Credo in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem

As you likely know, this morning we’re going to continue a series of sermons on the Apostles’ Creed. In particular, we will look at the words “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” But we’re going to take the scenic route to get there, so please be patient… let’s start by looking at a really important verse from the Bible…

In Acts 16:31, we read: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” Bible verses rarely come more to the point than that, do they? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Of course, “believing in Jesus” must certainly also involve “believing what Jesus says to be true.” So what does Jesus say about being saved? (Jesus says):

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25)”

“I tell you the truth: whoever believes has eternal life. (John 6:47)”

“I tell you the truth: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)”

Wow! Never die? Not be judged? Eternal life? You see, Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, he came to bring dead people to life. And of course Paul had this in mind when he said “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” But all too often, people trip up when they encounter this verse...

There are three pieces to this verse: believing, the Lord Jesus, and salvation. Since believing comes first, that is where we naturally focus. And because we think belief happens “up here” (in our heads), we end up focusing on ourselves. And after that, well, salvation represents “what’s in it for me”, and so that becomes our secondary concern. Finally, we turn our left-over energy to the Lord Jesus. But this is altogether backwards, isn’t it? It treats the matter as all about us when salvation cannot possibly come from us! Only Jesus has the power to save us! So when we hear “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”, we need to give priority of focus to him!

You see, when the Bible talks about believing in someone, it means much more than just believing that they exist or just believing facts about them. But that makes listening to sermons more difficult, doesn’t it? You see, a preacher can only give you words, and while they can point to the True Word, only the Holy Spirit can provide an encounter with the Word Himself -- the Word who was in the beginning, who was with God and who was God. A preacher can tell you truth, and while it can point to the Truth, only the Holy Spirit can provide an encounter with the Truth Himself -- the Living Truth -- our Lord Jesus.

It is useful to keep this in mind as we go through the Apostles’ Creed. While this creed is a great opportunity to open our minds to God’s amazing wisdom and love, it will be of lasting value particularly as it points us to the One who is the only source of our salvation.

With that in mind, let’s (finally) consider these words: “I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

These days, it has become more and more uncomfortable to voice such words in public. In the last decade, atheist writers -- those who most certainly do NOT believe in God -- have published a dozen or so best-selling books, including The God delusion and God is not great. And while these books bring no new evidence or new argument to the table, they certainly  have changed the social environment, making it very much less open to talking about God.

Now if you’ve never had a conversation with an atheist, I can assure you that your children will, if they haven’t already, and so I hope you don’t mind if I describe two typical atheist tactics and offer some defence against them. One of the most common atheist claims is that “there is no evidence for God.”

First, the claim that there is no evidence for God is bit of a bluff. They don’t really mean it, of course. What they really mean is that there is no direct, empirical evidence for God. That is, you can’t see Him, or hear Him, or touch Him, or taste Him or smell Him. But let’s face it, we deal with indirect evidence all the time -- as anyone with any experience with science or anyone who has ever watched an episode of CSI can tell you. Part of the problem is that some atheists don’t really want you to think very carefully about what “evidence” means at all.

Let me give you an interesting example concerning evidence from history: in the late seventeenth century, there was substantial agreement among all the scholars of the day that there was no evidence at all for “action at a distance”. That is, in order to make something move, one needed to be touching it, and pushing it. But then Newton came along and proposed the unthinkable: that the sun was exerting force on the planets, drawing them into orbit from a distance! He called it gravitation. And from that point until Einstein, gravity has been taken to be an example of “action at a distance”. So how is it that scholars were so mistaken? How could they -- in essence -- not see the evidence for... gravity!? After all, surely there was just as much evidence for gravity before Newton as there has been after, right? Well, here’s the deal with evidence: when considering evidence, we need (first) to look in the right places and (second) we need to apply an appropriate “interpretive lens”. Newton discovered plenty of evidence for gravity in the orbits of the planets. But it was only after he could explain that evidence that people finally realized “Oh! now I see that there really IS lots of evidence for ‘action at a distance’!”

Well, the same is true about evidence for God. There is p-l-e-n-t-y of evidence for God. In fact, the universe is f-u-l-l of evidence for God. But if you don’t want to see it, if you insist on looking in the wrong places, or if you aren’t willing to engage the right “lens” to interpret it, then you will feel well within your rights to claim that there is none.

“Well,” the atheist would respond, “You say there is plenty of evidence for God -- let’s see it!” Indeed: let’s. As it happens, the best places to look for evidence for God are exactly where the Bible says they should be. Psalm 19 says: “the heavens declare the glory of God.” Of course, the “heavens” and the stars and planets and galaxies they contain is the subject of the modern discipline of Astronomy. Here’s what Nobel Prize-winning Arno Penzias says:

“Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with the very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying -- one might say ‘supernatural’ -- plan.” More recently, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial with this remarkable title: “Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God” (Eric Metaxas, Dec 25, 2014) here are some of the things he said:

“Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing.

“Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn’t assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being?

“Fred Hoyle, [another famous astronomer]... said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that ‘a common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology . . . . The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.’

“Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that ‘the appearance of design is overwhelming’ and Oxford professor John Lennox has said ‘the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.’

“The greatest miracle of all time, without any close seconds, is the universe. It is the miracle of all miracles, one that ineluctably points with the combined brightness of every star to something—or Someone—beyond itself.”

Yes: the heavens declare the glory of God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth! But as impressive as that declaration might be, I might have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Metaxas. Because there is an even bigger miracle -- there is even more evidence for God -- in the second place that the Bible indicates.

In Genesis, we read that “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” So we should expect to encounter a great deal of evidence for God in each of His image-bearers on earth -- that’s you! That’s us! Seriously, human beings represent the greatest challenge to atheist thinking -- at least we should. And not just our biology, either, as remarkable as that is.

In fact, what we currently know about microbiology is so remarkable, that it led the most prominent atheist of the twentieth century, Anthony Flew, to change his mind about God - he wrote: “the findings of more than fifty years of DNA research have provided materials for a new and enormously powerful argument to design.” - that is, the existence of a Designer. It is true: we need an explanation for the presence and intricacy of biological information. And we need an explanation for the astonishing nanotechnology that exists in every cell in your body, processing that information. And please don’t let anyone try to tell you that evolution solves this problem. It doesn’t even address this problem -- because without that biological information there in the first place or without that nanotechnology there in the first place, there could be no biological evolution at all! When we encounter a functional representation of any meaningful sort in our daily lives, whether in a book, or a picture, or a computer program, we never doubt that an intelligence is behind it. But somehow, when some people encounter astronomically more sophisticated functional representation within their genome, they manage to deny the Intelligence behind it! Of course it represents evidence for God the Father, almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

But if you really want evidence for God, there is more than in all astronomy, and in all biology. The best evidence for God is in the things that make us uniquely human. This is the reason that atheists want so desperately to convince us that humans are really nothing but animals. But we are more than animals, as any visit to the symphony, or to Notre Dame, or to any major museum should convince you. Those things that make us uniquely human include language (my area of study), rationality (our ability to use logic and think about things), morality (our sense of good and evil), aesthetics (our sense of beauty), humor, consciousness and personality. None of these things can be explained by matter and energy. They all require something more. Whenever you hear someone talking, you encounter evidence for God. Whenever you figure something out, you encounter evidence for God. Whenever you feel that life should be fair, you encounter evidence for God. Whenever you hear music, or see art, or laugh at a good joke, you encounter evidence for God. All these things point to God the Father, almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

But that brings us to the second atheist tactic. At this point in a conversation, an atheist is likely to exclaim “God of the gaps!” When they use this phrase, they (correctly) want to point out that using God to explain things that we can’t explain otherwise has an embarrassing history. After all, before Newton observed the effects of gravity, there were some philosophers who actually thought that God was actively moving the planets in their orbits. And not too many people think that these days, of course. So when an atheist says “god of the gaps”, they are promising that for all these things that I’ve just said we need God to explain, that some day, perhaps in the distant future, there will be a physical explanation for all of them.

But “God of the gaps!” only makes sense if one doesn’t understand science. You see, the underlying assumption is that there is a finite amount of knowledge to be discovered, and that science is well on its way to finding all of it, as if all the available knowledge in the universe was like a fence being painted -- and every day the amount of unpainted fence becomes smaller. Well, reality is much different. Rather than like a fence (with a finite surface area), the available knowledge in the universe is more like a fractal (with an infinity surface area!) That is, every time a scientific question is answered, it raises more scientific questions. What this means, of course, is that “gaps” in knowledge are always becoming bigger -- there is always something deeper to be discovered; there is always something more fundamental to be understood.

So when an atheist says “God of the gaps!” they typically don’t want you to think too carefully about that, either. You see, the common atheist misconception of the universe only has room for space and time and matter and energy. But the difficulty with such a position is that so much of the human experience is impossible to reduce to those simple things. Not just difficult, impossible. When you see a sunset and go “w-o-w”; when you lose track of time talking to a friend; when you see puppies playing and you laugh - none of these things can be sensibly described by the movement of the elementary particles of physics - there simply cannot be a physical explanation for something beyond the physical. That sense of beauty you get from the sunset; that love you share with a friend; that fun you get from watching puppies playing - these are all examples of what we call “transcendence” - something beyond the mundane, something more.

But nothing makes an atheist less comfortable than transcendence - because it, too, needs an explanation; it, too, needs a source. And it is impossible to get away from the fact that the obvious explanation for transcendence is God. There are only two escapes from this conclusion. First, the atheist can claim that the experience of transcendence is an illusion, but in that case the poor fellow goes through life avoiding the very things that make life worth living. What’s more, the very rationality that is necessary for science itself -- is transcendent! And it is very embarrassing for an atheist to discover that he is undermining the very ground that science stands on. So claiming transcendence is an illusion is actually self-defeating.

The only other escape for the atheist is to claim that the experience of transcendence represents an “emergent” property of matter. But “emergence” isn’t magic. For something to “emerge” means that it was “built in” (or “pre-programmed”) in the first place. And that, too, requires an explanation. Unfortunately for the atheist, the fact that such marvels are built into the fabric of matter is yet one more good reason to marvel at the wisdom and power of God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

You see, God is (among other things) the explanation for the universe! If there were no explanation, then there would be no universe. But more interestingly, if there was no explanation, then there would be no science at all. After all, science is simply the exercise of finding better explanations for things. Science assumes that things have explanations and goes out to find them. It would be very odd form of “science” indeed that engaged in a relentless pursuit of explanations “inside” the universe, but didn’t seem at all curious to explain the universe itself.

So please don’t let anyone tell you that there is a conflict between science and Christianity. On that score, Chesterton said it well: what is “known as the quarrel of Science and Religion”, he said, is really just a “clumsy collision of two very impatient forms of ignorance.” Folks who think there is such a conflict don’t understand one, or the other, and usually both.

Rather, there are many good reasons to believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. If we lived in a rational society, this first line of the Apostle’s Creed would be universally accepted.

But as much fun as it might have been for me to give a hard time to the atheists (very few, if any, who have been in attendance to defend themselves), please remember: the important matter isn’t just avoiding an atheist’s mistakes. Belief that God exists is not enough. Instead, we must put our trust in this God and then and only then will you find the love, the Holy presence and the eternal life that He offers freely through His Son.

Yes, there is a God who is almighty and made heaven and earth. But this God is also willing for us to call him Father. We can come to him with our burdens; we can ask him to help us with our problems. And he cares and listens! Of course, he doesn’t always operate the way we expect him to - but what would you expect: after all, He is God, and we are not.

When my eldest daughter was four or five years old, she once came to me with a broken toy. “Daddy can you fix it?” she asked. So I looked carefully at her toy, put it down on the coffee table, turned to her and said, “yes.” Then I stood up and left the room. And Grace was angry! I was a bit surprised that she should be angry, but then it occurred to me that I hadn’t told her that a screwdriver was necessary to fix her toy, and that I had gone to retrieve that screwdriver from the toolkit. So here was Grace, angry at her father, who loved her, and who was taking the absolute most efficient path to address the very problem that she had brought to him. But then it occurred to me: I do that with God all the time. We do find it difficult to trust when we don’t understand, don’t we?

The One who designed you, who selected the genetic material that makes you who you are, He knows better than you could ever imagine. And he knows what’s best for you. Come to him. Meet him this morning. Trust in Him, even if you might not understand what He is up to. Ask him to give you his Holy Spirit, so that these truths and these words could result in an encounter with the Living Word and the Truth Himself, Jesus Christ, because the God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, loves each one of you this morning, and he sent his Son Jesus to demonstrate that love to you.

Faith

Faith (Oct 2, 2014) 1 Cor 13: 13 says “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.” Well, the greatest might be love...but the first of them is faith. And we are going to talk about faith this morning. :-)

Now, in this morning’s key verse we see three important concepts: faith, hope, and love. These are the bulwarks of God’s Kingdom. These are the sacred elements of the gospel. Elsewhere in the Bible, we read that “the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love. [Gal 5:6]” Can you imagine? “The only thing that matters!”? Faith, hope and love must be exceedingly important to God. But whenever something is important in God’s economy, you can be sure that the enemy has a strategy to undermine it. So it is no surprise that the enemy either attacks the church where love is concerned or he attacks the church where faith is concerned. How does this happen? Very simple: the enemy would like to deceive us into thinking that we aren’t being loving when we really are, or that we are being loving when we really aren’t. Of course, this happens all too often. Similarly, the enemy would like to deceive us into thinking that we aren’t exercising faith when we really are, or that we’re exercising faith when we really aren’t. Isn’t that devious? It isn’t a “fair fight” at all. Instead, the enemy wants to undermine the things that are important in the church to render us ineffective in the world.

So it should come as no surprise that even the definition of faith is so often mangled. Faith is so misunderstood. But this is partly the fault of the church! If we let our enemy define the terms that are so valuable to us, we’ve already lost half the battle! Here are some bogus definitions of faith that seem current among some people today...

"Faith: belief in the absence of evidence - perhaps even in opposition to the evidence" - Richard Dawkins. Here is someone who defines faith in the absence of evidence, perhaps even in opposition to the evidence, but he believes his own definition anyway.

"Faith: pretending to know what you don't know" - Peter Boghossian. Here is someone else who pretends to know how to define faith, when he really doesn't.

Instead of that nonsense, let’s find out what the Bible tells us about faith. But before we go there, I’d like to tell you what the English language means by the word, and in order to get there, I’d like us to look at a related word: the word “faithful”. After all, the Bible introduces “faithfulness” long before it introduces “faith”. So my strategy this morning is one that I share with the Bible -- the Bible uses the word “faithful” 170 times before it uses “faith” three times! So what do we mean by the word “faithful”. Oxford and Webster agree on three meanings or three senses of the word. Originally, these three senses of the word were very close together, but over centuries, we now think of them differently. So today, we’re doing a bit of linguistic archaeology. By tracing the divergence of the word “faithful” back - by seeing the intersection of these three different meanings, we can get a better understanding of the word “faith”. These three senses (or meanings) of the word “faithful” are: tenacious -- “loyal”/“dependable” true -- “genuine” trusting -- “full of faith” The first definition is perhaps the most common one in use today, and the one in play when we say the phrase “faithful to the end”. It indicates that being faithful involves never giving up. It means that you can be counted on the make it to the end of the course. And in Greek, the end of the course is an idea very closely resembling the “purpose” of it all. So to be faithful is to be tenacious for a purpose. How about that second definition? Well, when a movie-maker turns a book into a movie, and she takes care to be true to the original material, we say that the movie is “faithful to the book”, don’t we? This sense of the word tells us that faith is being true to the source, or the author. So to be faithful is to be true to a person. Now the final definition isn’t in common use anymore, but most good dictionaries still include it. And this definition reminds us that faith is closely related to trust, as we all know. In the first century, when the New Testament was written, the most common context for “faith” was the faith that one had toward a patron. It represented a relationship between a lesser person and a greater person. The lesser person received favor from the greater person, and in return pledged faith toward that patron. It was an expression of faithfulness to look to one’s patron for help. It was also an expression of faithfulness to provide service to one’s patron. Remember how we started? “the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love.” Love is the service appropriate to our faith-relationship with God. These faith-relationships were part of the fabric of society when the New Testament was written, and everyone understood it back then. Unfortunately, we’ve lost sight of this fact: Biblical faith always involves a relationship. To be faithful is to be trusting in a patron. So let’s summarize: Faith is trusting in a patron. Faith is being true to a person. Faith is being tenacious for a purpose. Before we continue, let me just point out that faith is never “alone”. We do not have faith in faith. According to the original understanding of the word, we always have faith in someone. Each of these definitions requires its object. Trusting doesn’t make any sense on its own. The obvious question is “In whom are you trusting?” And being true doesn’t make any sense on its own. The obvious question is “To whom are you being true?” And being tenacious doesn’t make any sense on its own. The obvious question is “For whom are you being tenacious?” With this in mind, let’s turn to the verse in scripture that tells us the most about faith. Of course, I’m referring to Hebrews… chapter… twelve! (and verse 2). (If you thought this was going to be chapter eleven, don’t be too hard on yourself -- you were just one chapter off): “...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (version?)

In particular, I’d like to focus on those eleven words (in English - seven in Greek) underlined above. We fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. The first thing to notice is that the focus of our faith is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Indeed, he is our patron in a faith-relationship. We pledge faith to him, and on his part he offers us salvation.

But what about the rest of that underlined phrase? Isn’t that an interesting expression? What does it mean to be the pioneer of ...faith? What does it mean to be the perfecter of ...faith. Well, if we look at the Greek words, they can mean other things that can help us understand. The word for “pioneer” can also be translated “author” or “source”! Similarly, the word for “perfector” can also be translated “completion” or “purpose”!

So do you see what this verse is telling us? Jesus is simply the object of our faith in literally every sense of the word. Jesus is the patron in whom we trust. Jesus is the person to whom we are true. And Jesus is the purpose for whom we are tenacious. This Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, is the source of all trustworthiness. So naturally it is sensible to trust in him. He is also the Truth. So naturally it is sensible to be true to him. And he is not only the Creator, but he is the ultimate purpose of creation. So naturally it is sensible to be tenacious in our loyalty to him! Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  

And please also notice the example that Jesus sets for us. We trust him with the fragmented details of our lives because he promises to put together all the parts worth keeping. He promises to give us wholeness, and peace, and eternal life. And he demonstrated his ability to keep this promise by his exceptional insight into the human condition, by his remarkable compassion on those he healed from all manner of ailments, and by his rising bodily from the dead, blazing the trail for us! This Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down at God’s right hand -- so we must not grow weary or lose heart if we trust in him.

But this, of course, is the reason that tenacity is so important. You see, when we come to Jesus as our patron, we acknowledge his right to address our problems in any way he chooses. If we have Biblical faith, we give up the right to call the shots. Instead, we accept God’s salvation on His terms. The bad news is that those terms often involve trials of many kinds. But the good news is that it is always more than worth it in the end. What does the Bible say? “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” So here is the Biblical definition of faith: Tenacious trusting in the Truth (that is, Jesus). Unfortunately, we live in a day and age that isn’t very open to this message. And it might be valuable to consider why this is. You see, a large chunk of the world feels that all its needs are met by another patron -- a different patron. But there is nothing new under the sun. In Jesus time, the alternative to worshipping God was worshipping idols. And the same is true today. The only difference is that back then idols were physical. Today, not so much. As back then, most people today worship the creation rather than the Creator. And just like in Jesus day, people today are willing to sacrifice a great deal for the sake of their idols. What are the big competing idols in 2014? Some are as old as civilization itself. To identify them, one simply needs to ask, “Where do people look to solve their problems?” Some people look for solutions in economics. Typically, these are the people who are insecure about their wealth -- often very wealthy, but insecure nonetheless. Some people look to government. These feel weakness, and they are really looking for power. Others place their faith in education, feeling that knowledge addresses their problems. Still others trust in technology, wanting more control over their environment. And many, of course, think that fulfillment can be found in experience, often involving sex or substances -- revealing an insecure desire for pleasure. Finally (at least finally for this slide, I’m sure there are others that I missed), some have faith in medicine, because they feel that their health is the greatest good.

Economics, Technology, Government, Experience, Medicine, Education -- these are the things that people today look to for protection, for healing, or for fulfillment. And these things seem so much more accessible, so much more convenient, so much more popular than Jesus. Why, they might ask, would anyone prefer Jesus to iPhones, national health-care, and televised entertainment? Well, for starters, because none of these other things address the human condition in anything but the most superficial manner.

Sure: pleasure and power can distract us or help us feel better about ourselves. But history is full of stories of those who end up miserable because they found sex without love or power without friends. Sure: knowledge can stimulate us mentally and health can maintain us physically. But studies show that after subsistence, health and education do not correlate at all with personal well- being. Sure: wealth and technology have freed us from back-breaking work. But once again, they do nothing at all to address humanity’s deepest longings.

Here, I can’t help but be reminded of my daughter Grace’s experience. The summer that my oldest daughter was sixteen years old, she did a bit of traveling. Two of her weeks were spent in the Dominican Republic, a trip for which she is still grateful for your contribution. There, she worked on building projects and took care of children -- children who had barely enough clothes and food to survive. But after that, she flew to California, and spent some time with her cousins -- where everyone had an excess of everything. When she arrived home, she was fascinated by the contrast. In the DR, the children were always happy. They laughed, they played, they enjoyed the outdoors and relished in the small gifts that they were given. In California, on the other hand, nothing was ever enough. Even the newest and shiniest toys were obsolete in weeks, and they needed to be replaced by the next best thing.

A larger proportion of the world’s money has never been spent on education and medicine. But our society’s levels of depression -- to say nothing of asthma, diabetes, autism, heart and autoimmune diseases have never been higher and appear to be climbing. This is not to dismiss the successes of modern medicine or technology or education -- just to call into question whether they deserve their place in the world’s imagination as a replacement “patron” for the only true Saviour. Besides, as Jesus would remind us, “what good will it do you to gain the whole world if you forfeit your soul?”

At this point, however, even if a skeptic might be willing to concede that these substitutes may not be worthy of our faith, he would be well within his rights to call into question Jesus as an alternative. And while we do well to point people to the Bible to get a sense of the moral genius of Jesus, many have great prejudice against the Bible. Besides, people would be correct to think that if there were some truth to the Christian gospel, surely there should be evidence of its benefits. After all, while the gospel does point to a greater reality after this life, Jesus does call his followers “the light of the world” and the “salt of the earth”. If those aren’t just empty compliments, we should see evidence in the world today that at least suggests their value, right? Right! At which point, I’d like to show you a few maps… yes, really: maps!

First I’d like you to hold this image in your mind. Here we have a world map of major religions. The blue and purple countries here are those with significant (Protestant) Christian influence. Upper left; lower right... Most of these maps you will see are from wikimedia, available on the internet with presumably no political or religious affiliation. The one exception is from Freedom House -- a non-profit organization that ranks countries for personal freedom. Do you notice any correlation between those two maps? Top left; bottom right... Here’s another map: what are the best places to be born? Once again, notice the correlation? How about economic opportunity? Same deal. Education. Notice the pattern?

freedom

opportunity

education

economic freedom

status of women

life expectancy

corruption index

Well, the skeptic would say -- and quite correctly! -- that correlation doesn’t mean causation. He might suggest that freedom and opportunity are rather a result of education or perhaps of democracy or perhaps economic freedom. Sounds reasonable enough, but did you know there also appears to be a causal link between Christianity and democracy? It is true. In 2011, Robert Woodberry published a paper that shook up the world of sociology -- it was called “The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy.” And it showed, with all the appropriate mathematical tools and scientific rigour, that protestant missionary activity was, more than anything else, a predictive factor toward democracy in the third world. Check out this quote from his paper:

“Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations.”

Isn’t that remarkable?

In fact, the strong evidence is that Jesus is more responsible for freedom, opportunity, education, economic stability, human rights and civilization than anyone or anything else in history. The most effective programs for criminal rehabilitation, for troubled teens, for alcoholics, and for drug abusers all have foundations on the person of Jesus. Study after study shows that faith in Jesus makes people experience better relationships, and live longer, healthier, more enjoyable and generous lives.

In fact, any honest appraisal of society or history gives lots of room for the truth of the Gospel. And if I had time, I’d love to show you the research on modern miracles. I’d love to call your attention to the many prophecies concerning Jesus that were fulfilled. I’d love to try to convince you of the historical fact of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, and the strong evidence for that. I’d love to tell you stories from my own life that indicate that Jesus is alive and active in the world today. And I’d even love to try to convince you that any honest appraisal of the state of modern science also begs for a Creator of beauty and truth and goodness and language and love. And this is Jesus -- the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

This Jesus is the patron, who, offering us so great a salvation, deserves our trust. This Jesus is the person to whom we should be true. This Jesus is the purpose for which we engage in faith -- that tenacious trusting of the Truth.

You see, as the Bible teaches, there isn’t any good thing we have that hasn’t been given to us by God. And all those good things -- power, health, wealth, pleasure, knowledge -- they come to us most genuinely when we receive them through the generosity of God. It is when we put our faith in other sources to supply these things that we get into trouble.

Of course, there are no promises in the Bible that we will have as much of these things as we want. But we are told that “our God will meet all our needs according to his riches in glory.” We are also told that “godliness with contentment is great gain”. These are only some of the “great and precious promises” that our Patron offers to us. But please don’t misunderstand. Those aren’t the reasons we trust in Jesus. Those are the results of our trusting in Jesus. If we focus on all those things - health, wealth, knowledge, pleasure - we lose our bearings, and they would become our idols. Instead, if we seek first Jesus’ Kingdom and Jesus’ righteousness, then all these things will be added to us as well. But more than that, we are told that by these same promises we can even participate in the divine nature -- that the Holy Spirit of God comes and takes up residence in our lives. This is our hope of glory: Christ in us -- and if we are in Christ, we will not only share in his righteousness, we also share in his resurrection. What glory!

This morning, I’d like to close with a question. It is a question from Jesus own lips. “When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the earth?” - Luke 18:8 Will he? I hope so!

What kind of person are you?

“What kind of person are you?” – Now you might be thinking, “Hello! What’s all this ‘what kind of person are you?’ business? I thought this sermon was supposed to be all about kindness!” Well, if you’re the person thinking that this morning, let me just remind you that last week’s sermon was all about… patience! :-)

Yes: this morning is the fifth sermon in a series on the fruit of the Spirit. So let’s start with a bit of a review as to why this is such an important topic. Here are the words of Jesus: 

“Every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:17-19)

What kind of person are you this morning? That’s what Jesus is talking about, isn’t he? Two different kinds of trees; two different kinds of people. Two different kind of fruit; two different kinds of behavior. 

A tree’s fruit simply reveals the true nature of the tree – what kind of tree it is. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot product good fruit. Similarly, a person’s behavior simply reveals the true nature of that person. And that bit about being cut down and thrown into the fire? Not exactly sure about the details of the analogy here, but it is a safe bet that it is something that we would do well to avoid.

So the trees that Jesus talks about are us and the fruit is our behavior. Here’s what Paul has to say about that:

“The first way to please God is to bear fruit in good work.” (Colossians 1:10) 

There it is in scripture: good fruit is good work. 

In fact, the Bible says that our good work are the very purpose of scripture itself, doesn’t it:

 “All scripture is God-breathed… [and is given] so that you may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

We are also told that our good work are the goal of our salvation:

“[We received salvation] in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4) 

 “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good work” (Ephesians 2:10)

Now at this point, you may well be questioning my theology: after all, as participants in a Bible believing church, talk about good works makes us nervous – because we all know that we are saved by grace, and not by works. Well, that’s true. But let’s put those verses together:

 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

You see, it isn’t that the gospel sets good works aside. It simply puts them in the right context – they don’t come before our salvation; they come after. We don't work for our salvation -- we work out our salvation. But they are no less important being after! The fruit simply reveals the true nature of that tree. And good fruit proves that the tree is good, after all. 

So given the importance of good works in the Christian life, it should be no surprise at all that the passage that our sermon series comes from is all about good works, too:

 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22) 

Now, if you really wanted to, I suppose that you could pretend that some of these are inward and personal – not sounding very much like good works at all! You could imagine that joy and peace were in our hearts between us and God. You could imagine that love and patience were things we experience to ourselves. But it would be a big mistake to think that way. You see, thinking that way takes privacy and personal space for granted – but those things are modern inventions! Back in the time that this was written, everyone would have known that all of these fruit were precisely the “good works” that Paul writes about elsewhere.

Patience and peace result in much less stress and anger – and those around you will surely notice that in your behavior. True love and true joy can only ever be shared – and Paul’s readers should know that. Don’t make the mistake of treating the fruit of the Spirit as anything but a description of how we need to interact with each other. 

So after love, joy, peace, and patience, this morning we will look at kindness! I’m sure that we all appreciate that kindness is something that is expressed in good works.

Here is where kindness is situated among other Biblical words: it happens here – at the intersection of love and grace and goodness. But the English word kindness has an interesting story that I’d like to tell you about.

What’s obvious is that kindness (n. – that is, benevolent behavior) is the quality of being kind (adj. – that is, benevolent). But what isn’t obvious is that being kind (adj. - benevolent) comes from exactly the same source as the words “kindred (n. – relatives)” and “kin (n. – family)” and… “kind (n. – of the same nature)”. You see, to be kind is to treat someone else as if they are of your kind. Whenever we have the opportunity to show kindness, we demonstrate by our actions what kind of person we are. Or to put it another way, kindness is simply treating someone like family. Seriously! This is what the etymological dictionary says about the word “kind”:

kind (adj.)

"friendly, deliberately doing good to others," from Old English gecynde "natural, native, innate," originally "with the feeling of relatives for each other".

Kindness is simply treating someone like family.

Now it is possible that some of you might be thinking: “easy for you to say!” After all, when James Watts was here a few months ago, he asked us to think of a word to describe our families. It was my son’s voice from the balcony that offered “dysfunctional” as a description of my family. And while that might indeed describe my family… at least Nat (my son) puts the “fun” in dysfunction. :-)

Sure: if the bar is set low for someone’s family, it isn’t so hard to treat other people like family. But if the family bar is set higher (and I know that the bar can be set very high: in fact, I grew up in one of those very-functional families)… if the family bar is set high it is VERY much more difficult to use “family treatment” as a standard of kindness. I get that. But it is almost as if Jesus anticipates that objection – this is what he says: 

Luke 12:48 – "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

So yes: I still claim that the kindness that God is asking of you is to treat others like family. But at this point, I suspect that there might be a bit of grumbling. After all, it is common among Christians to consider family to be sacred. In fact, it was only in the last few months that a godly Christian brother asked me: “our priorities, Doug – they should be God first, family second, and all other things after that – right?” It sounded right, and I agreed at the time… but in preparation for this sermon, I confess that I struggled to find ringing endorsements of our earthly families in the Bible. Instead, scripture has a lot to say about the family of God.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God.” (Gal 3:26)

“You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God.” (Eph 2:19)

And my favorite:

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

That’s right: God’s kindness is an invitation to become part of his family – the family of Him who is the source of all Love, the family of Him who is the source of all Wisdom, the family of Him who is the source of all Joy. 

The Bible makes this invitation both for our hearts and for our heads. When the Bible wants to reach our hearts, it tells stories – when it wants to reach our heads, it gives us good theology.

First, let me remind you of the Bible story about kindness.

This story starts with someone whose heart was close to God wanting to show kindness to someone else. And the story ends with that someone else exclaiming, “Who am I to deserve all this?” Have you ever had that reaction to something? You see, there are kindnesses and then there are kindnesses. There are kindnesses to which the response is “aw”. There are kindnesses to which the response is “cool!” And there are kindnesses to which the response is “whoa!” And the one in the story I’m about to tell is off the charts. When someone shows you kindness outside of any expectation or without any deserving, that’s what we’re talking about.

At the beginning of our story, is David the King. And this story takes place right after the Bible says “So David reigned over all Israel.” At this point in history, he was the greatest man in the land. It is also interesting that the Bible situates this story as soon as possible after David’s armies had succeeded in bringing about peace in the land. The Philistines were defeated. The Moabites were defeated, The Syrians were defeated. The Edomites were defeated. And with this head of success and triumph, what does David do immediately? He says to his officials: “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness?” How do you like that? While other kings throughout history have made a point of executing the families of their predecessors – particularly when that predecessor invested years campaigning for your death as Saul did – David is looking for one of Saul’s descendants in order to be kind to him. 

So how does that work out? Well, they found somebody. Somebody with a tragic story: Mephibosheth, King Saul’s grandson, was crippled in both feet, having had an accident as a child. And as you know, being unable to walk has never been fun throughout history, but it was particularly difficult in ancient times. In fact, when word was put out to find this poor fellow, they eventually found him in a place called Lodebar, whose name means “land of nothing”. 

So Mephibosheth is brought to the palace, not knowing what David has in mind. Very likely he’s terrified. The Bible says he bowed down in front of David. But after saying Mephibosheth’s name, the first words out of David’s mouth were “Don’t be afraid.” And by the end of the day this cripple is given everything that belonged to his grandfather, King Saul. Saul’s old servants are now assigned to look after Mephibosheth. And what’s more, Mephibosheth and his son Mica are given permanent places at the king’s table. Can you imagine? This would be the closest thing you could ever get around 1000 BC to winning a lottery – and Mephibosheth hadn’t even bought a ticket. He starts the day in the land of nothing, and he ends the day in the palace in Jerusalem. He starts the day connected to the worst enemy the King has ever had, and he ends the day as a member of the King’s household. No wonder Mephibosheth’s response is so emotional: “Who am I?” he asks, “that you should even bother to notice a dead dog like me?” “Who am I to deserve this?” There really is nothing like experiencing this kind of kindness. 

But this is the kind of thing the Bible has in mind when it talks about kindness. Not just tit-for-tat kindness. Not just “what’s in it for me” kindness. Rather, an exceptional, free, and generous kindness. And an invitation into the King’s family is available to you, too, this morning. And the Holy Spirit really wants to get the message across this morning, because the story is backed up with teaching. What does the Bible say?

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” (Titus 3:4,5)

That’s right: those righteous things we had done were no more than filthy rags. Instead, our salvation depends entirely on the kindness and love of God. Here’s another passage with the same message.

“But God, … because of His great love made us alive together with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses … and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us….” (Ephesians 2:4-7)

What great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! God’s kindness to us is demonstrated in the fact that the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, became our kind in order that we could become his kind. That’s what the Bible means when it says 

“God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity.” (Hebrews 2:14) 

Here we see the “immeasurable riches of God’s grace.” And how can we respond? How should we respond? The only appropriate response is like Mephibosheth “WOW! How can I possibly deserve this?” The answer, of course, is that you can’t. We simply cannot do anything to deserve this! This is what the Bible says (Romans 5:10)

“We were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son while we were His enemies.”

That’s right: the kind of person that God is is the kind whose kindness extends to his enemies. Of course, that’s the kind of person God asks each of us to be, too:

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Matt 6:35)

If we, too, are able to love our enemies – to be kind to them – then we are God’s children: we are part of His family. That’s the kind of good fruit that is revealed on good trees. And if we are part of his family this morning, then we’ll want to act like this [pic]. 

Here, a not-quite-two-year-old Nathanael has put on his father’s hat and boots. (Ephesians 5:1 – “as dearly loved children, be imitators of God”) If we even so much as had an inkling of the amazing love that God has for us, we would be doing our best to imitate him. And how would we go about imitating God? The Bible says that when we see him as he is, we will be like him. And this is what God says about how he is (in Jeremiah 9):

“If you are smart, let’s hope that you are smart enough to know that brains aren’t something to brag about. And if you are strong, don’t imagine that that is anything to be proud of, either. And if you are rich, don’t waste your time gloating about it.

But let me tell you what’s worth celebrating: throw yourself a party only if you understand and know me – the God who is and the God who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth. For in these things I delight.”

God is the kind of person who exercised exceptional kindness. Have you experienced the kindness of God – who wants to treat us like part of His family? Have you felt that incredible “Wow! How could I deserve that?” feeling? If you have, then you, too, will want to show that same kind of kindness to others, too. Have you become part of God’s family? If you have, this kindness is that good fruit that will result. You see, just like fruit demonstrates what kind of tree bears it, your kindnesses demonstrate the kind of person that you are. 

But what defines the kind of person you are this morning? Are you defined by your job, by your race, by your sex, by your bank account, by your friends, by your education, by your heritage, by your language, or even by your family? If those are the things that define the kind of person we are, then our kindnesses will be limited by our understanding, our kindnesses will be according to our own rules, and they will be within our own space, within our own comfort zone. But if we find your identity in God, and in the kindness that He demonstrates to us through the work of Jesus… only then will we be capable of a kindness that goes beyond our understanding. And this is the kindness that is the fruit of the Spirit; this is the good fruit that God is looking for in our lives. 

“Do you love those who love you?” asks Jesus, “Well, what credit do you think you deserve for doing that? Anyone does that. And if you good to those who are good to you? Do you expect a reward? Anyone does that.”

Instead, Jesus is challenging us to take kindness to the next level. Are you up to the challenge this morning? If we’re not, then I’m afraid we simply aren’t the kind of trees bearing good fruit. So at a minimum we’re in need of a wake-up call! But more accurately, we’re really in need of a new nature – we need to be miraculously changed from the kind of tree that bears bad fruit to the kind of tree that bears good fruit.  The good news, of course, is that such a renewal is available to all of us in Christ!

“If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17)

“just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4)

In order to bear good fruit, we need a fundamental change of nature, and thank God: that is exactly what He is offering to you this morning. Are you willing to become the kind of person God intended you to be? Are you willing to accept that invitation to become part of His family? If you are, then open your heart to Him. He will then reveal himself to you, and you will begin an amazing journey that will change the way that you look at the world; it will change the way you look at people, and it will change the kind of kindness that you exercise in keeping with the amazing kindness that you have received from Him. 

What kind of person are you, this morning?

Gimme Some of That!

Good Morning! Before we get too serious, I’d like to show you one of the most amazing things you’ll see today. It’s in this bag. I suppose I should warn you, though – you might think that it is not that amazing… sometimes we become so accustomed to amazing things – to laughter, to music, to forgiveness, to joy, to freedom, to peace – that we forget just how amazing they are… But with that in mind, ladies and gentlemen, I give you… a glass of water!

Yes: water. What did you expect, a magic trick? Pshh. Magic tricks have nothing on water. Water might not just be one of the most amazing things you’ll see today, it might in fact be one of the most amazing things you will ever see in your entire life. Too bad it is so easy to overlook just how amazing it really is.

Of course, we are all used to water – we can’t live without it. Our bodies are 65% water. Without water, we’d die. Without food, we can survive for thirty, maybe forty days. Do you know how many days we can live without water? Three or four. At camp, they encourage everyone to drink a lot of … water. And if you go to camp, you can enjoy sunshine, activities and friends, but most everybody says that one of the best things about camp is… the lake. That beautiful, huge, collection of… water.

So what’s so amazing about water? Well, water has some wonderful properties that are not only both super-cool, but are absolutely necessary for life. If God didn’t make water in exactly the right way – if it didn’t have all of these very special properties, then there couldn’t be any life – ever. In the past, scientists speculated that there might be the possibility of different kinds of life, with different chemicals. But not any more: now we now that the only possible kind of physical life is the one that we all know – based on Carbon and water.

Property number one: surface tension. Of all liquids we know, water has one of the greatest surface tensions. Because of this, water can come through the roots of trees, and shoot all the way up to the top – against gravity – hundreds of feet. Cool, huh? Check out these pictures, if you don’t think water is amazing. [PIC]

I have permission to use these pictures, by the way, as the photographer is a friend. Property number two: solubility. Water can dissolve things. Lots of things. More things than any other liquid. Because of this, water can transmit all the important minerals necessary for life. All those minerals that we can’t live without – you don’t appreciate how important they are until you have a deficiency. As many of you know, I discovered last year that I’m celiac. And the first manifestation of that is to discover that your mineral deficient. Not fun. But without the high solubility of water, none of those important minerals would be able to get to where they need to go.

Property number three: heat capacity. Water has the highest heat capacity per volume of any known substance. Ever been to a really old house? They might have had “radiators” in the rooms – and hot water was piped into those radiators. Hot water heating is actually reasonably efficient – because of this property.

Property number four: solid density. Have you ever seen an ice cube on the bottom of a glass of water? Neither have I! Water is the only compound that is less dense when it freezes. Otherwise, during the winter, the ice would start to form on the bottom of the lake. And if it did, once again there simply couldn’t be any life at all.

Now if you are thinking “STOP! This should be a sermon not a science class!” you only have to remember one thing: water is amazing. And God made water in precisely the perfect way so that there could be life.

Water is so important that we even pipe it into our houses, don’t we? Any time you want, you can go to the sink in the kitchen or the sink in the bathroom, turn a tap, and you can get running water – and either hot or cold! But we didn’t always do that –years ago, instead of turning on the tap to get water, folks had to take a bucket and go to the pump. And before that? A well. When you got to the well, you would let a bucket down on a rope, and pull the water up. If your well was fancy you could let the bucket down with a handle. [PIC] This morning, I’m going to remind you of a story in the Bible about a well.

One day, Jesus and his disciples were going on a long journey, and to get where they were going, they needed to walk through a region called Samaria. And this story takes place when they stopped in the middle of Samaria… at a well, of course. After all, when you are traveling by foot, it is important to hydrate yourself.

But Samaria wasn’t the “right” place to be. It was like being “on the wrong side of the tracks.” Of course, that’s the expression we use to describe the “wrong” side of town. That’s where I grew up. At the church I went to growing up, I sometimes felt excluded because I came from the wrong part of town and went to the wrong school. Anyone had an experience like that? Anybody ever felt left out or excluded because of something you couldn’t help?

Some people will be mean to you if you speak the wrong language. Some people will be mean to you if you have the wrong color skin. Some people will be mean to you if you are too tall, or too short, or too fat or too skinny, or maybe if you come from the wrong place. Samaria was the wrong place. Going to a well in the middle of Samaria reminds me of this picture [PIC]

This is a picture of two water fountains. Back when this picture was taken, in 1950, there were places in the United States that separated folk on the basis of the color of their skin. If you were white, you could have a drink at the clean, new water fountain. But if you weren’t – if you were Asian, or Latino, or Black, then you had to use the old, dirty water fountain. Not cool.

But back when Jesus was waiting at the well in the middle of Samaria, they didn’t just judge people on the basis of their skin – they also used to judge people by something else that people can’t help – whether the person is a man or a woman. Back then, women weren’t considered as important as men. In fact, there were some men who were very proud of the fact that they would never even talk to a woman. Women weren’t treated as equals in any way at all back then.

So what changed? How come things are so different now? What made people come to decide that people are important because they are people, and not because the color of their skin or the letters in their chromosomes? Well – the answer to that question is in the story I’m about to tell you.

You see, when Jesus and his disciples got to this well as they were walking through Samaria, Jesus asked his disciples to go into town to buy some food. He wanted to be there. Alone. Just then. You see, when the disciples had left, a woman arrives at the well. Jesus likely knew that she would be coming. [PIC] And Jesus goes up to her and talks to her. Here’s how the conversation starts: Jesus: “Will you give me a drink?”

No big deal, right? Wrong. This is huge. Remember I told you that there were some men back then who were proud of the fact that they would never talk to a woman? There were also those who were proud that they would never talk to a Samaritan. By these six words, Jesus broke with a culture and set the wheels of history turning. Also please note that Jesus is not giving this woman instruction. By requesting her assistance, he is humbling himself, putting himself at the mercy of her willingness to help. This is quite a new thing altogether. To appreciate just how ground-breaking this was, listen to the reaction of the woman:

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”

Everything this woman knew; everything she had been told; everything she had ever heard or experienced had convinced her that men were mean and untrustworthy and selfish. And everything this woman knew; everything she had been told; everything she had ever heard or experienced had convinced her that the Jews (and of course Jesus was a Jew) were these stuck-up, hypocritical, mean people. So when Jesus asks her for a drink, she’s like “Wait, What??” Are you talking to me? And here – for the first time in history, someone – not just any someone, of course – someone whose name was Jesus – breaks through the wall of racism, and breaks through the wall of sexism, and he talks to this Samaritan woman as if she is a human being. And she’s shocked.

Nearly two thousand years later, Jesus’ followers, little by little, one at a time, not with big shows or campaigns or laws, but with character and with love, have taken what their leader started and have changed the world. In Canada, in 2013, at least some people (perhaps most) consider a woman to be just as important as a man – just like Jesus did. And in Canada, in 2013, at least some people (perhaps most) consider every race and every color skin to be just as important as each other – just like Jesus did. There is just no way to explain the birth of civil rights or women’s rights, or their success anywhere in the world, without realizing how much Jesus changed the world. And this is just one of the stories that began that change.

But why do I talk about human rights and women’s rights from the pulpit? Two reasons. First, God cares about them. He doesn’t care about them as political tools, or as academic exercises. Instead, as our story this morning shows, he cares about them because he cares about individual people. Second, these are the things that people in our time and in our culture care about. These are the things that schools are teaching your children to be so important. Human rights and women’s rights are what we might call “cultural categories of concern.” If we want to talk to our neighbors about the Gospel, we would do well to be able to speak their language and understand the concerns that they have.

And hey! That’s exactly what Jesus did with this woman in our story this morning, didn’t he? In verse 20, we see that one of her cultural categories of concern was religious and political. She says, “You Jews worship God in Jerusalem, but we Samaritans worship God on this mountain.” And Jesus responds with great truth and wisdom. Listen to his reply: “…true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

See what he just did? Her concern was one of ritual. It was a source of conflict. It was a barrier between communities. His solution was to look beyond the conflict, to see things from God’s perspective, and to explain how God’s reality is bigger than our cultural categories. When we tell people that Jesus did more for the cause of human rights and for the cause of women’s rights than anyone else in history, yes: we tell them that because it is true. But by doing so we aren’t agreeing that these cultural categories are the most important thing. Instead, we’re explaining that God’s reality is bigger than that – and that God’s perspective is bigger than any present cultural conflict.

But you know, it is even bigger than that. I told you that Jesus broke down the wall of sexism. This is true. And Jesus broke down the wall of racism. This is also true. But please pay attention to how the conversation continues:

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Wow. Jesus doesn’t just beat around the bush – he gets right to the point. God has a gift. And that gift is living water. And Jesus is the one to come to for it. Living water? What’s that? I’ve already told you how amazing water – just plain water – is. How critical it is for life. But now Jesus is talking about something altogether more amazing: living water. How could anyone respond to this but with curiosity and skepticism? And of course that’s exactly how the woman responds: she says, “the well is deep, and you have no bucket – how can you get this living water?”

Clearly, she doesn’t get it – but listen carefully to Jesus response: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,” he replied, “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Living water. Water that springs up inside us. Water that results in eternal life. “Give me some of that!” she says. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the effect of the gospel in a human life. When the seed breaks through the soil, when a human mind is finally open to the power and love of God – there is something deep inside that says “give me some of that!” Did the woman require all her needs to be met before she could come to that point? No. Of course not. Did the woman require all her questions to be answered before she could come to that point? No. Of course not. She simply recognized her need and heard the voice of Jesus saying “Come to me, any one of you, no matter what burdens are weighing you down; come, and I will give you rest.” Perhaps there’s someone here who needs to hear that voice this morning…

But now, the conversation takes a strange turn. The woman appears to be responding to the message (she just said “give me some of that” after all), but instead of closing the deal, Jesus does “exactly the wrong thing”. It is like he’s taking a blow-torch to the book “How to win friends and influence people”. What does he do? Jesus lays a guilt-trip on her. This is what he says “Go call your husband and come back.” And she replies “I’m not married.” And Jesus responds: “You are right to say you are not married. You’ve been married and divorced five times, and now you’re living with another guy you aren’t even married to!”

But please understand: Jesus isn’t just laying on the guilt trip. Jesus is trying to teach a lesson – and he’s trying to teach it to… us! You see, Jesus was willing to talk to this woman and ask her for water even though she was a woman. Jesus was willing to talk to this woman and ask her for water even though she was a Samaritan. But Jesus was also willing to talk to this woman and ask her for water even though she was, well, not exactly the kind of person your Mother would like you hanging around with. Let’s face it: it isn’t exactly cool to be divorced. Being divorced once is bad enough. Not good. Not good at all. But five times. Come on. There had got to be something wrong with the woman, right? Maybe, maybe not. All we know is that Jesus was not ashamed to talk to her.

In fact, by asking this woman, this Samaritan woman, this adulterous Samaritan woman for a drink; being willing to request and receive a drink from her, Jesus was telling her that she was “clean”. According to the Pharisees, of all people in the entire territory, this woman would be among the most “unclean” of all. But she isn’t unclean to Jesus. After all, moments later, Jesus tells her that God is actually looking for people to worship Him in spirit and truth. And what’s the point of telling her that unless God is actually looking for people like her to worship Him in spirit and truth?

That’s right. It doesn’t matter what color your skin is; it doesn’t matter what language you speak; it doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman; it doesn’t matter whether you’ve done bad things in the past. Jesus wants to meet you. He wants to capture your imagination. He wants to speak to your heart. He wants to challenge you, and he wants to give you that gift from God; that living water – that can spring up in your life and give you a peace and a hope like you can’t even imagine.

But the story doesn’t end there. Let’s read what happens next (verse 28) “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.’”

This, my friends, is the second effect of the gospel. Do you remember the first? First, the woman said “give me some of that”. She recognized her need, she recognized her weakness. And she was willing to offer Jesus the opportunity to help her in her suffering. But now that she has met him, she shows us the second effect of the gospel. And she can’t help herself: she’s needs to share, “You gotta come and meet this guy!” And here we find the perfect scriptural model of evangelism, don’t we?

In 2 Corinthians 13:5, the Bible tells us: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Well here’s the test. This is an open-book exam; a take-home quiz. There are only two questions. Number one: have you ever heard Jesus’ offer – really heard it? – and said, “Gimme some of that!” Do you have that living water bubbling up inside you right now? Do you see it changing your heart? Is it making you easier to live with? Is it making you less concerned about yourself? That’s the first question.

And the second question is like it. Have you ever, when running into friends or relatives or neighbors, been so moved by Jesus’ words that instead of talking about hockey, or music, or the weather, you said “Hey – I’d love to introduce you to this guy!”? Is that living water inside you bubbling up enough to splash out and bless those around you?

Now if you aren’t there yet, don’t panic. If you aren’t naturally telling people about what Jesus is doing in your life, if you aren’t yet comfortable to bring his name up in conversation, then there is only one remedy – and feeling like a failure isn’t it. The remedy is simply this: you need to get to know Jesus more! You need to sit at his feet and be taught. You need to pay attention to his example. You need to appreciate the depth of his wisdom and love: love for you and love for the world – love that let him to make the ultimate sacrifice of his life on the cross for each of us. And when you do start to appreciate his great love, you won’t be able to contain yourself – because his living water isn’t just a personal thing. It isn’t something that we hide in the closet. It bubbles up, and it bubbles out!

To be a follower of Christ, to be a Christian is not about peddling a product. To be a Christian is not about lobbying for a political stance. To be a Christian is not about arguing a philosophical position. To be a Christian is not about advocating a moral behavior.

Instead, Christians are those who, having met this incredible person, simply say to their friends and neighbors “Hey! You really gotta come and meet this guy.” Now I’m going to ask you to bear with me for a few minutes, while I get personal. I’ve already told you that I’ve been divorced. But more recently, I’ve become engaged to be remarried. And I can’t help it: I’d really like you to meet my fiancée. (She gave me permission to do this, in case you’re wondering) Unfortunately, she’s presently in Istanbul, but I can show you a picture. Here she is with her sister’s grandson. [PIC]

I love this woman, and I think that she’s a wonderful person. We were acquainted many years ago, and we recently renewed that friendship. I could go on and on, but I promised her that I wouldn’t. But here’s the point: I really, truly do want you to meet Esther. I actually think that getting to know her would be a blessing for you. Any one of you! But as special as she is, the blessing of knowing her couldn’t come close to the blessing that is waiting for you if you would be willing to get to know Jesus.

Yes: I’ve met an incredible person, and I want to say to all my friends and neighbors “Hey! I want you to meet this person!” Anybody who values me can’t help but value her. And many of you, when you get to know her, will be quickly convinced that I’ve got the better end of the deal. But that’s the dynamic of evangelism, isn’t it? The good news is that Jesus is an incredible person. At first, people will be willing to listen about Jesus because they value you. But when they stop listening about Jesus, and start listening to Jesus, they’ll soon learn how amazing he is for themselves.

Wouldn’t it be strange and wrong if I wanted to marry someone, but I didn’t want any of my friends to meet her? Sure thing! But in the same way, if Jesus really has saved you; if Jesus really has forgiven you; if Jesus really has given you living water, then how can you NOT want to introduce him to others?

But it all starts with that living water, doesn’t it? If you don’t have enough to be bubbling out, ask Jesus – he’d like you, too, to experience the thrill of eternal life.