Narrabri Anglican Church: Recent Episodes
Narrabri Anglican Church
Listen to some great sermons series, based on Bible books, originally presented at Narrabri Anglican Church.
On first reading, it seems fair to ask why Lamentations 4? It’s a fair question to ask because, for the most part, the poet simply rehashes chapters 1-3. But upon further meditation on the poem, one comes to appreciate its value for God’s people in helping them process and respond rightly to his judgement in repentance and faith. In his judgment against Judah, God is not only reversing their fortunes but also restoring their hope in Him alone.
‘I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath’ (Lam.3:1).In the third poem of lament, we hear from the poet himself – and his description is striking. He is a man. He is obviously in the middle of this tragedy. He has experienced it personally, and yet he also seems to speak representatively. Who is this man?I think it is most likely Jeremiah – the prophet who had laboured for 40 years calling God’s people back. And he did experience all this personally (just compare Jeremiah 38 with Lam.3:52-57) – and so, he can also speak representatively.As he experiences the immense dissonance of, for example, the ‘rod’ of God that guides him safely (remember Ps.23:4) through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ which now brings affliction, where does he turn? What does he consider?Jeremiah turns to the bedrock theological truths of the LORD – and so, he waits patiently on Him, and trusts that His ‘faithful love’ will bring deliverance.
Lamentations is not a book many of us have read recently, perhaps ever. And it is not an easy book to digest, to listen to, even to understand in our modern sensibilities.Connected inseparably with the prophet Jeremiah, it is a visceral response to the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC. In that moment, the identity of God’s people – that they were safe because the LORD had made a covenant with them – was shattered. It was shattered because they treated the covenant lightly, they took sin lightly, they refused to take seriously the merciful words of the LORD through the prophets calling them back.The response in Lamentations is a ‘lament’ – a passionate cry to the LORD, asking ‘who?’ and ‘why?’. It is a striking cry for its structure – an acrostic, for its context – the covenant, and its emotion – there is utter despair here as God’s mob comprehend and experience His judgement for their sins.
Meals are a great thing! It is often what brings families together and even whole communities together. They gather people around shared values and create a sense of identity.One of the last teaching moments with His disciples before His death, Jesus establishes the Lord’s Supper. As we heard last week, meals matter. The Passover held great significance for God’s people. Jesus now says what it pointed to—God’s salvation of His people from slavery, now would be seen in its fullest sense. That Jesus was going to die on the cross so that He could save God’s people from an even greater slavery… the slavery of sin.As we gather around the table of the Lord’s Supper, we remember what Jesus has done for us, and proclaim to a watching world Jesus’ death until He comes back.It is a wonderful meal that God’s people get to share together. But don’t let its goodness reduce the gravity of the meal. This is not something for everyone at any time. It is a grave joy to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Do we understand its significance, and examine ourselves rightly? Do we treasure its meaning? Does it stir in us a hope for the better things to come?
Meals are so important in the history of God’s mob – they shape fellowship and community by remembering the acts of God. The first and greatest was the Passover meal. It marked the remembrance of the great salvation by God, of His people, from slavery.Described in Exodus 11-13, it was a meal that remembered the moment of salvation (when God brought the judgement of death on the firstborn in Egypt), the means of salvation (God’s action and the sacrifice of a perfect animal), and the nation created by the salvation (God’s people, descended from Abraham, were saved so that they could gather with God and worship him). Celebrated annually, it shaped the people of God, defining them by God’s salvation of them. But they could never dwell with Him or worship Him – because of sin. They needed a greater salvation. And so, when Jesus gathers His disciples to celebrate the Passover on the evening of His betrayal, only hours before His death… well, you join the dots!
God’s covenant of grace with His people stands: one of Abraham’s seed will beat sin, and change the sinful nature of people, so that God can dwell with His mob again. Circumcision is the picture God gave His people, which pointed to this promise. This promise could only happen by God’s work alone.At the end of the Old Testament, this promise stands. At the start of the New Testament, there is the hope of a ‘new beginning’ (Matt.1:1). This hope is followed by a genealogy which traces the ‘seed [singular] of Abraham’ down to Jesus (Matt.1:2-17). Jesus is described as the One who will ‘save His people from their sins’ (Matt.1:21). And then He does – through His life, death and resurrection alone, Jesus offers the forgiveness of sins and changed nature for God’s people.As Jesus sends His people out to proclaim this to the world, He does so with a picture that points back to who fulfils the promise of God: the picture of baptism points BACK to Jesus! And the work He achieved is received by trusting in what He has done!
In His last days on earth, Jesus instructed His disciples to continually practice two sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper as signs of God’s saving grace towards us in Jesus.Jesus here continues God’s practice in the Old Testament of using pictures and words to teach His people about His abiding grace towards a sinful humanity.Often in the Old Testament, God gave a sign to accompany His covenant with His people. For example, when God made a covenant with Abraham to bless the whole world through his offspring, He gave him the sign of circumcision. Circumcision symbolized God’s promise to cleanse sinners through Abraham’s seed.
We are at the end of Matthew’s good news biography of Jesus. Matthew started with a statement of ‘new beginnings’, as God fulfilled his promise through Abraham and David, to bring outsiders back to God. And now the message is to go out to all the nations, from the one with all authority, creating a community that is connected to all of God, taught all of Jesus’ commands, and obeying all of them.This is how Matthew finishes – from new beginnings to the proclamation of the new beginnings, to the whole world, God gathering his people in, through the news of Jesus. And as Jesus gives this command, he promises that he will never neglect his people, always being with them as they proclaim this good news to outsiders everywhere!
As dawn breaks on Sunday morning, women go to view the tomb…but what they see is far greater. An angel announces.. “He is not here. For he has risen..” What wonderful, good news! Some in our passage are gripped with fear, still others are shocked, displaying unexpected joy. But should we be surprised? Isn’t this what Jesus was saying all along?As we come to Easter, as we come to Jesus, be expectant that Jesus will do all he says. We can have complete confidence that what Jesus says.. Jesus does!“He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come see the place where he lay”. Death is defeated, the tomb is empty, and for those who trust in Jesus we have the promise of life after death because Jesus has gone before us.Celebrate today that God is faithful and that Jesus now reigns!
The events of Good Friday have significant impact. Jesus, the outsider deals with sin in the only way possible. It involves an excruciating death, burial and is final. There are insults and mockery, confusion and speculation abound. Jesus, the outsider has left His mark.
In today’s passage it’s Good Friday, the saddest day in human history. But hidden amongst the lies and deception and betrayal are glimmers of hope.The great African American preacher S.M. Lockridge wrote a reflection on this time in Holy week. Here’s what he has to say in part, “It’s Thursday, and Jesus is praying. Peter is sleeping, Judas is betraying, but Sunday’s coming. It’s Friday, Pilate’s struggling. The council is conspiring, the crowd is vilifying. They don’t even know that Sunday’s coming. It’s Friday, the disciples are running like sheep without a shepherd. Peter is denying, Mary is crying, but they don’t know that Sunday’s a coming. It’s Friday. The Romans beat my Jesus. They robe him in Scarlet, they crown him with thorns, but they don’t know that Sunday’s coming. It’s Friday, see Jesus walking to Calvary, his blood dripping, his body stumbling and his spirit burdened. It’s Friday, only Friday, but let me tell you something: Sunday’s a coming!”The Son of Man is more ‘outside’ than ever before. Betrayed, rejected, beaten and handed over to be crucified. Majestically silent, confident in his father’s plans. So much more than just a king of the Jews, he’s King of all Kings.
“… “But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then the disciples deserted him and ran away.” With these words we were left on a cliff hanger. Jesus has become the Outsider. Deserted by his disciples, just betrayed by Judas, captured like a criminal. He is led away to face trial, but as we’ll see he is not the only one on trial.It is a trial of faith. For the Sanhedrin, Peter and Jesus. Ultimately it boils down to how they view the word of God. Do they reject it, are fearful of others above it or submit to it and rest in its promises. Jesus reveals his nature on his terms. Revelation brought through God’s word brings exposure. What does it reveal about us?
Matthew has employed the super slo-mo camera in his account of the last two days of Jesus’ life. He has slowed all the events right down, so that we can grasp the details. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. The one who came to save the outsiders can only do this by becoming THE outsider. And we cannot miss how incredibly alone, and ‘outside’, Jesus is in these moments. He prays alone. He resists alone. He stands firm alone. All the disciples abandon him. All the religious authorities are arrayed against him. And, yet, his authority remains undiminished – all the events happen according to the word of God, and nothing happens without Jesus’ explicit approval.Jesus is the Son of Man, who is the outsider, so that the sinners who abandon him can proclaim him, and the sinners who kill him can be forgiven by him.
In Matthew 26:1-35, Matthew transitions us from Jesus’s final sermon on the Mount of Olives to the events leading up to his crucifixion.As he has done since being revealed as the Messiah (Matt 16:16-21), Jesus prepares his disciples for his crucifixion. He does this by teaching them that his crucifixion fulfills the covenant promises of God captured both in the Jewish scriptures and festivals instituted by God, especially the Passover. How different people respond to Jesus shows whether they truly understand who he is or the significance of his crucifixion.
I think many of us struggle in the face of Jesus’ teaching in this, his last sermon to his disciples. It is urgent, it is blunt, it is confronting… and there is immense comfort. In this last moment, he turns from metaphor and parable to clear statement—this is what it will be like on judgement day. And there are some very significant, and deep, theological truths revealed here (the identity of Jesus, the reality of judgement, the nature of Jesus’ relationship with his people, the foundation for judgement). But there is also immense comfort—the entry into the kingdom remains the forgiveness of sins by Jesus (Matthew 1:21); the practice of the kingdom is so simple and obvious (caring for those in the kingdom); and there will be a day of judgement!
The logic of Jesus’ last teaching time with His disciples is clear: the end is coming; no-one knows that day; be alert, working… and now, in two clear parables, He teaches what that looks like.In the parable of the virgins (vs.1-13), to be alert is to be prepared. And what does that look like? Well, I suspect it is to know Jesus and His words deeply, it is to know Jesus and His mob consistently, and I suspect it is to live Jesus and His truth daily.In the parable of the talents (vs.14-30), to be alert is to wholeheartedly work with everything God has given you, for Jesus. And what does that look like? Well, I suspect it is not pew-warming, but pew-working – it is not just wafting through life as one of Jesus’ disciples; it is to be actively using whatever gifts, resources, and faculties (and opportunities) for the sake of Jesus, and the proclamation of His good news.
In his closing statement of the ‘woes’, Jesus asserts that Jerusalem will be ‘desolate’ (23:38). It seems an impossible statement when the magnificence of the Temple is considered. But, Jesus again asserts its truth: Jerusalem, and the Temple, will be razed so that no stone is left on another. The disciples are curious—when, and what sign? In his reply, Jesus makes clear that the fall of Jerusalem (which happens under Rome in AD70) is a microcosm of the return of Jesus at the end of the world—and the responsibility of God’s mob is clear: be ready and working when that day comes, by not being distracted, by praying, by proclaiming the kingdom of God. Don’t get distracted!
For some time, Jesus has been patiently answering the questions from Jerusalem’s teachers and rulers. Last week we saw the final engagement with Jesus… now it’s His turn to speak.For what might seem like an overreaction, Jesus is justly pointing out the failings of Israel’s leaders and how they have led the people astray. In one of the most emotionally charged exchanges, Jesus both severely judges, and deeply laments, the false religion He sees before Him.While much of what Jesus says is directed to the Pharisees and scribes, it is the crowd to which He speaks. How will they respond? How are we meant to respond?
Matthew has been about the ‘outsider being brought inside’, and the outsider is any human (because we are all sinners).Jesus is now into His last week, before His crucifixion, in Jerusalem. It has not been a calm week – it has been a week of conflict and confrontation. It has been a week of plotting (by the religious and political authorities), and a week of truth-telling (by Jesus). The King has come to His ‘capital’ and His ‘people’, and they are actively opposed to Him. As we resume, the conflict and the traps are reaching their climax… and so is the revelation of who Jesus is!
We have come to the end of The Apostles’ Creed – and what a wonder that these are the truths we believe, these are the truths that shape us, these are the truths that reveal the nature of God in His word! The work of Jesus has given us a certain and true hope: our sins are forgiven. And sin itself will be removed and destroyed – there will be a day of great renewal, and this has been shown in Jesus: we will all be raised, given new bodies fit for dwelling with God! That will be a one-off moment, but its impact will be felt for eternity! God – the Father, Son and Spirit – have worked in faithfulness to bring before God a people of His own, to live with Him forever. God is so good! A great summary is in John 3:16: ‘For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.’
Amongst all the striking things of The Apostles’ Creed is this: when we come to the final ‘I believe’, we are revealing what time we live in. What I mean is this… the nature of God is always present in His word—He is always Trinitarian… but the fullness of the revelation of His nature is only reached once Christ comes in the flesh, and sin is dealt with.At this point, we can look back over the whole word of God, and see the Holy Spirit lurking everywhere. But now, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling with us, and we know that the Spirit is God!And now we experience, across all of God’s mob, what the Spirit does: He enables and equips and assures God’s mob as they carry out God’s work!
One of the prevailing views of the world after the Second World War was that God had abandoned the world – look at the death camps, look at the slaughter, look at nuclear weapons, look at what our modern ever-improving humanity had achieved! But that view of God – that He has abandoned what He has made – remains, doesn’t it? We feel it as we wait as God’s people, and wonder about the promise of return and renewal. We speak it as we watch a world groaning under sin, as we feel the pain of loss or disappointment. If we are transparent and honest, we have all felt like God has abandoned us, and this world.The next phrase of The Apostles’ Creed is an emphatic statement that God did not abandon Jesus, and so God has not abandoned all those connected to Jesus.
If Jesus is the Christ (God’s chosen Saviour of the world, who will deal with sin and return God’s mob to rest), God’s only Son (and so the right ruler of the world who gathers God’s mob home), and our Lord, then how is this all achieved?The next phrase of The Apostles’ Creed asserts the historical truth of the actions of Jesus, their means, and by implication, their efficacy and purpose. It is here that we publicly state that the death of Jesus was not a wasted life, but the final sacrifice of the only man who could stand in for sinners like us. In this statement, we believe that Jesus paid for our sins – once and for all.
We must keep remembering that The Apostles’ Creed speaks to the world we live in. And the world we live in is marked, defined, by restlessness. This is the absence of rest – and the dominance of searching for rest – in work, in leisure, in experience, in self-discovery.It is against this backdrop that we must understand the next part of The Apostles’ Creed – ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary…’. The Incarnation – the birth of Jesus as THE God-man – is the only answer for the restlessness of our world. And this is because our restless lives are the expression of sin, and its judgement… and only someone who is both fully God and fully man can deal with our sin.
Each week, we publicly state what we believe, as we gather as God’s mob. Each week, we publicly state that we believe certain truths about God – about His nature, about His actions, about His community, about His interactions with this world. In fact, as an Anglican Church, we are part of a denomination that states we hold to three ‘creeds’, three summary statements about what we believe about God – the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicaean Creed and the Athanasian Creed.Each creed emerged in response to certain questions – about the nature of God, about the nature of the Trinity. But the earliest was the Apostles’ Creed, a summary of the truth of the apostles, originally created for baptisms. In fact, to have such a creed – a summary – is following in the footsteps of God’s word – just look at Deuteronomy 6:4, or Romans 10:8-9, or Philippians 2:5-11.
2024 is finishing, 2025 is looming – how will we finish… how will we start… how will we go on? Psalm 92 is the only psalm designated ‘for the Sabbath’ in the whole Psalter: it is a good way to finish one week, and to start the next, gathered as God’s mob. As the week’s flow into each other, this one truth remains every day: ‘You, LORD are exalted forever’ (vs.8). It lies at the heart of this psalm – and it helps us understand where we are plated so we know what we will proclaim and practice. God’s mob are planted in His presence, in His eternal presence. This gives them a certain perspective on life, on the temporal things that surround. This gives them a unique difference to so much they see, which looks flourishing but is destined to destruction. This gives them a grasp of how they came to be here – by God’s grace. This, then, shapes how they proclaim and practice life, daily, weekly, yearly: ‘The LORD is magnificent – just look at Him, and His constant faithful love’.Jesus grasped this – remember how He prayed even as He approached His death?God’s mob – us! – can finish one year, and face the next, knowing where we are planted, so that we know what to proclaim and practice: ‘Look at how magnificent the LORD is!’
25 Dec 2024 - Christmas DayWe look through the longings of Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna while seeing their reactions to the incarnation of God in Jesus.
The nativity story around the wise men is something we are familiar with. We see images of three kings in so many nativity scenes. We hear in the carol “We Three Kings” about three kings who follow the star. But what does Matthew actually tell us about this part of the story?When we get into it, the story is really about an undetermined number of wise, learned, knowledgeable scientific astrologers who travel a long distance to worship a child from another nation. But why? Why do that? Because they know this child is special. He is important to them, as outsiders. He is important to His own nation. He is important for the whole world. And their response is to worship Him. Their story points us to who it is that is worthy of worship, and how to express that worship.
Have you ever considered that Christmas is a moment about reactions? When you read the accounts of the birth of Jesus, everyone on our side (the human side) is reacting – Mary to Gabriel’s news, Joseph to Mary’s condition and Gabriel’s news, the shepherds to the angels, the wise men to the star, and Herod and Jerusalem to the wise men. Put simply, Christmas is about a series of snapshots of reactions – kind of like everything that everyone will upload onto Tik-Tok as they film each other’s reactions. But reactions are only possible if there is something to react to – and, from God’s side, that is exactly the truth: He has sent an event, news, a moment, of global proportions into our world. And this is His grace. And He calls us to consider this moment, and work out what we are doing with it!
‘Silent Night’. It is one of the most beloved Christmas carols ever written, translated into over 300 languages.It also captures a theme many long for during the hustle and bustle of the busy season of Christmas… Peace. Written by Joseph Mohr in 1816 while he overlooked the sleepy town of Mariapfarr, it would later be put to music and performed for the first time in 1818. It has been sung by countless voices over the past two hundred years. Most notably on Christmas Eve 1914 when German, French and British troops along the Western Front had a Christmas truce. Amongst the conflict and chaos of war, all was calm and peace was found. But is that the peace that we celebrate at Christmas time? Or is there a deeper peace that Jesus’ advent brings?
Over the next few weeks (in ‘Advent’, the period in the church calendar of ‘waiting’, as we prepare to remember the Incarnation), we will be looking at four Christmas carols. We are doing this for two reasons: first, to get in the bait of running all we do through the word of God; and, second, reminding ourselves of what we are remembering as we wait. Our first carol – ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ – deals with our ‘hopes and dreams’. It has its roots deep in the words of the prophet Micah, who had many hopes and dreams holed up in Jerusalem, with the wolf of Assyria surrounding the city. It has its answer in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as God promised. And it has a warning, as the wise men turn up and the locals reveal that they know the truth of God’s answer to their ‘hopes and dreams’, but they just cannot be bothered.
As we finish Genesis, there are so many threads and ideas that are wrapped up – and so many hopes and trusts that are laid out. Here are a few of my observations… First, the book starts with blessing and promise – and it closes with blessing and promise. Second, the whole of the account relies on the God who promises, and the promises of God. Third, the book ends with the promise of God only being able to be fulfilled by the God who promises – will Joseph get back to the land? Will God come to take his people to be with him? Fourth, the ending of the book is corporate – there is so much about what we do today that is individual. Fifth, the truth that God works for the good of his desires for his people runs as a thread throughout God’s word – and it is both a description of his character and nature, and our inability. Sixth, the good news of Jesus is the culmination of all of these.
Death has a remarkably clarifying effect on life. At the moment of end, life is brought into focus, and the key truths – the things that matter – are sharpened. Jacob is at the end of his life. He has been reunited with Joseph. He has seen the promises of God fulfilled. The word of God has sustained him. As he approaches the end of life, what is sharply in his mind and action?The writer of the Hebrews describes Jacob’s clarity as ‘worship’ – as he dies, he gives God what He deserves – and that is the truth of the covenant and promises of God passed onto the next generation. As Jacob approaches death, the grace of God, the promise of God, the commitment of God – all these are sharpened in his actions, and passed onto the next generation.Put simply, Jacob passes on the good news of God, through grace and promise fulfilled. Are we doing the same?
The bible is full of God making promises and fulfilling them. Genesis 46 and 47 is a key example of God demonstrating His faithfulness and keeping His promises. Knowing these promises first is really helpful!
At last we reach the pinnacle of the Joseph-Judah narrative, and perhaps the climax of Genesis as a whole! The dysfunctional nature of Jacob’s family we saw two weeks ago is coming to a head.The Brothers are faced with one final test. Benjamin is found in possession of “stolen” silver. Will they abandon their half-brother Benjamin as they did Joseph all those long years ago? More importantly, how will they respond to Joseph’s accusation “what is this you have done?”. Will they shift the blame… deny the accusations… or rationalise their actions.? Will they, like so many before them, dodge the question?The confrontation of the uncovering of guilt and sin has two paths. One of denial, blame shifting and mitigating. This path only leads to fractured and damaged relationships. The other, more difficult, path opens the possibility for repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. We see this played out between Joseph and his brothers but also on a much larger scale between humans and God.
Today is Reformation Sunday – the day we remember when the great truths of God’s word – salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed in Scripture alone – were rediscovered during a period called the Reformation. Attributed to the work of Martin Luther, the Reformation began with him, but was often solidified and cemented by the second generation of reformers, men like John Calvin. Calvin is often connected, and often in a pejorative way, with Calvinism, his great writing called ‘The Institutes’, and the straw-man theology that is often mis-labelled ‘predestination’. But, at the heart of Calvin’s life work is the ‘glory of God’ – the unavoidable and eternal significance of God for all life and truth and reality, revealed in Jesus Christ and spoken in God’s word. For Calvin, this was the heart of all things.
Genesis recounts three great truths: how this world began, how this world was broken, and how this world will be fixed. At the heart of each truth is God. And at the heart of what God does is His commitment to His image-bearers.Throughout Genesis, God is unavoidably and unmistakably in charge. His actions to restore His creation are by His initiative (grace), received by trusting in what He does (faith), and completely undeserved by humanity (there is grace again).Committing through the family of Abraham, in covenant (a binding agreement between two parties), God commits to each subsequent generation to restore His world – His people, in His place, under His rule by His word. None of Abraham’s family – or Isaac’s – or Jacob’s – recommend themselves. And yet, as we reach Joseph, in Egypt, God displays (yet again) that His initiative brings repentance and restoration. This news never gets old!
We all love an against-the-odds victory, don’t we. Whether its Agincourt where 6,000 English longbowmen completely routed 30,000 French infantry and cavalry. Or Rorke’s Drift where 150 British troops defended a farmhouse and wounded British soldiers against 4,000 Zulu warriors—11 Victoria Crosses were awarded that day. And a small group of Hussite peasants held off an army of 150,000 Crusaders who had laid siege to the city of Prague. All they had were sharpened tools but they repelled attacks for two days allowing a relief force to come to their aid.Of course, we are more familiar with the likes of Joshua at Jericho bringing down walls with God’s power, and Gideon with clay jars and loud shouts causing a much greater army to be thrown into confusion. Time and again in the Old Testament we see God winning battles for His chosen people. Unlikely, unbelievable, miraculous victories. But of course, the greatest ever against-the-odds victory was won by God through His son Jesus. He defeated sin by dying on the cross and defeated death by rising from the grave. It doesn’t matter who or what surrounds us we can be confident that we are secure in Christ.
Like a swimmer slowly drifting away from shore or a car ever so slightly moving away from the centre, if our lives are not centred on God and His word, we too are at risk of drifting away.Psalm 78 is a song from the heart of Aseph. It’s a call to remember all that God has done for His people. How, even though (and in spite of!) His people’s constant wandering away from Him, He faithfully cares for and provides for them.Ultimately we see this provision in King Jesus. Who “being compassionate, atoned for our iniquity” on the cross. The lesson we receive from Psalm 78 is not merely a history lesson, but a discipleship model. Aseph envisions that those who fear God will draw deep from the well of His word, and pass off the wondrous acts of the LORD to future generations “so that they would set their hope in God”.
Revelation has been a wild ride!The letters to the seven churches, the glimpse of heaven now, the cycles of the outpouring of judgement, the fall of Babylon, the fall of the Dragon.Now we reach the end, the consummation of all things. And what a glorious picture it is. God dwelling with His people, making all things new. The people of God worshiping God forever. The words of this book have been passed from the true and faithful witness to His witnesses in this earth as they wait and prepare.How will you let these words shape and guide you as you wait and prepare?
We come to a section of Revelation that has caused immense debate and discussion and division (Rev 20:1-6). It is a striking fact because it immediately places a huge weight on six verses that deal with something mentioned nowhere else in the Bible, as well as throw out the consistent way we have handled Revelation so far (remember apocalyptic imagery?).As people get entranced and distracted by Revelation 20:1-6 and the question of ‘chiliasm’, they forget the clarity around this section: there will be a judgement day, and how are we preparing for that day? From another perspective, there are two feasts to which all humans are invited, and the key is how they deal with Jesus – will you be at the feast as an ‘eater’ or as the ‘eaten’?
‘Babylon’ is Biblical shorthand for ‘opposed to God’. It is the anti-God, seen in anti-church, and led by an anti-Christ. Its characteristics were established way back in Genesis 11:1-9, where humans banded together, not to build a tower, but to ‘make a name for ourselves’ (Gen.11:4) – the tower expresses this. It is to oppose God, on every level. It creates an ‘anti-church’, a community that is seduced by the lies of ‘I am God’ and seduced by the indulgence and materialism that goes with that. It is led by an ‘anti-Christ’, a messianic figure who mimics Jesus. And it will be defeated, by God. Such an expression has been evident across all time – from the ruthless nature of Rome, through the horror of Nazism, into the materialism of communism, and now in our slavery today to materialism, authentic experiences, and economic wellbeing. As we view the fall of Babylon, there should be rejoicing by God’s mob. But there should also be sobriety, as we reflect on how seductive Babylon is…
Throughout Revelation we see God pouring out his judgments. But is he fair or is he over-reacting?180 miles of blood up to the horses bridle seems a bit much! That’s how chapter 14 ended. A gruesome image of God’s wrath on those who remain in sin and that are counted as his enemies.Chapters 15 and 16 draw out an aspect of God’s character that up to this point has not been spoken about. The song of Moses and of the Lamb declare that God is not only great and awe-inspiring but that he is also just and true.God will act against ungodliness but we are assured and comforted that he is just and true. What he says he will do. And what he does is right!
This next section of Revelation, of the ‘what will be’, is a little less clear in its cycle of seven. We have had the seven seals. We have had the seven trumpets. And now, before the seven bowls, we get seven ‘signs’, or pictures.At the heart of these ‘signs’ is the great opposition of the devil to God and His rule through Jesus. At the heart of this great opposition is the establishment of a parody of God – an anti-Trinity of a dragon, a sea-beast and a land-beast. They mimic God, in His Trinitarian nature, in every way… but they persecute the people of God. And, in the context of this world, they can be seen to be embodied by any empire that sets itself up against God, claiming to be divine, offering messianic hope in policies and practices and power.In John’s day, that could clearly be seen in the power of Rome. And it has been ever since, as political authorities claim the divine power to rule the world: think of Rome, think of Hitler, think of Pol Pot, think of Stalin, think of Idi Amin, think of any current ruler or pretender who portrays themselves in messianic terms.And, yet, they have already been defeated by the ‘blood of the Lamb’ (12:11). The role of God’s mob now is to proclaim this victory, and to experience the sweet bitterness of following in the footsteps of the Lamb.
The next set of seven unfolds before John. The sealed scroll is now fully opened. The prayers of God’s people are heard. And now, reflecting the judgement of God on Egypt in Exodus, God now judges the idols of the world. As God does, He reveals their powerlessness in the face of His power, He reveals their damage in the face of His care, and He calls people to return to Him. God also reveals, in the interlude, the place of His people in all this. His people are to proclaim and prophecy. His people are kept safe, spiritually. His people will triumph, in exactly the same way Jesus did. As all things come to an end, we must recognise that what takes place here is both future-focused, but with wisdom and clarity for God’s mob now. We must call the world to turn from giving devotion to anything but God; and, as we do, we must know that the world will lash out but we are safe.
The Lamb starts to open the seals on the scroll. The plan and promise of God—to deal with sin, to reverse the curse of sin, to restore his creation so that his people can dwell with him—starts to be implemented.As this unfolds, we must remember several truths. First, God is on the throne of the universe. Second, the Lamb/Lion has all authority to open this scroll, because he has already beaten sin and death. Third, what happens now is ‘what will take place’. But, fourth, this is not a description of consecutive events, but a look at the one period, from different angles. There is repetition here as the same period is looked at in a set pattern—and the recapitulation intensifies the moment each time. Fifth, these events are looked at in a pattern of seven—they are the complete events, under the control of God.
Revelation is the clarifying big picture, of the faithful witness (Jesus), written by a faithful witness (John) so that God’s mob might be faithful witnesses. To be such a witness is to someone who steadfastly and consistently and enduringly proclaims and practices the truth of Jesus, and points this out to the world. Revelation’s clarifying big picture is intended to encourage and equip and confront and explain, so that God’s mob steadfastly witness to Jesus.In this context, what we saw last week (ch.2-3) was ‘what was’, so that we might be confronted and comforted by Jesus. And this week, we are looking at ‘what is’ (ch.4-5) - a glorious vision of the sovereign rule and judgement of God himself, through Jesus, over all the affairs of this world, and history.
The risen and glorified Jesus stands among the 7 lampstands and the 7 churches of Asia. What will Jesus’ evaluation of his church be? “Great work, keep going”? “How far you have fallen”? It’s a mixed bag as we’ll see. The churches are judged not by world standards but by Jesus’ standard. He both comforts and confronts the churches, as he declares he knows their deeds and desires.The churches, while all different in unique settings, fit into three categories. They are at risk of assimilation (Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira), risk of persecution (Smyrna, Philadelphia), and risk of complacency (Sardis, Laodicea).How will the churches survive these risks? Jesus spurs on his followers with the promise of reward to those who conquer.
We live in unsettling times. Everyone seems to be saying this, and we feel it as we navigate news, current affairs, day-to-day life, and even personal relationships. All of us try to make sense of these times through explanations—narratives, if you like. For some, these narratives reveal a suspicion of deeper forces at work. For others, these narratives reveal an emphasis on individual authenticity. For some of us, the narratives reveal a deep gloom and hopelessness, and for others they reveal an indulgent and exulting ‘living in the now’. God has a revealing truth—a narrative—for his people, that speaks into every moment of their lives here in this deeply unsettling world. And at its heart, this revelation speaks simply: God is in charge, which is seen in Jesus winning. That is Revelation!
Most of you know what a legal appeal process is. If you are not satisfied with a court decision you can appeal the decision. Normally the appeal will go to a higher court. There, the decision will be reviewed. There are a number of possible outcomes from an appeal. The original decision might be overturned, the sentence might be reduced, or it might possibly be upgraded.We are looking at an appeal today. Psalm 38 is David’s appeal to God. David has committed a sin. God is disciplining him because of that sin and David is struggling, really struggling, with that discipline and so he makes an appeal.
We can all look back on a time - or times - when God was at work in our lives, but we couldn’t see it at the time. We had fears or troubles or temptations and it seemed like God wasn’t there. We’ve all heard the saying that if you feel like God is not beside you then it’s you who has moved away. David must have felt a bit like that in his fleeing from Saul. Deceiving Saul, lying to the priest at Nob, and pretending to be insane amongst the Philistines, because in the moment he was fearing man more than God and had forgotten all the times God had been with him.Earlier when Samuel anointed David we are told “the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward” and we see God at work protecting him, but David, like us, had forgotten. But looking back and writing this Psalm he is reminded and able to see what God has done and his response is praise, to call the people to praise with him. He calls people to seek the Lord, to obey the Lord and to take refuge in Him because: “The Lord redeems the life of His servants, and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished”
Psalm 19 is a beautiful prayer that points to the greatness of our God, His perfect and enduring word, and our need for a Saviour, Jesus. Here is the gospel! How will you respond?
Power, authority and… image. Over the past 7 weeks we have seen the increasing opposition to Jesus from the established rulers (Pharisees, elders, chief priest). This week it has reached the point where they are actively seeking to trap Jesus in His words.And what better trap than the age old hot button topic of politic and religion. Like a cat among the pigeons, surely this question will unsettle Jesus forcing Him to alienate one side or another.But Jesus, as He has previously done, turns the question around, forcing His accusers, and us reading today, to answer the uncomfortable question of ‘who’s authority do we recognise and sit under’ and ‘in who’s image do we live?’. If we as image bearers of God are called to “give back to God what is God’s”… what does that mean for our lives, here and now?
This is the third of three parables that Jesus teaches on His second day in Jerusalem. The first two very clearly confront the religious leaders of Israel (God’s mob) with this question: ‘What have you done with the beautiful thing that the Lord has done?’ (Matt.21:42). And the religious leaders are condemned by Jesus’ words – they have rejected Jesus, and they are judged. This third parable makes the same point – but then turns to God’s mob (the disciples and those they will bring in), and warns them from the example of the religious leadership: to be in the kingdom of God, to be dependent, is to live as someone in the kingdom of God, dependent upon Jesus. To be in the kingdom is to live in the kingdom! This is a very serious, but encouraging, warning to God’s mob. Anyone can be welcomed into the kingdom of God, through Jesus – but this will not, and should not, leave you unchanged!
Jesus is still in the temple following on from last week’s authority question from the chief priests and elders. In response to the weak non-answer, Jesus tells them two parables about vineyards to expose their lack of dependence on God, the vineyard owner. Unlike other parables which Jesus had to explain, there is no need for explanation here. Everyone knew what He meant.In the first parable the insiders (2nd son) were not being obedient and so were judged. The judgement was that the outsiders (1st son) who repented and obeyed, were entering the kingdom before them.In the second parable we see Israel’s history in a few sentences. God planted a vineyart (Israel), and it, or its tenants, didn’t live how they should have. Servants (prophets) were sent but were ignored at best, but mostly killed. He sent his beloved sone and they killed him as well. In judgement, the vineyard owner will remove the insider tenants and bring the outsiders in to do the job that the leaders of Israel weren’t doing.Jesus is the stone thrown to the discard pile by Israel, but God has made Him the cornerstone. We reject Him at our peril.
Jesus is returning to Jerusalem for the second day. Jesus is hungry – he is human. Jesus sees fig tree – but, despite its leaves, it has no fruit. Jesus curses the fig tree. Jesus is God, taking on the divine role of pronouncing judgement.This brief episode is a living example of the judgement brought by the king of God’s people returning to his mob: they have become independent, insiders not aligned with the desire of God for the outsider. They are unfruitful, and they are judged.God’s mob, however, have true fruitfulness when they recognise the authority of the king, and completely and totally depend upon him. Such dependency will change the world, because of the one they depend upon!
Jesus has finally made it to Jerusalem. As Matthew prepares us for His entry into Jerusalem, he helps us confront Jesus’ authority, and the way in which it restores the concern of God for the outsider, and confronts the insider.This is the start of the Passover week. Jerusalem is a roiling maelstrom of religious and political fervour. And Matthew organises the narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem around displays of His authority, rooted in recognition of His ‘old power’ – four Old Testament quotations structure the passage.As we come face-to-face with Jesus’ authority, three truths stand out. First, Jesus’ authority is extensive and all-encompassing. Second, Jesus’ authority is for the outsider, and rooted in God’s deep commitment to bring the outsider inside His kingdom. And, third, Jesus authority confronts the insider, and urges them to repentance.Come and meet Jesus, the King, in all His authority, as He enters Jerusalem!
What is greatness? In particular, what is greatness in the kingdom of God? That is the question addressed in the passage from Matthew today.Jesus is approached by two different groups. First, the family of Zebedee: James and John and their mother. Second, two blind men. Jesus asks both groups the same question “What do you want me to do for you?” What they request is quite revealing. And so is Jesus’ response to their requests. The Zebedees request position, status, reward for effort. The blind men request mercy, for their eyes to be open. Which request lines up with Jesus’ teaching previously? Which request do we tend to go to ourselves?
The Department of Home Affairs has an Australian Values Statement on its website. Visa applicants for residency/citizenship must sign this. And one of its key principles is that we are a ‘fair-go’ country. We would all agree with that. I suspect, too, that we would summarise our ‘fair go’ culture by stating that ‘you get what you deserve/what you work for’. In fact, many of us have established our relational, social and work ethics on this very principle.But is that what the ‘kingdom of heaven is like’? What is its value statement? What is the hallmark of such a kingdom, and its ruler, even its citizenship?Today, after Jesus has assured his disciples that the dependent will be provided for by their king, he now uses the same ideas to issue with them a warning not to abuse, misuse, ignore or become entitled in the face of the kingdom of heaven hallmark—which is grace.
Jesus deals with the question of ‘Who belongs in the kingdom?’ Is it children? Is it the good? Is it the godly? And, how and what does this look like?This question of ‘belonging’ is one that is constant in our lives – where do I belong, do I belong, what does belonging look like? And Jesus is very clear: the kingdom of heaven is made up of the dependent, the reliant, the weak – just like children.
The book of Esther recounts a period where God's people are in exile, aliens in a foreign land. Sounds like our time doesn't it?Even when God seems absent, He is at work. The great reversal of power at the heart of the universe has already taken place. Jesus won victory over death on the cross and in His resurrection. Satan the great enemy of God and His people, has been defeated.We wait in the now but not yet. Waiting for the Lord Jesus to return and give His people relief and rest. But as we wait, we share the good news of the gospel, call people to faith in Jesus, faithfully endure persecution, knowing that our deliverance is assured.
We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time.Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
Esther is such an exciting story! There are evil plots. There are interesting yet flawed characters. There is risk and sacrifice. There is heroism and villainy.Today, we are introduced to the villain of the plot, and what an evil scheming villain he is! He spins lies and concocts murderous plans to do away with the Jews, God’s covenant people. How will the people respond? Will he get away with his evil plan? Will God, who is not mentioned at all, intervene to protect His people, to live up to the promises He made to Abraham, the people at Mt Sinai, and to David?
There is so much that sounds familiar in these first two chapters of Esther: the world is dominated by loud and brash and imposing and degraded power, the people of God are small and struggling and faced with ambiguous decisions and actions and God seems so far away he is almost absent (at least to our minds and hearts). As we read this book, we will need God’s revelation to help us navigate its strangeness, its ambiguity, and its confrontational narrative. In this, we have the key to the book—the lack of God’s name in letters does not mean the lack of God’s presence.
He is risen! This morning we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The tomb is empty, the power of sin and death has been defeated. It is fitting that if Jesus’ last words were “it is finished” than His first words to His followers are “peace be with you”. But this is no ordinary greeting. The work of Jesus, His life, death, burial and resurrection is the grounds on which our relationship with God can be restored. The brokenness and rebellion that once plagued our lives has been dealt with. It’s no wonder that Jesus’ words are “peace be with you”. Jesus doesn’t give peace as the world does, nor does He promise a life free from trouble. But He does promise life to the full. God promises Shalom, complete wholeness in relationship with Himself through Jesus. That is something to celebrate!
There are a number of sayings that I love, but one that I really use – ‘Pink in the morning, sailor’s/shepherd’s warning; Pink at night, sailor’s/shepherd’s delight’. It was actually confirmed as a true saying for me the other day, as I listened to an interview with a meteorologist!Sayings like this that are memorable and true – well, they provide terrific summaries that help us navigate life. And it is no different for God’s mob. In fact, within even a matter of years of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection (and ascension), sayings were starting to be developed and used that summarised the essence of what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus, and part of God’s mob.Those sayings are no less significant today – and one of them, from a letter from a bloke called Paul to a young fella called Timothy, summarises what we are on about here at Narrabri Anglican Church: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners’.
You eventually have to make a decision about the Gospel – in fact, the Gospel demands a decision. The slow build of the first five boxes of ‘Learn the Gospel’ has brought us to this binary moment.On the one hand, you can persist in the attitude and action that says, ‘I am God and God is not’, and the consequence is facing the judgement of God – the judgement of death – on your own merits.On the other hand, you can turn to Jesus (‘repent’), trust in what He has done (His life, death and resurrection) and submit to His right rule, and receive restoration with God, forgiveness of sins, and a completely new life.You eventually have to make a decision about the Gospel.
The resurrection of Jesus was not just another miracle of God but the definitive victory over sin and death! Yes, His death on the cross paid our debt of sin but His resurrection showed Him to be righteous, without fault and blameless before God, and highlighted His identity as truly God. The God-man who could restore our relationship with God. As such, Jesus is the ruler and judge over all the world, and to whom all will give an account.Jesus’s resurrection is the guarantee that those who place their faith in Him have present forgiveness of sins and are justified before God. We can be sure of the living hope that, as Jesus rose, so we too will rise to resurrected life and enjoy eternity with our Lord and Saviour together!
What a dismal valley! From God’s good creation, to sin, through to rightful judgement by God – it is grim. And yet, God remained committed to His creation – He is not indifferent, but deeply and passionately concerned. God Himself will act vigorously against evil. As the One offended by sin (the one against whom sin is committed), God Himself is the only one who can deal with sin. As humans, we are in desperate need for someone to stand in for us – to ‘defend’ us – someone like us, but unlike us in sin. And this is the heart of the good news, the life-changing momentous news, of Jesus: He is God-in-the-flesh, a living and breathing statement that God is not indifferent but passionately committed. Jesus, as God, comes to deal with sin – willingly. Jesus, as man, stands in for sinful humans, taking God’s judgement on Himself, for us. Now, that is a whole lot less dismal!
God made everything, including us. It was all made good! We were made to rule over the earth under His authority, to bring Him honour and praise for who He is. But, as we learnt last week, we don’t do that. That’s called sin. The attitude and action that says “I am god and God is not.” Surely God won’t stand for that. Surely the Creator of the universe won’t let human beings go on unpunished for their rebellion against Him. The truth is, God has, does, and will judge humanity and the world for its rebellion. That judgement involves death and eternal separation from the Creator. What a bleak future for humanity!
God made a very good world. God made us, male and female, to bear his image and tend his garden, by hearing and obeying him. What went wrong?It is the crucial question, as we consider the Gospel, the base for who we are as God’s mob. And it introduces a word we know, a concept we are familiar with, and a truth that is so often misunderstood and misapplied – ‘sin’.To many, ‘sin’ is about ‘breaking rules’. And it is at least this, but sin is more than this. Sin, as we have heard time and time again, is the attitude and action that says, ‘I am God, and God is not’. It is pervasive. It is universal. It is horrible.All sin is the same because of this truth – it is connected with who we are, and who we desire to be, against God. And it is the reason this very good world is so broken.
I don’t know much about building, but I do know a little bit about running. And the key to running, especially distance running, is having a solid base – it is having your foundation straight. You need to start at the right place, and starting here, you continue from here.That is why we are learning the Gospel – we are getting our base right. ‘Gospel’ means significant, history-affecting, good news. It is where we start in being saved, in being God’s mob (1 Cor.15:1-5). It is where we continue in being God’s mob (Col.2:6-7). And it is what we share (Col.4:2-6). The Gospel is something spoken, something learned, something passed on – the news about Jesus, who died and rose, to deal with the sins of humans.And the starting point for this is way back at the start: the truth that God made the world, that he made it good, that God sustains the world, and that he made us as his image-bearers to look after the world under him.
There is nothing, and no-one, like God. He is holy – unique, one-of-a-kind. And he should be, and must be, known like this. He will not allow his significance (his glory) be given to another, or any other thing. In this sense, God made the world, and placed humans in the world bearing his image, to declare this truth to the universe.As humans sinned, God committed through the family of Abraham to restore his significance through the world. This is at the heart of his saving of his people from Egypt. This is at the heart of making his covenant with his now-saved people at Mount Sinai. This is at the heart of his commandments which enable his people to represent him to the world.And this is at the heart of the attribute of ‘jealousy’ – God is passionate for his covenantal relationship with his people, because it declares his significance to the world.When God’s people aren’t so passionate, so wholehearted, so devoted, then what are they saying about their God?
We yearn for justice, a day when all wrongs will be judged, all right will be implemented, and where evil will be banished. And often, in this world that seems so broken and damaged, we cry out to God, and ask him to judge justly.God is just. His people have always sung this truth and held onto it—just remember the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. And God has fixed a day when he will judge all sin—just look at Acts 17. On that day, he will judge ‘in righteousness’.The standard of God’s justice is his nature—his straight and upright nature. The problem for us is that, as we cry for ‘justice’, we fail to measure up. And the good news for us is that, in Jesus, God does judge our sin—and the judgement falls on him (Romans 3:21-26).Is God just? Yes he is!
‘God is love’ is perhaps the most used, most accessible summary of Christianity that many people use. Some use it in a praising way. Some use it in a derogatory way. Some use it in a dismissive way. Some use it in a permissive way. But what does it mean? When we read of what this phrase means in 1 John 4, we realise that ‘love’ is not an empty vessel that we can fill with our own desires or indulgences. We also realise that ‘love’ is not just spoken as a declaration, but displayed as a deed. Moreover, ‘love’ is profoundly other-person centred, and that it doesn’t avoid sin, but confronts it head-on. Most significantly, ‘love’ doesn’t begin with us, but with God – and this completely changes the way we view our place in the world.
God is Trinity sounds like a philosophical game. God is one, God is three-in-one, God is all persons at once being God at the same time? Surely this is a philosophical imposition on God’s singular status as unique?It is not—and Jesus himself closes his time physically with his disciples by proclaiming the truth of the Trinity—he sends them out into the world, with one job: to make disciples who bear the name of God: Father, Son, holy Spirit (Matt.28:16-20).
How well do we know our God? Do we know his character, his nature, his attributes? Do we know who he truly is? And, do we respond with the awe, obedience, and love that this God deserves? Do we glorify him, because we know him? Do we represent him, because we know him?Today, we are looking at the attribute of God—God is… holy. And as we do, my hope is that we will know him more deeply, love him more fully, obey him more wholeheartedly, and represent him for faithfully.
The end of the year, another one stretching out ahead. Resolutions are considered, the goodness of food and family at Christmas enjoyed, and there is time to sit and ponder and consider: What do I need for the year ahead?God issues an invitation to his mob—and the world at large—to come and gain ‘wisdom’ - the knowledge that helps you understand the world and what steps are need to navigate it. At the heart of wisdom is relationship—with God, through Jesus. And this wisdom is gained through relationship—through the words of God, cross-generationally, through households. And this wisdom is applied daily—in situations from daily life through to global politics. What do I need for the year ahead?I need wisdom!
Consider Christmas as the moment of obedience and remember the relevance of Christmas in a sin brokenworld. God's grace is unsettling and be astounded at God’s desire for each of us. Pay attention to Joseph, as the example of how to embrace Christmas.
Jesus' family tree gives us great hope, comfort and confidence through God's promise of salvation.Our culture places a lot of importance on family at Christmas but Jesus' family tree has many broken people like families today. But remember, God's grace through broken families then or now is immense and massive beyond anything we can understand, and it's publicly displayed at Christmas.
Peter focusses on the relationships of God’s mob – amongst themselves and with the outside world – as the world around them causes them suffering. It should not surprise us that Jesus is the template; moreover, Jesus displays the vindication of this practice and proclamation, showing how practicing God displays the certain truth of the nature and work of God.
Our marriages will look different. God designed marriage to mirror the love of Christ for the church and of the church for Christ. As such, a marriage that does this will be a place where Christian growth and mission is bound to be the result.
Peter gives some clear directions on how to conduct oneself honourably in marriage that is different to the way society tells us marriage should be, that is not always easy. But we have a perfect template to base our behaviour on!
We are the rejoicing mob of God, with a living hope and a certain future and a life that reflects the nature of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. We are to declare the praise of the one who called us out of darkness into his light. What does that look like? This is answered in four simple truths: 1. our identity is crucial (see 2:11); 2. our conduct is different (see 2:11); 3. the difference is a cause for tension (see 2:11); 4. and Jesus is our template (see 2:21-25)
Swimming in the waters of our society, we can often forget from where we get our identity and what defines us as believers of Jesus. Peter, speaking to temporary residents scattered throughout Asia Minor and dispersed throughout North West NSW, seeks to remind them where their identity comes from. If we have tasted that the Lord is good, we should crave after the word (2:2-3), already mentioned in 1:25.
Peter shows what the reality of drawing near to God looks like. That just as Jesus was the bodily dwelling of God, when we believe in Him we are joined to Him. This joining produces the glorious living and expanding temple of God, His Church. We are a part of God’s building plan, honoured by Him for believing.
As such, we are to be distinctive in the world as we show Who is our identity. As wonderful as this is, Peter foreshadows the implication of following one already continually rejected by the world. In this, Peter wants to bring comfort and assurance to his readers that the one who follows Jesus will not be put to shame and that they are His treasured possession.
Perhaps the most important word in today’s passage is ‘therefore’. It seems strange to say, but it helps us understand the context and purpose of verses 13-25.
Without the ‘therefore’, these four commands reek of good deeds and self-improvement. With the ‘therefore’, we understand that these four commands emerge from what God has already done for us, in His ‘great mercy’ (vs.3). With the ‘therefore’, we see these four commands as outlining the ‘rejoicing’ life of a people who are temporary residents. With the ‘therefore’, we understand these four commands as helping us as God’s mob to reflect Him to the world.
Rejoice (vs. 3-12) (i) in someone (vs. 3), (ii) in what you have been given (vs. 3-5), (iii) In what you now experience (vs. 6), (iv) in what you now possess (vs. 7), (v) in who you now love (vs. 8-9), (vi) in where you stand in history (vs. 10-12).
In three simple verses, Malachi rounds out his prophecy in simple summary. God’s word is clear!
God’s mob are to remember who they are: they are a covenantal people, with an identity found in the God who graciously loves them relentlessly.
God’s mob are to be reminded: a day is coming when the sin in, and of, God’s mob will be judged. God will prepare them for that day, sending a prophet to them, a prophet like Elijah.
As they listen to this word from God, God’s mob will be restored in repentance: they will be brought back to the covenant, or they will be completely devoted to destruction.
This really did take place – why else would Jesus be affirmed in His identity by the presence of Moses and Elijah? (Matt.17) Therefore, this really applies to us: as God’s mob, we must remember our identity, we must be reminded of the great day of sin judged (at Golgotha and in the future), and we must be a repentant restored people, obeying our God.
Relationships. They can bring us the most joy in this world. They can also bring us the most grief. Being involved in such a breakdown creates immense pain. It is often described as “breaking your heart”.
God’s relationship with His people is a particular kind of relationship. At the time Malachi writes, it is a covenantal relationship. The thing we are familiar with that looks most like this relationship is marriage. We have already had a bit of a look at that in this series on Malachi. Today we are going to continue to look at how God and His people are going in their relationship.
The covenant that governs this relationship sits within a history of God working for His people. He is working to make them a people for Him. A people who display who He is and His glory.
We have seen in Malachi how the Lord loves His people.
Not only do the people question His love but, by their actions, they show that they don’t trust His faithful care for them either. They don’t trust Him with their best offerings and now they don’t trust Him with all their offerings. They keep some back so they will have enough.
But He reminds them that His mercies never come to an end. For generations He has watched over them and preserved them.
They should know by now that they can trust Him with all they have, all they are…. with everything.
We have had a further 2500 years of unending mercy as well as the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to reassure us. But are we any better? Do we trust God with all we have, all we are…. with everything?
Words can be tiring, can’t they? And tiresome words that express untruths can be even more so!
God’s people are speaking tiresome and untrue words – and God is worn out by them. As they doubt His love, as they offer Him their seconds, as they live in a way that betrays their identity in their marriages, God’s people also question His concern for justice. They accuse Him of rewarding the unrighteous and immoral, of ignoring justice. In fact, they basically state that there seems no use being faithful to Him, if He seems unconcerned with justice!
God’s response is to promise that He is concerned about justice, that He will judge the unjust and immoral – in fact, He will come and do it personally. It is no mistake that these are the very words that Mark (1:2-3) uses to describe the work of John the Baptist, as he prepares for Jesus’ arrival!
The LORD loves His people. The LORD’s people doubt His love. This affects their worship of Him – does He really deserve our best? And this affects their relationships with each other – if the LORD doesn’t really love us, why should we be faithful to each other?
This is the scenario that Malachi confronts in Malachi 2:10-16.
Three points are worth remembering. • First, this is a prophecy against God’s people, not a statement about the wider world. • Second, this is a reminder that how we live as God’s mob reflects what we think about God – our vertical life is expressed in our horizontal life. • And, third, God has given us daily images of His faithfulness towards us – daily covenants.
Do we live in such a way here that we honour Him?
God is faithful to His promises to take and renew and save and restore human beings, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
In this sense, today is another reminder that in Christ, by the Spirit, our Father is endlessly faithful and we are reminded of how to stay keen as a Christian!
Have you ever been half-hearted about something? Have you ever had the attitude of near enough is good enough? Do you ever think like this about your relationship with God?
Today, we see God rebuking his people, in particular the priests, for their half-hearted attitude to their worship of Him. God had proved His love for His people. He had chosen Abraham and the line of Jacob to be His people. He made a covenant with them at Mt Sinai. He continued to show grace and mercy to His people. God loved His people. But they were not showing love back.
The people’s half-heartedness was demonstrated through their poor, blemished, shoddy, second rate, dodgy offerings for the sacrifices. They didn’t think God loved them, and so didn’t give God their best.
The consequences as we will see are quite staggering and shocking, but God’s grace is even greater!!
God’s people doubt his love, and so give him their ‘seconds’. And to begin, God reassures his people that he loves them—just look at their history!We can often assume the same about God—and God reminds us that he loves his people—just look at your history! There, on a hill, outside Jerusalem, is an empty cross… and nearby is an empty tomb… God loves his people!So, amidst all that seems hard and tough and wearing and broken, this fact stands: God loves his people, Jesus is not in the tomb or on the cross!
We live in an amazing world – sunsets of unimaginable colours, mountains with peaks dusted in snow, waves that roll and dump and foam in shades of blue and white, birdsong sweeter than Dame Nellie – and all point to the glory of God. But to know God, we need his words – and his words lead to life. In fact, his words bring not just life, but exposure – they reveal our sin, and our desperate need for forgiveness of those sins.Psalm 19 captures these truths for us, in a simple and profound way. And then we ask, ‘How does Jesus fulfil this poem?’ Jesus IS God’s word, the perfect revelation of God who confronts our sin, and saves us from our sins.
Where do children fit in God’s creation, and especially within His mob? Children bear the image of God. They are the fruit of the command of God to be ‘fruitful’. They are given the context of the family as the place for their birth, growth and maturing. Children, as humans, are sinful from conception. They desire to be God instead of God. Children are members of God’s people. They are spoken to in the commandments at Mt Sinai. They are spoken to as members of the church. They are welcomed by Jesus. They are saved by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Children are a trust from God, to their parents, and the community of God. They are to be taught the good news of God’s love in Jesus, and the faithfulness of God to His people. This is primarily and principally in their families, and reinforced within the community of God’s people. Children are a blessing from God.
Singleness… its a phase of life that all will experience and yet not a topic we often think through well. Having seen God’s good plan of marriage for His people, we must ask, ‘what about those who are not married?’ The Bible has a high view of singleness calling it a gift (1 Cor 7:7). Paul encourages us to think wisely about how we can best serve God in the state of life we find ourselves, not seeking the alternative. For some, that might mean choosing to remain single so that they might serve God, free from the distraction of married life. As a church, we should be affirming the gift of singleness in our family and supporting and encouraging those who are single. So often we overlook single life, seeing it as a transit lounge on the way to the ‘real’ destination of marriage. God, however, is less concerned with your marital status as He is your commitment to growing as a disciple of Christ. Whether we are single or married, God’s desire is for all His people to be living holy lives that glorify Him.
Patricia speaks about the order of Sex, Gender and Identity.As a Sexologist and evangelical Christian, Patricia has translated her passion to bring good holistic sexual health to all people into practical sex education, sex research and sex therapy.
Patricia speaks on "Beyond Birds and Bees" - A sex education in a sexualized culture.As a Sexologist and evangelical Christian, Patricia has translated her passion to bring good holistic sexual health to all people into practical sex education, sex research and sex therapy.
What is marriage? It is an important question because it concerns the definition of what was, until very, very recently, the chief and central union of commitment in our world. Now, as our society debates the changes it wants to make to definitions of sex and gender, we find that marriage is being redefined (even by public vote). But we cannot know what is happening if we don’t know what marriage is—and then we can understand the implications.Put simply, marriage is the union of one man and one woman, in committed and binding promises, for life. It is created by, designed by, God for the service of him. It projects his image into the world, it fills the world with his image-bearers, and it is the living-breathing example in everyday life of the love of God, in Jesus, for his people, the one love that makes them whole again and fulfils their humanity.Now, what happens if we lose/change marriage?
What do you think when someone says ‘sex’ and ‘gender’? In our current world, such terms are under intense scrutiny, open to wide and quite emotional debate, and the concepts are a source of some significant angst and confusion.
One of the statements I keep returning to in my mind and heart in Matthew is the statement of God as Jesus is revealed as truly divine: ‘This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!’ (Matthew 17:5). The realization of who Jesus truly is should drive His disciples’ to ‘listen to Him’ – to hear and obey.Too often we hear Jesus – then we argue with Jesus. We debate His words. We look for loopholes. We lament their ‘rigidity’ or their ‘uncompromising’ and ‘high’ nature. We listen – and then we argue, wriggle, lament, or moan.Yet, this is God-in-the-flesh. His words are true and good and wise and gentle and for the benefit of broken image-bearers-of-God. So, when the Pharisees come to trap Jesus in questions about marriage (and divorce), Jesus’ words are not to be debated, but first listened to, understood, then applied. This is the same man who knows sinners and the broken, sups with them, and offers them rest. His words are for their good!
Jesus has explicitly warned about the dangers to the community in God’s kingdom (the dangers of sin and stumbling blocks are to be taken seriously, radically). Jesus has revealed the heart of God, whose kingdom it is (God desires the wandering citizen to be found and restored).In this closing section, Jesus teaches on how to thoughtfully, and dependently, restore a brother or sister by confronting willful sin. And He exposes the hallmark of this kingdom: abundant and mind-blowingly generous forgiveness. In a world which does conflict on Twitter, which spreads rumours and avoids open and caring confrontation, which has cancelled forgiveness and replaced it with revenge, revisionism, and refusal, this kind of kingdom is needed. We need it!
All is not as expected…its better! The tomb is open and the body of Jesus is gone. The angels proclaim “He is not here, He has risen!” (24:6) Easter Sunday is the climatic crescendo to God’s plan to redeem His people even if it is not what the disciples had expected. Through three separate encounters, we hear explained that what has taken place was no accident, no plan B, nor second rate option, but that “it is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day” (24:7). Jesus makes bold claims surrounding who He is and what He has achieved; that He is truly, physically alive and that there is forgiveness of sins through Him alone. Are you open to discovering Jesus today?
What are your expectations for Good Friday? What do you expect of the word ‘good’? On a day when the hope of so many is executed, on a day when we remember the death of a man regarded as ‘good’ above all, in a moment when we read of the abuse that Jesus suffered, it seems strange to think of the ‘good’ on such a day.But Luke’s account of the death of Jesus is very helpful in confronting us with two questions to help us understand the ‘good’ of Good Friday. First, is this stuff really true? Luke wrote to reassure his mate, Theo, that this stuff was true and reliable and worth trusting. In this Luke, carefully investigated these events – and there is no argument that Jesus was crucified like this.Second, Luke wants us to carefully consider where we stand in this event, and what we expect of it. Are we with the scoffers, led by the leaders who killed this man – and expected Him to stay dead? Or, are we with the criminal who defends Jesus, who expected his own death that day, did not expect Jesus to die like this, and who hoped that Jesus would hear his plea?
“I am the greatest”. You probably know who made that statement. In his usual understated way, Mohammed Ali made this claim in February 1964, before one of his fights with Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Boxing title of the world. He seems to have been generally applauded for it. In Matthew’s Gospel today, the question that immediately draws our attention is similar to Ali’s. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Is this a question that should be occupying the disciples? Most of us won’t be “great” in worldly terms. But many of us want to do something significant in this world. The disciples’ question gives Jesus the opportunity to remind the disciples (and us) about how to gain entry into His kingdom and to also teach His disciples about what is valued in His kingdom. Importantly, Jesus does not stop there. He goes on to talk about how the members of His kingdom are to relate to each other as they live as His disciples. If we are to be true members of His kingdom, true disciples, we need to listen and learn as our King speaks.
John 3:16 captures what lies at the heart of who we are as God’s mob: we are about God loving the world; we are about the world having a problem (it is called sin and it is the attitude and action that we all have that says ‘I am God and God is not’); and, we are about God’s love dealing with our problem through a bloke called Jesus (God’s one and only boy). We are a mob gathered around these truths. Welcome!
The life of God’s people can often seem a roller-coaster. After the highs of the Transfiguration for three disciples, we walk down the mountain to the lows of the nine below, whose faith is wavering. This is not a new state of affairs – just read the Exodus accounts!And just as God is, time and time again, Jesus expresses a holy exasperation. He also utters an explanation: ‘Because of your little faith!’ (vs.20). Again, the present tense jumps out – and we are encouraged to confront the same explanation. What Jesus do we trust in? Do we trust in Jesus?The Jesus to trust in is the Almighty-God-in-the-flesh who is rejected, dies, is buried and rises from the dead. That King is worth knowing and trusting. Do we?
Jesus has come to bring the outsiders in. Jesus has finally been recognised as ‘the Christ, the Son of the Living God’ (16:16). Jesus reveals what this means – rejection, suffering, death, resurrection (16:21-22).The disciples do not quite grasp this. Jesus takes three – the necessary witnesses – up a mountain. There, He is revealed in His glory – they get a glimpse of who He truly is! And so much of their history is present – Moses, the cloud, six days, God speaking, God’s people constituted. There is Moses himself, and Elijah!The glory of Jesus goes hand-in-hand with the death of Jesus. This is what God had willed and planned. This is what John prepared for. So, what do you do with such a Saviour of the world? You listen to him!
Jesus’ command to ‘go’ is logical, powerful, and possible. It is logical because disciples are to come from ‘every nation’. It is powerful because of the authority of the One who gives it. And it is possible, because Jesus assures His disciples of His presence with them, as they obey Him.The danger with this four-word summary of who we are as God’s mob in Narrabri is that it could become all about us, and all about our activity. After all, these are all verbs we do! However, the purpose of this command of Jesus – and our obedience to it – is not for our significance to be known, but for God’s significance to be proclaimed – it is for God’s glory!Perhaps we need a ‘fifth’ ‘g’: gospelling, gathering, growing, going – for God’s glory!
To be a disciple is to be a wholehearted student follower of Jesus. This means that we are no longer our own boss – Jesus is our boss. And, at the heart of growing, is learning to walk after, and in obedience to, our new boss. This must happen by hearing, and obeying, His teachings.
The command to ‘make disciples of all nations’ has three parts to it… and this week we are looking at ‘gathering’ – disciples are part of a new community that gathers together. In the first instance, we are ‘gathered’ into a community with God Himself (and ‘baptism’ points to how God makes this possible). In the second instance, this community with God means we are gathered into a community with others in community with God. And the imagery in the Bible of this – body, building, bride, vine – are all images that only work when they are ‘gathered’ – in one place, at one time.If you are a disciple of Jesus, you gather!
Over the next four weeks, we are going to look at these words (‘gathering’, ‘growing’, ‘going’) and we will add a fourth at the start (‘gospelling’). We will do this by looking at the same passage each week: Matthew 28:16-20. Jesus’ last words in Matthew’s good news biography make clear that God’s people (‘disciples’) have a very clear command: ‘make disciples’. And we do this by ‘going’, ‘baptising’ and ‘teaching’. In essence, this is what our ‘mission statement’ is… We are doing this so that, at the start of the year, and across every formal ministry in God’s mob here, we will be thinking about what we are doing through these four words.
The future seems so amorphous, and so contested. Some people offer this vision, others offer that vision, and then more say that it cannot be known, so just live now.God gives His people a vision for the future that is rooted in His promises in the past, that deals with the very real events we experience daily, and which affirms the certainty of what we can look forward to. Revelation is the statement to God’s people that Jesus – regardless of their circumstances – is the King of all, loves His mob, has dealt with their sin, and has their future assured. In a world filled with rival empires to God, in a world where Christians are actively persecuted and marginalised, in a world where God himself is actively challenged, God’s people need this reassurance about the certain rule of Jesus. This reassurance enables them to persevere. This perseverance is towards a future that God Himself has promised – and has achieved so certainly that it is immovable. And it is a future that is good beyond our comprehension!
Philippi was a Roman city. Established as such in about 42BC, it was proudly Roman, proudly populated by ex-soldiers, all Roman citizens. And, yet, in this very city, many had changed their citizenship. They had heard the good news of Jesus. They had met the One who had been raised from the dead, with all authority and power in heaven and earth. They had understood His humility and power. They had been transferred, and were now transformed. They had met Jesus.As citizens of Jesus’ kingdom, not only did they eagerly look forward to the day when all His authority would be displayed – they now were to ‘live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ’ (Phil.1:27). They had to ‘live as you are’.
God reminds us that sin is real, and it can be forgiven. This is the truth of His word (just read the heart-rending Psalm 51, as David confesses his sin and turns to God alone to be forgiven!).God reminds us that sin can really be taken on, because we have one who stands in for us, and has transferred and transformed us (His name is Jesus!).God reminds us that dealing with sin, and trusting in Jesus, is the truth of grace and obedience going hand-in-hand. To know Jesus is to be the object of God’s grace. To know Jesus is to obey Jesus – obedience displays that we have received grace.
God’s mob are a unique community. Created by God, through Jesus, it is made up of people who all have their lives ‘hidden with Christ’. It is open to any person, who comes to Jesus. It is forgiving and forbearing. It is peaceful, loving and constantly thankful. It is rich and singing, because of God’s word. And it reflects God in such a way that man-made divisions disappear. Isn’t that good?
Is your life “good”? What does that question even mean! There are so many opinions and versions of what “good” is that it is really difficult question to answer. In Colossians and in many of his letters, Paul explains the gospel before moving on to write of what it means to live in the world in a way that is consistent with that truth. That is where we are this week – with Paul – looking at how to live as people who are “hidden in Christ”.We are going to look at the source of the “good life” and how Paul tells us that we can live it here and now.
In today’s passage, we are reminded that our lives are ‘hidden with Christ’, that everything Jesus has, we have; that we have a glorious certainty in life; that we can face the world with the big, whole-of-the-universe perspective that is needed to make sense of life, death, and eternity!
Christmas matters because it is the moment when we remember that the King has come. Christmas matters because it is the moment when we remember that God keeps His promises – to restore a broken world, to bind up and heal and reconcile those who are His enemies, to bring a peace in which both cause (sin) and symptom (brokenness) are vanquished. Christmas matters because no other event (and its partner, Easter) is so significant in the history of the world.Christmas matters because we remember that the King of the world took on flesh, lived for us, died for us, rose for us, so that we could be forgiven and have peace. Why else would you be here today?
As Luke recounts the events of the first Christmas he tells of a group of shepherds who get a visit from a choir of angels.Here we get a glimpse of Jesus’ birth announcement. The baby in the manger is not just any child—He is God’s chosen King.We can be certain of it because God Himself sent His personal choir to earth to make the announcement.God Himself is putting His stamp of approval on this King and calls us, like the shepherds, to come and see for ourselves so we can know for certain that Jesus really is who the Bible says He is.
There are some years where singing “Joy to the World” can feel a little tone deaf. There are plenty of Christmases that feel less than joyful.But the truths hidden in this carol remind us that God’s mob always have a reason to be joyful.Jesus is King so we know things are under control.Jesus is Saviour so we can be sure we are right with God.Jesus is coming back so we can be sure the future is bright.Because of this God’s mob will always have good reasons to be joyful even when circumstances suggest otherwise.
‘O come all you faithful’ is a striking carol for two reasons. The first is simple: the carol is all about a repeated invitation to come and ‘behold him’.The second reason is connected: we are invited not to be observers, but to be adorers.Now, ‘adore’ is a word that is so hackneyed because it is used so unsparingly. We adore puppies, someone’s shoes/ear-rings/necklace, even chocolate. But ‘adore’ is a relational term – it is a verb of the deepest love and respect for someone.So, as you listen to the invitation of this carol to adore Jesus, perhaps a way to think about this is to ask yourself a question: ‘What, or who, do I adore?’
‘Hark the herald angels sing’ attempts to capture this whole gamut of truthful experiences (shock, wonder, awe, humility, obedience, discovery, veracity, verbosity, announcement, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told), amazing emotions, and deeply appreciative responses. It is a song that riffs off the account of Luke 2:1-20, draws in theological summary from something like the Nicene Creed (and Philippians 2:5-11), and reminds us of the true goodness of theologically rich and Biblically-rooted carols.Put simply, it is a song of wonder!
God’s mob are a singing people. This is what we will do forever (just look at Revelation 4, 5, and 7!). It is what God’s mob have done right throughout their history (just look at the Psalms!). It is what characterises our gatherings now. And singing has been crucial at key turning points in church history (Luther’s songs set to pub tunes applied truth to the minds of people!).
But what IS a Christian song? In fact, what IS a song?
Here is a rough definition: ‘Truth to music, to stir emotion and to invite a response’.
Now, there are probably many things to quibble with in such a definition, but it is a starting point to help us think through what we do as we sing as God’s mob. First, ‘truth’ is central: the truth of the faith. Second, this ‘truth’ is set to ‘music’ – and music is both an aid to memory and a spur to ‘emotion’. Third, the stirring of ‘emotions’ is crucial for songs – and emotions are a gift from God, rightly used to respond from deep within our natures as His image-bearers. And, finally, this ‘response’ is the right application of truth warmly received, in daily life.
Having warned us about the dangers of false teachers and what will happen if we follow them, Jude now shows us how we can avoid their traps. He reminds us of the importance of praying, building each other up and waiting patiently for the return of Christ. He tells us to look out for our friends and help them with their doubts. Then in a final exclamation of praise he reminds us that ultimately Jesus is the one fighting for us, and he is waiting to present us to God with great joy. We need not fear because Christ is on our side and is working to protect us from all the attacks that come our way.
A small book, the penultimate in our Bibles, Jude was written by the brother of Jesus (Matt.13:55) to God’s people, with one clear message: ‘fight for the faith!’
In our current world, where we seek peace above everything, where so much offends or divides, where we want to avoid conflict, such a message jars a little. But we must hear its exhortation.
There is one ‘faith’, one set of truth, that is Jesus Christ, who lived, died and rose for our sins, so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God, and each other (see 1 Cor.15:1-7). There are slippery men who have slipped in amongst God’s people. Their teaching is slippery, and they look just like God’s people and even use the same language and words and phrases. But their conduct threatens this ‘once-for-all-handed-down’ faith – they abuse God’s grace, they deny Jesus’ lordship, and they live lives that rebel against God and His desires.
Such men need to be fought! Such faith needs to be fought for!
‘The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second-year of Darius’ is ‘foundation day’ for this small group of returned exiles from God’s mob. On this day, the foundation was laid for the Temple – and God’s people were called to ‘consider carefully’.
The ‘word of the LORD’ cast their minds back to the days they had ‘enjoyed’ since their return. The ‘word of the LORD’ focused their minds on ‘from this day forward’. And the ‘word of the LORD’ looked towards the future of ‘that day’.
At the heart of this ‘consider carefully’ was the overflowing of God’s kind and generous grace – grace which forgave their sins so that God could dwell with them, so that they could be His people, under His rule(r)!
As far as I know, amongst mainstream orthodox Christian denominations, Anglicans are the only mob defined by their liturgy. Now, every church has a liturgy – it is just a flash word for the stuff we do when we gather. However, Anglicans have a historic and set Book of Common Prayer (BCP).
Originally written by Thomas Cranmer in 1549 (revised in 1552, and finalised in 1662), the BCP had three aims, as set out in Cranmer’s original Preface. First, it wanted to return the ‘pure word of God’ to the heart of God’s people gathered, so that they ‘might be stirred up to godliness’ and ‘inflamed with a love for His [God’s] true religion’. Second, it was to be in a language that the people could hear, understand, and ‘profit by hearing the same’. And, thirdly, it was to be ‘plain…’ and ‘basic’.
Biblical, understandable, simple – that was the aim of Cranmer. Is that what we do here?
God has commanded the building project – His Kingdom – that declares His significance. But it just doesn’t seem to match the rhetoric or hopes or history that we hold onto. God’s people were like that in Haggai’s day, too – a month after they began rebuilding the Temple, they are dispirited, disheartened, and disappointed. Some are yearning for the ‘good-old-days’, some are puzzled by the lack of progress, and some are just confused about the building.
Haggai comes, and with the LORD’s word, reassures them that God has got matters in hand: He is with them, and through them, the LORD will bring a ‘greater glory’ and ‘peace’ through His Temple.
With this in mind – and with God’s historical steadfastness clearly stated – God’s mob are to ‘be strong’, to ‘work’ and to be ‘not afraid’.
Haggai turns to the leaders of God’s people, and states the excuse God’s people have for not building God’s house, the Temple: ‘It is just inconvenient, and not the right time’’ (vs.2). It’s not as if God’s people doubt His importance, or the significance of the symbolism of the Temple, do they?
And, as we will see, the circumstances are tough: there has been prolonged drought, crops have failed consistently, finances are tight, and the local political opposition is quite fierce.
Haggai then turns to God’s people, though, and points out the problem: ‘Your houses look pretty fine, but God’s house is in ruins. Your priorities are exposed by your personal lives’ (vs.3-4).
It is an incisive and exposing statement. And it is not so much a statement about the city-planning of Jerusalem, but a statement about how God’s people view the significance of God, the significance of His desire and promise to live with them, and the significance of sin. In their paneled houses, these people make a statement: God is not that important!
Such a 2022 book for God’s people…
Good writers help you get into the story (or article) by giving you a sense of the scene—they try to help you feel and smell and hear and be the story. They use words—lots of them, or few of them—to give you a sense of being ‘in’ the story.
A really simple way of analyzing this is to ask ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, as you come to a piece of writing. And the Bible is no different—as the greatest piece of literature, and the very revelation of God—each of its books can be approached this way.
As we start a short series on Haggai, these observations are all answered in the first verse. In a very few words, Haggai sets the scene for us. And, as we will see in the sermon, the landscape—the smell and taste and touch and sound—of Haggai is remarkably similar to our world.
As for the ‘why’? Well, that is next week...
Jesus is the final, fullest and greatest revelation from God. There is no more that needs to be revealed by God, and no more that needs to be done by God. In Jesus alone is “great salvation”.
But do we treat Jesus this way? Do we see, know, understand and live that “Jesus is enough”?
Or do we hedge our bets, and invest in other options? Do we treat Jesus like an insurance policy? Do we place Him amongst other desires in our lives? Do we live and teach and speak of Him as terrific, but…?
Not to treat Jesus as enough is to float away from the one final and historically verifiable “great salvation” God has worked… and there is no other hope. Today, as we listen to Hebrews 2:1-4, let us be encouraged to live and breathe “Jesus is enough”.
Psalms are the hymnbook- prayerbook even – of God’s people. Put together after God’s people return from Exile, they offer songs and prayers that capture the heart of God’s people as they muddle through life as God’s people. As we read them, we recognise so much that is current. Just take today’s Psalm, 56... Written by David as he was captured in Gath (read 1 Samuel 21:10-15), it captures the heart of a man completely alone, but knowing that God is for him, that God knows his tears and predicament, and that God is trustworthy – just look at his words! All of that resonates with us – but we must proceed with care... before we sing this song, we must see how Jesus IS this Psalm for us. And all of Jesus’ life speaks to the truth of this Psalm: the great-descendant of David IS this Psalm in the flesh. Because Jesus IS this Psalm, we can sing it.
Have you ever wondered, what do God’s people look like? Here, at the close of Jacob’s story we learn some fascinating things about what types of people God calls to be in His family and what their life looks like. After all the nastiness of chapter 34 God still calls Jacob and his family back to Bethel. God is faithful to His people and brings them back to the land and blesses them. Jacob’s life shows the faithfulness of God to an undeserving people. Ruben’s failure points us to the truth that true power in God’s people is found in service. The death of Rachel and Deborah show us that God saves His people through suffering, not from it. All of this points us to the God who sends His only Son to die, so we, a group of undeserving rebels, can be counted among His people and made fit for His service.
It really is a section of the Bible you feel like you need a shower after: there is sexual violence, anger, silence, rage, favouritism, deception, carnage, and silence. In fact, on a surface reading, God seems as absent as His speech or acknowledgement! Like so many other episodes in the family history of Jacob, no human actor emerges well. Jacob has placed his family here through disobedience. Shechem violates Dinah. Shechem and his father are duplicitous. Simeon and Levi are deceitful and deceptive. The brothers are wanton in their violence. And the outcome is described in purely self-interested terms by Jacob!
But, the mere presence of this episode in the word of God speaks a number of truths. First, the silence of God must never be construed as the absence of God – look at the cross! Second, the word of God never shies from the brutality of sin. Third, the events make our hearts recognise our own sin – and yearn for a family where sin will be confronted, not ignored or taken advantage of. Those three truths taken together find voice in Psalms 27 and 56, expression in the genealogy of Jesus, and resolution at the cross, where the one man who should never have met God’s silence experienced the full brutality of sin so that we can always hear God’s voice!
What an unexpected moment!
The murderous big brother appears. His private army is with him. Jacob is exhausted, bent low, tired from a night of wrestling with God. He looks up – and there is Esau!
Jacob scrambles. He divides his camp. He approaches his brother, bowing and scraping and looking for mercy undeserved. And his brother ‘ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept’ (Gen.33:4).
What an unexpected moment! It is grace in human actions. We don’t know what has happened to Esau in these intervening years, but he appears here and doles out grace to the man who had struggled with the LORD. And Jacob knows that his life is bathed in grace – the brood around him, the looking upon Esau’s face.
Have you met such grace? Have you wept in that grace?
Maybe it is something older folk do. But looking back and considering how you have changed over the years is something many of us do.
There are many things in our lives that make us who we are. Our parents, our larger family, our friends, the personality God gives us, the things that happen to us and around us as we go through life.
Today we begin with Jacob and end up with Israel. This is not your everyday change. Who Jacob was and who Israel is; that is what we are looking at today. That and how the change has happened.
Far too often when we try and fix things we end up making things worse.
As Jacob and Rachel and the family flee from Laban they try and take matters into their own hands instead of trusting the promises of God. This leads to things getting worse and it is only the direct intervention of God that means there is a positive outcome.
We, like Jacob and Rachel, have the choice to trust God or take matters into our own hands. Far too often we choose to take matters into our own hands and this only makes things worse. But because for God’s direct intervention in sending Jesus, can we see that God is determined to keep His promises to us despite all of our attempts to do things on our own.
Promises can be either reassuring, or heartbreaking. Promises can either bring hope, or their breaking can dash hopes.
Think of Jacob—on his own, now married, two wives, eleven sons and one daughter, far from family he hasn’t seen in over fourteen years… The promise of God is so important: that God is committed to him, that God will bring him back, that God will make his family like the dust in number, that God will change the world through Jacob’s family. And look at that family!
This promise of God is a statement of profound grace—and it calls from Jacob obedience to the good and trustworthy word of God. That lies—as we will see—at the heart of this bizarre path of Jacob’s enriching. This is not a formula for financial success but a statement of grace received by faithful obedience!
What a dysfunctional family! What a mess that human sin has left! What good can come out of such a mess?
Now, as we read this section, please remember Genesis 28:15 - God is with Jacob until His promises are fulfilled. And one of those promises is that Jacob will have offspring as numerous as ‘the dust of the earth’ (28:14). One of those promises is that through Jacob’s kids, God will bless the world.
SO, as we watch the LORD see, and intervene for, the unloved (both Leah and Rachel), we see the good that comes out of the disciplining disappointment of the Father with His people: a brood of twelve boys, and one girl, who will grow to be the twelve tribes of God’s mob!
It’s often easy to see God working in the good times in our lives. But, where is God when things get hard? In Genesis 29 Jacob is forced to face the consequences of his sin and faces some challenging times. But this does not mean that God has left him. In fact, it is these very challenges that God will use to shape Jacob into the father of the Israelites. God did not abandon Jacob in his suffering—God will not abandon us in our suffering. But in His grace, He uses it to shape us to be the people He wants us to be.
Some things change, some things stay the same – and isn’t that the truth reaffirmed in this COVID-climate! It is a truth reiterated continually throughout Genesis – although I wonder whether the first part actually happens. It seems that things stay the same!
Isaac and Rebekah have had twins – Esau (the older, hairier, red, outdoors-type) and Jacob (the younger, less hairy, indoors-type). The LORD has stated that the younger will rule the older, establishing again the reality of grace as He commits to dealing with the broken state of the world.
The hope of the world lies in the grace of the LORD – and nowhere else…
We live in a world where “love” is understood in many different ways.
The “love” that God expresses is described in God’s word, the Bible, as “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”.
This week we look at extending God’s love to the wider world.
We have been looking at what the Bible means when it uses the word “love”. As Andrew reminded us last week: it is possibly the most misused word in our world today. Over the last two weeks we have seen the meaning of the word “love” as the Bible uses it. It is very different to how we hear and see it used around us every day.
As part of God’s mob here in Narrabri it is important that we listen to what our Lord says about our love for each other. The love He shows us also gives us a better way to live in this world. He reveals where love comes from. How we can love. What stops us loving each other and what loving each other results in.
“All You Need is Love”, “Love is All Around”, “What’s Love got to Do with It” and countless other songs have love in the title. Is there a word that has been misused as much and as often by our world as love? God’s love for us is, and always has been, active. The greatest action being the death and resurrection of His Son on our behalf. Today in the second in our series on Love we are looking at Our Love for God. It’s not just a suggestion or a nice idea but Deuteronomy 6:5 is a command from God that we are to love Him with our all, our everything, our heart, mind and strength. We prove our love by keeping His commandments, by not forgetting Him, no matter how comfortable our lives become. Not because we owe a debt - it’s a free gift- but so we can display our love for God to Him and to all the world.
‘Love is love’ is such a warm and fuzzy and nice phrase. It is one of the catchphrases of our times. But what does it mean? And do we realise the inconsistency of defining a word by itself… as well as the way in which such a phrase is logically inconsistent (Is my love for ice-cream the same as my love for my wife? Is the love of Jesus the same as the love of Amnon for Tamar?)… as well as the way such a phrase works as a catch-all justification for any form/type/expression of love that I find acceptable/desirable?
We need some clarity on ‘love’. In this week’s ‘love’, we are looking at God’s love for us as humans – and we will see that love in the Bible (which really means all of life) is defined sharply, clearly, and wonderfully – by God.
In the third in our series ‘Christ and…’, we are looking at ‘Christ and conscience’ – how do we make ethical and godly decisions about key matters in life? Moreover, is there some standard, some concrete and accessible standard, of the ‘good’ that guides us in such decision-making?
In Colossians 3:1-11, Paul reminds us that our lives as God’s people are defined by, circumscribed by, ‘the Messiah’ – by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the ‘good’, and He is real. He is the defining standard for ethical decision-making.
In the first sermon in our series, ‘Christ and…’, we saw three building blocks: there is a King, and His name is Jesus; Jesus is interested in image-bearers of God; and this kingdom has a message to tell the world. Those building blocks are remarkably helpful in thinking through Christ and cash.
As Jesus starts His first training session with His disciples – kind of like a citizenship induction course – in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), He wants them to know that they are part of His kingdom by being connected to Him, that in this kingdom God is their Father, and that the kingdom priorities are the focus – God’s mob are focused on serving their King and being interested in His image-bearers. That means, they have no need to worry about their material wealth, or to focus on storing up assets and investments and possessions here – their Father knows what they need! Instead, they can focus on God’s kingdom!
When we think about Jesus we often stop after considering Christmas and Easter.
But Jesus’ life had a point. He came to show us who God is. Jesus can show us who God is because He is God, He is the One who created the world, and He is the reason for its creation.
He came, so that, by dying He could bring us before God as holy and blameless.
Now He reigns as the head of the church.
Paul reminds us that Jesus is supreme in all the world and also sufficient for our salvation.
We live in a world that is fundamentally hostile to God – it is a world broken by sin, and enslaved to sin. It is a world that has set up an alternative rule to God. But the enemy is not the world – in so much as the physical creation. The enemy is the devil, and the way in which he wages war through lies and perverting our desires. And we are complicit – because we are sucked in by his lies!
How, as God’s people, are we to stand against such an opponent?
Ephesians 6 clearly reminds us that this war is real. The enemy is real. And knowing the enemy is crucial – recognise his tactics, recognise his lies, recognise his attacks. But we must also recognise that God has already flexed His ‘vast strength’ in raising His Son from the dead, and so crushing the snake. As the snake thrashes about, the very same suit of armour that Jesus used is made available to Jesus’ mob so that they can stand against the devil.
On the one hand, Jesus’ resurrection is the crux (and no pun intended) of the Gospel. If Jesus is not raised from the dead, His claims are mocked, His life is no different to our life, and the forgiveness of sins is a myth. If Jesus is not raised from the dead, then we are to be pitied!
But the resurrection of Jesus is real – it is just as God planned, just as Jesus shared, and witnessed to by more than 500 people (many of whom could be contacted when 1 Corinthians was written!)
So, on the other hand, Jesus is raised from the dead – and this means the offer of the Gospel is true, that the future is assured through Jesus, and that physical life matters – now and then.
Many people see the death of Jesus as a failure. But nothing could be further from the truth.
As Jesus washes the feet of His disciples, He shows us why His death is important and what true power looks like.
He shows us that it is His death that fixes our broken relationship with God and enables us to be called His children.
He also shows that true power is found only in sacrificial service of others as He calls us to follow His example in our lives.
Certainty is hard to come by these days. More and more people are losing trust in the institutions and ideas that we used to be certain of. But God has given us more than enough reason to be certain of what he has done for us. The plan he enacted at the beginning of time has been fulfilled, his people have faithfully transmitted his message across the ages, and we have his Holy Spirit as a deposit of what is to come. If nothing else we can always be certain that Jesus really was God with us and our sins are certainly paid for by his death. No matter what happens we can always be sure of what God has done for us in his Son.
The whole thrust of Romans 12:1-2 is that, because of God’s mercy (the good news of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, for our sins), we are to be completely transformed as God’s people, in every area of life—we are his people, and so we give him what he deserves (our whole existence).
This will affect how we view every facet of life—and in this series we will look at three: politics (Christ and crown), money (Christ and cash) and ethics (Christ and conscience). Today—politics!
Today’s verses are written in the context of standing firm as God’s mob in the midst of a world that will persecute, and false teachers that will deceive. It is a remarkably modern context! In this environment, what should God’s mob hold onto? What have God’s mob always held onto? What has God given them—to grow in their understanding, to live steadfast lives reflecting God to the world, to discern deceptive and false teaching, to grow in godliness? It is as simple as this: God has given them his ‘breathed-out’ word—the word that reveals his very nature and so is ‘beneficial’ for everything that God’s people need!
Anne Dutton, née Williams (1692?–1765) was a Calvinist writer and theologian. Born in Northampton, England, Anne contributed through her writings to the ongoing Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth century England. She was a controversial defender of Calvinistic theology.
John Wesley (1703 – 1791) was an English theologian, and evangelist, who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writing on Christianity's role in the secular world have become widely influential.
Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380), a layperson, was a mystic, activist and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and the church.
We live in a world of facts… and alternative facts. We live in a world of truth… and fake news. But that is nothing new—just remember the account of the Fall, and the facts and alternative facts that were shared there. And the Resurrection of Jesus follows the same theme—there is fact, and alternative fact. The facts are clear: Jesus died, Jesus was buried, Jesus was raised. Jesus is alive! The alternative facts are clear, too: Jesus is a notorious con-man, who needs to be silenced, and a lie is propagated, and spread, to deal with the facts. It is no different today—and the choice is just as stark: Do you believe Jesus is risen? Do you disbelieve that Jesus is risen? On the one hand, the facts transform life—and offer real hope. On the other hand, the alternative facts continue life as we know it—and offer the same as the Garden of Eden Fall. What do you believe?
Jesus has just been under immense personal attack—in his own house! He has systematically, and Scripturally, rebuffed the malicious questions of his opponents. Now, as a king should when attacked, he has gone on the offensive—Matthew 23-25 is his last great sermon before his death. Matthew 24 is preached just to his disciples. Impressed by the edifice of the Temple, Jesus declares to them the truth: this Temple will be destroyed! They are curious about these days, and so ask him of the signs of those times. The sermon that emerges is striking for these two facts. First, it deals with the ’now’ (the destruction of the Temple in AD70) as a lens through which to understand ’then’ (the end of the world). Second, it proclaims how God’s people are to live in the end-times, not when the end-times will be. In many ways, then, this is a simple sermon: be alert, proclaim, persevere, be ready… every day!
Ever since He arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus has been attacked and tested by the religious authorities. Each of the various sect of leaders has approached Jesus, and posed a ‘tricky’ question.
Jesus has answered each one brilliantly and bluntly and humbly. This is their last roll of the dice, and so they ask Him about the greatest of God’s laws. It is a question that aims to reduce Jesus—and God—to a neat and tickable box!
Jesus’ answer is expansive: love God with all you are, and love His image-bearers. Moreover, it allows Him the scope to then address, again, His identity. He does this by taking His listeners to God’s word, and pointing out that the descendant of David that was expected is a lot bigger than they had ever thought—He is actually God!
At this, the debates stop! And we now come to this truth: if Jesus is God, and He is, then His people love Him—with all that they are...and they love His image-bearers likewise!
As Jesus returns to the Temple complex on his second day in his capital, the religious leaders challenge his authority. They question his right, and the origin of his ‘kingship’. His response silences them. He responds as any king would, and should, when his legitimate rule is questioned.
In the two parables that follow, he exposes the rejection of God’s king by God’s people. And he exposes the breadth and depth and length of the kingdom of God – it is for all. Membership in the kingdom is by being connected to the king – and obedience to him.
This aspect of obedience is often missed here but it is crucial: the king’s authority is legitimate. The consequence is clear: obey him, or be outside the kingdom.
As Jesus comes into Jerusalem, he has plans – God and he! And as we come to Easter each year, it is worth pausing in our plans and pondering the Easter plans of God and his boy. That is what we will do for the next four weeks in our sermons.
Today, we see Jesus’ plans as he enters Jerusalem. There is the unmistakable air of a man – a king – in complete control. Nothing is out of place. Nothing is done unawares, or unplanned. And nothing is a mistake.
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he is unmistakably a king, THE king. He has come to his ‘house’. He cleans it out. He heals. He confronts the religious leaders. The King has come!
Last week, we saw the threats to a discerning decision about Jesus. This week, as Jesus continues walking with his disciples, he challenges them in their discernment about him. Initially, they nail it – Peter recognises Jesus as the God-annointed Saviour of the world, and this is understood as a recognition purely driven by God.
But, as Jesus unpacks what this looks like, the discernment of the disciples is challenged – by their acceptance of the world’s understanding of ‘Saviour’, by the cost of following the Saviour, by the timeframe of the Saviour.
Those challenges have not disappeared – and we must be aware of them! Jesus is as Jesus is revealed in God’s word – and he is our Saviour!
As Matthew rounds out a section where Jesus has been dealing with significant opposition, he reminds his readers of three dangers the followers of Jesus face.
There is the danger of ‘more’, and that is encapsulated in the demand of the religious leaders. It is not a new demand, nor is Jesus’ response much different to his response in Matthew 12:39ff. But these leaders want more than Jesus – and that is just foolish!
There is the danger of the ‘mundane’, and that is encapsulated in the reasoning of the disciples. They get so caught up on their bread ‘problem’ that they fail to grasp the sufficiency of Jesus.
There is the danger of the ‘message’, and that is encapsulated in Jesus’ warning to the disciples. Don’t be caught up in any ‘message’ that takes you away from Jesus – he is enough!
In today’s passage Jesus starts to interact with people who even the outsiders thought were outsiders. But because of their faith Jesus brings them into his kingdom and grants them all the privileges of having him as their King. He has done the same for us, turning us from outsiders to his kingdom to insiders. We are called to show that same attitude to everyone we might consider an outsider and invite them in.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day are like characters in ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ - so focussed on getting goodness right that they will try anything. As they do, and as they confront Jesus, he reveals that they have missed the big picture of God’s commands and so, missed the deep issue of their hearts.
Ticking the goodness box is no way to deal with a heart that is rotten, and a heart that desires God’s throne. And God has always been concerned about this matter—and his commands are inseparable from the issue of human hearts.
At the heart of Jesus’ identity is his ‘sonship’ - it is there in the opening verse of Matthew’s good news biography, it is there in the nature of the genealogy that follows, it is there in the birth narratives, it is there at his baptism, it is there in the temptation by the devil in the wilderness, it is there as the crowds start to piece together who he might be… and Jesus’ ‘sonship’ is inseparable from his power and his exercise of power. It lies at the heart of his identity and rule.
These events display both his ‘sonship’ and the way in which the Son of God will exercise his power.
In today’s passage we see a contrast between two kings, two meals, to responses to ‘the crowd’. On the one hand, the king who fears the crowds is the king who looks after the insiders, who deals in fear and death and opulence. On the other hand, the king who has compassion on the crowds is the king who looks for the outsiders, feeds the common people, and deals in abundant life. Which king speaks to our times, to us?
Church is an activity of the people of God. Their lives, amongst other things, are lives of worship (Rom.12:1-2), glory-giving to God (1 Cor.10:31), and proclamation (1 Pet.2:9-10). Church sits under this, as fellowship. And, then we unpack what this involves… at its heart, it is word-based edification (Eph.4:11-16; 1 Cor.10:46). Whatever we do, must be for this purpose!
The purpose of church should be understood from what church is forever. Places like Revelation 21:1-4, and Hebrews 12:22-24, give us a glimpse of this. In those two places, church is no more, and no less, than being with God: fellowship. Now, think on that for a moment… and marvel at the deep simplicity of such a truth!
In Hebrews 12, we are given five descriptions of the members of God’s church. All turn, as we dig into God’s word, on something God has done for these people, and nothing depends on what they have contributed. It all turns on the mercy and love of God that moves him to intervene in the lives of dead people (us, because of our sins!) to make them living people (by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus alone!). Church membership is an act of God – by love and mercy, through Jesus Christ.
And it is displayed, publicly, vocally, practically – it is never hidden, sporadic, private, hypothetical, or apathetic.
Psalm 5:4-6 states very clearly – and this is consistent across God’s word – that the sinner cannot stand in the presence of God. So, the question of ‘Who builds the church?’ becomes the question, ‘Who can deal with my/our sin so that we can gather before God?’
The answer to that is very clearly Jesus. And this means that the heart of church is the good news of Jesus – the one who comes to heal the sick, bind up the broken, give rest to the weary, by dealing with our sin.
The Bible uses many metaphors for church—body, bride, vine, building, pillar/foundation, household. All of them capture the idea of a community gathered—none of these metaphors work in a ‘broken’ sense.
Moreover, there is no other community like ‘church’ in this world. It is a community that expresses something eternal, that is eternal, and which lives in this world. It is our eternal community. It is the community we will always be a part of.
There are times in our lives when it can feel like God has rejected us.
David in Psalm 28 reflects on one of these moments, and in doing so he points us to Jesus who was rejected by God so that we would never have to be.
As David waits for God’s answer to his plight God himself comes to earth to show His people that they will never be abandoned by Him.
This leads us to rejoice with David that God will always hear us, protect us and shepherd us.
Statements of fact help us understand the world around us. And Psalm 24 starts with a statement of fact: everything in this world belongs to the LORD (vs.1-2).
This leads to two realisations for the original author. First, it means that there is a certain standard to come into the LORD’s presence – one cannot just wander into the presence of the LORD! (vs.3-6). Second, when the LORD comes to his world, what will happen, and what will he be like? (vs.7-10).
Well, the first realisation should fill any human with despair: how can anyone reach that standard? And the second realisation will fill any human with fear: how can I face that?
The result is a waiting for the LORD to come – and a question of how I – or any human – can be ready for that day.
Where is your place of refuge? Is it some quiet place in your house? Is it a man cave? Is it a craft room? Is it a good book that is like an old friend, a place you can disappear into in your mind? Refuges are places where we can escape from the worries, troubles or dangers of this world and feel safe and secure. In Psalm 16 David again states that God is his refuge, but then he asks again for God’s protection. What does David want to be safe from? It is a specific danger. It is a danger we all must face. And maybe David’s refuge is your refuge and maybe it isn’t.
One of the delightful features of Paul’s letters is the way they exhibit such personal details, painting a picture of God’s household which was dispersed but lived grace in their relationships. This close is like so many of Paul’s letters – personal details interspersed with reminders of key points from his letter.
The names mentioned here are not unfamiliar (although Zenas and Artemas are not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament). Tychicus was a close friend of Paul, the deliverer of the letters to Ephesus and Colossae (and possibly the correspondence named Philemon). Apollos was a well-known Christian leader.
Their place in God’s household, and their mission, allowed an opportunity to display the great grace of God in good deeds. Moreover, the way in which this command is restated should cast the mind of every reader of this letter (‘all of you’) back over the whole letter – the content of these good deeds (which is grace), the nature of that grace (God our Saviour), the things consistent with this nature (sound teaching in sound behaviour), the threat to that grace (false teachers), and those entrusted with leading God’s household (elders). In summary, this has been a letter about the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, from go to woe!
As Paul brings his letter to Titus to a close, he tells Titus to remind the church how they should behave. Christians are to be kind, humble, gentle and, submit to authorities.
Why does he ask this? Because that is how God has treated us.
God sent his son to save us, not because we earnt it, but because of his great mercy. Now, as the church, our charge is to treat others the way that God treated us.
‘The best thing since sliced bread’ is a phrase we use often. Now, we cannot deny the significance of ‘sliced bread’, but how often do we stop and ponder this truth: the coming of Jesus Christ has changed our lives in a way greater than ‘sliced bread’. ‘Sliced bread’ changed bread-making, nutrition, machinery and appliance development – but Jesus Christ saves lives, gives life, and shapes life in a way that stretches beyond the grave! WonderWhite cannot do that!
What we believe (our doctrine) is seen in our behaviour (our deeds) and it shows to the world who we serve (display), in the best light. That is the very simple truth of Titus 2:1-14.
Our doctrine leads to our deeds, which are a positive public display of our God. The problems emerge from when we reverse this order to start asking questions, questions like, ‘If someone observed my deeds, what would they conclude about the doctrine I believe and the God I display?’ Now, that is a little more pointed, isn’t it!
The world of the Middle Ages (we are talking the 1400s-1500s) was a world gripped by fear and uncertainty. In the midst of this fear, the growing corruption and authoritarianism of the Church was questioned and people were looking for some security, some assurance.
Does that sound familiar?
Martin Luther, a monk in Germany, was gripped by the same fears as the wider world. Driven back to his Bible, through reading Psalm 31 and Romans 1:16-17 (amongst many other parts of the Bible), Luther was brought to know God as he is – revealed in Jesus. God was not capricious, violent or of unmitigated judgement. God was just and gracious and merciful. His righteousness was not his wrath to be appeased by deeds, but his salvation to be received by faith alone, through Christ alone, because of God’s grace alone, revealed in the Scriptures alone.
Does that sound familiar?
An elder must be able to feed the sheep and shoot the wolves – his character is the foundation for this. His life is a living example of someone who ‘knows the truth that leads to godliness’. As Titus appoints these elders, they have some wolves at the door, even in the mob. The elders must handle the truth well, proclaiming it, so that these wolves are kept at bay.
The wolves are obvious – by their teaching (which takes people away from the truth) and by their conduct (which denies God). The wolves are not new – they have a historical track-record that even their own people know. They must be dealt with (‘silenced’ and ‘sharply rebuked’).
But it is not about protection but also restoration – did you see that there in verse 13? The elders share the same concern as Paul and Titus – that God’s people know the truth and are transformed by it.