Tawa Baptist

Worship

Scripture: Deuteronomy 12:1-7

Video Link: https://youtu.be/PRaDm5F3LH8

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Distinctive worship
  • Tangible worship
  • Joyful worship
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Preaching is a bit like serving tea. In any sermon you will normally have three ingredients. The text of Scripture, an explanation of the text and then hopefully application of the text. Text, Explanation, Application. T.E.A. spells tea.

Application is the practical part which connects the message to everyday life. The preacher usually gives some examples of how the text applies but ultimately it is up to the listeners to put God’s word into practice.     

The book of Deuteronomy, as a whole, can be thought of as three speeches by Moses to the people of Israel as they stood poised at the edge of the wilderness, about to enter the Promised Land.

Moses’ second (and largest) speech, in chapters 5-26, is shaped very much like a sermon with a text, an explanation and some application. The text Moses is preaching from is the ten commandments of Yahweh, found in chapter five.

In chapters 6-11 Moses explains or unpacks the meaning of Yahweh’s ten words. In a nutshell, the most important thing is love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. That’s the main point of the sermon, the lens through which the law is to be understood and life is to be lived.

Then, in chapters 12-26 of Deuteronomy, Moses outlines various ways in which loving God applies in everyday life. In other words, here are some laws and decrees (some practical things) you can do to demonstrate your love for God.   

Over the past three months I have been explaining the meaning of each of the ten commandments and how these apply for us today, in the light of Jesus’ teaching. This morning we continue our series in Deuteronomy by focusing on chapter 12, part of the application of Moses’ sermon.

In chapter 12 Moses gives some practical instructions about how the Israelites are to worship God once they enter the Promised Land. When it comes to worship, this is what loving God looks like. From Deuteronomy 12, verses 1-7 we read our text…

These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. 4 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.  5 But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; 6 there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

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

As I mentioned before, Deuteronomy 12 is mainly concerned with how loving God applies to worship.  Three things to keep in mind. Worship of Yahweh is to be distinctive, tangible and joyful. First, let’s consider the distinctive nature of Israel’s worship.

Distinctive worship:

After a war is finished, the land is often littered with unexploded mines, live artillery shells and booby traps. The retreating army leave a trail of destruction behind them. Before the civilian population can return and rebuild, the army engineers need to clear the ground of dangerous ordinances. 

If the image of cleaning up after a war seems a bit far removed from life in New Zealand, then imagine you have a wasps’ nest in your garden at home. You don’t tolerate the wasps. You get someone in to destroy their nest.

Likewise, if you have rats running around in your ceiling, you don’t fold your hands and do nothing. You exterminate the rats. And, if you have a poisonous plant (maybe a stinging nettle) growing in your garden, then you don’t leave it there. You kill the plant and remove it.

In verses 2-3 of Deuteronomy 12, Moses instructs the Israelites to destroy all the paraphernalia associated with Canaanite religion. God Almighty is completely different from the fake gods of the Canaanites. Yahweh does not want people thinking that he is in any way like these false gods. Therefore, the Israelites are to worship the Lord Almighty in a distinctive way.  

Although the gods of the Canaanites were not real, the way the Canaanites practiced their religion had very real and destructive consequences. In verse 31 of Deuteronomy 12 we read…

31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Destroying any visual reminders of Canaanite religion was like extracting unexploded land mines or getting rid of a wasps’ nest or exterminating rats or removing a stinging nettle. It was a basic health & safety requirement.

Rather than worshiping Yahweh anywhere they felt like, the Israelites were to gather at one central place for their rituals of worship. That place would be decided by God.

The Canaanites had many gods that they worshipped in many places. Israel had one God whom they worshipped in one place. Israel’s worship of Yahweh was distinctive in its oneness.

The place God chose for people to come and offer their ritual sacrifices moved. At one time the Tabernacle and the ark of the covenant was located in Shechem, then Bethel, then Shiloh and eventually a temple was built in Jerusalem.

Not that God’s presence was limited to that one place. Rather, the central place of worship acted like the hub of a wheel, holding the nation together.   

As Patrick Miller explains, the emphasis is upon the Lord’s choice. The central activity of Israel’s life, which is the worship of the Lord, is fully shaped and determined by the Lord. [1]   

The point is, for Israel’s worship to be distinctive it needs to be pleasing to God, first and foremost. We don’t worship to please ourselves. We worship to please God. We don’t act like Canaanites and do whatever we think is right in our own eyes. We do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord.

If someone invites you to their birthday party, you come at the time they say, to the place they are celebrating at and you bring a gift, something you know they will enjoy or at least find useful.

You don’t come too late or decide you are going to celebrate at a different venue. And you don’t come empty handed or with a gift you know they won’t enjoy. It’s their party, not yours. It’s about them, it’s not about you.  

How does this apply to us today? Well, a worship gathering is like God’s party. He is the host and we are his guests. Yes, we hope to have a good time at the party. But really it’s not about us. It’s about God and what he wants.

So, if there are some songs in the Sunday service you don’t like, you don’t get upset, because it’s not about your entertainment. You sing to the best of your ability. Or, if the prayers (and speeches) seem too long, you remember, it’s not about my convenience. We are here to celebrate God. Likewise, you don’t ignore the other guests at the party. You talk with them and you get along with each other for the honour and pleasure of the host.

Church is not a shopping mall. We don’t worship God for our own gratification or self-fulfillment. We worship God because he alone is worthy. If God meets us and makes us feel good while we are praising him, then that’s a bonus, a gift to treasure. It’s not an entitlement.

Earlier in the service we heard a reading from John 4, where Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman about worship. The woman says…

19 “Sir, …. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 Jesus replied, “…a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…  22 the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks…”

What Jesus is getting at here is that the one centre for true worship is no longer a place but a person. And Jesus, the Messiah, is that person. Jesus the Christ has made a new covenant with God for us. Therefore, Jesus is the one through whom we worship God.

As Jesus said, ‘where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them’. This means we worship best when we gather with other Christian believers. And the thing that is meant to make our worship distinctive is our love for one another in Christ.

Okay, so that’s the first thing; Israel’s worship was to be distinctive from the nations around them. They were not to conform to the pattern of this world. The second thing is that Israel’s worship was to be tangible. 

Tangible worship:

Virtual reality is a term we have become familiar with in recent years. Virtual reality is a computer generated simulation of a three dimensional image that can be interacted with in a seemingly real way.

Virtual reality is an oxymoron though, because it is not physically real, it is intangible. You can’t eat and be nourished by a virtual sandwich. And, if you hit your thumb with a virtual hammer, you won’t do any damage nor feel any pain.

Israel’s worship was not virtual reality; it was tangible reality, worship with real substance and real consequences. It was physical as well as mental and emotional. From verse 6 we read…

6 there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.  

The sacrifices and offerings listed in verse 6 are real tangible physical things. They mainly include animals and crops, produce of the land, things you could eat and drink. Israel’s worship was not virtual, it was tangible.  

Burnt offerings refer to sacrifices that were burnt whole as an offering to the Lord. The ancient Hebrew word for a whole burnt offering is holocaust, which took on a new meaning after world war two. 

Most of the other sacrifices and offerings listed in verse 6 could be shared with the Levites, the priests and the poor. So, it wasn’t like the lamb or the cow was completely destroyed every time. Often the meat or the grain or the wine was put to good use in feeding people.

The tithe was meant for sharing with those in need. A tithe is 10 percent of the year’s produce or harvest. In today’s terms it is 10% of your income. In ancient Hebrew thought, the tithe was like rent paid to God for use of the land. Sort of like a share-milker pays a percentage of their income to the farm owner.

The distinctive thing about the tithe though is that God (who is effectively the King and land owner) charges a relatively low rent. By comparison, a share-milker pays around 50% of their income to the land owner. The Lord only asks 10%

In fact, God is so generous he doesn’t keep the 10% rent for himself. He doesn’t need it. Instead the Lord God directs that the tithe owing to him be given to the poor and marginalized, including the Levites (who did not own any land because they were devoted to the Lord’s service).

These days we don’t sacrifice animals as part of our worship of God. Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross to atone for our sins fulfills the law and ends the need for animal sacrifice. Actually, Israel’s animal sacrifice in the context of worship, pointed to Jesus’ sacrifice.   

However, the end of animal sacrifice does not mean the end of tangible worship. As Christian believers, we still offer real, tangible, substantial sacrifices to God. Only the sacrifices we bring are not to atone for sin. They are an expression of our love for God.

When we come to church on a Sunday morning, we might be sacrificing a sleep in or time at the beach. That is tangible worship. When we sing songs in church we are offering a sacrifice of praise. That too is tangible worship, particularly if we don’t feel much like singing.

When we make automatic payments into the church’s bank account or put money in the offering bag; when we buy treats at the bake sale; when we give cash to World Vision or to mission work or the local food bank; we are sacrificing money and worshipping God in a tangible way.

When we volunteer to serve in the life of the church or to help a neighbour in need, we are offering our time, our talents and our energy (very real and tangible things) as an act of worship to God.

One of the most tangible ways we worship God is with our bodies. In Romans 12, Paul says: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  

We have a tendency to think of our bodies as our own to do with as we wish. But in Christian thought, one’s body is an instrument for God’s purpose.

When we take care of our bodies by maintaining good rhythms of sleeping, eating and exercise, then we are honouring God for the gift of our body in a very real and tangible way.

When we put our body to work in service to God; when we use our hands to help people and not harm them; when we use our tongues for kind words, not gossip; when we use our ears to listen with care; then we are offering our bodies in real tangible worship to the Lord.

Worshipping God with our bodies also means abstaining from those things that are harmful to us, like illegal drugs or too much alcohol or sleeping around. And for some that may feel like a real sacrifice.

The point is, worship is not just something we do on Sundays or on special occasions like Easter and Christmas. Tangible worship of God is a whole of life thing. As the prophet Micah famously said…

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humblywith your God.

Justice, mercy and humility are not abstract or ethereal things. They are real, tangible, down to earth actions which lend integrity to our profession of faith. 

Worship of the living God is to be distinctive, tangible and joyful.

Joyful worship:

Joy is not exactly the same as happiness. Happiness is a pleasant feeling that happens to you, almost at random. Like when a butterfly lands near you, or a baby smiles at you or your sports team has a win. Happiness is a quick energy that picks you up, then dumps you soon after. We can’t really manufacture or control the circumstances that precipitate happiness. 

But joy is more intentional than that, more purposeful, less random. Joy is low GI. Joy is a sustained, slow release kind of energy that comes from hope.    

Joy is the fruit of hope. If your hope is to be reunited with loved ones, then joy isn’t just the good feeling you get when that reunion happens. It is also the positive energy that comes from anticipating that reunion before it happens.

If your hope is to live in peace, with justice, then joy isn’t just the good feeling you get when the war ends. It is also the energy that enables you to keep pressing forward in battle and win the war.

If your hope is to reap a good harvest (and get a good return), then joy isn’t just seeing the crop in the barn (or the money in the bank). It is also the energy to do the mahi (the work), to plough the soil, sow the seed and water the crop.

If your hope is to be raised in glory with Jesus, then joy isn’t just seeing Christ return. It is also the energy to endure and be faithful in this life.

Joy is the fruit of hope.

In Deuteronomy 12, verse 7, we read: There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you. 

For ancient Israel, worship wasn’t just singing songs, saying prayers and listening to the sermon. It also involved staying for the shared lunch. Worship of Yahweh is meant to be a joyful celebration, a party which includes everyone.

Now, it would be fair to say that we don’t always feel like rejoicing when we come to church. The circumstances of our life may be difficult and putting on a happy face feels wrong. We just can’t fake it.

Well, you don’t have to fake it. You don’t have to pretend to be happy when something bad happens to you. You are allowed to grieve. If you can’t be honest with God, then it’s not a right relationship, much less a joyful one.

Joy is the fruit of hope and we only begin to hope when life is difficult. Usually the journey to joy requires us to pass through the valley of lament.

But even when you are in the valley, you can still look forward in hope to a time when God will wipe away every tear. You can rejoice in faith that life won’t always suck. Jesus is making all things new and he will redeem your loss in his way and his time.    

The joyful worship celebration envisioned by Moses, in Deuteronomy 12, is like a sign post pointing forward to the Messianic Banquet at the end of time, when those who love Jesus will be reunited with him in the greatest party the world has ever known.

Conclusion:

Many centuries after Moses, William Temple offered his vision of worship, which illuminates something of what Jesus meant when he talked about worshipping God in Spirit and in truth. William Temple writes…

Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.                     

Father God, help us to worship you in Spirit and in truth, we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Why does Moses insist that Israel worship the Lord their God in a distinctive way? In what ways was Israel’s worship meant to differ from Canaanite worship? In what ways is Christian worship today (meant to be) distinctive from the prevailing culture?
  • What do you think Jesus meant when he talked about worshipping in the Spirit and in truth (in John 4)?  What might this mean for us today?
  • Why do we no longer need to sacrifice animals as part of our worship of God? What tangible things do you do to worship God? How do you worship God with your body?
  • How does the ancient practice of tithing reveal the generosity of God?
  • Discuss / reflect on the difference between joy and happiness. Where does your joy come from? What is it you hope for?
  • Make some time this week to reflect on William Temple’s vision of worship, then spend time in adoration of God.   

[1] Patrick Miller, Interpretation commentary on Deuteronomy, pages 131-132. 

Tawa Baptist

Respectful Relationships

Scripture: John 4:5-26

Video Link: https://youtu.be/E2XyyjXWG1M

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Value not violence
  • Equality not entitlement
  • Honesty not humiliation
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been taking a closer look at some of the values of NZBMS, our Baptist Missionary Society. First we considered the core value of mutual humility, then last week the value of listening. Today we conclude the Renew Together campaign by exploring the value of respectful relationships.

Jesus modelled respectful relationships for us during his earthly ministry. With this in mind, the people at NZBMS have chosen the story of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, to help illustrate what a respectful relationship looks like. 

As I read John 4 I noticed three things in this regard. Respectful relationships are characterised by value not violence, by equality not entitlement and by honesty not humiliation. From John chapter 4, verse 4, we read…

4 Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

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

Value is at the heart of respect. Human beings are intrinsically valuable because God made us in his image. Each one of us is unique, one of a kind. Our lives are precious. Sadly, we have a tendency to forget both the value of others and our own value.

The Jews and Samaritans forgot. There was a terrible history between them. Violence, grudges and abuse were common between the two ethnicities. Around 722 BC the Assyrians invaded northern Israel and deported thousands of Jews, replacing them with settlers from Babylon, Syria and other nations.

These foreigners introduced pagan gods and intermarried with the Jewish people who remained. Their descendants became known as Samaritans. The southern Jews (the people of Judah) felt that the northern tribes had compromised their faith and their covenant with Yahweh and they hated the Samaritans for it.

In 128 BC the Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. Just over a century later, when Jesus was a toddler, a group of Samaritans dug up some Jewish bones, broke into the Jerusalem temple and scattered the bones in the holy of holies. In retaliation, the Jewish leaders enlisted the Romans to massacre Samaritans on Mount Gerizim.

In John 4, Jesus decided to leave Judea (in the south) and head home to Galilee (in the north). Rather than follow the normal Jewish route, which went out of the way to avoid Samaritan territory, Jesus took a more direct path through the heart of Samaria.

As he was waiting by a well outside the town of Sychar, a Samaritan woman came out to draw water from the well. It was pretty clear that something was amiss.

Normally women came out together (in groups) at the beginning and end of the day to avoid the heat. But this woman was on her own in the middle of the day. She was a social outcast. Nigella no mates. 

Jesus was thirsty and so he asked the woman for a drink. Jesus’ physical thirst here seems to mirror the woman’s spiritual thirst.

Now, to pretty much anyone of that time and culture, Jesus’ request would have seemed to be anything but respectful. The cultural expectation of that time was for Jesus to keep a reasonable distance and ignore the woman. Men were not supposed to talk to women they didn’t know and Jews were not supposed to interact with Samaritans. That was like consorting with the enemy.

Jesus knows this of course, but he is not satisfied with the status quo. Centuries of prejudice and violence has not worked and if what you are doing isn’t working, then more of the same isn’t going to help.

So Jesus tries something different. Jesus starts a conversation with this woman and in the process he shows us what a respectful relationship looks like. Jesus is physically thirsty and the woman is spiritually thirsty, so their mutual thirst provides some common ground for Jesus to start a conversation. 

Now, when we talk about having a conversation in the context of respectful relationships, we need to be clear about what we mean. To build and maintain respectful relationships the conversation needs to be non-violent.

Violence isn’t just physical; it can be verbal as well. People can say things that are unkind or untrue, they can make threats or use an angry tone in an attempt to try and gain control over the other person through fear.

We notice that Jesus does not use violence or intimidation in his conversation. To the contrary, Jesus makes himself vulnerable. By asking the woman for help, Jesus gives the woman a free choice, he gives her power and control in the situation.

She can choose to ignore him or she can choose to help him. If she helps him, Jesus will be in her debt. If she doesn’t help him, she can feel like she did not betray her own people by helping a Jew. Either way she wins.

The woman keeps her options open. She doesn’t give Jesus a drink but she doesn’t ignore him either. Clearly, she is not afraid of Jesus. She hasn’t run away, nor has she felt pressured to do what Jesus said. She is curious and enters into this conversation to find out more.

Understandably, she comes across as a bit defensive, pointing out the obvious differences between them. You are a Jewish man and I am a Samaritan woman. Aren’t you breaking an unspoken code here?

Equality, not entitlement:

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?

The woman still hasn’t given Jesus that drink he asked for, but Jesus does not press his request. There is no male privilege, no sense of entitlement from Jesus. He respects her decision and continues to treat the woman as an equal.

Equality, not entitlement, is one of the characteristics of a respectful relationship. Equality is about being fair and even handed in our dealings with others. Not thinking too highly of ourselves in relation to others. But at the same time not thinking too little of ourselves either.

Equality keeps the door open for people to redeem themselves when they mess up, because we all mess up at some point. We all need a second chance. Jesus held the door of equality open for this woman when no one else would.  

The ‘living water’ Jesus mentions is likely the Holy Spirit. Jesus is speaking in metaphors but the woman takes him literally. In verse 12 she tests Jesus by asking…

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

We see a little bit of a power play from the woman here. It’s like she is goading Jesus with an insult. A Samaritan woman naming Jacob as their common ancestor would probably aggravate most Jews who considered both Samaritans and women inferior and not worthy of claiming God’s promises through Jacob.

Jesus doesn’t take offence at her comment though. He keeps the door of the conversation open. Jesus doesn’t see any shame in being associated with a Samaritan woman. Jesus treats this woman with fairness, saying...

 13 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

That term, eternal life, needs some explanation. Most people, when they hear the phrase, ‘eternal life’, think in terms of time. They think immortality, eternity, life that goes on and on and on forever without end. 

But in the gospel of John eternal life is primarily a reference to a quality relationship with God. A relationship characterised by friendship and intimacy with God. Eternal life is abundant life, life with joy and meaning. Life that we don’t ever want to end.

The opposite of eternal life is loneliness, isolation, alienation, the hell of not being able to trust anyone. By offering this woman the gift of eternal life, Jesus is putting his finger on the deepest longing of this woman’s heart. She has no friends, no intimacy. She is an outcast, treated as unequal, at the bottom of the heap.

Jesus does not force the gift of living water on her, as if he is entitled to decide what is best for her. He holds the door of eternal life open for her. She is free to walk through or not.  

Honesty, not humiliation:

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

It seems she still doesn’t get Jesus’ meaning. She is still thinking literally. Either that, or she is being sarcastic and playing games. Either way, Jesus is determined to keep the relationship respectful. And a respectful relationship is an honest relationship. Things are about to get real…

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

We are not told the back story with these six relationships but it is pretty clear this woman has been through the mill. Whether she is a widow or a divorcee or an adulterer or all three, she is first and foremost a person and she has suffered. Jesus sees her loneliness and thirst and he cares for her. That care includes facing the facts honestly and with grace.   

Honesty is essential to respectful relationships. Honesty is the oxygen of trust. Honesty enables the relationship to breathe. However, our honesty must always be mixed with grace. Pure oxygen will kill you. Honesty is not a license to be cruel or malicious. If our motivation in being honest is to humiliate the other person then we will only end up suffocating trust.

Jesus does not call out the woman’s chequered past to humiliate her. Jesus is seeking to build trust by being honest about himself. Jesus is a prophet but the woman does not yet realise this. If Jesus doesn’t reveal who he is soon, the woman may feel blindsided later. Honesty enables the relationship to breathe.  

Joy Oladokun has a song called Breathe Again. The chorus goes like this…

Am I looking for revival? Am I dressed in others’ sin?

Hold my breath until I’m honest, will I ever breathe again?

Jesus was dressed in others’ sin. He took the blame for things that were not his fault. He was unfairly treated and prejudged. When people need somewhere to put their anger, they often dump it on God. 

This song also reminds me of the Samaritan woman. She may not be perfect but nor can she wear the blame for five husbands by herself. She is, to some extent, like Jesus; dressed in others’ sin.

Her relationship status on Facebook would read, “It’s complicated”. It is difficult for a woman in her position to be honest. When we can’t be honest it’s like we can’t breathe, it creates a pressure in us (like anxiety). And if you can’t be honest, then you can’t be yourself. And if you can’t be yourself, then how can you be in a respectful relationship?

By disclosing that he knew her past, Jesus actually released the woman. Now she was free to be herself with him at least. She didn’t need to pretend. She could be honest at last. She could breathe again.

But honesty is not without risk. Jesus’ insight is cutting a bit close to the bone. The woman doesn’t want to talk about her failed relationships and changes the subject to religion and politics, because for some strange reason that feels safer.

19 “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

We New Zealanders don’t like to talk about religion and politics. A respectful relationship for us is one in which conversations about God and government are put aside in favour of talking about the weather and the rugby. But to not talk about what we believe is to not be entirely honest.

Jesus respects the woman’s wish to not talk about her failed marriages but he is still honest in saying what he believes about God…

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

In these verses Jesus is talking about worship and what a respectful relationship with God looks like. With the coming of Jesus, the centuries old feud between Jews and Samaritans over where God should be worshipped is a moot point. It is no longer relevant. All that bloodshed and animosity between the two ethnic groups was pointless.

Jesus replaces the temple building. Through faith in Jesus, God can be worshipped anywhere. What matters now is not where God is worshipped but the Spirit in which God is worshipped. 

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus is pretty guarded about his identity. He reveals who he is to his disciples but he doesn’t put himself out there with the crowds or the religious leaders.

Jesus’ honesty in disclosing that he is the Messiah, shows tremendous respect for the Samaritan woman. And the woman does not disappoint Jesus’ trust. She shows him the respect of believing in him and sharing the good news with her neighbours.

Jesus accepts the Samaritans’ offer of hospitality without anxiety of being contaminated by their Samaritan-ness. God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.

Conclusion:

Respectful relationships are characterised by value not violence, by equality not entitlement and by honesty not humiliation.  So how does this relate to us today?

Well, with so much blood being spilled in the name of God and religion, respectful relationships are needed more than ever between people of different faiths.

In about 30-40 years’ time it is predicted that 64% of the world’s population will be either Christian or Muslim. That means the way Christians and Muslims relate with each is going to have a significant impact on the world. You don’t want two thirds of the world at each other’s throats.

Maintaining respectful relationships with those who are different from us is essential to gospel renewal.

Thinking of your own personal relationships…

Who is it you often find yourself at odds with?

Maybe someone at work or school?

Maybe someone at home or church?

How might that relationship become more respectful?

Now, after hearing how Jesus built a respectful relationship with the Samaritan woman you might think, ‘That’s what I need to do too’. I need to be like Jesus. I need to make myself vulnerable, try and find some common ground, start a conversation, be honest and so on.

Well, maybe. But you also need to exercise wisdom. You can only build a respectful relationship with someone who is willing to be respectful in return. As I said at the beginning, a respectful conversation is a non-violent conversation.  

If the person you are at odds with is abusive, with no interest in a respectful relationship, then making yourself vulnerable with them probably isn’t a smart move. You have to have some respect for yourself as well.

Like Jesus said, “Don’t throw your pearls before swine”. In other words, be discerning. Jesus didn’t tell everyone he was the Messiah. He wasn’t vulnerable with every person he met.

But Jesus did see the value in others and he resisted the urge to violence.

Jesus was fair, he treated people with equality.

And Jesus was always honest, finding that perfect mix of grace & truth.

With the help of Jesus’ Spirit, we can aim for that as well.     

Grace and peace to you on the journey.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Why is respect important in relationships?
  • What is respect? The sermon mentions three characteristics of respectful relationships (i.e. value, equality and honesty). Can you think of any other characteristics?
  • What makes a person valuable? How might we value others?
  • What do we mean by equality? Can you think of an example of equality in your own experience? 
  • Why did Jesus disclose to the woman that he knew about her past? Why do we need to be honest in our relationships with others? What does honesty do?
  • Are your relationships respectful? If not, what needs to change for them to become more respectful? Ask Jesus’ help and guidance with this.  
Tawa Baptist

Joy

Scripture: Isaiah 12

Video Link:  https://youtu.be/KGIJF20p74w

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The joy of God’s salvation – personal acceptance
  • The joy of God’s presence – public celebration
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Kai ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Today, because it is the third Sunday in Advent, our message focuses on joy. Joy is a positive energy, one which usually gives us a pleasant feeling and inevitably finds expression in our words and actions.

Isaiah chapter 12 has some things to say about joy. In particular joy is the product of God’s salvation and presence. From verse 1, of Isaiah 12, we read…   

In that day you will say: “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation.” 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

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

These verses from Isaiah 12 fit neatly into two parts. The prophet quite conveniently introduces each of the two parts with the phrase, In that day you will say, (Isaiah uses this sentence in verse 1 and then repeats it in verse 4). 

This tells us Isaiah is picturing some day in the distant future. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, first the judgement, then the hope. First the demolition of Israel, then the rebuild. First the invasion by Assyria, then the restoration by Yahweh. First the grief, then the joy.

As I see it, verses 1-3 are about the joy of God’s salvation, which calls for personal acceptance.  

While verses 4-6 are about the joy of God’s presence, which calls for public celebration.

The joy of God’s salvation – personal acceptance:

In the ancient world most people could not read or write. Communication was largely by the spoken word, rather than the written word. It was an oral culture.

This meant people had to be good listeners and good at remembering. It also meant if someone wanted to make their message clear they had to repeat key words. Repetition was like highlighting or underlining what you wanted to say.  

When we look at the first three verses of Isaiah 12 we see quite clearly the word salvation repeated three times. We also notice the words comforted, defence and strength, which all describe different aspects of God’s salvation.   

The other thing we notice is the high frequency of singular personal pronouns like I, me and my.

You have comforted me. God is my strength, my defence, my salvation.

To someone in the ancient world, the first half of Isaiah 12 is talking about God’s salvation in a very personal way. You can hardly miss it.

So what is this salvation that Isaiah is at pains to highlight?

Well, salvation denotes an act of deliverance, like when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt or when Jesus delivered the disciples from a storm on the lake.

God’s salvation is a vehicle. It is that which takes a person from a bad state of being to a good state of being. Salvation, then, is God’s means of transport.

There’s a funny line in the movie, Kung Fu Panda, where Panda finds himself at the bottom of a mountain and he says, ‘My old enemy, stairs’. Salvation for Panda, in that instance, would be an elevator. Something that would transport him to the top of the mountain easily.

Or, if you happen to find yourself in a burning plane, then salvation is a parachute. The parachute transports you safely out of a bad situation.

And of course, there is the famous salvation of Star Trek. Whenever Captain Kirk found himself in trouble on an alien planet he simply said, ‘Beam me up Scotty’, and in seconds he was transported to the safety of his ship.

You may sometimes hear Christians using the word rapture. Perhaps you have had that panicky feeling when you find yourself alone, with no one else around, and you start to wonder, ‘has everyone been raptured and I’ve been left behind’.

The word rapture has two meanings. Rapture means intense joy and it also means transport. Rapture, in a Christian understanding, is the idea that Jesus will one day transport us to where he (and God) are. This is cause for great joy. To be raptured is our salvation, our ‘beam me up Lord’ moment.   

The name Isaiah actually means Yahweh is salvation.[1]God’s salvation, his means of transport from a bad situation to a good situation is multifaceted. God’s ride comes in many different forms.

 As verse 1 (of Isaiah 12) makes plain, the salvation in view is the removal of God’s anger. God had been angry with Israel because of their immoral behaviour. But God’s anger does not last forever. His anger is not divorced from his care. God comes to Israel’s rescue. His salvation will eventually transport the people from a state of wrath to a state of comfort.    

For the Jewish exiles, reading Isaiah’s prophecy in a foreign land, salvation meant being transported out of exile back to Zion, to Jerusalem their homeland.

What does God’s salvation mean for you, personally? What sticky, unpleasant, perhaps painful situation, do you find yourself in? What transport do you need right now?

Do you feel guilty because of something bad you’ve done? Or ashamed because of something good you haven’t done? Then the vehicle of salvation you need is forgiveness and redemption.  

Do you feel hurt or angry because of some injustice or loss you have suffered? Then the vehicle of salvation you need is vindication and restoration.

Do you feel alone in a crowd, misunderstood, a stranger and out of place? Then the vehicle of salvation you need is friendship and intimacy.

Whatever your situation, the Lord knows it and he sees your heart. He understands perfectly the transport you need.

One thing I would say about God’s salvation: we don’t decide what form the transport will take. It might be a Mercedes Benz or it might be a skate board. Either way, our job is to accept God’s vehicle of salvation however he chooses to provide it.    

In verse 2 we read: Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.

The key to accepting God’s salvation is trust. The trust that is meant here is practical not just theoretical. Trust doesn’t just say, ‘the train exists’. Trust gets on the train and allows the train to transport you. Trust believes that you will reach your destination, even though the train may go through some pretty long and dark tunnels at times.

Trust doesn’t just say, ‘God exists’. Trust holds on to Jesus and walks with him, day by day. Trust accepts the fact that Jesus will bring you home to God, even though you can’t physically see Jesus or always feel his presence. 

Verse 3 gives us a wonderful metaphor: With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In the ancient middle east, people didn’t have running water coming out of a tap in their kitchen. They couldn’t jump in the shower to get clean or flush a toilet.

In the ancient world, people had to go to a communal well, a hole in the ground, and draw water out with a bucket. It was time consuming, physically demanding and a bit of a chore. Not really enjoyable. But people still did it because of necessity. You can’t live very long without water.      

Verse 3 says that this mundane, labourious task will be done with joy. You are going to have energy for it. You are going to want to do it. Why? Because you are thirsty and the water of God’s salvation is good, the best you will ever taste. Salvation then is something we are drawn to by our need.

The image of wells of salvation, suggests that salvation is something we imbibe. It is something we take into ourselves. Something that is life giving. Something that sustains us and our transport.

Pilgrims travelling through the wilderness might ride a camel or a donkey or a horse. Or at least they would have an animal to carry all their stuff. At strategic points along the way they would stop at a well to let their animals drink. Sort of like we might stop to fill up our car at a petrol station.

The implication here seems to be that God’s salvation involves a journey.                              

Earlier in the service we read a passage from John 4 (in the New Testament) where Jesus had a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well.

The Samaritans came about as a consequence of the Assyrian invasion that Isaiah had predicted. The Jews of that area intermarried with the Gentiles and a new race came into being. The Samaritans were sort of half Jew, half Gentile.

Historically Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But Jesus tried to find some common ground. Jesus makes himself vulnerable and asks this Samaritan woman for some water from the well.

The woman doesn’t realise that Jesus is the primary well of God’s salvation. The water Jesus has to offer is the Holy Spirit. For those who believe, Jesus and his Spirit are the means of transport home to God.

Joy is the product of God’s salvation and presence. The joy of God’s salvation calls for personal acceptance, while the joy of God’s presence calls for public celebration.      

The joy of God’s presence – public celebration:

In his book, A Different Drum, Scott Peck tells the story of a monastery that had fallen on hard times. Over the years its ranks had dwindled until there were only five monks left.

In the woods near the monastery was a small hut where the Rabbi, from the local town, would sometimes go for retreat. The Abbot went to visit the Rabbi to see if he had any advice to save the monastery.

“I know how it is”, said the Rabbi. “The spirit has gone out of the people. Very few come to the synagogue anymore. The old Rabbi and the old Abbot sat in silence for a while, feeling the weight of the years, then spoke quietly of deep things.

When the time came for the Abbot to leave, they embraced and he asked the Rabbi, “Have you any advice that might save the monastery?”

The Rabbi answered, “No, I’m sorry. The only thing I can say is that the Messiah is among you.”

When the other monks heard the Rabbi’s words, they wondered what this could mean. “The Messiah is among us, here at the monastery? Do you suppose he meant the Abbot? Of course, he has been the leader for so long. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Thomas is so kind. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elrod because he is often grumpy. But then again, Brother Elrod is also very wise.”

As they contemplated in this way, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect, on the off chance one of them might be the Messiah. They also thought about themselves differently.

Every human person carries the dignity of being made in God’s image. And every Christian believer carries the Spirit of the Messiah.    

Because the monastery was on the edge of a beautiful forest, people occasionally came to have a look. They sensed the extraordinary respect and love between the five aging monks. The Spirit of the Messiah was indeed among them, in the way they related with each other.   

Visitors became more frequent and stayed to talk with the monks. There was a real peace in the atmosphere. The brothers’ simple joy, the positive energy people felt just by being with the monks, was contagious. After a while one young man asked if he could join and then another and another. Within a few years the monastery became a thriving order once again.

Verse 6 talks about the joy of God’s presence, where it describes the Holy One of Israel being among you.

Isaiah is looking forward to that time in the future when the Lord God will walk among his people again, like God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Before that could happen though, the people would feel the pain of God’s absence.

In the gospel of John, chapter 1:14, we read how Jesus fulfilled this prophecy of Isaiah. The apostle writes: The Word [that is, Jesus] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

After Jesus had completed his work on earth he ascended to heaven and sent his Holy Spirit to be present with his church on earth. While we do not see Jesus physically in the present, we have the words of Jesus who said: ‘wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them’. The Lord also said, ‘By your love for one another will all people know you are my disciples.’

And so, the Messiah is among us now, by his Spirit.

But wait, there’s more. The Christian belief is that one day, when Jesus returns in glory to establish heaven on earth, the Lord will again dwell among us in person. In Revelation 21, the second to last chapter in the Bible, we read…

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Isaiah foresaw a time, at the fulfilment of human history, when God would live with his people. A time of great joy. Not just an inner feeling of personal joy or contentment but a public celebration of communal joy.

Verses 4-5 of Isaiah talk about the public celebration that is called for with the joy of God’s presence on earth…

4 In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.

In that day it won’t be just the thought that the Messiah is among us. We will actually see Jesus face to face.

Conclusion:

That day has not been realised in its fullness yet. Joy is the product of God’s salvation and presence. Isaiah 12 is big picture stuff. It gives a long range, Hubble telescope, view of the future.

In the meantime, what can we do to put ourselves in the path of joy…

We can take one day off in seven, a Sabbath day to rest and to renew our perspective through worship. We can also maintain regular patterns of sleep and not leave it too long between holidays.

We can make good moral decisions, choosing a lifestyle that is in line with our values. We can think about the needs of others and find ways to show kindness, without embarrassing people or leaving them in our debt.

We can carve out time for simple pleasures like losing ourselves in a good book or hanging out with friends or spending time in our garden or going for a walk. Whatever it is that helps you to let go of the pressures and worries of life.   

Probably the most important thing to remember though, is that we cannot expect to feel joyful or happy all the time. It is completely normal to feel sad sometimes or angry or tired.

Some of you may have become Christians under the false expectation that, in order to be a good witness, you must always be up, always smiling, always positive, always playing the glad game. Nothing will empty you of joy quicker than pretending to be something you’re not. If the psalms teach us anything it is to be honest with ourselves and with God.     

My sense is that many people in our community are feeling quite weary at present. I imagine some here don’t feel much like celebrating this Christmas. Joy may seem a long way off. But the truth is, Jesus could return for our rapture at any moment. Things can change very quickly.

Let us pray…

Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, you are the source of our joy. Thank you for your salvation and your presence among us. Give us eyes to see the transport you provide and hearts to trust you, even in the darkness. Renew our strength and lead us in the path of peace, for your name’s sake we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What is your experience of joy?
  • What is God’s salvation? Have you experienced God’s transport from a bad state of being to a good state of being? What happened? How did you feel? How did you accept God’s vehicle of salvation in that situation?
  • Discuss/reflect on the metaphor, wells of salvation. What are the implications for us?
  • How is the presence of the Messiah made real among us today? Can you think of a moment or a relationship in which Jesus has been real for you recently?
  • What can you do (practically) to put yourself in the path of joy? 
  • Take some time this week to bring to mind the things you are thankful for. Do something to celebrate (with others) the things that have gone well.

[1] Refer John Goldingay’s NIBC on Isaiah, page 89.

Tawa Baptist

Greater Than I

Scriptures: Matthew 20:20-28, Luke 4:18, Philippians 2:5-8, John 4, John 21:5

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The origin
  • The content
  • Conclusion

Following are lyrics to the song:

You set the world into motion
Slavery unbound in each corner of the earth
A way of life to live by
That we won’t forget

You humbled yourself for us,
Status no longer important,
You’ve showed us how to live
Oh we’re grateful, oh we’re grateful

The woman at the well,
You showed her mercy,
You showed us how to love the broken
The blind man on the street,
You showed him kindness, you showed forgiveness
To make us see

Jesus, you’re more than we know,
So teach us how to be, in this broken world
Jesus, you’re a whisper in the wind, you’re the roar of lions
You’re our Prince of Peace

Introduction:

On the wall here is a picture of a mosaic

  • A mosaic artist takes pieces of broken ceramics and arranges them in a pattern to make a meaningful image
  • There is a certain poetry of redemption in putting together broken tiles and making something beautiful out of them

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 “Greater Than I”, written by our very own Peter Sim

  • The lyrics of Greater Than I are like a mosaic – they draw together a variety of fragments of Scripture to form a meaningful picture of Christ
  • Before we look at the song though let’s consider its author

The origin:

For those who don’t know, this is Peter Sim

  • Peter was born in October 1995, which means he is now 24
  • He grew up in Tawa, attending Redwood Primary school, then Tawa Intermediate and Tawa College
  • After College, Peter studied at Victoria University gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Education before completing his Masters of Teaching. Peter is now in his third year teaching at Churton Park School

As a child Peter attended The Tawa New Life church and the Tawa Anglican church with his family

  • Then, as a teenager, Peter started coming to the Tawa Baptist youth group and became involved in the music team here
  • Peter describes his coming to faith in Jesus as a gradual process, with him taking more ownership in his teenage years
  • Peter was baptised here in this church on the 17th June 2012, nearly eight years ago now

Peter wrote the song Greater Than I in 2016 and we started singing it as part of our Sunday worship the same year. So Peter was around 20 or 21 at the time    

  • Peter used to be in a band called ‘Until Autumn’ and has written other pieces of music too – the song Author of my soul is one of Peter’s

A couple of weeks ago when I was talking with Peter about this he said,

  • ‘Music transcends language and other barriers. [Even if you don’t speak Spanish] you can listen to a Spanish song and still enjoy it. But you probably won’t enjoy listening to a Spanish audio book’.    
  • The idea that music transcends language and other barriers resonates with me. I think that music has a spiritual aspect to it which touches our soul, whether the music is religious or not.

Peter tells me he penned the words for his song after reading a book by John Ortberg called ‘Who is this man?’

  • John Ortberg is the Senior Pastor of a Presbyterian church in California
  • His book, ‘Who is this man?’, sets out some key principles of who Jesus is in easy to read English with real world application. 

After reading ‘Who is this man?’ it only took Peter four minutes to write the lyrics to his song, while the music came in just two hours the following day

  • The song writing process doesn’t normally happen that rapidly
  • The quickness of the song’s composition suggests a connection with the wisdom of the subconscious
  • It is also an example of how we find the meaning in the rear vision mirror, by looking back and reflecting on our experience
  • Often in life meaning comes after the fact
  • We have an experience, we react to that experience and then later we glean meaning from the experience by reflecting on our reaction to it     
  • This, it seems, was the case for Peter in writing this particular song
  • He read a book, reacted to it by writing a song and then found meaning in the song by reflecting on the words later.

The title, Greater Than I, doesn’t appear in the body of the lyrics.

  • When I asked Peter about the title he said it came after hearing someone say, ‘modern worship songs always seem to be about I and me.’ Worship songs should be about lifting up God and focusing on who Jesus is   

The content:

With this in view the song begins (and is punctuated throughout) with second person pronouns for God and Jesus

  • You humbled yourself for us
  • You showed her mercy
  • You showed forgiveness, and so on

Verse 1 reads…

You set the world into motion
Slavery unbound in each corner of the earth
A way of life to live by that we won’t forget.

This verse, like the others that follow, is a mosaic of Biblical ideas

  • Each line opens a different door on Scripture and faith’s experience 
  • ‘You set the world into motion’ is a reference to God’s creation of the cosmos in the opening chapters of Genesis
  • Now it is important not to misunderstand this line
  • There is a belief among some people in history that God created the world but then stepped back and no longer intervenes
  • Sort of like a divine clock maker – he made the world, wound it up and walked away to let it tick by on its own
  • This belief is called ‘deism’ – it is not a Christian belief
  • Peter is not saying God set the world in motion and then walked away
  • As the rest of the song makes clear, God set the world in motion and has stayed present and involved in his world ever since.
  • God loves his creation and has not turned his back on it.

‘You set the world into motion’ is an affirmation that we are not here by accident. We are here because God intended us to be here so there is meaning and purpose in our existence  

  • Interestingly the phrase ‘world in motion’ suggests a dynamic view of creation – a world which is not settled or complete but still evolving, still changing, still being brought to its full purpose by God
  • This view fits with the meta-narrative of the Bible and our experience.

Slavery unbound in each corner of the earth is another piece of the mosaic, not the same as the reference to creation but still connected to it

  • I asked Peter if this line about slavery referred to institutional slavery and people trafficking, which is still very much alive in each corner of the earth and he said, ‘No. It’s about the things that bind us personally’
  • In Luke 4, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah saying,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

There are lots of things that may enslave us personally; our fears, our sins, our past, our prejudices, and so on. Jesus came to set people free from these things

Each corner of the earth speaks of the universal reach of the gospel

  • Jesus isn’t just for the Jews, he is for all the peoples of the earth
  • In the Book of Acts, the risen Jesus says to his disciples…

“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Returning to Peter’s song, the line ‘A way of life to live by that we won’t forget’ reminds us that the Christian faith isn’t just a nice idea or an interesting philosophy. It’s not an academic thing in our head – Christianity is a lifestyle

  • Following Jesus should touch and shape every part of our life
  • In John 14 Jesus says: ‘I am the way the truth and the life’.
  • The church of the first Century understood this. Because of their distinctive way of living, early Christians were known as ‘people of the way’

The way of Christ is meek and gentle, not rough or violent

  • The way of Christ is gracious and truthful, it does not shame or manipulate
  • The way of Christ embraces weakness and vulnerability, but turns away from proud thoughts and puts no confidence in human achievement
  • The way of Christ turns the other cheek and forgives
  • The way of Christ is the way of the cross
  • There is a part of us that doesn’t like the way of Christ – that resists it
  • The way of Christ can be difficult and painful, inconvenient and frustrating, confusing and humiliating
  • And yet we stick to it because, in the long run, we believe it leads to peace

In his book ‘Who is this man?’ John Ortberg writes about the way of Jesus…

  • “His life and teaching simply drew people to follow him. He made history by starting in a humble place, in a spirit of love and acceptance, and allowing each person space to respond.”

Verse two of the song…

You humbled yourself for us, status no longer important,
You’ve showed us how to live. Oh we’re grateful, oh we’re grateful

The origin of this verse is found in Paul’s hymn in Philippians 2…

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very natureof 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!

Verse 2 of the song talks about ‘status no longer [being] important’

  • In Matthew 20, after Jesus has just predicted his death for the third time, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked him for a favour
  • She said, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.”
  • This request is about status and it strikes us as a bit insensitive in light of Jesus having just said that he will soon be crucified
  • Jesus replied to James and John, “You don’t know what you are asking”
  • When the other ten disciples heard about this they became angry with the two brothers. So Jesus called them all together and said…
  • “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be your slave – like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”
  • As the Mandalorian would say, ‘this is the way’.

Jesus undoes our notions of social value and status    

  • Our status, in the sense of our place on the greasy pole, doesn’t matter because we get our identity from God, or more specifically from Christ
  • So, for example, when the apostle Paul was thrown into prison for preaching the gospel it didn’t matter (he could be joyful) because his identity, his status, his worth was secure in Jesus.         

On the wall here is a picture of a painting by Claude Monet

  • Monet painted this in the 1870’s – it is called ‘Sunrise’
  • Monet is famous as one of the founders of the French Impressionist movement
  • Impressionism is characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and colour.
  • Or said another way, impressionism is a literary or artistic style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction. (Impressionism is more subjective than objective)
  • So this painting by Monet is not necessarily an accurate depiction of the sunrise over a harbour in France
  • Rather it is a depiction of how Monet experienced or perceived that particular sunrise on that particular day
  • If he painted the same scene on a different day, it would look slightly different because the light would be different and his perception also.

The lyrics of many of the more contemporary worship songs we sing in church these days are written in the style of impressionism

  • So what we get is an expression of how the writer of that song saw the light of Christ (or perceived God) at the time they wrote it
  • Sometimes their impression of God resonates with our experience and other times it doesn’t
  • If the words don’t happen to harmonize with our own subjective impression of God, then it doesn’t make the song any less true
  • It just means we see God and the world differently from the author because our experience in life has been different from theirs.
  • None of us have a monopoly on God.
  • Much of Peter’s song needs to be understood as impressionism
  • I don’t think Peter sat down with the intention of writing in the style of impressionism, it just happened to turn out that way.

For example…

The woman at the well, you showed her mercy,
You showed us how to love the broken.

‘The woman at the well’ clearly refers to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4

  • And, back in 2016, it gave Peter the impression of Jesus being someone who shows mercy and love to broken people
  • If Peter were to revisit this gospel story in 2036 he might get a slightly different impression of Jesus because by that stage he would have had another 20 years’ experience to reshape his perception and feelings
  • Our impression of God is not usually static – it is dynamic, changing 

For those not familiar with the story in John 4, Jesus is travelling by foot through the land of Samaria

  • It is around noon and he is tired and thirsty after walking all morning
  • His disciples have gone into town to buy some food while Jesus rests beside the well
  • As he is sitting there a Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water
  • This is strange. Normally women came in the morning to draw water, when it was cooler, to avoid the heat of the day  
  • It appears this woman is not on good terms with her neighbours because she comes to the well at a time which avoids the other women

Jesus doesn’t have the means to draw water out of the well and because he is thirsty he asks the woman for a drink which, in that culture, is weird

  • Firstly, men didn’t speak to women in public – it just wasn’t proper
  • Secondly, Jesus was a Jew and, historically, Jews and Samaritans hated each other

The Samaritan woman can see that Jesus is a Jew by the clothes he is wearing and she says to Jesus, ‘How can you ask me for a drink?’

  • (You Jews won’t even use the same cups and bowls as us Samaritans)
  • But Jesus doesn’t let the conversation end there – he keeps it going, telling the woman the truth about himself, about herself and about God 
  • The truth about Jesus is that he is the spring of eternal life – he offers the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit
  • The truth about the woman is that her life and relationships are a mess – she has been married five times and the man she lives with now is not her husband
  • And the truth about God is that he is Spirit and can only be worshipped by the power of his Spirit.

All this truth telling made such a good impression on this woman that she went back to her village telling people about Jesus

  • The people begged Jesus to stay and Jesus graciously received their hospitality for two days, something other Jews would never do

Jesus shows us how to love the broken (like the Samaritan woman)

  • Jesus did not come in a show of strength, he came in weakness and need, feeling thirsty and tired
  • Jesus loved people (he built trust) by speaking the truth, giving people space to respond and receiving their help in the form of hospitality

The next couple of lines of the song give us Peter’s impression of Jesus after Jesus healed… The blind man on the street, you showed him kindness, You showed forgiveness to make us see.

There are a number of accounts, in the gospels, of Jesus healing the blind – for example, Bartimaeus in Mark 10 or the man born blind in John 9

  • Whichever version you look at, those who are physically blind appear to have more spiritual sight than the religious leaders
  • The punch line seems to be: Jesus helps us see God and he helps us to see how to be human, for we human beings are made in the image of God 
  • Kindness and forgiveness are divine attributes. When we show kindness and forgiveness we reflect the image of God.

And so we come to the bridge of the song…

Jesus, you’re more than we know,
So teach us how to be, in this broken world
Jesus, you’re a whisper in the wind, you’re the roar of lions
You’re our Prince of Peace

These words are essentially an expression of heart felt adoration to God

  • There is more to Jesus than we know
  • The apostle John finishes his gospel by saying this…
  • Now there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.
  • I like the fact that Jesus cannot be contained by the human mind
  • I like that there is still more to discover about God
  • I like the mystery (the cloud of unknowing) that shrouds God
  • As the title of the song says, [God is] Greater Than I, which means he is more than we know

So teach us how to be, in this broken world

  • Jesus is our teacher; we are his disciples (his students)
  • We are learning how to ‘be’
  • As disciples of Christ we are not learning how to do – we are not learning a skill – we are learning how to be
  • Being is about the whole person and it’s about our character
  • As disciples of Jesus we are learning how to be like Jesus – to have his character        

And we are learning these things in this broken world, a world that God loves.

  • Now, it’s not that the world is completely broken beyond repair
  • It’s not broken like a glass shattered on the floor
  • There is still much beauty and goodness in the world; but at the same time there is something not right with the system or the way we live
  • History is scarred with war and oppression and misery
  • Even today it seems we can’t participate in society without colluding with injustice
  • We buy food or clothes and we don’t know where they come from or who may have suffered in making them cheap for us
  • Then there is the harm we do to the environment – all the plastic we dump and all the glaciers we melt
  • We are not willing participants with this injustice (often times we are not even aware of it) but still the way we organise or manage ourselves in this world is broken   
  • We need Jesus to teach us how to be in the world in a way that glorifies God, blesses other people and takes care of the environment.

The song finishes with three images of Jesus…

Jesus, you’re a whisper in the wind, you’re the roar of lions,
You’re our Prince of Peace.

When I asked Peter about this he said: small voice, big voice, sense of peace

  • Sometimes we hear Jesus (like Elijah heard Yahweh) as a still small voice
  • Other times Jesus roars loudly, like the lion of Judah
  • Always we are guided by his peace

It occurs to me the three things each of these images share in common is power

  • The wind is a powerful force of nature, just as a lion is powerful in the animal kingdom and a prince holds royal power in the human realm
  • Jesus isn’t just Lord of humanity – he is Lord over all of God’s creation.

Conclusion:

There’s more I could say about the words of this song – it is so rich – but that’s enough for today.

  • Peter, thank-you for sharing your song with us and for letting me preach on it this morning
  • Some of the things I’ve said are my impression of the meaning and not necessarily what you were thinking of when you wrote it
  • But that’s the beauty of poetry – it has a life of its own and speaks to each person’s heart as their experience allows and as the Spirit leads.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to the song, ‘Greater Than I’.  (See the link at the top of these sermon notes.) What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does it evoke for you?) 
  2. What is deism and how does it differ from Christian belief?
  3. What sorts of things bind you personally? Can you think of a time when Jesus set you free in some way? What happened?
  4. What are some of the things that characterise the way of Christ? How do you experience walking in the way of Christ?
  5. What impression do you get from reading the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4? What does Jesus’ example (in John 4) show us about loving the broken?  
  6. In what sense is the world broken?
  7. Discuss / reflect on the three images of Jesus at the end of the song: ‘a whisper in the wind, the roar of lions and our Prince of peace’. Which of these images resonates best with your experience? What other images would you suggest for Jesus?