An Encounter with a Book

Preached at Christ church, Billericay on 27 October 2019 @ 10am (Bible Sunday)

Reading: Psalm 119v129-136, 2 Timothy 3v14-17

I used to read a book in preference to a news paper on the train to work. It’s easier to manage and more entertaining, but you do have to be a bit careful if the book is very funny. Laughing out loud just outside Barking is not a good move. I kept up with the news and current affairs by listening to the radio.

Books I’ve read

I’ve read quite a lot of books, I suppose. For example, the entire Sherlock Holmes series and The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, many of Agatha Christie’s Poirot books, Terry Pratchet’s Disk World series, and lots of science fiction – from Jules Verne to Isaac Asimov, and all the James Bond books. I also enjoy reading books in the cottages we visit on holiday, it was on one of those occasions that I read Pride and Prejudice and on another I discovered Dr. Thorndyke by R. Austin Freeman. Dr Thorndyde is a Victorian detective and what we would now call a forensic scientist. There’s lots more besides those, and I’m not going to spend the morning listing books.

Encounter with a book

Every book that I have read, has had some effect on me, but reading Sherlock Holmes has not turned me into a great detective, although I’m sure the children would have got away with a lot more if those stories hadn’t encouraged me to look closely at the evidence. And reading the Poirot stories has not turned me into a Belgian.

Stories

Stories, even fictional ones, have an effect on our thinking and therefore on the way we live our lives. We are fortunate to live in a culture where so much literature is so easily available and where we have been given the skills to interact with it.

Reference Books

Of course, I’ve also spent a lot of time reading reference books. I remember many Saturday mornings in the local library with my head in various encyclopedias madly scribbling notes for some homework assignment. That was some very reluctant reading, but it has served me well. Later, at work, before the internet there was always a library of reference books that I had to know my way around, and dip in and out of as was required. It you couldn’t figure it out from the book, you couldn’t figure it out.

Bible

There is one book that I encountered that had a role in changing my life though – its not really a book, but a collection of books – the Bible. In many ways it is the strangest book I have ever engaged with. We say that it has all the answers, that it tells us how God wants us to live, and it does. But you can’t go to the index and look up Sin, then reference all the entries to find out what you’re not supposed to do. And yet that is how we use it a lot of the time. I remember sitting in the Coach and Horses discussing all sorts of things and Jim flicking through his Bible like some great encyclopedia, and finding and reading short passages. Even they needed explanation! It was far from straight forward.

Bible’s story

The Bible’s books tell the story of God’s people through three important events. The first is their rescue from slavery in Egypt and their arrival in the promised land. The second is their exile from the promised land at the hands of the Babylonians and the promise of a saviour. The third is the arrival of the saviour – Jesus, and his death and resurrection.

Each of these events is recorded and reflected on as the people try to understand what is happening to them and how God is guiding them.

Exile

It was the exile that led to the creation of the books in the first place. The people were in fear that they would lose touch with their God in a foreign land so the memories from the oral tradition were finally recorded.

Nothing, absolutely nothing was left out. No attempt was made to gloss over their failings, they were happy to admit them and record them, from their wilful disobedience to their love of the Lord. Everything.

Over the period of a couple of centuries following the exile the word Torah changes from meaning ‘teachings’ to meaning ‘the writings’ⁱ, and the Jews have become the people of the book.

Ps 119

We get a small snippet of their love and desire for their God in the verse of Psalm 119 that was read today:

Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.

Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.

Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.

Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey your precepts.

Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.

Torah – God’s word.

The Torah, or Pentateuch are the words that the psalmist is referring to. These words carry a power which is far greater than the simple text, because these words are the words of God.

2 Tim

In our new testament reading the holy Scriptures that Paul refers to is much more similar to our Old Testament. Paul says that the scriptures make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus. All Scripture, he says (and we would now include his letters and the rest of the New Testament in all Scripture), is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Rebuking

Teaching is fairly obvious, I think, but perhaps rebuking is less so. When did you last receive a rebuke from Scripture? It simply means that something you read made you realise that you had sinned – gone against God’s word, and that you need to repent. An old meaning of rebuke is something that makes you turn back. Repentance would set you back on the right path.

God-breathed

Paul says that Scripture is God-breathed. It is God’s words, not man’s. That doesn’t mean that it was dictated by God as some would have us believed, the process is more sophisticated than that. 2 Peter 1:21 gives us a clue: “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Inspired

You may be thinking we should use the word ‘Inspired’ rather that God-breathed, although that is the literal translation. Tom Wright in his commentary say there is a problem with our understanding of the word ‘Inspired’. Sometimes it simply means exceptional, as in ‘an inspired performance’. Sometimes it implies some sort of spiritual force took over, for example when we talk about inspired poetry. This just takes us back to the dictation approach that I mentioned earlier. The authors of Scripture were not “God’s typewriter”. Sometimes ‘it’s inspired’ means that it fits my theology perfectly, and therefore I can claim something for my theology that is not Biblical.

God-breathed, on the other hand, does not imply any of these things, it only implies that the message comes from God.

Correcting and training

Correcting and training in righteousness are also, I think, quite obvious. After my many discussions in the pub, I eventually became a follower of Jesus. From that point on I have often needed my world view corrected by the Bible.

Effect of reading Scripture

In 2011 Christianity Today reported on a study of the effect of reading scriptureⁱⁱ. Here’s a very quick summary:

• Those who read scripture more often are more likely to:
• say it is important to actively seek social and economic justice
• say it is important to consume fewer goods
• see less of a conflict between science and religion
• dis-approve of same-sex marriages

That helps me to understand Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Read more

The implication is that we should read our bibles more often and for longer. There are several ways to do this, there are plenty of Bible reading plans available, some in paper form and some available electronically, and you will need a good Bible, of course.

Which Bible

Premier Christian Radio had a Facebook poll recently that asked whether it is important which version of the Bible you read. I don’t remember the figures for the result, except that I was in the minority, in that I think it is very important.

Now, I don’t much care which version you read, so long as it’s one that you can understand easily. I didn’t like the trend a few years ago to return to the Authorised Version. The language is far too out of date, and while it is undoubtedly beautifully put together, it is too difficult for day-to-day use 400 years on. So pick a recent(ish) modern translation, or something that is close to it, so that you can understand easily what you read. That’s the most important thing, then you will have no excuse for not obeying it’s commands.

Home Groups

We can, and should read the Bible in private and in Public. I spent 3 years reading from cover to cover on the train many years ago. We should also read in small groups, where we can study it a little more deeply. At Christ Church, we call these Home Groups. I’ve been in a Home Group for most of my time here and in that time we’ve covered many books, including Revelation, and recently we’ve just finished Isaiah. Both of those were quite challenging, quite though provoking and well worth the effort.

Conclusion

So as I wrap up this Bible Sunday sermon, I will tell you that the most influential book of all time, has also been the most influential book I have encountered so far.

If you’d like to know more, I’d love to hear from you.

Let me leave you with two Bible verses:

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

i https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/when-was-the-hebrew-bible-written/

ii https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2011/july/effects-of-reading-scripture.html

References
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/when-was-the-hebrew-bible-written/
https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2011/july/effects-of-reading-scripture.html
https://www.openbible.info/topics/itself
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/origins-written-bible/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canon

Living by faith

Preached at Christ church, Billericay on 6 October 2019 @10am

1. Reading Hab 1:1-4;2:1-4, Lk 17:5-10

   1. Introduction

“The righteous will live by faith.” it says in Romans 1:17, echoing the last verse of the reading from Habakkuk. So what does it mean “to live by faith”?

2. Live by faith 1

When I was young and a young Christian, this was one of those phases that I think none of us understood well enough. “It means that you listen to God and do as he tells you.” was one view. Yes, it does!

When I wake in the morning I listen to God, when He tells me to get up, I get up. When He tells me to get dressed I listen to him to see how He would like me dressed that day.

I end up dressed in jeans and smart jacket, without a shirt and only one sock.

So, that’s clearly not what it means, because we are not capable of listening to God that closely, neither I suspect is He that interested in how I dress.

3. Live by faith 2

I have also heard this phrase used as a reason not to buy insurance. In those cases it is usually coupled with the verse that says that God knows your needs. It is never coupled with the verses that talk about being responsible and looking after your family.

So, that’s clearly not what it means either.

4. Habakkuk

Let’s take a look at Habakkuk as see where the phrase came from, to try to see what it means.

We know absolutely nothing of Habakkuk beyond these words and dating the writing independently of it’s content is very difficult. What Habakkuk tells us is that the leadership in Judea is failing. There is no justice, the rule of law is breaking down. Violence and intimidation are used so that the leaders can do as they please. The first section ends with “The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”

You may see some parallels to our times there, but I’m not going down that route today.

5. Complaint & God’s first answer

Habakkuk has made his complaint to God. We skipped God’s first answer, so here it is in typical Pete abbreviated form.

God says: “I have a cure for that, the Babylonians are coming”. Imagine having a similar complain in the 1930’s and God’s answer is “I have a cure for that the Nazi’s are coming”.

Understandably Habakkuk is a little outraged and complains that the cure is much worse than the disease.

1. God’s second Answer

Then we get the start of God’s second answer. The first and most import part is that it is to be written down and preserved. It is not for now, but for a future time, Habakkuk must wait for it.

Then, still talking about the Babylonians, God goes on to give His prophecy, but not before the statement that the righteous man will live by his faith. That’s where we stop, if you want to find out more read the book later, it is only 4 chapters.

6. Faith vs Faithfulness

I started by mentioning Romans 1:17, here’s the full verse

“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Paul also references the same verse in Galatians 3:11:

“Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

In both those verses the word translated faith, is more often translated faithfulness. Its definition is “Faith, faithfulness, belief, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow”

Let’s not get too hung up on the details of translation, but rather concentrate on the ideas that the words carry.

“Faith, faithfulness, belief, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow”

7. “Increase our faith”

So what are the apostles talking about when they say to Jesus, “Increase our faith”?

They are responding to a difficult command that Jesus has given them. Look at verse 3 of Luke Chapter 17:

“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

We heard yesterday of a remarkable case of forgiveness.

1. Brandt Jean

Amber Guyger a Texan policewoman was convicted of the murder of Botham Jean, who she shot, thinking he was an intruder. She was in the wrong apartment – one floor too high.

Brandt Jean, his brother gave her a hug in the courtroom and told her of his forgiveness. She was clearly sorry for her actions.

Brant is a remarkable young man.

Jesus told his apostles that they should forgive, and if the person is repentant forgive them again and again, on the same day. No limits were put on the actions that require forgiveness.

2. Mulberry Trees!

The apostles response: “Increase our faith”. I can understand that response, but Jesus’ comes back at them with a very strange answer.

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Why would Jesus suggest that they may want to transplant a 35 foot tree into the sea? He then goes on to tell them a story of a servant. If you had a servant who has been out ploughing and looking after sheep would you say to him, ‘come sit and eat’, or would you say to him ‘prepare my supper and wait on me’.

When the servant did as he was told, would you then thank him?

The answers to Jesus’ questions are obvious. The servant is expected to do his job, to wait on his master and not to expect any thanks.

But what about the mulberry tree. I think that is hyperbole, as in ‘first remove the plank from your own eye...’ (Luke 6:42). Moving a mulberry tree, like that is incredibly difficult and entirely pointless. Jesus isn’t asking them to do miracles that look like magic, he’s simply asking them to obey the commands that He is giving them and not to expect any thanks.

8. Nature of a servant

That is the nature of a servant. A servant does not question his master, he trusts that what his master asks him to do is the right thing, and then he gets on and does it.

Let’s go back to that definition of the word translated faith:

Remember:

“Faith, faithfulness, belief, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow”.

If we have belief, but no actions follow, can we truly count ourselves as the Lord’s servants, or are we simply conning ourselves.

Perhaps Jesus could have responded to the apostles request to have their faith increased with the simple instruction “Increase your obedience”, although I doubt it would have got the right response it is effectively what Jesus is saying. It’s a valid response too, because obedience works. It will increase our faith.

9. The Lords Commands

I started with two examples of faith I had heard as a young Christian. The reason that neither of them work is that they both ignore the standing orders of the servant of Christ.

These are clearly recorded in the Bible, I’m not going to give an extensive list this morning, but here are a few:

10. Luke 5:33-35 – Fasting

They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

11. Luke 6:29 – turn the other cheek

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.

12. Luke 9:24,25 – give up my life

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

13. Luke 12:16-21 – generosity to God

He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

14. Luke 14:12-14 – do good without the possibility of payback

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15. Finally

If we are to live by faith, or live faithfully, we must believe the Lords commands and obey them. We must recognise that we are His servants in all that we do and like Habakkuk we must wait patiently for His timing. And like the apostles, our obedience will increase our faith.

AMEN.

The important things in life

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay on 15 September 2019 @ 8am

1. Reading Deuteronomy 8v7-18;Luke12v16-30

   1. The Land

The Lord your God has put you in a good land – a land with streams and pools of water, a land where water is piped into every house, a land with wheat and oats, and endless supplies of fresh produce on the high street, a land where work is readily available and well paid, a land where food is not scarce and you will lack nothing.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees.

Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your bank balance and pension pot grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God.

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”. But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

2. Consequences

If you didn’t recognise the last verse, that’s because it wasn’t part of the reading. We must always remember that there are consequences to our actions, or our inactions.

1. Bible is Clear

The Bible is very clear about the important thing in our lives, and we find similar ideas in the New Testament reading as well.

3. A certain Rich Man

A certain rich man has completely forgotten about God, his only concern is to ensure that his excellent crops are not wasted, so that he can still get the profit from them.

4. Butter mountain – Food waste

A few years ago I would have been talking about the butter mountain and the wine lake, both of which resulted from abundant production, and were caused by greed, just like the rich man’s barn extensions.

Today I would talk about food waste, in particular irregularly shaped vegetable that are deemed unsaleable. Everything has its price, so this again has its root in greed. (Pardon the pun!)

5. No Profit for the Rich Man

The rich man will not get his excess profit because his life is about to come to an end. Grains and barns, gold and silver, investments and pension plans do not follow us into the next life - “you can’t take it with you”. So someone else will get it, and who can tell whether they will put it to good use or not.

6. Audley End

We recently visited Audley End, the history of the house shows that one generation does not necessarily have the same abilities and preferences as the next. There is a long history of development and neglect.

7. Rich towards God

In verse 21 we see why the rich man will not benefit from his plans – because he is not rich towards God. In Exodus 23:19 the Israelites are told “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.”

Proverbs 3:9-10:
Honour the Lord with your wealth.
Give him the first share of all your crops.
Then your storerooms will be so full they can’t hold everything. Your huge jars will spill over with fresh wine.

This is a way of acknowledging that the harvest belongs to the Lord, it is part of His provision for us. A bumper harvest ought to equal and even greater offering than usual, because we still only need the same amount as we have always needed.

8. Our ‘Harvest’

These days we don’t really have a harvest – sure we see the crops being cut in the fields, but at a personal level the only harvest I see is the tomatoes, beans, beetroot, potatoes and, this year, two cucumbers, that I grow in the garden. If I had to survive on that I would have starved long ago.

1. My ‘harvest’

My ‘harvest’ arrives in my bank account each month and it is from there that I have the opportunity to remember the Lord and all that He has done for me. There’s a savings campaign on the TV at the moment which highlights the fact that it is easier to save if you do it on payday. Well that’s true of showing our thankfulness to the Lord for all of his amazing provision for us too. Take it out on payday and pay it to where ever it has to go. OR Put it in the envelopes, or use a standing order or two.

9. Back to the rich man

If the rich man had done that, he might have survived long enough to enjoy a healthy retirement!

10. On the bread line

The hearers of Jesus’s story were mainly ordinary people. Verse 1 of the chapter says a crowd of many thousands had gathered. Most of them would have existed day-to-day, hand-to-mouth, the sort of people our politicians now call ‘the just about managing’. I’d imagine they thought the rich man got what he deserved. The last part of our gospel reading is aimed directly at them. Yes, it says he spoke to his disciples, but the crowd hadn’t dispersed, so they would have heard too, at least some of them.

11. Don’t Worry

Having recognised what God has done for us and given him the first fruits, we should then not worry too much about what is left. This might be seen as a bit of a sideswipe at the Pharisees who loved to dress up in fancy costumes [I’m in robes!], but it has a message to us too. Jesus is saying that what we wear and what we eat are not the be all and end all of life. While we are worrying about these things, life is happening, maybe passing us by.

12. Extending Life

We cannot add a single hour to our lives by worrying – indeed worrying is much more likely to shorten our life than extend it.

13. Pagans

The pagan world worries about these things – look at the world around us – fashion is out of control, cloths are thrown away after a single wearing. It really doesn’t matter if we are seen in the same dress or suit multiple times. When we visit restaurants, or when we are out shopping, we should not spend ages debating what we are to eat and drink. The phrase for worry here means more literally ‘be up in the air about’.

14. Kingdom of God

Instead our focus – the thing which draws our attention and our worrying should be the kingdom of God.

15. Ravens

Jesus picks on the ravens as an example – God looks after them – a bird considered unclean, even though they make no effort at all – they don’t sow or reap, they don’t store grain in barns, but God feeds them.

How much more valuable are you, a clean human being, than an unclean raven.

16. Lilies

The lilies – a bright, somewhat over the top bloom they are a very pretty flower, and some are very ornate. The designs are subtler and more attractive that the best that designer fashion has to offer. God did that!

God made us to, so why should we worry about what we look like.

17. Seek the Kingdom

If we go off the end of the reading a little we get Jesus’ alternative. Seek God’s kingdom and everything you have been worrying about will be given to you.

Be Watchful

Preached at St John the Divine, Billericay on 11 August 2019

1. Burglary

I wonder if you’ve ever been burgled? It happened to us a couple of years ago, while we were on holiday visiting our daughter in America. They broke the glass in the patio doors and searched through the bedrooms for the things they wanted – jewellery mainly. There wasn’t much top take, we don’t have a lot of those sorts of things and anyway the value isn’t in the gold and silver, but in the meaning those pieces hold. If I’d known when they were coming, I’d have booked the holiday for a different time. But that’s the point, isn’t it, I can’t know when they’re coming because they wouldn’t come while they knew we were about.

On that first evening after we had seen the state of the house I did not sleep very well, I was thinking about how I could have better protected the house. Here are some of my ideas:

• CCTV – no, it can be hacked, and then they will definitely know we are not there
• Put the valuable in a safe under the floor – our house is built on a concrete plinth and does not have traditional foundations.
• Put deadlocks on all the internal doors and find somewhere to hide the keys – because they’re too heavy to carry around
• Have a burglary alarm with strobe lights, so it’s hard to see what there is in the house
• Put shutters on the doors that drop into place and lock into the floor, trapping any burglar in the room.
• Electrify door handles.
• Have a vat of boiling oil at the top of the stairs, finely balanced, so that any vibration on the stairs tips it over.

OK, some of those are a bit extreme, and also quite illegal, but that’s where my mind goes when something like that happens.

2. Be ready

The point is to be ready – to be prepared. Had I been adequately prepared? I don’t know, maybe not. We are better prepared now, I can’t divulge which of the solutions I listed earlier we have adopted.

3. Servants

In both the short parables that we heard this morning Jesus is telling his disciples to be ready. Servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet might have had a long wait. Weddings would often last for days with long journeys to take to get there and back again. So they would have to be dressed and ready for service, with their lamps burning for maybe five whole days. Then look how the master responds. He then takes the role of the servant, and serves His servants.

4. Thief

First, Jesus has described himself as the master – a natural description perhaps, but now he has likened Himself to a thief. The contrast is there to underline His point. There are many things you need to be ready for. Especially the return of the Son of Man.

5. The return

The son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Even Jesus does not know the time of His return, we read in Mark 13:32:

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

So the timing of the return cannot be known. Therefore, anyone who tells you that Jesus will return at a particular time is wrong, so is anyone who claims to be Jesus returned. In Luke 17:22-24, Jesus says to his disciples:

“The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.”

There are unmistakeable signs that accompany the second coming, but by then, if you are not ready, it is too late.

It’s like the four-minute warning – do you remember that? It was a warning system based on WWII sirens and radio and TV broadcasts, and was supposed to tell you that a nuclear war had started. A booklet called “Protect and Survive” was distributed that gave tips on how to survive. Most people thought the booklet was pointless as they expected to die anyway, if it ever happened. My point is that four minutes is not enough to achieve anything useful, if you hadn’t read the book and taken some action, there was no time now. That’s how it will be when Jesus returns.

6. Our Booklet

We, too, have a booklet (more a set of books really) that tells us how to survive either the second coming, or the coming judgement. The requirements are the same. Here are some of the things it says. This is what it means to be watchful:

7. Spiritual

In spiritual terms we need to check that our prayer life is regular and focussed. Throughout Luke’s gospel there are reports of Jesus withdrawing to pray. Any big decisions that we make should be covered with even more prayer. Jesus spent a whole night in prayer before he chose His disciples. Do we withdraw from the world to a place of solitude and spend time listening to our father in Heaven? Do we do it regularly and frequently?

We need to know the scriptures and to understand them as best we can. Do we spend time looking at the Bible and studying what it means? Do we spend time understanding how to use that information today?

We need to spend regular time worshipping God. Do we attend worship regularly? Is worship something we choose above other activities that occur at the same time? Is it our priority?

Do we spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, offering our support in their times of need? Do we spend time developing our friendships? Do we spend time with those we live among, offering them our support and the consolation and hope of the gospel?

8. Physical

From a physical point of view what obstacles exist to our life in Christ. Is there any laziness, or any procrastination, that prevents us from being fully engaged? Are there any lustful desires, or physical sins that divert us from the Father and drag us back into the world. Have we identified people that we can talk to and be accountable to, who will help us overcome these deficiencies?

9. Christianity is a fight

Paul advised Timothy to “Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

The Christian life is a fight against the onslaught of hell.

Paul ended his letter to the Ephesians with the following:

“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against the enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

10. To be watchful

To be watchful is to see the evils of the day – the evils within ourselves and the evils in the surrounding society. To be good servants is to understand what we can do and when we can do it within the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must always be prepared and ready to act, continually listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit within us.

The Christian life is a fight.  If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.

Amen.

The Gospel of Luke

Preached at Pensioners Praise 5 August 2019

1. Introduction

Today’s book is the Gospel of Luke. I’ve often been asked what my favourite book of the Bible is, and my answer is mostly Luke. So before we look at this book in a little more detail, here are my reasons:

It has an introduction which clearly spells out why it was written, and how it was prepared. Luke says he has personally investigated everything and has written an orderly account, so that his reader(s) may know the certainty of the things they have been taught. It’s worth noting here that he say the account is orderly, and that does not imply chronological.

It doesn’t have any of those difficult passages that lead me to wonder whether the author is telling the truth. These are passages we rarely read in church such as Matthew 27:51-2: “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”

and the final reason is that the gospel of Luke is a very good piece of story telling.

2. Structure

That leads me straight into the structure of the gospel. After the introduction, we start with the prophecies about John the Baptiser and his birth. The we cut to the scene with Mary and the prediction of Jesus’ birth. Then to the birth of John the Baptiser, the birth of Jesus, the presentation in the temple, the boy Jesus at the Temple, then back to John and the baptism of Jesus.

It moves on like a modern film as scene after scene Luke builds the story and we see the character and the nature of Jesus develop. Luke hasn’t missed the chance to set his themes along the way either. In Mary’s song and Zechariah’s song, the praise and glory that the gospel will continue to give God is present, and will be seen and developed later. In the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the Shepherds we see the concern for the poor and for ‘all the people’ – especially the excluded and dis-advantaged. Jesus’ ministry is to everyone, not just the select Jews, not just the Jews.

In the visit of the boy Jesus to the temple we have Jesus asking his mother “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (2:49) we see the special understanding that Jesus already has of His destiny - “I had to” - that little phrase says so much.

There’s one more chapter of scene setting as John prepares the way for Jesus’ public ministry, and Luke takes the time to record the Genealogy – just in case Jesus is ever on “Who do you think you are?”

There is one last test and He will be ready – he HAS to face the Devil in the desert. That in itself is a remarkable story.

Now, Luke’s readers know everything they need to know about Jesus. He is the son of God, He is the promised Messiah. It is witnessed by prophets in the temple (Simeon and Anna), it is documented in the Genealogy, He has been baptised, and he has faced and resisted the enemy.

1. Who is this man? (1st Section)

The next part of the gospel looks at Jesus’ ministry. A series of stories that show the reactions of the crowds, the people, the Jewish leaders and especially the disciples as we see how the son of God goes about establishing himself in the community.

While He is doing this he is selecting His team – calling His disciples Luke calls it. He is also preaching in synagogues of Judea as he travels around. This is another of His “have to do’s”. Luke 4:43 “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God ... because that is why I was sent.”

Many of the healings Jesus did are not recorded in any detail, one example of a healing that is can be found in Chapter 5v12-16 where a man with leprosy is cured. This short story ends with “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Jesus was a man of prayer.

By now he has huge crowds coming to see Him, and being a natural preacher and teacher, he speaks to the crowds to teach them about the Kingdom of God.

His followers have been with him for a while, and it is time to select the apostles, so Jesus spends a night in prayer before selecting the 12. - Luke 6:12-16.

After that Luke records a lot of Jesus teaching in the Blessings and Woes

All this is to provide an answer to the question “Who is this man?”

The crowds that follow him have recognised him as a prophet sent from God, but it’s what the disciples think that really matters.

Jesus demonstrates that He is Lord of all. In 8:22 he calms the storm and His disciples are in awe “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

When they get to the other side of the lake, he heals the demon possessed man, then he raises Jairus’s daughter and he has previously healed the Centurion’s servant.

He has demonstrated that he is in control of

• Health (life and death)
• The demonic world
• The elements (wind and rain)

2. What happens next?

3. In Chapter 9:18-20 we reach a conclusion and a turning point.
4. Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
5. “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
6. Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
7. They’ve done it, they’ve seen it. Well, at least Peter has, and that’s important, because he’s their leader.

1. 2nd Section

8. Now the 2^nd section of the story begins. Jesus’s approach changes. He starts to teach His disciples that the Messiah must die. Sandwiched between two pieces of this teaching is the transfiguration – showing again the glory off God, in the death of the Messiah.
9. The teaching in general gets more practical and the disciples and the seventy two experience the power of God without Jesus by their side – and its not all good news, there are some things that they cannot do, but that is what teaching is all about - they still have a lot to learn.
10. Jesus’ teaching continues, as do his discussions with the Pharisees. Now though there are also warnings and passages where Jesus emphasises the difficulties that people will experience if they follow him. Then in Luke 18 we get the third prediction of His death and resurrection. They still don’t understand – even with three years in Jesus presence, even with all they have seen and done, perhaps especially with all they have seen and done – how could they possibly understand.
11. Half way through Chapter 19, there is the first sign that things are coming to a head, with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is the only time in Luke that Jesus is proclaimed as king, and it is a proclamation of the people, not the disciples and especially not Jesus himself. The next time He will be called a king is at His trial.

2. Parable of the Tenants

12. In the parable of the tenants Jesus teaches the people about his death, and the listening teachers of the law and chief priests have had enough. They know that the parable is spoken against them and that something must be done. The people, though, still love Him, so they will have to be careful how they act.
13. For me this is where the last section of Luke really starts. Jesus has clearly understood that the time is right and has spoken in a way that ensures His crucifixion will happen.

3. Crucifixion & Resurrection

The crucifixion narrative is clear and straight forward as we hear about the Roman rulers trying to dodge the hot potato that is Jesus, but the Jewish leaders now have the crowd under their control and Jesus is rejected in favour of a violent revolutionary.

We have the discussion of the two criminals hung beside him, and the witness of His death by the Roman centurion praising God and saying “Surely this was a righteous man.” Again showing Luke’s concern for the ‘ordinary people’ and those outside the Jewish world.

The resurrection is announced to the women – keeping up with the themes of Luke, and the men, who are supposed to be in charge do not understand it.

Jesus appears to them and eats with them, and this act seems to be what finally convinces them.

Luke ends with the ascension, and if you didn’t know that Luke’s second volume was Acts it would be a very disappointing ending – because it would leave me wanting to know what happened next.

4. Luke’s little extra details

One of the other reasons I love this gospel is because of all the little extra details that Luke puts in. I’ll just mention two:

5. Joanna

Did you ever wonder how the disciples managed to live, or did you think that all their food was miraculous. If you did, where did Judas get all his money from? There is no record anywhere of there being any sort of collection at a healing service. Luke tells us in 8:3 that “Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others ... were helping to support them out of their own means.” Joanna is also included in the resurrection story.

6. Herod

In 23:8 we hear that Herod had heard about Jesus and as please to see him, and was hoping to see Jesus perform a miracle, and a little further on “That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.”

7. Luke

Luke was a doctor in a time when medical science was all but non-existent, he was also one of Paul's companions in Acts, which makes him a committed Christian. His careful investigation and his good knowledge of Greek has led to a story that brings Jesus’s life alive for his reader(s).

8. Conclusion

In preparing for this I listened to the gospel of Luke in the car as it was read to me by the app on my phone. I heard the story in a different way. As I finish today I encourage you to read this Gospel, like a book, trying to ignore the headings that have been added, or listen to an audio recording. I hope you’ll get a much better feel for the whole story that way.

Powerful Stories of Jesus

Preached  23 June 2019

1. Introduction

Our reading this morning is part of a series of stories that demonstrate the power of Jesus. Jesus has just dis-associated himself with his mother and brothers, back in verse 21. Then we have the calming of the storm on the lake, which shows Jesus’ amazing power over the elements. After our story today we are told of his power to raise the dead – with the story of Jairus’ daughter.

2. On the other side – Golan Heights

Now, though we are going to see His power over the spiritual world. There are several things to note that may not be immediately obvious as we look through this passage.

As He crosses the sea of Galilee, Jesus moves from Jewish territory to gentile territory. This shows us very early on that His ministry is not only to the Jews, but to everyone.

The region of the Gerasenes is situated (we assume) on the north east edge of the lake. In an area now known as the Golan Heights. I say we assume, because it is difficult to be certain, but that is the only area where the landscape matches the description in the book). The land rises steeply from the edge of the lake, and is not heavily populated.

There can have only been one reason for crossing the lake – to have an encounter with this man and to free him from his demons. Jesus was not in the habit of going places just to see what was there.

3. Guarded and shackled.

The man has been possessed for a long time. He has lived among the tombs and has not worn cloths. Whether out of concern for him, or from fear of him, it is impossible to say, the town’s people have him guarded and shackled, but the demons give him incredible strength and he breaks free and goes into the desert. He apparently doesn’t like to be around people at all.

4. What is a demon? / demon possession

We should take a look at exactly what a demon is, as there is no clear description in the Bible. There are some clues however, so as far as we can tell demons are fallen angels, that third of the angels that rebelled against God with Lucifer.

Isa 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

Rev 12:4 & 9 The Dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Possession, by demons, appears to use the same mechanism to take over a person, as the Holy Spirit uses, it the same language as in the old testament. The Holy Spirit, of course, will not make you do something you don’t want to do, and will certainly not make you commit an evil act.

There is though, no record of possession by angels, so presumably it is forbidden.

One thing we can say for certain is that the demons know who Jesus is.

MK 1:23-24 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

and they know why he is here too – to bring them to an end that they don’t want to face.

Here it is no different. The demons are expecting that Jesus is going to send them into the Abyss.

5. Abyss.

Abyss can mean abode of demons – which doesn’t tell us much, or the place of the dead, or bottomless pit, or simply deep place. It is rooted in the primaeval belief that the earth floated on a vast sea.

In biblical thought the Abyss is where Satan will be held for a thousand years:

Rev 20:1-4 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

In Matthew’s account of this incident, the demons are concerned that Jesus has come to consign them to the abyss before the appointed time.

6. Name

After the initial reaction of the demons, identifying Jesus and begging not to be tortured, Jesus asks the man his name. Actually, we don’t know whether Jesus was asking the demons, or the man, but the demons have such a hold over him, that only they can reply.

7. Legion

“Legion” they say, because there were many of them. A Roman Legion would have had 800 to 2000 men, which gives us some idea of how much trouble the man was in. Again they beg Jesus not to send them to their rightful place – the abyss, but to let them go into the herd of pigs.

8. Pigs

Quite why Jesus allowed this we do not know, perhaps it is because pigs are already considered to be unclean animals. Remember we are in gentile territory. Once in the pigs the demons cause the pigs to run down the hill into the lake and they are drowned.

9. What happened to the demons?

Does that mean that the demons ended up in the abyss anyway? We are not told, and commentators differ, so I am not prepared to speculate.

10. Pigs Owners

The people who are looking after the pigs rush off to tell the town’s people what has happened. They must be in some distress at that point because their livelihood has been taken away from them. The people of the town, who have lived with this man and tried to do something about him, but have been unable to, come out to see what has happened.

11. In his right mind

They find the man in his right mind and fully clothed. The story of what happened is told, probably over and over, because it would be quite remarkable to the people that the demon-possessed man had been cured.

12. Clothes

It is worth asking where he got his clothes from. One preacher suggests that Jesus shared His clothes with the man. It’s a lovely idea, but as with so many of these sorts of sermon ideas, I find that it detracts from Jesus’ power and his humanity. As I said earlier, there can only be one reason for Jesus to cross the lake – to have an encounter with the possessed man. That implies that Jesus knew something about him. If you or I were going to do that, we would plan properly and take some clothes with us – wouldn’t we? So, why wouldn’t Jesus do the same?

13. Jesus’ priorities

We should note here, that although Jesus has undoubtedly caused problems for the pig owners, He has the right priorities. People are more important than pigs.

14. Who is Jesus?

But it raised the question for the people “Who is this man and what is he capable of?” Maybe they had lived in fear of this man for years, then someone more powerful comes along and he is cured in an instant. It is not surprising then that they are frightened of Jesus and that they ask him to leave.

15. Jesus leaves

So Jesus prepares to leave. The man wants to come with him, but Jesus will not allow it. He has chosen His disciples, He has gathered a group of followers around them, and He can see that this man has another job to do. “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” He says to the man. After all the story that the Man has is powerful.

16. Forging Men

In our Forging Men meetings we often have speakers with powerful stories, and they can be a great inspiration to people – that is why we invite them.

17. Tell about Jesus

This man is no different. He will be witnessing to the power of the Jewish God in a pagan world.

Luke tells us “So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” Jesus talks about what God has done, but the man talks about what Jesus has done. Although He wanted to be with Jesus, he was told to stay where he was and to tell his story to as many as would listen.

18. Our stories

This is a rare example in the New Testament of someone being told to stay where they are. For us this is a much more common experience, most of us here haven’t been called to a new ministry in far flung places. Some, who used to be here have been called to other places. And they have gone – and they have gone with our prayers and our blessings.

1. Minister here

We, though, are called to minster where we are and that means knowing our story and being prepared to tell it.

1 Peter 3:15-16 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

2. Our story is more relevant

Thankfully demon possession is rare, there are few reports of it outside the Gospels, so our story won’t be like that of the man we heard about today.

In many ways our story will be better. It is more relevant because it will be rooted in our time and our culture, so people can find common ground. All we have to tell is what has happened.

Where did we start from, and where has Jesus brought us? Something about the steps along the way. We shouldn’t stop our story after conversion, or licensing in my case, or any other significant event that you may have experienced, but should bring our stories as close to the current time as we can.

3. What I’ve said

I hope the things I have said this morning have made this story clearer, it seemed a very strange story when I first read it and I’m glad I had the chance to look at it in more detail. If you’ve got any questions about the passage I’d be happy to try to answer them.

4. Summary

The Healing of the Demon possessed man shows the power of Jesus over the spiritual realm. It show His power to transform Human lives.

Each one of us has seen some sort of transformation in our lives as our sins have been forgiven and the hope of eternal life offered. Our stories may not be as dramatic, but they nonetheless will speak to others.

5. Request

I’d like to ask you to do one thing this week. Perhaps in your prayer time, or perhaps in a few minutes at some other time. Revise your story, bring it up to date, and practice it. Practice it on one of the five people you have been praying for as part of ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, if you get the chance, but if not, just practice it for yourself. So that we can all be ready and have an idea what to say when we get the opportunity.

Pray?

References:

www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/8_26-39.htm

Demons:
https://www.biblesprout.com/articles/hell/demons/
https://www.gotquestions.org/one-third-angels.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_angel

Legions:
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-size-of-the-roman-legions-120873
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_legion

Abyss - abode of demons, bottomless pit, place of the dead, deep place. Primative idea - earth floated on a vast mass of water.
Demon - possession by Holy Spirit or evil spirit. No records of possession by angels (so presumably it is forbidden.

Gerasenes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gergesa

Who is Jesus?

Preached : St Mary the Virgin Little Burstead on 12 May 2019

Hanukkah

It’s the feast of Dedication, which takes place in mid-December. The celebration is now called Hanukkah, or the festival of lights. It is held in remembrance of the restoration of the Temple in 165 BC by Judas Maccabeus. The Maccabean revolt had been triggered by Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria, sacrificing a sow on the alter in the temple. It resulted in three years of war. The temple was then re-dedicated on the 25^th day of Kislev.

Thoughts of the Jews

So the thoughts of the Jews were very much on the overthrow of the Romans and once again bringing Jerusalem under Jewish rule. For that they needed the long promised Messiah, and they had an ideal candidate in their midst.

Solomon’s Colonnade

Jesus was teaching in Solomon’s Colonnade, a walkway covered by a roof with pillars along each side. It overlooked the Kidron valley and was a popular place for people to meet and talk because it provided protection from the rain in winter and the sun in summer.

Is He the Christ?

The Jews encircled him, they wanted an answer. “Tell us plainly, once and for all, are you the Christ or aren’t you? Don’t keep us in suspense.” It’s not meant to be a trick question, they genuinely want to know. They have seen and heard things, there is no way you could deny that there was something special about Jesus, He was clearly anointed by God, but is He the Christ?

If He is, they will get behind him and the next revolt can get underway, if He’s not they will probably just ignore Him and go about their festivities.

I told you

Jesus says “I did tell you” and refers them to the miracles they have seen. It’s the same answer that he gave to John the baptist’s followers when John was in prison. “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Matt 11:4-5)

The evidence is there, the question is do you believe it? The question is as valid today as it was in Jesus’ time. Do you believe that Jesus is the son of the Almighty God? Do you believe that He came to die for our sins and restore our relationship with God? Do you believe that, if you believe in Him you have eternal life?

These Jews don’t believe

These Jews clearly do not believe and Jesus follows on with the same metaphor He had been using before the question arose. “you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Sheep, like a well trained dog who knows the voice of its master, know their shepherd. They will not follow anyone else, but when they hear the shepherd they will follow.

Promises

Then Jesus makes some extraordinary promises. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

We are His sheep?

These are Jesus’s words to His followers then and to His followers now. I wonder, when we hear these words, do we hear Jesus behind them, are are they just words from and old dusty book. How deep do they get into our personalities, into the beliefs that operate our lives? Are they strong enough to cast out our fears of the world and what the world can do to us?

Disturbing Messages

I ask, because in the last few of weeks I have heard reports about people I respect as Christians that suggest that perhaps they don’t believe these words any more that the Jews surrounding Jesus did. Instead they hold beliefs that come from other religions – beliefs in karma and re-incarnation. There is no evidence for either of these beliefs in the Bible.

Now, it is just hearsay, but it set me thinking, wondering what our beliefs really are, what MY beliefs really are.

What we really believe will ultimately drive what we do when things get difficult in life.

Peter

In our reading from Acts, Peter was someone who really believed. Let’s take a look at that story now, and see what we can learn.

Lydda

Peter has been travelling around visiting various Christian communities. He has stopped in Lydda, where he has healed a man named Aeneas who had been paralysed and bedridden for eight years. Lydda is two to three miles north of the road connecting Joppa to Jerusalem. Joppa is about 35 miles from Jerusalem and is a historic port town. It’s the place Jonah sailed from.

Joppa

In Joppa there is a disciple, a follower of Jesus, named Tabitha, or Gazelle, if the translation were into English. She has a reputation for doing good and looking after the poor – most likely the widows of the town. She has become ill and died.

Peter

Word that Peter is staying just down the road, so to speak, had reached the Christians in Joppa. Peter is the leader of their faith and was clearly well known. He also has a reputation for having the gift of healing. So two men are sent to go and get him. They will have to travel about 11-12 miles each way – over 4 hours walk.

Tabitha

Tabitha’s body has been washed already, so she has been dead a while when Peter finally arrives in Joppa. He is taken to the room where she has been laid and introduced to the widows who tell him about all the good things she has done. Peter would have known the expectation that the Christians in Joppa had.

Peter – doubts?

Did Peter have doubts going into the room? Or perhaps on the journey from Lydda? We will never know, but from what we know of Peter, it seems unlikely. He simply did what he had seen His Lord do. What he has seen, and learnt from was the raising of Jairus’s Daughter.

Jairus’ Daughter (Luke 8:49-53)

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher any more.” Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

Belief

Peter believed that raising the dead was possible because he had seen Jesus do it. He believed what Jesus said about Eternal life because he had seen the risen Jesus, spoken to Him, eaten with Him. Peter knew though, that it was not something he could do himself. That is where we see the most significant difference in the two stories. When Peter was in the room with Tabitha, he was alone, and before he said anything he knelt beside her and prayed. We don’t know what he said, or what he heard, we just know the outcome. He had not given the believers any hope, or made any promises, he had simply prayed and in doing so had understood God’s will. If she hadn’t been raised, if he had come out of the room and had to tell the disciples she was dead, the story probably wouldn’t have been reported, but he didn’t because he had prayed and his prayer had been answered. Not only did the disciples have Tabitha back, but the fact that she was raised became widely known, and many became believers because of that miracle. Those are the people who recognised the true shepherd, heard his voice and followed Him.

What is following?

One definition of a follower, a disciple, is someone who finds out what God is doing and joins in. To do that we have to see what is going on around us, and listen to what God is saying to us. When we hear His voice we must obey. We won’t all have the gift of healing, but there are many different gifts that God gives us.

References

https://www.fhcpresb.org/worship-music/sermon-archives/2010/04/whose-voice-are-you-listening-to-john-1022-30/
https://whydowehavetodothissir.blogspot.com/2013/04/sunday-sermon-john-10-22-30-my-sheep.html

Belief changes Lives (mainly ours)

Preached 21 April 2019

1. Preparation – Quote

There’s a quote I saw recently that said something like “There is plenty of evidence for the resurrection, the reason there is so much debate is because it is unusual, and if you believe it you have to change the way you live”. It’s not the exact text, because I didn’t make a note of it, but it’s close enough for our purposes this morning. As we go through the story I will be looking at some of the evidence and dealing with some of the objections that you find addressed in books like “Who moved the Stone?, by Frank Morrison”.

2. Unusual

Unusual is a bit of an understatement! Nowhere else in modern religion do we find claims of a resurrection. Mohammed is buried in Medina, where he died. Buddha died in old age. His body was cremated and the remains, such as his right tooth became relics.

Unusual, then, really doesn’t cut it – this event is unique in human history.

3. John’s Account

So, lets follow John’s account of that first morning of the new era. Its Sunday morning, the Sabbath having ended at sundown the previous evening, the sun is not even up but Mary Magdalene is. She, along with some others that are not mentioned in John’s account, are on their way to the tomb to complete the preparation of Jesus’s body for final burial.

4. Heavy Stone

The three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, according to Mark would have had a real struggle to move the stone, so that they could start work on the body. But they find the tomb already open, the stone has been moved.

5. Roman’s have the body

Jesus’s crucifixion had been anything but straight forward – most crucifixions do not involve high priests and interviews with Roman governors, so her suspicions were raised that the authorities had for some unknown reason removed the body. Now, not only were the women unable to complete their sacred duty, but they were frightened that the authorities may be after them too.

6. Mary tells Peter and John

Mary Magdalene runs to where the disciples are staying to tell Peter and John, the leaders of the twelve (now eleven). Their reaction (v3,4) shows that they too are concerned – they run to the tomb.

7. Disciples stole the body

One of the classics objections to the resurrection is that the disciples stole the body. Normally this is refuted by reference to guards at the tomb in Matthew, and the resultant bribery by the authorities to keep them quite, but here too, we see that the disciples reaction show quite clearly their serious concern that Jesus’s body is missing. If you already know where the body is, you don’t need to jump up and run to the tomb.

8. John doesn’t go in

John, it seems is younger and fitter than Peter and gets to the tomb first. He stops outside and looks in. He sees the grave cloths, and perhaps assumes that Jesus’s body is really there after all – remember they are all in a state of panic by now so may not be making the best decisions. He stays where he is at the entrance, out of respect, or possibly out of fear of becoming unclean.

9. Peter Puzzled

Peter, always the impulsive one, catches up, and passes John, and goes straight in. What he sees puzzles him. The tomb is tidy, the linen and grave cloth are not just scattered, or left in a heap. No grave robber, whether working for the Jewish authorities or not, would unwrap a body and leave the wrappings in a tidy pile. Either taking them with the body, of just discarding them in a heap would make sense. The scene must have frozen Peter to the spot.

10. John believes

With nothing apparently happening inside the tomb, John finally goes in – probably to see what on earth Peter is doing. Then it says at the end of verse 8 “He saw and believed”. But, what did John believe? Because verse 9 says “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”

11. What John believes

Are we to think that he believed now that the body was gone, or that he had a real light bulb moment and a lot of what Jesus had been teaching finally made sense of the scene in front of him?

Here are a few verses that show what John might finally have understood in those few moments after he entered the empty tomb:

12. John 2:19-22

Jesus answered the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

13. John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

14. John 16:22

So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

15. Verse 9

What John and Peter didn’t understand then was that their own scriptures – our Old Testament – also predicts Jesus's death and resurrection.

16. Legal basis for accepting the resurrection

The writer of John’s gospel (John, much later on), has established the legal basis for the truth of the resurrection, or at least the lack of a body, by providing the two male witnesses required – Pete and John.

17. Focus on Mary

The story now moves on to focus on Mary Magdalene. Peter and John have left the tomb to return to their homes and no doubt to inform the other nine what they have seen, and the conclusions that they have come to.

Mary has returned to the tomb, she is still grieving. Crying in verse 11 can equally easily be translated wailing, which is a common expression of grief.

18. Wrong Tomb

At this point it is worth refuting another objection to the resurrection – that the women went to the wrong tomb. We have now seen three women and two men get to the tomb, and one woman return to it. Even though it is a loaned tomb, it is clear that they all know where it is and how to get to and from it.

19. Mary at the tomb

Mary looks in the tomb and sees two white angels, they ask her “Why are you crying?” She has not had a conversation with Peter or John, so is still looking for Jesus’s body. “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

20. The gardener

She turns around and sees someone standing there. She doesn’t recognise Him, but the writer gives away the surprise and tells us in advance that it is Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” She thinks he’s the gardener – a reasonable assumption, so she asks the same question. “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Quite how she would achieve ‘getting’ him, I’m not sure. I can’t imagine she could lift a dead body single handed. Most likely she hasn’t thought it through, she just wants to find the body and her frustration, and now probably anger at its disappearance is not helping her to think.

21. What’s in a name?

Then she hears her name. And that on its own would be enough to get through to her. There’s something very special going on inside our brains when we hear our name. I was waiting in the doctors the other day, various people were called, I didn’t understand a single name that was called until it was mine. My name I heard perfectly clearly. It goes even deeper than that though. If someone close to you calls your name you will probably not only focus instantly on the person, but also know the mood they’re in, all from just the single word. And I’m not talking about the difference between ‘Pete’ and ‘PETER’.

So when Jesus says ‘Mary’, her mood changes and she reacts instantly. She turns and shouts “Teacher!” which was presumably the way she normally addressed Him. By now she is probably worshipping at his feet.

22. Do not hold on to me

Jesus’s response “Do not hold on to me” does not necessarily mean don’t touch me. He could simply be telling her that He’s not going to vanish in front of her eyes if she lets go, like some sort of ghost. It is clear from the last part, though, that He is going away at some point -”I am returning to my father and your father, to my God and your God”. Jesus is now expressing the difference in His relationship with His father and our relationship with our father. This has changed for all of us with the resurrection.

23. “I have seen the Lord”

She returns and tells the disciples “I have seen the Lord”. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at that announcement. With all that has been going on, would they believer her? How far had Peter and John’s belief developed at that point?

24. Only one sighting

That’s where we leave the story, but one sighting of Jesus is not enough, and later that day Jesus would appear to all the disciples together. Real belief in the resurrection was spreading and would go on spreading.

There are 12 incidents in the new testament where sightings are recorded, sometimes to individuals, sometimes to groups, and Paul records an incident where 500 people saw Jesus at one time.

25. Belief

The church was established and grew because people believed that the resurrection happened. If we believe that the resurrection happened, it implies that the rest of Jesus teaching is also true, and this is what the early believers found. Many changed the way they lived their lives as a result. That was a witness to many more, and so on down the ages. Many believed so completely that they became martyrs rather than deny what they knew to be the truth, because they knew they were safe in God’s hands. That was and is a much more powerful witness to the truth of the resurrection than anything else.

You and I are just a single link in a very long chain. The direction of my life was changed when I finally accepted the truth of the resurrection, I joined a church, I read the Bible, I decided that Jesus’s words were to be followed and started to try to follow them – it’s not easy. For the first time I understood that I had sinned, before I believed I could rarely bring any to mind, after there was a LONG list. Before, I was terminally shy, now I stand here and try to pass on the little I have learnt. Some of it has been hard going, some of it has been joyful. Today, it is my privilege to tell you all a little about my understanding of what Easter means, and to pass on a little of how that has affected me.

How has it affected you?

Are you ready to stand with the martyrs, if it comes to that?

Is your life a powerful witness to the power of the resurrection?

Happy Easter!

References

https://www.sermonsuite.com/emphasis-preaching-journal/sermon-illustrations-easter-day-2019
https://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/eighteen-easter-sermons-11570920.html
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/peter-lynas-todays-secularism-leaves-no-space-for-billy-vunipola-or-ashers-38023235.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testimony_in_Jewish_law
https://www.quora.com/What-happened-to-the-prophet-Mohammads-body
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080718101142AAgh1ya&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMhlBwYyTLbr9fM4YdQCYTr7M3wTB9STBwnWc8KLh0pGhYek-Z10o7jEOlRrAOxtNSOX7k0jginUyDMwsAqerIDsjKfOOwhCWgsucoCHkTzOx4HlJFTx9O_nHIgGnOr7TAgpNssqHTUdjwc2FLgMtngHo8MsKeel4S_STzDKSb0N
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Mahaparinirvana_(Death)
https://bibleview.org/en/Bible/Easter/500People/