Tawa Baptist

People are treasure

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19

 

Title: People are treasure

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The role of doubt
  • Jesus and Saul
  • Ananias and Saul
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

There is a legend told of the wives of Weinsberg

–         The Duke of Weinsberg possessed an immense fortune in gold, silver and fine jewels, which he kept in his castle

 

The Duke had a falling out with King Konrad (the sovereign of the realm)

–         And so Konrad gathered his army and laid siege to Weinsberg demanding the Duke’s fortress, the massive fortune and the lives of the men within

 

Although the King had allowed for the safe release of all women and children, the wives of Weinsberg refused to leave without having one of their own conditions met

–         They requested that they be allowed to leave at sunrise the next day with whatever they could carry on their backs

 

Thinking the women couldn’t possibly make a dent in the massive fortune, the king decided to grant their request.

–         After all, he would be hailed as a generous and merciful king and most of the Duke’s vast fortune would still be left for him

 

But the king got more than he bargained for

–         The next morning at sunrise, as the women walked out, the entire army was stunned to silence as they saw each wife carrying her husband on her back – the wives valued their husbands more highly than silver or gold

 

Deeply moved by their love, King Konrad kept his word and no lives were lost that day.

–         People are the real treasure

 

Today is the second of three Sundays when we promote Tranzsend’s prayer and self-denial campaign

–         Tranzsend supports and resources NZ Baptist missionaries serving overseas

–         The theme for this year’s self-denial campaign is treasures handed down

–         Jesus is the greatest treasure God gave the world

–         That God gave His only Son to save us shows that people are treasure

 

Please turn with me to Acts chapter 9 – page 161 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         Last week we heard how Jesus valued an outsider – the Ethiopian eunuch

–         Today we hear how Jesus treats one of his enemies as a valued treasure

–         From Acts chapter 9, verses 1-19 we read…

In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest 2 and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

3 As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said. 6 “But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men who were traveling with Saul had stopped, not saying a word; they heard the voice but could not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, but could not see a thing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was not able to see, and during that time he did not eat or drink anything.

10 There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. He had a vision, in which the Lord said to him, “Ananias!”

“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord said to him, “Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he might see again.”

13 Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and about all the terrible things he has done to your people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who worship you.”

15 The Lord said to him, “Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel. 16 And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake.”

17 So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me—Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 At once something like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized; 19 and after he had eaten, his strength came back.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

The role of doubt:

In Jane Austin’s novel Pride & Prejudice there is a great deal of tension between the two main characters, Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy

 

Elizabeth has strong feelings of affection for Mr Darcy but she is not willing to admit them – she is blinded by her prejudice

–         Elizabeth wrongly assumes that Mr Darcy has a bad character and her prejudice creates this armour, this defence, this shell around her

 

Mr Darcy also has strong feelings of affection for Elizabeth, which he is well aware of – unfortunately his pride gets in the way

–         He thinks himself so far above Elizabeth Bennett that he is not free to express his feelings without contempt

 

Prejudice blinds and pride binds

 

Acts 9 begins by telling us that Saul (a devout Jewish Pharisee) was on his way to Damascus to arrest the followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem

–         The same Saul who watched with approval as Stephen was murdered now fanatically persecutes the followers of Jesus himself

–         Saul was a religious extremist – a fanatic

 

The psychologist Carl Jung once wrote…

–         Fanaticism is only found in individuals who are compensating for secret doubts  [1]

–         In other words, the less convinced we are of our own position on a matter, the more strongly we are inclined to defend it

–         Our pride and prejudice acts as a shield against the truth which our secret doubts point to

 

Now some people think doubt is a bad thing and certainly too much doubt can be a bad thing

–         If we doubt ourselves all the time then we lose all confidence and find ourselves living in constant anxiety

–         But we still need some doubt

–         Doubt causes the carpenter to measure twice and cut once

–         Doubt causes the scientist to find a proof for her theories

–         Doubt causes the Christian to seek the Lord’s will in prayer and in studying the Scriptures

 

Doubt is not the same thing as fear

–         Too much doubt can lead to fear but a little bit of doubt handled in the right way can lead us closer to the truth

 

Doubt is a bit like salt

–         Too much salt and the meal is ruined

–         But just the right amount of salt brings out the flavour (or the truth)

 

Jesus said to his followers – you are the salt of the earth

–         I wonder if one of the things he meant by that was…

–         Live your life in such a distinctively good way that it causes those who don’t yet know Christ to doubt their own beliefs

–         Those seeds of doubt may start people on a journey of seeking Jesus

 

Doubt is not necessarily the enemy

–         Doubt is what motivates us to check our facts and find out the truth

–         The apparent absence of doubt suggests a proud and arrogant heart

–         While a little bit of doubt indicates humility

 

The people who built the Titanic could have done with acknowledging their secret doubts – it would have saved many lives

–         Instead they over compensated by arrogantly claiming their ship was unsinkable

 

The reason there was so much tension between Mr Darcy & Elizabeth Bennett was because they were both un-willing to acknowledge their doubts

–         Perhaps the reason Saul was so obsessed with persecuting the followers of Jesus was because deep down he had his doubts about being a Pharisee

–         Underneath it all Saul suspected that Stephen was right about Jesus

–         But Saul’s pride bound him and his prejudice blinded him

 

It appears that Stephen’s witness to the risen Jesus strengthened by his example in asking God to forgive his murderers, affected Saul profoundly

–         Stephen’s martyrdom really got under Saul’s skin and made him less certain about his previously held beliefs

 

Jesus & Saul:

In contrast to Saul’s pride & prejudice we see Jesus’ grace & truth

–         The gospel of John tells us, the Spirit of Jesus is a Spirit of grace & truth

–         Jesus embodies grace and truth – he weaves the two together

 

By appearing to Saul on the road to Damascus and asking, “…why do you persecute me?” Jesus is confronting Saul with the truth, in a gracious way

–         The most obvious truth here is that Jesus is not dead, he is risen – which makes it clear that Jesus is the Messiah of God and consequently the followers of Jesus are right, while Saul is wrong

–         All at once Saul’s pride & prejudice is undone

 

Another difficult truth for Saul to face here is that by giving Jesus’ followers a hard time Saul was actually persecuting Jesus himself, God’s Messiah

–         The followers of Jesus really are the body of Christ

–         When we suffer, Jesus suffers

–         And when we are kind to other believers, Jesus feels that kindness too

–         What was it Jesus said?

–         “What you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me?”     

–         People are the real treasure

 

That Saul was wrong and that he had been persecuting God’s Messiah were painful truths to face

–         A third (more comforting) truth for Saul is that Jesus values him enough to intervene to save him

–         Jesus does not destroy Saul, even though Saul has been seeking to destroy him

–         Jesus does not threaten Saul with punishment, even though Saul has been persecuting him

–         Nor does Jesus ignore Saul

–         Instead, Jesus seeks to restore right relationship by being truthful about how Saul’s actions are affecting him

 

Jesus sees the potential (the treasure) in Saul and offers him a way out of his fanaticism

–         There’s no force or fear or coercion from Jesus at all

–         It’s like Jesus is simply giving Saul the information he needs and then trusting Saul, freeing him, to choose for himself

 

In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis writes about his own conversion, saying…

“I became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shutting something out. Or, if you like, that I was wearing some stiff clothing, like corsets, or even a suit of armour, as if I were a lobster. I felt myself being… given a free choice. I could open the door or keep it shut; I could unbuckle the armour or keep it on. Neither choice was presented as a duty; no threat or promise was attached to either… I was moved by no desires or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein. I say ‘I chose’, yet it did not seem possible to do the opposite. …I was aware of no motives. …I am more inclined to think this came nearer to being a perfectly free act than most I have ever done.”  [2]

 

I understand Lewis to be saying here that he turned toward God freely

–         He was not motivated by the fear of hell or the promise of heaven

–         He simply surrendered his armour, let down his defences and opened himself in trust to the truth and grace of God

 

In verse 6 Jesus gives Saul a choice wrapped up in the command…

–         “…get up and go into the city where you will be told what you must do”

–         By obeying Jesus’ command Saul shows that he believes Jesus to be raised from the dead

–         But as Saul gets up to leave he discovers that he cannot see

–         The fact that Saul was blinded points to the objective reality of the experience – Saul could not discount what happened to him – it was real

 

Verse 9 tells us that Saul was blind for three days, during which time he did not eat or drink anything

–         A total fast like this was both a sign of repentance and an act of humility in seeking God

 

Ananias & Saul:

People are treasure – that’s a statement which implies grace and truth at the same time

 

Paul Windsor, who was the principal of Carey College when we were training for ministry, had a grace & truth graph he liked to show us – sort of like this one

 

On this graph we have four quadrants as indicated by the colours yellow, blue, red and green (This being an election year I need to stress that these colours do not represent political parties – I’m not telling you who to vote for)

The yellow quadrant represents those who are low on truth and low on grace

–         Before his encounter with the risen Jesus, Saul was most likely in the yellow quadrant – full of pride and prejudice, low on grace & truth

–         Nationalism thrives in the yellow quadrant

 

The blue quadrant represents those who are high on truth & low on grace

–         They might hold the Bible in high regard and have strict moral standards but have little tolerance for those who don’t share their point of view

 

The red quadrant is those who are high on grace and low on truth

–         The reds are sort of the opposite of the blues – the reds are light on judgement and repentance, high on forgiveness and mercy

 

While the green quadrant represents those who are high on truth and grace

–         Those in the green believe that God offers salvation to everyone, although not everyone accepts it

–         God is able to forgive even the worst of sinners but His forgiveness is not automatic or unconditional – God’s offer of salvation requires a response from us

–         Forgiveness and salvation are conditional on faith, repentance and us forgiving others. As Jesus taught us to pray:

–         ‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’

 

Jesus exemplifies perfect grace & truth together so you want to be in the green quadrant if you can

–         Ananias was in the green quadrant too – he embodies Jesus’ grace and truth together

 

Ananias also shows us a healthy way to handle our doubts

–         When the Lord Jesus asks Ananias to place his hands on Saul so he may see again, Ananias is a bit reluctant at first

–         He expresses his doubts in Jesus’ request saying…

–         “Lord, many people have told me about this man and about all the terrible things he has done to your people in Jerusalem…”

–         And you want me to welcome him and heal him?

 

Jesus doesn’t reprimand Ananias for airing his doubts

–         Jesus is big enough to handle our doubts and he understands Ananias’ concerns: Ananias is measuring twice before he proceeds – he is making sure he understands correctly

 

If (or when) we have doubts about something we are generally best to lay those doubts before the Lord in prayer

–         Be honest with God about what we are thinking and feeling

–         Ask God to show us where the doubt is coming from

–         Is this an unholy doubt put in our mind by the evil one to mislead us

–         Or has God put the doubt there as a caution in our spirit so that we check our facts and measure twice to avoid error

–         Either way when we are honest with God about our doubts, asking Him to clarify His will in the situation, our pride & prejudice is undone and we open ourselves to grace and truth – fanaticism doesn’t get a toe hold

 

When handled in a good way doubt actually leads us closer to the truth

–         The outcome of being honest with Jesus about his doubts is that Ananias learns more of God’s plan for Saul. Jesus responds saying…

–         Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to the Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel. And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake.

 

Having dealt with his doubts in an open and healthy way Ananias is now free to approach Saul without prejudice

–         And so Ananias steps out in faith and obedience to Jesus

–         He goes to Saul, lays his hands on him and says: “Brother Saul”

–         There is so much grace and truth in those words

–         ‘Brother Saul’ communicates to Saul that he is forgiven and accepted as one of the family – he is welcomed into the Christian community

–         Saul has done nothing to deserve this acceptance but grace isn’t getting what we deserve – grace is getting what we need

 

As Ananias spoke something like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he was able to see again

–         It’s like Jesus has freed Saul from his armour and answered his doubts

–         After that Saul wasted no time in being baptised

 

Conclusion:

Let me tell you a story about a boy we will call Jim…

–         Jim was a quiet kid – not shy exactly, more of a deep thinker

–         He attended a Primary school where people from the local church came once a week for half an hour to talk about God and the Bible

–         In many ways it was an easy half hour – you listened to a story, answered some questions if you felt like it and did an arts and crafts type activity

–         Religious Education (or RE for short) they called it

–         Way better than long division

 

Jim’s RE teacher (Mrs McFarlane) was really nice – always remembered people’s names, always talked about her three kids, Ruby, Hope and Josh and sometimes gave them home baking

 

One evening over dinner Jim (who was about 9 years old by this stage) asked his parents why they didn’t go to church

–         “We don’t believe in God” was the reply his dad gave. His mum didn’t say anything

 

This made Jim wonder whether the Bible stories he had heard in RE were true or made up

–         He figured his dad must know best and decided that he wouldn’t believe in God either

 

One Wednesday, just after the RE lesson had finished, Jim approached Mrs McFarlane and said to her, “I don’t believe in God”

–         The classroom teacher (Mr Dench) was clearly embarrassed that Jim had said this and gave him a stern, disapproving look – as if to say, “Jim, that’s rude – you should apologise.”

 

But Mrs McFarlane just smiled and said…

–         “It’s okay. Tell me James, why do you say that?”

–         “I’m not sure exactly. Dad says that God is just pretend, like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. And you were talking about being honest today so I thought I should tell you the truth.”

–         “I see”, Mrs McFarlane replied. “Well James, you don’t have to make up your mind about God just yet. You may feel differently when you are older. In the meantime I want you to know that you are welcome to continue attending my RE class if you want to. God still believes in you even if you don’t believe in him. He is big enough to handle your doubts”

 

Since it was morning break Jim left it at that and went outside to play with his mates

 

For a long time he didn’t give his conversation with Mrs McFarlane a second thought, although he did still attend her RE classes – she made a nice brownie

 

Ten years passed. Jim was 19 now and attending University

–         He had his restricted license and was driving home in the dark one night when he lost control on a corner and collected a cyclist

–         Jim was okay but the young guy on the bike was in a bad way

–         Although Jim had never been to church his parents had still raised him to do the right thing and so he never even thought about doing a runner

–         He called 111 on his cell-phone and asked for an ambulance

–         Then he waited with the cyclist until help came

 

For some reason (he wasn’t sure why) Jim remembered Mrs McFarlane’s RE class and that conversation he had with her 10 years ago where he had said he didn’t believe in God and she had said, “God still believes in you. He’s big enough to handle your doubts.”

–         In that moment, while he looked at the injuries he had caused, it didn’t make sense to not believe in God

–         He found himself saying under his breath, “God, if you are there and you really do believe in me then please make this right – let him live.”

 

Jim was a long time being interviewed by the police – they weren’t in any hurry to process him. They were being careful to do everything by the book so he wouldn’t get away with it

–         Jim kept wanting to know how the cyclist was but no one would tell him

 

When Jim got home his dad was livid – there was no grace with his dad, just plenty of hard truths

–         Jim didn’t have anything to say – he knew he was in deep trouble

–         He just stayed in his room for three days without checking Facebook once

 

Eventually the police came round and sat him down in the living room with his parents

–         The cyclist was going to live and (much to the constable’s disgust) the boy’s do-gooder parents had asked them to go easy on Jim

–         Jim would lose his licence for a while but he wouldn’t do jail time

 

Jim was relieved. He didn’t get the punishment he knew he deserved – he got the grace he needed

 

Jim asked the police for the cyclist’s name so he could visit him in hospital to say ‘sorry’ but the police wanted to check with the family first

–         A few days later they phoned back. His name was Josh – Josh McFarlane

–         Jim felt like he had been punched in the chest – could it be?

 

He took the shuttle from Kenepuru to Wellington hospital telling himself he wouldn’t stay long – just long enough to apologise and leave

–         But when he got there Josh was sleeping, so Jim sat in the chair & waited

–         Half an hour passed before Jim felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and a soft voice in his ear saying, “James, my friend. I’m so pleased you came.”

–         It was his RE teacher, Mrs McFarlane, Josh’s mum

–         There was no recrimination, no judgment, no condemnation

–         Just a kind smile and a warm hug to answer his doubts about God

 

Let us pray…

 

[1] Quoted in John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 172.

[2] Quoted in John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 173.

Tawa Baptist

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch

Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

 

Title: The Gospel as Treasure

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Recently Robyn & I were fortunate enough to spend a week in Taupo

–         While we were there we came across a pamphlet detailing the top 10 walking tracks around the Taupo area

–         One of these walks was up Mount Tauhara, which is the mountain you can see tucked behind the Taupo township

–         I was quite keen to climb this mountain so Robyn and I came to a mutual agreement that she would go shopping for a mothers’ day present for my mum while I went climbing (climbing is less exhausting than shopping)

 

Anyway, Mt Tauhara isn’t that tall – the summit is only 1,088 meters and the track begins half way up anyway – but it is pretty steep all the way

–         I smashed it – got the top in 1 hour – which isn’t bad for an old guy

 

At the top a woman, with her three kids, laid down a painted rock

–         She explained to the rest of us there what she was doing

–         The idea is to paint a rock and then write on the back # the name of your town Rocks

–         For example, we might write #TawaRocks or if you come from Dunedin you would write #DunedinRocks

 

You hide the rock somewhere that people are likely to find it and then the finder snaps a photo holding it, uploads the photo onto social media, and re-hides it for someone else to find

  • – It’s sort of like a treasure hunt – except you don’t keep the treasure for yourself, you pass it on for others
  • – Apparently one rock which started in NZ has ended up in Italy

 

Today is the first of three Sundays when we promote Tranzsend’s prayer and self-denial campaign

–         Tranzsend supports and resources NZ Baptist missionaries serving overseas

–         The theme for this year’s self-denial campaign is treasures handed down

–         Jesus is the greatest treasure God gave the world and one of the main ways that Jesus is handed down to us is through the gospel

 

The word gospel simply means ‘good news’

–         In particular it refers to the good news that, through faith in Jesus, God accepts us

 

The gospel also refers to the four accounts of Jesus’ life and work, which we read about in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

–         In many ways though the whole Bible points to Jesus – both the Old Testament and the New Testament – it’s all about Christ

–         In fact, Jesus is the key to understanding the Bible

 

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch:

Please turn with me to Acts chapter 8, verse 26

–         You can find Acts 8 on page 161 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         The Scripture reading I’ve chosen to go with this theme, that the gospel of Christ is treasure, is the account of Philip’s conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch

–         This is sort of a painted rocks story in that the treasure of the gospel is passed on to a distant land

–         From Acts chapter 8, verses 26-40 we read…

 

26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.) 27-28 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” 30 Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. 32 The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:

“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,     like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.     He did not say a word. 33 He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.     No one will be able to tell about his descendants,     because his life on earth has come to an end.”

34 The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus. 36 As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?” 37

38 The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy. 40 Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

In my 20’s I got a job working for a Non-Government Organisation which supports people with disabilities to live in the community

–         Part of my role was to accompany people, who experienced disability, as they led awareness training

–         This involved visiting schools and workplaces so people could talk about their lives and their disability as a way of breaking down barriers and helping mainstream society to accept individual difference

 

One guy I worked with lived with cerebral palsy

–         Cerebral palsy can affect people in different ways but in his case his movement and speech was disrupted, which meant he used a wheelchair to get around and other people found his speech difficult to understand

–         Every other part of his anatomy was in good working order

 

Although he was quite intelligent and capable the sound of his voice created a barrier in other people’s minds so that he was often prejudged as inferior or people simply lost patience with him and wrote him off

–         Part of my job was acting as his interpreter

–         He would say something and I would repeat it so that those in the room who weren’t used to his voice could get his meaning

–         My job then wasn’t so much to help him – he didn’t need my help

–         My job was to help others to understand him

 

One thing I learned quite quickly was that disability is a social construct

–         By which I mean it wasn’t cerebral palsy that disabled this guy so much as the society in which he lived

–         Other people’s prejudice was more disabling to him than cerebral palsy

–         It was not being given a fair go that disabled him

 

Our passage from Acts today begins with an angel of the Lord telling Philip to go out into the wilderness to a lonely road

 

An angel of the Lord is basically a messenger sent by God

–         That’s what angel means, ‘messenger’

–         Receiving a visitation from an angel made it abundantly clear that God was in this

 

Philip was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples

–         When Jesus called Philip to follow him, the first thing Philip did was to introduce one of his friends (Nathanael) to Jesus [1]

–         Nathanael also became a disciple of Jesus

–         Some people are like Philip – they are the glue connecting people

 

Philip was known as an evangelist

–         Evangelism has almost become a swear word these days, which is quite sad because evangelism is actually a good thing

–         It is a word closely related to ‘gospel’ or good news

–         An evangelist is essentially someone who spreads good news

–         Or to put it another way: evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread

–         Philip is called an ‘evangelist’ because he was one man telling others in need they could find acceptance with God through faith in Jesus

 

Prior to being visited by an angel of the Lord, Philip had a very successful time telling the Samaritans the good news about Jesus

–         Crowds of people believed Philip’s message and became Christians by being baptised

 

It seems quite strange then that, after such a successful ministry in Samaria’s principal city, God would then send his star evangelist into the middle of nowhere

–         But Philip didn’t question God’s strategy – he simply trusted that God knows best and went where the Lord directed him

 

Travelling down this deserted road (at the same time as Philip) was an Ethiopian eunuch. What are the chances?

–         It’s a bit like finding a painted rock from Africa on the top of Mt Tauhara

 

Now when we hear the word Ethiopia we tend to think of famine and poverty and starving children

–         But in the ancient world Ethiopia was different to that – more wealthy

–         On today’s map it is located in North Sudan

–         So the Ethiopian eunuch was most likely a black African man

 

A eunuch is a man who has had his equipment (his tackle, his junk) removed or damaged so he can’t have children or even relate with a woman sexually

–         To a certain extent he has been disabled by the society he lives in

–         On the one hand a eunuch (if he was skilled enough) could rise to great power in government

–         This particular Ethiopian eunuch was something like the minister of finance in a very wealthy nation – so he was no slouch

–         But on the other hand eunuchs were also the subject of much derision and scorn – people made fun of them or despised them

 

I imagine it was a very isolated and lonely life being a eunuch

–         You could fall in love but you couldn’t marry or have children

–         You could rise to great power but only in the service of others

–         You could be very good at what you do but still have to endure sniggers and smirks behind your back from people far less capable than you

–         You could serve a very important purpose but never actually belong or be remembered. There was a certain injustice that came with being a eunuch

 

The Ethiopian eunuch had travelled a long way to Jerusalem to worship God

–         Somehow he had heard about the God of Israel and liked what he heard

–         Assuming he had been castrated though, under the Law of Moses, he could never belong to the congregation of God’s people [2]

–         He couldn’t even be circumcised and yet he did what he could to draw near to the Lord

–         He travelled to Jerusalem to worship God, he obtained a copy of the scroll of Isaiah the prophet (no doubt at great expense) and he read these holy Scriptures to know God better

 

It appears the eunuch’s visit to Jerusalem was somewhat disappointing

–         As Jesus had demonstrated, when he cleared the temple, the whole Jewish religious system was set up to exclude foreigners like this eunuch

–         No doubt his experience in Jerusalem had made it more difficult for the eunuch to understand the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament)

–         How might he relate with this wonderful, powerful, creative, redeeming, faithful God?

 

The Bible is difficult to understand

–         What is meant as good news often comes across as bad news or, even worse, as nonsense

–         Because the Bible is hard to understand many people these days lose patience with it and write it off as a myth or untrue

–         In this way they seek to disable the Scriptures

–         This is quite unfair to God (a denial of justice)

 

Part of our role as Christians is to interpret the meaning of Scripture for those (like the eunuch) who do genuinely want to understand what the Bible is saying

–         That’s one reason why we have Bible study groups – not just to improve our own knowledge but also to help others interpret the Scriptures

 

The guy I worked with, who had cerebral palsy, struggled with understanding the Bible and the Old Testament in particular

–         There are verses in the Old Testament which seem to us today to be quite unfair to those who live with disability.

–         For example, Leviticus 21 where it says…

 

No man with any physical defect may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured or deformed; no one with a crippled hand or foot; no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with an eye or skin disease; and no eunuch. 

 

If you live with a disability and you don’t understand the broader context of the Bible then words like these can very unhelpful – they sound like rejection

 

What we need to understand is that the Law of Moses is not the ideal and it was not meant to be permanent

–         God gave the Law to Israel as a provisional step towards restoring His ideal for creation [3]

–         There are a number of things the Law of Moses appears to condone which are far from ideal – like slavery for instance

–         Is slavery God’s ideal? No – of course not. But God couldn’t change everything all at once, it would be too much for people.

–         So God, in His grace and wisdom, meets people where they were at and regulates certain contemptible practices (like slavery) to protect the vulnerable

–         The Law of Moses was actually a huge moral advance for people living at that time in history but it was never the end goal – it was merely a stepping stone to the ideal

 

The prophets who came after Moses (like Isaiah & Jeremiah and all those guys) also provided a stepping stone, but ultimately we find God’s ideal in Christ

–         Jesus didn’t come to do away with the Law & prophets – he came to fulfil the Law – that is to restore God’s ideal for humanity

–         If the Law and the prophets were given to help transition us to God’s ideal then Jesus came to complete that transition

 

Jesus is the one who shows us what God’s ideal looks like

–         And when we look at Jesus’ attitude towards people who lived with disability we find it was one of acceptance and respect and empowerment

 

Returning to our friend the Ethiopian eunuch

–         God, who sees everything, is aware of the eunuch’s struggle with the Old Testament and acts to help him understand the full picture

–         The Holy Spirit says to Philip, Go over to that carriage and stay close it

–         Philip runs over beside the carriage – it would have been moving quite slowly so would not be hard to keep up with

–         And Philip hears the eunuch reading from the book of Isaiah (it was customary to read aloud in those times) so he asks the eunuch…

–         “Do you understand what you are reading?”

 

Socially speaking Philip and the eunuch were poles apart

–         The eunuch was high ranking and Philip was low ranking

–         They were also likely from a different cultural background

–         But that is often the way of Christ – he comes to us in weakness, when we least expect it and in the presence of someone quite different from us

–         Despite the social distance between them the eunuch is humble enough to admit he doesn’t understand and invites Philip to sit with him

–         By inviting Philip to sit beside him the eunuch closes the gap between them

 

The passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading was this…

 

“Like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered, like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off, he did not say a word. He was humiliated and justice was denied him. No one will be able to tell about his descendants because his life on earth has come to an end.”   

 

Interestingly the eunuch doesn’t ask Philip, what does this mean?

–         He already knows what it means from his own personal experience

–         The eunuch knows what it is to have parts of himself cut off

–         He understands humiliation and injustice

–         He is well aware that he can’t have descendants and that his life is coming to an end

–         He knows well enough what it is to be near the top and still feel like you don’t belong, still wonder what the meaning of your life is

–         He can identify with the one being written about in a very real way

–         So he asks Philip,

–         “…of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?”

–         Because whoever it is, the eunuch can relate to that person profoundly

 

Philip starts where the eunuch is at by explaining that the passage he is reading is talking about Jesus – Jesus is the key to understanding the Scriptures

–         Philip then goes on to explain the good news about Jesus – that through faith in Christ we can find acceptance with God

 

We can’t be sure of all that Philip talked about but given that the eunuch had a copy of Isaiah’s scroll on his lap it’s tempting to think that Philip pointed him to chapter 56 where Isaiah says…

 

A man who has been castrated [a eunuch] should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God’s people. The Lord says to such a man, “If you honour me… and if you do what pleases me and faithfully keep my covenant, then your name will be remembered… among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten.”

 

Do you see here how Isaiah moves beyond the Law of Moses?

–         The Law said a eunuch could not be part of God’s people but by the time of Isaiah God is saying the eunuch is able to belong

 

I can imagine Philip saying to the eunuch: the way we honour God, the way we please him, the way we keep his covenant is through faith in Christ. Put your trust in Jesus, believe in him, and you will find acceptance with God

–         You see, Jesus has fulfilled the law on our behalf and so being a foreigner and a eunuch is no longer a barrier

–         This was incredibly good news to the eunuch

 

As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water and the official said, “…What is to keep me from being baptised?”

–         In other words, I believe in Jesus and I’m willing to demonstrate my faith in Christ through baptism

–         God had clearly set this encounter up – he had clearly woven Philip’s and the eunuch’s lives together at just the right moment

–         So Philip baptised him

 

After the eunuch’s baptism the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away to preach the good news about Jesus in other places while the eunuch went on his way rejoicing because he had found acceptance with God through Jesus

 

We don’t hear any more about the Ethiopian eunuch (in the New Testament at least) but early Christian tradition, dating from Irenaeus in the second century, says that he went on to proclaim the good news about Jesus in Africa

–         The eunuch shared the treasure of the gospel he had been given

 

Conclusion:

Part of the work of our Tranzsend missionaries involves being a Philip to those around them – helping others to understand the good news about Jesus found in the Bible

[1] John 1:43-45

[2] Deuteronomy 23:1

[3] Refer to Paul Copan’s book, ‘Is God a Moral Monster’, pages 57-62.

Tawa Baptist

The Weaned Soul

Scripture: Psalm 131

Title: The weaned soul

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Humility of heart
  • Contentment of soul
  • Conclusion – Hope

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have three pictures

–         We have Doctor Who’s ‘Tardis’

–         The Wardrobe from the ‘Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’

–         And the suitcase from ‘Fantastic Beasts and where to find them’

 

Who can tell me what these three things share in common?  [Wait]

–         That’s right – they are all a lot bigger on the inside than they appear on the outside and they transport you to a different world

 

This morning we return to our series on the Songs of Ascents

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

–         They are songs about drawing nearer to God

 

Our focus today is psalm 131

–         While this song appears quite small from the outside (only three verses long) – it is actually very spacious on the inside

–         Psalm 131 is like a gateway into a whole different realm

–         In this song the author, King David, touches on some pretty deep themes including humility of the heart, contentment of the soul and hope for the nation. From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

 

1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,     my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things     too great and too marvellous for me.

2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,     like a weaned child with its mother;     my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

3 O Israel, hope in the Lord     from this time on and forevermore.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Humility:

I have in my hand a spirit level

–         This is a builder’s tool which shows whether something is level or not

–         If the floor or the wall or whatever it is you are measuring is straight and true then the bubble here will sit nicely between the two lines

–         But if it’s on an angle (if one part is lifted up or standing too proud) then the bubble will move outside the lines [1]

 

David begins psalm 131 by talking to the Lord about humility. He says…

–         O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high…

–         David is saying here that he is not proud – he is humble

 

Some people think that humility consists of being self-deprecating or having a low self-esteem or putting yourself down. It doesn’t.

–         Humility is about having a true and accurate estimation of yourself in relation to God and others

–         The person who is truly humble doesn’t think too highly of themselves nor too lowly of themselves – they are level headed in their perception

–         To be humble then is to be on the level, straight, true and honest

 

Now you might be thinking – isn’t David boasting when he says he’s not proud, doesn’t that undo his humility? (humility is a sort of a Catch 22 like that)

–         Well no. David isn’t boasting, he is simply stating the facts

–         He has got his spirit level out and everything is straight & true – nothing is lifted too high or sitting too proud

 

David says that his heart is not lifted up

–         What does he mean by his ‘heart’?

 

Contemporary western society tends to equate the heart to a person’s feelings or emotions

–         In the Bible though, the heart isn’t limited to a person’s feelings

–         Rather the heart is the seat of the will

–         In other words, the heart is where decisions are made

–         This means, what we say and do comes from the heart

–         Our personal values, the things that are important to us, the principles we live by all reside in the heart

–         The human heart is sort of like the parliament of the individual

–         The heart governs a person’s life

 

You sometimes hear people talking about ‘inviting Jesus into your heart’

–         What does that mean?

–         It means to let Jesus sit on the throne of your life,

–         Let him be Lord, let him be Prime Minister,

–         Give him executive authority, make Jesus your power of attorney

–         Let Christ inform and guide the decisions you make

 

When David says to the Lord, my heart is not lifted up (or not proud) he means something like: I don’t make decisions without you God

–         I am not wilfully disobedient

–         I don’t think that I know better than you Lord

–         I submit my will to your will

–         I give you, O God, power of attorney over my life

 

Now at this point some of you, who know David’s story, might be thinking…

–         ‘Really? Is that right David? What about Uriah and Bathsheba? How did God feature in those decisions?’

–         And that’s a fair point – David wasn’t perfect.

–         We don’t know exactly when David wrote psalm 131

–         It could have been before the debacle with Uriah and Bathsheba or it might have been after that, when David had repented

–         We can be fairly confident he didn’t write it during that time

 

In any case we are told that David was a man after God’s own heart

–         Meaning that, generally speaking, David pursued God’s will

–         He went after what God wanted in most situations

 

Returning to verse 1 – David goes on to say to the Lord:

–         …my eyes are not raised too high

–         If a person’s heart is where decisions come from then a person’s eyes relate to perception

–         It’s like David is saying: I don’t look down on others

–         I don’t think of myself as better than other people

–         I don’t even compare myself to them

–         And I don’t see my desires as being more important than anyone else’s

 

Sometimes we can be bitterly disappointed when we don’t get what we want, especially if someone else does get what we want

–         That’s my seat, I always sit there

–         I was looking forward to that last piece of cake and someone beat me to it

–         I really wanted to be selected for the Lion’s tour of NZ but Warren Gatling didn’t pick me

–         Or, I wanted to sleep in but the kids woke me up early

–         These are frivolous examples of course but you get the point:

–         The truly humble person knows that it’s not realistic to expect to always get what you want

–         Humility is the awareness that we are not the centre of the universe – the world doesn’t revolve around us

 

The second half of verse 1 continues this theme of humility

–         I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me.

 

Here David appears to be saying, I accept my limits – in particular the limits of my understanding and the limits of my ability

–         Humility means accepting that we don’t know everything and learning to live with mystery, which can be more difficult for some than others

 

Science is able to explain many things about the physical universe but not everything

–         In 1953 Albert Einstein wrote a letter in response to one of his critics

–         In the letter he says…

 

“Dear Mr. Moffat, our situation is the following. We are standing in front of a closed box which we cannot open, and we try hard to discover what is and is not in it.” [2] (The closed box Einstein was referring to is the universe)

 

Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

–         What happens to something when it enters a black hole in space?

–         Who built Stonehenge?

–         Is there intelligent life on other planets?

 

We could go on but I don’t mean to side track your thinking or occupy your mind with things too great and marvellous

–         If we are this limited in our understanding of the physical universe how much more limited are we when it comes to understanding God?

–         Humility means accepting the limits of what we know and learning to live with mystery

 

Humility of heart is perhaps the most important of all the virtues

–         It’s a bit like the soil out of which the other virtues grow

–         Like the virtue of contentment – which we read about in verse 2…

 

Contentment:

But [instead of occupying my time and thoughts with things too great and marvellous for me – instead of comparing myself with others and instead of lifting what I want above what God wants]

–         I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

 

David has talked about the heart, the eyes and the mind

–         Now he talks about his soul

–         What is the human soul?

 

Well, describing the soul is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle – you can’t really define the soul in one pithy sentence or reduce it to a formula

–         The best we can do is describe the soul in pieces and then admit that we don’t have all the pieces – there are limits to our understanding here

 

The soul is different from the heart and the spirit

–         The heart is where values are held and decisions are made – like the parliament of the individual

–         And the human spirit is our capacity to connect or relate with God and others – sort of like wifi or cell-phone coverage

–         While our soul is the life force which animates us and connects the various aspects of our self

 

If the term ‘life force’ is too Star Wars sounding for you then you might prefer Dallas Willard’s metaphor, where he compares the soul to an inner stream, which refreshes, nourishes and gives strength to every other element of our life [3]

–         Just as a river gives life to the land it passes through, so too our soul gives life to our body, our mind, our heart and our spirit

–         Normally we can see a river or a stream but the stream of our soul is underground, it is hidden deep beneath the surface

–         In fact the soul is the deepest level of life and power in the human being

 

Expanding on Dallas’ metaphor we could say that if the soul is a stream of water, then God is the source (or the well-spring) of the soul

–         While the human spirit is the channel (or the conduit) through which the water of our soul flows

 

The thing that convinces me most that we have a soul is death

–         Whenever I see a dead body it’s obvious to me that the soul has departed

–         Looking at a corpse is quite different from looking at someone sleeping

–         Death has a certain pallor – a kind of greyness

–         A dead body is missing something more than just a heart beat

–         It’s missing the soul – it’s missing the stream of its life force

 

Returning to psalm 131 – David says he has calmed and quieted his soul

–         What does it mean then to quieten your soul?

–         Well, sitting still in silence, is a helpful start but it’s not usually enough by itself – our mind can be racing even if our tongue is still

–         We quieten our soul by abandoning outcomes to God

–         By not seeking to manipulate the end result

–         Not seeking to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others

–         Not seeking success or fame or superiority

–         Embracing the truth that we (on our own) don’t have the resources to make things turn out right

–         The soul settles down and finds its level when we let go of our reputation and simply trust God with the outcome

 

Dallas Willard compares the soul to an inner stream

–         Like any metaphor though it has its limits, it’s just one piece to the puzzle

–         King David provides another piece, comparing his soul to a weaned child with its mother – The poetry in this verse is profound

 

To say the soul is like a child indicates that the soul is not static or fixed but is dynamic, changing and growing, developing and learning

–         Furthermore it seems David is implying that God is the mother of his soul

–         We normally hear God described as a Father but sometimes the Bible associates God with motherhood

–         This is entirely appropriate – God cannot be contained by our narrow human categories

–         In any case, David appears to be saying that his soul feels a close bond with God – like a mother and child

 

The aspect that is underlined most strongly though is that David’s soul is like a weaned child

–         (He says ‘weaned child’ twice, which is significant in such a short poem)

–         To be weaned is to become accustomed to managing without something which we were previously dependent on

–         In the case of a mother and a baby, the child becomes accustomed to food other than it’s mother’s milk

–         So the child stops drinking its mother’s milk and starts eating solid food

–         It’s not that milk is bad – it is good for a time – but as the child grows it needs more substantial nourishment

 

A baby cries when it is hungry so the mother will feed it

–         A weaned child doesn’t cry though – a weaned child knows it will be fed and waits for mum to prepare the meal

 

How does God feed the soul?

–         God feeds the soul with meaning

–         When something is meaningful it is worthwhile – it has a point to it, a purpose that is satisfying

–         Meaning answers the ‘why’ questions of life & death

–         We often find meaning in stories – that’s why the Bible is full of stories – they feed our soul, they help us to make sense of our lives and our losses

 

Ultimately God is the one who gives meaning to our lives

–         The thing is, we often have to wait for that meaning to be revealed

 

Abraham couldn’t see the meaning of his wealth when he had no children to pass it on to – he waited many years for God to fulfil his promise

–         But his wait was not in vain

 

I imagine Joseph struggled to see the meaning of his life when he was sold into slavery by his brothers and then later sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit

–         But God used Joseph to save millions from starvation

 

Moses probably didn’t see much meaning in his life as a shepherd caring for sheep in the desert for 40 years, especially after being raised in a palace

–         But God used Moses to save the Israelites from slavery

 

The disciples struggled to see the meaning in Jesus’ death on the cross

–         At the time it may have seemed to them like they had wasted the last 3 years of their lives

–         Little did they know the cross was part of God’s plan to redeem creation

 

You may be finding it hard to locate the meaning in your life at the moment

–         Perhaps your job seems pointless or maybe you don’t have a job

–         Perhaps you were once very involved in church work or missions but now you feel like God has forgotten you

–         Maybe you have suffered a terrible loss and the grief is overwhelming

–         Hang in there – you never know when God will reveal the meaning

 

John of the Cross was a 16th Century Carmelite monk who didn’t really understand the meaning of his life’s work at the time

–         Through his thinking and writing John was among those who tried to lead a reform of the Catholic church during the 1500’s

–         John was arrested by those he was trying to help and during his confinement he wrote what became a classic, The Dark Night of the Soul

–         I don’t expect he ever imagined God would use his writing to help millions in the centuries that followed

 

Let me read you some excerpts from his book – John speaks directly to this process of God weaning the Christian soul…

 

After a soul has been converted by God, that soul is nurtured and caressed by the [Holy] Spirit. Like a loving mother, God cares for and comforts the infant soul by feeding it spiritual milk. Such souls will find great delight in this stage. They will begin praying with great urgency and perseverance; they will engage in all kinds of religious activities because of the joy they experience in them.

But there will come a time when God will bid them to grow deeper. He will remove the previous consolation from the soul in order to teach it virtue and prevent it from developing vice…

They will enter the dark night of the soul and find all of these things removed. They will have the pleasure taken away so that the soul may be purified. For a soul will never grow until it is able to let go of the tight grasp it has on God…

When their delight [in spiritual milk] comes to an end, these persons are very anxious and frustrated just as an infant is angry when it is taken away from its mother’s breast…

Let it suffice to say, then, that God perceives the imperfections within us, and because of his love for us, urges us to grow up. His love is not content to leave us in our weakness, and for this reason he takes us into a dark night. He weans us from all of the pleasures by giving us dry times and inward darkness. [4]   

 

David’s soul had been feeding on spiritual milk – but God weaned him off milk in order to help David grow up (spiritually)

–         David’s soul had been through the dark night – a time of disorientation and dryness where his usual devotional routines (like writing and singing worship songs for example) had lost all their pleasure

–         But now the dark night has done its work and David’s soul is content

–         He doesn’t cry out to God every time something doesn’t go his way

–         His prayer time isn’t a long shopping list detailing all his needs & wants or worries & fears

–         He knows that God understands his needs and he trusts God to provide

–         David has abandoned the outcome to God

–         His soul has found contentment with the Lord

 

Now some of you will have been through the weaning process we call the dark night of the soul and you will know exactly what David and John of the Cross are talking about

–         Others of you wouldn’t have faced the dark night yet – that’s okay

–         If you haven’t faced the dark night, know that it’s coming

–         And when it does come – don’t panic

–         Be calm, be still, quieten your soul – abandon the outcome to God

–         When your soul is being weaned by God you may feel like you are losing your faith – you’re not

 

Hang on through the dark night – God is bringing you to the next stage of faith in him, where you will be less anxious to know all the answers and better able to accept His will, even when His will is unpleasant or delays your satisfaction

 

Conclusion – Hope:

David finishes his song by addressing the nation…

–         3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.

 

Hope has to do with believing something good is coming in the future

–         Hope is a form of meaning more substantial than milk

–         The bread of hope feeds our soul in the present

–         Hope sustains our soul with joy and energy

 

God has weaned David off spiritual milk and is now feeding him the bread of hope – David (the king) wants to share this bread of hope with his people

 

We are currently in the season of Easter, as we wait for Pentecost

–         For Jesus’ first disciples Easter was a time of weaning

–         There was Easter Saturday of course when Jesus was dead and the disciples were confused and grief stricken

–         (A very acute dose of the dark night of the soul)

–         But the time between Jesus’ resurrection and Pentecost was also a time of weaning

–         Previously the disciples had access to Jesus 24-7

–         He was present with them physically all the time – like a mother with a small child

–         But after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension the disciples’ way of relating with Jesus had to change

–         Jesus was no longer present with them physically

–         The disciples had to go through this weaning process in order to grow up in the faith

 

Jesus didn’t abandon them altogether though

–         Jesus gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit and the bread of hope

–         He promised them he would return one day in glory to make all things right – this is our hope too

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/30-april-2017-weaning-the-soul

[1] The inspiration for this illustration comes from Josh Moody’s book, ‘Journey to Joy’, page 137

[2] http://discovermagazine.com/2004/sep/einsteins-grand-quest

[3] You can read more about Dallas Willard’s thoughts on the soul in his book, ‘Renovation of the Heart’, pages 169-181.

[4] From Richard Foster and James Smith’s book, ‘Devotional Classics’, page 33-36.

Tawa Baptist

Resurrection means transformation

Scripture: John 20:10-18

 

Title: Resurrection means transformation

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus’ resurrection transforms Mary’s life
  • Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God
  • Jesus’ resurrection transforms death
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Three of four weeks ago I went to see the latest version of Beauty and the Beast at the movies with one of my daughters

–         The theatre was packed – in fact there were signs up when we arrived saying the movie had been sold out for the day

–         Fortunately we had booked online so we got a seat

 

In a number of ways Beauty and the Beast is a parable of the Gospel story

–         It’s not an exact match with the gospel but it does speak to some of the deepest needs of the human soul – in particular our need for redemption and transformation. I think that’s why it’s so popular

 

For those who aren’t familiar with the story a selfish prince is turned from a man into a hideous beast and love is the only thing that will break the spell

–         Not superficial romantic love, but real love

–         Deep unselfish love which sees beneath the surface and is committed to the other at great personal cost

 

The hero of the story is a young woman called Belle

–         And the villain is a man called Gaston

–         All the villagers love Gaston but (like the Pharisees in the gospel) he is not as good as he appears – Belle sees through him

 

Long story short, Belle is the Christ figure in the story – she shows the beast what unselfish love looks like

–         The beast learns to love unselfishly too and becomes the recipient of Belle’s love, thus setting him free so he is transformed into a man again

 

The prince turned beast represents humanity under the spell of sin

–         Through the fall we have become beast like

–         Christ is the one who shows us what it is to be fully human

–         Jesus redeems us and transforms us

–         He sets us free from the spell we are under and restores our full humanity

 

Of course we can’t press the analogy too far

–         Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale – it is a made up story

–         While the gospel is a true story – the death and resurrection of Jesus actually happened in history

 

Today is Easter Sunday

–         Easter Sunday is about the resurrection of Jesus

–         The resurrection is the most important event in all of human history

–         The resurrection changes everything

–         It changes our lives now, it changes our relationship with God forever and it even changes death

 

Earlier in the service we heard a reading from John chapter 20, verses 1-9

–         This morning’s message is based on the verses which follow

–         From John 20:10-18 we read…

 

10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Jesus’ resurrection transforms Mary’s life:

When I was about 4 or 5 years old I got lost in Chartwell Square

–         Chartwell Square was the latest shopping mall complex near where we used to live in Hamilton

–         Somehow I got separated from my Mum and no one could tell me where she was

–         I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but for the first time in my life I had a good idea

–         It occurred to me that if I went back to our car then eventually I would find mum because at some point she would return to the car also

–         This was back in the days when people didn’t lock their vehicles so I could get inside without a key

–         There I was waiting inside our burnt orange Mark 1 Ford Escort

–         Time seemed to go incredibly slowly and I became upset wondering if I would ever see my family again

 

Looking back, sitting in that empty car feeling lost, was a bit like being in a tomb – it was like facing the end of something

–         My mum did eventually turn up again though and we were reunited

 

Our Bible reading this morning focuses on Mary Magdalene and her reunion with Jesus

–         So who is Mary Magdalene?

–         Well, she was a different Mary to Jesus’ mother

 

‘Magdalene’ is probably not Mary’s surname

–         Rather it is a reference to the village she comes from called ‘Magdala’

 

Luke 8 tells us Mary Magdalene was the woman whom Jesus delivered from seven demons

–         We don’t feel comfortable talking about demons these days do we

–         It sounds superstitious or unscientific – backward even

–         They say the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he doesn’t exist

–         But evil is still present in the world, even if it goes by a different name

 

Having a demon in you is like being ruled by a fascist dictator

–         You are not in control, you are not free – it is torment

–         Life is reduced to a hellish existence and one feels less than human

–         One longs for oblivion – to simply not exist, to go to sleep without dreaming and never wake up

–         In fact the idea of eternal life becomes a nightmare

–         You start to think – if this is what life is then who wants to live forever?

God can keep His heaven

 

Other people don’t necessarily understand what you are suffering because it’s going on inside you – it’s invisible, they can’t see it

–         If you have a physical illness then people usually have sympathy for you

–         They send you cards and flowers – they might make you meals or put you on the prayer chain or maybe even start a ‘give a little’ page for you

–         But if you have a demon, people generally avoid you

–         You become isolated and feel lonely in a crowd

 

Mary didn’t just have one demon – she had seven – so there was no reprieve for her, no rest, no Sabbath

–         Then one day Jesus sees her suffering and has compassion on her

–         He gets it – he understands her torment and he sees her (the real her)

–         More than just understanding her though he actually has the power to send the demons packing – and that’s what he does

 

Jesus’ redeems her soul – he sets Mary free

–         Now, instead of 7 evil dictators bossing her around and making her life a misery, she has one Lord – his name is Jesus and he is good

–         Jesus isn’t taking anything from her – he isn’t demanding any sort of repayment – she is free and chooses to use her freedom to serve him

 

Luke 8 tells us that Mary Magdalene was one of the women who helped to support Jesus and his disciples out of her own means

–         Mary followed Jesus, partly out of gratitude for what he had done for her, but also because Jesus gave her life meaning and purpose again

–         Not only that, but with Jesus came a community to belong to – other people who had been through similar experiences of suffering and redemption

 

John 19 tells us that Mary had been at the cross when Jesus died

–         This shows she had courage and was devoted to Jesus in a spirit of unselfish loyal love

–         Now, in John 20, we find Mary again, on Sunday morning at the tomb, ready to finish the job of caring for Jesus’ body in death

 

Peter and the other disciple return home but Mary stands weeping outside the tomb – This is bit like returning to the car when you are lost – it was Mary’s best chance of finding Jesus

–         Mary sits with her grief – she doesn’t rush away

–         She gives her soul time to catch up with what’s happening

–         You see, in losing Jesus Mary hasn’t just lost a good friend (as difficult as that is) – she has also lost the meaning and purpose of her life

–         For the last 2 or 3 years Mary’s whole life had revolved around Jesus

–         With Jesus she had a valued role, an important job to do

–         Now with Jesus gone there was this huge hole in her life

–         What was she supposed to do, where did she fit, what was her role now?

 

We can understand Mary’s loss in some ways

–         Maybe you’ve had the experience of losing a job or going into retirement and at the same time feeling like you’ve lost your identity a little bit too

–         Or when the kids leave home and you are no longer needed to take care of them – you find yourself asking, ‘what’s my role now?’

–         Or shifting towns and losing your networks of support and belonging – where do I fit?

 

Perhaps Mary was also afraid of the demons coming back now that Jesus had gone

 

When Mary looks into the tomb she sees two angels in white sitting where Jesus had been lying

–         The angels say to Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

–         Their question suggests that sorrow is out of place

–         Mary explains: They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him

–         Mary’s concern appears to be that Jesus’ enemies have stolen his body to show further disrespect to him in death

–         However, the presence of angels is a clue that it is not robbers who have removed the body, rather what has happened stems from God’s power [1]

 

Mary turns around to see Jesus standing behind her (in the garden – outside the tomb) but Mary doesn’t recognise him – she thinks he is the gardener

–         Mary is still focused on the tomb

–         The photocopier of her mind is jammed with grief – she can’t get past Jesus’ death

 

Jesus repeats the angel’s question, “Woman, why are you weeping?” and then adds his own question, “Who are you looking for?”

–         But Mary doesn’t quite get it yet – her soul needs more time to catch up

–         So Jesus says her name, ‘Mary’

–         Understanding spiritual reality is a gift from God – we need God’s help

–         In saying her name Jesus is opening Mary’s mind to understand the reality of his resurrection

–         All at once Mary gets it and responds in Hebrew, their special language

–         (Speaking Hebrew like this shows the tenderness and closeness between them both)

 

Resurrection means transformation

–         It isn’t just that Jesus has been transformed though

–         Mary too has been transformed

 

You see, what we don’t pick up from reading the English translation is that Jesus spoke Mary’s name in Hebrew – everywhere else it is written in Greek

–         ‘Mary’, in Hebrew, is Miriam

–         Miriam was of course Moses’ older sister

–         Mary Magdalene, who everyone avoided and feared because of her 7 demons, becomes the new Miriam to the new Moses

–         Mary isn’t just redeemed – she is also transformed

 

Just as Miriam took care of her brother Moses’ needs, so too Mary had taken care of Jesus’ needs

–         Just as Miriam oversaw the baby Moses as he journeyed down the Nile, so too Mary had overseen Jesus’ journey from the cross to the tomb [2]

 

In Jewish society 2000 years ago women were not trusted as legal witnesses

–         And yet Jesus sows the seeds of social transformation by giving Mary the honour of being the first to bear witness to his resurrection

 

The Old Testament Miriam became a prophet bearing a message to Israel

–         Now the New Testament Miriam (Mary Magdalene) carries the most important prophetic message ever: Jesus is risen

 

It’s quite true what Jesus said: the first shall be last and the last shall be first

–         Mary had been last and now she was first

–         First to discover the empty tomb

–         First to see the risen Jesus

–         And first to tell the good news of Jesus’ resurrection

 

Resurrection means transformation

–         Jesus’ resurrection transformed Mary’s life

–         And Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God too

 

Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God:  

Upon recognising Jesus, Mary must have instinctively embraced him, for Jesus says: “Do not hold onto me because I have not ascended to the Father…”

 

These words of Jesus are easy to misunderstand

–         It’s not that Jesus doesn’t want to be touched by Mary

–         He’s not afraid of being contaminated before going back up to heaven

–         Rather it’s like Jesus is saying: ‘It’s okay Mary, you can let go of me now. There’s no need to keep hanging on – I’m not about to disappear up to heaven just yet. I plan to stick around a bit longer before I ascend to my Father – so you will get to see me again before I depart.’ [3]

–         Jesus’ words are a reassurance to Mary, a comfort (not a rebuke)

 

At the same time Jesus is also indicating that the relationship will need to change, for while Jesus isn’t ascending to the Father immediately he was still planning to return to heaven

–         Mary and the other disciples should not assume that Jesus’ resurrection means everything will go back to the way it was before

–         Jesus’ presence with his followers was about change

 

“Mary cannot ‘hold on’ to the way Jesus has lived and worked among them but must instead rethink the nature of intimacy with Jesus. It will be a new intimacy, a spiritual intimacy, realised in the coming of the Holy Spirit”  [4]

–         In other words, once Jesus does make his final ascension his presence on earth will be mediated through the Holy Spirit rather than a physical body

 

In verse 17 Jesus says to Mary:

–         Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’

 

Jesus’ brothers in this context refers to his disciples

–         The implication seems to be that Jesus’ resurrection transforms the very nature of our relationship with him and with God

–         Jesus says, God is ‘my Father and your Father’ – we have the same Father so now we are family

–         Jesus is the natural born Son of God and we (the followers of Jesus) are God’s adopted sons and daughters

 

Resurrection means transformation

–         Jesus’ resurrection transformed Mary’s life

–         Jesus’ resurrection transforms our relationship with God

–         And Jesus’ resurrection even transforms death

 

Jesus’ resurrection transforms death:

Let me tell you a story…

 

Once there was a rich young man

–         His father was a millionaire and the young man was in line to inherit his father’s fortune

–         Most people think that children who grow up rich don’t know the value of money because they’ve never had to work a day in their life

–         That’s not true – those who grow up with a trust fund know the value of money better than most and it generally causes them to despise it, if not themselves

 

This young man lost his mother when he was 8 years old

–         She died of a rare illness and despite many costly treatments there was nothing his father or the doctors could do for her

–         It was a painful loss at the time but it was also the making of him

–         When you have lost something money can’t replace it has a way of teaching you what really matters in life

 

Later, when he was in his 20’s, he met a girl and fell in love with her

–         They were married and for a short while he thought their lives were bliss

–         But it turned out she was more in love with his bank account than she was with him and she left for another man

–         The betrayal broke his heart but then ‘a heart that is broken is a heart that is open’ [5]

 

The young man continued working in one of his father’s companies but it didn’t matter how many hours he put in or how many good decisions he made or how good his golfing handicap was he still felt both lost and trapped at the same time

–         In other people’s eyes he would always be the boss’ son who had everything handed to him on a plate

–         His wealth & privilege was a cruel dictator – it isolated him

–         He felt alone in a crowd

–         People don’t have too much sympathy for you when you are rich

 

One day he received a letter from a child he had been sponsoring through World Vision

–         The child lived in an orphanage and was inviting him to come and visit

–         Sick of his job the young man got his vaccinations and boarded the plane for Uganda

 

He knew Africa would be different to what he was used to but nothing could have prepared him for the contrast

–         It was the smell more than anything that hit him

 

In a strange way though the young man felt more at home in the orphanage with his sponsor child than he did in his father’s board room or on the golf course

–         Over there no one really knew him so he was free to be himself without all the prejudice that went with being a millionaire’s son

–         He didn’t know poverty and hunger like they did

–         Nor did he know what it was like to be a child soldier

–         But he did understand what it was like to lose that which money can’t replace – he knew betrayal and loneliness well enough too

–         In a beautifully ironic way the things he had suffered in life became a nursery for compassion

 

The visit was meant to be for just a few days but the young man stayed on and helped out around the place

–         Turns out there were things his money was useful for

–         For the first time in a long time his life made sense

–         He felt like he had meaning and purpose and he felt like he belonged

–         By letting him in the young man’s sponsor child had also set him free

–         This was his redemption

 

The young man continued working in the orphanage as a volunteer for nearly two years and was happy until one day one of the children, whom he felt particularly close to, became ill and died

–         Unlike his mother though it wasn’t a rare disease – it was something that could have been easily prevented with a better health service

 

The young man was deeply distraught – he didn’t know if he could continue working at the orphanage

–         In fact he couldn’t understand why the others seemed to bounce back so easily – didn’t they know that death was the end?

–         They must have known – these kids had seen more death than most people and yet, somehow, they managed to keep their hope

–         But the photocopier of his mind was jammed with grief – he couldn’t get past the child’s death

 

After several weeks one of the nuns, who worked with him, noticed his thousand yard stare wasn’t going away and she sat with him for a while

–         She didn’t say anything at first – just sat there and listened in silence

–         Then she told him about the story of Jesus’ resurrection

–         The young man had heard the Easter story before but when she spoke, it was like he was actually hearing it properly for the first time

–         The lights went on and he finally understood – finally believed

–         Jesus’ resurrection transformed him

–         The resurrection changes everything

–         Because of the resurrection death is not the end – it is a new beginning

–         Jesus’ resurrection is the only currency that can restore those things money can’t replace

 

Conclusion:

Let us pray…

–         Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, your resurrection changes everything

–         Your resurrection has the power to transform our lives in the here & now, to make life worth living

–         Your resurrection also has the power to transform our relationship with God – making us His sons and daughters

–         And it has the power to transform death, from an end to a new beginning

–         Fill us with your Spirit we pray Jesus, so that we may live in the light and energy of your resurrection life. Amen.

[1] Gary Burge, NIVAC John, Page 555

[2] Ibid, page 574

[3] This is my paraphrase of Leon Morris’ thought in the NICNT on John, page 742

[4] Gary Burge, NIVAC on John, page 567

[5] A line from a U2 song, by Bono

Tawa Baptist

Jesus Prays

Scripture: Mark 14:32-46

 

Title: Jesus Prays

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

May God bless the reading of His word

 

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

–         But what is prayer?

 

Well, sometimes we understand what something is by its opposite

–         The opposite of light is darkness

–         The opposite of vision is blindness

–         The opposite of reality is fantasy

–         The opposite of facing something is avoiding it

–         The opposite of awareness is ignorance

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

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

 

When we sleep we are unconscious, unaware of reality

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

–         (After all God is the ultimate reality)

 

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

–         When we pray we get our head and heart together

–         We get organized, we get mentally & emotionally ready

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

–         You make sure you are ready

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

–         You make sure you know where your middle stump is

–         You keep your eye on the ball

–         A small lapse of concentration and you could get out

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Interestingly Jesus says to the disciples…

–         The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

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

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

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

–         Like Paul says in his letter to the Romans…

–         The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

 

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

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

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

 

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

–         (Look, here comes my betrayer)

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

–         The disciples on the other hand are quite unprepared

 

As Christians we are to have an attitude of prayerful awareness

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

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

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

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

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

 

We could go on but you get the point

–         Prayer is about facing reality – not avoiding it

 

What realities are you facing this Easter?

–         What weighs your soul down in sorrow?

–         What does God want in your situation?

–         And how does this make you feel?

 

Prayer

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

 

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

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

 

 

 

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

Tawa Baptist

Forgiven

Scripture: Psalm 130

 

Title: Forgiven

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Guilt
  • Forgiveness
  • Waiting
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

This morning we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents

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

–         They are songs about drawing nearer to God

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

 

Our focus today is psalm 130

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

–         From the New Revised Standard Version, we read…

 

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

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

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

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

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

Psalm 130 shows us a way out of the maze

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

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

–         Let’s begin by considering the depths of guilt

 

Guilt:

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

 

That’s right, it gets darker and darker

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

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

 

In verse 1 the psalmist says…

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

 

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

–         It is a place of profound despair and weakness

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

–         So we are all in the same sinking boat

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

–         Surviving a car crash is not a sin

–         Nor is being the child of divorced parents

–         There’s no reason to feel guilty about that

 

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

–         Nor is his guilt misplaced

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Forgiveness:

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

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

–         In May 1738 John Wesley writes…

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

–         And yet he was struggling in the depths

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

–         That is such a tragedy

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

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

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

 

John Wesley persevered with his guilt for more than 10 years

–         Perhaps you have suffered longer

 

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

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

–         The hymn they were singing was psalm 130

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

 

In the evening of that same day John Wesley writes…

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

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

 

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

–         He is standing beside us waiting to forgive

–         In verse 4 the psalmist says…

 

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

 

Walter Brueggemann makes the observation here that…

–         Forgiveness is the first fact of a new life

–         From forgiveness everything else flows [3]

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

 

Forgiveness comes before reverence (or fear) of God

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

–         Grace is the horse which pulls the cart of obedience

 

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

 

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

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

 

Waiting:

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

 

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

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

 

Not only is the waiting eager but the hope is certain

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

–         Poor old John Wesley struggled for over 10 years

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

–         The boil hadn’t come to a head

 

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

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

–         Once he felt forgiven then he could serve the people

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

–         Guilt makes us a prisoner in our own soul

–         Forgiveness releases us to think outside of ourselves

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

 

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

–         Just like there is a time of waiting between when the boil is lanced and drained and when the wound finally heals over

–         Or to use a different analogy: the stain of guilt may be removed from clothes of our soul by the washing of forgiveness but we still have to wait for the clothes to dry before we can wear them

 

Conclusion:

There are many stories of forgiveness in the gospel

–         But the story which (I think) fits best with psalm 130 is Jesus’ forgiveness of the criminal on the cross

 

Jesus was crucified between two criminals

–         The first criminal was not in touch with his own guilt

–         He didn’t feel bad about what he had done

–         He seemed to be blind (or unfeeling) when it came to the impact his actions had on others

–         He gave Jesus a hard time saying: Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us.

–         Jesus ignored this first criminal – he said nothing to him

 

The second criminal was in touch with his own guilt

–         He rebukes the first criminal saying: Don’t you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.

 

The second criminal does feel bad for what he has done – and what’s more he feels bad for Jesus who hasn’t done anything to deserve crucifixion

 

What I find particularly interesting is way the second criminal begins by saying:

–         Don’t you fear God?

–         To fear God is to have deep respect and reverence for him

–         This connects with verse 4 of psalm 130 where the psalmist says…

–         But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered [or feared]

–         We hold God in deep reverence and respect because he has the power to forgive

 

It’s like the second criminal is saying to the first:

–         What are you doing?! You are guilty and without excuse.

–         You need forgiveness and God is the only one with the power to forgive.

–         This man Jesus, who you are insulting, is God’s representative

–         Why would you insult the one man who could help you get forgiveness from God

–         Don’t you respect God – don’t you believe God has the power to forgive?

 

Clearly the second criminal did believe that God could forgive him and take away his guilt

–         What’s more he also believed Jesus was the key to God’s forgiveness

–         So he says: Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King

–         The man is in the depths and he is begging Jesus for mercy from a position of vulnerability and weakness

 

And the Lord replies: I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me

–         Jesus is promising the man redemption

–         The implication here is that the man’s sins are forgiven

–         Jesus is not standing over the man waiting for him to make a mistake

–         He is hanging beside the man waiting to forgive

–         All the man has to do is wait in hope and keep trusting in Jesus’ promise of paradise

–         What we notice is there’s a gap – a time of painful waiting – between being forgiven and being fully redeemed

 

In a few minutes we will share communion together

–         Communion is a time to remember that with Jesus there is forgiveness

–         The musicians will come now to lead us in song as we prepare our hearts to receive God’s grace

[1] The Journal of John Wesley, Volume One, pages 471.

[2] Ibid, pages 475-476.

[3] Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, page 105.

Tawa Baptist

Work and Family

Scripture: Psalm 127

 

Title: Work & Family

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Work
  • Family
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

This morning we are starting with a short (2 question) quiz

–         The first question is for those under 40 and the second question is for those over 40

 

On the wall here are the lyrics to a song

–         I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me Radio reminds me of my home far away Driving down the road I get a feeling That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

 

Since this is an easy question for those who are over 40 I thought we would ask those under 40 – what is the name of this song and who wrote it?  [Wait]

–         That’s right – ‘Country Roads’ by John Denver

–         ‘Country roads, take me home to the place where I belong…’

 

Ok – here’s the second question – this is for those who are over 40 (if you’re under 40 then it will offer little challenge)

–         I’m on my way Driving at ninety down those country lanes Singing to “Tiny Dancer” And I miss the way you make me feel, it’s real

 

What’s the name of this song and who wrote it?  [Wait]

–         That’s right – ‘Castle on the hill’ by Ed Sheeran

 

The song Country Roads was released in 1971

–         And Castle on the Hill was released in January this year

–         Despite being written roughly 46 years apart by two different artists from different countries, both songs share the same theme

–         They are about coming home

–         There is something in us as human beings (a drive or a pull or something) which draws us home when we’ve been away for a while

 

This morning we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents

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

–         In particular coming home to God

 

Last week we explored the meaning of psalm 125

–         Our focus today is psalm 127

–         We are missing out psalm 126 because we did that only 15 months ago and it feels too soon to repeat it

–         Anyway, psalm 127 is attributed to Solomon the philosopher king

–         From the New Revised Standard Version, we read…

 

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,     those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city,     the guard keeps watch in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early     and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;     for he gives sleep to his beloved.

 

3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,     the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior     are the sons of one’s youth. 5 Happy is the man who has     his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame     when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

Broadly speaking, psalm 127 deals with two of the biggies in this life:

–         Work and family

–         Verses 1-2 deal with work and verses 3-5 with family

–         Work & family are typically the two human endeavours that occupy most of our time & tend to be what most people look to for meaning in this life

–         Let’s start with work in verses 1 & 2

 

Work:

Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk (a Christian) was the one who came up with the now famous line…

 

“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”

 

Thomas Merton (an American) was born in 1915 and entered the monastery in 1941, just days before Pearl Harbour was bombed

–         Although Merton was looking forward to a life of obscurity, silence and contemplation his first book, ‘The seven story mountain’ (published in 1948) was (ironically) a huge success

–         At a time when the pursuit of materialism was on the rise in Western culture, Merton’s message was:

–         There’s more to life than a house in the suburbs and a new car

 

In a nutshell this is what king Solomon was getting at in the opening verses of psalm 127, when he wrote…

 

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,     those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city,     the guard keeps watch in vain.

 

The house in view here could be a physical building or it could be a household, as in an extended family

–         The city reminds us of the wider community (or society) of which each house (or household) is a part

–         Perhaps Solomon (the author of this psalm) had in mind the house of the Lord or the temple in Jerusalem, which God used him to build

 

‘Building’ is about creating and ‘guarding’ is about conserving [1]

–         If the Lord isn’t involved in these endeavours then what’s the point?

–         Without God anything we do is like building a house of cards or setting up a row of dominoes or leaning our ladder against the wrong wall

–         Unless our projects are embedded in the purpose of God they are doomed to failure and frustration

 

At a deeper level verses 1 & 2 bring into focus the two attitudes we can have toward God: dependence or independence

 

To depend on God is to remain connected to him

–         To abide in him, rely on him and allow him to be the boss

–         Take our lead from him, allow him to govern our lives

 

To seek independence from God is to separate ourselves from the Lord

–         To try and survive apart from God, rely on ourselves and be our own boss, to govern ourselves (that’s independence)

 

When we choose independence from God we cut ourselves off from the source of life and meaning

 

To choose independence from God is like a fish choosing to be independent of water – the fish will surely die

–         To choose independence from God is like a doctor trying to practice medicine without science

–         Or a preacher trying to write a sermon without the Bible

–         Or a bank trying to trade without money

–         Or a glacier trying to survive apart from a mountain

–         Or a pen trying to write a book without the author

–         Or a branch trying to be fruitful while cut off from the tree

–         Just as a doctor depends on science and a preacher depends on the Bible and a bank depends on money and a glacier depends on the mountain and a pen depends on the writer, and a branch depends on the tree, so too human beings depend on God

–         God is the ground of our being

–         God gives our lives meaning and purpose

 

Building a house without the Lord is like the hammer saying to the carpenter…

–         “I don’t need you. I can build this house myself”

–         That’s ridiculous – the hammer can’t do anything by itself

–         The hammer can only fulfil its purpose in the hand of the carpenter

–         The hammer gets its meaning from the carpenter

 

Likewise, keeping watch over the city without the Lord is like the binoculars saying to the eyes of the watchman…

–         “I don’t need you. I can see very well myself”

–         A pair of binoculars can’t do anything by itself

–         It is the eyes of the watchman which fulfil the purpose of the binoculars

–         The binoculars get their meaning from the eyes, not the other way around

 

The classic Biblical story of humanity leaning the ladder against the wrong wall (or building without God) is the story of the Tower of Babel, in Genesis 11 [2]

–         This happens after Noah and the flood when the peoples of the world said, “Let’s build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves”

–         When God came down to see the city and the tower that they were building, independently of him, he mixed up their language so they couldn’t understand each other

–         Then the building stopped and the people were scattered

–         The city was called Babylon

–         They did make a name for themselves but it wasn’t a name anyone would want to be known by

 

The story of the tower of Babel highlights the futility of working independently from God

 

Independence from God is the very definition of Sin (with a capital ‘S’)

–         It is Sin at its most fundamental level

–         Independence from God is what leads us to do bad things like, lying and stealing and adultery and murder and so on

 

Jesus came to save us from Sin and death

–         That doesn’t just mean that Jesus came to absolve our guilt, as important as that is

–         It means that Jesus came to restore a right relationship between us & God

–         He came so that we might learn to depend on God once more and fulfil our purpose in life

 

If we are the pen then Jesus puts us back into the hand of God (the author) so that our lives have meaning and purpose again

–         If we are the glacier then Jesus restores us to the mountain of God

–         Or if we are the doctor trying practice medicine without science then Jesus reminds us of the principles of God who invented chemistry

 

In verse 2 Solomon gets personal and addresses his audience directly saying…

 

2 It is in vain that you rise up early     and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;     for he gives sleep to his beloved.

 

“The bread of anxious toil” is about hard labour driven by fear

–         Verse 2 speaks of burning the candle at both ends just to keep the wolf from the door

–         This is not a criticism of working – work is good and we need to work

–         This is a criticism of working independently from God

 

Solomon is addressing those who exclude God from the equation

–         Those who work anxiously like this may have bread to show for it – they may have full stomachs – but they don’t have rest

 

I’m not sure how well received his message would have been – especially given that Solomon lived a life of privilege and luxury

–         What would a king know about hunger – all he had to do to feed himself was raise taxes

–         Nevertheless there is a certain wisdom in Solomon’s words

–         Jesus (who did not live a life of privilege or luxury) preached about the futility of worry and anxious toil in Matthew 6 where he says…

 

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?…

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 

Jesus is not saying you don’t need to work to support yourself – we still need to do our part

–         He is simply preaching dependence on God in contrast to the futility of depending on ourselves

 

Perhaps the application for us with our busy, pressured, tech heavy lives is…

–         ‘Don’t forget the Lord. Don’t work too hard. Get some work / life balance. Make sure you get the rest you need and enjoy your family’

 

Returning to psalm 127 – the big picture is work and family

–         Verses 1-2 deal with work and verses 3-5 with family

 

Family:

3 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,     the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior     are the sons of one’s youth.

 

In these 2 verses Solomon gives us three images of children

–         He says sons are a heritage

–         The fruit of the womb (or children generally) are a reward

–         And sons are like arrows

–         Heritage, reward and arrows – they are Solomon’s 3 images of children

 

We may have heard these verses so often that their meaning is lost on us

–         Actually Solomon’s 3 images of children turn our thinking upside down

 

A ‘heritage’ is something that has been handed down from the past

–         It might be a wise tradition or a piece of land or a family heirloom

–         Another word for heritage is inheritance [3]

–         Whatever form it might take ‘heritage’ is an asset which is gifted to us

–         It is something we don’t do anything to earn and yet it benefits us

 

Now we wouldn’t normally think of children as an inheritance – we wouldn’t think of them being handed down to us from the past

–         In fact we would be more inclined to think of children as the future with ourselves being a heritage to our children

–         We think of our kids as beneficiaries of the estate

–         Whereas Solomon is saying, ‘No, no. Children aren’t the beneficiaries of the estate – they are the estate’

–         Parents are the beneficiaries, God is the giver of the inheritance and children are the assets

–         That flips our thinking on its head

 

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying

–         It’s not that children are the property of parents

–         Children are not to be treated like chattels

–         Rather it is that children are a valuable gift from God

 

If your parents leave you a watch or a ring in their will then you treasure that inheritance – you value it, you take care of it because of who gave it to you

–         It’s similar with children

–         When a child is born the parents are inheriting a gift from God – a gift far more valuable than a watch or a ring

–         Therefore parents have a responsibility to take care of God’s precious gift to the best of their ability

 

Given our track record for child abuse in the modern world we would do well to think of children as an inheritance from God

 

The second image Solomon uses is that of ‘reward’

–         Children (boys and girls) are a reward

–         Not a reward in the sense of a prize for good behaviour

–         But a reward in the sense of a payment, like income [4]

 

Again this flips our idea of children on its head

–         We tend to think of children as expensive – they cost money right?

–         But Solomon is saying – No, no. Children are a payment from God, like wages or dividends, except you don’t do anything to earn them

 

In ancient Israel children were your superannuation scheme

–         Children were expected (when they grew up) to provide for their elderly parents – so there was a sense in which it was literally true to say children are a reward or a payment

 

But we need to be careful not to apply a mercenary attitude to this image of reward

–         The point isn’t so much that children can provide parents with an income stream when they are old

–         The point is rather that children give us something far more valuable than money

–         With the presence of children we often have joy and a sense of hope

–         Children soften us – they remind us what it is to be human

–         In fact Jesus pointed to children as an example of how we enter the kingdom of God because children teach us how to depend on God

 

The third image Solomon uses to is that of an ‘arrow’

–         Sons are like arrows in the hand of a warrior

 

We need to be careful not to press this image too far

–         Sons are not like arrows in every sense

–         Sons are not to be literally used as ammunition for killing your enemies

–         Rather, ‘arrows’ are a symbol of strength

–         A quiver full of arrows keeps your enemies honest without you needing to shoot a single one

–         People won’t try to cross you if they see you are well armed

 

The city gate was the place where people gathered to settle disputes

–         If a man turned up to settle a dispute accompanied by 4 or 5 strapping boys, the adversary would think twice about taking advantage

 

Arrows are also something that require certain skill to guide.

–        Parenting (guiding children) requires skill.

 

The point is, children are not a liability – they are an inheritance

–         Children are not an expense – they are a reward

–         And children are not a weakness – they are a strength

 

Earlier in the sermon I made reference to the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, saying it illustrated the debacle of building without God

–         Later in that same chapter we read how God quietly and unobtrusively builds a house with the birth of Abram to Terah [5]

–         Abraham didn’t start out perfect but, by God’s grace, he certainly became an inheritance, a reward and a blessing to the whole world

 

Now, at this point, I need to address two groups of people:

 

Firstly, to those of you who are parents

–         Often it can feel like children are hard work

–         When you are pacing the floor with a grizzly baby at 2 in the morning

–         Or waiting up till after midnight for a teenager to come home

–         Then children don’t feel like a reward or a strength

 

I like the reality check that Derek Kidner brings to these verses when he says…

 

“It is not untypical of God’s gifts that first they [appear as] liabilities, or at least responsibilities, before they become obvious assets. The greater their promise the more likely that these sons will be a handful before they are a quiverful.”    [6]

 

The message seems to be…

–         Parenting is hard – but ‘hang in there’

–         Children are a work in progress

–         Stay positive, keep loving them and be present for them

–         Their worth will be proved in the end

 

The other group I need to address this morning are those who don’t (or can’t) have children

–         It’s possible these verses touch a raw nerve for you, or perhaps they don’t

–         Either way let me say, there is more than one way of being a parent

–         Parenthood isn’t just a biological thing – it can be a spiritual thing too

–         The apostle Paul, so far as we know, didn’t have physical children of his own but in a different sense he was a father to many – including Timothy

–         As a community of faith we all have a responsibility to care for the children among us

 

Conclusion:

Psalm 127 deals with two of the main occupations of humankind – work and family

–         Solomon reminds us that for work and family to have meaning (or to be fruitful) we need to depend on God

 

As I finish now let me ask the question:

–         What wall is your ladder leaning against?

 

Let us pray…

[1] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, page 477.

[2] Credit to Derek Kidner for helping me see this connection, Psalms 73-150, page 477.

[3] Refer Josh Moody in his book, ‘Journey to Joy’, page 93.

[4] The Hebrew word used for ‘reward’ here “…is the same word that Jonah uses when he pays to hire a boat (Jonah 1:3)” – refer Josh Moody, ‘Journey to Joy’, page 93.

[5] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, page 477.

[6] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, page 478.

Tawa Baptist

Strength through trust

Scripture: Psalm 125

Title: Strength through trust

 Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Psalm 125
  • Daniel 6
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Trust is the foundation

–         In the same way that a good foundation gives strength to the building trust gives strength to relationships, to the community and to the individual

 

Today we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents – which we know as Psalms 120 to 134

 

The word ‘Ascent’ has to do with moving upward

–         The temple in Jerusalem was on a hill

–         On their way to religious festivals Jewish pilgrims might sing these songs as they ascended the hill to the temple

 

The 15 Songs of Ascents, then, are about being on a journey – not just a physical journey to Jerusalem but also a spiritual journey, drawing closer to God

–         We are exploring these Songs of Ascents as we journey toward Easter

–         This morning we take a closer look at psalm 125

–         This song is about the strength that comes from trusting God

–         It is the strength of righteousness or integrity

–         The strength to do the right thing under pressure

–         From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

 

1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,     which cannot be moved, but abides forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,     so the Lord surrounds his people,     from this time on and forevermore.

3 For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest     on the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous might not stretch out     their hands to do wrong.

4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,     and to those who are upright in their hearts. 5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways     the Lord will lead away with evildoers.     Peace be upon Israel!

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

At a glance, psalm 125 begins with trust and ends with peace

–         While the terrain in between is righteousness

–         But the road to peace is not smooth and the trust is tested for the righteous must stand strong against the wicked

 

Psalm 125:

In 2004 Viktor Yushchenko stood for the presidency of the Ukraine.

–         As an informal leader of the Ukrainian opposition coalition, he was one of the two main candidates

–         The ruling party at the time vehemently opposed Yushchenko

–         During the election campaign Yushchenko was mysteriously poisoned

–         He almost lost his life and his face was disfigured as a consequence

–         This did not deter him from standing for the presidency though

 

On the day of the election Yushchenko was comfortably in the lead

–         However, the ruling party tampered with the results.

–         The state-run television station reported…

–         “Ladies and gentlemen, we announce that the challenger, Victor Yushchenko, has been decisively defeated.”

 

In the lower right-hand corner of the screen a woman by the name of Natalia Dmitruk was providing a translation service for the deaf community.

–         As the news presenter regurgitated the lies of the regime, Natalia Dmitruk refused to translate them.

–         “I’m addressing all the deaf citizens of Ukraine” she signed.

–         “They are lying and I’m ashamed to translate those lies. Yushchenko is our president.”

 

The deaf community sprang into gear. They text messaged their friends about the fraudulent result

–         As news spread of Dmitruk’s act of defiance increasing numbers of journalists were inspired to tell the truth.

 

Over the coming weeks the “Orange Revolution” occurred as a million people wearing orange made their way to the capital city of Kiev demanding a new election.

–         The government was forced to meet their demands, and a new election was held with Victor Yushchenko becoming president.

 

This is a true story (from recent history) of people who had the strength, the courage and the integrity to stand for what was right, even under pressure

 

Psalm 125 begins with the words…

 

1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,     which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Mount Zion is the hill (or the foundation) on which Jerusalem is built

–         It is a symbol of enduring strength

–         Those who trust in the Lord, therefore, have an enduring strength

–         They are able to stand their ground and not be compromised

 

They abide forever

–         Abiding is a lovely word

–         Abiding is about living in peace – not merely existing, but actually living

 

Verse 2 goes on to say…

 

2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,     so the Lord surrounds his people,     from this time on and forevermore.

 

Here the mountains are a symbol of strength and protection

–         The psalmist does not imagine himself surrounded by enemies, or problems or people he can’t trust

–         He doesn’t imagine himself trapped with nowhere to turn

–         He imagines himself surrounded by the Lord God, protected, embraced by grace, free from anxiety

 

What might not be obvious to us is that the mountains surrounding Jerusalem are actually taller than Mount Zion itself [1]

–         So the idea here is that God is bigger, stronger & more exalted than Zion

–         In other words, the foundation (or trust) of God’s people is supported (or guaranteed) by God himself – God is the ground of our being

 

Because God is stronger and greater than I the psalmist’s trust is well founded

–         It is trust in God’s goodness, his righteousness, his faithfulness, which gives us strength to abide

 

After that lovely affirming start, evil raises its ugly head in verse 3, with mention of the wicked…

 

3 For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest     on the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous might not stretch out     their hands to do wrong.

 

A sceptre is a fancy stick with a little crown on the end, like this one on the wall

–         It resembles a mace or a bomby knocker

–         It is a symbol of a ruler’s power and authority to reign

–         A king or queen might carry a sceptre as a sign to show they are in charge

 

Apparently the wicked have been allowed to get into power but God will not allow them to continue to rule over the righteous

–         God doesn’t prevent tyrants from getting into places of authority but he does limit their term

–         Unlike those who trust in the Lord, the wicked do not abide forever

–         Unlike the righteous the wicked don’t have a firm foundation

 

And one reason God limits the reign of the wicked is so that the righteous are not tempted to compromise and do evil themselves

–         It appears the Lord did not allow the sceptre of wickedness to remain over the Ukraine, at least in 2004 and 2005

 

Verse 4 is a prayer to God…

 

4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,     and to those who are upright in their hearts.

The psalmist can pray this prayer with confidence because he knows it is what God wants to do anyway

–         He is not so much telling God what to do

–         Rather he is saying, ‘Your will be done Lord’

–         ‘Be yourself and do justly’

 

Two things we note here:

 

Firstly, goodness (in verse 4) is related to trust in the Lord (in verse 1)

–         So there is a relationship between trusting God and being good

–         Those who trust in the Lord are good

–         Or as the apostle Paul would say: ‘Righteousness is by faith’

 

Secondly, goodness is a state of being related to uprightness of heart

–         The heart is a symbol of a person’s inner life

–         God looks on the heart – he sees what we are like on the inside

–         In the Bible the heart is the seat of the will

–         In other words it is the inner sanctum of a person’s soul where decisions are made

–         A person’s words and actions flow down-stream from the heart

–         If our heart is pure then our words and actions will be also

 

So the kind of goodness that is in view here is not a false goodness where people do certain things to make themselves appear good in the eyes of others

–         It’s not painting over rotten timber

–         It’s not pouring concrete without using reinforcing steel

–         It’s not building on a false foundation

–         It is a genuine, authentic kind of goodness, from the inside out

 

When I think of uprightness of heart I am reminded of A.B. DeVilliers

–         In the recent one day series against South Africa Ross Taylor nicked a ball to the keeper (Quintin DeKock)

–         DeKock genuinely thought he had taken the catch cleanly and appealed convincingly

–         Ross Taylor must have felt the ball on the bottom of his bat because he began to walk off the field without contesting the umpire’s decision

 

But before Taylor had left the field the South African captain (DeVilliers) suggested the on-field umpire go upstairs to check with the third umpire

–         DeVilliers used to be a keeper and from where he was standing it looked like the ball might not have carried all the way to the keeper’s gloves

–         A.B. has pretty good eyes and it appears he is upright in heart too

–         The slow motion replay showed the ball had touched the ground just short of DeKock

–         The umpires reversed their decision and Taylor played on

 

I have no idea whether A.B. DeVilliers believes in Jesus or not but I admire his integrity – not claiming the wicket when the catch was doubtful

–         It’s not just skill which makes him one of the best cricketers in the world

 

Having prayed for God to do good to those who are good the psalmist then describes the consequences for those who turn aside to their own crooked ways

–         The Lord will lead them away with evil doers

 

In other words, it doesn’t pay to try and get by with cheating

–         God sees the whole truth and there is no escaping him

 

Fortunately the wicked don’t get the last word. As Derek Kidner notes…

–         “The final words of the psalm have arrived at peace, not by compromise but by the only road that leads to [peace]: the way of righteousness” [2]

 

Daniel 6:

Psalm 125 is about the strength (or integrity) of the righteous

–         It is a strength which comes from trusting God

–         It is a strength to do the right thing – to resist evil, remaining true to who we are & who God is

–         And, ultimately, it is a strength which leads to peace for God’s people

 

The classic Biblical story of the strength (or integrity) of one righteous man is the story of Daniel in the lions’ den

–         Daniel is a type of Christ figure – he points to Jesus

–         Daniel’s strength came from trusting God

–         It was a strength to resist evil and stay true to himself & to the Lord God

–         Through his trust and righteousness Daniel ultimately gained peace

 

Daniel, as many of you know, was a Jewish exile

–         He had been carried away from his homeland, in Israel, to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar

 

Daniel served in the Babylonian empire as a civil servant with administrative authority

–         Eventually Darius, the Mede, seized royal power

–         King Darius chose Daniel and two others to supervise the 120 governors of the empire and to look after the king’s interests

 

Daniel soon showed he could do better work than anyone else and Darius (the king) was thinking about putting him in charge of the whole empire

–         This made the other supervisors and governors jealous so they tried to find something wrong with Daniel in order to accuse him to the king and get rid of him

–         But they couldn’t fault Daniel, because he was reliable and did not do anything wrong or dishonest

–         Daniel was righteous and upright in heart, in other words

 

So Daniel’s adversaries tried to set Daniel up

–         They went to king Darius and said, ‘All of us who administer your empire have agreed that your majesty should issue an order and enforce it strictly

–         Give orders that for 30 days no one be permitted to pray to any god or any man except your majesty

–         Anyone who violates this order is to be thrown into a pit filled with lions’

 

In saying this the governors had tricked the king

–         By saying no one could pray to any god or man except the king, they were essentially putting king Darius in the place of God

–         Perhaps Darius hadn’t realised the implications at the time

–         In any case the king signed the order

–         This was a strict order of the Medes and Persians – an order that could not be changed even by the king himself

 

When Daniel learnt that the order had been signed he went home and in an upstairs room with a window open (where anyone could see) he knelt down to pray to the Lord God as he always did, three times a day

–         Trust in God was Daniel’s foundation and prayer was how Daniel remained on the foundation

 

Daniel prayed in direct violation of the king’s order

–         He knew the risk and yet he placed his trust in the Lord his God

–         Daniel was a thoughtful man

–         He knew that not praying to the Lord would be like agreeing that Darius was in the place of God

–         To not pray would be a denial of God – it would be colluding with a lie

–         Daniel couldn’t give into fear of man

–         He would rather face death than serve the purpose of the wicked

 

When Daniel’s enemies saw him praying to God all of them together went to the king to accuse Daniel

 

The king was very upset by this and did his best to find some way to rescue Daniel – not unlike Pontius Pilate who went out of his way to try and free Jesus

–         But there was nothing the king could do

–         Ironically his very power had rendered him powerless

 

Reluctantly king Darius gave the order for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the pit of lions

–         The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve so loyally, rescue you.”

 

A stone was put over the mouth of the pit and the king placed his royal seal on the stone so that no man could pull Daniel out of the pit

–         Imagine that for a moment

–         Daniel is in a hole in the ground surrounded by wild beasts

–         Once the stone is rolled over the top of the pit it would be completely dark inside – it would be terrifying

 

The stone sealing the pit shut reminds us of Jesus whose body was laid in a tomb with a stone rolled across the entrance and a seal placed on the stone so no one could take Jesus’ body away

 

After Daniel had been thrown into the pit the king returned to the palace and spent a sleepless night without food or entertainment

–         The king denied himself in solidarity with Daniel

 

At dawn the king got up and hurried to the pit

–         Kings in the East don’t normally hurry anywhere – it is undignified

–         And yet Darius was more concerned for Daniel’s well-being than he was his own reputation

 

Once again we are reminded of the women who got up early and rushed to Jesus’ tomb on the first Easter Sunday, only these women weren’t hoping for a miracle like king Darius was – they were simply hoping to care for Jesus’ corpse

 

The king called out anxiously…

–         “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was the God you serve so loyally able to save you from the lions?”

–         Apparently it wasn’t just Daniel who trusted God

–         It appears king Darius had his own faith in the Lord as well, such was the witness of Daniel’s goodness and uprightness of heart

 

Daniel answered…

–         “May your majesty live forever. God sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. He did this because he knew that I was innocent and because I have not wronged you, your majesty.”

 

Daniel does not hold anything against Darius – he remains respectful of the king

–         At the same time Daniel gives credit to God – he points out that God has vindicated him by saving him

–         Now the king can set Daniel free without losing face

 

The king was overjoyed and gave orders for Daniel to be lifted out of the pit

–         So they pulled him up and saw that he had not been hurt at all, for he trusted God (verse 23 tells us)

 

At this point we notice a distinction between Daniel and Jesus

–         Unlike Daniel, Jesus had been severely hurt and killed

–         Daniel emerged from the pit of lions without a scratch

–         Jesus, on the other hand, rose from the pit of death still bearing his scars

 

Returning to Daniel’s story, by this stage it was obvious to everyone that the other governors and supervisors had tricked the king

–         Clearly Darius could not trust them and so he acted with swift justice, ordering the men who accused Daniel to be thrown into the very same pit they had prepared for Daniel

–         Before Daniel’s enemies had even reached the bottom, the lions pounced on them and broke all their bones

 

Then king Darius wrote to the people of all nations, races and languages…

 

Greetings! I command that throughout my empire everyone should fear and respect Daniel’s God. He is a living God and he will rule forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed and his power will never come to an end. He saves and rescues; he performs wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being killed by the lions.

 

In saying this king Darius put things right

–         Not only did Darius submit himself to God, he essentially admitted he was wrong to issue the decree against praying to God in the first place

–         Darius had been humbled by God’s grace

 

Daniel prospered (he enjoyed peace) during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian

–         Daniel was indeed as strong and steadfast as Mount Zion – surrounded by the Lord God

 

Conclusion:

What pressures and temptations do you face – in your work, at home, at school or university?

–         What does doing the right thing mean for you?

 

As I’ve already alluded to Daniel points to Jesus

–         Jesus was truly righteous and good from the inside out

–         He was upright in heart, trusting God (his Father) even to death on a cross

–         And God vindicated Jesus by raising Jesus from the dead to eternal life

 

We too can share in Jesus’ strength, righteousness & peace when we place our trust in him

 

Let us pray…

 

Lord God, help us to trust Jesus

That we will have strength to do what is right in all circumstances

Keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil

And grant us your peace.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/12-march-2017-strength-through-trust

 

 

 

[1] Michael Wilcock, Psalms 73-150, page 230

[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, page 474.

Tawa Baptist

God on our side

Scripture: Psalm 124

 

Title: God on our side

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Psalm 124
  • 2 Samuel 5:17-25
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents – which we know as Psalms 120 to 134

 

The word ‘Ascent’ has to do with moving upward

–         The temple in Jerusalem was on a hill

–         On their way to religious festivals Jewish pilgrims might sing these songs as they ascended the hill to the temple

 

The 15 Songs of Ascents, then, are about being on a journey – not just a physical journey to Jerusalem but also a spiritual journey

–         As we make our way through these Songs of Ascents we notice the psalmist draws closer to God

 

We plan is to explore these Songs of Ascents as we journey toward Easter

–         This morning we take a closer look at psalm 124

–         This song is attributed to king David

–         Not all the psalms were written by David but it appears this one was

–         As a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance psalm 124 is not a solo performance – it looks like it was meant to be sung in a responsive way with the cantor (or the worship leader) singing a line and the choir repeating it

–         We are not going to try and sing psalm 124 this morning, but to help us enter into the feel of the song I’m going to read the lines in plain type and I invite you to respond by reading the words in bold italics

–         From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

 

1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side     —let Israel now say— 2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,     when our enemies attacked us,

 

3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,     when their anger was kindled against us;

4 then the flood would have swept us away,     the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters.

 

6 Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

 

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, 

who made heaven and earth.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

Psalm 124

On the wall here is a photo of British & French soldiers lined up on the beach at Dunkirk in May 1940, awaiting evacuation across the channel to England

  • – The German army had invaded France and were headed north, closing in fast on the Allied troops
  • – In one of the most widely debated decisions of the war, the Germans halted their advance on Dunkirk.
  • – German Field Marshalls suggested that the German forces should cease their advance on Dunkirk and consolidate, to avoid an Allied breakout.
  • – The army was to halt for three days, which gave the Allies sufficient time to organise the Dunkirk evacuation and build a defensive line.
  • – Despite the Allies’ gloomy estimate of the situation, with Britain even discussing a conditional surrender to Germany, in the end more than 330,000 Allied troops were rescued [1]

 

 

Although Dunkirk was a defeat (as far as the Allied forces were concerned) it was also a miracle of deliverance

–         The Allied forces could have easily been swallowed up, overwhelmed and trapped

 

In psalm 124 David gives us four images or metaphors to describe Israel’s deliverance from their enemies

–         Israel was nearly swallowed alive

–         They were almost overwhelmed & swept away, as if by a flood

–         They were hunted like prey

–         And trapped like a bird in a fowler’s snare

 

These are all images of terrifying power – where Israel is vulnerable and powerless to save themselves (not unlike the Allied forces at Dunkirk)

 

I remember as a kid watching Return of the Jedi

–         In those days it was number three in the Star Wars series but these days its number 6 (if you don’t include Rogue One)

–         Anyway there was this scene where Luke had come to rescue Han Solo and Princess Leah from Jabba the Hutt

 

Jabba the Hutt was a pretty nasty piece of work and he planned to throw Han Solo into the Sarlaac pit

–         The Sarlaac was a terrible monster which swallowed people alive and then digested them slowly for a 1000 years

–         It is nightmare stuff on the edge of human imagination

–         David wouldn’t have been thinking of the Sarlaac when he used the image of being swallowed alive

–         More likely he was thinking of the Philistine army

 

Israel’s enemies are angry

–         Their anger is described as being ‘kindled’ – like a fire

–         Fire of course destroys everything in its path and is difficult to control

–         Just as there is no reasoning with fire, there is also no reasoning with an angry enemy – there is no diplomatic solution in other words

 

The only thing an angry army will give way to is some power or force stronger and more terrifying than itself

–         David is saying: the Lord God is more powerful, more terrifying and more organised than any army

 

As for the second image – of being swept away in a flood – that reminds me of a tsunami (a tidal wave)

 

David probably wouldn’t have known about tsunamis where he was situated but, for the Jewish people generally, flood waters were a symbol of chaos – in contrast to a well ordered creation as God intended it

–         David was saying; our enemies represent chaos (anarchy) – they only want to make a mess

–         But where there is chaos the Lord God (our creator) is able to bring order

 

The image of a flood or torrent also suggests being outnumbered – as if David were saying, ‘there are too many of them for us to handle’

–         But despite the overwhelming odds against Israel God holds the balance of power

 

Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

–         That’s David’s third image

 

As a shepherd David would have faced wild animals – predators, like this wolf here

–         A predator is known for being cunning or skilful in hunting its prey

–         Israel’s enemies were hunting them like a wolf hunts a sheep

–         From Israel’s perspective it’s a picture of vulnerability and powerlessness

–         What can a sheep do to defend itself against a wolf

–         What could Israel do to defend themselves against their enemies

–         The only thing they could do was look to God to protect them

–         God isn’t just more terrifying and more powerful than Israel’s enemies – he is also more clever, more skilful than any predator

 

The fourth image of Israel’s vulnerability is that of a bird caught in a fowler’s snare

–         A fowler is a professional bird catcher

–         One strategy of fowlers is to put nets out which the birds fly into and get tangled up in

–         Then the fowlers would sell the birds (live) for sacrifice or for eating

–         Fowlers sometimes used caged birds to attract wild birds

–         The wild birds would hear the bird in the cage calling and fly straight into the trap

 

Once a bird is tangled in a net or a snare it can’t do anything to save itself

–         The more it struggles to wriggle free, the more tangled it becomes

 

A bird is the image of freedom

–         Israel’s enemies want to take away their freedom and make them slaves

–         But the Lord God delights in setting people free

–         Jesus said of himself, “I’ve come to set the captives free”

–         Not only has God set Israel free he has also broken the snare so that it no longer poses a threat

 

Because, on this occasion, the Lord God was on their side, Israel was not consumed, not overwhelmed, not killed and not trapped

–         They lived to fight another day

 

2nd Samuel 5:17-25

Please turn with me 2nd Samuel chapter 5 – page 305 near the front of your pew Bibles

  • – Psalm 124 was probably written by David out of personal experience
  • – More than once God had helped David and saved Israel in battle
  • – From 2nd Samuel 5, verse 17 we read…

 

17 The Philistines were told that David had been made king of Israel, so their army set out to capture him. When David heard of it, he went down to a fortified place. 18 The Philistines arrived at Rephaim Valley and occupied it. 19 David asked the Lord, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?”

“Yes, attack!” the Lord answered. “I will give you the victory!”

 

20 So David went to Baal Perazim and there he defeated the Philistines. He said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies like a flood.” And so that place is called Baal Perazim. 21 When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David and his men carried them away.

 

22 Then the Philistines went back to Rephaim Valley and occupied it again. 23 Once more David consulted the Lord, who answered, “Don’t attack them from here, but go around and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.”

 

25 David did what the Lord had commanded, and was able to drive the Philistines back from Geba all the way to Gezer.

 

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

 

The Battle of Trafalgar was fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies on the 21st October 1805

 

Twenty-seven British ships, led by Admiral Lord Nelson, defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar

 

The French and Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost. It was the most decisive naval battle of the war, conclusively ending French plans to invade England. [2]

 

Perhaps psalm 124 resonated with the English following their victory at the battle of Trafalgar

  • – England was under attack and despite being outnumbered they won a decisive victory
  • – Was it because God was on their side or was it Lord Nelson’s wise naval strategy or was it both? I don’t know?

 

As I mentioned before, David probably wrote psalm 124 out of personal experience

  • – The two accounts of battle in 2nd Samuel chapter 5 were perhaps something equivalent to David’s battle of Trafalgar
  • – Although, fortunately for David, he wasn’t killed in battle like Admiral Nelson was
  • – In any case David attributes his victories to God being on Israel’s side

 

If the Lord had not been on our side when our enemies attacked us, then we would have been swallowed alive…

 

Hmm? If the Lord had not been on our side?

  • – Most people think God is on their side in battle
  • – The crusaders of a thousand years ago thought God was on their side but from our perspective in history we doubt that
  • – I imagine the French & Spanish forces thought God was on their side when they decided to attack England in 1805 and yet they lost, decisively
  • – Both the Allied and Axis forces of World War One thought God was on their side to win – but they couldn’t both be right
  • – And more recently, Islamic State thinks God is on their side while the rest of world is pretty certain He isn’t
  • – History is littered with people who thought God was on their side
  • – It seems God’s name is hijacked and taken in vain to justify all sorts of crimes

 

For this reason I feel uneasy when people say: ‘God is on our side’ – as if God could be co-opted to serve our ends

  • – It would seem more accurate to talk about us being on God’s side
  • – What is God’s purpose in any given situation and how might we align ourselves with His purpose
  • – We can’t take it for granted that God will support us unconditionally
  • – God is faithful and kind but He is also free and He is Lord (not us)
  • – He doesn’t appreciate people misusing his name for their own purposes

 

David was very careful not to take God for granted and not to co-opt God to serve his own ends

  • – David did not make any assumptions where God was concerned
  • – Yes, Israel were God’s chosen people and yes, David had been anointed king of Israel – so he was God’s special man
  • – But he didn’t automatically think that entitled him to go to war against whomever he chose

 

David was well aware that God had not always been on Israel’s side

  • – Saul (the previous) king embarked on some major military disasters under the false assumption that God would support him
  • – But even before Saul (in 1st Samuel chapter 4, during the time of the priest, Eli) the Israelites took the Ark of the Covenant into battle against the Philistines without checking with God first and Israel suffered a terrible defeat including losing the Ark

 

In the context of 2nd Samuel chapter 5, David has just been made king of all Israel

  • – Previously Israel had been a divided nation
  • – Now with one king they were united
  • – This made Israel more of a threat to the Philistines and so the Philistines acted out of their fear and set out to try and capture David
  • – They took their idols with them
  • – Apparently the Philistines thought their gods were on their side

 

When David heard of it he didn’t go out straight away to face them

  • – Instead David went on a spiritual retreat in order to find out what God wanted him to do
  • – This reminds us of Jesus whose first action (after being baptised) was to get away from it all so he could spend time with God and find out what God wanted him to do

 

David asked the Lord: Shall I attack the Philistines? And, will you give me the victory?

  • – And the Lord said ‘yes’ to both
  • – After he had won David attributed his victory to the Lord God saying…
  • – “The Lord has broken through my enemies like a flood.”
  • – This flood language reminds us of psalm 124

 

Later, at another time, the Philistines attacked again

  • – It may have been tempting for David to think, ‘I don’t need to consult God. He was on my side last time he will give me victory again this time’
  • – But David doesn’t do this
  • – Once again his first response is to enquire of the Lord
  • – Like the Roman Centurion who showed faith in Jesus to heal his servant, David sees himself as a man under authority
  • – God is his commanding officer – David gets his orders from the Lord

 

It’s just as well David checked because this time God tells him not to attack from the same angle but to come around from the other side

  • – When you hear the sound of marching in the tree-tops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army
  • – God was indeed helping David but not because David or Israel were entitled in anyway
  • – Had David charged ahead without listening to God first it could have ended in disaster

 

Conclusion:

The point is, when David talks about God being on his side, he doesn’t mean that God can be co-opted for Israel’s own parochial (them against us) concerns

  • – I think he means something along the lines of: But for the grace of God Israel would be no more.

 

Having said that God won’t be co-opted to serve human political agenda, God is still free to choose sides

 

When God became a man (in the form of Jesus) he was saying to humanity: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan, God was saying to all who repent of their sin: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus healed people, God was saying to the sick: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus cast out demons, God was saying to those who are oppressed by evil: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus restored sight to the blind, God was saying to those sitting in darkness: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus stood up for Zacchaeus and the woman caught in adultery and others like them, God was saying to the despised: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus died on the cross, God was saying to all who suffer injustice: “I am on your side”

 

When Jesus was raised from the dead, God was saying to all who place their faith in Christ: “I am on your side”

 

And when Jesus pours out His Holy Spirit on us today, God is still saying: “I am on your side”

 

 

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

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar

Tawa Baptist

Mercy

Scripture: Psalm 123 (also Luke 18:35-43)

 

Title: Mercy

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Human mercy
  • Honour & shame
  • Jesus’ mercy
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents – which we know as Psalms 120 to 134

 

The word ‘Ascent’ has to do with moving upward

–         The temple in Jerusalem was on a hill

–         On their way to religious festivals Jewish pilgrims might sing these songs as they ascended the hill to the temple

 

The 15 Songs of Ascents, then, are about being on a journey – not just a physical journey to Jerusalem but also a spiritual journey

–         As we make our way through these Songs of Ascents we notice the psalmist draws closer to God

 

The plan, over the next couple of months, is to explore the Songs of Ascents as we journey toward Easter

–         This morning we take a closer look at psalm 123

–         Last week, in psalm 122, the palmist sang about arriving in Jerusalem

–         Now that he has arrived his first word is a prayer to God for mercy

–         Not mercy in the sense of forgiveness for anything he might have done wrong – but rather, mercy in the sense of a reprieve from the wrong that has been done to him by others

–         From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

 

1 To you I lift up my eyes,     O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 2 As the eyes of servants     look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid     to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God,     until he has mercy upon us.  3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,     for we have had more than enough of contempt. 4 Our soul has had more than its fill     of the scorn of those who are at ease,     of the contempt of the proud.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this prayer for us

Human mercy:

In their book “A Higher Call” Adam Makos and Larry Alexander retell a true story of mercy from WW2…

 

The pilot glanced outside his cockpit and froze. He blinked hard and looked again, hoping it was just a mirage. But his co-pilot stared at the same horrible vision.

 

The men were looking at a gray German Messerschmitt fighter hovering just three feet off their wingtip. It was five days before Christmas 1943, and the fighter had closed in on their crippled B-17 bomber.

 

The B-17 pilot, Charles Brown, was a 21-year-old West Virginia farm boy on his first combat mission. His bomber had been shot to pieces by swarming fighters, and his plane was alone in the skies above Germany. Half his crew was wounded, and the tail gunner was dead, his blood frozen in icicles over the machine guns.

 

But when Brown and his co-pilot, Spencer Luke, looked at the fighter pilot again, something odd happened. The German didn’t pull the trigger. He nodded at Brown instead.

 

What happened next was one of the most remarkable acts of mercy recorded during World War II. Instead of finishing the American bomber off the German fighter pilot continued to fly in close formation with the bomber to protect it from German anti-aircraft guns on the ground

 

The German pilot’s name was Franz Stigler. Franz was a fighter ace. One more kill and he would have been awarded the Knight’s Cross.

 

But Stigler was driven by something deeper than glory. His older brother, August, was a fellow Luftwaffe pilot who had been killed earlier in the war. American pilots had killed Stigler’s comrades and were bombing his country’s cities. The temptation for revenge was intense.

 

Despite having strong reason to shoot, Stigler pressed his hand over the rosary he kept in his flight jacket. He eased his index finger off the trigger. He couldn’t open fire. It would be murder.

 

Stigler wasn’t just motivated by vengeance that day. He also lived by a code. He could trace his family’s ancestry to knights in 16th century Europe. He had once studied to be a priest.

 

A German pilot who spared the enemy, though, risked death in Nazi Germany. If someone reported him, he would be executed. Yet Stigler could also hear the voice of his commanding officer, who once told him:

–         “You follow the rules of war for you — not your enemy. You fight by rules (or principles) to keep your humanity.”  [1]

 

Many years later the two pilots, Charles Brown and Franz Stigler met in person

 

Whether in war or peace, mercy is part of humanity’s code

–         The capacity to show mercy, compassion and kindness is what sets us apart as creatures made in God’s image

 

One of the things we recognise from Franz’ story is that human mercy is circumstantial – by which I mean the circumstances need to be right for us to show mercy

–         Like Franz Stigler we need to be in the right place at the right time with the right resources to be able to demonstrate mercy to others

–         Sometimes we may wish to show mercy but it might not be in our power to do so because we aren’t in the right place at the right time or we don’t have the resources (or the power) that is needed to help

–         That’s okay – so long as we are always prepared to show mercy when the opportunity presents itself and it’s in our power to do so

 

Unlike us human beings, God is not limited by time or space or power

–         He is present everywhere and His resources are infinite

–         So God’s mercy is qualitatively different from human expressions of mercy

 

Honour & shame:

One of the big concepts found in psalm 123, which is perhaps not as obvious to us as the concept of mercy, is the idea of honour & shame

–         To understand where the psalmist is coming from we have to think in terms of honour & shame

 

An honour-shame mind-set is different from an innocence-guilt mind-set

–         Innocence & guilt are about the things we do

–         While honour & shame are about who we are

 

Innocence and guilt has to do with the personal moral decisions we make

–         For example, Franz Stigler made a personal moral decision not to shoot the struggling B-17 bomber out of the sky

–         He reasoned that would be murder

–         If Franz had shot the plane down he would have been guilty

–         But he didn’t – he saved the plane – and so he was innocent, in that situation at least

 

Honour and shame is different from innocence and guilt

–         Honour and shame is something that other people put on us

–         So if Franz had shot the plane down his superiors would have honoured him with the Knight’s Cross – a special medal

–         Ironically he wouldn’t be innocent but he would be honoured

–         By not shooting down the plane Franz took the risk of being shamed by his superiors – being branded a traitor or disloyal

 

Focusing just on shame for a moment…

–         I remember when I was about 15 or 16 riding along Ward Street in Hamilton on my bike and a couple guys rode past and spat on me

–         I had no idea who they were – it was completely unprovoked

–         They were simply looking for a fight

–         Now I didn’t feel guilty about that – I hadn’t done anything wrong

–         But I did feel shamed – they literally put shame on me by spitting on me

 

Now the temptation when someone puts shame on us is to retaliate and try to put shame on them as well (as if that could restore our honour)

–         I didn’t retaliate in this situation, mainly because they were bigger than me

 

Looking back on it now I think the reason they spat on me was because someone had tried to put shame on to them and they were simply trying get rid of that shame by passing it off onto me – it wasn’t personal

 

Shame, then, isn’t so much about making a mistake

–         Shame is a statement or action that says you are a mistake or you are nothing, you don’t matter

 

People can put shame on us in a whole variety of ways

–         Usually it’s by name calling – saying things like ‘you’re a looser’, or ‘you’re ugly’ or ‘you’re stupid’ or whatever

–         But they might also cause shame in other ways too – like physical or sexual abuse or by causing us social embarrassment

–         When someone tries to put shame on us, we have a choice

–         We can believe the lie that we are worthless

–         Or we can remember the truth that we are made and loved by God

–         That we are valuable to him

–         We are so valuable to God in fact that he was prepared to put His Son Jesus in harm’s way for us

 

In psalm 123 the author hasn’t done anything bad – he isn’t feeling guilty

–         But he has been made to feel shame

–         Other people are showing him scorn and contempt

 

To be shown scorn & contempt is to be rejected – treated like you are nothing, like you are a mistake

–         Scorn & contempt isn’t so much a criticism of what you’ve done

–         It’s more a criticism of who you are

 

But the psalmist chooses not to accept the shame that his enemies are trying to put on him

–         Instead the psalmist looks to God for honour

 

 1 To you I lift up my eyes,     O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

 

God is the one enthroned in the heavens

–         You can’t get any higher status or position than that

–         God has the most honour and he is the source of real honour

–         God has conferred on human beings the honour (and glory) of being made in his image

 

2 As the eyes of servants     look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid     to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God…

It’s interesting how in today’s world we are used to having eyes on us

–         We are used to security cameras watching our every move,

–         Speed cameras waiting to snap us if we go over the limit,

–         Security guards monitoring us to make sure we don’t get out of hand

–         Managers keeping an eye on us to ensure we do our job, and so on

 

But here in verse 2 all eyes are on the master

–         The servants and the maid are not the centre of attention – the Lord is

–         The servants and the maid are trusted

–         They give their attention to the hand of the master

–         Why the hand?

–         Well the hand is symbolic of power & authority

–         A simple hand gesture from the master tells the servant what to do

–         The hand also protects and provides

 

By describing themselves as servants and maids who diligently look to obey God their master, the Jewish pilgrims are essentially saying…

–         ‘Our honour comes from the Lord – not from what other people think of us. We are not defined by those people who show us scorn and contempt.

–         We are defined by God himself – we are his servants, he is our master’

–         The implication is: there is honour in being a servant of God Most High

 

If you have suffered shame by the way people have treated you or the lies they have spoken about you then, let me say, you are not defined by the proud or the abusive

–         You are not defined by the flippant or by those whose lives are easy

–         You are defined by God Himself

–         You are his precious child – his beloved

–         And He (the Lord) places immeasurable value and honour and respect on your life – you are loved by him

–         Jesus came to transform our temporary suffering into eternal glory

–         He came to clothe our shame with his honour

 

Returning to verse 2, another thing we notice is the wonderfully inclusive language used here

–         Women are honoured alongside men, on the same social level as men

–         This is not a boys only club

–         Women have the dignity (the honour) of serving God, as men do

–         This might not seem like such a big deal to us now but equality between the sexes was a big deal 3,000 years ago

 

The Jewish pilgrims look to the Lord for mercy because they are fed up with being shown scorn & contempt by those around them

 

Mercy has to do with power

–         To show mercy one must be in a position of power

–         Mercy is basically using your power to help someone

–         There is no one more powerful than God and also no one more merciful

 

What we see here is that the psalmist does not ask mercy from the proud who are showing him scorn and contempt

–         Instead he asks God for mercy – he goes right to the top

–         This is an admission that God is the one who is really in control

–         The proud can only show contempt because the Lord allows it

 

It’s a bit like when Pilate said to Jesus, “Don’t you know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?”

–         Meaning, “Don’t you realise I have the power to show you mercy?”

–         And Jesus replied, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above”

–         In other words, ‘Pilate, you’re not really in control here. This is only happening because God is allowing it. God could take away your power at any moment’

 

The proud are on notice – they are not in control, even if they think they are

 

As it turned out God allowed Jesus to be crucified

–         Crucifixion isn’t just physically painful

–         It is also incredibly shameful

–         Jesus hung on the cross naked while people heaped their scorn and contempt and insults on him

–         But three days later God honoured Jesus by raising him from the dead

–         Resurrection is honour

 

Psalm 123 ends in a way that feels unfinished

–         We are left hanging as the psalmist is left hanging

–         The pilgrim has asked God for His mercy but we don’t know, at this point, how God will respond

–         God is silent

 

This is often how the spiritual life is – we make our petitions to God in prayer and are left waiting with no quick results

–         Perhaps you have had a similar experience

–         Maybe asking God for healing and not getting it straight away

–         Or asking God for a job and then having to wait for months just for an interview

–         Or asking God for some direction in your life only to hear a long silence

 

The Lord’s timing is not our timing – but it is right in the end

 

Mercy can take a variety of forms

–         In the example of Franz Stigler and Charles Brown, mercy took the form of a reprieve from death

–         In psalm 123 the mercy requested was an end to contempt and shame

–         Mercy can also be the restoration of something that was lost

 

Jesus’ mercy:

Many years ago there lived a man who was blind

–         The man had not always been blind – he had lost his sight part way through life

 

It wasn’t the man’s fault that he was blind – it wasn’t because of anything he had done wrong and yet he didn’t feel good about himself

–         He survived by begging on the side of the road

–         No one really likes a beggar – they tend to make people feel guilty

 

Although the man couldn’t see he could certainly hear well enough

–         It wasn’t just the rude things people would say about him, it was their tone of voice as well

–         Most people tried to avoid him, some were afraid of him, others were irritated at the inconvenience he presented and just a few were abusive

–         He felt like a dead weight – not contributing anything to society, just getting under people’s feet, making them feel uncomfortable

–         He was made to feel shame every day

 

The blind man could never voice his frustration to others though

–         Even if they did stop long enough to listen how could they possibly understand the daily grind that was his reality

–         Being made to feel shame for who he was – something he had no control over – It wasn’t fair

–         Not that he would give in to self-pity – not for a moment

–         He had enough pity from others without adding to it himself

 

One day the man heard a commotion further down the street

–         He recognised the sound – it was a large crowd on the move

–         Crowds made him nervous

–         A crowd is an unpredictable thing – a dangerous thing, especially if you’re blind

–         But curiosity got the better of him and he asked what was happening

–         “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by”, they told him

 

Jesus of Nazareth

–         The blind man had heard of Jesus

–         Jesus would have known about shame and contempt

–         There were rumours about his heritage – his mother got pregnant before she was married (or so they said)

–         Nearly as bad as that, Jesus came from Nazareth – and everyone knows nothing good comes from Nazareth

–         Of course the blind man knew that was just a prejudice

–         It wasn’t fair to right someone off because of where they lived

–         Not everyone can afford a nice house in a leafy suburb

 

The blind man had heard how Jesus could heal people – make them whole again

–         This might be his only chance – maybe Jesus would heal him

–         Maybe he could see again and get a job so he didn’t have to keep begging

–         Maybe he could be free of the shame people kept heaping on him day after day – God knows he had had his share of contempt

–         So he cried out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

 

This was a bold thing to say

–         ‘Son of David’ was another way of saying ‘Messiah’ or ‘King’

–         People were divided by Jesus

–         Many were uncomfortable with thinking he might be the Christ

–         The man had no qualms though

–         It was funny how he (a blind man) could see that Jesus was God’s promised Messiah, while others with 20/20 vision couldn’t see it

 

The people around told him, in no uncertain terms, to shut up

–         But he just shouted even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”

–         All those years of taking their shame – no way was he going to be quiet

–         It was worth the risk of getting punched in the face

–         They did not define him – God defined him and Jesus was from God

 

Jesus stood still and the crowd slowed to halt also

–         Then, without moving, Jesus ordered the blind man to be brought to him

–         The man had called Jesus a ‘king’ because a king he is

–         Standing still while one of his subjects was brought before him was a very kingly way of handling the matter

 

When the man was near, Jesus asked him…

–         “What do you want me to do for you?”

–         The man liked that Jesus didn’t make any assumptions

–         To be asked what it was he wanted made him feel respected – it empowered him, gave him a real choice and dignity

 

“Lord, let me see again.”

 

It was a simple sentence and yet it said so much

–         The blind man addressed Jesus as “Lord” – it was a way of giving Jesus honour, placing himself under Jesus’ authority

–         “Let me see again” – was an acknowledgment that Jesus had the power to restore sight and to end the contempt and shame he suffered

 

Jesus responded just as simply as the man had asked, saying…

–         “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.”

–         Not only did Jesus give the man his physical sight back, Jesus also restored the man’s honour by giving him credit for his faith

–         Jesus acknowledged the man’s spiritual vision

 

Those who had tried to the silence man were now the ones with nothing to say

 

But the man wasn’t worried about them – he could see again and was overjoyed, praising God as he followed Jesus down the road toward Jericho

–         The man’s joy was infectious – the people around him couldn’t help but join him in praising God too

 

Conclusion:

Mercy – it is one of God’s defining characteristics

–         Jesus shows us what divine mercy looks like

–         Jesus shows us what it is to be made in the image of God

 

 

Let us pray…

–         Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us

–         And help us to pay your mercy forward

–         Amen.

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/19-feb-2017-mercy

 

[1] http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/09/living/higher-call-military-chivalry/index.html?hpt=hp_c1