Tawa Baptist

Once were Zombies

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

Title: Once were Zombies

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Once were Zombies
  • God’s salvation

o   God’s salvation changes our relationship with Him

o   God’s salvation changes our spiritual environment

o   God’s salvation changes our condition

  • Conclusion – God’s character

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a list of movie titles

–         28 Days Later

–         Black Sheep

–         World War Z

–         I am Legend

–         Pathogen (and)

–         Warm Bodies

–         Can anyone tell me what these movies share in common?

That’s right – they all have Zombies in them

–         A Zombie is a fictional creature – they don’t exist except in the movies

–         Zombies used to be human but have lost their humanity (usually through a virus) and essentially become the walking dead

The script for most Zombie films that I’ve seen (and to be fair I haven’t seen that many) usually involves a remnant of people who are struggling to survive the Zombie apocalypse

–         And survival normally involves lots of guns and shooting – with the human survivors destroying the Zombies to save themselves

But the better Zombie films usually try to create some redemption and hope by having the hero and heroine find a cure to reverse the Zombie virus or at least give people immunity from it

 

This morning we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 2, verses 1-10

–         In this section Paul talks about God’s salvation of us

–         Paul contrasts the way the Ephesians believers used to be, before God acted to save them, with the way they are now

–         Before believing in Christ’s death & resurrection we were essentially like Zombies – the walking dead

–         But with Christ we are raised to new life and our humanity is restored

–         From Ephesians 2, verse 1, we read…

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to walk when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following the desires of body and mind. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

This reading is essentially about God’s salvation of us

Once were Zombies:

Paul begins by describing our situation before God saved us – we were once Zombies – the walking dead

–         In verse 1 Paul says we were dead in our transgressions and sins

–         We tend to think of death in physical terms – when someone’s heart stops beating and their brain function ceases

–         But that’s not what Paul means here by death

–         Often when the Bible talks about death it refers to spiritual death

–         If eternal life is union with God, or intimacy with God, then death is separation, or alienation, from God

–         Someone might still be breathing and walking around, (even able to run marathons) apparently going about their life like normal, but if they are estranged from God then they are dead, spiritually speaking

We see this in Genesis – God told Adam & Eve they would die if they disobeyed Him by eating the forbidden fruit

–         Then, after they ate the fruit, God sent them away from the Garden of Eden and they lost their close connection with the Lord

–         Adam & Eve didn’t die physically for a long time – but they lost the intimacy they previously had with God

–         Sin was the virus that entered the human race and made us Zombies so that we lost an important part of our humanity, our connection with God

–         That’s not to say we have completely lost our humanity but we have missed the mark God intended for us – we have gone astray

The word ‘sin’ actually means to miss the mark and the word ‘transgression’ means to cross a boundary that shouldn’t be crossed, to leave the path and lose our way

 

One of the things about Zombies is that they don’t know they are Zombies

–         Their self-awareness isn’t working all that well – they are obtuse

–         Zombies are driven by an insatiable desire which they can’t control

–         Zombies are consumers in the extreme, following their own cravings without regard for anyone else. We live in a consumerist society.

 

In vs. 2 Paul continues to describe the situation we were in before God saved us

–         We followed the ways of this world

–         We followed the ways of the ruler of the air (i.e. Satan)

–         And, in verse 3, we followed the desires of our mind and body

–         The old fashioned expression for that unholy trinity is ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’

–         Like Bob Dylan said, ‘You gotta serve somebody’

–         If we don’t follow God (if we don’t serve Him) then we will end up serving something far less – the world, the flesh and the devil

–         And when that happens we essentially become slaves to evil

 

In verse 3 Paul continues his summary of our situation before God saved us by saying, ‘Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.’

–         ‘Like the rest’ says we are not better than anyone else, the ground at the foot of the cross is level, we all have the same zombie pedigree

–         ‘By nature’ describes what we become when left to our own devices

–         ‘By nature’ stands in contrast to ‘by grace’ which we’ll come to shortly

To be an ‘object of wrath’ means to be destined for the garbage heap or headed for destruction

–         If I make a mistake on a piece of paper I might screw it up and throw it in the bin – the paper is an object of wrath

–         Or if my car keeps breaking down and costs too much to keep on the road then I might sell it to the wreckers – the car becomes an object of wrath

–         I’m not necessarily angry with the paper or the car, it’s just that they are headed for destruction

Now the word ‘wrath’, in the English language at least, has associations with powerful and destructive anger

–         Wrath makes us think of someone flying off the handle or losing their rag, going into a rage

–         We need to distinguish human wrath from God’s wrath

–         Although Paul doesn’t attach God’s name to the wrath in this context, God’s wrath seems to be implied – certainly Paul isn’t shy about talking of God’s wrath in other letters he wrote

–         It is important to understand that God’s wrath is not an arbitrary reaction, nor an impersonal process, like human wrath can be

–         God doesn’t fly off the handle in a rage or lose his rag

–         John Stott describes God’s wrath as his ‘constant hostility to evil, his settled refusal to compromise with it and his resolve to condemn it’

–         The idea of God’s wrath shouldn’t scare us – it should comfort us

–         God’s wrath is an appropriate and measured response to injustice

–         God’s wrath means that God won’t abide evil, at least not forever

–         God’s wrath means evil will ultimately be destroyed but first God wants to redeem his good, albeit damaged and fallen, creation

In a nutshell then, we were once like zombies – dead in our sins, slaves to the world, the devil and the desires of our own mind & body and, because of our union with evil, we were objects of wrath on a path to destruction

 

Now, as someone who didn’t grow up in a Christian household, and who still feels an affinity with non-Christians, I’m a bit uncomfortable with the strength of Paul’s language in these verses

–         To say your non-Christian friends and family are akin to zombies is kind of offensive – it makes me cringe

–         And although Paul doesn’t exactly use the word ‘zombie’, that’s pretty much what he is describing when he talks about the walking dead

Three things I would like to say in Paul’s defence…

–         Firstly, Paul himself is very quick to point out that Christian believers are in no position to look down on unbelievers

–         In no way can we claim to be superior or ‘holier than thou’ because we have all been like zombies at some point in our life, to some degree

–         What’s more Paul emphasises the fact we are saved by God’s grace, not by any virtue or merit on our part – therefore we cannot boast

–         We may be luckier than some but we’re not better

–         The second thing is that Paul, more than most, had a genuine desire to see people of all creeds and races come to faith in Christ

–         Paul suffered greatly so that zombies like me could become human again

–         And the third thing to say in Paul’s defence is that his language is accurate – Paul doesn’t mean to be offensive – he’s simply being honest

–         To really appreciate what God has done to save us, in Christ, we must first realise how bad the problem was

–         Sin created a zombie apocalypse and God provided the remedy in Christ

 

God’s salvation:

Okay, so we were once zombies, before God saved us

–         What then does it mean to be saved by God?

–         Well, it means a number of things – God’s salvation is not one dimensional, there are many facets to God’s salvation

–         Three dimensions in particular to be aware of from today’s reading…

o   Salvation brings about a change in our relationship with God

o   A change in our spiritual environment

o   And a change in our condition

–         First let’s consider salvation as a change in our relationship with God

God’s salvation changes our relationship with God:

In verses 4 & 5 we read that God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions

–         Remember to be dead, in a spiritual sense, means to be separated from God – therefore to be made alive means to have our union with God restored

–         Eternal life isn’t just about living forever – eternal life describes a certain quality of relationship with God

One of the things about zombies is they don’t talk – they don’t have any means of communication and so they aren’t capable of real intimacy

Intimacy is about being close with someone – it’s about sharing yourself with them and letting them share themselves with you

–         Intimacy requires us to trust the other person – to lower our defences and make ourselves vulnerable

–         It also requires honesty and a deep respect for the other person who is putting their trust in us

–         With intimacy we let the other person in and a common understanding forms, an understanding too deep to express with words

–         Intimacy is the antidote to loneliness and alienation

–         One of the biggest diseases (killers) in our society today is loneliness and the feeling of alienation that comes with it

Now the important thing to note here is that we are made alive with Christ

–         When God raised Christ from the dead all those who believe in Christ were raised from spiritual death too

–         So it’s through Christ and His Spirit that God restores the communication and intimacy with us

Imagine you’ve been walking around, lost in the desert for days – your water bottle has run out and you’re extremely dehydrated

–         As a consequence you are having hallucinations and seeing mirages

–         You’re just not sure what is real anymore

–         Eventually you fall down, unable to go any further, and as you lie on the ground panting for breathe, a man rides up to you on a camel

–         He gets off his animal, bends down and offers you a drink

–         At this point you have a choice – you can either trust that he is real and not another hallucination, accept his kindness, drink the water and live

–         Or you can refuse to believe he is real, not trust his water and die

–         We are raised with Christ – we are saved by believing that Jesus’ resurrection is real and accepting his Spirit for our parched soul

–         You see, the real thirst of our soul is to be close to God – to share in His life, to drink His Spirit

 

God’s salvation changes our spiritual environment:

Another dimension to God’s salvation is that it changes our spiritual environment. In verse 6 of Ephesians 2 we read…

–         And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…

Last week we celebrated Jesus’ Ascension. Forty days after his death & resurrection Jesus ascended to the heavenly realms

–         The ‘heavenly realms’ refer to the spiritual realm – which we can’t see or hear or measure but which is still very real

–         Paul is saying that what is true for Christ is true also for those who believe in Christ

–         Just as Christ ascended, so too we who are in Christ have ascended to another spiritual realm

–         Physically we are still here on earth, but spiritually we have changed sphere’s or environments

For those who watch the Netflix show, ‘Stranger Things’, it’s like we used to live in the ‘upside down’ (spiritually speaking) but God saved us by transferring us to the world above

Or if Charles Dickens is more your thing, it’s like we used to live in a slum with a gang of pick pockets who answered to a criminal called Fagin but now we have been delivered to a better, healthier environment – one in which we are not forced to steal to survive

Or if fiction is not your thing, then it’s like we used to live in a refugee camp but now we have been granted citizenship to live in a land which is free of poverty and injustice

Or it’s like we were soldiers, fighting in a war overseas we wanted nothing to do with, but now we have been released from our tour of duty and are free to return home to live in peace

Or it’s like we were born in prison, where might is right and it is survival of the fittest, but now we have been released into a society where weakness is met with compassion and the measure of success is how well we treat the least

As I said a couple of weeks’ ago – Christian conversion is ‘in Christ’

–         When we become a Christian we are entering a new spiritual realm

–         We leave the realm of Satan and enter the realm of Christ – and Jesus is a far kinder and more just ruler than the devil

 

In Paul’s mind salvation means a restored relationship with God and entry into a new spiritual environment, one in which we can thrive

–         God’s salvation also changes our condition, our self

 

God’s salvation changes our condition:

If we were once zombies then God’s salvation is the process of restoring our humanity to its fullness

–         God originally made us in His image and he declared us to be ‘very good’

–         We became infected by sin and the image of God was damaged – we lost something of our humanity and became like the walking dead

–         God’s salvation includes re-creating us in His image

In verse 10 Paul writes…

–         For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Again we note that the environment in which God creates us is ‘in Christ’

–         Just as God creates a baby inside a woman’s womb, so too we are created inside Christ

And our creation is meaningful (not accidental) – we are created for a purpose

–         Previously we walked in sin, but now we are to walk in good works

–         To walk in ‘good works’ means we live our life in a way that points to God and reflects His image

–         Paul is quite clear (in verse 9 and other places) that ‘good works’ are not the means of our salvation but rather the outcome

–         Twice in our reading today Paul says we are ‘saved by grace’

–         In other words God’s salvation is a gift – we don’t do anything to earn it

–         God’s grace is the root of our salvation, good works are the fruit

 

Conclusion:

So God’s salvation changes our relationship with him, it changes our spiritual environment and it changes our condition

 

We may well ask, why did God save us? After all, as zombies, we had nothing to offer – we were not at all attractive and we were powerless to save ourselves

–         God saved us because that’s who he is – saving us was simply Him being true to His character – to not save us would be a denial of Himself

 

Verses 4-10 of Ephesians 2 are peppered with words which describe God’s character and motivation

–         Verse 4 tells us, God made us alive with Christ because of his great love for us, and because, He is rich in mercy

–         Verse 7 tells us, God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms…to show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

–         And verse 10, For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus…

–         God is a craftsman, an artist, who enjoys making things

–         So God saves us because He is loving, merciful, gracious, kind & creative

As creatures made in God’s image – we are to emulate God’s character

–         Like God, our good work (the way we live our lives) is to be loving, merciful, gracious, kind and creative.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Do you have a favourite Zombie movie? What is it and why do you like it?

3.)    What was our situation / condition before God saved us?

–         What does Paul mean by death in Ephesians 2:1?

4.)    What is God’s wrath?

–         Why is God’s wrath a comfort to us?

5.)    What does it mean to be ‘made alive with Christ’?

6.)    What does it mean to be ‘raised with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms’?

7.)    What does it mean that we are ‘God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works’?

8.)    Take some time this week to reflect on the words Paul uses to describe God’s character

–         How might we emulate God’s character in our daily lives?

Tawa Baptist

Knowing

Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

Title: Knowing

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Know the hope of God’s calling
  • Know the glory of God’s inheritance
  • Know the greatness of God’s power
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Knowledge is K.E.Y. – Knowledge Empowers You

–         I may have the latest computer with 10 terabytes of memory, all the latest application software and lightning fast broadband, but if I don’t know how to turn it on (let alone use it) then it’s wasted on me

–         I may own a luxury launch equipped with satellite TV, full kitchen facilities and a spa pool, but if I don’t know where I am in relation to land then I’m lost at sea

–         I may have access to the finest library in the world, all the books, journals and source documents I could wish for, but if I can’t read then I’m just guessing

 

This morning we continue our series in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians

–         Last week we looked at verses 3-14 which, in the original Greek, are one long sentence of praise to God for his blessings for us in Christ

–         This morning we focus on chapter 1, verses 15-23, which is another long sentence, only this time it’s a prayer

–         Paul follows his praise of God with a prayer for the Ephesian believers

–         After thanking God for their faith and love Paul prayers for wisdom and revelation for them – he asks for the eyes of their heart to opened so they would know God better – because knowing God is KEY

–         Knowing God empowers you.

From Ephesians 1:15-23, in the New International Version, we read…

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

May the Spirit of Jesus open the eyes of our heart to know God better

 

In some ways our faith is like a puppy

–         When it is born its eyes are closed over – it is blind

–         But as it grows its eyes are opened

–         Enlightenment is when the eyes of our heart (our inner being) are opened and our faith begins to see God’s blessings

In this prayer Paul asks that the Ephesians would know God better

–         This knowing isn’t just an intellectual head knowledge – it is the deeper kind of knowing that comes with relationship and experience

–         I might have read lots of books on parenting and attended all sorts of helpful courses, but I don’t really know what it is to be a parent until I care for a child through all the ages and stages of their development

–         It’s this kind of long and deep experiential, relational knowledge that Paul is praying for the Ephesians

–         It’s a knowledge of God born of faith & love as well as vulnerability and suffering – it’s a knowledge not given lightly

In particular Paul asks that the Ephesian believers would know… [1]

–         The hope of God’s calling

–         The glory of God’s inheritance

–         And the greatness of God’s power

If you can imagine a bridge anchored at one end by God’s call and at the other by God’s inheritance, with God’s great power spanning the chasm in between

–         It’s the hope of God’s call and the strength of God’s power that gets us to the other side, the glory of his inheritance

–         First lets us consider the hope of God’s call

The hope of God’s call:

When we applied for ministry training one of the things they wanted us to be sure about was God’s call – how well did we know God’s call on our lives?

–         Knowing the hope of God’s call on your life is important for all Christian believers, in whatever capacity you might serve

–         Knowing deep within that God has called you to himself and to a greater purpose in Christ, provides a firm foothold when the going gets tough

–         God’s call often comes with some kind of promise which inspires hope

The Bible is full of stories of God calling people

–         For example, when God called Abram to leave his homeland he promised to bless Abraham and make him into a great nation

–         And that promise sustained Abraham with hope for a journey of a lifetime

When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery he promised to be with Moses, to give him the words and power needed for the task

–         And that call, from the burning bush, guided Moses as he led the people of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness

When God called Isaiah to be a prophet he gave Isaiah a vision of His splendour and touched Isaiah’s lips with a coal saying, ‘Your guilt is gone, your sins are forgiven.’

–         And that vision informed Isaiah’s message even as he preached to a people who refused to listen

When Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples he said, ‘Come follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.’

–         And that promise was fulfilled as the disciples became witnesses of Jesus’ death, resurrection & ascension in a hostile environment

When Jesus called Zacchaeus (the tax collector) he did so by inviting himself over for dinner, which gave great honour to Zacchaeus in his culture

–         And, as Zacchaeus opened his home to Jesus in hospitality, the little tax collector realised God’s call to be fair and generous despite being hated by the community

God’s call can come in any number of different ways

–         It may come quietly while you are alone, as it did for Samuel at Shiloh

–         Or it may come very publicly, as it did for Zacchaeus in front of a crowd

–         It may come while you are at church, as it did for Zechariah in the temple

–         Or it may come while you at work, as it did for Matthew the tax collector

–         It may come all of a sudden, as it did for Saul on the road to Damascus

–         Or it may develop slowly over a period of time, like the growing seed in Jesus’ parable

–         It may be a call to leave, as it was for the Israelites in Egypt

–         Or it may be a call to stay and bear witness where you are, as it was for the man delivered from a legion of demons

–         It may be a call to a particular vocation or task, as it was for king David and the prophets of old

–         Or it may be a call, not so much to do something for God but, simply to receive something from God, as it was for so many of those whom Jesus healed – Unless we let Jesus wash our feet we have no part in him

God’s call on your life is likely to be unique – so we can’t measure the call we receive with the call others have received

–         We don’t all get a burning bush like Moses

 

Now some of you may be thinking, ‘I don’t know what my calling is. How do I find out?’

I like what Frederick Beuchner says…

–         The place God calls you to, is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

–         This tells us at least two things:

–         God’s call fits who you are – it goes with the grain of your soul

–         So God is not going to call you to a place or a vocation that you are not suited to – he has made you a certain way for a certain purpose

–         The other thing this tells us is that God’s call is not all about us – it’s about others and their deep need

Some couples would be deeply glad to become parents but for whatever reason they aren’t able to have children

–         There are many kids out there who have a deep hunger for a loving home

–         The Open Home Foundation are always looking for couples to foster kids

–         The place God calls you to, is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

 

Often we have already been called and we aren’t aware of it or we’ve forgotten

–         If that’s the case for you then ask God to make you aware of His call and the hope which comes with it.

 

The glory of God’s inheritance:

Okay, so Paul prays for the Ephesians to know the hope of God’s call and the glory of God’s inheritance

–         What then does it mean to know the glory of God’s inheritance?

Well, God’s inheritance could mean either the inheritance God receives or the inheritance God bestows

–         If it means the inheritance God receives then, according to the Old Testament, God’s people are his inheritance

–         But, if we follow Colossians 1:12, it means the inheritance God gives us – that is eternal life

–         Either way God’s inheritance amounts to the same thing – enjoying abundant life with the Lord forever

Now, this side of Christ’s second coming, we can’t fully comprehend what the inheritance of eternal life is like – it is hidden in the realm of mystery

–         But we can catch a glimpse of it in the here & now

–         And perhaps this is what Paul wants for the Ephesians, that the glory of God’s inheritance wouldn’t be some pie in the sky a way off in the future

–         But rather they (and we) would experience now the sort of closeness and union with God, in Christ, that is the essence of eternal life

–         Because, at its core, that’s what eternal life is – union with God

 

Please turn with me to Luke 14, verse 15 – page 99 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         In Luke 14 Jesus tells a parable which I think speaks to this idea of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints and of our need to not be so focused on the temporary things of this world that we miss the eternal

–         From Luke 14, verses 15-24 we read…

15 When one of the guests sitting at the table heard this, he said to Jesus, “How happy are those who will sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God!”

16 Jesus said to him, “There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people. 17 When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’ 18 But they all began, one after another, to make excuses. The first one told the servant, ‘I have bought a field and must go and look at it; please accept my apologies.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen and am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.’ 20 Another one said, ‘I have just gotten married, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went back and told all this to his master. The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Soon the servant said, ‘Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is room for more.’ 23 So the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you all that none of those who were invited will taste my dinner!’”

May the Spirit Jesus open the eyes of our heart to know God better

Jesus uses the image of a great feast (a party) to point to God’s glorious inheritance in the saints

–         Some of those who were invited declined the invitation because they didn’t know the importance of it

–         Paul wants his readers to understand the eternal significance of God’s invitation in Christ

 

Again I’d like to quote Frederick Beuchner…

Whatever you do with your life – whatever you end up achieving or not achieving – the great gift you have in you, to give to the world, is the gift of who you alone are; your way of seeing things, and saying things, and feeling about things, that is like nobody else’s. If so much as a single one of you were missing, there would be an empty place at the great feast of life that nobody else in all creation could fill.

This life is not all there is – beyond this life God is planning a party and there is room for you

–         Sadly not everyone accepts God’s invitation, perhaps because they don’t know the one who is calling them or the inheritance to which they are called

 

Paul prays for the Ephesians to know the hope of God’s call, the glory of God’s inheritance and the greatness of God’s power

 

The greatness of God’s power:

God’s great power bridges the gap between the hope of his call and the glory of his inheritance

Power is the ability to do something

–         Paul describes God’s power (His ability to make things happen) as beyond compare

–         The message is, no matter what obstacles we might face, no matter how weak or inadequate we might feel in our circumstances, God’s power is all sufficient for those who believe

The interesting thing here is that Paul is writing from prison

–         Ironically Paul writes about enlightenment while he is in a dark place

–         And he writes about God’s power in exalting Christ while he is powerless

–         Paul’s confidence in God’s power is not wishful thinking – it is not based on blind (puppy) faith

–         Paul’s claim about God’s power is based on the historical facts of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven 

When Jesus was at his weakest – when he was dead and buried in the tomb – God’s power was evident, raising Jesus from the dead

–         But God’s power at work in Christ did not stop there

–         Because after God had raised Jesus from the dead, He exalted Jesus to his right hand in the spiritual realm

–         To be seated at God’s right hand means to be given the highest honour, the highest authority and the most power of all

–         Paul is saying that Jesus is above all powers

John Stott sums it up nicely when he writes…

–         The resurrection and ascension were a decisive demonstration of divine power. For if there are two powers which human beings cannot control, but which hold us in bondage, they are death and evil. Human beings are mortal; we cannot avoid death. Human beings are fallen; we cannot overcome evil. But God, in Christ, has conquered both and therefore can rescue us from both.

 

God’s power, in Jesus, does not necessarily mean the absence of evil

–         Nor does the presence of evil in the world in any way discount Jesus’ power or authority over evil

–         If evil exists in the world it is only because Jesus (in his ultimate wisdom) allows it for a time – but he won’t allow it forever

–         At the end of the age evil will be uprooted and destroyed

–         In the meantime Jesus gives the strength we need to live with it

 

Okay, so God is more powerful than anyone or anything else and he shares that power with Jesus – but knowing God is all powerful doesn’t necessarily give me comfort, unless I also know that God’s intentions toward me are good 

In verse 22 of Ephesians 1, Paul says that God… appointed Jesus to be head over everything for the church, which is his body…

–         This tells us that God’s power is for our good

–         Jesus exercises power as someone who himself knows first-hand what it is be powerless and oppressed

–         Jesus exercises power from a place of understanding and compassion and love toward us

Let me give you an analogy

–         At the same time that Jacinda Ardern is the Prime Minister of NZ, she is also the mother of Neve

–         Neve has a mum with more political clout than anyone else in her kindergarten or neighbourhood

At the same time that Jesus is head over all things, he is also head of the church and so we Christians have a leader with more clout than anyone else

–         Jesus isn’t our mother but, spiritually speaking, he is our older brother if we believe in him

–         Which means we have a special relationship with the one who is above all powers

To say the church is the body of Christ, means that we are closely connected to Jesus and to each other

–         So, if something happens to us – if we suffer in some way for example – then Christ (who is head over all) feels that and is moved by it

–         And knowing this is what gives us comfort and strength in this life

 

Conclusion:

Knowledge is key – knowledge empowers you

–         When we know the hope of God’s call on our life, we have purpose to sustain us when life is difficult

–         When we know the glory of God’s inheritance that awaits us, we can keep our perspective when others are losing theirs

–         And when we know the greatness of God’s power for us, we are released from fear and free to love

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Why do you think Paul prays for the Ephesians to know God better?

–         What kind of ‘knowing’ is Paul praying for?

3.)    Are you aware of God’s call on your life?

–         If so, what is that call and how did you become aware of it?

–         If not, how might you become aware of it?

4.)    Why is it important that we know the hope of God’s call?

–         How does this help us?

5.)    What is meant by God’s inheritance?

6.)    Why is it important that we know the glory of God’s inheritance?

–         How does this help us?

7.)     How did Paul know that God’s power is great beyond compare?

8.)    Why is it important that we know the greatness of God’s power?

–         How does this help us?

 

[1] The structure for the sermon (taken from the text) aligns with John Stott’s view, in his BST commentary on Ephesians, page 55ff.

Tawa Baptist

Artesian Wells

Scripture: Ephesians 1:1-14

Title: Artesian Wells

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Praise for God’s blessings
  • Blessings in the heavenly realms
  • Blessings in Christ
  • Blessings by God’s will
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

When Robyn and I were sent from Welcome Bay Baptist (in Tauranga) to train for ministry in Auckland, one of the members of our sending church (a guy called Dave) said to me, ‘Look for artesian wells’

–         It was said with love and out of a concern for our well-being

–         Dave was using the term ‘artesian wells’ as a metaphor of something that is deep and ancient and life sustaining

–         An artesian well is different from a regular well in that the water rises to the surface by internal pressure, so you don’t need a bucket or a pump to draw the water out

The water in an artesian well is trapped between layers of rock and consequently is under pressure so that when a hole is drilled in the upper layer of rock the water trapped underneath rises to the surface

–         The pressure may be created by a glacier or snow melt from a mountain which feeds the underground aquifer – and the well acts like a pressure release valve

Artesian wells were named after the former province of ‘Artois’ in France, where many artesian wells were drilled by Carthusian monks around 1126AD

–         The monks found the well water was a lot safer to drink than river water, because it had been filtered over centuries

Water from a flowing artesian well, therefore, is deep and ancient and pure

This morning we begin a new sermon series in the book of Ephesians

–         Ephesians reminds me of an artesian well

–         It is such a pure and positive letter – Paul is not writing to the Ephesians to correct some problem in the church and so it has quite a different tone to many of his other letters which are dealing with problems

–         More than this though, Paul has tapped into the goodness of God and it bubbles up naturally to the surface of his writing

Our focus this morning is Ephesians 1, verses 1-14

–         Verses 3-14 are an outpouring of praise to God for his goodness to us in Christ – technically known as a doxology

–         Paul’s praise is rising, like water from an artesian well, from a deep aquifer of spirit. From verse 1, in the NIV we read…

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Praise for God’s blessings:

There’s a lot being said in these verses – they are thick & rich with meaning like condensed milk

–         What we need to keep in mind, as we wade through the words, is that this is worship – it is primarily adoration of God

–         Verse 3 says it plainly:  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…

–         Paul goes on to punctuate his doxology three more times with the phrase: …to the praise of his glory…

–         In the original Greek this effusion of praise, in verses 3-14, is one long sentence – It’s like Paul is surfing a wave of God’s goodness and the wave is carrying him the length of the beach

What makes this even more remarkable is that Paul is under house arrest – he is chained to a Roman soldier while writing this letter

–         Physically he isn’t free but internally (his mind and his spirit) are soaring on wings like eagles

–         Most people in Paul’s situation would not be happy but Paul is worshipping God like he’s on cloud nine.

–         How is Paul able to do this?

Well, Paul can do this because the aquifer of his spirit is fed by the thought of how God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

 

Blessings in the heavenly realms:

That phrase, ‘heavenly realms’, refers to the spiritual realm

–         The spiritual realm is sort of like another dimension all around us that we don’t normally see

–         We live in a materialistic society – so many of us have a bias toward physical, material things that we can touch and see

–         We tend to be less aware of spiritual realities, even though the spiritual world is just as real as the physical

Dogs can’t see orange or green, like we do, but they can see blue and yellow, so the same picture looks quite washed out in their eyes

–         If you throw a bright orange ball across the lawn they will struggle to see it because the orange & green look the same greyish colour to them

–         When it comes to the spiritual realm we are a bit like dogs (no offence)

–         We don’t see all the colours – spiritual things are camouflaged to us

–         This means there is more to reality than meets the eye

–         The heavenly realm or spiritual realm is still real even if it is beyond what we can perceive with our five senses

In 2nd Kings, chapter 6, the prophet Elisha and his servant are surrounded by an army of Arameans, with their chariots and horses, all there to capture him

–         The servant is shaking in his boots and says to Elisha, “Oh my lord, what shall we do?”

–         “Don’t be afraid”, Elisha answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

–         And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.”

–         Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

–         Elisha could see the spiritual realm – the Lord’s army right there to protect them

 

You know, it’s that time of year again when I look at the church’s attendance statistics and write my contributions for the annual report

–         The last few years’ attendance has been a bit discouraging

–         We need to remember there is more to the picture than meets the eye

–         There is a spiritual audience all around us which we don’t see

–         In many ways the church is like an ice-berg with a lot happening under the surface – God is doing more than our statistics can measure

 

When we read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we might imagine some kind of large and thriving church that has it altogether and enjoys a wonderful relationship with the community around it – but that wasn’t the historical reality

–         The church in Ephesus was quite small by our standards – only about 12 men and I suppose their families, if the men were married

–         And most of the wider community of Ephesus didn’t like the Christians all that much because they were bad for business

–         Ephesus was famous for making silver idols and Christians are against idol worship

–         But as small and as unpopular as they were, God was at work through the Ephesian believers to achieve his purpose

–         In Christ they were making waves in the spiritual realm

The other thing we need to keep in mind is that Paul’s letter was read aloud to the believers as they gathered in people’s homes for a church service

–         In a way Paul’s letter to the Ephesians functioned like a liturgy

–         Paul was leading the people in worship through his writing

–         They may have felt small and extremely vulnerable but I imagine Paul’s artesian well of adoration and praise refreshed them

–         It had the power to lift their eyes off the here & now and remind them of the spiritual reality

–         They might feel pretty insignificant and at odds with the world around them but in spiritual terms they had it made

 

Blessings in Christ:

One of the things Paul is at pains to emphasise it that God’s many blessings for the Ephesian believers (and for us) are ‘in Christ’

–         That expression ‘in Christ’ crops up 11 times in 14 verses, in the original Greek, although you won’t find it that many times in English translations

–         Paul describes the Ephesians as faithful in Christ – verse 1

–         They (and we) have every spiritual blessing in Christ – verse 3

–         God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless – verse 4

–         We are given grace in Christ – verse 6

–         In Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins – verse 7

–         God revealed his will and purpose to us in Christ – verse 9

–         Again, we are chosen in Christ – verse 11

–         We put our hope in Christ – verse 12

–         We are included in Christ when we believe the gospel – verse 13

–         And we are marked in Christ with the seal of the Holy Spirit – verse 13

Clearly the key to God’s many blessings is being ‘in Christ’

–         What then does it mean to be in Christ?

–         Well, it can mean different things depending on the context

–         But generally speaking, being in Christ refers to being in a particular spiritual environment

The environment in which we live (the geography, the climate, the values, the history and so on) shapes and defines who we are as a person

–         If someone lives underwater then they are a fish and not a person

–         Or if someone works in the countryside they have quite a different outlook to someone who works in the city

–         Or if someone grew up in middle class society this shapes them differently to someone who grew up in poverty

–         If you have been immersed in Maori culture then you will think in a different way from someone immersed in Pakeha culture

–         I grew up in 1970’s New Zealand and in many ways that has shaped me, just as my family have shaped me and the church too

–         If I had grown up in Russia or Iran or Germany or Venezuela I would be shaped by a different cultural and political reality

When our family became Christians in the 1980’s, spiritually speaking, we entered a different environment – we went from a pagan materialistic environment to being in Christ, and this required us to learn a whole new way of thinking and living

 

Being in Christ shapes and defines who we are – it informs our outlook

–         We live in Christ like a fish lives in water – Jesus is our natural environment, we belong in Jesus

We are in Christ like someone granted citizenship – Jesus becomes our new country, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails.

–         When we enter a new country we don’t impose our own culture on that country, we learn the local language and obey the laws of the land

–         When we become a Christian we cross a spiritual border, we enter Christ

–         That means we leave our old way of life behind – we don’t try to colonise Christ by imposing an ungodly culture on him

–         We learn his language of grace & truth and we follow his law of love & forgiveness

We are in Christ like a lock in a rugby scrum, or a first five in the back row – we are not just individuals, we are in Jesus’ team, we wear his colours

We are in Christ like a child adopted into God’s family – which means the history of God’s people becomes our history, our story, our whakapapa

–         Being adopted into God’s family also means Jesus is our older, kinder brother who looks out for us

We are in Christ like we are in a premium Kiwi Saver scheme – Jesus is our eternal security.

–         Yes, we make some contributions to the scheme but really God, our employer, contributes far more than we do

We are in Christ like being in a good job – God is our boss and discipleship is our career

We are in Christ like a business in profit – Jesus has saved us from bankruptcy and liquidation

–         He has turned the business of our lives around by paying our debts and making us prosper, so we are free to be generous

We are in Christ like survivors in a life boat – God has provided the means for our rescue

We are in Christ like a branch grafted into a vine – Jesus makes our lives fruitful for God’s glory

We are in Christ like being included in someone’s will or estate – we stand to inherit the kingdom of God

We are in Christ like a fine artwork in a collector’s possession – God values us and appreciates us and he won’t sell us at any price

We are in Christ like a reader who has finished a book – we know how the story ends

–         I could go on but you get the point: God blesses us in many, many ways but all of those ways are in Christ

 

Ok – so we’ve heard how the opening verses of Ephesians are an artesian well of praise and adoration for God

–         This worship is the natural overflow of God having blessed us in the spiritual realm and in Christ

–         The other idea that comes through strongly in our Bible reading this morning is that of God’s will, his purpose, his plan

–         We are blessed by the will of God

 

Blessings by the will of God:

In verse 1 Paul says he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God

In verse 5 he says, God predestined us to be adopted as his sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will

In verse 9, God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure 

And in verse 11 we read, In Christ we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…

Paul wants to make it very clear that all these wonderful spiritual blessings are happening by the will of God

–         They are not happening by fate or chance or karma or by anything we do

–         They are happening according to God’s purpose and plan

–         What’s more they are not happening because God is under any sort of obligation – God is acting freely, his hand is not forced

–         These blessings are happening (and indeed have happened) because it gives God pleasure – he wants to bless us generously, lavishly

 

Now some people hear the word ‘predestination’, which appears twice in our reading today, and they get themselves tied up in knots

–         They start thinking things like, ‘So we get no choice. God chooses some people to be saved and others miss out. That doesn’t seem very fair’

–         Or they think, ‘I go to church. I must be predestined for heaven. It’s all arranged and so I don’t need to do anything. I don’t need to worry about people who don’t yet know about Jesus because their fate is already decided. And I don’t need to worry too much about my own behaviour either because I’m already in’

–         That sort of thinking completely misunderstands what Paul is saying here

–         The whole tone of this passage is adoration, not calculation [1]

–         God is good – he is generous and thoughtful and kind and fair

–         God is looking for ways to include people in His plan of salvation

 

Our thinking is shaped by our society which, generally speaking, is very individualistic – Paul is talking in collective terms, not individual terms

–         So it’s not that God decides beforehand this person is in and this one is out – it’s not a fait a accompli

–         Christ is the one who was predestined by God before the creation of the world – Christ is the one God has elected to save and bless

–         Therefore if we are in Christ we too are saved and blessed

 

If you can imagine being at sea in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and the boat you are on is sinking – it was damaged in a storm and despite your best efforts to keep it afloat you know it’s just a matter of time before it goes under

–         Jesus is the rescue boat prepared by God, before the storm, to save us

–         When God’s rescue boat comes our way we have a choice – we can either stay on our own leaky boat or get on board with Jesus and go looking for others who are about to go under

–         To be in Christ is to be in the rescue boat with others with a mission

 

Eugene Peterson provides a helpful comment on this issue of predestination

–         He notes how the verb ‘destine’ (as in predestine) derives from the noun ‘boundary’ – so when it talks about God having predestined us in Christ, it means God has marked out the boundaries in which we live

–         In other words, Christ defines the boundaries for life – sort of like a rescue boat defines the boundaries for our survival

–         More than just surviving though, Christ is the environment in which we get the most out of life

–         If we are in Christ then we are in a good environment for spiritual life

–         But if we are not in Christ, who holds us and supports our life, then we’re overboard treading water to delay the inevitable

 

Having said we are blessed and saved in Christ, we need to remember it’s not all about us

–         Verse 10 tells us God’s purpose is to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ

–         God cares for all of his creation, not just human beings

–         ‘All things’ includes the physical that we can see and the spiritual that we can’t see

–         It includes the land and the sea, the animals, birds, fish, insects and plant life, as well as the angels and other spiritual beings

–         The scope of God’s plan is both comprehensive and beyond our comprehension

 

Conclusion:

When was the last time you spontaneously burst into praise for God’s goodness and blessings? Maybe it’s been a while.

–         Perhaps the only time you offer God adoration and praise is at church on a Sunday morning

–         Is your spiritual life feeling a bit dry – a bit empty

–         Look for artesian wells

–         Find ways to tap into the aquifer of God’s blessings in Christ

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Why do you think Paul starts his letter to the Ephesians with an outpouring of praise?

3.)    What awareness do you have of the spiritual realm?

–         Where does this awareness come from?

4.)    What affect do you think Paul’s description of God’s activity in the spiritual realm would have had on the Ephesian believers who were relatively small in number and at odds with many of the people in their community?

5.)    What does it mean to be ‘in Christ’?

6.)    Why does God choose to bless us?

7.)    Where might you find an artesian well (spiritually speaking)?

–         How might you tap into the aquifer of God’s goodness to us in Christ?

 

[1] This is my paraphrase of something Markus Barth said

Tawa Baptist

Salt & Light

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

Title: We’re making a difference

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Salt & Light
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Last Friday night I found myself standing on the corner of Courtney Place and Allen Street

–         Like most people I normally walk along a busy city street in my own little bubble – not making eye contact, not engaging with anyone at all

–         It’s funny how we do that in cities – we’re there but we’re not really involved, we’re just passing through

Anyway, last Friday I did something different and stood still on the footpath

–         After a few minutes of just standing there, a man came up to me and started talking – complete stranger, never seen him before in my life

–         We had a conversation for quite a while, and he probably would have talked all night, before the person I was waiting for came along and I had to excuse myself

On reflection afterwards, it occurred to me the way we often pass through this world without really getting involved in it

–         This stranger who spoke to me was actually present in a way that most people aren’t – he was involved

 

Today we continue our series for Self Denial

–         The overall theme for this year’s campaign is Where God Leads

–         Last week we heard from Jonah who spoke to us about how God led him to preach a message of repentance to his enemies

–         This morning we are thinking about making a difference

–         Earlier in the service we saw a video which showed some of the things our Baptist missionaries overseas are doing to make a difference in Asia

–         Now let’s turn to the Scriptures to consider how we can make a difference. From Matthew 5, verses 13-16 we read the words of Jesus… 

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

Salt & Light:

We make a difference, in the world, by being distinctive & involved

The one thing that salt & light have in common is that they are distinctive

  • – Salt is different from the food it is sprinkled on just as light is distinct from darkness
  • – The power of salt & light is not in its quantity but in its quality – it’s distinctiveness
  • – You don’t need a lot of salt or a lot of light to make a difference

 

Obviously for the salt to have any effect it needs to be in contact with the meat of the world

  • – Likewise, for light to be effective it needs to be revealed and not hidden

Salt and light graph

 

If you imagine a graph with distinctiveness on the y axis and involvement in the world on the x axis then we are aiming for the yellow quadrant

  • – The followers of Jesus are not to assimilate to the world’s values nor live separately from the world
  • – We make a difference by being distinctive, in a good way, and involved, not just passing through in our own little bubble

But the kind of distinctiveness that is in view here is not an aesthetic or cosmetic difference – rather it is a difference of being or character

  • – In the ancient world salt was associated with purity because it came from the purest of all things – the sun and the sea
  • – Because of its association with purity salt was rubbed on sacrifices
  • – Salt had a holy or sacramental use

One of the primary functions of salt is to preserve things, to arrest decay

  • – Before freezers people used to put salt on meat to make it last longer
  • – In saying, ‘You are the salt of the earth’ Jesus is calling his disciples to remain pure and be a moral disinfectant in a world where standards of morality are low

Another function of salt is to bring out the flavour in food – salt lends flavour to things

  • – As Christians, therefore, we should bring out the best in people, through our example, through our conversation and through our very presence

 

So, Jesus wants us to be like salt, pure but not bland

Being the salt of the earth comes with a warning: we shouldn’t lose our saltiness

  • – In other words, we shouldn’t lose our purity,
  • – We shouldn’t let our standards slip
  • – We mustn’t assimilate to the values of our society nor conform to the patterns of this world
  • – The world needs us to resist and subvert evil with the grace God gives us

To retain our saltiness (our flavour) we must maintain our distinctiveness

  • – So how do we do that – how do we maintain our distinctive Christ flavour?
  • – Well, as I’ve already alluded to, we don’t do it by dressing differently or living separately – we do it by staying close to Jesus
  • – It is the Spirit of Jesus who makes us salty
  • – It is the Spirit of Jesus who gives us light to share with others

 

In verse 16 Jesus says, “…let your light shine before men [and women], that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

  • – (The term ‘men’ is gender inclusive – as in humankind)
  • – This verse tells us our light reveals our good deeds – perhaps a bit like sunshine causes flower petals to open

The image of light is rich in interpretive possibility – light represents a number of things at once

  • – For example, light could be wisdom – so this verse can mean, let your wisdom shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven
  • – When we do our good deeds in a way that is smart, that doesn’t create dependencies or cause other problems downstream, then people look at those good deeds and praise God
  • – One of the wisest things a missionary can do is learn the language and culture of the people they are sent to and then, having become familiar with the culture, translate the Scriptures into the people’s own language

As well as representing wisdom, light characterises the first day of creation, so light could equate to creativity – as in, let your creativity shine…

  • – Therefore, when you do your good deeds, whether that’s making a meal for someone or preparing a Sunday school lesson, or coaching a kids’ sports team, or buying a gift or whatever, don’t be boring – be creative
  • – Do that good work in a way that is fresh and unique and expresses who God made you to be

Light is also associated with joy – so it’s like Jesus is saying, let your joy shine…

  • – Therefore, when you do your good deeds, don’t do them grudgingly or out of a sense of loveless duty – do them with good humour, have fun
  • – Guys, when you’re making breakfast in bed for your wife she doesn’t want you to approach the task with a heavy heart
  • – “Oh, not mothers’ day again. How do you want your eggs?”
  • – Most mothers of small children want to sleep in but when you do make her breakfast she’ll want you to want to do it and she’ll also want you to clean up the mess afterwards
  • – What I’m saying is that when you do your good deeds don’t make the other person feel bad about it
  • – Our good deeds are just a vehicle for what we are trying to communicate, God’s love
  • – If you make the breakfast with joy then your wife will feel loved
  • – But if you make it like a martyr she will probably feel stink

 

Wisdom, creativity and joy are just some of the things light represents

  • – Light has other positive connotations as well but you get the point:
  • – Light illuminates our good deeds, it sets our good deeds apart in a special way, it gives them a winsome quality

Elsewhere in the gospels Jesus describes himself as the light of the world – which points to Jesus as the source of our inner light

  • – More than just reflecting the light of Christ we actually hold the light of Christ’s wisdom, creativity and joy within us
  • – Or to say it another way, we are the lightbulb and the Spirit of Jesus is the electricity or power enabling us to shine
  • – Let your light shine then means let people see the Spirit of Jesus in you
  • – Let them see love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control and all the other fruits of the Spirit in your good deeds

Now some of you may be thinking to yourself…

  • – “I’m not wise. I feel like I’m bumbling my way through life
  • – Nor am I joyful, in fact I feel pretty miserable most of the time.
  • – And I’m not that creative or patient or peaceful
  • – So what does that say about me?
  • – Does that mean I’m not a person of light?”
  • – Well no. Being light doesn’t mean having a perfect life
  • – You don’t have to have it altogether to be light
  • – Just before these verses about being salt & light, Jesus said this,
  • – Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn…
  • – Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness… and so on
  • – Jesus is not describing here people who have their life together
  • – He’s describing people who are broken, wounded, hurting and hungry
  • – People who don’t feel wise or happy or creative but who, through their weakness, display the wisdom and creativity of God in redeeming humankind

Jesus uses the image of a lamp giving light, not the image of a star

  • – A lamp has a warm and inviting glow, you can get close to a lamp
  • – Stars give off light but you can’t get close to a star
  • – The poor in spirit and the meek are not stars – they are humble & down to earth – like an old style lamp with an open flame, giving comfort & joy
  • – Or to put it more plainly, being the light of the world isn’t always about what we do when we feel at our best
  • – Light is more often about what God is doing when we are at our worst
  • – In that case, “Let your light shine”, means be open, be honest – let people get close enough to see God’s goodness & grace at work in your life

 

So, what might it look like (practically) to be salt & light in the world? Well, it depends on the situation to some degree…

If everyone in the room is raising their voice and pushing their own agenda, then being salt & light (being different in a good way) might mean listening

  • – Listening reveals patience and gentleness

Or, if you are in a meeting at work and everyone in the room is saying ‘yes’ to a decision that will increase profits at the expense of peoples’ welfare, then being salt & light might mean saying ‘no’ – and offering a better alternative – one that shines with the light of Christ’s wisdom and compassion

Or, if you are in a conversation and people are maligning someone else behind their back, then being distinctive might sound like disagreeing with them and shining a light on that person’s better qualities

  • – It might cause some short term tension to disagree but longer term it will build trust

Or, when everyone is filling their lives with busy-ness and activity and the stress that accompanies that, being salt & light might mean slowing down and taking time out for prayer, corporate worship or spiritual retreat

  • – Enjoying Sabbath rest is a positive way of subverting the impatience and greed of our consumerist society
  • – The world needs us to be different in a good way – it needs us to subvert evil with grace & truth

Now, you need to know I’m being a bit easy on you – my examples of being salt & light don’t set the bar very high

  • – If Jesus was standing here preaching to you now, I imagine he would be saying some very difficult things
  • – For example, being salt & light (being distinctive & involved in the world) means not retaliating when someone punches you in the face but turning the other check
  • – Being salt & light means loving your enemies and lending to people who can’t afford to repay you
  • – It means you will respond to abuse and prejudice with joy
  • – It means you won’t do things to promote yourself or make yourself look good – you’ll do things in a way that makes God look good
  • – Being salt & light means you will do what you say even when it is no longer convenient to you
  • – It also means you won’t worry about the future – you’ll live in the present
  • – I’m not making this up, by the way, I’m getting it all from Matthew 5, 6 & 7 – the sermon on the mount

So that we don’t feel too overwhelmed though we need to remember that being salt & light is not something we do on our own

  • – When Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world” the “You” is plural, not singular
  • – And when Jesus says in verse 14, “A city on a hill cannot be hidden”, this indicates a community of lights – not just a single house
  • – Sometimes we might be the only one in the room saying the unpopular salty thing but we do that in the knowledge we are not acting alone
  • – We are acting as Christ’s representative and as a member of his body, the community of the church

 

A couple of real life examples of what it means to be salt & light

  • – The first is from New Zealand history and the second is from the Bible

Those who were at the Salvation Army for the Easter Sunday service a few weeks ago may remember the story of Piripi Taumata-a-Kura

  • – Jay Ruka retells Piripi’s story in his book, Huia Come Home
  • – Piripi came from the Ngati Porou tribe on the East Cape
  • – He was captured in the 1820’s by a Nga Puhi raiding party and taken away as a slave
  • – While he was in Waimate, Piripi met the missionary Henry Williams who taught him to read & write and introduced him to the gospel of Jesus
  • – Long story short, Piripi was returned to his tribe on the East Cape about 10 years later, where he shared the gospel with his own people before any Pakeha arrived in the area

One situation in particular demonstrates the salt & light influence Piripi had on his world. …

When asked to fight with his people against another tribe, Piripi was reluctant at first

  • – Eventually though he was persuaded, but only after he convinced his fellow warriors to adopt a code of conduct which reflected Christian ideas of compassion towards enemies
  • – There was to be no cannibalism and no destroying the enemy’s crops
  • – In agreement to these conditions he entered the battle
  • – Legend says he defied the bullets whizzing around him and emerged unscathed
  • – His bravery and trust in God captured the imagination of his people [1]

Obviously the ideal is a world without war, but we don’t live in an ideal world

  • – If Piripi had refused to fight the outcome for his enemies would have been worse
  • – So when peace wasn’t an option Piripi found a way to be salt & light, to remain involved and make a positive difference

 

Our second story of what it means to be salt & light comes from the book of Exodus, chapter 1

  • – The people of Israel were living in Egypt and they were thriving
  • – This made Pharaoh paranoid and he began to oppress the Israelites with slave drivers to crush their spirits
  • – But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites the more they increased in number
  • – So the king of Egypt called the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah to his palace for a chat
  • – “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, kill the baby if it is a boy, but let it live if it is a girl.”

This put the midwives in a difficult position

  • – If they did what Pharaoh wanted they would be in trouble with God
  • – And if they did what God wanted they would be in trouble with Pharaoh
  • – Some people may have abdicated their responsibility by resigning their position but not Shiphrah and Puah – they were made of sterner stuff
  • – If they weren’t involved some other midwives with little or no conscience might take their place and then they would have blood on their hands
  • – Better to stay involved and have some influence for good

Ultimately the midwives were more afraid of God than Pharaoh, so they let the boys live. But they were clever about it

  • – They didn’t make placards and stand in protest outside Pharaoh’s palace
  • – That might work in a democracy but not in a dictatorship
  • – They were as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves
  • – They subverted Pharaoh’s authority quietly and discreetly

On learning that his plan wasn’t working the king of Egypt summoned Shiphrah & Puah back for another meeting and asked them…

  • – “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
  • – Pharaoh wasn’t the sharpest knife in the draw so Shiphrah & Puah said to him, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before we arrive.”

This wasn’t true of course – it was a lie – and while it is not ideal to speak falsely, we don’t live in an ideal world

  • – If the midwives had been completely honest they would have put the king in a position where he felt obliged to kill them to save face
  • – God didn’t seem to mind the midwives deceit though – they were simply being salt & light – staying involved in the world and making a positive difference as they were able
  • – God protected Shiphrah & Puah and gave them children of their own
  • – The midwives’ subversive tactics worked and Pharaoh had to find another way to carry out his plan of genocide

When I think about the situations that Piripi and Shiphrah & Puah found themselves in, I imagine the pressures would have been huge

  • – But they didn’t cave
  • – They didn’t run away or assimilate
  • – They found a way to stay involved and make a positive difference

 

Conclusion:

Mission isn’t just something that happens overseas

  • – Opportunities for Christian mission are all around us, right here in NZ
  • – Jesus said, ‘You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world’
  • – Jesus means for us to have a positive influence where we are
  • – We are to be pure but not bland
  • – We are to be different but not separate
  • – We are to be open and not pass through life in our own little bubble

Having said that we do well to remember our saltiness and our light comes from our union with Christ

  • – This means we can’t be in the world all the time
  • – To stay salty and keep the lamp burning we need to guard against busy-ness and make time, apart from the world, to take care of our relationship with Jesus – reading our Bible, praying, gathering for worship and so on
  • – If you want good fruit you need to take care of the root.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What do salt & light share in common?

3.)    What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

4.)    What does it mean to be the light of the world?

5.)    Where would you place yourself on the graph below? Why?

Salt and light graph

6.)     How might we move from assimilation to distinctiveness?

–         How might we move from separation to involvement?

7.)    Piripi and Shiphrah & Puah provide good examples of people who acted as salt & light in their respective worlds. Can you think of any other examples from your own experience or from history or the Scriptures, where people have been salt & light? (I.e. made a positive difference through their involvement in a less than ideal situation.)

 

[1] Jay Ruka, Huia Come Home, page 48.

Tawa Baptist

Does God care about these people?

Scripture: Jonah

Title: Does God care about these people?

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jonah 1
  • Jonah 3
  • Jonah 4
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full person?

–         For a long time I was a glass half empty sort of person

 

Forgive me, I’m forgetting my manners – allow me to introduce myself…

–         My name is Jonah, son of Amittai – you may have heard about me in Sunday school

–         I was born nearly 800 years before Christ, which makes me about 2,800 years old now

–         I know what you’re thinking – I look good for my age

–         Some of you may be wondering, ‘Why is he wearing that outfit?’

–         Well, I’m a prophet – this is what the future looks like baby

–         I’m just kidding – I wear it because it’s comfortable

–         Although, when you’ve lived as long as I have, you notice fashion does keep going around in circles

 

Anyway, as I was saying, I used to be a glass half empty person – in fact my wife would say I was a bit grumpy and cantankerous, on a good day

–         All I wanted was the quiet life – to be left in peace with my work, to ignore my neighbours and make an appearance at the synagogue just often enough to avoid a visit from the local Rabbi

–         As you can see, by the way I’m dressed, I don’t like to draw attention to myself – I have no interest in public speaking either

–         God knew this of course – he knew how much I valued my privacy and yet he completely disregarded all that and called me to be a missionary prophet

 

Sounds a bit grand, even wonderful, to say ‘I am a missionary prophet’ but I can tell you the reality is far from it

–         Being a prophet is an incredibly lonely life

–         It makes you famous & poor, which is a combination you want to avoid

–         The messages God gives are usually unpopular – warnings of judgement if you don’t change your wicked ways

–         In a society like yours where people are always bowing down to the idol of individualism and your media insists personal freedom be worshipped, no one likes to be criticised for the way they live their life

–         And on those rare occasions when I do get to bring a message of hope, people are usually so despondent they refuse to believe it

–         It takes a great deal of courage to risk hope when you’ve lost nearly everything

 

Jonah 1

That’s why I did a runner when the Word of the Lord came to me

–         Don’t ask me how I knew it was God speaking – some things you just know to be true in the core of your being

–         God said to me, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

 

My first reaction was to ignore God, pretend like I didn’t hear

–         But there is an inevitability about God’s Word – it gets under your skin – the more you try to ignore it the more it irritates you

–         It becomes an itch that just has to be scratched

–         I tried distracting myself by keeping busy but that didn’t work so, even though God was leading me to Nineveh, I set off in the opposite direction for Spain – that’s how much I didn’t want to do this

 

What you need to understand is that Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, which you probably know as northern Iraq

–         The Assyrians were our enemies – I won’t go into it all but they did some terrible things to our people

–         And God wanted me to go to them as a missionary prophet, when I wasn’t even prepared to cross the street to give them the time of day

 

Now you might be thinking, ‘Surely Jonah you would jump at the chance to tell your enemies how rotten they are’

–         Well, you’re wrong. I knew God well enough to know his true motivation

–         God was sending me to Nineveh because deep down he really cares about them – why else would he give them a warning?

–         God likes to give people second and third and fourth chances – it’s just the way he is

–         I know this about God because he has been giving my people (Israel) hundreds of second chances for centuries

–         God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love

–         He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to be saved

–         Which is a real pain in the backside – because it means mugs like me get sent on a fool’s errand

–         I knew how it was going to turn out and that’s why I ran away

I guess I thought I would get away with it – I reasoned that if I didn’t go God would send someone else

–         I mean it’s not like I was anyone special – there were plenty of people more capable, more eloquent, more sociable, more charming than me

–         The Lord could use one of them

–         For a moment there I managed to convince myself that I was actually doing God a favour – I would probably stuff it up anyway

–         It never occurred to me that he would interfere with the weather

 

There I was, below deck, sleeping like a baby, while all hell was breaking loose above me

–         The men on board were seasoned sailors and they were scared for their lives, which tells you just how bad it was

–         As soon as they woke me I knew I was to blame

–         At that moment the psalmist’s words returned to me,

–         Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

–         Still I wasn’t ready to give in – I thought, ‘God cares about these men, he isn’t going to let them drown because of me.’

–         It was like I was playing chicken with God and the lives of everyone on the ship – that’s how reckless I had become

 

Eventually they caste lots (which is like throwing dice or drawing straws) and my number came up

–         That’s one of the differences between you people today and the ancients

–         They didn’t believe in chance like you do

–         Nothing was random to them – everything had a purpose and a meaning

–         The spiritual realm was everywhere – the hands of the gods were directing fate. Nothing happened by accident

–         You call it superstition or luck and your post enlightenment, hyper-rational mind-set rules out the possibility of divine involvement

–         People today close their eyes to what they don’t want to see

–         No wonder you are starved for meaning

–         Your society may be rich, in material terms, but it’s spiritually poor

 

Anyway, enough about you, let’s get back to me – as I was saying, my number came up and I had to fess up

–         The storm was caused by my God – the same God who made the land and the sea – a God far more powerful than any other

–         And the Lord was doing this because I was running away from him

–         I told the sailors it was my fault and that if they picked me up and threw me into the sea it will become calm again

–         But they didn’t want to do it – they tried to save me by rowing to shore

–         There was I, a son of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people

–         I had grown up being taught the ways of the one true, living God, and I took my Godly heritage for granted, despised it even

–         These sailors didn’t even know the Lord – and yet they were risking their lives to save mine

–         Their religion was based on a lie (they worshipped idols) but their humanity was true

–         They loved me like a brother and they hardly knew me

–         I can’t tell you how much their actions touched me – as lonely as I was

 

When the storm got even worse, and they realised I was right, they reluctantly threw me overboard. The water became dead flat in an instant

–         Jesus did the same thing on a lake in Galilee 800 years later

–         People these days have no idea how powerful the Lord is – if you did you would show him more respect than you do

 

As providence would have it I met one of those sailors years later and he explained how profound his conversion experience was at the moment the waters became still

–         It occurred to him just how gracious and wise God is, turning my failure, my disobedience, into their salvation

–         If I hadn’t run away those sailors may never have known the power of God’s goodness

–         The old sailor’s eyes misted up when he told me that and I was humbled to silence

Of course that humility came years later with the benefit of hindsight – at the moment of being thrown overboard and hitting the water I was terrified

–         You New Zealanders are surrounded by the sea – you love going to the beach and swimming in the waves – but I’m a Hebrew, a land-lover

–         The sea reminds you of summertime and holidays but for me the sea represents chaos and death

 

I hadn’t been thrashing around in the ocean for long when a huge fish swallowed me up

–         Now I know that many people today struggle to believe this

–         Your culture holds up this ideal of being broad minded & inclusive and yet your imagination is too small to include this possibility

–         I’m not going to waste my time trying to convince you – arguments about the fish are a distraction

 

The point is: God is sovereign – he is in control of the outcome

–         He is able to work all things for good

–         I thought I was a gonna when that fish swam up

–         Funny how sometimes the things we fear most, the things we think will destroy us, actually turn out to be our salvation

–         It’s like that famous hymn writer William Cowper said…

–         God moves in a Mysterious way, His Wonders to perform,
He plants his Footsteps in the Sea, and rides upon the Storm.

–         Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.   

–         I knew William Cowper – he was a glass half empty person, like me

–         During his lifetime he never really grasped how deeply God cared for him

–         But I’m not sure any of us do

 

I was three days and three nights in that fish and, after I had calmed down from the initial shock, it gave me time to think

–         I wrote a song of my own, which didn’t make it into the charts but did make it into the Bible.  Suffering is the mid-wife of art

 

Jonah 3

After the fish had spat me out on the beach the Word of the Lord came to me a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

–         So this time I obeyed the Word of the Lord and went to Nineveh

–         Now, getting to Nineveh is not easy – it’s a journey of hundreds of miles on foot. There were no cars or aeroplanes 2,800 years ago

–         It actually took me weeks to get there, and I had to rely on the kindness of strangers the whole way

 

Naturally I thought a lot about what had happened to me

–         How God had given me a second chance and persevered with me despite my stubbornness

–         How he didn’t trade me in for a more reliable, lower maintenance missionary prophet

–         How his Word to me the second time was different from the first time

–         The first time he told me to ‘preach against the city’, but now his message was more open ended, more flexible – simply: ‘Proclaim the message I give you’ – which could be anything

–         I wondered what he might ask me to say – I guess that’s faith isn’t it, walking in trust, not knowing what the future holds

–         Which doesn’t suit me at all – I want to know beforehand, I want to be prepared

 

When I finally arrived in Nineveh it was as bad as I had imagined – domestic violence, child abuse, women treated shamelessly, bribery and corruption in the justice system, a huge gap between rich & poor and an economy fuelled by war mongering – How can people live like that?

 

The message God gave me was simple: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

–         It had to be simple really – I spoke a different language to them and, as I said before, I don’t enjoy public speaking. None of that mattered though

–         Even though I must have looked a pitiful picture to them the people believed my message – don’t ask me how

–         I guess some things you just know to be true in the core of your being.

–         The people believed God and showed remorse for their wrong doing by fasting and wearing sackcloth

Fasting is when you go without food – it is an act of self-denial

–         Fasting is the opposite of celebrating

–         When you fast you have more time to pray and listen to God

–         Wearing sack cloth is a way of putting appearances aside

–         When someone puts on sackcloth they are saying I am spiritually poor and I’m not going to hide my poverty

The people of Nineveh were serious about their repentance – the king even issued a proclamation telling everyone to call on God for mercy and give up their violent ways. And the people did

–         When God saw they had turned away from evil, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened

 

Jonah 4

And they all lived happily ever after – except for me – I was not happy

–         Like I said before, I knew God was sending me to Nineveh because he really cares about them

–         It was God’s hope all along that the Assyrians would repent

–         God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love

–         He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to be saved

–         God will jump at the chance to let people off the hook, if they are genuinely sorry

 

I was so gutted I said, “Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

–         I did tell you I was a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person – but at that moment it seemed to me like the glass was completely empty

–         Not only did I have to live with the indignity of having my prediction unfulfilled (God didn’t make my words come true) – I just couldn’t face returning to my family and community

–         I knew people personally who had family members killed, crops destroyed and their homes burned to the ground by the Assyrians

–         How could I live with the shame of having helped my enemies

–         It was too much to bear – I felt like a traitor

And you know what God said to me?

–         “[Jonah], have you any right to be angry?”

 

Sullen and brooding I decided to give God the silent treatment

–         I wanted to put some distance between myself and the city, and between myself and God, so I walked East, even further away from the temple in Jerusalem

–         Have I any right to be angry? How could he ask that? Of course I do

–         Grace is fine when it’s for me and the people I care about, but mercy for the people of Nineveh, after all the suffering they had caused?

–         Where was the Lord’s sense of justice?

–         Cleary he cared about them but he didn’t seem to care about Israel, or about me.  I felt betrayed by God – whose side was he on?

 

God has a way of getting us to talk, even when we don’t want to

–         The Lord caused a vine, a leafy plant, to grow up beside me – it was incredible, sprang up overnight

–         The plant gave me shade from the sun – it was a comfort to me, my only comfort actually

–         Next day though God provides a worm to kill the plant

–         So that was my reward for obedience

–         I felt like Job – the Lord gives and takes away

–         The wind and sun was particularly bad that day – and I knew it was Him who was doing it

By this stage I could see the plant had been a real and living parable

–         You know you’re in trouble when God gives you a parable

–         Parables irritate you, they get under your skin and become an itch that has to be scratched – so I broke my silence and said again,

–         “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

–         I didn’t really want to die – I just didn’t want to be in pain anymore

–         I wanted to get off this nightmare carnival ride I was on

–         I wanted to get out of my head and feel good again

–         I wanted my cup to be full to overflowing

–         So God said to me, really softy and gently, “[Jonah], do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

–         He was trying to help me feel better but I couldn’t see that yet. I replied,

–         “I do have a right to be angry. I am angry enough to die.”

–         I wanted God to feel my pain, to understand

–         He sits on his throne in heaven, makes his plans, gives his orders and expects us to carry them out, but does he know how difficult this life is, how hard it is to be human?

 

The Lord said to me: “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

It was an argument from the lesser to the greater

–         I cared about that plant, even though I had done nothing to create it or look after it – how much more then should God care about 120,000 people (and their livestock) who he did create and who are far more valuable than a single vine

–         There was nothing I could say in reply to that – God had the last word

 

Conclusion:

Will asked me to preach today because my story fits with the theme of your self-denial campaign: ‘Where God leads’

–         Well, God led me hundreds of miles away from home to preach a message of repentance to my enemies

–         And why did he do that?

–         Because his purpose (his mission) is not all about me – and it’s not all about Israel either

–         God cares about my enemies (and yours)

–         Think about the person you care the least for in this world – God loves them – their life is precious to him

–         In fact he cares for all of his creation – not just human life

 

I said before that I wanted God to feel my pain, to understand, to know how hard it is to be human

–         Well, 800 years after I was born, he did just that

–         God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

–         And he suffered terribly – he felt my pain alright, and then some

–         His cup was emptied completely and after he had tasted death, his cup was filled to overflowing with eternal life

Jesus’ experience was my experience

–         I used to be a glass half empty sort of person – then the Lord emptied me completely, but only so he could fill me again with something far better

–         Jesus’ coming fulfilled the purpose of my life

–         He can fill your glass too but first he’ll probably want to empty it and make you wait – and that’s the hard part

–         Hold on to God through the emptying and the waiting – it’s worth it in the end

 

Where is God leading you?

–         Maybe overseas but more likely just over the fence to your neighbour or to someone in your own family

–         Peace be with you.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full person?

3.)    Why did God call Jonah to preach against the city of Nineveh?

–         Why do you think Jonah ran away?

4.)    Has God ever asked you to do something you really didn’t want to?

–         What happened?

5.)    How did God work Jonah’s disobedience for good?

6.)    Why do you think Jonah was angry after God relented from destroying Nineveh?

–         How did God handle Jonah’s anger?

7.)    Think of someone you don’t like or don’t care about

–         Take some time to imagine God’s love and care for the one(s) you don’t like

–         Ask God to bless your enemies

8.)    In what ways does Jonah’s story point to Jesus?

9.)    Where is God leading you?

 

Tawa Baptist

A New Filter

Scripture: Luke 24:36-49

Title: A New Filter

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • From fear to joy
  • From doubt to understanding
  • From disbelief to witness
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

I’m thinking of a word ending in ‘R’ – six letters. Can anyone tell me what it is?

  • – You find these everywhere: in sunglasses, in car engines, in coffee machines, swimming pools, fish tanks and cigarette butts.
  • – You even have one in your brain. Any guesses?
  • – I’ll give you some more clues: purify, refine, sieve, sift, strain, winnow
  • – That’s right, the word I’m thinking of is ‘filter’

The purpose of a filter is to remove or separate that which is not wanted

  • – Ideally a filter lets the good things through and keeps the bad things out

We might not be aware of it but each of us has a filter, in our mind, which automatically accepts some things and excludes others

  • – Having a filter is not a bad thing – we need a filter, we can’t let everything in all the time
  • – When we are young we tend to have less of a filter – we accept most things without question
  • – But as we get older our filter gets blocked or dirty, with bad experiences, and we become a bit fussy about what we accept – more things are automatically excluded. When that happens we need a new filter

 

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Luke 24, verses 36-49

  • – This passage describes what happened when the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples the evening of the first Easter Sunday
  • – Already it has been a long day for the disciples – Earlier that morning the women had gone to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty
  • – Two angels appeared to them and explained that Jesus had risen from the dead – the women reported this to the other disciples
  • – Later, the same day, the risen Jesus himself appeared to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus
  • – These two disciples didn’t recognise Jesus at first – they had seen Jesus die just three days before and so their filter excluded the possibility of talking with Jesus now
  • – It wasn’t until Jesus broke bread with them that they suddenly accepted that Jesus was alive
  • – Then Jesus disappeared and the two disciples returned to Jerusalem to tell the eleven. It’s at this point we pick up the story…

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture.

In this reading the risen Jesus gives his disciples a new filter

  • – He helps them to move from fear to joy
  • – From doubt to understanding
  • – And from disbelief to witness

 

From fear to joy:

Some of you may be into Snap Chat – I’m not but each to their own

  • – With Snap Chat you are able to put different filters on your photo to change your appearance – give yourself glasses, make yourself look like a dog or a gangster or a cartoon character, or whatever
  • – Normally a filter takes things out – it excludes things – but Snap Chat filters seem to add things in and distort the true picture
  • – The unconscious mental filters we have in our mind are bit like Snap Chat – as well as taking things out, they add things in.
  • – We call that stereotyping or prejudice
  • – For many years women were excluded from voting because men had a filter which said women were not competent to vote
  • – Most of us don’t cope well with the unknown and so, to prevent the vacuum from being filled with fear, we add in our own assumptions and beliefs which are often untrue.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of filter people apply to us when they learn we are Christian

  • – Do they see us as a person of light with angel eyes and a halo of golden butterflies fluttering over our head
  • – Or do they see us as a bit scary, judgemental and angry
  • – Neither of these pictures are fair or true

 

Verse 37 (of Luke 24) tells us, the disciples’ initial reaction to seeing Jesus in the room with them was one of shock & fear – they thought they were seeing a ghost, a spirit without a body

  • – They had seen Jesus killed and so their mental filter excluded the possibility that he could be alive and blindly adopted the prevailing cultural belief of the day – that the human soul is released from the body when a person dies and floats around in a disembodied state
  • – Their assumption was false but they lacked an alternative.

Jesus deals with their fear by engaging the disciples’ senses

  • – He speaks so they can hear him and recognise his voice
  • – He identifies himself by his scars – showing them his hands and his feet where the nails had been
  • – He offers his body for the disciples to touch if they want to
  • – And Jesus eats some fish in their presence so they can see he has an actual body – that he isn’t a phantom
  • – In doing this Jesus is giving his disciples physical evidence that he is alive and well.

Jesus is also doing some very practical things to calm his disciples’ fear

  • – When someone is having a panic attack you can help them by speaking calmly to them, pointing out something in the environment that is real, gently touching their arm, and offering them something to eat or drink
  • – Anything really that engages their physical senses and puts them in touch with the reality around them so they stop focusing on the fear inside.

Jesus’ strategy works – he manages to calm the disciples down so their fear gives way to ‘joy & amazement’ – but their unconscious filter is strong and they struggle to accept the fact of Jesus’ resurrection – ‘doubts rise in their minds’

 

From doubt to understanding:

Now doubt sometimes gets a bad rap in Christian circles and while doubt certainly has its downside, it also serves an important purpose

  • – If our filter becomes blocked – if it excludes too many possibilities – then we run the risk of going through life convinced we are right only to learn, at some point, we were wrong
  • – Doubt is a good thing when our filter is too narrow – doubt causes us to question and test our assumptions.

The fact the disciples can’t believe Jesus is alive, at first, proves they were convinced of his death in the first place

  • – The prerequisite to believing in Jesus’ resurrection is believing in his death
  • – So the strength of the disciples’ doubt proves Jesus’ death, which paves the way for believing in his resurrection

Doubt clears a path for faith – doubt actually makes room for understanding

  • – If we are too firmly fixed in our ideas & beliefs then those ideas & beliefs have no room to grow
  • – Robyn bought me a kowhai plant as a present one year
  • – It came in a small plastic container about 15cm’s in diameter
  • – That little pot was fine for a while but it didn’t allow the roots to spread or the plant to grow
  • – So I transplanted the kowhai to a barrel about a metre wide and it took off, until that became too small and now it’s planted in the backyard.

If we think of our understanding of God as a growing tree then, inevitably, our faith’s understanding will get to a point when the little pot it was planted in is too small and needs more room to put out roots and grow

  • – Doubt is what tells us the pot is too small – doubt challenges (perhaps even breaks) the little pot of our fixed ideas and beliefs
  • – Sometimes we mistakenly think the little pot in which our faith was first planted is all there is and we ignore the voice of doubt which is prompting us to transplant into a more spacious understanding of God.

Having said that, not all doubt is good – when doubt is intentional or leads to worry or paralysis of faith then it becomes a cruel master

  • – But when doubt challenges our presuppositions about what is possible
  • – When doubt dismantles our filter, removing the blockages to belief and enlarging our perspective on the truth, then it is our servant
  • – Perhaps this is why Jesus asks, ‘Why do doubts arise in your minds?’
  • – By acknowledging the presence of doubt and bringing it out into the open Jesus puts doubt in its proper place – he makes it serve his disciples

Verse 41 tells us the disciples still did not believe (even after seeing Jesus) because of ‘joy and amazement’

  • – In other words, they liked the thought that Jesus was alive and wanted to accept this but were being cautious because the idea seemed ‘too good to be true’
  • – This implies the disciples’ doubt was not cynical or sinister
  • – Their doubt was simply a form of self-preservation – they didn’t want to get their hopes up too quickly and have those hopes disappointed again
  • – After all their hope had just recently been crushed by Jesus’ crucifixion

It’s strange isn’t it how we often find loss & pain more convincing than joy – bad news is easier to believe than good news

  • – When we drill down into it we discover that trusting ourselves is actually more difficult than trusting God
  • – It was in the disciples’ interest to believe that God had raised Jesus from the dead, which is precisely why they struggled with it
  • – How can they trust themselves?
  • – How can they know their belief is not based on wishful thinking or self-interest?

Well, Jesus seems to understand this and so he points to the Bible as an objective independent verifier of the truth

  • – If the disciples can’t trust their own judgment then they can at least trust the testimony of Scripture – in verse 44 we read…

“This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

  • – Which is another way of saying, ‘This was God’s plan all along’

If we think of the Bible as a map book or a Satellite Navigation System or GPS, then Jesus is the destination

  • – The purpose of the Bible is to point to Jesus – to help people find Jesus
  • – Jesus’ coming into the world fulfils the purpose of the Bible, just like reaching your destination fulfils the purpose of a map or a Sat Nav device

 

Verse 45 tells how Jesus then opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. In other words, Jesus gave his disciples a new filter

–         He transplanted the kowhai plant of their faith into a much bigger pot

–         He showed them a larger portion of the map so they could see how all roads of Scripture lead to him

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem…”

Before Jesus died the disciples’ filter excluded the possibility that he would be crucified, then after he had died their filter excluded the possibility he would be raised from the dead to eternal life – theirs was a kind of ‘either / or’ thinking

–         If he is crucified then he can’t be the Messiah

–         If he dies then he can’t live again

–         But Jesus helps his disciples to think in terms of ‘both / and’

–         Jesus can be the Messiah and be crucified

–         Jesus can die and be raised to life

–         It’s not ‘either / or’ – it’s ‘both /and’

–         Both repentance and forgiveness will be preached in Jesus’ name,

–         Both Israel and all the other nations will hear the good news preached

 

So what does this mean for us?

–         Well, we are faced with essentially the same sorts of questions

For example, ‘How can God be love when there is so much suffering in the world?’

–         Or to make it more personal. ‘How can God love me when I’m suffering?’ It’s not either / or – it’s both / and

–         God loves us and allows us to suffer

–         The Bible doesn’t offer any explanation as to why a God of love allows suffering – it simply maintains that both are true

–         So if we are suffering in some way it does not mean that God doesn’t love us anymore – but it could mean we are entering into a greater intimacy with God, we are getting closer to Him

–         When we consider how much God suffers it is little wonder that we would suffer too as we draw closer to Him

 

Repentance & forgiveness also go together

–         Forgiveness is about letting go – it’s about being set free from something

–         And repentance is a change of attitude which leads to a change of behaviour

–         We can’t have forgiveness (or freedom) without repentance

–         If nothing changes, then nothing changes

Some people want forgiveness without repentance but it doesn’t work like that

–         I can’t expect to be free from a hangover if I keep drinking too much, just like I can’t expect to get fit by lying on the couch

–         Once I repent though, I can expect the release of forgiveness

In contrast to those who want forgiveness without repentance there are some who do the repentance but then don’t forgive themselves

–         Sometimes we are slow to let ourselves off the hook

–         How long are you going to carry your guilt around?

–         Jesus died so we wouldn’t have to do that

 

From disbelief to witness:

In verses 48 & 49 Jesus says to his disciples…

–         You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Just as Scripture is fulfilled by Jesus, so too the purpose of the disciples’ lives is fulfilled by Jesus

–         They have heard Jesus’ message of repentance & forgiveness, they have witnessed Jesus’ ministry, his suffering, death and resurrection – now it is their job to tell others what they’ve seen and heard

–         But before they bear witness they need to wait for power from on high – they need to wait for the Holy Spirit in other words

–         Here we have another ‘both / and’

–         Our witness for Jesus and the Holy Spirit go together – without the power of God’s Spirit our witness falls flat

For a number of years I thought my job as a Christian was to convert people – to get people to believe in Jesus and become like him

–         What I learned is that by myself I can’t change a hair of my own head let alone anyone else’s heart

–         It is not our job to convert people – the most we can do is bear witness to the love & truth of Christ

–         It’s the Holy Spirit who converts people – it’s the Holy Spirit who brings repentance and change, and who convinces people they are forgiven

 

Let me tell you a true story, from New Zealand’s history [1]

–         In the 1820’s the Nga Puhi tribe (from Northland) came down to the East Cape (near Gisborne) and raided the Ngati Porou

–         During the raid they captured a young man called Piripi Taumata-a-Kura

–         The Nga Puhi took Piripi back to Northland and made him a slave

–         While he was there Piripi met the English missionary Henry Williams, who taught Piripi how to read and introduced him to the stories of Jesus

–         At the time no one really thought much about Piripi – he was a slave, which meant he was on the bottom rung, so people filtered him out.

About ten years passed during which time the Spirit of Jesus was opening Piripi’s mind to understand the Scriptures

–         Then one day, in 1833, a vicious storm off the East Cape blew a ship from Piripi’s hometown all the way up to Nga Puhi territory in Northland.

–         The ship came ashore near where Piripi was held captive

–         The Nga Puhi captured the Ngati Porou leaders, intending to make them slaves, but Henry Williams talked the chiefs out of that idea

–         Instead they were allowed to receive instruction from the Waimate mission station, just as Piripi had

–         The influence of the gospel softened the hearts of the Nga Puhi captors and after eight months the Ngati Porou leaders were released

–         Piripi sailed home with the leaders from his tribe

When their ship arrived back at Rangitukia (on the East Cape) the people were completely stunned – after 10 years they had assumed Piripi was dead (their filter had excluded his survival)

–         Getting all the men back alive was like a miracle of resurrection

On the first evening of his return Piripi Taumata-a-Kura held a prayer service and sent word throughout the area, inviting people to come and hear his story

–         The very next day Piripi preached the first sermon on the East Coast, sharing the good news of Jesus with his tribe

–         Piripi and those who had returned with him preached the gospel up and down the East Cape years before any Pakeha missionaries arrived

When the English missionary William Williams came to the East Coast in 1838 he saw the effects of Piripi’s witness and wrote:

–         A great work has been accomplished in which the hand of the Lord has been… manifest. It has not been through the labour of your missionaries; for the word has only been preached by Native teachers. We had literally stood still to see the salvation of God.

Piripi is someone who wouldn’t make it through most people’s filters

–         He was someone no one would expect and therefore perfect for dismantling filters

–         Piripi suffered like Jesus suffered

–         Piripi’s story is one of slavery and redemption, suffering and new life

–         He bore witness to the truth he had received and the power of God’s Spirit did the rest

 

Conclusion:

Easter Sunday is the day we remember anew the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection

–         It is a day to change our filter – to reset our assumptions about what is possible and let God open our minds to the largeness of his purpose

 

Let us pray: Loving Father, move us by your Spirit from fear to joy, from doubt to understanding and from disbelief to witness. In the powerful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Why do we need a (mental) filter – how does this help us?

–         When does a filter become detrimental and need replacing?

3.)    How did Jesus move his disciples from a state of shock & fear to joy & amazement?

–         What are some practical things we can do to help someone who is having a panic attack?

4.)    When is doubt a good thing?

–         When is doubt not a good thing?

5.)    Has God ever transplanted your faith’s understanding into a larger pot?

–         What happened? How did God do this? What change took place in you?

6.)     Discuss (or reflect on) the relationship between repentance and forgiveness

7.)    What does the story of Piripi Taumata-a-Kura teach us?

–         How might God give us a new filter?

 

[1] From Jay Ruka’s book, ‘Huia Come Home’, pages 47-49.

Tawa Baptist

Open

Scripture: Isaiah 50:4-9

Title: Open

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Listening
  • Suffering
  • Vindication
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

On the wall here is the sketch of a young Jesus (as an apprentice carpenter) balancing a length of wood on his shoulders with parents, Joseph & Mary, watching in the background

–         The light falls across Jesus and his burden in such a way as to caste the shadow of a cross on the ground

–         The picture foreshadows Jesus’ future when he will carry his cross

This morning our sermon focuses on Isaiah chapter 50, verses 4-9, one of the lectionary readings for today

–         Isaiah 50 is sometimes read in preparation for Easter as it foreshadows Jesus’ experience

–         From Isaiah 50, verses 4-9, in the NIV we read…

The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

May the Sovereign Lord illuminate this Scripture for us

As we read the prophet’s words in Isaiah 50 it is apparent how open God’s servant is

–         He is open to listening to what God says

–         He is open to suffering abuse for sharing his message

–         And he is open to facing his accusers with truth

–         How is he able to do this – where does his confidence come from?

–         It comes from knowing God will vindicate him

 

Listening:

Around 251AD a man by the name of Anthony was born

–         Anthony was the son of Egyptian peasants

–         When he was 18, Anthony responded to what he sensed was God’s call on his life

–         He sold what he owned (which wasn’t much), and after a period of living as a poor labourer at the edge of the village, he withdrew into the desert, where for 20 years he lived in complete solitude and silence

–         Those 20 years in the desert were a trial to him

–         They were a time when his superficial securities and the illusions he had about himself were stripped away

–         A time when he was open before God

 

There are a variety of different ways in which we can pray

–         For example, we can sit and talk to God using either our own words or words written by someone else

–         We can keep a journal, writing our prayers and reflections on paper

–         And then there is the prayer of silence – when we don’t say or write or do anything at all, we simply sit quietly, waiting on God

I say ‘simply’ but actually it’s quite difficult to do that sometimes

–         Thoughts fill our minds and we may find ourselves planning our ‘to do’ list or worrying about something or other

–         Finding that sacred internal silence can be quite illusive

Now I’m not suggesting you go bush for 20 years and just listen for God, like Anthony did

–         Nor am I suggesting all prayer should be silent prayer – we still need to use words in our prayer time

–         The point is, we need to observe times of silence too

–         Silence is a way of opening ourselves up to God

–         Silence in prayer reminds us we are not in charge – we are not calling the shots

–         In times of silence we may become aware of our own spiritual poverty, our nakedness before God

–         Without the scaffolding of words we realise just how dependent on God we are for support

–         Silence cultivates an attitude of openness to God, it makes room for God’s voice

When Anthony finally emerged from his time of solitude and silence, people recognized a wholeness, a wisdom and a compassion in him

–         And they flocked to him for healing, for comfort, for strength and for direction

–         St Anthony’s service to others, flowed out of his being open to God – listening to Him in an attitude of trusting dependence

 

In Isaiah 50, verse 4, the servant of the Lord describes how he listens to God in a spirit of openness

He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

–         This tells us the first inclination of a prophet is to listen

–         It also tells us the prophet’s message is not his own – it comes from God and so it has an inherent authority to it

When we read this verse we might feel a bit jealous of the prophet’s clarity and we might think, ‘How can I hear God like that?’

–         Well, before we can hear God He has to ‘waken our ears to listen’

–         So our ability to hear God depends on God’s initiative in the first place, but we still need to do our part and pay attention

–         I don’t believe there is a set formula for hearing God – we can listen for God in a whole variety of ways

–         Normally we wouldn’t expect to hear God speaking to us in an external audible voice – although we might hear an inner voice, sort of like the implantation of a thought that is not our own

–         Personally I listen for God through a combination of reading, talking with others, reflecting on circumstances, common sense, silence with solitude, interpreting dreams and through the process of writing

–         Your experience of listening to God may be similar or different

–         In any case, once we think we have heard God speak we then need to measure what we’ve heard against Scripture and ask trusted friends what they think

–         Generally speaking God’s word is best discerned in community, not in isolation

Having said that there will be times when the community are wrong – when they won’t get it and we have to trust the minority report

–         This was often Jesus’ experience – for Jesus listening to God was done in solitude. In Mark chapter 1 we read…

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed… when they found him, they exclaimed, ‘Everyone is looking for you’. Jesus replied, ‘Let us go to the nearby villages so I can preach there also… 

The community wanted Jesus to stay with them but Jesus didn’t agree

–         He had spent time alone with God, listening to his Father in prayer – so he knew there were others who were weary and in need of a sustaining word from God too

 

Returning to Isaiah 50, the prophet’s listening to God serves the purpose of providing a word that sustains the weary

–         That is, the right word in season – a word that can be depended on

Who then are the weary?

–         Well, the historical context of Isaiah 50 is most likely Israel in exile – so the weary are God’s people in a foreign land under the thumb of a foreign government

–         The weary are those who are low in hope, low in energy, low in joy, depressed and worn out by the circumstances of their existence

–         While we are not politically oppressed in the same way the Jewish exiles were, (or in the way the persecuted church overseas is today) many of us have been made weary in other ways

–         We know what it is to be tired, worn out, depressed and despairing

Isaiah 50 foreshadows Jesus’ ministry

–         Jesus had an instructed tongue – here are just some of the things he says to sustain the weary (both in his day and in ours)…

–         ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven’

–         ‘Go in peace, your sins are forgiven’

–         And, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

 

Suffering:

Of course there is risk in letting our guard down and being open

–         We can’t expect to listen and remain unaffected

–         The Lord’s servant isn’t just open to Yahweh – he is open to the world also and all the suffering & abuse that comes with it

 

In the Lord of the Rings trilogy the Hobbit, Frodo, is charged with the responsibility of taking the ring back to the land of Mordor and destroying it in the fires from which it was forged

–         This takes a great deal of courage for a wee Hobbit, because Mordor is a dark and evil land

–         Mordor is the last place that Frodo wants to go for it is the headquarters of his enemies

–         Not just his enemies the Orcs but also his own inner enemy – the power of the ring

–         Nevertheless Frodo summons his courage and resolutely sets out for Mordor

 

In Isaiah 50:5-7 we read of the courageous suffering of the Lord’s servant

The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.

–         In other words, the Sovereign Lord has told me what he wants me to say & do and I have been obedient to that, even though his command results in my suffering

I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

–         The servant knows that God has told him to face his enemies openly, without resisting and without defending himself

–         Not only is the servant required to suffer physical pain, he is also required to suffer public humiliation and insult

 

We may wonder at this point, who is it that is opposing the Lord’s Servant?

–         If Isaiah 50 was originally intended for the Jewish exiles then perhaps the ones handing out the abuse are the Babylonian overlords

–         Or maybe the prophet is facing opposition from his own people – when people are angry at God they sometimes take it out on God’s servants

 

In any case, the suffering of the Lord’s Servant gives more credibility to his message

–         In his commentary on these verses Paul Hanson writes…

–         “Those with the greatest ability to encourage the distraught are often people who… discover special gifts of empathy and empowerment… in their own valleys of personal suffering.”

–         For example, if you are facing cancer then you are more likely to believe a word of encouragement from someone who has been through it themselves, because you know they understand

–         Or if you are struggling with depression then you are more likely to trust the word of someone who has faced depression themselves – knowing something from experience carries weight

–         The prophet in Isaiah 50 encourages the weary from alongside them, not from above them

–         He is not standing at a safe distance removed from their suffering – he is close and present, sharing in their suffering

–         This sounds a lot like Jesus doesn’t it – alongside us, sharing our pain

 

In all of this the servant knows his suffering won’t last: Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

–         A flint is a very hard stone that you strike in order to start a fire

–         To set your face like flint means to set out to do something without flinching and without compromise

–         The servant knows the words he speaks from God will cause his enemies to strike him, but in striking him they will start a fire

–         For some that fire will mean warmth and light

–         But for others it will mean torment and pain

 

One thing we notice here is that the Lord’s servant sets his face like flint, not his heart – He is tough on the outside but tender on the inside

 

Isaiah 50, verse 7, foreshadows Jesus’ experience

In Luke 9 we read…

–         As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.

–         Ironically, Jerusalem was Jesus’ Mordor

–         It was the headquarters of his enemies

–         It was a destination of suffering for Jesus

Jerusalem was the place where Jesus would offer his back to be flogged

–         It was the place where Jesus would be mocked and spat on

–         It was the place where Jesus would be beaten with fists and with sticks

–         It was the place where Jesus would be used like a flint to start a fire

–         A fire that would give warmth and light to some but torment and pain to others

Pilate had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers took Jesus, stripped him, put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They mocked him… they spat on him… and they hit him over the head with a staff, again and again… 

 

But it wasn’t just the Romans who abused Jesus

–         Sadly, Jesus’ greatest opposition came from his own people

–         Nevertheless, Jesus did not draw back or shy away – he confronted false religion with the truth and disarmed sin by his own sacrifice

 

Vindication:

The servant of the Lord is able to remain open, despite the abuse he faces, because he knows he is on the side of right – and therefore he is confident that God will vindicate him

William Blake wrote a number of poems that became quite famous, including some verses he called Auguries of Innocence

–         An augury is like a sign or an omen or a prediction of something given by a prophet

–         So Auguries of Innocence is like a prophecy or a list of signs or omens that one could expect to accompany innocence

–         Let me read you a few lines now … 

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour…
…Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine;
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine…
…God appears and God is Light,
To those poor souls who dwell in Night;
But does a Human Form display
To those who dwell in realms of Day… 

Blake is describing here how the innocent see life, with the eyes of faith

–         The innocent believe that even the small and seemingly insignificant, ordinary, transient things of life (like sand and flowers and their own lives) all serve a greater eternal purpose, in God’s hand

For those who are innocent, joy and woe are woven fine

–         The innocent may suffer grief and they may pine for their loss

–         But with their grief and loss they will also have joy – running through with silken twine

For the innocent, God appears as light, even though they may dwell in night or in darkness

–         But to those innocent who dwell in the realms of day, God’s light is displayed in human form – through people

 

In Isaiah 50, verses 8-9, we read how the servant of the Lord is open to facing his enemies (his accusers) in court

–         The servant knows he is innocent and that his unjust treatment is actually the result of his obedience to God

–         So he can say confidently: He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!

The Lord’s servant may sit in the dark night of the soul, but he is innocent and so he has the light of certain hope that God will vindicate him because God is just

 

It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.

–         The expression Sovereign Lord is used four times in this passage

–         To say the Lord is Sovereign is to say the Lord is in charge – he is in control of the outcome

–         In other words, the Lord’s servant doesn’t need to worry because his master ‘holds infinity in the palm of his hand’

In contrast to the Sovereign Lord, who ‘holds eternity in an hour’, the servant’s accusers …will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

At his trial Pilate said to Jesus, ‘Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on Pilate tried to set Jesus free…

Jesus knew he was innocent and that God would vindicate him in the end

–         Pilate sensed this too and that’s why he tried to free Jesus

The prophet in Isaiah 50 was expecting God to vindicate him in the court room – but it didn’t happen this way for Jesus

–         Despite his every effort Pilate couldn’t persuade the people to let him release Jesus and Jesus went to his death on a cross

–         Jesus’ vindication didn’t happen in Pilate’s court

–         Jesus’ vindication happened silently, three days later, when God raised his servant from death to eternal life

–         Pilate’s reign and the reign of the Jewish religious leaders was short lived – while Jesus reigns forever

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Isaiah 50 foreshadows Jesus’ experience

–         Like the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah Jesus is open

–         Jesus is open to listening to the word God gives him

–         Jesus is open to suffering for sharing that word

–         And Jesus is open to facing his enemies with the truth, for he knows God will vindicate him in the end

In a moment we will sing a song about Jesus’ suffering. In whatever troubles we face, may we know that Jesus has faced every difficulty and overcome them all – so he knows exactly what we are going through

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Discuss (or reflect on) the ways Isaiah 50:4-9 foreshadows Jesus’ experience?

3.)    How can we listen to God?

4.)    Why might we sit in silence before God?

–         What affect might this have on us?

5.)    Who are the weary in our world today?

6.)    What is the significance of the four times repeated ‘Sovereign Lord’?

–         What assurance does this give to those who suffer injustice?

7.)    What difficulties are you facing at the moment?

–         Can you see how your experience of suffering connects with Jesus’ experience?

Tawa Baptist

The Whole of the Moon

Scripture: John 17:20-26

Title: The Whole of the Moon

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus prays for us to be one
  • Made one by Jesus’ glory (love & suffering)
  • Made one for a purpose (that others would know & believe)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

[Play the first 2 mins and 5 secs of the song: ‘The Whole of the Moon’]

 

I pictured a rainbow, you held it in your hands.

I had flashes but you saw the plan.

I wandered out in the world for years, while you just stayed in your room.

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon, the whole of the moon.

You were there at the turn stiles with the wind at your heels

You stretched for the stars and you know how it feels to reach too high, too far, too soon, you saw the whole of the moon. 

I was grounded, while you filled the skies.

I was dumbfounded by truth, you cut through lies.

I saw the rain dirty valley, you saw Brigadoon.

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon.

Can anyone tell me the name of the band who wrote this song? [Wait]

–         That’s right – The Waterboys

–         It’s a song about someone who has the vision to see the bigger picture, beyond the immediate, beyond the here & now

 

Over the past couple of weeks we have been working our way through Jesus’ prayer in John 17

–         Jesus prayed this prayer the night before his trial, crucifixion and death

–         He knew very well what was coming

–         If it was any of us I imagine our focus would be quite narrow – we would be thinking about the pain of the next day – the here & now

–         We would struggle to see beyond Good Friday

–         But Jesus has a bigger perspective

–         Yes, he prays for himself, but his vision stretches higher & further than that

–         Jesus sees the whole of the moon – not just the crescent of his crucifixion

–         He looks out across the centuries and sees the millions who will believe in him and come to know God’s love

–         From verse 20 of John 17 Jesus prays for us…

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading

 

Jesus prays for us to be one:

Jesus’ prayer in these verses is that we, who believe in him, may be one

–         What then does it mean to be one?

Well, to be one can mean a number of things

–         Last week we heard how Jesus prayed for his disciples to be one and I connected this oneness with integrity, because in the context Jesus was talking about holiness and integrity is an aspect of holiness

From a mathematical perspective, to be one is to be whole or to be 100%, as opposed to something less than one, like a half or some other fraction

–         So when Jesus asks God the Father to make those who believe in him one he could mean he wants us to be whole – both whole in an individual sense but also whole in a collective sense

 

To be whole in an individual sense means to be undivided, completely committed to God and without split loyalties

–         Being one is akin to being pure in heart, not having mixed motives and not serving two masters

–         In Matthew 5 Jesus promised that the pure in heart will see God

–         There is a certain peace & joy which comes with being one thing and not a whole lot of different things

–         So, in praying for us to be one, Jesus could mean he wants our personal undivided loyalty – he wants the whole of us not just some part

 

To be one (or whole) in a collective sense means having no one missing from the group

–         Last week I used the analogy of a football team being one (or having integrity) when all 11 players are on the field and in the right position

–         If a player gets sent off or out of position then the team loses something of its integrity or its oneness

–         In Luke 15 Jesus tells three parables: about a lost sheep, a lost coin and two lost sons

–         In each of those stories Jesus is making the point that God’s purpose is to restore, to make things whole again – make them one

–         The shepherd’s flock of a 100 sheep is not whole if one is missing

–         Just as the woman’s set of 10 silver coins is not whole if one is missing

–         And the family is not whole (it doesn’t have integrity) if either one of the sons becomes estranged from the father or each other

–         So, in praying for us to be one, Jesus could also mean he wants no one to be lost

 

Looking more closely at the context of John 17, Jesus says in verses 21-23…

–         I pray… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

This tells us the oneness Jesus has in mind is relational – we are one with each other in the same way that God the Father and God the Son are one

–         Jesus seems to be talking about an ontological oneness here – a oneness of being, something intrinsically shared

–         God the Father and Jesus the Son are not the same person but they share the same essence, the same Spirit, the same DNA so to speak

–         Likewise, we who believe that Jesus is from God share a oneness of being

–         We share the same Spirit, or the same spiritual DNA

–         This oneness of being is given and inherent – it is not something we create ourselves through some sophisticated organisational structure

–         For example, we Baptists, here in New Zealand, are one with Coptic Christians in Egypt, even though we are different in other ways

Unity, as you know, does not mean uniformity – it doesn’t mean everyone being the same

–         Unity allows for diversity while at the same time holding some things in common. So what is it we hold in common?

–         Well Jesus says, I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one…

–         This tells us we are made one by the glory of Jesus

 

Made one by Jesus’ glory:

Once again the glory God gave Jesus can mean a number of things – two things in particular from the context:

–         God gave Jesus the glory of being loved and the glory of suffering

The glory of love

–         First the glory of love. Jesus says in verse 24…

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

  • – And then in verse 26 he says…

“Righteous Father… I…will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them….”

God loved Jesus and Jesus passes that love on to us, therefore the love of God makes us one – we are all loved by God, we share this in common

–         What did the one lost sheep share with the other 99 who didn’t go astray?

–         The lost sheep was loved just as much as the other 99

–         What did the younger (prodigal) son share in common with the older (resentful) son?

–         They were both loved equally by the Father

–         To see the glory of Jesus is to know that we are loved by God

 

I don’t know if you have ever been in love, or if you can remember, but when you love someone they populate your every thought

–         You find it hard to be without them, hard not to talk about them

–         And you become quite jealous where they are concerned – not jealous in a bad way but jealous in the sense of wanting the best for them

–         When you love someone it hurts not to be able to express your love – you want to tell them of your love and show them love in any way you can

 

Jesus is saying in his prayer that he wants us to know the glory of his love, which is essentially the love that God the Father has for him

–         And this is remarkable really when we consider that Jesus was about to be crucified – At a time when most of us would be focused on ourselves, because of the ordeal that lay ahead, Jesus’ thoughts are populated by us

–         Although he is about to depart this world, while we remain here, Jesus ultimately wants us to be with him where he is

–         Jesus is jealous for us – not jealous in a bad way but jealous in the sense that he wants the best for us

–         He wants us to know how much we are loved by God

There are times in this life when it is difficult to believe that we are loved by God – times when circumstances are against us and darkness closes in

–         We see the crescent – we see only in part – we don’t yet realise the full extent of God’s love for us

–         But Jesus sees the whole of the moon and he wants us to see the full glory of God’s love too

 

We are talking about the glory that Jesus has given us – the glory that makes us one: first there is the glory of love, but there is also the glory of suffering

 

The glory of suffering

Suffering is the natural partner of love

–         Suffering strips away illusion – it proves the truth of love, actually helps us to see love in all its glory

 

I’d like to play you part of Joni Mitchell’s song, ‘Both Sides Now’ …

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels

The dizzy dancing way that you feel

As every fairy tale comes real

I’ve looked at love that way.

But now it’s just another show

And you leave them laughing when you go

And if you can don’t let them know

Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now

From give and take and still somehow

Its love’s illusions that I recall

I really don’t know love

I really don’t know love at all

 

There are two sides to love aren’t there

–         There’s the wonderful high we get from love – the dizzy dancing way you feel – and then the fairy tale comes real

–         There is the joy of being with the one you love and then the pain & grief we feel when we lose our lover

“Love’s illusions” are normally felt by us in the early stages of a relationship, when we are blind

–         Love’s illusions makes us think the good feeling will last forever

–         Love’s illusions lead us to make grand promises we can never keep – to imagine we are invincible and the rules don’t apply to us

–         Love’s illusions is what we recall because the pain of love:

o   The giving of ourselves when there is nothing in it for us,

o   The long haul commitment,

o   The things that irritate us and make us mad,

o   The way our lover shows us a mirror for a faults,

o   The grief we feel when death separates us,

o   All the suffering of true love, we prefer not to face

–         Love’s illusions are sweeter

 

There can be a romanticism in Christian faith that actually sets us up for a fall

–         Sometimes we believe in a fairy tale, don’t we – one in which God’s love for us equates to a dizzy dancing feeling that we think will last forever

–         We imagine our faith to be invincible and we make grand promises in the worship songs we sing and the prayers we pray, promises we can’t keep

–         We might think, for our faith to be true we must always feel peace & joy,

–         But then the ‘fairy tale comes real’ and God seems distant

–         We might feel alone, like God has abandoned us to sickness or despair or the violence of our unwanted thoughts & compulsions, the tyranny of self

We find that sanctification, being made holy, becoming like Christ, includes being shown a mirror of all our faults and it’s too much to take

–         Sometimes being a believer in Jesus is bliss – but much of the time it’s just hard graft, in this world at least (I’m not sure what the next life holds)

–         And ‘still somehow its love’s illusion we recall – we really don’t know love at all.’

 

Suffering is the natural partner of love

–         Suffering strips away illusion – it proves the truth of love, actually shows us love in all its glory

–         We can’t know how much God loves us until we look in the mirror and see what we are really like

–         Nor can we know how much we love God until we give ourselves to him when it seems there’s nothing in it for us

 

Jesus gives us the glory God gave him and that glory includes both love and suffering

–         We might not all suffer in the same way, but we all suffer, and so our oneness comes from carrying our cross, as Christ carried his cross

–         We are to love one another because God first loved us and because we are all hurting in our own private way

–         We don’t ‘give ourselves away’ when maybe sometimes we should

–         Life is hard – we need to be on each other’s side

 

Made one for a purpose:

There is purpose in the oneness of our love & suffering

–         We are made one, not just for ourselves, but primarily for others – that the world would know and believe that Jesus comes from God

In verse 21 Jesus says…

Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

–         And in verse 23 he says…

…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

In verse 21 Jesus prays for our oneness so, that the world may believe and in verse 23 he asks that we be brought to unity, that the world may know

–         Believing & knowing go hand in hand in this context

–         It seems the kind of knowing Jesus has in mind here is not just a superficial mental awareness but the knowing of deep conviction

–         Believing it in your core – trusting the knowledge

 

The relationship between knowledge & belief is found throughout the Bible

–         In Psalm 9, verse 10, for example we read…

–         Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

 

To help us understand the relationship between knowing and believing, imagine you are standing on one side of a huge chasm

–         There is no way around and the only way across is a narrow swing bridge

–         To get to the other side of the chasm you need to know where the swing bridge is and how to get to it

–         But simply knowing where the bridge is, is not enough in itself to get you across

Once you have reached the bridge you then need the faith to cross it

–         You need to believe that it will hold your weight and that the destination on the other side is worth the risk

Jesus is the bridge

–         The miracle of our oneness is the sign which points to the bridge so people know where to cross

–         And knowledge of God’s love for us helps people to believe in Jesus, to trust him – it gives people confidence to cross over to the other side

–         (Because if God can love us he can love anyone)

 

In John 9 Jesus heals a man born blind

–         This man then gets interrogated by the Pharisees

–         The Pharisees say, ‘We don’t know where Jesus comes from’

–         And the man replies:

–         “What a strange thing that is. You don’t know where he comes from but he cured me of my blindness… Unless this man came from God he would not be able to do a thing.”  

–         The Pharisees didn’t like that logic so they expelled the man from the synagogue

At that point the man born blind can see the crescent but he can’t see the whole of the moon – he knows that Jesus is a prophet, who comes from God, but he doesn’t yet realise that Jesus is far more than a prophet

When Jesus heard what had happened he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

 The man answered, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him!”

Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now.”

“I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.

 

Knowledge and belief go hand in hand

–         Knowledge enables us to see the crescent

–         Belief helps us to see the whole of the moon

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Jesus prayed for us, who believe in him without ever having seen him

–         Jesus prayed that we may be one as he and God the Father are one

–         We are made one by the glory Jesus gives us – the glory of God’s love and suffering

–         And we are made one for a purpose – so the world may know & believe that God sent Jesus

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Have you had the experience of seeing the crescent of something and then being shown the whole of the moon? What happened?

3.)    What do you think Jesus had in mind when he prayed for us to be one?

–         Discuss (or reflect on) the possibilities

4.)    What did Jesus say makes us one?

–         What is the glory Jesus has given us?

5.)    To what extent do you (personally) know you are loved by God?

–         How do you know this?

–         Why is suffering necessary to love?

6.)    Listen to Joni Mitchell’s song, ‘Both Sides Now’

–         What are you in touch with as you listen? (What do you feel and remember?)

7.)    Why did Jesus pray for us to be one?

–         Why do we need to love one another?

8.)    Thinking of the man healed by Jesus in John 9, what is the relationship between knowledge and belief/faith?

–         Why is knowledge necessary to belief, and vice versa?

 

Tawa Baptist

Passing the Baton

Scripture: John 17:9-19

 

Title: Passing the baton

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Sent into the world
  • Protected by the name
  • Sanctified by the truth
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

In some ways Christian history is like a relay where the baton is passed on from one person to the next, one generation to the next

–         No one runs the whole race by themselves, not even Jesus, but each of us has our stage to complete

Today we continue our mini-series on Jesus’ prayer in John 17

–         Jesus prayed this prayer the night before his crucifixion and death

–         Last week we looked at the first 8 verses of John 17, where Jesus asked for glory for himself and for God the Father

–         This morning we focus on verses 9-19, where Jesus prays for his disciples

–         Jesus is about to finish his stage of the relay and is at the point of passing on the baton to his disciples

–         Jesus is leaving the field but he wants his disciples to stay on track and run with his message to pass on to others

–         From John 17, verse 9 (in the NIV) we read…

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

There is a lot going on in these verses and I’m not sure it’s possible to fully understand it all – but here are three handles to help us grasp some of the main points at least:

–         Jesus sends his disciples into the world

–         The disciples are protected by the name of God

–         And they are sanctified by the truth

–         First let’s consider the disciples in the world

 

Sent into the world:

If you go scuba diving in the ocean you need to put on the right gear – a wet suit, a weight belt, a mask, flippers and oxygen tanks

–         This is because we human beings don’t belong underwater – we need special protection & equipment to survive in that environment

–         It’s the same principle with space travel – we don’t belong in space and so we would need a special suit and a space craft to exist outside the earth’s atmosphere

–         Or, coming back down to earth again, we don’t belong underground

–         If we go caving we need ropes and a helmet and a torch

–         Even with all this gear though we can’t stay underwater or in space or in a dark cave for very long – it’s not our natural environment

 

Jesus has quite a bit to say about the world in relation to the disciples in John 17

–         The ‘world’ is on the lips of Jesus 11 times in this morning’s reading

–         Now when we hear the term ‘world’ we tend to think of planet earth, our natural environment, a place where we belong

–         But in the gospel of John the ‘world’ is not the natural environment for Christian believers

–         In John 17 the ‘world’ refers to a spiritual domain, an atmosphere of darkness and unbelief where the light of truth and the oxygen of faith is in short supply

–         Or as William Barclay puts it, the world in John stands for ‘human society organising itself without God’

–         The ‘world’ then stands in contrast to the ‘Kingdom of God’

–         The world, as Jesus describes it here, is unsupportive of Christian faith, much like being underwater or out in space or in a cave is not conducive to human life

In verse 11 Jesus says to God…

  • – I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.
  • – Then in verse 14 he says…
  • – I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
  • – And in verse 18 Jesus says…
  • – As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

It is from these verses that we get the old adage: ‘Christians are to be in the world but not of it’

–         Elsewhere in the gospels Jesus uses the image of salt & light to get this idea across – In Matthew 5 Jesus says to his disciples…

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

 

Sometimes, in my role as a pastor, I’ve visited people in prison and every time I go inside I feel uneasy – I’m very conscious that I don’t belong

–         It feels like a different world in prison, although it’s not entirely different

Sometimes, as Christians, we might feel uneasy in this world, like we don’t belong, like we are visiting a prison

–         It is natural we might feel this way because this world is not our home

–         We are citizens of God’s kingdom

–         Like Abraham and Jesus, we are sojourners, pilgrims passing through this world

Christ sends his disciples into the world – that is, into an environment which is not supportive of Christian faith, an atmosphere of darkness and unbelief where the light of truth and the oxygen of faith is in short supply

–         With this in mind our Lord prays for protection for his disciples

 

Protected by the name:

If you are a hockey goalie then you need to wear quite a bit of protective gear

–         And if you are a bomb disposal expert you wear a special suit for protection, or when you go boating you wear a life jacket

–         This equipment is designed to keep people physically safe – it doesn’t provide any guarantees but it certainly helps

 

In verse 11 Jesus prays for disciples saying…

–         Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name…

At first this sounds a bit odd – how exactly does a name offer any sort of protection?

–         Well, I’m not sure a name can be relied upon to give us physical protection, in the same way a life jacket or hockey pads or a bullet proof vest might

–         The kind of protection Jesus has in mind here is of a spiritual nature

God’s name is basically his revealed character – his integrity, his identity

–         Proverbs 18, verse 10, says: ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.’

–         There is strength in knowing who God is, knowing his character

For example, if we know deep in our core that God is just, then this protects us from seeking revenge when we are wronged

–         We may be less inclined to try and get even because we know God will ensure that right prevails in the end

–         Likewise, if we know deep down that God is merciful then this protects us from being too harsh with ourselves (or others)

–         We may be less inclined to give up when we fail (or someone fails us) because we know God’s character, he is patient & wants to restore

Looking at the whole of verse 11 in its context we see the sort of protection Jesus has in mind…

  • – Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. …

Jesus is saying here, the name of God has the power to protect us from losing our oneness

–         To be one can mean a number of things including having integrity

–         We (in Western culture) tend to think of integrity in individual or personal terms. For example we might think, if I ‘walk the talk’ or ‘practice what I preach’ then I have integrity, I am at one with myself

–         But I expect Jesus’ disciples would have thought of integrity in more collective or community terms.

–         For example, if all 11 players of a football team are on the field and in the right position then the team is playing as one – it has integrity

  • – But if a player gets sent off or out of position then the team is not playing as one – it loses its integrity
  • – Jesus, the Captain, brought his team of disciples together as one
  • – Now he is leaving the field and he wants them to keep their integrity, to continue playing as one – he doesn’t want any to be lost
  • – Or, returning to our relay metaphor, he doesn’t want the chain to be broken – everyone needs to finish their stage of the race

But in saying this Jesus is quick to acknowledge the reality that one (namely Judas) has been lost

  • – None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled
  • – This almost sounds like Judas was predestined to be lost – that he had no choice in the matter; that God needed Judas to betray Jesus, or the whole plan of salvation would have failed
  • – Well, God doesn’t need anyone – He could have easily arranged for Jesus’ crucifixion without Judas’ betrayal
  • – Judas was not a robot – he was a responsible person and acted freely
  • – We don’t know what Judas’ motivation was in betraying Jesus
  • – Perhaps it was greed, or maybe he was feeling disappointed & resentful that Jesus wasn’t the kind of Messiah he had hoped for
  • – Maybe Judas was trying to manipulate the circumstances so that Jesus was put in a position where he was forced to act to protect himself
  • – Whatever his motivation Judas made a poor choice, as we all do from time to time. Sadly, for Judas, this was a choice with massive consequences

If we think of God’s name as an umbrella, protecting us from the rain, then Judas stepped out from under the umbrella during a downpour

  • – Or if we think of God’s name as a school bus, getting us to school safely, then Judas got off the bus at the wrong stop – he left his classmates, ventured out on his own and got lost
  • – If we try and do it on our own we make ourselves more vulnerable to the evil one – to Satan
  • – But if we remember that God is one, like a team is one – Father, Son & Spirit all working together in harmony – then we are less inclined to go it alone and more inclined to take our position on the field with our team mates

 

In verse 15 Jesus asks God to protect his disciples from the evil one

  • – (The evil one being Satan or the Devil)
  • – This indicates quite clearly that Jesus and his disciples are engaged in a spiritual battle, where Satan is the General of the enemy army

Before I became a minister I was dismissive of talk of spiritual warfare

  • – It seemed to me a bit flaky or at least extremely subjective and therefore unreliable
  • – But since becoming a minister I’ve had my eyes opened to evil
  • – This world, as the gospel of John understands it, is a battle ground
  • – There are malicious spiritual forces at work in this world
  • – I still don’t think we can blame every bad thing on the Devil
  • – A lot of hurt & pain in the world can be put down to the choices we human beings make – we have to take responsibility for our actions
  • – By the same token we would be naïve to pretend the Devil doesn’t exist
  • – I’m not saying this to scare you – I say it because it is part of reality which we can’t necessarily see

Now when Jesus prays that God would protect his disciples from the evil one, that doesn’t mean the disciples would never face any opposition

  • – God’s protection (in this context) doesn’t mean, nothing bad would ever happen to the disciples
  • – All of Jesus’ remaining 11 disciples encountered opposition – some were thrown in prison, some were killed and others exiled
  • – They all suffered in this world for their witness for Christ, but none of them was lost from God’s kingdom
  • – God allows Satan to make life difficult for Jesus’ disciples, and for us
  • – (At times it does my head in to think that God allows Satan to mess with people – but at the end of the day I have to acknowledge the limits of my understanding and trust that God knows what he’s doing. God won’t allow us to be tested beyond what we can handle)

I think Jesus, in his prayer, was asking God to protect his disciples’ faith, to keep them safe for eternal life, to deliver them from apostasy

  • – God’s protection allows us to complete our leg of the relay, to remain faithful to Christ (and each other) through whatever the enemy throws at us

 

There’s a TV drama series ‘On Demand’ at the moment called ‘Broken’

  • – It’s not easy to watch in places (it’s a bit gritty & real) but it’s also the best series I’ve seen in a long time
  • – Broken is a fictional story but it contains so much (gospel) truth
  • – The main character of the show is a Catholic priest by the name of Michael Kerrigan
  • – Michael is a good priest – he ministers to broken people out of his own vulnerability
  • – He is, to borrow Henri Nouwen’s phrase, a ‘wounded healer’

Every time Michael gives the Mass, he is confronted in his mind, by the bad things he has done to others and the bad things that have been done to him

  • – Ironically the most sacred thing in his life has become a hellish torment
  • – Although the show doesn’t directly talk about spiritual warfare, using something sacred (like communion) to torment a good priest is exactly the sort of thing the evil one does
  • – It is plain to see that Michael (a disciple of Christ) is in a very real battle against evil – it is a battle which rages both inside him and in the wider community in which he works, a battle in which we can’t see the enemy

The Devil wants to mislead people, to put them on a path that leads to destruction, by whispering half-truths (if not full blown lies) in our ear

  • – He wants to undo our oneness by turning us against God and against each other – that’s why Jesus prays that the disciples would be one, that they wouldn’t turn against each other

There’s this wonderful scene towards the end of the Broken series when Michael has given up on prayer, so a fellow priest intercedes for him saying:

  • – ‘Lord, I bring before you Michael Kerrigan. He’s a good priest, quick to forgive others but slow to forgive himself. Give him peace.’
  • – This prayer is offered in a spirit of oneness, with Michael present to hear it – the prayer shows Michael that he isn’t alone, that he has a friend in the faith who understands
  • – It also reminds Michael of God’s name, God’s character – that the Lord is gracious & compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love
  • – Do you have a friend in the faith like that?
  • – We can’t complete our leg of the relay alone

 

Sanctified by the truth:

Our defence against the lies of the evil one is truth

  • – So Jesus prays that his disciples would be sanctified by the truth

What then does it mean to be sanctified by the truth?

  • – Well, the word sanctified means holy, as in set apart for a special purpose
  • – A surgical theatre is sanctified in the sense that it is set apart for the special purpose of performing operations on people
  • – One doesn’t use a surgical theatre as a butchery for carving up animals, nor as a kitchen for preparing meals, much less a workshop for fixing cars
  • – A surgical theatre has to be kept clean & hygienic, and it needs to be available in case of emergency, so it isn’t used for any other purpose

 

The disciples were set apart for the special purpose of being witnesses for Christ

  • – This means they were to tell others the truth of their experience of Jesus – that he lived, died and was raised to eternal life
  • – More than just telling the facts of Jesus’ life though, the disciples were to bear witness to the love of God they experienced through Jesus

We, like the disciples, are made holy by a divine revelation of the truth

  • – Jesus is the word of God – he is the truth – and the disciples were sanctified, or made holy, by being in his presence and hearing him speak

 

If you get a tomato sauce stain on your favourite white t-shirt then it won’t come out by simply putting it through a normal wash cycle, even if you do use a special stain remover

  • – Once your shirt has been through the wash you need to hang it on the line in direct sunlight – it’s the sunlight that sanctifies the shirt and makes the stain disappear
  • – It’s similar with sanctifying (or purifying) water – E-coli, Rotavirus, Giardia, Salmonella, Cholera, Campylobacter are all eradicated by 6 hours exposure to sunlight

The light of the truth about Jesus is what sanctifies (or purifies) us

  • – But we have to be exposed to the truth in our inner being
  • – The light has to penetrate our darkness and that’s not usually a pleasant experience

Peter was sanctified by the truth

  • – At the last supper he told the Lord he was ready to lay down his life for Jesus, but the Lord predicted Peter would deny him three times and it happened as Jesus said it would
  • – At cock crow Peter remembered Jesus’ words and was confronted by the bitter truth about himself, as he went away weeping bitterly
  • – But that wasn’t the whole truth – what happened at cock crow was simply Peter’s realisation of his failure
  • – After Jesus’ resurrection the Lord took Peter aside to restore him
  • – Three times Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love me?’ and each time Peter said, ‘Yes Lord’, and Jesus responded, ‘Feed my lambs’
  • – Jesus saying, ‘It’s ok Peter. I trust you’.
  • – It was in the light of Jesus’ forgiveness & restoration that Peter was sanctified and the tomato sauce stain of his denial removed

In a way Peter’s failure actually made it possible for him to be a more credible witness to Jesus’ grace and forgiveness

  • – Peter could now talk about God’s forgiveness first hand, from his own experience

 

Jesus also sanctifies himself for the sake of his disciples

  • – As a priest would sanctify (or set apart) an animal to be sacrificed to God, so too Jesus (who is both high priest and sacrifice) sanctifies himself before he goes to the cross
  • – Somehow, in a way that we can’t fully comprehend, our sins are atoned for and we are made holy through Jesus’s sacrificial death

 

Conclusion:

As Jesus finishes his stage of the relay he hands the baton onto his disciples, sending them into a world which is hostile to them, praying that God will protect them and sanctify them, so that they too may finish their part and pass the baton of God’s love & truth to others

 

Let us pray. Lord God, help us as we journey through this world

  • – Protect us from the evil one by the power of your name – help us not to turn on one another but to remain faithful to you
  • – And sanctify us by the truth – both the truth about ourselves and the truth about you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Have you ever felt out of place in this world?

–         What does the term ‘world’ mean in the context of John 17?

3.)    What is meant by “God’s name”?

–         How does God’s name protect us?

4.)    What do you think Jesus had in mind when he asked God to protect his disciples from the evil one?

–         What sort of protection can we expect?

5.)    Are you aware of any spiritual opposition in your own life?

–         Can you describe what this is like?

–         Where / when does this usually happen?

6.)    Do you have a friend in the faith, someone trustworthy you can talk with and who can pray for you?

–         Do you know someone who is battling at the moment, who you could listen to and pray for in a spirit of oneness?

7.)    What does it mean to be sanctified by the truth?

–         Can you think of a particular experience, in your own life, when you were sanctified by the truth? What happened?

 

Tawa Baptist

Glory

Scripture: John 17:1-8

Title: Glory

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Glorifying God (Jesus is the glory of God)
  • Enjoying God forever (Jesus gives eternal life)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

There are moments in our lives when someone older and wiser tells us something meaningful, but at the time we don’t fully appreciate what they mean – it’s not until sometime later that their words sink in with the help of the spade of experience

–         I remember sitting by my grandfather’s bed as he was dying – his kidneys had failed and he was slowly drowning from the inside

–         He said to me, ‘Son, life goes by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was young and starting out. It all went so quickly.’

–         At the time I was 24 and didn’t think too much of it

–         ‘Life goes by so fast’ sounds like a cliché – it’s something older people often say to parents with young children, ‘It goes so quickly. Make the most of it while you’ve still got them’

–         When I was a parent of young children it felt to me like time was slowing down – I welcomed the thought of the kids growing up so I could get a decent night’s sleep and not have to change nappies

–         But looking back now the last 20 years has gone quickly

‘Life goes by so fast’. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate what my grandfather was trying to say

–         There he was dying slowly and uncomfortably and yet he wasn’t thinking about that – his perspective was on the whole of life, not just the end

–         He was considering the bigger purpose & meaning of life

–         If 72 years seems short to a man whose days dragged long then that begs the question: Why are we here and what is the best way to use our time?

–         When you get to the end you don’t want to be thinking, ‘I wasted it’

 

Today is the third Sunday in Lent

–         Lent is traditionally a time when Christians prepare for Easter by remembering Jesus’ obedience to God the Father in going to the cross

–         This remembering isn’t just a casual recall of the Easter story though

–         Lent is an opportunity to get back in touch with the bigger purpose and meaning of life: Why am I here? Is it just for me and my own temporary concerns or is it for something bigger?

–         Is it for Christ and things of an eternal nature?

 

The night before his crucifixion and death Jesus took his disciples aside and spoke with them to help them with what was coming

–         The gospel of John chapters 13-17, also known as Jesus’ farewell discourse, capture much of that (death bed) conversation

–         Probably the disciples didn’t fully appreciate all that Jesus was saying at the time but they would appreciate it in the days, weeks and years ahead

Please turn with me to John 17, page 140 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         John 17 is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus we have

–         In this prayer Jesus takes a look at the bigger purpose and meaning of his life and how he has used his time on earth

–         There is a lot going on in this prayer but in broad terms we could say that Jesus prays for three things: He prays for glory; He prays for his disciples; and he prays for us

–         Today the message focuses on the first 8 verses of John 17, where Jesus prays for glory – both for himself and for God the Father

–         From John 17, verses 1-8, we read…

After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you. 2 For you gave him authority over all people, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. 3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do. 5 Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

6 “I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word, 7 and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. 8 I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Glorifying God:

The Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us (and I paraphrase here)…

–         The chief purpose of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever

–         It is difficult to improve on that really

–         This statement seems to capture in a nutshell what Jesus is talking about in the opening verses of his prayer in John 17

–         There is certainly a lot of talk of glory on Jesus’ lips here

–         What then does it mean to glorify God?

The word glory has to do with honour, distinction, esteem, beauty, splendour, magnificence, mana and the like

–         Glory isn’t a word we New Zealanders are comfortable with – we tend to shy away from glory a bit – but to people in the ancient world the concept of glory was highly important

 

Now when we talk about ‘glorifying God’ we don’t mean adding to God’s honour and splendour and mana – God already has glory and there is nothing we can do to add to it (or take away from it)

–         From a human perspective, ‘glorifying God’ means revealing something of God’s glory – so in glorifying God we’re not adding something to him we are simply showing others what is already there

If we think of God’s glory as a bank account – then in glorifying God we’re not depositing any more money to his account, it’s more like we are showing others his bank balance

 

We glorify God like a lightbulb glorifies a beautiful person

–         If it is dark and the light is off you can’t see the person’s face let alone admire their beauty

–         But when the light is switched on the person’s beauty is revealed

–         The lightbulb doesn’t add anything to the person’s beauty – it simply helps others to see that beauty better

–         Of course, as lightbulbs we don’t have any power in ourselves to give light – God is the one who gives us the electricity to shine

 

Or take this apple as another example: While it’s in the bowl you can’t see it, the glory of the apple is hidden from you

–         For me to glorify this apple, I need to take it out of the bowl and hold it up for everyone to see

–         But seeing an apple from a distance doesn’t really reveal the apple in all its glory – to properly glorify this apple I need to bring it close so you can smell it and taste it – because the glory of the apple is in its taste

–         Obviously there is nothing I can do to make this apple taste better

–         The most I can do is reveal its glory by giving you a piece to eat

It’s similar with glorifying God – I can’t improve on God’s glory

–         The most I can do is offer you a piece of his glory to taste

–         When we love one another, forgive one another, show patience with one another, share good things with one another, and so on, then we let others experience a small taste of God’s glory

–         The thing is we can only really reveal God’s glory to the extent we have experienced (or tasted) it for ourselves

–         It’s only when I eat God’s apples and enjoy them that I’m impelled to share some with you

 

Glory is a weighty thing – if something is glorious it has substance, it affects us, it moves us

–         Consider the moon in the night sky for example

–         On the face of it the glory of the moon is in its radiance

–         Some nights the moon is more glorious than other nights

–         The moon is perhaps at its most glorious (or most radiant) on a clear night when it is full and close to the horizon

–         But it’s not just the sight of the moon that is glorious

–         The moon’s glory is a weighty thing – whether we can see the moon or not it’s gravity is moving the oceans of the world, drawing the tide in and out twice a day

–         There is nothing I can do to change the tide – all I can do is stand on the beach feel its power

It is similar with God – we can’t see God but we can feel the weight of his glory and power drawing whole nations here and there in accordance with his purpose

As the creator of all things – God is the one who gives the apple the glory of its taste and the moon the beauty of its radiance and the power of its gravity

 

In John 17 Jesus begins his prayer by saying…

–         Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you…

The context of Jesus’ request is a Father / Son relationship, one in which Jesus the Son depends on God the Father for everything – his identity, his existence, his message, his everything

‘The hour has come’, refers to the hour of Jesus’ trial, suffering and death on the cross – so when Jesus talks about glory here it is with the cross in view

Jesus asks God to glorify him (the Son)

–         At first glance this might seem a bit ego centric or selfish but it’s not – Jesus is asking an entirely reasonable and good thing

–         Jesus is saying, make my suffering count – give it weight, reveal your love for the world (and our love for each other) through my death

–         Because if I’m going through all this I want the tides of history to be moved by it – I want people’s hearts to be changed

God the Father and Jesus the Son are one – they are so closely connected that in asking for glory for himself Jesus is really asking glory for God too

–         When a sports team wins against a difficult opponent, that reflects well on the coach

–         When a river is clean, that reflects well on the people who live near that river

–         When a plane lands safely on just one engine (or in a howling southerly in Wellington), that reflects well on the pilot

–         When a 71 year old man at prayer greets a gunman with ‘hello bother’, that reflects well on his courage and humanity

–         When a Prime Minister (and her people) respond with compassion & justice to a mass shooting, that reflects well on the whole country

–         When God’s Son endures the suffering of the cross with dignity & grace, that reflects well on God the Father

 

In verse 4 Jesus has some more to say about glory…

–         I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.      

What does it mean that Jesus has shown God’s glory on earth? How did Jesus do this? What is the work God gave Jesus to do?

 

The first thing Jesus did to reveal God’s glory was to become human – we call that the incarnation, when God became human in the birth of Christ

–         This means that Jesus is, in fact, the glory of God in human form

–         Jesus doesn’t just shine a light on God’s beauty, he is God’s beauty

–         Jesus doesn’t just share the apple of God’s glory, so others can taste God’s goodness, Jesus is the apple

 

Returning to our apple in the bowl – when Jesus was born God’s glory was plucked from the tree of heaven and put in a bowl on earth

–         Jesus, the very glory of God, stayed in the bowl hidden from sight for 30 years, until John the baptist lifted Jesus out of the bowl and said…

–         ‘This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’

–         This is the glory of God in human form

–         Throughout his ministry Jesus taught the people and healed the people and forgave the people and delivered the people from all sorts of evil

–         And each time he did that he cut off a little piece of himself so that those who believed in him could taste something of the glory of God

 

Now, at the hour of his death, Jesus had got down to the core of God’s glory – suffering out of love to save others – giving himself completely to redeem creation

 

In verse 5 Jesus asks God again saying…

–         Father, give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

 

The obvious implication in these verses is that Jesus (the Son) was pre-existent with God the Father

–         John has already said this at the beginning of his gospel when he wrote:

–         Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God and he was the same as God. 

–         Jesus, the glory of God and the apple of God’s eye, is looking forward to returning to the tree of heaven

–         Here on earth God’s glory is veiled – we can’t see God, although with the eyes of faith we can see where he has been, much like we can see where the rain has been because the grass is green and not brown

–         In heaven though God’s glory is plain to see – there is no drought

 

There are two parts to the Westminster’s statement on the chief purpose of human beings:

–         We’ve talked about the first part, of glorifying God

–         The second part is enjoying God forever – which is rather a nice way of describing ‘eternal life’

 

Enjoying God forever:

In verse 3 Jesus says: And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

 

We have to pay close attention here because this definition of eternal life goes beyond our normal categories

–         For many years I thought eternal life simply meant time without end, so that one was immortal and never died

–         And while living forever may be one by-product of eternal life it isn’t the star of the show

–         Eternal life isn’t just quantity of life, it is more importantly quality of life

–         And that quality of life comes from knowing God & Jesus

 

Now when Jesus talks about ‘knowing’ in this verse, he doesn’t just mean knowing something in your head – he means knowing it in your experience, knowing it, intimately, in the core of your being

–         I might be able to learn some facts about someone by stalking them on Facebook – I might be able to find out when they were born, what their favourite colour is, how they spend their time, where they went on holiday, that sort of thing, but that doesn’t mean I know them

–         To know someone I’ve actually got to meet them and spend time with them, listen to them, hang out with their friends, do life with them

–         Then, after building a relationship with them, I can say I know them

–         Eternal life is essentially a wonderful relationship in which we know God in our experience, as a friend, and enjoy Him forever

This means that eternal life isn’t just something a way off in the future after we die – if eternal life is a relationship with God then eternal life is something we can experience now, through Christ

 

Once again we note the close relationship between God and Jesus – they go together – we can’t know God the Father without knowing Jesus

–         Jesus (the glory of God) shows us what God the Father is like

–         Trying to have a relationship with God the Father without Jesus is like trying to use a computer without a keyboard or a screen – Jesus is the interface between God and humanity

–         Trying to have a relationship with God the Father without Jesus is like trying to cross the ocean without a boat – God is infinite. Being ‘in Christ’ is what supports us and keeps us afloat in the sea of God’s love

–         Trying to have a relationship with God the Father without Jesus is like trying to have a conversation without sharing a common language – Jesus is the Word of God (a language we can understand) by which we comprehend something of the mystery of God

 

In verses 6-8 Jesus gives us a few more clues about what it means to know God

I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word, and now they know everything you gave me comes from you. I gave them the message that you gave me and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.

Jesus is talking about imparting eternal life to his disciples by making God known to them

–         Of course a relationship is a two way thing – the disciples have to receive that knowledge, the penny has to drop for them, they have to get it

–         And the key to getting it – the key to knowing God – is obeying Jesus

–         It is with obedience that understanding and relationship forms

–         This means that we have to obey in faith or in trust – we have to do what God asks without knowing for certain what the outcome is going to be

 

The disciples obeyed Jesus in faith – they left their work, their families and their homes to follow Jesus without knowing where it would lead

–         But through that act of obedience they came to know God – they formed a friendship with God and with one another, through Jesus

–         The kind of knowing that is in view here is not a scientific, evidence based knowing – it’s the kind of knowing which comes through obedience & belief

 

The classic Biblical story of knowing God through obedience and belief is the Exodus story

–         When God instructed Moses to approach Pharaoh and ask for the Israelites’ freedom, Moses wasn’t that keen at first – he could see it was big ask

–         It wasn’t until Moses obeyed God, and God delivered the people, that he knew God’s character

 

It was similar with the nation of Israel themselves

–         Before the exodus from Egypt, Israel’s experience was one of suffering &  oppression – the evidence for God’s care & concern for them was a fairy tale from the past – it wasn’t part of their present reality

–         Before they could know that God cared for them – that he was a God of justice & compassion – they had to take a step of obedience in leaving Egypt

–         Their obedience (like ours) was a faltering obedience and so they were 40 years in the wilderness learning to trust & obey God

–         When it was time to leave the wilderness and enter the Promised Land, they had to take another step of obedience in crossing the Jordan River

–         It wasn’t until they literally took that first step into the waters of the Jordan that the river stopped and they were able to cross

–         But through that obedience the people knew that God was powerful and was with them as they entered Canaan

 

Eternal life is knowing (and enjoying) God in our personal experience

–         We come to know God through believing in and obeying Jesus

–         I expect many of you have your own stories of knowing God’s goodness and provision through faith & obedience

 

Conclusion:

The purpose of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy him forever

 

Let us pray…

–         Father God, glorify yourself we pray, especially through our suffering

–         May Christ be lifted up in our life in both the ordinary & extraordinary

–         May people taste & see that the Lord is good through their interaction us

–         And may our relationship with you be a source of delight & enjoyment

–         Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    What do you think of when you hear the word ‘glory’?

3.)    What does it mean to glorify God?

–         How might we glorify God in practical terms?

4.)    Why does Jesus ask for glory for himself?

5.)    How did Jesus glorify God?

–         How is this different to how we might glorify God?

6.)    What is eternal life?

–         What does it mean to know God?

7.)    What is the key to knowing God?

–         Can you recall a time in your life when you obeyed God in faith and came to know him better? What happened?

8.)    Take some time this week to enjoy God