Archive for July, 2008

The spirit and power of Elijah

July 26, 2008 at 3:29 pm · Filed under New Testament, Old testament ·Tagged , , ,

Malachi 4: 5 – 6, Mark 2:1-8  

                                   

 

                                                 

Introduction
At the very end of the Old Testament – last few verses of Book of Malachi – we find these words :

Mal 4: 5 – 6
 5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

The Elijah who was to come

For centuries the Rabbis argued and debated about what Malachi’s words might mean. Eventually they decided that Elijah would come back in some form to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord – the Messiah. 
 
Remember how Jesus once asked his desciples  “Who do the crowds say I am?” 
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the prophet of long ago has come back to life.”
“But who do you say I am?” 
Peter said: “You are the Christ of God”. 
 Jesus, then, was not Elijah in a new form he was none other than the Messiah himself. The one who came before him like Elijah was John the Baptist.  
 
Jesus himself  on one occasion said that John was the Elijah who was to come – the fulfillment of the words of Malachi. 
 
What then are we say? Does the Bible teach reincarnation? Was John a reincarnation of Elijah – the same person in a different body? No, I don’t think so. For   two reasons: 
·   Elijah himself actually puts in an appearance with Moses at the Transfiguration . So John couldn’t actually be Elijah himself.

·   In any case the Bible does not teach reincarnation. We are told in no uncertain terms in Heb. 9:27 “It is appointed tor man once to die and after that comes judgements.”

The spirit and power of Elijah

What then does the prophet Malachi mean by these words? 
When the angel Gabriel announced John’s birth to Zecharia his father he said

Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.   And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.  “   (Lk 1: 16 – 17)

The spirit and power of Elijah. That is, not Elijah himself but a man with the same kind of role and with the same divine power.

Compare and contrast

When I was in school studying biology we often were asked to write essays comparing and contrasting two things – two animals or plants.
Let us compare and contrast Elijah and John the Baptist.

First the similarities: 
 
·   Lifestyle and dress 
 (2  Kings 1: 8 ) The prophet Elijah seemed to spend most of his time in the desert. He wore a rough robe made of woven animal hair and a leather belt. He lived on next to nothing. During the drought while he lived by the Cherith stream he subsisted on nothing but stale bread dropped by ravens! 
 
John the Baptist also spent most of his time in the desert. (Matt. 3:4 ) He wore clothes made of woven camel hair and he had a rough leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey (perhaps a bit more nutritious than dry bread!) 

·   Their message
Their were both wild prophetic figures living as hermits in the wilderness. They were both called by God to proclaim his message of judgement against sin and to call the nation back to repentance. People had to be truly sorry for their sins and to turn away from them. Elijah  challenged the nation to make up their mind about following the Lord – to be earnest in worshipping him and to turn away from the worship of false  gods.
 (1 King’s 18: 21).  
Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
 
John challenged the nation to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Messiah – “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,” he said. 
 
Both prophets spoke out about sin in high places and were not afraid to challenge  kings . Elijah spoken against King Ahab and his pagan Queen Jezebel who had corrupted the religion of Israel and introduced the worship of Baal.  John the Baptist challenged Herod about his sin in his relationship with Herodias, his brother’s wife, and many other evil things he had done.

·   Persecution
Both prophets suffered for their outspoken words.  Elijah had to flee for his life from Jezebel and John was thrown into prison by Herod and eventually beheaded.

·  Success
Both prophets experienced great success at one point in their work – Elijah   overcame the prophets  of Baal at Mount Carmel and John had crowds of people flocking to him to be baptised. Even Jesus came to be baptised  by John.

·  Doubt
Both men suffered from depression and doubts about their ministry. After he fled from Jezebel Elijah went to Mount Horeb and there he was overcome by exhaustion and sorrow and he prayed that he might die.
 (1 Kings 19: 10 )
 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
He felt a failure despite the victories he had gained.

John the Baptist also became despondent. After Herod threw him in jail he began to have doubts about Jesus.                                       


(Lk 7: 19) John sent to of his followers to Jesus with this questions: “Are you be one who was to come or should we expect someone else?” 

 This is the John who had confidently proclaimed that Jesus was the expected Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But now, in his dank prison, John has his doubts.  Jesus performed miracles of healing and sent the messengers back -

(Lk 7: 22.)
So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

So both John the Baptist and  Elijah  suffered doubts about the validity and success of their mission. 
 
These are the similarities between the  two men. There are differences of course.

·  Elijah never died -  he was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot – whereas John was martyred by Herod.

·  Elijah performed many remarkable miracles.  John, as far as we know, performed no miracles at all.
But John went “before the Lord  in the spirit and power of  Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Lk 1:17) 
 His message of repentance was a healing message. It brought not just reconciliation with God but also between generations and within families. 
 
Conclusion


Are we ready to take his message to heart? Are we ready to receive the Lord into our hearts now?

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Message of the Prophet Malachi

July 26, 2008 at 3:07 pm · Filed under Christian living, Old testament ·Tagged , , ,

Readings:  Malachi 3: 6 – 18, Revelation 3: 14 – 22

Introduction 


Malachi   ( = “my messenger” )  is the last book of the Old Testament. It addresses the problem of a people who had grown weary in their faith and who were just “going through the motions”.

Like so many of the Minor Prophets Malachi speaks to us today.  Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what you are doing when you come to church? Why are you here? Is it because you know and love the Lord, or is it just something you were brought up to do? To go to church on Sunday. Is it just something you do by habit? Do you sometimes feel that you are only “going through the motions”? Do you tend to  think that religion is nothing to do with life – just pius words and phrases with no substance? If the answer is “Yes”, then listen to what Malachi has to say.

Or perhaps you have begun to think that there is no point in trying to leave a good life, struggling to keep the commandments, to maintain Christian standards. “What’s the point”, you say. “Evil people seem to get on in life, good people get no reward”. If you are beginning to think that way then listen to the words of Malach – God’s messenger. 
 

Message of Malachi 
 
Malachi was trying to waken the nation from their spiritual stupor. Many years earlier the nation had returned from exile in Babylon and rebuilt the Temple and the walls of the City.  They did this with great optimism. The hardships of the exiles had strengthened their faith. They now looked for God to do great things. He was going to fill the Temple with his glory and make their Nation the very centre of the world. 
 
But it didn’t happen like that – not in Malachi’s time. The Messiah had not yetcome. Israel’s hope had faded. The Jews felt that life had passed them by. They could not believe that God loved them:  

“I have loved you,” says the LORD.
      “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’  

(Malachi 1: 2 )

They had all become luke-warm in their religion. They were not great sinners like those before the exile who worshipped pagan gods and sacrificed their children to idols. No, the Jews now worshipped the true God but they did so with no great devotion, no zeal. They had lost touch with their God.

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. (1: 6  )

What they were doing was offering defective animals for sacrifice. Far from thinking that “only the best is good enough for God” they sacrificed any blind or crippled animals they had.  These were animals they were going to have to cull anyway and they kept the healthy animals for the own use. “You try offering that kind of gift to your Persian governor”, Malachi says, “Would he be pleased? Would-be accept you?” Why give less respect to God. 
 

Useless worship

“Why do you bother”,  God says. 

“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.  but you profane it.    (1: 10, 11)
 
It as if God were to say to us: “Lock the door to the Brecon Presbyterian Church. Cut off the electricity and water. Shut down the place. It you can’t worship worthily then don’t worship at all!”
God,  through Malachi, was trying to shock the people into commitment.
I wonder what it would take to shock people out of their spiritual apathy today? 
 
In Chapter 2 Malachi critcises the priests who have turned the worship of God into mockery by their careless attitude.
 
There were obviously many social evils as well. One of them was that the Israelites were breaking faith with their wives. They were divorcing them for no other reason than that they wanted to marry someone else. To make things worse, the women they were leaving their wives for were pagan women. They were bringing pagan gods back into the life of the nation.

Return to me  
 
 Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
      “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
 ”Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
      “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’   (3:7 b )

“Stop cheating me”, God says. The Jews were supposed to give a tenth of their produce to the work of the Lord and to the poor. But they were robbing God. They were keeping back large amounts of it.  God says, “Stop cheating me and see how I  will bless you.

 
What’s the point of being good?

   You have wearied the LORD with your words.
      “How have we wearied him?” you ask.
      By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

and (3: 14 – 15 )

14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’ “

But Malachi speaks of the coming of the Messiah who will judge the nation. He will punish evildoers. “Who can stand before him on the day he appears? He will be like refiners fire.” (3: 2)

Judgement on evildoers.

(3: 5) 
“So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.

The godly

(3: 16 – 18  )
Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.  ”They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. [a] I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

God does not try to convince them that the godly will be better off than the ungodly in this life. But  he keeps a scroll of remembrance. He records those who truly are his people. They will get their reward when the Messiah comes to judge the world and the others will be punished. 
 
This is the only answer we can give to this question of “Why bother to be good?” For that day will certainly come. 
 
(4: 1 – 2 )
 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.   But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
Conclusion
 And so, 400 years before the time of Christ, Malachi concludes the Old Testament -  looking forward to the day when the Messiah will come to redeem and to judge the world.

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The Parable of the Pencil

July 20, 2008 at 11:40 pm · Filed under Christian living ·Tagged ,

 

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”

“One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.”

“Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.”

“Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make. You have an eraser to rub them out.”

“Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.”

“And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replace the pencil with you.  Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you’ll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

(Author unknown: as seen on various internet sites)

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Stairway to heaven

July 19, 2008 at 6:54 pm · Filed under Jesus Christ, Old testament, worship ·Tagged , , ,

 

Genesis 28:10-22

“We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,We are climbing Jacob’s ladder, We are climbing Jacob’s ladder, brothers, sisters all.”

These are the words of a children’s song which perhaps some of you sang in Sunday School. The story of Jacob’s Ladder is a popular one in Sunday Schools – I remember hearing it as a child. It has also inspired hymns:

O God of Bethel, by Whose hand
Thy people still are fed,
Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led.

A lonely exile

It’s the story of a young man away from home for the first time. He had left home in a bit of a hurry – in order to escape the wrath of his brother. For Jacob had stolen  his father’s blessing from  his older brother Esau.

Let’s make no bones about it: Jacob was a cheat. Even at birth he was gripping the heel of his twin brother. It was as if he was, even then, trying to cheat his brother of his rights as first born son! So they gave him the name Jacob, which really means “he who grasps” or “he who deceives”.

Jacob was a cheat and he had left home under something of a cloud. He was now on his way to Northern Mesopotamia to live with his uncle Laban. It was a journey of hundreds of miles. Jacob was weary and lonely and downcast that evening as he camped at a certain place for the night.  He didn’t have a tent –  he just lay down where he was, using an oblong boulder as a head rest. 

As he rested his head on his hard and uncomfortable pillow Jacob was comforted by God in a dream.  There was this ladder or stairway reaching right up to heaven. God stood above it and angels were  going up and down the ladder. (Presumably they were carrying the prayers of God’s people to him, and bringing back to earth God’s grace and help.)
The Lord spoke to Jacob: promising that  all the blessings he had promised to Abraham his grandfather would be fulfilled in Jacob and his descendants.They would be more numerous than the dust of the earth and all peoples on earth would be blessed  through them. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (v15).

Awestruck

When Jacob awoke he was  awestruck: “he thought, Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it. He was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven”. (v16,17)He took the stone he had used as a headrest and raised it up on its end as a memorial. He anointed it with oil and dedicated it to God. And he called that place Bethel – “house of God”.

 (Later it became a shrine – at one time the Tabernacle was housed there. After the kingdom was split in two Bethel became the main shrine for the Northern kingdom Israel. They set up golden calves to worship and the place became a den of idolatry. But that was long after the time of Jacob.)

Jacob was very much aware of God’s goodness to him – undeserved goodness. He had done nothing to merit such blessings. In fact he really deserved to have them taken away for him for all the cheating and deception. Jacob made a vow that if God provided him with food and clothing, and brought him safely back to his father’s house, then he would make a shrine at Bethel and he would give a tenth of all the wealth he earned to God. It seems a bit like trying to make a bargain with God  – something you should never do. But you see, Jacob was not truly converted yet. He had had an experience of God, yes. But his heart had not changed – he was still the same old cheating Jacob. His real conversion came years later, when he struggled with an angel. His pride was finally broken, he submitted his life to God’s will and his name was changed to Israel.  But all that was far in the future.

 

The house of God for us

What is the message to us from Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven? Jacob had been wandering in a wild and desolate place – a god-forsaken place you might think. But that place became, for Jacob, “the house of God and the gate of heaven” because there he met with God.

The message to us, surely, is that any place can be the “House of God”.  We may meet with him in a magnificent cathedral or in humble chapel. We may worship at a beautiful shrine or a tin tabernacle We might experience God’s presence on a mountain-top or down in the valley, at home  or in the fields, in the county or on the city street. We can meet with him everywhere. Maybe it was a mistake of Jacob to make Bethel into a shrine, for God had said:  “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go”. (v 15)

All this is put into perspective for us by the words of Jesus on two occasions in the Gospel of John:

 

1) Jesus the Ladder

In John 1: 50-51 we read of Jesus’ encounter with Nathaniel:

Jesus said, You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig-tree. You shall see greater things than that. He then added, I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.  ( v50-51)

Angels ascending and descending – it reminds us of Jacob’s stairway to heaven. Surely, what Jesus is saying is, ” I am the ladder or stairway to heaven”. On another occasion he claimed to be the one way to the Father. Jesus is the ladder, or stairway, or bridge between us and God. Born of Mary, and yet Son of God, he is both human and divine. Thus he brings us to God, and brings God to us. “Emmanuel – God with us” was the title ascribed to him at his birth.

 

2) Spirit and Truth

Later in John’s Gospel ( chapter 4:20-24) Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. They get into a religious conversation. “Where should we worship” the Samaritan woman asks, “On this mountain where we Samaritans worship, or in Jerusalem where you Jews worship?”

Jesus declared, Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.( v21) …..  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. (v23-24).

If you have the right spirit and you know the truth, then you can worship God anywhere. All that is required for Christian worship is the Holy Spirit in your heart and the truth of God’s word in your mind. You don’t need a church or a chapel. You don’t need a pulpit or an altar. You don’t need  hymnbooks or musical instruments. You don’t even need a Bible  ( as long as God’s truth is in your mind). You don’t need to go on pilgrimage to Rome or Jerusalem, or to any other shrine to be near to God. You can be near to  him wherever you are – for God is spirit.

 

Conclusion

This was something which Jacob had not yet realised, but is is the very basis of our faith.  Jesus is the ladder to bring us to God and through him we shall reach heaven.

Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.

O spread Thy covering wings around
Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.

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Christian sceptics

July 16, 2008 at 7:51 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

 

I remember reading about an American science student who wanted to show how scientific scare stories spread so he asked people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical “dihydrogen monoxide.”

This substance, he said:

1. Can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.

2. Is a major component in acid rain.

3. Can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.

4. Accidental inhalation can kill you.

5. It contributes to erosion.

6. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.

7. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.

8. When it comes in contact with other materials it can initiate a chemical reaction,

9. It meets three of the requirements for classification as a hazardous material.

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

Forty-three said yes. Six were undecided. Only one knew that the chemical was water (H2O)! The title of his prize winning project was :”How Gullible Are We?”

I think it is possible for us as Christians to be just as gullible about some of the propaganda thrown at us by the world. We need to remember that most of what we read in newspapers and see on television has been subject to a process of “spin” before it gets to us. We should question everything, and examine it in the light of the Bible. That is our touchstone by which we judge all things. Indeed we need to be “Christian sceptics” – not taking everything at face value.

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Treasure

July 16, 2008 at 6:55 pm · Filed under Christian living, Jesus Christ, New Testament ·Tagged ,

Devotional

Treasure 

 70 years ago Violet Baily and her fiancee, Sam Booth, were walking in the country. They had an argument and Violet took her engagement ring and threw it away. They soon made up their row but could they find the ring? They looked everywhere and eventually they had to buy another engagement ring. They got married and had 55 years of happy life together before Sam died, 15 years ago.

 Recently Violet (age 88 ) got her engagement ring back! Her grandson Leighton got a metal detector and looked in the field where it had been lost 55 years previously. After a short search he found the ring – just a few inches below the soil. It was still sparkling – all Leighton had to do was to wipe it over and hand it back to his Nan. She was overcome with emotion as she put it on her finger.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)
Violet had been able to live for 55 years without her original engagement ring. The love that she and Sam shared was more important than the ring. But in these two stories, which Jesus told, a man found treasure in a field and sold everything to be able to own it. Another man, a merchant, saw a pearl for sale and sold everything to buy it. That’s what God’s kingdom is like – it is more important than everything else.
 
How important is God to us? Which do we put first in life – knowing God or enjoying all the pleasures and good things of this life?

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-18 ) 

When Jesus came along, those first disciples left everything to follow him. It was hard work being a fisherman but they gave it up for a life of greater hardship. As followers of Jesus they were to wander around with nowhere to lay their heads. Sometimes they were opposed, later they experienced prison and persecution and eventually martyrdom ( in the case of Peter). But it was all worth it – not just for the reward of heaven, but even for the life of following Jesus. It was well worth the exchange. As disciples of Jesus they were to learn about the love of God and experience his power. They were to find a life that was really worth living. When Jesus called them to follow him it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. No one like Jesus was ever going to come along again.

And we can say the same thing. In a world where people are looking for wealth and fame and pleasure – and so many end up on the scrapheap, lives ruined by drugs and alcohol – in a world like that the Christian life is the only authentic one. The follower of Jesus is one who really knows what life is about and who finds real purpose in life.

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The Lord’s gracious invitation

July 4, 2008 at 3:47 pm · Filed under Christian living, Jesus Christ, New Testament ·Tagged , ,

The Lord’s gracious invitation

Reading:  Matthew 11:25-30

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.       [Matt 11:28 - 30]

No doubt these words are familiar to most of us. They are usually quoted in Communion services to remind us that Jesus is always inviting us to come to him. They are ancient words, but words which are very relevant to us now,  in our 21st. century. The Lord talks about burdens and problems which people bear – and those burdens are just as real as they have ever been.

People have all kinds of anxieties, don’t they?

  • The credit crunch and financial crisis. The rising price of fuel. All kinds of financial worries and fears of the future.
  • Not to mention the global problems of climate change, overpopulation, pollution. The fear of nuclear escalation in the Middle East.
  • Repressive governments  in Zimbabwe, in Burma, and all over the place. The problems of the world put enough of a burden on us.

But then, most of us have other, more pressing and personal, problems:

  • For some it is their health which causes them to suffer. They endure  pain or infirmity. They worry about their condition. Some have incurable illness. Others have diseases which require harsh treatment, or operations.
  • Some have the immense burden of caring  for a sick or disabled loved one.
  • Then there are the problems caused by depression, by phobias, by schizophrenia, or by other mental illness.
  • And then there are problems of addiction or alcohol abuse. 
  • For some people the burden they bear is that of the breakdown of personal relationships and the tearing apart of family life.
  • Some people worry about their children and the way they are taking in life. We hear of knife crime, of drugs, of sexual promiscuity and all the associated problems.
  • Some people are unemployed and struggle to give shape to their day. Others are overworked and yearn for rest. Some bear responsibilities far greater than they can carry. Some break down under the strain.

These are just some of the problems which Christian pastors see in people’s lives. It’s easy to become despondent – if not about our own, then other peoples’ problems.

I haven’t yet mentioned the decline of Christianity in our society, the shortage of ministers, the increasing godlessness of our culture. 

I could go on like this, and spend the whole time of this sermon depressing you!

It was Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell who said, “We have found that the men who know most are the most gloomy”. They were talking about the risks presented by nuclear weapons. Yes, it’s true. The Bible teaches this lesson too. Mankind is lost without God. So often we struggle to overcome problems by our own strength and we fail.

 But Jesus brings good news.  He offers, I firmly believe, the answer to the problems of this sinful world and he can bring purpose and meaning to life. Let’s listen to what he says – we shall find our gloom shall lift:

“COME”, he says, “TAKE”, “LEARN” and you shall “FIND”. All these words are verbs (doing words). Our Saviour invites us to act.

COME

“Come to me”, he says. Come to Jesus alone.  The problems I have just mentioned can not be solved at a stroke but  if we come to him he can give us strength to bear them. 
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.   [1 Peter 5: 7]

But we must come. We’ve got to actually respond to Jesus it’s not enough to just sit in our pews in church,  or in our chair at home. It means opening our hearts to him. It means allowing him to convert us – transform us. It means repenting of our sins . (I can’t tell you what they are. You know the things in your life of which you are ashamed.) Confess them to God and ask forgiveness in the name of Jesus. Trust in his sacrifice on the cross, and the burden of guilt will be lifted. 

John Bunyan wrote of his pilgrim labouring up a steep hill with difficulty because of a great burden on his back. it was the burden of his sins.

He laboured on until he came to a place with a cross and an open tomb. As soon as Christian, the pilgrim, came up to the cross, the string holding his burden loosed. It fell off his back, rolled down into the mouth of the open tomb and vanished.
“Then was Christian glad and lightsome and said with a merry heart: He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.”  Three angels then came and took off his filthy rags and gave him clean garments. This represents the cleansing from sin we receive through the death of Jesus on the cross.

“Then Christian gave three leaps for joy and went on singing:
Blest cross! Blest sepulchre!
Blest rather be the man
Who there was put to shame for me.”

Come to Jesus and he will lift the burden of your guilt.

 

TAKE

“Take my yoke upon you”. Now a yoke is defined in the dictionary as “a frame or cross bar used for coupling draft animals”. In the Bible the yoke is often a symbol of servitude – the “yoke of oppression” is often spoken of.  But the yoke Jesus invites us to take up is not like that. Yes, it is  a yoke  – it does represent the discipline of obedience and service -  but it is not a yoke of oppression. It is a service which brings perfect freedom (in the words of the Book of Common Prayer). Or,  in the words of the hymn:  “Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free”.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  (v30 )

His yoke is easy. The Pharisees placed the yoke of the Law upon the people – all the (man-made) rules and regulations of organized Judaism. It was an intolerable burden – to try and keep all these nit-picking rules about what you could and could not eat, what you could and could not do on the Sabbath day.  In contrast Jesus said that his yoke is easy, not irksome, his burden is light. We get the picture of an animal wearing a light and well-fitting yoke it does not rub or chafe. It enables the ox or ass to work efficiently. In the same way, with us, the Lord give us work to do but it is never beyond our strength. And he always gives us the strength to do it.

LEARN

“Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” This is an amazing thing to say! those who are humble don’t blow their own trumpet. You don’t go around saying you are humble – surely that is a sign of pride!

CS Lewis says:
“Even his enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says he is humble and meek and we believe him; not noticing that, if he were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of his sayings”  (Mere Christianity).

It is because Jesus is truly the Lord that he can say these words.
And we can learn from him.  “I am gentle and lowly” he says. Meekness is not he same as weakness. Usually a person is meek because he can not help himself. This is not true of Jesus – his meekness is power under control.  He had the power but he did not use it for selfish ends.  Gentleness and meekness means a kind and forgiving spirit. We have to learn to have the same spirit in us. He is the Good Shepherd and we, his sheep, must learn also to be humble, obedient  and trusting in him. It is a process, this work of sanctification – it doesn’t happen overnight. But if we open our lives to Jesus we will learn of him and we will start to produce the Fruit of the Spirit.

 

FIND

“And you will find rest for your souls.”
 It  was St. Augustine who said that God has created us for himself and we are restless until we find our rest in him. That rest we can experience is an inner peace that comes from having a right relationship with God. The burden of our guilt  has been lifted. We learn to trust God in all things and gradually we become less anxious and less stressed-out people. Through prayer and the working of the Holy Spirit we can experience some degree of inner healing. Healing of the spirit and mind. So we begin to live balanced, whole, useful lives.

Conclusion

Let us Come, Take, Learn and Find.

Jesus the very thought of thee
with sweetness fills the breast.
But sweeter far they face to see
and in thy presence rest.

O hope of every contrite heart.
O joy of all the meek.
To those who fall how kind thou art.
How good to those who seek.

But what to those who find? Ah this -
nor tongue, nor pen, can show.
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but his loved ones know.

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A terrible plague

July 3, 2008 at 8:10 pm · Filed under Jesus Christ, New Testament, Sacrifice of Jesus ·Tagged , ,

A terrible plague

John 15:9-25, Ps 32

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”
(Jn 15:13)

Introduction

In September of the year 1665 a terrible fear gripped the little village of Eyam ( pronounced “Eem” ) in Derbyshire. A parcel of cloth had been sent to the village tailor from London. When George Viccars, that  tailor, opened the parcel he was infected with bubonic plague. Within a short while he was dead and plague spread through the village. The first instinct of everyone in Eyam was to flee the village – but that could be disastrous. It could have been fatal to the people in the neighbouring villages, as it would have spread the plague.

The sacrifice of Eyam

The village church was closed so that the disease would not be spread among worshippers in the enclosed space.  Instead, the congregation met in the open air, under the Cucklet Delf, a natural arch in the limestone rocks. There they cried out to God to give them wisdom, and there the Rector William Mompesson ( pronounced “Mumpson” ) strengthened them from God’s word.

After much prayer he, and his Nonconformist colleague, Thomas Stanley, came to a decision. They called the villagers to a heroic act of self-sacrifice. To prevent the plague spreading to other villages they would seal themselves off from the outside world. They would shut themselves up with the plague. The people agreed, even though it would be a death sentence for many of them. A circle of stones was set up around the boundaries of the village and arrangements were made for food to be left at certain points by people from outside. The people of Eyam paid for the food by leaving coins in the spring. It was believed that the running water would purify the coins.

A 'plague' cottage with plaque commemorating some of the deaths

During the next 15 months the people went through a living hell. 260 out of 350 died. One was the Rector’s own wife Katherine Mompesson. They had sent the children away at the very beginning of the outbreak but Katherine had refused to leave her husband’s side. For the whole village it was an act of sacrifice, and it worked – the plague did not spread beyond the bounds of the village. 

Today, after more than 340 years, a service of commemoration is held annually in the Cucklett Delf where the people used to meet to worship.
The sacrifice of Calvary

In August of 1989, Jane and I visited Eyam. It was a meaningful experience indeed to stand in the very place where those brave people had worshipped God centuries ago. The whole story reminded us of a greater sacrifice – one which indeed had been the inspiration for that of Eyam.

On the cross at Calvary Jesus Christ made a supreme sacrifice for the sins of the world. It was not a sacrifice made to limit the spread of an earthly disease but to counteract  a far more dangerous sickness – sin.

In Eyam church you will see a stained glass window which quotes these words in connection with Mompesson: “He stood between the living and the dead and the plague was stayed ” (Numbers 16:48 )

In their original context these words spoke of Aaron the Hight Priest, the brother of Moses. Numbers 16 tells how the people of Israel had grumbled and rebelled against Moses and against God. The plague came upon them as a judgement of God. Aaron, as High Priest, grabbed a censor with red hot coals and incense and ran into the midst of the Assembly. There he offered incense to God as a symbol of  their prayers, pleading for the Nation. God relented of his punishment and stopped the plague. It was thus said of Aaron  that,  “He stood between the living and the dead and the plague was stayed ” .

These words, as quoted in the stained glass window, are applied to Mompesson who also stopped a plague.

But we can say that Jesus Christ did a far greater thing – he stayed the terrible plague of sin. On the cross he hung “between the living and the dead” as it were.
He offered himself in our place:

“In my  place condemned he stood.
Sealed my pardon with his blood.”

He stopped the plague of sin dead in its tracks – he defeated death itself. And the sacrifice of Calvery was the inspiration for that of Eyam. It was the Christian faith of the villagers and their ministers which enabled them to behave in such an unselfish way.

The sin plague

The Bubonic Plague was terrible – it is now thought that it was spread by flea bites. The bacillus injected by the flea invades the lymphatic system. It causes painful swellings in the neck, groin and armpits, shivering, sickness, headaches, inflammation of the lungs and delirium. Recovery was sometimes possible but usually the patient died. In the later stages of the illness a rash broke out on the chest. In such cases death was inevitable.

We shudder as we think of such things, but do we shudder at the thought of sin? It is a far greater plague. Bubonic Plague leaves its marks on the body, but sin stains the soul. It causes great suffering – with lives ruined by war, violence, abuse, addiction, break-down of relationships. The pain caused by sin is not just physical but mental and emotional as well. It makes people suffer – and not just the guilty. Often the innocent suffer for the sins of others. Ultimately sin leads to death:  not just the death of the body caused by bubonic plague, but the death of the spirit. 

“The wages of sin is death”  (Romans 6:23)  -  separation from God, from life, from joy, from love. This is what we mean by the word “Hell”.  If the people of Eyam went through “a living hell” it was nothing compared to the Hell spoken of in the Bible . This is not a popular topic – indeed I do not like to speak about it, but we can not avoid it. Jesus spoke about Hell more than any other person in the Bible.

We know that God is love and that he does not desire the death of the sinner but we also know that God is holy and righteous. His wrath burns against sin. But his love has found a way of salvation from sin. If we trust in Jesus we are saved. Nonetheless, if a person rejects the forgiveness of God offered in Jesus Christ then there can be no salvation that person will have to face the consequences of sin.

Do we shudder when we think of sin? Do we regard its consequences as dreadful? Do we seek the remedy as quickly as we would seek that of a physical illness?
Conclusion
As Jane and I stood at Cucklett Delf in Eyam we felt we were, in a sense, standing on holy ground. People had worshipped here in the midst of their tribulation. In that village some had died that others could live. 
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)

Jesus died for us  – let us live for him.

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