Tawa Baptist

Secure

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17

Video Link: https://youtu.be/0MS9jZG8uqw

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Affection
  • Adoption
  • Assurance
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

What makes you feel secure? Perhaps when you were young, your teddy bear made you feel safe and secure. Then, as you grew older, being accepted by your friends gave you a sense of security.

Some people find security in their job; they are always at work, never able to rest, always feeling like they have to achieve more. Other people seek security by accumulating money, houses and stuff. Or by projecting a certain image of themselves which may not be entirely true.  

There is nothing wrong with earning money to buy a house, just as there is nothing wrong with wanting people to think well of you. We need these things to survive in this world. But as necessary as a house and a job and a good reputation are, they don’t last. The security they provide is only ever temporary at best.

Ironically, the pursuit of security can cause quite a bit of anxiety. Ultimately, our security needs to be based on something that cannot be lost or stolen or die.

Today is Pentecost, 50 days since Easter. After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days before ascending to heaven. Ten days after his ascension, Jesus’ disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God’s divine Spirit. The Holy Spirit connects us to the ultimate source of security, the risen Jesus Christ.       

Our sermon this morning is based on Romans 8, one of the traditional readings for Pentecost. Romans 8 talks about the Holy Spirit quite a bit. We won’t be covering all of Romans 8 today, just four verses. From verse 14 we read…

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; but you have received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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

These verses are talking about the security the Holy Spirit gives believers.

Three words to hang today’s message on, all of them closely related to security: affection, adoption and assurance.

The Holy Spirit shows us God’s affection, He is involved in our adoption by God and He assures us we are God’s children. Let us begin with the Spirit and our affections…

Affection:

Affection is a positive feeling. You can show affection in all sorts of ways.

When you rub a dog’s belly, you are creating a positive feeling both for you and the dog. When you give someone a word of encouragement or a hug (and it is welcome) this also creates a positive feeling of affection.

Feelings, of course, move us. They are a source of energy. Feelings motivate us. If we feel affection for someone or someone shows us affection, then we will feel good about that person and be motivated to give them our best.

The Bible uses a variety of images to describe the Holy Spirit including wind, breath, fire, water and a dove. While these are all helpful, none is adequate on its own to describe the work of God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an unconscious force. The Holy Spirit is a divine person, capable of giving and receiving affection.

The gospel of John talks about the Holy Spirit being a comforter or an advocate. One who comes alongside and guides us in the love and truth of Jesus.

In contemporary terms we might think of the Holy Spirit as a sports coach. If the church is a team, then God is the owner and manager, Jesus is the captain, the Holy Spirit is the coach and we are the players. It is the job of the coach to come alongside the players to guide, train, correct and encourage them.

The best coaches know how to rub the belly of their players, metaphorically speaking. Their presence affects the players at a heart level. The players know the coach cares about them and that brings out the best in the team.

Or to put it another way, the players feel affection for a good coach. They will do anything for a coach they love and respect. 

In verse 14 of Romans 8, the apostle Paul writes: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  

The Spirit here reminds us of a sports coach leading, guiding and encouraging his players. To be led by God’s Spirit is to have a mind-set of learning to do God’s will. Those who are led by God’s Spirit are thinking, how do I love God and my neighbour in this situation?

Like a good coach the Holy Spirit doesn’t drive us by fear. Rather, the Spirit inspires belief and builds trust. He rubs our belly when we need it and gives us the feeling of genuine security, bringing out the best in the team.

Of course, for the players to benefit from the coach’s influence, we must listen to the coach and do what he says. If we love God, if Jesus holds sway over our affections, then we will trust and obey the promptings and pushings of the Holy Spirit.

Who holds sway over your affections?

We are talking about the security the Holy Spirit gives believers. The Holy Spirit shows us God’s affection and He is involved in our adoption by God.

Adoption:

Psychologists say that a deep and lasting sense of security comes from the way parents interact with their infant children. If a baby gets lots of face-to-face time, lots of affection and connection from at least one consistent adult, they will learn basic trust and feel secure throughout life. They call this attachment.

The thing about attachment is that the baby needs the relationship with the one consistent adult to be reinforced regularly. You don’t create a sense of security in a child by occasional, infrequent episodes of attachment.

The kind of attachment in view here is not like attaching a trailer to your car every once and a while. It’s more like the seats in a car, which are permanently attached. Wherever the car goes the seats go. 

The sort of attachment that leads to deep and lasting security in the child requires an intentional and lasting commitment by the adult.      

God (our maker) understands our human need for attachment and meets this need by adopting us into his family. Verse 15 reads: The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; but you have received the Spirit of adoption.

In the Greco-Roman world of the first century, in which Paul lived, adoption was a serious business. There was a thorough legal process to follow which resulted in a lasting and binding commitment between the parent and child.

In his commentary on Romans, F.F. Bruce writes (and I paraphrase here)…

The term ‘adoption’ may sound a bit artificial to our ears; but in the first century an adopted son was deliberately chosen by his adoptive father to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate; he was in no way inferior in status to a natural born son and might well enjoy the father’s affection more fully and reproduce the father’s character more worthily. [1]    

To be adopted by God, therefore, is a big deal. We sometimes talk about making a commitment to God. But really, God’s commitment in adopting us comes first and is greater and more reliable than any commitment we might make.

The one being adopted does nothing to deserve this grace. All we can do is accept the father’s love with gratitude and seek to reproduce the father’s character in our own relationships.

The Spirit of God changes our status and gives us a new kind of relationship with God the Father, a more personal, intimate relationship. One where we can approach God with confidence and affection so that we cry ‘Abba, Father’.

‘Abba’ was the Aramaic word for father, used by Jewish families in antiquity.

It was an everyday term like dad or daddy or da (as the Irish say).

Children in the first century never addressed God as Abba, that would have been considered incredibly disrespectful and yet Jesus almost always addressed God as his ‘Abba’.  

Most famously Jesus addresses God in this intimate way in his prayer of anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Abba, Father”, he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

This is interesting. Jesus is secure enough in his relationship with God to be honest about what he is feeling and what he wants. In the end though, Jesus is willing to put aside his own desires to obey God. Jesus does this, not out of fear of reprisal, but out of love and affection for his Dad.

The Holy Spirit gives us security. He shows us God’s affection, He is involved in our adoption by God and He assures us we are God’s children.

Assurance:

John Wesley (born in England in 1703) was one of nineteen children. I’m not sure how much attachment time John got with his parents, given how large the family was, but his mother, Susanna Wesley, gave her children a thorough education and raised them with strict discipline.

John attended Oxford University, where his brother Charles Wesley (of hymn writing fame) founded the “Holy Club”, a group committed to prayer, Bible reading, weekly communion, and helping the poor.

In 1735 John Wesley and his brother Charles travelled to America by sea.

At that stage both brothers were ordained ministers in the church of England.

On the voyage there, John and Charles met a group of Moravian Brethren. (Protestant Christians.) Their calm assurance of salvation deeply impressed John Wesley, as did the warmth of their fellowship and singing. When a storm enveloped their ship, the Moravians were not anxious. They had a peace which passes understanding.

Once he arrived in America, John undertook a short-term mission trip to Georgia. It was not very successful, and he returned to England in 1737 a bit dejected.

A year later while in London, on 24 May 1738, John went very unwillingly to a meeting in Aldersgate Street. Someone was reading Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.

John Wesley wrote in his journal what he experienced that night…

About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which 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.

John is describing his experience of divine assurance given by the Holy Spirit.  

In verse 16 of Romans 8, Paul writes: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Paul is talking here about the inner witness of God’s Spirit, who assures us we are loved and accepted as children adopted by God.  

You might be wondering, what exactly is meant by our spirit, (spirit with a lower case ‘s’). Because the word spirit is a bit vague, a bit ambiguous. It can mean different things to different people depending on the context.

Well, in the context of Romans 8 verse 16, our spirit refers to the human spirit, which is our capacity to relate with others. Our eyes enable us to see. Our ears enable us to hear. Our feet enable us to stand. Our lungs enable us to breathe and our spirit enables us to relate with others, to connect with them and form trust.

Someone may have a cold, hard or mean spirit in the way we relate with others. Or they may have a warm, gentle and generous spirit in how we relate.

Our spirit (our ability to relate) can be damaged when trust is broken.

While our human spirit is different from God’s Holy Spirit the two are compatible. But our spirit needs to be open to receive God’s Spirit.

Now it is important to note that the assurance given by God’s Spirit is not the same for everyone. We don’t all feel our heart strangely warmed like John Wesley did. Spiritual experiences like that are relatively rare. Not everyone receives them.

More often the assurance given by God’s Spirit is felt in more ordinary ways, through other people, especially other believers.

Earlier in the service I told you about Mary, who passed away last Monday. Mary and Joyce were life-long friends. They were mates for over 60 years.

Their mutual friendship (I believe) was a means of divine assurance.

Mary loved to walk places but as her sight and hearing faded, crossing the road became more dangerous. Joyce was Mary’s eyes. And if Joyce misplaced someone’s name, Mary was Joyce’s memory.

Friendship; the Spirit working between people to support one another in ordinary ways. Through friendship the Holy Spirit reassures us of God’s presence, his Fatherly love and care.

So, if you have never felt your heart strangely warmed, as John Wesley did, then don’t panic. It doesn’t mean you are missing God’s Spirit or that you are not a child of God. The assurance of the Holy Spirit won’t be the same for everyone. But it will be personal for you. It will be what you need at the time.

The other thing to note here is that we may not feel divine assurance all the time. Ignatius taught that in the Christian life there are periods of desolation when God feels very absent, just as there are moments of consolation when God reassures us of his affection and presence. Christian faith is about continuing to follow Jesus, whatever the weather of our feelings.  

Paul continues to unpack the implications of our being God’s children in verse 17 where he says: Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…

Paul’s thought here is this: because we are God’s children that means Jesus is our brother, which means we are co-heirs with Christ. Therefore, we will share Christ’s inheritance, his reward.

And what is the inheritance we share with Christ? Well, it is the kingdom of God. It is abundant, joyful, healthy, peaceful, life; the kind we want to go on living forever. But that is not all. The real reward is God Himself. Eternal life is intimacy with God. As any child knows, time with mum or dad is more valuable than gifts or toys.  

However, we cannot expect to share in Christ’s reward if we are not prepared to share in his suffering. Suffering with Christ is the path to glory

Returning to John Wesley for a moment. Quite often when John spoke about his new assurance, in Anglican pulpits, he was met with a hostile reception and told not to return. Being given an inner assurance by the Holy Spirit doesn’t make us immune from getting a hard time from the world we live in.

But the inner assurance of God’s Spirit can lend a deep and lasting sense of security to our human spirit. After being kicked out of the mainline church, John began to speak in the open air, taking the gospel to the poor in the industrial towns. These people had little contact with the church of England.

One is reminded of the apostle Paul’s experience in Acts, getting kicked out of the synagogue, then taking the gospel to the gentiles.   

For fifty-two years John Wesley travelled the countryside on horseback, preaching the gospel. Some people accepted his message, others rejected it. Either way, John Wesley’s sense of security was unshaken because his security wasn’t based on the opinion of others or the success of his ministry. It was based on his attachment to God through the Holy Spirit.

We are unlikely to have a preaching ministry like John Wesley, but we may still suffer for identifying with Christ. If (or when) that happens we can be assured we are not being punished by God but rather are following in the footsteps of our older brother, Jesus.

Indeed, suffering for Jesus is its own assurance. For if we share in Christ’s sufferings, we will share in his glory.

Conclusion:

Two questions for you to ponder…

What (or who) makes you feel secure?

How reliable (or lasting) is your security? 

The Holy Spirit is a source of security we can rely on. The Holy Spirit shows us God’s affection, He is involved in our adoption by God and He assures us we are God’s children.

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, both seen and unseen. Help us to move at the impulse of your Spirit, that Jesus would hold sway over our affections and we would reproduce your character in our relationships. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What made you feel secure when you were a child? Has the source of your security changed as you have grown through life? How so?
  3. What (or who) makes you feel secure now? How reliable (lasting) is your security? 
  4. Discuss / reflect on some of the Biblical images of the Holy Spirit. What characteristics of the Holy Spirit do each of these image’s highlight?
  5. What is affection and why is it important? How do you like to show affection? Who holds sway over your affections?
  6. What does it mean to be adopted by God the Father? What are the implications for you personally?
  7. Have you ever suffered for identifying with Christ? What happened? Were you aware of God’s assurance or help in that situation? If so, how? 

[1] F.F. Bruce, Romans, page 166.

Tawa Baptist

Liminal Experiences

Scripture: Acts 1:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/x8IwMmDbypc

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Proof of life
  • Promise of Spirit
  • Purpose moving forward
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Our lives are peppered with liminal experiences. A liminal experience is a time or place of transition and change. An in-between moment, a period of waiting.

The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word “limen,” which means threshold. A liminal moment therefore is one in which we stand on the threshold of something new and different.

A liminal experience may last only a few seconds or it could last many years. 

The days a caterpillar spends in a cocoon, before it becomes a butterfly;

the years it takes to go through adolescence; the minutes you spend waiting at the bus stop or the train station; these are all examples of liminal time.

Indeed, bus stops and train stations are liminal spaces, places of transition. Pregnancy is a liminal experience, an in between time, when you are waiting on the threshold of a significant life change. The seconds between when a baby is born and takes its first breath is a liminal moment.  

That imperceptible time between waking and sleeping, when your mind is half half-conscious, emerging from a dream; that’s a liminal experience.

Routine, stability, normality are the opposite of liminal experiences. Life in the liminal can feel exciting, like you are on the cusp of realising a long awaited hope. But it can also feel a bit disorienting or scary, because your regular routine is unsettled and you are not sure what comes next.   

Last Thursday was Ascension Day, that day in the Church calendar when we remember Jesus’ ascension to heaven. We usually celebrate Ascension the following Sunday (which is today) because hardly anyone is at church on Thursday.

According to the Bible the risen Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days after his resurrection before being taken into heaven. The time in-between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was a liminal period for his followers.

With this in mind we take a break from our series in First Corinthians to focus on Acts chapter 1, verses 1-11, which describes what happened during those 40 days of liminal time. From Acts 1, verse 1, we read…

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized withwater, but in a few days you will be baptized withthe Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

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

Quite a bit happens in the liminal moments of our lives, although we are often unaware of it. There isn’t time now to cover everything Luke writes about in Acts 1, so we will focus on three of the main things that Jesus did in those 40 days of liminal time.

Firstly, Jesus presented himself to his followers, proving that he really is alive and well and risen to eternal life. Secondly, Jesus promised his followers the gift of the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, Jesus gave the apostles purpose moving forward. Let us begin with Jesus’ proof of life.

Proof of Life:

Learning things, taking in new information, is a liminal experience. Learning so it becomes second nature, involves a process of change. With any real learning there is an uncomfortable in-between moment when we are leaving what is familiar to venture into unknown territory.

Take learning to drive for example. Knowing the road code is one thing but actually getting to a place where you feel comfortable behind the wheel is another thing altogether.

If you learned to drive in a manual car, then getting the hang of synchronising the clutch and the accelerator smoothly probably took months of practice.

That practice time was a liminal experience. It may have felt uncomfortable at first, but now you change gear without thinking about it.  

Or take marriage as another example. You have the wedding and become husband and wife, and its lovely and all that, but holding a marriage certificate doesn’t automatically make you a competent marriage partner.

There is a liminal period, which may last a year or two, when you are adjusting to married life. Getting used to living together. Abandoning a single person’s mindset. Sorting out roles and responsibilities. Learning to say, ‘Yes dear, you were right’, and settling into a new rhythm and routine.

Luke, the author of Acts, starts by saying: In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

Luke’s former book is the gospel of Luke. The significant thing here is that Luke says he wrote about all that Jesus began to do. The implication being that Jesus’ earthly ministry was only the beginning. And in fact, what Theophilus is about to read in the book of Acts is the continuation of Jesus’ deeds and words.

Jesus’ ministry on earth was followed by his ministry from heaven, exercised through the Holy Spirit by his apostles. [1] The apostles (empowered by the Spirit) function as Jesus’ hands and mouth. Of course, this all points to the fact that Jesus is not dead, he is very much alive.

Luke draws attention to Jesus’ resurrection in verse 3 where he writes that after his suffering, Jesus presented himself to his apostles and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

As I said earlier, the initial 40 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection was a liminal time. It was an in-between moment, a period of adjustment and learning for Jesus’ followers. 

The apostles had seen Jesus brutally murdered, his body dead and buried.

Then on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. Even though Jesus had predicted this would happen, it was still a lot for the disciples to process. They needed time for this new information about Jesus to sink in.  

Grief is a liminal experience. It takes time to accept the fact of someone’s death. Have you ever had the experience of losing someone you love and then seeing them in the supermarket or across the street. But it’s not them, because they are gone. Your mind is still in liminal space; still catching up with the reality of what’s happened.  

The apostles had no real chance to come to terms with Jesus’ death, before they had to adjust to his resurrection. Their minds were in liminal space, disoriented, standing on the threshold of something entirely new. 

Learning to trust the reality of Jesus’ resurrection was like going through the grieving process in reverse. It was conceptually more difficult. Death is normal for us, it is commonplace. But Jesus’ resurrection was a first. Yes, people had been resuscitated before but not resurrected to eternal life, like Christ.    

In the same way you don’t learn to drive after one lesson, so too it wasn’t enough for the apostles to see Jesus once. They needed to see the risen Christ several times doing normal things with them (like eating and talking about the kingdom of God) before they could comprehend the reality of his resurrection.

You know, by God’s grace we can believe in the resurrection of Jesus in our head, but it can take years (and much suffering) for that belief to descend into our heart. The journey from the head to the heart is a liminal experience.

The reality of Jesus’ resurrection puts us on the threshold of eternity and all the mystery that entails. 

Okay, so that’s the first thing Jesus does in the 40 days of liminal time prior to his ascension; he offers proof of his own life, helping his followers to adjust to the reality of his resurrection.

The second main thing Jesus does is to promise the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is essential to the work Jesus will do through the apostles. Without the Spirit the apostles have no power or agency, no connection with the living Christ.

Promise of Spirit:

Whenever you go to the beach you become aware of the tidal system. Most of the day the tide is on the move, either going out or coming in. There are times in the day though when the tide is slack. Around high tide and low tide the water is relatively still.

A slack tide is a liminal period for the sea. It’s a time of waiting in-between tidal changes. This liminal time, when the tide is slack, provides a kind of smoko break for sea life. It allows sediment from the seabed to settle so water clarity is restored.   

One of the key characteristics of a liminal experience is having to wait.

Waiting for exam results. Waiting for a break in the traffic. Waiting to hear whether you got the job you interviewed for. Waiting to find out if you have kept the job you’ve got. Waiting for the doctor’s diagnosis. Waiting for the next Covid lockdown announcement.  

Waiting can feel tense or stressful but, if we don’t overthink the unknown, times of liminal waiting also allow the dust to settle. And when the dust settles, we receive the gift of clarity and perspective.    

In verse 4 we read how the risen Jesus said to his apostles, wait for the gift my Father promised, by which he meant the gift of the Holy Spirit.

There were 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and another 10 days between his ascension and the day of Pentecost. Those 50 days (in total) were like a slack tide. They were a liminal time of waiting.

In that time of relative stillness, the sediment stirred up in the apostles’ minds by recent events was allowed to settle, giving them clarity and perspective before the tidal change brought by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Jesus wants his apostles to wait during these 50 days of liminal time, because as any good fisherman knows, you are not likely to catch much when the tide is slack. That is, until the Spirit gets the waters moving.     

Unfortunately, the apostles aren’t quite getting it. They ask Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time give the Kingdom back to Israel?”

In other words, are you now going to boot the Romans out of Israel and put us in charge of our own country again? (Like when David and Solomon were king.) The disciples had confused the spiritual kingdom of God with the political kingdom of Israel.

Jesus’ response shows they were asking the wrong question. First Jesus says, “The times and occasions are set by my Father’s own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be”. Jesus is basically saying here, ‘forget about the political situation of Israel. That’s not what is important right now’.

Jesus then goes on to show the apostles what is important. He says…

“…when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”    

The apostles’ purpose, their mission, is to be witnesses for Jesus. They are to pass on Jesus’ teaching, tell the truth about his death and resurrection and proclaim salvation through faith in him.

The disciples had been thinking about power in a narrow political sense. They didn’t realise it at that time, but they were standing on the threshold of receiving a different kind of power, the power of the Spirit. The power to bear witness and proclaim, not the power to control or coerce.  

Jesus dismantles the apostles’ nationalism telling them plainly that they will be witnesses, not just to Israel but to the ends of the earth.

I like what John Stott says about these verses: The Kingdom of God is… spread by witnesses, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war and by the work of the Spirit, not by… political intrigue or violence. [2]

Witnesses, not soldiers. The word for witness in Greek is martys, from which we get martyr. To be a witness for Jesus in the first and second centuries was to be a martyr, someone who suffered for their faith. The fact the apostles were ready to die for their witness concerning Jesus, shows their witness is true.

Purpose moving forward:

Although liminal experiences are necessary in helping us to make transitions in life, it’s not good to become stuck in a liminal experience. We need to find our purpose moving forward.

The butterfly can’t fly unless it emerges from the cocoon.  Eventually you have to deliver the baby and when the baby is born it needs to take its first breath. At some point we must leave adolescence behind and accept the responsibilities of adulthood. You can’t live in a bus stop or at the train station. And if we don’t find a way to let go of our grief, well, we get stuck in the past. 

The apostles needed to witness the miracle of Jesus’ ascension, so they didn’t get stuck in their liminal experience. For 40 days since his resurrection, the risen Jesus had been appearing and disappearing. If Jesus just disappeared one day without explanation, the apostles would be left in confusion, stuck in liminal time, not able to cross the threshold and move forward with purpose.

After proving his resurrection and promising the Spirit, Jesus was taken up to heaven as the apostles watched him and a cloud hid him from their sight.

In the Old Testament the presence of the Lord guided the Israelites through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day [3] and when Jesus met with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration a bright cloud enveloped them. [4]

Now, at his ascension, Jesus is taken into a cloud. It was no ordinary cloud that hid Jesus as he ascended. It was a supernatural cloud, a sign of God’s presence.

Jesus’ ascension was a miracle of God, just as the resurrection was a miracle. And because the ascension was a miracle, we don’t need to try and find a materialistic explanation for it. We don’t need to think of heaven as some place up in the sky or in space. Better to think of heaven like another dimension, hidden from our eyes. And the cloud is like a curtain into heaven.   

For the early Christians, Jesus’ ascension was very important. For them the ascension went hand in hand with the resurrection. The disciples would suffer much as witnesses for Christ. The memory of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was an anchor for their faith; something real and tangible they could hold onto when all else was against them.  

Jesus’ ascension means he sits at the right hand of God in heaven, interceding for us with the Father. We do not need to fear, for our best friend (Jesus) is the Lord of the universe.

Verses 10 and 11 of Acts 1 tell us how the disciples were still staring up into the sky (apparently stuck in a liminal moment) when two men dressed in white suddenly appeared beside them and said…

“Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken away from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”

The men dressed in white were probably angels, heavenly messengers sent to help the disciples move forward with purpose. Angels announced the birth of Jesus. Angels announced his resurrection too. Now there are angels again at Jesus’ ascension.

There are two points of application here: Firstly, the apostles were not to become so focused on heaven that they were no earthly use. By the same token they still needed to keep the end in sight. They were not to become so busy ‘witnessing’ that they forgot why they were doing it.  

Like the apostles we need to find our purpose moving forward. We do this by looking outward in compassion to a hurting world and forward in hope to the return of Jesus who makes all things new. 

Conclusion:

Acts 1 describes the liminal experience of Jesus’ apostles in-between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension. What liminal experiences are you going through? What life transitions are you navigating? What thresholds do you stand on the edge of?

Don’t rush it. It takes as long as it takes. Wait for the Spirit. But don’t get stuck in your liminal experience either. When the Spirit comes, move forward with him. Next Sunday is Pentecost.

Let us pray…

Eternal God, help us to wait for you. May the risen Jesus be real for us and may we find our purpose moving forward by your Spirit. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Can you think of some liminal experiences from your own life? What happened? How did you feel? How did you make your way through?
  3. Why are liminal experiences necessary?
  4. Why did the risen Jesus appear to his disciples repeatedly over a period of 40 days?
  5. Why did Jesus tell his disciples to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit?
  6. Why did Jesus ascend to heaven? What difference did Jesus’ ascension make for the disciples? What difference does Jesus’ ascension make for you?
  7. Why is it important not to get stuck in a liminal experience? How might we know when we are stuck? How can we move on?

[1] Refer John Stott’s (BST) commentary on Acts, page 34.

[2] John Stott’s commentary on Acts, page 42

[3] Exodus 13:21

[4] Matthew 17:5

Tawa Baptist

Life Interrupted

Scripture: Acts 9:32-43

Video Link: https://youtu.be/HljaddMFH5M

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Peter and Aeneas
  • Peter and Tabitha
  • Peter and Simon
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today is Mothers’ Day. To be a mother it seems, is to be interrupted. Mum, can you take me to football? Mum, what’s for dinner? Mum, can you help me with my homework? Mum, where’s my favourite top? Mum, can I have my friends over? Mum, can you get this Lego out of my nose? Mum, I don’t feel well.  

Of course, it’s not just mums who get interrupted. We all live with interruptions these days. Cell-phones pinging at all hours, social media alerts, work emails coming in at 10 o’clock at night and so on.

Sometimes interruptions are a good thing; they can slow us down, allowing us to reflect and see a different perspective, providing opportunity for a much-needed reset. By the same token, interruptions can also distract us from the more important stuff, syphoning off our vital energy.

With the bigger interruptions to our lives, we do well to ask: How is God at work in this interruption? Maybe the Lord is trying to get our attention?  

Last week we started a new sermon series in First Corinthians. This week we interrupt Corinthians for Mothers’ Day. Our message this morning is based on Acts 9, verses 32-43, which features a woman named Tabitha. We don’t know if Tabitha had children of her own but she certainly showed a motherly love and so her story seems appropriate for Mothers’ Day.

God willing, we will return to Corinthians next week, unless there are more interruptions. We’ll see how it goes. From Acts chapter 9, verse 32 we read…

32 As Peter travelled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.  38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

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

If we were to depict today’s reading in the form of a pie graph, it would divide into three uneven portions. Aeneas gets four verses, Tabitha gets seven verses and Simon the tanner gets just one verse. Let us begin then with Aeneas.

Aeneas:

Interruptions come in many forms. Sickness is a common interruption. When I was about 18 or 19, a spider bit my leg while I was on camp. The bite became infected. I thought I could deal with it myself by squeezing out the puss. Unfortunately, that just made it worse.

The lower half of my leg swelled to almost twice its normal size and I had to go to hospital. They put a drain in the wound and pumped me with IV antibiotics.

I was in hospital for a few days. Funny how it’s often little things (like spider bites) that interrupt your life.  

When I look back on that time I wonder if I missed what God was trying to tell me. At 18 and 19 I had a lot of energy and not much experience. I thought I could do everything.

I was working part time, studying fulltime at uni, immersed in Youth for Christ leadership, not to mention keeping up with family commitments and maintaining a social life. My schedule was full to overflowing and I didn’t think anything of it.  

In hindsight the hospital interruption may have been God’s way of getting me to slow down and think about what was important. I was doing too much and needed to drop a few things. But being young and insensitive, I didn’t pick up on the Lord’s divine intervention. I didn’t want to be interrupted and so I learned the hard way.

The book of Acts tells the story of the Holy Spirit and the church in the first century. One thing we notice throughout the book of Acts is the way the Holy Spirit gently interrupts people’s lives in service to God’s purpose.

The apostle Peter was an agent of the Holy Spirit. Peter travelled around the country telling people about Jesus and encouraging the church. As an agent of Jesus’ Spirit, Peter was open to the Spirit’s interruptions, which are really divine interventions.

One time Peter was visiting God’s people in Lydda. Lydda isn’t far from Jerusalem. While in Lydda Peter found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. Eight years of being confined to a bed is a significant interruption to one’s life.

During that time Aeneas would have been dependent on the kindness of others. He also would have had a lot of time to think. We are not told whether Aeneas believed in Jesus or not. It’s possible. But it’s also possible Aeneas knew nothing about Jesus.

Peter said, 34 “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

Aeneas doesn’t ask for anything that we are aware of. Peter simply makes a declaration. Jesus’ healing here is the sovereign act of a King. Jesus has made an executive decision that Aeneas will walk again and Peter announces the good news.

This miracle points to Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus, who had died on a cross, is alive and well and indeed powerful enough to heal by his Spirit.

Peter is interruptible enough to notice what the Spirit of Jesus is doing here. Aeneas is also interruptible. He doesn’t need to think twice. He has had 8 years to think. Aeneas responds in faith and obedience by getting up immediately.

The account of Aeneas’ healing echoes Jesus’ healing of the paralysed man in the gospels. Jesus forgave the man first, then healed him. The response of the people on that occasion was awe and praise.

But in Acts 9, the people responded by turning to the Lord. They repented and believed in the risen Jesus in other words, which is something more than awe and praise. Aeneas’ healing is a clear sign to them that Jesus is alive.   

Okay, so that is Aeneas’ piece of the pie. What about Tabitha? Well, Tabitha gets the lion’s share, 7 verses.

Tabitha:

My stepfather used to say, ‘People are not machines’. He never really explained what he meant by that which was good because it made you think. People are not machines, could mean a number of things.

For example, it could mean people have feelings, and you need to be mindful of their feelings when dealing with them. You can’t just put people away in the shed at the end of the day like you do with a chainsaw. You need to listen to people and show kindness and appreciation.

People are not machines, also implies people are unique, one of a kind; unlike machines which come off the production line all the same. Because people are different, it doesn’t work to treat everyone the same way. If you want to help someone, you have to take time to understand them. Indeed, you have to understand yourself and your own points of difference. 

People are not machines. A machine can go and go and go all day and all night, but people are not like that. People need to have their work interrupted.

If you work at a computer, you need to take a break every so often to walk around and have a stretch and look out the window at the real world.

And if you work with people all day, you need to come home and have some time alone. Even if you love what you do for a job, you still need one or two days off a week to rest and be restored.

Sleeping at night and dreaming are God’s way of interrupting your conscious mind, allowing the waters of your soul to be still and heal. People are not machines. We need to be interrupted sometimes.

Tabitha lived in Joppa, what we know today as Jaffa. Luke (the author of Acts) gives us two names for Tabitha. Tabitha is her Aramaic name and Dorcas is the Greek translation. Luke was writing for an ethnically diverse audience.

Tabitha translates into Hebrew as Zibiah. Zibiah was the mother of king Joash, in the Old Testament. Tabitha’s name means gazelle or deer, which brings to mind Psalm 42, As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.

But also that saucy poem, Song of Solomon, my lover is like a gazelle.

Tabitha’s name then touches the collective unconscious, evoking memories of love, longing, worship, royalty and motherhood.

More importantly, verse 36 says Tabitha was a disciple. A disciple is an apprentice, someone learning to be like Jesus. Reading the New Testament, we might think all of Jesus’ disciples were men. They weren’t. Many of Jesus’ disciples were women, which was a new thing 2000 years ago.  

We could say disciples are not machines. Disciples don’t come off a production line all the same. Disciples don’t learn by uploading a computer programme. Disciples learn organically through experience, by being around other believers, by reading the Bible and having a go at what Jesus taught.

Tabitha did her apprenticeship (she learned to be like Jesus) by doing good and helping the poor. As she served and cared for people, Tabitha learned to love like Jesus loves.

Discipleship does happen at church on a Sunday morning but that’s not the only place it happens. Discipleship is worked out in your everyday life. We learn to be like Jesus as we care for children and parents. We learn to be like Jesus as we seek the wellbeing of our husband or wife and our neighbours and friends.

Discipleship happens in the morning when you walk into the kitchen to find a sink full of dirty dishes. It happens late at night when you are struggling to stay awake and your teenager wants to talk with you.

It happens at work, when no one is watching, and you are tempted to do something dodgy. It happens on the train when everyone is watching, and you give up your seat for someone who needs it more.

It happens too when you set time aside for prayer and daily devotions. Christian discipleship is woven through all of life. It is in your regular routines and it is often also in the interruptions to your routine.

Tabitha’s life and good works were interrupted by sickness and death. If an engine dies you can usually take it to pieces, replace a few parts and bring it back to life as good as new. But when a person dies, it’s pretty final.

Death is the ultimate interruption. When death comes at the end of a long life well lived or when it interrupts pain and indignity, it is welcomed. But when death comes too soon… well words and reason fail us.

Tabitha’s death came too soon. Her body was washed and she was placed in an upstairs room. Washing the body was Jewish custom at that time but placing the body in an upstairs room was unusual.

Normally, the body would be buried before sunset the same day, if possible. But in Tabitha’s case, her church was not ready to let her go. They held out hope that even now God might intervene to save her and them.

Two men went to get Peter in nearby Lydda, about 10 miles away. Peter, who was probably quite busy with many people turning to the Lord in Lydda, accepted the interruption and went to Joppa where he was taken to see Tabitha’s corpse in the upstairs room.

All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Clearly, Tabitha was not just a human sewing machine to these widows.

They cared about her and were deeply distressed at her passing. Death doesn’t just interrupt the life of the deceased; it interrupts the lives of all those who feel the loss keenly. Grief is often an unwanted interruption. Grief ambushes us when we are not expecting it.

The widows’ tears bear testimony to Tabitha’s love for them. Tabitha did more than just feed and clothe the poor, she interrupted the monotonous ache of their loneliness. She offered some light and companionship.

To make clothes for someone by hand is a very personal thing. You have to get to know the person first. You need to get the right measurements of course, but more than that you need to understand what they like and what will be useful for their daily life. Tabitha really knew these widows and they knew her.

Peter could plainly see the love and grief of Tabitha’s community. So he sent them all out of the room, got down on his knees and prayed. Peter wants to consult with the risen Jesus before he does anything and he doesn’t want an audience.   

After praying Peter says, “Tabitha, get up”. She opens her eyes, sees Peter and sits up. Peter then helps her to her feet. Again, this miracle of bringing Tabitha back from the dead points to Jesus’ resurrection.

Those who are familiar with the gospels will notice the connection with Mark chapter 5, where Jesus brought Jairus’ daughter back from the dead. On his way to Jairus’ home, Jesus was interrupted by a woman with a bleeding complaint. Jesus healed the woman, but by the time he got to Jairus’ home the 12-year-old girl had died.

This didn’t stop Jesus though. Jesus sent the mourners out of the room where the child was lying and said to her in Aramaic, “Talitha koum”, which means ‘little girl, get up’.

In Acts chapter 9, Peter imitates Christ almost exactly, clearing the room and saying in Aramaic, “Tabitha koum”, which means ‘Tabitha, get up’. We are meant to see that the risen Jesus is at work here, interrupting death with his life-giving Spirit. Peter did not do this by himself. The risen Jesus did it through Peter.

After Jesus has resuscitated Tabitha, Peter presents her to the believers and widows. It’s one thing to receive her physical life back, Tabitha also needs to receive her social life back. She needs to be restored to her community. 

The response of the wider community in Mark 5 was one of amazement. The people of Joppa do better than that though. Many in Joppa believed in the Lord when they heard of Tabitha’s resuscitation. Faith in the risen Jesus is a deeper response than amazement. 

Simon (the tanner)

At the very end of Acts chapter 9, Luke gives us one solitary verse that at first glance seems inconsequential…

43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

A tanner is someone who works with animal skins. This requires them to handle dead animals. Under the law of Moses, handling dead animals makes a person ceremonially unclean.

This meant Simon the tanner was not able to participate in religious life or community life to the same degree as others. In fact, people probably avoided Simon in case he somehow contaminated them.

Peter has just participated in Jesus’ miracle of raising Tabitha from the dead. People all over Joppa are believing in the risen Jesus. Peter could have stayed wherever he wanted (in a flash house with the cool people). And yet, Peter chooses to stay with Simon the tanner, a virtual outcaste. Why?

Well, again this all points to Christ. Jesus fulfills the law on our behalf.

Jesus’ death and resurrection means the ceremonial law no longer applies.

Touching dead animals makes no difference to your relationship with God. What you believe, say and do, that’s what matters to God.

Probably too Peter was following Jesus’ example. During his earthly ministry, Jesus crossed boundaries and created connections with unlikely people.

We are reminded of the time Jesus chose to stay in the house of Zaccheaus the tax collector.

Zaccheaus was sort of like Simon the tanner, an outcaste. Jesus interrupted Zaccheaus’ social isolation and Zaccheaus welcomed the interruption, showing hospitality to Jesus and generosity to the poor.

In a similar way, Peter interrupted Simon’s isolation and it appears Simon was pleased to welcome Peter and show him hospitality. Simon may have only got one verse, but he gets the most time with Peter. Imagine the conversations they had. What would you ask St Peter if he stayed in your home for a while?     

Conclusion:

We’ve been talking this morning about interruptions and how these can be a good thing, divine interventions even. C.S. Lewis had this to say on the subject:

“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own,’ or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life — the life God is sending one day by day.”

Part of our faith is welcoming interruptions as our real life; the life God is sending us day by day.

Let us pray…

Loving God, thank you for interrupting our lives for good. May you interrupt our busy-ness with your rest. Interrupt our loneliness with your presence. Interrupt our failure with your forgiveness. Interrupt our fear with your love. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What interruptions do you experience most often in your life? How do these interruptions make you feel?
  3. Why do we need to be interrupted sometimes? (When might interruptions be a good thing?) Can you think of an example from your own life when an interruption may have been a God thing? What happened? How did you respond?
  4. Discuss / reflect on Aeneas’ healing and Tabitha’s resuscitation. How are they similar? How are they different? What do these miracles reveal about Jesus?
  5. How did Peter work out his discipleship? How did Tabitha work out her discipleship? How do you work out your discipleship?
  6. Why did Peter stay at the home of Simon the tanner? What would you ask Peter if he stayed in your home for a while?
  7. What difference would it make for you to welcome interruptions as the life God is sending you day by day? How might you do this?
Tawa Baptist

The Olive Tree

Scripture: Zechariah 4

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

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Have you noticed how much the price of olive oil has increased lately. A couple of years ago you could buy one litre of olive oil for around $10 or $12. Now it costs nearly twice that or even more for some brands. The reason for the increase seems to be a shortage in global supply due to climate change. 

Olive oil is still worth using though, if you can afford it. Scientists tell us that olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids which help to reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering bad cholesterol and raising good cholesterol.

As well as being good for your heart, olive oil also contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Plus, it tastes good in cooking.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by focusing on the Olive Tree. The Olive Tree is mentioned throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. This comes as no surprise given it was widely cultivated in the ancient near east.

Perhaps the most famous reference to olive trees is found in the gospels where we read that Jesus often retreated to the Mount of Olives (when he was near Jerusalem) to spend time in prayer and teaching his disciples.  

Our message this morning though focuses on Zechariah chapter 4, which describes a vision the prophet Zechariah had of a lampstand holding seven lamps fed by the oil from two olive trees.

Zechariah 4

From Zechariah chapter 4, verse 1 we read…   

Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.

6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. 7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.

10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstonein the hand of Zerubbabel?”

11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I said. 14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed toserve the Lord of all the earth.”

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

Olive trees are self-sterile, which means they cannot produce fruit on their own. They need another compatible tree close by for pollination.

The other thing olive trees need to be fruitful is lots of light. If you let an olive tree grow wild, the foliage gets quite dense, and you won’t get much fruit from the tree because the leaves and branches block out the light.

The Italians say you should prune an olive tree so a bird can fly through it. That way, the tree gets the light it needs to bear fruit.

People are a bit like olive trees in some ways. We need lots of light and we cannot be fruitful on our own. We need the right people alongside us if we are going to be fruitful.

However, we are not like olive trees in every way. A human being might live around 70 to 80 years on average, whereas an olive tree can live for as long as two or three thousand years. Olive trees are pretty resilient. They bear witness to human history through long periods of time.

Zechariah was born in exile in Babylonia and migrated back to Jerusalem as a young man. He was from a priestly family. Zechariah prophesied around 520 years before Christ, about the same time as the prophet Haggai. 

At that point the temple built by Solomon lay in ruins and the people’s morale was low. Zechariah and Haggai encouraged the returning exiles and their leaders to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Zechariah chapter 4, which we heard earlier, retells one of the visions Zechariah received from the angel of the Lord.

In verse 1 of Zechariah 4, the prophet describes what it was like when the angel of the Lord came to him. It was like being woken from sleep. I don’t think that Zechariah was physically asleep. It’s more like the angel was waking Zechariah up to spiritual realities.

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul talks about how our vision of spiritual reality is incomplete in this life. Paul writes: 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

There is more to the picture than meets the eye. We don’t know what we don’t know. Each of us are, in a sense, sleepwalking through this life, spiritually speaking. Without God to reveal the truth to us, we are stumbling in the dark, not fully conscious.   

In the vision, the angel shows Zechariah a golden lampstand with seven lamps on it. The seven lamps in the vision receive an unending supply of olive oil from two olive trees either side of the lampstand.

On hearing of a gold lampstand, an ancient Hebrew listener would most likely think of the holy place in God’s temple, which had a golden lampstand. The lampstand didn’t hold candles like we might imagine today. Rather it had seven lamps fueled by olive oil. (There was no electricity in Biblical times.)

The number seven has special significance in the Bible. Seven is the proverbial number of wholeness or completion. A set of seven is a perfect set. The Sabbath is the seventh day, a holy day set apart for the Lord.

So, what we have here (with the vision of a gold lampstand and seven lamps) is a highly valuable, holy light that never goes out.   

Basically, the lampstand with its seven lights represents the witness of God’s people in the world.[1] The lampstand symbolizes both the fixed physical witness of the temple building and the dynamic relational witness of the Jewish community. God’s faithful people worshipping together are a light for the world.

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John borrows this metaphor of lampstands as a picture for the witness of God’s people in the world.

John presents the seven Christian churches of the first century as seven lampstands in a dark world.

From an earthly perspective the people of God feel poor and weak, vulnerable and despondent. They are living in relative poverty and life is difficult. But from a heavenly perspective they are highly valued and resilient. The witness of their light will never go out.  

Zechariah doesn’t ask about the meaning of the lampstand. The lampstand does not seem strange to him. He is more puzzled by the two olive trees and the oil they produce. Although the temple doors were made out of olive wood, the holy place in God’s temple did not have two living olive trees in it.

Zechariah asks the angel about the olive trees, and the angel replies by saying…

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem during the time of Zechariah.

The Persians, who were the dominant world power at that stage, had put Zerubbabel in charge. Interestingly, Zerubbabel was a direct descendant of king David. He was royalty.

Often, we hear the prophets confronting the leadership of the land, telling them to change their wicked ways. Last week, for example, we heard how Amos had a message of judgement for Jeroboam the king of Israel and Amaziah the priest at Bethel.

But the Jewish leadership of Zechariah’s day were not the same as the leadership of Amos’ day. Zechariah has not been charged with giving Zerubbabel a telling off. Quite the opposite. God wants to encourage Zerubbabel to get on with finishing the rebuild of the Jerusalem temple.

However, they would not complete the temple by human might or power.

In other words, they would not accomplish this task like Solomon did, with an army of workers or by applying political pressure or heavy taxation.

The completion of the temple would be resourced by God’s Spirit, the same life-giving breath of God that was present at the creation of the cosmos. Indeed, the rebuilding of the temple signifies a new creation, a new beginning for the people of Israel.

The oil from the olive trees, therefore, is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit would keep the lights on. The Holy Spirit would enable the returning exiles to complete the temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel.

The angel of the Lord continues his message for Zerubbabel in verse 7 saying:

7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground…” 

The returning exiles were facing opposition to the rebuilding of the temple, and they were overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. From an earthly perspective, the obstacles in front of them felt like a mountain to move. Heavy. Impossible. That’s why the building work had stalled.

But from a heavenly perspective, the mighty mountain of obstacles is nothing, for Zerubbabel is empowered by the Spirit of God. What is a mountain to God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God is wise and powerful. Nothing is too difficult for God.

Did Jesus have Zechariah 4 in mind when he told his disciples they could move mountains with faith the size of a mustard seed? Perhaps he did. Because it’s not the size of our faith that matters. It’s the power of God’s Spirit that moves obstacles. Faith is the key which releases the power.

The capstone mentioned at the end of verse 7 is the final stone of the building project. This is a message of hope. The angel of the Lord is saying, Zerubbabel will put the finishing touches on the new temple, with the blessing and support of the people.

In verses 8-9 Zechariah gets another word from the Lord. It’s the same message just said more plainly. Zerubbabel will complete the temple rebuild. Zechariah’s prophecy was fulfilled about four or five years later. The second Jerusalem temple was dedicated around 516 or 515 BC.

Verse 10 addresses a concern. The newly restored temple was not as grand or glorious as the temple Solomon had built. For some the new temple was underwhelming. It was a case of reality falling well short of expectation.

But the angel of the Lord won’t have any disappointment, saying..

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstonein the hand of Zerubbabel?”

The ‘seven eyes of the Lord’ is not to be taken literally. It’s a proverbial way of saying God sees everything that happens around the world. God is all knowing in other words. Basically, from an earthly point of view the new temple might not look like much but from a heavenly point of view, it is a cause for great joy.

Of all the majestic and wonderful things the Lord sees around the world, this new temple makes God happy (even if it is small in comparison to the first temple).  

The word to not despise the day of small things reminds us of Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, which we heard about a couple of weeks ago. Jesus said…

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”   

Thinking of small things also brings to mind Genesis 8. After the flood, Noah (who was still in the ark) sent out a dove to test whether the waters had gone down. At first the dove came back emptied handed. But seven days later when Noah sent the dove out again, the bird returned with an olive leaf in its beak.

An olive leaf is small but that small leaf carried a great deal of hope for those on the ark. That olive leaf was a sign that the waters had subsided and God was making all things new.    

Zechariah is still unclear about the meaning of the two olive trees, so he asks the angel again in verse 11, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” And the angel replies…

“These are the two who are anointed toserve the Lord of all the earth.”

To be anointed by God is to be chosen for special service, perhaps as a king or a prophet or a priest. The Hebrew word for ‘anointed one’ is Messiah and the Greek word is Christ. The Lord anointed a number of people for special service in the Old Testament.

Most likely, in the historical context of Zechariah 4, the two olive trees signify Zerubbabel and Joshua, two men chosen by God to lead his people at that time. Zerubbabel, as we’ve just heard, was the governor of Jerusalem and a descendant of David, while Joshua was the high priest.

(Please note: this Joshua is not to be confused with the Joshua who was Moses’ assistant centuries earlier.)    

In other parts of the Bible (like, Jeremiah 11, Romans 11 and Revelation 11) the olive tree is a metaphor for the people of God collectively.

Here, in Zechariah 4, the two olive trees together with the lampstand are representative of God’s people. The olive trees are intimately connected to the lampstand. Neither can serve God’s purpose without the other.

Joyce Baldwin puts it all together for us…

“Joshua and Zerubbabel wait on the unseen Lord, who is the source of their authority and power. They in turn give themselves to build both the temple and the community; by daily life and worship the whole people is to be a light to others. The city on a hill cannot be hid.” [2] 

Or to say it another way, Zerubbabel and Joshua (the co-leaders of Israel) act as conduits for the oil of God’s Spirit, empowering the people to be a strong witness, an enduring light, to the nations. 

Zerubbabel and Joshua are examples of servant leaders. They don’t bully the people or hold them to ransom. They lead with humility and in a way that sustains the people of God to continue in their witness.

Zerubbabel and Joshua point to Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate anointed one, the perfect Messiah. Jesus is Servant King and High Priest all in one.

Conclusion:

So how does Zechariah’s vision of the lampstand and the twin olive trees apply to us today?

Well, part of our purpose as a church (as God’s people in this place) is to bear witness to Christ in the world. (Our vision statement is literally ‘Christ in community’.) As Jesus said to his disciples: you are the light of the world. Among other things this means we are Jesus’ witnesses in the world.

We bear witness to Christ. Light is a complete contrast to darkness. Therefore, to be Jesus’ witnesses means to be distinctive in a good way, in a way that reveals the truth and casts out fear. We are to be in the world but not like the world.

Tawa Baptist is not the whole lampstand here in this place, but we are one of the seven lamps on the lampstand, together with the other churches in Tawa.

Our church building and our congregation is not big or impressive.

By comparison with years gone by, we are perhaps a little underwhelming. 

But who dares despise our smallness. The Lord delights in faithfulness.

The task of being Jesus’ witnesses in this world may feel overwhelming at times, particularly as the church in New Zealand becomes more and more marginalised. But we don’t need to worry about the waxing and waning of society’s attitude to the church. We can’t control that.

Our part is to stay connected to Jesus, to abide in him. For Jesus is our olive tree. Jesus is the one anointed by God to lead us and feed our lamp with the oil of his Spirit.

Let us pray…

Gracious God, we thank you for Jesus who sustains our light by your Spirit. Help us to remain faithful witnesses for you, together in this place. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What are some of the characteristics and uses of the olive tree?
  3. What does the golden lampstand in Zechariah 4 represent? What is its significance?
  4. What do the olive trees in Zechariah 4 represent? What does the oil of the trees signify?
  5. Discuss / reflect on the words: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Why does God say this to Zerubbabel? What might God be saying to you (or us) with these words?   
  6. How does Zechariah’s vision of the lampstand and the twin olive trees apply to us today? How might we let our light shine? How might we remain in the world but distinctive from it? How might we bear witness to Jesus? 
  7. What connections do you see between Zechariah 4 and the teaching of Jesus?

[1] Refer Joyce Baldwin’s commentary on Zechariah, page 124.

[2] Refer Joyce Baldwin’s commentary on Zechariah, page 124.

Tawa Baptist

Keep Calm

Scripture: Mark 13:1-13

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

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Calm your enthusiasm
  • Calm your speculation
  • Calm your fear
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Keep calm and carry on has become a well-known phrase around the world. Some might say it is overused. Keep calm and carry on was originally coined by the British Ministry of Information in 1939, just before the Second World War.

The Ministry of Information put this phrase on posters to help the public. They printed nearly two and half million copies. However, very few posters were ever displayed. Hence the slogan didn’t really catch on during World War Two.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the 21st Century that keep calm and carry on became popular. A bookshop owner was sorting through a box of second-hand books when he found one of the original posters. When he displayed the poster in his shop, it created so much interest he reproduced it and started selling copies. Now it’s everywhere. 

Keep calm and carry on reflects the spirit of British stoicism. It speaks to the self-discipline and fortitude of the war generation. It’s about not being carried away by anxiety but staying calm under pressure for the sake of those around you.

Today we continue our series in Mark’s gospel, focusing on chapter 13, verses 1-13. In this reading Jesus talks about the future. The disciples can expect the years ahead to be difficult. When the mud hits the fan, Jesus’ advice is to keep calm and carry on. From Mark 13, verse 1, we read… 

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” 2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” 5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

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

Keeping calm is the key to carrying on. If you don’t keep calm, you won’t be able to carry on for long.

In the verses we just read, Jesus counsels his disciples to keep calm. More specifically, they need to calm their enthusiasm for the temple. They need to calm their speculation about end times, and they need to calm their fear of rejection. Let’s begin with the disciples’ misplaced enthusiasm.  

Calm your enthusiasm:

Have you ever seen a shiny red apple which looked fresh and crisp in the fruit bowl, only to bite into it and get a mouth full of floury mush?

Have you ever read glowing reviews about a restaurant, only to find the meal servings were tiny and the prices enormous?

Have you ever bought an electrical appliance that seemed like good value in the shop, only to have it break down a few days outside of its warranty?    

Sometimes it pays to curb your enthusiasm.

In verse 1 of Mark 13, as Jesus is leaving Jerusalem for the Mount of Olives, one of his disciples expresses his enthusiasm for the temple. He remarks how the stones are enormous and the building looks magnificent. His enthusiasm is understandable. Some of the stones were the size of a bus and the architecture was ornate.  

The temple of Jesus’ day had been rebuilt by Herod the Great. The same Herod who had murdered innocent babies around the time Jesus was born.

Herod’s purpose in building the temple was to make a name for himself and wrangle political power. Herod was not interested in honouring God.

The temple was meant to be a place of prayer and purity. Instead, it had become a place of politics and corruption. It was supposed to be a place of healing and reconciliation, but it had become a place of greed and conniving. The temple should have been a place to worship God in spirit and in truth, but it was really a man-made idol.       

Jesus pours cold water on the disciples’ enthusiasm for the temple, predicting a time when the temple will be destroyed, not one stone left on top of another. Why does Jesus do this? Because the temple is under God’s judgement.

Enthusiasm for the temple building is misplaced, it is a waste of energy.

Getting all excited about the temple is like being eager to buy a ticket for the Titanic’s maiden voyage. 

The Jerusalem temple was, in fact, destroyed by the Romans just a few decades later, in AD 70. We will hear more about that next week.

When speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 12, Jesus says: “I tell you, one greater than the temple is here”. Jesus was talking about himself.

Given the choice between looking at a picture of an ice cream or actually eating the ice cream, most people would choose to eat the ice cream.

Following this metaphor, the temple building was just a pretty picture, an image, it wasn’t the real thing. Jesus is the ice cream. Jesus is the real thing. Through Jesus we taste and experience the goodness of God. 

Jesus is greater than the Jerusalem temple, for Jesus embodies the living presence of God on earth. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice who makes us right with God. In Jesus we find healing for body, mind and soul. Through Jesus our prayers and our worship are made acceptable to God.

Sadly, the disciples couldn’t tell the difference between the picture and the ice cream itself. The disciples couldn’t yet see that being in Christ was better, by far, than being in the temple courts. For when we are in Christ, we are as close to God as we can possibly be.

So, given Jesus’ criticism of the Jerusalem temple, does that mean we should not have church buildings? Well, no. Our situation is different from the Jewish temple of the first century.

The church buildings are useful in so far as they support relationship and connection. The buildings provide a place for the community to come together for worship and fellowship, and they are a symbol of the Christian presence in this place. We want our buildings to be functional and safe. That’s why we did the earthquake strengthening and the north wing renovations.

At the same time, we hold our buildings lightly. We recognize that while the buildings are useful, they are not the most important thing. The church depends on Jesus, not on this auditorium. The church would continue to exist if the buildings were taken away.

Jesus is our temple. Wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, the Lord is present. Therefore, the church is the people, all those who are in Christ.      

I don’t think anyone could accuse Tawa Baptist of making too much of their buildings. Someone told me once (before we did our renovations) how they liked that our buildings looked a bit tired and weather worn. They could identify with this. They had been knocked around by life and felt at home here.

That’s the gospel. Weakness and vulnerability speak to people in a way that strength and beauty can’t.    

Jesus is more concerned with the quality of our relationships with God and each other, than he is with our architecture. Are we a people of faith and prayer? Are we a community of grace and truth? Do others experience something of God’s presence among us? Does this church feel like coming home?

Calm your speculation:

After calming the disciples’ enthusiasm for the temple, Jesus goes on to calm their speculation about end times.

For thousands of years people have speculated about how the world will end. Some thought it would all be over 12 years ago because the Mayan calendar ran out on the 21 December 2012. And yet here we are. There was also quite a bit of anxiety 25 years ago with the Y2K bug. Remember that?

Not to mention all the conspiracy theories that float around whenever there is a war. The leaders of those countries we consider to be our enemies at the minute, tend to be labelled the anti-Christ. Give it another 30 or 40 years and our enemies will be our allies again.

People are slow to learn. Consequently, history keeps repeating itself.

Humanity remains fascinated with the so-called apocalypse. A case in point: The Left Behind book series sold over 65 million copies and was made into a number of movies as well. Sadly, some people base their belief about end times on those books. The Left Behind series might be entertaining in the way that Tom Clancy or Stephen King is entertaining, but it’s not the gospel. It’s fiction.

To be clear, the experts are not agreed that Mark 13 is about the end of the world. But that is how many people today read it. In the context Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem which, to the Jews of the first century, would have seemed like the end of the world.

When four of Jesus’ disciples ask him when the temple will be destroyed and what sign they should look out for that the end is nigh, Jesus seeks to calm their speculation.

Jesus tells his disciples to watch out for false Messiah’s and not to be alarmed when they hear of wars and rumours of wars. Such things must happen,but they do not signal the end.  

Jesus goes on to say: 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Wars, earthquakes and famines happen in every age of human history and do not necessarily carry any weight as signs that the end is imminent.

Jesus wants his disciples to guard against apocalyptic fanatics who think the end of the world is at hand. These fanatics point to false prophets, false Messiah’s and various earthly upheavals to prove their point. [1] Don’t be sucked in by their conspiracy theories.  

Jesus’ metaphor of birth pains sounds a note of hope. Wars, earthquakes and famines are normally associated with death and destruction. But Jesus sees beyond the death and destruction of these events to the new creation God is bringing about. Jesus’ story does not end with the cross. Jesus’ story (and ours) continues with the resurrection.

Rather than speculating about how the world might end, the disciples are to give their time and energy to preaching the gospel to all nations. You can’t control the future, but you can tell people about Jesus in the present. 

Calm your fear:

Perhaps the hardest part of keeping calm and carrying on is managing our fear. Fear is often more difficult to control than enthusiasm and speculation.

But it’s not just fear in general that Jesus wants to calm. More specifically we need help to calm our fear of rejection.  

We can experience rejection in a variety of ways. For example…

Being made redundant from a job you really enjoyed and were good at.

Not getting a job you interviewed for. Being dumped by someone you really liked. Or perhaps having your husband or wife cheat on you. Being picked last for a sports team in PE. Being overlooked or abandoned by a parent. Not getting invited to a party.

These are just some of the ways we might feel rejected.  

Sometimes rejection is relatively minor. Other times it is more significant. Whether it is major or minor though, rejection erodes your spirit and your self-confidence. Suffer enough rejection and you will end up with a hole in your heart, where faith and hope used to be. That’s a difficult hole to fill.

Often when someone rejects us, they have made a judgement about us that is not fair. Prejudice goes hand in hand with rejection. No one wants to be prejudged or condemned. We are naturally afraid of rejection and try to avoid it.

To those who have been judged and rejected unfairly, let me say this. God sees you, even when you are invisible to others. The Lord is our judge and he is just. God will make things right in the end. He can heal your wounds and fill the hole in your heart. That’s not speculation. That is God’s character.

In verses 9-13, Jesus warns his disciples of the prejudice and rejection they will face because of their relationship with him. Their rejection will be quite a bit worse than being picked last in PE. Their rejection will be akin to the suffering Jesus faced. Jesus’ experience sets the pattern for his followers.

The disciples will be flogged and rejected by their fellow Jews in the local synagogues. They will stand trial and be rejected before the Roman authorities as well. And, worst of all, they will be betrayed and rejected by members of their own family.  Everyone will hate the disciples because of Jesus.   

In verse 11 Jesus says, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

This is not an excuse for preachers to avoid doing the hard yards with their sermon prep. The idea here is that, when you are blindsided and the pressure comes on you from the authorities, keep calm and carry on. Don’t panic. The Holy Spirit has got you.

We read how the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles under trial in the book of Acts. For example, in Acts 4 we read how Peter responded when standing before the Jewish Sanhedrin…

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to humankind by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus… 

The Sanhedrin tried to silence the apostles 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 

20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Peter and John were rejected by the Jewish authorities, but the Holy Spirit gave them the courage and the words they needed to keep calm and carry on.

On that occasion the apostles were set free with a warning, but it didn’t always end so well. Eventually Peter was killed for his witness for Jesus and John was sent into exile.

Humanly speaking, not many (if any) could stand the rejection that believers suffered in the first century, except by the strengthening of the Holy Spirit.

When we are rejected because of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is like a hug from God. The Spirit reassures us of Jesus’ presence and God’s acceptance. When we know that God is for us, what does it matter who is against us.  

Conclusion:

One commentator notes that Jesus’ followers live at a place where the purposes of God and the pain of the world cross paths.

“Many Christians today face persecution every bit as severe as that which the early church suffered; and those Christians who don’t face persecution [Christians like us in NZ] often face the opposite temptation, to stagnate, to become cynical, to suppose nothing much is happening, that the Kingdom of God is just a pious dream”. [2]

We are unlikely to suffer in the same way the early church did, but the temptation to not carry on is no less real. We need to find our balance.

We don’t want to be so uptight that we burn out or put others off. 

Nor do we want to be so relaxed that we become bored or fall asleep.

As Jesus said, those who stand firm to the end will be saved.    

Let us pray…

All knowing God, save us from wasting our energies on misplaced enthusiasm and speculation about the future. Fill us with your Spirit that we would know your acceptance and not be afraid. Help us to keep calm and carry on, in your will, to the end. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What is the purpose of a temple? Why does Jesus curb the disciples’ enthusiasm for the temple? What is the church?
  3. Why does Jesus discourage speculation about end times? What does Jesus encourage his followers to do instead?
  4. In what ways did the disciples of Jesus experience rejection? In what ways have you experienced rejection? How did you feel when you were rejected?
  5. How does Jesus say the Holy Spirit will help the disciples? Can you think of a time when the Holy Spirit gave you the right words in a tight spot? What happened? 
  6. What does it mean to stand firm to the end? How do we do this? How might we find a healthy balance with keeping calm and carrying on? 

[1] See Ben Witherington’s commentary on Mark, page 337. 

[2] Refer Tom Wright’s commentary on Mark, page 180.

Tawa Baptist

The Spirit & Saul

Scripture: Acts 9

Video Link: https://youtu.be/v9xfsj7_kas

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Stephen
  • Ananias
  • Barnabas
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Over the past two or three weeks we have watched Olympic athletes from all over the world competing at the highest level. These men and women are extraordinary in their ability, their commitment and their work ethic.

But, as capable as they are, most (if not all) of them did not get there alone. Each of them had people in the background of their lives supporting them. Coaches, parents, fundraisers, physios, friends and so on.

During the month of August, we are focusing on four messages from the book of Acts in support of Arotahi, the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society. The book of Acts tells how the Holy Spirit used men and women to share the message about Jesus.

Today our sermon focuses on the conversion of Saul, also known as the apostle Paul. Paul accomplished great things for God. He changed the world.

If Christian mission was an Olympic sport, then Paul would be one of the GOAT’s, one of the greatest of all time.

We do well to remember though, that Saul would not have become the apostle Paul without the help of some key individuals supporting him in the background. From Acts chapter 9, verse 1, we read…

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.

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

I said before that Saul would not have become the apostle Paul without the help of some key individuals. The Holy Spirit used three people in particular in the process of Saul’s call and conversion: Stephen, Ananias and Barnabas. Let’s begin by considering how the Spirit used Stephen. 

Stephen:

If you have a blocked sewer pipe, it does no good to keep flushing the toilet. The paper and the poo will back up until it finds a way out. The way out might be a vent somewhere onto your back lawn or (if you are unlucky) it might be the actual toilet bowl itself. Either way you end up with a smelly mess.

If your sewer line blocks, you really have to call a plumber who will put a camera down to see what the problem is. Sometimes the blockage can be cleared with an auger or a high-pressure hose. But if the pipe is damaged, you may need to replace it.

The psychologist, Carl Jung, said: “Fanaticism is always a sign of repressed doubt”.

Or, to put this another way, if repressed doubt is like a blocked sewer line, then the fanatic refuses to admit there is a problem and continues to flush the toilet more and more, even as the paper and poo of his fanaticism and anger spew out where it is not wanted.   

A fanatic is a person filled with excessive zeal, often for an extreme religious or political cause. Fanatics tend to be one eyed. They struggle to see things from another perspective. Before Saul met the risen Jesus, he was a religious fanatic.  

As we heard last week, Saul was present when Stephen gave his speech to the Jewish leadership and he approved of the crowd stoning Stephen. In fact, the killing of Stephen became the catalyst for Saul to go from house to house, dragging Christian men and women off to prison.

Stephen’s message was basically this: Jesus is the Messiah of God and the religious leaders (whom Saul aligned himself with) killed Jesus. But God has vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead.

Stephen was so convinced that God had raised Jesus from the dead that he was willing to die for it. Stephen brought the religious leaders’ hate to the surface, only to forgive it.

This caused Saul to doubt his own belief system. If Stephen was right, then the religious leaders and Saul were on the wrong side of God. If Stephen was right, then much of what Saul believed in was a lie.

Of course, Saul does not want to face the possibility he is wrong. And so, he represses his doubt. He pushes his doubt deeper down into his unconscious. Saul thought he could get rid of his nagging doubt by flushing the Christians away. But the blockage caused by repressed doubt won’t be shifted like that.  

The more Saul persecuted the church, the more the paper and poo of his fanaticism and hate overflowed where it was not wanted.  

Having done as much damage as he could in Jerusalem, Saul moves on to Damascus to round up more Christians there. Damascus is about 140 miles north of Jerusalem. It would have taken about a week to get there on foot.

Saul was probably travelling with temple guards.

As Saul drew near to Damascus, the risen Lord Jesus appeared to him and said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” When Saul asks who is speaking to him, the Lord replies, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”.

It is characteristic of Jesus to say much with few words. In just two short sentences Jesus removes all doubt and frees Saul from his fanaticism.

Saul now sees first hand, for himself, that God has raised Jesus from the dead and he understands clearly that Stephen was right. He (Saul) is on the wrong side of God’s purpose. By persecuting Christians Saul was in fact fighting against God, without being aware of it.

We must not miss the inference in Jesus’ words here. The risen and ascended Jesus is intimately connected, by his Spirit, to his church on earth. When Saul persecuted Christians, Jesus felt it. ‘What you do to least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do to me’, is what the Lord says in Matthew’s gospel.     

The point I’m making here is that the Holy Spirit used Stephen to sow the irritating seed of gospel truth in Saul’s heart. Without someone like Stephen to sow the seed, Saul may never have become a Christian. Stephen’s message and death had a profound effect on Saul.

Now most people are not as fanatical as Saul was. But pretty much everyone holds some kind of false belief at some point in their life. And, whether you become a Christian or not, the Holy Spirit is likely to use a person (like Stephen) to challenge your false beliefs.

When that happens, you have a choice. You can either offer your doubts up to God and say, ‘Lord, show me the truth about Jesus and the truth about myself’.

Or you can double down and repress your doubt. But if you do that, your doubt will surface somewhere else in your life as fanaticism. Either way, the truth will come out in the end. You cannot avoid it.   

Who is your Stephen? Who sowed the irritating seed of gospel truth in your life? Whose Christian witness got under your skin? Who caused you to doubt your false beliefs? Who brought your fanaticism and hate to the surface, only to forgive it?

Jesus wants to remove the blockages to faith in him caused by the lies we believe. Be open to the truth. Accept Jesus by faith.

We are talking today about the people the Spirit of God used to bring Saul to faith in Jesus. We have heard how Stephen planted the irritating seed of gospel truth. Now let’s consider how the Holy Spirit used Ananias to heal Saul. From verse 10 of Acts 9, we continue the account of Saul’s conversion…

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Helen Keller once wrote, ‘Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light’.

She knew this from experience. Helen Keller was both deaf and blind. She was also intelligent and courageous, a woman of faith. She wrote a dozen books and became an inspiration to millions. But Helen Keller did not accomplish these things on her own. There were people in the background of her life who supported her and helped her reach her potential.

In particular, Anne Sullivan. Anne became Helen Keller’s lifelong teacher and mentor. Anne used touch to teach Helen the alphabet and to make words by spelling them with her finger on Helen’s palm. Helen soon caught on.

Eventually Helen learned to read Braille and write with a specially designed typewriter. With Anne Sullivan’s tutoring, Helen Keller was admitted to College and graduated with distinction. And, when Anne Sullivan married John Macy in 1905, Helen Keller went to live with them and the support continued. [1]

Without Anne Sullivan, the world may not have been blessed with the insight and inspiration of Helen Keller. 

After his encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul was struck blind. He could hear well enough; he just couldn’t see. Saul’s blindness was quite different from Helen Keller’s blindness. Helen was only physically blind, whereas Saul was both physically and spiritually blind. 

Ananias, a Christian believer, received a vision in which Jesus told him to go and lay hands on Saul to heal Saul of his blindness. Ananias wasn’t too sure at first, but Jesus insisted so Ananias found his courage and obeyed Jesus in faith.

Christian faith isn’t just thinking the right things about God in our head. Real faith always finds expression in obedience to Christ.

The healing wasn’t just for Saul’s benefit. It was also for the benefit of the other Christian believers. The Holy Spirit’s healing of Saul, through Ananias, demonstrated to the church that Jesus had forgiven Saul and accepted him, therefore they could too.

When Ananias entered the house where Saul was staying, he said, ‘Brother Saul…’ Brother. There is no recrimination. No judgement. No accusation. Simply an offer of grace. Jesus had accepted Saul and that made Saul family. 

Saul accepts God’s grace through Ananias and his sight is restored, both his physical sight and his spiritual sight. Then, as a sign of his conversion and commitment to follow Jesus, Saul was baptised with water.

We don’t really hear much else about Ananias after that. His time in the spotlight is brief but significant. For without Ananias’ faithful obedience to Jesus, Saul may not have become an apostle of Christ. The Holy Spirit used Ananias to help Saul at an important crossroads in his life.

Usually, when someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit involves a number of different people in the process. But, at some point in that process, we each need to make a decision for Christ. At some point we reach a crossroads, when we must make a commitment and say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. I surrender my life to you’.  

Are you at the crossroads? Are you ready to commit to Jesus?

Who is your Ananias? Who has the Spirit provided to minister God’s grace?

Who has Jesus sent to hold you through the waters of baptism?

Accept the Lord’s help. Be in Christ. Be right with God.

And for those who have already given their lives to Jesus, are you ready to be an Ananias for someone else?

The Holy Spirit used a number of different people in the process of Saul’s conversion. Stephen diagnosed Saul’s sickness, and Ananias ministered God’s cure. But there is one other person who played a vital role in supporting Saul and that is Barnabas.

Barnabas:

For many days after his baptism Saul stayed in Damascus and began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. Eventually though he had to leave because there was a conspiracy to kill him. From verse 26 of Acts 9 we continue Saul’s story…

26 When Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Barnabas told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 

Some trees, in nature, require other buddy trees of the same species planted close by to help promote pollination. For example, apple trees, pear trees and plum trees may need up to three other trees of the same variety around them in order to fruit well.

Christians are a bit like that too. To be fruitful we need other believers around us.

Saul had a problem. People were afraid of him. They wouldn’t let him get close. Saul was like a lone apple tree. He couldn’t be as fruitful or effective in his witness for Jesus by himself. Saul needed an advocate, someone trustworthy who could vouch for him.

Barnabas was just that person. Barnabas believed in Saul and trusted the work of the Holy Spirit in Saul’s life.

Barnabas reassured the believers in Jerusalem that Saul was the real deal and could be trusted. This enabled Saul to stay connected to the church and continue the work Jesus had called him to.

There is much more we could say about Barnabas and Saul’s partnership in the gospel, but we don’t have time today. Suffice to say, that without Barnabas, Saul’s career as an apostle may have been far less fruitful. 

Who is your Barnabas? Who believes in you when no one else does? Who sees you and trusts the work of the Spirit in your life. Who comes alongside you and keeps you connected with God’s people? Who makes you more fruitful for Christ? Take care of that relationship. Your life may depend on it.

Consider also who you can be a Barnabas for.

Conclusion:

Let us pray…

Father God, thank you for including us in your plan of salvation.

Holy Spirit, give us eyes to see your hand at work in the world around us.

Lord Jesus, help us to live in a way that glorifies you. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Who do you identify with most in Acts 9? Saul, Stephen, Ananias or Barnabas? Why? 
  3. How does doubt affect human behaviour? How did Saul deal with his doubts? How do you deal with your doubts?
  4. Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ words to Saul on the road to Damascus. What does this tell us about Jesus and his relationship with the church?  
  5. How did Stephen help Saul? Who is your Stephen? Who sowed the seed of gospel truth in your life? Whose Christian witness gets under your skin? Who caused you to doubt your false beliefs?
  6. How did Ananias help Saul? If you haven’t yet committed your life to Jesus, what are the next steps for you? If you are committed to Jesus, are you ready to be an Ananias for someone else?
  7. How did Barnabas help Saul? Who is your Barnabas? Who believes in you when no one else does? Who makes you more fruitful for Christ? What can you do to take care of that relationship? Who can you be a Barnabas for?

[1] From womenshistory.org

Tawa Baptist

The Spirit & Stephen

Scripture: Acts 6-7

Video Link: https://youtu.be/-NhR2-BJGTY

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Grace and power
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning, everyone.

A light bulb works when it is connected to electricity. Without electricity, all you have is a glass globe and darkness.

A river works when water flows through a channel along the ground. Without water, there is no river, just a scar on the landscape.

Your mouth and your tongue speak when your mind provides a thought. Without a mind, the mouth and the tongue having nothing to say.

During the month of August, we are focusing on four messages from the book of Acts in support of Arotahi, the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society. Then, at the end of August, we will take up a special Renew Together offering for our Baptist missionaries.

The book of Acts tells how the Holy Spirit used ordinary men and women to share the message about Jesus. The Spirit is essential to the spread of the gospel.

The Spirit is to mission what electricity is to a light bulb.

The Spirit is to mission what water is to a river.

The Spirit is to mission what the mind is to speech

The church simply cannot function without the Spirit of Jesus.    

Last week we heard how the Holy Spirit worked through Peter and the other apostles, in Acts 2. This week we hear how the Holy Spirit worked through Stephen. From Acts chapter 6, verse 8, we pick up the story of the Spirit and Stephen…

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen… who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke. 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.” 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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

Grace and Power:

Some things are powerful but not graceful. Storms are like that. Lots of power, but little or no grace. Storms can do a lot of damage. Guns are also powerful, but once the trigger has been pulled, there’s no grace. The bullet is unforgiving.

Other things are graceful, but not powerful. Take butterflies for example. Butterflies are graceful, they are beautiful to watch, but they lack power. You have nothing to fear from a butterfly.

Flowers are also graceful, but not powerful, at least not in the same way that storms and guns are powerful. In fact, flowers are quite fragile. Sometimes flowers can have a powerful affect though, if arranged in a certain way or given with great love.  

Then there are those things which are both powerful and graceful.

Medicine is powerful and graceful on a chemical level. It has the power to heal you, in a relatively gentle way.  

Dancers possess both power and grace. They have exceptional strength for their body weight. At the same time, their movement is beautiful to look at. A ballerina glides with a grace and power that defies gravity and touches the heart.

And then there is the power and grace of the moon. The moon is beautiful to look at. Reflected light gracing the night sky, but with the power to move whole oceans.

The Holy Spirit combines divine grace with divine power. The Holy Spirit possesses a power unmatched in the universe and a grace far beyond human comprehension. The Holy Spirit gives life to all creation.

In verse 8 we read that Stephen was a man full of God’s grace and power.

This is another way of saying that Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit.

If Stephen was the lightbulb, then the Holy Spirit provided the electricity.

If Stephen was the channel, the Holy Spirit was like water flowing through him.

If Stephen was the mouthpiece, then the Holy Spirit was the mind providing the thought for Stephen to speak.  

The grace and power of the Spirit of God enabled Stephen to perform great wonders and signs among the people. We are not told exactly what these signs and wonders were, but it may have included miraculous healings. To heal someone is an action that is both gracious and powerful.

Verse 9 says opposition arose from one of the Jewish synagogues. A synagogue was a bit like a local church congregation, except for people of the Jewish faith. These Jews began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him.

Here we see the God given power and grace of reason and logic. The Holy Spirit empowered Stephen to overcome his opponents with words of reason, as opposed to acts of violence.

Christian faith has intellectual integrity. Becoming a Christian does not mean throwing away critical thinking. Although we cannot grasp all the mysteries of Christian faith, we still seek to understand what we can. Jesus taught us to love God with our mind as well as our heart and everything else we possess.  

Stephen’s Spirit inspired rationale and wisdom should have been enough to convince the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, but they refused to believe. Worse than that, they framed Stephen. They falsely accused Stephen of blasphemy. They stirred up the anger of the people and brought Stephen before the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was the name for the ruling council of Jewish leaders. Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin, falsely accused of blasphemy, just a few years before Stephen. Stephen was quite literally following in the footsteps of Christ.

The accusers said Stephen spoke against the holy place (that is, the Jerusalem temple) saying Jesus will destroy the temple and change the customs Moses handed down.

Jesus had predicted (with tears) that the temple would be destroyed. This happened in AD 70, nearly 40 years after Jesus. But it wasn’t Jesus who destroyed Jerusalem. The Romans destroyed the holy city because the Jews rebelled against Rome. Jesus tried to warn the people, telling them not to revolt against Rome, but the people would not listen.

As for the charge that Jesus had come to change the customs Moses handed down, this wasn’t right either. In fact, Jesus came to fulfil the law of Moses.

Stephen could see that Jesus’ once for all sacrifice on the cross made the ceremonial and ritual aspects of the Jewish Law unnecessary.

The moral aspects of the Law, which can be summarised as loving God and loving your neighbour, still stand. But we don’t need to keep sacrificing animals for the atonement of sin because Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is sufficient. Our forgiveness is through faith in what Jesus has done for us.

We can see why the Jewish religious authorities felt so threatened. If they accepted what Stephen was saying, their whole organisation would need to be restructured. They would lose a lot of power and control and status.

What’s more, they would have to humble themselves and admit they were wrong about Jesus. No wonder they wanted to silence Stephen.

Verse 15 says, ‘All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.’

Angels have knowledge from heaven. Stephen had knowledge from heaven and the Sanhedrin could plainly see that, it was written all over his face. Yet they would not concede that Stephen was right about Jesus.

As far as the Sanhedrin were concerned, this was a legal proceeding (Stephen was on trial), so the high priest gave Stephen an opportunity to respond to the charges brought against him. Stephen addresses his accusers with grace and respect, calling them brothers and fathers.

Stephen starts by finding common ground with his enemies. He talks about their shared history (their whakapapa or ancestry). After highlighting God’s call of Abraham, Stephen goes on to feature Joseph and Moses.

The thing Joseph and Moses have in common, is they were both used by God to save the people, and they were both rejected by the people they came to save. Stephen is drawing a connection here with Jesus. Like Joseph and Moses, Jesus was rejected by the people he came to save.

In verses 37-39 of Acts 7, Stephen says…

37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us. 39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and, in their hearts, turned back to Egypt.

Stephen is saying that Jesus is the prophet Moses talked about, and they (the Jewish leadership) have rejected Jesus, just like their ancestors rejected Moses.

Stephen goes on to talk about the idolatry of the Israelites in the wilderness and how, later when they settled in Canaan, the first Jewish temple came to be built. But the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. Heaven is God’s throne, and the earth is his footstool.

It’s like the Jewish religious leaders have (ironically) made an idol out of the temple. They are worshipping something made by human hands. They have made the temple and sacrificial system more important than God Almighty.

From verse 51, Stephen makes his point clear, saying…

51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One [Jesus]. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

This is powerful stuff from Stephen. Stephen is borrowing words from Moses. In Deuteronomy 10, Moses had said to the Israelites in the wilderness, 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.

Circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. In ancient Israel you were not considered part of the people of God if you were not circumcised. You don’t need to be circumcised to become a Christian.

Baptism and communion are the signs of the new covenant for Christians. 

Whether it is circumcision or baptism though, outward rituals mean nothing without a corresponding inward loyalty of the heart and mind.   

Circumcision of the heart refers to keeping the covenant with God in the core of your being. Stephen was saying that many of the Israelites of his time were like the Israelites of Moses’ time, not truly committed to God and his covenant.

The Sanhedrin thought they were putting Stephen on trial, but Stephen (by the grace and power God’s Spirit) demonstrates that it is the religious leaders themselves who are on trial before God. They are the guilty ones, not him.

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

In Acts 2, when Peter confronted the crowd with the fact they had crucified the Messiah of God, the people were cut to the heart and repented. But Stephen is facing a different audience. These are not the same God-fearing Jews of Acts 2.

Stephen’s audience are more like corrupt politicians. These are men who only know the power of brute force and coercion by fear. Theirs is a power without grace. The power Stephen knows is different from political power. Stephen’s power is the power of the Spirit, power woven together with grace.

From verse 55 we read how, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Stephen, the man with a face like an angel, who possesses knowledge from heaven, is witnessing to the fact that God has vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead and giving him the place of highest honour in heaven.  

From verse 57, we continue…

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.  Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

At this point all justice has broken down. This is not a lawful proceeding. This is a lynching. The crowd is out of control. They are about to murder Stephen.  

Stephen has clearly hit a raw nerve. On some level the crowd know that Stephen is right, but they don’t want to admit they are wrong, so they double down.

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen responds just like Jesus, with the power and grace of forgiveness.

Verse 60 says that Stephen fell asleep. Actually he died, but for those who die believing in Jesus, death is like a restful sleep. Death is not something to fear if we are forgiven in Christ and forgiving of others. For just as Jesus was raised from the dead to eternal life, so too those who hope in Jesus will be raised.

In verse 1 of Acts chapter 8, we read how, on that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

While persecution is not pleasant, we can see God’s power and grace at work in it. It’s not that God wanted the followers of Jesus to be harmed. But, like Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers, God used it for good.

As Christian believers fled for their lives, they took the message about Jesus with them, and so the Christian faith spread like seeds on the wind. 

Conclusion:

Stephen was the first Christian martyr. When we hear the word martyr, we think of someone who was killed for their beliefs. And while that is true, the word martyr originally meant witness. A martyr is a witness. Stephen bore witness to the power and grace of Jesus and died as a consequence. 

As Christians we don’t want to be persecuted for our faith. We pray that God delivers us from trial and persecution. But if we do suffer because of our allegiance to Christ, at least we know our witness is being taken seriously.

Jesus said, 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sharing our faith with others is a brave thing to do. It makes us vulnerable to rejection and abuse. But that is the pattern Jesus set. No one was more vulnerable than Christ on the cross.

Sometimes our witness for Jesus is well received, like when Peter spoke to the crowds at Pentecost and 3000 responded in faith to his message.

Other times though, our witness for Jesus is misunderstood, or it is understood all too well, and we are rejected like Stephen.

Peter’s message (in Acts 2) was in the goldilocks zone, but tradition says Peter was eventually crucified (upside down) for his testimony about Jesus.

We are not likely to be killed for our witness, like Stephen or Peter. But the reality remains, sometimes we make ourselves a target when we speak the truth about Jesus and align ourselves with him.

The promise of Scripture is that those who share in Christ’s suffering will also share in his glory. May the Spirit of God, fill us with the power and grace to stand for Jesus. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. How did the Spirit’s grace and power find expression through Stephen? Can you think of examples of the Spirit’s grace and power at work today?  
  3. How does reason support Christian faith? What role does reason and logic play in your faith?
  4. In what ways does Stephen’s experience correspond with Jesus’ experience?
  5. What are some of the key points of Stephen’s message to the Sanhedrin?
  6. Why did the crowd murder Stephen?
  7. How did God use Stephen’s death and the subsequent persecution of the church for good?
Tawa Baptist

The Spirit & Peter

Scripture: Acts 2:1-41

Video Link: https://youtu.be/hckX4rgSt9I

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The Spirit’s presence
  • Peter’s message
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning, everyone.

Many of you probably know that the Tawa tree (from which our suburb gets its name) relies on just two birds for the dispersal of its seeds, the kererū and the kokako.

The fruit of the Tawa tree is quite big, up to 3.5cm long. The kererū and the kokako are the only birds large enough to eat the fruit and pass the seeds through their gut unharmed. If the kererū and the kokako became extinct then the tawa tree might follow.

Everything in God’s creation is connected. Each part relies on the parts around it for propagation and survival.

Today, we say goodbye to Joseph and hello to the book of Acts. During the month of August, we will focus on four messages from the book of Acts in support of Arotahi, the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society. Then, at the end of August, we will take up a special Renew Together offering for our Baptist missionaries.

The book of Acts tells how the message about Jesus started to spread throughout the world. Just as God uses kererū and kokako to spread tawa tree seeds, so too the Spirit of God uses ordinary men and women to spread the gospel.

The Spirit’s presence

Let’s begin then with a reading from Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. From Acts 2, verse 1 we read…

When the day of Pentecost came, they [the disciples of Jesus] were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tonguesas the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?  8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?… 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

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

You may have heard of the goldilocks principle, named after the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Like Goldilocks, we human beings want things ‘just right’. Not too hot or too cold. Not too hard or too soft and not too big or too small.

Dark KitKat is (for me) a goldilocks chocolate. Not too sweet (like milk KitKat) and not too bitter either. The biscuit gives the KitKat a nice texture without breaking your teeth (not too hard or too soft). And one KitKat finger is just the right amount, not too much or too little.   

Planet earth is in the goldilocks zone, situated the perfect distance from the sun and the moon and in the right part of the galaxy. The temperature and gravity (and hundreds of other things) are just right for supporting life.

The day of Pentecost, in Acts 2, is a goldilocks moment. Thousands of God-fearing Jews from all over the known world have come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Pentecost. It has been seven weeks since Jesus’ death and resurrection. The disciples have spent much of that time in prayer and worship. They are in the zone, spiritually speaking.

The disciples are together, ready and waiting for what God will do next, when a sound like a violent wind blowing from heaven fills the whole house. This sound is not too loud that it deafens them and not too soft that they don’t notice it.

The Holy Spirit is like the wind in some ways. A powerful, untameable, uncontrollable, unseen energy. But it’s not like the wind in every way. The Spirit is more than just an energy. The Spirit is a person; creative, intelligent, intentional and capable of self-control. The Spirit is just right.  

After the sound like wind, the disciples saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. The Spirit’s touch was not too hot or heavy. No disciples were harmed by the tongues of fire.

In the ancient world, fire was thought to be the purest thing of all. The Holy Spirit is like fire in some ways, an agent of cleansing and purification. But the Spirit is not like fire in every way. The Spirit is life giving. The Spirit fills people just the right amount, without destroying them or requiring a 111 call.

Verse 4 says all of the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit enabled the apostles to speak in different languages (languages they did not know and had not learned) so that people from all over the known world heard a message in their mother tongue.

Why did the Holy Spirit do this? Well, the Spirit is given for the purpose of mission. The Spirit empowers believers to communicate Jesus.  

One thing we observe about the Spirit, from our own experience, is that he has a unique way of creating connections. It appears the Spirit was connecting the dots for those present at the Pentecost festival in Acts 2. 

If you find yourself in just the right place, at just the right time, with just the right skills and resources to help someone, that’s probably not a coincidence.

A goldilocks moment like that may well be the Holy Spirit’s way of connecting someone with Jesus. Making Jesus real for that person.

The crowd were amazed and perplexed, asking one another, “What does this mean?” They cannot understand how uneducated men from Galilee (a despised place) were able to speak so fluently in foreign languages. From verse 14 we pick up the story…

Peter’s message:

14 Peter raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. …this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

In the Old Testament, the festival of Pentecost celebrated the giving of the Law. For Christians though, the festival of Pentecost celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit. The Law was given through Moses, but the Spirit was given through Christ. 

Peter quotes some familiar verses from the prophet Joel as a way of interpreting these events. This is what the prophets foretold centuries earlier. This is God pouring out his Spirit on humankind.

The remarkable thing about the gift of the Spirit is the universal scope. It had always been God’s intention to pour out his Spirit on all people, not just the Jews, but Gentiles also. Not just men, but women too. Young and old.   

About 35 years ago, I worked for Youth for Christ as a volunteer. In those days YFC ran youth groups, camps and rallies, through which the gospel was presented in creative ways. YFC also provided training for their leaders. One skill they taught us was how to give a short talk about the gospel.

When speaking in front of a crowd your talk needs four things: hook, look, book, took. The hook is something to get people’s attention. Something that connects them to the message. Once you have people’s attention you tell them what your talk is about. ‘Look, here’s the point of what I’m saying’.

Then you support your main point with some words from the Bible, that’s the Book part. And the ‘took’ is the takeaway, something people can do to apply what you’ve said so the message sticks.

We see this pattern of hook, look, book, took, in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit provided the hook, by enabling the apostles to speak in foreign languages that the audience could understand. That certainly got people’s attention. It brought them together and connected them.

Then Peter (by the inspiration of the Spirit) provided the look, book and took parts. In verses 22-24 Peter points to Jesus, as if to say, ‘Look, here’s the point’…   

22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

In just three short verses Peter directs his audience to look at the work, death and resurrection of Jesus, which was all part of God’s plan of salvation for humankind and directly linked to the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Peter’s comment that it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus, indicates that Jesus has conquered sin and death. For if death is the consequence of sin, then it logically follows that Jesus was without sin, for death had no claim on him.

Peter draws on various Scriptures (from the book of the Old Testament) to support his point. For example, in verses 25-27 of Acts 2, Peter quotes Psalm 16 saying…

25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.

Peter is saying here that king David was talking about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead when he wrote Psalm 16. More than this, Jesus is even greater than David, for God did not raise David from the dead. So, Jesus is God’s promised Messiah. 

In verse 36 of Acts 2, Peter drives his main point home saying…

36 “Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”  37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

This is gutsy stuff from Peter. He is telling his audience, quite bluntly, you are responsible for killing Jesus, the Messiah of God.

Verse 37 says the people were cut to the heart when they heard this. What Peter said resonates as true and they cannot deny it. They are convicted to their core.

This feeling of conviction and remorse is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit shows us the truth about ourselves so that we realise our need for God’s grace and call out for help.   

In verses 38-39, Peter finishes with his took. This is the takeaway of his message. This is what his listeners are to do, so the message sticks…

38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Peter gives us a recipe for Christian conversion here. Becoming a Christian involves believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as repentance, water baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit.

The elements of Christian conversion don’t always happen in the same order and they don’t always happen on the same day. Elsewhere in the book of Acts we see a variety of conversion experiences, all of which are based on faith in the resurrection of Jesus. And all of which are orchestrated by the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is always pointing us to Jesus. Always looking for ways to connect us to Christ and make Jesus real in our experience.   

Not everyone accepted Peter’s message that day, but for about 3000 people it was a goldilocks sermon, it was ‘just right’. Most of those 3000 had been present for the Passover festival, two months earlier, when Jesus was condemned and crucified. Now they were present for a miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Many of the 3000 were pilgrims from other parts of the world. They were like the kererū and the kokako. On returning to their homes, they took with them the digested seed of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus has conquered sin and death. Through Jesus, God’s Spirit is poured out.

Conclusion:

One other thing we notice and that is the transformation that takes place in Peter in such a short time. Just seven weeks earlier, the night of Jesus’ trial, Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times. At that stage the Holy Spirit had not been poured out and Peter was understandably afraid for his life.

Now at Pentecost, when the religious leaders are still a very real threat, Peter (an uneducated fisherman from the backwaters of Galilee) is filled with the Spirit and boldly tells thousands of people about Jesus.

Without the Holy Spirit, Peter’s best intentions to stand for Jesus, end in failure and shame. But with the Holy Spirit, Peter bears witness to the risen Christ, with courage and clarity.

The Holy Spirit does not always manifest his power in such dramatic ways, like he did in Acts 2. But, 2000 years later, he is still very active in the world, creating connections and making Jesus real for people.

The work of the Spirit does not need to be dramatic to be effective. We may not speak in foreign languages, like the apostles, but our experience of the Spirit is still valid. There is a certain winsomeness and intimacy in seeing the Spirit do something special that only you and one or two others notice.

The point is, when it comes to Christian mission, we cannot do anything without the power and guidance of God’s Spirit. Our part is to prayerfully wait for the Spirit, remaining open to receive what God wants to give and ready to respond to Jesus’ prompting.

Whether we are speaking to thousands, like Peter did, or simply sharing our faith with one person over coffee, may we go on being filled with the Spirit of Christ. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. In what ways is the Holy Spirit like wind and fire? In what ways is the Spirit not like wind and fire?
  3. Why does the Holy Spirit empower the apostles to speak in foreign languages? Why is the Spirit given?
  4. What is the main point of Peter’s message in Acts 2?
  5. If you had the opportunity to tell people about Jesus, what would you say?
  6. How did you become a Christian? Are any of the elements of conversion, mentioned by Peter in Acts 2:38, missing for you?
  7. What is your experience of God’s Spirit? How does the Spirit help you to share the love and truth of Jesus?
Tawa Baptist

Migration

Scripture: Genesis 46 and 47:9-10

Video Link: https://youtu.be/g5QAMDXeqms

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Over recent years there has been an increase in migration around the world.

Stats New Zealand estimate new arrivals to Aotearoa to be around 239,000 people, which is a 39% increase on the previous year. Departures are up by 31%, with nearly 128,000 people leaving. This equates to a net gain of over 111,000 people coming to live in New Zealand.   

These migration statistics represent a lot of movement. A lot of change.

But they don’t tell the whole story. Often people move countries because the situation in their homeland has become intolerable and they want a better life for their family.

Whatever the reason for migrating, it is not easy to leave loved ones and all that is familiar to establish yourself in a new land, where the language and culture are different. It takes courage and faith. Many of you here know that from your own experience.

Today we continue our series in the life of Joseph. This week, in Genesis 46, we read about the migration of Jacob’s family from the land of Canaan to Egypt. From verse 1 of Genesis 46 we read…

So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied.

3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. 

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

Over the past few months, the Deacons and I have been giving careful thought to the church’s insurance policy. Back in February we received an enormous insurance bill. Tens of thousands of dollars more than we were expecting.

At our church meeting next week, we plan to present a proposal for restructuring our insurance cover to bring the premium cost down.

[If you want to see the proposal before the meeting, then we have left copies on the foyer table or you can ask me and I’ll email you the information.]

On one level this is a financial decision. But at a deeper level, it’s also a spiritual decision. Our enormous insurance bill raises some fundamental questions about where our attachments lie. As a church, where do we place our security? In what (or whom) do we put our trust?

Kiwi culture values land. We like to own a piece of dirt and put a building on it. We don’t like to rent. Ownership of land and buildings make us feel safe, secure.

This being said, the church is not the buildings. The church is the people. The church is the quality of our relationships together, in and through Christ.      

Yes, the church’s buildings are useful. They provide a place to gather for worship and fellowship. And yes, we want to take care of the buildings. We want to be good stewards and manage our risk as best we can.

But if our attachment to the land and buildings becomes greater than our attachment to Jesus and one another, then we have lost our way. As followers of a Messiah who had nowhere to lay his head, our trust and our security needs to be in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As important as the land of Canaan was to Jacob, he was more attached to God and his family. Jacob’s trust and security was in the Lord of all the earth.

But it had not always been that way. As a young man Jacob coveted the land. He wanted to possess the land so badly that he cheated his twin brother, Esau, out of the birthright and blessing. In the process he destroyed trust with his brother and was forced to flee for his life to Haran, to work for his uncle Laban.

On leaving Canaan the first time, the young Jacob had a dream at Bethel in which he saw angels ascending and descending on a stairway. In the dream God promised to give Jacob and his descendants the land of Canaan. God’s promise gave Jacob hope and enabled him to leave the land he loved knowing he would be back one day with a family of his own.

Some twenty years later, when Jacob returned with wives and children, he wrestled all night with a man at the boundary to the land of Canaan. In the morning the man asked Jacob to let him go but Jacob refused saying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me”.

Jacob did not let go easily. The man said to Jacob, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome”. Then the man blessed Jacob. Afterwards, Jacob realised he had been wrestling with God.

Now, in Genesis 46, a much older Jacob is leaving Canaan again and it is no small thing. So much of Jacob’s life has been wrapped up in the promised land. Now Jacob is needing to let go of the land and letting go is not easy for Jacob. There is risk involved. What if he loses the land?   

Feeling the gravity of the situation, Jacob offers sacrifices at Beersheba, once again near the boundary. He is seeking God’s blessing before he crosses over to Egypt. Is it okay for me to leave?

And God responds with a vision in the night, telling Jacob not to be afraid.

God reassures Jacob of his presence saying, “I will go down to Egypt with you”.

God is not restricted by geography. He is Lord of all the earth.

God goes on to say, “I will make you a great nation there”. Jacob’s family, at this point, is not really a nation. It’s more like the embryo of a nation. It was God’s purpose for the nation of Israel to live and grow in the womb of Egypt for around 430 years, before returning to the promised land.

With the reassurance that God travels with him, Jacob leaves the land of Canaan and goes with his family to Egypt. This is an act of faith on Jacob’s part. It demonstrates that Jacob’s security is in the Lord. As important as the land is to Jacob, he has a greater attachment to God and his family.

God is Jacob’s insurance. Jacob believes God will restore the promised land to his descendants one day.       

Jacob’s experience reminds us of Jesus. In Matthew 2, Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, had a dream in which an angel of the Lord told him to take Mary and Jesus and go to Egypt to escape king Herod. Like Israel, Jesus lived in Egypt for a while, before returning to Nazareth after Herod had died.  

Jesus knows what it is to be a migrant and a refugee. Jesus knows how it feels to be displaced, forced to leave your homeland. 

The kiwi band, Six60, have a song called, Don’t forget your roots.

It’s about the importance of remembering where you come from and taking care of your family relationships. The chorus reads…

“Don’t forget your roots my friend, don’t forget your family,

Don’t forget your roots my friend, the ones who made you,

The ones who brought you here, don’t forget your roots…”

It is important to remember our roots and to take care of our family relationships because if we don’t, we can lose our sense of identity, we can forget who we are and become lost, adrift from what is true.

Whakapapa is the Maori word for genealogy. In English, it translates to something like, ‘place in layers’ or ‘create a foundation’. A person’s whakapapa links them to their ancestors, to their tribe and to their land.  

Whakapapa or genealogy is important in the Bible. Genesis is peppered with layers of names which create a foundation and make connections. Two of the gospels (Matthew and Luke) give Jesus’ whakapapa, linking our Lord to the tribe of Judah and even further back to Adam and therefore to all of humanity.    

In Genesis 46, verses 8-25, we are given the list of names of those descended from Jacob, who left Canaan and settled in Egypt for a while. This Hebrew whakapapa provides a kind of foundation for the nation of Israel.

It helps Jacob’s descendants to remember who they are and where they come from. It strengthens their sense identity, so they don’t forget their roots or become lost in a foreign land.

Now you may be relieved to know that I don’t plan to read out all the names. You can do that later, at your leisure. But I will make a couple of observations.

Firstly, there are no illegitimate children in this list. All of Jacob’s children are named and given a place of honour. Those of you who know your Bibles will remember that Jacob fathered children to four women. He had two wives, Leah and Rachel. And they each had two handmaids who, at Rachel & Leah’s insistence, also had children by Jacob.     

The children of the handmaids are not treated as less, in any way. They are valued members of Jacob’s family and of God’s people. With God, there is no such thing as an illegitimate child.  

Now it needs to be acknowledged that Jacob practiced polygamy and

polygamy is not ideal. Just because some of the Bible’s heroes had more than one wife, at the same time, it does not follow that the Bible recommends it.

More often the Bible portrays polygamy as a cautionary tale, something to be avoided. Nevertheless, God in his grace accommodated it for a time. God worked with the choices human beings made to create the nation of Israel.

Verse 27 tells us that 70 members of Jacob’s family went down to Egypt. Seventy, in ancient Hebrew thought, is the ideal number symbolizing completeness. The nation of Israel, in miniature, is represented here as ideal.

When we look back at the dysfunction in Jacob’s family. The lies, the hatred, the envy and rivalry, we may wonder how the Bible can represent this messed up family as ideal.

Well, it seems the text is making a point. Despite a less than ideal past, a profound healing has taken place within the family so that they can be reunited again. Not just geographically reunited but restored in their relationships.

We might think of Jacob’s family as a patchwork quilt. Before the quilt is sewn together it looks like a bunch of random rags destined for the scrap bin. But when God brings all the different shapes and sizes and colours of human fabric together, it becomes a thing of beauty and usefulness.   

We catch a glimpse of the healing, restoring work of God in verses 28-30 of Genesis 46, when Jacob is reunited with his son Joseph…

28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29 Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. 

As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his fatherand wept for a long time. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”

Although Jacob says he is ready to die, he actually goes on living for a number of years. Jacob is basically saying he is satisfied with his life. He has received his son back from the dead and it is well with his soul.

Joseph does not say anything at first. He weeps, for a long time. Joseph’s tears communicate more powerfully than words. Joseph’s tears speak to the depth of his suffering and love. Joseph has not forgotten his roots. He is at home in the arms of his father, even if they are in a strange land.

It’s interesting that the first thing Joseph attends to here is his emotions.

He has a good cry. After (and only after) he has attended to his emotions, does Joseph attend to the practical task of settling his family in Egypt and giving them security in Goshen.

Most men, in the time and culture I was raised in, did not give priority to their emotions. Feelings were this annoying thing that got in the way of being a man. The problem is, if we treat our feelings with contempt, they often return with a vengeance, in the form of anger. And so what you get is a lot of angry young men. Things are different these days, but there was a time when anger was the only acceptable feeling for a Kiwi bloke.   

In Joseph though we are given a different model, a better example. In Joseph we see a powerful and successful man who manages his emotions well. Joseph gets things done by wisdom and patience, not violence or force.

Joseph reminds us of Jesus. Jesus also gave priority to taking care of his feelings. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he wept. Only after Jesus had faced his feelings did he get on with the practical task of bringing Lazarus back to life. We do well to remember that tears often precede new beginnings.

After attending to his emotions, Joseph makes arrangements for his family to settle in Goshen. Shepherding was the family business and Goshen was a region in Egypt that was suitable for shepherding. There is more than enough change migrating to a new country. Best (if possible) to keep some things familiar, like the work you do. Stick to the knitting, as they say. 

Joseph is careful to do everything above board. There is no deceit with Joseph. He doesn’t sneak his family into Egypt. He gets Pharaoh’s permission, instructing his brothers to be honest with Pharaoh about what they do for a living. Then Pharaoh will allow them to settle in Goshen.

Joseph’s approach is very different from that of his great-grandfather, Abraham. When Abraham went to Egypt, he lied to Pharaoh because he was afraid. Joseph has learned from Abraham’s mistake. Joseph is respectful of Pharaoh and his authority. He speaks the truth and trusts the outcome to God.   

The note, in verse 34, that all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians suits Israel well. It means the Egyptians will keep some distance between themselves and Jacob’s family. This will enable God’s people to preserve their identity and not be assimilated into Egyptian culture.   

It is similar with the followers of Jesus. We are to be in the world but not of it. We are to preserve our distinctive identity in Christ and not be assimilated by the prevailing culture. We are to keep our saltiness.

In Genesis 47, Joseph introduces his father to Pharaoh and Jacob blesses Pharaoh, twice it appears.

We are reminded here of God’s promise to bless the nations through Abraham and his descendants. God does, quite literally, bless Pharaoh and all of Egypt through Jacob and Joseph, the direct descendants of Abraham. 

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard how Jacob and his family migrated to Egypt. While the promised land of Canaan was important to him, ultimately Jacob’s security was in the Lord. Jacob was more attached to God and his family than he was to the land. 

But in migrating to Egypt, Jacob and his family did not forget their roots. They remembered who they were as God’s covenant people. By preserving their identity and staying true to God’s purpose for them, they blessed the people of Egypt.

Today is Pentecost, a special Sunday in the church calendar when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. When Jesus’ disciples received the Holy Spirit 2000 years ago, they were mobilised to migrate from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, blessing the nations as they took the message about Jesus with them.   

By the power of God’s Spirit, a new nation was born and has grown around the world. This nation of people, who are known as Christians, is not bound to a particular piece of land or to a particular ethnic genealogy.

Whether we were born here or moved here, as the people of God, we are all pilgrims (or migrants) in this world, connected across time and space by the Spirit of Christ. 

Let me finish now with a blessing for you. This prayer was written by Gustavo Santos, of Vancouver…

The Lord of the Nations has brought you here and he has protected you through many challenges. Even though you might be invisible to those around you, remember that the Creator sees you. And even though you might not be able to express yourself in a new language, remember that the Creator hears you. As you go into the world, extend his love through the work you do. Welcome those who don’t look like you. Serve those who may persecute you. Seek justice wherever God takes you. Keep your head high and your heart soft, knowing that you belong regardless of where you are. Because in God’s kingdom, nobody is a stranger. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Have you ever migrated from one country to another? (Or from one city to another, within the same country?) How did you feel? What was helpful to you in the process of migration?
  3. How do you imagine Jacob felt when he was leaving Canaan? How did Jacob deal with his migration?
  4. Discuss / reflect on God’s words to Jacob in Genesis 46:2-4. What do you need / want God to say to you?
  5. Why does Genesis contain genealogies?  What is significant about the genealogy of Jacob’s family in Genesis 46? What is significant about Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew & Luke?
  6. Why does Joseph weep when he is reunited with his dad? What happens if we don’t take care of our feelings? What practical things can we do to look after our emotions?
  7. What was the long-term consequence of the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost?       Why does Jesus send his Spirit upon people today?
Tawa Baptist

Christmas Day Message

Video Link: https://youtu.be/8O8tlfGlmuQ

Learning by Experience:

Kia Koutou and good morning everyone.

Mark Twain once said, ‘If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you cannot learn any other way.’

In other words, some things you cannot be told. Some things can only be discovered through personal experience. What you discover when you hold a cat by the tail is not to hold a cat by the tail. We tend to learn more from our mistakes than our successes. 

Albert Einstein, another dude with bushy hair and an impressive mustache, put it this way, ‘Learning is an experience. Everything else is just information.’

The point here is that we learn by doing. You don’t learn how to hammer a nail by watching The Repair Shop. You learn to hammer a nail by hammering a nail. 

Or take parenting as an example. Parenting books and Ted Talks may provide helpful information, but the real learning comes with the experience of trying to settle a crying baby or being there to support your kids when they need you or managing your feelings of powerlessness as your son or daughter leaves home. 

So does this principle of learning by experience work with God as well? Because God is not like us. God is Spirit. We can’t really see God or take him out for a coffee to get to know him.

Well, learning about God is not exactly the same as learning to hammer a nail or be a parent. But we still learn by experience.

We learn faith by being trusted.

We learn hope by being made to wait.

We learn love by being forgiven.

And we learn about God through Jesus.

Yes, you will pick up some helpful information by listening to sermons and reading spiritual books but the real learning about God comes with an experience of Jesus’ Spirit. 

When Mary (the mother of Jesus) first learned she was with child, she went to visit Elizabeth who was about six months pregnant with John the Baptist. 

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Through the experience of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth learned that Mary was carrying the Messiah of God. Elizabeth felt God’s presence in herself, and it was the experience of pure joy.

When the angels appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming the birth of the Messiah, the shepherds didn’t just say, ‘O yeah, good to know.’ Rather they hurried off to find Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

They were not satisfied with mere information. They wanted to experience the presence of the Christ child for themselves, and that experience affected them. It compelled them to share the good news.  

When the wise men saw the star shining in the east, they knew from their research that it was significant. These wise men understood that real learning comes through experience.  So, they set off on a long journey to find the King of the Jews and experience his presence for themselves, in person. They were not disappointed.

Fast forward 33 years and we read about Thomas, the disciple who would not take other people’s word for it. When Thomas’ friends told him the information that Jesus had been raised from the dead, Thomas wanted to experience the risen Christ for himself. Let me touch him. Let me put my fingers in his wounds.

A week later Jesus appeared to Thomas and Thomas discovered firsthand that Jesus is both human and divine. Learning is an experience.

What is your experience this Christmas? Is it a busy time for you? A stressful time, a week of running around trying to fit everything in. When Christmas is uncomfortably full it can be difficult to experience the presence of Christ. Difficult but not impossible.

The very first Christmas was busy and full, messy and unpredictable. Nevertheless, Jesus was present in the most unlikely of places, a feeding trough. The Spirit of Jesus has a way of showing up where we least expect him.  Make room for the Spirit.

What is your experience this Christmas? Is it a lonely time, a sad time, an empty time when you feel the absence of those you love. Everyone around you seems to be happy but you cannot wait for the season to end and for things to return to normal. 

When Christmas is painful and joyless it can be difficult to experience the presence of Christ. Difficult but not impossible. Jesus was born into a violent world, a sad world, a troubled world. The good news is Jesus was born to redeem this world through his death and resurrection.

Blessed are you who are sad or lonely this Christmas. You are closer to God than you think. 

Let me pray for you…

Loving God, we thank you for entering into the human experience through Jesus. May you be real for us this Christmas and always. Open our hearts and minds to the presence of Christ, that we would learn from you. Amen.