Archive for June, 2008

Abraham and Isaac

June 26, 2008 at 5:56 pm · Filed under Jesus Christ, Old testament ·Tagged , , ,

 

Abraham and Isaac

Heb 11,11-19, Gen 22:1-18

Abraham is the great father of our faith. He set out in faith  when God called him in Ur of the Chaldees. It was a great thing God was demanding of him. Later his faith was tested when he and Sarah had no children. Eventually their faith was rewarded, when both of them were very old, with the birth of Isaac.

Sacrifice

Then, one day, God made an impossible demand on Abraham. He said, “Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”

So  Abraham  did what God had said. After a few days journey they saw Mount Moriah in the distance.  Abraham  and Isaac set off toward the mountain alone. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac to carry. He carried the fire and the knife. The two of them went off together.

 Isaac said to Abraham, “Father?”    “Yes, my son.”
   “We have fire and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”

 Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.” And they kept on walking together.

When they got there Abraham constructed an altar of unhewn stones, laid the wood on the altar, and then tied up Isaac and laid him on the altar. His heart was breaking as he took out his butcher’s knife and got ready to cut Isaac’s throat as if he were just a sacrificial animal.
Then he heard the voice of an angel:

“Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”  Abraham  looked up an saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. He released Isaac and together they went over to the ram sacrificed it, offering it to God on the altar. When the sacrifice was complete, God spoke to  Abraham and promised him that his descendents would multiply be a blessing to the whole world.  Abraham  called that place “the Lord will provide” because there, on Mount Moriah, God had provided a sacrifice.

A willing victim

How are we to understand this ancient story?
Is it  a primitive story of a vengeful God who requires human sacrifice from those who fear him?
No, in fact it is very likely that this story was written  to emphasize the fact that God does not require human sacrifice – unlike the gods of the pagans.

We can not imagine the world Abraham  inhabited.

A world in which pagan gods were thought to demand the blood of their worshippers.

 A world in which you faced the wrath of the gods if you refused to sacrifice your children to them.

 A world in which, when you laid the foundations of a new house, you had to slay your baby boy and place his body in the trench under the foundation stones – or else be cursed by the gods.

We really can not imagine such a world.

And the greater a god was considered to be: the greater the sacrifice that was expected. So when you worship the God of heaven and earth, the great Creator of all things,  what else can he demand from you than the sacrifice of all you count most dear. When  Abraham hears God asking him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of the promise,  he resolves to obey God, even though it tears at his heart. In the end God provided a sacrificial animal and Abraham  did not have to sacrifice the son that God had given him,  the son through whom all the promises of God were going to be fulfilled.

The message of the story is that God does not require human sacrifice – but Abraham didn’t know that at first. And he showed himself willing to make a sacrifice to the Lord – the God he both loved and feared.

  Mary was a little girl who needed a blood transfusion in order to recover from an otherwise fatal illness.  Two years earlier her brother Johnny had had the same illness and recovered from it. Now if Mary’s life was to be saved she needed a transfusion and she needed it fast. Johnny was of the same blood group and was the ideal donor. So the doctors explained to him that his sister needed his blood to save her life.Johnny agreed and the transfusion was carried out. It looked like Mary was going to be OK. Johnny looked up at the doctor and said, with a tremble in his voice, “How long now will it take for me to die?”  Poor Johnny, he had thought he was giving his life to save his sister. Now the doctors understood why his lip had trembled so much when they had asked him to give blood!

(Story from the  book “Written In Blood” by Robert Coleman)

I can’t help thinking that Isaac was like that boy Johnny in the story. We are not told Isaac’s feelings but you can’t help thinking of him as a willing victim. After all,  Abraham was a very old man and Isaac was a young man, in the prime of fitness and strength (he was probably in his late teens or early twenties.) it would have been easy for Isaac to have overpowered Abraham and to have made his escape.

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”  “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”  (Genesis 22: 7)

Surely he knew what was going to happen. He went knowingly along with it. He carried the wood for the altar fire on his own back. What was to stop him from throwing it down and running off into the wilderness?  Why did he submit to being tied up and laid on the altar?  We can only think it was with his consent.

Like Johnny who gave blood for his sister, Isaac was prepared to shed his blood for the father he loved as well as for his God. (Like many who have been prepared to shed their blood for their country or lay down their lives for the sake of the cause.)

We talk of the faith and obedience of  Abraham but what about the faith and obedience of Isaac?

 

Isaac and Jesus

Was Isaac not a little like Jesus when he was faced with the extreme test of his faith in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ”Abba,  Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”    (Mark 14: 35)

He knew that what God required of him was to lay down his life on the cross. Jesus became a willing victim at Calvary.

Isaac was offered at Mt. Moriah ( which was later the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, where sacrifices were offered to God). Jesus offered himself at Calvary -  just a short distance away from Moriah.
Isaac carried the wood of his sacrifice on his back to the place of execution: and so did Jesus when he carried his cross through the streets of Jerusalem.       

But there the similarity ends. Jesus was sacrificed, but Isaac was spared. God provided another creature for the sacrifice – a ram caught in the thicket – and Isaac went free.

 You could say that it’s not Isaac who represents Christ so much as the ram which was sacrificed. So in the New Testament Jesus is spoke of a sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Through his  sacrifice on the cross we can experience salvation, freedom from the punishment and guilt of our sins.
Martin Luther was once leading family devotions when he read the  account of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar in Genesis. His wife, said, “I do not believe it. God would not have treated his son like that!” “But, Katie,” Luther replied, “He did.”

God did sacrifice his Son. And the son did willingly offer himself.

When we think of the story of Isaac and  Abraham in these terms it no longer appears to be a cruel tale about a vengeful God. We see that it points to a  loving God who loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son. In Christ he provided a Lamb for the sacrifice.

[Bible quotations from The Message and New International Version]

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Nicodemus

June 20, 2008 at 10:04 am · Filed under Jesus Christ, New Testament ·Tagged , ,

Nicodemus
John 3: 1-17

Nicodemus is my name. I was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council for many years. I was a Pharisee – one of the strictest of  Jewish sects. And I was an expert in the Law of Moses. It was my task to teach young men and train them to become Rabbis. God’s Law was my guide and I knew it back to front. But something was lacking in my life. I couldn’t quite pin it down.

Then I heard about the young Rabbi from Galilee  -  Jesus of Nazareth. Most of the members of the Ruling Council were violently opposed to him but I was intrigued. There was something about his teachings that was so different and so refreshing. I had seen him in action too – he had cleansed the Temple, driven out the crooks  and money changers.

“How dare you turn my Father’s House into a marketplace!” he said.  I could not agree with him more with him over that. Many of us Pharisees felt the same way about the way the priests were turning God’s house into a commercial venture.
Then I heard about some of the miracles this man was said to have done.  He turned water into wine at a wedding feast, they said. He healed people and cast out demons. This man intrigued me.

By night

So I went to see him. I went by night  because I wanted it to be private. With all the opposition to Jesus in the Ruling Council I couldn’t afford to be seen talking to him. I went to his house  and knocked  on his door in the dark.  One of his disciples opened the door and ushered me in.  And there he was – a young man with a look of great wisdom and compassion in his eyes. “How can I help you?” he said.

“Rabbi we know you are a teacher who has come from God. No one could do the deeds you are doing unless God were with him.”

He looked me straight in the eye and said: “I solemnly tell you the truth: no one can see God’s Kingdom unless he is born again, born from above.”

“How can you be born again when you are old?” I said. “You can’t go back into your mother’s womb and be born again”.

It was a stupid thing to say – I realized that the  moment I had said it. I knew he wasn’t talking about physical birth in the Bible we read the Prophet Ezekial  where he refers to a spiritual new birth:
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”     (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

 Jesus said, “I tell you in all solemnity, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit no one can enter the kingdom of God.

I thought of the people who went to John to be baptized in the Jordan. They believed their sins were washed away and they entered into a new life. Is this what the Rabbi meant by being born again?

Spiritual regeneration

 “Don’t be too literal Nicodemus. Think about these things in spiritual terms. Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” I understood more fully then, he wasn’t talking of physical birth but of a spiritual regeneration, a renewal of the heart and soul by the Holy Spirit.

“You people should not be surprised at my saying you must all be born again. Listen to the wind blowing outside the house Nicodemus. You hear it whistling everywhere but you can’t control it. You don’t know where it comes from or where it goes. Well, think of the Spirit like that. You can’t control him, you can’t dictate to him.  You can’t produce new life in yourself – only the Spirit can give you that. And he will give you new life.”

“How can this be?” I said. I really wanted to know.

“What,” said Jesus, gently rebuking me, “you are a teacher of Israel and you do not understand these spiritual realities? Truly I say, we tell you the truth, we speak of spiritual realities we have seen and experienced but you people – you Pharisees and Teachers of the Law – you do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you Pharisees of earthly realities and you have not believed. What then if I speak of heavenly realities?”

He seemed to be making an amazing claim – to have been sent from heaven by God. “No one has even gone into heaven except the one who comes from heaven, the Son of Man.”  And then he referred to an incident in the Old Testament:  “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life . For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
 (John 3 16)

Turmoil

I left the house where Jesus was staying in a puzzled state of mind. I was in spiritual and mental turmoil. I wanted to believe in him but I couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying. I needed that new birth, that touch of the Spirit on my life. I went away and prayed to God that I might experience the new birth. I studied the Law of Moses, I read how the people of Israel were afflicted with fierce biting serpents in the wilderness. God commanded Moses to make a bronze statue of a serpent and to raise it up on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten by a snake looked up a that bronze serpent, with faith in God in their hearts and they were cured of their snakebite.

What did Jesus mean when he said he was like that bronze serpent?  How was Jesus going to be lifted up? what did it all mean? 

I didn’t understand then, but some three years later Jesus was crucified. Despite my efforts to save him he was brought before the Ruling Council and condemned to death. I saw him being taken out to the place of execution and being nailed to a cross. And then the cross was lifted up – like the serpent on the pole  in the wilderness. The way that man died was divine -  no other martyr had died so nobly or so sublimely. Even the hardened Roman Centurion was touched. “Truly this man was the Son of God!” he said.

After Jesus had died, Joseph of Aramathea and I plucked up our courage and went to Pilate. We asked for permission to bury the body of Jesus in a new tomb belonging to Joseph. And so we were privileged to bury him and prepare his body with spices.

But three day later he was alive!  He burst the bonds of death and triumphed over evil. What a tremendous victory! 

Faith

After the Resurrection I more fully understood what his words had meant. I experienced new birth. The Spirit illuminated my mind to see Jesus for who he really was -  the Son of God.  I could visualize him lifted up on that cross, dying for the sins of the whole world. For my sins too. I confessed them to God and humbly sought pardon in the name of Jesus his Son. I received eternal life 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3 16,17)

I will never forget that night when I went to see Jesus. And I say to you what he said to me: “You must be born again. Amen.”

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The Downfall of Goliath

June 19, 2008 at 10:11 pm · Filed under Old testament ·Tagged , ,

1 Samuel 17:1 – 58

Pula’s Story

Let’s look at a well known Bible story from a different angle – a different perspective.

My name is Pula. I’m an important man among the Philistines – well my master is an important men, I’m his shield bearer. I should rephrase that – my master was an important man among the Philistines. Goliath of Gath – perhaps you’ve heard of him? He was the Philistines ’s champion. What great fun it was to challenge those cowardly Israelites every day, for 40 days, morning and evening! To see those Hebrews slinking away trembling! We were camped on a hill on one side of the Valley of Oak Trees and the Israelites were on the other side, with a stream running between us.

 We Philistines are a mighty people – strong in battle, powerful and victorious. Some of our families produce men who are of giant stature – they are our renowned men of war. Goliath of Gath was the best of them all. He was nearly 10 foot tall. His body armour alone weighed about 14 stone. His spear was a great beam of wood and even its metal tip weighed 15 pounds alone. I was proud to walk in front of him bearing his shield – and that was heavy enough I can tell you!

That was a week ago. I still have not recovered from the shock. Now we are all slaves of the Israelites. I can’t help thinking that there must be something in a God who can bring a victory like that to an unarmed boy. No wonder they have no images of their God – who could adequately depict a God that great? I don’t believe in Dagon and all the other Philistine gods anymore. I think I’ll put my trust in this God of Israel!

 Goliath used to shout out his challenge every day – “If your champion kills me then we Philistines will all become your slaves. If I kill him you will become our slaves. I liked be idea of that – I could have done with some Hebrew slaves to work for me. And it looked like I would get them – there was no way we could lose!

 We prayed to our God Dagon, and to our other gods, but there wasn’t really any need for their help. We trusted in our own power – our bronze armour, our iron chariots, our trained fighting men – they were the best in the whole land. Most of all we trusted in Goliath. He trusted in himself – he had no self-doubt. Goliath had been a fighting man seems his youth and had never been defeated. Sensible people didn’t challenge him – I mean, would you mess with a man like that? Only if you were a seasoned soldier and had all the best armour and equipment.

 Well, after about 40 days of challenging the Israelites we were getting a bit bored with their pathetic attitude. Every day, they ran off whenever they saw Goliath. But at last we heard that they had found a champion – some poor sap who thought he could take on our giant. I wondered who it was going to be. They didn’t have any men of gigantic stature among their ranks. Saul the King – he was a tall man, and a warrior. But he was middle aged. Anyway I didn’t think they would risk allowing their king to fight.

 We were intrigued as to who their champion would be. When he came out at last I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was this some kind of joke – he was a boy! I suppose he might be 20 but he looked about 16. He didn’t have any armour! What’s more, as far as I could see, he didn’t have any weapons! Well, he had a shepherd’s staff and a sling – the sort of thing you can use for driving off wild animals. But whoever thought of going to battle equipped like that?

I was astounded. My master was insulted. “Do you think I am a dog that you come at me with a stick?” He said and then he cursed the lad in the name of all our gods. “Come here and I will turn you into a meal for the crows”, he said.

Then the lad said, “You come at me with a sword and a spear and a battle axe but I come at you in the name of the God of the angel armies, the God of Israel’s troops”. The God you have rejected and despised. My God will hand you over to me – it’s your body and the bodies of all your pals that will feed the crows. Then everyone will see that there is an extraordinary God in Israel – one who doesn’t need a sword or a spear to defeat his enemies. Our God will give us victory”.

 Well, Goliath and I were gobsmacked – and all the Philistines. Our gods are powerful – otherwise how would we be so successful in battle? As for the god of Israel: who is he? I’ve never seen him!. These Israelites are too poor – or too stingy – to make images of him! They’re always being defeated in battle. “Who is their god”, – that’s what I thought. But my ideas were soon going to change.

 Goliath was furious. He ran down the slope swinging his sword and I tried to keep up with him with the shield. The lad came running towards us. “Now for the slaughter,” I thought. Suddenly the boy stopped, he reached into his bag for a pebble and sent it flying it with full force at Goliath. Before I knew what had happened my master was lying face down and the lad was upon him. He grabbed Goliath’s sword and hacked off his head.

 When I saw him holding my master’s decapitated head in his hand I was terrified. My legs started trembling and I ran off and hid. All the Philistines fled and the Israelites chased us all the way to the gates of Ekron. I only just escaped with my life.
So end the words of Pula!
With a bit of imagination we have been able to look at things from the Philistines’ point of view. What lessons do we learn?
 Pride come before a fall
Lessons to be learned by various groups:

The Philistines

The Philistines prided themselves on their military might and superior power. Goliath prided himself on his stature and physical strength. It never occurred to him that he could be brought low by a boy with a stone. David, on the other hand, trusted in God. It was because God was being defied that he took on Goliath and he trusted that God would help him fight God’s battle.

 If we are doing God’s work, standing up for his cause, then we can be confident that he will give us strength for the task.

The Israelites

It was because of pride that the Israelites had been defeated by the Philistines in the first place. King Saul had been disobedient to God and had gone his own way. The Philistines were being used by God as a chastisement for Israel. But now the time had come for Israel to be helped. David was God’s chosen instrument and he was, in time, to go on to become king to lead his people to victory.

Nations and leaders today

It is a biblical principle that nations or leaders that set themselves against God will fall from power: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6)

 We see many instances in the Bible – King Nebuchadnezzar for example.

In modern times the Shah of Persia held magnificent celebrations on the site of the ancient Persian palaces. He proclaimed himself to be “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. Within a few years he was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Much as we might despise all that the Ayatollah stood for we can see how he was used as God’s judgement upon a man who took divine titles to himself.

Rulers beware – don’t set yourself against God.

 The Church today

The Church today must stop behaving as we were like Goliath. The days of a powerful, influential, established Church are gone. Instead we must be more like David – small, despised possibly, active, full of faith, unafraid to take on the giants of our day. You can interpret those “giants” in different ways – it may be our godless society, obsessed with sex and pleasure. It may be the drug and alcohol culture. It may be injustice and oppression in the world. It may be the challenge of secularism within our society or the world wide challenge of other religions such as Islam.

 

Individual Christians in daily life

As individual Christians too, we all face “giants” in our lives – difficulties, troubles, temptations, trials. Like David we must trust in God, rather than in our own human strength, to overcome these difficulties.

 

 N.B. You won’t find the name Pula in the Bible. It is entirly fictional, made up for the purpose of this sermon.     Rev DHJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Son of Encouragement

June 15, 2008 at 11:30 pm · Filed under Christian living, New Testament ·Tagged ,

Barnabas -  Son of Encouragement
Acts 11:19-30


Introduction
Last Wednesday was St Barnabas’ Day.  He was one of the most important leaders in the early church. Barnabas  and Paul were missionaries and both of them were referred to as “apostles” even though they were not of the original apostolic group of 12 disciples. 

Son of Encouragement

What do we know of Barnabas? He was born and raised on the island of Cyprus, a Jew of the tribe of Levi. His given name was Joseph but his nickname was Barnabas. This name can be translated as “Son of Encouragement” or “Son of Exhortation” or “Son of Comfort”. It means that he was the sort of person  who helps you to fulfil your potential, who builds you up, who enables you to develop inwardly. (The same word Parakletos) is used of the Holy Spirit himself – he is the Comforter or Helper for the Christian. Barnabas, then partook of this quality himself. He was a great encourager and strengthener.)

 Why “Son of Encouragement? Well, that’s  just a Hebraic idiom. If you wished to say a man was good you might call him a Son of Righteousness.  A merciful person might be called a Son or Daughter of Mercy. “Son of Encouragement” then just means “Encourager”.

 Barnabas was given this name because he was always building up others, rather than pulling them down. His influence was positive rather than negative. He helped others to be better Christians. He did it most of all by example:
 
The very first time we hear of him he is setting a good example to the other Christians.

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.   [Acts 4: 36-37]

This was so the money could be used to help people in need. Barnabas  wanted to help the poor so he gave generously.

In the very next few verses we read of Ananias and Sapphira who sold some property, but who lied to the Holy Spirit and paid for it with their lives. Barnabas was the exact opposite of Ananias and Sapphira -  he was generous, concerned and honest – a true Son of Encouragement.

 

Giving a second chance

 The next time we hear of Barnabas  he is doing something else encouraging. Saul of Tarsus had been persecuting the Church. He had hunted down Christians and had them put in prison. He had been personally implicated in the death of Stephen, the first martyr. But Saul had been taken hold of by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. He had been converted.

This was an amazing thing -  he who had formerly persecuted the Church was now going round openly proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah!  It was just too good to be true, to good to believe.  
So, when Saul came to Jerusalem and tried to join with the disciples of Jesus there, they didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Quite naturally they were afraid of him. Had he really been changed, or was it all a sham? Was he some kind of spy for the chief priests?

It looked like Saul was not going to be able to overcome their prejudice. But this is where Barnabas  comes in. He talked to Saul and heard from his own lips the wonderful story of his conversion. Barnabas then brought Saul to the Apostles and vouched that this man had been totally transformed by his encounter with the risen Christ. He introduced Saul to them, and they accepted him.  Yes,  Barnabas was  a true Son of Encouragement. He was always willing to see the good in a person, to set aside prejudice, to give a person a second chance.

 Later Saul and  Barnabas were chosen by the Church ( under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit) to go as missionaries to the Gentiles.

 Sharp disagreement

Paul (as he was now known) and  Barnabas went on the first missionary journey with John Mark – a relative of Barnabas.  Part of the way through the trip Mark turned back and went home. Paul thought very ill of this lack of commitment on Mark’s part.

But  Barnabas  wanted to give Mark a second chance and take him on another missionary journey. Paul was adamant  – Mark had shown himself to be unreliable. There was such a sharp disagreement between them that Paul and  Barnabas parted company.  Barnabas  took Mark and sailed for Cyprus ( his home island). Meanwhile, Paul and Silas went to Syria and Cilicia ( Paul’s home area). 

So Barnabas  stuck to his guns and refused to give in Paul, the great Apostle. For him it was  a matter of principle to give Mark a chance to make up for his previous fault. “Give him another chance”. After all, where would Paul himself had been if Mark hadn’t given him a chance and introduced him to the Apostles?

 Well, was Barnabas right or was Paul right? It’s had to say because God blessed both of them on their missionary journeys. But  you could argue that Barnabas  was shown to have been right in giving Mark a second chance because Mark did not let them down again. He went on to become a valuable worker in the church and to write Mark’s Gospel. Paul himself found Mark to be a help to him:

  Only Luke is with me. Get  Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful  to me in my ministry.    [2 Timothy 4:11]
   
 Barnabas’ encouraging spirit was a great blessing to the church and a means of nurturing faith in others.

Implicated in compromise

 We can think of Barnabas as a saint, an apostle (in a sense), a great leader in the church.  But we see also how he was not perfect.
 
One thing I like about the Bible is the way it is completely honest about the lives of those whose experience it records . Thus we learn that Noah got drunk, David committed adultery, Elijah wished God to end his life, John the Baptist almost lost his faith while he was in prison, Peter denied his Lord, etc. And so we also see a defect in Barnabas.

 The Apostle Paul was a true Jew,  a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but he had a heart for the Gentiles. He wanted them to know the Lord. He and  Barnabas laboured hard to bring the Good News to the Gentiles and they were rewarded in seeing many of them coming to faith in Christ. Paul and Barnabas were content to see these converts trusting in God and seeking to keep the Ten Commandments. They did not require them to become Jews first, before they became Christians. But there were others who did require this. They wanted the Gentile converts to be circumcised and to keep all the Jewish ritual laws. Paul knew that if this was allowed then it would nullify the Gospel: salvation is by faith in Christ,  not by works of Law. So he took a stand against the Judaizers.

Peter at first took Paul’s side, but later compromised when some strict Jewish Christians came to Jerusalem. And Barnabas was implicated in this compromise too.  

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.
Before certain men came from James, he  used to eat with the Gentiles. But when  they arrived, he began to draw back and  separate himself from the Gentiles  because he was afraid of those who  belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his  hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.   [Gal 2: 11-13]

So we have another rift between Paul and Barnabas.  Barnabas was prepared  to go along with the Judaizers. for the sake of peace. He was prepared to compromise the Gospel. If when he had opposed Paul before he had been proven right later, this time he was definitely wrong.

“A gentle character may easily do the wrong thing for the sake of apparent peace”.    ( J Stafford Wright)

It is good to know that the rift between Paul and  Barnabas  was later healed (just like the one between Paul and Mark).
 In 1 Cor 9:  6 Paul refers to  Barnabas as a fellow worker -  so it looks like their fellowship was restored.

 

 Conclusion

From the life of Barnabas  we can learn how encouragement can build up people and help them find their place and work in God’s Kingdom. A word of encouragement, can build up, can enable and can empower you.

This is what Barnabas did. He was a Son of Encouragement. How can you and I be sons or daughters of encouragement? Are we prepared to give people a second chance? Just think: if Barnabas had not given a chance to Mark he might have just given up in discouragement. The Church would have been deprived of a valuable worker and Mark’s Gospel would not have been written. And it is  possible that if  Barnabas had not given a chance to Saul of Tasus he might never have become Paul the great Apostle to the Gentiles. What a lot of good can be done by a few acts of encouragement!

 At the same time we must also learn from Barnabas’ mistakes. On that one occasion he failed to stand his ground on a matter of principle,  preferring outward peace. That was a mistake.  Sometimes, like Paul and like Martin  Luther we have to say: “Here I stand: I can do no other”.

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The Unchanging Christ

June 12, 2008 at 10:18 pm · Filed under Christian living, New Testament ·Tagged ,

Living  in the way of the unchanging Christ

 

 

 

 

(Sermon preached in Brecon in 2007)

Jeremiah 2:4-13, Hebrews 13:1-8

introduction

Jeremiah puts these words in God’s mouth, lamenting the fickleness of the nation of Judah:
“My people have committed two sins:They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.     (Jeremiah 2:13)
They had rejected God and relied on their own DIY religion. 

It’s a criticism which could be leveled at our nation today, as we increasingly reject our Christian heritage and go after other gods – materialism, New Age spiritualities, sexual licence and hedonism.

Our reading from Hebrews helps us to rectify this situation, for it tells us how we ought to live a Christians. In the previous chapter we are warned of the peril of refusing God. There is no salvation for those who reject God:
“Our God is a consuming fire”  Heb. 12 29

And then, in chapter 13, the writer  lays out guidelines for living our lives as followers of the unchanging Christ. Lets look at these for a more positive view today:
“Keep on loving one another as brothers”  ( v1)
These verses show us how to live our Christian life. They show the practical outworking of Christian love.

 
1) Hospitality to strangers 

(v2) Keep on loving each other as brothers.  Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

It’s not just being hospitable to our friends, but specifically to strangers – to new-comers, to foreigners, immigrants, people who feel out of place, those who are homesick. Do something to make others feel welcome.  There is a lot in the OT about concern for the alien, the foreigner, in society. 

“Entertaining angels unawares”  -  that’s what happened to Abraham when three strangers appeared at his home. He welcomed them  and only later realized they were angels. Abraham received a blessing – the gift of his son Isaac from that episode.

Unusual angels

One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the rain, the couple approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter for the night.
“Could you possibly give us a room here?” the husband asked. The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and explained that there were three conventions in town.

“All of our rooms are taken,” the clerk said. “But I can’t send a nice couple like you out in the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly a suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the night.”
When the couple declined, the young man pressed on. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll make out just fine,” the clerk told them. So the couple agreed.
As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, “You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.”

The clerk looked at the couple and smiled. The three of them had a good laugh. As they drove away, the elderly couple agreed that the helpful clerk was indeed exceptional, as finding people who are both friendly and helpful isn’t easy.

Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night and enclosed a round- trip ticket to New York, asking the young man to pay them a visit.  The old man met him in New York, and led him to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. He then pointed to a great new building there, a palace of reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to the sky.
“That,” said the older man, “is the hotel I have just built for you to manage.”

“You must be joking,” the young man said.
“I can assure you that I am not,” said the older man, a sly smile playing around his mouth.

The old man’s name was William Waldorf Astor, and the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The young clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt. This young clerk never foresaw the turn of events that would lead him to become the manager of one of the world’s most glamorous hotels.

[Story take from the Internet - author unknown]

The Bible says that we are not to turn our backs on those who are in need— for we might be entertaining angels.

 
2) Concern for prisoners of conscience

(v3) Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.
It refers to to those imprisoned for their Christian faith,  rather than just criminals in prison. Believers had been imprisoned, beaten and tortured. Remember, them pray for them, campaign for their release.

 Let us not forget our brothers and  sisters in Burma, North Korea, China, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and so many other places where there is no freedom of worship. (In some of these place you can go to prison for carrying a Bible in the street.)

Only recently 23 Korean Christian men and women in Afghanistan were captured by the Taliban and kept for two months. Two of them were killed and the rest were only freed last Friday. And what was their crime? Preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. They were simply trying to fulfil the command of Jesus to go out in his name healing the sick and preaching the good news.
Remember those who are persecuted.

 

 

3) Concern for marriage

(v4) Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure,
These are perhaps among the most unpopular words in the Bible today. For in our day marriage is despised.

·  many people don’t bother to get married and just live together
·  many divorce too easily. They give up on their marriage far too early.
·  even those who do marry often spent far more money and effort on the day itself than they do to their life together. A recent article in one of our daily newspapers describes the expense and effort of a modern wedding day as grotesque. Tens of thousand of pounds are spent on what should just be a simple exchange of vows and prayers for God’s blessing.

Here are some even more unpopular words:
“for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
The church must not shy away from this message – no matter how unpopular it is.

 
4) Concern about materialism

(v35-6)  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
 
I don’t think I need to add a thing! We live in an affluent society. We have our cars, holidays, clothes and houses, all kinds of exotic foods. Meanwhile, more than half of the world’s population is malnourished and badly housed.  We are far more affluent than we were in the past.  (Some say that poverty is the cause of crime, but are we a less crime-ridden society than we used to be?  Material prosperity has not proved to be the answer to our moral problems. Instead, making a god of money has led to moral decline.)

The Christian should view all their possessions as being held in trust for God. They are his, and we are to use them in whatever way he wants us to use them. Don’t make money your god, don’t hoard wealth.

(v6)  God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”    Trust in God to provide.

 
5) Respect for leaders

(v7)  Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

It refers to those who had first come to them with the message of Christ. Imitate their way of life. Model your faith on them. (Presumably they have now gone to their reward.)

In both  the church and the nation there is a fatal tendancy to forget about the great leaders of the past – or even to disparage them. But we are encouraged here to remember them and to benefit from their example. It’s good to read biographies of great Christian men and women of the past. It is inspiring to reflect on their lives. And   also those who are still alive. And those we have known who first set our feet on the road to heaven.

Conclusion

·  Christ was the Lord and Saviour of the saints of old
·  Christ is the Lord and Saviour for the Christian of today.
·  Christ will be the Lord and Saviour for those yet to come.

( v8 )  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
The Eternal Christ: he does not change. Follow his way of love.

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Trade Secret

June 10, 2008 at 7:59 pm · Filed under Christian living, Jesus Christ ·Tagged , ,

Trade Secret

I was listening to the radio as I was driving the car – the programme was Woman’s Hour ( on BBC Radio 4) and they were talking about obstectric methods in the C17th. Before that time, apparently, there had been no safe way to deliver babies in difficult cases and many newborn children were lost. Often women died in childbirth, in terrible pain. Sometimes both mother and child would be lost, despite the best efforts of the doctor and midwife. Obstetricians could find ways of removing the child from the womb, but not alive – the detail are too gruesome to mention.

Then the Chamberlens, a family of Huguenot refugees, hit upon the idea of using forceps to deliver the child. (The Huguenots were Protestants who had fled religious persecution in France.) Rich women paid large sums of money to have the help of doctor Chamberlen. He had a competitive advantage over all the other doctors. If mothers went to him there was a much greater chance their child would be delivered safely. The obstetric forceps were a trade secret, kept for 100 years in the family. Dr. Chamberlen would arrive with a large gilt-covered box containing the wonderful apparatus. It looked very impressive but no one knew it just contained a simple forceps! And so the Chamberlen family became rich on their secret.

I found this to be a blood chilling piece of information – far more so than the gruesome details of delivery methods prior to this period. Just think: hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of babies, whose lives could have been saved by this wonderful and simple invention, died at birth. Mothers suffered excruciating pain and some died. And all because the Chamberlen family would not share their secret!

They may have been seeking religious freedom in England but obviously their religion did not impact on their daily lives. It did not apply to the task of money making. How calculating! How grasping! How unchristian!

And then I thought: we are in a similar situation. We who follow Jesus Christ believe in a Gospel which can bring salvation to the world. It is good news for all people: and yet millions live and die without ever hearing his name. ( It is said that 97% of the world’s population have heard of Coca Cola whereas only about 75% have heard of the name of Jesus). We may not be actually guilty of preventing others from knowing the Saviour, but are we doing all we can to spread the knowledge of his salvation to others? It is a challenge to all who claim to follow Jesus Christ.

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fathers: human and divine

June 8, 2008 at 6:53 pm · Filed under God the Father, Jesus Christ, New Testament ·Tagged , ,

Some thoughts for Fathers’ Day – based on an all-age sermon preached in Brecon.

The father of Jesus.

Jesus is the Son of God. The Heavenly Father is his Father, and has always been from before the beginning of the world. But as a child, Jesus had an earthly father also – Joseph. He wasn’t the real father of Jesus – God was.

But Joseph did marry Mary, Joseph did bring Jesus up, Joseph did become the foster father of Jesus. Jesus, indeed, was known as “Jesus of the son of Joseph the Carpenter of Nazareth”.
So we are going to be thinking about the two fathers of Jesus.

 
 Joseph

You know the Christmas story - Joseph had found out that Mary was going to have baby. They were not yet married, and Joseph knew it wasn’t his child. It must have been terrible for him to think that Mary had betrayed him with another man, and terrible for Mary that Joseph should think that. It was a terrible time of suffering for both of them. Joseph  decided to break off the engagement, and to do it privately because he  didn’t want to cause more pain to Mary. He still loved her.

The Angel spoke to Joseph in a dream. “Joseph  do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby she is going to have is from the Holy Spirit. she will have a son  and you should call him Jesus (the Lord saves) because he will save his people from their sins”.

So Joseph  did what the Angel had said – he took Mary as his wife, and the child in her womb became legally his.

Then they had a terrible time.  Joseph and Mary had to go all the way to Bethlehem, and her child was born in a stable.  They  had to flee in order to escape from Herod’s soldiers to the land of Egypt. In all this Joseph  cared for Mary and Jesus. He protected them, he guarded them, he provided for them.

Have you ever wondered why, in Matthews Gospel, when he tells us about the wise men coming to the house where the Holy Family were lodging, there is no mention of Joseph?
 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. (Matt 2: 11)
Where was Joseph ? I think he was out  working as a carpenter somewhere – he was earning money to support his wife and child.

Later the Holy Family returned from Egypt and settled in Nazareth. Joseph  made sure Jesus could read and write. He took him to the village school in the synagogue where the Rabbi taught the boys to read and instructed them in God’s Law. Jesus learned to love God’s word.

 Joseph  also trained Jesus in the carpenter’s trade. Together they would work at the bench, making chairs, and beds, and yokes for animals.

Later we read of Jesus being referred to as “the carpenter of Nazareth” -  and no mention of Joseph. So it is very likely that Joseph  died when Jesus was in his early twenties. Jesus then became head of the family -  running the business with his younger brothers.
Joseph was, in so many ways, an ideal father. He was loving and caring, he was honest and righteous ( wanted to do the right thing). He protected his family.

In St Joseph’s RC Primary school in Brecon there is a the statue of Joseph  and the boy Jesus, represented in modern dress. Jesus stand in front of Joseph and Joseph has his hands on his shoulders. Beautifully expressive of protection and care, and pride in his son.

Joseph provided for his family, he trained his children both in God’s Law and in the carpenter’s trade. he was a good father. And Jesus wasn’t even really his child!
Joseph is a real encouragement and inspiration. Not just to all fathers but especially to foster fathers and step-fathers.

He showed all the characterisics of the good father:

·  LOVING
·  CARING
·  RIGHTEOUS
·  PROTECTING
·  PROVIDING
·  TRAINING

 

God our Father

I want us to think about God now as our Father. He is the Father of Jesus in a very special way, but he is also our Father. We are his sons and daughters, although not in the same way that Jesus is. But if we believe in Jesus we are children of God.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God  (John 1: 12)

When  and Mary lost Jesus at the age of 12 in Jerusalem they eventually found him in the Temple. He said them, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
 Jesus knew from an early age that God was his Father.

Let’s think about the characteristics of a good father. They are true of Joseph but they are even more true of God. All earthly fathers take their lead from God as Heavenly Father.

·  LOVING 
 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3: 16)

·  CARING  Casting all your care on him; for he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

·  RIGHTEOUS  God is holy and pure. He wants us to be holy like him. he will forgive our sins if we repent.

·  PROTECTING  And we can turn to him at all times

·  PROVIDING 
 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
 (Matt 6: 32-34) 

·  TRAINING  He has given the Bible, his Word, and sent his Spirit to help us understand.

 
Conclusion


Some people have never known the love of a good father (or father-figure) in their lives. That is very sad.
 But everyone can turn to God, who is a father to the fatherless, and whose purpose for each one of us is one of love.
 All he wants is us to do is respond to his love.

 

Note: this material is not copyright. Anyone who finds it helpful may use it in sermons, articles, print and reprint, with or without acknowledgement.

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