Tawa Baptist

Milk

Scripture: 1st Peter 1:22-2:3

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Converted to love
  • Born to last
  • Feed on God
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was in my teens I was asked by a mate to do some hay making. Being a city boy I didn’t realise what I was in for. I started the day with breakfast of a couple of Weetbix and a piece toast, before heading off to work in the field.

Unfortunately, it had rained a little the night before so the hay was a bit damp. And lifting a wet bale of hay onto the back of a truck takes more energy. By lunchtime I was feeling a bit depleted. My breakfast of two Weetbix and one piece of toast was not enough to sustain me for the heavy lifting of the whole day. I needed a more substantial breakfast.

Today we continue our series in the letter of 1st Peter. Last week we heard how the Christian believer is to relate with God – that is with holiness and reverent fear. Today’s passage shifts the focus to living in right relationship with other Christian believers. From 1st Peter, chapter 1, verse 22 through to chapter 2, verse 3, we read…

22 Now that you have purifiedyourselves by obeyingthe truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,from the heart. 23 For you have been born again,not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

2 Therefore, rid yourselvesof all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slanderof every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,so that by it you may grow upin your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

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

In a nutshell, Peter is saying here: you have been converted to love and born to last, therefore feed on the goodness of God.

You see, loving people can be hard yacker. Like hay making it involves heavy lifting. It is only by feeding on the goodness of God that the work of love is sustained over a lifetime.    

Converted to love:

Imagine you are walking in the wilderness, through native bush. This is not just a casual day walk. This is one of the great walks, lasting nearly a week. Two days into the journey, someone steels your food and your tent. So, by day three, you have not eaten for a while and you’ve been sleeping rough. Now you are tired and hungry.

As you follow the path you come to a river. There is no bridge. If you continue on the path you are on, it will lead you beside the river to who knows where. (They stole your map and compass as well.)  Just then you see people on the other side of the river, cooking sausages. You have a choice. Either you stay on your side and carry on walking beside the river until you reach the sea, or you cross over to join the people for dinner.

Crossing the river would not be easy. It would take some effort and involve risk. The water is cold, the current is swift and the river is deep, so you would have to ditch your pack and swim.

Someone on the far bank of the river sees you and calls out for you to come over. You catch a whiff of the sausages and decide to take the plunge. What have you got to lose? Except your pack, which is kind of pointless now your food and tent have been stolen.

A couple of minutes later you are on the other side, dripping wet and shivering. The small group of trampers welcome you with a hot Milo and a dry towel. You have never met them before but they are friendly and kind and they are headed in the right direction. They know the way back to civilization.   

This little story is an allegory to Christian conversion. Christian conversion is both an event and a process. Conversion is an event that happens at a particular point in time, when we make a conscious decision, but it is also a process that happens over time.

The conversion event in my story was when the tramper crossed the river. He made a conscious decision to leave the path he was on and go in a different direction. He did this because he saw people on the other side calling him over. Crossing the river was not easy. It required him to leave his pack behind.

But the weary tramper did not convert into nothing. He converted into a community that cared for and accepted him.

Of course, the story of conversion does not end there. The trampers were on a journey out of the wilderness. The process of conversion was not complete until they had finished the journey and made it back home to civilization.     

In verse 22, when Peter writes, you have purifiedyourselves by obeyingthe truth, he is talking about Christian conversion. The ‘truth’ Peter’s readers have obeyed here is the gospel truth concerning Jesus. Peter’s readers have heard the good news about Jesus preached and they have believed it. Someone has called to them from across the river and they have left the old path they were on, ditched their baggage and crossed over to the other side. They have accepted Jesus as their Saviour and Lord and joined the camp of his people.

Conversion may refer to the transition from one religion to another, but it can also refer to moving deeper into one’s own religion. I expect most of Peter’s Gentile readers would have converted from paganism to Christianity. While his Jewish readers had moved more deeply into their own religion. Because Jesus, the Messiah, is Jewish. He is at the heart of Jewish faith.

Some of you may have converted to Christianity from another religion. While others may have become Christians without having any sort of religious background.

Many of you have grown up in a Christian home and gone to church with your parents since you were a child. You may find it hard to identify a particular point in time (a conversion event as such) because you grew up immersed in the church. Nevertheless, there is probably a point in your journey where the Christian faith deepened from being something you went along with, because that’s what your parents believed, to something you owned for yourself and integrated into your life. That moving deeper is an event within the process of Christian conversion.

The point Peter is making in verse 22 is that we are converted to love one another. Christian conversion is not just that point in time when we admit intellectual agreement with certain doctrines (although it does include that). Christian conversion is the process of growing in our love for God and his people.

The kind of love Peter has in mind here is genuine, sincere, unpretentious love. Deep love, from the heart. Love from the core of our being, from the inside out. This kind of love is not just a warm fuzzy feeling (although it may sometimes include pleasant feelings). The love in view here is expressed in righteous relationships based on God’s character. Christian love is very much an action as well as an attitude. An action informed by the way God loves us in Christ.

To put it more plainly loving one another requires the heavy lifting of self-control and patience and forgiveness and turning the other cheek and that sort of stuff.    

Those who have been on the journey for a while will know that the process of conversion often involves a number of events (or river crossings) as we move to a deeper love of God and his people. With each crossing we must leave something behind but we also hopefully find a warm cup of Milo waiting for us on the other side.

We are converted to love and we are born to last.

Born to last:

Tuesday, the 1st of September, marked the beginning of the season of spring. Some of you may have daffodils popping up and coming to flower in your garden. Many kowhai trees around Tawa are in full glory. The intense yellows are a beautiful distraction.

As much as I enjoy the visual symphony of spring, I am also aware that every daffodil and kowhai flower and cherry blossom is pregnant with sadness. They only last a few brief weeks, perhaps less if the wind picks up, and then they are gone.  

In verse 24 of chapter 1, Peter quotes from the prophet Isaiah: “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

This quotation comes from Isaiah chapter 40. It was originally intended as a message of comfort and encouragement to the Jews living in exile, following the fall of Jerusalem in the sixth century BC.

These Jews of the diaspora, these sojourners living in a foreign land, were disheartened and wondering where they stood with God. Did his covenant promises still hold true?

You see, the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon and other places the exiles were scattered, seemed invincible but they were actually like grass. Their glory was like the flowers of the field. Here today and gone next week. Yes, they looked spectacular now but they were pregnant with sadness. They would not last.

By contrast, God’s word (his promises to his people) would endure forever. And so Isaiah’s message to the exiles was good news. ‘Yes, the promises of God’s word do hold true. You are not forgotten in your loneliness and alienation. Despite the way things appear you still belong to God.’ 

Peter piggy backs off Isaiah. He appropriates Isaiah’s message and applies it to his readers. Peter addresses the Christians of the first century AD as exiles. As followers of Christ they have been oppressed and given a rough deal. But the Roman empire (as glorious and as mighty as it seemed at the time) was like grass. Here today, gone tomorrow.    

With this is mind Peter could say with confidence (in verse 23) that his readers have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

In other words, they were born to last. Born for eternal life.

Jesus referred to the word of God as a seed in his teaching. Notice the imagery of the seed here. A seed is something small and ordinary looking. A seed is often hidden and covered in dirt. A seed does not look like much but it is full of potential. Just as a seed carries the DNA of the plant, and a sperm carries the DNA of the father, so too the word of God carries the characteristics of God the Father. God is eternal and God is love. That is what the Christian convert is born to.

If we believe in Jesus, then we have been converted to love and born to last therefore, to sustain our life and our love, we must feed on the goodness of God.

Feed on God:          

Have you ever noticed the way nothing in God’s creation clashes? His colour schemes are constantly changing but they always fit. They always make sense. Whether it is a sunrise over the sea or sheep in the high country or flowers in spring or the moonlight over Wellington harbour, it always goes together.

There is a logic to the way God does things. That logic is not always evident at first but it reveals itself to those who are pure in heart and patient enough.

In verse 1 of chapter 2, Peter says: Therefore, rid yourselvesof all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slanderof every kind.   

We notice here that three of these five vices are about sustaining what is false. Deceit, hypocrisy and slander are enemies of the truth and therefore they undermine the genuine, sincere, unpretentious love Peter was just talking about in verse 22.   

Clearly all five vices do not fit people who have been converted to love. They actually work against loving one another. Likewise, these vices do not follow logically (they do not make sense) for those who have been born again through the living and enduring word of God.  We need to rid ourselves of them – cast them aside like leaving the old pack behind before crossing the river.

From verse 2 of chapter 2, Peter writes: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,so that by it you may grow upin your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The main idea here is that Christian believers need to feed on the goodness of God. It is by feeding on the goodness of God that we gain the nourishment and strength to grow in our love for one another. 

Now there are a couple of things to clarify here. Firstly, Peter is not meaning to suggest that his readers are immature in their faith. There is no criticism here. Some of his readers may have been new converts but a lot of them would have been Christians for a while. In the same way that people of all ages drink milk, so too Christians at all stages of faith can feed on the goodness of God.

Although, elsewhere in the New Testament, milk is used as a metaphor for teachings suitable for immature Christians (e.g. Hebrews 5:12), no such negative connotation is found here. Rather, Peter sees milk as that which all Christians need in order to nurture and sustain their faith. [1]

The emphasis in the text is on craving God’s goodness.

We also need to clarify what is meant by milk? Many modern commentators take the view that milk is a metaphor for God’s word, as found in the Bible. But that is quite a narrow understanding.

Yes, reading the Bible and listening to sermons and going to Bible studies can and does nourish our faith & love but it is not the only way our faith & love is nourished. For example, your soul may be nourished by noticing the ways God has worked his purpose for good in your life and thanking Him for that. Spending time in nature, reflecting on the way God fits everything together, can also be milk to your soul.   

Verse 3 makes it clear that the spiritual milk Peter has in mind here is the milk of God’s goodness or kindness.

Verse 3 connects with Psalm 34:8 where the psalmist says: Taste and see that the Lord is God. Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him.

That word spiritual is also worth a closer look. What does it mean that the milk is spiritual? In the original Greek version of the New Testament the word spiritual is actually logikos. In ancient Greek literature logikos was normally translated as rational or reasonable; that is, fitting or making sense.      

This is quite different from the way we tend to think of the word spiritual. Many people today hold a false dichotomy when it comes to spiritual things. We tend to think that ‘spiritual’ means the opposite of physical. Something non-material and therefore not scientific or rational or understandable.

But that is not what the Bible means by spiritual. To be logikos or spiritual, in the New Testament, is to be ‘true to the real nature’ of something. [2]

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of an apple tree to produce apples. 

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of a carpenter to measure twice and count once.

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of an accountant to reconcile and balance the books.

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of a citizen to pay their taxes and abide by the laws of the land.

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of a baby to crave its mother’s milk.

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of a father to protect and provide for his children.    

It is logikos, or ‘true to the real nature’ of a Christian to copy Jesus by loving God and loving your neighbour.   

This means that being spiritual (or logikos) is about fulfilling the purpose for which God created us.

If God created you to be a teacher, then teaching is spiritual.

If God created you to be a stay at home mum or dad, then looking after kids, changing nappies, doing the washing and baking biscuits is spiritual.

If God created you to make music, then playing the guitar or the piano or the viola or the bass, for his glory and other people’s enjoyment, is spiritual.

If God created you to work with your hands, then making beautiful kitchens or wiring someone’s house or unblocking someone’s drain is spiritual.

If God created you to be a manager, then treating your staff with kindness and fairness is spiritual.

I could go on but you get the point. Being spiritual is not an aesthetic, it is not about appearances. Being spiritual is about being true to our real nature – the way God has made us.

In the gospels Jesus got upset with the religious leaders of his day because they were not logikos. They were not spiritual. They were not behaving in ways that were true to the spirit of God’s law. The opposite of logikos, the opposite of being spiritual, is being a hypocrite. A hypocrite is an actor; someone who is pretending to be what they are not.

In Romans 12:1 the apostle Paul tells the Christians in Rome that presenting their bodies as living sacrifices is their logikos worship (their spiritual worship). It is worship that is true and reasonable and fits with the new reality to which they have converted.

Conclusion:

So when Peter instructs us to crave pure spiritual milk he means, fill your boots with that which is fitting for a child of God to feed on. And what is fitting for a child of God to feed on? The goodness of God.          

If we feed on deceit. If we feed on malice or evil. If we feed on gossip and slander. If we pretend to be something we are not. If we keep replaying in our mind the hurtful things that people have said or done to us. Then we will be quickly drained of the strength we need to love one another.

But if we feed on what is true. If we feed on kindness and goodness. If we shut down gossip and slander. If we learn to be ourselves and live in our own soul. If we let go of our hurt and instead replay in our mind the many facets of God’s grace for us. Then we will be nourished and strengthened to grow in our love for one another. 

We have been converted to love and born to last therefore, to grow and sustain our life and our love, we must feed on the goodness of God.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What do you normally eat for breakfast? Is this enough to sustain you for the day?
  • Reflecting on your own experience, what have been the significant events in the process of conversion for you?
  • What does Peter mean by love? How does this quality of love find expression in your community of faith?
  • Why does Peter quote from Isaiah 40? (in 1st Peter 1:24) How was Isaiah 40 relevant to Peter’s readers? Does Isaiah 40 resonate with you? If so, why?
  • What does the word logikos (spiritual) mean in the context of the New Testament? What does Peter mean by pure spiritual milk?
  • Take some time this week to feed on the goodness of God.

[1] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 132.

[2] Ibid, page 136.

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

Light

Scripture: Matthew 5: 14-16

Title: Light

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Goodness
  • Security
  • Hope
  • Community
  • Visible
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

This morning we are talking about light

In Matthew 5 Jesus said to his disciples…

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate our hearts with God’s word

 

What is light?

  • And what does it mean for Jesus to say, ‘You are the light of the world’?

 

Goodness:

If you Google a definition for light you will probably get a scientific answer

  • Something like, ‘Light is a kind of energy’
  • On one level this is true – light is a kind of energy
  • In fact, these days it is considered a very environmentally friendly energy
  • Unlike other forms of energy (like coal or gas or oil), solar energy is carbon zero and therefore not harmful to the planet
  • Light is a good kind of energy

 

The people of Jesus’ day didn’t have a scientific mind-set like we do but they would still have associated light with goodness (as opposed to evil) and so there is a connection here between the ancient world and the modern world

  • When Jesus says to his followers, ‘You are the light of the world’
  • We can take it to mean, ‘You are the goodness of the world’, in the sense that you are life-giving to the world
  • You are the good energy, the positive energy, the clean energy in this world

 

In verse 16 Jesus goes on to say, “…let your light shine before others so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

 

To my mind our good deeds are not the light

  • The light shines on the good deeds
  • Our good deeds are a product of the light
  • Just as sunlight (or photosynthesis) gives plants the good energy they need to grow and bear fruit
  • So too the light of God’s goodness causes good deeds to spring up everywhere

 

Letting your light shine doesn’t mean showing off your good deeds

  • When people put on an act or make a show of doing good works to make themselves look good – that’s not light, that’s darkness
  • But when God’s goodness shines out of us then people will see our actions in that light and praise God

 

You see, we don’t produce the light ourselves

  • God produces the light and we are His light bearers
  • In one of his letters to the Corinthians the apostle Paul writes…

 

For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. [1]

                                                                                                              

In other words, Jesus is the light showing us what God is like

  • To know Jesus is to know God and to know God is to know you are loved
  • God produces the light and we are His light bearers

 

So, we the followers of Christ are the bearers of light (or good energy) in this world

  • How exactly does this good energy manifest itself?
  • Well, one thing light does is to provide security

 

 

Security:

These days many people have security lights outside their homes

  • So when it is dark and someone walks up to their house a sensor is triggered and the security light goes on
  • This helps the home owner to feel safer, more secure

 

Although, Jesus’ original audience of 2000 years ago didn’t have security lights like we might, light was still a source of security to them

  • Where there is light evil cannot hide
  • Where there is light things can be seen as they are and fear cannot play on the imagination

 

And so, ‘You are the light of the world’, can mean ‘You are the security of the world.’

  • In others words, the followers of Jesus are like a warning light
  • When there is movement and change in the world we shed light on that change
  • Not all change is bad of course, some change is good
  • The point is, being the light of the world means we (the church) have a role when it comes to interpreting the events in our world
  • We have something to say about whether the change is friend or foe
  • Whether it should be welcomed or warned against

 

What we note here is that the security light is truth or wisdom

  • God’s government is different to the governments of this world
  • Most governments try to make their country secure by military might
  • The security Jesus offers is not found in armies or missiles
  • The security Jesus gives is found in the light of truth & wisdom

 

Hope:

Another function of light is to guide people

  • Traffic lights serve as a kind of guide when you drive your car
  • They tell you when to stop, when to slow down and when to go
  • They enable us to make safe passage – saving us from accidents

 

In the ancient world they didn’t have traffic lights, but they did use the light of the stars to guide them in their travels, whether on land or sea

 

The prophet Isaiah says of the servant of the Lord…

  • “I will make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” [2]

 

‘You are the light of the world’ therefore means Jesus’ followers are the hope of the world – because we possess the knowledge of salvation

 

In the 1950’s a scientist by the name of Curt Richter took some rats and put them into a high-sided bucket of water that they couldn’t escape from and timed how long it took for the rats to drown.

  • It wasn’t long – an average of 15 minutes for the rats to give up, stop swimming, and sink.
  • He then repeated the experiment with a new group of rats and a new twist
  • In the second instance, he “rescued” the rats just after they had given up swimming, again, at around the 15 minute mark.
  • He let them dry off, he fed them some food, allowed them to recuperate
  • And then he threw them back into the bucket of water.
  • The amazing result was that these rats were then able to swim for up to 60 hours before giving up.
  • That’s a big difference – 15 minutes compared to 60 hours.

 

Curt Richter attributed the rat’s new found stamina and survival skills to “hope”

  • The experience of being saved gave the rats energy to hang on longer
  • Because they had been saved once they expected to be saved again

 

Now this little illustration could be misunderstood

  • We are not rats and God is not a scientist doing experiments on us
  • We are human beings and God is a loving Father to us
  • The point is, the experience of salvation gives us human beings hope
  • It gives us the energy not to give up but to carry on

 

The thing I find most interesting about Curt Richter’s experiment is that the rats were saved at the point of giving up

  • It was when hope had died that they were pulled out of the bucket
  • The experience of being saved after they had given up had the effect of resurrecting hope
  • And resurrected hope is far stronger than ordinary hope

 

Have you ever noticed how God’s timing is very last minute, perhaps even after we think it’s too late

  • You remember how Jesus waited four days before raising his friend Lazarus from the dead
  • He could have prevented Lazarus from dying in the first place – but he didn’t – Jesus waited until people had given up hope
  • Why – perhaps he wanted to resurrect their hope at the same time as raising Lazarus. Resurrected hope is far stronger than ordinary hope

 

What was it Jesus said?

  • Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
  • Or as Eugene Peterson puts it…
  • You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule.

 

In John 8, verse 12, Jesus says of Himself…

  • “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 

The light of life is hope

  • To walk in darkness is to have no hope

 

The followers of Jesus are the hope of the world, at least in the sense that we possess the light of the knowledge of salvation

  • Once we have experienced God’s salvation – once we have lost hope and had God resurrect it again – we become a beacon of hope to others, the light of life guiding people to God

 

If you follow Jesus then you are the light of the world

  • You are the good energy of the world
  • You are the security of the world – a security based on wisdom & truth
  • You are also the hope of the world – the light of life
  • More than all this though, you (plural) are the presence of Christ in the world

 

Community:

Earlier in the service we sang a classic church anthem…

  • “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”
  • There is much about this song which is good and true
  • But it can also mislead us into thinking that we shine our light in isolation, as individuals

 

Straight after saying, ‘You are the light of the world’, Jesus follows with two images of light bearing: a city on a hill and a lamp in a house

  • The image of a city gives the impression of a community of lights shining in the darkness
  • While the image of a lamp in a house gives the impression of a family sharing light together

 

Yes, the light of Christ does need to shine in our heart personally

  • But Jesus does not intend for us to shine our light by ourselves, in isolation from other Christians
  • As followers of Jesus we are not a solitary candle in the wind
  • We are the light of the world together

 

So we don’t just let ‘my little light shine’ – we let our light shine as a community of faith

  • We model goodness, security and hope in our relationships with each other
  • We love one another – for by this will all men know you are Christ’s disciples

 

Visible:

Jesus uses the images of a city of lights on a hill and a lamp in a house, to encourage us to let our light shine – not to hide it

  • After all, the purpose of light is to be seen – to stand out in the darkness

 

Most evangelical preachers will say at this point that, ‘as Christians we are to be in the world but not of it’

  • We are not to assimilate ourselves to the values of this world
  • Our values and therefore our behaviour should be distinctive
  • But nor are we to isolate ourselves from the world either
  • We should mix with people while staying true to who we are

 

While all of that’s true I think Jesus had more in mind than simply our function as light bearers to the world

  • By telling us to, ‘let our light shine’, I think Jesus wanted to give us a defence against shame

 

Last Wednesday Robyn went to the College with pretty much every other teacher in Tawa to participate in a restorative practice training day

  • During one of the workshops she attended, Mark Corrigan spoke about brain development and shame

 

Mark said that shame thrives on three things:

  • Secrecy, silence and stigma
  • The way to kill shame is to break the silence
  • When you reveal your secret with someone and they show you empathy, then shame loses its power – empathy kills shame

 

While Mark Corrigan didn’t relate this to the gospel – I saw a connection with the message I was preparing for this Sunday

  • Just before Jesus tells his disciples that they are the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world’, he says…

 

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

Jesus seems to be saying here, ‘Look, people are going to try to shame you because of me. Don’t give in to that shame by hiding away’

  • Shame thrives on secrecy, silence and stigma
  • Shame can’t stand the light
  • So let your light shine
  • Don’t keep your relationship with Jesus a secret

 

Do you remember that story in the gospels of the woman who had a problem with bleeding for 12 years [3]

  • She was so ashamed she crept up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his cloak quietly, secretly, in the hope of being healed
  • And she was healed of her bleeding in that instant – but not of her feelings of shame

 

Do you remember what Jesus did next?

  • He invited her to let her light shine
  • Jesus stopped and said, ‘Who touched me? I felt power go out from me.’
  • At first the woman was silent but Jesus was patient and waited
  • Eventually she came forward & confessed to having touched Jesus’ cloak
  • And Jesus said, ‘Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’

 

Jesus didn’t do that to embarrass her

  • Jesus gave her the opportunity to rid herself of the feeling of shame by breaking the silence and letting the light of her faith shine
  • And when she did speak up Jesus demonstrated empathy and honoured her publicly by commending her for her faith
  • Empathy kills shame

 

Conclusion:

If you follow Jesus then you are the light of the world

  • You are the good energy, the security and the hope of the world
  • You are not the light on your own but through the power of God and in community with other believers – like a city of lights on a hill
  • Although some in this world will misunderstand our light and try to make us feel ashamed of it, we must let our light shine, without shame

 

Let us pray…

 

 

[1] 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

[2] Isaiah 49:6 (see also Isaiah 42:6-7)

[3] Luke 8:40-48

Tawa Baptist

YHWH

Scripture: Exodus 34:1-9

 

Title: YHWH

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • YHWH
  • Moses
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on Moses in Exodus

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

 

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

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

 

Today I will be reading from the New Revised Standard Version

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

YHWH:

On the wall here we have some text language

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

 

That was an easy one to get you started

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

 

Okay – one more – BOT [Wait]

  • ‘Back On Topic’

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

But Yahweh forbids the people to represent Him in this way

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

 

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

 

Compassionate and merciful are relatively long words in English

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

 

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

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

 

It’s like God is saying in poetic language…

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

This is really a song about God’s compassion

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

The second word God uses to describe Himself is gracious

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Faithfulness is complete trustworthiness and reliability

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

 

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

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

 

 

Now, at first glance this statement sounds contradictory

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

 

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

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

But steadfast love does not mean anything goes

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

Moses:

Moses has just experienced a revelation of God’s goodness

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

 

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

Moses responds by bowing before God in worship

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Forgiveness is the key to Yahweh’s relationship with Israel

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

 

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

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

 

We are not that different to Israel

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

Conclusion:

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

Imagine you are in the place of Moses

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

 

God speaks His holy name to you

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

 

God goes on to explain the meaning of His name

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

 

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

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

 

This revelation of God’s goodness inspires your trust

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

 

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

 

God finishes talking and gives you opportunity to respond

 

What is it you want to say to Him?

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

 

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

  • In Jesus’ name. Amen

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

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