Tawa Baptist

Steering Wheel Prayer

Scripture: Luke 18:1-14

Video Link: https://youtu.be/FTbBKTCQdT0

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The persistent widow
  • The pharisee and the tax collector
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Corrie Ten Boom asks the question, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?”

A steering wheel is what we use to control the car. A steering wheel keeps us on course and headed in the right direction. When you are driving, you never take your hands off the steering wheel.

By contrast, a spare tyre is only ever used in emergencies. The rest of the time it is forgotten baggage.

Prayer is how we steer our life. Are we in conversation with God, daily seeking his will, or do we only ever call on God in emergencies?

As mentioned earlier in the service, we have a focus on prayer this week while we carry the Pou Karakia (the prayer baton). With this in view our sermon today is based on Jesus’ twin parables about prayer, in Luke 18.

We will start with the parable of the persistent widow, before considering the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector. From Luke 18, verse 1, we read…  

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?

The persistent widow

The Chinese pianist and composer, Liu Shikun, was born in 1939, just before the second world war. He began his piano training at the age of three and started performing in public at the age of five.

He placed highly in prestigious international piano competitions in 1956 and 1958, while still a teenager. Liu became one of China’s top concert performers. Sadly, with the cultural revolution in 1966, western music was banned and Liu, along with many other artists, was arrested and sent to prison for eight years.

During his whole time in prison, Liu was denied access to a piano. Soon after his release though, in the 1970’s, he was back on tour. Critics were astonished that after eight years without a piano, Liu’s musicianship was better than ever.

‘How did you do this?’ one critic asked. ‘You had no chance to practise for eight years.’

‘I did practise’, Liu replied. ‘Every day I rehearsed every piece I ever played, note by note, in my mind.’ [1]

It seems Liu never gave up hope. He kept faith that he would one day be released and allowed to play piano again. And his faith was rewarded.

As followers of Jesus, the disciples would soon be mistreated and denied justice. So Jesus gave his disciples the parable of the persistent widow to show them they should always pray and not give up.  

There are two people in Jesus’ parable. The first is a wicked judge who does not fear God and does not care what people think. Most likely this judge was accustomed to taking bribes. He wasn’t concerned with doing what is right; he had no shame. The wicked judge is not like God at all.

The second person is a widow. If the judge is the villain, then the widow is the heroine. In a society which generally devalued women, Jesus makes a woman the hero of his story.   

In first century Jewish culture women did not normally get involved in legal matters. The magistrate’s court was the domain of men. The fact that this widow has to advocate for herself shows she is socially powerless, with no one to come to her rescue.

Although she is most likely too poor to offer the judge any sort of bribe, she is persistent. For her, prayer is the steering wheel. She kept coming to the judge with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

The widow was in the right. She was not asking for special treatment. She just wanted a fair go. Hers was a reasonable request.

For some time the judge refused, but eventually he gave her justice, not because he cared about her or God, but because he wanted some peace for himself.

Jesus is reasoning from the lesser to the greater. If an unjust, uncaring judge can be persuaded to vindicate the widow, just to get some peace, then how much more will God (who is gracious and compassionate) vindicate the followers of Jesus when we are denied justice.

After Jesus’ death the disciples would find themselves in a similar position to the poor widow and Liu Shikun; treated unjustly and essentially powerless from a social and political point of view.

Prayer is one thing no one can take away from you. Whatever our situation we are to keep our hands on the steering wheel of prayer, just as the widow continued to ask for justice and just as Liu Shikun continued to practice music.

Indeed, prayer is to Christians, what practising the piano is to a concert musician. We must remain faithful in prayer if we are to go the distance.

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?

Verse 8 says that God’s people will get justice quickly. Justice came relatively quickly for Jesus. It was less than three days between Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection from the dead. The resurrection being God’s vindication of Jesus.

From our human perspective though, justice does not always feel quick. More often it feels like a slow train coming. So how are we to understand this verse?

In his commentary on Luke, Bible scholar Darrell Bock offers two thoughts here. Perhaps Jesus meant our vindication comes in the form of protection that God offers his own. Even though God’s people may suffer injustice, they do not perish and that is the sign of their vindication.

Another way to understand verse 8 is to say that our vindication as believers in Christ will come very quickly upon Jesus’ return in glory. [2] In the meantime, however, it may be a long wait.

In relation to unanswered prayer, Fred Craddock asks the question…

‘Is the petitioner being hammered, through long days and nights of prayer, into a vessel that will be able to hold the answer when it comes?’ [3]

Sometimes being made to wait is one of the ways God shapes us. From my own experience of seemingly unanswered prayer, I have learned my place. I am not in charge. I do not call the shots. Jesus is Lord and master and I am his servant.

I might have my hands on the steering wheel, but the Spirit of Jesus is telling me which way to turn.  

How has prayer shaped your soul and spirit?

In all of this we should not lose sight of the main point of the parable. God is greater than any obstacle we may face. He is stronger than any opponent we might confront. More than that, God loves us. He is just and merciful and does not need convincing to do the right thing.  

Jesus encourages the believer to persist in prayer, but if God says ‘no’ to our request or offers a solution other than the one we asked for, the faithful person is expected to respond with, “Your will be done God”.

Accepting God’s will is part of prayer. You don’t take your hands off the wheel every time there’s a bump in the road.  

Jesus finishes the parable with a question: “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Jesus is referring to his second coming here.

History is not random or without purpose, rather it moves toward a goal. The future is secured for those who are in Christ. God will vindicate those who put their trust in Jesus.

But will we be found with our hands on the steering wheel of prayer when Jesus returns in glory?

Personally, I think it is a brave thing to call on God for justice. A prayer for justice isn’t just a call for others to get what they deserve. It’s a call for us to get what we deserve as well. I would prefer not to get what I deserve but rather what I need, which is God’s grace – His mercy.

The pharisee and tax collector

Which brings us to Jesus’ second parable of the pharisee and the tax collector. From Luke 18, verse 9 we read…

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?

This parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shares a number of things in common with the parable of the persistent widow. Both parables are about prayer and both are about who God vindicates or accepts.

In the first parable, the widow asks for justice and gets it. In the second parable, the pharisee asks for nothing and gets nothing, while the tax collector asks for mercy and goes home justified before God.    

Verse 9 tells us that Jesus told this parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.

In the Bible a righteous person is someone who has been given a special relationship of acceptance in the presence of God. This acceptance is a gift, it is unearned. The relationship is then maintained by acting in loyalty to God.

Righteousness, in this sense, is sort of like getting an invitation to a royal wedding. You cannot buy an invitation, you must be asked by the royal couple. But once you have received the invitation you have a special relationship of acceptance in the presence of the royal family. And you maintain that relationship by acting in loyalty to your hosts.

There were some people in Jesus’ day (and indeed in our day as well) who got things around the wrong way. They thought they had earned righteousness (or acceptance with God) by fulfilling a certain ethical code. It is to these people that Jesus directs his parable.

Jesus’ parable contrasts two people who go to the temple to pray. A Pharisee and a tax collector. The temple is a place of worship and prayer. It is also a place of reconciliation, where people go to make their peace with God.  

The Pharisees were a religious sect that focused on the Law of Moses. In their zealousness for the Law, they added a whole lot of their own rules to stop people breaking Moses’ rules. This of course made life more difficult.

Jesus wasn’t picking on the Pharisees here. They weren’t all bad. The Pharisee in this parable represents anyone who looks down on others in self-righteous contempt. So, if we look down on the Pharisee in this parable we are behaving just like him and the parable is meant for us.

Anyway, this pharisee stands apart from others because he thinks he is better than everyone else. And then he prays; except his words are not really a prayer, they are more of an advertisement, a self-promotion.

Prayer isn’t just the words we say. It can be the tears we shed and the groans and sighs from deep within our spirit. Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire. Said another way, prayer is our yearning for God. In prayer we are basically asking God to be God and provide for us and others in accordance with his will. Prayer is an attitude of dependence on God.

But the pharisee in Jesus’ parable does not ask anything of God. He is self-possessed and self-satisfied. This pharisee does not have his hands on the steering wheel of prayer. He is looking at himself in the rear vision mirror. 

The pharisee compares himself to other people who he considers to be bad.

If we must measure ourselves then it should not be against other people but alongside God’s standard.

And what is God’s standard? That we love him and love our neighbour.  

It appears the Pharisee in this parable did not do either, although he did do things that God did not require, like fasting twice a week for example. God does not ask us to do that.

The Pharisee in Jesus’ parable went away without being justified by God because he did not think he needed God.  

But the tax collector approached God with an entirely different attitude.

Tax collectors had a bad reputation in Jesus’ day. They were hated by their own people because they sided with the Romans for personal gain.

They were considered dishonest, taking more than was necessary in order to line their own pockets. Not all tax collectors were like this, but many were. 

In any case, the tax collector in this parable represents anyone who is aware of their need for God and approaches Him with a contrite and broken heart.  

Like the Pharisee, the tax collector also stands apart but not because he thinks he is better than anyone else. The tax collector does not compare himself with others at all. He measures himself alongside God’s standard. He stands at a distance because he knows he has failed miserably to meet God’s law of love.

Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector’s prayer is not an exercise in self-promotion. The tax collector’s soul sincerely desires God’s grace and so he prays: God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

The tax collector is clinging to the steering wheel of prayer, desperately aware of his need for God. He is deeply grieved by his own sins and wants to have his relationship with God restored and made right again. He is seeking atonement.

For this reason, the tax collector (and not the Pharisee) goes away justified (or accepted) by God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

At some point we have all taken our hands off the steering wheel of prayer.

We have all done things in our lives that we are not proud of, things we know don’t measure up to God’s standard. The good news is that Jesus went to the cross for our atonement. We are justified or made right with God, not by what we have done, but by trusting in what Jesus has done on our behalf.

Conclusion:

In both of today’s parables, the heroes pray for themselves. It’s okay to pray for yourself. But this week, while we carry the Pou Karakia, we are encouraging you to take the steering wheel of prayer for others. Let me finish then with a little story about praying for others…

Two men were travelling by sea when their boat was hit by a storm and wrecked on a deserted island. To increase their chances of being found, they decided to stay on opposite sides of the island looking out for passing ships. But before leaving each other, they agreed to pray to God for help every day.

After relocating to the far side of the island and waking up hungry, the first man prayed saying, “O Lord, let fruit trees and vegetables grow on this side of the island, so I can satisfy my hunger.” God heard his prayer and the next day food bearing plants appeared. It was a miracle.

After eating his fill, he sat down and prayed again, “Lord, I need a house to live in, please give me house.” Soon, a shipping container washed ashore with all the tools and materials needed to build a modest shelter.

When the man realised his prayers were being answered, he thought, why not ask God for a way off this island. So he prayed, “Lord, please give me a boat with a GPS so I can find my way back to the mainland.”

The next day he saw a boat floating in his bay. He boarded the boat and found it abandoned but seaworthy. Having become accustomed to using prayer like a spare tyre, the man decided to leave the island right away. He had lost his sense of spiritual direction.

Just then he heard a voice from heaven, “Will you not take your friend with you?”

The man replied, “My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them. His prayers were unanswered so he must not deserve to be saved.”

The voice said, “You are mistaken. Your friend had only one prayer. Without his prayer you would not have received any of my blessings.”

“Tell me”, the man asked, “what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”

And the voice from heaven replied, “He prayed that all your prayers would be answered.” [4]

May the Lord bless you as you intercede for others this week.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. When do you pray? Why do you pray? How do you pray? Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?
  3. Why did Jesus give his disciples the parable of the persistent widow? What is the main point of the story?
  4. Have there been times in your life when God seemed slow to answer your prayers? Conversely, have there been times when God was quick to answer your prayers? Either way, what affect did this have on you? How has God shaped your soul and spirit through prayer?
  5. Why did Jesus tell the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector? What is the main point of the story?
  6. What is the heart of prayer? How does the tax collector exemplify genuine prayer?
  7. Compare and contrast the two parables in Luke 18:1-14. How are they similar? How are they different?
  8. Make time this week to pray for others.

[1] Liu Shikun story references: Wikipedia and ‘A Bundle of Laughs’ by J. John and Mark Stibbe, page 142.

[2] Refer Darrell Bock’s NIVAC on Luke, page 455.

[3] Refer Fred Craddock’s Interpretation commentary on Luke, pages 209-210.

[4] (Adapted from J. John and Mark Stibbe’s book, ‘A Bundle of Laughs’, page 159.)

Tawa Baptist

The Tamarisk Tree

Scripture: Genesis 21:22-34

Video Link: https://youtu.be/w4-ftz3ddMM

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Peace
  • Prayer
  • Purpose
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

There are two kinds of trees: deciduous and evergreen.

The word deciduous means ‘to fall off’. Deciduous trees shed their leaves in autumn, to conserve energy in winter, then regrow their leaves in spring. Deciduous trees tend to have broad leaves, like oak or maple.

In contrast, evergreen trees keep their leaves all year round and generally cope better with hot weather. The leaves of an evergreen tree tend to be narrower, like pine or kānuka.

Today we continue our series, The Testimony of Trees. Last week we heard about the tree of knowledge in Genesis 2 and 3.

This week our focus is the Tamarisk tree, in Genesis 21. There are about 60 varieties of tamarisk trees growing around the world. Some are deciduous and some are evergreen.

The variety of tamarisk native to the Middle East (the geographical setting of Genesis 21) is Tamarix Aphylla. Tamarix Aphylla is the largest of the tamarisk family, growing up to 18 meters tall.

It has slender branches and scale like leaves. The tamarisk tree is known to be very tolerant of salts. In fact, its leaves excrete salty water. Due to the high salt content of its foliage tamarix aphylla is slow to catch fire. Which means it can be used as a fire barrier.

Tamarix aphylla grows relatively quickly, providing shade from the sun and shelter from the wind for stock. It also has an extensive root system which makes it good for erosion control, particularly in sandy soils. 

Basically, tamarix aphylla is a hardy, resilient tree. A friend to shepherds in the middle east. From Genesis 21, verses 32-34 we read about the tamarisk tree.

32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

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

In the context of Genesis 21, the tamarisk tree is associated with at least three things: peace, prayer and purpose. Let’s begin by considering the peace connection.

Peace:

Last Thursday, the 6th of February, was Waitangi Day, a national holiday for the people of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840.

The Treaty was eventually signed by 531 Māori chiefs and the representatives of the Crown. Queen Victoria of England was the reigning monarch of the day.

The purpose of Te Tiriti was to protect Māori and their land, as well as establishing stable government to keep peace and order. New Zealand was a pretty wild place in those days, without law or an effective justice system.

You sometimes hear the principles of the Treaty summarized by the three P’s: partnership, participation and protection.

Those who signed the Treaty in 1840 understood it to be a covenant, a forever agreement. The wording stipulates ‘forever’. Sadly, there has been much disagreement over the interpretation and application of the Treaty during the past 185 years, not helped by the fact there are two versions of the Treaty, one in English and one in Māori.      

In verse 22 of Genesis 21, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, and his general, Phicol, offer to make a peace treaty with Abraham. If you think about it, this is quite remarkable really. Normally, with peace treaties, the party in the weaker position approaches the one in the stronger position.

Outwardly, Abimelech appears to be in a stronger position than Abraham. Abraham is a wandering shepherd, a sojourner, a resident alien in the land;   he doesn’t have a fortress or an army like Abimelech and so we don’t expect Abimelech to make a treaty with Abraham. Why then does Abimelech feel the need to do this?

Well, Abimelech gives his reason in verse 22 when he says to Abraham: “God is with you in everything you do”. What does it mean that God is with Abraham?

I’ve come up with a little acronym which outlines what it means to be with someone. W is for wellbeing, I is for intimacy, T is for trust and H is for help.

You know someone is with you when they are committed to your wellbeing. When they share themselves intimately with you. When they trust you. And when they provide you with help.   

God is with Abraham, as a friend. Theirs is a relationship characterised by wellbeing, intimacy, trust and help.

One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. Jesus is, God with us. Through faith in Jesus, we can have a relationship with God based on wellbeing, intimacy, trust and help.

Returning to Genesis, Abimelech has the spiritual sensitivity and insight to see that God is with Abraham. And so, Abimelech says to Abraham…

23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”          

By making a treaty with Abraham, Abimelech is aligning himself with Abraham’s God who holds the power of life & death. Abimelech wants Abraham to deal honestly with him and to treat him with kindness

The Hebrew word translated as kindness here is hesed. Hesed is a Hebrew term which is sometimes translated as kindness, sometimes as mercy and other times as steadfast love or loyal (covenant) love.

Hesed isn’t just an abstract concept though – it is an action, something tangible that one does for someone else’s well-being. Abimelech wants Abraham to make a solemn commitment to always treat him and his descendants with hesed, and Abraham agrees.

In agreeing to a covenant with Abimelech, Abraham shows respect, humility and meekness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is strength tempered by self-control. Meekness is the twin of gentleness.

God was with Abraham and had promised the land to him. But Abraham does not let that go to his head. Abraham does not seek to take the land by force. Abraham prefers peace. He respects the people of the land and waits for God.  

Abimelech’s treaty provided Abraham with the opportunity to sort out a dispute over watering rights. Abraham had dug a well and Abimelech’s servants had seized it. Water wells were vitally important in that part of the world. Rain fall was seasonal (it wasn’t all year round) so wells were essential to the survival of people and animals alike.

Abimelech wanted peace with Abraham but without justice there can be no peace. So, Abraham sought justice over the well.

This was an awkward moment for Abimelech. The king has just given a speech about how he has treated Abraham with ‘kindness’ or hesed and now he is learning that in fact his servants have done nothing of the sort. The servants have embarrassed Abimelech and the king is quick to plead ignorance.     

What happens next is quite unexpected. Normally the one who has been wronged (in this case Abraham) would be owed some compensation. But in this situation Abraham doesn’t seek compensation for himself. He does the opposite. Abraham gives Abimelech seven sheep. Abimelech is confused and asks, ‘what does this mean?’

Abraham explains that by accepting these sheep you are acknowledging that I dug this well.

By seizing Abraham’s well, Abimelech’s servants had done an injustice to Abraham and brought shame on their master. To save face Abimelech might feel it necessary to punish his servants. But Abraham comes to the rescue of the men who seized his well by providing compensation on their behalf.  

In this way Abraham has done hesed by preserving Abimelech’s honour and shielding the servants from punishment. Indebted by Abraham’s hesed, Abimelech and his servants will now stay away from Abraham’s well.

Prayer:

It is after making this peace treaty with Abimelech that Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and there called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.     

To call on the name of the Lord is another way of saying that Abraham prayed to God and worshipped him.

Elsewhere in Genesis, Abraham is noted as building an altar and calling on the name of the Lord. In this context planting a tree is like building an altar. It designates a sacred place for prayer and worship.

Now to be clear, Abraham is not worshipping the tree. The tamarisk is not like an idol that he bows down to. Nor does the tamarisk tree in anyway represent God. We should not think of the tamarisk tree as a metaphor for God.

As hardy and resilient as the tamarisk tree is, it is not eternal like God.

A tamarisk tree might live somewhere between 50 to 100 years depending on the circumstances. In contrast, the Lord lives forever.

What we notice in verse 33 is Abraham’s prayer life. He has a special place for calling on the Lord. We can pray to God anywhere and at any time, of course. God is not rooted to one location, like a tree. The Lord will hear us wherever we are. Nevertheless, it can be helpful to us if we have a special place where we pray.   

Abraham’s special place was by the tamarisk tree he planted in the dry and desolate wilderness of Beersheba. Once grown, the tamarisk tree would act as a sanctuary, providing shade from the harsh sun for Abraham while he prayed.

Prayer is like a tamarisk tree in that it provides a sanctuary for the human soul.   

The wilderness of Beersheba is an interesting choice. Around the same time as agreeing to a peace treaty with Abimelech, Abraham sent his eldest son, Ishmael into the desert of Beersheba, with his mother Hagar and a skin of water.

Abraham’s second son, Isaac, had just been born and there was friction in the household between Sarah and Hagar. Long story short, once the water had run out, Hagar left Ishmael under a bush to die. Was the bush a young tamarisk tree? Quite possibly, we can’t be sure. From verse 17 of Genesis 21 we read…

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.

Interesting that Ishmael became an archer. I read somewhere that the wood of the tamarisk tree is good for making bows. Apparently, tamarisk wood has the strength and flexibility needed.

What did Abraham pray about under his tamarisk tree? We are not told but probably all manner of things. As a parent, we could well expect him to pray for his children, that God would be with them and watch over their lives for good. In fact, God was with Ishmael and Isaac, even as they took different paths in life.

Prayer is like a tamarisk tree. It provides a sanctuary for the human soul.

Where is your tamarisk tree? Where is your sanctuary for prayer?

Do you have a private prayer closet in your home? Or do you prefer to pray in a small group of close friends? Maybe this church auditorium is your prayer place? Or perhaps you prefer to pray with your hands in the garden, pulling out weeds and watering the plants?  

The tamarisk tree of Genesis 21 is associated with peace, prayer and purpose. 

Purpose:

You may have heard of the term agroforestry. Agroforestry does not refer to angry trees. Rather agroforestry is a sustainable farming practice. That is, planting trees and shrubs alongside crops and livestock.

Agroforestry enhances biodiversity and mitigates the harmful effects of monoculture. (Monoculture is when just one crop is grown.)

Tamarisk trees are used in agroforestry as wind breaks and they also help with the reclamation of marginal lands. As already mentioned, tamarisk roots give stability to the soil and the branches provide shade for livestock. If pasture is scarce, then sheep and goats and cattle can feed off the leaves of the tamarisk.

What’s more, the tamarisk flower attracts bees, which are good for the pollination and propagation of a variety of plants. 

Abraham probably chose to plant a tamarisk (rather than an oak or something else) because it served a practical purpose. The tamarisk was suited to the harsh environment of Beersheba and, as verse 34 makes plain, Abraham intended to stay there for a good long while.

Planting tamarisk trees in Beersheba was an agroforestry strategy long before the term ‘agroforestry’ was coined. Planting tamarisk trees would help Abraham and future generations with farming and shepherding livestock.  

I can’t help noticing how Abraham is a bit like the tamarisk tree in some respects.

Through years of waiting in barrenness, God had grown Abraham & Sarah’s faith strong and deep and wide, like the root system of a tamarisk tree.

Abraham’s faith in God has proven resilient, prospering in even the harshest of environments.

Abraham (who is now over 100 years old) is still evergreen, fathering a son in his old age.

What’s more, Abraham is a salt of the earth kind of person. Just as the tamarisk leaves sweat salt, so too Abraham is salty. Abraham is in the world but not of it, maintaining the distinctive flavour of holiness.

Abraham and the tamarisk tree are both a blessing to the land. Abraham does not try to take the land by force. He is humble and meek, lending stability and peace. Abraham is a man of prayer and a servant to God’s purpose.

Perhaps also the tamarisk tree serves as a symbol of God’s purpose for the nation of Israel. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God was making a nation that would be resilient and life-giving, a source of shelter and sustenance to those who find themselves in the wilderness. A blessing to the nations.

Sadly, the people of Israel fell short of God’s purpose for the nation, as we have all fallen short. But by God’s grace Jesus fulfils God’s purpose for Israel and for all humanity.

Like Abraham, Jesus serves God’s purpose as a man of peace and prayer.

Jesus did not go to war against the occupying Roman forces of his day.

Jesus chose the path of gentleness and humility, saying…

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

And, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 

Conclusion:

At this point in the sermon, you might expect me to encourage you all to be more like the tamarisk tree; hardy, resilient, salty, lending stability to the land and providing shelter from the harsh elements of this world.

And while they might be good things to aspire to, I’m not sure that is the best application of the text. What you will notice as we go through this series is that each variety of tree we learn about is different.

A better question might be: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? How has God made you? Some of you may be like the tamarisk tree, but not all of us are suited to a dry and desolate environment. Most of us do better when planted beside streams of water.

The point is, don’t try and be something you are not. Be who God made you to be. Whatever tree you might be like, grow where you are planted and let God fulfil his purpose for your life.

Let us pray…

Gracious God, help us to grow to full maturity in Christ and be the people together you made us to be. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. What are some of the characteristics of tamarix aphylla? What are tamarisk trees useful for?
  3. Why did Abraham plant a tamarisk tree in Genesis 21? What is the tamarisk tree associated with in Genesis 21?
  4. Where is your tamarisk tree? Where is your sanctuary for prayer? 
  5. In what ways is Abraham like a tamarisk tree?
  6. In what ways are Jesus and Abraham similar? (How do Abraham’s actions in Genesis 21 point to Jesus?)
  7. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? How has God made you?
Tawa Baptist

Self Care – by Murray Lucas

Scripture: Mark 12:30-31

Sermon by Murray Lucas on Self Care

When asked, what is the greatest life commandment, Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark…

‘So love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy’. And ‘Love others as well as you love yourself’. There is no other commandment that ranks with these.

There are three requests Jesus made that are contained in this commandment.  The first is Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second is love others and the third is love yourself.  These three injunctions cannot be separated but each must be viewed in the light of the other two requests. For example, you cannot love God and others effectively if you do not love yourself.

In this message I will be focusing on the third request to love yourself. It is about self-care and this means to value myself as my heavenly Father values me. Self-care honours God through nurturing the body, mind and spirit with their limits and desires. As Will mentioned a fortnight ago it means being honest with yourself.

For some of us, myself included, loving ourselves seemed unbiblical. There is an acronym , JOY that went like this: Jesus first, others second and yourself last. There is some truth in this saying but it can easily be changed into a twisted theology about human worthlessness. 

Human beings are never worthless. To quote Adele Calhoun, God gave his dearest and only Son to love human beings, beings he treasures and adores. One of the greatest treasures we have next to Jesus is our own selves. We are gifts of God. His Spirit lives in us.  We are invited to receive the divine love that takes residence in our bodies. We are to take it in and let it form us into a place of prayer.

The Psalmist wrote “Thank-you High God – you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration – What a creation!” The apostle Paul wrote to the people of Corinth “You realize don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you”.

God’s love within us gives birth to more love: love of God, love of others and love of ourselves. Love is a quality of God that grows within us, enlarging our hearts and increasing our capacity. Self-love is not about self-centeredness. It is about caring for the body the Holy Spirit inhabits.

Paul reminds us in Romans 12 to present our bodies as an act of spiritual worship.

A Quaker writer Parker Palmer writes “Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.

The products of self-care are that we value ourselves as Jesus values us. We have a proper view of ourselves and are comfortable in our own skin. We live within limits without burnout and we practice self-awareness rather than self-absorption. We should have a deepening awareness of God’s love for us and ultimately have freedom from addictions that can destroy our health and relationships.

Having defined self-care and outlined some of the fruit of self-care I want to examine how we practice self-care.

There are some obvious practical practices such as exercising and eating sensibly. This responsible attention to health in living will be examined more fully in an inspiring example I will share later.

Another practice is encouraging rather than neglecting yourself. If we are to encourage ourselves it is important we understand the value of realistic, positive self-talk. Sadly, I have met a number of good people who unfairly judge themselves more harshly than others, talk negatively to themselves and set up a spiral of gloom that is difficult to escape from. As humans we all make mistakes but it is very helpful for yourself to recall at such times some of the ways you have brought joy to yourself, your family, God, and to others. This should be spoken or written in a spirit of gratitude. This could be scaffolded as a playlist that you can recall when you go through a season of self-doubt and disappointment. Also, when you come down hard on yourself, remember that you can begin again.

Listening is another important practice. Again as Will shared a fortnight ago from this pulpit we should listen to the Spirit, Listen to the other person and listen to ourselves . Prayer is listening God and if we keep working at it prayer can be positively transformational.

A prayer by Joyce Rupp sums it up well…

Prayer is not only about entering into a relationship with God.

It is also about being changed. Healthy prayer strengthens our bond

With the creator and also transforms us.

Each encounter with God provides the opportunity to grow spiritually.

Prayer makes a difference in our life because it nudges and persuades us

To develop Christlike qualities in our attitude and actions.

Through prayer we become more loving, compassionate and justice oriented human beings.

When this happens, we are altered in a positive way and the world we touch is also changed for the better.

To practice self-care we need to observe appropriate boundaries. This can be particularly challenging if you are a perfectionist. For me, a propensity to try and improve everything can keep me working far past safe and healthy limits. In my job I came to realise that I cannot do everything to my very best. I have to pick and choose what gets done best and what just gets done so I can rest. At times I have to say “Good enough is good enough”. There is nothing wrong with aspiring for excellence and doing my best.  But when the quest for excellence drives my body beyond its limits, I have left the realm of appropriate self-care and I am trying to prove something to someone even if it is me.

Another key practice for appropriate self-care is to be able to give and receive love. It is perhaps easier for people to give love but many of us often struggle to receive love.

I love the allegory of the two seas in Palestine. One is the Dead Sea and the other is the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee gives, receives, lives and flourishes. The Dead Sea however has no outlet. It keeps everything, shares nothing, it neither gives nor receives and it is dead. A question to reflect on: what sea best represents you and your life?

Discernment is another practice that allows us to respect and care for ourselves. Discernment opens us up to listen and recognize the voice and protection in our lives. The Message translation of Philippians 1:9-10 captures the relationship between love and discernment. “So this is my prayer that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. It is important to engage both your mind and heart to use reason and attend to your hearts when arriving at a decision.

To conclude I would like to share with you a story of a young man who showed self-care in an incredibly challenging situation. Since lock-down in 2020, I was made aware of a church minister who demonstrated self-care, love of others and love of God.

His name was the Reverend William Mompesson. In 1664 he was appointed Minister of the Anglican Church of Eyam a town in the Peak District of England close to Sheffield and Manchester.

One year later the Great Plague arrived at his village. Late in 1665 a flea-infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for the local tailor, Alexander Hadfield. Within a week the assistant, George Viccars, noticed the bundle was damp and opened it up and heated it by the fire. This activated the fleas and not long after he was dead and more began dying in his household soon after.

As the disease spread the villagers turned for their leadership to their rector, the Reverend Mompesson. In response Mompesson showed that, “Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift he had, the gift he was put on earth to offer others”.

He did three things. He realized he could not lead alone so he turned to an ejected Puritan minister, Thomas Stanley, who still had solid support in the town and in a show of unity these two men persuaded the entire town to adopt a number of self-care health precautions to slow the spread of the illness from May 1666.

In this aspect Mompesson showed real discernment as he realized that Stanley’s gifts and talents were complementary to his. They also took the brave step of isolating themselves from neighbouring towns and cities to stop the spread of the Plague.

These measures included the arrangement that families were to bury their own dead and relocating Church services outside to a natural amphitheatre allowing villagers to separate themselves, social distancing 17th century style, and so reducing the risk of infection.

Perhaps the best known decision was to quarantine the entire village to prevent further spread of the disease (love of others). Merchants from surrounding villages sent supplies that they would leave on marked rocks; the villagers then made holes there which they would fill with vinegar to disinfect the money left as payment. There were many, many further practical examples of self-care.

The plague ran its course over 14 months and one account states that it killed at least 260 villagers with about 480 surviving out of a population of 800.

What was remarkable was that the villager’s actions prevented the disease from moving into surrounding areas. Major neighbouring towns such as Sheffield were spared as a result of the self-care but selfless actions of the township of Eyam superbly led by Reverends Mompesson and Stanley. This is a great example of loving others as you love yourselves. If the villagers had neglected these self-care measures the disease would surely have spread to Sheffield and other neighbouring towns.

Let us all love God with our heart, strength, mind and soul. Let us all love others but also let us have a healthy respect for our self and love ourselves by having appropriate self-care. When you do come down hard on yourself remember that you can begin again. Confess your harsh self-treatment and ask God for grace to receive who you are. The Christian message is about new beginnings.

Tawa Baptist

Prayer Revisited – By Peter Barnett

Structure:

  • Introduction 
  • Helps for prayer
  • When and where do we pray?
  • Examples of answered prayer
  • Places for prayer
  • Different types of prayer
  • Prayer diaries/journals 
  • Conclusion

Introduction: 

It is over four years ago since I gave a talk on the subject of prayer here in this church. Needless to say, many prayers have passed under the bridge since then. The last time I opened with comments to the effect that I have always loved to swim. I always have. I grew up not far from the beach. Even as a child in the summertime I would go off swimming every day of the school holidays. But I didn’t learn to swim by reading a book. You can read as many books as you like on how to swim but if you don’t actually get into the water and have a go you will never be able to say you can swim. 

It’s much the same with prayer. You can read as many books as you like and listen to all the podcasts you can manage to digest but if you never get around to actually praying it is unlikely you will ever become a convinced pray-er. 

What Scripture says about prayer: 

In Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7, we are told – “not to be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guide your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”. 

Also, 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17 and 18 “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”. 

Without prayer we go through life’s difficulties on our own. While with believing prayer we can face the same problems in the unlimited power of God. When this happens, our situations can take on a completely different aspect. 

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. 

In Luke 11 we read that Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased one of his disciples said to him, “Lord teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Even the disciples who were with Jesus on an ongoing basis and were well aware of his prayer life asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. 

What we can do to help us in prayer

There is an acronym “ACTS” which has been used by people for many years to help with prayer.  

A – is for Adoration, C is for Confession. T is for Thanksgiving and S is for Supplication. You may have been using this method of structuring your prayers for many years. Many people have found this method helpful in organising their prayers. Approach God with Adoration as He is the one to whom all adoration is due. He is the one we worship, the creator, the sustainer, the living God. He is the one who wants us to have a living relationship with himself. That is a concept that still amazes me even though I have been a Christian for many years. God wants us to have a personal one to one relationship with him. 

C – is for Confession – this is an opportunity to sort out those things that get in our way with our relationship with God. Tell Him and come clean with God about those things – whatever they are – you know what they are and so does God. God is in the forgiveness business and he loves to forgive and have a whole relationship with his people. 

T – is for thanksgiving – Thank God for everything. The small things and the big things. We have so much to thank God for. Philippians 4 says, in verses 6 and 7,  “Do not be anxious about anything but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God”.

S – is for supplication – My wife had a friend who said that when it comes to prayer she didn’t want to bother God with things in her life. He is far too busy and He would not be very interested anyway. This always makes me smile. It’s good to be able to say that nowhere in the Bible is there any evidence that God is too busy and that He doesn’t want to be bothered with people and their lives. In fact, it’s quite the reverse. Anyway, how do we measure what is a big thing or a small thing in our lives that we might determine the extent of God’s interest? With God there is really no big or little thing. God is very interested in every detail of our lives so we should talk to him about everything and listen to him and he will guide us as we trust him moment by moment. 

The Lord’s Prayer can also be used as a template for prayer. This template is available on the internet. This template gives very helpful and specific information on how to pray. 

When and where do we pray? 

The Philippians verse just quoted says – “but in every situation”. It does not say only when it is important, or when we are in church or the home group or some other place or situation. We can pray at any time and any place about anything. It’s almost as if God can hardly wait to hear from us. He wants to be involved. 

Jesus on many occasions exhorted us to “ask”. He said, “You have not because you ask not”. Numerous times Jesus is recorded begging us to ask. Jesus is making it very plain that God wants us to make our requests known to him and that he wants to give. So why don’t we ask?

God wants us to pray. Not because it seems a nice thing, a “spiritual” thing to do but God wants us to talk with him. He created us for fellowship with himself. Not just in emergencies or when things get a bit difficult but all the time about all and everything. Not just the big things. So don’t let anything or anyone put you off talking with God.  

The more you pray the more you will find to pray about and the more you’ll be led to pray for others. Don’t allow unanswered prayer to discourage you or cause you to doubt that God has heard you. If you have received Jesus and are praying in his name, God hears you and something is happening whether you see it manifested in your life now or not. In fact, every time you pray you are advancing God’s purposes for you and others covered by the prayer. 

And what if you feel your prayers are not being answered? 

We need to remind ourselves that God’s timing is not our timing. I guess if God said “yes” to everyone’s request the world would get into quite a mess within a short space of time. God answers every prayer, it’s just that across some he writes “The time is not right yet”. Job, with all his trials asked, “How long will this trial last? Why doesn’t God answer?” Because it takes as long as it takes – and usually feels as uncomfortable the whole time. But there’s good news. Eventually your prayers become less about getting and more about connecting with God. By letting him work 1. You begin to realise he is with you. 2. You develop a deeper level of intimacy with him 3. You discover you can trust him entirely. 

Examples of answered prayer 

Earlier this year my son Daniel and his wife Amy asked my wife Patricia and myself if we would like to take an overseas trip with them to South America. We leapt at the opportunity as Patricia and I had never been to South America and so the flight seats were booked. About six weeks before we were due to depart, I managed to damage my sciatic nerve quite badly. It’s a very disabling pain affecting the spine. It was so bad that I could not walk upright. Well, how was I to sit in a plane for many hours let alone getting about sightseeing etc. Well of course there were prayers volunteered by various friends. One prayer occasion I remember distinctly was at a monthly meeting of the church prayer group. That’s the group of people who pray after each Sunday service down the front of the church. The meeting had just finished when Cate our leader suddenly said, “We forgot to pray for Peter’s back!” And so, we prayed. Well, my back started to improve gradually but still left me with a lot of pain right up to the day before we left. On the day we left I was totally free of pain. The second day I was free of pain and thanks to the Lord, subsequent days also. So, I’m a great believer in the power of prayer. 

Is God simply someone who exists to supply all our needs? A sort of Father Christmas God? We don’t pray simply for God to meet all our needs or rescue us from difficult situations. When we pray, we begin to realise that God is with us in our difficulties and he is also with us moment by moment, day by day. 

In Matthew 18 verse 19 Jesus says, “Whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in Heaven.”  Last time I spoke about prayer I quoted an extract from the Word for Today which was published some years ago now. Some listeners at the time enjoyed the story so much I will repeat it again here. 

Another example of answered prayer

Becky Smith was eighty-four years old and her sister Christine was eighty-two. The years had taken sight from the first and bent the body of the second, so they couldn’t attend church. Yet their church needed them. They lived on the Isle of Lewis off the North West coast of Scotland, and a spiritual darkness had settled on their village of Barvas. I looked up Barvas on Google and it had a sort of Chatham Island remote ambience about it. The congregation was losing people, and the youth were mocking the faith, speaking of conversion as a plague. In October 1949 the Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland called upon their members to pray. But what could two elderly housebound sisters do? Quite a lot they determined. They turned their cottage into an all-night house of prayer. From 10pm until 4am two nights each week, they asked God to have mercy on their island. After several months, Becky told Christine that God had spoken these words to her: “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground”. This is from Isaiah 44:3. She urged her pastor to conduct a revival and invite the well-known evangelist at the time, Duncan Campbell, to speak. When Campbell refused to come, she insisted: “God says he is coming and he’ll be here in a fortnight’. And it happened! For five weeks Campbell preached every night to overflowing crowds at 7pm, 10pm, midnight and 3am. Sinners were converted, pubs closed for lack of patrons and the Isle of Lewis tasted the presence of God – All because two women prayed in agreement. 

I’m sure that if we were really convinced how much God loved us, we would be so much more prayerful. I like to think we have a covenant God – not a contractual God. God loves us unconditionally. Not because we are “good.” This is his covenant – he has forgiven and redeemed us. He still loves us in spite of the fact we can’t keep our side of the bargain or covenant. We don’t have to earn brownie points with God. We don’t pray to get God to do what we want Him to do. We pray to find what God wants us to do – It’s as if he enlists us for a purpose and a plan. 

Imagine that! God wants to have a relationship with you and me. He constantly says throughout the Scriptures that he wants a relationship with us – why are we so slow to take him up on this???

Places for prayer

Now prayer can take place in different situations. 

Daily devotional prayer. You may read a part of the Bible or some form of Bible devotional material such as Daily Bread or Word for Today. My wife Patricia and I like to use Word for Today. 

You may be comfortable praying by yourself in a daily devotional way. 

Some groups have a prayer time after they have completed a time of Bible study. 

Some people have a prayer partner where they meet regularly for prayer in a one-to-one arrangement. 

In this church we have prayer here at the front of the church after the service for those who would like it. It is interesting to note that in recent times more people are taking this opportunity for prayer to involve God in their lives and the lives of others. 

What about walking prayers. This has become quite popular with some groups. People like to pray while walking around say, a house or school or a district asking the Lord to bring blessing upon that place and the people living there or constraining Satan and his activities. There is Biblical support in the Old Testament for this type of prayer. 

What about fasting and prayer? Fasting and prayer have been the experience of the church across history. Prayer and fasting could be defined as going without food in order to focus on prayer and fellowship with God. Prayer and fasting often go hand in hand but this is not always the case. You can pray without fasting, and fast without prayer. It is when these two activities are combined and dedicated to God’s glory that they reach their full effectiveness. Having a dedicated time of prayer and fasting is not a way of manipulating God into doing what you desire. Rather, it is simply forcing yourself to focus and rely on God for the strength, provision and wisdom you need. 

Different types of prayer

There are different types of prayer. Emergency prayers – God’s 24/7, 0800 phone line. You know that situation where you may be speaking with someone and can’t interrupt but you rush off a silent prayer anyway.

There are intercessory prayers where we pray on behalf of others. We have this type of prayer in our services at Tawa Baptist where we intercede on behalf of others on a wide range of local and overseas situations. 

Chat prayers where we sit down with God and discuss all the things going on in our lives along with things going on in the lives of others. Some people we may know and some we may not know. 

Mother Teresa was once asked by a journalist “When you pray what do you say to God?” She replied, “I don’t say anything, I just listen”. “And does God say anything to you?” “No – He just listens”. I know of some people who just remain silent and quietly listen to God. They don’t say anything but simply listen. 

Another source of prayer is our church prayer chain for those who would like prayer. Often for those who are facing an operation or other health issue. You can contact Will or the church office. An email request is then sent to those who undertake to pray for the person or situation. 

There is also the church Prayer Quilt support. The Prayer Quilt group use their skills to produce special prayer quilts. The quilt is displayed at the front of the church during a service and people are invited to come to the front and tie a knot on the quilt along with prayer for the person concerned. The quilt is then given to the person in need of prayer support. 

Prayer diaries or prayer journals

One way to be really encouraged in prayer is by keeping a prayer journal or diary. In the journal or diary, you record your prayer request or you may make a note of some biblical question that puzzles you. You pray about this and ask God for insight. Sometime later, say months or a year later, you go back to the journal and see how the Lord has answered your prayer or gives you clarification or insight. The internet has numerous templates for Prayer Journals so look them up on the internet if you want to start a prayer journal of your own. 

In Hebrews 9, verse 24, we read “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf”. 

Prayer is a vital part of our Christian life. Jesus made the way open to God with what he has done in breaking down barriers. Through his death and resurrection we are able to go before his throne of grace. He has made the way for us. 

Conclusion:

So let’s pray without ceasing – don’t give up. As already mentioned in I Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 to 18, we are told to rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

Let’s close with prayer…

Thank you Lord for prayer. Thank you that we can share all aspects of our life with you. The big and the small. We thank you Lord for your blessings and all you have done for us. Help us Lord to be more prayerful – to seek you and trust you more. In Jesus name, Amen.

Tawa Baptist

The Advocate

Scripture: John 14:15-17

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

The Advocate:

Good morning everyone.

If you are accused of a crime and have to appear in court, what do you need?

[Wait] That’s right, a good lawyer. Someone who understands the rules of the court, who can advocate for you and defend your cause.

If you are marooned on a deserted island, what do you need? [Wait]

Probably a satellite phone and a survival expert, someone who knows what you can eat and what you can’t. Someone who can start a fire and help you build a shelter until the Navy arrive.

If you are facing bullies at school or at work, what do you need? [Wait]

Someone strong to stand with you against the bullies. 

Today, because it is Pentecost Sunday, our message focuses on the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before his crucifixion, Jesus explained to his disciples that he would be going away but that he would not leave his disciples alone. He would ask God to send his Spirit. From John 14, verses 15-17, we read the words of Jesus to his followers…

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,to be with you for ever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be inyou.

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

There are many images in the Bible associated with the Holy Spirit including breath, wind, fire, water and oil. None of these is sufficient in itself to capture the work of the Spirit. Nevertheless, these images convey something about the life giving power of God’s Spirit.

In John 14, Jesus talks about the Spirit as a living person saying that he will ask God the Father to give those who love him another Advocate.

‘Another Advocate’ implies there is a prior Advocate, one who comes before the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the first Advocate but now that he is about to leave he plans to send someone else who is just like him. Someone who will advocate for and help the disciples in his absence.

The Greek word translated as Advocate is ‘parakletos’ or paraclete. There is no exact equivalent for paraclete in the English language and so this word is translated in a variety of ways in different versions of the Bible.

Quite literally, parakletos means ‘called to the side of’ (in order to help).[1]

It was a legal term indicating the counsel for the defense. So a parakletos was sort of like a defense lawyer. Hence it is translated into English as advocate, because that’s what a parakletos does, they advocate (or stick up) for someone who has been accused of wrong doing.

Jesus is the original advocate, the one called alongside to defend our cause. But since Jesus has ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit is our new advocate. The implication here is that we are embroiled in a spiritual conflict in which Satan (the accuser) is seeking to condemn us.

Now some of you may be thinking at this point, “Hold on a minute. I don’t have the word ‘Advocate’ in my Bible. My Bible uses the word ‘comforter’ to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14. So what’s with this new word ‘Advocate’?”

The problem with language is that it keeps evolving, it keeps changing its meaning over time. For example, the word ‘nice’ originally meant silly, foolish or simple. So to call someone nice was a bit of an insult. Nowadays though to call someone nice is like saying they are gentle or kind. ‘Nice’ is a compliment.

Comforter is one of those words which has changed its meaning with time. Comforter comes from the Latin word fortis which means brave. So 400 years ago, a comforter was someone who, through their presence, strengthened you; making you brave so you had courage to face the bullies in your life.

These days a comforter might refer to a child’s blanket or to someone who gives sympathy when you have suffered some kind of loss. Not the same thing.

While the Holy Spirit can and does offer us comfort when we are feeling sad, the older definition (of making us brave in the face of a conflict or a crisis) is closer to the mark of what the Holy Spirit does.

Other Bibles use different words to translate parakletos. For example, friend, counselor, helper or intercessor. These are all true of the Holy Spirit but none of them captures the whole truth. 

The point seems to be that the Holy Spirit is a divine person with the strength and know how to help you follow Jesus in any situation you may face.

By way of metaphor, if this life is like trying to survive in the wilderness, then the Holy Spirit is like having Bear Grylls with you to show you what to eat, how to start a fire and how to make a shelter.

Or if this life is like an international test match, then the Holy Spirit is like your coach giving advice on game strategy and lending encouragement.

Or if this life is like a court trial, then the Holy Spirit is your defense lawyer speaking on your behalf and advocating for your release.

In verse 17, Jesus refers to Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. A little bit later in, verse 26, Jesus unpacks what he means by ‘Spirit of truth’, when he says…

26 But the Advocate,the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

To put that another way: If this life is like an apprenticeship, in which we are learning to be like Jesus, then the Holy Spirit is our mentor and a master craftsman. The Holy Spirit shows us what Jesus would do. He teaches us to be like Christ.

Returning to verse 17, Jesus says the world cannot receive the Spirit of truth because it neither sees him nor knows him.

The world, in the gospel of John, can mean different things depending on the context. In chapter 14, the world refers to all people (collectively) who are opposed to Christ. Or said another way, the world represents those who live as though there is no God.

In John 3:16, when Jesus says, For God so loved the world he gave his only Son… he means that God loves those who are opposed to him. God loves his enemies enough to offer the life of his Son to save them.  

Jesus says the world is blind; meaning those who are hostile to Christ cannot receive the Holy Spirit because they cannot see him or know him. Eugene Peterson paraphrases this thought by saying: A loveless world is a sightless world.

Framing that in more positive terms, love gives us the eyes to recognize the Holy Spirit at work in our own lives and in the lives of those who do not yet know Jesus.  

In verse 15 Jesus says: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments…’

Basically, God gives the Holy Spirit to those who love Jesus and the proof of love is obeying Jesus. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Which comes first? Obeying Jesus or receiving God’s Spirit? I’m not sure we can obey Jesus without the help of the Holy Spirit. Surely the Spirit comes first.

Perhaps, before we are aware of it, the Holy Spirit is at work cultivating God’s love in the soil of our lives and if that love bears the fruit of faith and obedience to Jesus, then the Spirit reveals some more of God to us. There is a mystery to this process. We can’t really put the Spirit in a box or tie him to a formula.

We can say this about the Holy Spirit though. He always holds love and truth together; he never separates the two. In fact, he uses love & truth to create connections between God and people.  Jesus alludes to the love & truth connections the Holy Spirit makes in verse 17 where he says to his disciples…

You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be inyou. 

The Holy Spirit is so close to those who love Jesus that he is actually inside us. We could understand this thought in two ways. The Holy Spirit is inside our body, mind and soul, as individuals. But, at the same time, the Holy Spirit is among us (or in our relationships) as a body of believers, as the church, prompting us and guiding us.

So how does the Holy Spirit work in our own experience. What practical difference does the Advocate make in our lives? Let me suggest three things the Holy Spirit does. This is not an exhaustive list.

Firstly, the Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s word in Scripture. We see this principle at work, for example, with the birth of the church at Pentecost.

In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit empowers the apostles to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus in a variety of foreign languages. People from all over the world were gathered in Jerusalem and heard God’s word preached in their mother tongue.

As well as empowering the apostles to speak in different languages, the Holy Spirit was active in the hearts and minds of those listening so they were able to believe and receive the gospel message. God’s Word and God’s Spirit go together and have a creative power.

Often, when we read the Bible, we can find it difficult to understand. Reading Scripture without the Holy Spirit is like trying to decipher a foreign language.

The Holy Spirit reveals the love and truth of God contained in the Scriptures. When we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit high lights God’s word for us so that we have that ‘aha’ moment. He shows us God’s heart. He shows us Jesus. The Spirit enables us to understand what God is saying to us personally. He makes Jesus close and real.  

As well as helping us to understand God’s word in Scripture, the Holy Spirit also helps us to pray.

In Romans 8, Paul describes the work of the Spirit saying…

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Prayer can be hard work at times. Sometimes we don’t have words to do justice to our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes all we have is sighs and tears.  The Holy Spirit gets us. As our Advocate the Spirit understands us intimately and he speaks on our behalf to God. The Spirit intercedes for us in harmony with God’s will. We might not know what to ask for but the Holy Spirit does.

So the Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s word, he helps us to pray and thirdly, the Holy Spirit gives each of us a gift to share.

In 1st Corinthians 12 we read…

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Some people are given the gift of administration. Some are gifted with discernment and wisdom. Others are gifted with the desire and skill to help people practically. Others are gifted communicators. Some are good with money and others are good with children. Some have musical talent and others are careful listeners or skilled organisers.

It’s a brilliant strategy if you think about it. By giving each person a different gift, the Spirit is giving each of us a purpose and a place to belong, a way to fit in and make a meaningful contribution. We don’t have to do it all on our own, but it is crucial that we do our bit.

The gifts the Spirit imparts create connections that enable the body of Christ to function so the message of God’s love & truth is shared with the world. 

What gift has the Spirit given you? How are you using your gifts for the common good?

Let me finish now with another reading of Jesus’ words from John 14…     

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,to be with you for ever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be inyou.       

This means that, with the Spirit, you are not alone. May the divine Advocate be real for you, making you brave to face whatever comes your way this week. 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 are some of the Biblical images associated with the Holy Spirit? What do these images show us about the Spirit? Which image resonates most strongly with you?
  • Why did Jesus ask God the Father to send the Holy Spirit?
  • Discuss / reflect on the various English translation of the word Parakletos (Paraclete). What light do these words shed on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer?
  • How do we know if we (or someone else) loves Jesus?
  • How does the Holy Spirit work in your experience? How might we discern the Spirit’s activity?
  • What gift(s) has the Spirit given you? How are you using your gift(s) for the common good?   

[1] Leon Morris, NICNT John, page 587.

Tawa Baptist

The Heart of Worship

Scripture: Mark 11:12-25

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

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Parables
  • Prophecy
  • Prayer
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parables:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prophecy:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prayer:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion:

With that in mind, let us pray now…

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

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

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

God’s No

Scripture: Deuteronomy 3:21-29

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Ytjj0JHzE1A

Audio Link: https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/sermon-26-jun-2022-gods-no

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Moses prays
  • God answers
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In 1969 the Rolling Stones released a song: You can’t always get what you want. I don’t know what Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meant by the lyrics but, given it was the end of the 60’s, one might guess the song reflected a certain felt disappointment that the social change promised by the prophets of that decade had not been delivered.

In these days, of hyper-individualism, the song has become a kind of personal lament, when things don’t go our way.   

This morning we continue our series in the book of Deuteronomy by focusing on the closing verses of chapter 3, in which Moses does not get what he wants. From verse 21 of Deuteronomy 3 we read…

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”

23 At that time I pleaded with the Lord: 24 “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? 25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

26 But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. 28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

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

In this reading, Moses prayers and God answers Moses’ prayer, although not exactly in the way Moses might have wanted.

But before we get into Moses’ prayer let me recap where the Israelites have got to. You may remember from last week how the Lord instructed Israel to approach the Promised Land from the East being careful not to pick a fight with Edom, Moab or Ammon, and Israel obeyed.

Well, after that, there were two small kingdoms (Heshbon and Bashan), on the east side of the Jordan, which Israel had to pass through to get to the Jordan river. Israel tried to pass through these lands peacefully but king Sihon and king Og would not allow it, so Israel were forced to go to war against them and the Lord gave the new generation of Israelites victory.

Now the path was cleared for the people of Israel to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land of Canaan. Moses wanted to cross over with the Israelites too and so he prayed to ask God’s permission.

Moses prays:

Have you ever played the spinning broom game? This is when you hold a broom close to your body, looking up at the end of the handle, while spinning around a few times. After you have spun you then have to step over the broom.

To the casual observer it seems quite easy but for the person doing the spinning it is a lot harder than it looks. Trying to keep your balance after having spun several times is really difficult. You have to pause and be still for a wee bit to get your bearings and reorient yourself.

Life can be a bit like the spinning broom game at times. We can find ourselves going around and around in circles focusing on the same things and it throws us off balance. Prayer is one thing we can do to reorient ourselves.

With prayer we make time and space to be still and to shift our focus off the broom handle of life’s chores and onto the God of eternity. One of the main purposes of prayer is to connect with God, to realign ourselves with his will. We find our true north when we focus on God in worship. 

When Moses approaches God in prayer, he doesn’t start by telling God what he wants. Moses begins by focusing on God and what the Lord has done. In verse 24 Moses says…

24 “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?

Verse 24 is an example of adoration of God. By focusing on God in adoration, Moses stops spinning and reorients himself.  Moses isn’t trying to butter God up in order get what he wants. Moses is getting his head straight; he is realigning his perspective by speaking the truth about God.

When we listen to the Lord’s Prayer we notice the first half of it is all about God. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   

Jesus taught us to pray in this way because it reorients us toward God, it shows us the true north of heaven.  There is no me, my or I in the first half of Moses’ prayer or Jesus’ prayer.

So, next time you are in a spin. Next time life is going too fast and you feel like you are losing your balance, so you don’t know which way is up, take some time to stop and be still and focus on God. Tell him and yourself some things you know to be true about the Lord. Simply adore him and let your perspective return.

Only after Moses has focused on God in adoration does he then attempt to step over the broom handle and ask for what he wants, saying in verse 25…

25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

This is quite remarkable really. Moses is the better part of 120 years old by this stage and he isn’t yet tired of this life. Moses has had a taste of what God can do and he wants more. After 40 years of frustration, doing the hard yards and wandering in the wilderness, Moses wants to see the fruits of his labours. And who could blame him.

Moses describes the land beyond the Jordan as fine. Elsewhere it is spoken of as fertile, a land flowing with milk and honey. I’ve never been to Palestine but I’ve seen images and not many people would describe it as fine these days.

It’s not rolling green pastures or thick native bush like we have in New Zealand. More the opposite really. Not sure why people make such a fuss and spill so much blood over it?

Well, most probably it was a fine and fertile land during the time of Moses, all those centuries ago. But now, due to the impact of man and erosion, the land is less appealing.

Perhaps though it wasn’t just the physical characteristics of the land that excited Moses. More likely it was the hope that the land embodied.     

As Moses himself indicates, he was keen to see more of the works of God. He saw how the new generation of Israelites obeyed God and he wants to see more of that obedience of faith. Not only that but Moses is keen to see more victories by the Lord’s hand, as when God defeated king Sihon and king Og.

God answers:

Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want. The Lord responded to Moses saying…  

“That is enough. Do not speak to me anymore about this matter…”

Apparently, this was not the first time Moses had asked God if he could enter the land.

God’s answers to our prayers are like a traffic light. We usually get one of three responses from God. Green for yes, amber for wait and red for no. On this occasion Moses is not able to change God’s mind. It is a firm no.     

In verse 26, Moses says…  

26 But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me.

Moses is referring here to an incident that happened years earlier in the wilderness. At one point (in Numbers 20) when the people were complaining about not having any water to drink, Moses asked the Lord what to do.

The Lord told Moses and Aaron to speak to a particular rock in the sight of the Israelites and it will pour out its water. But Moses was in a spin. He had lost his balance. Moses was angry with the people and said to them, ‘Listen you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?’ And then he struck the rock twice with his staff.

Water did come out of the rock and the people drank but God was not happy. So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

According to this verse, Moses did two things to offend God here. Firstly, Moses did not trust God enough. He hit the rock twice, when God had told him to speak to the rock. And secondly Moses did not honour the Lord as holy in the sight of the Israelites.

To say that God is holy means that he is set apart, he is different from anyone or anything else. God is one of a kind. There is nothing else in all creation as good or pure or powerful or loving as God Almighty.

When Moses said, ‘must we bring water out of this rock for you?’ he by-passed the Lord. God and God alone is the only one who can bring water out of a rock. This was an opportunity for the people to see the holiness of God in action. Moses didn’t give God the credit or the honour. Moses treated something holy (a life giving miracle of God) as if it were common or profane.

This was out of character for Moses. This was not what we normally observe with the great man. His sister Miriam had just died, so Moses was grieving. More than that though, the people were being really difficult. They were always pushing back on something, so obstinate, so obtuse. Moses’ frustration was understandable.

When we consider Moses’ long and faithful service to the Lord and all the challenges he faced, we might think God was being a bit harsh in refusing Moses entry to the land. Surely God could wink at Moses’ indiscretion this once and make an allowance. But to go down that path in our mind is to misunderstand the holiness of God.

God was not being unfair to Moses by saying ‘no’. The Lord punished others in the wilderness for their mistakes. It wouldn’t then be right or fair for the Lord to give Moses a free pass. Even though Moses is the leader, he was still subject to the Law as much as the people were.

Faithful service to God does not make God obligated to us in any way. Faithful service to God is what we should be doing anyway. It’s like Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 17…

7 “Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Sometimes we human beings forget our place. Sometimes, when we are busy spinning around that pole, we become disoriented and think that God is there to give us what we want. And while the Lord is gracious and he does help us in so many ways, we need to remember that God is the boss and we are the workers. God is free to say ‘no’ if he thinks that is best and we need to respect his ‘no’.  

Three times in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said to God the Father, ‘Take this cup from me’, but God said ‘no’ and Jesus accepted God’s will for him.

Three times the apostle Paul prayed for God to remove his thorn in the flesh but God said, ‘No, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’.

Sometimes we need to persevere in prayer. Jesus taught that. But after having persevered, if the answer is still ‘no’, then we need to let it go and give our energy to those things God is saying ‘yes’ to.

What prayer do you keep repeating in the hope that God might change his mind? What personal request, in your life, has God answered with a ‘no’? I know for some people this will be a painful thought.

The temptation when God says ‘no’ is to throw our toys out of the cot and go ahead and do what we want anyway. We need to resist that temptation. We need to be still and reorient ourselves through worship and prayer. We need to let God be God and say with Jesus, ‘Not my will Lord, but your will be done.’

Returning Deuteronomy 3; in verses 27 & 28 we see the grace in God’s no. In verse 27 we read what God said to Moses…

27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.

God doesn’t let Moses cross the Jordan but he does allow Moses to see the land from a distance.

Moses standing on top of Mount Pisgah looking on the Promised Land, reminds me of the Mount of Transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah (representing the Law and the Prophets) stood with Jesus in all his glory.

Moses may not have entered the land of Canaan physically but God gave Moses something far greater. The Lord allowed Moses to stand in glory with Jesus. 

Jesus fulfilled the purpose of Moses life, just as he fulfils the purpose of our lives.  

If God says ‘no’ to your request, just wait. He might have something better in store for you later.  

From verse 28 the Lord continues his instruction to Moses, saying…

28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

Joshua was Moses’ assistant. Moses was Joshua’s mentor. Even though Moses was not allowed to cross the Jordan to take the land, the Lord was saying the new generation of Israelites would. Moses could rest in the knowledge that his life’s work had not been in vain.

The name ‘Joshua’ means The Lord saves. The Greek form of the name Joshua translates to Jesus – so Joshua points to Jesus, the ultimate successor to Moses. It is Jesus who leads us to the Promised Land of God’s kingdom.

To his credit Moses does what God tells him to do. In verses 21 and 22 Moses encourages and strengthens Joshua, saying…

21 “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”

On the face of it Moses appears to be telling Joshua to be brave and courageous in battle, because the Lord (Yahweh) will fight for them and give them victory over the Canaanites. But there is more going on here than a simple pep talk.

In verse 29, we read that the Israelites were staying in the valley near Beth Peor, at this stage.

Geographically, Beth Peor was the last stopping point on the east side of the Jordan. But Beth Peor also had theological significance. According to Numbers 25, Beth Peor was the place where the old generation of Israelites yoked themselves to Baal. So Beth Peor was where Israel had betrayed God. It was a place where pagans practiced their religion. 

Beth Peor then, represented Israel’s failure. It was a spiritually dangerous place. A place of religious temptation.  

Joshua needs all the assurance he can get, not just for military success but (more importantly) to remain faithful to God Almighty and resist the religious alternatives offered by the Canaanites. [1]

To paraphrase Walter Brueggemann: The community of faith is not defined by its past (which is strewn with bad choices) nor by its current context (which breeds despair). Rather, the community of faith is defined by its deep elemental connection to God who can be trusted in every risky circumstance. [2]

In other words, Joshua does not need to be afraid of the so called gods of his enemies. Nor does he need to rely on his own skill or courage. Joshua and Israel need to trust the Lord God Almighty. He will do right by them.  

What is your Beth Peor? What is your moment of failure, your spiritually dangerous place, where you are most vulnerable to temptation, most susceptible to spinning out of control and losing your balance?

Do not be afraid. All our Beth Peors were nailed to the cross with Jesus. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Conclusion:

Let us pray…

Sovereign Lord, you have shown your greatness, your love, your grace, your truth, your power, your holiness in the person of Jesus Christ. There is no other god in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do. Help us to remember you are the master and we are your servants. Keep us faithful to your call, especially when your answer to our prayers is ‘no’. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Have you ever played the spinning broom game? What happened? What did it feel like? How do we reorient ourselves when we have lost our balance or perspective?
  • Why do Moses and Jesus teach us to begin prayer with worship and adoration for who God is and what he has done?
  • Why do you think Moses wants to cross the Jordan to see the Promised Land? Why does God say ‘no’ to Moses’ request?
  • Have you ever prayed for something and had God say ‘no’? What happened? How did you feel? How did you respond? In hindsight, are you able to see God’s grace in his ‘no’?
  • Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ parable in Luke 17:7-10.
  • What is your Beth Peor? Ask Jesus’ forgiveness (if you haven’t already) and imagine your mistakes being nailed to the cross. Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Declare the truth that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Start each day this week by giving your mind to thanks and praise for what God has done in Christ.    

[1] Refer Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Deuteronomy, page 46.

[2] Ibid, page 50.

Tawa Baptist

Pure

Scripture: Matthew 15:21-28

Video Link: https://youtu.be/zzIlGG3rT3A

Message:

Good morning everyone and happy Mothers’ Day.

Jesus says, in Matthew 5, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

This morning, because it is Mothers’ Day, our message focuses on a mother in the gospels who shows us what it means to be pure in heart. From Matthew 15, verse 21 we read… 

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes Lord,” she said. “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

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

There was a woman by the name of Monica who lived around 300 AD. She was married to a hot-tempered man by the name of Patrick, who was often unfaithful to her. Monica and Patrick had a son who they named Augustine. Patrick refused to allow Augustine to be baptized but Monica saw to it that Augustine at least went to Sunday school.

Augustine was more interested in girls than he was the Bible and during his teenage years he went off the rails a bit. Right through his 20’s he lived a life of debauchery and licentiousness.

Through this whole time though, Monica never gave up praying for her son. No matter how badly Augustine behaved, Monica never gave up hope. She loved Augustine and always believed it was possible for God to save her son.

Monica interceded in prayer for her son faithfully, everyday and often with tears, begging Jesus to save him. Then one day her prayers were answered.

Augustine was baptized during the Easter of 388AD. He then went on from his baptism to become arguably the most influential Christian thinker of his time, since the Apostle Paul. Augustine wrote hundreds of books, refuted 5 major heresies and shaped the theology of the church right up to the present day.

Soren Kierkegaard, another famous theologian who lived many centuries after Augustine, said that ‘purity of heart is to will one thing’.

Monica was pure in heart, motivated by love. She willed one thing for her son and she saw God answer her prayer.

The Canaanite mother, in Matthew 15, was like Monica in a way. She was pure in heart too and motivated by love. She willed one thing: for Jesus to deliver her daughter.

But before we get ahead of ourselves let me set the scene. In the context of Matthew 15, Jesus has just had a bit of a run in with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were giving Jesus’ disciples a hard time for not washing their hands before eating. In their minds washing your hands wasn’t just a personal hygiene thing, it was a religious thing. They thought handwashing rituals made a person spiritually clean or more acceptable to God.

But Jesus defends his disciples and explains, saying…

17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Jesus’ point was that God is more interested in the cleanness or holiness of our inner life. Are we motivated by love? Or do we just want to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others.

After this conversation about what makes a person clean or unclean, Jesus and his disciples walk 80 kilometres north into the region of Tyre & Sidon. In doing this they leave the holy land of Israel behind and cross over in to the un-holy land of the Gentiles.

In the Old Testament, Tyre & Sidon were renowned as places of evil. Places the Jewish people expected God to destroy, like Sodom & Gomorrah. So there Jesus is, with his disciples in an unclean place, when all of a sudden they meet two people their Jewish upbringing taught them to avoid.

A Canaanite woman and her demon possessed daughter. You cannot get much worse, if you are a Jewish man. The Canaanites were the arch enemies of Israel.

This mother knows what the Jews think of Canaanite women. She understands full well the prejudice she is up against. It says something about her courage and character that she is willing to approach her enemies for help. Or perhaps it is an indication of her desperation. 

We don’t know a lot about this woman. We know vaguely where she comes from but we don’t know her name, or how old she was or whether she had other children. Was she still married or had her husband walked out because things got a bit tough? We don’t know.

We do know for certain that life was difficult for her. Robyn quoted me a line from a novel she was reading recently that struck a chord with us both…

‘Mothers are only ever as happy as their unhappiest child.’

This mother diagnoses her own daughter as demon possessed and says that she is suffering terribly. If the daughter is suffering terribly then so is the mother.

We can’t be certain what the problem was exactly. In ancient times all sorts of illnesses, whether physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual were attributed to demons.

Most likely the daughter and her mother were socially ostracised as a consequence of the problem. This mother had probably been coping with loneliness and high levels of stress for a prolonged period of time. After a while fatigue sets in. It would have been hard for her to imagine a future for her daughter.

The powerlessness and vulnerability of parenthood is terrifying. And so it is little wonder that this mother cries out to Jesus. She doesn’t approach Jesus quietly or politely. She risks all hope, shouting and making a scene.

Notice how she addresses Jesus as Lord and Son of David. Now at that time calling someone Lord wasn’t such a big deal. It was like calling a man Sir, a way of showing respect.

But hearing this Canaanite woman call Jesus the Son of David is a big deal. Very few of Jesus’ own people would have the insight or the courage to call Jesus the Son of David. This was the same as calling him the Messiah, the King.

Think about that for a moment. This woman has the audacity to ask the King of her enemies for mercy for her daughter. It was risky and politically complicated.

During the Vietnam War the Texas Computer millionaire, Henry Ross Perot decided he would give a Christmas present to every American prisoner of war in Vietnam.

According to David Frost, who tells the story, Perot had thousands of packages wrapped and prepared for shipping. Then he chartered a fleet of Boeing 707s to deliver the presents to Hanoi.

But the war was at its height. What Perot was wanting to do was risky and politically complicated. He was asking America’s enemies for their cooperation. The Hanoi government refused to cooperate. Officials explained that no charity was possible while American bombers were devastating Vietnamese villages.

The wealthy Perot offered to hire an American construction firm to help rebuild the villages but the Hanoi government still refused to help.

Christmas drew near, and the packages were un-sent. So a determined Perot flew to Moscow, where his aides mailed the packages, one at a time, from the Moscow central post office. And all the packages were delivered intact to the American POW’s. Perot persisted and when his enemies would not cooperate, he found another way.

In some ways Perot reminds us of the Canaanite mother in Matthew 15. She was not rich and powerful like Perot but she was tenacious and she had the boldness to approach the leader of her enemies for help. Like a postage stamp she sticks to one thing until she reaches her destination.

In verse 23, of Matthew 15, we read that Jesus remained silent, even though the mother was loud and unrelenting in her cry for help.  

We see the wisdom of Jesus here. The woman was basically proclaiming to everyone that Jesus is Lord and King. She was acting as a kind of evangelist, perhaps without realising it. Jesus listened.

Jesus’ silence also had the effect of drawing out what was in her heart. Silence does that. Silence invites those parts of ourselves which are hidden in the ocean of our unconscious, to surface, like a whale rising from the depths of the sea to breathe.  

The disciples become irritated with the mother’s repetition, eventually saying to Jesus, “Send her away for she keeps crying out after us”. In other words, give her what she wants so we can have some peace.

But Jesus says to his disciples, so the woman can hear: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”.

We have the benefit of hindsight and so we know that Jesus’ mission was to start with Israel and then move outward to reach people of all cultures and ethnicities. Later, at the end of Matthew’s gospel, after his death and resurrection, Jesus gives the command to go and make disciples of all nations.

But this woman encountered Jesus before his resurrection and so she does not know what we know. She doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight.

Undeterred the woman knelt before Jesus saying very simply, “Lord, help me”. She does not use a lot of words. She does not try and make a deal with Jesus. She does not try to emotionally blackmail Jesus or threaten him. She does not prescribe what Jesus must do. She simply asks for help and trusts Jesus to decide what is best. This is a picture of pure, uncomplicated faith.

We know Jesus likes faith and so, at this point, we would expect that Jesus, full of compassion and love, would be moved to heal the child. But no, what Jesus does next is shocking.

In verse 26 Jesus says to this woman, who is already suffering terribly, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’

In other words, charity begins at home.

The children, in Jesus’ little parable here, are the people of Israel. And their food is the healing and life that Jesus brings – Jesus is the bread of life.

Dogs is a reference to Gentiles generally but also to this Canaanite woman and her daughter specifically.  

Now, in our culture a dog is man’s best friend. A dog is loyal and trustworthy and loved by the family. But in ancient Jewish culture a dog was unclean. Dogs were despised. To refer to this woman and her kin as dogs is a racial slur, an insult.

When Jesus ignored the mother’s cries for help, she persisted.

When Jesus refused to help her child, the mother responded in faith.

How will she respond to the insult of being called a dog?

What will Jesus find in her heart? 

To her credit this mother answers with humility and wit saying, 27 “Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

This is a clever response. The woman is implying that she, a Canaanite, is still part of Jesus’ household, albeit with a very different status from the children.

Like Monica, this mother wills just one thing: that Jesus save her daughter. She is pure mum. Her heart (her inner life) is clean and holy and so she sees God’s salvation.

Jesus commends her saying: “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

No other Jew in the gospel of Matthew receives this sort of commendation for their faith from Jesus. A Roman Centurion is commended as having more faith than anyone in Israel but none of Jesus’ own people are said to have great faith, like this woman.

So what exactly is it that makes this mother’s faith so great?

It is her love for her daughter. Love is what motivated this mother to ask her enemies for help and to go on asking when she was ignored, refused and insulted. None of us knows the purity of our love unless it is met with resistance. Love, that is willing to suffer, makes faith great.   

That being said we might still wonder, ‘Why did Jesus put the woman through this? Why did he make it so difficult for her?’ Because it seems totally out of character for Jesus to refuse anyone in need much less be rude about it.

Well, it appears Jesus was using this encounter with the Canaanite mother as a teachable moment for his disciples. Jesus can see this woman’s holiness, but his disciples can’t.

He had just been telling his disciples that it is the state of a person’s heart that makes them clean or unclean. Now they have seen for themselves what purity of heart looks like, in this Canaanite woman, someone they had always believed was inherently unclean.

Jesus was showing his disciples what really matters to God. Faith, hope and love.

When we look at it this way we see that Jesus was not being callous or insulting at all. Jesus was actually showing great respect for this woman. He refused to patronise her or be condescending. 

As tired and frustrated as this mother may have been, Jesus knew he was not dealing with a weak or timid person. He was dealing with someone who was a force to be reckoned with. And that’s why he pushed back. Jesus knew the strength of the woman’s faith, hope and love. He knew she could handle it.   

So what does all this mean for us?

Well, the mother’s love for her child reflects God’s love for us.

God’s motherly love is like a hurricane. It is powerful but there is a calmness in the eye.

Unlike a hurricane, that destroys everything in its path, God’s motherly love is jealous. Not envious, not wanting what belongs to someone else. But jealous in the sense of wanting to protect what rightly belongs to him. God’s jealous love is powerful to protect his children from evil.

God’s motherly love is also pure and holy. The Canaanite woman was pure in heart, she willed one thing: for Jesus to heal her daughter. And the purity of her love was revealed in the way she was willing to suffer much for her child.

God’s love (like a mother’s love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It is this kind of love that makes a person clean, holy and pleasing to God.

Let us pray…

God Almighty, we thank you for your motherly love for us. A jealous love, which is powerful to protect. A pure love, which is longsuffering. Help us to receive your love with grace and respect, that we would be fruitful for your glory. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What was your mother like? What do you appreciate about her?
  • What does it mean to be pure in heart? Can you think of examples, either from the Bible or your own experience, that illustrate what it looks like to be pure in heart?
  • Try to put yourself in the shoes of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. What do you imagine her life was like?
  • Why do you think Jesus is slow to help the Canaanite woman?
  • What can we learn about prayer / intercession from the mother’s example?
  • In what ways does the Canaanite mother reflect God’s love? 
Tawa Baptist

Jealous Love

Scripture: 1st Thessalonians 3:1-13

Video Link: https://youtu.be/6GVYmiFNkE0

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Paul’s vulnerability
  • Paul’s jealous love
  • Paul’s desire
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Roller coasters. You either love them or hate them. There’s no middle ground. I’m definitely not a fan. My cousins and I were thrown off the Sizzler when we were kids and it left its mark.

Unfortunately, our children don’t share my mistrust of roller coasters and so, when they were younger, I reluctantly had to accompany them on these sorts of rides. They had a great time. Me? Not so much.

Someone once told me, never get on the roller coaster with your kids. They were speaking metaphorically. They meant don’t get carried away with whatever drama is happening in their life. Don’t let their emotions dictate your mood.

This person meant well but parenthood doesn’t work like that. If your kids are seriously ill or being treated unfairly or if they achieve some success, then you feel it with them. If you love anyone, you will be affected by what they go through. You are on the roller coaster with them whether you like it or not.       

Today we resume our series in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, focusing on chapter 3. You may remember how, in chapter 2, Paul had affirmed the Thessalonians’ faith, belonging and relationship. In today’s reading, we see that Paul has been on a roller coaster with the Thessalonians, his spiritual children. He gets a bit emotional and expresses his feelings.   

From verse 1 of First Thessalonians chapter 3 we read…

So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labours might have been in vain. 6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

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

Three things we note here: Paul’s vulnerability, Paul’s jealous love for the Thessalonians, and Paul’s heartfelt desire. First let’s consider Paul’s vulnerability.

Paul’s vulnerability:

Elton John wrote a song in tribute to Marilyn Munroe. It was later adapted for Princess Diana. In the chorus he sings: And you lived your life like a candle in the wind, never knowing who to turn to when the rain set in…

The image of a candle in the wind, is the very picture of vulnerability. 

To be vulnerable is to be unprotected, in a precarious position, exposed or at risk of harm. When you love someone, when you care about them deeply, your heart is vulnerable, you are on the roller coaster with them whether you like it or not. Likewise, when you need someone to love you, your heart is vulnerable, like a candle in the wind.

In his book, The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis writes…

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

Paul understood vulnerability well. Before his conversion, Paul was hard hearted and hell bent on persecuting the followers of Jesus. But Jesus transformed Paul’s heart. Jesus made Paul vulnerable to God’s grace.    

The word vulnerability is not explicitly mentioned in today’s reading and none of the commentaries I read talked about it specifically so you may well wonder, how exactly is Paul vulnerable?

Well, it is both the tone of his writing here and the way in which he is so open with the Thessalonians about his feelings. Paul, the intellectual and theological giant, is wearing his heart on his sleeve and being honest about his need for them.

In verse 1 of chapter 3 Paul says, when we could stand it no longer… And in verse 5 he repeats this same line, only more personally saying, when I could stand it no longer. The thing Paul couldn’t stand here was not knowing how the Thessalonians were getting on. He was anxious for their wellbeing. But Paul also needed to know that the Thessalonians loved him.

Why was Paul so anxious? Why was he feeling so vulnerable? Because he had opened his heart to the Thessalonians and let them in.

In verse 8 of chapter 2 Paul actually says: We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Love anything and it will make you vulnerable.       

Paul had a lot riding on the Thessalonians. If they threw in the towel of their faith then not only would Paul’s work with them be in vain, he personally would feel like he had lost family members. The Thessalonians were his spiritual children. He was like a mother and a father to them in the faith. If they had given up on their faith, Paul would have been devastated.

But Paul is not devastated. Quite the opposite. From verse 8 of chapter 3 Paul writes…

8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?

Before Paul received news that the Thessalonians were doing well, he was beside himself with worry over them. He couldn’t stand not knowing.

And when you feel vulnerable like that, you can’t really enjoy anything. You just sort of get by on a knife’s edge. Now that Paul knows they’re okay, that he hasn’t lost them, he can really live. In other words, he can enjoy life again.

The thing with being vulnerable is that it doesn’t always feel pleasant at the time. Vulnerability can feel risky, or unsafe, like you are not in control. The vulnerability of love requires faith.

Even though it feels risky, allowing yourself to be vulnerable with another person opens the door to intimacy, to closeness. Vulnerability creates a bridge, a connection. Vulnerability, when it is well placed, is the antidote to loneliness.

But we need to be discerning about who we choose to be vulnerable with. As Jesus said, don’t throw your pearls before swine. Don’t open up the treasures of your heart to someone who is going to treat those treasures cheaply.      

And, if someone shares something with you that makes them vulnerable, handle that pearl with gentleness and care. Be worthy of that person’s trust.

Paul was vulnerable with the Thessalonians and he loved them with a jealous love.

Paul’s jealous love:

For many people, jealousy is a bad word. We have a tendency to collapse jealousy and envy into one. But they are not the same thing.

Jealousy is when we feel like something we already possess is at risk of being taken away from us. In contrast, envy is the desire to have something that does not belong to us.

Can you see the difference? Jealousy has to do with losing something that is rightfully ours, whereas envy is about coveting what is not ours. 

Jealousy can sometimes cause us to behave in ways which are resentful or vindictive. But jealousy can also move us to do good things. Jealousy gives us courage to protect what we love and determination to restore what we have lost.

God describes himself as jealous. You probably know Jesus’ parable of the shepherd who went looking for the lost sheep. The shepherd left the 99 to find the one that was lost. That is a picture of God’s jealous love. His drive (or his zeal) to restore and protect what he loves and what rightfully belongs to him.

Jealousy is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a powerful energy that needs to be channelled for other people’s wellbeing.

When I was a child my grandparents took me with them on holiday to the beach. We stayed in a remote part of the Bay of Islands, up north, surrounded by bush, beaches and sea. My grandfather taught me to fish and to shoot. It was a boy’s paradise.

One day (I was about 7 or 8 at the time) my grandfather and I were doing some target practice with a .22 calibre rifle. Not a very powerful gun, but useful for shooting rabbits and possums and other cute furry animals that would otherwise destroy the environment.  

Anyway, while we were doing our target practice, a woman emerged out of the tea tree scrub yelling at us. She was angry; I’m mean next level angry, telling us in no uncertain terms to stop shooting at her family. She was mistaken. We were not shooting at anyone. Her family were never in any danger. My grandfather was very careful with guns. 

I guess, because we were on a hill, the rifle shots could be heard echoing around the bay and she thought the worst, that her family were under attack. As it transpired this mother had walked about three kilometres over rocks, through dense bush and up a very steep hill to protect her children.

And she did this knowing that the people she was intending to confront had a loaded gun. Incredible determination and courage. As I reflect on that event now, I realise this mother was exhibiting jealous love for her family. She was willing to risk her life to protect them.

We put the gun away for a few days and she walked back into the bush from whence she came, never to be seen again.

Nowhere in today’s reading from Thessalonians do we find the word jealousy, but we do come across the word love a couple of times. In any case it is clear, from the feelings and actions Paul reveals, that he loved the Thessalonians with a jealous love, like the mother in my story.

Verse 5 reads…

For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labours might have been in vain.

The believers in Thessalonica were brand new Christians and Paul had not had a chance to complete their basic training. They were like Macualay Culkin, in Home Alone, having to fend for themselves in a hostile environment. And Paul was like a stressed and anxious parent, worried how they were getting on.

So Paul sent Timothy (his right hand man) back to Thessalonica. It’s about 500kms from Athens to Thessalonica, which takes a day in a train. But it probably took Timothy over two weeks, each way, on foot.

The New Zealand women’s cricket team (the White Ferns) are playing Australia at the Basin today. Australia are the team to beat.

Quite often, when you are at the cricket, you see people wearing captain’s hats. At first I just thought it was a group of mates dressing up the same. But then I kept seeing these captain’s hats at other games around the country. It wasn’t until I heard someone say: ‘Steady the ship’, that the penny dropped. 

The fans wear captain’s hats to ‘steady the ship’. It is a message of support to the batsman to not throw their wicket away. Stay calm, take it easy. Believe in the leave. You can’t score runs back in the pavilion.

As much as Paul wanted Timothy to stay with him in Athens, his jealous love for the Thessalonians was greater. The new believers in Thessalonica were getting a hard time for becoming Christians. Timothy’s visit was intended to steady the ship. That is, to strengthen and encourage the young believers in their faith.

In verses 2 to 5 Paul talks about persecution and trials and being tempted to abandon Christ.    

Paul says they were destined for these trials and that he kept telling them to expect persecution. This fits with the teaching of Jesus who said it would not be easy following him.

We, in New Zealand today, are not persecuted like the Thessalonians were. But that doesn’t mean we get off Scott free. Our beliefs and values sometimes put us at odds with the wider society in which we live.

But even if society agreed with and supported Christian faith, we would still face testing in some form. It seems to be necessary for faith development, like putting cake mixture in a hot oven is necessary for baking the cake.

What we find is that our faith is usually tested when we are at our weakest and not when we expect it. Temptation is never fair.

Two of the gospels tell us how Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days. It was necessary for Jesus to go through this and overcome.

Unlike Jesus, we don’t always overcome when we are tempted. But the good news is that Jesus has done for us what we are not able to do for ourselves. We may lose the odd battle with temptation but that should not discourage or defeat us, for Jesus has won the war.

If we do trip and fall, it does not mean we are out. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. We admit our mistakes, pick ourselves up and carry on in the faith. It’s like Winston Churchill said: Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. 

Much to Paul’s relief the Thessalonians did not give in to the temptation to abandon their faith. When Timothy returned with the good news that the Thessalonians’ faith and love were strong and that they longed to see Paul as well, Paul was greatly encouraged.

Paul’s desire:

Wrapped up with Paul’s jealous love and vulnerability is Paul’s heartfelt desire for the Thessalonians. From verse 10 we read… 

 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

Prayer isn’t just the words we say to God. The essence of prayer is our heartfelt desire. Words may give expression to that desire but so might our tears or our sighs or our groaning or our laughter.

Paul’s heartfelt desire is to be reunited with his spiritual children, not just for his own comfort but more to supply what is lacking in their faith.

John Stott sheds light on the meaning of ‘supplying what is lacking’. If we think of the Thessalonian’s faith as a fishing net, then Paul is like a fisherman who wants to repair the net. Or, if we think of the Thessalonian’s faith as a broken leg, then Paul is like a surgeon who desperately wants to set the bone properly.  

Or to use another metaphor, the Thessalonians have made a great start to their Christian faith journey, but they need a few more essential supplies in order to stay on the right track, like a map and a compass and a torch.

Paul doesn’t just talk about praying; he can’t help but actually break into a spontaneous prayer for the Thessalonians from verse 11…

11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Verse 11 describes Paul’s desire to see the Thessalonians in person again.

Verse 12 describes Paul’s desire for the Thessalonians’ love to increase, something only the Lord can do.

And verse 13 describes Paul’s desire for the Thessalonians to grow in holiness, from the inside out. (From the heart.)

Holiness is an unpopular word these days. It gets a bad rap. People tend to associate holiness with being superior or thinking you are better than others. Like that expression, ‘holier than thou’.

But that’s not a fair or accurate description. Holiness is about wholeness. When we hear the word holiness, we should think health & wellbeing, strength and integrity. We should associate holiness with love, because the two go together.  They complement each other.      

At home in our garden we have a tomato plant. It was only about two or three inches high when I first planted it, just tiny. Since then it has grown a bit and we now have some fruit.

At first I didn’t need to put a stake next to it because when the plant was small it could stand by itself. But now it has grown it needs a stake (alongside) to support it. And with all the dry weather we are having lately it needs to be watered pretty regularly too.

Perhaps the Thessalonians were like my tomato plant. They needed the water of love and the stake of holiness in order to be healthy & whole, fruitful & strong.

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard about Paul’s vulnerability, his jealous love and his heartfelt desire for the Thessalonians. All of these are an expression of Paul’s deep care for the Thessalonians.

Whose roller coaster are you on at the moment? Who is making you feel vulnerable? Who is triggering your jealous love? Who is occupying space in your heart?

Is it your partner in marriage? Your kids? Your parents? A friend? An enemy? A workmate? The people of Ukraine? The people in your neighbourhood?

What do they need? What do you need?

Let us pray…

Loving Father, you see what is in our hearts. You know our vulnerability. You understand our fears and our desires. In you we have all we need. Fill us with your Spirit of love and holiness, so that we may care well for others and for ourselves. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Do you enjoy roller coasters? Why (or why not)?
  • Why was Paul feeling so vulnerable in relation to the Thessalonians? What does he do with this feeling of vulnerability? How does he express it? How might we know when we are feeling vulnerable? How might we express our feelings of vulnerability in a healthy way? 
  • What is the difference between jealousy and envy? Can you think of an event in your own life when jealous love was triggered in you? What happened? How did you respond? How might we channel our feelings of jealousy for the wellbeing of others?
  • What is the essence of prayer? In what ways can we express our prayers to God?
  • What was Paul’s heartfelt desire for the Thessalonians? (in verses 11-13) Why do you think Paul puts love and holiness together? How do love & holiness complement each other?
  • Whose roller coaster are you on at the moment? Who is making you feel vulnerable? Who is triggering your jealous love? Who is occupying space in your heart? What do they need? What do you need?
Tawa Baptist

Connected

Scripture: 1st Thessalonians 1:1-3

Video Link: https://youtu.be/pZPJgH83KFI

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Connected in God
  • Connected in prayer
  • Connected in experience
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone and happy Waitangi Day.

Sometimes, when your internet connection drops out, you have to wait a few minutes watching the dots make a little circle until the wifi comes back online. We can become impatient because we have to wait a few seconds but the inconvenience of a buffering internet connection is nothing really. In years gone by, before the internet, people separated by the tyranny of distance had to wait months, even years, to receive word from loved ones.

Last week we began a new sermon series in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. By way of introduction, we looked at Acts 17, which is Luke’s account of how the Christian church got started in the city of Thessalonica, which is in Greece.

Today we get into the letters themselves, looking at the opening verses of First Thessalonians, in which Paul reconnects with the Thessalonian believers, by letter, after having not seen them for several months, perhaps a year. From verse 1 of First Thessalonians we read…

[From] Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

In these three short verses we note how Paul makes three quite profound and enduring connections with the Thessalonians. Paul shows how he, Silas and Timothy are connected to the Thessalonians in God, in prayer and in experience.  

Connected in God:

You may remember, from last week, that Paul & Silas had to leave the city of Thessalonica after certain people stirred up trouble and put pressure on Jason and the other believers.

Paul and his companions then went to Berea and from there to Athens. Paul was naturally concerned for the well-being of the Thessalonians and so he sent Timothy back to see how they were getting on.

By the time Timothy returned with his report, Paul was probably in the city of Corinth. As you can imagine, this journey would have taken months on foot. After hearing what Timothy had to say, Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians to reconnect with them and to offer some guidance and encouragement. 

The experts aren’t sure exactly but they think First Thessalonians was probably the second letter Paul wrote to a church, depending on when you date his letter to the Galatians. Paul’s affection for the Thessalonians is clear. Despite being relatively new converts and despite having suffered for Jesus, the Thessalonians’ faith (their connection with God) was strong.

In verse 1, Paul addresses the Thessalonians in an interesting way. He refers to the Thessalonian church as being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Being ‘in Christ’ is a favourite saying of Paul’s, but he wouldn’t normally start a letter this way or talk about being ‘in God the Father’ in the same breath.

The word translated as church is literally assembly, as in a gathering of people. So the assembly or the gathering of believers is in God. What does that mean? Is it like when the teachers at school say the assembly will be in the hall? Well, not exactly. Paul isn’t talking about the physical location of the Thessalonians. He’s talking in spiritual terms.  

Paul is reconnecting with the Thessalonians by affirming they are not alone. They are as close to God and to Jesus as you can get. They are in God. God is the source of their life, the ground of their being.

The Thessalonian assembly (or church) is in God, like a tree is planted in soil. If you take the tree out of the soil it will die. Keep it in the soil and it will thrive, drawing its life from the nutrients in the ground.

Or to use another analogy, the Thessalonian church is in God, like a school of fish is in water. Take the fish out of water and they soon die. Keep the fish in water and they live. God and Christ provide the right spiritual environment for human beings, much like water provides the right natural environment for fish. 

William Barclay uses the metaphor of air. He says that being in God (or in Christ) is like being in air. Not only is the air all around us (as close as our skin) but when we breathe, the air is inside us as well.

That’s how close and life giving God is to the Thessalonians, as close as air. That’s why their faith is thriving, despite the persecution they are experiencing for being Christians. Their physical or material life might be poor, but their spiritual life is rich.

By affirming the Thessalonians’ closeness to God and to Jesus, Paul is basically saying he is close to them as well. In verse 3 he talks about our God and our Jesus. Even though they are about 576 km’s apart (geographically speaking) they are close in the Lord, for Paul & Silas & Timothy are in God as well.

There are three crosses on the wall behind me. The crosses remind us of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. I can’t see the crosses at the moment because I’m facing the other way. But I know they are there because I’ve seen them before. Now, I might forget they are there because I’m focused on something else but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still there.

You know sometimes we lose sight of God’s nearness and grace. We get busy with something or other and God passes out of our awareness. If God is out of sight and out of mind for too long, it may feel to us like God is absent or distant.

That subjective feeling can have a very real effect on us. It can mislead us into thinking that we are not loved by God or that God is angry with us or that he doesn’t care. But our feelings and perception are not always reliable. Like the crosses on the wall behind me, God doesn’t cease to be close to us just because our back is turned and we are thinking about something else.

We human beings need to turn and face God, regularly. We need to do tangible things to remind ourselves of God’s nearness and grace.

Those things might include starting the day by reading a chapter from the Bible. Or stopping three times a day to be still and pray. Or spending time with other believers, or singing songs of worship or listening to sermon podcasts. Whatever it is that puts you in touch with God again.

Paul is eager to reconnect or, more accurately, to insist that he and the Thessalonians were never disconnected, as verse 2 implies.

Connected in prayer:

At home we have a wall hanging. One of Robyn’s friends from school gave it to her. It reads: Prayer, the world’s greatest wireless connection.

Before the internet there was prayer.

In verse 2 of chapter 1 Paul says: We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.      

Prayer is eternal. Prayer is beyond the confines of time and space. In prayer, we draw close to others and to God. Prayer is about connection.

By keeping the Thessalonians in their prayers, Paul, Silas and Timothy were never apart from them. 

Prayer isn’t just the words we say to God. The larger part of prayer is listening to God. I have come to believe that prayer is also about the burdens we carry with and for others. When we pray for others we, in some way I think, connect with them and make their burden lighter.

I can’t give you any scientific or empirical evidence for this. But, anecdotally, people who have been going through some difficulty and have had others in the church praying for them, have said things like: ‘I feel lighter’ or ‘I feel like I’m being carried by people’s prayers’.

The flip side is that sometimes we can feel a bit weary after praying for others, like we’ve been doing some heavy lifting. At the same time, praying for others can also release us from the burden of our own problems and the tiredness which comes from always thinking about ourselves.

So while praying for others does take some effort, there is a mutual benefit on the whole.  

One of my cousins was really into scuba diving, when he was younger. He loved it. One day he was down fairly deep underwater and his mate got into trouble. My cousin kept his head and shared his breathing apparatus; you take a breath I’ll take a breath sort of thing. They returned to the surface slowly, to avoid getting the benz. Thankfully they made it up before my cousin’s tank ran out too.

Perhaps keeping others in our prayers is a bit like that. A friend finds themselves in deep water and in trouble. Maybe they are in so much distress or pain they can’t find the words or the faith to pray themselves. So you pray for them.

In praying for your friend like this, you are sharing your spiritual oxygen tank with them, at least until they reach the surface and can breathe (or pray) again themselves.    

That’s what intercessory prayer is; praying on behalf of others. We, who believe in Jesus, are priests. Interceding for others in prayer, with God, is what priests do. It is what Jesus (the great high priest) does.

Whether we are praying for ourselves or others, the risen and ascended Jesus knows our deepest needs and desires. He hears the inarticulate cry of our heart, asking God the Father for what he need. So even if we don’t know how to pray or can’t find the words, Jesus does know and has just the right words.    

Is there someone you know who needs you to share your oxygen tank of prayer with them?

Connected in experience:

So, even though they are apart physically, Paul and the Thessalonians are connected spiritually, in God and in prayer.

In verse 3, Paul goes on to point out another connection he and his companions share with the Thessalonians. They are connected in their experience. Paul writes…

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we remember something, we are reconnecting with our experience of what we are remembering. Memory is a powerful form of connection. It brings the past into the present. It brings people, we haven’t seen in a while, close.

When I was at intermediate school one of my friend’s, Mark, had an older brother who sometimes used to pick us up in his Datsun 160B. Mark’s brother, Richard, used to play Dire Straits music in his cassette player; Tunnel of Love, Romeo and Juliet and so on. Very cool when you are 11.

Sometimes when I hear a Dire Straits song from the 80’s, I remember the Datsun 160B and my friendship with Mark, even though I haven’t seen Mark in over 30 years. It’s funny how a familiar tune or sight or smell can reconnect you with your past. Memory is a powerful transporter.

Dire Straits have a song called ‘Brothers in Arms’. In the second verse the singer remembers the connection forged with his mates on the battlefield…

Through these fields of destruction, baptisms of fire. I’ve witnessed your suffering as the battle raged high. And though they did hurt me so bad, in the fear and alarm, you did not desert me my brothers in arms.

The connections made through a shared experience of suffering run deep and live long in the memory.

As we heard last week (in Acts 17) the Thessalonian believers stood their ground under fire and did not desert their faith in Jesus, remaining loyal to Paul, Silas and Timothy. Their suffering for Jesus together is what connects them.

And when we suffer for Christ, we too are connected to other believers (around the world and throughout history) who have suffered for their faith. 

Three points of connection Paul makes when remembering the Thessalonians:

Their work produced by faith, their labour prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope

Faith, love and hope come to the surface in Paul’s letters a number of times, most famously in First Corinthians 13 where Paul writes, and these three remain: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.

Faith, hope and love are to Christian spirituality what oxygen, heat and fuel are to fire. They are indispensable, we can’t do without any one of them.

Faith, hope and love are about connection you see. They connect us to Jesus and to each other.     

Looking more closely, what does Paul mean by the Thessalonians’ work produced by faith. Idle faith, faith that sits around and does nothing is not true faith. Genuine faith finds expression in acts of Christian service and good deeds.

Those who did the online services in early January may remember John Tucker’s sermon about Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding. John made the connection between faith and work when he pointed out how the servants did what Jesus asked of them, filling the jars with water.

Filling each of those 120 litre jars of water was repetitive, time consuming, mundane, tiring work. And it may have seemed pointless too, when the problem wasn’t a lack of water but a lack of wine. Yet the servants did what Jesus asked of them, in faith. And Jesus did something very special with their work produced by faith.

Those of us who serve Jesus are connected through the work we do in faith that Jesus will use it for God’s saving purpose.           

Paul remembers also the Thessalonians’ labour prompted by love. The Greek word translated as labour here refers to hard labour, real back breaking toil. The kind of labour that puts blisters on your hands and sends you to bed early.

As Leon Morris says, the phrase labour prompted by love directs our minds to the unceasing hardship borne by the Thessalonians for love’s sake.

Those of you who are parents of small children understand about labour prompted by love. Caring for babies is exhausting. You are up all hours of the night feeding and changing nappies and working all day putting bread on the table or doing house work. It’s hard yacker. But you do it for the love of your family and through your labours a deep connection is created between parent and child.     

We are reminded of Jacob who laboured seven years for his father-in-law, Laban, so that he could marry Rachel. But those seven years seemed to him like just a few days because of the love he had for her. Romantic love gives you wings. 

Of course, the love Paul has in mind in Thessalonians is not romantic love, it is agape love. Not the love of seeking to possess something but a self-giving love. God’s love is always giving.

The Thessalonian believers did it tough for the love of Jesus. They were persecuted and harassed for becoming Christians but they handled it for love’s sake. Paul, Silas and Timothy also did it tough, working during the day with their hands to support themselves, then feeding the new born believers with God’s word in the evenings. It was hard graft.  

Thirdly, Paul remembers the Thessalonians’ endurance inspired by hope.

Hope is forward facing faith. Hope believes something good waits in our future. The Christian hope is that Jesus will return in glory one day to make all things new. Our hope is a future eternity without suffering or pain, where God wipes away every tear from our eyes, no more war or hunger or pandemics.

But getting there is a marathon, not a sprint. Hope of a better future gave the Thessalonian believers the strength to endure their present sufferings.

How is your hope at the moment? We are two years into a global pandemic and about to face a tidal wave of omicron cases (so we are told). We need the endurance inspired by hope. God has got us through this far. He will see us through to the other side.

Conclusion:      

Looking at the whole of verse 3 again we note that your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope are all in our Lord Jesus Christ.   

These things which connect us and support our life are not done in our own strength.  Nor are they hidden in some treasure vault beyond our reach. No, they are in Christ, whose Spirit is as close to us as the air we breathe.

So this spiritual connection does not depend on us. Nor does it depend on our changing moods or feelings. Our connection to God the Father and to one another depends on Jesus. Which means it is a reliable connection, not subject to buffering.

Our job is to remain in Christ. As Jesus says in John 15…

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for the connection we share with you and each other, through Jesus. Help us to remain in Christ and to draw strength from him, that we may bear the fruit of faith, hope and love. In Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Why do you think Paul is eager to reconnect with the Thessalonians? How do you think the Thessalonians may have felt receiving Paul’s letter and having their connection/relationship with Paul, Silas & Timothy affirmed/renewed? 
  • What does it mean to be ‘in God’ or ‘in Christ’?
  • How do you turn to face God? What tangible things do you do to reconnect with God’s nearness and grace?
  • Have you ever felt light (or carried) in some way by the prayers of others? How do you feel after you have spent time praying for others? Is there someone you know, at the moment, who isn’t able to pray for themselves and needs you to share your oxygen tank of prayer with them? 
  • Discuss/reflect on Paul’s three phrases in verse 3. That is: your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope. What do each of these phrases mean? Can you think of ways in which these three things have been (or are being) worked out in your life? 
  • Is there someone you need to reconnect with? Or, to put it another way, is there someone who needs you to reconnect with them? How might you go about reconnecting?