Tawa Baptist

Hope Deferred

Scriptures: Proverbs 13:12

Video Link: https://youtu.be/C-GvzmIqEsA

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Hope deferred
  • Longing fulfilled
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical down to earth wisdom based on how the world operates. Whenever we read Proverbs, or any Biblical text for that matter, we need to be thinking, ‘How does this point to Jesus?’ ‘How does Jesus fulfil this wisdom?’

The focus of our message this week is Proverbs 13, verse 12, which reads…

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

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

Hope deferred:

As with most of the proverbial sayings, there are two contrasting halves to this verse which give it a nice symmetry. Essentially though, this proverb is talking about one thing: the psychological effect of hope. ‘Longing’ is just another way of talking about hope in this context.

Deferred hope has a negative psychological impact on a person, but hope fulfilled has a positive psychological effect.

When hope is delayed by a long period of time or taken away altogether, it makes the heart sick.

You may remember from other sermons that the heart, in the Old Testament, usually refers to a person’s inner life. The heart is a metaphor for an individual’s mind, emotions and will.

When hope is deferred, a person’s thinking, feeling and motivation is negatively impacted, it is made sick. The greater the hope, the bigger the negative impact if that hope is not realized.

If you catch a bad flu, your body is made sick. You might experience aching joints and muscles. You might be shivering with cold one moment and sweating with fever the next. To say nothing of the headaches, sore throat, hacking cough, running nose and difficulty breathing.

The flu robs you of energy and impairs your physical functioning, so you cannot do all the things you are normally able to do.

It’s similar with hope. When hope is delayed for long periods of time, it impairs your psychological functioning, so you cannot handle daily life as well as you normally would. Even small difficulties, like being stuck in traffic, can seem overwhelming and put you in a spin.

Hope is the capacity to believe something good waits for you in the future. Hope sustains mental and emotional energy.  

Believing there is good in your future feeds your heart, your mind, your soul, your spirit so you have the psychological energy you need to get through and face the challenges that come with daily life.

The closer you come to realizing your hope, the greater the energy you feel. But, if someone moves the goal posts, if the finishing line is shifted and your hope is postponed, you become psychologically deflated.

All that emotional energy you were getting from hope drains away, like water in cupped hands. Take hope away and you take a person’s mental and emotional energy away.  

Let me give you an example to illustrate what we mean by the psychological impact of hope deferred…

Imagine you have been working away diligently for a whole year without taking a holiday. You have weekends off your regular job, but Saturdays and Sundays are pretty full doing household chores or running around after your family. Life is hectic and pressured.

After a hard year, carrying a heavy load at work and at home, you are tired and looking forward to some time away. In fact, you have had this holiday planned for months. A nice air b n b near the beach, just you and your family for ten whole days.      

Whenever the pressure comes on at work, whenever a client complains or the boss is unreasonable, you imagine swimming in the sea or building sandcastles with the kids. The very thought of the holiday gives you the energy to get through the daily grind with a smile on your face.

But then suddenly, just one week before you are due to go on leave, a cyclone passes over the country. There is flooding and slips and the access road to your air b n b by the beach is cut off. There is no way in or out for months.

Your dream of a relaxing holiday has been deferred. The hope you had been relying on to give you the emotional energy you needed to get through each day is gone. 

You are not even sure if you want to take your annual leave anymore. It’s too late to try and find another holiday place and if you stay home, you will end up painting the house or checking your work emails anyway. It feels like such a waste.      

Now, when a client complains about something, you reply with sarcasm. And when your boss asks you to stay late to get a project in on time, you drag your heels. What’s the point you think to yourself.

And when someone in your household doesn’t empty the dishwasher or leaves food on the bench to attract ants, you snap at each other. You just don’t have the energy to deal with minor irritations. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

Typically, when we are young, our hopes tend to fly high. But as we grow through life, we face disappointment. Our heart is made sick when the people we trust let us down or when circumstance conspires against us. ‘The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’, as Shakespeare put it.  

With each disappointment we learn to lower our hope, to clip the wings of expectation and edit our dreams, so as to avoid the pain of more loss. The problem with this approach is that the less you hope for, the less mental and emotional energy you have. 

Secular wisdom would say, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t commit all your hope to just one thing. Hedge your bets. Have a plan B in case plan A doesn’t work out. We can see the sense in that kind of reasoning, but how does this compare with the wisdom of Christ?

Part of Jesus’ message was: Don’t put all your hope in the temporary things of this world, put the larger portion of your hope in the eternal things of God’s kingdom.

The eternal things of God’s kingdom include righteousness, love, trust, generosity, kindness and so on. Jesus talked about storing up riches for yourself in heaven where rust and moth cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal.

It’s not that you shouldn’t plan a nice holiday or save for a house or find a life partner. We live in this world and we still need things to look forward to in this life, even if they are temporary things.

The point is: Eternal hope lends perspective. Eternal hope helps us to cope better with the disappointments we experience in this world.

If someone you counted on in this life lets you down (a friend or family member maybe), then that sucks. That hurts. It’s painful. But if you also have Jesus as your friend, as your ultimate hope, it’s not the end of the world. You are not alone.      

Longing fulfilled:

Okay, so we have been talking about hope deferred. What about when hope is realized? The second half of Proverbs 13, verse 12, says: a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

We heard about the tree of life last week, so we don’t need to rehearse all that again now. Suffice to say the tree of life, in Proverbs, is used as a metaphor for wisdom and wellbeing.

In the context of Proverbs 13, to say a longing fulfilled is a tree of life, is like saying, ‘it is good for you, psychologically, when your hope is realized’.

A longing fulfilled restores your mental and emotional energy. It gives you confidence and strength to cope with the vicissitudes of life. In fact, a longing fulfilled enlarges your capacity for hope.  

Earlier, I asked you to imagine looking forward to a well-earned holiday only to have your hope deferred by a cyclone. Well, it wouldn’t be fair to leave you in limbo like that so let’s pick up the story again.

By this stage, three days have passed since you heard the disappointing news that you cannot gain access to your air b n b by the beach. It is now two days before your leave is due to start. You are still deciding whether you will take the leave or work through like a martyr and take it out on everyone around you.

Then the phone rings. It’s a friend you knew from youth group days. Your friend lives in a different town to you now. Tauranga, as it happens. They are going to be away for the next two weeks and wondered if you would be interested in house sitting for them. “I know it’s last minute, but you would be doing us a huge favour”, your friend says.

You can’t quite believe what you are hearing. You quickly gather your thoughts. “Let me just check my diary… Yes, we could make that work. Happy to help.”   

After putting the phone down, you take a moment to reflect on the providence of God. You thank him for his goodness.

In an instant your hope is restored and your emotional energy returns. You take your family on holiday to the sunny Bay of Plenty, have a wonderful time and come home refreshed and ready to carry on. 

There’s a true story, of hope deferred and longing fulfilled, in the gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 8 reads…

40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Nothing threatens a parent’s hope like a seriously sick child. Jairus is longing for his little girl to live. All his eggs are in one basket. He has placed all his hope in Jesus.  

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,but no one could heal her.

Talk about hope deferred. Here is a woman who has been on a roller coaster of disappointment for twelve long years. This woman has suffered terribly during this time. She may have experienced ongoing physical pain from her bleeding.

She would most likely have dangerously low iron levels, resulting in tiredness and diminished immunity. Which means doing daily tasks, like carrying water, cooking meals and so on would be much more demanding. Not only that but she would be more susceptible to illness and infection.

As if the physical trauma of her complaint was not bad enough, this woman would have been excluded from community life as well. If she wasn’t married, then she would have no chance of finding a husband and if she was married, she would not be able to get close to her husband or have children.

Under Old Testament law her bleeding made her ritually unclean so she would not be able to participate in worship. She was probably poor as well, having spent all her money on doctors who could not heal her.    

It was a pretty miserable existence for her. But despite twelve years of disappointment, the woman put what hope she had left in Jesus. 

44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

The healing comes at a price. It is free to the woman, but it costs Jesus. Here we have a picture of God’s grace. Grace may be free but it’s not cheap.  

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Jesus and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

We might wonder why Jesus calls this woman out so publicly. I mean, hasn’t she suffered enough humiliation and embarrassment. Wouldn’t it be more winsome for Jesus to use his discretion and say nothing.

Well, Jesus is not trying to embarrass her. To the contrary, Jesus wants to complete the woman’s healing. She has received physical healing by touching Jesus but what about the social and psychological healing she needs?

By inviting the woman to publicly confess the truth of her healing, Jesus is restoring her to the community.  Now, she can be included again. That’s social healing. And by affirming the woman for her faith, Jesus is giving her honour, dignity and respect. That’s psychological healing.

Perhaps Jesus is also helping the community think differently about women and about women’s health generally.  

The Lord has fulfilled the woman’s longing. Jesus has been a tree of life for her.

But spare a thought for Jairus, the father of the sick girl. Every passing minute must have felt like an age to him. The interruption and the slowness of the crowd is deferring his hope.     

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

‘In the chilly hours and minutes of uncertainty, I want to be in the warm hold of your loving mind.’ (Donovan, Catch the Wind.)

Jairus is very much in the warm hold of Jesus’ loving mind in these minutes of uncertainty. The temptation here is for Jairus to abandon all hope, but Jesus calms Jairus’ fears and keeps his hope alive. Jesus encourages Jairus to believe something good is waiting in his future.

51 When Jesus arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Jairus’ hope had been deferred but now the longing for his daughter’s life to be restored is fulfilled. Jesus is a tree of life to Jairus’ whole family.

These twin stories in Luke 8 serve as a pattern for us in our journey of faith with Jesus. We come to Jesus in hope that he will help us in some way. But Jesus does not always give us what we want at first. Sometimes we have to wait.

In the waiting, we are sifted and refined.

Last week, we heard how God prevented Adam and Eve access to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. That is not how the story ends.

In John’s Revelation we read: To those who overcome, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God. 

We need to maintain our hope in Jesus, for he is our tree of life. In Christ our deepest longings are fulfilled.

May the Lord heal your heart and fulfill your longing for him. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What is hope? Why do we need hope?
  • Can you think of a time when your hope was deferred? What happened? What psychological effect did it have on you?
  • How might we measure mental or emotional energy? What are your mental and emotional energy levels like at present? What do you need to fill your emotional tank?
  • What are you looking forward to (or longing for) at the moment? Where is your hope placed? How vulnerable is your hope?
  • Reflecting on the story in Luke 8:40-56, who do you identify with most? Why?
  • What does it mean to put your hope in Jesus? How do we maintain our hope in Christ? 
Tawa Baptist

Tree of Life

Scriptures: Proverbs 11:30 & 3:18 & Luke 7:1-10

Video Link: https://youtu.be/dqemajnLd6I

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Tree of life
  • Winning souls
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning, everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series in the book of Proverbs. Broadly speaking, we might think of the book of Proverbs like a sandwich. The opening and closing chapters are the bread holding together the filling of proverbial sayings in the middle. 

Chapters 1-9 offer poems extolling the value of wisdom. We have been focusing on these chapters over the past few weeks.

Chapters 10-29 contain hundreds of short sayings which serve as a guide for how the world operates. These little nuggets of wisdom tend toward generalisation and don’t explore the exceptions to the rule all that much.  

The proverbial sayings do not appear to be arranged in any sort of helpful order. It’s not like there is a nice, neat chapter on alcohol and then a chapter on sex and a chapter on money. The sayings are all mixed together. 

The book of Proverbs closes (in chapters 30-31) with the bread of more poetry.

Today we take a bite into the filling of the Proverbs sandwich, the actual wisdom sayings themselves.

Our message this morning focuses on chapter 11, verse 30, which reads…

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

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

The tree of life:

Trees are amazing. They have the power to heal and to make life better.

Trees turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, so we can breathe. The leaves of a tree also purify the air, removing toxins within a 100 metre radius. 

Trees promote biodiversity by providing a home for all sorts of wildlife including birds, insects and small animals.

Trees take care of the soil. Tree roots help to prevent erosion and they purify the water running off into streams and rivers.

Trees act as a natural air conditioner, helping to cool temperatures in urban areas. City streets are covered in tar seal which exasperates the heat. Trees shade the tar seal from the sun, thus reducing the temperature in the neighbourhood.

Walking or sitting among trees supports mental health too. Trees reduce people’s stress levels and calm anxiety. This is to say nothing of the beauty of trees. Trees are life giving in every way.

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of trees though, is the fruit they produce. Trees are a source of food for humans and animals, birds and bees.

Proverbs 11, verse 30, is a verse of two halves. The first half describes the fruit of the righteous as a tree of life.

The righteous are people who, as a matter of principle and habit, routinely do the right thing in their relationships with others. Righteousness equates to right relationship.

The fruit of the righteous refers to the words and actions of righteous people. Things like justice, honesty, mercy, kindness, faithfulness, forgiveness, humility and so on. Let me give you an example based on something that happened to me when I was at university…

Imagine you go to a cash machine to get some money out. You try to withdraw $200 but the machine doesn’t give you the cash. The money comes off your account balance as a withdrawal but there’s something wrong with the ATM, so the money doesn’t physically come out.  

The ATM is right outside an actual branch of the bank, so you go inside and stand in line for 20 minutes. Eventually you are seen and explain your story to a bank teller. The teller listens patiently only to say, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” She doesn’t believe you.

At that moment another customer walks up to the teller next to you and says, “I just withdrew $20 from the ATM outside but the machine gave me $220, so I’m returning the extra $200.” It is then clear to everyone the ATM had a hiccup and the $200 belongs to you. The teller gives you the $200, you thank the honest stranger and go on your way feeling strangely warm inside.

The person who got $220 when they only withdrew $20 could have walked away with the extra money and no one would be any the wiser. But she didn’t. She was righteous and returned the cash that did not belong to her. The fruit of her righteousness in this situation was justice and honesty.

Her justice and honesty were a tree of life to you. Not only did you have the money you needed to buy your groceries, but you also felt better about the world you live in. The fruit of this righteous woman strengthened your capacity for trust and helped you to be less anxious.

The thing about trees is they are always doing good. It’s not like they carry out random acts of kindness when it suits them. Trees do good for the environment all the time, simply by their living presence.

It’s the same with righteous people. They have a positive, life-giving effect on those around them all the time, through their presence and because that is who they are.

Sometimes we might think that to be righteous we must perform some grand gesture or carry out a heroic task of superhuman proportions. Maybe like working in a refugee camp or finding a cure for cancer or rescuing kittens from a burning building or raising lots of money for a good cause. And while they may be good things to do, righteousness is usually more routine, more ordinary than that.

Righteousness is not an isolated act. Righteousness is a state of being. Being there for your family, to support them. Being content with your husband or wife and not looking over the fence. Turning up to work, doing your best for your employer or your employees. Using your pay to put food on the table.

Righteousness is being patient when your child is having a tantrum. Righteousness is knowing when to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no’. Righteousness is owning your mistakes and putting things right to the extent you can. Righteousness is trusting God to make things right when you have been wronged.     

Another thing about trees is they do good silently, invisibly. Most of the time we don’t even notice the good trees are doing. Unless we consciously go out of our way to study trees, we probably take them for granted.   

Righteous people are like trees in that they don’t advertise the good they do. Most of the time we don’t even notice righteous people. Righteousness is not glamourous or attention seeking. In fact, righteousness may appear quite pedestrian or boring even.

Reflecting on your own experience for a moment; who, through their righteousness, has been a tree of life to you? [Pause]

Those of you who know your Bibles will be aware there is mention of the tree of life in Genesis. What connection (if any) is there between the tree of life in the garden of Eden and the tree of life in Proverbs? In Genesis 2 we read…

9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve were allowed to eat the fruit of any of the trees in the Garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sadly, they disobeyed God.

Consequently, Adam & Eve were expelled from Eden and not allowed access to the tree of life in case they ate the fruit and lived forever. This tells us the tree of life in Genesis represents immortality. Living forever without dying.

It might seem unkind of God to keep the tree of life from Adam and Eve, but it was a mercy. To live forever with our Sin would be terrible. The essence of Sin is alienation from God, alienation from our neighbour and alienation from ourselves.

To be alienated from yourself is to hate yourself. Some people project their self-hatred out onto others. Some people internalise it. To hate yourself is a cruel torment. To not be able to live with yourself (or anyone else) for all eternity would be a kind of living hell in which one longs to die.

It is because God did not want us to suffer in this way that he kept the tree of life from us. God was limiting our suffering. Death and resurrection are the fresh start we need to be free of sin and alienation.  

So how does the tree of life in Genesis inform our understanding of the tree of life in Proverbs? Well, the writers of Proverbs were most likely piggy backing off the tree of life imagery in Genesis.

Proverbs 11, verse 30, is not saying that the fruit of the righteous will enable people to literally live forever. It’s simply a poetic way of saying, righteousness promotes long life and well-being. Righteousness feeds the human soul and spirit with good things. Indeed, righteousness blesses the whole community.

Proverbs 3, verse 18, says that wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her. This is another way of saying the same thing: the wisdom of righteousness is life giving.    

Winning souls:

The second part of Proverbs 11, verse 30, says: and he who wins souls is wise.

If you come from an evangelical background then, for you, winning souls might equate to convincing someone to become a Christian. Getting them to pray the sinner’s prayer, ask Jesus into their heart and be baptised.  

But I don’t think that’s what the writers of Proverbs had in mind, not exactly.

A soul is a person’s life force. So, the word soul is associated with life. It’s a term that describes your essence. More than that though, the term soul refers to a whole person. As in the phrase, ‘there were 250 souls on board’, meaning there were 250 living individuals on board.

You are not just a body, with a mind. You are a soul, with a body and a mind. Your soul (your life force, your essence) animates your body and lends uniqueness to your personality. 

In the context of Proverbs 11, to win souls could mean to save someone’s life or at least have a positive and lifegiving effect on their wellbeing. It may also mean being winsome in the way you relate with others.

Both halves of verse 30 shed light on each other. If the first part of verse 30 is saying that the words and actions of a righteous person are lifegiving to those around them, then the second half is saying wise people (who are also righteous) have a positive effect on the people around them.

Looking at verse 30 from another angle, we might also say, a wise person knows that righteousness is the way to influence other people for good. When someone is treated with kindness and fairness, it affects their soul in a positive way, so they want to be kind and fair too.

A wise person wins souls by their righteous and winsome behaviour, not by fast talking or manipulation.

Let me give you two examples of people who win souls through wisdom and righteousness. The first is from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

Andy, a righteous man, is sent to prison for a murder he did not commit. Despite suffering abuse and mistreatment, Andy petitions the authorities to send him books so he can teach other prisoners to read and write. The fruit of Andy’s righteousness is a tree of life to those around him. Andy has a lifegiving effect on his fellow inmates.

Through his wisdom and righteousness, Andy wins souls. One soul in particular is that of a fellow prisoner nicknamed Red. Red has been in Shawshank for decades and it has destroyed his capacity for hope. Red does not dare to imagine a better future because he knows that hope can drive a man insane. Hope is dangerous.

But Andy has a different perspective. Andy says, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

At the end of the movie, Red is released from prison and the last thing we hear him say is, “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Through his righteous friendship, Andy won Red’s soul. Andy restored Red’s capacity to hope.

As inspiring as it is, The Shawshank Redemption is a fictional story, based on a book by Stephen King. This is not to suggest the righteous who win souls are a fiction, just a nice ideal that does not exist in the real world. 

There is a true story, a gospel story, based on historical fact, which shows us what soul winning righteousness looks like. From Luke 7, verse 1 we read…

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

The Roman army were the occupying force in Israel at the time of Jesus. The Roman army were the enforcers. Mostly they restricted Jewish freedom and oppressed the people.

But here we have a Roman Centurion, in charge of 100 soldiers, who is not destroying or oppressing the Jews but actually helping them by building a synagogue. The Centurion does the unexpected. He overturns our prejudice.  

This wise and righteous army officer is a tree of life to the Jewish community. Through his fairness and generosity, the Centurion has won the souls of the Jewish elders. He has earned the trust and respect of those he is there to police.  

More than that though, this Roman Centurion wins Jesus’ commendation too. Not by some grand gesture or heroic deed but by his vulnerability and faith. From verse 6 we continue our reading…

Jesus was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus, who was Jewish, could not enter the home of a Gentile, like the Roman Centurion, without becoming ritually unclean. The Centurion knows this and finds a winsome way to save Jesus from this socially awkward and culturally embarrassing situation.

Here we have a greater quality of righteousness. The righteousness that comes from faith. The Centurion loves his servant, and he trusts Jesus to heal his servant from a distance.

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Through his faith, the Centurion won the soul (or saved the life) of his servant, and he won the respect of Jesus in a winsome way. He continues to win souls even today.

Who do you identify with most in this story? The servant in need of healing? The wise Centurion? The Jewish elders who intercede? Perhaps you identify with Jesus? Or someone in the crowd following Jesus, bearing witness to it all? 

We may be reluctant to think of ourselves as the Centurion. Kiwi culture does not allow us to think too highly of ourselves. But we may not be too different from him. Like the Centurion, we too have put our faith in a Christ we have only heard of from a distance and not yet seen.

Conclusion:

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Jesus was crucified on a cross, nailed to a tree of death. The fruit of Jesus’ righteousness, in going to the cross in love and obedience to God, is a tree of life to all those who put their faith in Christ. Indeed, Jesus’ wisdom in obeying God, even unto death, has won millions of souls down through the ages.

In a few moments we will share communion together. Communion is a time to remember the abundant life Jesus has won for us.

It is through Jesus’ death that our alienation comes to an end.

It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that our relationship with God is made right.

It is through Jesus’ love that we are set free from self-hatred.

It is through Jesus’ resurrection that our hope is restored.

May the righteousness of Jesus bear fruit in our lives. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Discuss / reflect on the benefits of trees. When was the last time you planted a tree?
  • What does the fruit of the righteous refer to? Can you think of examples from the Bible or from your own experience?
  • Who, through their righteousness, is a tree of life to you? What do they do that is life giving? Give thanks to God for them. How might you be a tree of life to others?
  • Why does God restrict access to the tree of life in Genesis 3? Why is this a kindness?
  • What does Proverbs 11:30 mean by winning souls?
  • Thinking of the story of the Roman Centurion in Luke 7, who do you identify with most and why? The servant? The Centurion? The Jewish elders who intercede? Jesus? Or someone in the crowd following Jesus? 
Tawa Baptist

Origin Story

Scripture: Proverbs 8:22-31

Video Link: https://youtu.be/87rpvMSs4HM

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Wisdom’s origin
  • Wisdom’s function
  • Wisdom’s delight
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning, everyone.

Today we continue our series in the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Proverbs contains the ABC’s of wisdom. The wisdom of Proverbs is not academic or abstract. It is down to earth and practical.

Over the past few weeks, we have been dipping into the opening chapters of Proverbs in which a parent is impressing upon their children the importance of choosing wisdom when making life decisions.

There are essentially two aspects to wisdom: character and competence. Character has to do with integrity and righteousness, while competence has to do with skill and the ability to do things well.

If we think of wisdom as a tree, then character represents the roots and competence the branches. Wisdom is about maintaining strong roots of good character and healthy branches of competence that bear good fruit.    

A couple of weeks ago we began looking at Proverbs 8, which personifies wisdom as a woman, Lady Wisdom. This morning our message focuses on the second half of Proverbs 8 which explores wisdom’s origin, function and delight. From verse 22 we read…

22 “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; 23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; 25 before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, 26 before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. 27 I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. 30 Then I was the craftsmanat his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, 31 rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in humankind.

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

As I mentioned before, these verses point out wisdom’s origin, wisdom’s function and wisdom’s delight. Where does wisdom come from? It comes from God. What is wisdom’s function? To create order. And what does Lady Wisdom delight in? She delights in creation, especially humankind. Let’s begin then with wisdom’s origin. 

Wisdom’s origin:

The movie, Batman Begins, tells the origin story of Batman. As a child, Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents being violently killed and this sowed seeds in shaping his future as a vigilante hero.

Wolverine had a similar origin story. His powers were realised when he witnessed his father being killed.

Spiderman’s ‘origin story’ involved Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider. And the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie explores the origin story of Rocket. Origin stories are popular in the comic book world.  

In Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom tells us her origin story, how she came to be. Unlike these comic book heroes, wisdom did not have a traumatic childhood or get her super powers by accident. Wisdom had a wonderful upbringing and she was born with her powers. 

In verse 22 Lady Wisdom says of herself: “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works before his deeds of old;”

This tells us that wisdom comes from God and wisdom comes first, before time began and before the stars and the earth were formed. Because wisdom comes from God and because wisdom comes before creation, wisdom possesses a unique authority. 

Now, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, these verses are not suggesting that wisdom is an actual person. This is poetry and not to be taken literally. Lady Wisdom is a personification of God’s wisdom or God’s way of doing things. Wisdom is an aspect of God’s character or personality if you like.

In Job 38, the Lord God (Yahweh) says to Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand…”

Job could not possibly answer the Lord’s question. Wisdom could answer this question though because wisdom was there with God when the Lord was creating the universe.

Returning to Proverbs 8, the point is, the Lord did not make anything without wisdom. Wisdom is woven into the very fabric of the universe. This means there is design and purpose in the world. Some randomness, yes. Quite a lot of mystery and wonder but also discernable patterns. Everything is connected.

Given that wisdom comes from God, we need to look to God for wisdom. To imagine we could live without God is to turn our back on wisdom. Because God used wisdom in making the universe, it follows that we should use wisdom too. Wisdom is essential to our survival. We cannot live without it.

You might ask, ‘What difference does it make that wisdom comes from God?’

Well, it means that all true wisdom is God’s wisdom. There is no wisdom apart from God.

The Bible is a special book for Christians. It is sacred and carries more weight than other books because we believe the Bible to be inspired by God and therefore full of wisdom. That being said, without the wisdom of good character and competent interpretation, our reading of the Bible can do more harm than good.  

The Bible is not the only source of wisdom available to us though. The physical world in which we live is also a source of wisdom. A few weeks ago we heard how the humble ant teaches us skills for life. We can learn from studying creation because God made the universe with wisdom.

This is where science is helpful. Some people pit faith and science against each other, as if they were enemies. But faith and science are pursuing the same goal; the goal being truth. Of course, just as faith can be misapplied, so too science can be misapplied to harmful effect. Science needs the wisdom of good character and competence.   

Wisdom has the ultimate origin story. Wisdom comes from God and before creation. God made wisdom a priority and so should we.

Wisdom’s function: 

What about wisdom’s function? What purpose does wisdom serve? Put simply, wisdom creates order and order supports life. Said another way, wisdom’s function is to make the world functional and to make our lives functional.

Last Monday was a beautiful day so I mowed the lawns. I love the instant satisfaction you get from a freshly mown lawn. It distracts me from all the weeds in the garden.

Anyway, as I was mowing, the engine cut out for no apparent reason. A half mown lawn is not satisfying at all. I thought about it for a moment and deduced it was either a problem with the fuel supply or the spark plug. Sure enough, the spark plug was too dirty to fire. So I cleaned it and had the mower running again in no time.

My knowledge (or wisdom) about lawnmower engines enabled me to fix the mower and make it functional again. The function (or purpose) of wisdom is to make things work well.

From verse 27 of Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom says of herself…

27 I was there when he [God] set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

This is a poetic description of God creating the universe. It is not a literal or scientific description of creation. The poetry here is saying that God uses wisdom to bring order to the chaos and make life functional. 

Notice the two basic things wisdom does to create order. Firstly, wisdom sorts things. Wisdom puts the elements in their proper place. The clouds go above; the foundations go below. The sea goes here and the land goes there.

Wisdom sorts things. A bit like when you are doing the washing. You keep the colours separate from the whites.      

Or to return to the anecdote about my lawnmower; the engine stopped functioning because dirt and grease got into the spark plug where it didn’t belong. Once I had removed the dirt and grease from the spark plug, the engine worked fine again.  

The second basic thing wisdom does to create order is to set boundaries.

God marks out the horizon. He gives the sea its boundary so the waters don’t overstep and he marks out the foundations. Sort of like when you are building a house; before you pour the concrete slab you measure out the footings and put in the boxing to hold the cement. Wisdom sets boundaries.

The Law of Moses is God given wisdom designed to create order in society and prevent chaos. The ten commandments set out clear boundaries to enable society to function well. Don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t murder and so on are all necessary boundaries to prevent injustice and harm.

Sometimes this world gets a bit chaotic and we struggle to function well. What’s happening in the Middle East and Eastern Europe at the moment is what you get when boundaries are transgressed. It’s a tangled mess that can only be sorted by the wisdom of God.

We do not have the answers and so we pray, ‘Your kingdom come, Lord, your will be done’, in the hope that God will bring order to a disordered world.

When our personal lives are in chaos, wisdom says, ‘Stop. Think. Sort out in your mind what is in your power to control and what is not. What is your problem to deal with and what is someone else’s problem? Don’t waste time and energy on what you cannot control. Give yourself to that which you can control. Establish some boundaries in your life.’       

How functional is your life at the moment? Wisdom creates order by sorting things and setting boundaries. Are there things in your life which are out of place and need to be sorted? Do you have healthy boundaries? 

Establishing healthy boundaries might mean working less overtime so you have more time and energy for your family. It might mean drinking less so you have more control over your choices. It might mean telling someone, ‘No. Stop it. I don’t like this.’ It might mean being less of a people pleaser and honouring your own values. You will know the boundaries you need.

Wisdom finds its origin in God and before creation. Wisdom’s function (or purpose) is to create order and make life functional. And what does Lady Wisdom delight in? She delights in creation.

Wisdom’s delight:

If you are a baker, you will delight in making a cake that tastes delicious and looks yummy.

If you are a carpenter, you will delight in crafting a perfect dovetail joint or putting up a wall that is straight.

If you are a teacher, you will delight in seeing your students learn to read or do maths or play an instrument or gain understanding.

If you are an accountant, you will delight in reconciling the accounts and saving money.

If you are a parent, you will delight in seeing your children grow up to make good choices.

If you are a lawyer, you will delight in fair processes and seeing justice done. 

If you are a chess player, you will delight in out manoeuvring your opponent. 

If you are a gardener, you will delight is seeing your plants thrive and bear quality fruit.

What is it that you delight in? 

Wisdom delights in God’s creation and especially in humankind, for we are made in God’s image. From verse 30 of Proverbs 8, Lady Wisdom says…

Then I was the craftsmanat his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, 31 rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in humankind.

This is a poetic way of saying, wisdom is a source of joy for joy breaks out whenever and wherever the creator’s wisdom is exercised.

As Christine Yoder puts it: ‘Far from being burdensome or tedious, learning is a joy-filled, love inspiring, playful relationship with knowledge and God.’ [1]

It’s interesting that wisdom describes herself as a ‘craftsman’ by God’s side at creation. Jesus was a craftsman, a carpenter.

The writers of the New Testament make a connection between Jesus and wisdom. In John’s gospel, for example, we read of Jesus that he is the Word of God who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things were made.  

The original Greek noun translated as ‘Word’ is logos. Jesus is the logos of God, as in the logic or reasoning of God. When we look to Jesus we see God’s wisdom, we see how God thinks.

This is not to say that Jesus is exactly the same as Lady Wisdom. Lady Wisdom is a personification whereas Jesus is an actual human person, the Son of God. Nevertheless, Jesus embodies the wisdom of God.   

The apostle Paul picks up on this point in his letter to the Corinthians where he writes: but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus, the master craftsman, the one who embodies God’s wisdom, delights in establishing God’s order, God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus came to restore and redeem creation, to make all things new.

There’s a lovely little moment, in Luke 10, where we see Jesus himself delighting in God’s handiwork. From verse 21 we read…

21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

Wisdom comes from God. Wisdom makes life better. Wisdom is a source of joy and delight. Wisdom is embodied in Christ and wisdom is communicated by the Holy Spirit. Get the Spirit of Jesus and you get access to God’s wisdom and joy.

Conclusion:

There will be times in life when we don’t feel particularly wise. Times when things are not going so well and we feel a bit lost. Times when we simply don’t know which way is up or what the best course of action is.

At those times we may feel foolish, like the wisdom we desperately want is out of reach. If we find ourselves in that situation, then hearing a sermon about how we should be wise might make us feel worse. Be gentle with yourself and have some faith in God.   

When I look back over my life so far, I don’t think, “Gee, I’m wise. Man, I’ve made some smart moves”. No. I think to myself, “Gee, I’ve made some dumb decisions and man, I’m slow to learn. But wow, how wise is God to work my choices for good.”   

Wisdom does not consist in having all the answers. Wisdom begins with looking to God, who is the origin of wisdom. And wisdom continues as we trust Jesus to be our wisdom.

Let us pray…

Loving God, we pray for your Spirit of wisdom to shape our character and make us skillful in doing your will. May we delight in you and you in us. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • What is your origin story? What role has wisdom played in your life? Why do we need wisdom? 
  • What difference does it make that wisdom comes from God? How do you understand the relationship between faith and science? What can we learn from faith? What can we learn from science / creation?
  • What function / purpose does wisdom serve?
  • How functional (or chaotic) is your life at the moment? Wisdom creates order by sorting things and setting boundaries. Are there things in your life which are out of place and need to be sorted? Do you have healthy boundaries?  What needs to change?
  • What do you delight in? Why do you delight in this? How might you make time for delighting in God?  
  • What does it mean to trust Jesus to be our wisdom? How might we do this?

[1] Christine Yoder’s commentary on Proverbs, page 103.

Tawa Baptist

Lady Wisdom

Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-21

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

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Wisdom is near
  • Wisdom is righteous
  • Wisdom is valuable
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

‘The sun smiled down on us’

‘The story jumped off the page’

‘The light danced on the surface of the water’

‘The cake called my name’

‘Time marches on’.

These are all examples of personification.

Personification is when writers attribute human characteristics to something non-human. Smiling is a human characteristic. The sun doesn’t really smile. But we know that a smiling sun is a metaphor, a poetic way of saying, it was a warm sunny day but not too hot (like last Thursday).

Likewise, cake can’t literally speak but we know that when someone says, ‘the cake called my name’, what they really mean is the cake looked very appetizing and they couldn’t resist eating it.  

Today we continue our series in the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical wisdom for living. It gives handy life hacks for people starting out in the world.

Last week we heard about not taking responsibility for what is not yours so you can take responsibility for what is yours. This week our focus is Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs 8 is a poem which personifies wisdom as a woman. We might call her Lady Wisdom.

The plan is to unpack the first 21 verses of Proverbs 8 today and look at the rest in a couple of weeks’ time. From verse 1 we read…

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud:

4 “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all humankind. 5 You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. 6 Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. 7 My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. 8 All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. 9 To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge. 10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, 11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. 13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behaviour and perverse speech. 14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power. 15 By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; 16 by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth. 17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. 18 With me are riches and honour, enduring wealth and prosperity. 19 My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. 20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, 21 bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

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

In these verses the writer of Proverbs personifies wisdom as a woman. Lady Wisdom is near, Lady Wisdom is righteous and Lady Wisdom is valuable.

Let me retell for you an old Jewish folk story called The Treasure… 

Wisdom is near:

Once there was a man named Isaac who lived in a small fishing village on the edge of the kingdom. Isaac was poor. One night Isaac had a dream and in his dream a voice told him to go to the capital city and under the bridge to the palace he would find hidden treasure.

When Isaac woke in the morning he dismissed the dream, thinking it strange. The next night though he had the dream again. A prudent man by nature, Isaac put the dream out of his mind and carried on with his day.

But when Isaac had the same dream a third time, he decided make the journey to the capital city to see if there was in fact any treasure under the bridge to the palace.

Isaac set out on foot, relying on the kindness of strangers when he could, until finally, after many days, he arrived in the capital city.

As he approached the palace, Isaac noticed there actually was a bridge as he had seen in his dream. But on drawing closer he met a guard.

‘What do you want?’, the guard asked in a surly manner. The man did not bother to ask Isaac’s name or where he came from. So Isaac told the guard how a voice had told him in a dream to go to the capital city where he would find treasure under the bridge to the palace. 

The guard laughed saying, ‘I too had a dream in which a voice told me to go to a small fishing village on the edge of the kingdom, where I would find treasure in the house of a man named Isaac, under his stove. Can you imagine if I had followed my dream?’

Isaac exercised his discretion, thanked the guard and made his way home, relying on the kindness of strangers when he could. After many days he arrived back in the small fishing village.

He lifted the tiles under his stove and found a box full of gold. The treasure he had been looking for had been there all along.

The gold in this story represents wisdom. Wisdom is the real treasure and wisdom is near.

In the opening verses of Proverbs 8 we read that Lady Wisdom is near; close at hand. The highest point along the way (in verse 2) is a place that cannot be missed. Where the paths meet is an intersection or a crossroads. A place of decision making and choosing what way you will take.

And the gate leading into the city (verse 3) is both the entrance of the city and also a place in ancient society where disputes were settled, like a court of law.

All of this is a poetic way of saying that wisdom is not hard to find. You can observe Lady Wisdom in ordinary everyday life. We learn wisdom through our own experience and by observing the people around us. We learn wisdom in community with others.

Lady Wisdom is not some mystical guru sitting on a mountain top in a distant land. She is not hard to reach. No one stands between you and wisdom. Lady Wisdom is right there in front of you, calling out from the street and market place, in broad daylight.

We notice (in verses 1 and 4) that Lady Wisdom raises her voice. It’s not that wisdom has to shout. More the sense that wisdom communicates with a distinctive quality and with substance. 

There are many voices competing for our attention but wisdom has the ring of truth to it. Wisdom makes sense even in the busy-ness and confusion of life. The key is to slow down and listen for wisdom; to pay attention and discern her voice.

We notice too that wisdom is accessible to all humankind. Wisdom isn’t just for old people or rich people or smart people. Wisdom is for the simple, that is for those who are a bit naïve.

Wisdom is also for the foolish. In other words, if you have made some unwise choices in the past then you need not feel condemned to a lifetime of poor choices. If you open your mind and listen to wisdom, you can learn from your mistakes and become wise.

Given that wisdom is available to the simple and the foolish, it naturally follows that wisdom is available to everyone. Wisdom is near and wisdom is righteous.

Wisdom is righteous:

The term ‘righteousness’ essentially means right relationship. To be righteous is to live in right relationship with God and our neighbour. To say it another way, righteousness is relational.

Righteousness does not have to do with the religious rituals we might perform. It’s not about how many times you pray each day or how much money you donate to charitable organisations. Fasting does not make you righteous and neither does living in a cave away from society.

Righteousness has little if anything to do with ascetic practices. Righteousness is all about the way you relate with the people around you and it’s about the way you get things done.

A right relationship is characterized by things like honesty, trust, mutual respect, fairness, justice and wellbeing. And so Lady Wisdom says of herself in verses 6-9…      

I have trustworthy things to say… I speak what is right… All my words are just and upright. (Wisdom’s words are fair and genuine; the real deal.)

More than just saying the right thing though, Lady Wisdom also does the right thing. In verse 20 she says: I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice. Lady Wisdom models what right relationship looks like by her example.

Here’s another way to look at righteousness. Aldous Huxley, the author of the book Brave New World, once said this: ‘But the nature of the universe is such that the ends never justify the means. On the contrary, the means always determine the end.’

The end is the goal or the desired outcome. While the means is the way you go about achieving the goal.

There is a worldly kind of wisdom, a cunning or shrewdness if you like, that is willing and able to sacrifice truth and trust, justice and uprightness in order to achieve a desired outcome.

For example, a medical student might cheat on their exam in order to pass. They may justify the means (cheating) by saying the end (passing) will enable them to help people in need. The problem is, they will probably end up doing more harm than good if they don’t know their stuff all that well. 

That is not the character of Lady Wisdom. True wisdom says, the end does not justify the means. Lady wisdom detests wickedness and crooked speech. She knows the means (how you achieve your goal) generally determines the end. You reap what you sow. 

And this is where the fear of the Lord comes in. In verse 13, Lady Wisdom says:   

To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behaviour and perverse speech.

In one sense, to fear the Lord means being conscious that God sees all that we do and will one day hold us accountable. That being said, the fear of the Lord is not the same as the fear of punishment. If our relationship with God is based on the fear of punishment, then it is not a right relationship. It’s an abusive relationship and we will end up resenting God, rather than loving him.

No. Those who fear the Lord understand that God trusts them and they don’t want to abuse his trust nor take it for granted. To fear the Lord is to respect and reverence our relationship with God because God’s trust is precious to us.

Those who think the end justifies the means do not fear the Lord. They are arrogant. They think they can get away with it.

Perverse speech isn’t about swearing or using bad language so much as lying, not telling the truth, deceiving people with words. Falseness goes hand in hand with evil behaviour.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought the end justified the means. Their speech was perverse. They reasoned it was okay to falsely accuse Jesus and have him killed on the basis that it would preserve their power and position. But Jesus wasn’t interested in their power or position.

We are talking about Lady Wisdom. Wisdom is near and wisdom is righteous. Wisdom shows us how to live in right relationship with God and our neighbour. Righteousness, as a means and an end, is what gives wisdom her value.  

Wisdom is valuable:

From verse 10 we read…

10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, 11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Verses 18 & 19 pick up the same theme, where Lady Wisdom says…

18 With me are riches and honour, enduring wealth and prosperity. 19 My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

The point here is that wisdom is more valuable than silver and gold.

Verse 18 is referring to relational wealth and prosperity, more than financial prosperity. The Hebrew word translated into English as prosperity is literally righteousness.

These verses are saying that righteous wisdom will make you secure in your relationships; wisdom will enhance the quality of your relationships.

Of course, when you live in right relationship with others, when you treat others with respect and fairness, when you are honest and trustworthy in your dealings with others, over time, that tends to result in financial security as well. You reap what you sow. The means determines the end.   

In verse 12, Lady Wisdom expounds her value further saying…

12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.

Prudence is the ability to govern oneself by use of reason. Prudence is the capacity to exercise self-control or self-discipline. Those with prudence demonstrate skill and good judgement in the use of resources.

If you win Lotto but lack prudence you will probably lose your winnings before long. Financial wealth is wasted on those without prudence.

Lady wisdom possesses knowledge with discretion. That’s an interesting combination.

Knowledge concerns facts, accurate information and skill. Knowledge is a necessary component of wisdom.

Discretion is the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offence. A discrete person knows when to keep their mouth shut.

Just because you know something, it doesn’t automatically follow that you should share it. Knowledge without discretion can destroy relationships. Wisdom keeps knowledge and discretion together.

In the story I told earlier, Isaac listened to the guard and gained knowledge of where to find the treasure. But Isaac also had the discretion to not tell the guard his name or where he came from.

From verse 14, Lady Wisdom continues speaking of her value…

14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power. 15 By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;

Insight is the ability to see into a situation. Those with insight see beneath the surface to understand what’s really going on, what’s really driving someone’s behaviour. The wisdom of insight enables kings and rulers to make good decisions and exercise power in a righteous way so that all of society benefits.

King Solomon showed insight and good judgement when two women came to him with one baby, both claiming the baby to be their own. When Solomon ordered the child to be cut in two, the first woman was ambivalent while the second woman begged the king to preserve the child’s life and give him whole to the first woman. Solomon’s wise insight revealed who the true mother was. The woman who begged Solomon to save the child’s life.

Conclusion:

In verse 17, Lady Wisdom says…

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

Wisdom wants to have a right relationship with us, so we may have a right relationship with God and those around us.

We are reminded of the words of Jesus, who more than any other human being, embodies the wisdom of God. In Matthew 7, Jesus says…  

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

The treasure of wisdom is closer than you think. Grace and peace to you on the journey.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • Where can we find wisdom? How might we open our mind to learn wisdom? Can you think of a time when you learned wisdom from your mistakes? What happened?
  • What is righteousness? How might we know when our relationships are righteous? 
  • Discuss / reflect on the quote by Aldous Huxley: ‘But the nature of the universe is such that the ends never justify the means. On the contrary, the means always determine the end.’ How does this fit with the righteous wisdom of Proverbs 8? 
  • What does it mean to fear the Lord (in the context of Proverbs 8)? How is fear of the Lord different from fear of punishment?
  • Why is wisdom more valuable than gold or silver? Why is it important to keep knowledge and discretion together?
  • What connections can you see between Proverbs 8:1-21 and the teaching of Jesus?
Tawa Baptist

Responsibility

Scripture: Proverbs 6:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/-TP-QDgpdto

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Guard your authority
  • Take responsibility for yourself
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In a moment I’m going to list some words and as I do, listen carefully and see if you can pick up the common thread: Kiwi, Kākāpō, Morepork, Fantail, Tui and Black Robin. What is the common thread with these? [Wait]

That’s right, they are all native birds of New Zealand. 

Today we continue our series in the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical wisdom for living. It gives handy life hacks for people starting out in the world. 

Often when we read Proverbs it seems like a random collection of unrelated sayings. And sometimes that’s because it is. Other times though it’s possible to find a common thread.

A couple of weeks’ ago we heard about the importance of guarding your heart. This morning we look at Proverbs chapter 6. If we were to read the whole chapter, we would notice one of the common threads tying Proverbs 6 together is responsibility.  

Most of Proverbs 6 deals with our responsibility to God and our neighbour, but the first 11 verses (the focus of our message today) is primarily concerned with personal responsibility. That is, our responsibility to and for ourselves. From Proverbs 6, verse 1, we read…

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbour, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2 you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. 3 So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbour’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion—and give your neighbour no rest! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. 5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. 6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

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

As I mentioned earlier, one of the common threads with this reading is the idea of responsibility, in particular personal responsibility. For responsibility to be life giving though, it must always go together with authority.

Being responsible means you are the one who will be held accountable for the outcome. While authority means having the resources and decision making control you need to get the job done and achieve the outcome.  

Responsibility plus authority equals freedom.

Conversely, responsibility minus authority equals captivity.

To make someone responsible for something but then take away their authority to act, is unfair. It puts that’s person in a difficult position.

Responsibility without authority is like saying, you must cook a meal to feed your family but I’m tying your hands behind your back first. Or, you must build a house to provide shelter but I’m taking away your land and your tools.

In order to maintain our freedom, we must keep responsibility and authority together; we must guard our authority and not give it away thoughtlessly.

Guard your authority:

In verses 1-5 of Proverbs 6, the teacher gives a real life example of what separating responsibility from authority looks like; putting up security for your neighbour.

This scenario imagines someone, you might not know all that well, asking you to act as guarantor for a loan. Maybe they need some cash for a business venture. They come to you and say, “I’ve got a proposition for you. Act as guarantor on my loan so I can buy this field. I’ll flip it for a quick profit and give you a cut.”

Whatever the reason, they want to borrow money from someone else and they ask you to pledge your tractor or your house or something of value you possess as collateral against the loan.

If you agree to do this, then you are making yourself responsible for their debt and you are giving away your authority. You cannot control whether or not this strange neighbour will repay their debt. Maybe they will and you will be okay, but if they don’t you will lose your tractor and your house and your financial freedom.  In any case, you will lose sleep while you wait to find out.    

Agreeing to help someone in this way might seem like a smart thing to do, but it is foolish because it ties your hands. It puts you in their power.

You may have noticed the word hands is used multiple times in these verses. Quite often in the Bible hands is a poetic way of talking about power. To be in someone else’s hands is to be in their power, to be captive, not free.

If you (in the heat of the moment) rashly say you will cover someone else’s debt, then do everything in your power to get out of the arrangement as soon as possible. Take a lesson from the gazelle and the bird caught in a trap. Free yourself before it is too late. Better to humiliate yourself temporarily than to become a slave permanently. Better still not to get yourself in that position in the first place.

Now, it is important to note that the teacher is not advocating stinginess or meanness toward people in need. Elsewhere, in the law of Moses, God encourages those who can afford it to lend money to the poor and to help those in need.

But lending money to the poor (who may or may not be able to pay you back) is different from mortgaging your land for them. Because when you lend (or give) money to someone, you limit your liability and you guard your authority. You maintain your freedom to be generous in other words.

Acting as guarantor for other people’s debt is not only personally irresponsible, it’s also socially irresponsible. It places a strain on community relationships that the neighbourhood is not strong enough to bear.

As one commentator puts it, the principle of wisdom here is: take responsibility for what is yours and do not take responsibility for what is not. [1]

So how might this apply in our context today?

How many of you here have received a phone call or an email or a text message from a scammer, trying to get access to your bank account details. [Wait] It’s disturbing really. Proverbs 6 is a warning to be alert and not allow yourself to be scammed.

Some people will play on your emotions to get money out of you. They will appeal to your fear, or your ego or your greed. Whatever strategy the scammer uses they are trying to put you in their power by getting you to hand over your authority while making you responsible.     

Keeping responsibility and authority together has a broader application though than not acting as a guarantor and avoiding scammers. Money is not our only resource. For most of us these days, time is a more valuable thing.     

When we over commit ourselves and try to do too much with the limited time and energy available to us, we effectively give away our authority and make ourselves responsible for more than we can handle. We become slaves to an over busy schedule; trapped on a treadmill of never ending activity.   

I imagine most people here don’t need to be told to work harder. More likely you need to become more discerning about what you commit yourself to. That can be difficult. Our need to feel useful, to find meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging often drive us to take on more than we can handle.

One of our church values, here at Tawa Baptist, is freedom to be involved.

‘Freedom to be involved’ means we don’t put pressure on people to do lots of church stuff. We let people become involved in church life at their own pace.

We don’t guilt people into doing things and we don’t load people up with so many church responsibilities that they lose authority (or control) over their lives.

We try to encourage people to maintain a healthy balance, allowing time for family, time for church and time for engagement with the wider world. Hopefully too, time for fun and rest.

The risk with freedom to be involved is that some people might think they have a license to kick back and cruise. To be slack and to take without giving anything back. But that is not a responsible use of freedom.   

Freedom to be involved is about contributing in a way that is life giving for you and the community. We want people to be involved in church life from a place of personal authority and responsibility, because you want to and you can. 

It’s like Jesus said in Matthew 11: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The wisdom of Jesus does not separate responsibility and authority. The wisdom of Jesus calls us to do what is in our power to do and to trust God for the rest.

Take responsibility for yourself:

Responsibility plus authority equals freedom. If the first five verses of Proverbs 6 talk about the importance of guarding your authority (keeping some control over your life), then the next six verses underline the importance of taking responsibility for yourself. Verses 6-8 tell us to learn from the ant… 

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

A sluggard is a lazy person, someone who does not take responsibility for themselves. They have authority over themselves but they don’t exercise it in a positive or constructive way.

Ants keep authority and responsibility together. Ants have their own authority. They are not slaves at the mercy of a dictator. Ants have autonomy over themselves, no one tells them what to do. And how do they use their authority? How do they use their freedom? Wisely and responsibly.

Ants work hard, carrying loads much bigger than themselves. But they also work smart. They make hay while the sun shines. They go with the grain of the seasons, putting themselves to work when the environment is most conducive to a good outcome, during the summer harvest, when conditions are right and food is plentiful.

Another wise thing about ants is that they work together. Working on your own (especially doing heavy physical labour) can be quite tough. But when you work as part of a team, there is a certain buoyancy or energy that carries you. Somehow the work doesn’t seem so overwhelming.

But wait, there’s more. Ants are good for the environment too. Ants turn and aerate the soil, allowing water and oxygen to reach plant roots. Ants also help with seed dispersal. In the very act of taking responsibility for themselves, ants make a positive contribution to the environment.

It’s similar with us human beings. Personal responsibility forms the building blocks of social responsibility. As we work to earn a living, taking care of ourselves and our family, we contribute positively to society.    

The ant is a model of setting a goal, making an appropriate commitment in community with others and sticking with it. The ant teaches us to avoid those responsibilities that are not ours so we can be free for those responsibilities that are ours.

Verses 9-11 paint a picture of what not taking responsibility for yourself looks like. The outcome of shirking our responsibility is poverty.

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

Notice how scarcity sneaks up and mugs a person. No one really sets out to be poor. Poverty ambushes people, it takes the sluggard by surprise. The point here is that being irresponsible is a lifestyle or a pattern. It’s a bad habit that eventually leads to disaster.

Now, in reading these verses, we need to be very careful. While being slack and not taking responsibility for yourself generally does result in poverty, it does not automatically follow that everyone who is poor is lazy or irresponsible. People can fall on hard times for a whole raft of reasons.

Sometimes people fall into the pit of poverty because they lack discipline and drift aimlessly through life. Other times though people find themselves in the pit of poverty because they have been pushed. There are often systemic reasons why people find themselves trapped in poverty.

You are probably aware of the saying, ‘Give a person a fish and they eat for a day. Teach them to fish and they eat for a lifetime’. That saying is well intentioned but a little naive. It assumes the world is fair, when it is not.

It’s not enough to teach a person to fish. Many of the world’s poor would fish responsibly if they could, but the authority to fish has been taken from them. We address systemic inequalities, we give people authority, by ensuring people have the right fishing equipment and fair access to the fishing pond.

To avoid poverty, we need to keep authority and responsibility together.

Thinking of systemic injustice, which takes away people’s authority and discourages personal responsibility, the ant has more to teach us. In the context of Proverbs 6 at least, the ant gathers its food in season, which is often quite different from the way we gather food.

We live is a consumer oriented culture, one in which we don’t necessarily know what we want but we feel we don’t have it and so we always want more. We are always consuming but never really satisfied.

As a consequence, our society gathers perpetually, with little or no regard for the demand and supply of resources or the needs of others. Affluent ‘out of season’ consumption can drive the price up and make life more difficult for the global poor.    

So how does the advice of Proverbs, to not be lazy but rather store up provisions in season, fit with the teaching of Jesus? After all, didn’t Jesus warn against storing up riches on earth? Didn’t the Lord tell us not to worry about tomorrow because God knows what we need is able to provide?

Yes, Jesus did teach those things.

We need to keep in mind that the wisdom of Proverbs is not complete; it is not whole. Jesus completes the wisdom of Proverbs. He fulfils it. The wisdom of Proverbs is generally intuitive, it’s common sense. Whereas the wisdom of Jesus is often counter intuitive. It’s paradoxical.

Proverbs tells us how to identify and avoid pitfalls in life. Proverbs says, ‘This is what a pit looks like. Stay away from it’. But Jesus does more than that. Jesus looks for pits in order to lift people out of them. Jesus came to redeem and restore and make whole.   

Proverbs builds a fence to protect people. Jesus builds a gate in the fence to connect people and show them the way.   

Jesus brings some much needed perspective to the wisdom of Proverbs. Proverbs is very focused on this life and how to survive in an imperfect world, so much so that it puts us at risk of losing sight of the next life.

Part of Jesus’ message is to remind people that this life is not all there is. What we do in this life has consequences for the next life. The life to come is by far the bigger part. Wisdom dictates that our behaviour in this world needs to be informed by the life to come.

When Jesus said, don’t worry about the food you eat or what tomorrow might bring, he was not encouraging people to be lazy or irresponsible. He was encouraging the work of faith. He was setting people free from unhelpful fear and anxiety. He was broadening people’s horizons, helping the human mind to imagine a different reality, an eternal reality.        

That does not mean we fold our hands and give up our jobs. We still need to work but we do so by the light of eternity, rather than the fear of not having enough. 

The apostle Paul brings the teaching of Jesus and the wisdom of Proverbs together nicely when he says in his letter to the Thessalonians… 

11 make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 

Conclusion:

We need to keep authority and responsibility together. When we do that we are free. Not free to do whatever we want, but free to love God, love our neighbour and love ourselves.

May the Lord give you grace to walk in freedom and righteousness. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • Why is it important to keep responsibility and authority together? What happens if we separate responsibility and authority?
  • Can you think of examples (either from Scripture or your own experience) when authority was separated from responsibility? What happened?
  • How might we guard our personal authority? How might we help others, in a way that respects their freedom and our own?
  • What wisdom (life skills) can we learn from observing the ant?
  • How does the advice of Proverbs 6 fit with the teaching of Jesus? How does Jesus complete (fulfil) the wisdom of Proverbs? 

[1] Paul Koptak, NIVAC Proverbs, page 199.

Tawa Baptist

Made to Last – by Neville

During a recent holiday in Britain, I visited a church built for a farming community in the 13th century. At the bottom of the old door was a much smaller door – a dog-door. This allowed shepherds to attend church, while their sheep dogs could come and go during a service.

What a lovely example of an ancient church that met the needs of its community.

I visited a number of places connected to the long history of Christianity in Britain. I saw examples of change, resilience and continuity, and I thought I’d tell you about some of these.

We’ll start in Cornwall, a county that contains the most westerly and most southerly points of mainland Britain.

People lived in Cornwall for thousands of years before the birth of Christ, and some of their stone structures survive to remind us of a pagan past. These include Neolithic tombs, Bronze Age standing stones and stone circles.

The Romans occupied much of Britain in the first four centuries AD, and then the Anglo-Saxons took over; Cornwall stayed remote and pagan. But in the 5th and 6th centuries, Christian missionaries arrived in Cornwall, mostly from Ireland.

The Irish missionaries brought Christianity with a very Celtic flavour, quite different to the Roman church later introduced in the east of Britain.

Celtic Christianity tended to focus on simplicity and God in community, rather than structured services and church hierarchy. The early missionaries modelled the Christian life by example – they brought the good news of Jesus, and gave credibility to their words through their deeds. Christianity didn’t always go down well of course, and many missionaries were killed.

With no central organisation as such, missionaries were able to do what seemed right for the place they ended up at. For many this meant fitting Christianity in beside existing beliefs.

To pagans, springs of water were special places, places of healing and links to a spiritual realm. Near the modern city of Penzance, one missionary set himself up beside a pagan spring. He taught, healed and baptised in the name of Jesus, and got a reputation as Saint Madron. Even after his death, pilgrims came to the spring for healing.

A chapel was built in the 12th century in memory of the saint. It’s ruined now, but I found fresh flowers on the altar that showed it hasn’t been forgotten. Ribbons tied in the trees by the spring, representing recent supplications, suggest that the pagan past still lingers, side by side with Christianity. Anyone today who tosses a coin into water and makes a wish is also echoing an ancient pagan practice.

There are dozens of such places throughout Cornwall. One, dedicated to St Ruan, still attracts pilgrims, and water from the spring is still used in a nearby church for baptisms.

These places reminded me of the way modern missionaries, like those from Arotahi we focused on last month, tend to work alongside non-Christians in their own situations.

I’d have missed the track to St Madron’s chapel if it wasn’t for a stone marker cross erected in the 12th century, at the same time as the chapel. There are more wayside crosses like this in Cornwall than anywhere else in England.

The story of the Boskenna Cross, near Land’s End, is a wonderful example of Christian continuity and survival. Originally erected in the 12th century on a tall pillar, this cross (like many others) was smashed in the 1500s. This was the time of the Reformation, when Protestants separated from the Catholic church, and saw it as their duty to destroy graven images in churches all over Britain. The head of the Boskenna cross was rediscovered in a ditch in 1869, and re-erected using an old stone farm roller for the pillar. Despite being hit by motor vehicles, a few times, this cross still marks an easy-to-miss road to the local church.

Not all missionaries set up by springs. Some established themselves at other popular gathering places. They erected a simple living hut, often with a stone cross to mark the spot. However, the mid-7th century saw a turning point in English Christianity, when it was decided that the church of Rome would replace Celtic practices. In Cornwall this resulted in the building of churches, a hierarchy of priests and a restricted access to God. In the Celtic church, all money had been used for the poor. In the church that took over, the pope ordered that of all money donated, a quarter went to the bishops, a quarter to the clergy, a quarter to hospitality and a quarter to the poor. No wonder that the old ways were not easily abandoned, and many of the old stone crosses survived next to the new churches.

We’re going to leap forward now, missing out centuries of ups and downs in British Christianity, to land in the 18th century. At this time, many Christians weren’t happy with the state of the established church, and were drifting away.

Over 27 years in the late 1700s, John Wesley and his brother Charles, founders of Methodism, often visited Cornwall. They encouraged people to get out of their churches and take individual responsibility for being Christ in their communities. Because of the numbers of people attending meetings, the Wesleys gave most of their sermons outside.

A favourite site, where they preached many times, was an amphitheatre called Gwennap Pit. It was formed by previous mining activity, but was ideal for the crowds of thousands the Wesleys attracted. In 1806, locals remodelled the Pit as a memorial to the Wesleys, which is what you can see at the site now. The Pit has been used for a service at least once a year from 1807 to the present, except during recent Covid lockdowns. That’s continuity.

I know some of you remember the Billy Graham rallies in New Zealand in 1959 and 1969, so you can perhaps identify with the atmosphere in the Pit.

As well as jumping in time again, we’re going to jump location too – to London.

Back in 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed about a quarter of the city – including 87 churches and St Paul’s Cathedral. The churches were an important part of the rebuild, and architect Sir Christopher Wren and colleagues rebuilt most of them and added new ones, all within about 15 years. St Paul’s Cathedral took a bit longer!

This does suggest amazing resilience of the churches, but there was another side to the story. More than 70,000 people were made homeless by the fire, and were housed in tented camps set up in city parks. Even after the churches had been rebuilt, many people were still homeless and living in squalid conditions. Providing churches for spiritual comfort and worship before housing the homeless – you might disagree with that idea.

St Martin’s, Ludgate, just down the road from St Paul’s, is one of the few Wren churches that escaped the bombing of World War Two. Nicky and I went there to witness my brother and his wife renew their marriage vows. The meal afterwards was held in the home of the Archdeacon of London. The reason I mention this is that, in what is now the kitchen, is a plaque commemorating the fact that the Church Missionary Society, started in 1799, held its committee meetings there until 1812. William Wilberforce was a committee member. And as many of you will know, it was the CMS who sent two missionaries to New Zealand in 1814, accompanied by Samuel Marsden, the Society’s chaplain in New South Wales.

I couldn’t help thinking that Christianity in Britain has been on a long journey from its early missionary days, to sending out its own missionaries around the world. And now New Zealand sends out its own missionaries. This reminded me that some of God’s plans are very long term, and they have relied on many generations of people who have loved and trusted Him.

You’ve sat through a lot of history this morning, so it’s only fair to bring you up to date.

One London church, St James, Piccadilly, was badly damaged by bombs in 1940, but was rebuilt by 1954. The church stands between two busy central London streets, with a door opening on to each. At lunchtime people use the church as a way to get between the streets in search of food. Some might see this as a bit cheeky, but the church encourages it – in fact, the church has now become a destination, as well as a thoroughfare. Lunchtime concerts encourage people to linger. We found lunch in a courtyard full of food stalls, and had a drink in the Redemption Roasters café, staffed by ex-prisoners. There was also a quiet place offering counselling. On the spiritual side, services range from Sunday traditional to those during the week that suit people who like to worship through music, dance or quiet.

This seems to be a church that is a vibrant part of its community, responding to practical needs. It is one of many, and it left me with a real sense of optimism.

That was shaken a couple of weeks ago, when I read a short piece from an English newspaper, published in our own Post. This is how it started:

“England’s established church is in deep trouble. An investigation by The Telegraph has revealed that almost 300 Anglican parishes have disappeared in the last five years. In less than 30 years the Church of England has lost more than half its regular worshippers. Attendance now stands at barely over 500,000.”

Here in New Zealand, over the last 20 years the national census has recorded a large drop in people recorded as Christian.

But we’ve just seen that, over a long time span, Christianity and individual churches experience ups and downs, large and small. Some churches survive, others don’t. So what makes a church resilient in troubling times?

The Bible gives us some clues.

Acts 9:31 tells us that, despite persecution and hardship, in its very early days “The church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord.”

In James 1:2-3 we read “My brothers, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.”

So resilience depends on faith – trust in God and obedience to him.

I think Tawa Baptist has the signs of being a resilient church, and I don’t just mean the earthquake strengthening.

It is resilient because of prayer. Not just praying for ourselves and others, but praying as a way of trying to discern God’s wishes for the church.

It is resilient because it invests in the future of its young people.

It is resilient because its people use their spiritual gifts, and learned skills, for the good of the church and its community.

It is resilient because of the Bible-based teaching it receives, and because it puts into action what Jesus taught.

Basically, resilience comes about when we love God, but love people as well. That’s what Jesus made it clear we must do.

At the start of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, Luke tells us that when the crowds followed Jesus “He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.” (Luke 9:11). He told the people the truth, then showed them the truth by meeting their needs.

Luke also tells us (in Luke 9:2) that Jesus gathered the 12 disciples together, “Then he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” He instructed them to tell the truth, then show the truth by serving.

Love God, but love people too. Those early missionaries in Cornwall did just that – they told people about the good news of Jesus, but they also healed and helped those in need. It’s what John Wesley preached – love God, but take responsibility for helping those in need. It’s what many modern churches do, each in their own way.

I know that Peanuts cartoons don’t have the same authority as the Bible, but I think there’s a lesson for us in this one. You really need to see the cartoon, but this description should give you the idea:

Frame 1: Snoopy is sitting outside in the snow, shivering. In the distance, Linus says to Charlie Brown “Snoopy looks kind of cold, doesn’t he?”

Frame 2: Charlie Brown replies “I’ll say he does. Maybe we’d better go over and comfort him.”

Frame 3: The two boys go up to Snoopy. “Be of good cheer, Snoopy” says one, “Yes, be of good cheer” says the other.

Frame 4: The boys walk away, and Snoopy is left shivering in the snow.

What would you have done? (apart from not talking to a dog and expecting it to understand!)

I happened to be in Britain much of the time I was thinking of the theme of Christian resilience and continuity, so I’ve used examples from there. I encourage you to think about examples from countries you are more familiar with, including New Zealand.

Questions:

What are some examples of churches in the Tawa area providing for the needs of their communities?

How do you feel about the future of Christianity in New Zealand?

What does it mean to say a church is resilient?

What does it mean to say an individual person is spiritually resilient?

Reread the list of things that may contribute to Tawa Baptist being a resilient church. What other factors are there?

How do you respond to the following statement?

‘People have different spiritual gifts – some are good at telling about Jesus, others are better at helping those in need.’

Do you think that previously pagan/non-Christian places can still have a role in modern Christian life? Why do you think that?

After a disaster like the Great Fire of London, or an earthquake in NZ say, how could you justify building churches before housing the homeless?

Tawa Baptist

Guard Your Heart

Scripture: Proverbs 4:20-27 and Mark 7:1-23

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Kdy3Yj1uakc

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The heart’s trajectory
  • Guarding your heart
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical wisdom for living. It gives handy life hacks for people starting out in the world. 

Our message today focuses on chapter 4, verses 20-27. As we move through these verses see how many different body parts you recognize. From Proverbs 4, verse 20 we read…

20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. 27 Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

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

Six different body parts are mentioned in these verses: the ear, the heart, the mouth, the lips, the eyes and the feet, plus the body as a whole is mentioned once. Following the path of wisdom is something that involves a person’s whole being.

The heart’s trajectory:

The organ that connects all the body parts is the heart.

For most people today, the heart (in a metaphorical sense) is considered the seat of a person’s feelings or emotions. For us, matters of the heart have to do with one’s affections and romantic love, in contrast to the head which is concerned with logic and reasoning.

People in the ancient world didn’t have the same head / heart dichotomy that we do. They didn’t separate matters of the head and the heart.

In the Old Testament, the heart is a metaphor for a person’s inner life, the core of their being. The heart includes your mind, emotions and will. It is essentially that part of yourself which is concerned with decision making.

The heart, in ancient thought, is sort of like the parliament or the board room of a person’s body and soul. The decisions made in one’s heart set the path for one’s life. The heart is like the rudder of a ship; it determines the course you take.

Airplane pilots are taught the 1 in 60 rule, which states that one-degree error in heading will result in the aircraft being off course by one mile for every 60 miles travelled. Which means that after 120 miles you will be two miles off course and so on.

One degree might not seem like much but it could mean the difference between arriving safely or crashing into a mountain.   

Repeatedly, throughout Proverbs 4, the father pleads for his children to listen and pay attention to his words of wisdom because following the father’s teaching sets the course for the young person’s life. If they are even one-degree off, it could mean the difference between life and death.  

Verse 21 reads: Do not let my words out of your sight, keep them within your heart; This is a poetic way of saying, commit the things I teach you to memory. Do not forget them. Keep my words of wisdom front of mind always.

The world we live in is very different from the ancient world. People in Old Testament times did not have the internet. They couldn’t google something on their phone. They couldn’t watch a Ted Talk or a YouTube clip at will. Books were not readily available either. So they had to remember things.

People learned by listening carefully and committing what they heard to memory. That involved time, concentration and repetition. Gaining and retaining wisdom took some effort but it was worth the effort because it could save your life.

That being said, we should not blindly follow everything we are taught. From time to time we need to check if the wisdom we follow is set to the right course. Because if it’s not, we will find ourselves further and further off track as time passes.

The Pharisees provide a classic example of how a particular tradition of wisdom got off track and led people away from God. In Mark 7, we read how some teachers of the law took issue with the way Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands in the proper way before eating. Jesus answered them…

8 “You put aside God’s command and obey human teachings. 9 You have a clever way of rejecting God’s law in order to uphold your own teaching. 10 For Moses commanded, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ …11 But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, ‘This is Corban’ (which means, it belongs to God), 12 they are excused from helping their father or mother. 13 In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God…”

Somewhere along the way the Pharisees’ tradition of wisdom got off course by one-degree and, over time, it led them away from keeping God’s law. Jesus provided a much needed critique of the Pharisees’ traditions, to get them back on course before they crashed.     

We critique what we are taught by measuring it against the Bible. Indeed, the Bible acts as a ruler and a protractor to inform our heart and help set a good course for our life.

Before we can critique the tradition of wisdom passed on to us, though, we must first take the trouble to understand it properly. Don’t be that person who discards everything just because one thing isn’t quite right. The traditions we inherit usually contain a valuable kernel of truth. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.     

Guard your heart:

Returning to Proverbs 4. The emphasis on retaining wisdom is reinforced again in verse 23 which reads: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.                                                                          
When I first read this verse I thought, okay if the heart basically equates to the mind, in the world of Proverbs, then guarding my heart (or my mind) means being really careful about what I let into my thought life.

See no evil, hear no evil. Don’t watch too much rubbish on TV. Avoid conspiracy theories and dodgey websites. Read wholesome Christian books and listen to plenty of worship music. Keep bad stuff out. Put good stuff in.

Like the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praise worthy, think about such things.  

While it is generally a good idea to be careful what we feed our mind on, that is not exactly what Proverbs 4 is saying. A wellspring flows outwards. If your heart and mind are a wellspring, then verse 23 is saying be careful about what you let out of your heart and mind.

As one commentator puts it: To guard the heart is to be prudent about the heart’s outgoings, to tend with diligence and discretion to how one expresses one’s thoughts and feelings.[1] In other words, develop a good filter.

You may have heard on the news this past week that about 40% of Wellington’s water supply is seeping away in leaks because the pipe infrastructure is old and deteriorating faster than we can fix it.

This means we are likely to face water restrictions over the next few months, especially if it is a long dry summer as expected.

In this situation, guarding the water supply is more about keeping the water in than anything else. Likewise, guarding the wellspring of your heart has more to do with preventing leaks than it does keeping bad things out. 

To use another metaphor. The risk with nuclear power plants is not what might get in but rather what might leak out. You want clean energy out of the nuclear power plant. You don’t want radioactive material to escape.

Jesus understood there is good and bad in the human heart and that guarding the heart means not letting the bad stuff out. In Mark 7, Jesus says…

20 “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Verses 24-27 of Proverbs 4 spell out what ‘guarding the heart’ looks like.

Firstly, guarding your heart means being careful about how you talk. There is a direct line between your mind and your mouth. Verse 24 reads: Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Before you say what’s on your mind, stop and T.H.I.N.K. Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Grace and truth is what we are aiming for with our talk.

We don’t always understand the power of our words. When we say something out loud it carries more weight than a mere thought. We have a tendency to start believing the things we say, even when those things are not quite true.

Your mouth is like a scalpel. It needs to be handled with surgical precision for it has potential to do good or harm. You don’t need to say everything that is in your heart and mind. Some things are better left unsaid.

Now this advice to measure and restrain your words seems to fly in the face of contemporary wisdom. The thinking in our society today is more attuned to the philosophy of ‘better out than in’. Unrestrained talk is considered to be therapy or catharsis. 

Proverbs 4 challenges this notion. It helps us to find the middle way between stiff upper lip stoicism and verbal diarrhea. Proverbs 4 is saying, guard your heart by being careful about what you say and who you say it to. When you need to share something personal, find a trustworthy listener.

Verse 25 offers another way to guard your heart: Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

Avoid temptation in other words. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by evil. Do not covet. Do not look over the fence at what your neighbour has.

This idea of ‘fixing your gaze directly before you’, implies you have a goal or a vision for your life, something good you are aiming for. The goal for Christians is to follow Jesus. To love God, love your neighbour and love yourself. Or, as the prophet Micah puts it, to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

This being said, you need to allow some distraction in your life. It doesn’t work to be super focused all the time. If you are too intense you’ll end up blowing a gasket or turning into a Pharisee.

It’s okay to stop and smell the roses every now and then. It’s okay to have time off when you need a rest. It’s okay to watch the rugby or to have a hobby. The point is, avoid temptation to evil. Don’t torture yourself by looking at what you cannot have. Remember what you are aiming for and stick with it.   

When you are driving a car, it’s important to keep your eyes on the road. Otherwise you might end up in a ditch or over a bank. Same thing in life generally. Where your eyes wander, your feet follow.

As we read in verse 26…

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.   

This verse is talking about the regular rhythms and routines we keep in our lives. Part of guarding your heart involves maintaining healthy patterns of work and rest, eating and sleeping, giving and receiving, worship and play, socialising and solitude.

So, for example, if you have had a very busy week, then giving careful thought to your path might mean planning a quiet weekend, especially if you are an introvert. Give yourself a chance to recover and regroup.

Or, if you know you have some away trips planned with work, then giving careful thought to your path might involve prioritising time to spend with your family before you go away and after you get back, in order to keep your relationships solid.     

Part of guarding your heart involves thinking about the path you are on and where this will lead you.

Verse 27 reads: Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

The assumption of verse 27 is that the young person, who is receiving instruction here, is already on the right path. They don’t need to repent or change their ways. They simply need to stay on track and not pursue evil.

Not turning to the right or the left means having the strength to say ‘no’. Not being easily swayed by those around you.

We live in a relatively permissive society, where almost anything goes. Personal freedom is one of the idols of our time. Many people think they have a right to do whatever they want. Some might call it a spirit of entitlement. The discipline of saying ‘no’ to ourselves does not come naturally to us.

The strength to say ‘no’ comes from having a clear sense of your own identity. Knowing who you are and whose you are. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus was able to say ‘no’ because he knew who he was. Jesus was deeply aware that he was God’s son and he knew the Father loved him.

Conclusion:

Among other things, Proverbs 4 reminds us to guard our heart for it steers the course of our life.

Guarding your heart isn’t just about what you let into your heart, it actually has more to do with what you let out of your heart.

We guard our heart by being careful with the words we speak, careful with what we set our sights on, careful with the path we walk day by day and careful to say ‘no’ when we need to.  

Where is your heart leading you?

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • What does the Old Testament mean by the term ‘heart’? How is this different from our contemporary understanding?
  • How might we check if the wisdom / tradition we have received is right?
  • In the context of Proverbs 4, what does it mean to ‘guard your heart’? Why is it important to guard your heart?
  • What practical things can we do to guard our heart?
  • Where are your sights set? What are you aiming for? What is your vision / goal in life? Is anything unhelpful distracting you from this?
  • Think about the regular rhythms and routines of your day and week. Where are these leading you? Does anything need to change?

[1] Christine Yoder

Tawa Baptist

Principles

Scripture: Proverbs 3:1-12

Video Link: https://youtu.be/3zN8xHVvEg0

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Verses 1-4
  • Verses 5-8
  • Verses 9-12
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

I grew up in the city of Hamilton. The main feature of Hamilton is the Waikato river, New Zealand’s longest river. As a general principle, river water travels downstream and consequently you can expect anything floating on the water to travel downstream too.

Having said that, there are times when the water travels upstream, against the main flow. This usually happens near the bank of the river. Sometimes floating objects get caught in an eddy and are prevented from moving downstream. But eventually they come unstuck and carry on their journey to the sea. 

Today we continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical wisdom for living well in this world.

The book of Proverbs is like a river. It describes the main flow of wisdom and the outcomes one can expect from certain choices. It doesn’t explore the eddy lines and back flows all that much. Proverbs is more concerned with the main principles of wisdom rather than the exceptions to the rule.  

Our message this week focuses on chapter 3, verses 1-12, which read…

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let loyal love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

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

Verses 1-4:

The book of Proverbs contains principles. A principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs. Principles guide our reasoning and behaviour.

For example, one of your principles for living might be ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. This principle then informs your chain of reasoning and behaviour: I want people to be honest and kind with me, therefore I will be honest and kind with others.

Of course, living by this principle does not guarantee people will always be honest and kind with you, but it does increase the likelihood of positive treatment. In any case, your kindness and honesty is not dependent on others. You aim to be kind and honest on principle, irrespective of how others may behave. 

Proverbs gives us principles to live by but we should not confuse these principles with promises.

The principle in verses 1-2 of Proverbs 3 is that the son remembers the commands (or instructions) his parents have given him, for they will prolong your life and bring you peace and prosperity. This is not a promise. There is no guarantee that following the parents’ wise advice will always bring prosperity.

Following the path of wisdom is not a get rich quick scheme. We don’t learn wisdom in order to accumulate lots of money. We learn wisdom on principle, because that is who we are and what we want to build our life on. 

There will be times when the vicissitudes of life create an exception to the rule. The story of Job is a case in point. Not all suffering is the result of folly. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and we don’t know why. We don’t always get what we deserve. But, as a general principle, following the path of wisdom leads to peace in the end. Ultimately, God restored Job.

The phrase translated as peace and prosperity is actually one word, shalom, in the original Hebrew. Shalom is wellbeing or abundant life. The prosperity of shalom has less to do with money or possessions and more to do with the richness of right relationships in community with others.  

The principle then is that remembering the parents’ wisdom is good for wellbeing, not just your own personal wellbeing but also the wellbeing of the whole community.

Verses 3-4 provide another principle to live by, the principle of loyal love and faithfulness. The term loyal love is actually hesed in the Hebrew. I’ve talked about hesed before. Ruth did hesed for her mother-in-law Naomi. Jesus does hesed for us on the cross.

Loyal love and faithfulness is about commitment and taking care of your relationships. Being a trust worthy person, maintaining your friendship and support through good times and bad.

To bind something around your neck is to have it with you all the time, wherever you go. To wear it so people can see. A wedding ring on your finger is a symbol of loyal love and faithfulness to your partner in marriage. It shows your commitment to your spouse.

Likewise, for some people, wearing a cross around their neck is a sign of their commitment to Christ. For others a cross necklace is just decoration. Wisdom says it is important that the symbols we wear on the outside of our bodies reflect the deeper principles and commitments we hold in our hearts. 

The heart, in this context, represents a person’s inner life. It includes your mind, emotions and will. To write loyalty and faithfulness on your heart is to be the same on the inside as you are on the outside. Don’t just pretend to be loyal and faithful, mean it genuinely, from the inside out.

As a general principle, being loyal and faithful will result in a good reputation. Over time, people will learn they can trust you. That being said, you don’t practice loyalty and faithfulness in order to make yourself look good. You are loyal and faithful and practice hesed on principle, because that is who you are; that is the foundation on which you want to build your life.

While a good reputation is not guaranteed or promised, it is the normal by-product of a life lived with loyalty and faithfulness.

There’s an interesting wee connection between Proverbs 3 and Luke 2. After the boy Jesus was left behind in the temple and his parents found him, we read   

51 Then Jesus went down to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. 

We don’t always follow the wisdom of our parents but Jesus did. We are not always loyal and faithful but Jesus was. Jesus fulfils the principles of wisdom we read about in Proverbs. Jesus does for us what we are not able to do for ourselves.

Verses 5-8:

Verses 5-12 of Proverbs 3, spell out some of wisdom’s principles as they operate in our relationship with God. Verses 5-6 are well known…

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  

The main principle here is to rely on God; don’t be sucked in by the illusion of self-reliance. 

We tend lean on this verse at isolated times when we are facing a significant life decision, like who to marry, whether to change careers, how to handle a tricky issue and so on. But really, these verses are for all of life, not just the crisis points and crossroads.

Trusting the Lord needs to be a constant principle we live by 24-7. We are to trust with all our heart, completely, totally. Trust is the antidote to worry and anxiety. Trust sets us free to think more clearly so we make better decisions. Trust enables us to wait patiently and to rest so our strength is renewed.

Trust is like a bridge over a gorge; it provides a way to safer ground.

Trust is like a torch light when you are walking at night in the bush; it doesn’t show the whole journey, but it does reveal enough to take the next step.

Trust is a promise kept; it gives you confidence to move forward.

Trust is like a warm meal; it fills you with comfort and strength.

There is a lot in this world that we don’t know and cannot control. If we think about that stuff too much we soon become overwhelmed with fear. Trusting God means leaving the stuff we don’t understand and cannot control with God. Not worrying about it but instead focusing on the things we can control.

God is the source of wisdom.  God alone sees the whole picture. We only see a small piece of the puzzle and not always that clearly. If we make decisions based on the little we know, without reference to God, then there is a good chance we will get it wrong.

This does not mean we have nothing to offer. Rather, trusting God with all our heart means we put God at the centre of our decision making.

The temptation is to rely on ourselves. That is what Adam and Eve did when they ate the forbidden fruit. Their sin (and ours) was to stop trusting God and rely on their own understanding.

Verse 6 talks about acknowledging God. In one sense that means praying to God; asking him to guide us and show us the way. But asking God for guidance is the easy part. The harder part is listening for God’s response; discerning what he is saying.

In order to do that we must know God. So the bigger part of acknowledging God is knowing him. We come to know God in the experiences we have along life’s pathway and as we trust him.

For example, my knowledge of God as Father did not come solely from a book. It came mostly from being a son and becoming a father myself. Likewise, my knowledge of Jesus (his goodness and suffering) came in part from reading the gospels but more deeply through serving in the church.

My knowledge of God’s forgiveness comes from realising when I have messed up, being honest about that and receiving forgiveness. It also comes when other people do wrong and I have to look to God for the grace to forgive them and let it go. 

The principles of loyal love and faithfulness in verse 3 are divine qualities. As we practice loyalty and faithfulness we grow in our knowledge of God. 

Do you understand the principle here? Acknowledging God isn’t just something we do in our head. It is the knowledge that comes from experience; from walking in relationship with God. And that happens all through life’s journey.

Verses 7-8 are saying almost the same thing as verses 5-6, just in a slightly different way. Not being wise in your own eyes is another way of saying, do not lean on your own understanding.

Fearing the Lord, goes hand in hand with trusting the Lord. To fear the Lord, in this context, means to respect the Lord, to recognise him as the source of wisdom and to be in touch with your need for his help. Those who fear the Lord do not want to do anything to damage their trust with God and so they shun evil.

The wisdom of these verses could be paraphrased as, walk humbly with God. The natural consequence of walking humbly with God is enjoying good health in your physical body.

This does not mean that everyone who is sick is wise in their own eyes. People can become sick for any number of reasons. Sickness is not proof of sin. Correlation does not prove causation. The principle here is that there is a connection between body and spirit.  

Jesus understood the body / spirit connection well. The Lord said, human beings cannot live on bread alone but need every word that God speaks. The person who fears and trusts the Lord, listens to God’s word and obeys it. The wisdom that comes from God is as necessary for life and health as food.  

Verses 9-12:

Part of acknowledging God involves honouring the Lord with your wealth. People in the Old Testament did this by offering the first fruits of their crops to God at the temple. The first fruits were then shared with the poor and the priests.

Giving a portion of our income (according to our means), rather than hoarding it up for ourselves, is an act of trust in God. It’s a practical way of saying, ‘God gave me this and God will continue to provide’.

Verse 10 says that when you return the first and best to the Lord, your barns will be filled to overflowing. You’ll have more than you need in other words.

Again, giving to the Lord is not a get rich quick scheme. We give to the Lord as a matter of principle, because offering the first and the best to God is an acknowledgement that all we have comes from God. It is God who provides us with a job and an income and the wherewithal to do the work.

Jesus talks about the wisdom of generosity in Luke 6, where he says…

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Our earthly economy is driven by the assumption of scarcity. The underlying belief of our society is that there is not enough to go around and so when something is in short supply, the price goes up. The economy of God’s kingdom is different from that. The underlying principle of God’s kingdom is abundance. With God, there is more than enough to go around.

We still have to do the mahi though. We still have to be good stewards of what we have. But the principle of reaping what you sow holds. If you sow generously, you will (more often than not) reap a greater harvest. And if you forgive others, God will forgive you.

Verses 11-12 of Proverbs 3 show us that God’s love is expressed as much by the Lord’s disciplineas by the abundance he provides…

…do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.   

When we hear the word ‘discipline’ we may think of punishment. But discipline is a word that really means teaching. Disciplining or teaching someone will usually mean correcting them when they are wrong, so they don’t keep repeating their mistake. But that correction need not involve punishment. More likely it will involve further practice until you get it right.

Verse 11 says we are not to resent God when he rebukes (or corrects) us. Resentment is a form of anger. Anger is the natural response to injustice. We get angry when we think we are being treated unfairly. If God corrects you, because you are doing something wrong, that is not unfair, that is kindness.

But what if we suffer when we haven’t done anything wrong? Could God be teaching us something in that experience? In his book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis says this…  

“I suggest to you that it is because God loves us that he gives us the gift of suffering. Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.”

C.S. Lewis was far wiser than me, but I’m not sure I agree with him entirely on this point. From a human perspective pain does not translate as love. Megaphones don’t work on the deaf but sign language does.

What’s more, human beings are not like blocks of stone. Stone is unfeeling, unyielding, unforgiving. Human life is fragile, sensitive to suffering, vulnerable.

Yes, God is a sculptor, but we are more like clay; soft, malleable, easily bent out of shape. In my experience, God’s correction of us is like that of a potter, who adds water and shapes our character with a gentle touch. Yes, the clay vessel goes into the furnace of suffering to set, but no longer than is necessary.

God’s discipline may, at times, involve suffering but not always. There is a patience and a grace to God’s discipline that is truly humbling.

If you know someone who is going through a difficult time at the moment, then please don’t make their ordeal any more difficult by suggesting God is teaching them something. Better to ask yourself, what is God teaching me.

God has a way of glorifying himself through suffering. I have learned a lot over the years by observing the way other people have handled themselves with courage and faith as they have journeyed through loss and grief.

Conclusion:

There are many principles of wisdom in the book of Proverbs but the most important principle is that God is love and everything he does is an expression of his love. The more we know that, the better we are able to trust him and rely not on our own understanding.

May the Lord bless you with a deeper experience of himself. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • What is a principle? How is a principle different from a promise? Describe one principle that guides your reasoning and behaviour?
  • Why do we practice loyal love (hesed) and faithfulness?
  • What connections do you see between Proverbs 3:1-12 and Jesus (in the gospels)?
  • What does it mean to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding?  How might we do this?
  • Discuss / reflect on the various ways you (personally) have come to know God.
  • Why do we give the first and best to God?
  • In what ways has God disciplined / taught / corrected you? 
Tawa Baptist

Be Discerning

Scripture: Proverbs 1:8-19

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Dcc1c-rIOTk

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Prepare children for life
  • Listen to discern
  • Consider the outcome
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we begin a new sermon series exploring the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical wisdom for living well in this world.

Primarily it gives the ABC’s of wisdom; life skills for beginners. It’s wisdom 101. At a deeper level though, Proverbs also offers insights for those who have been around the block a few times and know the ropes pretty well.

The first nine chapters of Proverbs are essentially a parent’s advice for their son, which fits quite nicely with today being Fathers’ Day. You’ll be pleased to know I don’t intend to cover all nine chapters this morning. Our focus this week is chapter 1, verses 8 to 19, which read…    

8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. 10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; 12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot with us; we will all share the loot”—15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood. 17 How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it! 18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! 19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.

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

There’s a lot going in these verses. Three points to focus our message today.

A wise person prepares their children for life. A wise person listens critically in order to discern truth from error. And a wise person considers the outcome before committing to a course of action. First, the wisdom of preparing children for life.

Prepare your children for life

When I was about 5 or 6, I used to walk to and from school by myself. It was about 3 kilometers each way. One of the things my mum impressed upon me, before sending me out into the world, was the importance of not accepting a car ride from anyone. She gave this instruction to protect me.   

I took my mother’s advice very seriously. One time a friend of mine was being driven to school by his mum in a Morris Minor and they stopped to offer me a lift. Even though it was quite safe, I was five and lacked discernment so refused the offer and kept walking.   

One of the responsibilities of parenthood is preparing your children for life, particularly life as they will experience it out in the world, after they leave home. The world is not a safe place. It is a mixture of good and bad.

Our children need to know how to tell the difference between good and evil. They need some street smarts both to avoid going down the wrong path and to know when it is safe to accept help.

If we think of parenting styles along a continuum. At one extreme there are those parents who abdicate their responsibility and do little or nothing to prepare their children for the world. Maybe life is busy and there isn’t time to show their kids the way because they are working two or three jobs. Or maybe they just don’t have the skills to know how to prepare their kids.

Parents who abdicate responsibility are basically leaving things to chance. That’s a recipe for learning the hard way.

At the other extreme there are those who become too involved in their kids’ lives and seek to manipulate circumstances so their children are never confronted with the realities of the world.

Perhaps they are rich and can afford to buy their kids out of trouble. Or maybe they are anxious and unconsciously manage their fear by controlling every detail of their children’s lives. (Helicopter parenting.)

Manipulating the situation is not helpful in the long run. If a child’s life has been so protected they never felt the consequences of their choices, they may struggle when reality bites.  

Please understand, it is not my intention to make anyone feel stink here. Parenting is hard and there is enough guilt attached to it already. Most of us are doing the best we can, often under pressure. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t. But even if we managed to get everything right, there are still no guarantees. There are many influences on our children these days.  

Wherever we may find ourselves on the spectrum, God is gracious enough to redeem our mistakes and wise enough to work with our choices.  

The middle ground, between abdicating and manipulating, involves educating our kids about the world so they are prepared to make good choices and avoid harm. When we take the time to educate our kids, we demonstrate that we care about them and we trust them. Education is an act of faith and love.  

Proverbs 1-9 imagines a scenario where a father and mother sit down with their son, who is coming of age and about to leave home, in order to make him aware of the dangers in the world so he is able to avoid pitfalls and wrong turns. (So he doesn’t accept rides from the wrong people, in other words.)

Listen critically to discern

Now before we continue I need to acknowledge that, for some here today, the language of Proverbs may be a bit challenging. The instruction is addressed to a ‘son’. Does this mean, daughters are excluded? No, it doesn’t.

I toyed with the idea of making the language more gender neutral; using the word ‘child’ for example. But that’s not what the text actually says. Proverbs was written centuries before the time of Christ in what we (today) might call a patriarchal society.

Generally speaking, men were in charge. Men held most of the power and control. Therefore, men were in a position to do greater harm. So, in that culture, if you instruct young men to act wisely, there is a benefit to all of society, especially women. Because when men behave foolishly it is often women who pay the price.

The principles of Proverbs have a universal application. So, whatever your gender, keep listening and ask yourself, how do the principles in these verses apply to me?

In all fairness, the authors of Proverbs are not sexist misogynist pigs. To the contrary, they had a deep respect for women. As we shall see in the coming weeks, the writers of Proverbs personify wisdom as a woman.

There is value in these verses for people who don’t have children too. You can still be a mentor or a coach. Sometimes younger people are more open to wisdom from an older friend who is not their father or mother.  

The first lesson of wisdom is listen. Listen to your mum and dad. The father’s instruction (or discipline) and the mother’s teaching will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

A garland for your head is a wreath of flowers or leaves representing honour and a chain to adorn your neck is a symbol of power and authority, similar to what a mayor or other important leader might wear.

The point is, if you listen to the good advice of your parents, you will eventually receive honour and respect and influence in the community.  

It should be noted that Proverbs 1 imagines parents who give good advice and who model a good example. Verses 8 and 9 are not suggesting that one should blindly follow their parents’ advice without thinking. Some adults are not fit to give good advice. If your mum or dad are telling you to do something unjust or unkind, then you cannot expect that to result in honour and respect. Find a mentor whose advice you can trust.

The context makes it clear that wisdom requires us to listen critically in order to discern good from evil.  

In verses 10-15, the parents prepare their son to face one of the dangers he might encounter when he leaves home and ventures into the wider world. The temptation to join a gang.

The parents simulate for their son how the conversation is likely to go when a gang member is trying to recruit him. Gangs promise things that young men want. Comradery and a sense of belonging. Security and purpose. Identity and respect.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting those sorts of things. The problem is using violence and injustice as a short cut to gain them. The gang in Proverbs 1 plans to mug some innocent passer-by, to kill them and steal their stuff.

Notice how the wisdom of Proverbs operates on two levels, in these verses.

At the basic level, the advice is don’t get involved with gangs. Be careful about the company you keep. But at a deeper level the young man is being taught not to be gullible. Don’t be foolish enough to believe everything you hear. Listen critically in order to discern. 

If some group starts talking violence, then you know what they are offering is not as good as it sounds. Do not go along with them. Do not give in to peer pressure. Use your brain and be discerning.

You don’t need to join a gang to get a sense of comradery. Committing crimes won’t make you feel secure or earn you respect. There are better ways to meet your need for belonging and purpose; like joining a sports team or a choir or becoming a youth group leader or a volunteer fire fighter or some other form of service that benefits your community.

Now I expect almost everyone here would agree that joining a gang is not a good idea. That’s because we have a choice. The young man in Proverbs 1 comes from a good home with two parents who love him. He has other more life giving options available to him and the financial resources to pursue those options.

Not everyone enjoys the same advantage in life. For some it is not easy to avoid or escape gang land. Some people are trapped in that world and are not free to leave, much less make an informed choice. They might not know any other way to live. So we shouldn’t look down on people who join gangs. There, but for the grace of God, go I. 

So how might we adapt the advice in Proverbs 1 for girls? Because, if you have a daughter, she is not likely to want to join a violent gang. Well, the principle of wisdom in view here is, listen critically in order to discern. Don’t be gullible. Don’t be foolish enough to believe everything you hear.

At the right time your daughter may need help to discern what kind of boys she can trust and what ones to avoid, so her heart is not broken. We can’t always choose who we fall in love with but we can choose to tread lightly and take things slowly. 

When it comes to listening critically in order to discern good from evil, we cannot go past the words of Jesus in Matthew 12, where the Lord says…

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

To put it another way; the Spirit of Jesus is a Spirit of truth and grace. If a person’s conversation lacks truth and grace, then that is surely a red flag. You cannot trust them.

Okay, so Proverbs 1 shows us the important role parents (and mentors) have in preparing children for life. Parents do well when they educate their kids about the dangers they might face in the world and how to navigate those dangers.

More than simply telling kids what to avoid, we need to teach the children in our lives to listen critically in order to discern good from evil for themselves. That means modelling a helpful example in our own conversation.

Consider the outcome

The third principle of wisdom to focus our message today, is the importance of considering the outcome before committing to a course of action. Where is this decision leading me?

In verses 16-19, the parents paint a picture for their son of the outcome of getting involved with a gang. Violence begets violence. You reap what you sow. Verse 17 is the first real proverb of the book: How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it!

In ancient times the net was strewn with seeds and the bird was caught when the hunter pulled the draw string. For the trap to work though, the bird has to be unaware there is a trap.

The proverb in verse 17 operates on more than one level. If we imagine the bird is the son, then the proverb asserts the young man should see and avoid the verbal net of the gang members who are trying to recruit him.

However, if we imagine the bird is the gang of thieves, then the thieves are setting a trap for themselves without realizing it. In their hurry to assault an innocent passer-by, the gang is running into the trap they have set for others.      

But what if we are the bird? Most of us would probably say, ‘Joining a gang does not tempt me. I would never fall for that trick’. And therein lies the trap for us. The proverb reminds us the bird is trapped because it is unaware of the danger. If we think the proverb doesn’t really apply to us, then we too are unaware of the danger and therefore at risk of being caught.

Sure, not many here would want to become a patched member of a criminal gang but gangs come in many different forms. In the book of Genesis, we read how Joseph’s ten older brothers formed a gang to kidnap Joseph and sell him into slavery. Have you ever ganged up on someone in your family?

Have you ever been tempted to join a gang of gossips who do violence to other people’s reputation? Have you ever been tempted to join a gang of white collar businessmen by investing in companies which are unethical?

Thinking globally, some might say Putin’s army is just a really big gang with heavy fire power, mugging the country of Ukraine. Most Russians probably don’t see it that way though.

What if our standard of living (here in the West) is generated at great cost to the rest of the world? What if the clothes I’m wearing have been made in a sweat shop by modern day slaves? What if we are involved in an economic system that essentially functions like a gang in exploiting the poor and we don’t even realize it?

If that is the case, then we are like the bird in the trap. Or to use a different metaphor, we are sawing off the branch on which we are sitting.

The point of the proverb is to get us to open our eyes to the outcome of our actions. Violence and injustice, in any form, is foolish because it destroys the innocent and the perpetrator. No one wins.

Before you become too overwhelmed by the reach of Proverbs 1, let me bring the application of these verses closer to home. We have a responsibility to help the children and young people in our lives to think about the outcome before making a decision.    

For example: Where is this social media thread taking me? What is going to happen if I break the conditions of my restricted license? What is my escape plan if I’m at a party and find myself in a situation I don’t feel comfortable with? What are the consequences of having another drink? What is the likely outcome of giving my heart to this boy or that girl?

You get the point. We can’t chaperon our kids everywhere they go. We can’t shield them indefinitely. But we can encourage them to be discerning listeners and to think about the outcome of their choices.

Conclusion

So how does Jesus fit with all of this?

Jesus is the wisdom of God. Jesus embodies practical wisdom for living well. If we want to be wise, we need to look to Christ. 

In and through Jesus we find a quality of belonging, security, identity and purpose that is more meaningful and more lasting than any gang could offer.

And when we make poor choices and find ourselves trapped, like the bird in the proverb, Jesus is able to set us free.

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ give us the spirit of wisdom so we may know him better. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • How does the father in Proverbs 1:8-19 go about educating his son? What helpful things did your parents do to prepare you for life? What wasn’t so helpful?
  • How might the principles in Proverbs 1:8-19 apply to daughters? Can you think of actual examples from your own experience?
  • Why is the first lesson of wisdom to listen? How do we discern good from evil?       
  • Why are gangs attractive to (some) young men? What other more positive ways can a young person meet their need for belonging and purpose, etc.?
  • Why is it important to consider the outcome before committing to a course of action? How might we help the children and young people in our lives to think about the outcome before making a decision? 
  • What is the meaning of the Proverb in verse 17? Discuss / reflect on the various ways this proverb could apply to us today. How do we avoid getting trapped in the net?
  • How does Jesus fit with (inform/fulfil) Proverbs 1:8-19? 
Tawa Baptist

Jesus’ Presence

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Video Link: https://youtu.be/x5NbZl6EPjU

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus’ presence calms fear
  • Jesus’ presence is close
  • Jesus’ presence can be felt
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we conclude our Renew Together mini-series in support of Arotahi.

our New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society.

Renew Together is about remembering God’s mission of gospel renewal and our part in that mission. Over the three weeks of this year’s Renew Together campaign we have used the sermon time to focus on Matthew 28, verses 16-20, also known as the Great Commission.

Two weeks ago we heard about Jesus’ great authority. And last week we unpacked Jesus’ great commission to make disciples. Today our message concentrates on Jesus’ great presence. Let’s remind ourselves of what Jesus says in Matthew 28…

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. And surely I am with you all the time, to the very end of the age.”

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

There are many things we can say about Jesus’ presence. Today’s message focuses on just three ideas. Jesus’ presence calms fear. Jesus’ presence is close and Jesus’ presence can be felt. First, let’s consider how Jesus’ presence calms fear.  

Jesus’ presence calms fear

Human beings survive by forming attachments with other people. The first thing a new born baby does is cry, partly to get some oxygen into its lungs but also to get its mother’s attention and form an attachment.

Previously, experts thought that successful attachment was created by food but John Bowlby discovered there was more to it than that. Babies need caregivers who are responsive to them, who smile at them, talk to them and spend time interacting with them in a warm and positive way. 

The central idea of attachment theory is that primary caregivers who are present and responsive to a baby’s needs allow the child to develop a sense of security. When the baby knows that the parent is dependable, they are less anxious and this creates a secure base for the child to explore the world. The caregiver’s presence calms fear.

Over a period of three years the disciples had formed a significant attachment to Jesus. They had experienced Jesus’ love and faithfulness. They had learned to depend on Jesus and this had given them a secure base for their faith.

Soon Jesus would ascend to heaven so they would not be able to see him or hang out with him in the same way they had before. Things were about to change and change is scary.

What’s more, Jesus was asking his followers to do something really big. ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’; that’s massive, it’s huge, overwhelming even. Particularly when we remember the establishment was against them.

Perhaps the biggest trap for the disciples was their fear. The fear of abandonment. The fear of opposition. The fear of rejection. The fear of failure.  

The antidote to fear is presence; having someone with you who loves you. Someone you can trust. Someone who is greater than your fears. Jesus does not want his followers to be anxious or insecure so he says, “I am with you”.  Jesus’ presence calms the disciples’ fear. 

Jesus’ words echo the words of Yahweh, the Lord Almighty. A number of times in the Old Testament, God says to his people, “I am with you.” For example, in Joshua 1, as the people of Israel stand poised to enter the Promised land, we read…

9 …Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Then in Isaiah 41, the Lord says to the people in exile…

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Famously, in Psalm 23, David says of the Lord…  

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

And, in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews chapter 13, we read…

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid…”

We could go on quoting Scripture but you get the point. Jesus’ presence calms our fear. As the followers of Jesus we do not need to be afraid of poverty or evil or opposition or anything else because the Lord is with us.

The important thing is to maintain our attachment to Jesus. Because we can only make disciples if we remain attached to Jesus.  

It’s like the Lord said in John 15: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

We maintain our attachment to Jesus in a variety of ways. For example, by meditating on Scripture, keeping right relationships, practicing hospitality, observing times of sacred rest and singing praise to God, alongside other rhythms that support our whole life.

Prayer is perhaps the most important rhythm for maintaining our attachment to Jesus. Prayer is an open ended conversation with God, one that never really ends, even though it may be punctuated with long pauses and silences.

Whether we are talking to God or listening to him, prayer keeps us open to God’s presence. When we pray, we put ourselves in the hands of God and we stay attached to Christ.

Jesus’ presence calms fear and Jesus’ presence is close.

Jesus’ presence is close

Some of you may have noticed the way Jesus repeats the word all four times in three verses. All authority, all nations, all I have commanded and all the time.

Jesus is giving his disciples confidence. He’s saying, “I am present with you everywhere and always. Nothing can separate you from my love”.

Jesus’ presence is close. No one, who belongs to Jesus, slips through the cracks. No one is beyond the reach of Jesus’ presence. We are reminded of Psalm 139, which reads…

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 

It’s important to note what Jesus promises and what he doesn’t. The Lord does not promise that nothing bad will ever happen to us. To the contrary, Jesus was quite clear that people would hate his followers on account of him.

What Jesus does promise is to be present with his disciples, every day and in all situations. So Jesus is present when everything is going smoothly and when everything is turning to custard.

In the book of Acts, chapter 7, we are given a picture of the closeness of Jesus’ presence with Stephen. From verse 54 we read…

54 As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God. 56 “Look!” he said. “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”

57 With a loud cry the Council members covered their ears with their hands. Then they all rushed at him at once, 58 threw him out of the city, and stoned him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.

Jesus did not stop the Council members from killing Stephen. Nevertheless, Jesus was close with Stephen in his suffering and Jesus’ presence made all the difference, enabling Stephen to forgive his killers as a sign of God’s grace.

You see, Jesus is not aloof or unaffected. Jesus’ presence is not that of a cool or neutral observer. No. Jesus is deeply moved by what happens to his followers. Jesus’ presence with his people is close, intimate, emotionally invested.

We notice the closeness of Jesus’ presence in Acts 9 when the risen Christ appears to Saul on the road to Damascus. From verse 3 we read…  

3 As Saul neared Damascus… suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 

Jesus is so closely present with his people, that when we suffer he feels it. The church is the body of Christ in a very real way. Whether any member is hurt or helped, Jesus is affected by that. Even if we are not aware of Jesus’ presence, Jesus is still very aware of what we are going through.

Jesus’ presence can be felt

The point we need to get hold of here is that Jesus’ presence is not one dimensional. Jesus’ presence is not thin, like a cardboard cut-out. Jesus’ presence has real substance and depth so it can be felt by us.  

We might not always feel like Jesus is present but there will be times when we do sense Jesus’ closeness. The Holy Spirit facilitates Jesus’ presence. The Spirit of God makes Jesus’ presence real and tangible and personal.

In John 20 we read how the risen Christ breathed on his disciples and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. And in Luke’s gospel, the risen Jesus tells his disciples to stay in the city of Jerusalem until they have been clothed with power from on high. That power is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to carry out the great commission by preaching with boldness, healing the sick, speaking in foreign languages and many other remarkable things besides. People accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord because the Holy Spirit made the presence of the risen Jesus felt. 

We need to remember though, that the Holy Spirit is involved in our lives in less spectacular ways too. Jesus isn’t just present in supernatural events. Jesus is present all the time, including the ordinary, the routine and the natural.

Let me offer you three real life examples of how Jesus’ presence can be felt. Maybe my experience of Jesus’ presence connects with yours.

Firstly, Jesus’ presence can be felt through people, particularly the people of God.

When one of our daughters was young she caught rota virus and had to go to hospital. While we were in hospital, Greg, the pastor of the church we attended, came to visit us. I was about 29 at the time and had never been visited by a pastor before.

I don’t remember what Greg said but I remember he prayed for us and I remember feeling touched that he would take time out of his Saturday afternoon to come to the hospital so we wouldn’t feel alone.

Jesus communicated his presence with us through a person, through Greg. Whenever one of God’s people visits someone, Jesus is present and the body of Christ (the church) is present also. 

Not only is Jesus’ presence felt through people, we can also sense the Lord’s presence in the perfect timing of certain situations.

A day or two after Robyn & I had relocated from Tauranga to Auckland, to train for ministry, we went for a walk in Cornwall Park and got a bit lost. I didn’t really like Auckland and was feeling the weight of our decision to uproot our young family. I needed reassurance.

As we wandered around in a general state of disorientation, I noticed an elderly man in the distance. He looked familiar. As I drew closer, I realised it was Walter Lang. Walter was the senior pastor of Hamilton Central Baptist when I was there in the 1980’s. I hadn’t seen Walter in over ten years.

There are more than one million people in Auckland so the chances of me randomly bumping into Walter at the very moment I needed assurance were very slim. The timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence. I knew God’s Spirit was making a connection.  

Seeing Walter that day was a very real and tangible sign that Jesus was with us and we were on the right path. Walter became my mentor for the three years of our training.

Jesus’ presence can be felt through people and through perfect timing. Jesus’ presence is also felt in our gathered worship.

Last Sunday, Pat led the intercessory prayer. Pat didn’t know what I was going to say in my sermon and I didn’t know what she was going to say in her prayer. And yet there were very real connections between what Pat prayed and what I preached, particularly in relation to being sensitive to where others are at.

The Holy Spirit makes connections like that every Sunday. The connections might come through the sermon or the prayer but not always. Sometimes they come through a conversation over tea and coffee after the service. Other times through the songs we sing or in some other way.

Whatever form they come in, we recognise the connections as a sign of Jesus’ presence, because they resonate with something in our spirit.

The connections are often personal to you, because of what God is doing in your life, so other people may not see the connection. But even though the connection is personal, you still need other believers to make a connection.

Jesus’ presence is felt when we come together. As the Lord said, where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.

Conclusion

This morning we have heard how Jesus’ presence calms our fear. We can’t be effective in making disciples if we are afraid. We need to maintain our attachment to Jesus in order to be fruitful. 

We’ve also heard how Jesus’ presence is close, in good times and bad. Jesus is not an aloof observer. The Lord is deeply affected by what happens to his people.

What’s more, Jesus’ presence can be felt by us at times too. We may sense the Lord’s presence in any number of ways including through people, through perfect timing and through our coming together for worship.

The overarching purpose of Jesus’ presence though, is to empower us to be disciples and to make disciples.

May the Spirit of God give us eyes to see Jesus at work in the world, hearts to feel his presence and willingness to obey his call. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • Why does Jesus promise to be with his disciples always?
  • On a scale of 1-10 (1 being poor and 10 being perfect) how would you rate your attachment to Jesus? Why do you give this rating? Does anything need to change? If so, what needs to change?
  • Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ words in Acts 9, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” What does this show us about Jesus’ ongoing presence with his disciples?
  • What role does the Holy Spirit have in facilitating Jesus’ presence?
  • When are you most aware of Jesus’ presence in your life? Think of / share examples from your own experience when you sensed Jesus was near.
  • How might we communicate Jesus’ presence to those around us?