Tawa Baptist

Adopted

Scripture: Genesis 48:1-12

Video Link:  https://youtu.be/nSRh04MBs78

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Why Jacob Adopts (1-7)
  • How Jacob Adopts (8-12)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Last week we had a dedication ceremony for Micah. And next week we have a graduation ceremony for those children moving up a level in Kids’ Church.

Ceremonies like this help to mark special occasions. Ceremonies are a way of saying this is important. This matters. More than that, ceremonies bring things into effect. They make it official. 

We have ceremonies for all sorts of occasions. Weddings, funerals, baptisms, becoming a citizen, bestowal of awards, ANZAC day, powhiri, and so on.

While people of faith usually value ceremonies and find meaning in them, mainstream society, in general, is relatively casual in its approach. Most people today don’t think the ceremony is that important.   

This is quite different from the attitude of people in the ancient world. In Biblical times things were not complete, they weren’t done properly, until a ceremony had taken place. Ceremonies were a must have.

This morning we continue our series in the life of Joseph. Last week we heard about the ceremony Jacob used to update his Will. And next week we will read about Jacob’s special blessing ceremony. Today’s reading though focuses on an adoption ceremony. From Genesis 48, verse 1, we pick up the story…    

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ 5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” 10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.

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

In this passage Jacob adopts Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

In verses 1-7 Jacob explains why he is adopting two of his grandsons. And in verses 8-12 we read how Jacob adopts. That is, the ceremony of adoption. Let’s begin with Jacob’s explanation of why he is adopting Ephraim and Manasseh.  

Why Jacob adopts:

Normally when we think of adoption, we imagine a couple who want to have children but for whatever reason can’t, so they go through the long and difficult process of adopting kids. 

Or we might think of Whaangai, a Maori tradition, in which a child is raised by grandparents or someone in their wider whaanau.

Jacob’s adoption is not the same as either of these scenarios. It does have a formal, legal aspect to it and it is a family type adoption. However, Ephraim and Manasseh are no longer small children in need of care. Nor is Jacob able to take care of them.

We know from the end of Genesis 47 that Jacob was near death and verse 1 of Genesis 48 tells us that Jacob was ill. This is the first time in the Bible that illness is mentioned.  

Sometimes we get a warning that death is imminent. Other times death comes out of the blue, as a complete shock. Illness can serve as a prompt to get our affairs in order. It also gives family members the opportunity to say goodbye.   

In any case, Jacob is in no condition to take care of grandchildren. He needs his family to take care of him. So why is Jacob (at a 147) wanting to adopt Joseph’s sons, who are now in their early 20’s and hardly in need of looking after.

Well, in ancient times it was common practice that the eldest son received a double portion of the estate when the father died. By adopting Joseph’s sons, Jacob is effectively blessing Joseph with a double portion of the inheritance, even though Reuben is the eldest of Jacob’s sons.

To put it another way, Joseph’s two eldest sons will be reckoned as Jacob’s two eldest sons. So, the descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim will receive an allotment of land in Canaan. In this way, Jacob gives Reuben’s double share to Joseph. Reuben and Simeon don’t miss out though. They still get a share.

So as to avoid a family dispute later on, Jacob sets out a sound spiritual and legal basis for his decision.

In verses 3 and 4, Jacob remembers God’s promises to him. Although Jacob is not currently in possession of the land, he looks forward in faith to that time when God will increase his numbers and give his descendants the land as an everlasting possession.

Jacob is connecting his adoption of Joseph’s sons to God’s promises. This adoption is an example of Jacob’s faith expressing itself in love. You can’t get a better reason than that.

By quoting what God said to him, Jacob is also reminding people of his credentials. None of Jacob’s sons can say they have heard God speak to them in the way Jacob has. And since there is no higher authority than God Almighty, Jacob’s decision cannot be contested by his sons. 

In verse 7 Jacob talks about the premature death of his wife Rachel. At first glance we might think this is an old man getting a bit lost in his memories and digressing from his main point. But it’s not. Jacob is right on point with this comment about Joseph’s mother.

Jacob is drawing attention to the fact that, because Rachel died relatively young (while still of childbearing age), he missed the opportunity to have more children by her.

In the cultural thinking of the ancient near east, when Jacob adopted Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim also become Rachel’s sons. And as such they take the place (posthumously) of other children Rachel may have had to Jacob, if she had lived longer. [1]

That argument wouldn’t stand up in the family courts today, but it made for solid case law in Old Testament times.      

Did you know the head of a dandelion actually consists of many small flowers. A single dandelion head is a community of flowers. Jacob’s family in Egypt was a bit like a dandelion. It was a community of people soon to multiply and grow.

When we think of this adoption from Manasseh and Ephraim’s point of view, we begin to appreciate what Jacob did for them personally.

Joseph’s sons were not like their cousins. They had never set foot in Canaan. They had been born and raised in Egypt and they had an Egyptian mother. Maybe they struggled to speak the Hebrew language. Perhaps they felt like strangers in their own family.       

Being adopted by their grandfather would have given Manasseh and Ephraim a deep sense of belonging. It would have strengthened their Hebrew identity, giving them an honoured place in the dandelion head of Jacob’s family.   

Okay, so we have heard why Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons. Now let’s consider how Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manasseh. In verses 8-12 we catch a glimpse of the adoption ceremony.

How Jacob Adopts:

What do these four things have in common: a wedding, a baptism, a powhiri and a funeral? [Wait]

That’s right, they are all ceremonies. Each of these ceremonies involves spoken words and symbolic actions. And you’ll notice that each of these ceremonies create connections. They bring people together and form a bridge from one state of being to a new state of being.  

With a wedding, two people’s lives become one and two families come together. As the couple exchange vows and rings and a kiss, they enter a new state of being, marriage.

With a baptism, the person being baptized is joined to Christ and they become a part of the people of God, the church. Words are pronounced over the baptismal candidate and water is used as a symbol of cleansing and rebirth.

With a powhiri the manuhiri (or the guests) are properly welcomed onto the Marae and are joined with the mana whenua (the people of that place). Speeches and waiata are exchanged and then people line up to hongi before having a kai.  

With a funeral ceremony the body of the deceased is being returned to the earth and their spirit is committed to God. A funeral marks the transition from one state of being to another. From this life to the next. Eulogies are given, words of committal are spoken and flowers or dirt are put on the coffin.

In verses 8-12 of Genesis 48, we catch a glimpse of the formal ceremony Jacob uses to adopt Joseph’s sons. This adoption ceremony is serious business. It has all the gravity and sacredness of a marriage ceremony or a baptism. Manasseh and Ephraim enter a new state of being. They become Jacob’s sons. 

When Jacob says, in verse 8, “Who are these?” It’s not that Jacob doesn’t know who Manasseh and Ephraim are (even if he is a bit blind). It’s simply that the adoption ceremony follows this formal ritual.

Sort of like a wedding ceremony when the celebrant says, “Who gives this woman to be married?” And the parents say, “We do”.  Everyone in the room knows who the parents of the bride are but you still say the words to complete the protocol.

Joseph answers his father saying, “They are the sons God has given me here”.

Then Joseph brings his sons close to Jacob. If the boys weren’t grown men, Joseph might put them on Jacob’s knees. More likely, in this situation, Manasseh and Ephraim stand between Jacob’s knees, while Jacob sits on the edge of the bed.

The symbolism here is of a child coming from a parent’s loins. It’s like saying, ‘You have the same standing as a biological child. You are my blood’.

Jacob then embraces and kisses Joseph’s sons. Again, this might be a symbolic gesture similar to a wedding ceremony when the celebrant says, “You may kiss the bride”. Except the kiss of adoption will be that of a father and not a spouse.

And, as verse 11 indicates, the embrace and the kiss are not just for show. Jacob is expressing real warmth and love for Ephraim and Manasseh. He is also expressing gratitude to God.

For people of faith, a ceremony is empty if God is not in it. Although God is unseen, he is the most important person in the room and needs to be acknowledged as such.  

We are talking here of the sacramental aspect of ceremonies. In simple terms, a sacrament is something which conveys the presence and power of God. Christians believe it is the presence of God which makes the ceremony effective.

By way of analogy, imagine a bottle of wine. The ceremony is like the bottle and God’s presence and power is like the wine. A ceremony without God’s presence is like an empty bottle of wine. The purpose of the ceremony is only fulfilled when the wine of God’s Spirit is present.

Sacraments come in many forms. Marriage can be a divine sacrament when the Spirit of Jesus is active in the relationship to foster respect and intimacy.

Likewise, musical worship can be a sacrament when the Spirit of Jesus transports us to a place of deeper communion with God.

Enjoying a cup of tea and a good chat with a friend can also be a sacrament, when words of grace and truth are spoken, and loneliness is cast out. 

The church, the people of God, are a sacrament to the world

With any sacrament there is an element of mystery. We don’t know how God conveys his presence and power, but on a spiritual level we sense the Lord has communicated something of himself.

With Jacob’s adoption ceremony, God’s presence and power is honoured throughout. In verse 9, Joseph acknowledges that his children are a gift from God. And, in verse 11, Israel (aka Jacob) acknowledges God with gratitude for allowing him to see Joseph again and to adopt Joseph’s sons.

God’s presence and power is around us all the time, at church, at home, at school, at work, in the car or on the train. Sometimes though we are in too much of a hurry to notice the sacred in the everyday. Sometimes we need to slow down and be still so we can enjoy God’s presence in the simple things.

In verse 12, the adoption ceremony ends when Joseph removes his sons from (between) Jacob’s knees, before bowing down with his face to the ground.

It is unclear whether Joseph is bowing down to honour his father, Jacob, or to worship God. Perhaps it is both.

Joseph is thanking his father for blessing him with a double portion, by adopting his sons. And, at the same time, Joseph is acknowledging God Almighty who made this possible.

We note that Ephraim and Manasseh say nothing. They are led by their father Joseph and humbly receive what their grandfather Jacob wants to give them. Throughout the process they trust themselves to Joseph and Jacob.

Ephraim and Manasseh provide a model for us. As believers in Christ, we are led by the Spirit of Jesus and we humbly receive what God the Father wants to give, in an attitude of trust.  

Conclusion:

In his letter to the Romans, Paul reminds us how we are adopted by God. From Romans 8, verse 14, we read…

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sonsand daughters of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,   

Let’s sit with that for a little bit. Through your faith in Jesus, you are adopted into God’s family. You stand to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Your identity is in Christ. Your place of belonging is the kingdom of God. You are royalty. You are special. You were bought with a price. You are loved more than you can imagine.

As those who have put their faith is Jesus, our everlasting possession is not an acreage of dirt in the middle east. Our everlasting possession is an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven.

Like Manasseh and Ephraim, we have done nothing to earn or deserve this.

It is only by the amazing grace of God. All we can do is humbly accept God’s adoption of us through faith in Jesus and by the sacrament of God’s Spirit.

May God bless you with an awareness of his presence and power at work in your life every day. Amen.    

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What is your attitude (or feeling) in relation to ceremonies? Are they a must have, or just an optional extra? Thinking of your own experience, what kinds of ceremonies have you found meaningful? Why was that?
  3. Why does Jacob adopt Joseph’s sons?
  4. Where does your sense of belonging and identity come from?
  5. What are some of the key elements in Jacob’s adoption ceremony?
  6. What is a sacrament? When are you aware of God’s presence and power at work in your life?
  7. What can we learn from Manasseh and Ephraim’s example?  

[1] Refer Bruce Waltke’s commentary on Genesis, page 597.

Tawa Baptist

Lament

Scripture: Psalm 137

Title: Lament

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Lament seeks company
  • Lament remembers identity
  • Lament protests honestly
  • Lament vents anger
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a list of songs…

–         Small Bump by Ed Sheeran

–         I don’t want to talk about it by Crazy Horse

–         Candle in the wind by Elton John

–         I don’t like Mondays by Boomtown Rats

–         Pride (In the name of love) by U2

–         And Psalm 137 by an unknown artist

Can anyone tell me what these songs have in common? [Let people respond]

–         That’s right, they are all songs of lament

Small bump is a song about a miscarriage

–         I don’t want to talk about it was inspired by a relationship break up

–         Candle in the wind is a lament for Marilyn Munroe

–         I don’t like Mondays is about the 1979 elementary (primary) school shootings in San Diego

–         Pride (In the name of love) remembers the assassination of the Rev Martin Luther King Junior on the 4th April 1968

–         And Psalm 137 was sung by survivors of the Babylonian exile after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC

–         All these songs of lament are tied to an event in history – they remember something that actually happened

 

Today we continue our series on well-being and care of the soul, using the acronym: HEALING.

–         Each letter represents a word which, when properly applied, is life giving to the human soul…

–         Hope Energy Appreciation Lament Inter-dependence Nurture & Giving

–         Today our message focuses on lament

Lament is a way of expressing the sad, bitter, angry & painful truth of what we are feeling inside – it is an articulation of grief

–         At its best lament takes a stink, yucky feeling, and does something creative with it

Last Sunday I said appreciation is about acknowledging value

–         Lament is also about acknowledging what is valuable to us

–         Lament is very close to appreciation – it’s the flip side of the same coin

–         The main difference is the circumstances

–         Appreciation has its roots in enjoyment while lament has its roots in loss

–         We wouldn’t have cause for lament if we didn’t value what we had lost

 

The Old Testament is peppered with laments – people grieving with raw honesty, pouring out their rage and sadness before God

–         Apparently God is big enough to handle it

Psalm 137 is one example of lament in the Bible. From verse 1 we read…

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations.” O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. 

May the Spirit of Jesus give us grace to face our pain and find our truth

This morning we will touch on four aspects of lament…

–         Lament seeks company

–         Lament remembers identity

–         Lament protests honestly, and

–         Lament vents anger

 

Lament seeks company:

First let’s consider how lament seeks company

–         I’d like to play you part of a song that was originally written in 1971 by the band Crazy Horse and later made famous by Rod Stewart…

“I can tell by your eyes that you’ve probably been cryin’ for ever,

And the stars in the sky don’t mean nothing to you, they’re a mirror.

I don’t want to talk about it, how you broke my heart

But if I stay here just a little bit longer, if I stay here, won’t you listen to my heart, whoa my heart.”

In this song the singer is lamenting the death of a relationship

–         He’s been dumped by his girlfriend and it hurts bad

–         He doesn’t want to talk about it because there are no words to do justice to his pain

–         But he doesn’t want to be alone either – he wants someone to sit with him and listen to his heart – he wants a witness to his suffering

–         Lament seeks company

 

Grief is the price we pay for love

–         The more we love the greater our grief when we lose the one we love

–         When we grieve alone or without being understood it is harder somehow

–         Having someone listen to our heart (to our pain) acknowledges that what we are feeling is real and it matters – it gives meaning to the loss and it affirms our inherent value as human beings

There is a certain feeling of powerlessness when we sit with those who have suffered loss

–         We want to fix things, we want to have the right words to say to make everything better – but words fail us

–         Often what the other person needs is our presence and our listening

–         Simply being there says this matters and you are important

 

In psalm 137 the singer is lamenting the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians

in 586 B.C. and the resulting exile

–         Many people were killed and most of those who survived were forcibly marched to a foreign land and detained there

–         It was a humanitarian disaster

Worse than this though the survivors probably felt like God had dumped them, rejected them, abandoned them

–         The temple, the centre of worship, the symbol of God’s presence, the very hub that held the wheel of their society together, had been destroyed

–         The people were heart broken

–         The relative shortness of the psalm, and the details they leave out, suggest they didn’t want to talk about it – there were no words to do justice to their pain

–         But they did want a witness to their suffering – what they had lost was too important to be ignored

–         Lament seeks company and lament remembers identity

 

Lament remembers identity:

Have you noticed how many people have tattoos these days – skin art has become quite popular

–         People get tattoos for a number of reasons I suppose, often as a statement of identity but also sometimes to show their commitment to the memory of someone they’ve lost

–         A tattoo is like an outward visible scar, symbolising the inner scar on the heart that no one can see

A few years ago now some friends of ours lost a child at birth and shortly after the father of the child had the face of his baby tattooed on his shoulder – like a constant reminder

–         You sometimes see people with the names and birth dates of their loved ones tattooed on their arms

–         Getting a tattoo is a pretty big commitment – tattoos are for life, unless you go through the very painful process of getting them removed

–         Now I’m not recommending getting a tattoo as a form of lament

–         But nor do I wish to make any judgement about it – I can understand why someone who has suffered significant loss might do it

–         To remember and to show their commitment to one they have lost

 

The writer of Psalm 137 says…

–         If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

This is actually an oath of commitment to remember Jerusalem

–         As a musician, losing skill in your right hand and having your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, would mean not being able to play the harp or sing ever again – so this is a serious commitment to remember

But it’s not just the city the psalmist is remembering, it’s what the city represents – their home and their unique identity as God’s special people

–         This commitment by the exiles to remember where they have come from is a way of preserving their Jewish identity and saving themselves from cultural assimilation in a strange land

You see, when we suffer significant loss our identity is threatened

–         People who go through a divorce, for example, often have to rediscover who they are without their husband or wife, or without their mum or dad

–         Parents who lose a child may feel like they have lost a part of themselves – am I still a father or a mother if my child is dead?

–         Refugees, forced to flee their homeland and start life in a new country where the language and the customs and everything is different, often seek to preserve what they can of their culture to stop themselves from losing any more of who they are

 

Lament is like a tattoo on our heart – it involves a strong commitment to our identity, to remembering who we are, after our loss

 

Lament seeks company

–         Lament remembers identity, and

–         Lament protests honestly

 

Lament protests honestly:

The opposite of lament is denial – pretending everything is okay when it isn’t

–         Lament is a statement that things are not right with the world

–         Let’s listen to another lament now – this one is by the band U2…

“I can’t believe the news today, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away.

How long, how long must we sing this song? How long, how long?

Cause tonight, we can be as one tonight.

Broken bottles under children’s feet. Bodies strewn across the dead end street.

But I won’t heed the battle call, it puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall. Sunday bloody Sunday. Sunday bloody Sunday. Sunday bloody Sunday.

And the battles just begun, there’s many lost but tell me who has won?

The trench is dug within our hearts.

And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart.

Sunday bloody Sunday, Sunday bloody Sunday.”

On the 30th January 1972, in Derry Northern Ireland, British soldiers opened fire on a crowd of unarmed civilians (men, women & children) during a peaceful protest march against internment

–         28 people were shot and 14 died

–         Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers and some were shot while trying to help the wounded

–         The event became known as Bloody Sunday and the Bogside massacre

–         Bloody Sunday increased hostility towards the British Army and exacerbated the conflict.

–         Support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) rose and there was a surge of recruitment into the organisation

U2 released the song, Sunday bloody Sunday in 1983, 11 years after the massacre

–         It’s a song which remembers the violence of that day and the days that followed

–         But more than just remembering, U2’s lament is a double edged protest against violence & revenge

–         “There’s many lost but tell me who has won?”

–         It is not okay that British troops opened fire on unarmed civilians

–         But it’s also not okay to respond in violence

–         Bono sings, “I won’t heed the battle call”, meaning I’m not going to sign up to the IRA. I reject a violent & destructive response

Often we think of lament as a sad song – but Sunday bloody Sunday breaks that mould with the feel of defiance

Psalm 137 is oozing defiance and protest

–         In the opening verses the psalmist describes being tormented by their Babylonian captors who are demanding they sing the happy songs of Zion (Zion is another name for Jerusalem)

–         But the Jewish exiles refused to sing, hanging their harps up on the poplar trees in protest

–         To capitulate to the Babylonians’ request would be a betrayal and a lie

–         The exiles can’t entertain their enemies with happy songs without losing integrity. A lament, like psalm 137, enables them to be honest

 

It is difficult to sing happy songs of praise in church when we just aren’t feeling the love

–         Sometimes songs of praise can help to enlarge our perspective and lift our spirits

–         Other times though we need words & music that align with the pain and distress and anger we are experiencing

–         Jesus is spacious – he is both a man of sorrows and a risen Saviour

–         With Jesus there is room for suffering and comfort, tears and joy, anger and peace, lament and appreciation, a cross and an empty tomb

–         We shouldn’t have to pretend in church and yet that’s often what we do

–         Unfortunately there don’t seem to be that many contemporary Christian laments – or at least I don’t know where to find them

–         Maybe we need to be writing and singing our own songs more

 

Lament seeks company – refusing to grieve alone

–         Lament remembers identity – refusing to forget who we are

–         Lament protests honestly – refusing to pretend it’s ok when it’s not

–         And, lament vents anger

 

Lament vents anger:

A fire place, whether it’s a coal range or a wood burner or a gas heater, needs a chimney or a flu – some device for letting the smoke & gas out

–         Without a chimney the smoke or gas would fill the room and create a toxic environment for the people inside

–         Anger is a bit like a fire – if it is allowed to get out of control it has a destructive effect

–         And if it is not vented properly it poisons everyone in the room

–         Lament is anger’s chimney – it provides a vent for our rage and allows us to breathe a little easier

 

In verse 7 the psalmist asks the Lord to remember the Edomites’ disloyalty

–         The Edomites were the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau – so they were like cousins to the Israelites

–         In the book of Obadiah [1] we read how the Edomites stood aside while the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem

–         Worse than that they gloated over Judah’s misfortune and took advantage by looting the city

–         Asking the Lord to remember what the Edomites did is a polite way of asking God to punish the Edomites

But what comes next isn’t so polite – in fact it is one of the most disturbing verses in the whole Bible…

–         O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. 

Imagine singing those words in church – I think the room would fall silent

–         Some people might say, ‘Well that was the Old Testament, we live in light of the gospel of Christ’ – as if forgiveness wasn’t in the Old Testament and feelings of revenge don’t exist now

–         Others might say this is just a metaphor for something else, but the facts of history don’t really support that kind of reading

–         The Babylonians were cruel & ruthless – they didn’t show mercy for women and children or the elderly

–         The psalmist is asking God to find someone who will do to the Babylonians what the Babylonians have done to them

–         He’s not asking God to forgive them but he is leaving revenge in God’s hands

Clearly the Jewish exiles are angry with the Edomites and the Babylonians and for good reason

–         Anger is a natural and legitimate response to hurt & injustice

–         If I am cut, I bleed. If I suffer injustice, I feel angry

 

Some people deal with the fire of their anger by holding it in – it’s like the chimney of their heart is blocked

–         If you do that it will poison you and make you deeply depressed

–         There are many causes of depression and repressed anger is one of them

–         In New Zealand culture we tend to be not that good at outrage – we are more inclined to in-rage

 

Other people deal with their anger by taking it out on those around them

–         If they can’t take revenge on the person who has caused the injustice then they might kick the cat or yell at their kids or worse

–         If you do that your anger lights the fuse of other people’s anger and before you know it the whole world is on fire

 

So what are we supposed to do with our anger?

–         It’s not healthy to hold it in or to touch others with it

–         Well, the only other option I know of is venting our anger to God

–         Releasing the smoke & heat of our rage up the chimney of lament

–         This is essentially what the writer is doing in the closing verses of the psalm

Venting anger through lament is not the same as forgiveness – but it may be a necessary step in the process toward forgiveness

–         If we try to forgive big things too quickly or too cheaply we find the forgiveness doesn’t stick and resentment lingers

–         In his commentary on this verse Walter Brueggemann asks:

–         “Could it be that genuine forgiveness is possible only when there has been a genuine articulation of hatred?” [2]

–         I’m not sure – I do know there can be no real forgiveness without first facing the truth about ourselves

–         We have to give ourselves time and grace to vent our anger and take the log out of our own eye before we can truly forgive

Lament provides a vent for those nasty feelings that would otherwise choke us

 

Conclusion:

Earlier in the sermon I said that lament is close to appreciation

–         This is literally true of psalm 137

–         When we look at psalm 136 and psalm 138 we notice they are both psalms of thanksgiving

–         Psalm 137, a lament, is sandwiched between two psalms of thanksgiving

The message is clear, when it comes to lament we need to keep our perspective

–         Yes, sad, bad & ugly things happen in life, and we need to seek company in our pain so we don’t grieve alone

–         We need to remember who we are in spite of our loss

–         We need to be able to honestly protest the wrongness of it all

–         And we need to be allowed to express how we feel – to vent our anger

–         But we also need to remember that happy, good & beautiful things happen with greater frequency

–         We need to spend at least twice as much time enjoying & appreciating the good things than we do grieving & lamenting the bad

 

Many of us have had plenty of reason to lament this year, but we’ve also had a lot to be thankful for

–         Give your grief to God – tell him honestly & respectfully how you feel

–         Ask him to do something creative with your pain, but don’t wallow in sadness for too long

–         Look up, the good news is all around you.

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    Do you have a favourite song of lament?

–         What is it and why? What does it put you in touch with?

3.)    In what sense are appreciation & lament similar?

–         How are they different?

4.)    Why does lament seek company?

–         What are the benefits of not grieving alone?

–         How might we sit with and listen to those who have suffered loss and are in pain?

5.)    Why is the writer of psalm 137 so committed to remembering Jerusalem?

–         How might we remember who we are after a significant loss?

6.)    In what ways is psalm 137 oozing defiance and protest?

–         What aspect of Jesus’ experience do you identify with most – Jesus the man of sorrows or Jesus the risen and conquering King?

7.)    What three options for dealing with anger are touched on in the sermon?

–         What is your default option for dealing with anger?

–         What can we do to vent our anger in a healthy way?

 

[1] Obadiah 10-14

[2] Walter Brueggemann, ‘The Message of the Psalms’, page 77.

Tawa Baptist

Baptism

Scriptures: Various

Title: Baptism

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

Structure:

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

Introduction:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

This morning our message focuses on baptism

–         Baptism is a word that means to submerge or immerse

–         It is also a ritual of Christian initiation

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

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

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

–         First let us consider the belief that goes with baptism

 

Belief:

Belief in Jesus is central to Christian baptism

–         In particular belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead

–         And belief that Jesus is Lord

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

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

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

 

Sometimes we understand what something is by reference to its opposite

–         The opposite of belief is cynicism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

–         Our society places a high value on personal freedom

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

Repentance:

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

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

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

 

Complacency is the enemy of repentance

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

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

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

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

There was this one ride called the ‘Sizzler’

–         The Sizzler goes round and round in circles really fast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

–         Hmm, so much for it being on a timer

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

In his letter to the Romans Paul writes…

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

–         Baptism doesn’t mean business as usual

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

 

Identity:

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

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

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

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

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

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

In his letter to the Galatians Paul writes…

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

–         God gave Abram the new name of Abraham

–         And he gave Jacob the new name of Israel

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

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

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

 

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

–         The politics of identity has become complex and fraught

–         Standing in solidarity with Jesus can be uncomfortable

 

Belief, repentance, identity and discipleship…

 

Discipleship:

Baptism is a commitment to become a disciple of Jesus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

–         By reading the Scriptures; especially the gospels

–         By being in community with other believers

–         And by having a go at doing what Jesus taught

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

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

–         In the Christian life understanding comes with practice

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Baptism is like a bridge – it connects people

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

 

Grace:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Baptism is like a bridge – it connects people

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

 

Entry:

The bridge of baptism represents entry into the church universal

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

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

–         Baptism is something Christians share in common

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

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

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

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

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

 

Conclusion:

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

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

–         We need to decide if we will cross the bridge

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

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

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

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

4.)    What does true repentance look like?

–         What is the catalyst for true repentance?

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

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

–         How might we work out our discipleship today?

7.)    What is grace?

–         How is God’s grace present in baptism?

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

 

[1] Matthew 3:11

[2] Ephesians 4:1-6

Tawa Baptist

Abraham’s Identity

Scripture: Genesis 24:1-9

Title: Abraham’s Identity 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Two worlds
  • Identity
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Someone once said,

–         “We don’t know who discovered water but we know it wasn’t a fish.”

–         The point being that a fish is born into water and lives in water all its life, so it doesn’t realise the context it is in, unless it is taken out of the water.

–         We, like the fish, are often unaware of the cultural & historical context we are born into as well.

–         It is like we are blind to our own society unless we leave it to experience another context or spend time with people from another culture

 

Today we continue our series on the life & faith of Abraham

–         Last week we heard how Abraham responded when Sarah died

–         Abraham was in touch with his soul – he wept over Sarah and purchased land as an act of hope in the face of death

–         This morning we pick up the story from the beginning of Genesis 24 – page 25 near the front of your pew Bibles

–         In this scene Abraham asks his most trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac. In listening to this story we become aware that Abraham’s cultural water was very different from our own

–         From Genesis chapter 24, verses 1-9, we read…

Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in everything he did. 2 He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, “Place your hand between my thighs and make a vow. 3 I want you to make a vow in the name of the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan. 4 You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives.”

5 But the servant asked, “What if the young woman will not leave home to come with me to this land? Shall I send your son back to the land you came from?”

6 Abraham answered, “Make sure that you don’t send my son back there! 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son. 8 If the young woman is not willing to come with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not under any circumstances take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand between the thighs of Abraham, his master, and made a vow to do what Abraham had asked.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Different worlds:

I have here a piece of wood and an axe. Wood has a grain to it

–         If I try to cut this wood against the grain like this – it’s really hard work

–         [Try cutting across the grain]

–         But if I cut the wood with the grain – it’s a lot easier [Cut with the grain]

This morning’s Scripture reading is one of those passages that goes against the grain for most of us – it just seems so at odds with the values of our society and so we may struggle with it

For example, we are a relatively egalitarian society – we value equality and personal freedom (we don’t like people telling us what to do)

–         So the idea of Abraham telling his servant to choose a wife for Isaac (arranged marriage basically), is repugnant to us

Likewise, our culture is a bit lite on commitment, so the idea of Abraham binding his servant with an oath by placing his hand under his thigh (whatever that means) is really strange to us

What’s more we like to think we are inclusive and not racist or sexist or prejudice or anything else-ist – so the idea of Abraham saying, under no circumstances is my son to marry one of those Canaanite girls, is shocking to us

What we need to remember is that the Ancient Near East, the world in which Abraham lived, had a very different set of values to the world we live in

On the wall here I have a table contrasting some of the differences between the modern western world and the ancient near eastern world [1]

Modern West Ancient Near East
Equality is valued Hierarchy is valued
Assert one’s own rights Submit personal rights to the group
Strong on personal identity Strong on group identity
Primary responsibility

to develop self

 Primary responsibility

to develop group
Think of self as separate Think of self as connected
Status is achieved Status is ascribed

So, for example, while we might value equality, Abraham’s world valued hierarchy

–         Kiwi culture is quite hard on its leaders, whereas people in the ancient near east were more respectful of their elders and leaders

–         We might think that asserting our own personal rights is a good thing

–         But to people in the Ancient Near East submitting your personal rights to the group was a far better thing

–         For them submission to hierarchy provided a framework for order

–         Whereas equality and insisting on your own rights was a recipe for chaos

 

We (in the modern west) have a strong sense of personal identity, whereas people in the ancient near east had a strong sense of family and tribal identity

–         In the modern west we tend to think our primary responsibility is to ourselves and developing our own individual potential

–         But in the ancient near east the primary obligation was to others and to the development of the group

–         Isaac & Rebekah would have been more inclined to accept the marriage that was arranged for them because they knew it wasn’t about them

–         It was about what was best for the group

 

People with a modern western world view tend to think of themselves as separate from the world around them and from other people

–         Whereas people with a more ancient world view tend to think of themselves as organically connected to the physical world and to others

–         In this respect at least, Maori culture is a lot closer to the culture of the ancient near east than Pakeha culture is

–         When Maori formally introduce themselves they often say the tribe they come from, what their river & mountain is and who their ancestors are

–         That’s because they think of themselves as connected to the world around them – they see themselves as part of a group not just as an individual

 

In our modern western world, status is achieved or earned by what you do

–         But in the ancient world status was ascribed or given

–         Abraham didn’t do anything to earn or achieve God’s promise & blessing – it was simply given to him by the Lord

–         Likewise we are made in the image of God – that’s not a status we achieve by trying really hard to be good

–         That’s a status ascribed to us by God and ultimately fulfilled by Christ

A lot of us struggle with issues of identity & self-worth don’t we

–         We might not feel good enough somehow

–         Or we might feel like we must achieve something in order to prove who we are. No – you don’t.

–         You are valuable because God says so, not because of what you achieve

–         You are beautiful because God made you – not because you have rock hard abs or an hour glass body shape or whatever

Now in comparing & contrasting these two worlds I’m not saying that one is better than the other – both worlds have their pros & cons

–         The point is, Abraham lived in a completely different world from the one we live in – the cultural water (context) he swam in was different to ours

–         We need to be careful to avoid the arrogance of imposing our modern western values on Abraham

–         Ultimately, Jesus is Lord of both worlds and he comes to transform our world into God’s kingdom on earth

 

Okay, so we’ve seen how Abraham’s culture was different to ours

–         I’d like to focus now on one of the key themes in this passage: Identity

Identity:

Identity is about who we are – it’s about our being

–         Those who are in tune with their soul have a strong sense of identity

–         They know who they are and have accepted who they are

–         And consequently, they make decisions in line with their identity

Let’s take some time to understand the modern western concept of identity and consider how this might (or might not) fit with Abraham…

Identity Moratorium

–         Actively exploring options but not yet committed

 Identity Achievement

–         Have explored the options and are now committed
Identity Diffusion

–         Not exploring the options and not committed

 Identity Foreclosure

–         Have committed without exploring the options

A developmental psychologist by the name of James Marcia, came up with a theory about identity in the 1980’s

–         Marcia identified what he called four ‘statuses’ of identity

Identity Diffusion, in the red box, describes the status of an individual who doesn’t have a strong sense of identity and isn’t really exploring their options – they sort of float without being committed to anything much

–         For example, they might be unsure what they want to do for a job and not at all motivated to explore career options

–         Or they might be undecided on what they believe about God and in fact quite uninterested in seeking him – neither hot nor cold

 

Identity Foreclosure, in the grey box, describes those who have committed to a certain identity without having explored the options

–         For example, their father was a baker so when they left school they became a baker too without trying anything else

–         Or perhaps they came to church from a young age and just accepted their parents’ beliefs without question

–         There’s nothing wrong with this if you enjoy being a baker and the beliefs you’ve inherited are sound

–         But it can become a problem if the identity you commit yourself to is in conflict with your soul

–         If you are wired up to be a pastor but you spend your life selling shoes, because that’s all you know, then life will be pretty miserable for you

 

Moratorium is just another word for ‘postponement’, so Identity Moratorium, in the green box, describes those who haven’t committed to a particular identity or occupation or set of beliefs yet, but they are actively exploring their options

–         For example, they may not have settled on a career but are trying different jobs to see what fits best for them – the gap year concept

–         Or maybe they grew up going to church but have gone off the rails a bit

–         This rebellious stage doesn’t necessarily represent their settled commitment, it is just a stage

 

Identity Achievement, in the orange box, describes the status of those who have made a firm identity commitment after exploring their options   

–         For example, they may have settled on a career in medicine after having worked in the hospitality & construction industries

–         Or perhaps they grew up not going to church but have decided to follow Jesus, like C.S. Lewis who became a Christian after being an atheist

 

We’re not stuck in one status (or in one box) our whole life

–         We are able to move around the boxes

–         For example, someone may start from a place of identity foreclosure, move to identity moratorium and end up in identity achievement

–         Maybe they become a motor mechanic because their dad was a mechanic. They do that for 10 years, then realise it isn’t for them, so they explore other career options before eventually finding their fit as an accountant

 

One thing we observe about NZ society today is that we are relatively strong on exploration but not so strong on commitment

–         And what we get with that is a more fluid society

–         People are more inclined to change their identity, almost on a whim

–         It’s like we have a wardrobe of identities we choose from

–         Again there are plusses and minuses with this

–         Fluid is adaptable, water can find a way where other firmer substances can’t, but it’s difficult to build a foundation on water

So can we apply Marcia’s identity theory to Abraham?

–         Well, there is some truth in Marcia’s theory – to a certain extent it does reflect the way we think & behave in the modern west

–         But it’s not the gospel and I don’t think it’s a model we can impose on Abraham’s culture

–         Marcia’s theory is humanistic – it doesn’t take God into account

–         It assumes that human beings achieve their own identity by the choices they make – that we define ourselves in other words

–         But the Jewish / Christian belief is that we don’t define ourselves

–         God is our creator and he defines us – he gives us our identity

–         Our identity is not forced on us by God – we still get to make choices

–         We can accept God’s definition of who we are or we can reject it

Faith Identity

–         After God’s call

–         Defined by God’s promise

 

 Fulfilled Identity

–         Isaac

–         Israel

–         Jesus
Finite Identity

–         Before God’s call

–         Unpromising future

 

 Fake Identity

–         Deceiving others

–         Defined by a lie

 

On the wall here we have another set of identity statuses which fit better for Abraham

–         Finite Identity, in the red box, describes Abraham’s unpromising future before God called him.

–         Without God, Abraham’s identity would have been limited & unfulfilled

–         He would have lived & died and been forgotten – we wouldn’t know who he was

But as a result of God’s call, Abraham moved from the red to the green, from a Finite Identity to a Faith Identity

–         God gave Abraham a new identity by calling him out of his home in Mesopotamia and literally giving him a new name

–         After God’s call Abraham’s life was defined by God’s promises

–         Sarah may have been barren but her barrenness did not define them

–         God’s promise to make Sarah & Abraham the parents of a great nation is what defined them

–         God didn’t fulfil those promises straight away – for much of Abraham’s life God’s promises remained just that, promises

–         Abraham’s task was to live his life in anticipation of God’s promise

Throughout this series we have heard how God tested Abraham’s faith in a whole variety of ways

–         Sometimes Abraham passed the test and other times he switched into the grey box of Fake Identity

–         For example, Abraham deceived Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and then sometime later he misled Abimelech the king of the Philistines

–         In those situations Abraham pretended to be something he wasn’t

–         He allowed himself to be defined by a lie, rather than God’s promise

In the end God fulfilled Abraham’s identity

–         Abraham didn’t achieve his identity through some journey of self-discovery – no.

–         God fulfilled Abraham’s identity initially through the miraculous birth of Isaac and then later through the nation of Israel

–         Ultimately though God fulfilled Abraham’s identity through Jesus Christ who was descended from Abraham

 

Returning to Genesis 24 – Abraham is very clear about Isaac remaining in the land of Canaan and not marrying any of the Canaanite girls because he wants to stay true to God’s promise

–         God’s promise requires Abraham to make an ethnic distinction

–         “At this early stage, intermarriage with the people of the land would risk assimilation into those people & thus jeopardise the covenant promises” [2]

–         Or said another way, if Isaac were to marry one of the locals the special  identity of God’s chosen people would be lost

–         Isaac marrying a Canaanite girl would be like choosing a fake identity

–         Abraham’s decision, therefore, is in line with his identity as the father of God’s chosen people

It is very important for us to make decisions in line with who we are

–         If we don’t, if we do things that go against the grain of our soul and against God’s purpose, then this creates tremendous stress within us

 

The movie Hacksaw Ridge tells the true story of Private Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the medal of honour

–         During World War 2 Doss volunteered as a medic in the US Army

–         As a devout Seventh Day Adventist, Desmond Doss refused to carry a firearm – he was a strict pacifist

–         Desmond didn’t believe in killing – to him that would have been like assuming a fake identity, it would have gone against the grain of his soul

–         Despite getting a terrible time in boot camp Desmond stayed true to who he was and eventually saved 75 soldiers during the battle of Okinawa

Like Desmond Doss, Abraham had a strong sense of identity – not just personal identity but group identity

–         The decision to find a wife for Isaac from among his extended family, and not among the Canaanites, was in line with God’s purpose

–         Abraham wanted his descendants to stay true to the identity God had promised them.

 

Conclusion:

Identity is a hot topic in our world today

–         Our modern western society and our media culture seem to create a pressure around identity issues, and that pressure is felt most strongly by many of our young people

Are you male or female?

–         Are you liberal or conservative?

–         Are you in a relationship or are you single?

–         Are you gay or straight?

–         Are you Maori or European, Asian or African?

–         Are you environmentally ethical or a petrol head?

–         Are you a vegetarian or a meat eater?

–         Are you Gen X or a Millennial?

–         As if any of those man-made categories matter in the light of eternity

 

We are not God – it is not in our power to define ourselves

–         We are not defined by what we look like or how clever we are

–         We are not defined by our parents or our past

–         We are not defined by our achievements or our mistakes

–         We are not defined by our reputation or what others think of us

–         We are not defined by our job or what we own

–         We are not defined by our fears or our feelings

–         We are defined by God, our creator, we are made in his image

God calls us out of a finite identity into a faith identity

–         He calls us to put our trust in Jesus

–         Jesus embodies the promises of God

–         Jesus shows us what God’s image looks like

–         It is through Jesus that God fulfils his purpose and our identity

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes…

–         You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. [3]

We need to live in tune with our soul – we need to discover who we are in Christ and live in a way that is consistent with that identity, as Abraham did

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

2.)    What aspects of Genesis 24:1-9 go against the grain of our modern western culture?

3.)    Compare & contrast some of the main differences between the modern western world and the ancient near east

–         In what ways might some non-western cultures today be quite close to Abraham’s ancient near eastern culture?

4.)    Discuss / reflect on James Marcia’s four identity statuses

–         Does Marcia’s theory fit with your experience? In what way?

–         How does Marcia’s theory fall short of Christian belief?

5.)    Discuss / reflect on Abraham’s four identity statuses

–         How did God give Abraham & Sarah a new identity?

6.)    Why did Abraham insist that Isaac not marry a Canaanite girl?

7.)    What is our God given identity?

–         How does God fulfil our identity?

8.)    Take some time this week to meditate on Galatians 3:26-29

 

[1] Refer John Walton’s NIVAC on Genesis, pages 25-26

[2] John Walton, NIVAC Genesis, page 529

[3] Galatians 3:26-29

Tawa Baptist

Jesus in transition

Scripture: Luke 2:41-52

Title: Jesus in transition

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Foreshadowing
  • Identity, belonging, purpose
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Recently I had an eye exam and was told I needed transition lenses, which are sort of a modern take on bifocals

–         Switching to transition lenses is really weird – it’s a transition in itself

–         With transition lenses you have to turn your whole head to keep things in focus. It takes a bit of getting used to

 

I’m telling you this for two reasons:

–         Firstly, if I seem to be looking at you funny, don’t be offended – I’m just getting used to these new glasses

–         And secondly, it relates to this morning’s message – Jesus in transition

 

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 2, verse 41 – page 77 toward the back of your pew Bibles

 

Today we continue our series on intergenerational relationships by focusing on Jesus, as a 12 year boy, interacting with adults in the temple in Jerusalem

–         In Jewish culture of that time, a boy became responsible for keeping the Law at 13 – so 12 was an age of transition as he prepared for manhood and the responsibilities associated with the Law, also a time of viewing oneself (in relation to God and the world) differently

–         And, as we’ll hear shortly, it wasn’t only a transition for Jesus, it was a time of transition for Jesus’ parents as well

–         From Luke 2, verses 41-52 we read…

 

41 Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42 When Jesus was twelve years old, they went to the festival as usual. 43 When the festival was over, they started back home, but the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; 44 they thought that he was with the group, so they travelled a whole day and then started looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 They did not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem looking for him. 46 On the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his intelligent answers. 48 His parents were astonished when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

49 He answered them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand his answer.

51 So Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favour with God and people.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate the gospel for us

Foreshadowing:

On the wall here we have an example of foreshadowing

–         The picture of a cave man, from the past, holding a stick foreshadows present day man who holds a cell-phone

 

Foreshadowing is a literary technique where the author plants little clues at the beginning of a story to hint at what is to come later

–         Foreshadowing helps us make the transition from ignorance to meaning

–         It creates a point of reference helping us to join the dots so we can accurately interpret the story

 

Many of the characters of the Old Testament foreshadow Jesus

–         Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers but then later saves them, foreshadows Jesus who was betrayed by his own for our salvation

–         Moses, the law giver, foreshadows Jesus who fulfils the law

–         David, the shepherd king, foreshadows Jesus the good shepherd king

–         Elisha who heals Naaman, the gentile leper, foreshadows Jesus who not only healed lepers but came that people of all nations would be cleansed

–         We could go on but you get the point: the Old Testament foreshadows Christ

 

We notice quite a bit of foreshadowing in this morning’s account of the boy Jesus in the temple

 

Luke 2, verse 41 tells us how every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival

 

The Passover remembers one of Israel’s great transitions – their exodus from slavery in Egypt

–         This little vignette of Jesus going to the Passover festival foreshadows Jesus’ death on the cross at Passover time

 

Travelling from Nazareth to Jerusalem is a journey of about 5 days each way on foot – so that’s at least 10 days on the road

–         Add to that another 8 days for the festival itself and the round trip took nearly 3 weeks – that’s a big commitment to make every year

–         Living as far away from Jerusalem as they did Mary & Joseph weren’t legally required by the Law to attend the Passover festival every year but they freely chose to do so – foregoing 3 weeks income to be there to honour the Lord

–         This shows us that Jesus’ parents, Mary & Joseph, were devout people – they were very committed to God and his law

 

With the festival over, Mary & Joseph head back to Nazareth

–         Because they were travelling in a large group with extended family & friends they didn’t realise Jesus was missing until the end of the first day

–         You can imagine their worry and anxiety – anything could have happened to their boy

 

It takes a day for them to return to Jerusalem and then on the third day they find him in the Temple

–         Here we observe a foreshadowing of the resurrection – for Jesus would be raised from the dead on the third day

 

Mary & Joseph are astonished (or surprised) to find Jesus sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions

–         How is a small town boy (a carpenter’s son) able to foot it with these heavy weight theologians from the big city?

–         It would be like losing your 12 year old child at the stadium after a test match, only to come back and find him discussing the game with Steve Hansen and Kieran Reid (the All Blacks coach & captain)

 

‘Listening & asking’ suggests humility and respect on Jesus’ part, so we shouldn’t imagine a precocious or arrogant child setting his elders straight

–         The 12 year old Jesus doesn’t know it all – rather he is hungry to learn

 

Apparently the teachers asked Jesus some questions too – not because they expected to learn something from the boy – but because questions encourage people to think for themselves – that was their teaching method

–         And all who heard Jesus were amazed at his intelligent answers

–         In other words, Jesus’ response showed a deep understanding of the Scriptures – far deeper than one would expect from a 12 year old

 

This picture of Jesus discussing theology with the teachers of the Law foreshadows Jesus’ ministry when he will amaze people with his wisdom and insight in teaching the ways of God

 

We all have foreshadowing in our lives don’t we

–         Things that happened to us in our childhood which anticipated an even deeper reality in adulthood

–         Some of that foreshadowing may have been helpful – it may have set you on a good path

–         By the same token some of it may have been detrimental – history has a nasty habit of repeating itself

–         Whatever foreshadowing you’ve had in your own life, whether good or bad, Jesus understands

–         He is able to join the dots and make sense of your life – give your life meaning

 

Identity, belonging and purpose:

I have here a tripod

–         This tripod is used to support a video camera

–         For this tripod to stand on its own it needs at least 3 legs

–         With just one or two legs someone needs to hold it, otherwise it will topple over and the camera will be broken

–         To make this tripod stable it helps if each of the legs are evenly matched

–         If one leg is shorter than the others it is more prone to tipping

 

Three things we human beings need to stand are: identity, belonging & purpose

–         Identity, belonging & purpose are like the three legs of the tripod supporting our soul

 

Identity answers the question: Who am I?

–         Belonging answers the question: Where do I fit?

–         And purpose answers the question: Why am I here?

–         Who, where and why?

 

As human beings we go through a number of transitions or changes in our life

–         And these transitions are not always easy – they may leave us feeling like a fish out of water, at least for a little while

–         The transition from the security of the womb to the outside world

–         The transition from home to kindy and then kindy to school and eventually from school (or university) to the workforce

–         The transition from childhood to adulthood – otherwise known as adolescence – this is a challenge for both teenagers and their parents

–         Some people make the transition from being single to being married or perhaps from being married to being divorced

–         Having children is one of life’s most profound transitions

–         A number of you here have made the transition from a different country and culture to come to New Zealand

–         Others have made the transition from full time paid employment to retirement

–         Grief is a kind of transition – as we come to terms with loss and adjust to a new normal

 

The point is: we go through lots of transitions in life and these are sometimes painful or difficult at the time

–         Having a good sense of identity, belonging & purpose gives us security – supporting us through times of transition and change

 

The transition Jesus was going through at 12 was not easy for Mary & Joseph

–         When Mary asks Jesus…

–         “My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

 

Jesus points out that they had no need for concern, saying…

–         “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?”

 

Jesus’ response here reveals a strong sense of identity, belonging & purpose.

–         Jesus identifies himself in relationship with God

–         He basically says, ‘God is my Father and I am His Son’

–         That’s identity

 

Because Jesus knows who he is (God’s Son) it then becomes clear where he belongs – in His Father’s house, that is, in the temple

–         As God’s Son, Jesus felt perfectly safe and at home in the temple

 

And as for purpose, well, ‘I had to be in the temple’

–         In other words, it was inevitable that you would find me here discussing theology with the experts – because the temple is where people learn about God and my life’s purpose is to teach people the ways of God

–         How can I teach others unless I first learn myself?

 

If you are going to be a doctor it is inevitable that you will go to medical school and hospital

–         If you are going to be a teacher it is inevitable that you will go to teachers’ college and end up in the classroom

–         If you are going to be a minister or a priest then it is inevitable that you will study the Bible and spend time in church

 

This all seems intuitively obvious to Jesus – but it’s lost on his parents

–         Mary & Joseph didn’t understand what Jesus was saying to them

–         They knew from the circumstances of his birth that he was somehow special – but they didn’t yet realise his identity as God’s Son, much less his purpose in life or where he belonged

 

Incidentally, being misunderstood by those closest to him is another foreshadowing of Jesus’ future ministry

 

Jesus is not put off by his parent’s slowness to understand though

–         He is secure in his identity, belonging and purpose

–         Jesus knows that God (his Father) understands him and that’s enough for Jesus

–         So he returns to Nazareth with Mary & Joseph and is obedient to them

 

Conclusion:

Luke 2 finishes by telling us that Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favour with both God and man

–         That Jesus ‘grew in wisdom’ tells us that our Lord wasn’t born knowing everything – he had to learn wisdom like everyone else

–         (Although it appears he was a faster learner than you or I)

–         Even though God was his Father, this didn’t mean any short cuts for Jesus

–         He did his time, paid his dues and went through puberty as we all do

–         Jesus wasn’t just fully divine – he was also fully human

 

Sometimes we might think that being Christian somehow makes us exempt or gives us immunity from the misfortunes or hardships of life – It doesn’t

–         We are just as likely to catch a cold or have car trouble or be misunderstood or made redundant or lose a loved one, as anyone else

–         God didn’t prevent his own Son from experiencing loss and suffering and difficulty – so we shouldn’t expect special treatment either

 

Like Jesus we do have some advantages though

–         In Jesus we have a secure and level tripod for our soul

–         We find our identity, our belonging and our purpose in Christ

–         Jesus is our answer to those deeper questions of who, where and why

–         Jesus is our brother – that’s identity (we are brothers and sisters with Christ – that is who we are)

–         Through Jesus we have a place in the Kingdom of God – that’s belonging (you might not feel like you belong in this world, well we are just sojourners passing through – heaven is our home)

–         And, with the power of Christ’s Spirit in us we find our unique purpose (we are all different and that’s because we each have a special purpose)

 

Let us pray…

 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, you are our security in an insecure world – you provide stability for our soul through times of change & transition. Whatever the foreshadowing in our own lives, may we find our identity, belonging and purpose in you.