GIANTS EXIST...OR DO THEY
I saw this picture the other day...giants exist...
Pizza 56 m high...so how tall is this person?
It's a trick of the light isn't it... our eyes that see in 3 dimensions, and normally perceive depth are tricked because in the photo there is no way of showing depth and perspective accept by blurring objects in the back or foreground....
I wonder whether sometimes our relationship with God is like that…
Whether sometime we get a sense of false perspective
whether sometimes our view of God is dwarfed by our feelings and experience and that our God is just way too small and sometimes our problem in the perspective of where we stand can seem so much bigger…
TESTIMONY
Christian when I was 21 – grown up in a Catholic church and attending a Catholic school but no real understanding of what the whole things was on about…
I guess for me it all came to a head when I was taking my final exams... In RE, I got a grade U…upgradeable
I took that to mean that I did not understand Christianity and I didn’t understand God…so after 16 I turned my back
At 21 people entered my life who lived out the truth, and I was converted…
But it’s only looking back on it I realize now that my God was just way too small.
Sure I knew that God had created the universe and me, and you… that type of thing, but I struggled to trust him with the every day things...
I guess it’s that PERSPECTIVE PROBLEM
When I put my problems and stood them against God, my problems dwarfed god
He was in the distance… and my problems looked much bigger…
Now the obvious answer to this problem is one of relationship.
Donna Marie brought this up last week,
the more we are open to relationship with God the more that relationship develops an attitude of trust,
and we come to a realization that our God is bigger....
Relationship is the key to seeing your God as bigger
Relationship is key to shifting the perspective of your problems on to his Will being done
so the question is then how do you increase this relationship with God…
How do you get to know God more…?
The standard answers relate to spending time with God.
Pray. MORE
Read your Bible…. MORE
Worship …MORE
While all these things are good and they do help, the reality is that in the world we live in it’s far easier to access these things,
To attend Church regularly
To worship with some great music in the style of your choosing
And to read bibles in many ways with countless different translations
We have more churches in a town like Blenheim than supermarkets
We have christen books shops
Christian TV
Christian radio
And even Christian fashion
And yet still I encounter people everyday whose God is just way too small.
Time, access and Knowledge in themselves don’t seem to deepen the relationship
SMALL GOD< SELF FAITH
It's an important idea to get your head round because if your God is not big enough then you'll start to think everything that happens in your faith is about you...
you'll think worship is about the music you like
sharing the gospel is about you doing all the work. Like a sales man getting the deal
you'll think prayer is about what you need...
Is your God big enough?
Were beginning to look at Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians…
I think it might help us in understanding some ways in which we can increase the size of our God.
How it came into being... THE CHURCH OF THE THESSALONIANS...
A lot of what we don know outside of the letter comes from the book of Acts chapter 17.
When Paul arrived there he immediate went to work in the synagogues gatherings of the Jews, talking to them about Jesus...
We also know that he went to work in the marketplace – probably using his position as a tent maker – or leather worker to share the gospel.
Three weeks later a disturbance occurred – some of the Jews from the synagogue took offence at what Paul was saying and basically drove him out of town…
This left a handful of baby Christians--probably no more than 2 months old in their faith--all alone in the center of a pagan community.
So after Paul settles in the Greek city of Corinth, he writes these two letters to his friends in Thessalonica.
You have got to wonder, what could Paul possibly do in three weeks?
How could Paul possibly develop these people enough to be able to stand on their own two feet and to trust in God…?
READING
Relationships take time don’t they?
Building trust in God is a long term process….
I mean if I could be part of a church and church school for 16 years and come to the end of that time and get a U in my RE exam you have got to wonder what these Thessalonians could possibly know about God…
How could they possibly no the intricacies of the Christian faith and come to that depth of relationship that we all need…
3 weeks is just not enough or is it….
But there was evidence that there faith was not only real, but alive and that in that time and the few months that followed from Paul being among them to writing this letter there faith was growing.
They were bearing fruit...
1 They were an example to other believers –
2 they had turned from idols
3 they were serving God
They certainly don’t have it all together but there perspective on God was causing them to reflect his work in their lives
BACK IN PERSPECTIVE
In this first chapter we can see some objects which should help us put the picture of our God back into focus,
that should help us generate some depth perception, that should help us see that we truly serve an awesome, incredible, wonderful God
V3 …
In their Christian lives Paul has seen first hand… in the 3 weeks he was with them
The work they do which is a result of their faith
The labor which is a result of their love
And Their steadfastness which comes from the hope they have
They worked on their faith…didn’t just sit back and expect it to happen
Now we know that these guys faced opposition,
I guess one result of that is that we can often just back off completely.
I mean no body wants to be disliked...
But in spite of this they pressed on.
They say faith is like a muscle? It needs to be worked, and some of the best training you can do on your muscles is resistance training…
Having your faith tested will deepen your relationship with God
On top of that, what they face causes them to pull together – they don’t go through their problems alone
But with each other,
They love each other,
I think we all know that loving others is not always that easy.
It’s easy to love those who are like us but people who are different can be scary
the reality is that is loving those who are different we open ourselves up to God more; it grounds us in god’s Love and deepens our relationship.
To top it off they had hope,
In the midst of the situation the good news that Jesus has died, risen from the grave, ascended to be with His father and promised that he would return again for them was giving them hope.
Like walking around in a dense fog and then suddenly being lifted out of it they were able to see a future for them... A future that was secure in God.
The glimpse of the end, gave them a purpose for living in the present,
persecution, trials and problems were temporary
V4
they were chosen…
Chosen by God...
this is one of them realities that we often find it hard to get our heads around.
And far too often we take it as meaning something it does not...
I think most of us have had an experience of being chosen at some stage...
Being picked for the football team...
It's often down to skill, ability, worthiness
you are chosen because you are good...
In God's reality that is not what it means...
Another way we could look at this is that in terms of a relationship,
God has chosen to have a relationship with you...
Whether you choose to return that relationship is your business...many don't
Many just choose a relationship that sees God as a cosmic butler...
They choose to respond to God when they have needs...
Is that really relationship, or using someone?
What it means to be chosen is that God has done 99.99% of the work in building this relationship - but we still need to respond.
He sent his son to die in your place...he didn't have to do this , this was his choice
Now none of us deserve this, In God's eye's if this was the 1st 15 he was picking we wouldn't even deserve to be on the bench.
But God thinks you are worth it...
Not because of any merit of our own, but because He is God, it's pure grace.
God is committed to this relationship, to help it to happen he even send his Spirit, to help and guide us.
Our response is the issue; will we accept the fact God has chosen us to have relationship with him?
It's our perspective of God that is too small, not out God.
V6
the final way that they developed their relationship was through the subtle art of Imitation.
This seems to have been something that Paul saw as being key to helping those Young in the faith....
They didn't have the amount of knowledge and the depth of time in this relationship with God, so Paul calls upon them to imitate me...
He was a role model of what the Christian faith should look like of what relationship with God should look like...
And because of that not only would Paul sought to deepen his relationship with God, so would they...
Even at this tender stage in their faith the Church of Thessalonica was a role model.
A witness, they were being looked at
people were talking of how they were living for Jesus.
We are all role models in the faith to other people...
I think some of us are bad role models... not all the time. But when we loose our rag
maybe we model something that is not Christ like.
When we snub people it doesn't speak of Christ's love.
When we would rather argue and condemn people than show Christ’s love we are being bad role models...
I have to watch this, you have to watch this. That fact that we are role models should cause us to seek to deepen our relationship.
I want to be like Jesus, because people see Jesus in Me.
I want to be more like Jesus because when people look at me that is what I want them to see.
You don't need a degree in theology, a dog collar or a halo to do this; you just need to be open to God's relationship...
He's done the work; we just need to be open to receiving that work
to letting God be seen in us.
To changing our perspective.
If you want to increase your depth perceptions of the majesty of God
Then live out your faith
Love those around you
Live in light of the hope you have
Recognize your chosen ness – God wants relationship with you
Imitate those who have been walking the walk longer than you and be a good role model too others – seek to be Christ like
At the end of the day what will increase the size of God in your life is the depth of your convictions
The Thessalonians were absolutely convinced that there God was a big God able to work miracles in their situation,
To sustain them until he returns or take them up to be with him at death.
Because of the depth of these convictions they were failing to surrender absolutely to him.
If you are mildly convicted you will be mildly surrendered and you God will be too small.
But let me assure you we serve a big God, if you can't see it, then it's your perspective that wrong...
Showing posts with label sermon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sermon. Show all posts
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
revalation13
INTRODUCTION
Over the last few weeks we have been delving into the mystery which is the book of revelation.
I hope that the image that John wants his church to hang onto in the face of the trouble they are in is starting to become clear…
I hope to that as we as a church and you personally read and re read this great book, you are starting to hear God’s voice for your current situation, and the times that we as a church are in.
That being the case, we are about to be thrown into the midst of confusion again.
Chapter 13 and in particular the last part of it has caused so much scare mongering that in many respects we should steer well clear.
BULLYING -SCHOOL
When I was a kid at school,
Omen movies, Damian the living incarnation of the beast, with the number 666 on his head as a birth mark…
As circumstance would have it this new insight into scripture gave us bored catholic school boys a new lease on life in terms of our bible reading.
Suddenly reading our new KJV GIDEON bibles became playground game.
Usually involving us picking on the kids who we thought had the mark of the beast
Beating him up and ripping great chunks of his hair out to find the mark
And if we couldn’t find it taking a marker pen and putting it on them.
I am not proud of myself for this…
BULLYING - FUNDAMENTALIST
Lately American fundamentalist preachers play a similar game,
Coming up with sometimes wild and wacky formulas for calculating who has the mark, which is the beast….
So according to them who is the beast?
Lots of interpretations…latest
Arnold Schwarzenegger... APPARENTLY if we add the word president and give every letter of his name a numerical value then by a series of odd calculations we too can discover his secret identity…
When he said in Terminator “I’ll be back” it was prophecy about the fact he would return in the last days to establish Satan; kingdom…
It sounds comical... but it’s scary that people can be led into believing something like this based on the thinnest of evidence…
BARCODES
Another way in which the church has jumped on board with it is in terms of barcodes and the impending cashless society….
Now each barcode has a double line at the beginning middle and end.... now that double line resembles the number 6 in the bar code...
It's caused some people to see that the number 666 is in every bar code,
And I think we all know that with out a barcode it's pretty hard to buy anything...
So is this a fulfillment of biblical prophecy?
So that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is the name of the beast or the number of it's name
I think the first thing to be aware of is that in Revelation the number is on the buyers or sellers and not the products.
But it does seem that barcodes on products is one step away from barcodes on you and me. A cashless society, beckons?
how easy and convinenient it would be if we all had our own bar codes...
if that sounds a little scary... fear not
the double line on the bar code is not a 6, the number of the beast is not hidden on your barcodes....
It looks like a 6...but it isn’t.
GRAIN OF TRUTH
the problem is with all these theories as odd as they may seem is that there is always a grain of truth there…
Like watching the last episode of the TV series Lost we want to solve the mystery
Its part of human nature so we will often take the grain of truth and build around it an oyster of odd meaning.
OVERVIEW
let’s look at the text.
Chapter 12...Satan has thought against the child of the women... but not able to do away with it...
so Satan calls upon his minions the beast...
to carry out the war against the church
the first beast has received a mortal head wound....
this is the first clue into the identity of the beast.
It's an open secret... very much mysterious to us but very much obvious to the first hearers.
But like a political cartoon that refers to events from 5 years ago we so easily miss what John is saying.
So who is the first beast...
Arnold Schwarzenegger... he had had a head would in lots of movies...
Actually, no the simple explanation is Nero…
Urban rumor of the day had it that the emperor that died of a self inflicted head wound, but somehow came back to life…he survived.
The number would seem to point to Nero too
Now if you were to take his name in Aramaic and give each letter a value apparently it add up to 666.
Giving letters values is one of the basic kid’s games I think we have all played at some time…
In Pompeii there was some graffiti found in the ruins that said
I love her whose number is 545.... Interesting…
It was probably done as a way of talking about someone without them knowing.
If John wanted to call the emperor a beast, it would be safer to not name him.
The emperor who used Christians rolled in tar to light the road side is the beast
But it also points towards something we know about another emperor - Domitian
Amongst his many feats he was the first of the Roman emperors to declare himself as divine. A living God.
As I said a few weeks back he had his own processional choir that would follow him singing songs of praise.
He also struck coins – literally gave them a mark with words of homage to himself – and demanded that people called him Lord and God....
On top of that there was a practice of issuing a certificate or mark to all who wanted to buy and sell at the market
The certificate was obtained through an act of worship, putting incense into a bowl and saying a little prayer.
Shopping as an act of worship is probably a good idea… but worship of whom?
All would be calm with the world if you followed the rules…
Give a little incense, sing a little song and all would be fine...
But refuse and you stand against Caesar, and against Rome and against the forces of the world.
It seems like such a small thing, but as John sees behind the curtain he sees reality.
The kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Rome as long as it demands worship of Caesar are in conflict.
How could they say Jesus is Lord and give incense offerings at the market stall?
So as John glimpses behind the scene he sees reality...
Domitian is the beast, a tool of the antichrist, demanding worship.
Nero is the beast for his harsh persecution of Christians
The point though is not the number or the identity of the number that is important.
But what the number represents… opposition to God
Opposition to God’s Kingdom being built.
If God had a number it would be 777, 7 signifying the number of perfection, 3 7’s signifying the trinity.
Each member perfect. Father Son and Spirit.
666 then signifies falling short of God’s glory, an un holy Trinity, Satan and the two beasts,
Or Failure upon Failure upon Failure…
BALANCE
The images from Chapter 13 scary as they are need to be balanced out with the images we have elsewhere in Revelation:
Chapter 7.
In chapter 7 the angels are just about to release God’s fury but there is this pause…
READ Verse 2 and 3
It’s not only the beast that marks people God does too,
Now who these people are is the source of a lot of debate, the 144,000, again the language isn’t that clear
it’s like much of revelation speaking in a type of code.
The JW’s for instance say the 144,000 is a literal number meaning those who are the elect of God…so if your 144001 you don’t get in…144002 no chance 144003 forget it and so on…
Well I don’t think it‘s a literal number, an accountants number or even a census number
– it’s a number that conveys meaning and feeling rather than a specific figure...
What I believe is more appropriate is to see the number as a code for something else…
144,000 is a multiple of 12
12… what does that mean...
Well we have in scripture 12 tribes…12 apostles…
12 then is the number that signifies God’s work in the world through people…
With the tribes named it sounds like the nation of Israel, but it isn’t that either.
– It doesn’t quite match your historical listings of the tribes…
Joseph is listed as a tribe along with his son Manasseh but not his son Ephraim - And the tribe of Dan isn’t listed at all
The 144,000 are a people who are like the nation of Israel but different
The changes are I think deliberate…
John is pointing to another reality
Those who are sealed are like the 12 tribes, but not the 12 tribes
A Historical continuation of God’s work that he began with Abraham…
The Fullness of God’s work through human kind – THE CHURCH
Its John pointing to the church – the Church is the one’s who are sealed...
Who have received God’s mark as opposed to the beasts?
Paul uses a similar image in Ephesians
Eph 1:13-14, "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance."
What Paul is saying is that if you have heard the gospel of truth,
That Jesus Christ toke upon himself your sin and stood in your place, receiving the death that we all deserve for what we have done.
That if you believe this truth and accept this truth into your life then the presence of the Holy Spirit with us is God’s seal on our lives…
So even if we end out with a cashless society and somehow we are conned or tricked into receiving a mark that we find out to be the mark of the beast.
We would not forfeit our salvation.
That has been sealed in by God… it won’t wash off
We are the Father Possession.
He has redeemed us,
He has paid the price to win us back from the grip of death
CONCLUSION
The Image of the beast needs to be seen alongside of the image of the 144,000 who have also received a mark…who have been sealed by God.
– of a God who is on the throne
– A slain lamb that has been sacrificed and is now worthy to redeem his people and judge the world so that God’s Kingdom can come in its fullness.
– A God who does not demands our worship like the beast but deserves our worship because he has redeemed us… set us apart.
As we gather around the communion table this morning we want to give you the opportunity to renew your commitment to Christ.
And if you have never done this before then to also give you opportunity to do this for the first time.
As you take bread and wine you are accepting the truth of what God has done in Jesus.
His sacrifice for you
His death for you
And his overcoming of that death.
But we also want to give you the opportunity to receive a symbol of the sealing that God has done.
So we will also have people with Oil who will mark your head with the sign of the cross to symbolize that you are now God’s property…
Prayer ministry will be available at this time too
And if you are doing this for the first time could we encourage you to talk with one of the pastoral team about this commitment.
We want you to grow in faith and to put you in touch with people who can help you to grow in your faith
“I seal you with the cross of Christ,
The promise of God’s Spirit with you.
The mark of your inheritance”.
Over the last few weeks we have been delving into the mystery which is the book of revelation.
I hope that the image that John wants his church to hang onto in the face of the trouble they are in is starting to become clear…
I hope to that as we as a church and you personally read and re read this great book, you are starting to hear God’s voice for your current situation, and the times that we as a church are in.
That being the case, we are about to be thrown into the midst of confusion again.
Chapter 13 and in particular the last part of it has caused so much scare mongering that in many respects we should steer well clear.
BULLYING -SCHOOL
When I was a kid at school,
Omen movies, Damian the living incarnation of the beast, with the number 666 on his head as a birth mark…
As circumstance would have it this new insight into scripture gave us bored catholic school boys a new lease on life in terms of our bible reading.
Suddenly reading our new KJV GIDEON bibles became playground game.
Usually involving us picking on the kids who we thought had the mark of the beast
Beating him up and ripping great chunks of his hair out to find the mark
And if we couldn’t find it taking a marker pen and putting it on them.
I am not proud of myself for this…
BULLYING - FUNDAMENTALIST
Lately American fundamentalist preachers play a similar game,
Coming up with sometimes wild and wacky formulas for calculating who has the mark, which is the beast….
So according to them who is the beast?
Lots of interpretations…latest
Arnold Schwarzenegger... APPARENTLY if we add the word president and give every letter of his name a numerical value then by a series of odd calculations we too can discover his secret identity…
When he said in Terminator “I’ll be back” it was prophecy about the fact he would return in the last days to establish Satan; kingdom…
It sounds comical... but it’s scary that people can be led into believing something like this based on the thinnest of evidence…
BARCODES
Another way in which the church has jumped on board with it is in terms of barcodes and the impending cashless society….
Now each barcode has a double line at the beginning middle and end.... now that double line resembles the number 6 in the bar code...
It's caused some people to see that the number 666 is in every bar code,
And I think we all know that with out a barcode it's pretty hard to buy anything...
So is this a fulfillment of biblical prophecy?
So that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is the name of the beast or the number of it's name
I think the first thing to be aware of is that in Revelation the number is on the buyers or sellers and not the products.
But it does seem that barcodes on products is one step away from barcodes on you and me. A cashless society, beckons?
how easy and convinenient it would be if we all had our own bar codes...
if that sounds a little scary... fear not
the double line on the bar code is not a 6, the number of the beast is not hidden on your barcodes....
It looks like a 6...but it isn’t.
GRAIN OF TRUTH
the problem is with all these theories as odd as they may seem is that there is always a grain of truth there…
Like watching the last episode of the TV series Lost we want to solve the mystery
Its part of human nature so we will often take the grain of truth and build around it an oyster of odd meaning.
OVERVIEW
let’s look at the text.
Chapter 12...Satan has thought against the child of the women... but not able to do away with it...
so Satan calls upon his minions the beast...
to carry out the war against the church
the first beast has received a mortal head wound....
this is the first clue into the identity of the beast.
It's an open secret... very much mysterious to us but very much obvious to the first hearers.
But like a political cartoon that refers to events from 5 years ago we so easily miss what John is saying.
So who is the first beast...
Arnold Schwarzenegger... he had had a head would in lots of movies...
Actually, no the simple explanation is Nero…
Urban rumor of the day had it that the emperor that died of a self inflicted head wound, but somehow came back to life…he survived.
The number would seem to point to Nero too
Now if you were to take his name in Aramaic and give each letter a value apparently it add up to 666.
Giving letters values is one of the basic kid’s games I think we have all played at some time…
In Pompeii there was some graffiti found in the ruins that said
I love her whose number is 545.... Interesting…
It was probably done as a way of talking about someone without them knowing.
If John wanted to call the emperor a beast, it would be safer to not name him.
The emperor who used Christians rolled in tar to light the road side is the beast
But it also points towards something we know about another emperor - Domitian
Amongst his many feats he was the first of the Roman emperors to declare himself as divine. A living God.
As I said a few weeks back he had his own processional choir that would follow him singing songs of praise.
He also struck coins – literally gave them a mark with words of homage to himself – and demanded that people called him Lord and God....
On top of that there was a practice of issuing a certificate or mark to all who wanted to buy and sell at the market
The certificate was obtained through an act of worship, putting incense into a bowl and saying a little prayer.
Shopping as an act of worship is probably a good idea… but worship of whom?
All would be calm with the world if you followed the rules…
Give a little incense, sing a little song and all would be fine...
But refuse and you stand against Caesar, and against Rome and against the forces of the world.
It seems like such a small thing, but as John sees behind the curtain he sees reality.
The kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Rome as long as it demands worship of Caesar are in conflict.
How could they say Jesus is Lord and give incense offerings at the market stall?
So as John glimpses behind the scene he sees reality...
Domitian is the beast, a tool of the antichrist, demanding worship.
Nero is the beast for his harsh persecution of Christians
The point though is not the number or the identity of the number that is important.
But what the number represents… opposition to God
Opposition to God’s Kingdom being built.
If God had a number it would be 777, 7 signifying the number of perfection, 3 7’s signifying the trinity.
Each member perfect. Father Son and Spirit.
666 then signifies falling short of God’s glory, an un holy Trinity, Satan and the two beasts,
Or Failure upon Failure upon Failure…
BALANCE
The images from Chapter 13 scary as they are need to be balanced out with the images we have elsewhere in Revelation:
Chapter 7.
In chapter 7 the angels are just about to release God’s fury but there is this pause…
READ Verse 2 and 3
It’s not only the beast that marks people God does too,
Now who these people are is the source of a lot of debate, the 144,000, again the language isn’t that clear
it’s like much of revelation speaking in a type of code.
The JW’s for instance say the 144,000 is a literal number meaning those who are the elect of God…so if your 144001 you don’t get in…144002 no chance 144003 forget it and so on…
Well I don’t think it‘s a literal number, an accountants number or even a census number
– it’s a number that conveys meaning and feeling rather than a specific figure...
What I believe is more appropriate is to see the number as a code for something else…
144,000 is a multiple of 12
12… what does that mean...
Well we have in scripture 12 tribes…12 apostles…
12 then is the number that signifies God’s work in the world through people…
With the tribes named it sounds like the nation of Israel, but it isn’t that either.
– It doesn’t quite match your historical listings of the tribes…
Joseph is listed as a tribe along with his son Manasseh but not his son Ephraim - And the tribe of Dan isn’t listed at all
The 144,000 are a people who are like the nation of Israel but different
The changes are I think deliberate…
John is pointing to another reality
Those who are sealed are like the 12 tribes, but not the 12 tribes
A Historical continuation of God’s work that he began with Abraham…
The Fullness of God’s work through human kind – THE CHURCH
Its John pointing to the church – the Church is the one’s who are sealed...
Who have received God’s mark as opposed to the beasts?
Paul uses a similar image in Ephesians
Eph 1:13-14, "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance."
What Paul is saying is that if you have heard the gospel of truth,
That Jesus Christ toke upon himself your sin and stood in your place, receiving the death that we all deserve for what we have done.
That if you believe this truth and accept this truth into your life then the presence of the Holy Spirit with us is God’s seal on our lives…
So even if we end out with a cashless society and somehow we are conned or tricked into receiving a mark that we find out to be the mark of the beast.
We would not forfeit our salvation.
That has been sealed in by God… it won’t wash off
We are the Father Possession.
He has redeemed us,
He has paid the price to win us back from the grip of death
CONCLUSION
The Image of the beast needs to be seen alongside of the image of the 144,000 who have also received a mark…who have been sealed by God.
– of a God who is on the throne
– A slain lamb that has been sacrificed and is now worthy to redeem his people and judge the world so that God’s Kingdom can come in its fullness.
– A God who does not demands our worship like the beast but deserves our worship because he has redeemed us… set us apart.
As we gather around the communion table this morning we want to give you the opportunity to renew your commitment to Christ.
And if you have never done this before then to also give you opportunity to do this for the first time.
As you take bread and wine you are accepting the truth of what God has done in Jesus.
His sacrifice for you
His death for you
And his overcoming of that death.
But we also want to give you the opportunity to receive a symbol of the sealing that God has done.
So we will also have people with Oil who will mark your head with the sign of the cross to symbolize that you are now God’s property…
Prayer ministry will be available at this time too
And if you are doing this for the first time could we encourage you to talk with one of the pastoral team about this commitment.
We want you to grow in faith and to put you in touch with people who can help you to grow in your faith
“I seal you with the cross of Christ,
The promise of God’s Spirit with you.
The mark of your inheritance”.
Friday, May 21, 2010
revelation..interludes 2
Interludes
Where have we been?
1 Revelation is looking behind the scenes…
It’s like a look behind the scene…it’s reality but not quite as we know it
2 to understand revelation…you got to take your shoes off.
3 Revelation is about God’s Kingdom come and coming – that requires change
Change requires sorting - Also known as judgment.
We are currently looking at the interludes, the times of pauses between 6th and 7th judgment
As I said last I believe these interludes are the time we live in.
At the 6th judgment - in Rev 6:17
We are posed a question… if God’s Judgment is coming who will be able to stand?
The first interlude was an answer to that a call to stand and be faithful to the gospel in spite of what the world throws at you.
Because God has sealed you he gives you the supernatural ability to stand…
And for those who overcome there is the promise of eternity where we will join with the church past, present and future…the church from every nation and sing God praises…
Why because it’s the only possible response to what god has done for us…
So we stand in the in-between days…
The last days where the new reality of God’s kingdom is breaking in but will only fully be realized when Jesus returns
Tonight we are looking at the second interlude…
It’s kind of like playing blues clues…
You look for the paw prints… paw prints are clues…
In revelation the paw prints are often echoes. Images, because much of revelation is written from the perspective of eternity. - These paw prints help us to see our reality…maybe in a different way.
When we find out paw prints we need to then put them in our hand dandy note book got tour thinking chair and think.
Well that requires prayer, reflection, pausing. Not only asking what this means but how does this speak to me today…
It’s not just a case of reading it.. Revelation is not story book – it is written to transform you, to make you change your mind about this world
To bring you to a realization that in spite of what happens…..
Our God reigns
As I said earlier way back in chapter 6 the question...WHO CAN STAND is asked…
The interlude that followed answered that
Chapter 6 we have another question…
6:10 How long… how long must we go un avenged…?
How long must we wait…
It’s fine to now that you are called to stand.. but for how long.
How long do we have to resist evil….
READ REV 10:1-7
There is to be no more delay... when the 7th trumpet is sounded...that is it.
In the mean time we wait...
But beyond this interim period. that’s it... there is no third act…
But we don’t just wait around like the apprentice who was told to go to the store and get a long stand.
We stand yes but we are called to do something else…
Chapter 10 goes on to introduce John easting a little scroll, which is bitter in the stomach but sweet in the mouth…
We need to play blues clues again.
Called to eat a scroll?
Sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach?
The nature of judgment is that it is a two way street –
We want to see the bad guys get it…BUT reality is that innocents are harmed too
Nature of God’s Kingdom coming is Sweet for some but Bitter for others…
If there is no time left and judgment is up…what about those who don’t turn around…
Yes God is forgiving but how endless is his patience – how much will he put up with before the cries from under the altar cause him to say ENOUGH….
John is called to eat this scroll...
to declare this message… it is probably not an easy message for him to say…
At the end of the day John is a pastor, you only have to read his letter to realize that 1 john chapter 3... he talks about nothing else but God’s love… how Jesus laid down his life so we could experience the height and depth of the love…
Love is an essential part of God’s nature…
But we too easily forget…that the message of Gods’ love is such that it is sweet on the lips
But can easily be bitter in our stomachs
Love make requirements it requires change…
For the kingdom of Love to break in something’s some people will be driven out…
When you are exposed to something as pure as God’s love you seen realize how flawed you really are…
The call to John… is the call to all...
I and you included
Jesus is coming soon... pass it on
Moving on into chapter 11 we encounter a temple and two witness…
Now if revelation wasn’t hard enough to get our heads around…we really need to sit down in our thinking chairs and think about this…
So what Paw Prints can we see…?
Listen, close you eyes, and take your shoes off…
Read 11:1- 11
Sounds kind of familiar.
Echoes of other stories
Building the temple and the exactness of the measurements…
Echoes of Daniel chapter 12…In fact if you were familiar with Daniel 12 you would think that this is what you were reading
…
As we move into verse4 there are more images
Lamp stands….we have heard that before… chapter 2:1
but these lamp stands spew fire…
these lamp stands have the ability to shut up the heavens like Elijah
to turn water to blood like Moses….
Who could these lamp stands be?
….and they will be put to death in a city that is Jerusalem, Sodom and Egypt… places where God’s work was opposed…
So how are the witnesses… well I think the identity lies in the lamp stands...
In chapters 2=3 seven churches are identified...
7 churches who light is burning for Jesus...
Only some of them have burnt out.
Some are in danger of being snuffed out and only two remain faithful…
Smyrna and Philadelphia…
They are faithful in spite of their circumstances.
And even though they face death at the hands of the world. they will continue to remain faithful
And there faithfulness when it is put into God’s hands has an amazing effect
There words become like Sprit fire blazing form their mouths.
Their prayers are answered,
They act in God’s name…and they wind up dead on the streets...
But in time God revives and breathes back the breadth of life into them
Because they are faithful…nothing can hold them down
Faithfulness does not deliver us from death or persecution – because if the cross shows us anything it is that in defeat God triumphs.
In the Lion witch and the wardrobe a deeper magic brought Aslan back to life after the ice queen killed him
In our world a deeper magic will revive the Church that is ultimately faithful to God’s message...
Revelation is ultimately a letter from a pastor to a church…
He has heard stories of who they are in trouble. how Nero has tried to kill them off. how the Jew have driven them out of Jerusalem in an attempt to preserve themselves from persecution
He has heard how times are tough and it seem like all hope is gone…
But this same Pastor. while deep in prayer receives a vision of reality the reality of what is really happening.
The message is clear…it might look as though you have lost, but that is not the real reality.
If you remain faithful…God will take your message and transform it
If you remain faithful – God will cause you to stand in the face of persecution
It looks someday like we are on the loosing side. that we should just give in and sell out
But the realty is that Our God Reigns...
The age we live in is temporary—it will not last.
It’s an intermission between the first coming of Jesus as a baby in a stable bad the glorious second coming where he will come and reign.
forever and ever and ever and ever and ever
The Christian hope is that some day soon...
The kingdom of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign forever and ever...
AMEN
Maranatha..- come Lord Jesus
Where have we been?
1 Revelation is looking behind the scenes…
It’s like a look behind the scene…it’s reality but not quite as we know it
2 to understand revelation…you got to take your shoes off.
3 Revelation is about God’s Kingdom come and coming – that requires change
Change requires sorting - Also known as judgment.
We are currently looking at the interludes, the times of pauses between 6th and 7th judgment
As I said last I believe these interludes are the time we live in.
At the 6th judgment - in Rev 6:17
We are posed a question… if God’s Judgment is coming who will be able to stand?
The first interlude was an answer to that a call to stand and be faithful to the gospel in spite of what the world throws at you.
Because God has sealed you he gives you the supernatural ability to stand…
And for those who overcome there is the promise of eternity where we will join with the church past, present and future…the church from every nation and sing God praises…
Why because it’s the only possible response to what god has done for us…
So we stand in the in-between days…
The last days where the new reality of God’s kingdom is breaking in but will only fully be realized when Jesus returns
Tonight we are looking at the second interlude…
It’s kind of like playing blues clues…
You look for the paw prints… paw prints are clues…
In revelation the paw prints are often echoes. Images, because much of revelation is written from the perspective of eternity. - These paw prints help us to see our reality…maybe in a different way.
When we find out paw prints we need to then put them in our hand dandy note book got tour thinking chair and think.
Well that requires prayer, reflection, pausing. Not only asking what this means but how does this speak to me today…
It’s not just a case of reading it.. Revelation is not story book – it is written to transform you, to make you change your mind about this world
To bring you to a realization that in spite of what happens…..
Our God reigns
As I said earlier way back in chapter 6 the question...WHO CAN STAND is asked…
The interlude that followed answered that
Chapter 6 we have another question…
6:10 How long… how long must we go un avenged…?
How long must we wait…
It’s fine to now that you are called to stand.. but for how long.
How long do we have to resist evil….
READ REV 10:1-7
There is to be no more delay... when the 7th trumpet is sounded...that is it.
In the mean time we wait...
But beyond this interim period. that’s it... there is no third act…
But we don’t just wait around like the apprentice who was told to go to the store and get a long stand.
We stand yes but we are called to do something else…
Chapter 10 goes on to introduce John easting a little scroll, which is bitter in the stomach but sweet in the mouth…
We need to play blues clues again.
Called to eat a scroll?
Sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach?
The nature of judgment is that it is a two way street –
We want to see the bad guys get it…BUT reality is that innocents are harmed too
Nature of God’s Kingdom coming is Sweet for some but Bitter for others…
If there is no time left and judgment is up…what about those who don’t turn around…
Yes God is forgiving but how endless is his patience – how much will he put up with before the cries from under the altar cause him to say ENOUGH….
John is called to eat this scroll...
to declare this message… it is probably not an easy message for him to say…
At the end of the day John is a pastor, you only have to read his letter to realize that 1 john chapter 3... he talks about nothing else but God’s love… how Jesus laid down his life so we could experience the height and depth of the love…
Love is an essential part of God’s nature…
But we too easily forget…that the message of Gods’ love is such that it is sweet on the lips
But can easily be bitter in our stomachs
Love make requirements it requires change…
For the kingdom of Love to break in something’s some people will be driven out…
When you are exposed to something as pure as God’s love you seen realize how flawed you really are…
The call to John… is the call to all...
I and you included
Jesus is coming soon... pass it on
Moving on into chapter 11 we encounter a temple and two witness…
Now if revelation wasn’t hard enough to get our heads around…we really need to sit down in our thinking chairs and think about this…
So what Paw Prints can we see…?
Listen, close you eyes, and take your shoes off…
Read 11:1- 11
Sounds kind of familiar.
Echoes of other stories
Building the temple and the exactness of the measurements…
Echoes of Daniel chapter 12…In fact if you were familiar with Daniel 12 you would think that this is what you were reading
…
As we move into verse4 there are more images
Lamp stands….we have heard that before… chapter 2:1
but these lamp stands spew fire…
these lamp stands have the ability to shut up the heavens like Elijah
to turn water to blood like Moses….
Who could these lamp stands be?
….and they will be put to death in a city that is Jerusalem, Sodom and Egypt… places where God’s work was opposed…
So how are the witnesses… well I think the identity lies in the lamp stands...
In chapters 2=3 seven churches are identified...
7 churches who light is burning for Jesus...
Only some of them have burnt out.
Some are in danger of being snuffed out and only two remain faithful…
Smyrna and Philadelphia…
They are faithful in spite of their circumstances.
And even though they face death at the hands of the world. they will continue to remain faithful
And there faithfulness when it is put into God’s hands has an amazing effect
There words become like Sprit fire blazing form their mouths.
Their prayers are answered,
They act in God’s name…and they wind up dead on the streets...
But in time God revives and breathes back the breadth of life into them
Because they are faithful…nothing can hold them down
Faithfulness does not deliver us from death or persecution – because if the cross shows us anything it is that in defeat God triumphs.
In the Lion witch and the wardrobe a deeper magic brought Aslan back to life after the ice queen killed him
In our world a deeper magic will revive the Church that is ultimately faithful to God’s message...
Revelation is ultimately a letter from a pastor to a church…
He has heard stories of who they are in trouble. how Nero has tried to kill them off. how the Jew have driven them out of Jerusalem in an attempt to preserve themselves from persecution
He has heard how times are tough and it seem like all hope is gone…
But this same Pastor. while deep in prayer receives a vision of reality the reality of what is really happening.
The message is clear…it might look as though you have lost, but that is not the real reality.
If you remain faithful…God will take your message and transform it
If you remain faithful – God will cause you to stand in the face of persecution
It looks someday like we are on the loosing side. that we should just give in and sell out
But the realty is that Our God Reigns...
The age we live in is temporary—it will not last.
It’s an intermission between the first coming of Jesus as a baby in a stable bad the glorious second coming where he will come and reign.
forever and ever and ever and ever and ever
The Christian hope is that some day soon...
The kingdom of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign forever and ever...
AMEN
Maranatha..- come Lord Jesus
revelation..interludes 1
Interludes
Where have we been?
1 Revelation is looking behind the scenes…Bethany’s cross stitch
It’s like a look behind the scene…it’s reality but not quite as we know it
2 to understand revelation…you got to take your shoes off.
3 Revelation is about God’s Kingdom come and coming – that requires change
Change requires sorting - Also known as judgment.
We had scroll, trumpets and bowls…
Between 6th and 7th we had pauses – interludes…
At the cross Judgment started- in Jesus God’s kingdom has begun.. the bowls scrolls and trumpets have begun
These interludes are the time we live in
But again and again judgment won’t come until Jesus returns
Where he will according to the old version of the creed – judge the quick and the dead
At the 6th judgment - in Rev 6:17
We are posed a question… if God Judgment is coming who will be able to stand
The thing about judgment is who gets judged…
Do we all escape judgment?
or are we in the thick of it?
Depending on who you ask you will get different answers.
And dare I say it how you answer that question may well effect how you live in the hear and now…
There is a segment of the church that see’s in scripture a time when the Church will be raptured…. Carried away.
I am not part of that school of thought…
When the world is judged…and judgment has started – we are in the thick of it.
This interlude I believe speak into that situation…
READING
So when the great day of God’s wrath comes who will be able to stand?
Think about it for a moment…do you have what it takes?
In chapter 7 we have the sealing of 144,000 introduced… the angels are just about to release God’s fury but there is this pause…
Now what this all means is very much up for debate- it’s not clear language – it’s like much of revelation speaking in a type of code.
If you read it with you emotions it might give you some clues.
If you read it literally it might confuse you and like some have done in the past cause them to draw up formulas
The JW’s for instance say the 144,000 is a literal number meaning those who are the elect of God…so if your 144001 you don’t get in…144002 no chance 144003 forget it and so on…
If you put it in the context of the wider book and the question "who can stand?"– The sealing of the 144,000 is what allows them to stand.
Somehow when times get tough and god’ judgment is knocking on the door these 144,000 will somehow because they are sealed be able to withstand what is happening…
It’s not that these guys are excused...
Or carried off to a safe place
– They are the one’s that don’t denounce their faith
They won’t turn their back on god or sell out to the world the 144,000 are the faithful ones…
More on that in a moment...
But what about the number…what’s the significance in that?
Well is don’t think it‘s a literal number, an accountants number or even a census number
– it’s a number that conveys meaning and feeling rather than a specific figure..
What I believe is more appropriate is to see the number as a code for something else
12… what does that mean
12 is the sum of the divine number which is 3 and the earthly number which is 4 our elements: earth, air, fire, and water.
Or better still it’s supposed to remind us of the witness of the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles…
It’s not the literal figure as much as what the figure reminds us of...
12 tribes…12 apostles…
Now it sounds like it’s the nation of Israel, but it isn’t that either. – It doesn’t quite match your historical listings of the tribes…
Joseph is listed as a tribe along with his son Manasseh.
Ephraim isn’t listed
Reuben is listed, but not Dan
The 144,000 are a people who are like the nation of Israel but different
The changes are I think deliberate…
its John pointing to another reality
Those who are sealed are like the 12 tribes…
but not the 12 tribes
A Historical continuation of God’s work that he began with Abraham…
Its John pointing to the church – the Church is the one’s who are sealed...
So who will be able to stand in the face of God’s judgment...
– the Church will…
That’s you and me….
Were not going to be raptured.. Carried off, but somehow when trouble hits we will be able to stand..
The sealing allows us to stand
Look at yourself… you may think that just standing in my work place is hard enough.. How on earth can I stand when all hell breaks loose?
Somehow God will seal in you that little mustard seed of faith and you will make it through.
I guess this is a reminder that we are in Christ because of the grace of God..
Not by anything we have done…
We can stand not because we are superhuman..
But because God props us up…
It’s not the number that counts… but overcoming
And this is something we can only do because Christ is working in and through us….
You see this time and time again, I have heard 100’s of testimonies of this reality – that when times are hard God picks us up…
Psalm 40..
Its God’s Grace, not out human ability…
In the next section we move from one vision to another
Here we see a great multitude from every nation…
If the first vision is of people overcoming in the present reality..
The second is of those who have overcome…
Its people past, present and future
All over comers from every age..
All people who have felt God lifting their hands when theory could stand no more
All people who have received the seal and been propped up by God
And they sing a song of joy… it’s the only possible response to God’s work, to God lifting you
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. AMEN
Take your shoes off and feel that
… if their is not a lump in your throat you may need to check your pulse…
This is the song of the redeemed – it our song
I hope that when you face struggles this song would become a daily reality… you are not alone.
God is holding you up…
But this image is for us a future reality – we have not overcome the final hurdle we keep moving on and moving forward..
But this promise awaits us…
That not only will God seal us, but that is we give our lives for the sake of the gospel – and stand we will overcome – we will be washed – cleansed.
Conclusion
In this interlude we have two images of the church
In the first part the church is in battle – called to stand firm and with God’s sealing overcome – this is a reality we face daily...
Whether it be through persecution or even just in failing church attendances
What ever we face we are called to remain true to the gospel – you look at the 7 letters from the beginning of revelation and how many stand firm, how many stay true… read that for yourself
In calling these seven churches back to Christ John is calling them to remain faithful
The second image is of the church triumphant who have overcome and that is why they sing:
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength are to our God for ever and ever. AMEN
It’s a heart felt response to the realization of what God has done for you…
In a moment we will gather round the table and in doing so we peak behind the curtain into a small upper room where Jesus gathered with his friends for one last time before heading to the cross.
It reminds us that in the cross judgment has begun.
That sin is being overcome
But also communion helps us peak into the future it gives us a foretaste of the reality to come,
when Christ shall reign,
Wars will end,
Famines will no longer exist
And God’s Kingdom will have come...
Interludes deal with judgment on pause…
My prayer for you is that as we gather this new reality will begin to break in and that what ever you face in the week ahead you will be the grace of God be able to stand…firm
Where have we been?
1 Revelation is looking behind the scenes…Bethany’s cross stitch
It’s like a look behind the scene…it’s reality but not quite as we know it
2 to understand revelation…you got to take your shoes off.
3 Revelation is about God’s Kingdom come and coming – that requires change
Change requires sorting - Also known as judgment.
We had scroll, trumpets and bowls…
Between 6th and 7th we had pauses – interludes…
At the cross Judgment started- in Jesus God’s kingdom has begun.. the bowls scrolls and trumpets have begun
These interludes are the time we live in
But again and again judgment won’t come until Jesus returns
Where he will according to the old version of the creed – judge the quick and the dead
At the 6th judgment - in Rev 6:17
We are posed a question… if God Judgment is coming who will be able to stand
The thing about judgment is who gets judged…
Do we all escape judgment?
or are we in the thick of it?
Depending on who you ask you will get different answers.
And dare I say it how you answer that question may well effect how you live in the hear and now…
There is a segment of the church that see’s in scripture a time when the Church will be raptured…. Carried away.
I am not part of that school of thought…
When the world is judged…and judgment has started – we are in the thick of it.
This interlude I believe speak into that situation…
READING
So when the great day of God’s wrath comes who will be able to stand?
Think about it for a moment…do you have what it takes?
In chapter 7 we have the sealing of 144,000 introduced… the angels are just about to release God’s fury but there is this pause…
Now what this all means is very much up for debate- it’s not clear language – it’s like much of revelation speaking in a type of code.
If you read it with you emotions it might give you some clues.
If you read it literally it might confuse you and like some have done in the past cause them to draw up formulas
The JW’s for instance say the 144,000 is a literal number meaning those who are the elect of God…so if your 144001 you don’t get in…144002 no chance 144003 forget it and so on…
If you put it in the context of the wider book and the question "who can stand?"– The sealing of the 144,000 is what allows them to stand.
Somehow when times get tough and god’ judgment is knocking on the door these 144,000 will somehow because they are sealed be able to withstand what is happening…
It’s not that these guys are excused...
Or carried off to a safe place
– They are the one’s that don’t denounce their faith
They won’t turn their back on god or sell out to the world the 144,000 are the faithful ones…
More on that in a moment...
But what about the number…what’s the significance in that?
Well is don’t think it‘s a literal number, an accountants number or even a census number
– it’s a number that conveys meaning and feeling rather than a specific figure..
What I believe is more appropriate is to see the number as a code for something else
12… what does that mean
12 is the sum of the divine number which is 3 and the earthly number which is 4 our elements: earth, air, fire, and water.
Or better still it’s supposed to remind us of the witness of the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles…
It’s not the literal figure as much as what the figure reminds us of...
12 tribes…12 apostles…
Now it sounds like it’s the nation of Israel, but it isn’t that either. – It doesn’t quite match your historical listings of the tribes…
Joseph is listed as a tribe along with his son Manasseh.
Ephraim isn’t listed
Reuben is listed, but not Dan
The 144,000 are a people who are like the nation of Israel but different
The changes are I think deliberate…
its John pointing to another reality
Those who are sealed are like the 12 tribes…
but not the 12 tribes
A Historical continuation of God’s work that he began with Abraham…
Its John pointing to the church – the Church is the one’s who are sealed...
So who will be able to stand in the face of God’s judgment...
– the Church will…
That’s you and me….
Were not going to be raptured.. Carried off, but somehow when trouble hits we will be able to stand..
The sealing allows us to stand
Look at yourself… you may think that just standing in my work place is hard enough.. How on earth can I stand when all hell breaks loose?
Somehow God will seal in you that little mustard seed of faith and you will make it through.
I guess this is a reminder that we are in Christ because of the grace of God..
Not by anything we have done…
We can stand not because we are superhuman..
But because God props us up…
It’s not the number that counts… but overcoming
And this is something we can only do because Christ is working in and through us….
You see this time and time again, I have heard 100’s of testimonies of this reality – that when times are hard God picks us up…
Psalm 40..
Its God’s Grace, not out human ability…
In the next section we move from one vision to another
Here we see a great multitude from every nation…
If the first vision is of people overcoming in the present reality..
The second is of those who have overcome…
Its people past, present and future
All over comers from every age..
All people who have felt God lifting their hands when theory could stand no more
All people who have received the seal and been propped up by God
And they sing a song of joy… it’s the only possible response to God’s work, to God lifting you
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. AMEN
Take your shoes off and feel that
… if their is not a lump in your throat you may need to check your pulse…
This is the song of the redeemed – it our song
I hope that when you face struggles this song would become a daily reality… you are not alone.
God is holding you up…
But this image is for us a future reality – we have not overcome the final hurdle we keep moving on and moving forward..
But this promise awaits us…
That not only will God seal us, but that is we give our lives for the sake of the gospel – and stand we will overcome – we will be washed – cleansed.
Conclusion
In this interlude we have two images of the church
In the first part the church is in battle – called to stand firm and with God’s sealing overcome – this is a reality we face daily...
Whether it be through persecution or even just in failing church attendances
What ever we face we are called to remain true to the gospel – you look at the 7 letters from the beginning of revelation and how many stand firm, how many stay true… read that for yourself
In calling these seven churches back to Christ John is calling them to remain faithful
The second image is of the church triumphant who have overcome and that is why they sing:
Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength are to our God for ever and ever. AMEN
It’s a heart felt response to the realization of what God has done for you…
In a moment we will gather round the table and in doing so we peak behind the curtain into a small upper room where Jesus gathered with his friends for one last time before heading to the cross.
It reminds us that in the cross judgment has begun.
That sin is being overcome
But also communion helps us peak into the future it gives us a foretaste of the reality to come,
when Christ shall reign,
Wars will end,
Famines will no longer exist
And God’s Kingdom will have come...
Interludes deal with judgment on pause…
My prayer for you is that as we gather this new reality will begin to break in and that what ever you face in the week ahead you will be the grace of God be able to stand…firm
Mark 9
I think one of the most extraordinary aspects of the Christian faith for many people to get their heads round is the fact that the God who is introduced to us in scripture is very different to what we may expect…
In the ancient world most people had a concept or idea of God.
The world was just too big for it to be an accident
Therefore someone must have created it...
That someone was a God.
But to many of these religions that god was often seen as being cruel and uncaring...
Human beings were puppets in his hands manipulated by the ruler of the universe...
Today it's no different...
When we talk about disasters we refer to them as acts of God, as if a God is bored with playing with humans and has decided to through them out of the playpen...
It’s not a nice idea...
But in the scriptures we are introduced to a God who cares...
The one who wants relationship
In the gospels this concept of God is taken a step further...
Not only do we meet in Jesus a God who cares but also a God who has flesh and blood like you and me.
In Jesus we are introduced to a God who wants to be our Friend
Think of that for a moment…
The God who is creator of everything not only loves me...
But cares for me and wants to have a relationship to me…
While sometimes it may seem that we throw our prayers into a void like coins down a wishing well the reality is that God hears them even before they have left our lips…
God is that close…
When you think about it that reality should make everyone on the face of the planet want to come to faith in Christ...
Who wouldn't want the creator of the universe as their best friend?
Who wouldn't want the one who understands everything to be close to them....?
I think we are all too aware though that in spite of this reality, many people still want nothing to do with God, and even we who probably call ourselves people of faith often struggle for intimacy and to trust in this God...
Yeah he is the creator...
Yeah he wants to be my friend
But he's just too Big.... is one excuse I have heard
It's like in that Dr Seuss Story Horton hears a Whoo,
Horton means well but he is just so big that he may accidentally squash the whole of the Whoo Race...
I think the issues for many people is not the bigness of God... or the closeness of God that prevents them forming relationship...
But it's that fact that as Human beings we find it hard to trust anyone...
I remember trying to teach my son Aidan to swim... I was next to him in the pool, my shoulders were big enough to support him... but still he didn't trust me
He would not let go of the edge
Trust is not something any of us do naturally....
Mark 9: 14- tells the story of a demon possessed boy that is brought to the disciples to be healed.
It’s a foot step on the way to trust for the disciples…
I think we are all to aware that in the disciples are 12 individuals that are willing to be used by God… but over the course of Jesus’ ministry more often than not they seem to get it wrong..
A few verses earlier three of the disciples are given an insight into the greatness of God... and his closeness.
There up a mountain with Jesus prays and suddenly God reveals himself in Jesus.
Jesus is transfigured... his appearance changes.
The Godness that is as much an aspect of Jesus as his humanness leaks out…..
If that wasn’t enough Jesus is joined by two of the great prophets….
Moses and Elijah…
The disciples are flawed by this.
To top it all off we hear a voice from heaven – the Father speaks…
This is my son the beloved – listen to him…
God is real
God is close
God cares…
Surely an incident like this would transform their faith...
No longer would they doubt...
READ SCRIPTURE
As they come down from the mountain top and reality starts to creep in, the lessons the experience the joy from the mountain is lost...
But are we any different?
We peep into heaven in worship and forget it all when we come back to earth
when we leave the church walls, it all changes...
It's seems that all too often change in any of us is only every temporary...
We trust in God only as much as we have real need...
When it's something we think we can do in our own strength than too often we do it in our own strength
We should not really be surprised then by the reactions of the disciples…
They are willing to take up the challenge, but they fail, they can’t do it.
As we grow more and more familiar with the stories of the disciples in the Gospels I think we should becoming more and more aware that they continually fail to understand the meaning of Faith...
It's almost like that because of their position as disciples they feel as though they have made it...
So often they fail to see the discipleship – following Jesus is about a journey.
They haven't made it...YET!!!
In Mark 10:28 Jesus is talking about Salvation as a human impossibility, made possible only by the grace of God...
And how does Peter respond...
Well he boasts of the great and noble achievements that the disciples have made
“We have left everything and followed you.” that shows how far from making it the disciples are.
They are only on the road by the grace of God... yeah they left everything but big deal...
It was the call of God that put them on this journey...
It’s the same when Jesus predicts his death and says that all the disciples will deny and flee...
Peter turns around and says – not me Jesus, even if it costs me my life, I won't walk out on you...
But he does...
Faith is fragile.
Even for those who stand in close proximity to Jesus
In Matt 26:31
Jesus says, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
Don't ever loose sight of how fragile faith is...
Don’t ever take it for granted...
In the same story of the Demon possessed boy there is another character we are introduced too..
A concerned, distraught hurting father who wants nothing more than his son to be healed...
And the words he uses echo through history..
To many they have been a model of prayer...
A few words that seem to say so much about faith,
And offer a model of discipleship which I think normal people can probably appreciate
I believe help my unbelief…
Amazing words
I need to take a step but Lord I need you to carry me…
it's a recognition that intimacy and trust comes from relationship
But I think it also shows us that doubt also seems to stand often alongside faith.
And it's often our doubt that stops us fully trusting God.
Our faith has limits… that is kind of natural
we trust God to find us a parking space
but would we trust God to find us a job, or a partner?
We say we are people of faith but doubt always seems to follow on it’s heals
I guess it can feel like Doubt is the little worm that kills the fruit,
But it doesn’t have to be that way…
The doubt that the father feels doesn't push him away from God,
Rather it draws him into an honest and open relationship with God...
His doubts change the shape of faith
Unlike the disciples the father understand faith is organic and not static
It’s not that we have a once and for all response but we have to keep coming back time and time again
Following Jesus is a day to day reality..
The Father knows that in the stress and strains of life
Bread soon goes stale
The water of life soon becomes stagnant
Faith is our continued response to the grace of God
That's why when Jesus taught his disciples to pray he told them to seek their daily bread..
Following Jesus requires daily dependence on God..
The failure of the disciple’s shows this well
It’s not that their technique is wrong,
Or that they fail because they weren't Christian enough
They failed because they fail to bring it to God
Jesus reply – only through prayer...
The power to do God's work doesn't lie in them
But in the God who they are reliant upon..
The Father was different – his faith coupled with his powerlessness meant that his faith in Jesus would heal his son...
I guess, we need to have Faith on the mountaintop
But also in the valley...
Faith that God would deliver daily bread...
Because Faith is about reliance -surrendering yourself – letting go
Reliance upon God in the whole of life
That requires a daily diet of prayer...
We cannot work our way out of doubt and a lack of trust-
Belief comes through an on going relationship
Faith seek ongoing understanding
Faith is questioning and struggle before it becomes certainty and peace
Its formed not of abstract principles or understanding the vastness of the universe that God has created, but out of relationship
To know God.. Not just know facts about God but to know him personally
It's hard to trust God.
Simply deciding we will have more faith doesn't help either...
Rather an increase in faith comes from a prayer..
I believe help my unbelief...
Prayer like this are like finding an oasis in the desert.
When we ask for God's help he answers us,
He meets us in our need, we receive Joy, peace and restoration.
God is going to meet our need in his time.
His ways are not predictable, but he answers prayers like this.
At the end of this story -a son is made whole
A father's Mustard seed of faith moves a mountain.
Open, O doors and bolts of my heart,
That Christ the King of Glory may enter!
Enter, O my Light, and enlighten my darkness; enter,
O my Life, and resurrect my deadness; enter,
O my Physician, and heal my wounds; enter,
O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins; ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of thy love; enter,
O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin; sit on the throne of my heart and alone reign in me,
O thou, my King and Lord
St. Dimitry of Rostov, 17th c.,
In the ancient world most people had a concept or idea of God.
The world was just too big for it to be an accident
Therefore someone must have created it...
That someone was a God.
But to many of these religions that god was often seen as being cruel and uncaring...
Human beings were puppets in his hands manipulated by the ruler of the universe...
Today it's no different...
When we talk about disasters we refer to them as acts of God, as if a God is bored with playing with humans and has decided to through them out of the playpen...
It’s not a nice idea...
But in the scriptures we are introduced to a God who cares...
The one who wants relationship
In the gospels this concept of God is taken a step further...
Not only do we meet in Jesus a God who cares but also a God who has flesh and blood like you and me.
In Jesus we are introduced to a God who wants to be our Friend
Think of that for a moment…
The God who is creator of everything not only loves me...
But cares for me and wants to have a relationship to me…
While sometimes it may seem that we throw our prayers into a void like coins down a wishing well the reality is that God hears them even before they have left our lips…
God is that close…
When you think about it that reality should make everyone on the face of the planet want to come to faith in Christ...
Who wouldn't want the creator of the universe as their best friend?
Who wouldn't want the one who understands everything to be close to them....?
I think we are all too aware though that in spite of this reality, many people still want nothing to do with God, and even we who probably call ourselves people of faith often struggle for intimacy and to trust in this God...
Yeah he is the creator...
Yeah he wants to be my friend
But he's just too Big.... is one excuse I have heard
It's like in that Dr Seuss Story Horton hears a Whoo,
Horton means well but he is just so big that he may accidentally squash the whole of the Whoo Race...
I think the issues for many people is not the bigness of God... or the closeness of God that prevents them forming relationship...
But it's that fact that as Human beings we find it hard to trust anyone...
I remember trying to teach my son Aidan to swim... I was next to him in the pool, my shoulders were big enough to support him... but still he didn't trust me
He would not let go of the edge
Trust is not something any of us do naturally....
Mark 9: 14- tells the story of a demon possessed boy that is brought to the disciples to be healed.
It’s a foot step on the way to trust for the disciples…
I think we are all to aware that in the disciples are 12 individuals that are willing to be used by God… but over the course of Jesus’ ministry more often than not they seem to get it wrong..
A few verses earlier three of the disciples are given an insight into the greatness of God... and his closeness.
There up a mountain with Jesus prays and suddenly God reveals himself in Jesus.
Jesus is transfigured... his appearance changes.
The Godness that is as much an aspect of Jesus as his humanness leaks out…..
If that wasn’t enough Jesus is joined by two of the great prophets….
Moses and Elijah…
The disciples are flawed by this.
To top it all off we hear a voice from heaven – the Father speaks…
This is my son the beloved – listen to him…
God is real
God is close
God cares…
Surely an incident like this would transform their faith...
No longer would they doubt...
READ SCRIPTURE
As they come down from the mountain top and reality starts to creep in, the lessons the experience the joy from the mountain is lost...
But are we any different?
We peep into heaven in worship and forget it all when we come back to earth
when we leave the church walls, it all changes...
It's seems that all too often change in any of us is only every temporary...
We trust in God only as much as we have real need...
When it's something we think we can do in our own strength than too often we do it in our own strength
We should not really be surprised then by the reactions of the disciples…
They are willing to take up the challenge, but they fail, they can’t do it.
As we grow more and more familiar with the stories of the disciples in the Gospels I think we should becoming more and more aware that they continually fail to understand the meaning of Faith...
It's almost like that because of their position as disciples they feel as though they have made it...
So often they fail to see the discipleship – following Jesus is about a journey.
They haven't made it...YET!!!
In Mark 10:28 Jesus is talking about Salvation as a human impossibility, made possible only by the grace of God...
And how does Peter respond...
Well he boasts of the great and noble achievements that the disciples have made
“We have left everything and followed you.” that shows how far from making it the disciples are.
They are only on the road by the grace of God... yeah they left everything but big deal...
It was the call of God that put them on this journey...
It’s the same when Jesus predicts his death and says that all the disciples will deny and flee...
Peter turns around and says – not me Jesus, even if it costs me my life, I won't walk out on you...
But he does...
Faith is fragile.
Even for those who stand in close proximity to Jesus
In Matt 26:31
Jesus says, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
Don't ever loose sight of how fragile faith is...
Don’t ever take it for granted...
In the same story of the Demon possessed boy there is another character we are introduced too..
A concerned, distraught hurting father who wants nothing more than his son to be healed...
And the words he uses echo through history..
To many they have been a model of prayer...
A few words that seem to say so much about faith,
And offer a model of discipleship which I think normal people can probably appreciate
I believe help my unbelief…
Amazing words
I need to take a step but Lord I need you to carry me…
it's a recognition that intimacy and trust comes from relationship
But I think it also shows us that doubt also seems to stand often alongside faith.
And it's often our doubt that stops us fully trusting God.
Our faith has limits… that is kind of natural
we trust God to find us a parking space
but would we trust God to find us a job, or a partner?
We say we are people of faith but doubt always seems to follow on it’s heals
I guess it can feel like Doubt is the little worm that kills the fruit,
But it doesn’t have to be that way…
The doubt that the father feels doesn't push him away from God,
Rather it draws him into an honest and open relationship with God...
His doubts change the shape of faith
Unlike the disciples the father understand faith is organic and not static
It’s not that we have a once and for all response but we have to keep coming back time and time again
Following Jesus is a day to day reality..
The Father knows that in the stress and strains of life
Bread soon goes stale
The water of life soon becomes stagnant
Faith is our continued response to the grace of God
That's why when Jesus taught his disciples to pray he told them to seek their daily bread..
Following Jesus requires daily dependence on God..
The failure of the disciple’s shows this well
It’s not that their technique is wrong,
Or that they fail because they weren't Christian enough
They failed because they fail to bring it to God
Jesus reply – only through prayer...
The power to do God's work doesn't lie in them
But in the God who they are reliant upon..
The Father was different – his faith coupled with his powerlessness meant that his faith in Jesus would heal his son...
I guess, we need to have Faith on the mountaintop
But also in the valley...
Faith that God would deliver daily bread...
Because Faith is about reliance -surrendering yourself – letting go
Reliance upon God in the whole of life
That requires a daily diet of prayer...
We cannot work our way out of doubt and a lack of trust-
Belief comes through an on going relationship
Faith seek ongoing understanding
Faith is questioning and struggle before it becomes certainty and peace
Its formed not of abstract principles or understanding the vastness of the universe that God has created, but out of relationship
To know God.. Not just know facts about God but to know him personally
It's hard to trust God.
Simply deciding we will have more faith doesn't help either...
Rather an increase in faith comes from a prayer..
I believe help my unbelief...
Prayer like this are like finding an oasis in the desert.
When we ask for God's help he answers us,
He meets us in our need, we receive Joy, peace and restoration.
God is going to meet our need in his time.
His ways are not predictable, but he answers prayers like this.
At the end of this story -a son is made whole
A father's Mustard seed of faith moves a mountain.
Open, O doors and bolts of my heart,
That Christ the King of Glory may enter!
Enter, O my Light, and enlighten my darkness; enter,
O my Life, and resurrect my deadness; enter,
O my Physician, and heal my wounds; enter,
O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins; ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of thy love; enter,
O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin; sit on the throne of my heart and alone reign in me,
O thou, my King and Lord
St. Dimitry of Rostov, 17th c.,
Pentecost again
A Story…
As a kid we were asked to draw a picture of this scripture in RE – I miss heard what was being said so instead of tongues of fire I just drew a picture of the disciples being licked by giant tongues… did not warm myself to the RE teacher who thought I was tacking the Mick – oh if she could see me know…
WHAT CAN I SAY I was confused….
CONFUSION.
It seems to me though that confusion is one of the underlying themes of this biblical story.
The events that happen are beyond comprehension so much so that event those who experienced it were hard pressed to describe what was happening. In 2:12 we see that the crowd gathered were Amazed and confused – do much so that they had to keep asking each other what had happened here…. This is weird stuff
So much so that the only possible explanation from an on looker is Ah Yes – They must be drunk.
So as we explore this scripture this morning the question, “What does this all mean?” is probably a good place to start…
Well firstly the word “Pentecost” means 50…
50th day after the Passover.
The festival they celebrate on this day we would probably call first fruits, or harvest.
It’s one of three Pilgrim Festivals in the Jewish calendar – pilgrim because they are connected to pilgrimadges to Jerusalem… So to see devout Jews from every nation in Jerusalem on this day shouldn’t surprise us.
What happens to them obviously does surprise them and us…
The idea behind these feast is that they were to remind people of who they are.
Coming to Jerusalem, re emphasises that too,
It’s an excuse to tell the world your story,
- who they were
- how they were created
- and how they were redeemed
And in light of all this then the festivals helped reestablish their identity showing them how they were to live as God’s People.
At Passover they remember who they were gathered out of Egypt in the middle of the night and rescued
At Tabernacles which is like an end of year celebration they remember the 40 years in the wilderness and the establishment of the temple.
Sandwiched in between is this Pentecost, festival, of course they don’t call it Pentecost - In Hebrew they call this – Shavuot
-it’s a Festival with a double barrel meaning for the Jews.
1. To the giving of the Law
2. And to the first fruits of the harvest.
Giving of the law –
If you remember the story of Moses – the Pharaoh ordered the killing of the boys of Jewish women but the girls were allowed to live.
I guess there are two ways to quash a nation of people:
- You can put them all to death by the sword
- Or you can dilute and pollute their blood lines.
In killing the boys that is precisely what Pharaoh intended
When the sons of Jacob, the sons of God’s promise came to Egypt they were God’s people
Over time that got diluted so much so that as they exit Egypt the writer describes them in Exodus 12:37+38 as 600,000 men not including women and children and a mixed crowd….others…
The 600,000 we might call people who had stuck to a pure blood line
The others, were people of mixed blood – not true Jews but not Egyptians either – somewhere in between
People who aren’t really Jewish but wouldn’t fit with the Egyptians either, God fearers, immigrants, half castes we might call them a Motley Crew
In Exodus 19, they gather around the foot of God’s Mountain, to wait to hear God speak
Verse 16 on wards…
A cloud appears, trumpets blasts, everyone in the camp trembled.
The whole of Mount Sinai was covered in Smoke because God had come down on it as Fire…
Sound Familiar…
When Moses went up the mountain he was given the commandments that would be used as a basis of how this motley crew should now live.
The ten words on two stone tablets at Mount Sinia the giving of the law God establishes a covenant with his people
Basically God said – If they follow his law he will be there God, they will be his people.
God has rescued them out of Egypt but it’s only in the giving of the law the establishing of the covenant – if you like that they truly become God’s people.
Without the covenant they are just another people group, the only difference between them and anyone else is their noses and a love of humous.
But with the covenant they have become a Priestly Kingdom and a Holy nation.
So covenant is important – it’s worth celebrating
Prior to the Giving of the Law they were a collection of odds and sods - loosely related to each other descendents of Abraham but also a mixed race
At Mount Sinai in the giving of the Law – the Covenant was established - they became one people, one race.
Harvest
But Wait there’s more because for the Jews– Pentecost/ Shavout is also about Harvest –
The Fifty days prior being the time of the Grain harvest –
So in their farming calendar Passover to Pentecost is when they harvest grain..
They call this SHAVUOT which sounds bit like SABBAT or as we might say SABBATH
The harvest is finished and the land is about to rest, before replanting
What would happen is that on this day an offering by each farmer of two loaves of bread would be made in the temple….
While there as he offered the bread he would remember the story of his people
Deuteronomy 26:5 –
Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians ill-treated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labour. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
Harvest is an important occasion in establishing themselves as a people
– the reason they ended up in Egypt in the first place was because the harvest failed they had nothing to live on and so were forced to submit to an enemy people in order to survive.
At Sinai they become God’s People again
they are to be brought into their own land the harvest is not because they grow crops wells
- it’s a sign of God covenant with them,
- his care for them
- God is the source of their prosperity
Without God’s covenant they are not a people,
Without God’s Covenant they have no land
– the harvest will never be their own.
For the Israelites despite the fact they would wander around in the wilderness way longer than they had to through SHAVUOT they are moving to Sabbath – rest from wandering – for them it’s a cause of celebration – a feast, a party…
So In the City of Jerusalem there were Jews from Jerusalem and religious men from all over the world gathered…
Ready to give thanks to God for making them One People – his People.
Ready to re establish their identity as God’s people once more
As they Gathered around the temple expecting to hold up a couple of pieces of bread and give thanks to God for making them a people God breaks in
– like he did at Mount Sinai
As they remembered there story – a historical story of how God had once upon a time revealed himself to the People of Israel,
of how in smoke and fire and noises from heaven, the rescued reestablished people of God had become God’s People.
God Moves again
He enlivens their story
What was just a time to remember who you are suddenly comes alive
but God does something new as well…
Where around the Mountain the work of God was contained – the people were warned DO NOT Cross the boundary of many will die, now God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit is blowing wild…
The building cannot contain it
The people who are touched by the Spirit cannot contain it either,
The Spirit draws them out into the town square where they tell of the amazing things God has done.
Way back in genesis, God scattered the people by confusing their language.
Here on Pentecost morning – the motley Crew from the ends of the earth hear God speak in their own languages
The curse of Babel is reversed.
Sinai is back in business,
God is moving again drawing in the immigrants,
Reaching out to the half castes,
Creating one people again
On that morning four major things happen
1. On that morning the Church is born, A New Covenant is established -
With the rule of the Holy Spirit written on the hearts and lives as opposed to pieces of Stone
Under the High Priesthood of Jesus – who has become our once and for all Sacrifice
2. A New Tribe is established –
Not born of Flesh, but born of Spirit
Not Born form direct family lineage to a wandering Aramean who went down into Egypt way back in history. But gathered out of all the nations of the earth
3. A New Homeland is established –
Where once the people of God had a specific, geographical, piece of dirt, they called their promised land. Now everywhere is a potential land of promise.
As we pray and act in the name of God in this world, then his new Kingdom Comes.
It’s not bound by geography or location but by the gathering of people in God’s name,
Through the work of the people in God’s Name.
4. A New Place of worship is built
The Journey of God’s people led them from a mountain, to a temple, to an upper room to the Street.
Where the Temple was central to all that God’s People did in worship, through Christ the curtain has been torn the street, the market place is as much a potential place of worship as the grandest cathedral.
As the Stories Converge…
The Holy Spirit, “the shy member of the Trinity" reveals himself, breathes life into the dead bones of the religious observance of God’s people.
There are new beginnings
New Possibilities for God’s Mission
And New Life is possible
This can be a present reality for us…
The promise of Pentecost is that we too can hear God’s Voice speak to us
That we too can become his people
– wherever we have come from
– and whatever we have done.
In Acts 2 there is a convergence of many ways in which God has acted in the past and continues to act in the present,
So what does this all mean?
It means the doors are open for us all to have the Spirit’s fire breathe life into our tired faith
Or to ask God to breathe life into us for the first time.
As a kid we were asked to draw a picture of this scripture in RE – I miss heard what was being said so instead of tongues of fire I just drew a picture of the disciples being licked by giant tongues… did not warm myself to the RE teacher who thought I was tacking the Mick – oh if she could see me know…
WHAT CAN I SAY I was confused….
CONFUSION.
It seems to me though that confusion is one of the underlying themes of this biblical story.
The events that happen are beyond comprehension so much so that event those who experienced it were hard pressed to describe what was happening. In 2:12 we see that the crowd gathered were Amazed and confused – do much so that they had to keep asking each other what had happened here…. This is weird stuff
So much so that the only possible explanation from an on looker is Ah Yes – They must be drunk.
So as we explore this scripture this morning the question, “What does this all mean?” is probably a good place to start…
Well firstly the word “Pentecost” means 50…
50th day after the Passover.
The festival they celebrate on this day we would probably call first fruits, or harvest.
It’s one of three Pilgrim Festivals in the Jewish calendar – pilgrim because they are connected to pilgrimadges to Jerusalem… So to see devout Jews from every nation in Jerusalem on this day shouldn’t surprise us.
What happens to them obviously does surprise them and us…
The idea behind these feast is that they were to remind people of who they are.
Coming to Jerusalem, re emphasises that too,
It’s an excuse to tell the world your story,
- who they were
- how they were created
- and how they were redeemed
And in light of all this then the festivals helped reestablish their identity showing them how they were to live as God’s People.
At Passover they remember who they were gathered out of Egypt in the middle of the night and rescued
At Tabernacles which is like an end of year celebration they remember the 40 years in the wilderness and the establishment of the temple.
Sandwiched in between is this Pentecost, festival, of course they don’t call it Pentecost - In Hebrew they call this – Shavuot
-it’s a Festival with a double barrel meaning for the Jews.
1. To the giving of the Law
2. And to the first fruits of the harvest.
Giving of the law –
If you remember the story of Moses – the Pharaoh ordered the killing of the boys of Jewish women but the girls were allowed to live.
I guess there are two ways to quash a nation of people:
- You can put them all to death by the sword
- Or you can dilute and pollute their blood lines.
In killing the boys that is precisely what Pharaoh intended
When the sons of Jacob, the sons of God’s promise came to Egypt they were God’s people
Over time that got diluted so much so that as they exit Egypt the writer describes them in Exodus 12:37+38 as 600,000 men not including women and children and a mixed crowd….others…
The 600,000 we might call people who had stuck to a pure blood line
The others, were people of mixed blood – not true Jews but not Egyptians either – somewhere in between
People who aren’t really Jewish but wouldn’t fit with the Egyptians either, God fearers, immigrants, half castes we might call them a Motley Crew
In Exodus 19, they gather around the foot of God’s Mountain, to wait to hear God speak
Verse 16 on wards…
A cloud appears, trumpets blasts, everyone in the camp trembled.
The whole of Mount Sinai was covered in Smoke because God had come down on it as Fire…
Sound Familiar…
When Moses went up the mountain he was given the commandments that would be used as a basis of how this motley crew should now live.
The ten words on two stone tablets at Mount Sinia the giving of the law God establishes a covenant with his people
Basically God said – If they follow his law he will be there God, they will be his people.
God has rescued them out of Egypt but it’s only in the giving of the law the establishing of the covenant – if you like that they truly become God’s people.
Without the covenant they are just another people group, the only difference between them and anyone else is their noses and a love of humous.
But with the covenant they have become a Priestly Kingdom and a Holy nation.
So covenant is important – it’s worth celebrating
Prior to the Giving of the Law they were a collection of odds and sods - loosely related to each other descendents of Abraham but also a mixed race
At Mount Sinai in the giving of the Law – the Covenant was established - they became one people, one race.
Harvest
But Wait there’s more because for the Jews– Pentecost/ Shavout is also about Harvest –
The Fifty days prior being the time of the Grain harvest –
So in their farming calendar Passover to Pentecost is when they harvest grain..
They call this SHAVUOT which sounds bit like SABBAT or as we might say SABBATH
The harvest is finished and the land is about to rest, before replanting
What would happen is that on this day an offering by each farmer of two loaves of bread would be made in the temple….
While there as he offered the bread he would remember the story of his people
Deuteronomy 26:5 –
Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians ill-treated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labour. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
Harvest is an important occasion in establishing themselves as a people
– the reason they ended up in Egypt in the first place was because the harvest failed they had nothing to live on and so were forced to submit to an enemy people in order to survive.
At Sinai they become God’s People again
they are to be brought into their own land the harvest is not because they grow crops wells
- it’s a sign of God covenant with them,
- his care for them
- God is the source of their prosperity
Without God’s covenant they are not a people,
Without God’s Covenant they have no land
– the harvest will never be their own.
For the Israelites despite the fact they would wander around in the wilderness way longer than they had to through SHAVUOT they are moving to Sabbath – rest from wandering – for them it’s a cause of celebration – a feast, a party…
So In the City of Jerusalem there were Jews from Jerusalem and religious men from all over the world gathered…
Ready to give thanks to God for making them One People – his People.
Ready to re establish their identity as God’s people once more
As they Gathered around the temple expecting to hold up a couple of pieces of bread and give thanks to God for making them a people God breaks in
– like he did at Mount Sinai
As they remembered there story – a historical story of how God had once upon a time revealed himself to the People of Israel,
of how in smoke and fire and noises from heaven, the rescued reestablished people of God had become God’s People.
God Moves again
He enlivens their story
What was just a time to remember who you are suddenly comes alive
but God does something new as well…
Where around the Mountain the work of God was contained – the people were warned DO NOT Cross the boundary of many will die, now God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit is blowing wild…
The building cannot contain it
The people who are touched by the Spirit cannot contain it either,
The Spirit draws them out into the town square where they tell of the amazing things God has done.
Way back in genesis, God scattered the people by confusing their language.
Here on Pentecost morning – the motley Crew from the ends of the earth hear God speak in their own languages
The curse of Babel is reversed.
Sinai is back in business,
God is moving again drawing in the immigrants,
Reaching out to the half castes,
Creating one people again
On that morning four major things happen
1. On that morning the Church is born, A New Covenant is established -
With the rule of the Holy Spirit written on the hearts and lives as opposed to pieces of Stone
Under the High Priesthood of Jesus – who has become our once and for all Sacrifice
2. A New Tribe is established –
Not born of Flesh, but born of Spirit
Not Born form direct family lineage to a wandering Aramean who went down into Egypt way back in history. But gathered out of all the nations of the earth
3. A New Homeland is established –
Where once the people of God had a specific, geographical, piece of dirt, they called their promised land. Now everywhere is a potential land of promise.
As we pray and act in the name of God in this world, then his new Kingdom Comes.
It’s not bound by geography or location but by the gathering of people in God’s name,
Through the work of the people in God’s Name.
4. A New Place of worship is built
The Journey of God’s people led them from a mountain, to a temple, to an upper room to the Street.
Where the Temple was central to all that God’s People did in worship, through Christ the curtain has been torn the street, the market place is as much a potential place of worship as the grandest cathedral.
As the Stories Converge…
The Holy Spirit, “the shy member of the Trinity" reveals himself, breathes life into the dead bones of the religious observance of God’s people.
There are new beginnings
New Possibilities for God’s Mission
And New Life is possible
This can be a present reality for us…
The promise of Pentecost is that we too can hear God’s Voice speak to us
That we too can become his people
– wherever we have come from
– and whatever we have done.
In Acts 2 there is a convergence of many ways in which God has acted in the past and continues to act in the present,
So what does this all mean?
It means the doors are open for us all to have the Spirit’s fire breathe life into our tired faith
Or to ask God to breathe life into us for the first time.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Ephesians 4 Family Values
The faith of Paul really amazes me, SLIDE
Everything he does is for the Lord and his church
You only have to read a little bit of what he has to say and you get that real sense that nothing can separate him from God’s Love
- Chains, prison, ship wrecks, torture
It’s a costly commitment he has to tell people about God
- It’s put him on the offside of his people - the Jews, with the authorities he used to work for and even with some of his brother in Christ
And because of the Ephesians this commitment has put him in chains - remember Trophimus... from Acts 21:29).
He was with Paul in Jerusalem,
and the Jews, thinking that the Paul had brought him with him into the temple, placed charges against Paul resulted in him being in prison.
Paul’s attitude - no big deal - I’m in Christ we’ll work with it
It’s this 100% commitment to the gospel that fuels Paul’s words to Live a life worth of the calling you have received...
New Family, SLIDE
It’s easy to see Paul’s commitment but what about our commitment – what does that look like for us?
I guess we can put Verse 1 that another way that might make more sense
the calling Paul is talking about refers to the name in which we as Christians are called - if you are in Jesus you are no longer John Smith or Jane Doe - you have a new name - a new family Christ
Calling - that the name you have been called to take up
You’ve been adopted in to God’s Family...
At Paige’s baptism this morning we welcome her into Christ’s family and as part of that welcoming she is Christened or named in God’s family the Church
When we are talking about the Church family we are not just talking about Nativity we are talking about the wider church, SLIDE
The creeds we say use the words Catholic Church – or the universal Church.
God has a big family and because he has a big family there is a real need to watch out for each other – and watch our own actions
I think we are all aware that we are judged by how people perceive others in our family and unfortunately we all can too easily get tarred with the same brush
When I was 20 I wanted to join the local police
- I passed all the tests but was rejected on basis that my family had a bit of a bad name in the region
- two of my brothers had done time
- and because of their record my card was marked the police wouldn’t accept me I was judge because of my brothers
When it comes to the Church Family we have a huge responsibility to live up to family standards.
We fail and the family name takes a dive on the commodities market.
Paul was in prison for the commitment he has made to Jesus – taking hits left right and centre for his beliefs
When we fail to live up to the name we are called by others take the hits…
Family Values
I am the youngest of 8 and I left home when I was 21 to come to NZ – I think it took my family 5 years to realize I was gone - the bigger the family the harder it is to stay together
What holds us together is not only having the same family name, but also adopting the Family Values SLIDE
Being part of the family means that we also have family values that we share in common - Quirks, characteristics that are unique
In verse 2 Paul names a few of these family quirks Humility, gentleness and patience
Some times we call these values fruits of the Spirit – why because they are not things that grow naturally in human beings
They are alien values to the average person
Humility- in the ancient world humility was not a value to be honored...
Donkeys were humble - slaves were humble - the average person was not - humility was associated with weakness
Gentleness - again is an alien value - dog eat dog, survival of the fittest is often how we see the world - I have to get what is mine - and just to make sure I get what is mine I’ll make sure I get more than I need. Gentleness is not an every day value
And as for Patience well just look in the car mirror next time you are stuck in traffic and you will realize how alien this value is...
They don’t come naturally… there fruits of God’s work in us not natural human attributes
But these are the values that help hold us together...
We are different and joining into God’s family is not about loosing your uniqueness, your identity and dressing the same way as everyone else.
But if we are going to stay together we need to develop family values so we can maintain our family connection - in spite of our differences.
Now as I said they are sometimes referred to as Fruits of the Spirit that doesn’t mean we lie back and God waves his magic hand and it all happens
We take our part in allowing God to develop them in us –
Family Beliefs SLIDE
In verse 4 Paul introduces us to another aspect of family values – belief
- what we believe - a creed - it’s not some family motto or a deep philosophical reflection on the nature of the universe; rather more often than not it’s stating the obvious.
Saying Jesus is Lord may not mean a great deal in our world but in the world of the
Its unpacking things in a way that makes sense.
As the Christian Church we have creeds that say what we believe -
Once upon a time in order to be welcomed into the family you had to be able to memorize a creed - why?
The thought was if you couldn’t say it and you didn’t believe it then you weren’t a Christian - you can’t be part of the family.
- take the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons
- they look like us, they talk like us they, they carry bibles like us
- but they are not part of our Family
- why because they don’t believe what we believe they have a different creed...
That’s why it’s so important for us to say the creeds to each other
- when we come to the Lords table were sitting down for a family meal
- we establish who we are as a family through the creeds.
It’s telling our story - the things we have in common...
But in saying it to each other we are also teaching each other.
now I know some people don’t like saying it every week - it become rote
- Why should I have to say what I believe in order to take communion I have been coming here for years -?
but maybe in saying it to each other we can teach others??
When I think back to being a kid I was told I had to learn the creed into to take communion - I struggled to sit down and learn it - in the end I learnt it through sitting in church surrounded by people who had been saying it week in week out for years
- so to those who know the creed by rote I wan to say thank you for teaching me it too.
And who knows maybe your teaching others too....
Family Business
So we have a name, values and beliefs that make up this big family. But I think we are all aware that there is something more than that
It wasn’t that God just put us all together so we could sing some happy songs on a Sunday morning say some prayers and then go and have a coffee together.
Great as that is - wonderful as it is to spend time with you
- there must be something more?
- and yes there is SLIDE
- The family Business, being part of God’s Family requires a commitment to his core business...
In the Lords Prayer we pray our Father your will be done on earth as it is in heaven- that’s a great honor to be able to call the God of the Universe Dad - but with it comes a concern for the family business - seeing this place become God’s Place - seeing his will done HERE his Kingdom come HERE
He didn’t give up the life of his son and go to great sacrifice just so we could drink tea together
He did it so that we would become part of the family business of reconciliation.
On the cross the debt was paid for our sin - Jesus took every wrong thing upon his shoulders and died the death we deserve
In that we have been reconciled to God
But there’s more…
In his death he set us free - the captives that Paul talks about in verse 8 are people who have died in the faith... SLIDE
And when he ascended into Heaven he took them with him
The image is of a victory parade where a victorious King would return from battle with a triumphant procession of his people behind him
and in the process of this victory parade the King would hand out gifts to all his loyal people.
.
And it’s these gifts that help us to be reconciled to each other.
Practical gifts that will help us become family.... Family Values
But also practical gifts that will help us carry out the family business - of reconciliation.
We become God’s hands and feet – his agents of reconciliation
Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
No hands but yours,
No feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out Christ’s compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.
Christ Has No Body by St. Teresa of
God’s Business becomes our business.
As verse 10 puts it so the whole universe will be filled with his presence...
God’s kingdom has a universal scale.
God’s business our business reconciliation of all people of all things under his rule.
The trail of captives that ascended is a foretaste - the work is now ours to do.
In Verse 11 Paul lists five gifts, that were to be used to build up all God‘s People for the Family Business. SLIDE
Not going to go in with any great details but:
- Apostle - sent
- Prophet - mouth
- Evangelist - good news
- Pastor - shepherd
- Teacher - nurture
Now without even explaining them I am sure you can think of some of the ways in which these gifts exercise themselves.
And I am sure you can see potential conflicts between them, but without each other the family business doesn’t work.
I mean I think we are all too aware that growing grapes is one thing but unless you have someone to harvest, someone to juice, someone to ferment and someone to bottle you don’t get Wine
it’s no different for the Church
- A church without Evangelists turns teaching into lectures
- A church full of evangelists but no teaching is just a door way...
- A church without apostolic direction becomes a fortress that’s only concern is self-preservation.
SLIDE
But when the apostolic function exist it births new environments for ministry to take place in
When the prophetic ministry exists God’s people are continually called back to him - to his covenant relationship.
And as people are brought into relationship with God through the evangelist a place is created for pastoral ministry of nurture into Christ likeness and then through teaching people are led to a greater understanding of God’s will.
When these gifts work together - the family grows, not only numerically but in maturity too.
Historically the Church in the west has not valued these five gifts we have specialized as churches in shepherding and teaching people
And when they often rose up the people were ostracized for demonstrating these gifts
But we live in a different time - as I said a few weeks back the world we live in is probably closer Spiritually to the world of Ancient Rome SLIDE
-it’s hostile to the gospel – it’s pre Christian
Therefore we need these gifts and people gifted with them if we are to continue the family business
On Tuesday I was sitting in the staff meeting and I could see these gifts present in the staff team… it makes you wonder if God is assembling a ministry team this way - it makes you wonder what he has in store...
But it’s not just about the ministry team.
These gifts have been spread about the whole church.
- For some of you they are sleeping - if so then wake up
- For some of you they have been trod upon - if so then ask God to raise them up in you
- For some of you your angry with the Church – and so your hiding these gifts if so we hope you can find the opportunity to unveil them again
For the sake of God’s family we need these gifts
– after all God didn’t give you them so you could feel good about yourself but so the whole church could be built up…
In a moment we will gather around the table again for a family meal - I invite you as you receive to recommit yourselves to this family again... SLIDE
For others you have never been part of this family
-your sitting on the fringe
-well maybe in gathering you could commit yourself a step further
We are a family; we need to work together - to be one
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