Tawa Baptist

Wonderful Counsellor

Scripture: Luke 13:10-21

Title: Wonderful Counsellor

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Yahweh the Wonderful Counsellor
  • Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor
  • God’s wonderful plan (Kingdom)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Prince Charles has recently turned 70

–         Charles is of course next in line to take the throne

–         The Prince’s full title is: His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland

–         That’s a lot of titles, but wait there’s more…

–         He also has a string of letters after his name: KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, CC, PC and ADC, whatever all that means?

This morning we start a new sermon series

–         With Christmas only a month away we are going to spend some time exploring the royal titles ascribed to the Messiah in Isaiah 9, verse 6

Isaiah 9 is often read at Christmas time as Christians believe this prophecy is talking about Jesus – verse 6 is familiar to many of us…

–         For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

–         Today we think about how the title Wonderful Counsellor fits for Jesus

–         But first let us consider Yahweh (the Lord) as a Wonderful Counsellor

 

Yahweh the Wonderful Counsellor:

They say that in the game of drafts you only need to think 1 or 2 moves ahead, but in the game of chess you need to be thinking 4 or 5 moves ahead

–         One of the jobs of a king is to make good decisions – decisions which are wise and just and lead to good long term outcomes for people

–         A king needs to be like a good chess player, thinking 4 or 5 moves ahead, playing out all the various scenarios in his mind

–         The Hebrew for Wonderful Counsellor literally translates wonder planner

The term wonderful counsellor then refers to a king with the wisdom & foresight to develop extraordinary plans & policies for the ordering of the public life of his people [1]

–         As the word wonder suggests the vision and planning of this king are awe inspiring – the king’s wisdom leaves people gob smacked in amazement

 

Two quick examples from the Old Testament to give you the idea of how Yahweh (the Lord) is a wonderful counsellor

In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham & Sarah and says that Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs at this because she is well past child bearing age so God says…

–         Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? [Meaning, is anything too difficult for the Lord?] At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son.”

The Lord’s plan here is truly amazing in its scope and level of difficulty

–         Yahweh, the wonderful counsellor, is planning to redeem the entire creation through Abraham’s offspring and he is going to do this by making it possible for a 90 year old woman to give birth to a son

–         Isaac’s birth was a miracle of resurrection

–         Isaac’s birth demonstrates that nothing is too difficult for God – even when it seems like all hope is lost, God can make all things new

–         When we consider how Jesus makes good on God’s promise to Abraham we begin to marvel at the Lord’s planning

 

Another example of Yahweh the wonderful counsellor is seen in the story of Joseph, also in Genesis. Joseph was one of Abraham & Sarah’s great grandsons

–         Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up serving an Egyptian named Potiphar

–         After being falsely accused of sexual misconduct Joseph was thrown into prison for about three years until he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams

–         Joseph became a wonderful counsellor to the king of Egypt

–         He knew what the Pharaoh’s dreams meant and what planning the king needed to do to save the people from starvation

–         Store up the excess crops during the seven years of plenty to see you through the seven years of famine

–         Joseph’s wonderful planning saved thousands of lives including that of his own family

 

But the real wonderful counsellor, working behind the scenes, was Yahweh – the Lord Almighty

–         It was God who put Joseph in the right place at the right time with the right wisdom to save the people

–         At the end of Genesis, after Jacob has died, Joseph’s brothers go to him afraid for their lives and wanting forgiveness – to which Joseph replies…

“Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today…”

Joseph acknowledges the wonder planning of Yahweh the wonderful counsellor

 

Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor:

Joseph points to Jesus. Like Joseph, Jesus too is a wonderful counsellor working out God’s wise & just plans for creation

–         Please turn with me to Luke chapter 13, page 98 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         Jesus’ teaching and parables are pregnant with the wisdom of God

–         In this passage, from Luke 13, we get a taste of Jesus the wonderful counsellor. From verse 10 we read…

10 One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. 11 A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” 13 He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”

15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath. 16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?” 17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

18 Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? 19 It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and plants it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in its branches.”

20 Again Jesus asked, “What shall I compare the Kingdom of God with? 21 It is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Probably the most difficult shot in the game of 10 Pin Bowling is knocking over a split.

–         A ‘split’ is where the pins left standing, after your first bowl, are divided or split down the middle

–         In many ways this is a harder shot to pull off than getting a clean strike

–         How do you knock over both pins on either side with just one bowl?

–         I suppose you have to hit one of the pins at just the right angle & speed to create a ricochet which knocks the other pin down

One characteristic of being a wonderful counsellor is the ability to kill two birds with one stone – or rather, to achieve more than one positive result with a single action or decision

–         In our reading from Luke 13 Jesus does just that

–         By healing the woman on the Sabbath Jesus knocks over a split

–         He sets a chain of events in motion which not only set the woman free from her illness but also set the people free in their thinking and daily living

 

The word ‘Sabbath’ appears five times in our reading this morning so that tells us it is significant for understanding this passage

–         To some degree we have lost the meaning of Sabbath in our society today

–         Basically, the Sabbath is a day of rest when people stop working and think about God

–         When the Sabbath is observed as God intended all living things get a small taste of what heaven on earth would be like

 

To better understand the meaning of the Sabbath we have to go back to Genesis chap. 2

–         By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

 

In Genesis 1 creation is depicted poetically as God bringing order & function to the chaos

–         After God has done the work of creating order & function he rests

–         It’s not that God was tired and needed to take a break – God doesn’t get tired like we do

–         Divine rest doesn’t mean taking a nap – divine rest means all those forces of chaos that are opposed to God have been subdued and order has been restored – God is in control, he is on the throne ruling the universe

–         So the purpose of the Sabbath is to point to the Kingdom of God

–         The Sabbath reminds us that the Kingdom of heaven is coming to earth

–         When we observe the Sabbath, when we stop working and give our attention to God, we acknowledge that God is the supreme ruler of the universe and we are his loyal subjects

 

In the first century the Sabbath was very important to the Jews

–         They were an oppressed people (their land was occupied and controlled by the Romans) – so they had to be quite intentional about not being assimilated into Roman culture, they had to make a stand for the sake of maintaining their national identity

–         Holding to their traditions, like keeping the Sabbath holy, was one way they maintained their cultural identity and loyalty to Yahweh

–         Keeping the Sabbath was an act of solidarity – it was a way of saying, ‘ultimately God is in control, not Caesar.’

–         In this sense observing the Sabbath is sort of like going on strike

 

Given the importance of Sabbath observance there were lots of man-made rules around the special day – specifying what you could and couldn’t do

–         Those rules may have been well intentioned but really they missed the point and actually obscured God’s purpose for the Sabbath, which is to point to God’s kingdom & give people a small taste of heaven on earth

–         Our society (in NZ) today has gone to the other extreme – we have almost no rules around the Sabbath and so we have lost something valuable

 

Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath teaching people – giving them his wise and wonderful counsel – when he sees a woman bent over due to an evil spirit which had made her ill. What is he to do?

–         He has the power to heal her but Jewish tradition says he isn’t authorised to heal on the Sabbath

–         Her illness isn’t life threatening – she’s had it for 18 years so her healing  could wait another day

–         However, he might not see her tomorrow – this could be his only opportunity to help her

–         What’s more, healing someone on the Sabbath provided an opportunity to demonstrate to everyone present the bigger picture of God’s wonderful plan to restore and redeem his creation

–         Healing this woman on the Sabbath shows people what the reign of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven) looks like

Jesus sees the opportunity here to achieve two good results with one action – so he heals her

–         How did Jesus do this? It is a wonder, a mystery to us, but at the same time it gives credibility to his message

 

The leader of the synagogue, the guy who was responsible for making sure things ran smoothly, is angry that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath because that goes against the tradition that he is responsible to protect

–         By breaking the rules in this way Jesus has undermined the wall that separates Jews from Gentiles – he has threatened their Jewish identity

–         Or to say it in another way, Jesus has taken a swipe at Jewish nationalism

–         What Jesus did was courageous, politically incorrect and counter cultural

–         In the official’s mind this must have seemed like a betrayal of sorts – like Jesus was being disloyal to God and disloyal to Israel

Now I can understand the official’s frustration all too well – I can easily imagine how irritating & disruptive & annoying someone like Jesus would be

–         The synagogue leader doesn’t have any special wisdom or power to heal like Jesus does

–         I expect he’s just a regular average bloke who has a job to do and he’s trying to be faithful in carrying out his responsibilities

–         He thinks he’s doing the right thing but he just can’t see the wood for the trees and ends up in a public argument with Jesus that he has no show of winning.

The official has no idea who Jesus is – I feel sorry for him

–         He’s the fall guy whose blindness & ignorance provides the opportunity for Jesus’ wonderful counsellor-ness to be revealed

–         Not unlike the woman’s 18 year illness provided the opportunity for Jesus’ power & compassion to be displayed

–         Can you see the wonderful way God used the woman’s illness and the official’s spiritual blindness for good?

–         Had the woman not been sick and had the official said nothing then no one would have heard the brilliance of Jesus’ argument…

–         Any one of you would untie his ox or his donkey from the stall [after just a few hours] and give it a drink. Now here is a descendant of Abraham [someone far more valuable than an ox or a donkey] whom Satan has kept bound up for 18 years [far longer than a few hours]. How much more should she be released on the Sabbath? [the Sabbath being a day which points to God’s creative work in bringing order & function to chaos]

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater and his insight, his perspective, is brilliant – he hoists his opponents on their own petard

–         Not only does Jesus show everyone present what God’s bigger plan & purpose is (bringing release & restoration) he also undoes a bit of Jewish nationalism by pointing out that the real enemy here isn’t the Romans – the real enemy is Satan

–         The wonderful thing is that Jesus’ wisdom sets people free in their minds

–         Just as the woman has been released from her back problem and can now stand up straight, so too the people have been released from the burden of rules surrounding the Sabbath and can now begin to think straight

–         Everyone has been given a glimpse of what God’s kingdom looks like

–         Jesus knocks over a split and verse 17 tells us, the people rejoice over all the wonderful things he did.

 

God’s wonderful plan (Kingdom)

If you look in your pew Bibles on page 98 again – you will notice that the account of Jesus healing the woman on the Sabbath is separated from the parable of the Mustard Seed by a heading, in bold

–         This gives the false impression that the Sabbath healing miracle is somehow separate from the two parables that follow

–         What we need to remember is that the headings you see in your Bibles are not part of the original text – they’ve been added in by the translators

–         So there’s no separation between the healing miracle and the parables

Verse 18 (in the Greek) actually reads Therefore Jesus asked, ‘What is the Kingdom of God like…’

–         The Good News Version has left the ‘Therefore’ out

–         The ‘therefore’ means that Luke intended us to read the parables of the mustard seed and yeast in conjunction with the Sabbath healing story

–         Put it all together and its talking about the Kingdom of God

–         Luke arranges Jesus’ material like this to help the reader see the wonder of God’s plan

 

When we were kids we were taught to wash our hands after going to the toilet and before every meal – that was supposed to stop us from getting sick

–         Bacteria, we were told, are bad and we need to get rid of them

–         We still see that attitude today with the advent of hand sanitiser

–         There’s an advertisement on TV with a little boy buying an ice cream from Mr Whippy and getting his hand sanitiser out before eating

–         It makes me cringe

 

Science tells us not all bacteria are bad, in fact we need certain bacteria for good health

–         The right bacteria in our gut help to regulate bowel movement

–         They help in the formation of vitamins like folic acid, riboflavin and vitamin K

–         What’s more, friendly bacteria enhance our immune system by increasing the production of antibodies which fight bad bacteria

–         Bacteria also help to regulate hormone levels and cholesterol

–         So it seems that washing our hands obsessively may actually be bad for us in that it reduces our exposure to good bacteria

 

In some ways the Kingdom of God is like good bacteria – it is small, unseen at first and does its work silently, on the inside

–         What’s more the Kingdom of God is often found in unexpected places

 

During the Second World War soldiers in Northern Africa were getting sick with dysentery and washing their hands didn’t seem to help

–         So the soldiers kept a close eye on the local Arabs who seemed to recover a lot quicker

–         Whenever the locals got sick they followed behind a camel and ate the fresh camel dung while it was still warm – then they were right again by the next day, instead of spending weeks in bed

 

It was later proven there was a soil-based organism in the camel dung known as Bacillus Subtilis

–         Bacillus Subtilis is a bacterial organism with super-strength that eats any other bacteria or virus that gets in its way, particularly pathogens

–         This story comes with a warning though: I’m not sure it works with every kind of poo, so be careful what you put in your mouth

 

Mustard seeds and yeast are small (like bacteria) and yet they have such a powerful and lasting effect

–         The mustard seed grows into a large, resilient and pervasive plant that is populated with birds

–         And just a small amount of yeast permeates a large quantity of dough

–         40 litres of flour, in verse 21, makes a huge amount of bread

–         How the seed grows and how the yeast makes the bread rise was a wonder, a mystery, to the people of Jesus’ day

 

The main point seems to be, God’s wonderful plan for establishing his Kingdom on earth is to start small and work silently, gradually, from the inside out

–         As opposed to coming loudly and in force to bring about a quick revolution

 

The healing of the woman on the Sabbath is a case in point

–         Jesus didn’t go to someone really important, like the emperor of Rome or the high priest, to heal him

–         Instead he healed someone at the bottom of the social scale – a sick anonymous woman who could do nothing at all to repay Jesus

–         However, in that small but powerful act of healing on the Sabbath, Jesus sowed the seeds of God’s kingdom

–         He put yeast in the dough of the local community to cause people to rise and praise God

 

A couple of other things to note about the wisdom of these parables

–         Jesus thought about his audience – he used images from everyday life that would relate to both men and women

–         Mustard seeds and mustard plants were everywhere – they were common

–         But making bread was something that women did – so in using the yeast metaphor Jesus was specifically reaching out to his female listeners

–         And that was significant when we consider that most Jewish males at that time thought that women would be excluded from God’s kingdom

 

The other thing we note is that both mustard plants and yeast had a bad reputation, sort of like bacteria

–         Mustard plants in the Middle East are similar to gorse in NZ – a weed, unwanted and hard to get rid of

–         Having said that, gorse does provide a nursery for growing native trees, so it’s not as bad as it seems

–         Likewise yeast, in Jewish thought, is a symbol for sin

–         At Passover time people had to get rid of all the yeast in their home and make flat (unleavened) bread, without yeast

–         So by comparing the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and to yeast it appears that Jesus is implying the Kingdom of God may be unrecognisable and despised by some, at least at first

–         Certainly the leader of the synagogue didn’t appreciate Jesus healing the woman on the Sabbath

–         Sometimes the Kingdom of God tastes like camel poo

 

The birds of the air, which nest in the mustard plant, is probably a poetic reference to the Gentile nations [2]

–         Jesus is saying there will be room for people like the Romans and Greeks and Barbarians and Kiwis in God’s Kingdom

–         Perhaps another swipe at the Jewish nationalism of his day which supposed that only Israelite men would get into God’s Kingdom

 

Conclusion:

We could spend a lot more time exploring the wonders of Jesus’ wisdom but that’s enough for today

–         Hopefully you can see that Jesus, like Yahweh, is a wonderful counsellor

–         In and through Jesus, God reveals his wise and wonderful plan of salvation

–         And because of Jesus we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

As the busy-ness of Christmas approaches I encourage you to pause and consider how God is working all things for good in your life.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What do you think of when you hear the phrase Wonderful Counsellor?

–         What does the Bible mean by the phrase Wonderful Counsellor?

3.)     Can you think of some examples of God’s wonderful planning in the Bible?

–         Now share some examples of God’s wonderful planning in your own life.

4.)    Discuss the different ways Jesus’ wonderful counsel is displayed in Luke 13:10-21

5.)    What is the purpose of the Sabbath?

–         What is a good use of the Sabbath?

6.)    What is the significance of Jesus healing on the Sabbath?

7.)    How does God use the woman’s illness and the synagogue leader’s (spiritual) blindness for good?

8.)    What is the main point of the parables of the mustard seed and yeast?

–         How do these parables relate to the Sabbath healing miracle that precedes them?

–         What other things might these parables be saying? (E.g. about women & gentiles)

9.)    Can you see God working all things for good in your life?

–         How is he doing this?

 

 

 

 

[1] Walter Brueggemann, Names for the Messiah, page 7.

[2] Refer Ezekiel 17:22-24, for example.

Tawa Baptist

Healing in Ruth

Scripture: Ruth

Title: Healing

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Ruth 1
  • Ruth 2
  • Ruth 3
  • Ruth 4
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Aristotle is quoted as saying, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

–         The idea here is of synergy or working together

–         Said another way, the interaction or cooperation of two or more parts produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

 

For example, if you take a raw egg by itself then it doesn’t taste that nice

–         Yes, you can eat it and it will give you some nutritional benefit but it’s not that appetising

–         Likewise if you take some flour by itself it’s barely edible

–         But when you combine the egg & flour with some other ingredients, like sugar and butter and cocoa powder, then put it in the oven to cook, the whole cake that comes out is far nicer to eat than each separate ingredient on its own

 

Today we conclude our series on care of the soul, using the acronym HEALING

–         Over the past couple of months or so we have looked at how Hope Energy Appreciation Lament Inter-dependence Nurture & Giving support the well-being of the soul

–         For the sake of understanding we have looked at each word separately but actually these seven parts work together in an inter-related way

–         There is synergy between them so that when we put them together the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

–         Hope is a primary source of energy and inspires both appreciation and lament

o   When hope is fulfilled appreciation is the right response

o   Likewise, when hope is disappointed, lament is the natural response

–         Hope also provides the energy for nurture & giving, which in turn provide the oil for inter-dependent relationships

 

One Biblical story which shows all seven of these things working together is the story of Ruth & Naomi

 

Ruth 1

The book of Ruth is set during the time of the Judges in Israel – so that’s after the people have entered the Promised Land, but before kings were appointed – around the time of Samson and Gideon, give or take

 

Because of a famine Naomi leaves Bethlehem with her husband and two sons and migrates to Moab

–         The Moabites were sort of like cousins to the Israelites but they didn’t really get on all that well

–         The Moabites were descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot, who had an incestuous relationship with his daughters

–         Things must have been pretty grim for Naomi’s husband to think that Moab offered greener pastures

–         Anyway, while they are away in Moab Naomi’s husband died and her two sons married Moabite girls, Orpah & Ruth

–         About 10 years pass and then Naomi’s two sons die as well – it’s a complete disaster from Naomi’s point of view

–         There was no widow’s benefit or DPB, no state housing and not many options for single women in that context

 

Naomi hears there has been a good crop back in Israel so she says goodbye to Orpah & Ruth, and starts to head back to her home town of Bethlehem

–         But Orpah & Ruth want to go with Naomi – apparently they are not as bad as their chequered ancestry would make them seem

–         Naomi then makes a big speech about how her situation is hopeless, because she is too old to get married again, and if they stay with her their situation will be hopeless too

–         Orpah returns to Moab but Ruth insists on staying with Naomi saying…

 

“Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried.

 

Ruth was committed to Naomi until death do us part, so Naomi let Ruth come with her. Ruth’s presence and promise to Naomi is the catalyst for hope

–         Ruth & Naomi together are greater than the sum of Ruth & Naomi apart

 

But Naomi can’t see that just yet – when she returns to Israel Naomi tells people to call her ‘Marah’ because Naomi means pleasant, whereas Marah means bitter

–         Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble

–         To feel condemned by God is to believe that nothing good waits for you in the future – condemnation is the opposite of hope

–         Hopelessness (despair) is a form of blindness – a loss of perspective

–         Yes, Naomi has been on the receiving end of trouble but it doesn’t automatically follow that God has condemned her

–         At this point Naomi fails to see the good that God has provided in the form of her daughter-in-law Ruth

 

We could say that, Naomi’s behaviour in changing her name and blaming God for her troubles is a form of lament

–         It is because her hope has been disappointed that Naomi feels so bitter

–         Naomi doesn’t deny what she is feeling – she faces it honestly

–         Naomi has lost almost everything and she isn’t ready to forgive God

–         While Naomi is seeking to give honest expression to her grief she is perhaps being unfair in blaming God – better that though than taking it out on the people around you – God’s grace is sufficient for Naomi

–         Interestingly no one in Bethlehem chastises Naomi for her lament

–         They simply listen to her, in silence, and respect how she feels

–         Because really there are no words to do justice to what she is feeling

 

Ruth 2

Hope is not the only source of energy – food is a form of energy too

–         The barley harvest was just beginning when they arrived in Bethlehem so Ruth goes out to glean in the fields behind the harvesters

–         Gleaning means picking up what the harvesters leave behind

 

At its best ancient Israel was an inter-dependent unity

–         People didn’t function independently – the community valued each of its members and relied on each other to provide care & nurture for all

–         Their welfare system was quite different to ours

–         One of the ways the rich provided for the poor was by allowing the poor to glean after the harvesters in their field

–         This was genius really because it allowed the poor the dignity of working for their daily bread and it saved the rich from becoming too greedy

–         The outcome was to nurture better relationships between the rich & poor

–         In our society there is a growing gap between rich & poor, but in the Bethlehem of Naomi’s day the lives of the rich & poor were more closely woven together so they weren’t afraid of each other

 

It so happened that Ruth went to work in the field of Boaz

–         “It so happened” is code for God set this meeting up

 

After enquiring about Ruth with his harvesters, Boaz approaches her with a view to connecting her with the right people in the local community

–         The time of the Judges in Israel was a bit like the wild west – not everyone was as virtuous as Boaz

–         Some people would take advantage of a foreigner like Ruth – they might assume that with her Moabite heritage she would be promiscuous

–         So Boaz invites Ruth to stay with the women in his field and drink from his water jars

–         Boaz is a man of power & influence in the community but he doesn’t see this power and influence as his to do whatever he likes with

–         In Boaz’ mind the whole community is greater than the sum of its individual parts

–         Boaz recognises that his position, his wealth, belongs to God and he is just a steward of it

–         Boaz wisely & generously gives what God has entrusted him with for the benefit of the poor and marginalised, like Ruth & Naomi

 

However, Boaz does this in a way that genuinely appreciates Ruth’s character

–         He doesn’t patronise her or make her feel small in any way

–         “I have heard about everything that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. I know how you left your father and mother and your own country and how you came to live among a people you had never known before. May the Lord reward you for what you have done.”

–         Ruth is an unlikely heroine – most people wouldn’t expect her to show this level of loyalty and care to Naomi

–         Boaz is making it clear that both he and the Lord appreciate Ruth’s faith and love – they see past the prejudice and beneath the superficial things to recognise the inner quality of her heart  

 

Appreciation begets appreciation. Ruth says to Boaz…

–         “You are very kind to me sir. You have made me feel better by speaking gently to me…”

 

When Ruth comes home with lots of grain and Naomi learns that Ruth has been gleaning in Boaz’ field, Naomi expresses her appreciation too saying…

–         “May the Lord bless Boaz. The Lord always keeps his promises to the living and the dead. That man is a close relative of ours, one of those responsible for taking care of us.”

–         This is a remarkable change of tune from Naomi

–         For the first time in this story she sounds a note of hope – she imagines a future in which she & Ruth are not condemned but rather redeemed

You see, in ancient Israel, hope was provided for through the law in a number of ways

–         For example, if someone fell on hard times financially, and had to sell their land, or themselves into slavery, then a close family member (known as a ‘kinsman redeemer’) was obligated under the law to redeem them by buying their land and their freedom

–         Likewise, if a husband died then that man’s brother or closest male relative was obligated to marry the widow, both to provide a home for the woman and to give the woman (and her late husband) an heir, a son

–         It wasn’t a good deal, financially, for the bloke who had to marry his dead brother’s widow, but it provided something more valuable than money

–         It provided security, nurture and hope for the whole community

–         The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Naomi has hope because the Law of Moses requires Boaz to redeem them

–         And this hope lifts her spirits, it gives her a new found energy and makes it possible for her to imagine a future in which Ruth is married with children and they all live happily ever after

–         The interesting thing about Naomi’s hope is that it isn’t all about Naomi

–         Naomi’s hope and happiness is tied to Ruth’s future in an inter-dependent way

 

Ruth 3

With this new found hope Naomi suggests a daring plan designed to get Boaz to marry Ruth

–         The plan is risky and one wonders why Naomi doesn’t propose a more straight forward plan, but the risk heightens the sense of suspense and makes for a better story I suppose

So Ruth went to the threshing place and did just what her mother-in-law had told her. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, he was in a good mood. He went to the pile of barley and lay down to sleep. Ruth slipped over quietly, lifted the covers and lay down at his feet. During the night he woke up suddenly, turned over, and was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet.  

“Who are you?” he asked.

“It’s Ruth, sir,” she answered. “Because you are a close relative, you are responsible for taking care of me. So please marry me.”

[Don’t you love the way she proposes to him – it’s brilliant]

“The Lord bless you,” Boaz said. “You are showing even greater family loyalty in what you are doing now than in what you did for your mother-in-law. You might have gone looking for a young man, either rich or poor, but you haven’t. Now don’t worry, Ruth. I will do everything you ask; as everyone in town knows, you are a fine woman.   

 

That expression, ‘family loyalty’ translates from the Hebrew word hesed

–         I’ve talked about hesed before

–         Katherine Sakenfeld gives the best definition I think…

 

Hesed is variously translated as kindness, mercy, faithfulness or loyalty

–         There are three criteria to hesed in the Hebrew Bible:

–         First, the action is essential to the survival or basic well-being of the recipient

–         Second, the needed action is one that only the person doing the act of hesed is in a position to provide

–         And thirdly, an act of hesed takes place within the context of an existing, positive relationship [1]

 

Boaz is commending Ruth for her hesed (or her loyal love) toward Naomi and her late husband

–         In terms of our HEALING acronym hesed relates closely with nurture & giving

 

Ruth showed hesed (or kindness & nurture) to Naomi by sticking with her and taking care of her through thick & thin

–         Without Ruth’s support it is uncertain whether Naomi would have survived – after all it was Ruth who provided food for them both

–         Not only that but Ruth was a comforting companion for Naomi – she saved her mother-in-law from being overwhelmed by loneliness & grief

 

Likewise, Ruth showed generous hesed to her late husband Mahlon by seeking a husband from among Mahlon’s relatives

–         In this way Mahlon’s name would be preserved in Israel

–         If Ruth had gone after a younger man, who wasn’t related to Mahlon, then the child would not be counted as Mahlon’s son or Naomi’s grandson – no one else could give Mahlon a son in this way, only Ruth

Boaz has the insight to truly appreciate Ruth’s nurture & giving and is ready to respond in kind with his own generous nurture of Ruth & Naomi, but first he must negotiate with another kinsman-redeemer who is more closely related than himself

 

Ruth 4

Boaz does everything out in the open and above board – he follows the right process to avoid arguments later

–         At the town gate, in the presence of the elders, Boaz asks the closer kinsman redeemer if he will redeem Naomi’s field (that is, buy it off Naomi so the land stays in the family and Naomi is provided for)

–         At first the man is willing to do this but when he learns that marrying Ruth is part of the deal he pulls out because then the field would belong to any children he has with Ruth – this man isn’t feeling that generous

–         We shouldn’t be too tough on him though – he was simply being honest

–         Ruth would be better off with Boaz because Boaz really appreciated her in a way that the other guy didn’t

–         So Boaz, who is the next closest relative, steps in to redeem the situation by purchasing the field and marrying Ruth

–         Financially it is not in Boaz’ interests to do this but Boaz is thinking of the bigger picture – he is thinking of the community as a whole, not just himself

–         Boaz & Ruth together are greater than the sum of Boaz & Ruth apart

 

Ruth & Boaz are married with the blessing of the community and, by God’s grace, a son is born to Ruth

–         The women of Bethlehem have the last word, saying to Naomi…

“Praise the Lord! He has given you a grandson today to take care of you. May the boy become famous in Israel! Your daughter-in-law loves you, and has done more for you than seven sons. And now she has given you a grandson, who will bring new life to you and give you security in your old age.”

Naomi took the child, held him close, and took care of him.

The women of the neighbourhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, “A son has been born to Naomi!”

Here we have appreciation, inter-dependence, nurture & giving, altogether, in just a couple of verses

  • – The women express their appreciation in praise to God for the birth of Obed and the loyal love of Ruth
  • – Ruth gives her first born son to Naomi
  • – And Naomi nurtures the child
  • – Inter-dependence is seen in the way the women of the neighbourhood name the boy and rejoice with Naomi
  • – What happens to one part of the body affects the rest – if one part suffers, all the other parts suffer with it and if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness
  • – The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

 

Conclusion:

The book of Ruth finishes with a genealogy

  • – Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David
  • – As in, king David – which makes Ruth & Boaz the ancestors of Jesus

The story of Naomi & Ruth is a story of how God heals the broken hearted and the poor in spirit, not through quick miracles but through more ordinary things like time, patience, loyal love and the people we least expect

  • – Hope, Energy, Appreciation, Lament, Inter-dependence, Nurture and Giving, they are all present in the healing process as Naomi goes from emptiness to fullness, from feeling condemned to being redeemed, from death to life, from disorientation to a new orientation

 

Ruth’s promise of hesed to Naomi reminds me of Jesus’ promise to be with us always, wherever we go [2]

Boaz’ action in redeeming Ruth & Naomi also reminds me of Jesus

Jesus, the Son of Man (the Son of Humankind), is our kinsman redeemer

  • – God has the power to take all the fragments, all the broken pieces of your life, and make you whole again
  • – It is the Spirit of Jesus who makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    Can you think of some examples, from everyday life, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts?

–         Discuss the way the different parts of our H.E.A.L.I.N.G. acronym work together

3.)    What is the significance of Ruth’s promise to Naomi?

–         What difference does this make for both of them?

4.)    Why does Naomi insist on being called Marah, in chapter 1?

–         How is this a form of lament?

5.)    How was the welfare system, operating in the story of Ruth, different from our welfare system today?

–         How did gleaning foster inter-dependence?

–         How does Boaz use his wealth & influence to help the poor & marginalised?

6.)    What does Boaz appreciate about Ruth?

–         How does Boaz express his appreciation for Ruth?

7.)    What are some of the ways the Law of Moses provided hope for people?

8.)    How does Ruth show hesed (loyal love) to Naomi and her late husband Mahlon?

–         How does the concept of hesed relate to our H.E.A.L.I.N.G. acronym?

9.)    In what sense is Jesus our kinsman redeemer?

 

[1] Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, Ruth, page 24.

[2] Matthew 28:20

Tawa Baptist

For-giving

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Title: Forgiving

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Forgiveness is letting go
  • God’s forgiveness is unlimited but not unconditional
  • Forgiving from the heart
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good blood flow helps to heal wounds

–         Without healthy blood flow a wound will take ages to heal or may even get worse

–         Generally speaking things that improve blood flow include…

o   Putting a heat pack on the wound area

o   Elevating the wound to reduce swelling (because swelling restricts blood flow)

o   And appropriate levels of exercise to aid circulation

o   Looking after your heart also helps with blood flow – restricted arteries or poor blood pressure can impede blood flow and prolong the healing process

A ‘readiness to forgive’ is to the soul what good blood flow is to the body

–         Forgiveness, like blood flow, heals wounds

–         Without forgiveness the healing process can’t happen and our soul turns septic

 

Today we continue our series on well-being and care of the soul, using the acronym: HEALING.

–         Each letter represents a word which, when properly applied, is life giving to the human soul…

–         Hope Energy Appreciation Lament Inter-dependence Nurture & Giving

–         Last week we looked at giving – this morning we continue the focus on giving with special reference to for-giving

 

Forgiveness is letting go:

As I mentioned earlier in the service, forgiveness is about letting go

–         Letting go of our hurt and letting go of our desire to get even

–         With forgiveness we don’t insist on our rights – we give up our rights in order to set the other person free from their obligation to us

–         Forgiveness is a choice to refuse replaying the injury in our mind

–         It is a choice not to remind the other person of what they have done – not to hold anything over them

 

Forgiveness is an act of faith

–         When we forgive others we are trusting God to make things right, as opposed to taking matters into our own hands.

–         Likewise, when we seek forgiveness we are trusting in God’s mercy, not in our own rightness.

 

Forgiveness is similar to grieving

–         With both grieving and forgiveness we have lost something and we are coming to terms with that loss in a way that allows us to move forward

–         If the loss is significant then our forgiveness may require some lament

–         For example, we may have to give honest expression to our anger before we can forgive, before we can let the other person go free

 

To illustrate how God’s forgiveness works Jesus tells a parable to his disciples in Matthew 18

–         In the context of Matthew 18, Jesus has just been talking about how his followers are to relate with each other, and in particular how they are to restore broken relationships. From Matthew 18, verse 21, we read…

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master had compassion on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

 May God’s Spirit illuminate this reading for us

 

God’s forgiveness is unlimited but not unconditional:

This parable shows us that while God’s forgiveness is unlimited, it is not unconditional

Someone once said, ‘It doesn’t matter how much milk you spill so long as you don’t lose the cow.’

–         I guess the point is that mistakes are bound to happen – milk is going to get spilt – but, as long as we still have the cow we can always get some more. With the cow, our milk supply is unlimited

One way of understanding Jesus’ parable here is that God gives us the cow of grace – or unlimited forgiveness

–         But in order for us to keep the cow we must share the milk of forgiveness with others – if we don’t share the forgiveness then we forfeit the cow

–         While God’s forgiveness is unlimited, it is not unconditional

The standard Jewish teaching of the day recommended that you forgive someone 3 times

–         So when Peter suggested the upper limit for forgiveness might be 7 times, he was going well beyond the norm but still missing the point really

–         Because forgiveness, by definition, requires us to not keep score at all

–         Maintaining a ledger of wrong doing is the opposite of forgiveness

So, when Jesus said to Peter, ‘Not seven times, but seventy seven times’

–         He did not literally mean 77 times (or 490 times as some translations say)

–         He meant that we should not be counting

–         Our forgiveness of others should be unlimited

–         Martin Luther King summed it up well when he said…

–         Forgiveness is an attitude, not an occasional act

 

Jesus illustrates how God’s forgiveness works by telling a story about the kingdom of heaven

–         In Jesus’ parable the king wants to settle accounts with his servants

–         One of his servants is brought in who owes him 10,000 talents

–         Now a talent in Jesus’ time was not a special ability that one might possess like singing or drawing

–         A talent was a measure of weight – the largest measure of weight they had (in this case probably of silver)

–         What’s more 10,000 was the largest increment or number they used

–         So when Jesus says the servant owed 10,000 talents he does not mean for us to try and calculate the exact sum of silver or gold this may represent

–         Jesus is quoting a figure which was at the limit of what anyone in that culture could imagine

–         It was a figure many times greater than the GDP of Galilee – which means it would be impossible for the servant to repay the king

At first the king orders his servant to be sold as a slave (along with his wife & kids and all his property)

–         This in itself would not cover the debt – it was simply a way of the king preventing further losses and recouping what he could

–         Now, under the circumstances this was quite a merciful thing for the king to do – he could have ordered the servant’s head to be cut off or had him thrown in jail, but he doesn’t

Interestingly, the servant does not want to work for anyone else

–         The servant realises how good he has it with the king and wants to stay under the king’s care and protection – so he begs for mercy by saying…

–         Be patient with me and I will pay you everything

Now this is a lie told by a man in desperation

–         There is no way the servant could repay the entire debt – not even if he was given several lifetimes – it is impossible

–         The servant wants the king’s grace but he is unwilling to fully accept the truth of what he has done

–         Forgiveness doesn’t work unless we honestly take in what has happened

–         It’s the truth about ourselves that sets us free to forgive others

–         Truth is to forgiveness what sanding is to painting or what digging is to laying foundations – without truth, forgiveness doesn’t stick

The king knows that his servant can’t repay him but he has compassion on him and forgives the debt altogether – forgiveness is letting go of getting even

–         Forgiveness is also an act of faith

–         The king is trusting his servant to learn from his mistakes and not repeat the sorts of behaviour that got him into debt in the first place

–         He is also trusting his servant to pay it forward and forgive others

As soon as the servant is out of the king’s presence he finds a fellow servant who owes him a hundred denarii (equivalent to about 3 months wages for a labourer at that time) – nothing by comparison to 10,000 talents of silver

–         He grabs his fellow servant by the throat and says…

–         Pay back what you owe me

–         But when this fellow servant begs for mercy the first servant refuses and instead throws his co-worker into debtors’ prison

The unforgiving servant’s behaviour is the opposite of the king’s behaviour

–         The king was not violent but the unforgiving servant is

–         The king had compassion but the unforgiving servant is obtuse

–         The king did not insist on his rights whereas the unforgiving servant demands justice

–         The king released his servant but this same man who was released throws his fellow servant in prison

The other staff see all this and they are very upset

–         So they go to the king and intercede for the poor bloke who has been thrown in prison

–         The fact that they go to the king suggests they are used to the king listening and acting justly – they trust the king to do the right thing

When the king hears what the unforgiving servant has done he is outraged

–         He tells the servant some home truths and sends the man to jail to be tortured until he should pay back the whole amount

–         That’s a frightening thought when you consider that the unforgiving servant had no way of repaying the debt and no friends to bail him out

–         It might leave us with some rather discomforting thoughts about God

–         The same God who welcomes the prodigal

–         The same God who goes looking for the lost sheep

–         The same God who shows mercy and forgives generously

–         Is the same God who executes justice and punishes the hypocrite

To be clear God is not volatile or capricious – he is not prone to lashing out in random acts of rage. A couple of things to bear in mind about this situation…

Firstly, hyperbole or exaggeration are the hall-marks of this parable and the unforgiving servant himself is presented as an extreme example

–         He is certainly not representative of every servant of the king

Secondly, the king in this parable is simply giving the servant what he asked for

–         He had demanded justice for himself from his fellow servant

–         And so this is exactly what the king gives him

–         Measure for measure the king treated the unforgiving servant as he had treated others

I believe that God is just and merciful – he wouldn’t punish anyone beyond what they deserve

–         This being so the worst we can expect from God is justice and the best we can expect is mercy – either way, the choice is ours

–         Through faith in Jesus, God offers his mercy and his forgiveness to everyone – all we have to do is accept his mercy and pay it forward

–         But, if we insist on justice for ourselves, then that’s what God will give us

When we consider our own experience the imprisonment and torture in this parable equate to the mental & emotional anguish that un-forgiveness creates for the individual

–         Holding a grudge is like letting someone live rent free in your head

–         Or, as Malachy McCourt puts it, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die”

When we fail to forgive others, when we insist on justice for ourselves,

–         When we keep a record of wrongs,

–         When we hold onto the bricks of hurt & resentment, we lose the cow of forgiveness

–         We make ourselves a prisoner to all sorts of tormenting thoughts & fears

–         In short, we cut ourselves off from God’s mercy

Thomas Fuller once said, “He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

–         Our forgiveness, our freedom, is conditional on us forgiving others

–         When we forgive others we maintain the bridge that God has built for us through Christ

 

Forgiving from the heart:

After talking about the punishment of the unforgiving servant Jesus concludes his parable (in verse 35) by saying…

–         “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart”

What does it mean to forgive your brother or your sister from your heart?

–         Well it means to forgive genuinely, authentically, from deep within yourself

–         It is not a superficial, passive aggressive, phoney kind of forgiveness

–         It’s not saying, ‘May God forgive you’, and then fantasying about beating that person up

–         It is the kind of forgiveness that sets us free on the inside

A couple of weeks ago I was crossing the road when some random guy I didn’t recognise yelled out from across the street calling me an obscene name

–         I did nothing to provoke him, I was just walking across the road

–         At the time I felt shocked and didn’t really know what to do so I carried on walking and, silently in my head, asked God to forgive him

Afterwards though it started to bother me – why did he call me that name?

–         Despite having asked God to forgive him there was a part of me that wanted to do violent things to him

–         It was exhausting trying to stop my mind from going down that track

Perhaps if I said the words, ‘I forgive you’, out loud a few times, maybe that would work

–         But it didn’t. If anything that just made it worse – it only made me think about it more

–         He wasn’t sorry – he wasn’t even there to hear my forgiveness

–         So that night I tried to distract myself by watching some junk TV, but that didn’t work either, there was always something to remind me of the injury to my pride

Eventually I remembered what had worked for me in the past when I was struggling to let something go

–         The problem was, I kept thinking about my innocence and that made me hungry for justice

–         What I needed to think about was my guilt so that I would be hungry for mercy

I was upset about this guy taking my name in vain, blaspheming my name, and I couldn’t let it go because (sub-consciously) it reminded me of the times when I’ve taken God’s name in vain

–         This guy was showing me a mirror – I was that man

–         You see, while I’ve never done anything against the guy who yelled abuse at me, I have at times abused God’s name

–         The truth is I have behaved in ways that have made God appear obscene to others and yet God has forgiven me for that

–         Me taking God’s name in vain is far worse than that guy taking my name in vain – and once I realised that I stopped thinking about my injury and I forgave the guy from my heart – I was able to let it go, without Netflix

–         The things that bother us most about other people are often the things that bother us most about ourselves

 

Ideally forgiveness leads to restoration of right relationship

–         In fact reconciliation is not possible without forgiveness

–         However, forgiveness is possible without reconciliation

–         Forgiveness is always necessary but full reconciliation and restoration of relationship is not always wise

–         I don’t know the guy who yelled at me and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to know me either, so I don’t have to try and be his friend

Of course the example I’ve given is a relatively small thing – it’s not the same as being physically or sexually abused by someone you know

–         Forgiveness of that magnitude usually requires a process of grieving & lament, not to mention a fair dollop of God’s grace

Jesus’ call to forgive others is not a call to be used as a doormat or a punching bag.

–         If someone commits a serious criminal offence against you then it is okay to take that to the police – forgiveness doesn’t mean turning a blind eye

–         Wherever possible we should seek to restore damaged relationships but if the person you need to forgive is not willing to change,

–         If they continue to behave in abusive ways

–         If they simply cannot be trusted then you do not need to remain in relationship with them

–         You do need to forgive them (to let go of the hurt) in order to find healing, but you don’t need to try and be their friend

–         Better to call them by their proper name – your enemy

–         As a last resort Matthew 18 also allows for the ex-communication of the unrepentant

Forgiveness is not an excuse for us to dodge our responsibilities

–         If we do wrong then we should apologise to the one we have offended

–         If we can repay our debts, then we must

–         If we can put things right, then we should do that

–         If we commit a crime then we have to face the courts and take our punishment

–         God’s mercy does not erase his justice, it supports his justice

–         God’s mercy supports us to do the right thing

Conclusion:

God’s forgiveness is unlimited but it is not unconditional

–         God will forgive us generously when we call on him

–         But we forfeit his forgiveness if we refuse to forgive others

–         As Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy”

 

Let us pray a prayer of confession…

 Loving Father, our sin is too much for us to bear but Your forgiveness is greater than our sin.

Forgive us for our anxious thoughts and failure to trust you. Calm the waters of our soul.

Forgive us for our words which have wounded like shrapnel or sown weeds in other people’s hearts. Make our speech gracious and true.

Forgive us for the pride that blinds us to our own faults. Remove the plank from our mind’s eye.

Forgive us for the times we have dragged your name through the mud. Help us to reflect your image clearly.

Forgive us for the violence we imagine, provoke and express. Make us a channel of your peace.

Forgive us for our unceasing consumption which is destroying this planet. Satisfy our desires in Christ and restore the earth.

Forgive us for denying your grace by insisting on our own innocence. Make us aware of our need for your mercy.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Set us free to serve you with clean hands and a pure heart. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What is forgiveness?

–         What might forgiveness look like in practice – both mentally and relationally?

–         How is forgiveness an act of faith?

–         In what ways is forgiveness like grieving?

3.)    How does Jesus’ response to Peter and the parable in Matthew 18 convey the idea that God’s forgiveness is unlimited?

–         How does the parable convey the idea that God’s forgiveness in not unconditional?

4.)    What does the parable show us about God’s character?

5.)    Why is truth (esp. the truth about ourselves) necessary for forgiveness to stick?

6.)    What is the consequence, in your experience, of failing to forgive?

–         How does this fit with the consequence for the unforgiving servant in Jesus’ parable?

7.)     What does it mean to forgive from your heart?

–         How might we forgive from our heart?

–         Why does insisting on our innocence get in the way of forgiving?

8.)    How is forgiveness different from reconciliation?

–         How does forgiveness relate to reconciliation?

–         When is it appropriate to seek reconciliation with someone?

–         When is it not appropriate to seek reconciliation with someone?

9.)    Is there someone you need to forgive?

–         Is there someone you need to seek forgiveness from?

Tawa Baptist

Giving

Scripture: Luke 16:1-13

Title: Giving

Key Points:

  • Giving opens doors and facilitates movement
  • Giving creates security by strengthening relationships

Introduction:

Last summer we went to Kapiti Island for a day

–         Kapiti has a lagoon on its northern edge

–         Although it is right beside the sea the lagoon is completely closed in – no water flows in from the sea and no water flows out

–         Apparently this happened naturally with time and weather

–         Local Maori say the lagoon was a burial place for those who had fought and died on Kapiti in wars of centuries past

–         No one drinks the water, nor fishes from it, nor even swims in it

–         The water is dark and brackish (a mix of fresh water and salt water), not really inviting

–         Movement supports life – the Kapiti lagoon is a place of death, not just because of its history but because it has no movement – nothing flows in and nothing flows out

Today we continue our series on well-being and care of the soul, using the acronym: HEALING.

–         Each letter represents a word which, when properly applied, is life giving to the human soul…

–         Hope Energy Appreciation Lament Inter-dependence Nurture & Giving

–         Last week we looked at nurture – this morning our focus is giving

Giving is good for our soul in a number of ways

–         Giving supports life by opening doors and facilitating movement

–         If the lagoon on Kapiti had an opening the brackish water inside could be released and changed regularly and it would become a place of life again

Or to change metaphors, giving is like CRC – it loosens things that have seized

–         Or giving is like engine oil – it allows the motor to run freely without overheating

–         Or giving is like kiwi fruit – it moves your bowel and clears out the waste

–         Or giving is like picking beans – the more you pick the bigger your crop

Giving can include sharing money and resources, being generous in our attitude toward others, giving time to listen and serve, giving people the benefit of the doubt and forgiving others.

Luke 16:1-13

To help us explore this idea of giving our message today focuses on Luke 16, verses 1-13. Taken as a whole Luke 16 is about the use of wealth

–         As I’ve already mentioned there is more to giving than sharing money, nevertheless Luke 16 sets out some helpful principles relating to giving

–         From verse 1 we read…

Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

“‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Our reading today begins with Jesus telling his disciples the parable of the shrewd manager (or the unjust steward)

–         Two things this parable shows us about giving…

–         Giving opens doors and facilitates movement

–         And giving creates security by strengthening relationships

 

The parable of the Shrewd Manager assumes a scenario in which a rich landowner leases his land to farmers who pay rent by giving him a portion of their harvest [1]

The rich man learns that his servant has been wasting his goods so he calls the manager in, fires him on the spot and orders him to hand over the books

–         This may seem a bit harsh to us but it was actually quite gracious in the context

–         In Jesus’ day a manager could have been imprisoned or sold as a slave with his family in order to recoup the rich man’s losses

–         But the rich man lets the manager go free

Interestingly the manager does not argue with his master – he doesn’t try to justify himself

–         The manager knows his master is right and there is no point in arguing, so his thoughts turn to his future – how will he provide for himself?

To his credit the manager harbours no illusions about himself – he knows he couldn’t make it as a labourer or a beggar so he devises a plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel (as Black Adder might say to Baldric)

–         The manager’s plan is to call his master’s debtors in one by one and forgive a large portion of each of their debts

–         ‘…Then when my job is gone here, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.’

–         Giving opens doors and facilitates movement

–         Giving also creates security by strengthening relationships

 

The manager called the master’s debtors to him (one at a time) and he reduced their debts significantly

–         900 gallons of olive oil becomes 450

–         1000 bushels of wheat becomes 800

–         These represent significant sums of money

–         450 gallons of olive oil was worth about a year and half’s wages

Giving creates security by strengthening relationships

–         Generally speaking, the greater the gift the stronger the relationship, or at least the stronger the obligation

Let me demonstrate what I mean [Hold up a single piece of paper]

–         Imagine that this piece of paper represents the relationship between two people

–         As you can see the relationship isn’t very strong or deep just yet – it could easily be ripped in half – and that’s because not much has been given or shared, perhaps just 1 gallon of olive oil

[Hold up a phone book]

–         Here we have a more robust relationship – one in which 450 gallons of olive oil has been given or shared

–         As you can see this relationship is much stronger

The point is: by forgiving such large amounts of debt the manager opened doors and created security for himself by strengthening relationships

On the one hand the debtors don’t realise the manager has already been given the sack and is no longer authorised to write off their debt

–         So publicly the debtors would be able to say ‘I had no idea the manager had been fired – I thought he was authorised to make the reductions’

–         But on the other hand they might also be thinking, ‘this is all a little bit too good to be true, I have a feeling the manager is going to want his cut’

–         So privately the debtors might be expecting to split some of their savings with the manager afterwards

The manager very shrewdly gets the debtors to write the reduction in their own hand – in this way the debtors cannot contest the amounts owed or get out of their shady deal with the manager

–         It also shows the master that the debtors are aware of the reductions making it a lot more difficult for the master to change the figures back without losing face

As Kenneth Bailey observes, by making these reductions public knowledge the manager has made his master look like a generous hero in the eyes of the whole community

–         If the master were to increase the debts again he would then look bad in the eyes of the community

–         The master chooses to show extravagant grace to the manager once again and does not contest the reductions

–         This act of grace for the manager is also an act of grace for the whole community – everyone wins at the master’s expense

The parable concludes with the master praising his servant (the manager) – not for being dishonest but rather for being clever & brave

–         The manager has essentially risked everything on a belief that his master will act graciously, not treating him as he deserves

–         If the master had not been gracious the plan would have failed and the manager would have been thrown in prison or sold as a slave

–         The master’s generosity points to God’s generosity in forgiving us

 

In verse 9 Jesus interprets his own parable saying…

  • – I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

–         In other words, giving opens doors and strengthens relationships, not just in this life but in eternity

–         Jesus means for people to be smart and use the money or wealth they have in constructive ways – to help others, especially the poor

–         In the same way that the manager had to prepare for his future because he was about to lose his job, so too we need to think about our eternal future

–         This life won’t last forever and when it ends we can’t take our money with us – but what does carry over into eternity is our relationships, because relationships have to do with spirit

Money may have some value in this life but it will have no value in the next life

–         Good relationships have value both in this life and the next

–         If you know the value of your dollar will soon be worthless then the smart thing to do is invest your money in something that will hold its value before the dollar drops – Good relationships hold their value forever

–         So it makes sense to use our money to help others and to strengthen good relationships now, while we still can

 

Luke 16 contains a second parable – of the rich man and Lazarus

–         If the parable of the shrewd manager teaches us about giving and a good use for money, then the parable of the rich man and Lazarus teaches us about withholding and a foolish use of money

–         The rich man used his wealth to indulge himself while neglecting to help Lazarus the poor man

–         When they both died the tables were turned and Lazarus went to be with Abraham, while the door to paradise was shut to the rich man

–         Giving opens doors and strengthens relationships in this life and the next

–         Withholding things (whether that’s withholding money or the truth or love) locks doors and dissolves relationships

–         The security of having right relationships is far better than the security offered by money

 

In some ways (although not in every way) the master in Jesus’ parable is a bit like God and we are a bit like the servant or the manager

–         Hopefully we aren’t dishonest like the manager but, either way, we are not the owner of the wealth – God is the owner and we are the stewards

–         Jesus says as much in verses 10-13…

–         If you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own

–         In other words: what we have in our possession in this life; our car, our house, our furniture, the money in our bank account, our job, our time – it’s not really ours – it belongs to God

–         But we do have considerable freedom about how we use it – whether to serve God’s purpose by helping others or not

–         If we use what God has entrusted us with faithfully, to serve His purpose, then we will be trusted with more in eternity

So if the money we have belongs to God and we need to use it to serve his purpose then what does good stewardship look like?

–         Should we be living on the smell of an oily rag and blindly giving away as much as we can to charitable causes?

–         Well, no – I don’t think so

–         God is into justice and mercy – so our spending needs to be fair & kind

–         Yes, we should give some money to charitable causes that are in line with God’s purpose but not at the expense of justice

–         Justice is better than charity

For example, it is better to buy fair trade goods and pay a little more than it is to buy something cheap that has been made by slave labour, even if you plan to give the savings to World Vision or the SPCA

–         We shouldn’t give to charities as a substitute for paying a fair price

–         In global terms we (in NZ) are relatively wealthy – we need to use our wealth in solidarity with the poor, not in ways that oppress them

 

Take the example of pokey machines – while the profits might be distributed to community charities, these same profits often come at the expense of the poor

–         If pokey machines are contributing to the problem then it would be better not to have them in the first place

–         No amount of charity can compensate for injustice

–         If you have a dead carcass rotting in a stream, making the water undrinkable, you don’t leave the carcass there and try to purify the water with chemicals – no, you remove the carcass

 

Another Godly use of money is taking care of your family

–         God puts us in families for a reason – to take care of each other

–         If you hold the purse strings then be fair to your family with how you spend your income – make sure they are warm, dry, well fed and educated before spending on yourself or sending money overseas

–         And, if at all possible, try to have a job that allows you time with your kids – because your time is more valuable to them than your money

I could go on but hopefully you get the point: good stewardship doesn’t mean amassing large amounts of wealth

–         Nor does it mean giving all our money away thoughtlessly or carelessly

–         Good stewardship means using what God has given us to help others in ways that are just, merciful and life-giving

–         John Stott was wise and strategic in his giving – the money he made from the books he wrote went to paying for quality theological training for men & women in poor countries. He believed that would do more long term good, for more people, than anything else

 

In his book Lost Connections Johann Hari tells the following true story of the effects of giving [2]

In the middle of the 1970’s a group of Canadian officials chose a small town, called Dauphin, for an economic experiment

–         Most of the people living in Dauphin were farmers growing a crop called canola

–         The 17000 people of the town worked as hard as they could but were still struggling

–         When the canola crop was good everyone did well but when the canola crop was bad, everyone suffered – consequently there was insecurity because people were anxious about having enough to live on

 

The government officials wondered what would happen if they gave everyone in Dauphin a guaranteed universal basic income with no strings attached

–         I guess it was a bit like our national superannuation except for everyone, not just those over 65

–         This income wouldn’t be means tested like our working for families tax credit – every household simply got paid $19,000 US per year (in today’s terms) – which is over $28,000 NZ dollars

–         By itself this wouldn’t be enough to live on but it would make life easier

–         Sounds a little bit like communism but it wasn’t because people were still free to choose the work they did, still free to worship God and still free to earn more if they wanted to, without penalty

–         This experiment lasted for a while until a new government was elected in Canada and stopped it

 

It wasn’t until years later that a woman, called Evelyn, dug up the data and interviewed those who had taken part to learn the outcome of the experiment

–         Evelyn went through the medical records and found there were fewer people showing up at the doctors with depression & anxiety at that time

–         Why? Because the guaranteed basic income removed the rotting carcass of financial stress in people’s everyday lives – it provided security

 

We might expect people to misuse the money or at least accumulate as much as they could, but quite the opposite happened in Dauphin

–         Giving people basic security actually opened doors for them and made positive change possible

–         People chose to work a bit less and spend more time with their kids

–         And this time was quality time because the parents were less stressed and able to be present with their kids, which meant family life was better

–         Students stayed at school longer and learned more – not only that but some adults went back to school to improve their lot in life

–         Others who felt trapped in a job they hated, just to pay the bills, now had the means to leave that job and do something they enjoyed more

 

People didn’t waste the extra money on booze and cigarettes

–         No – they proved to be good stewards and used the money in wise and creative ways to strengthen their relationships and secure a better future for themselves and their families

 

The same sort of experiment has been done in other places too with the same sort of results

–         I’m not an economist so I don’t know how this would work on a larger scale (like, how would you pay for it and what would it do to inflation?) but I expect there would be significant improvements to people’s health & wellbeing as well as a reduction in crime, therefore saving money over the long term

–         More importantly though people would enjoy the true wealth of better quality lives and relationships

 

This idea of stewardship – giving people resources and trusting them to make good decisions with it, is similar to God’s approach with us

–         Of course with God we will have to give account one day

 

Conclusion:

Our reading from Luke this morning finishes with that well known verse…

  • – “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

 Giving (in whatever form it takes) saves us from the tyranny of self

  • – The tighter we hold onto money the tighter it holds onto us
  • – Financial riches are a cruel master, as is poverty
  • – God is a far kinder, more gracious master
  • – When we release what God has given us, to serve his purpose, we affirm that God is in charge and we find release for ourselves – we open up the lagoon of our brackish heart for God to bring refreshment & life

 

Giving well is good for our soul

–         Giving sets us free – it opens doors in this life and the next

–         Giving facilitates movement and movement supports life

–         Giving also creates security and a better future through stronger relationships

 

Questions for discussion or reflection

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

2.)    What are some of the ways in which we can give?

3.)    Why does the master commend the shrewd manager?

–         How are we to be like the shrewd manager?

–         How are we to not be like the shrewd manager?

4.)    What does the parable of the shrewd manager teach us about giving?

–         What does it teach us about the value of money and relationships respectively, in the light of eternity?

5.)    What might good stewardship look like?

–         What do we mean when we say, ‘justice is better than charity’?

–         Give some examples of a good use of money – a use that serves God’s purpose

6.)    What would you do if you had a guaranteed basic income (no strings attached) like the people of Dauphin?

7.)    What is your experience of wealth &/or poverty?

–         What is your experience of God as master of your life?

–         How does giving set us free from the tyranny of self?

 

[1] I have drawn mainly on Kenneth Bailey’s interpretation of this parable from his book ‘Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes’, pages 332-342. Other commentators take a different view.

[2] Johann Hari. ‘Lost Connections’, pages 245-249.