Preparation, Anticipation

Preached at St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead on 28 November 2021

Preparation for Christmas

On one of my Facebook groups, the Friday question two weeks ago was “When is it OK to put the decorations up for Christmas?” or something like that. There were already hundreds of responses. Some were enthusiastic and had already started, while others had a fixed date in mind, often the 1^st December. Some were for an even later date – Christmas Eve.

So When do you put up the Christmas decorations?

[pause]

Well, if I’m honest - I don’t. That’s something that Jo does, and it will happen probably in the next couple of weeks – certainly before our family arrive on 17th.

Decorations

Once the decorations are up, it feels like Christmas, even if Christmas itself is still weeks away. Many people like that atmosphere – the busier streets, lots of additional events, lots of lights to brighten the long dark evenings, and perhaps even the beginnings of ‘good will to all men and women’. It adds to the excitement and perhaps recalls a childhood time when Santa is on his way and all is right with the world.

We are all, slowly, or maybe not so slowly, preparing our selves for that time.

Now, I know that some are preparing themselves in quite a different way, because Christmas for them is a difficult time, perhaps with sad memories, or a time when they find the endless party atmosphere difficult.

Either way, preparation is required.

Book of Kells

Tom Wright tells the story of visiting the Book of Kells. It’s an illuminated manuscript containing the four gospels among other things and is on display in Dublin. It’s one of the top visitor attractions. I’m glad he saw it, because when we went to Dublin for a long weekend, that exhibition was closed! Anyway, here’s what he says:

“The people who arranged the exhibition don't let the public see the gospels themselves straight away, Wisely, they lead you first past several other very old books, which prepares you step by step for the great treasure itself. By the time you reach the heart of the exhibition, you have already thought your way back to the world of early Celtic Christianity, to the monks who spent years of their life painstakingly copying out parts of the Bible and lavishly decorating it. You are now ready to appreciate it properly.”

That’s what I am trying to do today, help us to get into a good mindset for the rest of Advent and particularly Christmas. That’s what Luke is trying to do in the early part of his gospel – help those who read it get into the mindset they need, so they will better appreciate what’s going on and how to interpret events when Jesus arrives. He’s started by telling a story which sets the scene, and shows his hearers how the world was.

Zechariah and Elizabeth

So let’s take a closer look at the first part of the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. They are both elderly and are both descended down the priestly line. He is a priest, in one of the 24 divisions of priests that were set up by King David. He is in the eighth division, the division of Abijah. Each division was led by one of the sons of Aaron. You can read about the priestly divisions in 1 chronicles 24.

Of course, there is not a clear line from Abijah to Zechariah because all that was disrupted by the exile when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites. On the return, everything was reconstructed as well as it could be, but the records were no longer available.

Elizabeth, too, is a descendant of Aaron, but we are not told how.

Blameless

Verse 6 tells us:

Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.

“Upright” and “blameless” is high praise indeed, it means that they were faithful to God and had been serving Him for their entire lives. That puts them up there with the likes of Noah. It doesn’t make them sinless, though, but it does mean that they would have made all the appropriate sacrifices at the appropriate times.

Childless

So, it is a surprise, really, that they are childless. A faithful Jewish woman, at that time, would have seen children as a blessing. No doubt, when she was young, Elizabeth would have hoped to one day give birth to the Messiah as so many young women did in those days.

It was the expectation of the society that all women would have children, and it was though that those who didn’t were somehow cursed by God. The lack of a child bought shame on the couple.

So we can reasonably assume that it was Elizabeth's greatest wish to have a baby, but they are both old and that time has passed. They could easily be excused for thinking that God had forgotten about them.

A priests life

The priests served in the local community among the people they lived with. Twice a year each division would serve in the temple for a week. They would travel from their village to the temple and lodge in the temple precincts.

Yesterday (27 Nov 2021) was the first day for the priests of Abijah to serve. So the descendants of Zechariah’s division would be serving in the temple today – if there was a temple!

Zechariah’s lot

Each day a lot is cast to see which priest will go into the inner courts to offer incense. On this day it was Zechariah’s turn. This was a once in a lifetime activity, so no pressure. It’s just a normal day in the temple, Zechariah has been there hundreds of times before. All the worshippers have gathered and are at prayer. In he goes. Not expecting anything to happen, perhaps looking forward to seeing inside the inner courts, and making sure he has a good memory of what’s happening – something to tell to the villagers on his return.

Angel

Suddenly, there is someone in there with him. In verse 12 it says he was startled and gripped with fear.

I’m not surprised. I remember being in Christ Church late one night, with little or no light, when we had the scarecrows for the harvest celebration. Even though I knew they were there, I jumped each time I caught a glimpse of them as I moved about the building.

A message from God

Gabriel, like almost all angels, starts with “Do not be afraid”. Yeah, right! Of course, he’s afraid – he’s terrified. He must gain his composure quickly. The angel has a message. This is more important than making memories. This is God intervening in the world. There have been no prophets since Malachi, about 400 years ago. God has apparently been silent for the whole time. Now God is speaking again, and the message to Zechariah is, “your prayer has been heard”.

Zechariah and Elizabeth’s Prayer

I expect Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying for a child since they were very young. As a faithful couple, their prayers would have been a regular part of their daily lives. Since they had become old and Elizabeth had passed the age of child bearing, I wonder how prominently that prayer had featured. I can imagine it might have been less regular than it once was, as they slowly began to think that perhaps God did not want them to have a child.

Angel’s message

The Angel Continues:

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Doubt

That’s a lot for a still trembling Zechariah to take in. Not only will Elizabeth give birth in her old age, but the child will be a powerful prophet – he’s going to lead a revival. It’s understandable that he has his doubts. Is this really an angel or is he just having hallucinations, perhaps like Mr Scrooge he thinks the vision is more to do with a poor meal. “You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.”

As a priest, though, he should know his scriptures. This is one of the ways that God works – Remember Abraham and Sarah, and the birth of Isaac. Remember Elkanah and Hannah and the birth of Samuel. These special babies are not just born, much prayer and longing is involved, and sometimes the wait is beyond what seems possible – but with God nothing is impossible.

Charades

Gabriel is not impressed with Zechariah’s doubting of his message, and sentences him to silence until the baby is born. Now Zechariah has a real problem. He has been inside the inner courts for far too long. The worshippers outside are going to start thinking that the old man they sent in had died, and will begin to wonder what they are supposed to do about that. Instead, Zechariah eventually leaves the inner courts and now has to find a way to explain himself.

So channelling your best Lionel Blair, just how would you explain “I saw an angel, and he promised me a son, who is going to bring Israel back to God”?

If anyone would like to demonstrate?

[pause]

Back to normality

So, now it’s back to normality for the priestly family, but it will never be normal again, God’s intervention has seen to that. They return home and Elizabeth becomes pregnant.

Elizabeth’s response

Her response is to go into hiding for the last five months of her pregnancy. She doesn’t want the villagers watching her, perhaps willing the pregnancy to fail. She doesn’t want to hear any gossip that may be going around. Instead, she spends her time focussed on God and the baby. Until at the end the horrors of her life are over, no longer can anyone say anything against her – she has her child.

She recognises that this is all God’s will, God’s plan. Her response:

“The Lord has done this for me. In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

It is the response of a devout, lifetime servant of God. There is only faith and love for the Lord.

Hope

So, Luke has reported the first part of the story of how the world was redeemed. At last there is hope, and it has come through an ordinary couple who have been living a devoted life for many years.

God has acted right there in the middle of everyday life. Something had begun, a revival is promised, but the changes that are coming are, as we know, way more important and far-reaching than a mere revival.

Advent

Through the season of Advent, we remember these events as we look back on the events leading to the birth of the Messiah. We also look forward to the final victory of the Messiah, on His return and to the completion of our redemption. Through the cold, dark, winter things are looking up, great things are coming. And the Christmas we are all preparing for is just the start.

Amen.

Patience and Confidence in the Lord

 Preached at Christ church, Billericay on 14 November 2021

The Temple

For us to begin to get a grasp of the impact of what Jesus says to four of his disciples, we must first understand a little about the temple.

The original temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians. After the return from the exile, a second temple was built, but it was not a patch on its predecessor. Herod the Great (that’s the Herod that the wise men met) had decided to build the Jews a new temple. He had been very careful to ensure that it was built in accordance with all the Jewish requirements – even going so far as to train priests as stonemasons so that the ground would not be defiled. Most of the work was complete by the time of Jesus’s birth, but some work continued until about AD 64.

Herod’s Temple

Herod’s temple, as it became known, was a magnificent building and its courtyards had been extended using rubble from the previous destruction, most probably, to make it cover an area of about a third of the city.

Disciples View

From the disciple's point of view, the Temple was a fixture – it had existed for their entire life. They had never known its predecessor. It was also the most magnificent building in the Roman Empire for at least 200 miles. So, it would have been the most impressive building they had ever seen. It was also somewhere they would have visited, at least annually and possibly quite a bit more often, as Jewish festivals were all centred on the Temple. It dominated the city, and was a clear representation of the presence of their God. Josephus tells us that “Whatever was not overlaid with gold was the purest white”.

​The Question

What was the disciple who asked the question expecting as a reply, I wonder? Something about the Glory of God in His Temple, perhaps?

What they actually got must have come as something of a shock. It’s interesting that neither Matthew, Mark, nor Luke identify the questioner.

They all have the same answer though. “Not one stone will be left on another”.

​AD 70

The prophecy came true in AD 70. The Romans, finally fed up with Jewish revolts, laid waste to Jerusalem and obliterated the temple. They were so efficient in their task that there is no archaeological evidence to support the various reconstructions of the temple that have been attempted at various times by various people on the sparse record keeping and observational reports that survive.

Literally, “Not one stone was left on another”.

St Peter died between AD 64 and AD 68.

St James died in AD 44.

St John died in AD 100.

St Andrew died in AD 60.

Three of the four didn’t live to see the prophecy come true, and John was by then a very old man living many hundreds of miles away.

But I’m skipping ahead.

Attention Disciples!

So the threat of the loss of the temple really got the disciple's attention. The way Mark tells it, it seems they were afraid to ask and selected the four senior disciple to go and talk to Jesus later.

So, Peter, James, John and Andrew bring their concerns to Jesus once they have crossed the Kidron valley and arrived at the Mount of Olives. There is a good view of the temple from there.

They want to know when it’s going to happen, and how they will know that the time is approaching.

Jesus’s Answer

“Don’t Worry guys, it won’t happen for another 40 years”. Well, that’s probably the answer they would have liked, but it’s not what they would ever get. Because that answer would not achieve Jesus’s goals.

So instead they get a number of warnings, many more than are in our reading this morning.

So, I’m only going to look at those we heard.

Warning 1

The first warning is, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.”

Our reading takes place after Jesus has entered Jerusalem in triumph to the cheers of the crowd, so the disciples should be well aware that their time with Jesus is coming to an end. I’m not sure they ever really believed it until the crucifixion occurred, but Jesus had been preparing them for that and for His return.

No doubt there were many who tried to take His place even before AD 70, there have certainly been plenty in recent years. They have all had their devoted disciples, and many times the result has had a tragic ending. Gamaliel mentions two in the book of Acts, in chapter 5:

Theudas, and Judas the Galilean. Both were killed and their followers dispersed.

If we are careful and remember our scriptures, we will not be deceived.

Warning 2

The second warning is “When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”

The fury of the Romans, when they attacked Jerusalem in AD 70 left more than half the population dead if reports at the time are to be believed. In those circumstances it’s hard not to be alarmed, indeed it’s hard not to be terrified. Of course, the disciples couldn’t know what would happen, but there must have been stories of rampaging Romans going on a merciless killing spree. Those are after all the sort or stories that come out of every war, whether they are true or not.

I haven’t had to live through a war, but listening to some of the experiences that people had, I cannot imagine how they could be anything other than alarmed, at best.

But Jesus tells us not to be alarmed!

​Warning 3

The third warning is “There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.”

We’ve certainly heard of our fair share of those, and I’m assuming volcanic eruptions are included, even if they wouldn’t have made a lot of sense to Jesus’s audience.

There is no call for calmness here, just a simple statement of fact.

Birth Pains

Then Jesus says, “These are the beginnings of the birth pains”.

You may think that this is rather a strange statement for a young single man, talking to other young single men, to make. That just shows how different our society is from the first century. Now, with small families, and births mainly in hospitals, it is easy for young men to have little or no appreciation of what birth pains are like. In the first century, large families lived in small, often single room buildings. It was impossible to easily shield children from the birth of their younger siblings. Jesus and all the disciples would have been very aware of what birth pains meant, and how serious they could be.

There was an expression at the time to describe the difficult times they were going through. “The birth pains of the messiah.” It was kind of comforting, whenever there were hard times, to see this is just one more contraction on the way to the birth of or the arrival of the messiah.

Just the beginning

This is just the beginning, birth pains can go on for days. This should help us to remember that the Messiah will come back, but it may not be for days, weeks, or even generations. But His prophecies hold true, remember Peter, James, John and Andrew didn’t see the disaster that befell Jerusalem, because it occurred so long after they were told about it. We know they passed the message on, because we have the documents they wrote.

End of Reading

There, our reading for today stops, and we are left wondering why Jesus is trying to frighten the life out of the disciples. But, if you read on, the troubles get more worrying and more personal. When I preached on the Luke equivalent reading on Remembrance Sunday in 2010, I called the sermon “Keep Calm and Carry On”, after the WWII poster.

How to KC&CO

But how can we keep calm and carry on, in the face of a raging pandemic that is still killing people, and the threat that we will literally burn the earth up by causing the atmosphere to overheat. This process will reduce the usable land area and undoubtedly cause wars for both land and water. It’s already happening. In Central Africa, nomads are being forced into towns as there is nowhere to graze their goats. Some of them are being radicalized and are joining in radical groups whose aim is to destabilize their countries.

Psalm 16

Our Old Testament reading tells us how we can remain calm, and get on with the job in hand. Only by fully focussing on God and having total confidence in Him can we avoid the panic and despair that might otherwise overtake us.

1&2

Verse 1 & 2: Keep me safe, O God, for in you, I take refuge. I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you, I have no good thing.”

There are many Psalms where God is described as a refuge, a place of safety when things get too difficult. Here the psalmist recognises that God is the only source of good things, so will not seek them anywhere else.

8

Verse 8: I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Whatever happens, with God beside us (‘at our right hand’) we can never be shaken, wars and rumours of wars will not deflect us from His path.

Conclusion

So, to sum up. Some very bad things will happen, but they are all a necessary part of the process of getting to the return of the Messiah. Hearing about them should not deflect us from the things we have been called to do – whether they happen soon, or are delayed beyond the future we can see. None of these things should cause us to have doubts – we will not be shaken.

Let us then make the last three verses of the psalm our own.

⁹ Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, ¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Amen.

Abraham and the three visitors

Preached at St. Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead on 24 October 2021

​Abraham Relaxing

I like to picture Abraham sitting in his deck chair in front of his tent, with a handkerchief knotted on his head, even though he’s in the shade of the one of the great trees. It’s been a hard morning, it's too hot to work now, so time for rest and a snooze. It’s not a biblical image, but it helps me understand the feel of the scene.

Suddenly something catches his eye. Three men have arrived at the front of the tent, so he gets up to greet them. They are caught off-guard, and as are the customs of Hebrew hospitality, a meal must be served. Now

the camp is all action as food and drink are prepared and the strangers fed. No business can happen until this formal greeting is over.

​It’s the Lord

How Abraham recognises these three men as the Lord, is not explained, but he does. It’s interesting for us that there are three men, and it is tempting to assume that they are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That may be going further than the text allows, especially as representatives of God, are sometimes addressed directly as God in the Old Testament. They are clearly messengers, so perhaps we should settle for calling the angels.

​Business at hand – the promise

Without Abraham having recognised the three men as God, the answer to their question would probably have been very different.

“Where is your wife, Sarah?” It seems the question is asked so that the men can be sure that Sarah hears what they are saying, and the Abraham knows that she has heard.

“There, in the Tent” say Abraham.

Then the LORD repeated His promise, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

​Previous Promise

If we look back at chapter 17, we will see that the Lord has already made this promise to Abraham.

Ge 17:16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Sarah was not around at the time. So now is the first time she is hearing the promise.

We are now getting down to the specifics of an earlier promise. When Abram, as he was known then, was first called by God, the Lord promised to make him into a great nation and to make him a blessing to the nations. For now, we’ll concentrate on the ‘great nation’ part, but we’ll come back to the ‘blessing to the nations’ part later.

​Impatience → Sin

Both Abraham and Sarah had known this promise, but Sarah was unable to conceive.

Abraham was worried about his inheritance.

Ge 15:3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Ge 15:4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir”

So Sarah suggested to Abraham that the promise should be fulfilled through her servant Hagar. Abraham accepted this idea and Ishmael was soon born.

Both of them, knowing God’s promise, and being impatient – they were already old, Abram was 75 when he was called, decided to make the fulfilment in the only way they could think of. This lack of faith in God is a sin because we are putting our ways and thoughts ahead of God’s ways and thoughts. As Isaiah 55:8 reminds us, “'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD”. It led to all sorts of problems and suffering, which goes on to this day.

​Abraham’s reaction

When Abraham first heard the promise that Sarah would have a son, in chapter 17:16, he fell on his face and laughed, and asks essentially the same questions as Sarah “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”, but his attitude is different, he has believed God. He immediately thinks of Ishmael, and what Ishmael has lost. “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

​Sarah’s reaction

Sarah reacts quite differently, (we’re in 18:12 now) her laughter is more along the lines of “ha, ha, you’ve got to be kidding!”

Then we get the rhetorical question which sums up the lessons for this part of the reading, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

​Nothing too hard for God

The answer is clearly that nothing is too hard for God. Remember that God created the universe, and you and I, so why would anything be too hard?

We have to put our own ideas aside, try not to do things that seem like the only way to get something done, and allow God to operate in His own way. That’s what it means when we talk about our weakness being His strength. Hudson Taylor used to say that when God wanted to open inland China to the gospel, He looked around until He found a man weak enough for the task.

It can be incredibly difficult just to wait for God’s timing, after all we are all getting on now, and if we don’t do something it may never happen. That was Abraham’s mistake.

There’s even a song by Kayne West called “There is nothing too hard for God” here is an extract from the lyrics:

We must not question the Good Lord
Have faith in God and trust his word
We don’t know how, we don’t know when
To see this day, so we should stand

Now, I may not completely agree with everything he says, but the sentiment is there.

If you don’t know who Kayne West is, he is a Rapper – which doesn’t mean he will help put the shoe boxes together.

​God is Faithful

Despite Sarah’s sin, her disbelief, God still gives her the child she desired so much, and through that kept His promise to Abraham. 2 Timothy 2:13 says “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

That means God keeps his promises to us, even if we don’t keep our promises to Him.

​Gen 18:16-33

The second part of our reading sees the men prepare to leave for Sodom. An outcry has reached the Lord, with many people complaining of the behaviour of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Those people will likely be those who are the victims, and they want justice.

Abraham was chosen because he will keep the ways of the Lord, and direct his family and his household to do the same.

​Go and see

So the Lord says He will go down and see if things are really as bad as the prayers He’s been hearing say. Of course, He doesn’t need to go down, He can make His judgement just as easily from heaven as he can from earth. It is being done in person for Abraham's benefit.

God is involving Abraham in what He is doing, just as He involves us. He has decided to work through Abraham and his descendants, and that is the model He will use, rather than keep a continuous presence on earth.

Israel was called to be an example and a blessing to the nations, though often they tried to keep God as their own and use Him against the world. We too, as the spiritual descendants of Abraham and called to be a blessing to the world, and also to be an example of how to live for God. We will bring many of them to God in our prayers later on in this service and throughout the week.

​Two men leave

So two of the three men leave in the direction of Sodom, and we hear of their arrival in chapter 19. One remains, Abraham stays standing before him. This man is frequently said to be the pre-incarnate Christ.

​Judgement and bargaining

Abraham is not concerned about that, he is only concerned about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also may have had his nephew Lot in mind, as Lot and his family had headed to Sodom. That would of course only be four people – Lot, his wife and two daughters.

What if there are fifty righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, will the cities still be destroyed? Then Abraham seems to get angry with God:

“Far be it from you to do such a thing —to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Abraham is doing exactly what God wants him to do, he is interceding for the world – at least the immediate part of it that he can see is in danger.

God doesn’t contest Abraham’s statement, which maybe took Abraham by surprise a little, He simply says that He will spare the city if fifty righteous people can be found. Anyway, Abraham’s

tone changes in verse 27. Rather than making demands of God, he is now pleading for the city if there are only forty-five righteous people.

“For forty-five, I will not destroy it.” God says.

So the negotiation continues, Forty, then thirty, twenty and finally ten.

​Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

Could he have then gone all the way down to one – yes, of course, but by ten the principal had been established, God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. So Abraham’s role is over, and he goes home.

But there is not one righteous person to be found. While all of them may not have been involved in the wickedness described in chapter 19, none were righteous. As we know from Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of god”.

Lot and his family are rescued from Sodom, by the two men, before the city is destroyed.

​Learning points

So, what have we learnt from today’s readings, I’ll finish by summing up the four key points:

1) God is faithful. He will keep His promises to us, even if we do not keep our promises to Him.

2) We need to understand this and allow God to operate in his own time. This is especially true

for very specific promises.

3) We have a role to play by interceding with God for the world, and by being a blessing to the world.

4) God is a god of justice and will not destroy the righteous with the wicked.

[Repeat]

How do you think these things might change your week?

Amen

Marriage / Divorce

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay, on 3 October 2021 @10:00am

​Intro Joke

Have you heard the story of the man who goes to see his doctor, concerned about his wife? He says that he feels she may be going deaf, she no longer answers him when he calls to her. So the doctor suggested that he finds out just how deaf she is by calling to her then taking a step forwards and calling again, and repeating this until she can hear.
When the man returned home, his wife was in the kitchen with her back to him, preparing lunch. So he stood by the kitchen door and called “Darling, what’s for lunch?”… no response. Then he stepped forward and said, “Darling, what’s for lunch?”… again no response. So he stepped forwards and was almost on top of her and said “Darling, what’s for lunch?”… She turned round and said to him:
…“for the third time”….

(https://parishsermons.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/)

​Reason

So, what has that got to do with Jesus’s teaching on marriage? Well this passage can easily be understood in the wrong way, and we need to be careful not to look at it with any pre-conceptions, and especially not from a 21^st century point of view – or it will be us playing the deaf husband.

​Scene setting

First of all, let's understand the background to the exchange with the Pharisees. Why did they choose this place to test Jesus on the subject of divorce?

To answer that question, we need verse 1:

“Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.”

Jesus has travelled to the ‘wrong’ side of the river, he is in an area known as Perea, which means “on the other side”. This is John the Baptist country. John 1:28, talking about Christ’s baptism, says:

“This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

John, as you may remember, lost his head for criticizing Herod Antipas for his marriage to Herodias. Herod was her second husband, to marry him she had divorced his half brother. That seems to be the way the Roman Empire worked. It was not good enough for John. So he was jailed, and eventually beheaded.

​Pharisees

It was good enough, though, for the Pharisees. It made an ideal backdrop to try to get Jesus discredited, or perhaps even beheaded. So they come up with a question to try to trap Him into saying something that will get Him into trouble with the Romans. Then there won’t be all that bother with trying to justify a death penalty, as happened later.

​The question

So, Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

If Jesus says yes, he contradicts John and his ministry is discredited. If Jesus says no, he will immediately be in trouble with the Romans. Job Done.

The problem with asking Jesus a yes/no question is that you never get yes or no as the answer. The Pharisees seem a little slow at learning this lesson, perhaps they're not used to being questioned.

Jesus asks, “What did Moses command?”

It was the common belief in the first century that Moses was the author of Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, etc. The Pharisees may not be good at setting questions, but they’re alright at evasive answers.

“Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

Their answer is based on Deuteronomy 24:1

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house,

There seems to have been quite a different understanding of what exactly ‘displeasing’ meant amongst various Jewish groups. Some were very strict and would only allow infidelity, while others seems to think that if she prepared a poor meal, she could simply be got rid of.

​Certificate

The certificate of divorce had to be written on ‘paper’ that would last and with ink that wouldn’t fade. It was there to protect the divorced woman so that she could potentially remarry.

​Women’s rights

In early Judaism, including in the first century, women had no rights, they were considered as property. As such, a man could not commit adultery against his wife. The offence would be against who ever owned the other woman.

So the certificate provided a basic protection and allowed divorced women to have some role in their society. It was needed because of the hardness of hearts (the sin!) of the people at the time and was not what God had originally intended.

​God’s intent

God’s original intent, as Jesus reminds the Pharisees, was that “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

​The answer

The Pharisees have their answer, it is not ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but “I refer you to your own scriptures, what do they tell you?” followed by Jesus quoting the scripture for them just in case they have forgotten (which, of course, they haven’t!). It’s an excellent way to deal with tricky questions, but you do have to know scripture really well.

​Disciples

That all seems quite straight forward to me, probably because I’m thinking in the 21^st century, but it has set off something for the disciples. I’d love to know what they asked, but perhaps it doesn’t matter. In Matthew’s telling of the story, in chapter 19, the disciples and Jesus recognize that this is difficult teaching. Jesus’s response to the unknown question appears to us to be a difficult teaching in our 21st century world. In the 1^st century, though, it was mind-blowing. To get the sense of it, you must remember what I’ve already said about the lack of rights for women in 1^st century Israel.

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Jesus, here, gives the woman the same rights and responsibilities as the man. He emphasises that a man commits adultery against his wife, that a woman commits adultery against her husband was already a given. It is closer to the Roman way than the Jewish way.

​Like a child

Then we have the last four verses, which are worthy of a sermon in their own right. I’m not going to look at these except to point out that here again we see Jesus giving ‘rights’, if I can call them that, to the marginalised. Children were not valued in the 1^st century as they are today in the 21^st century.

​Today

Getting back to marriage... Today, our understanding of the relative rights of men and women has come a long way, and so has our understanding of marriage and divorce. God’s approach to us has not changed, though. It is still His ideal that when we marry it is for life. There is also still the recognition that we live in a fallen, sinful world, and that as a result people make mistakes and things go wrong. The apostle Paul also has some helpful things to say in 1 Corinthians 7. The chapter requires careful reading because Paul mixes his own opinions with commands from God. Read it later if you get the chance.

​Paul’s commands

Paul would ban divorce altogether (verses 10 & 11):

A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

I must stress these are Paul’s commands, not the Lord’s. There are clearly circumstances where Paul’s command would not be a sensible approach. As an unmarried man, he may have lacked insight into how marriages work and particularly how they go wrong.

He also suggests that you should only marry to avoid immorality (in verse 2). This seems to go against God’s ideals we looked at in Genesis, and is probably because Paul was expecting Jesus to return in his lifetime.

​Our approach

Our approach as believers should be primarily to support married couples in ways that help them develop and closen their relationship with each other and with God. And not to do anything that would push them apart, or one of them towards someone else. Just like we do in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, we should be looking to safeguard marriages – many of the same measures can usefully be applied. They are, after all, very vulnerable in today’s society, where the value of marriage seems to have been eroded.

​Things go wrong

When things do go wrong, as they inevitably will in our sinful world, our role should be to support the victim (they may both consider themselves victims!) and do our best to help with the healing process, whether that takes place apart or together.

The church has too often condemned and excluded rather than been a positive influence for a godly life.

​Re-marriage (C of E)

The Church of England (our bit of the church) has, over many years, considered divorce and re-marriage, and now permits re-marriage if the minister is willing. But there must be careful examination of both of the partners motives, understanding of marriage, and previous history. It’s a difficult job for a minister to undertake, and it is not a requirement that they do it if their conscience would not permit it.

​Helping to sin

That’s because re-marriage presents us with a theological problem – are we helping people to sin? Clearly we should not be doing that.

​Forgiveness

But Jesus forgives us our mistakes and gives us second chances by the grace of God, because Jesus paid the price on the cross. God, who has much higher standards than

we can even imagine, and loves us to the point of His own death to redeem us does not deny us another go at whatever it is we are trying to do. How can we then deny to others the possibility of a long term loving relationship that God intended in marriage?

Each of us must make up our own minds before God.

Amen.

Our faithlessness, His faith

Preached at St. Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead on  19 September 2021

​Abram

At this point, Abram has not been renamed Abraham by God, that doesn't happen until chapter 17. All we know about him at this stage is that he has two brothers and a wife. He has travelled from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran with his father’s family, and they have settled there. His wife Sarai cannot have children. His name means ‘exulted father’, so I imagine he is not best pleased with his life so far.

God has spoken to him and told him to leave his country, his people, his family and move to somewhere that God will show him. As an incentive to move, God also makes a covenant with Abram.

Gen 12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Quite a promise to a childless man whose name means ‘exulted father’.

​The journey starts

So Abram leaves, and his nephew Lot goes with him, so do all the workers he has acquired during his time in Haran. They go to Canaan, which is where his father Terah had originally intended to go. There, God promised to give the land to Abram’s descendants. He builds an altar to the Lord, which seems to be his habit whenever he stops for a while. From there, his travels continue toward the Negev. His journey has taken him roughly south-west, arriving south of the Dead Sea.

Tests are coming

So far, things have been going well with Abram in his new venture with God. He is following God’s direction, and worshipping regularly, but testing times will come, as they always do.

​Famine – the 1^sttest

At the start of our reading today, we see the first test of Abram’s faith in God. There is a famine in the land. At this stage, we don’t know if this is God’s final destination, or whether we are still on the journey. Our text says the famine is severe – that means there are people starving to death. Although most of us have never experienced famine, I expect we’ve all seen pictures of people that just look like skin and bone, and children with swollen stomachs because there is simple not enough food. People are dying, maybe some of Abram’s people have died. Abram has dragged his people across miles and miles and brought them to the Negev for what – to simply starve to death. What is he to do?

​Find Food

Under pressure to find food, he decides to go to Egypt. There’s no mention of building an altar, there’s no command from God recorded, so Abram has now abandoned his faith, and taken the expedient action. He’s reverted to the world’s way of doing things, and it’s going to get him into trouble.

​Excuses

I’m surprised how many commentaries and preachers make excuses for Abram at this point, mostly saying that it’s a temporary move and implying that it’s his only choice.

I would have hoped that he would at least have sought God’s counsel. What would I have done? What would you have done? It’s impossible to say unless we’ve been in a similar situation.

Danger in Egypt

Compared to the journey so far, Egypt isn’t very far, but on the way Abram is thinking about what will happen when he gets there. His main concern is for his own life. His wife has become a potential liability – her beauty is the problem. In those days, women were property, so kill the owner and steal the beautiful wife is a distinct possibility.

“Say you are my sister” he says to Sarai. That way, if they want you they won’t threaten me, instead they’ll try to buy you. Perhaps he thinks he can make any possible deal too expensive, so that no-one could afford his ‘sister’.

​Pharaoh

As with all human schemes, Abram does not have all the data he needs to make a proper decision, so his scheme is doomed to failure. When Pharaoh's official saw her, they were stunned by her beauty and told their king what they had found. Imagine it, one of the servants comes to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh, there’s a beautiful woman just arrived, much better looking than the most of the other women in your harem.” With that information, he has no choice really, not that he would have made any other choice. So Pharaoh takes Sarai for his Harem, and Abram gets “sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.” That’s probably the bride price, and it’s a very good deal.

Not only is food available in Egypt, but now Abram has a much larger flock with which to support his people.

​God is watching

But God is watching, and will not allow Pharaoh to cause Sarai to fall into sin. He inflicted serious disease on Pharaoh and all his household. The Hebrew word suggests a skin disease – a plague of boils, perhaps? It only affects Pharaoh and his household, but not Sarai. I can imagine that there was a bit of a rumpus and Sarai was probably interrogated to find out who or what she was. Then, of course, the truth will out, as it always does eventually.

Pharaoh is disgusted with what he finds out, and just wants her and her husband out of his sight. He very impolitely ejects them and makes sure his troops are not going to allow them to hang around. “Get them out of here before their God does something even more harmful.”

​Justice?

What has God done? He seems to have organised things in such a way that the lying, cheating Abram has profited from his evil scheme. Are those the actions of a God of justice? But God is simply in the business of doing as he promised when Abram was called (that’s at the start of chapter 12). For that he needs Abram and Sarai together, and for there to be no chance that she might give birth to a child whose father could be questionable.

Abram will pay for what he has done in different ways later. He will have to split his family because his flocks are too big! Wealth is not always a blessing!

​Testing Times

Abram is a prime example of how not to behave when following God becomes difficult. Clearly we should not abandon God and lie and cheat to get what we want. For Abram, the pattern of his relationship with God is now set. His responses will be similar in other crises that come his way.

Our responses do not have to be like that.

So here are 6 things that Abram didn’t do, that might help us avoid falling into that sin:

​1) With each test comes a temptation

Abram did not see the temptation – access to easy food, as a temptation, but as a logical next step. If we can recognise that when things get difficult there will be strong temptations, we may find it easier to resist. “Just say No” is a good slogan for these circumstances.

​2) Seek God’s wisdom

Abram did not seek God, he simply acted. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

Testing times are there so that we learn to rely on God, not to turn away from Him and do the easiest thing. We have prayer, scripture, and the counsel of our fellow Christians to help us determine the correct course of action.

​3) Consider the consequences of sin

Abram did not consider the consequences of his sin, and some of those were unknowable anyway. This is always the case. Even though Abram became rich as a result, even that did go in his favour eventually. Proverbs 10:2 “Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.”

​4) Expect God’s amazing grace

Abram was in a mess, Sarai had been lost to Pharaoh, but God provided a way out of the situation. Abram certainly did not deserve this rescue, but God is God. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

​5) Consider unbelievers

Pharaoh and his entire household suffered as a result of Abram's sin. The result was that Pharaoh uncovered Abram’s scheme – and then behaved in a proper and correct manner, putting Abram to shame. We are called to live differently and distinctively.

1 Peter 2:11-12 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

​6) Keep our eyes on Christ

Abram definitely was not focussed on God, had he been the story would have been different.

Hebrews 12:2–3 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

With Jesus as our example, we should be able to get through anything that the world throws at us.

Amen.

Stealing from the Future

Preached @ Christ Church, Billericay on 19 September 2021 @08:00am

Precious

What’s most precious to you?

[allow time]

I wonder what you thought of? Perhaps it was an object that holds special memories and connects you to someone now gone. Perhaps it was just a memory of a special time and place with special people. Perhaps it was a person. Your spouse, a close friend, or one of your children or grandchildren.

I would like to suggest that perhaps the most precious thing to us is our future. It’s not static like an object or a memory, and it’s something we have a reasonable amount of control over, unlike another person, who we can’t really control at all (or shouldn’t!).

​Star Trek

I’ve been watching Star Trek Voyager on Netflix – I’m a bit of a Trekkie. The other day, they had a story about a man who was planning to visit the 29^th century to steal their technology and bring it back to the current day.

Time travel is of course impossible for us, but that doesn’t stop the story being interesting.

Stealing from our futures

While I was reflecting on some aspects of the story and thinking about the future, I realised that we are all stealing from our own futures.

Think about it. We are using the earth’s resources at roughly twice the rate we should, so they are becoming depleted, and future generations will be in need because we have used what should rightfully be theirs.

Our Gospel reading speaks of the abundance that God provides, not just in harvest, but for our lives in general. But we, in our greed, continue to want more and more and manage to make even God’s abundance not enough.

With our way of life, we are wasteful of what we have. We burn fuel for energy to make our lives easier and put the waste products into the atmosphere, damaging the whole environment. Already we can see the effects, our weather is changing, making the environment more hostile. It will be worse for our children and grandchildren.

Scientists have known that we are changing the climate since the 1970s, but their warnings fell on deaf ears. Do you know that if you look at the record of our climate carefully you can even see the effects the Roman Empire had - nothing like the effect we’re having now, but it is there.

No wonder that Paul says creation is groaning. It has suffered the onslaught of mankind’s greed for centuries.

​Cursed is the ground because of you

Worse than that even, it was Mankind’s actions that put it under a curse in the first place.

After the incident with the fruit tree in the centre of Eden, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.” (Gen 3:17-18)

Our harvests too are much better than Adam, Abraham and co. could even dream of, but the overuse of fertilizer poisons streams and rivers and causes even more groaning.

Creation tied to man

You may think that mankind is dependant of the creation that God placed them in, but the Bible suggests that it’s more complicated than that. God gave us creation to look after, to rule over:

Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

​Bondage and Decay

So creation has been subjected to bondage and decay, not by it’s own choice, but by God, because He gave it to Adam, and Adam because he failed to follow God’s very simple rules.

We, too, are in the same cycle of bondage and decay, we are born, grow, get old and die, as does everything in creation. The next generation must learn all that we know, and make their own decisions. – It seems such a waste of all that effort.

​Should be different

Creation seems to know things should be better. “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” The sons of God, Paul has already said in verse 14 are those who are led by the Holy Spirit.

​Creation waiting for us

Creation is waiting in eager expectation, for us to be revealed, so that it can join our freedom.

If you wonder what eager expectation looks like, The JB Philips version translates the verse as “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.”

It’s a lovely image, it reminds me of Thomas, standing on the window ledge, his nose against the glass, straining to see Liz come home when he stayed with us the other night. He was not very patient though, and kept asking the question “Where’s Mummy?”, but his hope was never dimmed.

​Convert the world – save the planet

Perhaps the idea that creation will be freed when the children of God are revealed is where the idea comes from that suggests that ‘all we have to do’ is convert the world and all the environmental problems we have created will be overcome.

This is, of course, only a partial truth because we are also groaning inwardly as we await eagerly our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

When that happens, then there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and all the disasters that us human beings have brought on creation and each other will be over. Judgement will be complete, and we can get on with living with our Lord for Eternity – no more problems will be created.

Until then, those of us who recognise God’s rule have a hope to look forward to – the return of Jesus. We don’t know when that will happen, so we shouldn’t be using up the earths resources and generating pollution bumper harvests so that there is something left for our children and their children. So, we also still have the responsibility to look after creation to the best of our abilities. We’ve seen many ways to do this during our recent Summer Series, and Christ Church is working to become a more environmentally friendly church.

​Return – redemption

Our hope is in the return of the Lord Jesus and the redemption of our bodies, so that we no longer decay. We hope, because we do not have, and so we watch carefully for signs that the time is coming, I think back to Thomas, who had to wait for hours at the window, and eventually to go to bed before his Mum finally came home.

That may also be true for us, we may not see Jesus return and our lives redeemed before we have to face death, but we continue to hope – expectantly and patiently – perhaps on tiptoe looking for the signs that the end of our groaning is coming soon.

Hope – the long view

 Preached @ Christ Church, Billericay on Monday 2 August 2021

The World

Forget the pandemic, Covid-19 is just a blip in the race to annihilation. We have much bigger things to worry about. There’s climate change for a start. What we are doing to the climate with our excessive use of fossil fuels means we are in danger of turning our planet into Venus. In case you don’t know, Venus is way too hot for there to be liquid water – the average temperature is about 460 Celsius.

Tipping Points

We may have already passed some tipping points, with record temperatures in northern Russia, releasing trapped methane into the atmosphere.

IF we succeed in stabilising the climate, we will have to find somewhere for the millions of people whose homes will be flooded by the seven metre rise in sea levels.

If we overcome all of this we have the dangers of asteroids hitting us and possibly wiping us out like one did to the dinosaurs, or the planet mercury leaving it’s unstable orbit and throwing the solar system into chaos.

Further out, in a few billion years, the sun will have expanded enough to boil the earth, and make it uninhabitable for humans. Finally the universe itself will expand to the point where there are no atoms left, just photons, and they will be so far apart that they will never collide - it’s called the heat death of the universe, although the temperature is just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.

Threats to existence

It seems there have always been threats to our existence.

I was born in the mid-1950s when the threats to our existence were perhaps more in our control – nuclear war was either chosen or not by a very few people – not that we trusted them.

The message that the world gives today is that there is no hope. In the short term we will probably destroy the environment and make the planet uninhabitable, in the longer term the sun will do it for us. Even if we escape this planet the universe will expand until life is impossible.

Some of these threats affect us directly, others just seem to make any future worse than the present, it seems we are surrounded by decay and the end will come too soon. These constant messages of doom and gloom do not help people, and are undoubtedly a contributing factor in the worsening mental health situation we are constantly hearing about.

Our End

Thinking about our own end just adds to the doom that we feel is approaching faster and faster the older we get.

Revelation – the last page

What a contrast to the Revelation reading we had today. Billy Graham had a saying “I've read the last page of the Bible, it's all going to turn out all right.” That’s more like it, that’s the sort of message we want and need to hear. Further on from our reading today, and definitely on the last page Jesus says:

Rev 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, a the Beginning and the End. ¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. ¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

We must remember that Revelation is written in code, so that the vision of the victory of Jesus over the authorities of the time was not easily understood. The believers had the code and could make sense of what was said, the authorities did not, and it seemed to them as religious mumbo-jumbo.

2000 years later, the believers – you and I, only have some of the code, and must make the best of what we have. One thing is clear though, that Jesus will return and that He will rescue us. Whatever the details of the image of the new Jerusalem means, there will be a community of worshippers there, with us among them.

Credible Claim?

This is all very well, but is it credible? The message of scientists has been worked out over hundreds of years with some of the best minds carefully measuring everything they can and trying to understand things that are well beyond you and I. So by contrast, does the message of the gospel have similar credibility.

We can easily rehearse some of the amazing truths of Christianity:

Truths

Jesus came to earth from heaven, to a failing sinful world, to re-instate a relationship with God that had not existed properly since before the fall. He achieved that by dying on a cross and three days later being resurrected. If we believe this, our relationship with God is being restored, and we have already been given eternal life. We know this because we have eyewitness accounts in documents that were written and copied to local churches as evidence of what happened.

Even without the documents, we would have to ask what happened to make twelve frightened men found the biggest religion in the world? They were cowering in fear of the authorities after Jesus’s death, how did they suddenly become so fearless? Paul tells us what happened, not just to them, but to thousands of early converts to the new faith.

(Romans 5:1-5) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Where does Hope come from?

Now, our hope comes directly from God, through the Holy Spirit. We have peace with our maker – perhaps we recognise for the first time that we are made and not just a random collection of molecules that happened by chance.

We are in grace, God is with us, not just at the end but all the time, to be sure we are able to finish the race (to use another of Paul’s metaphors). The Holy Spirit is there providing support, direction and purpose. He will ensure that we complete the race. I don’t usually like sporting illustrations, but as the Olympics are currently under way in Tokyo, I thought this might help.

The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided one of track and field's most incredible moments.

Britain's Derek Redmond had dreamed all his life of winning a gold medal in the 400-metre race, and his dream was in sight as the gun sounded in the semifinals at Barcelona. He was running the race of his life and could see the finish line as he rounded the turn into the backstretch. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain go up the back of his leg. He fell face first onto the track with a torn right hamstring.

Sports Illustrated recorded the dramatic events:

As the medical attendants were approaching, Redmond fought to his feet. "It was animal instinct," he would say later. He set out hopping, in a crazed attempt to finish the race. When he reached the stretch, a large man in a T-shirt came out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard and ran to Redmond, embracing him. It was Jim Redmond, Derek's father. "You don't have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," said Derek. "Well, then," said Jim, "we're going to finish this together." And they did. Fighting off security men, the son's head sometimes buried in his father's shoulder, they stayed in Derek's lane all the way to the end, as the crowd gaped, then rose and howled and wept. Derek didn't walk away with the gold medal, but he walked away with an incredible memory of a father who, when he saw his son in pain, left his seat in the stands to help him finish the race.

That’s what our Father God is like, He will not let us fail, He will ensure we complete the course in this life and ultimately take our place in the New Jerusalem.

​Ultimate hope

Our hope is founded on our belief in Jesus’s resurrection. The evidence for it is there in the pages of the Bible, the history of the early church, and our personal relationship with God.

Our universe may end in almost nothingness, but there is a new heaven and a new earth, and that’s where we will be, with our God living with us.

Amen

God’s new Family

Preached: 18 July 2021 at St. John's, Billericay

Reading: Acts 2:42-47

​In Jerusalem

There was quite a buzz in Jerusalem in those days. A group was meeting every day at the eastern edge of the outer court of the temple, a place known as Solomon’s Colonade. They would talk and pray together, and every day there seemed to be more of them.

Anyone who went into the temple – and that was just about everyone - would easily spot them when they were together in there increasingly large huddle. Not only were there numbers increasing but there was something different about them.

The leaders

Their leaders were twelve young men. Their teachings were different, they talked about a prophet who had recently been put to death. Everything they said centred around His teachings. Some of those who were with them had known the prophet and followed Him a little, but now what they were seeing and what they were involved in was moving to another level. Occasionally they would heal people, just as the prophet had, and news of this spread around fast. So more people came to see what was happening.

Miracles & Sustenance

It wasn’t just the miracles though, all those who met together each day seemed happy, and eager to meet up. Their poor were taken care of – they had cloths and enough food to live - none of them was in need like so many others around Jerusalem at that time.

Awe

All-in-all the group was a bit frightening in some ways, they seemed to have a power and a love of life that most did not possess.

Casual Observer

What the casual observer might have missed was they way the group conducted itself outside the temple. They shared everything they had, not claiming their goods and possessions as their own. This alone would have help support those who had nothing, but even more than that they would also sell possessions to support those in need.

Luke’s Introduction

These few verses are Luke’s introduction to how the church of Christ operated in the first days after Pentecost.

​No Group Name

They didn’t have a name for themselves at this stage. They are simply described as ‘those who are being saved’ (v47). It’s not until we start to hear about Saul in chapter 9 that Luke tells us they were called ‘followers of the Way’. This name is used throughout Acts. The name ‘Christians’ does not appear until Acts 11.

Anyway, not having a name for the group does not means that they are invisible to the authorities. In the next chapter or two we start to see that the way they lived has consequences, and although it found favour with the people, it did not find favour with the temple leadership – who tried in particular to stop the preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus that Peter and John were doing.

This introduction does not describe some sort of short lived golden age for the church, rather it set out the principals for how the church should operate. Theologians call these principals the four marks of the church.

I’m going to look at each of these now, so we can see how we measure up against them.

​Four marks of the church

The four marks of the church in this passage are:

• the apostles teaching

• the common life of the believers

• the breaking of bread

• the prayers

The apostles teaching

The believers – ‘those who were being saved’, could listen to the stories of Jesus, and all he did and what happened to Him - his crucifixion and resurrection from the apostles, all of whom were first hand witnesses. They would also have the benefit of the interpretations that Jesus provided. The apostles were simply following Jesus’s command in Mt 28:20 to “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you”.

These teachings were soon written down and passed from congregation to congregation, they eventually made up the Bible we have today.

Teaching, and what we now like to call ‘life long learning’ is vital to the church. Without it how do we know what the Lord requires of us? Without it we could easily accept the prevailing consensus of beliefs and lose the truths passed down to us from Jesus, via the apostles.

Understood for the age

The recorded teachings of the apostles are now nearly 2000 years old. Over that time the use of language has changed, the way society understands things has changed. One small example of this is the word ‘Men’. That word could once be used to describe the whole human race, but that usage had changed in my life time, so that now, if we don’t want to exclude women a different word is required, such as people. So our scripture translations have to be up to date, so that those who read it do not misunderstand what they are hearing.

How do we hear the Apostles Teaching

How often do we hear the Apostles teaching? Perhaps that’s the wrong question. Our engagements with scripture come in various forms. There is the weekly sermon. OK for sparking ideas may be, but it doesn’t allow much real interaction, so probably not high on the list when it comes to teaching value.

There’s small group studies, that usually take place in peoples homes. These provide a better opportunity to properly engage with scripture but it is very dependant on the material that is being used. In my experience there are some very good study guides, and also some pretty poor ones.

Then there’s the daily readings and reflections, again in my experience there are some very good ones and some not so good ones.

So we have the opportunities, but do we have the desire? The new believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching – that means it was something they were not prepared to miss. How often do we give up an opportunity to learn from scripture? Where does bible study and application of learning fit in our priorities?

The common life of the believers

“All the believers were together and had everything in common”

What does this really mean, and how do we interpret it in a society that is packed with very personal possessions?

My first reaction to this verse was “that sounds like communism”. It does, but in the political system the common life is forced on the people and as a result people generally respond badly, specially when they see others benefit more than they are themselves. This is not communism, because here the Holy Spirit inspires the common life. The common life occurs because each person sees the others as more important than themselves, so is not prepared to see their brothers and sisters in need and will do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Land

In Acts we hear of people selling land to support the needy. In the Jewish system land was part of the birth right, and was owned and passed down through the generations, so the sale of land is a significant sacrifice.

Collections

In the Paul's letters and later in Acts we read of one congregation having a collection for another that is suffering or in need. (2 Corinthians 8, Acts 20) So the common life spreads beyond the immediate group of believers.

Today

In our world we need certain personal possessions to function in modern society. But these gadgets should not define us, and should still be available to support those in need.

Questions

How many of our possessions are exclusively ours? How many are available to others in need?

The breaking of bread

It is difficult to tell whether the ‘the breaking of bread’ refers to simply a common meal, or whether it refers to a specific Eucharistic celebration. The phrase seems to be used interchangeably.

Either way the fellowship of believers seems to be based around eating together.

A service of Holy Communion, where we share bread and wine together (when we are allowed to) can seem as though the only person we are really communing with is our Lord. That’s partly caused by the structure of the service and the need to maintain good order. It’s at refreshments afterwards – perhaps a bring and share meal – that we commune with the others who are attending the service.

This, of course, is a falsely split view, because God is as present in the first as he is in the second, as are all the people.

Questions

How often do we join together for meals with other believers? How often do we celebrate Holy communion? What opportunities are we missing?

The prayers

The prayers during their meetings in the temple courts and in their houses, may have been traditional Jewish prayers that were said regularly in the temple or by Jewish families, or they may have been prayers created for the occasion, or just prayers that were required at that time. In the context of these verses they are always prayers said together with the believers. There is no record here of individual private prayer, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen of course.

Questions

How often do we meet for prayer? How well attended are our prayer meetings? How can we improve the attendance at prayer meetings?

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit has created a new type of family, the family of believers. The family consists entirely of adopted children, those who are being saved. The believers in the family are called to be closer than a biological family, and to support each other in ways that biological families rarely do. Everything that is possessed by a member of the family belongs to the family, and yet, we see from this passage that the individual owner still has control over their possessions. In that respect the family that God has created is not like the so-called families of any number of sects that have developed over the years. When you join the family of those who are being saved you do not have to hand over the deeds to your land, or your car keys or you mobile phone pin code.

Yet the Holy Spirit obliges you to use them for the good of the whole family.

The common interests that bind this family together are the love of the apostles teaching, fellowship, particularly meals together, the breaking of bread – the celebration of Jesus’s death and resurrection, and time together talking to The Father – (prayer).

As we’ve looked at each of the four marks of the church, I’ve posed a question or two for your consideration. My final questions are “What have you heard today that can build up the life of the believers, we who are being saved?”

and

“How might that be applied?”

If we start to look more like the apostles and the believers with them we will soon find that the Lord will add to our number those who are being saved.

Amen