Songs of Experience - Psalm 67 - Nat Charles

Psalm 67

Part of a series on the Psalms, Songs of Experience.

This week: Blessing: In our final sermon in the series, Nat Charles explains the 'what,' the 'why' and the 'so what' of blessing.

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom.

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TRANSCRIPT to follow

Songs of Experience - Psalm 96 - Rob Palmer

Psalm 96

Part of a series on the Psalms, Songs of Experience.

This week: Joy

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom, as well as socially distanced in church. Everyone is welcome to join us, for Zoom details see our home page.

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Transcript

We’re going through a series in the Psalms looking at various emotions, and this week, we’re looking at the subject of joy.

I looked up the definition in the Collins dictionary: Joy: a feeling of great happiness… but that seems inadequate to me; joy is one of the most wonderful experiences, as well as happiness, it brings a sense of peace, a comfort, wellbeing…

I wonder how you’d respond if I asked you what brings you joy – maybe seeing friends, enjoying live music/theatre, good food…

I think I experience most joy when my football team West Ham are winning games – which unfortunately is not very often. 

Maybe you too feel that your experience of joy is pretty infrequently?

If I’m honest my more common emotions are stress, irritability and anxiety… but I would love to experience joy more. 

Well, I hope as we look at this Psalm, we’ll see where to find joy… and a joy that is better, more reliable, and more sustained.

This is an unusual Psalm as it comes up twice in the Bible, once here in Psalm 96, and then again virtually word for word in 1 Chronicles 16, and that’s useful because it gives us the context - we know that it was written by King David as he and the people of Israel witness the Ark of the Covenant being brought into Jerusalem for the first time. 

The Ark was made in Moses time, and contained a few sacred objects, including the tablets of stone which had the 10 commandments on them. The Ark was the physical symbol of God’s presence with his people. They’d brought it with them through the desert. It had to be carried with huge care/respect, and was housed in a tent (the tabernacle) to set it apart from the people. It was carried on poles, and couldn’t be touched (one account of Uzzah touching it when the oxen stumbled and he died as a result). But God’s power was seen through it, for instance the River Jordan dried up and formed a passage as the people approached it… 

We saw a modern day vision of this in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark:- the Nazi Germans wanted the ark, as they believed its presence with them would give their armies invincibility, but found it and tried to open it – they all burnt up under the weight of God’s holiness

So you can imagine what a huge moment this is for David and the rest of God’s people as they witness it after all their travels, that it finally enters its permanent home in the city of Jerusalem.  

This is a Psalm of great rejoicing and praise to God.

You’ll see in v.1-2: David repeats the word ‘sing’ 3 times, ‘sing to the Lord a new song’, ‘sing to the Lord all the Earth’, ‘Sing to the Lord, praise his name’. and then in v.6-7: the word ‘ascribe’ 3 times. Ascribe means ‘give unto’, and it’s saying here give unto God – glory

So these vs are a call to God’s people to sing praises to their God, to rejoice and give Him glory.

I’ve got 3 headings: the source of joy, the result of joy and the culmination of joy.

The source of joy

What is it that brings David and the people of God such joy and jubilation as this wooden crate is carried forward. 

Well, the reasons he lists to give God glory and to sing his praise are sandwiched in between these verses:

- who He is

- what He does

These perhaps are the obvious things that come to the forefront of his mind as David watches the Ark being brought into Jerusalem, he recalls some of these attributes of his God

- Who He is:

- a God of glory v.3

- v.4: He is great and most worthy of praise

- He’s the one true God v.5

- v.6 He’s a God of splendour and majesty

- v.7: glory and strength

- splendour of his holiness v.9

The people of Israel would have recounted the stories of his splendour and majesty – they’d be thinking back to God coming to them at Mount Sinai – the whole mountain covered with cloud, and surrounded by thunder, lightning and fire; they’d recall the pillar of fire that went before them at night in their exodus from Egypt and cloud by day

What He’s done:

• V.5: he made the heavens: He created all things

• ‘marvellous deeds’ v.3: 

• V.2: his salvation

They’d have seen his acts, in creation, in the wonderful deeds He did among them as he brought them out of Egypt, parting the seas to allow them passage, providing food for them from the sky and water from a rock, to name but a few examples, and endlessly providing for them and show them goodness through the desert and into the promised land… And they’d have known his acts of salvation – as he saved them from their enemies numerous times, most recently against the Philistines.

It's clear why David would want to rejoice in his God. 

What about us? Maybe that’s easy for David and the people to sing and praise God in that setting? How do we relate to this? – our situation is very different, this was a long time ago… 

Well, maybe it should be easier for us.

David could look at the Ark to remember God’s goodness, love and provision for his people – can we not see this even more clearly in the life and death of Jesus. At the cross, we can see to a much greater level, the depths of his love for us, his children. This same God of power and splendour gave up his position in heaven, to became human, and eventually to suffer the most unimaginable pain and suffering as he was nailed to a cross in our place, to take the punishment for our sins. Are not these ‘wonderful acts’, this ‘salvation’ much greater than any David had seen at that time.

And I think this Psalm is meant to be read this way, as a prophecy of this greater salvation – you notice it says ‘sing to the Lord, all the Earth’, ‘sing of his salvation’ – if it was solely speaking about the salvation that David and Israel had from their enemies at that time, then it’s hard to see how the whole Earth would rejoice in that, only Israel. The Philistines, the Canaanites, the Egyptians wouldn’t have much to sing about, and rejoice in. No, this is meant to be understood in the light of the gospel of Jesus, to open up salvation to the whole world, to any who turn to him.

I hope that deep down we recognise that we as Christians have so much to be joyful for, but why is joy not a daily experience for us? 

Have you seen the movie Emoji? It’s not the best! It’s an animation featring lots of emoji’s, and the hero is the emoji ‘Meh’ – Meh is a sort of bored, disinterested, no-plussed type reaction.

If I’m brutally honest, my reaction to who God is and what He’s done can be more of a Meh than one of joy very often. 

And certainly, if we’re in the middle of a stressful day at work, or children arguing, or feeling lonely or flat, it won’t come naturally, to feel joyful, to praise God and to sing. David too had hard times in his life, and he’s writing these words as a reminder, so that he can look back on them at times when he isn’t witnessing the Ark coming into Jerusalem, when things are feeling tough. 

It’s not that Christians are expected to enjoy hardship, or to be smiling cheerfully when stressed or anxious, but instead to hold onto a deeper joy and satisfaction from remembering who God is, and what He’s done – He died for us, we are loved and forgiven children of God.

A few weeks ago, my daughter Sophie had her cousin to stay – she lives in rural Suffolk, where it’s very beautiful, lots of fields, trees, sheep, but  coming to London is always exciting; the city, with its buildings, theatres and the internet! And Sophie’s room is on the top floor and she said ‘look out my window, in the distance, you can see the skyscrapers from the city, Canary Wharf tower, but when they went to do that, it was clear that the tree outside our house had blocked the view. 

And I think the same can happen to us, other things can come in the way to stop us seeing who God is, and what He’s done, that can transform the joy in the Lord into ‘Meh’

Our application for tonight if we want to be joyful people is how to find ways to keep looking at Jesus, at the cross – we take some responsibility for that, in how we use the time in our days. I’ll come back to that at the end to think practically how we might do that.

So that’s my first point – the source of joy: who God is, and what He’s done. In case you’re nervous here that I’ve been speaking for ages and am only a third of the way through – that’s not the case. Two smaller points to make…

The second point is The result of joy

If you look back at the text, you’ll notice that, although this is written to the people of Israel as they celebrate God’s work towards them, that this is not a private celebration. 

This is to be done publicly: 

v.1: ‘sing to the Lord all the earth’

v.2 proclaim his salvation - 

v.3 ‘declare his glory among the nations 

Martin Lloyd-Jones, a preacher in the early 20th century said ‘There can be little doubt that the exuberant joy of the early Christians was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity’. Theirs was a deep joy that came from knowing who God is and what He’s done, and it was resilient through persecution, poverty, suffering…

If we can re-capture that deep joy that comes from knowing Christ, we’ll naturally want to speak about it with others we come alongside, and that is going to be hugely attractive to outsiders. 

While those around us might appear very happy and comfortable, if they don’t know Jesus, they won’t have this deep, eternal, resilient joy that’s spoken of here. v.5 ‘He is the one true god, and that all the gods of the nations are idols’. 

And conversely, it will be hard for us to tell people to ‘come and be glad in the Lord’ unless we’re glad in the Lord.

So our application here is the same – it’s not a command towards a guilt-ridden evangelism, again it’s to clear things out the way so we can see Jesus and find joy in Him, and that deep joy is likely to result in our sharing the message of Jesus with others, proclaiming his salvation and declaring his glory among the nations.

My final point from these verses is The culmination of joy

If we move on to v.10-13 - this looks to the future

You can see it starts in the present tense, v.10: ‘the Lord reigns, the world is firmly established’ – now – a reminder of his control and his hand over all that happens.

But then the rest is the future tense – v.10, he will judge, and again v.13: he comes (he is coming), he will judge. And the verses inbetween are a beautiful scene: v.11: let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; it goes on: the seas, the fields, the trees: v.13: ‘they will sing before the Lord’, it’s a picture of all of creation celebrating and rejoicing.

And what are they rejoicing for? v.13: ‘for He comes’– this is looking to the return of Jesus, and he comes to judge: this also means to rule / reign. And his reign will be one of justice (v.10), truth and righteousness (v.13).

This is a picture of the new creation, with the earth renewed and restored – the way it is meant to be, all of creation living under God’s authority, giving him praise for who He is and what he’s done – this is the culmination of our joy. 

This probably doesn’t feel much like the world we know, all our daily stresses, anxieties and pain. I am sure that everybody here to some degree is feeling the pressure of life in some way, particularly how things have been in recent months, it’s hard. But we mustn’t lose sight of these promises, if you’re a follower of Jesus, this is our future, that Jesus will return one day to establish a new creation: a perfect world where all of creation lives in harmony, and all live under God’s rule.

We need to continue to look to his return, to trust his promises that He is coming back one day – I hope that this perspective too will help bring us joy, and enable us to sing praises to our God for who He is and what He’s done.

So briefly, in application, how can we be people of joy? Well, a start is establish routines and disciplines that will help us to be able to see Jesus, to clear the other stuff out the way, so we can be reminded of who He is and what he’s done. Some of those disciplines may be while meeting with other Christians and some may be how we spend time on our own.

One thing I read recently and found really helpful was in a book called the ‘Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’ by John Mark Comer, he said:

‘90% of us check our phones immediately upon waking. I can’t think of a worse way to start my day than a text from my work, a glance at email, a quick scroll through social media, and a news alert about that day’s outrage.

That is a sure fire recipe for anger, not love, Misery, not joy…’

Maybe there’s some truth there. Recently I’ve been trying to delay looking at my phone until after I’ve spent 15-20 minutes reading about who God is and what He’s done, and spending some time praying and meditating on this. Perhaps a way to try to clear things out the way so we can see Jesus.

I’m going to close and pray now, and then we’ll sing ‘The Joy of the Lord is my strength’. And may this be our prayer for SBD, that the joy of the Lord would be our strength, through the darkness, the tears, we’d continue to sing to our Lord, and that the joy of the Lord would be our strength.

Pray:

Lord, we thank you that we have so much to sing about and rejoice in, to you our God of power, majesty & glory, who has done marvellous deeds and brought salvation to us your people. Help us to be people of joy, a deep joy that endures despite the struggles and pressures of daily life, and may we live out and share that joy with others we come alongside. In Your name we pray. Amen

Songs of Experience - Psalm 73 - Dave Cawston

Psalm 73

Part of a series on the Psalms, Songs of Experience.

This week: Doubt. Dave Cawston walks us through Psalm 73. How can we keep journeying towards God when we become distracted and can feel our foot slip?

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom, as well as socially distanced in church. Everyone is welcome to join us, for Zoom details see our home page.

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Transcript

Good afternoon. My name is Dave and I’m a member of the congregation here at St Barnabas. Last week we started our summer series – “Songs of Experience” from the Psalms and this week we turn to Psalm 73.

Psalm 73 was written by a man called Asaph who was one of the leaders of music appointed by King David. Asaph is in the grip of a spiritual crisis. He’s hit with the problem of why wicked people seem to prosper and this causes him to question his faith and his path in life. In Asaph’s words, in verse 2, it almost caused him to lose his “foothold”. During Lockdown my youngest son, Franklin, has continued to develop his love of climbing. Trees, walls, pretty much anything vertical (including me!) Frank will scale it. I was cleaning his bedroom the other week. I looked out of the window and there, outside, almost face to face with me, was Frank 6 metres up clinging to the branches of our silver birch tree and grinning like a Cheshire cat!

In Psalm 73 it is as if Asaph is climbing, journeying up towards God. But he’s distressed and distracted. He loses his focus and his foot starts to slip.

In the first half of the Psalm from verses 1-14 Asaph opens his heart to God and pours out his feelings and his complaint. The second half of the Psalm, from verses 15-28, finds him recovering his faith and returning to God.

So, let us look at these two halves of Psalm 73 together. Firstly at Asaph’s spiritual complaint – the situation, thoughts and feelings that cause him to question his faith - and thenSecondly at how he answers these questions. How he returns to find strength, hope and faith. How he stops his foot slipping and continues his climb towards his God. 

So first, What is ASAPH’S SPIRITUAL PROBLEM? WHAT CAUSES HIM TO SLIP?

Asaph says in verse 3: “For I envied the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked”. He is envious of the success of others. He looks around and sees people who are enjoying the pleasures of this life: They are pursuing riches. – look down at verse 12 where they are described as “….always carefree, they increase in wealth”.  And they are fit and healthy – in verse 4 he says “They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills”.All of that contrasts pointedly with Asaph’s own situation. While his peers enjoy life he is suffering. He writes in verse 14 “All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.”We aren’t told what specifically is wrong with him. His earlier envy of other people’s health suggests that he’s suffering physically …… but we don’t know. And perhaps that is the point. It allows us as readers to place our own daily struggles into Asaph’s narrative.

So…. Asaph is struggling and his peers are succeeding. They are healthy. They are building their little empires and getting richer and richer. They are enjoying life. And these people are popular. In verse 10 Asaph indicates that even God’s people are being seduced by their success and turning to follow their ways. He writes: “Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance”. So, when Asaph says in verse 21 that his “heart was grieved and my spirit embittered” we know that he’s got that bitter taste of jealousy on his tongue. 

But that’s not all. What really grieves Asaph is the morality of these people. In verses 6-9 he tells us that they are arrogant and proud. Their boastful attitudes lead to violent actions, because they think they can ‘get away with it’. They threaten others and daringly talk as if they are God himselfas if the-  whole world is theirs. The King James translation of these verses reads : “Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out in fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.”These people ignore God. Their disobedience and disrespect towards Him is clear to Aspah and yet………God seems to reward them with the good things in life.To make matters worse, here is Asaph, in comparison a good man, and he has no worldly reward. He is suffering. How can God be so unjust? If He is truly good then perhaps He simply can’t see these injustices? Or doesn’t he care? Or isn’t He there at all? Asaph complains in verse 13 “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence”.

So Aspah is in spiritual turmoil. He’s questioning the very basis of his life. Is all the effort and suffering involved in following God worth it? Has he backed the wrong horse? Is a just and good God even there?My son Franklin’s climbing hero is a man called Tommy Caldwell. Caldwell is one of he world’s best free climbers. That means he climbs sheer mountain faces, the most treacherous routes in the world, without ropes. There he is, hundreds of feet up. One slip would mean he would fall to his death. And his hands and feet are clinging to small, millimeter deep undulations (not cracks or crags – undulations) in the rock surface.In verse 2 Asaph says “my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold”. He’s like Tommy Caldwell, clinging to the face of the mountain. Asaph is, if you like, climbing up towards God. This is his pilgrimage, and it’s hard. It takes effort. Every sinew is straining. And then he looks around at the other peaks. People seem to be scaling those with ease Many of them are cheating and using easier routes. There are crowds on the slopes cheering them on. Asaph is distracted and his foot starts to slip from its hold. Perhaps he should give up on this treacherous hard climb. Perhaps God isn’t there waiting for him at the top………

That’s the first half of Psalm 73. Asaph lays bare his problem before God…. And before us. And in doing so he poses us some questions:- Are we envious of those around us?- Do we get distracted in our faith by yearning after success or pleasure in this world?- Do the apparent injustices of this life makes us angry or doubtful?Let us look to the second half of Psalm 73 where we kind find some spiritual solutions to these problems. Because from his perilous position clinging to the mountain and then starting to slip and lose his foothold, Asaph manages to find FOUR key holds that enable him first to stop his slide and then to continue on his faithful climb towards God.

The first hold is a small one. Just a little undulation in the rockface. And we find it at the start of Aspah’s recovery in verse 15. He says “If I had said, “I will speak thus,”  I would have betrayed your children”Asaph is ready to blurt out his doubts to his fellow believers but he knows that doing so would hurt a lot of people. He lays out an uncensored complaint to God but realises that he needs to think through and process his thoughts and feelings before sharing them with others.There was a time a few years ago when I really struggled to attend church. I arrived at the service in a grumpy mood, I sat through creche in a grumpy mood and I left in a grumpy mood. None of that is to my credit. Actually, the only thing that kept me coming to St Barnabas each week was the effect it would have on those around me if I didn’t. My boys wouldn’t be able to come to church. Hannah, my wife wouldn’t be supported. Perhaps it would have discouraged my friends when they learned that I had stopped attending. Here Asaph doesn’t know what’s going on but he, if you like, grabs hold of a negative. He stops thinking only of himself and thinks about the people around him. And that’s enough to stop the slide.

Incidentally, you could argue that the first step in Asaph’s recovery is actually his emotional openness before God. In pouring out his complaint in prayer Asaph is able to work through his emotions and thoughts. In the Old Testament this process is seen as a spiritual strength rather than the weakness we might take it for. Job is the obvious example of this. Job curses the day he was born. He complains to God. But rather than turning away from God because he thinks his emotions are unpalatable he pours them out to his Maker and at the end of the book he is deemed “faithful”.In a similar way, it is helpful to consider that Asaph’s feelings of envy and anger at injustice are not necessarily a sign of emotional or spiritual weakness. In fact the more we try to faithfully follow God the sharper these kind of worldly inequalities are going to cut. The more self-sacrificial our lives the more likely we are to be stung when we look around and see others enjoying what we have forsaken. So if you identify with Asaph’s feeling here be encouraged.

So, Asaph’s foot is giving way but he manages to find a small handhold to stop his downward spiritual spiral. And then he reaches up and grabs another……. 

The second of our four hand holds or steps in his recovery is there in verses 16-17: “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me til I entered the sanctuary of God; then understood I their final destiny.” Asaph is weighed down by his thoughts until he goes to the “sanctuary” which for him meant the temple. Asaph goes to church. In the midst of his spiritual crisis he is able to keep going with his spiritual disciplines. For us these could include going to church, reading God’s word, praying, meeting with other Christians and acts of service. It is not these things in themselves that help us. They are means to an end. They bring us into the presence of our God. And notice also why he goes to the sanctuary. We can often think that going to church when we are down or suffering will make us feel better. And that might be true. The aesthetics of the building or an inspiring sermon or the beauty of the music may lift us up. But Asaph goes to “get understanding”.  When I was a student up in Newcastle I often used to go to church in a state of stress and confusion. Lots of issues were on my mind and I went to church to find answers. But I didn’t get the answers to my worries. What I did get was a whole new set of questions and challenges that made me consider God and His priorities. And thinking through and understanding those challenges actually brought me a kind of peace. You could say that  in Christianity you feel better when you start to think properly. My worries weren’t answered but they were put in perspective.

And that brings us onto Asaph’s next handhold to recovery…….Asaph’s third reach up the mountain is to see the Bigger Picture.:He says in verse 17  “…I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin”Asaph comes into God’s presence and God reminds him of the Bigger Picture. In this case that the success of the wicked is temporary. It is they who are on slippery ground, not Asaph. God takes him out of the micro and shows him the macro.

During Lockdown, to help deal with the stresses and strains of each day I developed a routine. At sunset I would climb up onto our house’s roof. This is a fairly risky process of squeezing myself through a velux rooflight and then pirouetting (gracefully), grabbing onto the top ridge of the rooflight and then scrabbling up our pitched tile roof whilst hoping not to slip off and fall three storeys into our front garden. At this point I would hear Hannah’s voice echoing up from below “Please don’t die Dave, you are looking after the kids tomorrow”. Having reached the summit I would sit on the rear flat roof and look west towards the setting sun. The vastness and beauty of the sky, the slowly moving clouds and the relative smallness of London lit by the last rays of the sun often helped me to restore some perspective on the events of that day. Perhaps it is similar to what is happening to Asaph here. God is reminding him that in the big scheme of things worldly success does not matter. The wicked and their achievements will have no lasting worth. In the words of verse 20: “They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies”. God is telling him that following God with a pure heart and innocent hands will bear lasting fruit. And that ultimately all evil will be brought to justice. It encourages Asaph to keep climbing – he is on the right mountain!

I was reminded of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish builders in Matthew 7:24-27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Asaph’s fourth and final handhold as he recovers from his spiritual slip and continues climbing is that he asks the Ultimate Question. Look down with me at verse 25. Asaph says “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you”.He has finally come to the realisation that the things he envied others for having are nothing compared to what he has in God. He knows that God alone can satisfy his desires. In verse 26 he goes on to say “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”. Knowing and being with God is enough for Asaph. That’s quite a change from his previous state of mind. When he complains back in verse 13 “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence” what he is really saying is ‘what’s the point of obeying you God if you don’t give me what I want?’. That’s often how we can treat God isn’t it? Imagine a couple who are dating. Early on in the relationship the man reveals that his family are millionaires and that he receives a generous trust fund. Their relationship becomes serious but later, as the wedding approaches, the man learns that this fund has been revoked. He tells his fiancee and she leaves him, cancelling the wedding. The man’s fiancée loved his money more than him. She was in the relationship for what she could get out of it materially rather than simply wanting to be with someone. That is how we treat God sometimes. Rather than coming to Him and obeying Him simply to be with Him because we love him we often come to get something – success or wealth perhaps. In verse 26 Asaph says “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever”. God is enough for him. God is “his portion”. And that gives him a firm foothold in life. It means that with Paul in the New Testament he can say “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”   So…. Asaph is able to stop himself slipping. He grabs hold of a negative and considers those around him and he goes to the sanctuary. And there, in God’s presence he gets perspective on earthly success and injustice. And he gets an answer to the ultimate question: “Whom have I in heaven but you?”. He comes to the realisation that God is good and that He is his portion forever. Hopefully that gives us some ways to keep climbing when we are tempted to be distracted. And of course we are not alone on the climb.

I spoke earlier of my son’s love of climbing. Over the summer Frank’s grandfather made him a climbing wall from a large sheet of ply, 2x4s and colourful, blob-shaped, climbing holds. Frank climbs up and if he gets stuck or starts to lose his grip he looks back and says “Daddy?” and I reach up and lift him down. Asaph, in verse 23 says a similar thing: “Yet I am always with you (God); you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory.” On our own spiritual climbs Jesus is with us. It’s as if he’s the lead climber and we are roped onto him. If we slip he is strong enough to take our weight at the other end of the rope and stop us falling. In the New Testament book of Hebrews 12 Jesus is described as “the pioneer…. of our faith”. Jesus has gone ahead of us and found the route and selected the hand and footholds. He knows the way to the summit and he has promised to get us there. Let’s pray.

Father, You are our God, our portion and our living bread. Please help us when we start to slip to come into your holy presence. In Jesus name, Amen 

Amen  

Songs of Experience - Psalm 8 - Nat Charles

Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2 v5-9

Part of a series on the Psalms, Songs of Experience.

This week: Purpose: Nat Charles encourages us to look up, look back and look forwards to find our meaning and purpose as humanity.

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom. Due to a computer issue during the recording this video is audio-only.

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TRANSCRIPT

This afternoon we’re beginning a new sermon series in the book of Psalms. I wonder what your experience is with the Psalms?I grew up in a tradition where the Psalms formed an important part of the weekly worship of the gathered congregation. Every Sunday, at least one Psalm would be chanted as part of the worshipping life of the congregation. And depending on how well the congregation knew the Psalm, it could feel like a serene, reflective, almost ethereal moment in the weekly service.

Yet that often felt like a sharp contrast to the content of the Psalm that we were singing. There is an emotional depth and honesty to the Psalms, to the point that sometimes we struggle to know what to do them.

But the reason that the Psalms have formed a significant part of the worshipping life of the people of God over millenia is that they teach us how to bring, and direct our own emotional life before and too God. The Psalms are a gift to us, because they don’t only give us information about God, although they do that, they help us know how to respond to God and to life in his world. They help us to tune our hearts, shape our prayers, and give us a vocabulary for our own Christian life and experience.

So over the coming weeks, as we work through a selection of the Psalms we’re going to be thinking about life as it is for us so often. We’re going to exploring issues like joy, security, doubt, envy. And this afternoon, in Psalm 8, we’re going to think about our purpose, and how we ought to think of ourselves, as human beings.

Questioning the value and meaning of your life might not feel like an everyday concern. But we live in a historical where it’s a deeply important question. And there are two views of humanity that you would find at work in the world at the moment.

The first is deeply optimistic. I read a book at the start of this year, written by a journalist who explores why the concept of liberal democracy is under pressure and in retreat at the moment. He starts by telling the story of an overnight drive that he had with his friends from Oxford to Berlin in 1989, to be present when the Berlin wall fell. And he writes that at that moment, as the wall came down, it seemed as though there wasn’t any problem or obstacle to human progress that couldn’t be overcome by human spirit and technological ingenuity. Communism was in retreat. The nuclear threat was fading.

But thirty years on, things are much more complicated. In fact, the pendulum has swung. And now, people think of humanity in a much more pessimistic way. As we try to come to terms with our colonial past in this country, we’re confronted with uncomfortable questions about ourselves. And most troubling of all is the question of whether we are so compromised and complicit we just don’t know how to even begin addressing the conversations we should be having.

In the midst of all that, Psalm 8 speaks with piercing, ringing clarity. How do we find our meaning and purpose? The answer of the Psalm is that it’s in living before a majestic, creator God. Three things to notice. Look up, look back, look forwards.

LOOK UP

First, look up. The beginning and the end of the Psalm root everything in the reality of who God is. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

The Psalm is profoundly God focussed, theo-centric. How majestic is your name. And the first verses tell us that we live in a world that is profoundly God focussed. You have set your glory in the heavens. Which means that the whole universe speaks to and witnesses to the presence and reality of God. God is the defining reality of the universe, humanity is not.

We may carve the likeness of an American President into the side of a mountain, but the whole universe speaks to the presence and reality and grandeur of God. We’re living in his place, not the other way around.

And that’s visible on the broadest scale, but also on the smallest. In Vs 2, David reflects on the power of praise. There’s an irony at play here – when someone that would have been considered weak or inconsequential praises God, a child or infant, it’s enough to silence the enemies of God and his people. Such is God’s glory and splendour that it completely transforms our notions of power and weakness.

If you want to know what our purpose is and where meaning is found for humanity, start by looking up.

That might sound like it belittles humanity. But I wonder whether that perspective is actually liberating. If we know that we live in a world that is charged with the grandeur of God, we’re freed from the impossible burden of believing that we have the responsibility of fixing everything, and making the world perfect once again.

Of course we find that a burden. We can’t do it. Which isn’t a reason to not get involved, but does give us perspective on what can be achieved by human effort alone.

LOOK BACK

Look up. But also, look back.

The tension in the Psalm is driven by the fact of God’s majesty. The heavens, so vast and enormous to us, are God’s handiwork. The moon and stars, beyond measure to us, God set in place as you or I might lay the table. 

But knowing God’s majesty troubles David. He puzzles over why humans matter to a God like this. Vs 3, ‘what is humanity that you are mindful of them, human beings, that you care for them?’

And his answer to that question comes by looking back. He draws on the Scriptures, and the foundational narratives of Israel, the early chapters of the book of Genesis. In vs 5-6 David reflects on Genesis chapter 1, which pictures God as the immense and vast creator of all things, installing human beings in his creation to steward the world. To fill the earth and subdue it. 

In other words, we matter because we are made by God, we are in his image. And we’re made to steward his creation. ‘You made them rulers over the works of your hands’ says David ‘You put everything under their feet’.

At times, a sentiment like that has been used by some within the Church as a charter for abuse, whether abuse of the environment, or abuse of other humans and an opportunity to exert power over them.

But rightly understood, David sees the role that humans play in God’s creation as a means of service. Humanity is steward God’s creation, in recognition that creation rightly belongs to God, and ruling is an act of service to him. So to rule in any other way, would be an abuse of trust and position.

So as he wrestles with the question of purpose and meaning, David holds two things together. Humanity is not central in the universe. We are not at the centre of the gravitational pull of the world. God is. We are in his orbit.

And yet, he has created humankind with a high calling in his world. To rule and reign for the good of the creation.

LOOK FORWARDS

Look up, look back. Also, look forwards.

Of course, we don’t see any of this in the world as it is at the moment. As you and I look at the world, it appears as though it is ruled by other things. By illness and disease. By structural and institutional injustice. By greed. Ultimately, by death.

We live in a world that looks as though it is ruled by other powers.

Which is why the Hebrews directs our gaze to Jesus. We don’t see humanity living out it’s God ordained purpose. But we do see one who is. Who through his death, and resurrection and ascension in to heaven is ruling over all things in his humanity. And because we are joined to him in his death and resurrection, where he has gone and what he is doing now is our future hope. Where he is we will be. What he is doing, we will also do. Not in degree, but in character.

How do we find peace in traumatic times? - Nat Charles

Luke 12 v22-34

Part three of a three part mini series ‘Hope for a troubled world’ by Nat Charles.

This week: How can we find peace in traumatic times?

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday Zoom service. Everyone is welcome to join us, see details on our home page.

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Transcript

One of the features of life over the past few months has been a heightened sense of anxiety. At first we were anxious about what we were dealing with. A virus that puzzled both the scientific and the medical communities, and no-one seemed to know how to respond. And in those early days, as the lockdown started, all of our familiar bearings were lost. The rhythms and routines that give shape to our lives and get us through each day and each week were gone in an instant and we struggled to know how to respond.

It shouldn’t have been surprising that retailers reported a spike in sales in March and April not just of toilet roll, but of alcohol and chocolate. Everyone needed a sense of reassurance in the midst of deeply concerning, traumatic times.

But for many of us, that sense of anxiety hasn’t disappeared as time has gone on. More recently, we’ve been anxious about how we ought to re-engage with the ‘new normal’. How safe is public transport? Should we wear a face mask? How socially distanced will the office really be, especially if there is a lot of hot desking going on. Should we go to see elderly relatives and parents? Should we go to cafes and bars?

On one level, it was fairly easy to go into lockdown. You just stayed at home. But coming out of it is much more complex, and still causes a great deal of anxiety.

As we’ve been going through all of that, what help does Christianity have to offer?

In the passage that we had read from Luke’s gospel a moment ago, Jesus Christ outlines two radically different perspectives on anxiety and worry. He claims that his followers have all of the resources that they need to approach this issue very differently to anyone else, and begins to sketch out what that will mean in practice.

I want to us explore what he says through two instructions that he gives to his disciples. Do not worry, and do seek.

DON’T WORRY

First, do not worry.

You can’t miss the heart of Jesus’ teaching in these Vs. Right at the start, in Vs 22, he says ‘do not worry’.

It might be tempting for us to imagine that because Jesus was around a long time ago, and life was so much simpler, that there would be much less to worry about, so it was easy for him to say these words.

But a moment’s reflection ought to make us see that can’t be the case. Jesus’ contemporaries lived in an agrarian society that was entirely dependent on the weather. Imagine being in a position that a wet, gloomy summer doesn’t just mean that we can’t get out to the park as much as we would like, but that there might not be enough food for the winter. My guess is that Jesus lived in a society and a culture where life was much more precarious than ours is today – and yet he still says ‘do not worry’.

Jesus roots his instruction in the reality of who God is. There’s a reminder that as creator, God cares for every individual life, every life matters to him. Because human beings are made in his image, we are much more valuable to God than the created order.

But we’re not made in the image of a distant, unknowable deity. The God who made us is the God that Christians call ‘Father’. God is relational, and he knows what we need.

And for evidence of that, Jesus says, look to the natural world. Look to the birds. They don’t spend their lives saving up, putting a bit by every month in case of a rainy day. Yet God feeds them. 

And what about the flowers? Yesterday I had the joy of taking a wedding. Perhaps because of the unusual circumstances, there were only 20 people there and it was socially distanced and all the rest of it, it felt even more joyful than usual. The bride looked truly beautiful, but what really lifted the occasion was seeing a building full of flowers. They were glorious. Even though they last just for a moment, their radiance couldn’t be matched by Solomon in all his splendour.

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater. How much more valuable are you, made by God in his image, a child of a heavenly father, then the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. Much more. And your Father knows what you need. So do not worry.

All of that is not to say that hard times won’t come to us. Jesus isn’t saying here that his followers will automatically be protected from the hardships of life. Illness or bereavement, suffering or pain. If you’ll excuse the double negative, we don’t not worry because there is nothing to worry about. But we know that when hard times comes, our Father has us. He knows what’s good for us and he knows what we need.

Neither is Jesus saying these words to condemn us, or to make us feel bad if we do worry. Some of us here will experience anxiety not just as a low level, occasional feeling, but as an illness that requires medical help and attention. If that is you, please don’t hear these words as Jesus just trying to get at you that makes you feel even worse. He is speaking to reassure you, and if you do need medical help for your anxiety, please go and find it.

DO SEEK

But there isn’t only an instruction here about what not to do, Jesus also offers a positive.

Don’t worry, but do seek.

Now maybe you’ve been thinking so far, all sounds a little like a romantic, slightly hippy like idealised version of life. Look at the birds and flowers and don’t worry.

But there’s something much more subtle going on here. Jesus offers a significant insight into human nature and what drives us. He draws a contrast towards the end of the passage, between what he calls the pagan world, and the his own followers.

But the contrast isn’t what we might think. He says that the pagan world is characterised by anxiety. Vs 29, don’t set your heart on what you will eat or drink… for the pagan world runs after such things. Doing some reading this week around this passage, I came across a really helpful insight in one commentary on this passage around anxiety. ‘Anxiety is driven by a very simple insight… the insight that we are limited creatures. If you know that you can’t manage the future, yet you try to manage the future, there can only be one result: anxiety.’

And it’s anxiety that keeps the world going round. Anxiety is the governing principle of the world. Anxiety keeps shops open 24/7. Anxiety means we are rushing to get back to work as soon as humanly possible. It’s anxiety that keeps the construction industry open even through a Pandemic. Anxiety, you could say, builds skyscrapers.

So what’s the contrast? Here’s the interesting thing. Jesus doesn’t say that being his disciples means getting out of the rat race. His followers are also people who seek something. Vs 31, they seek his kingdom. His kingdom is the place where, to put it simply, God is king.

But here’s the difference. In the very next vs Jesus says, you have been given the kingdom. In other words, Jesus followers seek what they already have rather than seeking what they do not have.

According to Jesus, everyone is seeking something. Looking to achieve something. Living from and for a particular vision of the future, living towards and in hope. But Christians seek differently, because the future is already secure. So our striving isn’t driven by what we don’t have, but what we do have. And what do we have? In Jesus, we have the Kingdom. It’s been given to us already.

What might all of this look like? This week I read an interview with the comedian and actor and writer Sally Philips. You’d know her from shows like Miranda and Smack the Pony. In recent years she’s had more profile as she’s worked through issues around Down’s Syndrome, as her eldest son has Down’s himself. In the interview that I read she was asked whether her Christian faith has helped her in the difficult times, and she that because of her son, ‘I think I’m being particularly blessed by God in this family unit… ‘I’ve been given a Narnia cupboard through which I can look through and see things God’s way.’

There hasn’t been miraculous healing for her son. There have been plenty of tough moments as a parent of a Down’s Syndrome child. Although his life will look hugely different from what many would consider successful, nothing has been lost.

Don’t worry, seek God’s Kingdom. The kingdom that you have been given as his children.

SILENCEPRAY

MUSIC – The Lord’s my shepherd.

Is the world broken beyond repair? - Nat Charles

Mark 2: 1-12

Part two of a three part mini series ‘Hope for a troubled world’ by Nat Charles.

This week: Is the world getting better or worse?

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday Zoom service. Everyone is welcome to join us, see details on our home page.

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Transcript

Is the world getting better or worse? That question was asked in a lecture hall full of undergraduates when I was at university soon after 9.11. The answer was… mixed. Some of my fellow students were adamant we were making progress, pointing to the gradual eradication of global poverty, increased equality between men and women, black people and white. Others were less sure.

In recent months, the picture seems much more mixed. Back in March, as a novel Coronavirus spread around the globe I remember readings newspaper headlines like ‘Is this a warning from the universe?’ There was a deep sense of angst and tension in the country because we just didn’t know how scared we ought to be.

That was compounded by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the worldwide protests about racial injustice that followed. 

Christian thinkers often talk about the problem of pain and suffering in two ways. They talk about natural evil that causes unintentional suffering – when people die in an earthquake or tsunami. And they also talk about moral evil – when suffering is caused by the evil actions of other humans.

In the past few months we’ve been confronted with both. In a way that we just cannot escape or deny. The world that we live in is deeply broken.

And what we’re all looking for is hope. Is the world broken beyond repair, or is there hope?

We’re going to take a few minutes in this familiar story in Mark’s gospel. Jesus of Nazareth is caught up in a scene that appears to lean in to some of these issues – innocent suffering, natural and moral evil. And yet his perception of the problem goes much deeper than anyone expected. But like a good doctor, he doesn’t only recognise the issue, but offers hope of a cure.

Let’s see that worked out in this narrative.

AN UNEXPECTED DIAGNOSIS

First, notice that Jesus wastes no time in identifying the real issue.

The great shock of the story for us comes at the end of Vs 5. Huge crowds have been following Jesus, a young Rabbi with a big reputation. And a group of men have gone to great lengths to bring a paralysed man to Jesus. They carried him to the house where Jesus was, and because they couldn’t go through the door as there were so many people in the house, they made a hole in the roof and lowered the man through the hole to Jesus’ feet.

And can you imagine what those men might have felt when they heard Jesus say ‘Son, your sins are forgiven?’ They had come in the hope of a miraculous healing, and instead Jesus offered forgiveness.

But note the implication of Jesus’ words. In his view, what this man needed even more than healing, was forgiveness. As far as Jesus is concerned, the root cause of the brokenness of the world is sin.

That’s not to say that the paralysed man is more sinful than anyone else in the room, or that sin has caused his physical condition. That’s what many people in Jesus’ world believed, but it’s a view that Jesus contradicts a number of times in the gospels. We’re not supposed to think that the paralysed man was any more sinful than anyone else in the room.

That’s one of the great levelling realities at the heart of the Christian faith. Every human shares the same condition. The belief that we are all sinners tells us even at our best we are deeply flawed and have all sorts of imperfections. That each of us have lived in God’s world without any recognition of who he is.

This belief was expressed in the words of one of Shakespeare’s characters in ‘All’s well that ends well’. Shakespeare puts these words into the mouth of one of his characters, ‘the web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together’.

But here’s the real issue. Jesus saying these words to a paralysed man offers a parallel of our own situation. Just as this man was powerless to change his physical condition, so we are powerless to do anything about our spiritual condition. He couldn’t just make himself stand up and walk through will power or ingenuity. We can’t just fix ourselves through trying to do better.

Yet we try to, don’t we? A recent example is the debate that’s happening around cancel culture at the moment. As you probably know a letter was written to Harper’s Magazine last week, signed by authors and academics and political activists, warning that free speech is being stifled by cancel culture. In response, Philippa Soo, who stars in the screen version of Hamilton tweeted that ‘If you are cancelled and don’t wish to be, you must work to earn back people’s respect…’ Yet how will you know if you’ve ever done enough.

If that’s true on the widest scale, so it’s true on the personal too. And Jesus’s words front us up to that.

AN UNEXPECTED HOPE

But as hard hitting as they are, so they offer hope. Because as he gets the diagnosis right, so he can offer the cure.

I said a moment ago that we are powerless to help ourselves as we are confronted with the reality of who we are. That’s the message of the Christian scriptures – from beginning to end they tell us that the predicament of humanity is so serious, grave and unfixable from within that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.

But the good news is that God has acted. When Jesus says ‘your sins are forgiven’ he really means it. And to demonstrate to the watching crowd that he can forgive sins, he does the seemingly harder thing of miraculously healing the man. You see the point that he’s making in Vs 9? It’s easy to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ because that claim can’t be tested. It’s much harder to say ‘be healed’ because that can be tested immediately.

So he does the thing that seems harder as a demonstration that he can do what appears easier.

Here’s the point – Jesus really can forgive us. He really can offer the forgiveness that we so desperately need.

If you’re with us this afternoon, and you have never known or received that forgiveness, can I invite you to come to Jesus and find it. Or maybe you are here and even though you would have called yourself a Christian for a long time, you know that a sin of some kind is clinging on to you really tightly, or maybe you are holding it. And you haven’t yet come to Jesus to find forgiveness. Can I invite you too to come to Jesus and find forgiveness?

It might be that you are thinking, why does Jesus have the authority to forgive sins? That’s a fair question. It’s asked by some of the people who are in the room with him that day in Capernaum. And the answer is that even at this early stage of Mark’s gospel, there are already hints of how the story will end.

We’re told in the next Chapter that the Pharisees, and the teachers of the law in Vs 6, were looking for a way to kill Jesus because of what he claimed about himself.

Yet in Mark’s narrative, it’s when Jesus dies, that his full authority to forgive is revealed. Because in his death, he pays the penalty for all of our sin against God, so that we might know his forgiveness. On the cross, he experienced the full consequences of sin, and because he did, he has the authority to offer forgiveness to everyone who turns to him.

One of my favourite Christian thinkers and speakers is an American woman who is now in her 80s. She spent many years in the Anglican church in the US but now in her retirement continues to travel and speak and write and I find much of her work very stimulating. This is how she describes the solution that Jesus offers through the cross, ‘In order for God truly to overcome the very worst, the Son underwent the very worst.’ 

Friends, our world is more broken than we know. We are more broken than we know. Yet the hope that Jesus offers is deeper and richer than we can possibly imagine. There is forgiveness in him that will right every wrong. There is hope in him.

SILENCE

PRAY/SING

Where is God in a global pandemic? - Nat Charles

Luke 7: 11-17

Part one of a three part mini series ‘Hope for a troubled world’ by Nat Charles.

This week: Where is God in a global pandemic?

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday Zoom service. Everyone is welcome at our services and you can find out how to join online on our home page. Due to a blip at the time of recording the recording begins about a minute in.

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Transcript

As we reflect on our own experience of the past months, I suspect that all of us are asking a similar question, even if we might articulate it differently. Where is God in all of this? 

It might be that as you have faced a particular experience of the Pandemic, illness, increased stress at home or at work, uncertainty over your job or just missing loved ones that you can’t see in person, you are wondering where God is. Or maybe the grim reality of life in a pandemic – 10.6 million Covid cases around the world, over 500,000 deaths – have left you feeling like it’s simply impossible to believe in God at a time like this.

The question about God and suffering is not a new one. It’s been around since ancient Greek and Roman thinkers grappled with the problem. Yet we probably know the problem as it was stated by the enlightenment philosopher David Hume in the 18thC. Hume wrote ‘Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he incapable. Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?’

To put the problem most straightforwardly, isn’t the presence of suffering in the world, like Covid-19, evidence that God just isn’t there? How could a good, powerful being, just sit back when we’re going through all of this? Where is God?

I’d like to take a few moments to explore this story in Luke chapter 7. As far as we know, the gospel writer Luke didn’t meet Jesus of Nazareth personally, but he did compile his narrative, his gospel, on the basis of eyewitness testimony. And this short episode offers at least three perspectives on the question about where God is and what he’s doing in the presence of suffering and evil.

JESUS IS OFFENDED BY SUFFERING, vs 13

First, notice how Jesus is moved by the suffering he encounters.

The scene that Luke describes is tragic in all sorts of ways. Not only has this woman in the story lost a son, and has to deal with her grief. but she’s also lost everything that a son represents. As a woman, her economic and social status in the culture of the ANE would have been entirely bound up with the male figures in her household. Her husband and her son. So she isn’t just dealing with her grief, but with huge insecurity and uncertainty about her future and status.

We’re told in Vs 13 that when Jesus encounters the woman, his heart goes out her. In fact, the phrase that Luke uses could be translated even more strongly. It literally means ‘his guts/intestines were twisted up’.

Jesus is affronted by the presence of suffering as he encounters it. It moves and grieves him.

That’s really significant. Because while we all know that suffering is wrong, many of the explanations offered for suffering can’t actually explain why it’s wrong.

Contrast Jesus with other religious and philosophical approaches to the issue of suffering. Some religions are fatalistic about suffering – it’s simply God’s will. Or suffering is thought to be an intrinsic part of the world, and the way to leave it behind is to find a way out of the world.

Likewise, although atheism might look like it solves the problem, it just creates new ones. Famously, Richard Dawkins, in a book published some years ago described our universe as pitilessly indifferent. No design, no purpose, no evil, no good, just indifference. 

But if that’s true, if there is no God, why should anyone call our experience of the last three months wrong, or bad? There’s no warrant to do so, it’s simply all there is.

Contrast Jesus. No fatalism, no platitudes. Instead, outrage. And as we see him affronted by the presence of suffering in this world, we see that we’re not wrong to have a problem with suffering and evil.

Jesus validates our own sense that suffering is wrong. It’s not just how life is. Not just part of the natural order. It’s not just the way things are. You are not wrong if you feel that suffering of any kind, your own or anyone else’s is deeply wrong. It’s not the way that things are supposed to be in God’s world.

So Christianity invites us to reframe the question. John Lennox, a Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University puts it this way. We ought to ask not ‘why doesn’t God do things this way or that way, but is there a God we can trust with our lives and our selves in a world like this?’

JESUS EXPERIENCED SUFFERING, vs 14

And this story goes on to offer an answer to that question.

Because second, Jesus isn’t only affronted by suffering, and so validates our own suffering, he knows what it is to suffer.

There’s a small detail in this story that is really striking. In Vs 14, Jesus approaches the bier that the dead child is lying on. And he reaches out his hand, and touches it.

Now why is that so striking? As a vicar, when I lead a funeral service, I will often place my hand on the coffin for the final prayer in the service,. It’s known as the commendation. And that’s not so unusual. What’s different about Jesus?

The answer is that in Ancient Israel, in a devoutly religious culture, death was considered unclean. Ritually and ceremonially unclean. And to touch something that had died, whether another person or an animal was to also become unclean. Various practices that involved cleansing had to be undertaken before you could re-enter society, before you could worship at the temple.

So as Jesus touches the bier of this dead child, he enters into the suffering of this widow. And it’s also a glimpse of his own suffering. The central act of the Christian faith is the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, and his rising to new life.

So hear this, the Christian God isn’t just offended by suffering. He knows what it is to suffer.

It might be that we’ve become a little desensitised to that idea. We all know the story of Jesus dying on a cross. But in the ancient world, it was an incendiary, scandalising notion.

I’ve recently been reading a book by the historian Tom Holland, who sets out to investigate why Christianity has so profoundly shaped the people of the West, and why we think as we do. Early on in the book he writes about the horror of crucifixion, not just it was physically, but what it said about the victim. ‘Divinity, then, was for the greatest of the great: for victors, and heroes, and kings… That a man who had himself been crucified might be hailed as a God could not help but be seen by people everywhere across the Roman world as scandalous, obscene, grotesque.’

And yet, that is precisely the God that Christians worship. The only God, as one writer puts it, with scars.

And because he is, because he knows what it is to suffer, he can draw alongside us in our own suffering.

JESUS WILL END SUFFERING, vs 15

Jesus validates our suffering, he knows our suffering. One last perspective. He will end our suffering.

This scene in the town of Nain is remarkable in one other respect. 

Over the past three months, we have become very conscious of the risk of infection through touch. Do you remember the early days of March, and the constant reminders to wash your hands. To avoid touching your face. Videos appeared on the BBC news website about why we feel the need to touch our face and how to stop doing so.

That’s what you’d expect Jesus to think and feel. He wouldn’t want to be infected as it were by any contact with a dead body. Yet the touch, rather than infecting him, brings life. Vs 15, the young man gets up, and is restored to life again.

And again, in this very small action, we’re pointed towards the cross. How so?

I mentioned a moment ago that the people of Israel were taught in the OT that death was unclean. The reason that death is awful in the Bible is because it’s the evidence of God’s judgement against sin. Humanity’s defiant attempt to live as gods in God’s world. As far as the Bible is concerned, we have all turned away from the source of life looking for life everywhere and anywhere else, but finding only death and darkness.

But in his death, Jesus himself, the giver of life, is touched by death. Jesus faces the judgement of God at Calvary, so that those who are under a sentence of death might know and share in his life. Jesus suffers to bring his healing to us all.

And the joy of the widow of Nain, as her son is restored to her, is a small picture of what our joy will be when the risen Jesus restores all things. When everything and everyone that we have lost will be restored. Tolkien famously has one of his characters say at the end of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ that everything sad is coming untrue. The promise of Christianity is that all things will be restored to us in and through Jesus.

Jesus gladly enters our suffering so that he might bring it to an end. So that he might be our hope that will sustain us through even the worst that a global pandemic can do.

Prayer Q and A (4/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: v15

Part four of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer, looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: Q and A. Nigel invited invited questions in advance and these were asked by our vicar Nat at our service.

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom. As a live Q and A, there is no transcript available this week.

Prayer by the Spirit (3/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: v15

Part three of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer, looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: ‘by him’. That is, by the Spirit. What does it mean to pray ‘by the Spirit’? Or elsewhere Paul talks about praying ‘in the Spirit’? What’s that? Can you have normal prayer – and then upgrade to ‘prayer in the Spirit’? 

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom.

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Transcript

This is the third and last sermon on prayer – next week is a question time. Thanks for questions so far – do send in yours if you’d like to.

We’ve been thinking about the phrase “And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’.”

We’ve thought about Abba Father – being children of God. Last week we talked about ‘crying’ – groaning in suffering. 

This week we’re focusing on ‘by him’. That is, by the Spirit. And so our question is - what does it mean to pray ‘by the Spirit’? Or elsewhere Paul talks about praying ‘in the Spirit’? What’s that? Can you have normal prayer – and then upgrade to ‘prayer in the Spirit’? 

It’s easy for questions like that – and talking about the Holy Spirit more generally - to make us feel insecure. We hear people talk about experiences of the Spirit – particular emotions or feelings – and we think - I don’t have those. And so we feel insecure – we have a sense of missing out or not being truly spiritual. We’ll come back to that. 

I want to make one big and general point about the Spirit’s work. And then we’re going to what that looks like in prayer. 

So – big point is this,

The Spirit makes it real

I realise that sounds sloppy – what is ‘it’? What does the Spirit make real?

Well here in v15 - ‘the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children’. So he is making being God’s children real to us. 

But can broaden that - the Spirit makes Jesus real, God real, being saved real. The work of the Spirit is to make these things true for us personally. Make them real. 

Let me use an old illustration about cold baths. Only to get this – you have to realise there was a time people used to think that having a cold bath was good for you. I don’t know why they thought that – I imagine you’re unconvinced – but they did. Imagine I said – I believe in cold baths. 

I could simply mean I believe that cold baths exist. I think they are factually true.

I could mean I believe not only that cold baths exist but if you have one – they are good for you. But I don’t ever have one myself. The cold baths thing is just theoretically true. 

Or I could mean – they exist, they are good for you and I have one every day. Personally true. 

Now imagine someone says I believe in Jesus. 

They could mean – I believe there was a man called Jesus who lived, died 2000 years ago. Factually true. But that’s it.

They could mean – not only do I believe the facts about Jesus but I understand Bible says Jesus died for our sins so we can know God. I don’t trust in Jesus – but I understand the theory.  

Or they could mean – I trust Jesus to save me. 

The facts about Jesus are crucial. The theory – the understanding – is vital. But there is another level when you move beyond the facts, and beyond the theory, and Jesus becomes real for you. 

The objective truth becomes subjectively true. The theoretical becomes personal. The truth out there – becomes true in here. 

And that move, only happens because of the Spirit. 

That is what I mean when I say the role of the Spirit is make it real. He takes the facts of Jesus, and the truth of Jesus, and brings inside. So we get it. Personally. It’s becomes real for us.

That is a general point about the Spirit’s work. 

I want us to see what this looks like with prayer. But before we get to that let me give an example from earlier in Romans so we get the idea. 

The Holy Spirit makes God’s love real

Back in Romans 5 Paul says ‘God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

So Jesus’ death is an historical, objective demonstration of how much he loves me.

But Paul also says ‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’ This is internal, personal grasp of his love in our hearts.

That’s not separate from God’s love in Jesus’ death. 

It’s the same love of God. It’s demonstrated in Jesus’ death. But the Holy Spirit works in my heart so that I personally grasp God’s love for me. The Spirit makes God’s love – real. 

Now, main example,

The Holy Spirit makes calling God father real

V15, 16 again. ‘by the Spirit we cry Abba Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.’

The Spirit bears witness to our spirit, he gives testimony to us, to tell us – we are children of God. So he’s saying being God’s children – is real for us. 

We get more in v15 – you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption. 

Paul is saying – you were fearful of God – he was your judge who condemned you – it was like you had a spirit – a sense – of being a slave. But now you understand Jesus died for you – to bring forgiveness and acceptance. So you’re not scared of God now – you have peace with him – you have the spirit – the sense – of being his child. 

It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us that sense of peace and adoption.

Imagine I offended my brother. We’re having a zoom chat, I try and make a joke but it comes out badly and it’s rude and he’s right hurt.  I say sorry, but I can feel he’s upset. 

Later on – my brother thinks - Nigel, he is an idiot – but I forgive him. Writes me a card – says – don’t worry about it. 

Two or three days later – the post arrives – I open the card – and think – oh good. That’s better. 

Now – Graham forgave me days ago. But I was still worried about it. I’m feeling we’re estranged. I only got that sense of forgiveness – peace and acceptance – when his card arrives. That’s when it became real for me. 

That’s what the Spirit does. Through Jesus we are forgiven, at peace with God, adopted as his children. But the Spirit brings that home to me - makes it real to me. He testifies to our spirit so we grasp – I’m at peace with God, I’m accepted like an adopted child. 

So let me ask. Do you have any sense God forgives you? You have peace with him? 

Do you have any sense you are God’s child? You can call him father? 

I know it varies day to day. We go up and down. But if we have some grasp that is true – that is the Holy Spirit’s work. He has worked in us so it’s real to us. 

Couple of reflections

Before we finish let me make a couple of comments on the Spirit which I think are relevant here.

The Spirit usually works through his word. The Bible is described as the sword of the Spirit – it’s his weapon – it’s how he teaches us and convinces us and make things real to us. I say usually – because the Spirit is God and he can do what he chooses. But the way he says he works and usually works – is through his word. 

So for us to have this sense of being God’s child – and for us to grow in that – we should both ask his Spirit to make this more real to us. But we don’t just do that – we also look at his word, meditate on what he says, because the Spirit works through that. 

Second comment: the Spirit doesn’t draw attention to himself, so you might not notice him. In John’s gospel Jesus says the Spirit’s work is bring glory to Jesus and the Father. His role is shine a spotlight on them. Not himself. 

What this means in practice is we might have a very strong experience of the Spirit – but not call it that. Say we hear a sermon and we think wow – God loves me. He sent Jesus die for me, that’s amazing. Hits us afresh. 

Or we are talking with a friend and something they say makes us think – I’m actually God’s child. How wonderful. 

Well – those are happening because of the Spirit’s work - making it real. But – in my little descriptions – I didn’t mention the Spirit. And talking about it - you might just say – I had a real sense of being God’s child – you don’t mention the Spirit. 

That’s fine – the Spirit likes that. His role is to focus on the father and the son. Bringing glory to them. 

We must remember that because it means just because he isn’t mentioned – doesn’t mean he isn’t very involved.

So let’s say we have some sense we are God’s children. We can talk to him as our Father. And that leads us to pray – Father – I’m sorry for how I behaved yesterday please forgive me. It leads us to say – please help me today with what I find hard. It leads me to pray for others. It leads us to thank and praise. 

It’s not brilliant – it goes up and down – but to some degree – it happens. I pray. 

Why? Why is any of that happening? It’s because of the Spirit. He is making these things real to us and that leads us in prayer. We are praying by the Spirit, or in the Spirit. 

Three applications to finish. 

Be assured – if you trust in Jesus – you have the Spirit. You don’t need to feel insecure. Like you’re missing out. If you’re praying – if you have some sense of God as your father – you’re showing the signs of the Spirit in you. He doesn’t draw attention to himself – we don’t go on about him. But you can be confident – you’re praying in the Spirit – because he’s why you’re praying at all.

Secondly – let’s be thankful for the Spirit. I say we don’t go on about him – and in many ways that’s right – but we should be aware of what he does in us - and thankful for it. If I pray, call God father – it’s because of him. Left to myself I wouldn’t talk to God. None of this would be real to me. 

We should say to God – not only thank for Jesus dying for me – but thank you for your Spirit – working in me so I get it and it’s real to me. Everything we do as Christians – believing, trusting, obeying, serving – praying – it’s only happening because of him in us. Let’s open our eyes to all the Spirit is doing for us – and appreciate it – thank him.

Lastly – let’s seek to grow in this. We can grow in knowing God as our Father. That will lead to growing in prayer – talking to God as our father. That happens by his Spirit. Let’s pray this week – Father, by your Spirit – make these things more real to me. 

By your Spirit give me a greater sense you are my Father. Know your love and peace with you and  security of being your child. 

By your Spirit lead me to cry out to you and groan in my struggles. 

By your Spirit – lead me in thanking you, praising you, requesting from you. 

Would lead me forward in prayer – by your Spirit. 

Suffering and prayer - Groaning (2/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: v15, v18-27

Part two of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: ‘Cry’ - Suffering and prayer - groaning to God.

Please note: this is a recording from Zoom. Due to a blip at the time of recording there is no picture throughout.

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Transcript

Good to see everyone. You may know we’re spending a few weeks thinking about prayer. Our last Sunday in June is going to be a question time. So if a question comes to mind – or you want to ask something else about prayer - please send it to me – email on the notices.

We’re focusing on this phrase in v15 – by him, the Spirit, we cry Abba, Father. Last week we thought about Abba Father, being adopted as children of God. 

This week we’re focusing on the word ‘cry’. By the Spirit, we cry Abba Father. Now I thought that word just meant ‘call out’ or ‘say’. But I’ve learnt that the word often means cry out in distress – or pain. 

And you may have noticed in our reading there’s a lot about suffering and pain. Back in v17 Paul talked about suffering with Christ. Then v18 we get our present sufferings, then creation being in the pain of childbirth and so on. Paul talks about suffering a lot - so it seems he is talking about crying Abba Father – in suffering. 

So we’re going to be thinking about prayer in suffering, but let me make two quick general comments at the start – the Bible says lots of other things about facing suffering – in addition to what we get here. So don’t think this is all the Bible says about suffering.

Secondly – don’t think life is nothing but suffering - elsewhere Paul talks about the many good things God gives us – family, friends, food, nature, art etc. He says we should receive those things as gifts, enjoy them and thank God for them. 

But here, in our verses, Paul is facing the reality of suffering. 

That raises the question – how do we respond to suffering or hardship. 

It’s a relevant question for now - coronavirus is causing great suffering – in illness and death. The news of racism – another death yesterday - makes us aware of unjust suffering. At a personal level – we might be finding lockdown has a way of taking the difficulties we already faced – and intensifying them. Our own failings. Relationships. Family life. Work – lack of work. 

How do we respond to all that? 

Some people can tend towards denial. They pretend it’s all good. Put on a brave face, don’t talk about it, try not to think about it. Distract yourself, keep busy. Don’t emotionally invest in anything for fear of being hurt. Various forms of denying the reality of suffering 

Others can tend towards despair. They don’t deny suffering - they focus on it - they look at the world – look at my life – it’s all bad. You can become cynical, think Jesus is a waste of time, feel hopeless. 

Denial – we try and run from suffering. Despair we’re overwhelmed by suffering.  

But Paul – he responds to suffering in a very different way. Before we get there I need to mention one other theme here. And that is hope. 

V18 ‘I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’

We’ll see Paul is talking about the glory of heaven or God’s new creation. But v24, 

Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

We don’t have this new creation yet – it’s a hope we wait for. 

Now – when you take suffering – combine that with this hope of glory. Put those together – Paul says that produces – groaning. 

We’re going to talk about prayer as groaning. 

In this chapter we get three things that groan. First of all,

Creation groans

In v22 ‘We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth’. 

Why – well v20 – ‘For the creation was subjected to frustration’ and v21 it longs for the day it will be ‘liberated from its bondage to decay’. 

Back in Genesis, when humanity rejected God - he says – now the earth is cursed - it will produces thorns and thistles. Creation isn’t not going to work right. As Paul says – it’s been frustrated.  

It’s not just thorns and thistles – we can think of earthquakes and tsunamis – or today of course we think of viruses and pandemics. Here’s the ultimate cause – creation is fallen or put in bondage to decay. 

But it longs to be right – it has a hope of being liberated to be what it was meant to be. Released from its lockdown if you like. And God promises one day there will be a new creation – and it will be perfect. 

And so now creation groans. 

Notice the two sides to groaning. There’s frustration with now. Creation says, I shouldn’t be like this. 

And there’s hope - longing for the future – one day I won’t be like this – I’ll be put right and be what I was made to be. 

We groan, v23

Secondly we groan, v23– ‘we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for …. the redemption of our bodies.’

We groan because we’re not right. In Romans Paul has described our problem with sin – our rebellion against God – the wrong we do. Even for the Christian cries out - I do what I don’t want to do. 

We also face the problem of our mortality – physical weakness, illness and ultimately death. 

The answer to both of those things is what Paul calls – the redemption of our bodies. Being raised with new bodies – sin free – disease free – perfect in every way. 

And so now we groan. Again groaning is expressing frustration – we shouldn’t be like this. And expressing longing – one day I’ll be what I was made to be. 

But with us there’s another element - notice how Paul says it’s we have the first fruits of the Spirit who groan. 

The picture of first fruits is – you’re growing crops and when it’s ready you pick the first bit of corn or whatever – that is the first fruits. And the point is – it shows you what is coming. It gives you a taste, a sense, a guarantee of what is coming – because here it is – the first bit. 

Well the Spirit is the firstfruits of being saved - we said last week the Spirit gives us life with God, he makes us new inside, makes us children of God. 

If you like – it’s a taste of heaven. There’s much more to come – new bodies – new creation – perfect world – but the Spirit gives us the first fruits of that – a taste of knowing God, being forgiven, being in his people. 

And Paul is saying – this taste of that future – makes us groan. 

I want to try and illustrate this – not sure if this is a bit contrived – but run with me on this. 

Imagine a situation where food is awful. Maybe – you’re in prison – hospital – don’t want to be rude – but imagine its bad food. Day after day. 

One day – someone from your family comes to visit you. They say – we’re really looking forward to having you home. When you come back we’re going to cook you your favourite meal. 

The thought of home food – the flavours – the taste – you can’t wait.  

Then they say – actually I brought you a snack – it’s a little bit of what we’re going to have. 

You eat the little morsel – and wow – the flavours, the depth, the richness – it’s wonderful. It kind of makes it worse – because it’s gives you a sense – of that meal you want. So it makes you long for it even more. You groan even more.

It’s something like that for us. We groan – frustrated with what’s hard now. 

We groan – longing for that perfect future.

And the Spirit gives us a taste of it now – knowing God as father, being forgiven and at peace, being changed to be like Jesus, the goodness of that - it’s like a taste of heaven – and makes us more frustrated, and more longing. 

Spirit groans

I said three things groan in this chapter – creation, us, but also the Spirit. V26 ‘we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.’ 

Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for. Especially in suffering.

Do I pray for my friend to get well, or to have patience while ill? Do I pray for my annoying boss to be moved on or for godliness to bear with it? Do I pray my missionary friends to stop being persecuted or pray they will be a great witness as they suffer? We don’t always know. 

But the Spirit helps us – as we groan he groans with us – and v27 he intercedes in accordance with God’s will – he knows God’s plan – so he prays the right thing. 

So even when we can’t find the words - our groaning is not wasted – the Spirit takes it and prays it to the Father in the right way.

So hope you’re still with me – to sum up - we face hardship or suffering. We have the certain hope of glory – everything put right. And we have a taste of that by the Spirit. That should lead us to groan.

What does this look like?

Thought I’d finish by trying to give a picture of what this might look like – I’ve got three. 

This morning I read about another shooting of a black man in the States. So I groan. Oh Lord, thinking of your perfect world where everyone is equal - makes me feel how wrong racism is. I grieve over it. And repent of what is wrong in me. Please help now – bring greater justice now – thank you that one day just and equality will be complete - I long for that day. 

Or maybe we’re struggling in lockdown. 

So I groan – Lord I’m struggling. Lost it with kids today trying to work and homeschool. I’m worried I’ll lose my job, I’m stressed about finances. I miss my friends, I’m lonely. Thank you that one day you’ll put me right and I’ll trust you completely - I’ll delight to serve you perfectly in everything I do. What a thought. One day relationships will be perfect and we’ll just enjoy and celebrate each other. One day I’ll be so rich and so secure – I won’t have a worry in the world. 

Thank you - I long for that day. Please help me now – change me by your Spirit – and help me live for you today. 

Or we think how Jesus said pray for God to be glorified. So I groan. Lord – it’s tragic how so many think so little of you. That is so sad and wrong. Thank you one day – you will be seen for who you truly are and will receive all the praise and adoration you deserve. I sense how good and right that is by your Spirit. So may you be praised today – help me praise you and praise you to others.

Well there are my rather poor efforts at what groaning might look like. I’d love to hear from you your thoughts of how we groan. Sometimes we don’t get to express words – it’s just a groan. I hope you get the sense of holding suffering and glory together – and that leads us in prayer. 

I asked - how do we respond to suffering?

Denial? – pretend it’s all good - not face up to it. Paul says – suffering is very much part of life.

We can despair – it’s all bad - think there’s no hope. Paul says that’s not right – there is hope. Certain hope of a new world – you can taste it now by his Spirit. 

I think Paul wants us to face up to the suffering and have a firm grip on our hope – as we get both of those – let it come out as a groan. This week whatever hardships and difficulties come – face them – think of God’s wonderful future – how it will answer everything. Put them together – and groan. 

Foundation of prayer - Adoption (1/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: 14-17

Part one of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: ‘Abba, Father’ - Our adoption in Christ is the foundation of prayer.

Please note: this is a recording from Zoom. Due to a blip at the time of recording there is no picture until about 30 seconds in.

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Transcript

We’re going to spend 4 weeks thinking about prayer.  And our focus is going to be the phrase in v15 – ‘And by him – that’s the Holy Spirt – by the Holy Spirit we cry, Abba, Father.’ 

Let me start by asking – why do we pray? And what does that mean our prayer look like?

We can pray because we’re in trouble and need help. In that case prayer probably looks like a 999 call. The pressures of lockdown might have led to a lot of those prayers - Lord would you help me get through this.

We often pray because we want God to change something. So our prayer looks like requests. You might have prayed that kind of prayer this week hearing about the events in the US – Lord – change this situation.

We might pray because we feel guilty about what we’ve done – so our prayer looks like confession. 

Or we might say – to be honest I don’t really pray. 

Foundation of prayer - adoption

I want us to look at what I’ve called the foundation of prayer – the starting point – the heart of prayer. And that is adoption. Being adopted as a child of God. 

To sum up this sermon - what I want us to get is – if we’re going to pray – I want us to get to hold of – to be gripped by – being children of God. Because that is the foundation of prayer. 

So I’m going to talk about adoption for a while – and then we’ll come back to prayer. 

Adoption

I want to suggest that being adopted as a child of God is the centre of being a Christian.

Now – I made this point in a sermon from 1John a couple of months ago. I used an illustration of a judge and an orphan. You might remember it. We’re not doing that again – this time let me try and show adoption is so central by seeing how God’s actions to save us – have adoption as the goal. God acts to rescue us in various ways – but often – the purpose of it all – the aim - is to adopt us.

God chooses us in mercy – to be his children. 

So for instance - we could say in his rescue God chooses to have mercy on us. But listen to how Paul describes that choosing. 

Paul writes, ‘God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world – in love he predestined us to be adopted as sons or daughters – through Jesus Christ according to his pleasure and will’.

Now – we’re not going into questions about predestination and all that – what I want us to see is why God chose us – he choose us to adopt us . That was the goal – that’s the purpose. And I love that it says – this was according to his pleasure and will. So God before the beginning of time - took pleasure in saying – I want you to adopt you. The thought of you being his child – pleased him. 

So God chooses us to be his children.

Jesus died to redeem us or rescue us – in order to adopt us. 

Second example - God rescues us by sending Jesus to die for us. But listen to how Paul describes that. He writes,

‘God sent his Son, to redeem those under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons and daughters.’

So Jesus died for us – to redeem us or rescue us – but with the ultimate goal – of making us God’s children. That was the aim. 

There is the cost of our adoption – this is how much God paid to make us his children. His own Son. 

Spirit brings us new life to make us his children. 

So the Father chooses, the Son dies – thirdly – to rescue us, the Spirit brings us alive. We’re spiritually dead and he regenerates us – brings new life. But again – he does it – to make us his children. 

This is our passage from Romans. Paul has said the Spirit makes us alive – but v15 – he is the ‘Spirit of sonship’. Or literally is ‘adoption’. He is the Spirit of adoption. 

So he makes us alive – but with the ultimate goal of being adopted as God’s children. 

That’s why I say, being a child of God is the heart of being a Christian – because this is what God is working for – this the goal of God’s rescue. The Father choosing, the Son redeeming, the Spirit bringing life – it’s all with the aim of making us his children. 

I know a couple of people who have adopted children themselves. Through them I’ve seen it’s a long process. And a difficult one – interviews and assessments. Saw one friend have some big setbacks and disappointments. But they went through all that - because they wanted to care for a child. Look after them, nurture them – and know them, love them. They go through all this work – because they want them. 

Well, if you trust in Jesus that is how God feels about you. He wants you as his child. 

That’s why he went through all of his rescue - choosing – sending Jesus to die – giving you his Spirit – it’s all to make us his children. He does it all because he wants you. He wants you in his family. He wants to care for you and look after you. He wants to have you close and to know you. That is how he feels about you.

I want to ask - do we know that? Do we feel that? I know I often don’t. It’s very thin. But we need to grasp this, we need to grow in this. Because it’s the heart of being a Christian – and because it’s the foundation of prayer. 

Leads us to pray 

Paul goes on - we received the Spirit of adoption and by him we cry, Abba Father. In other words – being a child of God – leads us to call him Father, it leads us talk to him – it leads us to pray. 

I don’t know if you’ve seen any videos of reunions doing the rounds. People who have been isolated from their family because they are health care professionals – being reunited. I saw one of a nurse who had been isolated from her children for two months – being reunited. She comes up behind them and just asks – what are you watching? The little girl turns, and shouts, mummy. 

It’s a lovely moment. It’s so instinctive and natural. 

It’s the most natural thing in the world for a child to call mummy, daddy. 

Paul is saying that is what prayer is – if you’re God’s child – prayer is simply calling to your father. So in many ways it should be the most natural thing in the world. 

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray – he emphasized this. He said, when you pray – don’t show off to others – go into your room and pray to your Father. And when you pray – don’t go on and on trying to force God to do something – your Father knows what you need. This is how you should pray – Our Father in heaven.

Being his children - calling God father - it’s the foundation of prayer. 

Now, when I just said, it’s the most natural thing in the world to pray to God as your father – you might have thought – not for me it isn’t. Prayer doesn’t come naturally at all. So to finish let me make three comments on that. 

Some of us might be thinking – this isn’t helping me because from my father – my parents – I didn’t get loving, caring, nurture. I got disappointment and hurt. So thinking of God as my father doesn’t help me pray.

If that is you then I’m sorry. But I want to appeal to you not to give up on the idea of God as your father. The understandable hurt and pain you feel testifies to how we should have been cared for – or it points to how we need a father to care for us. And in God we find the father who is all the things our earthly parents failed to be. He will never let us down, forget us, hurt us. Rather he is everything a father should be. Perfectly loving, caring, understanding, encouraging. In other words – he’s the father we are crying for. Now there’s much more to say on that we don’t have time for – but do get in touch with me or Nat if you’d like to talk more. 

Second comment – calling God father doesn’t come naturally because often we don’t live like his children. We get things wrong, muck things up – we feel guilty – and that means prayer is last thing I feel like doing. 

Again – there’s lot to say on this but one comment - we must realise we’re secure as God’s children. Our sin doesn’t undo our adoption. When God choose us to be his children – he knew exactly what he was taking on. When Jesus died for our sin to make us his children – he died for it all – including what we’ve done today. And when his Spirit comes into us to make us his children – he says – I know what you’re like – but I’m not leaving. 

A while ago I heard this testimony about adoption:

“As a teacher’s assistant I often work with children in the foster system. Because of the transient nature of a foster home, many kids feel very insecure. They are allowed to stay with their foster family only if they perform correctly. 

God didn’t choose to be our foster parent. We don’t get kicked out of the family because of our behavior. When I accepted Christ I became a permanent member of his family. He died to redeem me. He signed the adoption papers with his blood.”

We are secure as his children. Even when we muck up – God is still our father. 

Last comment – calling God father often doesn’t come naturally – because we don’t realise we are his children. 

We probably know it – in our heads – but it’s a distant idea. We don’t really get it – we don’t feel it as a reality. That’s why I’ve spent most of our time on how God has worked to adopt us – because I hope that helps us get this. 

You can describe yourself in a variety of ways. I could say, I like rugby. I could also say, I’m married to Jo. Both are true but being a husband is a deeper thing than liking rugby. It’s more at the core or the essence of who I am.

Paul is saying, if you go really deep, go the centre of who you are. You find the Spirit of adoption making you God's child. That is, in essence, who you are. 

As we increasingly grasp that – as the Spirit makes that real to us - it will increasingly become natural to pray. To call God father. 

I asked at the start, why do we pray? Cry for help, requests for action, confession?

First answer, foundation answer is, we pray because he’s my father. 

There are still cries for help. We might cry to God about what we face this week, pressures we feel. But we do so as children crying to their father.

Yes, there will be requests – please change the injustice in society, overcome racism.  But we do that like children going to their father. 

Yes, there will be guilt and confession – but we do it like a child going to their father. 

Or maybe you rarely pray. Let me encourage you – look at who you are in Christ – see who God has made you - and then talk to your father. 

Pray

Quick comment – I said we’re having four weeks on prayer. The first three weeks are talks – we’ve just one the first one. The fourth week is going to be a question time. So if a question comes to mind from the sermons – or you’ve got another question about prayer – do send it to me? We’ll put my email on the notices in case you don’t have it – or use whatsapp. Then we’ll try and answer those in our last week. 

Pentecost Acts 2 v1-21 - Nat Charles

Acts 2 v1-21

Pentecost

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom.

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Transcript to follow.

Luke 24 v44-49 - Easter (5/6) - Nat Charles

Luke 24 v44-49

Part of our Easter series working through Luke chapter 24.

This week: ‘You are witnesses of these things.’ v48

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom.

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Transcript to follow.

Luke 24 v28-35 - Easter (3/6) - Nat Charles

Luke 24 v28-35

Part of our Easter series working through Luke chapter 24.

This week: Encountering Jesus in the scriptures and by breaking bread.

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Transcript

You join us this afternoon as we’re about halfway through the season of Easter. In the calendar of the church, Easter doesn’t last only for one day, it’s a fifty day feast. I know that it feels hard to celebrate at the moment. In many ways this is a season to lament what we are missing. But the season of Easter is a gift as it refocuses us and reminds us again and again that Jesus is alive. He is risen. The grave could not hold him.

Here at SBD we’re working through Luke Chpt 24 in our sermon series. The chapter narrates the story of two disciples of Jesus who are on their way out. They are leaving Jerusalem for Emmaus, and their geographical journey mirrors what’s going in their hearts. They are distraught that Jesus has died as it seems to be the end of all that they hoped he would accomplish.

And yet an encounter with the risen Jesus turns them around. Rather than sadly trudging away from Jerusalem, the disciples are suddenly sprinting back. Rather than lamenting their shattered hopes, they are bursting with new hope and assurance.

As we explore the return journey, let me start with this. Does being a Christian mean that we have to have blind faith? After all, we can’t see Jesus. 

Some years ago the artist Mark Wallinger produced a piece called ‘Angel’. The piece is a short film in which the artist wears dark glasses and carries a cane, the kind that might be used by someone partially sighted. He’s appearing as a character called Blind Faith. Walking on the spot at the foot of the escalators at Angel underground station, Wallinger repeats over and over the first five verses of John’s gospel. ‘In the beginning was the word…’ He’s asking questions about seeing and sight, and whether things really are as they appear.

There is something strange about Luke’s account of the Emmaus story. Jesus is seen by two disciples, yet they don’t recognise him. Then, when they do recognise, he disappears from their sight. Something’s going on about seeing and beliving, or perhaps not seeing, and believing. And the result of it all is that two broken hearted disciples are restored and filled with fresh joy.

We don’t see Jesus today, but we do encounter him.

In the narrative, there are 2 openings that Luke tells us about.

SCRIPTURE IS OPENED

First, Scripture is opened. Vs 32, the disciples describe what happened on the road when Jesus joined them. They say ‘he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us.’

We saw last week that Jesus started to reveal himself to the disciples not through discussing what happened in Jerusalem, or even by reminding them what happened when he was with them teaching and preaching and healing.

He opens up the Scriptures, the Old Testament so that they can see who he is. And we saw last week that he makes a claim that would have sounded extraordinary – all of the Scriptures are about him. They all cohere, find their meaning, in him.

One of the features of lockdown life in our home at the moment is jigsaw puzzles. We’ve got one of those wasgij puzzles – do you know those? They’re really difficult because the picture on the front doesn’t match the final picture. It’s more like a clue, and you have to use your imagination to figure out what comes next.

That’s a small picture of what is going on here. The Scriptures make sense of Jesus – we wouldn’t understand what he came to do without them. And he makes sense of the Scriptures – we won’t understand them unless we read them in the light of all that he came to do. We need to know the story of Israel, and we need to know how that story is taken up and reshaped around Jesus. 

He is the Messiah, the anointed one. And he is the King who sits on the throne of David. And he is the suffering servant prophesied by Isaiah. All of the OT types and shadows find their fullness in him.

But there is something more. The disciples say that their hearts burned within them as Jesus opened the Scriptures. If we’re honest, it often doesn’t feel like that when we open the Scriptures. And I think there might be two reasons for that.

The first is that we might separate Jesus from Scriptures. You could call it the President Bartlett fallacy. In the West Wing TV series there are a couple of episodes where the characters set the OT and NT against each other, as if the God of the OT is a vindictive monster, and the God of the NT kind and compassionate and loving. 

I don’t want to say that there aren’t hard and difficult parts of Scripture. There are. But Jesus won’t let us simply ignore them, cut them out of our Bibles. If we want to take him seriously, we must take seriously what he says about the Scriptures – without them, we don’t really have him.

But equally, there is a way of reading Scripture that never gets to Jesus.

It’s perfectly possible to read the Scriptures as if they are about all sorts of things – a guidebook for life. A manual for how society should be ordered. Some stories to give us hope in hard times. 

Now it does have important things to say to all of those areas. But it’s only when the Scriptures lead us to Jesus that our hearts will burn within us.

Let me ask you this afternoon – how do the Scriptures shape and affect the journey that you are on? Could it be that we don’t encounter Jesus as we might because we don’t search for him in the Scriptures, or we search the Scriptures for the wrong thing?Maybe not, but it might be worth asking the question.

EYES ARE OPENED

But it’s not only the Scriptures that are opened in this narrative. The disciples’ eyes are also opened. Vs 31 tells us that after Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them, their eyes were opened.

The gospel writer Luke loves to present Jesus eating and drinking with other people. I read somewhere that this meal is the 8th that Jesus shares in Luke’s gospel.

What’s going on here? Why is at this point that the disciples recognise Jesus? I don’t think it’s that they see the nail marks in his hands and feet – Luke seems to make more of that in the following scene, when Jesus meets the rest of the disciples. Something else is going on.

There is one other place in the Scriptures that a meal is shared and someone’s eyes are opened. It’s back in Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree. They eat the fruit and their eyes are opened. At that meal humanity is brought low, it’s an opening that leads to loss and blindness, separation from God and being banished from his presence. That meal, that opening, leads to death.

But this meal is the first of the new age. The new creation. The disciples’ eyes are opened to new life and new creation. To glory and wonder. The beginning of the new story of humanity. Restoration and recreation. The disciples’ eyes are opened.

And then Jesus disappears from their sight.

Commentators are divided at this point about whether Luke is making a comment about the nature of the Lord’s Supper in this scene. Some argue that his emphasis is on the opening of the Scriptures, others say that the important moment is the breaking of bread.

It seems to me that Luke holds both together. If the supper at Emmaus tells us anything, it is that the risen Jesus meets his followers. They encounter him. It’s not just that the disciples receive a history lesson over a meal. As the Scriptures are opened, as bread is broken, they encounter Jesus.

And so for us, although in different ways, we encounter Jesus both through the Scriptures, and through breaking bread together.

We may not see Jesus face to face today, although one day we will. But he does sustain us with his risen presence, he gives himself through the word and at the table.

And as he does, our hearts burn within us and we find fresh hope and new assurance and joy.

PRAY/SING

But the Lord - Nigel Beynon 3/3

But the Lord...Gen 12:10-20 (3/3 of a series)

Nigel Beynon

Genesis 12:10-20

Part three of a mini series by Nigel Beynon: God’s plan for his world and our lives.

This week: But the Lord. How God can intervene to keep his plans on track

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Years ago I went on an ordination retreat. There were about 30 of us – 4 of us were friends. It was a silent retreat – not allowed to talk. Bloke leading the retreat seemed he was very concerned that none of his personality should come across in his talks. He did very well making sure that didn’t happen – no expression at all. 

It was meant to be a special time away – but it turned out to be rubbish – and to be honest we reacted rather badly – we got together to pray breaking the silence rule – we made up games during his talks. One bloke drew moustaches on the photos of nuns. 

I want us to think about how we react when things are difficult. Now my example is trivial – it wasn’t very difficult. But we face much harder situations – pressures at work, demands of children, the disappointment of no children, illness or bereavement, struggles in our relationships. When things are hard – things don’t turn out as planned – if we believe in Jesus – how do we react?

I can say from my own experience – it’s easy to react badly. For your faith to fail in some way. On reflection I’ve realised the weakness was always there – but the situation – the pressure – brings it out and reveals it. 

Then the question comes - when we fail – how do we react to that failure? Do we say – that wasn’t my fault - it was just the situation. Do we say – I always do this – I’m hopeless – I should give up. Do we say – failure doesn’t really matter – who cares? 

That is what we’re going to think about from this passage – how we react to pressure and failure.

We’re going to walk through the story for a while. And then I’m going to try and draw out some lessons for us. 

We heard last week how Abram had been promised blessing - 12:2 – go to the land I will show you, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. Abraham believed God – and went to the land. 

And so v10 comes as a surprise. ‘Now there was a famine in the land.’ 

God says – leave your home, safety, comfort – travel to this strange new place – and I will bless you. Abraham gets there – miles from home – lots of dependents to look after and – famine. That’s not blessing is it – that’s not how it’s meant to be. 

Be easy for Abram to think – I should never have trusted God. Those friends who laughed, said I was mad when I left – turns out they were right. 

It becomes clear that is where Abram was – this famine meant his faith was starting to fail. 

V10 READ. 

Now we’re not told if going to Egypt was a wrong move. Later in Genesis God positively commands his people to go to Egypt because of a famine – so it’s not intrinsically wrong. God has made us to make pro active decisions, choose what seems wise and best. So Abram could be doing that. 

But – we hear nothing of Abram praying, asking God about it – so might worry. And that’s confirmed when he gets there. V11-13 READ. 

As a speech to your wife he starts well doesn’t he? – I know what a beautiful woman you are – but then it really goes down hill. He thinks he’ll be killed so someone can marry her. So he comes up with a plan – say you’re my sister – and we’ll be alright. 

Actually that was half true – Sarai was his half sister – but it’s still a lie, hiding the fact they were married.

Now we just said - God has promised Abram – a land, a blessing, descendants. 

But on the other hand we’ve got Egyptians who want to marry Sarai – and might be prepared to kill Abram. 

So for Abram it’s God’s promise versus scary Egyptians. 

And in that moment - the Egyptians win. Fear wins over faith. Maybe he was already doubting God’s promises because of the famine. So rather than trusting God and his promises - he comes up with his own plan – to save himself. 

It’s easy enough to relate to though. Maybe one morning we’re reading the Bible – God’s promise of love and care feel very real to us. Later at work – we hear some people have to be made redundant – and we’re suddenly scared we’ll lose our job, we’ve got a mortgage to pay, family to look after. Then we find ourselves exaggerating what we’ve done to our boss, and doing others down. Faith fails. 

Might be the fear of what others think of us – that makes us stay quiet about Jesus. Pressure of loneliness that leads us to drink too much. Or pain of illness or bereavement that leads to escape in fantasies.

All too often – we react to pressure badly – our faith fails in some way. That is Abram – there is famine and fears and his faith fails.

And then – things really go pear shaped for him. It’s likely Abram’s plan was to say Sarai was his sister – then when someone wanted to marry her – Abram as the brother would do negotiations which would take time – but before she’s actually married they leave. So he’s just buying some time. 

But then v14-16 READ. 

Pharaoh doesn’t need to negotiate and do due process in getting a wife – he just takes Sarai straight away into his harem in the palace. 

Now if Abram’s plan has gone wrong, God’s plan isn’t looking too good either. Remember we said last week – this is God’s plan to rescue the world – put everything right. It’s the promise of blessing - it starts with the promise of land and nation – but Abram has left the land and gone to Egypt instead. And now he’s lost his wife – so he can’t have any descendants and be a great nation. 

So Abram’s failure means God’s plan to rescue his world – is now at risk. 

And then we read V17 READ. 

Those first three words sum up this sermon – but the Lord. 

In the middle of the mess Abram has made – God intervenes - he steps in and acts. 

He sends some sort of plague on Pharaoh and his household. It becomes obvious Sarai is the issue – maybe she was the only one who didn’t get the plagues. Maybe she confesses. Anyway Pharaoh finds out the truth – she is Abram’s wife. And they are being punished by Abram’s God. 

And so v18-20 READ. 

The pagan king gives the man of faith a talking to. Abram – what were you playing at?! Why did you lie to me? How could you do this to me? 

That last sentence, here’s your wife, take her and go - literally are four words – here wife take go. You can feel the anger and outrage – how dare you behave like this.

And Abram says – well I tell you what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say – but there was a famine – and we were really hungry – we had to come here. He doesn’t say – but the Egyptians are so scary so I had to lie or they’d kill me. It’s very tempting to blame your circumstances – very easy - maybe up until now Abram explained it to himself like that. 

But now – confronted - he says - nothing – because there’s nothing to say – his silence says – you’re right. I was wrong. I should have trusted God. But I didn’t – under pressure - I got it very wrong. 

Back on that retreat where we were misbehaving. Half way through the w/e the leader/speaker came and found us. Found us watching Wimbledon on TV actually – chatting – which we weren’t meant to be doing. 

He said – I know you’ve been mucking around in the talks. I know you’ve drawn on the photos. And now I find you doing this. 

And we didn’t have anything to say. In our little world, it wasn’t too bad, given the circumstances – it was understandable. But suddenly it was clear – the situation was no excuse – there was no excuse – it was down to us and we’d behaved terribly. 

Even more so Abram – he has no excuses – the truth was his faith failed.

But – v20 READ. 

So - he left Egypt. And he left with his wife. He left with this cattle and servants. And they go back to the promised land together. And God’s promise – God’s plan – is back on track. 

So – there’s the story – I want us to step back from it for a moment and think about what God is teaching us – about faith and famine and failure. 

I think there are two ways you could read this. You could say Abram failed – so the lesson is - don’t be like Abraham. Don’t fear and lie - instead have faith in God and obey him.

There’s something in that. Abram becomes the great example of faith in the Bible – and this was part of him learning to trust God. He would have walked home thinking – I should have trusted God – should have prayed, not lied, I should have kept God bigger than the Egyptians. And we learn that too. 

If we’re aware of how we’re failing in faith – making compromises – not trusting God – then don’t be like Abram – learn the lesson - you can trust God. 

However I think there is another way to read this which I want to focus on. Abram fails. But God intervenes – he steps in to get his plan back on track. So the lesson is - our failure – doesn’t stop God’s plan. 

This was first read by God’s people under Moses. Now it depends how good your Bible history is – but can you imagine that later generation reading this. 

They read Abram went to Egypt because of a famine. Well they’d have thought - that’s us – because years after Abraham – Jacob and his family go to Egypt because of a famine. 

They read Sarai is taken by Pharaoh. Well that’s us - as a nation we were taken captive by Pharaoh – became slaves. 

They read God sends plagues on Egyptians so Sarah is released. That’s what God did with us – sent 10 plagues so we were freed.

They read that Abram leaves Egypt taking all the animals and servants he’d been given. And they think – that’s what we did - when we left Egypt we plundered the Egyptians too. 

They couldn’t fail to hear the echoes – this is what God did with Abram. This is what God did with us. This is what God does – he is a God who steps in to terrible situations – a God who intervenes to keep his plan on track – he is if you like – a ‘but the Lord’ sort of God. That’s the big lesson from this. 

However there is a question how we apply this to us. First of all there is the big picture fulfillment – in Jesus. 

In the NT we read, 

“No one will be declared righteous…. But now, a righteousness from God has been make known.”

 “you were dead in your transgressions and sins … But, because of his great love for us God…”

“This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son…”

We’ve all made a mess of life like Abram – we ended up imprisoned – not by Pharaoh but by sin and death. But God intervenes – as he sends Jesus who takes his judgment – so we can be forgiven. 

That is the big picture fulfillment of this – God steps in to fulfill his plan to put the world right. But the Lord. 

And as I’ve been talking we might be aware how we’ve failed in faith. Times we’ve been under pressure – and done the wrong thing. Well we should be comforted from this story – we have a - but the Lord - sort of God – we can look at Jesus and see how God has intervened to win our forgiveness and bring about his plan. 

But there is also little picture fulfillment – secondary fulfillment - in our individual lives. But here it’s a bit less clear – or a bit less black and white. 

But God intervenes with us - to bring us into his plan and keep us in his plan.

I expect most of us can look back and see how God acted – intervened - so that we put our faith in him. For me it was a friend at school who took me to his church where I heard about Jesus. God arranged that – the initial connection – the conversations – the invitation. He enabled me to realise my need of him – he intervened so I put my faith in him. 

And he continues to intervene in our lives – to keep us in his plan. Now I don’t mean that whatever mistakes we make – God will step in and make everything alright. Often we have to face the consequences of our actions. But he does act to keep us in his plan, keep his plan on track in our lives. 

Years ago I was with a couple of friends who weren’t Christians – something about Jesus came up and I didn’t say anything. But later one friend said something like – I’m surprised you didn’t say something about what you believe. I’d have thought you’d have a spiel to give. 

That made me say – well I do actually – and did a little gospel summary. 

I failed to speak – then God acted to help me do the right thing. 

I expect you can think of your own examples. We start to bend the rules at work – but our boss see what’s happening and says – we’re not doing that - overrules us. We feel rightly told off - but we’re back on track. We feel too tired or embarrassed to read the Bible and pray as a family – but one day our 4 year old innocently asks - ask why we don’t we talk to God – we are ashamed – and pushed into it. 

Now this does raise questions - why God doesn’t intervene more – why didn’t God intervene in that situation – why doesn’t he intervene in that person’s life? And we don’t know – there is some mystery here. 

But he promises to save his people – promises to intervene to bring us to believe – and keep us believing. So the people we meet, conversations we have, books, sermons, circumstances, emotions – they are God nudging us – shoving us sometimes – not to make every always fine and lovely – but to keep his plan on track in our lives. 

The other day – I found myself wondering what would be written on a plaque when I die. Probably just be name and dates. But what could it say. Well it should say something like – Nigel Beynon – he went his own way – even as a Christian he feared and failed. That would summarise a lot of my life. And then the plaque would say – ‘But the Lord’.

But the Lord – sent Jesus to die for me. But the Lord – sent me a friend to tell me the gospel. But the Lord – sent this friend into my life – and I had that conversation – and he gave me that opportunity – and that situation went wrong which taught me this lesson - and and and– God acted to keep me believing and repenting. 

That is a good caption for our lives – but the Lord. 

So let’s not be like Abram here – let’s trust God, obey him – but even if we fail – we take comfort - he’s a - but the Lord - sort of God. 

Searching for God's blessing - Nigel Beynon 2/3

Genesis 11v10-12v3 (2/3 of a series)

Nigel Beynon

Genesis 11:10-12:3

Part two of a mini series by Nigel Beynon: God’s plan for his world and our lives.

This week: Searching for God’s blessing

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Last week we looked at Genesis 11 – and followed the theme of unity through the Bible. I felt aware there was a lot of information so was a bit unhappy about that. This week – I feel that even more. Thought I’d let you know at the start. This is a big picture sermon – covering a lot of ground in the Bible. 

At the same time – it can be very exciting to see how the Bible fits together – I think it’s very encouraging how God’s plans develop and are fulfilled and come together. And seeing that can strengthen us in keeping going as Christians. 

Maybe we feel we need a bit of that – said we haven’t appointed a vicar this week – I think a good and the right decision. But disappointing decision. We may feel a weary. Struggling to keep going in this interim time. 

And of course there can be many other things that make us feel like giving up as a Christian. Moments when you think – wouldn’t it be easier if I wasn’t a Christian. 

Well I hope this big picture – God’s big plan – how it comes together in Jesus – will encourage us to keep going with Jesus. 

Now, we heard Genesis 12 read – promise to Abram. But to get the significance of what is being said here we’ve got to appreciate the flow from the start of Genesis – we’ve got to get the run up to this – only then will we get the hit of Genesis 12. 

So here’s the run up. First of all, 

Blessing

Back in chapter 1 God made the world – he made it beautiful and bountiful. And he made humanity – and we’re told ‘he blessed them’ – told them to multiply and fill the earth, to rule it and enjoy this paradise he’s given them – and to do that with God and under God. It’s a picture is of a perfect world – as the Bible says – “God saw all he had made and it was very good.” That is God’s blessing. 

The other night I was watching TV and then an advert came on – and you got these shots of sun, sand and sea. It was beautiful. And there were lots of smiley faces. Happy families. Wonderful food. It was paradise.  It turns out paradise only costs £2000 for a week – and it’s located in Turkey.

Lots of adverts offer us that perfect world don’t they – or a part of it - a lifestyle, a relationship, a home – which will be perfect. They offer us that because that is what we were made for – and so that is what we long for.

But of course we long for that world, not just because we were made for it – but also because we haven’t got it.  

That’s the next bit of the run up. 

Curse

In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve rebel against God – put themselves in charge instead of him. And that leads to curse or what we often call, the fall.

Curse is the opposite of his blessing. Relationships are spoilt - we hurt each other. Work is hard and frustrating. Most of all, rather than live in God’s presence and eating from the tree of life, Adam and Eve are thrown out of the garden, separated from God – and now will die.

I mentioned the advert of a holiday. Have you ever been on a holiday like that? It’s never what you hoped for is it? The sand gets in your food, you get sunburnt on the first day, the swimming pool hasn’t been built. Or even if the place is really nice, that doesn’t stop you having an argument with the people you are with. And no matter how good it is - it doesn’t last.  

We were made for blessing, we long for blessing, but we often experience curse. 

Third part of the run up. 

Hope 

God says to the serpent – Satan – who tempted Adam and Eve,

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers: he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.

An offspring of Eve – will crush the serpent. And if he crushes the serpent maybe he can do something about sin and the curse. It’s not fleshed out but there is hope here.

And so we read on looking for this serpent crusher. Chapter 4 we get Cain & Abel – Abel seems good but gets killed by Cain. Sin & the curse are winning. Then we get to Noah – the world is flooded because sin is so bad. But after the flood it’s like a new start – fresh world – only then Noah gets drunk and disgraces himself – and you realise sin and the curse are still winning. Then we get the tower of Babel – this united rejection of God and so they are scattered. Sin and the curse are definitely winning. 

Then we come to our passage tonight. 

Now I don’t know what you thought when you heard the genealogy being read? It’s fun to see if the reader can pronounce the names – you did very well Marg – but it’s easy to think, what’s the point of this – how does this help? 

• Looking for someone, 11v10-26

First thing we have to notice is that this genealogy is linear. In most family trees you get a branch structure - one person – then their 5 children – and then each of theirs etc. 

Well a linear genealogy – follows one line down that tree. So we are told v10, Shem had a son called Arpachshad – then v11, it says Shem had lots of other sons and daughters but we’re not told about them –we stick with Arpachshad – and then to one of his sons, Shelah. He had other sons and daughters too – but don’t hear about then – just follow Shelah and on from him. We follow a line down the family tree.  

I’m sure you’ve been driving with someone else is giving you instructions? You don’t know where you’re going, but they do so they say – left here, and left again. And straight on – and now right.  

If they do that – it would be safe to assume they are taking you somewhere aren’t they? I mean they might being having a laugh. But turning left and right like that - the sense is – we’re going somewhere – we’ve got a destination.  

Well that is what is happening here. This genealogy isn’t just telling us some people had some children. It’s leading us somewhere – at each generation it says – this son – not the others – now this son – left, now right.  

There is a sense of being taken somewhere – or looking for someone. We’re looking for that serpent crusher. 

And the line takes us to Abram. And we read this: 12v1-3 READ.

Now having had the run up I hope we begin to get what’s being said here. 

Abram is promised a land – well God made Adam and Eve a place to live – a land if you like. 

I’ll make you a great nation – well Adam and Eve were meant to multiply and fill the earth – be great. 

Most of all - I will bless you – that’s like Genesis 1 & 2 when God blessed them. Blessing is the opposite of the cursing that’s been going on. 

So this promise – this is massive. This is nothing less than promising Eden again. We’ve gone blessing – curse – and now God promises blessing again. God is promising to undo the curse – to take us back before the fall. He’s promising to going to put everything right – and give us a perfect world again. 

Now I want to pause for a moment on this – because Paul comments on this verse in Galatians. Galatians 3:8 says, 

“The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you’.”

This promise of blessing – Paul says is the gospel announced in advance. So this promise – Genesis 12 – is the gospel. 

We said last week when we think of the gospel – we usually think about Jesus bringing us forgiveness, having a relationship with God, place in heaven, that sort of thing. We said last week that’s individualistic – gospel is also God’s plan to reunite humanity. 

Now we see it’s bigger again – the gospel is nothing less than God’s plan to put the whole world right. To reverse the fall – to make everything as it was meant to be. To take us back to Genesis 1&2. 

Within that – there is forgiveness and relationship with God. Absolutely. Those things are central. But the gospel is much bigger than just me and my personal relationship with God. It’s nothing less than God’s plan to put the whole world right. For us to enjoy his blessing again. 

Question – how do we get that blessing? Because here – it’s just a promise. And Abraham doesn’t see much of this promise in reality. Then we get Isaac, he inherits the promise of blessing, then his son Jacob, then Joseph – but same goes for them. They’ve got the promise of blessing - don’t actually get the blessing. 

Then we get nation of Israel formed under Moses – so they become a great nation. Tick. 

And in time - they do get a wonderful land to live in – tick. And they become great and rich and prosperous under king David and Solomon – and you begin to think – this is good – this a bit like Eden – the blessing. 

But just as you think that - it all comes crashing down. Nation splits in two. Enemies defeat them in war.  And they end up being thrown out of the land.

Did you ever play pass the parcel as a kid? The music stops and you get the present for a moment – and you tear off as many layers as you can – until the music starts again. I always got very excited about getting the present but then got frustrated there was too much sellotape and paper - and I barely got started before the music started. Often ended in tears and I had to be sent to my room to calm down.

Imagine though if the present was totally covered in sellotape. Sealed in fact – it comes to the first person – but they can’t get anywhere. Music starts – passed on – stops at the next person - they can’t open it – and so it goes on.  

That would certainly lead to tears.

Well God promises his blessing to Abraham – and then the promise is passed on to Isaac, then Jacob - but no one can open it – and so the promise is passed on to the next generation and then the next – but no one can bring about God’s perfect world.

And the reason is – sin and the curse keep winning. We’ll see next week Abram struggles to trust God and so lies. Sin still wins. Then we see Jacob deceiving people or Moses getting angry. Sin is winning. Then king David commits adultery. Solomon worships other gods. Sin is still winning. And so the curse is thriving.

In other words we’re still looking for a serpent crusher. We’ve got the promise of blessing – but we’re looking for someone to open it – someone who can overcome sin and overcome the curse, crush the serpent. 

Let’s turn to another genealogy, Luke 3-4. 

Luke 3v23 READ – and so it goes on until we get to the people we’ve seen in Genesis – so v34 we get Jacob and Isaac and Abraham. Then v35 we get Shem, and then Noah and back to Adam. 

It’s another linear genealogy – showing us – this line to Abraham – actually goes through the OT – all the way to Jesus. 

Having identified Jesus if you like – we get straight way - Luke 4. Have a read, 4v1-2 READ.

Jesus faces temptation – like Adam and Eve – he now faces the serpent. The devil tempts him three times but Jesus responds each time by quoting the Bible – by staying true to God’s word – by putting God first. 

It’s taken me a while to realise how big this is. But this is – for the first time in ever – a human truly and fully obeys God. Ever since the garden of Eden, sin has won. Cain, Noah, Abraham, Moses, on and on – sin always wins. The serpent always wins. 

But now – for the first time in human history – someone overcomes sin – fully obeys God. 

To put this another way we could say – Christ lives for us. We’re going to say in a moment that Christ died for us. Probably more familiar with that. But Christ also lives for us – by that I mean that in his life he overcame sin – he fully obeyed God. If he gave in to temptation he would be yet another one defeated by sin. 

But he doesn’t give in – he lives a perfect life – for us. 

Not only does he overcome sin himself – he takes the curse himself. 

Back in Galatians Paul writes, 

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”

The curse our sin deserved – Jesus takes it himself – in his death. He lives the perfect life – he deserves nothing but blessing. But he then takes our curse. 

And you know Paul goes on, next sentence,

“He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus.”

Jesus has taken our curse – so we can get the blessing. The blessing promised in Genesis 12 to Abraham – can come to us. 

That blessing starts now. Forgiveness – relationship with God. Receiving the Spirit – being part of the church. Many good things now. 

But most of all – his blessing will come in the future when we are part of that perfect world God’s renewed creation – Revelation says – 

“there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away…. No longer will there be any curse.” 

Everything will be as it was made to be. All we ever wanted. All we could ever imagine. God’s blessing. 

I said at the start we might feel a bit weary, discouraged. Maybe about the search for a vicar. Maybe with our situation. Maybe with our work, or children, or just ourselves. It’s easy for that to crowd in on us – absorb us – and make us feel like giving up. 

An antidote to that – is to see where we are going. To have a vision of our future. Genesis 12 gives us that – as it pushes us forward to Jesus and to God’s perfect blessing. 

In 1952 a woman called Florence Chadwick tried to swim from Catilina Island to the shore of mainland California. She has already become the first women to swim the English Channel both ways. The day was cold and foggy so she cold hardly see the boats alongside her. She swam for 15 hours and was really tired. She asked to stop but her trainer urged her on. In the end she’d had enough and just stopped swimming and was pulled out. The boats carried on through the fog and found they were just ½ a mile from the shore. 

The next day at a new conference she said, I found it too hard, but I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it. 

Two months later she tried again – bright clear day – vision was perfect – she swam the whole way. 

If we are feeling tired. Feel like giving up. Let’s look ahead. Look where you’re going. God has promised – I will bless you. Jesus has lived for you, died for you, to win you that blessing. Look where you’re going – all you ever wanted, all you could imagine, all you ever live for now, complete and perfect – God’s blessing. 

Unity and division - Nigel Beynon 1/3

Genesis 10 v1 - 11 v9 (1/3 of a series)

Nigel Beynon

Genesis 10:1-11:9

Part one of a mini series by Nigel Beynon: God’s plan for his world and our lives.

This week: Unity and Division

—

While ago I read a book called The Warrior’s Honour by the journalist Michael Ignatieff. It talks about his experiences covering various ethnic conflicts. 

In one chapter he describes Serb-Croat conflict and how he sat one night with Serb soldiers in a village that has been cut in half by the conflict. He writes – “this is a village war. The men on either side of the front line once were neighbours. The Serbs on guard duty … once went to school with the Croats in the bunker close by.”

He then says – “I want to understand how neighbours go to war…. How do brothers become enemies?”

And it’s a question that multiplies as you go round the conflicts in the world – Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Nigeria, we could go on and on with places where brothers have become enemies.

Why is the world like that? And what hope is there for a world like that? How can enemies become brothers? 

That is where our passage is going to take us. Let’s start by seeing how Genesis 10 describes our world, 

First of all, as fundamentally united

10v1 READ – and then he lists the descendants of the 3 sons of Noah. As he does that what he’s doing is taking us around the peoples and nations of the known world. Not all of them – but he lists 70 names – the number 70 being symbolic for wholeness – so the idea is that this represents the whole world.  

The point is – the whole world comes from these three brothers. So the whole world is related – they are family.   

As I’m sure you know the ruby world cup starts on Friday – I know you’re all very excited about that. Anyway – England are in a group with France and we play in a few weeks. England France matches are always feisty. Love to beat the French.  

But imagine if we were told – yes the French, they came from your great, great, great, great, grandfather’s brother. You’re related. You’re family. 

Well that is what is being said here. All these nations – come from these brothers – they are one big family. They are fundamentally united.

And a family that is united is a wonderful thing – loving and supportive relationships – looking after each other. Having fun together. Enjoying each other. 

Well God made humanity to be one big family – wonderful, supportive, caring unity. 

But at the same time this chapter also shows we are tragically divided.

• Tragically divided, 10v5, 20, 31

V5 READ.  

And v20, READ.

And v31, READ.

At the end of each list – we’re told they are divided by clan – their family grouping. Divided by the language they speak. The area they live. And the nation they are part of. 

As one commentator puts it – they are divided anthropologically, linguistically, geographically and politically. 

We just said that England and France are united – we are one family. But the fact is – if we’re English – we still do really want to beat the French. And they’d love to beat us. We are divided.

And while on the ruby pitch it doesn’t really matter - off the pitch these divisions lead to the fans fighting – it leads to xenophobia, and racism and bigotry. It leads to Serbs fighting Croats. 

So here is our world – made by God to be united yet tragically divided. And so we come back to our question - why? How do brothers become enemies?   

Well the answer comes in chapter 11. The order of these chapters is rather odd. Because at the start of chapter 11 we read, v1 READ. If there is one language this must be describing something before chapter 10 when there are lots of languages. But it’s put here to look back at chapter 10 and explain how the world got like that.

So chapter 11 describes how the world got divided. First part of the explanation is that, 

Humanity united against God, Genesis 11v1-4

Let’s read v2-4 READ.

Now let’s be clear there is nothing intrinsically wrong with tall buildings. I quite like the Shard, the Pinnacle and the rest of them. The problem here isn’t the height – it’s the motivation. 

They want to make a name for themselves. We could think of someone at work or school – wanting to make name for themselves. Means they want to stand out - be number one.  

And they try and make a name for themselves by building a tower that reaches to heaven - where God is. So they want to make themselves number one – instead of God. 

You can see they are against God by their other motivation - they say let’s do this to avoid being scattered. God has said in Genesis humanity should spread out – they are to fill the earth. But they are like a group of rebels who say – let’s stick together. Safety in numbers.

Together – united - we can we can rule the world – instead of God. 

I said a moment ago that unity is a good and powerful thing. But now we see it needs to be unity around the right thing. We were made to be united – under God. With him in charge. But here humanity unite against God. It’s like a family – throwing the parents out. A team kicking out the captain. Work colleagues rejecting the boss. 

And that leads to humanity divided by God,

Humanity divided by God, Genesis 11v5-9

V7-9 READ.  

God confuses their languages so they don’t understand each other. 

The name Babel in Hebrew sounds like the word for confused – the place they hoped to make a name for themselves, they only end up with the name – confusion, babble.  

And because of that – they can’t work together – and so the thing they tried to avoid happens – they are scattered. Divided. And they become what we saw in chapter 10. Different language, clans, nations and lands.  

I imagine some of us went abroad on holiday this summer. If you’re anything like me you ended up having painful conversations trying to buy a loaf of bread – usually involves a lot of pointing – sometimes acting – and you end up with a tin of something you don’t want.  

That is because of Genesis 11 – God has confused our languages and divided us. Here is the start of nations, and tribes and all the divisions in society. 

Do you remember the riots in London back in 2011? Started in Tottenham at first and then in lots of places over London including Hackney. And then in different cities. Thousands of people were rioted  - about 3000 ended up in court. It was a very strange summer wasn’t it – normal law and order and society got ripped up for a bit.

But can you imagine if the whole of Tottenham rioted? Every person, from every house, every street – started attacking police and property. And just Tottenham – Hackney – Harringay – whole of London – not a few thousand but millions – rejecting law and order – doing what they want. 

That obviously wouldn’t happen – but just the thought of it is – frightening – bewildering. Because of the numbers and the unity. Everyone united in rebellion.

That is the sense here. God says – v6 READ. The potential here is frightening. Worse than the whole of London rioting. The potential of what humanity united – against God – could achieve. It’s frightening. 

And so God acts to frustrate that unity. To divide us. 

And of course it leads to more than confusion in buying bread – it leads to violence with football fans, it leads to racism, it leads to war. 

Now we’ve got to be careful how we say this – because saying God has divided us - could sound like God has caused the wars and fights we see in the world. 

So let me try and put this carefully. God has divided us – but what we do with that – what we do with our differences is up to us. And on the one hand those differences lead to different cultures – art, music, literature – the Bible celebrates that creativity and diversity. 

But those differences also leads us to fight with each other. Not that God makes us fight. The problem is – we still want to make a name for ourselves. Still want to be in charge – wanting our way. We aren’t united in that anymore – because God has divided us – so now that sinfulness is expressed against each other – in fights and conflicts. Whether it’s miscommunication in marriage, or competitiveness at work, or nations going to war. 

So this week if we hear about friends falling out, family argument, racism, hostility to immigrants or the war in Yemen – we should think – here is Babel being worked out. God has divided us – and we turn that into a fight. 

What I want to do now is ask - where this theme of unity and division go in the Bible. What happens to this world which was meant to be united – but is so divided? Or to put it another way – can enemies become brothers?

God is reuniting humanity through Jesus, Acts 2; Revelation 5v9,10

The letter to the Ephesians talks a lot about unity. It’s written to a church made up of Jew and Gentile – the two big people groups of the ancient world – the ultimate in racial division – but Paul writes,

“For Christ himself is our peace, who has made the two one (Jew and Gentile) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two thus making peace.” 

He says, Jesus is our peace – that is, he brings us peace with God. Forgiveness and acceptance.  But that leads to peace with each other. In fact Paul says Jesus’ very purpose in dying was to create a new man – a new humanity – not Jew or Gentile but Christian. And so make peace.

There’s a story of an Australian bishop who was travelling with a group of white boys and aboriginal boys in a bus. The boys kept arguing about being light or dark skinned – in the end the bishop stopped the bus and got all the boys off. Then told them – you can only ride on this bus if you’re green. As each boy got back on the bus he asked – what colour are? Green. On you go.

They drove on and there was peace for a bit. Then a little voice said – right, dark greens on the right, light greens on the left!

The bishop tried to make unity by creating a third category. Not back or white but green. It didn’t work but he had the right idea. 

Jesus has created a new category. Not Jew or Gentile but Christian – at peace with God. And so at peace with each other. 

Paul goes on “Consequently you are no longer foreigners but fellow citizens with God’s people, members of his household.” Jesus makes us fellow citizens – we’re one nation. United. And Jesus makes us God’s household - one family – united. Of course a big image of the church is that we are one body – united.

And that unity will be completely fulfilled when Jesus returns. Listen to how John describes the scene at the end of time in Revelation. 

I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb… and they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”

Every nation, every language is there – but they sing one song – salvation belongs to God. They are united around the throne. 

Unity is a wonderful and beautiful thing – but only if it’s unity in the right thing. Here at last - humanity will be united under God. And it will be everything we wanted – a perfect nation, a wonderful team, a united family. 

Let’s finish by thinking what this means in practice for us. I want to suggest to two things. We should spread this unity, we should live this unity.

First all we should spread this unity. By that I mean we should tell people about Jesus. But we often think of Jesus as bringing someone forgiveness. Or putting them right with God. And that’s true – but it’s very individual – very isolated. 

Actually the gospel of Jesus – isn’t just how someone gets forgiven. It’s God’s plan for world peace. It’s how God is uniting the world back together – as he intended.

I’ve got a friend called Rosanne who is missionary in Japan. She spends her time telling people about Jesus. But rather than saying she’s a missionary – I could say – she’s working for world peace. She’s part of God’s world unity project. Because as a Japanese person accepts Jesus - they become this new category of person – a Christian. They part of God’s people, his family, his body – one day will be around that throne – enjoying true peace and unity. 

And it’s not just missionaries in another country. This goes for us. 

I don’t know who you are going to meet this week. People you live with, work with, go to school with. Neighbours, friends. They might be very different to us. Different culture, different language. We might feel very different – divided even. 

But the truth is – they were once our family. We are very distantly related. And God is working to reunite his family. In Jesus. 

So sharing Jesus with someone – is how we join in with God’s world peace plan. If they accept Jesus they become part of God’s remade, united world. 

So – spread this unity. Secondly – live this unity. 

If we go back to Ephesians – having explained God’s plan of unity and peace, Paul goes on by saying, 

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There’s one body and one Spirit – one hope – one God.” 

Keep the unity of the Spirit – God has united you through Jesus – now you are to live that out. We’re to make that real in our lives. 

If someone is a bit rude to us this week – we don’t get proud and defensive – we are humble. 

When someone let’s us down – doesn’t come through - we’re gentle. 

When someone disappoints us again, yet again – we’re patient. 

When someone is hard work we bear with them in love.  

We support each other, we encourage, we’re gracious to each other, we forgive each other. 

We live out this unity. As we live that – it’s like St Barnabas will give a glimpse of that united heavenly gathering - a tantalising, appealing taste of that perfect unity we’ll one day have. 

Enemies can become brothers – because God is reuniting the whole world through Jesus Christ. 

Let’s see what God is doing and spread this unity. And live this unity. 

During the Peace

We’ve said Jesus purpose in dying is to make a new person – and so bring us to peace. We remember that now in these words. Let’s remember that as we take bread and wine. Often do it isolated – my relationship with God. Encourage us to be aware of each other – to think how Jesus died to unite us to each other. Pray for the person next to you. 

"I desire mercy" - Nigel Beynon 2/2

Matthew 9 v9-13 (2/2 of a series)

Nigel Beynon

Matthew 9v9-13

Part two of a mini Series by Nigel Beynon on Matthew 9.

This week: “I desire mercy” (mercy for us, mercy for others)

—

A while ago I heard about someone who wanted to break the stereotype of ‘church goers’, so they said at the front of church – they knew people in the congregation who had committed adultery, lived in a lesbian relationship, had abortions, been addicted to porn etc. They didn’t name them – they just wanted to say – these are the sorts of people in our church.

I wonder how we react to that. 

I think in our society today there are two common reactions. Some people react by saying “what are people like that – moral failures - doing in church. Such hypocrisy.”  

It’s the voice of traditional morality. It’s the right wing tabloids – there is right and wrong – and of all people, the church should be a model of right living.

However others react by saying - what do you mean ‘moral failure’? How dare you judge someone else?  People can live as they like.

This is the voice of the post-modern, liberal, relativist – how you live is up to you - all that matters is that you accept everyone’s choices - and of all people the church should be a model of acceptance and welcome.  

Our question tonight is – as we look at Jesus in this passage - which one of those is the right reaction? Which gives us the right picture of church? 

Let’s start with the central point of this passage, 

1) Jesus came for sinners

Let’s start in v9 - READ.

Now to get this we have to understand that being a tax collector meant you were a moral and spiritual disaster.  

Matthew was a Jew but worked for the Romans, so he was a traitor – not only of his nation, but his God because he was working for Gentiles, the enemies of God. Worse still tax-collectors over charged their own people – to line their pockets.

If we could imagine a member of the Taliban in Afghanistan, working for the Americans, who then ripped off his fellow Afghans – we’d begin to get an idea of Matthew. He was a moral and spiritual disaster.

But Jesus says to him – follow me. 

And it’s not just Matthew. V10 READ.  

The term ‘sinners’ is being used in a particular way here. The Bible is clear that we are all sinners – we have all rejected God. But here it’s referring to those like tax collectors - prostitutes, cheats, drunkards. The out and out, obvious moral and spiritual failures. 

I suppose today it would be the obviously bad people in our society – the ostracised - the paedophile, the sexual harasser, the greedy dodgy banker.

But those are the people Jesus has supper with - and in his day, eating meant acceptance and relationship.  

So the Pharisees say v11 READ.

But Jesus says v12, 13 READ.

There is the point - Jesus has come for sinners. 

This fits with what we saw last week - he’s come to offer us forgiveness - our greatest need.

So now – who is Jesus interested in? 

Well obviously people who need forgiveness. People who have mucked up, people who have made a mess of things. Sinners. 

He illustrates it by saying he’s like a doctor – obviously doctors are interested in the sick. That’s what they are all about. Well Jesus is interested in the spiritually and morally sick. That’s what he’s about. 

And if Jesus is a doctor - that makes church a hospital. Full of sick people. Full of moral and spiritual failures.

You get the point - Jesus came for sinners.

Now that really is the main point here – that’s pretty much all I’m going to say. But I want to chew this over a bit – by asking two questions of ourselves. First question,

2) Do we come to Jesus - as sinners needing mercy?

V11 READ.

Now the Pharisees worked very hard at being good. They were respectable, religious and upright. Morally and spiritually they were A*, or grade 9 students.

So when they say v11, it’s not really a question – why is he with them - but an accusation - he shouldn’t be with them. He ought to be with good people, religious people, like us.  

I don’t know if you are someone who goes to the gym. I’ve always found them rather intimidating places because there is always an in-crowd. Do you know what I mean – they are the people who whenever you go, they are always there. They call the staff by the first names. They even know how the machines work. They don’t spend ten minutes pressing the buttons randomly. Most of all of course they are fit – strong and impressive.  

And when someone turns up – unfit, overweight, weak – you can imagine them smirking. What are they doing here? Get off my urg or what ever. The attitude is – this is my place. I topped the performance chart last month.

Well the Pharisees were like that. They worked hard at being good – they looked good. I guess they wouldn’t say they weren’t perfect but compared to these tax-collectors they were very good. 

This reminds me of my parent’s generation – maybe your parents. Traditional morality – there’s right and wrong. And while we’re not perfect - we’re not bad. 

If someone thinks like that – they won’t get Jesus. They think Jesus is about being good. So they’re confused - why is Jesus with these bad people? What are people like that doing in church? Jesus should be with decent people like us.   

Now, to be clear, when Jesus says “I haven’t come for the righteous”, he’s just making a contrast with sinners. He doesn’t mean there is a group who are righteous and good. He’s made that clear earlier on in Matthew – back in the sermon on the mount Jesus talks about how we should live – and he makes it very clear - no one is righteous.  

So when Jesus talks about not coming for the righteous but sinners – he isn’t saying - there are good people and there bad people. No, we’re all bad. The only difference is there are bad people - who know they are bad. And there are bad people who think they are good. That’s the Pharisees or the moralist today, who think they are OK.

That is a terrible position to be in. It’s like a person with a life threatening disease but thinks they are healthy. And thinking they are healthy won’t go to the doctor for help. They think they are good – so won’t go to Jesus – not as a sinner needing mercy. 

That’s why with friends or family – who are like this – I pray for conviction of sin. I pray they might realise they are sinners – in trouble – sick. In some ways it’s not a nice prayer – I’m praying they’ll feel terrible – because they see how bad their sin is. How wrong it is. How serious it is. But that’s what they need - to grasp their true state – because then they will get Jesus. And how good he is. 

Because when we do realise we’re sinners – as I’m sure most of us have - then Jesus becomes wonderful news – because he has come for sinners – he’s come precisely for someone like us. To give us what we desperately need - mercy. 

Mind you as well as bad people who think they are good. You also get bad people who think they are bad – but they also think Jesus is about being good. Rather than mercy.

I remember talking with someone who said they didn’t want to come to church, or do God stuff.  I asked, why not? Because I’m not that sort of person, I’m not good enough.  

They thought coming to God was like a job interview – you dress up smart, and then try and impress them with how great you are. But they knew they weren’t great so thought they shouldn’t bother trying.

If I had thought of this passage I would have said to them – do ever do that with the doctor? Try and look really healthy – and impress him with how well you were?

Of course not. I remember a while ago not being well – and called for an appointment but the person said, I’m not sure if we can fit you in today.  I said, “Oh, I would really – cough, cough, ohh, really appreciate it, cough.”

Now that is me being silly – but the point is to see the doctor – you just need to be ill.  

It’s the same with Jesus. The only qualification we need for him is to be sinner – and we all qualify. We don’t have to clean up our lives before we can come to him. We can come to him as we are – he came for sinners. He came to give them mercy – to accept and to forgive. 

Now at this point the liberal ‘anything goes’ relativist – I mentioned at the start - they will be happy because this sounds like Jesus accepts everybody – doesn’t matter what you’ve done – you’re welcome. 

Well it’s certainly true Jesus will accept everyone. But there is a big difference. Liberalism says we should accept everyone because it doesn’t matter how we live – anything goes. Don’t judge - just accept. 

Saying – live as you like – is like a doctor who says to the chain smoker on 40 a day – you’re doing fine. Don’t worry about the cough, you carry on as you are and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It is an unprincipled acceptance.  

But Jesus has principle – he says it does matter how we live. And he’s straight with us – he says we’ve done wrong and we’re in trouble. And so he offers us – not unprincipled acceptance - but mercy. He says, you’re not fine – but I’ll deal with your wrong, I’ll win your forgiveness and put you right with God. 

That means this acceptance for sinners is no excuse for sin. By accepting sinners Jesus isn’t saying sin doesn’t matter. Far from it – he had to die for our sin. 

And we could add, while Jesus accepts as we are, he doesn’t leave us as we are. He calls Matthew to follow me – following Jesus will lead to change. Hospitals are there to help you change – to make you better. And Jesus’ mercy – accepts us – forgives – and then works in us to change us, make us more like him. 

So our question is – do we come to Jesus as sinners for mercy. Not as good people but sinners. Not coming for easy free acceptance. But mercy – that says our wrong matters, and leads us to follow Jesus.

Second question,

3) Do we welcome sinners – with mercy?

Let’s go back to the Pharisees for a moment – you know I don’t imagine they went around saying, I deserve a place with God because I’m so great. But when they see Jesus welcome these sinners – they think - what are you doing with them? Their reaction to out and out sinners shows their true attitude. 

And Jesus says v13 READ. 

It’s a quote from the OT, where God is saying - it’s not saying that sacrifice, or other religious performance is wrong, but he’s all about mercy. And he desires mercy in his people. As we’ve just been saying we need mercy from God to us – and should then lead to mercy from us to others.  

But of course that is exactly what we don’t see in the Pharisees. Stick a moral and spiritual failure in front of them and they react not with mercy – but morality and judgement.

Well what about us? How do we react to sinners?

If someone says to us – I’ve really mucked up. I got drunk at the weekend. This week I’ve been consumed by envy and greed. I had sex before marriage. Whatever it is. How do we react?

I remember talking to someone about admitting sin to each other and how we react. And they said – I suppose the problem is – if someone says, I’ve mucked up and we say to them – it’s OK - it sounds like sin doesn’t matter. But if we say sin isn’t OK then sounds like morality and judgement.

As we’ve said, often those feel like the only two options. Morality - say there is right and wrong – but that leads to judgement. Or free acceptance but that leads to accepting sin. 

I hope we’re seeing how wonderful different Jesus is. He offers mercy. 

And as we just said - mercy means sin matters. If you need mercy then you must be in trouble – you must have done something wrong. So when Jesus says to the sinner – there is mercy for you – he’s not condoning sin. He’s not saying it doesn’t matter – they need mercy for it.

But at the same time Jesus is saying there is mercy. Saying sin is wrong doesn’t lead Jesus to then condemn us. No in his mercy – he offers us acceptance and forgiveness.  

The challenge for us as a church is to model that reaction. To be a community of mercy. Not a gym where we work hard to impress and look down on those who fail. But not a free for all where everyone is accepted because it doesn’t matter how you live - you can do what you like. 

But a hospital for the sick – a hospital of mercy. 

So a friend says – I’ve really mucked up. We don’t think – how awful – I’d never do that. We don’t think – you can do what you want. 

We think - here is someone just like me. Here is the patient in the hospital bed next to mine. Maybe I’ve been in the hospital a bit longer – I might have recovered from some of my symptoms – but really at heart I’m just the same as them. A sick person needing mercy. 

So we say to them – great you’ve come to church and you’re with us. Sorry it’s been a bad weekend. 

I struggle too – but I hope you know God forgives. 

I’m sad to hear it’s not been good – but Jesus is full of mercy. Is there anything I can do to help?

Jesus came for sinners - to give us mercy. Mercy that recognises sin as sin, but overcomes sin with forgiveness and grace and acceptance. 

So let’s come to him – come to him this week - as sinners – and receive mercy.

And let’s accept sinners with that mercy.

"Your sins are forgiven" - Nigel Beynon 1/2

Matthew 9 v1-8 (1/2 of a series)

Nigel Beynon

Matthew 9v1-8

Part one of a mini Series by Nigel Beynon on Matthew 9.

This week v1-8. "Your sins are forgiven."

—

You could sum up this sermon – or the take home message - in four words – your sins are forgiven. If you trust in Jesus – your sins are forgiven. 

As you hear those words – as you hear the conclusion of where we’re going – what you think?

Some of us might think – I know. I’ve heard those words often. Grown up with them maybe. They are part of the furniture of my life. And with that there is the danger of assuming them to be true - taking them for granted. 

Some might think - what sins? – why do I need forgiveness? 

Others might think – if only. I’d love to know, to feel I’m forgiven. But I don’t, I feel guilty. 

I hope by the end of this sermon those four words will be the most precious words we could hear. Or if not the most precious – more precious to us. More prized and valued. Words that - whatever else is happening in life - bring joy to us & put a smile on our face or on our heart.

We’re going to start by thinking about 

The priority of forgiveness

V1, 2a READ.

Up until this moment in the gospel Jesus has been healing people of everything and anything – so if you have a friend who’s paralysed it’s pretty obvious what to do. You pick him up and take him to Jesus to be healed. 

Only then Jesus says, v2 READ.

It’s not hard to imagine the friends thinking – what? We didn’t bring him here for that. Or Jesus’ disciples rather embarrassed – whispering to Jesus – legs, look at his legs.

But of course this is no mistake by Jesus – rather he’s showing us he has a different set of priorities. For Jesus – forgiveness takes priority over healing.

That’s not to do this man’s situation down - Jesus would have been well aware of how terrible paralysis was – no welfare state to help – a constant burden on his family. The emotional and mental turmoil.

But as he lies in front of Jesus – maybe the pain on this man’s face summing up all his need and anguish – Jesus looks at him sees something more important. Forgiveness. 

Now why is that? 

I think it helps to see how this fits with what comes before. In Matthew 8 we’ve seen Jesus deal with the different elements of this broken world – he’s overcome sickness, natural disaster, demons – and in doing that he’s been giving us a picture of heaven – a trailer of how he’ll put this world right one day and establish his perfect world.

And he could do that again here - but it’s as though Jesus thinks – we’ve done enough demonstration now - now it’s time to move from the symptoms of this broken world – to the heart of the problem in this world. And that is our sin.

When my sister was a student she rented a room in a house which was pretty rough. On one wall of her room the paint was cracked and peeling off. Hope this isn’t sounding too familiar. She told the landlord – he had a simple solution – repaint the wall. The new coat of paint looked good – for a while. But then it started peeling again.  

Imagine my sister got round a builder & surveyor - he examines the house and says – what you need is to get a plumber. Plumber – but what about the wall?  Exactly he says, behind that wall is a leaking pipe – causing damp – making the paint peel. And if you don’t fix that you’ll have far bigger problem than peeling paint – the whole wall is going to come down.

Well we face many problems in this world - but they are actually symptoms of a deeper problem – and here Jesus comes to the heart of it – it’s our sin.  

Now when I say sin we’re in danger of thinking of wicked acts – immoral actions. But we must remember fundamentally sin is how we have treated God – how we have ignored and rejected him.  

And that is the heart of the problems in our world. Sin is what has thrown our world into it’s fallen mess. And more than that – sin will destroy us. Ignore the leaking pipe and eventually it will bring the wall down. Well sin eventually will bring us down.  We will face God – and will face his judgement.

And that means Jesus can look at a paralysed man – and in the face of all his suffering say – there is a deeper problem here – there is something you need more than healing. There is something more important than walking. You need forgiveness. 

Now, that is quite a challenging thought. 

There are all sorts of things that compete for our attention aren’t there. From global issues – destruction of the Amazon – spread of ebolla – Brexit chaos. Or personal needs - problems in relationships, bereavement, health, loneliness, stress, depression, pressure at work, a place to live, and we could go on and on. And understandably, they are very often the priorities we have.

But Jesus is showing us here – in the face of all those needs, there is a bigger need – a higher priority – forgiveness.

Now - I’m aware that if I say - forgiveness is what really matters – that’s easily is heard as – as forgiveness is the only thing that matters. As though those other needs don’t get a look in. 

So let me be clear I’m not saying that. Those other needs in our world and our lives – do matter. And God cares about them and thinks they are important. Jesus has just been healing people and solving problems in like that. And he cares about the problems in our lives and helps us with them. 

But - imagine if you could ask this paralysed man what was more important – healing or forgiveness. What would he say? Well surely he’d say something like - 

Being healed was great – I could walk, run, work, play with my kids. Life changing. But being forgiven. To be accepted by God – accepted into heaven. To be with him – enjoy him – serve him. That’s eternity changing – that’s in a different league. What’s more important – are you joking?!

There’s the challenge to us. Issues in our lives and the world are important – forgiveness is more important. While those other issues do matter – forgiveness matters more. 

So we need to ask will we see forgiveness of sins – as Jesus does? In our what we value and care about, in what we pray for and long for, in what we dream about, in what gives us joy - will we make forgiveness the priority. Jesus says it is.

Secondly we need to think about. 

The authority to forgive

v2, 3 READ.

They see a man in front of them claiming to forgive sin – but they think that is something only God can do. And they are right. 

I guess some of us drove here this evening and parked on the street. Imagine if Al was late and so he screamed round the corner and crashed into your car. This didn’t happen by the way – it’s OK.

Then Al comes in and explains to you what’s happened – and I overhear it and then interrupt and say - that’s OK Al, I forgive you.

How are you feeling? Well you’d be outraged wouldn’t you? How can I forgive something against you? Only the person offended can forgive.

Well we’ve said sin is fundamentally a rejection of God. So only God can forgive sin.

But here is Jesus – forgiving.  

That means he’s either blaspheming – he is a man pretending to be God - acting as only God can. Or, he isn’t just a man, he’s God. 

Those are the two alternatives aren’t they? I say that because often people think of Jesus as a nice man, with some good ideas but they wouldn’t accept him as God. Might be you’ve thought that – or have friends who think that.  

But what we see here rules that option out. He doesn’t say, I’m a prophet sent by God to let you know he forgives you. Or – let me share my insight into how God forgives. He says – I’m forgiving you now. He talks like he’s God.

So you can’t say he’s a nice bloke with some good ideas. His idea is that he’s God. So he’s either a blasphemer – a fake. Or he’s not just a man. He’s God.

Let me sum up this point by quoting the writer CS Lewis who puts this so well. 

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Jesus claims to be God – and so claims to have the authority – the right – the power – to forgive our sins. 

Again, I think it might help us to set this into the context of what’s been happening. Do you remember we talked about Jesus coming early. Back in 8v29 the demons say – READ. They know there is a future time – judgement when the world will be put right and they will be destroyed. But they say – why are you here now? Why have you come early?

Well answer one – he’s come to show us he’s the king who will bring about a perfect world – gives us a demon – a trailer – of that future. 

But now – answer two - he has come early to offer us forgiveness. 

That gives us just a sense of what is happening here. Jesus is the king of the world, he’s the one we’ve rejected and offended, he’s the one who would rightly judge us as he puts this world right. 

But he has come early - in advance - not to tell us off, or give us a hard time, but to say “Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.”    

It’s very loving isn’t it – very tender – “take heart, my son.”  I know you’re guilty, I know you deserve judgement – judgement from me in fact - but I’ve come early to forgive you.

Jesus is the one, the only one, who has the authority to give us what we really need – the forgiveness of our sins.  

Let’s finish by thinking about, 

The proof of forgiveness

v4-7 READ.

Jesus’ purpose is clear – v6 READ. 

Jesus wants to prove to us – to demonstrate - he does have the authority to forgive sins.

However, the logic of how he proves that isn’t quite so clear. Actually this is something I’ve changed my mind on. I used to understand it by emphasising the word “say” in v5 – Jesus asks, which is easier to say? I thought it’s easier to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ because no one can tell if it’s happened. It’s harder to say ‘get up and walk’ because it’s obvious if that happens or not. 

However, I think that puts too much weight on taking ‘say’ in that particular way. And it’s not obvious Jesus uses it with that sense.

I think a more natural reading is that Jesus is simply asking – which is easier - to forgive or heal?  Answer is simple – both are impossible. Both are things only God can do.  

But it’s true that forgiveness is a hidden thing and healing a visible thing – and so Jesus says – in order for you to know I can do an impossible hidden thing – I’ll do an impossible visible thing. I’ll heal so you know I can forgive.

In fact remember illness and sin are connected – we’ve said illness is a symptom of sin – in a general way. So Jesus here says – I’ll prove I can sort out sin – by sorting out the symptom of sin – illness. 

It’s like with that leaking pipe – the plumber says – I’ve sorted the leak out. You think – all plumbers are cowboys – how do I know? But then he says - I know you can’t see the mended pipe – but look the damp has gone. The symptoms going – prove he’s sorted the problem.

That is what Jesus does here.

Now we’ve got to be clear – while Jesus offers us forgiveness today – that doesn’t mean we’re healed from all illness. He doesn’t promise to overcome all the symptoms of sin today. He promises he will in the future but not today. But he does it here to show us – to prove to us – he really can forgive sin.  

That’s his aim – he wants us to know – to be sure – he has authority on earth to forgive. 

I wonder how confident we feel about being forgiven. 

Some years ago when the evangelist Billy Graham was interviewed he was asked, 'Dr Graham, what do you believe will happen to you when you die?' And Billy Graham replied, 'I'm quite certain that I will go to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven.' To which the interviewer said, 'Isn't that a very arrogant thing to say?'

In our culture being confident about something is often taken as arrogant. Maybe we think being confident about forgiveness – a place in heaven – is arrogant.

And it would be arrogant if we were sure because of anything to do with us – because we’d lived well enough, were good enough for God, better than others etc. But if you think you get to heaven through being forgiven by Jesus – question is simply – can I trust Jesus?

Here is Jesus saying – let me show you I can forgive sins. Let me demonstrate to you I have the authority to forgive sins. I want you to know, I want you to be sure – I can forgive your sins. 

So it’s not arrogant to be confident – actually you could say it’s arrogant to think, no, you’re wrong Jesus, you can’t forgive my sin. I’ve sinned too much, too often, too badly. So I have to go round with a nagging doubt, and sense of being a failure. 

That sounds humble – to be down on yourself - but actually it’s a weird form of arrogance – because you’re saying you know better than Jesus. Won’t accept what he says.

Humility – means we believe what Jesus is showing us – we’re humble enough to accept what he is saying to us. 

And Jesus is saying to us tonight – if we have faith in him – he’s saying - take heart, your sins are forgiven. He’s saying that to us individually and personally - take heart April, your sins are forgiven. Take heart Dave, your sins are forgiven. Take heart – put your name in – take heart – your sins are forgiven.

It’s your greatest need – your highest priority – I’m God, and I’ve got the authority to forgive you.

Are you sure Jesus? Is that really true? 

Oh yes – look at this man walk – I did that so you might know this is true. True for you. 

Four words. Precious, valuable, joy giving, eternity changing words. 

Your sins are forgiven.   

Everyday Evangelism 2/3 (Matt 9 v35 to 10 v20) - Andrew Baughen

Everyday evangelism 2/3 (Matt ch9 v35 - ch10 v20)

Andrew Baughen

Please note: The audio begins about 1 minute into the talk - apologies!

[Transcript to follow…]