Tawa Baptist

Imagination with God

Scripture: Genesis 15:1-6 and 2nd Kings 6:8-23

 

Title: Imagination with God

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God uses imagination to form faith
  • God uses imagination to reveal reality
  • God uses imagination to create new realities
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

When you daydream or imagine, what do you see yourself doing?

 

[Wait]

 

Perhaps you’ve had a hard week at work and you imagine being on holiday somewhere nice and relaxing

–         Or maybe you are studying for exams and you imagine graduating and getting your dream job

–         Or perhaps you are a teacher and there’s a student in your class who comes from a tough background and you imagine a better future for them

–         Or you might have lost someone close to you and so you imagine being reunited with them again, in heaven

 

This morning we continue our series on ‘Being with God’

–         This series is essentially about Christian spirituality

–         In very basic terms we could say that, for Christians, spirituality is Christ’s way of being with us as well as our way of being with Jesus

–         Using the analogy of wireless internet, if wifi is the capacity to connect and interact with others on-line

–         Then spirituality is our capacity to connect with God – to interact with His Spirit in other words

 

Rebecca Nye has a wonderful acronym which we are using to give structure to this series. [1]  Her acronym spells the word S.P.I.R.I.T.

–         Space, Process, Imagination, Relationship, Intimacy & Trust

 

These are all essential elements of Christian spirituality

–         We need these six things to connect with and interact with Jesus

–         So far we have looked at the importance of sacred space and process in our relationship with God

–         This morning we explore imagination with God

 

God uses imagination to form faith

Last week I told you about my grandfather who took me fishing

–         Although my grandfather didn’t go to church, fishing with him was sort of like a spiritual experience

–         The ocean was our sacred space

–         We enjoyed the process of fishing for its own sake – we were happy just being with each other

–         And going out on the boat, imagining all the big fish we might catch, was a bit of an adventure

 

My grandfather was a driller and he was good at it

–         He drilled water bores for farmers mostly, but he also did survey jobs

–         I don’t ever remember my grandfather talking to me about his work

–         He never elaborated on the finer points of water pumps or seismic stability or any of that stuff

–         What I do remember is him telling me stories

–         Each night, as I was going to bed, he would ignite my imagination with tall tales of adventure, involving a hero (usually himself) who triumphed over incredible odds

–         The stories didn’t have a moral to them necessarily – they were really more about courage and hope and never giving up

 

Sometimes we might associate the word ‘imagination’ with some kind of fantasy or fairy tale

–         Something made up or pretend, like an imaginary friend

–         With this kind of definition we might think our imagination is there to help us escape reality

 

But with God imagination is not about escaping reality – it’s about revealing reality and in fact creating new realities

–         Imagination is how God forms faith in us

 

In some ways our imagination is a bit like the soil in which the seeds of faith & hope grow – imagination nurtures and supports and feeds our faith

–         If our imagination is the soil then the seed of Christian faith is sown by telling the stories of Jesus

–         Stories of courage & hope, as well as adversity & redemption

 

In the book, Shaped by God, Sarah Arthur talks about ‘The Importance of Story in Faith Formation’ [2]

–         Christian faith is formed more by story more than by facts or information

–         God exists – that’s a fact

–         Jesus is the Son of God – that’s another fact

–         While getting our facts straight is important, knowing those facts doesn’t necessarily form faith in us

–         Being a Christian isn’t just about accepting certain facts or doctrines

–         It’s about trusting a person we can’t see – God

 

Looking back, my grandfather’s approach was similar to God’s approach

–         Just as my grandfather gave me stories, and not information

–         So too God gives us stories to ignite our imagination and form faith in us

 

The Bible is not an encyclopaedia or a text book

–         It is essentially a collection of stories (true stories of adventure) – which tell the larger story of God’s involvement in human history

 

C.S. Lewis seemed to understand the importance of imagination and the power of stories to form faith

–         In his book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lewis created a character called ‘Eustace’ – a boy with no imagination.

–         Eustace knows nothing of stories of adventure

–         The only books Eustace likes are ‘books of information’

–         Books which have a lot to say about exports & imports and governments & drains

–         Because of this Eustace has a very stunted imagination

–         Which makes him ill-prepared to handle the adventure of sailing with the King of Narnia to the edge of the world

 

When Eustace sees a dragon for the first time he has no idea what he’s looking at

–         The books Eustace read were weak on dragons and so he doesn’t know one shouldn’t steal a dragon’s treasure or you will become a dragon yourself

–         Only after he has become a dragon does Eustace realise his mistake

 

The valiant mouse Reepicheep takes pity on Eustace and to cheer him up tells the boy stories

–         Reepicheep’s stories give Eustace hope

–         They are tales about great men who had fallen on hard times but who were able to recover and be restored

–         These stories enable Eustace to imagine a different outcome for himself

–         They make faith possible

–         Eventually Eustace is converted from a dragon back into a boy again by Aslan – and in time he finds redemption

–         Like the heroes in Reepicheep’s stories Eustace grows into a virtuous character able to handle the adventure of sailing to the edge of the world

 

There is at least one book in the Bible which has a dragon in it – and a beast and a bride and a mighty hero

–         Who can tell me the name of that book [Wait]

–         That’s right, the book of Revelation

 

It’s a great shame really that Revelation is one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible

–         Perhaps that’s because we live in the ‘information age’

–         The internet is basically a huge database of information which we can access at our fingers tips

–         Collectively, Western society has become a bit like Eustace

–         We prefer technical information and so we are weak on dragons

–         We don’t recognise a dragon when we see it – therefore we don’t know how to defend ourselves against evil

 

What’s more we don’t realise that facing adversity is part of the adventure

–         Something a bit tough happens and we might panic or be tempted to despair or give up

–         We forget that the hero of the story always suffers

–         Without imagination we are ill equipped for the adventure of faith

 

The book of Revelation was written for the early church, most likely at the end of the first century AD

–         At that stage in history the Christian church was facing persecution in a variety of forms – it was a difficult time to stay loyal to Christ

–         Christians needed hope and strength

–         You don’t get hope from a download of data & information

–         Googling the word ‘hope’ won’t give you hope

–         Hope and strength to persevere comes from hearing a story which enlivens the imagination

 

And so that’s what God gives his people – a story which they can identify with

–         A story which is strong on dragons so they will be able to recognise evil when they see it and consequently avoid becoming like the dragon

–         A story with a virtuous Son of Man and a terrible beast so they will know what it is to be human and will keep their humanity

–         A story with a Bride in distress who is rescued by a mighty hero so they will wait faithfully and not give up

 

For those who are familiar with Revelation the dragon is Satan, the beast is the Roman Empire, the Bride is the church and the Hero is, of course, Jesus

–         In the end the dragon and the beast are defeated, while Christ and his Bride (the church) live happily ever after

 

Now what I’ve given you there is a very basic sketch – there is certainly more to Revelation than that

 

I also need to say that in describing Revelation as a story I don’t mean to imply that it is fantasy or that it’s somehow untrue

–         As I said before, in Christian spirituality imagination has to do with what is real

–         Revelation actually deals with ultimate realities – unseen realities

–         It uses imagination to show us what’s going on behind the scenes

–         In fact, God often uses our imagination to reveal reality

 

God uses imagination to reveal reality

The earth’s surface curves out of sight at a distance of 3.1 miles (or 5 km’s)

–         But if the earth were flat, or if you were standing on top of a mountain, then you could see a lot further than 5 km’s with the naked eye

–         On a dark night you could even see a candle flickering up to 48 km’s away [3]

 

What I’m trying to say here is, we can’t see the whole picture

–         The reality we see is limited, to a large extent, by our horizon

–         God gives us an imagination to help us see beyond our horizon so that our view of reality is fuller or more complete

 

We could say our imagination is a bit like a telescope or a pair of binoculars

–         It enables us to see further and clearer

 

Please turn with me to Genesis chapter 15 – page 17, toward the front of your pew Bibles

–         This Scripture shows us one of Abram’s encounters with God

–         Abram was rich and successful in many respects but his wife, Sarai, was unable to have children

–         From verse 1 of Genesis 15 we read…

 

After this, Abram had a vision and heard the Lord say to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.”

 

2 But Abram answered, “Sovereign Lord, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus. 3 You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”

 

4 Then he heard the Lord speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.” 5 The Lord took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”

 

6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

 

Do you see what God did there?

–         He didn’t simply tell Abram, ‘You will have a son’

–         He engaged Abram’s imagination

–         He took Abram outside and invited him to look beyond his immediate horizon: ‘Look up at the night sky and count the stars if you can. You will have as many descendants as that’

–         Then Abram put his trust in the Lord

 

Abram’s perception of reality was quite small and narrow

–         God used the stars to help Abram see things differently – to inspire Abram to imagine the full picture

–         God’s word in the soil of Abram’s imagination inspired faith & hope

 

God uses imagination to form faith in us

–         To reveal ultimate reality to us

–         And to create new realities with us

 

God uses imagination to create new realities

On the 30th August 2004, Yoko Ono, the wife of the late John Lennon, placed a full page ad in the New York Times

 

The Ad had only two words: “Imagine Peace”

–         At that time it was less than 3 years since the attack on the Twin Towers and the war on terror was well underway

–         Walter Brueggemann comments…

–         [Yoko Ono’s ad] “…is a recognition that peace will not come by thinking inside the box, but only by pushing beyond the presently available reality to a newness that is given at the edge of the human spirit.” [4]

 

While we might sometimes use our imagination to escape unpleasant realities

–         God uses our imagination to create new (and better) realities

 

There’s a funny story in 2nd Kings about the prophet Elisha [5]

 

The king of Syria was at war with Israel

–         Whenever the king of Syria set up an ambush for the Israelites, God would tell Elisha, the prophet, where the Syrians were

–         Then Elisha would tell the king of Israel and he would warn his people so they could avoid the ambush

 

After this had happened several times the Syrian king started to get a bit paranoid

–         He called his army officers together and confronted them saying,

–         “Which one of you is the traitor? Who keeps giving our position away?”

 

They all looked sideways at each other until one of them spoke up…

–         “It’s none of us your majesty. The prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own room”

 

Sadly the king of Syria lacked imagination

–         Like Eustace he was only interested in books of information

–         Books like ‘Guerrilla Warfare for Dummies’ and ‘How to ambush your enemies in 6 easy steps’

 

Anyway, as I was saying, the king of Syria wasn’t the sharpest knife in the draw and so when he heard that Elisha kept giving his soldier’s position away he thought he might have a chance if he could capture God’s prophet

–         It didn’t occur to the king that God would warn Elisha the Syrians were coming for him (as the Lord had done on every other occasion)

–         What is it they say? The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result

 

Nevertheless, God is a good sport & perhaps because he felt sorry for the Syrian king, God decided to give the Syrians a chance

–         God let the soldiers find Elisha in Dothan

–         So all the king’s horses and all the king’s men went to Dothan and surrounded the town

 

When Elisha’s servant got up and went outside the house he saw the Syrian army and panicked. Running back to Elisha he exclaimed…

–         ‘Master, we are doomed. What shall we do?’

 

But Elisha wasn’t at all surprised – it was like he had anticipated this all along

–         So he said to his servant ever so calmly…

–         “Don’t worry about it mate. They are the ones that are outnumbered”

–         Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see”

–         The Lord answered Elisha’s prayer and enabled the servant to see reality beyond his limited horizon

–         The hillside was covered with horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha

–         God’s army had been there as back up for Elisha the whole time, only the servant hadn’t seen it

–         Now the servant was imagining a different outcome

 

When the Syrians attacked, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, strike these men blind!”

–         In an instant the Syrian soldiers lost their sight and started bumping into each other

–         Elisha could have run away at this point but that wouldn’t have solved anything

–         So he said to the men, “You are on the wrong track… Follow me and I will lead you to the man you are after.”

–         And he led them to Samaria, a stronghold of the Israelites, their enemies

–         It was kind of ironic really – all this time the Syrians had been trying to ambush the Israelites and now Elisha had led the Syrians into an ambush

 

Once inside the city of Samaria Elisha prayed again asking the Lord to restore the Syrians’ sight

–         The Lord did and when the Syrians realised they were the ones surrounded, things got real

 

The king of Israel couldn’t believe his luck – the Syrians were sitting ducks

–         He eagerly asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, shall I kill them?”

–         It turns out the king of Israel wasn’t all that different from the king of Syria – they both lacked imagination

–         Because their only solution was a hammer every problem looked to them like a nail

 

Elisha, however, imagined a different solution saying…

–         ‘No. You wouldn’t kill soldiers you had captured in combat, let alone ones that had been brought to you blind.

–         Instead show them kindness and hospitality – give them something to eat and drink and let them return unharmed to their king’

 

So the king of Israel provided a great feast for them and after they had eaten and drunk their fill he sent them back to the king of Syria

–         After that the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel

 

What was it Jesus said?

–         “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

–         Perhaps he was inviting us to, “Imagine Peace”

 

The problem with both kings (the king of Israel and the king of Syria) is they lacked imagination

–         Their thinking came from inside the box, from their limited horizon

–         They couldn’t imagine anything other than raiding and fighting and seeking revenge

–         They needed someone like Elisha to help them push beyond the presently available reality to a newness that is given at the edge of the human spirit

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve been talking about the value of imagination in our spiritual life with God

–         Shortly we will share communion together

–         Communion is a spiritual thing – it is a way of being with God

–         Communion provides an opportunity for sacred space

–         It is more about process than product – it’s something we do for its own sake and not to achieve some end result

–         Communion also engages our imagination, nourishing and strengthening our faith & hope in Christ

 

By sharing the bread and the cup we remember Jesus’ story – in fact we enter into his story

 

Communion is not an escaping of reality

–         It is a way of revealing the reality of Christ’s presence with us

 

In communion we look beyond our limited horizon to catch a glimpse of the bigger picture of God’s story

–         Just as Jesus’ suffered, died and was resurrected – so too we share in his sufferings and we will share in his resurrection one day

 

I guess I could say more – but I don’t want to spell it all out for you – I want to leave something for your imagination…

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/6-nov-2016-imagination-with-god

[1] Rebecca Nye, ‘Children’s Spirituality’, page 41.

[2] Sarah Arthur, ‘Shaped by God’ (Ed. Robert J. Keeley), pages 38-41

[3][3] http://www.livescience.com/33895-human-eye.html

[4] Walter Brueggemann, “Mandate to Difference”, page 95.

[5] Refer 2 Kings 6:8-23

Tawa Baptist

Good News for the Oppressed

Scripture: Nahum 1:11-15

 

Title: Good news for the oppressed

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The message to Nineveh (and its king)
  • The message to Judah
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on the city of Nineveh

–         First we looked at Nineveh through the eyes of Jonah

–         Now we look at Nineveh through the eyes of another prophet, Nahum

–         Nahum is sort of like the Brussel sprouts of the Bible

–         You know it’s good for you but that doesn’t make it taste any better

 

In the book of Jonah, the people of Nineveh repented of their violent ways and God had compassion on them – He relented and did not destroy their city

–         Sadly Nineveh’s repentance did not last

–         Some decades later the Assyrians went back to their old ways of terrorism and torture

–         Fast forward 100 years or so from the time of Jonah and God has another message concerning Nineveh

–         This time Nahum is given a vision of Nineveh’s destruction

–         While Nahum’s message is bad news for Nineveh, it is good news for the people of Judah

 

We pick up the prophecy from verse 11 of Nahum chapter 1…

 

From you, [O Nineveh], has one come forth who plots evil against the Lord and counsels wickedness. This is what the Lord says:

“Although they [Assyria] have allies and are numerous, they will be cut off and pass away. Although I have afflicted you, [O Judah], I will afflict you no more. Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away.”

 

The Lord has given a command concerning you, [O king of Assyria]:

“You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave for you are vile.”

 

Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace. Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, and fulfil your vows. No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed.    

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the name Nahum means comforter

–         Although it might not seem like it to us (because of the strong language used in this book) Nahum’s message was essentially a message of comfort to the people of Judah who had suffered much at the hands of the Assyrians, for more than a century

–         It was a comfort to the oppressed to know that God was going to bring an end to the terror and violence of Assyrian rule

 

Today’s verses contain a message for two audiences – that is: Nineveh (in particular the king of Assyria who lived in Nineveh) and Judah (the Jews)

–         First, let us consider Nahum’s word to Nineveh and it’s king

 

The message to Nineveh (and its king):

One of the truly impressive things about Nahum, we believe, is that he predicted the downfall of Nineveh at a time when Assyria was at the height of its powers

–         I expect it would have taken a great deal of faith and courage for Nahum to say what he said against Nineveh

–         Violent dictators tend to take exception to individuals (like Nahum) who criticise their regime

–         Not only that but Nahum’s own people (the Jews) did not take kindly to false prophets or to false hope

–         To most people Nahum’s prediction that Nineveh would be destroyed would have seemed highly unlikely in the context

 

In the next Jack Reacher movie there is a scene where Jack Reacher is sitting in a diner (a café) and he gets arrested by a Sherriff

–         While he is in cuffs and still in the diner Jack says to the Sherriff

–         “In the next 90 seconds two things are going to happen. First the phone is going to ring and then you will be in these hand cuffs on your way to jail”

–         The Sherriff laughs at him and says, “That’s a hang of a prophecy”

–         Then the phone rings – next thing you see the Sherriff in cuffs and being taken away in a patrol car

–         Apparently the Sherriff was dirty and Jack Reacher had proven him guilty

 

Nahum’s prediction was a bit like Jack Reacher’s prediction

–         Just as the sheriff’s situation would soon be reversed so that he was wearing the handcuffs and not Jack Reacher, so too Nineveh’s situation of relative power would soon be reversed, even though it seemed highly unlikely in the context

 

In verse 12 the Lord says…

–         “Although they [Assyria] have allies and are numerous, they will be cut off and pass away…”

 

Nahum’s prediction (that the most powerful nation in the world would be ended) seemed unlikely, but that’s exactly what happened

–         In 612 BC – some years after Nahum’s prophecy – the Babylonians completely destroyed Nineveh

 

God’s message here isn’t just for Nineveh generally – the Lord has a personal message for the king of Assyria in particular

 

In verse 11, Nahum talks about one who plots evil against the Lord and counsels wickedness

–         This is a reference to the king of Assyria who was planning and scheming to destroy Jerusalem

–         God knew what the king was thinking and took personal offence at the king’s plans

–         To give you an idea of the evil character of the kings of Assyria, this is what one of them wrote about himself

–         These words were discovered by archaeologists – content may disturb…

 

I flayed [the skin from] as many nobles as had rebelled against me [and] draped their skins over the pile [of corpses]… I cut off the heads of their fighters [and used their heads to] build a tower before their city. I burnt their adolescent boys [and] girls… I captured many troops alive: I cut off, of some, their arms [and] hands; I cut off, of others, their noses, ears, [and] other extremities. I gouged out the eyes of many troops. I made one pile of the living [and] one of the heads. I hung their heads on trees around the city. [1]  

 

That gives you an idea of the kind of person the king of Assyria was

–         Not only did he torture & terrify people – he was proud of it

–         God is patient and slow to anger – but he’s also just, he won’t tolerate that sort of behaviour for too long

–         Given the terrible things the king has been doing the Lord says to the Assyrian leader…

 

“You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave for you are vile.”

 

Three consequences for the king of Assyria here…

–         He will have no descendants

–         His religion (everything he had sacrificed for & believed in) will be destroyed – which essentially means his life will have no meaning

–         And he will die – God will bury him

 

Now some people might think – gee that’s bit harsh of God

–         But in actual fact what we notice here is God’s mercy in punishment

–         God does not threaten to torture the king, as the king had tortured others

–         God takes no pleasure in the suffering of his enemies

–         His punishment, in this context, is annihilation – which is a relatively merciful outcome

–         The other kindness God shows the Assyrian king is to dig a grave for him – this is more than the Assyrians had done for their enemies

 

So that’s God’s message for the people of Nineveh and for their king personally

–         What then does the Lord have to say to the people of Judah?

–         Well it’s (mostly) good news for them

 

God’s message to the people of Judah:

Last week we were fortunate enough to spend some time in the South Island

–         One of the places we stayed at was affordable but a little bit dodgey

–         We woke up one morning to find that we were locked in our room

–         The door wouldn’t open from the inside so we had to phone someone to come and unlock the door from the outside

–         That was fine except the same thing happened the next morning, which was a bit more frustrating, not to mention dangerous

–         (Especially when the phone didn’t work at first)

–         Not sure what would have happened if the building had caught on fire

–         Having just spent the previous few days walking through some wide open spaces, I didn’t appreciate feeling trapped & powerless in a tiny room

–         Fortunately our incarceration wasn’t long

 

Judah were a trapped nation

–         “Decades earlier the Assyrians had subjugated and exiled the peoples of the northern kingdom [Israel] (2 Kings 17). They did not overthrow the [southern] kingdom of Judah at that time, but for almost a century… the Assyrians controlled Judah as a kind of puppet kingdom” [2]

–         In other words, Judah were essentially locked in their room, unable to escape Assyrian control

–         They were powerless to free themselves and needed someone to release them from the outside

–         This is essentially what God was promising to do for Judah in verse 13 where he says…

 

“…Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away.”

 

Shackles are like hand cuffs and, in this context, the yoke is a metaphor of oppression

–         A yoke is a wooden cross bar that fits over the neck of the ox

–         The farmer uses the yoke to control the ox

–         The Assyrian yoke (their means of controlling Judah) was going to be broken – this was good news for the captives

–         But the good news came with a little sting because just before this, in the second part of verse 12, the Lord says…

 

“Although I have afflicted you, [O Judah], I will afflict you no more.”

 

God is basically taking responsibility for Judah’s suffering

–         It was God who put the Assyrian yoke on Judah’s shoulders in the first place

–         On the one hand this is a difficult truth to face – God has had a hand in Judah’s affliction

–         But on a more positive note it does reassure us that God is in control of the situation

–         Just as he had the power to put the yoke on them, so too he has the power to remove the yoke

 

To give you some context the people of Judah had behaved badly themselves

–         They had been disloyal to the Lord and cheated on him by worshipping other gods

–         Consequently God tried to bring his people back into line using the yoke of Assyrian oppression

–         Unfortunately the Assyrians had gone too far and so God had to break the Assyrians’ power

 

The day would come when the Lord would give his people an easy yoke

–         As Jesus said…

–         Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light

–         Jesus’ yoke is not one of fear or oppression – it is one of wisdom and freedom to do right

 

The message of good news for Judah continues in verse 15…

 

Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace…

 

Here Nahum imagines the future with a messenger running through the mountains carrying the message of good news that Nineveh has fallen

–         Nineveh’s destruction will mean peace for the people of Judah

 

This word would give light to the people living in darkness

–         It would be like being in a prison camp during the Second World War and receiving word that the Allied soldiers had recaptured Paris and were on their way to Berlin

–         Or it would be like living in Syria and hearing the news that the war was finally over (for good this time) and life could return to normal

–         To those who believed Nahum’s message it would have the power of giving people hope to carry on

–         There was light at the end of the tunnel and it wasn’t a train coming

 

Nahum’s verse finds an echo in Isaiah 52, verse 7…

–         How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns”

 

This is the crux of faith really – believing that God reigns (that the Lord is in control of events) even when everything appears to be in chaos

 

Nahum 1 verse 15 continues with the words…

–         Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, and fulfil your vows.

 

Just as we have Christian festivals like Easter & Christmas so too the Jews have their religious festivals – community rituals for remembering their history & identity

–         By saying, ‘celebrate your festivals O Judah’, Nahum is encouraging the people to remain faithful to Yahweh

–         Remember who you are, stay solid in your faith, by continuing your normal patterns of worship

 

Most of the Christian life comes down to faithfulness

–         What we generally get in the Bible is the highlights of God’s dealings with humanity throughout history

–         We don’t get the whole 5 day test match

–         For example, we hear how Joseph went to Egypt and saved his family from starvation and then 400 years pass without much comment until Moses comes along

–         What happened in that 400 years between Joseph & Moses?

–         God had promised to give Jacob’s descendants the land of Canaan and yet there they were faithfully waiting in the land of Egypt, believing in the promise and passing on their faith to their children – simply trusting God to make good on his promise one day, somehow

–         Nothing spectacular – just remembering who they were and abiding in God’s promise – Being the people of God together

 

There’s a wonderful article in the latest edition of the Baptist magazine by Dr Greg Liston [3]

–         His article addresses the issue that while the Christian church is growing rapidly in places like Asia, Africa and South America, it is (generally speaking) declining in size, status and significance in western countries like ours

–         Some people respond to this decline by saying we need to do more and do it better – be more relevant, more polished, more innovative, etc.

–         The problem with this is that we end up taking the responsibility (and the stress) for the success of the church on our own shoulders – big mistake

 

Greg says the church’s deepest challenge actually lies – not in working out what we can do better, but in remembering who we are…

–         We need to remember that the church is not principally a human organisation, but one foundationally constituted by God’s Spirit

–         This means the church is not primarily a responsibility

–         Rather the church is a gift

–         So our job is not to make stuff happen

–         Our job is to join in with what God is already doing

 

As Mother Teresa is often quoted as saying…

–         ‘God has not called me to be successful, he has called me to be faithful’

 

Or, as Jesus says…

–         Apart from me you can do nothing

–         Abide in me and you will bear much fruit

 

Celebrate your festivals and fulfil your vows

–         We shouldn’t try to be something we’re not

–         Remember who you are and remain faithful in your worship as you wait for God to fulfil his promises

 

Chapter 1 of Nahum concludes with the words…

–         No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed.   

 

This is the good news which makes it possible for Judah to wait faithfully

–         “The wicked” most likely refers specifically to the Assyrians

–         God is not making an unconditional promise here that Judah will never be invaded by anyone ever again

–         He is saying they won’t be invaded by Assyria

 

Sadly the people of Judah were not able to remain faithful to the Lord for long

–         And because of their unfaithfulness Jerusalem eventually fell to the Babylonians, as well, and the survivors were carried off into exile

 

Conclusion:

This part of Israel’s history is a bit sad really

–         Fortunately it doesn’t end there

–         In a kind of muted way Nahum’s prophecy points beyond the politics of his day to Jesus

 

In Luke 4, Jesus gives his job description – quoting from the prophet Isaiah he outlines what he came to do…

–         The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor

–         He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind

–         To release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour

 

The people of Jesus’ day, who lived under Roman occupation (which was similar but perhaps not quite as bad as Assyrian oppression) naturally thought Jesus had come to destroy Rome, as Nineveh had been destroyed

–         But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world

–         He didn’t come for political revolution

–         Jesus weapons were not swords or spears

–         His weapons were grace & truth

–         Jesus didn’t come to wage war against flesh and blood

–         He came to destroy sin & death

 

Jesus set the captives free by healing people of their diseases

–         By casting out evil spirits

–         And through forgiveness

 

Jesus’ greatest victory was won by laying down his life and dying on a cross

–         Jesus’ resurrection is the sign of his victory over death

–         Our job is to be faithful in trusting Jesus and his resurrection

 

Let us pray…

 

 

[1] Quoted in James Bruckner’s NIVAC on Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,  page 29

[2] Tremper Longman III – page 798 of ‘The minor prophets’ (Nahum).

[3] Greg Liston, Baptist Magazine (NZ), ‘I believe in the Church, pages 4-6.

Tawa Baptist

Nahum on Nineveh

Scripture: Nahum 1

 

Title: God’s comforting judgment

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s comforting judgment
  • God’s righteous anger
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

When I was a kid dinner was meat and three veg and sometimes the three veg included Brussel sprouts

–         Boiled Brussel sprouts tasted just awful to me

 

Recently though, I had a salad with thinly sliced raw Brussel sprouts, apple straws and a nice dressing – it tasted surprisingly good

–         I still don’t like boiled Brussel sprouts but I love raw Brussel Sprouts in a salad – delicious

 

This morning we continue our series on the city of Nineveh

–         Over the past few weeks we have looked at Nineveh through the eyes of Jonah

–         Today we begin looking at the city of Nineveh through the eyes of another prophet, called Nahum

 

People generally like the story of Jonah because it’s familiar and because it reveals a God of compassion and mercy

–         A God who is slow to anger and rich in love

–         And they are the characteristics of God that taste good to us

–         Consequently Jonah gets preached on widely

 

Nahum, on the other hand, presents quite a different side of God

–         Nahum uses some very strong language and can leave one with a feeling of judgment and doom

–         In the book of Jonah, God is patient, Nineveh is saved and Jonah is angry

–         But in the book of Nahum, God is angry, Nineveh is destroyed and Nahum’s feelings are not explored

 

Consequently Nahum has the reputation of being the Biblical equivalent of Brussel sprouts

–         Yea, it’s good for you but kind of hard to swallow

–         But if you thinly slice it and eat it raw – if you break it down and understand it in its original context, it is surprisingly good

 

In the book of Jonah, the people of Nineveh repented of their violent ways and God had compassion on them – he relented and did not destroy their city.

–         Sadly Nineveh’s repentance did not last

–         Some decades later the Assyrians went back to their violent ways

 

Fast forward 100 years or so from the time of Jonah and God has another message concerning Nineveh

–         This time there is no opportunity for repentance – the Assyrians have gone too far and so Nineveh will be destroyed

–         From Nahum chapter 1, verse 1, we read…

 

An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;     the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes     and maintains his wrath against his enemies.

 

3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power;     the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,     and clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up;     he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither     and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.

 

5 The mountains quake before him     and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence,     the world and all who live in it. 6 Who can withstand his indignation?     Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire;     the rocks are shattered before him.

 

7 The Lord is good,     a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, 8     but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh;     he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.

 

9 Whatever they plot against the Lord     he will bring to an end;     trouble will not come a second time. 10 They will be entangled among thorns     and drunk from their wine;     they will be consumed like dry stubble.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

God’s comforting judgment:

Charles Dickens’ classic novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ begins with that famous line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

–         This is a kind of paradox – a thing exhibiting apparently contradictory characteristics

–         If we think in terms of ‘either / or’ then we will probably struggle with paradox

–         But when we learn to think in terms of ‘both / and’ then paradox starts to make more sense to us

 

Other examples of paradox include…

–         ‘Nobody goes to that restaurant, it’s always packed’

–         Or, ‘The sound of silence’

–         Or, one by our friend C.S. Lewis, “Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again”

 

The humble Brussel sprout is a paradox too – it can taste disgusting but it can also taste delicious

 

The Bible is full of paradox – seemingly contradictory things that go together

–         Like our friend Jesus says…

–         ‘The first shall be last and the last shall be first’

–         Or, ‘Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it’

 

Nahum presents us with paradox in the nature of God

–         The same God who is merciful and ready to forgive the people of Nineveh is also a jealous and avenging God

–         God is full of anger but at the same time in control of his anger

–         He can be a powerfully destructive force against the guilty and a refuge for those who trust in him

–         Paradox – it’s ‘both / and’, not ‘either / or’

 

One paradox in particular that Nahum draws out is God’s comforting judgment

 

The name ‘Nahum’ means comforter

–         And yet, Nahum’s message seems anything but comforting

–         It’s about God coming in judgment to destroy Nineveh

–         This is what God (through Nahum) has to say to Nineveh…

 

…but with an overwhelming flood he [the Lord] will make an end of Nineveh;     he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.

9 Whatever they plot against the Lord     he will bring to an end;     trouble will not come a second time. 10 They will be entangled among thorns     and drunk from their wine;     they will be consumed like dry stubble.

 

Nahum is writing poetry here but it is poetry that came true in history

–         The city of Nineveh was eventually overwhelmed by a flood of enemies in the form of the Babylonian army

–         The city was also destroyed by a literal flood of water

–         The river which Nineveh had relied on as a natural defence became the instrument of its destruction

 

To be pursued into the realm of darkness is a frightening image

–         Darkness in Scripture usually means distress, terror, mourning, dread and  oblivion

 

Entangled among thorns is a picture of pain & powerlessness

–         If you are entangled in thorns then you can’t move without tearing your own flesh or impaling yourself

 

Likewise, being drunk means losing all control and making a fool of one self

–         The thing about being drunk is that it’s self-inflicted

–         In other words, Nineveh have brought this disgrace on themselves

–         They, and no one else, are to blame for their predicament

 

Dry stubble is grass or vegetation that has been consumed so only the short little stalks protrude out of the ground

–         To burn the stubble is to completely destroy what is left

–         There will be no trace left of the city

–         This may seem harsh but it is quite fair

–         The Assyrians used a scorched earth policy with others – burning everything to the ground in their wake

–         Now God is going to do the same with them

 

Overwhelmed, tangled, drunk and consumed – this is to be the end for Nineveh

–         How is that comforting?

–         Well, it’s not comforting if you are from Nineveh

–         But to Nineveh’s enemies (especially to Israel), who have suffered much at the hands of the Assyrians, it is actually a great comfort to know that God is on your side

–         That the evil and violence you are suffering will be brought to an end

 

It’s the comfort of facing a violent attacker knowing that the police are on their way – the bad guys are not going to get away with it

 

The paradox of God’s judgment is that it is a comfort for those who trust him and at the same time a nightmare for those who oppose him

 

7 The Lord is good,     a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,

 

We don’t like to think about God’s judgment all that much – it scares us

–         We prefer to think about his mercy and forgiveness

–         We still need to remember his judgment though – not so that we are frightened but so that we will be comforted when we suffer injustice

 

If we complain that God is not fair then it could be that we don’t have an adequate grasp of his judgment

–         Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; they will be satisfied

–         Things may not be right now but God is going to make them right in the end – there is comfort in knowing this

 

God’s righteous anger:

God’s judgment is comforting and his anger is righteous

 

Verse 2 describes the Lord (Yahweh) as a jealous God

–         We generally think of jealousy as a bad thing

–         We think jealousy is born from the fear of being replaced by a rival

–         We associate jealousy with envy

–         And while it can carry those connotations it can also have a more positive meaning

–         As in having zeal or ardour to safe guard or protect something from thieves and robbers (from those who have no right to it)

 

For example, it is entirely appropriate for a husband to be jealous for his wife and for a wife to be jealous for her husband – jealous in the sense of protecting your marriage and not sharing your partner with another man or woman

 

Likewise, it is a parent’s job to be jealous for their children – to protect them, to not allow any harm to come to them and to search for them when they lost

–         Jealousy in that sense is a good thing

 

Jealousy in its best sense is a form of righteous anger

–         Jesus demonstrated zeal or jealousy for God’s temple when he overturned the tables of the money changes

–         Jesus was rightly angry at the merchants because their greedy presence was preventing people from coming to God for worship & prayer

 

There has been a series of movies over the past decade called Taken, starring Liam Neeson

–         The first in the series tells the story of a retired CIA agent whose daughter is kidnapped by some human traffickers

–         I haven’t watched any of these films, mainly because I have two daughters and I don’t find that sort of thing entertaining

–         But there is a famous scene from the first movie, which has become part of popular culture, where Liam Neeson’s character is on the phone with the kidnappers and says to them…

I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. But if you are looking for a ransom I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills that I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.

 

This is a bit dark and threatening but it helps to illustrate what we mean by jealousy in a fatherly sense

–         Please don’t misunderstand or misapply the illustration

–         I’m not suggesting we have a license to behave like Liam Neeson’s character in that movie

–         We are not to go after our enemies with death threats

 

The point of the illustration is to help us understand what Nahum is getting at when he says…

–         The Lord is a jealous & avenging God… slow to anger & great in power

 

The Assyrians (the people of Nineveh) had kidnapped the people of Israel

–         You’ve heard the expression, ‘the 10 lost tribes of Israel’ – well it was the Assyrians (Nineveh) who did that

–         They invaded Israel and those they didn’t kill, they carried off into slavery, leaving nothing but scorched earth behind them

–         Like human traffickers they were cruel & brutal and did not show mercy for women & children

 

The Lord God is like Liam Neeson’s character in two ways…

–         He is a loving Father who is jealous for his children Israel

–         He will stop at nothing to go after those who have taken his daughter

–         He is also a mighty warrior – the Lord has a particular set of skills that make him a nightmare for people like the Assyrians

–         The difference with God is that he knows exactly who the Assyrians are and where they live

–         And, unlike any human being, the Lord is qualified to act as judge and executioner

 

Now God’s jealousy isn’t just for his children Israel

–         The Lord is also jealous for his reputation and his role as God

–         If anyone tries to displace God by worshipping idols or by putting themselves in the place of God then the Lord is not happy with that

–         It’s not that God feels threatened or fearful of rivals

–         It is that God feels protective of his creation

–         When we try to displace God, when we worship the things we have made rather than our maker, creation suffers for it

–         God won’t tolerate any rivals because it is bad for the world he loves

 

The people of Nineveh had put themselves in the place of God

–         They were arrogant – they thought they were untouchable, undefeatable

–         And at the time when Nahum delivered his oracle (his burden) they were the leading world power of the day

–         Which makes Nahum’s message even more remarkable – because he was predicting Nineveh’s downfall at the height of their powers

 

One of the things we note about Liam Neeson’s character, in the movie Taken, is that he is calm – he is in complete control of his anger

–         There is quite a bit about God’s anger in our reading from Nahum

 

In verse 2 we are told that the Lord is filled with wrath and then in verse 3 we are told the Lord is slow to anger and will not leave the guilty unpunished

–         These statements seem contradictory don’t they – but its paradox

–         Nahum’s point here is that God is in complete control of his anger

 

That the Lord is filled with wrath tells us (paradoxically) that God cares and is deeply affected by injustice and evil

–         If God didn’t care he wouldn’t feel angry – he wouldn’t feel anything

 

That God is slow to anger tells us that God is in control of his temper – he doesn’t react in the heat of the moment or fly off the handle

–         To give you an idea of how slow to anger the Lord is, the Assyrians’ reign of terror lasted for 250 years

–         God’s anger is righteous – He releases his anger at just the right moment and in just the right measure so that the guilty are not left unpunished

 

The image I get when thinking of God’s anger is one of a huge dam holding back water

–         The water of God’s anger (and power) is released in a controlled way

 

It is precisely because God is good and in complete control that he is qualified to take vengeance on his foes – We are not qualified to pass judgment

 

We don’t have time to explore every line of poetry in these verses but there are a couple of metaphors of God’s power I need to draw your attention to

 

In verse 4 we read that God dries up the sea and makes all the rivers run dry

–         To the ancient Hebrew mind the sea symbolised chaos

–         Nahum is saying here that God has the power to make chaos disappear

–         In other words, God’s jealousy (his righteous anger) restores order

 

Then in verse 5 we read how the mountains quake before the Lord and the hills melt away

–         Mountains and hill are the image of stability and security

–         Nineveh may think they are immovable – as stable and secure as a mountain

–         But before God’s righteous anger they are not

 

What was it Jesus said…

–         “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you”

 

Conclusion:

Our reading from Nahum began today with the words…

–         An oracle concerning Nineveh…

 

The original Hebrew word translated as oracle also means burden

–         Nahum’s message is a burden, just as vengeance is a burden

 

So with all this talk of anger & destruction, where is the good news for us?

–         Well, the good news is: we don’t have to carry the burden of vengeance

–         We don’t have to worry about getting even with our enemies because we know God is more than able to take care of that

 

Following the teachings of Jesus, the apostle Paul (in his letter to the Romans) writes…

 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.   

 

To heap burning coals on their heads isn’t to be taken literally

–         It is a metaphor which means something like, ‘when you show kindness to your enemies, it causes them to burn with shame’

–         Loving your enemies – it’s a paradox

 

Because God takes vengeance on our behalf, we don’t have to – we are free to keep our hands clean and let God do the dirty work

–         Let us pray…

Tawa Baptist

Comfort

Scripture: Psalm 23:4b – “Your rod and your staff they comfort me”

(With reference to Matthew 9:1-8)

 

Title: Comfort

Structure:

  • Introduction – comfort
  • The shepherd’s rod & staff
  • Jesus comforts the paralysed man – Matthew 9:1-8
  • Conclusion – The Comforter

 

Introduction:

On the wall here are some pictures

  • Some chocolate
  • A teddy bear
  • A sofa piled high with pillows
  • And a couple giving each other a hug
  • Looking at these pictures what seven letter word comes to mind?
  • Let people respond
  • That’s right: Comfort

 

These are the sorts of images we might ordinarily associate with comfort

  • Chocolate is comfort food
  • Pillows provide for comfortable rest
  • A hug communicates emotional comfort and security as does a teddy bear

 

Although we (today) might equate comfort with physical ease, luxury or even self-indulgence it didn’t always mean this

 

To comfort someone generally implies that the person receiving the comfort is in a state of pain or affliction [1]

  • Comfort causes us to feel less worried or upset [2]
  • Comfort eases our grief or trouble
  • And it gives strength and hope – it cheers up in other words

 

The word ‘comfort’ derives from two Latin words

  • Com – meaning with
  • And fortis meaning strong
  • So to comfort someone is to be with them in a way that fortifies them with courage – making them stronger & safer

 

Chocolate and pillows have their place but they don’t provide real comfort – because in the long run they don’t actually give strength or security

 

Other images which are closer to the original meaning of comfort might include

  • A life jacket – because this is a vestment of security; it makes you safer on the water
  • A walking frame – because this fortifies people, giving them strength & confidence to stand
  • A speed camera – because they actually make the roads safer
  • We can still keep the hug because physical closeness helps us to feel less alone and more secure
  • In the right context each of these things comforts us in the sense that they provide strength, courage and relief from anxiety

 

Okay, one more illustration to help us grasp the meaning of comfort

  • On the wall here is a picture of some cake batter being poured into a tin
  • Without the cake tin the batter would run out everywhere and the cake would have no strength to hold its shape
  • The tin comforts the cake in the sense that it gives strength to the cake – at least while the cake is baking in the oven
  • Once the cake is cooked you can take it out of the tin and it will hold together by itself
  • But until then the tin provides the comforting framework or the healthy boundaries needed for the cake’s strength

 

Today we continue our series on Psalm 23

  • The message of Psalm 23 as a whole is: the Lord is my security.
  • God looks after me like a shepherd looks after a sheep.

 

So far we have covered the first three & half verses…

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil

 

 

Today we finish verse 4, the centre of the psalm…

 

For you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me

 

This is primarily about the Lord’s comfort in the valley of darkness

  • Not comfort in the sense of ease & luxury – not chocolate & pillows
  • But comfort in the sense of strength, courage & security
  • Real comfort which makes us safer, relieving our anxiety & fear

 

The shepherd’s rod & staff:

So what does David mean by your rod and your staff?

  • How are these a comfort (or a strength) to him?
  • How do they provide security and relieve his anxiety?

 

Well, the rod and staff are two quite different tools of the shepherd’s trade

 

Kenneth Bailey observes that sheep have a special problem – they have no defences [3]

  • Cats have claws, dogs can bite, horses can kick, bears can crush, deer can run, but sheep have no ability to protect themselves
  • Without the shepherd, the sheep are completely vulnerable
  • The shepherd is their only security

 

 

The shepherd’s rod is one of his tools for protecting the sheep

  • It looks something like this…
  • [Show the rod]
  • I collected a couple of examples while walking on the beach up the Kapiti Coast
  • These are the closest I could find resembling a rod
  • As you can see a rod is relatively short and has a lumpy bit on the end – like a mace or a club
  • The rod is essentially a weapon
  • The shepherd uses his rod to protect his flock from predators – wolves and wild dogs and so forth
  • If a wolf threatens the flock the shepherd hits the wolf across the head
  • Good night wolf

 

The rod is a comfort to the sheep because it makes them more secure – it saves them from the wolf

  • David is less anxious knowing that the Lord (his Shepherd) is present with a rod to protect him

 

The shepherd also uses the rod for counting the sheep

  • When the flock return to the village in the evening the shepherd holds the rod over the sheep to account for each one
  • If a sheep or lamb is missing then the shepherd goes out to look for it
  • Knowing that the Lord counts his sheep with the rod also gives David comfort – he is less afraid of being forgotten or abandoned
  • So that’s the rod – it is never used against the sheep

 

Here we have a couple of examples of a shepherd’s staff

  • As you can see the staff is longer & thinner than the rod
  • Some are straight, like this one
  • And others have a curved bit (or a crook) on the end, like this one
  • If the sheep is about to fall down a bank or into a stream the staff with crook gives the shepherd extra reach to grab hold of the sheep and pull it back to safety
  • The shepherd uses the staff to gently guide the sheep back onto the path

 

In the wild Middle East where there are no fences and flocks roam in open country, the shepherd’s staff is like the proverbial fence at the top of the cliff preventing the sheep from going over the edge

 

So while the rod protects the sheep from predators, the staff protects the sheep from itself

  • David is comforted by the Lord’s staff because it keeps him on track – it stops him from going over the edge
  • In this sense the staff is a bit like the cake tin I showed you earlier
  • Like a cake tin the staff provides a framework (a healthy boundary) for holding us together while we are still growing into maturity

 

In some ways, children are like cake batter

  • They are comforted and strengthened and less anxious when they grow up with fair rules and consistent boundaries
  • We don’t need to be hard on our children
  • They don’t need us to hit them with the rod
  • But they do need us to guide them with the staff – to be firm and fair

 

The Lord’s staff, his tool for keeping us on track, is the moral law – the 10 commandments for example

  • There is something quite comforting about the staff of rules and tradition
  • Without the staff of rules and healthy boundaries (like uncooked cake batter) we won’t have the strength to hold together and keep our shape

 

In the Bible the staff is also a symbol of power, authority and journey

  • Moses, for example, used his staff to part the Red Sea and perform other miracles as he guided the people of Israel on a 40 year journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land

 

I mentioned last week that pagan gods are fixed in one location – in so called sacred places like temples or shrines

  • But Yahweh (the living God) is not fixed
  • Yahweh (the Lord) is free to move wherever he wants
  • That the Lord carries a staff (in David’s imagination) is a sign that God is with David wherever he goes
  • Knowing that God is with you (in close proximity to you) is a comfort – it gives strength and confidence and security in the darkest valley

 

For you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me

  • The Lord has the tools and the skills to take care of us
  • His presence gives strength & courage in dark and difficult places

 

Jesus comforts a paralysed man (Matthew 9:1-8)

The film Dolphin Tale was inspired by the true story of a dolphin called ‘Winter’ who lost his tale and had to learn to swim again with the help of a prosthetic tale

  • The doctor who made the prosthetic tale was working in a veteran’s hospital making prosthetic limbs and braces for returned soldiers
  • One soldier in particular, Kyle, was having a hard time adjusting to his disability
  • Kyle used to be a champion swimmer – but after his injury he had to give up that dream
  • When the doctor (played by Morgan Freeman) comforted Kyle, he didn’t do it with words of sympathy (with chocolates & pillows)
  • Instead the doctor comforts Kyle with words of strength

 

  • When Kyle says he is broken the doctor takes a glass and drops it on the ground so that it breaks and says, ‘the glass is broken – you’re not broken
  • Kyle still has options
  • There are a million other things he can still do, even with a gammy leg
  • Kyle is focusing on what he has lost so the doctor reminds him of what he still has – telling Kyle to go home to his family
  • In the long run, Morgan Freeman’s words have the effect of strengthening Kyle, so in that sense they provide more real comfort than sympathy

 

 

How then did Jesus, the good shepherd, comfort people?

  • How did Jesus inspire strength & courage?
  • Well, in Matthew chapter 9 we are given an example…

 

Jesus got into the boat and went back across the lake to his own town 2 where some people brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a bed. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, my son! [Take heart] Your sins are forgiven.”

 

3 Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man is speaking blasphemy!”

 

4 Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and so he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things? 5 Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

 

7 The man got up and went home. 8 When the people saw it, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such authority to people.

 

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

 

Being paralysed the man in this story was basically defenceless, like a sheep

  • Not being able to move he was vulnerable, powerless

 

Fortunately this guy had friends to help him

  • The friends comforted the paralysed man by carrying him to Jesus
  • Their comfort wasn’t in the form of sympathetic words
  • Their comfort was in the form of practical action
  • Another version of this story in the gospels tells how the friends made a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was and lowered the man down
  • The friends’ faith in Jesus (collectively) gave emotional strength and spiritual courage to the paralysed man

 

When Jesus sees their faith he speaks words of comfort to the man

  • “Courage my son. [Take heart]. Your sins are forgiven.”
  • Jesus’ words fortify the man’s inner being
  • We don’t know why the man was paralysed
  • It probably wasn’t because of any sin he had committed – otherwise we would all be in wheelchairs
  • But the social reality was such that most people listening to Jesus at that time would have assumed the paralysis was a punishment for sin
  • And it appears the man himself had bought into this lie
  • It appears the man believed he deserved to be paralysed

By saying, “Your sins are forgiven”, Jesus removes the man’s fear

  • Think about that for a moment
  • Forgiveness is a form of comfort – one of the most powerful forms of comfort in fact, because forgiveness takes away the fear of punishment
  • We can equate forgiveness to the shepherd’s rod because sin, guilt & shame are the enemies of the human soul
  • And forgiveness is the weapon by which Jesus, the good shepherd, protects us from sin, guilt & shame
  • Jesus’ rod of forgiveness comforts the paralysed man
  • The rod of forgiveness gives the man courage & permission to stand and walk without fear of punishment

 

Many people of Jesus’ day would have thought the Lord’s rod was some kind of weapon or military force to smash the Roman oppressors

  • But that’s not what Jesus came to do
  • Christ didn’t come to smash people
  • He came to smash sin and its consequences
  • And to guide people in the right path – the path of abundant life

 

By saying to the man, “Your sins are forgiven”, Jesus is making a startling claim – that he has divine authority to forgive sins

  • The scribes (the teachers of the law) are discomforted by Jesus’ claim
  • They begin to get off track thinking Jesus has committed blasphemy
  • So Jesus neutralises their fears and brings back onto the right path by healing the man
  • The miracle Jesus performs is like the shepherd’s staff – it is a symbol of Jesus’ God given authority – his right to forgive and to guide

Jesus wields the rod of forgiveness & the staff of healing with his tongue

  • It was by words spoken with power that Jesus, the good shepherd, brought real tangible comfort to people

 

 

Conclusion:

There is another way that Jesus comforts people and that is with the Holy Spirit

 

On the night before he died Jesus spoke words of comfort to his disciples…

 

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you… Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 

The Comforter, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, comes alongside us with strength and courage and truth to guide us, even through the darkest valley

 

Let us pray…

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort

[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comfort

[3] Kenneth Bailey, ‘The Good Shepherd’, page 49

Tawa Baptist

Baptism

Scripture: Mark 16:16a “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved”

 

Title: Baptism

 

Key Idea: Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith
  • Conclusion

 

 

Introduction:

This morning Duan is being baptised

  • The word ‘baptise’ means to dip or immerse
  • There is a pool of water here at the front – we call this the ‘baptistery’
  • Duan will go into the water, make a profession of his faith in Jesus, then be immersed under the water before coming out again
  • That is the act of baptism

 

Baptism comes up in the New Testament quite a bit

  • John the Baptist immersed people in the Jordan river to get them ready for the coming Messiah
  • Jesus himself was baptised by John, as a sign that he had come to take away the sins of the world

 

Later Jesus went through another sort of baptism – not in water – but on the cross, when he was immersed in suffering

  • After his resurrection from the dead Jesus commanded his disciples to…

 

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. [1]

 

Throughout the Book of Acts, the apostles did as Jesus instructed…

  • They preached the gospel and when people believed in Jesus the apostles baptised them

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith:

We could go on listing other New Testament references to baptism but the key idea I want to communicate this morning is…

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Or as Beasley-Murray puts it…

  • “Baptism is… the divinely appointed rendezvous of grace for faith.” [2]

 

In the New Testament the same gifts of grace are associated with faith as with baptism – so grace, faith and baptism go together

  • Baptism is a nexus point for God’s grace & our faith

Just so we are on the same page…

  • By grace we mean a multifaceted gift from God
  • A gift, by definition, is freely given – we don’t pay for it
  • So grace is unearned – it costs God but it doesn’t cost us

 

And faith is believing (or trusting) to the point we are prepared to act on that belief

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Let me illustrate by way of analogy

  • Imagine someone tells you that Mexted Motors are giving away cars – brand new cars at no cost
  • All you have to do is turn up at their car yard, collect the key, get in the car and drive away

 

Grace is being given the new car for free

 

And baptism is the rendezvous point for collecting the new car – that is: the yard at Mexted’s

 

Faith is believing that what you have been told is true and then acting on that belief by walking down to Mexted’s, collecting a key, getting in a vehicle and driving away

  • Faith is not saying, ‘I agree that Mexted’s are giving away cars’ and then sitting at home on the couch
  • Faith is acting on your belief – trusting that what you have heard is true

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Now, in many ways this is an inadequate analogy for baptism

  • We don’t just turn up to collect the goodies from God and then drive away – see you later. No
  • In baptism we become forever friends with Jesus
  • So when we get in the car (when we are baptised) the Spirit of God is already there waiting for us – ready to show us the way to go through life

Translating the analogy for you…

  • Duan has heard the gospel preached
  • He has heard the good news that God has grace – a wonderful multi-faceted gift to give away
  • And he has come to the waters of baptism in faith to receive God’s grace
  • After receiving the grace God wants to give, Duan will continue his journey through life with God

 

So what is this grace of God?

  • Well, firstly Duan, there’s no free car
  • And that goes for the rest of you as well
  • I don’t want anyone turning up at Mexted’s this afternoon, saying…
  • “I’ve been baptised. Where’s my free car.”

 

Seriously though, Jesus embodies the fullness of God’s grace

  • All the different facets of God’s grace we find in Christ
  • Jesus is God’s gift to the world for the salvation of creation

 

When we are baptised into Christ we receive forgiveness from sin [3]

  • And union with Christ [4]

With forgiveness God wipes our slate clean – He doesn’t hold our wrong doing against us

  • That means our guilt is removed – we’re justified & accepted before God
  • Not only are our sins forgiven – but sin also loses its power over us
  • The power of sin is death – because we are forgiven, death can’t hold us
  • And because we are justified, the accusations of the evil one won’t stick

 

In believers’ baptism we also receive from God union with Christ

  • Baptism is sort of like a wedding ceremony in that it unites us to Christ
  • Just as marriage is for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, so too union with Christ is for better or worse, through thick & thin
  • Baptism doesn’t mean the end of suffering or difficulty in this life
  • But it does mean the end of trying to cope with difficulties on your own

 

It also means a change to our lifestyle

  • I remember when I married Robyn, I had to change my mind set
  • No longer could I think like a single man
  • Now I had to consider Robyn in everything I did
  • I needed to learn to listen to her and tell her what I was thinking & feeling
  • It’s the same with our union to Christ – we have to consider him in all our decisions – how will this affect Jesus?
  • We need to listen to him and be honest with him – we call that prayer

 

Union with Christ is a biggy – it comes with a number of benefits

  • For starters union with Christ gives you the Spirit of Jesus
  • The Holy Spirit is the key to everything really
  • The Spirit precedes baptism in that He leads us to Christ and makes faith & repentance possible
  • Faith is a gift from God
  • The Holy Spirit is also given in baptism [5]
  • One of the Biblical metaphors for the Holy Spirit is water
  • We are baptised in water as a sign that through our union with Christ we are being immersed in God’s Spirit
  • The Holy Spirit then follows baptism – we go on being filled with the Spirit who empowers us to live the Christian life

 

Union with Christ gives you the promise of resurrection

  • In Romans 6 Paul writes: Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?
  • …If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. [6]

 

Because Jesus is God’s Son, union with Christ makes us sons & daughters of God

  • As co-heirs with Christ we will inherit God’s kingdom

 

And last but not least, union with Christ means we become members of the church universal

  • Duan’s baptism is not something which is done in isolation
  • It’s not just between him and God
  • Duan’s baptism is between him and God and us
  • Duan is being incorporated into Christ’s body, the church
  • So we who have been baptised are affected by this
  • We are encourageed and strengthened by it

 

There is much more I could say about baptism but that’s enough for today

  • The main point is: Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

We will now hear a testimony from Duan…

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Mark 16:15-16

[2] G.R. Beasley-Murray, ‘Baptism in the New Testament, page 273.

[3] Acts 2:38

[4] Galatians 3:27

[5] 1 Corinthians 12:13

[6] Romans 6:3 & 5

Tawa Baptist

Strengthening Fellowship

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-3

 

Title: Strengthening Fellowship

 

Members Pledge 5: To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • United by Christ, not by likes
  • Strengthening fellowship (Eph. 4:2)
  • The bond of peace (Eph. 4:3)
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Over the past couple of months we have been journeying through the 23rd Psalm – making reference as we go to the various ways in which this psalm points us to Jesus

  • During May we take a break from Psalm 23 to focus on other things
  • We have a baptismal service next Sunday
  • And for the following three Sundays after that we will give our attention to the annual Tranzsend Prayer & Self Denial campaign
  • We intend to return to Psalm 23 in June.

 

With Ben & Becca Allen being welcomed into membership our message today focuses on one of the members’ pledges…

 

To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

 

Sometimes people ask me, ‘why do we have membership?’

  • ‘If I become a member of the church universal when I’m baptised then why do I need to become a member of a local church also?’
  • After all salvation is not by local church membership – it’s by faith in Christ
  • Well, joining yourself in membership to a local church is not something you do primarily for yourself
  • It’s something you do for the well-being of the people in the local church

 

From a legal and financial point of view the church needs to differentiate between members and non-members in order to protect itself

  • In our situation the members are the ones charged with the responsibility for decision making
  • If we didn’t have members with voting rights then, in a worse-case scenario, some other larger group could come along to a church meeting and pass a resolution to take over our buildings & programmes for their own nefarious purposes
  • So the people we allow into membership really need to have the best interests of the local church at heart

 

Therefore, when someone becomes a member of Tawa Baptist they pledge…

  • To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

 

United by Christ, not by likes:

Membership isn’t just about providing a measure of legal and financial protection for the local church

  • More importantly it’s about taking care of Christ’s reputation as well as our relationships with each other

Strengthening the fellowship of the church and developing the spirit of love, is essentially about the quality of our relationships together, as a community of faith

 

The church is not a building

  • The church is a network of relationships – like a family
  • In a general sense, a family shares the same heritage, the same blood, the same DNA
  • As a church family we share Christ’s heritage, His blood and His Spirit
  • It is Jesus who unites us and so the primary criteria for church membership is our relationship with Christ as formalised in baptism

 

The church is not a club either

  • A club is a group of people who are united by a shared liking for something
  • So for example, people who like collecting stamps might form a stamp collecting club
  • And people who like shooting guns might get together to form a gun club
  • And people who like drinking wine might form a wine tasting club

 

But a church is not a group of people united by a shared liking

  • The church is united by Christ
  • Therefore the church brings people of different likings, different cultures, different socio-economic backgrounds, different ages and different personalities together

 

Think about the implications of that for a moment

  • Being united by Christ means we don’t necessarily like the same things
  • For example, we don’t all like the same kind of songs
  • Some prefer hymns while others prefer Hill Song music – some enjoy all styles of music and still others can’t wait till the singing is over
  • Some people like interactive worship services – where you get up and move around – others like to sit still and listen to sermons
  • And others aren’t as interested in the sermon as they are in catching up with people over a cup of tea afterwards

 

The point is we all like different things and that’s okay – that’s as it should be

  • Because we are not a club – we are not united by our likes
  • We are united by Christ

 

The main metaphor for the church in the New Testament is family

  • You can choose your friends based on common interests or shared likes
  • But you can’t choose your family
  • You don’t get to choose who else comes to church here
  • You may like different things from the person sitting next to you
  • But you are still committed to their well-being

 

If you like Hill Song music then you still sing hymns for the sake of the person in the pew opposite you who is helped by singing hymns (& vice versa)

  • Or if you prefer the more interactive stuff to the sermon then you still listen patiently to the sermon for the sake of the person here who is fed by preaching
  • In these sorts of ways we strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people

 

C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters

  • It’s an enjoyable and thoughtful piece of fiction
  • Screwtape is the name of a demon who writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood – Wormwood is an apprentice tempter
  • Screwtape’s letters are full of advice on how the young demon, Wormwood, might turn a human being away from the Christian faith

 

In one of his letters Screwtape writes to Wormwood…

  • “Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” [1]

 

If you ever manage to find a church which caters for all your likes and avoids your dislikes then you probably aren’t in church – you’re in a club or a bar

  • The opposite is also true
  • When you find yourself not liking something in church then you can probably take it as confirmation that you’re in the right place

 

We are united by Christ, not by our likes

  • And Christ’s Spirit (His DNA) is love
  • Love seeks the well-being of others

 

Strengthening fellowship:

What then does the Bible have to say about strengthening the fellowship of the church?

  • Well, one key passage which sums it up well is found at the beginning of Ephesians 4
  • While in prison for preaching the gospel of Christ, the apostle Paul wrote to the first Century church in Ephesus saying…

 

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

 

Paul gives us 4 or 5 qualities which are essential to strengthening the fellowship of the church – this is how Christians are to treat each other…

  • With humility
  • Gentleness
  • Patience
  • Forbearance
  • And love

 

Humility in this context means ‘lowliness of mind’ or thinking low (not being proud or haughty) [2]

  • Being humble is really an attitude
  • It’s about having an accurate awareness of yourself in relation to others – not thinking too much of yourself
  • Being conscious of the fact that without God our life has no meaning and that without Christ we can do nothing
  • Humility is recognising that we need other people and more importantly the wider community of which we are just a small part needs other people
  • We are not the centre – it’s not all about us

 

A humble person does not think, ‘My team needs me to a score try’

  • A truly humble person thinks, ‘How can I best support my team mates to score tries?’

 

The church at Ephesus was a mix of different cultures – some Gentile, some Jewish

  • While humility was a virtue in Jewish culture, it was not valued in Gentile culture at that time

 

But valued or not, humility is primary to strengthening any fellowship or community

  • Humility keeps our ego in check and prevents us from worshipping ourselves
  • Humility also makes gentleness possible

 

If humility was despised in the ancient gentile world then gentleness is surely despised in our contemporary culture

  • Violence, brute force, power – these are the things which are glorified in our day and age
  • Gentleness is misunderstood as weakness when the truth is: gentleness requires a greater strength than brute force or violence
  • Gentleness requires self-control and skill

 

If violence is the hammer, then gentleness is the screw driver

  • If force is the butcher’s cleaver, then gentleness is the surgeon’s scalpel
  • If power is a drone strike, then gentleness is the kind word which turns away wrath
  • You might be tempted to smack your children into submission but you are more likely to take a gentle approach – to remain calm, wait for the tantrum to pass and lead them to better choices
  • You can coerce a person into grudging obedience to God by threatening them with the fires of hell,
  • Or you can gently remind them of God’s goodness and grace so they want to do His will

 

Humility and gentleness – these are two qualities that Jesus embodies in himself

  • In Matthew 11, verse 29, Jesus says…
  • 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.

 

Patience is also needed for strengthening the fellowship of the church

  • An ancient Christian preacher by the name of John Chrysostom said,
  • To have patience is to have “…a wide or big soul” [3]

 

Having a ‘wide or big soul’ means having room for other people in our lives

  • Not being so fixated on our own agenda that we don’t have room for interruptions
  • Now it is not appropriate for us to accommodate every interruption
  • It is important to maintain some healthy boundaries
  • But we don’t want to be so tightly scheduled, so tightly managed and focused that we can’t attend to what’s important

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates largeness (and smallness) of soul

  • The priest and the Levite were so fixed on their own little agenda
  • (Must get to church on time – must be seen to do the right thing)
  • That they didn’t have room to care for the wounded stranger on the side of the road
  • By contrast the despised Samaritan had a largeness of soul which made it possible for him to put aside what he had planned to achieve that day, dress the stranger’s wounds and carry him to safety

 

Patience is making room for other people when it matters

 

Strengthening the fellowship of the church requires the patience (or the largeness of soul) to make room for each other

  • To sing each other’s songs,
  • To prefer each other’s needs,
  • To listen to each other’s concerns,
  • To help in practical ways where we can
  • Or perhaps simply to be together without any agenda

 

So then, the fellowship of the church (our relationships together) are strengthened by humility, by gentleness, by patience and by bearing with

one another in love  

 

Bearing with one another means putting up with people

  • And love, in this context, means seeking the other person’s well-being

The reality is that other people can be annoying sometimes – they can get on your wick (often it’s the little things)

  • It’s not that they mean to aggravate you – they are just being themselves and it gets under your skin

 

Paul is saying, don’t sweat the small stuff

  • Don’t walk away from the church over some trifle
  • Put up with the little things for the sake of love – that is for the well-being of the whole community

 

I remember the pastor who married us said, “Don’t worry about a bit of poop in the stable – poop is a sign of life”

 

Yea – people will annoy you sometimes but don’t lose sight of the fact they also have qualities which are good and which the rest of the church needs

  • Besides, we all have things about us which annoy others
  • You might think you are being very gracious in putting up with someone
  • But they probably think the same thing about you
  • What we realise as we get older is that we are all difficult in our own way
  • So we all need to show each other grace
  • And we need to learn to laugh at ourselves too

Now this exhortation to ‘bear with one another in love’ needs to be held in balance with verse 15 of Ephesians 4, where Paul talks about…

  • Speaking the truth in love so that we will grow up into Christ

 

There is a time to bear with difficult behaviour and a time to speak the truth

  • If we always graciously tolerate things we don’t like then the other person never really learns or improves and resentment grows
  • The trick is speaking the truth with humility and gentleness
  • Not being too quick in speaking the truth – but checking ourselves first to make sure we have removed the plank from our own eye before pointing out the speck in theirs
  • Making sure that we are motivated by what’s best for others and not just our own comfort or convenience

 

The bond of peace:

It’s been a dry summer and autumn here in Wellington – the weather’s been lovely

  • We’ve had to water our gardens more than we’re used to lately
  • Sometimes when you water the garden you get a kink in the hose and the water flow slows down to a trickle
  • If that happens, what do you do?
  • Do you throw the hose away or do you fix the problem by taking the kink out of the hose?     [Wait for response]
  • Yes, that’s right you straighten the hose to take the kink out – then the water flows properly again

 

 

Paul continues his exhortation to the Ephesians in verse 3 saying…

 

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

 

I’m not sure I fully understand this verse but I’ll share with you what I know

 

Firstly, the Spirit of Christ creates unity in the church

  • We don’t create unity, the Holy Spirit does
  • However, we are responsible for maintaining the unity
  • And we maintain unity through the bond of peace

 

Peace (in the Bible) isn’t just the absence of conflict

  • It’s shalom, it’s abundant life, joy and right relationship in community with others

 

The bond of peace, therefore, is not a bond which stops us from doing things

  • It’s not like hand cuffs or shackles or a leash or a tie
  • The bond of peace is something which connects us to each other in positive ways
  • It is like a hose with water flowing through it – it is life-giving

 

Sometimes the bond of peace gets a kink in it

  • Sometimes our relationships get a bit twisted
  • People misunderstand each other or have expectations which are disappointed, then one thing leads to another and before you know it they’re not talking – the life-giving flow of water slows to a dribble
  • When our relationships get a kink in them we don’t throw the relationship out – we don’t say, ‘Well stuff you – I’m out of here’
  • No – we find a suitable time when we are calm and unhurried to talk it through – we straighten the kink out – we forgive each other

 

We don’t create the unity but we do need to maintain it by taking care of our relationships, by taking the kink out of the hose

 

Jesus encouraged his disciples to maintain the bond of peace with each other by teaching them to pray…

  • “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

 

You see Jesus establishes a bond of peace between us and God

  • He gives us a brand new hose with water running through it
  • Because of Jesus, God forgives us up front and in advance
  • We get given that forgiveness, that bond of peace, for free
  • But we still have to maintain it
  • And we maintain the bond of peace by paying it forward – by forgiving others, just as God forgave us in Christ

 

Conclusion:

This morning we have explored what it means to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people

 

In short we are to relate with one another in an attitude of humility,

  • With gentleness and with patience (or largeness of soul)
  • We are to bear with one another in love – not sweating the small stuff but at the same time not ignoring those things that need to be addressed

 

In a few minutes we will share communion together

  • Communion is a time when we remember (and celebrate) the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace established by Jesus

 

Now though let’s stand and sing…

 

♫       Brother, Sister, let me serve you…

[1] C.S. Lewis, ‘The Screwtape Letters’, page 81

[2] Klyne Snodgrass, The NIVAC on Ephesians, page 196.

[3] From Chrysostom’s homily on 1 Corinthians 13:4 – referenced in Klyne Snodgrass, The NIVAC on Ephesians, page 197.

Tawa Baptist

He Guides Me

Scripture: Psalm 23:3b – with reference to Matthew 15:1-20

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake

 

Title: He Guides Me

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Psalm 23:3b
    • The Lord guides me
    • Righteousness is a path
    • For his name’s sake
  • Matthew 15:1-20 – Jesus guides the people
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Over the past couple of months we have been journeying through the 23rd Psalm making reference, as we go, to the various ways in which this psalm points to Jesus, the good shepherd.

 

The message of Psalm 23 as a whole is: the Lord is my security.

  • God looks after me (personally) like a shepherd looks after a sheep.

 

So far we have covered the first two and half verses…

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul…

 

‘Lying down’ is about God providing rest

  • ‘Green pastures’ is about nourishment
  • ‘Still waters’ is the peace God gives
  • And ‘he restores my soul’ has to do with rescue

 

  • When I am lost the Lord brings me back or rescues me
  • Rest, nourishment, peace and rescue – these are the ways in which God takes care of his people

 

Today we complete verse 3…

 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake

 

This is primarily about the guidance or wisdom that the Lord offers

  • After bringing me back (or rescuing me) when I’m lost, the Lord then sets me on the right path, so I can carry on to find more green pastures

 

Psalm 23:3b

When we were young we used to play a game called Snakes & Ladders

  • With Snakes & Ladders you roll the dice and move your counter the number indicated on the dice
  • If you land at the foot of a ladder then you move up the ladder
  • But if you land on the head of a snake then you slide all the way down the snake and have to make your way back up the board again
  • Whoever gets to the end first, wins

 

Snakes & Ladders is entirely a game of chance – there is no skill involved and no choice – the dice determines your fate

 

Life is not exactly like Snakes & Ladders though

  • In life we can (to some extent) choose the path we will take
  • However we don’t always know where that path will lead us (at least not at first)
  • Sometimes what we think is a ladder turns out to be a snake & vice versa

 

 

The journey through life is more like travelling in a foreign country where you don’t know the language or the customs

  • You can try to do it on your own but that can be a bit hit & miss – you never really know if you’re landing on a snake or a ladder
  • If you’re smart you will find someone with local knowledge to guide you
  • With a trustworthy guide you can avoid the snakes and find the ladders

 

Returning to our key verse for this morning’s message – there are three main points to note in this phrase…

 

The Lord guides me:

Firstly, the Lord ‘guides’ me.

  • We are not guided by fate or the throw of the dice
  • We are guided by the Lord
  • The Lord is like the person with the local knowledge who shows us the way by walking with us through life

The Lord doesn’t force us or manipulate us or drive us – he guides us.

  • Guidance indicates a relationship of listening and trust
  • A relationship of freedom and respect

 

So we are not following a set of rigid instructions or a list of rules

  • We are following a person
  • The shepherd doesn’t give the sheep a map and a compass and then leave them to it – saying, “you’re on your own now mate”
  • The shepherd remains present with the sheep
  • He walks ahead of the sheep and the sheep follow the shepherd’s lead – his example

 

Righteousness is a path:

There is a new concrete pathway between Tawa and Porirua – running parallel to Kenepuru Drive

  • If you are starting from the Porirua end, heading south, then you come out at Findlay Street – by the Cricket Club
  • It is lovely to walk on and you have no doubt about where the path is
  • The way ahead is very clear

 

In the wild Middle East pathways are not so clear

  • There may be a number of faint trails in the wilderness but not all of them lead to a good destination
  • The shepherd knows which is the right path and consequently which other paths to avoid

 

I remember when I was 18, at the end of the 7th Form (Year 13), I wasn’t sure what to do next

  • In the end I decided to study business management at Waikato University
  • Most people in my family had a business background and so I followed the tradition of my ancestors
  • Unfortunately, at 18, I didn’t know myself very well
  • Truth be told I wasn’t really like anyone else in my family
  • I would have been better studying something like philosophy or sociology or something else in the field of humanities
  • The problem with those sorts of subjects is that they don’t have a clear career path – what would I do for a job at the end of the degree?

 

I thought that by doing business management I was landing on a ladder

  • Little did I realise that for me business management was a snake
  • Ironically the right path seemed wrong and the wrong path seemed right

 

Now I’m not saying that business management studies is bad – for some people it is the right path, it just wasn’t right for me

  • One man’s ladder is another man’s snake I suppose

 

In hindsight I didn’t really listen to God

  • In fact I don’t remember even asking for his guidance
  • For some reason I compartmentalised the different parts of my life
  • It didn’t occur to me as a young man and a new-ish Christian that I could ask God about career options
  • But even if I had asked for God’s input and he had answered, I’m not sure I would have had the faith at that age to step into a path which no one in my family had ever walked before

I battled my way through the degree with a B average but my heart wasn’t in it

  • Despite being on the wrong path God eventually brought me onto the right path
  • When I returned to Varsity some years later to study the Bible and theology I found my fit

 

Not that the business management stuff was wasted

  • As it turns out pastors these days spend a lot of time doing management type tasks
  • Perhaps there was some method in God letting me wander off on the wrong track

 

The second thing we note about our key phrase today is that David describes righteousness as a ‘path’

  • Think about that for a moment – righteousness is a pathway
  • For many of us righteousness is a destination – it equates to achieving some kind of moral or ethical standard
  • But in the Bible the destination is abundant life and righteousness is the path which leads to life
  • Furthermore the Bible teaches us that righteousness is by faith
  • So we walk the path of righteousness by faith – by trusting God

 

The right path is not always clear to us, is it

  • (Not like the pathway between Porirua and Tawa)
  • And so, because the right path is not always clear, it takes a certain degree of faith to walk in it

 

A path indicates movement, process, change and journey

  • The Lord’s guidance is not rigid or static – it is flexible and dynamic, appropriate to the terrain.
  • We don’t always know what’s around the corner and we may sometimes stumble or grow weary as we walk along the path
  • But we don’t trust in our own skill or strength – we trust the good shepherd who guides us

 

God is particularly interested in the inner pathways of our heart & mind

  • Where are our desires, our thinking and our feeling taking us

 

For his name’s sake:

The third point to note in this verse is that the Lord rescues us and guides us for his name’s sake

  • On a fairly superficial level “for his name’s sake” means for the sake of his reputation
  • But at a deeper level “for his name’s sake” means for the sake of his integrity

 

In other words, the Lord isn’t worried about what other people might think of him

  • The Lord rescues the lost and guides his sheep in the right path because he is a good shepherd and that is what a good shepherd does
  • The Lord could not live with himself if he did not take proper care of his sheep
  • By keeping his sheep safe & sound the Lord is being true to himself

 

For his name’s sake takes a lot of pressure off us

  • It means that God’s care of us does not depend on whether or not we are good enough
  • God’s care depends on his own integrity which is without question

 

Okay then – that’s the three main things David is saying in this phrase

  • The Lord guides me by his example
  • Righteousness is a path, and
  • God’s motivation for all of this is his own character – his own integrity

 

Matthew 15:1-20 – Jesus guides the people:

How then does this point to Jesus, the good shepherd?

  • Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 15 – page 22 near the back of your pew Bibles
  • There are many examples of Jesus guiding the people in the right path
  • I’ve chosen this one largely because it draws attention to the fact that the path of righteousness is not always as it appears to be
  • From Matthew 15, verse 1, we read…

 

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him, 2 “Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don’t wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!”

 

3 Jesus answered, “And why do you disobey God’s command and follow your own teaching? 4 For God said, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and ‘If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.’ 5 But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, ‘This belongs to God,’ 6 they do not need to honour their father. In this way you disregard God’s command, in order to follow your own teaching.

 

We are going to pause there – so don’t close your Bibles, leave them open, we will return to this reading shortly

 

Here we have two pathways

  • The path of righteousness according to human tradition, and
  • The path of righteousness according to the Lord

 

According to the Jewish tradition of that time righteousness was maintained by washing your hands frequently in a prescribed way

  • The thinking was that the world out there is contaminated
  • There are certain foods you can’t eat and certain people you can’t associate with and certain things you can’t touch
  • Because if you do you will become unclean and then God won’t accept your worship

 

To avoid the risk of contamination one must wash their hands in a particular way before eating – that was the tradition passed down by the ancestors

  • God did not require that – but tradition did

 

The original intention may have been good but over time what resulted was a very superficial form of righteousness

  • This pathway of righteousness, according to human tradition, didn’t lead to abundant life – it led in ever decreasing circles to a dead end

 

When the Pharisees (the guardians of human tradition) notice that Jesus’ disciples don’t wash their hands in the prescribed way they ask Jesus, why?

  • Presumably the disciples are following Jesus’ example
  • And Jesus doesn’t follow the path of human tradition

 

The Pharisees are on the wrong path and because Jesus is a good shepherd he wants to guide them onto the right path

  • But before he can do that Jesus has to show the Pharisees they are on the wrong track – so he asks them a question…
  • And why do you disobey God’s command and follow your own teaching?
  • Then Jesus gives the example of how the Pharisees say it’s okay not to provide for your elderly parents if you give the money to God

 

In those days there was no fortnightly superannuation payment from the government for those over 65

  • Your children were your superannuation scheme in the sense that you hoped your adult children would take care of you in your old age

 

The Pharisees were basically saying, give your money to God (or to the temple treasury, which we control) and you don’t have to take care of your parents

  • In order to make themselves rich the Pharisees made up a rule which effectively undermined God’s command to honour your father & mother
  • That was not the right path – that was not cool – and Jesus told them so

 

From verse 10 of Matthew 15 we continue…

 

10 Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand! 11 It is not what goes into a person’s mouth that makes him ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes him unclean.”

 

12 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees had their feelings hurt by what you said?”

 

13 “Every plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up,” answered Jesus. 14 “Don’t worry about them! They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch.”

 

15 Peter spoke up, “Explain this saying to us.”

 

16 Jesus said to them, “You are still no more intelligent than the others. 17 Don’t you understand? Anything that goes into a person’s mouth goes into his stomach and then on out of his body. 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make a person ritually unclean. 19 For from his heart come the evil ideas which lead him to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others. 20 These are the things that make a person unclean. But to eat without washing your hands as they say you should—this doesn’t make a person unclean.”

 

May the Spirit of God illuminate this reading for us

 

There is a lot emphasis these days on keeping the environment clean

  • Now tell me, when it comes to a motor car – which is better for the environment?
  • Washing your car, so it’s nice and clean and sparkly on the outside
  • Or taking measures to improve the fuel efficiency – maybe getting a hybrid vehicle or an electric engine [Wait]
  • That’s right – taking measures to improve the fuel efficiency
  • Washing your car does nothing to help the environment – in fact the waste water may be bad for the environment
  • It’s what comes out of the car that really matters
  • It’s the engine (the inner workings) that is important

 

Returning to Matthew 15, Jesus could have dropped the subject after responding to the Pharisees, but he doesn’t

  • Jesus’ integrity won’t allow him to abandon the crowd to following the path of human tradition where that tradition is wrong
  • Jesus is the good shepherd so he gently (but clearly) guides the people in the right path saying…
  • “It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean.”

 

The disciples still don’t understand what Jesus means so he explains further…

 

“…from the heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things… 20  These are the things that make a person unclean.” But to eat without washing your hands… this doesn’t make a person unclean.

 

To Jesus’ original audience this was a revolutionary idea

  • It was a radical reversal of what they had been led to believe was true

 

Jesus was effectively saying – the world out there is not bad, it is not contaminated

  • God’s creation is good – you can eat whatever you want

 

The problem isn’t out there with those who are different from you

  • The problem is in here – in the human heart – because that’s where evil comes from
  • You can wash your hands as much as you like but it’s not going to change what you think inside
  • You can polish your car till you can see your own reflection in it but that won’t change what comes out of the exhaust

 

Jesus is talking about inner pathways here

  • Where are your thoughts, feelings and desires leading you

 

Remember righteousness is a pathway – not a destination

  • When we look at the 10 commandments what we find is that they are talking about avoiding certain destinations
  • Do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not bear false witness, do not murder and so on
  • These are all destinations we should avoid
  • And the way to avoid those destinations is not to start on the path which leads to them

 

In Matthew 5, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about paths of righteousness and paths of destruction

  • For example, he says (and I paraphrase a bit here) – don’t look at a woman lustfully, because that will put you on a path to adultery
  • And don’t stay angry with your brother and don’t call your sister insulting names, because that will put you on a path to committing murder
  • And don’t make an oath (don’t swear by heaven or earth), because that puts you on a path to bearing false witness
  • And don’t worry about money or food or clothes, because that puts you on a path to stealing

 

Instead you should love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you because that puts you on a path to God and to life

 

The problem isn’t out there – the problem is in here

  • It’s not what we eat that makes us unclean – it’s what we say and do that makes us unclean
  • And because what we say & do comes from inside us we need to take care with our inner pathways – our neural pathways
  • We need to make sure we are on the right track with our thinking
  • We need to be careful not to allow the desires of our heart to lead us in the wrong direction
  • We need to acknowledge what we feel without being led by what we feel
  • We need to let Jesus, the good shepherd, guide us from the inside out

 

Conclusion:

Many people these days think that it doesn’t matter too much which path you take in life – because all paths eventually lead to God anyway

  • I don’t believe that
  • That is not how life works in my experience
  • Some pathways lead to joy and peace
  • While other pathways lead to frustration and regret
  • They don’t all lead to God
  • But the good news is: God has sent his Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) to show us when we are on the wrong path and guide us into the right path
  • What’s more God has a canny way of redeeming the time we spend on the wrong path

 

Let us pray…

 

Tawa Baptist

Rescue

Scripture: Psalm 23:3a   (He restores my soul)

 

Title: Rescue

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • He brings me back
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

This morning we continue our series on Psalm 23

  • The key message of Psalm 23 (as a whole) is, the Lord is my security
  • God looks after me like a shepherd looks after his sheep

 

The plan is to look at one aspect of the psalm each week

  • So far we have covered the first two verses…

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside still waters

 

Today we start verse 3…

 

He restores my soul…

 

He brings me back:

On the wall here we have four pictures

  • Tell me, what do these four pictures have in common?
  • What is the one word tying them all together?
  • Wait for people to respond

 

That’s right – rescue

 

We often understand, He restores my soul, to mean something along the lines of

  • ‘I was tired or depressed and the Lord lifted me out of my sadness and gave me back my strength & joy’
  • However, this is not the primary meaning of verse 3

 

A more accurate translation of He restores my soul is He brings me back [1]

  • With this translation the sheep is lost and so the good shepherd goes after the lost sheep and brings it back
  • So, He restores my soul or (more accurately) He brings me back is primarily about rescue

 

When a sheep is lost it will hide under a bush or in the cleft of a rock and begin to quiver with fear and bleat so that someone will come to its rescue

  • In the wild middle east (where David was a shepherd) a lost bleating sheep was at risk
  • The shepherd had to find the sheep quickly before some wild animal heard it and killed it
  • Then, once the shepherd found the sheep, he would pick it up and carry it back – because it would be too traumatised to walk

 

So, he restores my soul really means, ‘I was lost and alone and scared but the Lord found me and carried me back

 

Henry Baker captures this idea in his hymn, The King of Love My Shepherd Is, where he says…

  • Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
  • But yet in love He sought me,
  • And on his shoulder gently laid,
  • And home rejoicing, brought me. [2]

 

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 15 – page 100 in your pew Bibles

  • This image of the good shepherd finding and bringing back the lost sheep reminds us of Jesus
  • From Luke chapter 15, verse 1 we read…

 

One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”

 

So Jesus told them this parable…

 

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them – what does he do? He leaves the other 99 sheep in the pasture and goes looking for the one that got lost until he finds it. When he finds it, he is so happy that he puts it on his shoulders and carries it back home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate.’

 

In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 respectable people who do not need to repent.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

During the week, early Tuesday evening, I got a call from Robyn saying she had lost her keys at school

  • As a teacher Robyn has a lot of keys and losing them is quite stressful
  • It would be an expensive and time consuming exercise to try and replace them all
  • One of the keys has an electronic chip in it which means it costs about $120 to get a new one
  • We didn’t really want to buy new keys – we wanted to find the old ones

 

Without the keys Robyn was pretty much incapacitated

  • For starters she couldn’t get into her car to drive home
  • So she called me to ask if I’d come and help

 

By the time I arrived Robyn had been looking everywhere for these lost keys but had no joy in finding them

  • We decided to go home and start the search again tomorrow
  • You see there is a child in Robyn’s class who has been known to hide things in strange places
  • It could be this child had hidden the keys somewhere

 

So the next morning Robyn very gently approached this 5 year old and said…

  • “I’ve lost my keys. Do you think you could help me find them?”
  • And the 5 year old said, “Yea, I’m really good at finding keys”
  • Then they went straight to the place where they had hidden them and restored them to Robyn’s hand

 

I got a text from Robyn shortly after to say she had the keys

  • Needless to say I was overjoyed

 

I like the way Robyn approached the child

  • She didn’t go in with all guns blazing
  • She didn’t make any threats,
  • She invited the child to help her
  • She made it easy for the 5 year old to do the right thing

 

Earlier we heard a parable of Jesus, about a lost sheep and good shepherd who went searching for and rescued the lost sheep

  • This parable is the first of three which Jesus tells, not to his disciples, but to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law
  • Following this parable Jesus went on to tell two similar stories – one of a woman finding a lost coin and another of two lost sons
  • All three parables have the same message essentially – something is lost and then is found or restored
  • We are just going to look at the first parable of the lost sheep

 

As I was saying, Jesus tells this parable to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law

  • That is, the religious leaders – the shepherds of Israel at that time
  • These were the men who were in charge – the ones who were supposed to take care of the people, at least in a spiritual sense

 

Sadly the Pharisees and teachers of the Law weren’t behaving like shepherds

  • They were not looking after the people – in fact they made life more difficult for the people with their man-made rules and traditions
  • And when Jesus welcomed outcasts & sinners they grumbled against him

 

On this occasion Jesus responded with gentleness

  • He didn’t go in with all guns blazing
  • He didn’t make threats or accusations
  • Jesus told them a parable

 

The Pharisees and Scribes were experts in the Hebrew Bible – what we call the Old Testament

  • So they would have known the 23rd Psalm back to front
  • They would be well aware that the Lord God is like a shepherd who brings me back (or rescues me) when I’m lost
  • Jesus was starting where they were at, with a metaphor they were familiar with, from a source they accepted

 

The parable Jesus told was both explanation and invitation

  • Jesus was explaining to the religious leaders why he was welcoming outcasts – because the outcasts were like lost sheep and that is what a good shepherd does – he rescues the lost
  • At the same time Jesus was inviting the religious leaders to join him in the work of finding and bringing back the lost
  • Can you help me find my keys?
  • Can you help me find the lost sheep of Israel?

 

Jesus begins the parable by saying…

  • Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them

 

There are a number of things to note in this simple phrase…

  • Straight away Jesus is saying, ‘you Pharisees and teachers of the Law are the shepherds of Israel’
  • And by implication, as shepherds, you have a duty of care for the people

One thing which is lost in translation is that the shepherd owns the sheep in this parable

  • He has a hundred sheep – means the sheep belong to the shepherd [3]
  • It is a closer (more invested) relationship than merely being a hired hand looking after someone else’s sheep
  • Jesus is saying to the religious leaders, these outcasts that you are grumbling about, they are actually part of your flock
  • The loss of even one of them is a loss to you personally and it’s a significant loss, like losing a $120 electronic key
  • You don’t want to get a new one – you want to find the old one

 

Another thing worth noting: 100 sheep at that time and in that place was a large flock

  • By NZ standards it is a small-ish flock but to Jesus’ original audience it was big – you would need to be quite rich to own 100 sheep
  • But even though the flock is large and the shepherd is wealthy the value of the one lost sheep is not less
  • The rules of supply and demand don’t apply with God
  • Each sheep is valuable in its own unique way

 

If Robyn had 100 keys on her key ring (she doesn’t have that many but she does have quite a few) but if she had 100 and she lost one of those keys, she wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, I’ve got 99 more’

  • She would say, ‘I need to find that key because without it I can’t access the door which it opens’
  • You see, none of the other 99 keys will be able to do the exact same job that the one lost key can

 

Everyone is important to Jesus – everyone is valued by God – everyone has a particular purpose (a unique gift) which no one else offers

  • The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you”. And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you”. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable… [4]

 

 

Jesus goes on…

  • …and suppose you lose one of them
  • Now this is quite a confronting thing to say
  • Normally in the Middle East, where there is a strong honour / shame culture, to preserve reputation, you would say something like…
  • ‘The sheep went astray’ [5] or, ‘the sheep got lost’
  • So it would be the sheep’s fault
  • You would never admit to losing the sheep yourself
  • And you certainly wouldn’t say, ‘You lost the sheep’
  • But that is what Jesus says here…
  • Suppose you lose one of your sheep

 

In a very gentle way Jesus is pointing out that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law have lost some of their sheep – the outcastes and tax collectors

  • As shepherds it is their responsibility to bring the lost sheep back

 

I say that Jesus is being gentle in his approach with the religious leaders because compared to the prophets of the Old Testament he is

  • In reprimanding the shepherds (or kings) of ancient Israel in Old Testament times Ezekiel writes…

 

The weak you have not strengthened

The sick you have not healed

The injured you have not bound up

The strayed you have not brought back

The lost you have not sought

And with force and harshness you have ruled them [6]

 

Ezekiel goes on to say that the Lord is against the shepherds of Israel and will put a stop to their tending of the sheep

 

As I said before Jesus’ parable to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law is both explanation and invitation

  • Jesus is inviting the religious leaders to join him in searching for and bringing back the lost sheep of Israel
  • He is making it easy for the religious leaders to do the right thing

 

Kenneth Bailey who I find so helpful in this study decodes what Jesus was saying to the scribes and Pharisees…

 

Gentlemen, you are not trapped by the past. We all know that the bad shepherds in the writings of the prophets who lost their sheep and failed to even try to bring them back were harshly punished for their failures. But you are not trapped into following that path. You are free. I have pioneered a way forward. When a shepherd loses his sheep he naturally goes after it until he finds it. He then carries it home and has a party. It is as simple as that. The lost that I am “bringing home” are sheep that you yourselves have lost. I know that you don’t like them and that you despise me for going after them. But when they are lost – you lose because they are part of your flock! When they are found, it is your gain!           …Can you join me in the great task of restoring the lost sheep of the house of Israel? …  [7]

 

Returning to Jesus’ parable we note how the shepherd leaves the 99 where they are in the wilderness to go looking for the one lost sheep

  • In reality a responsible shepherd in the Middle East would never leave his flock unattended in the wilderness
  • The original audience understood that the shepherd would leave an apprentice or another shepherd to protect the 99 sheep
  • So the 99 are not abandoned – they are cared for too

 

When it comes to searching for and bringing back (or rescuing) the lost sheep, it is the shepherd who does most of the work

  • The shepherd has to walk all over the place looking for the sheep, calling out to the frightened animal
  • And when he finds it the shepherd then carries the sheep home on his shoulders because the sheep is too distressed walk by itself

 

But although the shepherd does most of the work the sheep must still want to be found

  • Because the lost sheep will likely be hiding behind a rock or under a bush it must bleat and call out so the shepherd can hear where it is
  • If the sheep doesn’t make a noise, well, the shepherd is unlikely to be able to find it
  • Or if the sheep hears the shepherd calling and runs in the other direction then the shepherd can’t rescue the sheep

 

Perhaps the sheep’s bleating is equivalent to a human being praying – calling out to God for help

  • If we are lost we have to want to be rescued
  • It is a fact that we won’t call out to God until we realise our need for Him – until we become aware that we are lost

 

One of the key elements of this parable (and the two which follow) is the joy and celebration when the lost are found and restored

  • In verse 7 Jesus interprets his own parable saying…

 

In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 respectable people who do not need to repent.

 

The main point here seems to be: the Scribes & Pharisees shouldn’t grumble about Jesus welcoming sinners and outcasts – rather they should be happy that Jesus is restoring their flock

  • But it is curious, don’t you think, that Jesus talks about the respectable majority who don’t need to repent?
  • We know that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
  • So we all need to repent – right?

Yes – precisely

 

Jesus’ parable finishes with the lost sheep safely home and the 99 respectable sheep still out there in the wilderness

  • The Scribes & Pharisees were themselves lost, only they didn’t realise it
  • They didn’t think they needed to repent but clearly Jesus’ parable indicated they did

 

Heaven, aka the heart of God, does not rejoice in self-righteousness or blindness

  • God rejoices in the truth
  • He rejoices in those who know they are lost and accept being found
  • Jesus was telling the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in a gentle way that the very people they despised brought more joy to God than they did

 

Whether we are part of the respectable majority or whether we are outcasts – at some point we all need to be found and brought back to God

  • But before we can accept being found we must first realise we are lost and believe God wants to find us

 

Conclusion:

Jesus is the good shepherd who searches for and brings back the lost sheep

  • This speaks to me of a God who pursues us with His love

 

[1] Kenneth Bailey, The Good Shepherd, page 44

[2] Quoted in Kenneth Bailey’s book, The Good Shepherd, page 45.

[3] Refer, Kenneth Bailey, ‘The Good Shepherd’, page 121.

[4] 1 Corinthians 12:21-22

[5] Refer Kenneth Bailey, The Good Shepherd, page 123.

[6] Ezekiel 34:4

[7] Refer Kenneth Bailey, The Good Shepherd, page 125.

Tawa Baptist

Green Pastures

Scripture: Psalm 23:2a (in green pastures) – with reference to Mark 6:30-44

 

Key Idea: Jesus nourishes the whole person – body & spirit

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • In green pastures
  • Jesus is the good shepherd who feeds us
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

This morning we continue our series on Psalm 23

  • The key message of Psalm 23 (as a whole) is, the Lord is my security
  • God looks after me like a shepherd looks after his sheep
  • A couple of weeks ago we considered how the Lord makes me lie down
  • In other words He makes it possible for me to rest
  • Rest is the very first need the Lord takes care of for us
  • We work best from a foundation of rest

 

Today we unpack the green pastures of verse 2…

  • ‘Green pastures’ speaks of feeding and nourishment
  • Before we explore this metaphor of ‘green pastures’ though let’s stand and sing the whole psalm together now…

 

♫       The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Crimond)

 

May the Lord illuminate His word for us

  • Please be seated

 

 

Green Pastures:

Food is essential to life

  • We need to eat in order to gain energy to move, repair & grow our bodies
  • In our society there is quite a bit of emphasis placed on nutrition and the quality of the food we eat
  • We are encouraged to have 5 plus (fruit & vege) a day and to buy food with the Heart foundation tick or with 3 or more health stars
  • Some fats are good for you and some are bad
  • What’s more we are warned against too much salt and too much sugar

 

With this in mind I thought we might have a wee food & nutrition quiz – here’s our first question…

 

Which is better for you?

  • A cup of rice
  • A cup of pasta
  • About the same

 

The answer is: about the same – okay next question

 

Which has fewer calories?

  • Baked potato
  • Brown rice
  • About the same

 

The answer is: baked potato – one potato has about half the calories of a serving of brown rice. A potato (with the skin on) also has more vitamin C than rice

 

Which has less sugar?

  • Apple juice
  • Orange juice
  • About the same

 

The answer is: orange juice. In fact apple juice has about the same amount of sugar as coke and there’s over 9 teaspoons of sugar in a can of coke [1]

 

Okay – one more

  • How long would you need to walk to burn off the calories in a Big Mac? [2]
  • 20 minutes
  • One hour and 20 minutes, or
  • Two hours and 20 minutes

 

The answer: about two hours and 20 minutes – slightly more in fact

 

As I said before our focus today is the green pastures of verse 2

  • Sheep eat grass and so the green pastures of Psalm 23 is a metaphor for food & nutrition – both physical sustenance and spiritual sustenance
  • As Jesus said, ‘Human beings cannot live by bread alone – but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God’ [3]
  • So ‘green pastures’ refers both to the food we eat with our mouths and the Word of God which sustains the human soul and spirit

 

Most farms in NZ have green grass almost all year around, except perhaps some of the large sheep stations in the South Island

  • But in the Middle East (where David, the author of this psalm, comes from) green pastures are only plentiful for about 2-3 months of the year
  • Most of the time green pastures are a delicacy and a delight

A skilled shepherd will know exactly where to lead his or her flock to find the best pasture, even during the dry season

  • So when David says, the Lord makes me lie down in green pastures, he is implying that God is an expert shepherd
  • The Lord knows exactly where to take his sheep for the best quality nourishment – the food God provides has a 5 health star rating

 

In our modern culture we have a saying…

  • ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’
  • Which refers to the way we tend to look at other people’s lives through rose tinted glasses
  • We imagine our neighbour has it better than us, when in fact s/he doesn’t
  • Bob Dylan captured this thought in the song lyric, ‘What looks large from a distance up close ain’t never that big’

 

I think we all have those ‘grass is greener’ moments don’t we

  • Times when we’ve had a few hard weeks (or months) and start to think,
  • ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we lived somewhere else or we had a different job’, or whatever it is we imagine the problem to be
  • The Big Mac over the fence looks more appealing than the rice salad right in front of us

 

Sometimes the grass might be greener and we can improve our lot by making a change – but in reality most of the time it isn’t

  • Generally speaking, ‘the grass is greener’ is a warning against thinking we’re hard done by

By saying the Lord makes it possible for me to lie down in green pastures David is implying: with the Lord the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence

  • God doesn’t provide second rate nourishment
  • The Lord knows where the best pasture is and how to lead us there
  • This speaks to His wisdom and skill as our shepherd

 

Of course, sheep in a Middle Eastern context don’t usually wake up to find themselves in green pastures

  • The sheep must often travel through relatively barren wilderness before arriving in green pastures
  • So we can’t expect green pastures every moment of every day
  • But we can expect them often enough to sustain us

 

The other thing to point out is that while the Lord provides the green pastures we still need to eat for the nourishment to have any effect

 

Let me demonstrate what I mean…

  • On the wall here is a delicious selection of food
  • Hmmm – look at that pork-chop and salad – yum
  • Or maybe you prefer the healthy burger
  • Imagine finishing with the freshness of that fruit salad
  • Or perhaps the smoothness of the marbled chocolate cheesecake

 

Are you feeling full looking at those images?

  • No – why not?
  • Because just looking at the food, just smelling it and being near it doesn’t nourish you
  • For the food to do any good you have to eat it – you have to actually take it in to yourself – right?

 

God will bring us to green pastures but we still have to feed ourselves

  • The Lord has provided His word for us but unless we take it to heart it won’t do any good

 

God’s word is available to us in a whole variety of ways

  • Sometimes God’s word comes to us in conversation with others or by listening to a sermon or through a sequence of events
  • One of the main ways we feed on God’s word is by reading the Bible
  • Not just reading it once over lightly but taking time to allow the message to sink in – meditating on it, digesting it

 

Sometimes reading the Bible can become just another chore that we tick off our list, like brushing our teeth or washing the dishes

  • We do it without thinking and are pleased when it’s over because then we can get back to what we really want to do
  • I don’t think that’s what God intends for His word
  • Reading the Bible in that way won’t nourish you much

 

When you read the Scriptures – read slowly – chew on the words

  • And when you come to a verse which resonates with your spirit – pause and linger over that verse – read it and re-read it
  • Savour it like a piece of chocolate melting in your mouth
  • Or crunch the words like an apple – enjoy the taste

 

The experience of reading the Bible and coming across a gem of a verse that just speaks to your heart can happen in the most unexpected of passages

  • Psalm 94 is a bit like that
  • It starts off, ‘O Lord, God of vengeance shine forth… give to the proud what they deserve…’
  • Then it carries on with the psalmist spitting tacks over evil doers
  • Not very uplifting or positive stuff
  • Just as you’ve had enough and are about to put it down you come to verse 19 – a ray of light…

 

“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul”

 

I love that – it speaks to my experience and nourishes my soul

  • After walking through a wilderness of spleen venting we break out into a vista of green pastures
  • Not that all that talk of vengeance doesn’t have its place
  • If you’ve been badly treated or oppressed with injustice, like the psalmist, then ranting against evil doers might be exactly what you need to hear
  • It may be food for your soul to know you are not alone in your grievances

 

The point is, God knows what we need to sustain us and He is faithful in providing what we need

  • But we need to do our part too and take in what He is saying to us
  • Allow God’s word to register in your inner being & strengthen your hope

 

Jesus is the good shepherd who feeds us:

Please turn with me to Mark chapter 6 – page 53 in your pew Bibles

  • Jesus is our shepherd – he knows what sustains us and is an expert at providing it
  • On many occasions Jesus demonstrated his shepherding skills in his care of the disciples and the crowds that followed him
  • Mark 6, verses 30-44 describes one such occasion
  • As we read these verses I want you to listen for echoes of the 23rd Psalm
  • From Mark chapter 6, verse 30 we read…

 

30 The apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught. 31 There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while.” 32 So they started out in a boat by themselves to a lonely place.

33 Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. 34 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. 35 When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. 36 Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat.”

37 “You yourselves give them something to eat,” Jesus answered.

They asked, “Do you want us to go and spend two hundred silver coins[a] on bread in order to feed them?”

38 So Jesus asked them, “How much bread do you have? Go and see.”

When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves and also two fish.”

39 Jesus then told his disciples to make all the people divide into groups and sit down on the green grass. 40 So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty. 41 Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 Everyone ate and had enough. 43 Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left of the bread and the fish. 44 The number of men who were fed was five thousand.

 

May the Lord feed us with His word

 

Before you can swallow your food you have to chew it

  • Before you can ingest a passage of Scripture you have to understand the context

 

Previously Jesus had sent the 12 apostles out in pairs to preach to the people, drive out demons and heal the sick

  • The apostles had now returned to Jesus having experienced some success in their work
  • But while they were gone King Herod had killed John the Baptist – cutting his head off [4]

 

John the Baptist was regarded as a prophet by the people – the first prophet Israel had heard in about 400 years

  • So the common people were upset, confused and angry at what Herod had done
  • The atmosphere was tense – a powder keg ready to blow at any moment

 

John was also a blood relative of Jesus – so with John’s death Jesus lost a family member and a friend

  • Not only did Jesus have his own personal grief to deal with he also had to cope with the cultural & political pressure to avenge John’s murder

 

Verse 31 of Mark 6 says…

  • There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat

 

Kenneth Bailey observes that this is the only instance in the Gospels that speaks of people both ‘coming and going’

  • Why this sudden back-and-forth flow of people?
  • Because all across Galilee people wanted to know how Jesus planned to respond to this horrifying murder of John, his relative
  • They came to hear what Jesus intended to do and then went back to report his initial response [5]

To avoid the constant flow of interruptions, Jesus the good shepherd says to his disciples…

  • “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while.”
  • There we have an echo of Psalm 23 – He makes me lie down
  • Jesus makes it possible for me to rest, in other words

 

They get into a boat and cross the lake for a lonely place where they won’t be disturbed

  • But the people saw them and followed around the lake on land
  • When Jesus got out of the boat he saw this large crowd and his heart was filled with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd
  • Sheep and shepherd – another echo of Psalm 23

 

The people followed Jesus because they were hungry

 

I imagine many were hungry for justice or revenge – ‘O Lord, God of vengeance shine forth… give to the proud what they deserve…’

  • Herod was supposed to be the shepherd of the Jewish people – at least in his province – but he was a bad shepherd
  • He abused & scattered the sheep
  • Herod shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this

 

I imagine also in the crowd those gentler souls who were too broken in spirit to pursue revenge – those hungry for joy – those craving some lightness and relief from the daily grind of poverty

 

So Jesus himself shepherded the people in their time of need and hunger

  • Verse 34 says that Jesus taught the people many things
  • In other words, he fed them with calm words of wisdom fitting for the situation they found themselves in

 

We don’t know exactly what Christ told the crowds but I expect he satisfied their hunger for justice by talking about God’s judgment

  • The measure you use for others is the measure God will use for you
  • So love your enemies, turn the other cheek, repay evil with good
  • Treat others the way you want to be treated
  • Don’t take matters into your own hands – vengeance belongs to God
  • Remember this world is not all there is – God will make all things right

 

Jesus’ integrity is impeccable

  • Jesus practiced what he preached
  • Naturally there was a huge wave of sympathy for Jesus
  • He could have easily raised an army of willing soldiers to march against Herod – but he doesn’t
  • Jesus himself turns the other cheek despite being under immense pressure to avenge John’s murder

 

For those who were hungry for some comfort and joy I expect Jesus had words of understanding and grace

  • ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden 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 [6]
  • Or perhaps, ‘A bruised reed he will not break and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory’ [7]
  • Or maybe, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ [8]
  • “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul”

 

Jesus cares about the whole person – both the spiritual and the physical

  • In fact he doesn’t separate the two – he holds the physical & spiritual together
  • After nourishing hearts, minds & spirits with the word of God, Jesus then nourished people’s bodies with food, by multiplying the loaves & fishes

 

In verse 39 we read how Jesus told his disciples to make the people sit down on the green grass…

  • The echo from Psalm 23 could not be clearer
  • Jesus is the good shepherd who …makes me lie down in green pastures
  • Jesus is the one who feeds me both with God’s word and with food

 

There are many other things we could say about this passage but that’s enough to digest for one day

 

Conclusion:

Jesus is the good shepherd who knows where to find the best pasture for his sheep

  • Jesus is not interested in leading a bloody crusade
  • He has compassion on people and feeds them with the wisdom which leads to peace
  • When we are hungry for vengeance Jesus satisfies our anger with a vision of God’s justice
  • And when we are hungry for joy, because the cares of our heart are many, the consolations of Jesus’ grace cheer our soul

 

Jesus nourishes the whole person – body & spirit

 

What is it you hunger for?

 

 

 

 

[1][1] http://www.livestrong.com/article/283136-how-many-teaspoons-of-sugar-are-there-in-a-can-of-coke/

[2] http://www.calorieking.com/foods/    (a Big Mac has 549 calories)

[3] Matthew 4:4

[4] I imagine that, on the one hand, the apostles were pumped (or excited) at all they had done. But on the other hand they were unsure if it was appropriate to express their excitement given that John had just been killed. It’s kind of like having a baby but not feeling like you can celebrate too much because someone else has recently died.

 

[5] Kenneth Bailey, ‘The Good Shepherd’, page 163.

[6] Matthew 11:28-30

[7] Matthew 12:20

[8] Matthew 5:3

Tawa Baptist

Rest

Scripture: Psalm 23:2a – He makes me lie down (also: Luke 13:10-17)

Key Idea: The Lord makes it possible for me to rest

Structure:
• Introduction
• The Lord (Jesus) makes it possible for me to rest
• Conclusion

Introduction:
This morning we continue our series on Psalm 23
– The plan is to look at one aspect of the psalm each week
– So far we have covered the first verse…
– The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
– Today we unpack the first part of verse 2…
– He makes me lie down
– To give us some context though let’s read the whole Psalm together now

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

May the Lord illuminate His word for us

The key message of Psalm 23 (as a whole) is, the Lord is my security
– God looks after me like a shepherd looks after his sheep
– A couple of weeks ago we considered how the Lord knows our needs and provides for them – therefore I shall not want
– Today’s focus is: He makes me lie down…
– Lying down in green pastures is the picture of rest
– So the very first need the Lord takes care of for David (and for us) is rest

He makes it possible for me to rest:
On the wall here are pictures of four creatures…
– A dog, a tiger, an elephant and a dolphin
– Who can tell me what these four animals have in common?
– [Wait]
– Yes, that’s right – they can all be trained to do things, like sitting, rolling over, fetching stuff and so on

Okay, what about these two animals – what do they have in common?
– A cat and a sheep
– [Wait]
– Yes, that’s right – they can’t be trained
– A cat and a sheep might follow you but if you ask a cat to sit they will probably walk off in the other direction
– Likewise there is no telling a sheep to lie down

Aesop was an ancient Greek story teller credited with a number of fables
– One of my favourites is the fable of the wind and the sun

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger when they saw a man coming down the road
– The Sun said, “I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin.”
– So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller.
– But the harder he blew the more closely the man wrapped his cloak around himself, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair.
– Then the Sun came out and shone in all its glory upon the traveller
– Soon the man found it too hot to walk and of his own volition freely peeled off his cloak

Verse 2 (of Psalm 23) begins with the words, ‘He makes me lie down…’
– The phrasing here, ‘He makes me…’, can give the impression that some kind of force or coercion is involved, as if God were making David do something against his will, like the wind in Aesop’s fable
– But there is no force involved here – God is more like the sun, creating an environment in which David can relax

A better way to convey the meaning is: God makes it possible for me to rest

As Kenneth Bailey observes…
– “A dog can be trained to sit and lie down. [but] Not a sheep”
– No one can force a sheep to lie down.
– Sheep will only lie down when they have had plenty to eat & drink and are feeling safe
– We are similar to sheep in this respect – if we are hungry or thirsty or feeling anxious or threatened by something we won’t be able to rest
– God not only provides time off to rest but also the environment to rest
– He takes care of our needs and concerns so we can let go enough to relax

Interestingly the very first need which David talks about God taking care of is the need for rest
– We might expect rest to come last but it comes first

About 10 years ago now a TV advertisement came out for Mallow puffs
– ‘Have you done enough for a mallow puff’
– In that ad there was a father and son mowing the lawns
– The back lawn was quite large and they only cut a small patch of it
– But it’s enough to spread out a couple of deck chairs, sit back for a break and enjoy a mallow puff

In many ways this ad goes against the grain for us kiwis
– We are not like this at all
– We find it hard to relax when the job isn’t finished
– We just want to get the job done and then we will feel like we can rest
– We see work as the star of the show and rest is just an optional extra
– In our mind rest might be the icing on the cake but it’s not the main thing

We may have this back to front
– In the Bible, rest is the foundation on which our work is built
– It’s not the icing on the cake – it’s the tin in which the cake of work is baked
– Rest supports work
– So the makers of the mallow puff ad may be on to something
– We don’t just rest from our work, we work from our rest

When rest is the foundation (or the container) supporting work, then work goes better

Neuro science would agree with this
– There are different parts to our brain
– The frontal cortex is where we do our best thinking
– While the brainstem is where our survival instinct comes from

The more stressed or anxious we feel (and therefore the less rested we are) the more our brain stem (or survival instinct) takes over
– And the more our brain stem takes over the less we are able to engage our frontal cortex
– When one is up the other is down

By the same token when our brain stem is calm & rested we have greater access to the higher reasoning powers of our frontal cortex
– The more we use our cortex, the better our decision making and so the better the quality of our work

In other words, starting with rest (as the foundation) actually helps us to work smarter

He makes me lie down means the Lord calms my brain stem, he settles me down
– The Lord God doesn’t want us to be stressed or pressured or over worked
– He wants to bring us to a place of rest, where we are not anxious about our survival
– He wants to bring us to a place of trust in Him
– From that place of trust and rest we are better able to function as God intended – better able to make choices which serve God’s purpose

The fact that rest is important to God is seen in the way God provides a Sabbath day of rest once a week

Pastor and writer, Peter Scazzero, gives a helpful definition of Biblical Sabbath
– Pete reckons there are essentially four main elements to Sabbath…
o Stop work – find your off button
o Enjoy rest – kick back and relax (feet up)
o Practice delight – do something that you really enjoy
o Contemplate God – don’t think about work, think about God’s goodness

The Sabbath is more than just a day off from paid work
– Taking a day off to catch up on chores around the house is not a Sabbath
– Sabbath is meant to be a day of enjoyment & delight – a little slice of heaven on earth, each week

For the sake of integrity I need to say that I don’t do Sabbath very well
– It’s a foreign concept to me
– I’ve been a Christian for a while now but I’m only just scratching the surface of what true Sabbath means
– Sadly I’ve majored on sacrifice at the expense of Sabbath – which is something Jesus warned against
– Yes, there is suffering involved when we follow Christ (pick up your cross and follow me) – but there is also meant to be joy & delight
– God has given us divine permission for freedom, joy and delight but we are sometimes slow to give ourselves that same permission

Interestingly, Jesus had a bit to say about rest
– In fact he seemed to intentionally perform many of his miracles on the Sabbath as a kind of sign of what God intended for humanity
– Please turn with me to Luke chapter 13 – page 98 toward the back of your pew Bibles
– Luke 13, beginning at verse 10 and continuing to verse 17…

One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. 11 A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” 13 He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath. 16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?”

17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

May the Spirit of Jesus gives us ears to hear

This is a story of a woman who could not rest for 18 long years
– For 18 years she had been without joy or delight, without genuine Sabbath

The religious leaders of that time had a whole lot of rules about what you could and couldn’t do on the Sabbath and healing people was against their man-made rules (the synagogue ruler majored on sacrifice)
– It wasn’t against God’s law though and so Jesus reminded the people of God’s purpose for the Sabbath by healing the woman
– Jesus made it possible for her to rest by releasing her from the evil spirit
– Now the woman could delight in God – now she could enjoy life again

This miracle of Jesus didn’t just set the woman free – it set everyone in the room free
– Now the people were able to enjoy the Sabbath without guilt or fear of breaking the Pharisees’ rules

Conclusion:
He makes me lie down – he makes it possible for me to rest

There are many things that might prevent us from resting
– Sometimes we stay busy to avoid the emptiness we feel inside
– We are afraid to stop because then we will have to face that emptiness
– Perhaps we can’t rest because we don’t really believe we are loved
– We think we have to be constantly achieving things in order to be accepted
– Or maybe we don’t give ourselves permission to rest – maybe we’ve majored on sacrifice at the expense of enjoying God and His creation

As I said before I’m not really qualified to preach on this subject – not from my own experience anyway
– The most I can do is point to Jesus
– Jesus came to set us free from whatever it is that might prevent us from resting

Jesus is the good shepherd – He is the one who gives us rest
– The one who calms us and settles us down so we are better able to enjoy God and live for His glory