Moses and the Amalakites

Preached on 23 October 2022 at St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead

Introduction

I understand that you have been working through a series on Moses, so today I will be looking mainly at Moses in this passage and trying to see what lessons his actions and his relationship to the Lord provide for us.

Background

I don’t know what you’ve looked at so for, so I’ll start with some scene setting, and I apologise if I’m covering old ground.

The attack by the Amalakites came less than three months after the Israelites had miraculously escaped from Egypt. It must have seemed longer as they were already facing hardships. They had travelled to Rephidim, which is probably the large wadi Refayid in south-west Sinai. A wadi is a valley with a stream at the bottom, but the stream will only run during the rainy season, for the rest of the year it will be dry.

They had hoped to find water there, but the wadi had already dried up. So the Lord had provided water from a rock, which Moses had been instructed to strike with his staff.

They are not travelling across flat desert, but through hills and along valleys. This means that there is a long train of people following the pillar of cloud or fire – cloud during the day, fire at night.

Amalakite Attack

As they are strung out they are vulnerable to attack and the Amalakites take advantage of that. This is how Deuteronomy 25 later described the attack:

¹⁷ Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.
¹⁸ When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. ¹⁹ When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

Amalek was the grandson of Esau, who was the twin of Jacob. There’s no love lost between those two. It seems that the Amalakites were intent on the destruction of the Israelites, and that didn’t end well for them. Perhaps nations today that are intent on the destruction of Israel should take note.

Joshua

After the Amalakite attack Joshua is chosen to select an army and to prepare to fight them off. This is the first mention of Joshua in Exodus. He must have been known and already trusted to some degree by Moses, but this would be his biggest test so far. Moses is looking to grow his leaders and may already be thinking of who will succeed him as leader of the Israelites. We used to call that succession planning at work. It was one of the things I had to do as team leader that I really enjoyed.

Hur

We hear of Hur for the first time in this passage, too. He is asked to join Moses on the hill to observe the battle. Later, he will be left with Aaron to look after the Israelites when Moses goes up the mountain to receive the commandments. You may remember that while Moses was away, they made an idol to worship. The people seem to have focussed on Aaron as their leader by then, and Hur doesn’t get much of a mention. Not all potential leaders make it.

Preparation for battle

I imagine that after the initial Amalakite raid, there is some frantic planning to be done by the Israelites. Moses gets his people organised and plans are prepared for the divisive battle the following day. Joshua will organise some troops, and Moses with the staff of God, Aaron and Hur, will oversee the battle from a hill they have chosen.

Staff of God

When morning comes, they ascend to the top of the hill and Moses raises his staff above his head. The staff is just an ordinary shepherds staff – a long, heavy stick.

When God first called Moses to set his people free from the Egyptians, he was very unsure of his call. God had to do a number of miracles to convince Moses that God was really calling him. Here’s that incident from the start of Exodus 4.

¹Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

²Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

³The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

After this, Moses’s staff became the “Staff of God”. There is nothing special about it. It does not somehow contain God, or God’s power, it is simply a prop that God uses to give Moses confidence that God is with him, and has called him to his difficult task. It is a symbol for him and for those around him of God’s presence.

Pleading, Prayer, or Worship

So what is Moses doing sitting on the top of the hill with his arms in the air and holding his staff aloft?

Well, the stance is one of pleading, or prayer, or possibly worship. Moses has had quite a lot of grumbling from the people when things haven’t gone their way. Now though, they have a common enemy, so for a while they are united. I believe that Moses is probably doing all three.

He’s pleading, because he knows that this is a battle that has to be won.

He’s praying, because he knows that the battle can only be won, if victory is the will of God.

He’s worshipping, because he sees what’s happening – they are winning – until he relaxes a bit, then they are losing. Then he applies a little extra strength, his arms go up, and they are winning again. So he is their praising and worshipping God for the victories that he’s seeing, praying for his own strength to hold his arms up, and praying and pleading for the battle to be won. Eventually he needed help, he’d been there a long time and he’s an old man.

Psychological effect

There is some suggestion that the Israelites may have been encouraged to fight harder when they could see Moses with his arms raised, praying to God.

This very much depends on a geography that we don’t have. Maybe the Israelites could see Moses from down in the valley where they were fighting, but it’s by no means a given. It is entirely possible that Moses was up on a hill behind the battle, if they were looking back, it’s unlikely that they were winning. So maybe there was a demoralizing effect on the Amalakites.

Real war

Before we get to the lessons that we can learn from all of this, we must remember that this was a nasty hand to hand battle, in which many of the men on both sides would have been killed or seriously wounded. It’s very easy to forget how hard these battles were and to talk about them as if no-one was really hurt. It was not like that. A lot of blood was spilt, sons and husbands did not return. Some of those that did would die later of their wounds, or be crippled by them for life.

Power of God

Now the Israelites see the power of God. They could not have won the battle on their own. They have been arguing and complaining to Moses when little things didn’t go their way. Now they have won an important battle only because the Lord was there, and His servant was following His instruction.

Lessons

What have we learnt about Moses, and what does that teach us today?

Moses

We have seen that Moses is a man of God, but doesn’t seem to have a secure faith in God. He still needs his props to show him, and those around him, that God is present with him. But, whatever his level of faith he, above all the Israelites, is obedient. He does what God asks of him, even when he is unsure.

And when he is in need, he turns to God in prayer and doesn’t stop praying.

He is also a thoughtful leader, watching those he leads, looking for those who may one day take his place and providing them with opportunities to practice their leadership.

As a godly leader, he is a great example for those around him, especially those who might aspire to lead.

Lessons for us

The attack by the Amalakites shows us how the spiritual realm and the physical realm work together. For God to work in our world, there have to be people pleading, praying and worshipping, all within the will of God. That’s Moses.

There have to be people supporting that prayer, and probably praying themselves too. That’s Aaron and Hur.

There have to be people at the sharp end (no pun intended), taking action, and most importantly being willing to make sacrifices to get the job done. That’s Joshua and his carefully selected band of Israelite soldiers.

There really isn’t a split between the spiritual realm and the physical realm, it’s all part of the world we live in. It’s just that some of our actions are focussed more in one area than another.

Let me leave you with one of my favourite quotes from Augustine of Hippo:

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

Because I believe that’s what was going on with Moses and the Israelites.

Amen.

 

References

https://unionvillebpc.com/sermon-on-exodus-178-16-on-the-undefeated-team/

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/spiritual-warfare-pastor-author-terry-sisney-sermon-on-spiritual-warfare-203803https://bibleask.org/why-did-moses-lift-his-hands-during-the-battle-against-the-amelekites/https://craigkeener.com/the-staff-of-moses-becomes-the-staff-of-god-exodus-42-17-20/

 

A first time experience of the Lord

 Preached @ Christ Church, Billericay, 8 October 2022 

Reading: 2 Kings 5v1-3;7-15c; Luke 17v11-19

Introduction

Today, we are going to be looking at one man’s first experience of God, through the story of Naaman.

Backdrop

The backdrop of the story that we heard a part of this morning is an ongoing set of border skirmishes between Aram and Israel. There was supposed to be a treaty. They are not quite at all out war yet, but King Ben-Hahid II of Aram and King Jehoram of Israel are almost there. We can read how that situation escalated in the next chapter of 2 Kings.

For now, though, let’s concentrate on the events read to us this morning.

Servant Girl

In one of these skirmishes, a young girl has been kidnapped. My commentary calls her a maiden, so she was too young to be a wife for someone, and has been forced into slavery, I imagine. She is serving Naaman’s wife. We cannot tell what the atmosphere was like in that household, whether she was well treated or not. But we do know that she had faith in the Lord, and was old enough to know about the prophet Elisha. She was also aware of Naaman’s condition.

Leprosy

Leprosy is now known as Hansen’s disease. It is a bacteriological infection that damages nerves and affects the skin. Today it is easily treated with antibiotics, but according to the American Centre for Disease Control they have to be taken for a year to ensure the disease is cured. Now, Hansen’s disease is not particularly infectious, but in biblical times, Leprosy was thought to be highly infectious. Without our diagnostic abilities, it was a generic description for all sorts of skin diseases.

Courage

It takes courage for a young girl to speak up, especially when she is in captivity in a foreign land. Why should she care? Why should she do something to aid her enemy? Surely she should keep quiet and hope that Naaman gets sicker until he can no longer command the army that is responsible for her situation. That would be the best thing to do, that would be the correct military strategy for her.

Love your enemies

We know that Jesus said, “Love your enemies”, that idea exists in the Old Testament too, in

Proverbs 25:21-22
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For you will heap burning coals on his head,
And the Lord will reward you.

So, that is what she does, and that is exactly what she should do in her situation. She knows, because she has faith in the Lord, that the prophet can and will cure Naaman. If Naaman is not cured, things could get even worse for her.

Missing verses

Then we inexplicably skipped over three verses, where Naaman gets a letter from Ben-Hahid II and takes with him “ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.” to pay the prophet for his healing.

The king also gives him a letter for the King of Israel. He will need this because if he is found in Israel without it, the Israelites might assume an invasion is underway. The king’s letter reads:

“With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

It is one of the most incompetent letters I’ve ever read (I’m being generous). If this is the calibre of leadership in the area, I’m not surprised there was a state of almost constant war.

Elisha’s response

It should be no surprise to any of us the way Jehoram reacted. Of course, the king can’t cure leprosy. Fortunately, Elisha is there to pick up the pieces. I know how he feels, having had to pick up the pieces after gross communications failures between senior people at various points of my career. Thankfully, I was never asked to cure anyone of leprosy.

Elisha tells the King, “Have the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Elisha’s concern is not to heal Naaman, but to give glory to God, to make His name known beyond the borders of Israel. That is the Israelites purpose. Not to establish and secure the borders of the promised land, but to give glory to God amongst the nations. Elisha knows his calling, and everything that follows is intended to fulfil it.

The healing – Naaman expects

When Naaman arrives at Elisha’s place, with his horses and chariots, he is expecting the full works. He’s an important man and he knows it. The prophet (or the wizard, which is probably closer to Naaman’s view of Elisha) should be present, and put on some grand show – lots of arm waving and a few explosions perhaps – something that is notable and memorable – a good show.

The healing – Naaman gets

Instead, what he gets is a messenger with a short, almost curt, message “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed.” His expectations have not been met, and he is loosing face with his whole entourage, he feels humiliated. Maybe he even sees something of the ongoing conflict – my river is better than yours. So, in his anger, he turns for home. It’s been a wasted journey.

Servants help

I’d love to know how much time passed between verse 12 and verse 13. How far did he get, how long did he take to calm down?

At some point before he arrives back in Aram, the servants – who are used to being given the brush-off – go to him and make the case for giving the Jordan a try. If the prophet had asked you to do some great difficult thing – you would have done it wouldn’t you, so why not try this simple thing?

Where’s the glory

If the prophet had asked Naaman to complete some great quest, Naaman would have been able to claim that what he did had cured him. He would have treated the whole episode as another successful military campaign – with all the self glorifying stories that they always generate. If that had happened, Elisha’s desire that Naaman should know that there is a prophet in Israel would have failed.

In the Jordan

So he went to the Jordan and dipped himself in the required seven times. When he came out, not only had his skin complaint been cured, but the anti-wrinkle properties had worked as well, and he looked years younger.

Giving Thanks

Now, this foreigner, this outsider, this non-believer, this enemy, returns to Elisha, with his entire entourage, to give thanks and to give the gifts he had bought with him for this exact reason. This time the prophet comes out to meet him and to hear him say, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” And now Naaman offers the gifts, but it is most certainly not about payment, because that again would detract from the Glory that should be given to God for the healing that has been performed. Elisha will not accept the gifts.

Naaman changed

If we read on a little, we will see that Naaman is changed by the whole experience. He asks for and is given Israelite earth to kneel on when he is making offerings to the one true God. When he is chased by Elisha’s servant Gehazi, he gets off his horse. That alone indicates that he has changed, he has recognised the Lord and is now more humble because of it. It’s not just the disease and wrinkles that have gone, but the self-importance as well. Important men do not dismount for servants. Naaman has been fully healed.

Parallel to Luke

Just as in Luke it was the foreigner, the outside, the Samaritan, who properly recognised Jesus and came back to give thanks, so here it is the Aramean who recognises the Lord, in front of whom all his local gods pale into insignificance.

First time before God

There is something about coming before God for the first time. Both Naaman and the Samaritan experienced it. It somehow has a greater effect on us than it does when it occurs for the second or tenth time. Maybe you still remember your first encounter? That’s why Elisha’s strategy was so carefully planned and executed. Even though he said “so that he will know there is a prophet in Israel” to the King, his real intent was to help Naaman meet God. He carefully stepped out of the way and allowed that to happen, he was then insistent on not taking payment, to ensure that nothing was taken away from the experience.

Naaman, the commander of the enemy’s armies, met God and was changed. Hopefully, we can be like Elisha, and strategically help others to have that experience for themselves.

Amen.

 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/QK7NIti2nsE

References

https://www.virtualpreacher.org/sermon-notes/naaman/

https://thefaithspace.com/lessons-from-the-story-of-naaman/

https://www.cdc.gov/leprosy/world-leprosy-day/index.html

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-other-nine-bradley-boydston-sermon-on-miracles-of-jesus-74263

The Dishonest Manager

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay at 10:00 on 18 September 2022

Introduction

Of all the parables, this may be the one that causes the most discussion. It doesn’t seem straight forward – it appears that Jesus is suggesting to his hearers that they should be like the dishonest manager, but is that what he is really saying?

Other parables have explanations for the disciples who are sometimes a little slow, but this one doesn’t, so we look at it and assume what Jesus was saying must have been completely obvious to them.

Activity

The dishonest manager is clever – shrewd, but he is not honest. So to see what we think honesty is all about here is an activity. For each of these questions, I want you to vote to tell me what I should do.

Q1

My mum gave me two cookies to take to my next door neighbour. This is my favourite kind of cookie, and it smells so good! My mum said after I come back from my neighbour's and eat some lunch, then I’d get four cookies, but I’m hungry right now.

Should I eat one cookie on the way – mum would never know, or should I take both cookies to my neighbour and stay hungry?

Vote Now

[Comment]

Q2

What would you do? Grandma gave you £10 to buy her a drink at the fayre. After you do, you notice you have enough money leftover to buy a cool toy you saw. Do you bring the change back to grandma, or do you use the money to buy the toy before you go back to her?

Vote Now

[Comment]

Q3

You’re at the arcade, and you find a wallet with £30 in it, but there’s nothing in it that says the name of the owner. Do you put the £30 in your pocket and leave the wallet where it is, or do you turn the wallet and it’s contents into the lost-and-found?

[Comment]

Vote Now

What did Jesus say

So what did Jesus say?

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”

[comment]

We’re all good

or

Some of us might want to re-think our votes (and perhaps our actions too).

Charging Interest

Let’s look at the story and see if we can make a bit more sense of it. In Jesus’s world, loaning money for interest was not allowed. So people got around this by loaning goods instead. That explains why the manager is asking people how much they owe, and they are talking about grain and oil. These were the things that were commonly used for loans. He knows how much was originally borrowed, so it is likely that that is the number that the dishonest manager suggests is the new debt. The borrowers are, of course, very happy to have their interest payments forgiven.

Jesus doesn’t approve of either of them

But, you’re all asking, "What about the dishonest manager?" Well, Jesus doesn’t approve of what the dishonest manager has been doing to get himself sacked, but know what he has done is the right thing. There would be little harm to his master, who would only lose the profit that he really shouldn’t have made.

Jesus doesn’t approve of the Master’s actions, although these might be called a ‘grey area’. He was still cheating the system, and charging interest on loans when he shouldn’t have been.

The Master

The master does not represent God in this parable. If that were real, I’m betting the master's approval would be a rather grudging. He might say something like, “Oh, that was clever, well done for being so cunning”, and he’d be thinking “I’m glad I’ve got rid of you when I did”. He can’t make a big show of it and take the manager to the authorities because that would expose his own cheating.

Shrewdness

What Jesus is really saying is that we should be aware of how the world works, that we should be shrewd, we should be clever, but in all that we do we should be honest and focussed on the things of true value – the things that will last eternally, because those are the true riches.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus tells his disciples “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

It’s a similar message to our reading today.

If the disciples are not shrewd, if they don’t understand how the world works they will get conned, or robbed. If they do understand how the world works their message of salvation will more likely be received by those they meet. If they are innocent they will also be trustworthy. If they are trustworthy, they will be taking the true message with them and not corrupting it for their own ends.

Our Riches

If we have riches, we should use it to make friends with the sort of people who can help us get to God, so that it will not corrupt us and lead us away from God. Then, when it is used up, we will still have the favour of those around us. Jesus is not saying that we can buy our way into heaven.

God and Money

Finally, we are reminded that we cannot serve God and Money. If we are shrewd, we will know that the whole financial system is corrupted by people’s greed. How often has someone offered to work for you for cash, so that neither of you pay tax? There are lots of ways of cheating the system. Some are illegal, some are just ‘grey areas’. Either way, if we are focussed on money, we will be part of a corrupt system, and we will not be able to serve God.

Amen.

 

References

https://www.jesusfilm.org/blog/parable-shrewd-manager/

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/godly-principles-for-financial-money-management-hylton-davidson-sermon-on-money-174388?page=5&wc=800

https://sermonwriter.com/sermons/luke-161-13-the-dishonest-manager-anders/

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward-in-luke-16-video-discussion

https://www.askdifference.com/shrewd-vs-wise/

https://sermons4kids.com/dishonest_manager.htm

 

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay at 8:00 on 18 September 2022

Introduction

This morning we're going to think a little about the Queen's reign and how her death has affected us. We will then move on to the writings of Jeremiah – our OT reading, and lastly to our Gospel reading from John.

QEII

During the last few days, I've been listening to and reading things that have been written about our late Queen.  Every one seems to agree that her life was dedicated to her duty and that she carried out that duty in an exemplary way.  Many times I have seen “well done good and faithful servant”, which I assume comes from Matthew 25:23.  It is well known that she had a strong Christian faith and that she was not shy of talking about it.  That was true to the extent that someone said of her that “The greatest evangelist of our generation has died”.  She didn't strike me as an evangelist, but it's clear that she made a connection with people, and that is certainly a first step.  There was an interview on the radio of various people who had met her. One man told of the conversation he had, and how she had been interested in what he was doing – that was one of her traits.  The conversation ended, and she was directed to the next place she had to be.  As she went, she turned back to him and said, “keep up the good work”.  That was completely unnecessary, she had already done her job, but that's the sort of person she was.

Her Reign

She reigned for nearly seventy years – that's a whole lifetime.  Psalm 90:10 says:

Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures;

yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away

It's also long enough that only a few of us will remember the former king, so the only head of state that we have known is Queen Elizabeth.  It's not surprising then that her death has come as quite a shock and has unsettled many.  Kier Starmer described her as our country's “stillest point, its greatest comfort”.  And now that comfort has gone.  It's happened at a difficult time politically, and her wisdom will undoubtedly be missed.  She was seen as a settling influence on a number of Prime Ministers, I'm led to believe.  We are worried about what will come next.

Succession

England has almost 1000 years experience of managing successions, this one is one of the most straight forward there has ever been, so we shouldn't have any worries there. But we might be concerned about the new King and how life will be under his influence. Things will be different. Despite his pledge to carry on his mother's legacy, he will have his own style and his own emphasis on different things.  He will not have years of experience to call on, either. So we may have some concerns there.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah lived at a very unsettled time in his nation's history.  He had been warning the powers that be for ages that they were going against God's ways, they did not listen.  Here's what one commentator wrote about the book of Lamentations.

“Written as a series of dirges, elegies, and laments following the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Lamentations attempts to put into words the heartache and despair of the prophet Jeremiah, who had survived the siege of Jerusalem and subsequent captivity at the hands of Babylon. If Jeremiah’s first book (Jeremiah) was the prophetic warning anticipating the fall of Jerusalem; its sequel (Lamentations) was Jeremiah’s reflection upon it.”

Our Old Testament reading for today, is, apparently, one of the most hopeful passages in the whole book – such was the pain that Jeremiah felt.  His country, his people, are gone.  Everything about the way society was organised has changed.  His homeland is no longer his, but belongs to others, to the conquerors, the Babylonians.  In Chapter 29 of Jeremiah, he writes to the exiles, encouraging them to live in the new society in which they find themselves.   To establish families and to make a positive contribution to the Babylonian world.  He knows their exile won't last forever and is looking to future generations who will one day return.  

Alive – so loved

At the start of the exile, though, it is enough to be alive.  To be alive means that the Lord still loves His people.  They have not been consumed, they have not been annihilated.  The Lord's compassions are new every morning. He recalls how the promised land was established.  Each tribe was given a territory, 'a portion' of the new land that they were to occupy.  The portion they were given would support them and allow them to put down roots (real and metaphorical), to establish their families, to produce future generations.

Levites

One tribe, though, was not given any land.  The tribe of Levi – the Levites – were told the Lord would be their portion.  Their life would not be dedicated to agriculture, husbandry, or mining, their life would be dedicated to the Lord, and the Lord would provide for them.  He would do this by providing them with a share of the surpluses that the other tribes created.  It had worked very well, and no doubt by Jeremiah's time, it was the way the prophets were supported.  So Jeremiah, as he is reflecting on the disaster that has overtaken his people, knows that the Lord will look after him – although he may not have a clear idea of exactly how that would work.

Cast off

So he will wait for it to happen: “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”, he says.  He is waiting because he believes that the Israelites have been cast off by the Lord.  He cannot see how this disaster can be anything but the Lord letting go of them.  That view may be partly, at least, generated by his grief and his shock, but even in this emotional state he cannot help but know that the Lord still loves them. So, He could not have brought this disaster on them willingly.  The only thing to do is wait.  Waiting quietly does not mean sitting still and doing nothing. As we have already seen, Jeremiah wanted the Israelites to be a part of their new world.  If they wait quietly and patiently, one day the Lord will rescue them.

Same Message

Jesus's words, in our reading from John, echo the same message.  "I am the bread of life", is the equivalent of "the Lord is my portion".  Jesus is promising to sustain those who come to Him and believe in Him.  His promise goes further than the promises that Jeremiah understood and relied on.  Jesus promises that none of those who follow him can be lost, and that they will be raised up from death to eternal life on the last day.

Rely on

It's the promise that we all rely on, it's the promise that our late queen relied on, and that, so many have relied on through the ages.  With her and all the saints we wait quietly because as Jeremiah said "It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

Amen.

 

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cnJP_jSXA4

At Pensioners Praise, Caring for Creation.

Reading Romans 8:18-24a

Connected

I think it was James Burke who first made me realise that everything is connected. Do you remember his TV series Connections – where he showed us how one development is connected to the next and so on until we get where we are today. While that was primarily about science, engineering and mass production, the idea that everything is connected was the most valuable lesson to me.

It’s not just our discoveries and inventions that are connected. Each of the environmental systems we know about – the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and all the others are also connected and depend in some way on each other to support the environment we live in. Those things feed into the weather systems, which are supported and sometimes generated by the ocean and it’s currents.

Oceans

The ocean currents are affected by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun, which cause the tides. The constant movement of the oceans caused by the tides provides unique environments on the coast which support different types of life and provide food for birds and other animals.

I could go on, but I hope, by now, that you’re getting the picture. Literally everything we do has some effect on our environment. Climate scientists will tell you that they can even see the Roman Empire in the climate record.

So what we do, or don’t do makes a difference even if that difference is very small.

5 Marks of Mission

As a Christian and an Anglican, I have a particular calling, as do each of you. That calling is defined as the 5 Marks of Mission. Here are all five.

1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom

2. To teach, baptise and nurture new believers

3. To respond to human need by loving service

4. To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation

5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth

It’s the last one that we are looking at today. I hope you can see that all these are connected too.

Integrity of Creation

If we are to safeguard the integrity of creation, we will have to challenge violence and pursue peace. War, and any other sort of violence against the person is hugely wasteful of resources. Just watch any reality program about ambulances or police and you will see how much time and effort goes into dealing with drunken fights. War is much more wasteful, England was partially deforested to build ships to defeat the Spanish. If we look at Ukraine, we see modern buildings destroyed, all of which will have to be re-built when the war is over.

Unjust Structures - environmental racism

We will have to transform unjust structures to allow areas that need to remain wild to be untouched by greedy humans. Have you heard the term ‘environmental racism’. It means that those in particular environments are discriminated against and that rich countries and corporations, by their actions, keep it that way.

Jeremiah 2:7 says:

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.

As things go wrong we will need to respond to human need, recently we have heard that about a third of the population of Pakistan have been adversely affected by flooding – the rains made worse by global warming. They will need support to recover, and that effort will put more CO₂ in the atmosphere and cause other pollution, making things worse.

Proclaiming the Kingdom

We might have most effect though by proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and teaching, baptising and nurturing new believers. That way, we give the Holy Spirit that chance to change hearts and minds, so we have more people trying harder to sustain and renew the life of the earth.

Bible Verses

Of course, the 5 marks of mission were not simply dreamt up by some old archbishop, they have been carefully put together looking at the whole Bible.

So, let's take a look at the verses we read today, and see where that takes us.

Intro to Bible verses

Paul has been saying that we are co-heirs with Christ, if we share in his sufferings. Now, at the start of our reading he says that our current sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. It is not our glory that will be revealed, as though we are somehow equal with God, but it is God’s glory in Christ Jesus, that will be revealed in us through the Holy Spirit.

Creation Waits

The whole of creation waits for this, indeed it can’t wait, but it has to. It’s that sense of excitement that we all know when a great event in our lives is about to occur – like getting married perhaps. For creation, that great event is the glory of God being revealed in the children of God.

Creation needs that because it is under a curse. The curse is the result of Adam eating the fruit. Here’s Genesis 3:17b-19:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

Amazing Idea

I find this whole idea truly amazing. How did a people come to believe that their ancestors messed up and as a result the whole of creation is cursed? Human beings are so good at deflecting blame, but somehow God’s powerful revelation got through to them enough for them to write it down – and so to share the guilt, to inherit the guilt. It’s our actions as fallen humans that cause the problem, not some random god who we’ve upset, who then punishes us.

Superior place of Humanity

That’s because we are not just another animal in the animal kingdom. God placed Adam just 'a little lower than the angels' as Psalm 8 tells, and He gave us responsibility for all of creation. Genesis 1:26-28 says humans are to rule over creation. Although we are created, the rest of creation is ours – it’s all for us.

So, because of Adam’s sin, and the sin of his descendants, right to the present generation, creation – all of it - is in bondage to decay.

Liberation

Look around you – everything decays. Nothing we make lasts more than a few years, few of the living things we see around us last for more than 100 years, and even the hills are eroded over thousands of years. If the scientists are right, even the earth itself will be gone in a few billion years, and the universe is headed for heat death, where even atoms will no longer exist.

But this is not how it should be. Creation is waiting for liberation from its bondage to decay.

Groaning

Paul says that creation is groaning – we’ve certainly seen some examples of that this year. Droughts in Europe, while in Pakistan one third of the population is devastated by flooding. I don’t know if you’ve tried to pray about all of this – if you have, I suspect your prayers are reduced to groans and sighs, it’s just too big for us. Sure, we can pray for the individual issues, those on our minds at a particular time, but it’s impossible to keep a complete list. Anyway, what to say beyond ‘make it stop’, which doesn’t sound very useful.

Sonship

Like creation,

we, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”.

Redemption will come, either when Jesus returns, or we are taken from this world. That is the hope that we have – and this passage is meant to be about hope.

Hope

Our hope is not that we can solve all the problems that we have caused, but that God has saved us.

So, while we should be concerned and actively doing whatever we can – reduce, reuse, recycle, but mainly reduce, we should not be worried and fearful. Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Paul reminded the Romans, and us at the start of the reading that “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Peter says a similar thing:

1 Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Frugal

So, let us be careful, frugal even with the things of this world, and generous to those who have nothing. But also let us celebrate the promises of God, and the hope that the resurrection of Jesus gives us.

Review: In the beginning GOD?

ISBN:0 901015 03 2

In the beginning GOD? by David A. Wilkinson

In the Beginning God?: Modern Cosmology and Biblical Creation Today - The Origin of the Universe According to Science and the Bible by David A. Wilkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In his pamphlet style booklet, David covers a good amount of ground for the size of the book. His outlines of the science sound a little dated now - it was published in 1991. As a Christian and a (very) amateur scientist, I found it interesting and helpful. Redshift is explained in a simple way, which is one of the key factors in understanding an expanding universe. His look at the structure of Genesis diagram, quoted from "Genesis Today, E. Lucas" was also useful, and added to my thinking a little.

I have only rated this 4* because of its age, I'm sure there are more up-to-date booklets available now.

View all my reviews

Summer Series 2022 - 3: Wisdom & Wonder

Preached 7 August 2022 at Christ Church, Billericay

Title: Wisdom and Wonder (Summer Series: Jesus our Jubilee)

Reading: 1 Kings 3v5-14; James 3v13,17; James 1v5

All a dream

“So it was all a dream”. Don’t you just hate it when a story that you’re enjoying uses this device to get out of a hole it had dug for itself! Perhaps the most famous of these, if you’re a certain age, is [play theme] Dallas. Bobby Ewing was never run over, the whole of that series was a dream.

This type of plot twist is a terrible way to tell a story. But the twist we have today, is that the dream comes before the story, and to a considerable extent tells us what is going to happen. That sort of twist can only come in real life – because we know the truth is stranger than fiction.

Dreams

Solomon's dream is not an unusual event in the Bible, there are plenty of occasions where God speaks to people through dreams. Perhaps the most well known ones, are in Matthew chapters one and two. Here God speaks to Joseph about Mary, and urges him to take Mary, who is now expecting the baby Jesus, as his wife. Then in chapter two, the Magi are warned not to return to Herod in a dream. So God has protected his Messiah, and ensured that He can grow up to become the man that we read about in the NT using dreams.

Dream?

I wonder if anyone here has ever heard from God in a dream? I don’t remember ever having such a dream, but it may still be possible because Joel promises that ‘old men will dream dreams’.

Young Solomon

Solomon is not an old man at this point. In verse 7 he says that he is only a little child. This seems to be a figurative description of his ability to rule, rather than referring to his physical age.

Cleverer people than me have done the arithmetic. They have worked out when he could have been born. He was one of David and Bathsheba’s children, but not the first, because we know that he died. So calculating from the time David stole Bathsheba, and murdered Uriah the Hittite, until David’s death, gives us a possible oldest age of 24, with the most likely age being about 20.

Beginnings of Wisdom

Solomon, has been brought up in the ways of the Lord. He knows he has many things to do – there is a temple to build, and the people have to be stopped from worshipping other Gods. (1 Kings 3:2) says “The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places”, so before the dream, the things that he knew he needed to do may have been weighing on his mind. But his upbringing meant that he knew where to turn. So when God comes to him in the dream, he is perhaps more receptive than he would otherwise have been. Solomon already has the beginnings of wisdom. Although he, too, was guilty of making offerings in the high places.

The Dream

At Gibeon, the king celebrates his succession to the throne with an enormous celebration. It starts with a thousand burnt offerings. Gibeon is, at that time, the most important religious city. It is therefore an appropriate place for God to speak to Solomon.

What would you ask for?

God starts with, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

We know from our reading how Solomon responded, and we will look at that in more detail in a minute, but first, let's ask ourselves how we would respond.

What would you ask God for?

What is your greatest desire for yourself, or for others?

That is our activity later, so we can start thinking about it now.

The response

Notice that Solomon does not simply blurt out his wants, he starts by showing God his understanding, because what he will ask for comes out of the understanding that he has already gained. Lets look at verses 6-8:

Verse 6

You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

Firstly, he acknowledges his roots. He is where he is because of God’s great kindness (we might call it grace now) to his father, because of who his father was. David was described as “a man after my own heart”, by God (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) because he was the person who would do God's will. God’s kindness continues because David’s son has succeeded him on the throne.

Verse 7

“Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.

Next, he recognises his limited abilities – he does not know how to rule, he has hardly had any practice.

Verse 8

Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.

Finally, he acknowledges God’s chosen people, and the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham that they would be a great people who would be too numerous to count. (Gen 15:5)

The request

All of these form the basis for the request that is to follow – a discerning heart and wisdom to rule. He wants to know, to be able to distinguish right from wrong.

God’s response

God is pleased with Solomon’s request, had he asked for the death of his enemies, for wealth and a long life, they would no doubt have been granted. But, Solomon asked for something better, and his request was granted. He was also given wealth and honour. Conditionally, he was promised a long life – all he has to do is “walk in God’s ways and obey His statutes and commands” for the rest of his life. (Easier said than done, of course.)

The Golden age

Solomon built the temple, he was fabulously rich and Israel with him. His reign marked a golden age (both literally and figuratively). You can read of his wisdom in the next chapter.

Wisdom for us

None of us will ever have to rule a kingdom, and even the Queen does not have the power that Solomon had. She, too, was aware of the need for wisdom. I like her quote that Catherine gave us last week.

At the start of her reign, “She was in her salad days – green and hard” or something like that.

Her wisdom has served us well, but for her, like us, the verses in James that we read are probably more useful.

James 1v5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Like Solomon, when we lack wisdom, we should ask God. We don’t have to wait for God to approach us in a dream. You realise what that means, we have easier access to God than even Solomon.

James 3 verses 13, 17

Just like Solomon, though, the wisdom we get is the wisdom to do the will of God.

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

So when we ask for heaven's wisdom, as I’m sure we do from time to time, James has provided us with a checklist, to ensure that we have been listening to the heavenly wisdom correctly.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

If what we hear doesn’t meet these criteria, it’s not from God.

 

On youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWF4cwCsDI