Belief changes Lives (mainly ours)

Preached 21 April 2019

1. Preparation – Quote

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

2. Unusual

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

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

3. John’s Account

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

4. Heavy Stone

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

5. Roman’s have the body

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

6. Mary tells Peter and John

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

7. Disciples stole the body

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

8. John doesn’t go in

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

9. Peter Puzzled

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

10. John believes

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

11. What John believes

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

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

12. John 2:19-22

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

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

13. John 11:25

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

14. John 16:22

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

15. Verse 9

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

16. Legal basis for accepting the resurrection

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

17. Focus on Mary

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

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

18. Wrong Tomb

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

19. Mary at the tomb

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

20. The gardener

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

21. What’s in a name?

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

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

22. Do not hold on to me

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

23. “I have seen the Lord”

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

24. Only one sighting

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

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

25. Belief

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

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

How has it affected you?

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

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

Happy Easter!

References

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

Faith on Palm Sunday

Preached 14 April 2019

Background

Luke link the story of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem to the parable of the talents, because he says the people thought that the Kingdom of God was going to come at once. That gives me a bit of a different view of what that parable is really about, but as we will see from the readings this morning, it appears that, as usual, the people didn’t really listen to what Jesus was saying to them. People don’t change it seems.

Jesus finishes His story and continues His journey with his disciples.

The colt

They get to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus sends two of His disciples to get a colt – a young male donkey that has not yet been castrated and which no-one has ever ridden, it would probably have been under 4 years old. The two disciples are not named. They may have been two of the twelve, but because no names are mentioned it is likely that they are from the wider group of disciples.

First act of Faith

This is the first act of faith that we see in this story, as we proceed I am going to be emphasising the role that faith plays throughout and I will try to help us relate that to our own faith.

Simple Instructions

They are given a relatively simple set of instructions. vv30-31 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

Finding the Colt - Miracle or not?

Some people will count this as a miracle saying Jesus knew that there was a colt tied up in the village, and how to get it. That He was able to get all this information directly from His Father in heaven. And it’s true, He could have. But there is a much simpler answer, and I, personally, prefer to keep things simple whenever possible. Remember, Jesus was a very capable Human being, as well as God incarnate. It is entirely possible that He planned the whole thing. They have been around these villages a lot. It is likely that Jesus has at some time spoken to the owners of the colt and agreed that He can borrow the donkey. So he has arranged for the pass phrase “The Lord needs it” as a guarantee that the owners will not react badly to an apparent attempt to steal their donkey.

The Disciples faith / Our faith

For those two disciples it was an act of faith to follow Jesus’ instructions. They didn’t argue or question, they didn’t need to, the instruction was clear, all that was required was obedience. And they passed that test with flying colours. I wonder how our faith would have responded in that situation? Would you or I have felt the need at argue or question?

Thomas à Kempis said:

“Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.”

When the instruction is clear, instant obedience is the only response – even if it involves borrowing a strangers donkey.

Plan worked

The plan worked perfectly. The instructions were followed to the letter and the two disciples return with a colt.

v35

Then we come to verse 35, it may seem like just a linking verse to keep the story moving, but it hides the real miracle here. A young, un-castrated donkey would be expected to buck and jump around and do it’s best to try to unseat anyone who tried to ride it but the donkey accepts Jesus peacefully. Jesus is the ultimate horse whisperer. He does not need to break the donkey. This is the real miracle in the passage.

Prophesy fulfilled.

By choosing to ride into Jerusalem in this way Jesus is fulfilling the prophesy in Zechariah 9:9:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The people are well aware of what that means. Jesus is claiming to be king. They put their faith in him and spread their cloaks on the ground to show their belief and their support.

Misplaced Faith

But their faith is misplaced. Not because Jesus can’t save them – He most definitely can. That is why He came, that is why He is riding to Jerusalem. He knows what will happen in the next few days, He knows the crowd will turn against Him and He knows He will be put to death. That is the plan, that has always been the plan. To die for our sins, and to restore our broken relationship with God. To banish death forever and give the gift of Eternal life to all who choose to follow him.

Oppressed People

But they are a people oppressed by the Romans, and they want their freedom. God has been silent in their troubles for generations, they long for Him to speak. Then John comes with a Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Then Jesus comes performing miracles – the blind are healed, the lame are walking, the hungry are fed. They have SEEN things. They have drawn their own conclusions, but they have not listened to the person who is performing all these miracles.

Go back to verse 11 and the parable of the talents, which says:

“While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.”

If they had listened, if they had thought about it for just a few minutes who knows how different it might have been. Instead, as they have so many times in the past, they have put their faith in themselves and are relying on their own understanding. They have decided how this will go. They will make Jesus king, and He will lead them in revolution to kick out the occupying force.

We celebrate

We celebrate today because that crowd celebrated. When we do that, where do we put our faith? What sort of Jesus are we really celebrating? The One who is king of the Jews? The One who is Lord of the entire world? The One who is creator of the Universe? The One who will protect us, give us a good life and meet all our needs?

Because if it is ALL of those things, that is neither the way to heaven, nor the way to make disciples.

OR are we celebrating the real Jesus – the one whom we have declared our willingness to serve? The one who we have given up our lives for? The one who says “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” (Matt 10:16) That same Jesus who is still King of the Jews, Lord of the World, and creator and Master of the Universe.

China

I read this week that the number of Christians is still growing in China, even as the authorities there start to clamp down more tightly on unauthorised religious activity. That is because the witness of the faithful is really powerful under oppression.

Our faith

Is our faith is placed in this Jesus, or are we putting our faith in an image of Him that we have created to suite our own desires and our own agenda, just like the crowd had.

Procession

It’s difficult for us to really get a feel for what that procession felt like. In some respects it was like carnival (did you know that carnival was originally a feast that led up to Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) and happened before lent). The carnivals that I think of happen in August when it is warm enough in England, and are colourful and joyful parades that raise money for charities. So there was an element of carnival. The procession was also a bit like a an enthronement ceremony – because that’s what was really going on – the people wanted to make Jesus King. There was also an element of protest or demonstration that would show the Romans that they were no longer really in charge, and their time in Jerusalem was limited. So there was an underlying political tension to the otherwise peaceful proceedings.

Pharisees Rebuke

That’s why the Pharisees rebuke is so telling. The Jewish leadership was trying to do an impossible job, managing their people and satisfying the occupying forces that they did not need to get involved in the day to day festivities. Had the crowd become too exuberant, or too political the Romans would have been forced to take some sort of action because they didn’t permit peaceful protest. It would undoubtedly have led to a bloodbath.

Pharisees Faith

If the Pharisees had truly put their faith in God, they would have understood a lot of what Jesus had been saying and would not have been threatened by Jesus. As it was their faith was also in themselves rather than God, so they found their job impossible, and were constantly in fear of the people or the Romans.

Stones cry Out

Jesus’ response to being asked to quieten His disciples is brilliant. “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” From the time of Abels murder, when his blood cried out to God, through the oppression of the workers in Habakkuk 2:11 where the stones cry out and the timbers of the building echo the call. To the injustices spoken of in James 5:4 “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” There is a sense that creation cannot suffer the evil of man and God will hear the cry of agony that results.

In this case it is the wilful blindness that the stones will cry out against. Jesus’ time has come and man is powerless to stop it. If men cannot see it creation will be a witness – it is SO obvious, it is SO important.

As far as we go

That is as far as we go with the story today. In this short story we have seen God at work in human history and an example of faith that helped it on it’s way as the unnamed disciples borrow a donkey. We’ve seen the faith of the crowd, celebrating the right thing for all the wrong reasons, having looked at only part of the evidence available to them. They had decided who Jesus was – the son of God, their king, but they had also decided that their way was better than His. It’s a mistake that’s easy for us to make too. We’ve seen the lack of faith of the Pharisees, who see God at work but cannot get involved because of the fear inside them of losing their position of limited control that they have trying to do the impossible job of leading the Jews and keeping the Romans happy.

Where is our faith?

Where is our faith? I expect that most of us would call ourselves disciples, are we there helping things along? Or are we like the crowd doing things our own way? Or are we like the Pharisees, supposedly God’s people, but lacking faith to submit to His ways?

References

https://www.compellingtruth.org/voice-of-God.html
https://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=4563
https://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=733

https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2801#post_comments
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/occam-s-razor-the-simplest-solution-is-always-the-best
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/occam-s-razor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razorhttps://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2801
http://www.anglicanchildrenministry.com/what-is-the-significance-of-the-triumphal-entry/
http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/o/obedience.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_%C3%A0_Kempis

Ever felt tempted?

Preached  10 March 2019

Ever felt Tempted?

[Dairy Milk - Temptation Advert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3gb11rY230]

I should emphasise that this is NOT a real advert. It contravenes all sorts of laws, and could not be shown by any broadcaster. It was a college video project uploaded to Youtube. In many ways it is better, for my purposes at least., because it shows what temptation can lead to – crime.

There are many adverts which try to sell their product by undermining our resolve to resist. Most of these relate to food. In an age of obesity we should perhaps take them more seriously. It is no longer true for many people that that cake or chocolate bar will do them no harm – because it is NEVER just that ONE.

The world, it seems has a very odd relationship with temptation. There is an Australian TV program called “Temptation Island” - where they put a load of young 20-somethings – all physically attractive - on a tropical island and watch them cheat on each other. The tag line is ‘who can resist’. I suspect that if any of them do resist they will be off the show in no time. The show plays to all sorts of temptations – from our voyeuristic tendencies to the satisfaction we feel when others fail. Fortunately the video on Youtube was very poor quality, or I might have given in to temptation and shown it to you this morning.

Should I resist temptation?

That thought led me to ask “Should I resist temptation?” so I tried the question on a few search engines. Looking at the results on the first three pages I got links to web sites that would tell me how to resist temptation, and links to pages that said they would help when I have failed to resist temptation. Only one appeared to offer an answer. It was, of course, a Christian site, and immediately spoke about sin – great for me, but not I suspect helpful for many outside the Christian church.

It seems that the world expects us to (at least try to) resist temptation, and enjoys the consequences when we fail.

Temptation – definition

My answer to the question hinges on the definition of temptation (or tempt – to use the root of the word). To tempt (according to thefreedictionary.com) is to try to get someone to do something wrong – especially for reward.

So, when we give in to temptation, we are swapping some short term gain, for some longer term pain.

Who tempts?

Usually the temptation that we face comes from others around us, or from our motivations, or our own nature. Sometimes however it is entirely external, and is the work of the devil.

In our reading from Luke today we hear about Jesus being tempted. Jesus was without sin, so did not have the sinful nature that we possess, nevertheless, for Him to succeed in His mission, he has to experience temptations that are so common to us. Lets take a closer look and see how Jesus was tempted, and perhaps more importantly, how He responded to those temptations.

The Temptations of Jesus - Situation

After His baptism there was a voice from heaven which said: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” and He was immediately driven out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested. He was there for 40 days during which time He did not eat. Luke rather understates the situation when he says that Jesus was hungry. 40 days is about as long as a human body can go without food – so he was on the edge of death.

The Temptations of Jesus – Food

The devil says to Him ‘If you’re the son of God turn this stone into bread’. It would have been so easy for Him to say to Himself, I know I need food, I know I have the power to do miracles, if I die now the whole project is lost. He also knew that the people would want evidence. In John 6:30-31

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

This miracle, if performed would prove beyond any doubt who He was, it would prepare Him to do the miracles that he must inevitably do, and it would nourish Him and make him stronger.

BUT … there’s always a but.

These are the short term gains, the long term pain is too hard to bear. Jesus is also called to be faithful to God the Father and if He is to do that he must remain hungry just a little bit longer. So His answer is “It is written ‘Man does not live by bread alone’”. That’s part of Deuteronomy 8:3, where God is teaching the Israelites humility and to trust in Him.

One down, two to go.

The Temptations of Jesus – Authority and Splendour

Next, the devil takes Him to a high place and tries a different tack. The devil claims that the world is his and he is free to give it to whom ever he wants.

This is what Jesus has come for, He is to rule the world – that is His destiny, that is His mission. Does it matter how he achieves that. Surely it’s better, more humane even to have the world handed over. If He goes with the plan there will be the agony of crucifixion, and years and year of bitter fighting. Many of His followers will have to accept the same horrible deaths. Surely the devils way is better.

BUT … there’s always a but.

These are the short term gains, the long term pain too hard to bear.

Could Jesus really remain perfect, while He worshipped a sinful being – that would not be possible, and instead of being the second Adam, he would end up just like Adam’s descendants – He would be the same as any of us. Jesus is also called to be faithful to God the Father and if He is to do that he can only worship God. The scriptures say that the Messiah must suffer and die for the sins of the people before He enters His glory (Luke 24:26). If He doesn’t follow the plan, He will not enter His glory, and the whole of redemption will be lost.

So His answer is “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”. It’s another scripture reference to Deuteronomy (6:13). Not quite a direct quote, but comes from a passage where God is insisting that the Israelites follow only Him.

The Temptations of Jesus – Claim the promise

The second temptation has been resisted, but the devil is learning. In each of His responses so far Jesus has used scripture to resist the temptation. Now scripture IS the temptation. It’s from Psalm 91:11-12.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Go on then, Son of God, prove it beyond any doubt. Do this and you know that God is with You. Do this and you will know You are the Messiah and you will have the angels always there protecting you.

Surely this would be an amazing act of faith and would show the world who you are. No-one could argue, they would all instantly believe in you. They’ll know you have God on your side and will be unable to defeat you.

BUT … there’s always a but.

These are the short term gains, the long term pain is too hard to bear.

Jesus knows that such an action, while looking like an act of faith is actually in direct contravention of all the God stands for. It is simply demanding a sign – the same sin that the Israelites had committed many times. If He were to do that, it would not show His faith and trust in God. God does not respond to requests for signs from believers. Such an action would not prove that He was the messiah, but would prove that He was just like everyone else – just like the faithless Israelites He has come to redeem.

Jesus also knows his scriptures and has spotted the highly selective quote ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’

Did you notice what’s missing? The phrase ‘in all your ways’ has been replaced with ‘carefully’. So, the promise that the devil is asking Jesus to claim, is not the same as the promise in scripture. ‘All your ways’ means going about your normal daily business, not jumping off the top of the temple.

Jesus’ response is “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” It is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:16, where God is warning the Israelites not to test Him again.

Jesus’ Temptations

Jesus’ temptations have all been around His mission and were triggered by God calling Him “my son, whom I love”. The devil knows that the best way to stop Jesus is to prevent Him from starting, but he has failed.

Our State

The devil also knows the best way to stop each of us too. Sometimes that is achieved with the least effort by simply leaving us to our own devices.

1 John 2:16 For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world.

James 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Sometimes though, we will receive specific temptations from the devil – usually as soon as we start to do anything remotely important for God. In those times it may be that the devil has been allowed to tempt us, just as he was allowed to tempt Jesus.

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray “lead us not into temptation” because we know how weak we are, it is better to be avoided.

What to Do

When we are tempted, or when we know there are things that tempt us, there are some things we can do:

Know Scripture

This will help, not only in responding correctly to the devil, but also in assessing the danger we are in and knowing how to resist. In his letter to the Ephesians describing spiritual warfare Paul says:

Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Scripture is our defence.

Know yourself

Next, we must know ourselves.

James 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Eph 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

Rest

When we are tired, it is harder to remember scripture and to be alert to the dangers around us, so we must stay fresh and that means being well rested.

Run Away

When we see a temptation on the horizon we can simply remove ourselves form the situation – Run Away.

1 Timothy 6:10-11 – Flee the love of money

1 Corinthians 6:18 – Flee from sexual immorality.

2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee the evil desires of youth

Away out

… and if you can’t get away, God will always provide a way out. So, if you remember the video we started with, there will never be a need to steal the chocolate bar.

I find 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” both comforting, because God is watching over us and protecting us, but also rather hard, because when I do succumb to temptation there is clearly only one person to blame.

References
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/what-would-jesus-do-with-temptation-andrew-chan-sermon-on-temptation-general-62661?ref=SermonSerps
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/one-fit-messiah-stephen-todd-sermon-on-lordship-of-christ-70774?page=1&wc=800
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/first-things-first-marilyn-murphree-sermon-on-easter-resurrection-66274?ref=SermonSerps
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/temptation
https://factsandtrends.net/2018/11/20/3-reasons-to-resist-temptation/

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