Today is such a special day because two of our congregation are being baptized.
The word baptize literally means to submerge or to plunge under water.
Baptism also refers to the Christian ritual of initiation. Baptism is not a badge that says “I’ve made it.” Rather, baptism is a beginning.
Baptism naturally involves water. Some traditions of Christian faith sprinkle or pour water over a person’s head and other traditions (like ours) immerse the person under water completely. The amount of water that is used is not the main thing. The main thing is the attitude of the person’s heart toward Jesus.
So why use water for baptizing people? Why not anoint a person with oil or wave incense around them or something else? What is the significance of water in baptism? Well, the water of baptism signifies three main things: cleansing, new life and the Holy Spirit.
Cleansing:
Water is patient. It has the ability to soften things. If you have a cooking pot or a casserole dish with stubborn baked on food and grime, then soaking that dish in water over night softens the hardened crust so that in the morning the mess washes off easily.
The water of baptism represents cleansing. When people pass through the waters of baptism we are reminded that, through faith in Jesus and repentance, we are cleansed from our sin.
In Acts 22, when the apostle Paul is giving his testimony of conversion, he recalls how Ananias told him to, ‘Get up, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ The name we call on in baptism is Jesus.
It’s not that the water people are baptized in has any sort of magical power. The power is in the name of Jesus and his blood shed on the cross. The water is a symbol of cleansing, cleansing from the inside out.
The human body is a sacred thing. God gave us our bodies to worship him. When we are baptized we are dedicating our bodies to God, for his purpose. Full immersion baptism is a symbol that our whole lives, all of our self, is dedicated to God.
Whatever you may have done with your body and whatever may have been done to your body by others, through faith in Jesus, it is washed away and you can have a clean conscience.
The water of baptism signifies cleansing and therefore new life and a new start.
New life:
Water is one of the most ancient elements on earth and yet it is always renewing itself in a never ending cycle of transformation, which includes condensation (when clouds form), precipitation (when it rains) and evaporation (when water molecules rise up into the air again).
Over time this cycle of condensation, precipitation and evaporation has a purifying effect on water. Which means the water we drink from our taps is actually recycled and has probably been used by other people for drinking, washing and cooking down through the centuries.
If you think about the history of the water in this baptistery, it could have been all round the world. Perhaps some of this water was present during the great flood of Noah’s time. Maybe some of it was parted when the people of Israel walked through the Red Sea.
It is even conceivable that a few molecules of this H2O flowed through the Jordan River when John baptized Jesus 2000 years ago (although there is no way of knowing of course).
Water is essential to our survival. They say the human body is roughly around 60-70% water, give or take, and that we can only last about 3 or 4 days without water. Water then is life to us.
Baptism is a kind of acted out parable of the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we lay a person down in the waters of baptism we recall Jesus’ body laid in the tomb and when we raise that same person up out of the water again we remember Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans 6:3-4, we read, ‘Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.’
In other words, when we are baptized we are saying good bye to our old way of life, in which we did whatever we wanted, and we are committing to a new way of life in following Jesus.
Closely connected with this newness of life, baptism signals entry into the church universal. When someone is baptized they become part of the body of Christ and part of the family of God.
The water of baptism symbolizes cleansing, new life and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit:
It seems lately there are a lot more news reports of flooding and landslides and catastrophic weather events. We hardly need further reminders that water is powerful and can be quite dangerous, if you get on the wrong side of it.
Little wonder then that some of the main images used to describe the Holy Spirit (wind, fire and water) are all powerful forces.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God; only God’s Spirit is not a destructive or chaotic power. God’s Spirit is a creative power bringing order and making life functional.
In preparing the way for Jesus, John the Baptist said (in Mark 1:8), I baptize you with water, but he [meaning Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Then later, during his public ministry, Jesus said to the people: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39)
About seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter stood up and said to the crowd: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
The waters of baptism are a reminder of the gift of God’s Holy Spirit.
Being a Christian is not easy. It can be a rough and confusing road to walk at times. But we don’t do it by ourselves or in our own strength. We follow Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit flowing within. The Holy Spirit is there to guide us into truth and give us strength and courage to obey Jesus in faith.
Conclusion:
Cleansing, new life and the gift of the Spirit. This is what the waters of baptism symbolize.
There may be times in our lives when we hit a dead end or we may feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with nowhere to turn. Sometimes the way ahead seems impossible.
Let me say to you, water finds a way.
Whatever challenges you may face in the weeks, months and years ahead, remember that you are not alone. You are part of a world wide body of believers, the Christian church. And God gives us His Spirit. The water of God’s Spirit always finds a way, even when we think there is none.
May you be blessed and may the presence of Jesus be close and real for you always.
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?
Have you been baptized? Describe / reflect on your experience (if you can remember).
Why do we need a ritual of initiation like baptism?
If you have been baptized, what does your baptism mean to you? If not, is there anything stopping you?
What are some of the qualities and characteristics of water? (E.g. water is patient, powerful, ancient, etc.) What significance might these qualities imply for baptism?
Discuss / reflect on some of the stories from the Bible involving water. What light might these stories shed on the significance of water in baptism?
In what ways is the Holy Spirit like water?
Can you think of a situation (either from the Bible or from your own experience) when the way ahead seemed impossible but God (by His Spirit) found a way through? What happened?
How often do you get your hair cut? Is it once a month, every two or three months or maybe once a year?
If you go to the hairdresser once every three months, then you might have close to 300 haircuts in your lifetime (depending how long you live).
But if your hair grows relatively quickly and you get a cut say once every 4-6 weeks, then you might have more than 800 haircuts in your lifetime. Interestingly, men tend to get more haircuts than women (on average).
Today we continue our series on hair and hairy people in the Bible. Last week we heard about Samson who, because he was a Nazarite for life, was not supposed to cut his hair. Sadly, Samson’s first and only haircut resulted in him losing his strength.
This morning we hear about another Nazarite, Samuel. In case you missed last week’s sermon, a Nazarite was someone (in ancient Israel) who was dedicated to God. During the time of their dedication to God a Nazarite was under a vow to not do three things. A Nazarite could not drink alcohol, they were not to come in contact with a dead body, and they could not cut their hair.
Normally a Nazarite vow was voluntary and for a limited period of time but in the case of Samson and Samuel, it was for life.
Although Samson & Samuel were both Nazarites, Samuel was a very different character to Samson. As we heard last week, Samson broke all the rules and was not very holy at all. Nevertheless, God still worked his purpose through Samson.
Samuel was almost the complete opposite of Samson. Samuel was the quintessential holy man, serving God and Israel as a prophet, priest and judge. Samson was alienated from his own people, whereas Samuel brought the nation of Israel together. Samson relied on his fists and brute strength, while Samuel relied on God’s word and prayer.
If Samson’s super power was super strength, then Samuel’s super power was communication. Samuel had the ability to listen to God and speak difficult truths to the people. For those who are familiar with the Marvel Universe, Samson was like the Hulk and Samuel was more like Vision, except with long hair.
Samson was hairy, both in the physical sense and in the metaphorical sense of being a bit scary and less than perfect. In contrast, Samuel was thoughtful and forthright. He had God given discernment and insight, combined with moral integrity. Samuel was the ideal leader.
Samuel, prophet, priest & judge:
Samuel’s story begins with his mother Hannah. Hannah was not able to have children and, in deep distress, went to the house of the Lord in Shiloh and cried out bitterly to God in prayer. From verse 11 of 1st Samuel chapter 1, Hannah prays…
“Lord Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don’t forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut.”
Hannah was desperate and made a deal with God. If God gave her a son she would dedicate him to the Lord’s service as a Nazarite.
You may be wondering why a Nazarite can never drink wine, never touch a corpse and never cut their hair. Well, all of those things are about the body. The idea is that the Nazarite’s body belongs to God. Even the hairs on their head belong to God and therefore the Nazarite’s life is not their own. They can’t do whatever they want with their body – it is set apart as sacred or holy for the Lord’s use.
The principle is similar for Christians. As followers of Jesus our body is not ours to do with as we please. Our body belongs to Christ. We are set apart for the Lord’s use. As the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans: offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — for this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)
To be clear, we are not under the obligations of a Nazarite vow and so we can still get our haircut and maybe have the odd wine or beer, in moderation. Being in Christ does give us some degree of freedom. But we also need to remember that our body is sacred – it is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 6:19).
God heard Hannah’s prayer and she became pregnant, giving birth to Samuel. Then, when Samuel had been weaned, she made good on her promise and left her young son at the temple in Shiloh, with Eli, the priest. This was quite an act of faith as the priesthood at that time in Israel was a bit rotten.
But God looked after Samuel and started speaking to him from a young age. In chapter 3, the boy Samuel hears a voice calling his name. At first he thinks it is Eli, the aging priest. But when he goes to Eli, the old man sends him back to bed. After this keeps happening Eli realises it is God who is speaking to Samuel and tells the boy to respond with, “Speak; your servant is listening.”
Samuel does as he is told and the Lord gives Samuel a message of judgment against Eli’s family. When Eli asks Samuel what the Lord said, Samuel tells his mentor the difficult truth. God is going to end Eli’s family because of the evil Eli’s sons have done.
From verse 19 of Samuel chapter 3 we read…
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and made everything that Samuel said come true. So all the people of Israel, from one end of the country to the other, knew that Samuel was indeed a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to reveal himself at Shiloh, where he had appeared to Samuel and had spoken to him. And when Samuel spoke, all Israel listened.
Samuel was sort of like the sign language interpreters we see on TV. He provided the communication link between God and his people. God’s word through Samuel came true.
In chapter 7 of 1st Samuel we read that twenty years go past and during that time the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. It seems they continued to suffer at the hands of the Philistines.
Earlier in the week I was doing some baking for a baby shower. I preheated the oven, mixed the ingredients, then put the raw brownie batter in a tray and into the oven.
Timing is particularly important with a brownie. If you leave your brownie in the oven too long, it will burn and taste bitter. But if you don’t leave it long enough it will be too raw and runny, it won’t hold together in your hand. I find that 18 minutes on 180 degrees, in a reliable oven, is normally just right to give you a firm outer crust with a lovely warm gooey centre.
Unfortunately, while my brownie was in the oven, I got distracted with work emails and, instead of 18 minutes, the brownie got 33 minutes. Needless to say it was overdone. The brownie was just edible for our family but there was no way I was going to let it leave the house. So, after a few minutes berating myself, I started again and made a new one.
We can’t be sure if Samuel made brownie but if he did I expect his timing would have been perfect. Certainly his prophetic timing was spot on.
The Israelites cried out to the Lord for 20 years. Imagine that, twenty years cooking in the oven of oppression. Twenty years under the thumb. Twenty years with the monkey on your back. Twenty years living with anxiety and fear. Twenty years putting up with the harsh voice of the critic. Twenty years of regret.
During that time Samuel faithfully serves the Lord as prophet and judge for the people. As a prophet, Samuel listened to the Lord and spoke truth from God. The sort of truth that sets people free. And as a judge, Samuel listened to the people and settled disputes in a way which was just and fair. The kind of justice that leads to community peace and right relationship.
As you can imagine, after 20 years of faithfully ministering truth and justice, Samuel would have created a pretty significant bank of trust with the nation. And with that trust came authority and respect. The kind of authority and respect which is hard earned.
Samuel could have abused that trust or used it to his own advantage, but he doesn’t. Instead he spends that trust for the well-being of the people.
Samuel had the insight to sense when the people had been suffering long enough. He could see they were ready for genuine repentance (they were firm on the outside and gooey in the middle) and so he says to the people of Israel…
“If you are going to turn to the Lord with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and the images of the goddess Astarte. Dedicate yourselves completely to the Lord and worship only him, and he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines.”
True repentance isn’t just about feeling sorry. True repentance may start with sadness but it must lead to a change of heart; a change from the inside out. The sorrow of repentance provides the motivation for a change of mind that leads to a change in behaviour.
Apparently the Israelites were mixing their worship of Yahweh with the worship of the pagan fertility gods of the Canaanites. In practice this pagan worship involved things like sacrificing to idols and performing sexual rituals at local Canaanite shrines. [1]
Samuel is saying, you can’t do that and worship the one true God at the same time. Samuel won’t abide cheap grace. He uses the bank of trust he has earned over 20 years to insist on costly grace.
According to Bonhoeffer, cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. Cheap grace is grace without the cross. Cheap grace, for example, says to the man who beats his wife, ‘You are forgiven and you can continue abusing your wife.’ Or it says to the gossiper, ‘You are forgiven, and you are free to carry on destroying other people’s reputations.’
In contrast, costly grace says to the wife beater, ‘Stop hitting your wife and treat her with kindness and respect.’ Costly grace says to the gossiper, ‘Do not speak badly of others but instead see the good in them.’ Costly grace comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him.
From verse 4 of 1st Samuel 7 we read…
So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the Lord. 5 Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah, telling them, “I will pray to the Lord for you there.” 6 So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, “We have sinned against the Lord.”
Here we see Samuel acting in his capacity as a priest, carrying out a religious ritual which solemnises or validates the people’s act of repentance. The ritual includes three things:
The pouring out of water, which is a symbol of sacrifice and cleansing.
Going without food for a day, which is an act of cleansing one’s body in dedication to the Lord God Almighty.
And a verbal confession, which is a declaration of their collective truth.
This ritual may seem strange to us but rituals are necessary for people both spiritually and psychologically. When our heart is in it, and we are not just going through the motions, rituals make things real. They seal the deal and leave an impression on our minds.
As prophet and priest, Samuel calls for costly grace and in so doing he cleans and dresses the nation’s wound in their relationship with God.
From verse 7 of Samuel 7 we continue the story…
When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the five Philistine kings started out with their men to attack them. The Israelites heard about it and were afraid, 8 and said to Samuel, “Keep praying to the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines.” 9 Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to the Lord. Then he prayed to the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered his prayer. 10 While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack; but just then the Lord thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic. 11 The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines almost as far as Bethcar, killing them along the way.
The main thing we notice here is that Samuel and the Israelites rely on prayer to defeat their enemies. Samuel’s mum believed in prayer and so does Samuel. He intercedes for the people. Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit sayeth the Lord.
During my training for ministry I spent three months working as a chaplain at Greenlane Hospital in Auckland (before they shut it down). For most of that three months I felt quite powerless. There I was surrounded by doctors and nurses who were all highly skilled and useful, saving people’s lives. And then there was me, the padre (the chaplain), wanting to be useful and hoping I wasn’t in the way.
Next to the wonders of modern medical science I felt quite inadequate. All I had to offer was three things: my presence, my listening and my prayers. I had no way of measuring whether I was making a positive difference or not. Everything I did was done in faith that God would somehow use it for good.
Presence, listening and prayer. These were the same things Samuel offered as chaplain to the Israelites. No doubt he had more faith than I do but, to the casual observer, those three simple things (presence, listening and prayer) seem so ineffectual and inadequate, especially as your enemies are closing in fast. The temptation is to abandon prayer and reach for the sword.
But there is more power in Samuel’s prayer than in all the military might of the five Philistine kings combined, because Samuel has cleansed the wound and helped the people make their peace with God.
There may be times or circumstances when you wish you had some kind of super power or special skill to fix the situation or heal the person or save the day, when in reality you don’t. You may feel inadequate or overwhelmed. But we must not despise the seemingly small or ordinary things. God can use your presence, your listening and your prayers.
Focus on what you can do and don’t worry about what you can’t control. Trust Jesus with it all. Remember how Jesus used the lunch of a young boy to feed the multitudes. In the Lord’s hands our little becomes great.
God is quick to forgive the Israelites for their disloyalty. He answers Samuel’s prayer on the spot and confuses the Philistines so they flee in a panic. Israel is set free. The timing is perfect.
The rest of 1st Samuel chapter 7 summarises Samuel’s work. From verse 13…
So the Philistines were defeated, and the Lord prevented them from invading Israel’s territory as long as Samuel lived. 14 All the cities which the Philistines had captured between Ekron and Gath were returned to Israel, and so Israel got back all its territory. And there was peace also between the Israelites and the Canaanites.
15 Samuel ruled Israel as long as he lived. 16 Every year he would go around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and in these places he would settle disputes. 17 Then he would go back to his home in Ramah, where also he would serve as judge.
Here we see how Samuel’s approach was so completely different from Samson’s. While Samson would have gone on a one-man rampage, smashing everything in his path, Samuel puts God first and he communicates.
He uses God’s word and a discerning mind to maintain justice in the land. And with justice comes peace. It speaks volumes that when God’s people make peace with the Lord and with each other, the Canaanites and the Philistines enjoy peace as well.
That would be a nice place for a happy ending, but we know by now that if we want a story with a happy ending, then we should read some other book.
Many years pass between the end of chapter 7 and the beginning of chapter 8, where we read…
When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in Israel. 2 The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But they did not follow their father’s example; they were interested only in making money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide cases honestly.
4 Then all the leaders of Israel met together, went to Samuel in Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are getting old and your sons don’t follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have.” 6 Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said, “Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king. 8 Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me. 9 So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them.”
Anyone who has been in leadership for a reasonable amount of time will probably feel for Samuel here. He has given himself generously in service to the people and it hasn’t been easy. Dealing with the public, particularly the disgruntled public, is demanding work.
Now, after a lifetime of service and self-sacrifice, the elders get together and say they want to replace Samuel with someone else, a king like the other nations have. Ouch. That must have hurt. The sting of rejection.
They are making Samuel redundant and it’s not fair. Samuel has done nothing wrong. In fact, Israel has never had it so good. It’s just that Samuel is getting old, his sons are crooked and the elders have to be practical and look to the future.
God is not that pleased either. He says to Samuel, ‘It’s really me they are rejecting. They always have’. The loneliness of leadership. Samuel stands with God, apart from the people.
They say that, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but that is not the case with Samuel or with God. Samuel has the moral integrity to remain unaffected by any temptation to power.
The Lord tells Samuel to listen to the people and to warn them of the negative consequences of having a king. Yet again Samuel has to confront the people with the difficult truth; a king, like the other nations, will take and take and take, the best and the brightest. But the people don’t listen.
To his credit, Samuel does not throw his toys out of the cot. Nor does he try to cling to power. He doesn’t set himself up as king. A servant leader, humble to the end, Samuel supports the people in their decision, even though he does not agree with it.
First, Samuel anoints Saul as king and then later David, to succeed Saul. And all of Samuel’s warnings come true in their time.
Conclusion:
Samuel is the ideal leader. He points us to Jesus in so many ways. His courage in having difficult conversations. His life of service to the people. His complete dedication and loyalty to God. His spiritual discernment in knowing the right time to call people to repentance. His unrelenting commitment to justice. His reliance on prayer. Not to mention his grace and humility in facing rejection.
Samuel, like Jesus, shows us what it means to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — for this is our true and proper worship.
Let us pray…
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, help us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with you. 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?
How often do you get your haircut? How would you manage your hair if you were not allowed to cut it?
In what ways are Samson & Samuel similar? In what ways are they different?
Can you identify with Hannah? Have you ever been so desperate that you made a deal with God? What happened? How did God respond. Did you keep the deal?
The apostle Paul says we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — for this is our true and proper worship. What does this mean? How might we do this?
What is the difference between cheap grace and costly grace? Why is repentance the necessary companion of forgiveness?
Can you think of a time when God used yours (or someone else’s) presence, listening and/or prayer to save the day? What happened?
In what ways does Samuel remind us of Jesus?
[1] Refer Bill T. Arnold, NIVAC 1 & 2 Samuel, pages 131-132.
Lemony Snicket begins his book, A Series of Unfortunate Events, with the words: “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”
Quite a few of the stories in the Bible could do with the same sort of warning. Of course, an introduction like that just makes us to want to read more.
Today we continue our sermon series on hair and hairy people in the Bible.
If we say something is a bit ‘hairy’; for example, ‘the weather was a bit hairy’ or ‘the umpiring was a bit hairy’, we mean that it was a bit rough & ready or less than perfect, perhaps even a little scary. Hairiness is the opposite of refinement and good quality. The opposite of safe.
The English language has a few weird and wonderful idioms involving hair. For example, ‘She gave me the hairy eyeball’, meaning she looked at me with utter disdain or contempt. No one wants to get the hairy eyeball.
Last week we heard about hairy Esau and his relationship with smooth Jacob. This morning we hear about Samson who, of course, was never supposed to cut his hair. Not only was Samson physically hairy, he also lived at a pretty hairy time in Israel’s history and he did some hairy things.
Samson’s story is told in the Old Testament book of Judges. Quite frankly, “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”
Between the time of Joshua and the prophet Samuel, while the people of Israel were settling into the Promised Land, God raised up certain men and women to be judges or leaders of the nation. People like Gideon, Deborah and Jephthah.
There is a refrain running through the book of Judges to the effect that each person did what seemed right in their own eyes. In other words, the people of God did not follow God’s law faithfully. We notice a downward spiral of moral degradation as we read through the book of Judges. Both the people and their leaders seemed to get progressively worse.
Please turn with me to Judges chapter 13. Samson is the last of the judges during this period and he is perhaps the hairiest and the most tragic of them all. From Judges 13, verse 1, we read…
The Israelites sinned against the Lord again, and he let the Philistines rule them for forty years.
2 At that time there was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah. He was a member of the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children. 3 The Lord‘s angel appeared to her and said, “You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son. 4 Be sure not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food; 5 and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite.He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines.”
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Colonisation:
Israel’s pattern of behaviour during the time of the judges went like this. They would turn away from the Lord and follow the practices of the nations around them. Then God would give them over to what they had chosen. He would let the nations they copied rule over them and oppress them. This is not what God wanted for Israel, but it seems God did this to try and vaccinate Israel against pagan worship.
Eventually Israel would cry out to God for deliverance from their enemies and God would raise up a hero leader to save his people. But, by the time we get to Samson, the last of the judges, the people have given up crying out to God for help. They just don’t seem to have any fight left in them. They have become docile and compliant. This is a dangerous position for God’s people to be in. God had to do something to wake Israel out of her stupor.
These days, when we hear the name Philistine, we tend to think of someone who is uncouth, or uncultured. A bit rough and ready, a bit hairy and perhaps also ignorant. To call someone a ‘Philistine’ then is an insult. But the actual Philistines, who lived during the time of the judges, were anything but uncultured and ignorant. They were actually quite smooth and savy.
The Philistines were a seafaring people who came to the land of Israel a few decades after Israel had settled there. To put it in terms we can relate with, the Philistines were sort of like colonists. They came after the Israelites with a view to establishing their own ways at the expense of God’s people.
In the early stages of their colonisation, so the experts tell us, the Philistines were not especially heavy handed or aggressive. The violence and aggression came later. At first, they inveigled their way into Israelite life through trade and intermarriage. Gradually their pagan religion became normalised and palatable, so that it didn’t seem threatening or hairy.
But God could see the threat to Israel. If Israel just kept drifting along, accommodating the Philistines’ way of life, soon there would be no Israel and the people of God would be neutered. God’s plan was to bless the nations of the world through Israel, so it was crucial that Israel maintain its identity and God given way of life.
The angel of the Lord told Samson’s parents that their son was to be a Nazarite. The word Nazarite means set apart or separated out for God. Normally the taking of a Nazarite vow was voluntary and for a limited period of time. But in Samson’s case, it was compulsory and for all of his life.
In Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus warned against making vows. Jesus said: Do not make a vow when you make a promise… Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
Samson’s situation is not exactly the same as this because Samson had little choice in the matter. Samson was commanded to never cut his hair, never drink wine and never come in contact with a dead body.
If we were reading Samson’s story for the first time we might think, ‘this is different’. God is calling Samson to be a holy man. The part about not coming in contact with a corpse might lead us to think that Samson was going to deliver Israel without killing anyone. That would be unique.
Sadly, the story does not unfold that way. More often than not redemption involves violence. This should not surprise us because redemption is about being set free from someone or something more powerful than us. And the one holding the power is usually unwilling to let go without a fight. Jesus certainly suffered violence in the process of setting us free.
Samson was far from holy though. He manages to break all three of the Nazarite no no’s and other things beside. And yet, God’s grace is sufficient for him. God works with Samson’s choices, making those choices serve the divine plan of salvation.
In chapter 14 of the book of Judges, we read how Samson takes a fancy to a Philistine girl in a nearby village. He wants to marry the girl and asks his Dad to set it up. Samson’s parents are deeply grieved by this. Their son has asked them to do a very hairy thing in their eyes. They want Samson to find a nice Jewish girl but Samson won’t budge. From verse 4 of Judges 14 we read…
His parents did not know that it was the Lord who was leading Samson to do this [to marry a Philistine], for the Lord was looking for a chance to fight the Philistines. At this time the Philistines were ruling Israel.
God was not happy with the status quo. The Philistines were in charge of Israel and God did not like that arrangement. It was only ever meant to be temporary. The Israelites were being too accepting, too inclusive and bending over for the Philistines too easily. God wants his people to put up some resistance and so God uses Samson’s wedding to pick a fight.
Samson gave a wedding banquet at the Philistine’s house. In that culture a wedding banquet meant seven days of eating and drinking. The text doesn’t say explicitly that Samson consumed wine but it seems to imply that he did. In any case, Samson supplied wine for the guests. Not what you would expect from a tee-totalling Nazarite.
During the banquet Samson has a bet with some of the men there. If they can solve his riddle he will give each of them a new set of clothes. But if they can’t, they must give him new clothes. They can’t solve the riddle of course and so they threaten Samson’s fiancé, saying that if she doesn’t tell them the answer they will burn her father’s house to the ground with her in it. That’s the Philistine mafia for you.
After much nagging, emotional blackmail and giving of the hairy eyeball, Samson’s bride to be finally gets the answer out of Samson and she tells the guests. Samson is furious. He knows they cheated to get the answer but a bet is a bet. From verse 19 of Judges 14 we read…
Suddenly the power of the Lord made him [Samson] strong, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty men, stripped them and gave their fine clothes to the men who solved the riddle.
Alienation:
I grew up watching a TV series called the Incredible Hulk. You know the story, of the scientist David Banner, who tried to come up with a serum to enable people to control their anger. But it all went wrong and now, whenever David Banner gets angry he turns into the Incredible Hulk; a green muscle bound monster with super strength. Sort of like a Viking berserker.
The cool thing about the Hulk is that, whenever he got angry and started smashing things, he always ended up helping some poor innocent soul. His anger had a redemptive effect. The Hulk set people free. He delivered the oppressed from those who abused their power.
The sad thing about the Hulk though was he could never get too close to people or settle down. He was always on the run, trying to hide his true identity. So David Banner (aka the Hulk) lived a lonely existence.
I don’t imagine Samson turned green when he got angry but he did become unusually strong. What we notice is that his strength came from the Spirit of the Lord, from God’s presence. We are a long way from that image of the Spirit as a gentle dove descending on Jesus at his baptism. God’s Spirit will not be pigeon holed. He is more like a hurricane in this situation.
Once Samson’s anger had cooled down he returned to his fiancé with a young goat. In those days, and in that culture, you didn’t give red roses to your sweet heart, you gave goats. Samson was hoping to consummate the marriage. But when Samson arrived he found his fiancé had been married off to his best man.
Samson went on a rampage again. This time he caught 300 foxes (or more likely jackals), tied flaming torches to their tales and set them loose in the Philistine’s cornfields. The fire spread to the olive orchards as well.
This would have been devastating to the local economy and put many Philistine families on the edge of starvation. The Philistines got their own back by burning to death the woman Samson had wanted to marry. This is such an awful story. I did warn you though. Samson’s stories don’t have a happy ending.
Samson was not inclined to turn the other cheek. He retaliated by attacking the Philistines fiercely and killing many of them. Then he went to find sanctuary in a cave, alone.
This tit for tat situation continued to escalate, as it always does. The Philistines went down to the territory of Judah and attacked one of the Israelite towns there. When the men of Judah found out the Philistines really wanted Samson, 3000 of them went to the cave where Samson was holed out and gave him the hairy eyeball, saying…
“Don’t you know that the Philistines are our rulers? What have you done to us?”
He answered, “I did to them just what they did to me.”
12 They told him, “We have come here to tie you up, so we can hand you over to them.”
Samson said, “Give me your word that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
13 “All right,” they said, “we are only going to tie you up and hand you over to them. We won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him back from the cave.
Now, I tell you this part of the story because it is sooo sad. The 3000 men of Judah are supposed to be on Samson’s side. Granted, Samson is from the tribe of Dan, just north of Judah, but they are all still Israelites. There are 3000 of them for crying out loud, plus they have Samson, the Hebrew Hulk. They could have taken the Philistine’s on. They could have said to Samson, ‘Fight with us against the Philistines. Let’s throw off the yoke of oppression. God is clearly with you and we are with you too.’
But instead they say, “What have you done to us? Don’t you know that the Philistines are our rulers?” The men of Judah can’t imagine a reality in which the Philistines are not in charge. They can’t picture their own redemption. They are scared and defensive. All they can think to do is hand Israel’s most powerful weapon over to their enemies.
That’s what colonisation does. It creeps up on you, destroying a people’s identity, purpose and hope right under their nose. We shouldn’t be too hard on the men of Judah though. They have been lulled into a false sense of security and they don’t have any fight left in them. Would we behave any differently if we were in their shoes?
You know the church in the west has lost a lot of ground in recent decades. We need to resist being colonised by an anti-Christian world view. As followers of Jesus we need to maintain our identity and our hope in Christ.
This is not to imply that the society we live in is completely bad. Our society still enjoys the benefits of many Christian values, but we are not perfect. New Zealand is a mixture isn’t it. We need to discern what is Godly and what is not of God. Jesus calls us to be salt & light. That is, to hold to Christ without resorting to violence and without withdrawing from society.
We feel for Samson too. He is isolated, alienated and alone, and he knows it. All he has is his long hair, his smouldering anger and his brutal strength. When the men of Judah hand Samson over to the Philistines, he breaks the ropes he is bound with, takes the jaw bone of a recently deceased donkey and uses it to smash the skulls of his enemies.
From verse 16 of Judges 15 we read: So Samson sang, “With the jaw-bone of a donkey I killed a thousand men; With the jaw-bone of a donkey I piled them up in piles. So much for avoiding contact with dead bodies.
Verse 20 of Judges 15 says that Samson led Israel for 20 years. But it seems he was a leader without followers. He was a man set apart, a man alone.
You may have heard the news this past week that the Guinness World Record for the most M&M’s stacked on top of each other was broken by Will Cutbill of the UK. When I heard that news I wondered to myself how many M&M’s did Will manage to stack. Was it 20? Was it 30? Not even close.
Will managed to balance just five M&M’s on top of each other. The previous record was four. It is obviously a lot harder than it looks. Will’s advice was ‘take your time’. It took him many hours and I imagine lots of patience. The things we do in lockdown.
Why am I telling you this? Well, partly as light relief in what is an otherwise gruelling tragedy. But also because Samson’s story is as frustrating as trying to balance M&M’s.
Despite his supernatural physical strength, Samson was as fragile as an M&M stack. Samson had a weakness for Philistine girls. He kept falling in love with women who only wanted to manipulate and use him.
In this way, at least, Samson mirrors the nation of Israel. Samson’s life showed Israel what they were like. A bit hairy. Not particularly faithful to the Lord. Always getting in bed with foreign gods. Never quite living up to their potential. And yet, by God’s grace, still serving God’s purpose of salvation.
Perhaps it was Samson’s isolation which made him vulnerable. He does not appear to have had any companionship or community with his own people. As we’ve heard, the men of Judah resented Samson for disturbing the peace and putting them in a difficult position with the Philistines.
Samson was like Mikey Rourke in the film The Wrestler. Sure, he was famous and good at hurting people, but that fame and his freakish strength only alienated him from his kin. He came to his own but his own received him not. Over time, loneliness like that has a corrosive effect on the human soul.
Desolation:
May be that is why he looked for comfort in the arms of a prostitute at the Philistine city of Gaza. As always, that sort of rendezvous resulted in another confrontation with his enemies. At least this time no one died.
In Judges chapter 16 we read how Samson uprooted the gates of Gaza and carried them 40 miles away. The gates of an ancient city symbolised that city’s security, among other things. Samson’s feat was perhaps a prophetic sign to Israel that they don’t need to fear the Philistines, for Gaza’s security was no match for the strength of God.
Straight after the incident with the prostitute from Gaza we read how Samson hooks up with Delilah, another Philistine woman of ill repute. We can sense by now that this is not going to end well for anyone.
Verse 4 of Judges 16 tells us Samson fell in love with Delilah. As most of us know, falling in love makes us blind to the one we fall for. Samson could not see Delilah for who she was.
The five Philistine kings (each representing a city) see an opportunity and approach Delilah. They offer to pay her 1100 pieces of silver each, if she will trick Samson into telling her the secret of his super strength.
Delilah didn’t have to think about it. Straight away she went about her work. Three times she asked Samson what made him so strong and each time Samson led her up the garden path with a false answer. Clearly they had trust issues.
So when the Philistines came rushing in to get Samson, they failed. Samson could not be restrained by seven new bowstrings, nor by new ropes that have never been used and not by weaving the seven locks of his hair into a loom either.
In verse 15 of chapter 16 Delilah gives Samson the ‘hairy eyeball’. She says to him: How can you say you love me, when you don’t mean it? You’ve made a fool of me three times and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong.
Now you would think that after the three attempts on his life, in which Delilah has been instrumental, Samson would see that this woman could not be trusted. We, the reader, desperately want Samson to learn, but he doesn’t. Like a stack of M&M’s, Samson keeps falling over. If you want a story with a happy ending, then don’t read Judges.
When Delilah asks Samson a fourth time, Samson tells her the truth. If you cut my hair, I would lose my strength. So Delilah lulled Samson to sleep. (And isn’t that so typical of the smooth Philistine approach. The Philistines had enchanted Israel, lulling God’s people to into a false sense of security. Which is why God had sent Samson; to wake the people up and bring them to their senses.)
Once Samson is asleep a man comes in and cuts Samson’s hair. This time when the Philistines come, Samson is powerless to defend himself. They put Samson’s eyes out (they blind him permanently) then take him to the city of Gaza and put him to work grinding grain at the mill. Grinding grain in that culture was women’s work, so the idea here is to humiliate Samson, the strong man of Israel. Meanwhile, Samson’s hair starts to grow back.
When the five Philistine kings gather to celebrate and offer sacrifices to their god, Dagon, they bring Samson in for entertainment. The house is packed and there are 3000 on the roof as well.
Samson asks the boy leading him to let him rest against the pillars that support the building. Then Samson prays one last time, asking God for strength. With his final words he cries out: Let me die with the Philistines. Pushing the pillars with all his might, the building fell down on the five kings and everyone else. Many people died that day.
Conclusion:
Samson’s story starts with colonisation. His life is filled alienation and loneliness, and it ends in desolation. So much suffering. What was the point of Samson’s life? Was it all in vain?
No. We need to take a longer view. You see, Samson’s life is part of God’s bigger story of salvation. Samson’s task was to begin the work of delivering Israel from the Philistines. So the story does not end with Samson’s death. Samuel and Saul continued the work of deliverance. But it was king David who finally managed to subdue the Philistines. Samson had the difficult and lonely job of ploughing the hard ground, allowing others to sow, water and reap the fruits of freedom with justice.
More importantly though, Samson’s life and death points to Jesus.
Like Samson, Jesus was set apart before he was born for special service to God; to deliver people from oppression.
Unlike Samson though, Jesus accomplished his God given purpose with words and deeds of truth and grace, not by smashing skulls or burning crops.
Like Samson, Jesus was rejected by his own people.
But unlike Samson, Jesus found comfort & strength in prayer.
Like Samson, Jesus died a sacrificial death in the presence of his enemies.
But unlike Samson, Jesus forgave his enemies and opened the way to friendship with God.
Grace and peace to you.
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?
Have you ever been given the hairy eyeball by someone? How did this make you feel? How did you respond?
Why does redemption so often involve violence? Why does God use Samson to pick a fight with the Philistines?
Why do you think the men of Judah handed Samson over to the Philistines? How do you think this made Samson feel? Is there someone you know, who is isolated, that God would have you come alongside?
How might we (the church) resist colonization and maintain our identity and hope, in Christ, in this rapidly changing world?
How many M&M’s can you balance on top of each other?
In what ways does Samson show Israel a mirror?
In what ways does Samson point to Jesus? In what ways is Jesus different from Samson?
Today we begin a new sermon series on hair and hairy people in the Bible.
Most people are born with about 100,000 hair follicles on their head, although it can vary from person to person. And that is not say anything about the hair on the rest of your body.
Somewhat ironically, hair is often a symbol for strength, vitality and beauty. So the more hair someone has the more vigorous and healthy they are perceived to be. I say that’s ironic because, in actual fact, once hair reaches the surface of the skin the cells are dead. It’s strange that we mistake that which is dead as a sign of life.
Nevertheless, we do seem to judge people based the appearance of their hair. Consequently, a lot of time and effort is often given to hair, assuming you still have it.
Please turn with me to Genesis 25, on page 28 toward the beginning of your pew Bibles. We come across a number of hairy characters in the Bible. One of the first is Esau, the son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Jacob. From Genesis 25, verse 21 we read about the birth of Esau & Jacob…
Esau is hairy:
21 Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant. 22 She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, “Why should something like this happen to me?” So she went to ask the Lord for an answer.
23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are within you; You will give birth to two rival peoples. One will be stronger than the other; The older will serve the younger.”
24 The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons. 25 The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau. 26 The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob.Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
May the Lord bless the reading of his word.
If we say something was a bit ‘hairy’; for example, ‘the traffic was a bit hairy on the way to work this morning’ or ‘the crowd was a bit hairy at the cricket’, we mean that it was dangerous, scary, unpredictable and risky or a bit out of control. Hairiness, then, can be a metaphor for that which is rough & ready or ill prepared. Hairiness is sort of the opposite of refinement and good quality. It is the opposite of neat & tidy and safe.
Not only was Esau physically hairy, from birth, Esau and Jacob’s relationship as brothers was pretty hairy too. Genesis 25 tells us how they were in conflict with each other even before they were born. They wrestled in the womb.
Throughout most of history the first born male has been given certain privileges. They call it primogeniture. This is where the eldest son becomes first in line to inherit something significant from their parents. For example, Prince Charles is next in line to be king of England because he is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth.
Primogeniture is a random basis for deciding succession. It doesn’t require any special skill or quality. It comes down to luck basically. What’s more, it’s not really God’s idea. It is a human tradition.
Esau was the first born of Rebekah and Isaac. There wasn’t much in it to be fair. Jacob followed quickly after, holding on to the heel of his brother Esau. But Esau crossed the line first and, from a human point of view, that gave him certain privileges, most notably a special birthright. In that culture being born first gave Esau the right to inherit the leadership and authority of his father Isaac. That means Esau would be boss of the family once Isaac died.
However, God does not play by human rules. He is no respecter of man-made traditions. To the Lord, primogeniture is a hairy idea and so God is inclined to shave that particular human tradition. As Jesus said, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
While she was still pregnant, Rebekah enquired of the Lord and the Lord said to her: the older will serve the younger. And so it appears that God elected or chose Jacob to become the head of the family and to inherit the promise and blessing of his grandfather Abraham.
We notice in the Bible that God sometimes selects certain individuals for a special purpose. In ways we don’t fully understand God uses the choices those individuals make to serve his plan and purpose. He works it for good.
God did not choose Jacob because Jacob was an especially good or noble person. In fact, as we shall see, Jacob’s behavior toward his brother and father was quite hairy at times. Rather, God’s election of Jacob was all grace. It was entirely unmerited favour, for God chose Jacob before he was born. That is, before Jacob had a chance to do anything good or bad.
Esau despises his birthright:
From verse 27 of Genesis 25, we pick up the story…
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. 28 Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.
29 One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry 30 and said to Jacob, “I’m starving; give me some of that red stuff.” (That is why he was named Edom.)
31 Jacob answered, “I will give it to you if you give me your rights as the first-born son.”
32 Esau said, “All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?”
33 Jacob answered, “First make a vow that you will give me your rights.”
Esau made the vow and gave his rights to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his rights as the first-born son.
May God bless the reading of his word.
What we have in these verses from Genesis 25, is an example of men behaving badly. Esau despises his birthright. He trades his right to become head of the household for a bowl of lentil soup. He treats something sacred as though it were cheap and of little consequence. That’s a hairy thing to do. Esau may have felt famished but he was hardly starving. He could have waited.
Jacob’s behaviour isn’t any better. Basic human decency, not to mention the obligation to provide hospitality in that culture, required Jacob to share the soup with his brother freely. But Jacob sees an opportunity and exploits Esau’s vulnerability.
Although Jacob’s behaviour seems a bit hairy to us, God used it for good. Jacob’s test revealed the truth of the situation. Jacob may have been ruthless but he clearly cared more for the birthright than Esau did, which tends to vindicate God’s choice in electing Jacob.
Someone told me once how they used to have compulsory military training in the country they came from. There was a test for those who wanted to become officers in the army. They took the cadets out into the desert, had them do fatigues during the heat of the day and deprived them of water. Then after some hours, when everyone was really thirsty, they brought out some cold drinks.
Anyone could have a drink but if you did, you forfeited the option to become an officer. Being a leader is not easy. It requires real strength. You need self-discipline and you have to be prepared to make personal sacrifices. Jesus faced an even more demanding test when he was called to public ministry. He fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and was tested by Satan.
Now personally, I don’t think there was anything wrong with those cadets who accepted the drink and choose not to be an officer. That is not the same as selling your birthright for a bowl of stew. Military leadership is not for everyone. In fact, the army is not for everyone.
I guess these days the army has a more refined and careful selection process for their officers. I imagine one would have to be psychologically assessed before being accepted. But the drink test in the desert, that’s something that can’t be replicated by psychometric testing.
The point is, before we can be entrusted with something valuable we have to demonstrate to ourselves (more than anyone else) that we truly value what we are to be entrusted with.
Esau may have been born first but he wasn’t really called or suited for the role of being head of the family. And that’s okay. Being the leader is not always what it is cracked up to be. For the followers of Jesus, being a leader means following the path of self-sacrifice. The leader knows better than anyone else that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
At various stages on your life’s journey, if you pause long enough, you might ask yourself, ‘Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? What do I value? Where do I find meaning for my soul?’
That can be a hairy process, because it usually involves some kind of deprivation or test. Some sort of sacrifice or suffering. And the outcome can be unpredictable. Perhaps, like Esau, you will not get what you want, but you will get what you need.
As Walter Brueggemann observes, we do not live in a world where all possibilities are kept open and we may choose our posture as we please. This does not deny freedom but it requires us to speak of destiny.
Jacob & Esau had freedom but their freedom is bounded by the choices God has already made on their behalf.
We live in a society which places a high value on personal freedom and self-determination. So the idea that God has the power and the right to channel our choices goes against the grain for us. It feels hairy. But that’s where faith comes in. We have to learn to trust God and to accept ourselves, the way God made us, hairiness and all.
Jacobs deceives Isaac:
Jacob was not satisfied with Esau’s birthright. Jacob wanted his father’s blessing too. In Genesis 27 we find more hairy behaviour, not just from Jacob but also from Isaac and Rebekah.
We are told that Isaac preferred Esau because he liked Esau’s food. (Not sure how that would have made Rebekah feel?) In any case, Isaac wanted to give his blessing to Esau and not to Jacob.
There’s a line from the 1986 movie Highlander which says, “There can be only one.” I won’t give you the context. You have to see the film. But it seems that with the blessing Isaac bestowed, there could be only one. It had to be either Esau or Jacob. They couldn’t both receive a blessing.
And, once again, that goes against the grain for us (it feels hairy) because we live in a society that values inclusion and equality. Isaac intended to include Esau and exclude Jacob but his cunning plan failed.
I say it was a cunning plan because something as important as the passing on of a sacred blessing would normally be done in an open way, publicly, with ceremony and celebration. Sort of like a wedding or a baptism or the bestowal of a knighthood. But Isaac thought he would bestow his blessing secretly, on the down low.
Isaac sent Esau off to hunt some game and make him a tasty meal with it. Then he would give Esau his blessing. But Rebekah overheard Isaac’s plan and came up with a cunning plan of her own. She decided to take advantage of Isaac’s blindness and told Jacob to dress up like Esau and imitate his brother’s hairiness. In this way Isaac would bless Jacob, thinking he was blessing Esau.
Jacob wasn’t sure at first. What if the plan backfired? What if Isaac figured out that Jacob was deceiving him? That might bring a curse on Jacob’s head. But Rebekah said she would take the blame.
So Jacob agreed. Rebekah dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes and put goat skins on Jacob’s arms and neck. This way Jacob would smell and feel like Esau. Then Jacob took food to Isaac and lied to his father, pretending to be Esau.
Isaac’s instinct, his gut, told him something wasn’t right. But Isaac didn’t trust his gut. Instead he was led by his nose. It smelt like Esau and so blind old Isaac unwittingly gave Jacob the blessing, saying…
May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine! 29 May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother’s descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed.”
Later, Esau turned up with the food Isaac liked, seeking his father’s blessing. But it was too late. Jacob had already stolen the blessing. When Isaac learned he had been deceived he began to tremble and shake all over, and he asked, “Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever.”
34 When Esau heard this, he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, “Give me your blessing also, father! …Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
I am reminded of Dylan Thomas’ poem, written for his father who (like Isaac) was going blind near the end of his life…
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light…
And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
To his credit, Isaac does not retract his blessing. It was solemnly given and cannot be taken back. This might seem strange to us because we live in an age of advertising and mis-information and fake news, when language is treated cheaply and words are not really trusted.
But Isaac lived at a time when words were potent; they carried power and were efficacious. Words made things happen.
It is not easy for the first when they realise they have come last. Esau was livid with Jacob but he loved his father and thought to postpone his revenge on Jacob until after Isaac had died. Rebekah had the sense to send Jacob away for a while, for his own protection. Oh, how it must have pained her to do so.
Jacob had secured the birth right and the blessing, but at what cost. Life was about to get rather hairy for Jacob. One wonders if things may have gone smoother for everyone if Jacob had waited for God to fulfil the oracle, rather than Jacob forcing the fulfilment of the prophecy himself.
Conclusion:
You know, you may wish sometimes that your life had gone differently. You may wish that you had made other choices, climbed a different ladder or taken another path. But you can’t change the past and you can’t be something you are not. There is no point in bitterness. Sometimes you just have to get on with it, make the best of the hand you are dealt. And make the best of the choices you have made.
This, it seems, is what Esau did. Twenty years go by before Jacob and Esau meet up again. Jacob is naturally feeling quite anxious (and guilty) about returning home to face his brother and so he sends gifts ahead of him to soften Esau and win his favour, but Jacob didn’t need to do this. As it turned out God had blessed Esau too and so Esau had plenty. In Genesis 33 we read…
Jacob saw Esau coming with his four hundred men. …Jacob went ahead of [his wives and children] and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. They were both crying…
10 Jacob said, “…please, if I have gained your favour, accept my gift. To see your face is for me like seeing the face of God, now that you have been so friendly to me…”
Esau forgave Jacob and welcomed him with genuine affection.
Jesus taught us to love those who are different from us. Esau and Jacob could not be more different from each other. One was a bit wild & reckless and the other cool & calculating. One hairy and the other smooth. But it was the hairy one, it was Esau, who demonstrated the most grace in the end.
Carl Jung might say that each of us has an Esau and a Jacob personality within ourselves. (We are complex creatures, fearfully and wonderfully made.) Before we can love those who are different from us we must first forgive and accept the parts of ourselves that we don’t like very much. Or, as Jesus put it, we have to take the plank out of our own eye. We have to face the truth about ourselves and allow our inner Esau and Jacob to make peace.
Let us pray…
Gracious God, we thank you for your wisdom in working things for good.
Help each of us as we discover your purpose for our lives and walk in it.
Give us patience to wait for you and your timing.
Help us to be content whether we are first or last.
And give us the grace to forgive ourselves that our own inner Esau and Jacob would be reconciled and we may learn to love those who are different from us.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus. 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 do we mean by birthright? What was Esau’s birthright? What is your birthright?
Why do you think God chose Jacob over Esau, to inherit the promise of Abraham?
What is the purpose of your life? How do you know this is your purpose? How does this fit with God’s purpose?
Is there anything in Genesis 25 & 27 that really grates (or annoys) you? Why is that do you think? In what ways does the undercurrent of Esau & Jacob’s story go against the grain of our society today?
Of the four main characters in today’s message (Esau & Jacob, Isaac & Rebekah) who do you identify with the most? And who do you think is least like you (your opposite)? Why is that do you think?
Who is your Esau? Who is your Jacob? Is there anyone you need to make peace with? Give this to God in prayer and ask him how to proceed?
Scriptures: Matthew 18:19-20, 1st Samuel 16:6-7, 1st Peter 2:5&9, Ezekiel 36:26, Matthew 15:8-9, Matthew 23:26
Structure:
Introduction
Liberty of conscience
Biblical authority
Congregational government
Conclusion
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
When you go to the ice-cream shop you have to make a decision. Right there in front of you are a range of different flavours: vanilla, boysenberry, hokey pokey, chocolate, rum and raisin, coffee and more.
Each of the different flavours has essentially the same base. Probably milk, cream, water and sugar, churned in a particular way. You may have a preference for mint choc chip but that doesn’t mean you can’t associate with someone who eats black forest ice-cream.
I’m quite partial to chocolate ice-cream, if I’m having it in a cone. Robyn occasionally has a rum and raisin, which I don’t enjoy. But even though we prefer different flavours, we don’t fall out over it. At the end of the day, it’s all still ice-cream.
The Christian church is a bit like ice-cream. There are a variety of flavours or denominations from Catholic, to Anglican, to Church of Christ, to Presbyterian to New Life, to Baptist and so on.
Even though this is a Baptist church many of us here (if not most of us) have probably worshipped in other Christian traditions as well. And that’s okay. Each of the denominations has essentially the same base. We all believe Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus rose from the dead. We just have a different emphasis and different organizational structures which gives us our own unique flavour.
This morning our message focuses on what it means to be Baptist. What are those beliefs and practices which give the Baptist movement its own distinct flavour?
Well, there are four things basically: liberty of conscience, Biblical authority, congregational government and believers’ baptism. Some other denominations might have one or two of these in their kite of beliefs but not all four of them together.
Before we get into what each of these terms mean, I want to be clear, these are not the most important beliefs in Christian faith. So you don’t have to agree with every aspect of Baptist belief in order to worship here. You may have a different view and that’s fine.
The essential thing is Jesus. All I’m doing this morning is describing to you the four main ingredients which, when combined, make the Baptist flavour. First, let’s consider liberty of conscience.
Liberty of conscience:
Some of you may have heard of John Bunyan. John Bunyan was the author of the book, Pilgrim’s Progress. John Bunyan was also a Baptist preacher during the 17th Century. There’s a quote of his that I quite like. Bunyan wrote…
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.
The heart in this context refers to a person’s inner conviction, their desire or their motivation. Sometimes we have a yearning or a thirst for God in our heart but we just can’t seem to find the words to do our thoughts and feelings justice. That’s better than saying empty words to God when our heart simply isn’t in it.
The heart, the core motivation, the inside of a person is an important theme running through the Bible. When God instructed the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king for Israel, Samuel saw Jesse’s eldest son, Eliab, and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here”. But God said to Samuel…
Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. [1st Samuel 16:7]
Later in Israel’s history, the prophets emphasized the importance of the heart in worshipping God. For example, in Ezekiel 36:26, the Lord says to His people through the prophet…
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
A heart of stone is a hard heart, a dead heart. A heart that is insensitive to the things of God. A heart of flesh is a heart (or an inner disposition) that is tender and sensitive to the things of God. A willing and obedient heart that is alive and beats for the Lord, that’s a heart of flesh.
Jesus was also interested in the heart. He had some strong words of criticism for the Pharisees who were big on appearances but whose hearts were like stone when it came to perceiving God’s purpose in and through Jesus.
This is what the Lord had to say about the Pharisees and the importance of the heart, in Matthew 15:8-9…
These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.
Jesus went on to talk about the importance of washing the inside of the cup. In other words, if you get the inside right (if you get your heart right) then the outside will be clean too. Our life and worship needs to come from the inside out. [Matthew 23:26]
We are talking about liberty of conscience. Your conscience is part of your inner self, part of your heart. The Baptist movement of churches started with people who felt very strongly that the religious leaders of their day honoured God with their lips but had hearts that were far from the Lord.
To understand liberty of conscience you have to know a little bit of English Church history. Prior to the 1530’s there was one church in England and that was the Roman Catholic church. No other church was permitted. There was only one flavour.
Then came king Henry VIII who broke with Rome to establish a Protestant church, the Church of England, which in NZ we know today as the Anglican church.
At that time the church and the State were basically one. So the Church of England made the law and the law said you had to belong to the Church of England, whether you actually believed in Jesus or not. Resistance could result in prison, torture or even death.
But people did resist and those who set up their own church, separate from the Church of England, were called Separatists. Baptists evolved out of the Separatists. At first, life was so dangerous for Baptists they had to escape to the Netherlands which permitted religious tolerance. But they returned to England a few years later.
And this is where John Bunyan comes in. After being discharged from the army and becoming a Christian, Bunyan joined a Baptist church at Bedford, in England, and became a preacher. It was against the law of the land to do this and so John Bunyan was imprisoned for eleven years (1661-1672) for following his conscience, such was the strength of his conviction that he was doing God’s will.
Liberty of conscience is the idea that Christ alone has the right to command the individual’s conscience. No one, not even the State or your parents, can force you to believe something.
Being a Christian is a matter of the heart. You can’t make someone love God through legislation or fear of punishment. That goes against the gospel of Christ. People need to come to faith in Jesus voluntarily. True worship is from the inside out.
Liberty of conscience does not give us a license to do whatever we want. The main issue at stake here is the Lordship of Jesus. As I said before, Christ alone has the right to command the individual’s conscience.
If the State forces people to go to church, then it is usurping the place of Jesus. Jesus is Lord, not the government. The State, at its best, is God’s servant.
One implication of liberty of conscience is that Baptists believe the church and state should remain separate. It’s okay for Christians to be in politics. And it’s okay for the church to speak truth to people in power. But it’s not okay for the church to dictate what society should think or believe.
Most people these days would agree with the idea of liberty of conscience, but 500 years ago it was a radical thought.
Another implication of liberty of conscience is religious tolerance. Baptists don’t give people of other faiths a hard time. To the contrary, we uphold the freedom for people to practice their own religion, without compromising what we ourselves believe. We do not need to be afraid of other religions because we believe Jesus is Lord. Our job is to remain in Christ and be a positive witness to the world around us.
We see the principle of liberty of conscience reflected in our church’s values. Being real and authentic and integrating our faith, from the inside out, is important to us here. What’s more, we give people freedom to be involved. We don’t put pressure on people. We let people become involved in church life at a pace that suits them.
We also try to avoid loading people up with so many church activities that they don’t have time to engage with the outside world. Many of you are already doing good things for God and His kingdom, through your everyday work. My hope and prayer is that you would find nourishment and refreshment for your faith and your soul during our times of gathered worship.
Biblical authority:
Now, as I said earlier, liberty of conscience is not a license to do whatever we want. Our conscience is not God. In fact, our conscience can be misled or it can become callous or insensitive, as if seared with a hot iron. Jesus is Lord. As Christians, Jesus is the one who informs and guides and molds our conscience and behavior, by his Word and his Spirit.
Our early Baptist forebears soon realized they needed a measuring stick for their conscience, a higher authority. They needed some way of checking their conscience was on the right track and so the Bible became that measure.
Study and discussion of the Scriptures was central to early Baptist worship. The Bible was the means for seeking the mind of Christ. John Tucker, the Principal of Carey Baptist College in Auckland, writes…
The oldest description of Baptist worship that we have dates back to 1609. It records that the worship service began at 8am with a prayer and a Bible reading. This was followed by four or five different church members taking turns to prophesy or preach out of that text. Each sermon ran for about 45 to 60 minutes, with opportunity for interaction and discussion among the congregation. At midday the members shared a meal together and took a collection for the poor. Then, from 2pm to 6pm, the morning pattern of worship was repeated.
Imagine that, ten hours of church every Sunday. We don’t spend as much time in gathered worship these days (which I’m sure you are thankful for) but Scripture is still central to our worship. One of our church values is sharing Biblical truth. We open the Scriptures through the Sunday sermon, through small group Bible studies and through our own personal devotional time. We do this because we believe God still has more light to shed on His Word.
I have come to think of the Bible as a woman. The Bible is wise and beautiful, full of truth and grace. She can be complicated and hard to understand sometimes but I love her and, for reasons I can’t really explain, I find myself drawn to her gentle power.
As a woman, the Bible is pregnant with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is the midwife. We can’t really receive the Word of God without the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit delivers God’s Word to our hearts and minds and that Word speaks to our conscience.
Given the importance Baptists place on Scripture, it is not surprising that some of the world’s most well-known preachers have been Baptists. People like Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther King Jnr. and Billy Graham.
Liberty of conscience, Biblical authority and congregational government.
Congregational government:
We find three models of church government in the New Testament:
Episcopacy – which involves one person governing, e.g. the bishop.
Presbyterianism – which involves an inner group of elders governing, and
Congregationalism – which is where all the members of the church govern.
Early Baptists went for congregationalism; the belief that final authority over the local church rests not with a bishop or a national council, or the senior pastor or a group of elders, but with the risen Christ who promises to be present and make his will known, whenever that church gathers together to seek his will. As Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20…
Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.
This does not mean that if two Christians agree together they would like a Porsche that God will give it to them. The emphasis here is on Jesus’ presence when his followers gather to seek the will of God. When Christ is present, speaking to our conscience, we find ourselves praying a prayer that God is happy to answer positively.
Hand in hand with the principle of congregational government is the idea of the priesthood of all believers. In 1 Peter 2, verse 5 we read…
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
And then in verse 9 Peter says…
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…
Baptists believe that all regenerate Christian believers are priests, which means God could speak through any Spirit filled believer. Therefore, it follows that all church members have a part to play in seeking the mind of Christ and hearing the will of God.
Early Baptist churches were normally comprised of about 50 people, a relatively small number. And so with a congregation that size, who were willing to meet for 10 hours at a stretch, it was possible for everyone to have their say and agreement to be reached.
Church sizes are generally bigger these days, so the more routine day to day management and governance of the church is handled by the Deacons Board and the staff. And larger decisions, like approving the church budget and hiring the minister, are decided by the congregation at a church meeting.
One implication of congregational government is the autonomy of the local church. Because it is the congregation who seeks the mind of Christ and not the Arch Bishop, or some other authority, each congregation can discern the direction they believe Jesus is leading in their context.
Autonomy does not imply complete independence though. Baptist churches also believe in associating with other Baptist churches. And so Tawa Baptist is part of the Baptist Union of New Zealand and part of the Wellington Baptist Regional Association.
One of the things that is needed for congregational government to work well is commitment from the members. Church members need to have a strong commitment to loving Jesus and loving one another.
Baptists are not persecuted in New Zealand today, but they were persecuted in 17th Century England. As we’ve heard with John Bunyan’s story, it was illegal for Baptists to meet. They risked prison, torture and even death. This meant you needed to be able to trust your fellow church members. You needed to have each other’s back. You needed to know you weren’t going to be betrayed to the authorities by the person sitting in the pew next to you.
That was the kind of next level covenant commitment that early Baptists expected from one another. That’s where the idea of Baptist church membership comes from.
It would be fair to say that the level of commitment required by your average church member is not as high today. No one is really at risk of being thrown in prison for coming to this worship service. In fact, anyone can attend services here without threat of violence.
The reality is each of us brings a different level of commitment to this faith community. Some of you are highly committed, others are moderately committed and still others aren’t sure if you’ll be back next week. I don’t want to criticize that. We are a diverse congregation. We may be in different places in our journey of faith and in our situation in life. That’s okay. God is able to meet each of us where we are at.
Again we see our church values reflected in the principles of congregational government and the commitment this requires. In particular, we place value on showing genuine care for one another and in making decisions faithfully.
Conclusion:
I said at the beginning of this message that there are four beliefs which give Baptist churches their own distinct flavour: liberty of conscience, Biblical authority, congregational government and believers’ baptism.
I’ve talked about the first three but I’m not planning to talk about Believers’ baptism this morning because I’ve talked about this on a number of occasions in the past and we are likely to hear about it again next time we have a baptismal service. Plus, I don’t want to keep you until 6pm.
So let me finish by saying two things…
Firstly, we live at a different time in history to the early Baptists. Our context is not the same as theirs. The walls between denominations are not as high or as strong as they once were. Movement between churches has become more fluid. The wider Christian church these days is more like a braided river, interlaced and interwoven.
Secondly, these four Baptist distinctives are not the most important things. The most essential thing is Christ. It is in and through Jesus that we find our identity, our connection and our unity. So, whatever happens, whatever differences you may feel with others, hold to Christ.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Some of the material for this message was gleaned from the following sources:
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?
Do you like ice-cream? What is your favourite flavour? Which different denominations of Christian faith have you been involved with? What were some of the good things about each of these experiences for you?
Liberty of conscience is founded on the belief that ‘Christ alone has the right to command the individual’s conscience’. Why is this important? To what extent does Christ command your conscience?
In what ways has the idea of liberty of conscience shaped (or influenced) our world today? (E.g. religious tolerance…)
Why do we give so much attention to opening the Scriptures?
What are some of the implications of congregational government?
How is our situation today different from that of 17th Century England? Which of the four Baptist distinctives do you think is most relevant (or most helpful) for our context?
If you want to create a connection and send a message to someone you might arrange for a bouquet of flowers to be delivered. Different types of flowers symbolize different things. You just need to know how to interpret their meaning.
We all know that Red Roses signify romantic love and desire but you wouldn’t want to send your beloved a bunch of Rhododendrons because Rhododendrons are poisonous; they say beware.[1]
Irises stand for wisdom and respect. So if you send a bunch of Irises to someone you are saying something along the lines of, ‘I respect your advice’. You might give Irises to a special teacher or mentor in your life.
If you receive some Verbena, then the sender may be asking you for help. Verbena say: ‘Pray for me’. They also represent protection from evil.
Daffodils symbolize new beginnings. So you might give someone a bunch of daffodils when they are making a transition in their life; starting a new job or moving into a new house.
Please turn with me to Luke chapter 22. This morning’s message focuses on Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, the night before his crucifixion and death. The ritual of communion finds its genesis in the last supper. Although it is called the last supper it is also a new beginning at the same time. Every new beginning starts with some other beginning’s end. From Luke 22, verses 14-20 we read…
14 When the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table with the apostles. 15 He said to them, “I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer! 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then Jesus took a cup, gave thanks to God, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 I tell you that from now on I will not drink this wine until the Kingdom of God comes.”
19 Then he took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” 20 In the same way, he gave them the cup after the supper, saying, “Thiscup is God’s new covenant sealed with my blood, which is poured out for you.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
The Exodus:
There are a number of flowers which signify remembrance. Forget Me Not’s obviously and Zinnias. But also Pansies. The Pansy symbolizes thoughtfulness and remembrance, which fits well with the message of communion.
Forget me nots lean more towards not forgetting a romantic interest. And Zinnias are about remembering absent friends. Pansies though, carry the nuance of practical remembrance which shows care and consideration for others. Like remembering to leave the toilet seat down and remembering your wife’s birthday or remembering not to serve sugary food to a person with diabetes.
In Luke 22, verses 15-16, Jesus says to his disciples: “I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer! 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.”
Just as flowers have their own language, sending a symbolic message, so too the Passover meal is packed with symbolism for those who know how to interpret it. Jesus was looking forward to this particular meal because it provided him the opportune moment and means for explaining his imminent suffering and death.
Jesus was basically using the Passover meal to interpret his own death, so his disciples could find meaning in the events of Easter after he had gone.
So what is the Passover meal? Well, it was an annual Jewish ritual which remembered and celebrated the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt. During the meal special food was eaten and the story of the Exodus was retold. Each of the elements of food bore symbolic meaning, relating to the Exodus.
By celebrating this ritual meal, every year, the memory of what God did to save Israel (all those centuries ago) was preserved.
So what is the Exodus? The word Exodus simply means exit. For many years the ancient Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They cried out to God for justice.
Incidentally, the flower which signifies justice is the Black Eyed Susan. I’m not sure if the Black Eyed Susan grows in Egypt (probably not) but in any case, God’s act of delivering the people of Israel from slavery was like sending acres of Black Eyed Susan flowers. God’s justice set his people free.
Jesus is taking the symbolism of the Passover meal and using it help his followers interpret his death on the cross. Just as God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, so too Jesus delivers humanity from slavery to sin.
On the night the nation was to exit Egypt, Moses commanded the people to sacrifice a lamb and paint the blood of the lamb over their door posts. The angel of death passed over those houses who had the blood of the lamb on their doors. So the blood of the lamb became a symbol of God’s protection.
Just as the blood of the sacrificial lamb protected the Israelites from death, so too Jesus’ blood poured out for us on the cross, protects us from death.
The Bread:
If you want to say ‘thank you’ to someone then the flower you need is the Sweet Pea. Sweet peas say thanks very much. The Passover meal is punctuated with little prayers and hymns which say ‘thank you’ to God for his provision and salvation.
On that first Passover night the people were instructed to eat unleavened bread. Sort of like pita pockets or flat bread. Unleavened bread doesn’t use yeast and so it is quicker and easier to make. You don’t have to wait around for the bread to rise. The people couldn’t waste any time. They needed to be packed and ready to go so they could make a speedy exodus when the hour came.
With this in mind unleavened bread is a symbol of the obedience of faith that leads to salvation. By implication yeast became a symbol for sin. As the Passover tradition evolved Jewish families would take all the yeast out of their homes in the days leading up to the festival, sort of like an acted out parable of preparing for God’s salvation by ridding their lives of sin. That is, making sure they were free of anything that might hold them back from obeying God.
In verse 19 of Luke 22 we read how Jesus took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.”
Jesus wasn’t saying here that the bread is literally his body. Rather, Jesus is taking an ordinary common object, like bread, and giving it a special meaning and significance far beyond what it normally has. Jesus is the unleavened bread from heaven. He is the sinless sustenance of God. It is the obedience of faith in Jesus that leads to salvation.
By saying, “This is my body, which is given for you…”, Jesus is indicating that his death has sacrificial significance. Just as we rely on bread for our physical survival, so too we rely on the sacrifice of Jesus’ body for our spiritual survival.
Bread is something we take into ourselves. Likewise, Jesus is someone we must take into ourselves by faith. By using bread as a symbol for himself, Jesus is describing a deep personal inner connection with him. Jesus is not distant or remote. He is close and intimate in the ordinary everyday stuff of life.
Following this train of thought, bread in the Old Testament was also a symbol of God’s presence with his people. So when we eat the communion bread (a symbol of Christ) we aren’t just recalling something that happened 2000 years ago. We are remembering that Jesus is present with us now, today, by his Spirit.
The Cup:
The same kind of flower can mean different things depending on the colour of that flower. Take Lilies for example: white ones signify purity, pink ones signify prosperity, red lilies represent passion, orange ones symbolise pride, and yellow lilies stand for gratitude.
But the symbolism of the colours doesn’t necessarily transfer to other flowers. If you send someone whiteCarnations you are saying, ‘I think you are sweet and lovely’. And if you send them pink Carnations the message is, ‘I will never forget you’. But if you send a yellow Carnation, well that signifies disdain, while the two toned variety says, ‘I cannot be with you’. Harsh. That’s like breaking up by bouquet.
In Luke’s version of the last supper we read that Jesus served two cups. One before the bread and the other after the bread. The ritual of the Passover meal actually involves four cups of wine each watered down and drunk at different stages throughout the meal.
In verses 17-18 we are told that Jesus took a cup, gave thanks to God, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 I tell you that from now on I will not drink this wine until the Kingdom of God comes.”
The cup is a bit like a carnation. It can symbolise quite different things. Sometimes the cup signifies abundance, blessing and fellowship, as in the 23rd Psalm where we read, you prepare a table for me… my cup overflows.
Other times though, the cup is a symbol of God’s wrath and judgment. Like where it says in Isaiah 51:17, Jerusalem… You have drunk the cup of punishment that the Lord in his anger gave you to drink; you drank it down and it made you stagger.
So which cup is meant here? Well, the cup the disciples drank (and the cup we drink) is not a cup of punishment. It is a cup of blessing and fellowship, made possible by Jesus’ sacrifice.
We notice that Jesus instructed his disciples to share the cup and so the cup is a symbol of unity. Often, when we share communion, I invite people to hold the cup that we may take it as one. It is a symbolic way of saying we are all connected through Jesus. Communion is both a personal faith thing and a community faith thing.
Hyssop is the flower that symbolizes sacrifice and cleansing. ‘Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean’ the Psalmist says. Then, at Jesus’ crucifixion, it was a branch of hyssop that was dipped in vinegar and held to Jesus’ lips as he hung on the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice cleanses us of our sin. It removes our guilt.
Chrysanthemum flowers have a simple message: honesty. Communion is not something we take lightly. We need to approach the communion table honestly, with reverence and respect. Communion is not a place to pretend. It is a place where we face the truth about ourselves and remember our need for forgiveness.
The Purple Hyacinth says: I am sorry, please forgive me. You might give purple hyacinth to your wife or your husband after a row. Figuratively speaking we come to the communion table with Purple Hyacinth in hand, mindful of our need for God’s grace.
Jesus talks about not drinking this wine until the Kingdom of God comes. One of the key symbols of the Kingdom of God is a wedding banquet, a party, or a feast. The Kingdom of God is a celebration, when God’s will is done perfectly.
Jesus is looking forward to the consummation of history when heaven comes to earth. When God wipes away every tear and there is no more war or famine or COVID or suffering or death. The Kingdom of God does not operate in the same way this world does. It is not more of the same.
When we celebrate communion, we not only look back in remembrance of Jesus’ death & resurrection. We also look forward to Jesus’ return in glory. But the coming of God’s Kingdom in its fullness isn’t just an external thing. The Kingdom of God is also within us; in our hearts and minds, both the conscious and unconscious aspects of our psyche (or our soul).
I think it is the Kingdom within that Jesus is getting at when he serves the cup after supper saying, “Thiscup is God’s new covenant sealed with my blood, which is poured out for you.
A covenant is a sacred agreement that cannot be broken. It is more than a contract. At its best marriage is a covenant. Sadly, marriage has lost its meaning for many people in the world today, so I’m not sure our society has an adequate symbol for the idea of covenant anymore.
Just outside the door of our house we have a little patch of Violets growing. Violets signify loyalty, devotion and faithfulness. The kind of loyalty, devotion and faithfulness that Ruth showed to Naomi. The kind of loyalty, devotion and faithfulness that God shows to us. And the kind of loyalty, devotion and faithfulness that God wants from us.
After the Israelites had left Egypt, and while they were still in the wilderness of Sinai, God made a covenant with the nation. He agreed to be their God and take care of them, if they kept his laws as summarized in the ten commandments. The covenant was sealed when the blood of a sacrificial animal was thrown over the people.
Sadly, the people broke their covenant with God. They cheated on God basically. And so, in Jeremiah 31, the prophet spoke of a new covenant…
31 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbour to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
When Jesus said, ‘this is the cup of the new covenant’, he most likely had Jeremiah 31 in mind. The new covenant is different from the old because God’s law of love (His will) is written on our hearts, so that our greatest desire is to do what God wants. It is the Kingdom within.
Jesus seals the new covenant with his blood which is poured out for you. Once again, this speaks of Jesus’ sacrificial death. Jesus wants his followers to interpret his death, not as a pointless waste of life, but rather as the sealing or establishment of the new covenant Jeremiah had been talking about.
Conclusion:
If we were to put together a bouquet of flowers symbolizing what we celebrate in sharing communion, we would have…
Daffodils to recognise the new beginning Jesus makes possible for us,
Pansies to symbolize thoughtfulness and remembrance,
Chrysanthemumsto keep us honest,
Purple Hyacinth to say ‘sorry, please forgive me’,
Hyssop to remind us that we are cleansed by Jesus’ sacrifice,
Sweet Peas to say ‘thank you’,
And Violets to represent the loyalty, devotion and faithfulness of God’s new covenant, the covenant within.
There is one other flower we might have in the bouquet; the Lotus. Lotus flowers grow in the mud. Each night, they return to the mud, and then miraculously re-bloom in the morning. In many Eastern cultures, they signify rebirth, purity, and enlightenment.
In the ritual of communion, we don’t just remember Jesus’ death, as important as that is. We remember too his resurrection. Like the Lotus flower, Jesus rose from the tomb. But unlike the Lotus flower, Jesus does not return to the mud. Jesus ascended to heaven.
And that is why I conclude our time of communion with the words, ‘The Lord is risen’, and you respond with the affirmation, ‘He is risen indeed’.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
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?
Have you ever received (or given) flowers? What kind of flowers were they? What message was the sender trying to convey? How did this make you feel?
Jesus used the Passover meal to interpret his suffering and death. What connections can you see between Israel’s exodus from Egypt and Jesus’ ministry (work) through the cross?
Why do we celebrate communion? What associations do you have with taking communion? What do you remember? Who do you feel close to?
Discuss/reflect on the meaning/symbolism of the unleavened bread. (E.g. presence, sustenance, taking Christ into oneself, obedience of faith, etc.) What does the bread mean to you?
Discuss/reflect on the meaning/symbolism of the cup. (E.g. blessing and fellowship, blood, sacrifice, covenant, the Kingdom within, etc.) What does the cup mean to you?
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 again. Then share communion with at least one other believer, using Jesus’ words from Luke 22. What are you in touch with? What might God be saying to you?
Blood vessels are extremely important. Blood vessels include things like arteries, veins and capillaries. They transport blood cells, nutrients and oxygen throughout the human body. They also remove waste and carbon dioxide. Blood vessels connect the different parts of the body. We need blood vessels to sustain life.
Blood vessels look a bit like tree roots and they are the source of healing. For example, if you have an infection in your leg, then you need blood vessels to bring anti-bodies to the wound site to fight the infection. Without blood vessels there is no blood flow and therefore no healing and no life. Jesus is a bit like the blood vessel system for humanity.
Today we conclude our sermon series on the I am sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. Jesus uses a number of I am statements to describe himself. These sayings tell us about Jesus’ being, his identity.
Please turn with me to John chapter 14, page 137 toward the back of your pew Bibles. Last week we heard how Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. This morning we hear how Jesus says to his disciples: I am the way, the truth and the life. The main point here is that Jesus connects us with God, the source of life. From John 14, verses 1-7 we read…
“Do not be worried and upset,” Jesus told them. “Believein God and believe also in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. 3 And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am. 4 You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; so how can we know the way to get there?”
6 Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me. 7 Now that you have known me,” he said to them, “you will knowmy Father also, and from now on you do know him and you have seen him.”
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Jesus connects the physical with the spiritual:
A yacht moves by harnessing the power of the wind. Which means, for a yacht to truly be called a yacht, it must have a mast and sails. The mast and sails are really the soul of the yacht because they create the harness of a meaningful connection with the wind. Without the mast and sails the boat is just a raft, floating lifeless on the water.
In this morning’s reading from John 14, Jesus is talking with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion and death. He has told the disciples he must die and they are distraught. They have formed a close bond with Jesus after following him all this time. They love him and now he is talking about leaving.
What will this mean for them? They have given up everything to be with Jesus. I suppose they must have felt a bit like sailors on the open sea being told they were about to lose their mast and sails. Or they may have felt like a patient in a hospital being told the blood vessels in their leg were so damaged that the blood flow had ceased and the leg would have to be amputated.
Jesus senses their distress and reassures them that his death does not spell the end. His going away will not sever the bond between them. Jesus is going to prepare a place for his disciples. Not just any old place but a room in God’s house. That means Jesus’ departure from this world is actually a good thing for his disciples because he is creating a permanent and secure connection for them with God the Father.
Jesus is talking here about the connection he creates between the physical world and the spiritual realm, through his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven.
Thomas, one of the disciples, doesn’t understand Jesus’ meaning and he is too honest to pretend otherwise. He says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; so how can we know the way to get there?”
The blood in our body does not need to know where to go. As long as the blood remains inside the blood vessel (inside the vein or the artery) it will end up where it needs to be. It is the same with us. As long as we remain in Christ, we will end up where we need to be; with God in the heavenly realm.
And so Jesus says to Thomas (and to us), “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.
Trying to go to God the Father without Jesus is like trying to cross the ocean in a yacht without a sail and a mast. Or it’s like a single blood cell trying to reach the heart without being in a vein.
The way, the truth and the life:
Now those three terms, the way, the truth and the life, need a little bit of explanation.
When we hear the word way, we might think method. This is the way (or the method by which) you cook a steak. This is the way you fold a fitted sheet. Or this is the way you parent a child. Jesus does give us a method for living. Jesus does show us the way to be human. Christ shows us how to face the difficulties of this world and the limitations of our humanity, with faith.
But Jesus has more in mind than a mere method for living when he talks about being the way. Jesus is saying he is the pathway to God the Father. He is the pilot boat who guides the ship of humanity to the harbour of heaven. He is the blood vessel who carries us to the heart of the Father. He is the mast and sails who harnesses us to the wind of God’s Spirit.
Jesus is the way in the sense that he connects the physical world with the spiritual realm. Jesus connects us to God. This is what Jesus is getting at in verse 7 when he says: Now that you have known me, you will knowmy Father also, and from now on you do know him and you have seen him.”
When we hear the word truth, we tend think facts and figures and abstract philosophical statements. The sun always rises in the east. There are 1000 millilitres in a litre. A square has four sides. The Nile is the longest river in the world. Jesus is the Son of God. All these statements are true but I think Jesus meant something more when he said, ‘I am the truth’.
If you have to jump out of an aeroplane then you need a parachute and you want to know the parachute is true; that it will work and save you. Likewise, if you have to abandon ship in the middle of the ocean then you need a life boat or at least a life jacket. And you want to know the life boat is true; that it won’t sink and the life jacket will support you.
Or if you are sick and the doctor makes a diagnosis and prescribes some medicine, you want to know the qualifications hanging on the wall are true and that the doctor knows what he or she is doing.
When Jesus said, ‘I am the truth’, he meant, ‘I am the real deal.’ Jesus is completely trustworthy and reliable. He is who he says he is and he will accomplish what he promises to do. He will return for us and bring us home to God our Father.
Remember, in this context, the disciples are upset. They are worried and anxious about the future. They don’t need cold facts or heavy doctrinal statements at this point. They need a warm commitment from Jesus, something they can hold on to. Something that will support them, like a properly functioning parachute or life jacket. They need to know that Jesus, the good doctor, is prescribing the right treatment.
In thinking of the truth we are reminded of Pontius Pilate. When Jesus said to Pilate at his trial, “Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me”, Pilate responded, perhaps a bit cynically, ‘And what is truth?’ Little did Pilate know that truth is not just an idea or a body of information. Truth is a living person. Jesus is the truth.
When we hear the word life, we might think in terms of physical life only. Eating and sleeping. Working and breathing. Making a crust and getting by. But, as we have heard throughout this sermon series, when Jesus talks about life he is thinking in more comprehensive terms.
Life, in a Christian understanding, isn’t just physical. It is mental and emotional and social and spiritual as well. Life has to do with how we relate with our inner self, how we relate to others and how we relate to God. Love God, love your neighbour, love yourself. Following this way of thinking, eternal life isn’t just existing forever. Eternal life means union with God, intimacy with Him, enjoying the Father’s presence always.
Jesus is the soul of creation:
Okay, so having dissected verse 6 into three parts, what happens when we hold the way, the truth and the life together? Well, we get soul.
The word soul can mean different things in different contexts. Sometimes it refers to an individual person, their whole self, body and soul. Like when you hear people say, there were 232 souls on board.
Other times though people use the word soul to mean the lifeforce of a person. The soul, in this sense, is what animates the body, giving it energy and vitality. In fact, the Latin word for soul is anima, from which we get animate (as in movement).
If you have ever seen a corpse it is quite clear that the soul has departed. While a dead body is physically recognizable, there is no one home so to speak. A dead body is inanimate; without a soul in other words.
This implies that it is the soul that enables connection and relationship. It is the soul which connects the body and the spirit.
Then there is the sense in which soul refers to a person’s trueessence. Who they are at their core. Their inner self. We might say for example that someone is a kind soul or they have a gentle soul. Or, she sang with real soul. Meaning she sang from a place deep within herself that was real and authentic. She wasn’t faking it or putting on an act.
When we hold the way, the truth and the life together, we see that Jesus is the soul of humanity. But not just humanity. Jesus is the soul of all of God’s creation.
Jesus is the life force – he animates our lives with energy and vitality. As John says at the beginning of his gospel: Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life and this life brought light to humankind.
Jesus is the truth – he is the real deal, 100% reliable. Jesus embodies the true essence of what it means to be human. We discover who we are at our core (we discover our true essence) through Jesus. Jesus is light to our soul.
And Jesus is the way – more than just showing us the way, Jesus is the soul of creation, holding together the physical with the spiritual. He connects us to God in other words. Jesus makes right relationship possible.
Conclusion:
The life force (or soul) of Jesus is more powerful than death. Jesus is resurrected from the dead. So even if we feel like our energy and vitality is waning as we get older, we know Jesus has the ability to restore our soul once we have passed through the gate of death.
Let us pray…
Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for those who have lost their way. Restore them to yourself.
Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for those who are seeking the truth. Reveal yourself to them.
Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for those who are tired of this life. Renew their connection with yourself.
Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for our own soul. Help us to remain in you.
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 tell his disciples he is going to prepare a place for them? Can you imagine Jesus saying the same thing to you? How would you like to respond to Jesus?
What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘I am the way’?
What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘I am the truth’?
What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘I am the life’?
Discuss/reflect on the meaning and function of the soul.
What does your soul need at this time? How might you take care of your soul this week?
One of the first things a new born foal does is stand. A baby horse normally attempts to get to its feet within the first 10 minutes of its life and manages to successfully stand after about 30 minutes or so.
Only after it has got to its feet does it begin to suckle off its mother. Then it will start to walk or run for the first time within 90 minutes of its birth. By comparison most human babies start walking independently around 12 months of age, on average.
Why the difference? Well, one reason could be that horses need to be able to run to survive. A horse can’t afford to wait a whole year before walking.
But humans are different. Human beings don’t rely so much on their ability to run. Human beings survive by forming attachments or relationships with other people. And so one of the first things a human 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 the 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 and 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 available 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, this creates a secure base for the child to explore the world.
Today we continue our sermon series on the I am sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. Jesus uses a number of I am statements to describe himself. These sayings tell us about Jesus’ being, his identity.
Please turn with me to John chapter 15. Last week we heard how Jesus is the gate for the sheep. This morning we hear how Jesus says to his disciples: I am the vine and you are the branches. The main idea here is that attachment to Jesus is essential to our spiritual survival. From John 15, verses 1-10 we read…
“I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. 3 You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. 4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. 6 Those who do not remain in me are thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. 8 My Father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. 9 I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
There are three main characters in Jesus’ allegory here, each in mutual relationship with the others. The vine (which represents Jesus), the gardener (which represents God the Father) and the branches (which represent those who follow Jesus). First let us consider Jesus, the vine.
The Vine:
The maple leaf is one of the national symbols of Canada.
The thistle is the national flower of Scotland.
The Protea is the national flower of South Africa.
While the silver fern is New Zealand’s symbol.
What plant do you think was used as the symbol of ancient Israel? Anyone want to take a guess? [Wait]
You are on to it. The vine, or the vineyard, in the Hebrew Scriptures, was a symbol for the nation of Israel.
In Isaiah 5:1-7 the prophet sings the song of the vineyard…
My friend had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug the soil and cleared it of stones; he planted the finest vines. He built a tower to guard them, dug a pit for treading the grapes. He waited for the grapes to ripen, but every grape was sour… Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.
There are other references in the psalms and the prophets describing Israel as the Lord’s vineyard and most of them end in a note of judgement. The message seems to be that ancient Israel had failed to produce the fruit of righteousness that God intended.
It is against this background that Jesus says of himself, “I am the real vine.” That’s like saying, “I am the real Israel.” Or, “I am the true Israel. I am the root stock of the nation who produces the fruit that God desires.”
That is an incredible claim to make. Jesus’ claim to be the true vine holds together judgment and hope. On the one hand, Jesus is criticising the nation of Israel, basically saying they have failed to produce the fruit God wanted.
But at the same time Jesus also castes a positive vision for the future. Judgment does not get the last word. Jesus is saying, I am what God called Israel to be. Where Israel failed, I will succeed. And so there is hope. In and through Christ, God gets the vineyard and the fruit he wants.
Okay, so Jesus is the vine and God the Father is the gardener.
The Gardener:
From verse 2 Jesus explains how God, the gardener, breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit.
To better understand what God does let me take you through the annual cycle of tending to a grapevine.
During winter, the vine dresser prunes (or cuts back) the previous year’s canes and chooses the best branches to grow new shoots. The gardener trains selected branches to grow along the wire. [1]
Then, during September or October, comes the bud break. This is when the first signs of life occur. The buds are extremely delicate during this time. You pray there are no hail storms.
The buds continue to grow and then flower. The gardener may choose to prune the downward facing shoots to reduce the crop size. Pruning in this way reduces the quantity of the crop with a view to improving the quality. With fewer grapes on the vine you get a concentration of flavour.
Then in November or December comes the fruit set. This is when bunches of green grapes appear and grow. You wouldn’t want to eat the fruit at this stage; it would be too sour.
Towards the end of summer, the green berries change colour and ripen. This process is called veraison. Depending on how many grapes are on the vine, some winegrowers will thin the crop so that more nutrients and goodness go into the remaining fruit.
Harvest usually happens in autumn, sometime between March and May, once the sugar levels in the grapes rise and they have reached their perfect ripeness. Harvest is a busy time. Once harvested the grapes do not continue to ripen.
When winter comes round again the leaves die off and the pruners trim the vines ready for spring and a new cycle of growth.
Leon Morris makes the observation that fruitfulness is the whole point of the vineyard. Left to itself a vine will produce a good deal of unproductive growth. Pruning is essential for maximum fruitfulness. The fruit of Christian service is never the result of allowing natural energies and inclinations to run riot. [2]
Or to put it another way; less is more. The temptation, particularly when we are young and have energy to burn, is to try and do everything. So rather than strategically focusing our time and resources on one or two things, we may be inclined to dissipate our energies in a flurry of busy-ness and activity.
There is no end of need and worthy causes in this world. There is always a long list of good things we could be doing. But the reality is, we can’t do it all. So the question becomes, what is it that God (the gardener) wants me to give myself to?
Another way to frame that question is to ask yourself, what is it that I can do that others can’t do? If you have children, then no one else can really be a mum or a dad to your kids in the same way that you can. So giving love and time to your children, while they are still young, needs to be a priority.
I’m pleased that Bono chose to write songs instead of driving trucks. Just like I’m pleased Ashley Bloomfield chose a career in medicine rather than being a rock star. Just as I am pleased each of our deacons chose to serve the church instead of watching TV or playing golf.
We can’t do everything. Less is more. Less quantity means better quality. What is it (or perhaps, who is it) that God wants you to give yourself to? And what is it that God is wanting to prune?
Being pruned is not a pleasant experience. It can be painful and bewildering to be cut back. We think we are on the right track, doing well. We seem to be growing and making progress in our discipleship and then wham. We suffer some kind of loss or set back and we don’t understand why.
The temptation at that point is to give up on God. To lose faith. To cease remaining in the vine. But we need to remember that God is the gardener. God is in control not us. And God is very skilled at his job. He knows what he is doing and why.
If you feel like you are being pruned at the moment, hold on to the fact that God has a purpose in what he is doing. It could be that he intends to use this experience to improve the quality of your fruit. The quality of Job’s relationship with God, after he had suffered catastrophic loss and been restored, was far better than it was before his loss.
Now, by drawing a parallel between loss and God’s pruning I don’t mean to imply that every bad thing that happens to us can be put down to God improving the quality of our fruit. Suffering is often a mystery that we won’t understand this side of the harvest. By faith we know that whatever we might suffer, nothing is beyond God’s reach. God can redeem anything.
Jesus is the vine. God the Father is the gardener and we, the followers of Jesus, are the branches.
The Branches:
We began today’s message with the idea of attachment. Being attached to another human being in a nurturing, responsive relationship is essential to our survival. As infants, it is through a healthy attachment with one primary caregiver that we learn trust and find psychological security.
In verse 4 of John 15 Jesus says: Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.
In other words, attachment to Jesus is essential to our spiritual survival.
We need Jesus like the branches of a tree need the roots and trunk. It is the roots and trunk that nourish and feed the branches. We need Jesus like a baby needs its mother or father. It is through Jesus that we learn trust and security.
Today is Pentecost Sunday when we remember afresh the gift of the Holy Spirit. Although Jesus does not explicitly mention the Holy Spirit, in the opening verses of John 15, he was just talking about God’s Spirit in chapter 14 and he will go on to say more about the Spirit in John 16.
We could think of the Holy Spirit as the sap flowing inside us from Jesus the vine. The Holy Spirit is life to the branches from within.
More than once in today’s reading Jesus talks about the branches bearing fruit when they remain attached to him. So what exactly is the fruit? Well, verse 8 indicates the fruit is that which glorifies God. My Father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit;
When the vine produces quality grapes, the one who grew the grapes gets the credit. The gardener (God the Father) gets the glory. As branches grafted into Christ, our job (our main purpose in life) is to bear quality fruit for the glory of God. To glorify God means to reveal or reflect something of God’s goodness to others. To make God larger in the awareness of others, in a good way.
In Galatians 5 the apostle Paul lists some of the things that glorify God. Paul writes: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control. This is not an exhaustive list of the fruit but it gives us the idea.
When a husband and wife love each other and remain faithful through all the ups and downs of life, this is fruit which glorifies God. Their faithfulness points to God’s faithfulness.
Or when someone at work is having a bad day and you respond by not taking it personally but instead showing forbearance, this is fruit that glorifies God.
Or when a child sees someone alone in the playground without any lunch and goes over to share their own lunch and friendship, this is the fruit of kindness.
Or when a landlord does not charge a huge rent, simply because the market dictates it, but instead keeps the rent at a reasonable level, this kind of fruit reflects the mercy and justice of God.
In verse 7 we see a connection between prayer and fruit where Jesus says: If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it.
This does not mean that we can use Jesus like a Genie in a bottle. Jesus is not promising to give us a never ending supply of wishes, like in the Tim Tam ad. Rather, when we are so closely attached to Jesus that his word is in us, we will be inclined to ask for things that are in line with his will and purpose anyway.
Another thing we notice is the number of times we come across the word remain in today’s passage. (The Good News Translation uses the word remain 11 times in ten verses.) The startling thing is that we bear the fruit of love by simply remaining attached to Jesus.
We are not required to go on some valiant quest to find the fruit like it was hidden treasure. Nor do we have to try and frantically manufacture or create the fruit ourselves. Branches don’t survive by running, like a horse. Branches grow and bear fruit by waiting, by remaining still. All we have to do is abide in Christ.
I say, ‘all we have to do is abide’, as if that is an easy thing. But in the rough and tumble of life, remaining attached to Jesus, over the long haul, is not as easy as it seems. Unlike the branches of a vine, we get a choice. We can walk away at any point. But in doing that we would only harm ourselves.
Okay then, if remaining (or abiding) in Christ is the key to fruitfulness, then what does it mean to remain attached to Jesus? How do we do that?
Well, in verse 9 of John 15, Jesus points us in the right direction when he says:
I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
Our attachment to Jesus is defined by love. There is a possible connection here with the Song of Solomon. The Song of Solomon is a love poem from the Hebrew Bible. The poet uses the vineyard as the place where the woman and the man will share their love. From Song of Solomon chapter 7:11-12 we read,
Come my beloved… let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened… There I will give you my love.
I won’t read anymore because I don’t want you to get too excited. The point is, the vineyard is a place of tender love and intimacy.
Love is loyal. Remaining attached to Jesus means being loyal to him. Christianity is an exclusive religion in the sense that we worship one God. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the way the truth and the life. We follow him and no one else.
Love is open. Remaining attached to Jesus means being open to him. Open to listening to what he wants to say to us in the Scriptures. Open to receiving what he wants to give. Open to his truth and grace. Open to the sap of his Spirit. But it is an openness that goes both ways. We need to be honest with Jesus and not hide from him.
There is a certain vulnerability that comes with being open to Christ. Openness requires faith and trust on our part.
Love is voluntary. Remaining attached to Jesus is something we do because we want to, not because we are forced to. Our attachment to Jesus is not based on fear of punishment, nor is it based on some legal obligation. We stay close to Jesus and spend time cultivating our relationship with him because we like him. We enjoy his presence.
Love needs to be expressed. When love is not expressed it turns into a kind of unbearable pain. When we express love to someone we invest a part of ourselves in that person and we strengthen the attachment. Remaining attached to Jesus inevitably involves us expressing our love to him.
There are many ways to express love for Jesus but the primary way is through obedience; doing what he asks. Notice how Jesus puts love and obedience together. He does not separate them. Jesus loves us first and we respond by obeying him voluntarily. The love goes both ways.
Love is loyal. Love is open. Love is voluntary and love needs to be expressed. L.O.V.E. Spells love.
Now in giving you this acrostic I don’t mean to imply that this is all there is to remaining in Christ. There is a certain mystery with our attachment to Jesus. We can’t fully define it, much less reduce it to a pithy acrostic. Jesus’ attachment to us is deeper and more profound than we are able to fathom.
Conclusion:
Jesus is the vine. God the Father is the gardener and we are the branches.
One of the things I like about Jesus’ allegory of the vine is that it implies there are seasons in our life; seasons of new growth, seasons of fruitfulness and harvest, as well as seasons of dormancy and loss, when it seems that not much is happening.
This means we don’t have to feel guilty if we are not being fruitful all the time. Producing fruit is a process. We are not responsible for the outcome. We just need to remain attached to Jesus. God will take care of the fruit.
Whatever season you happen to be in at the moment, may God the Gardener keep you close to Jesus.
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 attachment so important for human beings? What is needed for successful attachment?
How would Jesus’ original Jewish audience have understood his statement: I am the real vine? In what sense was this a criticism of ancient Israel? In what sense is Jesus’ statement pregnant with hope?
Why does God prune the branches? Have you ever felt like God has pruned you? How did God do this? How did you feel / respond? What was the outcome? What (or who) is it that God wants you to give yourself to at this time?
What does it mean to glorify God? Can you think of real examples of the sort of fruit Jesus had in mind?
How do we remain attached to Jesus, the true vine?
What season are you in at the moment? What might you expect in this season?
Today we continue our sermon series on the I am sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. Jesus uses a number of I am statements to describe himself. These sayings tell us about Jesus’ being, his identity.
Last week someone asked me if I was familiar with Colin McCahon’s I am paintings. Colin McCahon is one of New Zealand’s best artists. In 1970 McCahon painted an enormous piece called Gate III. For some time, it hung on the wall at Victoria University. It is 11 metres wide and 3 metres high.
Gate III is a landscape with the words I AM painted in the middle. Either side are a selection of Bible verses. One of those verses, a quote from Psalm 90:12, reads: Teach us to order our days rightly, that we may enter the gate of wisdom.
Some people say Gate III is a kind of protest or statement against the nuclear situation post world war two. Gate III could be showing a way through either to a pure land or a wasteland. Either abundant life or interminable death.
Please turn with me to John chapter 10, verse 7, page 132 toward the back of your pew Bibles. Last week we heard how Jesus is the good shepherd. This morning we hear how Jesus says: I am the gate for the sheep. From John 10, verses 7-10 we read…
7 So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
In this reading Jesus holds before his readers the option of life or death. Jesus is basically saying he is the gate for entry into life. Not mere existence but rather life in all its fullness. Abundant life. Three aspects of abundant life are highlighted in these verses: security, freedom and nourishment. First, let us consider the security that is ours through Christ.
Security:
It seems every generation faces some kind of threat. Colin McCahon was acutely aware of the nuclear threat. Often the threat is related to war and starvation. But not always.
Many of you would remember the Y2K bug and the way the world nervously waited through 1999 to see if computer technology would crash, when the clock ticked over to the new millennium, sending us all back to the dark ages. It turned out to be nothing in the end.
Currently the threat we are most aware of is the Covid virus, which is something very real. I suppose for people in places like Yemen and Gaza and Sheikh Jarrah the threat is bullets and shrapnel.
Security is the state of being free from danger or threat. Security is one of the pillars of abundant life.
In verse 7 & verse 9, of John 10, Jesus says: I am the gate. In other words, I am your security. (Or, as Frankie Goes to Hollywood would say: I’ll protect you from the hooded claw, keep the vampire from your door…)
Verses 7-10 of John 10 envision a shepherd caring for his sheep in the wilderness. Kenneth Bailey [1] explains that when grass is plentiful, in the middle east, shepherds can easily find pasture for their sheep. Therefore, they don’t need to travel far and can return to the safety of the village at night.
But toward the end of summer and beginning of autumn, when it hasn’t rained for a while and grass is harder to find, shepherds must go further afield to find pasture. This requires them to stay out overnight in the wilderness with their sheep.
Obviously the wilderness at night is a more threatening environment and so the need for security is heightened. Unlike relatively safe New Zealand, the middle east was (and still is) a dangerous place, both in terms of wild animals and thieves (and rockets).
Typically, the shepherd would build a walled enclosure for the sheep made of rocks with thorns on the top, to deter thieves from climbing over to steal the sheep. The enclosure did not have a door as such, because this is the wilderness and shepherds don’t carry around spare doors in their pockets.
So the shepherd himself would lie across the opening of the sheep fold [2] to prevent the sheep walking out into the night and as a guard to prevent thieves or wild animals coming in. The shepherd themselves would act as the door or gate. Sort of like a bouncer on the door of a night club, except without the loud music and drinking.
Freedom:
Many of you would be familiar with the folk tale of Rapunzel. The princess who was trapped in a tall tower and who never cut her hair. Eventually she found freedom when she let her hair down so a brave prince could climb up.
Rapunzel was definitely very secure but her life was not at all full or abundant. Security, by itself, is not enough to ensure abundant life. Too much security actually makes for an impoverished life. Rapunzel had lots of security but no real freedom.
In verse 9 Jesus says: …Whoever comes in by me will be saved; he (or she) will come in and go out…
This verse is talking about the freedom that comes with the security Jesus provides. The shepherd does not keep the sheep locked up in a walled enclosure all the time. The sheep are not prisoners. During the day the sheep are free to come and go from the enclosure as they please. Freedom goes hand in hand with security.
The implication here is that security is provided by one’s closeness to the shepherd, not by the walls of the enclosure.
F.F. Bruce makes the comment: Whenever the people of Christ have… tried to secure unity or safety by building walls around themselves, the results have not been encouraging. The walls have either been so comprehensive as to enclose a number of wolves along with the sheep… or they have been so restrictive as to exclude more sheep than they enclose. [3]
If you want an example of what F.F. Bruce is talking about here think Gloriavale or Jonestown or the movie The Village or some other religious cult that cuts itself off from the world.
We might think of the walls of the sheepfold as the traditions of a faith community. The walls of our traditions have their place and they do make us feel safe in times of change and uncertainty. But the traditions are there to serve us. We are not there to serve the traditions.
For example, traditionally the communion elements are bread and wine. But we bend the tradition a little to serve the people. Instead of wine we serve grape juice because we don’t want to make life difficult for someone who may have a problem with alcohol. Likewise, we serve gluten free craters alongside the bread because not everybody has the same tolerance for gluten.
It’s not the tradition that saves us. It’s staying close to Jesus that saves us. The purpose of the tradition is to help us stay close to Jesus. If the tradition no longer does that, then we change the tradition.
Because Jesus is both the good shepherd and the gate for the sheep, he is at home in the church and in the world. There is a time for the sheep to gather in the fold of the church. Just as there is a time for the sheep to roam the hillsides of the world.
To follow Jesus is to walk in freedom and righteousness. Freedom is both exciting and frightening at the same time because it takes us out of our comfort zone. When we walk with Jesus, we walk by faith and not by sight.
In verse 8 Jesus says: All others who came before me are thieves and robbers. And then in verse 10 Jesus goes on to say: The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy. So who is the thief?
Well, there are many potential candidates. Most likely Jesus is referring to those who falsely claimed to be the Messiah. Often these false Messiahs were insurrectionists and revolutionaries, willing to sacrifice the sheep in a violent uprising against the authorities.
Jesus is the good shepherd. He is not asking people to take up arms and die in a bloody revolution. He wants nothing to do with such violence. God’s kingdom is not of this world.
We are talking about those things that make life truly abundant. Abundant life is not about having lots of stuff. Nor is abundant life about achieving lots of things. Abundance is not the same as busy-ness and clutter. To have abundant life we need security with freedom. But we also need nourishment for our souls.
Nourishment:
It is thought that around 9 million people die of hunger every year. In contrast nearly 3 million people die of obesity. We live in a world of great disparity.
Nourishment can be defined as the food necessary for growth, health and maintaining a good condition. Some foods contain more nourishment than others. Salmon, for example, is one of the most nutrient dense foods. Apparently not all fish are created equal. But if you don’t eat salmon then kale is also high in nutrients, as are foods like garlic, potatoes, seaweed and sardines.
In verse 9 Jesus says: I am the gate. Whoever comes in by me will be saved; he will come in and go out and find pasture.
Pasture is of course nourishment for the sheep.
Earlier I mentioned that grass, in the middle east, becomes more scarce towards the end of summer and into autumn. This means it takes a skilful shepherd to find feed for his flock. Jesus has the wisdom and knowledge to lead his followers to places of spiritually rich nourishment.
Because of the security and freedom that Jesus provides, his sheep are able to find spiritual nourishment for their souls. Notice though the relationship between nourishment and freedom. We are not free to do whatever we want. No. We are free to find pasture or nourishment for ourselves.
Our pasture may come in any number of forms. Perhaps through reading and reflecting on the Scriptures. Maybe by spending time in the beauty of God’s creation; climbing mountains or walking beaches. Quality time connecting with other people in an unhurried way may also nourish one’s soul, as can solitude and stillness.
Interestingly, in John chapter 4, when Jesus’ disciples brought him some food he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. The disciples misunderstood, taking Jesus literally. But Jesus wasn’t talking about physical food. My food, Jesus said, is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do.
Ultimately, the thing that satisfies our hunger for meaning more than anything else, is doing the will of God. So, when Jesus refers to himself as the gate for the sheep to find pasture, he could mean we discover God’s will for ourselves through him – that is, through Christ.
Conclusion:
For life to be abundant we need at least three things: security, freedom and nourishment. Jesus is the one who provides those things.
Now you may be thinking, that’s all well and good but what difference does that make to me today? How does Jesus being the gate translate in our experience?
Well, a gate or a door is a transition point. A gate leads us from one space to another. Our lives are punctuated with gates. Starting school is a transition point or doorway both for the child and their parents. Adolescence is a significant transition in one’s life from childhood to becoming an adult. The mid-life transition is also significant.
Leaving home is a gateway. Getting married, changing jobs, immigrating to another country, retiring from the work force and, when the time is right, passing from this life to the next; these are all doorways where we transition from one place to another.
Each of us must pass through a kind of internal, psychological gate. If we are to develop and mature we must take off our masks, walk through the door of consciousness and face the truth about ourselves.
Transitions or gates, whether they are internal or external, are not always easy to negotiate. Often when we pass through one of life’s metaphorical doorways we feel anxious. What will we find on the other side?
When we follow Jesus, we don’t walk alone. Jesus is the gate or the door for the sheep. We are the sheep. That means Jesus is present with us when we face the many transitions we must make in this life. Most importantly, Jesus is with us when we make our final transition through the doorway of death to eternal life. In fact, Jesus is the doorway to God the Father.
May security, freedom and nourishment be yours in abundance.
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 is abundant life different from mere existence?
What does Jesus mean when he says: I am the gate for the sheep?
How does Jesus provide security for you? Can you think of a time or situation when Jesus shielded you from some kind of threat or fear?
Why is freedom a necessary companion to security? When are the walls of tradition helpful? When might we need to step outside the walls of tradition? (Think of an example from your own experience.)
Where do you find nourishment for your soul?
Are you facing a transition (or doorway) in your life at the moment? Take some time this week to tell God how you are feeling and to ask his guidance. What is God saying to you?
[1] Kenneth Bailey, ‘The Good Shepherd’, pages 220-224
Theodore Roosevelt once said: “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads and the boss drives.”
Roosevelt was drawing attention to the fact that people willingly follow a good leader because they see value and meaning in where that person is taking them. By implication the leader is out front, showing the way by their example.
In contrast, the boss is behind, driving people, forcing them on a path they don’t necessarily agree with or understand.
Today we continue our sermon series on the I am sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John. Jesus uses a number of I am statements to describe himself. These sayings tell us about Jesus’ being, his identity. What we notice is how closely Jesus identifies himself with God the Father.
Please turn with me to John chapter 10, verse 11, page 132 toward the back of your pew Bibles. This morning we hear how Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. A shepherd (in Biblical thought) is a leader. Jesus is referring to himself as a good leader, not a boss. We follow Jesus, we are not driven by him. From John 10:11-18, Jesus says…
11 “I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep. 12 When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep. 14-15 I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. 16 There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Our message today focuses on three main things: Jesus, the good shepherd (or good leader) knows, brings and volunteers. First let’s consider Jesus’ knowing.
Jesus knows (intimacy)
If you watch the TV program, Country Calendar, you would have seen (many times) the image of a farmer on a motor bike, or horseback, driving a large flock of sheep from behind. This is not typically the way shepherds move their sheep in the Middle East. In the first century shepherds led their sheep. They walked in front and the sheep followed because they knew the shepherd.
Gary Burge tells a true story which demonstrates the mutual knowing between Arab shepherds and their sheep. [1]
During the Palestinian uprising in the late 1980’s the Israeli army decided to take action against a village near Bethlehem for not paying its taxes. The officer in command rounded up all of the village animals and placed them in a large barbed wire pen. Later in the week he was approached by a woman who asked him to release her flock. Her husband was dead and the animals were her only source of income.
The officer pointed to the pen containing hundreds of animals and said, with a chuckle, that it was impossible for him to find her sheep among so many. She asked that if she could separate the sheep herself, would he let her take them. The army officer agreed.
When the soldier opened the gate the woman’s son pulled out a reed flute and repeatedly played a simple tune. Within moments sheep heads began popping up across the pen. The young boy continued playing his tune all the way home with his flock of 25 sheep following him.
The shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know the call of their leader.
In verses 14-15 Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me.
When we hear the word ‘know’, we tend to think head knowledge. Facts and figures. Objective, rational information. Nothing below the neck.
But to know someone in a Biblical sense means far more than mere head knowledge. Biblical knowing refers to deep, profound and intimate relationships between people.
I guess it is the difference between knowing someone at a virtual Facebook level, without ever having met them, and knowing someone in real life who you’ve lived or worked with for many years. Biblical knowing goes way beyond Facebook knowledge. Biblical knowing involves personal experience.
R. didn’t get to know me by reading my biography. When she agreed to marry me it wasn’t a case of picking me out of a catalogue. R. got to know me by spending time with me and with my family. She saw how I behaved in different situations and experienced how much she missed me when I wasn’t around. (I can say this because she is in Sunday school and can’t hear me.)
In verses 14-15 of John 10 Jesus is holding up his intimate knowing of God the Father as a model for the kind of intimate knowing his sheep (or his followers) are able to have with him. Jesus, the good shepherd, knows his sheep and through the experience of faith we know him.
Twice in these verses Jesus says: I am the good shepherd who is willing to die for the sheep.
That’s how much Jesus cares about the sheep. He is willing to sacrifice himself that we would live.
The word translated as ‘good’ comes from the Greek kalos. Kalos combines a number of ideas of goodness. It means morally good but not in a ‘holier than thou’ or legalistic sort of way. The moral goodness of Jesus has overtones of beauty and winsomeness. Kalos goodness leans towards being noble in the sense of having fine personal qualities.
So Jesus is an attractive leader. He is a noble leader, one we admire and respect. Jesus wins people over so they want to follow him. Jesus does not boss or drive people with guilt. He woos and draws people with grace.
The mother in the story of the 1980 uprising was like a good shepherd. There was a certain attractiveness in the way she bravely but respectfully approached the army officer. The soldiers would have been armed but the woman and her son were willing to risk their lives to redeem their sheep.
There was of course some self interest in their risk. The sheep were their livelihood. Without the sheep they would be destitute. But there is no self-interest with Jesus’ willingness to die. The sheep in Jesus’ parable are actually people and Jesus is not dependent on them for his livelihood.
In contrast to the good shepherd, Jesus describes the hired hand who does not know or care about the sheep all that much. When the hired hand sees a wolf coming he runs away and leaves the wolf to snatch and scatter the flock.
In a general sense the hired hand represents those who are motivated by selfish gain. Some of the temple priests of the first century were corrupt and in it for the money. They didn’t like it when Jesus over turned the tables of the money changers in the temple because that was bad for business. But not all the priests were like that. I expect many were decent men who sought to honour God as best they could.
Unlike the hired hand who is a flawed human being, the wolf is not human. The wolf is a powerful force of nature, a beast that cannot be reasoned with. The wolf represents death.
Now some of you may be thinking, how does it help the sheep if the shepherd is killed. Surely that is worse for the sheep. Well, ordinarily, that is true but Jesus is no ordinary shepherd. As we know Jesus has the authority to rise from the dead. Through the cross and the resurrection Jesus has conquered death.
Jesus, the good shepherd (the ideal leader) knows his sheep and Jesus brings his sheep into the fold.
Jesus brings (outreach)
Some of you may have heard of the wives of Weinsberg. The legend goes that the Duke of Weinsberg possessed an immense fortune in gold, silver and fine jewels, which he kept in his castle.
The Duke had a falling out with King Konrad (the sovereign of the realm) and so the king gathered his army and laid siege to Weinsberg, demanding the Duke’s fortress, the massive fortune and the lives of the men within.
Although the King had allowed for the safe release of all women and children, the wives of Weinsberg refused to leave without having one of their own conditions met. They requested to be allowed to leave at sunrise the next day bringing with them whatever they could carry on their backs.
Thinking the women couldn’t possibly make a dent in the massive fortune, the king decided to grant their request. After all, he would be hailed as a generous and merciful king and most of the Duke’s fortune would still be left for him.
But the king got more than he bargained for. The next morning at sunrise, as the women walked out, the entire army was stunned to silence as they saw each wife carrying her husband on her back. The wives and husbands of Weinsberg shared a love that was more powerful than death.
Deeply moved by their love, King Konrad kept his word and no lives were lost that day.
The wives in this story are like Jesus who brings us out of the castle of death and into the freedom of new life. And we are like the husbands, in need of Jesus’ rescue.
In verse 16 of John 10, Jesus says: There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
In the context of John 10, Jesus is speaking to the Jews. The other sheep he mentions here refer to the Gentiles or non-Jews (people like us). The one flock is the Christian church which includes people of all nations. And the one shepherd is Jesus himself. Jesus is looking forward to that time when his followers would comprise people of many different cultures and ethnicities.
Jesus isn’t just the good shepherd (or ideal leader) of Israel. Jesus is the ideal leader of the church universal – all Christians, of every race, throughout history.
What we notice here is that Jesus says, “I must bring them too…”.
To bring means: to go with someone or something. If I ask you to bring me an apple, you have to get up, go outside to the tree (or supermarket), pick the apple and walk back with the apple to where I am. Bringing takes time and effort.
Bringing an apple with you is relatively easy because the apple does not have a mind of its own. Bringing people with you is quite different. To bring someone with you involves reaching out and establishing trust. Forcing someone at gun point is not the same as bringing them. There is no coercion or threat of violence with bringing people.
When thinking of the way Jesus brings people with him we remember the wives of Weinsberg who brought their husbands out of death and into life.
At the same time, we are conscious that the women could not force their husbands to come with them. The husbands needed to swallow their pride and trust themselves to their wives. They needed to cooperate. It takes humility, on our part, to receive Jesus’ help and let him bring us with him.
In relation to bringing these other sheep Jesus says, ‘they will listen to my voice.’ This tells us that bringing involves communication. The ability to communicate effectively is one of the essential qualities of a good leader.
Jesus communicates with people in a whole variety of ways. Preaching of the gospel has been one of Jesus’ main ways of bringing people to himself through the past 2,000 years, but it is not the only way. Jesus also speaks to people through dreams and visions. Even today we hear reports of people, who have never heard the gospel, having dreams in which Jesus appears to them and talks with them.
It is not enough though to sit through a sermon in church or to receive a dream in the night. The thing that opens our ears to really hear the word of God and to really be moved by a vision of Jesus, is our need. More than anything else it is realising our own poverty, our deep hunger, that brings us to God.
The husbands of Weinsberg allowed their wives to bring them out because they were conscious of their need for salvation and their powerlessness to save themselves.
Whenever I pray for someone’s salvation I feel the weight of that prayer. Because I know that God’s answer will most likely involve some pain and humiliation for the one I am praying for, as they realise their need for God.
How did Jesus bring you to himself? What need opened your ears to hear Jesus’ voice and follow him?
Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus knows, Jesus brings and Jesus volunteers.
Jesus volunteers (love)
There is a moving scene at the beginning of the first Hunger Games movie where Primrose Everdeen is selected to participate in The Hunger Games. Prim is just a young girl with a compassionate nature and will certainly be killed.
Prim’s older sister, Katniss, realises this and volunteers as tribute in Prim’s place. Katniss knows there is a pretty good chance that she will be killed in The Hunger Games but her love for her sister is so great she is ready to die for Prim. Katniss and Prim share a love that is more powerful than death.
The Hunger Games is fictional of course, while Jesus’ death is a historical fact. But Katniss’ example serves to illustrate the point that Jesus volunteered to die as tribute in our place.
Some of you may have heard of the Catholic priest Maximilian Kolbe. Father Kolbe was arrested in 1941 and sent to Auschwitz. He had been providing shelter for refugees, including many Jews.
At the end of July 1941 a prisoner escaped from the camp, so the deputy commander ordered 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker as a deterrent to anyone else planning an escape. When one of the men cried out, ‘My wife, my children’, Father Kolbe volunteered to take his place.
Each day in the bunker Max Kolbe led the other nine condemned men in prayer. After two weeks Father Kolbe was the only man left alive. The soldiers wanted to clear the bunker so they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Max Kolbe did not resist but calmly offered his arm.
That’s a true story of a man who followed Jesus’ example by volunteering his life to save another. And, in case you are wondering, the man Father Kolbe saved survived the war and was present when they canonised Father Max.
Max Kolbe shared a love with Jesus and with his fellow prisoners that was more powerful than death.
From verse 17 of John 10, Jesus says: “The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”
In these verses Jesus is saying he volunteers for the cross. He lays down his life freely and willingly because this is what God has asked him to do.
Like Katniss and Max Kolbe, Jesus is willing to give up his life to save others. But Jesus’ volunteerism is not exactly the same as Katniss’ and Father Kolbe’s. Jesus volunteers from a position of power.
Katniss and Father Kolbe’s hands were forced in a way. They had little control in the situation. They had the power to volunteer in someone else’s place but, unlike Jesus, they didn’t have the power to overthrow their enemies.
Jesus did have the power to overthrow his enemies. When the guards came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and one of the disciples drew his sword, Jesus told him to put the sword away saying: Do you not think I could call on my Father and he would at once put more than twelve legions of angels at my disposal.
That’s remarkable. Jesus had the power to destroy his enemies and avoid the cross but he chose instead to submit to God’s will in going to the cross, such was his love for God the Father.
You know the word Muslim is an Arabic term which means ‘one who has surrendered’. [2] More than any other human being Jesus surrendered to the will of God. But it wasn’t a forced surrender. Jesus surrendered willingly and freely to God’s will for him because of the love they shared.
When Jesus says, in verse 17, “The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life…” he does not mean that he wins God’s love by going to the cross. Far from it. Later, in John 17, Jesus says that the Father loved the Son from the creation of the world. God the Father has always loved Jesus the Son.
The point is, Jesus’ voluntary death is a hallmark of his union with the Father’s will and an expression of the love they share together. [3] The love, the bond, the relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son is more powerful than death.
In verse 18 Jesus says, I have the right (or the authority) to give up my life and I have the right (or the authority) to take it back.
It wasn’t just God’s will for Jesus to die a sacrificial death on the cross. It was also God’s will for Jesus to live again, to experience resurrection life. Therefore, Jesus dies knowing he will receive his life back.
What we notice here is that Jesus’ authority comes from being one with God’s will. Being in God’s will gives us a certain authority also. I think Max Kolbe was able to volunteer like he did because he felt the power of being in harmony with Christ.
Now, in some ways, I am reluctant to hold up the example of Max Kolbe. It may not always be the right thing to volunteer to die for someone else. If you are a parent of young children, then they can’t really afford for you to be a hero. You have responsibilities to your family.
More often Jesus does not call us to die for him. More often Jesus calls us to live for God. We are to be living sacrifices, giving ourselves to God’s will and purpose in a hundred different ways (large & small) every day. This is what it means to follow Christ. Volunteering as a living sacrifice, over a long period of time, is usually the more difficult thing.
Conclusion:
Jesus is the good shepherd, the ideal leader of the church. And what a wonderful leader he is.
Jesus knows us intimately and desires that we share in his intimacy with God the Father.
Jesus reaches out, at great cost to himself, to bring us with him into the fold of God’s people.
And Jesus freely volunteers for God’s will, even unto death, such is the quality of the love he shares with the Father.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
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 Jesus mean when he says: I am the good shepherd?
How is knowing (in a Biblical sense) different from head knowledge? How do we get to know Jesus and God?
How did Jesus bring you to himself? What need opened your ears to hear Jesus’ voice and follow him?
Why did Jesus volunteer for the cross?
Where did Jesus’ authority come from? Where does our authority come from?
Tawa Baptist 