Tawa Baptist

Balance

Scripture: Psalm 8

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Security
  • Love
  • Responsibility
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Yippee, Wha-hoo, Go you good thing, On ya mate, Well done, Tu Meke, You are awesome, That was amazing

  • These words and phrases are different ways in which we express praise
  • Some of these words and expressions you won’t find in a dictionary but that doesn’t matter – the words themselves are not the main thing
  • It’s more the feeling we give to those words, the positive intention and energy behind them

This morning we take a break from our sermon series in Ephesians to focus on Psalm 8 – a psalm of David

    • In this song David pours out his praise for God’s creative activity – in particular for the security, love and responsibility God gives, which makes our lives functional and meaningful
  • From verse 1 we read…

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have established, 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?  5 Yet you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.   9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us

[Listen to a recording of children laughing and playing]

Security:

That was a recording of children laughing and playing and having fun

  • Let’s listen to it again
  • [Replay the recording of children laughing and playing]
  • This is what praise sounds like out of the mouth of babes
  • Children make those sorts of happy sounds when they feel safe and secure – security is the foundation really

Psalm 8 begins and ends with the words…

  • O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

In the original – the word LORD (all in capitals) – actually translates as Yahweh

  • Yahweh is God’s personal name
  • It means something like, I am who I am, or I am with you and for you

The LORD is our Sovereign

    • A Sovereign is a King or a Queen – the ruler of the realm
    • God’s name is God’s reputation & integrity; His greatness and goodness
    • David is saying that Yahweh is King of the whole earth – second to none
  • This is basically a statement of adoration and allegiance

One of the main jobs of the King is security – keeping his people safe

  • The subject of security is pretty big in the psalms
  • Whenever you hear a word like ‘strong hold’ or ‘high tower’ or ‘shepherd’ or ‘bulwark’ or similar the psalmist is talking about security
  • Verse 2 reads…

2Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

It’s interesting that Psalm 8 (a hymn of praise) comes after 5 other psalms where David calls out for help and deliverance from his foes

  • David’s praise for the security God gives wasn’t just a theoretical thing
  • David knew God’s security first hand as someone who lived in a dangerous world and had actual enemies who wanted him dead

The praise of children and infants is pure because children possess a certain innocence

  • In Matthew 21, after Jesus had cleared the temple of the merchants, we read how the blind and lame came to Jesus and he healed them
  • Children witnessed this and shouted praise to God because of Jesus, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David”
  • When the religious leaders heard the children’s praise they were indignant, so Jesus quoted this verse from Psalm 8 to them
  • The Pharisees were the foe; they wanted to kill Jesus but the praise of children was Jesus’ defence, his stronghold
  • God silenced the religious leaders, not through brute force
  • Not through an overwhelming demonstration of his power and strength
  • But through the praise of children and infants; through what appears weak and of little account

Just a few days after that the religious leaders conspired to murder Jesus

  • There was no defence for Jesus on Good Friday, but that was God’s plan
  • To defeat strength with weakness
  • Jesus silenced the foe (sin) and the avenger (death) not with overwhelming force – but through his own suffering and humiliation
  • What looked like Christ’s defeat (on the cross) was actually God’s victory

From 1st Corinthians chapter 1 we read…

  • For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God’s power…
  • For what seems to be God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and what seems to be God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Now here’s the thing; when what we thought was strong is defeated by what we thought was weak, it has the power to completely change the way we think, so that what we fear most no longer has a hold on us

One of the things children need from parents is security – they need to feel safe

  • Parents give security to children in a number of ways
  • In the first two years of life children learn security by the presence of at least one adult who is consistently there for them to care for their needs
  • In the normal course of events a baby will cry for one of four reasons:
  • Either they are hungry or they have a dirty nappy or wind or they’re tired
  • You take care of those four things in a timely way and they will feel safe and secure and learn trust (as opposed to fear)

As kids gets older they still need to be fed but they also need boundaries to make them feel safe and secure; rules and routines that are kind and fair

  • And if they cross the line then they need to know that it’s not the end of the relationship, that there is a way back
  • For every mistake there is a remedy

God gives us security and we reveal to our children what God is like by giving them security and love

Love:

Some years ago now our family went to Opito Bay in the Coromandel for a summer holiday (Robyn’s aunty & uncle let us stay in their bach up there)

  • I have this enduring memory of lying on the concrete at night, with one of our daughters, looking up at the stars
  • The concrete was still warm, having baked in the sun all day, and the stars were bright because there isn’t much light pollution in Opito Bay
  • The star light we saw may have been billions of years old and who knows, perhaps some of the stars we were looking at had burnt out thousands of years before we were born
  • When you think about the vastness of time and space it makes your problems seem very small; it takes your focus off yourself and puts things in proper perspective
  • The person who looks up to God seldom looks down on other people

In verses 3 & 4 David describes feeling both small and cared for as he gazes up at the stars…

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have established, 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

This is poetry – it’s not science. We are not to conclude that God literally made the moon and stars with his fingers

  • It’s a metaphor in which God is portrayed as an artist carefully arranging the heavens
  • Fingers are for fine work – they are for taking care of details
  • Fingers are gentle and skilled
  • The fact that God handles the moon and stars with His fingers shows us how big and strong God really is
  • It also speaks of God’s control over the heavenly bodies
  • Our lives are not controlled by the moon and stars or the horoscope
  • God is in control of the constellations, and this should help us to feel secure despite our smallness

The Lord is mindful of us and cares for us

  • When you love someone they populate your every thought (whether that’s your husband or your wife, your son or your daughter, your friend your sister, brother or whoever); you are mindful of them
  • You remember them in your prayers, you remember what they asked you to get at the supermarket, you remember their birthday and you send them text messages when you’re not with them
  • Likewise, when you love someone you care for them – you are affected by what happens to them so that if they cut their finger you feel their pain
  • Care isn’t just a feeling though – care is something practical that we do to help make those we love more comfortable

Children need love – they need people in their lives who are mindful of them and who care for them in practical ways

  • When a child is very young they aren’t able to separate themselves from their mother – they have just spent 9 months in the womb and haven’t developed a sense of their own identity yet
  • This means that they are very sensitive to the way dad treats their mum
  • If dad is kind to mum and treats her with thoughtfulness and care, then they will feel loved by dad
  • But if dad mistreats mum then they will feel hurt and not worth much
  • So the first way for parents to love their children is to love one another

As the child gets older, and is able to differentiate themselves from their mother a bit more, love is given in other ways – mainly through time spent together

  • I don’t remember many of the toys I was given as a child; but I do remember the quality time my parents spent with me
  • We want to give our kids as many good memories as we can

Responsibility:

God provides us with security, God loves us and God trusts us with real responsibility

Some years ago now I read Bill Bryson’s book, ‘A short history of everything’ in which Bryson describes the ‘Goldilocks Effect’

  • The goldilocks effect is a metaphor for how everything is ‘just right’ for sustaining life on earth
  • The earth is just the right distance from the sun, just the right distance from the moon, just the right size and therefore the right gravity
  • With just the right amount of oxygen in our atmosphere, just the right amount of salt in our oceans and so on
  • This planet is held in a wonderfully intricate balance – if any one of thousands of different factors was even a little bit out, planet earth wouldn’t be habitable.
  • Some people say the Goldilocks Effect is just random luck; but there is no hope (or truth) in thinking like that
  • The Bible teaches that God took great care in making this world just right for sustaining life
  • When we think of it like that, we begin to realise there is meaning and purpose to life on earth; our lives are not random, they matter

Not long after I first started at Tawa Baptist I conducted a survey. It was a way of getting to know the congregation

  • One of the questions at the end of the survey had to do with how we contribute to the well-being of others especially in the wider world
  • And I remember R answered in a way that no one else did
  • R said, “I ride my bike to work” and in brackets he wrote ‘pollute-less’
  • R was doing his bit to keep the balance in our world – he was taking care of the environment
  • But I think also that R really likes riding his bike
  • Given R’s love of cycling I had to include a bicycle illustration in the sermon – so please wait for a moment. I’ll be back…

[Go back stage and return with a bicycle]

How long do you think I can keep my balance on this bike? [Wait]

  • Okay, let’s test my balance – let’s see how long I can stay upright

[Try to balance on my bike while not moving]

That wasn’t very long was it. Why couldn’t I keep my balance for more than a few seconds? [Wait]

  • That’s right, because I wasn’t moving. To keep my balance, I need forward momentum, I need positive purpose

Returning to Psalm 8. In verse 5 David talks about the dignity God has given humanity, saying…

5 Yet you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.   

Verses 5-8 of Psalm 8 come from Genesis chapter 1

  • There (in the first chapter of Genesis) it tells how God created order out of the chaos and how God made us human beings in His own image

To be crowned with glory and honour is a privilege

  • To have dominion (or stewardship) over the animals, the birds and the fish, is a responsibility
  • As God’s vice regents, as His representatives, His deputies, it is our job to help maintain the balance

The position we have in creation is a position of trust

  • And it’s not a position or a trust that we have earned – it has simply been given to us
  • God shared his glory & honour with us before we had a chance to do anything at all
  • This means that we did not become the dominant species on planet earth by natural selection
  • Our place in the natural order is not the consequence of survival of the fittest. We have dominion over other creatures by divine selection

This means our royal status and authority over creation is subject to God

  • We don’t have free reign to do whatever we want
  • We are to use our authority and power in ways that serve God’s own purposes and reflect God’s own practices
  • God is mindful of us and cares for us, therefore we need to be mindful of the rest of God’s creation and care for it, both human and non-human
  • We are dependent on God to help us keep the balance – we can’t do it without Him
  • Trying fulfil our responsibility as human beings, without God, is like trying to ride a bike without forward momentum; God gives us the positive purpose we need to stay upright

So how are we doing with our responsibility?

  • Not so great. There is a huge disparity between the vision of humanity in this psalm and the reality of human history
  • Our dominion has become domination
  • Our stewardship has become slavery
  • Our rule has become ruin
  • We have dragged God’s reputation through the mud
  • We have become the foe and the avenger
  • And all creation groans as it waits for its salvation

One of the tasks of parenting is to teach our children responsibility

  • We want our kids to grow up to be responsible adults
  • As human beings, made in the image of God, we have a responsibility to care for our neighbour, to care for the environment and to care for ourselves

Responsibility is like riding a bike – it requires balance

  • If our sense of responsibility is too great, then this creates problems:
  • Like we might feel guilty when we don’t need to
  • Or we might keep coming to the rescue when others don’t need rescuing
  • Or we might feel like we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders and life loses its joy
  • Or we find ourselves becoming resentful because we always seem to be the one who does the work while others keep letting us down

On the other hand, if our sense of responsibility is too light or missing altogether, then that creates a different set of problems:

  • Like we make a mess that others have to clean up
  • Or we throw away our plastic so sea birds eat it and die horribly
  • Or we indulge ourselves at the expense of others, causing them trauma and pain

The prodigal son didn’t feel enough responsibility – he was reckless

  • Whereas his older brother carried too much responsibility and he became resentful
  • Responsibility is a balancing act and we teach children to manage the balance by living a balanced lifestyle ourselves
  • By avoiding extremes and excesses
  • Having a time for doing chores, a time for rest and a time for play
  • Having a consequence for misbehaviour that is fair and not too heavy handed
  • By balancing involvement in church with involvement in the community
  • Having time alone and time to socialise
  • Being good to others without neglecting our own needs
  • Being mindful of the products we buy and how we dispose of our waste
  • I could go on but you get the point: being responsible means keeping a healthy balance and the key to keeping our balance is letting God be the boss of our lives because God is the one who gives us the forward momentum of a positive purpose

Conclusion:

While we have failed in our responsibility, Jesus is our Saviour (He has taken responsibility)

    • Jesus is the one who fulfils Psalm 8’s vision of humanity
    • Jesus shows us what God originally intended
    • In Christ we find security.
    • In Christ we experience God’s love
    • And in Christ we learn to balance responsibility

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?
  • Why do you think this stood out to you?

2. How do you feel when you hear children laughing and playing happily? (What memory does this evoke for you?)

3. What is your experience of the security God gives?

  • How might we give a sense of security to those close to us (especially children)?

4. Have you looked up at the stars at night and contemplated like David did? What happened within you as a consequence of doing this?

5. Who do you love? (That is, who are you mindful of, who affects you, who do you show care for?)

  • How might we show love to those around us (especially children)?

6. What does it mean to have dominion over the animals, birds and fish? (What does it mean to live responsibly?)

7. What do we need to keep our balance?

  • What are some of the symptoms of having an over developed sense of responsibility?
  • What are some of the symptoms of having an under developed sense of responsibility?
  • Thinking about these symptoms is there anything you need to do to restore the balance of responsibility?

 

Tawa Baptist

M&M’s

Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-32

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Mind
  • Morals
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

If we think of the Christian church as a tree; historically the church has two main branches to it

  • There is the eastern branch, which stems from the Greek tradition
  • And there is the western branch, which stems from the Latin tradition
  • We are part of the Latin tradition – the western church

 

 

Generally speaking, the Greek church believed that sin was intellectual blindness and that salvation was found in illumination of the mind; by clear thinking about God, or Christ

  • The Latin church, on the other hand, believed that sin was moral evil and that salvation is found in right conduct; behaving in a Christ like way
  • Consequently, the Greek saint is more inclined to contemplate, while the Latin saint is more inclined to get busy and act [1]
  • From our perspective we can see that both are needed
  • You wouldn’t cut off one of the main branches
  • We can’t really have a conversion in our moral behaviour without having a conversion of our mind

 

Please turn with me to Ephesians 4, verse 17, page 241 toward the back of your pew Bibles

    • Chapter 4 is like a hinge connecting the two halves of Ephesians
    • In the first half Paul talks about what God has done for us in Christ
    • And in the second half he talks about what we need to do; our response
    • Being ‘in Christ’ requires us to live a life worthy of our calling
    • This means a profound transformation of our M&M’s – our mind and our morals. The Christian life involves both contemplation and action
  • From Ephesians 4, verses 17-32 we read…

17 In the Lord’s name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless 18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. 19 They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint.

20 That was not what you learned about Christ! 21 You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. 22 So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

25 No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. 26 If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. 27 Don’t give the Devil a chance. 28 If you used to rob, you must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for yourself and to be able to help the poor. 29 Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. 30 And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. 32 Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s Word for us

 

Mind:

When I was in my teens my friends and I would sometimes go away for a few days kayaking

  • One place we went to was Reid’s Farm on the Waikato River, near Taupo
  • Reid’s Farm is about 2 kilometres upstream from Huka Falls

 

On our first visit to Reid’s Farm, the sun was shining; it was a beautiful day

  • We approached the river bank and looked down
  • The water was so clear you could see the bottom of the river bed 10 metres below; not at all like the dark brackish water of the same river 200km’s north in Hamilton
  • We knelt down to put our hands in the water – it was freezing but the cold made the water seem even more fresh, more pristine
  • A voice from behind said, ‘I wouldn’t drink that if I were you. It might look clean but it’s full of effluent. If you swallow even one mouthful, you’ll be puking your guts out for days.’

 

Having the right advice, knowing the truth, illuminates the mind

  • And when your mind is enlightened you are able to make informed choices and take the right course of action
  • Actions which will serve, not only your health and wellbeing, but also the health and wellbeing of those around you
  • The reason we receive an education and training is so we can learn from other people’s mistakes, and not have to find out the hard way

 

Now some of you may be wondering, ‘Did we learn the hard way? Did my mates and I ignore the voice and drink the water that day?’

  • Well, we were 16 years old at that time and didn’t always make good choices, but we did heed that piece of advice
  • I remember watching someone, from a distance a day or two later, who did drink the water and it wasn’t pretty
  • Had we hardened our hearts and stubbornly refused to accept the truth then our trip to Reid’s Farm would have been ruined, futile, wasted

 

In today’s reading Paul contrasts the Ephesians’ old way of life with their new life in Christ

  • Verses 17-19 describe the mind-set and lifestyle of the heathen.
  • A heathen is someone who doesn’t adhere to a religious system; they ignore God

 

According to Paul, four things characterise the heathen:

  • Hardness of heart (stubborn)
  • Darkness of mind (ignorant)
  • An unfeeling conscience (insensitive)
  • And a self-indulgent lifestyle (dissolute)

 

I have here a square of concrete and a container of soil

  • Which of these two is better for growing a seed in, do you think? [Wait]
  • That’s right the container of soil
  • If I drop a seed on the concrete slab it won’t go in. It will either be blown away by the wind or eaten by a bird
  • But if I drop a seed in the soil, it will go in, the soil receives it
  • The seed might lay dormant in the soil for some time but eventually, when the conditions are right, the seed will germinate and grow

 

The seed represents the truth and the soil and concrete each represent the human heart in different states

  • The concrete slab is a hard heart and the soil is a receptive heart
  • Someone who is hard of heart refuses to listen or be taught – they are unreceptive to the truth
  • Hardness of heart is the opposite of an open, trusting heart
  • Jesus celebrated little children and said, …the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, because children normally have a heart like soft soil, which is open and trusting and receptive, not a heart of stone
  • If we receive the truth and contemplate it in the soil of our mind, then God will grow it
  • But if we don’t let the seed of truth into our heart and mind, then our mind will be shrouded in darkness

 

Hardness of heart leads to ignorance

  • It is a tragic irony that sometimes very intelligent people can have minds which are in the dark spiritually speaking
  • Sometimes a great intellect gets in the way of an enlightened mind

 

When a person’s mind is unreceptive and ignorant of the truth, their conscience loses feeling

  • If we cut our foot our body heals that wound through blood flow
  • If blood is prevented from flowing to and from the foot the cut won’t heal and will become infected
  • At first the wound will hurt, but after a while (if the cut is left untreated) we will lose feeling in our foot and then our leg

 

The truth is to our conscience what blood flow is to the body

  • Truth heals wounds in our mind and soul
  • If the truth isn’t allowed access to our mind, then eventually our conscience will stop hurting (we will stop feeling guilt and shame at wrong doing) and become reckless in our behaviour; insensitive toward others
  • Without a properly functioning conscience, anything goes and self-indulgence reigns – we lose feeling and compassion for others
  • We become a slave to our appetites

 

Now, there’s a couple things I want to say about Paul’s description of the heathen, as it relates to our experience

  • Firstly, not all non-Christians fit Paul’s description of the heathen
  • We are all on a moral spectrum; most people have some conscience, some residue of the image of God, some redeeming quality, whatever their religion or lack of
  • And even we Christians have a bit of heathen left in us still
  • With this in view, it seems to me, Paul is describing the extreme end of the moral spectrum
  • This is the destination one arrives at if they go down the path of pure heathenism (of totally rejecting God)
  • Paul’s description of the outcome of a heathen lifestyle is pretty accurate

 

In the last couple of years, during the summer holidays, I’ve noticed car wrecks on the side of the road, positioned where drivers can easily see them

  • This is part of a road safety campaign designed to warn motorists to drive carefully
  • The smashed up cars are a picture of the worst that can happen if we don’t slow down or if we drive carelessly
  • In today’s reading Paul is describing the moral car crash that a heathen lifestyle leads to
  • He is warning his readers to not return to that way of life; to not drink the water at Reid’s Farm (even though it looks beautiful and clean); because ultimately a life without God is meaningless – it has you puking your guts out

 

In contrast to a heathen mind-set and lifestyle Paul also describes the Christian pathway, in verse 21. A more literal translation of this verse reads… [2]

  • You learned Christ
  • You heard Christ
  • You were taught in Christ

 

 

You learned Christ, means that Jesus himself is the content of the teaching; he is the curriculum

  • You heard Christ, means the Ephesian believers heard Jesus’ words through the gospel stories they were told; so Jesus is the teacher
  • And, you were taught in Christ, means that Jesus was the environment or the classroom in which they learned

 

Robyn is doing a Maori language course at the moment as part of her professional development

  • This course involves 4 days’ total immersion in the Maori language – which means no speaking English, only speaking Maori for 4 days
  • To be taught in Christ means total immersion in the language and kaupapa of Jesus
  • Christ is the curriculum, he is the teacher and he is the environment in which we learn how to relate with God and each other

 

Verse 23 continues the mind theme…

  • Your hearts and minds must be made completely new…
  • Or more literally, You were taught… to be renewed in the spirit [or the attitude] of your minds
  • We can’t live right until we’ve been taught how to think right
  • We can’t behave in a moral way until our minds have been renewed by God
  • This is why the Greek church’s emphasis on contemplation is so important
  • The purpose of Christian contemplation is not to empty our minds but rather to learn to put our thoughts and thought processes in good order

 

 

Unlike the heathen who are too stubborn to learn, the Christian disciple is open and receptive to learn

  • Unlike the heathen whose minds are darkened in ignorance, the mind of the Christian disciple is enlightened and informed in the ways of God
  • Unlike the heathen whose conscience has lost all feeling, the conscience of the Christian disciple is sensitive to right and wrong
  • And unlike the heathen who are self-indulgent and dissolute, the Christian disciple is supposed to exercise self-control and purity

 

As verse 24 says: we must clothe ourselves with the new self which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright & holy.

  • Paul’s image here is of the Christian believer taking off an old pair of rags and putting on a new set of clothes
  • The new clothes represent a new morality

 

A number of times over the years I’ve visited people in prison

  • When I used to go to Rimutaka the prisoners in the visiting area were dressed in bright orange boiler suits to distinguish them from the visitors
  • Most of the time I think the prisoners just wore grey sweat pants and tops
  • When the prisoner is released they put away their old prison clothes and put on new clothes to wear in their freedom
  • It’s like that when we become a Christian – we leave behind our old way of life and put on our new self

 

The new self isn’t a uniform that makes us look the same as everyone else

  • The new self is a unique set of clothes, custom made for us by God
  • The new self is our true self, our best self, as God intended us to be
  • To put on our new self is to live in our own soul, to be our authentic self
  • When we put on our new self we are doing away with pretence and we are embracing what is real and genuine
  • The clothes of our new-self fit perfectly; they aren’t too tight or too loose
  • And because they fit perfectly we feel comfortable and at home in them; we don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not

 

It is important to note here that we can’t create our new self any more than we could cause our self to be born.

  • God makes the clothes. All we do is put them on

 

Morals:

A renewed mind will affect our moral behaviour

  • Christian contemplation ultimately leads to Christian action
  • Right thinking about God will lead to right living with our neighbour
  • In verses 25-32, Paul describes a number of very practical ways in which we put away the old self and get dressed in our new morality

 

The word ‘morality’ has fallen out of favour in recent years

  • People tend to associate being moral with being a prude or ultra conservative or being oppressive and denying people their freedom
  • This is unfair and misleading – morals are helpful

 

I like the kind of thinking Eugene Peterson brings to the subject of morals [3]

  • Peterson says, (and I paraphrase his words a bit here) morality is both beautiful and functional
  • Just as a vase holds a flower arrangement in an artful way, revealing the flowers’ beauty, so too morality lends function and beauty to our lives and relationships

 

Or to use another example; I can drink this grape juice straight out of the box or I can pour it into a glass like this [pour juice into a nice glass]

  • Not only is drinking out of the glass more functional than drinking out of the box, the glass (of morality) holds the grape juice in a beautiful way

 

Morality might also be compared to a cornet or a bugle

  • Just as the brass instrument gives shape to sound as air passes through it, so too good morals give a pleasant sounding shape to the words and feelings and behaviours that pass through us

 

In verse 25, Paul writes: Don’t lie, instead speak the truth.

  • This moral is about being honest with people, not deceiving others
  • Honesty and truth create trust and trust is the foundation of relationships
  • But in speaking the truth we need to remember verse 29, where Paul encourages his readers to use kind, helpful words that build others up and do good to those who hear them.
  • Remember, the truth is like blood flow which heals wounds

 

Verse 28 continues the theme of creating trust through honesty and kindness

  • The man who used to rob must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for himself and be able to help the poor
  • This verse holds together the twin concepts of justice and mercy
  • Like a vase it gives shape to the flower arrangement of our relationships

 

Paul’s concern for right moral behaviour isn’t just focused on our words and deeds though, it also involves our feelings

 

In verse 26 Paul says: If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day.

  • This tells us that anger (within certain limits) is not a sin
  • Jesus got angry on occasion but his anger was over injustice
  • He became indignant when the disciples tried to prevent the little children coming to him and he became furious when the merchants in the temple prevented the heathen Gentiles from coming to God to pray
  • The interesting thing is that Jesus didn’t become angry when people treated him unfairly – he took that on the chin

 

Anger is one of the many emotions of love

  • If we don’t get angry over injustice done to others, then we don’t really care about others
  • The trick is using the energy of anger in a constructive way, not a destructive way
  • Housework is a good vent for anger – take it out on the mould in your bathroom, or the grease in your oven. Chop some wood or prune some trees
  • When Jesus became angry with the money changers in the temple he expressed his anger by cleaning up his Father’s house
  • He decluttered the courtyard and took out the rubbish
  • Next time you visit someone with a really clean house, make a note; this person knows how to handle their anger

 

In verse 31 Paul touches on some more emotions:

  • Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.
  • The kind of anger in view here is the unrighteous kind
  • Bitterness speaks of resentment (nursing a grudge)
  • We need to find ways to let go of our hurt and not hold on to grievances
  • Our morality should shape the sounds that come out of us like a bugle shapes the air that passes through it

 

In reading these verses we notice three common threads with Paul’s morality:

  • They all have to do with personal relationships
  • (How are your relationships? Are they functioning well and are they pleasant? If not, maybe take a look at your morals)
  • They all require us to exercise self-control,
  • (Self control is the opposite of self indulgence)
  • And they all affect the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit feels our morality)

 

Verse 30 tells us that when our morality is bad this grieves the Holy Spirit

  • The Holy Spirit connects us to God and each other, so when relationships go sour the Holy Spirit feels it
  • We don’t just practise good morality for our own well-being, we do it also for the sake of the Holy Spirit
  • If someone treats you badly that makes the Holy Spirit sad
  • If we retaliate or try to get even that just adds to the Spirit’s grief
  • But when we behave in ways that bless others I imagine the Spirit must take some comfort and joy from that

 

Conclusion:

Our reading this morning finishes on a positive note:

  • Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

This instruction to forgive one another reminds us that we are all on a journey with the renewing of our minds and the reformation of our morals

  • None of us is perfect yet and so we all stand in need of grace

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?
  • Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.What are you most drawn to: contemplation or action?

  • How might we keep these two things together?

3. What does it mean to be hard hearted?

  • How does Paul’s description of the heathen fit with your experience / observation of the world?

4. Why is it important to receive the truth and contemplate on it?

  • What is the purpose of Christian contemplation?

5. Discuss / reflect on verse 21: ‘You learned Christ. You heard Christ. You were taught in Christ’. What does this mean and how might we apply it in our context today?

6. When is it right to feel angry?

  • What strategies do you have for dealing with your anger?

7. What do Paul’s morals have in common?

  • Take some time this week to reflect on the quality of your relationships with others. Is there anything you would like to do differently?

 

[1] Refer Lynn White’s article ‘Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis’, Science, 10 March 1967, Vol 155, Number 3767, page 1206.  

[2] Refer John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians, page 179.

[3] Refer chapter 10 of Eugene Peterson’s book, ‘Practise Resurrection’.

Tawa Baptist

Passenger or Crew?

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-16

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Diversity
  • Maturity
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Are you a passenger or crew?

  • Are you a spectator or a player?
  • Are you a casual observer or an active participant?

Today we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 4:7-16

  • Two weeks ago we explored the first six verses of Ephesians 4 where Paul talked about the unity of Christian believers and living a life worthy of our calling
  • In this morning’s reading Paul develops those themes by talking about diversity and maturity
  • In the body of Christ unity goes hand in hand with diversity and a growth in maturity of faith. From Ephesians 4, verse 7, we read…

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us

 

Diversity:

I want you to imagine Star Trek Crew

  • We have Sulu, who is the Helmsman or pilot/navigator of the ship
  • Then we have Uhura, who is the Communications expert,
  • Spock, the Science Officer, also second in command
  • Captain Kirk
  • Chekhov, the head of Security,
  • Then Bones, the ship’s Doctor
  • And Scotty, the ship’s Chief Engineer (‘Beam me up Scotty’)

The Star Trek crew are an example of unity with diversity

  • A crew of people, each with their own speciality, working together as one

Paul has just been talking about the unity of the body of Christ – now he talks about its diversity – in particular the diversity of gifts

In verse 7 we read, ‘But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.’

  • Then, to support his point Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18, where it talks about the Lord returning victorious from battle and ascending on high to share the spoils of victory with His people

Paul connects Jesus’ descent to earth (i.e. his incarnation) and his ascension to heaven, with his authority and power to distribute gifts to his people

  • Because Jesus has descended to earth he knows what we need
  • And because he has ascended higher than all the heavens no one can usurp his power

 

In verse 11 Paul lists four or five gifts which are needed for building up the body of Christ: apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor/teacher

An apostle is someone who is sent with a certain delegated authority – like an ambassador

  • In one sense all Christians are apostles; we are all ambassadors for Christ
  • But that’s not what Paul means here. In the first century the term apostle referred to those leaders in the church who had witnessed the risen Jesus
  • People like Peter, James, John and Paul
  • By that definition we don’t have apostles today because Jesus has ascended to heaven and isn’t walking around appearing to people
  • But although we don’t have apostles in the sense that Paul meant, we do have specially gifted leaders who God works through for his purpose
  • So the term apostle has evolved to mean someone who initiates and leads a movement of God
  • In that sense, people like William Wilberforce and John Wesley were apostles; although they hadn’t seen the risen Christ, the Spirit did work through them to lead significant movements of reform in society
  • Returning to our Star Trek analogy, Captain Kirk is like an apostle of Star Fleet (but not of the church)

 

A prophet is someone who tells people what is on God’s mind

  • Their message may be related to the future but more often is about what is happening in the present
  • In the Bible a prophet got a direct revelation from God and communicated what they heard – they were God’s mouth piece

A prophet, in the modern sense, is not exactly the same as a prophet in the ancient Biblical sense

  • These days a prophet is someone with the gift of insight into the Scriptures and / or our contemporary society
  • So a modern prophet doesn’t add anything new to the Bible but they may reveal the meaning of the ancient text in fresh ways that are relevant for our time
  • I believe Martin Luther was a prophet; he interpreted the New Testament in a way that brought much needed correction to the church of his time

Or, to use the Star Trek analogy, if Captain Kirk is like an apostle leading and inspiring the crew, then Spock is like a prophet, giving insightful honest advice and challenging Kirk at times

Of course, God can speak through anyone at any time, so any of us could potentially be a prophet

  • However, not everyone who thinks they are a prophet actually is
  • As a teenager I remember there was someone in the congregation of the church I attended who would quite often stand up in a Sunday worship service and give a pronouncement, prefaced with the words, ‘Thus saith the Lord’. He believed he was a prophet
  • Sometimes the minister would challenge what he said by saying to the congregation, ‘I don’t believe that was God speaking to us’.
  • Often the most effective prophets are those who don’t realise they are passing on a message from God

We have two measures for discerning whether a prophet is from God or not: The Bible and that person’s character

  • If what the person is saying doesn’t fit with Scripture, then it can’t be trusted (they’re not from God)
  • Likewise, if the person giving the message behaves in an ungodly way then they are not the real deal
  • As Jesus said, by their fruit you will know them.

 

What about the evangelist?

  • An evangelist is someone who shares the good news of salvation in Christ using their words
  • Again, we all have a responsibility to share our faith with others; we must all be ready to do the work of an evangelist and give account for our hope
  • But there are some people who are just more naturally suited to it
  • Evangelists are sort of like Uhura, they are the church’s communications specialists

Sadly, the term evangelist has fallen into disrepute in recent decades

  • People often associate evangelism with TV personalities who scam vulnerable people out of money; that is not what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4
  • We need to redeem the word and recover a proper understanding of what an evangelist does

An evangelist is a communicator of good news

  • They are able to listen to you and understand your needs
  • They can explain the gospel of Jesus in a way that is relevant and makes sense to people unfamiliar with the Bible, because they understand the cultural context in which they are living
  • They have the ability to gain your trust and give you the confidence to make a commitment to Christ
  • But their trustworthiness doesn’t come by deception or using some special trick or technique – their trustworthiness comes from the way they embody the message of the gospel in their lives
  • An evangelist genuinely believes the message they are sharing and they are living in the hope and joy that they profess
  • A true Christian evangelist doesn’t do anything from selfish ambition or vain conceit – a true evangelist operates with pure motives and that fosters trust
  • Evangelists understand God to be generous and they want to invite as many people to God’s party as they can
  • As I’ve often said before, an evangelist is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread
  • We desperately need good Christian evangelists today

 

The expression, pastors and teachers may be two names for the same ministry

  • The minister of a church is traditionally both a pastor and a teacher
  • The word pastor comes from the Latin word for shepherd
  • A shepherd guides and protects and feeds the sheep of their flock
  • Teaching people the ways of God is at the heart of shepherding people
  • Biblical preaching guides, protects and feeds people’s souls

Thinking of our Star Trek crew again, the pastor / teacher role is embodied by a number of characters, particularly Chekhov, the chief security officer, whose job it is to protect people, and Bones, the ship’s doctor

 

Some of you may be wondering, ‘But what about Scotty, the chief engineer? Where does he fit in?’

  • Well, the four or five gifts named in Ephesians 4 are not an exhaustive list of the spiritual gifts Christ gives; there are other gift lists in the New Testament as well and each list is different
  • Perhaps Scotty’s gift is practical helps
  • There is no limit to the diversity of gifts that the Spirit gives
  • A spiritual gift is simply the way the Holy Spirit works through a person for the well-being of others
  • Last Sunday we talked about the church’s mission: To glorify God and be a blessing to His world
  • Our gift is the specific way we bless others

This is not to assume that any of the gifts is a lifelong possession

  • We are just the conduit, or the vessel, for the gift
  • When I was a boy I would go with my grandparents to their bach up north
  • Their bach was located in a fairly remote area so we collected rain water off the roof into tanks
  • I remember my grandfather had this long pole he would lower into the tanks to measure how much water we had
  • We were taught to be careful not to leave taps on unnecessarily – water is a precious resource and needs to be thoughtfully used

If the gifts Jesus gives are like rain water, then we are the tanks

  • We might hold the gift for a while – but really it’s not ours to keep
  • The water of Christ’s gifts is just passing through us to bless and refresh and strengthen others
  • While there is no limit to God’s resources we still need to be thoughtful in how we use the gifts God has given us and not waste them down the drain

 

Maturity:

Okay, so there is one body with a diversity of gifts and the purpose of those gifts is to …equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

These verses tell us a number of things

  • Firstly, that church is not a spectator sport; everyone has a part to play
  • Church isn’t like a bus with one person up the front doing all the driving while everyone else sleeps in the passenger seats behind [1]
  • Church is more like the crew on a yacht; it requires everyone to man their station, pitch in and pull their weight
  • Are you a passenger or crew?

 

We share our gifts to build others up

  • The goal is maturity and maturity is understood as all of us reaching unity in the faith and knowledge of Christ

 

I have here a bucket

  • Hold up a bucket with sections cut out at different levels
  • Bucket illustration - 11 Aug 2019
  • This bucket is yet to reach unity (or maturity)
  • You can see different sections of the side are at different heights, which means I can only fill this bucket to the level of the lowest section
  • As it is this bucket can’t attain the whole measure of its fullness
  • If you can imagine this is an organic growing bucket, then each of the sides needs grow to the same height so the bucket can be whole and reach its full potential – like this [hold up a bucket that hasn’t been cut]
  • Everyone needs to exercise their gifts for the bucket of the church to reach maturity and be able to hold the full measure of Christ

I guess one question for us to ask ourselves, as a congregation, is what gifts are we missing or not exercising? [Hold up the bucket with the gaps in it]

  • In what areas does this church need to grow to reach maturity and unity?
  • It’s not just a question of us exercising our own gifts – reaching maturity also requires us to encourage those around us to exercise their gifts, because it is in the process of exercising our gifts that our faith and knowledge of Jesus grows and develops

 

When I was 10 I joined Cubs. (Cubs is like Boy Scouts for younger kids)

  • One evening we went to Te Rapa pools in Hamilton to earn our swimming badges
  • There were three levels of swimming badges: gold, silver and bronze
  • Gold being the highest level and bronze the lowest
  • Naturally we all wanted to gain our gold badge
  • They put us into groups of about four boys each and you weren’t allowed to progress up a level until everyone in your group had attained the required standard
  • There was one boy in our group who wasn’t as physically capable as the rest of us and, even though he tried really hard, he wasn’t able to get past silver, which meant everyone in our group was held back with him, even though the rest of us had done what we needed to attain gold
  • It’s a bit like that with church as well – we stick together, no one gets left behind; we reach maturity together, as one. Maturity is unity

As a 10 year old boy I was pretty disappointed to miss out on gaining my gold swimming badge

  • Looking back now though, I am grateful for the experience
  • Our Cub leaders were teaching us to think about others in our team
  • We don’t come to know Christ by individual achievement
  • We come to know Christ through a caring commitment to one another – by using our gifts to serve each other and build each other up

We know our faith and knowledge of Christ is mature when we are no longer unsettled or deceived by false teaching

  • A mature faith is able to listen, and discern truth from error
  • A mature faith is a knowing faith; it isn’t rattled by clever rhetoric
  • A mature faith is not a blind faith; it is faith born of experience with God
  • The kind of knowledge that is in view here isn’t just an intellectual head knowledge (as important as that is) – it’s the intimacy that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus

 

In verse 15 Paul continues his theme of maturity when he writes…

  • Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

For many years I read this verse in English and thought that speaking the truth in love meant having the maturity to handle difficult conversations with people

  • You know, speaking those truths that hard for people to hear in such a way that leaves the relationship intact
  • And while it can mean that, it actually means so much more
  • You see, in the original Greek text the verb speaking is not there

What it actually says in the original text is…

  • Instead, truthing in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

In the Greek then, the word truth here is a verb, a doing word

  • English doesn’t have a verb for truth; in English truth is a noun
  • So the translators had to find a verb to put in because ‘truthing’ isn’t a word in English
  • While you can say, ‘speaking the truth in love’ it would be more accurate to phrase this verse as living the truth in love. or, doing the truth in love [2]
  • The idea is one of integrity – that is, integrating the truth of the gospel with all of our life; not just our speech but our thinking and our deeds too
  • Truth and love go together – we can’t separate them

Take evangelism for example – you might be able to explain the gospel in ways that are really creative and clear so people can understand in their head what you’re saying, but if they don’t feel like the church loves them or cares about them, then they won’t believe you.

  • Without love, the truth of the message just won’t hit home, it won’t stick.

True story: During the week I met with a man whose wife used to attend Tawa Baptist back in the late 1960’s and early 70’s (during Jack McFadyen and Barrie Hibbert’s time)

  • She first came as a child to the Sunday school here. Her parents didn’t attend church but were happy to send her along
  • This girl didn’t have a wonderfully stable home life; I was told her parents had their challenges
  • But there was something about the people here that made her feel welcome and safe – she found sanctuary in this place
  • When she out grew Sunday school this girl started attending youth group
  • Around that time the church put on a musical production called Saul Talk and they found a place for her in that production
  • As someone whose parents didn’t attend it would have been easy for her to be overlooked but certain individuals in this church went out of their way to make sure she was included – they made room for her
  • That young woman came to faith in this church and, although she left the area for work, she has carried on in Christian faith and service all her life
  • She would be in her early 60’s now

The man who told me this story said he was thankful for Tawa Baptist because this church cared for his wife (before they were married)

  • He then went on to name a number of people who in very practical ways went the extra mile to look after her, by helping her shift flats and that sort of thing
  • I tell you that story because it’s a good example of what truthing in love means – this church has a heritage of living the truth in love
  • To those of you who were here at that time I want to say, thank you
  • As a consequence of your love this young woman believed the truth of the gospel and grew to maturity in her faith and knowledge of Christ
  • Truth and love go together

From him [that is, Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The point here is that truthing in love is meant to be done in community with other believers

  • If we try to do it on our own, we’re not going to get very far, we’ll run out of steam
  • Caring for people, like that young woman, is a team effort – every supporting ligament is involved
  • What do ligaments do?
  • They hold us together on the inside – they connect bones and muscle and allow movement
  • A ligament is not seen. Maybe you aren’t an upfront person. Maybe you don’t serve in ways that people can see. Perhaps you are a ligament connecting other people to the church and to Christ
  • You are important – we need you

Conclusion:

What is your gift?

  • What has Christ equipped you to do to strengthen his body?
  • Where can you serve?
  • We have a wonderful heritage in this church
  • We need to keep on ‘living the truth in love’
  • Are you a passenger or crew?

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?
  • Why do you think this stood out to you?

2. What do we mean by unity with diversity?

  • Can you think of examples of unity with diversity functioning in the body of Christ?

3. Discuss / reflect on the gifts that Paul lists in Ephesians 4:11

  • What does each one mean?
  • How does the first century understanding of these gifts differ from a 21st Century understanding?

4. What other gifts does the Spirit of Jesus give?

  • What is your particular gift?
  • Are you able to exercise this gift? (When/how?)

5. What gifts is your church strong in?

  • What gifts are missing or need of building up?

6. What is Christian maturity? What does it look like?

7. What does it mean to ‘live the truth in love’?

  • Can you think of a story from your own experience of ‘truthing in love’?
  • Find someone you trust to share your story with

8. Are you a passenger or crew?

 

[1] The bus illustration comes from John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians

[2] Refer John Stott and Klyne Snodgrass

Tawa Baptist

Mirrors & Reflections

Scriptures: Genesis 1:26-27; John 1:14-18; John 15:8 & 2 Corinthians 4:6-15

Title: Mirrors and reflections

Key Idea: Our mission is to glorify God and be a blessing to His world

Later this morning, during the AGM, we plan to quiz you on the content of the Annual Report – I’ve got a warm-up question for you now

  • What did I see as I walked the streets of Tawa early in June this year?
  • [Wait] That’s right. A kowhai tree

Kowhai 1

And what was significant about this tree?

  • It was in full flower at the beginning winter; 3 months earlier than usual

The tree, which was on Lincoln Ave, was full of Tui (I counted at least seven) all feeding off the nectar of the flowers

  • I stood and watched the Tui in the kowhai tree for nearly 10 minutes
  • It was a beautiful sight, a glorious sight, and I found myself quietly praising God under my breath
  • The kowhai tree was a blessing to the Tui and a blessing to me

This morning, because it’s AGM Sunday, we are taking a break from our sermon series in Ephesians to focus on our church’s mission

For many years now we have expressed the church’s mission with the words:

  • To glorify God and be a blessing to His world
  • I don’t talk about this very much and probably should put it before you more often than I have – but there it is

 

To glorify God, means to show others what God is like

  • To reflect His good character
  • To praise His name and give God the credit or the honour

To be a blessing, means to communicate through word and deed something of God’s love and truth and presence to others

  • To do something that enhances someone’s else’s well-being

‘Glorifying God’ and ‘being a blessing’ are two sides of the same coin

  • When we glorify God by showing others God’s grace and truth, His justice and mercy, the world is blessed

This statement also reminds us that our mission is to God’s world

  • The church does not exist only for itself
  • We are here both for those within the church and those outside of it
  • So it’s not all about us
  • Our purpose, our ‘why’, our reason for being is God and the world

 

Some of you may be wondering, where did this mission statement come from?

  • Well, it comes from the Bible and from Christian tradition
  • The shorter Westminster catechism sounds similar a note where it says: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
  • The people who penned that were drawing from the meta narrative (the big story) of the Bible when they wrote

Right throughout the Bible we read about God’s glory and the role of God’s people in mediating His blessing

Ask for a volunteer

  • All you need to do is stand at the front here with your back to the audience. You don’t need to say anything and you can’t turn around

Position myself with a mirror facing the volunteer so the congregation can see the face of the volunteer reflected in the mirror.

Put up your hand if you can see [volunteer’s] face reflected in the mirror

  • What if I do this with the mirror – can you see now?
  • Try the mirror in a variety of positions and get the congregation’s feedback
  • What if the mirror was all dirty? You wouldn’t be able to see as clearly

Okay, thanks, you can sit down now

At the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis chapter 1, we read… 

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness… So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them.

Our purpose as human beings is to glorify God

  • To glorify God means to show others what God is like
  • God created us to be like mirrors – to reflect His image to all of creation,
  • Sort of like the mirror reflected [volunteer’s] image so you could see her face
  • In practical terms this means that God wants us to shows others what His kindness and love and forgiveness and truth and care is like

Unfortunately, the mirror of our lives gets a bit dirty sometimes or it’s pointing in the wrong direction so we don’t reflect God’s image very well

  • When that happens we need to clean the mirror and reposition it

There are many stories in the Bible of how God has elected certain people to glorify Himself and be a blessing to His world

  • For example, the Lord said to Abraham, “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you,”
  • God’s plan was for Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel, to show the other nations of the world what God is like and, in so doing, enhance their well-being
  • God gave Israel His law (the 10 commandments and so forth) to reveal His goodness and justice
  • Sometimes Israel managed to glorify God and be a blessing, and other times they failed miserably
  • Eventually, when the time was right, God sent His Son, Jesus, to show us how it is done. From the gospel of John chapter 1 we read about Jesus…

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth… From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

In other words, Jesus glorifies God

  • Jesus shows us, better than anyone or anything else, what God is like
  • Jesus fulfils the purpose of humanity in being the perfect image of God
  • And therefore we need to look to Jesus to see what God is like and to see how to be human

As well as a mission statement our church also has a vision statement

  • A vision is a picture of what we are aiming for
  • If our mission statement is about purpose, then our vision statement is about hope
  • Why are we here? To glorify God and be a blessing to His world
  • What does that look like? It looks like Jesus; or as we phrase it, Christ in community.
  • We don’t have time this morning to explore what we mean by Christ in community, suffice to say that Jesus shows us how to glorify God and be a blessing to the world

 

Now it is important to understand that there is nothing we can do to add to God’s glory – His glory is perfect or complete already

  • God doesn’t need us to fill up the tank of His ego
  • Or to make Him look good – he already looks good
  • We can’t improve on His perfection

 

  • We are the mirror – the mirror doesn’t add anything to the image, it simply reflects what is already there

So when we talk about glorifying God we really mean reflecting or revealing the goodness of God that has always been there since before creation

In the same vein of thought, there is nothing we can do to create or manufacture blessing

  • In blessing others, we are simply passing on the blessings we ourselves have received from God – we are paying it forward

Lift up a plate covered with a tea-towel

  • I have here a plate with a number of items on it
  • You can’t see what is on this plate because it is covered with a tea towel
  • Would anyone like to guess what is on this plate? [Wait]
  • Okay, they were interesting guesses.
  • Let’s see what actually is on the plate [remove the tea towel]
  • It’s a fruit platter: we’ve got an apple, a banana, a mandarin, a lemon and a kiwifruit

Glorifying God is like removing the tea towel to reveal what God is like underneath; removing the tea towel doesn’t add anything to the plate it just shows people what’s there

  • God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and quick to forgive and a whole lot of other really wholesome things besides

Now, imagine you’ve never tasted any of these kinds of fruit before

  • I could try to explain to you what the fruit tastes like, by saying its yummy, or its sweet or its juicy, but you wouldn’t really understand, not until you tasted the fruit for yourself
  • People taste what God is like when they experience Jesus through us
  • Our lives are like the plate that holds or displays the fruit of God’s goodness

In John 15, Jesus says to his disciples…

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit…

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing…

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

The kind of fruit I believe Jesus had in mind here includes things like: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

  • When people see and taste that kind of fruit in our lives they are blessed and God is glorified; much like the Tui feeding off the nectar of the kowhai tree

When we are able to tell others about the good things God has done in our lives, naturally and without embarrassment, we glorify God

  • There is so much hope and meaning in the Christian faith; when we are able to find wise and creative ways to communicate that hope and meaning, we glorify God
  • When we have the humility to admit we were wrong and the courage to put things right, we glorify God
  • When we have the grace to forgive those who have hurt us, we glorify God
  • When we have the faithfulness to keep our commitments, even though it is not convenient to us, we glorify God
  • When we have the patience to handle someone else’s anger with gentleness, we glorify God
  • When we have the faith to be generous and not worry too much about tomorrow, we glorify God
  • To be able to bear this sort of fruit we need to stay close to Jesus

 

One of the things you may notice about our mission is that it’s quite broad and inclusive – a lot of different things could fit under the framework of glorifying God and being a blessing. That’s intentional.

  • The glory of God is broad and the richness of His blessing is wide
  • God is glorified in many different ways

A child glorifies God by their innocence, their uncomplicated trust, their delight and their wonder

  • Young people bless us with their energy, their fresh ideas and their belief that, together, we can make a positive difference in this world
  • Those of us in mid-life tend to bless others by providing support and scaffolding for young and old alike
  • And those who are older glorify God by keeping the faith – they bless us with the wisdom and perspective that comes with experience
  • Older people often don’t realise how valuable their presence, their prayers, their support and their encouragement are to the rest of us

I’m speaking in generalisations of course and don’t mean to draw too sharp a distinction between the generations

  • Older people can still glorify God through their delight and wonder
  • And those in mid-life can still bring fresh ideas
  • Just as our young people can bless us with their service
  • The point is, everyone has a something to offer – God is able to use us all to glorify Himself and be a blessing to His world

 

Sometimes we may think we that we can only glorify God and be a blessing from a position of strength, but this is not true

    • God often uses our weakness and suffering to glorify Himself
  • As we heard Jesus say in John 15, God prunes every branch that bears fruit to make it bear more fruit…

 

  • Pruning hurts – it is not usually pleasant
  • Suffering and glory go hand in hand

In John 11, Mary and Martha sent a message to Jesus to say that their brother Lazarus was ill, and Jesus responded by saying…

  • ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory’

 

    • By the time Jesus arrived in the town of Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days, and the sisters were in pain, grieving
    • Nevertheless, Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone’
    • When Martha protested that there would be a stench Jesus said to her,
  • ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God’

 

  • So they took the stone away and Jesus called Lazarus back from the dead

The miracle Jesus performed in raising Lazarus was a sign pointing to Jesus’ own glorification – his death and resurrection

  • It seems in this life we can’t glorify God without suffering

In 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 Paul connects our weakness & troubles with God’s glory, when he writes…

For God…made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

  • In other words, Jesus shows us what God is like and God helps us to understand this in our inner being. Paul continues…

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

  • ‘Jars of clay’ is a reference to our earthly bodies
  • A jar of clay is something humble and fragile; as opposed to a gold cup
  • God is glorified, His power it seen more clearly, in our weakness

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

  • Which is another way of saying, Jesus is glorified through our suffering and troubles

…we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

  • In other words, Jesus is our vision (our hope)
  • Jesus’ experience provides the picture or the pattern for us to follow
  • And the pattern is suffering, death and then resurrection to eternal life

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

  • The glory of God is a weighty thing, a meaningful thing, an enduring thing, a thing of substance
  • When we share in the sufferings of Christ, God shares His glory with us
  • Suffering in this life is the price we pay for glory, but really it’s a small price to pay in the light of eternity

I know that many of you face difficulties and challenges – perhaps with your health or with your family or in some other way

  • You may not always feel like you are glorifying God or being a blessing but it does not depend on you – not entirely
  • It is something God does when we remain in Christ
  • God is the great artist painting a masterpiece with our lives – he uses all the colours of our character and circumstances to display His glory
  • One of the joys of heaven will be seeing what God has done with our lives to reveal Himself and to bless others

 

There is a lot more we could say about all of this but that’s enough for now.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?
  • Why do you think this stood out to you?

2. What does it mean to glorify God?

3. What does it mean to be a blessing to God’s world?

4. How do we know what God is like?

5. In John 15 Jesus talks about himself as the vine and us as the branches. He then says God is glorified by the fruit we bear and by us becoming his disciples.

  • What is the fruit Jesus is talking about? (Give practical examples)
  • Abiding in Christ is the key to being fruitful. How do we abide in Christ?

6. Can you think of someone who glorifies God through their weakness or suffering?

7. What is your purpose (mission) in life?

  • How does this fit with God’s purpose/mission?