Tawa Baptist

God Remembers

Scripture: Genesis 8:1-19

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God remembers
  • Noah waits
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Can anyone tell me, what is the word we use to describe the point at which a seesaw balances? I’ll give you a couple of seconds. [Wait]

That’s right, the point at which a seesaw balances, is called a fulcrum  

We find fulcrums everywhere. The hinge in a door is a fulcrum. Likewise, your hip, knee and shoulder joints act as fulcrums for your bones. A fulcrum allows movement and change.

The word ‘fulcrum’ can also be used metaphorically to refer to a person or thing that plays an essential (or pivotal) role in an activity or situation. For example, a teacher may be described as a fulcrum for a student’s learning or a common love of fishing might be the fulcrum for a friendship. This microphone is a fulcrum for my voice.  

Today we continue our series on the story of Noah and the great flood.

Last Sunday we heard how God instructed Noah to enter the ark, with the animals, and then the flood came.  This morning’s passage (Genesis 8) is a fulcrum passage – the rain stops and the flood waters recede. Everything pivots on God remembering Noah.

From Genesis chapter 8, verses 1-19, we read…

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavenshad been closed, and the rainhad stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty daysthe water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh monththe ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven,and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second monththe earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

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

There are two things I want to highlight from this morning’s Bible reading: God’s remembering and Noah’s waiting. First let’s consider God’s remembering. God’s remembering is the fulcrum which changes things for the better.

God remembers:

There’s a programme on TV 1 called The Repair Shop. In this programme people bring along a family heirloom or some other beloved belonging that has seen better days and leave it with a group of craftspeople who restore the old item to something close to its former glory.

It might be an antique bicycle or a teddy bear or a doll or a clock and the workers at the repair shop re-member it – they literally put it back together the way it used to be. The show normally ends with the grateful owner looking at their treasured object, with tears in their eyes, amazed at the wonderful work that has been done in restoring it.

When reading the Bible, we need to keep in mind that the words we read (in English) are a translation and something of the meaning is often lost in the process of translation. The word remember is a classic example.

We tend to equate remembering with recalling a thought we had previously forgotten. For us, remembering is generally a mental exercise and nothing more. But for the ancient Hebrew people (who wrote the Old Testament) remembering was far more than recalling something in your head. Remembering involved actually doing something practical. Remembering may start in your mind but it’s supposed to find expression in your hands and feet.

In the Old Testament remembering is more akin to repairing, restoring, regathering, repenting and renewing. Putting things back together again, the way they are supposed to be – sort of like they do in The Repair Shop.

To use another example, if you cut your finger off, then you literally re-member your finger by having a surgeon sew it back on your hand.

When God gave Moses the 10 commandments, the Lord framed the fourth commandment by saying: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…”

Remembering here doesn’t just mean recalling something in your head. Remembering is an act of obedience; ceasing work to allow your body, soul and relationships to be restored or repaired. The Sabbath is a kind of Repair Shop for the human soul. On the Sabbath, we re-member what’s important. We put our perspective and priorities and relationships back together in the right place.

The Old Testament concept of remembering isn’t totally foreign to us though. To some extent we still remember in the way the ancients used to.

If someone in your family has a birthday, you remember them by buying them a present or baking them a cake.

Or if one of your friends ends up in hospital, you remember them by visiting and cheering them up.

Or you might remember the poor by sponsoring a child through World Vision or donating to a food bank.

We remember the environment by recycling and reducing our carbon footprint.

And you remember your marriage vows by staying faithful to your partner in marriage.

The establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 was one way the NZ government sought to practically remember the Treaty; by providing a means for Maori to find resolution for Treaty grievances.

During lockdown we remembered our neighbours by observing physical distancing and phoning people to check up on them.        

Later in the service today we will share communion together. When Jesus instituted communion he said, ‘Do this to remember me’. By remember me he didn’t just mean, ‘think about me in your head’. He meant re-member my body, the church. As in, come back together (regather) as a community of faith. The fact that we actually do something physical when we share communion (like eating and drinking) shows that Biblical remembering is more than just a mental exercise.  

Communion is the sign of the new covenant with God, established by Jesus. Therefore, to remember Jesus is to keep the new covenant. It is to maintain our obedience of faith in Jesus. And where we have messed up, remembering means repenting and putting things right. To remember Jesus is to ensure he remains in his proper place as Lord of our lives.

Genesis 8, verse 1, is the fulcrum verse in the account of Noah and the flood.

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,and the waters receded.

This is the pivotal verse. It is God’s remembering that changes the situation. From this point onwards the destruction of God’s judgement swings the other way toward renewal and a fresh start for creation.

It’s not that God had forgotten about Noah and the animals in the ark. God was mindful of them the whole time. As Derek Kidner observes, God’s remembering combines the ideas of faithful love and timely intervention. [1]

God’s remembering of Noah is expressed in a real and physical way by his stopping the rain and sending a wind to dry up the waters. Those of you who are familiar with the creation account in Genesis 1 will recognise the parallels. Verse 2 of Genesis 1 tells us that in the beginning, the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit (or wind) of God was hovering over the waters. The flood waters represent chaos. God’s remembering of his creation restores order to the chaos. Noah is the new Adam. 

There are other parallels with Genesis 1 as well, but I’ll let you figure those out for yourself. 

One of the things we notice about God’s remembering here is that it is a process. God’s remembering doesn’t necessarily produce instantaneous results. It’s not like God clicked his fingers and, voila, the water instantly disappeared. No. It took months for the water to steadily recede, for the land to dry out and the vegetation to regrow. In the meantime, Noah had to wait.

Noah waits:

What we notice about Noah’s waiting is that it is purposeful and not passive. Noah isn’t just sitting there in the ark, with the animals, twiddling his thumbs. He’s not just waiting for the water to go down. Noah is waiting for God to give him the green light to leave. Noah’s waiting is purposeful, not passive.

You may have heard of the marshmallow experiments, conducted by Stanford University in the 1970’s. In these experiments a child was put in a room with a marshmallow in front of them and told that if they waited until the grown up came back they could have a second marshmallow. So, it was either one now or two later.

Subsequent marshmallow studies showed that trust was one of the main reasons children would wait for a second marshmallow. If the child was led to mistrust the adult doing the experiment, they would grab the marshmallow sooner. But if they were led to trust the adult they were more likely to wait. 

Noah may have been like one of those kids who could wait long enough for the extra marshmallow. Noah was able to wait because he trusted God. He knew God was reliable and would deliver.    

Noah’s waiting was purposeful, not passive. It was resourceful, not resentful. He demonstrated patience and meekness in waiting. His heart is to trust and obey God.

I’ve spoken about meekness before. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under control. In fact, meekness requires great strength of character as it combines gentleness with self-control. And we know what Jesus said about the meek: they shall inherit the earth. In other words, they get the marshmallow in the end. Noah certainly inherited the earth.

Although Noah had many opportunities to leave the ark, he waited until God said it was okay to leave.

When the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, in the Lake Van region of Eastern Turkey, Noah had been on board for about 150 days, which is around 5 months. That’s a long time to wait in cramped and smelly conditions. As the water receded and land became visible, it would have been tempting for Noah to get out for some fresh air and to stretch his legs but he doesn’t. Instead Noah waits for God, for another 150 days.

Like I keep saying, Noah’s waiting was not passive. Noah’s waiting was purposeful and active. Noah looked forward in hope and anticipation to the time when God would set the captives free from the darkness of the ark.

We see Noah’s hopeful anticipation in what he does while he waits. Noah does three things: he opens a window, he sends out birds to test the waters and he takes the roof off.

Studies have shown how prisoners, with a window in their cell, tend to maintain better mental health than prisoners who have no window.    

Verse 6 of Genesis 8 tells how Noah opens the window he had made in the ark. Sometimes we might feel like God has forgotten us. Sometimes the winter of our discontent seems to drag on and on. Sometimes our prayers seem to go unanswered and our faithfulness unrewarded. We may feel like God is absent and we are in the dark. When it feels like that, open a window. Let some light in so you can see. Let some air flow through so you can breathe. Slow down. Let yourself look at the mountain tops. Dream a little. Recover a sense of the bigger picture. Let your perspective return.    

Verses 7-11 describe how Noah sends out first a raven and then a dove to do some recon-nascence for him. The raven doesn’t bring him any good news, so he sends out a dove. In verse 9 we read: But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.

That last sentence there shows us something of Noah’s gentleness with the dove; reaching out his hand to bring the dove back into the ark. It provides a beautiful picture of a man who cares about God’s creatures in a personal way. Noah is a greeny – perhaps a bit like the character Cooch, in Murray Ball’s cartoon Footrot Flats.

Seven days later Noah sends the dove out a second time. This time it returns with an olive leaf in its beak. Olive trees are very hardy – they are difficult to kill. They are the kind of tree that survives a flood. The fresh foliage is a sign that the vegetation is recovering, so the animals will have something to eat.

A week later when Noah sent the dove out it did not return, which showed that God’s renewal of the land was almost complete. But still Noah waits for God’s word.

The dove over the flood waters reminds us of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus over the waters of the Jordan river, after Jesus’ baptism. [2] Just as Noah’s dove proves itself sensitive and discerning, a guide to those waiting for God’s new creation, so too the Holy Spirit is like a dove to us; sensitive and discerning, gently guiding us as we wait for the new creation Jesus brings.

The third thing Noah does, as he waits in hopeful expectation of God’s renewal, is he removes the covering of the ark. He takes the roof off in other words. This is a quiet act of courageous faith on Noah’s part. To remove the covering is to take a risk and make oneself vulnerable. What if the rain started again? Removing the roof is a statement that Noah believes the storm will not return.

Taking off the roof also allows Noah to get a broader view of the situation than his little window afforded him. Even though Noah could see the ground was dry, he still does not disembark. Noah continues to wait for the word of the Lord and finally God says to Noah, ‘Come out of the ark and let the animals out too…’ and Noah obeyed God.

Conclusion:

You know, in some ways, our experience of lockdown was similar to Noah’s experience as he waited in the ark. Like Noah, our waiting was purposeful, not passive. We weren’t as restricted as Noah was of course, but we did have our wings clipped. Our recent experience gives us some understanding for Noah’s situation and his waiting.

While I don’t want to talk too soon, it seems that God has remembered us here in New Zealand. Relative to the rest of the world we have much to be thankful for.

Globally though, the world is still in a time of waiting for the ‘flood’ of new COVID cases to recede. We pray for the fulcrum of God’s mercy.     

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

What does the Bible mean by remembering? How is this different from the way we (today) tend to think of remembering?

What happened as a result of God remembering Noah and the animals in the ark?   

What parallels do we notice between the account of creation in Genesis 1 and the renewal of creation in Genesis 8?

How do you feel about waiting? Is it something you find easy or hard? Why is that do you think?

What helped Noah in his waiting? (What did he do?) What might help us in our waiting? For example; when we feel trapped in a dark place, how might we open a window to the let the light and air in?

In what ways does Noah’s dove point to the Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism?

Is there someone or something you need to remember, in the Biblical sense of that word? What might this mean you need to do?

[1] Refer Derek Kidner’s commentary on Genesis, page 92. 

[2] Refer to Luke 3:22 for an account of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism.

Tawa Baptist

Be Prepared

Scripture: Genesis 7 and Luke 17:26-27

Structure:

  • Introduction – be prepared
  • Fact or fiction
  • Global or regional
  • Random or intentional
  • Conclusion – be prepared for Jesus’ return

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was about 9 or 10 years old I was a cub scout. One of the things they taught us at cubs was to be prepared. Be prepared for anything. And to help us be prepared they sometimes did spot checks when we turned up for our weekly den meeting.

There were three things a cub scout needed to have on them to be prepared and these included a handkerchief, a pencil and three 2 cent pieces. The value of a handkerchief and a pencil need no explanation. They are helpful in all sorts of situations. But some of you may be wondering why we always needed to carry three 2 cent pieces. Well, that was the cost of a phone call from a public phone booth in those days. If you couldn’t fix the problem with a pencil and a handkerchief, then you could at least phone a friend for help.

I don’t know what Cubs and Brownies are supposed to carry with them these days. At a guess I imagine a handkerchief, a smart phone and unlimited data.  

Today we continue our series on Noah. A couple of weeks ago we heard how God told Noah to build an ark because the Lord was sending a great flood on the earth. And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

This morning we hear what happens when the flood comes. At the beginning of Genesis chapter 7 God tells Noah to be prepared because the flood will start in seven days’ time. During that seven days, pairs of animals and birds come to Noah and board the ark. We pick up the story from verse 11 of Genesis 7…

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

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

The core message of today’s sermon is, be prepared. Alongside this core message to be prepared, Genesis 7 also raises a number of questions for us modern readers. For example, is the flood account in Genesis fact or fiction? What was the extent of the flood? What creatures were on the ark? How did all the animals fit? And how did Noah keep the lions from eating the zebras?

Some of our questions find an answer in the Biblical text but not all of them. The Bible was written thousands of years ago in a different culture from ours, by people who had a different way of thinking to us and a different knowledge base.

The writer of Genesis was primarily interested in telling us why the flood happened and what the flood reveals about God. The sorts of scientific and technical questions we might raise today were probably not even on the author’s radar. So we need to be careful not to try and make the text say things that it was never designed to say.

We can, however, use our reason and look at other evidence based sources to address some of the concerns of modern readers. I do this in the interests of helping you to be prepared. Who knows, one day you may find yourself in a conversation with someone who wants to know whether there were any dinosaurs on the ark.  

Fact or fiction:

One question people sometimes ask is whether the flood story is fact or fiction. Is it describing a real historical event or is it a fairy tale?

If you are sitting in a movie theatre and you see the words on the screen: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” you know you are about to watch a Star Wars movie. Star Wars is not real; it is science fiction. You are not there to learn information about the past. You are there to be entertained.  

And if you hear someone begin a story with: “Once upon a time…” you know you are about to hear a fairy tale. Although the story itself is not true you know it probably contains some moral lesson, some eternal truth.  

But when someone begins by saying: “On the 3rd February 1868 a violent storm swept across much of the country…”  you know this is not a made up story; this is non-fiction, and you are about to hear the historical account of a disaster. In actual fact there was a great storm in 1868 which swept across New Zealand causing flash floods and taking the lives of more than 40 people. [1]

Likewise, when the news reader on TV says: “Breaking news… we cross now live to our reporter…” you know what you are hearing and seeing is real. This is not entertainment, nor are you likely to learn some great pearl of wisdom. You are simply being informed of current events; history in the making.

Our reading this morning, from Genesis 7, begins with the words: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.”

This style of writing, with a very precise date and a description of facts, tells us that whoever wrote Genesis wants us to know the great flood is something that actually happened. It is not a made up story. What you are about to hear describes a historical event. [2]

The gospel of Luke describes the birth of Jesus in a similar way. Although Luke doesn’t give a precise year or date, he does name the emperor of Rome and the governor of Syria when Jesus was born, so we know it happened in history.

Now we don’t know exactly what year B.C. the great flood happened. Our records aren’t that good. But we do know, from the way the flood account is written, the human author wants us to think of it as fact, not fiction. He wants us to take our relationship with God and the world seriously. We need to learn from the great flood. Human actions have real consequences.      

Of course, the way the human authors of the Bible did history is not exactly the same as the way modern historians operate. They don’t follow the same rules. Events recorded in the Bible have a theological meaning. The Bible isn’t merely trying to inform the reader of certain facts. The Bible is using historical events to reveal some truths about God and humankind. What’s more, Biblical accounts of historical events are often communicated in an artistic way, using poetic license. These days, historians are more scientific, more precisely measured, in their approach.     

Returning to the question of whether the flood in Genesis is fact or fiction; when we look outside the Bible we find that many ancient cultures have a flood story as part of their collective memory.[3] The various versions of the flood story are different but the fact they are commonly found around the world may indicate there was a significant natural disaster in the early stages of human history. This event was then passed on, in story form, from one generation to the next, as a way of remembering and making sense of what happened. 

Global or regional:

If we say the flood happened in history then the next thing people today often ask is: what was the extent of the flood? Was it global or was it regional; perhaps the known world at that time? Most experts I’ve read are reluctant to commit to an answer on the extent of the flood, so we shouldn’t be too dogmatic on the position we take.

The Biblical text says, in verse 19, ‘The waters rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.’ 

Then in verse 23 we read, ‘Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out…’

When we hear that we think, the flood must have been global then. But there are problems with that option.

The first problem is that the human author of Genesis did not necessarily think of the earth in the same way we do. John Walton says that people in the ancient Mesopotamian world thought of the earth as a single continent surrounded by mountains. [4] And beyond the mountains was the celestial sea, whatever that is. That means the human author of Genesis would not have known about Australia or New Zealand or America or China or Russia or any of those sorts of places.

Given that the human author of Genesis probably had a much smaller understanding of the earth than we do, it could be the flood he had in mind covered the known world at that time, which is still a relatively large area.       

As we learned when we did the series on the creation account in Genesis 1, God does not deem it necessary to correct our understanding of science. He accepts our limited perception and accommodates our understanding.

So far geologists have found no physical evidence for a global flood that dissipated as quickly as the flood described in Genesis. Although they have found physical evidence for significant flood events in the Middle East. That’s not to say a global flood could not have happened. It’s just that we haven’t yet been able to find physical evidence for it. Maybe in 20 years’ time we will find data that supports a global flood? 

A scientist by the name of Glenn Morton found geological data which shows that five and half million years ago the Mediterranean Sea was not there. It was in fact dry land. The water was naturally dammed up at Gibraltar. This natural dam feature suddenly collapsed causing a break more than 3,000 feet deep and 15 miles wide, filling the Mediterranean basin in less than 9 months. [5]

The water that flowed into the Mediterranean basin covered an area of 964,000 square miles. That’s over nine times the size of New Zealand. That volume of water, rising quickly, would have easily precipitated torrential rain for at least 40 days, if not longer.

We don’t really know when Noah lived. The flooding of the Mediterranean basin was probably before Noah’s time. In any case, this scientific data demonstrates that a flood of massive proportions did happen in the ancient world. But that wasn’t the only flood. In his commentary on Genesis, John Walton, who provides very solid scholarship, says this: 

In the mid-1990’s geologists and oceanographers began investigating a huge catastrophic flood in the region of the Black Sea. Their findings indicate that in about 5500 B.C. there was a sudden rise in water level in the Mediterranean, which brought a thunderous waterfall through the Bosporous and into the Black Sea. Over the course of a year it flooded out 60,000 square miles of land… [6]

(To put that in context the South Island of New Zealand is 58,000 square miles.)

Prior to this time fossil evidence shows the Black Sea was a fresh water sea. The salt water flooding in from the Mediterranean turned the Black Sea salty.

Could this be the flood that was described in Genesis 7? Maybe, but we can’t be sure. Humility requires us to admit the limits of our knowledge.

A couple of weeks ago we heard about the dimensions of the ark. Although the ark was an enormous vessel, even by today’s standards, it probably wasn’t big enough to accommodate pairs of every animal and bird on the planet, plus all the food and water they would need for a whole year.

The question of which animals were on the ark logically depends on the extent of the flood. If the flood wasn’t global then only those animals in the vicinity of the flood waters needed to board the ark. In other words, if the flood covered the known world at the time then kangaroos living in Australia and Moa living in NZ didn’t need to be on the ark.

And as for the question of whether dinosaurs were involved the answer is no. Scientists tell us that dinosaurs became extinct millions of years before human beings came along. Contrary to what you learned by watching the Flintstones, dinosaurs and humans never co-existed.

The good news is you don’t have to commit to a particular point of view on these sorts of issues. Your salvation depends on what you believe about Jesus, not on whether you think the flood was global or regional. It’s not worth arguing about.    

Random or intentional:

I said earlier the human author of Genesis was really more interested in answering the question of why the great flood happened. And the answer he gives, repeatedly, is that it was God’s judgement on humanity’s corrupt and violent ways. It wasn’t so much that God wanted to destroy his creation. I believe God works with the choices we make, but sometimes our choices leave God with limited options.

So the great flood in Genesis was intentional. It was not random. It was controlled by God to achieve his purpose; cleansing the earth of evil and bringing renewal to his creation. This then begs the question of whether other natural disasters are also examples of God executing his judgement on people.

Well, the short answer is ‘no’.

While God did intentionally use the flood waters to cleanse the earth in Genesis 7, it does not automatically follow that he always works through natural disasters. Most natural disasters, whether it is a flood or an earthquake or a volcanic eruption or a storm, or whatever, are not intentional acts of judgement. The great flood in Genesis seems to be an exception to the rule.

In the normal course of events, earthquakes happen because that’s the way God has made the earth – he has designed it to move. The earth, with its tectonic plates, is one of God’s creatures; it is a living thing. When the earth moves it is simply being itself – it is doing what God created it to do. Without earthquakes we wouldn’t have dry land and mountains. From our perspective earthquakes can be frightening but they are not personally targeted at people or cities. Generally speaking, earthquakes are random. The most we can do is be prepared.

In December last year Whakaari / White Island erupted. There were 47 people on the island at the time. 21 people were killed and the other 26 suffered injuries. I don’t believe that was an intentional act of God against those people. I think it was a random event and the people on the island were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time – they were unlucky. White Island erupted because it is an active volcano and that’s what volcanoes do from time to time.  If you are going to step onto an active volcano, then you have to be prepared to take the risk. We can’t blame God for that one.  

You know many Christians are uncomfortable with the idea of randomness or luck. In fact, ‘luck’ is often a taboo word in churches. Some people have a tendency to think that God is tightly controlling every little detail of their lives. And it is understandable that we might think this way because the message of the Bible is that God is sovereign. God does have a plan and purpose for his creation which he is working out. Life is not totally random.

Furthermore, God does sometimes get involved in the details. We call that providence. In verse 16 of Genesis 7 we read that God got involved in the details by shutting Noah in the ark. Apparently Noah didn’t prepare a way to shut the door from the inside, so God did it for him.

But just because God gets involved in the details sometimes doesn’t mean he is micro-managing everything all the time. If we think God is tightly controlling every little detail of our lives, then we set our faith up for a fall. If something goes wrong, then we either blame God or we blame the government or we blame ourselves; when actually it was no one’s fault, it was just bad luck. 

It is more helpful to think: that although God is ultimately in control, he allows his creatures (both human and non-human) a certain amount of freedom to be themselves. And when God does that; when he lets the earth quake, when he allows volcanoes to erupt, when he gives human beings freewill, there is (unfortunately) some collateral damage. [7]

With freedom comes mess. This world is not always safe. This life is not always fair. But ultimately, God is able to make things right.  

This is not to absolve human beings of all responsibility. Our actions do have an effect on the environment. We are capable of making already naturally occurring events worse. For example, if we listen to the scientific community, then global warming is making weather patterns more extreme. Production of plastic is polluting the oceans and intensive farming methods are poisoning waterways.

So there are some things we can do to mitigate the risk of natural disasters. For example, we can design buildings that stand up in an earthquake, we can stop producing so much plastic and we can reduce our carbon foot print. We can prepare for a better outcome, in other words.

Conclusion:

Returning to Genesis 7. In verse 23, we read that: Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

This is incredibly sad not to mention terrifying. No one wants to think God is capable of that kind of mass destruction, but he is.

Part of Jesus’ message is that judgement is coming on the earth for the people of this age. In Luke 17 Jesus says this: 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah,so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

In the context of Luke 17, Jesus is talking about his second coming in glory. He is saying to his disciples, life will be carrying on as normal and then the end will come unexpectedly; so be prepared, be ready like Noah was, because I could return at any moment.

Jesus’ return is not fiction; it is future fact. He will return one day.

Jesus’ return is not regional; it will be global, to the ends of the earth.

And Jesus’ return is both intentional and random. It is intentional in the sense that God has planned for it to happen. But, from our point of view, it is random in the sense that it could happen at any time.  

In Genesis 7 it was only Noah and his family who were saved but the good news is: through faith in Jesus anyone can be saved from the next judgement. 

The ark Jesus is building has plenty of room for everyone.

We prepare for Jesus’ return by getting our lives right with God. By cultivating a living relationship of faith in Jesus, through prayer and action. By listening to Jesus’ teaching and obeying his call on our lives.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

What sorts of question does the Genesis account of the flood raise for you? Can you find an answer for your questions in the Bible or do you need to look elsewhere?

How does the text of Genesis 7 indicate the flood account is fact and not fiction? What evidence do we find outside the Bible for a great flood in ancient times?

What claims does Genesis make about the extent of the flood? How might we best understand these claims, in light of reason and the scientific evidence available to us?

Why did the great flood (of Noah’s time) happen? Why do natural disasters happen today?

Do you believe God allows some degree of randomness or luck in this world? Why or why not? What is the risk of believing God tightly manages every little detail of life?

How do you feel reading Genesis 7:23?

How did Jesus interpret Noah’s flood, in Luke 17? What can we do to be prepared for Jesus’ second coming?     

[1] https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/new-zealand-disasters/timeline

[2] Refer Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 139.

[3] Flood stories are found in most ancient cultures, except Africa where they are rare. 

[4] John Walton, NIVAC Genesis, page 327.

[5] Ibid, pages 329-330.

[6] Ibid, page 330.

[7] Refer Terence Fretheim’s book, ‘Creation Untamed’, page 73.

Tawa Baptist

God’s plan to preserve

Scripture: Genesis 6:9-22

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s plan to preserve
  • Noah’s obedience of faith
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Abraham Lincoln once said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.” 

I suppose the point is, work smarter, not harder. Plan ahead to give yourself the best chance of success.

Of course, those four hours of sharpening require quite a bit of patience. The temptation is to just crack on with the job using a blunt axe. But in those four hours, the wood cutter is also thinking: does this tree really need to come down? And if it does, what is the best way to bring it down safely? And once it is down, how will I use it?   

Today we continue our series on Noah and the great flood. Last week we heard about the grief God experiences as a consequence of his wayward creation. When God looked at the rudder of the human heart and saw it was set toward evil all the time his heart was filled with pain.

This morning we meet Noah and we learn what God plans to do about the mess the world is in. This is our third sermon into this series and we still haven’t got to the flood yet. In some ways it seems like God is spending a lot of time sharpening the axe. This shows the Lord (Yahweh) was not acting rashly or in the heat of the moment. He was acting carefully, with patience and control.

From Genesis 6, verses 9 to 22 we read…

9 This is the accountof Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem,Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corruptthe earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood;make rooms in it and coat it with pitchinside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening 18 incheshigh all around.Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Twoof every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kindof creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.       

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

There are two main ideas I want to highlight in this passage: God’s plan to preserve a remnant and Noah’s obedience of faith. First let’s consider God’s plan to preserve a remnant.

God’s plan to preserve:

To preserve something is to keep it safe from destruction or decay. For example, you might preserve meat by keeping it in a freezer. Or you might preserve peaches by putting them in a can. Or you might preserve bananas by slicing them up and dehydrating them into banana chips.

In Norway there is a global seed vault (in the Arctic circle) which stores hundreds of thousands of varieties of seeds. This seed vault is designed to ensure the preservation of seeds during large-scale regional or global crises.

Preserving food is one thing but people may also want to preserve their relationships. You preserve a relationship by staying in touch with that person, keeping the lines of communication open and maintaining a mutual commitment to one another’s well-being.

On the one hand, the flood story is about God’s judgment in destroying his creation because it had become corrupt and violent. But at the same time it is also about God’s very careful plan to preserve a remnant, in order to restart (or re-seed) a new creation. In fact, today’s text pays more attention to God’s plan of preservation than it does to the destruction caused by the flood. The focus is on the lengths God goes to, to save and renew his creation.

The idea of God preserving a faithful remnant is repeated throughout the Scriptures. For example, during the time of Elijah, when it seemed like the whole nation had turned its back on God, the Lord tells Elijah he has preserved 7000 people for himself who have not bowed their knee to Baal. God also preserved a faithful remnant through the Assyrian invasions of Israel and later through the Babylonian exile. [1]  

One thing we notice about God’s plan to preserve is the detail. We are told about the dimensions of the ark, the building materials, the sorts of animals that were to go into the ark, the kind of food they were to take with them and so forth. If we were to read further into Genesis chapter 7 we would come across quite a bit of repetition of this detail and we would notice some very precise dates and time frames.

All of this detail regarding God’s plan, to bring a flood and preserve a remnant, tells us a number of things about God himself:

For example, God is not in a hurry to bring judgement; he is patient and his actions are considered.

Also that God does not over react in the heat of the moment; his response is careful and measured.  

But most of all it shows God’s judgement is just and merciful.

Other ancient cultures also had a great flood as part of their collective memory. In at least one of those pagan versions of the flood story the gods (plural) brought the flood because of over population. There were too many people making too much noise and so the gods, who didn’t really care about human beings, became irritated and drowned them all. There was no justice or mercy involved in their decision. It was capricious and thoughtless. As is typical of a pagan theology, this leads one to the hopeless conclusion that life is completely random and unfair and meaningless.

The Hebrew flood story is quite different from the pagan flood stories though. The God of Israel wasn’t angry; he was grieved and in pain for his creation. The God of Israel didn’t bring the flood to control over population or to keep the noise down. God loves his creation and commanded people to be fruitful and multiply. The Lord God brought the flood to control the spread of violence. Israel’s flood story reveals a God who is different from the pagan gods of the nations. A Jewish / Christian theology leads one to the hopeful conclusion that while this life is not always fair, our God, who is just and merciful, slow to anger and full of compassion, is able to make all things new.

The other thing we notice about God’s plan to preserve a remnant is that it involves a human being. God does not act alone in preserving his creation. The Lord, who is relational, makes a covenant with Noah. In fact, God’s plan depends on Noah’s obedience of faith.

Noah’s obedience of faith:

Let me tell you a story. Once there was a wealthy business man who purchased a block of land and built a kiwi-fruit orchard on it. There was quite a bit involved in transforming the property. First he had to clear the ground of gorse and other weeds and level out the earth. Then he sowed grass seed, put in fences and shelter belts. Next came all the strainer posts and wires for training the kiwifruit vines and lastly he planted the vines themselves.

Building from scratch like that was an expensive investment. It took time and patience for the vines to grow and mature to the point they were able to bear fruit.

This business man had a good heart and wanted to run his orchard in a way that was kind to the environment, so he did it organically. Rather than chemical sprays he used companion planting and bio-diversity to control pests. And he wasn’t just a Queen Street farmer, doing all the calls and paper work from a distance. He lived in the community and walked through his orchard every day.     

Sadly, a virus got onto his property and infected one or two of the plants. Eventually almost all of the vines became infected. As the fruit matured it became evident that the plant was sick and when you tasted the fruit it was revolting. Once the virus got in there was no way to get rid of it.

The orchardist was deeply grieved over what had happened to his vines. It wasn’t so much the money he had lost. He was so rich the money didn’t matter to him. It was more the death of the dream. He had invested so much time and energy and love into it. What he had intended for good was actually doing harm. Reluctantly the owner of the orchard knew there was nothing for it – he would have to pull out all the vines and destroy them. He didn’t want to do this but what choice did he have.

As he was walking through the kiwifruit canopies thinking about this he came to a single plant. This particular vine looked different to the rest. It looked healthier somehow. Out of curiosity he tasted the fruit and it was good, like a kiwifruit is supposed to taste.

The orchardist decided then and there he would preserve a cutting from this healthy vine and use it to start a new orchard. Most men would have walked away and not bothered to risk it all again. But this man was not ready to abandon his dream.  

You can probably see the connections between my little allegory and the story of the flood. God is like the wealthy business man who builds the orchard. The orchard represents God’s creation and the vines are human beings. The diseased fruit represents the corruption and violence of human beings. While most of the vines bear bad fruit, Noah is the exception. Noah bears good fruit and so God decides to preserve Noah and his family in order to start again with a new orchard, a new creation. 

Genesis 6, verse 9, tells us that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. This is high praise indeed. The Bible doesn’t say this about many people.

To be righteous means to live in right relationship with those around you. A righteous person is fair and just. They have a good moral compass.

The word translated as ‘blameless’ literally means to be whole or complete. So the idea here is that Noah has a whole hearted commitment to righteousness. [2] This does not mean Noah was perfect. Later on (after the flood) Noah gets drunk, but that seems to be out of character for Noah. For the most part Noah did abstain from sin.

We are told Noah walked with God, like his great grandfather Enoch. The Bible only says that of two people. Noah was a rare individual indeed. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, to walk with God means to stay close to him – near enough to have a personal conversation. Walking with God implies a relationship of intimacy and righteousness. It means following God, going where God leads, doing life God’s way.

The fact that Noah and Enoch both walked with God shows that God is not a Queen Street farmer. He is not running things remotely – he is on the earth, walking among the vines of his kiwifruit orchard.

To people of Jewish and Christian faith, Noah is a hero. But probably to the people of his own time Noah was a bit of an odd ball. A bit weird, a bit strange.[3]

Noah lived what it means to be salt & light in his world. He was distinctive, different, not bland. G.K. Chesterton makes this comment about people like Noah…

A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world… Millions of mild black coated men call themselves sane and sensible merely because they always catch the fashionable insanity, because they are hurried into madness after madness by the maelstrom of the world.

Because Noah walked with God the Lord confided in him, telling Noah about his plan to preserve a remnant. God instructs Noah to build an ark. The Hebrew word translated as ark here is used seven times in the instructions to build the ark and seven times in the report of the subsiding waters (8:1-14). [4] This precise symmetry reveals something of the poetic artistry of the Genesis account of the flood. The only other time the same Hebrew word for ark is used in Scripture is in Exodus 2. The baby Moses was placed in a miniature ark in the river Nile.   

God tells Noah what kind of wood to use in making the ark. Older translations say it was gopher wood, but we don’t really know what gopher wood is so modern translation say it was cypress wood, which is an educated guess.

The wood is to be coated in pitch, which is a water proofing agent. God also gives Noah the dimensions for the ark: 137 metres long, 23 metres wide and 14 metres high. That’s an enormous vessel by the standards of Noah’s time. Interestingly, we still use similar dimensions for large ocean going ships today, so we know the ark would have been sea worthy.

You often see pictures of Noah’s ark with a nicely rounded keel and bow but it may have been more practical for Noah to simply make the ark in the shape of a rectangular box, sort of like a coffin.  

God does not give instructions for Noah to make a sail or a rudder, just a door in the side and some ventilation near the top. The ark is literally a container at the mercy of God and the flood waters. God is not asking Noah to be a sailor but he is asking Noah to be a carpenter and a zoo keeper.

In verse 18 God says to Noah, “…I will establish my covenant with you and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you…”

This is the first time in the Bible that we find the word covenant. A covenant is a sacred agreement entered into by two parties who already know each other. A covenant is not supposed to be broken, ever, but if it is broken then certain negative consequences result.    

God made covenants with other people throughout history as well. He made a covenant with Abraham, with the people of Israel, with king David and, through Jesus, he makes a covenant with us. Whenever we share communion we remember our covenant with God. The rainbow in the sky is the sign of God’s covenant with humanity and the rest of creation, through Noah. Likewise, communion is the sign of God’s covenant with believers, through Christ.

In verses 19-21 of Genesis 6, Noah learns why he is to make such a large ark; it isn’t just for him and his family, it’s like a seed vault for two of every kind of bird and animal as well as every kind of food that is eaten.  

After God has spoken, we read in verse 22 of Genesis 6 that Noah did everything just as God commanded him. This phrase is repeated again a few verses later in chapter 7. The writer of the flood story wants to highlight Noah’s obedience of faith.

By obedience of faith I mean trust in God; taking God at his word and acting on that trust in real and practical ways.

One of the observations made by pretty much every commentator is that Noah is silent throughout the account of the flood. Noah doesn’t say anything the whole time until after the flood is finished.

Noah does not ask God any questions, nor does he intercede with God for the people around him. Apparently he agrees with God that things have got out of hand. Noah doesn’t complain while he is stuck on the smelly ark for over a year, nor does he offer any words of lament for the people who have died. He doesn’t even speak words of thanksgiving or praise when the ordeal is finally over. He simply sacrifices some animals to God without saying anything. 

The only time we hear Noah open his mouth is after he gets drunk and wakes up with a hangover in Genesis 9. Clearly, Noah’s actions speak louder than his words, such is the character of his faith.

In considering Noah’s obedience of faith we are mindful of the cost of that obedience. God did not build the ark for Noah. He told Noah to build it himself. We are not told how long it took, but it must have taken a sustained effort over many years. Noah would have had to cut down large trees, mill them, coat them in pitch, transport the timber to the building site and then construct the ark. Presumably he got his sons to help him, but even so, it is a lot of work by hand.

It’s not like Noah could drive down to Bunnings to buy a kitset and put it together with power tools. Nor is it like the film Evan Almighty where God delivers the building supplies to Evan’s house. Noah’s boat building was hard graft, just as our life of faith can be hard graft at times.

Noah reminds us of another carpenter, the carpenter of Nazareth.  In Matthew 13:44 Jesus tells a pithy little parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

Jesus’ parable here illustrates Noah’s obedience of faith. Noah risked everything on God’s word and it resulted in his salvation as well as the salvation of his family and the birds and animals.

Conclusion:

It’s interesting to me that God involved Noah the way he did. It shows that God works from the inside to renew his creation. He doesn’t fix things from the outside (like a mechanic working on a car). No, God gets small, he gets detailed, and works through a human being to preserve a remnant.      

By doing it this way, God was giving humanity a choice: whether to live or die. Noah chose life. What will we choose?

Let’s stand and sing Cornerstone as we prepare for communion.

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?

  • If you have six hours to chop down a tree, why might you spend the first four hours sharpening the axe?
  • What are some practical things we can do to preserve our relationships with others? Is there any relationship in particular you think might benefit from a bit of preserving at the moment?
  • Why do you think the writer of the flood story in Genesis spends so much time focusing on God’s plan to preserve a remnant of his creation?
  • What might God’s detailed instructions to Noah show us about God?
  • What does it mean that Noah was righteous and blameless? How do you think Noah would have been perceived by the people of his day?
  • What do we mean by the term ‘obedience of faith’? How did Noah work out his obedience of faith? How is God calling you to work out your obedience of faith?

[1] Refer Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 157.

[2] Refer Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 133.

[3] Refer John Walton, NIVAC Genesis, page 332.

[4] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 135.

Tawa Baptist

Good Grief

Scripture: Genesis 6:1-8

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Genesis 6:1-4 – God’s limits
  • Genesis 6:5-8 – God’s grief
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When you pour concrete you have a certain amount of time to spread and smooth the mix while it is still wet. But once it goes hard you can’t work the concrete anymore. It has gone past the point of no return.

It’s similar with clay. While the clay is wet and soft the potter can turn it and shape it on his wheel. If the clay doesn’t form the shape he wants at first, he can just add some more water and reshape it. But once the clay has set he can’t reform it anymore. It has gone past the point of no return.  

Today we continue our new sermon series on the story of Noah. Last week we heard about Noah’s genealogy. This week we learn a little more about the state of the world, and the state of God’s heart, shortly before the flood. People had become hardened in their evil ways – like concrete or clay they had gone past the point of no return. From Genesis 6:1-8 we read…

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.

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

God’s limits:

Have you ever tried to play a game of patience with some of the cards missing?

Have you ever tried to play a game of Scrabble with some of the letters missing?

Have you ever tried to finish a jigsaw with some of the pieces missing?

It’s frustrating isn’t it.

In some ways Genesis 6, verses 1-4 is like that. We don’t have all the pieces and so we can’t get the full picture. We are left guessing about the details.

For example, in verse 2 we read about the sons of God who married the daughters of men. Who were these ‘sons of God’?

The only other time that exact same phrase ‘sons of God’ is used in the Old Testament it refers to angels, heavenly creatures (in Job). Consequently, the early church fathers interpreted ‘sons of God’ to mean fallen angels.

We see this concept of fallen angels in the 1998 film, City of Angels, starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. In this film, an angel called Seth falls in love with a human woman and gives up his immortality as an angel in order to be with her. Sadly, the woman dies soon afterwards and Seth is stuck on earth.

The 2014 film version of Noah’s story, starring Russell Crowe, took a similar interpretation, portraying the ‘sons of God’ as fallen angels called ‘Watchers’ who roamed the earth looking for redemption and a return to heaven.

Most modern Biblical scholars don’t see it this way though. I suppose the idea of fallen angels mating with human women to produce some kind of half angel, half human hybrid[1] seems a bit far-fetched in a rigorous academic environment. So, as an alternative, the experts are more inclined to interpret the ‘sons of God’ as human rulers, sort of like kings or tyrants. They do this on the basis that kings and rulers in the ancient world were sometimes referred to as the ‘sons of God’. Not that people necessarily thought of human kings as divine. It was more a way of acknowledging their status and authority to rule.

Verse 4 tells us the Nephilim were on the earth in those days. The identity of the Nephilim is another puzzle to us modern readers. Apparently they were the offspring of the ‘sons of God’ and human women. In any case, the Nephilim were famous as mighty men and heroes of old. In the book of Numbers, they are associated with giants.

The ancient Jewish readers may well have known what was meant by the ‘sons of God’ and the ‘Nephilim’ but those pieces of the jigsaw are lost to us now, so we can’t say with any certainty who they were. 

What we do know is they were creatures of God; they were not divine nor even semi-divine. And God was not happy with them. If you take the view that the ‘sons of God’ were fallen angels, then these angels had crossed a boundary, between heaven and earth, that they shouldn’t have. And if you take the view that the ‘sons of God’ were human rulers, then these tyrants were oppressing people in an organised way. They were sort of like mafia bosses. God needed to put some limits in place for the well-being of his creation.

With this in mind, we read in verse 3 of Genesis 6 that God said: “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Reading this in most English translations it sounds like God is putting a limit on the human life span of 120 years. The problem with this interpretation is that some people born after the flood lived longer than 120 years. The Bible tells us, for example, that Abraham lived to be 175.

It could be that the 120 years is a general rule, for which God is free to make exceptions, as in the case of Abraham. Or, it could be the 120 years doesn’t refer to human life spans, but rather to the length of time God would wait before sending the flood. We do notice in other parts of the Bible that God gives people fair warning and an opportunity to change before executing his judgement.

Either way, God’s grace is evident in the limits that he sets. If we take the 120 years limit to refer to human life spans (allowing for the odd exception) then God is actually limiting the spread of evil. If the ‘sons of God’ are not allowed to live too long, then their evil regimes and oppression are also limited. Imagine the damage that would be done if Hitler or Stalin or some other fascist dictator was allowed to live for 900 years or more. It doesn’t bear thinking about. God’s judgment and his grace go together.

On the other hand, if we take the 120 years to refer to the time God planned to wait before sending the flood, then God’s grace is evident in the opportunity he gives for people to come to their senses and change their wicked ways.

Perhaps the more important thing to focus on here is that life is God’s to give and take as he thinks best. God says, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal;  

To be mortal means we die, we don’t live forever. The bodies we are given in this life wear out eventually.

The only reason we are alive is that God has breathed his Spirit into us. Our life is on loan from God. God is free to take back his Spirit (his breath of life) whenever he wants. When God takes a life it isn’t murder. He is not taking something that belongs to someone else. He is taking back what was always his in the first place.

The mistake we human beings always seem to make is thinking that our lives, our time, our bodies, our money, our everything else belongs to us and is ours to do with as we want. But your life is not your own; it belongs to God.

Imagine you are a high flying business executive and your boss gives you a credit card for your expenses. You can legitimately use this card to fill up the work car with petrol, to pay for your hotel room when you have to go on a business trip, to wine and dine clients and to pay for any other work related expenses.

Of course, your boss is the one paying the bill. So if he sees you have been using the credit card for things that are not work related, he has every right to cancel your credit and give you the sack.    

In giving us life, it’s like God has given each of us a credit card. We are free to use the card to buy almost anything we want but there is a limit on that card. We can’t go beyond the limit. God gets the credit card statements. He sees what we buy. He sees the way we spend our life. And if we spend ourselves in a way that is harmful and doesn’t serve his purpose then he is entitled to cut our credit.

Now God is generous and he doesn’t usually give people the sack the first time they mess up. But he is still our boss. He’s the one paying the bill, not us. We are here at God’s expense. We need to be careful to not take advantage of his goodness.

Human beings, in the days of Noah, were misappropriating the life God had given them. People generally were not spending their lives in service to God. They were using the credit card of their life to oppress and abuse others. God is generous and patient but, in his wisdom and grace, he imposes limits. There is a day of accounting with God.

Jesus made this very clear in a number of his parables – in particular the one in Matthew 25 about the Master who entrusted his three servants with large sums of silver. Two of the servants doubled what they had been given and were allowed to keep it when the master returned. The third servant buried his silver in the ground. The master was not happy with him and he lost it all.  

The silver in this parable represents the life and gifts God has given us. The point of the story is not to use our lives to make lots of money. The point is that we should use the life we have been entrusted with to serve and glorify God.

God’s grief:

Sometimes we read the Bible in the same way we might look into a mirror. We just see our own reflection. That’s not always a bad thing. In fact, looking into a mirror can be helpful if we are looking a bit scruffy and need to brush our hair or have a shave. Just as long as we look away when we’ve finished.

Other times though the Bible functions less like a mirror and more like a lens or a telescope that helps us to see God more clearly.

Genesis 6, verses 5-8, act like a mirror and a lens simultaneously. They reflect the human heart and they show us God’s heart at the same time.     

Verse 5 reads: The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

The English language doesn’t really have a single word to do justice to the ancient Hebrew idea of the human heart. In English we think of the heart either literally (as a pump in our chest for circulating blood and keeping us alive) or we think of the heart metaphorically as the place where our emotions come from. We tend to associate the heart with tender or romantic feelings.

But to the ancient Hebrew mind the human heart isn’t just a container for emotions. The human heart is also where thoughts, and moral decisions come from. We could say the heart is the seat of the will. The heart is like the rudder or steering wheel of the soul. Our heart determines the direction we take in life, whether we are aware of it or not.

When we talk about giving our heart to Jesus, what we mean is letting Jesus be the pilot or driver of our life. Letting the hand of Christ take hold of the rudder of our soul to set our life in the right direction.

In Matthew 15:19 Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony and slander. These are what make a person ‘unclean’.”  

Returning to Genesis 6, when God saw the great wickedness of the human race; in other words, when he saw the injustice, the immorality, the murder, the oppression, the slander and so on, he traced all that bad behaviour to its source and it led him straight to the human heart.     

God saw that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. It is difficult to imagine a worse indictment.

If the human heart is like a rudder for our soul, then this means the human heart was continually in the grip of evil. It wasn’t like people only made bad choices half the time. They kept making bad choices all the time. The rudder of their heart was jammed toward violence and greed.

The comprehensive state of evil in Noah’s day foreshadows the Godlessness of society in the days leading up to Christ’s return.

In 2nd Timothy chapter 3, the apostle Paul writes…

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,boastful, proud, abusive,disobedient to their parents,ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous,rash, conceited,lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Returning to Genesis 6. Verse 6 tells us,The Lord was grieved that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

Wow. This is what we call the pathos of God. When I read this verse I feel like taking a moment’s silence.

Think about it. The Scripture does not say that God was angry because of the wickedness of the human race. No. It says he was grieved that he had made human beings. He was not enraged. He was filled with pain. The evil heart of humankind deeply affects the loving heart of God. As Walter Brueggemann observes, ‘What we find here is not an angry tyrant but a troubled parent who grieves over the alienation.’ [2]

God is our Father. He is our parent. His heart toward us is love. 

First the Lord saw. He saw the rudder of the human heart was constantly directed toward evil all the time.

Next the Lord felt. God did not just take a quick peek at the human heart. He took a good, long, hard look and in doing so he made himself vulnerable. He felt the grief and pain of human injustice.

Then, having seen and having felt, the Lord decided what he would do. From verse 7 we read: So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

Sometimes people say to me, ‘How could God do that? How could he kill all those people in the flood, not to mention the animals and birds as well?’

While I can understand why people might ask this question, it bypasses what the text is saying. It is not just the world that is in crisis here, it is the very heart of God. The Biblical narrative is more concerned with the deep grief within God.

The flood story is about the hurt God endures because of his wayward creation.

For the people who drowned their suffering was over. For God it continues. We see the suffering heart of God in the person of Jesus on the cross.

The flood story is not primarily about us – it’s about God.

God took no pleasure in the flood. God did not want to drown his creation. I expect he would have preferred to repair the situation if he could. Sadly, things had gone past the point of no return. Like concrete (or clay) humanity had gone hard and become set in its ways – people were no longer malleable. The Lord was left with little choice but to start again.

When an animal dies in a river its rotting carcass contaminates the water downstream. You can’t drink from the river without getting sick. So you have little choice but to remove the dead carcass; then the water can flow clean again.

If human history is like a river, then the wickedness of the human race in Noah’s time, was like a rotting carcass in the stream of human history. God had to remove the corruption and decay so that humanity down-stream wasn’t poisoned. I imagine if God had allowed things to carry on as they were the suffering would have been even greater.

Conclusion:

Our reading this morning finishes on a note of hope. In verse 8, after God has decided to wipe out his creation, we read…

But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.

It seems Noah was the exception to the rule. Unlike his contemporaries Noah’s heart (the rudder of his soul) was not always directed toward evil. Noah allowed God to steer the course of his life.

Last Sunday we heard how Noah’s father, Lamech, said his son would bring them relief. Lamech may not have realised the full meaning of what he was saying. It’s not just us human beings who are pained by sin. Our sin causes God pain as well. As a righteous man Noah was able to offer some relief to God.  

The fact that God’s heart can be grieved by human behaviour also implies that we can bless God’s heart by the choices we make, we can bring joy to his heart.

What can you do this week to bless God’s heart?

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?

Who might the ‘sons of God’ refer to, in Genesis 6:2?  Why do you think the writer of Genesis mentions them?

Why did God set a limit of 120 years? In what ways do we see God’s grace in the limits he sets? 

Where does life come from and who does it belong to? How are you using the credit card (of life) that God has given you? 

What does the Bible mean by the human heart? How does the human heart affect God’s heart?

Why do you think God decided to bring a great flood on the earth?

In what way did Noah provide some relief for God? In what way might you be able to bless God’s heart this week?

[1] John Walton uses the term ‘hybrid’ in his NIVAC commentary on Genesis, although he doesn’t support the view that the ‘sons of God’ were fallen angels.

[2] Refer Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Genesis, page 77.

Tawa Baptist

Noah’s Genealogy

Scripture: Genesis 5

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Noah’s genealogy
  • Enoch’s walk
  • Lamech’s hope
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

At some point every child wonders, ‘Where did I come from?’ This is a very good question. It has to do with identity and belonging. The thing is, a parent never knows when their child is going to ask this question.

If the child is quite young, then parents may feel a dilemma. Do I tell them the scientific facts, which could scare and confuse them, or do I make up a fanciful story like, ‘the stalk delivered you’? Unfortunately, neither of these options really addresses the underlying question of identity and belonging.    

Parents in the ancient world of the Bible had a better strategy. They wisely pointed to the family genealogy or whakapapa. By telling their children about their ancestors, parents gave their kids a sense of belonging and identity.

Today we begin a new sermon series on the life of Noah. Noah was the bloke who built the ark and saved the animals from the great flood. In Genesis chapter 5 we read about Noah’s genealogy. I imagine when Noah was old enough to ask, ‘Where did I come from?’, his father Lamech probably gave him this answer…    

This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created humankind,he made themin the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them “Humankind”when they were created.

3 When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years; and he died.

6 When Seth had lived one hundred five years, he became the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters. 8 Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years; and he died.

9 When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters. 11 Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years; and he died.

12 When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after the birth of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and had other sons and daughters. 14 Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. 17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years; and he died.

18 When Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. 20 Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years; and he died.

21 When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

25 When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years; and he died.

28 When Lamech had lived one hundred eighty-two years, he became the father of a son; 29 he named him Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.” 30 Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters. 31 Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years; and he died.

32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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

Noah’s genealogy:

How well do you know your ancestry? How far back can you go? Can you name your grandparents, your great grandparents or even your great, great grandparents? I can’t go back any further than four generations. I know the names of my great grandfather and great grandmother on my mother’s side. Albert & Nellie were born towards the end of the 19th Century.

I imagine some of you can go back a lot further than that, while others may not know anything about your ancestors. Whether you know your family tree or not, the Bible tells us our identity and belonging (as human beings) is found in God. Verses 1 & 2 of Genesis 5 tell us…

When God created humankind,he made themin the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them “Humankind”when they were created.

This tells us that while men and women may be different in form and function and temperament, we are not different in status or worth or value. Women and men are of equal value and both are needed to represent God’s image.  

To be made in the likeness of God does not necessarily mean to look like God physically. To be made in the image of God is to be given noble status. We are supposed to act as regents who represent God (the King) in this world. We are God’s ambassadors and stewards on this planet. The way we relate with each other and the rest of creation is meant to reflect the character of God. 

For example, when we love our neighbour and care for the environment we are representing the likeness (or image) of God. But when we act in ways that are unloving or abusive, then we are not representing God’s likeness.

In some ways humanity is like the moon. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so too human beings (together) reflect the glory of God. Sometimes the moon reflects the light of the sun fully (as when we see a full moon). Other times the moon only reflects the sun’s light partially, if at all. Sometimes we human beings reflect God’s image well. Other times we do a pretty poor job.

Either way, we are still God’s image bearers, reflectors of his glory. Sin and the fall of humankind does not stop us from being made in God’s image, although it does tarnish God’s image at times.

The book of Genesis names three of Adam and Eve’s children: Cain, Abel and Seth. Adam & Eve probably had other children too but we are only told about three of them. In Genesis chapter 4 we read how Cain killed Abel. Adam and Eve then had another son called Seth. Noah was descended from Seth.

If you think about it, you are lucky. You have won the lottery just by being born. If any one of the thousands of generations of your forebears had died before becoming a parent, you wouldn’t be here. Some of your ancestors have survived war, famine, the black plague and all sorts of other terrible tragedies, just so you could be born. So you, each one of you, has beaten the odds. Although it really had more to do with God. It is because of his great love and providence that you are here.   

The genealogy in Genesis 5 doesn’t just tell us about Noah and where he came from. It tells us about God as well. In particular Noah’s genealogy points to the faithfulness of God. Even though human beings rejected God. Even though Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God still blessed humanity by supporting life through the generations.  

There are ten generations named from Adam to Noah. In the Bible ten is a number which symbolises wholeness or completeness or fullness. The list of Noah’s ancestors in Genesis 5 shows that God did not short change humanity. God is patient and faithful. God blessed human beings and gave them every opportunity to live full lives and make good.

We notice a repeating pattern with the way Noah’s genealogy is presented. With each generation we are told the name of the ancestor, how old they were when they had a son, how long they lived after the son was born and how many years they lived in total, before they died. This points to God’s personal care and concern. Each life is valued by him. Each person is remembered by name.

We are struck by the longevity of the people in this list. Most of Noah’s ancestors lived for over 900 years each. Different commentators have tried to explain these long life spans in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, none of which are convincing. While God could easily support quality life for 900 plus years, if that served his purpose, humility requires us to admit the limits of our knowledge and not be too dogmatic with our interpretation.

A better question to ask might be what does it mean to live well? I don’t think life can be measured in years alone. Perhaps life is measured by the legacy we leave for others. Or perhaps the love we give is the best measure of life. Jesus only lived 33 years before he was killed and yet the legacy of love that he left has endured for more than 2000 years. Jesus had no biological children and yet he has literally millions of spiritual children.

It seems to me, the long life spans point to the idea that God is generous and wants to give abundant life. As Jesus said, I have come that you might have life in all its fullness.

Two individuals in Noah’s genealogy need special mention: Noah’s great grandfather Enoch and Noah’s dad, Lamech.

Enoch’s walk:

Robyn and I really enjoy walking together. One of the silver linings of lockdown was that we got to go for a walk around Tawa most days. The weather was pretty good in April. Walking is life-giving. It is good for you physically, of course, but it also opens windows in your mind and creates connections with people. Walking helps you to feel less alone.

Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam and he broke the mould. From verse 21 of Genesis 5 we read…

21 When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

Twice in these verses we are told that Enoch ‘walked with God’. It doesn’t say what Enoch did for a job or what kind of camel he drove. It doesn’t tell us how much money he made – or what he built. It doesn’t list any of his achievements. It simply says he walked with God. Sadly, this expression is rare. Noah may be the only other person of whom it is said, he walked with God. [1]

What does it mean to walk with God?

When you walk with someone you stay close to them – near enough to have a personal conversation – you go where they go. To walk with God, therefore, implies a relationship of intimacy and righteousness. It means following God, going where God leads, doing life God’s way.

Jesus walked everywhere with his disciples. When Jesus called his disciples he said, come follow me. In other words, walk with me, be near to be me so we can have an on-going conversation. Learn from me.

Walking with God requires humility; you need to keep your feet on the ground. As the prophet Micah famously said, ‘What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’

Walking implies movement, transformation, change, going on a journey. But it is a journey that is unhurried – it’s walking, not running. There is a rhythm in walking with God, where we find ourselves in time with Him. 

Verse 24 of Genesis 5 tells us that after walking with God, Enoch was no more because God took him away. Enoch did not die – he was raptured by God. To be raptured is to be transported (sort of like ‘Beam me up Scotty’). When Jesus returns in glory we, who trust in him, will be raptured (or transported) to where he is. God took Enoch away. There is only one other person in the Hebrew Bible to be raptured like this (without dying) and that was the prophet Elijah. [2]

Enoch broke the mould. He did things differently from his ancestors and those around him. Jesus calls us to break the mould too. When Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are the salt of the earth’ and ‘You are the light of the world’ and ‘Be holy as God is holy’, he was saying, ‘Be distinctive. Don’t blend in with the world around you. Break the mould. Be different in a good way.’ The only way we can do this is by ‘walking with God’.

Enoch’s life stands out as a beacon of hope. He demonstrates that sin and death do not always have the last word. Enoch points to Jesus who shows us how to walk with God. Jesus has defeated death.  

Lamech’s hope:

The other person to mention in Noah’s genealogy is his father, Lamech.

Now, to avoid confusion, we need to be clear about which Lamech we mean. We are not talking about the Lamech, in Genesis 4, who was descended from Cain. He was a nasty piece of work. Cain’s Lamech was hell-bent on seeking revenge and his revenge overstepped the mark.

The Lamech we are talking about was descended from Seth and, in contrast to his cousin, Seth’s Lamech expressed hope, not revenge. When Noah was born his father said of him…

“Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.”    

God had cursed the ground when Adam and Eve disobeyed him and ate the forbidden fruit. God did not curse people, he cursed the ground. This doesn’t mean that God put a hex or a magic spell on the ground. It simply means that God removed his protection and favour from the ground, with the consequence that humankind would have to work a lot harder to get the ground to yield food.

Lamech is tired of working the cursed ground. He longs for relief from the hard labour God has sentenced them to and he imagines his son, Noah, will be the one to bring that relief. The name ‘Noah’ sounds like the Hebrew word for ‘relief’ or ‘rest’. [3] It seems that Lamech did not fully realise what God was going to do through Noah.

Lamech’s hope, that Noah would bring relief, is thought to find its compliment in Genesis 8:21 when, after the flood, Noah offers a sacrifice to God and the Lord is pleased saying, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man.” [4]

When I was kid we watched a movie called The Fantastic Voyage. It was a science fiction story in which a submarine crew are shrunk to microscopic size and venture into the body of an injured scientist to repair damage to his brain. Cool aye. The surgeons can’t fix the problem from the outside, they have to get small and fix it from the inside. I won’t spoil the ending for you. They are probably due to do a remake sometime.

Walter Brueggemann makes the observation that Lamech’s prophetic hope hints at incarnational faith. “The affirmation that relief comes from cursed ground… runs toward crucifixion and resurrection… As help comes from the place of curse, so life comes from the reality of death.” [5]

In other words, God doesn’t fix the problem of sin from the outside, like a mechanic working on a car or a jeweller fixing a watch or a surgeon removing cancer. No, incarnation means God gets small and fixes the problem from the inside. In Genesis, God uses his creation to fix his creation. That is, God works through the flood waters and through Noah to renew his creation.  

Eventually though, God would embark on his own fantastic voyage. He would make himself small and become a human being (in the person of Jesus), in order to bring relief from the curse of sin and death, from the inside out.   

Conclusion:

You may wonder why I have chosen to start this sermon series with Noah’s genealogy? Well, mainly because that’s how the Bible starts it.

On its own, the account of the flood is a tragic story of judgement and death. But heard in its proper context, the flood story is redemptive. In Genesis 5 we read of the ten generations from Adam to Noah and in Genesis 10 we read of the generations born from Noah’s three sons, after the flood. By sandwiching the flood story between two genealogies we are reminded of the generous way God supports and continues and prospers life.

In Luke 10:20, Jesus refers to a different kind of genealogy – a spiritual genealogy. He says to his disciples, “…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  As Christians our identity and belonging are found in Christ. Jesus knows you by name. You belong to Christ and, when you put your trust in him, your name is written in the family tree of heaven.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

How well do you know your ancestry? How far back can you go? As human beings, where does our sense of identity and belonging come from?

What does it mean to be made in the image (or likeness) of God?

What does Noah’s genealogy indicate about God? Similarly, what might the long life spans in Genesis 5 indicate about God?

Why is walking good for you? What does it mean that ‘Enoch walked with God’?

How might we break the mould? That is, how might we live in a way that is distinctive or different from the world around us?

How does God choose to redeem his creation?

[1] Genesis 6:9

[2] 2 Kings 2:11

[3] Refer Derek Kidner’s Tyndale commentary on Genesis, page 82.

[4] Refer John Walton’s (NIVAC) commentary on Genesis, page 280.

[5] Refer Walter Brueggemann’s Interpretation commentary on Genesis, page 69.

Tawa Baptist

Now Unto Him

Scripture: Jude 24-25

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Preventing a disaster
  • Keeping the end in sight
  • Giving God the glory
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Back in November last year we started our Anthems series with the song Build my Life. In this series we have looked at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

In many ways this series has provided an opportunity to do some Biblical theology – that is, to reflect on some of the bigger ideas about God and our Christian faith. The way we perceive God is influenced quite a bit by the songs we sing in church.   

Today we conclude our Anthems series with the song Now unto Him. We sometimes sing Now unto Him at the end of church services and meetings as a way of concluding proceedings. The tune for Now unto Him was written in the early 1970’s by a New Zealand woman called Olive Wood. Olive originally called the song ‘Benediction’. Benediction simply means blessing. Technically it is really more of a doxology – a statement of praise to glorify God – but it serves just as well as a benediction.

Although I can’t tell you anything about Olive Wood’s life, we do know the words to this short hymn come from the closing verses of the New Testament book of Jude. The name Jude is short for Judah.

Most scholars think that Jude is probably one of the biological half-brothers of Jesus. So Jude would have grown up in the home of Joseph and Mary with Jesus as his older brother. As far as we know Jude didn’t hang out with Jesus and the other disciples during Jesus’ three years of earthly ministry. Apparently he became a believer after Jesus’ resurrection.

Preventing a disaster:

When I was kid we were told the story of the Dutch boy who stopped his town from being flooded by putting his finger in the dike. A dike is a massive sea wall for keeping water out. The story goes that as the boy was walking home one evening he noticed a steady flow of water coming from a small hole in the dike. The boy then had a dilemma. If he ran to get help the hole might become larger and break open the sea wall, flooding the town. But if he stayed to stop the flow he might be stuck there all night.       

Although it was tempting to ignore the problem and hope that someone else would see it before it got worse, the boy felt a sense of duty and put his finger in the hole to prevent a disaster and save his town. Despite the cold and dark, the boy stayed there all night until some adults found him the next morning and fixed the sea wall.

Jude had wanted to write to the churches about salvation but instead he felt compelled to write a letter of warning to prevent a flood of false teaching in the church.

“Apparently these false teachers were trying to convince believers that being saved by grace gave them license to sin, since their sins would no longer be held against them.” [1]

These false teachers were de-moralising the church. What they said sounded credible at first but really their ideas undermined people’s motivation to act in morally right and holy ways. They had created a little hole in the dike of the young church’s faith and Jude wanted to plug that hole with his letter before it got any worse and destroyed the church.

The apostle Paul faced the same kind of problem. In Romans 6 he says: What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer.

In some ways Jude’s short letter is not pleasant or comfortable reading. He uses a series of tragic examples from the Old Testament and other Jewish apocryphal writings to make his point that we can’t take God’s forgiveness for granted. We can’t major on grace at the expense of truth. We can’t cast off God’s moral law; for that would be like throwing the baby out with the bath water. God’s redemption should make us more motivated to be holy. God’s grace is not a license to do whatever we want. God’s grace is meant to set us free to become more like Jesus.

I’m sure Jude would rather have written about God’s goodness and love but, like the boy who spent the night with his finger in the dike, Jude was trying to prevent a disaster.   

Keeping the end in sight:

The story of the Dutch boy who saved his town is fictional. It’s made up. But it does contain some truth and the simplicity of it opens a window on one’s imagination.

What would it be like to sit all night, alone in the dark and cold, with your finger in a sea wall. I imagine your finger would go numb. Your eyes would become heavy with sleep. There would be no one there to encourage you or support you. It would be easy to become de-moralised, to give up and let the town go under water. How would you make it through the night? I guess you would have to keep a picture in your mind of what you were aiming to achieve. You would need to keep the end in sight when the village was saved and you were home again tucking into a hot meal.  

We call this hope. Hope is the capacity to see a positive future; to keep the end in sight, to keep going.   

Do you remember those radio competitions where a dozen people would try to win a new car by keeping their hand on that car the longest? If you lost concentration and took your hand off, even for just a moment, you were out. The last person with their hand still on the car was the winner.

I think they may have stopped running competitions like that because it is considered too cruel, even abusive. People literally went on for days without sleep in the uncertain hope they might win. Sure they got to stop every few hours for a toilet break but can you imagine how devastating it would be to hang in there for 5 days only to be the runner up. There was no prize for second place, just the emptiness of regret and misplaced hope.

Even if you were the winner you would still feel pretty stink for the others who walked away with nothing. Not to mention the utter physical and emotional exhaustion of the experience. I’m pleased they don’t do competitions like that anymore. 

Returning to verse 24 of Jude’s letter. After having given the false teachers a serious serve, and putting the fear of hell into those who may be inclined to believe them, Jude inspires hope. Verse 24 reads: Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

The first thing we notice here is that God is able. God has skills and power and abilities. As we read in Romans 16:25, God is able to establish you by the gospel, the proclamation of Jesus Christ.

Or as Paul says in Ephesians 3:20, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.  

God is able. This means the journey of Christian faith is not like those hand on car competitions. We are not doing this alone, in our own strength. It does not depend entirely on us.

God is able to keep us from falling. We are reminded here, of the words of Psalm 121: 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip…
    

In other words, God is present with us now, helping us to get to the end. God is our number one supporter. God is not looking for the first opportunity to exclude us. If we do slip up, if we do take our hand off the prize for a moment, we are not automatically out. We have a God who gives second, third and fourth chances. God prefers to redeem his children if they are willing. So when we make mistakes we can return to God, admit our wrong doing, ask his forgiveness and the strength to carry on.

God is able to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Imagine that; being presented faultless before God. That is the Christian hope in a nut shell. No one really wants to stand before God with all their sins and faults exposed. That would be terrifying and humiliating. But to be presented faultless, perfect, whole, as one who is righteous and without blemish. That would be a beautiful thing indeed. 

How does God do that? Well, one way to understand this is that God makes us faultless in Christ. To be a Christian is to be in Christ.

To be in Christ is to enter a new spiritual realm, like being granted citizenship in a new country, the land of Jesus.

To be in Christ is to be a branch grafted into the vine of Jesus. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing but when we abide in Christ we become fruitful.

To be in Christ is to be given a new status, like being released from prison into society and having your criminal record expunged.

In fact, when we are baptised into Christ we put on his righteousness. If our thoughts, words and deeds are like dirty rags, then being in Christ is like taking those rags off, having a bath and putting on Jesus’ clean clothes.    

Now some of you may be thinking, ‘Okay, it’s one thing to be faultless in Christ, to put on his righteousness and all that, but isn’t that like cheating or pretending or something? Isn’t that like dressing up mutton and calling it lamb, because it’s Jesus’ faultlessness, not our own. Besides what has been done in the past can’t be undone. We can’t say the mistakes we have made didn’t happen.

Well, let me offer you another couple of ways of thinking about this. If you can imagine your soul is like a stream of water. Sin pollutes the water of our soul. Sin makes the stream of our soul unreliable, toxic even. Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God purifies the water of our soul so we are actually pure and faultless on the inside. It’s not that the history of our soul is faultless. It’s more that the future of our soul is faultless, because of the work of Christ in us.

Or to use another analogy. Imagine your heart is an engine. Over time an engine develops faults and problems. The spark plugs become worn, the alternator fails, the battery goes flat, a gasket blows and you find you are burning too much oil. Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God reconditions and fine tunes the engine of our heart so it runs smoothly and without fault. We don’t pretend we never had engine problems. Rather, we enjoy driving again with God beside us.      

But we shouldn’t just look at this in an individualistic way. While being in Christ is a personal thing, it is also a community thing. We aren’t in Christ by our self. We are in Christ as part of his body the church. So thinking collectively, to be presented faultless before God may also mean the church community is presented perfect and whole before God, without any missing limbs or organs.

With the Christian faith, it is not a case of the winner takes all (as it is with the hands on a car competition). We share the prize of God’s kingdom. What’s more, we share the prize with exceeding joy. That is, without regret. Without feeling stink that we have won at the exclusion of others.

When I first considered that phrase, with exceeding joy, I thought the joy belonged to God. In other words, God is full of joy to see us presented faultless, in Christ, before him. I read it this way because of what Jesus says in Luke 15 with his parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost sons. In all three stories the punch line seems to be that all heaven rejoices when lost sinners repent and are found.

But when I read what the experts had to say about this verse, they reckon the joy belongs to us. So we are the ones who experience the exceeding joy when presented faultless before God. I suppose it doesn’t have to be either / or. It can be both / and. Both you and God have exceeding joy in each other’s presence.

When we are in the thick of the battle, denying ourselves for Christ, carrying our cross and following Jesus, we do well to remember the end goal is not suffering and self-denial. The end goal is union with God through Christ and the overflow of our union with God is exceeding joy.

Giving God the glory:

Because of God’s ability to keep us from falling and present us faultless, Jude ends his letter with a doxology; an expression of praise for God’s glory. In verse 25 we read: To the only God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen.

You need to be aware that the lyrics of the song are slightly different to the actual words of Scripture in Jude.

We sing, to the only wise God. Whereas Jude doesn’t have the word ‘wise’ in there. To the only wise God actually comes from Romans 16:27 where Paul writes, To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ.

Really it doesn’t make a lot of difference. The point is, there is only one God and wisdom is found in him, through Jesus Christ. That is, we gain access to God’s wisdom through Jesus.

The other difference between the song lyrics and Jude’s words is that the song leaves out the phrase, through Jesus Christ our Lord. I’m not sure why Olive Wood left that out. It seems quite important. Probably it was something to do with the meter and phrasing of the song. It would be too much of a mouthful to sing all those words fluently. In any case, the Christian belief is that we come to the only true God through Jesus. Jesus is the bridge and passport to the kingdom of God.

Many of you will be familiar with the Star Wars saga. The Star Wars universe is based on the belief that there are two opposing powers at work in the galaxy; the light side of the force and the dark side. Jedi knights, like Yoda and Luke Skywalker, are practitioners of the light side of the force, while Sith lords, like Darth Vader, use the dark side of the force. The philosophy of Star Wars is known as dualism. Dual (as in two) forces of equal strength pitched against each other.    

Why am I talking about Star Wars you may wonder? Well, there was a belief system which started to develop late in the first century (around the time Jude wrote his letter) which was similar, in some ways, to the philosophy of the Star Wars universe.  This belief system eventually developed into what we call Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a dualistic belief, with two gods pitched against each other, sort of like the dark side of the force and light side. The experts reckon the false teachers probably preached an early form of Gnosticism. 

When Jude wrote, ‘To the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, dominion and power…’ he was making the point that, contrary to what the false teachers were saying, there is only one God, not two. While there clearly is the presence of evil in this world, evil is no match for the one true living God, our Saviour.

God’s glory includes his splendour, beauty, magnificence, greatness and transcendence. God’s glory is a weighty thing, it has substance, mass, gravity. We revolve around God’s glory, even if we don’t know it.            

God’s majesty refers to his royalty or his sovereignty, his authority or right to rule.

Dominion is an old fashioned word having to do with domain or territory. God’s dominion is his turf, his kingdom, the area of his royal reach.

And power is God’s ability to do things, to make stuff happen. We have heard about God’s ability to redeem and restore, to make perfect and present us faultless.

When we sing ‘To the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, dominion and power…’ we are agreeing with Jude and millions of other Christians throughout history that God is above all and totally beyond compare. We want his reign in this world and his will to be done in our lives.      

The last line of the song which reads, ‘both now and forever’, doesn’t quite capture the full scope of Jude’s words which read, ‘before all time, now and forever.’ The glory, majesty, dominion and power of God are not limited by time. They are before all time, that is before creation. They are now in the present time in history. And they are forevermore, beyond time into eternity.

Conclusion:

We may become de-moralised by the state of the world and by the state of ourselves at times. We may become frustrated with how faulty and dysfunctional things are. When life is hard and confusing, when the news is all bad, we need to keep the end goal in sight. This life is not all there is. We were made for more. Jesus came to make all things new.

Our God is able to finish what he started. Our God is infinite, eternal and inexhaustible. He is bigger, longer, older, wiser, deeper, kinder, fuller and more generous than we can imagine. There is no other and never has been any other and never will be any other like him.

Let’s stand and sing…

Now unto Him who is able to keep

Able to keep you from falling

And present you faultless before the presence of His glory

With exceeding joy

To the only wise God, our Saviour

Be glory and majesty, dominion and power

Both now and forever, Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

Listen to the song ‘Now unto Him’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 

In what way was Jude like the boy who put his finger in the dike? Have you ever been in a similar/analogous situation? What happened?

How should we respond to God’s grace? What is Christian freedom for?

Why do we need to keep the end in sight? How can we keep the end in sight?

What does it mean to be presented faultless before God’s presence? 

How is the philosophy of Star Wars different from Christian belief?

Take some time this week to imagine the goal of your salvation; standing faultless before God and enjoying him forever.

[1] Refer to the NIV Study Bible, 1985, page 1919. 

Tawa Baptist

There is a Redeemer

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

Structure:

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

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus, our redeemer:

The song starts with the words…

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

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

Jesus’ name itself means ‘the Lord saves’.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name above all names:

The next verse of the song reads…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father, Son & Spirit:

The chorus of Melody’s song reads…          

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When I stand in glory:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion:

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

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

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

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

There is a redeemer, Jesus God’s own Son

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

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

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

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

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

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tawa Baptist

Gracious Spirit

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

Structure:

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

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Grace & truth:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“No one, sir” she said.

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

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

Verse 1 of the song reads…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tenderness & might:

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

Verse 3 reads…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Verse 4 of the song reads…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Holiness & sanctification:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1st Peter, chapter 1 we read…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion:

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

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

Is it to sit still and rest?

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

Is it to take a walk outside?

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

Is it to listen to your husband or wife?

Or is it something else?

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

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

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me.

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

Truthful Spirit, dwell with me.

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

Tender Spirit, dwell with me.

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

Mighty Spirit, dwell with me.

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

Holy Spirit, dwell with me. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[1] See for example John 4.

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

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

[4] Ibid, page 231.

Tawa Baptist

Be Exalted, O God

Scriptures: 1st Samuel 24:1-22, Psalm 57

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • I will give thanks
  • Be exalted, O God
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was a kid I was lucky enough to spend holidays at the beach. My Nan told me that if I held an empty shell to my ear I could hear the sea, even if I was hundreds of miles away from the ocean.

Of course, when I got older and stopped taking everything so literally, I learned that my Nan was speaking in metaphor. Scientists will tell you that when you listen to a shell, you’re not really hearing the sound of the ocean. The shell acts as a resonator for ambient sound. Normally our brains filter out background noises, like the wind and the sea and traffic and birds, but when you put a shell over your ear, some frequencies are amplified and others get suppressed. It sounds like the sea because the movement of the ocean is one of those background noises that your brain normally filters out.

Personally, I prefer my Nan’s explanation. The idea that an empty shell can pick up the sound of the sea from anywhere is way cooler.

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

The song we are looking at this morning is called Be Exalted, O God.

Be Exalted is one of those songs that sounds like the sea. On the one hand it is comforting and hopeful. But on the other hand it is at risk of being filtered out of by our brains as background noise, because the words sound so familiar.

The lyrics for Be Exalted were written thousands of years ago by king David. We find them in Psalm 57. But the tune we sing it to today was written by a New Zealander called Brent Chambers.

Brent was born in Napier in 1948. He became a Christian at a Youth for Christ meeting in 1966. In an interview with Lindsay Terry, Brent talks about his conversion. Brent says…

“I didn’t have a great deal of interest in the [YFC] meeting but decided to go along. The Lord spoke to me during that service, and I became a Christian that very night. A couple of years later, I realized that I was not including Jesus into my life’s activities. I somehow knew that I could not be an effective Christian unless he had my whole life. Consequently, I surrendered everything to Christ, and from that time, even as a new Christian, songs began to pour out of me.”

Brent has written over 500 songs during his lifetime, alongside making a living by painting houses. He wrote Be Exalted, O God in 1977.

You know sometimes we can sing worship songs that are familiar to us and not really engage with them. The words come out of our mouth but our mind is elsewhere. It’s the same with reading Scripture or listening to sermons. Sometimes the words just wash over us without really going in or being real and then, one-day, God gently cups a shell over the ear of our soul and we pick up what he’s saying. Brent describes his resonator moment when Be Exalted, O God became real for him…

“After hearing my song, David Garrett [one of the founders of Scripture in Song music] asked me, Brent, do you think maybe God is speaking to you through these words?’ Up until that moment it was just another song that I had written, but when he said those words, my song became the Word of God to me, and my life’s call – my heart’s desire. I suddenly wanted to give thanks among the people and to sing praises among the nations. By the grace of God, we’ve done just that in many places, singing Be Exalted, O God’ and other songs.”

To help us hear God’s word in this song let’s turn to Psalm 57 now. The title of Psalm 57 says that David wrote this when he had fled into a cave to get away from king Saul. We read about David’s experience in the cave earlier in today’s service, from 1st Samuel chapter 24. Let’s read the corresponding Psalm now…

1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.     

2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me.
3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me – God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

4 I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

6 They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.

7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. 8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.

9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing praises to you among the peoples. 10 For your steadfast love reaches to the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 

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

I will give thanks

Caves are like sea shells, they are resonators. Hollow spaces tend to increase resonance – they help us to hear more layers of sound. You notice this when you are in a cave. Small sounds that we might not ordinarily notice, like footsteps or breathing or water dripping are amplified in a cave – we hear them more fully, more clearly, than when we are outside in the open.

The psalms are like resonators. As we hold the psalms to our ear, they show us ourselves; all the different layers of being human. They help us to be honest in expressing both the good things and the bad and to move beyond what we feel to adoration of God. 

Brent Champers’ song begins with the line…

I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples.
I will sing praises to Thee among the nations.
These words come from verse 9 of Psalm 57; which is towards the end of the Psalm. While giving thanks to God is a good thing to do, it is not always the first thing to do. As human beings we need to give voice to the difficulties we are facing alongside the things we are thankful for.

With this in view, David does not begin with thanksgiving. David begins by asking God for mercy. Not the mercy of forgiveness (he hasn’t done anything wrong) but rather the mercy of God’s help and protection. David has been unfairly treated and he wants God to vindicate him.

Before launching into thanksgiving David acknowledges before the Lord the fear, stress, homelessness and injustice he has been living with. In verse 4 of Psalm 57 David describes in graphic terms the danger he is in…

4 I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

David is comparing the people who are after him (Saul and Co) as beasts hungry to kill him, not just physically but relationally as well. By spreading lies about David his enemies are alienating him, isolating him, from his community.

David has been under immense pressure and that pressure acts as a kind of emotional resonator. It makes David more aware of his need for God and consequently of God’s faithfulness in providing for him. To most people a cave is a dark spooky place to be avoided. But David’s vision of God’s goodness transforms the cave from a dingy hole in the ground to a refuge under the shadow of His wings.

This resonates with the story of Ruth, where Boaz says to Ruth, ‘May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’ Ruth was, of course, one of David’s ancestors.

Despite the unfairness of his situation David (in verse 3) is able to see that God is on his side. The Lord has sent love and faithfulness from heaven to help him. David is not thankful for the stress of being on the run for his life and nor should he be. That wouldn’t be true or right. But David is thankful for God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. David is acutely aware of God’s reliability, when everything else around him is unreliable and uncertain.

God’s love and faithfulness are continually poured out from heaven for us, but we don’t always notice it. Like background noise, our brain filters it out and we tend to take God’s goodness for granted. But when we find ourselves in extreme circumstances; when we are acutely aware of our need, this acts as a kind of resonator and we notice those little things that God does under the radar to help us.  

For the past six weeks or more, we have been in a cave of sorts. We have been forced (by Covid-19) to stay at home in lockdown, hiding from the virus. We are aware of the collateral damage Covid-19 has caused around the world. It has taken lives. It has cost people their jobs and their businesses. It has created pressure and strain in families. We need to acknowledge that this experience has been harder for some than others. At the same time, it has not been without collateral beauty.

Collateral beauty is the opposite of collateral damage. Collateral beauty is recognising and cherishing moments of light and goodness in the midst of dark and difficult circumstances. Collateral beauty is what we get when God sends his love and faithfulness from heaven. Collateral beauty transforms a cave into the shadow of God’s wings, a place of sanctuary and comfort.

I had a collateral beauty moment on the first Sunday we were in level 4. I was in the church carpark, by myself, and I noticed the stillness. The Main Rd of Tawa is normally very busy. But on this particular day, there were no cars or people or any sort of background noise. There was just the silence of the sunrise. It was beautiful. I stood still for a moment to simply experience it. Was this what it was like for Elijah as he stood at the entrance of the cave on Mount Carmel all those centuries ago? Was this what it was like for the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee? The stillness was so rare, so precious. I’m not sure I would have known (or appreciated) that sort of profound stillness apart from lockdown and I’m not sure I’ll ever know it again, at least not in the church carpark.

That was one of my collateral beauty moments during level 4. What was your moment? In what ways have you noticed God sending his love and faithfulness? You might like to pause the audio recording at this point and share with others your collateral beauty moment.       

Be exalted

You know, my Nan was a clever lady. She didn’t say a lot but she knew the right thing to say and when to say it. She could have given me the scientific explanation of why empty shells always sound like the sea but she knew that science by itself is not enough for the human soul. She knew that during a cold foggy winter’s day in Hamilton, when I was back at school, holding a sea shell to my ear would act as a resonator of happy memories at the beach. More than that though, it would also make me look forward in hope to the next summer holidays. My Nan’s explanation exercised my imagination and it filled me with wonder.  

In Psalm 57 we find a David who is so confident, so full of hope. His back is against the wall (literally) but he doesn’t give up. Saul and 3,000 of Israel’s finest soldiers have David cornered in a cave. David is outnumbered with nowhere to run and yet he can still remember God’s love and faithfulness. Not only that but he can even imagine a good future for himself, one in which he is set free and vindicated by God.

Jesus had the same kind of confidence and hope in going to the cross. He knew that, even though he would die, God would not abandon him to the grave. Jesus knew God would set him free from death and raise him to eternal life and that’s exactly what God did.      

The chorus of Brent Chambers’ song is the same as David’s chorus in Psalm 57;

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

To be exalted is to be lifted up, to be promoted. This refrain (for God to be exalted) is repeated twice in Psalm 57, once in the middle (in verse 5) and then again at the end (in verse 11).

What we notice is that although the exact same words are used both times, they are given a different meaning by the context. In verse 5 be exalted, O God is really a prayer for God to save David from real and present danger. Whereas, in verse 11, it is an expression of thankfulness for God’s salvation.

In verse 4 of Psalm 57 David describes his enemies as ravenous beasts. So, when David says straight after this (in verse 5) 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; what he means is: ‘Use your power God to save me from my enemies.’ [1] You be in charge God and put evil in its place.

Be exalted O God, resonates with the Lord’s prayer where we say, ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’ Hallowed be your name means may your name be lifted up and treated as sacred.

In the same vein, when David says, let your glory be over all the earth, he is really asking for God’s purpose to be achieved everywhere. “God’s glory” is the manifestation (the outworking) of his sovereign rule. [2] Or said another way, “God’s glory” is his justice and mercy at work in the world. To sing, let your glory be over all the earth is basically the same as saying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.

In verse 6 of Psalm 57 David describes the way in which God has exalted his justice and mercy in the cave…

6 They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.

While Saul was out hunting for David, he felt the call of nature. (He needed to relieve himself.) So he goes into a cave for some privacy. We can imagine the sound resonating around the cave walls. Little does Saul know that this is the very same cave that David and his men are hiding in. Saul has fallen into the pit he dug for David. Saul had planned to trap David and kill him, but now it is Saul who is at David’s mercy.

David’s men see this as God’s providence for David. They encourage David to kill Saul. It is tempting. David creeps up behind Saul and cuts a piece off the corner of the king’s robe. But then David is conscience stricken. He returns to his men and rebukes them saying, ‘Lord forbid that I should do such a thing…’ David will not exalt himself. He will not promote himself at Saul’s expense. David wants God to be exalted and murder does not achieve that. 

David may be hiding in a hole but he has the moral high ground and this enables him to say, in verse 7, My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast;

To have a steadfast heart is to have courage and a clear conscience. To be resolute and unafraid. Why is David’s heart steadfast? Because he has done the right thing and he knows it.

We see something of David’s steadfastness of heart in the way he addresses Saul. After Saul has left the cave David says…

‘May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.’

This is another way of saying: Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

This shows us that God can be exalted by the choices we make. Yes, God exalts himself by saving his people through acts of justice and mercy. But we human beings also exalt God (we raise up and promote God’s purpose) when we obey him.

In verses 8 & 9 of Psalm 57 David says, Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations;

This demonstrates David’s confidence in God to save him.

‘To awaken the dawn’ with praise for God means getting up while it is still dark (before the sunrise) and singing worship songs to God. I understand the ‘dawn’ here to be a metaphor for God’s salvation. It’s a way of saying, ‘I will give thanks and praise to God while I’m still waiting in the dark, even before I have seen the light of his salvation.’ David is steadfastly confident that God will act to save him. He’s so confident in fact that he thanks God in advance, even before God has actually answered his prayer. It’s a bit like asking God to deliver us from Covid-19 and then thanking him for saving us even before a vaccine has been created. Or, it’s like holding a shell to your ear in the middle of winter and thanking God in advance for the summer holidays that are coming.    

The first time David sings be exalted, O God (in verse 5)it was said in the context of being afraid for his life and was meant as a prayer for the Lord to save him. The second time David sings be exalted, O God (in verse 11) it is with grateful love, as one who anticipates being saved and coming through the other side.

We know this because in verses 9 & 10 of Psalm 57 David says, 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord…  10 For your steadfast love reaches to the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies.  This is a poetic way of saying, God’s love and faithfulness is everywhere all the time. God’s love and faithfulness is like the air we breathe; it is abundant and life giving and always present.

As I said before, the risk with God’s love and faithfulness being so plentiful is that it can become like background noise; something our brain filters out. Something we take for granted.

Prayer isn’t just about asking God for stuff. Prayer includes being aware of the oxygen of God’s love and faithfulness; putting a metaphorical shell (or resonator) to our spiritual ear; being intentional about noticing the many small things God does under the radar which support our life.      

The incident in the cave (in 1st Samuel 24) ended with king Saul admitting he was wrong and leaving David unharmed. We see God’s hand in this. David took a leap of faith in speaking his truth to Saul. Saul was prone to bouts of insanity. The tormented king was just as likely to turn on David in that moment, but he didn’t. God exalted himself by using David’s act of justice and mercy to soften Saul’s heart and turn away the king’s anger. So David was given some respite.

But this wasn’t the end of it. David knew better than to trust Saul. It would not be long before Saul’s paranoia got the better of him and he went in pursuit of David again.   

Conclusion

Last Thursday we transitioned to level 2, with a limit on gatherings of 10 people. We are thankful to be able to catch up with family and friends in small groups. But at the same time we are not quite out of the woods (or out of the cave) just yet.

Nevertheless, we can give thanks to God for his grace in bringing us this far and we can continue to pray that God’s purpose will be exalted in all the earth.

God exalted himself most significantly in raising Jesus from the dead. Because of Jesus’ resurrection we can be confident that the sun of God’s salvation will rise on the night time of whatever trials and difficulties we may face. 

Intercessory Prayer

In a moment I will lead us in an intercessory prayer. David’s prayer for God to be exalted is a universal prayer. It can be applied in so many different situations because it is essentially asking for God’s will to be done in the world. It is a prayer for God’s justice & mercy to be lifted up everywhere. With this in mind I will offer words of intercession for various people and situations and I invite you to respond by saying, “Be exalted, O God”. When I pause that is your cue to pray, “Be exalted, O God”.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus, you were a teacher. We pray for students who are returning to school this week. Keep them safe. Help pupils, teachers and parents with this transition.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you are the well of living water. We pray for those people and animals in the Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Northland who are adversely affected by the drought. May you bring the rain they need. Restore the land we ask.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you were a self-employed carpenter. We pray for business owners who have lost income and livelihoods. May you restore what the locusts have eaten.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you are the corner stone of the church. We ask your blessing on the churches in Tawa. May you be present through the on-line Alpha course and touch the lives of each one who participates in this.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you were beaten, mocked and scorned. We ask your deliverance for those women and children who are trapped in abusive relationships. Set the captives free we pray.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you are our King. We pray for wisdom for our government. May they act as your servants, promoting justice and compassion in our society.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you have the power to heal: mind, body, soul and relationships. Make us whole and grant us your peace we pray.

“Be exalted, O God”

Lord Jesus, you are risen from the dead. May your resurrection be real in and through us. Strengthen our hope, renew our joy and keep us in God’s purpose we ask.

“Be exalted, O God”

Thank you Lord Jesus that you hear our prayer. Amen.  

Let’s stand and sing Be exalted, O God…

I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples
I will sing praises to Thee among the nations
For Thy steadfast love is great, it is great to the heavens
And Thy faithfulness, Thy faithfulness to the clouds

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Let Thy glory be over all the earth (x2)

Questions for discussion or reflection:

Listen to the song ‘Be exalted, O God’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 

How might the Psalms help us to be honest with ourselves and worship God?

Why do you think David saw the cave he was in as ‘a refuge under the shadow of God’s wings’?

What collateral damage have you experienced because of Covid-19? What collateral beauty have you experienced? 

What can we do to make/keep ourselves aware of the oxygen of God’s love & faithfulness?

Why did David pray ‘Be exalted, O God’ in verse 5 of Psalm 57? (What did he mean in that context?) And what did David mean when he said ‘Be exalted, O God’ in verse 11? How is the nuance different in each repetition of this refrain?

How can we exalt God? (How can we lift up his purpose in the world?)

Take some time this week to awaken the dawn with praise for God – that is, to thank God for his love and faithfulness.

[1] Refer James Mays’ commentary on the Psalms, page 210. 

[2] Ibid.

Tawa Baptist

10 May 2020 – Oceans

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33, Acts 10, Psalm 131:2, Song of Solomon 2:16

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Walking on water
  • I am yours and you are mine
  • Trust without borders
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone and happy Mothers’ day to all the mums out there. A special shout out to my own mum, who is listening to this in Hamilton. 

You may be familiar with the phrase, ‘Measure twice, cut once’. It’s a carpentry metaphor. When a builder is cutting a piece of wood he or she wants to make sure it is the right size to fit, before cutting, otherwise the wood is wasted. 

If making a decision is akin to cutting a piece of wood, then thinking things through and doing your due diligence first is akin to measuring twice.

There are two opposites to measuring twice and cutting once. At one extreme there are those who cut first and try to make it fit later. And, at the other extreme, there are those who are always measuring and never get around to cutting. They never commit to a decision. 

You may like to do a little exercise in your bubbles now. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is equivalent to cutting first and making it fit later, and 5 is equivalent to measuring twice before cutting and 10 is equivalent to always measuring and never committing to a decision, what number would you give yourself? 

(You could pause the audio recording at this point and share your answer with those in your bubble. See if they agree with your self-assessment.) 

Hopefully this was a fun sharing time and you are still talking to each other. 

It is important to know there is no ideal number. It often depends on the circumstances. Some situations call for us to cut first, without measuring. In other situations, we do well to measure but not commit to a decision, perhaps because we don’t have enough information. Most of the time though, measuring twice and cutting once is our best option. Wisdom is the ability to discern which approach is best under the circumstances. 

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

The song we are looking at this morning is called Oceans. 

Oceans was written by three blokes from Hillsong United in Australia; Matt Crocker, Joel Houston and Salomon Ligthelm. It was released in 2013 and has been very popular in church circles around the western world. 

Oceans is largely based on Matthew 14:22-33; the story of Peter getting out of the boat to walk on water toward Jesus.   

Joel Houston explains, “It’s really a song about stepping into the unknown, about faith and raw trust in God.”

Walking on water:

Since so much of the meaning of Oceans is found in Matthew 14, let’s revisit that story of Jesus & Peter walking on water now. From verse 22 we read… 

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

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

The impression we get of Peter, in the gospels, is that he was naturally inclined to cut first and make it fit later. It appears that Peter didn’t really think things through when he said to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” What a strange and peculiar test. To be fair to Peter though, it had been a very long and exhausting day and it is difficult to think straight when you are under stress.  

The opening verse of the song Oceans begins…

You call me out upon the waters, the great unknown where feet may fail.

This line recalls Jesus telling Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water towards him. It also recalls how the feet of Peter’s faith failed, and he began to sink, when he took his eyes off Jesus.   

Verse 1 of the song continues…

And there I find You in the mystery, in oceans deep my faith will stand.

This line rightly acknowledges the mystery of God. We can’t know God completely or understand all his ways. God reveals himself to us, in part, through creation, through the Bible and most notably through Jesus. But our minds are too small, too finite to fully grasp God, who is infinite. The things about God that remain inaccessible to us are in the realm of mystery. When it comes to the mystery of God we are not able to measure twice, nor do we have to commit to a firm position. We simply trust. 

Now it was fashionable for a while (during the 20th Century) to explain the miracle out of the account of Jesus walking on water. Some people postulated that Jesus was just walking on the beach beside the lake so it only appeared to the disciples that he was walking on water. Others came up with the theory that Jesus was walking on a sand bar. None of these natural explanations make sense though.

Matthew is very clear that Jesus miraculously walked on water. There was no trick of the light and no sand bar. Verse 24 of Matthew 14 tells us the boat was far out on the lake. There are no shallow spots far out on the Sea of Galilee and, from that distance (in the dark), the disciples wouldn’t be able to see Jesus until he got quite close to the boat. What’s more Jesus rescued Peter and got into the boat with the disciples, so he was definitely out in the deep part of the lake. 

A belief in the miraculous power of Jesus does not make our faith less credible. If anything it points to the greatness (or the mystery) of God. If we could explain everything about Jesus, he wouldn’t be the Son of God.   

The first half of the chorus of the song reads…

And I will call upon Your name and keep my eyes above the waves.
Again this connects with Peter’s experience in Matthew 14. When Peter started to sink he called out to Jesus to save him. I like the observation Neville made in his all-age activity earlier in today’s service. 

Neville said, ‘When Peter started sinking he did not call back to his friends to throw him a rope – he called to Jesus for help.’ 

Peter’s instinct was to rely on Jesus. 

The song Oceans encourages us to learn from Peter’s experience and keep our eyes above the waves – that is, keep our eyes focused on Jesus (As we sang earlier, Turn your eyes upon Jesus…) 

Verse 2 of the song continues the walking on water theme where we sing… 

Your grace abounds in deepest waters, Your sovereign hand will be my guide.
Peter experienced Jesus’ grace in deepest waters when Jesus held out his sovereign hand to rescue him. You might remember from last week that God’s sovereignty refers to his supreme power and ultimate authority in this world. God is free to do whatever he wants but he chooses to use his power for the well-being of his creation. Jesus, who is full of grace & truth, used his power to save Peter.   

But it wasn’t just Peter who experienced God’s grace out on the lake that night. The other disciples received the grace (or the gift) of seeing Jesus calm the waters when he got into the boat. This revealed to them that Jesus is in fact Sovereign over creation – even the wind and waves obey him.  

Verse 2 of the song also reminds us that even though the feet of our faith may fail and fear sometimes gets the better of us, Jesus will never fail us. Jesus’ faithfulness does not depend on us. Jesus is faithful because he is the Son of God and God is faithful. 

God’s grace and faithfulness is as deep and abundant as the water of the oceans. This means we are not condemned if our faith fails. It’s not the end of the world if we make a mistake. God is big enough to forgive and redeem our mistakes. Whether Peter should have got out of the boat on that occasion or not is beside the point. The fact is, he did get out and walk on water for a little bit. And although he took his eyes off Jesus and started to sink it wasn’t the end of his life, nor was it the end of his relationship with Jesus. God’s grace was sufficient for Peter and it is sufficient for you too. So if we fail, we don’t give up. We ask for Jesus’ help and we learn from the experience. 

I am yours and you are mine:

Returning to the chorus of today’s song. The second half reads…

When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace, for I am Yours and You are mine. 

Certainly Peter rested in Jesus’ embrace, when Jesus lifted him out of the water. 

But these lines make other connections as well. ‘When oceans rise’, makes us think of global warming and the way the world’s oceans are literally rising due to the melting of glaciers and ice shelfs. Our world is anxious about the ecological crisis we are facing. As Christians though we find our security in God. We do what we can to stem the tide and we trust ourselves to God.   

My soul will rest in Your embrace reminds me of Psalm 131:2 which reads, 

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

Just as a mother holds a child in her tender embrace, so too God holds our soul in his embrace. 

Twice, in Psalm 131, David says his soul is like a weaned child. To be weaned is to become accustomed to managing without something which we were previously dependent on. For example, the child stops drinking its mother’s milk and starts eating solid food. It’s not that milk is bad – it is good for a time – but as the child grows it needs more substantial nourishment. A baby cries when it is hungry so the mother will feed it. A weaned child does not cry though because a weaned child knows it will be fed and waits for mum to prepare the meal. 

How does God feed the human soul? God feeds our soul with meaning. When something is meaningful it is worthwhile – it has a point to it, a purpose that is satisfying. Meaning answers the ‘why’ questions of life & death. Ultimately God is the one who gives meaning to our lives. The thing is, we often have to wait, in quiet trust, for that meaning to be revealed.  

We quieten our soul by abandoning outcomes to God. By not seeking to manipulate the end result. Embracing the truth that we don’t have all the answers, let alone the resources to make things turn out right. How will God deliver the world from global warming and Covid-19 and any other threat we may be anxious about? I don’t know. What I believe is that God can deliver us. The fact that Jesus walked on water demonstrates that he is Lord of creation. Nothing is too difficult for him. He won’t let the storm or the waves get out of control. Ultimately God is in charge. 

The chorus of the song Oceans includes the line, For I am Yours and You are mine. This means we belong to God, exclusively. As I said a couple of weeks ago, God is jealous for us. He will not share us with anyone or anything else. 

For I am Yours and You are mine, reminds me of the Song of Solomon 2:16, which reads: My beloved is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.

On the face of it, the Song of Solomon is a love poem describing the experience of young love, falling in love, romantic love between a man and a woman.  

Some Christians throughout history have interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory or parable for the church’s relationship with Jesus; where the church is the woman and Jesus is the bridegroom.

My beloved is mine and I am his; This is talking about an exclusive, close personal relationship with Jesus.

And, He browses among the lilies, is a metaphor which basically means he admires my beauty. 

Perhaps you don’t feel all that beautiful at the moment. Perhaps you’ve done things that make you feel ugly or gross. Perhaps other people have said and done things to you that make you feel worth less. Let me say this; you are not defined by how you feel about yourself. You are not defined by your mistakes. Nor are you defined by other people’s actions toward you. You are defined by God and you belong to Jesus. You are his beloved. When Jesus looks at you he is browsing among the lilies – he is admiring your beauty, in other words. He sees you, the real you, and he loves you. 

It is the power of God’s love for us, in Christ, which makes us feel safe enough to get out of the boat. 

Trust without borders:

The bridge of the song Oceans is a brave prayer. It reads…

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,
Let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me.
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour.

That phrase ‘trust without borders’ sounds like its borrowed from the organisation called Doctors Without Borders. As the name would suggest Doctors Without Borders is an international humanitarian agency that provides medical aid across national boundaries, irrespective of race or religion or political affiliation. It is a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) known for its work in conflict zones and other hard places that are not well resourced. 

Returning to the song. When we sing Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, we are saying something like: Spirit lead me out of my comfort zone. Help me to trust God in those extreme circumstances where things are unfamiliar and I’m over my head; where material resources are scarce and my normal supports are taken away.

It needs to be said that these are the sort of words you might sing from a place of confidence; a place of wanting to be challenged and looking for an adventure. If you are already in a place of crisis and feeling stretched beyond your own capacity, then you probably won’t want to sing these lines, as catchy as the tune is.  

That phrase trust without borders brings to mind the life and work of Jackie Pullinger. Jackie was born in England in 1944. She went to church as a child and was quite serious about God but didn’t really like him all that much. Then she had a personal encounter of God’s love which changed her life. After that she just wanted to share God’s love with others. 

At the age of 22 Jackie had a dream and a vision in which she sensed God was calling her to overseas mission. She applied to various mission organisations but none of them would accept her. So Jackie went to ask a vicar what she should do. I suppose this was a case of measure twice, cut once. The vicar said, ‘Get on a boat and ask God to show you where to get off’. That’s a bit like saying, ‘Let the Spirit lead you where your trust is without borders’. So that’s what she did. 

In 1966 Jackie left England and got as far as Hong Kong where she stepped out of the boat and into the unknown. She served the poor in miraculous ways, in what was once called ‘the walled city’. Gang members came to Christ and drug addicts were set free through the power of prayer. Jackie turns 76 this year and has never looked back. Her trust in Jesus is without borders. 

The Spirit of God also led the apostle Peter where his trust was without borders. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Peter and the other disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit is to be filled with the love and truth of God so that you can’t help but show and tell others about God’s love. 

In Acts 10 we read how the Spirit led Peter way outside his comfort zone. Peter had a vision in which God declared all kinds of animals and birds clean or kosher to eat. This vision was shocking to Peter. He was Jewish and the Law of Moses prohibited consumption of certain animals. At first Peter resisted the voice that was telling him to eat these forbidden foods. It seems he was measuring twice, or three times in fact, because he had the vision three times.  

God gave Peter this vision because he was preparing Peter to reach out beyond the borders of ethnic Israel to a Gentile by the name of Cornelius. The Jewish food laws had to be put aside if Jewish Christians were going to reach the Gentile world.   

As Peter was wondering what the vision meant, some men arrived. They came to invite Peter to Cornelius’ home. Normally Jews didn’t enter the house of Gentiles because it made them ceremonially unclean. But God had just shown Peter it was okay. So Peter stepped out of the boat of Jewish custom and went to Cornelius’ house. 

When Peter started telling Cornelius and his household about Jesus’ death and resurrection, …the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message. 45 The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God’s greatness. Peter spoke up: 47 “These people have received the Holy Spirit, just as we also did. Can anyone, then, stop them from being baptized with water?” 48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for a few days.  

Peter learned from his experience of walking on water with Jesus. He didn’t let his failure in faith define him. He didn’t remain reckless in his approach to discerning God’s will. Nor did he become so cautious that he was always weighing things up and never committing to a decision. 

When we sing, Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders we are not throwing all caution to the wind. In my experience, if God is going to ask you to step out of the boat and into a difficult place, where you have no choice but to rely on him, he usually provides good confirmation. Peter and Jackie both measured twice and cut once. So if you sense God calling you into something unknown then please measure twice. Pray and talk with a Godly person who you can trust and keep your eyes on Jesus. 

Conclusion:

In an interview with Premiere Christianity Magazine, just last year, Jackie Pullinger was asked: “Is there a particular message that’s on your heart for Christians? 

And Jackie replied, “My message is always the same; it’s how to get us sure enough of God’s love, so we can go out and share it with the lost. …to me it’s quite simple. Having tasted of his love all I want to do is share it until I die.” 

Although Jackie’s interview had nothing to do with the song Oceans, I think her theology (at this point) sums up the song quite well. Oceans expresses a desire to be so close to Jesus, so sure of God’s love, that we will trust him to go out and share his love with those who don’t yet know him. 

Of course, you don’t need to go to the other side of the world to share God’s love. God might be calling you to share his love with someone a lot closer to home. 

Let us pray…  

Lord Jesus Christ, be real for us we ask. Make us so sure of God’s love that we can’t help but share it with others. May we each know deep down, through the work of your Spirit, that I am yours and you are mine. Amen.  

Oceans

Verse 1

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep my faith will stand

Chorus

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Verse 2

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now

Bridge

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Saviour

Questions for discussion or reflection

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

How do you prefer to make decisions? Where did you place yourself on the scale from 1 to 10? Did others in your bubble agree with your self-assessment? Did you agree with their self-assessment? 

Has there been a time in your life when you sensed Jesus calling you out of the boat (metaphorically speaking) and into the unknown? How did you respond?  What happened?

How might we keep our eyes above the waves and on Jesus? (What practical things can we do?) 

In what sense is God like a mother to us? How does God feed your soul? 

What does Song of Solomon 2:16 mean for us? That is, ‘My beloved is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies’. 

What does it mean to sing, Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders? Why might we sing this? 

What is your experience of God’s love? Is there someone God is calling you to share his love with? How might you do this? 

Outtakes

Being filled with the Spirit is not something we just do once and that’s it. Being filled with the Spirit is something we need to go on doing, like drinking water.