Tawa Baptist

Suffering

Scripture: 1st Peter 4:12-19

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Manage your expectations
  • Suffering is evidence
  • Entrust yourself to God
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our series in the New Testament letter of first Peter, focusing on chapter 4, verses 12-19. Peter was writing to encourage the fledging church in Asia Minor who were suffering because of their faith in Jesus.

In today’s reading Peter gives some practical advice on how Christian believers can handle suffering for their faith in a positive way. From 1st Peter, chapter 4, verse 12 we read…

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you that is taking place to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed,for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household;and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s willshould entrust themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

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

As I mentioned at the beginning, this reading contains Peter’s advice on how Christians can handle suffering for their faith in a way that is life giving.

Three things Peter suggests: Manage your expectations. Think of suffering as evidence and entrust yourself to God.   

Manage your expectations

Peter, as you know, was a fisherman by trade. Fishing can be a fickle business and involves a fair bit of suffering. It is heavy, dangerous work. Sometimes you can be out all night and come home cold, wet and tired, with nothing to show for your efforts. It doesn’t seem fair. Eventually though, if you persevere, you get a reward. I guess through his work as a fisherman Peter learned to manage his expectations. 

Some of you, over the holidays, may have completed a jigsaw puzzle. Those puzzlers who like a bit of a challenge might be familiar with the Wasgij range of puzzles. Wasgij is simply the word ‘Jigsaw’ spelt backwards.

With a regular puzzle you have the advantage of seeing the picture you are putting together on the box. You know what to expect. But with a Wasgij the picture on the box is not the same as the picture you are assembling. So you don’t know what to expect. Often it is the inverse of the image you are given on the box.

In some ways the journey of Christian faith is a bit like working on a Wasgij. When we become a Christian we may (for whatever reason) have this picture in mind about how our life is going to be. We may think life will be easier now that we believe in Jesus because we have God on our side. We might imagine people will be okay with our decision to become a Christian and want to join us, but that is not necessarily a realistic expectation.

While it is true that God is on our side when we put our faith in Jesus, it does not automatically follow that our life will get better or that others will welcome our decision. Your life may improve in some ways but it will probably get harder in other ways. Some people may be tolerant of your decision to follow Christ, but you may also lose some friends.

Jesus of course was very clear that following him would be no picnic. He did not mislead anyone.

In verses 12 & 13 of chapter 4 Peter writes…

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you that is taking place to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,   

Peter, the veteran fisherman, is gently telling his readers to manage their expectations. People are naturally surprised when something does not happen as they expect. Peter is removing the element of surprise by reminding them that they can’t expect everyone to celebrate their decision to follow Jesus. They should expect a bit of push back. Christ suffered, therefore as his followers, you can expect to suffer as well, although probably not to the same extent.

Christianity, at that stage in history, was a brand new religion. It was not an established tradition and so the general population did not really know it or trust it. Most of the people Peter was writing to were Gentiles. For them converting to Christianity meant a comprehensive change of lifestyle.

At the time of Peter’s letter, it wasn’t that Christians were systematically persecuted as such. That came later. It was more that they were socially marginalized. People spoke against them to heap shame on them.    

Peter describes the rejection they are facing as a ‘fiery ordeal to test them’. This is a metaphor. Just as precious metals, like silver and gold, are tested and proved through fire, so too the precious metal of Christian faith is tested by the fiery ordeal of being insulted and put to shame. If Peter’s readers stayed loyal to Christ, even though people who were once their friends and family rejected them, then the metal of their faith was proved true.

Now in saying that we need to manage our expectations Peter does not mean always thinking the worst will happen. If we do that we will soon lose hope. Peter wants his readers to replace their surprise (or disappointment) with the joy that comes from hope. So, while we need to be prepared to suffer in the short to medium term, we still remain confident that God will work things for good in the long run. That is our hope and that is where our joy comes from.  

Last year we baptized a new believer here in our church. A few weeks ago we prayed for him as he had to return home to India. His prayer request was that he be able to confess the name of Jesus before his family and his community and that this would go well. But even if he was rejected he wanted to stay true to Jesus. This man was managing his expectations, just like Peter said. He was expecting a fiery ordeal but still hoping for the best.

Most of us have not had to suffer the kind of test of faith that many of our Christian brothers and sisters overseas have. But even so we still do come under some scrutiny and pressure for our faith in Jesus. The wider NZ society in which we live is not as friendly toward Christians as it once was. There is a certain loss of face and loneliness that comes with following Jesus, which is one reason why we need to love one another. 

I remember when I left my job in Tauranga to train for ministry in Auckland, I got a mixed response. Some people were encouraging and supportive. Some couldn’t understand it and told me so. Others didn’t really care. Then there were one or two who, after I had left, said some things that were unkind and untrue. We can’t expect everyone to like us let alone understand or accept us.

The journey of faith is like a Wasgij puzzle. The picture we have in our mind beforehand is seldom, if ever, the same as the reality we end up experiencing. One strategy for handling suffering is managing our expectations. Another strategy is to think of suffering as evidence.            

Suffering is evidence

When we suffer in some way we tend to ask ourselves, why? Why is this happening to me? Why does this sort of thing happen to anyone?

If you are a person of faith, then your mind may take you down one of a number of different paths. If you have a sensitive conscience you might, for example, ask, ‘What have I done wrong? Is God angry with me? Am I being punished, is that why I’m suffering?’

On the other hand, you could go down another path in your mind and think to yourself, ‘This isn’t fair. God must have abandoned me. He doesn’t care.’

Or you might try to give meaning to your suffering by telling yourself, ‘This is character building. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

Peter’s first century audience were suffering injustice for their obedience to Christ and Peter offers a completely different way to think about it. Peter’s advice is not to think of suffering as a mystery or a problem to be solved. (Don’t go down that rabbit hole. You risk getting lost.) Instead think of suffering as evidence. In particular, suffering for Christ is evidence that the Spirit of God is with you. It’s also evidence that you belong to the household of God. From verse 14 Peter writes…

14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed,for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Now when Peter says, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, he does not mean that suffering and insult are a blessing. They are not. Suffering and insult hurt. Under certain circumstances suffering can be character building but it is more likely to destroy character. It is more accurate to say that suffering reveals character. Suffering provides evidence of what a person is like on the inside.

In any case the blessing is not in the suffering. The blessing is in the presence of God’s Spirit. 

Suffering for Christ is no cause for guilt or shame. God is not punishing you. To the contrary, being insulted for the name of Christ is evidence of the Spirit of glory. Suffering injustice, in a noble way, is the prerequisite of glory.  

What’s more, suffering for your association with Jesus does not imply that God has abandoned you. Far from being abandoned, suffering for Christ is evidence of God’s presence. The Holy Spirit being the manifestation of God’s presence.

Most of you would have heard of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The thing that people seem to overlook about Goldie Locks is that she was a burglar, a vandal and a meddler. She broke into someone else’s house, ate their porridge, wreaked their furniture and messed up their beds. Being blonde and cute is no excuse for bad behavior. You have to ask yourself, what was a small child doing on her own in a bear’s house? I expect her family and friends told her to go and play in the woods because she was annoying them. 

The real heroes in this story are the three bears because (in one version of the story at least) they showed Christian love and forbearance to the delinquent child. Despite the bad reputation bears get in the media they didn’t eat her or take revenge in anyway. They didn’t even file a complaint with the police or try to press charges. They simply let Goldilocks go, cleaned up her mess and quietly got on with their lives.  

In verses 15 & 16 Peter makes it clear that not all suffering qualifies for the blessing of God’s Spirit. Peter says…

15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

We all have a bit of Goldie Locks in us, don’t we. You know, we are not easily satisfied. We want things ‘just right’. It’s like Peter is saying, ‘Don’t be like Goldilocks. Be like the three bears’.

The label ‘Christian’ was not thought up by the followers of Jesus. The nickname ‘Christian’ was coined by unbelievers. It was not a term of endearment either. It was an insult. Like bears, Christians had a bad reputation. People hated them because they were different. Christians wouldn’t bow to idols or participate in pagan rituals.

To most people in the first century Christians were a detestable lot and lumped in the same category as criminals. Not because they broke any laws or did anything wrong. But simply because their religion was new and unusual.  

Peter’s point is that you cannot expect the blessing of God’s Spirit, the Spirit of glory, if you do things that are clearly wrong (like murder and theft). Nor can you expect God’s blessing if you do things that are simply annoying (like meddling in other people’s business). If someone suffers for being bad or foolish (like Goldilocks did) then they are not suffering according to God’s will; they are suffering by their own hand and deserve what they get.     

The suffering Peter has in mind is suffering for bearing the name of Christ. It is undeserved suffering, similar to what the bears endured as a result of Goldilocks’ visit. 

But wait, suffering provides even more evidence. Suffering for Christ now (in this life) proves you are part of the household of God and therefore will be saved in the long run. From verse 17 Peter writes…

17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household;and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Judgment has become almost a swear word in the English language today. It has undertones of condemnation and punishment. However, there is more to God’s judgment than that. Judgment also includes the process of discerning or sorting or deciding. And that is probably the sense in which Peter is using the word in relation to God’s household.  

Peter is implying that the hostility his readers are experiencing is an integral part of God’s end-times judgment. [1] It has the effect of sorting out those who are loyal to Christ and those who are not. If it was too easy to obey Jesus everyone would do it and how would you know who was truly loyal.  

Everyone, whether they are a Christian or not, must face God’s judgment at some stage. Believers get judged first but if we remain loyal to Christ we do not need to fear. Suffering for Christ now is, in fact, evidence that you belong to God’s household and that is something to celebrate.

Okay, so Peter’s first two pieces of advice for handling suffering are:

Take the element of surprise out by managing your expectations, and

Don’t approach suffering as though it were a mystery to be solved, rather think of suffering as hard evidence that God is with you and for you.

Peter’s third piece of advice is, entrust yourself to God.

Entrust yourself to God

When you reach a certain age, or when you get married or when you have children, it is advisable to update your will. When you go to the solicitor they normally ask you who you would like to appoint as your power of attorney. And if you have children they want to know who you will entrust with the care of your children.

You go to the solicitor imagining it is going to be a quick appointment and you come away thinking who can I really trust with my children and my money? 

In verse 19 of chapter 4 Peter says quite plainly…

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s willshould entrust themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

In the first Century they didn’t have banks like we do today. So if you wanted to go away for a while you had to find a friend (someone you trusted completely) to look after your life savings. You committed or entrusted your nest egg to that person and on your return they were honour bound to give it all back to you.

The Greek word Peter uses for entrust, in verse 19, is the technical word for depositing money with a trusted friend. It is the same word used by Jesus on the cross, in Luke 23:46, when he said: “Father, into your hands I commit (or entrust) my spirit.”  

Peter is saying, when we suffer according to God’s will (and not as a murderer or a thief or a meddler) we should entrust ourselves to our faithful Creator and continue to do good.

The implication is that God is a close friend to those who suffer according to his will; close enough to be your power of attorney and banker all rolled into one. Except it isn’t just your money you are entrusting to God. It is your reputation, your job, the rightness of your cause, your family and your very life you are placing in God’s hands.

Peter describes God here as a faithful Creator. This speaks of God’s trustworthiness and also his wisdom and power to make things new and to restore order to the world.

The message here is that we are not defined by what others say about us or do to us. Therefore, we do not need to waste our time and energy trying to justify ourselves to others. We have nothing to prove. God will vindicate us in the end. So we can invest our time and energy into doing good now.

Suffering drains life and vitality from you. Too much suffering is soul destroying; it weakens your character. Doing good, on the other hand, nourishes your soul; it affirms your identity in Christ and builds character.               

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard three pieces of advice, from Peter, for those who suffer for being a Christian.

Do not let suffering take you by surprise. Manage your expectations.

Do not try to solve the problem of suffering in some deep philosophical way. Instead think of suffering as hard evidence that God is with you and for you.

And thirdly, when you suffer injustice, entrust yourself to God and do those things that are good for you and good for others. In this way you will restore what the locusts have eaten.

May God give us the strength to remain loyal to Christ when our faith is tested and the grace to apply Peter’s advice when we suffer.

If you are going through a hard time at the moment and would like prayer, then there will be someone available to pray with you after the service at the front by the water cooler.

The musicians will lead us now in our closing hymn.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Have you ever suffered because of your association with Christ? What happened and how did you feel?
  • How might we manage our expectations, without always thinking the worst?
  • When you suffer, what path does your mind go down? (E.g. do you think you are being punished or do you think God has abandoned you or do you think this is character building or something else?)
  • What difference does it make thinking of suffering for Christ as evidence that God is with you and for you? What is the blessing in being insulted for bearing the name of Christ?    
  • What does it mean to entrust yourself to God and do good? How might we do this? What good things can you do for yourself and others that will nourish your soul and build your character?

[1] Karen Jobes, Commentary on 1st Peter, page 292

Tawa Baptist

Stones

Scripture: 1st Peter 2:4-8

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Cornerstone
  • Living Stones
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When our kids were younger, and we were on a road trip somewhere, we often played the word association game. With the word association game one person starts by saying a word and the next person has to say another word which is related to the previous word and so on. The idea is to keep it going as long as you can without repeating any words. 

So, for example, I might start with the word Milk and then you might say Cow and someone else would say Pasture. Green. Spinach. Dinner. Dessert. Ice-Cream. Sundae. Church. Chocolate fish. Birthday. Party… You get the idea.

Today we continue our series in 1st Peter, focusing on chapter 2, verses 4-8. Over the last couple of weeks, we have heard about the Christian believer’s personal relationship with God and other believers. This morning’s passage focuses on the church’s collective relationship with God.

One of the things we notice about today’s reading is the abundance of Old Testament references. It’s like Peter is playing a word association game, using only words and ideas from the Hebrew Bible. Peter associates Christian believers (collectively) with God, with the temple, with the Messiah, with Israel and with the priesthood. From 1st Peter chapter 2, verses 4-8 we read,  

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being builtinto a spiritual houseto be a holy priesthood,offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

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

Peter’s writing here has more layers than your nan’s trifle. As usual, there is so much going on. Two handles, to give structure to the message:

Firstly, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s new temple

And secondly, Christian believers, collectively, are living stones in God’s house

First, let us consider Jesus, the cornerstone of God’s new temple.

Cornerstone:

When you hear the phrase, “You are such a brick”, what do you think of?

“You are such a brick” reminds me of The Famous Five stories by Enid Blyton. I’m not sure if that phrase was actually used in the original Famous Five books but for some reason I associate it with them. “You are such a brick Julian”.

“You are such a brick” is a compliment. It’s a way of saying you are solid and reliable. A person of integrity and strength.

Possibly the saying originated from king Lycurgus of Sparta. The story goes that king Lycurgus was boasting to a visiting monarch about the walls of Sparta. When the visiting monarch looked around and saw no walls, he said to the Spartan king, “Where are these walls then?” And king Lycurgus pointed at his soldiers. “These are the walls of Sparta. Every man a brick.” [1]      

This morning’s reading begins with Peter referring to the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him.

Then, in verses 6, 7 & 8 Peter continues his stone theme with three quotes from the Old Testament. The first quote comes from Isaiah 28:16 where the prophet says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Before the time of Jesus, the stones in these Old Testament passages were understood by the Jews to be a reference to the Messiah. So when God says through prophet, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, he means, the Messiah is coming.

Peter picks up this stone metaphor. The living Stone, the cornerstone, is Jesus the Messiah, the Christ. Unlike an actual stone Jesus is living, for God has raised Jesus from the dead.

A rock or a stone is not a perishable thing. A stone is imperishable, lasting, permanent. To say that Jesus is the living Stone, implies his permanence. The life of Jesus is a resilient life; a life everlasting.

As well as being the living stone, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s new temple. In ancient times the cornerstone was the very first foundation stone to be put in place. The cornerstone set the profile for the whole building. The angle and course of the walls was taken from the cornerstone. So it was important that the cornerstone was square and true, otherwise the building would not be level. [2]

If we read on into verse 17 of Isaiah 28, the Lord says, I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.

In other words, the Messiah (the cornerstone of God’s new temple) will be square and true. There will be no crocked-ness, no injustice in God’s holy house.

Jesus, the cornerstone, is described as precious to God and to those who believe. The word translated as precious comes from the Greek word for honour. [3] If we put our trust in Jesus, we will not be put to shame at the final judgement. In fact, we will share in Jesus’ honour.

As a result of becoming Christians many of Peter’s readers had suffered a loss in social status, a loss in honour, a loss of face. What an encouragement to them to be reminded that in God’s kingdom the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Those who suffer shame for Christ now, will one day share in his honour.

In verse 4 and verse 7 Peter faces the fact that Jesus (the Messiah) has been rejected by men but chosen (or elected) by God. In verse 7 Peter quotes from Psalm 118:22, which reads: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”.

The builders, in this context, are the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. The Jewish religious leaders believed they were building God’s temple, but ironically they discarded the most important building block of all. They rejected Jesus. But God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead and making him a living stone, the cornerstone of His new house, a temple not made with hands.       

In verse 8 Peter goes on to retrieve another stone quote, this time from Isaiah 8:14. To those who do not believe, [Jesus is] “a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall”.

The point here is that there is no sitting on the fence with Jesus. You cannot be neutral when it comes Jesus. Jesus will either be a firm foundation on which you build your life or he will be a stone that trips you up.

In 1st Peter 2:8 the apostle writes: They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

This does not mean that God has predestined some people to disobey and fall. No. God wants everyone to be saved. If it was up to God, no one would stumble and fall. But God has given us freewill. And the choices we make come with consequences.   

The parable of the two builders (in Matthew 7:24-27) informs our understanding here. If we build our house on the firm foundation stone of Jesus’ teaching. If we trust and obey Jesus, then our house will stand through the storm. We will not be ashamed on judgement day.

But if someone builds their house on the shifting sands of popular opinion. If they reject Jesus’ teaching, then their house will fall. Not because God decided for them, but because of what they have decided for themselves.

A number of commentators make the observation that Peter does not refer to himself as the foundation (or cornerstone) of God’s new temple. In fact, Peter does not give himself any sort of special place in these verses. This is interesting, especially when we remember what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18.

After Peter makes his confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus says to Peter: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

In this gospel story, Jesus gives Simon a new name, Peter; which means rock or stone. It’s sort of like Jesus is saying, “You are such a brick Simon”.

Because of tradition we tend to understand Jesus’ words to mean that he will build the church on Simon Peter. But I’m not sure that is how Peter understood it. Otherwise he might have named himself as the cornerstone of the church. It seems that Peter understood Jesus to be saying that the Lord will build the church on Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.[4]     

If this is the case, then the rock on which the church is built is not Peter. The rock on which the church is built is the confession that Jesus is the Messiah. As people profess their faith in Jesus the church is built.

And that brings us to the second main point in our message today: Christian believers, collectively, are living stones in God’s temple. Jesus is the cornerstone and we, who believe in Jesus, are living stones aligned with him.

Living stones:

Let me tell you a story about a girl named Lucy. In fact, it’s probably better if I let Lucy tell you in her own words. Lucy says…

When I was a child I went to the local diocesan school for girls. It was a church school with borders and daygirls. I was a day girl. Being a church school, we started each morning with a chapel service. Nothing too fancy. Just two or three hymns, a couple of prayers and a Bible reading.

It was a nice way to begin the day. Some of the girls complained about religion being stuffed down their throat but it wasn’t like that. Actually the rhythm of daily worship was comforting, like sitting in a rocking chair.

The chapel services were led by the school’s chaplain, who also taught us religious instruction and coached hockey. He was married to Mrs Barry who taught home economics. They lived on site, so they would be available for the girls at any time.

Chaplain was a lovely guy and quite a practical man. He invited any of us who were interested, to help him during lunchtime, to make bricks for an extension to the chapel. 

Making bricks was a bit like baking, except we did not cook them in an oven. Instead we had these wooden frames which formed the moulds for the bricks. The wooden moulds were oiled up (sort of like greasing a cake tin) so the bricks would slide out easier afterwards.

We shoveled cement and aggregate into a concrete mixer, added some water and let the mixer do the rest. When it was ready we poured the slurry into the moulds and let it set for a few days before releasing the bricks from the frames.

It was satisfying work. You saw something permanent for your efforts. We broke a few finger nails in the process but we also discovered meaning in doing something good for someone else.

Brick making is a slow process. I was at that school for six years. For the first five years we made bricks. It was only in the last year those bricks were used to build the extension to the chapel.

Although he had every opportunity, Chaplain did not try to draw out some life lesson from the making of the bricks. He let the experience speak for itself and it did, but not till many years later.

As I reflect back on my time as a brick maker (now a woman in my forties with a family of my own) I realise how God has formed us as living bricks in his house.

The concrete mixer has become a symbol to me of the rough and tumble of life. Life is not easy. Suffering turns us upside down and inside out, but the mixing process is necessary to build integrity and resilience.    

I am thankful for the daily rhythm of chapel services. This pattern, of starting each morning by focusing on God, was like a mould holding me together until my faith firmed up. I still start each day with a devotion. It comforts me and sets my mind on a good path. 

Now, in talking about brick moulds, I do not mean to imply that all Christians are the same. Yes, we come from the same tradition of faith, we believe in the same Jesus, but each of us emerges from that mould with our own unique imprint. What’s more, each of us is given a different place to serve in God’s house.  

And then there is the silent work of time. Just as the bricks needed time to cure and to strengthen in the fresh air, so too my faith has cured over time. When we are young we are often in a rush to experience everything all at once. And in our hurry to prove ourselves, we grow up too fast. Usually we are better served by slowing down. Some things can only be properly appreciated with age and time.

Perhaps the most significant learning from my brick making though, was the day I dropped a brick, fresh out of the mould. It broke clean in two. I felt terrible and thought briefly about hiding what I had done, but in the end decided to confess my sin to Chaplain. Actually I didn’t say anything; I just showed him the broken pieces, one in each hand.

To my surprise, he was not cross. He smiled and said, “Don’t throw those away Lucy. Give them to me. I know just the place for them.”

In this way, Chaplain showed me that God is not angry. To the contrary, there is value in my mistakes. God does not waste anything. He can use my mishaps and my broken pieces in building his house. Nothing is too difficult for Him.   

Returning to 1st Peter chapter 2. In verses 4 & 5 Peter tells us: As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him— 5 You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.   

We come to Jesus by faith, by believing in his resurrection from the dead. We become what we believe in. The pattern of Jesus’ life is the mould for the slurry of our faith. Just as Jesus is the living Stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, so too we become living stones precious to God. Collectively, we become solid and reliable, a people of integrity and strength.

We may suffer rejection in the concrete mixer of this world but that is only for a time. We need to keep the bigger picture in mind and remember that we are precious to God.   

It may take some time for our faith to cure but one day we will share in Jesus’ resurrection to eternal life. We stand to inherit Jesus’ resilient life; life everlasting.  In the meantime, our job, collectively, is to be living stones bearing witness to the reality of God’s presence in the world. Like the soldiers of Sparta, every woman, every man a brick.     

Verse 5 says we are being built into a spiritual house, or a temple in other words. The word house has a double meaning. It can mean both a building as well as a household. [5]

Peter is not thinking of a literal temple building here but rather a group of people holding God’s presence in common. A holy priesthood, like the household of Aaron in the Old Testament.   

Peter calls this household of God, a spiritual house. Last week heard about the Greek word logikos, which is translated in English as spiritual. In verse 2 of chapter 2, Peter says we are to crave spiritual milk. That is, we are to feed on that which is true to our real nature as children of God.

However, the Greek language has more than one word for spiritual and the word translated as spiritual in verse 5 (as in spiritual house and spiritual sacrifices) is not logikos but pneumatikos. Pneuma means air in motion, breath or wind. The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the pneuma or the wind or breath of God.

Spiritual, in the sense of pneumatikos, refers to something that we cannot see but is still very real. We cannot see oxygen but that does not make the air any less real. We can feel the wind on our face, for example, and we certainly notice when the air is removed from our lungs. Likewise, we cannot normally see the Holy Spirit, but we can learn to be are aware of His presence.

So the spiritual house (in 1st Peter chapter 2) is the community of Christian believers who, collectively, form a household filled with the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, spiritual sacrifices are not literal animal sacrifices, as Peter’s first century readers would have been familiar with. Rather ‘spiritual sacrifices’ refer to the many sacrifices (large and small) of a life lived in holiness and obedience to God, with the help of the Holy Spirit.             

Reflecting on Peter’s spiritual house metaphor; we in the 21st Century western world, have a tendency to think individually. In contrast, Peter’s household metaphor represents collective thinking. So, in the context of 1st Peter, it is not that each of us, individually, is a house or temple of God. Rather it is that collectively we are God’s household. 

Another implication of Peter’s words here is that we do not need to travel all the way to Jerusalem to meet God in his temple. We simply need to meet with one or two other Christian believers.

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard how Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s house,

while Christian believers, collectively, are living stones in God’s house.

What Peter is getting at here is our identity and belonging in Christ.

We are not defined by the world around us. We are defined by God.

We are precious to God and acceptable to Him through faith in Jesus. 

As living stones, joined to Jesus, we have a certain solidarity with one another.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

Play the word association game with those with you, starting with the word ‘Stone’. 

What does it mean that Jesus is the living Stone and the cornerstone?

Many of Peter’s first century readers had suffered rejection and a loss of status for their faith in Jesus. How would Peter’s words, in these verses (2:4-8), have encouraged them? What encouragement do you take from Peter here?

Why do you think Peter makes no special mention of himself when talking about the building of God’s house? How does this help us to interpret Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18?

What life (or faith) lesson(s) do you draw from Lucy’s brick making story?

What does Peter mean by ‘spiritual house’?

Take some time this week to reflect on our collective identity and belonging in Christ?

[1] Refer William Barclay’s commentary on 1st Peter, page 231.

[2] Refer Edmund Clowney’s commentary on 1st Peter, page 84. 

[3] Refer Thomas R. Schreiner’s commentary on 1st Peter, page 110.

[4] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 151.

[5] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 150.

Tawa Baptist

Secure

Scripture: 1st Peter 1:3-12

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Salvation secured
  • Faith tested
  • Prophecy revealed
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When you find yourself on holiday, browsing through a book store for that perfect summer read, you might look at the dust cover of a book to get an idea of what the story is about. The brief blurb does not tell you the whole story and it certainly won’t give away the ending, but it’s designed to whet your appetite and get you interested in reading further.

It’s similar with movies. Before the feature movie starts they usually play trailers advertising other movies. Just a small taster to sow a seed and invite your imagination in.

When you go to a friend’s home for dinner they normally greet you at the door with a warm welcome, a hug or a handshake and they offer you something to drink and some snacks before the full meal is served. The host wants to put you at ease and make you feel good about being there. That way you will let your defences down and simply enjoy the evening. 

Today we continue our new series (started last week) in the letter of 1st Peter. Today’s reading, from chapter 1, verses 3-12, is one long sentence in the original Greek. This passage is like the dust cover of the book, or the trailer of a movie, in that it gives you an idea of what’s in store in the rest of the letter. It whets your appetite and invites your imagination in.

Today’s reading is also like the warm welcome you receive when you go to a friend’s house for dinner, in that it puts you at ease. It’s like Peter is saying to his readers, ‘I know you. I understand your situation. I get where you’ve come from. We are friends.’ In this way Peter helps his readers to feel comfortable, so they will lower their defences and allow his words in. From 1st Peter chapter 1, verses 3-12, we read… 

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!In his great mercyhe has given us new birthinto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritancethat can never perish, spoil or fade.This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may result in praise, glory and honorwhen Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you,searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christin them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you,when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.Even angels long to look into these things.

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

There’s a lot going on in these verses. It is the theological equivalent of a Christmas cake – rich and thick. To help provide some clarity, I see this one long sentence in three parts:

Verses 3-5 are talking about salvation secured,

Verses 6-9 are about faith tested

And verses 10-12 touch on prophecy revealed.

First let’s consider the security of our salvation.  

Salvation secured:

Imagine you are driving your car along a country road in the rain. It’s been pouring for days and the paddocks either side of the road are flooded. You come round a bend and see the road in front of you is underwater. You stop for a moment to consider what to do.

You have been driving for hours and are in the middle of nowhere. If you go back the way you came you might run out of petrol, or find that the road you’ve just travelled has become impassable. But if you go forward you risk stalling the car and getting stuck underwater.

You decide to risk it and very carefully drive forward, hoping the water doesn’t get too deep. Your car handles the first 50 metres well enough but then there is a dip in the road, the car bonnet is submerged and the air intake starts sucking water. The engine cuts out and won’t start again. You are stranded.

Water is filling your car quickly now and as the tide rises, so does the feeling of panic. You climb out the window and on to the roof. There is no cell-phone reception. You are wet, cold and alone. It’s just a matter of time before the whole car goes under, so you try to swim to higher ground, but the current is too strong and sweeps you away. It’s all you can do to keep your head above water.

The torrent carries you downstream for some miles – you can’t be sure how far. By this stage you are exhausted and thinking, ‘so this is how it ends’. Then, in the distance, you see a bridge with people standing on it. Hope flickers in you like a distant star. You wave out to them. Maybe they can help.

The people on the bridge see you. One of them runs away only to return moments later with something. What is it? As the current carries you closer you recognise it is a rope. They are lowering a rope to you and yelling for you to grab hold of it as you float past.

You manage to get a hand on the rope and find they have conveniently made a loop in the end, so the rope will hold you like a harness. You feel the rope snapping tight and realise the people up on the bridge are pulling on it. All you have to do now is hold on. You hope the rope will hold your weight. You hope your rescuers are strong enough.

After the two longest minutes in your life your rescuers have you out of the water and on the bridge with them. You look round and see the rope was tied to a four-wheel drive all along. A four-wheel drive with a snorkel. That’s how they roll in the country. You are still cold and tired but you are not alone. You were as good as dead but now you live again. It’s going to be alright.

Hope is the belief that something good is waiting for us in the future. Or said another way, hope is the ability to imagine a good future. The rope lowered from the bridge symbolises hope. Hope is like a rope connecting the future to the present. Hope gives us something to hold onto in the present moment. When we are struggling to keep our head above water, hope connects us – it keeps us afloat and allows us to imagine a future with a good outcome.

In verse 3 of chapter 1, Peter praises God for his great mercy in giving us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. God (Father, Son & Spirit) is like the people on the bridge who threw you the rope. You were as good as dead and powerless to save yourself but God, in his mercy, threw you a life line. God saved you. He gave you new birth.

Jesus talked about this new birth in John 3, when Nicodemus came to see him at night. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again… Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 

Peter says we are born again into a living hope. If the people on the bridge had thrown a rope that was too short to reach, or too rotten to carry your weight, then that would be a dead hope. But the rope they threw you was long enough and strong enough and so it is a living hope. Meaning it is a hope that is sure and certain and secure. It is not a long shot, like winning Lotto. The rope of hope that God offers is a hope that will not disappoint.    

The thing that makes Christian hope living and sure is the resurrection of Jesus. Whenever Peter preaches in the book of Acts he talks about the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection was front and centre of the Christian message in the first century. Jesus’ resurrection is the anchor of Christian hope. Our hope of salvation is tied to the resurrection of Christ like the rope (in my story) was tied to the four-wheel drive. It is because Jesus has been raised from the dead to eternal life that our hope of eternal life is not just wishful thinking.

In verse 4 Peter goes on to say that our new birth is also into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – an inheritance kept in heaven for you.  

Just as people receive their ethnic identity, their citizenship, their socio-economic class (and so on) from their biological parents, Christians receive a new identity and a new citizenship from God (their heavenly Father) when they are born again. The new birth that God gives redefines the believers’ relationship with society and transforms their identity and character. [1]      

There’s a line in that great hymn Be Thou my Vision which reads: “Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise. Be thou my inheritance now and always.”

The most common form of inheritance in the Middle East, of the first century, was land. In the context of this world, land represents security.

Some of Peter’s listeners had likely been disinherited for choosing to follow Jesus. Others may have been driven from their homeland by persecution, due to their Christian faith. So they had essentially lost their inheritance in this world. They had lost their physical and material security.

What an affirmation and an encouragement it would have been to have Peter, a hero and an icon in the early church, saying they have a heavenly inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. An inheritance which is immortal, pure and beautiful – and therefore more secure, more valuable, than land.

Again we hear the echo of Jesus’ words, where the Lord says (in Matthew 6:19-21) 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,where moths and vermin destroy,and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus is talking about eternal security here. The most valuable part of our inheritance is Jesus himself. We want to be building a quality relationship with Jesus now (in this world) that will serve us well for all eternity. 

In verse 5 of chapter 1, Peter talks about the Christian believer being shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

The salvation Peter has in mind here is a deliverance from this world (which is hostile to God) and into God’s kingdom – a place where God’s will is done perfectly. For Peter, salvation is the coming inheritance, to which Christian believers are now fully entitled but do not yet fully possess. [2]   

Okay, so our salvation, our hope of eternal life, our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, is secure. The next thing I want to highlight is the way Christian faith is tested, as Peter describes in verses 6-9.

Faith tested:

Roald Dahl wrote a book called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s about a boy called Charlie who wins a golden ticket for a tour through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Charlie and his family are very poor and so the abundance of Mr Wonka’s chocolate factory fills young Charlie with awe and wonder.

Other children win tickets too and are allowed to take one adult with them on the tour. Little do they realise but Mr Wonka is trying to find someone to inherit his chocolate kingdom. He wants to give it all away to someone he can trust; someone who will trust him.

As the children make their way through the factory, one by one, they get themselves into trouble so they cannot finish the tour. It’s not that Mr Wonka is trying to catch them out. It’s just that in a chocolate factory trials and temptations are inevitable.

In the end, only Charlie and his Grandpa Joe are left. But they are disqualified for stealing fizzy lifting drink. Charlie proves himself faithful by handing the everlasting gob stopper back to Mr Wonka. ‘So shines a good deed in a weary world.’  

The analogy is not perfect, and should not be pressed too far, but in some ways God is a bit like Mr Wonka, wanting to share his kingdom with humanity. Likewise, Peter’s listeners are like Charlie, poor in material wealth but rich in genuine faith.

From verse 6 Peter writes: though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may result in praise, glory and honorwhen Jesus Christ is revealed.  

Gold, in the ancient world, was the most valuable material there was and one of the most durable too. Peter is comparing Christian faith to gold. He is saying genuine faith in Jesus is more valuable and more resilient than gold.

The grief and trials his readers have had to suffer are not cause for shame or disgrace. They should not think of their hardship as a punishment from God. Suffering does not mean God is unhappy with you. Nor is God going out of his way to make life difficult for people.

As one commentator put it, this life is not an obstacle course that we must get through in order to make it into heaven. Rather, suffering in a world that is opposed to the ways of God is inevitable and serves to prove the true value of your faith.

Now, we may not suffer in the same way that Christians did in the first century. While NZ society has (generally speaking) become less friendly to the church, we are not yet openly persecuted for our faith in Jesus. But we do still suffer. This life is difficult and being a Christian does not make one immune from trials and grief.  

Part of Peter’s message to us is that suffering provides an opportunity to test and prove genuine faith. Why are you a Christian? Is it just for the perks of forgiveness and grace? Is it just so you can get into heaven when you die? Or is it because you love and trust Jesus as your Lord and friend.    

Peter shows us that suffering can be a positive thing. Suffering for Christ leads to glory with Christ. For this reason, Christians can find nuggets of joy in the gravel of suffering.

Now the thing about faith and hope is that one trusts in what one cannot see. When Charlie handed the everlasting gob stopper back to Mr Wonka he could not see how that was going to play out. Charlie was simply doing what he believed to be right, in faith, that things would work out in the end. Likewise, when a person who is drowning is thrown a rope, they take hold of it in faith that it will hold their weight and save them. 

In verse 8 Peter admires his readers saying they love Jesus and believe in him even though they have never seen him. In some ways, their faith (and ours) is greater than Peter’s own faith, for Peter had seen Jesus, whereas his readers have not. As the risen Jesus said to Thomas, in John 20:29, Blessed are those who do not see [me] and believe. Peter’s readers are truly walking by faith and not by sight.

The inheritance of our salvation is secure and the presence of suffering is cause for joy because it tests and proves genuine faith. Which brings us to the third point of today’s message: Peter’s readers live at a time in history when the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus (the Messiah) have been revealed.  

Prophecy revealed:

Throughout this year, the government in New Zealand have based their COVID management decisions on scientific evidence. No one can predict the exact timing or circumstances in which a virus cluster might arise but, through contact tracing and community testing, we can gain some understanding of the patterns of the virus and when it is prudent to move up or down levels.

Modern science is also working hard to find a vaccine against the virus, so we do not have to keep running and hiding every time a cluster flares up. 

In many ways we are privileged to live at a time in history when science is able to reveal so much about the virus. When the bubonic plague broke out nearly 700 years ago, people simply did not have the technology to accurately identify it, let alone create a vaccine for it.   

In verses 8-9 Peter applauds his readers for believing in Jesus, even though they have not seen him. Although there is an element of not being able to see with faith, this does not imply there is no evidence for Christian faith. Faith in Jesus is based (in part) on the evidence of the Old Testament prophets.       

Peter observes how the prophets (people like Isaiah and Jeremiah and others) were able to predict the pattern that the Messiah would suffer and then be glorified. But they did not know the time and circumstances in which the things they predicted would take place.

Like the scientists of today, who are searching for a vaccine for COVID, the prophets of long ago searched intently and with greatest care to determine when and where the Messiah would turn up, but this was not revealed to them. It has however been revealed to us.

By recognising the Old Testament prophets in this way, Peter accomplishes a number of things at the same time. Firstly, Peter shows there is a continuity between the Old & New Testaments. The same Holy Spirit who empowered Christ and was poured out at Pentecost, is the same Spirit who pointed the prophets of old to the pattern of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.

This pattern was not an accident of history but was in fact designed and planned for, by God, all along. Despite the way things may appear, God is still in control and his purpose will be achieved in the end.  

Secondly, Peter is providing objective evidence for those believers who may have been struggling with doubts and thinking about chucking their faith away. The fact the Old Testament prophets predicted the pattern of Jesus’ suffering, death and glorification, confirms that Jesus is the Messiah and so their faith in Jesus is well placed. Not only that, but their current suffering confirms they stand in solidarity with Jesus – so they can take comfort in knowing they are on the right track.

Thirdly, for those who may be tempted to self-pity (due to their trials and grief), Peter points out how privileged they are; for they live at a time in history when the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus have been revealed. Something even angels long to look into.   

Conclusion:

The things Peter touches on here, at the beginning of his letter, whet our appetite and invite our imagination in. Verses 3-12, of chapter 1, show that Peter understands his readers. He knows where they have come from and where they are headed. 

The hope of our salvation is secure through Jesus’ resurrection.

The true value of our faith is tested and proved through suffering.

And we are privileged to live at a time in history when the ancient prophecy concerning Jesus, the Messiah, has been revealed.

Peter will develop these three ideas in the rest of his letter. 

What is the take away for you today?

Are you weary with grief and trials? Are you struggling to keep your head above water? Hold on to the rope of hope. Jesus is standing on the bridge holding the other end. He’s got you.

Suffering is not a sign that God has abandoned you. Suffering provides an opportunity for the refining of our faith. It is an opportunity to show God that you love him for who he is and not just what he gives.

We don’t know how lucky we are to live at this time in history.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

 Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

Peter says God has given us ‘new birth’. What are we born again into? What are the implications of this new birth for us?

What is hope? In what sense is hope like a rope? Where is your hope placed? (What rope are you holding onto?) Why is Jesus’ resurrection important to Christian hope?

Peter talks about an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. What does he mean by ‘inheritance’?

What purpose/meaning does Peter give to suffering? How might this inform (or transform) the way we interpret our own suffering? Why are you a Christian?

What three things may we glean from Peter’s reference to the prophets in verses 10-12? 

Take some time this week to reflect on (and give thanks for) the privileges we enjoy at this time in history.  

[1] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 81.

[2] Refer Karen Jobes, page 88.

Tawa Baptist

Known

Scripture: 1st Peter 1:1-2

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Sender
  • Receivers
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

If you want your cooking to taste really good, you might add some stock.

Stock can be made in a variety of ways. For example, you might put a chicken carcass (bones and all) in a pot of water with some vegetables and salt and let it simmer for several hours.

During that process lots of flavour and goodness (like iron and marrow from the bones) is infused in the water. Once the simmering is finished you strain the bones and vegetables out and are left with the stock. Of course, that takes a long time, so we tend to use an Oxo cube instead.

Today we begin a new sermon series in the New Testament letter of 1st Peter.

Our focus this morning is on the first two verses. It might not seem like a lot but these two verses (and indeed the rest of the letter) are like homemade stock – not sweet, but rich in goodness, giving a depth of flavour and meaning.

From 1st Peter chapter 1, verses 1-2, we read…

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

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

There are two parts to today’s message. First we’ll look at the sender of the letter, Peter. And then we’ll consider the recipients – who were they, where were they, and why were they.

Sender

You may have heard me say on other occasions, that power is the ability to do something, while authority is the right to do it. For example, you may have the ability to drive a car but without a driver’s license you don’t have the right (or authority) to drive. Of course, having a license doesn’t give you authority to break the speed limit. Even those with authority must still submit to a higher authority, otherwise they lose their license.

Authority is not something that can be assumed or taken lightly. Authority is a weighty thing – it has to be earned. You do not have the authority to call yourself a doctor unless you have spent 7 or 8 years at university studying and passing exams to earn your degrees. Likewise, you don’t have the authority to teach others unless you have done the hard yards gaining some mastery of the subject yourself. Authority usually comes from personal experience. You can’t really tell others to recycle if you are not recycling.

The story is told of a mother who brought her son to Ghandi. She asked Ghandi if he could get her son to stop eating sugar. Ghandi told her to come back in a week’s time. So the woman went away and came back again with her son a week later. Then Ghandi simply said to the boy, ‘Stop eating sugar’. The mother was puzzled by this and asked why Ghandi had sent her away a week earlier? Why didn’t he just tell her son to stop eating sugar the first time she came? It would have saved her the trouble of going back and forth. Ghandi replied, ‘Before I can tell anyone to stop eating sugar I must first stop eating sugar myself.’ That’s authority you see.

The opening verse of 1st Peter tells us this letter was written by Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament sense of the word, an ‘apostle’ is a messenger sent with authority. By calling himself an ‘apostle of Jesus Christ’, Peter was claiming a special sort of authority. Peter’s authority came from Jesus himself and it came from Peter’s experience of Jesus.

This is the same Simon Peter who left his fishing business to follow Jesus around Galilee and Judea, listening to his teaching and seeing his miracles first hand. The same Peter who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, suffering and death. The same Peter who denied Jesus before the cock crowed. The same Peter who met the risen Jesus and was restored a few days later.  The same Peter who spoke to the crowds in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. The same Peter who had once refused to set foot in the house of a Gentile but then later, under the guidance of the Spirit of Jesus, ate a meal and stayed the night with the Roman Centurion, Cornelius. 

Peter’s words in this letter, are not something to be taken lightly. Peter’s words carry weight – they have authority because Peter had walked with Jesus in person. Peter could talk about forgiveness because he had failed Jesus and been forgiven himself. Peter could preach with authority about the resurrection of Christ because he had seen Jesus die and raised to life three days later. Likewise, he had authority to speak to both Jews and Gentiles because he had obeyed Jesus by accepting Cornelius’ hospitality. Peter’s personal experience of Jesus, together with Jesus’ mandate to Peter (to feed my sheep), made Peter well qualified to encourage and teach the Christian church.

The name ‘Peter’ means rock or stone. Jesus gave Peter this name in Matthew 16. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied,

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Talk about authority.       

Eugene Peterson makes the observation that Peter’s influence in the early church was enormous. He was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community. The truly impressive thing about Peter, the thing that confirms his authority, is the way he handled himself in that position of power. He stayed out of the centre and maintained his submission to Jesus. Given his position Peter could have taken over, using his association with Jesus to promote himself. But he did not do that. [1] Peter kept Jesus at the centre. He pointed people to Christ and so we can trust him.  

Okay, so Peter is the sender of the letter. And he’s not just any old sender. He writes with Christ given authority and humility.

Recipients

What about the recipients? Who were they? Well, the rest of verse 1 tells us they are God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.

This tells us that Peter’s letter is a circular letter. It’s not a letter written to a specific church in order to address some problem in that church. It is a letter to be circulated among the various house churches in that particular geographic region (what we know today as modern Turkey). So Peter wrote the letter, probably from Rome, and then had another Christian believer travel around Turkey taking the letter to the various congregations in Asia Minor.

Most likely Peter’s letter was read out loud in their gathered worship (sort of like a sermon) and those house churches (who could afford it) probably made careful copies so they could refer to it again. 

Do you know what a horologist is? I’ll give you a moment to think, without using Google. [Wait]

That’s right a horologist is someone who makes and fixes clocks and watches.

A few weeks ago I mentioned the TV programme, The Repair Shop. It turns out I’m not alone in liking that show. Unfortunately, the very week after I mentioned it the series came to an end. Hopefully they make another one.

For those who have not seen The Repair Shop, the idea is, people bring in their beloved family belongings to a workshop of craftspeople who go about restoring the item to make it functional again.

The Repair Shop has a resident horologist as part of the team. His name is Steve. Several times someone has brought in an old clock to be repaired and Steve has taken it apart completely, put the various brass components in a special cleaning solution, fixed any broken pieces and then reassembled the clock, making it functional again. Incredible skill. I don’t know how he remembers where everything goes, especially when the clock comes to him already in pieces.

Peter describes the Christians he is writing to as God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered…

In some ways the recipients of Peter’s letter are a bit like the pieces of a disassembled clock – scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.    

If this world is like God’s repair shop, then Christian believers are strangers in this world. The repair shop is not our permanent home. It’s a temporary place, where we are sanctified, before we are returned to our proper home, which is the kingdom of heaven.

To be sanctified is to be made holy – as in whole and functional. If we think of the church as a clock, then the Holy Spirit is like a horologist. The Holy Spirit sanctifies the clock of the church. He strips us down, removing all the corrosion by baptising or immersing our metal in the special cleaning fluid of God’s word. He fixes any broken parts and reassembles the clock.

Now we should not press the clock analogy too far. I’m not suggesting God is like a divine clock maker who winds up the world and walks away to let it tick by on its own. Nor am I suggesting that you are just a cog in God’s machine. You are far more valuable to God than brass. And unlike metal, we human beings feel things.

The point is, this world is not our home. This world is like a repair shop. It is a place of disorientation for us. The sanctifying work of the Spirit is not an easy process. It is strange and difficult and confusing for Christian believers to be taken apart in this world.

The recipients of Peter’s letter were suffering. Because of their faith in Jesus they were being given a hard time, socially ostracised. Slander and malicious talk undermined their relationships in the community. [2] Many scholars think that Peter wrote his letter sometime between 62 and 64 AD, during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Nero. Nero was the one who famously fiddled while Rome burned and then blamed Christians for the fire he started.

Peter is writing to encourage his fellow believers. It’s like he’s saying, “You are in the repair shop. You are being treated unfairly by the society you live in. You are misunderstood and maligned. It might feel like you are being taken apart right now but you need to remember who you are, where you are and why you are. Your time in the repair shop of this world is temporary. You will be restored whole and new again to your proper home, in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The word translated as ‘strangers’, in verse 1, can also be translated as sojourners or resident aliens or refugees. Abraham was a sojourner. I know that some of you, who are listening to this, have immigrated from different parts of the world, so you know what it is to be a sojourner. But all believers, whether they are born in the country they live in or shifted there, are sojourners in this world.

The word translated as ‘scattered’ is diaspora (as in dispersion). It is the term commonly used to describe Jews who were scattered through the world after the exile of 587 BC.

The intriguing thing here is that Peter uses typically Jewish terms to describe the recipients of his letter, even though they are not all Jewish. Some of them were Jews but a good proportion were Gentile. Peter (who was Jewish) is saying that Gentiles are now included in the people of God (they now belong) through faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Peter has come a long way in his thinking. He has gone from being a Jew who refused to associate with Gentiles to one who accepted people of all nations. Peter learned that Jesus is the key to belonging to the people of God.

The thing about being a stranger or a sojourner is that people don’t know you or understand your ways. It is difficult, lonely and isolating to be not known and misunderstood by your neighbours. And so, in verse 2, Peter says you have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.  

The idea here is that even though their neighbours may not know them or understand their ways; even though their neighbours may in fact be spreading malicious rumours about them, God the Father knows them. He knows the difficult situation the followers of Jesus are in and he cares for them.

Returning to our analogy of the clock in the repair shop – God knows where every piece of the clock is scattered. He knows how long it needs to stay in the cleaning solution and where it fits when the clock is put back together.

But it’s not just that God knows certain facts about believers. God knows us with a personal, loving, fatherly knowledge.

In Psalm 139 David praises God for his personal foreknowledge saying:

You have searched me,Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughtsfrom afar. 3 You discern my going outand my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

As any parent understands, knowing your children goes hand in hand with caring for them. In fact, you can’t really provide care for someone without knowing them. If you are preparing meals for people and you don’t know they have an allergy to peanuts, for example, care becomes harm. 

There is one person in our house (who shall remain nameless) who cannot stand bananas. Possibly she had a bad experience with a banana sandwich when she was young and now she almost gags at the smell of a banana. If I did not know her I might bake a banana cake for her, thinking I was doing something kind. But my kindness would not be received. It would probably end up on the floor. Knowing her I would be better to offer a bag of chips.

Some of you may have picked up the reference to the Trinity in verse 2, where Peter talks about the foreknowledge of God the Father, the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the blood of Christ.

Peter says his readers are ‘sprinkled with the blood of Christ’. This is another Old Testament, Jewish stock like, reference. It is rich with meaning. When God made a covenant with the people of Israel in the wilderness, Moses sprinkled the people with blood. Therefore, Jesus’ blood (shed on the cross) makes us one with the people of God.

Likewise, Jewish priests were sprinkled with blood as a way of consecrating them in service to God and his people. Therefore, Jesus’ blood sets Christian believers apart as a royal priesthood. We have a special role in interceding for the world.    

In a similar vein, when a leper was declared cleansed of their leprosy the priest sprinkled the person with blood. So too Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin so that we are able to participate in worship.        

In verse 2 Peter spells out quite clearly why God has chosen the recipients of his letter: for obedience to Christ.  Our purpose is to obey Jesus – to follow his teaching and his call on our lives.  

Conclusion:

Some people might think that because Peter was a fisherman he wasn’t that intellectual or cerebral. But that is a prejudice against fishermen and others who earn a living with their hands. Peter shows a real depth of wisdom in these two verses.

He knows he is writing to people who are scattered and doing life hard, through no fault of their own. What they need is to be reminded of who they are, where they are and why they are.

Who are they? That’s a question about identity. They are the God’s special people, known personally by him.

Where are they? That’s a question about belonging. They are not at home. They are in the repair shop of this world, temporarily. The kingdom of heaven is where they really belong.

Why are they? That’s a question about purpose. Their reason for being is to obey Jesus.

Last Wednesday Auckland went back to level 3, under COVID restrictions, and the rest of the country went to level 2. Consequently, we are not able to gather for Sunday worship. We are scattered in our house churches.

This raises a mixture of feelings for people. Some are thankful that the government have acted swiftly to prevent the spread of the virus. Others may feel frustrated or anxious or simply tired.

Whatever you are feeling, remember these three things:

Remember who you are. You are a child of God. We are the people of God.   

Remember where you are and where you belong. You are a sojourner in this world but your home is with God in the kingdom of heaven.

And remember why you are. Your purpose is to obey Jesus, to be sanctified and made whole by the Holy Spirit.   

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

What is authority and where does it come from? Where did Peter’s authority come from? How did Peter use his authority?

Who were the recipients of Peter’s letter? What was there situation?

What is meant by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit?

What does it mean to be a stranger (sojourner) in this world? Where does the Christian believer belong? Where is our home?

What is the meaning/significance of being sprinkled with the blood of Christ?

Why are we? What is our purpose as the people of God?

Take some time this week to reflect on who you are, where you are and why you are? What implications does this have for your life?

[1] Refer Eugene Peterson’s introduction to 1-2 Peter in the Message Bible, page 2209.

[2] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1 Peter, page 58.

Tawa Baptist

There is a Redeemer

Scriptures: John 1:29, Deuteronomy 7:8, Luke 4:14-21, Genesis 50:19-21, Philippians 2:5-11, 1st Corinthians 13:8-12, Romans 8:22-24, Ephesians 1:14

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus, our redeemer
  • Name above all names
  • Father, Son & Spirit
  • When I stand in glory
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In the late 80’s I wrote an article for a Christian magazine. It was for a competition. I can’t remember exactly what the magazine was called now and I don’t remember the article either, but apparently not many people entered. They published the article and sent me two complimentary CD’s of Keith Green’s music.

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series. In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

This morning, because it is Trinity Sunday and because we are having communion, we are looking at the song There is a Redeemer. For many years I thought this song was written by Keith Green, because I had listened to it on his CD collection and it was his voice singing the song. Only recently did I learn it was actually written in 1977 by Melody Green, Keith’s wife. Keith made the song famous and he added another verse.

Near the beginning of this Anthems series (in November last year) we heard about Keith Green’s conversion to Christianity, when we looked at the song Create in me a clean heart. Melody Green’s story is similar. Like Keith, Melody was born into a Jewish family. Her grandparents fled persecution in Russia and settled in America. Melody’s dad was a Navy Seal, who served in World War 2. On his return he worked in a factory. Her mother worked in an accounting firm and her grandfather was Jewish Rabbi.

During her teenage years Melody went searching for God and tried various Eastern religions and philosophies. Eventually, Melody met Keith and they both went to a Bible study where they became Christians.

Melody and Keith were not ones to do things by halves. They took the words of Jesus seriously and opened their home in radical hospitality to people in need, giving away most of the money they earned. They also wrote an evangelical magazine called Last Days. 

Sadly, in July 1982, just a few months before his 29th birthday, Keith died in a plane crash along with two of their children. Melody was nursing a baby at the time and was pregnant with their fourth child. She became a young widow and solo mum.

Although it was incredibly painful and difficult, Melody came through this tragedy with greater gratitude to God and more love for others. She says, “Today I have more faith in God’s goodness and ability to provide than ever before. Even when terrible things happen He can turn those things towards our good…  but only if we have the patience to wait while we are hurting.”

Melody carried on the work she and Keith had started, serving and loving and preaching and writing in the name of Jesus. She lives in California these days.

Although Melody wrote the song There is a Redeemer five years before Keith died, it speaks to that situation and others like it. There is a Redeemer is about the ability of our triune God (Father, Son & Spirit) to redeem terrible things and use them for good.

Jesus, our redeemer:

The song starts with the words…

There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Right from the start the focus is very much on Jesus. The opening verse gives us five titles for Jesus.

Jesus’ name itself means ‘the Lord saves’.

Jesus is God’s own Son. This means he is divine. We heard about Jesus’ divinity a couple of weeks ago.

Messiah literally means ‘anointed one’. Jesus is the prophet, priest and King, chosen by God to save His people.

Holy One means Jesus is set apart for God’s special purpose. It also points to Jesus’ goodness, his purity and integrity.

And Lamb of God picks up the ancient Jewish idea of sacrifice to remove sins. In the gospel of John chapter 1, John the Baptist sees Jesus and says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”     

In the Bible, lambs were associated with innocence, gentleness and deliverance. 

When Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar, God provided a lamb as a substitute, thus delivering Isaac and his descendants from certain death.

When the people of Israel were about to leave their slavery in Egypt, God instituted the Passover festival – where each family was to sacrifice a lamb and paint the blood over the door frame, so the angel of death would pass-over that house.

And, on a daily basis, lambs were sacrificed in the Jewish temple as a way of atoning for sin

Lamb sacrifices were reminders of God’s deliverance, his redemption from sin and death.

Which brings us to the leading title for Jesus in this song. Jesus is our redeemer. So what is redemption?

Redemption is essentially a two stage process (or transaction). The first stage involves release and the second stage involves restoration.  So redemption is about setting free and making right. It’s about putting things back in their proper place, where they belong.

Imagine you are at a picnic by a lake. It’s a lovely day. You are sitting on your rug, eating your sandwiches and feeding the ducks, when you hear the sound of a large splash. You look round to see your car has rolled into the water. Someone left the hand break off.

Fortunately, no one was in the car and no people or animals were harmed in the making of this story. But you still have a dilemma. Your car is stuck in the mud and half under water. It doesn’t belong there and you can’t get it out. So you ring your insurance company and they redeem things for you. They send a tow truck which comes and winches your car out of the lake. Once the tow truck driver has released your car, she then takes it to the garage where a mechanic restores the engine to get it working again.

A few days later your car is running fine and back with you, on dry land, where it belongs. That’s redemption: first release, then restoration. While it didn’t cost you much, it did cost the insurance company quite a bit. Redemption is usually an expensive exercise, at least for the redeemer.        

The idea of redemption is illustrated clearly in the law of Moses. For example, if an Israelite came upon hard times and was forced to sell their land, the land could be redeemed by a close relative (a kinsman redeemer). This means a price was paid for the land to be released and restored to the rightful owner.

Or, if an Israelite was forced to sell himself into slavery, a close relative (like a brother or a cousin) could pay for that person’s release, so they could be restored to the status of a free man.

Every 50 years the Law of Moses provided for a Jubilee, which was basically a year of redemption, when all land was returned to the families it belonged to and all slaves were set free and debts forgiven. In this way people were released and restored. It was a handy strategy for preventing a gap between rich and poor. (Although we can’t be sure that ancient Israel actually practiced it.)

In any case, Jesus is our redeemer. With Jesus there is Jubilee. This is what Jesus was saying when he stood up in the synagogue and read from the prophet Isaiah saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

The year of the Lord’s favour refers to the Jubilee year. The year of redemption. The year of release and restoration. Jesus is our redeemer. He makes Jubilee happen. 

The quintessential redemption story is the story of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz. But I’m always referring to Ruth so I’ll choose another story instead. Like when God redeemed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

In Deuteronomy 7:8 we read: But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  

The Israelites were under the power of a foreign dominion; they were oppressed in Egypt. God released his people from that land of slavery and (eventually) restored them to the Promised Land, the land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey, where they belonged. That’s redemption on a national scale.

Jesus is our redeemer. He sets people free from the slavery of sin and death, restoring us to God’s kingdom, where we belong. Jesus’ redemption is international in its scope. He does it for all people and nations who put their faith in him.

One of my favourite redemption stories is the story of Joseph. Joseph was his father, Jacob’s, favourite and it made Joseph’s brothers envious. They sold him into slavery and faked his death. But God redeemed the situation. He used it for good. Through a series of fortunate and unfortunate events Joseph rose through the ranks from being a lowly slave to becoming the Prime Minister of Egypt. God used Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and deliver the nation from starvation when the seven years of famine came.

In the end God restored Joseph’s family to him also. In Genesis 50 we read how Joseph’s brothers were afraid because of the way they had treated Joseph but Joseph redeemed them saying: “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.”

Joseph became a redeemer for all of Egypt and for his brothers. Joseph points to Jesus, our redeemer. In Jesus we find the release of forgiveness for our sins and restoration to right relationship with God the Father.

Name above all names:

The next verse of the song reads…

Jesus my redeemer, name above all names,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, oh, for sinners slain.

A person’s name is their reputation, their integrity and their honour. That phrase name above all names is saying that Jesus has the greatest name. His reputation, his personal integrity, his honour, is higher than any other. We are reminded of Philippians 2 where the apostle Paul writes…

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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

This passage of Scripture tells us that Jesus is divine; he shares the very nature of God. It also speaks of Jesus’ sacrifice for sinners. Jesus is the precious sacrificial lamb of God.

One of the things about the sacrificial lamb in Jewish worship is that it had to be spotless, without blemish, perfect. God is infinitely worthy and so he deserves the very best we can offer. To say that Jesus is precious is to say that he is one of a kind. He is the only one good enough to serve as a sacrificial lamb in our place. No one else will do.

The song reminds us that Jesus was slain (or killed) for sinners. The word, sinners, does not refer to a particular class or category of people. Sinners refers to all human beings. We are all sinners and we are all sinned against. To be a sinner is to be alienated from God. That is, to be under the power of a foreign dominion. Sin is not where we belong.

As sinners we are like the car that rolled into the lake. We are in need of redemption. We have a choice. We can either stay in the lake or we can call on God for help. When we call on God he sends his Son, Jesus, to redeem us. Our redemption doesn’t cost us as much as it costs Jesus. He releases us from the lake and, as we cooperate with his Spirit, restores the engine of our heart so we are able to function in a right relationship with God again.       

Father, Son & Spirit:

The chorus of Melody’s song reads…          

Thank you, oh my Father for giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit ’til the work on earth is done.

There is a clear reference of the work of the Trinity in this chorus. Jesus doesn’t do the work of redemption all on his own. Rather the redemption of creation is a team effort with each of the three members of the Trinity (Father, Son & Spirit) working together.

Broadly speaking, from a human perspective, redemption is the initiative of God the Father. God the Father comes up with the plan (I imagine in consultation with the Son & the Spirit) and then sends his Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit into the world to implement the plan. The plan is that Jesus will deliver humanity from sin and death by sacrificing himself on the cross. Jesus works in harmony with the Spirit and is obedient to God the Father in going to the cross. Then later, after Jesus’ resurrection, the Holy Spirit was given to complete (or bring to fruition) Jesus’ work of redemption in the lives of human beings. As I said last week, we are sanctified (or made holy) as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  

The point is, when it comes to our redemption, it is a team effort on God’s part.

Imagine your liver is failing. The whites of your eyes are turning yellow, you look jaundiced and you feel rotten. So you go to the doctor. This doctor is a liver specialist and a surgeon. The doctor examines you and sees that you need a liver transplant. He goes looking for a donor for you – someone who is healthy and well. As it happens the only donor who is a match for you is the surgeon’s own son. The surgeon’s son is precious for many reasons; especially as he is the only one who can save you.

Although the donor (the surgeon’s son) is a stranger to you, he loves his father and, after hearing about your situation, is willing to donate part of their liver. You only need a part of the liver. It will regenerate on its own once it is transplanted.

The whole situation humbles you. The doctor must really care about you; given he is willing to risk his only son’s life to save yours. But what can you do. You don’t have medical insurance and if you don’t accept the organ donation you will die. You gratefully accept the doctor’s surgery and trust the son’s sacrifice to redeem your life and health.

The surgery goes well and your body accepts the new liver. You begin to feel better and you realise you owe everything to this father and son. You ask what you can do to say ‘thank you’ and they reply, ‘Take care of your new liver.’ So that’s what you do. You lay off the alcohol and you go easy on sugar. You look after your body, inside and out, and you find ways to pay it forward.

In some ways, not in every way, but in some ways God the Father is a little bit like the surgeon and Jesus is a little bit like the son, who donated his liver, and the liver you received is a little bit like the Holy Spirit.

It’s not a perfect analogy, so don’t press it too far. I’m not suggesting the Holy Spirit is chopped liver. The Holy Spirit is a person in his own right. But he is like a vital organ to our life with God.

The point is, your redemption, my redemption, is a team effort on God’s part and it is costly. God’s only motivation was love. We owe God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) our very lives. How are we taking care of the new liver he has given us?

When I stand in glory:

The last verse of Melody’s song, which I think was added by Keith Green, reads…

When I stand in glory I will see His face
And there I’ll serve my King forever in that holy place.

‘Glory’, in this context, refers to the return of Jesus when God’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, is fully realised. So the line, when I stand in glory, looks forward to that time when we see Jesus face to face in all his heavenly glory. In 1st Corinthians 13 the apostle Paul writes about what it will be like when we stand in glory. From verse 8 we read…

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

For many years (most of my life in fact) I had seen the Remarkables (a mountain range in Queenstown) on TV or in post cards and thought they look nice. It would be cool to go there one day. But when I actually did go to Queenstown and saw the Remarkables face to face I was blown away. I couldn’t stop looking at them. They really are remarkable.  

None of us have actually seen Jesus face to face, not yet anyway. We’ve seen his reflection in the Scriptures and perhaps in the church, that is, in the love we have known and shared with other believers. And while these reflections are beautiful in their own way, I expect they don’t really compare with the beauty of a face to face encounter with Christ in his glory. I imagine we will find it difficult to stop looking at Jesus.         

Our redemption is not complete. Full redemption is yet to be accomplished. In Romans 8 Paul puts into words our longing for full redemption where he writes, 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.

And in a similar vein Paul looks forward to the completion of our redemption in Ephesians. From chapter 1, verse 13 we read…

When you believed, you were marked in Christ with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

When purchasing a house, the buyer normally puts down a deposit first, as a guarantee that they will go through with the agreement. The deposit seals the deal as it were. Then, when it is time to move in, the balance is paid and the keys are released to the new owner.

The Holy Spirit is the deposit on our soul guaranteeing our inheritance in God’s kingdom. We haven’t moved into God’s kingdom fully, not yet. We still live in this far from perfect world. But we won’t be slumming it forever. When Jesus returns we will be released from the power of this world and restored to God’s dominion.      

Conclusion:

Jesus is our redeemer. Jesus releases us from the power of sin and death and he restores us to God’s image and God’s kingdom. But he doesn’t do this on his own. No. Our redemption is a team effort between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

While our redemption is guaranteed (from God’s end at least) it is not yet complete. In the meantime, we look forward in hope to that day when we can see Jesus face to face. 

I imagine when our redemption is fully realised we will be better able to worship God than we can now. 

Let’s stand and sing There is a redeemer as we prepare for communion…

There is a redeemer, Jesus God’s own Son

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Jesus my redeemer, name above all names
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you, oh my Father for giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit ’til the work on earth is done.

When I stand in glory I will see His face
And there I’ll serve my King forever in that holy place.

Thank you, oh my father, for giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit ’til the work on earth is done.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

Listen to the song ‘There is a Redeemer’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 

What are the two parts / stages of redemption? Can you think of a time in your own life when you have experienced redemption in some way?

What examples of redemption do we find in the Old Testament? How do these redemption stories point to Jesus, our redeemer?

Discuss / reflect on the meaning of the phrase: ‘Jesus, precious Lamb of God’.

How do the Father, Son & Holy Spirit work together for our redemption?

Thinking of the liver transplant analogy above; how are you taking care of the new liver (new life) God has given you?

In what sense is our redemption incomplete? When will our redemption be fully realized? Take some time this week to reflect on what full redemption will be like. 

Tawa Baptist

Gracious Spirit

Scriptures: John 1:17, John 8:1-11, Proverbs 4:23, Luke 9:51-56, John 16:5-16, 1st Peter 1:13-15

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Grace & truth
  • Tenderness & Might
  • Holiness & sanctification
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Some of you may have paddled kayaks or gone rafting on rivers. You will know how powerful a river is. A river is life giving, flexible and patient. Water always finds a way.  

In years gone by rivers were a means of transport, a highway of sorts. Boats would travel from place to place up and down rivers because the forest was too thick or the terrain was too rugged. When you travel on a river you need to respect the current; to cooperate with the flow of it. If you just drift and let the river take you, it won’t be long before you find yourself in trouble.

In some ways the Holy Spirit is a bit like a river. He is both powerful and life giving. Just as a river can carry us along to our destination, so too the Holy Spirit helps us in our journey of faith. However, we can’t afford to simply drift and let the river do all the work. We have to cooperate with the Spirit by reading the changing eddy lines and putting in some effort to guide our soul in the right direction.

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series. In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

This morning, because it is Pentecost Sunday, we are looking at the song Gracious Spirit, dwell with me. As the name suggests, Gracious Spirit is a song about the Holy Spirit. In particular, it is a prayer about cooperating with the ebb and flow of the Holy Spirit in the journey of becoming more like Christ.

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me was written by Thomas Lynch, a Nineteenth Century London church minister. Although Thomas’ congregations were relatively small his reach was larger. The quality of his preaching attracted theological students and thoughtful people who had an influence on others.

He died in 1871 at the age of 52. His last words were: “Now I am going to begin to live.”   

There are 5 verses to Thomas Lynch’s song, each of which focus on a different facet of the Holy Spirit’s character. Verse 1 focuses on grace, verse 2 on truth, verse 3 on tenderness, verse 4 on might and verse 5 on holiness. (Verse 3 is not included in the Baptist Hymnal, so you may not be familiar with that one.)

These five facets are not the only characteristics of the Spirit; they are simply the ones Thomas Lynch thought were appropriate for the people of his day. All five facets align with the character of Christ.

What we notice is that the first two verses, about grace & truth, form a natural pair as do the second two verses, about tenderness and might. While the last verse, about holiness, offers a kind of summary or conclusion. 

Grace & truth:

In the opening chapter of his gospel, John writes: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

This tells us the Spirit of Jesus is a Spirit of grace and truth, in contrast to the law of Moses which has to do with obligation and guilt.

Grace, as we know, means gift. To receive grace is to be given something good, something beautiful that we don’t deserve. Grace is unmerited favour. Truth is the natural companion of grace. We tend to think of truth as the correct or right information and, while it is that, it’s more than that. Truth is lasting or eternal. Truth is a power, something that sets people free. Truth is also a person. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.” Jesus, in himself, embodies grace and truth together. He doesn’t separate them.        

The truth & grace of Jesus is like a surgeon’s scalpel. A scalpel may hurt but it also heals at the same time. All truth and no grace is like a hammer; it causes pain without healing. Likewise, all grace and no truth is like putting a band aid on an infected wound. It may be well intentioned but it doesn’t actually deal with the cause of the problem.

Everything Jesus did combined grace and truth. The grace & truth of Jesus, in contrast to the obligation & guilt of the law of Moses, is seen clearly in John chapter 8.

One morning, around dawn, Jesus was teaching in the temple courts. People were gathered around him listening when the teachers of the law and the Pharisees presented a woman caught in adultery. Straight away we wonder where the man is? According to the law of Moses he had to face up to what he had done as well. Sadly, the religious leaders’ intention was not gracious or true. Their purpose was to try and trap Jesus.

They made the woman stand before everyone and said to Jesus, ‘The law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?’

They think they have Jesus between a rock and a hard place. If Jesus says, “stone her”, then he would be in trouble with the Romans because Jews had to submit Roman law. But if he says, “don’t stone her”, he would lose face with the people for contradicting the law of Moses.

Jesus doesn’t answer straight away. He bends down and starts writing on the ground with his finger. We are not sure exactly why Jesus did this. Perhaps he was being kind and giving his enemies a chance to walk away; de-escalating the situation in other words. But it’s also an act of grace for the woman. By writing on the ground he was drawing attention away from the woman and onto himself. I imagine the woman felt overwhelming shame and the last thing she wanted was a lot of men looking at her.

The experts in the law don’t take the hint. They keep questioning Jesus. So Jesus straightens up and says to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

This sentence embodies both grace and truth. Jesus had the power to expose the secret sins of his enemies – that is to major on truth without grace – but he doesn’t. Instead Jesus makes a skilful incision with his scalpel of grace and truth to release the infection and cleanse the wound.

One by one the truth dawns on each person there – the truth about themselves. As they remember their own sins, their conscience is moved. They drop their stones and walk away.

Eventually it’s just Jesus and the woman left standing there. Once again Jesus speaks words of grace and truth saying to the woman,

“Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go and leave your life of sin.”  

Grace and truth you see. Jesus does not condemn the woman. He gives her a second chance. But nor does he condone her sin. He puts her on the right path.

Verse 1 of the song reads…

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me: I myself would gracious be;
And, with words that help and heal, would Thy life in mine reveal;
And, with actions bold and meek, would for Christ my Saviour speak.

Meek is a word which describes strength with gentleness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is great power under control. Jesus demonstrated meekness in his handling of the crowd who wanted to stone the woman. He could have smashed his enemies but he doesn’t. Instead he does the more difficult thing of respecting his enemies and helping them from within. 

Verse 2 of the song, the companion to verse 1, reads…

Truthful Spirit, dwell with me: I myself would truthful be;
And with wisdom kind and clear let Thy life in mine appear;
And with actions brotherly speak my Lord’s sincerity.

Again we see the kind and clear wisdom of Jesus in his response to the woman in John 8. I am in awe of Jesus’ grace and truth. His calmness in highly pressured situations. His ability to know clearly what to do and the courage to carry it through without doing violence. We need the help of the Spirit to be like Jesus. Thomas Lynch’s song repeatedly asks the Spirit to dwell with us so that we would think and act in Christ-like ways. 

We started this message by comparing the Holy Spirit to a river. The Spirit is also like the wind.

As Christians we are on a journey – it is the journey of becoming more like Christ. This journey is epic, like travelling from one continent to another. It is too far to swim. We need help. If faith in Jesus is the boat for getting us to the land of Jesus, then the Holy Spirit is the wind in our sails. But we have to cooperate with the Spirit. We have to pay attention to the way the wind is blowing and trim our sails to catch it. While the journey to becoming more like Christ doesn’t depend on us entirely there is some concentration and effort required on our part.

Tenderness & might:

Just as verses 1 & 2 of the song are companion verses, so too verses 3 & 4 go together. The Spirit of Jesus is both tender and mighty. Tenderness and might don’t look like they fit at first glance but, in Jesus, these qualities are a perfect match.  

Verse 3 reads…

Tender Spirit, dwell with me! I myself would tender be;
Shut my heart up like a flower at temptation’s darksome hour,
Open it when shines the sun, and his love by fragrance own.

This verse of the song reminds us that the way to be tender and gentle is to guard our heart. Proverbs 4:23 reads,

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.”

We guard our hearts by keeping temptation out and letting the light of God’s goodness and love in.

The importance of the human heart is found throughout Scripture. The prophets warned against having a hard heart and looked forward to the time when God would give people a heart transplant: removing their heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart toward him. It is the Spirit of Jesus who softens our heart. It is grace & truth that makes us tender on the inside, at our core.

If you burn your dinner while cooking it, you might end up with some crusty stubborn charred food stuck to the bottom of the pot. You can try and clean this quickly with steel wool and harsh scrubbing. Or you can let the pot soak in water and detergent overnight. It takes longer soaking it but the hard stuck on food softens in the process and comes off easier. God’s Spirit is tender, not rough. He often takes the slow, gentle approach with us, letting us soak for a while to soften up our burnt crusty stubborn bits. 

A tender heart is a necessary companion to mightiness and power.

Verse 4 of the song reads…

Mighty Spirit, dwell with me! I myself would mighty be,
Mighty so as to prevail where unaided man must fail,
Ever by a mighty hope pressing on and bearing up.

The Spirit of Jesus is tender and gentle but tenderness should not be mistaken for timidity or lack of courage. The might of Jesus redefines strength and courage. We’ve already heard about Jesus’ courage in facing an angry crowd in John 8 but there were many other times when Jesus’ might prevailed in non-violent ways. The might (or power) of Jesus is the strength to love one’s enemies and the grace to forgive. In Luke 9 we read… 

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.

This story shows us Jesus’ might in keeping a tender heart. The Samaritans and Jews were arch enemies. Generally speaking, they hated each other. But that did not stop Jesus from reaching out to them. Jesus’ heart was tender toward them.

On this particular occasion one Samaritan village refused hospitality to Jesus and his disciples. Not all Samaritan villages treated Jesus in this way. Some welcomed Jesus.[1] The wonderful thing about Jesus is that he didn’t let rejection harden his heart. Jesus could have reacted in anger and called down fire from heaven to destroy them but he doesn’t. Instead he guards his heart, keeping it tender. That village rejected Jesus in ignorance and Jesus graciously moved on to the next village, without making a fuss. Can you see how Jesus’ might and tenderness go together? It requires real strength to be gentle and not take revenge.

Returning to verse 4 of the song, we see another aspect of might – the might of hope. The last line reads: Ever by a mighty hope pressing on and bearing up.

The idea here is that of patient endurance and tenacity. As I said before, it is a long road to become like Christ. It is the Spirit who inspires the hope we need to go the distance and not give up.  

The Biblical images for the Holy Spirit, of wind and water, are helpful but they only give us pieces of the picture. Wind and water are powerful but they are not personal. We need to remember the Holy Spirit is a person. Wind and water cannot inspire hope in quite the same way a person can.

In John 16, the night before he died, Jesus explained to his disciples how the Holy Spirit would come to help them. Jesus described the Holy Spirit in personal terms as a Counsellor or an Advocate. The Greek word used here to describe the Holy Spirit is ‘paraclete’, which literally means ‘one who comes alongside’. Verse 13 of John 16 reads: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth… and he will tell you what is to come.”

I find it helpful to think of the Holy Spirit as a coach. If you’ve ever been part of a sports team you probably had a coach. A good coach comes alongside the players to inspire hope. A good coach gives the players a picture of future success. A good coach encourages and guides the players by speaking the truth to them in a way they can accept. A good coach listens and understands and motivates and gets the best out of their team by helping them to work together.

If we think of the church as a sports team, then the Holy Spirit is the coach. He comes alongside us to help us become more like Jesus.          

Holiness & sanctification:

And so we come to the last verse of the song…

Holy Spirit, dwell with me: I myself would holy be;
Separate from sin, I would choose and cherish all things good;
And whatever I can be, give to Him who gave me Thee.

To be holy primarily means to be set apart for a special purpose. You might have a tea set or silverware that you set apart for special occasions. You don’t use it every day. That is holy in a sense.

The defibrillator on the wall outside the church office is holy – it is set apart for a special purpose but at the same time it is accessible to the community.

A surgeon’s scalpel is holy – it is sterilised and set apart for one purpose only, operating on people.

Your dinner table is holy – it is set apart for serving food. You don’t sit on a table because bottoms shouldn’t go where food goes.

Likewise, your toothbrush is holy. You don’t use your toothbrush for cleaning the toilet. Your toothbrush is set apart for cleaning your teeth.    

Holiness also has to do with wholeness and integrity and good morality. As followers of Jesus we are set apart for God’s special purpose. That includes being set apart from sin but not set apart from the world. We are in the world to point people to Jesus and indeed to reveal Jesus.

In 1st Peter, chapter 1 we read…

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

The process of becoming holy, like Jesus, is called sanctification. The task of the Holy Spirit is to effect in us what God commands. [2] Our task is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of becoming holy.

So how do we become holy? How are we sanctified? The French Jesuit priest, Jean-Pierre de Caussade has some helpful things to say in this regard. [3] Jean-Pierre lived during the 17th & 18th Centuries. He basically said we are sanctified by doing the will of God, that is, by obedience to the Spirit of Jesus. This does not mean blindly following a set program of spiritual exercises. Rather it means being sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit and doing what the Spirit directs us to do in the present moment. Much like cooperating with the current of a river or trimming our sails to catch the shifting wind or taking the specific advice of a sports coach.   

For example, if the Spirit is prompting us to be still in silence, then sanctification (being made holy) happens as we do that. If we try to read Scripture or pray out loud when the Spirit is telling us to meditate quietly, then our soul will emerge troubled. There is nothing wrong with reading Scripture and praying out loud of course. At certain times (when the Spirit directs) this is what we need to do. But it is not always the right thing to do. “All we need to know is how to recognise his will in the present moment.” [4]

And I guess that’s where it gets tricky. It takes time and experience to learn sensitivity to the Spirit. Sensing the Spirit’s movement is like communication in marriage. The longer you are married the better able you are to sense what your husband or wife is thinking. Or it’s like batting in cricket. You need to give yourself a few overs to get your eye in and feel how the pitch is playing.

The point is we are sanctified, we are made holy like Jesus, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows us intimately and he knows what is best for us. We need to trust him and flow with him.

Conclusion:

Not sure about you but it often feels like I have a long way to go to become like Jesus. Progress seems incrementally slow. It doesn’t help to think too much about the gap. It is helpful to remember that sanctification is a process and it doesn’t depend entirely on us. We don’t need to worry about our past mistakes or the distance yet to travel. The past and the future are in God’s hands.

Our part is to obey the Spirit in the present moment. So ask yourself: what is the Holy Spirit wanting me to do right now?

Is it to sit still and rest?

Is it to pour out your heart in words and tears before the Lord?

Is it to take a walk outside?

Is it to ring someone who needs to hear a friendly voice?

Is it to listen to your husband or wife?

Or is it something else?

Let us pray. (You could pray this prayer responsively if you like)

Lord Jesus, you are generous. Help us to enjoy your kindness and pay it forward.

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me.

Lord Jesus, you are wise. Help us to be honest with ourselves and to listen.

Truthful Spirit, dwell with me.

Lord Jesus, you are gentle. Help us to guard our hearts and let you in.

Tender Spirit, dwell with me.

Lord Jesus, you are courageous. Help us to harness hope and go the distance.

Mighty Spirit, dwell with me.

Lord Jesus, you are enough. Help us to serve your purpose in the present moment, with love.

Holy Spirit, dwell with me. Amen.

Let’s stand and sing, Gracious Spirit, dwell with me. Make this your prayer…  

1. GRACIOUS Spirit, dwell with me:
I myself would gracious be;
And, with words that help and heal,
Would Thy life in mine reveal;
And, with actions bold and meek,
Would for Christ my Saviour speak.

2. Truthful Spirit, dwell with me:
I myself would truthful be;
And with wisdom kind and clear
Let Thy life in mine appear;
And with actions brotherly
Speak my Lord’s sincerity.

3. Tender Spirit, dwell with me!
I myself would tender be;
Shut my heart up like a flower
At temptation’s darksome hour,
Open it when shines the sun,
And his love by fragrance own.

4. Mighty Spirit, dwell with me!
I myself would mighty be,
Mighty so as to prevail
Where unaided man must fail,
Ever by a mighty hope
Pressing on and bearing up.

5. Holy Spirit, dwell with me:
I myself would holy be;
Separate from sin, I would
Choose and cherish all things good;
And whatever I can be,
Give to Him who gave me Thee.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

Listen to the song ‘Gracious Spirit, dwell with me’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 

Have you ever gone swimming or kayaking or rafting on a river? What do you remember about your experience of the river? In what ways is the Holy Spirit like a river?

How is the grace & truth of Jesus evident in John 8:1-11? Can you think of any other gospel stories that show Jesus’ grace & truth working together? 

Have you ever been sailing or flown a kite? What do you remember about your experience of the wind? In what ways is the Holy Spirit like the wind?

Why is it important to guard your heart? How might we guard our heart from evil, while still allowing the goodness and love of God in?

How do Jesus’ tenderness and might combine in Luke 9:51-55?  Can you think of any other gospel stories that show Jesus’ tenderness & might working together?

Have you ever had a sports coach? What does a good coach do? In what ways is the Holy Spirit like a good coach?

What is sanctification? How did Jean-Pierre de Caussade believe we are made holy? How might we recognize the will of God’s Spirit in the present moment?

Take some time each day this week to ask yourself: ‘What is the Spirit wanting me to do right now?’

[1] See for example John 4.

[2] Refer Stanley Grenz, ‘Theology for the Community of God’, page 442.

[3] Refer ‘Devotional Classics’, edited by R.J. Foster & J.B. Smith, page 230-233.

[4] Ibid, page 231.

Tawa Baptist

Create in me a clean heart

Scriptures: Psalm 51 and 2nd Samuel 11 & 12

Structure:

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

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me;

Cast me not away from Your presence, O Lord

Take not Your Holy Spirit from me;

Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Introduction:

Some of you may have seen the movie Rocketman recently

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

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

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

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

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

Keith Green:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

King David:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm 51:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From verse 3 we continue…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From verse 6 we read…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The rest of the psalm then talks about worship…

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

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

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

Conclusion:

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

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

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

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

Let us pray…  

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me;

Cast me not away from Your presence, O Lord

Take not Your Holy Spirit from me;

Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Through Jesus we pray. Amen.    

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

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

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

[3] Ibid, page 209.

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

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

Tawa Baptist

Build My Life

Scriptures: Luke 6:46-49; Romans 12:1; Philippians 2:5-11; John 1:43-49

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • I will build my life
  • Worthy of every song
  • Holy, there is no one like you
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

When we were training for ministry our Greek lecturer, Brian Smith, told us how most people in churches learn their theology from the hymns and songs they sing in church each week

  • Theology sounds like an impressive word but really it just means thinking or talking about God.
  • Whenever you think or talk about God you are doing theology 
  • Brian’s point was that the songs we sing in church have a profound influence on the way we perceive God
  • When words are put to music they tend to stick in our memory better – they also make a connection with our heart
  • We find ourselves unconsciously singing worship songs in the car or in the shower – and the meaning we attach to the words shapes our relationship with God

With this in view, today we begin a new sermon series called ‘Anthems’

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

I like what N.T. Wright says about worship…   

“Put it this way: if your idea of God, if your idea of the salvation offered in Christ, is vague or remote, your idea of worship will be fuzzy and ill-formed. The closer you get to the truth, the clearer becomes the beauty, and the more you will find worship welling up within you. That’s why theology and worship belong together. The one isn’t just a head-trip; the other isn’t just emotion.”

Some of the songs we will look at are old and others relatively new. Most you will be familiar with and others are less well known

  • Today’s song is Build My Life, written by Pat Barrett

Verse 1:

Worthy of every song we could ever sing.
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you

Verse 2:

Jesus, a name above every other name.
Jesus, the only one that could ever save.
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you…

Chorus:

Holy, there is no one like you,
There is none beside you,
Open up my eyes in wonder.

Show me who you are
and fill me with your heart
And lead me in your love
to those around me.

Bridge:

I will build my life upon your love,
It is a firm foundation.
I will put my trust in you alone
And I will not be shaken.

I will build my life:

Build My Life was released in 2016, so it is a fairly new song, but it is based on some quite ancient ideas

  • Pat Barrett is a singer/songwriter and worship leader from Grace Midtown, a church in Atlanta, Georgia
  • He has written a number of Christian songs including “Good, Good Father”. Barrett is married with three young children.

Pat Barrett said the song, Build My Life, came to him over a number of years, at a time when he was looking for steadiness in his life, because he was going through quite a bit change and uncertainty.

The bridge is the heart of the song, and it also happens to be the first part of the song that Barrett wrote, so we will start with that…  

I will build my life upon your love, it is a firm foundation.
I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken.

In an interview Barrett said, life rarely behaves with our plans. It is usually the uncertainty, the not knowing, the trials that reveal what we’ve been standing on the whole time (and by ‘standing on’ he means, what we’ve put our trust in)

  • Metaphorically, when you sing this song, you are looking up to worship God but at the same time you are also looking down to keep your footing
  • What am I standing on? Is it my career, my image (or persona), is it money? Those things aren’t steady – they don’t provide a firm foundation
  • The invitation from Jesus is to put your feet on the rock and find strength in him

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 6, verse 46, on page 85 toward the back of your pew Bibles

  • Barrett says he had this passage from Luke 6 in mind when he wrote the words of the bridge. This is what Jesus says from verses 46-49…

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet don’t do what I tell you? 47 Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them—I will show you what he is like. 48 He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river overflowed and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But anyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once—and what a terrible crash that was!”

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

In Jesus’ day building a house was a strenuous exercise. They didn’t have heavy machinery (like diggers) to excavate the foundations and so everything had to be done by hand. It required an enormous effort [1]

They couldn’t really build during winter because it was too wet so they had to build in summer

  • The problem was the high clay content in the soil combined with the heat made digging extremely hard going
  • It would have been tempting to simply build on top of the clay soil
  • The ground certainly seemed hard enough in the heat of summer
  • But when the winter rains came the soil went soft and washed away
  • So if the foundations didn’t go down deep enough (all the way to base rock) the house would fall.

The clay soil which seems hard in summer but washes away in winter represents the lies we sometimes believe and build our lives on

  • While the bed rock represents the teaching of Jesus – steadfast & true

Jesus says in this parable that those who hear his teaching and obey it are like the man who does the hard yards and digs down to lay his foundation on rock

  • The implication being that it is not enough simply to hear and agree with what Jesus says – we also need to do what Jesus says
  • And doing what Jesus says – loving our enemies, not judging others, being honest with ourselves, and forgiving – all of that is the hard part
  • Like digging down through baked clay it is difficult
  • Difficult yes – but also necessary if we don’t want to come to ruin.

One of the more obvious things to note in this parable is that there is a storm and it hits both houses

  • The implication is that when we follow Jesus and align our lives with his teaching, we still face storms, we still suffer in a whole variety of ways
  • The difference is that God brings us strong through the storm

But this is not all there is to the parable. Jesus’ Jewish listeners would have heard more…

In Isaiah 28 God says through the prophet…

  • I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid corner-stone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ Justice will be the measuring-line for the foundation, and honesty will be its plumb-line.

Zion is a reference to Jerusalem

  • In the temple in Jerusalem (in the holy of holies) there was a special foundation stone on which the Ark of the Covenant used to sit
  • When the ark was taken away the priests put a fire pan on the foundation
  • The fire pan burned incense – a symbol of the people’s prayers to God.

When Jesus told the parable of the two builders he was really saying…

  • I am the firm & strong foundation stone promised by Isaiah
  • Build on me and my words and you will not be shaken

Now this was an incredible thing to declare

  • Jesus was saying that the new temple, promised by God 700 hundred years earlier, was not going to be a building but a person and that he (Jesus) is that person 

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians the apostle writes…

You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself. He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.

When we build our lives on the firm foundation of Christ, we too become part of that new temple promised by God

Think about that for a moment – it is a profound idea

  • The temple is a place of reconciliation – a place where sacrifices are offered and peace is made  
  • The temple is also the place of God’s presence – a place where his Spirit dwells and people are close to God
  • When we build our lives on Christ we become God’s sacred and holy people.

Returning to Pat Barrett’s song. Some of you will have noticed that the words in Pat’s bridge don’t exactly mirror the words in Jesus’ parable in Luke 6

  • The foundation Jesus had in mind was his teaching or his ‘words’, whereas Pat Barrett describes the foundation as, ‘your love’, meaning God’s love for us in Christ
  • Although Barrett is using a bit of poetic license here, he gets it right – Jesus’ teaching is an expression of his love.
  • In fact, Jesus’ message (his word) was, love God and love your neighbour
  • Before we can do what Jesus teaches we must first know we are loved by God – love and grace come before obedience
  • Our obedience to God’s word (as embodied in Christ) needs to grow out of love for God, not out of fear or guilt

The idea of God’s love being a firm foundation on which to build our lives is found in Ephesians 3, where Paul talks about putting our roots down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love

  • So we can sing this bridge with confidence, knowing it is based in the wisdom of Scripture.

Worthy of every song:

What about the verses then – what meaning can we glean from them?

  • Well, if the bridge is about looking down to keep our footing then the verses are about looking up to worship God.

Verse 1 repeats the word worthy three times

  • The term ‘worship’ comes from an old English word meaning ‘worth-ship’. Worship is about ascribing worth
  • We make the effort to get out of bed on a Sunday morning and come to church to sing songs of praise to God because he is worth it
  • Francis Chan is quoted as saying…
  • His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us our words can’t contain Him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate.
  • I love the last verse of the gospel of John, where the apostle says…
  • Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.   

Worthy of every song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

  • That’s a way of saying, our words can’t contain God; our praise can never really do justice to God; even the whole world would not have enough room for all the books that could be written about the Lord’s deeds.

And for those who may be thinking, ‘Yea, but worship is more than singing’, Pat Barrett is way ahead of you, because his very next line is…

  • Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you.
  • The idea here is that worship isn’t just something we do in church on a Sunday. Worship is like breathing – it is threaded through all of life.
  • Worship is primarily about how we live

We live for you, picks up Paul’s thought in Romans 12 where he says…

  • Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
  • We try to live our lives in a way that pleases God because he is worth it
  • Living for God ties in with what Jesus was saying in Luke 6, about obedience to his teaching
  • ‘We live for you’ Lord is another way of saying, ‘I will build my life on your love’.

One of the things I like about this song is way it uses both plural and singular pronouns

  • The words, we live for you, reminds us that worship isn’t just an individual thing. It’s something we do in community with other believers
  • At the same time the words in the bridge, I will build my life, remind us that worship involves a personal commitment.
  • Worship is both we and I – it is both public and personal   
  • I’m not sure if Pat Barrett intended all this meaning but it’s what I glean from it.

Verse 2 begins…

  • Jesus a name above every other name.
  • Jesus’ name is both his reputation and his integrity
  • This is a direct quote from Philippians 2, verse 9, where the apostle Paul writes about imitating the humility of Christ…

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The thing that makes Jesus’ name great, the reason God gave Jesus a name that is above every other name, is that Jesus was obedient to God.

  • The foundation of Jesus’ life was loving obedience to God the Father
  • Once again this connects with the bridge of the song – the building of our life gets it integrity, it’s strength, from loving obedience to Christ.

The second line in verse 2; Jesus, the only one that could ever save, is a reference to the Christian doctrine that salvation from sin and death is found in Christ alone (Solo Christo)

  • This doctrine comes from Martin Luther, the great church reformer of the 16th Century, who got it from his understanding of the New Testament
  • For example, where Jesus says to his disciples…
  • “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
  • Salvation through Christ alone is an unpopular belief in our contemporary society – so verse 2 is quite a provocative line to sing

Holy, there is no one like you:

And so we come to the chorus

  • If the verses look up in worship of God and the bridge looks down at where we are standing, then the chorus looks both in to the heart and out to our neighbor.

Holy, there is no one like you, there is none beside you, open up my eyes in wonder…

The word holy means ‘set apart’. To be holy is to be different, special, sacred

  • Jesus is unique. He is beyond compare.
  • Holiness goes together with wonder
  • Wonder is a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar – something holy in other words

The thing is, not everyone recognizes Jesus’ holiness

  • To many of the people of his day Jesus appeared to be like anyone else
  • Jesus’ holiness, his glory, is hidden at first – we need our eyes opened in wonder so we can appreciate just who he is.

In John chapter 1, Philip says to Nathanael, ‘Look, we’ve found the Messiah. Come and meet him. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’

  • And Nathanael replies, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
  • I imagine Nathanael was a bit like Mr Darcy, he despised anything false or pretentious. He had no patience for the games people play and wasn’t too bothered by who he offended, so long as he spoke the truth
  • People like Nathanael don’t make great diplomats – they may come across as a bit rude, a bit blunt, and are therefore often misunderstood
  • Nevertheless, Nathanael goes with Philip anyway.
  • When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, “Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!”
  • Jesus could see into Nathanael’s heart and that touches Nathanael – he says to Jesus, “How do you know me?”
  • Perhaps for the first time in his life Nathanael felt truly understood and accepted for who he was. Jesus gets me.
  • Jesus’ wise insight and acceptance opens Nathanael’s eyes in wonder
  • Nathanael declares, “Teacher,” you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

G.K. Chesterton once said, ‘We are perishing for lack of wonder, not for lack of wonders.’ 

  • I suppose Chesterton meant that God is doing wonderful things all the time, all around us, we just don’t have the sense of wonder that is needed to appreciate them 
  • The wonder of God, the beauty of his holiness, his goodness, is the inspiration for our worship

The second part of the chorus reads…

  • Show me who you are and fill me with your heart,
  • And lead me in your love to those around me.

‘Fill me with your heart’ is a significant thing to say

  • To be filled with God’s heart is to be filled with His love – while God’s love is a good thing, to be filled with it is also a painful thing. God’s love comes with suffering – so this is a brave line to sing
  • To be filled with God’s heart is also to be filled the Spirit of Jesus
  • These words are talking about intimacy with God, through Jesus
  • It is as we abide in Christ (the vine) that we bear the fruit of love for our neighbours
  • It is as we build our life on Christ that we find the strength to love those around us.

Conclusion:

  • Whatever storm you may be facing, whatever uncertainty you may be going through, Jesus provides a firm foundation.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to the song, ‘Build My Life’, by Pat Barrett.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. Discuss / reflect on the significance of the parable of the two builders in Luke? For example; What does it mean to build your life on Jesus’ teaching? How might Jesus’ original Jewish audience have understood this parable? What foundation are you building your life on?
  3. How does the line in the song, “we live for you”, connect with Romans 12:1? What does it mean to be a living sacrifice?
  4. Why does God give Jesus the name that is above every other name? How does Jesus redefine greatness?  
  5. What does it mean to ask God to fill us with His heart?
  6. Do you still have a sense of wonder? Take some time this week to notice and appreciate the wonders of God all around you. Lose yourself in wonder, awe and praise of the what God has accomplished in Christ.

[1] Many of the insights on Luke 6:46-49 were gleaned from Kenneth Bailey’s book, ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’, pages 321-331.

Tawa Baptist

Body & Spirit

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18-24

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Praying in the Spirit
  • Praying in the body
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Cyril Bassett was New Zealand’s first Victoria Cross recipient

  • Cyril was a sapper in the NZ Engineers during World War 1
  • His job was to lay communication lines so the allies could talk to each other
  • Because of his short stature Bassett was initially rejected for military service but he persisted and they let him in, assigning him to Signals
  • Bassett served in Gallipoli and was noted for his bravery in laying telephone wires under heavy fire early in the campaign
  • Some months later, when the NZ Infantry was attacking Chunuk Bair, Corporal Bassett found himself in the heat of the battle once more laying communication lines on the exposed hill slopes
  • He braved continuous gunfire during broad daylight armed only with a revolver and a bayonet.
  • A bullet struck his boot and two more passed through the fabric of his tunic during the fighting, but he was not wounded
  • For his efforts he was awarded the Victoria Cross 
  • Afterwards Cyril Bassett had this to say…

“I reckon there must be some guardian angel looking after me, especially as one man was shot dead in front of me and another wounded just behind.”

This morning we conclude our series in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, focusing on chapter 6, verses 18-24

  • Last week we heard about the armour of God and the need to stand firm in the battle against evil  
  • In the same vein of thought Paul continues from verse 18 encouraging his readers to stay alert and to pray
  • Prayer is essentially about establishing and maintaining lines of communication with God and other believers
  • In praying we are doing the spiritual equivalent of what Cyril Bassett did
  • From Ephesians 6, verses 18-24 (in the NIV) we read…  

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

21 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. 23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

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

Paul started his letter to the Ephesians with a prayer and now he concludes it by encouraging the Ephesians to pray.

  • They are to pray in the Spirit and in the body.

Praying in the Spirit:

When you read a book you need to be in the light. If you are in the dark, it is very difficult to read

  • When you are sailing a boat you need to make sure your sail is trimmed to catch the wind. If your sail isn’t in the wind your boat won’t go far

In verse 18 of Ephesians 6, Paul says we are to pray in the Spirit.

  • That’s ‘Spirit’ with a capital ‘S’, as in God’s Spirit
  • Praying in the Spirit parallels what Paul says earlier in Ephesians about being in Christ
  • What then does Paul mean by praying in the Spirit?
  • We pray in the Spirit sort of like we read in the light
  • Just as we can’t really read all that well in the dark, so too we can’t really pray without the Spirit
  • Praying in the Spirit is also like hoisting a sail to catch the wind
  • Just as we can’t really get our boat moving without putting our sail in the wind, so too our prayers don’t provide any movement without the wind (or energy) of God’s Spirit

The Spirit of God communicates God to us. Through the Spirit we receive all the gifts and empowering we need from God [1]

  • True prayer in the Spirit isn’t about technique – it’s about relationship
  • True prayer in the Spirit involves engagement with God
  • If you want to cook a roast dinner, then you need to put the meat and veges in the oven 
  • Say you are having roast chicken. You might make a nice basting sauce and rub it all over the raw bird.
  • You might make a sage and onion stuffing just like your grandmother used to make
  • You might put potatoes and pumpkin all around the chook
  • Then you turn the oven on and let it warm up to the right temperature
  • But if you leave the chicken and veges on the bench – if you don’t put them in the oven – then you are going hungry that night 
  • Praying in the Spirit is like putting our prayers and requests in God’s oven. Without the Spirit of God our prayers are inedible
  • Praying in the Spirit nourishes us

Praying in the Spirit then is about praying in relationship with God

  • Simply reciting words without our heart being in it, or without directing those words to the person we call ‘God’, isn’t that effective
  • Praying in the Spirit is like pouring water into a cup – it requires focus and intention
  • I could throw handfuls of water around the room and some of it might, by chance, end up in the cup – but mostly it will just make everyone around me wet and annoyed
  • Praying in the Spirit fills the cup of our personal relationship with God

Praying in the Spirit is also like singing in a choir. It is prayer led by the Spirit and in harmony with God’s will.

  • Like choristers, we know the words & parts and we keep our eyes on the conductor, staying alert, listening as we sing (and by sing I mean pray).

Paul says to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Praying in the Spirit is comprehensive prayer, diverse in form and woven throughout all the circumstances of our lives.

  • If you come from a charismatic background you might think praying in the Spirit means praying in tongues and while it can mean that it isn’t limited to that
  • Praying in the Spirit can include lament & tears as well as laughter & praise
  • Praying in the Spirit can include meaningful liturgy read from the heart as well as spontaneous conversation with Christ as our close friend
  • Praying in the Spirit can include sitting alone in silence as we meditate on Scripture, our hearts open in a posture of listening to God, but I can also include singing songs in worship with other believers
  • We can pray in our heart for the person sitting next to us on the train during the week or we can intercede out loud in church on a Sunday for the things in this world that grieve God’s heart and ours
  • I could go on but you get the point, praying in the Spirit is not an occasional act – it is more like breathing
  • The Spirit of God is the atmosphere in which we breathe (and by ‘breathe’ I mean pray).

Alongside Paul’s instruction to pray in the Spirit we also find his encouragement to pray in the body

Praying in the body:

A few weeks ago I was talking with a sports fan about the rugby. He was telling me how the top rugby teams are really good at off-loading the ball before the ball handler is tackled and goes to ground

  • The more often a team takes the ball down in the tackle the quicker that team runs out of steam
  • But if you can keep your momentum by passing the ball you tend to make more ground with less effort
  • The All Blacks are brilliant at the off load pass. You often see them passing the ball out the back door, without even looking
  • When they throw the ball back they trust their team mates to be alert and in position to catch it   
  • They don’t work as individuals – they work as a unit, supporting each other

Throughout Ephesians Paul has talked about the church in various ways

  • The church is the wisdom of God, the church is the temple of God and the church is the body of Christ
  • Paul wants to underline the connection believers have in Christ
  • He wants us to think of ourselves, not as a group of individuals (alone together), but as a unit, a single body made up of different parts
  • We need to remain alert, supporting each other spiritually, ready to receive the off load pass.

In the second part of verse 18 Paul says: With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

  • While it is okay to pray for yourself our prayers shouldn’t be self-centred
  • ‘Praying in the body’ means being mindful of other believers in the church – remaining alert to the joys and sorrows, successes and trials of others
  • Praying for others actually gives us a break from thinking about ourselves
  • Not only that but it helps us to feel more connected, less alone
  • If you pray for someone long enough you start to care about them  

In verse 19 Paul goes on to ask the Ephesians to pray for him also

  • Interesting here that Paul has the humility to ask for help from others. He doesn’t try to do the work on his own. He realises he needs prayer support. 
  • The other thing to note is that Paul doesn’t ask the Ephesians to pray for his freedom, even though he is chained to a Roman soldier night and day.
  • Instead Paul asks for the clarity and courage to make known the mystery of the gospel.

The word ‘mystery’ here doesn’t refer to a puzzle to be solved but rather to something that was not known before but has now been revealed by God  

  • ‘Mystery’ refers to the unfolding of God’s plan – new light shed on an old word
  • Before Christ came Paul read the Old Testament Scriptures in a certain way – much of the meaning was hidden from him
  • But since encountering Jesus, Paul now reads those same Old Testament Scriptures in a whole new light
  • Before he saw a stern and angry God who was out to destroy sinners; now he sees a loving God full of generous grace for all
  • Before he saw himself as better than others; now he realises the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

Paul wants the Spirit’s help to preach the gospel about Jesus with clarity and courage – he wants others to understand all of the gospel, the rough with the smooth

  • The word ‘gospel’ means good news. But when we read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) we find there is actually a fair amount of bad news as well
  • The gospel talks about suffering as a prerequisite to glory; it talks about forgiveness with repentance; salvation for some but judgement for others
  • It can be tempting as a preacher to leave out the unpopular parts of the gospel but the Spirit of Jesus is a Spirit of grace and truth
  • Most people are happy to hear the nice bits, the grace-full bits, but the truthful bits require some courage to say      
  • Paul doesn’t want to edit his message. Paul wants to be open and honest in his presentation of the gospel.

Those who proclaim the word of God need clarity and courage

  • This morning the children in the Flock Sunday school are learning how God spoke to the boy Samuel at the temple in Shiloh
  • Samuel slept in the temple near the ark of the covenant – the symbol of God’s presence with his people
  • One night Samuel hears a voice calling his name
  • At first he thinks it is the priest Eli calling him but every time he goes to Eli, the old man tells him to go back to bed
  • Eventually Eli realises that Samuel is hearing the Lord’s voice, so he instructs Samuel to respond by saying, ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening’. Samuel does as he is told.

The next morning Samuel seems to be avoiding Eli, so Eli sits Samuel down and asks the boy to tell him what the Lord said, without leaving anything out

  • The message is one of judgement against Eli and his family
  • ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’
  • That’s a heavy message for a child to give a grown man
  • To his credit Eli accepted the message saying, ‘He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.’   

The gospel message Paul preached wasn’t so harsh. Paul was able to say, ‘The good news is; your guilt is atoned for by Christ’s sacrifice, but you still need to change your ways and repent. God’s love is not a license to do what we want.

Eli may have been accepting of what Samuel said but not everyone was accepting of what Paul had to say and as a consequence he found himself under house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier day and night

  • Most people in the ancient near east would have been ashamed to be in chains, but not Paul. He is not an Instagram star, ‘showing the best and hiding the rest’. Paul doesn’t hide the reality.
  • By being open like this Paul owns his suffering. He doesn’t let it own him.

We are talking about praying in the body

  • Perhaps one of the reasons Paul was able to cope with being in chains is that he saw himself as part of the body of Christ, so it didn’t all depend on him
  • Sure, he couldn’t visit the Ephesians himself, but he could send Tychicus, his assistant
  • Tychicus was Paul’s hands and feet – he could deliver Paul’s letter
  • When Paul went down in the tackle of house arrest, he could off load the ball to Tychicus, so the momentum wasn’t lost.       

Tychicus wasn’t just a letter carrier though – he was someone who knew Paul and could pass on personal news of how Paul and the others were getting on

  • It is so easy in the culture I come from to think of prayer as a disembodied thing – a mental exercise – just words you say in your head
  • But true prayer is embodied and relational  
  • Prayer in the body isn’t just the communication of words and information
  • Prayer in the body involves being physically present
  • Prayer in the body conveys warmth and emotion
  • Prayer in the body communicates encouragement and comfort
  • Tychicus’ visit did this – his going to see the Ephesians in person was prayer in a bodily form.

When our youngest daughter was about two years old she caught rota virus and had to go to hospital. This was before I became a minister, when we were living in Tauranga

  • While we were in hospital the pastor of our church came to visit. He didn’t stay long, just popped in, spoke to us, said a short prayer and then went on his way again
  • I don’t remember the words he prayed but I do remember feeling comforted and encouraged by his presence
  • I had never been visited by a pastor before. Greg simply showed up embodying warmth and this made me feel cared for and connected to the rest of the church. That’s an example of prayer in the body (of Christ).

Now in talking about prayer in the body I don’t mean to convey the idea that this is somehow different from praying in the Spirit – body & Spirit go together

It must be over twelve years ago now our family went on holiday to Christchurch

  • On about the second day our youngest daughter had an accident and had to go to hospital
  • They put her is this tiny room with no windows, no view outside – it was an awful environment – we were supposed to be on holiday, having fun
  • To make matters worse the words I prayed to God didn’t appear to make any positive difference – our daughter just got worse
  • When you are in a strange city, with a sick child and God isn’t answering your prayers it makes you feel incredibly isolated and vulnerable – we were powerless really.

But in that situation God was still present, just not in the way we were expecting

  • Some friends we knew in Christchurch looked after our well daughter for us so she wasn’t stuck in hospital all week
  • When the church here in Tawa heard what was happening they arranged a gift basket for us and one of you asked his sister (who lives in Christchurch) to come and visit us in hospital. That meant a lot to us.  
  • Then, when we had to stay longer than our accommodation was booked for, the Ronald McDonald House gave us a room for a couple of nights

My prayers in that situation didn’t bring about a miraculous healing but we were very aware of God’s providence

  • On reflection I am conscious of the Spirit’s intercession for us 
  • In Romans 8 Paul writes, ‘…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express…’ 
  • I had prayed for our daughter’s healing thinking that was what was needed, but at a deeper level (a level I wasn’t conscious of) what we really needed was to know that we were not alone – loneliness, isolation, alienation, these are the real sicknesses of our society today 
  • The Spirit of God knew what we really needed and interceded for us with groans that words cannot express and God answered the Spirit’s prayer to comfort us in the loneliness and isolation we felt with practical, embodied help through friends and strangers.
  • Prayer in the Spirit goes hand in hand with prayer in the body.

Conclusion:

Paul concludes his letter with a prayer of blessing for the Ephesians

  • Four key words we notice in his benediction. Paul wishes his readers…
  • Peace, love with faith, and grace.   

Praying in the Spirit and praying in the body are not meant to be separated – they go together

  • In a few moments we will share communion.
  • Communion holds together body and Spirit
  • It is a celebration of the peace, love, faith and grace that are ours in Christ

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What does it mean to ‘pray in the Spirit’? Can you think of a time in your life when the Spirit interceded for you with groans too deep for words?
  3. What are some of the ways you prefer to pray? Are there some new ways of praying you could try?
  4. What does it mean to ‘pray in the body’?
  5. Have you ever experienced prayer in body and Spirit? Perhaps share your experience with someone you trust or write it down in a journal. 
  6. What affect does praying for other believers have on us?  
  7. Why did Paul ask for clarity & courage in preaching the gospel?
  8. How does Paul own his suffering? How might we own our suffering?
  9. Take some time to slowly read Paul’s benediction in verses 23-24 of Ephesians 6. Receive this blessing into your soul.

[1] Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians, page 344.

Tawa Baptist

Wise Living

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-21

Title: Wise Living

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Making the most of our time
  • Discerning the will of God
  • Being filled with the Spirit
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

The year before we started training for ministry at Carey Baptist we went to check the College out and meet some of the students

  • To make conversation I asked the students assigned to us what subjects they were majoring in and one of them said ‘moral & practical theology’
  • I didn’t know anything about theological education so I naively said, ‘Moral & practical theology aye. Is there any other kind?’
  • I thought, surely you wouldn’t want theology (the study of God) to be immoral or impractical. They graciously overlooked my ignorance.
  • The next year I learned that there is another branch of theology called ‘systematic theology’
  • Systematic theology is the theory, the big ideas, the framework and history of thinking about God
  • Whereas moral and practical theology is more the application of the theory to real life, things like ethics and pastoral care

Today we continue our series in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, focusing on chapter 5, verses 15-21

  • In the first half of Ephesians Paul provides his readers with some big picture thinking about God and Christ
  • Then, in the second half, Paul focuses more on moral and practical theology – the application of life in Christ
  • This morning’s passage forms part of the application.
  • From Ephesians 5, verse 15 we read…

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

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

In a nutshell, these verses are about wise living. Paul draws our attention to three things that wise people do

  • Wise people make the most of their time
  • Wise people discern the will of God
  • And wise people are filled with the Holy Spirit, not booze

 

Making the most of our time:

When we were young, my friends and I got involved with white water slalom kayaking. A slalom course normally includes about 18-25 gates which you have to manoeuvre your boat through

  • Green & white stripped gates you must pass through going downstream and red & white gates you go through paddling upstream
  • When we did it they also had gates you were required to go through backwards but they don’t do that anymore
  • If you touch a gate you get 5 seconds added to your time as a penalty
  • And if you miss a gate it’s a 50 second penalty
  • The competitor with the fastest time wins.

Slalom paddling requires quite a bit of practical skill and accuracy

  • You have to plan your approach to each gate carefully, putting yourself in the best position to pass through the gate quickly and cleanly

 

In Ephesians 5 Paul writes

  • Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise…

For Christians, living in this world is a bit like navigating a white water slalom course – it requires practical wisdom and close attention

  • We can’t afford to blunder our way through life without thinking about what we are doing – we need to think strategically and act carefully
  • Or as Jesus put it, ‘Be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.’

One of the things a wise person does is make the most of every opportunity

  • A wise person uses their time well
  • The Greek language has two words for time: chronos and kairos
  • Chronos is the word used for the time of day – as in chronological time
  • Whereas Kairos is the word used for describing the opportune moment
  • Returning to our slalom analogy – the chronos time is the total time it takes to get through the course
  • Chronos time is punctuated with Kairos moments. Each time you pass through a slalom gate, that’s a Kairos moment, a critical moment, when you are careful not to touch the gate.

The word that is used here, in verse 16, is Kairos

  • Literally this verse could be translated ‘redeem the time’
  • This doesn’t mean try and pack as much into every moment of the day that you can (because it’s not talking about chronological time)
  • It means, redeem every opportunity you can for good.

To be able to redeem the time (or make the most of every opportunity) we need to have our wits about us

  • We need to be alert, like a slalom kayaker, because the days are evil
  • We are not floating down a slow, lazy river
  • We are navigating our way through a fast moving, constantly changing and sometimes bumpy environment which could tip us over at any moment

Not all the water in a river flows the same way

  • Close to the river bank the water is usually relatively still or even flowing upstream
  • A wise kayaker reads the river – they look for eddy lines and use the current of the river to their advantage
  • They also avoid the back wash behind rocks so they don’t get sucked under or stuck in a hole
  • In the same way, a wise Christian reads the current of the society in which they live
  • We think strategically to make the most of the time and avoid getting sucked into holes

To put this idea of making the most of opportunities into more concrete terms let me give you some examples from the life of our church

  • A few years ago now we used to be involved in delivering CRE (or Bible in schools) to various Primary schools in Tawa
  • But then schools became less receptive to the work and so we considered what else we might do to connect with and serve our community
  • As it happened the principal of Tawa College attends Tawa Baptist and was wanting to start 24-7 youth work in his school
  • We had the personnel and the willingness to help so we entered into a partnership with Tawa College – it made sense, it was a good fit
  • Who knows, without the Principal in that role we may not have had the opportunity to get 24-7 started.

Or take another example. Several years ago there were some earthquakes in Christchurch which caused us to consider the seismic rating of our buildings

  • We have some very capable engineers in our congregation so it seemed wise (an opportune time) to draw on their expertise in guiding us through a process of strengthening our buildings.

Another example. About 3 or 4 years ago one of the Bible study leaders was considering what Bible study material to use with her small group

  • She didn’t want to infringe any copyright laws or have to reinvent the wheel herself, so she asked me if I would create some questions to go with my sermons each week that she could use in her Bible study
  • I was happy to do this – it made sense
  • It was a way of making the most of the opportunity and redeeming the time I put into sermon prep – getting more mileage out of the message.

We are talking about the wisdom of making the most of our time. An example from the Bible. This morning the kids in the Flock Sunday school are learning how Jesus called his first disciples, in Luke 5

  • When Jesus came to earth he didn’t bring anything with him from heaven, except the Holy Spirit
  • Jesus was more inclined to use what was available to him on earth
  • In Luke 5, a crowd gathered to hear Jesus speak
  • Jesus saw an opportunity and made the most of it by using Simon Peter’s fishing boat to preach from
  • Then he called Peter, James and John to be his disciples (his apprentices)
  • Jesus knew his time on earth was limited and wisely used the time to create a community of people to carry on the work after he had gone.

I could give other examples but you get the idea – wise people redeem the time.

  • They make the most of the opportunities they are given for promoting God’s purpose
  • This doesn’t mean trying to do everything yourself
  • It doesn’t mean being so busy you can’t think straight
  • It means stepping back and taking time to discern God’s will and then getting on with it

 

Discerning the will of God:

Which brings us to our second point: wise people discern God’s will

  • In verse 17 Paul writes…

 

  • Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

The word translated as ‘foolish’ in this verse relates specifically to moral folly –we make good moral choices by understanding or discerning the Lord’s will.

 

Some of you might be into cray fishing or at least eating crayfish. If you are then you will know that crays under a certain size must be thrown back

  • For males the minimum tail width is 54mm and for females it is 60mm
  • Taking under sized crayfish is not only illegal, it is also morally foolish because it puts future crayfish stocks at risk
  • When you measure a cray you don’t guess, you use a standard measure like this one
  • The Bible is the standard or the measuring stick for discerning God’s will.

Now, while the Bible is good in providing a general guide for God’s will, it won’t always provide us with the answers we might want

  • When it comes to specific situational things, like what career path to take or who to marry or whether to stay single or whether the church should support this cause or another; we need a number of tools in our tool kit for discerning God’s will.

Paul doesn’t explore how to discern God’s will in these verses but whenever I am faced with a particular decision (one the Scriptures don’t obviously prohibit) I usually try to follow a common sense process…

  • Common sense avoids rushing in. It is important to be able to make the decision while we are not under pressure.

Praying about it is also a wise thing to do.

  • Say to God this is what I’m presented with.
  • This is what I’m thinking and feeling about it.
  • What do you want in this situation? Guide me in your will.
  • Open the doors you want us to walk through and close the doors you don’t want us to walk through.

A common sense process also involves reflecting on the probable consequences of taking a particular course of action. For example…

  • How will this affect God’s Kingdom and His reputation?
  • How will this affect my family?
  • How will this affect the church?
  • Do I have the capacity (the time, energy and skill) to embrace this?
  • Just because something is intrinsically good doesn’t mean we should do it
  • If you give yourself to every good cause that comes along you end up spreading yourself a too thin.
  • So you have to ask, how does this fit with my personality and values?
  • Can I live with this decision long term? Can I fulfil my commitment?
  • Is there someone else better suited?
  • They are the sort of questions we ask ourselves.

In discerning God’s will we might look for signs or clues in our circumstances or in the things that people unwittingly say to us.

  • Sometimes God reveals his will to us in dreams, but not all dreams are necessarily God speaking to us.
  • Sometimes God may give us a very specific verse of Scripture which shines a light on the way to go.
  • But, with all these things, we need to be careful.
  • Sometimes we can read what we want into our circumstances or dreams or Scripture, but if we talk it through with someone who knows us well, they can help us see our blind spots.
  • There is wisdom in seeking the advice of two or three people you trust and not trying to solve it on your own.

There are times, aren’t there, when we wish that God would just send us an email or a text telling us clearly what to do, but He doesn’t operate like that

  • God is not always directive. He often gives us options with the freedom to choose. We don’t get to see the full plan in advance
  • Mostly it feels like we are walking through the bush in the dark with only a torch – the light is just enough to see one or two steps ahead, but not enough to see any further down the track.

 

When I was younger I didn’t always make good decisions but God is gracious and He often finds a way to redeem our mistakes, to make the most of our time

  • When I left school I made the mistake of studying business management and accounting – it seemed like the right thing at the time (and I’m sure it is right for a good many people) but it wasn’t ideal for me
  • Nevertheless, God used my mistake for good – I still draw on those skills even now in pastoral ministry.

Discerning God’s will can be time consuming but if your heart is to honour God and do right by Him, He will point you in the right direction and use the choices you make to serve His purpose.

 

Okay, so wise people make the most of the time and they seek to understand God’s will – both His general will and His specific will

  • Wise people are also filled with the Holy Spirit

 

Being filled with the Spirit:

From verse 18 of Ephesians 5 we read…

  • Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,

In the normal course of events there is nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation – unless you are an alcoholic or unless your drinking would be unhelpful to someone else’s faith

  • The problem is with drinking to excess. Apparently alcohol abuse was a plague on society in the ancient world as it still is today
  • A wise person exercises self-control. Alcohol impairs our decision making function and robs us of our self-control.
  • Therefore, getting drunk is a foolish moral choice because it puts us on a bad path

Being filled with God’s Spirit, on the other hand, enhances our decision making function and helps us to better control ourselves – The Spirit makes us wiser.

  • Where it says, be filled with the Spirit, the tense of the verb is present continuous – which means we don’t just get filled once, we are to go being filled with the Holy Spirit
  • We need the Spirit regularly, like we need oxygen or water.

So how do we get these regular fillings of the Holy Spirit?

  • Well, Paul doesn’t say in these verses, but we know from elsewhere in Scripture that we can’t manipulate the Spirit
  • Being filled with the Spirit isn’t like filling up your car with petrol – we don’t fill ourselves up, we are dependent on the Spirit to fill us.
  • The Spirit fills us like wind fills a sail
  • We can’t make the wind blow or control which direction it blows from; but we can trim our sail to catch the wind
  • Of course, there’s nothing wrong with praying for God to send His wind and asking the Spirit to fill us,
  • Given that Paul has just talked about being in Christ, earlier in Ephesians, we could expect the Spirit to go on filling us as we remain in Christ; much like the branches of a tree continue to be nourished as they stay connected to the main trunk

 

Having instructed his readers to be filled with the Spirit, Paul then goes on to mention four behaviours that are consistent with the Spirit’s activity among us

  • …speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
  • Singing and making music in your heart to the Lord,
  • always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • And, Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 

These are not the only signs of the Holy Spirit’s activity

  • In Galatians Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
  • And in John’s gospel we read how the Spirit of Jesus is a Spirit of grace and truth

 

Returning to Ephesians though, the first Spirit inspired behaviour Paul mentions is speaking and the language we use to communicate with each other

  • A community that shares a common language has a strong sense of identity and a shared understanding
  • Our language is not to be peppered with obscenities and innuendo, it is to be full of the language of the psalms and of praise for God.

 

Singing has to do with gathered worship and making music in your heart has to do with integrity in worship

  • There needs to be a harmony between what we are saying about God with our mouths and the intention of our hearts – our hearts need to be in it.
  • Two things happen when we sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord:
    • Our attention is shifted off ourselves and onto God, so we become less self-centred
    • And, we learn theology – we learn how to think about God

 

Giving thanks for everything is qualified by in the name of Jesus

  • It’s easy enough to give thanks for the good things (the pleasant things) but what about the yucky stuff?
  • Well we don’t need to give thanks for evil
  • If we are speaking words from the psalms to each other then we are free to lament evil because the psalms are all about being honest with God
  • This means we don’t have to pretend to be thankful for something we are not – Paul isn’t suggesting we say, ‘thank you God for this headache’.
  • Giving thanks for everything, in the name of Jesus means giving thanks on the basis of who Jesus is and what he has done. [1]
  • So, when someone dies and we feel sad, we don’t have to pretend to be happy. We don’t have to give thanks for their death.
  • The wise thing is to feel our grief but, in our sadness, to give thanks that Jesus has conquered death – ‘where oh death is your sting’.

Jesus encouraged thankfulness with his beatitudes

  • Blessed (lucky) are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
  • Blessed (lucky) are you when people insult you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.

 

The fourth sign that the Spirit is active in a community of faith is the willingness of people to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

  • The Greek word for submit literally means ‘arrange under’ [2]
  • We are to arrange our lives under Christ
  • We are to think of others as better than ourselves
  • We are to treat each other with reverence as we would Christ
  • (If you can recall the story I told a couple of weeks ago about the monks – the Messiah is among you)
  • At times we may be required to sacrifice what we want for others
  • Mutual submission requires a high level of trust
  • In submitting to others we are trusting they have our best interests at heart and will in turn submit to us
  • For mutual submission to work our lives need to be governed by the love of Christ – self-giving love – it requires us all to reach maturity in Christ.

 

Jesus washing his disciples’ feet (in John 13) is a picture of submission

  • Even though Peter is uncomfortable with it he still submits to what Jesus is doing. Mutual submission is not easy

Abraham giving his nephew Lot the choice of the land (in Genesis 13) is another example of what submitting to others might look like

  • Lot chose what appeared to be the best quality land and Abraham submitted to Lot’s choice
  • I’m not sure Lot understood what his uncle was doing – the submission may have been one way in that instance

 

What I notice as I reflect on Paul’s four signs of the Spirit, in Ephesians 5, is that each one is more challenging than the one before – they are like a progression or a staircase

  • Speaking to other believers with psalms and spiritual songs is relatively easy
  • Singing together, with integrity in our worship, that’s a bit harder
  • Always giving thanks for everything in the name of Jesus can be even harder still, especially when we are suffering in some way
  • And as for submitting to one another – that’s top shelf, its advanced stuff.

 

The other thing we notice in these verses is the presence of the Trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

  • The community of the church is modelled off the community of the God head.

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve been talking about wise living

  • Wise people make the most of their time
  • Wise people make the effort to discern God’s will
  • And wise people are filled with the Spirit – it is the Spirit of God that makes moral and practical wisdom possible.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2. What does it mean to make the most of our time?

  • How are you using (or redeeming) the time?

3. How do we discern the Lord’s will?

  • Think of a time in your life when you have gone through a process of discerning God’s will. What was your process? What was the outcome?

4. What is your attitude to and practice regarding alcohol?

5. What does Paul mean by being ‘filled with the Spirit’?

  • How might we trim our sail to better catch the wind of God’s Spirit?

6. Discuss / reflect on the four signs of the Spirit’s activity mentioned in Ephesians 5

  • To what extent is each of these part of your experience with other believers?
  • Which one(s) to do you find more difficult? Why?

7. Imagine Paul was in the room with you now. What would you ask him concerning Ephesians 5:15-21? What do you think he might say?

 

 

[1] Refer Klyne Snodgrass, NIVAC Ephesians, page 291.

[2] Ibid, page 292.