Tawa Baptist

Good Wood

Scriptures: Mark 15:16-23, Luke 23:32-34, John 19:28-37

Video Link: https://youtu.be/aLIuV-PCblo

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Thorns
  • Myrrh
  • Cross
  • Hyssop
  • Spear
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Easter is almost upon us. Easter is the time when we remember Jesus’ death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. It seems strange to call the day Jesus died ‘good’, but it is right.

The Friday of Jesus’ death is good in the sense that it is a holy day. It is good for humanity, for it is through Jesus’ death that our sin is dealt with on the cross and we can be reconciled with God.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by considering the trees of Good Friday. I couldn’t resist calling this sermon Good Wood.

Thorns:

Let us begin then with a reading from Mark 15. To set the scene, Jesus has just been condemned to death by Pilate. From Mark 15, verse 16 we read…   

16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

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

We don’t know for certain what variety of tree the soldiers used to make a crown of thorns for Jesus. One of the leading contenders (according to tradition) is the garden plant Euphorbia Milii.

Euphorbia Milii can grow up to 1.8 meters tall, although sometimes it grows along the ground. It has beautiful flowers and spines up to 3 cm long. The sap of the Euphorbia Milii is moderately poisonous and can cause irritation on contact with eyes or skin, which would have added to Jesus’ suffering.

The Euphorbia Milii plant is good wood though. The World Health Organisation has recommended using extracts from Euphorbia Milii to control snail populations in African countries. This prevents the spread of a water borne parasite carried by the snails.

The charge against Jesus was insurrection. Jesus was accused of being the King of the Jews, which he is, only Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. The soldiers made a crown of thorns for Jesus to wear as a way of mocking him. The crown of thorns was a parody of the laurel wreath Caesar wore.

Anger wears many different faces. Sometimes the face of physical violence. Sometimes the face of silent resentment. Sometimes the face of foul language and contempt. Other times the hidden face of deep sadness. Sarcasm and mockery is another face worn by anger. 

The soldiers mocked Jesus, spat on him and beat him. These are classic signs of anger. Jesus did nothing to deserve the brunt of the soldiers’ abuse, but he absorbed it anyway. What we notice here is the way Jesus responded to the soldiers’ anger, with meekness.

These days meekness carries the unfortunate connotation of being weak or timid. This is wrong. The meekness of Jesus combines strength with gentleness. To be meek is to bring one’s strength and power under control.

An elephant or a horse or an ox, that is obedient to its master, is meek. Not weak, but powerful and controlled.

At any point during his ordeal Jesus could have called down fire on those who were mocking and beating him, but he did not do this. Jesus took the soldiers’ abuse without retaliating. Christ did this in obedience to God the Father. That is meekness.

Does this mean we too should simply take it when others abuse us? Well, not necessarily. Jesus had three main strategies for dealing with abusive people. Often Jesus engaged the person in conversation using words and reason. There were other times though when he simply walked away. Jesus’ third strategy was to stand his ground and turn the other cheek.  

Jesus’ situation on Good Friday was special. God was asking Jesus to go to the cross to die. If Jesus hit back against the soldiers, he would be disobeying God and undermining the very purpose for which he came. Jesus chose to trust and obey God, even though that meant turning the other cheek and suffering rough treatment.

Let me be clear, if you are in an abusive relationship, then I don’t believe God would want you to stay and take it. Make a plan, get some support and get out. When the early church suffered persecution, the advice of the apostles was to flee; get away from it. In fact, the gospel spread to new places as Christians fled persecution. 

Myrrh:        

We continue Mark’s account of Jesus’ suffering, from verse 22: They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 

Myrrh is the oil or resin that comes from the Myrrh tree (scientific name: Commiphora Myrrha). The Myrrh tree is good wood. At the time of Jesus, myrrh had a variety of uses including as a perfume, as incense and for medicinal purposes. Myrrh oil was used on the skin as an antiseptic and an anti-inflammatory.

Myrrh is harvested by cutting the trunk of the myrrh tree. Cutting the tree causes it to bleed out the myrrh sap. Before being crucified, Jesus was scourged. He was whipped until his back was cut open. As the Scripture says: By his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

When myrrh is mixed with wine it has a narcotic effect. It acts as a pain killer.

In Roman times there was a group of women from Jerusalem who offered myrrh mixed with wine to those who were being crucified. They did this as an act of mercy to ease the suffering of the condemned. It was probably this group of women who offered Jesus the pain killer. But Jesus refused.

Does this mean we too should never take pain killers or anesthetic? No, it does not mean that. Good Friday was different. Jesus faced a number of temptations while on the cross and needed to have the presence of mind to resist those temptations. The myrrh mixed with wine would diminish Jesus’ mental fortitude and make him more vulnerable to temptation, which is why he refused it. 

If you are in pain and the doctor prescribes medication to manage the pain, then take the medication as prescribed. There is no shame or guilt in that.

Pain is incredibly draining. Pain killers enable your body to direct its energy to healing. Plus, they usually make you less grumpy and easier to live with.

By the same token, if you wrestle with addiction to drugs or alcohol, then Jesus’ refusal to take the wine laced with myrrh is an inspiration to stay strong and not give in to temptation. Jesus knows your struggle and stands in solidarity with you.

Cross:  

From Luke 23, verse 32 we continue the account of Jesus’ suffering…     

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”    

No one knows what kind of tree was used to crucify Jesus. It could have been any kind of tree growing nearby, the Roman soldiers weren’t fussy. Whatever was strong enough to hold up the dead weight of a body.

There might have been more than one kind of tree involved. Historians tell us the condemned were forced to carry the horizontal cross beam to the execution site. Once there, the cross beam was slotted into a groove in the vertical part of the cross. It’s possible the cross beam was a different kind of wood to the upright pole.

The Catholic writer Eileen Duggan (who wrote mostly during the first half of the 20th Century) has a poem called Irony. It goes like this…

Not hawk, not leopard is ironic. Believe me it needs mind to see the mortal wit of using kind on kind. Some poor fellow for a pittance made the cross-bar sure to hold another carpenter on it for the poor.

Eileen Duggan was observing the layers of cruel irony involved in Jesus’ death. A carpenter killed by wood, that is ironic.

None of the gospel writers describe the gory details of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Luke simply says, they crucified him there. The first century readers of the gospels did not need the technicalities of crucifixion explained to them. Most people would have witnessed crucifixion first hand and wished they could forget.

People were nailed to crosses, usually through their hands but sometimes also through their feet. The nails were not what killed the victim. The nails added to the pain while also preventing friends and family from rescuing the victim when no one was looking.

Crucifixion was usually a slow way to die. In some cases it could take days, although it was quicker than that for Jesus. The condemned were naked, so they suffered from exposure to the elements and dehydration.

Most crosses were low to the ground, leaving the person vulnerable to attack by wild animals. And, given the scourging that normally preceded crucifixion, I expect some died from sepsis. Most though would suffocate. Eventually it becomes impossible to breathe in that position.         

The Roman authorities crucified Jesus between two criminals and so the Scripture was fulfilled that Jesus was numbered among the transgressors. [1]

By accepting this kind of death Jesus was identifying with sinful humanity.

Even though Jesus is without sin, he does not stand aloof from us. Jesus stands in solidarity with humanity, especially those who suffer.

Jesus did not have much to say from the cross, which makes what he did say all the more potent: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   

Forgiveness is about release, releasing others and releasing ourselves.

It’s about letting go of hurt and anger, guilt and shame. Choosing not to get even. Forgiveness is perhaps the greatest proof of love.

In 1936, just before the Spanish civil war, Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story called The Capital of the World. It’s about a Spanish father who longs to restore his relationship with his estranged son.

The father puts an advert in the local newspaper: Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon, Tuesday. All is forgiven. When the father arrives, he finds 800 Pacos have responded to his ad, all looking for forgiveness.

Hemingway’s story speaks of the deep longing in every heart to have our guilt removed and our sins forgiven.    

When Jesus said, Father, forgive them, I believe he wasn’t just referring to the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him. He was speaking about all of us. Jesus’ words were like God’s advertisement to each one of us, all is forgiven. 

Some people think God was punishing Jesus on the cross for our sins. The problem with this idea is that it makes God seem smaller, more cruel, less just.  

It is more accurate to think of Jesus taking our sins upon himself, on the cross, in order to destroy sin and death. So, when Jesus was nailed to the cross, our sin (past, present and future) was nailed there with him. When Jesus died, our sin died with him.

This is hard for us to understand because, in this life, we still wrestle with sin. But in the life to come sin will have no power over us because of what Jesus did on the cross.

If we think of sin like a live grenade, about to explode, Jesus is the one who throws himself on the grenade. Jesus absorbs our sin to shield us from the blast. The person who throws themselves on the grenade is not being punished. They are sacrificing themselves that others may live.

Ultimately there is a mystery to what Jesus did on the cross. We cannot fully comprehend it. We only know that in order to receive the Father’s forgiveness, we must respond in faith and obedience to God’s offer of reconciliation in Christ.

As an instrument of torture, the cross is brutal. But as an instrument of forgiveness, the cross is good wood. Thorns, myrrh and the cross. What’s next?

A stalk of hyssop. From John 19, verse 28 we read…

Hyssop:

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

There’s nothing like blood loss to make you thirsty. Part of the torture of the cross was the feeling of unquenchable thirst.

The jar of wine vinegar was not the same as the myrrh laced wine that Jesus rejected earlier. Nor was it like vinegar as we know it today. One commentator describes the wine vinegar of Good Friday as the ancient equivalent of Gatorade or Powerade. It was a thirst-quenching drink used by soldiers and day labourers. [2]

Jesus says he is thirsty, because he was no doubt incredibly thirsty, but also because it fulfils Scripture. Probably Psalm 69 where the psalmist says he is parched (verse 3) and they gave him vinegar for his thirst (verse 21). But also, Psalm 22 where the psalmist says: My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth…     

From a practical point of view, Jesus’ mouth was dry and he needed to wet it before he could speak. It wasn’t feasible to pass Jesus a cup, so a sponge was soaked in the cheap wine, put on a stalk of hyssop and offered to Jesus.

Now strictly speaking hyssop is not a tree. It’s more of a garden herb or shrub but it is still good wood. Hyssop is a hardy drought tolerant plant with medicinal properties. It can be used to relieve ear ache, asthma and bloating. But that is not its main significance here at the cross.  

Hyssop was used in cleansing rituals, to restore those who were ceremonially unclean. Also, Moses instructed the Israelites to paint their door posts with the blood of the Passover lamb, using the branches of the hyssop plant. The blood of the lamb protected those in the house from the angel of death.  

The mention of the hyssop stalk at Jesus’ crucifixion suggests that Jesus is the Passover lamb whose blood cleanses us from sin and protects us from death.  

After Jesus had wet his mouth enough to speak, he cries out, ‘It is finished’. This is not the weak cry of resignation. This is a victory cry of accomplishment. Jesus has completed the work God gave him to do.  

Language experts tell us that the phrase about Jesus bowing his head has the same sense of resting his head, as if on a pillow. Jesus’ task is complete, now he can rest.

Notice how Jesus gives up his spirit. Death does not overpower Christ. Jesus is not afraid of death. Jesus in control here, offering his spirit back to God. We come from God. We return to God.

Thorns, myrrh, the cross and hyssop. All good wood of that first Good Friday. There’s one more piece of wood we need to consider. Can you guess what it is? From John 19, verse 31 we read…  

Spear:

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water… 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

Hidden in these verses is the Ash tree. When the soldiers came to break Jesus’ legs, they saw he was already dead and so they did not need to smash any of his bones to speed the process of dying. Instead, they pierced his side with a spear.

The Roman stabbing spear, known as the hasta, was usually made from the wood of the Ash tree, with a metal tip attached to the end of the shaft. Ash is a hard wood and therefore strong in battle.

There probably isn’t any theological significance in the Ash tree, but I mention the spear because it is good wood. The piercing of Jesus’ side is good for four reasons…

Firstly, it proves that Jesus is a real human being, with a physical body. He is not some phantom or apparition as the heresy of Docetism supposes.

Secondly, the piercing of Jesus’ side demonstrates that Jesus was properly dead. Knowing that Jesus was fully dead (and not just unconscious) is essential to believing in his resurrection.

Thirdly, blood and water represent life. The blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side when he was pierced signify that Jesus’ death means life for us.

The piercing of Jesus’ side also fulfils Scripture, thus showing us yet again that all this happened according to God’s will.

Conclusion:

The thorns remind us that Jesus faced mockery with meekness.

The myrrh reminds us that Jesus handled temptation with a sober mind.

The cross reminds us that Jesus overcame hate with forgiveness

The hyssop reminds us that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin.   

The spear reminds us that Jesus’ suffering and death were real.

And the empty tomb reminds us that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Let us pray…

Thank you, Jesus, for throwing yourself on the grenade of our sin. May we not take your sacrifice for granted. Help us to walk humbly with you, in faith and obedience and the knowledge of your grace. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. 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?
  2. Why do we call the day of Jesus’ death ‘Good Friday’?
  3. Why did the soldiers put a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head? What three strategies did Jesus have for responding to abuse? When is the best time to use each strategy?
  4. Why did Jesus refuse the wine laced with myrrh? When is it okay to use painkillers? 
  5. Why did Jesus take our sin upon himself on the cross? What forgiveness do you long for? What is an appropriate response to forgiveness?
  6. What is the significance of hyssop in the Bible? What does the use of hyssop at Jesus’ crucifixion suggest about the purpose of Jesus’ death?
  7. Why is the piercing of Jesus’ side a good thing? What do we learn from this?    

[1] Isaiah 53:12

[2] Refer Ben Witherington III, ‘The Gospel of Mark, page 399.

Tawa Baptist

Nose to Tail

Scripture: Genesis 49:29-50:26

Video Link: https://youtu.be/hqiV5tY437E

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Joseph’s forgiveness
  • Joseph’s death
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Some of you may have heard of ‘nose to tail’ cooking. ‘Nose to tail’ is about ensuring every edible part of the animal is prepared and eaten, as opposed to using only the high value cuts.

Cousins to the ‘nose to tail’ approach are ‘fin to gill’ (using every part of the fish) and ‘root to shoot’ for fruit and veges. ‘Nose to tail’ cooking utilizes the whole beast, reducing waste and providing greater nutritional value for the eater.

Today, after six months, we conclude our ‘nose to tail’ sermon series in the life of Joseph. Perhaps the key take-away from the Joseph story is that God, in his grace, is able to make something good out of the offal and gristle of human behaviour, as well as the rump and eye fillets.

The Lord uses all of Joseph’s family to bring about his purpose of salvation. God does not waste anything.

Our message is in two parts this morning. The first part deals with Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers. And the second part tells us about Joseph’s death. From Genesis 50, verse 15, we read… 

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”  16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?  20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

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

Joseph’s forgiveness:

In his book “The Peacemaker”, Ken Sande recalls a joke he once heard.

A woman went to her pastor for advice on improving her marriage and when the pastor asked what her greatest complaint was, she replied, “Every time we get into a fight, my husband gets historical.”

When her pastor said, “Don’t you mean hysterical,” she responded,

“I mean exactly what I said; he keeps a mental record of everything I’ve done wrong, and whenever he’s mad, I get a history lesson.”

Clearly the husband has not forgiven his wife. By continually reminding his wife of the things she has done wrong, he is punishing her and trying to hold her captive to guilt. He is using the past against her.  

Forgiveness is about letting go of past hurts and grievances. With forgiveness we don’t necessarily forget the bad stuff. Rather we make a conscious choice not to hold people’s mistakes against them. We give away our right to get even.

Refusing to forgive someone is like handcuffing yourself to that person. It keeps you both captive. Forgiveness unlocks the handcuffs. Forgiveness breaks the shackles of bitterness, setting you free.

In the passage we just read from Genesis chapter 50, Jacob has recently died and now the brothers are afraid that, without their father around, Joseph will want to make them pay for all the wrong they did to him.

By this stage it had been nearly 40 years since they sold Joseph into slavery. And, for the past 17 years they have been living in Egypt near their brother. But even after all this time they are still afraid of Joseph.

Fear has messed with their perception and caused things to appear other than they really are. Joseph has forgiven his brothers. More than this, he has tested them to re-establish trust. Joseph is ready to move forward, but the brothers are stuck in the past. It seems they haven’t been able to forgive themselves.

If you touch a live wire on an electric fence with the palm of your hand, the current running through the wire causes your hand to clench into a fist automatically, so you can’t let go no matter how hard you try.

Forgiving ourselves can be like trying to let go of an electric fence. We want to find release, but we just don’t seem to be able to achieve it on our own. We need someone to turn the power off.

The disciple Peter found it difficult to forgive himself. Peter denied Jesus three times, the night of his trial. Oh, the torment Peter suffered for that. But later, after his death and resurrection, Jesus restored Peter saying, ‘Feed my lambs’.

There was no reprisal or recrimination from Jesus. To the contrary Jesus turned Peter’s fear off. Jesus reassured Peter with an act of trust.

Joseph points to Jesus. Joseph turns the brothers’ fear off by reassuring them and speaking kindly to them. Joseph wants a right relationship with his brothers, one that is based on love, not fear.

In verses 16 and 17 we read how the brothers tried to deceive Joseph by saying, ‘Our father Jacob gave instructions for you to forgive us’.

Joseph’s response is to weep.

Perhaps Joseph is sad because his brothers have thought the worst of him. They have misunderstood him. It hurts to be judged wrongly, especially by those close to us.

Perhaps also Joseph’s tears are an expression of compassion for his brothers. The sons of Israel have been bullied by guilt and fear for nearly 40 years. They have suffered their own silent torment.

In verse 18, Joseph’s brothers come to him, throw themselves at his feet and offer themselves as his slaves. Joseph’s dream of his brothers bowing to him (all those years ago) is fulfilled again, only now the meaning is clearer.  

The brothers are trying to make amends. They had sold Joseph into slavery and now they are saying they will repay their wrongdoing by becoming Joseph’s slaves. This shows their desperation. They have been slaves to guilt and fear for so long. They see Joseph as a kinder master.

The brothers (collectively) remind us of the prodigal son, in Jesus’ parable. After hitting rock bottom, he came to his senses and decided to return home and beg to work as a hired hand for his father.

He had his speech all planned. ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son…’ But before he could ask for a job, his father welcomes him with generosity and joy. The father does not need another hired hand. The father wants his son back.

Joseph does the same for his brothers. Joseph does not need any more slaves. He wants his brothers back.

The first thing Joseph says to his brothers (in verse 19) is, “Don’t be afraid”. He says it twice actually. By accurately naming their fear, Joseph shows his brothers that he understands them, and fear begins to lose its power.

The second thing Joseph says here is, “Am I in the place of God?”

The brothers were afraid that Joseph would exact his revenge. But to Joseph’s mind, judgement and revenge are God’s business.

It’s like Joseph is saying, ‘I am not your judge. I am just a man, like you. Far be it from me to condemn you. God is your judge and mine, and he is more merciful and gracious than you think’.

In verse 20 Joseph says, “You intended to harm me…” Joseph does not deny what his brothers did. Joseph acknowledges the truth that they meant him harm.He doesn’t do this to make them suffer more. He does this to help them feel better.

It’s a paradox you see. Pretending something didn’t happen doesn’t make anyone feel better about it. In fact, it usually makes people feel worse. It becomes an infected wound, breeding mistrust and doubt.

But when we acknowledge honestly what happened, in the context in which it happened (that is, with the people concerned), trust is restored and healing is able to take place.

Although Joseph’s brothers intended to harm him, God intended it for good, to save many lives. This is the main point of the Joseph story.

Joseph is highlighting the amazing grace of God. The Lord used the brothers’ decision, of selling Joseph into slavery, as a means of salvation. By placing Joseph in Egypt, God saved many lives from starvation.

It’s not that God needed the brothers to betray Joseph. If the brothers had been kind to Joseph, then God would have found another way. The point is, God (in his grace and providence) transformed evil intentions into a good outcome.

We are reminded of Paul’s words in his letter to the Romans…

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose.

This is ‘nose to tail’ salvation. This is the Lord not wasting anything.

This is God working all things for good. Was God pleased when Joseph’s brothers plotted against him? No, I don’t expect he was. But the Lord saw a way to redeem it.

The brothers had offered themselves to Joseph as slaves, but Joseph wouldn’t have a bar of it. Joseph says he will provide for his brothers and their children. Joseph’s intention is not to get even. His intention is to provide and protect. Jacob made Joseph leader of the family and that is what a leader does. They provide and protect.

Verse 21 of Genesis 50 says that Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them. The English translation here disguises the original Hebrew which literally reads… And he spoke to their heart.

Meaning he spoke tenderly and intimately with them. He addressed the deeper things for them. Conveying forgiveness is not just about trying to find the right words. It’s also about using a tender manner. It’s about communicating in a winsome way, with kindness and warmth. Heart speaks to heart.

Martin Luther King said, “Forgiveness is not just an occasional act – it’s an attitude”. As human beings, made in the image of God, forgiveness is meant to be our default setting.

Sometimes we can be lulled into the false idea that forgiveness is something we only need to do once and then everything will be sweet. But the reality with deeper hurts, like the ones suffered by Joseph, is that forgiveness is an on-going decision.

Forgiveness is like giving up an addiction. Not only do we have to decide to give up our revenge once, but we must go on giving up our revenge every moment of everyday. Sometimes the temptation is intense and all we can do is call out to God for grace and strength. ‘Lord, help me to let this go.’ 

Rather than re-playing his brothers’ wrong-doing over and over in his mind, I believe Joseph chose to replay the outcome achieved by God and this became his shield against bitterness.  

The 2010 film, 127 hours, tells the true story of mountaineer, Aron Ralston. Aron goes hiking in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park. Unfortunately, he doesn’t tell anyone where he is going.

While climbing through a slot canyon, a boulder comes loose and traps his right arm against a wall. There is no way for him to move the boulder and he can’t wriggle out of it.

Over the next five days he rations his food and water. Eventually he has to drink his own urine to survive. When it becomes apparent that no one is coming to his rescue, and that he will die if he does nothing, Aron uses his pocketknife to cut off his arm and free himself.

Cutting off his arm, like he did, took real grit, real willpower. Aron’s motivation to do this came from a vision he had of one day becoming a father. Aron imagined his yet unborn son. He focused on the outcome.

If Aron did nothing, he would die. He would lose his whole body and never get to live his life or have children. But if Aron sacrificed his right arm, he would save the rest of his body and have a future.

Forgiveness is essentially about release. It can be tempting to think that forgiveness is achieved with time. That simply by waiting, our feelings of bitterness will eventually go away. This is a myth. Time can help, but by itself it is not enough.

Forgiveness is not a passive thing. Nor is it an involuntary feeling. Forgiveness can be painful. It involves an intentional act of the will.

A decision to cut off your desire to get even, in order to free your mind and soul.    

I imagine for Joseph, the decision to forgive his brothers took real grit, real resolve, like cutting off his arm (metaphorically speaking). But what option did he have? If he held onto the bitterness and hurt, he would die between a rock and a hard place.

Joseph chose to think about the outcome God had created. Joseph magnified God’s grace and imagined a future in which he enjoyed a better relationship with his family. Would Joseph have been able to forgive his brothers if God had not provided a good outcome for everyone? I’m not sure.

Now most things you are required to forgive in this life are not as big as cutting your arm off. Most people are not sold into slavery by their family. More often, forgiveness is smaller, like removing a stone from your shoe so you can walk without hurting yourself.

Forgiveness is usually about little things, like when others leave you in the lurch or snap at you because they’re having a bad day, or you find someone has keyed your car. That sort of thing. Whether it is a big thing or a small thing though, we need God’s grace to forgive others and to forgive ourselves.

Joseph’s death:

Joseph was probably in his mid-fifties when his father died and his brothers asked for forgiveness. Another fifty odd years pass between Jacob’s death and Joseph’s passing. From Genesis 50, verse 22 we conclude the Joseph story…

22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also, the children of Makir son of Manasseh, were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees. 24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

These closing verses of Genesis tell us that Joseph lived a long and full life. After having been told a lot about the first half of Joseph’s life, we are not told anything about the last half of his life, except that he stayed in Egypt and got to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In a way, that points to the reality for all of us. We are each like Joseph in a way. We have a public life that people see and a private life that no one really sees (like the dark side of the moon). No one that is but God.

We do well to remember this. None of us knows the whole story of another person’s life and so we should reserve judgement. We don’t know half of what others endure.

In echo of his father Jacob, Joseph’s last words are words of hope, binding the family to God’s promise. Twice Joseph says, ‘God will surely come to your aid’.  Joseph foresees a time when God will lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and back to Canaan, the land of promise.

Do you feel like you are trapped in Egypt at the moment? Could this be a word for you? Can you believe that God will surely come to your aid.

Joseph asks his descendants to take his bones back to Canaan when they go. Joseph’s coffin (a symbol of death) becomes a sign pointing future generations to the hope of returning to their homeland.

Joseph points to Jesus. The cross of Christ (once a symbol of torture and death) has now become a sign of forgiveness and hope for those who believe. A reminder that Jesus will return in glory one day to reveal God’s kingdom in its fullness.  

Conclusion:

The book of Genesis starts with creation and the fall, and it ends with forgiveness and hope. Forgiveness is about letting go of our hurt and hope is about holding on to God’s promises for the future.

Forgiveness puts an end to fear and guilt. It puts the past to rest and in so doing creates a new beginning and new hope. Jesus is the one who makes forgiveness and hope possible. Jesus is the alpha and omega.

He is the beginning and the end and his grace sustains us in between.

May God help us to see the good outcome he is working in this world. Amen.    

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What is forgiveness? What does it mean to forgive someone? Why is it important to forgive?
  3. How might we ask for forgiveness? How might we forgive ourselves?
  4. Discuss / reflect on Joseph’s response to his brothers in Genesis 50:19-21. Why does Joseph say what he says? What might you say (or do) if someone came to you for forgiveness?
  5. Why does Joseph focus on the outcome God has created? What good outcome(s) has God worked in the circumstances of your life? Take some time to thank him for these.
  6. Do you feel like you are trapped in Egypt at the moment? Have you ever felt like this? Are you able to believe that God will surely come to your aid?   
  7. In what ways does Joseph point to Jesus?
Tawa Baptist

Redemption

Scripture: Genesis 42:1-24

Video Link: https://youtu.be/uimjqLmyGj8

Structure:

  • Introduction 
  • Redemption is God’s initiative
  • Redemption requires our participation
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In the game of monopoly there is one card no one wants to be dealt and that is the Go to jail card. Getting sent to jail takes you out of the game so you can’t trade and you can’t pass Go and collect $200.

But at least the rules provide opportunities for redemption. To be released from jail and restored to the game, you must either throw a double or hand in a get out of jail free card.

This morning we continue our sermon series in the life of Joseph focusing on Genesis chapter 42, verses 1-24. The next three chapters of the story show how God used Joseph to redeem his brothers; to release them from the prison they were in and restore their relationships.

To set the scene, famine has spread over the known world and people everywhere are at risk of starving. From Genesis 42, verse 1, we read…

1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”  3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. 6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.” 8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.  9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.” 10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.” 12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.” 13 But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.” 14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17 And he put them all in custody for three days. 18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do. 21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.” 22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” 23 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter. 24 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.

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

In this reading, we see God’s hand at work to redeem Joseph’s brothers. Two things we note here. Redemption happens at God’s initiative and redemption requires our participation. Let’s begin by considering God’s initiative in redeeming Joseph’s brothers.  

Redemption is God’s initiative:

If you get caught in a rip while swimming in the surf, there’s not a lot you can do. The best advice is to go with the current and not fight against it. Otherwise, you might end up exhausting yourself and going under.

In a situation like that, when you are relatively powerless to save yourself, you are dependent on the initiative of the surf life savers to come to your rescue in an IRB.

Likewise, if you are seriously injured or sick in some way, you are dependent on the initiative of the doctors to heal you.

Or if you are lost in the bush with a broken leg, you need land search and rescue to find you and bring you out.    

It’s similar with the redemption of our souls. We cannot save ourselves. Our redemption happens at God’s initiative.

One of the intriguing things about Joseph’s reconciliation with his family is that he does not initiate it himself. Joseph waits over 20 years before encountering his brothers again. And when he does finally meet them, it is not his doing nor is it his brothers’ doing. It is God’s doing. The Lord brings them together, at the right time, through a famine.

For more than seven years Joseph has been the second most powerful man in all of Egypt, next to Pharaoh. Joseph could have gone back to Canaan to find his family and confront his brothers. Joseph could have exacted his revenge if he wanted to. But he doesn’t.

In fact, far from nursing any resentment, Joseph has let the matter go. He has forgiven the past. As we heard last week, in Genesis 41, Joseph named his first-born Manasseh saying, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household’.

It’s interesting the way Joseph acknowledges God’s initiative here in making him forget his troubles. Joseph is able to forgive the past because God (by his grace) has enabled Joseph to let go of the hurt.

Joseph needed those 20 plus years, not only to rise to a position of power in Egypt where he could help his family, but also to allow God toheal him personally. To make him strong enough and wise enough to play a part in the redemption of his brothers.

Joseph may have forgotten the troubles of his past, but his brothers have not. They live with the burden of their guilt every day.

At the beginning of Joseph’s story, his brothers treated him badly. They sold him into slavery and added to their wrong by covering up what they had done so their father thought Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

By committing this sin and lying about it, Joseph’s brothers put themselves in a jail of sorts. Not an actual jail, with concrete walls and iron bars. But rather the mental and spiritual prison created by guilt and deceit. They had been incarcerated in their minds for over twenty years.

As Walter Brueggemann puts it…

The brothers have no room in which to act, no energy for imagination and no possibility of freedom. They are bound by the power of an unforgiven past, immobilized by guilt and driven by anxiety. [1]

That is a truly awful place to be. Perhaps some of you here understand all too well what this is like. The brothers are trapped in their minds and their spirit suffers for it. But God wants to redeem them, just as he wants to redeem you.

There are two aspects to God’s redemption; two arms if you like. Release and restoration. God’s redemption releases and restores.

That is why Jesus came. Jesus came at God’s initiative to redeem creation. Jesus releases humanity from sin and guilt, superstition and fear and all that robs us of life and corrodes our spirit.

At the same time Jesus restores us to right relationship with God and each other so we can love courageously and enjoy abundant life.

The deeds Jesus performed; healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sins, restoring sight to the blind, raising people from the dead and so on, are signs of God’s redemption.

As Christians, we believe our redemption will be fully realized when Jesus returns in glory. It’s been a long wait though, 2000 years in fact.

Because redemption is God’s initiative, it happens in God’s time, not ours. Our part is to be ready when God provides the opportunity. For redemption doesn’t happen to us automatically. Redemption requires our participation.

The thing is redemption may not feel all that pleasant at first. The road to redemption can be a bit bumpy. The early stages of our redemption may feel like a trial or a punishment, as it did for Joseph’s brothers.

Redemption requires our participation:

Many people believe the way to test whether a diamond is real or fake is to run it across a piece of glass. If the diamond is real, it will cut the glass, and if it’s fake, it won’t.

Apparently, this test is a myth. It’s just something they do in the movies. In real life, dragging a diamond across a piece of glass damages both the diamond and the glass.

However, there are other tests you can carry out to determine whether a diamond is real or not.

If the gem is unmounted, then try placing it over printed words. If you can clearly read through the stone, it’s not a diamond. Diamonds refract so much light you cannot see any lines or letters through them.

Or you could do the fog test. Just put the diamond in front of your mouth and breathe on it. If it stays fogged for 2-4 seconds, it’s a fake. A true diamond will disperse the heat instantaneously so by the time you look at it, it has already cleared up.

Just as we might know the true character of a diamond by testing it, so too Joseph seeks to know the true character of his brothers by testing them. Redemption tests for truth, because without truth there is no freedom and no peace.

At their father’s prompting, the brothers go to Egypt to buy grain.

And when they get there, they bow down before Joseph. As a boy of 17, Joseph was powerless to stop his brothers. Now, as a man in his 30’s, the tables have turned and the brothers are at Joseph’s mercy.

Remember the dream God gave Joseph, all those years before, when his brothers’ sheaves of grain bowed to his. This is the beginning of the fulfilment of the dream.

We know this but Joseph’s brothers don’t. Verses 7 & 8 tell us that as soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but they did not recognize him.

It is little wonder that Joseph’s brothers did not recognize him. Firstly, it had been over 20 years since they had last seen Joseph and they thought Joseph was dead anyway, so they were not expecting to see him.

Secondly, Joseph was speaking to them through an interpreter and thirdly, Joseph looked like an Egyptian. He was clean shaven and dressed in clothes foreign to the bearded Hebrews.

Why then does Joseph accuse his brothers of being spies? He knows full well they pose no threat to Egypt’s security.

Well, Joseph is testing his brothers’ character. He needs to know whether they have changed their ways. It’s one thing to forgive someone, but it’s another thing entirely to learn to trust them again. Forgiveness is a gift. Trust is earned.

Forgiveness is letting go of our hurt and anger, so that we no longer seek to get even with the person who has wronged us. Forgiveness releases us. Forgiveness is one of the ways we participate in our own redemption. If we don’t forgive, we end up with the other person living rent free in our head.

It is always necessary to forgive others, but it may not always be wise to trust them. Trust is precious and needs to be offered with discernment. Don’t put your pearls before swine, is what Jesus said.  

Some people think that reconciliation is the same as forgiveness. It’s not. Forgiveness is a necessary step in the process of reconciliation, but there is more to reconciliation than forgiving someone.

Reconciliation goes beyond forgiveness and seeks to restore the relationship fully by rebuilding trust. And for trust to be rebuilt, the truth must be faced. Joseph has forgiven his brothers. He just doesn’t know if he can trust them yet.

Joseph tests his brothers by speaking harshly and accusing them of being spies. And the brothers defend themselves against this accusation by explaining that they were twelve brothers from one father. But one of their brothers is at home and the other is no more.

This serves as proof because, if they were spies, their father would not risk ten of his sons. He would have sent just one or two.

Joseph pounces on the knowledge that one son (Benjamin) is still at home, saying, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! And this is how you will be tested… you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here…”

Joseph’s test involves subjecting his brothers to a small taste of their own medicine. Just as Joseph’s brothers had thrown Joseph into a pit and sold him into slavery, Joseph throws them in jail for three days. This is not revenge. This is sowing the seeds of understanding.  

Joseph does not enjoy it. As God’s agent of redemption, Joseph must put his brothers in a situation where they experience what it is like to be powerless and vulnerable.

Joseph wants to see if they have learned empathy and care for each other. Joseph needs to know whether his brothers are ready and willing to participate in their own redemption. Are they truly repentant in other words.

On the third day, Joseph releases his brothers from prison. The third day has special significance in the Christian imagination. The third day is the day of Jesus’ resurrection, a day of redemption. A day of release from death and restoration to eternal life.

Joseph says to his brothers, ‘If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back to your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me…’

This shows us Joseph is not being vindicative or vengeful. Joseph knows it has taken the brothers a week or so to travel from Canaan to Egypt and it will take a week to get back. He does not want his family to suffer. 

Joseph’s test works. The ten brothers say to one another, in verse 21…

“Surely we are being punished for our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.”

This verse marks a significant turning point in the brothers’ redemption. They face the truth of what they have done, making an honest confession of their guilt. They accept what is happening to them as just punishment. Little do they know that God is not punishing them. God is redeeming them.

In verse 22 Reuben says, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”

At this Joseph turns aside to weep. When the brothers own up to their crime against him (albeit unwittingly), Joseph does not gloat. He weeps. These are not tears of bitterness and grief. These are tears of healing and release. Tears of redemption. 

Joseph weeps because, without knowing it, his brothers have shown him they have a conscience and they feel remorse for what they have done. The brothers have taken the first difficult step of participating in their own redemption.

Of course, it is one thing to admit wrongdoing. It is another thing entirely to translate those feelings of remorse into a change in behaviour.

As much as Joseph wants to reveal his true identity, he knows the test cannot end here. The brothers must return to Egypt with Benjamin. Benjamin is Joseph’s only full-blooded brother and Joseph wants to see if they will look after him.  

Simeon alone is made to stay behind as a hostage. Simeon is the second eldest and probably the most disliked and cruel of all the brothers. If they return for Simeon, then this will prove they care for one another.  

Conclusion:

I’m not sure what redemption you crave. I don’t know what holds your mind captive. But I am sure God wants to release you and restore you. He redeemed Joseph’s brothers, so he can redeem anyone.  

In first John chapter 1, verse 9, the apostle writes…

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

With the knowledge that God is gracious and wants to redeem, I invite you to pray this simple prayer with me now…

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

May God release you to walk in paths of righteousness and restore you to fruitfulness in his purpose. 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?

  • What is redemption? Discuss / reflect on the two arms of God’s redemption.
  • What does God do to redeem Joseph’s family? How do Joseph’s brothers participate in their own redemption?
  • What is forgiveness. How is forgiveness different from reconciliation? 
  • Why does Joseph speak harshly to his brothers and accuse them of spying? Why does Joseph weep in verse 24?
  • Can you remember a time in your life when you were powerless to save yourself? What happened? How was your life redeemed? What role did God have in your redemption? What did you need to do? How did you feel (before, during and after)?
  • What redemption do you crave? Make some time this week to talk with God about this. What do you need to be set free and restored? 

[1] Walter Brueggemann, Genesis, page 337. 

Tawa Baptist

Qualities of a good parent (by Murray Lucas)

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

To-day I want to share with you about what constitutes being a good parent from a Christian faith perspective. I will be drawing upon Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son and while the emphasis is on the son’s father it is totally valid to extend the message to include mothers, and other parent figures in our lives such as aunties or uncles.

I have chosen this focus as I am delighted that the leaders of the Tawa Church have made an impressive and wise commitment to the work of children and families.

One of Rembrandts greatest paintings is “the return of the Prodigal Son”. In this painting the focus is on the hands of the father.  The right hand is feminine, and the left hand is masculine. The reason for these differences has been debated extensively over the years, and the main explanation is that the hands represent both the hand of the father and the mother of the prodigal son.   God can assume both the male and female parenting roles for us.

Let me share three vignettes that I have experienced related to parenthood.

Story 1:

I am talking about a boy whose father could not be bothered to turn up to a pre- stand down meeting – a high-end discipline meeting. The father eventually told the boy by phone that he was not coming to meet the Principal. He told the boy he was on his own after initially promising he would come to school. The boy had waited for 1 hour before he was taken home by myself. At least his father gave permission for that.

That same boy had deliberately committed a number of minor offences so that he could do a detention after school supervised by myself or the Deputy Principal. We soon worked out that he appreciated the company, boundary setting and some type of accountability. It would be an understatement to say that he felt the absence of a father keenly.

In the end to support this student along with other neglected pupils in a sustainable way we created a classroom led by a trained teacher and quality mother who made them accountable but lovingly guided them through the challenges of adolescence. As a result, respect and trust in an adult developed.

Story 2:

Student K was a danger to himself and others. His verbal trash talk of others was such that he was constantly getting into fights and generally it was K onto 10 or even more. One day after school he was arrested for an offence that took place outside of College and outside of school hours. The Police rang me up and said no-one in the wider family or whanau was willing to pick him up from the Police Station. Could I do this as his school Principal? I politely refused saying that social services needed to be involved as they are better trained than me. He then went to the Activity Centre (Challenge 2000) and was so bad for them, he was excluded from this alternative school-something that had never happened before.

This story has a happy ending. Some eight years later I was at a local Polytechnic Information day related to the hospitality trade. I was served by this same boy at the function. He said, “Mr Lucas, do you remember me?” I said, “You are not K?” He looked similar but his manners were impeccable and he carried himself superbly well. He told me he was indeed K and told me his story. He had been sent up to Gisborne to the only relative who would have him. That did not last long but the relative did get him a job working for a local builder. This builder saw some potential in him and allowed him to board at his place with his wife and family. His employer became the father that he had never had. After 5 years of having a father figure take an interest in him and encourage him, this boy was transformed in a very positive fashion. The builder’s gentle but fair discipline had dramatically changed this lad. Again K’s trust and respect in an adult developed.

It was a powerful message to me that we should never give up on people no matter how dire their predicament. 

Story 3:

My third story relates to my own father. As I have grown older I realise how fortunate I have been in all areas of my life to have a father who was a great role model but also loved me unconditionally. I have many memories that I treasure when my Dad took time to spend with me to make me feel valued and special. I remember one day vividly when after school finished for the year he took the day off to walk around the Pauhatanui Estuary with me. He told me about all the plants and the ecosystem of the wetlands and said how important they were for our environment. He told me that scripture says that we need to be good and responsible stewards of our environment, long before climate change was even heard about. At that time, he was Director General of Lands and Survey for NZ but I felt privileged that he could take a day out to make his son feel valued and empowered.

As a result of the experience of consistent parental love and caring throughout childhood, such fortunate children will enter adulthood not only with a deep internal sense of their own value but also with a deep internal sense of security.

The first two stories illustrate that all children are terrified of abandonment and with good reason. The fear of abandonment begins around the age of 6 months as soon as the child is able to perceive themselves to be an individual separate from its parents. There is no doubt that in both my first two cases the young men not only feared abandonment but experienced it.

Sadly, when we look at the Bible, some of the fathers mentioned were not good role models. Isaac and son Jacob both demonstrated favouritism to one son over other siblings with initially unpleasant results. Eli was unable to effectively discipline his sons and Samuel and David were outstanding men of God but struggled as fathers.

One of the worst examples of fatherhood was the Old Testament judge Jephthah who had just won a battle over the Ammonites, but had foolishly vowed that he would offer the first person that came to his house, as a burnt offering to Yahweh. That person was his daughter and as a result of his rash and ill-advised oath his daughter was killed.

Things do get better in the New Testament. Joseph the father of Jesus would have had to overcome shame and humiliation over the virgin birth to be an excellent role model to Jesus and his siblings. I think Zebedee and Zechariah seem also to have been quality fathers.

However, the passage I want to use to show the qualities of a good father relates to the father figure in the Prodigal Son – a Parable that Jesus told. We read the Parable in Luke Chapter 15: 11-32…

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

The plot centres on the younger son who, impatient and greedy, asks his father for his inheritance. The father allows his son to have his inheritance, but the son wastes his money, eventually becoming homeless and destitute. In the end, to his great surprise, he is welcomed back into the family by the father and a celebration is organised by the father. This parable throws the emphasis on love and redemption rather than harsh judgement.

I want to deal with three qualities of a good father as illustrated in the parable of the Prodigal Son. The first is a love that never gives up and enjoys spending quality time with his son. The second is the patience of a father and the third is the emotional vulnerability of a father.

Let us first examine love. Think of the son finding his way back to his father’s home after undergoing a lot of self-imposed hardships and suffering and is finally giving up on life. However, his father has not given up on him and welcomed him back to his home with open arms.

Life is not always smooth sailing. It can be challenging and lead one to feel like giving up. But a good father, no matter how daunting the fathering task seems, never gives up on his son or daughter. It is also comforting to know that our heavenly father is always with you every step of the way. To be an effective father you have love that never gives up for your children.

Ultimately love is everything to a relationship.  I have been given worth and value by my spiritual father as Jesus’s life, death and resurrection was an act of love to each and every individual. This love is not forced upon us and it is up to us to accept it.

When we love something it is of value to us, and when something is of value to us we spend time with it, time enjoying it and time taking care of it. Think of a person with their beloved rose garden and the time spent pruning and mulching and fertilizing and studying it. So it is when we love children, we spend time admiring them and caring for them. We give them our time. The time and the quality of the time that parents devote to them indicate to children the degree to which they are valued by their parents.

The feeling of being valuable is essential to mental health and is a cornerstone of self-discipline. It is a direct product of parental love. It is important that such a conviction is gained in childhood as it is much more difficult to acquire during adulthood. On the other hand, when adults have learned through the love of their parents to feel valuable, it is almost impossible for the challenges of adulthood to destroy their spirit.

To be an effective father we must love our children. We have a love for them that will never give up on them. We have a love for them that is expressed in spending quality time with them. We have a love for our children that empowers them to feel valuable and allows them to move into adulthood with confidence knowing they are loved.  

The second quality of being an effective father is to be patient. In the Prodigal Son parable, the boy had been gone a long time, long enough for a famine to ravish the land, yet the father waited patiently. Patience is a virtue all Christians should possess but it is certainly necessary in our homes. We need to learn to be patient with our children, knowing that they have many life lessons to learn. We must realise that children are not miniature adults. Too many children and young people grow up too fast. Many of these life lessons must be learned the hard way. We cannot learn the lessons for them. The prodigal son had to learn some hard lessons and the father allowed it. We, as fathers, must learn patience.

To be an effective father we must love our children and spend quality time with them never giving up on them. To be an effective father we must be patient with our children.

To be an effective father we must show emotional vulnerability. Dads serve as role models by working to be their best selves and allowing their children to see their imperfections. Dads should also demonstrate loving predictability, consistent discipline and unconditional acceptance as is evidenced in the Prodigal Son. One of the most important things I have learned as a dad is to be emotionally available to my sons. They have seen me emotionally vulnerable and I believe that has been important to my sons. It is important to let your children know that you are human. Think how healing for the Prodigal Son was the joyful show of emotions from his father when he returned.

Finally, the father in the Prodigal Son had his priorities in the right place: The most important thing was not that his son had sinned, nor that he wasted his inheritance. Neither was it crucial that he had caused his father untold grief. The most important thing was that his son was home. Material things can be replaced, sorrows can be forgotten and sins can be forgiven, but a soul lost can never be restored.

In the Prodigal Son parable I have always struggled with the question- Was God a good father to the older brother? I would like to address this now as I do believe the Father is a good model in the way he relates to the older son in the Parable.

A number of biblical commentators believe that the oldest son illustrates the Pharisees and the scribes. Outwardly they lived blameless lives but their attitudes were abominable.

In those times, one of the duties of the eldest son would have included reconciliation between the father and his son. The older son would have been the host at the feast to celebrate his brother’s return. Yet he remains in the field instead of in the house where he should have been. This act alone would have brought public disgrace upon the father. Still, the father, with great patience, goes to his angry and hurting son. He does not rebuke the older son, as his actions and disrespectful address of his father warrant.  The father’s compassion does not cease as he listens to his eldest son’s complaints and criticisms. The older son refers to the prodigal son as “this son of yours”. In doing so he avoids acknowledging that the prodigal son is his own bother.

The older brother’s focus was on himself and as a result there is no joy in his brother’s arrival home. He is so consumed with issues of justice and equity that he fails to see the value of his brother’s repentance and return. The older brother allows anger to take root in his heart to the point that he is unable to show compassion towards his bother, and, for that matter he is unable to forgive the perceived sin of his father against him.

The wise father remains consistent throughout and seeks to bring restoration by pointing out that all he is and has will always be available for the elder obedient son.

The father is a good role model to both his prodigal son, as he is to the older son.

Let us compare the father with the older son. The father does not first rush to the servant’s quarters to physically punish his boy and satisfy his wrath before he forgives his wayward son. No. In the story of the prodigal son, the father bears the loss and forgives his son from his treasury of inexhaustible love. He just forgives. There is no payment, there is no appeasement. Justice as punishment is what the resentful brother called justice. Justice as reconciliation is what the loving father called justice. The only anger we find in the parable belongs to the Pharisee-like brother, not the God-like father.

We must love our children and never give up. We must be patient with them and we must be emotionally vulnerable. How well that is modelled by God who is the father of the Prodigal son in this poignant parable.

This is a challenge to all of us who are fathers, mothers and role models in whatever area of life we choose.

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?

  • Find a picture of Rembrandt’s painting, ‘The return of the Prodigal Son’ and take some time to reflect on it. What do you notice? What meaning to do see in the painting?
  • What are some of the things children need from their parents?
  • Can you think of some good parenting examples from the Bible? Why were these people good parents?
  • Thinking of your own parents, what did they do well? What do you appreciate about your parents now that you are an adult?
  • Discuss / reflect on the parenting style of the father in Luke 15.
  • Who do you identify with most in the parable of the prodigal son? The younger son, the older son or the father? Why? 
Tawa Baptist

Release

Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/-uhaEZAldG0

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Release for relationship
  • Release for peace
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

What do you think the average mortgage is for a first home buyer in New Zealand today? $200,000? $300,000? $500,000 or maybe $600,000? [Wait]

If you guessed between $500,000 and $600,000, then you were spot on. The average mortgage for a first home buyer in New Zealand is around $578,000. That equates to a monthly repayment of more than $3,700 over 25 years, the better part of $45,000 per annum.

Today we continue our series in Deuteronomy, focusing on chapter 15. In this passage Moses talks about debt and the relationship between borrowers and lenders in ancient Israel. From Deuteronomy 15, verses 1-11 we read… 

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord’s time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. 4 However, there need be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. 7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother.  8 Rather, be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.

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

In this Scripture passage Moses instructs the people to release each other from financial debts every seven years. Cancelling debts is at the heart of loving your neighbour as you love yourself. The people are to release for relationship and release for peace.   

Release for relationship:

Do you think of time as linear, going in a straight line? Or do you think of time as cyclical, going in cycles?

Time can be thought of either way I guess. The seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter are a classic example of cyclical time. The earth revolving around the sun also illustrates cyclical time.

But we are not left untouched by each orbit of the sun. We come from a past that we cannot change. We are affected by the present moment and we are moving towards a future which is unknown. Linear time.

Perhaps time is both cyclical and linear, moving forward in a cyclical way.

Ancient Israel had a very definite cycle to restore and support their life together. Every seven days they stopped work and rested, everyone on the same day. Every seven years they took a Sabbatical, when they let the land lie fallow, not growing any crops. And every 50 years they celebrated a Jubilee, when ancestral lands were returned to their tribal owners.

The Sabbath cycles provided release. Release from work. Release from debt and release both from the trap of wealth and the trap of poverty. In verse 1 of Deuteronomy 15 we read…

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

Ancient Israel didn’t have a banking system like we do today. They didn’t get a $600,000 mortgage to buy their first home and then pay it off over 25 years. They didn’t need to. They simply built a house on family land using natural building materials close by.

Nevertheless, there would inevitably be times when something went wrong. Perhaps the main bread winner in the family got sick and couldn’t work. Or maybe your crop failed or your ox died and had to be replaced.

When misfortune struck, and you needed to find a way to feed your family, you might approach a fellow Israelite for a personal loan. No interest was charged on this micro loan, although some form of security might be offered. You simply paid back the loan when you could afford it.

The difficulty is that when you paid back the loan you might still be short and so you would have to borrow more money from someone else. Being stuck in poverty is like treading water in the open sea. It takes all your energy just to keep your head above the waves. What you need is someone to lift you out of the water and give you a boat so you can make it back to dry land.

Giving someone an interest free loan saved them from treading water. Cancelling that debt put their feet on dry land.  

Now obviously there was greater risk in lending to someone in the sixth year, when the seven-year cycle was coming to an end. So the temptation was to avoid lending money to anyone at that point, in case they ran out of time to repay you. Moses has this to say…

9 Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing.

That phrase, ill will, is literally, evil eye. So the meaning is something like, ‘do not give your needy brother the evil eye’. In other words, do not resent your needy brother for asking for help or being an inconvenience. Do not avoid him when you see him coming.

The other thing we notice here is the word brother. Moses keeps referring to the poor who borrow money as brothers. We hear the word brother about six times in as many verses. This is not to exclude women. We could say brother or sister.

The point is, your creditors are not just a number in your ledger. They are fellow human beings. They are family and they are of special concern to Yahweh. You release people from their debts for the sake of the relationship.   

The economy must give way to the neighbourhood. Relationship capital is more valuable than cash in the bank.

Israel’s inter-personal relationships are not to be defined by debt or money. Their relationships are to be defined by their covenant loyalty to Yahweh, by their shared history and by God’s blessing in the land. 

God released Israel from slavery in Egypt and gave them a fresh start in the land of plenty. Likewise, the people of Israel should release their brothers and sisters from debt and give them a fresh start so they don’t spend the rest of their life treading water.  

Forgiveness is another word for release. When we release someone from the debt they owe us, we are forgiving that debt. We are letting the matter go and not pursuing it further. The opposite of forgiveness is resentment. Resentment is when we hold on to the debt in anger and self-righteousness.  

Jesus does not want us to suffer in that way. Nor does he want us to be defined by debt or money. He wants the community of his followers to be defined by their love for one another. And forgiveness (releasing others from what they owe) is the true test of love.    

In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus, how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Peter thinks he is being generous. But Jesus lets the air out his balloon saying, not seven times but seventy times seven. Forgive without limit in other words.

Then Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. The one about the man who owed his master millions and was forgiven his enormous debt simply because he asked, but who then refused to forgive the debt of a fellow servant who owed him far less by comparison.

Needless to say the story did not end well for the unforgiving servant. Not only did the unforgiving man ruin his relationships with his fellow servants, he also ruined his relationship with the king, his master.

It’s like that with us. If we don’t forgive others, if we don’t release them from the debts they owe us, then we end up ruining our relationships with everyone, including God our master. Forgiveness can be a painful and costly process, but at the end of the day it always costs more not to forgive.

We release others for the sake of relationship and for our own mental well-being (our own peace). As the saying goes, ‘to refuse to forgive someone is to let that person live rent free in your head’. That is its own kind of torture.

The good news is you don’t have to wait seven years to forgive. You can release others whenever you want. We release for relationship and we release for peace.

Release for peace:

Take a moment now to clench your fists, like this. Now imagine trying to tie your shoe laces with your hands clenched. Or imagine trying to eat your dinner or catch a ball or give someone a hug or a helping hand. Not sure you could do any of that particularly well. About the only thing you can do with clenched fists is punch someone.   

The longer and tighter you keep your fists clenched the stiffer your fingers become. Okay, now you can release your hands. Don’t want you to hurt yourself or anyone else.

From verse 7 of Deuteronomy 15, Moses says…

7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather, be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs…

Now it should be noted that Moses is talking about giving according to your means. If you are scraping by on the bones of your backside, then you don’t need to go beyond your means or get into debt to help someone else. Giving, in Deuteronomy, is in accordance with what you have received from God. You are not expected to give what you don’t have.

What we notice, in these verses, is that we give with our heart and our hands. In other words, we need the right attitude in how we think and feel about the poor (that’s the heart part) and we need the right action in how we treat the poor (that’s the hand part).

Listening is key to having the right heart attitude and therefore the right action. Moses is telling the people to help the poor in their own neighbourhood, who they have probably known for years. In that context you could plainly see your neighbour’s need and you would know they were not playing you.  

The equivalent today would be helping a friend, family member, work colleague or fellow Christian who is in need. Maybe their hot water cylinder has to be replaced or they need new tyres for their car, but they can’t afford it, so you lend them the money to get it fixed.

That being said, our context today is a bit different from the context Moses had in mind. We don’t always know our neighbours that well and we have even less relationship with the poor and homeless. So when someone does approach us for money they are usually a stranger and we may have no way of knowing whether they are scamming us or not. 

Most of us here are middle class Christians who probably feel some degree of guilt when we see someone begging on the street, like we are not doing enough. Acting out of guilt to make ourselves feel better is not ideal and may not lead to a good outcome.  

Verse 8 talks about lending what the poor need. So two good questions to ask are: what is needed here and is it in my power to lend what is needed? We don’t want to assume to know what is best for the other person.

Yes, you may have wisdom and knowledge to offer but the people you wish to help also have a few clues. The poor generally know what they need better than anyone else. So those who are able to lend a hand should do so with humility and a listening heart.

Of course, listening to the poor, getting to know them, takes time; time we don’t always have. Often it’s just easier to blindly give some money.

 Jesus had this to say about giving to the poor…

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others… 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Jesus is warning against using the poor to make ourselves look good. That just humiliates the poor. God delights in undercover good deeds, done with a pure heart and without an ego trip.   

In verse 10, of Deuteronomy 15, Moses goes on to say…

10 Give generously to him [your brother in need] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

These words need a bit of understanding. Some people have used this verse (and others like it) to preach a kind of prosperity doctrine or cargo cult. They might interpret it as a get rich scheme, along the lines of the more you give the more wealth and health God will bless you with personally.

But I don’t think it works like that. The main motivation here is not to benefit yourself. The main motivation is to help those in need, trusting that God will take care of you.

Besides, we can never put God under obligation. God won’t allow himself to be manipulated. God acts freely.

This is how it works. When debts are not forgiven, the rich grow richer and the poor grow more desperate. A dangerous divide develops between rich and poor and both sides become fearful of each other, unable to relate in a right way. Decent people are reduced to despair or violence. Crime goes up, anger and hurt boil over. The fabric of the neighbourhood disintegrates. Peace is lost and what you have worked for is undone.

But when debts are forgiven, right relationship is strengthened through acts of kindness. The gap between rich and poor is closed. Bridges of communication and understanding are built. Those who have forgiven debts have nothing to fear from the poor, while those who have had their debts cancelled have no cause for despair or rage. The fabric of the neighbourhood is enriched. Peace is restored and what you have worked for is blessed, it prospers.

Now, when we talk about peace, we don’t just mean the absence of conflict. Peace (or shalom), in a Jewish understanding, is the presence of abundant life, wholeness and wellbeing. Peace in your heart and mind, yes, but also peace in your relationships. A community in which everyone has more than enough. A life giving culture in your neighbourhood that money can’t buy.       

So the blessing God gives, when people forgive each other, is the blessing of a better world in which to raise your kids and grow old. It makes sense to release people from their debts because release allows relationships to breath and it fosters peace. We release for relationship and we release for peace.

In many ways I’m preaching to the choir. I imagine most of you here are open-hearted and open-handed in your giving and forgiving, so I don’t want to labour the point.

Conclusion:

But I do want to point to Jesus, because it is through faith in Jesus that we experience the peace of release. In Luke 4, Jesus said of himself and his mission:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…

Jesus came to release us from a spiritual debt we could never repay by ourselves. Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin and death, so that we can enjoy peace in our relationship with God and peace with each other.

What is it that binds you? What is it that taxes your peace? Do you have someone living rent free in your head? What release do you need?

May the Lord set us free to be a blessing to others. 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?

  • Do you think of time as linear or cyclical? What cycles did ancient Israel have to support and restore their life together? What cycles do we (today) have to support and restore our life together?
  • Have you ever been oppressed by poverty or debt? How did you feel? What did you do? In what ways did God help you?
  • Why did Moses instruct the Israelites to cancel debts every seven years? Why do we need to forgive?
  • How are the relationships of God’s people to be defined? What should not define our relationships?   
  • Giving to the poor needs to be done with a right heart and hands. What is a right attitude (way to think / feel) towards the poor? What is a right action to take with the poor? 
  • Discuss / reflect on Deuteronomy 15:10. How is this verse best understood?
  • What is it that binds you? What is it that taxes your peace? Do you have someone living rent free in your head? What release do you need?
Tawa Baptist

Power

Scripture: Jonah

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Patient & Omnipotent
  • Wise & Equitable
  • Redemptive
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

You may have heard the saying: ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men…’

This phrase was coined by Lord Acton, who was a British historian and politician during the 1800’s. He wrote this in a letter to an Anglican bishop. Whatever Lord Acton’s reason for writing about power in this way, it has stuck. It resonates with people. Generally speaking, we human beings are suspicious of power and reluctant to trust those who hold it.

Certainly we can think of many people throughout history who have abused power but really the problem is not power itself, the problem is with the human heart. Power simply reveals the contents of a person’s character. 

Sadly, a negative attitude to power tends to taint our faith in God. By definition God is the most powerful being there is and if we think that power corrupts then we may struggle to trust God.

We need to understand that God’s heart and character are quite different from that of a human being. This morning we are looking at five aspects of God’s character through the story of Jonah. That is, God’s patience, God’s omnipotence, God’s wisdom, God’s equity (or fairness) and God’s redemption. Firstly, let’s consider God’s patience and omnipotence.

Patient & Omnipotent:

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been fortunate enough to spend some time walking on the beach. The ocean is both powerful and patient. A beach is created over thousands of years as the surf gradually pounds stone and shell into sand. The work of the ocean points to the power and patience of God in transforming the human heart.

Patience is the ability to wait something out or endure something tedious, without losing your temper. Having patience means you can remain calm, even when you have been waiting ages or dealing with something painstakingly slow or trying to teach someone how to do something and they just don’t get it.

In Corinthians 13, when Paul writes about love, patience is the very first descriptor he uses. “Love is patient, love is kind…”

Patience, therefore, is an expression of love. 

Omnipotence simply means ‘all powerful’. Omni means ‘all’ or ‘everything’ and potence refers to ‘power’. Power is the ability to do something. To say that God is omnipotent, therefore, is to say that God can do all things; there is nothing beyond God’s ability or reach.

In the book of Jeremiah 32:27 the Lord says to the prophet, “Is anything too difficult for me?” It is a rhetorical question. The answer is clearly, ‘No, nothing is too difficult for the Lord’. God is omnipotent – all powerful.   

We see God’s patience and power in the story of Jonah…

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Ninevehand preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa,where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

You see, Jonah was an Israelite and Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, the headquarters of Israel’s enemies. Most of the time when God told his prophets to preach a message against Israel’s enemies the prophets had the luxury of doing so from the relative comfort and safety of home. But God wanted Jonah to physically go to Nineveh and tell the Assyrians how bad they were.

Talk about a hospital pass. Jonah knew it was a bad assignment and so he got on a ship headed in the opposite direction. It was not that Jonah doubted God’s power. Jonah was quite convinced God could make the mission successful. And that was precisely the problem. Jonah did not want to be involved with saving his enemies. That would feel like a betrayal of his own people.

But God was patient with Jonah. In truth, God’s omnipotence (his power) is tempered or controlled by his patience. God waited for the ship to get out to sea and then he sent a storm. The storm was a frightening display of God’s omnipotence.

The pagan sailors did everything they could to save the ship but the storm just got worse. Meanwhile Jonah was asleep below deck. When the sailors woke him up he explained that he was running away from the Lord of heaven and earth, who made the land and sea. Their best chance of survival was to throw him overboard.

The sailors were honourable men and did not want to do this but eventually Jonah persuaded them and as soon as the prophet hit the water the storm stopped. Once again God’s omnipotence was on display, this time to bring a great calm.     

God’s omnipotence is not limited to the weather though. God has power over all things. God sent a giant fish to swallow Jonah whole. The incredible thing here is not that Jonah was eaten by a fish. The truly incredible thing is that Jonah was able to remain alive inside the fish. 

This may seem impossible to some of us but that is precisely the point: God is omnipotent, nothing is too difficult for the Lord. Not only that but God is in control, not Jonah and not us, which is just as well.

A giant fish that can swallow a man whole, without digesting him, is a symbol of God’s patient omnipotence. The Lord has the power to destroy Jonah but instead God uses the very same power to save his messenger.   

God’s omnipotence and patience go together. God did not get frustrated with Jonah. God did not use his power to kill Jonah. Nor did God use his power to overthrow Jonah’s will. It may have been much easier and quicker for God to find someone else to go. But God’s ways are not our ways.

God waits for Jonah and his patience is rewarded. After Jonah had repented from the belly of the fish, the fish spat him out on dry land and Jonah went to Nineveh in obedience to God. 

God’s patience (his fuse) is very long indeed. When the nation of Israel turned away from him, the Lord patiently waited for them to return for a couple of hundred years.

And he waits patiently for the world to turn to him again. As we read in 2nd Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.     

God’s omnipotence is tempered by his patience. What’s more, God is wise and equitable in his dealings with creation.

Wise & Equitable:

We live in a democracy but the Kingdom of God is not a democracy. The Kingdom of God is a theocracy, which means it is ruled by God. Heaven is a place where God’s will is done. This is not to imply that God is a dictator. No. Dictators are closed to the voice of the people and tend to eliminate anyone who disagrees with them. By contrast, God is secure enough within himself to be open to what his subjects have to say. God listens to people and takes our thoughts and feelings into account when making his decisions. That is one of the reasons we pray.

When Jonah finally made it to Nineveh his preaching was simple. “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.” At first that sounds like a very closed message. There is no hope in it. No call to repentance. No nuance. No clever illustrations. No compassion. No redemption. No PR. No subtle maneuvering of the media. Just doom and destruction.

Nevertheless, Jonah’s message was wise and fair. While God is patient, he is no one’s fool. God’s omnipotence includes the capacity to destroy. God must be worshipped. If we do not put God first (if we worship something else in God’s place) then God is well within his rights to exercise his power either to destroy the things we worship or to destroy us.

God gave Jonah that message for Nineveh because the people’s behavior was very bad. They were incredibly violent and ruthless. God’s sentence on the people may have seemed harsh but it was wise and equitable, it was fair. God could not, in good conscience, allow the Assyrians to run amuck oppressing other people groups. That would not be kind or just. 

Jesus said the measure we use for others is the measure God will use for us. If we are generous with others, God will be generous with us and vice versa. The Assyrians were violent in their treatment of others so God gave them fair warning, he would destroy them.    

We can see God’s wisdom in sending Jonah. While Jonah’s preaching was incredibly blunt, it was also without pretense or guile. He did not disguise his contempt for the Assyrians and this (paradoxically) made his message all the more believable. Had God sent a diplomat to speak smooth words, the people of Nineveh probably would not have believed the message.

In response the people of Nineveh decided that everyone should fast, which means go without food. And everyone from the least to the greatest was to put on sackcloth to show they had repented.

The king of Nineveh issued a decree that all people must pray earnestly to God and must give up their evil ways. Perhaps God will change his mind and we will not die, they thought. 

God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.      

The people were open to change their ways and so God was open to give them another chance. 

As much as it grated with Jonah to preach to his enemies, actually, it was in Israel’s interests. Having their enemies bow to Yahweh was a victory of sorts. From a political point of view, Nineveh’s repentance meant some respite for Israel.

Not only that but God’s mercy with the Assyrians offered hope to Israel when they strayed from God’s path. If God relented with the Assyrians, then how much more when Israel repented.

God is patient and omnipotent. He is also wise and equitable. Ultimately though, the Lord’s patience & power, wisdom & justice, all serve the purpose of redemption.

Redemption:

As I mentioned earlier, we were fortunate enough to walk the beach during our holiday. The beaches between Pekapeka and Paekakariki collect quite a bit of drift wood. As a consequence, you see these wooden structures at regular intervals along the beach. People have redeemed the drift wood and detritus for a creative and useful purpose. Human beings seem to have this insatiable urge to build shelters with whatever is at hand. 

I wonder if this urge to build and create and redeem reflects something of the residue of God’s image in us. It is interesting that when God became a man (in the person of Jesus) he chose to apprentice himself to a carpenter, a builder.

In any building or renovation project there is usually some demolition involved. But this demolition serves the ultimate purpose of creating and constructing something new and better.      

To redeem something is to reclaim it, to save it or restore it. God’s heart, his preference, is to redeem whatever he can. The story of Jonah is full of God’s redemption. Let me touch briefly on three examples.

First there is the way God redeems Jonah’s running away. God used Jonah’s disobedience to inspire the sailors’ worship.

I said before that the sailors were honourable men. They may have been pagans but they were good pagans. They had a moral compass and wanted to do the right thing. At the height of the storm, just before they reluctantly threw Jonah overboard, the sailors cried out to the Lord saying…   

14 “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man,for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly fearedthe Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vowsto him.

If Jonah had not done a runner, the sailors would not have encountered the Lord in the way they did. The sailors’ prayer shows us they believed the God of Israel to be powerful, just and wise. Jonah’s attempt to get away from the Lord actually resulted in the sailors getting closer to the Lord. That is the power of God’s redemption.

The second main act of redemption is seen when God changes his mind and decides not to destroy Nineveh. The people of Nineveh are similar to the pagan sailors in that they recognize the power and justice of God and submit themselves to the Lord in fear and hope.

The Assyrians’ redemption is not unconditional or automatic. Their redemption hinges on their response to Jonah, their enemy. Paradoxically they are saved by trusting the word of their enemy. Sort of like in the second Terminator movie when Sarah Connor is confronted by a Terminator who she thinks is out to kill her. But the Terminator (played by Arnie) says, ‘Come with me if you want to live’. The people of Nineveh were helped by their enemy. This shows God’s wise redemption.

But the one who is offered more redemption than anyone else is Jonah himself. At the beginning of the story Jonah is like the younger prodigal son who has run away from home. But God redeems Jonah and puts him on the right path again using a storm and a sea monster. 

By the end of the story though, after God relented and saved Nineveh, Jonah is more like the older son in Jesus’ parable (in Luke 15). Just as the older son stood outside the party refusing to celebrate the return of his younger prodigal brother, so too Jonah sat outside the city of Nineveh refusing to celebrate the Assyrians’ repentance and salvation. In chapter 4 of the book of Jonah we read,

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is why I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knewthat you are a graciousand compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life,for it is better for me to diethan to live.”

Jonah acknowledges that it is God’s heart and character to redeem but strangely this makes Jonah depressed. He’s had enough and wants it to be over.

There are any number of reasons why someone might become depressed, human beings are complex. But the cause of Jonah’s depression is related to his anger. If you hold onto your anger and resentment, if you bury it deep inside, the in-rage you feel will eventually result in depression.

This is not to suggest that all depression is caused by repressed anger. But we know it was the case for Jonah because God says to the prophet, “Is it right for you to be angry?”   

This is another rhetorical question. We all know it was not right for Jonah to be angry but Jonah has to arrive at that conclusion himself. Even though God is omnipotent he does not click his fingers and resolve the issue for Jonah. He makes Jonah do some inner (soul) work.

Jonah was angry and depressed but God did not give Jonah a pill or counselling or a support group or cognitive behavioural therapy, as helpful as some of those things may be. God patiently sought to redeem Jonah by giving him a parable. 

5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. [I imagine this shelter was similar to what one might see on the beach along the Kapiti Coast.] The Lord God provideda leafy plantand made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concernfor the great city of Nineveh,in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

And that is how the story of Jonah ends. God has the last word.

The Lord’s message to Jonah seems to be that Jonah is the one who is not being fair and equitable.

If it was up to Jonah the city of Nineveh would be destroyed but God’s power (his omnipotence) is different from the way human beings exercise power. God’s power is tempered with patience, guided by wisdom and equity and used to serve his redemptive purpose.  

Conclusion:

God is free to use his power as he wishes. Sometimes that will disappoint us and make us angry, as it did with Jonah. We do not control God and we cannot leverage his power for our own ends. We have to make peace with the fact that we are not in the place of God. We are not omnipotent. We have to embrace our powerlessness and let God be God. Or, as Jesus put it, we must pick up our cross and follow him.

Like Jesus’ parable of the two sons in, Luke 15, we don’t know how the story of Jonah ends. We don’t know whether the older son let go of his anger and joined the party. Nor do we know how Jonah responded. Did he sit with his resentment or did he find redemption?

This is not a rhetorical question. It is not an abstract theoretical debate about a man who lived thousands of years ago. It is a very real existential question that we must all face. If it hasn’t happened already it is just a matter of time before you will feel disappointed by God. When that day comes (and I expect for many of us here it has already arrived) I pray that we will be able to forgive.

Forgiveness is the greatest power available to us. It is the pathway to redemption.  

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?
  • How does God’s power make you feel? In what ways is God’s power different from the way human beings exercise power?
  • In what ways do we see God’s patience and power at work in the story of Jonah? In what ways are you aware of God’s patience and power at work in your own life?  
  • In what ways do we see God’s wisdom and equity (fairness) in the story of Jonah?
  • Discuss / reflect on the various aspects of God’s redemption in Jonah. For example, how does God redeem Jonah’s running away? How has God redeemed your mistakes?      
  • The people of Nineveh were saved by believing the word of Jonah, their enemy. Can you think of a time in your own life when God has used an enemy to help or save you?
  • Why does Jonah want his life to end? How does God help Jonah? What does Jonah need to do to find redemption? Have you ever felt disappointed by God, like Jonah? If so, how did you find redemption from resentment?
Tawa Baptist

Create in me a clean heart

Scriptures: Psalm 51 and 2nd Samuel 11 & 12

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Keith Green
  • King David
  • Psalm 51
  • Conclusion

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me;

Cast me not away from Your presence, O Lord

Take not Your Holy Spirit from me;

Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Introduction:

Some of you may have seen the movie Rocketman recently

  • It’s a bio pic about the life of Elton John
  • Elton John is of course an incredibly talented musician, but he didn’t write all those hits songs on his own – many of his songs are a collaboration with Bernie Taupin
  • Bernie was the lyricist – he wrote the words and gave them to Elton who then put them to music.

Last week we began a new sermon series called ‘Anthems’

  • In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the history of our faith.
  • The purpose is not to find fault with the words but to help us interpret the songs in the best possible light.

Today’s song is called, Create in me a clean heart

  • This song is a collaboration between king David, Keith Green and the Holy Spirit
  • The lyrics were written by David roughly 3,000 years ago, I’m not sure who wrote the tune we sing it to but it was covered by Keith Green about 40 years ago.
  • Before we get to king David though, let’s consider Keith Green’s life

Keith Green:

For Keith Green it was all about glorifying God. This is what Keith says…

The only music minister to whom the Lord will say, ‘Well done, thy good and faithful servant’, is the one whose life proves what their lyrics are saying, and to whom music is the least important part of their life. Glorifying the only worthy One has to be the minister’s most important goal.  

Keith Green was born in 1953 is New York, into a show biz family

  • Like king David, Keith was Jewish, although unlike David, Keith’s family didn’t practice the Jewish faith
  • Keith was genuinely gifted, a child star. At the age of 11 he landed a five-year contract with industry giant Decca Records
  • Time magazine hailed him as a ‘prepubescent dreamboat” who “croons in a voice trembling with conviction…”
  • Keith was poised to become the next teen heart throb until Donny Osmond beat him to it. Worldly success didn’t happen for Keith.

In the 1960’s, at the age of 15, Keith ran away from home in search of girls, drugs and the promise of universal love preached by the hippie movement

  • This was a time when the west was discovering the east and so Keith looked to eastern religions to try and find spiritual truth
  • As he devoured the writings of the religious ‘masters’ one thing struck him as odd: their teachings kept referring to Jesus Christ, but Jesus was at the bottom of Keith’s list.
  • Eventually, one day in 1973 after much trial and error, when he had exhausted every other option Keith bought a cross, put it on and alone, through tears prayed in desperation, “Jesus, if you’re there, show yourself to me.” And Jesus did. The love of Jesus broke through.

In the gospel Jesus says, those who have been forgiven much, love much.

  • Keith Green had been forgiven much and so his love for Jesus was very strong. Keith had a tremendous energy and passion to see others come to faith in Jesus and it showed in the songs he wrote 
  • Between 1977 and 1982 Keith released five gospel albums
  • But he wasn’t just a performer – Keith was the real deal.
  • He and his wife Melody opened their home in radical hospitality to people in need and they gave away most of the money they earned
  • They also wrote an evangelical magazine called Last Days  
  • Some people saw Keith Green as a prophet, because his songs called the church to repentance, but he was never comfortable with that label.

Sadly, in July 1982, just a few months before his 29th birthday, Keith died in a plane crash. It was around this time I became a Christian and was baptized.

King David:

Create in me a clean heart is a simple song based on verses 10-12 of Psalm 51

  • It is essentially a prayer for conversion from the inside out – a heartfelt request for real and lasting change to one’s self

The sub-title to psalm 51 reads: A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone into Bathsheba.

  • To put you in the picture, David has, by this stage, been king for a number of years and has enjoyed quite a bit of success
  • While his army is away fighting David stays home in his palace
  • One evening he looks out over his balcony and sees a beautiful woman bathing. Like the Bruce Springsteen song, David is on fire.
  • Maybe it is the loneliness of leadership?
  • Maybe it’s the corrupting influence of power?
  • Or maybe David has simply grown complacent in his prosperity?
  • Whatever the reason, David must have this woman and invites her to his room. Her name is Bathsheba.
  • One thing leads to another and Bathsheba gets pregnant.

This is not a good look for David. David wants to cover his tracks, to hide what he has done

  • Bathsheba is married to Uriah the Hittite. Uriah is a good guy. He is actually away fighting in David’s army    
  • David calls Uriah back from the front line, tries to get him drunk and then sends him home in the hope he will sleep with Bathsheba
  • That way no one will know what David has done – everyone will think the baby is Uriah’s.
  • Well not quite everyone. God knows. But David puts God out of his mind. David behaves as though God does not exist. Practical atheism.

Unfortunately for David, Uriah is a real boy scout and instead of going home to get reacquainted with his wife, Uriah sleeps on the doorstep of David’s palace.

  • He can’t stand the thought of taking any comfort for himself while his brothers in arms are sleeping rough in fox holes.
  • This means David has to resort to Plan B. He sends Uriah back to the front and a messenger follows.
  • The message is for Joab, the commander of David’s army. David wants Joab to put Uriah where the fighting is heaviest and then fall back so Uriah gets killed by the enemy.
  • Joab is a soldier. He follows orders and it is done. Uriah dies in battle and, after the time of mourning, Bathsheba becomes David’s wife.

David thinks he is in the clear. Yes, he’s having trouble sleeping and like Lady MacBeth he just can’t seem to get rid of that damn spot, but at least his reputation is intact. Then Nathan, the prophet, turns up

  • Nathan is wise in his approach. He doesn’t confront the issue head on. That would only make David angry and defensive.
  • Instead Nathan goes for the sucker punch. He tells David a parable [1]              

“There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man’s home. The rich man didn’t want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal for his guest.”

5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, “I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took.”

  • Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man”.

All at once David knew it saying, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’. Then he goes on to compose Psalm 51.

Psalm 51:

As I said before, the words we sung earlier are just a handful of lines from David’s original song.

  • They capture the essence of the psalm but to understand them properly we need to hear them in the context of the whole
  • From verse 1 we read…

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

These opening verses summarise the psalm – David wants mercy from God. Previously he had wanted justice. Now that he sees himself as he is, he wants mercy.

  • David’s plea for mercy shows what he believes about God’s character – that God is gracious and good.
  • Someone once said that faith is believing that God accepts me even though I am unacceptable.
  • David knows he is unacceptable and yet he has the faith to believe that God is generous enough to forgive him and accept him.

David doesn’t rely on his own good works to save him – he doesn’t say to God, ‘I’ve done a lot of good things for you and Israel over the years Lord. Remember what I did with Goliath. How about you let this slide.’

  • Rather, David relies on God’s steadfast love and mercy, God’s hesed.

David describes his wrong doing with the words: iniquity, transgressions & sin

  • They are essentially three ways of saying the same thing, although each word has a different nuance.
  • Iniquity is any act of injustice
  • Transgressions refers to the ways David has crossed the line of God’s law (in this case coveting, adultery, murder and lying)
  • While sin is more a state of being in which we act independently of God, as though God did not exist.

The word wash, as in ‘wash me thoroughly’ is the same word that is used for washing clothes

  • In David’s day, people got stains out of clothes by rubbing the fabric together or by beating the clothes on a rock
  • For David to ask God to ‘wash me thoroughly’ then, is to invite some rough treatment for his sin – David does not expect cheap grace.
  • God’s forgiveness of David did not mean David got off scot free.
  • In 2nd Samuel 12 the prophet Nathan tells David that, while he is forgiven, his child to Bathsheba will die and the sword will never depart from David’s house. God is merciful but he’s also just.  

From verse 3 we continue…

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. 5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

These verses contain David’s confession. Often when we mess up in some way, our first instinct is to deny our wrong doing or make excuses or blame someone else. David does not do this. David admits he is wrong and God is right. No excuses.

At the beginning of verse 4 David says he has sinned against God alone, which jars with us a bit because clearly David’s iniquity has affected Uriah, Bathsheba, the nation of Israel, his family and himself as well.

  • I think David is using the word sinned in the sense of operating independently of God, behaving as though God did not exist.
  • The point is, sin is first and foremost an affront to God
  • So often we judge ourselves by the ethic of: “It’s okay as long as I don’t harm anyone else.”
  • But in saying that, we exclude God. We don’t consider God as a person
  • We forget how our actions affect the Lord. 
  • As offensive as David’s behaviour was to other human beings, it was even more offensive to God. 

Derek Kidner observes the change in David’s attitude here…[2]

  • Previously David’s only concern was, ‘How do I cover my tracks?’ How do I protect myself and my reputation?
  • Now David is more concerned with ‘How could I treat God like this?’      

David is not blaming his mother or his parents in verse 5, where he talks about being guilty even in the womb

  • No. David is saying the problem is with me. My character is deeply flawed. I have always been prone to sin. I am to blame.

From verse 6 we read…

  • 6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
  • The problem is inside us. Sin starts with a lie, with stinking thinking.
  • We need God to teach us the wisdom of being honest with ourselves so we can think straight – then change will happen from the inside out.

Verse 7: 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

  • When a priest declared a leper clean and fit to re-join the community they would dip the branch of a hyssop tree in sacrificial blood and sprinkle the person seven times. David is comparing himself to a leper.
  • Jesus’ blood, sprinkled on us, makes us clean.
  • The word purge is equivalent to ‘de-sin’ [3] – in other words, ‘remove from me any desire to be independent of you God’.

Verse 8: 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

  • The weight of David’s guilt is crushing him deep inside and, like broken bones, it is extremely painful, not to mention paralysing
  • He can’t enjoy anything because of his guilt.

And so we get to the verses we sing in church…

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

The words create and renew go together. They refer to something only God can do. David is asking for a miracle of transformation, a deep conversion of himself from the inside out 

  • In the Genesis account of creation God brings order to the chaos, so that it becomes functional.
  • David wants God to bring order to the chaos of his heart – to renew the core of his being, as opposed to replacing it.

Over the past few months our car has been playing up. Not all the time, just randomly, sporadically. Sometimes, when we turned it on, it would start up for a few seconds and then the engine would die. Other times it ran fine.

  • I took it to the mechanic last week and he diagnosed that it was a faulty cam-belt sensor. The sensor thought there was a problem, when there wasn’t, and shut the engine down unnecessarily.
  • These days we fix a problem like a faulty sensor by throwing the old one away and putting a new one in, but this is not God’s preference.
  • Sometimes God replaces but more often He is inclined to use what is already there – to transform what is broken and make it functional again.
  • So create in me a clean heart does not mean throwing the old heart away and replacing it with a new one, like with the sensor in our car
  • Create in me a clean heart means transforming the old heart so that it functions in the way it should.

The words heart and spirit (as in the human spirit) go together

  • It’s difficult to tie these words down or define them exactly because they can be used in different ways depending on the context

Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our heart because it is the well-spring of life

  • The heart is to our soul what a water bore is to a farm.
  • The heart is to our life what roots are to a tree.   

Spirit can mean the breath that animates the body and makes it alive, but it can also refer to something that is not physical or material and yet still very real.

Spirit normally has to do with relationship though – as in the bond between God and people and what characterises that bond 

  • For example, a ‘spirit of fear’ describes a relationship based on fear.
  • Or we might say, someone has a ‘gentle spirit’, meaning they relate with others in a gentle way, as opposed to a rough or violent way
  • A right spirit is a relationship characterised by treating others right
  • A right spirit can also be translated as a ‘steady spirit’ or a ‘loyal spirit’. David doesn’t want to be inconsistent in his relationship with God or others – he wants to be steady and loyal and faithful.

We express our self (who we are) through our heart & spirit

  • Our heart and spirit characterise the condition and direction of our life [4]   
  • In praying for a clean heart and a right spirit David is acknowledging that the direction and condition of his life have gone haywire
  • David’s heart & spirit have expressed adultery and murder and he doesn’t want that to happen again
  • David wants his life to be open to God and directed toward His purpose.

My lawn at home has quite a few daisies and butter cups in it. As much as I like mowing lawns I’m reluctant to cut the flower heads off.

  • During the day the daisies and buttercups open up to face the sun.
  • They direct themselves toward the light and in doing so they express the beauty of their heart and spirit. But then at night they close up again.
  • We human beings are a bit like flowers. In the same way a flower expresses its beauty by opening its petals to the sunlight, so too we express our beauty as we direct our lives toward God and open our heart to His light (the light of Christ).

Verse 11: 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.

  • God’s presence and God’s Holy Spirit go together – God is present through His Spirit.
  • Today the children in the Flock Sunday school are learning how Samuel anointed David to be king of Israel
  • When king Saul disobeyed God, the Lord took His Spirit away from Saul and gave it to David
  • The anointing of God’s Spirit gave David both the power and authority to rule as king of Israel – God’s Spirit made David royalty. God’s Spirit makes us royalty too.
  • Perhaps David is worried that God will take away his kingly authority, like he did with Saul.
  • More likely though David doesn’t want to lose the intimacy he enjoys with God through the Holy Spirit. 
  • The application for us here is that we can’t presume upon God’s grace.
  • God’s Spirit is a gift, freely given. But God can and will take His Spirit back if we abuse our power or position without remorse.

God’s presence may also be a reference to the temple in Jerusalem – the temple being a symbol of God’s presence

  • This psalm would have been particularly poignant for the Israelites in exile in Babylon (a few hundred years after David).
  • They knew what it was to be cast away from God’s presence and longed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
  • The body of Christ, the church, is the new temple of God’s presence
  • When we sing this line we aren’t just asking for some personal mystical experience of God’s Spirit – we are asking to remain in Christ as part of His body the church. 
  • We are saying, ‘Don’t excommunicate me Lord. Let me enjoy communion with you and your people.’

Verse12: 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

  • Joy is a positive energy – it sustains our spirit. David had no joy.
  • People may lack joy for a whole lot of reasons, often through no fault of their own. But, in David’s case, it was because of what he had done wrong, because of his guilt.
  • God’s salvation for David, in this situation, means God’s forgiveness
  • David has killed an innocent man and therefore he deserves to die
  • Salvation would mean having his life spared
  • Salvation would also mean a clear conscience.
  • David wants to be free of his guilt so he has the energy he needs to willingly do what God wants.
  • A willing spirit can also be translated a princely spirit, as in a noble spirit.

Verse 13: 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

  • I don’t think David is intending to preach to people here. I think he means his example will be a sermon to others.
  • When people see how God has saved David, they will repent. They will think, if God can forgive David’s sin, then he can forgive mine too.
  • Indeed, David’s example of honest (excuse free confession) and deep heart felt repentance has provided hope for forgiveness and a pathway to redemption for millions of people down the centuries.

The rest of the psalm then talks about worship…

14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 19 then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

For our worship to be acceptable it must come from a broken spirit and a contrite heart – from the inside out

  • ‘God is looking for the heart that knows how little it deserves and how much it owes’ [5]
  • Our humility is beautiful to God, like an open daisy or a buttercup

Conclusion:

I’m not sure why Keith Green chose to do a cover of Create in me a clean heart

  • Perhaps it was because he identified with David in being a prodigal son who had returned to God his heavenly Father
  • Or maybe it was to irritate the church’s conscience – a kind of call for God’s people to live holy lives and not take God’s salvation for granted.
  • Keith longed for deep conversion for himself and others.

Like Keith Green, king David had been forgiven much and so he loved much

  • Worship is an expression of our love for God
  • Psalm 51 begins with confession and ends in worship
  • Before we can worship God properly we have to realise how much we have been forgiven
  • And before we can realise how much we have been forgiven we have to face the truth about ourselves, we have to feel the depth of our sin and make our confession.

Let us pray…  

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me;

Cast me not away from Your presence, O Lord

Take not Your Holy Spirit from me;

Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Through Jesus we pray. Amen.    

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to (or sing) the song, ‘Create in me a clean heart’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. How did you come to faith in Christ? In what ways is your conversion story similar to Keith Green’s? In what ways is it different?
  3. How do you feel as you read the story of David & Bathsheba & Uriah? Who do you identify with most in this story? (David, Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab or Nathan.) Why?
  4. What is sin? How does David’s sin affect him? How does sin affect you?
  5. What do we notice about David’s confession and repentance?  How do we find forgiveness with God?
  6. How is your heart & spirit? Are you open to God’s light or are you closed off to God?
  7. What does God require from us in worship? 

[1] Refer 2 Samuel 12:1-7.

[2] Refer Derek Kidner’s commentary on Psalms 1-72, page 208.

[3] Ibid, page 209.

[4] Refer James Mays commentary on the Psalms, page 203.

[5] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72, page 211.

Tawa Baptist

For-giving

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Title: Forgiving

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Forgiveness is letting go
  • God’s forgiveness is unlimited but not unconditional
  • Forgiving from the heart
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good blood flow helps to heal wounds

–         Without healthy blood flow a wound will take ages to heal or may even get worse

–         Generally speaking things that improve blood flow include…

o   Putting a heat pack on the wound area

o   Elevating the wound to reduce swelling (because swelling restricts blood flow)

o   And appropriate levels of exercise to aid circulation

o   Looking after your heart also helps with blood flow – restricted arteries or poor blood pressure can impede blood flow and prolong the healing process

A ‘readiness to forgive’ is to the soul what good blood flow is to the body

–         Forgiveness, like blood flow, heals wounds

–         Without forgiveness the healing process can’t happen and our soul turns septic

 

Today we continue our series on well-being and care of the soul, using the acronym: HEALING.

–         Each letter represents a word which, when properly applied, is life giving to the human soul…

–         Hope Energy Appreciation Lament Inter-dependence Nurture & Giving

–         Last week we looked at giving – this morning we continue the focus on giving with special reference to for-giving

 

Forgiveness is letting go:

As I mentioned earlier in the service, forgiveness is about letting go

–         Letting go of our hurt and letting go of our desire to get even

–         With forgiveness we don’t insist on our rights – we give up our rights in order to set the other person free from their obligation to us

–         Forgiveness is a choice to refuse replaying the injury in our mind

–         It is a choice not to remind the other person of what they have done – not to hold anything over them

 

Forgiveness is an act of faith

–         When we forgive others we are trusting God to make things right, as opposed to taking matters into our own hands.

–         Likewise, when we seek forgiveness we are trusting in God’s mercy, not in our own rightness.

 

Forgiveness is similar to grieving

–         With both grieving and forgiveness we have lost something and we are coming to terms with that loss in a way that allows us to move forward

–         If the loss is significant then our forgiveness may require some lament

–         For example, we may have to give honest expression to our anger before we can forgive, before we can let the other person go free

 

To illustrate how God’s forgiveness works Jesus tells a parable to his disciples in Matthew 18

–         In the context of Matthew 18, Jesus has just been talking about how his followers are to relate with each other, and in particular how they are to restore broken relationships. From Matthew 18, verse 21, we read…

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master had compassion on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

 May God’s Spirit illuminate this reading for us

 

God’s forgiveness is unlimited but not unconditional:

This parable shows us that while God’s forgiveness is unlimited, it is not unconditional

Someone once said, ‘It doesn’t matter how much milk you spill so long as you don’t lose the cow.’

–         I guess the point is that mistakes are bound to happen – milk is going to get spilt – but, as long as we still have the cow we can always get some more. With the cow, our milk supply is unlimited

One way of understanding Jesus’ parable here is that God gives us the cow of grace – or unlimited forgiveness

–         But in order for us to keep the cow we must share the milk of forgiveness with others – if we don’t share the forgiveness then we forfeit the cow

–         While God’s forgiveness is unlimited, it is not unconditional

The standard Jewish teaching of the day recommended that you forgive someone 3 times

–         So when Peter suggested the upper limit for forgiveness might be 7 times, he was going well beyond the norm but still missing the point really

–         Because forgiveness, by definition, requires us to not keep score at all

–         Maintaining a ledger of wrong doing is the opposite of forgiveness

So, when Jesus said to Peter, ‘Not seven times, but seventy seven times’

–         He did not literally mean 77 times (or 490 times as some translations say)

–         He meant that we should not be counting

–         Our forgiveness of others should be unlimited

–         Martin Luther King summed it up well when he said…

–         Forgiveness is an attitude, not an occasional act

 

Jesus illustrates how God’s forgiveness works by telling a story about the kingdom of heaven

–         In Jesus’ parable the king wants to settle accounts with his servants

–         One of his servants is brought in who owes him 10,000 talents

–         Now a talent in Jesus’ time was not a special ability that one might possess like singing or drawing

–         A talent was a measure of weight – the largest measure of weight they had (in this case probably of silver)

–         What’s more 10,000 was the largest increment or number they used

–         So when Jesus says the servant owed 10,000 talents he does not mean for us to try and calculate the exact sum of silver or gold this may represent

–         Jesus is quoting a figure which was at the limit of what anyone in that culture could imagine

–         It was a figure many times greater than the GDP of Galilee – which means it would be impossible for the servant to repay the king

At first the king orders his servant to be sold as a slave (along with his wife & kids and all his property)

–         This in itself would not cover the debt – it was simply a way of the king preventing further losses and recouping what he could

–         Now, under the circumstances this was quite a merciful thing for the king to do – he could have ordered the servant’s head to be cut off or had him thrown in jail, but he doesn’t

Interestingly, the servant does not want to work for anyone else

–         The servant realises how good he has it with the king and wants to stay under the king’s care and protection – so he begs for mercy by saying…

–         Be patient with me and I will pay you everything

Now this is a lie told by a man in desperation

–         There is no way the servant could repay the entire debt – not even if he was given several lifetimes – it is impossible

–         The servant wants the king’s grace but he is unwilling to fully accept the truth of what he has done

–         Forgiveness doesn’t work unless we honestly take in what has happened

–         It’s the truth about ourselves that sets us free to forgive others

–         Truth is to forgiveness what sanding is to painting or what digging is to laying foundations – without truth, forgiveness doesn’t stick

The king knows that his servant can’t repay him but he has compassion on him and forgives the debt altogether – forgiveness is letting go of getting even

–         Forgiveness is also an act of faith

–         The king is trusting his servant to learn from his mistakes and not repeat the sorts of behaviour that got him into debt in the first place

–         He is also trusting his servant to pay it forward and forgive others

As soon as the servant is out of the king’s presence he finds a fellow servant who owes him a hundred denarii (equivalent to about 3 months wages for a labourer at that time) – nothing by comparison to 10,000 talents of silver

–         He grabs his fellow servant by the throat and says…

–         Pay back what you owe me

–         But when this fellow servant begs for mercy the first servant refuses and instead throws his co-worker into debtors’ prison

The unforgiving servant’s behaviour is the opposite of the king’s behaviour

–         The king was not violent but the unforgiving servant is

–         The king had compassion but the unforgiving servant is obtuse

–         The king did not insist on his rights whereas the unforgiving servant demands justice

–         The king released his servant but this same man who was released throws his fellow servant in prison

The other staff see all this and they are very upset

–         So they go to the king and intercede for the poor bloke who has been thrown in prison

–         The fact that they go to the king suggests they are used to the king listening and acting justly – they trust the king to do the right thing

When the king hears what the unforgiving servant has done he is outraged

–         He tells the servant some home truths and sends the man to jail to be tortured until he should pay back the whole amount

–         That’s a frightening thought when you consider that the unforgiving servant had no way of repaying the debt and no friends to bail him out

–         It might leave us with some rather discomforting thoughts about God

–         The same God who welcomes the prodigal

–         The same God who goes looking for the lost sheep

–         The same God who shows mercy and forgives generously

–         Is the same God who executes justice and punishes the hypocrite

To be clear God is not volatile or capricious – he is not prone to lashing out in random acts of rage. A couple of things to bear in mind about this situation…

Firstly, hyperbole or exaggeration are the hall-marks of this parable and the unforgiving servant himself is presented as an extreme example

–         He is certainly not representative of every servant of the king

Secondly, the king in this parable is simply giving the servant what he asked for

–         He had demanded justice for himself from his fellow servant

–         And so this is exactly what the king gives him

–         Measure for measure the king treated the unforgiving servant as he had treated others

I believe that God is just and merciful – he wouldn’t punish anyone beyond what they deserve

–         This being so the worst we can expect from God is justice and the best we can expect is mercy – either way, the choice is ours

–         Through faith in Jesus, God offers his mercy and his forgiveness to everyone – all we have to do is accept his mercy and pay it forward

–         But, if we insist on justice for ourselves, then that’s what God will give us

When we consider our own experience the imprisonment and torture in this parable equate to the mental & emotional anguish that un-forgiveness creates for the individual

–         Holding a grudge is like letting someone live rent free in your head

–         Or, as Malachy McCourt puts it, “Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die”

When we fail to forgive others, when we insist on justice for ourselves,

–         When we keep a record of wrongs,

–         When we hold onto the bricks of hurt & resentment, we lose the cow of forgiveness

–         We make ourselves a prisoner to all sorts of tormenting thoughts & fears

–         In short, we cut ourselves off from God’s mercy

Thomas Fuller once said, “He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

–         Our forgiveness, our freedom, is conditional on us forgiving others

–         When we forgive others we maintain the bridge that God has built for us through Christ

 

Forgiving from the heart:

After talking about the punishment of the unforgiving servant Jesus concludes his parable (in verse 35) by saying…

–         “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart”

What does it mean to forgive your brother or your sister from your heart?

–         Well it means to forgive genuinely, authentically, from deep within yourself

–         It is not a superficial, passive aggressive, phoney kind of forgiveness

–         It’s not saying, ‘May God forgive you’, and then fantasying about beating that person up

–         It is the kind of forgiveness that sets us free on the inside

A couple of weeks ago I was crossing the road when some random guy I didn’t recognise yelled out from across the street calling me an obscene name

–         I did nothing to provoke him, I was just walking across the road

–         At the time I felt shocked and didn’t really know what to do so I carried on walking and, silently in my head, asked God to forgive him

Afterwards though it started to bother me – why did he call me that name?

–         Despite having asked God to forgive him there was a part of me that wanted to do violent things to him

–         It was exhausting trying to stop my mind from going down that track

Perhaps if I said the words, ‘I forgive you’, out loud a few times, maybe that would work

–         But it didn’t. If anything that just made it worse – it only made me think about it more

–         He wasn’t sorry – he wasn’t even there to hear my forgiveness

–         So that night I tried to distract myself by watching some junk TV, but that didn’t work either, there was always something to remind me of the injury to my pride

Eventually I remembered what had worked for me in the past when I was struggling to let something go

–         The problem was, I kept thinking about my innocence and that made me hungry for justice

–         What I needed to think about was my guilt so that I would be hungry for mercy

I was upset about this guy taking my name in vain, blaspheming my name, and I couldn’t let it go because (sub-consciously) it reminded me of the times when I’ve taken God’s name in vain

–         This guy was showing me a mirror – I was that man

–         You see, while I’ve never done anything against the guy who yelled abuse at me, I have at times abused God’s name

–         The truth is I have behaved in ways that have made God appear obscene to others and yet God has forgiven me for that

–         Me taking God’s name in vain is far worse than that guy taking my name in vain – and once I realised that I stopped thinking about my injury and I forgave the guy from my heart – I was able to let it go, without Netflix

–         The things that bother us most about other people are often the things that bother us most about ourselves

 

Ideally forgiveness leads to restoration of right relationship

–         In fact reconciliation is not possible without forgiveness

–         However, forgiveness is possible without reconciliation

–         Forgiveness is always necessary but full reconciliation and restoration of relationship is not always wise

–         I don’t know the guy who yelled at me and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to know me either, so I don’t have to try and be his friend

Of course the example I’ve given is a relatively small thing – it’s not the same as being physically or sexually abused by someone you know

–         Forgiveness of that magnitude usually requires a process of grieving & lament, not to mention a fair dollop of God’s grace

Jesus’ call to forgive others is not a call to be used as a doormat or a punching bag.

–         If someone commits a serious criminal offence against you then it is okay to take that to the police – forgiveness doesn’t mean turning a blind eye

–         Wherever possible we should seek to restore damaged relationships but if the person you need to forgive is not willing to change,

–         If they continue to behave in abusive ways

–         If they simply cannot be trusted then you do not need to remain in relationship with them

–         You do need to forgive them (to let go of the hurt) in order to find healing, but you don’t need to try and be their friend

–         Better to call them by their proper name – your enemy

–         As a last resort Matthew 18 also allows for the ex-communication of the unrepentant

Forgiveness is not an excuse for us to dodge our responsibilities

–         If we do wrong then we should apologise to the one we have offended

–         If we can repay our debts, then we must

–         If we can put things right, then we should do that

–         If we commit a crime then we have to face the courts and take our punishment

–         God’s mercy does not erase his justice, it supports his justice

–         God’s mercy supports us to do the right thing

Conclusion:

God’s forgiveness is unlimited but it is not unconditional

–         God will forgive us generously when we call on him

–         But we forfeit his forgiveness if we refuse to forgive others

–         As Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy”

 

Let us pray a prayer of confession…

 Loving Father, our sin is too much for us to bear but Your forgiveness is greater than our sin.

Forgive us for our anxious thoughts and failure to trust you. Calm the waters of our soul.

Forgive us for our words which have wounded like shrapnel or sown weeds in other people’s hearts. Make our speech gracious and true.

Forgive us for the pride that blinds us to our own faults. Remove the plank from our mind’s eye.

Forgive us for the times we have dragged your name through the mud. Help us to reflect your image clearly.

Forgive us for the violence we imagine, provoke and express. Make us a channel of your peace.

Forgive us for our unceasing consumption which is destroying this planet. Satisfy our desires in Christ and restore the earth.

Forgive us for denying your grace by insisting on our own innocence. Make us aware of our need for your mercy.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Set us free to serve you with clean hands and a pure heart. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What is forgiveness?

–         What might forgiveness look like in practice – both mentally and relationally?

–         How is forgiveness an act of faith?

–         In what ways is forgiveness like grieving?

3.)    How does Jesus’ response to Peter and the parable in Matthew 18 convey the idea that God’s forgiveness is unlimited?

–         How does the parable convey the idea that God’s forgiveness in not unconditional?

4.)    What does the parable show us about God’s character?

5.)    Why is truth (esp. the truth about ourselves) necessary for forgiveness to stick?

6.)    What is the consequence, in your experience, of failing to forgive?

–         How does this fit with the consequence for the unforgiving servant in Jesus’ parable?

7.)     What does it mean to forgive from your heart?

–         How might we forgive from our heart?

–         Why does insisting on our innocence get in the way of forgiving?

8.)    How is forgiveness different from reconciliation?

–         How does forgiveness relate to reconciliation?

–         When is it appropriate to seek reconciliation with someone?

–         When is it not appropriate to seek reconciliation with someone?

9.)    Is there someone you need to forgive?

–         Is there someone you need to seek forgiveness from?

Tawa Baptist

Forgiven

Scripture: Psalm 130

 

Title: Forgiven

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Guilt
  • Forgiveness
  • Waiting
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

When I was a kid, for special occasions like birthdays, we would go to Pizza Hutt for dinner

–         This was in the days when Pizza Hutt had an actual restaurant you could sit down in – It seems to be all takeaways now

–         Anyway one of the exciting things about Pizza Hutt, for kids, was the little red pencils and activity sheets they gave you as you waited for your pizza to come to the table

–         On these activity sheets they usually had a maze like this one…

 

The idea was to trace your pencil through the maze, in one side and out the other, without going down a dead end

–         It doesn’t sound like much fun when I explain it now (in an age of iPads) but when you are young almost everything is full of wonder

 

This morning we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents

–         These songs were probably sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their way to the temple in Jerusalem

–         They are songs about drawing nearer to God

–         Sometimes drawing closer to God can feel like trying to find your way through a maze – you don’t always know if you’ve taken the right turn and you sometimes get lost and come up against a dead end

 

Our focus today is psalm 130

–         In this song the psalmist describes a way out of the maze when you are lost – It is the way of forgiveness & waiting in hope

–         From the New Revised Standard Version, we read…

 

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 2     Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive     to the voice of my supplications!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,     Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with you,     so that you may be revered.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,     and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord     more than those who watch for the morning,     more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!     For with the Lord there is steadfast love,     and with him is great power to redeem. 8 It is he who will redeem Israel     from all its iniquities.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

Psalm 130 shows us a way out of the maze

–         It takes us from the prison of guilt to the freedom of redemption

–         The way out is characterised by forgiveness and waiting in hope

–         Let’s begin by considering the depths of guilt

 

Guilt:

Tell me, what happens as you go down deeper and deeper under water? [Wait]

 

That’s right, it gets darker and darker

–         Not only that but the pressure on you gets heavier and heavier

–         We can’t breathe under water so the deeper we go the more we feel trapped and therefore the more panicky (or fearful) we become

 

In verse 1 the psalmist says…

–         1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.

 

The ‘depths’ are a metaphor – they are a place of great pressure and fear, where it is dark and it feels like you can’t breathe and everything is closing in on you

–         It is a place of profound despair and weakness

–         A place where many people might lose hope because they can’t see a way out – but not the psalmist, he sees a way

–         Even though no one can hear you under water (in the depths) the psalmist still cries out to the Lord saying, ‘Hear my voice’

–         It may seem like a long shot but what’s he got to lose

 

‘Supplications’ is a word which here means to ‘beg humbly’

–         The psalmist is begging God for mercy from a position of vulnerability and weakness

 

It’s not until verse 3 though that we learn what is causing all this distress

–         3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

 

‘Iniquities’ is another word for ‘sins’ – in particular sins of injustice

–         If God were to keep a record of all our mistakes, all our moral failures, then we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on

–         This tells us it is guilt which is weighing the psalmist down in the depths

–         Verse 3 also tells us everyone is guilty of iniquity – no one is innocent

–         So we are all in the same sinking boat

 

Now it needs to be said that guilt is a slippery critter

–         Sometimes we don’t feel guilty when we should – it’s like we have this blind spot and can’t see how our actions have been unfair to others

 

Other times though we can misplace our guilt, which is when we feel guilty about the wrong things

–         For example we might feel guilty because we ate a bar of chocolate or we didn’t go to the gym

–         These things are not really ‘iniquities’ – they are not moral issues of injustice and we don’t need to feel bad about them

–         (Unless of course the chocolate isn’t fair trade chocolate)

 

Misplaced guilt, however, can be more serious than not going to the gym

–         Like when someone survives a car crash while others in the car die and the survivor feels guilty even though they did nothing to cause the crash

–         Or when kids feel guilty for their parents’ divorce even though it’s not their fault and they were powerless in the situation

–         Surviving a car crash is not a sin

–         Nor is being the child of divorced parents

–         There’s no reason to feel guilty about that

 

The author of psalm 130 is not blind to the way his actions have affected others

–         Nor is his guilt misplaced

–         His guilt is appropriate in the face of his moral failure

–         We are not told specifically what the psalmist is feeling guilty about

–         But we do know he is a pilgrim who is drawing closer to God

–         And when we draw closer to God it is inevitable that our conscience will be pricked

 

If you are sitting in a room in the dark or the half-light then you don’t tend to notice the dirt and the grime that has accumulated on the ledges and windows

–         You probably don’t see the cobwebs in the corners or the bits of broken biscuit trampled into the carpet

–         But when someone turns the light on, suddenly all the marks show up

 

It seems to be a principle that as we draw nearer to God we become more aware of our guilt

–         This is because God is a moral being, he is supremely & thoroughly good

–         The Lord is light and as we draw closer to the light all our dirt (all our iniquity) is exposed and we realise we don’t have an excuse

 

The inconvenient truth of the gospel is that before we can feel good we need to feel bad – before we can enjoy God we must grow sick of ourselves

 

Guilt is the thirst (parched and desperate) that draws us to drink from the well of life

–         Guilt is the coldness (long and bitter) that draws us to warm ourselves by the embers of love

–         Guilt is the pain (stabbing and relentless) that draws us to Christ the doctor of our souls

–         Guilt is the boil (sensitive and fierce) that longs for the lance of forgiveness to release the infection

 

Forgiveness:

When I was at Baptist College preparing for ministry my mentor, Walter Lang, gave me his complete set of the Journals of John Wesley – all 8 volumes

–         I can’t say I’ve read them all but let me read to you a small portion

–         In May 1738 John Wesley writes…

 

In this vile, abject state of bondage to sin, I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering. Before, I had willingly served sin: now it was unwillingly; still I served it. I fell, and rose, and fell again…

 

During this whole struggle between nature and grace, which had now continued above ten years, I had many remarkable returns to prayer, especially when I was in trouble; …But I was still ‘under the law’, not ‘under grace’; for I was only striving with, not freed from, sin. [1]  

 

Now what you need to understand is that John Wesley was not a bad person by society’s standards

–         He wasn’t a slave trader or a drug dealer or anything like that

–         He was a minister of the church, a preacher and a missionary

–         By most people’s standards he was a very virtuous man

–         And yet he was struggling in the depths

–         He still wrestled with sin and guilt having not felt touched by forgiveness

 

John Wesley wrote that this is the state [that] most who are called Christians are content to live and die in

–         It is possible to come to church and call yourself a Christian and not feel truly forgiven

–         We might know in our head that we are forgiven but do we know it deep down in our soul

 

Some people give up on the Christian faith because it makes them feel stink about themselves most of the time and they don’t want to feel bad anymore

–         That is such a tragedy

–         I don’t believe God wants us to feel guilty any longer than we have to

–         Guilt may be necessary for a time but it’s not meant to be the norm

–         Just like feeling thirsty or cold or in pain should not be the norm

 

John Wesley persevered with his guilt for more than 10 years

–         Perhaps you have suffered longer

 

On the morning of Wednesday the 24th May 1738, John Wesley opened his Bible on the words: “Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God”

–         That afternoon he was asked to go to St Paul’s (a church)

–         The hymn they were singing was psalm 130

–         Out of the deep have I called unto Thee O Lord: Lord hear my voice

 

In the evening of that same day John Wesley writes…

–         I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.

–         About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. [2]   

 

The Lord is not standing over us waiting for us to make a mistake

–         He is standing beside us waiting to forgive

–         In verse 4 the psalmist says…

 

4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

 

Walter Brueggemann makes the observation here that…

–         Forgiveness is the first fact of a new life

–         From forgiveness everything else flows [3]

–         The forgiveness is not earned, not reasoned or explained and not negotiated – it is simply believed in, trusted

 

Forgiveness comes before reverence (or fear) of God

–         It is because the psalmist knows the Lord has the power to forgive that he is able to show God the proper respect of obedience

–         Grace is the horse which pulls the cart of obedience

 

(It’s interesting that the psalmist doesn’t talk about God’s punishment being what inspires fear & reverence – it is God’s forgiveness that causes us to fear him.)

 

Psalm 130 shows how the Lord’s forgiveness provides a way out of the prison of guilt to the freedom of redemption

–         This sounds straight forward enough but on closer inspection we find there’s quite a bit of waiting in between our guilt and our redemption

 

Waiting:

In verses 5-6 the psalmist uses the image of a watchmen standing guard on the walls through the night – waiting for the morning…

 

What we notice here is that waiting and hoping are virtually the same thing

–         To wait for the Lord is to place your hope (or your trust) in his promises (in his word)

 

Not only is the waiting eager but the hope is certain

–         It may feel like a long wait but the morning is certain to come

–         So too the Lord’s forgiveness & redemption are certain to come for those who wait in faith

 

I said earlier that guilt is like a boil (like an abscess)

–         And I compared forgiveness to a lance (or a needle) that pierces the boil of guilt allowing the infection to drain out (what a lovely image for you)

 

When I was preparing the sermon I wondered whether I should make it the antibiotics of forgiveness for the boil of guilt

–         After all, antibiotics seem like a more gentle approach to treating an abscess – the image of lancing a boil evokes anticipation of pain

–         But I decided the lance was a better metaphor of forgiveness because forgiveness is not always pain free

–         What’s more forgiveness is about releasing the infection of sin

–         And antibiotics don’t convey the same image of release

 

The other reason I stuck with the lance of forgiveness is that antibiotics on their own aren’t usually enough for serious infections

–         Anyone who has had a decent boil knows it has to be drained eventually

–         But before it is drained there is a period of waiting for the boil to come to a head

–         To lance the boil before it is ready doesn’t achieve much – in fact it probably delays the healing process, if anything

 

Now some people may be thinking, ‘Why does God make us wait for forgiveness and redemption from our sins?’

–         Poor old John Wesley struggled for over 10 years

–         While the people of Israel had to wait 40 years in the wilderness until they were properly released to enter the Promised Land

–         Well, the boil of guilt must be allowed time to come to a head before God can release the puss of sin

–         Imparting the peace of forgiveness before someone is ready is like trying to lance a boil before it is ready – it delays the process

 

In thinking of this point I’m reminded of a scene from the 1986 movie The Mission

–         ­The Mission tells the story of some Jesuit priests who travel deep into the Amazon jungle to bring the gospel to the Indians living there

–         One of the priests used to be a human trafficker – he hunted the Indians and sold them as slaves

–         For a long time this reformed slave trader couldn’t accept forgiveness

 

As part of his penance he dragged his armour through the jungle to where the Indians lived

–         At one point one of the Jesuit brothers tried to cut him free from his burden but the reformed slaver just gathered it up again and carried on

–         It was like he was carrying his guilt and he wasn’t ready to let it go

–         The boil hadn’t come to a head

 

Eventually, when he finally did reach the Indian tribe their chief cut him free

–         That was the sign he needed to know that God had forgiven him

–         Once he felt forgiven then he could serve the people

 

The other thing to say about waiting in hope is that it’s actually good for us

–         When we wait for something we tend to value it more

–         If you give a diamond ring to a 3 year old they are not likely to take care of it – they will probably lose it

–         But if you wait until they are 33 then they will look after it

 

God makes us wait, not because he needs time but because we need time

–         By the same token, when the time for forgiveness arrives we shouldn’t put it off

 

Examining your guilt is a bit like looking in the mirror – you don’t want to spend too long doing it

 

What we find with the author of psalm 130 is that his focus changes

–         He becomes less introspective and more outward looking as the psalm progresses

–         In the first six verses the psalmist is focused on himself in relation to God: ‘I cry to you, hear my voice, I wait, I hope…’

–         (This is what guilt does – it narrows our peripheral vision)

–         But in the last two verses the psalmist stops his navel gazing and thinks about the wider community of God

 

In verses 7-8 he calls Israel to hope in the Lord because of God’s great power to redeem

 

To redeem is to set free, to release, to liberate and so it’s very close to forgiveness in its meaning

–         Guilt makes us a prisoner in our own soul

–         Forgiveness releases us to think outside of ourselves

–         We need to be prepared to seek forgiveness while we can and wait in hope for God to bring his redemption when the time is right

 

The point we shouldn’t miss is there’s often a gap (a time of waiting) between being forgiven and realising our full redemption

–         Just like there is a time of waiting between when the boil is lanced and drained and when the wound finally heals over

–         Or to use a different analogy: the stain of guilt may be removed from clothes of our soul by the washing of forgiveness but we still have to wait for the clothes to dry before we can wear them

 

Conclusion:

There are many stories of forgiveness in the gospel

–         But the story which (I think) fits best with psalm 130 is Jesus’ forgiveness of the criminal on the cross

 

Jesus was crucified between two criminals

–         The first criminal was not in touch with his own guilt

–         He didn’t feel bad about what he had done

–         He seemed to be blind (or unfeeling) when it came to the impact his actions had on others

–         He gave Jesus a hard time saying: Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us.

–         Jesus ignored this first criminal – he said nothing to him

 

The second criminal was in touch with his own guilt

–         He rebukes the first criminal saying: Don’t you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.

 

The second criminal does feel bad for what he has done – and what’s more he feels bad for Jesus who hasn’t done anything to deserve crucifixion

 

What I find particularly interesting is way the second criminal begins by saying:

–         Don’t you fear God?

–         To fear God is to have deep respect and reverence for him

–         This connects with verse 4 of psalm 130 where the psalmist says…

–         But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered [or feared]

–         We hold God in deep reverence and respect because he has the power to forgive

 

It’s like the second criminal is saying to the first:

–         What are you doing?! You are guilty and without excuse.

–         You need forgiveness and God is the only one with the power to forgive.

–         This man Jesus, who you are insulting, is God’s representative

–         Why would you insult the one man who could help you get forgiveness from God

–         Don’t you respect God – don’t you believe God has the power to forgive?

 

Clearly the second criminal did believe that God could forgive him and take away his guilt

–         What’s more he also believed Jesus was the key to God’s forgiveness

–         So he says: Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King

–         The man is in the depths and he is begging Jesus for mercy from a position of vulnerability and weakness

 

And the Lord replies: I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me

–         Jesus is promising the man redemption

–         The implication here is that the man’s sins are forgiven

–         Jesus is not standing over the man waiting for him to make a mistake

–         He is hanging beside the man waiting to forgive

–         All the man has to do is wait in hope and keep trusting in Jesus’ promise of paradise

–         What we notice is there’s a gap – a time of painful waiting – between being forgiven and being fully redeemed

 

In a few minutes we will share communion together

–         Communion is a time to remember that with Jesus there is forgiveness

–         The musicians will come now to lead us in song as we prepare our hearts to receive God’s grace

[1] The Journal of John Wesley, Volume One, pages 471.

[2] Ibid, pages 475-476.

[3] Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, page 105.

Tawa Baptist

Comfort

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

(With reference to Matthew 9:1-8)

 

Title: Comfort

Structure:

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

 

Introduction:

On the wall here are some pictures

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

The word ‘comfort’ derives from two Latin words

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Today we continue our series on Psalm 23

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

 

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

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul

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

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

The shepherd’s rod & staff:

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

The shepherd also uses the rod for counting the sheep

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

In some ways, children are like cake batter

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  • Not being able to move he was vulnerable, powerless

 

Fortunately this guy had friends to help him

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

Conclusion:

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Let us pray…

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

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

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