Tawa Baptist

The Faithful Servant

Scripture: Luke 17:1-10

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

Audio Link: Stream Sermon – 22 Mar 2026 – The Faithful Servant by tawabaptist | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Watch yourselves
  • Restore others
  • Obey Christ
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

At first glance the words lima, coffee, dwarf and black seem unrelated, but there is a connection. What is the connection? [Wait]

That’s right, they are all different types of beans.

Today we continue our series on the parables of Jesus. Last week he heard about the parable of the shrewd manager. This week’s parable features the faithful servant in Luke 17, verses 7-10. The faithful servant is a very different character to the shrewd manager.

In the six verses leading up to the parable of the faithful servant, Jesus gives some instructions to his disciples. At first glance these words of wisdom seem unrelated from each other and from the parable, sort of like a random selection of proverbs.

And you could preach on each word of instruction separately without doing violence to the text. But, as you dwell on these words of Jesus, it becomes apparent they are not random or separate. Verses 1-10 of Luke 17 are connected. They describe what faithfulness to Jesus looks like.

From Luke 17, verse 1 we read…

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sistersins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. 7 “Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

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

These verses give us a picture of what faithfulness to Jesus looks like.

In short, faithful discipleship means watching yourselves, restoring others and obeying Christ. Let us begin with watching yourselves.

Watch yourselves:

Part of my training for church ministry, involved doing CPE. CPE stands for Clinical Pastoral Education. CPE uses an action / reflection model of learning. Rather than sitting and listening to a lecture or writing essays, you reflect on your own real-life experiences of providing pastoral care for people.

For me, this meant visiting people in hospital, then later writing up a verbatim of the conversation and discussing it in a small group with others doing CPE. The purpose was to reflect on our practice with a view to providing better spiritual care.  

Basically, they were teaching us to watch ourselves. That is, to watch how we listened and what we said, so we did not cause anyone to stumble, so we did no harm and maybe even did some good.

Most of the time, when people are facing their own mortality, they don’t want to be tripped up by cheap advice or clever theological arguments. They just want to be understood. When life is uncertain, you need to know you are not alone. Knowing you are not alone nurtures faith and hope.

In verse 2 of Luke 17, Jesus warns against tripping others up spiritually or morally. The consequence for those who do this is dire. The Lord says: It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

The message here is, do no harm.

These little ones probably includes young children but could also refer to those younger in the faith or in a more vulnerable position. That said, we don’t want to cause anyone to stumble, regardless of their station in life.

Causing others to stumble may indicate a certain malicious intention, like laying a trap on purpose. Some people are predators. They go out of their way to do harm. Hopefully no one here sells crack to school children or tries to catfish minors on the internet. If you do, you’ve been warned.

But we can also cause others to stumble through carelessness or neglect.

If someone cuts their foot on a piece of broken glass, the harm caused is the same whether the glass was left there on purpose or by accident.  

How careful are we with the example we set? Is the way we live our lives providing an even path for others to follow? Or are we leaving a trail of broken glass and trip hazards?   

Jesus was warning his disciples not to be like the Pharisees. The Pharisees did not set the right example. The Pharisees were not faithful. Their hypocrisy was a stumbling block to those who wanted to draw closer to God.

The phrase, better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck, is chilling. It’s one of the many disturbing things Jesus said. The human imagination runs wild with anxiety wondering what could be worse than death by drowning in the depths of the sea.

However, the alternative would be far worse. (The alternative being that there is no consequence for people who cause harm.) If you have suffered abuse at the hands of others, you don’t want them to go on harming you or anyone else. Jesus was always reminding people of God’s justice and mercy. It is a good thing that God cares enough to permanently stop those who are doing harm.     

The punchline comes in verse 3 where Jesus says: So watch yourselves.

Being faithful includes not causing others to stumble morally or spiritually.

And, if we are to avoid causing others to stumble, then we need to watch ourselves.

Make sure your own backyard is in order. Don’t trip others up by your words or example. Be careful how you listen and what you say. Examine your motives. Reflect on your actions. Correct yourself when you stray off course. Make it right when you get it wrong. That’s what it means to watch yourself.

A word of caution on watching yourself. Don’t overdo this. Don’t spend too long in self-reflection. There’s a fine line between healthy self-awareness and unhealthy self-obsession.

Beware of the narcissism or vanity that imagines your influence is greater than it really is. By God’s grace, most people are not thinking about you as much as you are thinking about yourself, and this limits the extent to which you can cause others to stumble.  

Okay, so if we are to be faithful servants of Jesus, then watching ourselves is the first thing we need to do. The next thing is restoring others.

Restoring others:

In the sixth form (year 12) at school, I studied chemistry. My lab partner was a bit of an all-star. Intelligent, good at sports, a lifeguard at the beach, socially popular and a genuinely nice guy. But, like all of us, he had a shadow side.

He drank too much.

After coming back from holidays one time he announced he was taking a break from alcohol. Someone who cared about him noticed his drinking and had a quiet word with him. They knew his potential and didn’t want him going down a path that would ruin his life.

This person (it might have been an older brother) didn’t scold him or yell at him or berate him. They challenged him to go dry for three months, just to see if he could do it. And he did. Giving up alcohol for a while provided the circuit breaker he needed. It restored him and put him on a better path once more.

In verse 3 of Luke 17 Jesus goes on to say: “If your brother or sistersins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.”

This is essentially about restoring others. It fits hand in glove with what Jesus has just been saying about not causing others to stumble. If someone does stumble, then our first instinct is to look for a way to restore them. Because that’s what Jesus did, he came to seek and save the lost.  

Jesus notes three steps in the restoration process: rebuke, repent and forgive.

Rebuking sounds quite harsh, like you are giving someone a loud and angry telling off. But rebuking doesn’t need to be harsh. The person who challenged my sixth form lab partner to stop drinking for three months was rebuking him for his behaviour in a wise and gentle way. This sort of rebuke led to my friend’s repentance and restoration.    

When the prophet Nathan rebuked king David for committing adultery with Bathsheba, he didn’t go in with both barrels blazing. He wisely told David a parable which cut David to the core, causing him to repent and be forgiven.

The point is, when it comes to giving a rebuke, a careful surgical approach is usually more effective than a butcher’s mallet.

The purpose of rebuking is to restore. Often people are not aware of how their actions affect others. My sixth form lab partner didn’t realise the negative impact his drinking was having on those around him. He was being unfair to others without realising it.

If someone is not aware there is a problem, then they don’t have the opportunity to change. Rebuking is about making someone aware of how their behaviour is affecting others. It’s about being honest and fair with them. The purpose of rebuking is not to punish or humiliate. The purpose is to restore.

Now I don’t think Jesus means us to be rebuking each other over every little offence. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t be petty. Exercise some grace.

If you need to rebuke someone it should be for their wellbeing and the wellbeing of the community.     

Jesus talks about rebuking others in the same breath as telling us to watch ourselves. Before we start reading the riot act, we need to pause and take the plank out of our own eye first. We need to ask ourselves, is the thing that’s aggravating me about this other person something I’m guilty of myself?   

Rebuking is just the first step in the restoration process. Repentance and forgiveness complete the process. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in behaviour. And forgiveness simply means letting go of the hurt, not holding a grudge against the person who offended you.

Jesus’ instruction to forgive someone seven times in a day, if they repent, is to be interpreted generously. It’s not that seven times is the upper limit and an eighth offence does not need to be forgiven. As Martin Luther King said, ‘Forgiveness is an attitude, not an occasional act.’       

The restoration process (of rebuking, repenting and forgiving) can be time consuming and emotionally demanding, but it is far less taxing than the alternative, which is resentment.

Obey Christ:

At this point the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. Perhaps the disciples are thinking, what Jesus is asking us to do is really hard. We need extra faith if we are going to meet the demands of watching ourselves and restoring others.

Jesus replies with a short parable saying: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

Mulberry trees, of the variety Jesus is talking about here, are a deeply rooted tree. Indeed, their roots have been known to remain in the ground for hundreds of years. Getting a mulberry tree (or any tree for that matter) to obey your verbal commands, and uproot itself, is an impossible thing to do.

Our selfish, sinful nature is much like the roots of a mulberry tree; stubborn and intractable. Trying to make ourselves (or anyone else) obey the teachings of Jesus is as difficult as telling a mulberry tree to plant itself in the sea.

We cannot make ourselves obey Jesus simply by telling ourselves to do it.

Even when we want to do the right thing, we still find ourselves doing the wrong thing. Our self-centredness, as human beings, is too deeply embedded.

However, God has the power to do the impossible, and faith is the key to unlocking God’s power. You don’t need much faith to access God’s power.

Faith as small as a mustard seed will do.  

It doesn’t take much to access the national power grid. All you need to do is flick a switch. Likewise, it doesn’t take much to access the power to do God’s will. All you need is a little faith. Faith is like flicking a light switch.

Who provides the power to uproot the mulberry tree of our sinful habits?

We don’t. God does. But we still need to flick the switch by asking in faith.

Who provides the power to uproot systemic corruption and injustice?

We don’t. God does. But we still need to flick the switch by asking in faith.

Please understand, Jesus is not saying faith gives us license to tap God for whatever we want. It doesn’t. Believing God for a Ferrari won’t get you a Ferrari, no matter how much faith you have. If you flick the switch of faith and the light doesn’t come on, it is because God (in his wisdom) has chosen to withhold his power in that situation.

Jesus is not talking here about the power to get what we want. He is talking about the power to do God’s will; to repent and forgive, for example.

The power to obey Jesus comes from the Holy Spirit. Or to say it another way, we are able to remain faithful to Christ by trusting in God’s power and grace, not our own resources. 

In keeping with the theme of faithfulness, Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the obedient servant. From verse 7 we read…

7 “Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?

This parable is largely lost in translation for us. Here, in New Zealand, we don’t have servants. We are a ‘do it yourself’ society. The idea of keeping servants goes against the grain.

Also, we place a high value on individual freedom. We tend to resist authority. Indeed, we are often unfairly critical of those in authority.     

But in first Century Israel, having a servant was a normal part of life. In fact, you didn’t need to be rich to have a servant. The authority of the master over the servant was accepted and honoured in that society.

The servant was given security and dignity by working for their master.

If their master was someone of standing in the community, this enhanced the servant’s sense of self-worth. Faithful service to one’s master and to the betterment of the wider community was more important to people in the first century than individual freedom.

Today’s parable is not only at odds with the cultural values of contemporary New Zealand, it also seems at odds with Jesus’ parable in Luke 12.

If you were here three weeks ago, you would have heard the parable of the master who, upon returning from a wedding banquet, girded up his loins to wait on his servants. Something unthinkable in that culture. The master in that parable reminds us of Jesus who did not come to be served, but to serve. 

In Luke 17 it’s a different scenario. The servant comes home after working in the field and the master expects his servant to make his dinner right away.

So what’s going on in Luke 17? Why is the master not waiting on his servant? Well, the parable in Luke 17 offers a counterbalance to the parable in Luke 12.

While it is true that Jesus came to serve us by dying on the cross and uprooting our sin, we must not forget our place. Jesus is still our master and we are still his servants. We are not equal with Jesus. We are expected to obey him.

We must not make the fatal mistake of presuming upon God’s grace. We must guard against any sense of entitlement.

Jesus’ parable, in Luke 17, is an argument from the lesser to the greater.

If servants are expected to obey ordinary human masters, how much more are we expected to obey Christ, the Son of God.

Like the servant in the parable, we are expected to obey Christ in the field: which might include, for example, the community, your workplace or school.  

And we are expected to obey Christ in the home: which might include your own family and the church.

This begs the question: are we being obedient to Jesus in every area of our life? If not, what needs to change?

Jesus concludes his parable in verses 9 and 10, saying: 9 Will he [the master] thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

These verses are about having the right attitude in obeying Christ.

The term, ‘unworthy servants’ does not mean useless or without value.

It means, ‘servants to whom no favour is due’. Jesus is asking a rhetorical question here: Is the master indebted to his servant when orders are carried out? No, of course not. The master does not owe the servant anything.  

Is God indebted to us when we carry out his commands? No, of course not. God does not owe us anything. Obedience is what we owe God. Our obedience does not entitle us to special treatment. We cannot put God in our debt.

Once again, Jesus is warning his disciples against Pharisaic self-righteousness. The Pharisees got the cart before the horse. They thought, we have been extra scrupulous in obeying God’s law, therefore we are entitled to a reward.

But that is not how God operates. With God, grace comes first. Faithfulness is the right response to the grace God has already shown us. We are in debt to God. We can never repay that debt, much less put God in our debt. The most we can do is trust and obey.       

Conclusion:

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, your grace is manifold. We are not aware of half of what you do for us. Thank you. Help us, by the power of your Spirit, to be faithful; to watch ourselves, to restore others and to obey you. Amen.    

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What do Jesus’ instructions in Luke 17:1-10 share in common?
  3. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘watch yourself’? How might we do this? Why is it important to watch ourselves?
  4. How careful are we with the example we set? Is the way we live our lives providing a straight path for others to follow? If not, what needs to change?
  5. Discuss / reflect on the three aspects of the restoration process. What does it mean to rebuke, to repent and to forgive? Why do we seek to restore brothers and sisters in the faith?  
  6. Why does Jesus tell the parable of the mustard seed and mulberry tree in Luke 17, verse 6? What is the meaning of this parable? Where / how do we find the resources to remain faithful to Christ?
  7. Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ parable in Luke 17:7-10. Who did Jesus tell this parable for? Why did Jesus tell this parable? How is this parable at odds with the values of our society?
  8. Are you being obedient to Jesus in every area of your life? If not, what needs to change? 

Bibliography:

  • William Barclay, ‘The Gospel of Matthew’, 1967.
  • R.V.G. Tasker, ‘Tyndale Commentaries: St Matthew’, 1963.
  • Kenneth Bailey, ‘Through Peasant Eyes’, 1983.
  • Michael Green, ‘BST: The Message of Matthew’, 2000.
  • R.T. France, ‘New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Matthew’, 2007.
  • Craig S. Keener, ‘The Gospel of Matthew’, 2009.
Tawa Baptist

The Master and Servants

Scripture: Luke 12:35-38

Video Link: https://youtu.be/buo39MSYm6M

Audio Link: Stream Sermon – 1 Mar 2026 – The Master and Servants by tawabaptist | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The servants prepare
  • The master serves
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Complete this phrase: Ready… Set… What comes next? [Wait]  Yes, that’s right Go. Ready, set, go. Or at least that’s what we would normally expect. 

Today we continue our series on the parables of Jesus. Last week we heard about the gracious employer, a parable of how God’s kingdom operates by grace. This week our focus is the parable of the master and servants, in Luke 12. This parable is short, but it takes us by surprise. We are expecting “ready, set, go”. But our expectations are reversed. From Luke 12, verse 35 we read…

35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 Blessed are those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 Blessed are those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.

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

What we expect with this parable is: ready, set, go to work. But what we get is: ready, set, recline and receive.

There are two main characters in today’s reading: the servants and the master. The servants are those who follow Jesus, his disciples throughout history. That includes us if we call Jesus, ‘Lord’. The master is Jesus himself.

Let’s start with the servants. We, the servants, need to be prepared for when Jesus, our master, comes.

The servants prepare:

Apparently, Wellington has between 50 to 80 earthquakes each day. Thankfully, only 100 to 150 are strong enough to be felt each year.    

The last significant earthquake in Wellington, of 6 or more on the ricker scale, was back in October 2023.

Wellington has dodged a few earthquake bullets in recent times. No one thought Christchurch would be hit as badly as it was. That’s the thing about earthquakes; we can’t predict when they will happen. We know they will happen, that is certain. We just can’t say when, so we need to be ready all the time.

Being ready all the time does not mean living in a constant state of anxiety, always on edge. That would not be helpful. Being prepared means having stores of canned food and water. Keeping a grab bag and first aid kit handy. We don’t know when a really damaging earthquake might hit, but we prepare by having emergency supplies ready to go.

In the parable we just read, from Luke 12, Jesus tells his disciples to…

35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet…

Jesus sometimes used the image of a wedding banquet to paint a picture of our future hope, when God’s kingdom is realised in its fullness. Centuries before Christ, the prophet Isaiah also used the image of a banquet to illustrate our future hope. From Isaiah 25, verse 6, we read…

6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.

This prophecy came to be known as the Messianic banquet, for it pictures the salvation created by the Messiah. Christians believe Jesus fulfils this prophecy. After his death and resurrection, Jesus (the Messiah) ascended to heaven.

One day he will return in glory and when he returns the picture of Isaiah 25 will be realised. That’s our future hope.

Like an earthquake, we don’t know when Jesus will return but his second coming is certain, and so we (his disciples) need to be prepared. Unlike an earthquake though, which causes death and destruction, the Lord will swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from all faces.

Although most Bible commentators agree Jesus’ parable in Luke 12:35-38 is referring to the Lord’s second coming, we need not limit the Lord’s activity to some unknown future date. The risen Jesus is active by his Spirit now. Jesus may come to us personally at any time before the conclusion of human history. We, the servants of Jesus, need to be ready to obey Jesus at every moment.     

So how do we prepare for Jesus’ return? Well, being ready for Jesus does not mean having supplies of water and baked beans handy. We make ourselves ready by being faithful. Being faithful means living our lives now (today) in a way that anticipates Jesus’ return in the future.

Imagine someone lets you stay in their house rent free while they are away. It’s a really nice house with a pool and a garden and plenty of rooms. You are thankful for the accommodation because you don’t have a place of your own. They are doing you a favour.

You don’t know how long the owner will be gone for. Maybe a few days, maybe a few years. In the meantime, you take care of the house. You don’t throw wild parties or trash the place. You mow the lawns regularly. You feed the pets, take the rubbish out and respect the neighbours.

Looking after the place is how you look after your relationship with the owner. That’s what it means to be faithful. In verse 35 Jesus uses two images to help us see what it looks like to be prepared for the master’s return.

First, he says, be dressed and ready for service. This is a bit of a paraphrase. The original text literally says, ‘gird up your loins’. The phrase, ‘gird up your loins’ comes from the Old Testament. Men and women at that time and in that culture usually wore long robes. It was cooler in a hot climate.

However, when you needed to get somewhere in a hurry or do any sort of physical labour, the robe got in the way. ‘To gird up your loins’ meant tying a belt around your waist and tucking the robe up into the belt, allowing you to move more freely and get the job done. Basically, to gird up your loins is to be work ready. It’s like saying, ‘roll up your sleeves’. 

Most famously, the Lord God told the people of Israel to gird up their loins on the night of the first Passover. The people needed to be ready to leave Egypt quickly. When Jesus comes knocking on the door of your life, it is like an exodus from the slavery of sin and death. You need to be ready to move.

Okay, so that’s what gird up your lions meant 2000 years ago. What does it mean for us today? Well, if you work on a building site, then girding up your loins means having your work boots on and wearing your hi-viz gear.

Or if you are a teacher, then the equivalent of girding up your loins is having your lesson plan ready for when the bell rings and the students turn up.

Or if you are a cricketer waiting to bat, then girding up your loins means having your pads and box on.

Or if you are a surgeon, then girding up your loins is like scrubbing your hands and putting on gloves and a surgical gown.

But what if you are Christian? What does it mean to ‘gird up your loins’ then?

Robyn and I have lived in the same house for over 20 years. During that time, we have accumulated a lot of stuff. After Christmas last year, we had a clear out. We decluttered the garage and our cupboards. Quite a bit of stuff went to the tip or was given away. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. In fact, it felt quite good and now our house is that much easier to keep tidy.

Girding up your loins is not about adding anything. Girding up your loins is about decluttering your life. To gird up your lions is to free yourself from those things which hinder your obedience to Christ.

The things that hinder our obedience to Christ may include unhelpful excesses, like spending too much time on the internet or drinking too much or taking on too much debt or whatever.

But the things that hinder our obedience to Christ can also include good things. Things that may benefit others but don’t really fulfil God’s call on our life.

Jesus called his disciples to bear witness to his death and resurrection and then to proclaim the gospel. That’s what Jesus wanted them to do.

But what if Peter, James and John went back to fishing fulltime, after Jesus ascended to heaven? What if they decided not to be apostles? I mean fishing is a good occupation. It feeds people, right?

Yes, fishing can be a good thing, but to spend your life fishing when Jesus wants you to preach the gospel, is to disobey the Lord. For Peter, James and John, girding up their loins meant leaving the family fishing business behind so they could make sharing the gospel their fulltime gig.  

What is getting in the way of you obeying Jesus? What is it (good or bad) that makes you too busy to pay attention to Christ? Girding up your loins is about decluttering your life, freeing yourself to be more responsive to Jesus.   

As well as being dressed and ready for service, Jesus also says (in verse 35) to keep your lamps burning. They didn’t have electricity in the first century. Lamps, at that time, were fuelled by oil. To keep your lamp burning meant keeping the oil topped up and the wick trimmed.  

Lamps of course provide light. Without a lamp the servants would not be able to see. They would be walking around in the dark, blind. To keep your lamp burning is to ensure you can see clearly, to keep your perspective. But lamps also enable you to be seen by others. Lamps help to identify you.  

When I was younger and fitter and lived in Hamilton, where the roads are wider, I used to ride a bike everywhere. When riding at night I always had my lights on, back and front. My bike lights helped me see where I was going but more importantly, they helped me to be seen by other traffic. My lights identified me as a cyclist so cars could avoid hitting me. I always kept a spare set of batteries handy, for my bike lights.         

As I understand it, the lamp in Jesus’ parable symbolises our faith as servants of Jesus. It is the light of our faith that enables us to see in the darkness of this world, so we can do the work Jesus has for us to do. More than this, it is the light of our faith that identifies us as followers of Jesus.    

To ‘keep your lamp burning’ is to keep the light of your faith going. We do this by maintaining regular rhythms of prayer, Bible reading, rest, gathered worship and fellowship with other believers. As we keep these sacred rhythms, we make room for the oil of God’s Spirit to fill us.   

We must not miss the fact that Jesus compares his followers to servants.

The Greek word, doulos, can mean servant or slave. The servants in view here are men and women of low status.

Humility is required to be a follower of Jesus. The work of a Christian disciple is not glamorous. It is often menial and tiring. Our time is not our own. Nevertheless, there is a certain dignity in being a servant (or slave) of Jesus, for we are serving the King of heaven and earth. We are serving God’s good purpose. We belong to Jesus.

The master serves:

Okay, so we have heard how the servants prepare. What about the master?

In verse 36 we read that, when the master returns, he comes and knocks on the door.  What a curious thing. Why does the master knock on the door of his own house? I mean, when I come home, I don’t knock on the front door of my own house. No. I just let myself in.

But as I thought about this, I remembered that when the kids still lived at home, I would knock on their bedroom doors before entering. It’s respectful, it’s good manners. You knock on internal doors because you don’t want to scare people or barge in on them.  

The master of the house in Jesus’ parable is probably not knocking on his front door. He is more likely knocking on an internal door, to the servants’ quarters perhaps.

The point is: Jesus, our master, is respectful. He does not force his way into our lives. In his grace Jesus allows us to invite him in. The question is, will we open the door and let Jesus in immediately? Or will we make him wait?

In verse 37, Jesus says: Blessed are those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. He says it again in verse 38: Blessed are those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 

The servants here do not put their pyjamas on, turn out the light and go to bed. No, they keep their work clothes on and leave their lamp burning, ready to receive their master at a moment’s notice. They are not passively waiting. They are eagerly expecting their boss. The slaves don’t have their own agenda. The only agenda they serve is their master’s agenda.

The Greek word for blessed here is Makarios. It’s the same word Jesus uses for the beatitudes in Matthew 5. You know, ‘blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the pure in heart’, and so on.

Makarios is a state of spiritual wellbeing. To be Makarios is to be fortunate, happy, well off, in a relationship of favour with God. It’s not just that the servants will be blessed in the future. They are blessed now. They are in a fortunate position now.           

Jesus reverses our understanding of what it means to be blessed or well off. We think we are fortunate or blessed if we win Lotto or if we enjoy good health and live in a nice neighbourhood. But that is not how Jesus sees it.  

By the values of this world, a lowly slave who is always walking around with their loins girded ready to work, is not considered well off. Indeed, staying up all night losing sleep is not considered a blessed or fortunate state of being.

Just like being poor in spirit or grieving is not considered a fortunate state.

But, according to Jesus, those who strip off all that hinders them from obeying him, are blessed, they are fortunate. Those who set aside their own agenda and eagerly await Jesus’ return are blessed now. They are not doing this to earn a blessing or to curry favour. They love their master and long for his presence. Their reward is intrinsic; the joy of seeing their master again.  

The real surprise (both for us the listener and for the servants in the parable) comes in the second part of verse 37 where Jesus says: Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 

We were expecting; ready, set, go to work. But what we get is; ready, set, recline and receive. The idea of the master of the house girding up his loins to serve his servants was unthinkable for a first century middle eastern audience. That would never happen.

These servants were near the bottom of the heap and the master was at the top. What master would humiliate himself by serving his slaves like this?

It is a complete role reversal.

By the master’s actions the slaves cease being slaves and become beloved friends and guests. Because that’s what you do for your friends, you serve them. They are changed by the self-emptying love (the undeserved grace) of their boss.

The master in this parable reminds us of Jesus. Because that’s what Jesus did in going to the cross. He humiliated himself. He served us. He fed us with his very body.

In his letter to the Philippians the apostle Paul gives this picture of Christ, saying…

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: 6 who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!

Even though Jesus is the supreme master (the master of all masters) he comes to those who faithfully wait in expectation for him and he serves them.

He serves us, turning us from slaves into beloved friends.

Conclusion:

On the night before his crucifixion and death, Jesus acted out this parable as a foretaste of the Messianic banquet to come. During the last supper, Jesus girded up his loins and served his disciples by washing their feet.

Peter didn’t want a bar of it at first. But Jesus told Peter he must let him do this or Peter would have no part in him. As much as it goes against the grain, we must allow Jesus (our master) to serve us – we must receive his grace – for only then will we be transformed from slaves to beloved friends.  

The right response to the Lord’s grace is faithfulness. Being faithful means serving Jesus’ agenda, not cluttering our lives with of our own agenda.

What then is Jesus’ agenda? The night before he died Jesus impressed upon his disciples three things:

The importance of loving one another. The importance of service over position. And the importance of unity in the body. Love, service and unity, they go together and they are what we do in preparation for the return of Jesus, our master. 

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus, you are our master, we belong to you. Thank you for serving us by going to the cross in obedience to God the Father. May you go on filling us with the oil of your Spirit that the lamp of our faith would not go out. 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. Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ parable in Luke 12:35-38. Why did Jesus tell this parable? How might Jesus’ original audience have been surprised by this parable? In what ways is Jesus like the master? 
  3. How can we prepare for Jesus’ return? What does it mean to gird up your loins? What is getting in the way of you obeying Jesus? What takes your attention away from Christ?
  4. What does it mean to ‘keep your lamp burning’? How do you (personally) do this? What (or who) fills your lamp with oil?
  5. Why does the master knock on a door in his own house? What might this suggest about the master? What does it look like to open the door of our lives to let Jesus in?
  6. What does it mean to be blessed (Makarios)? Why are the servants in the parable blessed?
  7. What change occurs for the servants as a consequence of the master serving them? Have you received Jesus’ grace / service for yourself? 

Bibliography:

  • William Barclay, ‘The Gospel of Matthew’, 1967.
  • R.V.G. Tasker, ‘Tyndale Commentaries: St Matthew’, 1963.
  • Michael Green, ‘BST: The Message of Matthew’, 2000.
  • Craig S. Keener, ‘The Gospel of Matthew’, 2009.
  • R.T. France, ‘New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Matthew’, 2007.
  • Kenneth Bailey, ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’, 2008. 
Tawa Baptist

The Ten Minas

Scripture: Luke 19:11-27

Video Link: https://youtu.be/IzbzrX5dtkY

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

There is usually more than one way to look at something. For example, take the sentence: A woman without her man is nothing.

Many people will read that and immediately take offense because, depending on your attitude to women, it could sound like you are saying, women are nothing without men, which is not true of course.

But there is another way to read this. If you change the emphasis and say:

A woman, without her man is nothing, then it sounds like you mean men are nothing without women, which is equally untrue.

Personally, I don’t like this sentence. Whichever way you punctuate this phrase, it creates a false dichotomy. Our value as human beings does not depend on gender politics. Our value comes from God. 

The point is, there is more than one way to interpret things. In fact, the way we interpret something often reveals our underlying attitudes and prejudice.

Today we continue our series on the parables of Jesus. The parables of Jesus can be interpreted in more than way. And the way we interpret them reveals our underlying attitudes about God and others. Put simply, Jesus’ parables interpret us. They hold a mirror to our soul, showing what we really believe.

Jesus’ parables are not just saying, ‘This is what God and his kingdom are like.’ They are also uncovering and challenging our underlying assumptions and prejudices about God.

The Ten Minas:

This week’s parable, in Luke 19, is sometimes called the parable of the ten minas. Just to be clear, Jesus is not talking about ten men digging for coal underground, nor is he talking about ten children. A ‘mina’ here is a sum of money roughly equivalent to 100 days wages.

Whether you have heard this parable before or not, it will hold a mirror to your soul. How you choose to interpret it reveals something of what you really believe about God and yourself. From Luke 19, verse 11, we read…   

11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ 14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ 17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’  18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ 19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ 20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ 26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

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

The first world war began in July 1914. The allied soldiers could often be heard saying, “We’ll be home by Christmas”. Expectations of victory were running high. People imagined a quick war. Why? Because their underlying assumption was, the enemy is weak and we are strong. Perhaps they also thought, God is on our side.

Tragically, they were not home by Christmas. Millions never came home at all. The enemy was stronger than they had assumed and the war lasted over four years. Many became disillusioned and lost their faith in God because of the false expectations they started with.

Expectations live in the human imagination and that makes them dangerous, because the human imagination knows no limits. The greater the expectation, the greater the risk of disillusionment when those expectations are not met.

At the time Jesus told the parable of the ten minas, the expectations of the people were running high, too high. The people thought Jesus was about to quickly overthrow the Romans and restore Israel’s political power. We’ll be home by Hannukah. Israel assumed God was on their side, politically. They thought they knew what God wanted and, like many of us at times, they overestimated their own strength, their own importance.

That’s why Jesus told this parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.

No. Things were not going to unfold as quickly as people thought.

Jesus needed to put the brakes on people’s expectations. He needed to challenge people’s assumptions about themselves and about God. Jesus was not going to Jerusalem to start a revolution or overthrow the Romans. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world.    

Jesus begins his parable by saying, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return…” Who is Jesus talking about here? Who is the man of noble birth? Well, Jesus does not say.

However, we do notice some striking parallels between the man of noble birth and Jesus himself. After his death and resurrection, Jesus would ascend to heaven where God would appoint him as King. Then one day, at some unspecified time, Jesus will return in glory. This reading fits with the larger gospel narrative.

The point not to be missed here is that the man of noble birth goes to a distant country, which indicates the nobleman would be gone for some time, thus reinforcing the idea that God’s kingdom was not going to appear at once.    

Before he goes away, though, the nobleman calls ten of his servants together and gives each one a mina. As already mentioned, a mina is a measure of money roughly equivalent to 100 days wages. He tells his servants to put the money to work. Trade with it. See what you can do.

If Jesus is the nobleman, then the servants are those who know Jesus and confess him as Lord. Those who are part of Jesus’ household and are obliged to obey him. Jesus’ disciples in other words.   

Jesus does not define what the minas represent, we are left to interpret that for ourselves. Logically, we could say a mina is whatever resource Jesus has entrusted to us.

Some people think of the minas in literal material terms, like actual money or possessions. Others think one’s mina could be a special ability or God given talent, like being good with children or good with words or music or whatever.

We do well to include a spiritual meaning for the minas. For example, the minas may represent the faith, hope and love we have in Christ, or perhaps the word of God, the gospel we received, or maybe the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself. At its heart, I think of the mina as symbolic of God’s grace for us personally. Grace always comes first. Without God’s grace we can do nothing.  

How do you understand Jesus’ gift to you? And, what are you doing with that gift? How are you using your gift for Jesus’ benefit?

The plot of the parable thickens in verse 14 where we read: “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

This twist in the story finds another parallel with Jesus’ own experience. At the time Jesus told this parable, he was popular with the people. But in little over a week the crowds (egged on by the religious leaders) would reject Jesus, calling on Pilate to have him crucified. They did not want Jesus to be their king.

Kenneth Bailey points out what would have been obvious to Jesus’ Middle Eastern audience but is less obvious to us. The parable imagines a time of political transition and instability. It is by no means certain at this point whether the nobleman will be made king. People don’t like him.    

This puts the nobleman’s servants in a difficult position. Given their master has many enemies, who will support their business ventures which are funded by the nobleman? Some of those enemies may even sabotage their efforts. Trading in an uncertain environment like that is risky.

Worse than that, what if their master is not made king? They will probably suffer repercussions from their master’s enemies. The smart thing would be to keep your head down and hide your association with the master.

Now it becomes clear why the nobleman gave his servants money and told them to trade with it. He wants to know if his servants are willing to take the risk and openly declare themselves as loyal to him, during his absence, in a world where many oppose his rule.

In Latvia, the Lutheran church asks those who want to become pastors an important question: When were you baptised? If the candidate for ministry was baptised during the period of Soviet rule, when the church was persecuted, then they had risked their lives. They had openly declared themselves to be loyal to Jesus in a world that opposes Jesus’ rule. They had put the mina of their faith to work in the marketplace.

But if the candidate for ministry says they were baptised after the period of Soviet rule, well the seminary asks a lot more questions.

As Kenneth Bailey notes, “In the parable the master challenges his servants to live boldly and publicly as his servants using his resources, unafraid of his enemies, confident in the future as his future.” [1]

The church is not persecuted in New Zealand, but we are often misrepresented and misunderstood. Do we have the courage to risk publicly owning our faith in Jesus? Ultimately, and perhaps inconveniently, that is what it means to put our mina to work in the world.   

Verse 15 confirms the nobleman was in fact made king. Again, this parallels what happened to Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven bears witness to his legitimacy as God’s appointed King.

The first thing the master does on returning home is call for his servants.

He wants to know what they did with the money he had given them, not because he is interested in making money, but because what they did with the money will show where their true loyalty lies.    

The first two servants report to their master how they have turned a profit. One servant earned ten minas (a 1000% return) and the other, five minas (a 500% return). Given the difficulty of trading in that politically unstable environment, those sorts of returns suggest the master was gone for a very long time. You don’t make a 1000% return in just 12 months.

But notice how the servants speak to their master. They say: ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’  ‘Your mina has earned five more.’ The servants are humble, giving credit for their success to the master. They understand that without the master’s gift they would have nothing to offer. It is all by God’s grace.

Notice too the master’s response. He commends these servants for their trustworthiness or their faithfulness. They were not afraid to hide their loyalty to the master. They traded openly in the marketplace in confidence their master would return as King.

A British journalist once asked Mother Teresa how she kept going, knowing that she could never meet the needs of all the dying in the streets of Calcutta.

She replied, “I am not called to be successful; I’m called to be faithful.”      

Although two of the servants in the parable were successful, the master commends them for being trustworthy or faithful. The master is clearly very wealthy. He doesn’t need more money. He needs to know who he can trust.

This offers us some encouragement. We may not be successful in a numbers sense. We may have little control over the outcome of our witness for Christ. Our part is to remain faithful and leave the outcome with God who is able to work all things for good.   

The reward for proving trustworthy is being given even greater trust.

The servant who earned ten minas is put in charge of ten cities and the servant who earned five minas is entrusted with five cities.

Sadly, not all the servants proved faithful. Another servant appears before his master with an excuse. He says: ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’  

Now, if you have failed your boss and are having to give account for your actions, you don’t start by insulting him. You pay him a compliment to try and soften him up. Why then does this servant basically accuse his master of being a hard man and a thief? Because that sounds like an insult.

Well, the servant probably thought he was complimenting his boss by calling him a hard man. Some people like to think of themselves as a bit gangster, a bit tough, not prone to suffering fools. Some people get off on thinking that other people are scared of them. Not this boss though. The third servant has completely misread his master’s character.

The master does not admit to being a hard man and a thief, but nor does he correct the servant’s prejudice. He judges the servant by his own words.

Jesus is just and fair. He judges us by our own standards. The measure we use for others is the measure the Lord will use for us.

The servant’s words provide a mirror to his soul, reflecting his deceit.

The master knows the servant is lying and points out the inconsistency in what he says. If the servant really was afraid of the master, he could have at least put the mina on term deposit with the bank. In other words, he could have gone with a low-risk investment and still had something to show for it.

The truth is the servant here was too afraid to publicly identify himself with his master when it was risky to do so. But the servant’s problem runs deeper than that. The wicked servant never properly accepted the master’s grace in the first place and so he did not know the master’s true character.  

The wicked servant might represent anyone who is offered the mina of God’s grace but lays it aside, not accepting it personally. Without a deep experience of God’s grace, we won’t develop the loyalty to put our faith out there.

Have you accepted God’s grace for yourself personally?

The master in the parable takes away the wicked servant’s mina and gives it to the servant who has ten minas. The first thing we notice here is the master’s generosity. Even though the capital and the profits are rightfully his, the master let’s his faithful servants keep the money. This shows the wicked servant’s estimate of the master, as a hard man and a thief, was very wrong.

Not everyone can see the master’s generosity though. Some protest saying… ‘Sir he already has ten!’ To which the master replies: ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’

I understand this to mean, ‘use it or lose it’. Faith is like a muscle. Just as our muscles become weak and waste away if we don’t use them, so too our faith becomes weak and wastes away if we don’t exercise it. Exercising your faith means more than just reading your Bible and praying, although that is a good place to start. True faith calls for obedience, actually doing what Jesus asks.  

Jesus does not say what happens to the wicked servant after that. I guess three scenarios are possible: Either he kept his job, or he was fired or he resigned.

After he publicly denied Jesus, Peter did not resign, nor did Jesus fire him. In fact, Jesus restored the repentant Peter, trusting him with more responsibility.

It was a different story with Judas though. After betraying Jesus, Judas quit. The Lord did not fire him. We must not lose faith in the grace of God. If you fail, do not condemn yourself and do not quit your faith. Repent. Jesus rewards faith.

After the master has dealt with his own household, he then turns his attention to his enemies, those who do not want him to be king, saying: bring them here and kill them in front of me.

This ending is problematic for some. If the king represents Jesus, then how do we reconcile the killing of enemies with the Jesus we read about in the gospels? Other earthly kings do this, but Jesus is not like other kings.

Jesus taught us to love our enemies. From the cross he said, ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.’ 

Some say the parallels between the nobleman and Jesus should not be pressed too far. So Jesus is like the nobleman in some respects but not in every way and not in this last respect.

Others say Jesus has every right to execute his enemies when he returns. Indeed, justice requires it. You could say a quick death is a relatively merciful outcome for those who oppose God’s rule. They are getting off lightly.

Whatever the case, the point seems to be that in the end (at the judgement) there is a negative consequence for those who continue opposing Jesus and a reward for those who are faithful to Christ.    

Conclusion:

Jesus leaves his parable with some loose ends. He does not quench the thirst of our unanswered questions. He lets the parable interpret us.

What we can say with confidence is that Jesus, the King, will return in glory one day. It may be a long wait, but he will return. In the meantime, we are to receive his grace and put our faith to work, remaining loyal to him in a world that is sometimes hostile.

Let us pray…       

Jesus, we thank you for your grace. Give us wisdom and courage to put our mina to work and remain faithful to you. And when we fail, restore us we pray, to the praise of your glory. 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 did you initially interpret the sentence: ‘A woman without her man is nothing.’ (Be honest) Why do you think you interpreted it this way?
  3. Discuss / reflect on the parable of the ten minas. What was Jesus’ purpose in telling this parable? Why did Jesus give his servants minas to trade with, in his absence? What parallels do you observe between Jesus and the nobleman? Where do the parallels stop (or do they)?  
  4. How do you understand Jesus’ gift (of a mina) to you? What are you doing with that gift? How are you using your gift for Jesus’ benefit?
  5. How do you understand the phrase: ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’?
  6. What do you think happened to the wicked servant? Why do you think this?
  7. What does it mean to accept God’s grace for yourself personally? Have you done this?

Bibliography:

  • William Barclay, ‘The Gospel of Luke’, 1965.
  • Leon Morris, ‘Tyndale Commentaries: Luke’, 1976.
  • Fred Craddock, ‘Interpretation Commentaries: Luke’, 1990.
  • Darrell Bock, ‘NIV Application Commentary: Luke’, 1996.
  • Joel Green, ‘New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Luke’, 1997.
  • Kenneth Bailey, ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’, 2008.  

[1] Kenneth Bailey, ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’, page 401.  

Tawa Baptist

Eagles

Scripture: Exodus 19:3-6 and Isaiah 40:27-31

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

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Freedom with faithfulness
  • Strength with grace
  • Vision with patience
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series on ‘Birds of the Bible’ by focusing on eagles. Eagles are mentioned more than 30 times in the Scriptures, mostly in the Old Testament. There are many things we could say about eagles but three characteristics stand out: Freedom, strength and vision.

Freedom:

Let us begin with the eagle’s freedom. From Exodus 19 we read…

3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 youwill be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ 

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

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien uses eagles to rescue the Hobbits and their friends. When the Hobbits are outnumbered or in an impossible situation, the eagles come (at Gandolf’s command) and carry them away to safety. Tolkien borrowed this imagery from the Bible. 

Perhaps the most obvious characteristic of eagles is their freedom. Any bird with the ability to fly has freedom of course, but eagles have an even greater freedom than most because they are at the top of the food chain. They are an apex predator. The eagle is fearless.

Eagles are also one of those birds that mate for life, or at least until their mate dies. So as well as being free, the eagle is also a symbol of faithfulness.

In verse 4 of Exodus 19, Yahweh (the Lord God) talks about the freedom he secured for the nation of Israel. The people of Israel were being oppressed as slaves in Egypt and God delivered them, carrying them on eagles’ wings.

Eagles don’t actually carry their young (or anything else) on their wings, which is the point of the metaphor. God is using the eagle (a symbol of freedom and faithfulness) and making it do something that eagles don’t ordinarily do.

When God says to Israel, I carried you on eagles’ wings, he means something like, ‘I rescued you, Israel, from an impossible situation in a truly miraculous way. What I did in delivering you from Egypt has never been done before.’

We might read this passage and be so taken with the poetry of eagles’ wings that we miss what comes next. The Lord goes on to talk about faithfulness, saying: …if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.

Can you see how God puts freedom and faithfulness together?

To be faithful means obeying God and keeping his covenant. Following his law of love in other words. To be God’s treasured possession means that Israel will belong to the Lord in a special way. God is the creator of all there is and so everything belongs to God, but if Israel remains faithful to the Lord, they will be his Taonga, his prized treasure.  

In the islands you often see outrigger canoes. In Hawaii they are known as Wa‘a (Vah-ah). Outrigger canoes have at least one lateral support which give the canoe stability. 

Freedom is a wonderful gift to be given but it needs to be balanced by faithfulness. If freedom is the canoe, then faithfulness is the outrigger, supporting freedom so the people paddling the canoe don’t capsize.

In Galatians 5 Paul writes: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.

The yoke of slavery in this context could be the observance of man-made religious rules, that only make you feel guilty when you break them. But the yoke of slavery could also be some kind of unhelpful or unholy habit.

Jesus came to set us free from sin and guilt. But the freedom Jesus bought for us is not a freedom to do whatever we want. It is a freedom to obey God. A freedom to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Faithfulness is the right use of freedom.   

Freedom is a good thing, so long as we don’t make it the main thing. We live in a society which places a high value on personal freedom. We are very attached to our individual autonomy. We don’t like anyone or anything messing with our plans or getting in the way of our happiness. You could say that personal freedom (or individualism) is one of the golden calves of western society.

Sadly, our society is not so enamored by faithfulness. Broadly speaking we like the convenience of personal freedom but are less keen on the responsibility that freedom requires. It’s like we have done away with the outrigger of faithfulness, so the canoe of freedom is prone to capsizing. 

Freedom, without faithfulness tends to leave the door open to fear. Despite our emphasis on freedom we are a relatively anxious society. We are not fearless like the eagle.

As the people of God in this place, we need to hold freedom and faithfulness together, like the eagle. That means we will often have to sacrifice our personal freedom for the sake of God’s purpose. Sometimes following Jesus’ way is not convenient but we do it anyway because that is who we are, we belong to Christ, we are his treasured possession.

It needs to be acknowledged that most of you do hold freedom and faithfulness together much of the time. I can see that. So, in talking about the divorce between freedom and faithfulness, I am not criticizing anyone here personally. I’m simply making an observation about western society generally.

Strength:

Okay, so freedom coupled with faithfulness is the first characteristic of the eagle. The second is the eagle’s strength. Eagles are among the most powerful birds on the planet. They can fly at speeds of up to 160 km’s per hour and they can reach altitudes as high as 15,000 feet.

The claws of an eagle can exert a pressure of over 300 psi. That’s a vice like grip. Eagles often swoop down to catch fish but will also eat rodents and snakes. Some species of eagles are strong enough to pick up a lamb or a small calf. They are powerful creatures.

But raw strength and power by itself is not necessarily a good thing. Just as a hot curry needs some yogurt and cucumber to temper the taste, so too strength needs to be tempered with gentleness and grace. To give balance to their strength, eagles also possess a wise grace.

Seeing an eagle fly is a beautiful thing. Eagles are graceful. Here in New Zealand we are more likely to see hawks in the sky. A hawk is quite similar to an eagle in the way it soars and glides on the wind. Although an eagle has great strength, it has the sense not to waste its energy flapping madly. The eagle makes good use of the air currents.

Gliding gracefully takes some skill. Eagles are so fine-tuned, so adept at flying, that if they lose a feather in one wing, they are able to shed a corresponding feather in their other wing in order to maintain equilibrium.   

We also see the wise grace of the eagle in the way it parents its young. The mother stays with her young eaglets to protect them and keep them warm, while the father goes out to catch food and bring it home to the family.

And, contrary to popular belief, eagle parents don’t push their young out of the nest to see if they will fly. Rather, they use a wise and gentle approach. When the parents think their children are ready to fly, they stop feeding them. Then, when the young eagles get hungry, they venture out of the nest in search of food for themselves. Smart birds.

We notice this careful balance of strength and grace in the eagle imagery used in Isaiah 40, where the Lord God says through the prophet…  

27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The message of Isaiah 40 is one of comfort for the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Following the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, those who had survived the siege were forcibly marched off to a strange land. Apparently some of the exiles were thinking that God did not care for them anymore.

By definition, God is the most powerful, strongest being there is. But it does not matter how deeply you might believe in God’s strength and power, if you don’t believe in God’s grace for yourself personally, then you will become bitter towards God.

In verse 29 we read that the Lord strengthens those who are weak and tired. God shares his power with people who are spiritually exhausted so they soar on wings like eagles…

As I’ve already mentioned, eagles don’t flap. Eagles are calm and graceful. They spread their wings in freedom and they glide. Eagles can’t see the thermal currents that carry them but they still trust themselves to the wind.

God’s grace uplifts the weak who trust in him, like the thermal currents uplift the eagle with outstretched trusting wings.  

Those who wait in hope for God will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint. In other words, God’s grace sustains us both in the challenging times of life, when the pressure is on and we find ourselves running just to keep up, as well as in the ordinary routine of life when things simply tick over at a steady walking pace.

Isaiah’s use of the eagles’ wings imagery connects the exile with the exodus. Just as God got Israel out of an impossible situation, carrying them out of slavery in Egypt, so too he carried Israel out of captivity in Babylon.

Are you feeling like a captive in your life’s circumstances at the moment? Are you run off your feet, tired, weak and at the end of your tether? Are you feeling out of place, oceans from where you want to be? Are in an impossible situation, trapped between a rock and hard place? 

What might God be saying to you this morning? Put your hope in the Lord.

God can do the impossible. He can renew your strength so that you soar on wings like eagles; so you run without growing weary and walk without growing faint.     

Vision:

The eagle is a symbol of freedom, strength and vision.

You have probably heard the phrase, ‘eagle eyed’. This is because eagles have very good vision. An eagle’s eyesight is around five times better than that of a human being. In practical terms, that means, an eagle can spot a rabbit from three kilometers away. Pretty impressive, not to mention handy.

Of course, having amazing vision does not make for an expert hunter. Like any good hunter, the eagle also needs patience to support its vision. The eagle may have to patiently glide around the sky for hours, waiting for its prey and the right moment to strike.

Just as freedom needs the outrigger of faithfulness and strength needs to be tempered with grace, so too vision needs the twin virtue of patience. The ability to wait, with the right attitude, until the time is right.    

In the Bible, vision has at least two meanings. Firstly, vision is the ability to see what God is doing in the present. In John chapter 9, Jesus heals a man born blind. Somewhat ironically, the man who was blind had more vision than the religious leaders. He could see that God was at work in and through Jesus, whereas the religious leaders refused to acknowledge the Lord.

At the same time, vision also has to do with hope; vision is the capacity to imagine a good future.  And so we have the well-worn verse, ‘without vision the people perish’; which basically means, without hope for a good future the people give up.

Vision, then, is about seeing what God is doing in the present and believing in God to provide a good future. Jesus is God’s vision for humanity. The risen Christ is our hope for the future.   

Returning to Isaiah 40. In verse 31 we read, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles.

It seems that Isaiah is making a connection between the long range vision of eagles and the long range vision of those who hope in the Lord.

Hoping and waiting and patience go together in Biblical thought. As Paul says in Romans 8: 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.   

Hope is a powerful source of energy. Hope for a good future gives us joy in the present and that joy can carry us on eagles’ wings through tough times.

Those who are familiar with the story of Jacob might remember how Jacob had to work seven years to pay the bride price and be married to his sweetheart, Rachel. But that seven years seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. The hope of a good future with Rachel carried Jacob, on eagles’ wings, through his seven years hard labour.

Hope is a powerful source of energy but like any kind of power, hope can be dangerous if it is misplaced. If we put our hope in the wrong things, and our hope is disappointed, then our heart can be broken and our capacity to trust damaged.

That’s why we need to be careful to put our ultimate hope in the Lord. Not in our career or money. Not in education or expertise. Not even in marriage or family. While all those things are good and helpful and we need them to get by in this world, they are not perfect and so they have the potential to let you down, to break your heart.  

Let me say it another way. Putting your hope in the Lord does not mean believing that God will give you what you want. No. If you think that God will always give you what you ask for, then you will be disappointed. God will give you what you need and sometimes what you want, but not always.

Most of the time we don’t realise what we have put our hope in. We can be quite blind to our own vision of the future until that vision is threatened or taken away.

Although I wasn’t aware of it at the time, as a child, my hope was in my parents. When my mum and dad got divorced, my hope (or my vision of what the future held) came apart, it was undone.

At that point I had a choice. I could become angry and bitter or I could transfer my hope to God. In other words, I could trust God to be my vision. I could trust God to redeem the past and create a good future.  

Where have you placed your hope?

Waiting for God to fulfil his vision for our lives is the work of a lifetime, it requires patience.  

If you love God more than the things God gives, then you will be more secure. You will be better equipped to accept your losses in this life, because you know that you have God and God has you. And that is what really matters. 

Conclusion:

Freedom with faithfulness, strength with grace and vision with patience. These are the qualities of the noble eagle.

We see these qualities embodied in Jesus. Jesus sets people free and he faithfully lives out God’s law of love on our behalf.

Jesus has the strength to defeat sin and death, as well as the grace to forgive.

Jesus’ vision is to make all things new, to bring heaven to earth, and he suffers patiently to realise this vision.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why does freedom need faithfulness? What happens if we separate freedom from faithfulness? What does it mean to be faithful to God today?
  • Discuss / reflect on the imagery of God carrying Israel on eagles’ wings. What does this mean in the context of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. What does it mean for you personally?
  • The eagle combines strength with grace. Can you think of an example, either from your own experience or from the gospels, of how Jesus combined strength and grace?
  • Have you experienced God renewing your strength? What happened? What did God do for you?
  • What are the two ways of understanding vision? Why is patience the necessary companion to vision?
  • Where is your hope placed? How do you know this?
Tawa Baptist

God Never Changes – by Neville

Changeless God in a changing world

Neville Gardner 2 Oct 2022

You’ve got me as a speaker today, and Peter next Sunday, because Will is taking a short break.

He gets a change that will refresh him.

I get a change that has challenged me.

You get a change that – well, I don’t know what you’ll get from it!

Don’t worry, things will be back to normal in a couple of weeks.

Not all change is so short-lived, or so easy to cope with.

My wife Nicky and I have recently been looking to replace our 18 year old car. When I got in a new car for a test drive the other day, about the only things I recognised were the steering wheel and the seats. The salesman assured me that he’d “even taught his granny” how to use the computer touchscreen.

New technology, as we all know, can have upsides and downsides. Our new car will be safer, cheaper to run, quieter and better for the environment. It will take some effort to learn how to use all the new features, or how to turn them off, but I’m sure we’ll get used to the change in time. Actually, I can hardly wait for the new car to arrive.

We live in a world in which few things don’t change. Each of you will have experienced changes that have affected you in different ways. I’m going to read out a list of changes – for each one I’d like you to think of an example that relates to your own experiences.

A change that was easy to cope with . . . a change that was unsettling or damaging.

A change that affected lots of people . . . a change that affected just you.

A change you caused to happen . . . a change you had no control over.

Our bodies undergo physical changes as we grow up and grow old. Our minds and characters can change too. We need to cope with changes to health and relationships, school and jobs, family and friends, finances and the environment and so on – the list is endless.

Fortunately, this endless list of changes does not include God. “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” we are told in Malachi 3:6. Which is good news, when you remember that He’s in control of everything. God doesn’t have moods, he doesn’t have good days and bad days, you can’t accuse him of ‘not being a morning person’. He keeps his promises and if he tells us what he wants us to do one day, he doesn’t change his mind the next.

God never changes.

Or I can say GOD never changes, or I can say God NEVER changes – that puts slightly different meanings on the phrase.

Saying GOD never changes, implies that everything else does.

God created change, but he is unchanging himself.

1 Samuel 15:29 tells us that “Israel’s majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a man – he does not change his mind.”

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.

Lamentations 3:22 (English Standard Version).

When God created the world, one of the first things he did was to create light and changed night into day in a regular cycle. That was followed by a world of changing seasons, weather, mountains, seas and rivers. He also created people, with bodies that age and die, and natures that change.

God encourages us to change. At some time in our lives, He offers us the chance to make a life-changing choice. For me, his ‘believe in me’ call didn’t arrive until I was about 30 years old. It will have been different for each of you. Making the decision to accept Jesus certainly made a big change to my life – not least because within a year I had moved to live in New Zealand and was married. Both of which, I hasten add, I think of as good changes!

When we believe in God, we ask Him to keep on changing us, in ways that will bring us closer to Him through Jesus. There’s a song we sing sometimes that includes the lines:

Change my heart oh God

Make it ever true.

Change my heart oh God

May I be like you.

You are the potter,

I am the clay.

Mould be and make me,

This is what I pray.

God NEVER changes

Psalm 102: 25 and 27 say “O Lord, you live for ever. Long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. They will disappear, but you will remain.”

There has never been, and will never be, a time without God. And through all of his existence he has not, and will not, change.

The God that we serve today is exactly the same as the God who created the world. He is the same God who promised Moses that he would save his people. He is the same today as when he accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for us. He will be exactly the same when our world ends.

As you read the Bible, you meet a God who at times seems angry, or controlling, or loving. But he is not changeable – what we encounter is a loving, merciful and just God who is dealing with sinful people in all kinds of situations.

He treats people something like parents treat their children:

If a child obeys their parents, the parents show pleasure

If a child disobeys their parents, they may face less than pleasing consequences

If a child needs help, they can ask their parents for guidance

If a child is hurting, their parents show compassion.

That’s how God treats his people.

So what is it about God that doesn’t change?

His character never changes

God is always good, wise, just, truthful, gracious, loving, merciful, faithful, patient, and much more. None of these characters will ever change. He is perfect, so he can’t get any better, and he can’t get worse.

His purposes never change

Psalm 33:11 says “But his plans endure for ever; his purposes last eternally.”

God’s purposes for Jesus will not change.

Jesus will always be our saviour – Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever.”

God’s plans for everyone who accepts Jesus as their saviour will not change.

John 14: 6 says “Jesus answered him “I am the way, the truth, and the life; No one goes to the Father except through me.””

Hebrews 7:24-25 says “But Jesus lives on for ever, and his work as priest does not pass on to someone else. And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives for ever to plead with God for them.”

God’s plans for those who choose sin instead of Jesus never change.

John 3:36 says “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not have eternal life, but will remain under God’s punishment.”

God has a plan for my life. He’s got one for each of you too. He’ll do everything he can to make sure his plan unfolds perfectly, as long as we stick with God.

So what does God’s unchangeability mean to us?

Because we can be certain that God never changes, we can trust all his promises.

We can trust him completely. And Jesus will always save and protect those who trust in him.

Therefore, we have no cause to fear the future.

Because God never changes, we can be confident when we pray to him.

He will always listen to our prayers, at any time, under any circumstances – not just sometimes.

1 John 5:14-15 says “We have courage in God’s presence, because we are sure that he hears us if we ask him for anything that is according to his will. He hears us whenever we ask him; and since we know this is true, we know also that he gives us what we ask from him.”

Some people may ask how, if he never changes, God can keep up in a changing world. How can he stay relevant?

Well, I think he can stay relevant precisely because he doesn’t change. God’s purposes never change, we will always need salvation, and Jesus is always there to give it. Our challenge is to remember that no matter how much society changes, we will always need to try and understand God’s purpose.

As Christians, we can help communicate God’s relevance using language and actions that each new generation understands. Daryl and his team of leaders do that all the time, with the Bus Tour of the coming week being a great example. Will is currently preaching a series of sermons that interprets the 10 commandments for our modern world.

I was watching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the other day, and I was struck by the old-fashioned language used in the service, such as liveth, thou knowest and so on. I presume it was from the King James Bible, first published in 1611.

Because we are having communion soon, I thought I’d read you something from a little book called A Companion to the Altar, published for the Church of England in about 1790– that’s 232 years ago.

It’s purely coincidental that this old paper and leather book is the same size as my glass, plastic and metal mobile phone.

Question: What is required of them who come to the Lord’s Supper?

Answer: To examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins; steadfastly purposing to lead a new life; have lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ, with thankful remembrance of his death, and to be in charity with all men.

The meaning is still relevant, that’s still a good way to prepare for communion, but the language isn’t what we’d use today. Fortunately, as languages change, new translations of the Bible keep God’s word accessible to new generations of readers.

As well as the language we use in church changing over time, so have styles of worship.

Many of you will have attended other churches at some time, and will be aware that the drive to make Christianity ‘relevant’ in modern times involves change that doesn’t always sit easily with older generations. This change may be good for some, not so good for others.

One person who questioned his own response to such changes was the late Jack McFadyen. Some of you will remember when he was minister here in the mid 1970s. I knew Jack a long time after that, when he was attending a church in a different city. I’ll close by reading what Jack wrote about his experience of change in that church – it is not referring to this church. The piece is called “Tomorrow’s Church”:

Lord, the modern church isn’t the one I used to know.

We felt safe then with familiar hymns and dignified people leading our worship.

But it isn’t like that anymore. It’s as though something has been taken away from me.

The minister isn’t the worship leader anymore – anyone can do it and sometimes, it’s less of a service than a performance.

The music is foreign to me and the words seem shallow.

They speak of you and your kingdom in a way that sounds cheap.

Have I got it wrong Lord?

Can the church I see survive the modern world? I wonder.

Then, Lord, it seems so clear to me. I do have it wrong.

These young people are tomorrow’s church and they have to speak to tomorrow’s world. They’re on the same wavelength as today’s culture and tomorrow’s – and I’m not.

No, Lord, the church won’t die at their hands, it would die at mine.

No one will want a faith whose culture belongs to yesterday.

It has to be relevant to now and beyond – with music and dress and informality and language and the whole new culture of their generation.

So what do I do about it Lord? I think I know.

I will be grateful that there will be a church of tomorrow because there are people who seem relevant to a changing world and they will speak of Jesus in music and story in the idiom of their day.

Lord, thank you for the church of today that assures me that we will have a church of tomorrow.

Questions for study or reflection:

How was your childhood different to that of today’s children?

In what ways do think it was better?

In what ways do modern children have things better?

The sermon mentions that God is always good, wise, just, truthful, gracious, loving, merciful, faithful, patient.

What other aspects of God’s character do not change?

What does the fact that God never changes mean to you?

What are some of the ways that all ages of people can be catered for in a church service?

Tawa Baptist

Yesterday

Scripture: Deuteronomy 1:19-45

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

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Israel’s fear in the face of God’s faithfulness
  • Israel’s arrogance in the face of God’s anger
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

The atheist philosopher, George Santanya, once said: ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’

Whatever George Santanya may have believed about God, this quote certainly strikes a chord with Moses. In Deuteronomy, Moses gives a series of sermons to the people of Israel as they stand on the edge of the Promised Land, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

In the opening chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses is at pains to remind the Israelites of their past, in particular the mistakes of their past.

Today’s message draws its inspiration from Deuteronomy chapter 1, verses 19-45, in which Moses recounts the events of 38 years earlier, when the people of Israel failed to enter the Promised Land.

Moses is now speaking to the adult children of those who faltered. And he doesn’t mince words or sugar coat it. Moses wants the next generation to learn from the past, so they don’t make the same mistakes their parents did.

Broadly speaking Moses highlights at least two mistakes to avoid from the past. There is Israel’s fear in the face of God’s faithfulness and there is Israel’s arrogance in the face of God’s anger. First let’s consider Israel’s fear. 

Israel’s fear in the face of God’s faithfulness:

In verses 19-33 of Deuteronomy 1, which we read earlier in today’s service, Moses recalls the events that led up to Israel’s first failed attempt to the enter the land.

In summary, the nation left Mount Sinai and arrived at Kadesh Barnea, which is an oasis to the south of the land of Canaan. Moses said: Take the land the Lord your God is giving you, don’t hesitate and don’t be afraid.

But the people wanted to send spies in first, which seemed prudent at the time, so Moses agreed. Each of the 12 spies gave a favourable report of the land but only two (Joshua and Caleb) were keen to proceed. The other 10 spies focused more on the obstacles and threats, saying there were giants in the land and the walls of the cities reached to the sky.

Unfortunately, democracy was the winner and Joshua and Caleb’s minority report was ignored. From verse 26 of Deuteronomy 1, Moses remembers…

26 “But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you would not enter the land. 27 You grumbled to one another: ‘The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us. 28 Why should we go there? We are afraid.

Fear is a powerful thing. There are two kinds of fear. Rational fear, which is well founded in truth and useful to protect us. Like, seeing a hot element on the stove and not touching it for fear of being burned.

And then there is irrational fear, which is based on a lie. Irrational fear, if it gets hold of us, distorts our perspective and blinds us. Irrational fear paralyses people. The Israelites’ fear was irrational. It was based on a false belief.   

David Riddell, a Christian counsellor, has a helpful tool for correcting false beliefs and renewing your mind. He calls it Trace – Face – Replace.

The idea with trace face replace is to trace your self-talk and feelings to the underlying beliefs which are driving those feelings. Then face your beliefs squarely, to see whether or not they are really true. And, if the belief you hold is false, then replace it with a belief that is true.

For example, if you find that you have a habit of bailing out when the going gets tough, you might trace that behaviour to a belief that life should be easy. When you face that belief you find that it is false. Actually, life is not easy. So, with time and practice, you replace the belief with one that is true. Something like, life has it challenges but God is with us and for us through thick and thin. We need to speak the truth to ourselves.

Now I’m not suggesting that all anxiety can be cured in this way. There is a certain level of systemic (or ambient) anxiety in our world today, due to a range of factors which are outside of our control. Nevertheless, I think David Riddell’s method is helpful.   

The Israelites were afraid of entering the Promised Land. And when we trace that feeling of fear to its source, we see it was based on a belief that God hates them.

Moses, who is a wise and compassionate pastor, tries to get the people to face their wrongly held belief in order to replace that false belief with a belief that is true. In verse 29, Moses says… 

29 “But I told you, ‘Don’t be afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 31 and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.’     

Sometimes we think that faith is not based on anything. It’s just a leap in the dark. But Biblical faith looks back at the facts of what God has done in the past. Faith is grounded in the reality of our experience with God.  (Not just our personal experience but our collective experience also.) 

Moses fights fear with facts. The people believe that God hates them and so Moses basically says, ‘Where’s the evidence for that belief?’ The facts are that God delivered you from slavery in Egypt and brought you safely through the desert to this oasis. All the evidence indicates that God loves you.

Why would God provide all that care and protection only to lead you into an ambush? It doesn’t make sense. Your false belief needs to be replaced with a true belief.

In verse 30, Moses says the Lord your God will lead you and fight for you. Here God is portrayed as a powerful warrior, the General of a heavenly army. This belief, that God will fight for Israel, is not random. It is based on the fact that God actually did this for Israel when they left Egypt. 

Then, in verse 31, God is portrayed as a loving Father, where Moses says: You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son. Again, that statement is based on the facts of what God has done in the past.

So the true belief, the belief Moses wants the people to hold to going forward, is that God is powerful, like a mighty warrior, but also gentle and protective like a loving Father.

There is so much fear and anxiety in our world today. Some of it is reasonable but not all of it. If we were to trace our fears to the underlying beliefs we hold, we would probably find that many of our beliefs are simply false and need to be replaced with a belief that is accurate and true.

What is it you really believe about God?

I’m not sure we really know what we believe when we are singing songs in church on Sunday. I think we find out what we truly believe when the faecal matter hits the fan, Monday through to Friday.

Do you believe God hates you? The truth is, God loves you like a good father. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to struggle. That doesn’t mean you won’t ever meet with resistance. But it does mean you are not alone in your struggle.

Do you believe God is powerless? The truth is, God is mighty to save, like a powerful warrior. That doesn’t mean life will always be easy. It doesn’t mean everything will be handed to you on a silver platter. But it does mean God can work every circumstance for good.

Returning to Deuteronomy. Sadly, the people of Israel still would not trust the Lord, even though Moses had reminded them of the facts of God’s leadership and care for them. 

If verses 19-33 of Deuteronomy 1 speak of Israel’s fear in the face of God’s faithfulness, then verses 34-45 speak of Israel’s arrogance in the face of God’s anger. We pick up Moses’ retelling of Israel’s past from verse 34…

34 “The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared, 35 ‘Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.’ 

37 Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, ‘Not even you, Moses, will enter the land. 38 But strengthen the determination of your helper, Joshua son of Nun. He will lead Israel to occupy the land.’

39 “Then the Lord said to all of us, ‘Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land—the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it. 40 But as for you people, turn around and go back into the desert on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.’

41 “You replied, ‘Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country.

42 “But the Lord said to me, ‘Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.’ 

43 I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You rebelled against him, and in your arrogance you marched into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom. 45 So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.

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

When we think of anger we tend to picture someone losing control. A sudden outburst of pent up emotion. Perhaps yelling or punching the wall. Anger has many faces though. More often, in our culture, anger slips out in the form of sarcasm, or it goes inward as with resentment.

Anger is usually the result of injustice. If you cut yourself, you bleed. If you suffer injustice, you feel angry. The greater the injustice the greater the anger (whether that injustice is real or merely imagined).

The problem with us human beings is that we have a proclivity to feel we have been badly slighted or unfairly treated when in fact we haven’t. Or we might be inclined to magnify the injustice we feel because there is power in taking the role of the victim. So human anger is not always righteous or justified.

In verse 34, Moses says that God became angry after listening to Israel’s complaints. Because we human beings are so self-centred we often make the mistake of thinking that divine anger is the same as human anger. But it’s not.

Yes, injustice makes God angry too; the Lord was angry with Israel because their complaints against him were untrue and unjust. But God has a far better handle on his anger than we do. God keeps the injustice in perspective. He doesn’t exaggerate it. And his expression of anger is always fair and measured, salted with mercy and creativity. God does not explode in a fit of rage.

We see the fairness of God’s anger in the solemn declaration he makes in verses 35-38. The Lord vows that this generation of Israelites, who believed he hated them, will not enter the Promised Land. So often God’s wrath takes the form of giving people what they say they want. God’s wrath is not him hitting people with a big stick. More often, God’s wrath takes the form of God stepping back and letting people experience the consequences of their own choices.

But God’s anger is also discerning. God’s anger minimises any collateral damage. The innocent ones do not receive the same treatment as the guilty. Caleb and Joshua, the two spies who trusted God and encouraged the people to take the land, they both get in. They have to wait the better part of 40 years, but still they are treated with fairness.

As well as being fair and righteous, God’s anger is also creative. Verses 39-40 surely reveal the beauty and wisdom of God’s anger. Israel were afraid of what their enemies might do to their children so God basically says, ‘I will prove your fear to be false. Your children will occupy the land. They will succeed where you have failed.’

Imagine this. Someone you know well, someone you had treated with kindness, repaid your kindness by spreading malicious rumours about you. The things they said were untrue, unkind and unfair.

How would you feel? I expect you would feel angry and rightly so. But what are you going to do with that anger? Are you going to play a game of tit for tat and say nasty things about them behind their back?

Or are you going to tell them to their face that they are out of line and then, to prove them wrong, put money in a Trust fund for their kids to buy a house one day? (In this little story you’ve got the means to do that.)

Probably most of us want to speak our mind to those who wrong us but I don’t think any of us would bless their children so generously. And yet that is effectively what God did with his anger. He turned it into something creative and beneficial, saying your kids will inherit the land. God is not like us. His anger is just and merciful.

God’s declaration, that the children will inherit the Promised Land, reminds me of Jesus who says in the gospels: Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven.   

Simple, childlike trust opens the door.

So what does Israel do in the face of the Lord’s anger? Well, they say to Moses (in verse 41)…

‘…we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’

On the face of it, this looks like repentance and we would expect repentance to do the trick. But it is too late. This is not the eleventh hour. This is the thirteenth hour.[1] God has already made his solemn declaration and he won’t take it back. That particular generation of Israel have missed their window of opportunity for entering the land.

Another quote from George Santanya: ‘Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.’ 

Or to put it another way, if what you are doing isn’t working, then more of the same isn’t going to help. 

By this definition the Israelites of Moses’ generation were fanatics. They redoubled their efforts while forgetting their aim. Israel’s aim, their purpose, was to trust and obey the Lord God. Sadly, they had forgotten this and compensated by redoubling their efforts, by trying even harder. But there’s no point in shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Even though Moses warned them that God was not with them to give them victory, the people rebelled against the Lord and in their arrogance marched into battle only to suffer heavy defeat.

Maybe their earlier repentance was honest enough in that moment but it is undone by the next moment’s truth.

It seems that Israel’s need for redemption was so great they were willing to risk their lives for it. But salvation belongs to God. We cannot manufacture our own redemption.

Interestingly, Hormah (the place of Israel’s defeat) comes from a word meaning destruction or annihilation. The message is: failure to trust God’s word results in death.

Today’s reading finishes with Moses recalling how the survivors of that defeat cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen or pay attention.

We may prefer to think of God’s compassion and grace but what we have here is a picture of God’s unswerving justice. The people have simply reaped what they sowed. More than once they refused to listen to God and so God refuses to listen to them.

After the defeat at Homar, the people went to the oasis at Kadesh before returning to the wilderness for 38 more years. Sometimes you have to go back before you can go forward.

Conclusion:

You know, we need to be careful not to look down on Israel here. If we are honest with ourselves, we are not that different and we may even be worse.

Like Israel, we too are sometimes so focused on the giants in the land that we lose sight of God’s faithfulness. And in losing sight of God’s faithfulness we are overwhelmed by fear.

Like Israel, we too may be so desperate for redemption that we try to manufacture our own salvation. We may wear ourselves out trying to be good enough and then end up feeling defeated by the reality of how far we fall short.

Ultimately though we need to remember, today’s story is not primarily about us. This story is about Jesus. Jesus did for Israel what they could not do for themselves. Just as Jesus did for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Jesus lived the perfect life of trust and obedience to God the Father on our behalf. And, in the process, Jesus conquered the giants of sin and death. Not only that but Jesus embodies the Promised Land of God’s kingdom.

We get to participate in God’s kingdom, not through our own strength or courage, but through simple childlike trust in Christ.  

The musician, Taylor Kingman, wrote a song called Wannabe. It’s not really the sort of song we might sing in church but the last verse makes an honest prayer, I think, even if Taylor Kingman did not intend that. Can you make this your prayer…      

I wanna be true

The blossoms of love are blighted with fear in the roots

And that moment was honest, untouched by the next moment’s truth

And I’m sorry for all I’ve taken and I’m sorry for all I’ve let loose

I wanna be true, I wanna be forgiven for giving up on everything I knew

I wanna be true. 

Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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?

  • Why does Moses remind the nation of Israel of its past mistakes?
  • How might we discern the difference between rational fear and irrational fear? How might we overcome irrational fear?
  • What do you really believe about God, Monday through to Friday? To help you explore this question, you may like to try the following exercise:

Are you aware of a mantra of self-talk or a feeling that is troubling you? Trace that self-talk or feeling to its underlying belief. Face that belief squarely. Is that belief true? If it is false, what belief can you replace it with?   

  • Why did God become angry with Israel? How did God deal with his anger? How do you typically deal with your anger? How is God’s anger different from human anger?
  • What connections do you see between this story of Israel and Jesus? What does Jesus do for Israel that Israel could not do for itself? What does Jesus do for us that we cannot do for ourselves?
  • Take some time this week to intentionally recall God’s faithfulness to you personally. It might be little things God does in each day or bigger things he has done over the years. Think of specific examples and thank him.   

[1] Credit to Walter Brueggemann for this line.

Tawa Baptist

YHWH

Scripture: Exodus 34:1-9

 

Title: YHWH

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • YHWH
  • Moses
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on Moses in Exodus

  • You may remember that God made a covenant with Israel – a sacred agreement in which they were committed in loyalty to Yahweh
  • Sadly the people were quick to break this commitment by making and worshipping a golden calf
  • But Moses interceded for the people asking God not to destroy them
  • And God listened to Moses
  • This morning’s reading picks up the part in the story where God is renewing the covenant with Israel – giving them a second chance

 

Israel didn’t really appreciate what God was offering them in the covenant

  • But now, through their fall and failure, they learn more deeply the extent of God’s steadfast love for them

 

Today I will be reading from the New Revised Standard Version

  • The words will appear on the wall behind me
  • Exodus chapter 34, verses 1 – 9

 

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of the mountain.

 

3 No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

 

5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.” 6  The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God compassionate [merciful] and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

 

8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 He said, “If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

YHWH:

On the wall here we have some text language

  • If you are under the age of 30 then this will probably be easy
  • But if you are over 40 then it might be a bit harder
  • So for those over 40 only – what does BTW mean? [Wait]
  • Yes – that’s right – ‘By The Way’

 

That was an easy one to get you started

  • What about FWIW? [Wait]
  • ‘For What It’s Worth’

 

Okay – one more – BOT [Wait]

  • ‘Back On Topic’

 

You could be forgiven for thinking the title of this morning’s message (on the front page of the newsletter) was text language – YHWH

  • But it’s not – this is God’s name
  • In English it is usually translated simply as LORD, all in capitals
  • But really it is untranslatable
  • We tend to put vowels in to at least make it pronounceable – so it sounds something like ‘Yahweh’
  • In any case there is significant mystery and sacredness in the name

In Exodus 33 Moses had asked to see the Lord’s glory and God had said…

  • I will make my goodness pass before you and will proclaim my name before you …but you cannot see my face… you may see my back.
  • Now in chapter 34 (the passage we read earlier) God does just that

 

6  The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God compassionate [merciful] and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…

 

Yahweh is different from the deities of the pagan nations around ancient Israel

  • The gods of the other nations were represented by wooden or metal statues – something the people could see and touch
  • Something that wouldn’t talk back or tell them what to do
  • Something they could control

 

But Yahweh forbids the people to represent Him in this way

  • Instead Yahweh represents Himself with words: poetry is God’s language
  • Words are like seeds – they are powerful and once buried in the soil of our imagination take root, grow and bear fruit in our actions

 

The first characteristic or attribute God reveals about Himself here is that He is compassionate (sometimes also translated merciful)

 

Compassionate and merciful are relatively long words in English

  • The Hebrew root word is quite short – just three letters ‘RHM’
  • As Phyllis Tribble observes, the Hebrew word for ‘compassionate’ or ‘merciful’, when used in relation to Yahweh, is intimately connected to the word for ‘womb’ [1]
  • Compassionate and womb share the same linguistic root

 

A womb is a sacred and holy part of a woman’s body

  • It is where human life grows and is formed in secret
  • A womb is a powerfully creative thing – a place of nourishment and protection for the child
  • And it is cloaked in mystery – science doesn’t yet understand it

 

It’s like God is saying in poetic language…

  • ‘My inner most being is sort of like a womb
  • At my core is mystery, power and creative energy
  • I am like a mother to you Israel, carrying and protecting and nourishing you, bringing you into this world at great pain to myself
  • And like a mother I am compassionate’

 

To be compassionate means to receive the other person’s suffering

  • To see their sadness and pain and reach out to accept them so they know they are not alone
  • We don’t have to pretend with God
  • If God asks us how we are we don’t have to say, “I’m fine”, if we are not
  • We can be honest with God – He can handle it

 

Steve Apirana has a song we sometimes sing in church called, Something Beautiful

  • Something beautiful, something good
  • All my confusion, He understood
  • All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
  • But He made something beautiful out of my life

 

This is really a song about God’s compassion

  • God has the power to receive our pain and suffering
  • To take it into Himself and transform it into something beautiful
  • To do something creative with it so that it serves a good purpose
  • Just like when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery
  • God received Joseph’s rejection (his pain & suffering) and used it to save many people, including Joseph’s brothers

 

In the ‘Gospel for Asia’ magazine which came out this month there is an article – a true story of a 2 day old baby girl who was left in a rubbish bin [2]

  • The doctor had said the baby was abnormal and the parents felt so ashamed they threw the child into a dumpster
  • The sister-in-law of the man who had thrown the child away was a Christian. Her name, Pranaya
  • When Pranaya learned that her wee niece had been put out with the rubbish, she went & found the child, reached into the bin & lifted her up
  • Pranaya carried the baby home, named her Jansi and cared for her
  • Even after Pranaya married and had children of her own, she still accepted Jansi in her family

 

Pranaya showed compassion, graciousness & steadfast love – she reached out to accept someone else’s suffering – to carry, nurture, protect and nourish Jansi

  • This is what God did for Israel and it’s what He does for each of us

 

The second word God uses to describe Himself is gracious

  • To be gracious here means that Yahweh acts freely and generously, without need for compensation or hope of benefit
  • God works pro-bono – for free and without agenda
  • God’s graciousness points to His freedom
  • God doesn’t do things for us because He needs something from us
  • God doesn’t need anything – He is able to meet His own needs
  • God does things for us because He wants to and He can

 

That phrase, slow to anger, literally translates from the Hebrew ‘long of nose’ or ‘long nostrils’ – this is Hebrew idiom which is lost on us to some extent

  • Make the snort of anger noise – that’s a snort of anger
  • To say that God has long nostrils means, it takes a long time for the snort of anger to come through God’s nose

 

In today’s English idiom we might say ‘God has a long fuse’

  • Someone with a short fuse is someone with a quick temper – they explode in anger at the smallest thing
  • Someone with a long fuse (like God) is not prone to exploding

 

As we heard last week, anger or wrath is not primary to God

  • It is secondary and temporary
  • If anger is represented by the white ball in a game of pool then the cue which sets the white ball moving is God’s care
  • Like an expert pool player God is in control of His anger

 

We could say that ‘slow to anger’ basically means God is patient

  • He is not pressured or in a hurry – He measures twice and cuts once

 

Steadfast love is mentioned two times by Yahweh in today’s passage – so it is given extra emphasis

  • It translates from the Hebrew word hesed
  • Hesed doesn’t have an exact English equivalent
  • Loyal love or covenant love or steadfast love are generally the best translations
  • Steadfast love (Hesed) is not a romantic feeling which waxes and wanes
  • It is not skinny love
  • Steadfast love has substance – backbone
  • It is an unswerving, unbreakable commitment to someone else’s well-being

 

William Shakespeare was describing something like steadfast love when he wrote…

  • Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no; it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;

 

In other words, true love is constant – it does not change with the circumstances

  • Steadfast love goes on loving the other person even when that love is not reciprocated
  • The commitment that Noah shows for Ally in the movie the Note Book is steadfast love
  • The commitment Ruth shows to her mother-in-law Naomi (in the Bible) is also steadfast love

 

Faithfulness is complete trustworthiness and reliability

  • It means Yahweh won’t go back on what He has promised
  • He won’t break His word – His word is truth
  • God does not promise Israel an easy road
  • He promises to go with them – He promises His presence

 

In verse 7 the Lord continues revealing His character saying He is a God who

  • …keeps steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

 

 

Now, at first glance this statement sounds contradictory

  • God is saying He forgives people but then in the same breath He also says He doesn’t clear the guilty
  • So which is it: forgiveness or justice? Grace or punishment?
  • Well, it’s not either / or with God – it’s both / and
  • The steadfast love of God requires Him to exercise both forgiveness and just judgement

 

What we notice is that the judgement – or the just consequence – is limited to 3 or 4 generations, while the steadfast love is unlimited, for 1000’s

  • Wrath is not a continuous aspect of God’s nature
  • Wrath is temporary – a particular response to a historical situation
  • God’s natural inclination, His default setting if you like, is to show steadfast love

But steadfast love does not mean anything goes

  • There is no predictability or inevitability about divine grace
  • We should not presume upon God’s forgiveness
  • We can’t say, ‘Well, I know this is wrong but I’m going to do it anyway because God is my mate, He will forgive me, it’s in His nature.’
  • God is not obligated to forgive us
  • If we are playing Him for fool then He will see through that

 

The Lord is slow to anger and quick to forgive but that doesn’t mean we have immunity from the consequences of our actions

  • For forgiveness to really happen, something has to die
  • Usually it is our pride and wilfulness which needs to die

 

Okay, so hopefully that helps you to understand something of the meaning of Yahweh’s name

  • But really we can only know Yahweh through a relationship with Him
  • We can only know Yahweh’s compassion if we suffer
  • We can only know His graciousness if we have empty hands to receive from Him
  • We can only know His steadfast love & faithfulness if we trust Him through thick & thin
  • We can only know His patience and forgiveness if we admit our failure

 

The other person in this morning’s reading is Moses – let’s take a look at things from his perspective

 

Moses:

Moses has just experienced a revelation of God’s goodness

  • There is something overwhelming about God’s goodness
  • There is a grandeur and a beauty to it (like a mountain range) which both inspires us and makes us feel inadequate at the same time

 

God’s goodness infinitely outweighs our goodness – we become aware that we are unworthy, not equal partners in the relationship

Moses responds by bowing before God in worship

  • Worship is the appropriate response to God’s goodness
  • In bowing we are saying, ‘God, You are the bigger, better person here. How can I possibly stand in Your presence.’

 

Based on Yahweh’s revelation of Himself, Moses goes on to ask three things of the Lord (for the sake of Israel)…

  • Go with us – that’s presence
  • Forgive us – that’s grace
  • And take us as Your inheritance – that’s acceptance
  • Presence, forgiveness and acceptance

 

One interesting thing we observe here is the way Moses identifies himself with the people in their sinfulness

  • Go with us – forgive us – accept us
  • Moses could have said forgive them – but he doesn’t
  • Moses wasn’t part of the golden calf debacle and yet he stands in solidarity with the people – he wears their shame, he carries their cross
  • Remind you of anyone?

 

Forgiveness is the key to Yahweh’s relationship with Israel

  • In order for Yahweh to accept Israel and go with Israel, the Lord will need to be prepared to forgive Israel, for they are a stiff necked people
  • Like a mule that won’t be led by its master Israel will fight God and resist Him each step of the way

 

In verse 10 God answers Moses’ prayer for presence, forgiveness and acceptance by saying: “I hereby make a covenant [with Israel]”

  • Renewal of the covenant is not automatic – Moses must make an admission of guilt on behalf of the people

 

We are not that different to Israel

  • Forgiveness is key to our relationship with God also
  • Without God’s forgiveness we can’t know His presence or acceptance
  • But forgiveness is not automatic – there needs to be an admission of guilt on our part, otherwise it is not an open or honest relationship

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard about the Lord’s name – His character, His values, His nature

 

As the Son of Man, Jesus is like the new Moses – interceding for humanity before God – carrying the cross of our shame – asking for God’s presence, forgiveness and acceptance for us

 

And, as the Son of God, Jesus embodies and personifies Yahweh’s name

  • Jesus shows us God’s compassion and graciousness
  • His patience, steadfast love and faithfulness
  • Most of all though Jesus shows us God’s forgiveness on the cross
  • This is not a forgiveness to be presumed upon or treated lightly
  • This is a forgiveness which calls us first to confession and then to the obedience of faith

 

As a way of responding to the message this morning I would like to lead you in a guided prayer. I invite you to close your eyes as we pray…

 

Imagine you are in the place of Moses

  • You are up the mountain in the cleft of a rock
  • No one else is with you – just God
  • You can’t see God – you can only hear Him

 

God speaks His holy name to you

  • It is not like anything you have heard before and you’re not sure if you could even repeat it

 

God goes on to explain the meaning of His name

  • This is God’s character, His values, His nature

 

The Lord is compassionate – able to handle your deepest hurt and pain

  • He is gracious – giving generously without expectation of return
  • The Lord is patient – unhurried and completely in control of Himself
  • His love is steadfast – like a mountain range – majestic, immense, ancient
  • There is a strength & reliability in His words which both reassures you & makes you feel uneasy at the same time

 

This revelation of God’s goodness inspires your trust

  • But it also reveals your own lack of goodness
  • Your lack of compassion
  • Your lack of graciousness
  • Your lack of patience and self-control
  • The skinniness of your love and the lightness of your words

 

How can you stand in God’s presence – this is not a relationship of equals

 

God finishes talking and gives you opportunity to respond

 

What is it you want to say to Him?

  • What is it you want to ask?
  • Take a moment now to quietly speak to the Lord (in your heart)
  • [Wait]

 

Lord, go with us, forgive us and accept us we pray

  • In Jesus’ name. Amen

[1] Walter Brueggemann, ‘Theology of the Old Testament’, page 216.

[2] Gospel for Asia magazine, November 2015, pages 20-21.