Tawa Baptist

Amazing Grace

Scriptures: Romans 10:12-15, Luke 15:11-32, Acts 26:12-18, Psalm 66:8-12, Psalm 28:6-7, 2nd Peter 3:10, [Psalm 73:26]

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The grace of forgiveness
  • The grace of fear
  • The grace of providence
  • The grace of heaven
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

I have here a pendulum

  • If I let the pendulum go from just a little height it won’t swing that far the other way
  • But if I let the pendulum go from a greater height it will swing further to the opposite extreme

People can be a bit like pendulums. Often the further we go to one extreme, the greater we are inclined to rebound to the opposite extreme

  • For example, if your mum made you vegemite sandwiches every day for your school lunch you may develop a life time aversion to vegemite
  • Or, if you grew up not having much and not knowing where your next meal was coming from you may (as an adult) be inclined to save aggressively to avoid ever going hungry again.

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

The song we are looking at this morning is called Amazing Grace. There are two versions of this song. We sang the newer more modern version last Sunday

  • Today we are looking at the older, more traditional version 
  • Amazing Grace was written by John Newton in 1772
  • John Newton was one individual in which the pendulum effect was certainly noticeable
  • As a young man he led a pretty immoral life but later went to the other extreme and became a church minister
  • Amazing Grace draws heavily on John Newton’s personal experience of God’s grace for him. 

There are a number of verses to the song, each of which focus on different aspects of grace. God’s grace is not one dimensional – it is multi-faceted

  • For example, there is the grace of forgiveness, the grace of fear, the grace of providence and the grace of heaven.

The grace of forgiveness:

The opening verse of the song reads…

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.

A wretch is a person who behaves badly

  • And grace is a word which simply means ‘gift’
  • A gift is not something we earn like wages and it’s not something we deserve like justice, nor is it something we are entitled to by law
  • To receive grace is to be given something good that we haven’t earned, don’t deserve and are not entitled to 
  • God’s grace, his gift of unmerited favour, is amazing both in its generosity and in its scope.

In the opening verse of his song John Newton describes grace as a sound that saved him. Perhaps he was thinking of the sound of the gospel of Jesus being preached. As we read in Paul’s letter to the Romans

God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. 13 As the scripture says, “Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.” 14 But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? 15 And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

So the grace of God is a sweet sound – it is something which can be heard as the gospel is preached – it is the sound of Jesus saying, ‘Do not be afraid. Your faith has saved you.  Your sins are forgiven. Come follow me.’

I once was lost but now I’m found; was blind but now I see is probably a reference to the story of the lost sons, aka the parable of the prodigal son

  • In Luke 15 Jesus tells a parable about two sons. The younger son runs away from home and squanders his inheritance on wine, women and song
  • Eventually, when his cash runs out, he ends up feeding pigs
  • He is so hungry he could eat the slops being fed to the pigs
  • It is at that point, when he is at his lowest, that his eyes are opened and he comes to his senses.
  • He realises his father’s servants are treated better than this so he returns home with a plan to ask to work as a hired hand for his dad
  • In an extraordinary act of grace, the father generously welcomes his wayward son and throws a party to celebrate his return
  • The older brother is angry and refuses to join the party so the father says to him: we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost but now he is found.   

That’s a picture of God’s amazing grace in the form of forgiveness and salvation and it was John Newton’s experience too

The grace of fear:

Verse two of the song reads:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

Fear is one of those words which can take on a different nuance or meaning depending on the context

  • Fear can mean panic and terror, but it can also mean the deep calm of reverence and respect

We may think of grace as a lovely pleasant feeling – something nice that we enjoy or that makes us happy – and while it can be like that, grace can also be something painful, which we don’t enjoy and which makes us feel afraid

  • The hunger the prodigal son experienced was just as much a part of God’s grace as the warm welcome he received from his father
  • Without the hunger the young man would never have come to his senses and returned home.
  • God’s grace is multi-faceted – not only does it teach us to fear (in the sense of creating reverence and respect for God), it also relieves our fears, in the sense of removing panic and terror

I don’t know if there are any Johnny Cash fans here but if there are you may be familiar with his song ‘When the man comes around’

  • It’s a song which reminds us that Jesus will return one day and when he does, ‘will we be ready?’
  • Johnny Cash was a bit like Johnny Newton in that, as a young man, he led a pretty immoral life but later, by the gravity of God’s grace the pendulum swung the other way and Johnny turned his life around
  • Johnny Cash has a line in his song where he says, “It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks”
  • A prick is a long pointed stick that was used in the old days to get a stubborn animal (like an ox) to move in the right direction, sort of like a cattle prod or a goad
  • A prick teaches the animal to fear or respect the farmer so they walk in the right path

“It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks” is a quote from the Bible – from Acts 26, verse 14, where we read of the apostle Paul’s conversion

  • As Paul (or Saul as he was known then) was on his way to Damascus, hunting down Christians to persecute, he encountered the risen Lord Jesus in a flash of blinding light and he heard a voice say to him…
  • ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the pricks’
  • Naturally Paul was terrified and fell to the ground saying, ‘Who are you Lord?’
  • And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus whom you persecute.’

‘To kick against the pricks’ is to learn to fear God the hard way

  • Johnny Cash, Johnny Newton, the prodigal son and the apostle Paul all learned to fear God the hard way
  • God would rather not use the pricks on people but he will if he has to
  • Although not pleasant, the pricks are one of his instruments of grace

The grace of providence:

John Newton’s conversion wasn’t as quick as the apostle Paul’s – it actually took John Newton many years to learn the fear of the Lord, but all through those years God offered John the grace of providence

  • Providence is the protective care of God – it’s God giving us just what we need at the right time    

One of the verses of the song acknowledges God’s providence through the difficulties of this life

Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

John Newton certainly knew about dangers, toils and snares

  • When he was just six years old John’s mother died of tuberculosis
  • His father was a shipping merchant and therefore was away a lot
  • John was sent to boarding school.
  • At age 11 he joined his father in the shipping trade   
  • As a teenager John’s faith was like a pendulum swinging wildly back and forth, from one extreme to the other.
  • He was in a pattern of behaving badly, then being corrected by the pricks, before falling back into bad habits again 
  • On one occasion John was talked out of his faith by a crew mate
  • Newton later wrote, “Like an unwary sailor who quits his port just before a rising storm, I renounced the hopes and comforts of the gospel at the very time when every other comfort was about to fail me.”

John’s behaviour became so bad he was made to join the Navy but, before long, he deserted in order to visit his sweet heart Mary Catlett.

  • The Navy couldn’t handle him so they traded John Newton to become a crew member on a slave ship, where John’s profanity became legendary
  • (Profanity is the opposite of holiness)
  • John created obscene poems and songs about the captain much to the delight of his fellow sailors.
  • Not only did he use the worst swear words you are ever likely to hear, he also created new ones – brains and vulgarity

As a consequence of his behaviour John Newton was punished severely

  • They withheld food from him, imprisoned him while at sea and chained him up like the slaves they carried.
  • Then he was made a slave himself and forced to work on a plantation in the British colony of Sierra Leone
  • After several months as a slave his father intervened and arranged for the rescue of his prodigal son

In 1748, while aboard a ship called the Greyhound in the North Atlantic, John Newton read a book called The Christian’s Pattern, which is a summary of Thomas a Kempis’ classic The Imitation of Christ

  • While on that same voyage a storm hit
  • It was so bad one of Newton’s crew members was swept overboard in the very place Newton had been standing
  • He and his crew mates fought for many hours to keep the ship afloat
  • During this time of fear and terror, Newton cried out in desperation ‘Lord, have mercy upon us’.  
  • God did indeed have mercy on John and the crew – two weeks later the battered ship limped into port on the coast of Ireland.

During those two weeks John kept thinking about the words he’d spoken “Lord, have mercy upon us”

  • He began to ask if he was worthy of God’s mercy after all he had done
  • He had turned his back on God, mocking those who believed and denouncing God as a myth and yet he could not deny the hand of God’s providence in his life 
  • As he contemplated this, the grace of God slowly went to work in John’s heart and mind.

John Newton’s conversion was not instant or quick (like the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus), rather it was more gradual

  • Despite his own experience of slavery John Newton did not quit the slave trade straight away
  • He continued in that line of work for several voyages and participated in many of the same activities he had before, except for his profanity   
  • The prick of a severe illness helped to remind John Newton of God’s grace for him and it strengthened his resolve to walk in God’s ways but he wasn’t yet ready to give up transporting slaves from Africa.
  • To be fair to Newton though, we need to remember that slavery was simply an accepted way of life at the time, sort of like we used to accept plastic bags or burning coal or CFC’s or drinking and driving
  • Those things are frowned upon now but they were considered normal in the 1970’s and 80’s 

Some things are deeply ingrained in us and don’t come out in the first wash

  • Sometimes we are slow to learn but the grace of God is patient, refining us like silver

In Psalm 66 we read…

Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; 9 he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. 10 For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver. 11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. 12 You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

Believe it or not, Psalm 66 is a song of thanksgiving, much like the song Amazing Grace. It recognises God’s hand of providence in painful events.

  • Verse 10 mentions the refining of silver.
  • Silver has antibacterial properties, which means germs can’t survive on it, which is one of the reasons it is used as a shared cup in communion – silver is a symbol of holiness and cleanliness.
  • The refining of silver in ancient times involved melting the metal so the dross rose to the top, then removing the dross
  • The writer of psalm 66 used this as a metaphor for the way God had tested and refined the Israelites
  • Although the process of being refined in a furnace is not pleasant at the time, the poet is able to look back and see God’s providence in it
  • Despite all they have suffered he is able to say, God preserved our lives and brought us to a place of abundance 
  • It seems John Newton was familiar with this refining process
  • And, despite the dangers, toils and snares he went through, God protected him and he was able to praise God for his multi-faceted grace.

There is another verse of the song which celebrates the grace of God’s providence. It reads…

The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be, as long as life endures.

Our hope is based on God’s promises – God always keeps his word.   

  • To say that God is my portion is to say that God provides all I need
  • The image of a shield is a metaphor for God’s protection – we are reminded of Psalm 28…

Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

This was certainly true for John Newton – the Lord did hear his cry for mercy and eventually John wrote many songs of praise to God.

The grace of heaven:

So far we have considered the grace of forgiveness, the grace of fear and the grace of providence. Now we turn our minds to the grace of heaven  

  • If the grace of fear is God’s stick, then the grace of heaven is God’s carrot

‘Kicking against the pricks’ only went so far in reforming John Newton’s behaviour. The thing that finally got him out of the slave trade and back on shore was his love for Mary Catlett – Mary was one of God’s carrots

  • John found it harder and harder to leave Mary as he went away on those long sea voyages, so around 1754 or 55 (about 10 years after his experience of God’s mercy during the storm at sea) he gave up his life as a ship’s captain and began studying Christian theology.
  • John was 30 at the time.
  • The Anglican church were reluctant to accept him at first, but in 1764 (10 years after he quit the sailor’s life) the Bishop relented and John Newton became the curate of Olney. (A curate is sort of like an apprentice priest.)
  • It was at Olney that John Newton met the poet William Cowper and they started writing Christian verse together
  • The transformation brought about by God’s grace is truly amazing
  • The young sailor who used to write obscene songs was now writing sacred hymns for the church.

God’s grace is multi-faceted – He uses the stick and the carrot. At least one of the verses of the song we sing alludes to the grace of heaven

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

This verse may not have been written by Newton himself – some say it was added later in the 19th Century as part of the African American gospel tradition.

  • On the mount of transfiguration Peter, James & John saw a vision of Jesus glorified, bright shining as the sun  
  • In these lines of the song John Newton imagines heaven as a place where the Christian believer is transformed into the likeness of Christ – so that we too share in Christ’s glory, ‘bright shining as the sun’.
  • Heaven is also pictured here as a place of singing praise to God tirelessly forever – which implies that the goodness of God’s grace will totally absorb us and sustain us, so we will be saved from ourselves.

Conclusion:

The original version of Amazing Grace finishes with the verse…

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below, will be forever mine.

For many years this verse was dropped and replaced by When we’ve been there ten thousand years…

  • Only recently was it restored by Chris Tomlin, who did a modern version of the song with the chorus My chains are gone…
  • The imagery in this verse is misleading if you don’t understand the context. It seems to suggest that God is going to destroy the universe  
  • And if you think that then you might end up thinking, we might as well trash the planet because it’s going to be burned up anyway
  • This is stinking thinking – it is not helpful
  • The bigger picture of Scripture indicates that God’s plan is to bring a new order to the earth – this new order is known as the kingdom of God
  • So we shouldn’t think this verse from Amazing Grace is talking about the physical destruction of the planet earth – that wouldn’t be grace
  • It’s using poetic language to talk about the destruction of the old order – the dissolving of evil power structures.

When John Newton wrote this verse of the song he may have had 2 Peter 3:10 in mind, which in the NRSV, reads…

  • But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. 

To disclose something is not the same as destroying it

  • 2nd Peter 3 is talking about the second coming of Jesus (or as Johnny Cash would say, ‘When the man comes around.’)
  • It is clearly poetic language not intended to be taken literally
  • When snow is on the ground you don’t know what’s underneath, whether it’s grass or mud or rocks. But when the snow melts all is revealed.
  • The main point is that when Jesus returns in glory the true state of things will be disclosed
  • In other words, the true character of our deeds will be revealed
  • The wheat will be separated from the chaff
  • The old world order, which is false and without substance, will be dissolved. While that which belongs to the new order, that which has been done in love and truth, will shine like purified silver
  • So, with this in mind, we need to make sure we are living truly holy lives, in line with the new order of God’s kingdom.

John Newton practiced what he preached, eventually.

  • From about the 1780’s onwards he joined William Wilberforce in the abolitionist movement speaking out against slavery
  • Once again we see God’s amazing grace. God did not destroy John Newton but rather transformed him from a human trafficker to an advocate for the poor and oppressed.

God’s grace is multifaceted.

  • It reaches out to us with forgiveness
  • It corrects us with Godly fear
  • It provides what we need and purifies us so we are prepared for God’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

Listen to the song, ‘Amazing Grace’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 

  • Is there a pendulum effect in your life? What caused the swing?
  • What is grace? (What is not grace?)
  • God’s grace is multi-faceted. John Newton’s song touches on at least four aspects of God’s grace – i.e. forgiveness, fear, providence and heaven.
    • Which of these aspects of God’s grace have you experienced? How?
    • What other aspects of God’s grace are you aware of?
  • Which verse of Amazing Grace do you most identify with? Why?
    • Which verse do you find most difficult? Why?  
  • How might God go about refining us (like silver)?
  • Consider the line, ‘The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine;’
    • How are we to understand this line of the song in the light of the bigger picture of Scripture and in light of 2 Peter 3:10?

Outtakes:

Another of the song’s verses, which we don’t sing very often, also makes us think of heaven…  

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil, a life of joy and peace.

The veil here is a reference to death

  • The purpose of a veil is to hide something (like a curtain) – to prevent us from seeing what’s on the other side
  • In this life we can’t see what lies beyond the veil of death but for those, like John Newton, who place their trust in Christ, there is the hope of heaven – pictured here as a ‘life of joy and peace’.

This verse of the song may find its inspiration from Psalm 73 where the poet writes: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

  • The idea here is that God sustains us with the grace (or gift) of himself not just in this life but even through death.  
Tawa Baptist

Seek Ye First

Scriptures: Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 7:7-11, Matthew 4:1-4

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Seek ye first the kingdom of God
  • Ask and it shall be given unto you
  • We cannot live by bread alone
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

The order in which we do things matters

  • When you are packing your car to go away on holiday it’s a good idea to put the larger suitcases in first and then pack the smaller things around them
  • If you have a leak in your roof, then your priority is to fix the roof before you start painting and decorating inside the house
  • When you buy a flat pack of furniture, the first thing to do is read the instructions before you start assembling the product
  • Likewise, when you prepare a sermon or a Bible study you start by praying and reading the Scriptures, then you write down your thoughts
  • And, if your wife or husband or child is telling you something important, your priority is to listen to them, before attending to the dinner or your emails.  

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

The song we are looking at this morning is called Seek Ye First

  • The words for Seek Ye First come from the mouth of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew
  • Verse 1 of the song is a quote from Matthew 6:33, where Jesus is talking about the futility of worry
  • Verse 2 of the song comes from Matthew 4:4, where Jesus is responding to one of the temptations of Satan in the wilderness
  • And verse 3 is from Matthew 7:7, where Jesus is helping his listeners to understand that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to his children 
  • All three verses are about giving God priority – putting God first   

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

The music for Seek Ye First was written by a woman called Karen Lafferty in 1971. Karen was a worship leader for Calvary Chapel in California at the time

  • She was 23 years old, had graduated University with a degree in music and recently returned to the Lord and to church after some time away  
  • In an interview Karen Lafferty says this about the origin of Seek Ye First,

“I had quit my entertainment job and was trying to support myself with teaching guitar lessons. I had three students! When my savings were all gone and I had no money to make my car payments, I became very discouraged and confused.” One evening I went to a Bible study at church, and we talked about Matthew 6:33. [Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.]I was tremendously encouraged and challenged by the words about Christ’s kingdom. So I went home, wrote the tune, recorded it on a tape recorder, and then sang this little descant part.”

  • Karen taught the song in church the next week, and it caught on right away.

So what is Jesus saying in this verse from Matthew 6?

  • Well, to understand the meaning, we need to hear the verse in its context.
  • From Matthew 6:25-34 (in the NIV) we read…

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.   

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

The word ‘worry’ appears six times in this passage. Worry (or anxiety) is part of the human condition.

  • It doesn’t seem to matter what culture you come from or what time in history you live, we all have to deal with worry at some point in our lives

Jesus says we are not to worry and then he gives a number of reasons why we don’t need to worry. He effectively uses reason and logic to disarm worry.

  • Reason is to worry what waking up is to a bad dream – reason puts us back in touch with reality and restores our perspective
  • Reason is to worry what sunlight is to mould – reason dries out the dampness in our mind to prevent the mould of worry
  • Reason is to worry what companionship is to loneliness – reason is a friend who brings understanding and makes us feel connected

The first reason (or logical argument) Jesus gives for not worrying about food and clothes is that there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothes

  • While food and clothes are basic to human survival and we need to attend to them they are not the only needs we have in life and they are not the most important needs either – we must keep things in proportion
  • For example, other things needed to support human life include:
  • Right relationships and community,
  • Hope and a sense of purpose,
  • A rhythm of worshiping God, which gives us something positive to occupy our minds, something greater than ourselves.

Another reason Jesus gives for not worrying is that worry is pointless – like running on a treadmill it wears you out, it gets you nowhere.

Jesus also gives evidence from nature for not worrying

  • God feeds the birds of the air and we human beings are far more valuable to God than birds, so how much more will God feed us
  • And, following the same logic, God clothes the grass of the field with beautiful wild flowers which are here today and gone tomorrow, so how much more will he clothe us, for we last a lot longer than grass.

Now, at this point some of you may be thinking, ‘Okay, if it’s true that God feeds the birds, why are some species of birds going extinct? And more to the point, why do so many people in the world starve or walk around in rags?’

  • Well, some of the responsibility lies with human beings. While God provides what the world needs humanity doesn’t always manage God’s resources in a way that is fair or equitable
  • Having said that, humanity can’t bear the full responsibility – some things are not in our power to do anything about
  • The world we live in is not perfect or fair or safe – God’s will is not always done on earth as it is in heaven
  • Jesus’ teaching here seems to picture the world as it should be rather than as it is [1]     

This is not to imply that Jesus’ teaching is out of touch with our reality. Quite the opposite – Jesus’ teaching is very down to earth  

  • In verse 34 of Matthew 6, Jesus says, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  
  • Jesus acknowledges that the world isn’t perfect – each day has enough trouble of its own – it simply does no good to worry about what we can’t control and what might never happen in the first place.

The other thing we need to be aware of is that Jesus is not saying we shouldn’t make provision for the future – he’s simply saying don’t worry about the future

  • Making provision for the future is not the same thing as worrying about it
  • Jesus’ point is not that we should throw all caution to the wind, when it comes to financial matters
  • Jesus’ point is that we should not let fear and worry tie us up in knots or impede us in the present

Returning to verse 33 of Matthew 6, the focus of the opening verse of the song; Jesus gives us an alternative to worry – something far more meaningful and fruitful to spend our time and energy on

  • Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

God’s kingdom and righteousness means God’s way of doing life

  • So, instead of worrying, we need to give top priority to living under God’s direction and governance – we need to obey God in faith that he will provide for our needs.  

Karen Lafferty, the author of Seek Ye First, went on to work for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). She said,

  • “The Lord really paved the way for me with that song. “Seek Ye First” has opened doors for me all over the world. And because it’s in so many hymnbooks, about 40 percent of my mission support comes from that song!”
  • As I mentioned earlier, Karen had been worrying about making ends meet and paying her bills
  • But when she went to the Bible study and spent time seeking God, the Lord sorted out her priorities, dispelled her fears and provided her with an income stream by giving her a tune to put to the words of Jesus.
  • And all these things shall be added unto you.

Sometimes the priority is not clear to us. Sometimes what we think is most important is actually not as important in hindsight

  • You may be in a hurry to get out the door for work or school drop off but you’ve lost your keys and you are starting to feel stressed
  • In the heat of the moment you might think, ‘okay I just have to look harder to find my keys’
  • But the faster you look the more flustered you become
  • In that moment the priority is not finding your keys but finding your calm
  • The best thing to do is stop, be still, let your brain stem settle and then retrace your steps to find your keys 
  • In the long run it won’t matter if you are a few minutes late
  • In fact, being still for a few moments may help you to find your keys quicker and it will also help you to drive safer.  

It is similar with seeking first the kingdom of God. Sometimes the priority (finding what God wants us to do) is not clear at first

  • Sometimes we can be in such a hurry doing the work of ministry or serving God that we miss the spirit in which God wants us to serve
  • In that moment the priority is not doing the work of ministry but finding God’s heartbeat, getting back in step with the Lord again.   

We cannot live by bread alone

Verse two of the song reads: We cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Again, these are the words of Jesus, this time from Matthew 4. To understand the meaning we need to read the verse in its context. From Matthew 4, verse 1, in the NIV…

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Satan then went on to try and tempt Jesus in other ways and each time Jesus resisted the devil with Scripture

The phrase, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’, is a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 where Moses is addressing the Israelites at the end of their 40 years in the wilderness

  • Moses is essentially saying to the people, ‘As a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.’
  • That’s why you’ve spent all this time wandering around in the wilderness facing various deprivations – so you can learn to trust and obey God
  • Among the lessons you should have learned during these past 40 years is not to depend on bread alone but on God’s word
  • Not to put God to the test
  • And not to worship any other god – but rather to make the Lord God the exclusive object of your worship and obedience [2]

Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness recalls Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness

  • Israel (the nation) was known as God’s son
  • So too Jesus is God’s son – he embodies the new Israel
  • Where the ancient Israelites failed, Jesus passes the test, doing for Israel what they were not able to do for themselves

For a long-time I was puzzled by the temptation to change stones into bread

  • I mean, what’s wrong with that? Everyone has to eat.
  • What’s more there were other occasions when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes in the wilderness to feed thousands – so what’s the problem?
  • Why was not okay on this occasion (for Jesus to use his power to make bread) but it was okay on a different occasion?  
  • Well, as Richard France explains, it is a question of obedience to God’s will in this particular situation…

Obedience to God’s will takes priority… Jesus understood his experience of hunger as God’s will for him at the time and therefore not to be evaded by a self-indulgent use of his power as the Son of God. To [turn the stones into bread] would be [to disobey God] to call into question God’s priorities and set himself at odds with his Father’s plan. [3]

Although Jesus understood his hunger to be God’s will for him at the time, this doesn’t mean that every occasion of hunger or deprivation is God’s will, but sometimes it is and when it is we must trust God to provide for us in his way and his time.

  • In Matthew 4, God sent angels to minister to Jesus’ needs after Satan had left him – Jesus passed the test where Israel had failed

You know, sometimes we go without things and we don’t like it

  • Perhaps we don’t go without food for 40 days like Jesus did but maybe we go without something else important, for a significant period of time
  • We might, for example, go without work for several months,
  • Or without our health for several weeks
  • Or without joy for several years,
  • Or without an answer to prayer, or something else
  • Those wilderness times of testing don’t necessarily mean God is angry with us or against us
  • To the contrary they show that we are God’s children because he is taking the time to teach us to rely on him – to trust and obey.
  • God disciplines those he loves

We are in the season of Lent at the moment – that 40 days (or so) before Easter

  • Traditionally many Christians give up something during Lent (maybe chocolate or swearing or justifying yourself or whatever)
  • The point of this self-imposed fast is to draw close in solidarity with Jesus – to remember his time of testing and to embrace our identity as children of God who rely on our heavenly father, not on ourselves    

Jesus’ words in Matthew 4, verse 4, about needing the word of God as much as we need bread, connect with his words in Matthew 6:33 about seeking first God’s kingdom

  • The word of God is actually more important than food, just as seeking the kingdom of God is more important than seeking money
  • Food and money are useful for this life but the word of God and the kingdom of God have value for eternal life.  

Ask and it shall be given to you

A couple of weeks ago Lotto jack potted to $50 million. When it gets that big someone has to win. Apparently the key is getting the Powerball

  • So even if you were to win first division, you don’t get the $50 million unless you also have the Powerball number
  • Of course it was a popular draw. At one point they were selling 2,000 tickets a minute
  • When you don’t have much and life is difficult winning Lotto seems like a silver bullet, something that will fix all your problems
  • But excess can be just as harmful as poverty – there is wisdom in moderation. Better a regular sized portion with peace, than a double portion with worry.
  • I imagine thousands of people prayed, asking to win the $50 million but, as it turned out, the grand prize was shared by only two families.

In Matthew 7 Jesus says…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 10“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

In the movie Bruce Almighty (starring Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman), God gives Bruce the power to answer people’s prayers and so Bruce just says ‘yes’ to every request, with the result that almost everyone wins the lottery

  • Of course when $50 million is split equally between 2 million people the winners end up with only $25 each. People took to the streets in riot

When Jesus says, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you, he doesn’t mean God is obligated to answer ‘yes’ to every prayer we pray

  • In the context he means God will give you what you need and what is good for you, which may not necessarily be what you want
  • As the little parable in verse 10 indicates, the son isn’t asking for a luxury, he’s asking for his basic needs; bread and fish (carbs & protein) 
  • So praying to win Lotto won’t help your chances but praying, give us this day our daily bread will help you.

Jesus’ point is that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to his children    

  • God Almighty is not like the pagan gods of the Greeks and Romans. We don’t have to sacrifice things to try and persuade God to provide for us
  • God is ready & willing to help us with genuine needs, we just have to ask
  • And even if we ask God for the wrong things he will still give us the right thing.
  • God won’t give us something useless (like a stone), nor will he give us something harmful (like a snake). God wants to do us good.

Jesus’ words about asking, seeking and knocking are supposed to cast out worry and inspire trust in God.

  • They invite us to explore the scope of God’s generosity

Having said that, Ask and it will be given to you; also needs to be understood in the context of God’s freedom

  • Sometimes our requests may be entirely reasonable and unselfish; maybe we are praying for healing for someone we care about or perhaps we are asking to be spared from some injustice and yet God is silent
  • The will of God is inscrutable at times.
  • Inscrutable simply means we can’t always understand God’s will and purpose. We can’t put God’s will under a microscope and scrutinize it

Oswald Chambers once said: “Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer.”

God will always do his best for us but sometimes it’s not about us and sometimes the options available to God are limited

  • Jesus wrestled in anguish, as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God to spare him the ordeal of the cross
  • (Jesus didn’t want to be separated from his heavenly Father)
  • But, for whatever reason, God did not change his mind
  • While Jesus did not get the answer he wanted to his prayer, he did get hold of God and submitted himself in obedience to God’s will.    
  • For Jesus, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness took priority.

Conclusion:

Each of the verses of the song Seek Ye First ends with the descant or chorus, Allelujah, which is a shortened form of the Hebrew word, Hallelujah

  • Allelujah simply means ‘praise the Lord’
  • The message is clear; giving priority to what God wants is the truest act of worship and praise we can offer the Lord.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to the song, ‘Seek Ye First’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 
  2. How do you begin each day? What’s the first thing you do?
  3. What sorts of things worry you? What reasons does Jesus give for not worrying? How do you deal with your worry?
  4. Why does Jesus tell his disciples to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness? How might we do this? (What does this look like specifically for you?)
  5. Discuss / reflect on the parallels between Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness.
  6. Why did Jesus refuse to turn the stones into loaves of bread? (in Matthew 4) What have you had to go without for a significant period of time? What have you learned through this experience of deprivation?
  7. Take some time this week to reflect on how God has responded to your prayer requests over the years. For example, what things has God said ‘yes’ to? What things has he said ‘no’ to? And what prayers has he answered in a way you weren’t expecting?    

[1] R.T. France, NICNT, Matthew, page 266.

[2] Ibid, page 128.

[3] Ibid, page 131.

Tawa Baptist

A Prayer

Intercessory Prayer – 1 March 2020

Loving Father, we praise you for your goodness. You are our creator, the giver of life and meaning. In you we live and move and have our being. Without you all life comes undone.

Lord Jesus, we come to this Lenten season only partly conscious of the wrong we have committed and the good we have failed to do. We are often blind to ourselves and our neighbour. We need your help. Give us grace to face the truth so that we may receive your forgiveness and pass it on to others. Populate our thoughts with a vision of you.

Jesus you were tested in every way and did not fall short. Be with us when we are tested; feed us with the bread of your presence, make us servants to your purpose and release us to worship the one true God. Help us to draw near to you the living Christ.

Jesus, you are our healer. We think of J.E. who is recovering from knee surgery. Relieve her pain and grant her freedom of movement we ask. We think also of others we know personally who are injured or unwell. Touch the lives of each person here for we all carry hurts whether seen or unseen.

We thank you Lord for the work of the Leprosy Mission around the world. Thank you for being with E. and the other youth advocates this year as they travelled to Nepal. We ask your blessing on those living with leprosy and their families. Deliver them from the physical disease of leprosy and from the prejudice often attached to it. Bless the doctors and nurses providing care at Anandaban Hospital. May you provide all that is needed for new plumbing to pipe clean water to the hospital.

We think Lord of the world you love, a world in need. In some ways the global village is smaller now and our lives are more interconnected. We feel the butterfly effect – how a small virus in one part of the world can have a huge impact on people in another part. We ask your mercy at the sore points and the points of intersection. Save us from our fears. May your will be done and your kingdom come in all those situations which cause alarm: coronavirus, climate change, undercurrents of nationalism, riots, wars and the rumours of wars. We ask your blessing and provision for the millions of displaced people in this world.

God of infinite worth, children are a gift from you. Guide our political leaders with the upcoming conscience vote on abortion. We are ask for your blessing on all expectant mothers and unborn children. Give them health & peace and safe delivery. Help us all to remember that we are made in your image and to value life. 

Jesus, you were a carpenter. We ask your blessing and oversight on our builders and property team as they seek to strengthen the church buildings. We look to you for the next steps in the life of this congregation. Give us wisdom and faith to make decisions which will glorify you and be a blessing now and into the future.

Inscrutable God, your ways are not our ways. Sometimes following Jesus is confusing and difficult. We pray for the exiles – those who feel estranged from you or who are struggling in their journey of faith. Help us in times of disorientation to be honest with you, not to throw the baby out with the bath water but instead discern what is true and hold to Christ. Thank you God that you are big enough to handle our doubts and our anger. We praise you that you know us and care for us.

God of meaning, we find our purpose and hope in you. You have blessed us in this country with many good things and yet there is a spiritual poverty in this land. We pray for those who don’t yet know you. Find them we ask good shepherd. We pray for your blessing on the up-coming combined Tawa churches Alpha course. May you provide all that is needed for the successful running of Alpha. Lead us and guide us to those who you would have us invite to Alpha. May you be real for each one Lord Jesus.  

We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, our Saviour and friend. Amen.

Tawa Baptist

Highlands (Song of Ascent)

Scriptures: Psalm 139:7-12, Psalm 145:18, Luke 15, Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 23:4

Psalm 24:3-6, Matthew 17:20.

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The hunger for God
  • The river of grace
  • The centrality of Christ
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Human development experts tell us there are different stages in the human life cycle and with each stage there is a particular task to attend to

For example, when we are very young we need to learn basic trust – without this foundation (or basis) of trust we can’t function or relate

Then in our teenage years we begin to discover our own identity – we learn to think for ourselves, figure out who we are and where we belong, where we fit

  • Identity formation continues beyond adolescence

In early adulthood the task is learning intimacy – how to be close to someone on the inside, without getting hurt.

  • You can’t really have intimacy without some sense of identity

By the time we reach our 40’s (or thereabouts) we begin to realise that we are not going to live forever and so we feel a need to use what time we have left to pursue the things that are most important to us

  • You sometimes hear the expression ‘mid-life crisis’
  • This is a phrase which can mean a variety of things but often it describes the feeling of frustration or confusion which comes when one is not free to do what they want to do but rather forced to do what they must
  • Maybe you want to travel the world on your motor bike but you can’t because you are still paying off the mortgage and supporting your family
  • So you make do by growing a beard (like a hipster) and riding your bike on the weekends, between the kids’ sports games and mowing the lawns
  • (Now just to be clear, people grow beards for all sorts of reasons. So we can’t assume that everyone with a beard is having a mid-life crisis.)

When you get to the end of your life you want to leave a legacy

  • You want to pass on something valuable to those you care about, maybe your wisdom, maybe your story, maybe your faith and hope.

Of course, we are speaking in general terms. Often the life cycle is more varied and complicated than the text books suggest, but the general pattern holds true for many

  • The point is, where we are at in life’s journey has some influence on the way we think, behave and relate with others, including God. 

In fact, some of this life cycle stuff finds parallels with our spiritual journey

  • We start our walk with God by learning basic trust – just learning to rely on God day by day.
  • Then as we grow in trust our identity is formed in Christ.
  • At some point in our journey of faith we may feel a deep longing for intimacy with God and so we search for ways to be close to God, maybe through theological study or going on spiritual retreats or spending time in nature or immersing ourselves in Christian music.

Inevitably there comes a time when the beliefs and doctrines and theoretical frameworks we have constructed around God are challenged and perhaps deconstructed

  • At that stage we have to decide what beliefs we will keep and what we will lay aside
  • We call this life long process, with all its highs and lows, ‘spiritual formation’.   

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

The song we are looking at this morning is called Highlands (Song of Ascent)

  • This song is about the journey of faith, both God’s journey to us and our journey with God through all the highs and lows (the mountains and valleys) of our spiritual formation. 
  • As Joel Houston (one of the authors of the song) says, ‘This faith of ours is a climb [an ascent] but we are not in it alone’. 

Highlands is a song which came out of Hillsong Church

  • Hillsong is a charismatic Christian church based in Sydney Australia, established by Brian & Bobbie Houston in 1983.
  • Hillsong United is the name of the worship band, formed in 1998, as part of Hillsong’s youth ministry.

The words and music for the song Highlands were written collaboratively by Joel Houston and Ben Hastings in 2018 

  • Joel Houston, who is now 40 years old, is Brian & Bobbie Houston’s son
  • And Ben Hastings, who is now 28, originally came from Northern Ireland

In an interview Joel and Ben talk about how the song Highlands came into being. Joel was actually in the Highlands of Scotland at the time

  • He had just finished a project and was facing what he describes (with a chuckle) as a bit of a mid-life crisis
  • He was taking stock, trying to figure out the next steps in his own life
  • This is understandable – Joel Houston is like a rock star in the world of Christian music
  • He has reached great heights – it is natural at this stage in his life that he should grow a beard and ask, ‘Okay God, what next?’   

The first line of the song and the chords came to him at 3 in the morning

  • He didn’t know what it meant at the time but, like I said a couple of weeks ago, often the meaning comes later
  • After Joel had talked about it with Ben for a couple of hours, Ben wrote the rest of the lyrics.

The hunger for God:

One of the themes of the song is our hunger for God


O how high would I climb mountains if the mountains were where You hide
O how far I’d scale the valleys if You graced the other side…
Cause in the highlands and the heartache You’re neither more or less inclined
I would search and stop at nothing, You’re just not that hard to find.

Some of you have two stomachs. A dinner stomach and a pudding stomach.

  • I’m like that. Even if my dinner stomach is full I still feel a bit empty if I haven’t had something sweet. I love a little bit of ice-cream to finish.
  • I wonder if the opening lines of today’s song describe a hunger for intimacy with God – a longing to be close with God on the inside
  • It’s like we have a pudding stomach for God and no matter what other good things we might fill our lives with we never quite feel satisfied while our God stomach is empty
  • Blaise Pascal said, ‘There is a God shaped hole in every heart’, meaning we are born with a desire to connect with God intimately.

So, if we have this God shaped hole in our heart, how do we fill it?       

  • C.S. Lewis was once asked, ‘What makes Christianity different from any other religion?’
  • And he answered, ‘Oh that’s easy. Grace.’
  • What he meant was, with most other religions the goal is for humanity to try and reach God somehow
  • But with Christianity it is different. In Christ, God comes to us.
  • The opening lines of the song make this point – if we want to find God we don’t have to go far. God is near. He is not absent or hiding.

As we read in Psalm 139:7-12…

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

And in a similar vein, Psalm 145:18…

          The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

As you can see on the wall, there’s a line in the song which reads…

  • You’re neither more or less inclined
  • We might call this the disinterested virtue of God
  • And by ‘disinterested virtue’ we don’t mean that God doesn’t care
  • We mean that God’s virtue, his goodness and faithfulness, is not conditional on our performance
  • God is good to us because of who he is, not because of what we do   
  • God’s love is steadfast – he is not fickle, his character remains consistent
  • It’s the idea that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make him love us less.
  • This doesn’t mean God will indulge our evil (sometimes God’s steadfast love moves him to discipline us) – it just means we don’t need to earn God’s favour. It is freely given.
  • God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [Matthew 5:45]

Given the constancy of God’s steadfast love and given his disinterested virtue, the chorus suggests what our response needs to be…


So I will praise You on the mountain
And I will praise you when the mountain’s in my way
You’re the summit where my feet are
So I will praise You in the valleys all the same
No less God within the shadows
No less faithful when the night leads me astray
You’re the Heaven where my heart is
In the highlands and the heartache all the same

Just as God’s love and goodness does not depend on us, so too our praise and worship of God should not depend on our circumstances

  • We praise and worship God for who he is, not for how we experience life or how we feel
  • I am reminded of the example of Job. After he had lost all his wealth and all his children had been killed, he fell to the ground in worship and said,
  • The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
  • This shows that Job had a strong basis or foundation of trust in the Lord.
  • He wasn’t relying on his wealth or his children – his life & faith was based on the name of the Lord (on God’s reputation and integrity). 
  • Like the song says, I will praise you on the mountain… and I will praise you in the valleys all the same
  • In other words, I’ll praise you when things are going well and I feel on top of the world and I’ll praise you when life is hard and I’m down in the dumps.

The words in this chorus are incredibly challenging – we hope our praise of God is pure and doesn’t depend on our circumstances but, at the same time, we pray (under our breath) that this won’t be tested. 

I spoke before about mid-life crisis. Often the journey of faith formation includes a kind of spiritual mid-life crisis

  • We (like Job) may suffer some loss or injustice and find that everything we had previously held to be true is now challenged and uncertain
  • We may feel filled with doubt, confused, angry with God and ready to chuck the towel of our faith in
  • These feelings may be symptomatic of a desire for something more real – a greater intimacy with God – sort of like being hangry for God  
  • When we find ourselves in that space there’s a number of things that help. Firstly, be honest – both with yourself and with God. Don’t pretend
  • Secondly, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water – figure out what’s important, what’s true. Hold on to Christ.
  • And thirdly, find something about God you can honestly praise him for.
  • Maybe you are angry with God and the last thing you feel like doing is singing a worship song – but you can still praise him that he is big enough to handle your anger.     
  • Praising God saves us from self-pity and self-centeredness. Praising God takes the focus off ourselves.  

The river of grace:

On the wall here we have the picture of a waterfall

  • Now there is no way anyone could swim up that waterfall – it’s just too powerful. At best we might stand below it and admire its beauty.

One of the verses of the song reads like this…

O how long have I chased rivers from lowly seas to where they rise
Against the rush of grace descending from the source of its supply

Now at first this sounds complicated, but it’s really quite a simple metaphor

  • As the authors of the song, Ben & Joel, explain:
  • A river connects the highest points on earth (the mountains) to the lowest points (the valleys) – that’s Jesus – he is the river that connects heaven and earth.
  • ‘Our God [Jesus] came down the mountain like a pilgrim in reverse’
  • We are sometimes slow to understand this
  • Sometimes we chase the river against its flow – against the rush of grace descending (God’s grace is like a waterfall) 
  • But we can’t reach God that way, any more than we could reach the top of a river by trying to swim up a waterfall. God’s grace is overwhelming

Following this metaphor of grace descending: just as water always chases the lowest point, so too Jesus finds us at our lowest point. It’s like Jesus said…

  • Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  • The poor in spirit are at their lowest point, which is exactly where the river of God’s grace finds them

Jesus told a number of parables about God’s grace finding people at their lowest point. For example, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18

  • The Pharisee stood before God, praying about himself, confident of his own goodness
  • Whereas the tax collector stood at a distance, not daring to look up to heaven but instead praying for mercy
  • God’s grace did not find the Pharisee because he wasn’t yet at the end of himself  
  • But God’s grace did find the tax collector who was at his lowest point.

Continuing this theme of God finding us at our lowest point another verse of the song reads…

O how fast would you come running if just to shadow me through the night
Trace my steps through all my failures and walk me out the other side

Please turn with me to Luke 15, page 100 toward the back of your pew Bibles  

  • Jesus tells a series of parables in Luke 15 about God running to find us, when we fail, and walking us out the other side
  • In Luke 15 we find the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost sons. Let’s read verses 1-7 now…

15 One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, 2 the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!” 3 So Jesus told them this parable:

4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. 5 When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders 6 and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbours together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’ 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.

God’s grace descends to us and, like water, finds us at our lowest point when we are lost and at the end of our rope

  • God’s purpose in finding us is to restore. All heaven celebrates over the one who repents.

On the wall here are the opening lines of a poem by Francis Thompson

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears…

Can anyone tell me the name of that poem? [Wait]

  • That’s right, it’s called “The Hound of Heaven”
  • This poem was first published in 1893 and had an influence on J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of Lord of the Rings

J.F.X. O’Conor describes the poem like this…

“As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurrying… pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God [the human soul] seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never ending pursuit.”

We are complex creatures and we don’t always behave in ways that make sense.

  • Sometimes in our spiritual journey we try to run away from God
  • But the Lord pursues us with patience and love.

The centrality of Christ:

For Christians, Jesus is integral to faith formation

  • We are saved by faith (a foundation of basic trust) in Christ
  • We find our true identity and belonging in Christ
  • We have intimacy with God through Christ
  • And, whether life is stable or in crisis, we hold to Christ
  • Ultimately, our hope and our legacy is to become like Christ.  

In singing about the God who descends to save us, Ben Hastings & Joel Houston remember the centrality of Christ

For who could dare ascend that mountain that valleyed hill called Calvary
But for the One I call Good Shepherd who like a lamb was slain for me.

This verse is about the crucifixion of Jesus

  • Jesus is both the Good Shepherd and the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
  • The hill of Jesus’ crucifixion is (metaphorically speaking) a low point where God’s grace is found.
  • The line, who could dare ascend that mountain, is a direct reference to Psalm 24:4-6…

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Saviour.

 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, God of Jacob.

As Joel Houston explains, Jesus gives us clean hands and a pure heart so we can stand before God in his holy place and receive his blessing. 

Of course, we can’t sing of Jesus’ crucifixion and death without also thinking of his resurrection and ascension to heaven – the two go together.

And so a verse follows on the resurrection of Jesus…

From the gravest of all valleys come the pastures we call grace
A mighty river flowing upwards from a deep but empty grave.

The metaphor used here for God’s grace is pasture or nourishment

  • We feed on God’s grace at the lowest point – in the valleys 
  • The mighty river flowing upwards is a reference to Jesus’ resurrection.
  • Through faith in Christ we too can be carried upwards in the river of Jesus’ resurrection to eternal life.

The bridge of the song reads…


Whatever I walk through, wherever I am
Your Name can move mountains, wherever I stand
And if ever I walk through the valley of death
I’ll sing through the shadows my song of ascent

The bridge revisits the theme of spiritual journey which pervades the whole song. It affirms that (in Christ) God is with us and for us through all the stages and difficulties we may face in this life.

Your name can move mountains is a reference to Jesus’ words in Matthew 17:20

  • I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

The mountain is a metaphor for some insurmountable problem

  • Even a small amount of faith (or basic trust) in Jesus can restore our perspective and bring our problems down to a manageable size.

And the line about walking through the valley of death is a reference to Psalm 23, which talks about the Lord being our shepherd

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

Jesus’ rod is like a weapon that he uses against the forces of evil in order to protect his sheep, and his staff is like a shepherd’s crock which Jesus uses to gently guide his sheep onto the right path if we go astray.

  • Jesus is the good shepherd who stays close to guide & protect us when the going gets tough

Conclusion:

One of the things I like about Tawa Baptist is the diversity of the congregation

  • We are intergenerational, with people of all ages and stages of faith
  • Where are you at in your journey of spiritual formation?
  • Wherever you are at, God is near – he’s just not that hard to find
  • May we all be aware of Jesus’ nearness and grace throughout the week, with the beginning of Lent on Wednesday (26 Feb 2020).

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to the song, ‘Highlands (Song of Ascent)’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 
  2. How hungry are you for God? How do you feed your hunger for God?
  3. What makes Christianity different from other religions?
  4. Why do we praise God? (What is the basis of our praise?) Think of something you can honestly praise God for. How might you best express your praise for this?  
  5. What can we do when we face a (mid-life) crisis of faith?
  6. Discuss / reflect on the image of Jesus being a river of grace, finding the lowest point. How does this fit with Scripture? (e.g. Luke 15 & 18.) Thinking of your own experience, where/when have you experienced God’s grace most profoundly?
  7. Discuss / reflect on Psalm 24:3-6. How does this relate to Christ?
  8. Take some time this week to reflect on where you are at in your journey of spiritual formation. For example: Where have you come from? What do you need from God at this point? What are the next steps for you?     
Tawa Baptist

Greater Than I

Scriptures: Matthew 20:20-28, Luke 4:18, Philippians 2:5-8, John 4, John 21:5

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The origin
  • The content
  • Conclusion

Following are lyrics to the song:

You set the world into motion
Slavery unbound in each corner of the earth
A way of life to live by
That we won’t forget

You humbled yourself for us,
Status no longer important,
You’ve showed us how to live
Oh we’re grateful, oh we’re grateful

The woman at the well,
You showed her mercy,
You showed us how to love the broken
The blind man on the street,
You showed him kindness, you showed forgiveness
To make us see

Jesus, you’re more than we know,
So teach us how to be, in this broken world
Jesus, you’re a whisper in the wind, you’re the roar of lions
You’re our Prince of Peace

Introduction:

On the wall here is a picture of a mosaic

  • A mosaic artist takes pieces of broken ceramics and arranges them in a pattern to make a meaningful image
  • There is a certain poetry of redemption in putting together broken tiles and making something beautiful out of them

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

The song we are looking at this morning is called “Greater Than I”, written by our very own Peter Sim

  • The lyrics of Greater Than I are like a mosaic – they draw together a variety of fragments of Scripture to form a meaningful picture of Christ
  • Before we look at the song though let’s consider its author

The origin:

For those who don’t know, this is Peter Sim

  • Peter was born in October 1995, which means he is now 24
  • He grew up in Tawa, attending Redwood Primary school, then Tawa Intermediate and Tawa College
  • After College, Peter studied at Victoria University gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Education before completing his Masters of Teaching. Peter is now in his third year teaching at Churton Park School

As a child Peter attended The Tawa New Life church and the Tawa Anglican church with his family

  • Then, as a teenager, Peter started coming to the Tawa Baptist youth group and became involved in the music team here
  • Peter describes his coming to faith in Jesus as a gradual process, with him taking more ownership in his teenage years
  • Peter was baptised here in this church on the 17th June 2012, nearly eight years ago now

Peter wrote the song Greater Than I in 2016 and we started singing it as part of our Sunday worship the same year. So Peter was around 20 or 21 at the time    

  • Peter used to be in a band called ‘Until Autumn’ and has written other pieces of music too – the song Author of my soul is one of Peter’s

A couple of weeks ago when I was talking with Peter about this he said,

  • ‘Music transcends language and other barriers. [Even if you don’t speak Spanish] you can listen to a Spanish song and still enjoy it. But you probably won’t enjoy listening to a Spanish audio book’.    
  • The idea that music transcends language and other barriers resonates with me. I think that music has a spiritual aspect to it which touches our soul, whether the music is religious or not.

Peter tells me he penned the words for his song after reading a book by John Ortberg called ‘Who is this man?’

  • John Ortberg is the Senior Pastor of a Presbyterian church in California
  • His book, ‘Who is this man?’, sets out some key principles of who Jesus is in easy to read English with real world application. 

After reading ‘Who is this man?’ it only took Peter four minutes to write the lyrics to his song, while the music came in just two hours the following day

  • The song writing process doesn’t normally happen that rapidly
  • The quickness of the song’s composition suggests a connection with the wisdom of the subconscious
  • It is also an example of how we find the meaning in the rear vision mirror, by looking back and reflecting on our experience
  • Often in life meaning comes after the fact
  • We have an experience, we react to that experience and then later we glean meaning from the experience by reflecting on our reaction to it     
  • This, it seems, was the case for Peter in writing this particular song
  • He read a book, reacted to it by writing a song and then found meaning in the song by reflecting on the words later.

The title, Greater Than I, doesn’t appear in the body of the lyrics.

  • When I asked Peter about the title he said it came after hearing someone say, ‘modern worship songs always seem to be about I and me.’ Worship songs should be about lifting up God and focusing on who Jesus is   

The content:

With this in view the song begins (and is punctuated throughout) with second person pronouns for God and Jesus

  • You humbled yourself for us
  • You showed her mercy
  • You showed forgiveness, and so on

Verse 1 reads…

You set the world into motion
Slavery unbound in each corner of the earth
A way of life to live by that we won’t forget.

This verse, like the others that follow, is a mosaic of Biblical ideas

  • Each line opens a different door on Scripture and faith’s experience 
  • ‘You set the world into motion’ is a reference to God’s creation of the cosmos in the opening chapters of Genesis
  • Now it is important not to misunderstand this line
  • There is a belief among some people in history that God created the world but then stepped back and no longer intervenes
  • Sort of like a divine clock maker – he made the world, wound it up and walked away to let it tick by on its own
  • This belief is called ‘deism’ – it is not a Christian belief
  • Peter is not saying God set the world in motion and then walked away
  • As the rest of the song makes clear, God set the world in motion and has stayed present and involved in his world ever since.
  • God loves his creation and has not turned his back on it.

‘You set the world into motion’ is an affirmation that we are not here by accident. We are here because God intended us to be here so there is meaning and purpose in our existence  

  • Interestingly the phrase ‘world in motion’ suggests a dynamic view of creation – a world which is not settled or complete but still evolving, still changing, still being brought to its full purpose by God
  • This view fits with the meta-narrative of the Bible and our experience.

Slavery unbound in each corner of the earth is another piece of the mosaic, not the same as the reference to creation but still connected to it

  • I asked Peter if this line about slavery referred to institutional slavery and people trafficking, which is still very much alive in each corner of the earth and he said, ‘No. It’s about the things that bind us personally’
  • In Luke 4, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah saying,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

There are lots of things that may enslave us personally; our fears, our sins, our past, our prejudices, and so on. Jesus came to set people free from these things

Each corner of the earth speaks of the universal reach of the gospel

  • Jesus isn’t just for the Jews, he is for all the peoples of the earth
  • In the Book of Acts, the risen Jesus says to his disciples…

“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Returning to Peter’s song, the line ‘A way of life to live by that we won’t forget’ reminds us that the Christian faith isn’t just a nice idea or an interesting philosophy. It’s not an academic thing in our head – Christianity is a lifestyle

  • Following Jesus should touch and shape every part of our life
  • In John 14 Jesus says: ‘I am the way the truth and the life’.
  • The church of the first Century understood this. Because of their distinctive way of living, early Christians were known as ‘people of the way’

The way of Christ is meek and gentle, not rough or violent

  • The way of Christ is gracious and truthful, it does not shame or manipulate
  • The way of Christ embraces weakness and vulnerability, but turns away from proud thoughts and puts no confidence in human achievement
  • The way of Christ turns the other cheek and forgives
  • The way of Christ is the way of the cross
  • There is a part of us that doesn’t like the way of Christ – that resists it
  • The way of Christ can be difficult and painful, inconvenient and frustrating, confusing and humiliating
  • And yet we stick to it because, in the long run, we believe it leads to peace

In his book ‘Who is this man?’ John Ortberg writes about the way of Jesus…

  • “His life and teaching simply drew people to follow him. He made history by starting in a humble place, in a spirit of love and acceptance, and allowing each person space to respond.”

Verse two of the song…

You humbled yourself for us, status no longer important,
You’ve showed us how to live. Oh we’re grateful, oh we’re grateful

The origin of this verse is found in Paul’s hymn in Philippians 2…

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Verse 2 of the song talks about ‘status no longer [being] important’

  • In Matthew 20, after Jesus has just predicted his death for the third time, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked him for a favour
  • She said, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.”
  • This request is about status and it strikes us as a bit insensitive in light of Jesus having just said that he will soon be crucified
  • Jesus replied to James and John, “You don’t know what you are asking”
  • When the other ten disciples heard about this they became angry with the two brothers. So Jesus called them all together and said…
  • “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be your slave – like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”
  • As the Mandalorian would say, ‘this is the way’.

Jesus undoes our notions of social value and status    

  • Our status, in the sense of our place on the greasy pole, doesn’t matter because we get our identity from God, or more specifically from Christ
  • So, for example, when the apostle Paul was thrown into prison for preaching the gospel it didn’t matter (he could be joyful) because his identity, his status, his worth was secure in Jesus.         

On the wall here is a picture of a painting by Claude Monet

  • Monet painted this in the 1870’s – it is called ‘Sunrise’
  • Monet is famous as one of the founders of the French Impressionist movement
  • Impressionism is characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and colour.
  • Or said another way, impressionism is a literary or artistic style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction. (Impressionism is more subjective than objective)
  • So this painting by Monet is not necessarily an accurate depiction of the sunrise over a harbour in France
  • Rather it is a depiction of how Monet experienced or perceived that particular sunrise on that particular day
  • If he painted the same scene on a different day, it would look slightly different because the light would be different and his perception also.

The lyrics of many of the more contemporary worship songs we sing in church these days are written in the style of impressionism

  • So what we get is an expression of how the writer of that song saw the light of Christ (or perceived God) at the time they wrote it
  • Sometimes their impression of God resonates with our experience and other times it doesn’t
  • If the words don’t happen to harmonize with our own subjective impression of God, then it doesn’t make the song any less true
  • It just means we see God and the world differently from the author because our experience in life has been different from theirs.
  • None of us have a monopoly on God.
  • Much of Peter’s song needs to be understood as impressionism
  • I don’t think Peter sat down with the intention of writing in the style of impressionism, it just happened to turn out that way.

For example…

The woman at the well, you showed her mercy,
You showed us how to love the broken.

‘The woman at the well’ clearly refers to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4

  • And, back in 2016, it gave Peter the impression of Jesus being someone who shows mercy and love to broken people
  • If Peter were to revisit this gospel story in 2036 he might get a slightly different impression of Jesus because by that stage he would have had another 20 years’ experience to reshape his perception and feelings
  • Our impression of God is not usually static – it is dynamic, changing 

For those not familiar with the story in John 4, Jesus is travelling by foot through the land of Samaria

  • It is around noon and he is tired and thirsty after walking all morning
  • His disciples have gone into town to buy some food while Jesus rests beside the well
  • As he is sitting there a Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water
  • This is strange. Normally women came in the morning to draw water, when it was cooler, to avoid the heat of the day  
  • It appears this woman is not on good terms with her neighbours because she comes to the well at a time which avoids the other women

Jesus doesn’t have the means to draw water out of the well and because he is thirsty he asks the woman for a drink which, in that culture, is weird

  • Firstly, men didn’t speak to women in public – it just wasn’t proper
  • Secondly, Jesus was a Jew and, historically, Jews and Samaritans hated each other

The Samaritan woman can see that Jesus is a Jew by the clothes he is wearing and she says to Jesus, ‘How can you ask me for a drink?’

  • (You Jews won’t even use the same cups and bowls as us Samaritans)
  • But Jesus doesn’t let the conversation end there – he keeps it going, telling the woman the truth about himself, about herself and about God 
  • The truth about Jesus is that he is the spring of eternal life – he offers the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit
  • The truth about the woman is that her life and relationships are a mess – she has been married five times and the man she lives with now is not her husband
  • And the truth about God is that he is Spirit and can only be worshipped by the power of his Spirit.

All this truth telling made such a good impression on this woman that she went back to her village telling people about Jesus

  • The people begged Jesus to stay and Jesus graciously received their hospitality for two days, something other Jews would never do

Jesus shows us how to love the broken (like the Samaritan woman)

  • Jesus did not come in a show of strength, he came in weakness and need, feeling thirsty and tired
  • Jesus loved people (he built trust) by speaking the truth, giving people space to respond and receiving their help in the form of hospitality

The next couple of lines of the song give us Peter’s impression of Jesus after Jesus healed… The blind man on the street, you showed him kindness, You showed forgiveness to make us see.

There are a number of accounts, in the gospels, of Jesus healing the blind – for example, Bartimaeus in Mark 10 or the man born blind in John 9

  • Whichever version you look at, those who are physically blind appear to have more spiritual sight than the religious leaders
  • The punch line seems to be: Jesus helps us see God and he helps us to see how to be human, for we human beings are made in the image of God 
  • Kindness and forgiveness are divine attributes. When we show kindness and forgiveness we reflect the image of God.

And so we come to the bridge of the song…

Jesus, you’re more than we know,
So teach us how to be, in this broken world
Jesus, you’re a whisper in the wind, you’re the roar of lions
You’re our Prince of Peace

These words are essentially an expression of heart felt adoration to God

  • There is more to Jesus than we know
  • The apostle John finishes his gospel by saying this…
  • Now there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.
  • I like the fact that Jesus cannot be contained by the human mind
  • I like that there is still more to discover about God
  • I like the mystery (the cloud of unknowing) that shrouds God
  • As the title of the song says, [God is] Greater Than I, which means he is more than we know

So teach us how to be, in this broken world

  • Jesus is our teacher; we are his disciples (his students)
  • We are learning how to ‘be’
  • As disciples of Christ we are not learning how to do – we are not learning a skill – we are learning how to be
  • Being is about the whole person and it’s about our character
  • As disciples of Jesus we are learning how to be like Jesus – to have his character        

And we are learning these things in this broken world, a world that God loves.

  • Now, it’s not that the world is completely broken beyond repair
  • It’s not broken like a glass shattered on the floor
  • There is still much beauty and goodness in the world; but at the same time there is something not right with the system or the way we live
  • History is scarred with war and oppression and misery
  • Even today it seems we can’t participate in society without colluding with injustice
  • We buy food or clothes and we don’t know where they come from or who may have suffered in making them cheap for us
  • Then there is the harm we do to the environment – all the plastic we dump and all the glaciers we melt
  • We are not willing participants with this injustice (often times we are not even aware of it) but still the way we organise or manage ourselves in this world is broken   
  • We need Jesus to teach us how to be in the world in a way that glorifies God, blesses other people and takes care of the environment.

The song finishes with three images of Jesus…

Jesus, you’re a whisper in the wind, you’re the roar of lions,
You’re our Prince of Peace.

When I asked Peter about this he said: small voice, big voice, sense of peace

  • Sometimes we hear Jesus (like Elijah heard Yahweh) as a still small voice
  • Other times Jesus roars loudly, like the lion of Judah
  • Always we are guided by his peace

It occurs to me the three things each of these images share in common is power

  • The wind is a powerful force of nature, just as a lion is powerful in the animal kingdom and a prince holds royal power in the human realm
  • Jesus isn’t just Lord of humanity – he is Lord over all of God’s creation.

Conclusion:

There’s more I could say about the words of this song – it is so rich – but that’s enough for today.

  • Peter, thank-you for sharing your song with us and for letting me preach on it this morning
  • Some of the things I’ve said are my impression of the meaning and not necessarily what you were thinking of when you wrote it
  • But that’s the beauty of poetry – it has a life of its own and speaks to each person’s heart as their experience allows and as the Spirit leads.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to the song, ‘Greater Than I’.  (See the link at the top of these sermon notes.) What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. What is deism and how does it differ from Christian belief?
  3. What sorts of things bind you personally? Can you think of a time when Jesus set you free in some way? What happened?
  4. What are some of the things that characterise the way of Christ? How do you experience walking in the way of Christ?
  5. What impression do you get from reading the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4? What does Jesus’ example (in John 4) show us about loving the broken?  
  6. In what sense is the world broken?
  7. Discuss / reflect on the three images of Jesus at the end of the song: ‘a whisper in the wind, the roar of lions and our Prince of peace’. Which of these images resonates best with your experience? What other images would you suggest for Jesus? 
Tawa Baptist

Be still for the presence of the Lord

Scriptures: Genesis 28, Exodus 3, Isaiah 6:1-7, Matthew 17:1-3, Matthew 8:1-13

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Verse 1 – Holiness
  • Verse 2 – Glory
  • Verse 3 – Power
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

When our kids were young we took them to the Wellington Zoo

  • The day we went they had the Cheetah’s out of their cage taking them for a walk around the grounds on a leash
  • The zoo keepers explained to us that if we ever find ourselves in the presence of a Cheetah in the wild, the best thing to do is stay completely still, don’t move a muscle
  • Because as soon as you start running the Cheetah is hard wired to think you are dinner and will chase you down
  • Being in the presence of a creature as fast and powerful as a Cheetah gives one a feeling of vulnerability and respect at the same time.

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

The song we are looking at this morning is Be still for the presence of the Lord

  • If you ever find yourself in the presence of God the best thing you can do is be still.
  • God won’t eat you, like a Cheetah might, but he is powerful and you can’t outrun him, so you may well feel vulnerable.
  • Being still and listening shows God respect and it helps us to take in the experience; to be present to God

The music and lyrics for “Be Still” were written by David Evans

  • David J. Evans was born in 1957 in Dartford, Kent, the United Kingdom.
  • He grew up in Winchester and was educated at the University of Southampton, studying social science

David Evans has been involved in a variety of church denominations and has led musical worship for much of his life

  • He works in the field of music education, having done research into the psychology of music
  • David will turn 63 this year but he was in his 20’s when he wrote Be still for the presence of the Lord

At the time Evans was involved in the charismatic movement of the 1980’s

  • The charismatic movement emphasises the ecstatic gifts of the Holy Spirit and encourages the expression of those gifts in gathered worship
  • For example, giving a word of knowledge, speaking in tongues, miraculous healing, prophecy and so forth
  • An ecstatic gift of the Spirit sometimes involves a mystical experience of God’s presence which overwhelms or transcends a person’s self
  • Many of the songs we might associate with the charismatic movement have tended to be upbeat, light and breezy type choruses
  • Be still for the presence of the Lord is not like that. Be still has a more serious, reverential tone.

In worship we are expressing to God how amazing he is

  • If we become too chummy or casual with God, then we undermine the basis of worship
  • Apparently David Evans felt that some of the worship of the charismatic movement risked treating God in a trivial fashion
  • So he wrote ‘Be still’ as a kind of reminder to the church of the awesomeness of God
  • We need to be careful not to treat the presence of the Holy Spirit cheaply
  • We need to remember just who God is (his holiness, glory & power) and be still in his presence

Verse 1 – Holy:

Hence the song begins…   

Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.

Come bow before Him now with reverence and fear.

To claim that the Lord God is here, with us, may seem a bit presumptuous, but it’s not. In Matthew 18, verse 20, Jesus says to his disciples…

  • For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.  
  • Which means when we gather for worship on a Sunday the Lord Jesus is present with us by His Spirit

Verse 1 highlights the holiness of God

  • Holiness encompasses a number of concepts at the same time
  • To be holy is to be different, not the same, unique, set apart as sacred
  • God is different from us, he is ‘other than’ his creation, not made of chemicals or physical matter like the earth or a plant or an animal 

Holiness also speaks of wholeness or oneness – having moral integrity or goodness, being the real deal   

  • God’s holiness holds together justice and mercy (as one) 
  • God can be relied upon to do the right and good thing because he is holy

Reverence is a feeling or attitude of profound respect and deep awe

  • People have traditionally demonstrated their reverence by bowing down. 

Verse 1 of the song also refers to the fear of God; bowing with reverence & fear

  • The sort of fear that is in view here is not terror or anxiety
  • The sort of fear that is meant, in this context, is the feeling or motivation to respond in worship and obedience to God 

C.S. Lewis gives us a wonderful picture of what it means to fear and reverence God in his book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe  

– Lucy is curious about Aslan’s nature and in a conversation with Mr & Mrs Beaver she asks, “Then he isn’t safe?”

– To which Mr Beaver replies, “Safe? …Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he is good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

One of the ways we might encounter the presence of God is in reading the Bible

  • About 12 or 13 years ago now, I stood in the pulpit here and gave a reading from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. It was getting close to Easter
  • Isaiah 53 tells about the suffering servant – it describes in profoundly accurate detail the way Jesus suffered. You know the passage…

…Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

As I read that Scripture I felt deeply moved and started crying.

  • It was like the Word of God was present to me in a special or unique way (or perhaps I was present to it) and my emotions were overwhelmed
  • Crying like that, in a work context, is very unusual for me. I’m a trained professional. I don’t do public displays of emotion even at funerals.
  • With tears comes a feeling of vulnerability, a feeling of coming undone.
  • Somehow though, I managed to get through the reading
  • When I had finished and taken my seat in the congregation again a sense of stillness settled over me – sort of like when someone does something really nice for you and you feel touched and humbled by it.

Scripture is holy. Sometimes when we handle the Scriptures, we become aware of the transcendent (the holiness or otherness of God) and we are filled with a deep sense of awe and respect.

  • My tears, and the stillness that followed, were a natural expression of reverence – a sort of internal bowing of my heart before God’s goodness.

The second part of verse 1 of the song continues…

In Him no sin is found, we stand on holy ground.

Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.

We stand on holy ground sounds echoes from both Genesis and Exodus

  • In Genesis 28, Jacob is on the run for his life, after having deceived his father and stolen Esau’s blessing
  • At sunset he came to a holy place and lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone
  • He dreamt that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.
  • And there was the Lord standing beside him, on earth.
  • Then God spoke to Jacob promising to be with him and protect him
  • When Jacob woke up he said, “The Lord is here. He is in this place and I did not know it.”
  • Jacob was afraid (he felt small and vulnerable) and said,
  • “How awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
  • Jacob responded to God’s presence in an attitude of worship, promising to give God a tenth of his income.

We are also reminded of Exodus 3 when God called Moses

  • Moses was tending the sheep of his father-in-law when he noticed a burning bush. Although the bush was on fire it was not consumed
  • When Moses drew closer to see what was happening God called from within the bush saying, “Moses, Moses.”
  • And Moses said, “Here I am.”
  • “Do not come any closer,” God said, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

When Robyn & I got engaged, we gave a wedding invitation to my pop (my grandad). He immediately said, ‘The church will fall down if I walk into it’, by which he meant, I haven’t been to church in years and I don’t feel worthy to go.

  • My pop associated church buildings with the presence of God – his generation considered churches to be holy ground
  • For him attending a wedding in a church was not a trivial thing – the very thought of it raised feelings of vulnerability and reverence.

In some ways our contemporary western society has lost its sense of reverence for the holy. Many things that were once considered sacred are now treated as ordinary or profane.

  • Traditional Maori culture has managed to retain a respect for the sacred though

A few weeks ago a German tourist died on the Tongariro Crossing

  • The local iwi put a rahui on the mountains for three days
  • A rahui is a ban or prohibition against a particular area or activity
  • You could say a rahui is an order (or edict) to be still
  • No one was allowed to walk the Tongariro Crossing while the rahui was in place – in a sense it became holy ground (tapu)
  • TV reporters interviewed the son of the man who died and he said that, while he didn’t understand the Maori language (the words they spoke), he felt a deep sense of reverence or respect from the local iwi (tribe)
  • He was genuinely touched by the people and the rahui protocol.

We need to recover our sense of the sacred if we are to give God the honour he is due.

Verse 2 – Glory

While verse 1 highlights the holiness of God, verse two emphasises the glory of God…

Be still for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.

He burns with holy fire, with splendour He is crowned,

How awesome is the sight, our radiant King of light.

Be still for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.

The word glory has more than one meaning

  • Glory can mean ‘high renown, fame or honour, won by notable achievements’  
  • As in the glory of winning an Olympic gold medal, or the glory of saving someone and being known as a hero
  • Certainly the Lord’s achievements are very notable and he is famous everywhere
  • God’s glory is a weighty thing; a thing of substance, the real deal, solid glory through and through, not just glory coated 

But glory can also refer to beauty or splendour, radiance or magnificence

  • As in, the sunrise over the mountain was glorious
  • This sense of the word glory also fits for God
  • God’s grace is beautiful, his smile is radiant, he is clothed in splendour

For Christmas last year I was given a book of poetry by Anne Powell, who lives on the Kapiti Coast. She has a poem called Letting Go…

When it comes to prayer

trying hard is not the answer.

Think more of flying

a kite to freedom

on a clear day

or bathing beneath a waterfall

each sense awake

or letting the heart-gaze rest

on beauty.

Beauty opens to presence.

I want to draw your attention to that line: Beauty opens to presence.

  • One of the ways we become aware of God’s presence is by being still enough to let our heart-gaze rest on beauty
  • When I see something beautiful, whether that’s a sunset
  • Or the moon when it is full and close to the horizon,
  • Or dolphins leaping out of the water
  • Or Tui feeding in a kowhai tree
  • Or a snow capped mountain bathed in sunshine
  • Or a child’s smile
  • Or a quiet act of kindness done in secret
  • Whenever I see beauty I am reminded of God our creator
  • Beauty opens to [the glory of God’s] presence
  • But to see the beauty that opens to presence we need to be still, still on the inside.

Back to verse 2 of our song…

  • ‘Be still for the glory of the Lord is shining all around’
  • Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
  • Perhaps when Jesus said this he meant, you can see the beauty of God’s glory everywhere you look.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet had a vision of God

  • In his vision he saw seraphs (heavenly creatures) calling to one another:
  • Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.
  • If you read on you will see how Isaiah felt both vulnerable and full of reverence in God’s presence – he was acutely aware of how far he fell short saying, ‘Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips…’

When Moses came down from the mountain, after meeting with God, he had to wear a veil because his face shone with the reflected glory of God

  • Even though the glory of God, in the face of Moses, was second hand the people still couldn’t look at Moses directly.  

We see the glory of God, first hand, in the person of Jesus

  • In the opening chapter of his gospel the apostle John writes…
  • We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father
  • And at the birth of Jesus, the glory of the Lord shone around
  • Then, in Matthew 17, we read how Jesus was transfigured on the mountain top with Peter, James and John as witnesses
  • As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun and his clothes were dazzling white. 

And, in talking about the glory of God in the face of Jesus, we are reminded of Jesus’ crucifixion & death, along with his resurrection & ascension to heaven

  • There is no glory without suffering – suffering always precedes glory
  • Each year, at ANZAC parades around the country, we pay respect to those who served, suffered and died in war
  • Part of any ANZAC service involves being still and observing a few moments of reverent silence
  • Sometimes we forget how much God has suffered (and continues to suffer) for his creation
  • If we show respect to fallen soldiers how much more should we show respect to Christ for all he went through.
  • The appropriate response to the suffering and glory of God is to be still in an attitude of reverence and respect

Verse 3 – Power

Verse 1 of our song draws attention to the holiness of God’s presence

  • Verse 2 talks about the glory of God’s presence
  • And the theme of verse 3 is the power of God’s presence…

Be still for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.

He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace

Implicit in these lines is the good news that God is not coming with power to destroy us, but rather with power to do good to us

  • Minister here is a word which means serve
  • And grace is any good gift of God, usually undeserved.
  • In other words, the Lord serves good gifts to people, sort of like a chef serves a meal to the hungry or a chemist dispenses medicine to the sick or a priest serves communion to the faithful.

Last week we heard how God’s power cleansed and healed the bitter waters at Marah, so the people could drink (Exodus 15)

  • In the gospels we see time and time again Jesus’ power to cleanse and heal and minister God’s grace   
  • In Matthew 8, for example, we read…

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

The first thing we notice here is the man’s vulnerability and reverence before Jesus. He doesn’t presume upon God’s grace

  • He addresses Jesus as ‘Lord’, a title of respect and then he says, “…if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
  • He is truly respectful. He doesn’t tell Jesus what to do. He asks.
  • We can’t begin to understand how much rejection this man experienced in his life because of leprosy
  • He was taking a huge risk. He was making himself vulnerable. What if Jesus said ‘no’? It’s not like the man had any leverage in this situation. He is at the bottom of the heap.

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus ministered God’s grace by cleansing and healing the man with leprosy

  • Notice though that Jesus still required the man to fulfil his obligation under the law after he had been healed
  • Jesus’ kindness does not equate to slackness or casual dismissal of the law. Rather Jesus’ kindness leads to respectful fulfilment of God’s law.  

No work too hard for him. In faith receive from him

  • This line of the song reminds me of the Roman Centurion (also in Matthew 8) who came to Jesus for help…

6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

The Roman Centurion is at the opposite end of the social scale (compared with the man who had leprosy) and yet he still behaves in the same way when in the presence of Jesus – with vulnerability and reverence

  • Even though he is an officer in the Roman Army the Centurion treats Jesus with the respect due to a superior
  • And even though the Centurion has the weight of the Roman empire on his side he doesn’t exert this power (he doesn’t attempt to leverage Jesus)
  • But instead makes himself vulnerable before Jesus, for indeed he does feel vulnerable.
  • Like Isaiah, he is acutely aware of how unworthy he is saying, ‘I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant will be healed…’ Reverence and vulnerability you see.
  • The Centurion believes that nothing is too hard for Jesus and in faith he receives from Jesus.

Conclusion:

The song, ‘Be still’, reminds us of the holiness, glory and power of God

  • But these attributes of God’s presence are not separate things – they are integrated as one, just as God is one.
  • We may well feel vulnerable in God’s presence – but that’s okay, in fact it is appropriate
  • Vulnerability with reverence prevents us from treating God’s presence too lightly and it purifies our worship of God making it more meaningful.  

In a few minutes we will share communion together

  • Communion is about celebrating the presence of Jesus among us
  • Communion is a holy ritual, not something to be treated lightly, but something to be handled with an attitude of reverence 
  • Communion reminds us of the suffering and glory of Jesus
  • Just as it reminds us of the power of God over sin and death.

As we prepare our hearts to receive communion let’s stand and sing, Be still for the presence of the Lord the Holy One is here…  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to (or sing) the song, ‘Be still for the presence of the Lord’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. Why did David Evans write the song ‘Be still for the presence of the Lord’?
  3. What is your experience of the charismatic movement? Or, have you ever had a mystical experience of God’s presence? What happened?
  4. What do we mean by the holiness of God?
  5. What does it mean to ‘bow before God with reverence and fear’?
  6. What is the glory of God?
  7. How did the man with leprosy and the Roman Centurion (in Matthew 8) behave in the presence of Christ? How do you behave in the presence of Jesus’ Spirit?
  8. Discuss / reflect on Anne Powell’s poem, ‘Letting Go’. Is it true for you that ‘beauty opens to presence’? Take some time this week to let your heart-gaze rest on beauty.
Tawa Baptist

Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

Scriptures: Psalm 37:23-24, Psalm 73:23-24, John 6:28-35, Exodus 15:22-26; Revelation 22:1-2, John 7:37-39, Exodus 13:17-22, Exodus 15:1-5, Genesis 15:1, Psalm 28:7, Joshua 3:14-17, Revelation 20:14.

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Verse 1
  • Verse 2
  • Verse 3
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

A couple of weeks ago Robyn & I were walking along the beach from Waikanae to Paraparaumu when we reached the Waikanae river

  • Sometimes, when the tide is low, you can walk across the estuary there and the water only comes up to your knees
  • Other times though, when the tide is high, you have to swim across
  • Well, this particular day the tide was sort of half in / half out
  • We couldn’t see the bottom of the river so we weren’t sure how deep it was. I thought I would test the waters, literally
  • It would be nice to say there was a miracle but the waters did not part for me. And, even after all these years of following Jesus, I still haven’t mastered the art of walking on water. Don’t know how he did it.
  • I got about a quarter of the way across and the sand gave way underfoot. My pants got wet, but it didn’t matter
  • It was a warm day so, to avoid the chaffing you get from walking in salt water pants, I just took my trousers off for a while and walked beside the river in my boxer shorts.
  • For some reason Robyn wasn’t all that keen on walking beside me at this point – she made sure there was plenty of distance between us until my pants went back on.

I tell you that story because it is important to be able to laugh at ourselves

  • But also because it highlights our need for guidance
  • Much of life is routine, like walking along the beach, just putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying the view   
  • But every now and then we come to a river (a transition point in our life) and we have to make a decision.
  • Do we cross, or walk around it the long way, or do we turn back?
  • At those times we need guidance.  

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.
  • The song we are looking at this morning is Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

‘Guide me O Thou great Jehovah’ was sung at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and then again at Prince William and Cate Middleton’s wedding in 2011

  • The tune has also been heard at rugby matches in the UK at times
  • It is a song which isn’t just sung in church but resonates with wider society

The words for ‘Guide me O Thou great Jehovah’ were written by a man named William Williams

  • Now for some reason there seem to be a lot of people called William Williams who lived during the 18th & 19th Centuries
  • The William Williams we are talking about is a different person from the missionary who came to NZ in the 1800’s
  • The author of ‘Guide me O Thou great Jehovah’ was a Welshman who lived during the 1700’s

Williams grew up in a Christian home but his family didn’t attend the established Anglican church – they were part of an independent church

  • At first Williams studied to become a doctor but then changed tack and trained instead to become an Anglican minister
  • It seems that at some stage during this period of his life Williams heard the preaching of a man named Howell Harris, and had a conversion experience
  • The Church of England ordained Williams as a deacon but wouldn’t make him a priest so Williams joined the Methodist movement
  • For over 40 years he travelled all over Wales preaching the gospel
  • As an accompaniment to his preaching Williams wrote many hymns in his native Welsh language

William Williams first wrote ‘Guide me O Thou great Jehovah’ in Welsh in 1745. Sixteen years later the song was translated into English.

  • The tune we sing it to today was written in 1907 by John Hughes

‘Guide me O Thou great Jehovah’ was particularly relevant to Williams’ experience as a travelling preacher

  • He spent much of his time walking or riding in the wilderness between speaking engagements, so I expect Williams got his britches wet crossing rivers on more than one occasion

Verse 1:

Williams drew inspiration for his song from Israel’s experience in the wilderness of Sinai. The hymn starts…

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land;

Jehovah is one of the names for God. It is a Latinized version of the Hebrew word ‘Yahweh’

  • The word Jehovah emerged in some translations of the Bible during the 16th Century – so it would have been in use during Williams’ day 
  • Some more recent versions of Williams’ hymn use the word ‘Redeemer’ instead. In any case we are singing to God Almighty

A pilgrim is a traveler. Not just any traveler but someone on a sacred journey to a holy place.

  • Christians are pilgrims. This world is not our home. We are travelling through the wilderness of this life to reach the holy city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Heaven

You can cross the estuary on Waikanae beach in less than a minute at low tide, but the walk around takes about an hour

  • The long way leads you on a meandering track through wetlands which is not unpleasant but not at all efficient or direct  
  • After their exodus from slavery in Egypt, Israel could have made it to the Promised Land in just a few months but they ended up wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years, during which time God guided and protected his pilgrim people
  • Sometimes, in our journey of faith, God leads us through a barren land
  • A place where the good seed we sow doesn’t bear much fruit
  • A time when we feel dry and the path is unmarked and tough going
  • An environment that seems spiritually corrosive and unforgiving, where we can’t afford to make mistakes and so we need God’s guidance more than ever.

The second part of verse one reads…

I am weak, but Thou art mighty; hold me with Thy powerful hand;

Now if, like me, you listened to too much music in the 80’s then this line might remind you of the Billy Idol song, ‘Catch my fall’ with its repeated refrain…

  • ‘If I should stumble, catch my fall’
  • Of course Williams was more influenced by the psalms than he was Billy Idol 

From psalm 37 we read…

  • If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

And in psalm 73 we find similar words…

  • Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

The metaphor of God upholding us with his hand speaks of God’s nearness to us – his close presence

  • Not carrying us, but letting us walk on our own two feet, while still staying close by if we get into trouble.
  • During the holidays I read the Christian classic Hinds Feet on High Places. It’s an allegorical story about the journey of faith
  • The main character, ‘Much Afraid’, learns to walk in the high places by walking with sorrow & suffering, and not by being carried.
  • Sometimes ‘Much Afraid’ stumbles but the Shepherd (Christ) does not let her fall.

Becoming like Christ is a process, it doesn’t happen overnight. We need to be patient and hold grace & truth together

  • That means being honest about our own short fallings and, at the same time, affording ourselves some grace, not beating ourselves up
  • Sometimes we will stumble morally and spiritually but that’s okay
  • God’s grace is sufficient for us
  • If we do stumble, then the Lord is close at hand to catch our fall.

Verse one of the hymn finishes with the repeated refrain…

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me now and ever more.

There is a double reference here…

  • Firstly, to Exodus 16 where the Lord God feeds the nation of Israel with manna from heaven for 40 years
  • And secondly, to John 6 where Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes to feed the 5,000
  • Afterwards the crowd catch up with Jesus and ask him for a sign saying, “Our forefathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ And Jesus replied…
  • I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
  • Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Jesus is the bread of heaven who nourishes and sustains our spiritual life

  • In other words, Jesus feeds our souls with a relationship with God

Verse 2:

Verse 2, of the hymn, starts with the line…

Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow;

‘Whence’ is an old fashioned word that simply means ‘from which’ and ‘doth’ means ‘does’

Again this verse alludes to a number of different Scriptures

  • Please turn with me to Exodus 15, verse 22, page 76 near the front of your pew Bibles. We are back now with the people of Israel in the wilderness. From Exodus 15, verses 22 to 26 we read…

Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they walked through the desert, but found no water. 23 Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah. 24 The people complained to Moses and asked, “What are we going to drink?” 25 Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them. 26 He said, “If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord, the one who heals you.”

God healed the water with a piece of wood and he heals our souls with his law

  • Obeying God’s commands is like clean water to our soul, it cleanses us on the inside.  

The term ‘crystal fountain’ reminds me of the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22…

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

The apostle John is describing a picture of heaven in these verses

  • Jesus himself says in John’s gospel “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

The next stanza of verse 2 of the hymn reads…

Let the fiery, cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through:

Exodus 13 describes the way God led the people of Israel through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night

  • When the pillar moved the people followed and when the pillar stopped the people pitched their tents.
  • The pillar was a clear and visible sign of God’s presence – sort of like a divine GPS

The pillar of cloud symbolises the mystery or inscrutability of God

  • We can’t see God or understand all of his ways
  • We are limited creatures and there are aspects of God Himself which remain hidden from us 

The pillar of fire symbolises the holiness of God

  • At the right distance fire gives light and warmth and comfort but fire can also be incredibly powerful and dangerous
  • A pillar of fire is not tame, it can’t be domesticated
  • We need to have a deep reverence, a holy respect, for God.
  • We need to remember that while God helps us in many ways, he is also free and won’t be controlled or manipulated by us 

Wouldn’t it be great if discerning God’s direction for our life was as clear and simple as looking out the window and seeing a pillar of cloud and fire. But that isn’t usually our experience is it

  • Although we don’t have a ‘fiery, cloudy pillar’ we are given the Holy Spirit, who Jesus says leads us into all truth

Verse 2 finishes with the line…   

Strong deliverer, strong deliverer; be thou still my strength and shield.

As a travelling preacher William Williams would have felt quite vulnerable at times, travelling in the wild, at the mercy of the elements, not always certain where he might sleep at night

  • But he was also vulnerable in facing crowds of people who didn’t know him and could turn on him if they felt so inclined
  • Williams was not in a position to defend himself so he had to trust God to protect him

The idea of God being a shield is found in a number of places throughout the Bible

  • In Genesis 15, for example, after Abram has just saved his nephew Lot and come through the horrors of battle, the Lord (Yahweh) says to him,
  • ‘Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward’
  • And in psalm 28, David (who was a soldier) says,
  • ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped.’
  • Then there is the shield of faith that we read about in Ephesians

We may not face the same sorts of physical threats that Abraham and David and William Williams faced, but we might battle internally with unwanted thoughts and emotions which take us captive and lead us down a dark path

  • In many ways the inner battle is harder I think because the enemy is invisible
  • We need God to deliver us from the thoughts that lead us on – we need God to be our shield against the evil that we can’t see

Verse 3:

A river is a powerful thing – powerful to give life and powerful to take it away

  • When we were young, my friends and I would sometimes go kayaking on the Wairoa River, in the Kaimai Ranges, near Tauranga
  • The water level of the Wairoa River is controlled by a hydro dam
  • Most of the time the water level is quite low, with calm gentle flowing pools
  • But on certain days during the summer they open the flood gates of the dam and the water level rises creating some spectacular rapids

When I was still a novice paddler, just learning, I came out of my kayak on the rapids. The water took my fibre glass boat and literally wrapped it around a boulder – broke it in two like it was a match stick

  • This was a good experience to have in some ways because it taught me to respect the river. A river is a powerful force of nature
  • It doesn’t matter how good a swimmer you are, sometimes the current is just too strong
  • A couple of years later one of the men in our canoe club drowned on the Wairoa. Although he was a very experienced paddler, the current pinned him under a ledge and there was nothing anyone could do to save him
  • The forces of nature are no respecter of persons. The wild is not just or merciful

Verse three of our hymn reads…

When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death, and hell’s destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side

‘The verge of Jordan’ here refers to the Jordan River

  • And ‘Canaan’s side’ refers to the land of Canaan – the Promised Land, the Holy Land – it is a metaphor for heaven

In Joshua 3, after the Israelites’ time in the wilderness had come to an end, we read how the nation of Israel passed through the waters of the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land…

14-15 It was harvest time, and the river was in flood.

When the people left the camp to cross the Jordan, the priests went ahead of them, carrying the Covenant Box. As soon as the priests stepped into the river, 16 the water stopped flowing and piled up, far upstream at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The flow downstream to the Dead Sea was completely cut off, and the people were able to cross over near Jericho. 17 While the people walked across on dry ground, the priests carrying the Lord’s Covenant Box stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until all the people had crossed over.

God, the creator of rivers, stopped the waters of the Jordan (while it was in flood) to enable his people to cross safely

  • But the people still had to take that step of faith
  • They had to trust that God would hold the waters back while they crossed and they wouldn’t be swept away

William Williams was using the image of the Israelites crossing the Jordan into Canaan as a metaphor for the people of God crossing the river of death to enter the Promised Land of heaven  

  • ‘When I tread the verge of Jordan’ is a poetic way of saying, ‘when I face the hour of my death’
  • ‘Bid my anxious fears subside’ means calm my fears. Give me faith and courage to face death without fear.

That phrase, death of death and hell’s destruction sounds foreboding

  • What does it mean?
  • Well the closest Scripture reference I can find to illuminate this line is found in Revelation 20, verse 14…

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.  

In the context, Revelation 20, talks about a universal resurrection of the dead

  • All the dead are raised to life and face judgement
  • Some pass through the river of judgment to enjoy eternal life
  • Others are sentenced to death for a second and final time
  • As I understand it the purpose of the ‘lake of fire’ is not so much to torture but to destroy; to annihilate or vaporise things
  • Verse 14 uses poetic language to describe the ‘death of death’ or the end of death in other words – which means for those whose names are written in the book of life there will be no more death, no more tears or grief
  • The good news is that through faith in Christ we are delivered from the second death, and landed safe on Canaan’s side
  • All those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead will be saved.
  • So do not be afraid. It does no good living in fear of hell.
  • God is just and merciful and he will do what is right by each one

Our hymn finishes on a note of hope…

Songs of praises, songs of praises, I will ever give to thee.

Williams is imagining his future in the kingdom of heaven, singing praise to God forever

  • But from our vantage point in history we can see how Williams’ songs are still giving praise to God now, more than two centuries since the Welsh Hymn writer died.

Conclusion:

The start of a new year is often a time when we need God’s guidance

  • It is a time of facing a river to cross perhaps in the form of starting a new school, or a new job or leaving home to live in a new city 
  • Whatever 2020 holds for you may God give you the courage and strength to face the unknown as you trust in him
  • And may you know that the Lord is with you and for you.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to (or sing) the song, ‘Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. Have you ever crossed a river before on foot or horseback? What was it like?
  3. William Williams identified with the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai. Have you ever walked through a barren land, spiritually speaking?  (Or perhaps you feel like you are in a barren land now?) What is/was your experience of God in that space?
  4. How does God teach us to walk by faith? Give thanks to God for the times you have stumbled and He has caught your fall. 
  5. What do you think Jesus meant when he said, ‘I am the bread of life’?
  6. What does the fiery, cloudy pillar symbolise?
  7. Verse 3 of the hymn sounds echoes of hope. Discuss / reflect on the hope you hear in this verse. 
  8. Which verse (or line) of the song do you identify with most?  Why?
Tawa Baptist

Christmas Day Message

Scriptures: Matthew 1:18-25 & Micah 6:8

Did anyone get tickets to a concert or sports match this year for Christmas?

  • When you go to a large arena or concert hall for some major event you are normally given allocated seating
  • The ticket will have on it where you are to sit
  • So, for example, if we sold tickets to the Tawa community Christmas day service my ticket might have written on it – aisle 2, row D, seat 3
  • If we imagine this here is aisle two, then I would find my seat by going to row D, seat 3. [go to row D]
  • Row D is 4 rows from the front and seat 3 is 3 seats in
  • Which means you are sitting in my seat. I’m just kidding.
  • Can you reach under ‘our’ seat and see what you can find? [wait]

An envelope. Why don’t you open it and tell us what’s inside?

  • Can you read the words on the card for us?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

  • Micah 6:8

Well done – you can keep that. [walk back up onto the stage]

The Tawa College motto (on the crest above us) says ‘Do justly’. It’s a quote from the prophet Micah

Earlier in the service Steven gave a reading from Matthew 1, describing the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s perspective

  • Joseph offers us a wonderful example of what it means to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God

Joseph, who was a descendant of king David, was engaged to be married to Mary when he learned that Mary was pregnant

  • Joseph didn’t know who the father was but he knew the baby wasn’t his
  • I expect Joseph felt a cocktail of emotions: hurt, betrayed, angry, disappointed, perplexed and sad, all at the same time
  • It would have been tempting to lash out or react in the heat of the moment but Joseph doesn’t do that.
  • Joseph takes some time to be still and think things through.

He is a righteous man, which means Joseph seeks to do the right thing by God and his neighbour. But what is ‘the right thing’ in this situation?

  • In some ways, discerning what God wants you to do is like finding your allocated seat in a stadium or concert hall
  • You start by finding the right aisle (the justice aisle), then the right row (the mercy row) and finally the right seat (the humility seat)
  • Is it just, is it merciful, is it humble?

The Law of Moses made it clear Joseph could not marry Mary

  • Deuteronomy 22 says a woman who is betrothed to one man but sleeps with another must be stoned, killed at the city gate, along with the man who got her into trouble
  • As a devout Jew, Joseph was well aware of this.
  • But he was also familiar with the teachings of the prophets – people like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Micah
  • It was the prophets who gave the people a lens through which they could interpret and apply the Law
  • How was Joseph to interpret and apply Deuteronomy 22?
  • Through the lens of justice, mercy and humility

Thinking about the justice aspect, Joseph didn’t know who the man was who got Mary pregnant

  • It was hardly fair that Mary should die while the bloke (whoever he was) got off scot free – Moses’ law never intended that
  • In any case, when we step back from the detail and look at the bigger picture of the Bible, we notice God’s justice is more inclined to restore than destroy
  • Following the letter of the law in this situation would have undermined its spirit. Therefore, justice said, Joseph couldn’t kill Mary

What about mercy?   

  • Well, the Hebrew word in Micah 6, verse 8, translated as mercy, is hesed
  • Hesed can mean mercy or kindness or loyal love
  • There are three criteria to hesed in the Hebrew Bible:
  • First, an act of hesed is done for someone you know already
  • Second, the action is essential to the survival or basic well-being of the recipient (it is no small thing)
  • And thirdly, the needed action is one that only the person doing the act of hesed is in a position to provide [1] (no one else can do it)

Joseph was in a position to do hesed for Mary

  • He had an existing relationship with her
  • He could literally save her life and the life of her child
  • And he was the only one who could save her
  • To love hesed is to look for opportunities to do hesed
  • Because Joseph was a righteous man he decided he would do hesed for Mary by saving her from death and from shame

What about humility?   

  • Well, humility is about having your feet on the ground and knowing yourself, particularly knowing your limits
  • Humility is also about having a right perspective – not thinking too highly of yourself but not devaluing yourself either.
  • Humility says, take the plank out of your own eye before you worry about the speck in someone else’s
  • Likewise, humility says, those who are without sin may throw the first stone.

So justice, mercy and humility all said Joseph should not apply the letter of the law by having Mary stoned but that he should divorce Mary privately, to save her from public disgrace   

  • This honoured the spirit or intent of the law, without doing harm to Mary or his own conscience
  • Based on the information he had, it was the most compassionate and just option available to Joseph

But Joseph didn’t have all the facts. As it turned out, Mary had not slept with anyone. She was still a virgin, still faithful to Joseph. 

  • Mary conceived in a holy unique way, by a miracle of God’s Spirit
  • The angel of the Lord revealed this to Joseph in a dream, telling Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife and instructing Joseph to name the child ‘Jesus’ – which means ‘the Lord saves’.

Joseph was quick to do what the Lord had told him because it ticked all three boxes of justice, mercy and humility

Now, if you are like me, you may be wondering, why didn’t God tell Joseph how Mary got pregnant ahead of time, to save him going through all that stress and angst of trying to figure the right thing?

  • Well, sometimes God leaves us in a difficult situation (just for a little while) to reveal the contents of our heart and to glorify Himself
  • If Joseph hadn’t gone through this process, we wouldn’t have been given the example of his compassionate justice and Mary wouldn’t have known how much Joseph loved her.  

Joseph’s story reveals the beauty of God’s wisdom

  • God didn’t choose just anyone to raise his Son
  • God chose a thoughtful and righteous man   
  • Joseph’s action in caring for Mary and her baby points to the wise and tender nature of Jesus’ righteousness 
  • Like Joseph, Jesus went beyond the letter of the law to find its spirit
  • And even more than Joseph, Jesus embodies the justice, mercy and humility of God. 

Let us pray…

  • Lord, sometimes life presents us with some hard choices
  • I pray for those who are facing difficult decisions this Christmas and New Year
  • Give us the tender wisdom we need to find our seat, our place, in your will and purpose
  • Help us to slow down, take time and think things through
  • Shine your light on the Scriptures that we may apply your word with justice, mercy and humility
  • We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

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

Tawa Baptist

Star Child

Scripture: Luke 4:16-30

Some years ago I was talking with my theology lecturer and asked him what he did his Phd thesis on

  • It had a long name that I can’t remember exactly now but essentially it focused on the work of a dead theologian from the middle ages
  • What I do remember about that conversation is my lecturer’s advice
  • He said, if you are going to do a thesis on someone else’s work it is best to it on a dead person because they can’t disagree with your findings 

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.
  • The song we are looking at this morning is Star Child

Star Child was written by a New Zealander, Shirley Murray, who I believe is still very much alive

  • I have never met Shirley and I don’t know what she would think of the connections and interpretations I am making with her song
  • She may disagree with some (or maybe all) of what I’m about to say
  • So my message today comes with a disclaimer: this is what Shirley’s song puts me in touch with and is not necessarily the meaning she intended to convey – please don’t hold my words against her
  • In any case the lyrics to Star Child are so broad and spacious they invite a wide range of interpretive possibility.

Shirley Murray was born in Invercargill, NZ, in 1931 – which I guess makes her 88 years old now

  • Shirley studied music as an undergraduate and then did a Masters in classics and French at Otago
  • She grew up attending a Methodist church but later became a Presbyterian when she married the Rev John Stewart, a Presbyterian minister
  • Shirley started her working career as a teacher of languages, then did research for the Labour party for a number of years
  • She was also involved in Amnesty International

Shirley was quite prolific, writing (I think) around 600 hymns including: Carol our Christmas, Our life has its seasons and God speed you on your way (which is sung to Tawa College school leavers)

  • Many of her songs address human rights issues, women’s concerns, social justice, peace and care of creation – and were written at a time when these things were considered a bit edgy and not as mainstream as today.   

The song Star Child was written in 1993 and explores the meaning of Christ’s birth in light of the growing gap between rich and poor

  • Shirley is quoted as saying: “The carol grew out of increasing concern at the market values dictating our welfare system, now creating more and more ‘social rejects’.”
  • In other words, Shirley saw how the government’s economic policy was detrimental to the social well-being of many New Zealanders at that time
  • Certainly the early 1990’s saw relatively high unemployment rates, peaking at 10.7% in 1992 – which equates to nearly 181,000 people out of work. [1]  
  • The point is, Shirley wrote about real world issues – she was of that ilk who held the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. 

The music for Star Child was written by Carlton Young, but I think Colin Gibson may have had some involvement too, as his name is on the music score alongside Carlton’s 

The song begins with the words: Star-Child, Earth Child, go between of God, love Child, Christ Child, heaven’s lightning rod,

This verse is clearly about Jesus

  • The phrase Star Child instantly creates a variety of connections
  • It makes us think of Jesus’ natal star – the bright light in the evening sky which guided the wise men to Bethlehem the place of Jesus’ birth
  • More generally though it indicates that Jesus comes from heaven above
  • Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it
  • As a star, we could say Jesus is the one we look to, to navigate our way through life, much like sailors at sea navigate by the stars at night
  • Then of course, Jesus is a star in the sense of being famous and adored, sort of like a rock star, except without the sex and drugs

But Jesus isn’t just a star child from above. He is also an earth child – conceived by the Holy Spirit but born of Mary, humble and down to earth

  • Star child indicates the transcendence of God – God far above us, God who is different from us and as unreachable as the stars
  • While earth child suggests the immanence of God – God’s presence close to us, God with us in a form that is accessible and relatable

Jesus is the go between of God – he creates a bridge between humanity and God through his very person

  • This is the doctrine of the incarnation – Jesus is both truly divine and truly human. As we read in John’s gospel…
  • The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.    

The expression Love child has a double meaning I think

  • In the 1970’s the term ‘love child’ referred to a child born to parents who were not married to each other
  • Mary was not married when she conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit but she was married to Joseph by the time Jesus was born
  • God is love, so love child could also refer to Jesus being the Son of God
  • Jesus shows us what God’s love is like. It is a self-giving love

Jesus is the Christ child

  • In Luke 2, an angel appears to the shepherds and says…
  • Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
  • Christ is not Jesus’ surname – Christ is a title which literally means ‘anointed one’ or king 
  • Christ means the same thing as Messiah – Christ being the Greek term and Messiah being the Hebrew word

The last line of verse 1 is a bit troubling – it talks about Jesus being heaven’s lightning rod

  • In my sixth form year at Hamilton Boys’ High School we had an electrical storm during the day.
  • About 20 boys (I was not one of them) were sheltering from heavy rain under a tree when a bolt of lightning struck the tree.
  • Eleven boys were knocked to the ground and one had to be revived with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
  • He suffered serious burns to his face, neck and shoulders, and especially to his elbows and the soles of his feet.
  • You don’t want to be hit by lightning

To protect people from lightning strikes like this, tall structures sometimes have a rod-like conductor installed to divert lightning away to the ground

  • With this in mind the term ‘lightning rod’ is an English idiom for someone who attracts a lot of criticism or anger in order to shield others
  • A lightning rod personality is often blamed for other people’s mistakes
  • Most people who have ever been in a leadership role know what it means to be a lightning rod for people’s anger and criticism.
  • The Bible doesn’t specifically talk about Jesus as heaven’s lightning rod but we do get the idea of a scapegoat from the Bible, which is similar

To say that Jesus is “heaven’s lightning rod” does not mean that God directs his anger at Jesus. God was not angry with Jesus – He was pleased with Jesus

  • Jesus comes from heaven but the lightning does not come from heaven
  • The lightning comes from earth
  • Jesus is a lightning rod for the anger, criticism and sin of people    

There were a number times in the gospel when Jesus acted as a lightning rod, in order to save those in need

  • Like when Jesus defended the woman caught in adultery, in John 8
  • And it seems whenever Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath he got a hard time from the religious leaders. No good deed goes unpunished.

Please turn with me to Luke 4, page 80, toward the back of your pew Bibles

  • This passage describes one occasion, near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he became a lightning rod for people’s anger
  • From Luke 4, verse 16, we read…

16 Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures 17 and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed
19     and announce that the time has come
    when the Lord will save his people.”

20 Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him, 21 as he said to them, “This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.”

22 They were all well impressed with him and marvelled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, “Isn’t he the son of Joseph?”

23 He said to them, “I am sure that you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You will also tell me to do here in my hometown the same things you heard were done in Capernaum. 24 I tell you this,” Jesus added, “prophets are never welcomed in their hometown. 25 Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. 27 And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. 29 They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, 30 but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.     

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

This passage from Luke 4 provides a kind of executive summary of Jesus’ earthly ministry – it outlines the gospel in a short story

  • Jesus came with a message of salvation for everyone but not everyone welcomed him or his message
  • Yes, he was popular at first but it wasn’t long before his words and actions rubbed people up the wrong way and they were out to kill him
  • Jesus is sent from heaven and becomes a lightning rod for people’s anger
  • This episode, in Nazareth, foreshadows Jesus’ rejection & crucifixion 

Why did the people of Jesus’ home town get so angry with him that they were ready to throw him off a cliff? I don’t know.

  • Perhaps they didn’t like the way Jesus was claiming the status of prophet.
  • Maybe they thought he had committed blasphemy
  • Or perhaps they took offence at the way Jesus seemed to imply that God was more interested in saving social rejects like the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian (both of whom were Gentiles).  

Shirley Murray’s song connects with Luke 4 in a number of ways

  • Luke 4 talks about Jesus being good news for the poor and the oppressed
  • Star Child is a song which highlights the needs of the poor & oppressed
  • The chorus expresses the ‘now but not yet’ of salvation

This year, this year, let the day arrive, when Christmas comes for everyone, everyone alive.

On the one hand God’s salvation and kingdom have arrived in the person of Jesus but the fruit of that salvation is yet to mature and be realised

  • The world we live in is still filled with the poor and oppressed
  • Christmas is not good news for everyone
  • For some it only highlights their need and what they don’t have
  • We pray to God, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’,and we wait in hope.

If the first verse of the song is about Jesus, then the next three verses are about us. Verse 2 reads…

Street child, beat child, no place left to go, hurt child, used child, no one wants to know,

This verse seems to be addressing the reality of homelessness and being displaced.

  • Beat is another way of saying street. The police walk the beat
  • Beat also hints at violence and being beaten up
  • For a variety of reasons family violence tends to spike at Christmas time
  • Sadly, some young people feel safer on the streets than they do at home

Thinking about the connection with Jesus’ story I am reminded of how, shortly after Jesus’ birth, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream warning him to take his family to Egypt for a while

  • This was to escape king Herod who felt threatened by the news of Christ’s birth and sought to manage the situation by killing all the babies in the area under two years old. Talk about child abuse.

The line no place left to go connects with what Jesus said to a would be follower, in Matthew 8 verse 20: Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.

  • Jesus knew what it was to have no fixed abode.   

The last line in verse two of the song is intriguing: hurt child, no one wants to know. This speaks of rejection and abandonment and neglect

  • To get to know someone you have to spend time with them
  • Children need the time and attention of caring adults. Not every waking moment, but often enough for a healthy relationship to develop.
  • Consistently enough for the child to know they are safe and valued

We are reminded of the story in Mark 10 where the disciples try to shoo the children away and Jesus rebukes his disciples saying…

  • Let the little children come to me for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
  • Jesus welcomes the little children and, by his example, encourages us to give them our time

Verse 3 of the song continues the theme of harsh reality…

Grown child, old child, memory full of years, sad child, lost child, story told in tears,

This verse makes me think of the child within each of us

  • It is perhaps more of a modern psychological idea
  • If you go to counselling, you will probably be asked about your childhood and once those memories are unearthed you may be asked to take care of that child in you  

To some extent the experiences we had in our childhood stay with us into adulthood

  • All of my grandparents grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930’s and they went without
  • This experience stayed with them and, consequently, they were careful with money, always making sure they had some put aside just in case
  • They didn’t want to go through that same experience of deprivation again 

Story told in tears is an interesting line

  • It speaks of someone who doesn’t tell their story in words, so much as reveal the sadness of their life through tears
  • Blessed are those who mourn. They shall be comforted

Each of us is telling ourselves a story to help make sense of our lives

  • We need to make sure the story we are telling ourselves is true 

Once there was a girl named Stacey

  • Stacey grew up in an average middle class kiwi home
  • Both her parents worked hard to pay the bills and provide for their family
  • One day Stacey’s mum left, she ran off with another man
  • Her father was devastated of course
  • He stayed around to provide for his kids and he did his best but he was struggling with his own grief and that limited his emotional availability  

Stacey was the eldest of three children and so she did what most eldest siblings do in a situation like this – she stepped up and took responsibility

  • Stacey cooked the dinner and made the lunches and read stories to her younger brothers
  • She made sure her dad knew about the important stuff like paying the power bill and remembering the boys’ birthdays
  • Stacey worked hard at school, got lots of excellence credits and thought about going to Uni at Otago but put that aside so she could stay home and look after her family
  • Stacey appeared like the model daughter. Always taking care of everyone else’s needs. Never really attending to her own. Not properly.
  • Stacey sacrificed her childhood to be a mother to her father and brothers

One day a young man became interested in Stacey. He was kind, handsome and from a good family

  • The young man asked Stacey out and they started dating
  • Things seemed to be going along nicely at first but whenever he tried to get close emotionally Stacey put up a wall
  • She never really let him in. There was always a distance there.
  • The young man would have stayed around but Stacey ended the relationship, saying they could still be friends, but knowing in her heart that wasn’t going to happen
  • When he asked her why, Stacey couldn’t find the words to tell him how terrified she was at the way love made her feel so vulnerable

You see, Stacey was telling herself a story – a story told in tears. It went like this: ‘I am to blame for my mother leaving. I am responsible for that.’

  • The story was false of course. No one else was blaming Stacey for what her mother did.
  • Stacey was just 13 at the time, it was nothing to do with her
  • But Stacey needed to believe she was to blame in order to feel safe
  • As long as she was responsible, she was in control of the situation
  • (Or at least that’s what she thought)
  • Facing the truth that she had no control over her mother, that her mother’s leaving had nothing to do with her, was just too scary, too painful
  • It made her feel powerless & vulnerable, like being in love with someone
  • But if Stacey told herself it was her fault, that she made it happen, then in a twisted way she felt like she had some control over her circumstances
  • Taking responsibility for everyone else helped to support the illusion.   

Sometimes when we are going through a difficult situation we tell ourselves a lie, to protect ourselves, just to get through that situation, but once the situation has passed we need to tell ourselves the truth and the truth may be a story told in tears

  • Jesus came to set people free. We are set free by the truth.
  • Jesus helps us to face the truth so we are not afraid to love and feel vulnerable

It’s Christmas time, so I can’t leave Stacey’s story with a sad ending

  • Some years later the young man, who had asked Stacey out, returned
  • He was still single, still holding a flame for Stacey
  • In that time apart (a time of waiting) Stacey’s heart was touched by Jesus and she figured a few things out
  • Now Stacey was able to tell herself a new story. It went like this:
  • ‘I am not responsible for the choices other people make. I am only responsible for the choices I make. My mother’s leaving was a gift. It showed me who I am; strong, loyal, compassionate.’  
  • With this new story Stacey was no longer emotionally closed off.
  • Yes, she was discerning about who she trusted but she was also ready to love and be vulnerable.
  • The young man asked Stacey out again and this time it worked out – they were able to get close to one another

Verse 4 of the song reads…

Spared child, spoiled child, having, wanting more, wise child, faith child knowing joy in store,

This verse draws a contrast between those who have too much (and for whom things come too easily), with those who are made to wait in faith

  • Ever noticed how God often makes us wait
  • Sometimes he answers our prayers quite quickly.
  • Other times he says ‘no’ or he says nothing
  • Waiting is God’s way of teaching us to value something
  • When things are given to us too easily we tend to take them for granted
  • But when we are made to wait, we value the gift (and the giver) more
  • Not always getting what we want shows us what we really need

Advent is about waiting for the coming of Christ

  • Waiting is not easy.
  • Waiting in faith for test results
  • Waiting in faith for your surgery
  • Waiting in faith for the baby to come
  • Waiting in faith for the pain to pass so your body and soul can heal
  • Waiting in faith for Christ to touch your heart with God’s love & truth so you are free to be vulnerable and love again, without fear.

Yes, waiting is difficult but there is hope and joy in the waiting

  • Knowing joy in store speaks of the joy of anticipation
  • Joy is the positive energy that comes from hope

The song finishes in the same way that it started, by focusing on Jesus

  • The first verse was all about Christ and so is the last

Hope-for-peace Child, God’s stupendous sign,

down-to-earth Child, star of stars that shine,

Jesus is our hope for peace – peace with God, peace with each other and peace with ourselves

  • The Biblical idea of peace (or shalom) is more than the mere absence of conflict. The peace Christ gives is the presence of abundant life
  • Jesus said: I have come that they may have life and have it to the full [2]
  • Abundant life is life worth living, life at its best
  • We are yet to realise the fullness of life and peace that Jesus came to bring – but we wait for it, knowing joy in store   

God’s stupendous sign is a phrase that may need some explanation

  • Stupendous does not mean stupid or dumb
  • Stupendous means surprising in a pleasing way, generous, better than expected, large or extravagant 
  • Jesus surprises us in a good way, he reveals the extravagance and generosity of God’s love
  • God’s love is deep and wide – deep enough to heal the hurt child within you and wide enough to embrace those a market driven economy rejects

Let’s stand and sing Star Child now, and as we do I invite you to feel the words

  • Let them in.
  • What line or verse is God impressing upon your heart?
  • What is God saying to you today?

[1] http://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/paid-work/unemployment.html

[2] John 10:10b

Tawa Baptist

Silent Night

Scriptures: Luke 2:1-20

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • History
  • Meaning
  • Conclusion

Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin mother and child; Holy infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace; Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night, Shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing “Alleluia. Christ the Saviour is born; Christ the Saviour is born.”

Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth; Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Introduction:

On Christmas morning 1914 British, Belgian, French and German soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and mingled in no-man’s land on the Western Front

  • About two thirds of the fighting forces, around 100,000 men, participated in the spontaneous ceasefire.
  • One Allied soldier had his hair cut by a German barber, other soldiers exchanged cigarettes and a few kicked a football around 
  • The truce started on Christmas Eve. Graham Williams of the Fifth London Rifle Brigade described the scene:

“First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing ­– two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.” [1]

The truce didn’t last of course but it was a moment of peace and light when differences were put aside, the sounds of battle were silenced and humanity was shared

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

  • In this series we are looking at the music & lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith. The song we are looking at this morning is Silent Night
  • Silent Night was probably one of the songs sung on Christmas Eve 1914.
  • Originally written in German, Silent Night has been translated into many other languages and has become part of our shared humanity

The history:

Like so many of the songs we sing in church Silent Night is the result of a collaboration between two people – the words were written by Father Joseph Mohr and the music composed by a school teacher, Franz Gruber

  • Both men’s back stories are fascinating, let’s start with the lyricist

Joseph Mohr was born in Salzburg, Austria, on the 11 December 1792, over 200 years ago

  • His mother, Anna, was an embroiderer and his father Franz was a mercenary soldier, who abandoned Anna before Joseph was born.
  • Joseph’s parents were not married, so Joseph was born out of wedlock at a time when that wasn’t socially accepted like it is today  

Joseph was baptised in the Catholic church as an infant.

  • His god father was recorded as Joseph Wohlmuth, the last official executioner of Salzburg  
  • So Joseph got his first name from the town executioner and his last name from a mercenary soldier who abandoned him and his mother

It wasn’t an ideal start to life.

  • I imagine Joseph suffered many snide remarks as a child growing up and was probably forced to wear shame through no fault of his own
  • One can’t help but notice the connection with Jesus’ experience in life
  • Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit but to most people it appeared that Jesus was born in dubious circumstances, as Mary became pregnant before she was married
  • I imagine Jesus suffered many snide remarks as a child growing up
  • We know Jesus wore shame through no fault of his own    

The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone [2]

  • That verse is talking about Jesus – it points to the way God operates
  • The Lord delights in taking the people we least expect and giving them a special place in His plan and purpose
  • It seems He did this with Joseph Mohr
  • Johann Hiernle, vicar and leader of music at Salzburg Cathedral, enabled Joseph to have an education and encouraged him in music.
  • As a boy, Joseph served as a singer and violinist in the choirs of the University Church and at the Benedictine monastery church of St. Peter.
  • Joseph entered the Catholic seminary in 1811 at the age of 18.
  • He needed a special dispensation to attend the seminary because of his illegitimate birth.
  • Four years later Mohr graduated and was ordained as a Catholic priest.
  • Joseph Mohr chose a completely different path in life to that of his father and god-father

Between 1815 and 1817 Joseph served as assistant priest in a town called Mariapfarr. During this time, in 1816 at the age of 23 or 24, Joseph wrote a poem in German called Silent Night – it was six verses long

  • He wrote it, I suppose, as a private act of worship and adoration to God for the gift of His Son Jesus
  • He had no idea how God would use that private act of devotion      

Not long after Joseph returned to Salzburg, for health reasons, where he became an assistant priest at St Nicholas in Oberndorf.

  • It was there that he met Franz Gruber

Franz Gruber was five years older than Joseph Mohr. Franz was a busy man.

  • In 1807 he became a schoolteacher in Arnsdorf, while at the same time carrying out the duties of church caretaker and organist.
  • A year later he married a widow called Maria. They had two children, both of whom died young.  
  • It is difficult to imagine anything worse than losing a child
  • God knows what it is to lose a child though

In 1816 Franz took on the additional responsibilities of organist and choirmaster at St Nicholas Church in the neighboring village of Oberndorf – a year before Joseph Mohr arrived.

Before my time here the Church Secretary of Tawa Baptist had to keep a sermon in their back pocket in case the pastor became sick and couldn’t preach

  • We don’t really have a church secretary anymore so I’m not allowed to get sick – which suits me fine
  • Sometimes though things don’t go to plan and its handy to have a back-up just in cases

In winter of 1818 the river flooded and damaged the St Nicholas church organ in Oberndorf so it wouldn’t play. This was not ideal

  • Joseph Mohr, the assistant priest, needed a song for Christmas Eve – one that didn’t require an organ, one he could play on his guitar
  • He had the words for a song in his back pocket – the poem he had written two years earlier – all he needed was a tune to go with it
  • So Joseph walked three kilometers, in the snow, to his friend Franz Gruber to see if he could help.
  • Joseph asked Franz to set his poem to music
  • The story goes that Gruber composed the music for Silent Night in just a few hours. God’s hand seems to have been involved

The music for Silent Night sounds like a lullaby – something a parent might sing to put their child to sleep

  • I wonder how Franz Gruber felt writing that music after having buried two if his children

Silent Night was first performed at midnight mass on Christmas Eve 1818, with the priest Joseph Mohr, playing guitar, while Franz Gruber and a choir gave vocal support. People loved it. It caught on and spread around the world.

You may be wondering what happened to Joseph and Franz after that – after all they were both still relatively young.

  • Joseph Mohr was only 26 at the time and Franz Gruber just 31
  • Well, Joseph served as a priest in various places for the rest of his life
  • He was a generous man and gave away most of his income
  • He created a fund to allow children from poor families to attend school and he set up a system for the care of the elderly.
  • Joseph Mohr died at the age of 55 from respiratory problems

Franz Gruber’s first wife, Maria, died in 1825

  • He married another woman, also called Maria, and they had 10 children
  • Sadly, only four survived to adulthood
  • Franz’ second wife died in childbirth. They were tough times       
  • Franz Gruber lived with his losses until his 76th year when he passed too

The meaning:

Please turn with me to Luke 2, page 76 toward the back of your pew Bibles

  • Silent Night remembers the night of Jesus’ birth
  • Mary & Joseph were from Nazareth but had to travel to Bethlehem, their home town, for a Roman census. From Luke chapter 2, verse 4, we read:

4 Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, the birthplace of King David. Joseph went there because he was a descendant of David. 5 He went to register with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him. She was pregnant, 6 and while they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have her baby. 7 She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger—there was no room for them to stay in the inn. 

The scene we often see on Christmas cards is of Mary, Jesus & Joseph in a stable full of animals

  • But this is a bit misleading. Most probably Jesus was born in the home of a peasant.
  • In Jesus’ day the standard home usually had two rooms – one room for the family and a second room attached for guests
  • The main family room was designed on two levels, with the upper level being where people slept and the lower level being where the animals were kept. [3]
  • The animals were taken out during the day and brought in to the lower level at night.
  • Having the animals in the house at night provided heat for the family and safety for the animals.

The honour/shame hospitality culture of the Middle East would have required the village to take Mary and Joseph in, especially as Mary was pregnant.

  • The men would have been ushered outside while Mary gave birth in the main family area with the help of other women from Bethlehem

In verse 7 of Luke 2 we read there was no room for them to stay in the inn

  • An inn in this situation is not a commercial establishment like a hotel or motel – it simply refers to the guest quarters attached to the private house in which Mary & Joseph were staying
  • Mary, Jesus and Joseph would ordinarily have been given the guest quarters but, because this was already occupied by others, the holy family stayed with their host family in the main room, with the animals kept separate downstairs
  • The manger (or feeding trough) in which Jesus was laid would have been refreshed with clean straw and brought up to the main family area away from the animals – you don’t leave a baby beside an ox

So, Jesus wasn’t born in a stable, like Hallmark would have us believe.

  • He was born in a regular peasant home with people on the upper level and animals on the lower level
  • While this was nothing flash, by our standards, it was the best the hosts could offer and quite acceptable for the time

In some ways the title of the song Silent Night seems almost ironic when compared with the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth

  • I expect it was noisy rather than quiet – a full house with people talking, animals bleating and the town teeming with people there for the census
  • What’s more giving birth isn’t usually a silent event – normally there is a fair bit of sound and commotion, sometimes screaming even
  • So why the repeated line of Silent night?

Well, I’m pretty sure Joseph Mohr wasn’t meaning to be ironic.

  • The night of Christ’s birth was a holy night and Christ is holy
  • To be holy is to be set apart as sacred or special
  • Holiness is an attribute of God
  • Keeping silent vigil is a form of worship, a sign of respect, a way of showing honour to that which is sacred
  • Spending the night in quiet contemplation of Christ’s birth is appropriate to the Christmas season
  • The kind of silence we are aiming for is inner silence – be still my soul

Of course, two years later (in 1818) when the organ wasn’t working, the words silent night took on a whole different meaning. The church organ was silent.

Verse 1 of the song reminds us that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus

  • The Scriptures tells us Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and that her fiancé, Joseph, didn’t have sexual relations with her until sometime after Jesus was born.

The fourth line of verse 1, Holy Infant so tender and mild, reminds us of the vulnerability of God

  • Jesus didn’t come in a show of power or force – he came as a baby, tender & mild  
  • The vulnerability of a child usually brings out the best in people

Heavenly peace is different to earthly peace

  • Earthly peace is often fragile and easily disturbed but heavenly peace is more lasting, eternally resilient
  • Heavenly peace speaks of peace in our relationship with God and others
  • With Jesus’ birth the peace of heaven comes to earth

Please return with me to Luke chapter 2 – page 76

  • Verse 2 of the song is straight out of Luke 2 – it describes a choir of angels appearing to shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem
  • From Luke 2, verses 8-14 we read…

8 There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, 10 but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. 11 This very day in David’s town your Saviour was born—Christ the Lord! 12 And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great army of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God: 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!”  

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

Shepherds, at the time of Jesus, were looked down on by most people

  • They were somewhere near the bottom of the social ladder, usually poor and uneducated
  • Given their lowly status it is significant that God chose to announce the birth of His Son to shepherds and invite them to go and visit
  • The shepherds were in no doubt of their humble status and needed some convincing they would be welcome if they did try to visit the Messiah
  • So the angels told the shepherds they would find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger
  • This gave the shepherds confidence they wouldn’t be turned away [4]
  • The Messiah was humble just like them
  • They too wrapped their babies in strips of cloth and they too lived in ordinary peasant homes with animals and mangers in the same room as the human occupants.
  • The point is: with Jesus’ birth, God shared in our humanity

Verse 3 of the song reads: Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from Thy Holy Face, with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth! Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth!

This stanza continues the theme of light

  • Jesus is the light of the world
  • Light is silent – it makes no sound
  • Metaphorically speaking, Jesus enters the world as silently as light
  • As the light of the world Jesus shows humankind what God’s love is like

Radiant beams from Thy Holy Face (that is, from Jesus’ face) reminds us of Aaron’s priestly blessing to the people of Israel in Numbers 6…

  • The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.
  • ‘Countenance’ is word which here means ‘facial expression’
  • To have ‘the Lord shine His face upon you’ and ‘lift up His countenance on you’, is to have God turn toward you and smile on you, show you favour, kindness and peace
  • Jesus shows us God’s face – He shows us God’s presence and attitude
  • God’s face is not a face like thunder. It is not a hard or angry face 
  • God’s attitude toward humanity is revealed in the face of Jesus – a face of kindness, gentleness and compassion

Last week we heard how Jesus is the dayspring – with Jesus comes the dawn of redeeming grace

  • Redeeming grace has to do with setting us free from sin – whether that’s our own sin or the sin others have committed against us
  • Redeeming grace also has to do with the way God brings good out of a bad situation – as He did in Oberndorf in 1818
  • The church was flooded, the organ was caput and the Christmas Eve service looked like it might flop
  • But God, in His grace, redeemed the situation through a young priest and a grieving dad
  • Without that flood and broken organ we might not have Silent Night and humanity would be poorer for it

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth speaks of the inherent authority of Jesus

  • Jesus was born with a God given status – he didn’t have to prove himself
  • To call Jesus ‘Lord’ is to say that we will obey what he says

So they are the first three verses of Silent Night – they are the verses we are most familiar with. But Joseph Mohr wrote another three verses that we don’t sing very often. Verse 4 reads…

  • Silent Night, Holy Night. Here at last. Healing light from the heavenly kingdom sent, abundant grace for our intent. Jesus, salvation for all…

Some stains, like tomato sauce, only come out in sunshine

  • You can put your white T-shirt through the wash and it will fade the red sauce stain but to remove the stain completely you have to expose it to sunlight
  • Jesus is the healing, purifying light that gets the stain out of our soul

Abundant grace for our intent invites multiple interpretations

  • Grace means favour or gift – something good, given for free
  • God’s grace is abundant – there is plenty of it – or as the Lord said to the apostle Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.’     
  • ‘Our intent’ could mean our good intentions, which sometimes make things worse, or it could mean our evil intentions
  • Either way, ‘God is able to work all things for good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose.’ 

The refrain: Jesus, salvation for all, is poignant given Joseph Mohr’s history

  • There were some in Joseph’s day who might have excluded him because his parents weren’t married (he needed special dispensation to become a priest)
  • But the church did not exclude Joseph – they included him and encouraged his gifts and service 
  • There is no such thing as an illegitimate child as far as God is concerned
  • Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these’.  
  • In any case, God is not going to hold a child responsible for the choices their parents make  
  • Jesus offers God’s salvation to all, but not everyone accepts it

Verse 5 reads: Silent Night! Holy Night. Sleeps the world in peace tonight. God sends his Son to earth below, a Child from whom all blessings flow. Jesus, embraces mankind…

In Genesis 12, God called Abraham and promised to bless all nations through him

  • Jesus is the Child from whom all blessings flow, meaning he is the descendant of Abraham who fulfils God’s promise to bless all people

Jesus embraces mankind. These days we would say ‘humankind’

  • Either way it’s a lovely image. An embrace says you are not alone, you are accepted. Through Jesus, God gives humanity a hug

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to perform a dedication ceremony for Natalie and her parents

  • When I took Natalie in my arms to give her a blessing she embraced me
  • It was unexpected and it touched my heart
  • Through Jesus, God embraces humankind like Natalie embraced me – in a way that is unexpected and touches our heart

Conclusion:

Our song ends on a note of hope: Silent Night, Holy Night. Mindful of mankind’s plight. The Lord in Heaven on high decreed from earthly woes we would be freed. Jesus, God’s promise for peace. Jesus, God’s promise for peace.

This verse talks about how life is difficult – we are subject to suffering and woe and grief now but, through faith in Jesus, we can look forward to a better future

  • In Revelation 21, verses 3 & 4 we read about that future…

“Now the dwelling of God is with humankind, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”   

The circumstances in which the song Silent Night came into being were less than ideal, in many ways, but that is fitting for the Christmas story really

  • The circumstances into which Jesus was born were less than ideal too
  • And yet that seems to be when God does His best work.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to (or sing) the song, ‘Silent Night’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. How does Joseph Mohr’s story connect with Jesus’ story? Does Joseph’s story connect with your story in any way?
  3. How does Franz Gruber’s story connect with Jesus’ story? Does Franz’ story connect with your story in any way?
  4. In what ways does the tradition surrounding the story of Jesus’ birth differ from the probable historical reality?   
  5. Why do you think Joseph Mohr used the line ‘silent night’ to refer to the night of Jesus’ birth?  What does it mean to be silent?
  6. Why do you think God chose to announce Jesus’ birth to shepherds?
  7. Can you think of a time in your own life when you have experienced God’s redeeming grace? What happened?
  8. Which verse (or line) of the song do you identify with most?  Why?

[1] https://time.com/3643889/christmas-truce-1914/

[2] 1 Peter 2:7b

[3] Refer Kenneth Bailey, ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’, pages 28-36.

[4] Ibid.