Tawa Baptist

Does God care about these people?

Scripture: Jonah

Title: Does God care about these people?

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jonah 1
  • Jonah 3
  • Jonah 4
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full person?

–         For a long time I was a glass half empty sort of person

 

Forgive me, I’m forgetting my manners – allow me to introduce myself…

–         My name is Jonah, son of Amittai – you may have heard about me in Sunday school

–         I was born nearly 800 years before Christ, which makes me about 2,800 years old now

–         I know what you’re thinking – I look good for my age

–         Some of you may be wondering, ‘Why is he wearing that outfit?’

–         Well, I’m a prophet – this is what the future looks like baby

–         I’m just kidding – I wear it because it’s comfortable

–         Although, when you’ve lived as long as I have, you notice fashion does keep going around in circles

 

Anyway, as I was saying, I used to be a glass half empty person – in fact my wife would say I was a bit grumpy and cantankerous, on a good day

–         All I wanted was the quiet life – to be left in peace with my work, to ignore my neighbours and make an appearance at the synagogue just often enough to avoid a visit from the local Rabbi

–         As you can see, by the way I’m dressed, I don’t like to draw attention to myself – I have no interest in public speaking either

–         God knew this of course – he knew how much I valued my privacy and yet he completely disregarded all that and called me to be a missionary prophet

 

Sounds a bit grand, even wonderful, to say ‘I am a missionary prophet’ but I can tell you the reality is far from it

–         Being a prophet is an incredibly lonely life

–         It makes you famous & poor, which is a combination you want to avoid

–         The messages God gives are usually unpopular – warnings of judgement if you don’t change your wicked ways

–         In a society like yours where people are always bowing down to the idol of individualism and your media insists personal freedom be worshipped, no one likes to be criticised for the way they live their life

–         And on those rare occasions when I do get to bring a message of hope, people are usually so despondent they refuse to believe it

–         It takes a great deal of courage to risk hope when you’ve lost nearly everything

 

Jonah 1

That’s why I did a runner when the Word of the Lord came to me

–         Don’t ask me how I knew it was God speaking – some things you just know to be true in the core of your being

–         God said to me, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

 

My first reaction was to ignore God, pretend like I didn’t hear

–         But there is an inevitability about God’s Word – it gets under your skin – the more you try to ignore it the more it irritates you

–         It becomes an itch that just has to be scratched

–         I tried distracting myself by keeping busy but that didn’t work so, even though God was leading me to Nineveh, I set off in the opposite direction for Spain – that’s how much I didn’t want to do this

 

What you need to understand is that Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, which you probably know as northern Iraq

–         The Assyrians were our enemies – I won’t go into it all but they did some terrible things to our people

–         And God wanted me to go to them as a missionary prophet, when I wasn’t even prepared to cross the street to give them the time of day

 

Now you might be thinking, ‘Surely Jonah you would jump at the chance to tell your enemies how rotten they are’

–         Well, you’re wrong. I knew God well enough to know his true motivation

–         God was sending me to Nineveh because deep down he really cares about them – why else would he give them a warning?

–         God likes to give people second and third and fourth chances – it’s just the way he is

–         I know this about God because he has been giving my people (Israel) hundreds of second chances for centuries

–         God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love

–         He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to be saved

–         Which is a real pain in the backside – because it means mugs like me get sent on a fool’s errand

–         I knew how it was going to turn out and that’s why I ran away

I guess I thought I would get away with it – I reasoned that if I didn’t go God would send someone else

–         I mean it’s not like I was anyone special – there were plenty of people more capable, more eloquent, more sociable, more charming than me

–         The Lord could use one of them

–         For a moment there I managed to convince myself that I was actually doing God a favour – I would probably stuff it up anyway

–         It never occurred to me that he would interfere with the weather

 

There I was, below deck, sleeping like a baby, while all hell was breaking loose above me

–         The men on board were seasoned sailors and they were scared for their lives, which tells you just how bad it was

–         As soon as they woke me I knew I was to blame

–         At that moment the psalmist’s words returned to me,

–         Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

–         Still I wasn’t ready to give in – I thought, ‘God cares about these men, he isn’t going to let them drown because of me.’

–         It was like I was playing chicken with God and the lives of everyone on the ship – that’s how reckless I had become

 

Eventually they caste lots (which is like throwing dice or drawing straws) and my number came up

–         That’s one of the differences between you people today and the ancients

–         They didn’t believe in chance like you do

–         Nothing was random to them – everything had a purpose and a meaning

–         The spiritual realm was everywhere – the hands of the gods were directing fate. Nothing happened by accident

–         You call it superstition or luck and your post enlightenment, hyper-rational mind-set rules out the possibility of divine involvement

–         People today close their eyes to what they don’t want to see

–         No wonder you are starved for meaning

–         Your society may be rich, in material terms, but it’s spiritually poor

 

Anyway, enough about you, let’s get back to me – as I was saying, my number came up and I had to fess up

–         The storm was caused by my God – the same God who made the land and the sea – a God far more powerful than any other

–         And the Lord was doing this because I was running away from him

–         I told the sailors it was my fault and that if they picked me up and threw me into the sea it will become calm again

–         But they didn’t want to do it – they tried to save me by rowing to shore

–         There was I, a son of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people

–         I had grown up being taught the ways of the one true, living God, and I took my Godly heritage for granted, despised it even

–         These sailors didn’t even know the Lord – and yet they were risking their lives to save mine

–         Their religion was based on a lie (they worshipped idols) but their humanity was true

–         They loved me like a brother and they hardly knew me

–         I can’t tell you how much their actions touched me – as lonely as I was

 

When the storm got even worse, and they realised I was right, they reluctantly threw me overboard. The water became dead flat in an instant

–         Jesus did the same thing on a lake in Galilee 800 years later

–         People these days have no idea how powerful the Lord is – if you did you would show him more respect than you do

 

As providence would have it I met one of those sailors years later and he explained how profound his conversion experience was at the moment the waters became still

–         It occurred to him just how gracious and wise God is, turning my failure, my disobedience, into their salvation

–         If I hadn’t run away those sailors may never have known the power of God’s goodness

–         The old sailor’s eyes misted up when he told me that and I was humbled to silence

Of course that humility came years later with the benefit of hindsight – at the moment of being thrown overboard and hitting the water I was terrified

–         You New Zealanders are surrounded by the sea – you love going to the beach and swimming in the waves – but I’m a Hebrew, a land-lover

–         The sea reminds you of summertime and holidays but for me the sea represents chaos and death

 

I hadn’t been thrashing around in the ocean for long when a huge fish swallowed me up

–         Now I know that many people today struggle to believe this

–         Your culture holds up this ideal of being broad minded & inclusive and yet your imagination is too small to include this possibility

–         I’m not going to waste my time trying to convince you – arguments about the fish are a distraction

 

The point is: God is sovereign – he is in control of the outcome

–         He is able to work all things for good

–         I thought I was a gonna when that fish swam up

–         Funny how sometimes the things we fear most, the things we think will destroy us, actually turn out to be our salvation

–         It’s like that famous hymn writer William Cowper said…

–         God moves in a Mysterious way, His Wonders to perform,
He plants his Footsteps in the Sea, and rides upon the Storm.

–         Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.   

–         I knew William Cowper – he was a glass half empty person, like me

–         During his lifetime he never really grasped how deeply God cared for him

–         But I’m not sure any of us do

 

I was three days and three nights in that fish and, after I had calmed down from the initial shock, it gave me time to think

–         I wrote a song of my own, which didn’t make it into the charts but did make it into the Bible.  Suffering is the mid-wife of art

 

Jonah 3

After the fish had spat me out on the beach the Word of the Lord came to me a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

–         So this time I obeyed the Word of the Lord and went to Nineveh

–         Now, getting to Nineveh is not easy – it’s a journey of hundreds of miles on foot. There were no cars or aeroplanes 2,800 years ago

–         It actually took me weeks to get there, and I had to rely on the kindness of strangers the whole way

 

Naturally I thought a lot about what had happened to me

–         How God had given me a second chance and persevered with me despite my stubbornness

–         How he didn’t trade me in for a more reliable, lower maintenance missionary prophet

–         How his Word to me the second time was different from the first time

–         The first time he told me to ‘preach against the city’, but now his message was more open ended, more flexible – simply: ‘Proclaim the message I give you’ – which could be anything

–         I wondered what he might ask me to say – I guess that’s faith isn’t it, walking in trust, not knowing what the future holds

–         Which doesn’t suit me at all – I want to know beforehand, I want to be prepared

 

When I finally arrived in Nineveh it was as bad as I had imagined – domestic violence, child abuse, women treated shamelessly, bribery and corruption in the justice system, a huge gap between rich & poor and an economy fuelled by war mongering – How can people live like that?

 

The message God gave me was simple: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

–         It had to be simple really – I spoke a different language to them and, as I said before, I don’t enjoy public speaking. None of that mattered though

–         Even though I must have looked a pitiful picture to them the people believed my message – don’t ask me how

–         I guess some things you just know to be true in the core of your being.

–         The people believed God and showed remorse for their wrong doing by fasting and wearing sackcloth

Fasting is when you go without food – it is an act of self-denial

–         Fasting is the opposite of celebrating

–         When you fast you have more time to pray and listen to God

–         Wearing sack cloth is a way of putting appearances aside

–         When someone puts on sackcloth they are saying I am spiritually poor and I’m not going to hide my poverty

The people of Nineveh were serious about their repentance – the king even issued a proclamation telling everyone to call on God for mercy and give up their violent ways. And the people did

–         When God saw they had turned away from evil, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened

 

Jonah 4

And they all lived happily ever after – except for me – I was not happy

–         Like I said before, I knew God was sending me to Nineveh because he really cares about them

–         It was God’s hope all along that the Assyrians would repent

–         God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love

–         He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to be saved

–         God will jump at the chance to let people off the hook, if they are genuinely sorry

 

I was so gutted I said, “Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

–         I did tell you I was a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person – but at that moment it seemed to me like the glass was completely empty

–         Not only did I have to live with the indignity of having my prediction unfulfilled (God didn’t make my words come true) – I just couldn’t face returning to my family and community

–         I knew people personally who had family members killed, crops destroyed and their homes burned to the ground by the Assyrians

–         How could I live with the shame of having helped my enemies

–         It was too much to bear – I felt like a traitor

And you know what God said to me?

–         “[Jonah], have you any right to be angry?”

 

Sullen and brooding I decided to give God the silent treatment

–         I wanted to put some distance between myself and the city, and between myself and God, so I walked East, even further away from the temple in Jerusalem

–         Have I any right to be angry? How could he ask that? Of course I do

–         Grace is fine when it’s for me and the people I care about, but mercy for the people of Nineveh, after all the suffering they had caused?

–         Where was the Lord’s sense of justice?

–         Cleary he cared about them but he didn’t seem to care about Israel, or about me.  I felt betrayed by God – whose side was he on?

 

God has a way of getting us to talk, even when we don’t want to

–         The Lord caused a vine, a leafy plant, to grow up beside me – it was incredible, sprang up overnight

–         The plant gave me shade from the sun – it was a comfort to me, my only comfort actually

–         Next day though God provides a worm to kill the plant

–         So that was my reward for obedience

–         I felt like Job – the Lord gives and takes away

–         The wind and sun was particularly bad that day – and I knew it was Him who was doing it

By this stage I could see the plant had been a real and living parable

–         You know you’re in trouble when God gives you a parable

–         Parables irritate you, they get under your skin and become an itch that has to be scratched – so I broke my silence and said again,

–         “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

–         I didn’t really want to die – I just didn’t want to be in pain anymore

–         I wanted to get off this nightmare carnival ride I was on

–         I wanted to get out of my head and feel good again

–         I wanted my cup to be full to overflowing

–         So God said to me, really softy and gently, “[Jonah], do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

–         He was trying to help me feel better but I couldn’t see that yet. I replied,

–         “I do have a right to be angry. I am angry enough to die.”

–         I wanted God to feel my pain, to understand

–         He sits on his throne in heaven, makes his plans, gives his orders and expects us to carry them out, but does he know how difficult this life is, how hard it is to be human?

 

The Lord said to me: “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for 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?”

It was an argument from the lesser to the greater

–         I cared about that plant, even though I had done nothing to create it or look after it – how much more then should God care about 120,000 people (and their livestock) who he did create and who are far more valuable than a single vine

–         There was nothing I could say in reply to that – God had the last word

 

Conclusion:

Will asked me to preach today because my story fits with the theme of your self-denial campaign: ‘Where God leads’

–         Well, God led me hundreds of miles away from home to preach a message of repentance to my enemies

–         And why did he do that?

–         Because his purpose (his mission) is not all about me – and it’s not all about Israel either

–         God cares about my enemies (and yours)

–         Think about the person you care the least for in this world – God loves them – their life is precious to him

–         In fact he cares for all of his creation – not just human life

 

I said before that I wanted God to feel my pain, to understand, to know how hard it is to be human

–         Well, 800 years after I was born, he did just that

–         God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

–         And he suffered terribly – he felt my pain alright, and then some

–         His cup was emptied completely and after he had tasted death, his cup was filled to overflowing with eternal life

Jesus’ experience was my experience

–         I used to be a glass half empty sort of person – then the Lord emptied me completely, but only so he could fill me again with something far better

–         Jesus’ coming fulfilled the purpose of my life

–         He can fill your glass too but first he’ll probably want to empty it and make you wait – and that’s the hard part

–         Hold on to God through the emptying and the waiting – it’s worth it in the end

 

Where is God leading you?

–         Maybe overseas but more likely just over the fence to your neighbour or to someone in your own family

–         Peace be with you.

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.)    Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full person?

3.)    Why did God call Jonah to preach against the city of Nineveh?

–         Why do you think Jonah ran away?

4.)    Has God ever asked you to do something you really didn’t want to?

–         What happened?

5.)    How did God work Jonah’s disobedience for good?

6.)    Why do you think Jonah was angry after God relented from destroying Nineveh?

–         How did God handle Jonah’s anger?

7.)    Think of someone you don’t like or don’t care about

–         Take some time to imagine God’s love and care for the one(s) you don’t like

–         Ask God to bless your enemies

8.)    In what ways does Jonah’s story point to Jesus?

9.)    Where is God leading you?

 

Tawa Baptist

A New Filter

Scripture: Luke 24:36-49

Title: A New Filter

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • From fear to joy
  • From doubt to understanding
  • From disbelief to witness
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

I’m thinking of a word ending in ‘R’ – six letters. Can anyone tell me what it is?

  • – You find these everywhere: in sunglasses, in car engines, in coffee machines, swimming pools, fish tanks and cigarette butts.
  • – You even have one in your brain. Any guesses?
  • – I’ll give you some more clues: purify, refine, sieve, sift, strain, winnow
  • – That’s right, the word I’m thinking of is ‘filter’

The purpose of a filter is to remove or separate that which is not wanted

  • – Ideally a filter lets the good things through and keeps the bad things out

We might not be aware of it but each of us has a filter, in our mind, which automatically accepts some things and excludes others

  • – Having a filter is not a bad thing – we need a filter, we can’t let everything in all the time
  • – When we are young we tend to have less of a filter – we accept most things without question
  • – But as we get older our filter gets blocked or dirty, with bad experiences, and we become a bit fussy about what we accept – more things are automatically excluded. When that happens we need a new filter

 

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Luke 24, verses 36-49

  • – This passage describes what happened when the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples the evening of the first Easter Sunday
  • – Already it has been a long day for the disciples – Earlier that morning the women had gone to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty
  • – Two angels appeared to them and explained that Jesus had risen from the dead – the women reported this to the other disciples
  • – Later, the same day, the risen Jesus himself appeared to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus
  • – These two disciples didn’t recognise Jesus at first – they had seen Jesus die just three days before and so their filter excluded the possibility of talking with Jesus now
  • – It wasn’t until Jesus broke bread with them that they suddenly accepted that Jesus was alive
  • – Then Jesus disappeared and the two disciples returned to Jerusalem to tell the eleven. It’s at this point we pick up the story…

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture.

In this reading the risen Jesus gives his disciples a new filter

  • – He helps them to move from fear to joy
  • – From doubt to understanding
  • – And from disbelief to witness

 

From fear to joy:

Some of you may be into Snap Chat – I’m not but each to their own

  • – With Snap Chat you are able to put different filters on your photo to change your appearance – give yourself glasses, make yourself look like a dog or a gangster or a cartoon character, or whatever
  • – Normally a filter takes things out – it excludes things – but Snap Chat filters seem to add things in and distort the true picture
  • – The unconscious mental filters we have in our mind are bit like Snap Chat – as well as taking things out, they add things in.
  • – We call that stereotyping or prejudice
  • – For many years women were excluded from voting because men had a filter which said women were not competent to vote
  • – Most of us don’t cope well with the unknown and so, to prevent the vacuum from being filled with fear, we add in our own assumptions and beliefs which are often untrue.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of filter people apply to us when they learn we are Christian

  • – Do they see us as a person of light with angel eyes and a halo of golden butterflies fluttering over our head
  • – Or do they see us as a bit scary, judgemental and angry
  • – Neither of these pictures are fair or true

 

Verse 37 (of Luke 24) tells us, the disciples’ initial reaction to seeing Jesus in the room with them was one of shock & fear – they thought they were seeing a ghost, a spirit without a body

  • – They had seen Jesus killed and so their mental filter excluded the possibility that he could be alive and blindly adopted the prevailing cultural belief of the day – that the human soul is released from the body when a person dies and floats around in a disembodied state
  • – Their assumption was false but they lacked an alternative.

Jesus deals with their fear by engaging the disciples’ senses

  • – He speaks so they can hear him and recognise his voice
  • – He identifies himself by his scars – showing them his hands and his feet where the nails had been
  • – He offers his body for the disciples to touch if they want to
  • – And Jesus eats some fish in their presence so they can see he has an actual body – that he isn’t a phantom
  • – In doing this Jesus is giving his disciples physical evidence that he is alive and well.

Jesus is also doing some very practical things to calm his disciples’ fear

  • – When someone is having a panic attack you can help them by speaking calmly to them, pointing out something in the environment that is real, gently touching their arm, and offering them something to eat or drink
  • – Anything really that engages their physical senses and puts them in touch with the reality around them so they stop focusing on the fear inside.

Jesus’ strategy works – he manages to calm the disciples down so their fear gives way to ‘joy & amazement’ – but their unconscious filter is strong and they struggle to accept the fact of Jesus’ resurrection – ‘doubts rise in their minds’

 

From doubt to understanding:

Now doubt sometimes gets a bad rap in Christian circles and while doubt certainly has its downside, it also serves an important purpose

  • – If our filter becomes blocked – if it excludes too many possibilities – then we run the risk of going through life convinced we are right only to learn, at some point, we were wrong
  • – Doubt is a good thing when our filter is too narrow – doubt causes us to question and test our assumptions.

The fact the disciples can’t believe Jesus is alive, at first, proves they were convinced of his death in the first place

  • – The prerequisite to believing in Jesus’ resurrection is believing in his death
  • – So the strength of the disciples’ doubt proves Jesus’ death, which paves the way for believing in his resurrection

Doubt clears a path for faith – doubt actually makes room for understanding

  • – If we are too firmly fixed in our ideas & beliefs then those ideas & beliefs have no room to grow
  • – Robyn bought me a kowhai plant as a present one year
  • – It came in a small plastic container about 15cm’s in diameter
  • – That little pot was fine for a while but it didn’t allow the roots to spread or the plant to grow
  • – So I transplanted the kowhai to a barrel about a metre wide and it took off, until that became too small and now it’s planted in the backyard.

If we think of our understanding of God as a growing tree then, inevitably, our faith’s understanding will get to a point when the little pot it was planted in is too small and needs more room to put out roots and grow

  • – Doubt is what tells us the pot is too small – doubt challenges (perhaps even breaks) the little pot of our fixed ideas and beliefs
  • – Sometimes we mistakenly think the little pot in which our faith was first planted is all there is and we ignore the voice of doubt which is prompting us to transplant into a more spacious understanding of God.

Having said that, not all doubt is good – when doubt is intentional or leads to worry or paralysis of faith then it becomes a cruel master

  • – But when doubt challenges our presuppositions about what is possible
  • – When doubt dismantles our filter, removing the blockages to belief and enlarging our perspective on the truth, then it is our servant
  • – Perhaps this is why Jesus asks, ‘Why do doubts arise in your minds?’
  • – By acknowledging the presence of doubt and bringing it out into the open Jesus puts doubt in its proper place – he makes it serve his disciples

Verse 41 tells us the disciples still did not believe (even after seeing Jesus) because of ‘joy and amazement’

  • – In other words, they liked the thought that Jesus was alive and wanted to accept this but were being cautious because the idea seemed ‘too good to be true’
  • – This implies the disciples’ doubt was not cynical or sinister
  • – Their doubt was simply a form of self-preservation – they didn’t want to get their hopes up too quickly and have those hopes disappointed again
  • – After all their hope had just recently been crushed by Jesus’ crucifixion

It’s strange isn’t it how we often find loss & pain more convincing than joy – bad news is easier to believe than good news

  • – When we drill down into it we discover that trusting ourselves is actually more difficult than trusting God
  • – It was in the disciples’ interest to believe that God had raised Jesus from the dead, which is precisely why they struggled with it
  • – How can they trust themselves?
  • – How can they know their belief is not based on wishful thinking or self-interest?

Well, Jesus seems to understand this and so he points to the Bible as an objective independent verifier of the truth

  • – If the disciples can’t trust their own judgment then they can at least trust the testimony of Scripture – in verse 44 we read…

“This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

  • – Which is another way of saying, ‘This was God’s plan all along’

If we think of the Bible as a map book or a Satellite Navigation System or GPS, then Jesus is the destination

  • – The purpose of the Bible is to point to Jesus – to help people find Jesus
  • – Jesus’ coming into the world fulfils the purpose of the Bible, just like reaching your destination fulfils the purpose of a map or a Sat Nav device

 

Verse 45 tells how Jesus then opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. In other words, Jesus gave his disciples a new filter

–         He transplanted the kowhai plant of their faith into a much bigger pot

–         He showed them a larger portion of the map so they could see how all roads of Scripture lead to him

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem…”

Before Jesus died the disciples’ filter excluded the possibility that he would be crucified, then after he had died their filter excluded the possibility he would be raised from the dead to eternal life – theirs was a kind of ‘either / or’ thinking

–         If he is crucified then he can’t be the Messiah

–         If he dies then he can’t live again

–         But Jesus helps his disciples to think in terms of ‘both / and’

–         Jesus can be the Messiah and be crucified

–         Jesus can die and be raised to life

–         It’s not ‘either / or’ – it’s ‘both /and’

–         Both repentance and forgiveness will be preached in Jesus’ name,

–         Both Israel and all the other nations will hear the good news preached

 

So what does this mean for us?

–         Well, we are faced with essentially the same sorts of questions

For example, ‘How can God be love when there is so much suffering in the world?’

–         Or to make it more personal. ‘How can God love me when I’m suffering?’ It’s not either / or – it’s both / and

–         God loves us and allows us to suffer

–         The Bible doesn’t offer any explanation as to why a God of love allows suffering – it simply maintains that both are true

–         So if we are suffering in some way it does not mean that God doesn’t love us anymore – but it could mean we are entering into a greater intimacy with God, we are getting closer to Him

–         When we consider how much God suffers it is little wonder that we would suffer too as we draw closer to Him

 

Repentance & forgiveness also go together

–         Forgiveness is about letting go – it’s about being set free from something

–         And repentance is a change of attitude which leads to a change of behaviour

–         We can’t have forgiveness (or freedom) without repentance

–         If nothing changes, then nothing changes

Some people want forgiveness without repentance but it doesn’t work like that

–         I can’t expect to be free from a hangover if I keep drinking too much, just like I can’t expect to get fit by lying on the couch

–         Once I repent though, I can expect the release of forgiveness

In contrast to those who want forgiveness without repentance there are some who do the repentance but then don’t forgive themselves

–         Sometimes we are slow to let ourselves off the hook

–         How long are you going to carry your guilt around?

–         Jesus died so we wouldn’t have to do that

 

From disbelief to witness:

In verses 48 & 49 Jesus says to his disciples…

–         You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Just as Scripture is fulfilled by Jesus, so too the purpose of the disciples’ lives is fulfilled by Jesus

–         They have heard Jesus’ message of repentance & forgiveness, they have witnessed Jesus’ ministry, his suffering, death and resurrection – now it is their job to tell others what they’ve seen and heard

–         But before they bear witness they need to wait for power from on high – they need to wait for the Holy Spirit in other words

–         Here we have another ‘both / and’

–         Our witness for Jesus and the Holy Spirit go together – without the power of God’s Spirit our witness falls flat

For a number of years I thought my job as a Christian was to convert people – to get people to believe in Jesus and become like him

–         What I learned is that by myself I can’t change a hair of my own head let alone anyone else’s heart

–         It is not our job to convert people – the most we can do is bear witness to the love & truth of Christ

–         It’s the Holy Spirit who converts people – it’s the Holy Spirit who brings repentance and change, and who convinces people they are forgiven

 

Let me tell you a true story, from New Zealand’s history [1]

–         In the 1820’s the Nga Puhi tribe (from Northland) came down to the East Cape (near Gisborne) and raided the Ngati Porou

–         During the raid they captured a young man called Piripi Taumata-a-Kura

–         The Nga Puhi took Piripi back to Northland and made him a slave

–         While he was there Piripi met the English missionary Henry Williams, who taught Piripi how to read and introduced him to the stories of Jesus

–         At the time no one really thought much about Piripi – he was a slave, which meant he was on the bottom rung, so people filtered him out.

About ten years passed during which time the Spirit of Jesus was opening Piripi’s mind to understand the Scriptures

–         Then one day, in 1833, a vicious storm off the East Cape blew a ship from Piripi’s hometown all the way up to Nga Puhi territory in Northland.

–         The ship came ashore near where Piripi was held captive

–         The Nga Puhi captured the Ngati Porou leaders, intending to make them slaves, but Henry Williams talked the chiefs out of that idea

–         Instead they were allowed to receive instruction from the Waimate mission station, just as Piripi had

–         The influence of the gospel softened the hearts of the Nga Puhi captors and after eight months the Ngati Porou leaders were released

–         Piripi sailed home with the leaders from his tribe

When their ship arrived back at Rangitukia (on the East Cape) the people were completely stunned – after 10 years they had assumed Piripi was dead (their filter had excluded his survival)

–         Getting all the men back alive was like a miracle of resurrection

On the first evening of his return Piripi Taumata-a-Kura held a prayer service and sent word throughout the area, inviting people to come and hear his story

–         The very next day Piripi preached the first sermon on the East Coast, sharing the good news of Jesus with his tribe

–         Piripi and those who had returned with him preached the gospel up and down the East Cape years before any Pakeha missionaries arrived

When the English missionary William Williams came to the East Coast in 1838 he saw the effects of Piripi’s witness and wrote:

–         A great work has been accomplished in which the hand of the Lord has been… manifest. It has not been through the labour of your missionaries; for the word has only been preached by Native teachers. We had literally stood still to see the salvation of God.

Piripi is someone who wouldn’t make it through most people’s filters

–         He was someone no one would expect and therefore perfect for dismantling filters

–         Piripi suffered like Jesus suffered

–         Piripi’s story is one of slavery and redemption, suffering and new life

–         He bore witness to the truth he had received and the power of God’s Spirit did the rest

 

Conclusion:

Easter Sunday is the day we remember anew the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection

–         It is a day to change our filter – to reset our assumptions about what is possible and let God open our minds to the largeness of his purpose

 

Let us pray: Loving Father, move us by your Spirit from fear to joy, from doubt to understanding and from disbelief to witness. In the powerful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Why do we need a (mental) filter – how does this help us?

–         When does a filter become detrimental and need replacing?

3.)    How did Jesus move his disciples from a state of shock & fear to joy & amazement?

–         What are some practical things we can do to help someone who is having a panic attack?

4.)    When is doubt a good thing?

–         When is doubt not a good thing?

5.)    Has God ever transplanted your faith’s understanding into a larger pot?

–         What happened? How did God do this? What change took place in you?

6.)     Discuss (or reflect on) the relationship between repentance and forgiveness

7.)    What does the story of Piripi Taumata-a-Kura teach us?

–         How might God give us a new filter?

 

[1] From Jay Ruka’s book, ‘Huia Come Home’, pages 47-49.

Tawa Baptist

The Whole of the Moon

Scripture: John 17:20-26

Title: The Whole of the Moon

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus prays for us to be one
  • Made one by Jesus’ glory (love & suffering)
  • Made one for a purpose (that others would know & believe)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

[Play the first 2 mins and 5 secs of the song: ‘The Whole of the Moon’]

 

I pictured a rainbow, you held it in your hands.

I had flashes but you saw the plan.

I wandered out in the world for years, while you just stayed in your room.

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon, the whole of the moon.

You were there at the turn stiles with the wind at your heels

You stretched for the stars and you know how it feels to reach too high, too far, too soon, you saw the whole of the moon. 

I was grounded, while you filled the skies.

I was dumbfounded by truth, you cut through lies.

I saw the rain dirty valley, you saw Brigadoon.

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon.

Can anyone tell me the name of the band who wrote this song? [Wait]

–         That’s right – The Waterboys

–         It’s a song about someone who has the vision to see the bigger picture, beyond the immediate, beyond the here & now

 

Over the past couple of weeks we have been working our way through Jesus’ prayer in John 17

–         Jesus prayed this prayer the night before his trial, crucifixion and death

–         He knew very well what was coming

–         If it was any of us I imagine our focus would be quite narrow – we would be thinking about the pain of the next day – the here & now

–         We would struggle to see beyond Good Friday

–         But Jesus has a bigger perspective

–         Yes, he prays for himself, but his vision stretches higher & further than that

–         Jesus sees the whole of the moon – not just the crescent of his crucifixion

–         He looks out across the centuries and sees the millions who will believe in him and come to know God’s love

–         From verse 20 of John 17 Jesus prays for us…

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading

 

Jesus prays for us to be one:

Jesus’ prayer in these verses is that we, who believe in him, may be one

–         What then does it mean to be one?

Well, to be one can mean a number of things

–         Last week we heard how Jesus prayed for his disciples to be one and I connected this oneness with integrity, because in the context Jesus was talking about holiness and integrity is an aspect of holiness

From a mathematical perspective, to be one is to be whole or to be 100%, as opposed to something less than one, like a half or some other fraction

–         So when Jesus asks God the Father to make those who believe in him one he could mean he wants us to be whole – both whole in an individual sense but also whole in a collective sense

 

To be whole in an individual sense means to be undivided, completely committed to God and without split loyalties

–         Being one is akin to being pure in heart, not having mixed motives and not serving two masters

–         In Matthew 5 Jesus promised that the pure in heart will see God

–         There is a certain peace & joy which comes with being one thing and not a whole lot of different things

–         So, in praying for us to be one, Jesus could mean he wants our personal undivided loyalty – he wants the whole of us not just some part

 

To be one (or whole) in a collective sense means having no one missing from the group

–         Last week I used the analogy of a football team being one (or having integrity) when all 11 players are on the field and in the right position

–         If a player gets sent off or out of position then the team loses something of its integrity or its oneness

–         In Luke 15 Jesus tells three parables: about a lost sheep, a lost coin and two lost sons

–         In each of those stories Jesus is making the point that God’s purpose is to restore, to make things whole again – make them one

–         The shepherd’s flock of a 100 sheep is not whole if one is missing

–         Just as the woman’s set of 10 silver coins is not whole if one is missing

–         And the family is not whole (it doesn’t have integrity) if either one of the sons becomes estranged from the father or each other

–         So, in praying for us to be one, Jesus could also mean he wants no one to be lost

 

Looking more closely at the context of John 17, Jesus says in verses 21-23…

–         I pray… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

This tells us the oneness Jesus has in mind is relational – we are one with each other in the same way that God the Father and God the Son are one

–         Jesus seems to be talking about an ontological oneness here – a oneness of being, something intrinsically shared

–         God the Father and Jesus the Son are not the same person but they share the same essence, the same Spirit, the same DNA so to speak

–         Likewise, we who believe that Jesus is from God share a oneness of being

–         We share the same Spirit, or the same spiritual DNA

–         This oneness of being is given and inherent – it is not something we create ourselves through some sophisticated organisational structure

–         For example, we Baptists, here in New Zealand, are one with Coptic Christians in Egypt, even though we are different in other ways

Unity, as you know, does not mean uniformity – it doesn’t mean everyone being the same

–         Unity allows for diversity while at the same time holding some things in common. So what is it we hold in common?

–         Well Jesus says, I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one…

–         This tells us we are made one by the glory of Jesus

 

Made one by Jesus’ glory:

Once again the glory God gave Jesus can mean a number of things – two things in particular from the context:

–         God gave Jesus the glory of being loved and the glory of suffering

The glory of love

–         First the glory of love. Jesus says in verse 24…

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

  • – And then in verse 26 he says…

“Righteous Father… I…will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them….”

God loved Jesus and Jesus passes that love on to us, therefore the love of God makes us one – we are all loved by God, we share this in common

–         What did the one lost sheep share with the other 99 who didn’t go astray?

–         The lost sheep was loved just as much as the other 99

–         What did the younger (prodigal) son share in common with the older (resentful) son?

–         They were both loved equally by the Father

–         To see the glory of Jesus is to know that we are loved by God

 

I don’t know if you have ever been in love, or if you can remember, but when you love someone they populate your every thought

–         You find it hard to be without them, hard not to talk about them

–         And you become quite jealous where they are concerned – not jealous in a bad way but jealous in the sense of wanting the best for them

–         When you love someone it hurts not to be able to express your love – you want to tell them of your love and show them love in any way you can

 

Jesus is saying in his prayer that he wants us to know the glory of his love, which is essentially the love that God the Father has for him

–         And this is remarkable really when we consider that Jesus was about to be crucified – At a time when most of us would be focused on ourselves, because of the ordeal that lay ahead, Jesus’ thoughts are populated by us

–         Although he is about to depart this world, while we remain here, Jesus ultimately wants us to be with him where he is

–         Jesus is jealous for us – not jealous in a bad way but jealous in the sense that he wants the best for us

–         He wants us to know how much we are loved by God

There are times in this life when it is difficult to believe that we are loved by God – times when circumstances are against us and darkness closes in

–         We see the crescent – we see only in part – we don’t yet realise the full extent of God’s love for us

–         But Jesus sees the whole of the moon and he wants us to see the full glory of God’s love too

 

We are talking about the glory that Jesus has given us – the glory that makes us one: first there is the glory of love, but there is also the glory of suffering

 

The glory of suffering

Suffering is the natural partner of love

–         Suffering strips away illusion – it proves the truth of love, actually helps us to see love in all its glory

 

I’d like to play you part of Joni Mitchell’s song, ‘Both Sides Now’ …

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels

The dizzy dancing way that you feel

As every fairy tale comes real

I’ve looked at love that way.

But now it’s just another show

And you leave them laughing when you go

And if you can don’t let them know

Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now

From give and take and still somehow

Its love’s illusions that I recall

I really don’t know love

I really don’t know love at all

 

There are two sides to love aren’t there

–         There’s the wonderful high we get from love – the dizzy dancing way you feel – and then the fairy tale comes real

–         There is the joy of being with the one you love and then the pain & grief we feel when we lose our lover

“Love’s illusions” are normally felt by us in the early stages of a relationship, when we are blind

–         Love’s illusions makes us think the good feeling will last forever

–         Love’s illusions lead us to make grand promises we can never keep – to imagine we are invincible and the rules don’t apply to us

–         Love’s illusions is what we recall because the pain of love:

o   The giving of ourselves when there is nothing in it for us,

o   The long haul commitment,

o   The things that irritate us and make us mad,

o   The way our lover shows us a mirror for a faults,

o   The grief we feel when death separates us,

o   All the suffering of true love, we prefer not to face

–         Love’s illusions are sweeter

 

There can be a romanticism in Christian faith that actually sets us up for a fall

–         Sometimes we believe in a fairy tale, don’t we – one in which God’s love for us equates to a dizzy dancing feeling that we think will last forever

–         We imagine our faith to be invincible and we make grand promises in the worship songs we sing and the prayers we pray, promises we can’t keep

–         We might think, for our faith to be true we must always feel peace & joy,

–         But then the ‘fairy tale comes real’ and God seems distant

–         We might feel alone, like God has abandoned us to sickness or despair or the violence of our unwanted thoughts & compulsions, the tyranny of self

We find that sanctification, being made holy, becoming like Christ, includes being shown a mirror of all our faults and it’s too much to take

–         Sometimes being a believer in Jesus is bliss – but much of the time it’s just hard graft, in this world at least (I’m not sure what the next life holds)

–         And ‘still somehow its love’s illusion we recall – we really don’t know love at all.’

 

Suffering is the natural partner of love

–         Suffering strips away illusion – it proves the truth of love, actually shows us love in all its glory

–         We can’t know how much God loves us until we look in the mirror and see what we are really like

–         Nor can we know how much we love God until we give ourselves to him when it seems there’s nothing in it for us

 

Jesus gives us the glory God gave him and that glory includes both love and suffering

–         We might not all suffer in the same way, but we all suffer, and so our oneness comes from carrying our cross, as Christ carried his cross

–         We are to love one another because God first loved us and because we are all hurting in our own private way

–         We don’t ‘give ourselves away’ when maybe sometimes we should

–         Life is hard – we need to be on each other’s side

 

Made one for a purpose:

There is purpose in the oneness of our love & suffering

–         We are made one, not just for ourselves, but primarily for others – that the world would know and believe that Jesus comes from God

In verse 21 Jesus says…

Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

–         And in verse 23 he says…

…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

In verse 21 Jesus prays for our oneness so, that the world may believe and in verse 23 he asks that we be brought to unity, that the world may know

–         Believing & knowing go hand in hand in this context

–         It seems the kind of knowing Jesus has in mind here is not just a superficial mental awareness but the knowing of deep conviction

–         Believing it in your core – trusting the knowledge

 

The relationship between knowledge & belief is found throughout the Bible

–         In Psalm 9, verse 10, for example we read…

–         Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

 

To help us understand the relationship between knowing and believing, imagine you are standing on one side of a huge chasm

–         There is no way around and the only way across is a narrow swing bridge

–         To get to the other side of the chasm you need to know where the swing bridge is and how to get to it

–         But simply knowing where the bridge is, is not enough in itself to get you across

Once you have reached the bridge you then need the faith to cross it

–         You need to believe that it will hold your weight and that the destination on the other side is worth the risk

Jesus is the bridge

–         The miracle of our oneness is the sign which points to the bridge so people know where to cross

–         And knowledge of God’s love for us helps people to believe in Jesus, to trust him – it gives people confidence to cross over to the other side

–         (Because if God can love us he can love anyone)

 

In John 9 Jesus heals a man born blind

–         This man then gets interrogated by the Pharisees

–         The Pharisees say, ‘We don’t know where Jesus comes from’

–         And the man replies:

–         “What a strange thing that is. You don’t know where he comes from but he cured me of my blindness… Unless this man came from God he would not be able to do a thing.”  

–         The Pharisees didn’t like that logic so they expelled the man from the synagogue

At that point the man born blind can see the crescent but he can’t see the whole of the moon – he knows that Jesus is a prophet, who comes from God, but he doesn’t yet realise that Jesus is far more than a prophet

When Jesus heard what had happened he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

 The man answered, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him!”

Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now.”

“I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.

 

Knowledge and belief go hand in hand

–         Knowledge enables us to see the crescent

–         Belief helps us to see the whole of the moon

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Jesus prayed for us, who believe in him without ever having seen him

–         Jesus prayed that we may be one as he and God the Father are one

–         We are made one by the glory Jesus gives us – the glory of God’s love and suffering

–         And we are made one for a purpose – so the world may know & believe that God sent Jesus

 

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.)    Have you had the experience of seeing the crescent of something and then being shown the whole of the moon? What happened?

3.)    What do you think Jesus had in mind when he prayed for us to be one?

–         Discuss (or reflect on) the possibilities

4.)    What did Jesus say makes us one?

–         What is the glory Jesus has given us?

5.)    To what extent do you (personally) know you are loved by God?

–         How do you know this?

–         Why is suffering necessary to love?

6.)    Listen to Joni Mitchell’s song, ‘Both Sides Now’

–         What are you in touch with as you listen? (What do you feel and remember?)

7.)    Why did Jesus pray for us to be one?

–         Why do we need to love one another?

8.)    Thinking of the man healed by Jesus in John 9, what is the relationship between knowledge and belief/faith?

–         Why is knowledge necessary to belief, and vice versa?

 

Tawa Baptist

Glory

Scripture: John 17:1-8

Title: Glory

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Glorifying God (Jesus is the glory of God)
  • Enjoying God forever (Jesus gives eternal life)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

There are moments in our lives when someone older and wiser tells us something meaningful, but at the time we don’t fully appreciate what they mean – it’s not until sometime later that their words sink in with the help of the spade of experience

–         I remember sitting by my grandfather’s bed as he was dying – his kidneys had failed and he was slowly drowning from the inside

–         He said to me, ‘Son, life goes by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was young and starting out. It all went so quickly.’

–         At the time I was 24 and didn’t think too much of it

–         ‘Life goes by so fast’ sounds like a cliché – it’s something older people often say to parents with young children, ‘It goes so quickly. Make the most of it while you’ve still got them’

–         When I was a parent of young children it felt to me like time was slowing down – I welcomed the thought of the kids growing up so I could get a decent night’s sleep and not have to change nappies

–         But looking back now the last 20 years has gone quickly

‘Life goes by so fast’. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate what my grandfather was trying to say

–         There he was dying slowly and uncomfortably and yet he wasn’t thinking about that – his perspective was on the whole of life, not just the end

–         He was considering the bigger purpose & meaning of life

–         If 72 years seems short to a man whose days dragged long then that begs the question: Why are we here and what is the best way to use our time?

–         When you get to the end you don’t want to be thinking, ‘I wasted it’

 

Today is the third Sunday in Lent

–         Lent is traditionally a time when Christians prepare for Easter by remembering Jesus’ obedience to God the Father in going to the cross

–         This remembering isn’t just a casual recall of the Easter story though

–         Lent is an opportunity to get back in touch with the bigger purpose and meaning of life: Why am I here? Is it just for me and my own temporary concerns or is it for something bigger?

–         Is it for Christ and things of an eternal nature?

 

The night before his crucifixion and death Jesus took his disciples aside and spoke with them to help them with what was coming

–         The gospel of John chapters 13-17, also known as Jesus’ farewell discourse, capture much of that (death bed) conversation

–         Probably the disciples didn’t fully appreciate all that Jesus was saying at the time but they would appreciate it in the days, weeks and years ahead

Please turn with me to John 17, page 140 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         John 17 is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus we have

–         In this prayer Jesus takes a look at the bigger purpose and meaning of his life and how he has used his time on earth

–         There is a lot going on in this prayer but in broad terms we could say that Jesus prays for three things: He prays for glory; He prays for his disciples; and he prays for us

–         Today the message focuses on the first 8 verses of John 17, where Jesus prays for glory – both for himself and for God the Father

–         From John 17, verses 1-8, we read…

After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you. 2 For you gave him authority over all people, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. 3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do. 5 Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

6 “I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word, 7 and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. 8 I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Glorifying God:

The Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us (and I paraphrase here)…

–         The chief purpose of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever

–         It is difficult to improve on that really

–         This statement seems to capture in a nutshell what Jesus is talking about in the opening verses of his prayer in John 17

–         There is certainly a lot of talk of glory on Jesus’ lips here

–         What then does it mean to glorify God?

The word glory has to do with honour, distinction, esteem, beauty, splendour, magnificence, mana and the like

–         Glory isn’t a word we New Zealanders are comfortable with – we tend to shy away from glory a bit – but to people in the ancient world the concept of glory was highly important

 

Now when we talk about ‘glorifying God’ we don’t mean adding to God’s honour and splendour and mana – God already has glory and there is nothing we can do to add to it (or take away from it)

–         From a human perspective, ‘glorifying God’ means revealing something of God’s glory – so in glorifying God we’re not adding something to him we are simply showing others what is already there

If we think of God’s glory as a bank account – then in glorifying God we’re not depositing any more money to his account, it’s more like we are showing others his bank balance

 

We glorify God like a lightbulb glorifies a beautiful person

–         If it is dark and the light is off you can’t see the person’s face let alone admire their beauty

–         But when the light is switched on the person’s beauty is revealed

–         The lightbulb doesn’t add anything to the person’s beauty – it simply helps others to see that beauty better

–         Of course, as lightbulbs we don’t have any power in ourselves to give light – God is the one who gives us the electricity to shine

 

Or take this apple as another example: While it’s in the bowl you can’t see it, the glory of the apple is hidden from you

–         For me to glorify this apple, I need to take it out of the bowl and hold it up for everyone to see

–         But seeing an apple from a distance doesn’t really reveal the apple in all its glory – to properly glorify this apple I need to bring it close so you can smell it and taste it – because the glory of the apple is in its taste

–         Obviously there is nothing I can do to make this apple taste better

–         The most I can do is reveal its glory by giving you a piece to eat

It’s similar with glorifying God – I can’t improve on God’s glory

–         The most I can do is offer you a piece of his glory to taste

–         When we love one another, forgive one another, show patience with one another, share good things with one another, and so on, then we let others experience a small taste of God’s glory

–         The thing is we can only really reveal God’s glory to the extent we have experienced (or tasted) it for ourselves

–         It’s only when I eat God’s apples and enjoy them that I’m impelled to share some with you

 

Glory is a weighty thing – if something is glorious it has substance, it affects us, it moves us

–         Consider the moon in the night sky for example

–         On the face of it the glory of the moon is in its radiance

–         Some nights the moon is more glorious than other nights

–         The moon is perhaps at its most glorious (or most radiant) on a clear night when it is full and close to the horizon

–         But it’s not just the sight of the moon that is glorious

–         The moon’s glory is a weighty thing – whether we can see the moon or not it’s gravity is moving the oceans of the world, drawing the tide in and out twice a day

–         There is nothing I can do to change the tide – all I can do is stand on the beach feel its power

It is similar with God – we can’t see God but we can feel the weight of his glory and power drawing whole nations here and there in accordance with his purpose

As the creator of all things – God is the one who gives the apple the glory of its taste and the moon the beauty of its radiance and the power of its gravity

 

In John 17 Jesus begins his prayer by saying…

–         Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you…

The context of Jesus’ request is a Father / Son relationship, one in which Jesus the Son depends on God the Father for everything – his identity, his existence, his message, his everything

‘The hour has come’, refers to the hour of Jesus’ trial, suffering and death on the cross – so when Jesus talks about glory here it is with the cross in view

Jesus asks God to glorify him (the Son)

–         At first glance this might seem a bit ego centric or selfish but it’s not – Jesus is asking an entirely reasonable and good thing

–         Jesus is saying, make my suffering count – give it weight, reveal your love for the world (and our love for each other) through my death

–         Because if I’m going through all this I want the tides of history to be moved by it – I want people’s hearts to be changed

God the Father and Jesus the Son are one – they are so closely connected that in asking for glory for himself Jesus is really asking glory for God too

–         When a sports team wins against a difficult opponent, that reflects well on the coach

–         When a river is clean, that reflects well on the people who live near that river

–         When a plane lands safely on just one engine (or in a howling southerly in Wellington), that reflects well on the pilot

–         When a 71 year old man at prayer greets a gunman with ‘hello bother’, that reflects well on his courage and humanity

–         When a Prime Minister (and her people) respond with compassion & justice to a mass shooting, that reflects well on the whole country

–         When God’s Son endures the suffering of the cross with dignity & grace, that reflects well on God the Father

 

In verse 4 Jesus has some more to say about glory…

–         I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.      

What does it mean that Jesus has shown God’s glory on earth? How did Jesus do this? What is the work God gave Jesus to do?

 

The first thing Jesus did to reveal God’s glory was to become human – we call that the incarnation, when God became human in the birth of Christ

–         This means that Jesus is, in fact, the glory of God in human form

–         Jesus doesn’t just shine a light on God’s beauty, he is God’s beauty

–         Jesus doesn’t just share the apple of God’s glory, so others can taste God’s goodness, Jesus is the apple

 

Returning to our apple in the bowl – when Jesus was born God’s glory was plucked from the tree of heaven and put in a bowl on earth

–         Jesus, the very glory of God, stayed in the bowl hidden from sight for 30 years, until John the baptist lifted Jesus out of the bowl and said…

–         ‘This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’

–         This is the glory of God in human form

–         Throughout his ministry Jesus taught the people and healed the people and forgave the people and delivered the people from all sorts of evil

–         And each time he did that he cut off a little piece of himself so that those who believed in him could taste something of the glory of God

 

Now, at the hour of his death, Jesus had got down to the core of God’s glory – suffering out of love to save others – giving himself completely to redeem creation

 

In verse 5 Jesus asks God again saying…

–         Father, give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

 

The obvious implication in these verses is that Jesus (the Son) was pre-existent with God the Father

–         John has already said this at the beginning of his gospel when he wrote:

–         Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God and he was the same as God. 

–         Jesus, the glory of God and the apple of God’s eye, is looking forward to returning to the tree of heaven

–         Here on earth God’s glory is veiled – we can’t see God, although with the eyes of faith we can see where he has been, much like we can see where the rain has been because the grass is green and not brown

–         In heaven though God’s glory is plain to see – there is no drought

 

There are two parts to the Westminster’s statement on the chief purpose of human beings:

–         We’ve talked about the first part, of glorifying God

–         The second part is enjoying God forever – which is rather a nice way of describing ‘eternal life’

 

Enjoying God forever:

In verse 3 Jesus says: And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

 

We have to pay close attention here because this definition of eternal life goes beyond our normal categories

–         For many years I thought eternal life simply meant time without end, so that one was immortal and never died

–         And while living forever may be one by-product of eternal life it isn’t the star of the show

–         Eternal life isn’t just quantity of life, it is more importantly quality of life

–         And that quality of life comes from knowing God & Jesus

 

Now when Jesus talks about ‘knowing’ in this verse, he doesn’t just mean knowing something in your head – he means knowing it in your experience, knowing it, intimately, in the core of your being

–         I might be able to learn some facts about someone by stalking them on Facebook – I might be able to find out when they were born, what their favourite colour is, how they spend their time, where they went on holiday, that sort of thing, but that doesn’t mean I know them

–         To know someone I’ve actually got to meet them and spend time with them, listen to them, hang out with their friends, do life with them

–         Then, after building a relationship with them, I can say I know them

–         Eternal life is essentially a wonderful relationship in which we know God in our experience, as a friend, and enjoy Him forever

This means that eternal life isn’t just something a way off in the future after we die – if eternal life is a relationship with God then eternal life is something we can experience now, through Christ

 

Once again we note the close relationship between God and Jesus – they go together – we can’t know God the Father without knowing Jesus

–         Jesus (the glory of God) shows us what God the Father is like

–         Trying to have a relationship with God the Father without Jesus is like trying to use a computer without a keyboard or a screen – Jesus is the interface between God and humanity

–         Trying to have a relationship with God the Father without Jesus is like trying to cross the ocean without a boat – God is infinite. Being ‘in Christ’ is what supports us and keeps us afloat in the sea of God’s love

–         Trying to have a relationship with God the Father without Jesus is like trying to have a conversation without sharing a common language – Jesus is the Word of God (a language we can understand) by which we comprehend something of the mystery of God

 

In verses 6-8 Jesus gives us a few more clues about what it means to know God

I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word, and now they know everything you gave me comes from you. I gave them the message that you gave me and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.

Jesus is talking about imparting eternal life to his disciples by making God known to them

–         Of course a relationship is a two way thing – the disciples have to receive that knowledge, the penny has to drop for them, they have to get it

–         And the key to getting it – the key to knowing God – is obeying Jesus

–         It is with obedience that understanding and relationship forms

–         This means that we have to obey in faith or in trust – we have to do what God asks without knowing for certain what the outcome is going to be

 

The disciples obeyed Jesus in faith – they left their work, their families and their homes to follow Jesus without knowing where it would lead

–         But through that act of obedience they came to know God – they formed a friendship with God and with one another, through Jesus

–         The kind of knowing that is in view here is not a scientific, evidence based knowing – it’s the kind of knowing which comes through obedience & belief

 

The classic Biblical story of knowing God through obedience and belief is the Exodus story

–         When God instructed Moses to approach Pharaoh and ask for the Israelites’ freedom, Moses wasn’t that keen at first – he could see it was big ask

–         It wasn’t until Moses obeyed God, and God delivered the people, that he knew God’s character

 

It was similar with the nation of Israel themselves

–         Before the exodus from Egypt, Israel’s experience was one of suffering &  oppression – the evidence for God’s care & concern for them was a fairy tale from the past – it wasn’t part of their present reality

–         Before they could know that God cared for them – that he was a God of justice & compassion – they had to take a step of obedience in leaving Egypt

–         Their obedience (like ours) was a faltering obedience and so they were 40 years in the wilderness learning to trust & obey God

–         When it was time to leave the wilderness and enter the Promised Land, they had to take another step of obedience in crossing the Jordan River

–         It wasn’t until they literally took that first step into the waters of the Jordan that the river stopped and they were able to cross

–         But through that obedience the people knew that God was powerful and was with them as they entered Canaan

 

Eternal life is knowing (and enjoying) God in our personal experience

–         We come to know God through believing in and obeying Jesus

–         I expect many of you have your own stories of knowing God’s goodness and provision through faith & obedience

 

Conclusion:

The purpose of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy him forever

 

Let us pray…

–         Father God, glorify yourself we pray, especially through our suffering

–         May Christ be lifted up in our life in both the ordinary & extraordinary

–         May people taste & see that the Lord is good through their interaction us

–         And may our relationship with you be a source of delight & enjoyment

–         Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    What do you think of when you hear the word ‘glory’?

3.)    What does it mean to glorify God?

–         How might we glorify God in practical terms?

4.)    Why does Jesus ask for glory for himself?

5.)    How did Jesus glorify God?

–         How is this different to how we might glorify God?

6.)    What is eternal life?

–         What does it mean to know God?

7.)    What is the key to knowing God?

–         Can you recall a time in your life when you obeyed God in faith and came to know him better? What happened?

8.)    Take some time this week to enjoy God

 

 

 

Tawa Baptist

Jesus – Son of Man

Scripture: Matthew 20:17-28

Title: Jesus – Son of Man

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Glorious King
  • Suffering Servant
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

I have here a New Zealand half penny

–         On one side is the image of a tiki and on the other side the image of a young Queen Elizabeth the Second

–         Two quite different images – one coin

–         ‘Two sides of the same coin’, is an expression which means two things are related even though they seem quite different

–         The tiki and the queen are both icons of New Zealand

 

Glory & suffering are two sides of the same coin.

–         Although they are quite different experiences they are closely related – we can’t have glory without suffering

–         Just like we can’t have reward without sacrifice,

–         Or light without shadows, or love without pain, or hope without loss, or privilege without responsibility

All these are examples of what we mean by two sides of the same coin – things that are so closely related they can’t be separated and yet they seem quite different

 

Today we continue our series on the Titles of Jesus, this morning focusing on the Son of Man, Jesus’ favourite way of referring to himself

–         The Greek word translated as ‘man’ is a gender inclusive word, so it is more accurately ‘son of humankind’, but we will stick with the term son of man because that’s familiar

–         Son of Man is like the proverbial coin with two sides

–         It speaks of both the humanity and divinity of Jesus

–         It implies both sacrifice and reward, service and authority, the cross and the crown, glorious king and suffering servant

 

Glorious King:

To get an idea of what one side of the Son of Man coin looks like we need to go back to the time of the Jewish exile, when the prophet Daniel was serving in Babylon. From Daniel 7, verses 13-14 we read…

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

To understand these verses we need to look at the context

–         In Daniel 7 the prophet Daniel is describing a vision

–         First Daniel sees four beasts or four monsters – which are representative of successive kingdoms of the ancient world, each one more frightening and inhumane than the one before

–         These monsters, or kingdoms, stand in opposition to the Kingdom of God

–         In verses 13 & 14 Daniel sees, not a monster, but one like a son of man

–         A human being – someone made in the image of God – someone who behaves, not as a monster, but as God intended

–         This son of man figure is representative of Israel – the people of God

The Ancient of Days is a poetic way of referring to God Almighty

–         The Son of Man is closely related to God Almighty

–         The Lord God gives the son of man authority, glory and sovereign power over all the nations of the earth

This then is one side of the Son of Man coin – the glory side

 

The Book of Daniel comes from the Hebrew Bible, what we call the Old Testament, so when Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man his Jewish disciples naturally think in terms of the figure described in Daniel 7 – someone powerful and glorious, with God given authority

–         And this certainly is one side of the coin as Jesus affirms in various parts of the gospel, like Matthew 19:28, for example where he says…

28 …“Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The allusion to Daniel 7 is pretty obvious here

–         By calling himself the Son of Man, and saying his disciples will rule over the twelve tribes, Jesus is implying that he is representative of the new Israel – that he embodies the Kingdom of God

Jesus also talks about his glory as the Son of Man in Matthew 24 where he speaks about his second coming at the end of the age…

“Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

Again, the connection with Daniel’s vision is unmistakable

 

Suffering Servant:

Jesus, the glorious king, is only one side of the Son of Man coin – the other side is Jesus the suffering servant

–         Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 20, verse 17 – page 29 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         Before Jesus comes with the clouds and is crowned with honour and glory, he must first eat dirt and suffer the cross

–         I suppose if Jesus did have a coin in his kingdom (and I don’t think he does but if he did) it might have the picture of an empty tomb on one side and a cross on the other. From Matthew 20, verses 17 to 28 we read…

17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them privately, as they walked along. 18 “Listen,” he told them, “we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death 19 and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life.”

20 Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him for a favour.

21 “What do you want?” Jesus asked her.

She answered, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.”

22 “You don’t know what you are asking for,” Jesus answered the sons. “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

23 “You will indeed drink from my cup,” Jesus told them, “but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”

24 When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. 25 So Jesus called them all together and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. 26 This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; 27 and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others— 28 like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

At Christmas time, and sometimes birthdays, a box of Roses chocolates normally appear

–         Roses chocolates come in an assortment of flavours – they are not all the same. Yes, they are made in the same factory with the same chocolate, but they have different centres

–         We all have our favourite flavours and also the flavours we won’t touch

–         It seems none of the women in our family like the mint Roses, because they always get left. Sometimes I open the box to find four mint chocolates and nothing else, which suits me because I quite enjoy mint

–         Robyn likes the coffee flavour whereas coffee chocolates make me gag

In NZ the mint flavoured Roses come in a green wrapper – which makes perfect sense. But in the UK the coffee flavoured Roses come in a green wrapper, which is just a cruel joke if you ask me – first world problems

 

In Matthew 20, the Scripture passage we just read, Jesus shows his disciples the other side of the Son of Man coin

–         They know all about the glorious king who will come riding on the clouds and they love that flavour of the Son of Man

–         But they don’t seem to want to know anything about the suffering servant, that’s a flavour that gets left in the box

Verses 17-19 are the third time, in Matthew, that Jesus has predicted his own death and with this third prediction comes the most detail

–         Jesus is going to Jerusalem knowing he will be betrayed, condemned to death and handed over to the Gentiles, who will mock him, whip him and crucify him

–         This is basically the opposite of what Daniel had described – in Daniel’s vision the Gentiles worship the Son of Man, they don’t mock and kill him

–         Saying the Son of Man would suffer in this way was completely foreign to the disciples, like a green wrapper on a coffee flavoured chocolate, it just doesn’t make sense

–         But it’s not all doom and gloom – after the suffering comes the glory, after death comes resurrection – Jesus rises on the third day

 

The disciples aren’t ready yet to face what Jesus is saying about sacrifice – they are still thinking about the reward Jesus had mentioned in Matthew 19, of sitting on thrones to rule the 12 tribes of Israel

–         Straight after Jesus’ passion prediction the mother of James & John approaches Jesus with great reverence for a favour…

–         ‘Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King’     

–         On the one hand this shows strong faith in who Jesus is – the disciples, of whom the wife of Zebedee appears to be one, are fully committed to the belief that Jesus is the Son of Man spoken of by the prophet Daniel

–         But on the other hand the request reveals misplaced ambition and an ignorance of the other side of the coin

–         Jesus is a suffering servant as well as a glorious king and somehow his suffering redeems people, so his sacrifice is not in vain, it has purpose

 

When we think of the brothers’ request in light of Jesus’ crucifixion we remember the places to Jesus’ right and left were occupied by criminals, condemned to die – James & John don’t know what they are asking

Jesus says to James & John, “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?”

–         “We can”, they answer – and indeed they would

–         The book of Acts tells us James was killed by king Herod, while tradition tells us John was exiled to the island of Patmos

–         Both brothers sacrificed and suffered in quite different ways for Jesus

 

The other disciples are not happy with the brothers so Jesus acts as a peace maker – he gets them together to prevent any bad feeling from turning septic

–         Interesting how Jesus has the wisdom and grace to transform something that could have been quite destructive into a teachable moment

–         Conflict often drives people apart but Jesus is able to use conflict to bring people together – amazing

Jesus explains that things operate differently under his reign

–         In the kingdoms of this world (as represented by the monsters in Daniel’s vision) greatness is characterised by pushing people around

–         But in God’s Kingdom, as represented by the Son of Man, greatness is characterised by service to others

–         The values of God’s kingdom are, in many respects, the opposite of the values of this world

–         For this reason God’s kingdom is sometimes called the ‘upside down kingdom’

Now for those familiar with the Netflix series, Stranger Things, ‘the upside down’ is a dark and toxic place, filled with horror and monsters (Poor Barb)

–         It would be more accurate to think of the world we live in as ‘the upside down’ and the kingdom of heaven as the way things are supposed to be

–         We only think this world is normal because we don’t know anything else

 

Jesus’ idea that greatness is measured in service to others is a complete paradigm shift – it requires us to retrain our minds & change our behaviour

 

Last week, Elissa & Hannah spoke about their trip to Nepal and the work of the Leprosy Mission there

–         They told us about a leading edge surgery where the doctors take the tendon attached to the middle finger and splice it, connecting it to the other fingers. This surgery restores movement to the whole hand

–         Surgery by itself isn’t enough though – people who have had the surgery need to retrain their brain to move their fingers, because the tendon of the middle finger is now connected to the thumb and ring finger

 

Or to use another illustration:

–         Backing a trailer requires the driver to move the steering wheel in the opposite direction than they would backing without a trailer

–         Backing a trailer is counter intuitive – you have to do everything the other way around

Jesus’ idea that greatness is measured in service to others is counter intuitive at first, requiring us to retrain our minds & change our behaviour

 

Now when we talk about service to others we mean service without ulterior motives

–         If someone gives a lot of money away to charity with the intention of getting a knighthood then that’s not really service to others, that’s service to oneself

–         But if someone gives money away out of love for people, in a way that doesn’t make themselves look big or others look small, then that’s true service

 

True service requires us to die to ourselves and what we want – it often involves the crucifixion of things like our ego, our reputation and our ambition

–         Jesus suffered massive indignity and humiliation in going to the cross

–         He didn’t do it for the glory – he did it out of love for God the Father and love for us – glory was simply the consequence of suffering love

 

Contemporary New Zealand culture is different, in some ways, from the ancient Middle Eastern culture of Jesus’ day

–         It would have been quite shocking for Jesus’ disciples to hear that the slave (the person on the lowest rung of society) was the greatest in God’s kingdom – but that’s not shocking to us

–         Despite the growing gap between rich & poor in this country we still like to think of ourselves as egalitarian

–         Generally speaking we like the underdog (at least in our imagination)

–         And we are quite ready to criticise and dishonour those in positions of power and leadership – it’s the New Zealand way

–         But focusing on someone’s social position misses the point

–         It’s not about position or status, it’s about service, and one can serve the interests of others from any social position, high or low

–         Jesus is not saying, ‘Down with the man’

–         He is not saying politicians and those in authority are bad

–         We still need leaders, and good ones, but leadership is just a function

–         Service to others is the true measure of greatness

Jesus is a leader – a very powerful leader, with God given authority, and yet he doesn’t abuse his power for his own advantage

–         Jesus uses his power to save others, at great cost to himself

 

Mother Teresa modelled the kind of service Jesus was talking about

–         Although she didn’t hold any political office or command any military power, she had a certain authority or mana or influence which came from her service to the poor

Father Damien De Veuster also modelled the greatness of service to others

–         During the 19th Century, Father Damien served as a priest to the people of Molokai Island – a medical quarantine for people with leprosy

–         Father Damien taught the Christian faith to the people and also cared for the patients himself

–         He established leadership within the community to build houses, schools, roads, hospitals, and churches.

–         He dressed residents’ ulcers, built a reservoir, made coffins, dug graves and shared food, providing both medical and emotional support.

–         If you want to be great become the servant of all

 

Most of us are unlikely to do the sorts of things Mother Teresa and Father Damien did but we can still serve others where we are, with what we have

The word ‘deacon’ means servant

–         To be a deacon of Tawa Baptist is to serve this congregation and that’s what each of our deacons do – they serve Christ by serving you

–         There’s a tremendous amount of work in being a deacon these days – it’s not just a pretty title

–         And in addition to their deacons’ responsibilities each one is involved in hands on service to the church, whether that’s painting or fundraising for 24-7 or helping in Club Intermed or leading all-age services and so on

 

It’s not just the deacons though – we have some very able musicians in this church who could easily play to a larger audience if they chose to but they don’t, because it’s not about them. They are committed to serving God and serving you, here in this place

In many ways I’m preaching to the choir – because I know that pretty much all of you here are serving others, either in the life of this church or through your work, in the community or at home, so I don’t need to labour the point

 

Conclusion:

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is a time when we prepare for Easter

–         It is a time of self-examination – a time for realigning ourselves with the values of God’s kingdom and the attitude of Christ

–         We need to do that because we live in the upside down, we live in relative darkness, with monsters, and so it is easy to lose sight of God’s kingdom

–         We need to remember there are two sides to the coin

Jesus Christ is the Son of Man – He is both glorious king and suffering servant

–         We don’t want to be so focused on the glory to come that we forget others and start serving our own ambition

–         But nor do we want to become so immersed in our service to others that we despair of this life and forget the glory of heaven

–         We need to keep both sides of the coin in view

 

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 comes to your mind when you hear the term ‘Son of Man’?

–         How is this similar to or different from the disciples’ understanding?

3.)    Reflect on / discuss the continuity between Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man and Jesus’ use of the term (e.g. Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 19:28 & 24:29-31)

4.)    What is your favourite Roses chocolate? Is there any flavour you won’t eat?

–         Which side of the Son of Man coin do you prefer – glorious king or suffering servant?

–         Why is that do you think?

–         How might we keep both sides of the coin in view?

5.)    How does Jesus act as a peacemaker in Matthew 20:24-28?

–         How might we act as peacemakers in similar situations?

6.)    What might ‘service to others’ look like for you?

–         What does it mean to die to oneself?

Tawa Baptist

Son of David

Scriptures: Matthew 1:1-17; 12:1-6 & 38-42; 21:1-17; 22:41-45 & Psalm 110

Title: Jesus, Son of David

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Greater than Solomon
  • Greater than the temple
  • Greater than David
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

One of the good things about being an adult is that your feet stop growing

–         And that’s a good thing because it means you can buy a pair of shoes that are the right size and they’ll keep being the right size

–         When you are a child your feet are always getting bigger, so when you buy a pair of shoes that fit it’s not long before they become too tight and you have to curl your toes up at the front

I have here a child’s chair from the Sparrow’s Sunday school

–         This chair is great if you are four but it’s not so wonderful if you’re 40

–         Most of us could probably sit in this chair if we had to but it would be too small – we might have our knees up around our ears or we might find it difficult to get up

 

Today we continue our sermon series on the titles ascribed to Jesus

–         So far we have looked at Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father, Mighty God and ‘Lord’.

–         This morning we consider the title, ‘Son of David’ – as in King David

–         Jesus didn’t go around calling himself the ‘Son of David’ but he accepted it when other people called him that

–         What we find though is the title ‘Son of David’ doesn’t really fit for Jesus

–         It’s too small, like a pair of shoes you’ve grown out of or a kindy chair

–         Jesus isn’t just the king of Israel, his realm is much larger than that

 

Greater than Solomon:

In the ancient way of thinking the life of a father is continued in his son

–         To the ancient mind a son fulfilled the purpose of a man’s life

–         We don’t necessarily think that way today but in the world in which the Bible was written they did think that way

Two of the gospels place Jesus’ family tree near the beginning

–         Matthew’s gospel in particular opens with the verse…

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Matthew then goes on to list the line of male descendants from Abraham, through King David and all the way down to Joseph, the husband of Mary

–         In doing this Matthew is making it clear that Jesus is royalty – he is the Messiah, the king of Israel descended from David

–         As a son (or a descendant) of David, Jesus continues David’s reign and fulfils the purpose of David’s life

Now some of you may be thinking, ‘But wait a second, this is Joseph’s family tree and Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s biological son. Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit (not by Joseph) – so how does that make Jesus a son of David?’

–         Well, Jesus is Joseph’s son by adoption. The fact that Jesus is adopted by Joseph in no way undermines Jesus’ royal lineage

–         In Jewish thought a child became a man’s son not so much by physical procreation as by acknowledgement on the part of the man

–         So Jesus is a ‘Son of David’ by adoption into Joseph’s family

 

Looking at David’s sons more closely we see Matthew lists 14 kings from Solomon to the time of the exile, when Judah no longer had a king of their own and the nation became subject to foreign kings

–         Of all the sons of David listed there Solomon was probably the most famous and politically successful king

Most people remember Solomon for his wisdom

–         For a nation to have peace the leaders must act with justice and justice requires wisdom

–         Solomon was a clever politician – under his reign the nation of Israel reached its zenith, it’s pinnacle of glory & riches

–         This being said Solomon’s policies actually oppressed the people – he laid a heavy burden of taxation on the working class

–         Not only that but Solomon had hundreds of wives and consequently his loyalty to Yahweh was divided

–         So there were some serious blind spots in Solomon’s wisdom

–         Nevertheless people came to him from all over the world for advice

In Matthew 12 some Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign and Jesus refuses saying…

“A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign… The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.” 

Of all the sons of David to sit on the throne Solomon was the greatest and yet Jesus is greater than Solomon

–         Jesus is greater in wisdom and power and status – even if he lacked all the pomp & ceremony and material wealth of Solomon

–         Jesus isn’t just another son in a long list of sons – Jesus is the Son of David, promised by God through his prophets long ago

During the time of the Jewish exile, when the people were subject to foreign rulers, God said through his prophet Jeremiah…

‘The days are coming when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is right in the land…’

–         Jeremiah was talking about the Son of David in these verses – ‘Branch of David’ is just a poetic way of saying ‘Son of David’

–         Christians believe Jesus is the righteous branch – the King descended from David who will reign wisely and do what is right

 

Greater than the temple:

Let me tell you a story…

–         Once there was a man who was good with money

–         As a child he didn’t have much – in fact he didn’t always know where his next meal was coming from

–         Poverty lit a fire in him – he worked hard to put as much distance between himself and his past as he could

–         Working two or three jobs at a time he managed to scrape together enough for a loan to start his own business

–         The business grew and so did his portfolio until he was worth millions

Sadly, the man’s great wealth came at an even greater cost

–         Working long hours and carrying all that stress took its toll on his relationships

–         By the end of his career he found himself alone in an empty mansion, drinking too much and wondering what the point of it all was

–         He’d spent his whole life climbing the ladder of success only to reach the top and discover the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall

 

When the man died his entire estate went to his grandson

–         Everyone expected the young man to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and make even more money

–         But the boy was not like his grandfather – he had seen what the pursuit of money had done to his family, the loneliness & grief it caused

–         So the young man took some time to think how best to use his inheritance

–         He loved his grandfather but he couldn’t walk in the old man’s shoes – they just didn’t fit him

–         To repeat the mistakes of the past would be a betrayal of his grandad and of himself

After much thought the young man decided to use his grandfather’s wealth to help others

–         The empty mansion became a women’s refuge

–         The rental properties all got an uplift and the tenants got a rent decrease

–         The bach up north was built on Maori land so he gave it back – justice is better than charity

–         Most of the shares got liquidated and the cash he loaned interest free to people in developing countries or put towards educational scholarships

He didn’t give everything away though – he kept some for himself because having too little money is just as destructive as having too much

–         If his grandfather had taught him anything it was that poverty and excess are opposite sides of the same coin

Perhaps his grandad would have turned in his grave to know how he had spent his inheritance but really it was the most meaningful thing the young man could do – It gave his grandfather’s life work a greater purpose

–         Money is a wonderful servant when it is used to set people free

In some ways the young man in this story is like Jesus

–         Jesus inherited the title ‘Son of David’ and with it came an expectation that he would behave like David & Solomon

–         That he would defeat the Romans and make Israel glorious again

–         But Jesus couldn’t walk in their shoes – they didn’t fit

–         Israel’s expectations of the Messiah were too small, too narrow

–         To repeat the past would have been a betrayal of sorts

–         Jesus doesn’t copy David & Solomon verbatim – but neither does he disrespect what he has inherited

–         Instead Jesus uses what he has been given to set people free and in doing that he gives David’s life a greater purpose

 

For most of his ministry Jesus downplayed the idea that he was the Son of David, perhaps because it meant something quite different to him than it did in the minds of the people – the term ‘Son of David’ was politically loaded and Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world

–         There was one occasion though when Jesus did walk in David’s shoes – he intentionally encouraged the people to think of him as their king by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey

–         David and his sons rode mules – not only that but the prophets to the exiles predicted the Messiah would come riding on a donkey:

–         Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

–         When Jesus did that a week before Passover the crowds went wild and shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’

Soon after that Jesus went into the temple in Jerusalem, saw the merchants in the court of the Gentiles and drove them out, quoting Scripture…

–         “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.”

 

King David had wanted to build a temple for the Lord but God said it wasn’t for David to do that – Solomon would be the one to build the temple

–         The temple of Jesus’ day was not the same as the temple of Solomon’s day – Solomon’s temple had been destroyed centuries earlier

–         Nevertheless in thinking about the title ‘Son of David’ we are reminded of the role of David’s son in restoring the temple to its proper purpose

From Matthew 21, verse 14 we read…

  • – The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.
  • – But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

Most of the gospel references to Jesus as Son of David are in the context of Jesus healing people, which stands in contrast to King David who, as a soldier, maimed and killed people

–         The interesting thing here is that the blind and lame were not usually welcome in the temple, yet they do feel welcome with Jesus there

–         Jesus restores their sight and mobility so they are able to participate in prayer and worship with the rest of the community

 

The religious leaders don’t like the way children are ascribing the title ‘Son of David’ to Jesus, but Jesus defends the children

–         Ironically the kids have more spiritual insight than the chief priests

 

It has to be said though that Jesus was never as enamoured by the Jerusalem temple as David & Solomon were. He was critical of the temple system and foresaw its destruction

  • – In Matthew 12 Jesus’ disciples pick some heads of grain as they walk past a field on the Sabbath
  • – The Pharisees point out to Jesus that his disciples are breaking the law in doing this. (Actually they weren’t breaking God’s law, just the Pharisees’ man made rules). Jesus defends his disciples saying…

“Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.”

In these verses Jesus compares himself to David and his disciples to David’s companions

  • – The ‘something greater than the temple’ is Jesus and the community of his followers
  • – Jesus came to build something greater than a physical building
  • – Jesus came to build the church – a people united in love for him
  • – Those of you who were here for the all-age Christmas service last year may remember what Neville said about Jesus being the corner stone and each of us being living stones in God’s house

 

So far then we’ve heard how Jesus, the Son of David, is greater than Solomon and that he builds something greater than the temple – he builds the church

  • – But what about King David himself – how does Jesus compare to David?

 

Greater than David:

If I say, ‘Jim is a chip off the old block’, what do I mean? [Wait]

–         ­­That’s right, I mean that Jim is like his father. The old block being Jim’s father and the chip being Jim himself

–         And what would you say was greater in this analogy – the old block or the chip? [Wait] The old block is greater

–         But even greater still is the one swinging the axe

 

Okay, what do I mean if I say, ‘The apple didn’t fall far from the tree’? [Wait]

–         That’s right, I mean the child is similar to the parent

–         The parent being the tree, the apple being the child

–         And what is greater – the apple or the tree [Wait] The tree is greater

–         But even greater still is the gardener who planted and watered the tree

To say that Jesus is the Son of David is true in a sense but it doesn’t tell the full story – it suggests that Jesus is a chip off the old block or the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree – when in actual fact Jesus is greater than David

–         In Jesus we find something more than the old block or the tree

–         Jesus is the gardener

 

You all know the story of Cinderella – the girl who was treated cruelly by her step mother and step sisters, but with the help of a fairy god-mother gets to go to the ball

  • – She has a wonderful time and the prince falls in love with her
  • – But she must leave before the stroke of midnight when her carriage turns back into a pumpkin
  • – As she runs out of the palace she leaves behind a single glass slipper
  • – It is the only clue the prince has to her identity – he must find out who this beautiful and mysterious woman is
  • – In his quest to find her the prince goes from house to house through his kingdom getting ladies to try on the glass slipper – if it fits she is the one

In some ways Jesus was a little bit like Cinderella and the chief priests and Pharisees were like his step mother and step sisters; jealous of him, never giving him the respect he was due

  • – After Jesus had cleansed the temple he was peppered with questions from the religious establishment to try and trip him up
  • – They didn’t like Jesus and wanted an excuse to get rid of him
  • – But Jesus always had an answer for them
  • – When the Pharisees grew tired of questioning him, Jesus asked them…

“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

 

A couple of Sundays ago I said that Jesus was more interested in getting people to think about the who and why questions than he was the how

  • – Here we have a classic who question: Who is the Messiah?
  • – The Pharisees answer as expected, ‘The Son of David’
  • – But Jesus points out how this doesn’t quite fit with the glass slipper of Scripture. Jesus quotes King David from Psalm 110

It sounds a little confusing so I’ll try to make it as simple as possible

  • – David (speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) relays a conversation he overhears between his superiors
  • – Yahweh (or God) says to David’s Lord (the Messiah), ‘Sit at my right hand…’
  • – Now to the ancient Jews there was only one person above the king and that was God Almighty
  • – Yet David is saying there is someone else above me – someone equal to God – for he sits at God’s right hand
  • – Who is this mysterious Lord (this Cinderella) of whom David speaks?

The Pharisees don’t know how to answer Jesus and Jesus doesn’t spell it out for them either – he leaves the question in their minds like grit in an oyster shell which, with time, forms a pearl

 

The point is, ‘Son of David’ is not an adequate title for the Messiah

  • – David himself acknowledges that the promised Messiah is his Lord
  • – Jesus (the Messiah) is greater than David

 

Conclusion:

Jesus had a pretty high opinion of himself – it’s no wonder he was crucified

  • – Jesus basically said he was greater than Solomon
  • – That he (and his companions) were greater than the Jerusalem temple
  • – And that he was greater even than King David himself

As C.S. Lewis said, anyone who made those sorts of claims about himself was either a lunatic, a liar or the Son of God

No one likes a big noter and yet Jesus isn’t blowing his own trumpet

  • – If anything he is squeezing into a pair of shoes that are too small for him
  • – Or sitting on a child’s seat
  • – He’s making himself smaller to accommodate us
  • – The titles we have for Jesus are not adequate to define him
  • – Just as the categories we have for Jesus are not sufficient to contain him

 

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.)    Why does Matthew open his gospel with Jesus’ genealogy, tracing the line of David?

3.)    In what ways is Jesus similar to Solomon?

–         In what ways was Jesus different to Solomon?

4.)    What have you inherited from your forebears (either materially speaking or otherwise)?

–         How might you best use that?

5.)    Who (or what) is greater than the Jerusalem temple?

6.)    In what ways is Jesus similar to David?

–         In what ways is Jesus different to David?

7.)    Why is the title ‘Son of David’ inadequate for Jesus?

8.)    What expectations do you have of Jesus?

–         Do your expectations fit with the glass slipper of Scripture?

 

Tawa Baptist

Mighty God

Scripture: Mark 1:21-39

Title: Mighty God

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus preaches with authority
  • Jesus heals with power
  • Jesus prays with perspective
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Lieutenant General, Lord, Freyberg served in the Dardanelles & Europe with the British Army during the first world war

–         Then he served in Italy & Africa with the New Zealand army during the second world war

–         As all the letters before and after his name suggest, Bernard Freyberg was awarded many titles and decorations for his bravery in combat, including the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order (with three bars) and the French Croix de Guerre

–         Winston Churchill called Freyberg the ‘Salamander’ due to his disregard for danger and always being in the thick of the action

–         Despite being wounded many times Freyberg survived and kept coming back for more

 

Today we continue our sermon series on the titles ascribed to Jesus

–         Like Bernard Freyberg, Jesus has earned many titles too

–         So far we have looked at Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father and what it means to call Jesus, ‘Lord’

–         This morning we consider the title of ‘Mighty God’ for Jesus

–         ‘Mighty God’ comes from Isaiah 9 verse 6 and in the context was a reference to the Messiah as a courageous warrior king, a general, empowered by God to defeat evil and deliver the people

 

Freyberg and Jesus were similar in that they were both courageous leaders who weren’t afraid to get in the thick of the action

–         But they were very different in the way they went about their combat and who they fought against

–         Jesus did not come to wage war against flesh & blood (as Freyberg did)

–         Jesus fought against principalities and powers in the spiritual realm

–         Jesus waged war against Satan, without guns or swords

 

To help us see Jesus in action against evil we will read a passage from Mark 1

–         This describes a day in the life of Jesus’ early ministry

–         From Mark 1, verses 21 to 39, in the NIV, we read…

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

In a war, one country invades another and takes their land by force

–         As a consequence the people of the country that is invaded lose their freedom

–         It’s similar when someone gets sick – it’s like the illness or the infection invades the person’s body so they lose their health & freedom

 

God created the world good but the world has been invaded by evil

–         As a consequence we (humanity) have lost our health & freedom

 

Jesus came to establish God’s Kingdom (God’s reign) on earth

–         In doing this Jesus was taking back what Satan had invaded & stolen

–         But, unlike other military commanders, Jesus didn’t come to take back God’s world by force, with tanks and guns or chariots and swords

–         Jesus simply offered himself

–         Jesus is a General like no other – he uses a quite different approach

 

In our reading from Mark 1 we note three strategies Jesus employs in the war against evil…

–         Jesus preaches with authority

–         He heals with power

–         And he prays with perspective

 

Jesus preaches with authority:

First let us consider Jesus’ preaching with authority

 

Last year the Nobel Prize for physiology & medicine was awarded to Dr James Allison, from The University of Texas, and Professor Tasuku Honjo, from Kyoto University

–         They were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries in cancer treatment

–         Traditional cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, involve a bit of collateral damage, with the good cells getting killed along with the bad

–         But Allison & Tasuku have made advances in immunotherapy, using the body’s immune system to target cancer cells

–         So instead of nuking everything, they have worked out a way for the body to identify the real enemy (the cancer) and attack those cells only

–         I’m not sure I properly the understand the science of it all but it works on a molecular level – really clever stuff

 

The Israel of Jesus’ day had been invaded by the Romans and was occupied by them, so the Jews weren’t free

–         They naturally thought of the Romans as the enemy

–         But Jesus didn’t see it that way – Jesus could see that the real enemy was Satan and the forces of evil

–         Jesus knew the battle for people’s souls needed to be fought in people’s hearts & minds, at a molecular level (spiritually speaking)

–         So Jesus’ main strategy in bringing God’s Kingdom to earth was to preach & teach the ways of God

 

But he didn’t preach like anyone else. Verse 22 tells us…

–         The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

 

The teachers of the law were the guardians of oral tradition

–         They passed on to others the man made rules and regulations that explained how to apply God’s law as contained in the first five books of what we call the Old Testament

–         Their teaching was essentially a list of rules – dos and don’ts for everyday life

–         For example, the Law of Moses says you can’t work on the Sabbath and so here’s what that means – you can’t heal someone on the Sabbath, if it can wait till tomorrow but you can pull your donkey out of a well if it falls in on the Sabbath

–         I imagine their teaching was quite focused on answering the questions of how and what?

–         How are we supposed to apply God’s law? What constitutes work? Etc.

 

Jesus’ preaching was different to this though – Jesus didn’t base his message on the authority of the scribes’ oral tradition or their man made regulations

–         For Jesus the more important questions were why and who?

–         Why do we keep the Sabbath? Who is God to us? That sort of thing

–         It’s not that the how & what questions are unimportant

–         It’s just that when we understand who God is (his character, his love) and why he has given various commandments, then we don’t need all the other man-made legislation, because we can discern the spirit of the law

 

The title ‘Mighty God’ applies to Jesus because his message was based on God given authority – on his personal knowledge & relationship with God the Father

–         He could talk about the Kingdom of Heaven from personal experience because he came from heaven – the scribes couldn’t do that

–         He had authority to break the scribes’ rules about healing on the Sabbath because he came to fulfil the purpose of the Sabbath – to restore people

 

I think Jesus’ approach in preaching & teaching was a bit like immunotherapy

–         His words worked at a spiritually molecular level, inside a person’s heart & mind

–         Jesus was sowing the seed of a thought to activate our spiritual immune system (our conscience) so that we could identify the true enemy inside and attack that

–         You see, the enemy wasn’t really the Romans or any other political / cultural people group that we might not like

–         Jesus preached forgiveness of people because people are not the enemy

–         The real enemy is things like fear and pride and greed and loneliness and cynicism, and the many lies we tell ourselves are true

–         They are the sorts of things that eat away at us and rob our peace

 

The other thing that helped to reinforce the authority of Jesus’ preaching was his deeds of power – his healings & exorcisms

 

Jesus heals with power:

Like Freyberg, Jesus wasn’t afraid to get in the thick of it

–         In fact we know Jesus’ preaching was on target and effective because of the reaction it got from the powers of darkness

–         When Jesus preached in the synagogue in Capernaum a man with an evil spirit reacted by saying…

–         “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

–         25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

 

There was no contest really – Jesus set the man free from the forces of evil with just a few simple words. He didn’t even raise a sweat

–         This shows us who the real enemy is and at the same time it reveals that Jesus embodies the mighty power of God

–         But notice that the power of God is different from human power

–         God’s power (as embodied in Jesus) is not the power of violence but rather the power of holiness

–         Now when we talk about holiness we don’t mean being ‘holier than thou’

–         We mean holiness in the sense of wholeness or integrity

–         Holiness is really about being one thing – being true to who we really are as creatures made in the image of God

–         Jesus knew who he was and why he was – he was clear about his identity & purpose and that gave him strength and courage to stand against evil

 

U2 have a song called ‘There is a Light’. One of the verses reads…

 

I know the world is done, but you don’t have to be
I’ve got a question for the child in you before it leaves
Are you tough enough to be kind?
Do you know your heart has its own mind?
Darkness gathers around the light
Hold on, Hold on 

 

I don’t know what Bono meant by those words but to me he is saying something like…

–         Yes, there is evil and darkness in the world but it’s not too late for you

–         Don’t give in to cynicism, don’t give in to the darkness

–         It takes more courage, more strength, more toughness to be kind

–         And when your kindness (your light) is met with hostility and rejection, then remember that ‘darkness gathers around the light’

 

The toughness to be kind is the toughness that comes from holiness, from being one thing, from knowing who we are in Christ and why we are (our purpose)

–         Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are the light of the world’

–         That tells us who we are why we are – we are the light and our purpose is to shine in the darkness

–         Jesus also said, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake’

–         Goodness (light) is powerful in its own way and it usually gets a reaction from evil – the darkness gathers around the light

 

Following the exorcism in the synagogue Jesus goes to Simon & Andrew’s home where Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever

–         While sickness is not exactly the same as being possessed by an evil spirit, neither is it God’s will for us

–         Interestingly Jesus demonstrates his power & authority without saying a word – he simply takes Simon’s mother-in-law by the hand – he heals her with his touch and Simon’s mother-in-law serves them

–         As usual it is a woman who shows us the right response to Jesus

 

Once the sun goes down the Sabbath ends and people come to Jesus at Simon’s home for healing. Nothing is too difficult for him

–         Jesus isn’t a one trick pony – he can heal any sort of disease and cast out any demon

–         These powerful healings coupled with Jesus’ authorative preaching show that Jesus is worthy of the title, ‘Mighty God’

 

There is an irony here – despite all the miracles the people of Capernaum aren’t able to join the dots to work out who Jesus is – that he is the Messiah spoken of by the prophet Isaiah

–         They are amazed but uncomprehending

–         Miracles don’t necessarily produce faith or understanding

–         The demons know who Jesus is, but Jesus silences them – it is not for the forces of evil to set the agenda or reveal God’s plan

 

Jesus prays with perspective:

We’ve talked about how the title ‘Mighty God’ finds resonance with courageous and powerful leadership

–         One of the attributes of a good military leader is their ability to see the bigger picture and not become distracted from the main objective

–         Maintaining a healthy perspective is crucial for any leader

 

There is a scene in the second Hobbit movie, where Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves get lost in the Mirkwood forest

–         Mirkwood is a dark and disorienting place – evil lurks in the shadows

 

Bilbo senses they are going around in circles so he climbs to the top of the trees and looks out over the branches to get some perspective and find some direction

–         Above the trees it is sunny and bright and Bilbo can see for miles

 

Spiritually speaking, Capernaum was perhaps a bit like Mirkwood forest

–         Given the large number of demon possessed & sick, and given the obtuseness of the people, it appears the powers of darkness were at home there

 

Verse 35 of Mark 1 tells us that, very early in the morning, Jesus left the house and went off to a solitary place to pray

–         Jesus had just had a very busy and successful day

–         Both busy-ness and success have a way of causing us to lose perspective

–         Jesus and his disciples could have lost their way in Capernaum

–         They could have been tempted to stay and clean the place up

–         I’m sure the evil one would have been more than happy keeping them busy fighting fires, going round & round in circles performing miracles without achieving the greater purpose God had for them

–         By going to a solitary place to pray Jesus was climbing to the top of the trees and looking out over the branches of Capernaum to restore his perspective and find some direction from God

 

We don’t know exactly what Jesus said in his prayer on this occasion but it is apparent that his purpose was to listen to God and find out his next move – for when Peter found him and said, ‘Everyone is looking for you’

–         Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

–         Jesus didn’t operate independently of God or in his own strength

–         Through prayer Jesus maintained his perspective and remembered why he had come (God’s larger purpose)

–         He did not allow himself to be distracted – there were others who needed the opportunity to hear his message and discover who & why they are

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Jesus fulfils the title of ‘Mighty God’

–         Jesus is our General in the battle against evil; courageous and powerful to defeat the forces of darkness

–         Jesus’ weapons in battle include preaching with authority, healing with power and praying with perspective

–         Jesus’ power is not the power of violence but the power of holiness, the power of being one with God, of knowing who and why he is

 

In a few moments we will share communion

–         Communion is a time when we remember Jesus’ victory over the forces of darkness

–         It’s a time when we lift our heads above the trees and regain our perspective by remembering who we are in Christ and why we are here; to love & enjoy God

 

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 does the title ‘Mighty God’ tell us about Jesus?

3.)    Who is the real enemy?

4.)    Why is Jesus’ approach to the war against evil different to that of a military leader?

–         Why does Jesus place so much importance on preaching & teaching?

5.)    What do we mean by the power of holiness?

6.)    Are you tough enough to be kind?

7.)    Why did Jesus make time to be alone in prayer?

–         Why do you pray?

8.)    Take some time this week to contemplate who you are in Christ and why you are here (i.e. God’s purpose for you).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tawa Baptist

Jesus is Lord

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-29

Title: Jesus is Lord

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Listen
  • Obey
  • Receive
  • Decide
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

In his poem, The Divided World, Owen Marshall makes the observation…

–         “The world is divided between those who say they adore the countryside and never go there, and those who say they hate the city and never leave it… between indecision and hypocrisy, between feeble vacillation and energetic error, between cup and lip.”

When we talk with someone over a cup of tea there is a gap between cup and lip – but once we stop talking and start drinking there is no gap

–         The point here, it seems to me, is there’s often a gap between what people say they value and how they behave

–         The truth is usually found in what one does, more than in what one says

–         If someone says they love the countryside but never leaves the city then, assuming they are not held hostage, they actually prefer the city

–         Those who genuinely love the countryside find a way to move there – they stop talking about it and do it, they close the gap and drink the tea

 

This morning we continue our series on the titles of Jesus, with a focus today on Jesus as ‘Lord’

–         Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 7, verse 21, page 11 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         This passage concludes Jesus’ sermon on the Mount – it is essentially a call for Jesus’ disciples to actually apply the things he has said

–         If we really do believe that Jesus is Lord then we will follow his teaching

–         Those who genuinely love Jesus will find a way to obey him

–         From Matthew 7, verses 21-29, we read…

 

“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do. 22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God’s message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!’ 23 Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!’

24 “So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

26 “But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!”

28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. 29 He wasn’t like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

The question before us today is: What does it mean to call Jesus, ‘LORD’?

–         I’ve come up with a little acronym to guide our thinking

–         To call Jesus, ‘LORD’, means to Listen, Obey, Receive & Decide

 

Listen:

The theologian, Paul Tillich, is quoted as saying…

–         “The first duty of love is to listen”

 

To truly listen we must stop talking and change our focus – take the attention off ourselves and give it to the one we are listening to

–         Listening is a kind of hospitality of the soul

–         When we listen we make room for someone else in our heart and mind

–         We also give them the gift of our time & attention

–         Listening shows respect and value for the other person

 

When we listen to Jesus we learn the will of God

–         No one reveals the will of God more clearly than Jesus

–         Knowledge is power – when we listen to Jesus we receive the power of knowing the way of salvation

 

The classic gospel story of listening is the story of Mary & Martha in Luke 10

–         You know how it goes – Jesus turns up at Mary & Martha’s house with his disciples and responsible Martha makes herself busy doing all the practical tasks of providing hospitality for her guests, while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and listens

–         Martha gets upset with Mary and tells Jesus what he should do about it

–         “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me?”

–         Somehow Martha missed the obvious: to call Jesus, ‘Lord’, means he is the boss. We don’t tell him what to do, he tells us what to do

–         The first duty of love is to listen

–         Real hospitality starts with listening, not with busy chores

 

Hospitality is a big deal in the Middle East – it’s a matter of honour or shame

–         Perhaps Martha was feeling the weight of social pressure and was worried about upholding the honour of her village by providing top rate hospitality for Jesus

–         Jesus replies saying, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing and it won’t be taken from her”

–         I don’t think this is a condemnation of Martha – it is perhaps more of an invitation for Martha to join Mary listening at Jesus’ feet

 

To call Jesus ‘Lord’ means not telling him what to do – not trying to make him serve our ends – but instead listening to him with the purpose of learning what God wants and serving God’s will

 

Obey:

But listening to Jesus in itself is not enough – listening needs to be accompanied by obeying Jesus

–         Listening fulfils its purpose in obedience – without obedience listening is a waste of time

 

As Jesus says in his parable: “So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock…”

 

Take Noah for example. Noah listened to God and obeyed him in every detail

–         God said build an ark because a flood is coming and this is the wood you are to use and these are the dimensions and this is the method

–         Noah listened and followed God’s instructions to the letter – Noah was like the wise man who built his house on the rock of God’s word

 

In contrast, not obeying God’s word (as revealed in Jesus) is like building on sand

 

Imagine if Noah hadn’t obeyed God – imagine if Noah built a different kind of boat to the one God described

–         So instead of using the dimensions God had given him, Noah came up with his own measurements. Then the boat would have sank

–         You see it’s not enough to use the tools and the materials God provides – we also have to follow His instructions

 

The really disturbing thing about verses 21-23 of Matthew 7 is that some of those who call Jesus ‘Lord’ are deluded

–         They are not maliciously trying to deceive others – they think they are doing what God wants of them

–         In verse 22 Jesus says: ‘When Judgement Day comes, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God’s message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles.’

–         Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me you wicked people!’

 

One would think that if someone preaches in Jesus’ name and drives out demons and performs miracles that they are obeying God – that their life is built on a firm foundation – but apparently this is not necessarily so

–         Apparently it is possible to do all these wonderful things and yet somehow miss the main point

–         Given the immediate context of Matthew 7 we can say that the ability to preach, drive out demons and perform miracles is not the foundation

–         These are all good things and they may be provide useful material for building the walls & roof or for cleaning the house of our soul

–         But at the end of the day our gifts and abilities, no matter how good or spiritual, do not provide a firm and reliable foundation for eternal life

 

So what is the main point that these well-meaning people are missing – what does provide a firm foundation?

–         The test isn’t whether we can perform miracles – the test is whether Jesus knows us

–         What matters in the end is the quality of our relationship with Jesus

–         Have we truly received Jesus, personally?

–         Have we trusted Jesus enough to be honest with him, to take off our mask, drop our defences and let him in?

–         Have we shared in his earthly experience?

–         Have we suffered humiliation, rejection, loneliness and loss through our identification with him?

–         Jesus won’t recognise us by our achievements

–         He will recognise us by our scars

–         Do we bear the scars of love for him?

–         The foundation is friendship with Jesus – if we love Jesus then we will obey his commands, we will build our life on his teaching

 

Mother Teresa is quoted as saying…

–         “God has not called me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful.”

 

John the Baptist was faithful but by worldly standards we couldn’t really say he was successful

–         God asked John to prepare the way for the Messiah – for Jesus – and that’s what John did

–         He called people to repentance and to right living in preparation for Jesus’ coming

–         As far as we know John didn’t perform any miracles, he simply obeyed God’s instructions faithfully

–         And what did he get for doing this?

–         Many of his followers left him to become disciples of Jesus – to which John said, “I must become less and he must become more”

–         Then Herod had John thrown in prison and eventually beheaded

–         John suffered for his obedience to God, as Jesus did

–         Jesus understands suffering & pain – he knows us by our scars

 

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”

 

A little story to help make this point about faithful obedience…

 

Once there was a lighthouse keeper who had but one job – to keep the lamp burning at night so ships wouldn’t come aground on the rocks

–         This was in the days before electricity and automation

–         The lighthouse keeper was given an allowance of oil as fuel for the lamp

–         Each week he received a new batch of oil, just enough to keep the lamp of the lighthouse burning for 7 nights until a new batch came

–         He couldn’t afford to spare any oil or the lamp would go out

 

One day a travelling merchant came by and asked the lighthouse keeper to sell him some oil at a fair price

–         But the lighthouse keeper refused and the merchant went away complaining about how unreasonable the lighthouse keeper was

 

The next day a farmer came to him and asked to borrow some oil for fixing the wheels of his wagon

–         But the lighthouse keeper refused and the farmer went away grumbling about how mean spirited the lighthouse keeper was

 

Then on Saturday the pastor of the local church came by asking for oil for the evening service the next day

–         But the lighthouse keeper refused him too and the pastor went away to preach a vigorous sermon on the evils of greed

 

The following day a poor widow came and asked the lighthouse keeper for some oil for her stove, for her children were hungry and her house was cold

–         The lighthouse keeper made an exception for her but he didn’t touch the oil set aside for the lighthouse lamp

–         Instead he gave her oil from his own stove and went hungry himself that night. He only had one condition: that she didn’t tell anyone

 

Every day someone came wanting oil for some good reason or other and, except for the poor widow, the lighthouse keeper turned them all away empty handed

–         It wasn’t long before almost everyone in the district hated him and the weight of loneliness crept in

–         But still the lighthouse keeper was faithful to his calling, always keeping the lamp lit through the night so the ships could find safe passage

–         No ships came aground on his watch

 

We are each given oil in some form another – to call Jesus ‘Lord’ is to use what God has given us for his purpose

–         Listening with obedience, this is faithfulness and faithfulness to God is success, eternally speaking

 

Receive:

Of course we can’t listen to and obey God without receiving from Jesus

–         Jesus is not the kind of Lord who is always taking, always wanting more

–         Jesus is the kind of Lord who wants to give good things to his people

–         We receive many things from Jesus: forgiveness, joy, redemption, eternal life, resurrection, healing, peace and of course love

–         But we need to stay connected to receive

 

Desmond Tutu once said…

–         “We are only lightbulbs and our job is just to remain screwed in”

 

By itself the lightbulb can’t produce light

–         By itself the lightbulb is fragile and vulnerable

–         To be able to serve its purpose and provide light for people in the room the bulb needs to receive power

–         Jesus is the power source – we can’t listen and obey without Jesus

–         We can’t love others without God

 

In John 13, the night before his crucifixion and death, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet, but when he gets to Peter, Peter won’t let him

–         For whatever reason Peter is reluctant to receive from Jesus – there’s a wall there, an inner defence around his heart

–         But the Lord says to Peter: “If I do not wash your feet you will no longer be my disciple”

–         Calling Jesus, ‘Lord’, means having the humility and the trust to lower our guard, to let Jesus in and to receive from him

–         What is it that Jesus wants to give you?

 

Later that same evening, after Peter has submitted to Jesus washing his feet, the Lord talks about how he is the vine and we are the branches and the only way to be fruitful is to remain in him

–         Just as the lightbulb needs to stay screwed in to the power source to give light, so too the branches need to stay grafted into the vine to bear fruit

–         We receive the power to love others from Jesus – we can’t do anything to manufacture love on our own

 

It is possible to preach and do miracles in Jesus’ name without really loving those we serve – but if we do these things without love then they are empty.

–         As the apostle Paul says in Corinthians 13…

 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 

To do great things (miraculous things even) without love is to build our house (our life) on sand – it won’t last

 

Decide:

To call Jesus, ‘Lord’, means to listen, obey, receive and decide

–         Each significant life decision we make needs to be based on our relationship with Christ – we can’t sit on the fence

 

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher and theologian, born in 1813

–         Kierkegaard had a significant influence on 20th Century philosophy, particularly existentialism and post-modernism

 

Existentialism is a way of thinking, in which one draws one’s existence into their philosophical reflection

–         In other words, existentialism is not dreaming up some abstract idea behind a desk in an ivory tower

–         Existential thinking grows out of the soil of one’s real life experience – the things that really matter to you personally

–         Jesus’ parables are very existential – earthed as they are in people’s day to day existence

 

As an existential thinker Kierkegaard believed that it’s only when we make significant decisions and act on those decisions that we relate to our own existence

–         For example, if you fall into the sea you have no personal interest in the chemical composition of water

–         You don’t care that water is comprised of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)

–         What matters to you at that point is the decision to live, to keep your head above water until help comes

–         You can’t be sure that help will reach you in time, but your belief (or your hope) that someone will save you, keeps you afloat and breathing

 

Kierkegaard believed that objective truths, things can be proven, things we can be absolutely certain about, like 2+2=4, are irrelevant

–         What matters is subjective truth, things that can’t be proved, things that require a decision of faith

 

You can never know for certain if a person will forgive you when you wrong them – therefore it is existentially important to you (it matters to your existence)

–         You can believe they will forgive you and, based on your faith in their good nature, decide to ask for forgiveness

–         But you can’t know for sure whether they will forgive until after you have asked and they have responded

 

When you are on your death bed you don’t ponder the objective fact that the sum of the angles of a triangle is always 180 degrees

–         No – you think about existential questions – questions of faith related to your existence, like whether the Bible is true

–         Whether God will forgive you and let you into heaven

–         And whether Jesus did actually rise from the dead and is in fact Lord

–         That ‘Jesus is Lord’ cannot be proven in a mathematical or scientific way in this life – we have to decide in faith whether this is true for us or not

–         And if we decide that it is true for us, personally, then that should affect the whole of our life (like the foundation of a house)

 

Most people didn’t like Kierkegaard during his lifetime – he was a bit of a lonely lighthouse keeper really

–         He criticised the masses for their non-committal talk

–         People in his society just went along with whatever idea was fashionable at the time without any true depth of commitment to the idea

–         Many church goers, in his view, didn’t walk the talk – they were what we might call Sunday Christians – Kierkegaard challenged that

 

When Jesus told his parable of the man who built his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand, he was challenging his audience (us) with an existential question

–         Jesus was saying, my word (my teaching) isn’t just an abstract theory

–         My teaching has a real consequence for your existence, personally

–         There is no middle ground with this – you have to decide

–         We can’t build our house half on the rock and half on the sand

–         We can’t make some life decisions based on our friendship with Jesus and leave Jesus out of other decisions – that’s not going to work

–         Nor is it any good to just pay lip service to Jesus – true faith finds expression through action, through obedience

 

Conclusion:

This morning we have talked about what it means to call Jesus, ‘Lord’

–         Calling Jesus, ‘Lord’ isn’t just a convention or a nicety

–         Calling Jesus, ‘Lord’ is an existential issue – it is a matter of faith which is vital to our existence

–         If we are truly committed to the belief that ‘Jesus is Lord’ then we will listen to him, we will obey him, we will let him in to receive from him and we will decide to build our whole life on him

 

What is it you believe about Jesus?

–         What is Jesus saying to you today?

–         What might obedience look like in your life personally?

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What does it mean to call Jesus, ‘Lord’?

3.)    What is it you believe about Jesus, personally?

4.)    What does to mean to be known by Jesus?

5.)    How might we listen to God?

6.)    What is Jesus saying to you today?

7.)    What might obedience look like in your life personally?

8.)    What do you need to receive from Jesus to do God’s will?

9.)    What are you building your life on? (I.e. What do you base your decisions on?)

 

 

Tawa Baptist

Everlasting Father

Scriptures: John 1:1-5 & Luke 15:11-32

Title: Everlasting Father

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus is the source
  • Jesus has all authority
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a picture of 3 men: George Washington, Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela

–         Can anyone tell me what these three men have in common? [Wait]

–         That’s right – they are all leaders and in fact are the Father’s of their Nation, respectively

 

‘Father of the Nation’ is an honorific title given to a man considered the driving force behind the establishment of his country

–         George Washington is the Father of the Nation of the United States of America – he was the first U.S. President

–         Nelson Mandela is the Father of the Nation of modern South Africa – he was the first black president

–         Mahatma Ghandi is considered by most people to be the Father of the Nation of India because of his role in campaigning for independence from British rule and advocating for the rights of the poor (although the Indian government doesn’t officially recognise the title)

 

I’m not sure if NZ has a Father of the Nation as such

–         In any case, the Father of the Nation is the person who established their country and way of life, albeit with the help of others

 

Today we continue our series on the royal titles ascribed to the Messiah in Isaiah 9, verse 6

–         Isaiah 9 is often read at Christmas time as Christians believe this prophecy is talking about Jesus – verse 6 is familiar to many of us…

–         For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

–         So far we have considered the titles Wonderful Counsellor and Prince of Peace. Today we consider how the title Everlasting Father fits for Jesus

 

In some ways it seems odd to ascribe the title of ‘Father’ to Jesus – we are more inclined to think of Jesus in the role of God’s Son or the Son of Man

–         But when we consider who a father is and what a father does we soon see how the title Everlasting Father fits hand in glove for Jesus

 

Among other things, Jesus came to establish God’s Kingdom (His country) on earth – Jesus is the Father of the Nation for us Christians

 

There are many characteristics or facets of fatherhood that we could explore in relation to Jesus but I only plan to touch on two this morning

–         Jesus is our Father in the sense that he is the source of our life and of God’s Kingdom

–         And Jesus is our Father in the sense that he has all authority in heaven and on earth

 

Jesus is the source:

First let’s consider Jesus as the source of life

–         Please turn with me to John chapter 1, page 118 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         These are the opening verses to John’s gospel – they talk about Jesus the source, the Word at the beginning

–         From John 1, verses 1-5, we read…

 

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

The Greek language has two expressions for Word – Logos and Rhema

–         Rhema (as in Radio Rhema) refers to the spoken word

–         While logos (as in logic) is the unspoken word – the thought or the idea  inside someone’s mind before it is expressed

–         The logos comes before the rhema – we could say the logos is the father of the rhema (the thought is the source of the spoken word)

 

Jesus is the logos of God – Jesus embodies what God is thinking & feeling & willing

–         Jesus is the logos (or the logic) through whom God created the world – one with God before time began

–         If we want to know where we came from, and therefore what it means to be human, we look to Jesus – someone very good

–         He is the source of our life and the source of God’s kingdom on earth

 

If the Kingdom of God is compared to a forest then Jesus is the single seed from which the forest began – he was planted and died and raised to eternal life

–         Or if the Kingdom of God is compared to a river then Jesus is the spring or the lake which feeds the river

–         Or if the Kingdom of God is compared to a house then Jesus is the architect and builder of that house

–         Jesus is an Everlasting Father because he has conquered death and his Kingdom (his way of life) never comes to an end

–         His seed never perishes, his spring never runs dry, his foundation never erodes – he is the light which the darkness has never put out

 

I don’t need to labour this point – you get it – Jesus is the source of life and in that sense he is our Everlasting Father

–         Jesus is also our Everlasting Father in the sense that all authority in heaven and on earth rests with him

 

Jesus has all authority:

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 15, page 100 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         This story is commonly known as the parable of the prodigal son

–         ‘Prodigal’ is a word that simply means wasteful or extravagant

–         This story might be better described as the parable of the loving father and the two lost sons

–         The father in this parable reminds us of Jesus – he shows extravagant love to both of his sons. From Luke 15, verses 11-32, we read…

 

11 Jesus went on to say, “There was once a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property now.’ So the man divided his property between his two sons. 13 After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living. 14 He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing. 15 So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. 16 He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat. 17 At last he came to his senses and said, ‘All my father’s hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! 18 I will get up and go to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you. 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers.”’ 20 So he got up and started back to his father.

“He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. 21 ‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’ 22 But the father called to his servants. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. 23 Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’ And so the feasting began.

25 “In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him, ‘What’s going on?’ 27 ‘Your brother has come back home,’ the servant answered, ‘and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.’ 28 The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. 29 But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! 30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’ 31 ‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’”

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Authority is the right to do something, as distinct from power which is the ability to do something

–         I might have the power (or ability) to drive a car but without a license or a warrant of fitness I don’t have the authority to drive

 

In the culture in which the Bible was written the father had authority over everyone in his household – it was simply given that he was the boss

–         The father’s word was practically law – he had the license to tell those under his roof what to do

–         It was considered a huge disgrace, a great shame, when someone in the household undermined the father’s authority

–         By the same token, how the father chose to exercise his authority revealed a great deal about his character

–         In the parable, in Luke 15, the father (who points to Jesus) uses his authority to protect and restore his sons

 

Jesus’ story starts with a dysfunctional family

–         The younger son dishonours his father by asking for his share of the estate while his father is still alive, which is like saying he wishes his father were dead

–         And the older son isn’t much better – he dishonours his father by doing nothing to stop his younger brother

–         If the older brother had cared about his family he would have intervened

 

The father has the authority (or the right) to say ‘no’ to his son and not give him an advance on his inheritance – in fact the father has a license to give his son a severe beating and send him away empty handed, but he doesn’t

–         The father uses his authority graciously – giving his younger son what he asks for

–         As the Everlasting Father Jesus has authority over us but he doesn’t use his authority to trap us or coerce us – we have considerable freedom with Christ

 

The prodigal son leaves town and squanders his inheritance – money he was supposed to use to care for his Dad in his old age

–         The younger son has basically wasted his father’s superannuation fund

–         When the money runs out the young man finds himself in a personal hell of his own making

–         He comes to his senses and decides to return home, not because he loves his father but because he is starving. His plan is to say…

–         ‘Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers’

 

The young man is repenting but on his own terms

–         His repentance comes with the idea that he might still save himself

 

Verse 20 says…

–         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.

 

Here we have a picture of the father’s welcome – a welcome which ensures the son’s safety

–         Men in Middle Eastern culture never run in public – it is a very undignified thing to do

–         And yet the father humiliates himself in front of the whole village by running to his boy

–         Why does he do this?

 

Well – two reasons…

–         Firstly the father wanted to demonstrate his great love for his son, so the son would know beyond all doubt that he is valued and accepted

 

And secondly the father was protecting his son from the rest of the village

–         The neighbours would have looked at disgust on the younger son who had rejected his father and his home

–         They would most likely have mocked him and shouted abuse at him as he returned to the village

–         For in leaving the village the way he did the son not only rejected his father, he also offended his community

–         By running out to greet him the father saves his son from running the gauntlet

–         By throwing his arms around his boy and kissing him the father sends a clear message to the other villagers to accept his son & not mistreat him

 

This picture of the father leaving his house and running out to welcome his son is a picture of what God has done for us in Christ

–         By leaving heaven, by humiliating himself and going to the cross, Jesus has run the gauntlet to save us

–         Jesus, like the father in this parable, uses his authority to protect those in his household

 

After the father’s welcome the son begins his pre-prepared speech saying…

–         ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

–         But then he stops short of offering his own solution

–         Overwhelmed by the father’s extravagant grace the son cannot say, ‘make me like one of your hired men’ , because he realizes this would be to reject his father all over again

–         His father does not want another servant – he wants his son back

–         As unworthy as he knows he is the son confesses his wrong doing and abandons his plan to save himself

–         Instead he humbly receives what the father offers, for this is what the son needs and it is what the father wants [1]

–         It’s what Jesus, the logos of God, wants

 

One of the things we get from our fathers is a sense of identity

–         Identity is about knowing where we come from and who we are

–         With identity comes belonging & security

–         Other people can’t give us a sense of identity in quite the same way that our fathers can because other people don’t have the same kind of authority as our fathers

–         I’m not suggesting that we are all predestined to be just like our dads

–         Our identity is also shaped by the choices we make and the cultural milieu we are a part of

–         But at some deep level our father’s treatment of us has a profound influence on what we believe about ourselves

–         If your dad ignores you or treats you badly then that carries more weight somehow than when a stranger or a friend mistreats you

–         Likewise, if your dad treats you with respect and trusts you then that carries more weight because your father (implicitly) has more authority

 

 

To call Jesus, ‘Everlasting Father’ is to say, ‘Jesus, you are the father figure, or the authority figure, in my life. I get my identity from you’

–         When we consider what Jesus has done for us, giving his life for ours, that should have a profoundly positive effect on what we believe about ourselves – we matter, our lives are valuable, but not because of what we produce or achieve. The younger son was wasteful & unproductive and yet he was still accepted.

–         We are not hired hands, we are sons & daughters of God

 

By accepting the father’s costly grace the younger son is found – he is born again in a sense. And he now lives with the father (willingly) as a son and not as a hired hand

 

The father wants his son to experience welcome & care from the whole community so he exercises his authority, saying to his servants…

–         ‘Hurry, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast…’

 

As Kenneth Bailey observes, the father does not say to his son, ‘Go and have a wash and get yourself changed’. He actually orders the servants to dress him

–         In this way the son is assured of proper respect & care from the servants

 

The best robe is probably one of the father’s own robes and is a sign to everyone that the son is accepted by the father

–         The ring is quite likely a symbol of authority – like a signet ring – which implies that the father trusts the son in an astonishing way

–         Jesus shares his authority with us

–         And the shoes are a sign that the son is a free man in the house – he is not a slave or a servant

–         So by dressing the younger son in this way the servants are demonstrating that they accept the son as their master has

 

The father’s final instruction to the servants is to kill the prize calf and prepare a party for the whole village, to celebrate the prodigal’s return

–         In sharing this meal the village would then be able to make their peace with the son

–         The father’s purpose is to help reconcile his son to those he will now be living with

–         The father (like Jesus) uses his authority to restore his son

 

But it’s not just the younger son who needs to be restored

–         The older son is also lost, even though he has never left home

–         The younger brother was outwardly estranged and rebellious

–         While the older brother was inwardly estranged and rebellious in his heart

–         Both of them were lost in their own way

 

When the older son learns that his father has killed the fattened calf to celebrate his younger brother’s return he becomes angry and refuses to go in

–         He turns a family disagreement into a public spectacle and brings shame on his father

 

For the second time in this parable the father (in a generous outpouring of love) humiliates himself by leaving the house and seeking one of his sons

–         He pleads with his first born to come in, but the older son says…

–         ‘Look! All these years I have worked for you like a slave and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? …’

–         Clearly the older son is alienated from his Dad

–         He sees himself as a slave and not as a son

 

Jesus’ Middle Eastern audience would expect the father to be furious at his eldest son but the father is gracious & truthful

–         Far from being angry the father appeals to his son to rejoice in his brother’s return

–         The older son represents the Pharisees and religious leaders

–         Jesus is like the father in the parable in that he is pleading with the religious leaders to come in and join the party – to celebrate the return of the lost sons & daughters of Israel

–         But Jesus doesn’t use his authority to strong arm or coerce the religious leaders – he doesn’t need another slave, he wants people to be free

 

The parable ends there. It is left hanging – the conclusion unresolved

–         The older son is still outside deciding whether he is going to be a son or a slave. What will he choose?

 

Conclusion:

Authority is something that many people in our society resist today

–         Some resist authority in openly aggressive ways, like the younger son

–         And others resist in more passive aggressive ways, like the older son

–         This anti-authority (down with the man) attitude could be because leaders sometimes abuse their authority and break trust with those around them

–         But it might also be that people have generally become more self-centred, by which I mean the centre of authority has shifted to the individual

–         So people are more inclined to think – I can do what I like

 

To say that Jesus is the Everlasting Father is to say that Jesus is the source of life and our ultimate authority

–         Jesus never abuses his authority – he uses his authority for the well-being of others, to protect and restore

–         But the distinctive thing about Jesus’ authority is that it’s everlasting

–         The governments and powers of this world will pass, but Jesus’ kingdom will never end – he is the Father of an Eternal Nation

 

Footnote:

[1] Refer Kenneth Bailey, ‘Poet & Peasant’

Tawa Baptist

Wonderful Counsellor

Scripture: Luke 13:10-21

Title: Wonderful Counsellor

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Yahweh the Wonderful Counsellor
  • Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor
  • God’s wonderful plan (Kingdom)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Prince Charles has recently turned 70

–         Charles is of course next in line to take the throne

–         The Prince’s full title is: His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland

–         That’s a lot of titles, but wait there’s more…

–         He also has a string of letters after his name: KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, CC, PC and ADC, whatever all that means?

This morning we start a new sermon series

–         With Christmas only a month away we are going to spend some time exploring the royal titles ascribed to the Messiah in Isaiah 9, verse 6

Isaiah 9 is often read at Christmas time as Christians believe this prophecy is talking about Jesus – verse 6 is familiar to many of us…

–         For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

–         Today we think about how the title Wonderful Counsellor fits for Jesus

–         But first let us consider Yahweh (the Lord) as a Wonderful Counsellor

 

Yahweh the Wonderful Counsellor:

They say that in the game of drafts you only need to think 1 or 2 moves ahead, but in the game of chess you need to be thinking 4 or 5 moves ahead

–         One of the jobs of a king is to make good decisions – decisions which are wise and just and lead to good long term outcomes for people

–         A king needs to be like a good chess player, thinking 4 or 5 moves ahead, playing out all the various scenarios in his mind

–         The Hebrew for Wonderful Counsellor literally translates wonder planner

The term wonderful counsellor then refers to a king with the wisdom & foresight to develop extraordinary plans & policies for the ordering of the public life of his people [1]

–         As the word wonder suggests the vision and planning of this king are awe inspiring – the king’s wisdom leaves people gob smacked in amazement

 

Two quick examples from the Old Testament to give you the idea of how Yahweh (the Lord) is a wonderful counsellor

In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham & Sarah and says that Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs at this because she is well past child bearing age so God says…

–         Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? [Meaning, is anything too difficult for the Lord?] At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son.”

The Lord’s plan here is truly amazing in its scope and level of difficulty

–         Yahweh, the wonderful counsellor, is planning to redeem the entire creation through Abraham’s offspring and he is going to do this by making it possible for a 90 year old woman to give birth to a son

–         Isaac’s birth was a miracle of resurrection

–         Isaac’s birth demonstrates that nothing is too difficult for God – even when it seems like all hope is lost, God can make all things new

–         When we consider how Jesus makes good on God’s promise to Abraham we begin to marvel at the Lord’s planning

 

Another example of Yahweh the wonderful counsellor is seen in the story of Joseph, also in Genesis. Joseph was one of Abraham & Sarah’s great grandsons

–         Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up serving an Egyptian named Potiphar

–         After being falsely accused of sexual misconduct Joseph was thrown into prison for about three years until he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams

–         Joseph became a wonderful counsellor to the king of Egypt

–         He knew what the Pharaoh’s dreams meant and what planning the king needed to do to save the people from starvation

–         Store up the excess crops during the seven years of plenty to see you through the seven years of famine

–         Joseph’s wonderful planning saved thousands of lives including that of his own family

 

But the real wonderful counsellor, working behind the scenes, was Yahweh – the Lord Almighty

–         It was God who put Joseph in the right place at the right time with the right wisdom to save the people

–         At the end of Genesis, after Jacob has died, Joseph’s brothers go to him afraid for their lives and wanting forgiveness – to which Joseph replies…

“Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today…”

Joseph acknowledges the wonder planning of Yahweh the wonderful counsellor

 

Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor:

Joseph points to Jesus. Like Joseph, Jesus too is a wonderful counsellor working out God’s wise & just plans for creation

–         Please turn with me to Luke chapter 13, page 98 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         Jesus’ teaching and parables are pregnant with the wisdom of God

–         In this passage, from Luke 13, we get a taste of Jesus the wonderful counsellor. From verse 10 we read…

10 One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. 11 A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” 13 He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”

15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath. 16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?” 17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

18 Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? 19 It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and plants it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in its branches.”

20 Again Jesus asked, “What shall I compare the Kingdom of God with? 21 It is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Probably the most difficult shot in the game of 10 Pin Bowling is knocking over a split.

–         A ‘split’ is where the pins left standing, after your first bowl, are divided or split down the middle

–         In many ways this is a harder shot to pull off than getting a clean strike

–         How do you knock over both pins on either side with just one bowl?

–         I suppose you have to hit one of the pins at just the right angle & speed to create a ricochet which knocks the other pin down

One characteristic of being a wonderful counsellor is the ability to kill two birds with one stone – or rather, to achieve more than one positive result with a single action or decision

–         In our reading from Luke 13 Jesus does just that

–         By healing the woman on the Sabbath Jesus knocks over a split

–         He sets a chain of events in motion which not only set the woman free from her illness but also set the people free in their thinking and daily living

 

The word ‘Sabbath’ appears five times in our reading this morning so that tells us it is significant for understanding this passage

–         To some degree we have lost the meaning of Sabbath in our society today

–         Basically, the Sabbath is a day of rest when people stop working and think about God

–         When the Sabbath is observed as God intended all living things get a small taste of what heaven on earth would be like

 

To better understand the meaning of the Sabbath we have to go back to Genesis chap. 2

–         By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

 

In Genesis 1 creation is depicted poetically as God bringing order & function to the chaos

–         After God has done the work of creating order & function he rests

–         It’s not that God was tired and needed to take a break – God doesn’t get tired like we do

–         Divine rest doesn’t mean taking a nap – divine rest means all those forces of chaos that are opposed to God have been subdued and order has been restored – God is in control, he is on the throne ruling the universe

–         So the purpose of the Sabbath is to point to the Kingdom of God

–         The Sabbath reminds us that the Kingdom of heaven is coming to earth

–         When we observe the Sabbath, when we stop working and give our attention to God, we acknowledge that God is the supreme ruler of the universe and we are his loyal subjects

 

In the first century the Sabbath was very important to the Jews

–         They were an oppressed people (their land was occupied and controlled by the Romans) – so they had to be quite intentional about not being assimilated into Roman culture, they had to make a stand for the sake of maintaining their national identity

–         Holding to their traditions, like keeping the Sabbath holy, was one way they maintained their cultural identity and loyalty to Yahweh

–         Keeping the Sabbath was an act of solidarity – it was a way of saying, ‘ultimately God is in control, not Caesar.’

–         In this sense observing the Sabbath is sort of like going on strike

 

Given the importance of Sabbath observance there were lots of man-made rules around the special day – specifying what you could and couldn’t do

–         Those rules may have been well intentioned but really they missed the point and actually obscured God’s purpose for the Sabbath, which is to point to God’s kingdom & give people a small taste of heaven on earth

–         Our society (in NZ) today has gone to the other extreme – we have almost no rules around the Sabbath and so we have lost something valuable

 

Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath teaching people – giving them his wise and wonderful counsel – when he sees a woman bent over due to an evil spirit which had made her ill. What is he to do?

–         He has the power to heal her but Jewish tradition says he isn’t authorised to heal on the Sabbath

–         Her illness isn’t life threatening – she’s had it for 18 years so her healing  could wait another day

–         However, he might not see her tomorrow – this could be his only opportunity to help her

–         What’s more, healing someone on the Sabbath provided an opportunity to demonstrate to everyone present the bigger picture of God’s wonderful plan to restore and redeem his creation

–         Healing this woman on the Sabbath shows people what the reign of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven) looks like

Jesus sees the opportunity here to achieve two good results with one action – so he heals her

–         How did Jesus do this? It is a wonder, a mystery to us, but at the same time it gives credibility to his message

 

The leader of the synagogue, the guy who was responsible for making sure things ran smoothly, is angry that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath because that goes against the tradition that he is responsible to protect

–         By breaking the rules in this way Jesus has undermined the wall that separates Jews from Gentiles – he has threatened their Jewish identity

–         Or to say it in another way, Jesus has taken a swipe at Jewish nationalism

–         What Jesus did was courageous, politically incorrect and counter cultural

–         In the official’s mind this must have seemed like a betrayal of sorts – like Jesus was being disloyal to God and disloyal to Israel

Now I can understand the official’s frustration all too well – I can easily imagine how irritating & disruptive & annoying someone like Jesus would be

–         The synagogue leader doesn’t have any special wisdom or power to heal like Jesus does

–         I expect he’s just a regular average bloke who has a job to do and he’s trying to be faithful in carrying out his responsibilities

–         He thinks he’s doing the right thing but he just can’t see the wood for the trees and ends up in a public argument with Jesus that he has no show of winning.

The official has no idea who Jesus is – I feel sorry for him

–         He’s the fall guy whose blindness & ignorance provides the opportunity for Jesus’ wonderful counsellor-ness to be revealed

–         Not unlike the woman’s 18 year illness provided the opportunity for Jesus’ power & compassion to be displayed

–         Can you see the wonderful way God used the woman’s illness and the official’s spiritual blindness for good?

–         Had the woman not been sick and had the official said nothing then no one would have heard the brilliance of Jesus’ argument…

–         Any one of you would untie his ox or his donkey from the stall [after just a few hours] and give it a drink. Now here is a descendant of Abraham [someone far more valuable than an ox or a donkey] whom Satan has kept bound up for 18 years [far longer than a few hours]. How much more should she be released on the Sabbath? [the Sabbath being a day which points to God’s creative work in bringing order & function to chaos]

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater and his insight, his perspective, is brilliant – he hoists his opponents on their own petard

–         Not only does Jesus show everyone present what God’s bigger plan & purpose is (bringing release & restoration) he also undoes a bit of Jewish nationalism by pointing out that the real enemy here isn’t the Romans – the real enemy is Satan

–         The wonderful thing is that Jesus’ wisdom sets people free in their minds

–         Just as the woman has been released from her back problem and can now stand up straight, so too the people have been released from the burden of rules surrounding the Sabbath and can now begin to think straight

–         Everyone has been given a glimpse of what God’s kingdom looks like

–         Jesus knocks over a split and verse 17 tells us, the people rejoice over all the wonderful things he did.

 

God’s wonderful plan (Kingdom)

If you look in your pew Bibles on page 98 again – you will notice that the account of Jesus healing the woman on the Sabbath is separated from the parable of the Mustard Seed by a heading, in bold

–         This gives the false impression that the Sabbath healing miracle is somehow separate from the two parables that follow

–         What we need to remember is that the headings you see in your Bibles are not part of the original text – they’ve been added in by the translators

–         So there’s no separation between the healing miracle and the parables

Verse 18 (in the Greek) actually reads Therefore Jesus asked, ‘What is the Kingdom of God like…’

–         The Good News Version has left the ‘Therefore’ out

–         The ‘therefore’ means that Luke intended us to read the parables of the mustard seed and yeast in conjunction with the Sabbath healing story

–         Put it all together and its talking about the Kingdom of God

–         Luke arranges Jesus’ material like this to help the reader see the wonder of God’s plan

 

When we were kids we were taught to wash our hands after going to the toilet and before every meal – that was supposed to stop us from getting sick

–         Bacteria, we were told, are bad and we need to get rid of them

–         We still see that attitude today with the advent of hand sanitiser

–         There’s an advertisement on TV with a little boy buying an ice cream from Mr Whippy and getting his hand sanitiser out before eating

–         It makes me cringe

 

Science tells us not all bacteria are bad, in fact we need certain bacteria for good health

–         The right bacteria in our gut help to regulate bowel movement

–         They help in the formation of vitamins like folic acid, riboflavin and vitamin K

–         What’s more, friendly bacteria enhance our immune system by increasing the production of antibodies which fight bad bacteria

–         Bacteria also help to regulate hormone levels and cholesterol

–         So it seems that washing our hands obsessively may actually be bad for us in that it reduces our exposure to good bacteria

 

In some ways the Kingdom of God is like good bacteria – it is small, unseen at first and does its work silently, on the inside

–         What’s more the Kingdom of God is often found in unexpected places

 

During the Second World War soldiers in Northern Africa were getting sick with dysentery and washing their hands didn’t seem to help

–         So the soldiers kept a close eye on the local Arabs who seemed to recover a lot quicker

–         Whenever the locals got sick they followed behind a camel and ate the fresh camel dung while it was still warm – then they were right again by the next day, instead of spending weeks in bed

 

It was later proven there was a soil-based organism in the camel dung known as Bacillus Subtilis

–         Bacillus Subtilis is a bacterial organism with super-strength that eats any other bacteria or virus that gets in its way, particularly pathogens

–         This story comes with a warning though: I’m not sure it works with every kind of poo, so be careful what you put in your mouth

 

Mustard seeds and yeast are small (like bacteria) and yet they have such a powerful and lasting effect

–         The mustard seed grows into a large, resilient and pervasive plant that is populated with birds

–         And just a small amount of yeast permeates a large quantity of dough

–         40 litres of flour, in verse 21, makes a huge amount of bread

–         How the seed grows and how the yeast makes the bread rise was a wonder, a mystery, to the people of Jesus’ day

 

The main point seems to be, God’s wonderful plan for establishing his Kingdom on earth is to start small and work silently, gradually, from the inside out

–         As opposed to coming loudly and in force to bring about a quick revolution

 

The healing of the woman on the Sabbath is a case in point

–         Jesus didn’t go to someone really important, like the emperor of Rome or the high priest, to heal him

–         Instead he healed someone at the bottom of the social scale – a sick anonymous woman who could do nothing at all to repay Jesus

–         However, in that small but powerful act of healing on the Sabbath, Jesus sowed the seeds of God’s kingdom

–         He put yeast in the dough of the local community to cause people to rise and praise God

 

A couple of other things to note about the wisdom of these parables

–         Jesus thought about his audience – he used images from everyday life that would relate to both men and women

–         Mustard seeds and mustard plants were everywhere – they were common

–         But making bread was something that women did – so in using the yeast metaphor Jesus was specifically reaching out to his female listeners

–         And that was significant when we consider that most Jewish males at that time thought that women would be excluded from God’s kingdom

 

The other thing we note is that both mustard plants and yeast had a bad reputation, sort of like bacteria

–         Mustard plants in the Middle East are similar to gorse in NZ – a weed, unwanted and hard to get rid of

–         Having said that, gorse does provide a nursery for growing native trees, so it’s not as bad as it seems

–         Likewise yeast, in Jewish thought, is a symbol for sin

–         At Passover time people had to get rid of all the yeast in their home and make flat (unleavened) bread, without yeast

–         So by comparing the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and to yeast it appears that Jesus is implying the Kingdom of God may be unrecognisable and despised by some, at least at first

–         Certainly the leader of the synagogue didn’t appreciate Jesus healing the woman on the Sabbath

–         Sometimes the Kingdom of God tastes like camel poo

 

The birds of the air, which nest in the mustard plant, is probably a poetic reference to the Gentile nations [2]

–         Jesus is saying there will be room for people like the Romans and Greeks and Barbarians and Kiwis in God’s Kingdom

–         Perhaps another swipe at the Jewish nationalism of his day which supposed that only Israelite men would get into God’s Kingdom

 

Conclusion:

We could spend a lot more time exploring the wonders of Jesus’ wisdom but that’s enough for today

–         Hopefully you can see that Jesus, like Yahweh, is a wonderful counsellor

–         In and through Jesus, God reveals his wise and wonderful plan of salvation

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

As the busy-ness of Christmas approaches I encourage you to pause and consider how God is working all things for good in your life.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What do you think of when you hear the phrase Wonderful Counsellor?

–         What does the Bible mean by the phrase Wonderful Counsellor?

3.)     Can you think of some examples of God’s wonderful planning in the Bible?

–         Now share some examples of God’s wonderful planning in your own life.

4.)    Discuss the different ways Jesus’ wonderful counsel is displayed in Luke 13:10-21

5.)    What is the purpose of the Sabbath?

–         What is a good use of the Sabbath?

6.)    What is the significance of Jesus healing on the Sabbath?

7.)    How does God use the woman’s illness and the synagogue leader’s (spiritual) blindness for good?

8.)    What is the main point of the parables of the mustard seed and yeast?

–         How do these parables relate to the Sabbath healing miracle that precedes them?

–         What other things might these parables be saying? (E.g. about women & gentiles)

9.)    Can you see God working all things for good in your life?

–         How is he doing this?

 

 

 

 

[1] Walter Brueggemann, Names for the Messiah, page 7.

[2] Refer Ezekiel 17:22-24, for example.