Tawa Baptist

Blind Ambition

Scripture: Mark 10:35-45

Video Link: https://youtu.be/zEJ2DkZTFQQ

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus’ humility (v. the disciples’ ambition)
  • Jesus’ vision (v. the disciples’ blindness)
  • Jesus’ redemption (v. the disciples’ anger)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

It’s October, which means some students will be sitting exams soon.

One method for exam revision is the 1-2-3-7 technique. That is, after your first read through, revise what you want to remember the very next day and then the day after that and then again on the seventh day.

Some people say you should re-read again 21 days after the first read, but if you are sitting exams two weeks from now you, you won’t have time. The point is you cannot expect to remember something you’ve only read once. Repetition is key to learning.    

Today we continue our series in the gospel of Mark based on the lectionary readings. This Sunday’s Scripture is Mark chapter 10, verses 35-45. If you have been following this series, then some of what you are about to hear will sound familiar. This is because it’s the third time that Jesus has said it.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand what he was saying the first time, so he kept repeating himself. But, with each repetition, Jesus adds a little more information and so this sermon is not a repeat. From Mark 10, verse 35, we read…

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” 41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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

In this passage we see the contrast between Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus’ humility stands apart from the disciples’ ambition.

Jesus’ vision sees beyond the disciples’ blindness.

And Jesus’ redemption shines like a star against the darkness of the disciples’ anger. First, let’s consider the contrast between Jesus’ humility and the disciples’ ambition.

Jesus’ humility (v. the disciples’ ambition)

Thomas Merton, the 20th Century Trappist monk, once wrote…

When ambition ends, happiness begins.

Merton is saying that when we let go of our relentless drive for success and achievement, we can find true contentment and fulfilment.

Ambition is the desire and determination to achieve something. Wanting to achieve something is not necessarily bad in itself, unless it comes at the expense of our well-being and relationships. If ambition is left unchecked, it tends to lead to things like envy and arrogance, anger and greed. Ambition is a hunger that is never satisfied.    

The brothers James and John had ambitions. James and John were the sons of Zebedee, a local fisherman. From what we can piece together it appears James and John came from a moderately wealthy family who were well-connected.

Their father Zebedee owned several fishing boats and employed servants.

Also, James and John may have had a family connection with the household of the high priest.

For James and John to walk away from a successful family business to follow a travelling rabbi, who often criticized the religious establishment, was no small thing. James and John had given up a lot to become disciples of Jesus.

Maybe this was in the back of their mind when they said to Jesus, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask’.

This request is the opposite of winsome. This request is a bit insensitive in fact, given how it follows hard on the heels of Jesus’ third passion prediction. Jesus had just been telling his disciples (in verses 32-34) how he will be mocked, spat on, flogged and killed before rising three days later.

Somehow this doesn’t register with James and John. Jesus is their teacher.

He is their boss, and he is soon to suffer terribly, yet they want to tell Jesus what to do. That is ambition speaking. 

But listen to the way Jesus handles their request. There is a grace and humility in Jesus’ response that is truly beautiful. Jesus does not get angry with James and John. He doesn’t yell at them or cast them into outer darkness. Jesus takes the posture of a servant. He listens.

‘What do you want me to do for you’, Jesus asks. That’s a listening question. That’s something a servant says. 

And James and John reply…

“Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

There it is. Naked ambition. James and John know that Jesus is a king. To sit at the right and left of a king is to occupy positions of power and prestige. It’s like saying, we want to be second and third in charge of your kingdom.

Although James and John’s ambition (to be in charge) looks quite ugly in many respects, we should not judge them too harshly. Each of us has a bit of James and John in us. None of us are immune from selfish ambition.

Looking at James and John in a more positive light, we note the strength of their faith and hope in Jesus. As I said before, James and John gave up a lot to follow Jesus. Their ambition may have been misguided but they have a confidence in Jesus which is quite inspiring.  

Jesus had just been describing how he would be rejected, mocked and killed. To the disciples this might have sounded like Jesus was a bit discouraged or plagued with self-doubt. Perhaps James and John’s request was their way of saying to Jesus, ‘we believe in you, even if you don’t quite believe in yourself’.  

But Jesus is not plagued with self-doubt. Jesus sees what the disciples can’t see. Jesus sees the cross before him.

Jesus came as a humble servant, but he is primarily a servant of the living God, the Lord Almighty, God of heaven and earth. Jesus does not take his orders from James and John or any other human being. Jesus takes his orders from God the Father. Jesus’ sole ambition is to love and obey God.

Humility does not mean saying ‘yes’ to every request. Humility is about having your feet on the ground. To be humble is to maintain an accurate estimation of yourself, remembering who you are and who you serve. Not being carried away by ambition but holding on to yourself. 

Jesus’ vision (vs. the disciples’ blindness)

Jesus has the humility to know that it’s not his call who gets to sit on his left or right, much less James and John’s call. Jesus will not usurp God’s authority. And so, Jesus declines their request saying…

38 “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

James and John answer with confidence saying, “We can”.

Their ambition has blinded them. Jesus has just said, “You don’t know what you are asking…”, but James and John are not listening, they act as if they know better than Jesus.

You have probably seen the drawing of the old woman which, depending on how you look at it, is also a drawing of a young woman. Some people can only see the old woman and some can only see the young woman. Then there are those who can see both.

When Jesus asks James and John if they can drink the cup he is about to drink and be baptized with the baptism he is about to be baptized with, James and John misunderstand Jesus’ meaning. They can only see the young woman.

In the Old Testament, the cup had two meanings. Sometimes the cup referred to joy and abundance of good things, like in the 23rd Psalm where we read…

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…

Other times though, the cup is a symbol of God’s judgement and wrath, like in the book of Jeremiah where the Lord says…

Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink…

When James and John hear Jesus talking about drinking from his cup, they probably think Psalm 23, joy and abundance, dining at the king’s table.

But this is not what Jesus has in mind. Jesus is thinking about the cup of God’s wrath that he will drink in going to the cross.

Likewise, the image of baptism had two meanings in the first century.

When Jesus talks about baptism in Mark 10, he is not referring to the ritual of baptism that we are familiar with.

Baptism in this context is a metaphor for being overwhelmed or submerged under water, like with Noah’s flood or when the Egyptian army were drowned in the Red Sea or when the Psalmist in distress says, Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me…

For first century Jews though, baptism was also an image of cleansing and renewal. So, when James and John hear Jesus talking about his baptism, they probably think Jesus is referring to God’s destruction of their enemies and the renewal of Israel. They want some of that.

But Jesus has a different understanding of baptism in mind here. Jesus is contemplating the overwhelming suffering he will soon experience in going to the cross.     

Jesus can see the blindness of James and John, but he doesn’t humiliate them. Jesus’ vision sees beyond the disciples’ blindness. The Lord goes on to tell James and John…   

“You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with…”

In fact, James and John were witnesses to Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. More than that, James was among the first of the apostles to be killed for his testimony about Jesus. In Acts 12, we read how Herod had James put to death by the sword.

John was not murdered, as far as we know, but he did suffer in his witness for Jesus. John survived a series of state-sponsored persecutions of the early church and was eventually sent into exile on the island of Patmos.

The disciples’ experience speaks to our experience. When we first become believers, we don’t know what lies ahead for us in our journey of faith. We are blind, feeling our way like newborn puppies.

There is often an initial joy when we first accept Jesus. But there are also times of desolation along the way, when we feel alone and abandoned by God.

To follow Jesus is to drink from his cup and share in his baptism.

Sometimes, like the first disciples, we will get it wrong. We will misunderstand, we will fail and wonder how we might move forward. But Jesus understands. Jesus forgives and Jesus provides a way for us. Despite the disciples’ misplaced ambition and initial blindness, Jesus was still able to use them, and he is still able to use us.

Although James and John did indeed share in Christ’s sufferings, that did not automatically entitle them to call dibs on the best seats in God’s kingdom.

As Jesus said: ‘To sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.’  

If Jesus had in mind the cross, then the ‘places’ in view here were allotted to two criminals. One was crucified on Jesus’ left and the other on his right. Ambition had blinded James and John, so they did not know what they were asking.

We have heard about Jesus’ humility in contrast to the disciples’ ambition.

And we’ve heard how Jesus’ vision sees beyond the disciples’ blindness.

Now let’s consider Jesus’ redemption in the face of the disciples’ anger.  

Jesus’ redemption (v. the disciples’ anger)

There are basically two main ways to define greatness. Top down or bottom up. The top-down definition of greatness asks, how many people can I get to serve me? While the bottom-up definition asks, how many people can I serve?

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once said, “The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender”.

I believe it is true for women as well. Perhaps what Booth meant here was the more a person surrenders their life to God’s purpose, the more people they will help. William Booth thought of greatness in terms of obedience to God and service to others.

James and John’s ambition, their drive for success and achievement, threatened their relationships with the other disciples. In verse 41, we read how the 10 became indignant with James and John.

The word indignant means angry, but it’s a particular kind of angry. The other 10 disciples were angry with James and John because they felt James and John had behaved in a way that was unworthy or unfair.

By asking for top positions in Jesus’ administration, James and John were implicitly saying to the other 10 disciples, ‘we are better than you’. The other 10 disciples didn’t share James and John’s opinion. The other disciples’ indignation reveals they thought James and John were not worthy of sitting at Jesus’ left and right.

No one, it seems, was too bothered about how Jesus might be feeling, even though Jesus had just described in detail how he was going to suffer.       

Jesus is not indignant. Jesus does not take umbrage. Jesus sees a teachable moment, an opportunity for redeeming the disciples’ relationships. Jesus sets the disciples’ free from their ambition and their anger, saying…

“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

This is the part that sounds familiar. Most people in the first century defined greatness in terms of how many people I can get to serve me. Jesus flips this on its head. Jesus redefines greatness as how many people I can serve.

Jesus goes on to use himself as an example saying, in verse 45…

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

In the Jewish imagination, the Son of Man was a great figure, one of the greatest. But the thing that makes the Son of Man great is his service to others.

Jesus is the Son of Man. Jesus is trying to tell his disciples that he came to die in order that others might live. That is one of the main ways Jesus continues to serve humanity.

Much ink has been spilt over what Jesus meant by giving his life as a ransom.

In the first century, if you wanted to set someone free from slavery or prison, you did so by paying a large amount of money. The ransom payment redeemed the person’s life, allowing them to go free and start afresh.

Some people over the centuries have asked the question, “If Jesus’ life was the cost of the ransom, then who was paid?” Well, that sort of question misses the point. No one was paid. Jesus is speaking metaphorically here.

Like when someone says, ‘grief is the price we pay for love’. No one receives a payment. Grief isn’t like money. The expression simply means, love costs you. Our redemption cost Jesus his life. Our freedom cost God his Son.

Conclusion:

Let me finish with a story. This is a true story. On Sunday, 16 August 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 225 crashed shortly after taking off from Detroit Airport, killing 154 people on board and two people on the ground. Only one passenger survived, a four-year old girl named Cecelia.

Cecelia survived because, as the plane was falling, Cecelia’s mother, Paula, unbuckled her own seatbelt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter and shielded Cecelia with her body. Paula gave her life as a ransom for her daughter. She saved Cecelia.

Nothing could separate Cecelia from her mother’s love – not tragedy or disaster, not the fall or the flames, not height nor depth, nor life nor death. Such is Jesus’ love for us. He left heaven, became a servant for us and covered us with the sacrifice of his own body that we might live. [1]

Jesus’ sacrifice calls for a response from us. What will you do with the freedom Jesus bought you?

Let us pray…

Loving God, we thank you for Jesus who redeems our life and shows us the way. Set us free from misplaced ambition, blindness and anger. Help us to walk humbly with you. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Why does Jesus keep repeating the same message to his disciples? (That is, about his suffering, death and resurrection and about service.) What faith lessons keep being repeated in your life?
  3. Discuss / reflect on Thomas Merton’s words, “When ambition ends, happiness begins”. What does Merton mean by this? Do you agree? When is ambition good? When does ambition become harmful? What was Jesus’ ambition? What is your ambition?
  4. What did Jesus mean when he talked about the cup and baptism, in verse 38? How did James and John (mis)understand Jesus’ words? What realities has God opened your eyes to, since becoming a Christian?   
  5. How does Jesus define greatness? How do you define greatness? Who serves you? Who do you serve? 
  6. Why did the other 10 disciples become indignant (angry) with James and John? What does their anger reveal about them? What makes you feel indignant?
  7. What did Jesus mean when he said, the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many? What freedoms do you enjoy because of Jesus? What will you do with the freedom Jesus bought you?

[1] Refer J. John and Mark Stibbe’s book, ‘A Box of Delights’, page 173.

Tawa Baptist

Small Things

Scripture: Proverbs 30:24-31

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Jdd3YfZQhJ8

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Small things
  • Proud things
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Some would say that humility is the mother of all virtues. It is from humility that other virtues like patience, faithfulness, compassion and so on are born.

Rick Warren says, ‘Humility is not denying your strengths, humility is being honest about your weaknesses’. Charles Spurgeon said something similar, ‘Humility is the proper estimation of oneself’.

Humility then is closely related to honesty and truth. It is also the companion of wisdom. ‘True humility is staying teachable, regardless of how much you already know’.

Today we continue our series in the book of Proverbs, by focusing on chapter 30. Proverbs 30 contains the sayings of Agur. The main theme running through Proverbs 30 is the importance of humility and the danger of hubris or pride. 

Agur begins by saying he is the most ignorant of men. This is interesting, coming as it does near the end of the book. It is a little reminder to us that no matter how much we think we know, there is always more to learn.  

Agur also reinforces the point, made throughout Proverbs, that wisdom comes from knowledge of the holy one, from God.

We are not going to cover all of Proverbs 30 this morning. Just verses 24-31, which read…

24 “Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: 25 Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; 26 hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; 27 locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; 28 a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: 30 a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; 31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king secure against revolt.  

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

A riddle for you. What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less? [Wait]

A hole. Our reading this morning has the sound and feel of a series of riddles.

In these verses we are presented with two sets of four things. The first set describes creatures that are humble and small but, despite their size, they thrive by wisdom.

The second set of four describes creatures that are proud and fearless in the way they walk. Sort of the opposite of the small wise creatures. Agur is inviting us to consider the contrast. Let’s begin with the small things. 

Small things:

The first of the four small but wise creatures is the ant. We came across the ant two months ago, in Proverbs 6.  

In Proverbs 30, the emphasis is on the ants’ foresight in gathering provisions in season. Relative to their body weight, ants are strong. But relative to a human being, a single ant is a creature of little strength and can be easily crushed.

Physical strength is less important, though, than wisdom. God has made this world so that it is not always survival of the strongest but rather survival of the wisest.

One wise thing about ants is that they work together. Working on your own (especially doing heavy physical labour) can be quite tough. But when you work as part of a team, there is a certain buoyancy or energy that carries you. Somehow the work doesn’t seem so overwhelming.

Ants survive and thrive by using whatever is at hand. Ants gather from the environment around them. They don’t sow crops, but they do harvest. Ants make do with what they can find.

One point of application is to open our eyes and notice what is in front of us. Sometimes, when we are facing a problem, we may look elsewhere for a solution, when God has already provided what we need in our own backyard.

The second of our humble but wise creatures is the hyrax, also known as the coney or the marmot or the rock badger. The hyrax is a small mammal, about the size of a rabbit.  

Its feet are made for climbing, which is handy for finding a home in rocky crags, where no one can touch them. Like ants, hyraxes use what is at hand in their local environment.

The hyrax has good eyesight and can spot a predator from around 900 metres away. For protection they live in colonies of up to 50 and tend to stay close together. There is wisdom in sticking together.

Hyraxes are not the same as ants in every way though. Ants are always busy, always on the move, always working. Whereas hyraxes don’t move much. Hyraxes have the ability to remain still and keep watch. Keeping still conserves energy and it avoids unwanted attention from predators.

There is wisdom in being still. To paraphrase Blaise Pascal: All human evil stems from a single cause, man’s inability to sit still in a room. We human beings have an unfortunate tendency to react out of fear or get involved in things that we should stay out of. The hyrax knows how to be still and mind its own business.

When was the last time you sat still in silence for half an hour and simply allowed yourself to be? It’s a lot harder than you might think.

The third of our small creatures is the locust. Locusts are like ants in that they have no king or commander and yet they are organized. They cooperate and work together as one. The focus here is on leadership.

For centuries the people of Israel managed without a king. They didn’t need an earthly king because God was their King. But then, in First Samuel, we read how the people asked for a king like the nations around them.

The prophet Samuel warned the people that a king would tax their income, take their sons off to war and place burdens on them. An earthly king is not unlike a swarm of locusts in what he devours.

But the people did not listen and so God gave them what they asked for. Suffice to say, it did not go well. Power is corrosive to humility. Power feeds the ego and distorts a person’s perception of themselves and those around them.       

The leaderless locusts pose the question: ‘What kind of people do you want to be – strong and led by a king? Actually, you don’t need that as much as you need wisdom.’ [1]

Time for another riddle. What month of the year has 28 days? [Wait]

All of them. Every month has 28 days.

In verse 28 we read of the fourth small creature that is wise: a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

This verse is a bit of a riddle. I’m not sure what it means? Agur contrasts the lizard which is not powerful with the king who is powerful. Yet both share the same palace?

Is Agur saying that fortification and armed guards are no match for wisdom? Wisdom can breach the palace defenses in a way that military force cannot.

Or is he saying that wisdom is at home in the palace and that it is easily caught, like a lizard? The king needs to find wisdom in order to rule well.  

Or is Agur suggesting that kings are in some way similar to lizards? Is he saying that power attracts creepy crawly, reptile like people? Maybe. But not everyone in power is lizard like.

We do notice that lizards are different from ants, hyraxes and locusts in that lizards are not social creatures. The ant, the hyrax and the locust thrive in community together. Whereas the lizard is more territorial, more solitary.

Kings tend to be territorial as well. And the mantle of leadership is often lonely.  

Verse 28 remains a mystery to me. Perhaps that is the purpose of this riddle, to humble us. To show us how little we really know and therefore how important it is that we remain teachable.

Proud Things:

Okay, so we have touched on the small but wise things in verses 24-28. What about the proud and fearless creatures in verses 29-31. Let’s remind ourselves of what is written…

29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: 30 a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; 31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king secure against revolt. 

The ant, the hyrax, the locust and the lizard were noted for being extremely wise, even though they are small compared to other creatures.

In contrast, the lion, the rooster, the he-goat and the king are noted for how they move. That is, the manner in which they carry themselves. How one moves has nothing to do with wisdom. How one moves is window dressing. It’s just advertising to create a desired perception. 

The smaller humble creatures get high praise, while the more powerful, stately looking creatures get a downgrade. What good is it to move with stately bearing? It’s almost like saying, the lion, the rooster, the goat and the king look impressive, but they are not that bright.    

Being brave and self-assured comes a poor second to being wise.

Perhaps we are meant to see some irony here. The he-goat and rooster are not like the lion. They are more like big fish in a small pond. Each would run from a lion. Which begs the question, is the king more like a lion or a farm animal? [2]

The goat and the rooster remind us there is folly in the small pretending to be great. The ant, the hyrax, the locust and the lizard are small but they do not pretend to be great. They embrace their smallness and use it to their advantage. 

Agur seems to be warning against illusions of grandeur. The message is, know yourself and your limitations. More than that, accept yourself and use what you’ve got to your advantage.

‘Humility is not denying your strengths, humility is being honest about your weaknesses’.

The hyrax has the humility and wisdom to accept its own strengths and weaknesses. The hyrax is good at climbing, but it is not a strong fighter. So, it makes a home in the rocky crags where predators cannot reach and therefore where it won’t need to fight.

The rooster seems to live in denial of its weaknesses and ends up on your dinner plate.

Parallel with this, Agur may be inviting us to discern what is a legitimate threat and what is not, so we make better choices for our own wellbeing.

The lion is an apex predator. Although lions do not normally hunt people, you wouldn’t want to get too close to one. Lions are wild creatures and do not follow any sort of moral code. They are driven by hunger, not mercy or justice. You are wise to stay well clear of lions.

Roosters and goats, on the other hand, may strut around like they own the place, but we don’t need to fear them. Roosters and goats look to us to care for them.

It’s similar with people. Some people are like lions. They are strong and powerful, a genuine threat. You cannot reason with them and so you are best to give them a wide berth. Other people though are more like roosters. They make a lot of noise and appear confident, but you don’t need to fear them.

The trick is being able to tell the difference. You don’t want to mistake a lion for a rooster.

The fourth thing that moves with stately bearing is, a king secure against revolt. This line can also be translated, a king with his army around him. Either way, there is an implied criticism here. If the king’s confidence is in his army or in the numbers supporting him, then he is not truly wise.

In Psalm 33 we read, ‘No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength… But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love…’

Real power comes from wisdom that fears God and acts uprightly. [3]

To ignore God is as arrogant and ridiculous as a strutting rooster or billy goat.

In short, when we put the small but wise creatures alongside the strong and proud, we see the power of the weak and the weakness of those in power.  

Conclusion:

What is as small as a mouse but guards a house like a lion? [Wait]

A lock.

Jesus liked riddles. Many of his parables contained riddles.

Jesus also liked to champion the small things of God’s creation.

In Matthew 13, the Lord says… 

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

God’s kingdom may start small, but it grows and provides shelter for those who (like birds) are small but wise. Jesus followed this parable with a similar one…

33 “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty poundsof flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Yeast makes the dough rise. The yeast of God’s kingdom, which is small, has the wisdom to raise and transform whole households and communities. Indeed, the whole world.

Small things done with great love are the mustard seeds and yeast of God’s kingdom. The mustard seeds and yeast of God’s kingdom are in your heart and hands.

What small thing can you do with great love this week?

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? How can you make the most of both your strengths and weaknesses?
  • Discuss / reflect on what we can learn from ants, hyraxes, locusts and lizards. What do they share in common? How are they different? What do these creatures reveal about God?   
  • When was the last time you sat still in silence? What happened in the silence?
  • Discuss / reflect on what we can learn from the lion, the rooster, the he-goat and the king. How are they different from the small but wise creatures of verses 24-28?
  • Can you think of a time when someone did something small for you, with great love? What did they do and what affect did it have? What small thing can you do with great love this week?

[1] Paul Koptak, NIVAC Proverbs.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

Tawa Baptist

John’s Humility

Scripture: John 3:22-30

Video Link: https://youtu.be/yDbL-iH2iQg

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • John’s humility
  • How is humility formed?
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Imagine a can of peaches. Most people would agree the contents are more important than the label. The quality of the peaches inside the can matters more than the picture on the outside because you don’t eat the label, you eat the peaches. The label is still useful though, provided it is accurate.

(I’ve always found this brand to be good by the way.)

Today we continue our series on John the Baptist. Last week we heard about John’s magnum opus, his great work, of preparing people for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.

This morning we take a look inside the can of John’s character. John has the label of a wild man, living in the desert, preaching hell fire and repentance. But, underneath the tough exterior, there is a winsomeness to John which is quite lovely. From the gospel of John chapter 3, verses 22-30 we read…

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

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

This reading from John’s gospel gives us a glimpse inside John the Baptist’s character. What we find in the can, is not peaches, but the fruit of humility.

John’s humility:

Mother Teresa had this to say about humility…

Humility is the mother of all virtues… It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed, you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint, you will not put yourself on a pedestal.

Mother Teresa is not just speaking for herself here. She is reflecting Christian wisdom gleaned over centuries. Humility is about being completely honest with yourself. It’s about knowing who and what you truly are. Having an accurate estimation of yourself in relation to God and others. Humility, therefore, is about being real, authentic. 

Being humble is not about being self-effacing. Often, in kiwi culture, we cut ourselves down before anyone else has a chance. But humility, in the Bible, is not the same as self-sabotage.

A humble person is quietly self-affirming. They have a healthy self-awareness, without being self-absorbed. In other words, a humble person knows their own imperfections and limitations but still accepts themselves.

John the Baptist was humble. He knew who he was and what he was in relation to Jesus and others. 

After Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in the night, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside where they spent some time baptising people. Jesus’ disciples happened to be baptising in the same area that John was baptising, because that’s where the water was.

You may remember John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It was a sign of surrender to God and making a fresh start in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

By having his disciples baptise people, Jesus was showing his support for John’s ministry. Jesus was not competing against John. They were on the same team, like a batting partnership in cricket. 

As sometimes happens with intense religious people, who insist on being right, an argument developed between the disciples of John the Baptist and a certain Jew over ceremonial washing. We don’t know who this Jew was or precisely why he took issue with John’s baptism.

Given the details are not mentioned, it doesn’t matter, which serves as a lesson to us. Some things are not worth dwelling on or arguing about. A humble person knows when to let it go and walk away.

John is not drawn into a pointless argument. He is walking humbly with God. John is secure in the knowledge that he is doing what God wants him to do. He doesn’t have anything to prove.   

John’s disciples are not so secure. They are concerned that Jesus’ disciples are baptising more people. John’s disciples were loyal to John and felt jealous on his behalf, because Jesus was becoming more popular.

But John’s ego is not bruised by Jesus’ success. John is not proud. He is humble. John knows what he is in relation to Jesus. John replies with an accurate estimation of himself…

“A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’…”                     

In some ways, we are like tea pots. The tea pot does not make the tea. The tea pot is simply a vessel for holding and pouring the tea. Nor does the tea pot have any ownership rights over the tea. The very purpose of the tea pot is to share the tea.

In this analogy, God is the one who makes the tea. The tea pot (that’s each of us) can only receive what is given from heaven. As the apostle Paul said,

‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us’.

John was successful in the sense that people came to him in their thousands to listen to him preach and to be baptised. But that success wasn’t because of John. That success was given by God.  John was under no illusion. He knew that people came to him because he was serving the heavenly tea of God’s word. And he served the tea hot, not lukewarm.

In verse 29, John offers this metaphor to describe his relationship with Jesus.

29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

The bride in John’s analogy is the nation of Israel and the bridegroom is Jesus, the Messiah. The friend is John the Baptist. John is like Jesus’ best man at the wedding between the Messiah and Israel.

Notice here how humility opens the door for joy. The best man is not envious or covetous. He does not want to keep the bride for himself. The best man is happy to see his friend get married. 

As I’ve said before, joy is the positive energy that comes from hope. John has been waiting and listening for Jesus to come and be united with Israel. Now that is finally happening, John’s hope is realised and his joy is complete.  

John is genuinely pleased that the people are flocking to Jesus, for that means John has done his job.

And so we come to some of the most winsome words in the whole Bible. John says of Jesus, in verse 30: He must become greater; I must become less.

The best man has a key role to play in assisting the groom, both before the wedding and on the big day itself. But once the ceremony has taken place and the speeches are done, the best man slips away. After all, it was never about the best man.

He must become greater; I must become less, reveals more than just humility; it also reveals John’s self-giving love for Jesus. “It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent.”

John willingly gave his time and strength to prepare the way for Christ. And he was glad to give up his popularity for the sake of Jesus. Eventually he would give up his freedom and his life also. 

He must become greater; I must become less.

When I reflect on what that means for us, I am mindful of the people Tawa Baptist has donated to other churches and to the work of mission over the years. We have given away some of our best and brightest for the greater good of God’s kingdom. We have become less so that Jesus would become more.

Thinking on a personal level, He must become greater; I must become less, is the process of a lifetime really. It describes the journey of faith. Very few people give their whole life to Jesus all at once. Most of us give ourselves to Jesus incrementally (bit by bit). 

We do well to remember, with thankfulness, those who have acted as a John the Baptist in our lives; introducing us to Jesus and then becoming less so he can become more.

We do even better to consider who we might be a John the Baptist for.

If you are a Sunday school teacher or a youth group leader or a parent, then you can be like John the Baptist for those in your care. You know you won’t have these young ones forever. They will grow up and move on. But while they are with you, you can point them to Jesus.  

Likewise, when you point friends, neighbours, work colleagues or school mates to Jesus, through winsome words and deeds, then you are being a John the Baptist for them. May God bless you with joy as you become less and Jesus becomes more.    

How is humility formed?  

Some of you may wonder, how is humility formed? How can I become humble, like John? Well, the Spirit of God can develop humility in all manner of ways. I don’t think there is a formula to it necessarily.

But that’s not particularly helpful to you, so let me suggest three things that I’ve observed (anecdotally). Among other things, humility is formed with acceptance, with the wilderness and with a personal experience of grace.   

Humility is about being completely honest with yourself; telling yourself the truth. Being honest with yourself goes hand in hand with accepting yourself. To not accept yourself is to live in denial of who you really are.

If the can contains peaches, then it is best to accept that fact. Nothing good comes from pretending the can contains something else, like boysenberries.   

John the Baptist was honest with himself. He knew he was second fiddle to Jesus and he accepted that fact. At no point did John entertain a Messiah complex. He never let his early success get the better of him. He never lied to himself or misled anyone. 

Accepting yourself is not as easy as it sounds, especially if there are parts of yourself that you don’t like that much.  It helps to have one or two significant people in your life who know you and accept you for who you are.

I imagine John found acceptance from his parents Zechariah and Elizabeth. They knew who their son was and why he was born. So John likely grew up with a strong sense of his own identity and purpose.

Who is it that sees you and gets you? Who is it that speaks the truth to you, in a gracious way, in order to keep you honest? It might be a family member. It might be your partner in marriage. It might be a friend or a teacher or your spiritual director. Value that relationship, take care of it.

Humility is like walking. It requires us to keep our feet on the ground and to stand upright. Walking humbly is not something we can do alone. No. We walk humbly with God. Ultimately, it is God’s love for us, his presence with us, that enables us to accept ourselves and keep our feet on the ground.   

The wilderness is also helpful in forming humility. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness for much of his life. The wilderness has its own way of lending perspective. When you are in the desert or in the mountains or out on the open sea, you learn that you are not in charge. The wilderness is in charge.

It is humbling to walk the length of the valley leading up to Franz Joseph glacier, with sheer cliffs either side of you, and realise how small you are in comparison to the powerful ice that has carved a valley out of rock over millions of years.

Young men are seldom honest with themselves. Young men often think they are bullet proof. When we were still at school, my friends and I used to go kayaking on the Wairoa River in the Kaimai rangers, near Tauranga. One day one of the members of our canoe club was swept under a ledge and drowned. The force of the water (a grade 5 rapid) held him there.

He was an experienced paddler who had run that particular rapid many times before and he respected the river, yet it claimed his life. It was a sad day. A humbling way to learn we were not in charge. The wilderness was in charge. 

A third thing that helps to form humility is a personal experience of grace. When someone bestows on us an honour we know we don’t deserve. Or when they treat us with a generosity we have not earned, that is grace. If you let that grace touch you deeply enough, it has a humbling affect.

John the Baptist was humbled by a personal experience of grace when Jesus came to be baptised by him. John feels unworthy of the honour and tries to deter Jesus saying: “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”

Now this is remarkable. John was a holy man. He lived a pure life and had a far better moral compass than most. Yet, despite his righteousness, John did not rely on his own goodness. John knew that he was from earth while Jesus was from heaven.

But Jesus says to John: “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented. What else could he do? To deny Jesus would be out of line, it would be arrogant. John is humbled by Jesus’ grace.    

We can be humbled by grace in all sorts of ways. To receive forgiveness, when you know you were wrong and are genuinely sorry, is to be humbled by grace.

To realise the privilege of receiving a good education, when others who went before us were denied the opportunity, is to be humbled by grace.

To recognise you have a choice over which career path to follow, when most of the world does whatever job they can to survive, is to be humbled by grace.

I feel humbled by grace watching the news at times. Seeing pictures of the death & devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkey & Syria, is sobering. Then there is the suffering of the people in Ukraine. Thousands of lives lost and homes destroyed, in winter.

I know New Zealand has suffered its own trauma in recent times, but I still reckon most of us who live here have won the lottery, even without buying a ticket. We have much to be thankful for. I am humbled by God’s goodness and grace for us in this land.

Opportunities to grow in humility are all around, if we don’t let a sense of entitlement get in the way.

Conclusion:

When we look inside the can of John’s character we find humility. We also find love. As the apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 13…

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

John was patient, waiting and listening for Jesus. John did not get angry when Jesus became more popular. John was not proud or boastful. Nor was John envious of Jesus. John had the humility to be honest with himself and to rejoice in Jesus’ success.

Being honest with ourselves requires each of us to ask: What is in the can of my character? And do the contents of that can match the label?

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for those people who have acted like a John the Baptist in our lives, introducing us to Jesus, then becoming less so he can become more. Help us to be a John the Baptist for others. Give us the grace to be honest with ourselves and true to you. May we always be motivated by love. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What is humility? Why is it important to be honest with ourselves? What is in the can of your character? And do the contents of that can match the label?
  • Discuss / reflect on John’s metaphor in verse 29. E.g. What does the analogy mean? What is the relationship between humility and joy? How does humility make love real, devoted and ardent?
  • What might it look like for us to become less, so that Jesus becomes more? 
  • Who has acted as a John the Baptist in your life? Give thanks for them. Who can you be a John the Baptist for? Pray about this.
  • How is humility formed? How can we become/remain humble? 
  • Who accepts you? Who is it that sees you and gets you? Who is it that speaks the truth to you, in a gracious way, in order to keep you honest? What can you do to take care of that relationship?
  • Take some time this week to consider God’s grace in your life. Let the reality of that grace touch you deeply. Let grace humble you.  
Tawa Baptist

Honesty

Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:20; 19:15-19

Video Link: https://youtu.be/_3dB1FprMWo

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Honesty promotes justice in the court room
  • Honesty promotes trust in the neighbourhood
  • Honesty promotes humility in the heart  
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Let’s begin with a simple multi-choice question. When was the first time you can remember telling a lie? Were you: A. under the age of 10; B. over the age of 10; C. I have never told a lie; Or D. I can’t remember, it was too long ago.  

I expect most people would answer either A. under 10 or D. I can’t remember. If you answered C. (that you have never told a lie) then you are either Jesus or you are telling a porky. Lying is probably the easiest, most inclusive, all-age sin there is. Almost anyone can lie. And, eventually, everyone does.

Today we continue our series in Deuteronomy. We are up to that part (in chapter 5) where Moses reiterates the ten commandments of Yahweh. This morning our focus is the command, ‘You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour’, in verse 20.

The general aim with this commandment is to be honest and tell the truth. Honesty promotes justice in the courtroom, it promotes trust in the neighbourhood and being honest with ourselves promotes humility in the heart.

Honesty promotes justice in the courtroom:

In the context of the ten commandments, you shall not give false testimony is primarily about not lying in a court of law. Or not perverting the course of justice in other words.   

For society to function in a peaceful way there needs to be justice. And justice depends on people being honest and telling the truth. In the ancient world they didn’t have forensic science like we do. They weren’t able to check for finger prints or DNA and so eye witnesses were essential for providing evidence.

In Deuteronomy 19, verse 15, we read…

15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

The requirement for two or three witnesses (whose testimonies agree) provided a safe guard against miscarriages of justice. However, this safeguard was not full proof. It was still possible for two or three dishonest people to conspire against an innocent third party. And so Deuteronomy 19 goes on to say…

16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. 

We see a number of examples of false witnesses in the Scriptures. One such example is found in the book of Esther.

There we read how Haman trumped up false charges against Mordecai. Haman was so confident of his plot he constructed gallows in anticipation of Mordecai being found guilty. As it transpired, Haman’s false testimony was uncovered and Haman himself was hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.

Perhaps the most famous example of people bearing false witness though was at the trial of Jesus. In Matthew 26 we read…

59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any [who could agree], though many false witnesses came forward.

Ironically, Jesus was put to death for giving truthful testimony about himself. When the high priest asked Jesus if he was the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say.” No one in that court believed him, despite the evidence of his miracles, his fulfilment of Scripture and his followers.    

Okay, time for another multi-choice question. You don’t have to put your hand up for this one by the way. Simply consider what you might do. Here’s the scenario…

Your best friend was involved in a car crash but fled the scene before the police arrived so they could not test his blood for alcohol. You were seen with your friend at the pub the night of the crash but you were not in the car at the time. You are required to take the stand in court as a witness.

The prosecution asks if you saw your friend drinking the night of the crash. You answer ‘yes’. Then they ask you, how much was he drinking? You know that it was enough to put him over the limit but you don’t want to make things worse for your best mate. How do you answer?

Do you: A. tell the whole truth, it was four jugs of beer and two shots of tequila; B. fudge the truth to cover for him, it was only half a pint of beer; C. Lie by saying you can’t remember; Or D. remain silent and refuse to answer.

In this scenario you are not being tempted to get someone into trouble for something they haven’t done. You are being tempted to withhold the truth in order to protect a friend who is clearly in the wrong. Is it okay to do that?

Well, no. When Deuteronomy 5, verse 20, talks about giving ‘false’ testimony, the word false, means empty testimony. As Daniel Block explains, the concern is testimony that does not move the case forward, that hedges the truth or detracts from the pursuit of justice with misleading or trivial responses. [1]

In the context of a courtroom, the purpose with the command to not give false testimony is to ensure justice is done. Fudging the truth or leaving out crucial facts or pretending you can’t remember or saying nothing, are not allowed if those strategies derail the course of justice.

Okay, so we’ve talked about not giving false testimony in the context of formal legal proceedings. What about outside of a court of law. How does the command to not give false testimony apply in the neighbourhood? And by the neighbourhood we mean in the home, at school, in the work place, in your street, and so on.    

Honesty promotes trust in the neighbourhood:

In Leviticus 19 we read: Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.

And, jumping ahead to the New Testament, in Ephesians 4 we read: Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour… 

These verses are talking about being honest in our everyday relationships with the people in our neighbourhood. If the primary purpose of being honest in a court of law is to promote justice, then the primary purpose in being honest with our neighbours is to promote trust.

The air in the atmosphere we breathe is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases. As much as we need oxygen to survive, too much oxygen is harmful. In fact, breathing pure oxygen will kill you.

Honesty is like oxygen to the atmosphere of our relationships. We need honesty in our relationships. Honesty keeps trust alive. But too much honesty will kill the relationship. Honesty needs to be tempered with the nitrogen of discretion.

Discretion is not lying. Discretion is choosing when to speak and when to hold your tongue for the sake of the relationship; for the sake of trust.

For example, if you meet a friend at a café and as part of the conversation say, very loudly so everyone can hear, ‘how are your hemorrhoids?’ Or, ‘your breath smells really bad’. Or, ‘that dress makes you look fat’ Or, something else that might be honest but also embarrassing for them, then you will undermine trust and kill the friendship. There is such a thing as being too honest.

Being honest doesn’t give us a license to disclose other people’s business. In the context of the neighbourhood, honesty needs to be tempered with discretion, otherwise no one will trust you.

Imagine you are waiting by the coffee cart on the Main Road here in Tawa when one of the cool kids, someone quite successful and generally liked by everyone, starts talking with you while you are waiting for your morning fix. The conversation begins innocently enough but then takes a turn for the worse.

This popular person, who you admire, starts talking about another person’s failure behind their back. There may be some foundation to what they are saying but it is not entirely true and it certainly is not kind, much less anyone else’s business. How do you respond?

Do you: A. collude with them by agreeing; B. listen and say nothing; C. call them out (and correct them); or D. subtly change the topic of conversation.     

I guess most of us would like to think we had the courage to call them out and correct them, even though that might make us the target of their gossip with someone else. But I imagine most (if not all) of us have employed all four strategies at one point or another.

In 1st Corinthians 13, Paul describes the most excellent way, saying…

5 Love does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, 

Honesty can be a brutal thing, if it is not motivated by love. We may harm others with our words and then justify ourselves by saying, ‘I was just keeping it real’ or ‘I was only being honest’.  Yes, love rejoices with the truth. But that does not mean love is insensitive or that it takes pleasure in seeing people hurt.

The truth is too big for any of us to know. We don’t have the full picture and so we need to be honest with ourselves and admit the limits of our understanding. Our words need to be motivated by love and humility. We must be careful not to dishonour others with our words. We need to protect the reputation of others.

As a teacher, Robyn sometimes has kids coming to her telling tales. She poked her tongue out at me. Or he peed in the pool. There may be some truth to these tales but there isn’t much love.

Robyn has an acrostic she uses with the kids in her class. It spells the word THINK. (I’ve shared this with you before.) She tells her kids to THINK before they speak. Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? And is it Kind? If it is true, helpful, inspiring, necessary and kind then it is worth saying.  

The apostle Paul summed it up in Ephesians 4 when he said…

Say only the good things people need to hear, that will really help them.

When our words are honest and kind, we foster trust in our relationships. Trust is the foundation really. Without trust there is nothing to build on and the neighbourhood collapses.

These days our neighbourhood is not just a physical place. Many of us also inhabit a virtual online neighbourhood. We live in the information age. There is so much data at our finger tips, on the internet. Unfortunately, not all of it is true. The recent pandemic has revealed the power of misinformation to mislead people and undermine trust.  

Jesus teaches us to be discerning in what we accept as true and what we filter out as false. In Matthew 7, Jesus says…

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 

Jesus wants us to be discerning about what we accept as true because buying into a lie makes it harder to trust and easier to become cynical.

Okay, so we are talking about the importance of being honest. Honesty promotes justice in the courtroom, it promotes trust in the neighbourhood and being honest with ourselves promotes humility in the heart.

Honesty promotes humility in the heart:

Jesus had quite a bit to say about keeping our heart honest. Jesus was particularly tough on religious hypocrisy. A hypocrite is an actor, someone who gets by in life by pretending to be something they are not. Listen to some of the things Jesus said to the religious leaders’ faces, from the gospel of Luke…

39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 

41 But… be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

46“And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

An ignorant person might hear those words and think, Jesus is taking a shot at all professional clergy. But he’s not. Anyone can be a Pharisee. You don’t even have to be a believer to be like the religious leaders Jesus is describing here. Those words fit for anyone who is dishonest with themselves.  

Imagine you are in church singing a worship song. You are finding the song difficult to sing. Not because the music is complicated but because the words are pricking your conscience. All to Jesus, I surrender, all to thee I freely give. I will ever love and trust you, in your presence daily live. I surrender all…

You know in your heart that you are failing to live up to those words. It’s not that you have a sensitive conscience. In fact, your conscience hardly ever bothers you, which (truth be told) is how you like it.

But the Spirit is present, this particular day, and you know Jesus is putting his finger on something in your life, something you would rather not face. Perhaps some dodgey dealings at work or school. Or maybe you are cheating on your boyfriend or being violent with your wife or neglecting your children. 

Whatever it is, do you: A. ignore your conscience and sing louder; B. lip sync without actually singing the words; C. stop coming to church altogether; or D. put things right and return to church the next Sunday to sing with a clear conscience.

Hopefully we would all do D. put things right and sing with a clear conscience. Having said that, I’m all too aware that sometimes we human beings are tempted to use religion as a cloak of invisibility, to hide what’s really going on in our personal lives.

Now, I’m not suggesting we stop singing worship songs in church every time we do something wrong. If we did that, no one would ever be able to sing.

The point is we need to be honest with ourselves and with God. Other people can’t see into our hearts but God can. There is no fooling him. We don’t have to be perfect to call ourselves a Christian but nor can we fake it.

When we mess up we need to confess our wrong doing to the Lord, do what we can to put it right and continue following Jesus in faith, trusting ourselves to God’s grace, without pride or pretence. 

One of the ways we keep our heart honest is through the spiritual discipline of self-examination and confession. Confession is when you tell God (aloud) what you have done wrong. When confession is done well, it releases us from guilt and enables to walk humbly with God.

Trouble is, we don’t always do confession well. We may spend too much time examining our heart and become too critical of ourselves, not allowing any room for grace. Or we might go to the other extreme and charge through life without any self-awareness, leaving a trail of hurt people in our wake.     

When I was a teenager, I remember attending a church service. The guest speaker was talking about the value of confessing our sins to each other. Not wanting to be hypocrites, and perhaps also wanting to unburden their conscience, a number of people got up and confessed their deepest darkest secrets to the whole congregation.

In hindsight, I don’t think that was a good idea. While there is a place for accountability, perhaps with a mentor or in small groups, it doesn’t really work in a bigger gathering. Some people over shared and others didn’t share anything. The whole exercise just made people feel awkward or misunderstood and consequently more disconnected, which defeats the purpose of church.

Confession works best when done in the same context in which we committed the wrong doing. For example, if you lie to a colleague, one on one, then you put that right by confessing the truth to that colleague, one on one. You don’t need to tell the whole church what you did.

However, if you stand up in a church meeting and say something false or hurtful, then you put that right by admitting your mistake in a church meeting. Confession works best when done in the same context in which we committed the wrong doing.    

Conclusion:

We’ve talked this morning about the importance of honesty. Honesty promotes justice in the courtroom, it promotes trust in the neighbourhood and being honest with ourselves promotes humility in the heart.

But are there any circumstances when it is okay to lie? Well, if the purpose in being honest is to promote justice, trust and humility, then we may be forced to lie if telling the truth would undermine justice, trust and humility.

One last multi-choice question to illustrate what I mean. Imagine you live under a ruthless dictatorship, one in which the authorities are hell bent of eradicating anyone with red hair. The ruler of the country has lost his mind. People with even a hint of ginger in their beard are being hunted down and sent into exile on Stewart Island to shuck oysters.

The law is completely ridiculous. Having red hair is not a moral issue. There is no justice in this decree. It undermines human dignity, destroys trust and promotes bigotry and prejudice.

Do you: A. set up a secret hair salon in your basement to dye people’s hair black; B. Dye your own hair red in solidarity; C. lie to the authorities to protect your red headed neighbours; or D. report people with red hair to the police.

I think, in an extreme situation like that, lying to the authorities is (paradoxically) a more honest option than reporting red heads to the police.

(My apologies to people with red hair and anyone living on Stewart Island. I mean no disrespect. I’m 98% sure this scenario would never happen.)

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for Jesus who shows us what it means to hold grace and truth together. Help us to be honest with you, honest with our neighbours and honest with ourselves. May justice be upheld in our courts of law. May trust be strengthened in our neighbourhoods and may we walk humbly with you. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • When was the first time you can remember telling a lie? What happened? How did you feel? Were you able to put it right?
  • Why is it important to be honest? What does honesty promote? 
  • Can you recall a time when someone lied to you? What happened? How did you feel? Was your ability to trust affected? If so, how? 
  • How might we handle a situation in which someone talks negatively to us about someone else behind their back? How do we maintain trust?
  • Is it ever okay to lie? If so, under what circumstances? What principles can we use to guide us?
  • How might we keep ourselves honest? What does healthy confession look like in practice? Make some time this week to examine your heart, confess your short fallings to God and make things right with others if necessary.

[1] Daniel Block, NIVAC Deuteronomy, pages 166-167.

Tawa Baptist

Blessing

Scripture: 1st Peter 3:8-12

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Defined by character
  • Defined by blessing
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

What would you say defines a banana cake? [Wait]

That’s right – a banana cake is defined by bananas. It is made out of bananas and as a consequence its very character, its smell and taste, is banana-ish.

What about a custard square – what defines a custard square? [Wait]

That’s right – custard. Take the custard out of a custard square and it is no longer a custard square, it’s just a piece of pastry. Keep the custard and it does not matter what shape the pastry is, it is still a custard square.

What about a Christian – what defines a Christian? [Wait]

That’s right – Christ. A Christian is defined by Jesus. If a person stops walking in the way of Christ, they are no longer Christian. But how might we define the way of Christ?

Today we continue our series in first Peter, focusing on chapter 3, verses 8-12. In this passage Peter talks about some of the things that define the way of Jesus and therefore are characteristic of Christians. From verse 8 we read…

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be understanding, love one another as brothers, be compassionate and humble-minded. 9 Do not repay evil with evilor insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to thisyou were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 11 They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

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

In these verses we learn what defines a Christian. We are defined by our distinctive Christ-like character and we are defined by blessing. First let us consider what a Christ-like character smells and tastes like.  

Defined by character:

In my hand here I have a Griffin’s Vanilla Wine biscuit. Vanilla Wines are a plain round biscuit with a distinctive smell and taste. They remind me of my Nana. Often when we went to visit she would put some Vanilla Wine biscuits out for us to eat.

It’s not that my Nana did not do her own baking. She made amazing peanut brownie cookies but I’ve never found a peanut brownie biscuit that tastes just like hers. Fortunately, Griffins have not changed their Vanilla Wine recipe so whenever I want to remember my Nana I simply smell and taste a Vanilla Wine biscuit.  

Character refers to the mental and moral qualities distinctive to a person or community. Character therefore refers to the inner substance of a person or group. Not their physical substance but their moral substance. Character is the seed bed of speech and behavior.

In considering what Christ-like character smells and tastes like, Peter lists five character traits for Christians. In verse 8 we read: …all of you, be like-minded, be understanding, love one another as brothers, be compassionate and humble-minded.    

Notice that Peter starts by saying all of you. In contemporary Western society we tend to think of character in individual terms. But Peter is writing in a cultural context which is more collective in its way of thinking. So these five mental and moral characteristics apply to all Christian believers, both individually and collectively as a community of faith.    

The first moral quality by which Christian character is defined is like-mindedness. Like-mindedness implies working together with other Christians as part of a team or family and not acting in isolation. Like-mindedness also refers to sharing a common heritage and ethical tradition. [1]

Some translations paraphrase the word like-minded as harmony, which provides a lovely image. The church is a bit like an orchestra made up of different people playing different instruments but all playing in a like-minded or harmonious way.

The thing that makes an orchestra like-minded is playing from the same musical score and following the same conductor. In a similar way, the thing that makes the Christian community like-minded is reading the same Bible and following the same example of Jesus Christ.

Closely related to being like-minded is having understanding for one another. Understanding on both an emotional level and an intellectual level. Being happy for people when things go well for them and being supportive of them when life is tough. Understanding requires us to see things from the other person’s point of view and ask ourselves the question; if I was in their shoes what would I find most helpful?

So for example: if the person in question has a problem with alcohol then understanding requires that we don’t buy them a bottle of wine for Christmas.

Or if someone has been abused as a child then understanding might mean not imposing a hug on them because you know they don’t like to be touched.

Or if a couple are not able to have children then understanding means not complaining about your kids keeping you awake at night.

Or if you are a married woman and you have a female friend who is on their own then understanding might mean going on a girls’ night out, rather than inviting your single friend to dinner with lots of couples. You get the idea.

The third character quality that Peter mentions is brotherly love. This comes right in the center of the five virtues, which might indicate it is the most important.

Some more modern translations take out the word brotherly and say ‘love one another’. They do this to appear more gender neutral, more inclusive. But the original text uses the expression brotherly love and when we remove key words in translation we risk watering down the meaning of the text. Brotherly love does not exclude women in any way. As we heard a couple of weeks ago, with the section on instructions to wives, Peter is not writing to men only.

The point is the kind of love Christians are to have for one another is the love that one has for family, for blood relations. We tend to put up with more from family members because they are family. The bond between family members is stronger somehow than other relationships. By using the term brotherly love Peter is saying the church is a spiritual family. So the bond between Christian believers should be at least as strong as the bond between blood relations.

The Hebrew word for love is closely related to the Hebrew word to give. Therefore, in Jewish thought, to love is to give. [2]

Let me share with you a traditional folk story that illustrates brotherly love well.          

Once therewere two brothers who lived in two villages and shared the land between them. Every year they would divide the harvest.

During one abundant year the older brother, who was married and had many children, was worried about his younger brother who did not have a family. Who would support him in his old age? In the middle of the night, the older brother secretly brought some grain to his brother’s storehouse, but when he woke up in the morning he still had exactly the same amount of grain that he had the night before.

The younger brother was also worried: How will my older brother support all his children? So, the younger brother decided to secretly travel to his brother’s storehouse and place some grain of his own inside, but in the morning, he discovered that he still had exactly the same amount of grain as he had before he gave any away.

This went on for two nights until on the third night, the two brothers met as each one was on the way to the other’s storehouse carrying grain. At once, they both understood what had happened and they embraced in brotherly love.

In Jewish folklore it is said that God decided the ground where the two brothers met would be the site of His holy temple. I’m not sure if that is historically accurate but it certainly contains some beautiful truths. Those brothers were defined by like-mindedness, understanding, love and compassion.

Compassion is the fourth word Peter uses to define the Christian believer and community.  In Biblical thought compassion is a strong gut feeling which moves someone to act in kindness for someone else’s well-being. The classic story of compassion is Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan.

You know the one; where a man is beaten up by robbers and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite each, in turn, see the wounded man and pass by without stopping to help. But when a despised Samaritan sees the man in need, he has compassion on the stranger. And his compassion moves him to stop and care for the man’s wounds. Then the Samaritan puts the man on his own donkey and carries him to an inn to recover, paying the expenses himself.     

One of the finer points of Jesus’ parable of the Samaritan is that the wounded stranger had been stripped of his clothes. And in that culture the clothes a person wore identified which race and religion they belonged to. So without seeing any clothes it was impossible for the Samaritan to know who he was helping. It could have been a Jewish enemy.

The point is compassion is blind when it comes to matters of race and religion. Some of you may sponsor children through World Vision or Tear Fund. Although both of these organizations are Christian, some of the communities they support through child sponsorship are not Christian. But that does not matter. As Christian organizations, World Vision and Tear Fund are not defined by the communities they help. No, they are defined by compassion.

Now in saying that compassion is blind to race & religion, I do not mean to imply that Christian compassion is stupid or unthinking. The exercise of Christ-like compassion requires wisdom and discernment.

Being compassionate makes us a target for deceitful people. You would not believe the number of scam emails we receive in the church office. If you try and help everyone who presents some kind of need, you will quickly destroy your capacity to remain compassionate.   

With this in mind, there are three basic questions we should ask ourselves when we come across someone in need:

Firstly, what is the real need here?

Secondly, is it in my power to help this person?

And thirdly, will my helping this person put other vulnerable people at risk?

The Samaritan in Jesus’ parable could see there was a real need. There was a man bleeding out on the side of the road. It was a life and death situation.  

It was also in the Samaritan’s power to help the injured man. It probably was not convenient but he did have the resources to save the man’s life.

And thirdly, the Samaritan helped the wounded stranger in a way that did not put other vulnerable people at risk. There may have been some risk to the Samaritan himself, but there was no risk to anyone else.  

If someone drives up to you in a Lexus and asks for money for petrol, you have to ask yourself, ‘What’s the real need here?’ Because it is probably not money. It’s not likely to be a life & death situation.

Or if a complete stranger, who is sleeping rough, wants a bed for the night then you might ask yourself, do I have the resources to pay for a motel room for them? If you have a wife and children at home, then it would be unwise to let the stranger stay in your house because it would put your family at risk.

Jesus said, ‘Do not put your pearls before swine.’ In other words, do not offer things of value to those who will treat them with contempt. Be discerning about how you spend the pearls of your compassion.      

Being humble-minded is the fifth virtue defining the followers of Christ. Humility was not considered a virtue in Greco-Roman society, although it was a virtue in Jewish culture. In the first century, humility was regarded as a sign of weakness and shame, because it meant an inability to defend your own honour. Only those of degraded social status were humble. [3]     

Another finer point from Jesus’ parable, in Luke 10, is the way the Samaritan puts the wounded stranger on his own donkey to carry him. This shows that the Samaritan was humble-minded. In that culture, the person riding the donkey had greater status than the person walking beside the donkey. The Samaritan gave up his status for the man in need by carrying him on his donkey. 

We kiwis may be tempted to think we are the very picture of humility, but I’m not sure we are. In the Christian sense of the word, a truly humble person does not attempt to defend their personal honour. When insulted, a truly humble person forgives the offence and trusts in God to vindicate them.  

Jesus was humble-minded. He had the power to defend his honour but he chose not to and instead embraced the shame of the cross, trusting God to glorify himself.

Like-mindedness, understanding, brotherly love, compassion and humility. These are some of the essential character qualities that define Christians. Put those virtues together and you have a Vanilla Wine biscuit that reminds people of Jesus.

Having outlined how his readers are defined by Christ-like character (in verse 8), Peter goes on (in verses 9-12) to discuss how we are defined by blessing. 

Defined by blessing:

Our church’s mission statement summarizes our purpose: We are to glorify God and be a blessing to his world. Christians are defined by blessing. We are both the recipients of God’s blessing and the agents of God’s blessing to others.

Verse 9 reads: Do not repay evil with evilor insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to thisyou were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

These words resonate with the teaching of Jesus who instructed his disciples to love their enemies and to bless those who curse you.

The temptation when we are maligned or insulted is to exaggerate the offence in our own mind and use the hurt as fuel for getting our own back against the one who has insulted our honour. But a tit for tat response allows our enemies to set the agenda and define us. As difficult as it is, in the heat of the moment, we need to hold on to who we are. We need to remember that we are not defined by insult and grievance. We are defined by blessing.

What then does Peter mean by blessing? Well, a blessing can be in word or deed. When we speak well of others, publicly, we are blessing them. Or when we ask God to show favour to someone, we are invoking God’s blessing on them. Of course, words of blessing that are not substantiated by deeds of blessing tend to sound a bit thin.

The story is told of a Christian soldier living in a barracks with his unit. Each evening, when he read his Bible and prayed before going to bed, he was insulted and verbally abused by one of the other soldiers opposite him.

One night a pair of muddy combat boots came flying across the room at the Christian. The next morning, the hostile soldier found his boots at the foot of his bed, cleaned and polished and ready for inspection. Several soldiers in his company eventually became Christians as a result of the winsome witness of this one Christ follower who returned blessing for insult. [4]

In this situation the Christian soldier did not allow himself to be defined by his antagonist. He was defined by blessing. God had shown him grace and so he passed this grace on to his enemy. 

In verses 10-12 of chapter 3 Peter provides some Old Testament support for what he is saying by quoting from Psalm 34. Psalm 34, as a whole, focuses on suffering and the Lord’s deliverance of those who are afflicted. Peter chose Psalm 34 because it speaks to the same sorts of issues faced by Peter’s first century readers.

Psalm 34 is attributed to king David who spent some time in exile with the Philistines. David was on the run from king Saul and had to hide in a pagan society, surrounded by people who were hostile to him.

David’s situation was a fitting parallel to the situation of Peter’s readers, who also lived in a pagan society, surrounded by people who viewed them with suspicion if not outright contempt.

Just as God delivered David from his exile among the Philistines, God will deliver Christians from their afflictions caused by their faith in Jesus. [5]

Verses 10-11 of chapter 3, outline the pathway (or lifestyle) of blessing…

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 11 They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.

The wisdom here is that our words and deeds need to be in line. We don’t want to be bad talking someone behind their back and then nice to their face. Our words and deeds need to be positive & consistent, both in private and in public.

In the world we live in, speech and words have become a bit cheap. We often say things we don’t mean and swearing and cursing is common place. It’s like we imagine our words don’t matter. But it has been scientifically proven that the things we say to ourselves and to others have a very real effect in shaping our brain and thought patterns.   

We need to watch what we say because, if our speech is deceitful, we will end up believing a lie.

I have mentioned before that Robyn has an acrostic she uses with her class. T.H.I.N.K. – think before you speak. Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? If the answer is yes, say it. Otherwise think a bit more.

The idea that we must seek peace and pursue it indicates that peace does not simply find us as we sit quietly in a room. Peace requires some effort, some pursuit. Specifically, the effort of acting justly. There is no peace without justice. We cannot control how other people might act but we can control our own actions.    

Jesus’ command to love our enemies does not refer to an emotional feeling. You do not necessarily have to like your enemies. Enemy love means acting justly and kindly towards our adversaries, regardless of the emotions we may feel, and that’s where the effort in pursuing peace comes in. It takes real strength of character and divine energy to go against the grain of what we are feeling and love our enemies. 

I was at the Dentist recently, sitting in the waiting room, and I saw a newspaper article warning against the use of mouth wash. Research has found that we need a diversity of bacteria in our mouth, in order to maintain good oral health. Apparently mouth wash tends to reduce the diversity of bacteria.

This made me think of a parallel with our reading of Scripture. Sometimes we apply a kind of mental mouthwash to the Bible. We can be tempted to sanitize the Scriptures, by reading selectively to remove the parts we don’t like or that sound a bit harsh or offensive or out of date.

For example, we might tend to steer away from the passages that talk about God’s judgement and anger and justice because that makes us feel uncomfortable or embarrassed or fearful. But if we remove the justice and judgment of God from our Bible reading, then we will find it very difficult to believe in the goodness of God as well. And if we lose faith in the goodness of God we won’t be able to repay insult with blessing.

Verse 12 of 1st Peter 3 concludes the quote from Psalm 34…

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

This verse alludes to the justice and judgement of God. We might be tempted to sanitize it by removing the part about the face of the Lord being against those who do evil. But actually we need to hold on to that because it tells us our doing good in response to evil is not in vain. God, who is just, will not tolerate evil indefinitely. There is a reckoning for those who insult others without just cause.

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard what defines the followers of Jesus. We are defined by our distinctive Christ-like character and we are defined by blessing.

The ideals Peter holds up here are not easy to attain. If we spent too long measuring how far we fall short, we might become discouraged and give up. Loving our enemies takes some heavy lifting, it is hard work.

Two things to bear in mind. Firstly, God is on your side. He wants to bless you. He wants to see you succeed in overcoming evil with good. If (or when) we slip up, God is gracious and willing to forgive, provided we are honest and willing to repent. 

Which brings us to the second thing. The perfection of our character is not achieved in a day. So think marathon, not sprint. Pace yourself. Break it down into manageable pieces. Take little steps in the right direction, every day, and stay the course. By God’s grace, and through the power of His Spirit, you will get there in the end.   

Let us pray…

Loving Father, we thank you for your goodness, your justice and mercy.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil we ask.

Help us to remember who we are in Christ.

Help us to be like-minded, working in harmony with other Christian believers.

Help us to be understanding, quick to see things from the other person’s point of view.

Help us to demonstrate brotherly love, for by this will all people know that we are Jesus’ disciples.

Help us to be compassionate, in a wise and discerning way, not wasting our pearls but making them count for your glory.

Help us to be humble, not quick to defend our own honour when we are insulted, but ready to embrace the shame of carrying our cross, in faith that you will vindicate us, if not in this life then at the day of judgement.

Save us from giving in to the temptation of being defined by our enemies.

Help us instead, Lord, to love our enemies and to repay evil with a blessing.

We thank you for the blessing of eternal life that is promised to those who trust and obey Jesus. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • How does Peter define the Christian community in chapter 3, verses 8-12?
  • Discuss / reflect on the five character virtues Peter lists in verse 8. How might you apply each of these in your context?
  • Which of Peter’s five character virtues do you find hardest to practice? What small steps could you take to become more Christ-like in this aspect of your character?
  • Which Christian character qualities do we see in Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan? What three questions should we ask to help us spend our compassion wisely?
  • Why do you think Jesus taught his disciples to bless those who curse them? Can you think of a time (from your own experience) when someone repaid an insult with a blessing? What happened?
  • How might you be a blessing to those around you? (Whether they be friend or foe.)
  • Take some time this week to audit what you say. How much of what you say is true, helpful, inspiring, necessary and kind?

[1] Karen Jobes, 215

[2] https://www.ifcj.org/learn/holy-land-moments/daily-devotionals/brotherly-love-2/

[3] J.H. Elliot, 605.

[4] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 218.

[5] Karen Jobes, page 223.

Tawa Baptist

Christmas Day Message

Scriptures: Matthew 1:18-25 & Micah 6:8

Did anyone get tickets to a concert or sports match this year for Christmas?

  • When you go to a large arena or concert hall for some major event you are normally given allocated seating
  • The ticket will have on it where you are to sit
  • So, for example, if we sold tickets to the Tawa community Christmas day service my ticket might have written on it – aisle 2, row D, seat 3
  • If we imagine this here is aisle two, then I would find my seat by going to row D, seat 3. [go to row D]
  • Row D is 4 rows from the front and seat 3 is 3 seats in
  • Which means you are sitting in my seat. I’m just kidding.
  • Can you reach under ‘our’ seat and see what you can find? [wait]

An envelope. Why don’t you open it and tell us what’s inside?

  • Can you read the words on the card for us?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

  • Micah 6:8

Well done – you can keep that. [walk back up onto the stage]

The Tawa College motto (on the crest above us) says ‘Do justly’. It’s a quote from the prophet Micah

Earlier in the service Steven gave a reading from Matthew 1, describing the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s perspective

  • Joseph offers us a wonderful example of what it means to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God

Joseph, who was a descendant of king David, was engaged to be married to Mary when he learned that Mary was pregnant

  • Joseph didn’t know who the father was but he knew the baby wasn’t his
  • I expect Joseph felt a cocktail of emotions: hurt, betrayed, angry, disappointed, perplexed and sad, all at the same time
  • It would have been tempting to lash out or react in the heat of the moment but Joseph doesn’t do that.
  • Joseph takes some time to be still and think things through.

He is a righteous man, which means Joseph seeks to do the right thing by God and his neighbour. But what is ‘the right thing’ in this situation?

  • In some ways, discerning what God wants you to do is like finding your allocated seat in a stadium or concert hall
  • You start by finding the right aisle (the justice aisle), then the right row (the mercy row) and finally the right seat (the humility seat)
  • Is it just, is it merciful, is it humble?

The Law of Moses made it clear Joseph could not marry Mary

  • Deuteronomy 22 says a woman who is betrothed to one man but sleeps with another must be stoned, killed at the city gate, along with the man who got her into trouble
  • As a devout Jew, Joseph was well aware of this.
  • But he was also familiar with the teachings of the prophets – people like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Micah
  • It was the prophets who gave the people a lens through which they could interpret and apply the Law
  • How was Joseph to interpret and apply Deuteronomy 22?
  • Through the lens of justice, mercy and humility

Thinking about the justice aspect, Joseph didn’t know who the man was who got Mary pregnant

  • It was hardly fair that Mary should die while the bloke (whoever he was) got off scot free – Moses’ law never intended that
  • In any case, when we step back from the detail and look at the bigger picture of the Bible, we notice God’s justice is more inclined to restore than destroy
  • Following the letter of the law in this situation would have undermined its spirit. Therefore, justice said, Joseph couldn’t kill Mary

What about mercy?   

  • Well, the Hebrew word in Micah 6, verse 8, translated as mercy, is hesed
  • Hesed can mean mercy or kindness or loyal love
  • There are three criteria to hesed in the Hebrew Bible:
  • First, an act of hesed is done for someone you know already
  • Second, the action is essential to the survival or basic well-being of the recipient (it is no small thing)
  • And thirdly, the needed action is one that only the person doing the act of hesed is in a position to provide [1] (no one else can do it)

Joseph was in a position to do hesed for Mary

  • He had an existing relationship with her
  • He could literally save her life and the life of her child
  • And he was the only one who could save her
  • To love hesed is to look for opportunities to do hesed
  • Because Joseph was a righteous man he decided he would do hesed for Mary by saving her from death and from shame

What about humility?   

  • Well, humility is about having your feet on the ground and knowing yourself, particularly knowing your limits
  • Humility is also about having a right perspective – not thinking too highly of yourself but not devaluing yourself either.
  • Humility says, take the plank out of your own eye before you worry about the speck in someone else’s
  • Likewise, humility says, those who are without sin may throw the first stone.

So justice, mercy and humility all said Joseph should not apply the letter of the law by having Mary stoned but that he should divorce Mary privately, to save her from public disgrace   

  • This honoured the spirit or intent of the law, without doing harm to Mary or his own conscience
  • Based on the information he had, it was the most compassionate and just option available to Joseph

But Joseph didn’t have all the facts. As it turned out, Mary had not slept with anyone. She was still a virgin, still faithful to Joseph. 

  • Mary conceived in a holy unique way, by a miracle of God’s Spirit
  • The angel of the Lord revealed this to Joseph in a dream, telling Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife and instructing Joseph to name the child ‘Jesus’ – which means ‘the Lord saves’.

Joseph was quick to do what the Lord had told him because it ticked all three boxes of justice, mercy and humility

Now, if you are like me, you may be wondering, why didn’t God tell Joseph how Mary got pregnant ahead of time, to save him going through all that stress and angst of trying to figure the right thing?

  • Well, sometimes God leaves us in a difficult situation (just for a little while) to reveal the contents of our heart and to glorify Himself
  • If Joseph hadn’t gone through this process, we wouldn’t have been given the example of his compassionate justice and Mary wouldn’t have known how much Joseph loved her.  

Joseph’s story reveals the beauty of God’s wisdom

  • God didn’t choose just anyone to raise his Son
  • God chose a thoughtful and righteous man   
  • Joseph’s action in caring for Mary and her baby points to the wise and tender nature of Jesus’ righteousness 
  • Like Joseph, Jesus went beyond the letter of the law to find its spirit
  • And even more than Joseph, Jesus embodies the justice, mercy and humility of God. 

Let us pray…

  • Lord, sometimes life presents us with some hard choices
  • I pray for those who are facing difficult decisions this Christmas and New Year
  • Give us the tender wisdom we need to find our seat, our place, in your will and purpose
  • Help us to slow down, take time and think things through
  • Shine your light on the Scriptures that we may apply your word with justice, mercy and humility
  • We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

[1] Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, Ruth, page 24.

Tawa Baptist

True Worship

Scripture: Micah 6:6-8

 

Title: True Worship

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Content & packaging
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

On the wall behind me is the Tawa College crest on which are written the words

–         Do justly

 

‘Do justly’ is a quote from the prophet Micah

–         Let me read to you the context of these words

–         From Micah chapter 6, verses 6-8 we read…

 

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

 

May the Lord bless the reading of his word

 

Content & packaging:

[Hold up a packet of M&M’s]

–         Who likes M&M’s?

–         Okay – leave your hand up if you would like to come to the front to receive these M&M’s (you can bring an adult with you if you want)

–         [Choose someone (close to the front) to come to the front]

 

Now, before I give you this bag of M&M’s I want to ask you a question – it’s not a trick question:

–         Which of these two bags would you prefer?

–         This one here which is empty?

–         Or this one which is full?

–         [Let them respond]

 

The full one – good choice – here is your bag of M&M’s

 

But before you go I want to ask you one more question

–         Which of these two bags of M&M’s would you prefer?

–         This big empty bag?

–         Or this small full bag?

 

Okay – so even though the empty bag is much bigger, you would still prefer to have the smaller bag which is full

–         That would be my preference too – here’s the smaller bag for you to give to someone you like or don’t like (up to you)

–         Thanks for helping me – you can sit down now

 

The point here is that the contents of the bag are more important than the packaging

–         It doesn’t matter how big and glossy and fancy the packaging is, without any M&M’s inside it is worthless

–         Now it’s not that the packaging is necessarily bad in itself

–         We need the packaging – the packet is good for holding the M&M’s together so they don’t roll all over the floor

–         And it’s also good for letting you know what’s inside the bag

–         The packaging only becomes rubbish when the bag is empty

 

In Micah 6 the prophet asks the question…

–         Shall I come before [the Lord] with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression…?

The first four examples of ritual offerings listed here: burnt offerings, calves a year old, rams and oil, are like the packaging – they are only good if they are accompanied by the contents of the bag: justice, mercy and humility

–         The last example of sacrificing a first born child is not packaging – it is poison – never good under any circumstances.

 

Micah is saying here: God is not pleased when we offer Him an empty bag

–         God is more interested in the contents of our life than the packaging

–         There’s no point in following a whole lot of religious rituals if we don’t live our lives with justice, mercy and humility

 

These days we don’t sacrifice animals to God – Jesus put an end to that by his death on the cross

–         Generally speaking, these days our ritual offerings are things like giving money to the church and singing songs of praise

–         But all that kind of stuff is packaging – it only becomes meaningful when it holds a life of justice, mercy and humility

–         It’s not that we should stop giving financially and singing songs – those things are still important (we need the packet to hold everything together)

–         But if singing or giving money or some other religious ritual becomes a substitute for justice, mercy & humility then we’ve got a problem

 

You see, it’s not either/or – it’s both/and

–         It’s not either the packet or the M&M’s – it’s both the packet and the MM’s

–         It’s not either attending Sunday services or practicing justice & mercy the rest of the week – it’s both those things together

–         Like Jesus said in Matthew 23, when he was telling the Pharisees off:

–         You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. (It’s both/and – not either/or)

 

Worship of God needs to encompass all of life

–         Offering ourselves (as living sacrifices) by doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God is true worship – this is faith in action

–         And if we want to know what justice, mercy and humility are, we look to Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith

 

Conclusion:

On the wall here is an invitation and response based on Micah 6, verse 8

What does the Lord require of you?

–         To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God

 

Tawa Baptist

The Weaned Soul

Scripture: Psalm 131

Title: The weaned soul

Structure:

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

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have three pictures

–         We have Doctor Who’s ‘Tardis’

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

–         They are songs about drawing nearer to God

 

Our focus today is psalm 131

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Humility:

I have in my hand a spirit level

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

David says that his heart is not lifted up

–         What does he mean by his ‘heart’?

 

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

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

–         Rather the heart is the seat of the will

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

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

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

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

–         The heart governs a person’s life

 

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

–         What does that mean?

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

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

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

–         Let Christ inform and guide the decisions you make

 

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

–         I am not wilfully disobedient

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

–         I submit my will to your will

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

–         He went after what God wanted in most situations

 

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

–         …my eyes are not raised too high

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

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

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

–         I don’t even compare myself to them

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

 

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

–         That’s my seat, I always sit there

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

The second half of verse 1 continues this theme of humility

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

–         In the letter he says…

 

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

 

Which came first? The chicken or the egg?

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

–         Who built Stonehenge?

–         Is there intelligent life on other planets?

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

Contentment:

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

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

 

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

–         Now he talks about his soul

–         What is the human soul?

 

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

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

 

The soul is different from the heart and the spirit

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

–         Death has a certain pallor – a kind of greyness

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

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

 

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

–         What does it mean then to quieten your soul?

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

–         We quieten our soul by abandoning outcomes to God

–         By not seeking to manipulate the end result

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

–         Not seeking success or fame or superiority

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

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

 

Dallas Willard compares the soul to an inner stream

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

How does God feed the soul?

–         God feeds the soul with meaning

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

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

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

 

Ultimately God is the one who gives meaning to our lives

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

 

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

–         But his wait was not in vain

 

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

–         But God used Joseph to save millions from starvation

 

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

–         But God used Moses to save the Israelites from slavery

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

–         David has abandoned the outcome to God

–         His soul has found contentment with the Lord

 

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

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

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

–         And when it does come – don’t panic

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

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

 

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

 

Conclusion – Hope:

David finishes his song by addressing the nation…

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

 

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

–         Hope is a form of meaning more substantial than milk

–         The bread of hope feeds our soul in the present

–         Hope sustains our soul with joy and energy

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

–         Previously the disciples had access to Jesus 24-7

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

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

–         Jesus was no longer present with them physically

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

 

Jesus didn’t abandon them altogether though

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

Tawa Baptist

Strengthening Fellowship

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-3

 

Title: Strengthening Fellowship

 

Members Pledge 5: To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • United by Christ, not by likes
  • Strengthening fellowship (Eph. 4:2)
  • The bond of peace (Eph. 4:3)
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Over the past couple of months we have been journeying through the 23rd Psalm – making reference as we go to the various ways in which this psalm points us to Jesus

  • During May we take a break from Psalm 23 to focus on other things
  • We have a baptismal service next Sunday
  • And for the following three Sundays after that we will give our attention to the annual Tranzsend Prayer & Self Denial campaign
  • We intend to return to Psalm 23 in June.

 

With Ben & Becca Allen being welcomed into membership our message today focuses on one of the members’ pledges…

 

To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

 

Sometimes people ask me, ‘why do we have membership?’

  • ‘If I become a member of the church universal when I’m baptised then why do I need to become a member of a local church also?’
  • After all salvation is not by local church membership – it’s by faith in Christ
  • Well, joining yourself in membership to a local church is not something you do primarily for yourself
  • It’s something you do for the well-being of the people in the local church

 

From a legal and financial point of view the church needs to differentiate between members and non-members in order to protect itself

  • In our situation the members are the ones charged with the responsibility for decision making
  • If we didn’t have members with voting rights then, in a worse-case scenario, some other larger group could come along to a church meeting and pass a resolution to take over our buildings & programmes for their own nefarious purposes
  • So the people we allow into membership really need to have the best interests of the local church at heart

 

Therefore, when someone becomes a member of Tawa Baptist they pledge…

  • To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

 

United by Christ, not by likes:

Membership isn’t just about providing a measure of legal and financial protection for the local church

  • More importantly it’s about taking care of Christ’s reputation as well as our relationships with each other

Strengthening the fellowship of the church and developing the spirit of love, is essentially about the quality of our relationships together, as a community of faith

 

The church is not a building

  • The church is a network of relationships – like a family
  • In a general sense, a family shares the same heritage, the same blood, the same DNA
  • As a church family we share Christ’s heritage, His blood and His Spirit
  • It is Jesus who unites us and so the primary criteria for church membership is our relationship with Christ as formalised in baptism

 

The church is not a club either

  • A club is a group of people who are united by a shared liking for something
  • So for example, people who like collecting stamps might form a stamp collecting club
  • And people who like shooting guns might get together to form a gun club
  • And people who like drinking wine might form a wine tasting club

 

But a church is not a group of people united by a shared liking

  • The church is united by Christ
  • Therefore the church brings people of different likings, different cultures, different socio-economic backgrounds, different ages and different personalities together

 

Think about the implications of that for a moment

  • Being united by Christ means we don’t necessarily like the same things
  • For example, we don’t all like the same kind of songs
  • Some prefer hymns while others prefer Hill Song music – some enjoy all styles of music and still others can’t wait till the singing is over
  • Some people like interactive worship services – where you get up and move around – others like to sit still and listen to sermons
  • And others aren’t as interested in the sermon as they are in catching up with people over a cup of tea afterwards

 

The point is we all like different things and that’s okay – that’s as it should be

  • Because we are not a club – we are not united by our likes
  • We are united by Christ

 

The main metaphor for the church in the New Testament is family

  • You can choose your friends based on common interests or shared likes
  • But you can’t choose your family
  • You don’t get to choose who else comes to church here
  • You may like different things from the person sitting next to you
  • But you are still committed to their well-being

 

If you like Hill Song music then you still sing hymns for the sake of the person in the pew opposite you who is helped by singing hymns (& vice versa)

  • Or if you prefer the more interactive stuff to the sermon then you still listen patiently to the sermon for the sake of the person here who is fed by preaching
  • In these sorts of ways we strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people

 

C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters

  • It’s an enjoyable and thoughtful piece of fiction
  • Screwtape is the name of a demon who writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood – Wormwood is an apprentice tempter
  • Screwtape’s letters are full of advice on how the young demon, Wormwood, might turn a human being away from the Christian faith

 

In one of his letters Screwtape writes to Wormwood…

  • “Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” [1]

 

If you ever manage to find a church which caters for all your likes and avoids your dislikes then you probably aren’t in church – you’re in a club or a bar

  • The opposite is also true
  • When you find yourself not liking something in church then you can probably take it as confirmation that you’re in the right place

 

We are united by Christ, not by our likes

  • And Christ’s Spirit (His DNA) is love
  • Love seeks the well-being of others

 

Strengthening fellowship:

What then does the Bible have to say about strengthening the fellowship of the church?

  • Well, one key passage which sums it up well is found at the beginning of Ephesians 4
  • While in prison for preaching the gospel of Christ, the apostle Paul wrote to the first Century church in Ephesus saying…

 

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.

 

Paul gives us 4 or 5 qualities which are essential to strengthening the fellowship of the church – this is how Christians are to treat each other…

  • With humility
  • Gentleness
  • Patience
  • Forbearance
  • And love

 

Humility in this context means ‘lowliness of mind’ or thinking low (not being proud or haughty) [2]

  • Being humble is really an attitude
  • It’s about having an accurate awareness of yourself in relation to others – not thinking too much of yourself
  • Being conscious of the fact that without God our life has no meaning and that without Christ we can do nothing
  • Humility is recognising that we need other people and more importantly the wider community of which we are just a small part needs other people
  • We are not the centre – it’s not all about us

 

A humble person does not think, ‘My team needs me to a score try’

  • A truly humble person thinks, ‘How can I best support my team mates to score tries?’

 

The church at Ephesus was a mix of different cultures – some Gentile, some Jewish

  • While humility was a virtue in Jewish culture, it was not valued in Gentile culture at that time

 

But valued or not, humility is primary to strengthening any fellowship or community

  • Humility keeps our ego in check and prevents us from worshipping ourselves
  • Humility also makes gentleness possible

 

If humility was despised in the ancient gentile world then gentleness is surely despised in our contemporary culture

  • Violence, brute force, power – these are the things which are glorified in our day and age
  • Gentleness is misunderstood as weakness when the truth is: gentleness requires a greater strength than brute force or violence
  • Gentleness requires self-control and skill

 

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

  • If force is the butcher’s cleaver, then gentleness is the surgeon’s scalpel
  • If power is a drone strike, then gentleness is the kind word which turns away wrath
  • You might be tempted to smack your children into submission but you are more likely to take a gentle approach – to remain calm, wait for the tantrum to pass and lead them to better choices
  • You can coerce a person into grudging obedience to God by threatening them with the fires of hell,
  • Or you can gently remind them of God’s goodness and grace so they want to do His will

 

Humility and gentleness – these are two qualities that Jesus embodies in himself

  • In Matthew 11, verse 29, Jesus says…
  • Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 

Patience is also needed for strengthening the fellowship of the church

  • An ancient Christian preacher by the name of John Chrysostom said,
  • To have patience is to have “…a wide or big soul” [3]

 

Having a ‘wide or big soul’ means having room for other people in our lives

  • Not being so fixated on our own agenda that we don’t have room for interruptions
  • Now it is not appropriate for us to accommodate every interruption
  • It is important to maintain some healthy boundaries
  • But we don’t want to be so tightly scheduled, so tightly managed and focused that we can’t attend to what’s important

 

The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates largeness (and smallness) of soul

  • The priest and the Levite were so fixed on their own little agenda
  • (Must get to church on time – must be seen to do the right thing)
  • That they didn’t have room to care for the wounded stranger on the side of the road
  • By contrast the despised Samaritan had a largeness of soul which made it possible for him to put aside what he had planned to achieve that day, dress the stranger’s wounds and carry him to safety

 

Patience is making room for other people when it matters

 

Strengthening the fellowship of the church requires the patience (or the largeness of soul) to make room for each other

  • To sing each other’s songs,
  • To prefer each other’s needs,
  • To listen to each other’s concerns,
  • To help in practical ways where we can
  • Or perhaps simply to be together without any agenda

 

So then, the fellowship of the church (our relationships together) are strengthened by humility, by gentleness, by patience and by bearing with

one another in love  

 

Bearing with one another means putting up with people

  • And love, in this context, means seeking the other person’s well-being

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

 

Paul is saying, 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 poop in the stable – poop is a sign of life”

 

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 the same thing about 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 grace
  • And we need to learn to laugh at ourselves too

Now this exhortation to ‘bear with one another in love’ needs to be held in balance with verse 15 of Ephesians 4, where Paul talks about…

  • Speaking the truth in love so that we will grow up into Christ

 

There is a time to bear with difficult behaviour and a time to speak the truth

  • If we always graciously tolerate things we don’t like then the other person never really learns or improves and resentment grows
  • The trick is speaking the truth with humility and gentleness
  • Not being too quick in speaking the truth – but checking ourselves first to make sure we have removed the plank from our own eye before pointing out the speck in theirs
  • Making sure that we are motivated by what’s best for others and not just our own comfort or convenience

 

The bond of peace:

It’s been a dry summer and autumn here in Wellington – the weather’s been lovely

  • We’ve had to water our gardens more than we’re used to lately
  • Sometimes when you water the garden you get a kink in the hose and the water flow slows down to a trickle
  • If that happens, what do you do?
  • Do you throw the hose away or do you fix the problem by taking the kink out of the hose?     [Wait for response]
  • Yes, that’s right you straighten the hose to take the kink out – then the water flows properly again

 

 

Paul continues his exhortation to the Ephesians in verse 3 saying…

 

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

 

I’m not sure I fully understand this verse but I’ll share with you what I know

 

Firstly, the Spirit of Christ creates unity in the church

  • 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’s shalom, it’s abundant life, joy and right relationship in community with others

 

The bond of peace, therefore, is not a bond which stops us from doing things

  • It’s not like hand cuffs or shackles or a leash or a tie
  • The bond of peace is something which connects us to each other in positive ways
  • It is like a hose with water flowing through it – it is life-giving

 

Sometimes 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 life-giving flow of water slows to a dribble
  • When our relationships get a kink in them we don’t throw the relationship out – we don’t say, ‘Well stuff you – I’m out of here’
  • No – we find a suitable time when we are calm and unhurried to talk it through – we straighten the kink out – we forgive each other

 

We don’t create the unity but we do need to maintain it by taking care of our relationships, by taking the kink out of the hose

 

Jesus encouraged his disciples to maintain the bond of peace with each other by teaching them to pray…

  • “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

 

You see Jesus establishes a bond of peace between us and God

  • He gives us a brand new hose with water running through it
  • Because of Jesus, God forgives us up front and in advance
  • We get given that forgiveness, that bond of peace, for free
  • But we still have to maintain it
  • And we maintain the bond of peace by paying it forward – by forgiving others, just as God forgave us in Christ

 

Conclusion:

This morning we have explored what it means to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people

 

In short we are to relate with one another in an attitude of humility,

  • With gentleness and with patience (or largeness of soul)
  • We are to bear with one another in love – not sweating the small stuff but at the same time not ignoring those things that need to be addressed

 

In a few minutes we will share communion together

  • Communion is a time when we remember (and celebrate) the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace established by Jesus

 

Now though let’s stand and sing…

 

♫       Brother, Sister, let me serve you…

[1] C.S. Lewis, ‘The Screwtape Letters’, page 81

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

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