Of Signs and Traps

Aim

To Alerts the congregation to the signs or the return of Christ& to encourage them to avoid the traps on the way

To introduce Advent

Introduction – Advent

Happy New Year. That may sound like a strange thing to say just before Christmas, but the season of Advent is the start of the churches year. Today is the first of four Sundays in the run up to the birth of God into our world.

So I'm going to ask you to make a new years resolution – one that you will keep and build on during the year.

Advent means

1 coming or arrival; first appearance.

2 (Advent) Christianity the period which includes the four Sundays before Christmas.

3 (Advent) Christianity the first or second coming of Christ.

Each of the four Sundays in Advent is used to help us prepare our selves for that Arrival. On the first Sunday , right at the start of the year we look at the coming and the coming back – perhaps better known as the first and second comings.

Background to passage

The passage that was read today is just a short part of Jesus teaching to his disciples on the future. The full passage starts back in verse 5. The disciples are admiring the great architecture of the temple. Jesus sees his opportunity. His chance to make an impact. Every one of these stones will be thrown down. That got their attention. Then there is the famous Wars and rumours of Wars passage. These things must happen but the end is not yet. There will be persecutions and witnessing – and then Jerusalem will be destroyed. Watch for the signs of that Jesus says and when you see them RUN AWAY. Then follows the time of the Gentiles – the time we are now living in, or towards the end of. Then we come to the passage we heard this morning.

Signs

Then Jesus starts talking about signs – “you recognise the signs of the seasons” he says to his disciples, and so do we. Even if sometimes we are less than certain about when they start an finish. It's advent, but we're all talking about Christmas – the expectation of some time away from work or school, a chance to enjoy some good food and drink and take it easy for a few days before the worst of the winter arrives. But when does Christmas actually start.

Of Christmas

It's not really Christmas until ...

• X-Factor (or Strictly) is on TV
• Children in Need
• The first Carol service (tonight 5pm @ Christ Church)
• The town lights are switched on (next Wednesday)
• Break up for school holidays
• The coke ad is on TV – you know the one with the big truck with way too many lights on it bringing the Christmas Coke.
• Until there's a postal strike
• The shopping is complete.
• In my house it will be until Pete has started his Christmas shopping, or was that Its not Boxing day until …). Well I'm ashamed to say its early this year – I've already received some of the gifts I have ordered for people.)
• The decorations are up and the tree decorated.
• midnight on December 24th

We know how to read the signs of the seasons because we grow up with them and are taught them. We have plenty of practice, but for most Children it only takes two or three attempts before they have the basic idea of Christmas, and the looking forward to it.

Signs in the World

The longer term signs are much harder to read though. The signs that Jesus talks about are in the Sun, Moon and Stars, and in the roaring and tossing of the sea. These may refer to physical events, but I think it is a LOT more likely that they refer to political events. The sea is a Jewish symbol for Chaos and Danger. The Sun, moon and Stars are the heavenly bodies – those placed over us – our political and religious leaders, and the systems they work in.

Signs of the End

The world is fascinated with looming disaster – especially the end of the world. There is always some scare, some threat – real or imagined that sets an end date for us all. The latest is 2012. Not the Olympics, but 21 December 2012. Its the date on which the Mayan calendar ends. Their calendar runs from August 11, 3114 BC to 21 December 2012 and is based on astronomic cycles. It is said that it ends as our solar system moves across the galactic equator. This is due to cause all sorts of physical disruption on the earth – from an eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano to earth quakes, tsunamis and environmental collapse. Inevitably someone has also calculated 2012 as the date for the battle at Armageddon, but so many of those have been calculated and proved to be false, I will not be worrying about this one. As for the Mayan calendar, it ends because that is the end of the astronomic cycle – just as our yearly calendar ends at a fixed point after the winter solstice. When its finished we just start again, so would the Mayans. There's a lot more to the 2012 disaster predictions, but we must remember that Jesus also said ^{Mk 13:32} “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ^x

Signs of the return

We should look elsewhere for signs of his return, because there ARE signs. The fig tree is singled out for special mention because it the symbol for Israel. So one of the signs we might consider is the re-birth of Israel. It occurred on 15 May 1948. There had not been a proper state since before the Roman invasion, and the last vestiges were destroyed with the temple in AD 70. That was the event Jesus was talking about at the start of the Chapter. The establishment of Israel has brought more focus to the problems in the region, and may well have created even more chaos. More recently we have seen the destruction of Soviet communist empire and the resulting Chaos in its outlying regions – the Balkans and Chechnya to name but two. The loss of one of the two great powers in the world lead to de-stabilisation in many other places as well.

"This Generation"

There is one little difficulty with the prophecy that we are looking at this morning. It is verse 32.

^{Lk 21:32} “I tell you the truth, this generation ^{83 g} will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

In our thinking we would expect 'this generation' to mean the people alive at the time it was spoken. When the last of the WW1 veterans in England died we said that the war had passed into history because the generation that fought it were now dead.

There were most certainly people in the early church who had that expectation too. It could be argued that John waited so long to write his Gospel because he though that Jesus would be back and he wouldn't need to take the time and trouble. The word can mean generation in the sense that we are discussing it here, It can also mean race, in the sense of a people.

“I tell you the truth, this race ^{83 g} will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

This translation gives the passage quite a different meaning. Particularly when you consider how close the Jews have come to annihilation recently. While the most usual use of the word translates to generation in English, I think we must be prepared to accept that Jesus did not mean it in that sense.

Traps

Jesus continues with a warning:

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, ⁱ and that day will close on you unexpectedly ^j like a trap.

There are three things to watch out for, three traps for the unwary - dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.

Drunkenness I understand, the anxieties of life I understand, so lets deal with them first.

Drunkenness

Did anyone see the program on the “Red Lions” - a look at public houses all around the country with the name “Red Lion”. Drunkenness, perhaps as you'd expect was also one of the key elements of the program. There were some groups, no quite a few groups that were interviewed whose main aim was to get drunk. It is fairly obvious that someone who is drunk is going to have trouble reading the signs, let alone heed them. Most of them could barely find their way home. I'm assuming that drunkenness does not apply to anyone here.

Anxieties of life

Everyone has something to worry about to keep their life going on as it should. A living has to be earned, the family has to be looked after. The problem is that for some people these things become all consuming. For sure there will be times when there is just too much to do, and your focus will be on a sick relative rather than anything else, but that should only be for a while. If the normal day to day activities become an end in themselves then you will not be able to focus on what is happening in the wider world, and you may get caught in the trap.

Dissipation

Unsurprisingly the root of the word is the same as disperse, according to Chambers UK dictionary dissipate means:

1. to separate and scatter.
2. to use up something carelessly; to squander it. dissipated adj over-indulging in pleasure and enjoyment; debauched. dissipation noun.

The second definition contains the information we need.

“to use up something carelessly; to squander it. dissipated adj over-indulging in pleasure and enjoyment; debauched. dissipation noun. “

That sounds like it describes the world we live in. For years we have been using up the resources of the planet carelessly. Doing whatever we want for our pleasure and over-indulging. Car engines are left running when the car is going nowhere, heaters are left switched on – because we can't be bothered to turn them off. Our insistence on high quality produce means that up to a third of the food we produce is rejected as not good enough.

The “Red Lions” program also visited Billericay, and interviewed two old ladies, both were well past retirement age, and both spent a lot of their time in the pub drinking bottles of port – if I remember correctly. Neither of them were drunken, although their blood alcohol level must have been off the scale. Both of them were well past retirements and both their husbands had died, some considerable time before the interview. When I was trying to understand what Jesus was getting at here, I thought of their interview immediately. They are the perfect illustration. Their lives do not matter, they exist simply for the pleasure that they can get. Their time together in the pub, and a bottle of port seems to be all they are living for.

Call me driven, if you like, but I can't help thinking that even at that age there must be more to life. Yet is is what many people aspire to. To be comfortable, have some pleasures in life, and not to have any responsibilities.

If that isn't a great help in understanding, let me tell you the story of Wally, the wild duck.

Story of Wally: "The Call of the Farmyard" (Author Unknown)

(Found here: http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=56399)

A flock of wild ducks were flying in formation, heading south for the Winter. They formed a beautiful "V" in the sky, and were admired by everyone who saw them from below.

One day, Wally, one of the wild ducks in the formation, spotted something on the ground that caught his eye. It was a Farmyard with a flock of tame ducks who lived on the farm. They were waddling around on the ground, quacking merrily and eating corn that was thrown on the ground for them every day.

Wally liked what he saw. "It sure would be nice to have some of that corn," he thought to himself. "And all this flying is very tiring. I’d like to just waddle around for a while." So after thinking it over a while, Wally left the formation of wild ducks, made a sharp dive to the left, and headed for the barn yard.

He landed among the tame ducks, and began to waddle around and quack merrily. He also started eating corn. The formation of wild ducks continued their journey south, but Wally didn’t care. I’ll rejoin them when they come back this way in a few months, he said to himself.

Several months went by and sure enough, Wally looked up and spotted the flock of wild ducks in formation, heading north. They looked beautiful up there. And Wally was tired of the barn yard.

It was muddy and everywhere he waddled, nothing but duck-doo. "It’s time to leave," said Wally. So Wally flapped his wings furiously and tried to get airborne. But he had gained some weight from all his corn eating, and he hadn’t exercised his wings much either.

He finally got off the ground, but he was flying too low and slammed into the side of the barn. He fell to the ground with a thud and said to himself,"Oh well, I’ll just wait until they fly South in a few months. Then I’ll rejoin them and become a wild duck again."

But when the flock flew overhead once more, Wally again tried to lift himself out of the barn yard. He simply didn’t have the strength. Every Winter and every Spring, he saw his wild duck friends flying over head, and they would call out to him. But his attempts to leave were all in vain.

Eventually Wally no longer paid any attention to the wild ducks flying overhead. He hardly even noticed them. He had after all, become a Farmyard duck.

Commentary on Wally

Sometimes we get tired of being wild ducks . . . followers of Jesus Christ. It’s not always easy to be obedient to God and to discipline ourselves to hang in there for the long haul. When we are feeling that way, that’s when Satan tempts us to "fall out of formation" and to join the Farmyard ducks . . . the world . . .

Watch and Pray

Jesus says “be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life”. “Be always on the watch. Pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen.”

Be watchful. Keep your eyes and ears open – know what is happening in the world. Be ready to fly away. Keep your wing muscles in good working order. It was interesting watching the program “Life” about predators and pray. In south India the deer were grazing on the grasses as a tiger approached. Bite, Head up, chew, listen and look around, swallow, listen and look around. Bite, Head up, chew, listen and look around, swallow, listen and look around. The alarm was given, but the deer stayed in their routine. Bite, Head up, chew, listen and look around, swallow, listen and look around. Its not time to go yet. Why not run now? Its simple. They do not know where the tiger is – if they run the way they are facing they might run toward the predator. Bite, Head up, chew, listen and look around, swallow, listen and look around. More alarms – enough for them to work out the location – then they turn and are gone in a second. Poor tiger goes hungry.

When you go into a strange building – for example a holiday hotel or a new office, do you check out the fire exits. One expert (he investigates deaths cause by building fires) recommends practising the route out of the building so that you know where to go, if the worst should happen. It could save your life.

You may have to leave you church, your town or your country to stay safe, I cannot tell you what it will be. Or you may not. You wouldn't want to run away and find yourself in serious danger.

Watch and Pray. Or are you like the disciples at Jesus arrest and can't keep your eyes open? Jesus says “Stop worrying about your stuff, or you life with all of its comforts, instead turn to prayer and preparation.” We may not know when the second coming is, but one thing is certain. It is a year closer than it was last advent.

Conclusion

So as the new year starts will you make a new years resolution? This is not going to be one that you can drop after Christmas.

Will you decide to pray more and more, and to be more alert and ever more watchful as the year progresses. Are you prepared to get into the habit of watching and praying, so that when the time comes you know what you have to do, or where you can go.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like ... from Matthew 13:31-35

The Kingdom of Heaven is like ...

Why Parables

Why not just tell it like it is? Why do we always have to wrap everything up in stories? There are a number of possible reasons. The truth is often quite are to convey directly, but by reference to something else, some of the truth can be uncovered.

How would you describe an Elephant to a blind man? Or how would you tell him about the colour yellow? That is the type of problem that Jesus faces when he tries to tell us about the kingdom of heaven. He's trying to describe something that we start off with only the vaguest of ideas about – and they may even be wrong. When blind men were asked to describe what they were feeling this is what they came up with:

leg is like a pillar;

tail is like a rope;

the trunk is like a tree branch;

the ear is like a hand fan;

belly is like a wall;

the tusk is like a solid pipe.

... but that doesn't give me a picture of an elephant and neither would it much help another blind man -- perhaps if we started with a horse?

The colour yellow is in the visible spectrum and has a wavelength of 590–560 nm and a frequency of 510–540 THz. It's the truth, but it doesn't help us or especially someone who is blind get any sense of what yellow is. Perhaps we should have started by talking about the sun.

Hidden Meaning

When Jesus was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,
" 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"

Parables are used to help some people understand and to make it impossible for others to understand.

Surprise Usage

The way parables are told often contains something to make the hearer startled in some way. Its a technique for getting someone's attention and trying to help them to think differently. It also serves to make the saying memorable.

Over interpretation – missing the point

You will often hear sermons and talks on parables that go into great depths about the detail in the parable and all the possible meanings and imagery that goes around it. In preparation for this talk I read and listened to a number of other sermons based on this passage. One was an exhortation to evangelism and one was about the apostate church. Both had entirely missed the main point of what Jesus is saying. As I take a look at some of the detail and the surprising things that can come from these parables I will do my very best not to miss the main point.

Background / Setting Series

In Matthew the parables describing the Kingdom of heaven are in one section that take most of Chapter 13. In Mark and Luke they are spread more widely. Matthew has helpfully grouped the parables together to give us a wider view of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.

You can read the other ones later, but for now we are going to concentrate on the mustard seed and the yeast.

I'm going to talk about the yeast first, because I think it is the easiest one for us to understand.

Yeast Parable

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Summary of Message

It seems fairly obvious what this parable is trying to convey. A small amount of yeast added to the dough makes an enormous difference to the resulting bread. It must of course be well mixed in other wise the bread will be uneven, hard is some places and full of holes in others.

Surprising Elements

To Jesus' hearers there would have been some surprising elements to the story.

Yeast was normally associated with evil. Later Jesus would say to his disciples "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Matthew 16:6). In Exodus, whenever the Jews are to celebrate God they are always told to bake unleavened bread – bread without yeast. You can imagine the reaction – “What! The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast”. Jesus would not have got the same reaction if he had said “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the drop of milk that a woman put in her tea.” Although the spiritual lesson would be similar the impact is completely lost. You wouldn't react, so the saying would not be memorable. (OK, I know first century Jews didn't have cups of tea – but I hope you get the point!)

In the English Standard version and the Amplified Bible we read that the woman took “three measures of flour”. That's about 22 Litres, 13 kilograms or nearly 30 pounds of flour. That's the same amount that Sarah prepared when God visited Abraham in Genesis 18. It is the most bread dough that could be kneaded at a time.

Mustard Seed

Mustard Seed joke

A company sent out advertising with a mustard seed attached to a card which read “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed in our products you are guaranteed to get excellent results and be totally satisfied.” A few months later they received a letter “Dear Sir, You will be interested to know that I planted the mustard seed you sent on your advertising card and it has grown into a very healthy bush producing wonderful tomatoes”

The mustard seed is less straight forward, and brings with it some intriguing questions. The parable is told slightly differently in Mark and Luke.

Mark 4:30-32.

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

Luke 13:18-19

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? ⁱ What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”

Summary of message

A simple seed – in Jewish thought at the time proverbially the smallest thing – planted in the garden – becomes one of the tallest crops. The seed is not actually that small at 2 to 3 millimetres (tenth of an inch) in diameter, but bit holds that image. The Kingdom of heaven planted in a world, or perhaps in a person grows to become the greatest thing in the world, or the person. It seemingly came from nowhere and yet Christianity is the largest religion on the planet, so it seems to work.

Surprising Elements

The mustard plant is both a crop and a weed. It was grown in gardens for mustard, but could also easily be found in the wild. There are birds that build their nest amongst mustard plants because of the shade that they provide. Apart from the dove, birds were considered dirty pests, and it would have been surprising for them to get a mention. Jesus seems to be saying that the Kingdom of heaven, when it is grown, provides shelter for the world.

In Matthews parable the plant is described as a tree. So, if Jesus was trying to find an image of something small that grows into something big, and provides shelter, then why not the Cedars of Lebanon. That was certainly common imagery – for strength and protection. Our own saying “From little acorns grow mighty oaks” sums up that part of the message perfectly. A tree though comes from a clearly defined seed, and here the imagery would fail. To make his point Jesus must use the smallest of small things – the mustard seed. The mustard seed image is also used in Luke 17:4-6

If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, b you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Jesus also seems to be picking up on Nebuchadnezzar 's dream in Daniel 4, where he describes an enormous tree, and Daniel says “The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air. O king, you are that tree”. The tree is to be destroyed by God. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon – Babylon was later used as a synonym for all that is evil.

Jesus' hears would have found that profoundly shocking.

To get some sense of what he is saying perhaps we should start the modern day version of the parable with “The Kingdom of heaven is like a cutting of Japanese Knotweed that a man planted in his garden ...”

Japanese Knotweed has an amazing ability to regenerate from a tiny piece of rhizome, stem or even leaf material.

Application

Kingdom of Heaven

Place

The Kingdom of heaven is not a place. Well, not a physical place, although there are places that feel like they are in the Kingdom and places that feel like they're not. Have you ever been somewhere where there is a sense of peace and a sense of holiness. Some old churches have that feel. Jo and I recently visited Coventry Cathedral. The new Cathedral was almost empty, it is huge, spacious and quite dark. You can hear your feet move on the floor, even as you take a step. The building certainly speaks of the awesomeness of God, but I didn't sense God in there. Then we went outside. 'Over the road' to the old cathedral – the one destroyed in WWII. There had been a wedding there only a few minutes, before and it was crowded with young people taking photo's and chatting. As we walked around looking at the walls and thinking there was a definite sense that we were in a different place. This place belonged to Kingdom of heaven somehow, in a way that the new building didn't.

Of course it is us, not the building that belongs in the Kingdom of heaven. We become part of the Kingdom of heaven the minute we accept Jesus as Lord and saviour.

Becoming part of the Kingdom has effects on us and on the world around us.

Corporate Kingdom

We can see, if we take even the most rudimentary glance at the world that the parable is also a prophecy. Jesus – the mustard seed – was planted in the world 2000 years ago. We read in the Acts of the apostles the initial sprouting of the Kingdom of Heaven. As we look at the world today about a third of the population – ¹about 2.1 billion people are part of the Kingdom of Heaven. In many areas there is still phenomenal growth – particularly in China.

Looking at our own country we can see that the Kingdom of Heaven has had some dramatic effects on Society. Perhaps most notably is the abolition of slavery. Campaigns such as Fair Trade, and Make Poverty History have a Christian background and continue to do good works – changing the very nature of our world.

Personal Kingdom

From the point we accept Jesus onwards we begin to understand what it is like. Slowly, as we spend time with God, as we drink in the Holy Spirit, as we join in prayer and worship with other Christians, the truths spoken in these parables begin to be revealed. Their message becomes clearer and we grow closer to God as a result.

Some of the parables that Jesus told are harder to understand than others. Some are so hard that he has to explain them to the disciples himself. The two we are looking at today do not fall into that category, so it our job to work out their meaning.

They are clearly both to do with growth. The Kingdom of heaven is like a seed – something small, that turns into a 3 meter (10 feet) high plant. The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast – something small but it affects the whole of the dough.

In both cases we do not see what causes the growth. Chemical and biological processes occur and as a result things change. In the Kingdom of heaven there are no Chemical or biological processes – only spiritual ones. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour the Holy Spirit is planted in us. When we join with fellow Christians in prayer and worship the mixing process provides us with new ideas and thoughts about God, and how we relate to Him. All of this leads to Spiritual growth. So from being a spiritual baby we can grow into a spiritual giant and take the place prepared for us in the Kingdom.

Planting Seeds

We know that we too must continue plant seeds of faith in other peoples lives. Anyone who has tried to grow anything will realise that not all seeds germinate, and some that do take a very long time before they do. We know that not all seedlings grow to become mature plants, and that not all mature plants go on to produce their own seed. It is the same with us, and with those around us. When I look back at my life before I was a Christian, I can see many many examples of seeds planted. My mum took my sister and I to church when we were very young. I spent a few weeks in an organisation called Sea Scouts – which was affiliated to the church at the top of our road. At secondary school one of my friends became a Christian. All these things – and many more I expect – had no apparent effect on me at the time. Who knows which of those seeds first began to grow?

Is it the same for you? When you look back before you had made your decision for Christ – do you see a number of seeds?

If you see the seeds of faith in your life, how many are you scattering in the hope that they will grow in others?

1http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_Christians_are_there_worldwide

Origins & Lemons, Riding Lights at Christ Church

As I walked into church I was greeted enthusiastically by my ever so slightly sarcastic daughter.  "May I take your ticket, sir?"  The church was already filling up, and was full of the warm red glow that we get with all the overhead radiant fires on.  I must be careful where I sit, or my head will be grilled.  Forced to sit in the back half because the front was already full, I chose a centre seat near the aisle.  Some one big immediately sat in front of me, but it didn't matter. At the front of church at raised stage took the Riding Lights Theatre Company players high enough to be easily seen.  We were promised a review sub-titled extracting the juice from Genesis 1-11.

Right from the off we were in the midst of the science vs. religion debate. Each short sketch covering one or more of the points of the debate.  Each with a punch line, and next to no gap between sketches.  There is barely time to laugh, let alone think seriously about the points being made.  While we don't have too many fundamentalists, or too many liberals, I had wondered just what the target of the debate would be.

In the introduction the song oranges and lemons was used to ask the questions.  We were promised a look at all of Genesis 1-11 - except perhaps the bits were relatives are listed.  At various time we were in a school room, or on the Ark with Captain Noah and his crew - Ham, Shem and Japheth, in IKEA or in the garden of Eden with Adam and God, Adam and Eve, Eve and a snake, Adam and Eve and a bouncer.  All good stuff and often very funny.  I had read reviews that suggested there was a Monty Python'ish flavour.  There certainly was when we came to the Nephilim.  Arguments among the cast, blackouts, and multiple attempts by the Nephilim to get some nookie!  This was by far the funniest sketch of the evening.  We ended with Noah sharing his home-made wines with Darwin.

Riding Lights as always are brilliant and never to be missed.

Get a flavour of it here: