Tawa Baptist

Peter preaches Jesus

Scripture: Acts 3:12-19

Title: Peter preaches Jesus

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Peter preaches the death & resurrection of Jesus
  • Peter preaches to heal the crowd
  • Conclusion

 Introduction:

On the wall here we have a picture of a small child with his head in the mouth of a camel

  • – Now, what would you say was more important here?
  • – Taking a photo to capture the moment? (as it appears is happening)
  • – Or coming to the rescue of the child? Hmmm.
  • – If I were ever unfortunate enough to find myself in that situation I hope that my first response would not be to take a photo

 

Today is two Sundays since Easter

  • – As we are still in the season of Easter our message this morning comes from the lectionary – Acts chapter 3, verses 12-19
  • – These verses peel back the skin of the Easter story and look within it to find its meaning and application

 

Acts 3 is set at the gate of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem

  • – Two of the apostles, Peter & John, have just healed a man who has been unable to walk since birth
  • – It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon, a traditional time of prayer, and therefore a busy time at the temple
  • – Everyone who saw the miracle is gob smacked in amazement – they crowd around Peter & John utterly astounded
  • – Seeing the opportunity God has provided Peter preaches to the crowd
  • – From Acts chapter 3, verse 12 (in the NIV) we read…

 

When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

In this reading we hear Peter’s sermon to a crowd of Jewish worshippers coming to the temple for prayer. Two things about Peter’s message

–         Peter preaches the death & resurrection of Jesus

–         And Peter preaches to heal the crowd

 

Peter preaches the death & resurrection of Jesus:

I have here a banana

  • – What would you say was more important – the skin of the banana or the flesh inside? [Wait for people to respond]
  • – Well, both are important aren’t they
  • – The skin protects the flesh of the banana – without the skin we wouldn’t have a banana we could eat
  • – But without the flesh the skin has no purpose really and could in fact become a hazard – something that slips people up
  • – At the end of the day the most important part is the part we eat, inside

 

Thinking of Acts 3, what would you say was more important – the miracle of healing or Peter’s message explaining the miracle? [Wait for people to respond]

–         Well, both are important

–         Without Peter’s explanation the meaning of the miracle is lost

–         But without the miracle Peter would not have had opportunity to explain the meaning of Easter in the first place

–         Peter’s message peeled the skin of the miracle back to reveal the real power behind the healing – the death & resurrection of Jesus

 

On the wall here we have a picture of a groom polishing the wheels of his car… with his new wife’s wedding dress

–         Probably not the best start to their marriage

–         What would you say was more important here – a happy wife or clean mags?  [Wait for people to respond]

–         The right answer is a happy wife – and if I have to explain that then you are in trouble

 

In verse 12 of Acts 3, Peter is quick to clear up any misunderstanding, saying…

–         ‘People of Israel, why does this [miracle] surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?’

–         Then he gives Jesus the credit

–         Peter isn’t going to use this miracle to polish his own reputation – that would be like using a wedding dress to polish the wheels of his chariot, if he had a chariot (which I don’t think he did)

–         No, Peter puts Jesus front & centre because Jesus is the most important

 

Peter describes Jesus in four ways…

–         As God’s servant (in verse 13)

–         As the Holy and Righteous One (in verse 14)

–         As the author of life (in verse 15)

–         And as the Christ (in verse 18)

 

The over-arching point here is that Jesus is someone very special & unique

 

Christ is a word that means the same thing as Messiah – ‘anointed one’

–         Jesus is the one chosen by God to be our King & Saviour

 

Author of life means that life comes from Jesus – Jesus is the Word of God through whom God created the universe – we find life in Jesus

 

Holy & Righteous One is a reference to Jesus’ innocence

–         Holy means set apart for a sacred or divine purpose

–         And righteous means being in right relationship with others, doing the right thing, acting justly and loving our neighbour

 

Peter’s description of Jesus as God’s servant is probably a reference to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. We find the same Greek word in Acts 3 as we do in the passage from Isaiah

 

For those not familiar with Isaiah 53, Christians read it as a foretelling of Jesus’ suffering, death & resurrection. Here’s a sample of verses to give you the idea…

 

See, my servant will act wisely; [1]     he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted… 3 He was despised and rejected by humankind,     a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces     he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

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

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living…     9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…     11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied…

The content of Peter’s speech indicates that Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. Although Jesus was innocent, he suffered & died that we might live

 

Albrecht Durer was a famous 16th Century Renaissance artist

–         Albrecht was German and a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci

–         This is a self-portrait of Albrecht

 

According to legend Albrecht’s family was poor [2]

–         Although his father was a skilled and hard-working goldsmith, there were 18 children to feed and not much money to go around

–         Albrecht and one of his brothers had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art

–         The problem was they knew their father could never afford to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy there

 

After many long discussions at night the two boys finally worked out a pact.

–         They would toss a coin. The loser would go to work in the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy.

–         Then, in four years, when the brother who won the toss completed his studies, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by labouring in the mines.

 

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church.

–         Albrecht won the toss and went off to Nuremberg, while his brother went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed Albrecht to study at the Academy

–         Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

 

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a special dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming.

–         After a long meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honoured position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfil his ambition.

–         His closing words were, “And now, my brother, it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”

 

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albrecht’s brother sat, tears streaming down his face,

–         Shaking his head from side to side he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No, no, no.”

–         Finally, the boy who had spent 4 years in the mines rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then said softly…

–         “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look what the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, my brother, for me it is too late.”

 

500 years have passed since that time.

–         Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolours, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world

–         But perhaps the work most people are familiar with is, “Praying Hands.”

 

Some believe that Albrecht Durer drew these hands in honour of his brother who had sacrificed so much for him

 

What would you say was more important, the drawing of the hands or the brother’s sacrifice?

–         Difficult to separate the two really

–         Without the brother’s sacrifice the drawing loses its meaning

–         But without the drawing the brother’s sacrifice is forgotten

 

The point is, Jesus is like the brother who went to the mines

–         Jesus went to the cross, suffered & died that we might have abundant life

–         Jesus gives our lives meaning and we makes sure his sacrifice is not forgotten

 

Peter preaches to heal the crowd:

In verses 13-15 Peter recaps the Easter story, of Jesus’ death & resurrection

–         The startling thing here is the way Peter tells his audience, quite bluntly, how they caused Jesus’ death. Peter says…

o   You handed him over to be killed

o   You disowned him before Pilate (that is, you rejected him and didn’t advocate for him even though it was clear he was innocent)

o   You asked that a murderer be released to you instead

o   You killed the author of life

 

We might wonder why Peter is so strong in convicting the people of their injustice against Jesus – after all, no one likes to be blamed or told off

–         There’s a risk the crowd might become defensive and turn on Peter & John at this point

–         Well, it seems to me that Peter is hoping to heal the crowd – but before they can be healed they have to realise they are not well

–         In some ways (although not in every way) the crowd are little bit like the man who had been born lame [3]

–         By killing the author of life the people of Jerusalem have disabled their relationship with God – they are no longer able to walk with God

–         But God wants to heal that relationship so they can walk with him again

–         Before that healing can take place though, the people have to recognise what they’ve done wrong

–         Peter makes the crowd aware of their wrong doing by intentionally putting his finger on the sore spot, where it hurts – in much the same way a doctor does when diagnosing an ailment

 

Having shown the crowd that their relationship with God is broken, Peter then explains how things can be healed

–         Peter says (in verse 16) that the man born lame was healed by faith in Jesus. His healing is a pattern for their healing. They too can be healed by putting their faith in Jesus’ name.

–         From verse 17 Peter continues: Now, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders… Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out…

 

In a nutshell Peter’s message is this: your relationship with God is broken, it’s lame but it can be healed (as this man has been healed) through faith in Jesus

–         And in case you’re not sure what faith in Jesus looks like, it begins with repentance

 

Faith & repentance go together in the Bible

–         Faith is not exactly the same as repentance

–         Christian faith means believing in Jesus – putting our trust in him

–         While repentance is about change – changing our mind (or our way of thinking) and changing our behaviour (our way of living)

 

Now what would you say was more important – faith or repentance?

–         Well, we can’t really have one without the other

–         Repentance is to faith what clean sheets are to a bed – it helps us to sleep better at night

–         Repentance is to faith what food is to our stomach – it satisfies something in our soul and gives us strength

–         Repentance is to faith what legs are to walking – without repentance our faith has no legs, its going nowhere

–         Repentance is to faith what training is to an athlete – without repentance we’re just not that serious

 

Repentance is not the only expression of genuine faith – but it is perhaps the primary expression of faith

 

Before our relationship with God can be healed we have to realise we are not well – we have to realise we all share responsibility for Jesus’ death

–         We may not have been there in the crowd that day shouting ‘crucify him’ but we all needed Jesus to die in our place, so we are all responsible for Jesus’ death – not just the Jews

 

I listened to someone recently who had spent time in Africa teaching new Christians

–         There was this one man who heard about Jesus & started believing in him

–         Everything was great, fantastic, wonderful – as it usually is when we first become a Christian

–         And then the penny dropped for this man – believing in Jesus would mean a change in occupation for him

–         You see, this guy was a contract killer – he went across the border from one country to the next to kill people for money

–         I suppose if you are poor and live in a country with high unemployment then becoming a hit man is more attractive than begging or starving

–         Now that he was a follower of Jesus though, he had to repent – he had to stop killing people and trust Jesus to provide him with other work

–         That’s an extreme example but the principle is the same for other sins like greed or slander or sex outside of marriage or resentment or whatever your sore point is. Faith in Jesus and repentance go together

 

In commenting on verse 19 of Acts 3, William Barclay points out that repentance affects both the past and the future [4]

 

It affects the past in that sins are wiped out

–         Ancient writing was on papyrus and the ink used was different to the ink we use these days. If you made a mistake with your writing in the ancient world the ink could be removed with a wet sponge – sort of like we might wipe ink off a white board today

–         Peter is saying that with repentance and faith in Jesus our sins are erased

 

Repentance also affects the future in that it brings times of refreshing

–         ‘Times of refreshing’ speaks of Sabbath rest

–         It speaks of the light burden and the easy yoke that Jesus promised

–         With our sins removed we walk freely, without the burden of guilt

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Peter preached Jesus

–         Peter boldly preached the death & resurrection of Jesus

–         And with courage he preached to heal the crowd’s relationship with God

Peter’s brave preaching in Acts 3 stands in stark contrast to his denial of Jesus in Luke 22, which we heard about last week

–         In many ways though Peter’s denial of Jesus made his message more authentic, for Peter was preaching to the crowd as someone like them

–         Someone who had realised how lame he was before God and found healing and forgiveness through repentance & faith in Jesus

 

Questions for discussion &/or reflection

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

2.)    Discuss the meaning / significance of the four titles Peter ascribes to Jesus. That is: God’s servant, the holy & righteous one, the author of life and the Christ.

3.)    What similarities do we notice between Peter’s sermon, in Acts 3:12-19, and the passage describing the suffering servant in Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12?

4.)    Who is responsible for Jesus’ death?

5.)    Why does Peter convict the crowd so strongly of their injustice toward Jesus?

6.)    What pathway does Peter offer for healing the relationship between us and God?

7.)    What is the relationship between repentance and faith in Jesus?

8.)    Take some time this week to consider if the Holy Spirit is touching any sore points in your life? What healing does God want to bring?

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/15-april-2018-peter-preaches-jesus

 

[1] The word ‘servant’ actually comes from Isaiah 52:13, which forms part of the picture painted of the suffering servant from 52:13 – 53:12.

[2] https://www.thoughtco.com/praying-hands-1725186

[3] This is not to imply that the man born lame had a bad relationship with God. For all we know he may have been closer to God than most. Also, the man born lame was well aware he couldn’t walk, whereas the crowd weren’t yet aware of their condition before God.

[4] From William Barclay’s commentary on Acts, page 32.

Tawa Baptist

Jesus & Peter

Scripture: John 13:33-38 & 21:15-19

Title: Jesus and Peter – before & after

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus & Peter before – John 13:33-38
  • Jesus & Peter after – John 21:15-19
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

We are in the season of Easter at the moment

–         Easter is a time when we tend to eat more chocolate than usual

–         Consequently we may find ourselves in different shape before and after

 

Our message today focuses on the relationship between Jesus & Peter – both before the cross and after the resurrection

–         Before Good Friday Peter may have thought his faith was fit and trim

–         But after the cross he had a more realistic perspective

 

Please turn with me to the gospel of John chapter 13 – page 137 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         The night before his suffering and death Jesus shared a meal with his disciples. He washed their feet, he prayed for them and he tried to prepare them for what was about to happen

–         From John chapter 13, verse 33, Jesus says…

 

My children, I shall not be with you very much longer. You will look for me; but I tell you now what I told the Jewish authorities, “You cannot go where I am going.’ And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.”

“Where are you going, Lord?” Simon Peter asked him.

“You cannot follow me now where I am going,” answered Jesus; “but later you will follow me.”

“Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” asked Peter. “I am ready to die for you!”

Jesus answered, “Are you really ready to die for me? I am telling you the truth: before the rooster crows you will say three times that you do not know me.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading

 

Jesus & Peter before:

On the wall here is a diagram of the Johari window – many of you would have seen this (or something like it) before

–         The Johari window is a technique created by two psychologists in 1955

  • – In the exercise, you pick a number of adjectives from a list, choosing ones you feel describe your own personality.
  • – Your peers then get the same list, and each picks an equal number of adjectives that they think describe you. [1]
  • – Some of the adjectives include words like: bold, brave, cheerful, extroverted, introverted, calm, trustworthy, loving and so on

 

Adjectives picked by both you and your peers go in the ‘open’ box

  • – These things are common knowledge to you and to others
  • – Adjectives you chose for yourself but not chosen by others go in the ‘hidden’ box – things you know about you that others don’t
  • – And adjectives others choose for you but you didn’t choose go in the ‘blind’ box – things others can see that you can’t
  • – The fourth ‘unknown’ box is the sub-conscious part of us that neither ourselves nor others see
  • – We might say the unknown is known only to God

 

The purpose of the Johari window is to help people better understand their relationship with themselves and others

–         Sometimes there is a gap between how we perceive ourselves and how others experience us – a gap between our ideal self and our real self

–         This could be because we don’t know ourselves that well

–         Or it could be that others have misunderstood us

–         Often it’s a mixture of both

 

If you asked Peter to do the Yohari window exercise before & after Good Friday I expect he would have come out with a very different result

–         Before the cross Peter thinks of himself as brave and loyal, a hero willing to lay down his life to protect Jesus from the authorities

–         But on this occasion at least there is a significant gap between Peter’s ideal self and his real self

–         After the experience of the cross Peter is more circumspect

–         Only Jesus sees all four windows

 

Returning to our reading from John 13, Jesus tells his disciples two things…

–         Firstly, they cannot go where he is about to go – meaning they can’t go to the cross as he is about to go to the cross (at least not yet)

–         And secondly, they must love one another

 

Jesus says these two things to help his disciples

–         Being told they can’t go to the cross with him lets them off the hook

–         It tells them this is God’s purpose for Jesus, so they don’t have to feel responsible for this, they don’t need to try and protect Jesus or prevent it from happening – It’s not in their power to do anything about this

 

Having told them what they can’t do Jesus then tells them what they can do –love one another, for by this everyone will know you are my disciples

–         That’s profoundly interesting – we might think (like Peter did) that people will know we are Jesus’ disciples by some grand gesture or heroic act – by putting ourselves in harm’s way and fighting Jesus’ enemies

–         But Jesus insists that people will know we belong to him by our love for one another

 

Loving one another is by far the more difficult thing

–         Love can be a glorious grand gesture but more often than not it is small and unseen – yet no less expensive

–         We love one another by being patient with those who frustrate us by their personality or rub us up the wrong way by their behaviour

–         We love one another by listening and seeking to understand, even though we ourselves may feel misunderstood

–         We love one another by singing each other’s songs in church

–         By sharing each other’s joys and sorrows

–         By praying for others and making them meals when they have a need

–         We love by forgiving hurts and saying ‘sorry’ when we mess up

–         We love others by guarding their reputation and being discreet

–         We love one another in a thousand other little ways that only God sees

 

Peter isn’t captured by the idea of loving one another, nor does he accept what Jesus is saying about not being able to follow him to the cross

–         At this point Peter stills sees himself as a brave hero, ready to lay down his life for Jesus

–         Perhaps Peter is under the illusion that he might somehow save Jesus

–         He does not realise yet that he can’t even save himself

–         So Jesus, in his grace, responds by pointing out to Peter something he is blind to – a truth he can’t yet see about himself

–         Namely, that Peter will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows

–         And, as we know, this is exactly what Peter does

 

Later that night, when Jesus is arrested in the Garden, Peter draws his sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priest’s slave – Peter hasn’t accepted what Jesus has said, he still wants to be the hero – but Jesus puts a stop to the violence

 

Undaunted, Peter follows at a distance and manages to get into the courtyard of the high priest where Jesus is being interrogated

–         As he warms himself around a charcoal fire Peter is asked three times if he is one of Jesus’ companions and three times he denies it

–         It’s not until the cock crows that Peter remembers the Lord’s words to him, at which point the truth hits home

–         Luke’s gospel tells us that Peter went out and wept bitterly – this is a painful learning for the would be hero

–         Peter is filled with regret and remorse

 

Jesus & Peter after:

The good news is, the story doesn’t end there

–         After his death on the cross Jesus is resurrected by God and appears to his disciples on a number of occasions

 

One of Jesus’ post resurrection appearances was by Lake Tiberias

–         The disciples had been out fishing all night and caught nothing

–         So Jesus tells them (from the shore) to throw their net out one more time on the right side of the boat

–         At first the disciples don’t realise it is Jesus but they throw their net out anyway & struggle to pull it back in because they’d caught so many fish

–         Jesus has filled their empty net

 

When they realise it is the Lord, Peter (spontaneous as ever) dives into the water & swims ashore to meet Jesus (sort of like Forrest Gump swimming to Lt Dan)

–         From verse 15 of John 21 we pick up the story…

 

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.”

A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”

A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go.”

(In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.)  Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture reading for us

 

William Blake wrote a collection of poems he titled: Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul

–         It became a classic

–         I’m not sure exactly what William Blake meant by innocence but to my mind it is a state of not really knowing oneself all that well

–         Consequently there is a gap between the way those in a state of innocence perceive themselves and how others experience them

–         Those in a state of innocence are also prone to projecting their ideals on to others – ideals which those others may not share

–         This inevitably results in disappointment when those in a state of innocence realise they have placed their hope in the wrong things

 

Most of the young men who went off to fight in World War One were in a state of innocence

–         They had this misplaced idea that the war would be over quickly, that the Turks and the Germans would put up little resistance, that the generals would only make good decisions, that they would be impervious to the heat and the cold, the flies and the bullets, and that God was on their side

–         Those who survived lost their innocence

 

Experience is a ruthless teacher – it adjusts our perceptions, quite painfully sometimes

–         It’s not always pleasant learning something about yourself that you had been blind to but that others could see all along

–         Good Friday was, for Peter, a sort of innocence lost

–         Now, on the other side of the cross, Peter lives with his experience

 

In the passage we just read, from John 21, Jesus restores Peter

–         Previously Peter had denied Jesus three times

–         Now Jesus asks Peter three times, ‘Do you love me?’

–         And three times Peter says, ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you’

–         And three times Jesus says, ‘Take care of my sheep’

 

Jesus does not give Peter the silent treatment

–         Jesus does not demand an apology from Peter

–         Jesus does not require Peter to grovel and beg

–         Nor Jesus does prescribe a punishment for Peter – he doesn’t need to

–         Peter is already painfully aware of his failure and has been beating himself up for days

 

The message is pretty clear

–         Peter’s sins are forgiven

–         Jesus does not hold anything against him

–         The relationship is restored but not exactly the way it was before

 

Before, in a state of innocence, Peter had thought he might be able to save Jesus

–         Now (after experience) he realises that Jesus has saved him

 

Before the cross, Peter trusted in himself to be able to the right thing

–         After the cross Peter is humbled and he trusts in Jesus’ grace

 

We see Peter’s humility in his response to Jesus’ three fold question

–         Peter does not point to his own actions to prove that he loves Jesus

–         Rather he appeals to Jesus’ knowledge of him – you know me Lord, you now all things 

–         Sometimes we may feel like we must do something great to prove our love for the Lord – but this is not necessary

–         What we come to in time is the realisation that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves – even the unknown sub-conscious part

 

This begs the question, why then did Jesus keep questioning Peter’s love?

–         Well, Peter’s denials cast doubt on his credentials to serve & lead in the church

–         Not only did Peter need the opportunity to reverse his threefold denial, the other disciples also needed to see Peter formally reinstated

–         There is a certain formality to the way Jesus addresses Peter, using his full given name, ‘Simon, son of John’ (and not his nickname, Peter)

–         By formally & publicly reinstating Peter – saying three times, ‘Take care of my sheep’, Jesus is showing everyone that Peter has his blessing

–         And Jesus is showing the other disciples there is grace for them too

–         If Peter was still accepted after his denials, then they were accepted as well, even though they had abandoned their Lord in his time of need

 

Another hidden gem here is that, through the experience of the cross, Peter now loves Jesus as he really is and not just as he wishes Jesus to be [2]

–         In his state of innocence Peter loved the idea of a successful hero Messiah (like king David) and he projected this ideal, this fantasy, on to Jesus

–         By his actions Peter had shown that he did not want a crucified Messiah

–         When Jesus had tried to tell the disciples that he must suffer and die Peter took him aside to correct him – because this didn’t fit with Peter’s dream of a successful hero king

–         Peter had plans for Jesus and those plans didn’t include Jesus dying – that would be failure (as far as Peter was concerned)

–         But Jesus was crucified and with him Peter’s fantasy also died

–         Even though Jesus had disappointed Peter’s expectations Peter still maintained his loving devotion to the Lord

 

As Shakespeare put it, “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds”

–         In other words, true love is constant even though circumstances and perceptions might change

 

We, like Peter, may project onto God our own ideas or fantasy of what he is like and how he should behave

–         We may, for example, think of God as a divine Santa Claus – that he will give us what we want if we are good

–         Or we think of God as our own personal body guard – who won’t let any harm come to us

–         Or as a genie in a bottle ready to grant us our wishes

–         Or we may think becoming a Christian will make us healthy, wealthy & successful

–         For many people this is part of their journey of faith, a stage of innocence

–         Then we face the cross in our own personal way

–         Maybe God doesn’t answer our prayers as we thought he should

–         Or maybe he allows us to suffer illness or injustice without explanation

–         Whatever form our cross may take, when God doesn’t perform as we expect our fantasy of Him is crucified and we may feel let down by Jesus

–         In that experience of disappointment we, like Peter, have a choice

–         Are we going to love God as he really is & not just as we wish him to be?

 

On hearing Peter’s threefold affirmation of love, Jesus’ threefold commission is ‘take care of my sheep’

–         Peter is to express his love for Jesus by caring for Jesus’ followers

–         Love is the main qualification for pastoral ministry

–         The primary qualification for being a minister is love

–         Just as the primary qualification for being a Sunday school teacher or a youth group leader or a parent or a brother or sister, son or daughter, is love

 

Love of Jesus goes hand in hand with love of his people

–         We’ve already heard Jesus say, ‘Love one another for by this everyone will know you are my disciples’

–         The implication here is that those who say they love Jesus but do not love other Christians are kidding themselves

–         They may love an idea or fantasy they have of Jesus but not the reality

 

Grace begets grace

–         Jesus had shown Peter grace when Peter failed and so it is significant that Peter shows grace to others in his ministry

–         Last year, during our series on inter-generational relationships in the Bible, we looked at the relationship between John Mark and Peter

–         John Mark was rejected by the apostle Paul because Mark turned back while on a missions trip

–         But Peter took Mark under his wing, despite Mark’s failure, probably because Peter knew what it was like to be in Mark’s shoes

–         It is thought that the gospel of Mark was written by John Mark who had followed Peter around listening to his preaching

–         Eventually Mark & Paul repaired their relationship but I’m not sure it would have had the happy ending it did if Peter hadn’t shown Mark grace

–         Of course Peter was simply following Jesus’ example – paying forward the grace he himself had experienced

 

Having formally reinstated Peter, Jesus then goes on to foretell Peter’s future

–         In John 13 Jesus had said, you can’t follow me now where I am going

–         (Meaning you can’t die on the cross with me)

–         Now, in John 21, Jesus says to Peter, ‘Follow me’

–         ‘…when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go.’

 

Jesus is saying here that Peter will get the opportunity to follow in his footsteps by dying on a cross (stretch out your hands is a euphemism for crucifixion)

–         Tradition tells us that when Peter was old he refused to deny Jesus

–         As a consequence the authorities led Peter out to be crucified like Jesus

–         But Peter said he was not worthy to die like his Lord

–         So they crucified Peter upside down

In the end Peter was ready to die for Jesus – not to be a hero or to draw attention to himself, but rather to affirm the truth of Jesus’ resurrection

 

Conclusion:

The beauty is, God used Peter’s weakness & failure for good

–         If Peter can be restored after denying Jesus then so can we

 

In a few moments we will share communion together

–         Communion is a time when we remember Jesus’ death and affirm his resurrection

–         To share communion is to say with Peter and millions of other believers, “Yes Lord, you know I love you”

–         Communion is not a grand gesture on our part

–         But is a significant aspect of following Jesus and loving one another

–         In communion we remember our own sin and Jesus’ grace in restoring us

Questions for discussion & reflection:

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

2.)    Have you ever done the ‘Johari Window’ exercise before?

–         What did you learn?

3.)    How was Peter’s perception of himself different before and after the cross?

4.)    What does it mean to love one another? (Think of practical examples)

5.)    What does it mean to be in a state of innocence?

–         How is this different from a state of experience?

6.)    Why did Jesus ask if Peter loved him three times, in front of the others?

–         Why did Peter appeal to Jesus’ knowledge of him? (I.e. Why does Peter say, ‘You know I love you Lord’?)

7.)     Before the cross Peter had a false perception of Jesus – he loved Jesus as he wished Jesus to be. After the resurrection Peter’s perception had changed and he loved Jesus as he really is (a crucified & risen Messiah).

–         Has your perception of Jesus changed since becoming a Christian? How so?

–         Have you (like Peter) had a personal cross experience, when you felt disappointed by God and your fantasy of Jesus was crucified?

–         Do you still love Jesus as he really is or only as you wish him to be?

8.)    Grace begets grace. Jesus showed Peter grace and Peter paid it forward to John Mark. Take some time this week to reflect on the grace you have been shown by others. How (or who) might you pay this grace forward to?

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/8-april-2018-peter-and-jesus-before-after

 

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

[2] Refer Leon Morris, NICTNT on John, page 768.

Tawa Baptist

Jesus Prays

Scripture: Mark 14:32-46

 

Title: Jesus Prays

 

Our first reading today comes from Mark 14, verses 32-46…

 

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

 

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

 

37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 

39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

 

41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

 

43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

 

44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him.

 

May God bless the reading of His word

 

One of the things that strikes me about Mark’s account of Gethsemane is the importance of prayer to Jesus

–         But what is prayer?

 

Well, sometimes we understand what something is by its opposite

–         The opposite of light is darkness

–         The opposite of vision is blindness

–         The opposite of reality is fantasy

–         The opposite of facing something is avoiding it

–         The opposite of awareness is ignorance

–         And, in Mark 14, the opposite of prayer is sleep

–         While Jesus goes off to pray, the disciples fall asleep

 

When we sleep we are unconscious, unaware of reality

–         If the opposite of prayer is sleep then prayer is waking up to reality (to truth), becoming more conscious of God’s presence and will

–         (After all God is the ultimate reality)

 

Prayer also includes becoming more aware of what is going on inside us

–         When we pray we get our head and heart together

–         We get organized, we get mentally & emotionally ready

–         A good prayer time gives us both the God awareness and the self-awareness to better help others

 

Jesus’ prayer in the garden reveals his full awareness of the situation

 

In Mark 14 Jesus’ prayer time begins with profound emotional awareness

–         Jesus began to be deeply distressed and troubled, saying “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,”

–         This reminds us of the refrain from Psalms 42 & 43…

–         Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?

 

Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed with emotional distress and we are not sure why

–         It takes time & effort to pray – to become conscious of what God wants and to come to terms with how we feel about that

–         Jesus had known for some time that it was God’s will for him to go to the cross

–         Now he was having to deal with the intense pressure and tension this created within him

 

Jesus didn’t want to suffer this separation from God his Father and so he says…

–         “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

–         This prayer is the fruit of intimate agony – it is beautifully honest, revealing a love stronger than death

 

In contrast to Jesus who is fully awake, fully conscious, fully aware of what is happening, the disciples keep falling asleep

–         They are unconscious – unaware of what is about to happen

 

If you are a test batsman about to face a fast bowler

–         You don’t go to sleep or let your mind wander off in a daydream

–         You make sure you are ready

–         You look at the field placements to see what your options are

–         You make sure you know where your middle stump is

–         You keep your eye on the ball

–         A small lapse of concentration and you could get out

 

Jesus is about to be arrested and crucified – a terrible thing is about to happen and the disciples aren’t ready

–         Jesus asks them to stay awake – to keep watch and pray so that they will not fall into temptation

–         Jesus doesn’t ask his disciples to pray for him

–         He asks his disciples to pray for themselves – that is, to become aware of the reality before them and within them

–         Prayer is how Jesus’ followers keep their eye on the ball

 

Interestingly Jesus says to the disciples…

–         The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

–         I’m pretty sure Jesus isn’t talking about the human spirit here

–         I think he means the Holy Spirit is willing to give us strength to pray and resist temptation when our bodies are tired & weak

–         So prayer is not something we do in our own strength

–         Like Paul says in his letter to the Romans…

–         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.

 

Now in saying that the opposite of prayer is sleep, I’m not suggesting that sleep is bad

–         Sleep is good – in many ways sleep is like a foundation – we need our rest

–         It’s really more a case of timing – sometimes prayer is even more important than sleep and Gethsemane was one of those times

 

When Judas turns up with temple guards to arrest Jesus – the Lord is not surprised – he is fully aware of what is going on, he sees it coming

–         (Look, here comes my betrayer)

–         Jesus is mentally and emotionally ready to face his ordeal because he has worked through the tensions within himself

–         The disciples on the other hand are quite unprepared

 

As Christians we are to have an attitude of prayerful awareness

–         This might mean starting your day with the question: ‘What do you want to do today Lord?’

–         It could mean looking for God’s presence throughout your day – both in the ordinary routine and the unexpected interruptions

–         It means being in touch with what you are feeling and giving your soul the time it needs to catch up – not pressing your feelings down or putting them aside for too long

–         So if you are angry or hurt or happy or sad, take time to sit with that feeling – be still before God, give Him room to show you what He wants to reveal

–         Feelings are the messengers of the soul – deep calls to deep

 

We could go on but you get the point

–         Prayer is about facing reality – not avoiding it

 

What realities are you facing this Easter?

–         What weighs your soul down in sorrow?

–         What does God want in your situation?

–         And how does this make you feel?

 

Prayer

Let’s face reality by praying the Lord’s Prayer together now…

 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/14-apr-2017-gethsemane

Tawa Baptist

Passover

Scripture: Exodus 12:1-14

Title: Passover

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Passover is about deliverance (God’s commitment)
  • Passover is about new beginnings (letting go)
  • Passover is about the gathered community (everyone counted/included)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Please turn with me to Exodus 12, page 69 in your pew Bibles

  • Today we continue our series on Moses
  • By this stage in the story God has struck Egypt with nine plagues and Moses has warned Pharaoh of a tenth plague to come – the death of the first born
  • This morning we hear God’s instructions for the Passover festival
  • From Exodus 12, verse 1 we read…

[Read Exodus 12:1-14]

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

This morning we will consider the meaning of the Jewish Passover festival

  • Passover is about deliverance
  • It’s about new beginnings
  • And it’s about the gathered community

Passover is about deliverance:

Passover – it’s an interesting word

In Kiwi culture a ‘pass-over’ can refer to a road or a bridge which enables people to pass over some kind of obstacle safely

  • For example, the foot bridge by the Tawa railway station, enables pedestrians to safely pass over the railway lines

Another way we hear the term ‘pass over’ used is in relation to work when someone says, ‘I was passed over for promotion’ – meaning I missed out on advancing in my career

So, depending on the context, the term ‘pass over’, in the English language, means either…

  • A safe passage
  • Or to miss out on something

These two English meanings of pass-over actually find a connection with the meaning of the Jewish Passover

For the Hebrew people ‘Passover’ is a religious festival (similar to our Easter)

  • It remembers Israel’s safe passage out of Egypt
  • And it also recalls how they missed out on the death of the first born
  • Put those two things together – being given safe passage and missing out on judgement – and the primary meaning of Passover is deliverance

The Passover celebrates God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery and death

  • So it is an annual party to celebrate God’s gifts of life and freedom

One of the things we notice in God’s instructions to Moses is, the blood of the lamb or kid goat is to be painted on the doorframes as a sign

  • Verse 13 in the NIV translates God’s words saying…
  • “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt” 

Blood, of course, symbolises life and in the ancient world shedding blood was a way of making a solemn commitment – a way of ‘sealing the deal’

  • The blood, therefore, is a sign of God’s solemn commitment to protect Israel from the tenth plague [1]
  • The blood tells the abused & oppressed Israelites that God is for them
  • It’s not that the blood had some magical property which protected them
  • It’s more that the Israelites needed to perform an act of faith to acknowledge they accepted God’s commitment to them
  • And that act of faith was painting the blood on their door posts

The other thing we should note here is, the blood of the Passover is not about the forgiveness of sins

  • Sin is not mentioned in today’s Scripture reading
  • Later on, when the Law is given at Sinai, God would stipulate other kinds of sacrifices for atonement of sin, but not at this point with the Passover
  • The blood of the Passover lamb is not for God’s benefit
  • It is not for appeasing God in some way
  • The blood of the lamb is for Israel’s benefit
  • It is a sign of God’s commitment to protect Israel from judgment

The Passover finds its ultimate meaning in the person of Christ

  • Jesus, who was crucified during the Passover festival, is the perfect sacrificial Lamb
  • And as the perfect Passover Lamb, Jesus’ blood shed on the cross is the sign of God’s commitment to humanity
  • A commitment to deliver us from judgement
  • A commitment to set us free to serve and enjoy Him forever

Now most of us here come from a Protestant / evangelical church tradition

  • So we tend to associate the blood of Christ with the forgiveness of sins – end of story
  • And while it is true that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, [2] that is not the whole truth
  • As I keep saying, the first Passover wasn’t really about forgiveness or atonement
  • In this situation the Jewish people were not the sinners – they were the ones who were sinned against
  • The Egyptians were the sinners and they didn’t get forgiveness, they got judgement

The typical protestant approach to evangelism is to say to people something like

  • ‘You are a sinner, but the good news is you can be forgiven and avoid hell if you accept Jesus’
  • And that might be okay for some people, but it doesn’t fit for everyone
  • In fact, if you tell someone who has been abused badly or experienced terrible suffering & injustice, that they are a sinner and need to repent to be forgiven, you would most likely turn them away from God

The oppressed don’t need forgiveness – they need release

  • The abused don’t need to be threatened with judgment – they are already going through hell
  • The oppressed & abused need a sign (some kind of evidence) that God is committed to their well-being and is going to deliver them from the injustice they suffer

To the abused and the oppressed we can say…

  • Jesus has suffered as you have suffered
  • He understands injustice and He understands your pain
  • Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, is the sign of God’s commitment to you
  • It is a commitment to deliver you from oppression and death
  • It is a commitment to set you free to serve Him and enjoy eternal life
  • That’s good news for the poor

I’m not saying the abused & oppressed are perfect and don’t need forgiveness

  • I’m just saying we must be careful not to turn people away
  • People need to hear and feel that God is for them
  • Grace must come first and then repentance can follow

As well as being about deliverance for the oppressed the Passover is also about new beginnings

Passover is about new beginnings:

It’s August at the moment – technically the end of winter

  • Come September we will officially begin spring
  • By this time of year most of us are a bit weary and a bit sick of the wet and cold
  • We are starting to fantasise about summer and going on holiday and being warm
  • With the first signs of spring (blossoms on the trees, pine pollen on our cars and daffodils in our gardens) we start to see light at the end of winter’s tunnel

In verse 2 of Exodus 12, God says to Moses…

  • “This month is to be the first month of the year for you…”

This means the Passover was like a New Year’s celebration

  • Passover happens in March / April each year – which is spring time in the Northern hemisphere – sort of like August / September for us
  • God wants Israel to be different from the other nations around them and celebrate the New Year at the beginning of spring
  • In many ways this makes better sense, for spring is a new beginning

Passover then, is about new beginnings

  • It celebrates both the beginning of a New Year and a new beginning for Israel as a nation
  • This new beginning is not by Israel’s own strength but by the hand of God who has the power to make all things new
  • It comes when the Israelites are tired and low, after a very long winter of oppression

Of course, new beginnings usually require a letting go of something – or a sacrifice in other words

Sometimes we find it hard to let go but really we needn’t feel this way because letting go is built into the natural rhythm of our lives

Think about your breathing

  • You draw breathe in and you let it go, without even thinking about it
  • If we try to hold on to our breathe it starts to hurt
  • Not letting go pains us

The NZ poet Glenn Colquhoun has a poem called, The trick of standing upright here [3]

 

The last four lines read…

 

The art of walking upright here

is the art of using both feet.

 

One is for holding on.

One is for letting go.

If you hold on with both feet you don’t go anywhere

  • And if you let go with both feet you fall over
  • To walk without falling we need to hold on with one foot while simultaneously letting go with the other

For Israel to make a new beginning – for Israel to learn the art of walking with God by faith – they needed to use both feet

  • One for holding on
  • One for letting go
  • Sacrifice is about letting go

God instructed Israel to select a one year old male lamb or kid goat, without blemish, on the 10th day of the month

  • Then on the 14th day, four days later around dusk, everyone in Israel was to slaughter their animals

Imagine that for a moment

  • You take one of the best animals in your flock, one with most of its life ahead of it and you set it apart from the rest
  • Perhaps you and your children become a little attached to this cute lamb – like a family pet – and then you have to kill it
  • I imagine that would be difficult – killing something young, innocent, healthy and loved – so why do it?

Verse 11 has God saying…

  • “…It is a Passover festival to honour me.”

The way to honour God is to give Him the best we have to offer

  • It’s not so much that God needs us to pay homage to him
  • He’s not insecure
  • He doesn’t need our reassurance and He doesn’t need to be appeased
  • In fact He doesn’t need anything from us
  • It’s more that we need to honour Him
  • We need God so our lives will have meaning and purpose
  • God is the ground of our being – without God there is no point

If we make something else (like a lamb or a goat or our work) more important than God then our meaning & hope depend on the animal

  • And that is a very insecure position to put yourself in
  • But if God is the most important then nothing can threaten our meaning and our hope so we have a real sense of security

Honouring God with our best is really for our benefit

  • The obvious practical benefit for the Israelites in making a sacrifice was the people ate the meat as nourishment for the journey ahead

Beyond this, sacrificing the Passover lamb was an acted out parable for Israel

  • If we think of the sacrificial lamb as representing the Hebrew people:
  • Up till this point in their history the nation of Israel had been like a child (like a yearling lamb) – powerless and bullied in Egypt
  • Now God was saying, it is time to grow up, time to leave your childhood behind and follow me into adulthood

So killing the young innocent lamb was kind of like a ‘rite of passage’

  • A ritual for letting go of one stage of the nation’s development in order to transition to the next phase
  • They were transitioning from being slaves to being free
  • From being told what to do (like children) to learning how to handle freedom & responsibility (like adults)

Rituals to recognise transitions in life are everywhere

In Vanuatu, for example, the transition from boyhood to manhood is demonstrated by land diving (which is sort of like bungy jumping)

  • The jumper’s goal is to launch off the platform and brush his head on the ground – if he survives he is a man

For the people of Israel, growing up and leaving Egypt was a little bit like land diving

  • It meant taking a risk – stepping out in faith, letting go of the platform

The killing of the lamb or kid goat also represented a letting go of what the people themselves wanted

  • It was a way of saying, ‘Not my will God, but Your will be done’

There’s a song we sometimes sing called All for Jesus

  • One of the verses goes like this…

 

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans

I surrender these into Your hands

For it’s only in Your will that I am free

For it’s only in Your will that I am free…

Sacrificing the young lamb or goat was a way for the Hebrew people to demonstrate that they were surrendering their ambitions, hopes and plans into God’s hands

  • It was a real and physical way of reminding themselves that it is only in God’s will that they are free
  • Leaving Egypt in itself isn’t freedom
  • Walking with God is freedom

Passover is about new beginnings

  • It’s about being ready to let go, ready to make the transition to the next stage in our life – the next stage in God’s will for us
  • That’s why the people had to eat the meal in a hurry, dressed and ready to leave with staff in hand

As Christians we don’t celebrate Passover but we do have other rituals for marking new beginnings:

Baptism, for example, is a new beginning – it is the letting go of our old way of life and stepping out, in faith, to follow Jesus

Marriage is another new beginning – when we let go of single life and find a new kind of freedom (a new kind of intimacy) with our partner in marriage

Dedication of a baby and his or her parents is also a new beginning

Transitions and new beginnings can happen all through life, and we don’t always have a ritual to celebrate them, like…

When you hit 40 and realise your life is more than half over so you’d better make the most of what’s left

Or when you turn 65 and become eligible for a Gold Card and a pension

  • Now you have a new found freedom with your time

Or when someone returns to the church and Christian faith after spending years away – except on returning their faith is different

  • So they are now more comfortable with mystery,
  • Not needing an answer for everything,
  • Not needing to prove themselves right,
  • Happy to trust themselves to God’s grace

We don’t have a Passover festival as such but we do have Easter and Lent

  • Lent (the six weeks leading up to Easter) is a time of sacrifice – a time of fasting or letting go – when we surrender afresh to God our ambitions, hopes and plans
  • Easter weekend itself is a time when we remember Jesus and the new beginning of resurrection
  • For Christians, Easter is the equivalent of a New Year celebration

Passover is about deliverance and new beginnings

  • Passover is also about the gathered community, everyone counted

Passover is about the gathered community:

John, can you tell me how many people are here this morning?

  • Thanks John

 

Every Sunday when you come to church someone greets you at the door and gives you a newsletter

  • Then, when everyone is seated (and before the kids go out) one of the door stewards does a head count and writes the number in attendance in the blue book in the foyer
  • It’s not exactly like taking the roll at school – we don’t put a tick by people’s names or anything like that – but we do keep a track of totals

John said there were about 150 odd here this morning

  • If everyone who attends Tawa Baptist were to turn up at the same time there would be over 200 people here
  • So that tells me there are about 60 or 70 people away this morning

I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty if you miss a Sunday

  • I’m saying this so you know you count

The Passover festival was something the Jewish people were to do at the same time, together, as a gathered community – verse 4 says…

  • If his family is too small to eat a whole animal, he and his next door neighbour may share an animal, in proportion to the number of people and the amount that each person can eat.

As a general rule of thumb it was thought 10 people could finish off a beast

  • So if there were five in your family then you could get together with some of your neighbours to share an animal

The point is, Passover was designed to bring communities together

  • It was designed to include people – not just those in your own family but also those who worked for you, those who couldn’t afford their own sacrifice and anyone else who happened to be travelling through
  • It wasn’t an exclusive meal – it was a meal which required the host to account for everyone

We all have a responsibility for each other

  • If you have noticed someone missing from our gathered worship for a while, it might be appropriate to give that person a call – not to reprimand them but simply to ask how they are, show you care, show they count with you and are not forgotten

Conclusion:

I suppose there is much more we could say about the Passover but that’s probably enough for today

For us, as Christians, the main thing is Jesus

  • Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb – the perfect sacrifice
  • Jesus’ blood is a sign of God’s commitment to deliver us from judgement
  • Jesus’ death & resurrection makes a new beginning possible for all of us
  • And Jesus is the one who draws us together as a gathered community – the one who counts us among God’s people

Let us pray…

[1] Refer Terence Fretheim, Exodus, page 138

[2] John 1:29

[3] Glenn Colquhoun, “The Art of Walking Upright”, page 33.