Where is your faith?

Preached at St John the Divine on 24 February 2019

Stories

I’m going to start by telling you two stories from my past, then I will reflect on them based on the passage in Luke. I have horrible boat journey stories, but they didn’t come to mind when I was preparing, so I’ll stick with the ones that came to mind during prayer.

Mum & Dad

My first story comes from 1984. My mother is in Hospital, her second round of chemotherapy has just been confirmed to have failed to fix her leukaemia, there are no more treatment options available. Then we hear that my father has had a heart attack, while visiting my mother. I suppose if its going to happen then a hospital ward is the best place to be when it does. It is his third, or fourth heart attack, few survive their first, but we are told he is in intensive care. When we visit he looks as though he is dead, but he is just conscious enough to say a few words. Recovery is by no means guaranteed. I was devastated, and remember praying “Please Lord, not both at the same time.” It was all I could manage.

I wrote an article for the Pilgrim about the experience sometime later.

God answered that prayer, my father recovered and lived about another 10 years.

Sought Out

My second story does not involve me directly and comes from an even earlier time. Where I worked then the Data Processing programming teams were split into two. I worked for the sales team, the other was the manufacturing team. Each team had it’s own manager. The work was very different and although we were in the same office there was very little interaction. One lunchtime I was on my own in the canteen- an unusual event in itself, when the manager of the manufacturing team asked if he could join me. He talked about various things, mostly his recent holiday. He had been on some sort of trek, I don’t remember the details, and had reached the top of a mountain. The weather had changed suddenly, from being a pleasant day it became cold, foggy and stormy all at the same time. They could no longer see their path, where they had come from, or where they intended to go. They were cold and very wet. They felt stranded and were fearful that they would not make it safely off the mountain. Then they prayed. I’m not sure if they knew who exactly they were praying to or cared at that point. The weather eased enough for them to make some progress and eventually they made it down the mountain and no lasting harm had occurred. As the one and only Christian in the office, I’m guessing that I had been sought out and that this was a report of God’s good work and possible some sort of thanks.

It was an interesting conversation to have when you have been a Christian for only a couple of years.

The lake

Those are my two stories, try to keep them in mind while I do a little scene setting for the bible passage.

The sea of Galilee is 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and 33 miles in circumference, at its deepest it is 143 feet deep. It’s surface is between 705 and 686 feet below sea level, and is the lowest freshwater lake on earth. It is surrounded by hills, which leads to some unpredictable weather at times and squalls are not uncommon.

Peter – not prepared

Peter, though, had previously made his living as a fisherman on this lake so he should have been aware of the weather and mostly been able to see it coming. It is therefore one of the common threads that runs through all the stories. That none of us were prepared for what happened, nor was there a way that we could have been prepared. Life is like that. Things happen that you cannot prepare for or have any inkling that they were about to happen.

Two ways

It is Jesus though that plays the central role in the story, and we can understand the story in two ways depending on what we think was happening with Jesus.

Hard Day

In the first approach Jesus has had a hard day, and perhaps a bad night the night before. He gets in the boat, and knows that the disciples will do all the sailing, so he relaxes and the gentle rocking of the boat sends him to sleep. Being tired, and absolutely confident in His father in heaven nothing needs to disturb his sleep – he knows they will get to the other side whatever happens.

Be Still (1)

So when the disciples wake him up and he sees what’s happening he calms the storm for their sake – to bring them comfort, and to show a little more of his power.

What were the disciples expecting?

Just as an aside here for a minute, let’s ask the question “What were the disciples expecting him to do?” In the Matthew version of this story they are recorded as saying “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

That would imply that somewhere deep down they expected Jesus to calm the storm.

Just one of those unpredictable things

If we assume that the storm was just one of those unpredictable things that happens, and that God can overcome them when we ask him, then we will think like I did as a young Christian, when God took the horror of losing both me parents at the same time away from me. It will lead to questions though – why doesn’t God answer prayer for everyone like this? Why didn’t the storm that the programming manager experienced clear up completely so they could get down the mountain easily?

Another way

There is another way of looking at it though. Jesus plays an even more central role in this view than He did in the last one.

In the second approach, it doesn’t matter so much whether Jesus has had a hard day or not. He gets in the boat in the same way. He knows that the disciples will do all the sailing, so he sits in the boat and relaxes.

Sleep

The gentle rocking of the boat sends him to sleep just as he intended it to. This is the only record in the Bible that Jesus ever slept, although, being a man, He must have done so every night. Here, He sleeps so that the disciples in the boat can experience the storm without His immediate presence.

The storm arrives exactly on schedule, it is a sudden violent squall just as He wanted. The boat will be overwhelmed unless the storm abates.

Be Still (2)

So when the disciples wake him up he already knows what’s happening. He calms the storm for their sake – to bring them comfort, but more importantly to teach them an important lesson about relying on God in all circumstances. Now the question “Where is your faith?” becomes a question designed to start a conversation to see how much the disciples are really learning.

God’s Storm

If we attribute the storm to God specifically, rather than saying that the evil one was permitted to send it, or that it is just one of those things we get a different view of what God is doing in our lives – and we get a different view of God. We are acknowledging His sovereignty.

In this view God has much closer control, He is in charge of the storms that arrive in our lives and their length and intensity.

We know he can do this because we have already seen him calm the storm. If He can do that with a few words, he can just as easily cause one.

God in control

With God in control I can see the crisis of both my parents apparently about to die and then my father surviving as a way of building my faith, not as having it put under threat.

With the hikers on the mountain, God is sending the storm to push at least one of them to go and talk to at least one professing Christian.

God doesn’t have to wait for a scheme of the evil one which He allows, and then work to bring good from it, rather he sees the good that we need and creates the situations that will drive that good. The good here is not our comfort but our growth – the character building and faith building that is the purpose that He has for us in preparing us for Eternal Life.

All Things ...

This view also helps me to understand how “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Ro 8:28

Saying

There’s a saying popularised by John Lennon, but it’s original author is not known. “Everything will be alright in the end, if it isn’t alright, it isn’t the end”.

We have seen in the Revelation reading how the end will look, it’s a wonderful picture of heaven, and the whole book of Revelation shows us what the end is, and that it is indeed better than alright.

It is Good.

God is preparing us for that, but we may have to go through more difficult trials, that He will not rescue us from.

There are thousands of Christian martyrs that God used to bring others to faith, they will get their reward in heaven. Here are just two of them:

Ridley and Latimer

In October 1655, two of the great people in the history of Anglicanism, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer were burned at the stake together. As the fires were lit, Latimer cried out, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as I trust shall never be put out!”

Prayer

Father,

We may never face the fate of Latimer and Ridley, but help us to grow in faith and love that we are prepared to face any trial, knowing that you have already saved us and have a secure place for us in heaven.

Amen.

References

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/when-you-are-scared-there-is-always-faith-david-elvery-sermon-on-fear-and-worry-98519?ref=SermonSerps
https://tbcpdx.org/LDC_sermon_notes/Sermons%20on%20Luke/LDC%20-%20Where%20is%20Your%20Faith%20Luke%208.22-25%20-%2010.17.1993_ocr.pdf
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-36-what-do-when-life-gets-stormy-luke-822-25

Who do you trust

Preached 17 February 2019

1. Blessings or Woes

I wonder, do the blessings or the woes stand out to you more when you hear that passage from Luke? For me, it’s always the woes. I suppose that’s because there’s always a part of me that thinks I’m not doing it right, and I’m going to suffer the consequences.

Perhaps for you, it's the blessings and God’s promises for a better future and a closer relationship are what draws you to Him.

2. Sermon on the Plain

The reading from Luke is the start of a passage that is known as the Sermon on the plain. Luke’s report of the sermon ends in verse 49. It is often compared with the sermon on the mount, and some commentators will tell you that they are one and the same thing. That however seems unlikely as there has been quite an effort to set up the occasion and there are a lot of differences too.

3. Similarities

The similarities though are striking, and it is probable that these verses form the core of Jesus’ teaching. If that is the case, this sermon, the sermon on the mount and many others like it would have regularly been preached by Jesus – every time there was a large crowd.

If this is the case, and it probably is, then we should look at what Jesus is saying very carefully – so let's do that for the next few minutes.

4. Blessings and Woes – Introduction

If you look back at verse 12 you will see that Jesus has spent the previous night – the whole of it – praying to God. In the morning, he calls his disciples to him (we don’t know how many there were) and selects 12 to be apostles. He then takes the 12 apostles down to the plain, where other disciples and a large crowd are waiting. There’s no mention of breakfast!

He appears to be speaking to His disciples when he starts “Blessed are you who are poor ...” but He is aware that the entire crowd is listening to His every word. After all, many of them had already been healed.

5. Luke

At this point, I should say something about the author and the purpose of his writing. Luke tells us that he has spoken to eyewitnesses and carefully researched his work. Here’s what one commentary says about the recipient. “The Gospel is specifically directed to Theophilus, whose name means ‘one who loves God’ and almost certainly refers to a particular person rather than to lovers of God in general. The use of ‘most excellent’ with the name further indicates an individual, and supports the idea that he was a Roman official or at least of high position and wealth. He was possibly Luke’s patron, responsible for seeing that the writings were copied and distributed. Such a dedication to the publisher was common at that time.”

So the sayings of Jesus recorded here are trustworthy, and Luke has not edited anything important out or in any way diluted the message for his rich patron.

6. Pair each Blessing and Woe

So, lets pair up the blessings and the woes and try to understand them better. Lets start with:

7. Poor / Rich

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” from verse 20 and “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

Does this mean that all us rich people are going to be forever cursed and there is nothing we can do about it but make ourselves poor?

Isn’t that what the story of the Rich man and Lazarus teaches us also?

But there are rich people among the believers in the New Testament too.

Joseph of Arimathea, for example, was a wealthy man. He appears to be a true disciple when he and Nicodemus make a bold request for the body of Jesus. Joseph placed Jesus in an expensive tomb and paid for an extravagant amount of spices for Jesus’ burial.

Barnabas, also, seemed to have some wealth. He sold a field in Cyprus and voluntarily gave the proceeds to the Apostles for redistribution.

The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they failed to give all when they sold a piece of property, but that they lied about the fact that they had held back some of the money. Peter clearly said that they were free to sell or not, and were free to give as much or a little as they chose.

We can also see in Luke 8 that there are several wealthy women who support the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles.

So whatever is to be said here about the blessings of being poor and the curse of the rich is at least tempered by examples that Luke himself provides.

So it seems better to understand that Jesus is referring to our attitudes to wealth and not the wealth itself. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil, not money itself. Hoarding of riches and depending upon it for your own sense of security rather than trusting in the LORD is what is sinful. In the Christian context, physical wealth goes along with spiritual gifts as means by which the Christian church was to care for its members.

8. Hunger / Satisfied

Now let’s look at the next pair. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied” (v21) and “Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.” (v25)

These verses have been used, to prompt the feeding of the hungry around the world, in natural disasters and in man made ones. They are a warning about the dangers of food poverty and gluttony. It is not about being adequately fed. The early church, the same disciples that Jesus is talking to here, made sure that the gentile widows were treated equally with the Jewish widows and appointed Stephen to the task. Paul reminded the Corinthians that their services should not allow some to eat while others went hungry. This happened in a society where the high status families ate first, then everyone else but the slaves, who only ate the scraps that were left over. That’s alright for the world, Paul says, but it isn’t for the church.

As Christianity spread it ceased to be alright in the Christian world at all, and efforts were made to alleviate food poverty – starvation completely. Sadly, as Christianity has retreated starvation has begun to return, and now the church is running food banks to try to stem the tide.

9. Weep / Laugh

The next pair, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” (v21) and “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (v25).

The kingdom of God is supposed to be full of the joy of the Lord, and that will undoubtedly include laughter. In some situations laughter is interpreted as the presence of the Holy Spirit. Also, laughter is not really the opposite of mourning. So what is Jesus talking about when He says woe to you who laugh?

He’s talking about the type of laughter that is mocking, that occurs out of superiority and disdain. This is how God described the Babylonians to Habakkuk:

They mock kings and scoff at rulers.

They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps, they capture them.

When we laugh at the weak, the poor, or those struggling with difficulties in their lives, we put ourselves above God. So we stop trusting in him and trust our own judgement and our own ways. This is what the Israelites had done before the Babylonians arrived, and what the Babylonians were later punished for. So remember, just as there’s always someone worse off than you, there’s also always someone stronger, and better able to look after themselves.

But those who are in mourning will receive God's comfort, will know the Kingdom of heaven, and will laugh with joy.

1. Hate you / Speak well of you

The last blessing and woe is a little more complicated.

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. (v22)

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (v26)

We can see how the disciples understood this in Acts 5:41 where after Peter and John had been beaten for speaking of Jesus it says “They were happy to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonour for speaking about Jesus.” This blessing and woe shows more directly than the others where our loyalties lie. If, like the apostles, we are prepared to witness to the world about Jesus, even when we are told not to, or threatened, or beaten or killed, then God's blessings are upon us.

We should not misunderstand Paul’s writing to Timothy, where, when talking about the selection of overseers and deacons, he says “He must also have a good reputation with outsiders”. Here Paul is talking about the character of the potential candidate, not his ability or willingness to witness.

2. Conclusion

Our response to the blessings and woes shows where our trust lies.

Do we rely on God, or prefer financial security?

Are we more concerned about feeding the poor or going out for the next big meal?

Do we mourn for the state of the world, or do we laugh mockingly at those whose lives are a struggle?

Is our witness to Jesus strong enough to upset some of the people who are against the faith?

References

http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/lk6a.htm

https://www.holytextures.com/2013/01/luke-6-17-26-year-c-epiphany-6-february-11-february-17-sermon.html

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-sermon-on-the-plain-an-exposition-of-luke-6-17-38-mark-a-barber-sermon-on-beatitudes-237216?ref=SermonSerps

Hungry for Scripture

Preached 21 January 2019

Reading: Nehemiah 8v1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Luke 4v14-21

The book of Nehemiah

I’ve always loved the book of Nehemiah. The story of how a minor official in the Babylonian empire persuades the king to allow him to return to his home city, and the struggles he has to get the walls rebuilt. The image of building the wall with a sword in one hand and material for the wall in the other shows the struggles they went through defending themselves from the surrounding cities, who definitely did not want to see Jerusalem become a strong city again.

My View of Nehemiah

I’ve tended to think of the book as the story of what can happen when one man understands what God wants, and will go to any length to achieve it. For me, Nehemiah is a hero of the faith. He has a clear vision, and he works in many ways to make it happen. He carefully plans his approaches to the king, so that when he finally leaves, he not only has permission to go, but the king's backing for what he wants to do. When he gets back to Jerusalem, he sees the city and tries to get the people organised. He faces opposition from his own people, but eventually the building starts. Then there’s the surrounding cities trying to prevent the work taking place. Nehemiah organises the people so that they can build and defend themselves. Eventually, the wall is completed in just 52 days! Then there is a big celebration.

It’s an excellent story and would make a great Hollywood blockbuster – I’m surprised it isn’t up there with the films about Moses and the promised land.

Today’s Reading

Today’s reading shows that there is a lot more going on than just a simple “Hero rebuilds city” story. So let’s take a look at some of the detail and see if we can work out what is really going on here.

Background – Exile

In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took many from Jerusalem into exile. This followed a long siege and the kings of Judah paying tribute for 3 years. The city was destroyed, but resistance continued and further groups of people were rounded up and taken into exile. Babylon was defeated by Persia under king Cyrus in 539 BC. After that, the people were allowed to return. As with being taken into exile, the return was a slow process with many phases.

Background – Return

Some had returned with Ezra the priest, before Nehemiah arrived. The exile is reckoned to have lasted 70 years. The important thing to note here is that none of those exiles could have returned. Those who returned would be their children or grandchildren.

Ezra Reads the Law on the Feast of Trumpets

The first day of the seventh month (which was in early October), was also the civil new year. It was celebrated with the feast of Trumpets (Nu 29:1 On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.) So the practices of the Jews are beginning to be restarted. The people have gathered in the square in front of the Water Gate – one of the repaired gates of the city.

Ezra Reads

The people have told Ezra the scribe to bring out the book of the law of Moses. This is presumably the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. So we know that the reading of it is going to take a long time. All the people were there – men, women and older children, anyone who was old enough to understand, and they all listened attentively for about 5 hours. Of course that’s not enough time to read the whole of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

People Hungry for Scripture

Most of those listening had never heard the law read before. Their belief in God had been passed to them from their parents and grandparents. No doubt they had heard the story of Abraham and his first encounters with God and the story of Moses and the Exodus, and the giving of the commandments. They had been told about the laws that God had made for them, but they had never heard them read from the actual book. It would have been a time of enormous excitement that they would have been eagerly anticipating.

Excitement at God's Word

I have to say that I didn’t notice an atmosphere of excitement today as the service started. There didn’t appear to be a great amount of anticipation of the hearing of scripture. To us, it has become routine. We have a nice three-year pattern in the Lectionary which takes us through what some people somewhere have decided is a good sub-set of our scriptures, so that Sunday by Sunday we cover the high lights and follow the seasons. If you read the passages in the Lectionary every day, you will eventually get most of the Bible, but I haven’t checked to see that every verse is covered. If you have a Bible reading plan and are conscientious, you will cover the whole Bible in however long the plan lasts. But the question is how excited do you get in your readings?

Familiarity breeds contempt

Perhaps we are suffering from familiarity breeding contempt? Unlike the assembly in front of the water gate, we’ve heard the readings before – probably more than once. It becomes a bit of the same old thing. It’s always available. I have Bibles all over the house and on every piece of computer hardware I own – my phone, my tablets, my PCs – it's always available. I read small passages quite frequently, but longer ones require a special occasion. For me, that would be part of my preparation for home group or preaching, or for some other study that I am involved in. I remember reading each of the four gospels straight through on successive weeks for the Course in Christian Studies. This approach give a different view and helps get across the overall picture of what’s happening.

Hearing is better than Reading

Perhaps hearing God’s word read to us, as Marion did a few minutes ago, is better than sitting and reading it ourselves. Certainly, someone who reads well can help the passage come to life. I wonder how many of us would be prepared to stand and listen for 5 hours, though – that’s how long it is from first light until noon in Jerusalem in October.

Interpretation

Maybe we need a little more than just hearing, though. Look at verses 7 & 8.

The Levites — Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. The explanations may have been interpretation, or simply translation, as the language may have been unfamiliar to the returnees, or the book may have been very old. Imagine how hard it would be if the only scriptures we had were in the original Greek.

Response

So, the Levites had made the meaning clear. The people understood, and were upset by what they heard. After generations of ignoring God and being unfaithful to Him, this generation has heard what He has to say, and is happily turning back to Him.

Ezra reminds them that this is not the right time because today they are supposed to be celebrating. Nehemiah sends them away to enjoy the party that some have prepared, and reminds them to share with those who have nothing prepared.

The next day, if we read on a few verses, we find that the heads of families have begun to understand more about the festival they are celebrating and have learnt more from Ezra and the Levites.

Excited by God's Word

The returnees have been excited to hear God's words as recorded in the book of the Law. As a result, they are already changing the way they have been living their life. That is our challenge too. Each of us have heard the gospel – the good news about Jesus, the son of God who gave His life for our sins, so that we can have eternal life with God. It’s nothing we have done, it’s the grace of God. Even if we’ve heard it many times, it is still amazing news that we should get excited about. If we do, we will want to respond, just as the Returnees to Jerusalem did. We will be sorrowful for our old ways, and want to live as he directs.

And this is what He wants from us:

Mic 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Or as Jesus says in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

References

http://www.textweek.com/yearc/epiphc3.htm
http://www.textweek.com/history/neh8.htm
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/rebuilding-the-walls-michael-deutsch-sermon-on-faith-161427?page=1&wc=800
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2060-when-he-opened-the-book
https://www.sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary/nehemiah-81-10/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity

Jesus' Baptism

Preached  13 January 2019

Water for cleansing

Yesterday as we were preparing for tea with the grandchildren we sent Leo up to the bathroom, but unusually we didn’t send Freddie with him. So Leo was in a hurry. After he had been to the toilet he dashed out of the bathroom, and I had to call him back.

“Wash your hands Leo”

There was no protest, he simple put some water in the sink, and after checking that it was warm enough washed and dried his hands and dashed down stairs to makes sure that Freddie hadn’t somehow gained some sort of advantage.

We are all familiar with using water to get ourselves clean. These days we also ensure that the water is warm and that soap is used. We make the practice into a ritual, so that it becomes a habit. That way we don’t forget even if we are in a hurry.

Old Testament cleansing

There are lots of verses in the Old Testament that talk about washing and being clean. In many cases they are more extreme than the rules we use for ourselves. Often they are also part of the spiritual rituals as well as the physical rituals that the Israelites were part of.

Here is just a single example, but there are many others:

Ex 30:17 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

Not only must Aaron and his sons, the priests of the Israelites be physically clean before they touch the thing that have been consecrated to the Lord, but they must also be spiritually clean – they must not take their sin in with them to the Tent of Meeting.

The Flood

The symbolism of this cleaning can also be seen in the story of the flood, which washed the earth clean of sinful humanity, preserving the only righteous family – Noah’s family – to re-populate the earth.

Roots of Baptism

The New Testament practice of baptism has its roots in these cleansing ceremonies, but the ideas associated with it have moved on a bit.

John’s Baptism

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, and it attracted a lot of people to come out into the wilderness to be baptised. So many, that the Pharisees and Sadducees decided to go and take a look. They question John, expecting him to be the Messiah, but he denies it, and says that he is “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”. The Pharisees and Sadducees clearly expect baptism to be a sign of the Messiah. (see Matt 3:3) The people are also wondering. He tells the “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Jesus’ Baptism

Then Jesus turns up and wants to be Baptised by John. If we look in Matthew chapter 3 we find:

But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then John consented.

Jesus does not need to repent of any sins – He hasn’t committed any, but by asking to be baptized He has aligned Himself with us sinners. He already knows the plan, that He will give his life for us on the cross so that we can be permanently put right with God, and our sins once and for all be forgiven.

This makes Jesus’ baptism unique, but that is not the only unique thing about it. As Jesus was praying heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove. It landed on Him and presumably appeared to somehow become a part of Him. But while this is happening God speaks ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’.

When God speaks

At other times when God speaks the scriptures record the reaction of doubters. In John 12:27-29

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

Here though the words are clear, and no doubters are recorded. The words announce the start of Jesus’ ministry as much as anything else. From now onwards He will be watched to see what He does, how He does it, who he associates with, and every word will be listened to and argued over by those who are threatened by His presence. His life has changed from obscure to very very public. So it is no surprise that He immediately goes into the desert to be tested and come to terms with His ministry.

The Trinity

Did you notice that we were also introduced to the trinity in this short passage. The father speaks from heaven, the son gets baptised and starts His ministry, and the Holy Spirit is visible to the crowds in the form of a dove.

A Christian’s Baptism

Our baptism’s have some similarities with Jesus’ but also some important differences.

The first is that for some of you, like me you will not remember your baptism because it happened when you were very young. I will talk more about that later.

Baptism we are told is a ceremony that demonstrates an outward sign of an inner change. It may also be our first act of obedience to one of God’s commands.

Public Baptism

One thing that our baptism has in common with Jesus is that is takes place in the public arena. Whether we are adults or babies, or something in between there will be in a gathering of family and friends to be witnesses to the baptism. The sponsoring congregation should be there as well. After baptism, you, or possibly your parents, should be under close scrutiny to see how you behave and whether the inner change has been effective. Baptism is a sign of commitment to God and the foundation on which your future Christian life is built – start as you mean to go on.

In the early church, by the fifth century, baptism had been established as an annual event, where candidates spent a considerable time in training and preparation before they were allowed to be baptised. The spread of Christianity and the number of heresies made this essential. We are not so strict today – perhaps we should be.

The Holy Spirit

John promised us that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire. That all happened to Jesus at one time – at His baptism. With a quick glance at the New Testament you will soon see that for most converts it is not as straight forward as that. People come to faith in many ways and to baptism with water, and to baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire in God’s own time, not following any pattern that any of us have designed, or think we may have descerned.

Infant Baptism

The practice of baptizing infants seems to have started in the early 200’s. Cyprian, a North African bishop from about 248AD wrote:

But in respect of the case of the infants, which you say ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, and that the law of ancient circumcision should be regarded, so that you think that one who is just born should not be baptized and sanctified within [i.e., before] the eighth day, we all thought very differently in our council. For in this course which you thought was to be taken, no one agreed; but we all rather judge that the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man. (Cyprian, Letter 58:2)

While I personally have mixed feelings about infant baptism, I very much agree that “the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man.”.

What I do know about the practise of infant baptism is that it has a great and positive effect on at least some of the parents who ask for it, and must therefore have a positive effect on the child, bringing all of them closer to God.

But I do have sympathy with those like myself who feel they were denied the opportunity to be baptised at their own request. Once the ceremony is performed it is done and can’t be re-done.

References

http://www.textweek.com/yearc/baptismc.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/baptism-of-jesus-by-john-700207
http://www.baptismsite.com/the-baptism-of-jesus/
https://chrisaccardy.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/the-old-testament-roots-of-johns-baptism/
https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/letter/hebraic-roots-the-origin-of-immersion/
https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/john-the-baptist/
http://www.bible.ca/ef/topical-baptism-a-prechristian-history.htm
https://www.gotquestions.org/origin-baptism.html
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Washing
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3934
https://www.seetheholyland.net/jordan-river/
https://www.christian-history.org/infant-baptism.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprian

Field of Blue 2019

Easter Sunday is early for a visit to the bluebells.  This year Easter is late, but the bluebells are early.  We were near the start of the season so the all pervading blueness is not really established yet.  Most of these pictures are technically in gardens backing on to the wood, but they are still impressive.  I have created an album here https://photos.app.goo.gl/KDh8R3JyeyyXp7oc8.

We had taken a very different route, mainly to get our Labrador off the hard path that has been laid - great for people, bad for dogs.   So we didn't see all the usual sites.

This location is usually one of the best, if we get a chance we will go back and see how they have developed

Field of Blue 2018

I used to think Bluebells were just some bulbs that came up in spring. Where I lived then had plenty, but it wasn't like Norsey Wood, where there is such a glorious display.  In the last ten years we've got to see them almost every year.  This year, as often happens, we get there when the flowers are just beginning to die off.  Here are this year's pictures, all done on my phone.

	Perhaps it is the very odd spring we have had this year, occasional very hot days and lots of rain, but they seem to be a paler blue.  They also seem more concentrated in certain areas, so the title isn't quite so accurate.  More clumps than fields.
This is my favourite view this year, the carpet leading to the back of the visitor centre.

April Fool?

Preached 1 Apr 2018 at Christ Church, Billericay

April Fool

As it April fools day, I thought we’d take a look at one of the most famous April Fools ever. 
[Show Video] -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU
That was shown in 1957, I don’t remember it, as I was not yet a year old when it was shown,  but I have heard about it many times since. Apparently it was quite successful – in that a lot of people believed it, and I was wondering why it worked.

Why it worked

Here’s a few ideas:
Firstly, in 1957 few people would have known what went on in Italy or Switzerland, or where Spaghetti came from.  The war had not spread European culture across Britain.  Secondly, the film is well made, and perhaps most importantly was shown by a trusted source – the BBC.  So many people were fooled.

April Fool – Meme

Today there will no doubt be many attempts at April Fools based on the fact that it is also Easter Day.  I found this one last week [Meme] and I expect to find lots more, on both sides of the argument today and in the next few days.
These are all nice little jokes, and its fun to be fooled occasionally, but the world today is full of people who want to put their own ‘spin’ on the facts.  Spin is an old term now, today it is called ‘fake news’ and some of it is completely made up.

Countering Fake News

So how do we tell the difference?
We must research the facts and find out which of the claimed facts are reliable and which ones aren’t.

Christianity’s Claims

Christianity not only claims that Jesus lived and died, but that he was resurrected.  That’s quite a claim.  We all know that dead men don’t walk or talk. There is plenty of evidence for that, so to claim that someone did requires some very strong evidence.
Because if that claim is true it changes everything that we think we know. 

Objections to the resurrection

Some would like to tell us this is all ‘fake news’ and argue against the truth of this story.  Some of their arguments are easy to counter, some are harder.  I’m going to look at a few of these now.

Myth

It’s just a myth, like the Greek and Roman gods. 
If a resurrection were to happen today, we wouldn’t consign it to myth, just because there are plenty of myths with a similar theme.  Neither would the new testament writers.  We have already seen that the historical evidence is good enough for us to be confident that Jesus was a real person.  While there are plenty of myths of gods being resurrected and saving the world, they lack the detail and historical perspective that the gospels provide.

Guardian

In 2017 The Guardian ran an article “What is the historical evidence that Jesus Christ lived and died?”
That’s a good first step, because if he didn’t live and die, he can’t have been resurrected.
In summary, historians accept that Jesus is a real historical person, even if 40% of English adults don’t.

Legend

Or perhaps its the product of legend.  One person tells another, the story gets embellished each time, after all it’s been 2000 years now. 
The evidence from the study of scriptures is that the textual purity is highly reliable – in other words it hasn’t been tampered with.  If it were a legend we should be able to see the story develop as we compare early copies with more recent ones.  This is not the case with the Bible.

Wasn’t Dead.

There are also some objections to the events described in the Bible.  Some say that Jesus wasn’t really dead.
It’s true that some (a very few) people survived crucifixion.  Once all the ‘show’ of a public killing was over relatives would come and take them down from their cross.
In Jesus case the evidence of the Bible is that Jesus was most definitely dead.  Because of the circumstances of his crucifixion (just before passover) the authorities wanted to make sure the three being crucified were dead, so a soldier was told to ‘finish them off’ by breaking their legs.  This leads to suffocation quite quickly.  When the soldier got to Jesus he spotted that he was already dead, and stuck a spear in his side.  Blood and water was seen to come from his body – a sign that death has occurred and that blood is no longer circulating.
We should also remember that Jesus had been brutally beaten before his crucifixion and was therefore weaker than most who are crucified.
If He wasn’t dead, He would have had to recover enough to move the stone from the mouth of the tomb and walk away.  This is not a credible idea because of the physical state His body was in and because he had no access to water, so would have been weakened by blood loss and de-hydration.
If he wasn’t dead, and He moved the stone, He would have been seen or more probably arrested by the guards placed outside his tomb.

Disciples stole the body

The guards at the tomb lead us straight to the next objection.  The disciples stole the body.  This is, if you like, the official excuse for the body being missing.  The guards fell asleep and the disciples sneaked in and stole Jesus’ body.  If the guards had really fallen asleep they would have been put to death – dereliction of duty was a capital offence. If the disciples had stolen the body it is unlikely that each one of them would have kept to their story as they were persecuted and for most of them put to death – after all they would have had no hope of resurrection because they already knew that it hadn’t happened.

The wrong tomb

Perhaps there is a simpler explanation, perhaps it was all a mistake and the women simply went to the wrong tomb.  Jesus’ death was unusual in that He was hurriedly removed from the cross and His body placed in a tomb in an unprepared state.  Then on the third day, the women went to the tomb to complete the treatment of His body.  Supposing in their confusion they had gone to the wrong tomb.  They were clearly all very upset and had had their hopes dashed, either they remembered the wrong place, or in the darkness they simply went in the wrong direction.  These things happen.  They had ended up at a new unused grave.
They wouldn’t have been able to work in the darkness, so dawn was on it way, by the time they had got back to the disciples it would be light.  Then Peter and John had run to the tomb, are we supposed to believe that these two disciples made the same mistake – it seems a little far fetched.  It gets even harder to believe when the grave cloths are described.  This excuse is too unlikely to be a proper argument against the resurrection.

Hallucinations

The disciples and the followers of Jesus were so traumatised by the events of the crucifixion and the resultant grief meant they became mentally unstable so they saw Jesus when He wasn’t really there – they suffered a hallucination. 
Hallucination does not explain the empty tomb.  Hallucinations are individual, it is unlikely that the many disciples would have consistent hallucinations at different times. 
Hallucinations cannot explain the conversion of Paul and James.
Paul was persecuting Christians, and very zealous in his job.  He was not suffering from grief, nor had he suffered any trauma.
James was a sceptic, but after the resurrection became a follower.

Delusional

The disciples wanted the resurrection to happen so much that despite His death they continued to live their lives as though it had.  They had become delusional.
Again Paul and James make this a difficult objection to support.  Neither of them had shown any signs of wanting Jesus to succeed in any way, yet after the resurrection they changed and both of them were ultimately martyred for their beliefs.

Strong Evidence

We’ve looked at six different objections to the story of the resurrection, and I’ve provided short answers to each of them.  It is not a proof, but it is very strong evidence.  Human beings, however, usually need than straight forward evidence before they will believe something.

Sceptics cannot believe in super-natural events

Some sceptics simply cannot believe in super-natural events and are desperate to find ways to explain away the challenge that this story puts in front of them and I was once one of them.  We have been looking at the evidence, and if we are going to follow the evidence then we must respond as Arthur Conan-Doyle advised in Sherlock Holmes “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

So do we believe in the resurrection?

If we do it changes everything.  If not, it changes nothing and “we are still in our sins” as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:17.

Changes Everything

If everything changes, one of those things will be the way we live our lives.  Jesus said ‘follow me’ and that is what we try to do, but we cannot change ourselves.  50 days after the resurrection comes Pentecost, when God gave the Holy Spirit.  Until then the disciples remained largely as they had been before the crucifixion – perhaps a little more scared, but after receiving the Spirit of God they became bold and fearless.
It is their witness, and the witness of those who followed them that caused the early church to grow at a phenomenal rate.

Positive Evidence

The positive evidence for the resurrection is not found in arguments put forward by sceptics, but in the life of the followers of Jesus Christ.  Those who have realised that He died for them, and that His resurrection is the proof of what He said.  Those who know that everything has changed, that the world they once knew has no value whatsoever.
Those who understand Matthew 21:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Those are the people who are convincing others, because they live as though what they believe that makes the difference.  There are thousands of them throughout history.  There are many in this church, and some that were in this church many year ago convinced me that Jesus had died and risen from the dead.

Just people?

So if its just people, why have I spent the last 15 minutes or so talking about the intellectual objections?  Because we need to be able to demonstrate that the faith we have is consistent and makes sense, otherwise we are not April fools, we are lunatics, and however we live we will convince no-one.
It turns out that those who have listened to His message and accepted it are not the April fools – they are the ones who know that Jesus is alive and they are living a life where everything has changed.
So that just leaves the ones who haven’t listened or who haven’t heard – Pray for them!


Perhaps we look at that meme again.

References

https://strangenotions.com/5-possible-theories-that-explain-the-resurrection-of-jesus/
http://charlietaylorministries.com/the-final-four-objections-to-the-resurrection/
https://worldviewofjesus.com/2013/03/27/objections-to-the-minimal-facts-argument-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus-christ/
https://www.jashow.org/articles/guests-and-authors/dr-norman-geisler-2/evidence-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus-christ-from-the-dead/
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865676737/The-best-April-Fools-Day-pranks-in-history.html
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-ressurection-road-jimmy-dillon-sermon-on-easter-resurrection-111462
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus
http://www.brentcunningham.org/?p=584
http://sherlockholmesquotes.com/sherlock-holmes-on-problem-solving/
http://christianworldviewpress.com/what-about-the-guards-at-jesus-tomb/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/14/what-is-the-historical-evidence-that-jesus-christ-lived-and-died