Tawa Baptist

Owls

Scriptures: Isaiah 34:8-15 & 43:18-21

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

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s vengeance (Isaiah 34)
  • God’s salvation (Isaiah 43)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

There’s a saying, ‘birds of a feather flock together’. It means, people with things in common tend to be found together.

Birds of the same kind do often flock together, but not always. Owls tend to be a relatively solitary bird for the most part. Only very rarely do you see them together. But, in the unlikely event you were to see a group of owls in one place, what would you call them?  [Wait] That’s right, a parliament of owls.

Other descriptors might include a wisdom of owls or a congress or a hooping or an eyrie or a looming or a stare and so on. All these words indicate the way owls haunt the human imagination. There’s something a little bit spooky about this bird.

Today we conclude our sermon series on Birds of the Bible, with the owl. Many people associate the owl with wisdom, as in ‘the wise old owl’. That idea comes from Greek mythology. In ancient Greece, the little owl was the companion of Athena the Greek goddess of wisdom. 

In Scripture, the owl is not really associated with wisdom. More often the owl is associated with sleepless nights, loneliness and alienation, desolation and judgement. There is a certain sense of foreboding (like a bad omen) that accompanies the owl.

With this in view, it is not surprising that owls appear several times in the Old Testament prophetic books. Our message today focuses on two occurrences of owls in the book of Isaiah. Let’s begin with chapter 34, verses 8-13.  

God’s vengeance

8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of vindication for Zion’s cause. 9 And the streams of Edomshall be turned into tar and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning tar. 10 Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and ever. 11 But the desert owland the screech owl shall possess it; the great owl and the raven shall live in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion and the plummet of chaos over it…  13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. 14 Wildcats shall meet with hyenas; goat-demons shall call to each other; there also Lilith shall repose and find a place to rest. 15 There shall the owl nest and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow; there also the buzzards shall gather, each one with its mate.

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

Owls are raptors. They are birds of prey. Owls have very good night vision and excellent hearing. The shape of the owl’s face funnels sound to their ears, magnifying what they hear up to ten times. Owls are keen listeners.

Put that together with super strong talons, natural camouflage and the ability to fly silently and that makes owls stealth hunters.

Like the sparrow, owls are resilient hardy birds found all over the world except Antarctica. They know how to survive. Fossil records show that owls have been around for about 55 million years. Significantly longer than human beings.

Owls will typically feed the oldest and strongest of their young first. This means if food is scarce, the smaller weaker owlets tend to starve while the fittest of the next generation survive. Owls are very unlike God in this way.

Nevertheless, owls are helpful to humankind. Farmers like to keep owls around as pest control. A barn owl can eat up to 1000 mice a year, usually swallowing them whole. Later it will regurgitate the bones and fur in the form of a pellet.

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the owl is a symbol of death, used to portray evil and darkness. The sound of the owl marks the death of Duncan, haunting Lady Macbeth. But long before Shakespeare, the prophet Isaiah associated the owl with ominous and fearful forces.  

In our reading earlier, from Isaiah 34, the prophet talks about God’s vengeance on the nations that have opposed the people of Israel. In particular, Isaiah foresees a day when God will smash Edom.

Edom (not to be confused with the cheese) is the people group descended from Esau. Esau was Jacob’s twin brother. Esau’s descendants became the nation of Edom and Jacob’s descendants became the nation of Israel.

Human parents, in the ancient world, treated their children in much the same way that owls treat their young. The oldest and strongest male was favoured and given the lion’s share of the estate.  

Esau was the oldest and therefore in line to inherit the land and birth right, while Jacob (the younger twin) would have to make do with the leftovers. This did not make for good family dynamics. Jacob cheated Esau out of his inheritance so there was bad blood between them.

Although Jacob and Esau did eventually make peace, the bad blood lingered with their descendants. The people of Edom treated the Israelites with aggression and cruelty.  

The worst of it though, was the way Edom allied itself with the Babylonians. (Birds of a feather flock together.) When the Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem, the people of Edom supported the Babylonians and after the city had been sacked, the Edomites plundered what remained. No love lost.  

Because of their violent opposition to God’s people and to God’s purpose, Isaiah predicted the destruction of Edom, saying the land of Edom would become the possession of the desert owl, the screech owl and the great owl.

Owls do not build their own nests. Rather, they take over the nests of other birds. So, from the perspective of Israel, who had lost their home to the Babylonians, the imagery of owls inhabiting Edom was poetic justice.

The owl’s association with darkness and evil comes out even more clearly in verses 14 & 15, where the prophet Isaiah puts the nesting owl alongside goat demons and Lilith.

Goat demons are a mythical creature, half goat, half man. And Lilith is the name of a demoness of the night who was thought to devour new born babies. These evil creatures were the stuff nightmares are made of and so they serve Isaiah’s poetry well.

Reading about God’s vengeance like this is a bit disturbing. As Christians we are more familiar with Jesus who is full of grace and compassion. Jesus who teaches us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek and so on. How do we reconcile the vengeance of God with the mercy of God?

Well, God’s vengeance is one aspect of his justice. God’s justice and mercy are not separate. They are one, just as God is one. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. God is consistently fair and measured in his response to evil.

We see the oneness of God’s justice and mercy in the way he contains Lilith. Following the logic of Isaiah’s poetry, if Lilith eats babies, then to read that she is at rest in a desolate and isolated place is a comfort, because it means she is not hurting children anymore.          

Likewise, if a nation is loose in the world doing harm, like Edom was, then it is not merciful of God to ignore that nation and look the other way. The just and merciful thing is to give that nation the opportunity to change their ways and if they don’t change, then the next step is to stop that nation from continuing to do harm.

God has every right to protect his creation from those who abuse it. That’s what God’s vengeance is, a just and merciful response to stop evil.

In Isaiah 34, the prophet is dressing an old wound. The Israelites have suffered much at the hands of the Edomites and Isaiah wants to clean up the wound so it can heal without becoming septic.

Think of it this way. If someone does serious violence to you or someone you love, then you will quite rightly feel angry with them and want that person stopped. You will also need to find a way to safely vent your rage, so it doesn’t eat away at you from the inside out and turn you bitter.

Forgiveness is a process which involves letting go of your anger in a way that does no harm. The poetry of Isaiah 34 provided Israel with a way to release their anger and their fear so they could forgive the past and not turn septic.

The words of Isaiah 34 give the people of God faith to leave vengeance in the Lord’s hands and move forward with hope. If you believe that God is going to carry out justice on your behalf, then it protects you (to some degree) from going down the path of violence yourself.

We have heard recently how Christians in the state of Manipur, in India, are being persecuted, with many churches burned to the ground. We feel for the believers in Manipur and pray for God to protect them and help them.

I’m not sure how I would respond if faced with that sort of violence. I pray that we would never have to find out. Lord, save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

Isaiah 34, with its graphic description of God’s vengeance, may be confronting to many of us, but I imagine it is a comfort to those who are abused for their faith. It helps to know God will right the wrongs committed against his people.

Okay, so we have heard how owls are associated with death and the aftermath of God’s vengeance. But vengeance does not have the last word, for the prophets generally follow a message of judgement with a message of hope.

God’s salvation

God’s vengeance serves his greater plan of salvation. Later, in Isaiah, owls are depicted as honouring God.  From chapter 43, verses 18-21, we read…  

16 This is what the Lord says… 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

In a nutshell, Isaiah’s message in these verses is: don’t be blinded by the past, be open to the future.

There’s an advertisement on TV at the moment for Ford motorcars. It quotes Henry Ford saying: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said, faster horses.” Henry Ford was a man of vision, an innovator. He was not blinded by the past. He was open to the future and to new possibilities. 

Isaiah 43 was written for the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The exiles probably felt a bit like the owl; lonely and alienated, living in a spiritually desolate place, surrounded by evil. Remembering the stories of their past (how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt) had a soothing affect. The old familiar stories were a comfort, like a security blanket.

Isaiah was aware that dwelling on the past was holding people back. The past can become an idealised world into which we retreat when the future becomes too frightening to face. The Jewish exiles were at risk of looking so long at a door that had closed that they would miss the new door of salvation God was opening.

Don’t dwell on the past can also mean, let go of your hurt and anger. There is a time and place for contemplating God’s vengeance and for venting your rage but, once you have got it out of your system, don’t wallow in self-pity and resentment. Move forward. Don’t be blinded by the hurts of the past.

In verse 19 the Lord says: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  This is a call to be open to the future.

After some decades the Babylonian empire was conquered by the Medes who took a different approach. In 538 BC (around 50 years after the fall of Jerusalem) King Cyrus released the Jewish exiles, allowing them to return to their homeland to rebuild the Jerusalem temple.

On the one hand this was good news but, at the same time, it was also challenging. The Jewish exiles had become quite settled in Babylon. The prospect of picking up sticks and making a long journey through the wilderness to resettle in Palestine would have been daunting.

They were returning to ruins. They would have to rebuild from scratch. They needed reassurance and encouragement, so the Lord says…

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

God was promising to provide what the people needed to return and rebuild a new life in Jerusalem. 

Are you facing a daunting prospect at the moment? Are you facing challenges that feel overwhelming? Let me say to you: The Lord is able to make a way for you when you cannot see a way for yourself. Look to him to lead you.

The idea of God making a way in the wilderness continues in verse 20, where the Lord talks about the jackals and the owls honouring him because of the new thing he is doing.

Previously, in Isaiah 34, we read how the jackals and owls prowled among the ruins. They were associated with God’s vengeance, with chaos and evil spirits. Now, in chapter 43, Isaiah reintroduces the jackals and owls, not as sinister prowlers, but this time as giving honour to God. This is new and different.

The image here is one of salvation. Given that God can transform the owl from an omen of evil and death to a symbol of praise and new life, how much more will the Lord redeem his people.

Isaiah’s words are full of hope. The Lord Almighty is a creative, redemptive God, committed to the healing of his entire creation. Ultimately, even owls and jackals have a place, serving a positive purpose in God’s plan of salvation.

Conclusion:

The very things we dread and fear are often the things God uses to redeem us. We see the way of God’s salvation fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. God used the cross, an instrument of cruelty, vengeance and shame, to serve his purpose of forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation.

May the Lord bless you and keep. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you peace. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • How do you feel when you hear an owl (or Morepork) calling at night? What comes to mind when you think of an owl?
  • Why does God declare vengeance on Edom? What purpose does God’s vengeance serve? How might the idea of God’s vengeance help us to let go of our anger and forgive those who do harm?
  • Why does Isaiah tell the Jewish exiles to forget the former things? Are there things from the past you need to let go of? 
  • What is your life situation at the moment? Are you facing a daunting prospect? Are you facing challenges that feel overwhelming? Whatever your situation, can you sense God’s presence, making a way for you? If so, how?
  • In what way(s) is the characterisation of the owl in Isaiah 34, different from Isaiah 43? What does this change show us about God’s ultimate purpose?
Tawa Baptist

Secure

Scripture: 1st Peter 1:3-12

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Salvation secured
  • Faith tested
  • Prophecy revealed
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When you find yourself on holiday, browsing through a book store for that perfect summer read, you might look at the dust cover of a book to get an idea of what the story is about. The brief blurb does not tell you the whole story and it certainly won’t give away the ending, but it’s designed to whet your appetite and get you interested in reading further.

It’s similar with movies. Before the feature movie starts they usually play trailers advertising other movies. Just a small taster to sow a seed and invite your imagination in.

When you go to a friend’s home for dinner they normally greet you at the door with a warm welcome, a hug or a handshake and they offer you something to drink and some snacks before the full meal is served. The host wants to put you at ease and make you feel good about being there. That way you will let your defences down and simply enjoy the evening. 

Today we continue our new series (started last week) in the letter of 1st Peter. Today’s reading, from chapter 1, verses 3-12, is one long sentence in the original Greek. This passage is like the dust cover of the book, or the trailer of a movie, in that it gives you an idea of what’s in store in the rest of the letter. It whets your appetite and invites your imagination in.

Today’s reading is also like the warm welcome you receive when you go to a friend’s house for dinner, in that it puts you at ease. It’s like Peter is saying to his readers, ‘I know you. I understand your situation. I get where you’ve come from. We are friends.’ In this way Peter helps his readers to feel comfortable, so they will lower their defences and allow his words in. From 1st Peter chapter 1, verses 3-12, we read… 

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!In his great mercyhe has given us new birthinto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritancethat can never perish, spoil or fade.This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may result in praise, glory and honorwhen Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you,searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christin them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you,when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.Even angels long to look into these things.

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

There’s a lot going on in these verses. It is the theological equivalent of a Christmas cake – rich and thick. To help provide some clarity, I see this one long sentence in three parts:

Verses 3-5 are talking about salvation secured,

Verses 6-9 are about faith tested

And verses 10-12 touch on prophecy revealed.

First let’s consider the security of our salvation.  

Salvation secured:

Imagine you are driving your car along a country road in the rain. It’s been pouring for days and the paddocks either side of the road are flooded. You come round a bend and see the road in front of you is underwater. You stop for a moment to consider what to do.

You have been driving for hours and are in the middle of nowhere. If you go back the way you came you might run out of petrol, or find that the road you’ve just travelled has become impassable. But if you go forward you risk stalling the car and getting stuck underwater.

You decide to risk it and very carefully drive forward, hoping the water doesn’t get too deep. Your car handles the first 50 metres well enough but then there is a dip in the road, the car bonnet is submerged and the air intake starts sucking water. The engine cuts out and won’t start again. You are stranded.

Water is filling your car quickly now and as the tide rises, so does the feeling of panic. You climb out the window and on to the roof. There is no cell-phone reception. You are wet, cold and alone. It’s just a matter of time before the whole car goes under, so you try to swim to higher ground, but the current is too strong and sweeps you away. It’s all you can do to keep your head above water.

The torrent carries you downstream for some miles – you can’t be sure how far. By this stage you are exhausted and thinking, ‘so this is how it ends’. Then, in the distance, you see a bridge with people standing on it. Hope flickers in you like a distant star. You wave out to them. Maybe they can help.

The people on the bridge see you. One of them runs away only to return moments later with something. What is it? As the current carries you closer you recognise it is a rope. They are lowering a rope to you and yelling for you to grab hold of it as you float past.

You manage to get a hand on the rope and find they have conveniently made a loop in the end, so the rope will hold you like a harness. You feel the rope snapping tight and realise the people up on the bridge are pulling on it. All you have to do now is hold on. You hope the rope will hold your weight. You hope your rescuers are strong enough.

After the two longest minutes in your life your rescuers have you out of the water and on the bridge with them. You look round and see the rope was tied to a four-wheel drive all along. A four-wheel drive with a snorkel. That’s how they roll in the country. You are still cold and tired but you are not alone. You were as good as dead but now you live again. It’s going to be alright.

Hope is the belief that something good is waiting for us in the future. Or said another way, hope is the ability to imagine a good future. The rope lowered from the bridge symbolises hope. Hope is like a rope connecting the future to the present. Hope gives us something to hold onto in the present moment. When we are struggling to keep our head above water, hope connects us – it keeps us afloat and allows us to imagine a future with a good outcome.

In verse 3 of chapter 1, Peter praises God for his great mercy in giving us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. God (Father, Son & Spirit) is like the people on the bridge who threw you the rope. You were as good as dead and powerless to save yourself but God, in his mercy, threw you a life line. God saved you. He gave you new birth.

Jesus talked about this new birth in John 3, when Nicodemus came to see him at night. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again… Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 

Peter says we are born again into a living hope. If the people on the bridge had thrown a rope that was too short to reach, or too rotten to carry your weight, then that would be a dead hope. But the rope they threw you was long enough and strong enough and so it is a living hope. Meaning it is a hope that is sure and certain and secure. It is not a long shot, like winning Lotto. The rope of hope that God offers is a hope that will not disappoint.    

The thing that makes Christian hope living and sure is the resurrection of Jesus. Whenever Peter preaches in the book of Acts he talks about the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection was front and centre of the Christian message in the first century. Jesus’ resurrection is the anchor of Christian hope. Our hope of salvation is tied to the resurrection of Christ like the rope (in my story) was tied to the four-wheel drive. It is because Jesus has been raised from the dead to eternal life that our hope of eternal life is not just wishful thinking.

In verse 4 Peter goes on to say that our new birth is also into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – an inheritance kept in heaven for you.  

Just as people receive their ethnic identity, their citizenship, their socio-economic class (and so on) from their biological parents, Christians receive a new identity and a new citizenship from God (their heavenly Father) when they are born again. The new birth that God gives redefines the believers’ relationship with society and transforms their identity and character. [1]      

There’s a line in that great hymn Be Thou my Vision which reads: “Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise. Be thou my inheritance now and always.”

The most common form of inheritance in the Middle East, of the first century, was land. In the context of this world, land represents security.

Some of Peter’s listeners had likely been disinherited for choosing to follow Jesus. Others may have been driven from their homeland by persecution, due to their Christian faith. So they had essentially lost their inheritance in this world. They had lost their physical and material security.

What an affirmation and an encouragement it would have been to have Peter, a hero and an icon in the early church, saying they have a heavenly inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. An inheritance which is immortal, pure and beautiful – and therefore more secure, more valuable, than land.

Again we hear the echo of Jesus’ words, where the Lord says (in Matthew 6:19-21) 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,where moths and vermin destroy,and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus is talking about eternal security here. The most valuable part of our inheritance is Jesus himself. We want to be building a quality relationship with Jesus now (in this world) that will serve us well for all eternity. 

In verse 5 of chapter 1, Peter talks about the Christian believer being shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

The salvation Peter has in mind here is a deliverance from this world (which is hostile to God) and into God’s kingdom – a place where God’s will is done perfectly. For Peter, salvation is the coming inheritance, to which Christian believers are now fully entitled but do not yet fully possess. [2]   

Okay, so our salvation, our hope of eternal life, our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, is secure. The next thing I want to highlight is the way Christian faith is tested, as Peter describes in verses 6-9.

Faith tested:

Roald Dahl wrote a book called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s about a boy called Charlie who wins a golden ticket for a tour through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Charlie and his family are very poor and so the abundance of Mr Wonka’s chocolate factory fills young Charlie with awe and wonder.

Other children win tickets too and are allowed to take one adult with them on the tour. Little do they realise but Mr Wonka is trying to find someone to inherit his chocolate kingdom. He wants to give it all away to someone he can trust; someone who will trust him.

As the children make their way through the factory, one by one, they get themselves into trouble so they cannot finish the tour. It’s not that Mr Wonka is trying to catch them out. It’s just that in a chocolate factory trials and temptations are inevitable.

In the end, only Charlie and his Grandpa Joe are left. But they are disqualified for stealing fizzy lifting drink. Charlie proves himself faithful by handing the everlasting gob stopper back to Mr Wonka. ‘So shines a good deed in a weary world.’  

The analogy is not perfect, and should not be pressed too far, but in some ways God is a bit like Mr Wonka, wanting to share his kingdom with humanity. Likewise, Peter’s listeners are like Charlie, poor in material wealth but rich in genuine faith.

From verse 6 Peter writes: though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may result in praise, glory and honorwhen Jesus Christ is revealed.  

Gold, in the ancient world, was the most valuable material there was and one of the most durable too. Peter is comparing Christian faith to gold. He is saying genuine faith in Jesus is more valuable and more resilient than gold.

The grief and trials his readers have had to suffer are not cause for shame or disgrace. They should not think of their hardship as a punishment from God. Suffering does not mean God is unhappy with you. Nor is God going out of his way to make life difficult for people.

As one commentator put it, this life is not an obstacle course that we must get through in order to make it into heaven. Rather, suffering in a world that is opposed to the ways of God is inevitable and serves to prove the true value of your faith.

Now, we may not suffer in the same way that Christians did in the first century. While NZ society has (generally speaking) become less friendly to the church, we are not yet openly persecuted for our faith in Jesus. But we do still suffer. This life is difficult and being a Christian does not make one immune from trials and grief.  

Part of Peter’s message to us is that suffering provides an opportunity to test and prove genuine faith. Why are you a Christian? Is it just for the perks of forgiveness and grace? Is it just so you can get into heaven when you die? Or is it because you love and trust Jesus as your Lord and friend.    

Peter shows us that suffering can be a positive thing. Suffering for Christ leads to glory with Christ. For this reason, Christians can find nuggets of joy in the gravel of suffering.

Now the thing about faith and hope is that one trusts in what one cannot see. When Charlie handed the everlasting gob stopper back to Mr Wonka he could not see how that was going to play out. Charlie was simply doing what he believed to be right, in faith, that things would work out in the end. Likewise, when a person who is drowning is thrown a rope, they take hold of it in faith that it will hold their weight and save them. 

In verse 8 Peter admires his readers saying they love Jesus and believe in him even though they have never seen him. In some ways, their faith (and ours) is greater than Peter’s own faith, for Peter had seen Jesus, whereas his readers have not. As the risen Jesus said to Thomas, in John 20:29, Blessed are those who do not see [me] and believe. Peter’s readers are truly walking by faith and not by sight.

The inheritance of our salvation is secure and the presence of suffering is cause for joy because it tests and proves genuine faith. Which brings us to the third point of today’s message: Peter’s readers live at a time in history when the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus (the Messiah) have been revealed.  

Prophecy revealed:

Throughout this year, the government in New Zealand have based their COVID management decisions on scientific evidence. No one can predict the exact timing or circumstances in which a virus cluster might arise but, through contact tracing and community testing, we can gain some understanding of the patterns of the virus and when it is prudent to move up or down levels.

Modern science is also working hard to find a vaccine against the virus, so we do not have to keep running and hiding every time a cluster flares up. 

In many ways we are privileged to live at a time in history when science is able to reveal so much about the virus. When the bubonic plague broke out nearly 700 years ago, people simply did not have the technology to accurately identify it, let alone create a vaccine for it.   

In verses 8-9 Peter applauds his readers for believing in Jesus, even though they have not seen him. Although there is an element of not being able to see with faith, this does not imply there is no evidence for Christian faith. Faith in Jesus is based (in part) on the evidence of the Old Testament prophets.       

Peter observes how the prophets (people like Isaiah and Jeremiah and others) were able to predict the pattern that the Messiah would suffer and then be glorified. But they did not know the time and circumstances in which the things they predicted would take place.

Like the scientists of today, who are searching for a vaccine for COVID, the prophets of long ago searched intently and with greatest care to determine when and where the Messiah would turn up, but this was not revealed to them. It has however been revealed to us.

By recognising the Old Testament prophets in this way, Peter accomplishes a number of things at the same time. Firstly, Peter shows there is a continuity between the Old & New Testaments. The same Holy Spirit who empowered Christ and was poured out at Pentecost, is the same Spirit who pointed the prophets of old to the pattern of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.

This pattern was not an accident of history but was in fact designed and planned for, by God, all along. Despite the way things may appear, God is still in control and his purpose will be achieved in the end.  

Secondly, Peter is providing objective evidence for those believers who may have been struggling with doubts and thinking about chucking their faith away. The fact the Old Testament prophets predicted the pattern of Jesus’ suffering, death and glorification, confirms that Jesus is the Messiah and so their faith in Jesus is well placed. Not only that, but their current suffering confirms they stand in solidarity with Jesus – so they can take comfort in knowing they are on the right track.

Thirdly, for those who may be tempted to self-pity (due to their trials and grief), Peter points out how privileged they are; for they live at a time in history when the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus have been revealed. Something even angels long to look into.   

Conclusion:

The things Peter touches on here, at the beginning of his letter, whet our appetite and invite our imagination in. Verses 3-12, of chapter 1, show that Peter understands his readers. He knows where they have come from and where they are headed. 

The hope of our salvation is secure through Jesus’ resurrection.

The true value of our faith is tested and proved through suffering.

And we are privileged to live at a time in history when the ancient prophecy concerning Jesus, the Messiah, has been revealed.

Peter will develop these three ideas in the rest of his letter. 

What is the take away for you today?

Are you weary with grief and trials? Are you struggling to keep your head above water? Hold on to the rope of hope. Jesus is standing on the bridge holding the other end. He’s got you.

Suffering is not a sign that God has abandoned you. Suffering provides an opportunity for the refining of our faith. It is an opportunity to show God that you love him for who he is and not just what he gives.

We don’t know how lucky we are to live at this time in history.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

 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?

Peter says God has given us ‘new birth’. What are we born again into? What are the implications of this new birth for us?

What is hope? In what sense is hope like a rope? Where is your hope placed? (What rope are you holding onto?) Why is Jesus’ resurrection important to Christian hope?

Peter talks about an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. What does he mean by ‘inheritance’?

What purpose/meaning does Peter give to suffering? How might this inform (or transform) the way we interpret our own suffering? Why are you a Christian?

What three things may we glean from Peter’s reference to the prophets in verses 10-12? 

Take some time this week to reflect on (and give thanks for) the privileges we enjoy at this time in history.  

[1] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 81.

[2] Refer Karen Jobes, page 88.

Tawa Baptist

Once were Zombies

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

Title: Once were Zombies

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Once were Zombies
  • God’s salvation

o   God’s salvation changes our relationship with Him

o   God’s salvation changes our spiritual environment

o   God’s salvation changes our condition

  • Conclusion – God’s character

 

Introduction:

On the wall here we have a list of movie titles

–         28 Days Later

–         Black Sheep

–         World War Z

–         I am Legend

–         Pathogen (and)

–         Warm Bodies

–         Can anyone tell me what these movies share in common?

That’s right – they all have Zombies in them

–         A Zombie is a fictional creature – they don’t exist except in the movies

–         Zombies used to be human but have lost their humanity (usually through a virus) and essentially become the walking dead

The script for most Zombie films that I’ve seen (and to be fair I haven’t seen that many) usually involves a remnant of people who are struggling to survive the Zombie apocalypse

–         And survival normally involves lots of guns and shooting – with the human survivors destroying the Zombies to save themselves

But the better Zombie films usually try to create some redemption and hope by having the hero and heroine find a cure to reverse the Zombie virus or at least give people immunity from it

 

This morning we continue our series in Ephesians by focusing on chapter 2, verses 1-10

–         In this section Paul talks about God’s salvation of us

–         Paul contrasts the way the Ephesians believers used to be, before God acted to save them, with the way they are now

–         Before believing in Christ’s death & resurrection we were essentially like Zombies – the walking dead

–         But with Christ we are raised to new life and our humanity is restored

–         From Ephesians 2, verse 1, we read…

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to walk when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following the desires of body and mind. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

This reading is essentially about God’s salvation of us

Once were Zombies:

Paul begins by describing our situation before God saved us – we were once Zombies – the walking dead

–         In verse 1 Paul says we were dead in our transgressions and sins

–         We tend to think of death in physical terms – when someone’s heart stops beating and their brain function ceases

–         But that’s not what Paul means here by death

–         Often when the Bible talks about death it refers to spiritual death

–         If eternal life is union with God, or intimacy with God, then death is separation, or alienation, from God

–         Someone might still be breathing and walking around, (even able to run marathons) apparently going about their life like normal, but if they are estranged from God then they are dead, spiritually speaking

We see this in Genesis – God told Adam & Eve they would die if they disobeyed Him by eating the forbidden fruit

–         Then, after they ate the fruit, God sent them away from the Garden of Eden and they lost their close connection with the Lord

–         Adam & Eve didn’t die physically for a long time – but they lost the intimacy they previously had with God

–         Sin was the virus that entered the human race and made us Zombies so that we lost an important part of our humanity, our connection with God

–         That’s not to say we have completely lost our humanity but we have missed the mark God intended for us – we have gone astray

The word ‘sin’ actually means to miss the mark and the word ‘transgression’ means to cross a boundary that shouldn’t be crossed, to leave the path and lose our way

 

One of the things about Zombies is that they don’t know they are Zombies

–         Their self-awareness isn’t working all that well – they are obtuse

–         Zombies are driven by an insatiable desire which they can’t control

–         Zombies are consumers in the extreme, following their own cravings without regard for anyone else. We live in a consumerist society.

 

In vs. 2 Paul continues to describe the situation we were in before God saved us

–         We followed the ways of this world

–         We followed the ways of the ruler of the air (i.e. Satan)

–         And, in verse 3, we followed the desires of our mind and body

–         The old fashioned expression for that unholy trinity is ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’

–         Like Bob Dylan said, ‘You gotta serve somebody’

–         If we don’t follow God (if we don’t serve Him) then we will end up serving something far less – the world, the flesh and the devil

–         And when that happens we essentially become slaves to evil

 

In verse 3 Paul continues his summary of our situation before God saved us by saying, ‘Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.’

–         ‘Like the rest’ says we are not better than anyone else, the ground at the foot of the cross is level, we all have the same zombie pedigree

–         ‘By nature’ describes what we become when left to our own devices

–         ‘By nature’ stands in contrast to ‘by grace’ which we’ll come to shortly

To be an ‘object of wrath’ means to be destined for the garbage heap or headed for destruction

–         If I make a mistake on a piece of paper I might screw it up and throw it in the bin – the paper is an object of wrath

–         Or if my car keeps breaking down and costs too much to keep on the road then I might sell it to the wreckers – the car becomes an object of wrath

–         I’m not necessarily angry with the paper or the car, it’s just that they are headed for destruction

Now the word ‘wrath’, in the English language at least, has associations with powerful and destructive anger

–         Wrath makes us think of someone flying off the handle or losing their rag, going into a rage

–         We need to distinguish human wrath from God’s wrath

–         Although Paul doesn’t attach God’s name to the wrath in this context, God’s wrath seems to be implied – certainly Paul isn’t shy about talking of God’s wrath in other letters he wrote

–         It is important to understand that God’s wrath is not an arbitrary reaction, nor an impersonal process, like human wrath can be

–         God doesn’t fly off the handle in a rage or lose his rag

–         John Stott describes God’s wrath as his ‘constant hostility to evil, his settled refusal to compromise with it and his resolve to condemn it’

–         The idea of God’s wrath shouldn’t scare us – it should comfort us

–         God’s wrath is an appropriate and measured response to injustice

–         God’s wrath means that God won’t abide evil, at least not forever

–         God’s wrath means evil will ultimately be destroyed but first God wants to redeem his good, albeit damaged and fallen, creation

In a nutshell then, we were once like zombies – dead in our sins, slaves to the world, the devil and the desires of our own mind & body and, because of our union with evil, we were objects of wrath on a path to destruction

 

Now, as someone who didn’t grow up in a Christian household, and who still feels an affinity with non-Christians, I’m a bit uncomfortable with the strength of Paul’s language in these verses

–         To say your non-Christian friends and family are akin to zombies is kind of offensive – it makes me cringe

–         And although Paul doesn’t exactly use the word ‘zombie’, that’s pretty much what he is describing when he talks about the walking dead

Three things I would like to say in Paul’s defence…

–         Firstly, Paul himself is very quick to point out that Christian believers are in no position to look down on unbelievers

–         In no way can we claim to be superior or ‘holier than thou’ because we have all been like zombies at some point in our life, to some degree

–         What’s more Paul emphasises the fact we are saved by God’s grace, not by any virtue or merit on our part – therefore we cannot boast

–         We may be luckier than some but we’re not better

–         The second thing is that Paul, more than most, had a genuine desire to see people of all creeds and races come to faith in Christ

–         Paul suffered greatly so that zombies like me could become human again

–         And the third thing to say in Paul’s defence is that his language is accurate – Paul doesn’t mean to be offensive – he’s simply being honest

–         To really appreciate what God has done to save us, in Christ, we must first realise how bad the problem was

–         Sin created a zombie apocalypse and God provided the remedy in Christ

 

God’s salvation:

Okay, so we were once zombies, before God saved us

–         What then does it mean to be saved by God?

–         Well, it means a number of things – God’s salvation is not one dimensional, there are many facets to God’s salvation

–         Three dimensions in particular to be aware of from today’s reading…

o   Salvation brings about a change in our relationship with God

o   A change in our spiritual environment

o   And a change in our condition

–         First let’s consider salvation as a change in our relationship with God

God’s salvation changes our relationship with God:

In verses 4 & 5 we read that God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions

–         Remember to be dead, in a spiritual sense, means to be separated from God – therefore to be made alive means to have our union with God restored

–         Eternal life isn’t just about living forever – eternal life describes a certain quality of relationship with God

One of the things about zombies is they don’t talk – they don’t have any means of communication and so they aren’t capable of real intimacy

Intimacy is about being close with someone – it’s about sharing yourself with them and letting them share themselves with you

–         Intimacy requires us to trust the other person – to lower our defences and make ourselves vulnerable

–         It also requires honesty and a deep respect for the other person who is putting their trust in us

–         With intimacy we let the other person in and a common understanding forms, an understanding too deep to express with words

–         Intimacy is the antidote to loneliness and alienation

–         One of the biggest diseases (killers) in our society today is loneliness and the feeling of alienation that comes with it

Now the important thing to note here is that we are made alive with Christ

–         When God raised Christ from the dead all those who believe in Christ were raised from spiritual death too

–         So it’s through Christ and His Spirit that God restores the communication and intimacy with us

Imagine you’ve been walking around, lost in the desert for days – your water bottle has run out and you’re extremely dehydrated

–         As a consequence you are having hallucinations and seeing mirages

–         You’re just not sure what is real anymore

–         Eventually you fall down, unable to go any further, and as you lie on the ground panting for breathe, a man rides up to you on a camel

–         He gets off his animal, bends down and offers you a drink

–         At this point you have a choice – you can either trust that he is real and not another hallucination, accept his kindness, drink the water and live

–         Or you can refuse to believe he is real, not trust his water and die

–         We are raised with Christ – we are saved by believing that Jesus’ resurrection is real and accepting his Spirit for our parched soul

–         You see, the real thirst of our soul is to be close to God – to share in His life, to drink His Spirit

 

God’s salvation changes our spiritual environment:

Another dimension to God’s salvation is that it changes our spiritual environment. In verse 6 of Ephesians 2 we read…

–         And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…

Last week we celebrated Jesus’ Ascension. Forty days after his death & resurrection Jesus ascended to the heavenly realms

–         The ‘heavenly realms’ refer to the spiritual realm – which we can’t see or hear or measure but which is still very real

–         Paul is saying that what is true for Christ is true also for those who believe in Christ

–         Just as Christ ascended, so too we who are in Christ have ascended to another spiritual realm

–         Physically we are still here on earth, but spiritually we have changed sphere’s or environments

For those who watch the Netflix show, ‘Stranger Things’, it’s like we used to live in the ‘upside down’ (spiritually speaking) but God saved us by transferring us to the world above

Or if Charles Dickens is more your thing, it’s like we used to live in a slum with a gang of pick pockets who answered to a criminal called Fagin but now we have been delivered to a better, healthier environment – one in which we are not forced to steal to survive

Or if fiction is not your thing, then it’s like we used to live in a refugee camp but now we have been granted citizenship to live in a land which is free of poverty and injustice

Or it’s like we were soldiers, fighting in a war overseas we wanted nothing to do with, but now we have been released from our tour of duty and are free to return home to live in peace

Or it’s like we were born in prison, where might is right and it is survival of the fittest, but now we have been released into a society where weakness is met with compassion and the measure of success is how well we treat the least

As I said a couple of weeks’ ago – Christian conversion is ‘in Christ’

–         When we become a Christian we are entering a new spiritual realm

–         We leave the realm of Satan and enter the realm of Christ – and Jesus is a far kinder and more just ruler than the devil

 

In Paul’s mind salvation means a restored relationship with God and entry into a new spiritual environment, one in which we can thrive

–         God’s salvation also changes our condition, our self

 

God’s salvation changes our condition:

If we were once zombies then God’s salvation is the process of restoring our humanity to its fullness

–         God originally made us in His image and he declared us to be ‘very good’

–         We became infected by sin and the image of God was damaged – we lost something of our humanity and became like the walking dead

–         God’s salvation includes re-creating us in His image

In verse 10 Paul writes…

–         For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Again we note that the environment in which God creates us is ‘in Christ’

–         Just as God creates a baby inside a woman’s womb, so too we are created inside Christ

And our creation is meaningful (not accidental) – we are created for a purpose

–         Previously we walked in sin, but now we are to walk in good works

–         To walk in ‘good works’ means we live our life in a way that points to God and reflects His image

–         Paul is quite clear (in verse 9 and other places) that ‘good works’ are not the means of our salvation but rather the outcome

–         Twice in our reading today Paul says we are ‘saved by grace’

–         In other words God’s salvation is a gift – we don’t do anything to earn it

–         God’s grace is the root of our salvation, good works are the fruit

 

Conclusion:

So God’s salvation changes our relationship with him, it changes our spiritual environment and it changes our condition

 

We may well ask, why did God save us? After all, as zombies, we had nothing to offer – we were not at all attractive and we were powerless to save ourselves

–         God saved us because that’s who he is – saving us was simply Him being true to His character – to not save us would be a denial of Himself

 

Verses 4-10 of Ephesians 2 are peppered with words which describe God’s character and motivation

–         Verse 4 tells us, God made us alive with Christ because of his great love for us, and because, He is rich in mercy

–         Verse 7 tells us, God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms…to show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

–         And verse 10, For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus…

–         God is a craftsman, an artist, who enjoys making things

–         So God saves us because He is loving, merciful, gracious, kind & creative

As creatures made in God’s image – we are to emulate God’s character

–         Like God, our good work (the way we live our lives) is to be loving, merciful, gracious, kind and creative.

 

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.)    Do you have a favourite Zombie movie? What is it and why do you like it?

3.)    What was our situation / condition before God saved us?

–         What does Paul mean by death in Ephesians 2:1?

4.)    What is God’s wrath?

–         Why is God’s wrath a comfort to us?

5.)    What does it mean to be ‘made alive with Christ’?

6.)    What does it mean to be ‘raised with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms’?

7.)    What does it mean that we are ‘God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works’?

8.)    Take some time this week to reflect on the words Paul uses to describe God’s character

–         How might we emulate God’s character in our daily lives?

Tawa Baptist

Kings & Priests

Scripture: Psalm 132

 

Title: Kings & Priests

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • A place to call home (King David)
  • A call to worship (Priests)
  • Conclusion – Jesus (King & Priest)

 

Introduction:

Once there was a young man smitten with a beautiful girl

–         She was somewhat indifferent to him though, and careless with his feelings in the way pretty girls can afford to be, but this didn’t deter him

–         When the young man heard the girl’s birthday was coming up he told her he would send her a bouquet of flowers, one for each year of her life

–         Later that afternoon he called the local florist and ordered 21 roses, with instructions that they be delivered on the girl’s birthday

 

As the florist was preparing the order he decided, that since the young man was such a good customer, he would put an extra dozen roses in the bouquet, bringing the total to 33

–         The girl didn’t take it so well and fortunately for the young man, he never heard from her again

–         Years later he found someone else better able to reciprocate his love [1]

 

This morning we return to our series on the Songs of Ascents

–         These songs were probably sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their way to the temple in Jerusalem for various religious festivals

–         They are songs for the journey home to God

 

Our focus today is psalm 132 – It is a kind of a duet in two halves

–         The first half is essentially a prayer asking God to remember King David and his plans to build a house for the Lord

–         While the second half details the Lord’s response to this prayer

–         Like the florist in the story, God answers by giving his people more than they asked for or imagined.

–         Sometimes His ‘more’ may seem like a set back to us – but in the long run it proves better. From the NIV we read…

 

1 Lord, remember David and all his self-denial. 2 He swore an oath to the Lord, he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 “I will not enter my house or go to my bed, 4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5 till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6 We heard of it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar:7 “Let us go to his dwelling place, let us worship at his footstool, saying,8 ‘Arise, Lord, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. 9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your faithful people sing for joy.’” 10 For the sake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one. 11 The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne. 12 If your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever.”13 For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling, saying, 14 “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it. 15 I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food. 16 I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her faithful people will ever sing for joy.17 “Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. 18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown.”

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

A place to call home:

There’s been a lot in the news lately about housing shortages, especially in Auckland but also in other main centres

–         Tawa has seen a bit of development as well

–         For some years now new houses have been going in around the Woodman Drive area

–         More recently a sub-division has been going ahead at Kenepuru

–         And we hear of plans for medium density housing around the Tawa Junction area

–         People are wanting room – a place to call home, space to dwell and rest

–         And for many that involves sacrifice & self denial just to save enough for a deposit

 

Psalm 132 begins with the psalmist remembering David’s self denial before the Lord

 

To remember means more than just re-calling to mind a thought from the past

–         The kind of remembering the psalmist is doing here is tangible and practical – like when someone ‘remembers you in their will’ – they actually do something for you

–         On ANZAC day we remember the self denial and sacrifice of soldiers by taking a day off work and holding dawn services to pay our respects

–         More than this though we don’t take our freedom for granted

–         In NZ when someone reaches the age of 65 the government remembers their years of tax paying and contribution to society by giving them a weekly superannuation payment and a gold card

–         We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us – we appreciate the benefits their self denial has brought

 

So when the psalmist says, Lord, remember David and all his self-denial, I think he is letting God know that he values the legacy David has left

–         He doesn’t take David’s self denial for granted

–         It’s kind of a thanksgiving for what David did in the past

 

Verses 2-5 detail David’s vow to find a place for the Lord

–         David plans to deny himself – he won’t rest until he has made room for God

 

What then does it mean to find a place for the Lord?

–         After all, God fills the universe – how can David possibly create a dwelling for God?

–         That would be like me thinking I could dig a hole large enough to contain the oceans of the world

 

David is well aware that God cannot be contained in a house – God will not be domesticated

–         More than likely psalm 132 has the events of 2nd Samuel chapters 6 & 7 in mind when David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem

 

This is a picture of what the Ark of the Covenant might have looked like

–         For Israel the Ark embodied the holy presence & rule of the Lord God

–         It was also a tangible reminder of God’s covenant with Israel as it contained the 10 commandments

 

Since its construction in the wilderness the Ark had been kept in a tent

–         Having the embodiment of God’s presence travelling around in a tent showed the people that God wasn’t tied down to one specific location

–         For many years the Ark had sat in obscurity on someone’s farm until David thought to bring it Jerusalem

–         Then, once David had brought the Ark to the capital, it began to bother him that the Ark was kept under canvas while he lived in a flash palace

–         So when David talks about finding a place for the Lord, he means he wants to provide better accommodation for the Ark – he wants to bring it to Jerusalem and build a temple to house it

 

Interestingly God is referred to (in verse 5) as “the Mighty One of Jacob”

–         Jacob was famous for wrestling with God all night as he returned home after many years away

–         Perhaps there is an association here with David wrestling or struggling in his efforts to find a place for the Lord to dwell

–         Certainly it wasn’t an easy thing bringing the Ark to Jerusalem

–         It took David two attempts and a man died in the process

–         Not only that but David became estranged from one of his wives

 

David also wrestled with God over building a temple to house the Ark

–         David lost sleep over this issue – it kept him up at night, just as the angel of the Lord kept Jacob up all night in a wrestling match

 

I think there is a point of application here for us today

–         In our busy lives God often gets crowded out and like David it requires some self denial and commitment on our part to create room for God

 

Let me illustrate what I mean…

–         One of the consequences of more housing in Tawa is more pressure on infrastructure and roads

–         The intersection on the Main Rd and Surrey St, just outside the church here is a case in point

–         The Council would like to put a roundabout there to help traffic flow

–         And while there are some benefits for the wider community in having a roundabout those benefits come at a cost to the church – in particular its looking likely that we will lose around a dozen car parks give or take

–         The Council have been really good in talking with us about how we can minimise the loss of parks – they have gone out of their way to help us by seeking to free up other parks nearby

–         Obviously we would want to reserve the closest parks for the elderly, for those with young children and for visitors or newcomers

–         But there will be some who may have to deny themselves by parking further away in Oxford St, for example

 

Now the church doesn’t exist for itself – we are here for Jesus and for the world that God loves – so I’m not protesting against the roundabout

–         If it benefits the wider community then perhaps we need to see the loss of parking as part of our mission of being a blessing to the world

 

I’m also aware that having to park a little further away is a relatively minor inconvenience, especially when compared with the events in Manchester this past week

–         But although it’s a relatively small thing it is yet another thing in a long list of things which put distance between the church and society and make it more difficult for people to attend worship services

 

The loss of parks seems to me to be a kind of parable in that it illustrates what’s happening on a larger scale in NZ today

–         Incrementally, over time, God and the church are getting crowded out of our society by all sorts of things, like work & sports and other stuff

–         At the same time there is a growing distance between the church and society: the church often holds values which are at odds with society and we Christians cringe at the way the church is misrepresented in the media

–         Our society is generally less accommodating to God and the church (as we’ve seen with CRE) and so it is becoming harder to be a Christian

–         Therefore we who believe in Jesus need to be more intentional, more committed in making a place in our own lives for God to dwell

–         Like David, it is going to require more self denial on our part, to build a bridge between church and society

 

Returning to psalm 132: Despite David’s good intentions the Lord God did not want David to build a house (or a temple) for Him

–         Instead, the Lord would build a house (as in a royal dynasty) for David

 

In verses 2-5 David makes a vow to God, now in verses 11-12 God makes a vow to David, saying…

–         “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne…”

–         The Lord is referring here to Solomon

–         David would not be the one to build a temple for the Lord, but his son Solomon would

 

God then goes on to make a conditional promise to David…

–         “If your sons keep my covenant… then their sons will sit on your throne forever…”

 

This was a pretty big deal

–         Moses’ sons didn’t become the leaders of Israel after him

–         Nor did Joshua’s or Samuel’s or Saul’s

–         This was new – David had no reason (in history) to think that his descendants would be king after him

–         Here God is giving David far more than he ever asked for or imagined

–         We can’t out give God – He is too generous

 

A call to worship:

When I was about 6 my dad decided to build a swimming pool in our backyard

–         My dad likes a project and he is pretty handy at that sort of thing

–         It was 1976 so the pool was kidney shaped and deep enough to dive into

–         Anyway, dad decided he wouldn’t get a digger in to excavate the hole for the pool but would dig it out himself by hand

 

When we started I thought that with my help we could dig the hole in a day, but I quickly learned I had overestimated my digging ability

–         Despite all my efforts it took me most of the morning to shift half a cubic metre with my little spade

–         In the end my contribution was fairly modest and I had to adjust the timeframe I had in mind for completion of the project

 

We worked on digging that hole for weeks but it was worth it in the end

–         We got so much fun and enjoyment out of that pool

–         Of course it’s the end you need to keep in mind when you are shovelling clay – it’s the end that keeps you going

–         The interesting thing is that when the end is in sight you find a second wind – an extra burst of energy in anticipation of realising your goal

 

For the Jewish pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem to worship the Lord the journey was perhaps a bit like digging out the hole for the pool by hand

–         They didn’t fly there in a plane or drive there in a car or ride on a train

–         They typically walked, sometimes a very long way

–         This wasn’t a journey they could knock off in a day – it might take weeks depending on where they had come from

–         But by keeping the end in mind – thinking about the temple in Jerusalem – they found the strength to keep going

 

Returning to verse 6…

–         Ephrathah and Jaar refer to the region around Bethlehem, David’s hometown – Bethlehem is quite close to Jerusalem, about 9 km’s away

 

Verses 7-9 appear to be a call to worship

–         As the Jewish pilgrim’s walk through the fields of Jaar they know they are getting close, the end is in sight and they get a second wind, so they say: “Let us go to his dwelling place…” that is, to the Lord’s temple

–         “Let us worship at his footstool” – his footstool being the Ark

 

Verse 8 recalls the time of the Exodus from Egypt when Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years

–         The Lord God led the people by a pillar of cloud and fire

–         Each time the pillar moved the Israelites would pick up the Ark and say,

–         Arise, Lord, and come to your resting place, you & the ark of your might.

–         They were essentially asking God to bring them home to the Promised Land

 

Verse 13 of psalm 132 tells us the Lord chose Zion for his dwelling – his resting place

–         For the psalmist, in the Old Testament, Zion equated to Jerusalem – basically the main centre from which God ruled

–         For us Christians though Zion isn’t limited to geographic Jerusalem – it is essentially anywhere that God reigns

–         So Zion is a code word for God’s kingdom – the kingdom of heaven

 

Verse 15 tells us that where God reigns (where His kingdom has come) there is abundance and no poverty

–         I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food

–         Verse 15 is looking forward to the realisation of God’s kingdom in its fullness when everyone will have enough

–         We haven’t got there yet, we are still digging the hole, still fighting against hunger and poverty in our time – and so the underlying assumption of the economic system we live under is scarcity

–         But this is not what the end looks like at all – the underlying assumption of God’s kingdom (of Zion) is abundance

–         What was it Jesus said? I have come that you may have abundant life

 

In connection with worshipping at God’s footstool (at the Ark) we have the prayer (in verse 9) that the Lord’s priests be clothed with righteousness;

–         The Lord responds positively to this desire in verse 16 saying…

–         I will clothe her priests with salvation, & her saints will ever sing for joy

 

These two verses are almost identical, except that in one the priests are clothed in righteousness while in the second the priests are clothed in salvation

–         Righteousness means ‘right relationship’ – dealing with people in a way that is fair and kind.

–         While salvation means being given abundant life, as opposed to being destroyed or excluded

–         Salvation comes in many forms: physical healing, forgiveness of sins, peace in our relationships, deliverance from evil, the eradication of poverty, acceptance into God’s family and so on

–         In the Bible righteousness & salvation are not things we achieve by our own efforts – they are gifts from God received by faith – by trusting God

–         Having said that God still likes to involve us in the process

 

When I was digging the hole for the pool with my Dad and my Pop, they pretty much did all the work – my contribution was quite small really and yet I probably got more use and enjoyment out of the pool than they did

–         It’s a bit like that with God’s gifts of righteousness and salvation – God does most (if not all) of the spade work but he still accepts what we bring

 

One of the key roles of the priests was to mediate God’s forgiveness to the people through the sacrificial system

–         The priests were there to help restore righteousness – that is to restore people to right relationship with God and between people

–         Priests that are clothed in righteousness therefore are priests who are able to mediate forgiveness because they themselves have been forgiven and stand in right relationship with God

 

Closely related to their role in mediating God’s forgiveness, the priests also had a role in mediating God’s salvation

–         The priests were a bit like doctors (except without the science)

–         The priests didn’t necessarily heal people but they had the authority to declare someone clean after they had been healed or purified

–         We read about this in the gospels. After Jesus healed some lepers he told them to show themselves to the priest so they could be declared clean and re-join the community

 

The Jewish priests wore special garments in carrying out their priestly duties – but wearing a special costume doesn’t make the priest fit to cleanse people, any more than wearing a surgical gown makes me fit to remove an appendix

 

The people’s prayer was for their priests to be clothed in righteousness

–         But in verse 16 God responds by saying, I can do better than that. I will give you priests who are clothed in salvation – that is, priests who mediate my power to heal and cleanse

 

The other part of the prayer in verse 9 is that God’s faithful people sing for joy

–         Worship should not be a loveless duty

–         Singing for joy is the icing on the cake – it speaks of a life that is overflowing with gratitude for the goodness of God

–         God’s response in verse 16 is that Zion’s faithful people (those who submit to God’s reign) will ever sing for joy

–         Once again God answers his people’s prayer with more than they asked for or imagined – their joy will be forever, without end

–         The grind of digging the hole for the pool may last for weeks but the joy of using it lasts a lifetime

 

Conclusion:

Psalm 132 concludes by looking forward in hope to God’s ‘anointed one’

–         ‘Anointed One’ in Hebrew is Messiah

–         As Christians we believe Jesus is the Messiah

 

We find three images for Jesus the Messiah in verses 17 & 18:

–         Horn, lamp and crown

 

Horn is an image of strength

–         Lamp is an image of clarity (or truth & wisdom)

–         And crown is an image of royal dignity – not just power but holiness too [2]

 

Verse 18 tells us that the Messiah’s head will be adorned with a radiant crown

–         The original Hebrew literally reads, ‘his crown will blossom’ [3]

–         Unlike the glitter of a man-made crown which looks pretty but is still dead, God will adorn Jesus’ head with the crown of life

–         God’s Messiah will be King over life and death

–         The poetry here is pointing forward to Jesus’ resurrection life

 

The poetry is also pointing back to Aaron, the high priest of Israel during Moses’ time

–         You may remember how God caused the wooden staff of Aaron to bud and blossom as a way of accrediting Aaron’s ministry as his priest

 

For Christians the connection is intuitive

–         In and through Jesus, God’s promises are fulfilled

–         Jesus replaces the Ark of the Covenant – he is the embodiment of God’s power & presence

–         Jesus is the ideal priest clothed in righteousness and salvation with power to forgive sins and to bestow abundant life

–         Jesus is David’s greater son who, following his resurrection from the dead, ascended to heaven where he sits enthroned in Zion

–         And Jesus is God’s answer to his people’s prayers – an answer far more generous and far better than we asked for or imagined

–         In short, Jesus is our hope and joy

 

Let us pray…

 

 

[1] Adapted from a story found in the book “The bells! The Bells!” compiled by Mark Stibbe, page 70.

[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, page 488.

[3] Ibid.

Tawa Baptist

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch

Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

 

Title: The Gospel as Treasure

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Recently Robyn & I were fortunate enough to spend a week in Taupo

–         While we were there we came across a pamphlet detailing the top 10 walking tracks around the Taupo area

–         One of these walks was up Mount Tauhara, which is the mountain you can see tucked behind the Taupo township

–         I was quite keen to climb this mountain so Robyn and I came to a mutual agreement that she would go shopping for a mothers’ day present for my mum while I went climbing (climbing is less exhausting than shopping)

 

Anyway, Mt Tauhara isn’t that tall – the summit is only 1,088 meters and the track begins half way up anyway – but it is pretty steep all the way

–         I smashed it – got the top in 1 hour – which isn’t bad for an old guy

 

At the top a woman, with her three kids, laid down a painted rock

–         She explained to the rest of us there what she was doing

–         The idea is to paint a rock and then write on the back # the name of your town Rocks

–         For example, we might write #TawaRocks or if you come from Dunedin you would write #DunedinRocks

 

You hide the rock somewhere that people are likely to find it and then the finder snaps a photo holding it, uploads the photo onto social media, and re-hides it for someone else to find

  • – It’s sort of like a treasure hunt – except you don’t keep the treasure for yourself, you pass it on for others
  • – Apparently one rock which started in NZ has ended up in Italy

 

Today is the first of three Sundays when we promote Tranzsend’s prayer and self-denial campaign

–         Tranzsend supports and resources NZ Baptist missionaries serving overseas

–         The theme for this year’s self-denial campaign is treasures handed down

–         Jesus is the greatest treasure God gave the world and one of the main ways that Jesus is handed down to us is through the gospel

 

The word gospel simply means ‘good news’

–         In particular it refers to the good news that, through faith in Jesus, God accepts us

 

The gospel also refers to the four accounts of Jesus’ life and work, which we read about in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

–         In many ways though the whole Bible points to Jesus – both the Old Testament and the New Testament – it’s all about Christ

–         In fact, Jesus is the key to understanding the Bible

 

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch:

Please turn with me to Acts chapter 8, verse 26

–         You can find Acts 8 on page 161 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         The Scripture reading I’ve chosen to go with this theme, that the gospel of Christ is treasure, is the account of Philip’s conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch

–         This is sort of a painted rocks story in that the treasure of the gospel is passed on to a distant land

–         From Acts chapter 8, verses 26-40 we read…

 

26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.) 27-28 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” 30 Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. 32 The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:

“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,     like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.     He did not say a word. 33 He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.     No one will be able to tell about his descendants,     because his life on earth has come to an end.”

34 The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus. 36 As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?” 37

38 The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy. 40 Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

In my 20’s I got a job working for a Non-Government Organisation which supports people with disabilities to live in the community

–         Part of my role was to accompany people, who experienced disability, as they led awareness training

–         This involved visiting schools and workplaces so people could talk about their lives and their disability as a way of breaking down barriers and helping mainstream society to accept individual difference

 

One guy I worked with lived with cerebral palsy

–         Cerebral palsy can affect people in different ways but in his case his movement and speech was disrupted, which meant he used a wheelchair to get around and other people found his speech difficult to understand

–         Every other part of his anatomy was in good working order

 

Although he was quite intelligent and capable the sound of his voice created a barrier in other people’s minds so that he was often prejudged as inferior or people simply lost patience with him and wrote him off

–         Part of my job was acting as his interpreter

–         He would say something and I would repeat it so that those in the room who weren’t used to his voice could get his meaning

–         My job then wasn’t so much to help him – he didn’t need my help

–         My job was to help others to understand him

 

One thing I learned quite quickly was that disability is a social construct

–         By which I mean it wasn’t cerebral palsy that disabled this guy so much as the society in which he lived

–         Other people’s prejudice was more disabling to him than cerebral palsy

–         It was not being given a fair go that disabled him

 

Our passage from Acts today begins with an angel of the Lord telling Philip to go out into the wilderness to a lonely road

 

An angel of the Lord is basically a messenger sent by God

–         That’s what angel means, ‘messenger’

–         Receiving a visitation from an angel made it abundantly clear that God was in this

 

Philip was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples

–         When Jesus called Philip to follow him, the first thing Philip did was to introduce one of his friends (Nathanael) to Jesus [1]

–         Nathanael also became a disciple of Jesus

–         Some people are like Philip – they are the glue connecting people

 

Philip was known as an evangelist

–         Evangelism has almost become a swear word these days, which is quite sad because evangelism is actually a good thing

–         It is a word closely related to ‘gospel’ or good news

–         An evangelist is essentially someone who spreads good news

–         Or to put it another way: evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread

–         Philip is called an ‘evangelist’ because he was one man telling others in need they could find acceptance with God through faith in Jesus

 

Prior to being visited by an angel of the Lord, Philip had a very successful time telling the Samaritans the good news about Jesus

–         Crowds of people believed Philip’s message and became Christians by being baptised

 

It seems quite strange then that, after such a successful ministry in Samaria’s principal city, God would then send his star evangelist into the middle of nowhere

–         But Philip didn’t question God’s strategy – he simply trusted that God knows best and went where the Lord directed him

 

Travelling down this deserted road (at the same time as Philip) was an Ethiopian eunuch. What are the chances?

–         It’s a bit like finding a painted rock from Africa on the top of Mt Tauhara

 

Now when we hear the word Ethiopia we tend to think of famine and poverty and starving children

–         But in the ancient world Ethiopia was different to that – more wealthy

–         On today’s map it is located in North Sudan

–         So the Ethiopian eunuch was most likely a black African man

 

A eunuch is a man who has had his equipment (his tackle, his junk) removed or damaged so he can’t have children or even relate with a woman sexually

–         To a certain extent he has been disabled by the society he lives in

–         On the one hand a eunuch (if he was skilled enough) could rise to great power in government

–         This particular Ethiopian eunuch was something like the minister of finance in a very wealthy nation – so he was no slouch

–         But on the other hand eunuchs were also the subject of much derision and scorn – people made fun of them or despised them

 

I imagine it was a very isolated and lonely life being a eunuch

–         You could fall in love but you couldn’t marry or have children

–         You could rise to great power but only in the service of others

–         You could be very good at what you do but still have to endure sniggers and smirks behind your back from people far less capable than you

–         You could serve a very important purpose but never actually belong or be remembered. There was a certain injustice that came with being a eunuch

 

The Ethiopian eunuch had travelled a long way to Jerusalem to worship God

–         Somehow he had heard about the God of Israel and liked what he heard

–         Assuming he had been castrated though, under the Law of Moses, he could never belong to the congregation of God’s people [2]

–         He couldn’t even be circumcised and yet he did what he could to draw near to the Lord

–         He travelled to Jerusalem to worship God, he obtained a copy of the scroll of Isaiah the prophet (no doubt at great expense) and he read these holy Scriptures to know God better

 

It appears the eunuch’s visit to Jerusalem was somewhat disappointing

–         As Jesus had demonstrated, when he cleared the temple, the whole Jewish religious system was set up to exclude foreigners like this eunuch

–         No doubt his experience in Jerusalem had made it more difficult for the eunuch to understand the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament)

–         How might he relate with this wonderful, powerful, creative, redeeming, faithful God?

 

The Bible is difficult to understand

–         What is meant as good news often comes across as bad news or, even worse, as nonsense

–         Because the Bible is hard to understand many people these days lose patience with it and write it off as a myth or untrue

–         In this way they seek to disable the Scriptures

–         This is quite unfair to God (a denial of justice)

 

Part of our role as Christians is to interpret the meaning of Scripture for those (like the eunuch) who do genuinely want to understand what the Bible is saying

–         That’s one reason why we have Bible study groups – not just to improve our own knowledge but also to help others interpret the Scriptures

 

The guy I worked with, who had cerebral palsy, struggled with understanding the Bible and the Old Testament in particular

–         There are verses in the Old Testament which seem to us today to be quite unfair to those who live with disability.

–         For example, Leviticus 21 where it says…

 

No man with any physical defect may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured or deformed; no one with a crippled hand or foot; no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with an eye or skin disease; and no eunuch. 

 

If you live with a disability and you don’t understand the broader context of the Bible then words like these can very unhelpful – they sound like rejection

 

What we need to understand is that the Law of Moses is not the ideal and it was not meant to be permanent

–         God gave the Law to Israel as a provisional step towards restoring His ideal for creation [3]

–         There are a number of things the Law of Moses appears to condone which are far from ideal – like slavery for instance

–         Is slavery God’s ideal? No – of course not. But God couldn’t change everything all at once, it would be too much for people.

–         So God, in His grace and wisdom, meets people where they were at and regulates certain contemptible practices (like slavery) to protect the vulnerable

–         The Law of Moses was actually a huge moral advance for people living at that time in history but it was never the end goal – it was merely a stepping stone to the ideal

 

The prophets who came after Moses (like Isaiah & Jeremiah and all those guys) also provided a stepping stone, but ultimately we find God’s ideal in Christ

–         Jesus didn’t come to do away with the Law & prophets – he came to fulfil the Law – that is to restore God’s ideal for humanity

–         If the Law and the prophets were given to help transition us to God’s ideal then Jesus came to complete that transition

 

Jesus is the one who shows us what God’s ideal looks like

–         And when we look at Jesus’ attitude towards people who lived with disability we find it was one of acceptance and respect and empowerment

 

Returning to our friend the Ethiopian eunuch

–         God, who sees everything, is aware of the eunuch’s struggle with the Old Testament and acts to help him understand the full picture

–         The Holy Spirit says to Philip, Go over to that carriage and stay close it

–         Philip runs over beside the carriage – it would have been moving quite slowly so would not be hard to keep up with

–         And Philip hears the eunuch reading from the book of Isaiah (it was customary to read aloud in those times) so he asks the eunuch…

–         “Do you understand what you are reading?”

 

Socially speaking Philip and the eunuch were poles apart

–         The eunuch was high ranking and Philip was low ranking

–         They were also likely from a different cultural background

–         But that is often the way of Christ – he comes to us in weakness, when we least expect it and in the presence of someone quite different from us

–         Despite the social distance between them the eunuch is humble enough to admit he doesn’t understand and invites Philip to sit with him

–         By inviting Philip to sit beside him the eunuch closes the gap between them

 

The passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading was this…

 

“Like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered, like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off, he did not say a word. He was humiliated and justice was denied him. No one will be able to tell about his descendants because his life on earth has come to an end.”   

 

Interestingly the eunuch doesn’t ask Philip, what does this mean?

–         He already knows what it means from his own personal experience

–         The eunuch knows what it is to have parts of himself cut off

–         He understands humiliation and injustice

–         He is well aware that he can’t have descendants and that his life is coming to an end

–         He knows well enough what it is to be near the top and still feel like you don’t belong, still wonder what the meaning of your life is

–         He can identify with the one being written about in a very real way

–         So he asks Philip,

–         “…of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?”

–         Because whoever it is, the eunuch can relate to that person profoundly

 

Philip starts where the eunuch is at by explaining that the passage he is reading is talking about Jesus – Jesus is the key to understanding the Scriptures

–         Philip then goes on to explain the good news about Jesus – that through faith in Christ we can find acceptance with God

 

We can’t be sure of all that Philip talked about but given that the eunuch had a copy of Isaiah’s scroll on his lap it’s tempting to think that Philip pointed him to chapter 56 where Isaiah says…

 

A man who has been castrated [a eunuch] should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God’s people. The Lord says to such a man, “If you honour me… and if you do what pleases me and faithfully keep my covenant, then your name will be remembered… among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten.”

 

Do you see here how Isaiah moves beyond the Law of Moses?

–         The Law said a eunuch could not be part of God’s people but by the time of Isaiah God is saying the eunuch is able to belong

 

I can imagine Philip saying to the eunuch: the way we honour God, the way we please him, the way we keep his covenant is through faith in Christ. Put your trust in Jesus, believe in him, and you will find acceptance with God

–         You see, Jesus has fulfilled the law on our behalf and so being a foreigner and a eunuch is no longer a barrier

–         This was incredibly good news to the eunuch

 

As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water and the official said, “…What is to keep me from being baptised?”

–         In other words, I believe in Jesus and I’m willing to demonstrate my faith in Christ through baptism

–         God had clearly set this encounter up – he had clearly woven Philip’s and the eunuch’s lives together at just the right moment

–         So Philip baptised him

 

After the eunuch’s baptism the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away to preach the good news about Jesus in other places while the eunuch went on his way rejoicing because he had found acceptance with God through Jesus

 

We don’t hear any more about the Ethiopian eunuch (in the New Testament at least) but early Christian tradition, dating from Irenaeus in the second century, says that he went on to proclaim the good news about Jesus in Africa

–         The eunuch shared the treasure of the gospel he had been given

 

Conclusion:

Part of the work of our Tranzsend missionaries involves being a Philip to those around them – helping others to understand the good news about Jesus found in the Bible

[1] John 1:43-45

[2] Deuteronomy 23:1

[3] Refer to Paul Copan’s book, ‘Is God a Moral Monster’, pages 57-62.