Jacob

Part of series on life of Joseph
Gen 45:25-47:10

Preached at Chew Magna Baptist Church 16/Nov/08


It all began, a long, long time ago, with a man and his wife, and her father in-law. They were living in a large city, the largest city of the world at that time. However, for some reasons that are unclear to us they had to up-roots and leave that place, that centre of the universe with all its great culture, commerce and pagan religious practices. They had to move hundreds of miles away into the desert regions. They exchanged the certainty of city life with all its settled and secure customs, with the uncertain life of a wandering nomad.

They lived the wandering life, moving from place to place to find enough grazing for their flocks and food for their family. This is the way for newcomers and strangers; the best parts of the land were already occupied by both farmers and city dwellers. So they were forced to continually move. Conflicts drove them a very long way from their original home.

At times, they were driven by conflict and at times by hunger and need. But they were also called. They were called by an unknown God; a God who they were to discover was the creator God, the one and only, the true God. God gave them many promises, the greatest one is this

“17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." [1].

This man and wife had a child. They told him and taught him about God. It due season this son believed and trusting in this same God. The family religion, for this is what it was, was passed on from father to son, son to grandson, grandson to great-grandson.


Have you guessed who these people are yet?

Now did you know that this happened over 4000 year ago! This story of Abraham and his family has been told generation after generation after generation. This great city Ur, the centre of the greatest civilisation of the world at the time, where is it now? Almost nobody remembers its name, it’s dust and ruins.

But the story of Abraham and the promise made by the living God remain. For God, our God, has a plan for all nations, a plan to call people out of every tribe and tongue, a plan to chose a people who will accept His call with a believing heart, to make them one family; His blessed family. Even though God has great and glorious plans for the whole world, He is happy, He is always happy to start with something very small in the world’s eyes; a single man and his wife.

You have been looking at the life of Joseph over the past weeks and this is a very exciting story but our passage today is mainly about Joseph’s family, his brothers and particularly His father, Jacob. To understand Jacob we need to understand his beginnings.

Jacob, himself, was born into this family, the family that God had chosen to reveal His plans and purposes. God planned to bless the whole world. Into this holy family our Lord Jesus was born, and by faith we ourselves have been adopted into this family. And our adoption is with all the rights of natural children, this is the promise of the word of God.

Today, people are very interested in family trees; well, by faith in the Jesus Christ, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in our family tree, although they are a rather long way up, near the begining. Our adoption into God’s family, along with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is through faith.

Jacob was born a twin but he was not the first born son, His brother Esau was. So his struggle with Esau began at birth. Esau and Jacob were quite different, Esau was not interested in God, for he despised his heritage, the family customs, the handed down experiences of God. He did not care for these things nor did he value them.
You can be born of spiritual parents and still not know God for yourself; its not a given that you will follow the paths of your parents.

Esau unwisely married two Hittite women and probably followed their pagan customs. The nomadic life-style and shepherding was not appealing to him. This caused Isaac and Rebekah a lot of grief.

So incredibly, unwisely, Rebekah and Jacob came up with a plan to dupe, the elderly and partially sighted, Isaac into blessing Jacob rather than Esau. This blessing was supposed to signify the passing on of all the rights, religious and non-religious to his first born son.

It’s a bit of a mad tale if you want to read it for yourself in Genesis 27. Amazingly, Jacob dresses up in Esau’s cloths. He covers his hands with goat skins to appear more hairy because Esau was hairy. He hoped that his father Isaac will be too blind to notice and be fooled by goat’s hair if touched.

Well, without going into the details, Jacob gets Isaac’s blessing. But what a great deception! He acted without considering the consequences. What do you think Esau did? Well when Esau finds out what has happened he is so angry that he wants to kill Jacob. So Jacob has to leave his home, he has to leave his family and his mother whom he will never see alive again. He moves over 400 miles away to visit distant relatives. In fact, it is one of the places where Abraham stayed after leaving the great city Ur.

This one event shaped the entire life of Jacob. This one foolish, sinful act marked the next 20 plus years of his life. You see Jacob, looked for the blessing from his father and from God but did not understand the first thing about the blessing of God. At this point in his life, he thought the blessing of God was a kind of superstitious magic.

Can you receive the blessing of God through deception?

He did not understand how blessing follows a humble and a contrite heart, a heart that wants to do God’s will. He did not understand that it was God who was guiding his family, and that it was God who had a hand on his life. Jacob chose the path of deception and this is never the path to God. But God remains faithful to those whom He has chosen. The Lord God had not finished His work with Jacob.

In the next part of Jacob’s life he spend seven year serving a distant relative Laban. He did this in order to obtain Laban’s daughter Rachel as a wife. However the tables are now turned, it is Jacob that is deceived.

On the wedding evening, in front of all the guests and family, Laban brings out his older daughter Leah, and tells Jacob he must marry Leah first, and then in return for another seven years of service he may marry Rachel.

Jacob’s past constrained him for he couldn’t go home and Jacob’s love for Rachel bound him for he had already served seven years for her. So, in the end, Jacob agreed to the stitch-up. Jacob didn’t initially love Leah but was forcing into marriage by the customs of the day and He did marry Rachel later.

After over twenty years of struggle and service, and at times hard service, to Laban, Jacob hears from the Lord. God tells Jacob to return to land of his fathers, the land of Abraham and Isaac. God tell Jacob to return and promised to go with him.

You see, God knows when the time is right to begin to heal old wounds. The wiser and older Jacob returns, in fear and trepidation. After all these years will his brother Esau still want blood? Even, with all Jacob’s personal knowledge of God, he still feared Esau.

The night before the fateful reunion, Jacob struggled with God. Physically wrestling with an angel as he spiritually wrestled with God. Fear and faith, worry and trust, doubt and hope are bound together in this struggle. He wept, he pleaded, he fought, but he would not give in. What was to become of him? What was to become of his family, his children? What had his life come to? Will God do what he has promised?

This faithful man of God, Jacob, will not release God until he received a blessing. If only we were more like Jacob in our dealings with God.

God says “Your name will no longer be Jacob (which means deceiver) but Israel (which means he who struggles with God)”. So God blessed him. The cycle was almost complete, Jacob had finally returned to God.

God’s blessing to Jacob also took care of Esau. For Esau no longer wanted to kill him. Esau had prospered greatly in the intervening years and was happy to receive Jacob home.

The prophet Hosea put it like this.

“He is about to punish Jacob‍‍ for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done. 3 Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. 4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him‍‍— 5 the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!
6 So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him”.[2]

This finally brings us to the passage today. Unfortunately, Rachel had died while given birth to Benjamin. Jacob loved Joseph more than the sons of his other wives probably because Joseph reminded him of his beloved Rachel. He was grief stricken at the loss of Joseph. He was greatly shaken at having to part with Benjamin. Was all contact with his beloved Rachel to be lost?

But he trusted God, and hoped that Benjamin and all his other sons would return from Egypt.

So can you understand the relief when news must have been passed to Jacob that his sons had returned from Egypt? God had remained faithful.

Imagine the scene, the elderly Jacob, in his tent waiting for his sons to enter. He wanted to hear the whole story. What had happen, was Benjamin with them, did they get the food they needed?

So the sons, lead by Judah, entered the tent; they bowed and greeted their father. But before Jacob could ask his many questions, they blurted out, “he’s alive.” … who’s alive? … “Joseph is still alive”. What? Can this be true, my son who was dead is alive, my lovely son, the son of my beloved Rachel, is alive. Jacob was shocked.

Then they said “Not only is he alive, Joseph is a prince and ruler of all Egypt” The elderly Jacob was stunned and amazed.

The brothers go on to tell their father of all that had happened. I’m sure they must have been weeping all around. They recounted the story of what happen in Egypt. They finally confessed to him their part in Joseph’s disappearance. Their great secret, their sin of hate was finally laid bare. Now their deception of their father Jacob was finally at an end.

Does Jacob berate them? No. Does Jacob refuse to forgive them? No. Jacob says not one word about it. Jacob understood what it took to deceive a father. Jacob understood that we sometimes do the wrong thing and find it very hard to find a way back. Jacob understood from first hand experience.

This reconciliation with his sons, and the news that Joseph was still alive revived Jacob. “Praise the Lord, God is faithful, God is faithful, God is faithful” he must have thought.

Jacob sets out to Egypt, with his whole family, to see his beloved Joseph. As before God spoke to him in a vision,

“and said, "Jacob! Jacob!", "Here I am," he replied. 3"I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes."”[3]

Again the Lord had spoken, again the Lord had promised to be with Jacob in a foreign land, again God had promised to bless Jacob and his descendents.

"28Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. 30Israel said to Joseph, "Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive."[4]

The land of Goshen was a good place; it was a very fertile place on the eastern part of the Nile delta. It was a place with plenty of food, for the family and their flocks, a place were the nomadic children of Israel could grow and prosper. God had brought them to a safe harbour, for now. It wasn’t the Promised Land, but it was a place of blessing in the here and now.

For Jacob it was his final stop before the Promised Land. But there is one final event in Jacobs’s life I would like to mention. Jacob gets to meet Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

7Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8Pharaoh asked him, "How old are you?" 9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers." 10Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. [5]

With the gravity of old age, the holiness of true faith, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob asked the Lord to bless Pharaoh[6] . He did not act as a man ashamed of his faith; nor is he ashamed of his experiences of God. Even in the presence of the king of the most powerful nation in the world. Jacob blesses Pharaoh, not once but twice, because he reckons that God has a plan for all nations and all people, even Egypt. Remember God’s promise to Abraham was “through you all nations will be blessed”. So Jacob blesses Pharaoh.




What have we learned from Jacob’s story?

We are part of the great story of the people of God. We too are called by name. We too are chosen by God to work together with Him to bless the world. We too are small and weak and insignificant, but God delights to begin with the small and the weak and the insignificant. We too make mistakes, we too are not perfect.

But God is forgiving and faithful. He is always faithful. Our God has begun a good work in us and He will carry it through to completion.

God has promised to bless us and He will bless us. He shall not leave us. We should not be afraid of what this life may bring. Like Jacob, we are on a journey; we are wandering strangers in a foreign land. Jacob knew, as all the people of God know, we are not at home upon this earth; our home, our inheritance, our treasures lie in heaven, with our Lord and Saviour Jesus.

Amen


[1] Gen 22:17-18 (NKJV)
[2] Ho 12:2-6 (NLT)
[3] Gen 46: 2-3 (NIV)
[4] Gen 46: 28-30 (NIV)
[5] Gen 47: 7- 10 (NIV)
[6] Matthew Henry Commentary, Genesis

Common Grace and Special Grace

Sermon at Chew Magna Baptist Church, 6 July 2008


Our text today is from the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew’s gospel; Jesus says

He (the father) makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [Mt 5:44-45, NKJV]

God, the Father, makes the sun to rise on the good and the bad, He sends rain on the just and the unjust. So, it is clear from scripture that there is a general blessing bestowed on all mankind. Calvin called it a common grace. This common grace is an unmerited and undeserved blessing that flows from God to everyone regardless of whether they believe or not. And Jesus tells us that this common grace flows from the very nature of our perfect God because of His great love.

In the first chapter of Romans the apostle Paul says

“what may be known about God is plain… for since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen and understood by what has been made”. [Rom 1:19-20, NIV]

God revels himself to all, by the very fabric of creation. Creation sings out that there is a God and that he is a God of love. Now you may say to me that's all well and good, but how does creation actual do this? You may even say to me “I don’t believe in God, so how can this possibly be true?”

Well let me ask you this question, where did everything that we see around us in creation come from? Where did the trees, the rivers, the mountains and the valleys, the abundant life of this planet come from? Not only this but where did the sun and the moon and the vast expanses of space filled with a multitude of stars and galaxies come from? And why is the universe governed by laws, laws of gravity and thermodynamics. Why is there such order in the natural world? Where did all the order, complexity and beauty come from? Why is it here?

Now you may say to me “I don’t care where the universe came from, I’m just happy that its here. I can live my life without ever knowing”. But are you not just a little bit curious?

I remember having this discussion with a university student, many years ago. When I put this argument to him he said, quick as a flash,

“the big bang, the universe started at the big bang, everything can be traced back to that point. From the remnants of this explosion the universe grew and organised itself into what we see now”

So, mischievously I asked him,

“so who lit the fuse for this big bang then?” Explosions are generally set off by someone. And I then asked him,

“how did an explosion result in this world with all its beauty and life?

You see most explosions that I am familiar with leave carnage and destruction in their wake?”

Suddenly he realised that for the universe to spring out of nothing, by itself, took some believing. In fact, the big bang theory wasn’t any real explanation. For the real questions “where did the universe come from, why is it here?” are still unanswered by science. Also he realised that it took quite a leap of faith to believe that this explosion resulted in life and all the beauty of this world.

Imagine this situation, you are routing around a cellar in your house, and after moving an old chest of draws you discover a dusty old frame with a picture in it. So you take it out into the light and you carefully dust it down. You discover that it’s rather fine; in fact it’s a little gem, a beautifully crafted work of art. So what do you conclude? It was just created out of nothing by a freak set of random events over billons of years that culminated in this painting being in your cellar? Or do you conclude that someone must have painted it? The painting had to have a creator. Now the world in which we live is far more beautiful, it is special work of art. And there is an artist, a creator, God, the author of this universe, eternal and ever present, wise beyond understanding, infinite in all his ways, perfect in all he does and is, all powerful and good.

This was clear to the apostle Paul, “His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen and understood by what has been made” This is known as the general revelation of God to the world. It is clear that there must be a God by what we see around us. This general revelation is a blessing from God.

Is it any surprise that throughout human history, in every culture, in every place, in every time, there has always been a need to have gods or a God. Humans naturally need a God. Why is this? Christians believe that we have been made in God image so innately, naturally, there is part in us the needs to know God. I believe this is true. But even without using this argument, it is clear from history that people need God, why? Because it is clear from the world, from what we see, that there must be a creator God.

So, where do our lives come from? - they come from God. He gives us life, He gives us the air we breathe, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”, He sustains not only our lives but the entire universe, and this is God’s common grace given to all believers and non-believers, saved and lost.

But, as believers, we know much more of the revelation and grace of God that those who have not accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour; for there is also a special revelation of God given in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And there is a saving and special grace that is given to all who have trusted Jesus Christ of which the world knows nothing.

The special revelation of God, this message from God, says something like this,

‘I have blessed you with this common grace; that should have taught you what I’m like; from this you should have seen that I am a loving God. You should have also realised that the best way to live is to be kind and loving to one another, so imitating me. But you have fallen short of the beauty of my plan for your lives; each and every one of you has fallen short. You’ve hurt and harmed one another; you’ve often been selfish, unkind and put yourself first. Every action has consequences, the spiritual law of action and reaction is this, the wrongs you have done lead to death, your spiritual death. You’ve given up the opportunity to know me. But this is my judgement: I have sent my Son Jesus to die in your place, as a substitute - His death for your death. The eternal God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit say We have forgiven you, wiped your slate clean. You are not worthy to be called my sons and daughters but if you accept what Jesus has done for you, honestly believe in your heart and say with your lips “Jesus is the Lord of my life” you will be my sons and my daughters and I will be your loving Father God and you can only do this by my Holy Spirit living in you.’

This wonderful, wonderful good news,

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.
[1 John 3:7-10, The Message]

This is our precious, precious Gospel, this wonderful revelation, that God is for us, that God longs for all to come into a living relationship with Him; this divine special and saving grace, unmerited and undeserved blessing that flows from God.

For it is the God  who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,  that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. [2 Co 4:6-7, NKJV]

Yes on the outside we who believe are the same as everyone else; we are like simple clay pots, not special, not particularly beautiful. But inside, in our inner being, our spirits have been made alive to the knowledge of the glory of God. Have we not received something that is more precious and of greater value than silver or gold?

So then, let us live a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called. Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as people who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do.

God is real, His blessings are real. God blesses in some measure the good and the bad, the believers and those who do not believe. But the blessing and grace reserved for those who believe in him out weigh this common grace.

For God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, we have been enlightened, and we have tasted of the heavenly gift (that is Jesus our Lord), and we have the Holy Spirit living in us, And we have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. We have stepped from death into life. Let me tell you a secret mystery, we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. We shall see God face to face, we shall know God fully even as we are fully known; and we shall know such joy.

Amen

A leper’s story, “Lord, if you are willing …”

Sermon preached at Clevedon Baptist Church, july 6th, 2008

Prologue

We all have times in life when we have a real need of God. Life has its ups and downs; there are different seasons in life. There are seasons of rejoicing and happiness; perhaps your wedding day or the birth of a child. At these times life overflows and one should be thankful and grateful to God. However when everything is going well we can often neglect God.

There are also seasons of struggle, seasons of suffering. At these times we are in great need of God. We call out from the very bottom of our souls, we cry out to him “Please Lord, help me” but in the back of our minds there is a small voice which adds “if you are willing”. We have a small doubt, “Is God willing to help?” If we ignore God in the good times will He ignore us in the bad times?

The Christian life is not easy; didn’t Jesus himself say “the way is narrow and few find it”. God has called us to a way that is full of challenges and God expects great things from us. You may say to me “what are these challenges, what are these great things that God expects?”

They are these

• to live a life that is like Jesus,
• to live a life that is full of compassion and love,
• to live a life that is full of honesty and truth,
• to live a life that is full of forgiveness and faith,
• to live life full of the Holy Spirit and to be ever close to God.

This burden of love can weigh heavily on us, and we can often choose to try and bear it on our own, in our own strength. But you know we will fail this way; we will be bruised and hurt by this way. This bruising, that is often caused by others, can cause us to step aside from the way, to retreat from the way of love. We find ourselves saying I can love but only within certain limits. It is even possible that we completely loose sight of what God requires of us. However, at these times, if we listen to the prompting of God, we call out to him in prayer,

• “Lord, if you are willing, you can heal my heart from the hurt I feel”.
• “Lord, if you are willing, you can give me strength and help me through these hard times”
• “Lord, if you are willing, you can help me to forgive. Help me to forgive those who have hurt me, perhaps a father or mother, perhaps a brother or sister, perhaps a once close friend”
• “Lord, if you are willing, you can help me love more, love my husband or wife more, love my children more, love my parents more, love people in this church more”
• “Lord, if you are willing, you can fill me afresh with you Holy Spirit”
• “Lord, if you are willing, you can give me more faith, give me more wisdom, give me more hope and joy”
• “Lord, if you are willing …..” you can add you own prayers here..

The leper’s story

Now our text today is from Luke’s Gospel chapter 5 verses 12-16, and you can find parallel passages in Matthew and Marks Gospel accounts. The Gospels are so wonderful because they recount little stories about Jesus and His ministry. So they tell us about Jesus. They tell us the truth about what He is like. But this is not all, the Gospels stories, like this one today, are little pictures. They are true events painted for us; events that have such emotion and pathos that we cannot help being drawn in. If we meditate on these stories, if we imagine ourselves at the scene, if we let the Holy Spirit work in our hearts and speak to us, we will learn deep and profound truths and mysteries.

Luke 5:12-16, Mark 1:40-45, Matthew 8:2-4

12And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13Then He (Jesus, moved with compassion [Mark 1:41]) put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.” 15However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

I can image Jesus and the disciples coming into a city at the break of dawn after spending some time in prayer in a lonely place. And on the outskirts of this city they see a man moving slowly towards them. The light is dim, but it is clear that He trying to hurry but was unable to walk well. As he got closer you could start to see his worn and torn clothes, and bare head. He was clearly very poor and needy. Then you start to see the top part of his face, for the bottom part was covered with a cloth scarf so that you couldn’t see his mouth. The skin around his eyes and ears was bunched; it had deep furrows between the swellings. The only way I can describe his face to you is that it looked like that of a lion, it was awful. And it was about this time that you feel the pit in the bottom of your stomach, you smell an unpleasant odour that sticks in your throat, for he truly stank, and the fearful word “leper” comes into your mind. You stop dead in your tracks and start to move away.

At this moment the leper falls down on the ground, bowed down, this horrendous face, face down; but Jesus doesn’t move away. He just stands and waits to hear from this leper.

The leper speaks with a hoarse voice, with grating tones, for the leprosy has got to his throat as well. He says, he begs “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”

This poor wretch of a man, to say he was at a low point in life is an understatement. His life had been ruined; his friends and family would, for the most part, have abandoned him. He would be forced to live away from everyone and everything he knew, his health was slowly deteriorating. He had lost it all. Hope was gone, for who has ever recovered from leprosy; it was like a blind man seeing again, or a dead man coming back to life. His life was over.

Yet somehow he had heard of Jesus, we don’t know how but he had heard that Jesus was able to do great things, healing miracles. A small seed of faith remained, “Is it possible that God can use this Jesus to restore my life? Maybe I can get my life back like the patriarch Job. Is possible that Jesus can heal me? Is possible that Jesus can make me clean again?”

The Leper says “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”, why use the word “clean”? Listen to

Leviticus 13:45-46

45 “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry,  ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The Leper was to continuously say “Unclean, unclean” to anyone he met, to everyone he saw; he must have hated that word, and he longed not to be “unclean”.

Marks Gospel says “Jesus was moved with compassion” Our God is moved with compassion at the troubles and circumstances of our lives. God’s love for the whole world is not a love that sits back and is oblivious to the state of the world. God sees the world, see the people of the world in their struggles, see us in our hurts and is moved with compassion. For God so loved the world that He acted, he sent his one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.

God is for us not against us; His love for us never fails. He is affected by our sufferings and our hurts. He is moved with compassion.

Does God care? Does God care? Yes, yes and again I say yes and Amen. He loves his children, and He will see that “all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well”, as the 14th century Christian mystic lady Julian of Norwich put it. In His justice and mercy, He will bring all things to a good end. I trust and believe this.

This leper, even though he had been brought so low, even though he had lost everything, still believed that God was able to heal him. But was God willing to heal him? This leper knows Jesus' capability, but he is uncertain of the extent of his compassion. Are we like this, we accept God is able but is He willing to help us, is He willing to bless us? Listen

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him.

Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him. Oh the wonderful extent of the Love of God. The Son of God, touched him, embraced him. This leper that had been separated away from any physical human contact was first embraced by Jesus. Jesus is not fearful for His own life nor is He afraid of what others may think or say about Him. The compassion of the Lord is so great that He comes to us as we are.

He embraces us as we are. He embraces us when we are all alone, He embraces us when we not lovely or loveable, He embraces us when we are not good or clean, He embraces us when we are not whole but when we are broken.

Jesus did not have to touch this leper; He could have healed him at a distance. But our Lord chooses to come close to us. Jesus touches us, and then says to the cry of our hearts “I am willing, be cleansed”. We should understand this. God is able to help us and He is willing to help us, He is willing and able.

The love of God, that passes all understanding, is to give us a future and a hope. The love of God is to set things right in our lives, to put things back to how they should be. The love of God is to cleanse us, to make us whole. The love of God is to heal us, to restore us to life, life in all its fullness. Do you believe this?

If I may translate and paraphrase the Spanish 16th century Teresa of Avila, she put it this way

“With the presence of Jesus we lack nothing, so let nothing trouble you, let nothing dismay you, the things of this world are passing away, but God never changes, your patient endurance will win for you all things, for God alone is all you need.”

As Christians, this is our calling; we are to be people who have God in our hearts, we are to be are like Jesus, filled with compassion, and filled with trust in the power of God. Truly I say to you, if we live like this then the world will know that we are Christians, God's kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.

Epilogue

Let me finish by looking at what happened to this man. Jesus tells him to go straightaway to see the priests and make an offering for his cleansing. He is to tell no one that it is Jesus who heals him. However, the man doesn’t obey the command of the Lord. He goes and starts to tell others about the fact that he is cured. He cannot control himself. Perhaps understandably he acts as an ambassador for Christ. So why did Jesus ask him to go to the priests first and to tell no-one?

We see Jesus’ compassion for this man is such that he would have him avoid needless further suffering. Jesus would always have us avoid needless suffering. There is suffering for the Gospel, there is also suffering that come our way that God uses to make us wise, to deepen our faith and understanding, but there is also needless suffering that comes from disobedience.

For it was only at Jerusalem this leper could be pronounced clean of leprosy. And it is only there that he could bring the Levitical offering of birds, lambs, grain offerings etc. You can see Leviticus chapter 14 for the details. It was only the Levitical priests who could pronounce that he was clean from leprosy. This pronouncement would be the final acceptance that he was able to be reintegrated into society. The final stigma of leprosy would be removed.

However, that former leper did not listen to Jesus. Jesus always knows what is best. This former leper talked about what had happened to him and who performed the miracle. Now the priests in Jerusalem were opposed to Jesus and would not want to confirm any of his miracles. In fact later on they sought to kill Him. So by talking this former leper may have caused himself a whole lot of trouble. He would find it very difficult to be pronounced clean by the authorities now they knew Jesus was involved.

You see God knows best, we must trust him. There is a time to talk and a time to refrain from talking. All good things have their right season.

In conclusion, what have we seen from this passage?

• We should listen to God for He knows best
• Let us come to Jesus and ask for his help.
• God is able to help us even in our darkest hour
• God is willing to help us, out of his compassion, because of his great love for us.

Amen

Easter

Sunrise Service at Clevedon Bandstand, 23 Apr 2008

Life and death, death follows life, this is the one certainty for us, this and paying taxes. You may be crossing a road and bam; you’re hit by a car. Or you get some incurable disease, the dreaded C and you’re numbers up. All our memories, all our hopes and everything that we’ve worked for, they’re all gone. I mean we all know that when you’re dead you’re dead, right?

Is this not what the apostle John and Peter thought on Friday? Jesus, that great, great man of God, Holy, loving, a brilliant teacher and prophet, and their closest friend was brutally put to death with such finality that could there be any hope? When you’re dead you’re dead, right?

But then that “crazy” woman Mary came and said the tomb was empty! Right, like that’s going to be true. But even so, Peter and John thought we better check this out. As they were running to the tomb, all kind of thoughts were going through their minds; fear, guilt and sorrow. Could it be possible that someone could rise from the dead? No that just crazy talk, isn’t it? John gets there first, but its Peter who goes in to see the empty tomb, you can almost taste the shock, where’s the body? Where’s the body of our friend? Who’s taken it? What cruel twist of fate is this? They couldn’t even leave his body alone to rest in peace. Then John steps into the tomb. He see the same evidence but believes, he believes that Jesus has actual risen from the dead, without seeing the risen Lord he believes. He remembers that Jesus said he would do this, He lets go of all doubt and worry and sorrow, he trusts God and believes. For some believing in the resurrection from the dead is harder that for others. I mean when you’re dead you’re dead, right? No, wrong.

Let me tell to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. Then our dying bodies will be transformed into bodies that will never die, We will say “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”, Christ was raised as the first; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. Hallelujah, Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

The things we say

Preached at Clevedon Baptist church, April 8,2008

James 3:1-10

This evening, our text is from the chapter 3 of the letter of James. It is all about the tongue. i.e. our words and speech. James reminds us it is vitally important that our words are the right ones, truthful and honest ones, Godly ones.

Verse 1 talks about those who seek to teach the word of God. How those who teach will be judged more strictly. I had to smile when I realised that this verse was in today’s passage; because I have been looking into becoming a lay-preacher, I have been talking to Pastor Phil about this. So I thought that Phil had chosen this passage just for me to reflect on. Phil assures me that this was not the case; it was just a co-incidence or perhaps a God-incidence.

So we will be considering our words and speech. Words can be very powerful things. If there’s one thing that separates us from the rest of the creation it is our use of words, our languages, the way we expresses ideas, emotions and thoughts in our words. When we use words, very simple words, they can generate all kinds of emotions and responses in the hearer. With some words you can get a smile, you can generate happiness, but with others you can stir up all kinds of trouble. Listen to a few proverbs

pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones [Prov 16:21]
the tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit[Prov 15:4]

There are many more proverbs like this is scripture. The term “the tongue” is used widely in the OT for speech and the apostle James takes up this theme. In our text today, the James goes even further he says,

8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. [Jas 3:8]

and

It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. [Jas 3:6]

The tongue is a “restless and evil, full of deadly poison” and “it is set on fire by hell itself”. Wow, this is pretty strong stuff from James the Just, the leader of the church in Jerusalem. I can just imagine one James’s friends saying “James are you sure you wouldn’t like to rephrase that part, erm.. to make it, how can a put it, a bit more tactful!”
The first thing I thought when I read this passage afresh was, “sure words can be bad but can they be that bad, I mean evil and fired by hell fire?”. But God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; God’s ways are not our ways.

We must reflect on the seriousness of James’s message from God. In and of ourselves we may not see or understand why it is so serious. So let us go to God, and ask Him, why? Why is what we say so important?

Let me ask you another question, a related question. How is someone saved? How do they come to believe in Jesus? How has Christianity been spread?

• Through the power of the cross and resurrection, yes and Amen
• Through love and good works, yes; there is no doubt about this.
• Through miracles, yes, I believe in miracles;
• Through the witness of sacrificed lives given God, yes.
• But also through words, through preaching, through talking to a neighbour about what Jesus means to you.

I remember hearing a story about a Christian who decided he was going to demonstrate the love of God solely by what he was doing, by actions without any words, after all the words are the embarrassing bits for non-Christians, aren’t they. So he wasn’t going to mention the bible or church or Jesus or anything like that. So at work he was honest, hard working and fair, he didn’t gossip, he didn’t put people down. After a while one of his colleagues was chatting with him, “I noticed that there is something different about you. You’re not one of those …, you know …, vegetarians?” Holy living is vital for spreading the gospel but there comes a time when words are required.

Doesn’t the apostle Paul remind us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God and in another place he states In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; and to reinforce this further our Lord has stated succinctly He who is of God hears God’s words. Thus, hearing the word of God is a necessary part of the process of being saved; and in its most plain sense hearing requires someone to speak. Having said this, please remember that hearing with spiritual ears is also an integral part of being saved. That is to say being born of the Spirit is fundamentally a spiritual matter, requiring hearing in ones heart. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the normative process of salvation in scripture involved someone preaching or someone giving a personal testimony with the spoken word; and it involves someone hearing the proclamation of these spoken words.

Now, can we fathom God’s plans and purposes a little more by asking the impertinent question why has God chosen this means? Why is it necessary to employ spoken words? Why is there not some other means? Why not just the written word or perhaps even without any words at all? Let us consider the following text;

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.

The creation of light and all subsequent parts of creation was by the spoken word. God chose to use the spoken word, a word of command, to create light. So the spoken word, literally from the mouth of God, was used to create light and separate it from the darkness. Consequently, what do we discern from this?

God Himself uses the spoken word to divide between light and dark, to divide between good and evil. Is not the spoken word then part of His nature? It seems to me that God uses the spoken word to get things done! Later in Genesis, Adam was created in God’s image, a spiritual being, and communication between God and Adam is through spoken words. This is repeated age after age throughout scripture, God speaking to His people, God speaking to His Prophets and God speaking to His disciples.

The scriptures are recorded for us as written words but the texts often state that they were given as spoken words from God. And it is not just that God uses words so that we will understand what He is saying. Scripture says that spoken words from God have power to shape the fabric of this universe. The power of God in action was accompanied with the word of God. God’s power and God’s word appear together. Words of God are power. Listen, when God said “let there be Light” there was light and our Lord Jesus rebuked the wind and sea with “Peace, be still!” and He raised the dead with “Lazarus, come forth!” God’s words have power to help a soul step from spiritual darkness to light, they have power to transform lives, to heal hurts, and they have power to reconcile us to our loving Father God.

Our faith, our Christianity, is a faith in the living God. It is wonderful, it is a blessing, it is the truth, of that there can be no doubt. It is spread by the power of God, through the words of God, spoken by frail human lips, our lips, our mouths. And we are a people of unclean lips as Isaiah put it; even so, God has given us this great commission to preach the Gospel to every creature.

If we speak falsely, if we are dishonest in our speech, if we show ourselves to be untrustworthy, can people believe us when we say “Come to Jesus, He will heal your hurts, He will give you Joy and peace in your heart”? Will people believe us when we say “I love God” when we do not love our fellow man created in God’s image? As James puts it Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? My Brothers, this should not be so. And if this is so, will we not hinder the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are we hindering or helping the Gospel by our words?

We should all strive to be more like Jesus, speaking Godly words; words of hope, words of faith, words of grace and life. And just in case you are unsure what these words are, let me characterise them as well as I know how, for I am no expert here, as James puts it “we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way”

Godly words are honestly spoken; they come from the heart, without deception, without seeking to present a false image. We should seek to do what we say. When we say yes to someone let us try to let our yes remain yes; and when we say no let our no remain no. To be like Jesus in the words we speak is to be honest; expressing how we honestly feel. But honesty is not enough; for there is a problem with to much frankness. It is clear that we can if we are not careful offend and upset people. We can call a spade a spade but if we have no love what do we accomplish? We are a harsh honest person; how good is that?

So, Godly words are honest words spoken out of a loving heart, without deception, looking for what is best for those who listen, not point scoring, not pointing out the speck of sin in our brother’s eye when, our own is half blinded by our own sin. Godly words come out of a heart of compassion, out of a heart of forgiveness and reconciliation. However, even honest and kind words may not be enough unless they are also true words. For I do not believe we are called to have sugar coated speech, to just say what people want to hear.
The difficulty with “the truth” is that often, in my experience, it tends to be a nice way of expressing your own personal bias. So it often causes more arguments than anything. This is certainly the case with my children, “you did that” , “no I didn’t”, “oh yes you did” etc… And it kind of argument doesn’t stop with children, I am sorry to say.

As a young person I have been greatly troubled by difficulty of balancing honest, truth and love. For many honest people honestly see things differently, who has the truth? Well the truth I am talking about is God’s will, Gods plans, Gods purposes, and we find it here [pointing to scripture]. Godly truth is resting in the presence of the almighty God, speaking from that presence.
Thus, Godly words are honest words spoken out of a loving heart, words that are spoken from closeness to God. And where the words of God and the presence of God are, there is the power of God also.

So James has warned us of the negatives in this passage. Ungodly speech can be fired by hell fire, and it can guide your life in a disastrous direction; just like a rudder guides a ship. Likewise Godly talk will guide our lives to a great and glorious end. For Godly talk spoken from Godly faith with Godly love can help guide our lives into the great purposes of God, His great commission. And this will lead us into a much greater understanding of worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.

Amen

With the right training, could any Christian be made into a preacher; or does it always require a calling and gifting from God?

Preaching. Prepare for Service, Bristol Baptist College Assignment, 2008-02-28


The first part of the question leads me to a “No” answer; that is it seems, humanly speaking, unlikely that one could take any Christian and make a preacher out of them even with the best training. For can training transform a timid and shy person into a fearless preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Can an understanding of the technicalities of church liturgy, history and ecclesiology enable one to become a fruitful communicator of the risen Lord? While the second part of the sentence suggests a “Yes” answer; for with God all things are possible. For if God is God then He can surely take any unlikely, but willing, person and transform them into His servant messenger and preacher.

Let us now compare and contrast the role of training and calling. If we were talking about teaching in general then you must argue that a thorough grasp of all the fundamentals of the subject taught is essential. You cannot teach of which you have not first understood. However, as good as training and instruction are, is it sufficient? We have all suffered at the hands of poor communicators. I have heard it said that a poor teacher is poor because they do not understand their subject well enough. I have no doubt that in some cases this is true. However, it also true that some communicators do understand their subject but fail to make it live for their students. Thus, there seems to be a difference between knowledge of a subject and communication of that knowledge.

Now many educationalists at this point argue that teaching and communication require study in their own right. One can learn to appreciate that different hearer hear different messages. One may have to include various learning strategies, e.g. auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic, using interaction, repetition and cycles of learning etc. There is merit in some of this educational theory. Even with this can we take an apple and turn it into a pair; can we take a poor communicator and make them a good communicator?

I believe that good teaching does require knowledge of the subject and some educational training. However, good teaching is fundamentally conversing one to another. It cannot be reduced to a method; it is bound up with the personalities involved, i.e. both the speaker’s and the listeners’. Thus, a good teacher must have the right personality as well as all other requirements. So from a human perspective a “good preacher” is a peculiar individual that has these characteristics and they are certain not anyone!

Now let me get back to the subject of Christian preaching; for there are some important differences between that of teaching in general and preaching the word of God. In fact I believe these differences are so important that you may come to a completely different selection of characteristics of a “good preacher”.

While there is truth in many subjects, the truth in God’s word is of an entirely different and deeper nature. I believe it contains the living testimony of almighty and eternal God Himself. Its message of salvation has eternal consequences for the listener, whether to chose the way that leads to life or the way that leads to death[1]. All other knowledge will fade away[2], but God shall remain forever. Thus, the status of the message is pre-eminent; all other teaching, valuable as it is, is secondary.

Preaching is about encouraging people to become disciples of Jesus Christ. So it is fundamentally bound up with God Himself; His plans, His purposes, His providence, His love. It is complete unlike all other human teaching in this respect. It is fundamentally cooperation with and service of the living God. The wisdom required, the understanding required, the power required all begin and end with God. It is fundamentally a spiritual matter. Human reasoning and understanding will not avail us. We must seek the Lord’s provision and guidance here. For it is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing[3]

Now let us consider who can be God’s preacher and who cannot. What are pre-requisites? What would you expect a preacher to be like? Now humanly speaking you may suggest someone with personal charisma, a certain amount of intelligence, the gift of the gab, and well schooled in biblical theology; this would fit the bill. But even this person, who is he that he should add to the work of God? What is his great understanding that he should be well qualified? Where was he when the foundation of the earth were laid?[4] Where was he when Jesus broke the power of sin and death with His death and resurrection? The part of the Christian preacher is always secondary to the living message of God. The power is God’s, the promises are His, the works are His, and all is His.

Accordingly, let us consider who God chooses to Preach. He chooses who He wills. It is not based on human reasoning. It should not be based on either human abilities or personalities. Though God can use human abilities he can also provide spiritual gifts of His own. And these spiritual gifts are far more precious. For God can take any Christian and make them a powerful preacher, yes any. For all power belongs to Him. This is a necessary and important point to appreciate, for until a man understands this can God use him? Martin Luther put it like this “God creates out of nothing. Therefore until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him”. For God to use a man he must not be wise in his own eyes, must not lean on his own understanding but in all his way acknowledge and reverence God[5].

This is where we see that human teaching and Godly preaching can be quite different. Human teaching requires study, training and a certain charisma. Godly preaching requires something quite different. It requires the presence of God.

Having said this are we any closer answering the question about who is called? If we are to answer this question then how are we to judge? There is some testing required. As the apostles Paul and John put it “Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good”.[6], and “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”[7] For how can we discern who is called and chosen and who is not? How can we discern who is following Jesus and who is not? How can we test who is letting God have His way and who is not? Is this not the vital question for the church today? For is it not enough to just say, repeatedly, “but I know the call of God to preach, I know God”?

The word of God is our guide. It is sharper that any two edged sword. It divides, it judges, it tests. And it is the Spirit of God who wields this sword[8]. It is the faithful and wise who listen to the voice of the Spirit. Knowing the word of God, the teaching of Jesus is vital. Believing in this revealed truth is vital. Being devoted to the Lord is vital. Demonstrating that God is real to you by the way you live is vital, obedience is vital. An inner spiritual life that is predicated on a humble and faithful heart is vital. I pray that those who are called will not harden their heart but will listen the voice of the Spirit.












References (NKJV)
[1] Deut 30:19
[2] 1 Cor 13:8
[3] Jn 6:63.
[4] Job 38:2
[5] Pr 3:6-7
[6] 1 Th 5:21
[7] 1 Jn 4:1
[8] Ep 6:17

What is Christian preaching and what is it meant to do?

Preaching. Prepare for Service, Bristol Baptist College Assignment, 2008-02-28


Before answering the question “what is preaching?” we must appreciate and attempt to respond to the question “why preach”? As a starting point I believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,  thoroughly equipped for every good work [1]. I believe scripture here to be defined as the Old and New Testament canon. Thus, I will not discuss in this short essay any of the more fanciful, philosophical or psychological notations concerning preaching.

So, firstly, we preach because it is commanded by our Lord Jesus. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.[2] It is an integral part of the great commission of the Church. Preaching is God’s planned means of communicating the good news of salvation.  Doesn’t the apostle Paul remind us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God [3] and in another place he states In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;[4] and to reinforce this further our Lord has stated succinctly He who is of God hears God’s words[5]. Thus, hearing the word of God is a necessary part of the process of being saved; and in its most plain sense hearing requires someone to speak. I do, of course, recognise that hearing with spiritual ears is also an integral part of being saved. That is to say being born of the Spirit is fundamentally a spiritual matter, requiring hearing in ones heart. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the normative process of salvation in scripture involved preaching with the spoken word and someone hearing the preaching of the spoken word.

Now, can we fathom God’s plans and purposes a little more by asking the impertinent question why has God chosen this means? Why is it necessary to employ spoken words? Why is there not some other means? Why not just the written word or perhaps even without any words at all? Let us consider the following text;

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was  without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. [6]

The creation of light and all subsequent parts of creation was by the spoken word. God chose to use the spoken word, a word of command, to create light. So the spoken word, literally from the mouth of God, was used to create light and separate it from the darkness. Consequently, what do we discern from this? God Himself uses the spoken word to divide between light and dark, to divide between good and evil. Is not the spoken word then part of His nature? It seems to me that God uses the spoken word to get things done! Later in Genesis, Adam was created in God’s image, a spiritual being, and communication between God and Adam is through spoken words. This is repeated age after age throughout scripture, God speaking to His people, God speaking to His Prophets and God speaking to His disciples.

The scriptures are recorded for us as written words but the texts often state that they where given as the spoken word of God. It is not just that God uses audible communication for our benefit; scripture suggests that audible words from God have power to shape the fabric of this universe. The power of God in action was accompanied with words from God, such as “let there be Light”, and our Lord rebuked the wind and sea with “Peace, be still!” and He raised the dead with “Lazarus, come forth!” God’s words have power to help a soul step from spiritual darkness to light, they have power to transform lives, to heal hurts, and they have power to reconcile us to our loving Father God.

So why should we preach? We preach because we are commanded, because we have been sent to preach As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. [7]  We preach because the word is part of God’s nature, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.[8] We preach because the word of God is true and it is the power of God for salvation.

This brings us to what is specifically biblical Christian preaching? For it is one thing to argue that the spoken words from God have power, it is completely another to argue that all preaching has this power.

Preaching is not an opportunity for good public speaking or too often poor public speaking. It is not entertainment; it is not selling a product or advertising. Neither is it an opportunity to expound man’s wisdom in the form of psychology, philosophy, or literature. It is not an opportunity to discourse the nature of modern culture. Preaching is not a chance to subvert the Gospel with faithless theological reasoning. All of these I have heard.

God does not change, his Word does not change, the state of mankind has not changed and the need for faithful Christian preaching will not change. It is clear to me that Christian Preaching is declaring the revealed words of God, presenting the plans and purposes of God, explaining and illuminating the will of God. The preacher has a solemn charge; neither adding to nor taking from the words of God. This solemn charge is to be faithful to their true meaning, to unceasingly let our Lord take all glory and honour and praise for He must increase, but I must decrease [9].

Preaching is to remaining faithful to this charge; so that people are brought to the place where faith can take hold in the soul. Subsequently, preaching to the faithful is for the equipping of the church for Love and good works. It should stir up the soul, set our spirit ablaze and encourages us to draw closer and closer to God. This is achieved not because of the preacher’s charisma, oratory skills or smooth words but because the power of God lies in the message, in the words of God.

Finally I should add a few words about the style or form. I think the guiding principle is given in the following text.

For though I am  free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all,  that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law  (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. [10]

The apostle Paul adapted his behaviour or his style to suit the persons he was addressing. Paul’s message never changed, he remained faithful to the word of God he had received. Nevertheless, the form or style as far as it was possible was not to become a stumbling block for the listener. He tailored his style so that by all means he may save some. Paul did not let the formalities or traditions of his background and training limit his behaviour. If he could see that changing his style would be of benefit to the hearer, if changing the form enabled a hearing for the message of God he changed.

In conclusion, Christian preaching is a vital part of the life of the church. It is as necessary today as it has ever been. It is God’s planned means of communicating the Gospel. The form is less important than the message. However, using words is necessary if we are to remain faithful to God’s nature and purposes.



References (Biblical passages from NKJV)

[1] 2 Ti 3:16-17 [2] Mk 16:15, [3] Ro 10:17, [4] Eph 1:13, [5] Jn 8:47 [6] Ge 1:1-4, [7] Jn 20:21-22, [8] Jn 1:1. [9] Jn 3:31 [10] 1 Co 9:19-23

Obituary for Brother Roger (of Taize)

Letter to a friend

Steve

I heard this a few years ago. I felt very sad and still do. He was a true man of God. But on reflection, God was calling him home, it was his time. The fact that he was murdered was very strange, God using/allowing this means. I believe that, as with Job, Satan was allowed some role here.

I feel, as you do, that when true, honest, deep prayer takes place in a persons life, a life given over to closeness with God, it leaves a mark on every-one who meets that person. Brother Roger was such a person, a saint, a small taste of Jesus Christ, the power of the presence of God.

His theology was from the eyes of theologian and the dogma of denominational churches a bit imprecise. He never really answers the questions about communion, praying to mary, the priesthood, etc.. But the depth and reality of his teaching was much deeper, more true to Jesus and his Gospel than almost anything else I have read. Even as an academic and theologically minded person, I would rather have his teaching and reflections than text-books of dogma.

His tough questions were; how to live a life of service and love? How to hope in dark times? How to say yes to faith through-out an entire life? How to begin all things with a trusting heart? The really important questions.

He will be missed.

Nick