Tawa Baptist

Elijah & Elisha

Scriptures: 1st Kings 19:19-21 & 2nd Kings 2

 

Title: Elijah & Elisha

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The call of Elisha
  • The empowerment of Elisha
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a picture of a Maori Adze (or axe)

–         The head of the axe is made out greenstone (pounamu) and the handle is made out of wood

–         The handle has carving on it which symbolises the history or whakapapa of those leaders who have carried the adze in previous generations

–         With each new generation of leadership the greenstone head is removed and a new handle is carved for the new leader

–         So the pounamu head stays the same from generation to generation, while the handle changes

–         This means there is continuity with the past but also freshness or newness with each succeeding generation

 

Today we continue our series on intergenerational relationships in the Bible

–         That is, relationships between people of different ages or generations

–         This morning’s focus is the relationship between Elijah & Elisha

–         This is a relationship in which the mantle of prophetic leadership is passed from one generation to the next, so the work of God continues

–         Elisha is like the new handle for the old pounamu axe head

–         Elisha carries the word of God as Elijah did before him and as others would after him

 

Today’s message is in two parts:

–         Firstly, the call of Elisha and then the empowerment of Elisha

 

Elisha’s call:

The call of Elisha is found in 1st Kings 19, just after Elijah’s encounter with the Lord God on Mt Horeb

–         After defeating the prophets of Baal, Elijah runs for his life into the wilderness because Jezebel wants to kill him

–         Elijah feels scared and alone – he has lost his perspective, his sense of continuity (some would say he is burnt out)

–         But God meets him, not in the fire or the wind or the earthquake but in sheer silence

–         After this Yahweh tells Elijah to go and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat to succeed him as prophet

–         By giving Elijah an apprentice the Lord is making Elijah’s work less lonely and he is giving Elijah a sense of hope & continuity

–         The Lord’s work will not die with Elijah

–         From verse 19 of 1st Kings chapter 19, we read…

 

19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

 

On the wall here is a picture of some Korowai

–         A Korowai is a special type of Maori cloak (or mantle) woven out of flax with tassels and sometimes feathers on it

–         It can take anywhere between 4-12 months to make a Korowai by hand

–         They are a special garment to be worn on special occasions like graduations or weddings and other important ceremonies

–         Korowai are often handed down as an heirloom from one generation to the next

–         They provide a continuity or connection with the past, present and future

–         A Korowai is reflective of honour, leadership, identity, warmth, protection, skill & beauty

 

One of the intriguing things about Elisha’s call is that Elijah doesn’t actually say anything to Elisha

–         Elijah simply takes his cloak (or his mantle) and throws it over Elisha

–         Elijah’s cloak wasn’t a Korowai as such, (it may have been quite ordinary for all we know) but it was nevertheless special because Elijah wore it

–         By throwing his mantle over Elisha, Elijah was effectively bestowing honour, leadership, identity, warmth, protection and skill on Elisha

–         It was an invitation for Elisha to become his successor and Elisha understood this intuitively

 

Another thing we note is that Elijah found Elisha at work in the fields plowing

–         To give some context the land had been in drought for over 3 years and after Elijah prayed the rains came

–         This meant that farmers, like Elisha, were finally able to get out and plow the ground and sow their crops

–         Which means Elisha was being called to leave his work at a time when things were picking up again

–         It wasn’t so much that one door closed and another opened for Elisha

–         It was more like two doors opened at the same time and Elisha had to choose which one he was going to walk through

–         Was he going to be a farmer or a prophet?

 

Elisha chose to follow Elijah – but first he asked permission to kiss his parents good bye

 

Elijah granted permission saying: “What have I done to you?”

–         It is unclear what Elijah meant by this exactly

–         It could mean, ‘you are free to choose what you do’

–         But at the same time, Elijah may have his own experience in mind so he means something like, ‘In calling you to be a prophet, I’ve called you to a difficult life. You will be lonely, misunderstood and you will lack the usual securities and comforts that other people enjoy’

–         Jesus said a similar thing to those who followed him – people will hate you because of me

 

Elisha is young and willing – he’s a good keen man which is just what the older more jaded Elijah needs

–         After some difficult experiences Elijah (who is recovering from burn out) is at risk of falling into cynicism and contempt

–         Elisha is a breath of fresh air for Elijah

–         I imagine Elisha’s youthful enthusiasm and sense of hopefulness inspired Elijah to be the best version of himself that he could be, for Elisha’s sake

 

To mark his commitment in following Elijah and God’s call, Elisha sacrifices his two bulls as a fellowship offering – there’s no turning back now

–         Sometimes choosing continuity with God’s story means discontinuity with our old way of life

–         Elisha feeds the people with the meat from his oxen

–         This is symbolic of his ministry – as a prophet Elisha will sustain people with the meat of God’s word (man cannot live by bread alone)

 

When I started here at Tawa, you (the congregation) gave me a mantle of sorts – a cloak in the form of a Hurricanes rugby jersey

–         I come from the Waikato / Bay of Plenty area where the Chiefs are based

–         Had I been a Chiefs supporter I suppose I would have had to burn my chiefs jersey, sort of like Elisha burned his oxen and farming equipment

–         Luckily for me I was never a Chiefs supporter

 

After Elisha has said his goodbyes and fed the people he goes with Elijah and becomes his attendant or servant

–         Similar language is used of Joshua who became Moses’ servant centuries earlier

–         We, the reader, are meant to see the continuity woven into the Korowai of God’s salvation story

–         Elisha is to Elijah what Joshua was to Moses – someone chosen by God to carry on the Lord’s work after Elijah is gone

 

Elisha’s empowerment:

Some of the external doors of the church auditorium have been difficult to open and close, partly due to their age and partly due to all the rain we’ve had lately

–         During the week Ewan & Neville fixed the fire exit here at the front

–         One of the things they did to free the door up was replace the hinges – the old hinges were a bit rusted and seized

–         They didn’t throw the door out – they kept the door but replaced the hinges so there is continuity with the past, present and future

 

The purpose of a hinge is to allow movement and change – to create openings and endings

–         In some ways a prophet is a bit like a hinge in that they allow movement and change

–         They are anchored to the past (the door frame) and to the present (the door itself)

–         Through the words they speak God’s prophets make society aware of hinge moments in human history

–         They let people know when new doors of hope have been opened

–         They also warn people when old doors of sin & injustice are about to close in judgment

 

Of course, it is God who opens and closes the doors of history – the prophet (like the hinge) simply helps to facilitate that movement

–         If a prophet performs the function of a hinge in history then we could say, Elisha is like the new set of hinges on the old door

 

We are not told much about how Elijah mentors Elisha, as we were with Moses & Joshua

–         Presumably Elisha learned like any apprentice, by watching and doing

–         In any case the emphasis of the text isn’t on the technical aspects of mentoring – it is rather on the spiritual empowerment of Elisha

 

The next time we hear about Elijah & Elisha together is 2nd Kings chapter 2

–         After a bit of a tiki-tour through Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho, Elijah & Elisha head out into the wilderness toward the Jordan

–         They both know that Elijah is soon to be taken by God

–         When they reach the river Elijah strikes the water with his cloak, the water divides and the two of them walk across on dry ground

–         Sort of like Moses separating the Red Sea with his staff

–         Once again we find a continuity – the past, present and future are woven together into the wider cloak of the Biblical narrative

–         We pick up the story from verse 9 or 2nd Kings chapter 2…

 

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

 

In ancient Jewish culture the first born son inherited a double portion of the Father’s estate

–         So in asking for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, Elisha is asking to be Elijah’s legitimate heir – that is, the prophet’s successor

–         Elisha wants to carry on the prophetic work Elijah started but he needs the power of Elijah’s spirit to do that

–         And by “Elijah’s spirit” we don’t mean his human spirit we mean the Spirit of God that rests on Elijah

 

Elijah says to Elisha, “You have asked a difficult thing”

–         In other words, it’s not up to me whether you will be my successor or not

–         I can’t control what the Spirit of God does any more than I can control where the wind blows

–         The hinge doesn’t get to tell the carpenter what door it will hang on

 

From verse 11…

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

 

By calling Elijah his “father”, Elisha is showing deep respect and affection for his predecessor

–          “The chariots and horsemen of Israel” is another title of respect for Elijah

–          Elisha is basically saying that Elijah is the Lord’s weapon against evil

–          God’s word through Elijah was far more powerful than any army of chariots and horsemen

 

The point, not to be missed here, is that Elisha saw his master go, which means he would inherit Elijah’s spirit – the Spirit of God

–         Elisha would now become the Lord’s weapon against evil

 

Yet again we see continuity with the past, present & future

–         Elijah’s ascension foreshadows Jesus’ ascension to heaven – it is all part of the weaving of the larger Biblical narrative of salvation

–         Just as Elijah ascended to God’s presence in heaven before Elisha inherited his spirit – so too Jesus ascended to heaven before pouring out his Spirit on his disciples at Pentecost

–          So if Jesus is like Elijah then we are sort of like Elisha, empowered by Jesus’ Spirit to carry on the Lord’s work

 

Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

 

Again we notice the Lord’s masterful weaving

–         Just as Joshua (the successor to Moses) separated the river Jordan so the people could cross over into the Promised Land, so too Elisha (the successor to Elijah) divides the waters of the Jordan on his re-entry

 

The interesting thing here is that it didn’t work the first time for Elisha

–         He has to strike the water twice and ask where God is before the river parts for him

–         Perhaps this is a reminder that the power is not in Elijah’s mantle – the cloak is not magic – the power is with the Lord God Almighty

 

In any case…

15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

 

Conclusion:

The other night around our dinner table one of the kids asked what is salience?

–         I had a vague idea but wanted to make sure I had my facts straight so went to get a dictionary off the book shelf to look it up

–         Robyn laughed at me (as she usually does) and said, “Just google it”

–         Of course I ignored her and went off to find an actual dictionary while she looked up a virtual dictionary on her phone

–         Robyn has kept up with the new generation – I’m more old school

–         Not that it really matters – different approaches, same answer

 

Salience is the quality of being particularly noticeable or important

–         A salient point is one which is prominent – or sticks out like a tall poppy

 

The story of Elijah & Elisha is enigmatic – it is cloaked in mystery

–         Yes, theirs is an intergenerational relationship but so what?

–         What is the salient point of their story?

–         What’s the application for us?

 

Well, the thing that stands out most prominently to me is that God is weaving the cloak (the Korowai) of our salvation

–         One of our values as a church is passing on our faith (the Christian faith) to the next generation

–         We don’t want the church to end with us – we want to leave things in good shape for our kids and see them continue walking with Jesus

–         We want there to be a continuity between the past, present and future

–         That’s one of the reasons we encourage an intergenerational culture in the life of the church – that’s why we are having this sermon series

 

The salient point with Elijah & Elisha’s story is that God is the weaver, not Elijah & Elisha

–         Yes, Elijah was obedient to God when the Lord told him to appoint Elisha as his successor

–         And yes, Elisha was willing to submit to God’s purpose, even though he had other options

–         But really it was the Spirit of God who empowered both Elijah & Elisha and created the continuity

 

What I’m trying to say is that, even though the tide of cultural change is against us at present, we don’t need to be anxious about the future of the church

–         Yes, we have our part to play but what really counts with passing on our faith to the next generation is the power of God’s Spirit

–         Like Elijah, we don’t get to tell the Spirit what to do

–         God is the master weaver and he will draw it all together in the end

–         We are part of his larger Korowai – his cloak of salvation

–         The Lord will provide the continuity by his Spirit

 

 

Reflection Questions:

 

1.)    What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon?

 

2.)    Why did God tell Elijah to anoint Elisha to succeed him as prophet?

–         How might Elisha help Elijah?

 

3.)    What was the significance or meaning of Elijah throwing his cloak (mantle) over Elisha?

 

4.)    Have you (like Elisha) had the experience of two doors opening at the same time and needing to make a decision about which one you will walk through?

–         Can you share your story? (E.g. What happened? How did God guide you? What and why did you decide as you did? Etc.)

 

5.)    How is Elisha similar to Joshua?

 

6.)    In what sense is a prophet like a hinge?

 

7.)    What does Elisha mean when he asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit?

–         Why is this a difficult thing to ask for?

 

8.)    In what ways does Elijah foreshadow Jesus?

 

9.)    What is the salient point in the story of Elijah & Elisha?

–         And what’s the application for us?

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/27-aug-2017-elijah-elisha

Tawa Baptist

Jephthah and his daughter

Scripture: Judges 11

 

Title: Jephthah & his daughter

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jephthah’s rejection
  • Jephthah’s vow
  • Jephthah’s daughter
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a picture of a piece of rock with a vein of gold running through it

–         It is the image of a precious metal mixed in common granite

–         People can be like this – a mixture of things precious and things base

 

This morning we continue our series on intergenerational relationships in the Bible – that is, relationships between people of different ages or generations

–         Most of the intergenerational relationships we’ve looked at so far have been positive – like Moses & Joshua, Naomi & Ruth and Eli & Samuel

–         Not all intergenerational relationships are so rosy though

–         Some are more a mixture of things precious and things base

 

The focus of today’s message is Jephthah and his daughter, whose name we are not told

–         Theirs is truly an intergenerational story but not in a good way

–         More in the sense of the sins of the father having a negative downstream impact on the next generation

–         Having said that the hard rock of this story is not without its veins of gold

 

Jephthah was one of the Judges (or leaders) of ancient Israel during the time between Joshua and the kings, Saul & David

–         The Israelites had moved into the Promised Land, after their 40 years in the wilderness, but they hadn’t yet subdued their enemies

 

The period of the Judges was a sad time in Israel’s history when the nation was unfaithful to the Lord (Yahweh) by worshipping the Canaanite gods

–         Generation after generation there was a repeating pattern of the people rejecting Yahweh, then being oppressed by their enemies before turning back to Yahweh for help

–         When his people repented the Lord would empower a special Judge to lead Israel against their enemies.

–         Israel would gain the victory and everything would be okay for a while until the people forgot the Lord again and began to conform to the ways of the world around them

–         Sadly with each cycle the behaviour of the next generation got worse

 

With this background we read the book of Judges knowing that the stories it contains are not an ideal to aspire to, but rather a cautionary tale of what happens when people don’t follow the ways of God

 

Jephthah came after Gideon and before Sampson

–         Like most of the Judges of that time, Jephthah was a mixture of things precious and things base

 

We will cover three parts of Jephthah’s story this morning…

–         Jephthah’s rejection, Jephthah’s vow, and Jephthah’s daughter

 

Jephthah’s rejection:

Let’s begin with Jephthah’s rejection – from Judges, chapter 11, verse 1

–         I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version…

 

Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, “You shall not inherit anything in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws collected around Jephthah and went raiding with him.

 

4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, so that we may fight with the Ammonites.”

 

7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Are you not the very ones who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house? So why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?” 8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Nevertheless, we have now turned back to you, so that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and become head over us, over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

 

Who can tell me what this guy on the wall is famous for?

–         His name is Dr Thomas Midgley [Wait for people to respond]

–         That’s right – Dr Midgley was a key figure in a team of chemists who put lead in petrol and produced the first chlorofluorocarbons or CFC’s

–         Lead has been taken out of petrol now because its considered too much of a health risk and CFC’s are what caused the hole in the ozone layer

–         So Dr Midgley is famous for at least two innovations which damaged the environment on a large scale

 

There was a saying in ancient Israel

–         “The fathers eat sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge”

–         It basically means that children often have to live with the consequences of their parents’ actions

–         Thomas Midgley died in 1944 before many of us were born but the sour grapes he ate have set our teeth on edge

–         We are still living with the ill-effects of his work – the sins of our fathers

 

Jephthah paid the price for the sins of his father

–         Mr Gilead got a prostitute pregnant and Jephthah was born

–         Although Jephthah was not to blame for his father’s actions his half-brothers would not accept him and forced him to leave home

 

Two weeks ago I showed you a tripod for holding a video camera

–         For the tripod to stand on its own it needs three legs

–         With just one or two legs the tripod will fall over and the camera will be damaged

–         Three things the human soul needs to stand are identity, belonging and purpose

–         Identity, belonging & purpose go together – they give us strength & security – a sense of wholeness and well-being or shalom

 

When Jephthah’s brothers rejected him and drove him away they cut off his identity & belonging in their family so that Jephthah was forced to find these things elsewhere

–         Acceptance is the way to strengthen identity & belonging

–         Had his brothers accepted him I think Jephthah’s story would have had a very different outcome

 

Jephthah was a leader so he soon attracted other outcasts and became a force to be reckoned with

 

When Israel’s enemies threaten, the leaders of Gilead come cap in hand to ask Jephthah for help

–         Their approach is quite self-serving – they don’t really care about Jephthah, they just want to save their own necks

–         Jephthah agrees but only if they accept him as their leader

–         They have offered Jephthah purpose but he wants identity and belonging as well – he is hungry for their acceptance

–         The deal is done

 

In some ways Jephthah’s treatment at the hands of his brothers is a parable (in miniature) of Yahweh’s experience with Israel

–         Through no fault of His own the Lord is rejected by Israel and then, when Israel find themselves in trouble, they repent and ask for help

–         Israel doesn’t really care about Yahweh – they are desperate and are using the Lord for their own ends

–         Although Yahweh doesn’t need Israel’s acceptance (like Jephthah did) the Lord is still in a difficult position

–         He knows Israel is using him and will reject him again but he can’t turn his back on the people he loves

 

Once he has been made leader of the Gileadites, Jephthah approaches the king of the Ammonites (Israel’s enemies) and seeks a diplomatic solution

–         This shows wisdom and good leadership on Jephthah’s part

–         Unfortunately it doesn’t work

–         Israel is in a weaker position so the Ammonites choose war

 

In his exchange with the king of the Ammonites, Jephthah has his finest hour

–         From verse 27 of chapter 11 Jephthah says…

 

27 It is not I who have sinned against you, but you are the one who does me wrong by making war on me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today for the Israelites or for the Ammonites.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message that Jephthah sent him.

 

Although Israel is in a weaker position from a military point of view, Jephthah has the faith to say publicly that the Lord God (Yahweh) is the ultimate judge and he will decide who is right and who gets the land

–         There is real gold in what Jephthah says here but the gold soon runs out and Jephthah’s finest hour is turned to stone

 

Jephthah’s vow:

29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.”

 

Jephthah is making a solemn deal with the Lord

–         If God gives him victory he will kill (as a human sacrifice) the first person who comes out of his house to meet him

 

Steve Hansen has been on the telly lately advertising Arnott’s biscuits

–         The ads imagine Steve Hansen (coach of the All Blacks) riding on a motorbike through a post-apocalyptic wasteland

–         Steve then recreates the events which led to the destruction of the world

–         Essentially it involves one of the All Blacks eating someone else’s biscuits (either their Shapes or their Tim Tams)

–         Then the person who has lost their biscuits over reacts, triggering a series of misunderstandings which lead to nuclear war

–         The moral of the story is, “Never, ever lose your biscuit.”

 

To ‘lose your biscuit’ means to lose your cool or lose your perspective

–         ‘Never lose your biscuit’, therefore, means stay calm

–         Don’t be afraid, don’t stress out, don’t over react because you don’t know what disaster may come from it

 

Unfortunately Jephthah did lose his biscuit

–         In public Jephthah was full of confidence that God, the righteous judge, would give him the victory

–         But in private Jephthah was that scared little boy who had never been properly accepted – who longed to be identified with his father’s family, to be counted as belonging with his brothers

 

Jephthah had been called by men to fight the Ammonites – but God had not spoken to him yet

–         God had spoken to other leaders in the past, either through an angel (as he did with Gideon) or through a prophet (as he did with Barak)

–         But in Jephthah’s case, Yahweh had been strangely silent

 

Certainly the Lord had sent his Spirit on Jephthah enabling him to go through various towns to rally support

–         The presence of God’s Spirit on Jephthah should have given him confidence that he had God’s support – but it didn’t

–         Perhaps Jephthah wasn’t aware of the Spirit’s empowering presence – perhaps he mistakenly thought he was doing this in his own strength

–         Or maybe he was aware of God’s Spirit with him but didn’t make the connection that this implied the Lord’s support

 

Whatever the reason, on the eve of battle Jephthah was not able to stand the awful silence of God and he lost his biscuit, making a rash and unnecessary vow

 

Let me be very clear – Jephthah’s vow had nothing to do with the Spirit of God and everything to do with Jephthah’s own fear & insecurity

–         Jephthah had power from the Holy Spirit to do a particular task but having power from God is not the same thing as having a relationship with Him

–         Jephthah didn’t really have a relationship with the Lord and so he didn’t know God all that well

–         Because he had been rejected by his own family in the past, Jephthah was probably afraid the same thing might happen with God & he over reacted

–         But God is not like Jephthah’s family, the Lord is faithful

 

Jephthah’s vow was wrong on a number of counts

–         Firstly, it involved human sacrifice, which is against God’s Law

–         The Old Testament Law allowed animal sacrifice but human sacrifice was murder – it was absolutely forbidden

–         It stands to reason that Jephthah didn’t know this

 

Secondly, Jephthah’s vow was a faithless attempt to bind God

–         God is free – he won’t be placed under obligation by us, although he may of his own free choice place himself under obligation for us

–         Trying to manipulate the gods by making sacrifices is a pagan thing

–         Yahweh does not operate like that

–         The Lord operates by grace and faith

–         We don’t pay God to do things for us

–         In faith we receive from God, freely, and we respond with thankfulness

 

Jephthah mistakenly thought he could make a deal with God

–         The tragedy is that Jephthah already had the victory

–         He didn’t need to make a deal with God – he simply needed to trust God

 

As I said at the beginning of this message – the stories of the Judges are not an ideal to aspire to, they are cautionary tales, warning us of what to avoid

 

Okay – so far we’ve heard about Jephthah’s rejection as a youth and his rash vow as an adult

–         Now let’s consider the intergenerational impact on Jephthah’s daughter

 

Jephthah’s Daughter:

After winning a crushing victory over his enemies, Jephthah returns home triumphant. We pick up the story from verse 34 of Judges 11…

 

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”

 

36 She said to him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has given you vengeance against your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: Grant me two months, so that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, my companions and I.” 38 “Go,” he said and sent her away for two months. So she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

 

39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to the vow he had made. She had never slept with a man. So there arose an Israelite custom that 40 for four days every year the daughters of Israel would go out to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

 

May the Spirit of God help us to know Jesus

 

When Jephthah made his vow to sacrifice the first person who came out of his house to meet him he probably had in mind one of his many servants

–         I don’t think he was expecting to kill his only daughter

–         And yet, as cruel chance would have it, she was the first to meet him when he returned home

 

The text makes it clear that she was his only child and that she was a virgin – which means that with her death Jephthah would have no descendants

–         In that culture, to die without children or descendants was a fate worse than death – this is why Jephthah tears his clothes as a sign of grief

–         In seeking to bind the Lord with a vow Jephthah has bound himself and can see no way out of it

 

We shouldn’t interpret this as Yahweh’s punishment of Jephthah

–         The Lord does not punish children for their parents’ mistakes – although children are sometimes the innocent victims of their parents sins

–         In this case Jephthah actually has the audacity to blame his daughter for his own mistake saying: “You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me.”

–         It was hardly her fault though – she didn’t know about his vow

 

I don’t believe God wanted any person to die or suffer for Jephthah’s vow

–         I say this because God’s Law provided a way out in situations like this

 

In Leviticus chapter 5 we read,

 

If someone makes a careless vow, no matter what it is about, he is guilty as soon as he realises what he has done. When a person is guilty, he must confess the sin, and as a penalty for the sin he must bring to the Lord a female sheep or goat as an offering. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin.

 

Jephthah had made a careless and evil vow

–         Clearly God did not require Jephthah to follow through on his vow and murder his daughter – yet that is exactly what Jephthah did

–         By carrying out his vow, Jephthah made his word more important than God’s word

–         So there was no virtue in Jephthah keeping his vow – he only made things worse

 

Most likely Jephthah was ignorant of the fact that…

–         One, human sacrifice is unacceptable to the Lord

–         And two, if you do make a rash vow, God has provided a way out

–         All Jephthah needed to do was confess that his vow was a mistake and have a priest offer an animal sacrifice in place of his daughter

–         The biggest cost would have been to Jephthah’s pride in admitting he had made a mistake

–         But there is less shame in admitting you are wrong and stopping evil than insisting you are right and fulfilling it

 

Whether he was aware of God’s law or not Jephthah didn’t need to kill her

 

This is what Jesus had to say about oaths and vows…

 

“You have heard that people were told in the past, ‘Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.’ But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, because it is God’s throne; nor by earth, because it is the resting place for his feet; not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.  Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’, be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ be ‘No’. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”    

 

Jephthah’s vow came from the evil one

 

Thinking about our granite rock with a ribbon of gold in it – the response of Jephthah’s daughter is something very precious

–         She is far more gracious and courageous than her father

–         She doesn’t blame him for his mistake, even though he unfairly blames her – nor does she try to negotiate her way out of it

–         Instead she asks for two months to grieve with her friends in the hills

–         This is a wise move by Jephthah’s daughter – it creates a period of grace

–         Who knows what might happen in that grace period

–         Perhaps someone from the community will intervene and persuade her father to change his mind – or maybe God will intervene

 

When Abram was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, an angel of the Lord intervened to stop Abram and God provided a ram as a substitute

–         Also, when Saul made a rash vow which could have cost his son Jonathon his life, the men around Saul intervened to save Jonathon

 

Sadly there is no intervention for Jephthah’s daughter, divine or otherwise

–         No one thinks to inform Jephthah of the way out and God remains silent

–         The two months pass and Jephthah kills his only child

 

Conclusion:

When we put it altogether this is such a tragic story

–         We have Jephthah’s painful rejection as a young person

–         His unnecessary vow – made out of fear and insecurity

–         And then his failure to find redemption for his only child

 

Hebrews 11 mentions Jephthah as one of the heroes of the faith, which is surprising given his faithless vow & ignorance of God’s ways

–         The fact that he makes it in is more a testament to God’s grace than anything else – Jephthah is a cautionary tale, not an ideal to follow

–         I think his daughter is more the hero, for she reminds us of Jesus who accepted his Father’s will in going to the cross for our redemption

 

Jephthah’s daughter also reminds us of the millions of innocent children who are sacrificed in our world today, through child abuse, slavery, war or blind ambition and neglect

–         As John Hamlin puts it…

 

Jephthah sacrificed his daughter because of his own anxieties and ambitions. Today parents who have a driving ambition to achieve security, wealth or fame may, through neglect, unwittingly sacrifice the welfare of their own children. We might also look at nations whose drive for power or wealth or security is so strong that a whole generation of its youth may be lost in war, while the after effects may lead many to drugs or crime. [1]

 

We may not be that different to Jephthah

–         We may be disturbed by the reality that God seems to remain silent in the face of this child abuse

–         Perhaps we should be more concerned with our own silence

–         Humanity is more culpable than God

–         That said, God doesn’t always intervene to save those most vulnerable

–         I don’t have an adequate answer for this – I can’t see the whole picture

–         All I have is my one or two pieces of the puzzle

 

I do believe in resurrection though – that those innocents who are sacrificed (like Jephthah’s daughter) are given abundant life in heaven

–         God is just and merciful – he makes all things new in the end

 

I also believe, there is a redeemer

–         A redeemer for those who have been condemned by the sins of their parents

–         And a redeemer for those who have lost their biscuit and over reacted – causing others to suffer

–         The name of this redeemer is Jesus, God’s own Son

 

 

Let us pray…

 

–         For those children in our world today who are sacrificed or abused in various ways – for God’s healing grace and redemption

–         For those who are parents – that the sins of the parents would not be passed on to their children (this may involve asking God to forgive our own parents)

–         Forgiveness for those times when we ‘lose our biscuit’ or over react causing others grief

 

Out Takes

It is probable that Jephthah was not well acquainted with God’s law

–          He had lived much of his life as an outlaw among pagans, therefore he wasn’t exposed to a lot of teaching about God’s ways

–          But I’m not sure living in ancient Israel would have helped him that much either

–          The time of the Judges was a time when people largely ignored God’s law anyway and did whatever seemed best in their own eyes

 

 

[1] E. John Hamlin, “Judges, At Risk in the Promised Land”, page 124.

Tawa Baptist

Job & Elihu

Scripture: Job 32-37

 

Title: Job & Elihu

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Job
  • Elihu
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

As you arrived this morning, some of you would have been given a puzzle piece

–         Based on the piece of the puzzle you have, can you tell me what you think the full picture is?  (What time of the year is it? Etc.)

–         [Let people make their guesses]

Well, they were (mostly) good guesses – but this is the full picture when you put all the pieces together…

It’s a photo of The Remarkables taken from Frankton, near Queenstown

–         The point I’m trying to make here is that when we have only one piece of the puzzle it is extremely difficult to accurately imagine the whole picture

 

Today we continue our series on intergenerational relationships in the Bible by focusing on Job & Elihu

–         Job was an elder in the community and Elihu was a young man

 

Job:

For those not familiar with the story, Job was a righteous man who went out his way to always do the right thing by God and his neighbour

–         He lived by a strict moral ethical code

–         Job prospered in everything he did, had a large family and was well respected in the community – he was a genuinely good guy

–         Then one day Job lost everything

–         Through a series of unfortunate events he lost his great wealth and all his children were killed in a single day

–         Despite this incredible loss Job did not curse God

–         He said, ‘The Lord gives and takes away – blessed be his name’

 

Not long after that Job lost his health as well – he was covered in painful boils

–         Although he was suffering in every way that its possible for a man to suffer, Job still did not curse God

 

For seven days he sat in silence on the ash heap, scraping the puss out of his boils with pieces of broken pottery

–         When Job’s friends came to offer him comfort they could hardly recognise him

–         The three men sat in silence with Job, waiting for him to speak

 

When Job finally did open his mouth, it wasn’t to curse God but rather to curse the day of his birth – Job felt so miserable he wished he’d never been born

 

Although Job didn’t curse God he still had a beef with the Almighty

–         All his life he had lived by a strict moral code based on the belief that God is just and all powerful – he rewards good behaviour & punishes bad

–         That was the one piece of the puzzle that Job had

–         He didn’t have other pieces of the puzzle like we do

–         For example, he didn’t know there was a resurrection of the dead

–         For the people of Job’s day this life was all there was – you lived and died and that was it

–         So if you didn’t get justice in this life, you missed out altogether

 

And therein lies the rub for Job – he felt he had been unfairly treated

–         Job knew that, although he wasn’t perfect, he had never done anything bad enough to deserve this

–         How could God (who is just) let a good man like him come to ruin?

–         If Job had a belief in the resurrection then he would at least have the comfort of knowing that whatever injustices he suffered in this life, God would make it up to him in heaven

–         But Job doesn’t have that piece of the puzzle

 

From Job’s perspective it seems that God has punished him unfairly, without explanation

–         Job wants his day in court with the Lord

–         He wants God to tell him what he’s done wrong

–         Job wants the opportunity to justify himself – but God is silent

 

Job’s friends (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar) are well meaning but unfortunately they have the same puzzle piece that Job has

–         Like Job they believe God rewards good behaviour and punishes bad (in this life) – end of story

–         Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar don’t want to face the inconvenient truth that sometimes bad things happen to good people – so this life isn’t fair

–         They can’t see a both / and solution to this problem

–         They can’t see how both God and Job can be justified at the same time

–         For them it is either / or – either Job is right or God is right

–         God can’t be wrong therefore Job must have done something really bad to deserve the calamity that has fallen on him

 

Now not everything the friends say is wrong – some of what they say is right and true – they simply lack the humility to admit they don’t have all the answers

–         Their faith isn’t spacious enough to accommodate doubt

–         Like someone once said, ‘the opposite of faith isn’t doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty’

 

As the dialogue goes back and forth between Job and his friends, the friends become more hostile toward Job until in the end they accuse him of heinous crimes from the past – crimes Job never committed

–         Job is misunderstood by those closest to him and that just adds to his feelings of isolation and mistreatment

 

In their rush to defend God, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are unkind to Job (they kick the man while he is down). As Derek Kidner points out…

–         “One of the lessons of the book is that God [hates] our special pleading for him, with its suppression of unwelcome facts” [1]

–         In other words, God doesn’t like it when we deny or falsify the facts to defend him

 

Job said it well when he replied to friends…

 

Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him?

Will you show partiality toward him, will you plead the case for God?

Will it be well with you when he searches you out? [2]

 

Last night Robyn and I went to my cousin’s, 40th birthday party

–         My cousin is married to an artist and he had a painting on the wall that looked something like this…

If you can imagine a whole lot of circles of different sizes and colours arranged on the wall, with space in between the circles – it looks really cool

–         The artist has an interesting process

–         He starts by painting one really big single art work and then he cuts the circles out and puts them on the wall

–         So we don’t get to see the whole picture – we just see bits and pieces

 

Some would call this abstract art but in my mind it points to reality

–         I don’t know why he paints like this but I reckon it’s a parable of how we experience life

–         We never see the full picture – we only see bits and pieces

–         We have blind spots

–         There are gaps in our understanding and gaps in our conversation

–         There’s the things we say and the things we hide

–         There’s our words and our silence

–         There’s the circles and the space in between

–         Faith lives in the space in between

 

God, the artist, sees the whole picture – we don’t

–         We might look at the fragmented pieces of our life and not be able to make sense of it – that’s how it was for Job

–         He didn’t have the full picture – he just had bits & pieces and he was struggling to join the dots, to make sense of it all

 

It was similar for Job’s friends – they looked at the ruin of Job’s life and couldn’t see the full picture

–         They weren’t comfortable with the space in between – they tried to force all the circles together and in the process they left no room for faith

–         They misunderstood both Job and God

 

All the while that Job and his three friends are having this conversation, others are watching and listening in, including a young man called Elihu

–         The interesting thing here, from an intergenerational perspective, is that young people (like Elihu) were allowed to observe and even participate in deep theological discussions like this

–         They weren’t excluded or shielded from these difficult matters

 

 We pick up the story from Job chapter 32…

 

So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.  

 

Elihu is angry with his elders because he feels like they have misrepresented God in their conversation

–         By insisting on his innocence Job has made it appear as though God is unjust

–         And by letting Job have the last word, the three friends have made it seem like God was in the wrong

 

For the next six chapters Elihu presents his ideas

–         Some commentators dismiss Elihu’s contribution as unimportant

–         But when we listen to what he has to say with an open mind, without looking down on him because of his age, we have to admit he adds value

–         Elihu does take a different approach to his elders and in the process helps us to see one or two other pieces to the puzzle

–         He doesn’t have the whole picture and he misunderstands Job at times but he also foreshadows some of the things Yahweh says to Job later

 

The first point of difference is that Elihu addresses Job by name

 

You might think this is a small thing but actually it’s quite significant

–         How do you feel when someone forgets your name?

–         Most of us feel less somehow

–         But when people remember our name we feel like we matter, we exist – we are not nobody – we are somebody

 

Elihu calls Job by name which is a way of acknowledging that Job is a person and he is not ashamed to admit that he knows Job

–         Job’s three friends don’t use Job’s name when talking to him which seems to indicate that he has become a stranger to them

–         It’s not that they’ve had a senior moment and forgotten Job’s name

–         It’s more like they are embarrassed to admit they know Job and that’s hurtful

–         (Having said all that I hope I don’t forget anyone’s name today – if I do, it’s not intentional)

 

The next main point of difference is that Elihu bases his comments on what he has heard Job say

–         He doesn’t accuse Job of some imaginary sin from the past or make up some alternative facts like Job’s friends did

–         Elihu sticks to the evidence available to him

–         Elihu was actually listening to Job and trying to give him a fair go

 

This said, Elihu sometimes gets his wires crossed and misunderstands Job

 

For example, in chapter 33, Elihu quotes Job as saying…

–         ‘I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

 

Elihu makes it sound like Job is claiming moral perfection and…

–         “While Job is confident that he has followed God’s way faithfully, he never asserts that he has not sinned.” [3]

–         Job’s position is that he cannot recall having ever done anything bad enough to warrant such harsh punishment

–         Elihu hasn’t properly understood Job

 

On the whole though Elihu’s basic approach is miles better than that of Job’s three friends, even if it lacks some refinement

 

Another point of difference is that Job and his friends seem obsessed with the cause of Job’s suffering while Elihu suggests they would be better to consider the general purpose of suffering

 

Do you understand the difference between cause and purpose?

–         If you are receiving chemo treatment for cancer then you might experience some hair loss

–         The cause of the hair loss is the chemo drugs – but you don’t think too much about the cause because there’s no gain in that

–         Rather you choose to focus on the purpose of the chemo drugs, which is to make you better

–         Thinking about the purpose gives meaning to the hair loss and strengthens your resolve to carry on with the treatment

 

Elihu tries to get Job and his friends to quit their obsession with the cause of Job’s suffering and start thinking about the purpose – what does suffering achieve?

 

In chapter 33 Elihu says to Job…

–         Why do you complain to [God] that he answers none of man’s words? For God does speak – now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it. [God speaks] in a dream, in a vision of the night… Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain…

 

One of Job’s complaints was that God was silent and wouldn’t respond to him

–         Elihu suggests that God has been trying to communicate with Job

–         Through dreams of the night (Job had certainly had nightmares)

–         And through pain (C.S. Lewis said that pain is God’s mega phone – Job was in a lot of pain)

–         The purpose of the nightmares and pain, according to Elihu, is so God…

…may terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword

 

In other words, stop worrying about the cause of your suffering Job and consider God’s purpose which is to save you from death

 

While Elihu is on the right track, he can’t see the whole picture

–         God’s purpose isn’t to turn Job away from wrong doing – Job was never on the wrong path in the first place

–         God’s purpose was to set Job free from the prison of himself

–         Of course Job didn’t know this at the time – we seldom know the purpose until after the fact

 

Elihu carries on, in chapter 33, with a note of hope, saying…

 

Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator… to tell a man what is right for him, to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him’ – then his flesh is renewed like a child’s; it is restored as in the days of his youth.

 

Elihu’s idea here is that God provides an angel to help the man in trouble – to be his advocate, pay the bail and get him out of prison

–         This is really Job’s idea, but Elihu does well to agree with Job on this point – Job had said in chapter 16…

 

Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.

 

In his desperation Job had accurately guessed one of the pieces of the puzzle yet unseen – a very important piece as it turns out

–         Jesus is our witness in heaven – our advocate on high

–         The Spirit of Jesus is our intercessor and friend who pleads with God on our behalf (with groans and sighs too deep for words)

 

One of the poetic twists in the story is that Job himself acts as a mediator and intercessor, praying for God to forgive his friends, at the end of the book

 

In chapters 34 & 35 Elihu gives Job a hard time for insisting on his own innocence – this is not Elihu’s finest speech

–         Like Job’s friends, Elihu’s purpose is to defend the reputation of God

–         Ironically, in making the point that God is just, Elihu is unfair to Job

–         What Elihu doesn’t realise is that it’s not necessary, in Job’s case, to defend God – the Lord is big enough to handle our questions and doubts

 

Elihu finishes well though – in chapters 36 & 37 he focuses on the greatness and splendour of God – which is what Job needs

–         Elihu asks Job a series of questions which Job can’t answer. He says…

 

Listen to this Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightening flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?

 

And so on…

–         Because of his obsession with being right Job had become locked in a prison of self-absorption

–         By talking about the mastery and wisdom of God in creation, Elihu reminds Job that he is not the centre of the universe.

–         The world doesn’t revolve around Job

–         In this way Elihu gets Job thinking about something other than himself and he anticipates God, who asks Job a lot of unanswerable questions too

 

Conclusion:

God’s response seems baffling to us for God doesn’t speak directly to Job’s complaint (which is essentially, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’)

–         The point seems to be that Job and his friends had arrived at a faulty conclusion because they weren’t asking the right questions

–         God wasn’t interested in punishing Job – he wanted to set Job free from his moralistic, man-centered theology

 

Sometimes, like Job, we can become too preoccupied with questions of ethics and our destiny

–         We might be uncomfortable with the space in between the circles – the unknown, the realm of mystery, where faith lives – God is in the gaps

–         If we force the circles together too tightly – if we try to confine God within our narrow theological system – then God may need to pull the circles apart again to make room for faith and communion with Him

–         God is in the gaps

 

It’s when Job gives up trying to justify himself that God vindicates Job, restoring his life and perspective

 

The people at the Fuller Youth Institute say that…

  • – Young people who have safe relationships in which to share their questions and struggles tend to have stronger faith
  • – But I don’t think it’s just young people that need safe relationships
  • – We all need someone who will listen without condemning us and without trying to save us or fix our theology
  • – Being safe doesn’t mean having all the answers – it means being able to handle the truth with grace and without fudging the facts to defend God
  • – It means having a faith that is spacious enough to accommodate doubt

 

Sadly, neither Job’s friends nor Elihu were equipped to provide Job with a safe relationship (although Elihu did a slightly better job than his elders)

  • – Through the process though Job became a safe person for others

 

I’m not sure how you have suffered

–         I’m not sure what doubts you wrestle with

–         But I am sure you can’t provide sanctuary for others unless you yourself have suffered loss and been hollowed out by grief

 

As Jesus said…

–         “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”  [4]

[1] Derek Kidner, ‘The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes’, page 61-62.

[2] Job 13:7-9

[3] John Hartley, NICOT ‘Job’, page 440.

[4] This is the Message Bible’s translation of Matthew 5:4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted’.

Tawa Baptist

Jesus in transition

Scripture: Luke 2:41-52

Title: Jesus in transition

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Foreshadowing
  • Identity, belonging, purpose
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Recently I had an eye exam and was told I needed transition lenses, which are sort of a modern take on bifocals

–         Switching to transition lenses is really weird – it’s a transition in itself

–         With transition lenses you have to turn your whole head to keep things in focus. It takes a bit of getting used to

 

I’m telling you this for two reasons:

–         Firstly, if I seem to be looking at you funny, don’t be offended – I’m just getting used to these new glasses

–         And secondly, it relates to this morning’s message – Jesus in transition

 

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 2, verse 41 – page 77 toward the back of your pew Bibles

 

Today we continue our series on intergenerational relationships by focusing on Jesus, as a 12 year boy, interacting with adults in the temple in Jerusalem

–         In Jewish culture of that time, a boy became responsible for keeping the Law at 13 – so 12 was an age of transition as he prepared for manhood and the responsibilities associated with the Law, also a time of viewing oneself (in relation to God and the world) differently

–         And, as we’ll hear shortly, it wasn’t only a transition for Jesus, it was a time of transition for Jesus’ parents as well

–         From Luke 2, verses 41-52 we read…

 

41 Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42 When Jesus was twelve years old, they went to the festival as usual. 43 When the festival was over, they started back home, but the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; 44 they thought that he was with the group, so they travelled a whole day and then started looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 They did not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem looking for him. 46 On the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his intelligent answers. 48 His parents were astonished when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

49 He answered them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand his answer.

51 So Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favour with God and people.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate the gospel for us

Foreshadowing:

On the wall here we have an example of foreshadowing

–         The picture of a cave man, from the past, holding a stick foreshadows present day man who holds a cell-phone

 

Foreshadowing is a literary technique where the author plants little clues at the beginning of a story to hint at what is to come later

–         Foreshadowing helps us make the transition from ignorance to meaning

–         It creates a point of reference helping us to join the dots so we can accurately interpret the story

 

Many of the characters of the Old Testament foreshadow Jesus

–         Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers but then later saves them, foreshadows Jesus who was betrayed by his own for our salvation

–         Moses, the law giver, foreshadows Jesus who fulfils the law

–         David, the shepherd king, foreshadows Jesus the good shepherd king

–         Elisha who heals Naaman, the gentile leper, foreshadows Jesus who not only healed lepers but came that people of all nations would be cleansed

–         We could go on but you get the point: the Old Testament foreshadows Christ

 

We notice quite a bit of foreshadowing in this morning’s account of the boy Jesus in the temple

 

Luke 2, verse 41 tells us how every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival

 

The Passover remembers one of Israel’s great transitions – their exodus from slavery in Egypt

–         This little vignette of Jesus going to the Passover festival foreshadows Jesus’ death on the cross at Passover time

 

Travelling from Nazareth to Jerusalem is a journey of about 5 days each way on foot – so that’s at least 10 days on the road

–         Add to that another 8 days for the festival itself and the round trip took nearly 3 weeks – that’s a big commitment to make every year

–         Living as far away from Jerusalem as they did Mary & Joseph weren’t legally required by the Law to attend the Passover festival every year but they freely chose to do so – foregoing 3 weeks income to be there to honour the Lord

–         This shows us that Jesus’ parents, Mary & Joseph, were devout people – they were very committed to God and his law

 

With the festival over, Mary & Joseph head back to Nazareth

–         Because they were travelling in a large group with extended family & friends they didn’t realise Jesus was missing until the end of the first day

–         You can imagine their worry and anxiety – anything could have happened to their boy

 

It takes a day for them to return to Jerusalem and then on the third day they find him in the Temple

–         Here we observe a foreshadowing of the resurrection – for Jesus would be raised from the dead on the third day

 

Mary & Joseph are astonished (or surprised) to find Jesus sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions

–         How is a small town boy (a carpenter’s son) able to foot it with these heavy weight theologians from the big city?

–         It would be like losing your 12 year old child at the stadium after a test match, only to come back and find him discussing the game with Steve Hansen and Kieran Reid (the All Blacks coach & captain)

 

‘Listening & asking’ suggests humility and respect on Jesus’ part, so we shouldn’t imagine a precocious or arrogant child setting his elders straight

–         The 12 year old Jesus doesn’t know it all – rather he is hungry to learn

 

Apparently the teachers asked Jesus some questions too – not because they expected to learn something from the boy – but because questions encourage people to think for themselves – that was their teaching method

–         And all who heard Jesus were amazed at his intelligent answers

–         In other words, Jesus’ response showed a deep understanding of the Scriptures – far deeper than one would expect from a 12 year old

 

This picture of Jesus discussing theology with the teachers of the Law foreshadows Jesus’ ministry when he will amaze people with his wisdom and insight in teaching the ways of God

 

We all have foreshadowing in our lives don’t we

–         Things that happened to us in our childhood which anticipated an even deeper reality in adulthood

–         Some of that foreshadowing may have been helpful – it may have set you on a good path

–         By the same token some of it may have been detrimental – history has a nasty habit of repeating itself

–         Whatever foreshadowing you’ve had in your own life, whether good or bad, Jesus understands

–         He is able to join the dots and make sense of your life – give your life meaning

 

Identity, belonging and purpose:

I have here a tripod

–         This tripod is used to support a video camera

–         For this tripod to stand on its own it needs at least 3 legs

–         With just one or two legs someone needs to hold it, otherwise it will topple over and the camera will be broken

–         To make this tripod stable it helps if each of the legs are evenly matched

–         If one leg is shorter than the others it is more prone to tipping

 

Three things we human beings need to stand are: identity, belonging & purpose

–         Identity, belonging & purpose are like the three legs of the tripod supporting our soul

 

Identity answers the question: Who am I?

–         Belonging answers the question: Where do I fit?

–         And purpose answers the question: Why am I here?

–         Who, where and why?

 

As human beings we go through a number of transitions or changes in our life

–         And these transitions are not always easy – they may leave us feeling like a fish out of water, at least for a little while

–         The transition from the security of the womb to the outside world

–         The transition from home to kindy and then kindy to school and eventually from school (or university) to the workforce

–         The transition from childhood to adulthood – otherwise known as adolescence – this is a challenge for both teenagers and their parents

–         Some people make the transition from being single to being married or perhaps from being married to being divorced

–         Having children is one of life’s most profound transitions

–         A number of you here have made the transition from a different country and culture to come to New Zealand

–         Others have made the transition from full time paid employment to retirement

–         Grief is a kind of transition – as we come to terms with loss and adjust to a new normal

 

The point is: we go through lots of transitions in life and these are sometimes painful or difficult at the time

–         Having a good sense of identity, belonging & purpose gives us security – supporting us through times of transition and change

 

The transition Jesus was going through at 12 was not easy for Mary & Joseph

–         When Mary asks Jesus…

–         “My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

 

Jesus points out that they had no need for concern, saying…

–         “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?”

 

Jesus’ response here reveals a strong sense of identity, belonging & purpose.

–         Jesus identifies himself in relationship with God

–         He basically says, ‘God is my Father and I am His Son’

–         That’s identity

 

Because Jesus knows who he is (God’s Son) it then becomes clear where he belongs – in His Father’s house, that is, in the temple

–         As God’s Son, Jesus felt perfectly safe and at home in the temple

 

And as for purpose, well, ‘I had to be in the temple’

–         In other words, it was inevitable that you would find me here discussing theology with the experts – because the temple is where people learn about God and my life’s purpose is to teach people the ways of God

–         How can I teach others unless I first learn myself?

 

If you are going to be a doctor it is inevitable that you will go to medical school and hospital

–         If you are going to be a teacher it is inevitable that you will go to teachers’ college and end up in the classroom

–         If you are going to be a minister or a priest then it is inevitable that you will study the Bible and spend time in church

 

This all seems intuitively obvious to Jesus – but it’s lost on his parents

–         Mary & Joseph didn’t understand what Jesus was saying to them

–         They knew from the circumstances of his birth that he was somehow special – but they didn’t yet realise his identity as God’s Son, much less his purpose in life or where he belonged

 

Incidentally, being misunderstood by those closest to him is another foreshadowing of Jesus’ future ministry

 

Jesus is not put off by his parent’s slowness to understand though

–         He is secure in his identity, belonging and purpose

–         Jesus knows that God (his Father) understands him and that’s enough for Jesus

–         So he returns to Nazareth with Mary & Joseph and is obedient to them

 

Conclusion:

Luke 2 finishes by telling us that Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favour with both God and man

–         That Jesus ‘grew in wisdom’ tells us that our Lord wasn’t born knowing everything – he had to learn wisdom like everyone else

–         (Although it appears he was a faster learner than you or I)

–         Even though God was his Father, this didn’t mean any short cuts for Jesus

–         He did his time, paid his dues and went through puberty as we all do

–         Jesus wasn’t just fully divine – he was also fully human

 

Sometimes we might think that being Christian somehow makes us exempt or gives us immunity from the misfortunes or hardships of life – It doesn’t

–         We are just as likely to catch a cold or have car trouble or be misunderstood or made redundant or lose a loved one, as anyone else

–         God didn’t prevent his own Son from experiencing loss and suffering and difficulty – so we shouldn’t expect special treatment either

 

Like Jesus we do have some advantages though

–         In Jesus we have a secure and level tripod for our soul

–         We find our identity, our belonging and our purpose in Christ

–         Jesus is our answer to those deeper questions of who, where and why

–         Jesus is our brother – that’s identity (we are brothers and sisters with Christ – that is who we are)

–         Through Jesus we have a place in the Kingdom of God – that’s belonging (you might not feel like you belong in this world, well we are just sojourners passing through – heaven is our home)

–         And, with the power of Christ’s Spirit in us we find our unique purpose (we are all different and that’s because we each have a special purpose)

 

Let us pray…

 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, you are our security in an insecure world – you provide stability for our soul through times of change & transition. Whatever the foreshadowing in our own lives, may we find our identity, belonging and purpose in you.