Live the life, not Talk the talk

Reading

An Eye for an Eye

^{Mt 5:38} “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’

^{Mt 5:39} But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

^{Mt 5:40} And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

^{Mt 5:41} If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

^{Mt 5:42} Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

^{Mt 5:43} “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’

^{Mt 5:44} But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

^{Mt 5:45} that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

^{Mt 5:46} If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

^{Mt 5:47} And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

^{Mt 5:48} Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Prayer

Introduction

[Cheesemakers video] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiDmMBIyfsU

Does the sermon on the mount leave you as confused as it obviously does these Characters?

I am certainly not going to be looking at this passage and making any unjustified generalisations about dairy products

In out reading today Jesus is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Some commentator believe he was talking for about two hours, and that Matthew has just provided us with high lights. Lets take a look at this passage and try to make some more sense of it.

An Eye for an Eye

What do you think of when you hear this phrase. Perhaps it just reminds you of the Sermon on the Mount, then you glaze over and switch off. Perhaps, like a lot of people in the modern world it gives you a sense of how barbaric our ancestors could be. Jesus is referring back to

Lev 24:19&20 If anyone injures his neighbour, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. ^q As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured.

And

Dt 19:21. Show no pity: ^k life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

The laws were given like this to act as a deterrent. What ever you do to someone else will be done to you. They were also given to limit revenge:

Lev 19:18. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD

The law will also put and end to vendettas. The just punishment has been applied, no more retribution is called for. Whereas we may recoil from the barbarity, Jesus' audience would have immediately had the Jewish law courts system in mind. By Jesus time the law no longer required literally an eye for an eye, there was a detailed system of compensation put in place for these types of injuries.

Much like our system today, people were encouraged to take some one who had injured them through the courts to get whatever they could for this injury. You only have to watch commercial television to see the adverts for Personal Injury Lawyers.

[claims direct spoof advert]

Interesting isn't it - “I was looking for justice, and I found Claims Direct”

Insult

The Jewish system however provided for some types of recompense that our system does not provide for today, the most notable one for this passage is insult. Here Jesus gives us examples of what he is talking about, the first of these relates to insult. The slap, if we assume a right handed person, is with the back of the hand, because it lands on the right cheek. The slap of the face like this is an insult, it is not referring to the physical harm done, but to the insult given. As I have said there are ways to get satisfaction in the courts system for this, but Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek”. Jesus says “don't go to the courts for settlement, rather see if the perpetrator is prepared to repeat the insult”. He does not suggest that you should stand there and allow the person to continue to mock you or beat you.

Legal Action

If somebody wants to sue you and take your tunic, give him your coat also – SO, now we are already inside the legal system, but there is still the opportunity to avoid a judicial ruling. The Jews of the time would have had two main pieces of clothing, the tunic, and an outer coat. The law protected the outer coat, and it was forbidden to take it from someone as a penalty. If you are to take this option, giving your coat as well as your tunic, you will be left with you loin cloth, your sandals, and your turban. No Jew would be seen in public without his cloths – nakedness was a sign of shame. He would be ridiculed. Jesus does not suggest that you should give up you loin cloth, sandals and turban, neither did he use the example of your house. The tunic and coat, while not trivial in those days, are replaceable with relative ease.

Impressment

If someone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. The only person that could force you to go one mile would be a Roman Soldier. If he had something difficult to carry, could take someone off the street, and enforce them to help in the process of transportation. The Roman law was very strict. One mile and one mile only. It was a right that they had, but it was one that was monitored. Imagine being the soldier and having to explain to the centurion why this person had carried your load two miles “Sir, He volunteered, Sir”

“Volunteered, soldier? Volunteered, as in volunteered to stay ahead of your spear in his back?”

“No, Sir. Just Volunteered Sir”

“Right Soldier, he volunteered of course he did, 'appens all the time – You're on a Charge”

The intent was that the people were not inconvenienced to too great a degree. Jesus is suggesting that you should voluntarily, and of your own accord, do another mile. Jesus does not then apply the same rule at the end of the second mile.

Jesus followers now have a unique way to interpret the law. Jesus then goes on to explain his way of life in more detail.

Love your Enemies

Of course you can only have heard what was said this time, because nowhere in the Bible will you find any instruction to hate you neighbour. It was however in the Jewish oral tradition, and in a hundred years or so would appear in their writings. So Jesus is going against tradition.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Love your enemies? How can that be, and what would be achieved?

Example of a little girl

A little girl one day went to her mother to show some fruit that had been given to her. "Your friend," said the mother, "has been very kind."

"Yes," said the child. "She gave me more than these; but I have given some away." The mother inquired to whom she had given them. She answered, "I gave them to a girl who pushes me off the path, and makes faces at me."

When asked why she gave them to her, she replied, "Because I thought it would make her know that I wish to be kind to her, and then she may not be so rude and unkind to me again."

Romans 12:17-18 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Bless means to speak well of them.

Pr 25:21-22. If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

Story of Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee was asked what he thought of a fellow officer in the Confederate Army who had made some derogatory remarks about him. Lee rated him as being very satisfactory. The person who asked the question seemed perplexed.
"General," he said, "I guess you don’t know what he’s been saying about you."
"I know," answered Lee. "But I was asked my opinion of him, not his opinion of me!"

We are to pray for them, not against them - not to send them to hell. Take the example of Stephen in

Acts 7:60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.

Or Jesus as he was being crucified:

Luke 23:34 But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

The text here has the sense that Jesus continue to pray the prayer as they nailed him to the cross.

Next there is a promise in what Jesus is saying – that you may be 'sons of your father'. This is one step to the last verse. Jesus then goes on to remind his disciples that God provides for both the good and the evil, the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what is so special about that?

Corrie Ten Boom and the Nazi Officer

Corrie Ten Boom shares this true story in her book, The Hiding Place: It was a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing centre at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there -- the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said. "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!" His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

If you don’t love your enemies, then you are no different than the world.

Peter Miller, friend of General Washington

In the days of the American Revolutionary War there lived in Pennsylvania, a Baptist pastor by the name of Peter Miller who enjoyed the friendship of General Washington. There also dwelt in that town one Michael Wittman, an evil-minded man who did all in his power to abuse and oppose this pastor. One day Michael Wittman was involved in treason and was arrested and sentenced to death. The old preacher started out on foot and walked the whole seventy miles to Philadelphia to plead for this man’s life. He was admitted into Washington’s presence and at once begged for the life of the traitor. Washington said, "No, Peter, I cannot grant you the life of your friend." The preacher exclaimed, "My friend, he is the bitterest enemy I have." Washington cried, "What? You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon." And he did. And Peter Miller took Michael Wittman from the very shadow of death back to his own home -- no longer as an enemy, but as a friend.

Hudson Taylor's boat trip

Hudson Taylor, dressed in a Chinese costume, while waiting for a boatman to take him across the river, stood on a jetty. Presently a richly dressed Chinaman came and also stood waiting. When the boat drew near this man not seeing that Mr. Taylor was a foreigner, struck him on the head and knocked him over into the mud. Mr. Taylor said the feeling came to him to hit the man, but God immediately stopped him. When the boat came up, the Chinaman looked at Mr. Taylor and recognized him as a foreigner. He could hardly believe it, and said, "What, you a foreigner, and did not strike me back when I struck you like that?" Mr. Taylor said "This boat is mine. Come in and I will take you where you want to go." On the way out, Mr. Taylor poured into that Chinaman’s ears the message of salvation. He left the man with tears running down his face. Such is the power of the Gospel of Christ.

How do we react?

These stories illustrate the power of the message Jesus is giving us through these few verses. His way of living is so very different from the worlds way, the love that is shown in these examples, is so radically different from what is expected that it has a momentous effect.

What does this mean for us though? We are not ministers of religion, or missionaries, neither are we put in such extreme situations of evil as Corrie Ten Boom. How can we live this message that Jesus has for us today. Well because we are not put in such extreme situations, we should go back to look at the first few verses.

When were you last insulted? How did you react?

• Did you shout indignantly, and protest that the comment was unfair?

• Did you go and complain to a friend at the way you'd been treated?

• Did you let people know what you thought of the person who insulted you – what you thought of them because they insulted you?

or

• Did you take a step back, and allow for the possibility of the insult to be repeated?

My small example

Let me give you a very small personal example. When our children were young an playing in the garden, quite often the ball they were playing with would end up in our neighbours garden. Sometimes it was my fault that the ball ended up there. When we requested our ball back we were told that it would be returned in due course – next time they felt like walking round their garden looking for balls. They did not want the continued disturbance. This cause us to have some quite upset children (and adults) on many occasions. Their children are now of an age when balls occasionally come over the fence. When ever we are asked we return the ball immediately. It would be very easy for me to adopt the same policy (that would be fair wouldn't it), but I am determined not to.

What effect will this have on our relationship with our neighbour? Probably very little, its just one small way I can show that I'm different.

Live the life, not just talk the talk

That I believe is the essence of what Jesus is saying. His message must be lived out at all levels.

There are many people in the world who can talk the talk – perhaps one of the most famous was Karl Marx. He spoke up for the poor and oppressed, his ideas for a fair society caused revolutions, but in his private life was constantly in and out of debt, lived like a recluse, and was largely supported by Friedrich Engels, the son of a prosperous textile manufacturer .

Those in the world talk about it, but Jesus lived it, and our challenge is to do the same - Live the life, not talk the talk.

Matthew 28:16-20 "The Great Commission" for Holy Communion @ Christ Church @ 8am, Sunday 18 May

Introduction

The most divisive command in history

Surely this must be the most divisive command in history. How can we possible follow a command that tells us to go and overthrow all the other beliefs in the world, to turn everyone into Christians. Look at the problems this command has caused. Uproar in the Roman empire. Wars with the Moslems in Jerusalem – they were called the crusades, and they involved most of the wests special forces (known then as the Knights Templar) in a campaign of forced baptism and murder that lasted centuries. How can we in these multi-cultural days be going to make disciples – Christians of all the world. Surely such an action by the established church is not acceptable in this day and age.

The command is supported by the other gospels and Paul

The book of Matthew can be a difficult book. We just have to look at a couple of sample passages. Passages that are not read very often – passages that perhaps we should avoid.

Mt 21:7. “They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.” What really – on two animals?

Then there's the story of the resurrections – before Jesus was resurrected himself:

Mt 27:52-53 “The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”

This is not supported by any of the other gospels, and certainly not by Paul.

Perhaps we should just assign this command to the same dustbin, and conveniently ignore it?, but before we do that lets take a look and see if its in the other gospels, or anywhere else in the Bible.

This command is also found in:

Mark 16:15-16

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Luke 24:46-49.

He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

John 20:21.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Acts 1:8.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The letters of Paul

So we find this command of Jesus, or some variation of it in all of the gospels.

In the Old Testament

Its even a command to the Israelites in the Old Testament. It has always been God's intention that his word should be spread. God says to Abram (Abraham before he got re-named) in Gen 12:3 “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”, and in Gen 18:18, the message is repeated, and in 22:18, 26:4, 28:14, Ps 72:17; Isa 19:25

Ex 19:6 The Israelites are to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Isaiah 61:6 And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

Acts 3:25 – We are heirs to the O/T promise

Gal 3:8 Promise repeated “All nations will be blessed through you”

Isa 49:6. he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

It has ALWAYS been God's intention that his word should be spread, that his love should be made known among the nations. The Israelites were to be a nation of priests – to bring the nations to God. The Christians have the task set for them in a different way., so now let us take a closer look at the task we have been set ...

What is the command?

Make disciples. Easy. So what does that involve? First of all it means we have to do something.

Witness

The first thing we have to do is to be prepared to tell people about Jesus. Just normally, in normal conversation. Perhaps you could expand on what you did last weekend. “Not a lot” isn't a very helpful comment, but you could speak to people about the confirmation service, and perhaps let them know how proud you are that there are 4 new members in our church. That's four people who have committed their lives to Jesus, and are prepared to publicly say so.

At this level we just have to give the chance for the person we are talking to, to review what we are saying. If they are interested – great, if they listen politely – great.

Refusees

Of course if they're not interested or even against what you're saying then they've made their choice. They have decide (for now at least) that they are not interested in Jesus.

When Jesus sent the disciples out with authority over evil spirits he said “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. (Matthew 10:14). In other words – walk away. We really are not here to cause problems, the world has enough trouble as it is. If people don't want to know, that is up to them.

Evangelize

Paul say in the 2nd letter to the Corinthians “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.” ( 2Co 5:11). There are times when trying to persuade people of the faith is the right thing to do. Think back to your own experience of coming to faith. Was there someone in that process who spent some time with you trying to persuade you? There certainly was more than one of them in my case. So, if it worked for you and for me, then it will work for others. We will find that to do this we have to have a certain level of knowledge and understanding, I remember one long conversation with a friend that ended with him saying “I'm never going to win this argument am I”. It was the truest thing he'd said in the whole conversation.

It may not of course be a simple one-to-one process. Your persuasion may be as part of an Alpha course, or something similar. It may not be you doing the persuading, it may be the course leader, the preacher, or one of the other group members. All you've had to do is persuade the person to attend the course.

Nurture

So we have finally persuaded someone, and led them to Jesus. There's a great sense of achievement when someone that you have been talking to and praying for finally gives their life to Christ. It will have been a long haul. Some statistics put the time taken for someone from the introduction to the commitment as 3 years. Anyway you've been with the person for a long time, and finally they've made a commitment. Great! Get them baptized, then its time to move on.

No! Not really. The person has taken one very significant step, and opened themselves up to God. There's a long way to go. We are called to make disciples, not converts. A disciple is someone who is walking with Jesus, learning from Him, and those around. They will have questions, problems, doubts, just as we all do, but they will need help coping with their new life style. They will need encouragement to come to worship, to read the bible, to pray regularly. They will need an environment where their faith can grow. They will need good teaching, so that they can understand the commands and obey them. They will need support as they meet opposition from the world. They will need your help as they start to get to grips with what it means to make disciples. Now is not the time for you to move on, but it is the time for me to move on.

We have looked at the what, so now we know what to do, when should we start?

When

Now! Well, all right, after breakfast!

Actually we should have all started a long time ago, but lets consider your new Christian. The one who's just given his or her life to Christ. When should they start making disciples.

They will need training, perhaps once they've been on the Making Disciples course, and assuming that they have passed the exam at the end we could do as Jesus did and send them out 12 at a time, or if we've had a fruitful year, we might manage 72.

No, that's not going to work. Jesus says there's only one requirement for making disciples. You must wait until the Holy Spirit comes. Look at the example of the disciples. They knew all about the resurrection – they'd seen the empty grave, they'd seen the alive Jesus, spoken with him, had breakfast with him. (I hope there's kippers in the hall today). Did any of that help them make disciples – no. They were still hiding in their houses, worrying about finding a twelfth disciple – to make up the numbers. Then the Holy Spirit arrived. In next to no time at all they were changed from timid and afraid, to bold and strong, and with Peter's first sermon came 5,000 converts!

We cannot make disciples without the power of God inside us. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to give us the power to do all sorts of things, but with one aim – to make disciples. Without that power we are just going to be hiding in our houses afraid to challenge the world, or even one member of it. We must wait until the Holy Spirit comes. When he does we will act, because we cannot help ourselves.

Where

Now we have the urge, or the urgent need to tell others about Jesus. We want to argue the case, persuade people that God's way is the best. Where should we go?

Look at your seat, imagine it on a map with a big arrow saying “You are here” There's another big arrow, it says “Start Here”

The disciples were told to start with Jerusalem and work outwards to Judea and the rest of the world. The only difference is that we live in Billericay, so start there, in Billericay where you already know people, then move out to the rest of England, and finally the whole globe.

Why

But why? Why should I bother? Its nice here, I'm comfortable in Jesus presence. Why should I get up and go out into the stormy world?

Command

Firstly because it's Jesus' command. Jesus didn't give his disciples that many commands, “Make disciples” and “Love one another as I have loved you” are about it. Oh yes, there's lots of other guidance on all sorts of topics – this is how you should pray – and things like that, but real commands that MUST be obeyed – only the two I think.

While I was researching for this sermon, I googled “Jesus Commands”. The first three web sites in the list were obviously good matches, so I followed the links. They all have many many commands, but two out of the three of them do not have “Make Disciples”. If we can't even recognise these words as a command today, then I wonder where the church of God will be in fifty years time. Fortunately it has not always been so J Hudson Taylor, who founded the China Inland Mission said “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.”

So as its a command, and as there are only two it would seem strange not to obey it, as we have already agreed to give our life to Him.

Love

There are other reasons too. One of those comes from the other command. “Love one another as I have loved you” If you and I are the recipients of Gods love, why would we not want to share it. If you have been given something that is very good to have, are you going to keep it all to yourself, or are you going to share it around a bit.

There have been times when I have looked at people and thought to my self “How would they be better off with Jesus in their lives?” Their lives seem so perfect – better than mine. Not that I wished to be them, just that I couldn't see how their lives could be better.

That is a lie, of course, one that I had swallowed from the world. What ever you see, or think you see in others the fact is that there will always be some things in their lives that they would be better of without, and some things that they would be better off with. The thing that they would be better off with is a relationship with Jesus. He will help them get rid of some of the things they are better off without. Their lives will be transformed by God's love, and if I can't see that – then it is my problem.

No longer slaves

The final reason is that we are no longer slaves. When we gave our lives to Jesus we were freed from slavery, and became friends with God. If we really are friends with God, then we will want the same things that He wants. Jesus has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth”, and is in the process exercising that authority and spreading it out across the world. We are the mechanism that he he uses to bring the world fully under his authority.

Who

Because we are the mechanism, it falls to us to be the ones who go and do the work. Listen to another quote from J Hudson Taylor “It will not do to say that you have no special call to go ... With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature you rather need to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home.”

He is of course speaking at a time when the church in England was not so sparsely populated as it is today. As I have said before the model Jesus gave the disciples was to start where they are. He didn't offer any of them – even the doubters amongst them – the opportunity to be a conscientious objector. The command is for everyone – you, me, and about 2 billion others who have accepted Jesus. All of us – no exceptions.

How

How are we going to achieve this mammoth task? Well, none of us have been put in charge of organising the workforce to plan the evangelisation of the world. I'm very grateful for that – its a job I'd hate to have to do. So the only thing we can do is to take each opportunity as it arises, and to be ready to make the best of it.

What would you say if some one was to say “Tell me about Jesus?”

Can you tell the story of how you came to faith? Could each of you give a 30 second testimony here and now?

Those who do get involved in the planning process for the evangelisation of the world – people like J. John - reckon that you should have two testimonies – a short one – that lasts about two minutes, and a longer one around about five minutes.

The Promise

If we do all this then Jesus will be with us – you and me – by the presence of the Holy Spirit to the end of the age. Which just means he'll be here until the job is done and the whole planet knows who he is.

Free-IQTest.net

Free-IQTest.net - Free IQ Test


Whatever my IQ really is, I'm sure it cannot be determined by 20 questions, so the number above should be taken with the proverbial 'pinch of salt'. Anyway, it provided a diversion. My usual score on there types of tests is about 120.

Field of Blue '08

We arrived in the wood around 2pm, with the sun high in the sky, on a beautifully clear day. What better place could there be than an English woodland on a May afternoon?   The bank holiday is over, while others go back to work, we decide that we will visit the bluebells in Norsey woods.

 Take a look at the pictures on Google photos here: https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPP52FPoiaUfflLiDRO9nKhBMuMAhfK6CuzRooJ. 

We decided to follow the trail. Although the bluebells are coming to the end of their flowering season, they still make an impressively blue carpet across many of the more open spaces. We wander along the trail, eagerly taking pictures, or stopping to watch a Jay hopping around in the dead leaves. Moving further into the wood, and down one of the relatively gentle declines, there's a buzzing behind my right ear - very close behind indeed. The bee, because I assume that it was a bee, soon loses interest in my ear and flies away. That's about the most dangerous thing we met all afternoon. The wood ants I suppose come a close second. As I stayed still and moved my camera in position to take a picture of their busyness, I was already aware of a few inquisitive ones starting to crawl on my boots. I've had wood ants bite me before, and it's PAINFUL, so is to be avoided. Take the picture and move away. In another location, I tried to capture theme moving up and down a tree, but the ant was gone before the digital delay had expired. Pictures of tree trunks are just so uninteresting. Watching those ants did lead me to one of my weird questions: How many steps does an ant take during its life? Further on and there are more bluebells, and more intense birdsong. The coppiced trees provide an open woodland, the bracken and bramble have barely started to grow yet, so there are good views across the woodland. There are posts along the way marking things you're supposed to look at, but we don't know what they are, and we are happy to wander around the trail. We come to a stream, and judging by the bridge that crosses it, it is often much wider. Today it's just a trickle, and the picture doesn't really show what happening. We move on. As we move round we come to the wood bank, where there is coppicing in progress, and there is a notice just left on the ground next to the path explaining what is going on. Here we sit down, and I try to take a video of the view all the way round. I'm hoping that I caught some of the birdsong as well. The video's should go on YouTube, but right now they get marked 'failed'. They are on Facebook OK, but you have to be logged in, and they can't be embedded.

John 17:1-11 for the 18:30 Communion by extension at Christ church

Introduction

This evening we are looking at just the first part of the longest prayer that Jesus said – at least the longest one that was written down. There are many times when Jesus is recorded as praying, but because he was on his own the disciples did not hear the prayer, and so could not write it down. Only going up to verse 11 seems to me a very strange place to stop, but lets see how it works out. As we work through the things that Jesus prayed for we must remember that this prayer was made in public, and as such Jesus would have been trying to pass on a particular message.

Background

During the week of prayer, back in January, I proposed a format for our prayer to help us to pray. It was based around the acronym ACTS:

A – Adoration

We start our prayers by telling God that we adore him. I found this quite difficult – quite strange when I first tried it, but I'm getting used to it now. By starting with adoration, we focus our minds on God, the most important thing for effective prayer.

C – Confession

Next comes confession. It is quite a natural follow on from adoration. Once you focus on God, the Holy Spirit can much more easily help you bring to mind the areas in you life that God would like to improve. Or in more biblical and direct language – we can tell God of our sins, that we are sorry for committing them, and that we have the intention of not repeating them.

Now we are focussed on God. We have confessed our sins, and God has forgiven us. There should now be nothing to block our communication.

T – Thanksgiving

Next we move on to thanking God for all that he has done for us and for those around us. We remember the many good things that we have, and the many answered prayers that we have seen.

S – Supplication.

Finally we come to the list of things that are troubling us. Maybe it was this list, or just one or two of the things on it that got us to the point of prayer in the first place, or perhaps it is just a part of your regular communication with God.

It's during this time that we can spend time quietly in God's presence listening for what he is saying to us.

I have used this form on occasions in our prayer meetings for Warner and our Church, but there have also been times when we have just prayed.

Formulas for Prayer

Jesus is not known for creating formulas for doing things, He just gets on with it. He did give us some direction with the Lords prayer, but that was only because he was specifically asked. We should realise here that the layout of this prayer is not meant as a model. There is a message in this prayer for the disciples, and for us. This is Jesus, how could it be otherwise.

Jesus prays for Himself

v1

Jesus starts by looking towards heaven, or the heavens, there was no real difference in the 1^st century mind between the sky and heaven. This is a common Jewish way of addressing God, to look towards him. Jesus then notes that the “time has come”. He is clearly running to schedule. There have been many places in John's gospel where this phrase or something similar has appeared. Right at the start, or rather before the start of his ministry, he tells his mother at the wedding that the time has not yet come. - John 2:4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come. “

Later he refused to go to the feast of tabernacles,

John 7:8 “You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”

and gets into an argument with his brothers about how secret his ministry has become. They go, and he follows in secret.

Then again he upsets people with what he says, and they threaten to get hold of him, presumable to have him punished: John 8:20 “He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no-one seized him, because his time had not yet come. “

So we can see that Jesus is working to some timetable, and now is the right time.

Jesus then asks that the Father Glorify his son, so that Jesus may glorify him. This is Jesus recognizing that he will complete the work that God has given him to do.

V2-5

Jesus goes on to describe part of the work that he has come to do. God has given Him authority over all people (Jesus has been made 'King of the World'), so that He can give eternal life to those that believe in Him. Eternal life is to know Jesus and therefore God. Finally He finishes the pray for Himself, by reminding God of the Glory that he had before the world was created.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

We now move on to look at the way that Jesus prays for this disciples.

V6

Speaking to God, Jesus says 'I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world'. It struck me that God should be obvious surely. There is God, or at least some aspect of him in creation – maybe not in the crops and flowers, but in the whole of creation, the Earth with its rich diversity, and the cosmos with its many mysteries – surely all this must lead to God?

It certainly leads to something. Who ever we are we cannot help but be in awe of the night sky – when we can see it through the back-scatter of our homes and street lights, that takes the dark away from the night. I thought back to my experience of coming to faith. Did God have to be revealed? My experience involved many conversations, evenings in the Coach and Horses- discussing what the bible said about all sorts of things. At first I couldn't understand it. At first I didn't believe what it said. Slowly though, I began to see that there might be some truths there. Eventually a picture began to be revealed, I started to see the Christian faith as a whole, and it made sense – well the pieces I could see did. It's not just the biblical stories I'm talking about – its also the modelling of Christian behaviour. With out the two – the theoretical – the Bible stories, and their interpretation and explanation, and the example of how that works out in the practice of every day life, I would not have been able to make any sort of commitment. So as I look back it is clear to me that the truth was indeed revealed. I had not gone looking for it. People brought it to me. “Look what I've found”. That is also how scripture describes it.

In Chapter 12 verse 40 John records Isaiah “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn— and I would heal them.” and in 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

So the truth that Jesus brought into the world has been revealed to me and to you as is was to the first disciples by Jesus himself.

As a result we are able to turn and be healed, and because we can, and we have, we have become obedient to God.

V7

We like the disciples know that everything that comes from Jesus has come from our Father God. We have been and are still going through a process where we learn more and more about the will of our Lord. Or perhaps I should say, to keep the sense of what I'm saying:

We like the disciples know that everything that comes from Jesus has come from our Father God. We have been and are still going through a process where more and more of God's will is being revealed to us. It's an important difference. If we say that we are finding things out and learning about them, then we attribute the effort and the results to ourselves. If we say that more and more aspects of our faith and belief, and the will of God are being revealed to us, then it is God, through the Holy Spirit who is taking the action and the initiative.

V8

This sense is important in the light of the next verse. In verse 8 Jesus says that the disciples, and therefore by extension you and I, have accepted God's words. We have not discovered them, or found them, or looked them up – we have been presented with them and accepted them. They (i.e. we) knew with certainty that Jesus came from God. “and believed that you sent me” implies that he came with a purpose.

V9-10

Now a little while ago I mentioned Chapter 12 verse 40. “He has blinded their eyes ...” remember?

Who is the he? - well Paul gives us the answer in the 2^nd letter to the Corinthians - “The god of this world” better known as the evil one, or Satan. That being the case the next part of Jesus prayer should not come as a surprise. In verse 9 Jesus reminds God of who he is praying for. Its important that the context is correct. “I am not praying for the world” - not everyone. This prayer is specific. Its for those that have been given to Jesus, because those are the ones who also belong to God.

Throughout this passage we have seen that anything or anyone who belongs to Jesus also belongs to God, and the same is true of anything that's attributed to belonging to God, it too belongs to Jesus., There is no separation of ownership, if it belongs to one it belongs to the other. This is again underlined in verse 10.

Then Jesus says “And Glory has come to me through them.” What already, they haven't done anything yet. Well they have. They have accepted that Jesus was sent by God. They may not yet have accepted that Jesus must die on the cross, but they HAVE accepted that He is from God. So the next stage in God plan for salvation is beginning, and Jesus has accomplished that.

V11

In verse 11 the trouble really begins. Jesus knows that he is leaving the world. I wonder what the disciples who were obviously listening intently made of that? Jesus know that he is going home, back to be with God. Then he uses a phrase that is not used anywhere else in the bible. He addresses God as 'Holy Father'. This is just a lesson for the disciples I believe.

Then he asks God to protect the disciples, and therefore those who will believe without seeing. What sort of protection would you expect Jesus to pray for at this point?

Some sort of protection from the worst excesses of the evils the world can throw at them?

• Protect them from despots, like Caligula, who will burn them as torches?

• Protection from sickness, and diseases that lead to a lingering and very painful death?

• Protection from poverty and starvation?

No – none of these.

The disciples are in the world, and in order to complete the tasks that they have been given they must stay there. The protection is from the evil one (v20), and it is so that the may be one.

There are a huge number of document written about Christian Unity, and it would not be right to for me to spend the entire sermon on the subject. Christians appear divided even on this. There are those who rant about the lack of Christian unity, saying that the body of Christ is broken, and that this sin above all others is the worst sin. They complain that the church is not in fact THE church at all, but has turned into a choice of whatever flavour you want – Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed, Anglican, Pentecostal, and anything I haven't mentioned.

There are those that make excuses one way or another, who see the limited unity that we have as sufficient. If you can say with you mouth and believe in your heart that “Jesus is Lord” that's all that is required. The rest, they say, doesn't matter. One baptism, one Holy communion services, whether you speak in tongues, or have other gifts of the spirit, whether you meet in a cathedral, or a house, or via the web, whether there is a bishop in charge, or just a group of elders, whether they are men or women, whether they are heterosexual or not – none of it matters.

Of course, there are as many different places where you could draw your line as there are Christians in the world.

For me, and just for me, I'm sad that we cannot speak clearly with one voice on the really important matters of the day:

• The starving and poverty stricken – and there will be many more of them soon

• The headlong rush towards growth, (called greed) that is damaging the world.

• The breakdown of society, particularly in the western world, where individualism is the key to life.

• The oppression, both political and religious, of various minorities around the world.

Instead I find a church that concentrates its efforts on deciding if women should become bishops, or spend way too much time debating the sexual preferences of its clergy, and whether that should be part of the selection process for ordination.

So we are not one. I expect that some of you will have disagreed with some of what is said. Perhaps this isn't even what it means to be one.

Perhaps what it means to be one is to recognise that we have been shown something – that something has been revealed to us. As a result of what we have seen, been given and accepted, we have changed sides.

Now we are for God. Now we are not trying to go our own way, now we are trying to go God's way, but God's way can be difficult to find in a broken and sinful world. There are some things we know about Gods way that help us to see where to go.

God sent his son into the world to reveal God to a few people, that they would then reveal him to a few others, and a few others, and so on.

When Jesus returned to heaven after the ascension he was met by Gabriel at the entrance to heaven:

“Well Lord, how did the mission go?”

“Very well thank you”

“What are your plans now?”

“I have given my message to a few fishermen, a tax collector , a zealot, an some others”

“Yes, Lord, I have heard that, so what's the plan?”

“They will take the message to everyone else”

Gabriel starts to get a bit grumpy “Yes , Lord, I know, but what is your plan now?”

Jesus replies “That's it – that's the plan”