Tawa Baptist

Moses Delegates

Scripture: Exodus 18:13-27

Title: Moses Delegates

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Moses’ blind spot
  • Jethro’s vision
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

There are many things you can do with your time – most of which can be done by someone else

  • So you have ask yourself, ‘What are the things only I can do?’
  • They are probably the things you need to give priority to

 

There were many things Michelangelo could have done with his time

  • He could have been a blacksmith or a monk;
  • He could have studied the law or milked cows – but he didn’t
  • Instead he gave himself to what only he could do
  • Four years it took him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine chapel
  • Three years to sculpt the statue of David

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 18 – page 79 in your pew Bibles

  • Today we continue our series on Moses through Exodus
  • In chapter 18 Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, comes to visit and finds that his son-in-law is doing many things – most of which could be done by someone else
  • From Exodus 18, verse 13 we read…

[Read Exodus 18:13-27]

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

In this Scripture we get a rare glimpse of Moses’ blind spot and Jethro’s vision

Moses’ blind spot:

Blind Spot

On the wall here is a diagram showing the blind spots for a driver on the road

  • The red area, either side of the vehicle, reveals those zones the driver can’t see in his rear vision mirror
  • So to be able to change lanes safely the driver needs to look over their shoulder and check their blind spot

 

Blind spots aren’t just something drivers have on the road – we all have them

  • A blind spot is essentially something about ourselves we are not aware of
  • Some personality trait we don’t realise we possess
  • Or some behaviour we do unconsciously
  • Other people can see it clearly enough, but we can’t

It’s interesting isn’t it – that (without a mirror) we can’t see our own faces

  • Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they’ve got something stuck in their teeth and you’re not sure whether to say anything
  • Or maybe they start wiping their nose and that makes you think, ‘Are they trying to subtly tell me I’ve got a bogey hanging out?’
  • So you wipe your nose too, which makes them wipe their nose again and so on, until it gets really awkward
  • Has that ever happened to you? (No – it’s just me then)

Blind spots – things other people can see but you can’t

True story – many years ago when our children were young and I wasn’t getting much sleep, Robyn and I went for a walk on the beach (we were on holiday)

  • I remember pushing the pram along the firm sand for probably the better part of an hour when Robyn pointed out to me that I had some toilet paper hanging out the back of pants (like a tail)
  • I had no idea – I couldn’t see because it was in my blind spot
  • Robyn had no sympathy – she cracked up laughing (if you’ll excuse the pun) and couldn’t look at me without giggling for the rest of the day

When we are young we tend to have a lot of blind spots – we don’t know ourselves all that well

  • But hopefully as we get older and more experienced we learn to look into our blind spots and become more self-aware

Carl Jung describes psychological blind spots as our shadow side – He writes…

“Wholeness for humans depends on the ability to own their own shadow”

In other words, unless we are prepared to face and accept those parts of ourselves which we are not aware of, and which we perhaps don’t like all that much, we’ll never be whole

Moses was a remarkable leader – a man of incredible character – but even he had his blind spots, his shadow

  • Fortunately he had the humility not to deny his shadow side but to face it

What Moses wasn’t aware of, but what Jethro (and everyone else) could plainly see, was that Moses was doing too much himself

  • Because of his relationship with Yahweh Moses had become the ‘go to’ guy for settling disputes
  • If you want peace you must have justice
  • But in order to have justice you must have wisdom
  • Where does wisdom come from? – It comes from God
  • Moses hears from God better than anyone else – so we’ll go to him

Consequently, what we have in Exodus 18 is a bottleneck

  • Thousands of cases (many trivial, some serious) coming to one person for a resolution
  • It was a recipe for burnout & frustration
  • Burn out for Moses and frustration for the people, who had to stand in the hot sun all day waiting for a hearing with Moses
  • Justice delayed is not justice

Jethro could see the problem and the solution – but Moses couldn’t

This is kind of ironic when you think about it

  • Here we have Moses making enquiries of God to help other people fix their problems, all the time quite blind to his own problem
  • We can understand this though…
  • You can see a car in your rear vision mirror in the distance
  • But when it’s up close beside you, then you can’t see it
  • Moses couldn’t see because he was too close – too involved

The other contributor to Moses’ blind spot was that he was doing good things

  • And when we do good things we are less inclined to question our method
  • Doing the right thing doesn’t guarantee we are doing it in the right way
  • Moses was doing the right thing – in the wrong way
  • He couldn’t see the toll his work was taking on him
  • Sometimes our focus on the task at hand conceals from us the expenditure on our reserves and it’s not until we stop and have a day off that we realise just how exhausted we are

Quite apart from the drain on Moses’ personal resources, being sucked into the details and doing things other people could do, prevented Moses from seeing the bigger picture

There are times when leaders need to take a step back and look at the situation from the balcony, rather than the floor

  • Of course, we don’t know what we don’t know
  • If we don’t know we have a problem then we don’t know to stand back and get some perspective – nor do we know to ask for help
  • This is where God’s grace comes in

 

In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul writes…

 

…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. [1]

There have been times in my life when all I had was an ache in my heart, which I couldn’t put into words, but which the Holy Spirit felt and understood

  • Then, when I wasn’t expecting it, God did something which answered the ache in my heart and it was better than anything I might have asked for, had I been able to find the language
  • There’s no way I can explain the mystery of this
  • Either you understand it from your own experience or you don’t

Moses didn’t know what to pray for – but God, who searches the human heart, knew the strain Moses was under

  • God also felt the frustration of the people as they waited for justice
  • And so the Lord, in His wonderful grace, sent Jethro to give Moses the perspective he needed

Once Jethro had pointed out the issue, in Moses’ blind spot, Moses was able to see clearly what he needed to do

  • Seeing into his blind spot and accepting the truth it contained actually set Moses free from a whole lot of work he didn’t need to do
  • It also set the people free from waiting around all day

We, in the west, tend to think of freedom as licence to do what whatever we want

  • But this is not freedom as the Bible understands it
  • Biblical freedom comes with spiritual sight – or with knowing the truth
  • As Jesus said, ‘…it is the truth that sets you free’ [2]

It is looking in your blind spot to assess the reality of the situation, before changing lanes, that sets you free from a crash on the motorway

  • It is checking yourself in the mirror before going out in public that sets you free from the embarrassment of stray bogeys and toilet paper tails
  • It is the humility of listening to the truthful observations of wise Jethro’s which sets us free from self-destructive patterns of behaviour

Face your shadow side – look for the truth it contains – there is freedom in it

One of the things that is interesting in this little story from Exodus 18 is that the truth which sets Moses free doesn’t come from within the Israelite community

  • The truth comes from the outside – from Jethro, a Midianite

In contrast to Moses’ blind spot we have Jethro’s vision

Jethro’s vision:

There are two aspects to Jethro’s vision in Exodus 18

  • Jethro has the insight to see the root of the problem
  • And he has the foresight to imagine a different future

Moses is carrying the weight of the world (or at least the weight of Israel) on his shoulders and so Jethro asks the question…

  • “Why are you doing this all alone?” (verse 14)

Why indeed?

  • This question is insightful – it cuts to the core of the issue, which is Moses’ isolation – his sense of alienation from his own people
  • Moses is alone in the crowd and it is the pattern of his life

He grew up in a palace while his fellow Israelites lived in a slum

  • When he tried to reconnect with his people and help them he was rejected and ended up spending 40 years in exile
  • Then, as if he doesn’t feel different enough, God calls him to a special task – something no one else has ever done before
  • Moses reluctantly obeys and for all his pains and troubles the people complain against him and accuse him of meaning them harm, even though he has only ever done them good
  • It is little wonder that Moses doesn’t think to ask for help

Leadership is a paradox

  • On the one hand, a leader needs to learn the strength to stand alone
  • And unfortunately you can’t learn that without the experience of being alone & misunderstood
  • At the same time though, a leader also needs to learn to trust other people
  • It seems to me Moses knew how to stand alone – he had that in spades – but he was still learning to trust

Of course, it’s one thing to point out the problem, but unless you can offer a better alternative then it’s usually best to keep your opinions to yourself

Not only did Jethro uncover the core of the problem – Moses’ loneliness

  • He also gave Moses the vision to imagine a better future
  • He gave Moses a plan and a strategy that was sustainable
  • In a word, that strategy was, delegation. Jethro says…

Choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They must be God fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed. Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis. They can bring all their difficult cases to you, but they themselves can decide all the smaller disputes. That will make it easier for you as they share your burden.

 

The first thing we observe about Jethro’s vision here is that delegation is not abdication

  • Moses isn’t to appoint just any body
  • The men he appoints must be capable, God fearing and trustworthy

To be God fearing means to be more concerned with what God thinks than with what other people think

  • A God fearing person is not a ‘yes’ person
  • A God fearing person is able to say ‘no’ when it matters
  • They are guided by their conscience more than the praise or blame of others

To be trustworthy in this context means having integrity – not open to bribery

  • The judge must love truth & justice more than money or comfort
  • Being ‘trustworthy’ implies it is a relationship of trust
  • Trust is a sacred thing and should not be abused or misplaced

The point is, Moses shouldn’t just throw his authority away – he should carefully place it in men who have the competence & character to handle it

We also note that Moses is not to delegate all his authority

  • Delegation doesn’t really work when the leader in charge expects everyone else to get stuck in without doing anything themselves
  • The delegates need to know the buck stops with Moses and that Moses will be there to take care of the really difficult cases
  • If Moses abdicated all responsibility and sat back saying – ‘It’s all on you boys’ – then he would lose the respect of his men pretty quickly

Jethro’s plan – his vision of delegation – comes with a number of advantages

 

The first and most obvious advantage is that many hands make light work

At the end of verse 22 Jethro comments to Moses that his plan…

  • …will make it easier for you as they share your burden.
  • The burden is shared in that Moses has less disputes to sort out
  • And it’s also shared in the sense that Moses is less alone
  • Sharing responsibility actually engenders more understanding for the leader

You often find those who are most critical of leaders have never actually been in leadership themselves

  • They are arm chair critics who have never really felt the burden or the isolation of leadership and so they have no empathy
  • But when you have had to carry some responsibility and felt the loneliness of a difficult decision then you have a bit more understanding for your boss

By delegating, Moses was drawing the best out of others

  • Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth”
  • One of the things salt does is bring the best out of food
  • Trusting others to do something meaningful (as Moses did) generally brings the best out of them

Conclusion:

There are many things you can do with your time – most of which can be done by someone else

  • So you have ask yourself, ‘What are the things only I can do?’
  • They are probably the things you need to give priority to

No one could have helped Moses to see his blind spot quite like Jethro did

  • The same good advice from one of Moses’ juniors would have been a lot more difficult for Moses to accept
  • But Jethro was a leader in his own right (a priest of Midian) and so he understood Moses’ position
  • He had done his time and earned the right to speak into Moses’ life
  • Fortunately for Moses (and for Israel) Jethro used his vision to help Moses find a sustainable way forward
  • Imagine if Jethro had held his tongue
  • Moses and Israel would have suffered for it

 

No one could hear from God quite like Moses could – he seemed to have a direct line of communication with the Lord

  • Fortunately for Israel (and for us) Moses gave himself to listening to God’s word and communicating this to the people
  • But that didn’t mean he had to settle every dispute
  • There were others capable of handling the smaller more routine matters
  • Imagine if Moses hadn’t taken Jethro’s advice
  • What a waste that would have been

No one could save the world like Jesus did

  • Fortunately for us Jesus gave Himself on the cross for our salvation
  • Imagine if he had remained in Nazareth working as a carpenter his whole life
  • There would be some nice houses there I guess, but we would be without hope

Now at this point you might be thinking that’s all well & good but what can I do that no one else can?

  • I’m not Michelangelo, I’m not Moses, I’m not Jethro and I’m certainly not Jesus
  • Well, each of us is unique and none of us are fully aware of how God will use us
  • Quite often our potential is hidden in our blind spot
  • God sees though and He will use us for His good purpose – even if we aren’t aware

[1] Romans 8:26-27

[2] John 8:32

Tawa Baptist

Resilient Faith

Scripture: Exodus 16:1-21

Title: Resilient Faith

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • What is resilience?
  • Developing resilience
    • Presence (not absence)
    • Nourishment (not neglect)
    • Discipline (not excess)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Resilience - Elephant

Resilience is the capacity to withstand stress & catastrophe [1]

  • This Volts Wagon is certainly showing some resilience

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 16 – page 76 in your pew Bibles

  • Today we continue our series in Exodus
  • The people have been camped at Elim – an oasis in the wilderness
  • Now they set out toward Sinai and on the way their resilience is tested and found wanting. From Exodus 16, verse 1, we read…

Read Exodus 16:1-21

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

What is resilience?

A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well

  • Diamonds are of course one of the most resilient objects known to man
  • They are formed when carbon is put under extreme heat and pressure

Resilience is not something you’re born with

  • Resilience develops as we grow up – although it doesn’t develop automatically

Some factors that contribute to resilience are:

  • A good support network – including family & friends
  • A positive (and accurate) view of yourself
  • Good problem-solving and communication skills
  • The ability to ask for help and resources
  • Healthy coping strategies – including the ability to celebrate & enjoy life
  • An outward focus – by which I mean a mind-set which considers the needs and well-being of others
  • And most importantly, in my view, faith in a loving God

All these things give us the basic materials for resilience – but we don’t really know how resilient we are until we face some kind of crisis

  • Pressure and stress reveal the diamond in our charcoal

People who are resilient have the ability to pick themselves up and carry on

  • They don’t see themselves as victims – they see themselves as survivors
  • Those with resilience are able to find positive meaning in the difficult circumstances of their lives
  • And they have the strength to manage strong feelings and impulses

Moses provides a good example of someone with resilience

  • The people of Israel? – Not so much

In Exodus 16 the people have left the oasis at Elim and followed Moses into the desert of Sin

  • It has been somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks since the Israelites left Egypt (depending on how you interpret verse 1)
  • For not the first time the people complain to Moses & Aaron, saying…
  • “We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death”

Wow – that’s messed up

  • The people who said that didn’t have their heads screwed on right
  • It hasn’t been two months yet and already they seem to have forgotten what God has done for them

The good old days are never as good as people remember them

  • In actual fact the Israelites were slaves in Egypt – they were badly mistreated – they didn’t always have meat or enough to eat
  • Pharaoh was trying to kill them
  • But God delivered them from their suffering in a miraculous way

The people weren’t starving yet – they were just worried that they might run out of food – what happens then?

  • They were getting ahead of themselves and thinking the worst

One of the things you notice when you watch interviews with the All Blacks for this world cup is that they are very careful not to get ahead of themselves

  • The tournament is just getting underway
  • They’re not thinking about the final
  • They’re thinking about what’s happening now
  • They’re thinking about the practice that morning
  • Or the pool game that afternoon
  • One day at a time sweet Jesus, one day at a time

Not getting ahead of yourself – not thinking the worst – takes mental discipline

  • Sadly it was a discipline the Israelites hadn’t learned at that point
  • They accuse Moses of wanting to starve them which just shows how fearful they were – and how little control they had over their thoughts
  • They weren’t calm on the inside – their minds were racing
  • The food crisis has led to a faith crisis [2]

Moses shows resilience in the face of this accusation

  • Like the Volts Wagon under the elephant he doesn’t crumple
  • He isn’t defeated by the weight of the people’s criticism
  • Nor does he spit the dummy and walk off
  • Moses waits for God

So where does Moses’ resilience come from?

  • Well, I think there are a number of pillars to his resilience

If we look at Moses’ upbringing we note that he had a loving and supportive family network

  • His sister Miriam watched over him as a baby when he was put in a basket and floated down the Nile
  • His biological mother spent lots of face to face time with him as an infant, so he learned basic trust from that consistent attachment
  • His adopted mother was a princess in Egypt and so Moses never wanted for anything growing up
  • His basic assumption as a child was one of abundance not scarcity

But Moses didn’t live his whole life in an ivory tower

  • After 40 years living in the wilderness as a shepherd he was well acquainted with the realities of survival
  • His adult life experience had taught him resilience in harsh environments

Aaron was another string to Moses’ bow of resilience – although it was only a matter of time before Aaron became a thorn in Moses’ side

The main stay of Moses’ resilience is his relationship with Yahweh

  • Moses is not acting or speaking on his own
  • He is following God’s instructions and so he is able to say…
  • ‘When you complain against us you are really complaining against the Lord’, verse 8
  • When we know we are in God’s will for us, when we know we are doing what God wants us to do, nothing can shake us
  •  “If God is for us, who can be against us?” [3]
  • The Lord is Moses’ support network, his resilience, his strength

To be fair the people of Israel did not enjoy the same advantages that Moses did

  • They didn’t have the raw materials needed for resilience
  • They didn’t have a princess looking after them
  • They had the sting of the slave driver’s whip instead
  • They didn’t know abundance – they only knew hard work & poverty
  • Years of brutal oppression & slavery had all but wiped out their resilience

Suffering and stress may reveal resilience – like sandpaper reveals the wood grain under paint

  • But when suffering and stress is all you’ve known then pain and fear is all you’ve got
  • If you keep sanding the wood too long it will wear thin and break
  • Suffering by itself doesn’t make you stronger – it makes you less resilient
  • Faith – learning to trust – that is what makes a person stronger

Developing resilience:

It seems to me that God wanted to develop a resilient faith among His people

  • The sort of faith that wouldn’t fall to pieces every time they found themselves in a stressful situation

And to develop this resilience the Lord gave the people three things…

  • His presence, nourishment and discipline
  • These three things are (coincidentally) what a parent needs to give their child for resilience

Presence – not absence

C.S. Lewis once wrote…

“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always easy to penetrate. The real labour is to remember to attend. In fact to come awake. Still more to remain awake.”

 

This has been my experience

  • God is not absent or aloof – He is everywhere, but He’s in disguise

Personally I see God most clearly in my circumstances

  • I tend to be more aware of Him out there (in the world) than I am of Him in here (in church)
  • I love it when God puts me in just the right place, at just the right time, with just the right resources to help just the right person
  • That’s when I’m most aware of God’s presence

I remember on our honeymoon, Robyn and I were near Russell, in the Bay of Islands

  • We were driving along in our burnt orange Mark 2 Ford Escort, coming over the hill from Tapeka Point, and this lady waved us down
  • So I pulled over to the side of the road and she quickly opened the door and jumped in the back
  • She was scared out of her wits because a dog had been chasing her
  • We gave her a lift down the hill into Russell township – she got out and we never saw her again

It was a small thing for us to do – no inconvenience really – but I saw God in that situation

  • He put us in the right place, at the right time, with the right resources to help a stranger in need
  • If we had come over the hill one minute earlier we would probably have missed her
  • And if we had come one minute later, who knows – maybe she would have been bitten or worse
  • It was a God moment

In Exodus 16, verse 10, we read how God makes is presence visible to the people of Israel in the form of a dazzling light inside a cloud

  • The people were scared and insecure – they needed to see God’s presence in a tangible way
  • Nothing is more convincing than presence

If you want to develop or maintain a resilient faith, then stay alert to the signs of God’s presence, whatever form He may meet you in, whether that’s through:

  • Reading the Bible
  • Or singing worship songs
  • Or helping people
  • Or experiencing dreams and visions
  • Or whatever – just look for His presence

Nourishment – not neglect

The second thing God does in Exodus 16, to help the people develop resilient faith, is He feeds them

  • God provides nourishment (He does not neglect His people)

The nourishment comes in the form of meat and bread – protein and carbs

  • God sends quail in the evening and manna in the morning

Quail are known to migrate across the Sinai Peninsula at certain times of the year

  • They stop to rest on the ground in the evening and would be easy for the people to catch
  • Although quail are naturally occurring, their provision in this situation, is extraordinary – God must be behind it
  • Because the quail arrive every night for 40 years and they never run out
  • In the ordinary course of events you wouldn’t expect that sort of frequency or quantity

The manna which appeared in the morning could also be a naturally occurring food source

  • There is an insect in that part of the world which feeds off the tamarisk tree and it secretes a white yellowy substance which is sweet to eat
  • It is rich in carbohydrates & sugar and it’s still gathered by people living in that area today
  • At night, when it’s cold, the substance congeals, but then, when the sun comes out, it melts in the heat of the day
  • It is a food which normally decays quickly and it attracts ants

Whatever you want to call this stuff it fits the description of manna in Exodus

The provision of manna, in this situation, is extraordinary – God must be behind it

  • Because the manna is there every morning for 40 years, enough to feed well over 1 million people each day
  • And on Friday’s it lasts for two days without going bad
  • In the normal course of events you wouldn’t expect that kind of frequency or quantity – nor would you expect that kind of shelf life

The way God consistently provides quail & manna shows the people He can be relied on – they can trust Him

  • Even when the people complain or disobey, God still keeps feeding them

Feeding children is one of the core responsibilities of parents

  • That routine of providing regular meals is actually one of the things that contributes to a child’s resilience
  • It helps them to feel safe and secure so they learn to trust and not worry about where their next meal is coming from

God provides the ingredients for a resilient faith by the gift of His presence and by feeding His people regularly

  • He also develops resilience through discipline

Discipline – not excess

Discipline is a misunderstood word these days

  • We often associate discipline with punishment – six of the best or time out or being grounded or some other negative consequence

But discipline isn’t really about punishment – discipline is about learning

  • To discipline someone is to teach them

So for example, teaching your child how to use a knife and fork so they can eat their dinner independently – that is discipline

  • Or teaching them how to bake a cake or sew on a button – these are also examples of disciplining your children

God’s gift of manna & quail comes with certain instructions

  • These instructions are designed to help the people get the most out of God’s gifts and to teach the people faith or trust in God

So when God says, ‘only gather as much as you need and don’t try and hoard it’, this is teaching the people both to practice self-restraint and to trust the Lord to provide some more tomorrow

  • Give us this day our daily bread

And when the Lord says, ‘gather a double portion on Friday and don’t gather any on Saturday’, this is teaching the people to rest

  • It is showing them their life does not depend on work and endless activity – it depends on God
  • Learning to rest, to celebrate, to enjoy life, to find a healthy distraction from work, this is a significant contributor to resilience also

Another thing you notice if you watch interviews with the All Blacks, leading up to this world cup, is the way they are keeping the conversation light

  • They’re not intensely focused on rugby all the time and I think this helps to preserve their resilience
  • I saw an interview in which Luke Romano was talking about how he and Sam Whitelock had been feeding the hotel nuts to a squirrel
  • It’s a healthy distraction – something else to think about – it helps them stay relaxed so they are better able to handle the pressure when it comes

God loves the people of Israel enough to discipline them

  • He doesn’t spoil the Israelites with excess
  • He teaches them resilience by giving them boundaries

We human beings need certain boundaries (especially when we are young)

  • The discipline or the teaching of what is good for us, and what is harmful, actually gives us a sense of security and strength in adulthood

Boxing - footpath

Discipline (teaching right from wrong) is like setting up the boxing when you are pouring concrete

  • If you want the concrete to hold its shape you need to make sure the boxing is in place beforehand
  • Without the boxing the wet concrete runs everywhere
  • But with the firm boundary provided by the boxing the concrete stays in place and then once it is set you can take the boxing away
  • Once the child has learned you don’t have to stay on their back all the time

Bicycle-Training-Wheels

Or to use another metaphor, teaching resilient faith is like teaching someone to ride a bike

  • When we start out in the faith God may give us training wheels
  • By training wheels I mean special supports like miracles perhaps, or a warm glow, or enthusiasm for reading the Bible or something else that makes believing in Him a bit easier
  • These training wheels give us the feel of faith and help us to build up some confidence

But ultimately God wants to teach us to ride without the training wheels

  • Because the picture of an adult riding with kiddy wheels is disturbing

 

And so, as we progress in the Christian faith, God may take away the supports

  • We might not experience miracles anymore or we may go through a real dry time in our devotional life or we may struggle with doubt
  • When God removes the training wheels it might feel like He has abandoned us – but actually He hasn’t – He’s still right there beside us
  • It’s just that we are having to learn to ride a two wheeler now
  • It feels a bit wobbly to begin with and we may fall over & skin our knees
  • But if we pick ourselves up again and carry on we eventually get the hang of it – we learn resilient faith

Conclusion:

I’m conscious that we are not all the same when it comes to resilience

  • Some people have been given all they need for resilience
  • They have grown up in a functional family and are surrounded by people who love and support them
  • They are able to take time off to enjoy life and have really good communication skills and so on

Then there are others who have suffered loss repeatedly and actually feel quite fragile most of the time

  • Or those who didn’t have a happy childhood
  • Those whose experience was one of neglect or excess or even abuse
  • And others who are having to work three jobs just to make ends meet, so they don’t have time to rest and enjoy life
  • Resilience in these cases seems like an unattainable goal
  • Let me say to you, Jesus understands – He is all compassion
  • “A bruised reed he will not break and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Whatever your situation – Jesus is our security

  • His resurrection from the dead is our hope of eternal resilience.
  • Whether we feel bullet proof or paper thin – strong or weak…
  • We need to keep looking to Christ for His presence, His nourishment and His discipline
  • And we shouldn’t be afraid or surprised when the training wheels come off – it’s really a compliment when God does that – a sign of His love and trust in us

[1] http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/resilience/what-resilience

[2] Terence Fretheim, Exodus, page 181.

[3] Romans 8:31

Tawa Baptist

Sharing Christ

Scripture: John 7:37-39

Title: Sharing Christ

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Open wells
  • We are the cup
  • Grace & truth
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Today, because we have welcomed people into church membership, we take a break from our series on Moses to focus on one of our members’ pledges:

 

To share with other people the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

To some people sharing their faith comes naturally, but not to all of us

  • For many of us sharing the gospel of Christ feels anything but natural
  • It feels awkward or difficult or scary
  • And while there is risk involved in sharing our faith we need not be afraid

Looking more closely at that statement on the wall, the word ‘gospel’ simply means good news

  • We Christians are not being asked to share bad news
  • We have something positive to share, something life-giving

And the good news we have to share is about a person, ‘Jesus Christ’

  • Sharing the gospel isn’t primarily about passing on ideas or rules or doctrines (although it does include those things)
  • Sharing the gospel is first & foremost about sharing a relationship – introducing others to Jesus, our friend

Open wells:

One of the best illustrations of what it means to share Christ with others is found in John chapter 7 – page 128 toward the back of your pew Bibles

To put you in the picture, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the festival of shelters

  • This is an 8 day festival held at the end of autumn
  • Autumn, in the Middle East, is usually a dry time of year and the people are looking to God to provide rain
  • On each of the first seven days of the festival the priest draws water from the pool of Siloam, then leads a procession to the Temple, where he pours the water onto the altar
  • The people are reminded of God’s provision for Israel in the wilderness after leaving Egypt – particularly the way God made water pour out of a rock in the desert
  • Words from Isaiah may be read as part of the water pouring ceremony
  • “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” [1]
  • Or, “You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” [2]

It is against this background that Jesus makes His statement

  • From John 7, verse 37, we read…

[Read John 7:37-39]

 

May the Spirit of Jesus refresh us today

On the wall here is a picture of the fresh water springs at Petone

  • Most of you would have been to this spring I’m sure
  • Water bubbles up through the ground naturally – and as it passes through the sand and gravel the water is purified
  • Even though people could easily get water by turning a tap on at home they still come to the spring to fill up bottles to drink

 

In John 7, Jesus uses the water symbolism of the feast of shelters to talk about the living water He will bestow

  • The land is dry and the people are thinking of rain and of their own physical thirst [3]
  • Jesus turns their attention to the deep need of the soul and to the way he would meet that need – with the gift of Himself, the gift of His Spirit
  • Jesus is like a fresh water spring (or a well) – and the water He offers is God’s Holy Spirit

With this in mind, sharing the gospel of Christ is best understood as introducing others to Jesus – the one person who can satisfy the thirst of the soul

  • In sharing the gospel, therefore, we are showing thirsty people where they can get a drink
  • More than this though we actually become the means through which Jesus delivers His water

 

Jesus says…

  • “Whoever believes in me, streams of life-giving water will pour from his [or her] heart”

In other words, those who believe in Jesus (those who trust Him and are committed to Him) will become a vessel for God’s Holy Spirit

  • Wow – that’s pretty incredible

A fresh water spring or a well works by being accessible and open

  • People are drawn to a well and they draw from a well

One of the keys to sharing our faith is simply being open & honest with people

  • Listening carefully to what people are saying & letting them enquire of us
  • We don’t need to try and make something happen
  • God will create the opportunities naturally – we don’t need to force anything – but we do need to be open and available

If you look at our organ pipes here you will see they have holes in them

  • Holes in either end and a hole in the front
  • The pipes make a sound precisely because they are open
  • If we were to block up the holes so the air couldn’t pass through then there would be no music
  • Each of us is like one of those organ pipes – we must stay open to strike the right note
  • But as organ pipes we don’t provide the air
  • God is the organist and the wind of His Spirit passes through us

Christian believers are like organ pipes and water wells – we work best when we are open – open to God and open to others

Openness to God and to others could mean accepting an invitation to dinner

  • Or, if someone asks you what you did on the weekend you include the fact that you went to church
  • Being open might mean being interruptible enough to listen to someone or help them with something
  • Those who volunteer to help support a refugee family to relocate in our area (if that is needed) are showing an openness to God & to others

Other times openness means allowing people to draw the water of grace & truth out of us by answering the questions they ask, openly and honestly

Not that we must always wait to be asked what we believe – sometimes it is appropriate for us to take the initiative

  • If you can see someone is thirsty, then why not put a cup of water directly into their hands

We are the cup:

Okay, time for a practical demonstration

  • I need a volunteer to come up the front on the stage with me
  • This would especially suit someone who doesn’t like me that much
  • [Wait for volunteer]

On the table over here we have a bowl of water and a cup

  • I want you [the volunteer] to fill the cup with water from the bowl and stand ten steps away from me
  • Now I’m going to open my mouth and I want you to try and throw as much water as you can from the cup into my mouth, without moving from the spot

[Volunteer throws water, I get wet and dry myself]

 

[To the congregation] what would be a better way to get the water into me? [Wait for people to respond]

  • That’s right, pass the cup to me and let me drink from it myself
  • [Get the volunteer to do that – then ask them to sit down]

For the purposes of this illustration I want you to imagine…

  • The bowl is Christ
  • The water is the gospel – the good news of salvation
  • And you are the cup

As the cup you have no ability to manufacture the water by yourself

  • The most you can do is be filled with the good news about Jesus so that others can drink from you

Sharing Christ, sharing the gospel, doesn’t really work from a distance

  • It doesn’t work to throw the gospel at someone
  • You have to get close to people to share your faith
  • Introducing others to Jesus is an intimate thing
  • It will inevitably require us to make ourselves vulnerable

Making yourself vulnerable means demonstrating trust in others

  • In Luke 10, when Jesus sent out 72 of his followers to share the gospel, He said to them, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals… When you enter a house… stay in that house eating and drinking whatever they give you…”
  • In other words, don’t go in strength, go in weakness
  • In that situation, Jesus wanted his disciples to trust themselves to the mercy and hospitality of strangers
  • Talk about making yourself vulnerable

If you go up to someone cold, on the street, and say to them…

  • ‘You’re going to hell unless you repent and accept Jesus’
  • Then that’s not making yourself vulnerable
  • That’s like throwing water in their face
  • I guess God could use that as a wake-up call for some people
  • But I expect most people would be turned away from Jesus by that sort of approach – it would just make them feel angry and like you’re trying to manipulate them

We need to be careful with the way we represent Christ and His gospel

  • Yes, there is a judgment which we must all face one day
  • And yes, there is a hell which we want to avoid
  • And yes again, Jesus is our hope of salvation
  • But trust needs to come first – faith is the foundation
  • And it’s a far stronger foundation than fear and guilt

We are the cup, we are the container – we don’t manufacture the water, we simply hold it for others to drink

  • But people quite often need to trust the cup before they will drink its contents
  • If the cup is dirty then people will be less inclined to drink from it
  • We need to keep the cup of our soul clean

So what does it mean then to keep the cup clean?

  • Well, in a word, integrity

What we do needs to match what we say

  • It’s no good speaking about faith in Jesus and then ignoring those in need
  • As James says, ‘What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.’ [4] 

We need to share Christ with our words and our deeds

Integrity (or keeping the cup clean) also means keeping our motives pure

  • Our motivation for sharing Christ with others needs to be love
  • Love for God and love for our neighbour
  • If your motivation is fear or guilt or self-interest then people are less likely to trust you
  • They won’t want to drink from your cup
  • Even if you what you have to say happens to be true

Grace & truth:

There’s a wonderful movie which came out a few years ago called ‘The Bucket List’, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson

  • Carter, the character played by Freeman, is a believer
  • But Edward Cole, played by Nicholson, is not
  • Carter is always trying to put the cup in Edward’s hand, but Edward is reluctant to drink

 

You can put the cup of water into someone’s hand but you can’t make them drink – people need to be thirsty before they will drink

One of the things I like about Freeman’s character in this movie is that he is honest – there is truth in his conversation with Edward – truth with grace

  • Freeman’s character (Carter) does not deny his faith in any way – he accepts Edward without bending to accommodate him too much
  • Carter is honest about who he is and what he believes – and through that honesty trust grows between the two men
  • Then, as the trust grows, Carter begins to challenge Edward
  • Because Edward is actually very thirsty – he just doesn’t know how to satisfy that thirst

Although Nicholson’s character (Edward) is closed to God at first, Carter helps Edward to find the joy in his life

  • In the end Edward’s heart is opened – opened by truth and grace

As we have already noted, the living water Jesus talked about in John 7 is the Holy Spirit of God

  • The key characteristics of the Spirit are truth & grace
  • When the Spirit of Jesus is in us, our words and actions will communicate grace and truth

In John chapter 4 Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well

  • He does the culturally inappropriate thing of asking the woman for a drink of water
  • The woman answers, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan – so how can you ask me for a drink?” (Jews won’t use the same cups as Samaritans)
  • The woman is taken aback by the grace Jesus shows here – the grace of acceptance

And Jesus replies with truth, “If only you knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him and he would give you life-giving water… ”

As the conversation progresses Jesus asks the woman to go and get her husband

  • But she says, “I haven’t got a husband”
  • And Jesus agrees, “You are right when you say you haven’t got a husband. [The truth is] you have been married to five men and the man you live with now is not really your husband.”

By saying this Jesus reveals that He is a prophet

  • And as a prophet Jesus has put His finger on an inconvenient truth – the woman has a chequered past and is currently living in sin
  • But the woman stays in the conversation with Jesus, even if she does change the subject to talk about where God should be worshipped
  • In the end though Jesus reveals that He is more than just a prophet – He is the Messiah
  • The woman believes in Jesus and tells those in her town about him – many of whom believe also, because of her testimony
  • She has become the first missionary to the Samaritans

 

Conclusion:

To share with other people the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

  • This is one of the most important reasons for us being here

The good news is about a person, ‘Jesus Christ’

  • Sharing the gospel is first & foremost about sharing a relationship – introducing others to Jesus, our friend

In sharing Christ we are not selling anything – we are giving something away, by keeping ourselves open and accessible to God and the world

  • We are not trying to prove something
  • We are putting the cup of the gospel (a cup of grace & truth) into people’s hands and letting them decide for themselves

Let’s pray…

[1] Isaiah 12:3

[2] Isaiah 58:11

[3] Leon Morris, NICNT ‘John’, page 373.

[4] James 2:14-17

Tawa Baptist

God Heals

Scripture: Exodus 15:19-27

Title: God Heals

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God heals the waters, naturally
  • God heals the people, conditionally
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 15, page 75, near the beginning of your pew Bibles

  • This morning we continue our series on Moses
  • Last week we heard how God & Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea
  • This was a journey from triumphalism, through terror, to trust
  • Today Moses & God lead the people from victory, through bitter disappointment to healing & refreshment

From Exodus 15, verse 19, we read…

[Read Exodus 15:19-27]

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

In this Scripture God heals through Moses

  • God heals the bitter waters, naturally
  • And God heals the people, conditionally

 

God heals the waters, naturally:

If we were to make a movie of the Exodus (and people have of course) then the end of chapter 14 would be the perfect place to finish

  • The Israelites (who are the underdogs) have just passed through the Red Sea to safety
  • God (the hero) has won the day and the bad guy (Pharaoh) has been defeated
  • Now the Israelites can ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after
  • The audience can leave the theatre with Miriam’s song of victory ringing in their ears and reality can be avoided for another day

But what if the movie kept going?

  • What if we went past the climax of the story and into ordinary life beyond the happy ending?

This is what happens in Exodus 15

  • After the victory over the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Moses leads the people off into the desert
  • And after three days of walking into the sunset the people are thirsty

You can imagine their disappointment when they do eventually find some water, only to discover it was too bitter to drink

  • This is life after the end credits

Terence Fretheim observes…

  • “It is not enough for the people of God to sing, they must also listen to their God and follow the divine leading” [1]

The people were understandably happy to be delivered from the Egyptians and it was right that they responded to God with songs of praise

  • But the best way to give thanks to God is by listening to what he says and following His lead

Jesus told a parable (in Matthew 21) of a man who had two sons

  • He went to the elder one and said…
  • ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today’
  • And the elder son replied…
  • ‘Na. Don’t want to’, but later he changed his mind and went
  • Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing
  • The younger son said, ‘Yea sure Dad, be happy to’, but he did not go

The first son says the wrong thing but then he does the right thing

  • The other son says the right thing but he does the wrong thing

It is not enough for the people of God to sing the right words, they must also listen to God and follow His leading

I said last week that passing through the Red Sea was a kind of baptism for Israel

  • Baptism is a new beginning
  • It is not the end of all your problems – it is the end of an old way of life and the start of a new way of life

Shortly after Jesus was baptised the Spirit of God led Him into the wilderness to be tested by Satan

  • It was similar for Israel
  • After their baptism in the Red Sea, God led the people into the wilderness to test them
  • The people needed to learn not just to say the right thing but also to do the right thing
  • Because it is in listening to God and obeying Him that we are healed (spiritually)

Verse 24 of Exodus 15 tells us the people said the wrong thing – they complained to Moses, asking, ‘what are we going to drink?’

Moses models the example of the right thing to do in a situation like this

  • Moses prays earnestly
  • This means both calling on God and listening for His response
  • As Moses listened the Lord showed him a piece of wood (a tree) which Moses threw into the water – to make it drinkable

This is interesting

  • The fact there is a tree here which can be used to heal the bitter waters shows us that God had prepared a solution a long time in advance
  • God is not taken by surprise, even if we are
  • God goes ahead of His people not to remove all obstacles but rather to provide the remedy for the problem

God could have arranged for the tree to fall into the water before the people came to Marah – that way the water would be ok to drink when they arrived

  • But God didn’t do it like that
  • He waited to be asked before helping
  • It’s not that God can’t do anything unless we pray
  • It’s more that we need to be reminded not to take God for granted
  • If things always go our way, or come too easily for us, we will begin to think we did it ourselves and we won’t learn to rely on God

It’s also interesting that God resolved the difficulty with something in nature

  • God doesn’t wave a magic wand or snap His fingers to fix the problem
  • He doesn’t do anything miraculous here
  • God simply uses what’s at hand naturally, in creation, to help His people
  • The point seems to be, if you have a problem, don’t just look up, look around – the solution might be right in front of you

God’s healing of the bitter waters at Marah is perhaps an acted out parable of the healing God intended for Israel

  • Years of oppression and brutality at the hands of the Egyptians was bound to leave its mark
  • God wanted to remove the bitterness caused by this hurt

Okay then, God heals the bitter waters, naturally

  • And, God heals the people, conditionally

God heals the people, conditionally:

The last part of verse 25 tells us that, there (at Marah) the Lord gave them laws to live by

  • We tend to have this idea that God only gave the Law in one place – at Sinai – but God gives the law in a variety of places
  • Which means, “Israel will need to be attentive to the will of God in every life situation, knowing that the body of law given at Sinai may not speak directly to the issue at hand.” [2]

Jesus seemed to understand this

  • He realised that you can’t legislate for every possibility in life
  • You can’t anticipate rules to cover every situation that might arise
  • But you can be attentive to the will of God
  • Because Jesus was listening to God all the time, He was able to see behind the letter of the law to find its spirit – that is, to understand what God’s will was in that particular circumstance
  • The Pharisees, on the other hand, were not listening to God (they were listening to themselves) and so they often missed the point

Now it’s all very well for me to say, ‘we need to listen to God’, but hearing Him clearly is often difficult in practice

  • How do we know if we’ve heard God accurately?
  • Well, one clue is that God reveals His will (or gives His law) to heal people

Yes, healing can come in miraculous ways – like when Jesus restored sight to the blind or when He enabled the lame to walk

  • And healing can come in natural ways too – like when God directed Moses to throw a certain tree into the bitter waters at Marah
  • But God’s healing is also something we participate in through our obedience to the Lord – by the changes we make to our lifestyle
  • The people had to learn God’s laws – His way of living – a new lifestyle, in order to be healed of bad habits – in order for their soul to be restored

When I was younger – a teenager – I injured my back

  • It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t walk, but it was pretty painful all the same
  • We were new to the Christian faith at that stage
  • My mum asked one of her friends to pray for me and when she did I fell into a deep sleep
  • When I woke up the woman who had prayed for me was gone and my back was healed
  • I had no more pain and I had freedom of movement – it was wonderful
  • A small miracle – But miracles are for beginners

Years later, when I became a pastor, I did a sermon series on Job and during that time, while I was sitting down to plan the series, the pain in my lower back returned – the timing was interesting

  • On this occasion God did not heal me miraculously like He did when I was young
  • This time God showed me through physiotherapists how to change my posture and do exercises to heal & strengthen my back
  • It was like God was teaching me to take better care of myself
  • Now, if I revert to those old habits of not holding myself in the right position, the pain returns
  • But as long as I keep good posture and avoid using my back like a crane it’s fine

In verse 26 God says to Israel…

  • “If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord, the one who heals you.”

 

God gives His law (He reveals is will) to heal us

What we notice here, in verse 26, is that this is a conditional statement by God

  • ‘If you obey me I won’t punish you’
  • This does not mean that all sickness is a punishment from God
  • In the context of Exodus 15, God is talking about Himself as a healer,
  • And so we should take this statement positively, as a promise of good things

But even if we take it positively, the promise is still conditional

  • God is not saying, ‘You will enjoy good health no matter what’
  • God is saying, ‘You will enjoy good health if you obey me’
  • It’s like with the physiotherapist, ‘your back will get better if you do the exercises’

Now some of us might struggle with the idea that God’s promise of good health & healing (in this context) is conditional on Israel’s obedience

  • It seems to contradict a belief held by many people today that God’s love is unconditional

To say that “God’s love is unconditional.” (full stop), is misleading

  • It gives some people the impression that they have licence to do whatever they want and get away with it
  • Some use it to claim diplomatic immunity from God’s judgement – like a get out of jail free card

Well, that kind of thinking presumes too much

The Bible does talk about God’s steadfast love & faithfulness

  • It talks about Him being slow to anger and rich in love
  • The Lord is gracious and gives freely to all
  • He causes His rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike [3]

God’s virtue is not interested in reward

  • God loves us because of who He is – not because of what we do
  • God doesn’t stop loving us when we sin – His love for us remains steadfast and true
  • He doesn’t switch His love off and on, like a light
  • His love stays on permanently

But that doesn’t mean we have a licence to do whatever we want

  • The Bible also talks about God punishing those who do wrong
  • Over the last few weeks we’ve heard how God has punished the Egyptians for oppressing the Israelites

You see, love is not licence

  • Love seeks the well-being of the other person
  • And it’s not always in the other person’s interests to give them everything they want
  • Sometimes the most loving thing to do is to impose certain restrictions and certain conditions

A recovering alcoholic needs very firm restrictions & conditions

  • You can’t say to an alcoholic, ‘You’re allowed a drink on special occasions’
  • You have to say, ‘You can never have a drink of alcohol again. And if you blow your wages on booze, I’m not going to come to your rescue
  • I’m not going to buy you groceries because that would just be enabling you to destroy yourself’

Other times imposing conditions is not appropriate and grace is what is needed

So for example, babies need a lot of grace – they don’t need a lot of conditions

  • Babies are completely dependent on their parents to take care of them
  • It’s no good saying to a new born baby…
  • ‘Look you’re going to have to start pulling your weight around here. If you don’t take your turn with the household chores there’s no breast milk for you.’

The goal with babies is to teach them basic trust and we do that by providing a consistent person in their lives – someone who loves them and takes care of them without thought of reward or reimbursement

Of course, as the child develops, they reach a point where they need some conditions placed on them – otherwise they won’t grow up psychologically

  • And so it’s appropriate to say to your 12 year old…
  • ‘If you want pocket money this week then you need to help with the vacuuming or putting the dishes away or mowing the lawns’

Sometimes we experience God’s love unconditionally, as pure grace, no strings attached – but not always

  • There are other times when we experience God’s love with conditions

God’s healing of my back when I was young – that was unconditional, no strings attached, pure grace

  • But God’s healing of my back in mid-life is conditional on the choices I make about how I use my back
  • I don’t think God has stopped loving me because my healing is conditional
  • He’s just loving me in a different way now – by teaching me to take better care of myself

God’s promise to Abraham, to make him the father of a great nation was unconditional

  • Israel did nothing to earn God’s favour
  • Their selection as God’s special people was pure grace
  • As was their deliverance from slavery in Egypt

But God’s healing of their soul, by giving the law, was conditional on the choices they made – whether to listen to God and obey Him, or not

God’s grace – His giving things to us unconditionally, for free – makes it possible for us to live by faith – to trust Him

  • It should also make us think twice about imposing unreasonable conditions on other people

But as well as grace, we also need God’s restrictions & conditions

  • His conditions help us to grow up – they teach us responsibility
  • And His restrictions show us our limits – they give us firm and healthy boundaries, which make it possible for others to trust us
  • If God didn’t impose certain restrictions & conditions on us we would become spoiled and develop an ugly attitude of entitlement
  • Which would make living with other people pretty difficult

Whether we experience God’s unconditional grace or His restrictions & conditions, it is still love – He always has our well-being at heart

Conclusion:

Verse 27 tells us how the people next came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; there they camped by the water.

Twelve and seventy – these are numbers representing perfection, completeness

  • God and Moses led the people to a place of rest
  • God does not test us beyond what we can endure
  • Yes there are challenges along the way but there are oasis’ too
  • God wants us to enjoy these pleasant places and be refreshed by them for the journey ahead

God heals the bitter waters, naturally (with what is at hand in creation)

  • God heals the people, conditionally (with His law)
  • And God heals through rest

Let us pray…

Our Father in heaven

  • You are our home,
  • We belong to You

Hallowed be Your name

  • Your integrity is perfect,
  • Your reputation is sacred
  •  

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

  • You alone have the wisdom to heal our world
  • We want You in charge

Give us this day our daily bread

  • Nourish and strengthen us for what each day holds
  • You know our needs

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

  • Release us from bitterness, resentment and hate
  • Set us free to love our neighbour

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

  • Help us God not just to say the right thing
  • But also to do the right thing. Amen.

[1] Terence Fretheim, Exodus, page 176

[2] Terence Fretheim, Exodus, page 179

[3] Matthew 5:45

Tawa Baptist

Communion is Union

COMMUNION IS UNION

 

Last month, when we celebrated communion together, I talked about how communion is about remembering Jesus

  • And that remembering is a past, present and future remembering
  • Remembering what Christ did on the cross 2000 years ago
  • Remembering that Christ is present with us now by His Spirit
  • And remembering that Christ will return in glory one day

 

More than simply remembering though, communion is union

 

Desmond Tutu once said, “We are only lightbulbs and our job is just to remain screwed in”

 

In John chapter 14, the night before his crucifixion and death Jesus said…

  • ‘I am in the Father and you are in me, just as I am in you’
  • Then he went on to talk about how he is the vine and we are the branches and the only way to be fruitful is to remain in him
  • Desmond Tutu’s lightbulb metaphor is a modern day take on this

 

Jesus was talking about our union with him and with God

 

In taking communion (into ourselves) we are reminded of our union with Jesus

  • The bread we eat represents the body of Christ and the grape juice (or the wine) represents his blood
  • When we eat or drink something it becomes a part of us – it sustains us
  • Sort of like electricity sustains the lightbulb so it can give off light
  • Or like the sap from the vine sustains the branches so they may bear fruit

 

There is a certain mystery associated with our union with Christ and with communion itself

  • In some sense, which can’t be explained scientifically, Christ is in us and we are in Him

 

Communion is union and when we have union with God through Christ it is possible to face all manner of suffering with hope & joy

 

Tawa Baptist

Reluctant Moses

Scripture: Exodus 3:1-14 & 4:1-17

Title: Reluctant Moses

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Back-bone
  • The dialogue
  • Conclusion

 

 

Introduction:

True perfection is the ability to include imperfection [1]

 

The teacher who perseveres with a difficult student

  • The wife who goes on loving her husband even though he doesn’t trim his nose hairs and keeps leaving the toilet seat up
  • The father who welcomes home the prodigal son or daughter
  • The mother who patiently stays up all night nursing her sick child
  • The humble who can laugh at their own mistakes
  • The leader who allows criticism even when it is unfair
  • Anyone really who is able to forgive others and most especially able to forgive themselves

 

Please turn with me to Exodus 3, verse 10, page 61 in your pew Bibles

  • Today we continue our series on Moses
  • Last week we heard how God spoke to Moses as a flame in a bush, calling him to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of slavery
  • This week we hear how a very reluctant Moses tries to evade God’s call
  • Moses is all too aware of his own inadequacy
  • But God, who is true perfection, wants to include Moses in all his glorious imperfection

 

Our reading is in two parts this morning – the first part from the middle of chapter 3 and the second part from the first half of chapter 4

  • From verse 10 of chapter 3, God says to Moses…

 

[Read Exodus 3:10-14]

 

Now we will skip to the beginning of chapter 4 on page 62 of your pew Bibles

  • From verse 1 we read…

 

[Read Exodus 4:1-17]

 

May the Spirit of Jesus help us to accept the imperfection in ourselves

 

Back-bone:

Most of you would have heard of the three classic parenting styles…

  • Brick wall
  • Jellyfish, and
  • Back-bone

 

The brick wall parent doesn’t give an inch

  • It’s my way or the highway
  • There is no flexibility, no grace, no understanding with the brick wall parent – they come off as hard and unloving
  • The demanding (sometimes brutal) discipline of the brick wall style often leaves the child angry, resentful and alienated
  • Brick wall relationships are brittle – they don’t cope well with earthquakes or other crises because they have no give

 

Jellyfish parents are the opposite to this

  • They don’t know how to say ‘No’ to their kids – they are too soft and give in all the time
  • Jellyfish relationships tend to lack integrity or substance
  • You can’t really trust a jellyfish – they won’t support you when the chips are down and they may even sting you

 

Then we have the back-bone parenting style

  • As the name suggests, backbone parents combine strength & support with flexibility
  • A back-bone relationship is one you can rely on – it has integrity and substance, but it also has grace & understanding
  • Therefore you can trust the other person

 

Now when I first heard this brick wall, jellyfish, backbone thing, like most parents, I felt guilty for not always being a backbone parent

  • In reality though there are no perfect parents – we are all a bit of a mixture of the three
  • And that’s okay – the world is not a perfect place and so children need imperfect parents in order to prepare them for an imperfect world
  • True perfection is the ability to include imperfection

 

 

If you turn to the back page of your newsletter you will see a table there

  • This table basically summarises God’s dialogue with Moses
  • On one side of the table we have Moses’ objections to God’s call
  • And on the other side we have God’s response

 

Verses Moses’ objections God’s response Verses
3:11 Who am I? (I am nobody)  I will be with you 3:12
3:13 Who are you?(What’s your name) “I am who I am” Or,“I will be who I will be” 3:14
4:1 What if Israel doesn’t believe me? Here are 3 signs to help them believe you 4:2-9
4:10 I’m not a good speaker  I will help you to speak 4:11-12
4:13 Send someone else(or – send whoever you want) I will give you Aaron as your spokesman 4:14-17

 

When God calls Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses tries to talk God out of it

  • Five times he resists God’s call on his life

 

Moses comes across as a bit insecure

  • He appears full of self-doubt and lacking confidence
  • But in a paradoxical kind of way Moses’ questions and objections are actually a good thing
  • It is helpful and necessary to deal with our doubts in God’s presence before going out to face the enemy

 

Not only that but Moses’ questioning of God allows a meaningful dialogue to take place

  • If Moses had simply said ‘yes’ to God without offering any resistance then the conversation would have ended
  • Moses might not have heard God’s name nor been properly equipped to face Israel and Pharaoh – he would have no answer for his doubts

 

The other good thing here, about Moses’ resistance, is that it reveals back-bone

  • The fact that Moses is able to stand up to God bodes well for when he will have to stand up to Pharaoh
  • Leaders need a certain amount of stubbornness
  • Pharaoh was a brick wall, against which a jellyfish would make no impression
  • If you want to shift a brick wall you need backbone – strength combined with flexibility

 

God responds to Moses’ reluctance with some backbone of his own

  • He doesn’t give Moses what he wants or let him off the hook
  • God could have done the job himself but he doesn’t
  • God is resolute in his plan to work with the imperfect Moses
  • By the same token he doesn’t bulldoze Moses either
  • God gives Moses support with flexibility
  • He dialogues with Moses

 

The Dialogue:

A dialogue is a two way conversation, sort of like tennis – one player hits the ball over the net and the other player responds by hitting it back

 

God serves a rip snorter to Moses saying, ‘I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country’

  • And Moses sends God’s serve right back over the net with, ‘I am nobody’
  • Or more literally, ‘Who am I to go the king of Egypt?’

 

Interestingly, God takes Moses’ concerns seriously

  • God doesn’t deny what Moses is feeling
  • And he doesn’t disagree with Moses’ assessment of himself
  • God simply says, ‘I will be with you’
  • Which is sort of like saying, ‘Yea, I agree with you Moses. You’re not adequate by yourself. But I’m more than adequate, so don’t worry’
  • God is inviting Moses to trust him

 

Moses isn’t entirely sure if he is ready to trust the Lord just yet, so he fires the ball back over the net to God with another question

  • ‘In case someone asks me, what’s your name?’
  • First Moses had asked, ‘Who am I?’
  • Now he asks, ‘Who are you?’

 

Names in Biblical times were significant

  • The Lord’s name is his story
  • It sums up who he is and what he wants to make known about himself [2]

 

In verse 14 of Exodus 3, God famously replies, “I am who I am” which can also be translated, “I will be who I will be”

 

God’s name doesn’t reveal everything about him but it does show us some things

  • Firstly, that we don’t define God – he defines himself
  • There is a certain divine freedom in this

 

‘I am who I am’ is quite open ended

  • It means, if we are going to be in relationship with God, then we must be prepared to cope with mystery
  • with not knowing
  • with loose ends and unresolved questions,
  • For God won’t be tied down or dissected

 

‘I will be who I will be’ indicates that God’s story is being told in human history and so it is unfolding even as history continues to unfold

 

In Tolkien’s book, The Lord of the Rings, the character Treebeard speaks of his name in this way…

  • “My name is growing all the time and I’ve lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to” [3]

 

The people of Israel would come to know the meaning of God’s name through the history of his presence with them and salvation of them

  • We come to know the meaning of God’s name through Christ

 

Reluctant Moses tries to get the ball out of his court a third time by saying, in verse 1 of Exodus 4, ‘But suppose the Israelites do not believe me and will not listen to what I say…?’

  • At which point God gives Moses power to perform three signs
  • Turning a stick into a snake and back into a stick again
  • Turning a hand leprous and back into a healthy hand again
  • And turning water into blood

 

These might seem like pretty random things but I suspect they were freighted with meaning

 

The Pharaohs wore a crown on their head and on the front of that crown was a cobra snake, raised and ready to strike as a threat to Egypt’s enemies

  • By giving Moses the power to change his stick into a snake and back again I reckon God was saying, ‘Egypt is no threat to me, so you don’t need to feel threatened by them either’
  • Interestingly God told Moses to pick up the snake by the tail
  • This is the most dangerous way to pick up a snake for it can whip it’s head around and bite you
  • Just as God protected Moses from the snake, so too he would protect Moses (and Israel) from Pharaoh

 

With the second sign God tells Moses to put his hand inside his robe and when Moses does it turns leprous

  • Then when Moses repeats the movement his hand is made healthy again
  • This sign is different from the other two in that it was a sign which was done to Moses’ person – his own body

 

Lepers were considered unclean and were excluded from society

  • Moses had lived like a leper for a long time, in the sense that he had been excluded from Hebrew & Egyptian society
  • Moses also felt unfit or unworthy for the task God was calling him to
  • But God has the power to declare things clean
  • He has the power to open doors so those standing on the outside looking in may be included
  • God, who is true perfection, is able to include Moses’ imperfection – to declare Moses clean

 

The third sign, turning the water of the river Nile into blood, shows us that God has power over life and death and he is putting that power into Moses’ hands

  • Water & blood are both symbols of life and potentially death
  • Egypt relied on the Nile for its livelihood
  • Turning the river into blood would destroy the economy

 

These three signs prefigure the 10 plagues that will come on Egypt

 

Moses is becoming a bit desperate now – God just doesn’t seem to be getting the hint, so he says…

  • Lord… I have never been a good speaker and I haven’t become one since you began speaking to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant.

 

Perhaps Moses thinks he’s got God here, because a leader needs to be able to communicate effectively

 

There was a king who lived during the Second World War who struggled with a speech impediment – can anyone tell me his name? [Wait]

  • Yes, that’s right, King George the sixth, also known as Bertie
  • He was the father of our current Monarch, Queen Elizabeth the second

 

A movie came out recently called the King’s Speech, which tells King George’s story

  • After his brother abdicated, Bertie reluctantly assumes the throne
  • He doesn’t want to be king because that requires public speaking – the one thing he can’t do well
  • Every time he opens his mouth in public he is vulnerable – for his greatest weakness is exposed for the whole world to see
  • Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue who helps him find his voice and lead the country through the war

 

Hitler was articulate and charismatic, some might say a gifted speaker – kind of the opposite of King George and yet, who won the war?

  • God does not call perfect individuals to leadership – he chooses what is weak in the eyes of the world to shame the strong
  • God did not miraculously heal Moses’ slowness of speech and he didn’t heal King George’s stammer either
  • But he does help Moses, as he helped King George
  • God works in and through real human impediments to further his purpose
  • True perfection is the ability to include imperfection

 

 

In verse 13 of Exodus 4, Moses says, No Lord, send someone else

  • This translation is something of a paraphrase
  • The original Hebrew is far more vague – it literally reads…
  • Send by whose hand you will send– which could mean…
  • Have it your own way [God] – do what you want – send whoever [4]

 

Either way it is clear that Moses is not happy to be chosen for the task

 

Verse 14 tells us God became angry with Moses at this

 

I don’t think God’s anger here is the anger of impatience

  • God is eternal – he literally has all the time in the world – he is the very definition of patience and long suffering
  • So why is God angry?

 

Well, it seems to me that often when God gets angry in the Bible it is because someone has mistreated what God values

  • For example, God values the poor & the oppressed – so if we mistreat them God will be angry with us
  • Likewise if God gives us something sacred or holy and we treat his gift cheaply or in an unholy way, then he is not happy

 

God has just given Moses a sacred call – a special job to do – and that job involves helping the poor & oppressed

  • But Moses has turned his back on the poor by rejecting God’s call – he has treated them cheaply as though they were nothing
  • So we can understand why God is angry – Moses has been careless with people God cares about

 

And yet God still has the strength and the flexibility to accommodate Moses

  • He says, ‘Okay then, I’ll send Aaron with you as your spokesman’
  • As it turns out Moses ends up doing most of the talking anyway

 

Conclusion:

True perfection is the ability to include imperfection

 

When we look at the ministry of Jesus we see quite clearly that he included imperfection

  • Jesus called very ordinary people to be his witnesses and disciples
  • Not only that but he had a reputation for hanging out with imperfect people – lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes and so on

 

In Matthew 5 Jesus says to his disciples…

  • Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
  • You must be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect
  • And what does it mean to love your enemy?
  • It means to include them – include them in your prayers, include them in sharing good things – even though they are not perfect

 

The ones Jesus had the biggest problem with were the Pharisees. Why?

  • Because they had no tolerance for imperfection
  • They wouldn’t admit the imperfection in themselves and consequently they gave everybody else a hard time for being imperfect

 

It is one thing to include other people’s imperfection but it is another thing entirely to accept our own imperfection

  • Somehow imperfection is more tolerable in other people
  • In fact someone else’s imperfection can make us feel positively wonderful about ourselves – unless of course their failings remind us of our own, and then we are likely to give them a hard time

 

We do such violence to our own soul when we judge and condemn those parts of ourselves that we find unacceptable

  • We can be that brick wall parent to the child in us

 

  • We can be so hard on ourselves – so unforgiving of our own weaknesses and mistakes
  • We do well to remember that we are sacred to God
  • You are sacred to God – so be careful with yourself
  • The things you detest may be the very things God values the most

 

True perfection is the ability to include imperfection

 

[1] From Richard Rohr’s daily meditation for Tuesday 16 June 2015

[2] Motyer, BST Exodus, page 68

[3] J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, page 454.

[4] Alec Motyer, BST Exodus, page 81

Tawa Baptist

Miniature Moses

Scripture: Exodus 1:22 – 2:10

Title: Miniature Moses

 

Structure:

  • Introduction – Exodus means leaving
  • Moses infancy tells the story of Israel’s deliverance
  • When God is silent we wait in hope
  • Conclusion – Moses points to Jesus

Introduction:

On the wall here is a picture of an Exit sign

  • It’s one of the new ones with a stylised person running out of a door
  • I guess many of our signs are in picture format now to overcome any language barriers in our increasingly global environment

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 2, page 60 near the beginning of your pew Bibles

  • Today we begin a new sermon series on Moses in the book of Exodus
  • Exodus basically means to leave or to exit
  • Moses is sort of like Israel’s exit sign
  • He is the one God chose to lead Israel out of Egypt

 

We will begin our reading from verse 22 of Exodus chapter 1 and continue to verse 10 of Exodus chapter 2…

Read Exodus 1:22 – 2:10

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Moses’ infancy tells the story of Israel’s deliverance:

On the wall here is a picture of a Russian doll – also known as a nested doll, because the little dolls nest inside the larger dolls

  • There is a technique sometimes used in story telling where the writer nests a smaller story inside a larger story as a way of reinforcing or explaining the larger story
  • If people aren’t able to grasp the bigger picture then the same story on a smaller scale helps them to access the meaning of the larger story
  • Exodus 2 is a nested story – a smaller story inside a larger history
  • In this passage three daughters deliver one son who, in turn, grows up to deliver a whole nation

 

The King of Egypt (also known as Pharaoh) was afraid of the Israelites

  • They had grown in number and he was concerned they might take over the country so he oppressed them with slave labour
  • This strategy didn’t really work so he ordered the Jewish midwives to kill the male babies when they were born
  • The midwives managed to avoid doing this so Pharaoh issued a command to throw every new born  Hebrew boy into the River Nile
  • Pharaoh was basically instigating a policy of genocide or ‘ethnic cleansing’ against the Israelites

It is in this context that Moses’ mum took a basket made of reeds, covered it with tar to make it watertight and set it out on the waters of the Nile with her baby in it

  • She was obeying the letter of Pharaoh’s law, but not the spirit
  • She couldn’t hide her baby any longer – his growing and his crying would soon give him away and some Egyptian soldier might kill the boy
  • But nor could she simply throw her precious child into the river to drown
  • So she found a way to keep hope alive
  • She gave her son a chance to live and she gave God an opportunity to act
  • This is what faith does – it leaves room for God

It’s interesting that the Hebrew word used for basket in verse 3 is the same as the word used for Noah’s ark

  • Moses is parallel to Noah [1]
  • A little story nested within a larger story
  • Just as God used Noah to save a remnant of creation from drowning in the chaos of the great flood
  • So too God would use Moses to save the people of Israel from being overwhelmed by the chaos of Pharaoh
  • Moses is the new Noah
  • And baby Moses is also a miniature Israel

 

On the wall here we have three pictures

  • One of a model train set
  • Another of a dolls house
  • And a third of a miniature dentist’s surgery made out of a shoe box

What seven letter word could we use to describe all of these things?

  • Wait for people to respond
  • Do you need a clue? It begins with ‘D’ – Wait
  • Yes – that’s right, ‘Diorama’

A diorama is a miniature (or a model) of something

  • Like a smaller story nested inside a bigger story

 

Moses’ life is a diorama of Israel

The name ‘Moses’ is actually an Egyptian name probably meaning ‘son’

  • But it sounds like the Hebrew word, ‘to draw out’
  • Just as Pharaoh’s daughter drew Moses out of the Nile, so too God will draw Israel out of Egypt
  • The smaller story of Moses helps people to grasp the bigger story of God

It’s interesting that in the story of baby Moses, God is parallel to Pharaoh’s daughter – an Egyptian princess

  • Now I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t naturally associate God Almighty with a princess – much less a princess who’s Dad is a homicidal maniac
  • And yet this is exactly what the book of Exodus does

Verse 6 tells us that when the princess opened the basket (or the miniature ark) and saw the baby crying, she felt sorry for him

  • This ‘feeling sorry for him’ goes deeper than superficial sentimentality
  • There is a depth to this princess’ feelings
  • Her feelings are actually grounded in compassion, justice and courage
  • For she takes the risk of going against her father’s command and makes a long term commitment to care for Moses
  • Not all the Egyptians were as bad as Pharaoh

At the end of Exodus 2 we read how the Israelites cried out to God under their slavery and the Lord heard their cry and was concerned for them

  • Just as the princess was moved with compassion by the cry of the Hebrew baby so too God is moved with compassion by the cry of his people
  • And just as Pharaoh’s daughter was faithful in protecting & providing for Moses as he grew up, so too God will protect and provide for Israel
  • Baby Moses’ deliverance by the hand of Pharaoh’s daughter is nested in the larger history of Israel’s deliverance by the hand of Yahweh

Of course, it isn’t just Pharaoh’s daughter who delivers Moses – his mother and his sister also had a hand in saving him

  • And so we actually have two women and a girl standing in parallel with God Almighty

So often in history ‘The courage of women is the beginning of liberation’ [2]

On the wall here is a picture of Harriet Tubman

  • Born a slave in the 19th Century in the southern states of America, she endured the harsh existence of a field hand, including brutal beatings.
  • In 1849 she fled slavery, leaving her husband and family behind in order to escape.
  • Despite a bounty on her head, she returned to the South at least 19 times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
  • People nicknamed her ‘Moses’  [3]

The courage of women is the beginning of liberation

Who can tell me the name of this first lady?      [Wait]

  • Yes – that’s right. Eleanor Roosevelt – wife of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
  • Eleanor was vocal in her support of the African-American civil rights movement
  • She opposed her husband on this issue by becoming one of the only voices in the Roosevelt administration insisting that benefits be equally extended to Americans of all races.
  • She also broke with precedent by inviting hundreds of African American guests to the White House.

 

God’s deliverance often comes from unexpected quarters

  • And, from a human perspective at least, God’s deliverance is often a slow train coming

 

When God is silent, we wait in hope:

There are times when God is silent

  • Evil seems to have the upper hand and God appears to be doing nothing
  • This was Israel’s experience in ancient Egypt
  • We can’t be sure how many baby boys were killed but whatever the number it is awful stuff – Pharaoh’s policy was genocide
  • But it wasn’t quick and clean – it is was slow and agonising

By killing the sons, Pharaoh was crushing the people’s hope

  • With no Hebrew boys to marry, the Hebrew daughters would be assimilated into Egyptian culture
  • Pharaoh was taking away Israel’s ability to imagine any future for themselves
  • He was making their lives so miserable they would prefer death to life

We might ask, ‘why did God allow this to happen in the first place?’

  • Wouldn’t it have been easier if God had arranged for someone to throw Pharaoh in the Nile as a baby?

Well, Yahweh doesn’t give the Israelites any explanation for their suffering

  • Like Job they suffer without knowing why
  • As Alex Motyer puts it, “Experience without explanation, adversity without purpose, hostility without protection – that is how life will always appear for the earthly people of God” [4]     

After the death of his wife, C.S. Lewis wrote a book called, ‘A Grief Observed’ in which he says…

 

“Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.”

When it feels like God is absent – when we really want to hear from God but all we get is silence, our faith is not a consolation – it is a burden (something we feel we must prop up – something we feel obliged to carry)

  • It is extremely difficult to maintain a belief in the goodness of God when bad things are happening to you and God doesn’t appear to be doing anything about it

This feeling that God is absent or has abandoned us is actually common for most Christians

  • It won’t happen all the time but it will probably happen at some point
  • We need to accept (without blame or guilt) that a feeling of God’s absence is part of the journey

As Eugene Peterson puts it…

  • …this seemingly unending stretch of the experience of the absence of God is reproduced in most of our lives, and most of us don’t know what to make of it. We need this ‘Exodus’ validation – that a sense of the absence of God is part of the story, and that it is neither exceptional nor preventable nor a judgment on the way we are living our lives.  [5]

In other words, if you feel like God is absent or silent then it’s not necessarily a reflection on you

  • God doesn’t give people the silent treatment as a punishment

Sometimes we suffer without explanation

  • Not everything in this life gets resolved
  • Not everything has an answer
  • God is not obligated to explain himself
  • Sometimes we must simply wait in hope – without answers

To wait in hope means to remain faithful to God – not to give up on Him, even if it feels like he has given up on us

  • When he was on the cross Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”
  • In doing this he was not only describing his own personal experience but also giving voice to the collective experience of God’s people through the ages

Waiting in hope is not the same as sitting in depressed silence

  • Waiting in hope may well involve crying out to God in anger
  • Letting God know how we feel – showing him our anguish
  • That’s what many of the psalms are about
  • If God is not speaking then he must be listening
  • And if God is listening then we should pour out our heart to Him – even if the contents of our heart aren’t all that pretty

Quite often God’s deliverance is only recognisable in hindsight

  • This was Israel’s experience
  • Although they had not heard from God, Yahweh was actually very present and very active, quietly sowing the seeds of their salvation
  • Seeds which (in Israel’s case) grew and bore fruit at just the right time

Many wild plants have seeds that can remain dormant for years before birthing a plant

  • For example a 2000 year old date palm seed, found in Israel, actually sprouted when it was planted back in 2005  [6]

 

As for why some seeds can lie dormant before sprouting, scientists reckon it’s mainly a survival technique

  • If a plant’s seeds sprout as soon as there is a little rain and warm weather, then a late frost or subsequent lack of rain will kill it
  • You sometimes hear farmers complaining about this – they get a bit of rain (enough to germinate the grass seed) but then there is no follow up rain so the grass dies before it gets established
  • Plants whose seeds lie in wait until conditions are more stable have a better chance of surviving and of colonizing new territory

Perhaps this is what God was doing with Israel – waiting for the time to be right before drawing his people out of Egypt and planting them in the Promised Land

  • Perhaps this is also what God is doing in your life when He seems absent

The Lord begins his work of redemption quietly, unobtrusively, under the radar, often through the courage of those we least expect

  • In Israel’s case, God sowed his seeds of salvation through women
  • I guess this proves God has a sense of humour for there is considerable irony in Pharaoh’s policy of killing the sons and preserving the daughters
  • As it turned out the daughters were more dangerous than the sons

For those who can’t see, this is a picture of irony – a crocodile eating a pair of crocs (the shoes)

What about this one – a picture of people using an elevator (and not the stairs) to go to the gym

 

And then we have the ultimate irony – a fire hydrant on fire

There is quite a bit of cosmic irony in the book of Exodus, the seeds of which are sown in chapter 2

  • Cosmic irony feeds on the notion that people cannot see the effects of their actions, and sometimes the outcome of a person’s actions may be out of their control

A classic example of cosmic irony is the Titanic, which was promoted as being 100% unsinkable; but, in 1912 the ship sank on its maiden voyage.

  • Or at a ceremony celebrating the rehabilitation of seals after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, two seals were released back into the wild only to be eaten within a minute by an orca whale

Pharaoh is the butt of cosmic irony in Exodus

  • As Terence Fretheim points out, although Pharaoh had ordered the Hebrew sons to be thrown into the Nile, “the river provides the very setting for the rescue of the baby Moses. Again Pharaoh provides for the defeat of his own policy in its formulation. He ends up becoming an instrument for God’s saving purposes [when he didn’t intend to]…
  • The policy is ironic in that it [predicts] the way in which Pharaoh’s successor and his armies will meet their end, namely by drowning
  • Pharaoh’s own decree sets a chain of events in motion that, in effect, have him signing his own family’s death warrant.” [7]

It’s like Jesus said, ‘The measure you use for others is the measure God will use for you’

  • Cosmic irony, a smaller story nested inside the bigger story of God’s justice

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard how Moses’ story of deliverance anticipates Israel’s deliverance

  • Moses’ story also anticipates the Jesus story – the biggest story of all
  • Like Moses, Jesus was born to save God’s people
  • And just as Pharaoh tried to destroy all the Hebrew sons
  • So too Herod slaughtered Hebrew babies in a vain attempt to kill the Christ
  • But neither Pharaoh nor Herod succeeded – you can’t win in a fight against God

After Jesus’ death and resurrection he ascended to heaven with the promise of returning in glory one day

  • Like the Israelites, we Christians sometimes suffer without explanation
  • And when God is silent, we wait in hope for Christ to return, at just the right moment, to complete our deliverance

Let us pray…

[1] Refer Terence Fretheim, Interpretation Commentary on Exodus, page 38.

[2] Refer J.C. Exum, “You Shall Let Every Daughter Live: A Study f Ex. 1:8-2:10” Semeia 28:63-82 (1983).

[3] http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/harriet-tubman

[4] Alex Motyer, BST Exodus, page 28.

[5] From Eugene Peterson’s book, ‘Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places’, page 153.

[6] http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/dormant-seeds/

[7] Quoted in Fretheim’s Interpretation commentary on Exodus, page 35.

Tawa Baptist

Spread the Nets

Scripture: Acts 11:1-18

Title: Spread the Nets

Key Idea: Spread your nets to receive from God

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Receiving the vision
  • Receiving the Word & Spirit of God
  • Receiving the other
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

The headline for this year’s Tranzsend Prayer and Self Denial campaign is: ‘til the nets are full’

  • We have certainly known about the fullness of water this past week
  • Anyway, ‘til the nets are full’ is a reference to the story in Luke 5, where Jesus said to Peter…
  • ‘Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish’
  • When Peter did this they caught so many fish their boats were on the verge of sinking. Afterwards Jesus says to Peter…
  • “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be a fisher of men.”
  • In other words, ‘Peter, I’m calling you to catch people for me – to bring men & women into the kingdom of God’

This story from Luke forms the back drop of Tranzsend’s Prayer & Self Denial campaign this year

  • Today’s sub heading is “Spread the Nets”

Please turn with me to Acts 11 – page 164 toward the back of your pew Bibles

  • 2000 years ago, when the Christian church first began it was comprised pretty much entirely of Jews
  • Over the past 2 weeks we have heard how the Spirit of God led Peter to spread the net of the gospel wider, among the Gentiles
  • On hearing this some of the Jewish Christians criticised Peter
  • Acts 11 describes how Peter responds to this criticism.
  • From verse 1 we read…

Read Acts 11:1-18

 

May the Spirit of Jesus help us to receive God’s Word

On the wall here we have a picture of four things…

  • A TV aerial, an ear, a net and a softball glove
  • Who can tell me what these four things have in common?
  • [Wait for people to respond]
  • Yes, that’s right. They are all used for catching or receiving things
  • A TV aerial receives a signal
  • An ear receives sound
  • A net receives fish
  • And a softball glove receives the ball

 

When we think of mission (and Christian service generally) we tend to think about giving and making sacrifices and going out into the world

  • And while giving & going out is certainly integral to the work of mission
  • Receiving is just as important
  • In fact, without first receiving, we find we have nothing to give

After being criticised by his own for spreading the net of the gospel wider (to include the Gentiles) Peter responds by retelling the facts of what happened

  • And what we notice in Peter’s retelling is there is lots of receiving going on in this mission
  • Peter receives a vision from God
  • The Gentiles receive the Word & Spirit of God
  • And the Jewish believers back in Jerusalem are faced with the challenge of receiving the other – that is, those different from them, the Gentiles

Receiving the vision:

From Peter’s perspective it started with receiving a vision from God

  • The vision was of a sheet containing all sorts of animals, both clean and unclean, both kosher for eating and not kosher
  • Some commentators reckon the sheet represents the church which will contain all races and classes without distinction [1]

This vision of an inclusive church is not entirely new

  • It actually goes back to the time of Noah

Richard Rohr observes how God tells Noah to bring into the ark all the opposites: the wild and the domestic, the crawling and the flying, the clean and the unclean, the male and the female of each animal…[2]

  • God puts all the opposites together and holds them together in one place
  • The ark is kind of a metaphor for the church where God brings opposites together: male & female, sinners & saints, conservatives & liberals, Jews & Gentiles, the socially acceptable & the outcastes
  • Perhaps God wants us to learn to live with dirt & difference

So Peter’s mission to the Gentiles begins with him (personally) receiving a vision from God

  • Interestingly none of the other believers receive this vision – just Peter
  • And Peter acts on this vision without consulting the wider Jewish church in Jerusalem
  • Yes, he takes six Jewish believers along with him as witnesses and helpers but essentially Peter doesn’t involve the church congregation or even the church leaders in the decision

This is quite different from the traditional Baptist way of doing things

  • We are highly consultative in our decision making process
  • We regularly find ways to listen to the congregation

And we do this for a number of reasons

  • Firstly, we believe God speaks through the congregation
  • We figure if God wants something to happen he won’t just speak to one individual – he will speak to many
  • Secondly, we are keen to bring the congregation along with us
  • We don’t want to alienate people if we can help it and so we discuss things (sometimes at length)
  • It is probably also fair to say we are influenced by our social & political environment and therefore we favour a democratic approach

But, if Peter had asked his congregation to vote on whether he should visit Cornelius they would have said ‘no’

  • God’s ways are not always our ways
  • God does not always speak through the congregation
  • God isn’t always democratic
  • Sometimes the majority are wrong
  • Sometimes God speaks in ways we may not be expecting

Peter certainly wasn’t expecting to receive the vision God gave him

  • Going to the home of a Roman Centurion was probably furthest from his mind – I imagine it made Peter feel really uncomfortable
  • But Peter obeyed God, in faith, and was criticised for his efforts by people from his own church
  • After hearing Peter’s minority report though, the Jerusalem Church recognised God’s hand at work
  • The Gentiles had received God’s Word & His Spirit so they were legit

Receiving the Word & Spirit of God:

On the wall here we have three pictures

  • One of a rain gauge attached to a post
  • Another of a man opening a door from the inside
  • And a third of a man hugging a tiger

The rain gauge receives water passively – as it falls from the sky

  • The rain gauge does not make a conscious decision to receive water
  • That just happens without the rain gauge’s awareness or consent

By contrast the man opening the door is actively receiving someone

  • Likewise the other man actively receives the tiger by hugging him

To receive the Word of God is an active thing, not a passive thing

  • For Cornelius, receiving the Word of God meant believing the message Peter was preaching – putting his faith in Jesus

Likewise to receive the Spirit is an active thing – like opening the door to let someone into your home, or like hugging a tiger

  • When Cornelius believed the gospel message he opened the door of his heart to the Spirit and the Spirit came on him
  • God’s Word and God’s Spirit go together

You may be wondering why I used a picture of a tiger hugging a man when talking about receiving the Spirit

  • Well, the Spirit is like a wild tiger in the sense that he is more powerful than us and we can’t tame him – he is free to roam where he pleases
  • However, the Spirit is not like a tiger in every respect – the Spirit would never force himself on a person much less maul them

The point is, receiving God’s Word and his Spirit is an active thing, not a passive thing

If we read the Bible passively, without really letting it in – so the words roll off our soul like water off a ducks back – then we aren’t really receiving God’s Word in any meaningful sense

  • Or if we study the Bible as if it was just another historical artefact or an interesting piece of literature, without connecting the words to our own experience or situation – then we are missing the point

God’s word and God’s Spirit go together

  • The door of our heart may be closed when reading the Bible or listening to a sermon but the Spirit can still knock on the door

Receiving the other:

In verse 18 we read how, after hearing Peter’s account of what had happened in Caesarea, the Jewish believers stopped their criticism and praised God saying…

  • ‘God has given the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live”

This strikes me as a little ironic really

  • Repentance is about transformation and conversion
  • It means a change of mind and a change of behaviour
  • The first Jewish Christians would not associate with Gentiles – now the Spirit was knocking on the door of their heart with an invitation to receive the other – which in their case meant the Gentiles
  • It seems the Spirit was also giving the Jewish believers the opportunity to repent and live (even if they weren’t quite ready to admit it)

Emmanuel Levinas (a 20th Century Jewish philosopher) notes how the Biblical tradition says that truth is not found in abstract concepts, but in an encounter with otherness

  • According to Levinas it is “the face of the other” that transforms us, converts us and gives us our deepest identity [3]

For example, Moses’ life was changed through an encounter with Yahweh

  • As was David’s through an encounter with Goliath
  • Jonah was confronted with the truth about himself through an encounter with the people of Nineveh (his enemies)
  • Jesus’ deepest identity (as God’s Son) was revealed through his encounter with Satan in the wilderness
  • Peter (a Jew) realised the broader more universal truth of the gospel through his encounter with Cornelius (a Gentile)
  • And the apostle Paul experienced conversion through his encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus

We are not changed by being in a room with people who are the same as us

  • We are transformed and come to know our true selves through encounter with others who are different from us
  • What this means is that true religion isn’t really about arguing over ideas and abstract concepts
  • Nor is evangelism & Christian mission simply about communicating four spiritual laws which people must know (in their head) to be saved
  • True religion, real evangelism (the kind that brings authentic change for the better) is about encounter and presence and relationship

When I look around this room I don’t see everyone being the same

  • This is a room full of people who are different from each other
  • God designed the church that way
  • Christianity isn’t just a good idea
  • Christianity is face to face encounter, it is felt presence – it is relationship
  • That is why we gather – that is why coming to church on a Sunday and meeting each other during the week is important

Perhaps the best way to get this across is by telling a story

  • Oscar Wilde wrote a piece of short fiction called the ‘Selfish Giant’
  • I’m not sure what meaning Oscar Wilde intended but to me this is a salvation story
  • It’s about being transformed and coming to know our true self in the face of the other
  • We don’t have the time to read the whole story this morning so I’ll give you an edited version…

Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.

     It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit…

     One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When he arrived [home] he saw the children playing in the garden.

     ‘What are you doing here?’ he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.

     ‘My own garden is my own garden,’ said the Giant; ‘any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.’ So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.

 

TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED

 

He was a very selfish Giant. The poor children now had nowhere to play…

 

     Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only, in the garden of the Selfish Giant, it was still Winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom.

The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. ‘Spring has forgotten this garden,’ they cried, ‘so we will live here all the year round.’…

.

     ‘I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,’ said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; ‘I hope there will be a change in the weather.’

     But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. ‘He is too selfish,’ she said. So it was always Winter there…

 

     One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music… It was only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then… a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement.

‘I believe the Spring has come at last,’ said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.

          What did he see? He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children’s heads…

 

It was a lovely scene, [except] in one corner it was still Winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly…

     The Giant’s heart melted as he looked out. ‘How selfish I have been!’ he said; ‘now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy in the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s playground for ever and ever.’ He was really very sorry for what he had done.

     So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became Winter again.

 

The little boy did not run [though], for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. The Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang in it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant’s neck, and kissed him.

 

When the other children saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, they came running back, and with them came the Spring.

‘It is your garden now, little children,’ said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall…

     All day long the [children] played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.

     ‘But where is your little companion?’ he said: ‘the boy I put into the tree.’…

     ‘We don’t know,’ answered the children; ‘he has gone away.’ …

     The Giant was kind to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him…

 

     Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden.

‘I have many beautiful flowers,’ he said; ‘but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.’

    

One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.

     Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

    

Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass… [toward] the child. But when he came close his face grew red with anger… For on the palms of the child’s hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet also.

     ‘Who hath dared to wound thee?’ cried the Giant; ‘tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him.’

     ‘Nay!’ answered the child; ‘but these are the wounds of Love.’

     ‘Who art thou?’ said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

     The child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, ‘You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.’

     And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.

We are changed and come to be our true selves through encounter with Christ

  • Funny thing is, Christ is often present to us in the face of the other

[1] Rackman, cited in John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 194.

[2] Richard Rohr, ‘Things Hidden’, page 36.

[3] Refer Richard Rohr, ‘Things Hidden’, page 61.

Tawa Baptist

Into the Deep

Scripture: Acts 23b-48

Title: Into the Deep

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Peter approaches Cornelius as an equal
  • Conclusion

Watch the Week 2 Self Denial ‘Into the Deep’ DVD clip…

https://www.tranzsend.org.nz/week-2-video-prayer-and-self-denial

Introduction:

The headline for this year’s Tranzsend Prayer and Self Denial campaign is: ‘til the nets are full’

  • This is a reference to the story in Luke 5, where Jesus taught the crowds from Simon Peter’s fishing boat
  • When Jesus had finished speaking to the people he said to Simon Peter…
  • ‘Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish’
  • When Peter did this they caught so many fish their boats were on the verge of sinking. Afterwards Jesus says to Peter…
  • “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be a fisher of men.”
  • In other words, ‘Peter, I’m calling you to catch people for me – to bring men & women into the kingdom of God’

This story from Luke forms the back drop of Tranzsend’s Prayer & Self Denial campaign this year

Today’s sub heading is “Into the Deep”

  • Please turn with me to Acts 10 verse 23 – page 164 toward the back of your pew Bibles
  • In this passage we read how Peter ventures into the deep to preach the gospel among the Gentiles
  • This was a fishing spot Peter hadn’t imagined God would use – but one which would become very fruitful

You may remember from last week how Cornelius had sent 3 of his men to invite Peter to his home in Caesarea, after receiving a vision from God

  • God gave Peter a vision as well, assuring Peter he should go with them
  • We pick up the story from the second half of verse 23 – top of page 164

Read Acts 10:23b-48

 

May the Spirit of Jesus give us understanding

Peter approaches Cornelius as an equal

There was a Scottish farmer who did not believe the gospel story

  • The idea that God would become a man seemed absurd to him
  • His wife however was a devout believer and raised their children in the Christian faith
  • The farmer sometimes gave her a hard time, mocking her faith and belief
  • “It’s all nonsense”, he said. “Why would God lower himself to become a human like us?”

One snowy Sunday evening his wife took the children to church while the farmer stayed home to relax

  • After they had left the weather deteriorated into a blinding snow storm
  • Then he heard a loud thump against the window
  • Then another thump and another
  • He ventured outside to see what was happening
  • There in the field was the strangest sight: a flock of geese
  • They’d been migrating south & had become disorientated by the storm

The farmer had compassion on them

  • Wanting to help he opened the doors of his barn and stood back, hoping they would find their way in for warmth & shelter – but they didn’t
  • So he tried to shoo the geese in but they scattered in all directions
  • Perplexed, he got some bread and made a trail into the barn but they didn’t catch on
  • Nothing he did got them into the warmth and shelter of the barn

Feeling totally frustrated he exclaimed…

  • “Why won’t they follow me? Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm? How can I possibly get them to safety?”

He thought for moment and then realised they wouldn’t follow a man – the only way would be for him to become a goose

  • If he were like them he could speak to them in their own language and they would trust him and follow him anywhere

At that moment the farmer realised the implication

  • “If only I could become like one of them, then I could save them”
  • At last he understood God’s heart towards humankind [1]
  • God became a man (in the person of Jesus) in order to save us

In the Tranzsend DVD clip we saw earlier, Richard & Sally told us about Nondita – a young woman who had graduated from their Bible school and made the decision to work in a garment factory, from the bottom up

  • Nondita did this to understand the way the garment workers think, to fully appreciate where they are coming from
  • This is very much the incarnational model of Christ

That word ‘incarnation’ essentially means that God became a human being in Jesus

  • In other words, God approaches us on equal terms or on an even footing
  • He puts himself in our shoes, not talking down to us in a language we can’t understand, but walking & talking with us (alongside us) as one who has entered into our experience and shared our suffering and knows the joys and pains of being human

As a Bible College graduate I imagine Nondita had options, but (like Jesus) she laid her options aside and chose to approach garment workers on an even footing, on equal terms, as one alongside

We see Peter take a similar approach in Acts 10 with Cornelius

  • From verse 25 of Acts 10 we read…
  • As Peter was about to go in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and bowed down before him. But Peter made him rise. “Stand up”, he said; “I myself am only a man.”

John Stott observes here that…

  • Peter refused to be treated by Cornelius as if he were a God
  • And he refused to treat Cornelius as if he were a dog. [2]

In other words, Peter approaches Cornelius on equal terms

  • Peter does not look down on Cornelius and he does not allow Cornelius to think of himself as inferior
  • Peter makes it clear that the ground is level at the foot of the cross
  • Evangelism (telling others good news) is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread
  • Peter has the humility to understand that they are both beggars and God is the baker
  • Just because Peter knows where the bakery is doesn’t make him superior to Cornelius
  • To the contrary, it makes Peter responsible to pass on the good news

As Richard Rohr points out, Jesus referred to his followers as salt and light

  • Salt is not the whole meal and light illuminates something else [3]
  • Peter knows he’s not the whole meal – he is simply there to illuminate the way for Cornelius

Peter says, “You yourselves know very well that a Jew is not allowed by his religion to visit or associate with Gentiles. But God has shown me that I must not consider any person ritually unclean of defiled.”

  • Now, from a Gentile point of view, that might seem offensive to us
  • It kind of comes across like Peter is saying, “I’m better than you”
  • But I don’t think Peter means it like that – he’s not being offensive
  • Actually he’s taking responsibility for one of the excesses of his own people, the Jews
  • He’s basically admitting that the Judaism of his day had got it wrong by becoming too exclusive

Now let me be clear – a certain amount of exclusiveness is necessary to maintain cultural identity and purity of worship

  • If we become too inclusive we end up losing our distinctiveness and blending in with everyone else
  • The Jewish exiles needed to work very hard at being distinctive from the nations around them in order to stay faithful to Yahweh
  • They just took it too far
  • The Jews were meant to use the light they had been given to illuminate the way for the Gentiles, but instead they hid their light under a bushel
  • We hide our light under a bushel when we don’t associate with people who are different from us – when we don’t let others see our light

Of course it’s not just the Jews who have made the mistake of becoming too exclusive

  • Different branches of the Christian church have done the same thing at various times over the past 2000 years – including the Baptist movement

A little exclusiveness is necessary then, to maintain our distinctiveness from the world

  • But inclusiveness is also needed for people to taste the salt & see the light

After Cornelius has explained his reason for inviting Peter, Peter then goes on to give his sermon and he begins by saying…

  • “I now realise that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis. Whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what race he belongs to…”

The implication here is that Cornelius’ Gentile nationality is acceptable to God and so Cornelius has no need to become a Jew [4]

  • This does not mean that Cornelius’ own righteousness was adequate for salvation – if it was then Cornelius would have no need to listen to Peter

Peter continues his sermon in this affirming tone, acknowledging what Cornelius and his household already know

  • Verse 36: ‘You know the message… of peace through Jesus’
  • Verse 37: ‘You know of the great event that took place…’
  • Verse 38: ‘You know about Jesus of Nazareth…’

This is quite lovely of Peter really

  • It’s like Peter is saying to Cornelius, you’re not starting from scratch here mate, you already know much of the background
  • It’s a way of acknowledging what Cornelius brings to the conversation
  • In doing this Peter is finding common ground
  • And the beautiful thing is Jesus is the common ground

Having acknowledged what Cornelius already knows about Jesus, Peter then goes on to talk about what Cornelius doesn’t know – in particular…

  • Jesus’ healing ministry
  • Jesus’ death and resurrection
  • Jesus as judge of the living and the dead
  • And Jesus as the means of salvation
  • For as the prophets (of the Old Testament) said…
  • …everyone who believes in him will have his [or her] sins forgiven.  

As Peter spoke the Holy Spirit came down on all who were listening and they started speaking in strange tongues, praising God’s greatness

To receive the gift of the Holy Spirit is to receive something of God himself

  • The gift of the Spirit is proof of God’s acceptance of us personally
  • It’s sort of like God’s authenticating signature on the portrait of our lives
  • Or His water mark on the currency of our soul
  • Or, to use a more 21st Century analogy, His electronic identification chip in the passport of our heart

There is more to the person of the Spirit than that of course, but you get the point – the gift of the Spirit seals the deal. Nothing trumps the Spirit.

Speaking in strange tongues in this context means speaking another language (one you don’t know)

  • Like being a native English speaker and then suddenly being able to speak fluent Cantonese or German or Afrikaans or whatever

Speaking in strange tongues is not the only sign of the Spirit

  • God’s Spirit can express Himself through us in any number of ways
  • But on this particular occasion God’s Spirit expressed Himself through tongues, most likely for the benefit of the Jewish believers who were witnessing it
  • You may remember in Acts 2 how God poured out His Spirit on the Jewish believers and they started speaking in strange tongues too
  •  Acts 10 is sort of a repeat of the Pentecost of Acts 2, only it is the Gentiles’ Pentecost this time

Peter had already said Cornelius and his household were on an even footing with him – now God confirms it with the gift of the very same Spirit & tongues

  • God couldn’t be more clear – He accepts people of all nations
  • Peter recognises this and orders the Gentiles to be baptised with water in the name of Jesus

Throughout the book of Acts Christian conversion normally involves 6 things…

  • The gospel about Jesus is preached, in particular his death & resurrection
  • The listener is convicted of their sin
  • And they put their faith in Jesus to save them
  • There is baptism with water (in the name of Jesus)
  • And the Holy Spirit is given to seal the deal
  • The new believer also starts sharing life with other Christians – they become part of the church in other words

These things don’t always happen in the same order and they don’t necessarily happen on the same day – they may happen over weeks, months or even years

The text of Acts 10 implies that Cornelius’ conversion happened over the course of a number of years

  • It appears that Cornelius felt a conviction of sin well before he met Peter
  • Cornelius lived a very pious life, praying and performing acts of charity, which suggests to me he was conscious of his wrong doing and wanting peace with God
  • Cornelius’ faith is seen by his obedience to God in asking Peter to come to his home and in listening to Peter’s message
  • That Peter preaches the good news about Jesus to Cornelius is quite clear in today’s reading
  • Next comes the gift of the Holy Spirit
  • Closely followed by baptism in water
  • And then they share life together as Cornelius invites Peter and the other Jewish believers to stay a few days
  • Eventually (as we shall hear next Sunday) the Jewish church in Jerusalem also accepted the Gentile believers as part of the wider Church universal

That’s the way it happened for Cornelius

  • Maybe it happened a different way for you?

Perhaps you were baptised as an infant but didn’t really begin to live out that baptism until much later in life when God made Jesus real for you by His Spirit

Or maybe your conversion is still a work in progress

  • Maybe you have prayed the sinner’s prayer and asked Jesus into your heart but have never got around to being baptised in water
  • Maybe that’s something to think & pray about?

Or perhaps, like Cornelius, you have lived with a feeling of guilt (the conviction of sin) for many years and you long for peace with God

  • As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied
  • Maybe God wants you to lay down your burden, to stop doing your penance and put your trust in Jesus
  • If that’s you then there will be someone to pray with you at the front by the water cooler after the service this morning     

 

Conclusion:

Today we have heard how Peter ventures into the deep by approaching Cornelius on equal terms

  • Peter won’t allow Cornelius to feel inferior
  • Instead Peter makes it all about Jesus
  • And God confirms the Gentile believers’ equality with the Jewish believers through the gift of the Holy Spirit

One thing in all of this (which is pretty obvious but still needs to be said) is that the initiative with conversion is always with God

  • God got Cornelius to invite Peter to his home
  • And God changed Peter’s point of view so that Peter could see it was a good idea to go to the home of a Gentile
  • Peter preached, but God interrupted Peter’s sermon with a message of His own – the gift of the Spirit
  • The initiative was always with God – Peter was just doing his best to keep up

The application for us is we need to wait for God

  • If we go out into the deep of mission work without God we are courting disaster
  • If we try to rush people into making a decision for Christ before they are ready we can do more harm than good

By the same token we don’t want to lag too far behind God either

  • When God calls us out into the deep then we must act
  • What we learn in the process is that God owns the deep
  • When someone is ready to receive Christ (as Cornelius was) simply sharing our story of Jesus will probably be enough

The question for us is: what is God doing and how can we work in harmony with Him?

Let us pray…

[1] This story comes from J. John & Mark Stibbe’s book, ‘A Bundle of Laughs’, page 39.

[2] Refer John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 189.

[3] Refer Richard Rohr’s book, ‘Things Hidden’, page 44.

[4] Refer John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 190.

Tawa Baptist

At the Water’s Edge

Scripture: Acts 10:1-23a

Title: At the Water’s Edge

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus prepares Peter (to catch people)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

 

Watch the Tranzsend intro to Self Denial video clip…

 

https://www.tranzsend.org.nz/media-video/1453-introduction-til-the-nets-are-full

 

Then watch the Tranzsend week 1 ‘at the water’s edge’ video clip…

 

https://www.tranzsend.org.nz/media-video/1454-at-the-waters-edge-week-1

 

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 5, page 81, toward the back of your pew Bibles

  • The headline for this year’s Tranzsend Prayer and Self Denial campaign is: ‘til the nets are full’
  • This is a reference to the story in Luke 5, where Jesus calls some of his first disciples, 4 fishermen from Galilee
  • From Luke 5, verse 1 we read…

Read Luke 5:1-11

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+5%3A1-11&version=GNT

May the Spirit of Christ give us understanding

This reading from Luke forms the back drop of Tranzsend’s Self Denial campaign this year

  • Today’s sub heading is “at the water’s edge”
  • At the water’s edge is where fishermen wash, mend and prepare their nets before heading out into the deep to catch fish
  • Without this careful preparation the effort of letting down and pulling up the nets can be wasted

In the DVD clip we saw earlier, Lynley spoke about the work they do at the water’s edge in Thailand to support and prepare the local Christians for mission

  • For example, they facilitated the installation of a water well in a village which gave the Christians in that place a passport to share the gospel
  • Lynley is also involved in creating Bible study resources for new Christians to help them get started in the faith
  • These, and other things, help prepare the way for Jesus

These activities are valuable and worthwhile but perhaps the most important work done at the water’s edge is the preparation and re-formation of ourselves (that is, our inner lives) so the nets of our hearts and minds are prepared for the work God has planned for us

In verse 10 of Luke 5 Jesus says to Peter…

  • “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be a fisher of men.”
  • In other words, ‘Peter, I’m calling you to catch people for me – to bring men & women into the kingdom of God’

Jesus prepares Peter (to catch people)

Peter’s preparation (at the water’s edge) involved 3 years learning directly from Jesus, like an apprentice

  • Then, in the book of Acts, we see Jesus’ prediction come true as Peter indeed catches people for God, through preaching the gospel

Please turn with me to Acts chapter 10 – page 163 toward the back of your pew Bibles

  • In this passage we read how God sends Peter fishing among the Gentiles
  • But before heading out into the deep, the Spirit of Jesus first prepares Peter at the water’s edge
  • From Acts 10, verse 1 we read…

Read Acts 10:1-23a

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10%3A1-23a&version=GNT

May the Spirit of Jesus wash and mend the nets of our hearts and minds

‘Networking’

  • It’s a word these days which, in business circles, means meeting other people who can help you in your work, creating relationships with people which are mutually beneficial

When we were at Baptist College training for ministry our New Testament lecturer, George Weiland, gave us a picture of how relationships work when God is involved

[Pull out white board and draw vertical lines at either end of the board]

Imagine, if you will, that this line here represents you

  • And this other line over here represents someone else
  • Perhaps you are connected to this person through work
  • [Draw a horizontal line connecting the two vertical lines]
  • So long as you share the same workplace and get along then you have a connection
  • But if you (or they) leave the job, or you have a falling out, then the connection is severed [wipe out a hole in the horizontal line]

How do you keep the connection – how do you mend the relationship?

  • Well, it’s a lot harder if your only point of contact is work
  • But if you have made other connections with them…
  • [Draw more horizontal lines as you give examples]
  • Like for example, playing squash or baby-sitting their kids or inviting them over to your house for a meal or regularly praying for them, or whatever, then you have a lot more points of connection
  • And so the relationship is more robust and you are better able to fix the breakdown which happened at work [reconnect the broken line]

But wait there’s more – because if it is a relationship that God condones then God (by His Spirit) will strengthen those points of connection as we make them

  • [Draw vertical lines]
  • And now what do we have?
  • Yes, that’s right, a net. Far more robust than a single strand
  • Networking, in this sense, involves God

So how does this relate to Peter & Cornelius?

  • [Rub out what is on the board]
  • Well, imagine this line here [draw a vertical line to one side labelling it ‘C’ for Cornelius] represents Cornelius
  • And this line over here [draw another vertical line on the other side labelling it ‘J’ for the Jews] represents the Jews

Acts 10 starts with Cornelius

  • As a Centurion Cornelius was in charge of 100 men in the Roman army
  • This meant he was a Gentile – he wasn’t Jewish
  • We know this because the Jews at that time in history were exempt from military service

Somewhat surprisingly, despite being a Roman Centurion, Cornelius reaches out in acts of friendship to the Jewish people

  • His whole family worships Yahweh – the one true God [Draw a horizontal line]
  • Which means he probably attended the local synagogue [Draw another horizontal line]
  • Not only this but Cornelius helps the poor [Draw another horizontal line]
  • And he prays for people [Draw another horizontal line]

Cornelius is a top bloke, both by Roman standards and Jewish standards

  • And, he is at the edge of the water in the sense that he is ready to accept Jesus, only he needs someone to tell him about Jesus first
  • So God takes the initiative and sends an angel with very specific instructions for Cornelius to fetch Simon Peter
  • [Draw a vertical line on the white board]
  • And Cornelius obeys God as quickly as he can [Draw a horizontal line]

Although Cornelius is ready to receive Jesus, Peter isn’t yet ready to tell Cornelius about Jesus

  • Acts 10 is often described as the conversion of Cornelius but in many ways it is as much about the conversion of Peter
  • Peter needs the net of his heart & mind enlarged to accommodate the Gentiles

While Cornelius’ servants are on the way, Peter has a vision which basically makes it clear that all kinds of reptiles, birds and animals are now kosher to eat

  • [Draw a vertical line] – this is God doing some more to help Peter & Cornelius’ relationship

Peter, the ‘rock’, is aptly named for he disagrees with the voice saying

  • “Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled”
  • Peter is complicated – on the one hand he says he never eats unclean foods but on the other hand he is boarding with a tanner whose trade (of working with dead animals) made him unclean [1]
  • But the voice spoke to Peter again, “Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean”. This happened three times
  • [Draw two more vertical lines]

While Peter was still trying to understand what the vision meant, the Spirit of Jesus said to him…

  • “Listen! Three men are here looking for you. So get ready and go down and do not hesitate to go with them”
  • [Draw another vertical line] – once again God is strengthening Peter & Cornelius’ relationship

Peter welcomes the Gentile messengers and shows them hospitality for the night [Draw a horizontal line] – then he leaves with them the next morning for Cornelius’ place – [Draw another horizontal line]

  • Peter has put it all together and realised God is saying, Gentiles are fit to be included in the sharing of the gospel – fit to receive Christ
  • This reconstruction of Peter’s net happens at the water’s edge, before Peter even meets Cornelius

We may think little of this from our perspective in history, but from Peter’s perspective (from a Jewish perspective) it was revolutionary, it was huge

  • Peter was going against literally 1000’s of years tradition, in faith that God was doing something new
  • It took great courage for Peter to embrace the change

In his book, ‘Things Hidden’, the Catholic priest Richard Rohr talks about… [2]

  • “My story”
  • “Our story”
  • And “The story”

My story is just that – it is my own personal life story, or your own personal life story – it is the story of the individual

Our story is about ‘us’ or ‘we’ – it is the collective story of the group we identify with

  • For example, we kiwis, or we Generation X’s or we Baptists or we teachers or whatever the group happens to be

And The Story is those things (or patterns) which always hold true, irrespective of My story or Our story

  • For example, ‘forgiveness always heals’ – that is true whether you are Christian, Hindu or Buddhist. The story describes ‘what is’

Let me illustrate further…

Peter’s my story is that he was a fisherman called to follow Jesus

  • He often put his foot in it and on one occasion he even denied Jesus
  • But Jesus restored him, so that Peter became the rock on which Christ built the church

Peter’s our story is that he was Jewish and we Jews don’t eat certain foods and we don’t associate with certain people – like Roman Centurions for example

  • We Jews stick to ourselves because we are God’s chosen people don’t you know

But the story (of which God is the author) is that God loves all nations, whether they are Jewish or not

  • Jesus died and was raised for all people. The gospel is for everyone and so Peter must not consider any person unclean

This is what happens for Peter in Acts 10 – this is what his conversion is about

  • God had to gently burst the bubble of Peter’s our story to show him the story (the bigger picture)
  • Or to put it another way, the story (of God) redeems both my story and our story
  • The story is the truth which gives meaning to our own private pain and sets us free from the failings of our own little culture or group

Sometimes in the history of inter-cultural mission one ethnic group has said our story is the story – or in other words, you must adopt our cultural practices if you want to be a Christian

  • We shouldn’t do that
  • We must have the humility (as Peter did) to tell the story of God without imposing our culture on others

When it comes to Cornelius’ ‘my story’ (his own personal story) little is known

  • He was a soldier in charge of 100 men and he was searching for God – that much is certain
  • Did he have blood on his hands? As a soldier, quite likely
  • Did he carry the burden of surviving when others around him had died?
  • Maybe – guilt might explain why he is trying so hard to be good
  • Then again it could be that he is simply an honourable man

As a functionary of the Roman army – part of the fist of Caesar – Cornelius’ our story was one of violence in pursuit of peace.

  • The Romans considered themselves great stewards of justice, but that is not necessarily how the people they had conquered saw it

The story is that God is in control more than the Romans and His way is one of vulnerability in pursuit of peace

  • Through the cross Jesus takes responsibility for any blood on Cornelius’ hands

In receiving the story of the gospel we must have the humility (as Cornelius did) to face the injustice of our story

  • To admit where the group we belong to has gone wrong
  • And to admit where we personally have gone wrong

Conclusion:

Don’t you love the way God uses Cornelius to evangelise Peter as well as using Peter to evangelise Cornelius

  • There is a mutuality to mission here which is quite beautiful
  • Peter is changed as much as Cornelius is

Peter, the missionary, doesn’t come with all the answers

  • He doesn’t have the whole story
  • But he is listening to God who does know the whole story
  • And so God speaks through Peter to Cornelius

Likewise Cornelius, the God fearing Centurion, does not sit in complete darkness – he is not entirely ignorant

  • He too is listening to God and so God uses Cornelius to reach Peter

Let me finish now with two questions…

  • What is your story?
  • And how is God enlarging your net with the story?

 

[1] Refer van Thanh Nguyen, in ‘Peter and Cornelius: A Story of Conversion and Mission’, page 118.

[2] Richard Rohr, ‘Things Hidden’, pages 21-24