Tawa Baptist

The Heart of Worship

Scripture: Mark 11:12-25

Video Link: https://youtu.be/RLIx1XnnbJA

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Parables
  • Prophecy
  • Prayer
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was training to become a pastor, I spent three months one summer working as a chaplain in Greenlane Hospital. At that time, Greenlane Hospital specialised in cardio thoracic medicine (hearts and lungs).

One day I sat with a patient who had just had a heart transplant. He was so incredibly grateful for the opportunity of a second chance at life.  He went into all sorts of detail about how sick he was before the surgery and how he was going to live his life differently now. I think he had spent his youth recklessly. 

He seemed sincere. I got the feeling he didn’t just get a new heart, he got a whole new attitude, a new spirit, a new vitality.

His was the only heart transplant I remember from that summer. More often than not the surgeon chooses to repair the heart in the least intrusive way possible. But, if the heart is beyond repair (and they can find a donor), the doctors will make a judgement to replace the old heart with a new one.

Today we continue our series for Lent, looking at some of the events in the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. Today’s reading focuses on Jesus’ assessment of the Jerusalem temple and its leadership. The Jerusalem temple was the heart of Jewish life and faith. Sadly, it had become sick beyond repair and needed to be replaced. From Mark 11, verses 12-25 we read…

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

19 When evening came, Jesus and his discipleswent out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “TrulyI tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

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

Parables:

Most people, waiting for an organ donation, have mixed feelings about it. Yes, they want to have the surgery and move on with their life. But, at the same time, they are acutely aware that receiving a new heart or a new set of lungs means someone else has to die. And that’s not a great feeling.     

As I mentioned before, the Jerusalem temple of the first century, was the heart of the Jewish nation. Sadly, the temple system had become too sick to repair and so God, the surgeon, was planning a transplant using his own son. Jesus had to die so others could live.

The man I sat with, in Greenlane Hospital, was well aware of his need for a new heart and welcomed the surgery. But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were not so keen. They were too blind to see their own need, let alone recognise that Jesus was from God. Jesus had to find a way to communicate the seriousness of the situation.

On his way to the temple, Jesus feels hungry, sees a leafy fig tree and goes over to look for fruit. It’s about mid-April and fig trees don’t normally bear fruit until June, in the Middle East.

When Jesus found nothing but leaves he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again’.  This is not the kind of behaviour we have come to expect from Jesus. Was he a bit hangry? Did he lose his temper? No. This is an acted out parable, it is deliberate.    

Jesus is well aware it’s the wrong time of year for figs. He is not expecting to have a feed. The fruitless leafy tree simply provides a vehicle for Jesus to communicate the reality of Israel’s heart disease.

By putting the parable of the fruitless fig tree alongside the account of Jesus clearing the temple, Mark (the gospel writer) is saying, ‘the fig tree represents the Jerusalem temple and its leadership’. It looks good. It looks inviting. But on closer inspection it is fruitless. The temple system has become empty religion.

Perhaps the mention that Jesus was hungry points to the reality experienced by many of those who came to worship at the Jerusalem temple. Their faith was not nourished by ritual sacrifice. They went away dissatisfied, hungry.

When Jesus entered the temple that same day, he began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

This is another acted out parable. Jesus is demonstrating (in a dramatic way) how he feels about the business being carried out in the temple courts. Mark doesn’t say that Jesus is angry but, clearly, he is not happy with the status quo.  

Whatever Jesus was feeling his actions are measured, surgically precise, fair. He doesn’t fly off the handle in a fit of rage. Jesus’ actions are considered, intentional and appropriately weighted to the situation. 

Jesus, like God the Father, is motivated by love. It is because Jesus cares deeply that he draws attention to the corrupt temple system. It is because God loves the world that he chooses to donate his Son’s heart to save us.  

So why is Jesus not pleased with the business being transacted in the temple? Well, as the parable of the fig tree demonstrates, the religious leadership were practising empty religion. They were taking the Lord’s name in vain.

To the casual observer the temple system looked good but it lacked substance. The fruit that God wanted (of justice, mercy and humility) was not there. The money changers and those selling doves were dishonest. They were scamming pilgrims, ripping people off. 

Prophecy:

Jesus explains his acted out parable by quoting from the prophets. When the Lord says: “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? he is quoting from the prophet Isaiah.

God’s purpose was for Israel to be a light to the other nations of the world. God wanted the nation of Israel to be a picture of what his kingdom is like. The other nations of the world were to learn about God from Israel.

With this in view, the temple was designed with an area for Gentiles (non-Jews) to come and seek the God of Israel. In ancient times, Gentiles could not go past their designated area. It was a case of, you may come this far and no further.

The merchants and money changers were plying their trade in the court of the Gentiles, which essentially made it impossible for people of other nations to draw near to God, in prayer, at the temple.

By clearing the merchants out of the court of Gentiles, Jesus was welcoming people of all nations. He was making room for prayer and reminding Israel of God’s original purpose.

Now, as most of you are aware, we had a church garage sale yesterday. The auditorium and hall were packed with stuff. Given the timing of this message, some of you may be thinking, is our pastor criticising the garage sale? Is he saying we shouldn’t hold it anymore?

No. I’m not saying that. Let me be very clear. The timing of the garage sale and my preaching on Mark 11 is unrelated. Holding a garage sale in the church hall once a year is not the same thing as money changers camped in the Court of the Gentiles on the Temple Mount.  

For one thing we are not ripping people off. If anything we are providing a community service. People in the community are getting a good deal from us.

What’s more, we are not excluding anyone from approaching God in prayer. A garage sale opens the door of the church to the wider community. Besides, you don’t need a church building to pray.

Later, in the gospel of Mark, when Jesus died on the cross, we read how the curtain hanging in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. This is a sign of what Jesus’ death accomplished. We now have direct access to God through Jesus. We meet God in Christ. Jesus replaces the Jerusalem temple.  You can pray to Jesus anywhere.

So, how does Jesus’ clearing of the temple apply in our world today? Let me offer you three ways to understand this…

Firstly, who are the money changers in our society? Who are the ones who make an enormous profit at the expense of everyday people? Well, we’ve seen in the news recently the obscene profits generated by overseas banks. Then there are the finance companies who appear friendly enough but, in reality, take advantage of desperate people by charging over the top interest.

There is something not right about the way we finance things in this country.

If you work in a bank, then I don’t think the answer is to quit your job. We need men and women of integrity to be salt and light in our financial institutions. We need people who will use their influence for good; to help shift our thinking away from scarcity towards abundance. Away from greed towards generosity. Away from personal gain towards social responsibility.

So that’s one application of Jesus’ parable of clearing the temple. I think also Jesus is taking a crack at nationalism here.

‘Nationalism is identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.’    

It is not a bad thing to identify with your own nation. In fact, it is a good thing to support the interests of your own country by paying your taxes and making a positive contribution to society.

But, when support for your nation is taken to an extreme, so that other nations suffer, then that becomes nationalism. Jesus is not okay with nationalism. Nationalism does great harm to the world God loves. 

By allowing merchants to set up shop in the court of the Gentiles, the religious leaders were promoting Jewish nationalism. They were effectively excluding other nations from drawing near to God.

When Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’, he wasn’t just talking about our inter-personal relationships. He was also talking about a nation’s global relationships.

Russia’s illegal invasion of the Ukraine is a product of nationalism. Likewise, when large countries pursue their own economic interests in a way that destroys the environment and contributes to climate change so that smaller, poorer nations start disappearing into the sea, that also is a product of nationalism. 

We are talking about how Jesus’ clearing of the temple applies to us today. Here’s a more personal application. Given that Jesus is the one through whom we meet with God, then clearing room means making time and space in our busy lives to pray and study the Bible.

The goal is to be fruitful for God’s glory and we can only be fruitful when we abide in Christ. How do you carve out time to be with Jesus?

Returning to Mark 11, Jesus also quotes from the prophet Jeremiah, to explain the meaning of his actions.

The phrase, but you have made it a den of robbers, is a reference to Jeremiah’s prophecy that God was going to destroy the Jerusalem temple because the people were practising false religion. They carried out the prescribed rituals without the fruit of righteousness, without obeying the 10 commandments.     

Jesus is indicating that the religious leaders of his day are just like the religious leaders of Jeremiah’s day. God is not obligated to protect the Jerusalem temple if the priests and people misuse it. God allowed Israel’s enemies to destroy the temple once before and he will do so again.

The next day, as they were walking past the fig tree, Peter noticed it had withered. The dead tree has now become a prophetic parable for what was going to happen to the Jerusalem temple.

In AD 70, some decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jewish nationalism provoked the Romans to lay siege to Jerusalem and eventually destroy the temple building and many lives with it. Jesus’ prediction came true.

It’s important to understand that in giving this prophecy, Jesus held no malice in his heart. Grief, yes, but not hatred. In Luke 13, a parallel passage, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem as Jeremiah did before him.  

Prayer:

The disciples appear to be a bit surprised by how quickly the fig tree withered after Jesus spoke against it. So Jesus uses the opportunity to talk about prayer. We might wonder how Jesus’ teaching on prayer relates to the temple incident. Well, let me explain…

To the ancient mind a temple was sacred ground. It was the place where divine presence resided in a special way. Most people felt closer to God in the temple and imagined prayer to be more effective when offered in God’s house.  

In verses 22-24 Jesus makes it clear that faith in God (rather than geographical location) is what makes our prayers effective. Faith is what really connects us to God, not temples or church architecture.

In verse 23 Jesus says: “TrulyI tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”

Faith that moves mountains. This is a challenging verse, especially for anyone who has prayed earnestly and with full conviction that their prayer would be answered positively, only to be disappointed when things did not turn out the way they had hoped. 

The assumption in verses 22-24 is that we are praying for things that are in line with God’s will and purpose.  If you pray to win Lotto Powerball, fully believing you have right the numbers, God is under no obligation to answer with a ‘yes’. Prayers offered in faith are not magic. God is unlikely to give you something as harmful as 10 million dollars. He loves you too much for that.

But what about those less selfish prayers, the ones when we are ask God to heal a loved one and yet they still die despite our water tight belief? In a case like that the problem is not with your faith, nor with God’s power.

Prayer is not a mathematical formula. Prayer is cloaked in mystery. Sometimes God’s answer is incomprehensible this side of heaven. From our vantage point, in this world, we cannot see the whole picture of what our prayers accomplish. For what it’s worth, I believe that when someone goes to be with Jesus, they are healed completely and totally.

In the context of Mark 11, ‘this mountain’, that Jesus says can be moved by prayer and faith, is most likely the mountain on which the temple was built. Jesus seems to be saying here that the old temple system, with its ritual sacrifice, is being removed by God and a new system (based on faith in Christ) is being established.

God is removing the old heart and giving Israel (and indeed the world) a new heart to worship him. Jesus is that heart.

Thinking more broadly, ‘this mountain’ might be a metaphor for any seemingly immovable obstacle. For example, ‘this mountain’ could be a powerful but corrupt institution that is beyond reform and needs to be thrown into the sea so it can be replaced with God’s kingdom way of doing things.

The main thought, in verses 22-24, is that God can do what we think is impossible. No one in the first century would have thought it possible to transplant a human heart nor replace the temple with something better. And yet, by God’s grace, these things have actually happened.     

Jesus concludes his lesson on prayer by talking about forgiveness. Jesus says: “…if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

This relates to the temple as well. The temple was a place where people went to be reconciled with God, to be forgiven. In the time of Jesus, the Jews performed ceremonies of reconciliation involving animal sacrifice. Jesus has just been saying the old temple system is on the way out. So how are people to be reconciled to God without a temple. How are we to be forgiven without ritual sacrifice?

We are reconciled to God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, when we forgive those who have sinned against us. If the old (hard) heart of worship was based on ritual sacrifice, then the new (tender) heart of worship is based on faith with forgiveness.

The inconvenient truth of the gospel is that God’s forgiveness of us is conditional on our forgiveness of others. We cannot expect God to answer our prayers if we are holding onto resentment against someone else. Is there anyone you are struggling to forgive at the moment? Pray for the grace to forgive while you can.

Conclusion:

With that in mind, let us pray now…

Gracious God, we thank you for donating your heart, your Son, that we might live. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And Lord, when we find it hard to forgive, help us to be honest about our hurt and give us the grace we need to let it go. Through faith in 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?

  • Why did Jesus speak against the fig tree? In what way was the fig tree like the religious leadership of Jesus’ day?
  • Why did Jesus overturn the tables of the money changers in the temple? What was Jesus saying through this acted out parable?
  • Discuss / reflect on how Jesus’ clearing of the temple applies in our world today?
  • Have you ever prayed for something with total belief that it would happen, only to have your hopes for that prayer disappointed? What was the situation? How did you feel? What is the basic assumption underlying verses 22-24?
  • What do we find at the heart of true worship (according to verses 22-25)? Are these things at the heart of your worship of God? If not, what needs to change. How might we strengthen how heart for worship? 
  • Is there anyone you need to forgive? What do you need to let go of your hurt?   
Tawa Baptist

God’s comfort

Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11

Title: God’s comfort

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s comfort
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

This morning we follow the lectionary reading for the second Sunday in Advent

–         In case you’re wondering what a lectionary is, it’s simply a list of prescribed Bible readings for each day

–         And the Old Testament reading prescribed for today (the 10th December 2017) is Isaiah 40:1-11

–         As I keep saying the word Advent means ‘coming’

–         Isaiah 40 is about the advent (or the coming) of the Lord.

–         From verse 1 we read…

 

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak to Jerusalem’s heart, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out.”

And I said, “What shall I cry? All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

God’s comfort:

By the rivers of Babylon, where we sat down

There we wept, as we remembered Zion…

 

Can anyone tell me the name of the 1970’s pop group who sang that song?

–         [Wait for people to reply…]

–         Yes, that’s right, it was Boney M.

 

Now can anyone tell me where they got the idea and words for that song?

–         [Wait for people to reply…]

–         ‘By the rivers of Babylon’ comes from Psalm 137, a song of lament, written by the Jews living in exile in Mesopotamia

 

In 586 BC King Nebucadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem, killed thousands and forced many of the survivors to leave their homeland

–         This all happened because the people of Judah had broken faith with God

–         They had betrayed the Lord and dragged his name through the mud

–         So God left the temple and let his people suffer the consequences of their own injustice

–         The surviving Jews were held captive as exiles in Mesopotamia for about 70 years. Isaiah chapters 40-55 are words of comfort & hope for the exiles

 

Probably, for most of us here, the word comfort is a soft word

–         When I hear the word ‘comfort’ I tend to think of a pillow for my head or comfort food, like ice-cream, or a soft toy for comforting a small child

–         But I don’t think this is what God has in mind when he says, ‘Comfort my people’

 

If you are lost in the bush then having a compass is far more comforting than having a pillow

–         Or if you are trapped in a deep hole, then being thrown a rope is far more comforting than being thrown a tub of ice-cream

–         Or if you fall overboard at sea, then wearing a lifejacket is more comforting than holding a teddy bear

–         The comfort God offers gives real, tangible meaning & hope in the most bitter and hopeless of circumstances

–         It’s the comfort of a compass and a rope and a life jacket, not the comfort of pillows and ice-cream and soft toys

 

The people are hurting, they have suffered much and so the Lord says: speak comfort to Jerusalem’s heart

–         The heart of Jerusalem is not it’s buildings or its sacred sites

–         The heart of Jerusalem is its people

–         So when God says speak to Jerusalem’s heart he is really saying, speak to the people of Jerusalem

–         And in the context of Isaiah 40, written hundreds of years before Christ, most of the people of Jerusalem are living in exile, they are not actually living in the city itself – so this message of comfort is meant for the exiles

 

We’ve heard a bit about Jerusalem in the news this past week

–         Donald Trump’s words were comforting to the Israelis but very discomforting to the Palestinians

–         I wonder what it would mean to speak words of comfort to Jerusalem’s heart today (roughly 2,500 years later)

–         If the heart of Jerusalem is it’s people then we would have to say Jerusalem’s heart is divided today

–         Ethnically speaking the people of Jerusalem aren’t just Jewish, they are also Palestinian

–         And from a religious perspective they’re not just orthodox Jews, they are also Muslim and Christian and other things besides.

 

I don’t think Jesus would get involved in a political argument over who Jerusalem belongs to

–         Jesus died for the Israelis and the Palestinians – he loves them both

–         Donald Trump is trying answer the wrong question

–         The question is not: Who owns Jerusalem?

–         The question is: Will you be ready when Jesus returns?

 

Verse 2 continues …proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed

–         In Hebrew, the term hard service is the same term used for compulsory military service

–         So it is like saying to the exiles that their tour of duty is over

–         No more war for them, no more destruction and chaos – they have done their time

 

The last part of verse 2 reads…

–         Proclaim… that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

–         Now when I first read this, I thought to myself, it sounds like Israel has paid for her own sins by suffering punishment from God

–         And that God has punished her twice over – more than she deserved

–         But that can’t be right – God is just & merciful – with God the punishment is never greater than the crime

 

Israel’s injustice toward God and their neighbours was like an infected wound that had to be cleansed, quarterised and dressed

–         Their hard service wasn’t so much payment for their sin as it was painful but necessary surgery to heal a wound

 

I was sitting in WINZ the other day (as you do) and they had this advertisement playing on their TV, with three guys in the pub betting on the races

–         One of the guys spent his wife’s hard earned money on a horse to win but he lost it all and ‘Guilty Feeling’ won instead

–         As a consequence the power bill didn’t get paid

–         Worse than this though the man had to live with the consequences of having abused his wife’s trust

 

Israel were like the guy in the ad with the gambling problem

–         They had bet on idolatry and broken trust with the Lord

–         God allowed Israel to suffer the consequences of their sin and disobedience so the nation would be humbled and learn their lesson

–         It was a kind of tough love approach by God, in much the same way that we might have to show tough love to someone with a gambling addiction

 

When the text says, She has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins, it doesn’t mean that God has punished Israel twice over for her wrong

–         It means that God himself has paid for Israel’s mistakes in full

–         You see, the word double does not mean twice over, in this context

–         The Hebrew word for double here means two sided (or double sided)

–         The same word is used in Job 11:6, which reads …for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

–         So to receive from God ‘double’ actually means that God has paid for (or forgiven) all of Israel’s sins

–         Not just the ones that Israel knows about but also the sins they are not conscious of – the sins on the flipside

 

Have you ever wondered about the sins you have committed without being aware of it? I have.

–         On the rare occasions that I buy an item of clothing I wonder whether it was made with slave labour

–         I don’t break into people’s homes and steal stuff but I do participate in a global economic system that transfers wealth from the poor to the rich in unjust ways – we are all part of that system whether we like it or not

–         Unless we were to live in the desert making our own clothes, eating locusts and wild honey I don’t see how we can avoid being complicit

–         The good news is that God’s forgiveness for us is double sided

–         Christ has paid for our all our sins – both the ones we know of and the ones we don’t.

–         I’m not suggesting that means we can turn a blind eye to injustice

–         The point is: God’s grace is often far greater than we imagine

 

In verses 3-5 of Isaiah 40 we hear a voice calling…

–         “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…”

 

With these verses the Jewish exiles are being told that the Lord God, Yahweh, is coming and they are to build a highway for him

 

Construction of Transmission Gully is well underway – a 27 kilometre four-lane motorway which will run from Mackays Crossing to Linden, through Transmission Gully.

–         The new motorway is scheduled to be open for traffic in 2020.

 

Developing the Transmission Gully Motorway was controversial, and was a topic of considerable debate in Wellington politics for some time.

–         There are anecdotal accounts that the American Marines were keen to build a road inland through Transmission Gully in World War II, but the government did not have the material (the concrete) to spare.

 

Building a literal highway for regular motorists in the 21st Century is a significant and costly undertaking

–         Building a metaphorical highway for the Lord is also a significant task – it means personal & corporate change, repentance basically

–         Straightening out our lifestyle so we are ready when Jesus returns

 

It is significant that the Lord makes his way through the desert wilderness

–         In the ancient world the wilderness was generally a metaphor for chaos and a place where God was thought to be absent

–         To say the Lord will come to his people through the wilderness is like saying that God will restore order out of the chaos

–         God will make his presence most real in the places he was thought to be most absent

 

As a family, we found God in the desert

–         I don’t mean that we literally drove out to the central plateau to meet God

–         I mean that we became Christians when my grandmother died

–         She had cancer but by the time they discovered it the cancer had spread to her liver and there wasn’t much they could do for her

–         Nan came to live in our house for the last few months of her life before she died. I was about 10 or 11 at the time

–         Now you would think that nothing good could come out of that but actually God came to us through that desert experience

–         He didn’t heal my nan but she did place her trust in Jesus before she passed and as a consequence we began following Jesus too

 

It’s funny how God is often most real for us when we are in a place of deep suffering and disorientation – a desert place

–         It’s our need that makes us open to receive God

–         And it’s the desert that makes us aware of our need

 

Verse 5 says…

–         And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.

–         What does this mean?

–         Well, the word glory can mean a number things depending on the context

–         In Isaiah 40 the glory of the Lord refers to the manifestation of God’s presence. God’s glory is the sign or the indicator that God is present

 

It’s easy to tell when a human being is present – you know that I’m here because I have a physical body that you can see and hear and touch (hopefully you can’t smell me from where you are)

–         In a sense our bodies are our glory – they are a physical manifestation of our presence

–         But God is not like us – he isn’t made of flesh & bones – He is Spirit and so how do we know when God is present?

 

Well, it’s a little bit like knowing whether someone is home or not, without actually going into the house

–         You can usually tell someone is home because their car is in the driveway

–         Or, if it’s night time the lights are on and, if its dinner time, you might smell food cooking

–         We could say the car, the lights and the cooking smells are the glory of the house, in the sense that they are signs of the homeowner’s presence

 

God’s glory, his presence, can be seen in a whole variety of ways

–         We might see God’s glory (or presence) manifest in a sunrise or when our prayers are answered or when someone makes a decision to follow Jesus

 

For me personally, one sign of God’s glory (or presence) in my day is synchronicity – being in the right place at the right time

–         For example, last Thursday someone from water services came to fix the leaky water toby behind the hall

–         Just as I was hopping into my car to leave for an offsite appointment I noticed the plumber coming round the back of the church

–         He was having trouble finding the leaky toby – and to be fair it is hard to find, being half way up the bank hidden in the bushes behind the hall

–         So I showed him where the leak was and he fixed it

–         Had I been a minute earlier or later I would have missed him and he probably would have left without fixing the leak

 

Now that might seem to you like a mere coincidence or a minor detail

–         But for me it was a manifestation of God’s glory, a small sign of His presence in my day

–         Had I missed the plumber it would have created more work for me because then I’d have to ring the Council back and get them to send someone again – which would be a bit of a wind up

–         By making sure I was in the right place at the right time God saved both me and the plumber time & frustration

–         Little things like that are a great comfort to me because they demonstrate in a very real and practical way that God is present – I’m not alone

 

When the people of Israel left their slavery in Egypt the Lord led them by a pillar of fire & cloud – this pillar was another form of the glory of God

–         People could look at the pillar and see that God was present with them, sort of like seeing the lights on at night and knowing the owner of the house was at home – it was a tremendous comfort to the people

–         In ancient Israel the Tabernacle and then later the temple in Jerusalem were also manifestations of God’s glory (signs of his presence)

 

Obviously when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC that was a sign that the lights were off, that God’s glory had departed and the Lord’s presence had left the building

–         So when it says in verse 5 the glory of the Lord will be revealed, the exiles can draw strength & comfort in the certain knowledge that God’s presence is returning to them – they are not alone

–         Verse 5 doesn’t tell us specifically how God’s glory will be revealed

–         Initially, we could say it was revealed in the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the temple

–         But looking beyond that we know (from our vantage point in history) that God’s glory is perfectly revealed in the person of Jesus Christ

 

Over 500 years later the gospel writers would use these words from Isaiah 40 in reference to John the Baptist and Jesus

–         They would identify John as the voice of one calling in the wilderness

–         And they would name Jesus as the glory of the Lord revealed to all humankind

–         For it is through the humanity of Jesus that God chose to make visible his presence with his people

–         And it is through the suffering of Jesus that God chose to reveal his glory

 

In verses 3-5 we heard the voice of someone calling in the wilderness

–         Then in verses 6-8 we hear a different voice, or rather two voices:

–         A heavenly voice and human voice [1]

–         The heavenly voice says, “Cry out”

–         And the human voice responds, “What shall I cry? All people are like grass, & all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers & the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them…”

 

Last year we went to the West Coast of the South Island for a bit of a look around – we’d never been there before

–         We stopped at Franz Joseph for a night or two

–         I remember walking up the valley toward the glacier with these massive stone cliffs either side of us

–         The valley had been carved out of solid rock over many thousands of years as the glacier ice moved backwards and forwards through the valley

–         We are here for 70 or 80 years maybe, if we’re lucky but this valley, the mountains and the glacier, had been there for millennia upon millennia

–         It gives you a sense of the fleeting nature of human life

 

Being in a place as old as that begs the question: What is the meaning of our lives when our lives are so short?

–         In a paradoxical sort of way though, being close to something so ancient actually comforted me

–         It quieted my soul, putting all my worries & anxieties into perspective

 

The human voice (in verses 6 & 7) sounds a note of despair, which is what we would expect from someone who has lost so much and was living in exile

–         It’s like this person is saying: What’s the point in telling people that God is coming? By the time he arrives we’ll probably be dead anyway

–         What’s the point in comforting people, we are like flowers, here today and gone tomorrow – human life is so fragile, so fleeting and God’s advent (His coming) is so slow (like a glacier)

–         But despair eventually gives way to hope for the word of our God endures forever 

–         It is the enduring nature of God’s word that puts our worries into perspective and gives meaning to the transitory nature of human life

–         God’s word is super food for our soul when we are starved for meaning

 

We hear the content of the message of comfort in verses 10 & 11…

–         See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

 

The image we have of God here is that of a mighty warrior king

–         If you are a weak, vulnerable, defenceless nation then it is a comfort knowing you are under the protection of the most powerful force on earth

–         Or, to use another analogy, if you are being held hostage it is a comfort knowing the Navy Seals are on their way to your rescue

 

The reward accompanying God (the warrior King) is most likely a poetic reference to the Jewish exiles – the people are the treasure, the recompense

–         God is about to set his captive people free and lead them back from exile to their homeland in Judea and Jerusalem

 

But God is not one dimensional – there are many facets and layers to God’s character

–         As well as being a warrior King the Lord is also a shepherd gathering the lambs in his arms and carrying them close to his heart, gently leading those with young

 

Not only is God powerful & strong like a warrior King (so that no enemy can resist), he is also tender & gentle like a shepherd (so the weak won’t be left behind) [2]

–         These twin images offer real practical comfort to the people

 

Conclusion:

When we put it all together the message is…

–         God is on the move and the exiles’ sense of God’s absence will soon be replaced by a sense of God’s presence

–         This is good news – a message of real comfort

–         Not the soft superficial comfort of pillows, ice-cream and teddy bears

–         But the real life saving comfort of a compass when we are lost in the bush, or a rope from above when we are at the bottom of a pit, or a life jacket when we fall overboard

 

In John 14, the night before he died, Jesus spoke words of comfort to his disciples – He promised them the gift of His Holy Spirit

–         God’s Spirit is intimately connected with God’s glory

–         It is by God’s Spirit that we become aware of God’s presence both in the ordinary things of our lives as well as the extra-ordinary

 

Questions for reflection or discussion:

 

1.)  What sort of comfort is meant in Isaiah 40?

–         What comforts you?

2.)  Reflect / discuss the double sided forgiveness of God

3.)  How do we prepare a highway for the Lord?

4.)  What is the significance of God coming through the desert wilderness?

–         Think of a time when God has met you in (or through) a desert experience

5.)  What is the glory of the Lord?

–         How do you know God is present with you?

6.)  How does Jesus reveal the glory of God?

7.)  Ask God to make you aware of presence this Advent season and make a note of how he answers your prayer

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/10-dec-2017-gods-comfort

 

[1] These speech marks follow the NIV translation.  The original Hebrew doesn’t have speech marks.

[2] Refer Barry Webb’s commentary on Isaiah, page 163.

Tawa Baptist

Arrival

Scripture: Psalm 122

 

Title: Arrival

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Arriving
  • Gathering for worship
  • Asking for peace (within)
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on the Songs of Ascents – which we know as Psalms 120 to 134

–         In ancient Israel people went on road trips each year to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the three main religious festivals

–         To help them prepare for the festivals pilgrims might sing these 15 songs on their journey

 

The word ‘Ascent’ has to do with moving upward

–         The temple in Jerusalem was on a hill – so the pilgrims were physically ascending (or moving upwards) as they made their way to the temple

–         And, at the same time, they were drawing closer to God

 

In April this year we will celebrate Easter

–         Easter is the main festival for Christians, alongside Christmas and Pentecost

–         The plan, over the next couple of months, is to explore these Songs of Ascents as we journey toward Easter

–         This morning we take a closer look at psalm 122

–         In this song the psalmist arrives in Jerusalem – his destination

–         Jerusalem is where he finds security

–         And, it is where the people of God gather for worship & justice

–         From the New Revised Standard Version we read…

 

1 I was glad when they said to me,     “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” 2 Our feet are standing     within your gates, O Jerusalem.

 

3 Jerusalem—built as a city     that is bound firmly together. 4 To it the tribes go up,     the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel,     to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,     the thrones of the house of David.

 

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:     “May they prosper who love you. 7 Peace be within your walls,     and security within your towers.” 8 For the sake of my relatives and friends     I will say, “Peace be within you.”

9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,     I will seek your good.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this song for us

 

Arriving:

On the wall here we have a diagram of the water cycle process:

–         Precipitation, evaporation and condensation

–         Precipitation is rain or snow – basically water falling out of the sky because it has become too heavy to stay in the clouds

–         After precipitation the water collects on the ground for a while until it evaporates

–         Evaporation is when the liquid on the ground turns into water vapour which is transported up into the sky by the power (or heat) of the sun

–         And condensation is basically the formation of clouds, when the water vapour condenses before eventually turning into liquid precipitation (or rain) again

 

This water cycle process (precipitation, evaporation and condensation) has the effect of purifying the water

–         When the water gathered on the ground evaporates it leaves behind the impurities

 

Psalm 122 describes the Jewish pilgrim happily arriving at the gates of the holy city, Jerusalem

–         Arrival is both an end and a new beginning

–         It is a change from being on the move to being still

–         Verse 2 touches on this stillness with the psalmist saying…

–         “Our feet are standing within your gates O Jerusalem”

–         In other words, we have arrived, we are here, we are safe & secure

 

As I mentioned before there are 15 songs of Ascents and we’ve only got to the third song – yet already the psalmist has reached his destination

–         We might not have expected him to reach his journey’s end until perhaps the 14th or 15th psalm

–         Maybe we are not meant to think of these 15 songs in a linear way – travelling from point A to point B

–         After all, arrival is both an end and a new beginning

–         Perhaps our spiritual journey is more like the water cycle process, involving both movement and stillness, transformation and purification

 

Alec Motyer notes: “The 15 songs seem to form five sets of three. For the most part the keynotes of the psalms in each set are distress in the first, power in the second, and security in the third” [1]

 

So there is a repeating cycle or movement from distress to empowerment to security (not unlike precipitation, evaporation and condensation)

–         This seems to fit what we’ve come across so far in this series

–         Psalm 120 describes the distress the Jewish ex-pat felt as he was surrounded by liars, a long way from home

–         While Psalm 121 describes the power (or grace) of God to protect the pilgrim as he makes his journey through the wilderness

–         And Psalm 122 talks about the security or safety embodied by Jerusalem.

–         Looking ahead to psalm 123 we pick up notes of distress again

–         Followed by power (or deliverance) in psalm 124 & security in psalm 125

 

In a general sense we could apply this pattern to our own spiritual life

–         By his power (or grace) the Lord transports us from distress to security

 

For example…

–         The power of God’s judgment transports us from the distress of our anger (at injustice) to the security of peace

–         Likewise, the power of Jesus’ forgiveness transports us from the distress of our sin & guilt to the security of acceptance by God

–         So too, the power of Christ’s resurrection transports us from the distress of death to the security of eternal life

–         And, in the meantime, the power of the Holy Spirit transports us from the distress of fear and anxiety to the security of trust and assurance

 

It seems to me that God takes us through this cycle of distress, power & security many times in this life – and in the process we are purified, sanctified

 

Okay then, Jerusalem is a place of security

–         It is also a centre for worship and justice

 

Gathering for worship:

In physics the mass of an object is the amount of matter (or stuff) it contains

–         The more matter an object contains the greater its mass

–         So, an elephant has a greater mass than a mouse because an elephant contains more matter

 

Mass is what causes gravity

–         The greater the mass of something (the more stuff it contains) the stronger its gravitational pull

–         So the elephant here has more gravitational pull than the mouse

–         Just like the sun has more gravity than the earth and the earth has more gravity than the moon

 

Now just because something appears bigger (just because it takes up more area) it doesn’t automatically follow that it has more mass

–         Mass is measured in kilograms, not square metres

–         Take this balloon for example. If I blow it up like this [blow up balloon] it appears larger than this chocolate bar

–         But which of these two things do you think has the greatest mass – the balloon or the chocolate bar?  [Wait]

–         I reckon it is the chocolate bar because there is more matter (more stuff) compacted together in the chocolate bar than there is in the balloon

–         The chocolate bar has a mass of 25 grams – whereas the balloon would be less than a gram

–         The chocolate bar has more gravitational pull than the balloon, especially if you are hungry. The balloon is just full of air

 

In verse 3 the psalmist describes Jerusalem saying it is built like a city that is bound firmly together

–         Or as the NIV puts it: built like a city that is closely compacted together

–         The image here is one of strength, wholeness and substance

–         In other words, Jerusalem is not full of air

–         It may not look as large as other cities but it contains a lot – it has significant mass, real gravitational pull – enough gravitational pull in fact to draw the tribes of Israel together in worship

 

Verse 4 makes this explicit

–         Jerusalem is the place that the Lord chose (or decreed) for the Israelites to gather to give thanks and offer sacrifices

–         According to Deuteronomy 12, verses 13-14, the Israelites were not to offer their burnt offerings at any [old] place they happened to see. But only at the place that the Lord will choose…

–         Jerusalem was the place the Lord chose

 

What we notice here is the contrast between the Jewish idea of worship and the pagan idea of worship

–         Pagans made sacrifices to try and win the favour of the gods

–         They thought, if the gods are happy with my sacrifice they might make me rich and successful

–         These days we might call this ‘cargo cult’ or ‘prosperity doctrine’

 

But Israel had a different approach to worship

–         They didn’t make sacrifices to keep God happy or try to win his favour

–         God had already shown them his favour

–         They could no more control God than they could the weather

–         The Israelites made sacrifices to say ‘thank you’ for the blessings God had already provided

–         The name of the Lord refers to God’s goodness – his integrity

–         True worship involves thanking God for his goodness, his love, his forgiveness, his faithfulness and so on

 

Verse 5 then explains the other part of the gravitational pull of Jerusalem

–         It is the place where the thrones for judgement were set up

–         The thrones for judgment were the legal institutions, or seats of justice, that had been set up by king David. [2] (They were like our law courts)

–         So people came to Jerusalem to seek justice

 

It’s interesting that in the Jewish faith worship of God and justice for people go together – they are not separated – they are bound firmly together

–         This is how it is to be in Christian faith also – worship & justice go together

–         We cannot say we love God if we do not treat the people around us fairly

 

So far then we have heard that Jerusalem is a destination for security, for worship and for justice

 

Asking for peace within

With these things in view the psalmist says to pray for the peace of Jerusalem

–         Peace in Hebrew thought isn’t just the absence of conflict – it is more positive than that

–         Peace (or shalom) is the presence of health and prosperity and right relationship in community with others. It is wholeness & abundant life

–         As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, truth & justice is the pre-requisite to peace – without truth & justice there can be no peace

–         So to pray for peace is to ask God for fairness and justice for all – so that everyone prospers

–         This is a prayer the poor will readily pray – but it’s a lot more difficult to pray if you are rich & powerful and have something to lose

 

If we widen the lens of our perspective to include the verses that follow, what we notice is that half way through verse 6 (having just told us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem) the psalmist then directly addresses his beloved city saying:

–         May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls…” and so on

–         This shows us how much the psalmist cares about Jerusalem personally

–         Jerusalem is like a close friend to him – he cares for her like his own family. His very heart is wrapped up in her

–         If the city were cut he would bleed

 

Given Jerusalem’s importance both to the Jewish nation generally and to the psalmist personally it is essential that the city be kept in peace

–         However, the biggest threat to peace does not lie outside the walls

–         The biggest threat lies within

 

That word, ‘within’, is repeated three times in two verses

–         It seems the psalmist is particularly concerned for internal harmony

–         He doesn’t want any in-fighting or in-justice – no corruption here

 

It’s a general principle in life that the inner workings are often more important than what happens on the outside

–         About 10 days ago Robyn had her morning shower and noticed the water was cooler than usual

–         By the time it was my turn the water was practically cold – so it was a shorter shower for me

 

We got the electrician in and he discovered what I suspected

–         The problem was not with anything external like the shower or the water supply – The problem was within

–         The element inside the hot water cylinder was caput

–         It happens to hot water cylinders from time to time

–         No big deal, just have to drain the water out of the cylinder so you can replace the element inside and restore the warmth

 

Like the psalmist, Jesus was personally concerned for the peace of Jerusalem

–         Unlike the psalmist though, Jesus did not approach Jerusalem with joy

–         Luke 19 tells us Jesus wept over Jerusalem, addressing the city directly like it was his treasured child, saying…

 

“If you, even you, had only recognised on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground…and will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognise the time of your visitation from God”

 

Jesus came to show people the way of peace – genuine peace – the kind of peace which comes from within the community – from doing justly and living in right relationship with those around us

–         But the people rejected Jesus

–         They didn’t realise God was visiting them in the person of Jesus

–         They didn’t recognise the things that make for peace

–         They thought peace was secured by external force – by armies and political pressure and that sort of thing

 

Less than 40 years after Jesus’ death & resurrection (around AD 70) the people of Jerusalem rebelled against Rome and, just as Jesus had predicted, they were crushed and the temple was destroyed – not one stone left upon another

 

The city of Jerusalem has suffered much

–         During its long history it has been destroyed at least twice

–         Besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times & captured & recaptured 44 times [3]

–         Israelis and Palestinians both claim Jerusalem as their capital

–         The city remains a source of bitter conflict till this day

–         It appears people’s prayers for the peace of Jerusalem have not been answered in 3,000 years

–         The earthly situation seems hopeless

–         I can only imagine that Jesus still weeps over Jerusalem

 

Looking at recent history we would have to say that over the past century peace has not come to Jerusalem from the outside

–         It hasn’t come from the League of Nations or the United Nations or Britain or America or anyone else in the west

–         If we take seriously what the psalmist is saying then peace must come from within – what’s more it can’t be achieved without divine help

 

Conclusion:

So where does that leave us? How are we to interpret and apply this psalm?

–         Indeed what might it mean for us to seek your good [Jerusalem] for the sake of the house of the Lord our God

 

I’m not sure what we can do in a practical sense for earthly Jerusalem, especially from this distance (being on the other side of the world)

–         Distance aside though, we in the West are deluded if we think we can restore peace in the East – our cultures are fundamentally different

–         Peace will not come from the outside

 

So does that mean this verse and indeed this psalm is redundant?

–         No – I’m not suggesting that we no longer need to care about Jerusalem

–         Jesus cared for the holy city and he is our model

–         I’m simply pointing out the limits of what we can do

–         And I’m suggesting we take a broader view of what Jerusalem represents

 

In the book of Revelation the apostle John saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And [John] heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live among them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  [4]

 

Taking a broader view then, Jerusalem represents the gathered people of God

–         Therefore, this psalm is still very relevant if we apply it to the church

–         In our own strength and understanding we may not be able to bring peace to the earthly Jerusalem but we can seek peace where we are

 

It’s interesting how the night before he died Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another – by this will all people know you are my disciples [5]

–         Jesus was concerned that there be peace within the community of his followers – peace and warmth

–         We need to ensure the element in the hot water cylinder of the church (that is, our love) is functioning properly

–         When we (the church) get that right – when we love one another and seek the good of those in the pews with us – then those outside the church come to know Jesus and they know we are genuine

–         Our love for one another gives the church real mass (real gravity) – drawing others to give thanks to God

–         Without love for one another we are just a balloon – full of air

 

Perhaps our greatest gift to the world is to model what it means to be a Christ-like community of peace from within (from the inside out)

–         If (by God’s grace) we can do that then we will be light in the darkness

 

 

Let us pray…

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/12-feb-2017-arrival

[1] Alec Motyer, ‘Psalms 73-150’, page 220.

[2] Refer James Mays’ commentary on the Psalms, page 393

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem

[4] Revelation 21:2-4

[5] John 13:34-35