Tawa Baptist

M&M’s

Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-32

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Mind
  • Morals
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

If we think of the Christian church as a tree; historically the church has two main branches to it

  • There is the eastern branch, which stems from the Greek tradition
  • And there is the western branch, which stems from the Latin tradition
  • We are part of the Latin tradition – the western church

 

 

Generally speaking, the Greek church believed that sin was intellectual blindness and that salvation was found in illumination of the mind; by clear thinking about God, or Christ

  • The Latin church, on the other hand, believed that sin was moral evil and that salvation is found in right conduct; behaving in a Christ like way
  • Consequently, the Greek saint is more inclined to contemplate, while the Latin saint is more inclined to get busy and act [1]
  • From our perspective we can see that both are needed
  • You wouldn’t cut off one of the main branches
  • We can’t really have a conversion in our moral behaviour without having a conversion of our mind

 

Please turn with me to Ephesians 4, verse 17, page 241 toward the back of your pew Bibles

    • Chapter 4 is like a hinge connecting the two halves of Ephesians
    • In the first half Paul talks about what God has done for us in Christ
    • And in the second half he talks about what we need to do; our response
    • Being ‘in Christ’ requires us to live a life worthy of our calling
    • This means a profound transformation of our M&M’s – our mind and our morals. The Christian life involves both contemplation and action
  • From Ephesians 4, verses 17-32 we read…

17 In the Lord’s name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless 18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. 19 They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint.

20 That was not what you learned about Christ! 21 You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. 22 So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

25 No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. 26 If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. 27 Don’t give the Devil a chance. 28 If you used to rob, you must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for yourself and to be able to help the poor. 29 Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. 30 And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. 32 Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

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

 

Mind:

When I was in my teens my friends and I would sometimes go away for a few days kayaking

  • One place we went to was Reid’s Farm on the Waikato River, near Taupo
  • Reid’s Farm is about 2 kilometres upstream from Huka Falls

 

On our first visit to Reid’s Farm, the sun was shining; it was a beautiful day

  • We approached the river bank and looked down
  • The water was so clear you could see the bottom of the river bed 10 metres below; not at all like the dark brackish water of the same river 200km’s north in Hamilton
  • We knelt down to put our hands in the water – it was freezing but the cold made the water seem even more fresh, more pristine
  • A voice from behind said, ‘I wouldn’t drink that if I were you. It might look clean but it’s full of effluent. If you swallow even one mouthful, you’ll be puking your guts out for days.’

 

Having the right advice, knowing the truth, illuminates the mind

  • And when your mind is enlightened you are able to make informed choices and take the right course of action
  • Actions which will serve, not only your health and wellbeing, but also the health and wellbeing of those around you
  • The reason we receive an education and training is so we can learn from other people’s mistakes, and not have to find out the hard way

 

Now some of you may be wondering, ‘Did we learn the hard way? Did my mates and I ignore the voice and drink the water that day?’

  • Well, we were 16 years old at that time and didn’t always make good choices, but we did heed that piece of advice
  • I remember watching someone, from a distance a day or two later, who did drink the water and it wasn’t pretty
  • Had we hardened our hearts and stubbornly refused to accept the truth then our trip to Reid’s Farm would have been ruined, futile, wasted

 

In today’s reading Paul contrasts the Ephesians’ old way of life with their new life in Christ

  • Verses 17-19 describe the mind-set and lifestyle of the heathen.
  • A heathen is someone who doesn’t adhere to a religious system; they ignore God

 

According to Paul, four things characterise the heathen:

  • Hardness of heart (stubborn)
  • Darkness of mind (ignorant)
  • An unfeeling conscience (insensitive)
  • And a self-indulgent lifestyle (dissolute)

 

I have here a square of concrete and a container of soil

  • Which of these two is better for growing a seed in, do you think? [Wait]
  • That’s right the container of soil
  • If I drop a seed on the concrete slab it won’t go in. It will either be blown away by the wind or eaten by a bird
  • But if I drop a seed in the soil, it will go in, the soil receives it
  • The seed might lay dormant in the soil for some time but eventually, when the conditions are right, the seed will germinate and grow

 

The seed represents the truth and the soil and concrete each represent the human heart in different states

  • The concrete slab is a hard heart and the soil is a receptive heart
  • Someone who is hard of heart refuses to listen or be taught – they are unreceptive to the truth
  • Hardness of heart is the opposite of an open, trusting heart
  • Jesus celebrated little children and said, …the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, because children normally have a heart like soft soil, which is open and trusting and receptive, not a heart of stone
  • If we receive the truth and contemplate it in the soil of our mind, then God will grow it
  • But if we don’t let the seed of truth into our heart and mind, then our mind will be shrouded in darkness

 

Hardness of heart leads to ignorance

  • It is a tragic irony that sometimes very intelligent people can have minds which are in the dark spiritually speaking
  • Sometimes a great intellect gets in the way of an enlightened mind

 

When a person’s mind is unreceptive and ignorant of the truth, their conscience loses feeling

  • If we cut our foot our body heals that wound through blood flow
  • If blood is prevented from flowing to and from the foot the cut won’t heal and will become infected
  • At first the wound will hurt, but after a while (if the cut is left untreated) we will lose feeling in our foot and then our leg

 

The truth is to our conscience what blood flow is to the body

  • Truth heals wounds in our mind and soul
  • If the truth isn’t allowed access to our mind, then eventually our conscience will stop hurting (we will stop feeling guilt and shame at wrong doing) and become reckless in our behaviour; insensitive toward others
  • Without a properly functioning conscience, anything goes and self-indulgence reigns – we lose feeling and compassion for others
  • We become a slave to our appetites

 

Now, there’s a couple things I want to say about Paul’s description of the heathen, as it relates to our experience

  • Firstly, not all non-Christians fit Paul’s description of the heathen
  • We are all on a moral spectrum; most people have some conscience, some residue of the image of God, some redeeming quality, whatever their religion or lack of
  • And even we Christians have a bit of heathen left in us still
  • With this in view, it seems to me, Paul is describing the extreme end of the moral spectrum
  • This is the destination one arrives at if they go down the path of pure heathenism (of totally rejecting God)
  • Paul’s description of the outcome of a heathen lifestyle is pretty accurate

 

In the last couple of years, during the summer holidays, I’ve noticed car wrecks on the side of the road, positioned where drivers can easily see them

  • This is part of a road safety campaign designed to warn motorists to drive carefully
  • The smashed up cars are a picture of the worst that can happen if we don’t slow down or if we drive carelessly
  • In today’s reading Paul is describing the moral car crash that a heathen lifestyle leads to
  • He is warning his readers to not return to that way of life; to not drink the water at Reid’s Farm (even though it looks beautiful and clean); because ultimately a life without God is meaningless – it has you puking your guts out

 

In contrast to a heathen mind-set and lifestyle Paul also describes the Christian pathway, in verse 21. A more literal translation of this verse reads… [2]

  • You learned Christ
  • You heard Christ
  • You were taught in Christ

 

 

You learned Christ, means that Jesus himself is the content of the teaching; he is the curriculum

  • You heard Christ, means the Ephesian believers heard Jesus’ words through the gospel stories they were told; so Jesus is the teacher
  • And, you were taught in Christ, means that Jesus was the environment or the classroom in which they learned

 

Robyn is doing a Maori language course at the moment as part of her professional development

  • This course involves 4 days’ total immersion in the Maori language – which means no speaking English, only speaking Maori for 4 days
  • To be taught in Christ means total immersion in the language and kaupapa of Jesus
  • Christ is the curriculum, he is the teacher and he is the environment in which we learn how to relate with God and each other

 

Verse 23 continues the mind theme…

  • Your hearts and minds must be made completely new…
  • Or more literally, You were taught… to be renewed in the spirit [or the attitude] of your minds
  • We can’t live right until we’ve been taught how to think right
  • We can’t behave in a moral way until our minds have been renewed by God
  • This is why the Greek church’s emphasis on contemplation is so important
  • The purpose of Christian contemplation is not to empty our minds but rather to learn to put our thoughts and thought processes in good order

 

 

Unlike the heathen who are too stubborn to learn, the Christian disciple is open and receptive to learn

  • Unlike the heathen whose minds are darkened in ignorance, the mind of the Christian disciple is enlightened and informed in the ways of God
  • Unlike the heathen whose conscience has lost all feeling, the conscience of the Christian disciple is sensitive to right and wrong
  • And unlike the heathen who are self-indulgent and dissolute, the Christian disciple is supposed to exercise self-control and purity

 

As verse 24 says: we must clothe ourselves with the new self which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright & holy.

  • Paul’s image here is of the Christian believer taking off an old pair of rags and putting on a new set of clothes
  • The new clothes represent a new morality

 

A number of times over the years I’ve visited people in prison

  • When I used to go to Rimutaka the prisoners in the visiting area were dressed in bright orange boiler suits to distinguish them from the visitors
  • Most of the time I think the prisoners just wore grey sweat pants and tops
  • When the prisoner is released they put away their old prison clothes and put on new clothes to wear in their freedom
  • It’s like that when we become a Christian – we leave behind our old way of life and put on our new self

 

The new self isn’t a uniform that makes us look the same as everyone else

  • The new self is a unique set of clothes, custom made for us by God
  • The new self is our true self, our best self, as God intended us to be
  • To put on our new self is to live in our own soul, to be our authentic self
  • When we put on our new self we are doing away with pretence and we are embracing what is real and genuine
  • The clothes of our new-self fit perfectly; they aren’t too tight or too loose
  • And because they fit perfectly we feel comfortable and at home in them; we don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not

 

It is important to note here that we can’t create our new self any more than we could cause our self to be born.

  • God makes the clothes. All we do is put them on

 

Morals:

A renewed mind will affect our moral behaviour

  • Christian contemplation ultimately leads to Christian action
  • Right thinking about God will lead to right living with our neighbour
  • In verses 25-32, Paul describes a number of very practical ways in which we put away the old self and get dressed in our new morality

 

The word ‘morality’ has fallen out of favour in recent years

  • People tend to associate being moral with being a prude or ultra conservative or being oppressive and denying people their freedom
  • This is unfair and misleading – morals are helpful

 

I like the kind of thinking Eugene Peterson brings to the subject of morals [3]

  • Peterson says, (and I paraphrase his words a bit here) morality is both beautiful and functional
  • Just as a vase holds a flower arrangement in an artful way, revealing the flowers’ beauty, so too morality lends function and beauty to our lives and relationships

 

Or to use another example; I can drink this grape juice straight out of the box or I can pour it into a glass like this [pour juice into a nice glass]

  • Not only is drinking out of the glass more functional than drinking out of the box, the glass (of morality) holds the grape juice in a beautiful way

 

Morality might also be compared to a cornet or a bugle

  • Just as the brass instrument gives shape to sound as air passes through it, so too good morals give a pleasant sounding shape to the words and feelings and behaviours that pass through us

 

In verse 25, Paul writes: Don’t lie, instead speak the truth.

  • This moral is about being honest with people, not deceiving others
  • Honesty and truth create trust and trust is the foundation of relationships
  • But in speaking the truth we need to remember verse 29, where Paul encourages his readers to use kind, helpful words that build others up and do good to those who hear them.
  • Remember, the truth is like blood flow which heals wounds

 

Verse 28 continues the theme of creating trust through honesty and kindness

  • The man who used to rob must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for himself and be able to help the poor
  • This verse holds together the twin concepts of justice and mercy
  • Like a vase it gives shape to the flower arrangement of our relationships

 

Paul’s concern for right moral behaviour isn’t just focused on our words and deeds though, it also involves our feelings

 

In verse 26 Paul says: If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day.

  • This tells us that anger (within certain limits) is not a sin
  • Jesus got angry on occasion but his anger was over injustice
  • He became indignant when the disciples tried to prevent the little children coming to him and he became furious when the merchants in the temple prevented the heathen Gentiles from coming to God to pray
  • The interesting thing is that Jesus didn’t become angry when people treated him unfairly – he took that on the chin

 

Anger is one of the many emotions of love

  • If we don’t get angry over injustice done to others, then we don’t really care about others
  • The trick is using the energy of anger in a constructive way, not a destructive way
  • Housework is a good vent for anger – take it out on the mould in your bathroom, or the grease in your oven. Chop some wood or prune some trees
  • When Jesus became angry with the money changers in the temple he expressed his anger by cleaning up his Father’s house
  • He decluttered the courtyard and took out the rubbish
  • Next time you visit someone with a really clean house, make a note; this person knows how to handle their anger

 

In verse 31 Paul touches on some more emotions:

  • Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.
  • The kind of anger in view here is the unrighteous kind
  • Bitterness speaks of resentment (nursing a grudge)
  • We need to find ways to let go of our hurt and not hold on to grievances
  • Our morality should shape the sounds that come out of us like a bugle shapes the air that passes through it

 

In reading these verses we notice three common threads with Paul’s morality:

  • They all have to do with personal relationships
  • (How are your relationships? Are they functioning well and are they pleasant? If not, maybe take a look at your morals)
  • They all require us to exercise self-control,
  • (Self control is the opposite of self indulgence)
  • And they all affect the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit feels our morality)

 

Verse 30 tells us that when our morality is bad this grieves the Holy Spirit

  • The Holy Spirit connects us to God and each other, so when relationships go sour the Holy Spirit feels it
  • We don’t just practise good morality for our own well-being, we do it also for the sake of the Holy Spirit
  • If someone treats you badly that makes the Holy Spirit sad
  • If we retaliate or try to get even that just adds to the Spirit’s grief
  • But when we behave in ways that bless others I imagine the Spirit must take some comfort and joy from that

 

Conclusion:

Our reading this morning finishes on a positive note:

  • Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

This instruction to forgive one another reminds us that we are all on a journey with the renewing of our minds and the reformation of our morals

  • None of us is perfect yet and so we all stand in need of grace

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.What are you most drawn to: contemplation or action?

  • How might we keep these two things together?

3. What does it mean to be hard hearted?

  • How does Paul’s description of the heathen fit with your experience / observation of the world?

4. Why is it important to receive the truth and contemplate on it?

  • What is the purpose of Christian contemplation?

5. Discuss / reflect on verse 21: ‘You learned Christ. You heard Christ. You were taught in Christ’. What does this mean and how might we apply it in our context today?

6. When is it right to feel angry?

  • What strategies do you have for dealing with your anger?

7. What do Paul’s morals have in common?

  • Take some time this week to reflect on the quality of your relationships with others. Is there anything you would like to do differently?

 

[1] Refer Lynn White’s article ‘Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis’, Science, 10 March 1967, Vol 155, Number 3767, page 1206.  

[2] Refer John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians, page 179.

[3] Refer chapter 10 of Eugene Peterson’s book, ‘Practise Resurrection’.

Tawa Baptist

Passenger or Crew?

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-16

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Diversity
  • Maturity
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Are you a passenger or crew?

  • Are you a spectator or a player?
  • Are you a casual observer or an active participant?

Today we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 4:7-16

  • Two weeks ago we explored the first six verses of Ephesians 4 where Paul talked about the unity of Christian believers and living a life worthy of our calling
  • In this morning’s reading Paul develops those themes by talking about diversity and maturity
  • In the body of Christ unity goes hand in hand with diversity and a growth in maturity of faith. From Ephesians 4, verse 7, we read…

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

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

 

Diversity:

I want you to imagine Star Trek Crew

  • We have Sulu, who is the Helmsman or pilot/navigator of the ship
  • Then we have Uhura, who is the Communications expert,
  • Spock, the Science Officer, also second in command
  • Captain Kirk
  • Chekhov, the head of Security,
  • Then Bones, the ship’s Doctor
  • And Scotty, the ship’s Chief Engineer (‘Beam me up Scotty’)

The Star Trek crew are an example of unity with diversity

  • A crew of people, each with their own speciality, working together as one

Paul has just been talking about the unity of the body of Christ – now he talks about its diversity – in particular the diversity of gifts

In verse 7 we read, ‘But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.’

  • Then, to support his point Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18, where it talks about the Lord returning victorious from battle and ascending on high to share the spoils of victory with His people

Paul connects Jesus’ descent to earth (i.e. his incarnation) and his ascension to heaven, with his authority and power to distribute gifts to his people

  • Because Jesus has descended to earth he knows what we need
  • And because he has ascended higher than all the heavens no one can usurp his power

 

In verse 11 Paul lists four or five gifts which are needed for building up the body of Christ: apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor/teacher

An apostle is someone who is sent with a certain delegated authority – like an ambassador

  • In one sense all Christians are apostles; we are all ambassadors for Christ
  • But that’s not what Paul means here. In the first century the term apostle referred to those leaders in the church who had witnessed the risen Jesus
  • People like Peter, James, John and Paul
  • By that definition we don’t have apostles today because Jesus has ascended to heaven and isn’t walking around appearing to people
  • But although we don’t have apostles in the sense that Paul meant, we do have specially gifted leaders who God works through for his purpose
  • So the term apostle has evolved to mean someone who initiates and leads a movement of God
  • In that sense, people like William Wilberforce and John Wesley were apostles; although they hadn’t seen the risen Christ, the Spirit did work through them to lead significant movements of reform in society
  • Returning to our Star Trek analogy, Captain Kirk is like an apostle of Star Fleet (but not of the church)

 

A prophet is someone who tells people what is on God’s mind

  • Their message may be related to the future but more often is about what is happening in the present
  • In the Bible a prophet got a direct revelation from God and communicated what they heard – they were God’s mouth piece

A prophet, in the modern sense, is not exactly the same as a prophet in the ancient Biblical sense

  • These days a prophet is someone with the gift of insight into the Scriptures and / or our contemporary society
  • So a modern prophet doesn’t add anything new to the Bible but they may reveal the meaning of the ancient text in fresh ways that are relevant for our time
  • I believe Martin Luther was a prophet; he interpreted the New Testament in a way that brought much needed correction to the church of his time

Or, to use the Star Trek analogy, if Captain Kirk is like an apostle leading and inspiring the crew, then Spock is like a prophet, giving insightful honest advice and challenging Kirk at times

Of course, God can speak through anyone at any time, so any of us could potentially be a prophet

  • However, not everyone who thinks they are a prophet actually is
  • As a teenager I remember there was someone in the congregation of the church I attended who would quite often stand up in a Sunday worship service and give a pronouncement, prefaced with the words, ‘Thus saith the Lord’. He believed he was a prophet
  • Sometimes the minister would challenge what he said by saying to the congregation, ‘I don’t believe that was God speaking to us’.
  • Often the most effective prophets are those who don’t realise they are passing on a message from God

We have two measures for discerning whether a prophet is from God or not: The Bible and that person’s character

  • If what the person is saying doesn’t fit with Scripture, then it can’t be trusted (they’re not from God)
  • Likewise, if the person giving the message behaves in an ungodly way then they are not the real deal
  • As Jesus said, by their fruit you will know them.

 

What about the evangelist?

  • An evangelist is someone who shares the good news of salvation in Christ using their words
  • Again, we all have a responsibility to share our faith with others; we must all be ready to do the work of an evangelist and give account for our hope
  • But there are some people who are just more naturally suited to it
  • Evangelists are sort of like Uhura, they are the church’s communications specialists

Sadly, the term evangelist has fallen into disrepute in recent decades

  • People often associate evangelism with TV personalities who scam vulnerable people out of money; that is not what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4
  • We need to redeem the word and recover a proper understanding of what an evangelist does

An evangelist is a communicator of good news

  • They are able to listen to you and understand your needs
  • They can explain the gospel of Jesus in a way that is relevant and makes sense to people unfamiliar with the Bible, because they understand the cultural context in which they are living
  • They have the ability to gain your trust and give you the confidence to make a commitment to Christ
  • But their trustworthiness doesn’t come by deception or using some special trick or technique – their trustworthiness comes from the way they embody the message of the gospel in their lives
  • An evangelist genuinely believes the message they are sharing and they are living in the hope and joy that they profess
  • A true Christian evangelist doesn’t do anything from selfish ambition or vain conceit – a true evangelist operates with pure motives and that fosters trust
  • Evangelists understand God to be generous and they want to invite as many people to God’s party as they can
  • As I’ve often said before, an evangelist is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread
  • We desperately need good Christian evangelists today

 

The expression, pastors and teachers may be two names for the same ministry

  • The minister of a church is traditionally both a pastor and a teacher
  • The word pastor comes from the Latin word for shepherd
  • A shepherd guides and protects and feeds the sheep of their flock
  • Teaching people the ways of God is at the heart of shepherding people
  • Biblical preaching guides, protects and feeds people’s souls

Thinking of our Star Trek crew again, the pastor / teacher role is embodied by a number of characters, particularly Chekhov, the chief security officer, whose job it is to protect people, and Bones, the ship’s doctor

 

Some of you may be wondering, ‘But what about Scotty, the chief engineer? Where does he fit in?’

  • Well, the four or five gifts named in Ephesians 4 are not an exhaustive list of the spiritual gifts Christ gives; there are other gift lists in the New Testament as well and each list is different
  • Perhaps Scotty’s gift is practical helps
  • There is no limit to the diversity of gifts that the Spirit gives
  • A spiritual gift is simply the way the Holy Spirit works through a person for the well-being of others
  • Last Sunday we talked about the church’s mission: To glorify God and be a blessing to His world
  • Our gift is the specific way we bless others

This is not to assume that any of the gifts is a lifelong possession

  • We are just the conduit, or the vessel, for the gift
  • When I was a boy I would go with my grandparents to their bach up north
  • Their bach was located in a fairly remote area so we collected rain water off the roof into tanks
  • I remember my grandfather had this long pole he would lower into the tanks to measure how much water we had
  • We were taught to be careful not to leave taps on unnecessarily – water is a precious resource and needs to be thoughtfully used

If the gifts Jesus gives are like rain water, then we are the tanks

  • We might hold the gift for a while – but really it’s not ours to keep
  • The water of Christ’s gifts is just passing through us to bless and refresh and strengthen others
  • While there is no limit to God’s resources we still need to be thoughtful in how we use the gifts God has given us and not waste them down the drain

 

Maturity:

Okay, so there is one body with a diversity of gifts and the purpose of those gifts is to …equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

These verses tell us a number of things

  • Firstly, that church is not a spectator sport; everyone has a part to play
  • Church isn’t like a bus with one person up the front doing all the driving while everyone else sleeps in the passenger seats behind [1]
  • Church is more like the crew on a yacht; it requires everyone to man their station, pitch in and pull their weight
  • Are you a passenger or crew?

 

We share our gifts to build others up

  • The goal is maturity and maturity is understood as all of us reaching unity in the faith and knowledge of Christ

 

I have here a bucket

  • Hold up a bucket with sections cut out at different levels
  • Bucket illustration - 11 Aug 2019
  • This bucket is yet to reach unity (or maturity)
  • You can see different sections of the side are at different heights, which means I can only fill this bucket to the level of the lowest section
  • As it is this bucket can’t attain the whole measure of its fullness
  • If you can imagine this is an organic growing bucket, then each of the sides needs grow to the same height so the bucket can be whole and reach its full potential – like this [hold up a bucket that hasn’t been cut]
  • Everyone needs to exercise their gifts for the bucket of the church to reach maturity and be able to hold the full measure of Christ

I guess one question for us to ask ourselves, as a congregation, is what gifts are we missing or not exercising? [Hold up the bucket with the gaps in it]

  • In what areas does this church need to grow to reach maturity and unity?
  • It’s not just a question of us exercising our own gifts – reaching maturity also requires us to encourage those around us to exercise their gifts, because it is in the process of exercising our gifts that our faith and knowledge of Jesus grows and develops

 

When I was 10 I joined Cubs. (Cubs is like Boy Scouts for younger kids)

  • One evening we went to Te Rapa pools in Hamilton to earn our swimming badges
  • There were three levels of swimming badges: gold, silver and bronze
  • Gold being the highest level and bronze the lowest
  • Naturally we all wanted to gain our gold badge
  • They put us into groups of about four boys each and you weren’t allowed to progress up a level until everyone in your group had attained the required standard
  • There was one boy in our group who wasn’t as physically capable as the rest of us and, even though he tried really hard, he wasn’t able to get past silver, which meant everyone in our group was held back with him, even though the rest of us had done what we needed to attain gold
  • It’s a bit like that with church as well – we stick together, no one gets left behind; we reach maturity together, as one. Maturity is unity

As a 10 year old boy I was pretty disappointed to miss out on gaining my gold swimming badge

  • Looking back now though, I am grateful for the experience
  • Our Cub leaders were teaching us to think about others in our team
  • We don’t come to know Christ by individual achievement
  • We come to know Christ through a caring commitment to one another – by using our gifts to serve each other and build each other up

We know our faith and knowledge of Christ is mature when we are no longer unsettled or deceived by false teaching

  • A mature faith is able to listen, and discern truth from error
  • A mature faith is a knowing faith; it isn’t rattled by clever rhetoric
  • A mature faith is not a blind faith; it is faith born of experience with God
  • The kind of knowledge that is in view here isn’t just an intellectual head knowledge (as important as that is) – it’s the intimacy that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus

 

In verse 15 Paul continues his theme of maturity when he writes…

  • Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

For many years I read this verse in English and thought that speaking the truth in love meant having the maturity to handle difficult conversations with people

  • You know, speaking those truths that hard for people to hear in such a way that leaves the relationship intact
  • And while it can mean that, it actually means so much more
  • You see, in the original Greek text the verb speaking is not there

What it actually says in the original text is…

  • Instead, truthing in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

In the Greek then, the word truth here is a verb, a doing word

  • English doesn’t have a verb for truth; in English truth is a noun
  • So the translators had to find a verb to put in because ‘truthing’ isn’t a word in English
  • While you can say, ‘speaking the truth in love’ it would be more accurate to phrase this verse as living the truth in love. or, doing the truth in love [2]
  • The idea is one of integrity – that is, integrating the truth of the gospel with all of our life; not just our speech but our thinking and our deeds too
  • Truth and love go together – we can’t separate them

Take evangelism for example – you might be able to explain the gospel in ways that are really creative and clear so people can understand in their head what you’re saying, but if they don’t feel like the church loves them or cares about them, then they won’t believe you.

  • Without love, the truth of the message just won’t hit home, it won’t stick.

True story: During the week I met with a man whose wife used to attend Tawa Baptist back in the late 1960’s and early 70’s (during Jack McFadyen and Barrie Hibbert’s time)

  • She first came as a child to the Sunday school here. Her parents didn’t attend church but were happy to send her along
  • This girl didn’t have a wonderfully stable home life; I was told her parents had their challenges
  • But there was something about the people here that made her feel welcome and safe – she found sanctuary in this place
  • When she out grew Sunday school this girl started attending youth group
  • Around that time the church put on a musical production called Saul Talk and they found a place for her in that production
  • As someone whose parents didn’t attend it would have been easy for her to be overlooked but certain individuals in this church went out of their way to make sure she was included – they made room for her
  • That young woman came to faith in this church and, although she left the area for work, she has carried on in Christian faith and service all her life
  • She would be in her early 60’s now

The man who told me this story said he was thankful for Tawa Baptist because this church cared for his wife (before they were married)

  • He then went on to name a number of people who in very practical ways went the extra mile to look after her, by helping her shift flats and that sort of thing
  • I tell you that story because it’s a good example of what truthing in love means – this church has a heritage of living the truth in love
  • To those of you who were here at that time I want to say, thank you
  • As a consequence of your love this young woman believed the truth of the gospel and grew to maturity in her faith and knowledge of Christ
  • Truth and love go together

From him [that is, Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The point here is that truthing in love is meant to be done in community with other believers

  • If we try to do it on our own, we’re not going to get very far, we’ll run out of steam
  • Caring for people, like that young woman, is a team effort – every supporting ligament is involved
  • What do ligaments do?
  • They hold us together on the inside – they connect bones and muscle and allow movement
  • A ligament is not seen. Maybe you aren’t an upfront person. Maybe you don’t serve in ways that people can see. Perhaps you are a ligament connecting other people to the church and to Christ
  • You are important – we need you

Conclusion:

What is your gift?

  • What has Christ equipped you to do to strengthen his body?
  • Where can you serve?
  • We have a wonderful heritage in this church
  • We need to keep on ‘living the truth in love’
  • Are you a passenger or crew?

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2. What do we mean by unity with diversity?

  • Can you think of examples of unity with diversity functioning in the body of Christ?

3. Discuss / reflect on the gifts that Paul lists in Ephesians 4:11

  • What does each one mean?
  • How does the first century understanding of these gifts differ from a 21st Century understanding?

4. What other gifts does the Spirit of Jesus give?

  • What is your particular gift?
  • Are you able to exercise this gift? (When/how?)

5. What gifts is your church strong in?

  • What gifts are missing or need of building up?

6. What is Christian maturity? What does it look like?

7. What does it mean to ‘live the truth in love’?

  • Can you think of a story from your own experience of ‘truthing in love’?
  • Find someone you trust to share your story with

8. Are you a passenger or crew?

 

[1] The bus illustration comes from John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians

[2] Refer John Stott and Klyne Snodgrass

Tawa Baptist

One

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Title: One

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Calling
  • Oneness
  • Worth
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

This morning we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 4 verses 1-6

  • If we think of Ephesians as a door, then chapter 4 is like the hinge, where Paul connects what God has done with what we must do
  • Or if we think of Ephesians as a book, then today’s passage is the spine, holding together theology (what we think and say about God) with praxis (how we are to live our lives)
  • In Ephesians 4 Paul opens the door from heart to hands
  • He turns the page from praise to practice. From verse 1 we read…

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Be completely humble and meek; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

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

 

On the wall here we have three letters: W C O

  • What word can you make with those three letters [Wait]
  • That’s right; COW
  • A cow is a wonderful creature; it has the ability to turn grass into milk
  • So many great tasting things come from cows, like hamburgers, ice-cream and thick-shakes. Cows are a source nourishment
  • This morning’s reading from Ephesians is like a cow in the sense that it is rich in nourishment too; it contains so many tasty words

But, to give some structure to the message, I want to focus your attention on three words: Calling, Oneness and Worth. First let’s consider our calling

 

Calling:

In verse 1, Paul writes: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

    • And in verse 4 …just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
  • Calling features quite strongly in these verses, so what is our calling?
  • Very simply, our calling is to be the people of God

Imagine you are at work. You might be sitting at your desk clearing emails, or rewiring a house, or dressing someone’s wound in hospital, or standing in front of a class of kids, or whatever it is you do for a job – and as you are working your cell phone rings

  • You take a quick look at your phone and see that it’s an unknown number so you ignore it, because it’s not a very convenient time
  • Later, during your lunch break, you’re sitting there with a coffee and you notice there’s a voice mail on your phone
  • Curiosity gets the better of you so you dial 083210 and listen to the message
  • A voice you recognise from TV addresses you by name and says,
  • “Look, I’m ringing to say we’ve had our eye on you for a while now and we see real potential in you. We would like to give you a place on the team for the world cup. Give me a call back when you get a minute.”
  • You sit there stunned for a few moments while your coffee starts to go cold. You can’t believe what you’ve just heard – you’ve received the call.
  • You’ve been offered a place in the team. You’re going to the world cup

 

From a western perspective we tend to think of calling in individual terms

  • We might think, my calling is to be a teacher or a doctor or a minister or a missionary or a mother or some other personal vocation that is all encompassing and more than a 9 to 5 job
  • And while that is a legitimate way to think of our calling, it’s not exactly what Paul means in Ephesians 4
  • The sense of calling in this context is more along the lines of becoming part of a group
  • It’s like the call to join the team that is going to the world cup
  • In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul talked about being in Christ
  • Our call is to become part of Christ’s team; his body the church
  • Our calling is to be the people of God – to represent God like the Silver Ferns or the Black Caps or the All Blacks represent New Zealand

 

When our kids were younger and we were away on holiday we had this tradition that whenever we saw an assembly point sign, like this, we would go and stand up straight at attention beside it

  • Sometimes your body can go on holiday but your mind is still at work.
  • Looking out for assembly point signs to stand by was a fun way of calling our minds away from work so we could relax and enjoy our time together

The Greek verb for call shares the same root as the Greek word for church

  • When we hear the word ‘church’ we tend to think of an institution or a building. For us, the term ‘church’ has 2000 years of history attached to it
  • But for people in the first century, ekklesia (the Greek word for church) was not a religious word. It simply meant ‘assembly point’, a gathering of people who have been called together in a particular place. [1]

The calling we have received from God is not just an individual thing; it is also a collective or team thing

  • Our calling is to gather together around Christ, who is our assembly point
  • Sometimes our body can come to church on a Sunday but our mind is elsewhere, thinking about school or work or some other worry
  • The ritual of gathering together, in the name of Jesus each Sunday for a worship service, actually helps our mind to take a break from the burdens we carry and enjoy God

So much is lost in translation. Returning to verse 1 of Ephesians 4, Paul says, … I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

The Greek word for ‘call’ is kaleo

  • And the Greek word for ‘I urge you’ is parakaleo [2]
  • Para means ‘alongside’ and so parakaleo literally means ‘to call from alongside’
  • Parakaleo can also be translated as ‘I encourage you’, or ‘I beg you’, or ‘I exhort you’
  • Paul isn’t calling the Ephesian believers from on high – he’s not wagging his finger at them or exerting his authority over them
  • Rather he is coming alongside them to urge and encourage

 

Okay returning to our C.O.W.

  • Our calling is to assemble, to come together as the people of God, to stand alongside each other, with Christ at the centre as our assembly point
  • Or said another way, our calling is to practice oneness

Oneness:

In verses 4-6 we come across 7 ones: One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all

  • These 7 ones are not separate or independent of each other – they are all inter-related. The 7 ones are one.
  • Paul is reminding us here of the things that all believers share in common
  • And we need to be reminded because they are things we don’t necessarily see

The one body is the church invisible – all Christians everywhere throughout history

  • The church may seem fragmented and divided from our perspective, with all its different denominations and flavours, but from God’s perspective the church is one (like a tapestry with many different coloured threads)

The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit who gives life and breath to the body

  • The Spirit animates the body. Without the Spirit the body is dead

The one hope refers to the end of history when Christ returns in glory to bring heaven to earth and resurrection to the dead

The one Lord is Jesus Christ who has authority over all things

Although Christian believers might hold slightly different beliefs on the finer details of doctrine we still share one faith – we all believe in Jesus

  • We could think of the one Christian faith as a wheel
  • Although there are many spokes of belief, apparently branching off in different directions, Jesus is the hub at the centre of the wheel, holding all the spokes together, while the holy Scriptures are the rim of the wheel providing an anchor point for the spokes of belief
  • The wheel as a whole, with Jesus at the centre, is the one faith we share
  • And this faith is not static; it’s dynamic, it takes us on a journey

 

Likewise, although different Christian denominations may practice baptism in different ways, it is the one baptism we share, for we are all baptised by the same Spirit into the same person (into Jesus Christ)

  • If we think of the church invisible (the body of Christ) as a massive stadium, then baptism is like a door through which we enter the stadium
  • Most stadiums have a number of doors of entry all around the sides
  • Some people might enter through the Catholic door and others through the Anglican door and others through the Baptist door and so on
  • All the doors of baptism are one in the sense they serve the same purpose; they let people into Christ
  • If baptism is like a door into Christ, then the Holy Spirit is like the usher who leads us through the door
  • We need the Holy Spirit at work in our heart to germinate faith and right living

 

The seventh ‘one’, in Paul’s list, is the one God and Father of all

  • God is our creator; we are made in His image and those who believe in Christ are part of God’s family

 

Worth:

We are called to oneness and that oneness is not something we create by our own efforts or by some clever organisational structure

  • Our oneness is created by God; Father, Son & Holy Spirit
  • Responding to God’s call, walking in the oneness he has created, requires us to live a life worthy of that call

 

It’s 6:30pm on the 17th March, 1919. The Great War ended over four months ago and finally you are on your way home, aboard the RMS Remuera

  • You signed up more than 4 years ago, although it seems a lot longer
  • You served in Egypt to start with and then at Gallipoli before being sent to the Western Front

It’s a long voyage home from Plymouth in England to Auckland NZ

  • Staring out over an endless ocean you struggle to forget the heat and the flies and the stench in the Dardanelles
  • Or the mud and the groans and the cold of Passchendaele
  • You saw good mates die and you were powerless to do anything
  • You’re 26 and you’re old before your time
  • You aren’t sure what it was all for – both sides prayed to the same God
  • And as for ‘king and country’, you don’t believe in that anymore

Somehow though you survived while thousands around you died

  • ‘Why is that? Why did I make it and they didn’t?’ you ask yourself
  • ‘It’s not like I was a better soldier or even a better person.’
  • ‘We were all scared. All weak. All morally flawed.’
  • You soon realise that asking ‘why’ is like staring into an abyss – there’s no bottom to it

At that moment you feel a calling. Not an audible voice; more like a tugging on your heart

  • So you step away from the edge and you think about the future
  • You tell yourself, ‘There is nothing I can do about the past. I can’t control other people but I can try to control myself’
  • Deep down you know that for all that death and suffering and sacrifice to mean something you have to live a life worthy of surviving it.
  • You have been given a gift. You have to make the most of every day
  • You have to enjoy it because your mates can’t
  • You have to find the strength to resist violence, to be gentle and seek peace, because you know now that war is not the answer
  • You have to turn away from intolerance and find the love to be patient with your neighbour
  • You are counting the miles back to New Zealand where you will live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

In verse 1 of Ephesians 4, Paul urges his readers to live a life worthy of their calling, then he describes what a worthy lifestyle of looks like…

  • Be completely humble and meek; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Paul gives us five qualities of a life worthy of our calling to be God’s people

  • Five attitudes which are essential to keeping the unity of the Spirit
  • This is how Christians are to treat each other; with humility, meekness, patience, forbearance and love

Humility in this context means ‘lowliness of mind’, not being proud or haughty[3]

  • Being humble is about having an accurate awareness of yourself in relation to others – not thinking too much of yourself or too little
  • Humility keeps our ego in check – it prevents us from worshipping ourselves. Humility also makes meekness possible

Meekness is strength with gentleness

  • Or said another way, meekness is strength under control
  • A soothing medicine is meek in that it is both powerful to overcome the illness and (in the right dose) also gentle on the body
  • A horse which has been broken in and trained is meek; the horse is stronger than the rider but that strength is under control
  • A gentle breeze is meek
  • A skilled surgeon is meek. The surgeon, with scalpel in hand, holds the power of life and death over their patient but uses that power carefully and gently to restore life
  • We see Jesus’ meekness when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane saying, ‘Not my will Father, but your will be done.’
  • Jesus had great power to save himself but controlled his power, in obedience to God the Father, so that we might be saved

Meekness is not popular these days. Violence, brute force, power – these are the things which are glorified in this world

  • Meekness is often misunderstood as weakness when the truth is: meekness requires greater strength than brute force or violence
  • Meekness requires self-control and skill

If violence is the hammer, then meekness is the screw driver

  • If force is the butcher’s cleaver, then meekness is the surgeon’s scalpel
  • If power is a drone strike, then meekness is the wise word of diplomacy

 

Patient endurance is another attribute we need to be worthy of our calling and to live in peace with others

  • An ancient Christian preacher by the name of John Chrysostom said,
  • To have patience is to have “…a wide soul” [4]
  • Having ‘a wide soul’ means being spacious and tolerant of difference, able to make room for other people in our lives

Take a moment now to look up and around you. What do you notice?

  • The ceiling is high; this auditorium is roomy, it’s spacious
  • I quite like that about this place. The architecture speaks of the spaciousness of God and the wideness of His mercy
  • The Lord is patient and slow to anger – he makes room for us

We can make room for each other in a whole variety of ways

  • By allowing ourselves to be interrupted for what is important
  • By singing each other’s songs and preferring each other’s needs,
  • By listening to a different point of view from our own without compromising our values and beliefs
  • By showing understanding when someone makes a mistake and not getting angry with them
  • Or simply by waiting for others and not hurrying them

 

Bearing with one another goes hand in hand with patient endurance – it means putting up with people

  • The reality is that other people can be annoying sometimes – they can get on your wick (often it’s the little things)
  • It’s not that they mean to aggravate you – they are just being themselves and it gets under your skin
  • Maybe they don’t put their dishes away in the dishwasher
  • Or they don’t replace the toilet roll on the holder when it runs out
  • Or they leave their toenail clippings on the floor
  • Or they leave an empty bottle of milk in the fridge
  • Or park their car across two car parks so you can’t fit in
  • Or perhaps they don’t use enough deodorant
  • Or hog the remote and keep changing the channel every 2 minutes
  • Or they don’t reply to your emails in a timely way
  • Or they use up all the hot water in the shower
  • Or they don’t follow the give way rules on the roundabout…
  • And so the list of little stones in our shoe goes on
  • Now, to avoid misunderstanding and to keep the bond of peace, I just need to say that I’m not trying to get at anyone in saying these things
  • To be clear my family do not leave toe nail clippings on the floor or hog the remote or anything like that (although I sometimes might)

The point is, don’t sweat the small stuff

  • Don’t walk away from the church over some trifle
  • Put up with the little things for the sake of love – that is for the well-being of the whole community

I remember the pastor who married us said, “Don’t worry about a bit of muck in the stable – muck is a sign of life” (except the word he used wasn’t ‘muck’)

Yea – people will annoy you sometimes but don’t lose sight of the fact they also have qualities which are good and which the rest of the church needs

    • Besides, we all have things about us which annoy others
    • You might think you are being very gracious in putting up with someone
    • But they probably think they are being gracious in putting up with you
    • What we realise as we get older is that we are all difficult in our own way
  • So we all need to show each other patience and forbearance

 

  • And we need to be able to laugh at ourselves as well

To humility, meekness, patience and forbearance Paul adds love

    • Love is a commitment to other people’s well-being
  • Love holds us together, it is the soil in which our relationships find stability and grow
  • Love gives humility, meekness, patience and forbearance their meaning, it makes our lives worthy of God’s calling and clears the path for peace

 

 

In verse 3 of Ephesians 4 Paul says we are to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

This tells us that we don’t create unity, the Holy Spirit does

  • However, we are responsible for maintaining the unity
  • And we maintain unity through the bond of peace
  • Peace (in the Bible) isn’t just the absence of conflict
  • It is shalom, it is abundant life, joy and right relationship in community with others
  • The bond of peace is not a bond which stops us from doing things
  • It’s not like hand cuffs or shackles or a leash
  • The bond of peace is more like a garden hose, gently watering our relationships
  • Sometimes, like a hose, the bond of peace gets a kink in it
  • Sometimes our relationships get a bit twisted
  • People misunderstand each other or have expectations which are disappointed, then one thing leads to another and before you know it they’re not talking – the gentle flow of water stops altogether
  • When our relationships get a kink in them we don’t throw the relationship out – we straighten the hose
  • We find a suitable time when we are calm and unhurried to talk it through and make peace. Is there anyone you need to make peace with?

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard that our calling is to be the people of God together, centred around Christ

  • We are to reflect and maintain the oneness God has created

In a few moments we will share communion together

  • Communion is a time when we remember our calling and express our oneness 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 Paul mean by our ‘calling’ in Ephesians 4?

  • To what extent are you aware of God’s call on your life?
  • How do you understand this call?

 

3. Discuss / reflect on the 7 ones in verses 4-6 of Ephesians 4

  • What do you observe about these 7 ones?
  • How do they interact with each other?

 

4. What difference does it make knowing that God creates oneness (unity)?

5. Discuss / reflect on the five qualities or attributes in verse 2 of Ephesians 4. (I.e. humility, meekness, patience, forbearance and love)

  • What do each of these words mean?
  • How might we put these things into practice? (Think of specific examples that could apply in your own life.)

 

6. What is the bond of peace?

  • How might we maintain the bond of peace?
  • Is there anyone you need to make peace with?

 

[1] Eugene Peterson, ‘Practice Resurrection’, page 170.

[2] Eugene Peterson, ‘Practice Resurrection’, page 171.

[3] Klyne Snodgrass, The NIVAC on Ephesians, page 196.

[4] From Chrysostom’s homily on 1 Corinthians 13:4 – referenced in Klyne Snodgrass, The NIVAC on Ephesians, page 197.

Tawa Baptist

Fullness

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21

Title: Fullness

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Paul’s prayer for fullness
  • Strength for your inner being
  • Knowing Christ’s love
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

I have here a dry sponge [hold up the sponge] all rigid and hard

  • For this sponge to be useful it needs to be wet
  • I could sprinkle a few drops of water on top so that its damp in places but that’s not really going to work for wiping down a table
  • To carry out its purpose this sponge needs to be filled with water
  • [soak the sponge in a bucket of water]
  • When water has passed through every pore the sponge is no longer hard but becomes flexible and able to serve its purpose

This morning we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 3, verses 14-21. This is Paul’s prayer for his readers

  • From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

Paul’s prayer for fullness:

Prayer isn’t just words we might say. The 19th Century hymn writer James Montgomery wrote…

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast. [1]

This tells us that prayer has to do with true intention or desire

    • Sometimes that desire is expressed in words and other times it burns in our heart like a hidden fire
  • We might not always have the right words when we pray but that doesn’t matter so much to God because His Spirit understands the unseen intention of our heart

In verse 14, of Ephesians 3, Paul writes, “I bow my knees before the Father…”

    • Most Jews of Paul’s day stood up to pray, so the act of kneeling to pray is unusual; it demonstrates Paul’s earnest intention, his heartfelt desire
  • The richness and beauty of Paul’s language in Ephesians 3 suggests he is trying to find words to do justice to his hidden fire
  • Paul’s prayer is that his readers (people like us) would be filled with all the fullness of God
  • In other words, Paul wants us to be filled with the Spirit of Christ – not just a few drops on top of the sponge of our soul but completely saturated so our inner being expands to become flexible and useful in God’s hand
  • For that to happen though our inner being needs to be strengthened

 

Strength for your inner being:

In one hand here I have a plastic bag and in the other a hot water bottle

  • If I was to fill both of these with boiling water, which one would you put in your bed to warm up the sheets? [Wait]
  • I would put the hot water bottle in – I wouldn’t risk using the plastic bag because the plastic bag isn’t really strong enough

 

These are a couple of cardboard boxes and this is a wooden chair

  • What do you think will happen if I sit on the card board boxes?
  • Let’s find out [sit on the box]
  • Now what happens when I sit on the chair? [sit on the chair]
  • The card board boxes weren’t strong enough to support my weight but the wooden chair was – no surprises there

 

Okay, one more – If you are planning to stay in the same place for a while then chances are you will live in a house

  • But if you are just passing through or visiting a place on holiday then you might camp in a tent
  • A tent is okay for temporary accommodation but it’s not as strong or as warm as a house – houses are generally more permanent

In verses 16 & 17, of Ephesians 3, Paul writes: I pray… that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through God’s Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

As I said earlier, Paul’s prayer (his deep desire) is that we (his readers) be filled with all the fullness of God, but for that to happen our inner being needs to be strengthened 

God fills our inner being (our soul) like hot water fills a hot water bottle, so that we radiate his warmth to others

  • Without the strengthening of the Holy Spirit our inner being is like the plastic bag; it’s not suitable for holding the hot water of God’s fullness

 

Our inner being (our heart – the core of ourselves where desires are born and decisions are made) is a bit like a chair or, better still, a throne

  • Without the strengthening of the Holy Spirit our heart is like a cardboard box; it’s not strong enough to hold the weight of Christ the King

Our inner being is like a dwelling place; through Christ, God fills us like a family fills a house

  • For you Bible nerds out there, there are two words in Greek for dwelling
  • paroikeo, which means to inhabit a place temporarily as a stranger
  • And katoikeo, which means to settle down permanently – to make that place your home [2]
  • The word that is used, in verse 17, for Christ dwelling in us is katoikeo
  • Without the strengthening of the Holy Spirit our inner being is like a tent; it’s okay as a temporary measure but Jesus isn’t just passing through
  • Christ intends to take up residence in us permanently
  • God wants to make his home in us – pretty amazing aye

As you can see there, at the end of verse 17, Paul uses two other images of strengthening – being rooted and grounded in love.

  • Being rooted in love makes us think of a tree
  • Just as a tree gets its strength from being rooted in the soil, so too our inner being gets it stability and nourishment from being deeply rooted in God’s love
  • Being grounded in love makes us think of a building
  • Just as a house gets its strength from a firm foundation, so too our inner being gets its security and resilience from remaining in God’s love

You may be wondering, ‘what does it mean to be rooted and grounded in love?’

  • Well, in John 15 Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love… This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you…”
  • We remain in Christ’s love by loving one another

Some of you may have noticed Paul’s reference to the Trinity in Ephesians 3 – God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit

  • In receiving the Holy Spirit, we are receiving Christ and in receiving Christ we are receiving the fullness of God

 

Okay, so Paul’s prayer is that we (his readers) be filled with all the fullness of God and for that to happen our inner being needs to be strengthened

  • But there is something else we need in order to be filled with the fullness of God and that is the knowledge of Christ’s love
  • It seems we come to know Christ’s love incrementally, in stages

Knowing Christ’s love:

In verses 18-19, of Ephesians 3, Paul writes…

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

In these verses Paul seems to be talking about the dimensions of Christ’s divine love, which are beyond measure

  • Sometimes (perhaps most of the time) our thinking is too small where God is concerned
  • We have a tendency to put God in a box because it’s too overwhelming or too scary otherwise
  • As well as being strengthened, our inner being (our thinking) needs to be expanded or enlarged to receive the fullness of God
  • Knowing Christ’s love enlarges our inner being to make room for God
  • Sort of like water enlarges a sponge or like warm air inflates a balloon or baking powder expands cookie dough

How then do we know Christ’s love?

  • Well, Paul touches on two ways in verse 18: by the Holy Spirit and through the church

The ‘power to comprehend’ is likely a reference to the Holy Spirit

  • The Spirit of Jesus is a Spirit of love and truth
  • Jesus said His Spirit would lead us into truth
  • So we comprehend Christ’s love by the power of God’s Spirit, just like we understand the Scriptures by the illumination of God’s Spirit

The Holy Spirit gives us a lens through which to interpret the events of our lives

  • Two people may have exactly the same experience and yet see that experience in a completely different way because one has the power to comprehend and the other doesn’t
  • When the people of Israel were in the desert, Moses sent 12 spies into the Promised Land to check the place out
  • Ten of the spies returned saying the people are giants and we can’t possibly take them on
  • Those 10 spies had a pretty small idea of God – either they didn’t really believe that God loved them or they thought God was pretty weak
  • But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, returned excited, believing that God wanted to give them victory
  • While all 12 spies had the same experience, only Joshua and Caleb had the power to comprehend that God loved them and was bigger than the people of the land

Let me give another example of how the Spirit helps us to comprehend Christ’s love. This is a personal example and I’m reluctant to share it because it makes me feel vulnerable so please don’t make me regret it

  • Last week we were away from Tawa on holiday and for some reason or other I was feeling grumpy so I poured out my heart to God
  • Things build up over time and the holidays are often the only opportunity I have to do any house-keeping on my soul
  • Anyway I was honest with God about how I felt and my feelings were not pretty – I was quite sour with God
  • Afterwards I felt a bit bad for being so honest with the Lord
  • God is incredibly good to me, He is so kind and gracious
  • I want to always give God my best but sometimes he gets my worst – my pain and my anger; and that’s not fair because he doesn’t deserve that
  • But in that moment, of feeling bad for being sour, I sensed God’s Spirit saying to me that he likes both my sweetness and my sourness
  • Just like I enjoy sugar and lemon on my pancakes
  • You need the sourness of the lemon to cut the sweetness of the sugar

Normally I would hide the fact that I can be sour sometimes but I take the risk of sharing this with you because I think that most of us (perhaps all of us) unconsciously think that there are parts of ourselves which are unacceptable to God and which God cannot love

  • We don’t like that part of ourselves so how can God like it?
  • God’s love is far more spacious and generous than we imagine
  • God’s love is great enough to swallow our sourness and kiss our ugliness
  • It’s God’s Spirit who reveals this truth to our inner being
  • I can tell you that God accepts you but you won’t be convinced until God’s Spirit touches that part of you
  • I believe this is one of the things Paul is praying for when he says, ‘may you have the power to comprehend Christ’s love.’

 

The next thing we note, in verse 18, is that knowing Christ’s love happens ‘with all the saints’

  • ‘Saints’ is just another word for other Christian believers – the church
  • A saint isn’t an especially good Christian in this context
  • In Paul’s thinking, all those who believe in Jesus are saints, no matter where they are in their journey of faith
  • The point is, we need other Christians (or the church) to enlarge and deepen our knowledge of Christ’s love

For example, when you look at the church, through the lens of God’s Spirit, you see the wide range of different people who follow Jesus and you start to get an idea of the breadth of God’s love

  • You realise that God doesn’t just love people like me – he loves all sorts of different kinds of people
  • You only have to look around this room – Tawa Baptist is made up of people of every age group, from many different cultures and countries and with a whole variety of denominational and theological backgrounds
  • God’s love is big enough to embrace humanity in all its diversity

Now anyone who has managed to remain in the church for more than a few years will realise how imperfect the church is. People get hurt in churches

  • Usually it’s not intentional or malicious but either way it’s only a matter of time before someone ruffles your feathers or offends you or takes you for granted or even wounds you deeply and you are faced with a choice: either forgive them or leave in a huff
  • It is in the act of forgiving the hurt that we begin to know Christ’s love in forgiving us
  • The paradox is we wouldn’t have known that aspect of Christ’s love unless we had been hurt ourselves

Of course, we learn about Christ’s love in more positive ways too

  • Not long after I became a Christian my parents divorced – I was in my early teens at that stage
  • In the years that followed I experienced the love of Christ through one or two men in the church who took the time to come alongside me and be there for me, to listen and give me support
  • The time they spent with me showed me I was cared for and valued
  • Looking back, I may not have experienced that aspect of Christ’s love unless my parents had split up

We come to know Christ’s love, therefore, through the Holy Spirit, through other Christian believers and through our own suffering

  • You see, there are two sides to love – there’s joy and there’s pain, there’s comfort and there’s grief
  • The truth is we can’t know Christ’s love without some degree of suffering
  • And so we come back to our need for Christ who redeems our suffering
  • By His Spirit, God takes the imperfect circumstances of our lives and uses them to renovate our soul – to strengthen and enlarge our inner being so that the fullness of God fills us

Conclusion:

We do well to remember that it is God who renovates our inner being

  • We can’t enlarge or strengthen ourselves any more than a plastic bag could change itself into a hot water bottle or a cardboard box could change itself into a chair or a tent could change itself into a house
  • As Paul says in verses 20-21, of Ephesians 3, the glory goes to God, who is able to accomplish abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine…

 

  • Paul’s confidence was in God

Having said that, we still need to cooperate with God’s Spirit at work in us

  • We still need to pay attention to our inner being
  • We need to spend time in prayer and study of the Scriptures
  • We need to guard our thoughts and weigh our desires
  • We need to be intentional about listening for God and discerning His will
  • There is a healthy balance to find here of course – we don’t want to become so focused on our inner life that we forget to love our neighbour
  • By the same token, we don’t want to become so caught up in serving others that we neglect our own soul

How is the sponge of your inner being?

  • Is it filled with the fullness of God, wet through and flexible in His hand?
  • Or is it dry and hard and in need of refreshment?

 

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.) Discuss / reflect on James Montgomery’s thought that, Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed.

  • Are you aware of your soul’s sincere desire?
  • To what extent do the words you pray reflect your soul’s sincere desire?

3.) What was Paul’s sincere desire for his readers?

  • What does it mean to be filled with all the fullness of God?

4.) What do you think Paul means by our ‘inner being’?

  • How is our inner being strengthened and enlarged?

5.) How do we come to know Christ’s love?

  • Can you think of a time when the Holy Spirit has given you power to comprehend Christ’s love for you?
  • Can you think of a time when you have experienced some aspect of Christ’s love from other Christian believers?
  • What role does suffering have to play in the process of knowing Christ’s love?

6.) How is the sponge of your inner being?

  • Is it filled with the fullness of God, wet through and flexible in His hand?
  • Or is it dry and hard and in need of refreshment?

 

[1] John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians provided the inspiration for this illustration on prayer

[2] John Stott, The Message of Ephesians, page 135-136.

Tawa Baptist

Included

Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22

Title: Included

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • A new access
  • A new humanity
  • A new temple
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

As well as being Trinity Sunday, today is also Disability Awareness Sunday

–         My first job after leaving university was with a community organisation who worked with people with disabilities, in Tauranga

–         I was 23 at the time and had very little disability awareness – so they made me a disability awareness educator

–         Nothing like being thrown in the deep end

My job was to help people with disabilities to be included in the community by educating the community

–         For many years people with disabilities were excluded from mainstream society – they were locked away in institutions and this proved to be quite harmful, both to the people locked away and to mainstream society

–         One of the challenges people with disabilities faced, when they were released from institutions, was the prejudice of others

–         I soon learned that disability isn’t so much a deficit with an individual person, it’s actually more a deficit with our society

–         It is our society which disables people

–         If the only means of access into a building is stairs, then it’s not the person in the wheelchair who is disabled, it’s the building

–         If someone pokes fun at a person because they can’t hear then the problem is not with the person who is deaf

Unless you’ve been excluded (or spent meaningful time with people who are excluded) then you don’t really see the barriers that exist in our society

–         The world we live in says, in a thousand ways, that our value is based on our ability – but the Bible says that isn’t true

–         The truth is our value comes from God who made us and loves us

This morning we continue our series in Ephesians

  • – Our focus today is Ephesians 2, verses 11-22
  • – We could summarise this passage by saying: ‘We were excluded, but in Christ we have now been included, reconciled and brought home’
  • – In today’s reading Paul traces the movement from division to unity
  • – From alienation to reconciliation
  • – From hostility to peace
  • – From despair to hope
  • – And from being excluded to being included
  • – From Ephesians 2, verse 11, in the NIV we read…

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

In our message last week we heard about three aspects of our personal salvation

  • – This week’s reading is about the salvation of the group
  • – In and through Christ we have a new access to God, a new humanity under God and we become part of God’s new temple
  • – First let’s consider the new access we have in Christ

 

A new access:

When I was a boy we used to visit my great aunt Avis in Auckland

–         She has passed on now but in her day she was a very capable woman

–         Avis’ fulltime job was as PA for Mr Gladding, the general manager of South Auckland Motors

–         In addition to her day job Avis attended St Philip’s Congregational Church in Papatoetoe where she taught Sunday school for many years and also served as the church secretary for a while

During the 1950’s my aunt studied by correspondence to earn her lay preacher’s license

–         It was quite a significant qualification involving Greek, theology, Biblical exegesis and so on

–         The minister, a man named Ted Tabor, was supportive of my aunt and included her by providing opportunities for her to preach in church

–         Having no family of her own the church became her family – she was warmly included

Then in the early 1960’s Avis applied to become a minister within the Congregational denomination

–         Despite her qualifications, her professional skills, her church ministry experience & the support of her minister, the denominational hierarchy turned her down

–         No reason was given but it appears my aunt didn’t make the cut because she was a single woman

–         Now I don’t want to be unfair to the people that made that decision

–         Attitudes in NZ society were different then – maybe they thought they were doing what was best for her and the church at the time

–         But my aunt didn’t see it that way

–         Although Avis had access to the Bible in its original language and although she had proven herself to be a faithful servant of the church for many years, she was denied access to fulltime pastoral ministry

–         Sadly this was not her first rejection in life

–         She decided to stop attending church after that

In some ways my aunt’s experience was similar to that of many people – a mixture of being included and excluded

–         Although she wasn’t excluded from God’s people or from lay preaching, she received the message, ‘you can come this far but no further’

 

In verses 11-12 of Ephesians 2, Paul reminds his non-Jewish readers how, previously, they were excluded from God’s people and God’s promises, having no hope in the world

Now for most of us, who are used to being included, these verses are water off a ducks back – they don’t penetrate the surface, we don’t really appreciate them

–         But if you have been systematically excluded and de-valued over a long period of time you will be very sensitive to what Paul is saying here

When I was working with and for people with disabilities there was one guy (with cerebral palsy) who knew I was a Christian and took a crack at my faith

–         He found some verses in Leviticus 21 which talk about how people with disabilities can’t draw near to offer sacrifices – how they are kept at arm’s length and don’t have the same access as able bodied people

–         He was quoting Scripture out of context – so I tried to explain how that was in the time of the Old Testament but now, because of Jesus, we have a new access to God – we go from being excluded to being included

–         Or, as Paul says in verse 13, now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ (that is, by Christ’s sacrifice)

–         Unfortunately my friend with cerebral palsy was too angry to listen – and after the hurt and rejection he had experienced in life it was no wonder

–         Having said that, we don’t do ourselves any favours by holding on to our hurt

There is a temptation when we are rejected or excluded to feel sorry for ourselves – but when that happens we still have a choice

–         We can either carry on feeling sorry for ourselves and wind up polishing the bar with a hard luck story

–         Or we can find a way to forgive the hurt and move on

–         I don’t mean to sound brutal but sooner or later everyone suffers – no one gets through life unscathed

–         Everyone sins and everyone is sinned against – so we have to learn to forgive, because without forgiveness we can’t have peace

 

Returning to the story of my aunt for a moment…

–         Some years later a minister from the Congregational church went to visit Avis. When he heard her story he apologised (although it wasn’t his fault) and asked her to return. Sounds like he was trying to bring reconciliation

–         Although my aunt didn’t go back to church I never heard her speak ill of the church – we only learned about her experience through a couple at St Philips who stayed in touch with her after she left

–         The fact that Avis didn’t bad mouth the church and kept her friendship with people in the church, suggests to me that she did forgive and find some peace

 

We are talking about salvation in a corporate or group sense

–         In and through Christ we Gentiles, who were excluded, now have a new access to God

–         More than this though, in and through Christ, God creates a new humanity

 

A new humanity:

The Rohingya people are a stateless ethnic group who reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar. The majority are Muslim while a minority are Hindu

–         Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya are denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar Nationality Law

–         Although Rohingya history in the region can be traced back to the 8th Century, Myanmar law does not recognize the ethnic minority as one of the eight national indigenous races

–         They are also restricted from freedom of movement, state education and civil service jobs.

–         Because of persecution hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, have crossed the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar

–         The Kutupalong refugee settlement, in Bangladesh, has grown to become the largest of its kind in the world, with more than 600,000 people living in an area of just 13 square kilometres

I don’t really understand the situation or how God might work his purpose in it – but clearly the Rohingya have suffered hostility and are excluded

 

The sort of hostility the Rohingya have experienced is foreign to most of us but it wasn’t foreign to the people of Paul’s day

–         For centuries Jews and Gentiles had been at each other’s throats

–         When we read the Old Testament we see that Israel is almost constantly in a state of war with the surrounding nations

–         But Jesus came to bring peace between Jews and Gentiles

–         In fact he came to make the two groups one

–         In Ephesians 2 verse 14, Paul writes of Christ…

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.

This verse requires some explanation

  • – The ‘two groups’, as I’ve already alluded to, are the Jews and Gentiles
  • – Generally speaking both sides hated each other
  • – The Jewish temple of Jesus’ & Paul’s day had a literal wall which Gentiles were not allowed to go past – you can go this far but no further
  • – In fact there was a sign on the wall that basically said, ‘Gentile trespassers will be executed’ – not ‘prosecuted’ but ‘executed’
  • – The temple in Jerusalem wasn’t literally destroyed by the Romans until AD70 – but spiritually speaking Jesus destroyed the dividing wall decades before that

 

With his death on the cross Jesus also set aside the law with its commands and regulations

  • – Now those who are familiar with Matthew 5 will see a red flag here, because in his sermon on the mount Jesus said, ‘Do not think I have come to do away with the law – no, I’ve come to fulfil it’
  • – John Stott helps to give clarity on this point
  • – When Paul talks about the law in Ephesians 2 he means the ceremonial law, not the moral law
  • – But when Jesus talks about the law in Matthew 5 he means the moral law

The ceremonial law is that part, in Leviticus for example, which says people with disabilities can’t draw near to the altar to offer sacrifices

  • – Jesus’ coming makes the ceremonial law unnecessary because we don’t approach God by offering sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem anymore
  • – Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross does away with the need for animal sacrifice
  • – We now approach God through Jesus and anyone can come to Jesus
  • – In distinction from the ceremonial law, the moral law includes things like the 10 commandments – don’t steal, don’t murder, don’t covet, that sort of thing
  • – Jesus doesn’t do away with the moral law – rather he fulfils it so we are no longer condemned by it

I have in my hand a walnut. To eat this walnut I must first remove the shell

  • – The shell is like a dividing wall – it is useful for a time, to protect the nut inside – but once the shell has been broken we no longer need the wall
  • – The Law of Moses is like a walnut
  • – The outer shell represents the ceremonial law, while the nut inside represents the moral law
  • – Jesus came to fulfil the moral law – in other words he came to crack open the shell and remove the dividing wall of the ceremonial law so we could eat the moral nut inside

 

In verses 15 & 16 Paul continues talking about what Christ did…

–         His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  

This is mind blowing stuff – Jesus takes two groups of people who for centuries have been trying to kill each other, and reconciles them to God and to each other so they become one body of people at peace

–         To give you an idea of the sort of reconciliation Jesus achieves here, it would be like getting Donald Trump to apologise to Hilary Clinton and Hilary Clinton accepting it

–         It would be like having the people of Myanmar welcoming the Rohingya home with full citizenship

–         Or like seeing the National Rifle Association lobby for stricter gun laws

–         Or, closer to home, like seeing the Treaty of Waitangi honoured

 

Jesus came with a message of peace for those, like us, who were far away – the Gentiles, women, people with disabilities, the Rohingya and so on

–         And he preached peace to those who were near – able bodied Jewish males, like Paul

–         For through Christ we both have access to the Father by one Spirit

–         Here we notice the Trinity : Father, Son & Holy Spirit

–         Paul is saying that in and through Christ we are able to participate in the very life of God – a bit like Abraham & Sarah participated in the life of God when they received the three visitors in Genesis 18 and soon after Sarah became pregnant

 

As a consequence those who were once far away and excluded are now brought near and included as citizens of God’s kingdom & members of God’s household

–         In other words, in Christ the excluded become part of God’s family

–         But wait there’s more – in Christ we actually become a new temple for God’s presence

A new temple:

Bullseye - 16 Jun 2019

This diagram on the wall here (which looks like a bullseye) shows the three images of inclusion Paul uses in verses 19 to 21

–         Being a citizen in God’s kingdom (the outer ring) is closer to God than being a foreigner

–         Being a member of God’s family (the next ring in) is closer again than being a citizen

–         But being part of God’s temple (the bullseye) is the closest one can get to God, because to be God’s temple is to have the presence of God inside you

From verse 20 Paul expands on the new temple image

The foundation of the new temple is the apostles and prophets – essentially the teachings of the New Testament

–         As John Stott observes: the church’s foundation documents are the New Testament Scriptures. And just as a foundation cannot be tampered with once it has been laid and the structure is being built on top, so too the New Testament… can’t be changed by additions, subtractions or modifications [1]

–         If we try to build something outside the footprint of the New Testament then it won’t last

 

Verse 20 tells us Jesus is the cornerstone of the new temple – the one who holds the whole building together

Those who were here for the all-age Christmas service last year may remember these verses and how we built a wall out of shoe boxes at the front

–         Neville explained how a cornerstone, in Biblical times, was the largest, most solid stone in a building. It gave the building its shape and size.

–         If you took the cornerstone away, the whole building would fall down

–         More recently, buildings have cornerstones on each corner, supporting all the smaller bricks. The idea is the same.

–         As a cornerstone, Jesus is like a solid rock supporting us, a friend beside us who we can rely on – the one from whom we get our plumb line

That makes us the bricks (or living stones) of God’s new temple

–         In Christ we too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

–         Again we notice the Trinity in this image and our participation in the life of the Trinity

–         God the Son, is the cornerstone, we are the bricks and God the Father lives in us by his Spirit

This means the Christian church replaces the Jerusalem temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD70

–         We don’t replace Israel as such, but we do replace the temple building

–         So wherever you go in the world, particularly when you go with another believer, you take the presence of God with you

–         Although my aunt stopped going to church the church didn’t abandon her

–         One couple from the church, who loved Avis, stayed in touch with her and supported her through a difficult time

–         This couple embodied God’s presence for my aunt – they literally took the temple to Avis by visiting her and showing care for her

–         Is there someone you can take the presence of God to?

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Christ includes people in the very life of God

–         Through Christ we have a new access to God

–         Through Christ we become a new humanity under God

–         And through Christ we become a new temple for the presence of God

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Have you ever been excluded in a significant way?

–         What was this like for you?

–         Have you been able to forgive the hurt and move on?

3.)    Do you know what it is to be included (&/or reconciled) in a significant way?

–         What was this like for you?

–         Have you been able to include others too?

4.)    What is the difference (or relationship) between the ceremonial law and the moral law?

–         What does Jesus destroy and what does he fulfil?

5.)    Where do we see the Trinity in Ephesians 2:11-22?

–         What is our relationship to the Trinity, in Christ?

6.)    Looking at the bullseye, in the sermon notes above, where are you in relation to God?

–         Ask someone close to you if they agree. Where do they see you in relation to God?

–         Where would Paul say you were in relation to God?

7.)    Reflect on (or discuss) the various aspects of the temple image in verses 20-22. That is, the foundation, the cornerstone, the bricks, God’s Spirit

–         What are the practical implications with each of these aspects?

–         Is there someone you can take the presence of God to?

 

 

 

[1] John Stott, BST Commentary on Ephesians, page 107.

Tawa Baptist

Baptism

Scriptures: Various

Title: Baptism

Key Idea: Baptism is like a bridge, it connects people

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Belief
  • Repentance
  • Identity
  • Discipleship
  • Grace
  • Entry
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

–         Hamilton is a city of two halves in a way – it is dissected by the Waikato River and consequently there are a number of bridges spanning the river, providing points of connection for people on either side

–         There is a flat looking bridge known as the Whitiora Bridge

–         I remember walking across that as a 7 year old when it was first opened

–         But probably my favourite bridge is the one with the humps – the Fairfield bridge

–         It’s older than the Whitiora Bridge and more interesting to look at

–         As a school boy I remember hearing stories of how someone rode the humps of the bridge on a motorbike – probably just a folk legend

On one occasion I found a 5 speed push bike in the water near the river bank underneath the Fairfield Bridge

–         I handed it in to the police and after a few months, because no one claimed it, they said I could have it. I rode that bike for years

 

This morning our message focuses on baptism

–         Baptism is a word that means to submerge or immerse

–         It is also a ritual of Christian initiation

To help us understand the meaning of baptism and what it stands for I’ve come up with the following acronym: BRIDGE:

–         Belief, Repentance, Identity, Discipleship, Grace and Entry

–         In some ways baptism is like a bridge – it connects people

–         First let us consider the belief that goes with baptism

 

Belief:

Belief in Jesus is central to Christian baptism

–         In particular belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead

–         And belief that Jesus is Lord

In the book of Acts the apostles preached that Jesus is the Messiah and to prove their point they spoke of how God raised Jesus from the dead

–         For example, in Acts 18, after Paul had preached about Jesus, we read that: Crispus, who was the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his family; many other people in Corinth heard the message, believed, and were baptised.

–         In this situation, as in others like it, belief & baptism go together

 

Sometimes we understand what something is by reference to its opposite

–         The opposite of belief is cynicism

–         Many of the Jewish religious leaders of Paul’s day were cynical about Jesus – they didn’t believe Jesus was Lord & Messiah

–         In other words, they didn’t want to submit to his authority

–         But Crispus stands against the flow by submitting to Jesus in baptism

Christians are not cynical or hard hearted (or at least they are not supposed to be)

–         Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that he still lives today

–         If we believe that Jesus is the Messiah of God who has conquered death then it logically follows that Jesus is Lord – that he has legitimate authority over life & death and over us

–         To be baptised is to submit oneself to the Lordship or authority of Christ

–         It is to say, “From this time forward my first allegiance is to Jesus. He is my King, I give Christ my loyalty and the keys to my heart.”

For most of us these days submitting to any sort of authority can be difficult

–         Our society places a high value on personal freedom

–         Not only that but we tend to be suspicious of those in authority

–         What we need to understand is that Jesus is no ordinary king

–         In submitting our will, our desires, our wishes & dreams to Jesus we are placing our very lives in the hands of someone who is wise and gentle and compassionate and good – someone who loves us personally and has our best interests at heart

–         We each have a choice: either we take charge of our own lives or we let Jesus be in charge

–         Jesus is a far kinder authority than we are, even to ourselves

 

Now I’m aware that not all of you come from a Baptist background – some of you may come from an Anglican or Catholic or Lutheran background where the tradition is for infants to be baptised

–         So, if belief in Jesus’ resurrection and Lordship is central to Christian baptism, how does infant baptism fit with that?

–         (Because babies aren’t able to make that choice for themselves)

–         Well, in the case of infants, it is the parents and the community of faith who believe on the child’s behalf until such time as the child is old enough to confirm their belief in Jesus for themselves

–         While we don’t practice infant baptism in this church we do accept people into membership who have been baptised as babies and later accepted Jesus as Lord & Saviour

–         We believe in a God who is generous & spacious – we don’t believe God would exclude people on a technicality like how much water was involved or when the baptism took place

 

Belief in Jesus goes hand in hand with baptism in the New Testament, as does repentance

 

Repentance:

Repentance is a change of mind which leads to a change in behaviour

–         If we truly believe that Jesus is Lord then we will be willing to make changes to our lifestyle as Jesus requires us to

–         A belief in Jesus that does not result in some kind of positive change, over time, probably isn’t genuine

 

Complacency is the enemy of repentance

–         Often it is only when we are deeply troubled that we change

The year was 1970 something – I was about 8 or 9 years old I suppose and my grandfather took me and three of my cousins to the winter show in Hamilton

–         The winter show was sort of a make shift carnival with various rides and side shows

–         You know there was a Ferris wheel and dodgems and a shooting gallery and put the ball in the clowns mouth and candy floss and so on

There was this one ride called the ‘Sizzler’

–         The Sizzler goes round and round in circles really fast

–         Any way my three cousins and I all sat in a bench seat on the Sizzler and the ride started

–         As the speed was building I noticed the safety bar had come undone

–         We tried to fix it but it wouldn’t latch properly so I yelled out for the operator to stop the ride but the operator ignored us – we were just kids

–         My grandfather could see we were in distress and he asked the operator to stop it but the operator said he couldn’t because the ride was on a timer

–         We did our best to hold on but eventually the G forces became too much and we were thrown out onto the tar seal

–         We lost a bit of skin off our hands and knees and face but we were lucky really not to have been thrown into the metal fence

–         Funny thing was, as soon as we came off the operator shut the ride down

–         Hmm, so much for it being on a timer

Repentance is about change – a change of mind that leads to a change in behaviour

–         When we are deeply troubled we want change and we want it now

–         My cousins and I wanted change on the Sizzler but the operator wouldn’t repent – It was only after he saw us come off that he became troubled enough to change

 

In Acts 2, when Peter preached to the crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost he spoke about Jesus’ death & resurrection saying…

–         “People of Israel, know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah.”

–         When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said, “What shall we do?”

–         Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from their sins & be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven…”

The crowd in Acts 2 were willing to repent (to change and turn away from their sins) because they felt deeply troubled at what they had done to Jesus, God’s Messiah

–         Someone once said, ‘Jesus comes to disturb those who are comfortable and to comfort those who are disturbed.’

 

It’s not just Peter who put repentance & baptism together – so did John the Baptist and the apostle Paul

In his letter to the Romans Paul writes…

–         What shall we say then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God’s grace will increase? Certainly not! We have died to sin – how then can we go on living in it? For surely you know that when we were baptised into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptised into union with his death. By our baptism then we were buried with him and shared his death in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. 

Baptism with repentance gives us a fresh start, a clean slate from which to move forward

The Great Flood of Noah’s day offers an image of baptism as a fresh start

–         In a sense the whole earth was baptised in the flood and God made a fresh start with Noah and his family

–         Likewise, after 40 years wandering in the wilderness, the people of Israel went through a kind of baptism, when they passed through the River Jordan, before making a fresh start by entering the Promised Land

 

There is a danger with any sort of ritual that it can become convention, just going through the motions

–         Baptism doesn’t mean business as usual

–         Baptism usually involves being disturbed enough to repent (to change our mind & behaviour) and make a fresh start

 

Identity:

Receiving a new identity – becoming a new creation in Christ is part & parcel of the fresh start implied by baptism

Some of you here follow the Super Rugby competition which has recently finished

–         When I say the colours red & black, what team do you think of?

–         What about yellow & black, which team wears those colours?

–         A sports team is known by the colour of their uniform

If someone has been playing for the Crusaders and then repents and changes to the Hurricanes they don’t keep wearing their old red & black colours – they start wearing their new yellow & black colours

In his letter to the Galatians Paul writes…

–         You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

When we are baptised into Christ we are clothed in his colours – his identity

–         That means we are no longer defined by our past mistakes or by superficial things like our gender or our ethnicity or our occupation

–         We are defined by Christ and given a new identity as children of God

–         We become a new creation in Christ – we belong to God’s family

 

Last week I spoke about naming as an act of creation by God

–         God gave Abram the new name of Abraham

–         And he gave Jacob the new name of Israel

–         Many centuries later Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter, meaning rock

–         When the Lord changes a person’s name he is giving them a new identity

–         It is no accident that when infants are baptised they also receive their Christian names – signalling the child’s identity in Christ

 

It is not easy or popular these days (in NZ) to identify yourself as a Christian

–         The politics of identity has become complex and fraught

–         Standing in solidarity with Jesus can be uncomfortable

 

Belief, repentance, identity and discipleship…

 

Discipleship:

Baptism is a commitment to become a disciple of Jesus

–         A disciple is essentially a student or an apprentice – someone who learns from and follows the example of their master

–         And in the case of Christian baptism the master is Jesus

At the end of Matthew’s gospel, after his death & resurrection but before his ascension to heaven, Jesus says to his disciples…

–         “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”

Baptism marks the beginning of Christian discipleship – of learning the ways of Christ

–         And it’s important to understand that baptism is a beginning

–         Baptism is not a badge that says you’ve made it – it’s not a sign that you’ve got your black belt in loving God and your neighbour

–         Or to use a Star Wars reference, baptism doesn’t make you a Jedi master, rather it makes you a Padawan – a learner or apprentice

–         So you don’t have to have it all together to get baptised – but you do need to be serious in your commitment to learn from Jesus

 

We learn how to be like Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit…

–         By reading the Scriptures; especially the gospels

–         By being in community with other believers

–         And by having a go at doing what Jesus taught

When it comes to reading the Bible we tend to get more out of it when we listen to sermons or read Bible study notes or discuss the meaning of the Scriptures with other Christians in a study group

Of course we need more than reading and sermons and Bible study

–         In the Christian life understanding comes with practice

–         For example, we learn to pray by reading what Jesus taught about prayer, and by listening to other Christians praying and by praying ourselves

–         We learn patience by not having all our prayers answered quickly but by being made to wait sometimes

–         We learn forgiveness by being part of an imperfect community of faith where we are forgiven for our mistakes & have to forgive others for theirs

When we are new to the Christian faith it is important to have a few older more mature believers we can go to for guidance or encouragement

–         And when we’ve been walking with Jesus for a while it is important to be available to those who may want a bit of support in their faith

–         Whether we’ve been on the journey for a short while or a long while we all have something to offer toward each other’s faith development

 

Baptism is like a bridge – it connects people

–         B is for Belief, R is for Repentance, I is for Identity, D is for Discipleship and G is for Grace

 

Grace:

The classic definition of God’s grace is ‘unmerited favour’

–         This means grace is something favourable or pleasant & good that God gives without us having to earn it

–         Grace goes beyond the contract – beyond the letter of the law

Imagine for example that you have an employment contract that allows you up to 5 days a year sick leave and that sick leave doesn’t accumulate beyond 5 days

–         If you get sick and need to take time off then the first 5 days of sick leave is not grace, it’s something you are entitled to under the terms of your contract – your employer is obligated to pay you that much, no one is doing you any favours

–         But if you have to take two weeks off to recuperate and your boss decides she will pay you for a second week as well, without taking your annual leave, then that is unmerited favour

–         Your boss is not obligated to pay you – she is showing you grace

 

Baptism is a ceremony that celebrates God’s grace – sort of like a wedding is the ceremony that celebrates marriage

 

God’s grace has many dimensions to it – very briefly 2 significant aspects of grace in baptism include: forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit

In preparing the way for Jesus, John the Baptist said,

–         I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire…” [1]

Then, about 3 years later, in Acts 2 at Pentecost, Peter says to the crowd…

–         “Repent and be baptised, everyone one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

–         The grace of forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit – God’s unmerited favour

Now it needs to be said that the Holy Spirit is free to move as He wishes

–         There are some in the book of Acts who receive the Spirit before being baptised in water and others who receive the Spirit after

–         In any case it is the Holy Spirit who makes our baptism effective

 

Baptism is like a bridge – it connects people

–         Belief, Repentance, Identity, Discipleship, Grace & Entry

 

Entry:

The bridge of baptism represents entry into the church universal

In Anglican churches the baptismal font is at the front door to symbolise that baptism is entry into the church

Baptism isn’t something people do in isolation – it is a ceremony that joins the one being baptised to the community of believers throughout the world and indeed throughout history

–         Baptism is something Christians share in common

–         So in being baptised we aren’t just identifying with Jesus, we are also identifying with his body, the church

–         Baptism then is about belonging to a community of Christian faith – becoming part of God’s family

In his letter to the Ephesians Paul touches on the mystery of our oneness in Christ when he writes…

–         As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  [2]

Christian believers are connected in a profound way by Jesus, so we need to tread gently in each other’s lives – what one believer does is felt by another

 

Conclusion:

Baptism is like a bridge, but we don’t build the bridge on our own

–         Jesus, the master carpenter, does the building by His Spirit

–         We need to decide if we will cross the bridge

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What is your experience of baptism? (E.g. Have you been baptised? If so, when and how? What led you to your baptism? Or, what keeps you from being baptised?)

3.)    What core beliefs do we affirm in baptism?

–         What does it mean to submit to Jesus’ authority?

4.)    What does true repentance look like?

–         What is the catalyst for true repentance?

5.)    In what sense do we gain a new identity at baptism?

6.)    What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ?

–         How might we work out our discipleship today?

7.)    What is grace?

–         How is God’s grace present in baptism?

8.)    Take some time this week to reflect on Ephesians 4:1-6 and our oneness with other Christian believers throughout the world and throughout history.

 

[1] Matthew 3:11

[2] Ephesians 4:1-6

Tawa Baptist

The Holy Trinity

Scripture: John 3:1-17

Title: The Holy Trinity

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The Spirit’s role
  • The Son’s role
  • God’s love
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

The Spanish artist, Bartolome Murillo, has a painting of the Holy Trinity

–         ‘Trinity’ is a word theologians use to describe one God in three divine persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit

–         We might think of the Trinity as a community of divine love or as the life of God

In Murillo’s painting God the Father is in heaven, as an older man with a beard, while Jesus is the boy (on earth) standing between Mary & Joseph

–         In between God the Father and God the Son is God the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove

What I like about this painting is it shows humanity participating in the life of God, through Jesus

–         This is essentially why Jesus came – so we could join the divine community (the holy trinity) and experience abundant life with God

This morning’s message is based on John 3:1-17, the lectionary reading for last Sunday, the 27th May – Trinity Sunday

–         I had originally planned to preach this sermon last week but decided to postpone it because I felt to bring a different message last Sunday

–         In John 3 a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus talks with Jesus at night and through their conversation we catch a glimpse of the Trinity

–         We also hear how we might participate in this community of divine love

–         From John 3, verses 1-17 we read…

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

May God’s Spirit illuminate this reading for us

In this conversation Jesus reveals to Nicodemus how a human being can participate in the life of God

–         Jesus begins by talking about the renewal or rebirth brought about by the Holy Spirit, then Jesus talks about his own role in revealing God and redeeming humanity. First let’s consider the role of the Spirit

 

The Spirit’s role:

We human beings were made to breathe air and to live above ground

–         If we wanted to go under water we would need to put on scuba gear

–         That would enable us to breathe under water for a little while but we couldn’t really live there under the sea – not without growing gills and changing internally so we could cope with the cold water

–         It would be similar if we wanted to live on Mars – we couldn’t survive on Mars without a space suit, there is too little oxygen and too little warmth

–         To be able to live on Mars naturally our whole body chemistry and physiology would need to undergo a fundamental change

 

In John 3 Jesus talks about the ‘Kingdom of God’ & ‘eternal life’ & ‘heaven’

–         In the context these three expressions are different ways of describing the same thing – life with God or life within the Trinity, God’s life

–         The way we come into this world, the way we are born naturally, we could no more live in heaven or in God’s kingdom than we could on mars or underwater

–         To be able to participate in the life of the Trinity we need to undergo a fundamental change – we need to be born again or born from above

–         (The Greek word used here can be translated both ways)

This concept of transformation is illustrated in nature by frogs and butterflies

–         To be able to live on land and breathe above water a tadpole must undergo a fundamental change

–         Likewise to become a butterfly a caterpillar must be reformed in a cocoon

–         So it is with us – to enter God’s life we must be reborn, but our re-formation is not something we can bring about ourselves

–         It is the Holy Spirit who transforms us and makes us able to enjoy heaven

Now this may seem old hat to us because we have had these words of Jesus for 2000 years – but for Nicodemus this was shocking news

–         Nicodemus was a Pharisee – someone who had taken a vow to learn and apply the entire Old Testament Law, plus all the other man-made rules the Pharisees had put around God’s Law

–         Nicodemus had grown up being taught and believing that he would get into God’s Kingdom by being a descendant of Abraham and following the rules – but Jesus was telling him, what he had devoted his whole life to wasn’t going to cut it

Going back to my previous analogies of living underwater or on Mars – it doesn’t matter how much I practice holding my breath I’m never going to be able to hold my breath long enough to live in the sea or survive on Mars

–         My body has to change to suit the environment

–         Same thing with living in heaven – it doesn’t matter how hard I practice keeping the Law, that won’t support eternal life

–         Heaven isn’t a list of rules to follow to the letter – it is a divine community of love to be enjoyed forever

–         Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying the Law is redundant now and we can do whatever we like

–         Many aspects of God’s Law are still helpful to us in this life

–         The point is: heaven is different to earth and if we are going to breathe the air of heaven we need to be changed by God’s Spirit

Nicodemus was having a hard time accepting this so Jesus goes out of his way to explain in terms that a Biblical scholar like Nicodemus would understand…

–         I am telling you the truth: no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

–         To be born of water and the Spirit is a reference to cleansing & renewal

–         In Ezekiel 36:25-27 God says to the Jewish exiles…

I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put my Spirit in you and I will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you

In this passage Ezekiel was looking forward to the time when God would give his people a new heart and a new mind so they could love him and each other naturally, without having to hold their breath as it were

–         By alluding to this prophecy from Ezekiel, Jesus is pointing out to Nicodemus that the time of renewal (or being born again) is at hand

–         But this renewal – this total conversion experience – is a gift from God

How exactly the Spirit brings about this change in us is a mystery – there is no magic formula

–         We can’t tell the Spirit what to do any more than we can tell the wind what to do.

–         The Holy Spirit is a powerful and untameable movement of life

Okay, so that’s one of the things the Holy Spirit does – he brings about a fundamental change in us so we can participate in the eternal life of the Trinity

 

The Son’s role:

Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, has the same purpose only his role is slightly different: Jesus reveals God and redeems humanity

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night – in the dark

–         If we give Nicodemus the benefit of the doubt this is most likely because he wanted to have a decent conversation with Jesus without being interrupted. During the day Jesus would be surrounded with people and it would be difficult to talk for very long

Elsewhere in the gospel of John, Jesus is described as the light of the world

–         What does light do? It reveals things – so we can see

–         Now physical light – from the sun in the sky – reveals physical things

–         But spiritual light – from Jesus the Son of God – reveals spiritual things

–         Nicodemus has been in the dark and when we are in the dark we can’t see

–         So in coming to Jesus, the spiritual light of the world, Nicodemus is stepping out of the darkness and into the light in order to see spiritual things – that is, the things of God

 

Imagine someone, you’ve never met or even seen before, who lives in a completely different country, making a proposal of marriage to you

–         (For the sake of this illustration those who are already married will need to imagine they are single)

–         The deal is you have to leave your old life behind and make a new life with them – follow them wherever they go

–         It sounds a bit dodgey doesn’t it – like some sort of internet scam

–         Most of us wouldn’t take up a proposal like that

But what if the person who was proposing marriage came to you in the flesh, so you could see what they were like and get to know them a bit – then you wouldn’t be making a decision in the dark, so it would be easier to trust them

–         The person’s presence shines light on their character and their motivation

–         As it turns out this person is gracious and true – they are powerful but also understated & kind

–         They don’t have any photos of the country they come from (so you can’t see where you’ll be living) but they do describe to you (by way of parables) what their country is like – a beautiful & peaceful place

–         What’s more you get the feeling they really love you – that they would even die for you

–         In the end you are faced with a choice: either reject the proposal and stick with life as you know it, or, trust the person and go with them

If you think about it, that’s pretty much what God is proposing: leave your old life behind and make a new life with him

–         But so we don’t have to make a decision in the dark Jesus came, from heaven to earth, to shine light on God – to show us what God is like so we would be better able to trust God and find redemption for our souls

–         Jesus is the light of the world who reveals God’s heart & mind, his character & motivation, in order to redeem humanity.

–         In verses 11-13 we read…

11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen… Notice Jesus says ‘we’, not ‘I’.

–         It’s not entirely clear who Jesus means by ‘we’ but perhaps he is referring to the divine we: God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit – it fits the context

–         …yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

–         In other words, ‘Nicodemus, you just don’t get it. And you’re not getting it because you don’t really trust me, at least not yet. Trust, faith, belief precede understanding

–         13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

–         Jesus is basically saying: “I’m here to reveal God to you. I’ve been to heaven. I’m not talking in theory. I know what the life of God is like from the inside, from my own experience.”

The Son of Man is Jesus’ favourite way of referring to himself

–         It’s a phrase which has different layers of meaning

–         On the lips of Jesus it is often a veiled way of saying ‘Messiah’ and at the same time an identification with humanity

–         You see, in shining light on God, Jesus is also shining light on what it means to be human. Jesus reveals our purpose – he shows us what it looks like to be made in the image of God

 

In verses 14 & 15 Jesus goes on to talk about his role in redeeming humanity…

–         And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Once again Jesus is making it easy for Nicodemus to understand by referring to a story from the book of Numbers (which Nicodemus would be familiar with)

–         While living in the wilderness the people of Israel were attacked by venomous snakes and cried out to be saved

–         The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone can look at it and live.”

–         Moses did what God said and those who looked at the bronze snake were saved

Jesus is saying, “I’m a bit like that bronze snake – I am God’s means of salvation (his redemption) for people.”

–         Nicodemus wouldn’t have understood at the time but later, when he was taking Jesus’ body down from the cross, he would have realised Jesus was saying, “My crucifixion, my being lifted up on a pole, will save those who look to me in faith”

 

God’s love:

And so we come to perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible…

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Although God the Father is not explicitly mentioned in these verses, talk of God’s Son implies there is a Father

–         Here we see God reaching out through the Son to save the world

–         In the gospel of John the world means those who are opposed to God

–         Those who have rebelled against God – God’s enemies

–         God’s motivation is not to condemn the world but to save it

–         God doesn’t just love his friends – God loves his enemies as well

Once there was a wealthy land owner who grew all kinds of fruit on his orchard

–         Although he was wealthy he was also generous & kind

–         The people in the nearby village relied on this man for their livelihood

–         He provided paid employment for everyone and the whole valley prospered because of his enterprise

–         In all his dealings the landowner never left anyone out of pocket

–         Some people loved him but others were envious

One day a group of villagers decided they didn’t want to work for the orchardist anymore and, in the dark of night, they set fire to his fruit trees and then scurried home for fear of being caught

–         It was a senseless move really because they were cutting off their own living – without the trees they would be out of work

The wind picked up and the fire got out of control threatening the village

–         As the orchardist looked down the valley he had a choice to make – let the sleeping village burn (that would be justice) or send someone to warn the villagers and save them (that would be mercy)

–         The orchardist chose mercy and sent his son – the villagers knew his son and would surely listen to him

 

The son ran door to door waking people and warning them to escape

–         Those who had started the fire pretended to be asleep, ignoring the warning – they knew they had done wrong and thought the orchardist’s son had come to take revenge on them, when he had actually come to redeem them

–         But those who trusted the son and heeded his warning were saved and welcomed into the Father’s house

 

God is like the orchardist – he didn’t start the fire, his enemies did. But he didn’t stand by and do nothing either

–         God loved all the villagers enough to send his only son to save anyone who would believe in him

 

Conclusion:

Through his act of mercy in saving us, Jesus reveals the love of God

–         And through the power of the Holy Spirit we experience the renewal that is necessary for us to participate in the life of God (the divine community of love)

 

Questions for discussion & reflection

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

2.)    What do you imagine ‘heaven’ or ‘eternal life’ or the ‘Kingdom of God’ to be like?

3.)    What role does the Holy Spirit have in preparing us for eternal life with God?

–         What does it mean to ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’?

–         Why did Nicodemus struggle to accept what Jesus said about being born again?

4.)    What role(s) does Jesus have in our salvation?

5.)    Thinking of the broader context of John’s gospel – what is the significance of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night?

6.)    How does God make it easier for us to trust him?

7.)    What is the meaning of the bronze snake on the pole story, from Numbers 21?

8.)    What do verses 16-17 of John 3 show us about God’s heart (his motivation)?

–         What do you think God’s attitude is toward you? (E.g. Do you think he means you harm or good?)  Why do you think this?

 

Tawa Baptist

Pentecost

Read Acts 2

Why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit?

–         Well, very simply, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to connect us to himself

–         The Holy Spirit makes Jesus’ presence & power close & real

 

I need a volunteer – [choose someone]

–         Okay, can you sit here near the front

–         Put this blind fold on so you can’t see me

–         I’m going to put a small weight in your hand and I want you to hold on to it – don’t let go

–         You may feel a slight tugging but you need to hold onto your end

–         I’m going to walk away from you now and I want you to sit where you are and just hold on – [I walk back to the pulpit]

 

Even though you can’t see me and even though I’m not close enough for you to reach out and touch, we are still connected

–         And you know we’re connected because when I tug at my end of the line you can feel me – like I’m close & real

–         It’s a bit like that with the Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit connects us to Jesus sort of like this fishing line connects you and I

–         Even though Jesus is in heaven and we can’t see him – we still feel a connection with Jesus through the Holy Spirit

–         In fact, sometimes if we feel a slight tugging in our heart it might be Jesus getting our attention through the line of his Spirit and tugging us in the direction he wants us to go

 

Well done, you can take your blind fold off now – here’s something for being such a good sport – [give a reward]

 

In Acts 2, Peter knew Jesus was with him because the Holy Spirit was in him

–         Not only that but Peter was able to tell others about Jesus because the Holy Spirit gave him power to speak – and power (in Peter’s situation) meant the ability, the words & the courage to speak

–         The Holy Spirit worked through Peter to make Jesus’ presence & power close & real to other people so they would believe in Jesus and become connected to Jesus themselves

 

In some ways, not in every way, but in some ways the Holy Spirit is a little bit like electricity in your home

–         Imagine your soul is like a house and the Spirit of God is like electricity – although we can’t see the electricity we know we are connected when the lights come on, the oven heats up & the water in the shower is warm

–         It’s similar with Jesus – although we can’t see Jesus we know Jesus is close & real because the Holy Spirit connects us

–         It’s like the Holy Spirit turns the lights on inside our mind so we understand who Jesus is – that he is God’s Son and our Saviour, that he is risen from the dead as our Lord & our friend

–         It’s like the Holy Spirit warms up the water in our soul so we know our sins are forgiven and God accepts us – and when we know we are forgiven and loved by God we are able to forgive & love others

 

Now I need to say that fishing line and electricity are not adequate for describing the Holy Spirit – there is more to the Spirit than that

–         The point is, the Holy Spirit connects people to Jesus with warmth & energy – he makes Jesus close & real

 

Given that the Holy Spirit connects us to Jesus it is reasonable to ask, how do we receive the Holy Spirit?

–         Well, receiving the Holy Spirit doesn’t happen in the same way as having electricity connected to your house – you can’t just pay for someone to come and hook you up

 

In John chapter 3 Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to the wind. Jesus says,

–         The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

–         Part of the message here is: the Holy Spirit cannot be manipulated or controlled. The Holy Spirit initiates the connection between us and Jesus

 

Although we can’t tell the Holy Spirit what to do (any more than we can tell the wind what to do) we can ask God for his Spirit and be ready to receive it

–         We know that God wants us to have a connection with Jesus – so if we ask God in good faith, trusting Jesus, it’s just a matter of time before the wind blows on us

–         The thing is, God’s Spirit doesn’t always turn up in the way or at the time we might be expecting.

–         We might expect the Holy Spirit to initiate something while we’re singing or praying in church – and he might – but he is just as likely to turn up while we are at school or work or home or on the train talking to someone

The other thing we need to remember is that the Holy Spirit isn’t all about us

–         He isn’t there just to make us feel good or powerful

–         The Holy Spirit is primarily about Jesus and that means sometimes he will involve us in connecting others with Jesus, like he involved Peter

–         So we need to be ready to respond to the Holy Spirit when he wants to use us to make Jesus’ presence & power close & real for someone else

–         The Holy Spirit is not interested in attracting attention to us or himself

–         He would rather turn people’s attention to Jesus

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/20-may-2018-pentecost

Tawa Baptist

Unity

Scripture: Psalm 133

Title: Unity

Structure:

  • Introduction – unity is diversity with order
  • The Trinity and us
  • Unity comes down from God above
  • Unity is for sharing
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a picture of a tapestry of the Lord’s Supper

–         A tapestry is a unity

–         It is not sameness which makes for unity – rather, unity is diversity with order

–         Although there are many different coloured strands they are all woven together in an ordered way to pleasing effect

–         Together the strands form a bigger picture which makes sense

 

In our house there are three women and one shower

–         One of the things that happens with this arrangement is that long strands of hair gather in the drain, causing a blockage, so that the water in the bottom of the shower rises to your ankles

–         Whenever this happens it is my job to unblock the drain, pulling all the hair out by hand – I don’t mind though, it makes me feel useful

 

The hair in the drain is the opposite of unity

–         Unlike the tapestry which has a variety of different strands woven together in an ordered way, the hair in the drain is pretty much all the same and it is clumped together in a tangled mess of soap scum

–         There is no order, no bigger picture, no meaning, no pleasantness with hair in the drain

–         Unity is diversity with order – unity is pleasing

 

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

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

–         They are songs for the faithful as they gather together for worship

 

Our focus today is psalm 133

–         This song celebrates God’s gift of unity

–         From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

 

1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.

3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

The Trinity and us:

One of the prominent features at the front here is the organ

–         The organ is a unity – it has a diverse range of parts & pipes put together in an ordered way to make music which is pleasing

 

The organ is a metaphor for creation – creation is a unity, a diversity of different matter put together in an ordered and pleasing way

 

Today is Trinity Sunday, when we reflect on the mystery of the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

–         God is a unity – a diversity of three persons who are one

 

In a limited way the organ serves as a metaphor to help us understand the Trinity’s interaction with creation

–         I say ‘in a limited way’ because I’m very cautious about using any sort of analogy for God or the Trinity

–         God is holy – which (among other things) means he is different from us and indeed different from any created thing

–         God is beyond compare so no metaphor is adequate for describing God

 

Having said that, metaphors can be helpful to help our finite human minds form some concept of our infinite God and how we might relate with Him

 

Anyway, as I was saying, if the organ represents creation then the Trinity (Father, Son & Spirit together) designed and built the organ

–         The organ is not God – creation is not God – it was just made by Him

 

God the Father is like the organist and composer of the music

–         The Father writes the music and plays it on the organ (or through creation)

 

The gospel of John tells us that God the Son (who we know as Jesus) is God’s Word – so the Son is like the music God has composed

–         Just as music is an expression or embodiment of the composer’s soul, in a similar way, Jesus is an expression or embodiment of God Himself

–         Just as the music unites the choir, so everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet, so too Jesus unites the church and indeed all of creation – Jesus shows us which notes to follow

 

If we imagine that God the Father is the organist and Jesus is the music and we (in all our diversity) are the organ pipes, then the Holy Spirit is the wind passing through the pipes, making the sound God wills through us

–         We can’t make the music on our own – in fact we only find our meaning and purpose when we let God’s will be done in our life

–         Nor do we get to hear the whole song in our lifetime – we have to wait for eternity for that

 

Now in some ways this analogy is inadequate

–         Firstly, Jesus is more than just the music (as important as that is)

–         Jesus is a real person – the one who came to redeem & repair creation

–         It’s like the organ of creation was damaged by sin and Jesus (the organ builder’s Son) came to fix it

 

Likewise the Holy Spirit is more than just the wind blowing through the pipes (as important as that is)

–         The Spirit of God is also a real person

–         If we are the organ pipes, each one of us sounding a different note, then the Spirit is like the tuner who comes to adjust us when we get out of tune

 

Of course – an organ is not a living thing with free will

–         Some parts of God’s creation always do what they are supposed to at the right time – not so us humans, we are far more difficult to work with

 

In John 15 Jesus uses the image of the vine – the vine being a living organic unity

–         The Lord says to his disciples: I am the vine, you are the branches and God the Father is the gardener

–         Following this logic we might cautiously suggest the Holy Spirit is the sap or the life flowing from within the vine to the branches

–         As branches we come in different shapes and sizes but we are united by Christ, the main trunk of the vine

–         What’s more we are sustained and made fruitful by the life giving Spirit of Jesus in us

 

Unity comes down from God above:

Returning to psalm 133

–         This song is attributed to King David and it is essentially about unity

 

Although it is short (only 3 verses) psalm 133 uses two quite different images to convey the one idea that unity is a good and pleasing gift from God

 

Verse 1 begins with David describing the experience of unity from a human perspective

–         How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.

 

On the sixth day of creation (in Genesis 1) the Lord God saw all that he had made and it was very good

–         Creation before the fall was a perfect unity – it was diverse but at the same time ordered in such a way that was good and pleasing

 

Unity from God is not unpleasant, like tangled hair and soap scum clogging up the shower drain

–         No – unity from God is good & pleasant, like a well ordered tapestry conveying a meaningful bigger picture

–         Or like an organ playing the right notes at the right pitch at the right time

 

The implication of verse 1 is: if it’s not pleasant then it’s probably not unity as God intended it

 

In verse 2 we are given the first image of unity

–         It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.

 

Now to us this image doesn’t seem all that pleasant

–         It actually sounds messy and inconvenient

–         If someone poured so much oil on your head that it ran down your face and onto your clothes you would probably want to jump in the shower and put your clothes in the wash

 

But in ancient Middle Eastern culture it was customary for the host to greet a guest by pouring oil on their head

–         It was a way of saying welcome, you have a special place of honour among us, we are pleased you are here

–         Oil on the head was a picture of generous hospitality – it was an expression of unity

 

We read of Jesus being anointed in this way on more than one occasion in the gospels, by women (because the men were preoccupied)

 

But the picture in verse 2 isn’t just one of hospitality – for the verse goes on to describe the anointing of Aaron, the high priest of Israel during the time of Moses

–         Aaron was anointed with a special kind of oil – one mixed with perfume

–         So the oil of unity is sacred and it has a pervasive aroma

–         Unity is a pleasant fragrance which cannot be contained and which everyone can enjoy [1]

 

Jesus is our high priest – he is the Christ or the Messiah

–         Christ and Messiah mean the same thing: anointed one

–         Jesus (the anointed one) is the head of the church and we are the members of Christ’s body

–         Although we are quite diverse in many ways we are united by Christ

–         Jesus brings order to our diversity and the oil of his Spirit is a pleasant fragrance which cannot be contained

 

The main thing to note in verses 2 & 3 of psalm 133 is that the oil of unity runs down – it descends from above, meaning that unity comes from God above

–         Unity is not manufactured by us from the ground up – it is a gift (or a blessing) bestowed by God from on high

 

We heard last week about the builders of the Tower of Babel

–         In the end their unity was revealed to be false for they were trying to manufacture it themselves from the ground up

–         That kind of forced unity never lasts

–         True unity is a blessing from God above – not a human achievement

 

Verse 3 offers a second simile for unity

–         It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion.

 

Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in Israel, found in the north near Galilee

–         Hermon is proverbial for its heavy dew

–         The mountains of Zion refer to the much smaller mountains in the south of Israel on which the city of Jerusalem was built

–         Hermon and Zion were diverse geographically speaking (they were spaced well apart) and they were quite different in height

–         Yet little Mount Zion enjoyed the same gift as grand old Hermon – they both share the same dew from heaven above

–         High and low drink the same sweet refreshment. [2]

–         Like the labourers in Jesus’ parable, at the end of the day, we are all paid the same, regardless of how many hours we worked  

Perhaps also, as King of Israel, David is reflecting on what God has done in uniting the different tribes of Israel – bringing the north and the south together

–         David sees a diverse range of people all coming together to worship God at his footstool in Jerusalem and he appreciates the harmony of it all

 

In any case, unity is a life giving blessing from God

–         Just as oil flows down from the head and just as dew comes down from above, so too unity comes down to us from God above

 

The thing is though that God often blesses us with unity in unexpected ways

–         Just last Friday night there was a power cut in Tawa – it was a complete black out

–         But it was also a blessing to our family – it was something a bit different, something fun and unexpected that brought us together

–         We lit candles, gathered close, laughed and talked because there wasn’t anything else we could do

–         It was quite a lovely time of family unity and felt like a gift from God

 

Unity is for sharing:

As well as showing us that unity comes from God above, the two images in psalm 133 also show us that unity is not designed to be contained

–         Rather, unity is for sharing

–         The pleasant fragrance of the perfumed oil on Aaron’s head and shoulders cannot be contained – the aroma is for everyone

–         Likewise the dew of Hermon falls liberally on Zion as well – it is not funnelled off somewhere exclusive – it is for high and low alike

 

Given that unity is a gift from God and given that it may come to us in unexpected ways, when it does come we need to be careful to recognise it and share it, without getting in the way – without creating a blockage

–         We need to ask ourselves how can we be a conduit for God’s gift of unity

 

In Luke 12 Jesus tells a rather sobering parable about a man whose land yielded a bumper crop

–         This blessing from God above created a problem for the farmer

–         Instead of consulting with his neighbours though he ignored his community and tried to figure out the problem on his own

–         He said to himself: ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

–         Still talking to himself he said, ‘I know, I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones to store all my grain – then I’ll be able to retire early, put my feet up and take life easy.’

 

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

 

The tragedy is this man didn’t realise he was actually quite disconnected and God was trying to bless him with the gift of unity in the form of a bumper crop

–         If only he had talked with his neighbours he might have realised how his actions would only isolate him further

–         By holding onto the grain the farmer was driving the price up

–         If he had been less greedy and sold the grain at a lower price then the rest of the community would have benefited, especially the poor

–         Everyone would have enjoyed the pleasant fragrance of God’s special anointing on his land

–         High and low alike would have been refreshed by the dew of Hermon poured out on him

–         What’s more he would have enjoyed something far better than money – he would have experienced how good and pleasant it is to dwell in unity

 

By keeping it all for himself the man (ironically) rejected God’s gift of unity

–         He became a blockage to unity and God had little choice but to remove the blockage by taking back his life

 

Jesus told some really sad stories aye. That one was real tragic. I’m more of a happy ending kind of guy so let’s imagine this parable differently

 

Once there was a farmer who worked on his land from dawn till dusk six days a week

–         God had been good to him and blessed his hard work so that he was able to pay off his mortgage about 10 years sooner than he expected

–         But these kinds of gains come at a cost

–         As a consequence of working such long hours he didn’t have time for a wife and family – his was a relatively solitary life

 

He did reserve Sundays as a day off though when he would go into town to attend church in the morning before picking up some groceries from the supermarket on the way home

–         It wasn’t that he was particularly religious – he went to church mostly for the social contact (the cuppa and chat afterwards was his favourite part)

 

As the years went by the city expanded into the countryside and it was just a matter of time before property developers started eyeing up his farmland to build new homes for a hungry suburban market

–         One such developer offered the farmer 5x what he had paid for his land

–         It was a tempting offer – with no mortgage and this sort of cash in the bank he could retire before he was 50

 

That Sunday the preacher at church spoke about the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12

–         The farmer didn’t normally care for the sermon that much but this particular week he hung on every word

–         After reflecting on Jesus’ parable he decided not to get back to the developer just yet

 

The next Sunday, over coffee after the service, the farmer mentioned to one of the bankers in the congregation that he had been approached by a developer who was wanting to buy his land and turn it into a sub-division

–         The banker asked what the developer was offering and, on hearing a figure, explained how the land would be worth a lot more than that after it had been sliced up – The farmer had guessed as much

–         The banker asked if the farmer would consider subdividing the land himself

 

The following Sunday the farmer got into a conversation with a young guy in his 20’s who was saving to buy a house – it was tough to get a deposit together these days, especially with a large student loan

–         The farmer didn’t say anything about the developer’s offer this time

–         He was all of sudden conscious of a great divide between the two of them

–         So he offered the young guy some extra work on his farm

–         The young man was grateful and proved to be pretty good at fencing

–         To his surprise the farmer found he quite enjoyed the company

–         It had been a long time since he had worked with someone, it made the job seem more pleasant somehow

 

A few more weeks went by and the developer returned with an even bigger offer – but this time the farmer said ‘no’

–         Instead he made an offer of his own – not to the developer but to the young guy and his wife

–         He sold them a parcel of his land for half what the developer was offering him – which was about a quarter of the retail rate

–         To make the deal even sweeter he had a lawyer draw up a contract saying as long as they lived in the house they could pay him back interest free over a 20 year period

 

The couple still needed to borrow from the bank to build the house but the reduced cost of the land and the less onerous repayments made getting into their own home more affordable

–         The great divide he had sensed at first, between himself and the young man, was gone – the farmer felt closer to his neighbours

 

He did the same thing for others who were struggling, gradually selling pieces of his farm at below market rates

–         It meant reducing stock numbers a bit and being a bit smarter with his pasture management but it was workable because he was freehold

 

As the farmer shared his land a tight but diverse community developed so he became less isolated and more connected

–         He no longer needed to work 12 hours a day six days a week on his own – there were always willing neighbours ready to lend him hand

–         No one defaulted on their loans – partly because he was discerning about who he helped but also because a bit of grace usually motivates people to do the right thing

 

The farmer worked till he was 65 before taking his super and he lived comfortably in his retirement till his death at age 84

 

When asked by the pastor one day why he had helped so many people the farmer replied…

–         “When I look back on it I realise it wasn’t me who did it. I was isolated and alone before God blessed me with unity. All I had to do was get out of the way so God could do His thing.”

 

Conclusion:

Unity is diversity with order

–         Unity is pleasant

–         Unity comes down to us from God above, often in unexpected ways

–         Ultimately though unity is for sharing

 

Let us pray…

–         Father God, we thank you for your gift of unity through Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit

–         Help us to recognise your blessings when they come and to be a conduit for unity by sharing your good gifts

–         We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/11-jun-2017-unity

[1] Refer Derek Kidner’s commentary on ‘Psalms 73-150’, page 489

[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, page 489.

Tawa Baptist

Baptism

Scripture: Mark 16:16a “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved”

 

Title: Baptism

 

Key Idea: Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith
  • Conclusion

 

 

Introduction:

This morning Duan is being baptised

  • The word ‘baptise’ means to dip or immerse
  • There is a pool of water here at the front – we call this the ‘baptistery’
  • Duan will go into the water, make a profession of his faith in Jesus, then be immersed under the water before coming out again
  • That is the act of baptism

 

Baptism comes up in the New Testament quite a bit

  • John the Baptist immersed people in the Jordan river to get them ready for the coming Messiah
  • Jesus himself was baptised by John, as a sign that he had come to take away the sins of the world

 

Later Jesus went through another sort of baptism – not in water – but on the cross, when he was immersed in suffering

  • After his resurrection from the dead Jesus commanded his disciples to…

 

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. [1]

 

Throughout the Book of Acts, the apostles did as Jesus instructed…

  • They preached the gospel and when people believed in Jesus the apostles baptised them

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith:

We could go on listing other New Testament references to baptism but the key idea I want to communicate this morning is…

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Or as Beasley-Murray puts it…

  • “Baptism is… the divinely appointed rendezvous of grace for faith.” [2]

 

In the New Testament the same gifts of grace are associated with faith as with baptism – so grace, faith and baptism go together

  • Baptism is a nexus point for God’s grace & our faith

Just so we are on the same page…

  • By grace we mean a multifaceted gift from God
  • A gift, by definition, is freely given – we don’t pay for it
  • So grace is unearned – it costs God but it doesn’t cost us

 

And faith is believing (or trusting) to the point we are prepared to act on that belief

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Let me illustrate by way of analogy

  • Imagine someone tells you that Mexted Motors are giving away cars – brand new cars at no cost
  • All you have to do is turn up at their car yard, collect the key, get in the car and drive away

 

Grace is being given the new car for free

 

And baptism is the rendezvous point for collecting the new car – that is: the yard at Mexted’s

 

Faith is believing that what you have been told is true and then acting on that belief by walking down to Mexted’s, collecting a key, getting in a vehicle and driving away

  • Faith is not saying, ‘I agree that Mexted’s are giving away cars’ and then sitting at home on the couch
  • Faith is acting on your belief – trusting that what you have heard is true

 

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

Now, in many ways this is an inadequate analogy for baptism

  • We don’t just turn up to collect the goodies from God and then drive away – see you later. No
  • In baptism we become forever friends with Jesus
  • So when we get in the car (when we are baptised) the Spirit of God is already there waiting for us – ready to show us the way to go through life

Translating the analogy for you…

  • Duan has heard the gospel preached
  • He has heard the good news that God has grace – a wonderful multi-faceted gift to give away
  • And he has come to the waters of baptism in faith to receive God’s grace
  • After receiving the grace God wants to give, Duan will continue his journey through life with God

 

So what is this grace of God?

  • Well, firstly Duan, there’s no free car
  • And that goes for the rest of you as well
  • I don’t want anyone turning up at Mexted’s this afternoon, saying…
  • “I’ve been baptised. Where’s my free car.”

 

Seriously though, Jesus embodies the fullness of God’s grace

  • All the different facets of God’s grace we find in Christ
  • Jesus is God’s gift to the world for the salvation of creation

 

When we are baptised into Christ we receive forgiveness from sin [3]

  • And union with Christ [4]

With forgiveness God wipes our slate clean – He doesn’t hold our wrong doing against us

  • That means our guilt is removed – we’re justified & accepted before God
  • Not only are our sins forgiven – but sin also loses its power over us
  • The power of sin is death – because we are forgiven, death can’t hold us
  • And because we are justified, the accusations of the evil one won’t stick

 

In believers’ baptism we also receive from God union with Christ

  • Baptism is sort of like a wedding ceremony in that it unites us to Christ
  • Just as marriage is for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, so too union with Christ is for better or worse, through thick & thin
  • Baptism doesn’t mean the end of suffering or difficulty in this life
  • But it does mean the end of trying to cope with difficulties on your own

 

It also means a change to our lifestyle

  • I remember when I married Robyn, I had to change my mind set
  • No longer could I think like a single man
  • Now I had to consider Robyn in everything I did
  • I needed to learn to listen to her and tell her what I was thinking & feeling
  • It’s the same with our union to Christ – we have to consider him in all our decisions – how will this affect Jesus?
  • We need to listen to him and be honest with him – we call that prayer

 

Union with Christ is a biggy – it comes with a number of benefits

  • For starters union with Christ gives you the Spirit of Jesus
  • The Holy Spirit is the key to everything really
  • The Spirit precedes baptism in that He leads us to Christ and makes faith & repentance possible
  • Faith is a gift from God
  • The Holy Spirit is also given in baptism [5]
  • One of the Biblical metaphors for the Holy Spirit is water
  • We are baptised in water as a sign that through our union with Christ we are being immersed in God’s Spirit
  • The Holy Spirit then follows baptism – we go on being filled with the Spirit who empowers us to live the Christian life

 

Union with Christ gives you the promise of resurrection

  • In Romans 6 Paul writes: Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?
  • …If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. [6]

 

Because Jesus is God’s Son, union with Christ makes us sons & daughters of God

  • As co-heirs with Christ we will inherit God’s kingdom

 

And last but not least, union with Christ means we become members of the church universal

  • Duan’s baptism is not something which is done in isolation
  • It’s not just between him and God
  • Duan’s baptism is between him and God and us
  • Duan is being incorporated into Christ’s body, the church
  • So we who have been baptised are affected by this
  • We are encourageed and strengthened by it

 

There is much more I could say about baptism but that’s enough for today

  • The main point is: Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

 

We will now hear a testimony from Duan…

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Mark 16:15-16

[2] G.R. Beasley-Murray, ‘Baptism in the New Testament, page 273.

[3] Acts 2:38

[4] Galatians 3:27

[5] 1 Corinthians 12:13

[6] Romans 6:3 & 5