Tawa Baptist

The Cedar Tree

Scriptures: Leviticus 14, 1 Kings 6, Psalm 92, Ezekiel 17

Video Link: https://youtu.be/PAZlUkTL934

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Health (purification)
  • Holiness (presence)
  • Hope (purpose)
  • Conclusion

Good morning everyone.

There are five countries in the world who have a tree on their flag, one of which is Lebanon. Would anyone like to guess what tree we find on the Lebanese flag? [Wait] That’s right, the cedar tree. 

Today we continue our testimony of trees series by focusing on the cedar tree. The Cedar of Lebanon (scientific name: Cedrus libani) is mentioned many times in the Old Testament. The cedar is a majestic tree, reaching a height of 20-30 metres. It grows in the mountains of Lebanon where the temperature is cooler and it gets plenty of water. 

Our message this morning draws on a variety of Scripture references. Essentially though the cedar is associated with health, holiness and hope.

Or, if you prefer the three points of a sermon to start with a P, then purification, presence and purpose. Let us begin then with purification and health. From Leviticus 14, we read…

Health – Leviticus 14

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: 3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, 4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. 6 He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.

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

How many of you say grace before eating a meal? To my mind, a meal isn’t ready to eat until we have said a prayer to thank God and bless the food.

The spiritual ritual of saying grace is as important as the physical ritual of cooking the food properly.

We are not just bags of skin, bone and flesh. We are spiritual beings, inhabiting a physical body. There is a relationship between the physical and the spiritual. Saying grace before eating, acknowledges the reality of God’s provision for our lives.

In ancient Israel, people with skin diseases were excluded from community life. Although they may have done no moral wrong, they were considered ceremonially unclean and therefore not allowed to participate in religious events.

If a person recovered from their skin disease, then the priest (who was also the public health officer) checked the disease was gone and performed the purification ritual described in Leviticus 14 to declare the person fit to return to community life.

This ritual involved the use of cedar wood. It’s not that the cedar tree was used to heal skin diseases. Rather, once a person had been healed of a skin disease, cedar was used in the purification rite declaring them clean.

This ritual probably seems strange or unnecessary to us but, to someone with an ancient mindset, who believed in spiritual reality as much as material reality, the healing wasn’t complete until the priest had carried out the ritual.

We might think of this ritual like saying grace before eating a meal. The ritual acknowledges the reality of God in our lives. It is God who heals and purifies us, just as it is God who feeds and sustains us.

One of the distinctive features of the cedar tree is its natural resistance to insects and rot. The cedar tree contains certain oils which make it smell nice and repel insects, while also preserving the wood. It may be for this reason that the cedar tree was used by Jewish priests in purification rituals. Cedar wood symbolises restored strength and good health.

One of the interesting things about the ritual in Leviticus 14, is that two birds are used. One bird is offered to God as a sacrifice, while the other bird is set free, signifying that the person who was healed is now free to rejoin the worshipping community. 

As Christians, we don’t need to perform the rituals prescribed in Leviticus every time we recover from shingles or boils or scabies or whatever. But we do need to give thanks to God for restoring our health and purifying us. What rituals do you observe that acknowledge the reality of God in your life?

Alongside health and purification, the cedar tree is also associated with holiness. In particular, the beauty of God’s holy presence represented by the temple.

Holiness – 1 Kings 5 & 6

In First Kings chapters 5 and 6, we read how Solomon used cedar in the building of the Jerusalem temple. The external structure of the temple was mostly made from stone, but a lot of cedar wood was used inside the temple.

Cedar trees grew abundantly in the mountains of ancient Tyre. The region of Tyre lay north of Israel in the land we know today as Lebanon. Solomon made a deal with Hiram, the king of Tyre, to obtain the cedar.

Solomon conscripted 30,000 labourers to cut down the cedar trees. The trees were then brought to Jerusalem where they were used in the construction of the temple. Let me read you a selection of verses from First Kings chapter 6, which describe how the cedar tree was used…

14 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, panelling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. 16 He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

These verses tell us cedar was used extensively in the temple, including in the most holy place and for the construction of the altar.

Most likely cedar was used for both practical and aesthetic reasons. As already mentioned, cedar is a strong, durable wood that smells nice, repels insects and is resistant to rot, making it an excellent building material.

Aesthetically, cedar wood has a beautiful grain, without knots. It is pleasant to look at. Cedar is beautiful inside and out.

A temple is a holy place, a place of God’s presence, where prayers and worship are offered. Ideally, a place of reconciliation that brings people closer to God and closer to one another. Because of its use in the temple, cedar is associated with the beauty of holiness.  

We don’t often think of holiness as a beautiful thing. Holiness in our society seems more weird than attractive. Not so in ancient Hebrew society.

In Psalms 29 and 96, we are told to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The kind of beauty in view here is that of splendour or majesty. God’s holiness is like the beauty of a mountain range or the beauty of a cedar forest. God’s holiness is evergreen, its beauty does not fade.

To worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness is to worship God with clean hands, a clean heart and a clean conscience, without pretense or hypocrisy.

Worship the Lord like no one is looking.

Solomon cut down thousands of cedar trees, both for the temple and for his own palace. His carbon footprint was enormous.

Does this mean we (today) need to use cedar in the construction of our church buildings? Well, no. For Christians, God’s holy presence does not rest in a building. God’s presence is found in Jesus and among his people. We are the new temple, a temple not made by hands. The church is like a forest of living souls, made pure and holy by Christ.

The cedar tree is associated with health and purification, together with the beauty of God’s holy presence. The cedar tree is also pregnant with hope and purpose.

Hope – Psalm 92 & Ezekiel 17

Because of their strength and beauty and usefulness, the cedar forests of Lebanon have been depleted down through the centuries. Consequently, the Lebanese authorities have established special reserves to protect and regenerate cedar trees.

Despite humanity’s greed, some cedars have survived for more than 2000 years. One of the keys to the cedar’s longevity is its root system. The roots of the cedar tree grow deep to find water and give the tree stability. Once the tree is established, it will generally last a long time if left undisturbed.   

In Psalm 92 we read…

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Psalm 92 is a worship song for the Sabbath day. Being a song for the Sabbath, Psalm 92 looks forward (in hope) to that day of eternal rest, when there will be no more evil or suffering or death, when every day will be a perfect day, an everlasting Sabbath fulfilling God’s purpose for creation.

Cedars don’t grow as quickly as some plants, but they do grow tall and last a long time. The poetry of Psalm 92 is saying the righteous have hope for a good and lasting future. Their purpose is to serve and worship God.      

Righteousness in the Bible simply means right relationship. The righteous relate with God and their neighbours in a right way, in a way that is gracious and true, fair and kind.

You don’t have to be perfect to be righteous. Righteous people sometimes mess up. But if a righteous person does make a mistake, they do everything in their power to put it right.

Faith is the foundation of righteousness. Or to use the metaphor of the cedar, faith is the root system of the tree. Faith in God finds the water of life and lends stability to the tree.

Notice the underlying tone of humility in these verses. Just as the cedar grows best at altitude (in the mountains of Lebanon), so too the righteous grow best in the courts of our God. That is, in close relationship with the Lord and his people. The righteous owe their vitality and fruitfulness to the Lord, not their own righteousness. It is by God’s grace that the cedar tree enjoys long life.

The point is, the righteous are like cedars, they have hope of an evergreen future. The worship and service of the righteous is purposeful and lasting.

We are talking about the cedar tree and its connection with hope and purpose in the Bible.

In Ezekiel 17 we read… 

22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.

You all know the story of Cinderella. The girl who was loved by her father but hated by her stepmother and stepsisters. When her father died, Cinderella experienced a reversal of fortunes. She became a servant to her stepmother and stepsisters and was mistreated by them.

When the prince of the realm decided to hold a ball, Cinderella was made to stay home, until her fairy godmother intervened. Cinderella goes to the ball and dances with the prince but has to leave in a hurry at midnight. In her rush she leaves behind a glass slipper.

In his search for the mysterious woman who left so quickly, the prince goes through the land trying to find the one who fits the glass slipper. Eventually, after a few twists and turns, the prince is reunited with Cinderella and they are married.

Once again Cinderella experiences a dramatic reversal of fortunes, this time from being a lowly servant girl to becoming a princess.         

The Bible is full of Cinderella stories. In fact, the fairy tale of Cinderella is inspired by the true stories of the Bible. The stories of Jacob and Joseph are packed with reversals. As is the story of Ruth and Naomi. To say nothing of the history of Israel; from slavery in Egypt to exodus in the wilderness to a fresh start in the promised land of Canaan to exile in Babylon and return from exile. 

Why does the Bible contain so many stories of reversal? Two reasons mainly. Firstly, because these stories literally happened in history. And secondly, because stories of reversal inspire hope and humility.

If you are down on your luck, bullied by your enemies, poor in spirit and unable to see a way forward, you can remember how God reversed his people’s fortunes to give them a good future.

God did it for Joseph and Ruth and Naomi and Hannah and Israel and many others. Perhaps he will do it for you too. These true stories of reversal inspire hope and give purpose to our struggles.

At the same time, if life is going well and you feel like you are on top, healthy, wealthy and wise, remember how God reversed the fortunes of people like Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh and Saul, to humble them. Then any pride you might feel at your accomplishments will be diminished. Stories of reversal let the air out of an over inflated ego. No one wants to be the ugly stepsister.   

God has the power to reverse our fortunes. In verse 24 of Ezekiel 17, the Lord says: All the trees of the forest will know that I, the Lord, bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.

That is a picture of reversal, inspiring both hope and humility at the same time.

In verses 22-23 of Ezekiel 17, the Lord says that he will take a shoot from the top of a cedar tree and plant it on the mountain heights of Israel, where it will become a splendid cedar tree.

To the ancient mind the image of a majestic tree (like a cedar) stands as a metaphor for a mighty king and his kingdom.

For Christians, the shoot that God takes from the top of a cedar tree to replant, is a picture of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus is the King who embodies the tree of God’s kingdom on earth.

God’s kingdom, established through Jesus, is strong and enduring like the cedar tree. God’s kingdom is healthy and holy, with a purifying presence resistant to rot. God’s kingdom bears good fruit and provides shelter for every kind of bird. The birds here probably represent the different peoples of the world. God’s kingdom is for all nations.

We are reminded of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven starts small like a mustard seed but grows to be a large garden plant providing shelter for the birds of the air. Transformation from small to large; sounds like a story of reversal, inspiring hope, giving purpose.

Conclusion:

Most of you will see where this sermon is headed. Jesus, the prince of heaven, born into humble circumstances. Raised in obscurity, the son of a carpenter. Homeless and relying on the kindness of strangers for the three years of his public ministry.

Condemned for a crime he did not commit. Sentenced to a humiliating, agonizing death on a cross. Dead and buried, then raised to eternal life on the third day. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is God’s ultimate reversal story and the foundation of our hope.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the priest who purifies us and sets us free. You are our holiness, the root of all righteousness. Your resurrection is the ground of our hope. We thank you for your faithfulness to God and to us. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What are some of the distinctive characteristics of the cedar tree? What is the cedar tree associated with in the Bible?
  3. Why did God provide rituals of purification for people who had recovered from a skin disease? What rituals do you observe that acknowledge the reality of God in your life?  
  4. Why was cedar wood used in the construction of the Jerusalem temple? What does it mean to worship God in the beauty of holiness? How do we do this?
  5. Why does the Bible contain so many stories of reversal? What purpose do these stories serve? Do you have a personal story of reversal? If so, what happened?
  6. How does the parable of the cedar shoot (in Ezekeil 17:22-24) point to Jesus?
Tawa Baptist

The Fig Tree

Scripture: Luke 13:1-9

Video Link: https://youtu.be/DGLyluurx5s

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Suffering, Sin and Repentance – Luke 13:1-5
  • The Parable of the Fig Tree – Luke 13:6-9
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

All fruit trees produce flowers. Usually, the flowers grow on the outside of the tree so you can see the flower. But fig trees are different. With fig trees the flower is inverted, it is hidden inside the fig itself. To see the fig flower, you must cut the fruit open. Figs are beautiful on the inside.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by focusing on the fig tree. (Not to be confused with the sycamore fig which we heard about some weeks ago.) The fig tree (scientific name: Ficus Carica) is mentioned many times throughout the Bible, including most famously in Genesis, where Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover their nakedness.

This morning’s message though focuses on Jesus’ parable of the fig tree in Luke 13. From verse 1 of Luke 13 we read…

Now some came at that time and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Dig it out! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit in the future, fine! If not, then dig it out.’”

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

Suffering, Sin and Repentance:

To properly understand Jesus’ parable of the fig tree, we must first come to grips with what Jesus is saying in verses 1-5 of Luke 13. In the context, Jesus is talking about God’s judgement and mercy, which calls us to bear the fruit of repentance.

Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in direction. It’s an internal change of attitude that results in an external change in behaviour.

Let me illustrate with a story…

Once there were two brothers who lived on neighbouring farms. For many years they got on well until a small misunderstanding developed into a major argument. Tit for tat bickering and retaliation only escalated the ill feeling.

One morning there was a knock on the older brother’s door. On the porch stood a man with a toolbelt. “I’m looking for some work”, he said. “Would you have a job for me?”

“Yes”, said the farmer. “You see across the creek there? That’s my brother’s farm. Last week there was a paddock between us. Then he took his bulldozer to the riverbank and flooded the field. Now there is a swamp. But I’ve got a plan to fix him. See that pile of timber? I want you to build me a fence, tall and solid, so I won’t see him or be reminded of him.”

The carpenter looked at the creek, before answering. “I think I understand the situation. Leave it to me. You’ll be pleased with my work.”

The older brother went to town for supplies and was gone for most of the day. When he returned his eyes popped wide in surprise and his jaw dropped. There was no fence at all.

Instead, he found himself looking at a foot bridge, stretching from one side of the creek to the other. It was a sturdy piece of carpentry, built to last.

There, on the far side of the bridge, was the farmer’s younger brother walking towards him. When the two brothers met in the middle, the younger one said, “You are the bigger man to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”

Relieved and humbled the older brother said, “I just want my brother back. I’m sorry.” The two men hugged and agreed to forgive the past.

The carpenter was gathering his tools ready to leave, when the older brother said, “Please stay, I’ve got plenty of other jobs for you”. The carpenter replied, “I’d love to, but I’ve got more bridges to build.” [1]

Before the brothers could be reconciled, they both had to repent. They both had to experience a change of mind that led to a change in the way they related to each other. But neither brother was able to change their mind without help.

The carpenter’s bridge provided the catalyst both brothers needed to imagine a different future, to forgive their differences and move forward together.   

Luke 13 begins with some people coming to Jesus and telling him that Pilate had mixed the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices. Pilate was the Roman governor in charge of the province at that time. Later, Jesus would stand trial before Pilate.

Pilate did some terrible things while in office. Apparently, on this occasion, he had his soldiers slaughter some Jews from Galilee while they were offering sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. The blood of the Galileans mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

It would be like a foreign military force coming into this sanctuary and shooting people in the congregation while we were sharing communion.        

It is well known that truth is the first casualty in any war. Whether the people reporting this incident to Jesus were just spreading rumours to gain support for the cause of Jewish nationalism or whether they were being truthful, is unclear. Either way, Jesus is expected to respond with indignation and sympathy, loudly denouncing Pilate.

Those reporting this violence want Jesus to build a fence between them and their enemies. But Jesus doesn’t do what’s expected of him. Instead, Jesus (who is motivated by a deep concern for people’s wellbeing) builds a bridge by telling them to repent or they too will meet with a violent end.

Kenneth Bailey paraphrases Jesus’ meaning here. It’s like Jesus is saying… 

“You want me to condemn evil in Pilate. I am not talking to Pilate. He is not here. I am talking to you. Evil forces are at work in your movement that will destroy you, Pilate or no Pilate. You must repent or all of you will be destroyed by those forces.” [2]   

Jesus is telling these Jewish nationalists that they have more in common with Pilate than they realise. The same evil that is in Pilate is also in them. If they don’t repent of that evil, if they don’t get off the path of violence and retaliation, they will all wind up dead.

Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” Jesus shows incredible courage here. He does not react negatively. He decides to respond positively.

Jesus’ brave decision to rewrite the script, by calling for repentance, puts him at risk of being physically attacked on the spot by the Jewish patriots. Those who fight for what they believe is a just cause assume the struggle for the cause makes them righteous. It does not.

Seeing a teachable moment, Jesus asks the question (in verse 2), do you think those who perished were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered in this way. I tell you, no.

Then Jesus goes on in verse 4 to give another example: Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no!

The Galileans, allegedly killed by Pilate, are an example of suffering caused by human evil. While the 18 people, killed by a collapsing tower, are an example of suffering caused by natural disaster.

We are reminded of Job here who lost his children and his wealth through a combination of human evil and natural disasters. Sadly, Job’s friends thought Job’s misfortune was caused by some grievous unconfessed sin.

There was and still is a belief that personal misfortune of any kind, whether poverty or illness or natural disaster or whatever, is the direct result of sin. Therefore, if something bad happens to you, that means God is punishing you. This only adds insult to injury and further alienates someone who needs support.  

In the Old Testament, the fig tree was symbolic of peace and prosperity.

For example, in 1st Kings chapter 4, we are told that: During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree. 

To sit under your fig tree eating figs, therefore, was to be blessed by God.  

But what if your fig tree is taken away? Does that mean you are under God’s curse for doing something wrong? Well, not necessarily.  

In John 9, Jesus’ disciples notice a man born blind, and they ask whether the man’s blindness is due to his own sins or the sins of his parents. Jesus says: 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 

Correlation does not prove causation. Just because someone suffers in some way, it does not automatically follow that God is punishing them. There isn’t always a one-to-one relationship between the sin of an individual and their suffering. Sometimes there is, but not usually.

This world does not operate by karma. It operates by God’s grace. Everyone sins. Everyone falls short. Everyone, at some point, commits an evil act. Just as we all fail to do the good God wants us to do. If there were a direct link between sin and suffering, we would all be poor or sick or maimed or worse.

It is only by God’s grace and mercy that we don’t suffer more.       

When talking about the relationship between sin and suffering, some theologians use the phrase ‘a loose causal weave’. A loose causal weave means that while there is a connection between sin and suffering in a general sense, that connection is not always well aligned where the individual is concerned.

For example, looking at history we can see that nations which blatantly disregard God’s laws do come to ruin eventually. Within those nations, there will be some relatively innocent or righteous people who do not deserve the same treatment as the rest, and yet they suffer just as badly because they are part of that society. On an individual level there can be collateral damage.

From our limited human perspective, it often seems this life is not fair, which is precisely why we need to believe that this life is not all there is and that ‘the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice’.

We need to believe in a day judgement when God rights all wrongs. Otherwise, we will attempt to get justice for ourselves by taking revenge. None of us are in a position to judge.  

Jesus does not call God’s justice into question. Jesus says those killed by Pilate and the 18 who died in the tower collapse were not worse sinners, but sinners all the same. Therefore, they were not innocent. But that is not why they died prematurely. Their deaths serve as a warning to us all to repent while we still can, for none of us knows when our time is up. 

Jesus preached urgent repentance because faith with repentance is how we get on the right side of God’s judgement. As I often say, God’s judgement is not at odds with his mercy. God’s judgement and mercy are one. Indeed, they are in conversation with one another. Which is where the parable of the fig tree comes in…

The Parable of the Fig Tree:

Many fruiting trees are pollinated by bees and other insects who visit the flowers for nectar and in the process collect and pass on pollen.

The fig tree is different though. As I mentioned at the beginning of this message, the fig flower is inverted, it is hidden inside the fruit, where bees can’t get to it. So how is the fig tree pollinated?

Some varieties of fig trees are pollinated by a tiny insect called a ‘fig wasp’.

The fig wasp is not like the big German wasps we are familiar with. A fig wasp won’t sting you; it is too small for that. The female fig wasp crawls through a small hole in the fig and lays her eggs inside the fruit.       

In the process of depositing her eggs, the female transfers pollen from her original host fig. This pollinates some of the female flowers on the inside of the receiving fig and allows them to mature. After the female wasp lays her eggs, she dies, and the cycle continues with her offspring who leave their host fig and lay eggs in another fig. Essentially, the fig tree needs the fig wasp.

Why am I telling you this? Well, Jesus’ parables are a bit like the fig wasp and our minds are like figs. The parables of Jesus are small enough to get under our skin and into our imagination, where they pollinate our thoughts with the ideas of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ parables bring a new way of thinking which (if we let it) leads to repentance.

From verse 6, Jesus tells his parable of the fig tree, saying…

“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Dig it out! Why should it use up the soil?’

Before we finish the parable, let’s pause to observe a couple of things.

Firstly, for Jesus’ original Jewish audience, the vineyard was a metaphor for the nation of Israel.

Isaiah 5 famously gives us the song of the vineyard, where Israel is the vineyard and God himself is the one who planted the vineyard. The vineyard does not bear good fruit. The Lord looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Therefore, God allowed the nation of Israel (his vineyard) to be destroyed. This happened with the exile.

Relating Isaiah 5 to Jesus’ parable of the fig tree, we can say that the vineyard represents God’s people. However, Jesus’ parable isn’t about the whole vineyard. It is focused on just one tree in the vineyard, specifically the fig tree.

What (or who) then does the fig tree represent? Probably not the nation of Israel as a whole. Some say the fig tree represents Israel’s religious leadership who (at that time) appeared righteous but were not actually producing the fruit of justice or mercy.

Thinking more broadly, the fig tree could represent any of God’s people who make an outward show of religion without bearing the fruit of genuine repentance.

In verse 7, the owner says to the man who takes care of the vineyard that he’s been coming to look for fruit for three years and not found any. It typically takes two or three years after planting for a fig tree to start bearing fruit, so it is reasonable to expect fruit after three years.

The command to dig out the tree reminds us of Luke 3, where John the Baptist warned that the axe was already at the root of the tree and any tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down.

That said, we should not miss the vineyard owner’s heart here. The vineyard owner is not hell bent on destruction for destruction’s sake. He is concerned for the wellbeing of the whole vineyard. If he allows fruitless trees to take up room and exhaust the soil, he is not being fair or kind to anyone.   

Then comes the twist in verses 8 and 9, where the worker says to the owner: 8 “‘Sir, leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.

 9 If it bears fruit in the future, fine! If not, then dig it out.’”

Notice here how the fig tree needs outside help. The fig tree cannot save it itself; it needs the orchard worker to advocate for it and fertilise it. Just like the brothers needed the carpenter to build a bridge. Just like the fig fruit needs the fig wasp.

You might be wondering: who is the worker who intercedes to save the tree?

We might think the worker is Jesus, but it is probably better to think of the vineyard worker as a personification of God’s mercy, while the vineyard owner is the personification of God’s judgement. [3] Therefore, God’s judgement is in conversation with his mercy. God’s judgement is informed by his mercy.

God knows he has to take action where a fruitless tree is concerned (for the sake of others in the vineyard), but he still feels a tender mercy toward the fruitless tree and would prefer to see it saved and bearing good fruit.    

We are reminded of what the apostle says in 2nd Peter 3, verse 9…

 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. 

Time is grace. If we are not being fruitful for God’s glory, then the best use of our time is repentance.

Conclusion:

As is often the case, Jesus’ parable is left open ended. We, the audience, are in suspense. Did God’s mercy convince God’s judgement to wait a while longer? Did the vineyard owner agree to give the fig tree another chance? And if the fig tree was given another chance, did it eventually manage to bear fruit?

We are not told.

We don’t know when God’s judgement will come. In the meantime, we are better to ask ourselves whether our lives bear the fruit of repentance. Repentance will look different for each of us, depending on our sin.

If our sin is pride, then repentance is walking humbly with God.

If our sin is greed, then repentance is generosity.

If our sin is resentment, then repentance is being ready to forgive.

If our sin is violence, then repentance is gentleness.

If our sin is deceit, then repentance is truthfulness.

If our sin is theft, then repentance is honest work.

If our sin is gossip, then repentance is self-control. You get the idea.

But remember this. We cannot repent without help. The key to bearing the fruit of repentance is not trying harder. The key to fruitfulness is abiding in Christ. 

Let us pray… 

Merciful God, we thank you for your patience and for the grace of time.

When we stray off course, change our minds and gently set us in the right direction. Help us to remain in Christ that we would bear good fruit for your glory. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. How is the fig flower different from most other flowers?
  3. What is repentance? Why is repentance necessary? How do we repent?
  4. Why do we need to believe in God’s judgement? Why do we need to believe in God’s mercy?
  5. What might the fig tree in Jesus’ parable represent? What might the vineyard owner and worker respectively represent? What is the main purpose of Jesus’ parable of the fig tree in Luke 13?
  6. Does your life bear the fruit of repentance? Does God want you to change your mind and direction in life? If so, what might that change look like? 

[1] The story of the bridge building carpenter is adapted from a story by J. John and Mark Stibbe in their book “A Barrel of Fun”, page 173. 

[2] Kenneth Bailey, “Through Peasant Eyes”, page 79.

[3] Refer Kenneth Bailey’s book, “Through Peasant Eyes”.

Tawa Baptist

Nebuchadnezzar’s Tree

Scripture: Daniel 4

Video Link: https://youtu.be/D-yuZGs-fuc

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
  • God’s Sovereignty
  • God’s Just Mercy
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Many of you would have heard of the story of Beauty and the Beast. In one version of this fairy tale, the young prince is turned into a beast because he behaves in a beastly manner; he is cruel, unkind and selfish. Only when he learns to be more human, to love and be loved, is the curse lifted.

Beauty and the Beast is a redemption story. A story of overcoming fear and evil with faith and self-giving love. It’s a story with a happy ending. Reality is seldom so kind and yet the story endures because we need to believe that change is possible, that the beast within each of us can be transformed by love.

Today we continue our testimony of trees series. In recent weeks we have considered the mustard tree, the almond tree, the sycamore, the tamarisk and the olive tree. These are all physical trees with scientific names. Nebuchadnezzar’s tree is a psychological tree, seen in a dream by a king who behaves like a beast but, in the end by God’s mercy, has his humanity restored.  

We learn about Nebuchadnezzar’s tree in the book of Daniel chapter 4.

Daniel 4 is very long with lots of repetition, so we won’t read it all.

To set the scene, Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon who lived around five or six hundred years before Christ. Nebuchadnezzar was the one who conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, killed thousands of Jews and had the survivors deported into exile in Babylon.

Among those Jews brought to Babylon was a young man named Daniel.

Daniel became an advisor to the king and was given a new Babylonian name, Belteshazzar.

Anyway, one night king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a tree. Well, it was more of a nightmare really, one that stayed with him and terrified him. No one was able to interpret the king’s dream, so Daniel (aka: Belteshazzar) was asked to give the meaning. From Daniel chapter 4, verse 10, Nebuchadnezzar retells his dream…

10 These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed. 13 “In the visions I saw while lying in bed, I looked, and there before me was a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field. “‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven timespass by for him. 17 “‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’ 18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” 19 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! …

22 Your majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth…

24 “This is the interpretation, your majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.  26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, your majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”

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

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

I started this sermon by talking about the story of Beauty and the Beast.

In doing this I do not mean to imply that the story of Nebuchadnezzar is a fairy tale. The story of Beauty and the Beast was not written until many centuries after the Babylonians.

Nebuchadnezzar was a real person in history. We have good reason to think the events described in Daniel 4 did happen. To a modern reader, it appears Nebuchadnezzar had some kind of breakdown followed by a period of mental illness. He would not be the only ruler in history to experience this.

Charles VI reigned as king of France from 1380 to his death in 1422. He came to the throne at the age of 11 and lived with psychosis for much of his life. Charles VI thought he was made of glass and that if he were knocked, he might break. One can only imagine the mental anguish he suffered from this belief.

Our minds are like icebergs. Our conscious thoughts are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more going on beneath the surface, in our unconscious, that we are not aware of.

Depth psychologists reckon that the dreams we have while we sleep are our unconscious minds communicating with our conscious minds. The unconscious speaks to us in symbols. Most dreams you have will not be that significant. They are simply the mind’s way of ironing out the wrinkles in your day.

But sometimes our dreams are telling us something important. Warning us to restore the balance and get our life back in order. Dreams can be like a warning sign at the top of the cliff, there to prevent us going over the edge. 

Occasionally God communicates with us through the dreams that surface from our unconscious. Most dreams are not from God, but some are. God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream to warn him to get his life in order or he would take a fall.      

There are basically four main images in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The first is of an enormous tree which provides food and shelter for the creatures of the earth. Daniel says the tree in the dream represents Nebuchadnezzar himself. The king is great and powerful. The nations of the earth are subject to him, they depend on him. 

The second image is that of a holy one, a messenger from heaven, what we might call an angel or a watcher. The image of the angel shows us that this is no ordinary dream. This dream is a message from God in heaven.

And the message is this: as great and powerful as Nebuchadnezzar is, he is still subject to God in heaven. Heaven is in charge, not Nebuchadnezzar. The king is about to lose it all.  

The third image Nebuchadnezzar sees is the stump of the tree, still in the ground, bound with iron and bronze. This shows that Nebuchadnezzar will be cut down. He will be humbled. He will lose his power and authority for a time, but not forever. Just as a tree stump can grow new shoots, there is hope too for Nebuchadnezzar. He will be restored to his throne in the fullness of time.

The fourth image is that of animals in the field. In many ways Nebuchadnezzar’s treatment of people was inhumane. The king could be brutal and animal like in the way he behaved toward others. Therefore, he would be given the mind of a beast. Nebuchadnezzar will think he is animal.

What’s interesting here is that Nebuchadnezzar is given the mind of a relatively harmless beast. He won’t be like a lion or a bear, which might attack other creatures. He will be more like an ox, eating plants in the field.   

God’s Sovereignty

In verse 25 Daniel says, seven times will pass by before the king acknowledges that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.

We don’t know exactly how long seven times is. It might be seven seasons or seven years, or it might be a proverbial way of saying, as long as it takes, or until God decides the king’s sentence is complete. The point is, God is in control, not Nebuchadnezzar.     

Verse 28 tells us that all this happened to king Nebuchadnezzar. The king did not heed Daniel’s warning to change his ways. His behaviour towards his subjects remained beastly and he continued in his pride. Consequently, the king’s dream came true. A year later, when Nebuchadnezzar was congratulating himself on all his achievements, a voice from heaven said…

“This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

Immediately, what was said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. 

Now at this point I need to make something very clear. The cause of mental illness is not the same for everyone. Just because God gave Nebuchadnezzar the mind of an animal, it does not automatically follow that mental illness is a punishment from God.

Mental illness can be caused by any number of factors. Sometimes physiological or chemical, other times it is the result of trauma or something else that science cannot explain. We don’t have an answer for everything.   

What we do know is that ultimately God wants people to enjoy good mental health. In John 10, Jesus says: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Jesus goes on to talk about himself as the good shepherd, who gives his life for the sheep. Jesus came that we would have abundant life. Jesus wants to renew our minds.

Those who know their history (or who at least watch Bridgerton) will know about king George III of England, the husband of Queen Charlotte. King George reigned 60 years from 1760 to 1820. He came to the throne at the age of 22.

It is unclear exactly what his mental health disorder was, but he suffered a great deal because of it, as much from doctors as from the malady itself. Despite all he went through though, George was a kind and decent king.

He had a sense of justice and compassion.

For example, according to the historian Andrew Roberts, “George never bought or sold a slave in his life. He never invested in any of the companies that did such a thing. He signed legislation to abolish slavery.” 

King George was a humanitarian. He was nothing like king Nebuchadnezzar.

I don’t believe George’s bouts of mental illness were a punishment from God. We don’t know why George suffered in this way. Most of the time we are given no explanation for suffering. Suffering is usually cloaked in mystery.

However, Nebuchadnezzar is given an explanation. In verse 17 the angel says: ‘…the holy ones declare the verdict so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’

Nebuchadnezzar need not flatter himself by thinking it’s all about him. It’s not. Nebuchadnezzar will be humbled and restored so that people everywhere will know that God in heaven is in charge. Being the king doesn’t make you great. Leadership is simply a function. God can make anyone he wants king or queen.

So, whatever you do with Daniel 4, don’t transfer it to other people you know who live with a mental illness. Nebuchadnezzar’s case is unique, just as every person is unique.

Daniel chapter 4 is more about God in heaven than it is about Nebuchadnezzar or anyone else. The text is showing us, in bright neon colour, that God is sovereign over all. God is in charge. God has all power and authority and dominion. Failure to acknowledge God’s sovereignty is madness.

In an individualistic, me centred, consumer oriented society like ours, it’s easy to think it’s all about us. The culture and ethos of Babylon is alive well today. We need constant reminders that we are here to serve God. The Lord is not some kind of cosmic Santa Claus or magic genie, there to grant our wishes.

We acknowledge God’s sovereignty by trusting and obeying him.

Sometimes obedience to God is pleasant. Other times it is painful or at least uncomfortable. None of us is fully able to trust and obey God. All of us fall short in that regard. This is why Jesus came. Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus trusted and obeyed God even unto death on a cross.

God’s Just Mercy

Beyond the obvious, of highlighting God’s sovereignty, Daniel 4 is also showing us the just mercy of God. That is, God’s mercy is one with his justice. They go together. God’s justice is not separate from his mercy. 

We see God’s just mercy in the way the Lord warns Nebuchadnezzar in a dream of the path he is on. God could have simply removed Nebuchadnezzar and replaced him with someone else. But God gives the king an opportunity for redemption.

God’s just mercy is embodied in the person of Daniel. Daniel unlocks the meaning of the king’s dream in a way that is gracious and true.

Remember that king Nebuchadnezzar was the leader of Israel’s enemies.

He destroyed whole cities and subjected the survivors to slavery. He was not a very nice man. Nebuchadnezzar was probably responsible for killing some of Daniel’s friends and family. He was certainly responsible for Daniel’s exile and forced servitude.

And yet Daniel does not rejoice at hearing of the king’s coming fall. Daniel is deeply disturbed by the dream and has compassion for the king. Daniel says, ‘My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries.’

Daniel also shows courage in speaking the truth to Nebuchadnezzar, pointing out that the king is sinful and wicked and needs to repent. Daniel seeks the king’s wellbeing at risk to his own life. Daniel shows us what it looks like to love your enemies. Grace and truth. Justice with mercy. That’s what you get with the Spirit of Jesus.  

In his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul encourages us to pray for those in authority. This was no small thing when we remember the governing authorities were often hostile to the Christian church of the first century.

To pray for Caesar was to turn the other cheek and love one’s enemies.

Whoever may be in government, whether we agree with their politics or not, whether they make good decisions or not, we have a responsibility to pray for them, that we might live in peace and respectful relationship with others. Ultimately, the governing authorities are subject to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.    

God’s just mercy is also seen in the way the Lord gives Nebuchadnezzar twelve months to change his ways. Time is grace. Sadly, Nebuchadnezzar did not recognise this time of grace for what it was.

Nothing though is wasted in God’s economy. The time Nebuchadnezzar spent in the fields living like an ox, provided some relief for those who were oppressed by the king. For many, it was an act of God’s mercy to have Nebuchadnezzar sidelined for a while. 

God’s just mercy is also seen in Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration. From verse 34 we read… 

34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honour and splendour were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Conclusion

Verse 34 tells us it was when Nebuchadnezzar looked to heaven that his sanity was restored. We are never as sane as when we recognize our need for God.

The prodigal son came to his senses while starving in a pigs stye.

Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Only when we come to the end of own resources are we ready to truly acknowledge God’s sovereignty and throw ourselves on his just mercy.

Let us pray…

Sovereign God, thank you for your just mercy. Forgive our arrogance and help us to walk humbly with you. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Nebuchadnezzar was terrified by his dream. Have you ever had a dream that terrified you? What happened in your dream? What images did you see? Do you know the meaning (or purpose) of your dream?
  3. Discuss / reflect on the four main images in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. What were these images saying? What is the main message of the dream? Why does God give Nebuchadnezzar this dream?
  4. What do we mean by God’s sovereignty? How do we acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives?
  5. In what ways do we see God’s just mercy at work in Daniel 4? In what ways are you aware of God’s just mercy at work in your own life?
  6. What does good mental health look like? How might you know when your mental health is improving (or declining)? What practical things can you do to support good mental health? For yourself? For others?
  7. Spend some time this week praying for the governing authorities.  
Tawa Baptist

The Olive Tree

Scripture: Zechariah 4

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Vs_KEWMjnfM

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Have you noticed how much the price of olive oil has increased lately. A couple of years ago you could buy one litre of olive oil for around $10 or $12. Now it costs nearly twice that or even more for some brands. The reason for the increase seems to be a shortage in global supply due to climate change. 

Olive oil is still worth using though, if you can afford it. Scientists tell us that olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids which help to reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering bad cholesterol and raising good cholesterol.

As well as being good for your heart, olive oil also contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Plus, it tastes good in cooking.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by focusing on the Olive Tree. The Olive Tree is mentioned throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. This comes as no surprise given it was widely cultivated in the ancient near east.

Perhaps the most famous reference to olive trees is found in the gospels where we read that Jesus often retreated to the Mount of Olives (when he was near Jerusalem) to spend time in prayer and teaching his disciples.  

Our message this morning though focuses on Zechariah chapter 4, which describes a vision the prophet Zechariah had of a lampstand holding seven lamps fed by the oil from two olive trees.

Zechariah 4

From Zechariah chapter 4, verse 1 we read…   

Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.

6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. 7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.

10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstonein the hand of Zerubbabel?”

11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I said. 14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed toserve the Lord of all the earth.”

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

Olive trees are self-sterile, which means they cannot produce fruit on their own. They need another compatible tree close by for pollination.

The other thing olive trees need to be fruitful is lots of light. If you let an olive tree grow wild, the foliage gets quite dense, and you won’t get much fruit from the tree because the leaves and branches block out the light.

The Italians say you should prune an olive tree so a bird can fly through it. That way, the tree gets the light it needs to bear fruit.

People are a bit like olive trees in some ways. We need lots of light and we cannot be fruitful on our own. We need the right people alongside us if we are going to be fruitful.

However, we are not like olive trees in every way. A human being might live around 70 to 80 years on average, whereas an olive tree can live for as long as two or three thousand years. Olive trees are pretty resilient. They bear witness to human history through long periods of time.

Zechariah was born in exile in Babylonia and migrated back to Jerusalem as a young man. He was from a priestly family. Zechariah prophesied around 520 years before Christ, about the same time as the prophet Haggai. 

At that point the temple built by Solomon lay in ruins and the people’s morale was low. Zechariah and Haggai encouraged the returning exiles and their leaders to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Zechariah chapter 4, which we heard earlier, retells one of the visions Zechariah received from the angel of the Lord.

In verse 1 of Zechariah 4, the prophet describes what it was like when the angel of the Lord came to him. It was like being woken from sleep. I don’t think that Zechariah was physically asleep. It’s more like the angel was waking Zechariah up to spiritual realities.

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul talks about how our vision of spiritual reality is incomplete in this life. Paul writes: 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

There is more to the picture than meets the eye. We don’t know what we don’t know. Each of us are, in a sense, sleepwalking through this life, spiritually speaking. Without God to reveal the truth to us, we are stumbling in the dark, not fully conscious.   

In the vision, the angel shows Zechariah a golden lampstand with seven lamps on it. The seven lamps in the vision receive an unending supply of olive oil from two olive trees either side of the lampstand.

On hearing of a gold lampstand, an ancient Hebrew listener would most likely think of the holy place in God’s temple, which had a golden lampstand. The lampstand didn’t hold candles like we might imagine today. Rather it had seven lamps fueled by olive oil. (There was no electricity in Biblical times.)

The number seven has special significance in the Bible. Seven is the proverbial number of wholeness or completion. A set of seven is a perfect set. The Sabbath is the seventh day, a holy day set apart for the Lord.

So, what we have here (with the vision of a gold lampstand and seven lamps) is a highly valuable, holy light that never goes out.   

Basically, the lampstand with its seven lights represents the witness of God’s people in the world.[1] The lampstand symbolizes both the fixed physical witness of the temple building and the dynamic relational witness of the Jewish community. God’s faithful people worshipping together are a light for the world.

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John borrows this metaphor of lampstands as a picture for the witness of God’s people in the world.

John presents the seven Christian churches of the first century as seven lampstands in a dark world.

From an earthly perspective the people of God feel poor and weak, vulnerable and despondent. They are living in relative poverty and life is difficult. But from a heavenly perspective they are highly valued and resilient. The witness of their light will never go out.  

Zechariah doesn’t ask about the meaning of the lampstand. The lampstand does not seem strange to him. He is more puzzled by the two olive trees and the oil they produce. Although the temple doors were made out of olive wood, the holy place in God’s temple did not have two living olive trees in it.

Zechariah asks the angel about the olive trees, and the angel replies by saying…

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem during the time of Zechariah.

The Persians, who were the dominant world power at that stage, had put Zerubbabel in charge. Interestingly, Zerubbabel was a direct descendant of king David. He was royalty.

Often, we hear the prophets confronting the leadership of the land, telling them to change their wicked ways. Last week, for example, we heard how Amos had a message of judgement for Jeroboam the king of Israel and Amaziah the priest at Bethel.

But the Jewish leadership of Zechariah’s day were not the same as the leadership of Amos’ day. Zechariah has not been charged with giving Zerubbabel a telling off. Quite the opposite. God wants to encourage Zerubbabel to get on with finishing the rebuild of the Jerusalem temple.

However, they would not complete the temple by human might or power.

In other words, they would not accomplish this task like Solomon did, with an army of workers or by applying political pressure or heavy taxation.

The completion of the temple would be resourced by God’s Spirit, the same life-giving breath of God that was present at the creation of the cosmos. Indeed, the rebuilding of the temple signifies a new creation, a new beginning for the people of Israel.

The oil from the olive trees, therefore, is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit would keep the lights on. The Holy Spirit would enable the returning exiles to complete the temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel.

The angel of the Lord continues his message for Zerubbabel in verse 7 saying:

7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground…” 

The returning exiles were facing opposition to the rebuilding of the temple, and they were overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. From an earthly perspective, the obstacles in front of them felt like a mountain to move. Heavy. Impossible. That’s why the building work had stalled.

But from a heavenly perspective, the mighty mountain of obstacles is nothing, for Zerubbabel is empowered by the Spirit of God. What is a mountain to God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God is wise and powerful. Nothing is too difficult for God.

Did Jesus have Zechariah 4 in mind when he told his disciples they could move mountains with faith the size of a mustard seed? Perhaps he did. Because it’s not the size of our faith that matters. It’s the power of God’s Spirit that moves obstacles. Faith is the key which releases the power.

The capstone mentioned at the end of verse 7 is the final stone of the building project. This is a message of hope. The angel of the Lord is saying, Zerubbabel will put the finishing touches on the new temple, with the blessing and support of the people.

In verses 8-9 Zechariah gets another word from the Lord. It’s the same message just said more plainly. Zerubbabel will complete the temple rebuild. Zechariah’s prophecy was fulfilled about four or five years later. The second Jerusalem temple was dedicated around 516 or 515 BC.

Verse 10 addresses a concern. The newly restored temple was not as grand or glorious as the temple Solomon had built. For some the new temple was underwhelming. It was a case of reality falling well short of expectation.

But the angel of the Lord won’t have any disappointment, saying..

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstonein the hand of Zerubbabel?”

The ‘seven eyes of the Lord’ is not to be taken literally. It’s a proverbial way of saying God sees everything that happens around the world. God is all knowing in other words. Basically, from an earthly point of view the new temple might not look like much but from a heavenly point of view, it is a cause for great joy.

Of all the majestic and wonderful things the Lord sees around the world, this new temple makes God happy (even if it is small in comparison to the first temple).  

The word to not despise the day of small things reminds us of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, which we heard about a couple of weeks ago. Jesus said…

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”   

Thinking of small things also brings to mind Genesis 8. After the flood, Noah (who was still in the ark) sent out a dove to test whether the waters had gone down. At first the dove came back emptied handed. But seven days later when Noah sent the dove out again, the bird returned with an olive leaf in its beak.

An olive leaf is small but that small leaf carried a great deal of hope for those on the ark. That olive leaf was a sign that the waters had subsided and God was making all things new.    

Zechariah is still unclear about the meaning of the two olive trees, so he asks the angel again in verse 11, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” And the angel replies…

“These are the two who are anointed toserve the Lord of all the earth.”

To be anointed by God is to be chosen for special service, perhaps as a king or a prophet or a priest. The Hebrew word for ‘anointed one’ is Messiah and the Greek word is Christ. The Lord anointed a number of people for special service in the Old Testament.

Most likely, in the historical context of Zechariah 4, the two olive trees signify Zerubbabel and Joshua, two men chosen by God to lead his people at that time. Zerubbabel, as we’ve just heard, was the governor of Jerusalem and a descendant of David, while Joshua was the high priest.

(Please note: this Joshua is not to be confused with the Joshua who was Moses’ assistant centuries earlier.)    

In other parts of the Bible (like, Jeremiah 11, Romans 11 and Revelation 11) the olive tree is a metaphor for the people of God collectively.

Here, in Zechariah 4, the two olive trees together with the lampstand are representative of God’s people. The olive trees are intimately connected to the lampstand. Neither can serve God’s purpose without the other.

Joyce Baldwin puts it all together for us…

“Joshua and Zerubbabel wait on the unseen Lord, who is the source of their authority and power. They in turn give themselves to build both the temple and the community; by daily life and worship the whole people is to be a light to others. The city on a hill cannot be hid.” [2] 

Or to say it another way, Zerubbabel and Joshua (the co-leaders of Israel) act as conduits for the oil of God’s Spirit, empowering the people to be a strong witness, an enduring light, to the nations. 

Zerubbabel and Joshua are examples of servant leaders. They don’t bully the people or hold them to ransom. They lead with humility and in a way that sustains the people of God to continue in their witness.

Zerubbabel and Joshua point to Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate anointed one, the perfect Messiah. Jesus is Servant King and High Priest all in one.

Conclusion:

So how does Zechariah’s vision of the lampstand and the twin olive trees apply to us today?

Well, part of our purpose as a church (as God’s people in this place) is to bear witness to Christ in the world. (Our vision statement is literally ‘Christ in community’.) As Jesus said to his disciples: you are the light of the world. Among other things this means we are Jesus’ witnesses in the world.

We bear witness to Christ. Light is a complete contrast to darkness. Therefore, to be Jesus’ witnesses means to be distinctive in a good way, in a way that reveals the truth and casts out fear. We are to be in the world but not like the world.

Tawa Baptist is not the whole lampstand here in this place, but we are one of the seven lamps on the lampstand, together with the other churches in Tawa.

Our church building and our congregation is not big or impressive.

By comparison with years gone by, we are perhaps a little underwhelming. 

But who dares despise our smallness. The Lord delights in faithfulness.

The task of being Jesus’ witnesses in this world may feel overwhelming at times, particularly as the church in New Zealand becomes more and more marginalised. But we don’t need to worry about the waxing and waning of society’s attitude to the church. We can’t control that.

Our part is to stay connected to Jesus, to abide in him. For Jesus is our olive tree. Jesus is the one anointed by God to lead us and feed our lamp with the oil of his Spirit.

Let us pray…

Gracious God, we thank you for Jesus who sustains our light by your Spirit. Help us to remain faithful witnesses for you, together in this place. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What are some of the characteristics and uses of the olive tree?
  3. What does the golden lampstand in Zechariah 4 represent? What is its significance?
  4. What do the olive trees in Zechariah 4 represent? What does the oil of the trees signify?
  5. Discuss / reflect on the words: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Why does God say this to Zerubbabel? What might God be saying to you (or us) with these words?   
  6. How does Zechariah’s vision of the lampstand and the twin olive trees apply to us today? How might we let our light shine? How might we remain in the world but distinctive from it? How might we bear witness to Jesus? 
  7. What connections do you see between Zechariah 4 and the teaching of Jesus?

[1] Refer Joyce Baldwin’s commentary on Zechariah, page 124.

[2] Refer Joyce Baldwin’s commentary on Zechariah, page 124.

Tawa Baptist

The Mustard Tree

Scripture: Matthew 13:31-33

Video Link: https://youtu.be/kEpEo0T-vtg

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Transformation
  • Abundance
  • Usefulness
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In our fridge at home, we usually have three different kinds of mustard: mild mustard, which we use on hot dogs and sausages, whole grain mustard, which has a bit more of a kick to it, and Dijon mustard which is useful for making salad dressings.  

Mustard is used all over the world as a condiment or a spice in cooking, from India to Europe, to the Middle East and the Americas, as well as Tawa.

Mustard requires just four ingredients to make: seeds from the mustard plant, vinegar, salt and water.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by focusing on the mustard tree. Three of the four gospels record Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. Our message today draws on Matthew’s version, which also includes Jesus’ parable of the yeast. From Matthew 13, verses 31-33 we read…   

31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty poundsof flour until it worked all through the dough.”

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

If you google images of heaven you tend to get pictures of blue sky and rays of light shining through the clouds. But this is not the image Jesus gives of heaven. The images Jesus uses for the kingdom of heaven are very down to earth. A common mustard seed and yeast for baking bread. 

The kingdom of heaven is not so much a geographical location. It’s more a state of being in which God’s will is done perfectly. The kingdom of heaven (also known as the kingdom of God), is characterised by justice and mercy, truth and grace. It is a community of lasting peace, joy and love.

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast are both telling us something about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven (come to earth) is about transformation, abundance and usefulness. We begin with transformation…

Transformation:

Most of you will have heard of the story of the Ugly Duckling. A mother duck is sitting on her eggs and one of the eggs is larger than the rest and takes longer to hatch. Then, when it finally does hatch, out crawls a drab grey looking creature, not a beautiful yellow chick.  

The ugly duckling looks and feels different to everyone else and because of this he is teased and taunted by the other ducks until finally he leaves home.

But the ugly duckling doesn’t fare much better out in the wide world, because all the other birds he meets also point out his flaws.  

The ugly duckling manages to survive one catastrophe after another until eventually makes it through the winter. Then one spring day, when the lake has melted, some children start throwing bread for him to eat.

And as they do they say to each other, ‘look at that beautiful swan’. The ugly duckling thinks the children are talking about someone else and so he looks down. But as he does, he sees his reflection in the water. He can’t believe his eyes. He was never a duckling in the first place. He had always been a swan.

Now he is able to find his own kind and is welcomed by them

The story of the Ugly Duckling is a parable of transformation, from humble beginnings to a beautiful end. The kingdom of heaven (or the way of God) is like the ugly duckling: different, misunderstood, abused and rejected at first. But in the end God’s will proves perfect and pleasing.

How often do we resist or even despise the will of God, finding it too distasteful, too difficult, too embarrassing, too small or too inconvenient, only to learn in the fullness of time that God’s will was the best thing to have happened to us, better than we expected or imagined.

Although the kingdom of heaven starts out small (like a mustard seed) it finishes up the largest of all garden shrubs. Likewise, although only a small amount of yeast is used in baking, it permeates through a large amount of flour, transforming it into delicious, nourishing bread. 

We note that the yeast permeates the flour from the inside. The kingdom of heaven is not a violent take over from the outside. The kingdom of heaven (like yeast) transforms the world, quietly, from the inside out.

Implied in these parables is an encouragement to persevere. It’s like Jesus is saying, I know the kingdom of heaven doesn’t look like much to start with, but don’t despise small beginnings. You will be surprised to see what comes of it. God’s kingdom (in its fullness) is worth remaining faithful for.  

Jesus was the original ugly duckling.

Jesus was born of a virgin and people questioned his parentage.  

Jesus came as a carpenter, when people were expecting a warrior king.

Jesus spoke the truth, and people threw him out of the synagogue.

Jesus cast out demons, and people accused him of being the devil.

Jesus ate with sinners, and people called him a glutton and a drunkard.

Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, and people crucified him.

But that is not the end of the story, for Jesus embodies the kingdom of God in himself. Jesus is like the mustard seed and the yeast. Jesus’ coming has a transformational effect on the world.

After Jesus died, they laid him in a tomb and on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead, the first of many. If you confess with their mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us that the kingdom of heaven, coming to earth, involves a process of transformation. Heaven’s humble beginnings on earth are a complete contrast to its glorious end.

So hang in there – persevere – for God’s kingdom is worth it in the end.           

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us the kingdom of heaven is about transformation and abundance.

Abundance:

In verse 32 of Matthew 13 Jesus says that though the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree…

Now in reading this we need to remember, Jesus is not giving a scientific lecture on seeds and plants. This is not a botany lesson. This is a kingdom of heaven lesson. It would be a mistake to test the truth of Jesus’ words using a scientific method. A parable is like poetry, it uses a certain amount of creative license to get the point across.

Jesus’ point is not that mustard seeds are the smallest seeds in all of creation. Mustard seeds are about 2-3 mm’s in diameter. Obviously there some seeds (or spores) which are smaller.

Nor is Jesus saying that mustard trees are the tallest of all trees. A mustard tree might grow between one and two metres tall, maybe more if conditions are right, but we are not talking the height of a kauri tree or an oak.  

Nevertheless, in the context of a herb garden, mustard seeds are tiny in comparison to the size of a mustard tree. And that is the point. From one tiny seed comes an unbelievable transformation and abundance.

You don’t see a lot of mustard trees growing in New Zealand, but you do see quite a bit of gorse. Gorse is not like mustard in every way, but it is similar in some ways.

Gorse and mustard plants are around the same size and both come out in a bright yellow flower. What’s more they are both abundant. Gorse and mustard plants are so quick to self-seed and spread they are considered an invasive weed by some people.  

As many of you will already know, gorse is not native to New Zealand.

Gorse was introduced to New Zealand a couple of hundred years ago from Scotland, I believe, where it is used as an ornamental hedge.

The settlers who introduced the gorse plant to New Zealand did not expect it to become so pervasive. The climate in New Zealand is warmer and so gorse plants grow more rapidly here and are harder to control.

Despite the millions spent on herbicides, slashing and burning, gorse is still found everywhere in New Zealand. In fact, gorse is so resilient that burning just makes it spread further

I imagine it must have come as quite a shock to Jesus’ first century listeners when he compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard plant. They would have been expecting Jesus to say the kingdom of heaven is like a tall cedar of Lebanon, just as we might expect him say the kingdom of heaven is like a mighty Totara of Aotearoa.

Instead, Jesus uses a far more ordinary image, the image of a common shrub that was actually unwanted by many. It would have seemed strange to Jesus’ original audience when he said, a man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field. Why would anyone intentionally plant mustard seed in their field. That would be like a farmer intentionally sowing gorse seed.

But despite being unwanted at first, the kingdom of heaven is resilient.

Not only do we get such an abundance of it from a small seed, once the kingdom of heaven is sown it is practically impossible to get rid of.

The kingdom of heaven spreads everywhere like mustard plants in Palestine or like gorse in New Zealand.

The parable of the yeast also speaks to the abundance of the kingdom of heaven. In verse 33 of Matthew 13 Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty poundsof flour until it worked all through the dough.”

60 pounds is an enormous amount of flour, more than you would normally bake for a family. It would make enough bread to feed a small village.

But that’s the point. Jesus is drawing a comparison between the small beginnings of the kingdom of heaven and the abundance it produces.

This idea of God’s abundance is often lost on us. We live in a society and culture which is more focused on scarcity and missing out. Our economy is driven by demand and supply which assumes there isn’t enough to go around, because sometimes (due to greed) there isn’t enough.

Not so in God’s country. The underlying assumption of the kingdom of heaven is abundance (due to generosity) with more than enough for everyone. Just imagine how different life will be when heaven is realised on earth in its fullness.   

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast show us the kingdom of heaven is about transformation, abundance and usefulness.

Usefulness:

When I was a teenager living at home, we used to grow mustard plants in the vege garden. Once the mustard plant got to a certain height (and before it went to seed) I would dig the foliage back into the soil. The green leaves acted as a fertiliser replenishing the soil’s nitrogen levels.

The mustard plant is useful for more than just fertiliser though. Indeed, the whole of the mustard plant is edible. The roots can be mashed up into a paste to be eaten. The leaves of a young mustard plant can be used in a salad and the seeds from the flowers are used to make the mustard you put on your ham.

In this way, the mustard plant is different from gorse. I wouldn’t advise trying to eat gorse, although goats have been known to feed on it.

Jesus finishes the parable of the mustard tree by saying: it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.

Birds do in fact find sanctuary in the branches of the mature mustard tree, but this is a parable and so the word, birds, has a double meaning. The prophets Daniel and Ezekiel used the image of birds perching in a tree as a metaphor for the gentile nations. 

Many of Jesus’ Jewish audience, therefore, would have understood the birds of the air to be a poetic reference to non-Jews. Once again, Jesus’ parable probably grated with some of his listeners. The nation of Israel, at that time, was under the thumb of the Romans. Some of Jesus’ Jewish listeners would have preferred God to destroy the people of other nations, not create a sanctuary for them.

There is one other way in which the mustard plant is similar to the gorse bush. Just as a mustard plant provides sanctuary for birds, so too the gorse bush is useful in providing a nursery for New Zealand native trees. If you leave gorse undisturbed, native seedlings will grow up through it, protected by the gorse.

In much the same way that gorse is useful for regenerating native bush, so too the kingdom of heaven is useful for regenerating the souls of people of all nations.

We are talking about the usefulness of the kingdom of heaven. In thinking about Jesus’ parable of the yeast, the question of usefulness should be obvious. Bread feeds people.

More than that, fresh bread baked with yeast is usually more pleasant to eat than unleavened flat bread. The yeast of God’s kingdom makes all that it comes in contact with more palatable, more delightful.

Now in case you are thinking, ‘this is just poetry and clever story telling with little or no application to real life’, let me give you some examples of how the mustard seed and the yeast of the kingdom of heaven has made a significant impact on human history (as if the impact of Jesus himself is not obvious enough).

The first hospital was set up by a Christian woman called Fabiola of Rome. Fabiola lived during the fourth century, about 350 years after Jesus. Fabiola came from a wealthy noble family and was married off at a young age to a husband who proved to be abusive and probably unfaithful.

Fabiola found the courage to divorce her brute of a husband and start again. She had to really, for her own survival.

After the death of her second husband, Fabiola had a conversion experience. She used her wealth to build a hospital in Rome where she gave herself to caring for the poor and the sick, those rejected by society because of their illnesses.

You have to understand that there were no hospitals in ancient Rome. The poor would often die in the street. 

Fabiola’s idea of a hospital caught on and spread around the world. Where would we be today without hospitals? Hospitals are like mustard trees in which the sick and injured find sanctuary. There are other examples too of the mustard seed of God’s heavenly kingdom taking root and having a positive effect in the world.

In his sermon last month, Murray Lucas highlighted Christians like Robert Boyle, John Dalton and Michael Faraday who rescued science from the blind superstition of the dark ages, giving us a more reliable scientific method which has enabled the advances in medicine we have today.

Closer to home, many of you will be familiar with the story of Ngakuku and his daughter Tarore. A mustard seed of heaven found its way into Ngakuku’s heart and mind, transforming his way of thinking and living.

Jesus taught us to pray: …forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…

Ngakuku took Jesus’ words to heart. When Tarore was murdered, Ngakuku was determined to forgive those who killed his daughter. Ngakuku discouraged his people from seeking revenge and God honoured Ngakuku’s faith and obedience to Christ.       

Tarore’s killer found a Māori translation of the gospel of Luke in Tarore’s pocket. When someone read the gospel to him, a mustard seed of heaven found its way into his heart and he sought forgiveness from Tarore’s father.

That is the kingdom of heaven at work in people’s lives and relationships.

Small seeds of love and truth growing and spreading to make a positive difference where it matters. What other mustard trees of heaven do you see in the world today?

Conclusion:

The mustard seed and the yeast of the kingdom of heaven are at work all around us, silently and right under our noses. The question is not, what can we do to make the world a better place? The question is: how might we join God in what he is doing in the world?

Let us pray…

Gracious God, open our eyes to the mustard trees and the bread of the kingdom of heaven all around us. Help us to sow the seeds of your love and truth wherever we are. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Do you have mustard at home (in the kitchen or in the garden)? What do you use it for?
  3. What are some of the characteristics of the mustard tree?
  4. What is the kingdom of heaven?
  5. In what ways is the mustard seed similar to the kingdom of heaven? In what ways is yeast similar to the kingdom of heaven?
  6. What mustard trees of God’s kingdom do you see growing in the world today? How might we join God in what he is doing in the world?
Tawa Baptist

The Tamarisk Tree

Scripture: Genesis 21:22-34

Video Link: https://youtu.be/w4-ftz3ddMM

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Peace
  • Prayer
  • Purpose
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

There are two kinds of trees: deciduous and evergreen.

The word deciduous means ‘to fall off’. Deciduous trees shed their leaves in autumn, to conserve energy in winter, then regrow their leaves in spring. Deciduous trees tend to have broad leaves, like oak or maple.

In contrast, evergreen trees keep their leaves all year round and generally cope better with hot weather. The leaves of an evergreen tree tend to be narrower, like pine or kānuka.

Today we continue our series, The Testimony of Trees. Last week we heard about the tree of knowledge in Genesis 2 and 3.

This week our focus is the Tamarisk tree, in Genesis 21. There are about 60 varieties of tamarisk trees growing around the world. Some are deciduous and some are evergreen.

The variety of tamarisk native to the Middle East (the geographical setting of Genesis 21) is Tamarix Aphylla. Tamarix Aphylla is the largest of the tamarisk family, growing up to 18 meters tall.

It has slender branches and scale like leaves. The tamarisk tree is known to be very tolerant of salts. In fact, its leaves excrete salty water. Due to the high salt content of its foliage tamarix aphylla is slow to catch fire. Which means it can be used as a fire barrier.

Tamarix aphylla grows relatively quickly, providing shade from the sun and shelter from the wind for stock. It also has an extensive root system which makes it good for erosion control, particularly in sandy soils. 

Basically, tamarix aphylla is a hardy, resilient tree. A friend to shepherds in the middle east. From Genesis 21, verses 32-34 we read about the tamarisk tree.

32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

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

In the context of Genesis 21, the tamarisk tree is associated with at least three things: peace, prayer and purpose. Let’s begin by considering the peace connection.

Peace:

Last Thursday, the 6th of February, was Waitangi Day, a national holiday for the people of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840.

The Treaty was eventually signed by 531 Māori chiefs and the representatives of the Crown. Queen Victoria of England was the reigning monarch of the day.

The purpose of Te Tiriti was to protect Māori and their land, as well as establishing stable government to keep peace and order. New Zealand was a pretty wild place in those days, without law or an effective justice system.

You sometimes hear the principles of the Treaty summarized by the three P’s: partnership, participation and protection.

Those who signed the Treaty in 1840 understood it to be a covenant, a forever agreement. The wording stipulates ‘forever’. Sadly, there has been much disagreement over the interpretation and application of the Treaty during the past 185 years, not helped by the fact there are two versions of the Treaty, one in English and one in Māori.      

In verse 22 of Genesis 21, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, and his general, Phicol, offer to make a peace treaty with Abraham. If you think about it, this is quite remarkable really. Normally, with peace treaties, the party in the weaker position approaches the one in the stronger position.

Outwardly, Abimelech appears to be in a stronger position than Abraham. Abraham is a wandering shepherd, a sojourner, a resident alien in the land;   he doesn’t have a fortress or an army like Abimelech and so we don’t expect Abimelech to make a treaty with Abraham. Why then does Abimelech feel the need to do this?

Well, Abimelech gives his reason in verse 22 when he says to Abraham: “God is with you in everything you do”. What does it mean that God is with Abraham?

I’ve come up with a little acronym which outlines what it means to be with someone. W is for wellbeing, I is for intimacy, T is for trust and H is for help.

You know someone is with you when they are committed to your wellbeing. When they share themselves intimately with you. When they trust you. And when they provide you with help.   

God is with Abraham, as a friend. Theirs is a relationship characterised by wellbeing, intimacy, trust and help.

One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. Jesus is, God with us. Through faith in Jesus, we can have a relationship with God based on wellbeing, intimacy, trust and help.

Returning to Genesis, Abimelech has the spiritual sensitivity and insight to see that God is with Abraham. And so, Abimelech says to Abraham…

23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”          

By making a treaty with Abraham, Abimelech is aligning himself with Abraham’s God who holds the power of life & death. Abimelech wants Abraham to deal honestly with him and to treat him with kindness

The Hebrew word translated as kindness here is hesed. Hesed is a Hebrew term which is sometimes translated as kindness, sometimes as mercy and other times as steadfast love or loyal (covenant) love.

Hesed isn’t just an abstract concept though – it is an action, something tangible that one does for someone else’s well-being. Abimelech wants Abraham to make a solemn commitment to always treat him and his descendants with hesed, and Abraham agrees.

In agreeing to a covenant with Abimelech, Abraham shows respect, humility and meekness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is strength tempered by self-control. Meekness is the twin of gentleness.

God was with Abraham and had promised the land to him. But Abraham does not let that go to his head. Abraham does not seek to take the land by force. Abraham prefers peace. He respects the people of the land and waits for God.  

Abimelech’s treaty provided Abraham with the opportunity to sort out a dispute over watering rights. Abraham had dug a well and Abimelech’s servants had seized it. Water wells were vitally important in that part of the world. Rain fall was seasonal (it wasn’t all year round) so wells were essential to the survival of people and animals alike.

Abimelech wanted peace with Abraham but without justice there can be no peace. So, Abraham sought justice over the well.

This was an awkward moment for Abimelech. The king has just given a speech about how he has treated Abraham with ‘kindness’ or hesed and now he is learning that in fact his servants have done nothing of the sort. The servants have embarrassed Abimelech and the king is quick to plead ignorance.     

What happens next is quite unexpected. Normally the one who has been wronged (in this case Abraham) would be owed some compensation. But in this situation Abraham doesn’t seek compensation for himself. He does the opposite. Abraham gives Abimelech seven sheep. Abimelech is confused and asks, ‘what does this mean?’

Abraham explains that by accepting these sheep you are acknowledging that I dug this well.

By seizing Abraham’s well, Abimelech’s servants had done an injustice to Abraham and brought shame on their master. To save face Abimelech might feel it necessary to punish his servants. But Abraham comes to the rescue of the men who seized his well by providing compensation on their behalf.  

In this way Abraham has done hesed by preserving Abimelech’s honour and shielding the servants from punishment. Indebted by Abraham’s hesed, Abimelech and his servants will now stay away from Abraham’s well.

Prayer:

It is after making this peace treaty with Abimelech that Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and there called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.     

To call on the name of the Lord is another way of saying that Abraham prayed to God and worshipped him.

Elsewhere in Genesis, Abraham is noted as building an altar and calling on the name of the Lord. In this context planting a tree is like building an altar. It designates a sacred place for prayer and worship.

Now to be clear, Abraham is not worshipping the tree. The tamarisk is not like an idol that he bows down to. Nor does the tamarisk tree in anyway represent God. We should not think of the tamarisk tree as a metaphor for God.

As hardy and resilient as the tamarisk tree is, it is not eternal like God.

A tamarisk tree might live somewhere between 50 to 100 years depending on the circumstances. In contrast, the Lord lives forever.

What we notice in verse 33 is Abraham’s prayer life. He has a special place for calling on the Lord. We can pray to God anywhere and at any time, of course. God is not rooted to one location, like a tree. The Lord will hear us wherever we are. Nevertheless, it can be helpful to us if we have a special place where we pray.   

Abraham’s special place was by the tamarisk tree he planted in the dry and desolate wilderness of Beersheba. Once grown, the tamarisk tree would act as a sanctuary, providing shade from the harsh sun for Abraham while he prayed.

Prayer is like a tamarisk tree in that it provides a sanctuary for the human soul.   

The wilderness of Beersheba is an interesting choice. Around the same time as agreeing to a peace treaty with Abimelech, Abraham sent his eldest son, Ishmael into the desert of Beersheba, with his mother Hagar and a skin of water.

Abraham’s second son, Isaac, had just been born and there was friction in the household between Sarah and Hagar. Long story short, once the water had run out, Hagar left Ishmael under a bush to die. Was the bush a young tamarisk tree? Quite possibly, we can’t be sure. From verse 17 of Genesis 21 we read…

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.

Interesting that Ishmael became an archer. I read somewhere that the wood of the tamarisk tree is good for making bows. Apparently, tamarisk wood has the strength and flexibility needed.

What did Abraham pray about under his tamarisk tree? We are not told but probably all manner of things. As a parent, we could well expect him to pray for his children, that God would be with them and watch over their lives for good. In fact, God was with Ishmael and Isaac, even as they took different paths in life.

Prayer is like a tamarisk tree. It provides a sanctuary for the human soul.

Where is your tamarisk tree? Where is your sanctuary for prayer?

Do you have a private prayer closet in your home? Or do you prefer to pray in a small group of close friends? Maybe this church auditorium is your prayer place? Or perhaps you prefer to pray with your hands in the garden, pulling out weeds and watering the plants?  

The tamarisk tree of Genesis 21 is associated with peace, prayer and purpose. 

Purpose:

You may have heard of the term agroforestry. Agroforestry does not refer to angry trees. Rather agroforestry is a sustainable farming practice. That is, planting trees and shrubs alongside crops and livestock.

Agroforestry enhances biodiversity and mitigates the harmful effects of monoculture. (Monoculture is when just one crop is grown.)

Tamarisk trees are used in agroforestry as wind breaks and they also help with the reclamation of marginal lands. As already mentioned, tamarisk roots give stability to the soil and the branches provide shade for livestock. If pasture is scarce, then sheep and goats and cattle can feed off the leaves of the tamarisk.

What’s more, the tamarisk flower attracts bees, which are good for the pollination and propagation of a variety of plants. 

Abraham probably chose to plant a tamarisk (rather than an oak or something else) because it served a practical purpose. The tamarisk was suited to the harsh environment of Beersheba and, as verse 34 makes plain, Abraham intended to stay there for a good long while.

Planting tamarisk trees in Beersheba was an agroforestry strategy long before the term ‘agroforestry’ was coined. Planting tamarisk trees would help Abraham and future generations with farming and shepherding livestock.  

I can’t help noticing how Abraham is a bit like the tamarisk tree in some respects.

Through years of waiting in barrenness, God had grown Abraham & Sarah’s faith strong and deep and wide, like the root system of a tamarisk tree.

Abraham’s faith in God has proven resilient, prospering in even the harshest of environments.

Abraham (who is now over 100 years old) is still evergreen, fathering a son in his old age.

What’s more, Abraham is a salt of the earth kind of person. Just as the tamarisk leaves sweat salt, so too Abraham is salty. Abraham is in the world but not of it, maintaining the distinctive flavour of holiness.

Abraham and the tamarisk tree are both a blessing to the land. Abraham does not try to take the land by force. He is humble and meek, lending stability and peace. Abraham is a man of prayer and a servant to God’s purpose.

Perhaps also the tamarisk tree serves as a symbol of God’s purpose for the nation of Israel. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God was making a nation that would be resilient and life-giving, a source of shelter and sustenance to those who find themselves in the wilderness. A blessing to the nations.

Sadly, the people of Israel fell short of God’s purpose for the nation, as we have all fallen short. But by God’s grace Jesus fulfils God’s purpose for Israel and for all humanity.

Like Abraham, Jesus serves God’s purpose as a man of peace and prayer.

Jesus did not go to war against the occupying Roman forces of his day.

Jesus chose the path of gentleness and humility, saying…

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

And, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 

Conclusion:

At this point in the sermon, you might expect me to encourage you all to be more like the tamarisk tree; hardy, resilient, salty, lending stability to the land and providing shelter from the harsh elements of this world.

And while they might be good things to aspire to, I’m not sure that is the best application of the text. What you will notice as we go through this series is that each variety of tree we learn about is different.

A better question might be: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? How has God made you? Some of you may be like the tamarisk tree, but not all of us are suited to a dry and desolate environment. Most of us do better when planted beside streams of water.

The point is, don’t try and be something you are not. Be who God made you to be. Whatever tree you might be like, grow where you are planted and let God fulfil his purpose for your life.

Let us pray…

Gracious God, help us to grow to full maturity in Christ and be the people together you made us to be. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What are some of the characteristics of tamarix aphylla? What are tamarisk trees useful for?
  3. Why did Abraham plant a tamarisk tree in Genesis 21? What is the tamarisk tree associated with in Genesis 21?
  4. Where is your tamarisk tree? Where is your sanctuary for prayer? 
  5. In what ways is Abraham like a tamarisk tree?
  6. In what ways are Jesus and Abraham similar? (How do Abraham’s actions in Genesis 21 point to Jesus?)
  7. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? How has God made you?
Tawa Baptist

Science and Christian Faith – by Murray Lucas

From the chemistry of our morning cup of tea or coffee to the instruments that map the night sky. From breakthroughs that reveal great mysteries to medicines that improve our health outcomes. Science touches every part of our life.

Today I want to explore the relationship between Science and the Christian faith. I contend that Science and Christianity are indeed compatible and are two inseparable halves of a unified whole world view. Also, Christians through their faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have in fact enhanced Science. Many of the good outcomes of Science have been inspired by men and women of faith.

Partly as a result of the COVID epidemic, differing opinions of the relationship between Christianity and Science have been highlighted and sadly these have divided families and broken friendships.

In some Christian circles today, people contend there is no overlap between a belief in God and Science and would contend that a belief in Science is tantamount to idolatry. Even, if these same people would think nothing of entrusting their bread to a toaster every morning and sometimes more often.

Others contend that Science and Christianity go hand in hand and Science is one of God’s ways of repair and restoration.

Arguably the birthplace of modern Science is the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge university in England. It was in the Cavendish Laboratory that NZ Scientist, Ernest Rutherford, split the atom. As you enter this laboratory there is a verse from Psalm 111 inscribed in Latin. The English translation is “Great are the works of the Lord. They are pondered by all who delight in them.”.

The Christian writer Joyce Rupp goes further and says, ‘We can only speak about and proclaim you through the guiding help of symbol and story’. Science and Faith are about symbols and stories. Science and Faith is about observation, interpretation and inspiration.

I will look at the history of Science from the Middle Ages to now and use the example of three scientists who were inspired by their deep Christian faith to make lasting, valuable and life-giving contributions to Science. They are Robert Boyle-the father of Chemistry, John Dalton who also advanced Chemistry and Michael Faraday a key person in the field of Physics.

In both the Middle Ages and the Dark Age, most Scientists were called Alchemists and Science was defined as Alchemy. Alchemy was a search for a mysterious element or compound often called an elixir that could transform all metals to gold. Looking back at this time many scholars believed that the spiritual aspects of alchemy were at best not good and at worst occultic and evil. Science in those ages could be described as alien to Christianity.

Towards the end of the 17th Century, Robert Boyle, a scientist who was Christian, published a book “The Sceptical Chymist’. This book challenged the idea that matter was made up of a mix of all the 4 elements earth, fire, air and wind. He went further and advocated the notion that God created the universe according to different laws.

Instead, Boyle used new equipment and experiments to prove his theories about the world. As a result, Boyle is given the title ‘The Father of Modern Chemistry’ and was one of the key figures that set up the Royal Society which is still in existence today some 364 years later. It is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world.  

Robert Boyle is an outstanding example of a Christian scientist whose faith interacted fundamentally with his science. His faith in God was the driving force behind his interest in Science and his Christian character shaped the ways in which he conducted his scientific life. Boyle believed God gave humans three books to aid their salvation – the book of Scripture, the book of conscience and the book of nature’.

Boyle was born in Ireland and along with his siblings was raised as devout members of the Anglican church. He was the fourteenth of fifteen children in his family.

Another Christian scientist who built on Boyle’s pioneering work on the atomic theory of matter is John Dalton. Dalton developed methods to calculate atomic weights and to represent atoms pictorially. Among other things he also discovered colour blindness which at the time was known as Daltonism. He was described as the father of modern atomic theory.

Dalton was a committed quaker throughout his life and he was educated at a quaker school. He must have been a fast learner as he was employed as a teacher at the age of 13 and became Principal of the school at the age of 19.

He shunned publicity but when Dalton died in 1844, he was buried with honours in Manchester, England. More than 400,000 people visited his body as he lay in state.

The third Christian scientist I want to feature is Michael Faraday. He discovered many of the fundamental laws of Physics and Chemistry despite the fact that he had virtually no formal education. The son of an English blacksmith he had his first job at the age of 14 as an assistant to a bookseller and bookbinder. Faraday was extremely curious, questioning everything. He read every book that he bound and decided that one day he would write a book.

Faraday has been described as the father of Electricity and the discoverer of Electromagnetism and transformers and was a pioneer of radiocommunication. He also was a passionate Scientific educator and in the 1850’s established Christmas lectures on Science for children that still take place today.

Faraday’s family and Faraday himself belonged to a Christian denomination called the Sandemanian which according to Faraday was the most important influence on him and provided spiritual sustenance. Faraday was so involved in Church that he acted as co-pastor for a significant number of years where he preached in the services and also had spiritual oversight and pastoral care of the people in his congregation.

Faraday believed that in his scientific research he was reading “the book of nature… written by the finger of God”. He was a devout Christian who remained loyal to God throughout his life.

Faraday saw his faith as integral to his scientific research. One of the most respected organisations looking at understanding Science and religion is the Faraday Institute for Science and religion. It is a Cambridge based interdisciplinary research institute which aims to improve public understanding of religious beliefs in relation to the Sciences. It aims to provide accurate information in order to facilitate informed debate. Courses in 2025 at the Faraday Institute include ‘Caring for Creation, leading the Church Forward’ and “Science, Religion and Justice”.

I have only mentioned three Scientists who credited God as their inspiration. There are many others such as Sir Isaac Newton and the astronomers Galileo and Kepler. Francis Collins was once an atheist but through his work on the genome theory has become a committed Christian.

The Father of Chemistry, the Father of Modern Atomic Theory and the father of electricity were all committed believers and their faith in God was instrumental in their scientific work. They believed that because the universe was created by God and that human beings are made in God’s image it is perfectly possible and in fact necessarily logical that we could – and we should – try to understand the universe by observation, by interpretation and inspiration. The Father of the universe, God, has been both their inspiration and their sustainer. It has enabled Science to progress from a situation where theories were made to fit philosophies but not reflect observations to a situation where science is a powerful tool to promote human health and wellbeing as well as the ecological health of the world.

The writer of Genesis challenges us to be good stewards of the earth. Boyle, Dalton and Faraday have done just that and used Science as a valuable tool to progress humanity both physically and spiritually.

In terms of being stewards of the earth there are numerous biblical verses to support this. In 1 Corinthians 4:2 Paul states that it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. In Numbers 35 we are told not to pollute and defile the land in which we live. In Genesis 2 before the Fall, the Lord God took humans and put them in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. In Psalm 8 we read that God has given us dominion over the works of God’s hands and he has put all things under our feet and this includes beasts of the field, birds of the sky and fishes in the sea.

Currently we observe our world and we see the land, the sky and the sea that is being destroyed by needless wars and we also see the rapid increase in numbers of species of animals, birds and fishes that are now considered endangered. We need more than ever leadership and help from Christian scientists whose motivation is built on a Christian worldview.

Finally, the Bible makes it clear that Science is a gift from God who is the source of all good things (James 1:17). “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting challenges”.

The fact is we can use our intellect along with our Christian worldview to explore the physical world and make discoveries that can improve our living conditions and heal the world. This is not only good but is biblical.

I would like to conclude by sharing a story of how reading Scripture enabled a Scientist to gain a new perspective on his field of interest that benefited humanity.

Matthew Maury was a naval commander. His research and charts pioneered the field of oceanography and navigation. In 1839, Maury sustained a leg injury that left him bedridden. As a sailor he had been around the world many times. While he was recovering from his injury, his wife read to him from various books, including the Bible.

One day Mrs. Maury read to him from Psalm 8, which talks about God’s creative power and might. As he listened, Matthew wanted to have his imagination and thinking ignited. The particular words that caught his attention were verses 6 to 8, where it is written, “you have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things under his authority – all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the sea”.

Maury began thinking, “How can the sea have paths?” Then he thought that if he ever got back to sea, he would do some research on the paths of the sea. Two years later he went back to the navy and was put in charge of their depot of charts and instruments. In this post he launched an investigation of the ocean currents which kept him busy for the next 20 years and earned him the title “Pathfinder of the Seas”.

He designed logbooks and gave them to sea captains from many nations. He asked them to keep a daily record of their locations, wind speed and weather conditions. He persuaded sailors to drop bottles in the sea with messages recording the date and the location.

Eventually, Commander Maury was responsible for charting the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Stream and laid the foundations for the US Naval Observatory. Maury’s work cut precious days from travel time as captains took advantage of the natural currents of the sea. His discoveries saved countless lives by helping navigators to avoid dangerous storm times at sea. It all stemmed from his belief that “the paths of the sea” was not a piece of poetic expression but an accurate statement that science had not yet caught up with.

The Bible of course is not a scientific document. Rather it is a book which seeks to present God’s perspective on things. This is an example of how Science and Christian faith work together for the benefit of humanity.

Benediction

So now we offer our thanks

for the beauty of these islands.

for the wild places and the bush

for the mountains and the coast and the sea.

We offer thanks and praise to God

for this good land.

for its trees and pastures,

for its plentiful crops

and the skills we have learned to grow them

Our thanks for marae and cities

we have built.

for science and discoveries,

for our life together,

for Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Amen.

Tawa Baptist

In Our House – by Neville Gardner

Earlier in the service I read out a story called “Where’s God?” written by Victor Kelleher. I refer to it a bit in this talk, so here’s a summary:

A boy called Peter wanted to know where God is. His sister and dad weren’t much help, but mum said God was in everything. Peter looked in a church, where he discovered that God is in lots of places at the same time, but he couldn’t see him. An old man in the park told Peter that God is in his heart, but Peter didn’t know how to look there. By the end of the story, Peter still hadn’t found God, but he would be searching again soon.

The church we are sitting in was opened on the 1st of February 1965; that’s very nearly 60 years ago. There were other buildings before that – what we now use as the church hall was the previous church. Some of you were here for the opening and have been coming ever since. Others of you have been coming for varying lengths of time – many of you weren’t even born 60 years ago! Whatever your age or background, you all share reasons for being here.

I realise there are some people who are unable to be here for various reasons, though they would like to be – they are still part of this congregation.

In the story I read earlier, the boy Peter went into a church looking for God. I guess that’s one reason some people go to church, but there are lots of others, as we’ll see. Later, Peter was told that God is in everyone’s heart.

Let’s use Peter’s style of logic. If God is in everyone’s heart, then everyone who goes to church takes God in with them. Therefore, a good place to meet someone who has found where God is, is in a church full of people.

But if they’ve already found God, why are they in church?

With the start of a new year, and with this building’s milestone, I thought we could remind ourselves of some answers to this question.

When you visit someone else’s house, you can normally work out what each room is used for by the things that are in them. The kitchen contains things connected with cooking; the laundry contains things connected with washing clothes, and so on.

Some rooms contain things that as a visitor you might want to ask questions about. Visitors to our house are often interested in the displays of minerals and historic artefacts in the lounge. Or the books everywhere – Nicky and I have rather different responses to questions about them!

These types of things reveal more about your hosts than an armchair or toaster do. All the extra stuff is evidence of accumulated personal history and memories; it can give you a sense of the unique character of the occupants.

Over its 60 years, this church building, like a house, has acquired a collection of, mostly, useful and meaningful items. These say something about the character of its users. Like a house, you can get an idea of this character by looking at the contents.

Today we’ll look at some of the physical contents of this auditorium and use them to answer that question I arrived at earlier – why do we come to church?

Sometimes when you visit a house, you only get to see one or two rooms. But you know there are other rooms with other functions. In the same way, I’m going to concentrate on this auditorium – there are other spaces where the functions of the church go on, not just in the buildings around us but wherever you are out in the world.

So, let’s examine some of the contents of this room.

You might expect me to start with the cross at the front, but my first item is actually the rows of seats. These represent you, the community of Christians who worship in this church on a Sunday morning. I wouldn’t be able to talk about some of the other items in the auditorium without mentioning the people who call this church home.

Now for the crosses. Even many non-Christians know that a cross is a symbol of the execution of Jesus. Some churches have a representation of Jesus on the cross as a reminder of his suffering and sacrifice. Others, including Baptist churches, use an empty cross, emphasising the fact that Jesus was taken down, buried and then rose from the dead.

It’s less common to see three crosses together in a church.

Jesus was crucified with a criminal on either side. One of them wanted Jesus to save him so he could escape judgement. The other was willing to accept judgement, because he knew he had done wrong, but he allowed Jesus to take up the burden of his sin. The cross on one side therefore represents the rebellion of humankind. The cross on the other side represents the repentance we all need. The central cross represents the redemption that Jesus offers.

  • We don’t worship the cross, but we do worship the risen Christ it represents. That’s one of the reasons we come to church.

I’ve chosen the Bible next; it’s quite obvious here at the front. Some churches have an open Bible on display to acknowledge it as God’s Word, to show it is treasured and to indicate that it is accessible to everybody. There are copies in the pews for people to use during a service.

The Bible is a source of authority. It records how God has revealed himself to humans, and how he expects them to respond. We tend to use it as a sort of guidebook to navigate our lives. It can be quite hard to understand, and that’s where this lectern comes in. This is where someone stands to read parts of the Bible out to people, and where they place their notes if they are preaching.

I said just now that the Bible is accessible to everyone; we can read it for ourselves, so why do we need sermons? Sometimes we need help to discern some of the things God says, and we can benefit from a different way of seeing things, presented by people God has given the task and gifts to. That way, we may learn to see things clearer for ourselves. Sermons can stir up our emotions and excite us about God. Also, by being with others as God’s word is explained, we can be affected and supported by the reactions of those around us.

There are lots of inspirational sermons available online to watch at home or on the move. However, I feel that we benefit by hearing our own ministers bring messages created, under God’s guidance, especially for this congregation.

  • Learning from the Bible is one of the reasons we come to church.

We can see plenty of evidence of music in this church. There’s the organ, the piano, other musical instruments and, at times during a service, singers and musicians. Over the years, music has played a large part in developing the character of this church community.

In his letter to the Ephesians, the words of Paul still urge us to be “speaking to one another with the words of psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing hymns and psalms to the Lord with praise in your hearts.” (Ephesians 5:19).”

Psalm 33 tells us to “Give thanks to the Lord with harps, sing to him with stringed instruments. Sing a new song to him, play the harp with skill, and shout for joy!”

This collective singing, and the making of music, is not for entertainment; it’s to speak to God, to worship him and to rejoice in him. As I can attest, you don’t have to have a good voice – God hears your best attempt and takes it as praise.

When you sing collectively, you also sing to each other, joining together in worship. You sing to yourself too, soaking up and refreshing yourself with the words.

Many years ago, I used to live in Cardiff, Wales, just across the river from Cardiff Arms Park rugby ground. When the national team was playing, I’d open my window and listen to thousands of Welsh people singing together, all supporting the same side. That’s what we do in here, sing together because we’re all on the same side.

  • Singing and playing to the Lord is one of the reasons we come to church.

The next thing I’ve chosen to look at is less obvious. It’s the very stylised fish symbol above the windows. I talked about the cross earlier, but it wasn’t a commonly used symbol in the early Christian church. Until Christianity became an accepted religion, Christians were persecuted, even crucified for their beliefs. So the cross was a symbol of fear for many. Instead, the image of a fish was often used, like a sort of password, to mark secret meeting places and to identify Christians to each other.

Why a fish? Many reasons have been suggested. The simplest say it was because Jesus used fish in several of his miracles (think bread and fish, filling empty nets with fish). He also called some of his earliest disciples, actual fishermen, to become ‘fishers of men.’

We don’t need a secret password anymore, but the fish is still a potent symbol. It reminds us of the hardships of early Christians, but mostly it reminds us that we too are to be ‘fishers of men’. And in church we can learn some of the attitudes, the biblical knowledge and tools necessary.

  • Being encouraged to be ‘fishers of men’ is one of the reasons we come to church.

I’m going to stop my little tour of this room in our house here. There are other reasons for coming to church that don’t have an obvious object associated with them, such as prayer. Items connected with other reasons are only present sometimes – communion and baptism for instance. I encourage you to think about how these fit into your own church-based life, or how you would explain them if you were taking a visitor on a tour of the auditorium.

I’ve mentioned some reasons for coming to church that can be summed up as ‘spiritual growth’ – we can develop our spiritual life and grow closer to God through worship, Bible-based teaching, singing, prayer. Mind you, you can do these things on your own too.

Scripture doesn’t tell us that we must attend church, but it does speak about the blessing of being part of a church community. For example, in the Letter to the Hebrews we read:

Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

Hebrews 10: 24-25

As well as worship and spiritual growth, there are reasons for gathering together which can’t always be met elsewhere.

We can meet and build friendships with people who share our beliefs and values. This helps give us a sense of belonging.

It helps us receive comfort and support when life becomes difficult.

If you have children, you are supported in giving them a Christian upbringing.

I’m sure you will think of other reasons.

So, we have lots of reasons for coming together for worship and fellowship on a Sunday, and we have accumulated a number of physical items to help us. It’s hard to imagine gathering on a Sunday without a cross, a Bible, sources of music and somewhere to sit. Some would argue that you can have all these things without having a dedicated building that is only used one morning a week. After all, such a building is expensive to build and maintain, and resources could be better used helping our wider community, our neighbours.

Different churches have found different ways to address this balance. All have advantages and disadvantages.

Here at Tawa Baptist we are blessed, because earlier congregations (including some current members) have given us facilities that include both a dedicated worship auditorium and rooms and buildings for other uses. It’s much like a house of many rooms.

And I think Peter would have found God in all of them, don’t you?

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. How would you answer the question “Where’s God”?
  2. When people visit your home, how do you respond when they ask questions about what they see in a room?
  3. When you visit someone else’s home, do you just notice the contents (without appearing to be nosy of course) or do you ask questions? What sorts of things do you like to know about?
  4. How important do you think it is for a faith community (a church) to have a permanent, dedicated building to meet in? Think of some advantages and disadvantages.


Tawa Baptist

The Fruit of Hope

Scripture: Isaiah 35

Video Link: https://youtu.be/e3kB49mMC_Y

Structure:

  • Introduction – Joy is the fruit of hope
  • Hope for renewal – from curse to blessing
  • Hope for release – from fear to joy
  • Hope for restoration – from exclusion to worship
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Joy is the fruit of hope. If hope is a beehive, then joy is the honey.

If hope is a herd of cows, then joy is the milk they produce.

If hope is a tree, then joy is the oxygen breathed out by the tree.

If hope is a sunny day, then joy is the Vitamin D you absorb from the sun.

If hope is a good night’s rest, then joy is the energy you get from sleeping well. If hope is a cash deposit with the bank, then joy is the interest earned.

If hope is a gentle spring rain, then joy is the new growth on the land.

Joy is the fruit of hope.

Today is the third Sunday of Christmas Advent. Traditionally, the theme of the third Sunday in Advent is joy. With joy in mind our sermon is based on Isaiah 35. In Isaiah 35 the prophet offers a vision of hope for the future and this vision inspires joy. From Isaiah 35, verse 1 we read…

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there.   But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

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

Isaiah 35 is the prophet’s vision for the future. After judgement, there is hope for renewal, hope for release and hope for restoration. Let us begin with hope for renewal.

Hope for renewal:

You renew silver by polishing it.

You renew a battery by charging it.

You renew a plant by watering it.

You renew your body by resting it.

You renew trust by being truthful.

You renew your perspective by getting back to nature.

You renew commitment by remembering your promises.

You renew a friendship by spending quality time together.

You renew behaviour by changing the way you think.

You renew your mind with the help of the Holy Spirit.

But how do you renew joy? By giving people a vision of hope for a better future. Joy is the fruit of hope.

In Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground, so it produced thorns and weeds, making it difficult for humankind to work the soil and grow food. Here, in Isaiah 35, the prophet imagines a world in which God reverses the curse of sin so the land is renewed.

In verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 35 the prophet speaks about the desert rejoicing greatly, like when a crocus bursts into bloom. The crocus plant is beautiful and vibrant. From the crocus flower we get saffron which is a rare and valuable spice used in cooking. This is a wonderful image of renewal. With Genesis 3 in mind, we notice the movement from curse to blessing.

Verse 2 goes on to offer more images of renewal. The glory of Lebanon and the splendour of Carmel and Sharon will be given to the desolate wilderness.

In ancient times Lebanon was known for its cedar forests and Carmel and Sharon were regions renowned for their fruitfulness and beauty. The prophet imagines a future transformed for the better. From a scorched earth to a well-watered earth. From a harsh environment to a fruitful environment. From a cursed land to a blessed land. This is a vision of Eden renewed.  

Verse 2 concludes with the phrase, they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God. Who is the prophet talking about here? Who are they?

Well, on one level they are probably the Jewish exiles in Babylon who would one day return to their homeland. But on another level, they might also refer to those who live in a spiritual wilderness at any time in history. They whose faith is dry and burned out. They who are oppressed by sin and injustice.

They could be us. The spiritual environment we live in is not friendly or hospitable. It is not easy to live a Godly life in this world. Sometimes it feels like a spiritual desert. We may long for renewal.

The prophet imagines a future in which the spiritual environment will be renewed by the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is a way of talking about God’s power and presence, his divine light. As Christians, we believe Jesus came to make all things new. Jesus embodies the renewing power and presence of God. Jesus’ coming is cause for joy.

Jumping ahead to verse 7, Isaiah returns to the image of a renewed wilderness saying, the burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the Bible water is often a poetic way of referring to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord is how God brings renewal to his creation. We don’t manufacture renewal out of thin air. We depend on God’s Spirit for our renewal.

Hope for release:

Joy is the fruit of hope. We have heard about the hope for renewal. Now let’s consider the hope for release.

In the news this past week we have seen images of joy as Syrian political prisoners were released following the fall of the Assad regime. Many of these prisoners were locked up and tortured because they opposed the regime.

The people of Syria are overjoyed at finally ejecting a ruler who governed with fear and ruined his country. 

Prisons come in many forms. There are physical prisons with concrete walls and barbed wire, which are not pleasant places to be. But there are also mental prisons, created by fear. The prison of fear can be difficult to escape.

In the movie, The Truman Show, the producer and director of the show prevents Truman from escaping by lying to him and instilling fear. He fakes the death of Truman’s father in a boating accident to create a fear of water, and the cast reinforce Truman’s anxieties with warnings about the dangers of travelling abroad. Nevertheless, Truman fosters a quiet hope of one day venturing to Fiji.

In many ways, anxious fear is the opposite of joy. Joy is the fruit of hope. Joy is a positive energy that enables us to function and move forward in faith.

By contrast, anxious fear drains us of energy. Anxious fear disables us, preventing us from making the changes that lead to life. Anxious fear is the product of deceit. When we believe in lies, we become a prisoner to fear.

In verses 3 and 4, the prophet offers a message of sure hope for those who are imprisoned by fear. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

The phrase fearful hearts literally translates, hasty hearts.[1] Hearts that beat quickly with anxiety. Minds that undermine hope and joy by racing ahead and imagining the worst.

Isaiah means to calm hasty hearts and replace fear with joy. The people have apparently believed the lie that God has given up on them, and that God does not care about justice. Isaiah replaces this lie with the truth that God does care and he will come to right the wrongs against them.  

The theme of release, especially release from fear, is echoed again in verses 8-9 which read, 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,  

In ancient times travelling was not easy or safe, particularly travelling through the wilderness. If you were Jewish, making a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem often meant going through enemy territory on foot, where you could be ambushed by robbers. Then there was the added threat of being attacked by wild animals.

For God’s people in exile in Babylon, the thought of making a long and difficult journey home through the bad lands would have been overwhelming.

The fear of being harmed loomed large. Isaiah wants to dispel that fear and give the people confidence. They will be able to travel the way unimpeded and without fear of being attacked.

Isaiah’s words still apply today. This world is like one long exile until God’s kingdom is realized in its fullness on earth. We too are on a journey. We too need to find our way home to God. 

We note here the way is for the redeemed, those ransomed or set free at great cost. We note also, the way back is a Way of Holiness.

Holiness is about living a life of faithful obedience to the Lord. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s purpose. To be holy is to be pure in heart, not double-minded or two faced. To be holy is to be devoted to God, not divided in our loyalty or motivation.  

As Barry Webb puts it: ‘The pursuit of holiness is the pursuit of God himself. The face that is set towards God will open to joy and gladness like a flower opening to the sun.’ [2]   

The road to God is the way of holiness, which is unfortunate because none of us are holy, not really. How then are we to find our way home to God?

In John 14, Jesus says of himself, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.  

Jesus is the way of holiness that Isaiah was talking about. Jesus is our holiness. To walk the way of holiness is to follow Jesus, to be in Christ, to trust him for our redemption.

Hope for restoration:    

Joy is the fruit of hope. For the people of God, joy comes from hope for renewal, hope for release and hope for restoration.

The hope for renewal involves a movement from curse to blessing.

And the hope for release involves a movement from fear to joy.

But what about the hope for restoration? What movement is involved here?

It’s a movement from exclusion to worship.

In 1973 John Denver wrote Annie’s Song. The first verse reads…

You fill up my senses, like a night in the forest. Like the mountains in springtime. Like a walk in the rain. Like a sleepy blue ocean. Like a storm the desert.

You fill up my senses, come fill me again.

Apparently, John wrote these lyrics on a chair lift after a difficult ski run in the Colorado mountains. He was inspired by the beauty of nature and thought of his wife Annie. It’s a love song. Although John Denver wrote this song for his wife, it has the feel of a psalm. It’s like a worship song.

There are times in worship when God fills up our senses with an awareness of his presence and we are lost in awe and wonder and praise. In those rare moments, we catch a glimpse of the vision which inspired Isaiah 35.

When God fills our senses it’s like we are drowning in his laughter, overwhelmed with the joy of always being with him, giving our life to him in love, and when this life ends dying in his arms knowing eternal life is to come.

Not sure about you, but I don’t usually experience God’s presence like that in gathered worship. However, I have (occasionally) experienced the joy of what I believe is Jesus’ presence, in my own personal devotional times. I hope you do too. It’s a gift to treasure.

In verses 5 and 6 of Isaiah 35, the prophet offers a picture of restoration saying:

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy…

In this word picture, sight is restored, hearing is restored, movement is restored and speech is restored. It’s like Isaiah is saying, ‘God will fill up your senses with an awareness of his presence’. 

In this world, people with disabilities are usually at a disadvantage. People with disabilities are often excluded, they tend to miss out. Verses 5 and 6 offer a picture of inclusion. They show the movement from exclusion to worship.

Isaiah’s vision of hope is not just for the strong and able. It is for everyone.

God will even the playing field. He will remove any impediment or barrier that might prevent people from knowing him and worshipping him.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus literally brought physical restoration to people in all these ways. Jesus healed the blind, the deaf, the lame and the mute.

Jesus performed these miracles of restoration as a sign of what people could expect with the coming kingdom of God. The last shall be first. Those who had previously been excluded from worship will be included.

As you’ve probably worked out by now, the words of the prophet and the signs of Jesus operate on more than one level at once. A person may have 20/20 vision and perfect hearing, but sadly be spiritually blind and deaf. A person may be able to run a sub four-minute mile but be quite lame in their obedience to God. A person might speak eloquently in public but be mute in private prayer.

These are the words Isaiah heard when the Lord called him to be a prophet… 

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

These are words of exclusion. The people had disobeyed God for a long time and would have to face the consequences for this. Much of the first 34 chapters of Isaiah are a message of doom and judgement. But judgement would not have the last word.   

Isaiah 35 pictures the hope of restoration after the dread of judgement.

Isaiah 35 is like a glass of cold water after a hot day working in the sun.

It’s like seeing the face of a friend after months apart. It is the calm after the storm. It is the holiday after your work is done. It is the healing after suffering.

It is the homecoming after exile. Isaiah 35 is a vision of worshipping in God’s presence after being excluded for so long.

In verse 10 of Isaiah 35 we read how God’s people are restored to their home.  

10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

This is a picture of the movement from exclusion to worship. But it’s not a tedious, duty-bound worship. It’s a joyful worship. It’s the kind of worship in which God fills up your senses with an awareness of his presence and love.

It’s an eyes wide open worship. It’s an ears hearing and understanding worship. It’s a body responding in obedience worship. It’s a tongue praising God in spirit and in truth worship.   

Conclusion:

Joy is the fruit of hope. Isaiah 35 is a vision of hope for renewal, hope for release and hope for restoration. This trinity of hope involves three movements: from curse to blessing, from fear to joy and from exclusion to worship. 

Isaiah 35 looks forward to the consummation of history after the day of judgement. It is glorious and true. It will happen, we just don’t know when.

In the meantime, we live in the now but not yet. We still have to deal with trials and difficulties. We feel the frustration of our own limitations and the weariness of waiting.

But God in his grace nourishes our hope with glimpses of his kingdom, small windows of eternity opening into time.

May God fill up your senses with an awareness of his presence. May he refresh your hope with a vision of the joy that is coming in Christ. Amen.       

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What is joy? Where does joy come from? Where does hope come from?
  3. What images of renewal does Isaiah use? What difference does God’s renewal make? Discuss / reflect on the movement from curse to blessing.
  4. How does fear affect the human soul? How might someone escape the prison of fear?
  5. What (or who) is the way of holiness? What does it mean to walk the way of holiness?
  6. In what ways does Jesus fulfil the vision of Isaiah 35, for the world and for you personally?
  7. Has God ever filled up your senses with an awareness of his presence? What was the context for this? How did you feel? What lasting affect did it have on you? Spend time in adoration of God this week.  

[1] Refer John Goldingay’s commentary on Isaiah, page 197.

[2] Refer Barry Webb’s commentary on Isaiah, page 146. 

Tawa Baptist

Sweet & Sour

Scripture: Isaiah 64

Video Link: https://youtu.be/U8ejSDq3bgg

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s intervention and absence
  • God’s goodness and anger
  • God’s gentleness and severity
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

If you try sucking a lemon, it tastes pretty sour. Sets your teeth on edge. But if you mix the lemon with a bit of honey and water, it’s delicious and good for you.

Likewise, if you bite into a raw onion on its own, the taste will make your eyes water. It’s not pleasant. But if you cook the onion with a bit of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, it tastes delicious.

Lemon and honey, sugar and vinegar, these are classic sweet and sour flavours in cooking. You wouldn’t know unless you tried it, but somehow, sweet and sour is a winning combination.

We are currently in the season of advent. Advent is a time to remember Jesus’ coming. With this in view, our sermon today is based on Isaiah 64, which is essentially a prayer for God to come down to earth.

Isaiah 64 is a sweet and sour prayer. In the context of Isaiah, the relationship between God and his people is not good, it’s like sucking a lemon. The people are affected by exile and feeling the distance between themselves and the Lord. The prophet balances this sourness with a little honey. From verse 1 we read…

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. 5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over toour sins. 8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people. 10 Your sacred cities have become a desert; even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.

12 After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

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

We find a number of sweet and sour combinations in the prayer of Isaiah 64. Our message today focuses on three in particular: God’s intervention and absence. God’s goodness and anger. As well as God’s gentleness and severity. Let’s begin with God’s intervention and absence. 

God’s intervention and absence:

How many of you yell at the ref when you are watching a sports game?

And how many of you live with someone who yells at the ref? Be honest now.

It can be frustrating when the ref makes a bad call and unfair play is allowed. Personally, I don’t care. It’s just a game. But for some of you the compulsion to step onto the field and intervene is very strong.

Modern technology has advanced to the point where the TMO does intervene at times. In fact, in cricket, the players can challenge the on-field decision and ask the third umpire for a second opinion.

In verse 1 of Isaiah 64, the prophet makes an impassioned plea for God’s intervention saying, O that you would rend the heavens and come down that the mountains would tremble before you…

Before we unpack this verse, you should know this sweet and sour prayer actually begins at verse 7 of Isaiah 63. So, this plea for God’s intervention comes somewhere near the centre of the prayer. Isaiah 64, verse 1 is the heart of the prayer, which means it is probably the most important part. 

That word rend means to rip or to tear open. In Old Testament times, rending or tearing your clothes was a sign of grief or remorse. It was a dramatic way of showing everyone that you did not agree with what was happening. Sometimes it signalled repentance. Other times the rending of garments was a sign of protest, like yelling at the ref.     

Asking God to rend the heavens was like asking God to tear his clothes in protest at the status quo. But God appears to be unresponsive, aloof and disengaged. The prophet wants God to visibly show his outrage at the state of affairs. He’s asking God (the third umpire) to come onto the field and right some wrongs.

The mountains of verse 1 are a metaphor for imposing and oppressive obstacles. [1] Whether Isaiah’s audience are in exile or returning from exile, they are up against it. The prophet wants God to come down from heaven in power to deal with the challenges his people on earth face.

He wants God to put heat on Israel’s enemies, as when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil.

Fire is a catalyst for change. Fire makes things happen. If God came down to intervene that would be the catalyst they needed, just like the days of old when God intervened to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Some commentators reckon the prophet is confronting God and the people with an intolerable tension between the past and the present. [2]

God intervened before, why won’t the Lord intervene again?

For God’s people in exile the contrast between then and now is as stark as a lush green forest and a barren brown desert. The people have gone from a land of milk and honey to a land of tripe and onions. They have exchanged freedom in Palestine for captivity in Babylon. And when they finally did return to the Promised Land, after their exile, they found ruin and disappointment.   

One thing is clear, God’s perceived absence has the effect of causing people to miss the Lord and to long for him. “Don’t it always seem to go you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.

There may be times when we feel like exiles in a strange land. Times when we wish God would intervene to change our situation and yet, despite our earnest prayers, nothing changes. The water doesn’t boil and the mountains still stand in our way.

The Lord disciplines those he loves. Sometimes God’s perceived absence and inaction refines us. It moves us to sort out our priorities and realign our values. It sharpens our yearning for intimacy with God.

God’s goodness and anger:

So why doesn’t God intervene? Well, the prophet thinks it has to do with the sweet and sour combination of God’s goodness and anger.

Most people wouldn’t naturally put goodness and anger together. We tend to associate anger with violence or a lack of self-control. Christians often think of anger like a wild animal, something bad to be avoided. Even secular society frowns on anger (in NZ at least).

And while it’s true that not all expressions of anger are good, there is a right kind of anger. At its heart, anger is the natural and unavoidable response to injustice.         

In the same way that your body reacts to an infection by producing antibodies to fight the infection, so too your soul reacts to injustice by producing anger to oppose the injustice. Anger is our soul’s natural immune response to something immoral or wrong and therefore it is good.

But, just as our physical immune system can sometimes overreact and attack healthy cells, so too our soul (or our psyche) can misdirect anger. We might take our anger out on someone who doesn’t deserve it, or we might turn our anger inward where it festers into self-hatred and depression.   

God’s anger is never misdirected or out of proportion. God doesn’t fly off the handle in a fit of rage. God’s anger is tempered with self-control. God’s anger is a carefully measured and fair response against evil and injustice. Without God’s anger, there is no justice and without justice there is no peace.

In verses 4 and 5, the prophet directs our attention to the goodness of God saying: Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.

God is unique. He is one of a kind. There is no one else like Yahweh. Not only is the Lord powerful he is also just and merciful, acting to help those who do what is right. This speaks to the goodness of God’s character.

It also suggests the problem for Israel. If Yahweh were a pagan god the people might think they could bribe him or manipulate him with sacrifices. But the Lord Almighty is not like the gods of other nations. He is free. He won’t be bribed or manipulated.

God does good because he is good. Likewise, God gets angry with evil because he cannot abide injustice.

You may have seen an ad on TV where the mum is wiping the kitchen bench with a piece of raw chicken – not very hygienic. The point of the ad is that using a dirty old dish cloth to wipe down the bench just spreads the germs around.

It makes things worse. What you need is a clean new cloth.

The prophet puts his finger on the problem in verses 5 and 6, where he says…

…But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…

It’s like the prophet is saying, spiritually speaking we’ve become like someone trying to keep the kitchen clean with a dirty cloth. We may as well be wiping the bench with a piece of raw chicken. Our righteous acts, our best intentions, are just spreading the salmonella of sin around and making things worse.  

The prophet also uses the image of a leaf blown away by the wind. In verse 6 he says, we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

As long as the leaf stays connected to the tree it lives and breathes. But once the leaf is separated from the tree it dies. With this metaphor, God’s people are like leaves which have become disconnected from the tree.

The wind, in this word picture, is sin. Sin separates people from God, the source of life. The prophet is probably alluding to the exile. The nation sinned against God badly and for a long time. As a consequence, they were swept away to Babylon. This explains Israel’s disconnect with God. 

The prophet is basically saying, we have excluded ourselves from the worshiping community and there’s nothing we can do to get back in.

We admit, the problem is less with our enemies and more with us.  

The alienation between God and his people finds expression in verse 7 where the prophet says: No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.

‘To call on the name of the Lord’ means to pray. The prophet is praying on behalf of the people because the people have given up trying to pray themselves. They don’t believe God will listen to them because of their sins.

It’s a Catch 22 situation. The only way we’re going to get through this is with God’s help (with him coming down to save us). But God isn’t going to help us because we’ve broken faith with him and he is angry. So what’s the point in praying? We’d just be wasting our breath.  

The people feel hopeless because God has hidden his face. What does it mean for God to hide his face? At the end of the service each week, when I give the benediction, I say… May the Lord make his face shine upon you… This is based on Aaron’s priestly blessing for the people of Israel in the wilderness.

To have the Lord’s face shine upon you is like saying, may God smile on you.     May God’s presence light your way through life, so you are not afraid and do not stumble. May God bless you with warmth and wisdom and vitality.

If that is what it means for God to shine his face upon you, then hiding his face is the opposite. When God hides his face, we stumble in darkness. Without the light of God’s presence, we are afraid because we cannot see a way forward. The signs of God’s grace and blessing are hidden from us.

When God is angry, he doesn’t usually storm in and smash things. More often God hides his face; he steps back, he withdraws his light, so we stumble in the dark and suffer the consequences of our actions.   

There’s a certain irony in God’s goodness. On the one hand God’s goodness enables life to function on earth. More than that, God’s goodness supports trust. It is because God is good that we can trust him.

But at the same time, God’s goodness prevents us from getting close to him. We are not always righteous or just and therefore we risk provoking God’s anger. We need a third person (someone good) to intercede for us, to pray on our behalf. Jesus is that third person. He is the righteous one who bridges the gap, restoring the communication with God.      

Have there been times in your life when you felt like God was hiding his face from you; times when you gave up on prayer? Who interceded for you during that time? Give thanks to God for them.

Now ask yourself, is there someone who needs me to carry them in prayer at the moment? Jesus lends us his righteousness that we might intercede for others before God in prayer.

God’s gentleness and severity:

Isaiah 64 is a sweet and sour prayer. The prophet longs for God’s intervention, during a time when God’s absence is felt keenly. The prophet acknowledges God’s goodness together with God’s anger, his opposition to injustice. Now let’s consider the combination of God’s gentleness and severity.

As a kid, I remember watching a potter form a bowl out of clay. I was transfixed, watching the vessel take shape on the wheel.

Every now and then the potter would look up at me and smile. He was completely silent, didn’t say a word, just let his hands do the talking.

There was a gentleness in those hands, a sensitivity. The potter wasn’t forcing the clay, he was respecting it, feeling for it’s true form. He was an artist.

In verse 8 we read…

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Here the prophet puts two images of God together. The Lord (Yahweh) is both a father to us and a potter. In other words, God is our creator and we are his handiwork, his children. We owe our very existence to God.

A good father, like a good potter, has a gentle touch. Just as a potter skilfully shapes and forms the clay into a functional form, so too a father tenderly shapes and forms his children into maturity.  

The Jewish exiles were like a lump of clay. They were in a state of chaos.

They had little form or shape or function in Babylon. And, like a lump of clay, they were completely helpless. There was nothing they could do to shape themselves. They were entirely dependent on God to reform them as a nation.  

Why does a potter work with clay to create something? Because he is a potter and that’s what potters do. Why should God reform and remake the exiles into a new nation? Because he is the creator and that’s what the creator does.

The prophet is not asking God to act on the basis of the people’s righteousness. He has just admitted they have no righteousness. The prophet is asking God to act on the basis of who God is. Creator and Father.

Making pottery is not all gentleness and grace. After the vessel is formed it goes into a fiery furnace where it bakes at a severe temperature to make it strong and durable. Yes, God is gentle. We could say gentleness is God’s default setting. Gentleness is how God deals with us most of the time. But there are occasions, from our perspective, when God can be quite severe.  

In verses 10 and 11 the prophet describes the state of Israel. The cities have become a desert and Jerusalem a desolation. The temple has been burned with fire and all that was treasured lies in ruins. This is a picture of God’s severity.

We have heard enough about God’s severity over the past three weeks, as we unpacked Mark 13. I don’t need to labour the point today. Suffice to say, God is not like Santa Claus. He is not a benign old man who indulges our every whim. As C.S. Lewis reminds us, God is good but he is not safe. Respect him. He holds your eternity in his hands.    

Having reminded God of his severity, the prophet then concludes his prayer with a question: 12 After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

That’s how the prayer ends, left hanging with the question unanswered.

We know, from our vantage point in history, that the Lord did not hold himself back. We know God does not punish beyond measure. The prayer of Isaiah 64 is answered in the person of Jesus.

Conclusion:

The prophet had asked for God to rend the heavens and come down to help them. Roughly five centuries later, at Jesus’ baptism, we read…

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. [with gentleness]

Jesus is the divine intervention the prophet had asked for. Jesus is God’s presence among us, in human form. Jesus is the potter and the clay. Jesus is the catalyst for change, making things happen in heaven and on earth.

Jesus moved the mountains of sin and death, to restore our relationship with God. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s goodness, the ultimate expression of God’s gentleness and justice. Jesus is the face of God, shining upon us.

Let us pray. Father God, you are the potter, we are the clay. Thank you for rending the heavens and coming down. Thank you for answering Isaiah’s prayer in and through Jesus. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Do you yell at the ref during a sports game? Do you know someone who does? Why do people do that? Why does the prophet call for God to rend the heavens and come down?
  3. Have there been times in your life when you longed for God to intervene? What happened?
  4. Have there been times in your life when you felt like God was absent? How did this affect you? 
  5. Why do we need anger? When is anger good? When is anger not good? What strategies do you have for managing your anger well?
  6. Discuss / reflect on Isaiah 64:7. Why did the people give up praying to God? Have there been times when you felt like prayer was useless? Why did you feel that way? Did anyone intercede for you (pray on your behalf) during that time? Is there someone who needs you to carry them in prayer at the moment?
  7. What purpose does God’s gentleness serve? What purpose does God’s severity serve? What is your perception of God? In your mind, is God all gentleness or all severity or a bit of both? Do you have the balance right?    

[1] Refer John Watts, Word Commentary on Isaiah, page 335.

[2] Refer Paul Hanson’s commentary on Isaiah, page 237.