Tawa Baptist

Mutually Exclusive

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Video Link: https://youtu.be/FPXWfWBaKQo

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Blood Connections
  • Bread Connections
  • Unseen Connections
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Some things cannot happen at the same time. For example, if you flip a coin, you will get either heads or tails. You can’t get both heads and tails simultaneously.

Likewise, if you take one card from a standard playing deck, then you cannot draw both an ace of diamonds and a two of spades at once. That’s not how cards work.

Or if you are invited to a party then you either attend or you don’t attend. You cannot attend and not attend at the same time. Just as you cannot have your cake and eat it too.

The technical word for this is ‘mutually exclusive’. Mutually exclusive events cannot take place at the same time. Basically, the occurrence of one event means the other event cannot happen.

Today we continue our series in First Corinthians chapters 8-10, where Paul writes about Christian freedom. When it comes to Christian freedom, there are some things which are mutually exclusive. For example, you cannot be a follower of Jesus and be involved with pagan worship at the same time.

Now, in using a term like mutually exclusive, I don’t mean to imply that the Christian faith is closed off from the world or insular. At its heart Christian faith is outward looking. Jesus and Paul were missionaries. They were seeking people they could include.

At the same time, they were not willing to include everything. They held onto their belief in the oneness and goodness of God. They did not sacrifice what they knew to be true.

There is a tension with Christian freedom. On the one hand, we are free to reach out to others with the love of Jesus. But on the other hand, we don’t have a license to compromise our belief or loyalty to Christ. We need to be mindful of this tension as we listen this morning.

From First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 14 we read…

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. 18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

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

As we heard last week, some of the Corinthian believers were walking on thin ice by eating the meat of idols in pagan temples. In today’s reading Paul says quite plainly, you cannot do this. Taking holy communion and joining in pagan worship are mutually exclusive. You cannot do both.

Just beneath the surface of these verses is the idea of spiritual connection or partnership. In particular Paul highlights two things that connect people to God and to one another: blood and bread. Let’s begin with the blood connection.

Blood Connections:

Many of you knew the late Bruce Murray. Bruce played cricket for New Zealand during the 1960’s. He toured India and Pakistan with the Black Caps. Bruce told me of an incident that happened during the third test against India in Hyderabad in October 1969.

The Indian crowd had greatly enjoyed watching two of their batsmen play. When these two men (Venkat and Bedi) were leaving the cricket pitch some of the spectators were so excited they jumped the fence and ran on to the field to congratulate Venkat and Bedi.

Now a cricket pitch is a mutually exclusive place. You cannot have players and spectators on the field at the same time. A good number of auxiliary police (armed with long sticks) saw what was happening and intervened to protect the two Indian batsmen from over-zealous fans.

A young boy slipped past the police. One policeman threw his stick at the boy and missed. When the boy bent down to pick up the stick, another policeman hit him over the head.

The boy put his handkerchief to the wound and saw he was bleeding. When he held the bloodied cloth up to the crowd, the people rioted. The sight of blood created an instant connection. The police had done this to one of their own.

The crowd broke down a wire gate, set the score board on fire and ripped hundreds of chairs out of the grandstands, throwing them on the field.

Players were told to stay in their rooms that night. Bruce recalled the uneasy feeling among his teammates.

There’s something about blood that connects us in a deep and visceral way. Blood ties speak of family connections of course, but it’s more than that.

Blood is life to the body. Blood is pumped through the heart, sustaining every limb and digit. If blood flow is cut off, then the limb dies.

In ancient worship rituals, blood was shed in sacrifice to atone for sin, to make people right (or at one) with God. A life for a life.

In verse 16 Paul writes, is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the bloodof Christ?   

Paul is referring to the Christian ritual of communion here, also known as Mass or the Eucharist or the Lord’s supper. Communion was first instituted by Jesus.

On the night before his crucifixion and death, Jesus was celebrating the Jewish Passover meal with his disciples in the upper room. During the meal, Jesus gave the cup of wine new meaning. For Christians the cup signifies God’s new covenant, sealed with the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin. 

Jesus’ blood, poured out on the cross, atones for the sin of the world. Through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice we are made right with God.

Paul is saying that when we share the cup at communion, we are participating in the blood of Christ. That word translated as participating comes from the Greek word koinonia. Koinonia and its related cognates appear six times in today’s passage. So koinonia is key to understanding Paul’s thought.

The meaning of koinonia is difficult to translate directly into English. It can mean participation or partnership or fellowship or communion depending on the context. In the New Testament, koinonia speaks of a special bond or deep connection between the people of God.

Koinonia is not a light or superficial connection. Men who have participated in combat together, sharing blood, sweat and tears, have a koinonia connection.

Indeed, people who have survived a long ordeal together are bound by koinonia. They share an intimate and unspoken understanding that can only be gained through a common (and often painful) experience.     

What then does it mean to participate in the blood of Christ? Well, there is a certain mystery here that cannot be penetrated by mere words. But you need some explanation, no matter how inadequate, so here goes…  

In one sense, participating in the blood of Christ, means sharing in the benefits of forgiveness and atonement through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross.

Paul’s argument is this: You cannot be clean and dirty at the same time.

Those two things are mutually exclusive. It’s similar with the blood of Christ.

You cannot participate in the atonement of Christ and participate in pagan rituals at the same time. The cleansing blood of Christ and the defiling blood of pagan sacrifice are mutually exclusive. 

Going a little deeper, participating in the blood of Christ, could also mean sharing in the sufferings of Jesus. We probably won’t be crucified like Jesus was (thankfully), but we may suffer smaller injustices and humiliations because of our connection with Jesus.

You know those times when (through no fault of your own) you feel powerless and vulnerable; they are opportunities for creating koinonia (or communion) with Jesus. Our Lord set aside his power, making himself vulnerable for us, even unto death on a cross. 

Although unpleasant, these smaller sufferings enable us to know Jesus more intimately. There is a surprising joy in sharing Jesus’ suffering. Joy and suffering are not mutually exclusive.

We are talking about the things that connect us. The blood of Christ connects us, as does the bread of Christ. 

Bread Connections:

The English word ‘companion’ literally means to ‘share bread with’.

A companion therefore is someone you eat with. There’s something about sharing a meal that connects people and makes them our companions.

When people eat together, they talk and as they talk, they get to know each other; barriers come down and trust forms. Food has a way too of lingering in our memory. A shared meal creates a feeling of belonging and connection.

Food is a conduit for love. When you cook something special for someone, it is an act of love. And when you eat that meal, you receive that person’s love.

There has been a lot of love put into the shared lunch today.

In verses 16 and 17 Paul talks about the bread of the communion meal saying…

And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. Again, that word participation comes from the Greek koinonia.

Later, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul will go on to talk about the church being the body of Christ. Paul’s emphasis in this verse is on unity. Sharing the bread of communion is an act of koinonia with the people of God.

Just as bread nourishes body and soul, so too participating in church life nourishes our relationships together. Koinonia with others who share our faith banishes loneliness, creates trust and fosters a sense of identity and belonging.

In verse 18 Paul draws an analogy saying: Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 

The Old Testament background here is that people would bring their food to the priest to be offered in sacrifice to God. Some of the food sacrificed was given to the priest and the rest was returned to the worshippers who shared a meal together. This sacred meal was a participation in the altar.

There’s that word again; participation, koinonia.

One of the things on Israel’s altar was the shew bread, 12 loaves symbolising God’s holy presence. The imagery is clear; God is the one who provides for all the people’s needs. God is the host of the sacred meal in other words. And, as host, God is present at the meal.   

Our communion bread (symbolising the body of Christ) is sometimes referred to as the host. Christ is the host of the communion table. Jesus is God’s provision for our needs. When we share communion, Jesus is present, by his Spirit. We cannot see Jesus, but we know by faith that Christ is in the room.

The koinonia of the communion table takes us into the realm of mystery, what someone once called ‘the cloud of unknowing’. Some people are comfortable with mystery. Others not so much.

If you like a rational explanation for everything, if you want all your questions answered, then mystery can make you feel uneasy, vulnerable even. The realm of mystery requires us to exercise faith, to trust ourselves to the unseen presence of God.

We’ve talked about the connections created by blood and bread. Now let’s consider those unseen connections in the spiritual realm.

Unseen Connections:

One of the difficulties with spiritual things is that we cannot see them. Spiritual reality may be felt or sensed, but it is seldom seen. In truth, there is an unseen reality to our lives.

There are many things in the physical / material world which we cannot see and yet we know are real because of the effects they have on our lives.

Gravity is perhaps the most obvious invisible force. The gravitational pull of the moon causes the oceans tidal movement. Gravity also keeps our feet on the ground and can inflict some pain if we get on the wrong side of it.

Atmospheric pressure is another invisible force at work in our world. High pressure usually means sunshine and low pressure often means bad weather.

We cannot see the movement of tectonic plates below the earth’s surface, but we know about it when the plates do move.

Love is another unseen power which affects us, not unlike gravity or tectonic plates. Love is not a substance. You cannot put love under a microscope and analyse it like bacteria or dissect it like a frog. But love still makes itself known, holding sway over our thoughts and feelings, like the moon holds sway over the ocean.

The greatest unseen power, of course, is God himself. God is Spirit so we cannot see him, but we can see where he has been. The whole earth and everything in it, is his masterpiece, both beautiful and functional at the same time. 

In verses 19 and 20 Paul talks about the malevolent unseen forces behind idols.

19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 

The idols which littered ancient Corinth were just lumps of wood and stone. They were dead, impotent, with no power at all in themselves.

However, behind the idols and pagan temples were demons; evil spiritual beings, aligned with the devil. While we cannot see demons physically, we can see their detrimental effect in this world. Things like greed, exploitation, fear, racism, sexual abuse, poverty, violence and so on. 

The really twisted thing about pagan idolatry is that those who worship idols think they are doing something righteous or good. They are often very devout and sincere people who are not aware of the unseen reality. The evil one presents himself as an angel of light. 

I’m not saying these things to make you afraid. If you remain in Christ, then you have nothing to fear.

Having unveiled the truth about idol worship, that it really is the worship of demons, Paul then states the obvious, in verse 21…

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.

In other words, you cannot partake of holy communion and indulge in the dinner parties held in pagan temples. These two things are mutually exclusive. You cannot serve Jesus and the devil at the same time. You cannot be in partnership with unseen evil forces and remain in Christ. 

To do so would be to court disaster. For one thing it would arouse the Lord’s jealousy. Jealousy is not the same as envy. Envy is bad. Envy is when you want something that doesn’t belong to you. Envy ultimately destroys.

Jealousy is different from envy. Jealousy is the righteous indignation you feel when someone threatens what is rightfully yours to care for. Jealousy ultimately protects. A jealous father protects his children, just like a good shepherd protects his sheep.   

You may wonder what relevance Paul’s advice has in our world today.

Well, for those who live in countries where people offer food and incense to idols in temples, the connection is clear. If you want to follow Jesus, you cannot go to those temples and participate in worship.

Idolatry is usually more subtle in New Zealand though. While we do have an attachment to certain objects (like our cell phones), I don’t expect anyone here bows down in worship to those objects.

We are more inclined to internalise our idols. For example, we may at times give a greater place to work and wealth than we do to Jesus. Or we might prioritise entertainment and our own comfort over obedience to Christ. Freedom itself can become an idol.  

The problem with internalising our idols is that we cannot see them, which means we are less aware of our own idolatry. We risk becoming like the devout pagans who are unaware of their spiritual reality.

Another danger for us in New Zealand is syncretism. Dipping into more than one religion at the same time. Maybe practicing aspects of Christianity alongside some other belief system. That won’t work.

Just like it doesn’t work to use a Ouija board on Saturday night and then take communion on Sunday morning. Mutually exclusive.

Mixing religions and dabbling in the occult are obvious things to avoid. What about those things that are less black and white, more grey? 

When in doubt, let peace be your guide. If you are uncomfortable, if it feels like something is off but you can’t quite put your finger on it, listen to your instinct. The Spirit of God often nudges our instinct. If someone invites you to an event or activity and you don’t have peace within yourself about it, don’t go there.  

Conclusion:

At the beginning of our message today I talked about the tension that exists with Christian freedom. While we don’t have a license to compromise our belief about God or our loyalty to Christ, we are free to reach out to others with the love of Jesus.

And that’s where our focus should be. Looking for common ground. Looking for those points of connection that allow us to be mutually inclusive so that others might experience koinonia with Christ.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, forgive us our idolatries. Help us to walk in freedom and righteousness we pray. Amen.

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. Why does Paul warn the Corinthians against mixing pagan worship with taking communion?
  3. What connects you to Jesus? What connects you to other believers?
  4. Have you ever experienced koinonia? What happened? Why is koinonia important? What are the benefits of koinonia?
  5. What does it mean to participate in the blood of Christ?
  6. What does the ritual of holy communion mean to you? In what sense is Christ present when we share communion?
  7. What relevance does Paul’s advice, in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, have for us today? What idols are you most vulnerable to?
  8. How might we decide whether something is compatible with Christ or not?     
Tawa Baptist

Thin Ice

Scripture: 1st Corinthians 10:1-13

Video Link: https://youtu.be/G0sJ4VhYD2Q

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The danger of privilege (1-5)
  • The danger of presumption (6-11)
  • The deliverance of God (12-13)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

The expression, “You’re on thin ice”, is a warning that you are in danger. You are venturing into an area that is life threatening or detrimental to your wellbeing.

The literal meaning of being on thin ice is skating or walking on a frozen lake where the ice could give away under your weight at any moment, probably resulting in a painful death.

Figuratively, a teacher might say to a student who is always late or rude, “You’re on thin ice Mr”. Or your mum might say it when you are testing the limits of her patience. Or you might be on thin ice with your landlord if you miss a rent payment.

Other expressions which mean the same thing as being on thin ice include…

“You’re playing with fire”, or “You’re on shaky ground”, or “You’re dancing with the devil”.

The thing about thin ice is that you know you should get off it as quickly as possible, but there’s something in you (is it curiosity?) that just wants to test how far you can go. Either that, or you are completely unaware of where you are standing.        

Today, after Ascension Sunday, Pentecost Sunday and Trinity Sunday, we return to our series on First Corinthians chapters 8 to 10, where Paul writes about Christian freedom.

Freedom needs to be tempered with self-control. Too much freedom is a dangerous thing. Indeed, unbridled freedom will put you on thin ice. From First Corinthians 10, verses 1-13, we read…      

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptationhas overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be temptedbeyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

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

To refresh your memory, First Corinthians is one of the letters the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, during the first century. The believers in Corinth had sent their own letter to Paul with some questions and concerns. Paul wrote back to gently pull them out of the rabbit holes they were going down. 

Some of the believers in the Corinthian church were over-confident in their new found freedom in Christ. They felt at liberty to join in the feasts held in the pagan temples that peppered the city they lived in.

But Paul tells them, no. This is not a right use of your freedom as followers of Jesus. Eating meat in places of pagan worship puts you on thin ice with God. 

Three handles to give us a grip on this morning’s reading from Corinthians 10. First, Paul warns against the danger of privilege and the danger of presumption. Then he reminds us of the deliverance of God.

The privileges we enjoy as followers of Jesus do not make us immune from evil. Nor should we presume upon the grace of God, seeing how far we can push it. The Lord won’t tolerate sin indefinitely.

It’s not all danger and thin ice though. The Lord is faithful; we can rely on him to provide a way out of temptation, so long as we are not looking for a way into temptation. Our first point though is the danger of privilege…

The danger of privilege:

In Roald Dahl’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, five children win a golden ticket to meet Willy Wonka and see inside his factory. It is a real privilege to see the secrets of Mr Wonka’s chocolate making.

But this privilege is not without its dangers. Winning a golden ticket comes with all sorts of temptations. One by one, each of the children acted against Willy Wonka’s instructions and disqualified themselves for the prize.

Holding a golden ticket got the children into the chocolate factory, but it did not give them a right to do whatever they wanted once inside. Far from giving them license, the privilege of holding a golden ticket actually required the children to act responsibly and with self-control.

Special privileges can deceive us. They can lull us into a false sense of security and make us over-confident; feeling like we have a license to walk on thin ice and get away with it. Privilege does not make you special or immune from danger. Privilege is like a hand grenade; it needs to be treated with great care.

In verses 1-3 of Corinthians 10, Paul draws an analogy between the Israelites of Moses’ time and the Corinthian believers.

When God redeemed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, they went through a baptism of sorts. Passing through the Red Sea and following the cloud of God’s presence, was a type of baptism which prefigured the water baptism the Corinthians had received on becoming followers of Jesus.

Likewise, the people of Israel received a type of communion in the wilderness. God provided manna for them to eat and water from a rock. This food and drink was spiritual. It nourished their bodies and their relationship with God.

In a very real sense, the supernatural provision of manna and water prefigured holy communion, which the Corinthians partook of regularly.

Being redeemed from slavery, sin and death is a privilege. Baptism and communion are a privilege. But these privileges don’t give us a right to behave however we like. With great privilege comes great responsibility.

Despite their privileged position, God was not pleased with most of the Israelites of Moses’ day, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Some of the Corinthian believers had way too much confidence. They figured, we’ve been baptised and redeemed. We participate in the Lord’s supper, so we’re all good. We can eat meat sacrificed to idols in pagan temples, no problem. The devil can’t touch us.  

But the privileges of baptism and communion do not make us immune from evil, any more than holding a golden ticket kept the children out of trouble in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

If you walk on thin ice, you risk falling through, whether you’ve been baptised or not. If you participate in pagan rituals, you open your spirit up to a whole world of evil, whether you take communion or not.  

Paul’s message to the Corinthians is this: don’t be like the Israelites. Don’t be deceived by your privilege. Don’t walk on thin ice.

Paul does something quite interesting in these verses, which is easy to miss. The Corinthians were mostly gentiles and yet, in verse 1, Paul talks about the Israelites being our ancestors. The Corinthians were not genetically related to the Israelites, like Paul was. But in a spiritual sense they were related.

If you are in Christ, there is a continuity between you and the people of God in the Old Testament. The stories of the exodus and the exile are our stories too. We, who belong to Jesus, whakapapa back to Abraham, through Christ.

That is a unique privilege, which comes with great responsibility.

The responsibility to learn from Israel’s mistakes. As Paul writes in verse 6: these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.       

One of the dangers of privilege is that we can get so accustomed to it that we forget we are in fact privileged. We can start to view our privilege as an entitlement; something we are owed. Privilege can lead to presumption.

The danger of presumption:

Presumption is behaviour which is arrogant and disrespectful. To act in a presumptuous way is to take liberties and go beyond the bounds of what is considered appropriate.

If you are in a restaurant and someone you don’t know sits down at your table and starts eating food off your plate, then that is presumptuous. It’s not presumptuous, by the way, if your husband or wife eats food off your plate. That is simply marriage.

Or if you are pregnant and a complete stranger walks up to you in the supermarket and puts their hand on your belly, that is presumptuous.

Or if someone parks their car in an accessible carpark, without a permit, that also is presumptuous.

You may have heard of the term ‘diplomatic immunity’. Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law where foreign diplomats and officials are protected from the criminal justice system of the host country. So, if a diplomat commits a criminal offence, they cannot be arrested or sent to jail.

Even though diplomats have this special privilege, most would not be presumptuous enough to shop lift or punch someone in the face or eat chips off your plate.

In fact, in cases where a serious crime is committed, like murder, the sending country may well choose to waive diplomatic immunity and grant the host country the right to press criminal charges against their own official.

In other words, the ice of diplomatic immunity wears thin in some cases and cannot always be relied upon to save the foreign official if they act really badly.

As believers, we are sort of like diplomats from a foreign country. This world is not our home, but we still have a responsibility to behave ourselves.

We must not presume upon the grace of God, seeing how far we can push it, as the Israelites did in the wilderness. The Lord won’t tolerate that for long.  

In verses 7-10, Paul briefly touches on four occasions when the Israelites of old found themselves on thin ice and fell through. Paul highlights the Israelites’ sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord and grumbling.

Idolatry is the worship of idols; basically, the worship of anything that is not God. As I said earlier, some of the Corinthians presumed it was okay to participate in the feasts held at the local pagan temples. But these dinner parties were essentially idolatrous.    

Even if the Corinthians themselves did not believe in idols, they were on thin ice by eating in the idol’s temple. Idolatry in the ancient world inevitably led to revelry. Drunken carousing and loose partying, the kind that uni students during O week might indulge in. Revelry of this sort often leads to fornication.   

In verse 8, Paul warns against sexual immorality. This seems to be a reference to the time when Israelite men indulged in casual sex with strangers; Moabite women who had invited them to pagan worship. Thousands died as a warning.

Sexual immorality was a problem in Corinth too, just as it is a problem in our society today. You may have heard on the news recently how girls as young as 10 are being used as prostitutes. If we who are used to evil are outraged by that kind of exploitation, how much more is God’s holy wrath provoked.

Verse 9 says, we should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.[1] ‘Testing God’ means trying to prove God wrong, trying to make his word fail, rather than trusting him.

When Satan quoted Scripture, tempting Jesus to jump off the highest point of the temple, the evil one was trying to prove God’s word wrong.

Jesus responded by saying, “Don’t put the Lord your God to the test”.

In other words, don’t presume upon God’s grace. Don’t see how far you can push the boundaries and get away with it.

Putting God to the test is the opposite of trusting God. It puts us on thin ice, where we end up learning the hard way.

Interestingly, Paul says we should not test Christ. Paul gives Jesus the same standing as God. By hanging out in pagan temples, the Corinthians were presuming upon Jesus’ grace.

Now at this point, some of you might be thinking, I don’t bow down to idols or have casual sex with randoms or otherwise test Jesus. I’m not presumptuous like those haughty Corinthians. I’m humble. Today’s sermon is not for me.

Hmm. If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

The fourth presumption Paul lists is that of grumbling. Some of the Israelites in the wilderness grumbled against Moses, just as some of the believers in Corinth were grumbling against Paul, which is probably why Paul mentions it.     

Grumbling? Is that a sin? Really? Apparently it is. Stink. Just when I thought I was in the clear I find out grumbling is not allowed. Many of us are guilty of grumbling. In fact, kiwis are quite good at grumbling. We call it, ‘tall poppy syndrome’. Cutting others down with our words and criticisms.

Grumbling may be more socially acceptable, but it’s still a presumption. Grumbling reflects an attitude of arrogance and entitlement. When we grumble, we put ourselves on thin ice. Secure people, people with their feet on solid ground, build others up.

We’ve talked about the danger of privilege and the danger of presumption. Now let’s consider the deliverance of God.

The deliverance of God:

Sometimes we can find ourselves on thin ice through no fault of own, simply because the ice is melting and we are in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

God is ready to deliver us in situations like that.

In verse 13 Paul addresses the issue of temptation and how God delivers us from it. We will break it down because there’s quite a bit going on in this verse.

Firstly, Paul writes: No temptationhas overtaken you except what is common to mankind.

Now when we hear the word temptation we are probably inclined to imagine a little devil enticing us to do bad things so that we fall through the ice.

But in this context, temptation is more like a test designed to make us stronger, rather than a torture designed to break us.

Running a marathon is a test of your endurance. The temptation is to give up before you reach the end. But if you do make it all the way, without giving up, you are stronger for it.

Likewise, writing an essay or sitting an exam is a test of your mastery of the subject. The essay or exam is not designed to break you or make you fail.

Its purpose is to help you learn and strengthen your mental proficiency. 

Getting a license to drive involves a series of tests. Acquiring the skill and experience necessary to pass these tests makes you a better, safer driver.  

Temptation in the sense of testing is not bad or evil. It is necessary and inevitable if we are to grow and develop and become better human beings.

Being baptised and receiving communion does not make you immune from temptation. Everyone faces testing in this life. It is common to humankind.

Therefore, we should not be surprised by temptation. We should prepare for it, like we would prepare for a marathon or an exam or a driving test. 

The second thing Paul says in verse 13 is that God is faithful; he will not let you be temptedbeyond what you can bear. 

Note here that God is not the one who brings the temptation, but he does allow it, within certain limits. God is good. He knows our limits and cares for our wellbeing. (Not that it always feels like that to us.)

Sometimes it feels like God takes us beyond our limits. We might think we can only run half a spiritual marathon, when in fact God knows we can go twice that distance. Just as we can be overconfident at times, so too we can underestimate ourselves in other situations. The testing of temptation shows us the truth about ourselves.   

Paul reassures his readers saying, …when you are tempted, God will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

The original Greek word translated as ‘a way out’ (in verse 13) imagines an army platoon trapped in the mountains, escaping a seemingly impossible situation through a pass. [2] 

Very seldom is God’s deliverance as easy as Star Trek, where Captain Kirk says, ‘Beam me up Scotty’. God’s deliverance, his way out, usually requires us to show some character and make a conscious choice.

When Joseph was tempted to sleep with Potiphar’s wife, Joseph avoided her, even running out of the room when she got him alone. God’s way out for Joseph was the indignity of being falsely accused and sent to prison, where Potiphar’s wife could not get to him.

Eventually though, that prison became God’s means of elevating Joseph to Prime Minister of Egypt. God is faithful.

Conclusion:

Not many of us are as good as Joseph. A lot of us (given the opportunity) might prove to be more like David and Bathsheba.

At some point we all find ourselves on thin ice, whether by accident or our own deliberate fault. If we do fall, then we need not despair.

God has provided for our rescue through Jesus. Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus resisted every temptation and test thrown at him, overcoming sin on our behalf. Jesus is our righteousness.

When we do fall, we are honest about that with God. We own it. We don’t try to justify ourselves. We seek his forgiveness and we ask the Lord to restore us; to put our feet on the right path, the firm foundation of Christ our rock.

Let us pray…      

Gracious God, keep us off thin ice. Lead us in the way everlasting, for your name’s sake. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. 

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. Have you ever found yourself on thin ice, either literally or figuratively? What happened? How did you get there? What (or who) saved you?
  3. What are the dangers of privilege? How might we enjoy our privilege (freedom) without being deceived by it? 
  4. Why do we get baptised and receive communion? What purpose do these rituals serve? What are baptism and communion not to be used for?  
  5. Discuss / reflect on the four sins (or presumptions) Paul lists in verses 7-10; idolatry, sexual immorality, testing Christ and grumbling. In what ways are these sins expressed in our society today? How might we keep ourselves from these temptations.
  6. What is meant by ‘temptation’, in the context of verse 13? What is the purpose of temptation? Can you think of a time when you felt sorely tested? What happened? How did God provide a way out?
  7. How might we prepare for temptation? What rhythms and routines improve your spiritual fitness?
  8. Take some time this week to confess and repent of anything you know that is putting you on thin ice with God.

[1] Refer Numbers 21:4-9

[2] Refer Leon Morris’ commentary on 1 Corinthians, page 144.

Tawa Baptist

We Believe

By: Neville Gardner, 15 June 2025

In Türkiye, not far from Istanbul, is a small town called Iznik. There is no Christian church, but this year Christians around the world are celebrating a significant event that took place here 1700 years ago. In those days, the town was part of the Roman Empire, and had the Roman name Nicaea.

In 325AD, a statement of faith called the Nicene Creed was formulated here, and it is still a standard document for a majority of Christian churches. To find out how it came about, we’ll need to dig into bit of a history.

In the early years of the 4th century AD, Christians in the Roman Empire were a minority group. Under the emperor Diocletian, Christians were persecuted. Church buildings were destroyed, sacred writings were burnt and worship meetings were banned. Christians who refused to sacrifice to the cult of the emperor could be killed. As you can imagine, Christianity was slow to grow in these circumstances.

Then along came Constantine, first as emperor of the western empire, then in 324 of the combined east and west. Critically, Constantine turned from paganism and became a Christian. He was keen to encourage Christian interests, as a political move to help unify his fractured empire. So the Treaty of Milan decreed that all Roman citizens could worship who they liked, without interference from the empire. Christianity didn’t become the official religion then, but it was free from persecution.

Against this background, Christians were still coming to grips with what it meant to be a Christian. The writings of the apostles had been collected and copied, but their contents were mainly spread orally, which made study and interpretation hard. It also made it relatively easy for people to spread ‘false teaching’ that was not scriptural.

One result was that the nature of the relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit became contentious. In particular, a Christian sect called Arians claimed that Jesus was a created being, not a divine part of a Trinity with God and the Holy Spirit.

Emperor Constantine’s plans for a unified empire needed a united Christian church. So he gathered together over 300 bishops from across the Empire at his summer palace in Nicaea, where he set them to sorting out their differences. Over three months, the bishops tried to prayerfully determine the will of God. One result was the writing of what is now called the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that is still used by many denominations around the world.

There were several changes to the Nicene Creed in following councils; the text we’ll look at now is a version in common use today. As I read it out, please don’t say it out loud yourselves – I’d like you to concentrate on what the words mean to you.

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.

Having come up with this statement, the council condemned anyone who did not agree with what it said; those bishops at the Council who disagreed were banished as heretics. Constantine got what he wanted, but sadly the unified church went on to persecute heretics to a level that matched what Christians had recently suffered under Diocletian.

The Nicene Creed unified the orthodox church with a basic doctrine of belief, and continues to do so. But since then there has been much disunity over non-doctrinal issues, such as governance, traditional rituals and practices, the style and timing of baptism, the date of Easter and so on. There was an early split between the Western Orthodox Church (which largely became what we term Roman Catholic) and the Eastern Orthodox Church. But they both used the Nicene Creed.

In 16th century Europe, there was a huge upheaval called the Protestant Reformation, which saw many people break away from the Roman Catholic Church, not always peacefully. New Protestant groups continued to appear, and there are now hundreds of denominations. They differ in many ways, but they nearly all maintain belief in the doctrine articulated in the Nicene Creed. For example, the Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches, the Salvation Army and many Baptist churches, all recognise the Nicene Creed.

The Creed I read out just now has four ‘We believe’ statements – three focussing on the Trinity, with a single line on the church. It’s that line I’d like to talk a bit more about.

“We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”

A couple of quick word explanations here.

The term ‘catholic’ is written with a small c – it just means universal church, and does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church.

Apostolic means based on the words and actions of the Apostles, as recorded in the New Testament.

The use of the phrase “We believe” rather than “I believe” was, of course, deliberate. “I believe” was, and is, used in personal statements of faith, especially those declared at baptism. “We believe” is a communal statement made by a group with shared beliefs – originally by the bishops at Nicaea, later by gathered church congregations everywhere.

Remembering that ‘catholic’ means universal, “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church” says that we believe in one church throughout the world, based on the biblical words of the Apostles. It doesn’t say we believe in a particular denomination, but in God’s worldwide church.

Just before his arrest, we hear in John 17 that Jesus prayed for his disciples. “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you.”

Jesus’ prayer reminds us that the church is called to be one, and its unity is to reflect the oneness of Jesus with God the Father. We believe in a universal church, because it is God’s church. When we say the Creed, we can feel part of this worldwide community. This means we all have some responsibility to be part of its ministry.

As Christians, as Baptists, we are part of God’s universal church. Many Baptist churches around the world use the Nicene Creed, as it is fully biblical and it reminds us of our links to the universal church. As a congregationally governed church, affiliated with the Baptist Union of New Zealand, Tawa Baptist has a written constitution which includes a different statement of faith. It’s based on the Nicene Creed, but is shorter and uses plainer language.

I’m going to read out the Tawa Baptist Statement of Faith, and I’d like you to read it out with me. If you don’t want to, that’s fine.

We believe . . 

  • In one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
  • In the true humanity and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son.
  • In the atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for the sin of the world.
  • In the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
  • That salvation and membership in the Church universal is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • That the Bible is inspired by God and authoritative in matters of Christian faith and practice.

By saying “We believe”, we include ourselves in the global church, as well as in this church of Tawa Baptist. Today, this church has been blessed because Kyle and Izandi have formerly become part of that “We”. We can pray that being part of our church life together will help them grow in their personal faith – indeed for all of us, saying “We believe” helps us to more confidently say “I believe.”

I’d now like to take you back to the modern village of Iznik, Roman Nicaea. One of the bishops present in 325AD wrote that “The most eminent servants of God from all the churches that filled Europe, Africa, and Asia gathered together. One place of worship, as if expanded by God, accommodated the people.”

Over the centuries, the site of this church was forgotten, lost.

Then, in 2014, aerial photographs of the Iznik shoreline got archaeologists very excited. There, close to shore, in shallow water, was the outline of a stone basilica, an early form of church. The building of the church was dated to about 100 years later than the Council of Nicaea, and it disappeared beneath the waters of the lake in an earthquake over 600 years later.

Further excavations revealed the remains of an earlier church under the stone one. It’s not certain, but the date is right for this to be the church the Council of Nicaea met in.

The lake of Iznik has been shrinking due to years of drought, so the ruins of the basilica have gradually got closer to the surface and nearer the shore. You can now stand on the ruins without getting your feet wet. I can’t help wondering if, just as He expanded the church to fit all the bishops in 325, God has revealed that church in time for Nicaea 2025 celebrations.

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law visited Iznik as part of a Nicaea 2025 tour led by Father Luke Miller, Church of England archdeacon of London. She sent me a photo of the church ruins, where they held a communion service. Later this year, the new Pope Leo is due to meet Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, at this very spot. Their joint celebration of the Council at Nicaea is a landmark event in itself.

The church council in 325 aimed for Christian unity, but sometimes it seems that, apart from basic matters of doctrine, unity is still far off. Celebrations of Nicaea 2025 are particularly significant for The World Council of Churches, which for many years has encouraged unity between denominations representing over half a billion Christians worldwide. It may be on a smaller scale, but here in Tawa several churches work together in common witness and service, sharing the unity hoped for in the Nicene Creed.

I’d like to finish by reading some words Father Luke used during his tour to Nicaea.

“Constantine wanted unity. Guided by the Holy Spirit, something extraordinary happened in Nicaea. In all the divisions and stresses of the church, the creed of the fathers of Nicaea remains a bright thread in the frayed fabric of the unity of the church. God is at work still, not to fulfil the desire of a powerful emperor, but to bring us all to the glory of union with Him.”

Questions

What are the main sections of the Nicene Creed, and how do they relate to each other?

What aspects of the Creed resonate with you the most?

How could the Nicene Creed, or the Tawa Baptist statement of faith, help you to understand and deepen your own faith?

You may come across versions of the Nicene Creed that say, “We believe” or “I believe”. What difference does this wording make?

How does your understanding of the Trinity affect how you live and relate to others?

How could you use the Nicene Creed or the Tawa Baptist statement of faith to help you engage in prayer and worship?

Tawa Baptist

Secure

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17

Video Link: https://youtu.be/0MS9jZG8uqw

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Affection
  • Adoption
  • Assurance
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

What makes you feel secure? Perhaps when you were young, your teddy bear made you feel safe and secure. Then, as you grew older, being accepted by your friends gave you a sense of security.

Some people find security in their job; they are always at work, never able to rest, always feeling like they have to achieve more. Other people seek security by accumulating money, houses and stuff. Or by projecting a certain image of themselves which may not be entirely true.  

There is nothing wrong with earning money to buy a house, just as there is nothing wrong with wanting people to think well of you. We need these things to survive in this world. But as necessary as a house and a job and a good reputation are, they don’t last. The security they provide is only ever temporary at best.

Ironically, the pursuit of security can cause quite a bit of anxiety. Ultimately, our security needs to be based on something that cannot be lost or stolen or die.

Today is Pentecost, 50 days since Easter. After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days before ascending to heaven. Ten days after his ascension, Jesus’ disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God’s divine Spirit. The Holy Spirit connects us to the ultimate source of security, the risen Jesus Christ.       

Our sermon this morning is based on Romans 8, one of the traditional readings for Pentecost. Romans 8 talks about the Holy Spirit quite a bit. We won’t be covering all of Romans 8 today, just four verses. From verse 14 we read…

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; but you have received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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

These verses are talking about the security the Holy Spirit gives believers.

Three words to hang today’s message on, all of them closely related to security: affection, adoption and assurance.

The Holy Spirit shows us God’s affection, He is involved in our adoption by God and He assures us we are God’s children. Let us begin with the Spirit and our affections…

Affection:

Affection is a positive feeling. You can show affection in all sorts of ways.

When you rub a dog’s belly, you are creating a positive feeling both for you and the dog. When you give someone a word of encouragement or a hug (and it is welcome) this also creates a positive feeling of affection.

Feelings, of course, move us. They are a source of energy. Feelings motivate us. If we feel affection for someone or someone shows us affection, then we will feel good about that person and be motivated to give them our best.

The Bible uses a variety of images to describe the Holy Spirit including wind, breath, fire, water and a dove. While these are all helpful, none is adequate on its own to describe the work of God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an unconscious force. The Holy Spirit is a divine person, capable of giving and receiving affection.

The gospel of John talks about the Holy Spirit being a comforter or an advocate. One who comes alongside and guides us in the love and truth of Jesus.

In contemporary terms we might think of the Holy Spirit as a sports coach. If the church is a team, then God is the owner and manager, Jesus is the captain, the Holy Spirit is the coach and we are the players. It is the job of the coach to come alongside the players to guide, train, correct and encourage them.

The best coaches know how to rub the belly of their players, metaphorically speaking. Their presence affects the players at a heart level. The players know the coach cares about them and that brings out the best in the team.

Or to put it another way, the players feel affection for a good coach. They will do anything for a coach they love and respect. 

In verse 14 of Romans 8, the apostle Paul writes: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  

The Spirit here reminds us of a sports coach leading, guiding and encouraging his players. To be led by God’s Spirit is to have a mind-set of learning to do God’s will. Those who are led by God’s Spirit are thinking, how do I love God and my neighbour in this situation?

Like a good coach the Holy Spirit doesn’t drive us by fear. Rather, the Spirit inspires belief and builds trust. He rubs our belly when we need it and gives us the feeling of genuine security, bringing out the best in the team.

Of course, for the players to benefit from the coach’s influence, we must listen to the coach and do what he says. If we love God, if Jesus holds sway over our affections, then we will trust and obey the promptings and pushings of the Holy Spirit.

Who holds sway over your affections?

We are talking about the security the Holy Spirit gives believers. The Holy Spirit shows us God’s affection and He is involved in our adoption by God.

Adoption:

Psychologists say that a deep and lasting sense of security comes from the way parents interact with their infant children. If a baby gets lots of face-to-face time, lots of affection and connection from at least one consistent adult, they will learn basic trust and feel secure throughout life. They call this attachment.

The thing about attachment is that the baby needs the relationship with the one consistent adult to be reinforced regularly. You don’t create a sense of security in a child by occasional, infrequent episodes of attachment.

The kind of attachment in view here is not like attaching a trailer to your car every once and a while. It’s more like the seats in a car, which are permanently attached. Wherever the car goes the seats go. 

The sort of attachment that leads to deep and lasting security in the child requires an intentional and lasting commitment by the adult.      

God (our maker) understands our human need for attachment and meets this need by adopting us into his family. Verse 15 reads: The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; but you have received the Spirit of adoption.

In the Greco-Roman world of the first century, in which Paul lived, adoption was a serious business. There was a thorough legal process to follow which resulted in a lasting and binding commitment between the parent and child.

In his commentary on Romans, F.F. Bruce writes (and I paraphrase here)…

The term ‘adoption’ may sound a bit artificial to our ears; but in the first century an adopted son was deliberately chosen by his adoptive father to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate; he was in no way inferior in status to a natural born son and might well enjoy the father’s affection more fully and reproduce the father’s character more worthily. [1]    

To be adopted by God, therefore, is a big deal. We sometimes talk about making a commitment to God. But really, God’s commitment in adopting us comes first and is greater and more reliable than any commitment we might make.

The one being adopted does nothing to deserve this grace. All we can do is accept the father’s love with gratitude and seek to reproduce the father’s character in our own relationships.

The Spirit of God changes our status and gives us a new kind of relationship with God the Father, a more personal, intimate relationship. One where we can approach God with confidence and affection so that we cry ‘Abba, Father’.

‘Abba’ was the Aramaic word for father, used by Jewish families in antiquity.

It was an everyday term like dad or daddy or da (as the Irish say).

Children in the first century never addressed God as Abba, that would have been considered incredibly disrespectful and yet Jesus almost always addressed God as his ‘Abba’.  

Most famously Jesus addresses God in this intimate way in his prayer of anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Abba, Father”, he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

This is interesting. Jesus is secure enough in his relationship with God to be honest about what he is feeling and what he wants. In the end though, Jesus is willing to put aside his own desires to obey God. Jesus does this, not out of fear of reprisal, but out of love and affection for his Dad.

The Holy Spirit gives us security. He shows us God’s affection, He is involved in our adoption by God and He assures us we are God’s children.

Assurance:

John Wesley (born in England in 1703) was one of nineteen children. I’m not sure how much attachment time John got with his parents, given how large the family was, but his mother, Susanna Wesley, gave her children a thorough education and raised them with strict discipline.

John attended Oxford University, where his brother Charles Wesley (of hymn writing fame) founded the “Holy Club”, a group committed to prayer, Bible reading, weekly communion, and helping the poor.

In 1735 John Wesley and his brother Charles travelled to America by sea.

At that stage both brothers were ordained ministers in the church of England.

On the voyage there, John and Charles met a group of Moravian Brethren. (Protestant Christians.) Their calm assurance of salvation deeply impressed John Wesley, as did the warmth of their fellowship and singing. When a storm enveloped their ship, the Moravians were not anxious. They had a peace which passes understanding.

Once he arrived in America, John undertook a short-term mission trip to Georgia. It was not very successful, and he returned to England in 1737 a bit dejected.

A year later while in London, on 24 May 1738, John went very unwillingly to a meeting in Aldersgate Street. Someone was reading Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.

John Wesley wrote in his journal what he experienced that night…

About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

John is describing his experience of divine assurance given by the Holy Spirit.  

In verse 16 of Romans 8, Paul writes: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Paul is talking here about the inner witness of God’s Spirit, who assures us we are loved and accepted as children adopted by God.  

You might be wondering, what exactly is meant by our spirit, (spirit with a lower case ‘s’). Because the word spirit is a bit vague, a bit ambiguous. It can mean different things to different people depending on the context.

Well, in the context of Romans 8 verse 16, our spirit refers to the human spirit, which is our capacity to relate with others. Our eyes enable us to see. Our ears enable us to hear. Our feet enable us to stand. Our lungs enable us to breathe and our spirit enables us to relate with others, to connect with them and form trust.

Someone may have a cold, hard or mean spirit in the way we relate with others. Or they may have a warm, gentle and generous spirit in how we relate.

Our spirit (our ability to relate) can be damaged when trust is broken.

While our human spirit is different from God’s Holy Spirit the two are compatible. But our spirit needs to be open to receive God’s Spirit.

Now it is important to note that the assurance given by God’s Spirit is not the same for everyone. We don’t all feel our heart strangely warmed like John Wesley did. Spiritual experiences like that are relatively rare. Not everyone receives them.

More often the assurance given by God’s Spirit is felt in more ordinary ways, through other people, especially other believers.

Earlier in the service I told you about Mary, who passed away last Monday. Mary and Joyce were life-long friends. They were mates for over 60 years.

Their mutual friendship (I believe) was a means of divine assurance.

Mary loved to walk places but as her sight and hearing faded, crossing the road became more dangerous. Joyce was Mary’s eyes. And if Joyce misplaced someone’s name, Mary was Joyce’s memory.

Friendship; the Spirit working between people to support one another in ordinary ways. Through friendship the Holy Spirit reassures us of God’s presence, his Fatherly love and care.

So, if you have never felt your heart strangely warmed, as John Wesley did, then don’t panic. It doesn’t mean you are missing God’s Spirit or that you are not a child of God. The assurance of the Holy Spirit won’t be the same for everyone. But it will be personal for you. It will be what you need at the time.

The other thing to note here is that we may not feel divine assurance all the time. Ignatius taught that in the Christian life there are periods of desolation when God feels very absent, just as there are moments of consolation when God reassures us of his affection and presence. Christian faith is about continuing to follow Jesus, whatever the weather of our feelings.  

Paul continues to unpack the implications of our being God’s children in verse 17 where he says: Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…

Paul’s thought here is this: because we are God’s children that means Jesus is our brother, which means we are co-heirs with Christ. Therefore, we will share Christ’s inheritance, his reward.

And what is the inheritance we share with Christ? Well, it is the kingdom of God. It is abundant, joyful, healthy, peaceful, life; the kind we want to go on living forever. But that is not all. The real reward is God Himself. Eternal life is intimacy with God. As any child knows, time with mum or dad is more valuable than gifts or toys.  

However, we cannot expect to share in Christ’s reward if we are not prepared to share in his suffering. Suffering with Christ is the path to glory

Returning to John Wesley for a moment. Quite often when John spoke about his new assurance, in Anglican pulpits, he was met with a hostile reception and told not to return. Being given an inner assurance by the Holy Spirit doesn’t make us immune from getting a hard time from the world we live in.

But the inner assurance of God’s Spirit can lend a deep and lasting sense of security to our human spirit. After being kicked out of the mainline church, John began to speak in the open air, taking the gospel to the poor in the industrial towns. These people had little contact with the church of England.

One is reminded of the apostle Paul’s experience in Acts, getting kicked out of the synagogue, then taking the gospel to the gentiles.   

For fifty-two years John Wesley travelled the countryside on horseback, preaching the gospel. Some people accepted his message, others rejected it. Either way, John Wesley’s sense of security was unshaken because his security wasn’t based on the opinion of others or the success of his ministry. It was based on his attachment to God through the Holy Spirit.

We are unlikely to have a preaching ministry like John Wesley, but we may still suffer for identifying with Christ. If (or when) that happens we can be assured we are not being punished by God but rather are following in the footsteps of our older brother, Jesus.

Indeed, suffering for Jesus is its own assurance. For if we share in Christ’s sufferings, we will share in his glory.

Conclusion:

Two questions for you to ponder…

What (or who) makes you feel secure?

How reliable (or lasting) is your security? 

The Holy Spirit is a source of security we can rely on. The Holy Spirit shows us God’s affection, He is involved in our adoption by God and He assures us we are God’s children.

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, both seen and unseen. Help us to move at the impulse of your Spirit, that Jesus would hold sway over our affections and we would reproduce your character in our relationships. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

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 made you feel secure when you were a child? Has the source of your security changed as you have grown through life? How so?
  3. What (or who) makes you feel secure now? How reliable (lasting) is your security? 
  4. Discuss / reflect on some of the Biblical images of the Holy Spirit. What characteristics of the Holy Spirit do each of these image’s highlight?
  5. What is affection and why is it important? How do you like to show affection? Who holds sway over your affections?
  6. What does it mean to be adopted by God the Father? What are the implications for you personally?
  7. Have you ever suffered for identifying with Christ? What happened? Were you aware of God’s assurance or help in that situation? If so, how? 

[1] F.F. Bruce, Romans, page 166.

Tawa Baptist

Liminal Experiences

Scripture: Acts 1:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/x8IwMmDbypc

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Proof of life
  • Promise of Spirit
  • Purpose moving forward
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Our lives are peppered with liminal experiences. A liminal experience is a time or place of transition and change. An in-between moment, a period of waiting.

The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word “limen,” which means threshold. A liminal moment therefore is one in which we stand on the threshold of something new and different.

A liminal experience may last only a few seconds or it could last many years. 

The days a caterpillar spends in a cocoon, before it becomes a butterfly;

the years it takes to go through adolescence; the minutes you spend waiting at the bus stop or the train station; these are all examples of liminal time.

Indeed, bus stops and train stations are liminal spaces, places of transition. Pregnancy is a liminal experience, an in between time, when you are waiting on the threshold of a significant life change. The seconds between when a baby is born and takes its first breath is a liminal moment.  

That imperceptible time between waking and sleeping, when your mind is half half-conscious, emerging from a dream; that’s a liminal experience.

Routine, stability, normality are the opposite of liminal experiences. Life in the liminal can feel exciting, like you are on the cusp of realising a long awaited hope. But it can also feel a bit disorienting or scary, because your regular routine is unsettled and you are not sure what comes next.   

Last Thursday was Ascension Day, that day in the Church calendar when we remember Jesus’ ascension to heaven. We usually celebrate Ascension the following Sunday (which is today) because hardly anyone is at church on Thursday.

According to the Bible the risen Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days after his resurrection before being taken into heaven. The time in-between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was a liminal period for his followers.

With this in mind we take a break from our series in First Corinthians to focus on Acts chapter 1, verses 1-11, which describes what happened during those 40 days of liminal time. From Acts 1, verse 1, we read…

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized withwater, but in a few days you will be baptized withthe Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

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

Quite a bit happens in the liminal moments of our lives, although we are often unaware of it. There isn’t time now to cover everything Luke writes about in Acts 1, so we will focus on three of the main things that Jesus did in those 40 days of liminal time.

Firstly, Jesus presented himself to his followers, proving that he really is alive and well and risen to eternal life. Secondly, Jesus promised his followers the gift of the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, Jesus gave the apostles purpose moving forward. Let us begin with Jesus’ proof of life.

Proof of Life:

Learning things, taking in new information, is a liminal experience. Learning so it becomes second nature, involves a process of change. With any real learning there is an uncomfortable in-between moment when we are leaving what is familiar to venture into unknown territory.

Take learning to drive for example. Knowing the road code is one thing but actually getting to a place where you feel comfortable behind the wheel is another thing altogether.

If you learned to drive in a manual car, then getting the hang of synchronising the clutch and the accelerator smoothly probably took months of practice.

That practice time was a liminal experience. It may have felt uncomfortable at first, but now you change gear without thinking about it.  

Or take marriage as another example. You have the wedding and become husband and wife, and its lovely and all that, but holding a marriage certificate doesn’t automatically make you a competent marriage partner.

There is a liminal period, which may last a year or two, when you are adjusting to married life. Getting used to living together. Abandoning a single person’s mindset. Sorting out roles and responsibilities. Learning to say, ‘Yes dear, you were right’, and settling into a new rhythm and routine.

Luke, the author of Acts, starts by saying: In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

Luke’s former book is the gospel of Luke. The significant thing here is that Luke says he wrote about all that Jesus began to do. The implication being that Jesus’ earthly ministry was only the beginning. And in fact, what Theophilus is about to read in the book of Acts is the continuation of Jesus’ deeds and words.

Jesus’ ministry on earth was followed by his ministry from heaven, exercised through the Holy Spirit by his apostles. [1] The apostles (empowered by the Spirit) function as Jesus’ hands and mouth. Of course, this all points to the fact that Jesus is not dead, he is very much alive.

Luke draws attention to Jesus’ resurrection in verse 3 where he writes that after his suffering, Jesus presented himself to his apostles and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

As I said earlier, the initial 40 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection was a liminal time. It was an in-between moment, a period of adjustment and learning for Jesus’ followers. 

The apostles had seen Jesus brutally murdered, his body dead and buried.

Then on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. Even though Jesus had predicted this would happen, it was still a lot for the disciples to process. They needed time for this new information about Jesus to sink in.  

Grief is a liminal experience. It takes time to accept the fact of someone’s death. Have you ever had the experience of losing someone you love and then seeing them in the supermarket or across the street. But it’s not them, because they are gone. Your mind is still in liminal space; still catching up with the reality of what’s happened.  

The apostles had no real chance to come to terms with Jesus’ death, before they had to adjust to his resurrection. Their minds were in liminal space, disoriented, standing on the threshold of something entirely new. 

Learning to trust the reality of Jesus’ resurrection was like going through the grieving process in reverse. It was conceptually more difficult. Death is normal for us, it is commonplace. But Jesus’ resurrection was a first. Yes, people had been resuscitated before but not resurrected to eternal life, like Christ.    

In the same way you don’t learn to drive after one lesson, so too it wasn’t enough for the apostles to see Jesus once. They needed to see the risen Christ several times doing normal things with them (like eating and talking about the kingdom of God) before they could comprehend the reality of his resurrection.

You know, by God’s grace we can believe in the resurrection of Jesus in our head, but it can take years (and much suffering) for that belief to descend into our heart. The journey from the head to the heart is a liminal experience.

The reality of Jesus’ resurrection puts us on the threshold of eternity and all the mystery that entails. 

Okay, so that’s the first thing Jesus does in the 40 days of liminal time prior to his ascension; he offers proof of his own life, helping his followers to adjust to the reality of his resurrection.

The second main thing Jesus does is to promise the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is essential to the work Jesus will do through the apostles. Without the Spirit the apostles have no power or agency, no connection with the living Christ.

Promise of Spirit:

Whenever you go to the beach you become aware of the tidal system. Most of the day the tide is on the move, either going out or coming in. There are times in the day though when the tide is slack. Around high tide and low tide the water is relatively still.

A slack tide is a liminal period for the sea. It’s a time of waiting in-between tidal changes. This liminal time, when the tide is slack, provides a kind of smoko break for sea life. It allows sediment from the seabed to settle so water clarity is restored.   

One of the key characteristics of a liminal experience is having to wait.

Waiting for exam results. Waiting for a break in the traffic. Waiting to hear whether you got the job you interviewed for. Waiting to find out if you have kept the job you’ve got. Waiting for the doctor’s diagnosis. Waiting for the next Covid lockdown announcement.  

Waiting can feel tense or stressful but, if we don’t overthink the unknown, times of liminal waiting also allow the dust to settle. And when the dust settles, we receive the gift of clarity and perspective.    

In verse 4 we read how the risen Jesus said to his apostles, wait for the gift my Father promised, by which he meant the gift of the Holy Spirit.

There were 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and another 10 days between his ascension and the day of Pentecost. Those 50 days (in total) were like a slack tide. They were a liminal time of waiting.

In that time of relative stillness, the sediment stirred up in the apostles’ minds by recent events was allowed to settle, giving them clarity and perspective before the tidal change brought by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Jesus wants his apostles to wait during these 50 days of liminal time, because as any good fisherman knows, you are not likely to catch much when the tide is slack. That is, until the Spirit gets the waters moving.     

Unfortunately, the apostles aren’t quite getting it. They ask Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time give the Kingdom back to Israel?”

In other words, are you now going to boot the Romans out of Israel and put us in charge of our own country again? (Like when David and Solomon were king.) The disciples had confused the spiritual kingdom of God with the political kingdom of Israel.

Jesus’ response shows they were asking the wrong question. First Jesus says, “The times and occasions are set by my Father’s own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be”. Jesus is basically saying here, ‘forget about the political situation of Israel. That’s not what is important right now’.

Jesus then goes on to show the apostles what is important. He says…

“…when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”    

The apostles’ purpose, their mission, is to be witnesses for Jesus. They are to pass on Jesus’ teaching, tell the truth about his death and resurrection and proclaim salvation through faith in him.

The disciples had been thinking about power in a narrow political sense. They didn’t realise it at that time, but they were standing on the threshold of receiving a different kind of power, the power of the Spirit. The power to bear witness and proclaim, not the power to control or coerce.  

Jesus dismantles the apostles’ nationalism telling them plainly that they will be witnesses, not just to Israel but to the ends of the earth.

I like what John Stott says about these verses: The Kingdom of God is… spread by witnesses, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war and by the work of the Spirit, not by… political intrigue or violence. [2]

Witnesses, not soldiers. The word for witness in Greek is martys, from which we get martyr. To be a witness for Jesus in the first and second centuries was to be a martyr, someone who suffered for their faith. The fact the apostles were ready to die for their witness concerning Jesus, shows their witness is true.

Purpose moving forward:

Although liminal experiences are necessary in helping us to make transitions in life, it’s not good to become stuck in a liminal experience. We need to find our purpose moving forward.

The butterfly can’t fly unless it emerges from the cocoon.  Eventually you have to deliver the baby and when the baby is born it needs to take its first breath. At some point we must leave adolescence behind and accept the responsibilities of adulthood. You can’t live in a bus stop or at the train station. And if we don’t find a way to let go of our grief, well, we get stuck in the past. 

The apostles needed to witness the miracle of Jesus’ ascension, so they didn’t get stuck in their liminal experience. For 40 days since his resurrection, the risen Jesus had been appearing and disappearing. If Jesus just disappeared one day without explanation, the apostles would be left in confusion, stuck in liminal time, not able to cross the threshold and move forward with purpose.

After proving his resurrection and promising the Spirit, Jesus was taken up to heaven as the apostles watched him and a cloud hid him from their sight.

In the Old Testament the presence of the Lord guided the Israelites through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day [3] and when Jesus met with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration a bright cloud enveloped them. [4]

Now, at his ascension, Jesus is taken into a cloud. It was no ordinary cloud that hid Jesus as he ascended. It was a supernatural cloud, a sign of God’s presence.

Jesus’ ascension was a miracle of God, just as the resurrection was a miracle. And because the ascension was a miracle, we don’t need to try and find a materialistic explanation for it. We don’t need to think of heaven as some place up in the sky or in space. Better to think of heaven like another dimension, hidden from our eyes. And the cloud is like a curtain into heaven.   

For the early Christians, Jesus’ ascension was very important. For them the ascension went hand in hand with the resurrection. The disciples would suffer much as witnesses for Christ. The memory of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was an anchor for their faith; something real and tangible they could hold onto when all else was against them.  

Jesus’ ascension means he sits at the right hand of God in heaven, interceding for us with the Father. We do not need to fear, for our best friend (Jesus) is the Lord of the universe.

Verses 10 and 11 of Acts 1 tell us how the disciples were still staring up into the sky (apparently stuck in a liminal moment) when two men dressed in white suddenly appeared beside them and said…

“Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken away from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”

The men dressed in white were probably angels, heavenly messengers sent to help the disciples move forward with purpose. Angels announced the birth of Jesus. Angels announced his resurrection too. Now there are angels again at Jesus’ ascension.

There are two points of application here: Firstly, the apostles were not to become so focused on heaven that they were no earthly use. By the same token they still needed to keep the end in sight. They were not to become so busy ‘witnessing’ that they forgot why they were doing it.  

Like the apostles we need to find our purpose moving forward. We do this by looking outward in compassion to a hurting world and forward in hope to the return of Jesus who makes all things new. 

Conclusion:

Acts 1 describes the liminal experience of Jesus’ apostles in-between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension. What liminal experiences are you going through? What life transitions are you navigating? What thresholds do you stand on the edge of?

Don’t rush it. It takes as long as it takes. Wait for the Spirit. But don’t get stuck in your liminal experience either. When the Spirit comes, move forward with him. Next Sunday is Pentecost.

Let us pray…

Eternal God, help us to wait for you. May the risen Jesus be real for us and may we find our purpose moving forward by your Spirit. Amen.

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. Can you think of some liminal experiences from your own life? What happened? How did you feel? How did you make your way through?
  3. Why are liminal experiences necessary?
  4. Why did the risen Jesus appear to his disciples repeatedly over a period of 40 days?
  5. Why did Jesus tell his disciples to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit?
  6. Why did Jesus ascend to heaven? What difference did Jesus’ ascension make for the disciples? What difference does Jesus’ ascension make for you?
  7. Why is it important not to get stuck in a liminal experience? How might we know when we are stuck? How can we move on?

[1] Refer John Stott’s (BST) commentary on Acts, page 34.

[2] John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 42

[3] Exodus 13:21

[4] Matthew 17:5