Where to look for answers

I was struck this morning by Radio 5's reporting of the service in America following the evil massacre of 20 children and 6 teachers in Newtown.
The reporter was in a bar in Newtown watching coverage of the service on tv with a few residents. Barak Obama had finished his speech and the reporter began to interview two people about it. As they spoke you could clearly hear the service continuing in the background. As these people reflected on recent events and how the community would cope, words of scripture rang out loud and clear from the service. How desperately sad it was that while the only message of genuine hope was sounding out Radio 5 tried to speak over it and drown it out with human ideas of where hope and solace might be found.
In my quiet time this morning I was reading 1 Chronicles 22. David is old, and he's speaking to his son, Solomon, preparing him for all the trials of kingship, and he says, 'Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.' There is no better advice for anyone in any situation. In joy and sorrow, devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God and you will find all you need for he is the 'Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.'
But the voice of the world will always try to drown out the voice of our Father. This morning, my prayer is that all around the country, people would have listened to the background to that interview and not to the interview itself.

Treasure within

2 Corinthians 4:7-15

[These are my notes, and not exactly what was preached]

So, you’ve been following the message of 2 Corinthians over the last few weeks, and now you see that:

·        The gospel – the message that Jesus Christ is Lord – is a glorious message. It’s glorious because it has the power to bring life to the dead & light to the blind.

·        And you’ve realised afresh that God has called you to be involved in the ministry of this glorious gospel. That God has commissioned you to tell the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. You won’t water it down and you won’t distort it.

·        But you also realise that getting involved with this ministry is risky. It will mean hard work – deliberately making time to have neighbours round for Christmas drinks; daring to tell colleagues that you were at church on Sunday and yes, you do believe in Jesus.

·        And sometimes you’ll get a frosty – even a hostile – reception.

·        But you’ve also begun to see that, though this ministry is tough, it is the only thing that can give your life true purpose, value and meaning. You know that gospel ministry can transform the most mundane life into one of joy and glory.

And you’re up for it.   And yet…   And yet you’re full of doubts:

·        How can I possibly do this? I’m not a gifted speaker. I’m shy, I clam up when I do actually spot an opportunity. I don’t have all the answers. I get muddled and confused when people challenge me.

·        I’m exhausted when I get home from work, and it’s hard to do anything other than flop in front of the TV. I don’t have the energy to spend time encouraging people at BS or spending time with non-Xns. It’s hard work.

If that’s you – and I hope it is – then you’re in good company – in the company of the apostle Paul, and  these next verses shold speak directly to you.

What we learn here is that God doesn’t want people who are full of themselves.

He wants people who are empty, ordinary, weak & fragile – people who are like clay pots.

And God wants fragile, empty clay pots because he fills them – he fills us – with sparkling treasure: v7, ‘We have this treasure in jars of clay’.

What is this treasure we have?

·        It’s the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

·        It’s the announcement of the angel to Mary, ‘You will give birth to a son... He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.’

·        It’s the announcement to Joseph, ‘You are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.’

·        It’s the announcement to the shepherds, ‘I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord.’

That is the treasure we have. We have the knowledge of the glory of God within our weak bodies.

Just pause and consider that for a moment. What greater treasure could there be than knowing the splendour & majesty of God in Christ Jesus?

Think how you treasure the knowledge of your family: perhaps you have photos of them in around the house because you’re proud of them – because they’re special.

But knowledge of Jesus Christ is infinitely more valuable than a husband’s knowledge of his wife or a mother’s of her child because he is the glory of God.

You have this knowledge. You have this treasure within you.

Now, when Paul says that he – and we – are like jars of clay, that it isn’t some kind of false humility.

No, it is God’s plan and intention. He wants us to be weak and frail – so that the gospel can be seen to have God’s all-surpassing power.

V7, ‘We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God.’

It is not the power of the minister – you or me – but the power of God that must shine into this dark world. 

We bear the gospel message in fragile, ordinary – sinful – bodies, minds and hearts. But – and here’s the key – the gospel is the all-surpassing power of God so it brings life to the dead and light to the blind.

The power to lift others out of their powerlessness in the face of suffering, decay and death does not come from us, but from God’s gospel that he has put within us.

You might be on the gifted & talented register at school; you might get straight A*s and a PhD; you might play in the winning team for England against the All Blacks; you may be the mother of three wonderful children; you might be the CEO of a FTSE 100 company… but you cannot and will never do anything as glorious as sharing the all-surpassing power of God which is the gospel.

And that’s what God wants for you. That’s what God has called you to do.

Now, you might think that having such a power within would mean that the world would give you respect and honour. That the church would be full of people with OBEs & MBEs for their services to the gospel.

Not so. Paul had this treasure within. He had seen the all-surpassing power of God at work through him and yet, v8,  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus.’

If we’re going to try to persuade people to trust the God who demonstrates his love by suffering for them, then we need to back up our words about Jesus with actions modelled on Jesus.

So we suffer willingly for the sake of others: being hard-pressed by the demands of gospel ministry, being perplexed and puzzled by the hard decisions we have to make, being persecuted by those who reject the message. And perhaps even giving our lives for the gospel.

But remember from chapter 1: we know the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. So though we’re under pressure, we’re never crushed. Though we’re perplexed, we never sink into despair. Though we’re persecuted, we know that we’ll never be abandoned, and if we die, we’ll never be destroyed.

Yes, for millions of Xns today death is a real possibility. But us?

Well, what if, because you’re burning the candle at both ends, witnessing to Jesus and building his church, you have a heart attack and die? Is that the worst thing that could happen to you?

No. “We may be struck down, but we cannot be destroyed”.

In fact, says Paul, We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, life is at work in you.

This is extreme imagery. But it only echoes what Jesus himself said. ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me.’

But how can our suffering result in life for others?

Because our self-sacrifice is an illustration of the sacrifice of Christ.

Jesus gave his life to bring us life.  So now, we illustrate what he did  by giving our whole life for the sake of the gospel.

And, if God chooses to open the blind eyes of our wives or husbands, our parents or children, our neighbours or colleagues, they will gain life through our suffering.

All of this is God’s plan and intention. The glory of the gospel is manifested, not in the triumphalism and outward glory of televangelists or cathedrals or false claims of miracles & prosperity, but in suffering and weakness.

God does not make us into empty & richly decorated fine bone china vases. He makes us into clay jars – clay jars full of the most precious treasure.

And because we have this glorious, precious, treasure of the gospel within us, we have to speak it even though it involves hard work, self-sacrifice, generosity, rejection, pain, illness and so on.

And it’s the power of the gospel that enables us to give everything for Christ.

Have a look at vv13-14 READ

If we believe truly believe that when we die, God will raise us to new and eternal life in the presence of Jesus, then we begin to see this life for what it really is – very, very short.

In 1900 life expectancy was 45 for men & 49 for women.  Everyone knew that life was short. So to give your life for the gospel meant that you’d really done something wonderful with the brief life that God had given you.

Today, life is so much longer and there are so many more things we can do and experience – so many more distractions and so many more tomorrows – that we’ve lost the urgency and importance of the gospel – of death and resurrection.

We need to recapture reality: life is not so much present as future.

And in comparison to an eternity with – or without – Christ, life is still very, very brief.

And if this life is cut short because we’re working to bring thanksgiving and glory to God and eternal life to others, then so be it.

“For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us in his presence.”

It takes a whole church to raise a child

Conference with Mel Lacy of Oak Hill College: 

12 JANUARY 2013, 8.30 - 12.30. 

St Peter's, Bayhall Road, Tunbridge Wells.

It's never been easy to raise children - even in a stable family where one parent can devote themselves to childcare. But in these days of family breakdown and ever increasing pressure for both parents to be employed, raising children seems to get harder and harder. 

Of course for those of us who love the Lord Jesus, our first priority is to bring up our children to love and fear Him, and to enjoy being members of His church family. But this can feel like yet another demand and pressure.

I guess we all sense that the whole church - parents and others - could and should work together to raise Christian children. But the reality has often been very different. 

I remember one village church in which a toddler touched the Christmas tree and... smash!... a bauble fell off and broke. You could hear the tutting and sighing and see the shaking of heads. After the service, the child's dad told me they would never come to church again. And they didn't (at least not till they moved to a village with a child-friendly church).

But on the other hand, I've also known parents who seem to think there is a 'church' within their church which will look after their children for them - all they have to do is drop them off & pick them up and other church members will entertain the youngsters and teach them the faith. 

Neither of these can possibly be right. But how do we get the whole church involved in helping parents, raising children and being a genuine church family where people of all ages are valued and nurtured in a spirit of mutual love and respect?

We're under no illusions that this is a high calling and will mean some deep shifts in thinking and practice. Such a change in culture doesn't happen overnight. But we need to start somewhere, and where better than with the expertise of one of the church's foremost thinkers in this area, Mel Lacy? 

I do hope you'll join us on Jan 12 whether you're a parent, grandparent, married, single or a teenager. It's open to anyone, not just members of St Peter's, and if you want more information, please contact the church office via our website: www.stpeterstw.com 

We will not lose heart

2 Corinthians 4:1-6

According to recent research, 93% of people have a great deal or fair amount of respect for nurses. Followed by doctors – 90%, then scientists, vets & engineers.

A mere 20% respect journalists, while politicians & bankers come in with 15% just beating car salesmen who are respected by 14% of people.

Church ministers are respected by 76% of people… in America… and 54% in the UK...!

I wonder how much you value your own profession - or the way you use your time if you’re not employed.

Do you wake up every morning and leap out of bed thinking, ‘Today could be the day when you change the world!’?

Do you feel that you lead a valuable life? That you use your time to do valuable things?

Do you believe that what you do is making a difference – a difference that will outlive you?

Whether you’re retired or you’re a full-time mum, whether you’re a nurse or a car salesman, you can make a lasting difference – you can have the most valuable, the most glorious job in the world.

The hours are long & the pay’s not great – at least not in terms of a monthly pay cheque.

And it will be hard work – in fact it will involve considerable suffering & hardship & pain & distress & sleepless nights.

You’ll be accused of being an intolerant trouble maker, and some people will refuse to speak to you.

What is this work?

It’s the ministry of the gospel  -  sharing the good news about Jesus Christ.

Last week we saw that the gospel ministry is the most glorious work anyone can ever be involved in. When you share the news that Jesus Christ is Lord and saviour, you give people the possibility of coming to the knowledge of Almighty God, of having their guilt removed, and being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit himself.

The gospel brings people into an eternal relationship with God the Father, and enables them to be transformed into the likeness of God the Son with ever increasing glory – 3:18.

“And”, says Paul, in 4:1, “since we have this ministry – this glorious ministry – we do not lose heart.”

Yes, there’s the temptation to lose heart – humanly speaking, it’s a stupid ministry. Fancy trying to convince people that God came to earth as a baby, healed people with a word, raised dead people to life, fed thousands with a picnic, died and rose again.

Humanly speaking, you’d have more respect and be seen as a more valuable member of society if you were a used car salesman.

But because this message is so powerful – because it comes with the authority of God himself to change people from enemies of God to friends with God – it’s glorious.

And nowhere in the Bible is this ministry the exclusive preserve of professional ministers or clergy.

From the very start of the church, the HS filled every believer to make every believer a minister of the gospel – to give every believer this glorious ministry – to empower every believer for this glorious ministry.

Now because this ministry involves suffering, long hours, hard work, sleepless nights & opposition, people have always been tempted to find a way to make it easier.

Again, we saw last week how some people water down the message to make it more palatable, and how others dress it up to make it more attractive. And by doing this, such people hope that they will make they themselves more attractive and more acceptable.

But, says Paul, we don’t engage in this kind of deception, Rather, v2,  we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

When J K Rowling sat in various café’s in Edinburgh writing her first Harry Potter novel, she could make Harry, Hermione and Voldemort do and say whatever she wanted. She was free to make it as believable – or unbelievable – as she wanted.

But the gospel is not our invention.

God decided on the gospel. And he didn’t just make it up in his head and write it down. He enacted it in history. It happened. It’s reality.

So if we change it, it’s no longer the gospel – for ‘gospel’ means ‘news’ it’s the reporting of events and their meaning.

If we change the message, it’s no longer the gospel. It’s just an empty story.

The task and commission of every Xn is to know and tell the gospel: to understand what God has done in Jesus, and then to tell the truth.

That’s gospel ministry. Knowing and telling the gospel. And it’s a glorious ministry because it’s a glorious gospel.

But, you might say, I’ve told people and they don’t respond – they don’t believe what I tell them…  ….I share your frustration!

But we shouldn’t be surprised – not if we understand what’s needed for people to see the glory of Jesus: have a look with me at vv3-4 READ

So non-Xns cannot see how wonderful Jesus is. They’ve been blinded to his glory by the god of this age.

It’s not that there is another god - “the god of this age” – but that whenever someone lives their life for something or someone other than Jesus, they have created their own god or idol.

I don’t need to list the gods people create for themselves – you all know them because, if you’re a Xn you know the gods you’ve been freed from, and if you’re a not yet a Xn, you probably don’t believe that you have idols and gods. Even if I named them, you’d deny that they were your idol.

But the truth is that everyone gives their life for something or someone, and that’s your god.

And our devotion to our little gods prevents us from seeing that Jesus Christ is the image of God – that if we want to know God we simply have to look at Jesus who radiates the truth and reality of God because he is the exact likeness of God.

Now the only way the non-Xn is going to recognise their need to change gods, the only way they’re going to see the glory of Jesus, is if God does a miracle in their life and opens their eyes.

Thankfully, God does do that – God does open the eyes of those who are blinded by the gods of this world – as many of us would testify.

But how does that happen?

Newton’s third law of motion is ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction.’

If that were true of gospel ministry, there’d be no hope at all – the response to preaching the gospel would be equal and opposite – a 10 minute evangelistic talk would get a 10’ negative response.

Sometimes, I have to say, it feels like that!

But thankfully, Newton’s laws don’t apply to gospel ministry.
Gospel ministry is more like striking a match.

First of all, you need to make sure your matches are good – that they’re not wet.

Assuming the match is good, you strike it and it lights. But sometimes a gust of wind will blow it out as soon as you’ve struck it.

On the other hand, if the conditions are right, you strike the match put to the paper in the grate, and create a wonderful, warming fire.

Or, if you’re Ian, you can start a bonfire that will smoke for a fortnight!

Sharing the gospel is like that: first of all, we have to get the message right. We mustn’t damp it down, but use it fresh & straight from the Bible.

That’s what Paul’s saying in v5, We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

We don’t muck about with the message, we don’t preach about our experiences or about our faith or even about our church. No. We tell people about Jesus Christ as Lord.

You see, if I speak about my religious experience or about my faith, people can respond, ‘Well, that’s nice for you, but I’m not religious.’ Or, ‘My faith’s a bit different from yours.’

And today, people think that all faiths are of equal, you choose your faith, I choose mine - you prefer Sainsbury’s, I prefer Morrisons.

But if we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, then we’re saying something very different.

Then we’re saying, ‘Look, if you want to know God, you need to look at Jesus. He is the only true image of God, and unless you look to him, you don’t know God, you can’t know God. More than that, unless you admit that he’s your Lord he will not admit you to his eternal home, and you will be cast out to an eternity where people constantly fight for their own supremacy. It’s called hell.’

That’s the match we have to strike.

And tho it will often be blown out by scorn and derision, sometimes we’ll find that God starts a great fire with as we strike the match of the gospel.

In v6, Paul describes this miracle, ‘For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.’

At the beginning of time, on the first day of creation, God spoke and there was light.

But not the light of photons – the sun wasn’t made until the fourth day – this was the light of God’s self-revelation.

The room was dark. No-one knew God was there. Then he spoke. He revealed himself. There was the light of the knowledge of God.

And now, says Paul, God has spoken again, this time, he’s spoken into our hearts.

God has, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

The only way we can know God is for him to speak into our hearts – for him to dispel the darkness of our ignorance and replace it with the light of the knowledge of him.

In particular, he gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ.

And that’s why, when we witness to others – when we engage in gospel ministry – we speak of Jesus.

The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is not in our faith.

The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is not in our church.

Yes, my faith lived out bears witness to Jesus. Yes, our church points to Jesus and shows what he can do.

But for people to encounter God himself, they need us to talk about Jesus and for God to shine the light of revelation into their hearts.

Now we begin to see why Paul began by saying, ‘Since we have this ministry we do not lose heart…’

We don’t lose heart because we know that God uses our weak and simple words about Jesus to change people’s hearts, lives and eternal destinies.

We know that God does miracles today by shining the light of the knowledge of Jesus into the dark lives of non-Xns.

And if ever we doubt that, we just need to look around us in church. Here, we’re surrounded by people who are filled with the light of the knowledge of the glory of Jesus. (And that’s a good reason for being here in church each week!).

God worked in their lives when someone explained to them that Jesus is Lord. And he will do that same work again. And again. And again. And so we don’t lose heart.

This is a glorious ministry that you and I have – yes, you and I - don’t think for one minute that gospel ministry is for paid ministers only.

This is your ministry. This is your glorious ministry.

And it’s this ministry that can transform your life from one of mundane drudgery into one full of expectation and value.

This ministry will get you out of bed in the morning.

There are no application forms, and there’s no salary.

There will be rejection and opposition. There will be sleepless nights and heartfelt, desperate prayers.

But because, through God’s mercy, we have this ministry, we will not lose heart…   …Will we?!