral Imperfection as sinners, and how greatly
we need Jesus as our perfect High Priest. He lives life directed UNTO GOD and
FOR OTHERS – interceding for you is His ongoing work now! V9 “...once made
perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him...” Heb 4:16 implores us, “Let us then approach the throne of
grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need.”
We call Jesus “Lord” for we belong
to Him and He is our Master, to whom we now owe that “reverent submission”. But
we also call Him “Saviour” which is more the focus of His being our Priest,
having offered the perfect sinless sacrifice of Himself for our sins. I close
with an illustration that may help us appreciate more just what being an
effective “Saviour” means.
Let’s say a man decides to swim from
Sault Ste Marie to Goderich (that’s over 300 km). He
hires the finest swim coach to train him and works out with Olympic gold-medal
winners. He leaves no detail of preparation undone. Finally the big day
arrives. He plunges into the North Channel and begins to swim. 10 - 20 - 40 -
90 kilometers he goes. Eventually he hits Lake Huron and the open water’s
becoming more intimidating. The wind kicks up some waves. He begins to realize that he could never swim
to Goderich; it’s just too far. In vain he tries to think of an alternative,
but there is none. Then, just as he’s gasping for air and about to go down for
the third time, a motorboat pulls up alongside him. With his last ounce of
energy he calls out, "Save me! Please, save me!" The owner of the
motorboat looks down at our drowning swimmer and says, "Friend, you're in trouble.What you need is the waterproof edition of my book
on swimming the Great Lakes.It will tell you
everything you need to know.Here, catch it." And
then, vroom vroom, off he goes in his boat back to
South Baymouth. Obviously, our swimmer needs more
than a book.
Well, let's suppose that as our
swimmer was gasping for his last breath and the motorboat pulls alongside him
and he cries, "Save me! Please, save me!" the owner answers,
"Friend, you're in trouble.What you need is
someone to show you how to swim.Here, watch me."
At that, the boater jumps in and says, "The secret is the Australian
crawl. Watch my head. See, it's breathe—blow, breathe—blow, breathe—blow. Now,
friend, it won't be easy, but if you'll just follow my example, you are sure to
make it." And then he climbs back into his boat and, vroom vroom, off he heads to Sarnia.
Obviously, our swimmer needs more
than an example, a model. Well, let's try again. This time as our swimmer’s
gasping for his last breath and the motorboat pulls alongside him and he cries
out, "Save me! Please, save me!" suppose that the owner leans over
the rail and says, "Friend, you're in trouble! Even worse, you're drowning!
Here, let me save you." Then the owner reaches over and grabs the drowning
swimmer, pulls him into the boat, sets him down in a chair, and gives him some
chocolate-chip cookies to eat and chocolate milk to drink. After some time, the
owner reappears on deck and says to the well-rested swimmer, "You know, I
saved you from certain death back there. I pulled you out of the water, set you
in my chair, and fed you my chocolate-chip cookies and chocolate milk. Now we
are only a couple hundred miles from Goderich, and I think it's time that you
did something. So, you lazy fellow, get back in the water and swim!"
Obviously, our swimmer friend is right back where he started, and he surely
needs more than an occasional boost or help when things get rough.
Let's give it one more try. This
time as our swimmer is gasping for his last breath and the motorboat pulls
alongside him and he cries out, "Save me! Please, save me!" the owner
leans over the rail and says, "Friend, you're in trouble! Even worse,
you're drowning! Here, let me save you." And the owner reaches over and
grabs the drowning swimmer and pulls him into the boat. Then he sets him down
in a chair and gives him some chocolate-chip cookies and chocolate milk. The
boat takes off. Eventually Goderich comes into view and the owner heads for the
dock. He ties up his boat, picks up the swimmer, carries him across the dock,
and sets him down with a nice view of the sunset from the Old Saltie restaurant there at the marina. Now, which of these
was truly the ‘saviour’ of our drowning swimmer? Why, the last one, of course.
He was the only one who completely rescued the swimmer from certain death and
took him to a place where there was no threat of drowning again.
In a similar manner, God did not
write the Bible to give us an instruction book on "How to Live Right,
Prosper, and Get to Heaven." Nor did Christ come to show us by example
only how to live a life that would be acceptable to God. Nor did Christ come to
just help us out for a short period when we needed a little extra boost but who
still expects us to do it on our own. No, Christ was like the boater who did it
all for the drowning swimmer and so became his real Saviour." Saved to
live UNTO GOD and FOR OTHERS. Let’s pray.
Father God, Most Holy, we do confess
we can’t do it on our own. Our sins demand a sacrifice, more than we can
manage: we have fallen short and offended Your infinite majesty and holiness.
Thank You for sending Jesus to be our perfect High Priest. We bless You Jesus
for persevering through the suffering and hardship, being faithful to the
bitter end, even to death on a cross. Make us holy by Your Holy Spirit. Open
our eyes to see others’ needs, to sympathize with them as You do, and to seek
Your Father’s glory in everything we do. In Christ’s name, Amen.
2021, THE
YEAR OF TURNOVER
Life can be
pretty tough at times. We get tempted to pack it in, give up, try and find
something easier, even back down from something we know is right because of
opposition. But the Lord has promised His strength and help to bear up under
any load He gives us.
Side note on that children’s story:
It made me squirm a bit when she said repeatedly “God won’t give us more than
we can handle.” Joseph for example was sold into slavery by his brothers,
threatened then slandered by Potiphar’s wife, forgotten by Pharaoh’s cupbearer
– the disappointments at times must have been overwhelming! Yet the Lord used
those crushing defeats to hone Joseph’s character and capability to govern a
whole region.
In the New Testament, the author of
the Book of Hebrews has quite a list of heroes in his “Hall of Fame” in chapter
11 – including some who faced lions and fire, were tortured, flogged, jeered,
imprisoned, sawn in two, mistreated, and killed... Would you consider some of
that ‘more than you can handle’? God’s not into the prosperity gospel! Then in
chapter 12 the author elaborates how God disciplines us as sons through
hardship. Even Jesus the Son of God was not exempt from hardship. Heb 12:3f “Consider him who endured such opposition from
sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle
against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
Now THAT sounds like it’s expecting a lot – shedding your blood! Faithfulness
as God’s sons and daughters involves sticking with His calling, even through tough circumstances.
A teenager had decided to quit high
school, saying he was just fed up with it all. His father was trying to
convince him to stay with it. “Son,” he said, “you just can’t quit. All the
people who are remembered in history didn’t quit. Abe Lincoln, he didn’t quit.
Thomas Edison, he didn’t quit. Douglas MacArthur, he didn’t quit. Elmo McCringle...” “WHO?” The son burst in – “Who’s Elmo McCringle?” “See,” the father replied, “You don’t remember him.He quit!”
I’ve been enjoying the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast. In episode 382 Carey
interviewed William VanderBloemen, who thinks 2021 is
going to be the year of turnover in organizations. Why? In 2020, almost no
turnover happened because people didn’t want to leave because of COVID. The
last thing people wanted to do during lockdown was add MORE uncertainty into
their lives, so rather than changing jobs to start a new one, they just stayed
where they were. But turnover is an unavoidable ongoing reality in an
organization, so VanderBloemen is predicting we’ll
see a lot of people quitting their jobs and looking for something else in 2021.
Other podcasts have noted how 2020
was a hard year for leaders in any organization, and that was true for churches
as well. There were controversies over whether to stay open or just be online,
to mask or not mask, sing or not sing, and in the States there was political
unrest, and protests about racial injustice. Whatever you post, you’re bound to
offend someone: if you post something in support of Black Lives Matter (for
example), are you sincere or just ‘virtue signalling’?
So you can get criticized either way. Pastors are leaders of community, and
that can be challenging in normal times, let alone during a pandemic.
Today is Palm / Passion Sunday, the
week before Easter, when each year we recall Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem while crowds celebrated and cheered Him on waving branches cut from
the trees. But soon other crowds were calling for Him to be crucified, and
watching Him be flogged and beaten. That following Friday He would be publicly excuted, crucified naked like a common criminal.
Isaiah was a prophet in the southern
kingdom of Judah about 740-680 BC, or about 700 years before Jesus was born.
Yet his chapters 52-53 have strong parallels to the circumstances of Christ’s
death, some parts almost as if the prophet was an eyewitness. These are the
so-called “Servant Songs” in Isaiah; today we look at the 3rd of 4
of them, back in chapter 50. Here too some suffering of the Servant is alluded
to, but overall the emphasis is that God vindicates His Servant and supplies
what is needed to endure even the harshest opposition.
Four times the term “the Sovereign
Lord” is used (vv 4,5,7,9). “Lord” is God’s divine
name YHWH in the Hebrew, “I am that I am” or “I will be who I will be”. Coupling
it with the term “Sovereign” (lit.Adonai or ‘my
lord’) emphasizes God’s being in control, in charge, directing events that
happen, supervising or overseeing the course of events. Even when tough things
happen, God has not gone on vacation, but is still in control, superintending,
bringing good out of even negative circumstances.
Let’s approach this under 4
headings: Formidable Foes, Flinty Face, Fueled Faith, and Gutsy Godliness.
FORMIDABLE
FOES
Sometimes
foes come in the form of folks who have say over very ordinary aspects of our
life. Cheryl Miller, 1995 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and older sister of
NBA star Reggie Miller, recalls a moment that served as a springboard to her
great playing career: "I was thirteen years old when I tried out for an
all-male basketball team. The coach told me that if I could beat his son in a
one-on-one game to 11 points, I could play on the team. I trounced him 11 to 1
and asked the coach when I should report to practice. He looked me straight in
the eye and said, 'Miller, the only court I'll see you in will be a court of law.No girl will ever play on my team.' I ran home crying
and told my dad that I never wanted to play basketball again. He sat me up
straight and said, 'Cheryl, I didn't raise any quitters. Tomorrow you will try
out for the girls' team and become the best who ever played.' This was a
turning point in my life. From that moment on, I never accepted being second
best."
Jesus faced formidable foes during
His ‘passion’ or time of suffering leading up to His crucifixion. The verses in
Isaiah 50 seem to foreshadow the rough treatment He endured. Isaiah 50:6 “I
offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my
beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” To pull out the beard
of an oriental man was a sign of utmost shame and humiliation.
Compare what the gospel writers
record about how Jesus was treated. Matthew 26:67, 27:26 “Then they spit in his
face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him...Then he released
Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be
crucified.” Also Mark 15:19 “Again and again they struck him on the head with a
staff and spit on him.” Hard enough being struck on the head with a piece of
wood once, let alone ‘again and again’!
FLINTY FACE
On at least
three separate occasions Jesus predicted to His disciples the painful trial and
execution that was awaiting Him in Jerusalem (see Mark chapters 8, 9, and 10
for instance), yet He was not dissuaded. In fact He was very determined about
keeping this “divine appointment”. Luke 9:51 says, “As the time approached for
him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” ESV He
“set His face to go to Jerusalem.” Very intentionally. Would WE have had the
nerve to do that, had we known what was waiting for us?
Isaiah’s prophecy about the Servant
reflects this same attitude. Is 50:7 “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I
will not be disgraced. Therefore have I SET MY FACE LIKE FLINT, and I know I
will not be put to shame.” Christ was resolute, determined, obedient even unto
death. Bruce Marchiano played Jesus in the “Matthew”
film, and reflects on his experience in his book In the Footsteps of Jesus.
One observation he made was: "Jesus wasn't dragged to the cross, He was
crawling TO the cross..." He came among us to save sinners, that was the
‘raison d’etre’ of His incarnation, what He was here
for.
Jesus’ resoluteness must have
produced consternation in His accusers. Standing before High Priest Caiaphas,
then King Herod, and finally the Judean governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus was
silent when accusations were made against Him, rather than defending Himself.
Mark 14:60f “Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus,
"Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are
bringing against you?" But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.” And
Mark 15:3-5 “The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate
asked him, "Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing
you of." But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.” Before
King Herod, Luke 23:9-11 “He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him
no answer.The chief priests and the teachers of the
law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.Then
Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him.Dressing
him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.” But through it all,
Jesus was resolute, flinty-faced, not responding to the false accusations.
Jesus’ silence forced the direction
of questioning to the key issue; it was not whether He was seditious toward the
Roman overlords. It was not whether He was a threat to the Jewish religious
establishment, whether He would go beyond clearing the temple courts to tearing
down the temple and rebuilding it, as some false witnesses tried unsuccessfully
to maintain. Finally Jesus’ flinty face compelled the High Priest to pop the
question that was ultimate: Mark 14:61b-62 “Again the high priest asked him,
"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am,"
said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of
the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."”
Remember we were talking about
Isaiah using the term “Sovereign Lord” 4 times, YHWH Adonai, where YHWH is
related to the Hebrew for “I am”? In Jesus’ reply in the Greek, “I AM” is very
emphatic (ego eimi yet ego is not required) – as if
God is suddenly revealing that it’s GOD HIMSELF that’s on trial.
Likewise, picture John’s account of
Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. John 18:4-6 “Jesus, knowing all that
was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you
want?" "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he,"
Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus
said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.” Almost as if
the force of divine self-revelation in the voice of One who stilled the sea and
calmed the storm was powerful enough to knock them off their feet!
FUELED
FAITH
How does
one become so strong, to hold firm and unflinching when confronted by
formidable foes? Back up to verses 4 and 5 in Isaiah 50 to catch hints of the
daily regimen, the regular routine by which the Suffering Servant cultivated a
relationship with God so close that it laid a foundation of strength when it
came to times of testing.
Vv4b-5 “...He wakens me morning by
morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has
opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.” So you
can tell this is not in the crisis, this is “morning by morning”, part of the
practice of daily living – having God ‘waken’ your ear to listen, like one
being taught, like a student enrolled in a university course and intent on
passing it because it’s a required course. When you waken each morning, what
grabs your ear, your attention? Do you intentionally take time to focus
heavenward? Let Him ‘open’ your ears (lit.carve-out).
To LISTEN – that’s more than just hearing: listening involves devoting your
attention. Shut off the radio or the background noise if that’s distracting.
What’s the still small voice trying communicate as you meditate ona passage of Scripture? The more familiar you become with
the Bible as the years pass, the more you will be able to mine from each passage,
as various passages interpret and throw light on each other.
What is it the Servant learns, that
he can then pass on to others? V4 [God has given him] “an instructed tongue, to
know the WORD THAT SUSTAINS the weary.” God the Father is Spirit, and doesn’t
have arms and legs: God uses His WORD to command, to strengthen, to bolster us
up, to ‘sustain the weary’. As God has helped us, we in turn are able to
provide encouragement to others.
Does that characterize our home –
encouraging words, in line with Christian teaching? “Home, home on the range –
where never is heard a discouraging word...” Evangelist Bill Glass asked a
group of a thousand prison inmates, “How many of you had parents who told you
that you would end up in prison one day?” Almost every one of the inmates
raised his hand. What messages are we communicating to our children? Do we have
‘an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary’?
GODLY
GUTSINESS
Finally,
our passage (and Jesus’ life in His final week) reveal a Godly Gutsiness in
facing those formidable foes. It’s the climax that has been building from the
crescendo of what the “Sovereign Lord” has been doing for the Servant through
all these verses. V4 “The Sovereign Lord has given me...” V5 “The Sovereign
Lord has opened my ears...” V7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me...” V9 “It
is the Sovereign Lord who helps me...” With backing like that – BRING IT ON!!
Is.50:8-9 “He who vindicates me is
near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my
accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he
that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat
them up.” The Day will come when you will be laid in the ground and only two
things will matter: Did you love God? And did you love people? Not how fine a
house you had, how expensive a car, whether your clothes had designer labels,
how many digits there were in your bank account... We all ‘wear out like a
garment.’
So even though Jesus has been beaten,
flogged, spat upon, knocked about – He still faces His accusers with strength
and calmness, almost as if HE is the One that has written the script for all
this and they are just mouthing their lines. All things are culminating in His
death and resurrection to forgive people’s sins and give new birth and eternal
life in the Holy Spirit to those who trust in Him.
We see similar gutsiness in the
Apostle Paul on a couple of occasions. In Ephesus in Acts 19, Paul’s
extraordinary miracles healing the sick have led to a riot amongst the
tradespeople concerned that their sales will be affected by so many turning
away from idolatry. Acts 19:29-31 “Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The
people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia,
and rushed as one man into the theater. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd,
but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the
province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into
the theater.” He wanted to – Paul was bold and game to speak to the rioters –
but others wouldn’t let him.
Then in Jerusalem turmoil develops
because some assume (incorrectly) Paul had defiled the temple area by bringing
in some of his Gentile traveling companions. Acts 21:30ff “The whole city was
aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they
dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. While they
were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that
the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and
soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his
soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.” He’s arrested and bound with chains. The
commander orders that Paul be taken into the barracks. Ac 21:35ff “When Paul
reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by
the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!"
As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the
commander, "May I say something to you?"”
Now, what would YOU say to the
commander? Maybe - ‘thank you for saving me from being beaten to death’ or ‘how
fast can these guys get me to safety?’ But what is it that Paul wants to ask?
V39b “Please let me speak to the people.” WHAT? A minute ago they were ready to
tear you limb from limb, and you want to TALK TO THEM? That’s GODLY GUTSINESS.
Hebrews 13:6 “So we say with
confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do
to me?” Paul later wrote to the church at Rome some of the most reassuring,
faith-overflowing words in all of Scripture that reverberate with Isaiah’s “Who
then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other!...Who is my
accuser? Let him confront me!”
Romans 8:31ff “If God is for us, who
can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us
all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who
will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who
justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died— more than that, who
was raised to life— is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ...No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither
death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
Nothing can separate us from God’s
love in Christ! “He who vindicates me is NEAR.” (Is 50:8) “It is the Sovereign
Lord who HELPS me.” (Is 50:9)
KEEP ON
PLODDING
We’ve seen
that some feel 2021 will be ‘the year of turnover’. When times are tough, it’s
easy to want to quit, to throw in the towel, to move on to something easier.
Isaiah the prophet and Jesus our Saviour both encourage us to hang tight with
our Sovereign Lord, keep listening morning by morning, to not be rebellious or
draw back but set our face like flint and encounter our troubles with
confidence that our Vindicator is near.
William Carey was once asked about
his great accomplishments in his work of translating the Bible into Indian
languages and dialects. He replied: “I am not a genius, just a plodder.” But
what a plodder! In forty years of labour, he
translated all or portions of the Bible into 34 of the languages and dialects
of India.
Don’t be like those foes that Isaiah
says ‘wear out like a garment’, and get moth-eaten. You have the backing of
your Vindicator, who is near, whose word sustains the weary. Persist in His
strength. Herschel Walker is a winner of the Heismann
trophy which is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college
football. Herschel Walker once said, “My God-given talent is my ability to
stick with something longer than anyone else.” Let’s pray.
Sovereign Lord, when times are hard,
it’s so natural to want to give up. Yet we are awed by the perseverance of
Isaiah and Paul and most especially Jesus during His trial and final troubles.
Help us not draw back when we are challenged. Help us face our foes with confidence
in You, to know Your word, to listen morning by morning so we’re familiar with
Your voice. Thank You Lord Jesus for enduring so much pain and abuse so we
could be put right with our Heavenly Father. Amen.
FORGETTING WHAT’S FOUNDATIONAL
Easter is a revolutionary event, the inbreaking of God’s supernatural power and grace seen in
the resurrection of Jesus and the transformed lives of His followers. In
today’s passage from 1Corinthians 15 we find one of the most central texts of
the New Testament emphasizing how radical this happening is.
The
Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Corinth, which he had helped plant
(see Acts 18). But it seems this church was about ready to fly apart like the
rubber splitting off a wheel on a transport hurtling down the turnpike! As you
browse through the book of 1Corinthians, you can see many fronts on which there
were divisions... Some followed Paul, some Peter, while some claimed an even
purer teaching. A man was living in immorality with his father’s wife – and
some were even proud their faith supposedly granted them such ‘liberty’! There
were disputes about eating meat offered to idols. When they met for the Lord’s
Supper, some went ahead without waiting for the others. There were
hyper-charismatics who emphasized the gift of tongues while others didn’t seem
to have much opportunity to say the bit they had that would edify the church.
In short, they were a church divided. They weren’t being considerate of each
other; they have forgotten the forbearance that love cultivates. Left to
themselves, they would eventually fly apart, having forgotten the central
truths that should have bound them together. They needed reminding of the
basics.
My
wife Patti has a hair salon and spa which has a big sign out by the road with
movable letters. Sometimes the wind picks up and rearranges the letters, or
even blows them off completely. Last week a big wind blew some of the Easter
eggs off the magnolia tree, and at the same time blew a letter “T” clear across
our driveway.
A
small church was affiliated with an exclusive ‘splinter’ congregation. The
members had cut out some gold letters and fastened them on the wall in front of
the church; the letters said - “JESUS ONLY”. However one day a gust of wind
blew away the first three letters. So the sign then read, more accurately: “US
ONLY”. Even churches can develop amnesia, forgetting who they are supposed to
be!
1Cor
15:1 “Now, brothers, I WANT TO REMIND YOU of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received and on which you have taken your stand.” The Corinthians
needed reminding – they had started squabbling over inconsequential petty
things and were forgetting the main truths of the Christian faith. They were
not remembering the holiness God called them to, and were syncretizing their
faith with the culture around them – Corinth had been a city so immoral, with
so many cult prostitutes and being on a well-traveled canal, that “to Corinthianize” was a proverb meaning to act imorally. They were forgetting their oneness in Christ that
should have prompted them to wait for each other when they sat down for the
Lord’s Supper. They failed to remember it was one Holy Spirit that inspired
them with various verses or songs or admonitions when it came time to worship
together, turning worship into a sort of competition of who could hold the
floor the longest.
Easter
is an annual celebration that should prompt us to ask, “Have WE forgotten
what’s most central about following Jesus? What’s most basic in Christian
faith?” Is it about dutifully gathering together once a week in a common
building? COVID has disrupted that repeatedly – it’s just so comfortable to
merely tune in online in our pyjamas! – and for the
generations younger than boomers, going to that certain spot is less important
than relationships and involvement in a cause. What form is best for church to
take in the future? Will it be a more accessible, diffused model, custom-tailored
to each community, less barricaded by denominational walls? Being reminded
what’s at our core mission (our function) should help nudge us toward the
best-suited form gatherings should take.
GET GROUNDED
This past week the world held its breath as a 1300-foot
container ship the Ever Given went off course in the Suez Canal and became
wedged in the embankments at both bow and stern. Some 400 ships were backed up,
costing each day an estimated $10 billion or about $400 million an hour! A
small flotilla of tugboats pushed and pulled and finally, with the help of high
tide last Monday, wiggled the 20,000-container-carrying vessel free again.
Dredgers removed
about 30,000 cubic meters of sand, or enough to fill about a dozen
Olympic-sized swimming pools. It had been well and truly GROUNDED.
What
about you? Are you GROUNDED in your beliefs, your most-heartfelt convictions,
in a good way? Or are you drifting along, like the EverGiven
about to be blown off course? When hard times like health issues or job loss
come up, what truly grounds you, holds you fast? What keeps you from giving God
the finger and walking away from Christian faith?
The
apostle’s aim in writing is to help the church GET GROUNDED. Vv1-3 ...the
gospel...on which you have TAKEN YOUR STAND.By this
gospel you are saved, if you HOLD FIRMLY to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.For what I
received I passed on to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE...” The words translated
“hold firmly” in the Greek mean literally to “hold fast”; the lexicon actually
says, among other things, “to check a ship’s headway i.e.to hold or head the
ship” – hence our EverGiven analogy! Are you “stuck
on Jesus” – or getting blown off course, risking great loss?
There
are so many gusts of wind blowing from all directions in today’s culture, it’s
easy to get swept along with the latest fad or theory or trend. And parents,
these gale force winds are blowing straight down the hallway into your
children’s bedrooms through their screens without you even being aware (unless
you’re talking with them and keeping those communication channels open). Back
when I was growing up, we had black-and-white TV and just 3 channels, 2 of
which were the same. No computers, no smartphones – the closest thing to social
media was the party line! Times have changed. How are you GROUNDING your
offspring with truth that will stand society’s testing? Will they ‘hold firmly’
to the word they’ve heard preached – not just because mom and dad believe it,
but because they’ve seen how effective it is in your life, and have reasoned it
through for themselves? Is Christianity something airy-fairy, reserved for an
hour on Sundays, or do they see you applying its values and principles in
making decisions for everyday life?
NOT A BLIP, BUT BROADCAST FOR CENTURIES
In verses 3-5 of 1Corinthians 15 Paul reiterates for
his readers what are the core truths upon which Christian faith rests. He says
“What I received I passed on to you” – this is sort of technical jargon for
passing along a tradition that’s been handed down; scholars suggest from the
words Paul uses it’s something he’s had relayed to him, it’s not his usual
vocabulary. The “THAT’s” here act sort of like bullet points in a list. So,
what’s at the heart of our faith?
Note
it’s not a bundle of emotions or an experience like you might feel by going
away to a mountaintop. It’s historical events, real happenings that took place
at a certain spot and date, things that could be verified by onlookers.
Vv3-5
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to
Peter, and then to the Twelve.” Christ died, Christ was buried, Christ was
raised, Christ appeared – real events in time-space, not lofty emotions or
altruistic philosophy. Easter is at the very heart of what Christianity is
about, because Jesus came among us not so much to work miracles or teach
magnificent truths (though He did!) but to go to the cross, so our sins could
be forgiven, and miserable sinners might come to enjoy reconciliation with God
and blessed peace and eternal life, a forever relationship with the Most Holy
and Loving One.
Christ
died – not pointlessly, not as an anticlimax or frustrated conclusion to a
promising ministry, but died FOR OUR SINS. We needed an absolutely pure and
holy Saviour, the Son of God, to die in our place if our sins against an
infinite Creator were ever to be compensated for. 1Peter 3:18 “For Christ died
for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
There was purpose in His dying, a major accomplishment, it wasn’t futile. He
did what He came to do.
Christ
died for our sins “ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES”. As you read Matthew’s gospel,
you’ll find many prophecies linking Jesus’ ministry to the Old Testament,
taking care to show how He fulfilled many prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures.
This was very deliberate on His part. Before He died, He pointed His disciples
to what Isaiah predicted: Luke 22:37, “It is written: ‘And he was numbered with
the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me.Yes, what is written about me is reaching its
fulfillment.” That reference is to Isaiah 53, which contains gripping parallels
to what must have gone on at Jesus’ crucifixion. Then after His resurrection,
Jesus again connects the dots for His followers, saying to the two on the road
to Emmaus in Luke 24:25-27, “"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer
these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all
the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself.”
Jesus’
death and resurrection were not just a blip, a one-time anomaly totally
unforeseen and unexpected. They were the culmination of centuries of prophecy,
even from the time of Abraham – Acts 3:25 [Peter preaching] “Indeed, all the
prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days.And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant
God made with your fathers.He said to Abraham,
‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’”
Jesus’
death, burial, resurrection, and appearances after His rising are the linch-pin of God’s plan for humanity; it is the
enthronement of God’s King in God’s Kingdom. The Christ-event is central to
God’s redemptive plan, drawing a sin-struck rebellion-torn forlorn humanity
back to Himself.
A HAPPENING NOT A HALLUCINATION
Christianity is different from many world religions in
that it’s based not on mere teaching or philosophy but on historical,
verifiable events. It stands or falls depending whether the key events of
Easter really happened. That’s why it was so galling for the Jewish leaders not
to be able to produce Jesus’ body, even though Pilate the governor had gone to
such extreme measures to make it secure. Paul alludes to this historical nature
of the essence of Christianity when he concedes later in this same chapter,
1Cor 15:17,19 “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are
still in your sins...If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be
pitied more than all men.”
This
past week saw the trial of the policeman involved in George Floyd’s death get
underway. What was involved? They heard eyewitness testimony – what those saw
and experienced during the arrest. They heard from the bystander that filmed
that key video, a 17-year-old teenager. The jury watched the footage from the
security camera inside the store. The film from the police bodycam was shown.
The object is to help the jurors get an appreciation of what really happened,
as close as we can get to them seeing it with their own eyes.
Now
in verses 5-8 lawyer Paul introduces the eyewitness evidence which corroborated
the factuality of what the Old Testament prophets had foreseen from afar – the
word “appeared” occurs four times: 1Cor 15:5-8 “and that he appeared to Peter,
and then to the Twelve.After that, he appeared to
more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep.Then he
appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me
also, as to one abnormally born.” Here he lists 5 occurrences: Peter, the
Twelve, the more than 500, James, and Paul. Actually this is only half of those
mentioned in the New Testament, there are ten recorded (Paul doesn’t include
the appearances to women unfortunately). So don’t forget Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:11ff), the other women (Mt 28:8ff), His ascension (Lk
24:50ff), those on the Emmaus Road (Lk 24:13ff), and in Galilee (Mt 28:16ff; Jn 21). And don’t overlook Paul’s little aside in v6, “most
of whom are still living” – in other words, if you don’t believe me, go check
it out with them directly! Get it straight from the horse’s mouth!
It’s
estimate Paul is writing about AD 54 or 55, which would make it maybe 25 years
after Jesus’ resurrection. How’s your memory of notable events? Do you remember
where you were when 9/11 happened? That was nearly 20 years ago, in 2001. What
about when JFK was shot? That’s further back, in 1963, 58 years ago – I
remember coming home from school and finding my mother crying at the kitchen
table. So if Paul is writing just 25 years after the event, people’s memories
of the appearances would still be prominent.
The
historical nature of Jesus’ life and crucifixion are well attested, and not
seriously questioned by scholars. There’s too much manuscript evidence from too
many places; the records are well attested. You have the evidence from hostile
sources, the priests going to Pilate asking to make the grave secure, when even
the disciples themselves seemed to have forgotten Jesus’ predictions about
rising again. The texts don’t gloss over the weaknesses and imperfections of
the early believers who were ‘real people’ - Paul and Barnabas getting into a
row over whether to take John Mark, Paul confronting Peter for backing down
when the Judaizers came, Peter’s denial of Jesus –
lots of things that would have been easy to ‘edit out’ to make the stars look
shinier. But for me, most of all you have the fact that the apostles went to
their death maintaining Jesus really rose from the dead. Even the most
carefully crafted conspiracies crumble when the colluders are threatened with
death. But this was no conspiracy, no mass hallucination. People don’t DIE for
what they know to be a LIE. The veracity of the Jesus-account is underscored in
red, with the blood shed by the earliest martyrs.
GRACE FOR THE WORST CASE
Do you consider doctrine dry? Do the creeds fail to
turn your crank? Granted, it’s hard to get very excited about a creed – they’re
meant to be a thumbnail summary of basic truths. Yet here we see Paul passing
on a short summary of what’s been transmitted to him, what he received he’s
passing on to others (v3).
But see
the impact of this truth! Verses 9-10 highlight God’s GRACE (mentioned three
times) at work in Paul’s life. Vv9-11 “For I am the least of the apostles and
do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of
God. But by THE GRACE OF GOD I am what I am, and HIS GRACE TO ME was not
without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them— yet not I, but THE GRACE
OF GOD that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we
preach, and this is what you believed.”
Paul’s
point is that he’s sort of a “worst-case scenario” – he calls himself “the
least of the apostles”, he feels he does not deserve to be called an apostle,
because he persecuted the church. 1Timothy 1:13 “...I was once a blasphemer and
a persecutor and a violent man...” Acts 9:1 “...Saul was still breathing out
murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples...” Violent? Murderous threats?
Saul at that point was an arch-enemy of the infant church, zealous to stamp it
out. Yet God’s mercy reached out to even this most unlikely prospect and turned
him right around, to the point Paul proved to be convincing defender of the
faith, witnessing to the magnificence of the Saviour he once persecuted.
Or
take James, the brother of the Lord, back in v7. Jesus’ brothers did not
believe in him before He died. But by the time we see the early church gathered
to pray in the Upper Room in Acts 1:14, Jesus’ brothers are there along with
His mother Mary. What happened? What changed their opinion? Apparently Jesus
showed Himself in His supernatural risen form to James, and he became
convinced. James became a leading pillar of the Jerusalem church (Jas 1:19;
2:9).
So it
seems God chose Saul/Paul and James to be ‘test cases’ of sorts – worst-case scenarious, but God’s grace prevailed. So Paul could
observe, 1Cor 15:10 “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me
was not without effect.”
What
‘turn-arounds’ has God’s grace brought about in your
life – my life? Have we told others about the changes He’s made, the mercy He’s
shown? People are hungry for others to be authentic, to be real, not to try to
‘put on a show’ or cover up our true selves, but be honest and transparent.
Knowing God’s grace helps ‘settle us’ so we don’t have to try to always be top
dog. God’s mercy at work in us empowers us to forget ourselves, look at the big
picture, and get our hands dirty to serve others in humility.
TRANSFORMED TERRORIST
Luis Palau tells of a woman in Peru whose life was
radically transformed by the power of Christ. Rosario was her name. She was a
terrorist, a brute of a woman who was an expert in several martial arts. In her
terrorist activities she had killed twelve policemen. When Luis Palau conducted
a crusade in Lima, she learned of it and, being incensed at the message of the gospel,
made her way to the stadium to kill Luis. Inside the stadium, as she
contemplated how to get to him, she began to listen to the message he preached
on hell. She fell under conviction for her sins and embraced Christ as her
Saviour. Ten years later, Luis met this convert for the first time. She had by
then assisted in the planting of five churches; was a vibrant, active witness
and worker in the church; and had founded an orphanage that houses over one
thousand children. The grace of God was hard at work in her life! Let’s pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, We bless you
for the wonder of Easter: that You raised Your Son Jesus from the dead after
allowing Him to become our perfect sacrifice, suffering for the sins we had
committed. We praise You for working in Paul’s life, showing what a turn-around
You can bring about even in those who would consider themselves least worthy.
Father, if anyone here today or listening online doubts Your grace and mercy,
or doubts the truth of the facts about Easter, be pleased to work a miracle in
their life and draw them to Yourself. What we have each received, help us pass
on to others. Help us hold firmly to Your word, and take our stand when
culture’s winds would pressure us off course. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
FENCING OFF THE SANCTUARY
Despite all the roadblocks sin would erect between us
and God, Jesus has become our High Priest and won open access for us into the
Most Holy Place. As we come to God and welcome His Holy Spirit to be present
and direct our lives, our experience is transformed to become significant in
our relationships with others.
Speaking
of barriers – Pastor James Coates and the congregation he serves, GraceLife Church in Spruce Grove just west of Edmonton,
have been encountering some barriers of their own. A couple of weeks ago Pastor
Coates was released
after serving 35 days in a remand centre for failure
to abide by an undertaking (which he never actually signed). The congregation
has been meeting in excess of the 15% capacity limits set provincially. Two
February charges were dropped but a December one stands, which the Justice
Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (his legal counsel) hopes to use to test the
province’s legislation when Pastor Coates goes on trial May 3.
Then
this past Wednesday, police and a fencing company showed up early in the
morning and put up a barricade completely around the church, blocking off
entry. Between July and April Alberta Health Services had received 105
complaints from the community; AHS had conducted 18 site visits and violations
were noted at each visit.
It’s
going to be an interesting court case, regarding religious freedoms and the
authority of governments to restrict gatherings for health reasons.
THE OLD DEAL: PERPETUAL SACRIFICE / SIN CYCLE
In many respects, worship in the Old Testament
involved WALLS, curtains, that kept people away from the Most Holy Place. At
the temple in Jesus’ time there was the court of the Gentiles, then inside that
the court of the women, the men’s court, the priests’ court, and finally the
Temple proper itself, with a curtain veiling the Most Holy Place where only the
High Priest entered once a year carrying atoning blood. Successive layers, from
which one was barred upon pain of death. A strong sense of being forbidden from
drawing closer to the Holy One.
This
is alluded to in vv17-18 of Hebrews 10, “Then he adds: “‘Their sins and lawless
acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, there is no
longer any sacrifice for sin.” Sin separates us from God. Romans 6:23a, “For
the wages of sin is death...” – spiritual death, such as cut Adam and Eve off
from Paradise in Genesis 3.
Sin
is a real barrier, and hard to eliminate. Even if you succeed in overcoming it
in its more overt forms (lust, gluttony), you can still fall prey to subtler
forms such as pride, hypocrisy, jealousy. At some point you start ‘faking it’.
Jesus criticized the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, their “faking it” – looking
good on the outside, like whitewashed tombs. Their inner core was still
self-oriented not God-oriented, turning to “me” not turning to the Lord.
Patti
and I started incubating our first batch of eggs for this year the day after
Palm Sunday. This week I ‘candled’ the eggs, checking to see which ones were
fertile and actually alive, headed in the direction of hatching chicks after 23
days. About 18 out of 30 had something definitely going on inside. But the
remaining dozen showed no embryo, no blood veins - just the plain old egg yolk
and white, so they’d be discarded. Which would better describe our spiritual
life? Is there really something happening on the inside? Or is it dead,
lifeless religious ritual?
The
sin of the Pharisees was paying attention to outward demonstrations of piety
for appearance's sake rather than giving attention to inward obedience. This
can be well illustrated by two eggs. One egg is a normal raw egg that, when
placed under the palm of the hand and pressed evenly cannot be broken because
of the structure of the egg itself. The second egg is exactly the same on the
outside, but its insides have been removed. When it is placed under the same
palm pressure, it breaks easily because it is internally weak. So, too, one who
gives himself to the sin of the Pharisees is empty of substance and will
eventually crack under pressure.
That’s
the legalism of the Old Covenant, where sin and lawless acts prevent genuine
inner transformation. But wait! Something better is on the horizon.
THE NEW DEAL: A WAY THROUGH THE CURTAIN
Verse 18 says, “And where these have been forgiven,
there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” No longer! Now forgiveness has been
made possible!
Through
the previous chapters, from chapter 4 right on up to this present chapter 10,
the author has been painting a portrait of Jesus as our Great High Priest.
Because of His once-for-all perfect sacrifice, not the blood of bulls and goats
but the blood of the perfect sinless Son of God, true atonement has finally
been made and real forgiveness is possible. The Old Testament sacrificial
system was symbolic, enacted pictures pointing ahead to their fulfilment in
Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. What words did Jesus use to describe the cup at
the Last Supper? What was His own interpretation of the tragic events that were
about to befall Him? Matthew 26:28 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Hebrews
10:19-22 picks up the significance of this NEW covenant: “Therefore, brothers,
since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by
a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and
since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God
with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure
water.” No more walls! “We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place...”
Remember the cataclysmic events that happened at the time Jesus died on the
cross? In particular, what happened at the temple? Matthew 27:51a “At that
moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” How could
God make it any more clear? The sin-barrier was being torn away, removed,
through Jesus’ death on our behalf. Heb 10:20 “by a
new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body” –
Jesus’ body was pierced with nails and a spear, sockets wrenched out of joint
in agony, parallel to the ripping apart of the curtain separating the Most Holy
Place from all comers at the temple. In this sense His body is the curtain –
torn like we tear the loaf of bread at communion.
“A
new and living way opened for us” – Jesus said in John 14:6, “Jesus answered,
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me.” Or, “I am the true and living way.” Thankfully winter now
seems to be past, but remember when roads were closed and your laneway was
impassable in the wintertime? Like a snowplow clearing the road, or a snowblower making a path through your laneway, Jesus has
opened a way for you to access God, through Him.
How
do we avail ourselves of this new way, this wonderful access to the Most Holy
Place? With four things – faith, focus, fervency, and fellowship.
FAITH IN THE FAITHFUL ONE
V22a, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in
full assurance of faith...” NRSV a “true” heart; NLT “fully trusting”. Is your
heart ‘sincere’ and true? Is it open, vulnerable, genuine, not guarded,
glancing around checking for a back door? Are you really “all in”, fully
committed, fully trusting? The next chapter in Hebrews, chapter 11, is
sometimes referred to as “The Faith Chapter”, because it recites many examples
of Biblical heroes who acted in faith, not sight. It’s a ‘hall of fame’ of
those who trusted in God as their Saviour. Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it
is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
The
faith is not in what we can do, like some Human Potential movement, but in what
God has already done for us, specifically in what Jesus accomplished for us at
the cross when He said, “It is finished” or “It is accomplished” or “Paid in
full.” Our faith is in The Faithful One who has demonstrated through Bible
history He keeps His promises. V23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.” FOR (or, BECAUSE) the One who made
the promises in the first place - God - proves He keeps His word. The moved
stone and empty tomb stamp the seal on that.
Our
trust is in Jesus, rather than our own ability or merit. As they prepared for
the final exam in Logic, a college professor offered his class some relief. He
told them that they could bring as much information to the exam as they could
fit on a piece of notebook paper. Most students crammed as many facts as
possible on their 8-1/2-by-11 sheet of paper. But one student – his name was
Bob – walked into class, put a piece of notebook paper on the floor, and had an
advanced logic student stand on the paper. The upper graduate told Bob
everything he needed to know. Bob was the only student to receive an A.
You
need Jesus standing on your piece of paper! That’s faith.
FOCUS: KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING
Because Jesus is our “great priest over the house of
God” (v21), the author sees a string of 5 “let us” imperatives flowing from
that fact. V22 let us draw near, v23 let us hold unswervingly to hope, v24 let
us consider spurring one another on, v25 let us not give up, and let us
encourage one another. The second of these, in v 23, says: Heb
10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful.” Hold unswervingly – to me this speaks of FOCUS, staying on track,
not getting off course. Pastor Phil Delsaut used to emphasize “Keep the main
thing the main thing.”
The COVID
pandemic has really caused a lot of things to be thrown up in the air: what can
we do? What must we stop doing? What is essential to keep doing? Will church
ever be the same again? Is it time to put some programs on the shelf, and start
looking at new ways of doing things? For instance, for some churches, perhaps
the day of the handbell choir is past! For others,
the day of the community kitchen has arrived, as they survey the needs around
them. Some mega-churches are not meeting in person, instead relying on small
group format to keep the essence of the church going – “growing bigger by
growing smaller”.
Jesus
did not call His followers to create programs, or build buildings – He called
us to make disciples. Sometimes programs or buildings facilitate that, but
they’re not to become non-negotiable idols. What tools can we use to reach new
people with the Good News? I heard of one church in a former mall that set
aside one area for washers and dryers, so people in the community would have a
laundromat they could use.
A key
characteristic of New Covenant living is found in v16, the prophecy from
Jeremiah 31: Heb 10:16 “"This is the covenant I
will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their
hearts, and I will write them on their minds."” To keep from swerving, our
FOCUS needs to be shaped by God’s laws, writing His truth in our minds with the
help of our Teacher / Counselor, the Holy Spirit. So it seems the church will
always need a teaching aspect, whether sermon or small groups or Bible study
1-on-1. Isn’t it great our Sunday School is encouraging verse memorization?
“Hold
unswervingly to the HOPE we profess” – chapter 12 goes more into the matter of
hope. There is so much negativity in society these days – the news can be
dismal; COVID counts rising; lawlessness, unrest, demonstrations, and anarchy
in various parts of the world. To have hope makes a person stand out as an
exception, it seems! V25b “...and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Some are wondering if these are the end times. Christians don’t have a secret
clock for reference by which we can predict the day Jesus returns, but we do
have that hope! 2Thess 1:10 “...the day he comes to be glorified in his holy
people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”
Are
you holding unswervingly? Are staying focused, keeping the main thing the main
thing? Dennis Waitley and Reni L Witt note (The
Joy of Working), “The late Henry Fonda once said that a thoroughbred horse
never looks at the other racehorses. It just concentrates on running the
fastest race it can. We have to fight the tendency to look at others and see
how far they've come. The only thing that counts is how we use the potential we
possess and that we run our race to the best of our abilities.”
FERVENCY: AFFECTION AND ACTION
Faith - focus - next, FERVENCY. V24 “And let us
consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The verb
translated here ‘spur on’ is interesting, similar to our word ‘paroxysm’ - to
sharpen, stimulate, incite. Maybe to nudge or irritate in a good way, like a
small pebble in your shoe – you can’t rest until you’ve dealt with it.
What
are we to be spurring each other on towards? “Toward love and good deeds.” LOVE
– well, that’s no surprise, is it? Jesus’ command is found in John 13:34f, “A
new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love
one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love
one another.” How will people know we are truly Jesus’ followers? By our big
fancy church buildings? By our meticulous moral uprightness? By the size of the
Bible we carry? NO - by how we love one another. Our affection for each other,
our brotherly / sisterly love. Do we really care? And isn’t that what the younger
generation is looking most for in terms of authentic relationships and true
spirituality – do we show we really care?
We
are also to spur one another on toward good deeds. Recently my daughter’s
family was involved in an outreach in their central Alberta community in which
their church youth group passed out 180 gift bags to their neighbours
- each bag contained a personalized card about God’s gift at Easter, a Bible,
and a Tim Horton’s gift card.
The
Lord also sees the small “good deeds” – when you pick up some groceries for
someone who has mobility problems; when you stack their firewood; when you give
them a ride to an appointment. Not every good deed need be broadcast!
Our
church’s Pray’n’Go door hangers got printed this week
(the first batch). They will let our neighbours know
we prayed for them, AND invite them to send us any needs they have they’d like
us to be praying about. It could be this will bring about more opportunities
for us to be ‘spurred on’ toward good deeds.
FELLOWSHIP
I find it ironic that the Sunday I planned some weeks
ago to preach on Hebrews 10:25 would also turn out to be the week the province
announced yet another lockdown / State of Emergency / stay-at-home order.
What’s Hebrews 10:25 say? “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you
see the Day approaching.” The fences around GraceLife
Church would seem to be a signal the local authorities DO want them to give up
meeting together – that is, unless they agree to wear masks, physical distance,
and so on to protect their health.
I am
thankful we have the option to “meet together” online – even if the sense of
‘togetherness’ is just seeing familiar faces in the band on the screen, and
friendly greetings in the live chat! But I am also thankful the authorities
allow us to gather in-person up to 15% of capacity. It’s not so easy to do New
Testament “one-anothering” when you can’t physically
be together. Hopefully this enforced apartness will foster within us a yearning
to more fully appreciate and treasure each other’s presence once that is
allowed again, or in our chance meetings on the street or in the store in the
meantime.
My
family in WhatsApp this week was reflecting a bit on the restricted attendance
situation. Daughter Emily wrote, “There is something so powerful and necessary
for the human soul in gathering together, physically. And our faith rises when
we sing together physically. Our church is still meeting, 15% capacity, with
masks and sanitizer. But for many people, the physical act of going to church
is a life saver.”
In
response, my son Keith observed, “Yeah, the absence we experience is only more
powerful in reminding us that we need to be present to one another. It is a
kind of ‘fasting’ that heightens our awareness and hopefully draws us into the
ways we are connected to God’s Spirit who binds us in love for one another and
for our neighbour. In communion we remember Christ
but we also “remember” one another as Christ’s body (re-member, put back
together even when absent).”
As
the Scripture says, “Let us not give up meeting together...but let us ENCOURAGE
one another...” Who is someone you can encourage by taking a moment to call on
the phone, or maybe do a porch drop-off or physically distanced visit? We are
to be (literally) ‘paracleting’ one another, as the
Holy Spirit is our divine Paraclete / Helper /
Comforter / Admonisher / Strengthener. Is there someone you know who is in
particular need of an encouraging word at this season?
In
1994, Thurman Thomas, head bowed with his hands covering his face, sat on the
Buffalo bench following his team's fourth straight Super Bowl loss. His three
fumbles had helped seal the Bills' fate. Suddenly, standing before him was the
Dallas Cowboys' star running back, Emmitt Smith, who had just been named Most
Valuable Player for Super Bowl XXVIII. Smith was carrying his young
goddaughter. He looked down at her and said, "I want you to meet the
greatest running back in the NFL – Thurman Thomas." That must have been so
encouraging to a desolate soul!
There
are opportunities to encourage right inside the home, too. When he was a young
boy, the great painter Benjamin West decided to paint a picture of his sister
while his mother was not at home. He got out the bottles of ink and started,
but soon had an awful mess. His mother eventually returned and of couse saw the mess. Instead of scolding him, though, she
picked up the portrait and declared, “What a beautiful picture of your sister!”
Then she kissed him. Later in life Benjamin West said, “With that kiss I became
a painter.” Let’s pray.
Sovereign God, You know the messes
we have made in our life. Our sins are numerous and we don’t deserve to come
before You at all. But thank You for sending Jesus to be our Great Priest and
open the way for us to enter Your presence! We bless You for keeping Your
wonderful promises, and the hope we have in Christ. Help us keep on track for
Your Kingdom, to not lose our focus. Show us ways to keep encouraging and loving
one another even when we can’t meet together. Show us the good deeds You are
waiting to accomplish through us, and be pleased to keep writing Your ways on
our hearts and minds. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
GUILT’S GALLING GRIP
We are wired with a sense of morality, of right and
wrong, of good and evil. So we are very aware of guilt. Guilt can be
incapacitating, it’s hard to shake, like a burr caught on the back of your pantleg. We need someone to help remove this nagging guilt
from us, but who? The Good News is that Jesus has become our great High Priest
who died AND lives again forever precisely to save us for relationship with
God, removing that clinging burr-den of guilt.
Young
Tommy spotted the box of doughnuts on the kitchen counter. No one was around.
Standing on tiptoe, he lifted the lid and spotted one that caught his fancy. It
was chocolate sprinkled liberally with icing sugar on top. Ten minutes later
Tommy was playing contentedly in the living room with his toy tractor and wagon
when his mother emerged from the kitchen. She asked, “Tommy, were you into the
doughnuts? There’s one missing.” Tommy looked up at his mother ever so
innocently and said, “Oh, no, Mommy, I would never do that!” His mother
replied, “Why is it I have such trouble believing you when you have icing sugar
all around your mouth?! You’d better go wash.” His cover was blown!
I can
relate to this story – recently Patti’s daughters were visiting and I took them
for ice cream in Goderich. That store “Cravings” is aptly named! Patti remained
home to do some work in the pasture, but remarked upon my return, “I see you
had your ice cream.” Unfortunately my chocolatey Bear Tracks cone had left its
indelible mark on my beard, despite repeated attempts to wipe myself clean!
“To
err is human,” the saying goes. We have all messed up at some time or other.
“Hurt people hurt people” – our imperfect parents and others in our life
unwittingly perpetuate the same wounds that they had inflicted on THEM in their
past. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?” Ecclesiastes 9:3b adds, “The hearts of men, moreover,
are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and
afterward they join the dead.”
In a
society that is increasingly secular, this quest for righteousness and justice
is perhaps an annoying legacy from its Judeo-Christian roots. If there is no
God, if the material universe is all there is and we’re just random chemical
composites dancing to our DNA, who’s to say what’s right and wrong? If some
people choose to love their neighbour and other
people would rather eat their neighbour, who’s to say
one’s better than the other? Denying God and espousing pure naturalism
eliminates meaning and morality and leads one down a very dark path.
German
social psychologist Erich Fromm, a Jew who fled from the Nazis, wrote: “It is
indeed amazing that in as fundamentally an irreligious culture as ours, the
sense of guilt should be so widespread and deep-rooted as it is.” But guilt is
hard to shake. It’s pervasive, even amongst those who have no idea what to do
with it.
Gary
Gilmore was convicted of a double murder and was shot to death by a firing
squad in Utah, the first person to be executed in the United States since the
death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In a letter to his girlfriend, this
convicted murderer wrote: “It seems that I know evil more intimately than I
know goodness and that’s not a good thing either. I want to get even, to be
made even, whole, my debts paid (whatever it may take!), to have no blemish, no
reason to feel guilt or fear...I’d like to stand in the sight of God. To know
that I’m just and right and clean. When you’re this way, you know it. And when
you’re not, you know that, too. It’s all inside of us, each of us.”
I
have a barometer that hangs on the wall and has a dial that goes up or down
depending on the air pressure, foreshadowing changes in the weather. Similarly,
each of us has a guilt-ometer inside us that gauges
whether we’ve done something wrong. God has hard-wired us with conscience, a
sense of morality. Paul describes it this way to the church at Rome: he says
this about Gentiles, who do not have the Jewish law – Romans 2:15 “...they show
that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences
also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending
them.”
We’re
all guilty, aware of mess-ups we’ve made, people we’ve hurt. We have secrets we
keep hidden lest others find out and we’d be ashamed, exposed. Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle once played a practical jok on twelve of his friends. He sent them each a telegram
that read, “Flee at once...All is discovered.” Within 24 hours, all twelve had
left the country!
We
noted last week that chapters 4-10 in the book of Hebrews delves into who Jesus
is as our High Priest. Our passage today extols this Great Priest’s permanence,
perfection, peculiarity, and petition.
THE PRIEST’S PERMANENCE
Dealing with guilt is a bit like cleaning your teeth.
Do we always clean our teeth after every meal? (Don’t all raise your hands.) We
know it’s good to do, but – well – sometimes we let it slide. But let’s assume
we brush 2 or maybe even 3 times a day.
Are
you ever done brushing, forever? No, of course not, as long as you have another
meal or snack, you’ll need to brush again. And do you ever brush completely? My
toothbrush has a timer on it that pulses every half minute to let me know when
two minutes are up. Seldom do I go the full 2 minutes! Even if I did, would my
teeth be completely clean? I’m sure if I flossed, I would find more bits. And
even if I flossed, I’m sure if my dental hygenist
went at it with her tools, she’d find things I’d missed even flossing.
The
Old Testament priesthood was a bit like brushing your teeth. It had to be done
over and over again and even then was never complete. Let’s talk first about
the element of TIME, having to be repeated, not enduring. Hebrews 7:23-24 “Now
there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from
continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent
priesthood.”
It
says, ‘many of those priests’ – someone estimated there were 84 priests from
the time of Aaron (Moses’ brother) down to the fall of Jerusalem and
destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. None was permanent – they all died, and
had to be replaced, there was a repeated succession. A sequence, one after the
other, none persisted longer than a lifespan. They were mortal, passing,
ephemeral.
By
contrast, Jesus’ priesthood is PERMANENT, because “Jesus lives forever”. The
word translated ‘permanent’ can mean unchanging, inviolable, valid. His
priestly service will never stop. So, in terms of the TIME element, Jesus has
it covered – He lives at the Father’s side and will never die again!
THE PRIEST’S PERFECTION
Back to our teeth-cleaning analogy: we have to do it
over and over again, it’s never done; and we always do it imperfectly, you will
never get out all those tiniest bits completely.
Compare
the priests in the Old Testament, who were imperfect, men who sinned as we all
do. Hebrews 7:28a “For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak...”
The verse before, v27, points out “...the other high priests...need to offer
sacrifices day after day, first for [their] own sins, and then for the sins of
the people.”
Jesus
however was able to offer the PERFECT sacrifice no one else could offer: His
holy sinless self. The earliest writers testify Jesus lived a perfect life,
sinless in every respect because He perfectly obeyed His heavenly Father. Heb 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are— YET WAS WITHOUT SIN.” Also Paul writing about Jesus in
2Cor 5:21, “God made HIM WHO HAD NO SIN to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.” His death on the cross was
fundamentally not for Him – He’d done nothing wrong, He was framed – but for
us.
V28b
says the Father’s oath “appointed the Son, who HAS BEEN MADE PERFECT forever.”
Complete, nothing to add to Him that’s missing. And V26 extols more the
excellent qualities of this High Priest: “Such a high priest meets our need—
one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the
heavens.”
He
‘meets our need’, He fits the bill, He can get the job done. We already talked
about what a great need we have, in terms of guilt! Note the descriptors the
author uses. “One who is holy” – that’s in reference to God. Next, “blameless”
- without guilt or fraud - that’s in relation to other people, on the human
level. The verse adds Jesus is “pure” - undefiled, unsoiled, in relation to His
own moral cleanness. The verse goes on to say Jesus is “set apart from
sinners”, NRSV separate, He’s in a class by Himself compared to the rest of us,
though He identifies with us and is really our ideal type, a model, archetypal.
But He’s so pure and holy He’s in a class of His own, and now “exalted above
the heavens” at the Father’s side, til His return in
glory on the clouds accompanied by Heaven’s forces.
Jesus
has been made perfect, He meets our need like no other can. One time the French
philosopher named Auguste Comte was deeply engaged in
conversation with the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle. Comte said he was going
to start a new religion that would supplant the religion of Christ. It was to
have no mysteries and was to be as plain as the multiplication table; its name
was to be positivism. Thomas Carlyle replied, “Very good, Mr.Comte,
very good. All you will need to do will be to speak as never a man spake, and live as never a man lived, and be crucified, and
rise again the third day, and get the world to believe that you are still
alive. Then your religion will have a chance to get on.”
THE PRIEST’S PECULIARITY
Have you heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a
free lunch”? In other words, “Somebody’s gotta pay.”
If our sin and guilt are to be forgiven, who ends up paying the cost? It’s not
just for a criminal to get off scot-free; the justice system awards penalties
for crime. But as sinners, we’re already ‘broke’, we have no capacity to make
payment because we’re already condemned. Our flagrant sins have offended God’s infinity
and holiness, so nothing would ever amount to enough to offset the offence
against our Almighty Creator. How is release to be obtained when the guilty
party has no ability to pay?
No
other religion has the doctrine of the Trinity. It’s an odd concept, full of
mystery, hog-tying all attempts to fully explain it. It’s a cobbled-up word not
found in the Bible, yet our best attempt at describing the dynamics we see in
Scripture, for instance when Jesus is baptized, the Father speaks from heaven,
and the Spirit descends like a dove. Three-in-one, a tri-unity: the Father is
not the Son is not the Spirit yet they are all God and they are one.
In a
way, the situation of a fallen humanity needing to be reconciled to a holy God
begs some wonderful unplausible consortium like the
Trinity. How else can payment be afforded for an infinite sin by so many people
unless God Himself provides it? Yet how can God make an offering to appease
God’s own holiness and just wrath? We are bankrupt, penniless to pay. We need an
Advocate, a go-between.
The
Book of Job is one of the oldest in the Bible (as far as we can deduce), and
wrestles with thorny issues such as how God can be just in the face of
suffering. Yet even there, seemingly prophetically, righteous Job, having lost
all his wealth and offspring, covered head to foot with painful boils, cries
out for a Mediator, an Advocate. Job 16:18-19,21 “O earth, do not cover my
blood; may my cry never be laid to rest! Even now my witness is in heaven; my
advocate is on high...on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for
his friend.”
There
is a High Priest who meets our need for an Advocate (v26) – it’s this peculiar
God-Man, Jesus. Only a perfectly innocent, pure, holy being could pay the price
of our offence; only a human person could pay our penalty, corresponding to
each of us in our humanity. Most peculiar, this Advocate is both priest AND
victim, the one who offers the sacrifice AND the actual sacrifice Himself. Heb 7:27 “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need
to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the
sins of the people.He SACRIFICED FOR THEIR SINS once
for all WHEN HE OFFERED HIMSELF.”
How
did Jesus offer Himself? It wasn’t a suicide; yet it was the very purpose for
which He came, which He repeatedly predicted to His disciples. Judas betrayed
Him, the High Priest Caiaphas condemned Him, Pilate ordered Him crucified – yet
it was all divinely foreordained for our salvation, without absolving the
participants of their responsibility. Jesus didn’t flee when they came to
arrest Him; He could have chosen a different spot to be that night. He didn’t
call on legions of angels to come rescue Him; He complied with the proceedings,
because that was how the Scriptures would be fulfilled. He offered Himself as
the sacrifice that would atone for our sins, in our place. As Isaiah prophesied
centuries beforehand – Isaiah 53:5f “But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was
upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the
iniquity of us all.” God laid on Him (Jesus) our own iniquity, our guilt; He
was stricken for OUR transgression (Is 53:8). The Lord made His life “a guilt
offering” (Is 53:10).
He is
a most peculiar Priest – being both priest and victim. From God, perfectly holy
and sinless, yet identifying with us sinners. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have
a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one
who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin.”
THE PRIEST’S PETITION
We’ve talked about the Priest’s PERMANENCE, the
Priest’s PERFECTION, the Priest’s PECULIARITY, and now finally the Priest’s
PETITION. We celebrate and exalt Jesus for His work on the cross: after which
He sat down at the Father’s right hand in heaven. But did you know His work
goes on? What, did you think Jesus is out just playing golf each day or binging
on PureFlix? V25 tells us about His ongoing
occupation: Heb 7:25 “Therefore he is able to save
completely those who come to God through him, because HE ALWAYS LIVES TO
INTERCEDE FOR THEM.”
He
can ‘save completely’ the verse says. There’s been a lot of debate in the news
about whether certain vaccines are completely safe: both AstraZeneca and
Johnson & Johnson vaccines have had very rare blood clotting / platelet
issues associated with them, and some countries have stopped their use or restricted
them to certain age groups, but overall we’re assured it’s safer to get them
rather than risk infection with the coronavirus.
But
the Jesus-vaccine is COMPLETELY safe! He “is able to save completely those who
come to God through Him” (v25). Don’t put it off! Life is fragile and can end
anytime. We talked last week about how Jesus made it possible for us to draw
near to God through the ‘curtain’ of His body. He’s opened the way for you, a
sinner, to be forgiven and put right with your Maker for all eternity.
That’s
salvation; there’s also SANCTIFICATION, the ongoing process of being made more
holy, more like Jesus, each day for the rest of our lives, with the help of the
Holy Spirit. And this verse assures us Jesus is interceding for us, that’s what
He “always lives” to do; the verb means to make intercession, pray, entreat.
The Father loves the Son and inclines His ear to the Son’s pleading on our
behalf. We find the same idea in Romans 8:32,34 “He who did not spare his own
Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him,
graciously give us all things?...Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who
died— more than that, who was raised to life— is at the right hand of God and
is also interceding for us.” This perfect High Priest is petitioning the Father
on your behalf!
“STAY AT HOME” - BUT DON’T ISOLATE FOREVER
We have a permanent, perfect, peculiar, petitioning
Priest, whose purpose was to break down the barrier of sin that separated us
from our Holy Creator. A great High Priest who “is able to save completely
those who come to God through Him...” (V25) Sin and guilt isolate us, separate
us from God, cutting us off in ‘outer darkness’ as Jesus calls it. Draw near to
God through faith today. Don’t be like those who ignore this only way to reconciliation
with the Most High.
Jesus
is worthy of our worship, being “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,
exalted above the heavens” (v26). He loves you and desires a relationship with
you, through the Holy Spirit, given to those who repent. But some choose to
worship other things – turning from God to be absorbed in their own goals.
The
book Who Walk Alone (author Margaret Evening [pseud.]) relates a
dream... “Many years ago I had a dream. It was one of the few coherent dreams
that I have ever had, but it was so vivid that even now I can remember the
details of it clearly. In the dream, I visited Hell, where the sub-Warden
showed me around. To my surprise, I was led along a labyrinth of dark, dank
passages from which there were numerous doors leading into cells. It was not
like Hell as I had picture it at all. In fact, it was all rather religious and
‘churchy’! Each cell was identical. The central piece of furniture was an
altar, and before each altar knelt (or, in some cases, were prostrated) greeny-grey spectral figures in attitudes of prayer and
adoration. ‘But whom are they worshipping?’ I asked my guide. ‘Themselves,’
came the reply immediately. ‘This is ‘pure’ self-worship. They are feeding on
themselves and their own spiritual vitality in a kind of
auto-spiritual-cannibalism. That is why they are so sickly looking and
emaciated.’
“I
was appalled and saddened by the row upon row of cells with their
non-communicating inmates, spending eternity in solitary confinement,
themselves the first, last, and only object of worship. The dream
continued...but the point...has been made. According to the teaching of the New
Testament, Heaven is community. My dream reminded me that Hell is
isolation.”
Your High Priest beckons you, is
interceding for you to draw near to God through Him. To love Him and love one
another, in forever community not isolation. Let’s pray.
WAIT A LITTLE LONGER
Life is filled with longings, often for things we
can’t obtain right away. The promises in the Bible encourage us to wait on the
Lord and look forward to His coming. Waiting for other people can sometimes be
taxing, too.
Madeline
Rockwell recalled (Reader’s Digest), “My grandmother was a ball of fire,
while Grandpa was slow and deliberate. One night they were awakened by a
commotion in the chicken house. Grandma sprang out of bed, ran to the chicken
house and found the cause of the racket, a large black snake. Having nothing to
dispatch it with, she clamped her bare foot down on its head. There she stood,
until Grandpa finally arrived, a good fifteen minutes later. He was fully
dressed, and even his pocket watch in place. ‘Well,’ he said cheerfully to my
disheveled and enraged grandma, ‘If I’d known you had him, I wouldn’t have
hurried so.’”
Do
you sometimes feel like that grandma, waiting for what seems like forever?
Today’s Scripture passage introduces us to a man who waited a long time for
help to arrive, over forty years. And it also introduces us to a race of people
who were longing for their long-promised Deliverer to come and save them. The
Good News the apostles announce is that help has finally arrived, times of
refreshing and restoration await – for those who turn to the Lord and trust in
His promises.
LONGING FOR LIBERTY
We’re all ready for COVID and lockdowns to be over,
aren’t we? It’s been well over a year now since life turned upside down, and we
had to resort to layers of plexiglass and PPE to
separate us and keep us safe. Recently a friend posted on social media a funny
meme of a woman sadly pouring a bottle of liquor into a blender; the caption
read, “Oh look - the virus is still here and it’s snowing again.” Sometimes
things seem to drag on and on, without an end in sight. It’s easy to become
discouraged, even to start to despair because our hopes are not being realized.
The
prophet Isaiah lived about 700 years before the New Testament era; the prophet
Daniel, about 600 years. But both prophesied God’s anointed leader (‘Messiah’
means one who is anointed) would come to deliver God’s people. Isaiah wrote the
“Servant Songs” describing the just reign the Messiah would bring, and foretold
a time when God would come with vengeance and divine retribution to save His
people. This would be accompanied by wonderful signs in both people’s lives and
the environment around them: Is 35:5f “Then will the eyes of the blind be
opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.Then will
the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.Water
will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” Daniel spoke of a
coming Messiah as well: Dan 9:26 “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed
One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will
come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:
War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.” The Jewish
people at the time of Jesus were very proud of the fine temple King Herod had
built: even though there were heavy taxes and they were occupied by the Romans,
they at least could practise their religion on their
own terms. But Zealots were independence fighters who often had support of the
general population. People longed for the freedom they had once enjoyed under
Kings David and Solomon, their golden era.
One
man had longings of a far more personal nature. He was over 40 years old (Ac
4:22) and had been crippled form birth. Friends or neighbours
carried him each day and plonked him down beside the temple gate called
Beautiful, where he could eke out a living by begging from those going into the
temple to worship. Can you imagine being crippled, paralyzed, unable to move
around freely your whole life, four decades up to that point? He would have
such longing for liberty. And to be set beside that gate, likely prohibited
from entering beyond the Court of the Gentiles – excluded from sacred space by
his disability. So near and yet so far! One scholar writes: “There is not a conclusive
answer to the historical question about the status of the lame in this era, but
there is strong evidence that this man was at the gate of the temple not merely
because it was a strategic location for begging, but because his physical
condition would have been seen as excluding him as unclean, having the
potential to profane or pollute the sacred space.”
What
are YOU most longing for? Is it physical healing? Is it political change? Is it
an end to lockdown, so we can move about freely again? Where God’s promises
intersect with our longings, exciting change and unexpected fulfilment are
about to happen.
LEAPING IN FAITH
When Peter and John went up to the temple to pray that
day about three in the afternoon, they came across this man crippled from birth
beside the gate. Peter didn’t have any money for him, but gave what he had:
Peter told him to walk in Jesus’ name. Acts 3:7f “Taking him by the right hand,
he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.He jumped to his feet and began to walk.Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking
and jumping, and praising God.”
Remember
the Messianic “Servant” foretold by Isaiah about 7 centuries earlier would
cause the lame to leap like a deer! Peter saw such miracles as signs of the
power of the Risen Lord Jesus, who in His own lifetime had reassured John the
Baptist He was indeed the Messiah. Jesus had told John’s followers to report
back to the Baptizer how many signs were being fulfilled: Matthew 11:4f “Jesus
replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive
sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead
are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.’”
It
wasn’t that Peter somehow coerced the man into being healed; Peter plainly
indicates personal faith in the Risen Christ was involved. Acts 3:16 “By faith
in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through
him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” Sort of
recalls the times Jesus used to say to individuals in His own healing miracles,
“Your faith has saved you.” (E.g. Lk 7:50)
Our
unfulfilled longings become opportunities to exercise faith. When we don’t
already possess something, we have to trust God about it: not become impatient
or bitter or resentful that others have what we don’t. Entrust it to God’s
hands: He may have that or something better that you haven’t even dreamed of.
As Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see.”
LIVING THE PROMISES
Lately various political leaders have been setting
more ambitious goals regarding the environment, specifically reducing
greenhouse emissions. Slowly as a culture we seem to be coming to grips with
the fact that, if we want planet Earth to be a good place for coming
generations to inhabit, we’d better start taking care of it. That may mean
altering our lifestyle and consumer habits to be more conserving, less demanding
on limited resources.
For
Peter, the healing of the crippled beggar is not just a fluke or one-off, but
represents something much bigger, God’s plan for the restoration of creation.
So he appeals to various writers of Scripture to show the recent happenings
involving Jesus are a vital part of God’s restorative plan.
Mark
particularly the use of the word SERVANT in verses 13 and 26: 13a “The God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his SERVANT
Jesus.” V26 “When God raised up his SERVANT...” To our Gentile Christian ears
soaked in Trinitarian language, that sounds a bit strange: why would Peter call
Jesus God’s ‘servant’ instead of His ‘Son’ (which He is)? Probably to make the
connection with the “Servant Songs” in the latter section of Isaiah
(chs.40-66). As Matthew made the connection explicitly in Mt 12:15-18 (quoting
Is 42), “Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and
he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was.This
was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "Here is my
servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my
Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”
You
know when you go shopping at a mall (not that we’re doing much of that these
days!) and you look at the directory map near an entrance and it has that
little red dot, “You are here”? Peter is placing this particular healing
miracle in the context of a whole raft of God’s promises for His people, in the
overview of the divine plan. Look how many other Old Testament figures he
cites. V13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers...” V18
“But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the
prophets...” V21 “...as he promised long ago through his holy prophets; for
Moses said...” V24 “Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have
spoken, have foretold these days.” (Even though Samuel may not have spoken
directly about Jesus, Samuel anointed David, through whom reign and leadership
would continue perpetually as Nathan prophesied, and that points to Jesus.) V25
“And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your
fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will
be blessed.’”
So
Peter is saying to his countrymen, his fellow Israelites, they are seeing the
fulfilment of centuries of prophecy before their very eyes! God’s power has
broken in upon their circumstances. This healed man who had been begging alms
from them for decades is living, walking proof that the promises are being
realized: God is showing Himself faithful, true to His word. They’ve seen the
Anointed One be ‘cut off’ as Daniel foretold; they’ve witnessed before their
very eyes Christ suffering for others’ sins and iniquity, as Isaiah talked
about; and that God has not left His Anointed One in the grave, as David sang
in the Psalms. They have stepped into the climax of God’s time / God’s space.
What’s
next on the agenda? For those who have been ailing so long physically or
spiritually, wracked in disease or the bonds of sin, times of refreshing and
restoration await. Verses 19-21 point ahead to what’s imminent on God’s
calendar: Ac 3:19b-21 “...that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and
that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you— even Jesus.He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God
to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
Jesus
IS coming back. Our world is SO messed up, relationships are so broken,
corporate power can be exploitive, and often people get shoved to the edges of
society. Sin takes its toll, whether it’s sin that selfishly transgresses to
feed its own appetites or sin that hardens the soul to the cried of others. We
NEED a Saviour, one who will refresh and restore the order and wholeness our
Creator made possible in the first place!
LEAVE IGNORANCE BEHIND
So, what can be done about it? Peter doesn’t pull any
punches in setting forth the part his fellow citizens have played in this
crisis of Biblical - covenantal - proportions. V17 “"Now, brothers, I know
that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.” What ignorance? Their active
destruction of God’s Messiah. Look at the “you’s” in
verses 13b-15: Ac 3:13b-15 “YOU handed him over to be killed, and YOU disowned
him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.YOU
disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.YOU killed the author of life, but God raised him from
the dead.We are witnesses of this.”
YOU
killed the author - the pioneer - the chief leader or prince - of life! How
much more destructive an act could there be?! Do we do the same today by our
attitudes and actions towards our neighbour in need?
Toward those who warrant our own help? “Sorry, no time today – <click>”
Do we
subtly participate in character assassination by our posts, by our gossip? Do
we cast suspicion on others’ actions and intents without knowing the whole
story? How ignorantly do WE act?
What’s
the remedy, as Peter sees it? Repent; turn to God! Vv19-20 “Repent, then, and
turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may
come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for
you— even Jesus.” To ‘repent’ is to have a ‘change of mind’ (metanoia); to turn away from sin and do an about-face,
turning to God. It’s for our good, really! V26 “When God raised up his servant,
he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked
ways.” The BLESSING comes after the TURNING.
How
is the Lord speaking to you during these strange times, leading you to do a
‘reset’, to stop doing some things and get focused more on HIS priorities?
Seeing people we know struggle with sickness and hearing of folks on ventilators
gives us pause to ask if we’re really investing our life, our energy, in what’s
most important, what matters before God our ultimate Judge and in light of
eternity. Repent and re-prioritize. Let Jesus take over your datebook, your
calendar; make a point of checking in with Him in prayer each day so He can
show you what ought to be the first claims on your time.
LISTEN WELL!
The Lord is speaking, through His revelation – in
person, through Jesus; through His word shown to prophets and apostles who boldly
spoke it and sealed it with their martyrdom. He continues to speak to us today
through the Holy Spirit, who takes Scripture and highlights it for our own
lives, to direct us how to get back on track with His program. Are you
listening?
Peter
quotes Moses in vv22-23, “For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for
you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything
he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from
among his people.’” When parents say to their offspring, “You’re not listening
to me,” what they really mean is usually, “You didn’t obey me.” To listen is to
obey. If we love, we will listen, and we will obey. As Jesus noted in John
14:21a, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.”
This
week our horse Jade who’s 4 years old acquired a new skill; a clever skill; but
it’s not one we wanted her to learn. She’s found out how to lift up the latch
of her stall and let herself out. (Fortunately there’s a second pin we can put
in to prevent this.) One day we found she’d escaped and began to fear she’d run
off, only to find out she’d gone out to her usual paddock and was happily
grazing. A couple other times she’s let herself out and been munching on the
grass near to the barn. What a relief for her owners to discover she hadn’t
gone far, but stayed close to home!
Robert
Morgan shares some experience with dogs that can apply to us humans. He writes,
“My daughter Hannah and I had a Great Dane named Samson that we dearly loved,
and Samson, as it turns out, was well named, for he was big and strong and
muscular – and, like his namesake, he also had a penchant for wandering. We
built fences, we tried chains and dog runs, we tried everything to keep Samson
at home. But he’d dig under the fence of climb over it, and it drove us to
distraction. So we bought the best-selling book on the market on the subject of
training dogs. No Bad Dogs was written by the famous British dog trainer
Barbara Woodhouse, who raises Great Danes herself. One night when I went
upstairs to tuck in Hannah, she had a sad expression on her face, and she said,
“Dad, I know now what Samson’s real problem is. Let me read you this
paragraph.” (Woodhouse wrote)
“In a
dog’s mind, a master or a mistress to love, honor, and obey is an absolute
necessity. The love is dormant in the dog until brought into full bloom by an
understanding owner. Thousands of dogs appear to love their owners, they
welcome them home with enthusiastic wagging of tail and jumping up, they follow
them about their houses happily and, to the normal person seeing the dog, the
affection is true and deep. But to the experienced dog trainer this outward
show is not enough. The true test of real love takes place when the dog has got
the opportunity to go out on its own as soon as the door is left open by
mistake and it goes off and often doesn’t return home for hours. That dog loves
only its home comforts and the attention it gets from its family; it doesn’t
truly love the master or mistress as they fondly thingk.
True love in dogs is apparent when a door is left open and the dog still stays
happily within earshot of its owner. For the owner must be the be-all and
end-all of a dog’s life.”
(Morgan
adds) “The real test of our Christianity isn’t seen in our work or activity, or
even in our theological purity. It’s found in this: when we have an opportunity
to wanter away, to disobey, to leave his presence, do
we choose instead to stay close to him, to abide in Christ, to obey?”
Are
you longing for liberty? When the Lord leaves a door open, would you wander off
or stay close to home? He wants to refresh and restore your world, if you will
only trust Him and turn to Him – let Him become your be-all and end-all! Let’s
pray.
Father, we confess we have often
trespassed and gone astray, rejecting even Jesus the author of life through
what happened at the cross. We praise You for Your victory over the grave,
raising Him to await the time when He will come again. Thank You for His
healing, His forgiveness, His gracious activity and blessing in our lives. Turn
our hearts to You, increase our trust in You, so we may be made strong for Your
great purposes. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A HARDSHIP SURPASSED
Before we delve into our passage today, I’d like to
take a few moments to acknowledge those for whom Mother’s Day can be especially
difficult. This is something we don’t always talk about; it’s easy to gloss
over those who don’t fit a standard ‘mothering’ model and miss including them
on this annual honouring directed toward mothers.
What promises and potential does God’s Word hold for those who don’t fit the
standard pattern?
There
are some women who never had children, whether because they stayed single or
because they couldn’t due to fertility complications. God knows your situation
- your longings, your contentment or wistfulness. Christian discipleship
involves much more than the fulfilment that comes from raising a family. Listen
for the scope of activity for a Christian woman as Paul writes to Timothy in
1Tim 5:9f: “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty,
has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as
bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints,
helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.” Yes,
it mentions bringing up children, but lots besides: ‘good deeds’ includes
hospitality and helping those in trouble – there’s broad scope. Discipleship
can bear rich fruit in good deeds and influencing others for the Kingdom.
There
are women who became pregnant but suffered the grief of miscarriage – this is
more common than we realize because it’s not usually something you broadcast.
In Acts 1:3 we read, “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and
gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.” After His SUFFERING – Jesus
knows your grief, your pain, what you’ve suffered through losing your little one
to miscarriage. Your unborn child was known to God: Psalm 139:13,15f - “For you
created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb...My frame
was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.When
I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.” God understands and cares for those moms whose
children did not have much time ordained for them. He knew your child in your
womb, whether that child made it to birth or not.
There
are some who may have had an abortion. That can be associated with a remorse
and post-abortive trauma of its own. The Lord understands your circumstances,
why you did what you did, why you perhaps felt stuck or unsupported or fearful.
The cross of Jesus is big enough to handle any sin. Last week we heard Peter
invite us in Acts 3:19: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may
be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord...” Be refreshed.
Last,
there are those for whom Mother’s Day is difficult for a different reason: your
own dear mother has died and is no longer around to hug and wish a Happy
Mother’s Day to. One of the first miracles recorded in Mark’s gospel is Jesus
going to Simon’s mother-in-law who’s sick in bed with a fever, and healing her.
God cares about our mothers. For those who’ve died, there’s Revelation 14:13:
“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they
will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."” Our
mothers who are resting from their labour are not
forgotten to God, but those who die in the Lord He describes as “Blessed”.
PREGNANT WITH PROMISE
Today we’re turning back a page or two from last
Sunday’s proclamation by Peter after the healing at the Temple of a man
crippled from birth, over 40 years of age. A couple of Sundays from today is
Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, when the Bible records the Holy Spirit
came upon the church – essentially the church’s official ‘birth-day’! Just
before that event, we find Jesus’ followers gathering to re-group after the
Ascension, to wait and pray. Jesus’ mother and siblings are present. Acts 1:14
“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary
the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” It seems to have been THE CHURCH
EXPECTANT, pregnant with possibility – what were they waiting for? What had
they been promised that prompted them to pause and pray?
We
find out in the first 11 verses of Acts 1. Before Jesus ascends to heaven after
rising from the dead, He gives His apostles instruction on three areas: the
Kingdom’s PRIORITY, the Kingdom’s POWER, and the Kingdom’s PROMISE. We’ll look
at each of these in turn. First...
THE KINGDOM’S PRIORITY
Jesus had priorities for His followers. Our parents
likely had priorities for us – you know, things like getting to bed on time,
brushing our teeth, doing our chores, not being late for the bus, etc. What
would you say were YOUR parents’ priorities? Have those become your own
priorities over time?
Speaking
of priorities – one day a small boy made it a priority to buy his mother some
clothing for her Mother’s Day gift. He found himself in the lingerie section of
a big department store and shyly presented his problem to the salesclerk. He
said, “I want to buy my mom a present of a skirt, but I don’t know what size
she wears.” The clerk commented, “It would help to know if your mom is short or
tall, plump or skinny.” The little boy beamed, “She’s just perfect!” So the
clerk wrapped up a size 34 for him.
Two
days later Mom came to the store herself and changed it to a size 52. The
little boy had the wrong size, but the right opinion! “She’s just perfect!”
Do
you remember Jesus’ priority as declared at the outset of His ministry? What
did He start out preaching? Mark 1:14f “After John was put in prison, Jesus
went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has
come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the
good news!"” Throughout Jesus’ ministry, what were a lot of His parables
and stories designed to point to? “The Kingdom of God is like” (He would say) –
a man scattering seed (Mk 4:26); a mustard seed that grew big as a tree (Lk
13:19); a woman mixing yeast into flour (Lk 13:20) – and so on. It seemed to be
His recurring theme. Even at the last, in His defence
before Pilate, He would maintain, “My kingdom is not of this world.If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my
arrest by the Jews.But now my kingdom is from another
place.”
So
when we pick it up in today’s passage, what do you suppose Jesus’ priority is
going to be? Acts 1:3 “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and
gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a
period of forty days and SPOKE ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” There it is again!
He’s back from the dead, and what’s His theme? Sharing about how disappointed
He was the disciples deserted Him, Peter denied Him, Judas betrayed Him?
Explaining exactly what happened during those hours He was on trial before the
High Priest, King Herod, and then the governor Pontius Pilate? Outlining what
He experienced in the grave or what it felt like to be given a resurrection
body? NO! None of these things. Jesus’ theme is same as before, namely God’s
Kingdom. His tune hasn’t changed. Is that our tune? How is ‘get ready for the
Kingdom’ different from a common attractional refrain of ‘come to church’?
Note,
the disciples pick up on the word but give it a wrong emphasis. They bring
their cultural baggage to the word ‘kingdom’. The Jewish nation, oppressed by
their Roman overlords, chafed under Caesar’s taxes and the intrusion of Roman
customs and emblems. So the disciples assume this is part of Jesus’ agenda.
Acts 1:6 “So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at
this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"” That would be along
the lines of a military coup, replacing one ruling power for another, within a defined
geographical limit.
But
Jesus rejected their preconceived ideas of what ‘God’s Kingdom’ would look
like. It’s not just something that benefits the Jewish nation or gives them
pre-eminence. In fact it’s not about territory or taxes or who’s top-of-the-heap
at all.
THE KINGDOM’S POWER
At one point during His earthly ministry Jesus was
asked by religious experts a question very similar to what the disciples asked
before He ascended. His response was very intriguing. Luke 17:20-21 “Once,
having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus
replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor
will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is
within you.” Not so much external, to be seen – though Jesus goes on to tell
His disciples about the coming of the Son of Man, the day He is to be revealed.
The Kingdom becomes present or realized in the person of the King.
Also
back in Luke 11:20 He expressed it this way, again to His critics: “But if I
drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to
you.” So the Kingdom seems to be more about the person and power of God
impacting a situation.
Back
to Acts 1. As Jesus is preparing to ascend to Heaven, He wants to prepare His
followers for the next step. It’s not about returning governmental power and
authority back to the Jewish people. Acts 1:4f “On one occasion, while he was
eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but
wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.For John baptized with water, but in a few days you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Hear that? Wait – don’t make another
move until you receive this baptism, this dunking, this overflowing fountain
called the Holy Spirit. It’s about having an internal surplus through a divine
relationship. As Jesus had expressed it back in John 7:37 at the climax of a
Jewish festival, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and
said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will
flow from within him."”
It’s
a gift from the Heavenly Father. Not an external concrete thing like water as
John baptized with, but spiritual. Even John the Baptist had prophesied about
Jesus from way back even before Jesus’ ministry began, Matthew 3:11 “"I
baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more
powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Jesus is saying that phenomenon is about to
happen.
Further,
in Acts 1:8, He continues: Ac 1:8 “But you WILL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY
SPIRIT COMES ON YOU; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Power, energy, ability – the
word in the Greek is like the root for our “dynamite”! Yield your faulty
notions of “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” – this is more like Aslan the untamed
lion of Narnia. Do you really want His power in your life? Or would you settle
for a nice cushy once-a-week church experience with quiet hymns that lull your
soul?
It’s
power for a purpose. One evening this past week I mulched some branches for Patti
to use in her flower garden. Our John Deere 1025R tractor has power, it
converts diesel fuel into energy. But it’s no use until you hitch the chipper
onto the 3-point hitch and attach the PTO (power take-off) shaft. Then I can
mulch branches up to about 4 inches in diameter – it’s impressive, just put a
long branch in the hopper, stand back, and watch it transformed in seconds into
a pile of harmless mulch. But the tractor would just sit there and spin its
shaft unless some implement were connected.
As
Jesus describes it, what’s the PURPOSE this Holy Spirit POWER is to be put to?
How’s the second half of verse 8 read? Ac 1:8 “But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you; AND YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Being His witnesses! As
we’ve experienced His grace and mercy and forgiveness and love, tell others!
Compare
this with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and MAKE
DISCIPLES of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you.” If the Holy Spirit is the tractor, the power supply, what’s the
‘mulcher’ hooked up by the PTO shaft? MAKING
DISCIPLES. Being witnesses. Influencing other lives for the Kingdom.
So
there IS a territorial sense – but not like the British Empire being marked
‘pink’ on so many countries of the world wall maps when we were growing up.
This Kingdom advances one person at a time, two feet at a time – talking not
distance but what’s in the next pair of shoes. “You will receive power...You
will be My witnesses – in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.” Slowly expanding circles, as Luke the author of Acts
portrays the message extending in the rest of his book through Peter and
Philip, then Paul, gradually further and further around the Mediterranean and
down into Ethiopia, away from the origin.
I
don’t know if Canada would be included in “the ends of the earth” – but who’s
standing next to you? As you ‘love your neighbour as
you love yourself’, what unmet needs do you see, what part might the gospel
play? How does this person you’ve bumped into and begun a relationship with,
need Jesus in their life? What are they missing in terms of the overflow and
meaning and purpose He can give?
THE KINGDOM’S PROMISE
We’ve talked about the Kingdom’s PRIORITY, the
Kingdom’s POWER, and now, finally, the Kingdom’s PROMISE. As Jesus is
discussing this with His followers, it’s about ten days before Pentecost, when
the Holy Spirit would appear to descend visibly like tongues of fire and give
them new utterance. Jesus urges them not to make a move until they’ve received
it: Acts 1:4 “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard me speak about.” The Spirit is what God has PROMISED for
those who believe in His Son - a new birth, a new connection with the Godhead,
a Counselor / Helper / Comforter to be with us and in us all our life long,
dispensing God’s fruit and gifts in our lives, transforming us to be more like
Jesus. 1John 3:2 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be
has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is.” That’s exciting! We can have the Holy
Spirit NOW, but He’ll keep sanctifying us to be like Jesus THEN.
Besides
that, we also have God’s promise that Jesus will return, in person. What did
the two angelic figures dressed in white say when they interrupted Jesus’
followers gazing into the sky after the Shekinah Glory cloud received and hid
Him? Acts 1:11 “"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand
here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."”
As much as to say, “Get on with it! He’s coming back.”
The
Bible contains various promises about Christ’s Second Coming, His ‘parousia’ or appearing. It seems to be repeated so we can
have extra assurance from various prophets and apostles. Over 5 centuries
before Jesus was born - Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there
before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.” Matthew
24:30 (Jesus said) “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the
sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” Then the Apostle
Paul reassured the early church, writing to those in Thessalonica: 1Thess
4:14,16f “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God
will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him...For the Lord
himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord forever.” Paul notes that we have this “according to the Lord’s
own word” (v15). However bad things may get here, whatever pandemics and
pollution and political turmoils arise, we have God’s
promise of the return of the Son of Man that gives us hope.
SHE FELL INTO HER ARMS
The Holy Spirit, like that PTO shaft, connects us to
Almighty God, who’s been longing for fellowship with us like that father in
Jesus’ parable waiting for the prodigal son to return. To receive the Holy
Spirit is kind of a ‘coming home’ experience; Jesus describes that closeness in
John 14:23, “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.
My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Tammy
Harris lived in Roanoke Virginia; when Tammy turned 21, she started searching
for her biological mother. After a year, she had not succeeded. What she didn't
know was that her mother, Joyce Schultz, had been trying to locate her for
twenty years. There was one more thing Tammy didn't know: her mother was one of
her coworkers at the convenience store where she worked! One day Joyce (the
mother) overheard Tammy (the daughter) talking with another coworker about
trying to find her mother. Soon they were comparing birth certificates. When
Tammy realized that the coworker she had known was, in fact, her mother, she
fell into her arms. "We held on for the longest time," Tammy said.
"It was the best day of my life."
The
Holy Spirit is what the Father has promised for those who love His Son; this
Heavenly Helper gives us a sense of true connection with God, that we can ‘fall
into the arms’ of Jesus. That’s how the Kingdom begins to be a reality in our
lives. Let’s pray.
Thank
You Jesus for Your instructions, giving us direction, adjusting our priorities
to wait and depend on Your presence. Replenish us in Your Holy Spirit. Get us
in tune with the Father’s will, keeping in step with His authority. Show us how
to be Your witnesses every day, in the midst of a hurting and hungry world.
Until the day You come to take us home. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
PANDEMIC BLUES: LOCKED IN LANGUISHING
Pentecost Sunday commemorates the coming of the Holy
Spirit upon the first disciples about 7 weeks after Jesus died and rose again.
It marked a new chapter in the early church, an experience of God’s Spirit
being present with and in believers to teach and guide and comfort them. Our
Bible passage in Ezekiel recalls a time when God’s Spirit was promised to
enliven His people and bring hope for their future.
As
the pandemic wears on, it’s been getting more difficult to keep our hopes up.
An item on CTV News this past week featured Toronto psychotherapist Sarah Ahmed
talking about the phenomenon of ‘languishing’ and what to do about it.
“Languishing” is the term that’s been used to describe pandemic doldrums –
you’re not exactly feeling depressed, but there’s sort of an emptiness, a
listlessness, there’s uncertainty and you feel emotionally stuck. News reports
about high COVID case counts and escalating fighting in the Middle East don’t
help, either. Sarah Ahmed says,
“Languishing is essentially described as a feeling of emptiness, numb, feeling
stuck, feeling as though we have no motivation, no ability to focus, tasks take
longer...” Being a psychotherapist with an active practice, she warns that
people’s mental health may end up being affected in the long run if our
feelings are left unattended. It helps to identify and acknowledge our
feelings, as a start.
Languishing
is prompting some folks to have their so-called “mid-life crisis” earlier than
they might have otherwise. Ahmed explains, “It’s forced people to stop and take
a look at what’s going on, ...that kept me so busy, that kept me so occupied,
and why do I feel like this?” It begs the question of purpose and long-term
goals – “Is this really what I want to be doing with my life?”
In
the news article, she offered some practical advice for the short term –
identify your feelings using a ‘feelings wheel’ to help name your emotions.
Take one day at a time. Book some time, such as an hour or two, to attempt
something that’s a challenge for you and is stimulating and rewarding. Her
suggestions are designed to help people ‘keep their head above water’.
It’s
a secular article so doesn’t go beyond the immediate: there’s not a mention of
reflecting on your life in the light of eternity. To be convinced our daily
existence actually matters and has significance requires validation from
outside ourselves; the Bible points to God our Creator and Redeemer as the One
who ultimately judges our life’s worth. If you’re languishing, if you’re
experiencing ‘pandemic fatigue’, there’s no better time than the present to
reflect on your life goals and priorities, to weigh your activities in the
light of Scriptural truth and the Lord’s calling for you.
In
our passage today from Ezekiel 37, the prophet is given a vivid object lesson
from the Lord that visualizes people’s need to receive God’s enlivening Spirit
when all seems lost or futile, and hope has vanished.
WHEN ALL SEEMS HOPELESS
A bit of background before we dive into our text.
About 721 BC the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. By around
600 BC, the Babylonians had been gaining in power and conquered Assyria’s
capital Nineveh with the help of the Medes in 612 BC. The king of Judea
rebelled against the Babylonian leader Nebuchadnezzar, and in 597 BC the king’s
son and about 10,000 Jews including Ezekiel were exiled to Babylon. Following
further rebellion, Judea’s capital Jerusalem was laid under seige,
taken captive, and destroyed.
A
long enchantment with idolatry and Baal-worship, including such terrible things
as infant sacrifice, had taken its toll on first the northern kingdom of Israel
and then the southern kingdom of Judah, despite brief reforms under King Josiah
which seem to have gone only skin-deep. They had been warned clearly by the
prophet Moses even before entering the Promised Land: Deut
28:45,47f “All these curses will come
upon you.They will pursue you and overtake you until
you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the
commands and decrees he gave you...Because you did not serve the LORD your God
joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst,
in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends
against you.He will put an iron yoke on your neck
until he has destroyed you.”
Ezekiel
was both a prophet and a priest; his ministry span for 22 years starting in 593
BC, so there were 7 years before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and 15 years
after its fall. The first 24 chapters contain warnings of divine judgment. In
chapter 33 an escapee relays the news that Jerusalem has fallen; chapters 33-48
shift more to oracles of consolation for Israel, comfort and promises of
restoration, including some visions that would await the final coming of the
Messiah. So today’s chapter (37) fits in the section dealing with consolation.
Judgment has happened, Jerusalem has been destroyed, exiles have been removed
in successive waves from their homeland and brought to this foreign country.
How
devastating and crushing all this must have felt for the Jews! The ten northern
tribes of Israel – long gone, over a hundred years earlier. Now Judah in the
south, the faithful holdout where David reigned, has been conquered too. The
beautiful temple of Solomon has been destroyed. The place where the city of
Jerusalem once stood is now a desolate wasteland, a heap of rubble. Ezekiel,
being both prophet and priest, must have felt deeply the loss of the temple
where sacrifices were offered and people gathered to worship the One True God.
Now here he was stuck in Babylon, some 2700 km away.
It
probably felt like God had abandoned them, deserted them. They associated
Jerusalem with God’s throne, the temple as the focal point of His attention
when people prayed. But through visions to Ezekiel God would demonstrate He was
not restricted territorially to Palestine: He could address them just as easily
over in Babylon as in their homeland. His sovereignty included going mobile!
So we
might say Ezekiel and the Jewish people were LANGUISHING. All hope had been
lost. They were a defeated and exiled people, strewn abroad to the four winds.
They were done for – or so it seemed.
Here’s
where the Lord deposits His prophet in a valley of dry bones. We’re not told
exactly how this happens; we know Philip was snatched up and physically
relocated in Acts 8(39f) so God could easily have teleported Ezekiel to a
certain spot; or it might have been a vision, it matters little. Ezekiel 37:1-3
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the
LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.He
led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of
the valley, bones that were very dry.He asked me,
"Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD,
you alone know."”
The
question would seem rhetorical – very dry bones, similar to what one might see
left over from a battlefield after many years, time and decomposition have done
their work...Of course ‘these bones’ cannot live, apart from divine
intervention. Ezekiel meekly acknowledges God’s sovereignty, even in this
apparently impossible situation.
Does
that valley of very dry bones reflect your situation today? Are you up against
some seemingly impossible obstacle? Are you frightened by the global pandemic
with its new variants cropping up? Has your business been curtailed because of
lockdown measures? Are you worried about the added debt load incurred by the
government as it attempts to keep the economy afloat? Do you just miss your
relatives, being able to give hugs, it seems all too long since we could go
about life as “normal”? Those feelings the psychotherapist described of being
“empty” and “helpless” are very real.
PROCLAIM THE SOVEREIGN LORD’S ENLIVENING WORD
As Ezekiel is led back and forth amongst these great
many very dry bones, the Lord gives the prophet instruction. Ezek 37:4-6 “Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these
bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the
Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will
come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and
cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then
you will know that I am the LORD.’"”
There’s
a repeated emphasis in this section on the power of God’s word, released as His
people speak. “Prophesy” (and related terms) occurs 7 times from verses 4 to
12. “Say...Hear the word of the Lord...This is what the Sovereign Lord SAYS...”
God
is Spirit (John 4:24); His ‘word’ is the powerful active agent by which His
purposes are accomplished. At the beginning of creation, God did not point His
finger and go, “Poof!” Genesis 1:3“And God SAID, "Let there be
light," and there was light.” Genesis 1:6 “And God SAID, "Let there
be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."” He
speaks, and it comes into being: He is YHWH, God who makes things happen. Jesus
said in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they
are life.”
One
night a Pharisee who was really sincerely seeking came to Jesus under cover of
darkness to find out more about this Kingdom He was proclaiming. Perhaps
Nicodemus was sensing a frustration or lack of satisfaction with the current
level of spirituality amongst his colleagues; he was languishing spiritually,
feeling empty, yearning for something more. Jesus pointed Nicodemus to the
possibility of new birth – something that could only happen through God’s
mysterious Spirit. John 3:5-8 “Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no
one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives
birth to spirit.You should not be surprised at my
saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases.You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it
comes from or where it is going.So it is with
everyone born of the Spirit."”
It’s
not enough to be born of water, to be born of the flesh: our Creator has
hard-wired us with a spirit that longs for more, reaches out to Him – as has
been said, we have a “God-shaped hole” within our heart, there’s a vacuum only
He can fill. We need His breath to inflate us, pick us up, fill us. The terms
for ‘spirit’ and ‘breath’ and ‘wind’ are all closely related in Hebrew and
Greek.
Back
to Ezekiel. As the prophet speaks to the bones as commanded, there’s a noise, a
rattling sound, bones connect to bones, flesh and skin appear and cover them,
but they’re all just still laying there: V8 “...But there was no breath in
them.” Again the Lord tells Ezekiel to speak: v9, “Then he said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is
what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
into these slain, that they may live.’"” The expression ‘from the four
winds’ can mean ‘from the four quarters of the earth’ – hinting at all the
distant countries to which the Jewish people had been dispersed, first by
Assyria, now by Babylon.
And
that BREATH proves to be the missing ingredient! V10 “So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their
feet— a vast army.” What a sight that must have been to see!
GLORY AND GRACE IN GOD’S NEW CHAPTER
In verses 11-14, the Lord interprets the vision to
Ezekiel. He has been aware of their languishing, their sense of defeat and
hopelessness. Here is named or identified their feelings and emotions. V11
“Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut
off.’”
But
God has not forgotten or abandoned them; disciplined them, yes, and provided
the Promised Land its missed “sabbath years” so the
land can enjoy its needed rest. But God’s plans and purposes for the nation are
not over.
In
the immediate term, the people will be brought back and restored to Palestine.
See more about this in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, as the exiles returned from
captivity and the temple and walls around Jerusalem were gradually rebuilt.
Here’s the promise for the Jewish people in verses 12-13: “Therefore prophesy
and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going
to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the
land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open
your graves and bring you up from them.”
Scholars
debate whether the concept of resurrection is in view here. The main point is
that God is going to do an amazing thing by bringing the thousands who have
been physically removed from Judah back to that land – a promise that would
have given a defeated and discouraged people hope. Especially after Ezekiel’s
predictions of Jerusalem’s downfall came true in 586 BC, thereby establishing
his credibility.
There
is a promise even more wonderful in verse 14 – something that applies not just
to the Jewish exiles, but to those who believe in God’s word here today! Ezek 37:14 “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live,
and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have
spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.”
The
implications of that first phrase are HUGE! “I will put my Spirit in you and
you will live...” Here we have premonitions of the New Covenant in the Old. The
Old Testament (or Covenant) centred on the
commandments given to Moses at Mount Sinai, visually represented in the two
stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments; these tablets were housed in the
Ark of the Covenant, which was the focal point of the Most Holy Place in the
Tabernacle and, later, the Temple. There was no approaching the Most Holy Place
without passing the altar where burnt offerings were made for the forgiveness of
sin. If the people obeyed God’s commands, they would be blessed and dwell in
the land; but when they disobeyed and followed idols, the gods of the nations,
they would be cursed and evicted from their land. Ezekiel and the thousands of
Jewish exiles would be all too keenly aware of how as a nation they had failed
to keep God’s laws, and now were exiled far away to Babylon. The Old Covenant
or Old Deal just wasn’t working; their stubbornness and pride, their stiff
necks and evil desires, sabotaged their relationship with the God who delivered
them from slavery in Egypt.
So in
the Old Testament prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we begin to
get hints of a new approach. Rather than outward compliance and law-obedience,
righteousness would become an “inside job” – God would give a fresh start to
those who repented and sought Him; as it says here, “I will put my Spirit IN
you...” For more context, look back one chapter to Ezek
36:25-27: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a
new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of
stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move
you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Instead of a stubborn
heart – ‘heart of stone’ – God would give them a heart of flesh, responsive,
affected, loving and caring. God’s Spirit INSIDE them would MOVE them to keep
His laws, out of love and care, rather than grudging compliance.
This
is associated with God’s cleansing from impurities and idols, “sprinkling with
clean water” (which we would see as symbolized in baptism). The Holy Spirit
convicts us of sin, shows us how grieved the Lord is by our trespasses and
rebellion, and moves us to turn to Him in confession and new patterns of
living. Ezekiel 36:31 “Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds,
and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.” The
Spirit opens our eyes to God’s holiness, our shortcomings, and prompts us to be
pierced to the heart. That’s what happened in response to Peter’s preaching at
Pentecost: Acts 2:37f “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart
and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we
do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Communion
points us to the act of Jesus loving us all the way to the cross, so we could
be changed from hell-bound sinners to God’s holy people. As Paul writes in
Ephesians 5:25b-27 “...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to
present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any
other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
Paul
describes this remarkable turn-around the Holy Spirit makes possible this way
to his co-worker Titus: Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness and love of God our
Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but
because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs
having the hope of eternal life.” We are ‘justified’ – declared put right with
God in His sight – by grace, what Jesus has done for us, not by works of the
law. So now we are heirs, inheritors of all that awaits us, having “the hope of
eternal life” – not left languishing hopelessly, no matter what pandemics or
losses or challenges this life may bring us.
WHAT’S THAT NOISE?!
In closing – when our life seems like a valley of dead
dry bones, lifeless and languishing, God’s Spirit can infuse us and bring some
strange sounds – a noise, a rattling sound as bone connects to bone and flesh
encases them, then the sound of breath coming into them from the four winds.
God is preparing a vast army to stand on their feet and do His awesome will.
There
was a strange sound that first Pentecost. Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost
came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of
a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were
sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to
rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The sound of wind from
heaven, God’s Spirit bringing new power and ability.
An
old-timer who’d lived all his life way back in the bush by himself went into a
hardware store early one morning and asked for a saw. The salesman took a chain
saw from the shelf and commented that it was their “newest model, with the
latest in technology, guaranteed to cut ten cords of firewood in a day”. The
old-timer thought that sounded pretty impressive, so bought it on the spot.
The
next day the customer returned looking exhausted. “Something mut be wrong with this saw,” he moaned. “I worked as hard
as I could and only managed to cut three cords of wood. I used to do four with
my old-fashioned saw.” Looking confused, the salesman said, “Here, let me try
it out on some wood we keep over here out back.” They went to the woodpile, the
salesman pulled the cord, and as the motor roared to life VVVROOOOOMMMM, the
customer leaped back and exclaimed, “What’s that noise?!”
Trying
to saw wood without the power of the chainsaw to help is sort of like us
attempting to live the Christian life without the daily empowerment of the Holy
Spirit. We very much need His divine breath to connect us and help us stand on
our feet and know our God. Let’s pray.
Thank
You Father for the word-picture of the valley of dry bones You showed Ezekiel.
You know the areas of our life in which we’re feeling defeated, despondent, and
discouraged. Sometimes sin leaves us feeling very far off from You, fearing
Your condemnation, hopeless of ever being put right. Thank You for Your grace
and kindness and love spelled out for us by Jesus at the cross. We want to live
for You from now on, to know You and bring glory to You; in Jesus’ name, Amen.
At this point, we will take a moment
to gather our elements in preparation for Communion at the Lord’s Table...
THE
MARK CAMP MAKES – EVEN MORNING DIP
Today
we’re joining other churches across Canada in Day of Prayer for Camp. Did you
ever attend a Christian camp growing up? What impressions did it leave you
with?
I started out as a camper at Camp
Bimini, a United Church camp near St Mary’s, Ontario. It was inland so used a
swimming pool for swimming instructions; I think I achieved “tadpole” status my
first year. I learned to make crafty items with ric-rac
and popsickle sticks. I was introduced to archery,
which I really enjoyed and ended up getting my own fibreglass bow later. For
the first time I was away from my home and my parents for an extended period,
in a safe environment with friendly counselors. In later years I would return
as a counselor myself, learning responsibility for younger children, some basic
interpersonal skills. Of course I learned lots of camp songs that are still
ingrained in my memory – from the sublime (“It Only Takes a Spark to Get a Fire
Going”) to the ridiculous (“Little Rabbit FruFru
hopping through the forest picking up the field mice smackin’
em on the head”! Just WHAT is that song trying to
teach?!). Each day we looked forward to Tuck Shop. And there’s no experience
quite like being gathered around a summertime campfire where the sky is getting
dark, the stars are coming out, and firelight is flickering on the faces of
other campers gathered in a circle. It’s almost mystical.
Later, in high school, I helped as a
counselor for Junior Boys camp for one week a couple of summers at Frontier
Lodge in the eastern townships of Quebec, near Sherbrooke.
This was a Brethren camp; staff rose at 5:30 each morning to pray for half an
hour on our knees together in the directors’ cabin. Then at 6 o’clock it was
time for the infamous “Morning Dip”! No matter what the temperature was,
campers and staff lined up in their swim trunks for the compulsory plunge into
the unwelcoming Lake Wallace before running back shivering and dripping to
change into something warmer at their cabins. Great hygiene, even if it reminds
one of a military boot camp!
My camp name was “Trim” and I ran a
tree-and-ropes course, teaching how to make various knots with rope, and we
built a zipline from trees near the shore down into
the lake. (I suspect insurance policies have tightened up since then, but at
least no one got seriously hurt!) Of course there was daily chapel, and
counselors received extra discipleship training with the camp chaplain, Mike Wilkins, and director Phil Geldart,
who shared with us insights into God’s heart from the book of Jeremiah. This
camp included emphasis on Jesus’ return and the Rapture and the importance of
receiving forgiveness for our sin and developing a personal relationship with
God. To see young boys coming to understand the Good News for the first time
was always exciting!
What memories of camp do you have?
What role, if any, did it play in your own spiritual journey? I know, for this
shy young farm boy from Perth County, it drew me deeper in my faith and exposed
me to interactions and activities and responsibilities I might not otherwise
have had.
Today we’re looking at just a couple
of basic thrusts from Psalm 114, coupled with two camp-related videos. There
are two main points: A) Getting out into nature reminds us of the One who
transcends nature; and B) Tenting can remind us of our need for the One who
wants to indwell us.
GETTING
OUT INTO NATURE REMINDS US OF THE ONE WHO TRANSCENDS NATURE
Psalm
114 is tied closely to the heart of Jewish culture and worship. Each year at
the Passover meal, Psalm 113 and Psalm 114 were sung before the meal started.
It recalls the origin of the Jewish nation, being freed from slavery in Egypt.
We call this departure from the land
of bondage the “Exodus” (literally going-out). It should not have happened: who
allows a whole bunch of slaves to escape when you have taskmasters and an army
to keep them victimized? But God’s deliverance of the Hebrews was accomplished
through a series of miracles. Psalm 114:3 “The sea looked and fled, the Jordan
turned back...” Inanimate objects are personified, behaving as if they are
people: NLT “The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The
water of the Jordan River turned away.” This recalls the parting of the Red Sea
in Exodus 14:21 - “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that
night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into
dry land. The waters were divided...”
Also, after 40 years when the
Hebrews finally entered the Promised Land, the Jordan River had its waters
stopped in flood stage. Joshua 3:15f “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all
during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the
Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped
flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in
the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing
down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the
people crossed over opposite Jericho.” God’s sovereignty and control over the
forces of nature was clearly demonstrated.
Verse 4 of Psalm 114 recalls the
earth shaking when the people assembled at Mt Sinai: Ps 114:4 “the mountains
skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.” Just how do you make a mountain
‘skip’?! Of course the language is figurative, referring to the ground shaking
- Exodus 19:18 “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended
on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the
whole mountain trembled violently...” When the very ground trembles, people
become afraid immediately!
Another supernatural event is
recalled in verse 8 of Psalm 114: “who turned the rock into a pool, the hard
rock into springs of water.” This can refer to a couple of occasions on the
journey of the Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine. Once the Lord commanded Moses
to strike the rock to bring forth water for the people; the other time he was
simply to speak to the rock for the same reason, but in anger struck the rock
instead. Exodus 17:6 “I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for
the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of
Israel.” And the second instance: Number 20:11 - “Then Moses raised his arm and
struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and
their livestock drank.” The Lord assuaged their thirst both times and kept them
alive in the remote wilderness, a place where (apparently) there was no water
to be had.
Camping gets us out into nature,
away from the comforts and conveniences of home, away from our human devices
and supports, forcing us to manage with just the barest essentials. It brings
us into a new environment where we can begin to notice again the other
life-forms – trees, birds, creatures that scuttle and crawl through the bush –
other life-forms we generally pass right by without noticing. It brings us face
to face with the power of the elements of nature (I recall one thunderstorm in
a camper-trailer with my family on the shore of Lake Superior in particular!).
Camping reminds us there are forces in the universe greater than ourselves, it
shatters the cocoon of our self-absorption. Brought face to face with nature’s
elements, a very logical question presents itself: “How did all this get here?”
We know WE didn’t make it. There is what’s called the “cosmological” argument for
God’s existence. As Hebrews 11:3 puts it, “By faith we understand that the
universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of
what was visible.” There is a “before-ness” that points to God’s being
super-natural, beyond nature in order to produce it. Colossians 1:16f “For by
him [Jesus, God’s Son] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all
things were created by him and for him. He is BEFORE all things, and in him all
things hold together.”
So, getting outside in camping
reminds us of the One who TRANSCENDS nature, is beyond it – as the song goes,
“In the stars His handiwork I see, on the wind He speaks with majesty...”
Before we proceed to our next point,
let’s hear a word from our sponsor for this “Day of Prayer for Camp” – here’s
an update on our nearby EMCC-affiliated camps, Stayner and Mishewah,
from Evergreen Christian Ministries... (5 min.video)
That video is a good reminder of the
beautiful outdoor surroundings and facilities at our church campgrounds, and
dedicated staff who are making plans the best they can given changing
circumstances. Our own church, Huron Chapel, has budgeted $1000 this year for
Evergreen Christian Ministries, but if you can support our camps either by
attending and renting or donating or lending some time for grounds upkeep, they
would welcome your help.
My second and final main point today
from Psalm 114 is...
TENTING
CAN REMIND US OF OUR NEED FOR THE ONE WHO WANTS TO INDWELL US
Or,
boiled down – Christian camping reminds us God is ‘out there’ (beyond nature)
but also seeks to be ‘in here’ (living inside us, by faith in Christ).
Look closely at the first couple of
verses of Psalm 114, which we noted was very tied up with Jewish identity. Ps
114:1f “When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of
foreign tongue, Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.” Judah
became God’s SANCTUARY – that’s a place for the divine to dwell.
When the Hebrews were wandering in
the wilderness, their perception was that they needed to take care of their
camp because God Himself was present with them. This was visibly represented by
the pillar of cloud by day which changed to a pillar of fire by night.
Deuteronomy 23:14 “For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect
you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will
not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.”
Does the Lord self-identify as a ‘camper’,
always mobile, always on the move, not bolted down? When King David is inspired
to build a temple for God, David is reminded by a revelation through the
prophet Nathan: 2Samuel 7:6 “I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought
the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to
place WITH A TENT AS MY DWELLING.”
Subsequently, God did allow the Jews
to build temples, but His real goal is something far more radical. God seeks to
indwell PEOPLE! You and me. We saw last week that Ezekiel prophesied, Ezek 36:27 “And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to
follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Jesus said His followers
would be ‘baptized’ with the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:8) and that the Spirit – John
14:17 “...He lives with you and will be IN you.” The Apostle Paul wrote to the
church at Corinth, 1Cor 6:19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit, who is IN you, whom you have received from God?...”
Tenting, particularly Christian
Camping, can remind us of the One who seeks to “camp out” in us, to indwell us.
“Judah became God’s sanctuary,” the Psalm says; and goes on to add, “Israel His
DOMINION.” To be a dominion means to be the place where the King reigns, the
realm or space where the King has power and control. Does God have that
ownership, that say, that rule in your life? Have you yielded to Jesus as Lord
and Saviour? Christian camping gives people a remarkable opportunity to be
introduced to Jesus and respond to His invitation.
Our concluding video today includes
some testimonies of people who have benefited from Christian camp ministry and
come to know the Lord more intimately through it...(“Why Pray for Camp” video)
[after
video] Let’s pray. Sovereign God, we praise You for Your awesome greatness! You
have created nature so beautifully, delicately, intricately, down to the earth
being just the right distance from the sun and water having properties that
make it an anomaly but just what’s needed. Thank You for camping and the way it
gets us outdoors into the natural world You made. Thank You for Scripture and
the record of Your supernatural miracles helping Your people escape slavery. We
bless You for wanting to come dwell inside us, to make us living temples. We
invite You to make that space in our lives, we hand over control to You. And
this camping season we pray You would continue to bring people to Yourself
through the ministry of Christian camps like Stayner and Mishewah.
Provide the resources needed; encourage the directors and staff, protect them,
and help them see ongoing spiritual harvest as they point others to You. In
Christ’s name, Amen.
SIX
DEGREES TO A SMALLER WORLD
It’s
a small world after all – smaller probably than we even realize. Have you heard
of “six degrees of separation”? It’s based on the idea that all people on
average are six or fewer social connections away from each other. There’s even
a parlour game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” in which you can
theoretically link anyone in Hollywood with the prolific American actor Kevin
Bacon within six steps (check out oracleofbacon.org). Sometimes it would
surprise us to know just how closely we are connected to a particular human.
This was dramatically brought home to me this past week.
You see, back in 2017 my father who
was 96 at the time and a resident at Mitchell Nursing Home turned suddenly in
his bare feet, lost his balance on the smooth floor, fell and broke his hip. In
the ensuing months he learned to walk again with the help of a physiotherapist
who circulated amongst various care homes in the region. I have a couple of
emails from that time reporting to my family about Dad’s progress with the help
of his health care team. Eventually he made a good recovery.
Fast forward to this past Sunday. In
London Ontario, in what one article described as “the worst mass killing in the
city’s history”, a pickup truck jumped a curb and struck 5 Muslim pedestrians,
killing the two parents in their 40s, the man’s mother in her 70s, their
teenage daughter, with only their 9-year-old son surviving though injured. The
man was Salman Afzal, who had been my dad’s physiotherapist.
At first, when I heard of the crime,
you think, “How terrible!” But later when I saw the name and realized he had
worked as a physiotherapist at local nursing homes, the puzzle pieces began to
fit together. I went back and checked my emails: there was his name. I had in
fact MET this person. He had spent time helping MY father recuperate. That
makes even more impact, you feel personally connected to the tragedy.
What a loss! The administrator for
Ritz Lutheran Villa said, “We’re completely devastated. Salman worked in our
organization for 7 years.He was an integral part of
our team.He was kind and caring...He was
well-respected and always had a smile and positive outlook.He
probably cared for hundreds of seniors over the years, moms and dads and
grandparents, in Oxford, Wellington, Middlesex, Huron and Perth counties.He worked at many, many long-term care homes in
our region.”
Salman’s wife was a grad student at
Western in civil engineering, working on remediating contaminated soil.
Previously in Pakistan she had worked as a civil engineer on a hydro-power
project for 3 years. A civil engineering prof at Western describes her as “an
angel...She was so kind, so considerate, so polite.”
Such a loss! Such a waste! Hate
makes waste.
It’s hard to fathom what could have
prompted the driver to commit such a crime. Yes, they were of different
nationality; yes, they were Muslim. But they were PEOPLE just the same!
So today I’d like to look at the
topic, “Loving My Muslim Neighbour”, through a Biblical lens. God’s self-giving
love for each of us sinners, though we were at enmity with Him, motivates us to
love those who are unlike us.
THE
LEADING LAW
Jesus
clearly placed loving one’s neighbour at the top of the list. Once a teacher of
the Jewish law asked Jesus which is the most important of all the commandments.
Mark 12:29-31 “"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is
this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these."” Did you hear that
last bit? ‘No commandment greater.’ The whole law swings on them like a door on
its hinges. And it’s interesting Jesus seems to link the two, as if they belong
together: sort of implying that if you genuinely love God, you WILL also love
His creation, your neighbour, the person next to you, whoever you come in
contact with.
The Apostle Paul sort of echoes this
in Romans 13:8-10: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt
to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the
law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not
murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever
other commandment there may be, are SUMMED UP in this one rule: "Love your
neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love
is THE FULFILLMENT of the law.” The ‘root’ is love: if love is how you approach
the relationship, the ‘fruit’ or outflow won’t be destructive (adultery / murder
/ stealing etc) but positive, not harming but
helping.
James in his letter to the church
also emphasizes the priority of loving our neighbour, calling it the “royal”
law: James 2:8 “If you really keep THE ROYAL LAW found in Scripture, "Love
your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.” Royal, like it’s the
king or queen over the other laws. In its context, James notes we won’t show
favoritism, being influenced unduly by whether a person is rich or poor, for
example.
Our passage from Leviticus 19 offers
several examples of what loving our neighbour might look like. V10 leave
gleanings of your harvest for the poor and alien – “alien” not in the sense of
from outer space, but “alien” as in from another country. V13 Don’t defraud or
rob your neighbour: respect their right to ownership. V15 Don’t pervert justice
by showing partiality, but judge your neighbour fairly. V16 don’t do anything
that endangers your neighbour’s life: there’s an obligation to be caring,
protecting. V18 (to which Jesus later makes direct reference) says, “Do not
seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your
neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” What’s love mean in that context? Not
seeking revenge or bearing a grudge – don’t get drawn into evil-for-evil or
tit-for-tat; so that MUST involve forgiveness, grace, absorbing the loss,
overlooking the injury, a refusal to try and ‘get even’. If they’ve wronged
you, let it go! But we need help to do that – the help of Him who died on the
cross to let US off the hook in the eyes of perfect divine justice.
You might be saying to yourself, “I
don’t have any prejudice toward Muslims; in fact I’ve never really had much to
do with one.” But it’s easy to fall into the pattern of preferring those who
are ‘like us’ – we can relate to them, they sound like we do, it’s easier to
understand them, they sound familiar. Sorting through someone’s accent can be a
frustrating barrier to communication – admit it, when you phone for help with
some issue and the person on the other end obviously hails from some other
region and is trickier to understand, don’t you secretly want to ask, “Is there
anyone there who speaks English the way I do?!”
Jeff Bennett was a PC candidate in
the area of London West in 2014. He followed the previous candidate Ali Chahbar, and noticed quite a few expressions of racism in
the people he encountered. Even members of his campaign team expressed relief
that Jeff not Ali had become the candidate: “They, ‘tried to volunteer a year
earlier but the campaign office felt like the Middle East’,” they said. When he
was on the trail door-knocking, people would respond with things like, “Boy are
we happy to see YOU at our door this election.” And, “I can tell by looking at
you that Jeff Bennett is a candidate I can support.” Such obvious prejudice
against visible minorities. Bennett reflects, “I’ve come face to face with Anti
Muslim attitudes in London Ontario...” “These people who’d never met me saw
nothing special in me.They were happy only that my
name was English and my skin was white.”
PLEASING
MY NEIGHBOUR OUT OF DEFERENCE TO GOD
In
contrast to such prejudice, love goes beyond merely having a positive
disposition or attitude towards someone: love actually gets behind them and
serves them, puts their concerns and needs first.
Writing about our freedom in Christ
to the church at Galatia, the Apostle Paul noted our freedom as Christians
becomes harnessed to another’s betterment. Gal 5:13f “You, my brothers, were
called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature;
rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single
command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."” So, love motivates you to
serve the other person, rather than just emphasize your freedom as if they’re
not your concern. Cain asked defensively, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” after
killing Abel (Gen 4:9). Love would say, “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper” –
love cares for one’s sister or brother.
Paul also puts care for others in
terms of pleasing them rather than just pleasing ourselves. This requires a
certain “death to self” in order to forego your own happiness or pleasure so
that others are built up. Romans 15:2f “Each of us should please his neighbor
for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as
it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on
me."” We are to please our neighbour for their good, so they may be ‘built
up’, strengthened, helped, edified. This IN SPITE OF a culture whose siren call
is always, “Please yourself!” Now there’s nothing innate in our fallen nature
that would prompt us to put another’s interests ahead of our own; we’re born
selfish, born predisposed to ‘look out for number one’. What then can be
powerful enough to motivate us to die to self-interest and please our neighbour
rather than please ourselves? The prior fact that Jesus the very Son of God
chose to put us first, to die for our sakes. When it says, “the insults of
those who insult YOU have fallen on me”, who is the ‘you’? I used to suppose it
was God the Father, but whom is Jesus stepping in on behalf of? Us sinners!
Satan the Accuser was poised to insult us (rightly so) for our sins, but Jesus
took our penalty, went to the cross in our place, purchased our forgiveness by
becoming a substitute in our stead, so the Accuser’s insults fell on HIM
instead of us. It’s that immense grace alone that can power forgiveness of
others and pleasing our neighbour instead of pleasing ourselves.
Another dimension of loving our
neighbour concerns pride and humility. Who’s “Number One” in our lives? When we
recall God is Number One, when we fear and revere and honour Him as ultimate
instead of ourselves, love flows better to others. James 4:11-12 says,
“Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or
judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you
are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver
and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you— who are you to
judge your neighbor?” Who are you? Are you above the law, as if you invented
it, and deserve to judge it? So slandering or judging / condemning / looking
down on another person supposes we ourselves are above the law, God’s ordinance
that we are to love others.
Go back to Leviticus 19 a moment.
These injunctions to care for our neighbour are shot through with reminders
that God is God – and we’re not! Lev 19:14 “Do not curse the deaf or put a
stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God.I
am the LORD.” V16B “Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.I am the LORD.” V18 “"’Do not seek revenge or
bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.I am the LORD.” And again in vv33-34, “When an
alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.The
alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born.Love
him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.I am
the LORD your God.”
It’s implying that, when we remember
to put God foremost in our consciousness, that will help us recognize the value
of the other person, will empower us to put their interests above our own, and
serve them in love.
That truck driver looked at that
family grouping walking peacefully along and saw people that were different
from him: different skin tone, different dress, different origin and customs.
But love looks at them and sees people created in God’s image, what’s
traditionally known as the imago Dei. Fundamentally, they are still
humans, fashioned by God, into whom He has breathed life and crafted unique
souls. We treat THEM with extra care and respect because we revere HIM, His
reverberating “I am YHWH your God” – who delivered US out of slavery to sin and
death.
V14 warns us not to curse the deaf
or play a mean trick on the blind, “but fear your God: I am the Lord”. We see
His handiwork in them, His interest in them, He has a purpose and destiny for
their lives, His image and imprint is somehow stamped upon them indelibly. They
are to be treated worthily, for they are His image-bearers.
LOVING
WITHOUT AN AGENDA
We
are to love our neighbour; we are to love our MUSLIM neighbour. That doesn’t
mean we don’t seek opportunities to witness to Christ. According to the
Oxford dictionary, the word Islam means “submission” from Arabic 'aslama - ‘submit (to God)’; the Christian concept of a
Triune God in whom is embedded the dynamic of relationship and love and sharing
is quite different from the monolithic Allah of Islam, whose will is final and
must be submitted to. Muslims can only hope their good deeds will outweigh
their bad deeds on the day of judgment, they have no assurance of that, there
is no grace involved. So some aspects of Christianity would be very appealing.
But it’s important to build a relationship first, to establish trust.
An acquaintance posted on social
media this week a meme that said, “I really don’t talk to anybody how I used
to...All that friend [stuff] faded when I realized people only love you when
it’s beneficial.” Do we only love others when it’s ‘beneficial’, when we get
something out of it? Do we only love with an agenda?
Living in Huron County, it’s common
not to have Muslim neighbours – we’re not that diverse a population compared to
urban centres. So I reached out to my son Keith and daughter-in-law Darcie who
I knew had Muslim neighbours when they lived in Barrhaven,
a suburb south of Ottawa. Here are some questions I drafted and their
responses, to help us understand what loving a Muslim neighbour might look
like, practically speaking.
QUESTION: Can you describe (in the most general terms,
without identifying particulars) the Muslim neighbours you had -- e.g. number
in family, what they worked at, interests / hobbies you were aware of, how you
got to know them?
DARCIE:
Our three immediate neighbours in Barrhaven were
Muslim with varying degrees of observance. We interacted with all of them in
neighbourly ways - One family was a
young couple, another a bachelor who had
his mother arrange his marriage back in Pakistan, and a family of 5. We got to
see both young couples welcome their first child into their homes. // We got to
know them the way anyone gets to know their neighbours. The kids rode bikes on
our street with the other kids. They
drew roads, shopping malls, parking spots on our street in sidewalk chalk. They
ate freezies together in our front yard. Our neighbour right next to us happened to
smoke - and always did it outside - so we would chat while I watched the kids
from the front step. We'd chat with the
neighbour on the other side of us while he watered his lawn. // The family in
particular was lovely to interact with.
One day they were unloading after a grocery run and I happened to wave
hello to them. The dad came over and
gave me a whole box of mangoes. When we
moved away, they gifted our kids a new scooter! One day during Ramadan, the mom was calling
for her son to come inside because it was time for prayers and he wasn't
listening. She didn't have her hijab on,
and I could tell she was trying to decide what to do - so I just offered to get
the boy for her. She was so thankful -
she had been cleaning bathrooms and just didn't need one more thing to do.
QUESTION: What are some lifestyle patterns they took
part in that would likely be typical of most Muslims in Canada?
DARCIE:
I know there are Five Pillars to Islam, one being Ramadan - the 29 or 30 day
fast that takes place each year. It signifies the revealing of the Qu'ran to the prophet Mohammad. The second I have witnessed
my friends experience is Eid. There are
2 Eids: Little Eid or Eid al-Fitr
is the festival of breaking the fast at the end of Ramadan. The other and
longer festival is Eid al-Adha - the Festival of the
Sacrifice - which comes at the end of Hajj (the annual pilgrimage to Mecca).
This festival remembers the story of Abraham and the command to sacrifice his
son. Only in the Qu'ran, the son is Ishmael, not
Isaac.
KEITH:
I had a colleague at Christian Horizons who participated in Ramadan, as I
believe most Muslims do. Whether it is a practice like fasting until sundown or
praying multiple times a day, the way many Muslims practice their faith in
community has been an example to me of what dedication and community formation
can look like. It is reassuring to me that people also wrestle with their
religious practices as I do with mine - just because so many are faithful in
doing it does not mean it is easy, especially depending on people's jobs and
responsibilities. This past year with COVID, it took a lot of dedication for
Muslims who work in healthcare to keep their fast even though they might be
working long and tiring shifts at hospitals keeping people healthy and
well.
QUESTION: Nabeel Qureshi
emphasized that Muslim culture is especially integrated with their faith; would
you agree, or have seen any evidence of this?
DARCIE:
Absolutely. I had more in common with the Muslim homeschooling mamas than I did
with the secular ones. Faith is so important to them and their educational
philosophy. During an art lesson in a
Muslim home, the mom and I were talking about trying to integrate character
development into our curriculum. I
mentioned I was using a book by Clay and Sally Clarkson (24 Family Ways)
- and not only did she borrow it and supplement the Bible passages with others
from the Koran, she loved that she could show her kids, "Look, it isn't
just us! Other kids have to do this stuff too!" It was a humbling moment for me to see
someone who I had assumed wouldn't be interested in something Bible-based be so
open and engaged in exploring all avenues towards God. // That has been my
experience with all of the Muslim homeschool moms. Jesus is a historical figure
in their faith. The Bible is a holy
text. They definitely hold different
theological positions on who Jesus was - and I'm not entirely sure our Bibles
have all the same books, and hold the same place of honour on the bookshelf,
but they were passionate and open to learning and friendship and were highly
invested in the education of their children.
KEITH:
I believe that culture plays a significant role in all of our faith journeys.
Unfortunately for many of us it is an unconscious role, and adopting the norms
of the culture we find ourselves in often makes some of our behaviours and
thought patterns difficult to align with Jesus' Lordship in our lives. Racism,
sexism, ableism etc.are often implicit in our
cultural norms, and recognizing this is a first step in cultivating a
Jesus-shaped community life that refuses to bow to the cult of normalcy.
QUESTION: If we find ourselves sitting next to a
person who's a Muslim, what might be some avenues of approach in dialogue that
could open doorways to spiritual sharing and witness? (Are there ways in which
their beliefs might predispose them to interest in the Gospel, e.g. works /
grace, submission / freedom?) OR Topics best to avoid?
DARCIE:
Unless the Holy Spirit is literally compelling you to proselytize, I would say
don't worry about it. Just say hello, introduce yourself and comment on what
book they're reading, or the weather, or anything you would normally say to
someone at a bus stop or waiting in the dentist office.
KEITH:
Christians have too often gone for the "short game" of attempting
quick conversions. These don't tend to last (although God occasionally works in
mysterious ways). Instead I try to practice the presence of Christ in a space,
as Jesus may have something for me to learn about faithfulness, empathy, or
love from the person who I'm with. Often this means asking questions if the
opportunity presents itself, because people are fascinating and complex and I'm
likely to learn something. Or, I might just keep quiet as an introvert. God's
still working on me :)
QUESTION: Were there initiatives you took in terms of
reaching out that seemed to start to bridge the gap and were well received in
the direction of forming a relationship?
DARCIE:
There was no agenda in my becoming friends with these people. It is hard to
know who initiated the friendships, because they happened organically, by
having a common interest or goal, by proximity, by some shared experiences and
honest conversation. Never did they try to convert me, and I never tried to
convert them. But we were able to talk openly and honestly about our own faith
and experiences, values and traditions. I learned a lot about what foods they
could eat, which ones they couldn't, and which fell into a grey area (since
most of our meetings were potlucks). // I learned a bit about the assumptions
made about them. How people would assume they weren't Canadian, but immigrants.
How people think the hijab is oppressive and how they oppress women. Most of
them were highly educated, with advanced degrees. All of them wore a hijab. // If you want to
know how to love your Muslim neighbour, you have to stop trying to research
them and start talking to them. You can love them by speaking up when someone
makes an unfair assumption about them. You can step in if you see someone being
teased or harassed because of how they dress. You can start by saying hello and
building a friendship based on common interests - they honestly aren't that
hard to find. Just be open and curious. Ask questions. I think the best way to love your Muslim
neighbour was summed up in a story one of my friends posted on social media the
other day. She wrote, "I shared
with my neighbour my teen's fear of walking outside. She replied, ‘I will walk
with her.’ And for that, this mama's broken heart is grateful and hopeful.
" Our goal as Christians should be
just that - to be the neighbour that brings gratitude and hope to those around
us.
QUESTION: How does the 'imago Dei' in every person
call for our respect and esteem, even for those that are very different from us
and may not share our belief system?
KEITH:
In terms of our belief in the Imago Dei, we have a lot more in common with Jews
and Muslims than not. We share many of the same stories around how the world
came to be and how God created us in His image. In interfaith settings, I am so
often struck by the way these conversations strengthen my understanding of my
own faith along with learning about the faith of others. Whereas so much of the
world operates from a materialistic framework, there is a respect and a wonder
that we share with several other faith traditions about how incredible it is to
receive our lives and our humanity as a gift to be shared with others. Then, as
a Christian, I am further captivated at the thought that through Christ we were
all created and through his incarnation we receive a new way to be human
together - a way that doesn't bowl others over but seeks to love my neighbour
and learn how to love them better each day, no matter the differences we might
encounter.
Let’s
pray...
We
bless You, Heavenly Father, for being Who You are – Three-in-One, a loving
personal community since before the world began. Thank You for sending Jesus to
suffer and die so we might be forgiven and brought into that precious, dear
fellowship. You have SO loved us sinners despite all our faults!
We
thank You for our neighbours, whether Muslim or other faith background. Deepen
our relationship with them, that they might begin to see some of Your love
within us as they interact with us. Guide our conversation, so we may come
across as true friends, not bent on an agenda, but sharing Your very real love
and hope and grace. Draw them to Yourself and show them Jesus is the One who
can truly save them and give them assurance of eternal life. In His name we
pray, Amen.
OUR
IDENTITY CRISIS, AND THE DAD DEARTH
“Who
am I?” That’s one of the most important questions in life, the question of
IDENTITY. It’s natural to look to others to help us understand who we are,
we’re constantly alert for clues as to what makes us different, how we stand
out from the rest as unique.
The period of isolation during the
pandemic has probably accentuated this need to come to know who we are, as
connection with others has been so limited. In a recent Carey Nieuwhof podcast, author and pastor Tim Keller was
emphasizing the church needs to be prepared to help people with identity
issues. From the notes: “they need to have a clear answer for
these...Identity Heresies: The Therapeutic/Individualistic Misplacements –
where your identity is found in chasing down whatever your deepest desires are;
The Progressive/Victim Misplacement – where your identity is found in whatever
minority group you’re in, and how you’ve been oppressed.”
Our parents can play a big role in
helping us find our identity. For one thing, they give us a NAME. Sometimes we
receive other names, such as nicknames from our buddies, but our name is a
significant part of our identity. Often family members use other labels or
adjectives to refer to us or describe us, some complimentary (such as
“speedy”), others not (such as “slowpoke”).
Dads can have a role in forming a
child’s identity that is different from that of a mother. Psychiatrist Margaret
Mahler developed the “Separation-Individuation” theory of identity formation.
She described the “symbiotic phase” up to 5 months of age in which the child
was aware of their mother but lacks a sense of individuality. When the child
begins to crawl and then walk, the infant begins to explore actively and
becomes more distant from the mother. By 18 months, they’re aware of themselves
as separate and distinct from the mother. By 2-3 years, they have a strong
sense of themselves as separate persons (it’s known as the “terrible twos” for
a reason!).
What about Dad’s involvement? Researchers have found the father’s support is
valuable for the infant’s long-term identity development. According to Winnicott (1960), the father’s role with the newborn is
protecting the mother/child relationship. A strong relationship between the
father and mother provides security and safety for the infant. According to
attachment theory, a secure relationship is essential to healthy development
(Bowlby, 1988). The father...functions as an important figure that can assist
the child in separating from the mother and provide a bridge into the world
(Mahler & Gosliner, 1955). One way the father can
do this is by spending time with the infant away from the mother (Bowlby 1969; Trowell, 2002). An infant who lacks the assistance of a
third figure may struggle to emerge from the maternal relationship (Greenspan,
1982).
Unfortunately too many homes in our
culture lack a father’s presence. The National Fatherhood Initiative points out
the following based on United States statistics:
-
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.5 million children, more than 1 in 4,
live without a father in the home.
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Children who live with their dads do better in school.
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adolescent / teen boys who live with their dads are less likely to carry guns
and deal drugs
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children living without their father in the home are more likely to live in
poverty (47% rate, over four times as much as those in homes with married
couples)
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daughters are less likely to engage in risky secual
behaviour when they have consistent contact, and a sense of closeness, with
their dads
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men with absent fathers are more likely to become absent fathers; and,
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women with absent fathers are more likely to have children with absent fathers
(see more stats and particulars at fatherhood.org)
Sometimes we dads fall guilty to the
charge of being ‘absent’ even when we’re physically present. A study was done
to determine the amount of interaction between fathers and their small
children. First, the fathers were asked to estimate the amount of time they
spent each day with the child. The average answer was about fifteen to twenty
minutes. Next, microphones were attached to the father so that each interaction
could be recorded. The results of this study were shocking: The average amount
of time spent by these middle-class fathers with their small children was
thirty-seven seconds per day. Their direct interaction was limited to 2.7
encounters daily, lasting ten to fifteen seconds each!
Our fathers play a significant and
valuable role in helping us know who we are, in “naming” us / helping us become
individuated. Our parents are our originators so they have a special place, a
right, to assist in our identification.
When he’s talking about praying in
Ephesians 3, the Apostle Paul uses an interesting phrase to describe our
Heavenly Father: Eph 3:14f “For this reason I bow my
knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes
its name.” [NRSV] God is the Creator of all, so our being derives from Him. For
those who trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, God’s Holy Spirit has given us
birth ‘again from above’, twice-born, to become God’s own children in a
spiritual sense. Fundamentally we need to be learning our identity, who we are,
from HIM who made us.
In today’s story from the Book of
Acts we see Peter becoming ‘individuated’, owning the name the Lord has given
him – as Peter acknowledges the name of the one and only Saviour.
FROM
SIMON TO CEPHAS
Simon
Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples from the very start. His brother Andrew heard
John the Baptist point out Jesus as the Lamb of God and spent the day with him.
Then, John 1:41f “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and
tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).And he
brought him to Jesus.Jesus looked at him and said,
"You are Simon son of John.You will be called
Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).” Both ‘Simon’ and ‘Cephas’ in
the original Greek mean ‘rock’.
But Peter didn’t become rock-solid
in his devotion to Christ right away. Yes there was a high point in Matthew 16
when Jesus queried the disciples as to His own identity. Mt 16:15-18 “"But
what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter
answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus
replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed
to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.And I tell you
that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
Hades will not overcome it.” Hmm, Simon’s believing declaration of confidence
in Christ makes him a rock – and God would use Peter at Pentecost to preach and
convince many to follow the Risen Lord. Hell won’t overcome those whose
identity is established by Christ.
But if you know the story of Peter,
you also know he was the one who failed to stand up for Jesus when real testing
came. Like the other disciples, Peter ran for his life when Jesus was arrested
in the garden, and Jesus commanded them not to fight with the sword. Then while
trying to get close to the trial proceedings, Peter denied three times he even
know Jesus. Remember when they were introduced, Jesus ‘looked at’ Simon? Luke
uses the same Greek word right after Peter denies His Master: Lk 22:61 “The
Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.Then Peter
remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows
today, you will disown me three times."”
At the Last Supper Peter had boasted
that even if all the others fell away, he (Peter) would not (Mark 14:29). Peter
had insisted emphatically, Mark 14:31 “Even if I have to die with you, I will
never disown you.” But his words turned out to be so much hot air. He turned
out to be a waffle rather than a rock.
Something very significant happens
in John 21. It’s after the resurrection, and Jesus has prepared a breakfast on
shore for the disciples who were out fishing. After breakfast He takes Peter
aside and three times, with relentless repetition, asks Peter: “Do your truly
love me more than these?” then, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” and
again, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter is hurt by the obvious
repetition and parallelism to his own denials. But he answers affirmatively,
upon which Jesus re-commissions him: “Feed my lambs...Take care of my
sheep...Feed my sheep.” Christ re-affirms His call to Peter, this waffler who
is in process of being chiseled into a rock, to follow Him.
So, Jesus does not just toss a
nickname Peter’s way and then stand aloof. He interacts with him, shapes him,
very intentionally draws him aside one-on-one to ‘rub off’ on him,
life-on-life; that’s part of formation and discipleship, even for one who has
failed Him at a crucial moment. Such grace! Such love and commitment, to one
others might flee from as a “flake”!
BY
WHAT NAME?
By
the time we come to Acts 4, Peter has been an eye-witness to the Resurrected
Jesus; he ran with John to verify Mary Magdalene’s account of the empty tomb
with his own eyes. Jesus seems to have appeared to Peter privately, based on
Paul’s account in 1Corinthians 15:5, and the disciples replying to those coming
from the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:34. There’s been the breakfast on the beach
episode, and the ascension, not to mention other encounters which others saw as
well. Peter KNOWS what his eyes have beheld, there’s no denying it now.
In Acts 3 Peter helped a man who’d
been lame over 40 years to stand up and walk. Now he’s hauled up before the
Sanhedrin who are having a formal inquiry. It’s an impressive court: the
Sanhedrin was made up of 24 priests, 24 elders, and 22 scribes (or teachers of
the law), a total of 70 officials. These were the very authorities who
initiated the proceedings that resulted in Jesus’ death. Even Pilate the Roman
governor caved in to the pressure when they started inciting a mob to demand
Jesus’ crucifixion. Wouldn’t you be intimidated what they might do to you?
Acts 4:7 “They had Peter and John
brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what
name did you do this?"” By what NAME? What authority? Other Jewish
magicians used incantations to work wonders, what hidden power might you be
invoking?
Peter is not cowed by their
intimidation. I imagine him looking around at them and stretching up to his
full stature. Luke the author notes Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit”
(v8a) before speaking to them. This was the moment Jesus had been preparing
them for back in Matthew 10:19f, “But when they arrest you, do not worry about
what to say or how to say it.At that time you will be
given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your
Father speaking through you.”
That promise is for ALL of Jesus’
followers, not just the first disciples! Can you trust HIM to give you what to
say when you are questioned?
Now comes the moment God has been
preparing Peter for all along. No waffling this time! He’s standing on the
Rock. First, note how Peter puts the ludicrousness of the official inquiry in
perspective: Acts 4:8b-9, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to
them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account
today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was
healed...” As in – is this really the sort of crime that should occupy a
court’s time and resources, when a lame man can walk again? What kind of crime
is that? If that’s all that’s the matter, what are the hidden motives in your
putting us on trial? Don’t you have more worthwhile matters to prosecute than
an undebatably good deed?
Then, in a sudden stroke of genius
and divine inspiration, the accused becomes the prosecutor: those holding court
suddenly find themselves put on trial and found guilty. V10 “then know this,
you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man
stands before you healed.” The NAME at issue is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They
ought to know Him – He’s the very One they executed scarcely two months
previously. “WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED” – there it is, the charge against them: the
“you” is emphatic in the original grammar. Robinson’s Word Pictures comments,
“Too good a chance to miss, and so Peter boldly charges the Sanhedrin with
responsibility for the death of Jesus.” What guts! To pin the very
‘authorities’ who’ve put you on trial! Yet it’s not just Peter exposing their
true colours. “Whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead...” It’s
not Peter’s word against theirs: God proved Jesus to be Messiah by the
resurrection Peter and many others (over 500 according to Paul’s account in
1Corinthians 15) can attest to with their own eyes!
Note the shift here – Peter is not
on the hot seat, it’s what God has been doing. Peter is just God’s
spokesperson, a mere witness to what the Lord had done. The Sanhedrin could not
‘push Peter’s buttons’ on this because it wasn’t really about him or John at
all. God was on the hot seat – and had turned the tables, announcing the charges
against the Sanhedrin for crucifying an innocent man, in fact the Son of God
sent to save the nation.
Peter calls an invisible attestor to the witness stand: Holy Scripture. V11 “He is
‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’” Mind you,
Peter gets no credit for originality here: Jesus had applied the very same
Scripture, Isaiah 28:16, to Himself back in Matthew 21:42 – in the hearing of
many of the same chief priests and Pharisees. Its truth had come back to haunt
them. Jesus had added as a warning, Mt 21:44 “He who falls on this stone will
be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Peter’s name means “rock” or
“stone”, but Peter had learned to stand on the real Rock. His name and
character were becoming derivative from Jesus the true Rock, he wasn’t going to
waffle now.
The transformation is astonishing.
Skip down to Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and
realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they
took note that these men had been with Jesus.” What ‘individuated’ these men?
They were unschooled, ‘ordinary’, unremarkable. The same Life that rubbed off
on them in their ‘ordinariness’ can rub off on you in your feeling obscure,
insignificant, unexceptional. That mystery factor? As it says, “These men had
BEEN WITH JESUS.” To discover your true self, that hidden potential to grow
into your true ‘name’ – the person God most especially designed you to be –
spend time with Jesus. Listen to His voice, not the voices of culture, or even
those negative voices closer to you that have put you down like ‘slowpoke’ or
‘stupid’. Peter was living proof.
THE
NAME LIKE NO OTHER
And
so we come to v12, one of the most breathtaking and spectacular claims in all
the Bible, one that sets Christians at odds with other cultures and idols still
today. It’s an exclusive-sounding verse: but then other religions make
exclusive claims, so that shouldn’t rule it out in itself. An exclusive claim
is only to be rejected if it is untrue; but if it IS true, other exclusive
claims that run counter to it are to be rejected, they can’t BOTH be true.
Someone once challenged Ravi
Zacharias about the law of non-contradiction, objecting that it was a so-called
‘western’ way of thinking. That law maintains if something is true, then the
opposite of it is false; for example, if an animal is a cat, the same animal
cannot be not a cat. The objector said that in ‘eastern’ thinking, two opposite
statements CAN both be true. Ravi, who grew up in India, responded: “Look, in
India, we still look both ways before we cross the street – it’s either me OR
the bus, not both!”
Back to Peter’s exclusive claim that
sets theological liberals’ and universalists’ teeth on edge: Acts 4:12
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved.” No one else; no other name. They had
crucified Jesus; their very sin is eliminating and rejecting the singular
Saviour or Messiah God had sent to deliver sinners from condemnation and hell.
It’s a singular NAME. Back up a bit
to end of v9, they had asked “how he [the lame man] was HEALED...” The Greek
verb is sozo, to save / make whole / heal. The name
of Jesus is literally Yeshua, YHWH-saves. All Peter’s
saying is that its by the name of Jesus / Yeshua /
God-saves / God-heals that this man stands before you healed / whole. The
capacity, the power to save and make whole, is branded right into Jesus’ very
name. There is salvation / healing / wholeness found in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved / made
whole.
It is an exceptional claim, an
exclusive claim, one that cannot co-exist with a philosophy of “many paths up
the mountain” or the relativism that holds all religions are equally valid, if
it works for you fill your boots, just don’t bother me. To suppose that
Hinduism or Islam or Christianity can all co-exist and be objectively true is
an affront to Hinduism or Islam just as much as it’s an affront to Christianity:
all the great religions of the world make exclusive claims. So you’d better
choose wisely, they can’t all be true. Look both ways, it’s either you OR the
bus, but not both!
So Peter stands ready to die, as
he’s there on trial before the very court that condemned His Teacher. He knows
the ground, the Rock, upon which he stands. Upon what ground are YOU standing?
Does it supply you with that kind of astonishing, jaw-dropping courage? How do
you know?
PUTTING
IT ALL ON THE LINE
Peter
puts it all on the line. In many ways, being a good father requires us to do
the same, to be prepared to give it all up. Fathering offers dads an
opportunity to ‘disciple’ their kids at the most intimate level, day in day
out, 24/7. Done well, it reaps tremendous rewards, and can be one of the most
fulfilling and rewarding roles in life.
A Focus on the Family article is titled, “Fathers Encourage Identity
Development.” It notes, “According to psychologist Erik Erikson, childhood
development is primarily a process whereby kids gain a sense of personal
identity through interaction with other people.It all
begins the moment Baby comes home from the hospital, and Dad is one of the
earliest and most important players in the drama. Fathers encourage identity development and
teach values when they help to shape the hearts and minds of their children.This happens by simply engaging with them and
being themselves in their presence.That could lead to
a variety of outcomes, of course.It all depends on
who Dad is and how he conducts himself.But one
thing’s certain: Dads teach values by
being present, caring, and involved who consciously and intentionally strive to
live out their commitments, beliefs, and values in front of their kids.If a father does his job well, his children will be
drawing upon the strength and goodness of his example for the rest of their
lives.”
Dads encourage identity development
– they help their kids find out who they are, what their real NAME is.
It
says they teach values “by being present, caring, and involved...” Peter and
John had BEEN WITH Jesus; good fathering requires ‘being with’ our kids –
present, caring, and involved.
A young man stood before a judge to
be sentenced for forgery. The judge had been a friend of the boy’s father, who
was famous for his books on the law of trusts. The judge said sternly, “Young
man, do you remember your father, that father whom you have disgraced?” The
young man answered quietly, “I remember him perfectly.When
I went to him for advice or companionship, he would say, ‘Run away, boy, I’m
busy.’ Well, my father finished his book, and here I am.”
A positive example to wrap
up...You’ve probably heard of a certain financial firm called H&R Block.
Some time back Tom Block resigned as Chief Executive Officer of H&R Block,
the $1.7 billion tax preparation firm, to become a teacher at St.Francis Xavier middle school in Kansas City, Missouri.
His annual salary suddenly dropped to about three percent of his old salary.
But Block knew his hectic schedule as CEO had been interfering with his top
priority: his wife and their two sons. He said, "The hardest part was
telling my father. But I didn't want to look back on my life and say, 'Gee, you
had an opportunity to play a bigger role in your children's lives and didn't
take it.'"
Let’s pray. Thank You Father God for
granting Peter a filling with Your Spirit so he could boldly proclaim the truth
about Jesus’ saving power. Put the name of Jesus upon us so profoundly that we
find our identity in You, we know our name because we are resting upon that
singular name that saves and makes whole. Help us be done with lesser idols, so
we may better love and give ourselves to our family and to strangers, whomever
we meet – ready to share the goodness we’ve come to experience in You! In
Christ’s name, Amen.
[WE WILL NOW MOVE TO THE LORD’S
TABLE - SO PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO GATHER YOUR ELEMENTS, YOUR BREAD AND CUP,
FOR COMMUNION TOGETHER.]
PUT
SOME TACT IN YOUR CONTACT
Acts
8:35 NLT “So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News
about Jesus.” We have GOOD NEWS to share – that’s called “evangelism”: but when
it comes right down to it, many of us are nervous and reluctant about sharing
our faith. It’s been noted that in regard to evangelism many believers are like
the Arctic River: frozen at the mouth! The hardest thing seems to be to open our
mouth to get the first word out.
Another barrier we can run into is
our jargon: it’s possible to fail to communicate the Good News to non-believers
because we use terms they don’t use, or use in a different way. For example:
Evangelist:
“Are you a member of the Christian family?”
Store
clerk: “No, they live two miles down the road, the white house on the left.”
Evangelist:
“Let me try again – Are you lost?”
Store
clerk: “No, I’ve lived in this town for over 30 years now; I know right where I
am.”
Evangelist
(now getting slightly exasperated): “Let me put it this way – are you ready for
the Judgment Day?”
Store
Clerk: “When will it be?”
Evangelist
(finally feeling hopeful like he’s getting somewhere): “Could be today, could
be tomorrow!”
Store
Clerk: “Well, when you know exactly, be sure to let me know; my wife will
probably want to go on both days.” (!)
It’s July now, we’re in Step 2 of
Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopen, and things are finally starting to open up again.
People are getting keen to travel. My flight from Calgary to Toronto last
Sunday was jam-packed full. After 18 months of shutdown, Porter airlines
announced it will be resuming service to 8 Canadian and 4 US cities this fall.
People are FINALLY able to access
personal care services once more, getting their post-lockdown locks shorn. My
wife’s salon was humming this past week, with customers keen to get their hair
done.
Speaking of hairdressers, did you
hear about the barber who was newly saved and was eager to witness to his
experience with Jesus Christ? As he met his first customer the next day, he was
sharpening his straight razor on the leather strop. As he stood there waving
the razor back and forth sharper and sharper, he began his evangelistic
approach by inquiring of his customer, “Are you ready to die?” Probably some
startling thoughts went through the customer’s mind viewing the finely honed
razor. As has been said, “If we don’t use TACT, we may lose CONTACT.”
In today’s lesson from Acts 8, we
find motivation for and an illustration of sensitive evangelism. Philip not
only finds a best way to approach his audience, he also provides next steps for
the Ethiopian man to continue his faith journey fruitfully.
TIPPING
EVANGELISM IN OUR FAVOUR: GOD HAS LAID THE GROUNDWORK
A
bit of context before we begin. Back in Acts 1 after the resurrection the
disciples asked Jesus if now was going to be the time when the kingdom was
restored to Israel (1:6). Jesus’ answer blows the concept of territorial
political kingdom out of the water and points to a global initiative that’s
just beginning: Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” You get the idea of gospel influence spreading
in ever-expanding circles until the whole planet is reached!
In the next chapter, Pentecost
happens; Jews visiting Jerusalem for an annual harvest festival hear Peter
preach the first post-Ascension sermon and thousands soon become
Jesus-followers. A new spiritual community starts to form; miracles happen;
religious leaders express consternation and condemnation, with Stephen the
first martyr being stoned by Acts 7. A man named Saul who’s entrusted with the
coats of those casting the stones overhears Stephen’s speech, and begins to
ruthlessly hunt down and imprison members of the early church. He doesn’t know
it yet, but Saul will turn out to be a key agent in bringing the message of
Christ before governors and even the emperor in far-off Rome.
In response to the persecution,
believers flee Jerusalem, taking the gospel with them and continuing to share
it with others. Philip preaches in Samaria, some 30 miles north of Jerusalem,
and many are converted. Even a powerful sorcerer named Simon believes and is
baptized. Church leaders in Jerusalem hear what’s happening in Samaria and send
Peter and John who lay hands on and pray for the new believers to receive the
Holy Spirit.
The gospel influence is rapidly
expanding – Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
About 500 miles upstream from the
mouth of the Nile River in Egypt is found the northern edge of the kingdom of
Ethiopia, also known as Nubia, at Aswan (the first cataract); it extends to
Khartoum in the south, with its capital Meroe built on a large island in the
Nile over a thousand miles from Jerusalem. Is it possible this could be the
next region to hear about Jesus? Well, even though it’s the first century,
Roman roads have made it possible for people to be on the move. God is about to
arrange a divine appointment for Philip that will have long-lasting effects on
this distant nation of dark-skinned people.
Vv26-27a “Now an angel of the Lord
said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road— the desert road— that goes down from
Jerusalem to Gaza.’ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian
eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen
of the Ethiopians.”
Note Philip MADE HIMSELF AVAILABLE.
He’d been preaching up around Samaria, well north of Jerusalem, but now was to
relocate quite a bit to the south. He was obedient and made the move. Timing
was critical: if he’d delayed a day, he wouldn’t have made the appointment.
Who does he meet? An important
official – in fact keeper of the purse for an entire nation. In Ethiopia the
king was regarded as a child of the sun-god and thus too sacred to be involved
in daily affairs, so these were handled by the queen mother, whose title was
‘the Candace’ or ‘prince of servants’. This Ethiopian traveling official was a
eunuch, emasculated, unable to have children (as was often the custom for
officials in ancient times – I guess it made them less of a risk). So the Lord
was arranging for Philip to be able to speak into the life of someone high up
in government in a foreign land.
Let’s carry on and read 27b-29:
“This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in
his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.The
Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’” Do you see God’s
hand at work already, preparing for witness? Way before Philip met the man,
factors were being brought to bear that could make the official receptive to
the gospel. He had traveled by land without a motor vehicle over a thousand
miles to Jerusalem in order to worship. Now, when he got there, he had come so
far but could not go the final few yards: eunuchs were not viewed as ‘full
people’ and were barred from the temple, for as the law of Moses held in
Deuteronomy 23:1 “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may
enter the assembly of the LORD.”
Today in the era of the internet,
information is cheap. In the days of the printing press post-Gutenberg, you
still had to pay to buy a book or a newspaper, there was a cost. Back in the
first century, there were NO printing presses and no internet: books were very
expensive, taking the form of scrolls laboriously hand-copied. But the official
not only was devout enough to travel all the way to Jerusalem, he invested
significant funds to purchase a copy of this scroll, the book of the prophet
Isaiah.
God was at work! He had the man in
the right place. He had prompted the man to buy the scroll and be reading it.
The Spirit prompted Philip to meet him on the road, and then to approach the
chariot, probably hitching a ride by hopping up on the running-board.
Do you pray for your eyes to be open
to divine appointments? We never know just how God has been at work in the
private lives of people we meet.
Sometimes strangers may be more
familiar with God’s actions in history than we might expect. Last Sunday I
arrived in seat 12E on my Air Canada flight from Calgary to Toronto after
considerable uncertainty. The night before I had gone to check in online only
to find I was listed on ‘standby’, even though I’d bought my ticket back on May
27. After about an hour and 20 minutes on hold on the phone I sprung the extra
$34 for a seat upgrade to the bulkhead, about a minute before an agent finally
came on the line and assured me I had a seat and refunded the extra cost.
However the boarding pass they printed for me the next day at the airport still
said ‘standby’ – staff suggested I speak to the agent at the counter when the
gate opened. So I finally arrived at seat 12E on a full flight, thankful I
hadn’t been left back waiting in the terminal!
I introduced myself to the passenger
on the window side of me. She had spoken to her friend a row behind in a
language that was neither English nor French: she explained it was Farsi, and
she was originally from Iran. It turns out this Toronto-area woman is a
professional teacher with a Master’s degree who’s working on a second Master’s
in the field of education. She teaches ESL (English as a Second Language)
online to students all over the world, including China!
You just never know who you’re going
to bump into, where they’re from, what their qualifications are, what the range
of their sphere of impact might be. Philip had his Ethiopian official. I had my
Canadian-Iranian ESL teacher. Whom might you be rubbing shoulders with?
As we talked, it came out that I was
a pastor of a church, which I had to explain what that involved. She commented
how the Bible like the Koran is important for a full understanding of
literature, especially English literature. Later, she disclosed she had in fact
read four books of the Bible – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John!
What a SETUP! God was already at
work in this woman’s life, it would seem. I was able to mention about the
relationships between the 4 gospels and Jesus’ life, how Matthew and Luke
seemed to add teaching details to Mark’s basic outline of the actions of Jesus,
and how John took an altogether different approach. That would have been a good
point to talk about Jesus’ 7 “I AM” sayings in the book of John.
The Spirit of God is at work in
people’s lives even before we meet them. There is a HUMAN HOLE: God has
HARDWIRED US TO HUNT FOR MEANING AND MORALITY. Eccles 3:11b “He has made
everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of
men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” This
‘setting eternity in the hearts’ of people moves every person to ask questions
like, Why am I here? What’s the purpose of life? What’s right and wrong? Where
do we go when we die? This is Augustine’s “Thou hast made us for thyself, O
Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” There was a
famous scientist Blaise Pascal – whose name is used now for units measuring
barometric pressure! Pascal wrote: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of
each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the
Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
God’s Spirit is at work even before
we arrive on the scene. God has also hard-wired each person for Himself,
booby-trapping them with an inbuilt hidden hunger for spiritual truth and
reality, for life to have meaning.
Once we got into the air and had
conversed some, my fellow passenger prepared to watch a movie. She recommended
I watch an animated one called “Soul” which is about a teacher whose dream is
to become a jazz musician; it deals with the meaning and purpose of life, the
“great beyond” and the “great before”, how people are given their unique
‘spark’. Here again, even in the movie choice recommended by my cabin-mate, we
have modern culture wrestling with the ‘big questions’ of what’s life all
about? The existential angst of possibly missing one’s calling, what we’re
‘built’ for. The Good News about Jesus would have lots to say about that!
JESUS’
APPROACHABILITY AND VULNERABILITY
Philip
overhears the Ethiopian official reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, a passage
from the prophet Isaiah. This would be from the Greek Septuagint, a translation
into the commercial international trading language of the day. Philip asks if
he understand what he’s reading; the man invites Philip to sit with him. The
official then asks Philip just who the prophet is talking about. Vv32b-33 “The
eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: ‘He was led like a sheep to the
slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his
mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his
descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.’” Bible in Basic English
translates v33, “Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who
has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth.”
Do you suppose our eunuch could
relate to Jesus’ being ‘cut off’? He couldn’t have a family; Jesus was
crucified as a single man, without a family – but His descendants would be
those who are born again into God’s family by faith. Could a eunuch relate to
this person Isaiah’s writing about in terms of ‘humiliation...deprived of
justice’? Life sometimes just doesn’t seem fair! Jesus was a perfectly innocent
man, never even committing a single sin, not a political threat, but
nevertheless condemned to death by a hastily-arranged kangaroo court. But Jesus
conducted Himself quietly, like a sheep not even bleating when it’s about to be
shorn. Jesus was a friend of sinners; children sensed this gentleness, mothers
brought their children to Him in order that He might bless them. Jesus in His
humility is approachable, relatable, He understands what we’re going through,
when life seems unfair and ‘broken’ He ‘gets us’. And helps us cope and even
overcome.
As we become disciples who make
disciples, we even become regenerative, we can beget a ‘spiritual family’ which
is exactly what Philip was doing. By being obedient and listening and offering
to interpret what the official was reading, Philip was about to beget a
spiritual ‘son’ who lived over a thousand miles away in a foreign country, and
whose skin colour was very different from his own. Note the gospel’s great
INCLUSIVENESS: the Jewish law allowed a eunuch to come so close but no closer;
Christ welcomed even someone whose physical configuration had been permanently
damaged. This is a Saviour for EVERYONE – He relates to our most severe and
life-altering human hurts, the abuses we’ve suffered, all that would tempt us
to become bitter and unforgiving. His grace can heal whatever others have done
to us, and give us a fresh start.
NEXT
STEPS: ENCOURAGING ACTS OF OBEDIENCE
Philip
must have included in his gospel presentation not just the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus, but also Jesus’ call for people to believe in Him as
Lord and Saviour, signified by the rite of baptism. Vv35-36 “Then Philip began
with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As
they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
‘Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?’” He wouldn’t have asked
unless Philip had somehow indicated it was a logical next step in the journey
of faith.
Our gospel presentation must
describe more than just spiritual principles that can receive mental assent. As
James puts it, James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the
demons believe that— and shudder.” Correct belief flows naturally into godly
ACTION. Baptism is an ordinance commanded by our Lord Jesus that is an outward
sign of inward grace, a declaration to others that we are now followers of
Jesus and belong to Him. Baptism is a first step of obedience to Jesus as Lord.
His Great Commandment is not a suggestion, but requires response if we really
acknowledge His authority as Lord. Mt 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and
said, "All AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth has been given to me.THEREFORE go and make disciples of all nations,
BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you.And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."” Baptism and
obeying commands is linked by the ‘therefore’ to His authority – ‘all authority
in heaven and on earth.’
Vv38-39 “And he gave orders to stop
the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and
Philip baptized him.When they came up out of the
water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not
see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” Incidentally, it seems that
baptism by immersion is implied here - they ‘went down into’ the water and
‘came up out of’ the water.
Ideally, when we’re discipling someone, there’s an extended opportunity for
life-on-life encounters, we can keep meeting with them and sharing more
in-depth about the basics of the Christian walk, praying with them, exploring
key Bible passages together, encouraging them in challenges they may be facing
in their new life in Christ. In Philip’s case, he is ‘snatched away’ much the
same way Christians are spoken of being snatched away in the Rapture when Jesus
returns (1Thess 4:17). The others in the caravan must have found that
startling, a divine confirmation of the legitimacy of Philip’s ambassadorship.
The official went on his way rejoicing, so it seems he was already equipped by
the Holy Spirit and the Bible (his Isaiah scroll). Christians in Ethiopia trace
their church’s history back to this individual, so in that sense his spiritual
‘descendants’ became countless!
Evangelism ultimately doesn’t create
lasting dependence, but equips the new believer to continue their faith-walk on
their own, to stand on their own two feet, praying on their own, studying God’s
Word for themselves, becoming ‘self-feeders’. As for my fellow passenger, she
made note of the Bible app I recommended (YouVersion)
so she could continue reading more of Scripture, and she took down the name of
our church’s website where I encouraged her to tune in and find our weekly
sermons and other resources. I hope she does! We want others with whom we share
Jesus’ Good News to also ‘go on their way rejoicing’.
MIND
YOUR BUSINESS
Evangelist
Vance Havner was once preaching at Moody Bible
Institute’s Founder’s Week. Havner said, “Evangelism
is to Christianity what veins are to our bodies.You
can cut Christianity anywhere and it’ll bleed evangelism. Evangelism is
vascular, it’s our business. Talk about majoring on evangelism, you might as
well talk about a doctor majoring on healing. That’s our business.”
The following is probably a bit
bolder than most of us would be, but illustrates Havner’s
point. Once when walking down a street in Chicago, DL Moody found himself next
to a man who was a perfect stranger to him. But he asked the man, “Sir, are you
a Christian?” The man retorted, “You mind your own business!” Whereupon Moody
said, “This IS my business.”
I like Moody’s boldness. However in
our passage I also like Philip’s tact and sensitivity. He starts where the
person’s AT – coming up alongside, listening, offering to assist. The official
says, “How can I [understand], unless someone EXPLAINS it to me?” NRSV “guides”
/ leads the way. As we come alongside people and really give them our
attention, listening carefully to their hurts and hassles, we will start to see
where Jesus could relate to what they’re experiencing. “Philip began with that
very passage of Scripture” – start where they’re at, what’s the “God-shaped
hole” they’re trying to fill with something less satisfactory?
A Mississippi riverboat was passing
another vessel. The captain grabbed the first passenger he saw and said, “Look,
look, over there on the other boat – look at its captain.” The passenger was
somewhat bewildered and asked, “Why do you want me to look at that captain?
What makes him so special?” Then the captain told him the sotry
of how he had collided one night with another boat. His own vessel was
foundering and in the process he was thrown overboard. The captain of the other
vessel saw his desperate plight and maneuvered close enough that he was able to
dive into the water and save his life.
After telling the story, the
once-saved captain then turned to the bystander and said, “Ever since that day,
I want to point out my rescuer to others.” Likewise, as those who have been
saved, secured, and loved by Jesus, we will want to tell others about him:
treasuring Him as the best thing in our life, sharing the Good News will become
a natural outflow of caring for others and hearing their hurts and hankerings
for help. Let’s pray.
Thank You Father for arranging that
divine appointment for Philip, converting the official, helping Him find
lasting wholeness and significance, touching a far-off country with Your grace
by His obedient witness. Lord, make us sensitive to encounters where Your
Spirit is prompting us to share the goodness we’ve found in You with others who
need You so much. We want them too to ‘go on their way rejoicing’ because
they’ve found You. Start setting up our appointments, we pray! In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
BEYOND
OUR BEST ANALOGIES: IDENTITY YET INTERPENETRABILITY
We’re
beginning a new series based on the Seven Sayings or Markers in the Way of
Jesus. Today we look at “Depending on the Spirit of Jesus in My Journey”. When
we better understand the role of God’s Spirit to guide and empower our life, we
will be less likely to be drawn aside into the pitfalls of counterfeits – idols
that promise to satisfy us and appeal to our passions but really don’t deliver.
The Holy Spirit can be a mysterious
topic, difficult to explain. Various analogies get used to try to picture it.
At Jesus’ baptism, we see God the Son being baptized, God the Father speaking
words of affirmation from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove –
the Holy Trinity in action. Yet even that illustration is complex.
Dorothy Sayers once told of a
Japanese convert struggling to grasp Christian theology. He said to his
missionary teacher: “Honourable Father, very good.Honorable
Son, very good.But Honorable Bird, I do not
understand at all.”
The Trinity is not neatly
cut-and-dried. There’s a degree of mystery as to how the relationships work. We
want to try to IDENTIFY who the Holy Spirit is, but we run up against the
INTERPENETRABILITY that’s going on within the Godhead. (There’s a big
8-syllable word for you! Inter-penetra-bility.) It doesn’t fit neatly into our logical categories,
yet the Bible affirms this sharing between the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.
For example, Luke the author of Acts
can at first speak of the “Holy Spirit”, yet in the next breath he calls it
instead “the Spirit of Jesus”. Acts 16:6f “Paul and his companions traveled
throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy
Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.When
they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter
Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”
This sloshing back and forth in the
Godhead seems to splash over and include US when we become followers of Jesus.
In His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus prayed specifically for this
oneness, this unity, this binding together, for His disciples as characterized
the closeness of Jesus and His Heavenly Father. John 17:20b-23 “I pray also for
those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be
one, Father, just as YOU ARE IN ME and I AM IN YOU. May THEY ALSO BE IN US so
that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory
that you gave me, that THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE: I IN THEM and YOU IN ME.
May they be brought to COMPLETE UNITY to let the world know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me.” See all the overlap? This
interconnectedness is what Jesus is praying for at the pinnacle of His life,
His very last evening with His followers before His trial and death.
His closing words also point to this
keen wish, that Christ Himself would be IN us: John 17:26 “I have made you
known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you
have for me may be in them and THAT I MYSELF MAY BE IN THEM.”
The Apostle John in his first letter
to the church also points to this interpenetration. Here the condition to
receive this radical change is to acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God. 1Jn
4:13-16 "We know that we live in him and he in us, because HE HAS GIVEN US
OF HIS SPIRIT. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to
be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of
God, GOD LIVES IN HIM AND HE IN GOD. And so we know and rely on the love God
has for us. God is love. Whoever LIVES IN LOVE LIVES IN GOD, AND GOD IN
HIM."
AW Tozer wrote: “One quality
belonging to the Holy spirit, of great interest and importance to every seeking
heart, is penetrability. He can penetrate matter, such as the human body; He
can penetrate mind; He can penetrate another spirit, such as the human spirit.
He can achieve complete penetration of and actual intermingling with the human
spirit. He can invade the human heart and make room for Himself without
expelling anything essentially human. The integrity of the human personality
remains unimpaired. Only moral evil is forced to withdraw. [Tozer continues]
The metaphysical problem involved here can no more be avoided than it can be
solved. How can one personality enter another? The candid reply would be simply
that we do not know, but a near approach to an understanding may be a simple
analogy borrowed from the old devotional writers of several hundred years ago.
We place a piece of iron in a fire and blow up the coals. At first we have two
distinct substances, iron and fire. When we insert the iron in the fire we
achieve the penetration of the fire by the iron. Soon the fire begins to
penetrate the iron and have not only the iron in the fire but the fire in the
iron as well. They are two distinct substances, but they have co-mingled and
interpenetrated to a point where the two have become one.”
Moving beyond this mystery of interpenetrability, we find Scripture points to four main
aspects of the Spirit of Jesus in our lives: a Companion in our Wilderness; a
Compass in our Wanderings; a Controller in Life’s Wild Games; and a Carrier to
God’s Very Throne.
A
COMPANION IN OUR WILDERNESS
Perhaps
the Biblical summary word for this part would be “Friend” – someone close to
you, who’s with you. Jesus said to His disciples, Jn
15:14-15 “You are my FRIENDS if you do what I command. I no longer call you
servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.Instead,
I have called you FRIENDS, for everything that I learned from my Father I have
made known to you.” He promised a chapter earlier in John 14(18), “I will not
leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” The Holy Spirit is how Jesus ‘comes
to us’ today, He’s a presence with us, so we’re not left alone as orphans.
The Old Testament foreshadowed this
new development in salvation history; God promised in Ezekiel 36:26, "I
will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." But how does
this happen? How do we receive the Spirit of Jesus? Through regeneration, being
‘born again / born from above’. John 1:12f “Yet to all who received him, to
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man,
but of God.” This isn’t some weird fringe doctrine, but central to the Good
News. Jesus tried to explain it to Nicodemus who came at night to find out more
particulars. John 3:5-8 “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to
flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised
at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You
hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Note how Jesus Himself points out
the mystery of this event: like not being able to tell exactly how or where the
wind’s going to blow.
It’s an incredible wonder that by
faith in Jesus we can actually being to share in God’s divine nature. Peter
uses the word “participate” in 2Peter 1:4 – by the Spirit we can overcome evil
desires: 2Peter 1:4 “Through these he has given us his very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature
and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
How do we receive the Holy Spirit?
Do we have to pray extra hard or go on a retreat or to some especially
charismatic church where people fall on the floor? According to the Bible, you
have the Spirit if you acknowledge Jesus is who He says He is – your Lord and
Saviour. Paul writes in 1Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I tell you that no one
who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no
one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.” Similarly,
in Romans 8, it has to do with ‘belonging’ to Christ, not any charismatic swoon
or emotional surge. Does Jesus HAVE you? Is He in CONTROL? When the Spirit is
in control, Jesus is already IN you! Romans 8:9-11 “You, however, are
controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God
lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,
yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who
raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in
you.” Notice here how interchangeable the terms are: “Spirit of God / Spirit of
Christ”, or in vv14&16, simply ‘the Spirit’.
If you belong to Christ, you have
the Spirit of Christ; if Christ is in you, your spirit is alive, and the
Christ-resurrecting Almighty One will enliven your mortal body through His
living-in-you Spirit.
Do we love and obey Jesus? Then He
will make His presence known to us. John 14:19b-21 “Because I live, you also
will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in
me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who
loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him
and show myself to him."” Loving and obeying Jesus is key to coming to
realize He is in us, having Him ‘show’ or manifest Himself to us.
One more reference to drive home
this unimaginable mystery that the Spirit of Jesus actually indwells us who
have given our lives to Christ. 1Jn 3:24 “Those who obey his commands live in
him, and HE IN THEM. And this is how we know that HE LIVES IN US: We know it by
THE SPIRIT HE GAVE US.”
In a world where individualism is
king and independence is worshipped, where divorce rates are high and families
shattered, where it’s all too easy to go cocoon in our room and be drawn into
the portal or screen of our device – where consequently loneliness is chronic
and we feel disconnected despite all our social media – it’s a relief to find
the Holy Spirit can be our COMPANION. A July 14 news article reported overdose deaths in
the US in 2020 jumped from 72,000 to 93,000, an increase of 29%. That’s about
250 overdose deaths a day! A Brown University public health researcher
commented, “This is a staggering loss of human life.” Fentanyl contamination of
other drugs is a factor: Fentanyl is up to 100 times more potent than morphine
and 50 times more potent than heroin. Experts note lockdowns and other pandemic
restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment
harder to get.
The Spirit of Jesus won’t leave us
isolated, won’t leave us as orphans: with Him we always have a Friend nearby.
A
COMPASS IN OUR WANDERINGS
Next,
the Holy Spirit is a COMPASS in our wanderings. Recently Ed Stetzer
was interviewed on a podcast by Carey Nieuwhof and
commented that this next decade will be one of turbulence: conspiracy theories
about, there’s increasing distrust of authority and institutions, no one knows
who to believe anymore. What’s true? What’s real? How do you know? In the midst
of this confusion, this aimless wandering, God offers us the SPIRIT OF TRUTH.
Jesus claimed to be THE TRUTH - Jn 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me.” So we
can expect His Spirit to be ‘the Spirit of Truth’. John 16:13 “But when he, the
Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” And John 14:15-17a
“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and
he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of
truth.” (See also John 15:26)
Your compass points north (roughly)
by aligning its needle with the earth’s magnetic field. Your phone finds north
in its Maps app by finding 3 or 4 GPS satellites. We need badly a point of
reference for guidance in our lives! For Christians, our reference is the
Bible, a Spirit-inspired book, interpreted in the light of Jesus’ teachings.
The Holy Spirit was active in its production and preservation. 2Tim 3:16 “All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness...” Peter writes - 2Pet 1:21“For prophecy never had
its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.”
By way of example, see how Jesus
responds to the Tempter in Matthew 4(4,7,10) – three times He doesn’t get
‘creative’ in respond to Satan, but harkens back to Old Testament scripture:
“It is written...It is written...It is written.” If the Son of God relied on
the Bible to counter enemy attacks, how much more we need to keep prepped on
our Bible truth-arrow arsenal!
The Holy Spirit not only inspired
Scripture, but applies it in our conscience. It’s part of the Spirit’s ‘job
description’ to get our attention when we miss the mark. John 16:8 “When he
comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness
and judgment...” Heed His Counsel, that ‘pricking’ or twinge, when your actions
don’t line up with Kingdom values.
Think of a flag flying on a
flagpole. A flag without a flagpole would just get blown along aimlessly on the
ground. A pole stuck in the ground is lifeless, there’s no action there. But
stick the pole in and tie a flag on and let the wind blow and you have
something worth seeing!
For Christians, the flagpole is
Scripture, it’s our anchor, our reference point. The Spirit of God is the wind,
picking us up, stretching us out, making us alive and active – but we need to
stay connected to the flag pole, or we’ll get blown along by every wind of
doctrine, be that prosperity gospel or emotionalism or dry dispensationalism.
Check it against the standard!
A
CONTROLLER IN LIFE’S WILD GAMES
A
COMPANION – a COMPASS – a CONTROLLER. I’m not into video games myself but have
some family members in the younger set that are. Video game controllers have
come a long way from the first simple joystick I had into an RS232 port. Now
there are a combination of buttons and sticks and bumpers for each hand – that
really takes some co-ordination! My grandsons can run circles around me in car
racing games.
But you don’t need a video game
controller in order for someone to ‘push your buttons’ the wrong way. Why is it
those who know us best, most intimately, can also be the ones that get under
our skin the most? Sometimes all it takes is a single word or a ‘look’ to set
us off, make us defensive, feel we’re being misunderstood or disrespected and
treated with contempt. There’s no cable from that controller to the box, but
our ‘flesh’ (aka ‘the old man’) reacts with lightning speed, we bristle and go
into protective mode, if not attack mode.
The passage Marc read earlier
details various ‘deeds of the flesh’ that erupt when our buttons are pushed, or
when our baser passions and appetites are appealed to...Gal 5:19-21a “The acts
of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish
ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”
Paul goes on to warn that such actions and God’s Kingdom are mutually exclusive:
you can’t have it both ways!
When it seems like people are
playing games with us (in a negative way), when we find others are ‘pushing our
buttons’ – God offers us a better CONTROLLER: the Spirit of Jesus. He is the
HOLY Spirit, after all. He puts a new spirit in us, removes our stony heart and
gives us a living heart of flesh that can care and forgive (Ezek
36:26). His Spirit supercharges us with His love internally. Romans 5:5 “And
hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
The Spirit does more than supply us
with a positive assurance of God’s love: the Spirit helps us respond in a
CONTROLLED manner rather than flying off the handle. 2Tim 1:7 “For God did not
give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of
SELF-DISCIPLINE.” (Self-contol ESV RSV) What is the
fruit of the Spirit? Gal 5:22f “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and SELF-CONTROL.
Against such things there is no law.” (Ga 5:22-23) Spirit-fruit folks tend to
be fight-spoilers, they don’t punch back, they don’t get sucked into
evil-for-evil dynamics.
We will all be controlled by
something; what will we be controlled by? Flesh or Spirit? Rom 8:8-9a “Those
CONTROLLED by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are CONTROLLED
not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.”
Self-mortification is hard! It’s
difficult to put to death the old harmful and destructive patterns. The Spirit
of Jesus helps us walk with Him, respond as He would, squelch those old
automatic knee-jerk reactions and reach out to God for a more gracious
response. Rom 8:13 “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will
die; but if by the Spirit you PUT TO DEATH THE MISDEEDS of the body, you will
live...”
The Apostle Peter suggests a
progression in godly characteristics as we allow the Spirit of Jesus more and
more control in our lives. 2Peter 1:5-7 “For this very reason, make every
effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to
knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness, love.” That kind of person doesn’t sound too hard to live with, now
do they?
Besides such qualities which are
more or less for ALL believers, there are “gifts of the Spirit” for particular
individuals outlined in several places – 1Cor.12:8-11, Eph.4:11, Rom.12:6-8.
Through the spiritual ‘gifts’ the Lord equips the church to continue Jesus’
ministry of healing, saving, teaching, and serving.
A
CARRIER TO GOD’S VERY THRONE
Companion,
Compass, Controller – finally, the Holy Spirit delights to be A CARRIER TO
GOD’S VERY THRONE. When Jesus introduces the topic in John 14:16 He says, “And
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever—” the Greek term is parakletos, one called (kletos) alongside (para) to help. It’s variously translated
Counselor, Advocate, Helper, Comforter.
A principal way the Spirit helps us
is in our PRAYING. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:26, “In the same way,
the SPIRIT HELPS US in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to PRAY FOR,
but THE SPIRIT HIMSELF INTERCEDES FOR US with groans that words cannot
express.” Hear that? Even when you can’t find the words to pray, the Holy
Spirit will fill in the blanks. God knows what you’re going through and what
you need, He even knows the words before they’re on your tongue. So when we’re
on our knees and just calling, “Lord, help!” the Spirit can pick us up and
bring us before our Heavenly Father. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need.” Is that the connotation we have in our mind with
the Father’s throne? A throne of grace, mercy, helpfulness.
As we pray, the Spirit witnesses to
our own spirit that there is a kinship we share with the God of the universe,
thanks to the new birth He has given us. You can call this the mystical or
ecstatic aspect of the Spirit’s ministry, or simply a quiet assurance. Paul
teaches the early church about this in a couple of places. Gal 4:6 “Because you
are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls
out, "Abba, Father."” And Romans 8:15-16 “For you did not receive a
spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit
himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
There’s a lot of uncertainty in this
life, a lot we don’t know. Have we overcome the pandemic? Will there be a
fourth wave? What will ‘church’ look like post-pandemic? Will daily life ever
get back to the ‘normal’ we knew before March 2020? If I DO catch COVID
(vaccinated or not), how serious will it be? There’s much that we don’t know,
don’t have control over, much that could cause us worry and stress. But the
Spirit of Jesus CARRIES us to the presence of our Heavenly Father who knows all
things, cares for us, even knowing how many hairs are on our head, who knows
the lifespan of each sparrow, who has legions of angels at His disposal. The
Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are HIS, and in that, we are SAFE and
SAVED.
In closing, I’d say Bill Bright
(founder of Campus Crusade for Christ / Power To Change) summed it up well. He
said, “To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with Christ. The Holy
Spirit came to glorify Christ. Therefore, if I am filled with the Spirit, I am
abiding in Christ...and if I am controlled and empowered by Christ, He will be
walking around in my body, living His resurrection life in and through me.” To
Him be glory forever! Let’s pray.
Precious Father, we are all too
aware of the times we fall short of honouring You in our attitudes, behaviours,
and character. Cleanse us by the blood of Jesus. Help us repent and receive
Your filling afresh, with all goodness and love and grace that flows from You. Teach
us moment by moment to give Your Spirit control in our lives. May others come
to see You in us and be blessed by the fruit and gifts only You can make come
alive in us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
THE
SECRET TO AN UNBOTHERED LIFE
Today
we’re continuing our series on the Way of Jesus, particularly marker number 2,
“I am being sent by Jesus to bless others and invite them to follow Him.” But
why bless others? Isn’t that such a bother? To bless or not to bless – that’s
the question!
Sometimes it would seem so much
simpler just not to get involved. When industrialist Charles Schwab was 70, he
made the following statement, spoken for the record in a court of law, after he
had just won a nuisance suit: “I’d like to say here in a court of law, and
speaking as an old man, that nine-tenths of my troubles are traceable to my
being kind to others. Look, you young people, if you want to steer away from
trouble, be hard-boiled. Be quick with a good loud ‘no’ to anyone and everyone.
If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life’s
pathway. Except you’ll have no friends, you’ll be lonely, and you won’t have
any fun!”
Suddenly the unbothered life doesn’t
sound so appealing, does it?
As we think today about whether or
not we should be blessing others, let’s approach it this way. God is a God of
blessing. Our role is to magnify God, to help others appreciate Him as He is.
We accomplish that by blessing others. This becomes especially remarkable when
we redirect retaliation. It may even produce opportunities to invite others to
know God better.
GOD
IS A GOD OF BLESSING
Ancient
cultures produced a variety of gods with different characteristics. Animist
religions perceived gods in trees and streams. Hindus believe in many gods. The
Greeks and Romans believed in twelve “Olympians” including Zeus who dwelt atop
Mount Olympus – but the tales of which read like a wild soap opera. So, how can
those of Judeao-Christian bent maintain their God is
at all good, or even bless others?
God is mysterious, and it is only as
He reveals Himself to us that we come to know Him. The picture we get of God
from the book He inspired, the Bible, is that God is good! The first chapter of
Genesis concludes, Gen 1:31 “God saw all that He had made and it was VERY
GOOD...” In fact, what is God’s very first act after creating humans? Gen 1:28
“God BLESSED THEM and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."” God
BLESSED Adam and Eve – so we see early on that God is a BLESSING God.
In the Desert of Sinai God told His
prophet Moses how the priests were to pronounce a blessing in His Name. Number
6:22-27 “The LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how
you are to bless the Israelites.Say to them:
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you
peace."’ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless
them."” That’s kind of an odd expression, isn’t it? “So they will PUT MY
NAME ON the Israelites”? As if something about blessedness goes right to the
heart of who God is, what He’s like, His very essence. For His people He is
their keeper, gracing them, defending their peace, giving them His full
attention (face turned toward them) and beaming warmly as He gazes upon them
(make His face shine upon them). That was to be the routine, repeated
word-picture the priests were to use in pronouncing a blessing, labelling them
as God’s, reminding them Whose they were.
In Jesus’ incarnation, we see God
take on human form – perfectly sinless, holy, caring. Jesus taught about the
Heavenly Father’s goodness and caring from the Sermon on the Mount on. Matthew
5:45b “...that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.He
causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.” That is gracious – sending good things (sun and
rain) regardless of whether they’re deserved or not.
What is Jesus like? Scripture
maintains in Him we see God’s likeness. Hebrews 1:3a “The Son is the radiance
of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being...” Jesus Himself
said, John 14:9 “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” How can we sum up
Jesus’ life? Peter did it while preaching to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house
in Acts 10:38 - “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the
power of the devil, because God was with him.” DOING GOOD and HEALING – nothing
wrong with those! Pilate Himself at Jesus’ trial admitted, Lk 23:14f “and said
to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to
rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for
your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you
can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.” Jesus was innocent – even
though the Sanhedrin, backed by a mob, persuaded authorities to crucify Him.
Hebrews 4:15b “...one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet
was without sin.”
Jesus went around doing good, was
innocent, sinless; in what He did, He reflected His Heavenly Father. John 5:19
“Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because
whatever the Father does the Son also does.” In His earthly life He did good
and healed; His supreme act though was in His death not His life, pouring
Himself out on behalf of sinners. Communion (as we celebrated last week)
reminded us of His blood “poured out for many” (Mt 26:28). So it’s deep in
God’s nature to bless, even to yielding Himself sacrificially for the benefit
of His people.
OUR
ROLE IS TO MAGNIFY GOD
God
is a BLESSING God: He enlists people to extend and unpack His blessing in our
context. That makes His rule or Kingdom real right where we are.
Let’s back up a minute to God’s
great plan unveiled to Abraham. Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED
through you."” That’s a global project! How’s it going to happen? “Through
YOU” - Abraham - through God’s people.
In the New Testament, the Apostle
Paul sees this blessing coming to pass through the preaching of the Gospel of
Jesus and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Gal 3:14 “He redeemed us in order that
the BLESSING given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,
so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Why are we
redeemed? Just for our own benefit? No, this says God redeemed us IN ORDER THAT
(purpose clause) blessing might come to the Gentiles, particularly in the
giving of the Spirit.
God wants to use those who trust in
Him to display His glory, make Himself better known, to others. Ps 34:3 bids,
“Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.” NRSV “O MAGNIFY the
Lord with me...” The goal here is to help others see how good God is, that He
IS a God of blessing, to help them appreciate Him as He truly is (not as our
man-made idols suppose He is, ready to hurl the next thunder-bolt out of sheer
mischievousness). The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks,
“What is the chief end of man?” with the answer, “Man's chief end is to glorify
God, and to enjoy him forever.” Why would the leaders crafting that statement
say that? The Bible reference they give is 1Cor 10:31, “So whether you eat or
drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” To unpack God’s
goodness and put Him on display, let Him be exalted, made much of. Paul knew
our natural fallen eyes are not geared to perceive this. 2Cor 4:4 “The god of
this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” So as
believers our task becomes revealing Jesus to those around. (Later in the same
chapter he adds) 2Cor 4:10 “We always carry around in our body the death of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Is that
your conscious goal when you get out of bed in the morning? To reveal Jesus’
life in your actions each day?
Coming to see God for who He is, is
to come to KNOW Him, He’s no longer veiled to us. Jesus prayed in John 17:3,
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom you have sent.” That’s eternal life, the “jackpot” spiritually:
coming to know God truly. So we assist others to come to know Him, too.
In the New Testament you find this
concept of all believers being ‘priests’ or representatives or stand-ins,
access points mediating God’s goodness to those around. 1Peter 2:9 “But you are
a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.” You belong to God, you’re a priest, THAT (purpose clause) you
may declare His praises, expose and publish His excellence. Also Rev 1:6
“...and has made us to be a kingdom and PRIESTS to serve his God and Father— to
him [Jesus] BE GLORY and power for ever and ever! Amen.” As you go walking
around, driving your car, listening to your phone or MP3 player, do other
people see Jesus and His glory by your activity? You’re a priest, not there for
yourself only but also there for them – do they detect that? Can they catch a
whiff of the fragrance of Christ as we pass them? 2Cor 2:14f “But thanks be to
God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us
spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.For
we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who
are perishing.” What’s your spiritual ‘waft appeal’?
WE
ACCOMPLISH THIS BY BLESSING OTHERS
Pushing
further into this idea of highlighting God’s goodness by being His ambassadors
of blessing – what does His Word suggest as ways of going about it? What does
it mean to bless others, practically speaking?
Paul understands the promise given
to Abraham to be connected with inviting others to follow Jesus and hence
receive God’s Spirit – “that by faith we might receive the promise of the
Spirit” (Gal 3:14). As we bless others, some will naturally become curious and
wonder, “Why are you being so kind to me?” To which we could answer something
like: “I am a follower of Jesus, who calls me to bless others.” Then if they’re
still curious, you can be ready with some simple invitational verses like John
1:12 and 3:15: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God...” / “that everyone who believes
in him may have eternal life.”
Another invitational approach uses
what’s called the Romans Road. These verses point out not just what’s wrong
with us spiritually speaking, but also what we can do about it – in view of
what Christ has already done. Here’s one version of the Romans Road. Rom
3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus.” Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved.”
That’s probably enough, but if you
have another couple of favourites from Romans memorized, you can always throw
them in too! I like 5:8 and 8:1 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” / “Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...” You get the idea. I
had the “Romans Road” verses laid out inside the back cover of one of my
Bibles. Better for it not to seem like a ‘canned’ approach, but genuine, from
the heart, using the Scripture promises that are most precious to you. What
verses seem to you most essential and to-the-point for summarizing the
significance of what Jesus has done for you?
Jesus sends us on the Great
Commission, to go and make disciples of all nations – to be invitational when
others ask why we’re blessing them. He also gives us the Great Commandment, to
love God with our whole being and to love our neighbour as ourself.
If we love them, we will bless them! Blessing can be as simple as a smile, a
greeting, learning someone’s name.
Our Scripture lesson was the story
of the Good Samaritan. It wasn’t the Priest or the Levite that went out of
their way to bind up the wounds of the mugged Jewish man, but a despised
Samaritan, a half-breed from out of country, yet he made himself and his
resources available to help in a very simple and straightforward way. The
fallen neighbour beside the road became his agenda for the day. He even
ventured to tell the innkeeper he’d cover any further costs incurred until the
man was better and could manage on his own. Is there a time in your life when
someone was a “Good Samaritan” to you? How did it feel? What could have been
the consequences if they HADN’T stopped to help?
One time our family was camping in
southern Manitoba coming back from a mammoth odyssey down to California and BC
and back. It had rained at the provincial park the night before and all our
tents and clothes were soaked – there must have been about 4 inches of water in
some of our tents! The next day was a Sunday so we went to a nearby Pentecostal
church. It was a largely French-speaking community. After church one family
invited us to their place for lunch and to use their dryer to dry out our
soaked gear before heading on our way back towards Ontario. Like the Samaritan
situation, we were from another region, and our language was different, but the
hospitality they showed us was so much appreciated! A very practical and
heartfelt blessing.
Jesus taught His followers in the
Sermon on the Mount: Matt 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before
men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Here,
GOOD DEEDS become the means of blessing others, and prompting them to glorify
God, appreciate and praise Him more. Likewise in 1Peter 2:12, “Live such good
lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may
see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” Here again, GOOD
DEEDS become the prompt for others to GLORIFY God.
ESPECIALLY
REMARKABLE WHEN REDIRECT RETALIATION
It’s
not that hard to do something nice for people that like you, that you relate
well to, who would likely do the same for you if the situation were different.
But what about people who are opposed to you for some reason? When you’re not
seeing eye-to-eye? When others treat you shabbily? THAT’S the time when
Christian witness especially shines through – when we’re tempted to retaliate,
but instead overcome evil with good.
The Cross was a travesty – totally
uncalled-for. Jesus was perfectly innocent, a man who went around ‘doing good’
and healing the oppressed. Yet others became envious, exposed by His truthfulness,
and arranged for Him to be murdered. However even from the cross Jesus bore no
malice toward His enemies. He prayed for them: Luke 23:34a “Father, forgive
them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
He was living out what He taught –
grace in place of retaliation / getting even. Mt 5:44 “But I tell you: Love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...” Lk 6:35 “But love your
enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons
of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” See the
connection there? God is good and His nature is to bless, to be “kind to the
ungrateful and wicked”; when we love our enemies, it’s like we’re His sons or daughters,
reflecting His goodness in our setting.
One more: Romans 12:14 “Bless those
who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” It’s so natural when we’re treated
poorly to retaliate, to get back at whoever’s hurting us, “eye for eye and
tooth for tooth” – but that’s not Jesus’ way, there’s no grace in that! Soon
you end up with a whole world where people are blind and toothless! But when
someone is unkind to you, or they persecute you, instead of cursing them can
you bless them? Show them a bit of what Jesus is about? About that time you’ll
discover it HAS to come from Him through the Holy Spirit, because it’s not in
our fallen genes. Call on Him, dig deep in God’s promises, let His life be
revealed in your mortal body.
Leave room for a sovereign and gracious
God to be part of the equation in all your dealings. Let Him settle any scores,
rather than being your own vigilante squad. As Paul wrote, Rom 12:19-20 “Do not
take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written:
"It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.On
the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give
him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his
head."”
GIVING
AN ENEMY YOUR CLOAK
We
are called to bless others, as God has blessed us in Christ, even while we were
still sinners. As we bless others in His Name, we invite them to glorify Him,
we’re offering them a glimpse of His love and mercy. Especially to people who
wouldn’t expect it from us.
William B.McKinley,
was US President from 1897 to 1901. During one of his campaigns, a reporter
from an opposition newspaper followed him constantly and just as persistently
misrepresented McKinley’s views. Eventually during this campaign, the weather
became extremely cold, and even though the reporter didn’t have sufficiently
warm clothing, he still followed McKinley. One bitter evening, the
president-to-be was riding in his closed carriage, and the young reporter sat
shivering on the driver’s seat outside. McKinley stopped the carriage and
invited the reporter to put on his coat and ride with him inside the warm
carriage. The young man, astonished, protested that McKinley knew that he was
opposition and that he wasn’t going to stop opposing McKinley during the
campaign. McKinley knew that, but he wasn’t out to seek revenge. In the
remaining days of the campaign, the reporter continued to oppose McKinley, but
never again did he write anything unfair or biased about the future president.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly
Father, You have been so good to us; You send Your sunshine and rain on the
just and the unjust. You sent Jesus to redeem us, to purify for Yourself a
people ready to do good works, to point out Your own goodness to those who’ve
been blind to it before. Lord Jesus, thank You for not giving up on us, for
forgiving those who nailed You to a cross, for revealing Yourself to us and in
us who were sinners. Move in us to declare Your excellence by showing that same
mercy to others. We need Your help to bless them as we have been blessed by
You! Amen.
THE
TRICKY TARGET THAT THWARTS US
We
are making our way through the seven sayings or ‘markers’ of The Way of Jesus.
Number 1: “I have begun to follow Jesus, and am depending upon the Spirit of
Jesus in my journey.” (We looked at that ‘depending on the Spirit’ part a few
weeks ago.) Number 2: “I am being sent by Jesus to BLESS others and invite them
to follow Him.” (Have you been intentionally blessing others this past week? A
smile, a greeting, learning their name?) Today Number 3: “I am learning to BE
like Jesus in my attitudes, behaviours, and character.” To be holy is to be
like Jesus: so really we’re talking about what’s traditionally known as
‘sanctification’, allowing God to ‘holy-fy’ our
character, which sort of includes our attitudes and behaviour.
Character - the stamp of the Master,
letting Jesus make His ‘imprint’ upon us. From Wikipedia: “The Ancient Greek
word 'charaktir'...is thus an "engraver",
originally in the sense of a craftsman, but then also used for a tool used for
engraving, and for a stamp for minting coins. From the stamp, the meaning was
extended to the stamp impression, Plato using the noun in the sense of
‘engraved mark’.” If you picture a coin, the “stamp” of Her Majesty the Queen
is a likeness, a representation of the original, resembling what she actually
looks like.
We come to resemble what we worship,
we start to take on its ‘character’, our heroes make an impression upon us,
they ‘stamp’ us consciously or unconsciously. From Pastor Phil Delsaut’s “Way of Jesus Handbook” - “It is true that by
'nature' each of us has a certain emotional predisposition, but it is equally
true that our emotional profile has also been powerfully shaped by the people
we live with, 'nurture.' Unconsciously, for the most part, we have adopted the
emotional contours of the person or people with whom we identify. For example, if your role model was the Clint
Eastwood lone gunslinger man of few words do not be surprised if you act it
out. Of course, in the movies, the strong silent hero wins, but in real life
this is often a formula for emotional disaster. This is the reason that we need
a different role model with whom to identify.” So, choose carefully the heroes
or stars or idols you are going to allow to ‘stamp’ you with their character!
Attitude is part of character.
Attitude involves choosing our goals, what we’re about. You might think
‘happiness’ is a reasonable goal. But ‘happiness’ in itself is a tricky target:
if you only aim to make yourself happy, you’ll wind up disappointed, it’s a
target that thwarts you. Again, from the Handbook: “The life of the follower of
Jesus is not about 'spiritual fulfillment.'
Someone has observed that you do not find happiness by pursuing
happiness. Happiness is a by-product of
something else, and happiness shows up as 'happy' surprise. Focusing on
happiness is about focusing on self, and inevitably focusing on 'self' shrivels
the human heart. This is the lesson that underlies that great piece of
philosophy, 'The Grinch that stole Christmas'.”
So, if we’d better not idolize Clint
Eastwood or John Wayne or Anne Hathaway or Jennifer Aniston (or name your
favourite), and we’d be thwarted to go after ‘happiness’ for just us, what are
we to aim at? Character that’s worthwhile would imprint on the Most Worthy One.
I used the word ‘imprint’ there -
it’s also a biological term. Our cat Purrl had 5
kittens last Sunday; she’s spent a lot of time nursing them this past week
under the sink in the cupboard of one of our bathrooms. They are busy
‘imprinting’ on her. In imprinting, according to the encyclopedia, “a very
young animal fixes its attention on the first object it sees, hears, or is touched
by and thereafter follows that object.” Do a search for “imprinting error” and
you’ll find a video about a Canada Goose in Alaska that thinks it’s actually a sandhill crane! Biologists speculate its mother laid the
egg in a crane nest, so it was raised by a sandhill
crane mother and thus formed its identity based on that. So, I’m glad Purrl’s kittens are getting lots of time with a real mother
cat!
What we identify with or ‘imprint
on’ has importance in whether or not we have a sense of self-worth. Your identity
in Jesus secures a sense of self worth, He gives you value, you know you’re
loved and treasured, you don’t have to go hunting for it in all the wrong
spots! Dignity or worth or value that’s anchored in Jesus guards against
needing the approval of others.
Our Scripture Reading from John 15,
the Vine and the Branches, emphasizes the need for Jesus’ followers to ‘abide’
or ‘remain’ in Him, keep connected to Him, the way a branch derives nutrients
and support from the main trunk of the vine. John 15:4f,7,9 “Remain in me, and
I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the
vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine;
you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing...If you remain in me and my words remain in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you...As the Father has loved
me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” Think of ‘remaining’ or ‘abiding’as ‘imprinting’, staying connected to, being
stamped by. Here the Saviour is talking about real and lasting intimacy,
knowing Him and being supplied by Him.
The Apostle Paul in Philippians 2
uses what’s probably an early Christian hymn to sketch some of Jesus’ most
essential characteristics. Here’s a clue to unselfishness: remember happiness
is not to be pursued selfishly, it’s a byproduct. Php 2:1-4 “If you have any encouragement from being united
with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being
like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better
than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but
also to the interests of others.” See what he’s getting at? We obtain
encouragement, comfort, compassion, sharing in the Spirit by being united with
(one with) Jesus. So that makes it possible for us to be unselfish, not
conceited, to count others better than ourselves, to look to their interests
instead of just what’s best for me.
Then Paul introduces this early hymn
by saying in verse 5, Php 2:5 “Your attitude should
be the same as that of Christ Jesus...” Now, how’s the hymn sum up Jesus’
attitude? He didn’t count equality with God something to be grasped or
exploited... Php 2:7f “but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being
found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”
Here are three broad categories
describing Jesus’ character, we’ll use as subheadings in today’s message. The
nature of a SERVANT. He HUMBLED Himself. He became OBEDIENT.
THE
BLESSING OF SERVING
In
a culture that cries out, “Be your own boss! Do your own thing!” the notion of
SERVING would seem to be swimming against the current. But the New Testament
writers exhort servants and even slaves (as existed in Roman times) to have a
sort of hyper-vision, to put on their heavenly ‘Virtual Reality’ goggles as it
were. They’re to see beyond their immediate boss to the One who’s looking over
their boss’ shoulder, the Lord and Judge to whom one day all will give account.
Paul writes to the church at Colosse, Col 3:22-24“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in
everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their
favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do,
work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you
know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the
Lord Christ you are serving.” See the hyper-vision pointers? “Reverence for the
Lord...as working for the Lord...It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Your
boss is not the one finally in control. Be as diligent in serving your employer
as you would be to Jesus Himself.
Similarly, the Apostle Peter exhorts
those at the bottom of the economic scale: 1Pet 2:18f “Slaves, submit
yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and
considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man
bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.”
What?! Unjust suffering?! Why?! ‘Because he is conscious of God’ – there it is
again, don’t forget God is part of this picture, it’s not just your earthly
master you’re serving. God is well able to square up what’s owing if you’re
treated poorly in this life.
Our supreme example is Jesus
Himself, who modeled servanthood in John 13. He took off His outer clothes,
wrapped a towel around his waist, and began to wash His disciples’ feet. He
emphasized He was giving them an example as their Teacher and Lord. John 13:14f
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash
one another’s feet.I have set you an example that you
should do as I have done for you.” Classic Christliness!
He’s not asking us to do anything for others He hasn’t already done for us.
HUMILITY:
THINKING OF YOURSELF LESS
Humility
is not doormat theology, it doesn’t mean grovelling in the dust or
self-flagellating, beating ourselves up. Remember, we have value already due to
our identity in Christ, we have inherent dignity (having repented) anchored in
Jesus, which saves us from needing or seeking the approval of others. “Humility
is not thinking LESS of yourself (putting yourself down): it’s thinking of
yourself LESS.”
The key thing is our identity in
Jesus, belonging to Him. This frees us from feeling like we have to put others
down or play one-upmanship. Paul writes in Galatians 5:24-26 “Those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not
become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” If I realize I am
Christ’s, I’ve received Him as Lord and Saviour and submitted to Him, I’m
crucifying selfish desires, more receptive to the promptings of God’s Spirit,
and I’ll come across as less conceited, and be freed from envying others. I can
be content!
In John 13 we saw that Jesus
stripped off His outer clothing and got down to the floor to wash the
disciples’ feet, considered about the lowest ranking task in the household. Can
we be humble enough to serve others? At this point in the proceedings Judas was
still present – Judas, who would soon betray Jesus to His enemies, leading to
His beating and painful death. Are we humble enough to serve even our
“Judases”? It’s one thing to serve people you get along with, but can you
swallow your pride and serve those who don’t get along with you? Even those who
wish you’d never been born? Those who misunderstand you, and treat you shabbily
without cause?
As Jesus proceeds with basin around
the room, He comes to Peter, who at first objects to having Jesus even wash
Him, then wants Him to wash His hands and head as well as his feet! Peter was
trying to dictate the terms of the arrangement, but he was overridden by the
Lord, who knew what was most needed. Can we accept what’s offered on the other
person’s terms rather than demand more, what suits us? Can we humbly accept
God’s sovereignty, His will, His placement of us, what’s happened to us? Or do
we object that we want things on OUR terms?
Humility also applies to our
attitude toward civil authorities. This can be challenging when our elected
officials ask us to do things we don’t enjoy doing, like masking up or keeping
our distance or getting vaccinated or washing our hands more often, as has been
the case with the current pandemic. See what Peter counsels in 1Peter 2:13f,16
- “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among
men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are
sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do
right...Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;
live as servants of God.” Note the phrase “for the Lord’s sake” – here again is
that hyper-vision, seeing the Lord as the One we are accountable to, not just
the civil authority. Our authorities are doing their best to commend those who
do right, to protect the population the best they can with the tools they
currently have available – tools that may or may not be ideal or fully tested
but that are helping keep people out of hospital. “Live as free men” – yes we
have certain ‘rights’ – “but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil”.
As a follower of Jesus, my primary concern should not be trumpeting my supposed
‘rights’ but lovingly exercising my responsibility to love my neighbour as
myself – even if that means some temporary discomfort or inconvenience. For
example, when I’m with other people I mask up not so much to protect myself as
to protect others, including those who can’t vaccinate or are
immunocompromised.
In humility, we regard others as
better than ourselves, we look to their interests not our own (Php 2:3f).
OBEDIENCE:
KEEPING IN STEP
“I
am learning to be like Jesus in my attitudes, behaviours, and character.”
Behaviours have to do with actions, and that’s where OBEDIENCE comes in, where
the rubber meets the road. A key Biblical phrase here is keeping ‘in step with’
God’s leading. From the Way of Jesus Handbook: “...our attitudes affect our
behaviours (actions). Good behaviours
oft repeated become habits, and good habits form the basis of character.
Identifying with Jesus (lining our lives up with Jesus) is how we develop good
attitudes and healthy emotional responses to the challenges of life. Depending
on His Spirit, He gives us the moral courage to make tough choices well.”
Take note in Philippians 2:13 of how
being connected with Jesus (that ‘abiding/remaining’ part of the vine and the
branches) has outworking in our actions: Php 2:13
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose.” God works IN you – the Spirit is present in your life, influencing
you, guiding you. For what? “To will” - there’s the cognitive decision-making,
the determining, the choosing. “And to act” - there’s the energy being applied,
the limbs moving, the action taken, the phone call made, the person visited,
the firewood piled, the card written, whatever it may be. Obedience comes into
play.
Next verse: Php
2:14 “Do everything without complaining or arguing...” The DOING is an outcome
of God working IN you (v13). And His grace makes it an unselfish doing, without
strife or complaining, not self-focused.
Christ emphasized the blessing of
obedient follow-through after He washed His disciples’ feet in John 13:17: “Now
that you know these things, you will be blessed if you DO them.” The hymn
containing Philippians 2:8 reminds us, Php 2:8 “...he
humbled himself and became OBEDIENT to death— even death on a cross!”
To the Galatians, after the famous ‘fruit
of the Spirit’ passage, Paul advised: Gal 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit,
let us KEEP IN STEP WITH the Spirit.” You’re not walking out ahead of God, or
off somewhere to the side, just tracing where the Master leads, keeping “in
step with the Spirit”. Similarly, Peter writes, 1Peter 2:21 “To this you were
called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you
should follow IN HIS STEPS.” Are you ready and willing to ask the Lord where He
wants to take you this coming week? Where do you discern His footprints may be
leading you? What’s YOUR next step?
CHAMPIONS
CROSSING THE FINISH LINE
It’s
been exciting this past week as Canadians have watched more of their athletes
pick up medals at the Olympics in Tokyo. How cute to see London’s Maggie MacNeil squinting to see how she came in the 100m butterfly
(and then her reaction)! And more recently Andre DeGrasse
won gold in the men’s 200m sprint. DeGrasse is a
Catholic who has a prayer tattooed on his forearm (“If I should die before I
wake I pray the Lord my soul to take”) which he prays every night. Another
tattoo on his arm has the letters “God’s Gift”. He explained to CBC Sports,
“When I turned 18, that’s when I got into track, and I started thinking, maybe
God gave me a gift to run, so I ended up putting ‘God’s gift’ right here on my
upper arm...”
What is the gift God has given YOU?
How are you applying it, pressing it into service, to bring Him glory? What
race has the Lord called you to run?
The Way of Jesus Handbook notes, “We
find our life by losing it in [Jesus]. In a lesser way, the sports fan does not
'think' their way into a vicarious life in their sports hero. They have emotionally lost themselves in the
sports hero and have found their new identity and purpose (even for short time)
in that sports hero...When Michael Jordan steps on to the basketball court and
scores 40 points, I rejoice and I am not diminished by his triumph. His victory is my victory and life is
good...If my identification with a sports hero pumps me up, what can it mean,
when the Giver of Life steps up and delivers a hammer blow to death and the eNemy, when He seeks me out and calls me by Name and then
adopts me into His family! I am pumped!”
My family was saddened this past
week by the recent death of a dear friend, “Auntie” Marg Snider in Sault Ste Marie, at the age of 95. From 1987 to 99, “Auntie Marg”
and her husband “Uncle Jim” had played the role of adoptive grandparents to our
young family when we were in Northern Ontario. We would often play music in
their home with Uncle Jim playing his fiddle, Allison on the piano, and other
instruments such as guitar or harmonica joining in. They were active in their
community and invited us to events such as Harvest Festival and Canada Day
fireworks, and we would have them over for Christmas as the children’s real
grandparents lived too far away to make the trip.
Wednesday I watched the funeral
livestreamed online. A parishioner from one of my former congregations recalled
how she had a secret, til now undisclosed – that of
all Marg’s friends, she knew she was Marg’s “favourite”. She recalled a
birthday celebration for Marg’s 90th, looking around at all the
people in the hall and realizing that they all felt the way she did – that they
were all ‘special’! Marg had that way about her, so kind and other-centred, she
made you feel that you were the focus of her attention. My daughter Meredith
wrote on WhatsApp, “She and Uncle Jim were wholly present and attentive.”
Dare we say we glimpse a bit of
Jesus through people like that? The kind of person children would WANT to get
close to and be blessed by, because this person makes them feel special? A
Teacher who is stamping us with His Character that is completely unselfish and
loving, humble and serving. Jesus invites us to keep in step with Him to
discover more blessings that await as we obey and serve. Let’s pray.
Lord
Jesus, You are our champion, our hero. This story is not about me, it’s all
about You, and Your plan for our lives. Forgive our balking at walking with You.
Wash our feet, cleanse our consciences as we confess, let Your blood purge away
our self-preoccupation, our sluggishness, our blind conceit and callous
indifference. May Your Spirit be at work in us to will and to act according to
Your good purposes. And may You get the glory when we cross the finish line! In
Jesus’ name, Amen.
WITH
A LOVE LIKE THAT...
Let’s
start off today with a pop quiz! Can you name the song that launched the
Beatles into stardom in Britain, and was their first single released in the
U.S.? Of course you do – you say to me, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” (!) Well, that DID
become their catchphrase at the time, and in fact in some parts of Europe they
were referred to as the “Yeah-yeahs”. But what was
the name of the song? “She Loves You.”
That’s what we’re focusing on today
– LOVE, keeping it the main thing. The fourth saying of the Way of Jesus is, “I
am learning to love God and love others.” But is this kind of love the same as
what the Beatles and other pop singers are singing about?
While the chorus of “She loves you”
is well known (and pretty simple and repetitive), the verses actually get
beyond romantic ‘fluff’ and physical chemistry to issues that really have
potential to get in the way of actual sincere love. Verse 2:
“She
said you hurt her so | She almost lost her mind
But
now she said she knows | You're not the hurting kind”
Hmm
– hurt DOES occur in relationships; pain makes us not want anything to do with
the person who hurts us, we draw back, we want to keep a safe distance. How can
healing occur? Hurt makes us enemies instead of friends.
Verse 3 adds more depth:
“You
know it's up to you | I think it's only fair
Pride
can hurt you, too | Apologise to her”
Wow
– you mean the Beatles actually talked about pride and apologizing? And in a
song that went on to become their best selling song during the whole 1960s? How
does pride get in the way of loving? Self resists being humbled. We hate to
admit we were wrong, even though we know everyone makes mistakes. But when hurt
has been caused, someone’s got to pay, we need to make amends – even if that
means lowering ourself to confront honestly our
faults and ‘fess up’ to the other person, so the relationship can indeed return
to a state of fairness and justice.
If “She Loves You” was the Beatles’
biggest hit of the first decade, “God loves you” would be one of the most basic
truths of the Christian Gospel. Let’s look at the centrality of love more
closely.
CHRISTIANITY’S
ESSENTIAL: LOVE AS FOREMOST
Baden-Powell,
founder of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, used to say, “If it’s not fun, it’s not
Scouting.” Similarly we might say, “If it’s not loving, it’s not Christian.”
Jesus and the New Testament writers put love squarely at the centre of the
Christian faith. 1Jn 4:16b “God is love.Whoever lives
in love lives in God, and God in him.” John is asserting (through the Holy
Spirit) that God’s very essence, the heartbeat of God’s nature, is love. Probably
Christianity’s best known verse, Jn 3:16, begins -
“God so LOVED the world...”
Jesus, God’s unique Son, the divine
incarnate, lived among us as a model of love: teaching, healing, feeding,
caring, and at the end, dying to become a perfect substitute for sinners.
Jesus’ giving of Himself for us, in our place, at the cross defines for us what
real love is truly about. 1Jn 4:9 “This is how God showed his love among us: He
sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” And Romans
5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus spelled out for us how key love is for His
followers, the kind of love that He demonstrated at the cross. John 15:12f “My
command is this: Love each other AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. Greater love has no one
than this, that he LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR his friends.” What constitutes ‘great’
love in Jesus’ eyes? Laying down your life for others.
Acting in love is the primary
command for a Christian. We just saw (Jn 15:12) Jesus
calls it “MY command”. A few verses later, He reiterates for emphasis: Jn 15:17 “This is my command: Love each other.” Could He
have made it any simpler?!
In Luke 10, where we find the story
of the Good Samaritan, the context has to do with what commands are the most
important ones. An expert in the Jewish law asked the following to test Jesus.
Lk 10:25b-28 “"Teacher...what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read
it?" He answered: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and,
‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’" "You have answered
correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."” In a
similar setting in Matthew 22(40) Jesus adds, “All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments” – hanging or depending or swinging on them like
a door on a couple of hinges. If it’s not loving, it’s not Christian.
Jesus clearly wanted love to be an
identifying factor for His followers, something that would set them apart, make
them stand out. Jn 13:34-35 “A new command I give
you: Love one another.AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO YOU must love one another. BY
THIS all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The
context here is the evening He was betrayed and would be crucified the next
day; the evening He washed His disciples’ feet in the lowly style of a servant.
Not mere emotion or feeling: love in action – that would stamp them as His followers.
Tertullian of Carthage was a
Christian author who lived from 160-220 AD. He wrote, “It is our care for the
helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of
our opponents. ‘Look!’ they say, ‘How they love one another! Look how they are
prepared to die for one another.’” Would our neighbours say that about our
church today? Is our ‘love gauge’ reading anywhere near that?
The Apostle Paul singled out love as
the most enduring of the primary features of the Christian faith. 1Cor 13:13
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is
love.” In fact in that famous ‘love chapter’ Paul began by asserting that
without love, we are a ‘net ZERO’ regardless of other spiritual things we might
boast in. 1Cor 13:2-3 “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but
have not love, I AM NOTHING. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender
my body to the flames, but have not love, I GAIN NOTHING.” Zilch - nada!
SPOT
THE CRICKET: WHAT LOVE IS / ISN’T
Has
anyone else had this problem lately? Our house seems to have been invaded by
crickets! Not overrun, but just the occasional one here or there we have to
track down and deal with. It’s frustrating, you can hear them in the room, but
they’re almost invisible until you start moving boxes and furniture.
How can we track down love? What’s
it really look like? The Beatles’ song “She Loves You” had some good angles,
but not every pop or country song gets beyond the ‘wow’ factor of physical
appearance and personal chemistry. How can we appreciate better what the Lord
means by ‘love’?
In 1Corinthians 13 Paul outlines
some positive and negative aspects of love – what it IS and IS NOT. 1Cor 13
verses 4-8a “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.Love never fails.”
Let’s review those one at a time,
the positives first. “Love is patient” - are we generous with our time? Does
having to wait for someone make us uptight? Do we cut others off in traffic?
“Love is kind” – how giving are we? Generous with our money or our muscle,
going out of our way to help someone? Do we exhibit thoughtfulness toward
others or are we always too focused on our own projects? “Love rejoices with the
truth” – do we hop on conspiracy theory bandwagons? Do we ever bend the facts
to make ourselves look better? Are we susceptible to juicy bits of gossip?
“Love always protects” - it covers for the other, makes allowance for them,
defends them when maligned, looks out for their best interests. “Love always
trusts” – puts its confidence in the other person, gives them a second chance,
sees the other person in the best possible light. “Love always hopes” - doesn’t
become jaded or cynical, it sees the possibilities, stays positive and
edifying, building others up. “Love always perseveres” - hang in there, don’t
give up, let’s try one more time.
Then there’s the negative side, what
love is NOT. “Love does not envy” - doesn’t compare itself with the Joneses, is
satisfied and content rather than always wanting more. “Love does not boast” –
it’s not ‘full of oneself’, always needing to rhyme off one’s accomplishments
looking for validation: your validation doesn’t come from other humans, but
from God, whose son/daughter you are through faith in Christ, hence you have
real worth and dignity; you don’t need to draw attention. “Love is not proud” –
either overt pride, or hidden pride, cloaked by self-deprecation but still
needing to be affirmed or in control / heeded. You know God is God and you’re
not! You don’t have to force things to get your way all the time. “My way or
the highway” - no!
“Love is not rude” - not butting in,
jumping in to finish the other person’s sentences, steering the conversation,
but showing respect and being polite, even at least ‘civil’ when tensions are
high. “Love is not self-seeking” - preoccupied with the ‘unholy trinity’ of
‘me-myself-and-I’. Can we let others have pre-eminence? Does it rankle us when
they get the credit, or praise? “Love is not easily angered” - not explosive,
irritated by simple things, not gunny-sacking and then dumping inappropriately
at the last straw. “Love keeps no record of wrongs” - doesn’t keep harping ‘you
owe me’ or keep a long list of grievances, becoming bitter, resentful, having a
hard time forgiving someone. “Love does not delight in evil” - careful about
what we’re viewing, not fascinated with oppression or injustice or bullying,
not overly impressed with ‘bad guys’ whether on the screen or in the news, not
taking part in pornography or other practices that degrade others. Steer clear!
For an example of love being kind
and thoughtful - a young lady walked into a fabric shop, went to the counter,
and asked the owner for some noisy, rustling, white material. The owner found
two such bolts of fabric but was rather puzzled at the young lady’s motives.
Why would anyone want several yards of noisy material? Finally the owner’s
curiosity got the best of him and he asked the young lady why she particularly
wanted noisy cloth. She answered: “You see, I am making a wedding gown, and my
fiancé is blind. When I walk down the aisle, I want him to know when I’ve
arrived at the altar, so he won’t be embarrassed.” Such love the young woman
had for her man!
Pastor Phil Delsaut writes in the
Way of Jesus Handbook, “What does love mean? Doing good to someone with warmth
and in deed.Love is an action word, more than a
feeling, but it is a feeling.Love touches us and
moves us to get involved and care about and for someone else.” (And) “How do I
love others? How did Jesus treat others? The poor, the weak, the proud, the
self-righteous.By serving them, doing good to them
with warmth and intent.”
Scripture defines what love means in
1Jn 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life
for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” The unbelieving
Greek writer Lucian (A.D.120~200) wrote this upon observing the warm fellowship
of Christians: “It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of
that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first
legislator (Jesus) has put it into their heads that they are brethren.” Love
takes action, doing good, sparing nothing, helping others as Jesus leads us to
do because He spared nothing to save us.
IS
YOUR INDICATOR FLASHING?
At
the end of July I took the “M-exit” course offered by Learning Curves in London
to obtain my full motorcycle licence. During the actual driving test one
becomes quite nervous, wanting to make sure you stop at the stop signs, don’t
speed, and make sure you always signal so surrounding traffic can see your
intentions. My Yamaha V-star 950 has a helpful self-cancelling feature on the
turn signal indicator. Well, at least it’s helpful MOST of the time! Occasionally
after you turn a corner, it doesn’t self-cancel. So there you are driving along
with your turn signal flashing even though you aren’t actually planning to make
a turn. I’m embarrassed to report that this must have happened during my actual
driving test because at one point the examiner / course instructor who was
following me in a car marking me and telling me where to go came on the
walkie-talkie and said, “Ernest, you can cancel your turn signal anytime.”
Oops!
Is your indicator flashing? Loving
others is a vital indicator of our love for God. Discussing Luke 10 Pastor Phil
notes, “Jesus does something revolutionary; He inseparably connects loving
others and loving God. These are not separate things, but the one is the
evidence of the other. Jesus weds two Scriptures: Deut
6:4,5 and Lev 19:18. Deut. 6:4f ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength.’ Lev. 19:18 'Do not seek revenge or bear
a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am
the LORD.’ ...The welding of these two texts [has] been the single most
important marker of the people of God in Jesus and this single compound idea
has shaped the history of the world: John 13:35 ‘By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ Jesus is unique in making love
for God and love for others inseparable.”
Love for others is the INDICATOR of
our love for God – “by this all [people] will know” we are Jesus’ disciples. Is
our indicator flashing? You can’t separate the two: you can’t pretend to love
God while simultaneously hating another human. 1Jn 4:20f “If anyone says,
"I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who
does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not
seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his
brother.” Real love for God has the consequence, the outworking, the necessity
of loving our sister or brother.
The Way of Jesus Handbook draws to
our attention this statement: “You do not love God any more than the person you
love the least.” (repeat) So, in light of that I ask you, Do you really love
God? 1John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another.” ‘Ought’ - we owe it, because God has first loved us. The
handbook comments, “The apostle appears to be saying that the measure of your
love for God is how we treat others.” Our treatment of others is a measure, an
indicator, a gauge of how much we actually love God.
In a boiler room, it is impossible
to look into the boiler to see how much water it contains. But running up
beside it is a tiny glass tube, that serves as a gauge. As the water stands in
the little tube, so it stands in the great boiler. When the tube is half full,
the boiler is half full, if empty, so is the boiler. (Same sort of thing on
those big coffee percolators.) How do you know you love God? You believe you
love him, but you want to know. Look at the gauge. Your love for your brother
or sister is the measure of your love for God.
HOW
DO I LOVE THAT ‘OTHER’ ANOTHER?
Jesus
teaches us to love God with our heart soul mind and strength; He teaches us to
love our neighbour as ourself. He goes even further,
and teaches us to love our ENEMY! Mt 5:43f “"You have heard that it was
said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: LOVE YOUR
ENEMIES and pray for those who persecute you...” Oh! That’s a tough one! Not
sure about that? Go back and look at the state of the relationship when God put
His own love for us on display. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us.” While we were
still sinners – Romans 5:10 adds: “....WHEN WE WERE GOD’S ENEMIES, we were
reconciled to him through the death of his Son...” Col 1:21 “Once you were
alienated from God and WERE ENEMIES IN YOUR MINDS because of your evil
behavior.” God didn’t wait for us to get all cleaned up from our sin and become
friendly toward Him before He showered His love upon us!
Back in Luke 10, the religious
expert asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life had one more
question after the review of loving God and loving one’s neighbour. He went on
to inquire, “And who is my neighbour?” – as if to define more narrowly and
exactly just WHO love obligated him to act kindly towards, what could be the
reasonable cap to his obligation. Jesus’ story concluded with the question,
Luke 10:36 “Which of these three do you think WAS A NEIGHBOUR to the man who
fell into the hands of robbers?” It’s not about who IS my neighbour, but
rather, how can I BE a neighbour?
Jesus’ story is called that of the
“Good Samaritan” – which in Jewish eyes at the time would be an oxymoron, a
contradiction in terms. Could there ever BE a Samaritan who was actually
“good”? The hostility between Jews and their northern neighbours went back
centuries. After the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria in 722
BC, the peoples that were left intermarried with those imported by the imperial
power. So Jews viewed Samaritans as impure half-breeds. John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim
about 112 BC, which really finalized the breach between the two groups. So when
Jesus makes the hero of the story that helped the man left at the side of the
road half-dead beaten by robbers not the Jewish priest or the Levite, but a
despised Samaritan, this must have stuck in the craw of many of His hearers.
Yes, we are called to love that
“other” another – the Samaritan, that person with whom we have a ‘history’.
Here in Canada it’s easy for us to say “Good Samaritan” – but what about our
own prejudices? Are we really able to truly love those who are unlike us? In
2015 then-Chief Justice of Canada the Rt.Hon.Beverley
McLachlin recalled our own sorry history of
discrimination at an annual lecture on pluralism:
“In
the 19th century, we welcomed Chinese men to build our railroads – dangerous
and arduous work – but denied them the right to bring their wives and families
unless they paid a head tax – a tax which remained on the books until 1923.
When Jews fleeing the Holocaust in 1939 aboard the St.Louis
sought refuge in Canada, we turned them away. Denied entry here and the United
States, they returned to Europe, where many of them perished. When Japan bombed
Pearl Harbour in World War II, we dispossessed the Japanese population of
British Columbia of their homes and businesses and locked them up in camps.
Slavery was not unknown in our country in the 18th and 19th centuries, and
black people suffered systemic exclusion throughout much of the 20th century.
The most glaring blemish on the Canadian historic record relates to our
treatment of the First Nations that lived here at the time of colonization. An
initial period of cooperative interreliance grounded
in norms of equality and mutual dependence...was supplanted in the nineteenth
century by the ethos of exclusion and cultural annihilation. Early laws forbad
treaty Indians from leaving allocated reservations. Starvation and disease were
rampant. Indians were denied the right to vote. Religious and social
traditions, like the Potlach and the Sun Dance, were outlawed. Children were
taken from their parents and sent away to residential schools, where they were
forbidden to speak their native languages, forced to wear white-man’s clothing,
forced to observe Christian religious practices, and not infrequently subjected
to sexual abuse. The objective was to “kill the Indian in [the child]; save the
man”, and thus to solve what was referred to as the “Indian problem”. Canada’s
first Prime Minister, John A.Macdonald, explained the
policy as follows: “The great aim of our legislation has been to do away with
the tribal system and to assimilate the Indian people in all aspects with other
inhabitants of the Dominion, as speedily as they are fit for change.” “Indianness” was not to be tolerated; rather it must be eliminated.
In the buzz-word of the day, assimilation; in the language of the 21st century,
cultural genocide.”
We do have blemishes on our history
when it comes to how we view those who appear unlike us! It’s not unusual to be
at least slightly apprehensive if not fearful of those who appear different
from us, sound unlike us, whose customs are not ours. Yet Jesus makes the
Samaritan the hero of the story. God reconciled us to Himself while we were
still “enemies”, foreigners to grace, “aliens” from His Kingdom. But that same
sacrificial love that drove His Son to die for our sins to put things right and
make us acceptable before His Holiness pours into our hearts to love others
however strange or ‘foreign’ they may seem to us.
It’s not easy. You have to ‘make
yourself’ love others sometimes! It’s an act of obedience. Repeatedly Scripture
links love with obedience. Jesus said: John 14:15,21 “"If you love me, you
will OBEY what I command...Whoever has my commands and OBEYS them, he is the
one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will
love him and show myself to him.” And later the apostle John wrote: 1Jn 2:5,5:3
“But if anyone OBEYS his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him...This
is love for God: to OBEY his commands.And his
commands are not burdensome...” Not burdensome because we have an internal
Helper! As we just read, Jesus will love us and show Himself to us. Romans 5:5b
“...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us.”
Pastor Phil writes in the WoJ handbook, “Obedience is the ONLY right response to the
love of God.He is my King. How can I show love to my
King, unless I follow and obey Him?”
OUR
GREATEST NEED
In
closing, Dr Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
had this to say about our greatest need – the absolute greatest need of every
person you will ever meet! She said: "I've never met a person whose
greatest need was anything other than real, unconditional love. There is no
mistaking love. You feel it in your heart. It is the common fiber of life, the
flame that heats our soul, energizes our spirit and supplies passion to our
lives. It is our connection to God and to each other." Let’s pray.
Loving God, How great is Your love
for us unworthy sinners! Thank You for showing us a perfectly loving human life
in the person of Your Son Jesus. Burn away within us any leftover hostility,
any resentments, any prejudice against You or other people. Flood our hearts
with Your love that pours over into the lives of those we come in contact with.
Show us the ‘neighbour’ You want us to love particularly, to make amends with,
to invite into Your Kingdom this coming week. For You have been so kind to
adopt us as Your sons and daughters in Christ. In whose name we pray, Amen.
HONESTLY,
NOW
Today
we’re talking about Jesus’ teachings and how that relates to the Bible in
general. Most of us wish we knew our Bible better than we do; it’s been called
“the book we dust and trust”. You can even fool yourself into thinking you know
it better than you actually do.
Two lawyers were arguing on opposing
sides of a case. During the trial, one thought he would make a great impression
on the jury by quoting from the Bible. So he said, concerning his opponent’s
client, “We have it on the highest authority that ‘All that a man has will he
give for his skin.’”
The other lawyer knew the Bible better.
He said, “I am very much impressed by the fact that my distinguished colleague
here regards as the highest authority the one who said, ‘All that a man has
will he give for his skin.’ You will find that this saying comes from the Book
of Job and the one who utters it is the devil. And that is who he regards as
the highest authority!” (!)
The fifth saying in the Way of Jesus
is, “I am learning the teachings of Jesus.” At first you might suppose we’re
just talking about the parts where Jesus is actually quoted, that would be the
“red letter” portions in some Bibles. But is it just those bits that originate
with Jesus?
JESUS
IS AUTHOR OF HOW MUCH OF THE BIBLE?
In
the Way of Jesus Handbook, Pastor Phil Delsaut wrote, "The ENTIRE Bible
comprises the teachings of Jesus.Jesus during the
days of His flesh put His seal of approval on Scripture as the very Word of God.Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, is just as much the
Author of Scripture as is the Father or the Spirit." How do you get from
just the red-letter bits to the whole Bible being Jesus' teachings?
We read in John 1:14,18 “The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us.We have
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full
of grace and truth...No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is
at the Father’s side, has made him known.” In this ‘prologue’ or ‘forward’ to
John’s Gospel, Jesus is called the Word, the Logos, the ‘making-sense’. Jesus
became flesh, was born as a human, Son of Man but also Son of God, in order to
communicate God the Trinity to us, to ‘make [God] known’. When God is speaking,
that involves Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1-3a carries some of the
same force: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at
many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by
his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the
universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation
of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” God is there, and He
is not silent. He has spoken through the prophets, as recorded in Scripture,
but most clearly and definitively He has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus, who
represents God’s being exactly. Jesus’ word is powerful. It’s that word we hear
coming through in the Bible.
Some people might try to drive a
wedge between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Old ‘covenant’ or
‘deal’ and the New ‘covenant’ or ‘deal’, but Jesus Himself emphasized the
continuity of the two. In His initial main message in Matthew’s account, the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: Mt 5:17f “Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill
them.I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Do you think
from that that Jesus had a “high” view of Scripture? At a critical point when
confronted by people ready to stone Him, Jesus called upon the authority of
Scripture (quoting Psalm 82:6) to underline His own identity. John 10:35f “If
he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came— AND THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT
BE BROKEN— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and
sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I
am God’s Son’?”
Scripture is trustworthy,
infallible, it “cannot be broken”. Jesus refers to it as “the word of God” –
and if He is God’s Son, then it is also HIS word.
The Bible is profoundly about Jesus.
The Old Testament anticipates Him, the New Testament welcomes and describes
Him, and looks forward to His return. After Jesus’ resurrection, He met a
couple of despondent disciples on the road to Emmaus, but they were kept from
recognizing Him until they broke bread together. While they were walking along
Jesus treated them to an overview of Scripture that highlighted how much it
pointed to Himself. Lk 24:25-27 “He said to them, "How foolish you are,
and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the
Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And
beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
A bit later, after they returned to
Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to them and explained: Lk 24.44-47 “‘This is what I
told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is
written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he
opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.He
told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the
dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached
in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”
There you have the heart of the Bible
in a nutshell, summarized by the Author. God has entered and acted in history
to save us from the fracture of relationship that our sin caused. So while
Jesus is at the centre of the story, it’s also about US, our being drawn back
into friendship with our Creator.
Pastor Phil writes in the Way of
Jesus Handbook, “...the Scriptures are 'the teachings of Jesus' in the sense of
the teachings about Jesus.He is the subject of the
Scriptures, the One Promised by Scripture.He is the
author of Scripture as the agent of Creation, the Logos (the Word).During days
of His flesh, He endorsed the Scriptures as the Word of God and lived in
obedience to them.The Scriptures are in every way
'the teachings of Jesus.'”
The Logos was with God in the
beginning; all things were created by and for Jesus, Paul states in Colossians
1(16). We need His timeless perspective to help us know what life is really all
about. Recently I’ve been struck by how short life is: a man younger than me
who lived near the Anglican church in Blyth died suddenly, and then another man
same age as me who was the father-in-law of my parishioner. Didn’t even make
the proverbial 3-score-years-and-ten, let alone 4-score! John Wesley, the
founder of Methodism, was also struck by life’s brevity, and his need for
guidance from some eternal source. He wrote: “I am a creature of a day, passing
through life as an arrow through the air.I am a
spirit, coming from God, and returning to God; just hovering over the great
gulf; a few months hence I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable
eternity! I want to know one thing—the way to heaven...God Himself has
condescended to teach the way.He hath written it down
in a book.O give me that Book! At any price, give me
the book of God!”
HOW
DO WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS RELIABLE?
“Promises,
promises...” We are in the midst of a federal election campaign, and leaders
are rolling out promises and platforms and pledges of funding daily. The news
reported one leader mocking another leader as not having to come up with new
campaign promises – they just recycle the ones they failed to keep last time!
(And NO, I am not saying WHO!) Political promises are legendary for not being
very reliable. But is Scripture like that? Are its promises only so much hot
air? How do we know the Bible is authoritative and reliable, that it can be
trusted?
Through the public library I borrowed and
finished listening to Lee Strobel’s excellent book, The Case for the Real
Jesus. Strobel uses his journalistic skill to do an excellent job of
researching whether criticisms of Christian doctrine hold any water. He does a
convincing job of reviewing the overwhelming manuscript evidence that the Bible
we read today is a trustworthy translation of exactly what the authors were
trying to say. New Testament manuscripts are so early and so abundant that no
essential doctrine of Christian faith is in question due to the slight
variances that may be introduced during the copying and transmission process.
Also, criteria such as ‘enemy attestation’ and the criterion of embarrassment
give us confidence that what the original authors wrote was actually
historical, that the resurrection really happened, and so on. You can borrow
that from the public library – Lee Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus.
What does the Bible say about itself? At the
risk of being accused of ‘circular reasoning’, what is Scripture’s view of
Scripture? Probably the most straightforward verses are 2Tim 3:16f - “All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.” ALL Scripture - not just parts of it. It’s divinely
inspired, God-breathed, Jesus is the Author (as we said). It’s profitable -
helpful - for teaching (getting to know what’s right), rebuking and correcting
(getting us back on track when we go off the rails). It trains us in
righteousness – the formation of godly upright character. So that we as
disciples become outfitted, equipped for every good work. So the aim of
Scripture is not just head-knowledge, but shaping us for action, so we glorify
God by our behaviour and our achievements.
2Peter 1 also describes the inspiration
process: 2Pet 1:20-21 “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of
Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The writers ‘spoke from God’, they
wrote what God wanted to convey, nudging them along as wind pushes a sailboat.
It didn’t originate in a person’s will; it wasn’t ‘made up’. As Peter said a
few verses earlier, 2Pet 1:16 “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when
we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty.”
Christianity is different from other major
world religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism which are largely philosophical:
Christianity is based on historical events, and would have fallen apart from
the first if evidence against the resurrection had been presented by Jesus’
many enemies. But instead the Apostles and hundreds of others maintained to the
point of death that they had seen Jesus risen from the dead. People don’t die
for what they know to be a lie.
Other passages extol the excellence of
Scripture, God’s revelation to people. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the
flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” In the midst of the
enlightenment, when deism was spreading rapidly, Voltaire proclaimed that within
twenty-five years the Bible would be forgotten and Christianity would be a
thing of the past. Forty years after his death in 1778, the Bible and other
Christian literature were being printed in what had once been Voltaire’s very
own home!
Psalm 19 describes more qualities of what God
has revealed in Scripture. Ps 19:7-10 “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving
the soul.The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.The precepts of the LORD are
right, giving joy to the heart.The commands of the
LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes...The ordinances of the LORD are
sure and altogether righteous.They are more precious
than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from
the comb.” Is God’s word PRECIOUS to us? Do we view it as trustworthy, sure,
perfect? Does it give our heart joy as we read it?
A skeptic might object that it’s circular
reasoning to quote Scripture to prove the authority of Scripture. But if
something is authoritative, you run into a problem if you start using something
else outside that to attempt to prove it’s authoritative, because whatever
you’re referring to would have to be more authoritative than Scripture itself.
So another approach is to say that Scripture is
“self-authenticating”, that is, that it proves itself to us as we read it – of
course because the Holy Spirit is witnessing inside us to its truthfulness,
because it is God-breathed. In our Scripture passage read earlier from John 6,
Jesus attested to the quality of what He was speaking: Jn
6:63 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have
spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” When Jesus asked His disciples if
they were going to leave like some of the others were doing, Peter responded
adamantly: Jn 6:68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life.” The truth of what Jesus taught was resonating
inside Peter.
As for this “self-authenticating” aspect, I ran
across something similar in my Quiet Time recently when I was reading Paul’s second
letter to the church at Corinth. 2Cor 4:2 “Rather, we have renounced secret and
shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we
commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Think about
that. As the truth is set forth plainly (the apostle’s preaching and writing),
it is commended to each person’s conscience: as you hear it, your own
conscience affirms the truthfulness of it.
THE
PROOF IS IN THE PUTTING – INTO PRACTICE
As
we read it and absorb it and apply it, it proves its own value. Scripture is
God-breathed for a purpose: to be USEFUL for teaching, training in
righteousness, forming Christlike character within
us, imprinting us with the Holy Spirit’s truth and patterns, SO THAT we become
equipped for every good work.
Don’t be thinking about the Bible as if it’s a
book of RULES, like the Driver’s Handbook or your grandmother’s cheesecake
recipe. Think of it more as a love-letter, something intended to draw you
closer into a relationship, your Best Friend is sharing something very special
with you. The Pharisees were experts on the Old Testament as a rule-book – they
had all the commands classified, broken down into 613 snippets: but Jesus
rebuked them for missing the main point. The Way of Jesus Handbook observes,
“Walking with God is about a relationship.Walking
humbly is about recognizing His leadership - His Lordship.Our
identity is anchored in Him and we experience the power of His transforming friendship.We grow in our love for Him because we are
coming to know Him better.And we grow in our love for
others because we see this is how He loves them.And
we want to be like Him.”
So the upshot of our Bible reading is not about
DOING so much as about BEING – becoming more like Jesus.
What is the heart of Jesus’ teachings? We’ve
been talking about the entire Bible as being “Jesus’ teachings”. But it’s not a
bad idea to start with the red-letter bits and work out from there. Jesus is
Lord of Scripture so we interpret the parts that are harder to understand or
present problems in the light of God’s supreme revelation in Jesus.
What was most central to Jesus’ message? What
is the Greatest Commandment? Go back and review last week’s sermon! Love God
with all your heart soul mind and strength, and love your neighbour as
yourself. What did Jesus say was “MY” command: Love one another – as He has
loved us. That’s the very heart of His teaching, for sure. Use that when you
encounter Bible passages that are more difficult to understand.
If you make a list of Jesus’ parables, you’ll
come up with a list of about 25 in Matthew and 14 in Luke (the ones in Mark are
pretty much also included in Matthew). Is there a dominant theme that stands
out in these creative stories Jesus used as illustrations when preaching to
crowds? About 11 or nearly half have something to do with the Kingdom of
Heaven. He’d often begin a parable by saying, “The Kingdom of heaven is
like...” – weeds growing amongst wheat; a mustard seed sprouting and growing
huge; yeast leavening a whole loaf; a treasure hidden in a field; a pearl of
great value; a dragnet catching all kinds of fish; a servant that was shown
mercy but didn’t do that in turn; laborers in a vineyard, hired late but paid
for a full day; a great banquet where none of the original guests wanted to
come, so others benefited instead. So the Kingdom of heaven (or, Kingdom of God
in Luke) is a central theme in Jesus’ teaching. In fact, how did He begin His
ministry at the very outset in Mark 1:15? “‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The
kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’”
Jesus sees God’s Kingdom as not only coming
eventually in history at His return: God’s Kingdom happens wherever God is
ruling here and now. Where Jesus is through the Spirit, there is the King!
Jesus invites us to be walking “in step” with Him each day of our lives,
bringing the Kingdom wherever we are, in the power of His Spirit.
As you read through John’s Gospel, what stands
out are not so much Jesus’ parables as His seven “I AM” statements - I am the
Bread of Life, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Light of the World, I am the
Resurrection and the Life, and so on. Who is Jesus becoming to you? Are you
letting Him be your Vine?
As you read Mark’s account, Jesus is portrayed
as a man of action, “immediately” doing something else wonderful. Then you hit
chapters 8, 9, and 10, and each chapter has a prediction of the coming
crucifixion, a misunderstanding by the disciples, and a clarification by Jesus
with a call to follow Him to the cross. He is not just the wonder-working Son
of God, He is the suffering Son of Man, come alongside us to share our sorrows
and lead us to new life.
THE
BOOK THAT READS US
CH
Spurgeon said, “A Bible which is falling apart usually belongs to someone who
isn’t!” God did not give us the Bible so it could adorn our living room like
some divine paperweight. The secret is to start reading it through the lens of
Jesus. Find a version you can understand. Start with Mark or John and work
forwards into the Apostles’ letters and gradually backward into the Old
Testament, once you know where things are headed. A good Study Bible with notes
at the bottom and book introductions can be a huge help. If you use a Bible app
on your device such as YouVersion, there are beginner
plans and more advanced plans, according to what time you have available.
Personally, I like the One Year Bible plan because it has a nice variety, but
that takes about 20 minutes a day; however if you use the audio feature, you
can also listen to it while doing another activity.
Just start somewhere! And keep at it. I would
say there are about 5 different stages in daily Bible reading.
MARVEL: When you first become a Christian, it’s
all new, the Holy Spirit is highlighting exciting things, its very REVELATORY;
you’re discovering.
MUST: After you’ve been a Christian a few
years, the Bible becomes more familiar, it’s not new and as ‘exciting’ perhaps,
there seem to be a lot of RULES; it’s becoming understood, and you may have
questions or doubts about some parts.
MIMIC: as you keep on, it’s not just familiar,
it’s becoming internalized, it starts to shape you. The Bible is becoming
REPLICATED in you, it’s being applied.
MENTORING: by this stage, after some years,
Scripture is starting to seem like an old friend. As you read, you’re also
worshipping. The problem passages no longer cause you to trip or pause. Each
day you anticipate getting “topped up” – it’s RELATIONAL, you’re listening for
the voice of God; “What is it you want to show me today, Lord?”
MOOT: This is the final stage. If something is
‘moot’ (as in a ‘moot point’) according to the dictionary it is “having little
or no practical relevance”. HUH? When does this stage occur? When you’re DEAD!
Scripture becomes MOOT when you’re in heaven because you’re now seeing and
adoring the Author face to face. It has become REALIZED; He has delivered on
all those promises.
Until then, it is ‘the book that reads us’ – so
keep on reading!
Some seem to expect the Word of God to hit them
like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the “jolt”
may hit us periodically, the benefits of the Word of God act more like
vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their long-term
benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new
strength surging through their bodies. They have developed a habit of
consistently taking vitamins because they have been told that, in the long
haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their
physical health, resistance to disease, and general well-being. The same is
true of reading the Bible. At times it will have a sudden and intense impact on
us. However, the real value lies in the cumulative effects that long-term exposure
to God’s Word will bring to our lives.
Four pastors were discussing the pros and cons
of various Bible translations and paraphrases. Eventually each stated which
version, in his opinion, is the best. The first pastor said he used the King
James because the Old English style is beautiful and produces the most reverent
picture of the Holy Scriptures. The second said he preferred the New American
Standard Bible because he felt it comes nearer to the original Greek and Hebrew
texts. The third pastor said his favourite was the paraphrased Living Bible
because his congregation was young, and it related to them in a practical way.
All three men waited while the
fourth pastor sat silently. Finally he said, “I guess when it comes to
translations and paraphrased editions of the Bible, I like my Dad’s translation
best. He put the Word of God into practice every day. It was the most
convincing translation I’ve ever seen.”
YOU are the only translation of the Bible some
people will ever read! Will you be ‘stocked up’ on God’s word such that what
flows out of you is what God would be wanting to express of Himself to them?
Let’s pray.
Thank
You Lord for Your excellent Word! We praise You, Jesus, Light of the World, for
shining Your truth into our lives, making Yourself known, enveloping us in Your
love, sending Your Spirit into our lives so Your Kingdom becomes real in our
situation! Grant us an insatiable appetite to get to know You better through
Your Word. Let it not just stick in our head but filter down into our heart,
our character, and out through our hands and speech and lives. May we become
Your expression to others wherever we go, conscious of Jesus guiding each step
of the way. Amen.
WHAT MAKES
A DISCIPLE?
It’s right
there in our marching orders, you can’t ignore it. It’s plunk in the middle of
what Christ-followers call the Great Commission, Jesus’ parting instructions
before His ascension at the close of Matthew’s gospel. What did He emphasize as
He was about to withdraw His physical presence and move on up to His Father’s
right hand in glory? Was it to build buildings where we gather weekly, out of
sight of our neighbours? Was it to infiltrate our
nation’s political machinery and institute moral laws enforced by drastic
penalties? Was it to set aside time each day hidden in the privacy of our homes
solely to engage in mystical practice at our own convenience, seeking
ever-richer spiritual ecstasy? No.
Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore go and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."”
Make disciples – what’s a disciple?
The Greek word means “to be a disciple of one; to follow his/her precepts and
instructions”. The root verb means “to learn, to increase in knowledge” and
further, “to learn by use and practice; to be in the habit of, accustomed to”.
There’s a behavioural component, the idea of usage, repetition until it becomes
habitual, it’s ingrained into you so it becomes second nature, virtually
automatic. It has become habitual for me to turn my head from side to side,
looking both ways before starting off on my motorcycle, because the course
taught me to do that – and it’s a routine that helps with safety. It has become
habitual for me when driving a car to begin signalling well before I slow down
to make a turn: that’s just a good habit, practiced now about 5 decades. Has
our faith-life become so ingrained?
The New Testament emphasizes that it
takes more than just mere belief or philosophical agreement to be a Christian.
We like to park on Romans 10:9 - “That if you confess with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved.” But real belief in the Biblical sense has a
component of COMMITMENT, having entrusted yourself completely, such that it
determines your actions. You might suppose in our secular atheistic culture
that believing in God alone sets you apart. The Apostle James has news for us!
James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe
that— and shudder.” I hope your spirituality is a bit above the same grade as
the Devil!
The Great Commission is that we
‘make disciples’. This involves evangelism – sharing the Good News about Jesus
– but there’s more than that. Dawson Trotman was founder of the Christian
campus ministry called The Navigators. In his classic booklet Born to Reproduce, he tells the
following story:
“One
day years ago. I was driving along in my little Model-T Ford and saw a young
man walking down the Street. I stopped and picked him up. As he got into the
car, he swore and said, “It’s sure tough to get a ride.” I never hear a man
take my Saviour’s name in vain but what my heart aches. I reached into my
pocket for a tract and said, “Lad, read this.” He looked up at me and said.
“Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” I looked at him closely. He looked like
someone I should know. We figured out that we had met the year before on the
same road. He was on his way to a golf course to caddy when I picked him up. He
had gotten into my car and had started out the same way with the name ‘Jesus
Christ’. I had taken exception to his use of that name and had opened up the
New Testament and shown him the way of salvation. He had accepted Jesus Christ
as his Saviour. In parting I had given him Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of
this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ.” ‘God bless you, son. Read this,’ I said, and
sped on my merry way. A year later, there was no more evidence of the new birth
and the new creature in this boy than if he had never heard of Jesus Christ.”
Trotman concluded he needed to
follow up more with those who were converted on hearing the gospel. A disciple
is more than a person who has accepted in principle or in theory that Jesus is
Lord and Saviour: a disciple is someone who is actually following Jesus,
walking with their Saviour intentionally day by day.
What was that Jesus added in the
Great Commission after baptizing people? “...and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you.” The Greek verb translated “observe” means
literally “to keep, observe, watch, hold fast”. When that cloud bank rolled in
from the lake late Tuesday afternoon and the tornado warnings had gone out on
our phone, it had my full attention, I was observing it carefully looking for
any funnel clouds, I was watching the dust eddy stirred up in the field across
the road just west of us. Jesus wants us to give our full attention to keeping
His commands.
The disciple doesn’t deceive themself into thinking they’re a Christian when they’re
really not. The disciple keeps “looking intently” into the Lord’s instruction.
Did you pay attention when you combed your hair in the mirror this morning?
(That is, if unlike me you had enough hair to comb!) James 1:22-25 offers this
comparison: Jas 1:22-25 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do
what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking
at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man
who LOOKS INTENTLY into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do
this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it— he will be blessed in
what he does.” Looks intently – not forgetting, but doing; observing, watching,
keeping with one’s full attention.
LEAD
BY EXAMPLE
Through
the centuries Christians have attempted to explain the meaning of the cross in various ways. Early on there was the “Christus Victor” theory: Athanasius said Jesus
"brought death to nought" and was raised as a "monument of
victory over death and its corruption."
Then there’s what’s known as the
Satisfaction Theory. Anselm considered, in view of us sinning against God, only
God himself -- Jesus -- can make up for what we did. The punishment for the
crime varied depended upon the status of the one sinned against: in this case,
God’s status was infinite, so we could never pay.
Peter Abelard advanced the theory of
atonement known as the Moral Exemplar. According to Abelard, when our sin made
a loving relationship between God and humans impossible, God became human to
demonstrate the depth of his love by his suffering and death. Observing the
love of Christ on the cross, we're motivated to reconcile with God and model
our lives after Jesus. Because of Christ's example, Abelard wrote, "we
cling both to him and to our neighbor by the indestructible bond of love."
During the Protestant Reformation,
John Calvin promoted what’s known as the “Penal Substitution” theory of the
atonement. Calvin presents God as an angry judge in a courtroom ready to punish
human sinners. "We could not escape the fearful judgment of God," Calvin
explains, but God spares us death because "the guilt which made us liable
to punishment was transferred to the head of the Son of God."
Each of these theories of the
atonement has Biblical backing, and presents a different angle on the central
truth of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus’ own language at communion
seems to support the ‘penal substitution’ theory most closely, as I see it. But
sometimes our modern sensibilities become offended by the whole notion of blood
sacrifice, and Calvin’s protrayal of God as angry. So
the “Moral Exemplar” theory has become popular amongst Protestants and
Catholics, especially those who are more theologically liberal.
Jesus did speak in terms that
support us thinking of Him as our example (without negating the importance of
His substitutionary work on our behalf). He highlighted the pattern of
servanthood in His life. Luke 22:27 “For who is greater, the one who is at the
table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am
among you as one who serves.” And then the night He washed the disciples’ feet,
He clearly made the point: John 13:13-17 “"You call me ‘Teacher’ and
‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I HAVE
SET YOU AN EXAMPLE that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the
truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than
the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, YOU WILL BE BLESSED IF YOU
DO THEM.” Clearly, He wants to be our example, and then some! “Lord” is a term
of ownership and command – we owe obedient response to Him.
The Apostle Paul uses the language
of ‘example’ in describing how believers are to follow His pattern of living
for Christ. 1Cor 11:1 “Follow my EXAMPLE, as I follow the EXAMPLE of Christ.” Php 3:17 “Join with others in FOLLOWING MY EXAMPLE,
brothers, and take note of those who LIVE ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN we gave
you.” Titus 2:7 “In everything SET THEM
AN EXAMPLE by doing what is good...”
Are we setting a good example in our
own living patterns? Others are watching. If we have children around, they are
impressionable and learn to copy what adults are doing. In the news this week was a 4-year-old Australian
musk duck named Ripper who learned to mimic human speech, specifically the
words, “You bloody fool”. That’s probably not how his handlers wished to go
down in the annals of history!
THE
IMITATION OF CHRIST
Who
are we mimicking? What are the words that come out of our mouth when things
suddenly go wrong? When the teacup is jostled, what spills out is what it’s
filled with; are we filled with Christ? Or does something less desirable spill
out when we’re upset?
Amongst life’s more pithy and
profound sayings is this: “Wherever you go, there you are.” Do you know who
said that? Thomas a Kempis about 1420 AD in his book The Imitation of Christ.
A longer quote I’d like us to look at is this. A Kempis wrote: “It is good for
us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are
on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us
sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do
well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from
vainglory. When to all outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do
not think well of us, then we are more inclined to seek God Who sees our
hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root himself so firmly in God that he will
not need the consolations of men.” I like that last phrase, “root himself so
firmly in God...” Where are we rooted? Do we seek our validation from other
humans, comparing ourselves with them, judging by externals – or from Him who
gave Himself for us, and sees our hearts?
When we are rooted firmly in God, we
will find ourselves re-presenting Christ, imitating Him, not caught in the trap
of people-pleasing, bending to try to suit their ideas of what we should say or
do. God doesn’t want us to be copy-cats following the latest cultural trends,
but to be originals, developing the special unique gifts He’s given us as
individuals. Romans 12:4-6a “Just as each of us has one body with many members,
and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are
many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have
different gifts, according to the grace given us” – prophesying, serving, teaching,
encouraging, contributing to others’ needs, leading, showing mercy, and so on.
That duck imitated its handler; we
have Christ to imitate, which is so much better! As we grow in Christ-likeness
through the Holy Spirit, in many respects we grow to resemble Him, to be like
Him in His goodness and kindness. The New Testament writers emphasized this
“imitating”. 1Cor 4:16 [Paul says] “Therefore I urge you to IMITATE me.”
Hebrews 6:12, 13:7 “We do not want you to become lazy, but to IMITATE those who
through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” “Remember your
leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of
life and IMITATE their faith.”
Think back – who spoke the Good News
about Jesus to you? Was it a Sunday School teacher, a youth leader, a
neighbour? How are you imitating THEIR faith now?
WINCH
BY INCH: THE COME-ALONG MODEL
Making
disciples who make disciples who make disciples is not a “one and done” deal:
it needs to be continuous throughout one’s life. Jesus wants us to be
REPRODUCING followers, and that doesn’t happen overnight – as each of us can
vouch our own Christian walk has had its own struggles and setbacks and
advances. We need others’ encouragement, and to be encouraging our own
‘Timothies’ as we’ve had our “Barnabases” keep
pouring into our own lives.
On the farm growing up I sometimes
watched my Dad use what he called a “come-along” – it’s a type of portable
winch with a cable operated by a lever you swivel back and forth with your
hand. It doesn’t pull very fast – a couple of inches at a time – but fastened
to a tree it can pull a vehicle out of a mud-hole (as I can attest more than
once!). So think about making disciples as like operating a come-along.
In the Way of Jesus Handbook, Pastor
Phil Delsaut writes: “Discipling, like raising
children, is a developmental process. It is iterative - you do it over and
over. It is incremental - little by
little. It is cumulative - add a little
more each time. It is uneven and unpredictable - sometimes quick and sometimes
slow, sometimes hot and sometimes cold.”
There’s your word for the day -
“iterative”! I like the image of a come-along winch. It’s repetitive, you have
to swing the lever back and forth, back and forth. It’s incremental - inch by
inch. It’s cumulative - gradually the vehicle’s tires emerge from the oozing
mud with the sound of air being sucked in behind. It’s flexible and portable -
you never know where you’re going to get stuck next!
Making disciples has to be LOL - not
“laugh out loud” but Life-On-Life. Your faith ‘rubs off’ on people as they see
how you handle various situations. Pastor Phil notes, “Relationship/ friendship
is the most important factor in the transmission...Often the best discipling happens by inviting and including someone into
your family's life.Because
discipling is not about 'religious stuff' but about life.Following Jesus is a Way of Life.”
Hmm, ‘inviting and including
someone’ – to me, that sounds like a “come along” strategy! Making disciples
isn’t something confined to a church building or Sunday School classroom but
also happens in the ‘school of hard knocks’ in the midst of everyday life. In
Deuteronomy 6 the Lord told the Israelites how they were to teach their
children to observe His commands: Deut 6:7 “Impress
them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” A “Come-along”
strategy.
Paul instructed his own protege Timothy to reproduce himself faith-wise by choosing
some other men he could rub off on. 2Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard
me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also
be qualified to teach others.” Note there are FOUR ‘generations’ mentioned
here: Paul, speaking in the presence of the ‘many witnesses’; Timothy, who
heard him; the “reliable men” Timothy was to entrust Paul’s teachings to; and
the “others” the “reliable men” would teach in turn. Reproducing followers.
What does this look like for me? I’m
not as bold as Dawson Trotman, though I try to be sensitive whenever I’ve
picked up hitchhikers, and watched for openings to spiritual conversation. I
have had other people stay at my home for short periods in various life
transitions, where they would see our own life-patterns. Occasionally I’ve met
with others for breakfast or coffee-and-doughnuts. Very often I find myself
visiting people in their homes or at hospital and there are opportunities for
prayer. I’ve had the benefit of being part of a small group quite often, where
one both gives and receives.
A wit once observed, “Showing up is 80 percent of
life.” Sometimes having a major impact on someone’s life just involves showing
up – going to them when they’re in distress, inviting them to come alongside
while you go on a mundane errand. But you’re got to break out of your
comfort-bubble. It’s paraclete work, like the Holy
Spirit, who ‘comes alongside’ to help.
BLESSING
OVER BROADCASTING
Does
evangelism intimidate you? Do you find yourself tongue-tied when there’s an
opportunity to share your faith? Do you beat yourself up because you lack the
nerve to talk to so-and-so about the gospel? You’re not alone! These things
force us to rely on our Divine Helper.
It’s not a matter of ‘one size fits
all’ as if you should use a memorized approach. Start where each person is at,
listen for how God may be already at work in their story. Sometimes it takes a
person seven or more exposures to the Gospel for it to really set in.
Pastor Phil comments, “Depending on
what it is, the level of relationship and trust might have to be really high.
This is why the most important thing about discipling
someone else is HONESTY about where we are in our journey with Jesus.” Honesty
is HUGE for other people; without honesty, there can’t be trust. Vulnerability,
authenticity are important; any “canned” presentation won’t sound genuine. Yes,
try to have some key promises memorized, and have a general path to the cross,
but try to put it in your own words in a way that speaks to that person’s
situation.
The Covenant Players used to have a
skit in which a person came along, bopped someone on the head while
proclaiming, “I am an evangelist!” That should definitely NOT be our approach!
How did Jesus introduce His message in the Sermon on the Mount? They’re called
the Beatitudes - that’s a fancy word for ‘blessings’. Matthew 5:3-5 “BLESSED
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. BLESSED are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted. BLESSED are the meek, for they will
inherit the earth.” See the theme here? As we look for ways to be BLESSING
others, opportunities for authentic witness will arise. We’re already
introducing God’s Kingdom into the situation by our action. From the Way of
Jesus Handbook: “As we bless and then give Jesus the glory, this act of
blessing becomes another piece of the puzzle in that other person's life.It can be incidental (a waiter, a stranger, etc.) or
it can be intentional (a neighbour, a family member, a workmate, etc.). But as
the blessing happens and we give Jesus the glory, the pieces begin to fit
together and there is growing intrigue about the things of Jesus...Live a life
of blessing and you are always ready for God to use you.'I
am being sent by Jesus to bless others...'”
Begin by asking God in the quiet of
your inner being, “Who is the journeyer God is placing on my heart?” who does
He bring to mind?
THE
MOST UNDERRATED EVANGELISTIC TOOL
In
closing, allow me to introduce to you the most underrated evangelistic tool
around. No, it’s not a gospel tract (though you can keep one in your car if
that helps). It’s not a Gideon Bible - although those are helpful and are now
being produced in the most interesting and beautiful formats! What is it?
You probably already have one in
your kitchen cupboard...I’m talking about the lowly CAN OPENER! Yes, that’s
right, it can be a Swing-away or other version, as long as it works. A can
opener. Why? Because if you invite someone over spontaneously, probably the
first thing you’re going to think about is, “What have I got for them to eat?!”
Well – go with a can of soup (I like Habitant split pea soup) and a slice of
bread. Or can of beans. Or whatever else you have sitting back in that corner.
Point is – IT DOESN’T MATTER, just do it! They’re coming to see YOU, not your
fancy spread. Invite them to “come along” regardless of how your fridge is
stocked. People surprisingly open up and share their private lives if you give
them half a chance over a bowl of soup.
The secret ingredient here is
“hospitality”. Karen Mains wrote about the difference between hospitality and
entertaining: “Entertaining says, ‘I want to impress you with my home, my
clever decorating, my cooking.’ Hospitality, seeking to minister, says, ‘This
home is a gift from my Master.I use it as He
desires.’ Hospitality aims to serve.
“Entertaining puts things before
people. ‘As soon as I get the house finished, the living room decorated, my
housecleaning done – then I will start inviting people.’ Hospitality puts
people first. ‘No furniture – we’ll eat on the floor!’ ‘The decorating may
never get done – you come anyway.’ ‘The house is a mess – but you are friends –
come home with us.’
“Entertaining subtly declares, ‘This
home is mine, an expression of my personality.Look,
please, and admire.’ Hospitality whispers, ‘What is mine is yours.’” Doesn’t
that sound more like the echo of Jesus gave all He had to bring us home with
Him eternally? Let’s pray.
Father
God, You know how we struggle in this area of sharing our faith and making
disciples. Thank You for those who have poured into our own lives, who spent
time and coached us in our own spiritual journey. Thank you for Your grace
through our Barnabases and Pauls.
Show us who You want to be our Timothys, the precious
lives we are now privileged to sow into in faith. And help us live lives that
are examples, that others will want to imitate – lives that shine with Your
goodness, and let Your blessings seep out to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
THE
KINGDOM OF GOD IS A (NON-POLITICAL) PARTY!
Tomorrow
is our national election. During the campaign politicians have been rolling out
platforms designed to appeal to a variety of persuasions. The dynamics of this
process has the effect of dividing people, even within a household, into
different groups. The Quebecers have their party, seizing on a debate question
that seemed to imply English-speaking media don’t really understand the
sensitivities of their situation. Greens are strongest in BC. Urban and rural
areas seem broadly different in their approach. Topics such as the environment
and child care and gun control and dealing with COVID have been up for active
debate in recent weeks, leading people to gravitate towards particular parties.
Tomorrow Canadians head to the polls
(except for those who’ve voted in advance) to elect their government. Will it
be a minority or majority government? Whatever the outcome – after tomorrow, to
some degree party divisions will need to be set aside when our representatives
sit down in Parliament and set out to govern the country. There may be deep
divides before the election, but we need politicians to eventually start to
work together and agree on key matters so the country can move ahead.
In the church, we don’t have parties
like political parties, but we do have denominations. The church in a given
community may have many believers but meeting in sub-groups in different
buildings, due to denomination. The Bible reminds us that we are to be one in
Christ regardless of how we’re organized in our congregations.
When evangelist George Whitefield
preached from the balcony of the Philadelphia Courthouse to thousands who
gathered, he cried out: “Father Abraham, whom have you in Heaven? Any
Episcopalians?” “No.” “Have you any Independents or Seceders?”
“No.” “Have you any Methodists?” “No, no, no!” “Whom have you there?” “We don’t
know those names here! All who are here are Christians – believers in Christ –
men [and women] who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of His
Testimony.” “Oh, is this the case? Then God help me, God help us all, to forget
party names and to become Christians in deed and in truth.”
Some of you will remember the
musical group Tim and the Glory Boys; one of their songs is, “The Kingdom of
God is a Party!” But not a political party, or a denominational party. Today as
we look at how the Bible (the Manufacturer’s Handbook) describes the Church, we
see it is a COMMUNITY that is PRESENTING, PROVING, PEACEMAKING, PROMPTING, and
PROVIDING.
PRESENTING
NOT RESENTING: THE COMMUNITY’S SACRED SORTING THINGS OUT
We
begin with Matthew 18:20, one of the most oft-quoted verses on church life. Mt
18:20 [Jesus said] “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I
with them.” Jesus seems to be saying something special happens when believers
gather in His name that doesn’t happen when we’re not gathered. You may have a
very fine Quiet Time on your own, but when you get together with other
Christians, whether in a small group or the weekly Sunday large gathering, the
Spirit of Jesus promises to be present in a way that isn’t applicable
otherwise. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This parallels what
the Apostle Paul described in 1Cor 14:24f, “But if an unbeliever or someone who
does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be
convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets
of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God,
exclaiming, "God is really among you!"”
Back to Matthew 18:20, the ‘where 2
or 3 gather’ verse. What’s the context? Chapter 18 begins with the disciples
asking Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” In v10 Jesus
cautions them against looking down on ‘one of these little ones’. Verses 15-17
have an important passage outlining the process to follow when our brother [or
sister] sins against us. In v21 Peter asks Jesus how many times he has to
forgive his brother when he sins against Peter.
Isn’t that just like what happens
when people get together? We vie for being first. We pass judgment on others
and look down on them. We hold something against someone because they’ve
treated us badly. We avoid someone because they’ve hurt us in the past.
Yet here we find v20 smack dab in
the midst of all this, people being (fallen) people. Sometimes it would be
easier emotionally to just stay home and not risk having to see or greet that
person who behaved badly, who we think owes us an apology, who has poor social
skills or some might say came from ‘the wrong side of the tracks’. But Jesus is
implying when we manage to work through all those resentments and judgments and
past histories and forgive and reconcile, He becomes present in a special way.
That is grace.
The objective in conflict resolution
is not to “win” the battle but to “win over” your brother or sister – there’s a
big difference!
When we come together in Jesus’
name, He promises, “There am I with them.” He is PRESENT. So when we gather in
His name, we are a faith-community PRESENTING Jesus in our locality.
Pastor Phil Delsaut writes in the
Way of Jesus Handbook, “The community of Jesus is a proving ground for helping
someone and having someone help me – where I can be corrected and encouraged,
where I can be protected against excess and spiritual pride, where I learn to
accept His discipline through His body.” In that sense, we have Jesus’ presence
helping us grow as individuals toward maturity of character.
PROVING:
THE COMMUNITY’S WONDERFUL WEIRDNESS
In
John 17, Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”, He prays for the church – those who
would believe in Him through the message of His disciples. His prayer seems to
be saying the UNITY of the community would be very significant. John 17:20-23
“...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that
all of them MAY BE ONE, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they
also be in us SO THAT the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given
them the glory that you gave me, THAT they may BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE: I in them
and you in me. May they be brought to COMPLETE UNITY TO let the world know that
you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” I’ve highlighted
the purpose-oriented conjunctions here: “so that”, “that”, and “to”. Why is
unity or oneness important? “So that” the world may believe that God the Father
sent Christ the Son. Complete unity matters because it is “to” let the world
know 2 things: that the Father sent Jesus, AND that the Father has loved the
believers ‘even as’ the Father has loved His Son.
If our unity is important for
communicating to others that the Father sent the Son, we might say the
Christian church or faith-community that shows unity is PROVING (demonstrating)
Jesus really came from God. Early on the apostles could point to an empty tomb;
now we ought to be able to point to how much Christians love one another!
This makes more sense when you think
about the political parties we mentioned earlier. It is SO NATURAL for fallen
people to gravitate into cliques, to people who are ‘like me’, who share a
common upbringing, to whom I can relate, they understand me. Yet the Christian
church ought to be characterized by great diversity: old and young, rich and
poor, male and female, different races and backgrounds and stations of life.
This diversity – the fact that people who are so different can actually get
along and appreciate one another – becomes a sort of ‘divine flag’, a wonderful
weirdness that stands out from most other groupings in society by virtue of our
sheer randomness, we’re eclectic, we welcome all kinds.
The church on earth ought to be so
diverse it’s a small foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven, where there will be
people from every tribe and nation. The church is an inbreaking
of the Kingdom of God here-and-now, in our local context, with Jesus the King
really present. Pastor Phil notes, “Because Jesus is alive in us by His Spirit,
we have the privilege of bringing the welcome of Jesus into any group of
people, but particularly into the group that is dedicated to Jesus...Because
Jesus is alive in us, we are His agents, His creative community.”
The diversity of the church is a
divine flag, its wonderful weirdness (incorporating people from vastly
different backgrounds) signals God’s grace at work through Jesus. By that
miracle we can actually get along with those who might otherwise find it
difficult to get along!
Well-known Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe writes: “I had decided to be a Christian first, a
pastor second, and a Baptist third. I wasn’t going to make denominational
affiliation a test of spirituality or fellowship. My ecclesiastical home has
been with the Baptists, and I’ve tried to live apart from anything that
dishonours the Lord, but I don’t think there’s a drop of denominational blood
in my veins. In more than four decades of ministry, I’ve preached in Christian
churches of many denominations and no denomination; I’ve discovered that Bob
Cook was right when he said, “I’ve learned that God blesses people I disagree
with.”
PEACEMAKING:
THE COMMUNITY’S CROSS-GENERATED COMMONALITY
Ephesians
4 presents one of the most beautiful sketches of what church life ought to be
like in the whole New Testament (and we’ll get to it in a minute). But you’ve
got to remember the context: in Ephesians 2&3 Paul describes how Christian
faith has overcome one of the deepest divides there is, that of race and
religion. Eph 2:12 “remember that at that time you
[Gentiles] were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and
foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the
world.” A huge divide! Verses 13-17 continue - Eph
2:13-17 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought
near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the
two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...His
purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by
which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who
were far away and peace to those who were near.” So Jesus’ death on the cross,
abolishing the regulations of the law, was a supreme act of PEACEMAKING, so
that Jews and Gentiles could now worship together in the early church. Eph 3:6 “This mystery is that through the gospel the
Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and
sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Sharers – having something in
common – “I am participating in a community of followers of Jesus on mission to
the world.” (Saying 7 in Way of Jesus) Verses 16-19 in chapter 3 are a prayer
that the Ephesians be strengthened through the Father’s Spirit in their inner
being, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Eph 3:19 “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Our unity is
very real and organic, having the Spirit in our inner being, Christ dwelling in
our hearts, knowing His love, being filled with God’s fullness. To be a
community is to have something in common: we have Jesus in common! We belong to
Him, we find our identity in Him – not what province we’re from or where we
stand on the environment or gun control or [you name the issue]. Not our gender
or background or socioeconomic status: it all belongs to Him, anyway.
This PEACEMAKING emphasis of how Christ
has abolished dividing walls of hostility brings us to chapter 4, where we see
unity tied together with working at peace: Eph 4:3-6
“MAKE EVERY EFFORT to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you
were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who
is over all and through all and in all.” PEACEMAKING takes effort, overcoming
hostility – but the oneness is real.
Three Lutheran pastors were invited
by a Catholic priest to attend Mass one Sunday at his church. They arrived a
bit late. All the pews were filled, and they had to stand in the back of the
church. The priest noticed them as he began the Mass, and he whispered to one
of the altar boys, “Get three chairs for our Lutheran friends.” The altar boy
didn’t hear so the prest spoke a bit louder,
motioning to the rear of the congregation: “Three chairs for the Lutherans.”
Dutifully the boy arose, stepped to the altar rail, and loudly proclaimed to
the congregation: “Three cheers for the Lutherans!”
PROMPTING:
THE COMMUNITY’S ENCOURAGEMENT
One
of the great blessings of meeting with other Christians is to be encouraged in
our own faith. We read in Hebrews 10:24f “And let us consider how we may SPUR
ONE ANOTHER ON toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but let us ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER— and all
the more as you see the Day approaching.” See the two “one anotherings”
there? “Spur one another on” and “encourage one another”. Yet apparently even
then, back in the early church, some were missing out on that blessing by
giving up meeting together.
What are we to “spur one another on”
towards? Spur them to become aggravated?
No! “Toward love and good deeds.” Last week during a pastoral visit I
heard how another member of the congregation had gone to this person’s house
and made them breakfast and helped them get started on their day. I LOVE
catching my flock doing good deeds with a low profile! Another member I phoned
out of the blue I caught helping his neighbour with some yardwork.
Keep it up! “And all the more as you see the Day approaching” – when Christ
returns, may He find us practising love and good deeds.
Ephesians 4 suggests it’s as we
carry out such acts of service that we become mature. Paul says the role of the
pastor-teacher is, Eph 4:12f “to prepare God’s people
for WORKS OF SERVICE, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all
reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become
mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Being active
in ministering to others’ needs would seem to be part and parcel of attaining
maturity, knowing Jesus, experiencing His fullness – and relishing
congregational unity.
Paul goes on in Eph
4:15f, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things GROW UP INTO
HIM who is the Head, that is, Christ. FROM HIM the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, GROWS AND BUILDS ITSELF UP in love, AS
EACH PART DOES ITS WORK.” Growth as a Christian here is associated with
speaking and acting in love, each one of us doing our part, contributing to the
ministry of the whole Body. As we do that, we receive Jesus’ direct supply that
helps us grow.
PROVIDING:
THE COMMUNITY’S COMPASSIONATE CONCERN
That
emphasis on loving speech and action brings us to our last point, compassionate
generosity. In Acts 2 and 4 Luke gives us quick snapshots of the early church’s
activity, with a focus on helping others. Acts 2:44f “All the believers were
together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods,
they gave to anyone as he had need.” And Acts 4:32,34-35 “All the believers
were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his
own, but they shared everything they had...There were no needy persons among
them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought
the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed
to anyone as he had need.”
Here we see the effect of unity in
community, made real by Jesus’ self-giving and our subsequent faith in Him.
They ‘were together’, they had things in common sort of like Jesus having a
common purse with His disciples. They gave to those in need. They ‘were one in
heart and mind’ – not selfish, but caring, and shared everything. To the point
that “there were no needy persons among them.” They were so invested in the
welfare of the group that they didn’t count any of their possessions their own.
Self-interest had been crucified: what mattered was helping others. They sought
to be good stewards of the funds the Lord had entrusted to them.
And so the early Christian community
became one that PROVIDED amply, it was marked by COMPASSIONATE CONCERN.
A survey by the Barna
Research Group pinpointed the top five reasons why Americans choose a church. A
nationwide sampling was asked what were the few key factors that determine
whether they would return to a church they have visited. Of the 22 factors
named, here are the top eight reasons for selecting a church, in order of
importance:
-
theological beliefs
-
how much people care
-
quality of sermons
-
friendliness to visitors
-
help to poor and disadvantaged
-
quality of children’s programs
-
how much you like your pastor
-
denomination
Now,
how many of those eight top factors would relate to ‘compassionate concern’? I
see 4: how much people care; friendliness to visitors; help to poor and
disadvantaged; and how much you like your pastor. Note especially the second
top reason, “how much people care” – of course that would be important in
wanting to come back to a church!
If we care, we will share. The
medieval theologian John Duns Scotus was visiting Rome, and the Pope took him
into the Vatican treasuries. Running his hands through the silver, the Pope
said, “No longer does the church have to say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’”
Scotus replied, “That’s true, but also no longer can we say, ‘In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’”
LET’S
MAKE THE CHURCH TOGETHER
There
you have it. Christ’s community of faith is about PRESENTING Him wherever 2 or
3 gather in His name; PROVING Him by our unity despite our diversity;
PEACEMAKING where divisions such as race or class might keep us apart;
PROMPTING believers to further acts of service, as Jesus strengthens them
internally; and PROVIDING for others as Jesus’ compassion moves us to respond
to needs we see.
During Vacation Bible School one
year, a pastor’s wife had an unusual experience with her primary class. About
an hour before dismissal, a new student was brought into the room. The little
boy had one arm missing, and since the class was almost over, the teacher had
no opportunity to learn the details of his situation, but she was nervous that
one of the other children would say something insensitive to him, so she
proceeded cautiously with the lesson. As the class time came to a close, she
asked the children to join her in their usual closing ceremony. “Let’s make our
churches,” she said without thinking, putting her hands together to form the
‘church’. Then as usual they began, “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple,
open the doors and...” Suddenly the awful truth struck her: the very thing she
had feared that the children would do, she had done!
As she stood there speechless, the
little girl sitting next to the boy reached over with her left hand and placed
it up to his right hand and said, “Josh, let’s make the church together.” (!)
Let’s
pray. Heavenly Father, we bless You for sending Jesus to reconcile us to
Yourself, that our sins are forgiven. Thank You also for His reconciling us to
each other, breaking down dividing walls of hostility. Help us demonstrate in
our church family: being one, having concern for each other, developing our
muscles of compassion, reaching out with good deeds in our larger community
responding to the needs of others. Grow us in Your complete love, Lord Jesus;
resolving our differences, help us come to know You more and the fullness of
God in our lives. In Christ’s name, Amen.
HUNGRY
FOR THE WRONG REASONS
Our
human souls are complex bundles of desires. Howard Hendricks once was trying to
describe the word for ‘soul’ in Hebrew (nephesh); he
said something like this: “Go over to the window and look into that robin’s
nest full of young hatchlings, all straining their necks and mouths agape eager
for their next feeding. What you’re seeing are five nepheshes.”
That’s what our souls are like:
little bundles of desires, yearnings, unfulfilled longings, hidden aspirations
vying to be satisfied. Sometimes we yearn for things that aren’t good for us.
Sometimes our hungerings are for actual food, but if
we pursue fastfood constantly we may end up
supersized. Or sometimes we fall into ‘emotional eating’ – we resort to
‘comfort food’ in an attempt to deal with relational hurts or emptiness.
Poor communication can also have
unexpected consequences. A doctor decided to put his overweight patient on a
diet. "I want you to eat regularly for two days," he said. "Then
I want you to skip a day. Eat regularly two days, then skip a day. Follow this
pattern for two weeks and come back to see me. After two weeks you should lose
five pounds." Two weeks later the man came back for his appointment. He
had lost TWENTY pounds. The doctor asked, "You lost all this weight just
by following my instructions?" The man said, "Yes, but I'll tell you
though, I thought I was going to drop dead on that third day." The doctor
asked, "From hunger?" "No," the man said. "From
skipping!" (!)
Jesus had a bit of a communication
problem with the crowds that were following Him. They were hungering for the
wrong thing – a Messiah that would meet their physical needs. When they didn’t
seem to understand that’s not what He was about, He used some food imagery to
try to describe what they really needed most, and what was required for them to
become truly satisfied.
MILKING
THE WONDER-WORKER
A
couple of weeks ago our Jersey heifer “Honey” gave birth to a lovely little
calf named “Halo”. Patti and I obtained a little vacuum pump that hangs from
the ceiling, and a single milking machine, and we’ve been getting proficient at
milking our cow (so far we’ve tried milkshakes and yogurt and butter with the
output). For successful milking of the cow, there are basically 3 requirements:
a) get her where you want her – I put on a halter and tie her to the edge of
the stall by her hay rack and feed bucket. b) give her what she wants – when
I’ve got the milking machine already and my milk-crate stool in place, I dump a
scoop of grain mixture in her feed bucket. c) take what you can – I strip out
some milk, attach the milker, and massage her udder
while she lets down her milk and munches contentedly on her grain (we may get
up to about 4 liters per milking at this point).
Our Scripture passage in John 6
picks up the story just after Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000 (that’s just
counting the men, so probably more like 20,000 by the time you add in women and
children). As the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover food, word started
to circulate amongst the crowd, Jn 6:14b “Surely this
is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” They would have made Jesus king
by force but he stole away to a mountain by himself. That evening, the
disciples got into a boat (the only one there) and set off from the east shore
to get to Capernaum over in Galilee on the west. A strong wind was blowing, the
waters were rough, and the disciples were having trouble rowing. Jesus came to
them walking on the water: when they took Him into the boat, immediately it
reached where they were heading.
So you have this apparently “Son of
Man” human who also had miraculous powers, wonder-working Son of God – able to
wonderfully multiply loaves and fishes, and also having supernatural control
over the forces of nature. But the crowd wasn’t witness to the boat incident,
just the disciples.
When the crowd realized neither
Jesus nor the disciples were around the east shore of Lake Galilee any more,
they went looking for Him back near His ministry-hometown-base of Capernaum. Jn 6:25 “When they found him on the other side of the lake,
they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’” They were probably also wondering,
HOW did you get here without a boat?! (This might have tipped them off to the
fact there was something else miraculous that had happened; we don’t know if
they ever found out.) Jesus avoids the question and addresses a deeper issue:
v26 “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because
you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.’”
Ouch! He puts his finger right on
it. They’re not eager for deeper teaching, but for their next snack. They’re
wanting to MILK this wonder-working Prophet for whatever benefit they can get
out of Him (remember they were ready to make Him King by force after the
feeding of the multitude). What were the steps for milking the cow? a) get her
where you want her; b) give her what she wants; c) take what you can. 1-2-3,
follow the procedure to obtain the expected results.
Jesus has this kind of X-ray vision
spiritually speaking where He can see right through questions and posturing and
pretending to what’s actually inside our hearts. Like Henry Ford designing the
assembly line, you could ask Henry Ford why the line wasn’t working and he
could diagnose it because he designed it and built it. So our Lord and Creator
knows our deepest thoughts before we say a word. John 2:25 “He did not need
man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” Jesus is ready to
tell us what our REAL needs are, even though we may THINK we know what it is we
truly want. He is sovereign and supreme; He won’t be ‘milked’ or taken advantage
of by anyone.
A
BETTER GIFT – BUT ON GOD’S TERMS
The
crowd was seeking Jesus – but for the wrong reasons. Matthew Henry comments,
“Not because he taught them, but because he fed them; not for LOVE, but for
LOAVES. Thus do all who seek in religion secular advantages and follow Christ
for the sake of secular preferments.”
Why are you here today? Are you
looking for a Saviour for LOVE, or for LOAVES? Why are you here, really? Is it
because “it’s the thing to do”? Culturally, that boat sailed decades ago. Are
you trying to please other people, whether relatives or others, trying to look
‘respectable’? Are your motivations religious in nature? Do you need a ticket
to heaven, to be assured of a fire escape? Do you come because you want to
enjoy streets of gold when you die? That’s not good enough. That’s like me
milking the cow so I can enjoy the homemade butter and yogurt. That’s not what
Jesus came to give. He won’t be ‘milked’ for a certain product.
In v27 Jesus contrasts this desire
for temporal gains with what God is really offering through His Son. Jn 6:27 “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food
that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God
the Father has placed his seal of approval.” NLT “But don’t be so concerned about
perishable things like food.Spend your energy seeking
the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you...”
We don’t worship Jesus for
short-term gain, for food on our table, for our next paycheque, for a cottage
at the lake, or a cozy retirement plan. Those things will all pass away.
Instead Jesus coaches us to work for food that ENDURES - abides, remains,
lasts; the verb is the same as John 15, the branch remains / abides / is
grounded in the vine. We’re to work for food that endures to ETERNAL LIFE,
spend our energy seeking the ETERNAL LIFE He can give us.
Now, when you hear ‘eternal life’
you may instantly mentally translate that as ‘going to heaven when I die’.
Don’t do that! You’re missing out hugely! “Eternal life” starts RIGHT NOW when
you trust in Jesus. It’s a relationship with God through the Holy Spirit who
comes to dwell inside you. It’s a moment-by-moment communion with Your Maker
and Hope. It’s a continual dialogue in the Spirit through prayer and hearing
Him address and comfort you by His word, His promises in Scripture. Yes you get
to go to heaven when you die but think of that as “thrown in” as an extension
of what you already start enjoying here and now.
Jesus says, “the Son of Man will
give you” this food that endures to eternal life. It’s by grace, not earned:
it’s His gift. Jesus notes that God the Father “has placed His seal of
approval” on Jesus – this is evidenced by His sealing with the Holy Spirit at
His baptism; by the miracles He performed; and by His resurrection from the dead.
The person who has the seal is authorized to act on behalf of the One who gave
the seal.
But the crowd is still trying to ‘milk’ the Messiah, to g