Usually when I read a book it's because its been recommended or because it's part of preparing to preach/teach at church. But when I saw the title, 'Feelings & Faith; Cultivating Godly emotions in the Christian Life', I was intruiged. The place of feelings and emotions in the Christian life causes people lots of problems for many different reasons; lack of feelings can cause people to question God himself, strong feelings all too often lead people to make immoral decisions, emotional attachments to religious places and things cause fights and arguments, and so on.
Brian S Borgman acknowledges that, at one extreme, there are those who place far too much importance on feelings and end up being controlled by them, while at the other end of the spectrum are those who say that emotions are untrustworthy and should be suppressed.
I guess I'd tend toward the latter, but have long wanted to find a sensible and biblical aunderstanding of the subject, and I think I've found one here. I haven't finished it yet, but so far, so good.
The most important point so far is that because Jesus showed emotions, we know they're good things to have. The problem comes when we're controlled by our emotions - when we allow them to dictate how we think and behave. Instead we should shape our emotions by the truth - the truth about God and the truth about ourselves. We should remember that just as our intellect and behaviour are affected by sin, so too are our emotions. But just as our intellect and behaviour can be redeemed and recreated by God, so too can our emotions. We're not helpless victims of emotion, not are we robots with no emotions.
So all good stuff so far. If there's more, I'll try to find time to post it here.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Monday, 15 March 2010
The Great Commission
Matthew 28:16-20
It may seem rather odd to have a reading about the resurrection when Easter is still 3 weeks away, and we're in the middle of Lent.
But Lent is very much about following in the footsteps – being his disciples – and that's what the very last paragraph of Matthew is about – discipleship.
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
Well, as we saw last week, Jesus sums up all that God requires of us in the two great commandments:
First and foremost, love God with all you have and all you are – with every ounce of energy – with your whole being. Love God 100%, 24/7.
And second, love others as you love yourself – give others the same care and attention you lavish on yourself.
So as someone has said, Xn disciples are lovers – lovers of God and lovers of others.
At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a task – a commission – The Great Commission as it's often called.
And this commission is to make disciples of all nations – to make people from all over the world lovers of God and lovers of others.
Of course, that's a massive task. Humanly speaking, it's Mission Impossible – not Tom Cruise could pull this one off.
You see, not many people had believed in Jesus even while he was alive.
And then, as Jesus is tried, beaten & crucified, most of the believers prove to be fickle, and run off.
And even when the women find the empty tomb, Jesus' closest friends thought they were talking nonsense.
But over the next 40 days, Jesus began to appear to many people – as many as 500 at one time – and gradually people began to believe that he had indeed been raised from the dead.
Now, at some point during this 40-day period, Jesus calls together the 11 disciples – the 11 men who had been especially close to him for the last 3 years.
It's as if this is the first Church Council meeting, and Jesus is chairman.
We might think we've had some important items on our church council agenda – replacing the floor & pews... the annual budget... employing a youth worker...
But Jesus has just one item on the agenda – the small matter of making disciples of all nations!
At least that first church council meeting didn't have to worry about a long agenda:
no minutes of last meeting – there hadn't been one!
no fire regulations to meet, no budget to prepare, no alcohol policy to write – they just had the whole world to evangelise!
So what stopped those 11 men from just falling about laughing at the sheer scale of the task?
Our mission is to make disciples in Tunbridge Wells – and Pembury – and we're daunted by that. So what will help us to have confidence in the face of this not-quite-so-great commission?
And what exactly does Jesus mean when he tells us to 'make disciples'?
Let's get some answers – turn with me to Matthew 28:17-20
1.We can have confidence in the great commission because Jesus is God : v17
“When they saw Jesus, they worshipped him, but some doubted.”
If Jesus was just a good teacher, he would have rebuked the disciples who worshipped him.
If Jesus wasn't God, worshipping him was blasphemy and idolatry.
But Jesus accepts their worship.
And the fact that some doubted just shows that they were real people – some accepted the resurrection quicker than others. Some were naturally more sceptical.
That doesn't alter the fact that Jesus behaved as if he were God – accepting their worship.
So the great commission is given by God the Son. This is no human idea, no crackpot human scheme of world domination. This is God sharing his plan with his workers.
And we know that what God plans, happens.
So Psalm 33 tells us, The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
The truth of this becomes clear in the death of Jesus himself. As Peter says,
This man [Jesus] was handed over to you [Jews] by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
You see, the Jewish leaders & Roman rulers thought they'd put a stop to Jesus. But in killing Jesus, they just fulfilled God's plan. Even men's free actions – no matter how evil – somehow fulfil God's good plans.
Nothing can prevent God from doing what he sets out to do.
And if we're involved in making disciples, then we're involved in God's plan – a plan that cannot fail cannot fail. God will make disciples of all nations – indeed he is making disciples of all nations.
If you come and hear N & L on Saturday week, you'll hear about the church growing in countries & regions which violently oppose Christianity – countries where all the efforts of the evil rulers simply end up serving the purposes of God in spreading the gospel.
So when Jesus shares with the disciples his great plan – that these 11 men will lead the evangelisation of the world – they can have confidence in it because they know that Jesus is God the Son.
The second thing that gives us confidence is closely related:
2.We can have confidence in the great commission because of the authority of Jesus : vv18-19
Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.
God the Father has delegated all his authority to God the Son. Jesus is the Father's official spokesman. When Jesus speaks, he speaks only what the Father has told him to say, and his words carry the authority of God. So if Jesus tells disciples to do something, they do it. They are, after all, his disciples - he is their teacher and Lord.
But it's not blind, stupid obedience. It's not a leap in the dark. It's sensible, logical obedience, based on sound evidence.
Here is Jesus, whom they have seen heal the sick, walk on water, raise the dead and teach like no-one ever taught before. Here, standing before them and very much alive, is the man they saw crucified and buried for 3 days. This man, who was dead is now so obviously alive that they know he is no ordinary man.
This Jesus, God the Son. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, so it's logical and sensible to obey him – even when the task, humanly speaking, seems monumental.
Now we might think that this command of Jesus was only given to these 11 men. 'It doesn't apply to us', we might say. But look at the logic of the passage: Jesus gives the great commission to these disciples. And the command is – go and make more disciples. Disciples who, v20, obey all that Jesus has commanded them.
We can't limit this commission to the first disciples, and say, 'We're different kinds of disciples, who don't have to take part in this great commission.' All Christians are disciples. All Christians are necessarily involved in making more disciples.
But how? How do we make disciples?
Well, the word disciple means, 'pupil', 'student' or 'learner' – so Jesus says to the 11, 'go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HS, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'
Evangelism is not just about making converts. It's about making disciples – people who will learn from and about Jesus. It's about making people disciples who will learn to obey everything Jesus has commanded.
And what has Jesus commanded? That we be lovers of God and lovers of others.
And, as we saw last week, when we love God and love others, we will be seen to be different – people will notice how we love each other, and will see that we are disciples of Jesus; "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
So Jesus is not calling us all to be preachers. He's not saying that we will all have the gift of evangelism. But he is saying that if we're a true disciple, we will help to make new disciples by loving as he loved us. That will mean answering questions about why you're so committed to the church – why do you give so much time and energy to the people at St Peter's?
If we're not loving each other in this radically committed and sacrificial way, we're disobeying Jesus, and we've demonstrated that actually, we're not really his disciples.
So Jesus sets the bar very, very high – in fact, it's out of our reach humanly speaking. It is, in our own strength, mission impossible, both in terms of the great commandments and the great commission.
But, v20, should fill us with expectant hope:
3.Jesus is with us to fulfil the great commission v20:
Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age
Some Christians are selfish. They like the idea of Jesus being with them, but don't want to share him with others. They think that v20, 'I am with you' is spoken to them, but v19, 'go and make disciples' is spoken to someone else.
And so they reveal that they're not really disciples, but hangers-on. They're not obedient to Jesus, but persistently and deliberately disobedient.
The true disciple has learnt and accepts that Jesus commands them to be involved in loving others and making disciples.
The true disciple is apprehensive about this – he or she knows that it will involve sacrifice, courage, learning new skills, receiving and exercising new gifts.
But, says Jesus, literally, 'Listen! I am with you every day until the completion of the age.'
“In every situation. At all times and in all places. I am with you. And I shall be with you until this period of history is completed – until there are lovers of God and lovers of others in every nation and people group of the world."
God the Son is with us – in all his power and authority.
We're working to his plan, and nothing can thwart it.
And we'll keep on working until that day when the work is done, and his plan is complete.
It may seem rather odd to have a reading about the resurrection when Easter is still 3 weeks away, and we're in the middle of Lent.
But Lent is very much about following in the footsteps – being his disciples – and that's what the very last paragraph of Matthew is about – discipleship.
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
Well, as we saw last week, Jesus sums up all that God requires of us in the two great commandments:
First and foremost, love God with all you have and all you are – with every ounce of energy – with your whole being. Love God 100%, 24/7.
And second, love others as you love yourself – give others the same care and attention you lavish on yourself.
So as someone has said, Xn disciples are lovers – lovers of God and lovers of others.
At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a task – a commission – The Great Commission as it's often called.
And this commission is to make disciples of all nations – to make people from all over the world lovers of God and lovers of others.
Of course, that's a massive task. Humanly speaking, it's Mission Impossible – not Tom Cruise could pull this one off.
You see, not many people had believed in Jesus even while he was alive.
And then, as Jesus is tried, beaten & crucified, most of the believers prove to be fickle, and run off.
And even when the women find the empty tomb, Jesus' closest friends thought they were talking nonsense.
But over the next 40 days, Jesus began to appear to many people – as many as 500 at one time – and gradually people began to believe that he had indeed been raised from the dead.
Now, at some point during this 40-day period, Jesus calls together the 11 disciples – the 11 men who had been especially close to him for the last 3 years.
It's as if this is the first Church Council meeting, and Jesus is chairman.
We might think we've had some important items on our church council agenda – replacing the floor & pews... the annual budget... employing a youth worker...
But Jesus has just one item on the agenda – the small matter of making disciples of all nations!
At least that first church council meeting didn't have to worry about a long agenda:
no minutes of last meeting – there hadn't been one!
no fire regulations to meet, no budget to prepare, no alcohol policy to write – they just had the whole world to evangelise!
So what stopped those 11 men from just falling about laughing at the sheer scale of the task?
Our mission is to make disciples in Tunbridge Wells – and Pembury – and we're daunted by that. So what will help us to have confidence in the face of this not-quite-so-great commission?
And what exactly does Jesus mean when he tells us to 'make disciples'?
Let's get some answers – turn with me to Matthew 28:17-20
1.We can have confidence in the great commission because Jesus is God : v17
“When they saw Jesus, they worshipped him, but some doubted.”
If Jesus was just a good teacher, he would have rebuked the disciples who worshipped him.
If Jesus wasn't God, worshipping him was blasphemy and idolatry.
But Jesus accepts their worship.
And the fact that some doubted just shows that they were real people – some accepted the resurrection quicker than others. Some were naturally more sceptical.
That doesn't alter the fact that Jesus behaved as if he were God – accepting their worship.
So the great commission is given by God the Son. This is no human idea, no crackpot human scheme of world domination. This is God sharing his plan with his workers.
And we know that what God plans, happens.
So Psalm 33 tells us, The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
The truth of this becomes clear in the death of Jesus himself. As Peter says,
This man [Jesus] was handed over to you [Jews] by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
You see, the Jewish leaders & Roman rulers thought they'd put a stop to Jesus. But in killing Jesus, they just fulfilled God's plan. Even men's free actions – no matter how evil – somehow fulfil God's good plans.
Nothing can prevent God from doing what he sets out to do.
And if we're involved in making disciples, then we're involved in God's plan – a plan that cannot fail cannot fail. God will make disciples of all nations – indeed he is making disciples of all nations.
If you come and hear N & L on Saturday week, you'll hear about the church growing in countries & regions which violently oppose Christianity – countries where all the efforts of the evil rulers simply end up serving the purposes of God in spreading the gospel.
So when Jesus shares with the disciples his great plan – that these 11 men will lead the evangelisation of the world – they can have confidence in it because they know that Jesus is God the Son.
The second thing that gives us confidence is closely related:
2.We can have confidence in the great commission because of the authority of Jesus : vv18-19
Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.
God the Father has delegated all his authority to God the Son. Jesus is the Father's official spokesman. When Jesus speaks, he speaks only what the Father has told him to say, and his words carry the authority of God. So if Jesus tells disciples to do something, they do it. They are, after all, his disciples - he is their teacher and Lord.
But it's not blind, stupid obedience. It's not a leap in the dark. It's sensible, logical obedience, based on sound evidence.
Here is Jesus, whom they have seen heal the sick, walk on water, raise the dead and teach like no-one ever taught before. Here, standing before them and very much alive, is the man they saw crucified and buried for 3 days. This man, who was dead is now so obviously alive that they know he is no ordinary man.
This Jesus, God the Son. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, so it's logical and sensible to obey him – even when the task, humanly speaking, seems monumental.
Now we might think that this command of Jesus was only given to these 11 men. 'It doesn't apply to us', we might say. But look at the logic of the passage: Jesus gives the great commission to these disciples. And the command is – go and make more disciples. Disciples who, v20, obey all that Jesus has commanded them.
We can't limit this commission to the first disciples, and say, 'We're different kinds of disciples, who don't have to take part in this great commission.' All Christians are disciples. All Christians are necessarily involved in making more disciples.
But how? How do we make disciples?
Well, the word disciple means, 'pupil', 'student' or 'learner' – so Jesus says to the 11, 'go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HS, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'
Evangelism is not just about making converts. It's about making disciples – people who will learn from and about Jesus. It's about making people disciples who will learn to obey everything Jesus has commanded.
And what has Jesus commanded? That we be lovers of God and lovers of others.
And, as we saw last week, when we love God and love others, we will be seen to be different – people will notice how we love each other, and will see that we are disciples of Jesus; "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
So Jesus is not calling us all to be preachers. He's not saying that we will all have the gift of evangelism. But he is saying that if we're a true disciple, we will help to make new disciples by loving as he loved us. That will mean answering questions about why you're so committed to the church – why do you give so much time and energy to the people at St Peter's?
If we're not loving each other in this radically committed and sacrificial way, we're disobeying Jesus, and we've demonstrated that actually, we're not really his disciples.
So Jesus sets the bar very, very high – in fact, it's out of our reach humanly speaking. It is, in our own strength, mission impossible, both in terms of the great commandments and the great commission.
But, v20, should fill us with expectant hope:
3.Jesus is with us to fulfil the great commission v20:
Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age
Some Christians are selfish. They like the idea of Jesus being with them, but don't want to share him with others. They think that v20, 'I am with you' is spoken to them, but v19, 'go and make disciples' is spoken to someone else.
And so they reveal that they're not really disciples, but hangers-on. They're not obedient to Jesus, but persistently and deliberately disobedient.
The true disciple has learnt and accepts that Jesus commands them to be involved in loving others and making disciples.
The true disciple is apprehensive about this – he or she knows that it will involve sacrifice, courage, learning new skills, receiving and exercising new gifts.
But, says Jesus, literally, 'Listen! I am with you every day until the completion of the age.'
“In every situation. At all times and in all places. I am with you. And I shall be with you until this period of history is completed – until there are lovers of God and lovers of others in every nation and people group of the world."
God the Son is with us – in all his power and authority.
We're working to his plan, and nothing can thwart it.
And we'll keep on working until that day when the work is done, and his plan is complete.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Suffering
I guess the worst physical pain I've ever suffered was acute appendicitis.
I was taken to the N. Middlesex hospital in an ambulance. And after an assessment in A&E was put in the back of what I can only describe as a modified milk float to be driven to theatre.
It was a cold day, and the porter piled half a dozen blankets on me, and, as his mate drove, he discovered that I was a student vicar.
Then, as I lay there, still curled up in absolute agony, he asked me what I thought of women vicars.
It's easy to joke about that. But real, long-term pain – whether mental or physical - is no joke.
It's pretty much certain that we will all suffer in some way, at some point, and we'll deal with suffering much better if we've thought about it and prepared ourselves before it hits.
You can't think rationally when you're in the middle of terrible pain or emotional turmoil.
And so, if you're in the middle of suffering now, you may well find some of what I say very difficult.
We're dealing with a complex issue very briefly with the broadest of brushes. And in doing this, it's entirely possible that I'll say something that seems blunt, harsh or insensitive. If that's so, I beg your forgiveness in advance.
But in the summer Tuesday evening Bible studies, we'll be giving this a lot more thought, and I urge you all to come to those.
We all ask questions when we suffer, 'What have I done to deserve this?' 'Why me?' 'Why is life so hard?' 'Why, if God loves me, does he allow it?' 'Why? Why?'
The Bible doesn't duck these questions. But it doesn't present easy or simplistic answers.
It recognises that sometimes good people suffer, and sometimes evil people get away with it, and prosper.
But as we look for answers, we find that the Bible deals with the problem, not like a philosophy textbook, but as a narrative – the history of God and his people – and suffering is included as and when it occurs, not as a separate topic.
So the Bible describes suffering as it occurs – what happens, how people feel, what they say, how they pray, and how God answers – or doesn't.
But there's no book called, 'Answers to the problem of Suffering'.
Instead, we have to enter into the history of God's dealings with people, listen in on lives of real people, see how God interacts with them, and then see how we today fit into God's plan for the world.
When we do this, we see the big picture of suffering. We see what God has done about it and what God will do about it.
Will we answer every question tonight? No – far from it. But we'll set the context for further exploration.
We'll see the big picture so that we can explore the details further. If we try to look at the detail first, we'll go badly wrong – as all to many have done.
So let's go back to the beginning of the story.
In Genesis 1 & 2 God creates the world – don't need to worry for now whether he does it in 6 days or 6 billion years – the point is that at the point when the first man & woman walk the earth, God declares it to be very good.
There is no suffering. There is no pain. There are no natural disasters.
But then something goes horribly wrong.
Adam & Eve turn their backs on God – they twist what he said and disobey his one command.
They decided that they knew better than God.
They wanted to rule their lives and God's world.
In short, they wanted to be God. They didn't want God to be God.
This rebellion immediately broke their good relationship with each other, with God and with the earth.
And suffering erupts into God's good world.
So let's turn to Genesis 3 – page 5 – and see what happens when humans reject God.
We join the story after Adam & Eve have eaten the fruit of the tree God told them not to eat:
Read v 7: disruption of relationship between Adam & Eve – ashamed in front of each other. Hide from each other. Here is the beginning of the suffering and pain of broken relationships.
Read vv 8 – 10: Here is the disruption of man's relationship with God – ashamed & afraid of God. Hide from him.
Verse 16 – God's curse on Eve.
Verse 17-19 God's curse on Adam. Disruption of the earth.
And, v20, we see that we're all children of Adam & Eve – we all twist God's word & disobey his commands. We don't trust him. We hide from him.
And we all suffer the same consequences of this rebellion against God.
So suffering – of all kinds – is the general result of our general sin against God.
Now I know that this seems terribly harsh. That God permits – or even causes – untold human misery because people reject him.
But, as I said before, we mustn't jump to conclusions before we've seen the big picture.
Much – I'd even go as far as to say most – of the suffering in this world is the direct result of human wickedness & rebellion against God:
the drunk driver who smashes into a group of children at the bus stop
the evil men of Eritrea who syphoned off 95% of the Live Aid money to buy guns & bullets.
The crooked Italian builders who built sub-standard buildings that collapsed in the earthquake a few years ago.
The greed of the rich nations which leaves us with an obesity crisis while the majority of the world starves.
Or closer to home, we know that sexually transmitted diseases would be wiped out if we followed God's teaching on sex & marriage.
And we can't blame God for the consequences of our own irresponsibility and rejection of him and his ways.
Nevertheless, we come back to those instances of suffering that are not the direct result of specific sins.
We come back to earthquakes and floods. To cancer and alzheimer's. To death and bereavement.
All seemingly caused by man's inability to live under God's rule.
It seems a desperate situation, and we're still left with the question, if God is a loving God, why doesn't he do something about it?
And the answer is, he has and he will.
First, God has done something about suffering
God does not remain detached from our suffering.
He himself entered into this world as God the Son, Jesus Christ.
In John's gospel, we read about the death of Jesus' friend, Lazarus.
It's in John chapter 11, and you might like to turn to it. Page 1077.
We begin with the tragic illness and death of Jesus' dear friend, Lazarus.
At the beginning of chapter 11, Lazarus is sick, and his sisters, Martha & Mary, sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love is sick.'
But Jesus stayed where he was for 2 more days – he did nothing to help Lazarus.
When he finally announced that he was going to see Lazarus, the disciples were afraid, v8, 'a little while ago, the Jews tried to stone you there'. Jesus knows what it is to be threatened with violence.
But he goes anyway.
When he finally arrives, v17, Lazarus has already been dead for 4 days, and his friends have begun to mourn.
When Jesus meets Lazarus' sisters, Martha & Mary, he's greeted with the same comment by both of them – but each has a very different meaning.
First, Martha says to Jesus, 'If you'd been here my brother wouldn't have died'.
And then there's a conversation in which Martha says that she believes Jesus can give eternal life even to those who have died.
Martha has hope in face of the death of her young brother.
Second, v32, through her tears, Mary says to Jesus, 'If you'd been here my brother wouldn't have died'.
Perhaps she's angry with Jesus for not coming sooner – you could understand it if she was.
And then, v33, with Mary crying her eyes out, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, Jesus is deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
They take Jesus to the tomb, and then we have the shortest verse in the whole Bible.
Two words: “Jesus wept.”
And the Jews said, 'See how he loved him.'
But one of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'
Do you see what he's saying?
If Jesus is so powerful, why didn't he stop this suffering? Why did he allow Lazarus to die? Why did he allow Martha & Mary to suffer this bereavement? Why?!
And then, v38, John tells us again that Jesus was deeply moved.
God does not sit in heaven unconcerned by suffering.
He came down to this mucked up, disease-ridden, dying world and he felt the pain that we feel, he cried the tears we cry.
But God is not just sympathetic. He does something.
Jesus ignores the objection that Lazarus' body will stink by now, and demands that they open the tomb.
And out walks Lazarus bandaged up like a comedy mummy or the invisible man.
Martha was right. Jesus has power over death. He can raise the dead.
And we realise that Jesus wept, not because of Lazarus – he knew what he was about to do – Jesus wept because they had no hope.
He wept because they didn't trust him to raise Lazarus to eternal life. And so he raises Lazarus to this life again to demonstrate what he's come to do.
And having raised Lazarus from the dead, the rest of John's gospel is taken up with Jesus undergoing a false trial; being punched, spat on and whipped to within an inch of his life; and then crucified.
And we see that God himself knows what it is to suffer. He is not aloof. He is involved. And he has done something to solve the problem of our sinful rebellion.
The OT prophet Isaiah tells us why Jesus dies:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed...
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Do you see what happens at the cross?
God has done something about the root cause of suffering – sin and its consequences.
He takes upon himself our sin and the punishment for sin.
And because God has done this, so we know that God will do something more.
Turn with me to the last book of the Bible. Revelation 21. READ vv1-5
Do you see what's happened here?
It's a reversal of Genesis 3. Now we're back to Genesis 1 – only better. The curse has gone. Everything is very good.
Martha knew that even if Lazarus died, it was not the end.
She would miss him dreadfully. And she mourned. But not without hope.
She knew that there was a resurrection, and the Jesus was the key to this new life.
And so she had hope in the midst of suffering.
And seeing suffering in this eternal perspective – with the cross in the past and resurrection and new creation in the future – is the beginning – just the beginning – of understanding and being prepared for suffering.
I used to play golf with a wonderful retired clergyman – George Swannell. George had a stroke, and was left unable to speak for several weeks.
During that time he held a small wooden cross in his hand. He knew that the death of Jesus on the cross was his gateway to eternity with God and to the new heavens and the new earth.
I remember the funeral of Paul (names changed for privacy). He was killed in a car crash leaving his wife, Jane, and two young boys.
Jane was seriously injured, but at his funeral someone quoted her. 'No more hankies. No more hospitals. No more hearses.'
That's the hope that enables Jane – and millions like her – to live with tragedy and suffering and still praise God.
I was taken to the N. Middlesex hospital in an ambulance. And after an assessment in A&E was put in the back of what I can only describe as a modified milk float to be driven to theatre.
It was a cold day, and the porter piled half a dozen blankets on me, and, as his mate drove, he discovered that I was a student vicar.
Then, as I lay there, still curled up in absolute agony, he asked me what I thought of women vicars.
It's easy to joke about that. But real, long-term pain – whether mental or physical - is no joke.
It's pretty much certain that we will all suffer in some way, at some point, and we'll deal with suffering much better if we've thought about it and prepared ourselves before it hits.
You can't think rationally when you're in the middle of terrible pain or emotional turmoil.
And so, if you're in the middle of suffering now, you may well find some of what I say very difficult.
We're dealing with a complex issue very briefly with the broadest of brushes. And in doing this, it's entirely possible that I'll say something that seems blunt, harsh or insensitive. If that's so, I beg your forgiveness in advance.
But in the summer Tuesday evening Bible studies, we'll be giving this a lot more thought, and I urge you all to come to those.
We all ask questions when we suffer, 'What have I done to deserve this?' 'Why me?' 'Why is life so hard?' 'Why, if God loves me, does he allow it?' 'Why? Why?'
The Bible doesn't duck these questions. But it doesn't present easy or simplistic answers.
It recognises that sometimes good people suffer, and sometimes evil people get away with it, and prosper.
But as we look for answers, we find that the Bible deals with the problem, not like a philosophy textbook, but as a narrative – the history of God and his people – and suffering is included as and when it occurs, not as a separate topic.
So the Bible describes suffering as it occurs – what happens, how people feel, what they say, how they pray, and how God answers – or doesn't.
But there's no book called, 'Answers to the problem of Suffering'.
Instead, we have to enter into the history of God's dealings with people, listen in on lives of real people, see how God interacts with them, and then see how we today fit into God's plan for the world.
When we do this, we see the big picture of suffering. We see what God has done about it and what God will do about it.
Will we answer every question tonight? No – far from it. But we'll set the context for further exploration.
We'll see the big picture so that we can explore the details further. If we try to look at the detail first, we'll go badly wrong – as all to many have done.
So let's go back to the beginning of the story.
In Genesis 1 & 2 God creates the world – don't need to worry for now whether he does it in 6 days or 6 billion years – the point is that at the point when the first man & woman walk the earth, God declares it to be very good.
There is no suffering. There is no pain. There are no natural disasters.
But then something goes horribly wrong.
Adam & Eve turn their backs on God – they twist what he said and disobey his one command.
They decided that they knew better than God.
They wanted to rule their lives and God's world.
In short, they wanted to be God. They didn't want God to be God.
This rebellion immediately broke their good relationship with each other, with God and with the earth.
And suffering erupts into God's good world.
So let's turn to Genesis 3 – page 5 – and see what happens when humans reject God.
We join the story after Adam & Eve have eaten the fruit of the tree God told them not to eat:
Read v 7: disruption of relationship between Adam & Eve – ashamed in front of each other. Hide from each other. Here is the beginning of the suffering and pain of broken relationships.
Read vv 8 – 10: Here is the disruption of man's relationship with God – ashamed & afraid of God. Hide from him.
Verse 16 – God's curse on Eve.
Verse 17-19 God's curse on Adam. Disruption of the earth.
And, v20, we see that we're all children of Adam & Eve – we all twist God's word & disobey his commands. We don't trust him. We hide from him.
And we all suffer the same consequences of this rebellion against God.
So suffering – of all kinds – is the general result of our general sin against God.
Now I know that this seems terribly harsh. That God permits – or even causes – untold human misery because people reject him.
But, as I said before, we mustn't jump to conclusions before we've seen the big picture.
Much – I'd even go as far as to say most – of the suffering in this world is the direct result of human wickedness & rebellion against God:
the drunk driver who smashes into a group of children at the bus stop
the evil men of Eritrea who syphoned off 95% of the Live Aid money to buy guns & bullets.
The crooked Italian builders who built sub-standard buildings that collapsed in the earthquake a few years ago.
The greed of the rich nations which leaves us with an obesity crisis while the majority of the world starves.
Or closer to home, we know that sexually transmitted diseases would be wiped out if we followed God's teaching on sex & marriage.
And we can't blame God for the consequences of our own irresponsibility and rejection of him and his ways.
Nevertheless, we come back to those instances of suffering that are not the direct result of specific sins.
We come back to earthquakes and floods. To cancer and alzheimer's. To death and bereavement.
All seemingly caused by man's inability to live under God's rule.
It seems a desperate situation, and we're still left with the question, if God is a loving God, why doesn't he do something about it?
And the answer is, he has and he will.
First, God has done something about suffering
God does not remain detached from our suffering.
He himself entered into this world as God the Son, Jesus Christ.
In John's gospel, we read about the death of Jesus' friend, Lazarus.
It's in John chapter 11, and you might like to turn to it. Page 1077.
We begin with the tragic illness and death of Jesus' dear friend, Lazarus.
At the beginning of chapter 11, Lazarus is sick, and his sisters, Martha & Mary, sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love is sick.'
But Jesus stayed where he was for 2 more days – he did nothing to help Lazarus.
When he finally announced that he was going to see Lazarus, the disciples were afraid, v8, 'a little while ago, the Jews tried to stone you there'. Jesus knows what it is to be threatened with violence.
But he goes anyway.
When he finally arrives, v17, Lazarus has already been dead for 4 days, and his friends have begun to mourn.
When Jesus meets Lazarus' sisters, Martha & Mary, he's greeted with the same comment by both of them – but each has a very different meaning.
First, Martha says to Jesus, 'If you'd been here my brother wouldn't have died'.
And then there's a conversation in which Martha says that she believes Jesus can give eternal life even to those who have died.
Martha has hope in face of the death of her young brother.
Second, v32, through her tears, Mary says to Jesus, 'If you'd been here my brother wouldn't have died'.
Perhaps she's angry with Jesus for not coming sooner – you could understand it if she was.
And then, v33, with Mary crying her eyes out, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, Jesus is deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
They take Jesus to the tomb, and then we have the shortest verse in the whole Bible.
Two words: “Jesus wept.”
And the Jews said, 'See how he loved him.'
But one of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'
Do you see what he's saying?
If Jesus is so powerful, why didn't he stop this suffering? Why did he allow Lazarus to die? Why did he allow Martha & Mary to suffer this bereavement? Why?!
And then, v38, John tells us again that Jesus was deeply moved.
God does not sit in heaven unconcerned by suffering.
He came down to this mucked up, disease-ridden, dying world and he felt the pain that we feel, he cried the tears we cry.
But God is not just sympathetic. He does something.
Jesus ignores the objection that Lazarus' body will stink by now, and demands that they open the tomb.
And out walks Lazarus bandaged up like a comedy mummy or the invisible man.
Martha was right. Jesus has power over death. He can raise the dead.
And we realise that Jesus wept, not because of Lazarus – he knew what he was about to do – Jesus wept because they had no hope.
He wept because they didn't trust him to raise Lazarus to eternal life. And so he raises Lazarus to this life again to demonstrate what he's come to do.
And having raised Lazarus from the dead, the rest of John's gospel is taken up with Jesus undergoing a false trial; being punched, spat on and whipped to within an inch of his life; and then crucified.
And we see that God himself knows what it is to suffer. He is not aloof. He is involved. And he has done something to solve the problem of our sinful rebellion.
The OT prophet Isaiah tells us why Jesus dies:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed...
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Do you see what happens at the cross?
God has done something about the root cause of suffering – sin and its consequences.
He takes upon himself our sin and the punishment for sin.
And because God has done this, so we know that God will do something more.
Turn with me to the last book of the Bible. Revelation 21. READ vv1-5
Do you see what's happened here?
It's a reversal of Genesis 3. Now we're back to Genesis 1 – only better. The curse has gone. Everything is very good.
Martha knew that even if Lazarus died, it was not the end.
She would miss him dreadfully. And she mourned. But not without hope.
She knew that there was a resurrection, and the Jesus was the key to this new life.
And so she had hope in the midst of suffering.
And seeing suffering in this eternal perspective – with the cross in the past and resurrection and new creation in the future – is the beginning – just the beginning – of understanding and being prepared for suffering.
I used to play golf with a wonderful retired clergyman – George Swannell. George had a stroke, and was left unable to speak for several weeks.
During that time he held a small wooden cross in his hand. He knew that the death of Jesus on the cross was his gateway to eternity with God and to the new heavens and the new earth.
I remember the funeral of Paul (names changed for privacy). He was killed in a car crash leaving his wife, Jane, and two young boys.
Jane was seriously injured, but at his funeral someone quoted her. 'No more hankies. No more hospitals. No more hearses.'
That's the hope that enables Jane – and millions like her – to live with tragedy and suffering and still praise God.
Love God, love others
Introduction – Isaiah 45:15-25
As God speaks to his people through Isaiah, they are in a bad place.
Far from home and under Babylonian rule, they sometimes feel as though God is hiding himself from them, v15.
But feelings can be very misleading, and God reminds his people who he really is.
Vv15-17 – he is the Saviour – he is the God who rescues people from the shame & disgrace of worshipping dumb and empty idols.
When God finally reveals himself to the whole world, those who have given their lives to worshipping man-made idols rather than the living God will feel very stupid.
For, v18, there is only one true God – the creator. Only one who existed before the cosmos, only one who created the cosmos, and filled this earth with life – He is the LORD and there is no other.
And this God doesn't leave us to thrash around in the dark trying to find him. He is also the God who speaks, v19: the LORD who speaks the truth and declares what is right.
The religious pagans have idols that have so little life or power that they have to be carried about, v20, and when they pray, they pray to gods who cannot save them.
But the LORD God, he is quite unlike these idols – he has created, he has spoken, he has rescued people from this idiotic idolatry.
And therefore, v23b, one day every knee will bow before him – he is God and there is no other.
Now, with that in mind, let's hear what Jesus says in Matt 22...
If you used to listen to Chris Evans' evening Radio show, you may remember how listeners would try to outfox the fox - Rebecca 'Foxy' Pike – by sending questions like:
Why are batteries named after letters of the alphabet?
Where did scotch eggs come from?
But Foxy wasn't often outfoxed.
2000 years ago, the Jewish leaders played a similar game with Jesus – only it wasn't a game:
they asked him if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar in the hope that he'd anger either the Romans or the patriotic Jews – either way he'd be lynched.
then they asked him about marriage in heaven in the hope that he'd make a fool of himself.
And Jesus outfoxed them every time. But they didn't give up, 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'
Of course, this was a trick question. But Jesus' answer takes us to the heart of a true relationship with God:
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment, he said, And the second is like it:`Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.
Of course love couldn't have been further from the Pharisees' minds as they question Jesus about God's laws. In fact their minds are focused on how they can get rid of him – permanently.
But as Jesus answers these hate-filled religious law-keepers, Jesus tells them that love should be their first and second laws.
Love is at the top of God's 613 OT laws, because all the others are simply particular expressions of love.
So, more than anything else, God commands you to love him * with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
The God who saves, the God who creates, the God who speaks – the God who says, 'I am the LORD and there is no other' – this God commands you to love him – with your whole being – heart, soul and mind.
It's not that he's lonely; it's not, 'Oh please love me, I'm all by myself up here in heaven' – no, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit love each other with perfect, complete love – there is no loneliness, no unhappiness in the Trinity.
God doesn't need us to love him, but it is right that we should love him.
No-one and nothing is more worthy of our love than God.
It's therefore right that we love him, and so he commands us to love him.
In Isaiah 45 reminded us, if we love and worship anything less than this LORD God, we'll be put to shame and disgrace.
Just imagine that final day of judgment - the whole world bows before the majestic, righteous, awesome glory of the Lord God almighty, and you're, sitting at your desk in the office finishing off your powerpoint presentation; you're unpacking your new ipad; you're online booking your holiday to New Zealand; you're swotting for your finals.
And you look up, and see the awesome, blinding, brilliance of God's glory and realise that you've been loving the wrong thing...
In Romans, Paul puts it like this, 'Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is for ever praised.
Our problem is that we constantly put created things – people, objects, holidays, career, education – in God's place.
We say to ourselves, 'I just need a holiday, then I'll be happy'
'I just need a husband, then I'll be happy'
'When we have children, then life will be complete'
But none of these can stand that weight of expectation because none is worthy of your first love.
As much as anything, it's not fair to expect a spouse or a child to satisfy all your needs.
No wonder marriages fail.
No wonder our children buckle under the weight of expectation.
But Psalm 90:14 * tells us Satisfy us in the morning, O LORD, with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Loving God is not only right, it's the only thing that will ever satisfy our hearts, and he is the only person who will never let us down.
God created us to love him, and until we do, we simply cannot be all we were meant to be.
Only God is big enough, powerful enough to satisfy you.
Only he can bear the expectations of your life – and he can do this because he is the LORD God – the creator God – the righteous saviour.
He's not an idol of plastic that you carry around in your pocket.
He's not a metal-box idol that needs four wheels & an internal combustion engine to move it around.
He's not a sinner.
He alone can say, 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.'
That's why Jesus says that the greatest commandment is 'Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Let's pause, and express our love and worship to this God in the words of Psalm 96, and then the hymn, 'My God, how wonderful you are'.
If the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind, the second is to love your neighbour as yourself.
God commands us to love others *
This second command flows out from the first because, as John says, This is love for God: to obey his commands.
So as we obey God's command to love others, we are demonstrating our love for God. *
Loving others is not an optional extra because, If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
But what exactly does it mean to love others?
Jesus has to be our model here.
Picture the scene: Jesus and his disciples are gathered together in the upper room for the passover supper.
When it was time for the meal to be served, Jesus got up, tied a towel round his waist, and filled a bowl with water.
Then he knelt down in front of one of the disciples.
He took of the disciple's shoes, and began to wash his dusty, dirty feet.
And he washes Peter's feet – Peter who was about to deny him.
And he washes Judas' feet – Judas who was about to betray him, and hand him over to be beaten and killed.
Imagine that you can see into the hearts of your friends as Jesus can.
You see there, in your friend's heart that they're about to stab you in the back – to slag you off – to tell blatant lies about you.
And your phone rings. And you see from caller display that it's this so-called friend. Would you even answer the phone?
And if you do, and they ask you to help them out, what do you think about them?
OK, so that's extreme – but that's the love Jesus shows to you and me, and he says, Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should was one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
And Jesus doesn't mean that, on Maunday Thursday, we should bring a bowl and a towel into church and wash each other's feet here.
Jesus means that we should serve each other, and do the most menial, disgusting tasks for each other, even when we've been insulted and betrayed and stabbed in the back.
We carry on loving as he loved us.
You see, Jesus didn't wait until we loved God before going to the cross. It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us.
And so we love when we're not loved in return.
And the power of a church that loves like this is immense.
Once Judas had fled the upper room, Jesus tells his disciples that he's going to the cross.
Only he puts it like this, Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.
As Jesus demonstrates the full extent of his love for us – as he goes to be slandered, punched, spat on, whipped and crucified – so he demonstrates the full glory of God.
And so he says to the disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
So loving each other within the church is evangelistic – it proclaims that we are disciples of Jesus – we love as Jesus loved and people recognise something extraordinary – they see something they don't experience in their lives.
But for this to happen, our love for each other will have to be really extreme because non-Xns do love each other.
Members of the golf club or the bowls club or the freemasons do care for each other.
But the love we give and receive in the church must therefore be at a different level – with a different power – than that of the non-Xn.
And our love can be different;
First, because we have experienced the love of Jesus for ourselves.
We know what it is to be forgiven for terrible sins – so we too forgive.
And second, because we are empowered by the HS, and he will produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
This fruit is not available to the non-Xn in the way it is to us, so they will see something special when we demonstrate Spirit-empowered love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, non-Xns.
But the question is, how will non-Xns see our love for each other?
We cannot restrict it to a Sunday, we can't limit it to these four walls.
St Peter's must exist, not just here, but in our homes as well.
We'll be coming back to this question next week, but let me give you some homework.
How do you think we can structure and shape church life so that our love for each other can be seen by our non-Xn friends outside of these four walls?
Of course we know that we don't always love God with all our heart, soul and mind; and we don't love our neighbour as ourself.
But we do know the Christ loved us and laid down his life for us so that we could be forgiven and constantly renewed in his power.
So let's pause for a moment and then seek his forgiveness.
As God speaks to his people through Isaiah, they are in a bad place.
Far from home and under Babylonian rule, they sometimes feel as though God is hiding himself from them, v15.
But feelings can be very misleading, and God reminds his people who he really is.
Vv15-17 – he is the Saviour – he is the God who rescues people from the shame & disgrace of worshipping dumb and empty idols.
When God finally reveals himself to the whole world, those who have given their lives to worshipping man-made idols rather than the living God will feel very stupid.
For, v18, there is only one true God – the creator. Only one who existed before the cosmos, only one who created the cosmos, and filled this earth with life – He is the LORD and there is no other.
And this God doesn't leave us to thrash around in the dark trying to find him. He is also the God who speaks, v19: the LORD who speaks the truth and declares what is right.
The religious pagans have idols that have so little life or power that they have to be carried about, v20, and when they pray, they pray to gods who cannot save them.
But the LORD God, he is quite unlike these idols – he has created, he has spoken, he has rescued people from this idiotic idolatry.
And therefore, v23b, one day every knee will bow before him – he is God and there is no other.
Now, with that in mind, let's hear what Jesus says in Matt 22...
If you used to listen to Chris Evans' evening Radio show, you may remember how listeners would try to outfox the fox - Rebecca 'Foxy' Pike – by sending questions like:
Why are batteries named after letters of the alphabet?
Where did scotch eggs come from?
But Foxy wasn't often outfoxed.
2000 years ago, the Jewish leaders played a similar game with Jesus – only it wasn't a game:
they asked him if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar in the hope that he'd anger either the Romans or the patriotic Jews – either way he'd be lynched.
then they asked him about marriage in heaven in the hope that he'd make a fool of himself.
And Jesus outfoxed them every time. But they didn't give up, 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'
Of course, this was a trick question. But Jesus' answer takes us to the heart of a true relationship with God:
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment, he said, And the second is like it:`Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.
Of course love couldn't have been further from the Pharisees' minds as they question Jesus about God's laws. In fact their minds are focused on how they can get rid of him – permanently.
But as Jesus answers these hate-filled religious law-keepers, Jesus tells them that love should be their first and second laws.
Love is at the top of God's 613 OT laws, because all the others are simply particular expressions of love.
So, more than anything else, God commands you to love him * with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
The God who saves, the God who creates, the God who speaks – the God who says, 'I am the LORD and there is no other' – this God commands you to love him – with your whole being – heart, soul and mind.
It's not that he's lonely; it's not, 'Oh please love me, I'm all by myself up here in heaven' – no, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit love each other with perfect, complete love – there is no loneliness, no unhappiness in the Trinity.
God doesn't need us to love him, but it is right that we should love him.
No-one and nothing is more worthy of our love than God.
It's therefore right that we love him, and so he commands us to love him.
In Isaiah 45 reminded us, if we love and worship anything less than this LORD God, we'll be put to shame and disgrace.
Just imagine that final day of judgment - the whole world bows before the majestic, righteous, awesome glory of the Lord God almighty, and you're, sitting at your desk in the office finishing off your powerpoint presentation; you're unpacking your new ipad; you're online booking your holiday to New Zealand; you're swotting for your finals.
And you look up, and see the awesome, blinding, brilliance of God's glory and realise that you've been loving the wrong thing...
In Romans, Paul puts it like this, 'Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is for ever praised.
Our problem is that we constantly put created things – people, objects, holidays, career, education – in God's place.
We say to ourselves, 'I just need a holiday, then I'll be happy'
'I just need a husband, then I'll be happy'
'When we have children, then life will be complete'
But none of these can stand that weight of expectation because none is worthy of your first love.
As much as anything, it's not fair to expect a spouse or a child to satisfy all your needs.
No wonder marriages fail.
No wonder our children buckle under the weight of expectation.
But Psalm 90:14 * tells us Satisfy us in the morning, O LORD, with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Loving God is not only right, it's the only thing that will ever satisfy our hearts, and he is the only person who will never let us down.
God created us to love him, and until we do, we simply cannot be all we were meant to be.
Only God is big enough, powerful enough to satisfy you.
Only he can bear the expectations of your life – and he can do this because he is the LORD God – the creator God – the righteous saviour.
He's not an idol of plastic that you carry around in your pocket.
He's not a metal-box idol that needs four wheels & an internal combustion engine to move it around.
He's not a sinner.
He alone can say, 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.'
That's why Jesus says that the greatest commandment is 'Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Let's pause, and express our love and worship to this God in the words of Psalm 96, and then the hymn, 'My God, how wonderful you are'.
If the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind, the second is to love your neighbour as yourself.
God commands us to love others *
This second command flows out from the first because, as John says, This is love for God: to obey his commands.
So as we obey God's command to love others, we are demonstrating our love for God. *
Loving others is not an optional extra because, If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
But what exactly does it mean to love others?
Jesus has to be our model here.
Picture the scene: Jesus and his disciples are gathered together in the upper room for the passover supper.
When it was time for the meal to be served, Jesus got up, tied a towel round his waist, and filled a bowl with water.
Then he knelt down in front of one of the disciples.
He took of the disciple's shoes, and began to wash his dusty, dirty feet.
And he washes Peter's feet – Peter who was about to deny him.
And he washes Judas' feet – Judas who was about to betray him, and hand him over to be beaten and killed.
Imagine that you can see into the hearts of your friends as Jesus can.
You see there, in your friend's heart that they're about to stab you in the back – to slag you off – to tell blatant lies about you.
And your phone rings. And you see from caller display that it's this so-called friend. Would you even answer the phone?
And if you do, and they ask you to help them out, what do you think about them?
OK, so that's extreme – but that's the love Jesus shows to you and me, and he says, Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should was one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
And Jesus doesn't mean that, on Maunday Thursday, we should bring a bowl and a towel into church and wash each other's feet here.
Jesus means that we should serve each other, and do the most menial, disgusting tasks for each other, even when we've been insulted and betrayed and stabbed in the back.
We carry on loving as he loved us.
You see, Jesus didn't wait until we loved God before going to the cross. It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us.
And so we love when we're not loved in return.
And the power of a church that loves like this is immense.
Once Judas had fled the upper room, Jesus tells his disciples that he's going to the cross.
Only he puts it like this, Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.
As Jesus demonstrates the full extent of his love for us – as he goes to be slandered, punched, spat on, whipped and crucified – so he demonstrates the full glory of God.
And so he says to the disciples, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
So loving each other within the church is evangelistic – it proclaims that we are disciples of Jesus – we love as Jesus loved and people recognise something extraordinary – they see something they don't experience in their lives.
But for this to happen, our love for each other will have to be really extreme because non-Xns do love each other.
Members of the golf club or the bowls club or the freemasons do care for each other.
But the love we give and receive in the church must therefore be at a different level – with a different power – than that of the non-Xn.
And our love can be different;
First, because we have experienced the love of Jesus for ourselves.
We know what it is to be forgiven for terrible sins – so we too forgive.
And second, because we are empowered by the HS, and he will produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
This fruit is not available to the non-Xn in the way it is to us, so they will see something special when we demonstrate Spirit-empowered love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, non-Xns.
But the question is, how will non-Xns see our love for each other?
We cannot restrict it to a Sunday, we can't limit it to these four walls.
St Peter's must exist, not just here, but in our homes as well.
We'll be coming back to this question next week, but let me give you some homework.
How do you think we can structure and shape church life so that our love for each other can be seen by our non-Xn friends outside of these four walls?
Of course we know that we don't always love God with all our heart, soul and mind; and we don't love our neighbour as ourself.
But we do know the Christ loved us and laid down his life for us so that we could be forgiven and constantly renewed in his power.
So let's pause for a moment and then seek his forgiveness.
Friday, 26 February 2010
Back again...
Yes, I've been silent for some time, but there's no point in writing if there's nothing to say or no time to say something properly.
I think I'll try posting my sermon notes here for a few weeks. I don't always follow my notes exactly in the heat of preaching, but they certainly give the main thrust of the sermon.
Let me know if they're useful, and I'll keep posting. Or if they're not, and I won't!
So here are the notes from last Sunday. Genesis 22
At the beginning of his ministry, John the Babptist saw Jesus coming towards him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
We're not obedient sons of God – we're rebellious people who constantly forget him and rebel against him.
I think I'll try posting my sermon notes here for a few weeks. I don't always follow my notes exactly in the heat of preaching, but they certainly give the main thrust of the sermon.
Let me know if they're useful, and I'll keep posting. Or if they're not, and I won't!
So here are the notes from last Sunday. Genesis 22
“No other story in Genesis, indeed in the whole OT, can match the sacrifice of Isaac for its haunting beauty or its theological depth.” (Gordon Wenham)
Abraham's faith and obedience are tested to the point of destruction to reveal his deepest emotional attachment.
Does Abraham love God with all his heart, soul, mind & strength, or does he now love Isaac more?
Has the son, the gift from God, replaced God in Abraham's affections?
This is the test God sets Abraham – whom does he love most?
And we know it is a test because v1 tells us, 'Some time later God tested Abraham'
So as we read this, we need to remember this. But we also need to remember that he OT always speaks to us about Jesus, so we'll also be asking, 'What does this tell us about Jesus?'
And as you heard this being read, some of the details might have reminded you of Jesus and his journey to the cross. More of that later.
Before that, let's travel back in time, and see why God put Abraham and Isaac through such a tough test.
First of all we need to go back even further in Genesis. Back to at time when men & women repeatedly walked away from God because they wanted to rule the world for themselves and shut God out.
To thwart their plans, God divided up them into different nations with different languages, and they began to fight against each other and live sub-human lives without God. But God did not give up on humanity.
Back in ch 12, he called to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; ... and all nations of earth will be blessed through you.” God had a plan – a plan to reverse the curse of division. A plan to bless the different nationalities and bring them together under his blessing.
So he chose one man – Abraham – to become a nation through whom he would bless all the nations. But if this one man was to become a great nation, he needed descendants – he needed a son.
And over the last few weeks we've followed Abraham & Sarah as they've grown older & older – so old that their bodies were 'as good as dead'. But God kept his promise and finally, last week, Isaac was born.
In Isaac rests all the hopes of Abraham, Sarah and – though they don't know it – all the scattered, warring nations of the world. Only through Isaac will they be blessed. Only through Isaac will God create a people for himself and through them reverse the curse and judgment on the world.
But now God comes to Abraham and says, Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.
What on earth is God doing? What is he playing at?
Isaac is the promised son – why does he want Abraham to kill off the promise?
Abraham's faith and obedience are tested to the point of destruction to reveal his deepest emotional attachment.
Does Abraham love God with all his heart, soul, mind & strength, or does he now love Isaac more?
Has the son, the gift from God, replaced God in Abraham's affections?
This is the test God sets Abraham – whom does he love most?
And we know it is a test because v1 tells us, 'Some time later God tested Abraham'
So as we read this, we need to remember this. But we also need to remember that he OT always speaks to us about Jesus, so we'll also be asking, 'What does this tell us about Jesus?'
And as you heard this being read, some of the details might have reminded you of Jesus and his journey to the cross. More of that later.
Before that, let's travel back in time, and see why God put Abraham and Isaac through such a tough test.
First of all we need to go back even further in Genesis. Back to at time when men & women repeatedly walked away from God because they wanted to rule the world for themselves and shut God out.
To thwart their plans, God divided up them into different nations with different languages, and they began to fight against each other and live sub-human lives without God. But God did not give up on humanity.
Back in ch 12, he called to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; ... and all nations of earth will be blessed through you.” God had a plan – a plan to reverse the curse of division. A plan to bless the different nationalities and bring them together under his blessing.
So he chose one man – Abraham – to become a nation through whom he would bless all the nations. But if this one man was to become a great nation, he needed descendants – he needed a son.
And over the last few weeks we've followed Abraham & Sarah as they've grown older & older – so old that their bodies were 'as good as dead'. But God kept his promise and finally, last week, Isaac was born.
In Isaac rests all the hopes of Abraham, Sarah and – though they don't know it – all the scattered, warring nations of the world. Only through Isaac will they be blessed. Only through Isaac will God create a people for himself and through them reverse the curse and judgment on the world.
But now God comes to Abraham and says, Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.
What on earth is God doing? What is he playing at?
Isaac is the promised son – why does he want Abraham to kill off the promise?
Now of course, we know what God is doing – v1 has told us – he's testing Abraham. Testing him to find out what he's really like – it's only when the pressure is on that we reveal our true selves. Under stress, we prove our strength. Under provocation, we prove our patience. And God wants to demonstrate that Abraham really is a man who follows God – a man who acts like God.
Back in 18:19, God had said why he chose Abraham: 'I have chosen Abraham so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of LORD by doing what is right and just.' God wants a man who does what God does. A man who imitates God.
And God sets Abraham the ultimate test. Go and sacrifice your son, your only Son, whom you love.
And the question is, 'Will Abraham do what God will do?'
You see it's no accident that God uses similar words to speak about his own Son as he sends Jesus to begins his journey to the sacrifice of the cross. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Abraham's test seems to be a kind of prophecy: just as father Abraham sacrifices his son, his only son, whom he loves, he foreshadows Father God who sacrifices his son, his only son, whom he loves.
And so, Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. With what must have been almost overwhelming fear and dread, Abraham sets out with Isaac.
And he has plenty of time to think about what he's doing – it's 3 days before Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
But how can Abraham say to his servants, 'We will come back to you'? He's off to sacrifice Isaac – what does he mean, we will come back? Is he telling a white lie so as not to worry his servants and Isaac? Or does he genuinely believe that somehow God will change his mind or do something to save Isaac – the fulfilment of his promises, and the hope of the nations?
Well, the writer of the NT book of Hebrews certainly credits Abraham with trusting that God would somehow do something: By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
And this belief that God can bring life from the dead is exactly what God has taught Abraham over the past decades. God deliberately waited until Sarah's body was as good as dead before giving her a son. Isaac's birth was life from the dead. Now Abraham knows that God is the God of life and death and even life from death – resurrection. Abraham believes that, somehow, he and his son will come back from the sacrifice.
And so, v6, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
Back in 18:19, God had said why he chose Abraham: 'I have chosen Abraham so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of LORD by doing what is right and just.' God wants a man who does what God does. A man who imitates God.
And God sets Abraham the ultimate test. Go and sacrifice your son, your only Son, whom you love.
And the question is, 'Will Abraham do what God will do?'
You see it's no accident that God uses similar words to speak about his own Son as he sends Jesus to begins his journey to the sacrifice of the cross. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Abraham's test seems to be a kind of prophecy: just as father Abraham sacrifices his son, his only son, whom he loves, he foreshadows Father God who sacrifices his son, his only son, whom he loves.
And so, Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. With what must have been almost overwhelming fear and dread, Abraham sets out with Isaac.
And he has plenty of time to think about what he's doing – it's 3 days before Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
But how can Abraham say to his servants, 'We will come back to you'? He's off to sacrifice Isaac – what does he mean, we will come back? Is he telling a white lie so as not to worry his servants and Isaac? Or does he genuinely believe that somehow God will change his mind or do something to save Isaac – the fulfilment of his promises, and the hope of the nations?
Well, the writer of the NT book of Hebrews certainly credits Abraham with trusting that God would somehow do something: By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
And this belief that God can bring life from the dead is exactly what God has taught Abraham over the past decades. God deliberately waited until Sarah's body was as good as dead before giving her a son. Isaac's birth was life from the dead. Now Abraham knows that God is the God of life and death and even life from death – resurrection. Abraham believes that, somehow, he and his son will come back from the sacrifice.
And so, v6, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
What a conversation! What could Abraham possible have felt when Isaac began to quiz him about the sacrifice? What could he say? Does he simply duck the question or is he really sure that, somehow, God would provide a lamb?
But, v9, when they reach the place God had told him about, there's still no sign of a substitute for Isaac, so Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Isaac was a teenager. Abraham an old, old man. If Isaac had wanted to run off or fight there's no way Abraham could have resisted. And so Isaac is the obedient son. Willing to lay down his life for his father.
But suddenly, v11, the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
So Abraham passed the test: demonstrating that he loves God above anything else. Sacrificing his only son.
Doing what God himself would do.
So Abraham's descendants become a nation. And through that nation, God promised to bless all the nations of the world. But that blessing only finally comes through God's own Son. The Son who carried the wood for the sacrifice – the cross on which he hung and died. The Son who was obedient to death, and willingly laid down his life.
But there's one major difference.
God provided a substitute for Isaac. Isaac lived because the ram died. There was no substitute for Jesus – he was the substitute for us.
But, v9, when they reach the place God had told him about, there's still no sign of a substitute for Isaac, so Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Isaac was a teenager. Abraham an old, old man. If Isaac had wanted to run off or fight there's no way Abraham could have resisted. And so Isaac is the obedient son. Willing to lay down his life for his father.
But suddenly, v11, the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
So Abraham passed the test: demonstrating that he loves God above anything else. Sacrificing his only son.
Doing what God himself would do.
So Abraham's descendants become a nation. And through that nation, God promised to bless all the nations of the world. But that blessing only finally comes through God's own Son. The Son who carried the wood for the sacrifice – the cross on which he hung and died. The Son who was obedient to death, and willingly laid down his life.
But there's one major difference.
God provided a substitute for Isaac. Isaac lived because the ram died. There was no substitute for Jesus – he was the substitute for us.
At the beginning of his ministry, John the Babptist saw Jesus coming towards him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
We're not obedient sons of God – we're rebellious people who constantly forget him and rebel against him.
But God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Too hot to handle?
The earthquake in Haiti throws up the question of why, if God is both good and all-powerful, he should allow such suffering. Archbishop John Sentamu was interviewed about this on the Today programme (R4) earlier this week, but what he said was pretty incomprehensible - as the interviewer, John Humphrys, noted.
Unfortunately, American 'televangelist' Pat Robertson could be understood when he said the earthquake was judgement from God on the Haitians for 'making a pact with the devil'.
Meanwhile, the only comfort atheist geologists could give was to say it was just an accident waiting to happen.
So we need some sensible, comprehensible and helpful answers. To do this, Christians will turn to the Bible, and especially to what Jesus has to say. But can we trust the New Testament? And if we speak of life after death for the Haitians or anyone else, on what basis do we do so?
These questions will be dealt with at our Sunday evening services in the coming months. On March 1, we'll be asking the question, 'Haiti: Where was God?', on April 4, we'll be thinking about life after death, and on May 2 Dr Peter Head will be answering the question, 'Can we trust the New Testament?'
Put the dates in your diary and think about who you could ask along.
Unfortunately, American 'televangelist' Pat Robertson could be understood when he said the earthquake was judgement from God on the Haitians for 'making a pact with the devil'.
Meanwhile, the only comfort atheist geologists could give was to say it was just an accident waiting to happen.
So we need some sensible, comprehensible and helpful answers. To do this, Christians will turn to the Bible, and especially to what Jesus has to say. But can we trust the New Testament? And if we speak of life after death for the Haitians or anyone else, on what basis do we do so?
These questions will be dealt with at our Sunday evening services in the coming months. On March 1, we'll be asking the question, 'Haiti: Where was God?', on April 4, we'll be thinking about life after death, and on May 2 Dr Peter Head will be answering the question, 'Can we trust the New Testament?'
Put the dates in your diary and think about who you could ask along.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Ice & snow and God
As I sat here looking out through the 3 foot long icicles hanging outside my study window, and had a meeting cancelled because of the snow, I wondered what the Bible had to say about snow & ice...
First, Psalm 147 speaks of God's sovereignty and the power of his word over all things:
Psalm 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Daniel 7:9 "As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
When the Marys saw Jesus after he was raised from the dead: Matthew 28:3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
And finally, Revelation 1:13f ...among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man", dressed in a
robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
So when you see ice & snow, let it remind you of the purity of Jesus and of his purifying work; of the fickleness of man and the power of God's word.
And then the snow won't seem so bad!
First, Psalm 147 speaks of God's sovereignty and the power of his word over all things:
He sends his command to the earth;Then Job (ch 6) likens his fickle friends to the melting ice:
his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
14 "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.The whiteness of new snow should speak to us of purity - our own when we're cleansed by God's forgiveness, and Christ's inherent purity:
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
17 but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
Psalm 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Daniel 7:9 "As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
When the Marys saw Jesus after he was raised from the dead: Matthew 28:3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
And finally, Revelation 1:13f ...among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man", dressed in a
robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
So when you see ice & snow, let it remind you of the purity of Jesus and of his purifying work; of the fickleness of man and the power of God's word.
And then the snow won't seem so bad!
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Church membership
One of the great problems in Anglican (Church of England) churches is that anyone can become a 'member' of the church by signing the electoral roll. If you live in the parish, you don't even have to attend church more than a couple of times a year. Yes, you should have been confirmed (or the equivalent), but let's face it, for many people that was a mere formality - a rite of passage - in their teenage years, and meant very little.
Free or independant churches have a more rigorous membership with various requirements (e.g. signing a statement of faith, believer's baptism, attendance at membership classes etc.), and for those of us in the Anglican church it's very easy to look across the fence and think the grass is greener - that a membership scheme will solve all the problems of a lack of commitment. And certainly many recent & excellent books about the church recommend this. But not long ago I was talking to someone in a pentecostal church that has a membership scheme who was expressing just this same frustration - people turn up at church as and when it's convenient and think they're committed to the body of Christ. They imagine that this kind of service & worship, which is given so long as there's nothing better to do, is appropriate for the Eternal Son of God who suffered, died, rose and ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
So the question is this; would a rigorous church membership scheme help people to realise the privileges and responsibilities of being a member of the body of Christ?
It may do. It is well documented that if it's hard to join something, people feel a greater sense of layalty to the organisation. But we're in danger of imposing man-made rules on Christ's church. While the Bible does speak of individuals as 'parts' of the body of Christ (eyes, hands, feet etc. in 1 Cor 12), and it does insist that persistently immoral people should be expelled (1 Cor 5), and of the need for adherence to the faith (1 John), these are not quite the same as a membership scheme. We must not become latter-day Pharisees, making it more difficult to join the church than Christ would want us to do. In any case, in the Church of England, it's difficult to see how such a membership could be established and maintained alongside the statutory Electoral Roll.
And yet... there's still a part of me that wants to recognise both the benefits of being a member and also the responsibilities. Perhaps we have to leave these things to God working by his word and Spirit in the lives of individuals...
Free or independant churches have a more rigorous membership with various requirements (e.g. signing a statement of faith, believer's baptism, attendance at membership classes etc.), and for those of us in the Anglican church it's very easy to look across the fence and think the grass is greener - that a membership scheme will solve all the problems of a lack of commitment. And certainly many recent & excellent books about the church recommend this. But not long ago I was talking to someone in a pentecostal church that has a membership scheme who was expressing just this same frustration - people turn up at church as and when it's convenient and think they're committed to the body of Christ. They imagine that this kind of service & worship, which is given so long as there's nothing better to do, is appropriate for the Eternal Son of God who suffered, died, rose and ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
So the question is this; would a rigorous church membership scheme help people to realise the privileges and responsibilities of being a member of the body of Christ?
It may do. It is well documented that if it's hard to join something, people feel a greater sense of layalty to the organisation. But we're in danger of imposing man-made rules on Christ's church. While the Bible does speak of individuals as 'parts' of the body of Christ (eyes, hands, feet etc. in 1 Cor 12), and it does insist that persistently immoral people should be expelled (1 Cor 5), and of the need for adherence to the faith (1 John), these are not quite the same as a membership scheme. We must not become latter-day Pharisees, making it more difficult to join the church than Christ would want us to do. In any case, in the Church of England, it's difficult to see how such a membership could be established and maintained alongside the statutory Electoral Roll.
And yet... there's still a part of me that wants to recognise both the benefits of being a member and also the responsibilities. Perhaps we have to leave these things to God working by his word and Spirit in the lives of individuals...
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Church and state
So they're already campaigning. Babies are commandeered for photos, slogans are trotted out and posters put up.
But how should Christians respond to politics and the state?
First, we should always find it hard to know who to vote for: God calls us to be more generous and compassionate than any left wing politician, but more concerned for morality than any right wing politician. We want to invest in business because it's investing in people and work, but we want the state to provide good healthcare and support for the vulnerable.
Second, we must have a realistic view of what can and what cannot be achieved now. Some Christians believe that we can completely transform this world now and bring the Kingdom of God into the present by social action, miraculous healings etc. But the Bible says that the Kingdom of God will come with the return of Christ - only then will the world be put to rights.
Other Christians seem to deny that we can do any good now, and that we should only preach the gospel - it's tough now, there's nothing we can do but prepare people for heaven. But this denies the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the church. We're called to pray for the those in authority and do good to those who hate us. The church is to demonstrate a genuinely alternative, God-honouring, transformed and transforming way of life. But we can't right every wrong nor heal every illness. People are still sinners (even Christians) and will still suffer and die.
So we have to walk the tightrope. No, we can't make the world perfect. But yes, we can make a difference. And we should make a difference - individually and corporately; by our prayers and our behaviour; in generosity and morality. And of course, by proclaiming Christ as Saviour and Lord - because it's true and honours him; because it's powerful and brings people into the Kingdom of God.
But how should Christians respond to politics and the state?
First, we should always find it hard to know who to vote for: God calls us to be more generous and compassionate than any left wing politician, but more concerned for morality than any right wing politician. We want to invest in business because it's investing in people and work, but we want the state to provide good healthcare and support for the vulnerable.
Second, we must have a realistic view of what can and what cannot be achieved now. Some Christians believe that we can completely transform this world now and bring the Kingdom of God into the present by social action, miraculous healings etc. But the Bible says that the Kingdom of God will come with the return of Christ - only then will the world be put to rights.
Other Christians seem to deny that we can do any good now, and that we should only preach the gospel - it's tough now, there's nothing we can do but prepare people for heaven. But this denies the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the church. We're called to pray for the those in authority and do good to those who hate us. The church is to demonstrate a genuinely alternative, God-honouring, transformed and transforming way of life. But we can't right every wrong nor heal every illness. People are still sinners (even Christians) and will still suffer and die.
So we have to walk the tightrope. No, we can't make the world perfect. But yes, we can make a difference. And we should make a difference - individually and corporately; by our prayers and our behaviour; in generosity and morality. And of course, by proclaiming Christ as Saviour and Lord - because it's true and honours him; because it's powerful and brings people into the Kingdom of God.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
What are you reading?
Come on - God's given you a brain, use it and read some good Christian books!
Here are a few recommendations, but for more, see http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/ and http://www.10ofthose.com/
If you're in Tunbridge Wells, let me know if you want to buy, and I'll order them all together to save postage. If we get orders for 10 of any one title we can get them much cheaper.
Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
The Prodigal God - Tim Keller
Married for God - Christopher Ash
God's Big Picture - Vaughan Roberts
True Worship - Vaughan Roberts
Total Church - S. Timmis & T Chester
Ordinary Hero - Tim Chester
ESV study Bible
Here are a few recommendations, but for more, see http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/ and http://www.10ofthose.com/
If you're in Tunbridge Wells, let me know if you want to buy, and I'll order them all together to save postage. If we get orders for 10 of any one title we can get them much cheaper.
Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
The Prodigal God - Tim Keller
Married for God - Christopher Ash
God's Big Picture - Vaughan Roberts
True Worship - Vaughan Roberts
Total Church - S. Timmis & T Chester
Ordinary Hero - Tim Chester
ESV study Bible
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