This is an outline text of a family service talk
When Christians die, they go to be with Jesus.
We know that because Jesus said so and because the apostle Paul tells us so.
And at the moment, Xns who have died & are with Jesus don't have bodies – they don't need them now.
But when Jesus comes back to earth to make the world new and to get rid of all evil and sin, how will he raise the dead? What sort of body will they have?
Those are the questions the Christians in Corinth were asking – will these Xns who don't have bodies now, go back into their old bodies?
If so, how? And will they just be skeletons?
“Don't be silly”, says Paul, in v36 “What died isn't the same as what comes to life.”
And he answers each question in turn, with illustrations from plants and animals.
So first question: How are the dead raised?
Here's a seed.
It's quite big for a seed. It's dull and it's cream-coloured.
A few days ago, I buried one of them.
And it here it is now – very much alive.
God has given the seed a beautiful new body.
So the answer to our first question, 'how are the dead raised?' is: God gives them a new body.
But what about the second question? What kind of Body will we get when we're raised from the dead?
The simple answer is: a body that's just right for life in heaven.
So in v39, Paul reminds people that not all creatures have the same bodies:
So, we have a human body, and a stick insect body, and a gecko, and a hamster (children had brought in their pets, and we showed them via video-link on the screen).
Each body is just right for that particular animal's situation – the human body is not good for living in small twigs and leaves.
The gecko hates sand, but loves hard dry rocks – and his feet are specially designed for climbing up walls and rocks.
But hamsters love sand, and they love to burrow – so their feet are perfect for digging.
Animals are perfectly suited to where they live.
In the same way, God will give us a body just right for heaven – so it won't be the same as this body – this body is just right for life here & now. The new body will be different.
Then Paul illustrates his point by looking at the planets, sun, moon, & stars.
The earth has one kind of greatness, and the heavenly bodies – the sun, moon & stars – have another kind of greatness.
In fact, even the heavenly bodies are all different – the sun … the moon... and the stars.
God is able to create all kinds of different bodies – each one suitable for its job – the sun to give warmth & light; the moon to control the tides; the stars to guide the travellers of old.
And so it will be at the resurrection, says Paul, in vv42-43.
And he lists how this body is different from the body we'll have in heaven:
This body is sown perishable, in dishonour, in weakness, a natural body.
The resurrection body will be raised imperishable, in glory, in power, a spiritual body.
This body is perfectly suited to this temporary life – to a life which, sooner or later, ends in death.
But the Christian will be given a new body suitable for heaven – a life which will never end.
And in the following paragraph, Paul goes on to explain that this body, this life, is just like Adam's – affected by sin and under God's wrath, it gets old, wears out and dies.
But our resurrection body & life will be just like Jesus – the man from heaven. In heaven, we won't sin and God won't ever be angry with us. And our bodies will be full of the power of the Spirit and the glory of Jesus.
So if you've ever wondered what your body will be like in heaven, the answer is... well, your body will be... different, like Jesus, and so perfectly suited for living in the new heavens and the new earth.
Friday, 30 April 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
Who to vote for?
As a Christian committed to working out Biblical values in every area of life deciding how to vote is very difficult. Here are some principles, but no one party fulfils them all, so there has to be an element of compromise.
First, as Christians, we are called to love God with heart, soul and mind. So our freedom to worship and obey God is crucial. Which party will best uphold this freedom?
Second, we're called to love our neighbour as ourself. So we shouldn't be choosing where to put our cross on the basis of which party will make me richest. Rather, since God has a bias to the poor, we should vote for the party which best supports those who, for no fault of their own, find themselves at the bottom of the heap. This may mean voting for the party that gives most by way of tax credits and the like, or the party that taxes the poor least, or the party which encourages enterprise so that the poor are employed. This is a tough choice!
Third, Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations. Which party will best defend our freedom to proclaim Christ as the only way to God? Do any of the parties want to close church schools? Will churches be allowed to continue as charities?
Fourth, though we must always remember that Christianity is not primarily about morality but about relationship with Christ, it's also true that we need to work for what's best for individuals and for society. Upholding God's moral standards will improve society, so questions of abortion and embryo research, euthanasia and assisted suicide, sexual morality and marriage are very important. Which party will be best in this arena?
Fifth, I think we should place special emphasis on children. The scientific evidence is quite clear that children who are brought up by married parents do better in nearly every sphere of life than those who are not. All three main parties deny or ignore this evidence. Their mantra is, 'stable families of all sorts'. But families where the parents are not married are not as stable as when they're married (see Cohabitation in the 21st Century). So which party will encourage marriage? Which party will encourage mothers not to rush back to employment, but to do the most important work and to fulfil the most valuable role of bringing up children? Who will dare to say that parenting is more important than earning money? Sadly, on this point, I doubt that anyone will. (Please note, this does not mean that children of single parents are "stigmatised", any more than children of smokers are stigmatised. Smoking harms children. So does family breakdown. We need to face the truth and work for children, not unfounded political dogma).
Finally, we must exclude any party that is racist, and the fact that the BNP only changed its 'whites only' membership rule because it was forced to by the courts means that this party is ruled out for Christians.
For further information about biblical principles and about the parties go to the Christian Institute or Be Thinking websites. Both have excellent articles.
First, as Christians, we are called to love God with heart, soul and mind. So our freedom to worship and obey God is crucial. Which party will best uphold this freedom?
Second, we're called to love our neighbour as ourself. So we shouldn't be choosing where to put our cross on the basis of which party will make me richest. Rather, since God has a bias to the poor, we should vote for the party which best supports those who, for no fault of their own, find themselves at the bottom of the heap. This may mean voting for the party that gives most by way of tax credits and the like, or the party that taxes the poor least, or the party which encourages enterprise so that the poor are employed. This is a tough choice!
Third, Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations. Which party will best defend our freedom to proclaim Christ as the only way to God? Do any of the parties want to close church schools? Will churches be allowed to continue as charities?
Fourth, though we must always remember that Christianity is not primarily about morality but about relationship with Christ, it's also true that we need to work for what's best for individuals and for society. Upholding God's moral standards will improve society, so questions of abortion and embryo research, euthanasia and assisted suicide, sexual morality and marriage are very important. Which party will be best in this arena?
Fifth, I think we should place special emphasis on children. The scientific evidence is quite clear that children who are brought up by married parents do better in nearly every sphere of life than those who are not. All three main parties deny or ignore this evidence. Their mantra is, 'stable families of all sorts'. But families where the parents are not married are not as stable as when they're married (see Cohabitation in the 21st Century). So which party will encourage marriage? Which party will encourage mothers not to rush back to employment, but to do the most important work and to fulfil the most valuable role of bringing up children? Who will dare to say that parenting is more important than earning money? Sadly, on this point, I doubt that anyone will. (Please note, this does not mean that children of single parents are "stigmatised", any more than children of smokers are stigmatised. Smoking harms children. So does family breakdown. We need to face the truth and work for children, not unfounded political dogma).
Finally, we must exclude any party that is racist, and the fact that the BNP only changed its 'whites only' membership rule because it was forced to by the courts means that this party is ruled out for Christians.
For further information about biblical principles and about the parties go to the Christian Institute or Be Thinking websites. Both have excellent articles.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
The resurrection makes a difference now
1 Corinthians 15:12-34
You know, I'm always amazed how few people are prepared to check out the claims of Christianity – especially the resurrection of Jesus.
Having been ordained now almost 16 years, I've met with hundreds and hundreds of people to plan a relative's funeral.
For most of them, there's some vague assumption that, because Auntie Joan never did anyone any harm, or because Uncle Fred never had a bad word to say about anyone (except the referee and the groundsman in the Spurs – Portsmouth game last week) – because they were basically nice people – they deserve to be in a better place after death.
But this belief has no foundation – not a shred of evidence to support it. It's simply wishful thinking.
And yet, if only they'd look, they'd find that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is rock solid.
As Paul writes at the beginning of this chapter – Jesus died for our sins, was buried and was raised on the 3rd day. All this was foretold in the OT.
And Jesus appeared to many people – to Peter, to the rest of the apostles, to over 500 people at one time, most of whom were still living when Paul wrote this letter.
And Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, and turned him round from being a murderer of Christians to a preacher of Christ.
And, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to evidence – an iceberg of evidence which is not melting as time goes by, but rather growing as knowledge about ancient manuscripts and archaeology increases.
But there have always been people who are unwilling to accept the resurrection of Jesus.
Why is that?
It's because of the consequences of Jesus' resurrection how we live now, and what happens when we die. Consequences which most people don't want to face up to.
But we'll come to that in a while. First, Paul shows us that there are consequences if Jesus did not rise from the dead.
Denying the resurrection is no new thing. There have always been people who tried to deny that Jesus rose again:
Within days of his resurrection, the chief priests and elders of the Jewish community bribed the Roman guards to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus' body.
20 years later, as Paul writes to the Corinthian Church, some of them are claiming there's no resurrection. 15:12f.
In the 1980's it was David Jenkins, the Bishop of Durham, who caused a storm by denying that Jesus had physically risen.
But, says Paul, there are 5 consequences if Jesus was not raised:
1.Our preaching is useless and witness is false vv14-15
“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless”, Paul writes in v14, and then in v15, he goes on, “More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God.”
So if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, my preaching is useless i.e. powerless. It won't change anyone's life, it won't bring life or forgiveness or true hope.
In fact, it's worse than that, v15, it's a pack of lies. Peter & Paul, James & John were liars. I'm a liar. And Jesus was a liar, because he himself said that he would die and after 3 days be raised.
2.Your faith in Christ is futile v17
“If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile” - worthless. In fact, it's worse than useless because faith in Jesus brings you all kinds of trouble and difficulty as we'll see in a moment.
3.You are still in your sins v17
“If Christ has not been raised from the dead... you are still in your sins.”
The resurrection proved that Jesus death was acceptable to God as full payment for our sin and guilt.
If Jesus did not rise, his death was not accepted by God – in fact if Jesus stayed dead, then he must have been punished for his own sin – he was no different from the rest of us, and wasn't the 'full, perfect and sufficient' sacrifice for our sins.
And if Jesus did not take the just punishment for our sins, then we remain unforgiven. When we die, we will face the just punishment for our sin – hell.
4.Dead Christians are lost v18
If Jesus did not rise, “then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” - they have perished – they died unforgiven and are therefore in hell.
5.We are to be pitied more than anyone else v19
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ we are to be pitied more than all men.”
Paul has given his whole life for Christ – if Christ wasn't raised, if there is no resurrection, then he's wasted his whole life.
The same's true for Sarah and me. If Christ wasn't raised and we're not going to be raised when we die, then we sold our house in Norwich losing £10k for nothing.
We gave up careers as Physiotherapists for nothing.
We work for St Peter's for nothing.
And if Christ wasn't raised from the dead, we all waste our money when we give to the church or mission agencies.
We waste our time when we work on the church building.
We waste our emotional energy when we encourage and love each other.
If Christ did not rise from the dead, we're pathetic. To be pitied by all those “sensible” people who have found “evidence” that Jesus did not rise again.
But, says Paul in v20, 'But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, [and he is] the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also from a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
I once asked a farmer how he knew when the wheat was ready to be harvested.
He showed me how a handful of grain is crushed in a tiny press, and placed in a moisture meter. When the moisture level was just right, harvesting began.
That handful of grain was his firstfruits – the guarantee that the rest of the harvest would be gathered in.
And so Jesus' resurrection is the guarantee of bodily resurrection for all who are united to him by faith.
In vv23-28, Paul explains that Jesus' resurrection was proof that he had power & authority over everything – even over death itself.
But Jesus' resurrection isn't just some past event that guarantees us a happy future when we die.
I remember leading a Lent Bible study in the Old Vicarage in Heydon, the conversation turned to heaven, and one lady said, 'It's all very well talking about heaven, but some people become so heavenly minded they're of no earthly use'.
Karl Marx, the founder of communism, said that 'religion was the opiate of the people'. What he meant was that because religion gave people hope of a better life after death, their sense were dulled and they couldn't be bothered to change this life.
This idea that confidence in the resurrection could lead people to apathy in this life is unthinkable to Paul.
In fact, the hope of heaven lead Paul to a life of risk-taking and danger for the sake of those he met, and he explains this in vv29-34.
But he begins with one of the most opaque verses in the whole of the NT: v29
What is this all about? We don't really know for sure!
The best guess is that there was a group of people who would be baptised on behalf of people who had died, in the hope that it would benefit them in some way.
It's not that Paul agrees with this practice, he just notes that it happens, and says, 'This is what some people do because they believe in the resurrection of the dead.'
He then goes on, in vv30-34, to show what he does as a result of his belief in the resurrection.
And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained?
If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God--I say this to your shame.
And so belief in the resurrection leads us to do two things:
1.Take risks for the sake of others
2.Stop sinning
And it's these consequences that stop people from investigating the claims of Christ.
People don't want to stop sinning. They don't want to stop being immoral.
And they don't want to have to love others if that means putting their own lifestyle at risk.
And, because they have no real hope of the resurrection, this is not surprising – their philosophy is 'Let us eat & drink, for tomorrow we die'.
Since they have no real hope of eternal life, they just have to make the most of this life because this is all there is.
So for the non-Christian, life doesn't get any better than this. And he's not prepared to risk this life's pleasures.
But for the Christian, who knows he will be raised to eternity with Christ, life doesn't get any worse than this.
Do you remember the song that was played following Tony Blair's 1997 election victory? 'Things can only get better'.
Now, whether Britain is better now than it was 13 years ago may be debatable, but there's no question at all that, because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that everything can only get better for us as Christians.
And that's why Paul is prepared to put himself in danger for the sake of others, and why he does everything he can to live a godly life.
And this is what the Corinthians needed to hear.
They were living for today – as if this life was all there was:
in Chapters 1-3, we hear about them boasting & quarrelling about which church leader was the most powerful & impressive speaker.
in ch 4, they were boasting about their wealth and power.
in ch 5, they were proud of their sexual freedoms which meant they were more immoral than the world around them.
in ch 6, we read about them suing each other in court.
in ch 11, the rich Christians are getting drunk and eating all the food, leaving their poor brothers & sisters with nothing.
And so on and on.
These Corinthian Christians had stopped believing in the resurrection. The inevitable result is that they were living entirely for the pleasures of this life – sleeping around, getting drunk, boasting, quarrelling, spending on themselves.
And they laughed at Paul because he suffered as he gave his life to bring the hope of eternal life to others.
But Paul knows that this life is not all there is. So he's prepared to take risks in loving others and sharing the great news of Jesus' death & resurrection.
So, in 2 Corinthians, he says, “Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” “Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!”
Knowledge of the resurrection leads us to a life of risk-taking, danger and sacrificial love.
It leads us to fulfil the great commandments – to love God with all that we are, and to love others as ourselves – whatever the cost in this life.
It leads us to fulfil the great commission – to make disciples of all nations – whatever the cost in this life.
This is the effect of believing in the resurrection: we have such certainty about the future, and such joy in our present hope, that we're able to make real sacrifices for the sake of others.
We're able to go without so that gospel work can grow and prosper.
We're willing to risk losing our job if it means honouring and obeying Christ.
We'll sacrifice our immediate lusts and passions, and stop sinning because we know there are far greater pleasures to come.
We'll do all this now because we know that there is no greater joy than seeing Christ face-to-face, living with him and being like him forever.
And we won't want to lose him for the sake of momentary pleasure now.
You know, I'm always amazed how few people are prepared to check out the claims of Christianity – especially the resurrection of Jesus.
Having been ordained now almost 16 years, I've met with hundreds and hundreds of people to plan a relative's funeral.
For most of them, there's some vague assumption that, because Auntie Joan never did anyone any harm, or because Uncle Fred never had a bad word to say about anyone (except the referee and the groundsman in the Spurs – Portsmouth game last week) – because they were basically nice people – they deserve to be in a better place after death.
But this belief has no foundation – not a shred of evidence to support it. It's simply wishful thinking.
And yet, if only they'd look, they'd find that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is rock solid.
As Paul writes at the beginning of this chapter – Jesus died for our sins, was buried and was raised on the 3rd day. All this was foretold in the OT.
And Jesus appeared to many people – to Peter, to the rest of the apostles, to over 500 people at one time, most of whom were still living when Paul wrote this letter.
And Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, and turned him round from being a murderer of Christians to a preacher of Christ.
And, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to evidence – an iceberg of evidence which is not melting as time goes by, but rather growing as knowledge about ancient manuscripts and archaeology increases.
But there have always been people who are unwilling to accept the resurrection of Jesus.
Why is that?
It's because of the consequences of Jesus' resurrection how we live now, and what happens when we die. Consequences which most people don't want to face up to.
But we'll come to that in a while. First, Paul shows us that there are consequences if Jesus did not rise from the dead.
Denying the resurrection is no new thing. There have always been people who tried to deny that Jesus rose again:
Within days of his resurrection, the chief priests and elders of the Jewish community bribed the Roman guards to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus' body.
20 years later, as Paul writes to the Corinthian Church, some of them are claiming there's no resurrection. 15:12f.
In the 1980's it was David Jenkins, the Bishop of Durham, who caused a storm by denying that Jesus had physically risen.
But, says Paul, there are 5 consequences if Jesus was not raised:
1.Our preaching is useless and witness is false vv14-15
“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless”, Paul writes in v14, and then in v15, he goes on, “More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God.”
So if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, my preaching is useless i.e. powerless. It won't change anyone's life, it won't bring life or forgiveness or true hope.
In fact, it's worse than that, v15, it's a pack of lies. Peter & Paul, James & John were liars. I'm a liar. And Jesus was a liar, because he himself said that he would die and after 3 days be raised.
2.Your faith in Christ is futile v17
“If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile” - worthless. In fact, it's worse than useless because faith in Jesus brings you all kinds of trouble and difficulty as we'll see in a moment.
3.You are still in your sins v17
“If Christ has not been raised from the dead... you are still in your sins.”
The resurrection proved that Jesus death was acceptable to God as full payment for our sin and guilt.
If Jesus did not rise, his death was not accepted by God – in fact if Jesus stayed dead, then he must have been punished for his own sin – he was no different from the rest of us, and wasn't the 'full, perfect and sufficient' sacrifice for our sins.
And if Jesus did not take the just punishment for our sins, then we remain unforgiven. When we die, we will face the just punishment for our sin – hell.
4.Dead Christians are lost v18
If Jesus did not rise, “then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” - they have perished – they died unforgiven and are therefore in hell.
5.We are to be pitied more than anyone else v19
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ we are to be pitied more than all men.”
Paul has given his whole life for Christ – if Christ wasn't raised, if there is no resurrection, then he's wasted his whole life.
The same's true for Sarah and me. If Christ wasn't raised and we're not going to be raised when we die, then we sold our house in Norwich losing £10k for nothing.
We gave up careers as Physiotherapists for nothing.
We work for St Peter's for nothing.
And if Christ wasn't raised from the dead, we all waste our money when we give to the church or mission agencies.
We waste our time when we work on the church building.
We waste our emotional energy when we encourage and love each other.
If Christ did not rise from the dead, we're pathetic. To be pitied by all those “sensible” people who have found “evidence” that Jesus did not rise again.
But, says Paul in v20, 'But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, [and he is] the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also from a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
I once asked a farmer how he knew when the wheat was ready to be harvested.
He showed me how a handful of grain is crushed in a tiny press, and placed in a moisture meter. When the moisture level was just right, harvesting began.
That handful of grain was his firstfruits – the guarantee that the rest of the harvest would be gathered in.
And so Jesus' resurrection is the guarantee of bodily resurrection for all who are united to him by faith.
In vv23-28, Paul explains that Jesus' resurrection was proof that he had power & authority over everything – even over death itself.
But Jesus' resurrection isn't just some past event that guarantees us a happy future when we die.
I remember leading a Lent Bible study in the Old Vicarage in Heydon, the conversation turned to heaven, and one lady said, 'It's all very well talking about heaven, but some people become so heavenly minded they're of no earthly use'.
Karl Marx, the founder of communism, said that 'religion was the opiate of the people'. What he meant was that because religion gave people hope of a better life after death, their sense were dulled and they couldn't be bothered to change this life.
This idea that confidence in the resurrection could lead people to apathy in this life is unthinkable to Paul.
In fact, the hope of heaven lead Paul to a life of risk-taking and danger for the sake of those he met, and he explains this in vv29-34.
But he begins with one of the most opaque verses in the whole of the NT: v29
What is this all about? We don't really know for sure!
The best guess is that there was a group of people who would be baptised on behalf of people who had died, in the hope that it would benefit them in some way.
It's not that Paul agrees with this practice, he just notes that it happens, and says, 'This is what some people do because they believe in the resurrection of the dead.'
He then goes on, in vv30-34, to show what he does as a result of his belief in the resurrection.
And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained?
If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God--I say this to your shame.
And so belief in the resurrection leads us to do two things:
1.Take risks for the sake of others
2.Stop sinning
And it's these consequences that stop people from investigating the claims of Christ.
People don't want to stop sinning. They don't want to stop being immoral.
And they don't want to have to love others if that means putting their own lifestyle at risk.
And, because they have no real hope of the resurrection, this is not surprising – their philosophy is 'Let us eat & drink, for tomorrow we die'.
Since they have no real hope of eternal life, they just have to make the most of this life because this is all there is.
So for the non-Christian, life doesn't get any better than this. And he's not prepared to risk this life's pleasures.
But for the Christian, who knows he will be raised to eternity with Christ, life doesn't get any worse than this.
Do you remember the song that was played following Tony Blair's 1997 election victory? 'Things can only get better'.
Now, whether Britain is better now than it was 13 years ago may be debatable, but there's no question at all that, because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that everything can only get better for us as Christians.
And that's why Paul is prepared to put himself in danger for the sake of others, and why he does everything he can to live a godly life.
And this is what the Corinthians needed to hear.
They were living for today – as if this life was all there was:
in Chapters 1-3, we hear about them boasting & quarrelling about which church leader was the most powerful & impressive speaker.
in ch 4, they were boasting about their wealth and power.
in ch 5, they were proud of their sexual freedoms which meant they were more immoral than the world around them.
in ch 6, we read about them suing each other in court.
in ch 11, the rich Christians are getting drunk and eating all the food, leaving their poor brothers & sisters with nothing.
And so on and on.
These Corinthian Christians had stopped believing in the resurrection. The inevitable result is that they were living entirely for the pleasures of this life – sleeping around, getting drunk, boasting, quarrelling, spending on themselves.
And they laughed at Paul because he suffered as he gave his life to bring the hope of eternal life to others.
But Paul knows that this life is not all there is. So he's prepared to take risks in loving others and sharing the great news of Jesus' death & resurrection.
So, in 2 Corinthians, he says, “Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” “Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!”
Knowledge of the resurrection leads us to a life of risk-taking, danger and sacrificial love.
It leads us to fulfil the great commandments – to love God with all that we are, and to love others as ourselves – whatever the cost in this life.
It leads us to fulfil the great commission – to make disciples of all nations – whatever the cost in this life.
This is the effect of believing in the resurrection: we have such certainty about the future, and such joy in our present hope, that we're able to make real sacrifices for the sake of others.
We're able to go without so that gospel work can grow and prosper.
We're willing to risk losing our job if it means honouring and obeying Christ.
We'll sacrifice our immediate lusts and passions, and stop sinning because we know there are far greater pleasures to come.
We'll do all this now because we know that there is no greater joy than seeing Christ face-to-face, living with him and being like him forever.
And we won't want to lose him for the sake of momentary pleasure now.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Can we know the truth about Jesus?
Since Christianity stands or falls with the historical person and works of Jesus, we need to know the truth about him. People like Dan Brown (DaVinci Code) and Philip Pullman are trying their best to undermine any historical basis for believing in Jesus by writing fictional accounts of Jesus and the early church.
So whether you're unsure about the real Jesus, or want to be able to answer those who challenge you, this day conference is for you:
The Bible And Church Conference on Saturday 12 June at St Helen's, Bishopsgate
10am - 4.15pm
"The Evidence of Eyewitnesses" Dr Peter Williams
"The Evidence of Manuscripts" Dr Dirk Jonkind
"The Evidence of History" Dr Simon Gathercole
See the website for bookings:
http://www.bibleandchurch.com/
So whether you're unsure about the real Jesus, or want to be able to answer those who challenge you, this day conference is for you:
The Bible And Church Conference on Saturday 12 June at St Helen's, Bishopsgate
10am - 4.15pm
"The Evidence of Eyewitnesses" Dr Peter Williams
"The Evidence of Manuscripts" Dr Dirk Jonkind
"The Evidence of History" Dr Simon Gathercole
See the website for bookings:
http://www.bibleandchurch.com/
Friday, 9 April 2010
Neil R's sermon
A number of people have asked for a transcript of Neil R's sermon from our Passion for Life guest service. Neil has kindly agreed, so here it is:
Bible stories often come in pairs:
Two creation narratives
Joseph and Potiphar’s wife: Judah and Tamar.
Dry ground in the Red Sea: water gushing from a rock in the desert.
David and Absalom: David and Ittai.
Paired parables, sometimes parables and miracles together
Herod’s banquet, Jesus feeding the 5,000.
In our readings today we have a couplet of stories in which two conversations are recorded side by side.
A Pharisee and a Samaritan Woman:
The Pharisees get a bad press as an elite of hypocritical, self-righteous bigots. They were certainly in constant conflict with Jesus and before St Paul got converted, he was a Pharisee busy stoning Stephen and breathing threats and murder against the believers. But in their culture they were well respected as devout, pious and godly men. Nicodemas, a member of the ruling elite, a man of power (although subject to Rome), influence and reputation comes to Jesus in the middle of the night, doubtless to protect his reputation.
The nameless woman, a Samaritan woman, meets him at mid-day. She has no reputation to protect; on husband number 5, her name was already shredded. She is an outcast among a despised caste of society. The exact origin of the Samaritans is obscure, but it seems that after the Assyrians conquered the northern tribes in about 720BC and took them captive, that other subjugated people were brought in. They felt the need to placate what they thought were the gods of their new land and mixed Judaism with a variety of other pagan practices and produced a hybrid religion. This was then a half-caste people with a half baked religion.
If you were to try and see the two ends of near-eastern society these would be it. The hostility between Jews and Samaritans had been going on for centuries; pure bred and half-cast, orthodox and heterodox. Just a few years before these conversations the relations between Jews and Samaritans had been further soured by the destruction of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerazim by John Hyrcanus and the desecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by Samaritans spreading human bones.
The Jews and the Samaritans really hated each other and their spite was legendary. When the Jewish authorities wanted to insult Jesus they called him demon possessed, a Samaritan. When Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan, His audience could not even bring themselves to use the word. These two stories form a pair; Jesus in conversation with the devout and the down and out, at the Garrick and at a Greasy Spoon, Harrods and Mencap, the Ritz and a Night Shelter, Mother Teresa and Paris Hilton, Norman Tebbit and Arthur Scargill.
A man at mid-night and a woman at mid-day
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night
He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
No street lights, Roman curfews, robbers at large and Jesus meets up with a senior politician who does not want to be seen with Him. Jesus is not offended, by the implicit insult. Jesus does not say, “So, you chicken, afraid to come and see me in day light eh? You would not want to find your picture in the Jerusalem Post with me now, would you?” No, Jesus enters into a deep discussion about the nature of identity, life and birth. A midnight encounter with His political opponent and He seeks no humiliating political capital, but treats him fairly and squarely.
No shade and the noon-day sun is beating down at the town well. Why does this woman come at such a crazy time? Her domestic disarray means she would not dare show her face at the well when respectable women would be there in the cool of the morning or the evening. She is the easy girl of Sychar and by the well stands a Jewish rabbi. Don’t miss the cultural innuendo here; Moses met his wife at a well, Isaac’s wife Rebecca was courted and found at the well. Let me read you P53 from Essad Bey:
Jesus is putting Himself in a very compromised situation here, open to all kinds of misinterpretation, but He does not send her away with any insults, nor does He abuse her in any way, but rather speaks to her with the deepest respect. This catches her quite off balance. The Mishnah says; “Engage not in too much conversation with women. They said this with regard to one's own wife, how much more [does the rule apply] with regard to another man's wife. Hence have the sages said: As long as a man engages in too much conversation with women, he causes evil to Himself, [for] he goes idle from [the study of] the words of the torah, so that his end will be that he will inherit gehinnom.”
Just observe His careful respect for the politician and the party girl. There is no side to this Saviour, just a deep longing for people of all parts of the social spectrum to come to salvation. Both desire it, both are deeply in need of this saviour.
Both recognised Jesus was someone special
Nicodemas said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
“Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”
Somewhere, deep down inside they both perceived that this Jesus was someone special. They had observed His actions and His words and recognised at least something divine about Him. When you look at the Gospel records, it is very hard to escape CS Lewis’s conclusion that He was either a lunatic, a liar or really was the Lord He claimed to be. You may have a sneaking admiration for Jesus, but do not damn Him with faint praise. Look at the evidence.
A lunatic might claim to be God, but does not generally win the deep affection and devotion of personal friends and large crowds. A lunatic might claim to be immortal, but cannot convince his family of his psychosis. A fraudster and a liar may trick a few people into allegiance, but not those who have been his daily companions for three years and who have seen him in all the situations life can throw up, including death. No-one is willing to die for a con artist. No man is a hero to his valet.
No, this Pharisee and this floozy both knew they had met someone very special.
New life within
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
He talks to one of new birth and to the other of a new source of life. He is not contradicting Himself, simply presenting the same truth in different ways. What you call life now, for one power for the other promiscuity, needs to be replaced with something new and eternal. When we seek meaning in the passing things of this life, prestige and passion, we find out so very quickly how they turn to dust and ashes in our hands, smoke in our eyes and to grit in our teeth. We need new birth, because we are all too well aware of the transience of this life. We need fresh water, because we all know how stagnant and bitter is the ditch we are drinking from.
In these conversations, Jesus only makes an oblique reference to His impending death; “like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness”. But from this side of the cross we see that it is by His death and in His resurrection that God’s justice is satisfied, God’s love is declared, our sins are removed, our debt is cancelled, our slavery is abolished, death is broken, Satan is defeated and we find eternal life, new birth in the One that death could not hold. It is by His Holy Spirit that springs of living water bubble up from inside us. No more lowering the bucket of our soul into some stagnant well, but rather an insuppressible soul spring, fed by eternal currents of holiness, spills over into eternal life that starts now.
Literalist misunderstanding
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”
“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Was it just an obtuse misunderstanding, or were they doing what we all do when we hear something we do not want to engage with, find some fault with the apparent logic and take a detour. I can’t follow a Messiah who demands I pluck out my eye or cut off my hand. I can’t believe in a Saviour who tells me to hate my parents. I can’t put my trust in a God-man who says I must pick up my cross. And we hide behind deliberate misunderstandings and literalist readings so that we do not allow the truth to penetrate our defences.
What obstacles we pick up and place in front of the gate of heaven to trip us up and bar our way in. Jesus, cuts right to the chase with both of them.
Jesus points out their ignorance
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
You worship what you do not know;
You might be a banker and He says, “Can’t you figure this out?” You might be a doctor and He says, “Wrong diagnosis, sir!” You might be the life and soul of every party and He says, “Are you really enjoying this?” You might have won the lottery and He asks, “Where have you left your soul?” You might have written the Kama Sutra and He says, “The position of true love is washing the feet of those who will betray you.”
Spiritual worship
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”
When I got married to Lucy, I said “with my body, I thee worship”. I was giving up my claim to physical, financial, emotional and every other form of autonomy. I was giving up my rights, I was being willingly captured and putting myself at the disposal of this person whom I adore. I was saying that I wanted there to be no veils of decency or deception behind which to hide. I was inviting her to mutual, covenanted disclosure.
Worship is the total giving of one person to another. When we come into a relationship with God, He sees everything, there are no secrets. We pray this prayer; “Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden”
Psalms 139
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
Proverbs 15:11
Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD;
how much more the hearts of the children of man!
Hebrews 4:13
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
He sees everything. God wants the worship of our hearts and He wants it to be true devotion; objectively and subjectively true. What do I mean by that?
Objective truth means that He wants accurate, right and verifiable truth to be the source of our worship. Aaron made a golden calf and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” It was worship, but the object of their worship was not based in truth. How easy it is for us to exchange the God who made heaven and earth, the eternal Spirit, with some material counterfeit. He says to this woman at the well, “you worship what you do not know” and the common substitutes are people, prosperity, pleasure and power. How easy it is to exchange the truth for a lie.
Subjective truth means a right and accurate self-appraisal. Jesus told the story of a Pharisee and a tax-collector going up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee full of self-addicted conceit praised God that He was not like other men. The tax-collector would not lift his eyes to heaven, but rather groaned out that the Lord would have mercy on him a sinner. The taxman’s worship arose out of truth, an accurate self-assessment; the Pharisee’s out of a lie.
Our worship must come out of a true perception of God and a true assessment of ourselves, but it must also be in spirit. It is difficult to know whether this is spirit with a capital S or a small s. But probably both are true. God is deeply concerned about the orientation of our hearts, not the orientation of our prayer mat. God is deeply concerned about the purity of your soul, not the cut of your suit, the state of your heart, not the length of your skirt, your spiritual account rather than your bank account. He wants to infuse our spirits with His Holy Spirit so that our worship can be pure and holy and acceptable and what He wants it to be.
When God created humankind, He made them in His own likeness and breathed His Spirit into them. When God recreates us, He turns us ever more into the likeness of the Lord Jesus and breathes His Spirit into us
This Saviour meets people at all points of the social spectrum with respect
This Saviour offers new birth, He offers living water.
This Saviour confronts our ignorance and confusion
This Saviour sees right into the deep recesses of our beings
This Saviour offers eternal life
This Saviour demands true and spiritual worship
I don’t know where you are between these two stories, between midnight and mid-day, between the Pharisee and the floozy, between respectability and disgrace. But Jesus knows, Jesus sees right through your disguises, Jesus meets you with respect and with devastating and penetrating truth, Jesus invites you to new life and to receive from Him inner spring of eternal life, Jesus wants you to worship the Father in Spirit and truth.
There is a beautiful old prayer of David and it goes like this:
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my anxious thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
If you want this new birth, this spring of eternal life, then pray it after me and come and see Mike or me and tell us what you have done. If you are not yet ready to pray this prayer, then sign up for Simply Christianity and dig deeper. If you know the Lord, but have been hiding behind a few fig-leaves of late, then let Him back in; you haven’t fooled Him one bit.
Thank you for inviting us to be with you this weekend. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have.
Bible stories often come in pairs:
Two creation narratives
Joseph and Potiphar’s wife: Judah and Tamar.
Dry ground in the Red Sea: water gushing from a rock in the desert.
David and Absalom: David and Ittai.
Paired parables, sometimes parables and miracles together
Herod’s banquet, Jesus feeding the 5,000.
In our readings today we have a couplet of stories in which two conversations are recorded side by side.
A Pharisee and a Samaritan Woman:
The Pharisees get a bad press as an elite of hypocritical, self-righteous bigots. They were certainly in constant conflict with Jesus and before St Paul got converted, he was a Pharisee busy stoning Stephen and breathing threats and murder against the believers. But in their culture they were well respected as devout, pious and godly men. Nicodemas, a member of the ruling elite, a man of power (although subject to Rome), influence and reputation comes to Jesus in the middle of the night, doubtless to protect his reputation.
The nameless woman, a Samaritan woman, meets him at mid-day. She has no reputation to protect; on husband number 5, her name was already shredded. She is an outcast among a despised caste of society. The exact origin of the Samaritans is obscure, but it seems that after the Assyrians conquered the northern tribes in about 720BC and took them captive, that other subjugated people were brought in. They felt the need to placate what they thought were the gods of their new land and mixed Judaism with a variety of other pagan practices and produced a hybrid religion. This was then a half-caste people with a half baked religion.
If you were to try and see the two ends of near-eastern society these would be it. The hostility between Jews and Samaritans had been going on for centuries; pure bred and half-cast, orthodox and heterodox. Just a few years before these conversations the relations between Jews and Samaritans had been further soured by the destruction of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerazim by John Hyrcanus and the desecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by Samaritans spreading human bones.
The Jews and the Samaritans really hated each other and their spite was legendary. When the Jewish authorities wanted to insult Jesus they called him demon possessed, a Samaritan. When Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan, His audience could not even bring themselves to use the word. These two stories form a pair; Jesus in conversation with the devout and the down and out, at the Garrick and at a Greasy Spoon, Harrods and Mencap, the Ritz and a Night Shelter, Mother Teresa and Paris Hilton, Norman Tebbit and Arthur Scargill.
A man at mid-night and a woman at mid-day
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night
He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
No street lights, Roman curfews, robbers at large and Jesus meets up with a senior politician who does not want to be seen with Him. Jesus is not offended, by the implicit insult. Jesus does not say, “So, you chicken, afraid to come and see me in day light eh? You would not want to find your picture in the Jerusalem Post with me now, would you?” No, Jesus enters into a deep discussion about the nature of identity, life and birth. A midnight encounter with His political opponent and He seeks no humiliating political capital, but treats him fairly and squarely.
No shade and the noon-day sun is beating down at the town well. Why does this woman come at such a crazy time? Her domestic disarray means she would not dare show her face at the well when respectable women would be there in the cool of the morning or the evening. She is the easy girl of Sychar and by the well stands a Jewish rabbi. Don’t miss the cultural innuendo here; Moses met his wife at a well, Isaac’s wife Rebecca was courted and found at the well. Let me read you P53 from Essad Bey:
Jesus is putting Himself in a very compromised situation here, open to all kinds of misinterpretation, but He does not send her away with any insults, nor does He abuse her in any way, but rather speaks to her with the deepest respect. This catches her quite off balance. The Mishnah says; “Engage not in too much conversation with women. They said this with regard to one's own wife, how much more [does the rule apply] with regard to another man's wife. Hence have the sages said: As long as a man engages in too much conversation with women, he causes evil to Himself, [for] he goes idle from [the study of] the words of the torah, so that his end will be that he will inherit gehinnom.”
Just observe His careful respect for the politician and the party girl. There is no side to this Saviour, just a deep longing for people of all parts of the social spectrum to come to salvation. Both desire it, both are deeply in need of this saviour.
Both recognised Jesus was someone special
Nicodemas said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
“Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”
Somewhere, deep down inside they both perceived that this Jesus was someone special. They had observed His actions and His words and recognised at least something divine about Him. When you look at the Gospel records, it is very hard to escape CS Lewis’s conclusion that He was either a lunatic, a liar or really was the Lord He claimed to be. You may have a sneaking admiration for Jesus, but do not damn Him with faint praise. Look at the evidence.
A lunatic might claim to be God, but does not generally win the deep affection and devotion of personal friends and large crowds. A lunatic might claim to be immortal, but cannot convince his family of his psychosis. A fraudster and a liar may trick a few people into allegiance, but not those who have been his daily companions for three years and who have seen him in all the situations life can throw up, including death. No-one is willing to die for a con artist. No man is a hero to his valet.
No, this Pharisee and this floozy both knew they had met someone very special.
New life within
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
He talks to one of new birth and to the other of a new source of life. He is not contradicting Himself, simply presenting the same truth in different ways. What you call life now, for one power for the other promiscuity, needs to be replaced with something new and eternal. When we seek meaning in the passing things of this life, prestige and passion, we find out so very quickly how they turn to dust and ashes in our hands, smoke in our eyes and to grit in our teeth. We need new birth, because we are all too well aware of the transience of this life. We need fresh water, because we all know how stagnant and bitter is the ditch we are drinking from.
In these conversations, Jesus only makes an oblique reference to His impending death; “like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness”. But from this side of the cross we see that it is by His death and in His resurrection that God’s justice is satisfied, God’s love is declared, our sins are removed, our debt is cancelled, our slavery is abolished, death is broken, Satan is defeated and we find eternal life, new birth in the One that death could not hold. It is by His Holy Spirit that springs of living water bubble up from inside us. No more lowering the bucket of our soul into some stagnant well, but rather an insuppressible soul spring, fed by eternal currents of holiness, spills over into eternal life that starts now.
Literalist misunderstanding
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”
“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Was it just an obtuse misunderstanding, or were they doing what we all do when we hear something we do not want to engage with, find some fault with the apparent logic and take a detour. I can’t follow a Messiah who demands I pluck out my eye or cut off my hand. I can’t believe in a Saviour who tells me to hate my parents. I can’t put my trust in a God-man who says I must pick up my cross. And we hide behind deliberate misunderstandings and literalist readings so that we do not allow the truth to penetrate our defences.
What obstacles we pick up and place in front of the gate of heaven to trip us up and bar our way in. Jesus, cuts right to the chase with both of them.
Jesus points out their ignorance
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
You worship what you do not know;
You might be a banker and He says, “Can’t you figure this out?” You might be a doctor and He says, “Wrong diagnosis, sir!” You might be the life and soul of every party and He says, “Are you really enjoying this?” You might have won the lottery and He asks, “Where have you left your soul?” You might have written the Kama Sutra and He says, “The position of true love is washing the feet of those who will betray you.”
Spiritual worship
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”
When I got married to Lucy, I said “with my body, I thee worship”. I was giving up my claim to physical, financial, emotional and every other form of autonomy. I was giving up my rights, I was being willingly captured and putting myself at the disposal of this person whom I adore. I was saying that I wanted there to be no veils of decency or deception behind which to hide. I was inviting her to mutual, covenanted disclosure.
Worship is the total giving of one person to another. When we come into a relationship with God, He sees everything, there are no secrets. We pray this prayer; “Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden”
Psalms 139
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
Proverbs 15:11
Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD;
how much more the hearts of the children of man!
Hebrews 4:13
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
He sees everything. God wants the worship of our hearts and He wants it to be true devotion; objectively and subjectively true. What do I mean by that?
Objective truth means that He wants accurate, right and verifiable truth to be the source of our worship. Aaron made a golden calf and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” It was worship, but the object of their worship was not based in truth. How easy it is for us to exchange the God who made heaven and earth, the eternal Spirit, with some material counterfeit. He says to this woman at the well, “you worship what you do not know” and the common substitutes are people, prosperity, pleasure and power. How easy it is to exchange the truth for a lie.
Subjective truth means a right and accurate self-appraisal. Jesus told the story of a Pharisee and a tax-collector going up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee full of self-addicted conceit praised God that He was not like other men. The tax-collector would not lift his eyes to heaven, but rather groaned out that the Lord would have mercy on him a sinner. The taxman’s worship arose out of truth, an accurate self-assessment; the Pharisee’s out of a lie.
Our worship must come out of a true perception of God and a true assessment of ourselves, but it must also be in spirit. It is difficult to know whether this is spirit with a capital S or a small s. But probably both are true. God is deeply concerned about the orientation of our hearts, not the orientation of our prayer mat. God is deeply concerned about the purity of your soul, not the cut of your suit, the state of your heart, not the length of your skirt, your spiritual account rather than your bank account. He wants to infuse our spirits with His Holy Spirit so that our worship can be pure and holy and acceptable and what He wants it to be.
When God created humankind, He made them in His own likeness and breathed His Spirit into them. When God recreates us, He turns us ever more into the likeness of the Lord Jesus and breathes His Spirit into us
This Saviour meets people at all points of the social spectrum with respect
This Saviour offers new birth, He offers living water.
This Saviour confronts our ignorance and confusion
This Saviour sees right into the deep recesses of our beings
This Saviour offers eternal life
This Saviour demands true and spiritual worship
I don’t know where you are between these two stories, between midnight and mid-day, between the Pharisee and the floozy, between respectability and disgrace. But Jesus knows, Jesus sees right through your disguises, Jesus meets you with respect and with devastating and penetrating truth, Jesus invites you to new life and to receive from Him inner spring of eternal life, Jesus wants you to worship the Father in Spirit and truth.
There is a beautiful old prayer of David and it goes like this:
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my anxious thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
If you want this new birth, this spring of eternal life, then pray it after me and come and see Mike or me and tell us what you have done. If you are not yet ready to pray this prayer, then sign up for Simply Christianity and dig deeper. If you know the Lord, but have been hiding behind a few fig-leaves of late, then let Him back in; you haven’t fooled Him one bit.
Thank you for inviting us to be with you this weekend. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Emotions
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.
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.
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.
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