Tawa Baptist

John’s Humility

Scripture: John 3:22-30

Video Link: https://youtu.be/yDbL-iH2iQg

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • John’s humility
  • How is humility formed?
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Imagine a can of peaches. Most people would agree the contents are more important than the label. The quality of the peaches inside the can matters more than the picture on the outside because you don’t eat the label, you eat the peaches. The label is still useful though, provided it is accurate.

(I’ve always found this brand to be good by the way.)

Today we continue our series on John the Baptist. Last week we heard about John’s magnum opus, his great work, of preparing people for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.

This morning we take a look inside the can of John’s character. John has the label of a wild man, living in the desert, preaching hell fire and repentance. But, underneath the tough exterior, there is a winsomeness to John which is quite lovely. From the gospel of John chapter 3, verses 22-30 we read…

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

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

This reading from John’s gospel gives us a glimpse inside John the Baptist’s character. What we find in the can, is not peaches, but the fruit of humility.

John’s humility:

Mother Teresa had this to say about humility…

Humility is the mother of all virtues… It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed, you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint, you will not put yourself on a pedestal.

Mother Teresa is not just speaking for herself here. She is reflecting Christian wisdom gleaned over centuries. Humility is about being completely honest with yourself. It’s about knowing who and what you truly are. Having an accurate estimation of yourself in relation to God and others. Humility, therefore, is about being real, authentic. 

Being humble is not about being self-effacing. Often, in kiwi culture, we cut ourselves down before anyone else has a chance. But humility, in the Bible, is not the same as self-sabotage.

A humble person is quietly self-affirming. They have a healthy self-awareness, without being self-absorbed. In other words, a humble person knows their own imperfections and limitations but still accepts themselves.

John the Baptist was humble. He knew who he was and what he was in relation to Jesus and others. 

After Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in the night, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside where they spent some time baptising people. Jesus’ disciples happened to be baptising in the same area that John was baptising, because that’s where the water was.

You may remember John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It was a sign of surrender to God and making a fresh start in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

By having his disciples baptise people, Jesus was showing his support for John’s ministry. Jesus was not competing against John. They were on the same team, like a batting partnership in cricket. 

As sometimes happens with intense religious people, who insist on being right, an argument developed between the disciples of John the Baptist and a certain Jew over ceremonial washing. We don’t know who this Jew was or precisely why he took issue with John’s baptism.

Given the details are not mentioned, it doesn’t matter, which serves as a lesson to us. Some things are not worth dwelling on or arguing about. A humble person knows when to let it go and walk away.

John is not drawn into a pointless argument. He is walking humbly with God. John is secure in the knowledge that he is doing what God wants him to do. He doesn’t have anything to prove.   

John’s disciples are not so secure. They are concerned that Jesus’ disciples are baptising more people. John’s disciples were loyal to John and felt jealous on his behalf, because Jesus was becoming more popular.

But John’s ego is not bruised by Jesus’ success. John is not proud. He is humble. John knows what he is in relation to Jesus. John replies with an accurate estimation of himself…

“A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’…”                     

In some ways, we are like tea pots. The tea pot does not make the tea. The tea pot is simply a vessel for holding and pouring the tea. Nor does the tea pot have any ownership rights over the tea. The very purpose of the tea pot is to share the tea.

In this analogy, God is the one who makes the tea. The tea pot (that’s each of us) can only receive what is given from heaven. As the apostle Paul said,

‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us’.

John was successful in the sense that people came to him in their thousands to listen to him preach and to be baptised. But that success wasn’t because of John. That success was given by God.  John was under no illusion. He knew that people came to him because he was serving the heavenly tea of God’s word. And he served the tea hot, not lukewarm.

In verse 29, John offers this metaphor to describe his relationship with Jesus.

29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

The bride in John’s analogy is the nation of Israel and the bridegroom is Jesus, the Messiah. The friend is John the Baptist. John is like Jesus’ best man at the wedding between the Messiah and Israel.

Notice here how humility opens the door for joy. The best man is not envious or covetous. He does not want to keep the bride for himself. The best man is happy to see his friend get married. 

As I’ve said before, joy is the positive energy that comes from hope. John has been waiting and listening for Jesus to come and be united with Israel. Now that is finally happening, John’s hope is realised and his joy is complete.  

John is genuinely pleased that the people are flocking to Jesus, for that means John has done his job.

And so we come to some of the most winsome words in the whole Bible. John says of Jesus, in verse 30: He must become greater; I must become less.

The best man has a key role to play in assisting the groom, both before the wedding and on the big day itself. But once the ceremony has taken place and the speeches are done, the best man slips away. After all, it was never about the best man.

He must become greater; I must become less, reveals more than just humility; it also reveals John’s self-giving love for Jesus. “It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent.”

John willingly gave his time and strength to prepare the way for Christ. And he was glad to give up his popularity for the sake of Jesus. Eventually he would give up his freedom and his life also. 

He must become greater; I must become less.

When I reflect on what that means for us, I am mindful of the people Tawa Baptist has donated to other churches and to the work of mission over the years. We have given away some of our best and brightest for the greater good of God’s kingdom. We have become less so that Jesus would become more.

Thinking on a personal level, He must become greater; I must become less, is the process of a lifetime really. It describes the journey of faith. Very few people give their whole life to Jesus all at once. Most of us give ourselves to Jesus incrementally (bit by bit). 

We do well to remember, with thankfulness, those who have acted as a John the Baptist in our lives; introducing us to Jesus and then becoming less so he can become more.

We do even better to consider who we might be a John the Baptist for.

If you are a Sunday school teacher or a youth group leader or a parent, then you can be like John the Baptist for those in your care. You know you won’t have these young ones forever. They will grow up and move on. But while they are with you, you can point them to Jesus.  

Likewise, when you point friends, neighbours, work colleagues or school mates to Jesus, through winsome words and deeds, then you are being a John the Baptist for them. May God bless you with joy as you become less and Jesus becomes more.    

How is humility formed?  

Some of you may wonder, how is humility formed? How can I become humble, like John? Well, the Spirit of God can develop humility in all manner of ways. I don’t think there is a formula to it necessarily.

But that’s not particularly helpful to you, so let me suggest three things that I’ve observed (anecdotally). Among other things, humility is formed with acceptance, with the wilderness and with a personal experience of grace.   

Humility is about being completely honest with yourself; telling yourself the truth. Being honest with yourself goes hand in hand with accepting yourself. To not accept yourself is to live in denial of who you really are.

If the can contains peaches, then it is best to accept that fact. Nothing good comes from pretending the can contains something else, like boysenberries.   

John the Baptist was honest with himself. He knew he was second fiddle to Jesus and he accepted that fact. At no point did John entertain a Messiah complex. He never let his early success get the better of him. He never lied to himself or misled anyone. 

Accepting yourself is not as easy as it sounds, especially if there are parts of yourself that you don’t like that much.  It helps to have one or two significant people in your life who know you and accept you for who you are.

I imagine John found acceptance from his parents Zechariah and Elizabeth. They knew who their son was and why he was born. So John likely grew up with a strong sense of his own identity and purpose.

Who is it that sees you and gets you? Who is it that speaks the truth to you, in a gracious way, in order to keep you honest? It might be a family member. It might be your partner in marriage. It might be a friend or a teacher or your spiritual director. Value that relationship, take care of it.

Humility is like walking. It requires us to keep our feet on the ground and to stand upright. Walking humbly is not something we can do alone. No. We walk humbly with God. Ultimately, it is God’s love for us, his presence with us, that enables us to accept ourselves and keep our feet on the ground.   

The wilderness is also helpful in forming humility. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness for much of his life. The wilderness has its own way of lending perspective. When you are in the desert or in the mountains or out on the open sea, you learn that you are not in charge. The wilderness is in charge.

It is humbling to walk the length of the valley leading up to Franz Joseph glacier, with sheer cliffs either side of you, and realise how small you are in comparison to the powerful ice that has carved a valley out of rock over millions of years.

Young men are seldom honest with themselves. Young men often think they are bullet proof. When we were still at school, my friends and I used to go kayaking on the Wairoa River in the Kaimai rangers, near Tauranga. One day one of the members of our canoe club was swept under a ledge and drowned. The force of the water (a grade 5 rapid) held him there.

He was an experienced paddler who had run that particular rapid many times before and he respected the river, yet it claimed his life. It was a sad day. A humbling way to learn we were not in charge. The wilderness was in charge. 

A third thing that helps to form humility is a personal experience of grace. When someone bestows on us an honour we know we don’t deserve. Or when they treat us with a generosity we have not earned, that is grace. If you let that grace touch you deeply enough, it has a humbling affect.

John the Baptist was humbled by a personal experience of grace when Jesus came to be baptised by him. John feels unworthy of the honour and tries to deter Jesus saying: “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”

Now this is remarkable. John was a holy man. He lived a pure life and had a far better moral compass than most. Yet, despite his righteousness, John did not rely on his own goodness. John knew that he was from earth while Jesus was from heaven.

But Jesus says to John: “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented. What else could he do? To deny Jesus would be out of line, it would be arrogant. John is humbled by Jesus’ grace.    

We can be humbled by grace in all sorts of ways. To receive forgiveness, when you know you were wrong and are genuinely sorry, is to be humbled by grace.

To realise the privilege of receiving a good education, when others who went before us were denied the opportunity, is to be humbled by grace.

To recognise you have a choice over which career path to follow, when most of the world does whatever job they can to survive, is to be humbled by grace.

I feel humbled by grace watching the news at times. Seeing pictures of the death & devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkey & Syria, is sobering. Then there is the suffering of the people in Ukraine. Thousands of lives lost and homes destroyed, in winter.

I know New Zealand has suffered its own trauma in recent times, but I still reckon most of us who live here have won the lottery, even without buying a ticket. We have much to be thankful for. I am humbled by God’s goodness and grace for us in this land.

Opportunities to grow in humility are all around, if we don’t let a sense of entitlement get in the way.

Conclusion:

When we look inside the can of John’s character we find humility. We also find love. As the apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 13…

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

John was patient, waiting and listening for Jesus. John did not get angry when Jesus became more popular. John was not proud or boastful. Nor was John envious of Jesus. John had the humility to be honest with himself and to rejoice in Jesus’ success.

Being honest with ourselves requires each of us to ask: What is in the can of my character? And do the contents of that can match the label?

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for those people who have acted like a John the Baptist in our lives, introducing us to Jesus, then becoming less so he can become more. Help us to be a John the Baptist for others. Give us the grace to be honest with ourselves and true to you. May we always be motivated by love. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What is humility? Why is it important to be honest with ourselves? What is in the can of your character? And do the contents of that can match the label?
  • Discuss / reflect on John’s metaphor in verse 29. E.g. What does the analogy mean? What is the relationship between humility and joy? How does humility make love real, devoted and ardent?
  • What might it look like for us to become less, so that Jesus becomes more? 
  • Who has acted as a John the Baptist in your life? Give thanks for them. Who can you be a John the Baptist for? Pray about this.
  • How is humility formed? How can we become/remain humble? 
  • Who accepts you? Who is it that sees you and gets you? Who is it that speaks the truth to you, in a gracious way, in order to keep you honest? What can you do to take care of that relationship?
  • Take some time this week to consider God’s grace in your life. Let the reality of that grace touch you deeply. Let grace humble you.  
Tawa Baptist

Whakarongo

Scripture: Isaiah 43:16-21

Video Link: https://youtu.be/7473HF-pZf4

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Don’t be blinded by the past
  • Be open to the future
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

If I say to you, ‘whakarongo mai’, what am I asking you to do? [Wait]

That’s right, I’m asking you to ‘listen here’ or ‘listen to me’.

We are currently in the middle of the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society’s Renew Together campaign. ‘Renew Together’ is the new name for Self Denial.

The purpose of the Renew Together campaign is to raise awareness of and funds for the work of NZBMS. For three Sundays we are using the sermon time to focus on some of the core values of NZBMS. Last week we explored the value of mutual humility. Today we consider the value of whakarongo or listening.

In a deeper sense the word whakarongo means more than just listening physically with our ears. It refers to feeling, sensing and perceiving.

Spiritually speaking, things happen when we listen to and obey God’s word. This idea of listening to God and following his voice, comes up time and time again in the Bible. The focus of our message today is Isaiah 43:16-21. Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet. From verse 16 we read…   

16 This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 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.

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

In a nutshell, today’s reading is saying: Don’t be blinded by the past, be open to the future. This, of course, requires us to listen to God.

Don’t be blinded by the past:

Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist, an engineer and an inventor. He is probably most famous for inventing the telephone. Alexander Bell became interested in the science of sound because both his mother and his wife were deaf. He himself was a teacher of the deaf.

It was his experiments in sound that led to the invention of the telephone. While the first telephone wasn’t all that useful to the deaf, later developments in phone technology, like texting, have made communication by phone accessible to the deaf community.  

Alexander Bell came up with a listening device that, for centuries before him, no one had perceived would be possible. He wasn’t blinded by the past. He was open to the future and to new possibilities.

It was Alexander Bell who gave us the wisdom of this saying: Sometimes we stare so long at the door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.

In other words, don’t be blinded by the past, be open to the future.

Returning to today’s Scripture. In 586 BC the city of Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians and the survivors (from the tribe of Judah) were forced into exile in Babylon.

The challenge for the Jewish exiles was to maintain their identity as God’s chosen people while living in a foreign land. Remembering the stories of their past (how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt) was one of the ways the people in captivity maintained their identity. The old familiar stories also had a soothing affect, they were a comfort, like a security blanket.

Second Isaiah (which includes chapter 43) was written for the Jewish exiles in Babylon. So it comes as a surprise when the prophet says in verse 18…

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”

This is especially jarring because recalling the past is exactly what Isaiah has just been doing. In verses 16-17 the prophet makes a clear reference to the first exodus, when Yahweh led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.

So what’s going on here? Well, it is probably a rhetorical device designed to get people’s attention. Isaiah moves from the familiar to the unfamiliar. It’s a poetic way of saying, ‘whakarongo mai’ – listen carefully here.

More than just getting people’s attention though, Isaiah was probably 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 God was opening.

Israel’s attachment to nostalgia threatened to blind them to new possibilities and prevent them from moving forward. Isaiah does not want Israel to retreat into the past. He does want them to remember God’s power and faithfulness though.

Not dwelling too long on the past isn’t just a warning against a retreat from present realities. It may also mean, don’t spend all your time thinking about what they did to you and how they hurt you all those years ago.

There is a time and place for lament but once you have got it out of your system, once you have expressed your grief, don’t wallow in self-pity and resentment. Keep pressing on.

Perhaps too, forgetting the former things carries the meaning of forgiving yourself, not condemning yourself for your past mistakes. Israel went into exile because of their disloyalty and their injustice. Fifty years is a long time to be in exile, a long time to live with regret.

The people were going to need all their energy for what God was planning to do next. They could not afford to carry their past mistakes with them.    

What is it that holds you back?

What things from the past do you need to spend less time dwelling on?

Do you look at the good old days through rose tinted glasses?

Do you spend too much time retreating to the past?

Do you hold onto hurts and the cruel things people have said to you?

Do you need to grieve that hurt, let it go and move on?

Do you dwell too long on your own mistakes, never quite able to atone for your failure?  Do you need to trust yourself to God’s grace and be on your own side?

Don’t be blinded by the past, be open to the future.

Be open to the future:

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 whakarongo, to listen to the Lord. To try and perceive the new thing God is doing. 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.

This was different. This was not like when their ancestors were slaves in Egypt and Pharaoh became stubborn, refusing to let the people go. Unlike Pharaoh, King Cyrus acted as the servant of the Lord, sending the Jews off with his blessing. The Jews did not need to fight the Medes and Persians.

There was, however, some similarity with the past. The returning exiles had to make an epic journey through the wilderness. Unlike the first exodus though, it didn’t take 40 years. Probably more like 4-6 months, depending on the route they travelled. 

Even so, it would not have been easy. The Jewish exiles had become quite settled in Babylon. Those young enough to make the journey would have been born in exile and wouldn’t know anything of their homeland.

The prospect of picking up sticks to resettle in Palestine would be quite daunting. They were returning to ruins. They would have to rebuild from scratch. They needed reassurance and encouragement and so the Lord says in verse 19…

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

This verse can be taken both literally and metaphorically. God was literally making a way in the wilderness for the exiles to return home from Babylon. God was promising to provide all the people needed to rebuild a new life in Jerusalem.  

At the same time this verse stands as a metaphor for the exiles and for us. Sometimes in life we are faced with trials and difficulties. Not just a bad day, but a prolonged period of hardship. We call this a wilderness experience.

A wilderness experience is not something we can avoid. It is something we have to go through. To go through the wilderness is to be vulnerable. When we are in the wilderness we are conscious of just how small and powerless we really are. The wilderness can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

Wilderness experiences come in many forms. For example, a battle with cancer or a war with depression. Going through a divorce can be a wilderness experience. Being made redundant after years of service and wondering what the point of your life is. Losing a child or a spouse or a parent. Losing your home and becoming a refugee, being forced to flee to another country and start again. Facing a crisis of faith is also a wilderness experience.

I could go on but you get the idea. The wilderness is not an easy or comfortable place to be and it is hardly ever a place you choose to be. The wilderness tests you beyond what you thought were your limits.

When you are in the wilderness you cannot afford to be blinded by the past. You have to listen, you have to be present, you have to be aware of your environment. You use all your senses just to survive. The wilderness shows you what you are made of and it throws you on the mercy of God.

At some point in your wilderness experience you will think to yourself, “I don’t think I can carry on. I can’t see a way forward. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of this situation.”  And yet, somehow, God makes a way for you.

After you have passed through the wilderness you may feel like a part of you died there but you are not sorry for that. You see that it made room for something new to grow. Now you carry a piece of the wilderness in you. You are not necessarily stronger. You may even walk with a limp because of your experience. But you are freer somehow.     

Have you been through the wilderness? Perhaps you are in the wilderness right now? Let me say to you: The Lord is at home in the wilderness. And that is good news because it means he can make a way for you when you cannot see a way for yourself. He is the ‘way maker’.

But here’s the thing; the way God makes for us is not the same every time. When Job was in the wilderness of unjust suffering, God met him in a hurricane, a storm. But when Moses was in the wilderness of obscurity, Yahweh met Israel’s great leader in a burning bush.

When Jacob was in the wilderness (on the run from his brother Esau), God gave him a vision of a ladder from heaven to earth with angels ascending and descending, and this vision opened the way for Jacob to move forward into the unknown. But when Elijah was in the wilderness at Mount Horeb (aka Mount Sinai) the Lord came to him not in a vision and not in the earthquake, wind or fire, but in a gentle whisper, that still small voice.

When Mary & Martha were in the wilderness of grief after their brother Lazarus had died, the Lord came in tears, Jesus wept. Then he raised Lazarus from the dead. That was new. That opened the way for many to believe.

The idea of God making a way in the wilderness continues in verses 20 & 21 of Isaiah 43, where the Lord says…

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.

Previously in the book of Isaiah (in chapter 34) we read how the jackals and owls (unclean animals) prowl among the ruins. They were associated with God’s judgement and with chaos. Now (in chapter 43) Isaiah reintroduces the jackals and owls, not as prowlers, but this time as giving honour to God. [1]

The image here is one of restoration. God is going to transform the wasteland and the ruins into a place of new life and refreshment. And God’s people (the returning exiles) will be witnesses to this, proclaiming God’s praise for the way of salvation he has made.

The message is one of hope. The very things we dread, the wilderness and wasteland, are often the very things God uses for our salvation. 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, judgement and shame, as the instrument of forgiveness, reconciliation and new life, through faith in Jesus.

Conclusion:

For some time now the church in the west has been going into exile. The gap between church and society has been growing. Society is going its own way and the church appears to be in decline. Some might say the church is finding itself in the wilderness.

We might feel tempted to retreat into the past, to dwell on the good old days. But we must not be blinded by the past. We must remain open to the future. We do well to remember, the good old days were not always that good. Truth be told, they were a mixed bag.

It also helps to look outward. As we heard last week, the church in places like Africa and Asia is thriving. God is always at work, doing a new thing.

This does not mean God has forgotten us here in the west. But it does mean we have to be alert. We have to whakarongo (to listen) to God. We have to use all our senses to try and perceive what God is doing.

We might not be able to see a clear way forward but God is the way maker. He can create a highway in the desert and streams of new life in the wilderness.

Let us pray…

Jesus, you are the way, the truth and the life. You have walked the wilderness and made a way through. We face uncertain times. May we not retreat into the past for fear of the future. Rather, may we be open to the way forward you have created. Help us to hear what you are saying to the church and give us courage to obey your call. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • What are verses 16-17 referring to? Why would this be a comfort to the Jewish exiles in Babylon?
  • Why does the Lord say (in verse 18), “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”? What does he mean?
  • What is it that holds you back? What things from the past do you need to spend less time dwelling on?
  • Have you had a wilderness experience? What happened? How did God make a way through for you? Did the wilderness change you? If so, how?
  • In what ways is Isaiah 43:16-21 relevant for the church in the west today?  What can we do to stay alert and listen to God? How might we perceive the new thing God is doing?

[1] Refer Paul Hanson’s Interpretation commentary on Isaiah.

Tawa Baptist

Time & Place

Scripture: Deuteronomy 1:1-8

Video Link: https://youtu.be/tL-huaR34VI

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Time
  • Place
  • Word
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

In order to run a horse needs four legs. Cars are similar, they need four wheels to drive. And the human body functions best with four limbs, two legs and two arms.

The early church, during the first century, used the Old Testament for their Bible. The New Testament (as we know it today) was still a work in progress. Four Old Testament books in particular were favourites of the early Christians: Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah and Deuteronomy.

These four books were like the four legs of a horse or the four wheels of a car or the four limbs of the human body. Early Christians relied on them.

Modern Christians are different though. We quite like Genesis, the Psalms and Isaiah but we are not as keen on Deuteronomy. If we think of the Old Testament as a body, then it’s like we’ve got four limbs but we are only using three of them.  Certainly I have preached a lot from the Old Testament through the years but not much at all from Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is quoted over eighty times in the New Testament. It was a favourite book of Jesus, John & Paul, yet it is largely lost on us. So, with that in view, we are embarking on a new sermon series in the book of Deuteronomy. Let’s learn how to use this limb which has been sitting idle for so long.

Not sure how long it will take. Probably we will have to do it in parts, like we have with other larger books of the Bible. Hopefully we survive it together. Anyway, here goes. From Deuteronomy chapter 1, verses 1-8 we begin…

These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying: 6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighbouring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

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

Now, with an opening like that, it is little wonder that a modern audience is not inclined to read Deuteronomy. The first few verses seem quite dry. They don’t exactly start with a bang like a Hollywood movie. It mostly sounds like a list of names and places we haven’t heard of and that don’t mean much to us.

What we notice, on reflection though, is that these eight verses are talking about time, place and words. Specifically, the words of Moses. So, if we are going to understand Deuteronomy, then there’s something important we need to grasp about time, place and words. Let’s start with time.

Time:

Do you remember the story of Rip Van Winkle? It is a fictional story about lost time. Rip Van Winkle is walking in the mountains one day with his dog Wolf, when he comes across some shady characters who give him a strange substance to drink. Rip is quite happy to imbibe the ale but falls asleep soon after.

When he wakes up, his dog is gone, his beard has grown to his waist and his clothes are falling to pieces. Rip returns to the village to discover his children have grown into adulthood and the American Revolution has been and gone.

His walk in the woods, which should have taken no more than a day, has ended up taking 20 years. The world has moved on and changed without him. He has some adjustments to make. With the rate at which the world is so rapidly changing today, some of us may feel like Rip Van Winkle at times.

From verse 2 of Deuteronomy 1 we read…

2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.

It seems that a journey which should have only taken a couple of weeks ended up taking 40 years. Like Rip Van Winkle the people of Israel lost quite a bit of time in the wilderness. Unlike Rip, the Israelites were not sleeping.

Moses lived around the 13th Century BC. So that’s about 3,300 years ago, give or take. If we read the opening verses of Deuteronomy at face value, then Moses’ words were delivered at a time of transition for the Israelites. The nation was on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, with all the possibilities and problems that entailed.

When you dig a little deeper though, you find that Deuteronomy contains a timeless message. It wasn’t just helpful for Israel in the wilderness, preparing to take the land, it also had something to say to the people of Judah, around 600-700 BC, who were trying to hold their place in the land. Then later, after the people had been taken into exile, Deuteronomy spoke a word to those hoping to return to the land.

It seems Deuteronomy is particularly relevant for times of transition and change. This might be one of the reasons Deuteronomy struck a chord with the early church; because Jesus’ coming brought monumental change, both on a personal level but also at a wider societal level.

We, today, live at a time of unbelievable change and transition. What might Deuteronomy have to say to us?

Place goes hand in hand with time. You can’t have a time without a place.

Place:

In New Zealand culture, and in Maori culture especially, place is very important. When someone gives their Pepeha, when they introduce themselves in Maori, they refer to the place they come from. They talk about where their Marae is located as well as the name of their mountain and river.

When we talk about the place we come from and the people we are related to, we are essentially describing our home.

A place to call home was very important to Israel as well. The people had just spent 40 years wandering the wilderness with no place to call home. Now they were about to take possession of a place God had promised them.

The first two verses of Deuteronomy 1 are peppered with place names. For example: The Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

We also come across a place called Horeb. Horeb, is another name for Mount Sinai. Kadesh Barnea comes up a few times too.

It is verse 7 though, where Moses quotes the Lord in describing the boundaries of the land…

…go to all the neighbouring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. 

A place is more than just an empty space. For a space to become a place, it needs boundaries. There was a lot of empty space in the wilderness of Sinai but the wilderness was not Israel’s place.

The boundaries of the land, given in verse 7, define Israel’s place. Deuteronomy is a book which defines boundaries. Not just physical and geographical boundaries but moral and ethical boundaries as well.

Without boundaries, space becomes terrifying and dangerous. Boundaries provide security and freedom; they make a place safe and functional.

The boundaries God gives are generous and wise. They are tailored to fit his people.        

Patrick Miller makes the observation that Israel’s land (their place to call home) is promised, given and taken.

God promised the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The people of Israel have not arrived in this place by accident. They are there by God’s design.

The Promised Land is given by God. It is not deserved or earned. It is offered.

At the same time though, the land needs to be taken by Israel. Israel needs to act if they are going to take possession of the land. Divine gift and human action are two parts of the same whole.

The Promised Land is for us a symbol of God’s Kingdom, our salvation. God’s kingdom is both given by God and, at the same time, taken by us. God’s offer of salvation requires an active response from us, if we are to realise it.    

For us, Israel’s place in the Middle East is associated with a long history of conflict. I don’t really understand the politics of it and I don’t think it would helpful to try and unpick that history too much.

We are followers of Jesus, the Christ. Jesus was never that interested in geopolitical conflicts. Jesus is interested in place though. In John 14, the night before his crucifixion and death, Jesus said to his disciples…

“Do not be worried and upset. Believein God and believe also in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. 3 And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am. 4 You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.”

The place Jesus was talking about here is a place with God; a room in God’s home. This place is eternal and secure.

If we think of this life as a journey through the wilderness, then crossing the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land is like passing through death to eternal life to be with God our Father.  

John 14 often gets read at funerals and that is appropriate but it also speaks to us in this life, when we feel out of place, like we don’t fit or don’t belong.

God is our home and Jesus is the way home. 

We have been talking about time and place. Deuteronomy is a book that is relevant for all time, especially times of transition and change. At the same time, Deuteronomy is a book about place. It defines the boundaries which give a particular place security and freedom.

Deuteronomy is also a book of words; the words of Moses. Moses’ words give meaning, purpose and identity to Israel’s place, their home. Moses’ words remind Israel of who they are and why they are.

Words:

We live in an age of information overload, an age of advertising, marketing and hype. True silence (inner silence) is a rare and precious thing.

Ironically, the effect of this inflation of information is that words seem cheap to us. Words appear to have lost most of their value. But appearances can be deceiving. Words are still very powerful.

The right words, spoken in the right place at the right time are like seeds planted in the soil of our mind. Good words have the potential to grow and bear fruit in our lives.

There are three references to Moses’ words in the opening five verses of Deuteronomy chapter 1.

The book of Deuteronomy starts like this: These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel…  

Then, in verse 3 we read: Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.

And in verse 5: Moses began to expound this law…

We could think of Deuteronomy as Moses’ last and perhaps greatest sermon series to the nation of Israel. The book is presented as three or four speeches by Moses. But these sermons are not just Moses’ ideas. Moses is proclaiming and explaining God’s word so the people can understand it and know how to apply it.

Simply put, Moses is the mediator of God’s word.

If God’s word is like a seed, then Moses is like the gardener who plants the seed and waters it and protects it.

Or if God’s word is like information being sent through a fibre cable, then Moses is the technician who connects the cable to your house.

Or if God’s word is like a foreign language that we don’t understand, then Moses is the interpreter making the meaning clear to the people.

Or if God’s word is like electricity, then Moses is the electrician who installs the wiring and switches so we can turn the lights on and see.

Or if God’s word is like flour and water, yeast and salt, then Moses is the baker who kneads the dough and bakes the bread so the people can eat.

Or if God’s word is like an aeroplane, then Moses is the pilot and navigator flying the passengers to the airport of a new and different country.     

Moses is the mediator of God’s word.

The gospel of John, in the New Testament, opens like this…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind.

The Word that John was writing about here is Jesus, the Christ.

While Moses was the mediator of God’s Word, Jesus actually is God’s Word.

Therefore, Moses’ words in Deuteronomy were pointing to Jesus.

A few verses later, John makes a connection between Moses and Jesus saying…

16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Do you see what John is saying here? The law of Moses is grace already given. We might be inclined to read into these verses a disconnect between Moses and Jesus, as if the law that came through Moses was somehow different from or in opposition to the grace that comes through Jesus.

But the law of Moses and the grace of Jesus are not two separate things. They are not divorced from each other or opposed. The Law of Moses and the grace & truth of Jesus are an organic whole. They go together. They are in continuity with each other. Jesus fulfils the law of Moses. 

If we think of Deuteronomy like the roots of a tree, then the gospel of Jesus is the fruit of that same tree. Deuteronomy is the gospel according to Moses.

The difference here is not between law and grace. The law of Moses is an expression of God’s grace. The difference between Moses and Jesus is that Moses was the mediator of God’s word, whereas Jesus actually is God’s word incarnate, in the flesh, in human form.

To put it another way, if we think of God’s word as light, then Jesus is like the sun (the source of light) and Moses is like the moon, which merely reflects the sun’s light.

Conclusion:

Time, place and words. In Deuteronomy, Moses is sowing the right words at the right time and in the right place. The seeds of his words were given by God to grow into a home for Israel and for all God’s people. 

If you are homeless, adrift in the world, living on the edge of possibility, somewhere between hope and despair, then I believe Deuteronomy contains God’s word for you.

Or if your security is threatened, if your family are under pressure and you are struggling to keep your home together, then I believe Deuteronomy contains God’s word for you too.

Or if you have lost your home, had it ripped out from under you so that you no longer feel like you fit. If you long to return home, then I believe Deuteronomy contains God’s word for you also.

Let us pray…  

Father God, you are our home. Lord Jesus, you are the way home. Holy Spirit, you are our guide. Help us at this time and in this place with the words of life we need to bring others with us, as we make our way home to the Father. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.      

Questions for discussion or reflection:

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

  • Which are your favourite books in the Old Testament and why? Have you spent much time reading Deuteronomy? Why or why not? Why was Deuteronomy a favourite book for the early church?
  • What societal changes have you noticed in your lifetime? What transitions are we (in NZ) currently going through? What do you think our country needs at this time?
  • Why are boundaries important?
  • Have you ever felt out of place? What was that like? Discuss / reflect on John 14:1-4. What do these verses tell us about our place (our home) and how to get there? 
  • Can you think of a time in your own life when you received the right word at the right time and in the right place? What happened and what was the effect?
  • What is the relationship between Moses and Jesus?
Tawa Baptist

Seek Ye First

Scriptures: Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 7:7-11, Matthew 4:1-4

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Seek ye first the kingdom of God
  • Ask and it shall be given unto you
  • We cannot live by bread alone
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

The order in which we do things matters

  • When you are packing your car to go away on holiday it’s a good idea to put the larger suitcases in first and then pack the smaller things around them
  • If you have a leak in your roof, then your priority is to fix the roof before you start painting and decorating inside the house
  • When you buy a flat pack of furniture, the first thing to do is read the instructions before you start assembling the product
  • Likewise, when you prepare a sermon or a Bible study you start by praying and reading the Scriptures, then you write down your thoughts
  • And, if your wife or husband or child is telling you something important, your priority is to listen to them, before attending to the dinner or your emails.  

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

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

The song we are looking at this morning is called Seek Ye First

  • The words for Seek Ye First come from the mouth of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew
  • Verse 1 of the song is a quote from Matthew 6:33, where Jesus is talking about the futility of worry
  • Verse 2 of the song comes from Matthew 4:4, where Jesus is responding to one of the temptations of Satan in the wilderness
  • And verse 3 is from Matthew 7:7, where Jesus is helping his listeners to understand that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to his children 
  • All three verses are about giving God priority – putting God first   

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

The music for Seek Ye First was written by a woman called Karen Lafferty in 1971. Karen was a worship leader for Calvary Chapel in California at the time

  • She was 23 years old, had graduated University with a degree in music and recently returned to the Lord and to church after some time away  
  • In an interview Karen Lafferty says this about the origin of Seek Ye First,

“I had quit my entertainment job and was trying to support myself with teaching guitar lessons. I had three students! When my savings were all gone and I had no money to make my car payments, I became very discouraged and confused.” One evening I went to a Bible study at church, and we talked about Matthew 6:33. [Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.]I was tremendously encouraged and challenged by the words about Christ’s kingdom. So I went home, wrote the tune, recorded it on a tape recorder, and then sang this little descant part.”

  • Karen taught the song in church the next week, and it caught on right away.

So what is Jesus saying in this verse from Matthew 6?

  • Well, to understand the meaning, we need to hear the verse in its context.
  • From Matthew 6:25-34 (in the NIV) we read…

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.   

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

The word ‘worry’ appears six times in this passage. Worry (or anxiety) is part of the human condition.

  • It doesn’t seem to matter what culture you come from or what time in history you live, we all have to deal with worry at some point in our lives

Jesus says we are not to worry and then he gives a number of reasons why we don’t need to worry. He effectively uses reason and logic to disarm worry.

  • Reason is to worry what waking up is to a bad dream – reason puts us back in touch with reality and restores our perspective
  • Reason is to worry what sunlight is to mould – reason dries out the dampness in our mind to prevent the mould of worry
  • Reason is to worry what companionship is to loneliness – reason is a friend who brings understanding and makes us feel connected

The first reason (or logical argument) Jesus gives for not worrying about food and clothes is that there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothes

  • While food and clothes are basic to human survival and we need to attend to them they are not the only needs we have in life and they are not the most important needs either – we must keep things in proportion
  • For example, other things needed to support human life include:
  • Right relationships and community,
  • Hope and a sense of purpose,
  • A rhythm of worshiping God, which gives us something positive to occupy our minds, something greater than ourselves.

Another reason Jesus gives for not worrying is that worry is pointless – like running on a treadmill it wears you out, it gets you nowhere.

Jesus also gives evidence from nature for not worrying

  • God feeds the birds of the air and we human beings are far more valuable to God than birds, so how much more will God feed us
  • And, following the same logic, God clothes the grass of the field with beautiful wild flowers which are here today and gone tomorrow, so how much more will he clothe us, for we last a lot longer than grass.

Now, at this point some of you may be thinking, ‘Okay, if it’s true that God feeds the birds, why are some species of birds going extinct? And more to the point, why do so many people in the world starve or walk around in rags?’

  • Well, some of the responsibility lies with human beings. While God provides what the world needs humanity doesn’t always manage God’s resources in a way that is fair or equitable
  • Having said that, humanity can’t bear the full responsibility – some things are not in our power to do anything about
  • The world we live in is not perfect or fair or safe – God’s will is not always done on earth as it is in heaven
  • Jesus’ teaching here seems to picture the world as it should be rather than as it is [1]     

This is not to imply that Jesus’ teaching is out of touch with our reality. Quite the opposite – Jesus’ teaching is very down to earth  

  • In verse 34 of Matthew 6, Jesus says, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  
  • Jesus acknowledges that the world isn’t perfect – each day has enough trouble of its own – it simply does no good to worry about what we can’t control and what might never happen in the first place.

The other thing we need to be aware of is that Jesus is not saying we shouldn’t make provision for the future – he’s simply saying don’t worry about the future

  • Making provision for the future is not the same thing as worrying about it
  • Jesus’ point is not that we should throw all caution to the wind, when it comes to financial matters
  • Jesus’ point is that we should not let fear and worry tie us up in knots or impede us in the present

Returning to verse 33 of Matthew 6, the focus of the opening verse of the song; Jesus gives us an alternative to worry – something far more meaningful and fruitful to spend our time and energy on

  • Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

God’s kingdom and righteousness means God’s way of doing life

  • So, instead of worrying, we need to give top priority to living under God’s direction and governance – we need to obey God in faith that he will provide for our needs.  

Karen Lafferty, the author of Seek Ye First, went on to work for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). She said,

  • “The Lord really paved the way for me with that song. “Seek Ye First” has opened doors for me all over the world. And because it’s in so many hymnbooks, about 40 percent of my mission support comes from that song!”
  • As I mentioned earlier, Karen had been worrying about making ends meet and paying her bills
  • But when she went to the Bible study and spent time seeking God, the Lord sorted out her priorities, dispelled her fears and provided her with an income stream by giving her a tune to put to the words of Jesus.
  • And all these things shall be added unto you.

Sometimes the priority is not clear to us. Sometimes what we think is most important is actually not as important in hindsight

  • You may be in a hurry to get out the door for work or school drop off but you’ve lost your keys and you are starting to feel stressed
  • In the heat of the moment you might think, ‘okay I just have to look harder to find my keys’
  • But the faster you look the more flustered you become
  • In that moment the priority is not finding your keys but finding your calm
  • The best thing to do is stop, be still, let your brain stem settle and then retrace your steps to find your keys 
  • In the long run it won’t matter if you are a few minutes late
  • In fact, being still for a few moments may help you to find your keys quicker and it will also help you to drive safer.  

It is similar with seeking first the kingdom of God. Sometimes the priority (finding what God wants us to do) is not clear at first

  • Sometimes we can be in such a hurry doing the work of ministry or serving God that we miss the spirit in which God wants us to serve
  • In that moment the priority is not doing the work of ministry but finding God’s heartbeat, getting back in step with the Lord again.   

We cannot live by bread alone

Verse two of the song reads: We cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Again, these are the words of Jesus, this time from Matthew 4. To understand the meaning we need to read the verse in its context. From Matthew 4, verse 1, in the NIV…

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Satan then went on to try and tempt Jesus in other ways and each time Jesus resisted the devil with Scripture

The phrase, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’, is a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 where Moses is addressing the Israelites at the end of their 40 years in the wilderness

  • Moses is essentially saying to the people, ‘As a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.’
  • That’s why you’ve spent all this time wandering around in the wilderness facing various deprivations – so you can learn to trust and obey God
  • Among the lessons you should have learned during these past 40 years is not to depend on bread alone but on God’s word
  • Not to put God to the test
  • And not to worship any other god – but rather to make the Lord God the exclusive object of your worship and obedience [2]

Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness recalls Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness

  • Israel (the nation) was known as God’s son
  • So too Jesus is God’s son – he embodies the new Israel
  • Where the ancient Israelites failed, Jesus passes the test, doing for Israel what they were not able to do for themselves

For a long-time I was puzzled by the temptation to change stones into bread

  • I mean, what’s wrong with that? Everyone has to eat.
  • What’s more there were other occasions when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes in the wilderness to feed thousands – so what’s the problem?
  • Why was not okay on this occasion (for Jesus to use his power to make bread) but it was okay on a different occasion?  
  • Well, as Richard France explains, it is a question of obedience to God’s will in this particular situation…

Obedience to God’s will takes priority… Jesus understood his experience of hunger as God’s will for him at the time and therefore not to be evaded by a self-indulgent use of his power as the Son of God. To [turn the stones into bread] would be [to disobey God] to call into question God’s priorities and set himself at odds with his Father’s plan. [3]

Although Jesus understood his hunger to be God’s will for him at the time, this doesn’t mean that every occasion of hunger or deprivation is God’s will, but sometimes it is and when it is we must trust God to provide for us in his way and his time.

  • In Matthew 4, God sent angels to minister to Jesus’ needs after Satan had left him – Jesus passed the test where Israel had failed

You know, sometimes we go without things and we don’t like it

  • Perhaps we don’t go without food for 40 days like Jesus did but maybe we go without something else important, for a significant period of time
  • We might, for example, go without work for several months,
  • Or without our health for several weeks
  • Or without joy for several years,
  • Or without an answer to prayer, or something else
  • Those wilderness times of testing don’t necessarily mean God is angry with us or against us
  • To the contrary they show that we are God’s children because he is taking the time to teach us to rely on him – to trust and obey.
  • God disciplines those he loves

We are in the season of Lent at the moment – that 40 days (or so) before Easter

  • Traditionally many Christians give up something during Lent (maybe chocolate or swearing or justifying yourself or whatever)
  • The point of this self-imposed fast is to draw close in solidarity with Jesus – to remember his time of testing and to embrace our identity as children of God who rely on our heavenly father, not on ourselves    

Jesus’ words in Matthew 4, verse 4, about needing the word of God as much as we need bread, connect with his words in Matthew 6:33 about seeking first God’s kingdom

  • The word of God is actually more important than food, just as seeking the kingdom of God is more important than seeking money
  • Food and money are useful for this life but the word of God and the kingdom of God have value for eternal life.  

Ask and it shall be given to you

A couple of weeks ago Lotto jack potted to $50 million. When it gets that big someone has to win. Apparently the key is getting the Powerball

  • So even if you were to win first division, you don’t get the $50 million unless you also have the Powerball number
  • Of course it was a popular draw. At one point they were selling 2,000 tickets a minute
  • When you don’t have much and life is difficult winning Lotto seems like a silver bullet, something that will fix all your problems
  • But excess can be just as harmful as poverty – there is wisdom in moderation. Better a regular sized portion with peace, than a double portion with worry.
  • I imagine thousands of people prayed, asking to win the $50 million but, as it turned out, the grand prize was shared by only two families.

In Matthew 7 Jesus says…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 10“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

In the movie Bruce Almighty (starring Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman), God gives Bruce the power to answer people’s prayers and so Bruce just says ‘yes’ to every request, with the result that almost everyone wins the lottery

  • Of course when $50 million is split equally between 2 million people the winners end up with only $25 each. People took to the streets in riot

When Jesus says, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you, he doesn’t mean God is obligated to answer ‘yes’ to every prayer we pray

  • In the context he means God will give you what you need and what is good for you, which may not necessarily be what you want
  • As the little parable in verse 10 indicates, the son isn’t asking for a luxury, he’s asking for his basic needs; bread and fish (carbs & protein) 
  • So praying to win Lotto won’t help your chances but praying, give us this day our daily bread will help you.

Jesus’ point is that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to his children    

  • God Almighty is not like the pagan gods of the Greeks and Romans. We don’t have to sacrifice things to try and persuade God to provide for us
  • God is ready & willing to help us with genuine needs, we just have to ask
  • And even if we ask God for the wrong things he will still give us the right thing.
  • God won’t give us something useless (like a stone), nor will he give us something harmful (like a snake). God wants to do us good.

Jesus’ words about asking, seeking and knocking are supposed to cast out worry and inspire trust in God.

  • They invite us to explore the scope of God’s generosity

Having said that, Ask and it will be given to you; also needs to be understood in the context of God’s freedom

  • Sometimes our requests may be entirely reasonable and unselfish; maybe we are praying for healing for someone we care about or perhaps we are asking to be spared from some injustice and yet God is silent
  • The will of God is inscrutable at times.
  • Inscrutable simply means we can’t always understand God’s will and purpose. We can’t put God’s will under a microscope and scrutinize it

Oswald Chambers once said: “Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer.”

God will always do his best for us but sometimes it’s not about us and sometimes the options available to God are limited

  • Jesus wrestled in anguish, as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God to spare him the ordeal of the cross
  • (Jesus didn’t want to be separated from his heavenly Father)
  • But, for whatever reason, God did not change his mind
  • While Jesus did not get the answer he wanted to his prayer, he did get hold of God and submitted himself in obedience to God’s will.    
  • For Jesus, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness took priority.

Conclusion:

Each of the verses of the song Seek Ye First ends with the descant or chorus, Allelujah, which is a shortened form of the Hebrew word, Hallelujah

  • Allelujah simply means ‘praise the Lord’
  • The message is clear; giving priority to what God wants is the truest act of worship and praise we can offer the Lord.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. Listen to the song, ‘Seek Ye First’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 
  2. How do you begin each day? What’s the first thing you do?
  3. What sorts of things worry you? What reasons does Jesus give for not worrying? How do you deal with your worry?
  4. Why does Jesus tell his disciples to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness? How might we do this? (What does this look like specifically for you?)
  5. Discuss / reflect on the parallels between Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness.
  6. Why did Jesus refuse to turn the stones into loaves of bread? (in Matthew 4) What have you had to go without for a significant period of time? What have you learned through this experience of deprivation?
  7. Take some time this week to reflect on how God has responded to your prayer requests over the years. For example, what things has God said ‘yes’ to? What things has he said ‘no’ to? And what prayers has he answered in a way you weren’t expecting?    

[1] R.T. France, NICNT, Matthew, page 266.

[2] Ibid, page 128.

[3] Ibid, page 131.