Father's Day

Welcome to Bethel on this Father’s Day. Before we come to consider the Parable of the Two Lost Sons [Luke 15] that was read for us this morning, I’d like to share a journey with you. Last month, I had the great privilege of going on a two-and-a-half-week bus-tour of Turkey. This was something that my Mom had planned to do with my Dad, but after Dad’s sudden passing last fall, my Mom kindly asked me to come with her. Oh, and it just happened to coincide with the gift of some extra vacation from my employer…. Let me share some of the highlights…

Our tour started at the far end of the Orient Express: the ancient city of Constantinople, or modern Istanbul. From there, we were able to visit all manner of places mentioned in the Bible: we went to Iconium (modern Konya), Attalia (modern Antalya), Perga - places that Paul visited, and from there to Ephesus, Smyrna (modern Izmir) and Pergamum - three of the seven cities who received a special message in the book of Revelation. In those messages, we read again and again: "Listen to what the Spirit says to the churches." We don’t have time to read those messages this morning, but if you did, and took the time to study them, and if you wanted to summarize that message in one word, the word that you would choose would be "repent". Last week we were reminded that repentance is the message for the lost, but we often forget that repentance is a message for the church as well - an important habit of mind and heart for our spiritual health. And as I hope we'll discover later, this morning’s parable has something to teach us about repentance.

Here are a few more Biblical locations in the area - and a wee bit of history: all these places supported significant Christian populations until quite recently. In his wonderful book “The Lost History of Christianity” Philip Jenkins details the rise and fall of Christianity in the East. Did you know, for example, that in the late Middle Ages – the thirteenth century – more than one third of the world’s Christian population lived in Africa and Asia? What’s more, by studying these churches, Jenkins examines what it takes for a church to go the distance – what keeps a church healthy and alive – even when the going gets rough. In one sentence, he sums it up: “Too little adaptation means irrelevance; too much [adaptation means] assimilation.”

We have been given the Good News of the grace of God available in His Son Jesus Christ. But this is not just a message to keep to ourselves; it is a message to share with the world. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t seem to want to listen sometimes. So throughout history, the church has adapted the message so that the world will be able to understand it better – not to change the content of the message but to change its form. But we must be careful: some folks are worried about too much adaptation – that the message will be diluted to the point that it loses its power. These folk we can call conservative. And their worry is a legitimate one. But there are others who worry about too little adaptation – meaning that we end up speaking our own special language, incomprehensible to the rest of the world. You see, there needs to be a relationship between the conservative and the progressive elements in the church. Both are necessary for a healthy church.

In fact, we can well interpret our parable this morning to be addressing both of these elements in the church – the younger son represents a challenge to the traditional order while the older son is the law-and-order sort. And as we shall see, God’s plan is for these naturally-conflicting tendencies to come together in celebration with Him.

There is a famous quote that is sometimes put as follows: “Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brain.” While this is, of course, too much of a stereotype, it does represent what it sometimes called the “generation gap”. And this morning, on Father's Day, the meeting between the young and the old, between the conservative and the progressive, is God’s desire for us this morning. As the Bible says, God wants the hearts of the fathers to turn to their children, and the hearts of the children to turn to their fathers.

Now the reason that I asked you to join me on my journey is not just to get as far as Turkey, and not just to go back in time to the churches of Ephesus and Smyrna, but to go back even a little bit further, and to travel a even a little farther until we arrive in the land of Judea in the first century. You see, two thousand years, thousands of miles and a switch of languages separate Bethel Chapel in Pointe-Claire from the context in which Jesus first spoke the parable that we will look at this morning. Now it is true that some, perhaps even most of the story has made it this far, but some of it has been “lost in translation.” And to recover that lost part of the story, it helps to become a bit more familiar with the time and the language and the culture in which Jesus lived.

Of course, the closest that we can get to Jesus’ culture today is the culture of the Middle East. But unless we go for a visit the only exposure we get to that culture is through the news. We hear tidbits of strange practices from that corner of the world. For example, I expect that you’ve heard of this business of “honor killing” after a teenage girl was killed by her father in Toronto a year and a half ago. Well, in and around the Middle East, this practice claims the lives of perhaps thousands of girls a year. And it isn’t necessary to actually be guilty of anything, either. Just the perception of dishonor is sufficient.

But why am I telling you this? Simply that the importance of family honor, specifically the honor and reputation of the family patriarch helps us appreciate the parable of the two lost sons. When the younger son asks for his share of the inheritance and a division of the estate, this was a slap in the face to his father, and a shared insult to the entire community. You see, dividing an estate was unthinkable while one’s father was alive. A request to do such a thing would be treated by the community as if the younger son had publicly shouted at his father “I wish you were dead!” You know, they had a law against such things: Leviticus 20:9 in the Jewish Study Bible reads “If anyone insults his father or mother, he shall be put to death.” The word translated “insult” here, can also mean “brings dishonor”.

Jesus' hearers would have felt the father’s dishonor, just as his neighbors would. The Pharisees listening to Jesus might have been looking around for stones to pick up and execute the judgment of the law. First they would be furious by his son’s impudent request, and then… then they would be scandalized – by the fact that the father in the story simply does exactly what his son requests. The estate is divided, one portion is sold, and the proceeds are given to the younger son. Back then, these things were simply “not done”.

Of course, the younger son can’t stick around. The family and friends of the father would take up the insult personally – they would never do business with him. So off goes the younger son, and lives a life far away, without the limits of his upbringing. Unfortunately, the money runs out a lot quicker than he expected. So there in the field feeding pigs (not exactly the preferred career trajectory for a good Jewish boy), he’s in a bit of a pickle. He is slowly dying in the land of his choosing, but he could be lynched if he were to return home. Selling your land was dishonorable back then, but losing the proceeds to foreigners was terrible. His only possibility for recovery lies in the hands of his father.

In the culture of the day, he would think (and those listening to Jesus tell the story would also think) that the only way to receive his father’s welcome is to give his father the solemn promise that he will go to work and make enough money to pay his father back. He also remembers that his father’s hired hands were even able to maintain a savings account. So maybe his father would permit his failed son to apprentice as a skilled laborer? It would take a great deal of kindness on the father's part, but this plan just might work.

Jesus gives us three hints, however, that what the son is up to is not a real repentance. First, the words the son uses: “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.” – well, Jesus’ audience would know that these are the same words that Pharaoh used toward Moses in Exodus chapter 10 – just after the plague of locusts. But four verses later when Moses prays and the locusts all vanish, Pharaoh isn’t exactly repentant. The second hint is that this is really only one of three parts of the parable, isn't it? There in Luke chapter 15, Jesus also tells of the lost sheep and the lost coin. In the first case, the shepherd goes looking for an entirely unrepentant sheep. In the second, the coin that the widow hunts down isn’t exactly repentant either. But the third hint is even stronger: in Hebrew, there is a word for repentance, and it is often translated “return”. But in our story, Jesus avoids ever saying that the younger “returns” to the father. Instead, he plans to “go” and then “goes” home. The servant tells his older brother that he has “come”, and the older brother uses the same word “come” when speaking to his father. Never “return” – so never “repent”.

You see, the younger son realizes that his last chance is to come to the father, but he wants to do it on his own terms. “Make me like a hired man” he wants to say. “Put me to work, and I’ll pay off my debt.” He doesn’t get it. He thinks that in order to be accepted by his father, he needs to earn his way. Many folks -- even many Christian folks -- make the same mistake today. But as we see, his father has something else in mind. Even while the son is a long while off – long before the father’s friends and neighbors can recognize him; long before they decide to take the law into their own hands – a long way off, the father rushes out and hugs and kisses his lost son. In the culture of the day, running is simply not honorable. A respected elder of the community does not run anywhere. I was reminded of this just this last week -- my dear daughter Meg had her grad dinner, and her parents were invited. I put on my suit and my new shoes and goodness! I just couldn't go as fast as I usually do! Running is not at all dignified. But once again, the father in our story considers his children to be more important than culture, to be more important than tradition, to be more important than honor, to be more important than “the rules” – he runs and embraces his son. The son starts into his spiel: “I have sinned against heaven … I am no longer worthy to be called your son…” but the father notably cuts him off before he can get to the part about paying off his debt. You see, the son thinks the same way that the culture does: it is all about honor; it is all about settling accounts. The father thinks differently. For the father it is all about relationship.

Relationships don’t work by the same rules that run accounts. Accounts are all nice and ordered and rational. Relationships are on another level altogether. When we think of repentance, we often think of “making things right”. That’s what the younger son was thinking. But the kind of repentance that God wants is the one where we simply see the amazing love that God has for us. Only when our eyes are finally opened to God’s great love and mercy available for us in Jesus – only then are we finally able to become his children. And that’s what the father wants. He doesn’t want another hired hand. He wants someone who loves him and accepts His unconditional love – he wants us to be his children.

As we read in Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave …, but you received the Spirit of sonship.” Similarly, in 1 John 3:1 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” And as a symbol of restored sonship, the father in our story orders his best robe to be fetched and wrapped around the rags that now cover his child. Wearing his father’s best robe, the community will no longer be looking to lynch this young man. Rather, they will respect him due to this symbol of his father’s acceptance. And this is exactly what we learned last Sunday: Galatians 3:26 “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Repentance is not just feeling sorry. As any parent can tell you, there is nothing like being caught in the act to make a child feel sorry. Repentance is not just asking for forgiveness: children are quick to ask for forgiveness when there is any threat of punishment. Neither is repentance making a deal with God -- giving and getting. Real repentance is like changing your uniform: turning away from sin, and turning to God. Real repentance means accepting His extravagant love for you. God’s mercy is so great, in fact, that he was willing to accept us before we even understand his terms. “God shows his great love in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” And the younger son finally gets it: giving up on his plan to pay the father back, he is overcome by gratitude for his father's love.
And so the fattened calf is butchered, and aging wine is brought out. The neighbors are all invited, and the caterers are booked. Time to celebrate. But now we come to act two, and the older son takes center stage. He hears the musicians that the caterers have booked, and he wonders what is happening. And then someone tells him: your brother is home; your father is having a party – your brother has been accepted home in peace. And the older son is angry. And the Pharisees who are listening identify with this anger.

But as soon as that anger rises in the hearts of Jesus hearers, they feel caught. Because now it is the older son’s turn to insult his father. It is true! When man throws a party, and invites the entire village, it is his oldest son’s duty to share with the hosting responsibilities! Refusing to go in would be a slap in the face to the father. But once again, the father behaves in a way far beyond all cultural expectations. He once again bears the entire weight of the insult, considering his relationship with his son more important than honor. Leaving the party to proceed on its own, he goes outside to plead with his older son. But this is the important difference between the two sons. The younger son insulted his father and was accepted back with extravagant grace. But the older son insulted his father, and he is still outside. This is how the story ends in the Bible. Don't let this be how the story ends for you. For some people this morning, God is pleading with you to come inside and join his party. Don't let the faults of folks in the church destroy your relationship with God.

You see, the older son made two big mistakes. These are also the same mistakes are still being made by many folk today. First, the older brother says, “All these years I’ve been slaving for you.” God does not want slaves, he wants children. If we imagine that our service to God earns us anything, we are insulting God. We have become mercenary rather than celebrating a relationship. Paul writes: Gal 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” If we think that our service to God earns us health; if we think that our service to God earns us success; if we think that our service to God earns us status, we just aren’t getting it. None of these things have any value at all compared to “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus [our] Lord,” As Paul says: “I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

Let me tell you a short Nathanael story: when Nathanael was quite young -- perhaps eight or nine, he came to me one day and asked me for a quarter. Now for whatever reason, I chose to say "no" to Nathanael, but I guess I hadn't ever said "no" to him enough, and, as a result, he wasn't at all happy. A few minutes later, I was talking with Nat's big sister Grace, and Nathanael walked by with a thunder cloud over his head. "What's the matter with him?" Grace asked. Now I'm not usually that smart, but that day I said: "Nathanael thinks that a quarter is more important than his relationship with his father." And dear Nathanael stopped in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder. The thunder cloud started to dissipate, and he smiled. Even Nathanael understood that there is nothing more important than relationships!

The first mistake that the older son made was to think that his service to his father earned him something. But his second mistake was to begrudge his younger brother his father’s favor. He focuses on his brother's faults – remembering the insult to his father, for example, and imagines that the party is for his brother, and the two things seem terribly unfair. But the Bible doesn't say that the party was for the brother at all. In the ancient Coptic manuscripts of Luke, the father says “For my son was dead, and I have brought him to life. He was lost and I found him.” You see, the feast is in celebration of the father’s success in finally getting through to his child. “Rejoice with me,” he says.

If we begrudge our brother’s talent, or wealth, or opportunities; if we begrudge our sister’s beauty, or intelligence, or fortune, focusing instead on their failures – then we are insulting their loving Father who gave these things to them in the first place. Rather, the surest indication that we have a right relationship with God is if we are in right relationship with our brothers and sisters and are able to celebrate with them – even and especially those we disagree with. Celebrating our relationship with God means joining with Him to celebrate the deliverance of the least of our brothers. We need to come to the place where our relationship with God is more important to us than the fact that our neighbour might seem to be getting lucky breaks.

For the conservative folk: if your love of tradition and order is greater than your love for your progressive brother, then you are not nearly as obedient to God as you imagine. And you progressive folk: if your love for relevance and progress is greater than your love for your conservative brother, then you are not nearly as close to the heart of God as you imagine.

Rather, the Spirit this morning is calling for repentance and unity. God The Father is asking us His children to come into a real relationship with Him. And when we do, the words of Psalm 85:10 with become our reality: “Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

The Message of Easter

Good Morning and Welcome to Bethel on a lovely Easter Sunday Morning.

And it is wonderful to have some visitors with us and all the children here this morning. For those who don’t know, I sometimes have something for the children on Sunday mornings, and Easter Sunday is no exception. But it isn’t just candy this morning. I also have something for them to see… just a little trick with a handkerchief… normally, it is difficult to put something big inside something small, but very few people think that I’m normal. And what is this a picture of? A bunny? A bunny? Oh. I understand… some of you might imagine that I am showing a bunny because it is Easter, but this isn’t exactly a rabbit... It’s a duck! You see, sometimes, depending on how you look at something, it can be as different as a rabbit or a duck! This one was easy – I just have to turn the cloth, and everyone can see the two different pictures.

Here's another one I like: But in both of these two cases, it isn't at all clear that one way of looking at things is any "better" or "more important" than the other. So sometimes, things can be taken two ways, and it is a matter of looking at them differently. In these cases two ways of looking are just as valid. But this isn’t always so. In some cases, one way of looking at something, or one way of understanding something is very much more important than the other.

Here is an example. You see, there are two ways of looking at this image. And they are by no means created equal. This picture was taken by my boss, who is an expert scuba diver and underwater photographer (used with permission). Suppose you were a little fish, and you were out on a swim with your best friend. (out of school ;-) ) And suppose you came to this location, and started to discuss what it was you were seeing. Your best friend says, “Oh, it is just some coral.” But you aren’t so sure. “It’s no big deal,” says your friend, “You can have your opinion and I’ll have mine – it doesn’t matter.” But just at that moment, your friend gets a little too close to the “coral” and CHOMP! He just got eaten by this scorpion fish! There’s his eye, and there’s his mouth. Sometimes differences in perspective can be important – even life-changing! Good thing that you knew all along that it wasn’t just coral!

How about those “Magic Eye” images? Well, they either look like a jumble of nothing, or they look like something in three dimensions. And anyone who has seen the real image would not let you get away with claiming that it is just a jumble, or that seeing the jumble is “just as good” as seeing the “real image”. You see, there are some things in life in which the way that we choose to look at them is very important indeed.

One of the other fun things about these images is that it doesn’t even help to be smart. It doesn’t help to have read the right books. It doesn’t help to have been born in the right place. Either you see the “real image” … or you don’t. And if you have seen the “real image”, not even the richest, smartest, most educated man in the world would be able to tell you that it is just a jumble. Because you’d know better than him!

So many things in life can be looked at in different ways. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that some of the most important things can also be looked at in different ways. In particular, the message of Easter is one of those things. I’d like us to turn to 1 Corinthians 1:18. The Bible says:

[T]he message of [Easter] is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The message of Easter can be either foolishness or the power of God. How do you like that? And hey, this doesn’t look like a case of two “equally valid perspectives” either. If someone says “It’s no big deal, it can be the power of God for you, and foolishness for me,” you want to say “wait…WHAT? No big deal??? Are you kidding??? You don’t know what you are missing???”

But, of course, we aren’t angry at folks who tell us that the message of Easter is foolishness. The Bible doesn't say that the evil, or the enemies of God think that it is foolishness. It is the perishing. These are the folks who need our help. And besides, they are in good company. Really! You see, even Jesus own disciples didn’t get the message the first time. In fact, the Bible tells us that at least twice Jesus predicted his own death, which, of course, is what we commemorate on Good Friday. Sometimes Jesus included his resurrection in his predictions – and that’s the basis of our Easter celebrations, isn’t it? But Peter, James and John, Jesus disciples – men who went on to change the world with their wisdom, courage, commitment and sacrifice – these guys just don’t get it any of those times.

Now as you probably know, there are four different accounts of Jesus life and death: Matthew Mark Luke and John. But Jesus’ predicting his own death is found in all four of them. In fact, we have seven different places in the Bible in which these predictions are recorded for us. In two of those seven, the Bible says that the disciples had no idea what Jesus was talking about. For example (Luke 18):

31Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33On the third day he will rise again." [that's the message of Easter, isn't it?]
34[But] the disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

What do you think of that? What could it possibly mean when it says that “its meaning was hidden from them”? Isn’t the meaning of Jesus words obvious? “Handed over” – that’s easy, we get that. “mock him” -- no problem. “insult him” – that’s easy, too. “flog him” “kill him” “rise again” – what’s not to get? Were the disciples of Jesus a little bit slow? What’s going on?

Well, this morning, I’d like you to imagine that this message – the one about Jesus dying and rising from the dead – the message of Easter – that this message is a bit like a Magic Eye picture. Sure, there is what it looks like on the surface, a few historical facts, perhaps… but there is another meaning, a deeper meaning, a really very much more important meaning that God wants us to get this morning.

Now if you’ve never really “got” that deeper meaning of Easter, not to worry. The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus was angry with his disciples because they were a little slow. But it is worth mentioning that the Bible does say that Jesus once seemed to be very angry with this fellow named Peter. Of course, Peter was one of the leaders of the disciples. And so he was very close to Jesus. But, believe it or not, Jesus once had stronger words for Peter than he has for the evil Romans, or the self-righteous Pharisees, let alone the tax-collectors or worse. It is true. In particular, he challenged Peter when Peter was unwilling to accept the message of Easter. God doesn’t mind if we don’t fully understand things, but He is not at all impressed when we close our minds to the truth. Matthew 16:

Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. [he was to be killed and on the third day raised to life – that’s the message of Easter, isn’t it?]
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! … You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Imagine! Is that a bit harsh? Jesus calls one of his best friends “Satan.” But the lesson here, of course, is that we can’t just “correct” Jesus whenever we feel like it. Peter wasn’t able to understand the message of Easter, but that part wasn’t bad – the other disciples weren’t reprimanded for their lack of understanding. The problem occurs when Peter went too far – when he decided that since he didn’t understand the message, then there wasn’t really any special message at all. That’s when Jesus challenges Peter with these sharp words. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Of course, the remedy to that mistake is to simply change your mind. And that is what God is asking some of you to do this morning. Open your minds. Consider the things of God this Easter.

Remember that Magic Eye image? There is no shame in not being able to see the “real picture” – it may be your loss, but there is no shame. But there is a dangerous mistake of the mind and of the soul to conclude that just because you can’t see the “real picture” then such a picture doesn’t exist. You see, the second that you make that choice, you will never be able to see the real picture, and you will likely keep others from seeing that real picture, too.

And it is the same with Easter. There are those who have shut their minds to the things of God – so full of themselves that they think nothing of “correcting” the word of God. Then there are people like the disciples before they “got” the message. They aren’t able to see the “real picture” but there is still hope. But then there are also people who “get” the message – those for whom Paul’s words in Romans chapter six have become a reality: “like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” For them, the message of Easter is the message of hope: the power of God unto salvation.

But this message is threatening to some folk, isn’t it? In fact, it is an interesting aspect of our culture that more ink has been spilled in disrespect of the historical message of Easter than perhaps any other event in history. But here’s the problem: if some professor comes up with good evidence for the traditional understanding of the Bible, it gets published in some academic journal, and most of us never hear about it. On the other hand, if some professor has some speculative theory that goes against the traditional understanding of the Bible, it somehow gets published in Time magazine, the Gazette, and the Globe and Mail. What’s up with that?

So if someone tries to tell you that Jesus might never have existed, it simply isn’t true. What’s more, we have more historical evidence for Jesus than for all but a very few people who were alive at the same time. And if someone tells you that the Bible was written centuries after the life of Jesus, it simply isn’t true. These days, even the most skeptical of the serious scholars agree that, for example, the book of 1 Corinthians was written within a few decades of Jesus’ life. In that book, Paul writes:

This is the message by which you are saved… For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and
that he appeared to Peter, and
then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, (most of whom are still living…)
Then he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles,
and last of all he appeared to me also.

“by this message you have been saved.” If we understand this message, it can become the power of God in each of our lives. Sure, there is what it looks like on the surface, a few historical facts, perhaps… but there is another meaning, a deeper meaning.

But this is a very interesting passage historically. When Paul writes that he “received” this Easter message, he means that it came to him from someone else. Scholars who have analyzed the language of this message all agree that it appears to have originally been formulated in Aramaic, the language of the first disciples, and translated into Greek, the language Paul wrote in. When he wrote this, the people who he says saw Jesus were still alive. Peter was still alive. Many of the other twelve disciples were still alive. James was still alive. And Paul explicitly says that most of the five hundred who saw Jesus alive together were still alive.

But these people who met Jesus after he was raised from the dead didn’t just say “hey cool, Jesus is alive again, that’s nice.” This Easter message has the power to change lives entirely. Paul himself “was a rabbi, a Pharisee, a respected Jewish leader. He hated the Christian [movement] and did everything in his power to stamp it out. He was even responsible for the execution of Christian believers. Then suddenly he gave up everything. He left his position as a respected Jewish leader and became a Christian missionary: he entered a life of poverty, labor, and suffering. He was whipped, beaten, [and] in constant danger, deprivation, and anxiety. Finally, he made the ultimate sacrifice and was martyred for his faith at Rome. And it was all because on that day outside Damascus, he [had an encounter with] Jesus our Lord. [Reasonable Faith - WLC]”

Peter was also radically changed by a similar experience. Before Jesus’ death, he was frightened out of his wits by the words of a servant girl around the fire. A few days later, he was hiding in a room with the door locked because of his anxiety. But it wasn’t that long afterwards that Peter is preaching in the temple with great boldness. And when he is arrested, his courage is remarkable as he explains that God raised Jesus from the dead. As we read in Acts chapter 4: “When [the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law] saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Where did Peter’s courage come from? Why was there such a remarkable change in his behavior? As it was with Paul, so it was with Peter: he had had an encounter with the risen Jesus.

Indeed, the Bible says in Luke chapter 24 that one of the things that Jesus did when he met with his disciples after his resurrection was to “open the minds of his disciples so that they could understand the message of [Easter].” It was this message that changed their lives entirely. And it is still a message that still changes lives to this day. But we need to have our minds open to the message.

So what’s the key? What can take us beyond the events of history to a life-changing encounter with the risen Jesus? Well, I bet you can guess that I think that the answer is in the Bible. You will remember that I told you earlier that Jesus predicted his death and resurrection on a number of occasions but none of his disciples were able to “get it”. Well, in each of our Gospels, Jesus accompanies that prediction with a certain teaching. That’s right. The teaching that I’m about to read to you is put in the context of understanding the message of Easter. And I pray that we will be able to get that deeper understanding this morning.

Luke 9:23 “Then [Jesus] said to them all: "If anyone would [understand] me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

What, indeed, is the good in all the “stuff” in the world if it means losing your soul? But Jesus offers a radical alternative. Instead of losing your life by trying to save it, to extend it, to comfort it, or to preserve it, running after the things of this world, why not give up your life for something bigger than yourself?

You see, the only way to the resurrection is via the cross. There is no glory without sacrifice. There is no victory without struggle. And Jesus uses the cross as a metaphor for his disciples: “If anyone would follow me,” he said, “he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily.” The Bible says (Romans 6), “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Christians say all the time that the way to heaven is to believe that Jesus died for us. And this is true. But over the years, I fear that we have lost some of the true meaning of what it is to believe. The belief that saves us is not a mental acknowledgement. Jesus came: check. Jesus died for me: check. Jesus rose from the dead: check. That’s a start, but that just isn’t enough. Jesus says that the belief that will save us is the one that gets us on our feet, and makes us follow in his steps. We need to believe in the story of Easter enough that it becomes our story as well. If we aren’t willing to sacrifice, then it can never be said that we truly believe in Jesus’ sacrifice.

In 1 Peter 2: 20 we read “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps… 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; [there’s a challenge – do we believe the Easter story enough to be polite when insulted?] when he suffered, he made no threats. [another challenge – do we believe the Easter story enough to actually suffer peacefully?] Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” You see, this is the faith that saves: a faith that puts oneself in the path of Jesus, following his example. Do we trust Our Heavenly Father enough that we can give up our rights? Do we believe that there is a better resurrection waiting for us so strongly, that we are willing to give up our ambitions? How about our pride? How about our right to be disappointed? Are you willing to give these things up? Are you willing to follow Jesus, carrying your own cross, being willing to experience death with him, trusting that the Almighty Judge will raise you up with the same power that Jesus was raised? When we come to that place, our life is changed completely.

I love those words of Jim Elliot: “he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The resurrection is being offered to you this morning. It is a free gift that could never be taken away. Are you willing to give up what you cannot keep in order to gain what you cannot lose?

Christmas Changes Everything

They say that in order to understand Christmas, you need to have children. Well, one thing is for sure: children know how to anticipate Christmas. When I was growing up, one of my four brothers celebrated his birthday one month before Christmas, but the day after those celebrations were over, we were given "permission" to think about Christmas, and think we did. Can you imagine the buzz five boys could create when given the opportunity?

But two thousand years ago, there was a different kind of buzz… Back then, they didn’t have internet; they didn’t have television; they didn’t even have radio. Back then, if you sent someone a letter, it might not even make it to its destination. But there was still buzz. You see, they had been told that something amazing was going to happen, and they had been given some clues as to when and where it would happen. And some of the experts of that time were saying that this could happen any-time-now.

The buzz was all about the coming of the Messiah. There were these amazing prophecies. Last week we revisited a few of them. Five hundred years before that, the King of Babylon had this dream of a statue made of gold, and silver, and bronze, and iron, and how the prophet Daniel explained to the King that four these different metals represented four different Kingdoms. One would conquer the other, until at last a rock would come that destroyed that idol and changed the landscape of the earth forever. The rock, the prophet said, represents a Kingdom the God of Heaven would establish that would last for all eternity.

So around two thousand years ago, the first Kingdom, the Kingdom of Babylon, had come and gone. The Second Kingdom, the Persian Empire was also now history. The third Kingdom, the Macedonian/Greek Empire of Alexander the Great had fallen to the fourth Kingdom, the Roman Empire. So here they were in the time of the fourth great empire, and they were all whispering about the coming Rock, the Kingdom from God.

We were also reminded of another prophecy by Daniel. In it, roughly five hundred years were projected between the decree to permit the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the arrival of the Messiah, the one who changes everything. And once again, those five hundred years became due around two thousand years ago. More expectation; more buzz. Today, when the most devout church folk get together and what do they talk about? World news? The economy? Fashion? Politics? What’s on television? What’s happening in the hockey league? Sad, but too true. Back then, farmers, fishermen and shepherds would get together and talk about the one who was coming to change everything. Do you remember the story of the woman that Jesus met at the well? That woman was not exactly the most respectable of individuals, but she told Jesus that she was expecting the Messiah to come.

Of course, there are plenty of other prophecies in the Old Testament. My favorite is from Isaiah:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

So with the air full of these and so many and more prophecies, this was the setting in which a very old and Godly man named Simeon one morning woke up one morning feeling that he should go find a baby in the temple. And so he got up, and he prepared himself and off he went. When he arrived at the temple, he came upon a couple carrying an eight-day-old baby boy. When our kids were born, we were so proud of them, we were just delighted to show them off to anyone willing to admire them, especially if they were very young or very old. And these two young people with the baby permitted Simeon to take the child in his arms. When he did, he couldn’t help himself: he prayed. And he said:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon, this dear old man, was so close to God that he knew that this little boy, a child that they had named Jesus, was the beginning of a new beginning.

And so it is: God reveals His Son, His Messiah, His salvation. Does He just reveal these precious truths to those who are old, and religious, and pious, and good? Well, Simeon was neither the first nor the last person to hear this good news. God also reveals himself to the young, and the not-so-religious, and the not-so-pious, and even the not-so-good.

In fact, eight days before Simeon had the privilege of holding God’s Messiah, there were some shepherds out in the fields… and shepherds in those days were not exactly known for their cleverness, their virtue, or their piety. But you all know the story: an angel came and frightened these guys out of their wits. I don’t know if you have ever seen an angel, but I’m willing to guess that they are pretty awesome, to say the least. And if you’ve been at all naughty when an angel shows up, your first thought isn’t that there is good news – kind of like hearing sirens on the highway when you’re going 130. But here are the words of the angel: “Don’t be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy that will be for everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Savior Christ the Lord has been born for you.” And here we get to the heart of the first change that Jesus brings to the world. The angel said that the good news of great joy is for everyone. Christ is born for you.

In every other kingdom the world has every known, there is great advantage to being born into the right family, or there is great advantage to being born beautiful, or smart, or rich. That’s not how it is in the Kingdom of God: the coming of the Kingdom of God is wonderful news for ev-e-ry-one, no exceptions. And God showed it from the very first moment, when he sent his first messengers not to kings or scholars or celebrities. He sent them to a bunch of riff-raff on the night shift … shepherds.

But the Kingdom of God is not just for the downtrodden. It is not just for the old and frail. The next set of visitors for the newborn baby were a group of guys that the Bible refers to as “magicians”. It’s true! The word “magi”, which is translated “wise men” is exactly the same word used to refer to magicians. And we all know how cool magicians are… But honestly, the modern equivalent would be scientists! Seriously. These were the most educated people in the world at the time. The Persian wise men were known the world over for their great learning. And it is almost certain that they would have been aware of the expectation of a Messiah in the land of Israel. In fact, this expectation of the Messiah was so well known, that we have evidence of it in surviving ancient Roman writings. Suetonius wrote: “There had spread all over the East an old and established belief that it was fated for men coming from Judea at that time to rule the world.”

So one of the fields of study for these scientists was the stars, and, in their study, they noticed something amazing in the sky and concluded that it was the sign of the Jewish Messiah! So what is this “star” that they saw? First, the word translated as “star” can mean any astrological occurrence. But, and this is very cool, we can use our modern knowledge of the paths of the planets and reconstruct the night sky in and around the time of Jesus birth. The astronomer Susan Carroll writes, “There were some incredibly spectacular astronomical events that occurred during this period.” For example, we can track the three planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars to a rare convergence around that time, and there was another four-planet conjunction, too. Even a comet (number 52 on Williams list of comets) appeared in the sky around that time. But another perhaps even more interesting event was a triple-retrograde path of the planet Jupiter that also involved a conjunction with the planet Venus. In fact, the retrogrades of the king-planet Jupiter had it circle around the king-star Regulus, and would have had it appear in the constellation Leo (remember the Lion of Judah) and Virgo, the virgin. These wise men were treated to a feast of celestial action just before Jesus was born.

But perhaps the most significant thing about the wise men was not the fact that they were rich, or that they were smart, or that they had studied. The most significant thing about the wise men was that they weren’t Jewish! Traditionally, the Jewish people have kept to themselves. Of course, it is hard to blame them: everyone else throughout history seems out to get them. But the prophecies about the Messiah said that He would come to save His people, but that he would also be a light to the Nations. And so the story of the first Christmas has the message making it to the Jews and to the Gentiles, to the religious and to the not-so-much, to the educated and to the ignorant… Oh, and I forgot one, didn’t I?

Remember Simeon? Old man in the temple holding the eight-day old baby Jesus. Well, as he was praying, a woman named Anna approached, and the Bible says that she gave thanks to God and told everyone she knew about the baby. So let me spell this out: for the first time in history, there is a story cuts across age, and cuts across gender, and cuts across religion, and cuts across race, and cuts across education. All the old structures have been defeated, and will eventually be blown away on the wind. That ground-breaking story? The story of the first Christmas. The man-made idols of wealth, and economics, and power and strength are pulverized by the coming of the Kingdom of God. Christmas changes everything.

The very first words that we have written concerning the message of Jesus are these (from Mark 1:15): “The countdown is over. The Kingdom of God has arrived.” That rock had arrived at the foot of the idol, turning it into so much dust. Those almost-five hundred years were now past. Simeon correctly identifies Jesus as the Most Holy Anointed One. And over the last two thousand years, that rock, the Kingdom of God has grown to cover the whole earth. We have the privilege to be part of that Kingdom this morning. What’s more, contrary to the partially true if trendy idea that religion is an agent of discord and violence in the world, the legacy of Christ and His church is one of human rights, of higher education, of health care, of artistic expression and of fairness and justice. All of this is history, all of it is good news. But there is, unfortunately, bad news in history as well. In particular, we note that the majority of the Jewish people rejected Jesus as their Messiah. As we read in John’s gospel, “He came unto his own, but his own did not receive him.” How come?

Well, the answer to this question is crucial. It isn’t just important religiously. It isn’t just important historically. It is important today. It is important for you. It is critical for you. Because this Christmas season the birth of Jesus is the opportunity once again to align yourself with the Kingdom of God. Sure, the kingdoms of this world have wormed their way into our thinking over the last year. Sure, we’ve been seduced by the kingdom of power, or the kingdom of wealth. But those won’t go the distance. Betting on those horses means losing your shirt. The key to alignment with the only Kingdom that will last is found in the rest of Jesus’ message. Remember what He said from a few seconds ago? “The countdown is over. The Kingdom of God has arrived.” Now listen carefully to what comes next: “change your way of thinking, and receive the good news.” Change your way of thinking. Here is the reason that folks resist their Savior. Here is the reason that folks reject their only Hope. They just don’t want to give up on their way of thinking. They are simply too close-minded.

When I was in University, one night my folks told me that we were having a guest speaker at church the next Sunday, and that he was going to stay at our place and have dinner on Saturday night. So Saturday night came around, and this really, really old Scottish guy shows up, and he’s nice and polite and all, but after dinner I excused myself to go do some homework. Engineering students always have lots of homework. I didn’t give this guy another thought until the next morning he was invited up to the pulpit. Ho hum. …and then he started to speak! This guy was amazing! He had traveled all over the world evangelizing, and he had written books about his travels. The books were so compelling that he had received multiple honorary degrees in Geography from Universities all over the globe. This guy was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the American Geographical Society, the Royal Historical Society, and the Royal Society of Literature. He was one of the original board members of Campus Crusade for Christ. He also has at least one of the hymns in our hymnal. And he had every single person on the edge of their seats. Nobody noticed the time fly by; nobody wanted him to stop speaking. …And I had had the opportunity the previous night to listen to this guy in my own home, but was too stupid…trying to be smart! I wish someone had told me “you might not have thought that it could happen, but there is a genius here; change your mind – change your way of thinking – and believe the good news.”

Now I’m going to ask you to use your imaginations. First, I want you to imagine that you are single. That doesn’t take too much imagination for some. But then, I want you to imagine that there was someone in the world who God made to be your soul mate. Somewhere in the world, there is someone who is made just perfectly for you: he or she would laugh at your jokes; would understand your ideas; would cover for you in your weakness and would cheer you in your strengths. He or she is perfectly wired to share true love with you. And now imagine that you meet him or her tomorrow. That would be a miracle, wouldn’t it: out of more than six billion people in the world, God brings you together with someone who was made especially for you. How perfectly amazing that would be, wouldn’t it? What good news!

But now suppose that you’ve been through a lot. You’ve known hurt; you’ve been let down a few times. And suppose that those hurts have made you just cynical enough… that you don’t believe in true love any more. Someone I know says that true love exists in Neverland with fairies and leprechauns. Perhaps she’s right. Someone said that being a pessimist is always the best policy: you are always either right or pleasantly surprised. J But if you were a bit too pessimistic, you might not even notice… you might not even realize that you were introduced to someone who could synchronize with your heart in ways that most people can only dream about. Talk about tragic! Talk about heart-breaking! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity appeared to you, and you weren’t clever enough to notice. Someone needed to be there beside you, telling you “you might not have thought it could ever happen, but your soul-mate is here; change your mind – change your way of thinking – and believe the good news!”

But that is exactly what happened to God’s people around two thousand years ago. They were expecting the Messiah to come. They just weren’t expecting him to come like he did. That’s why Jesus message was always “change your way of thinking.” (that is, after all what the word “repent” means, isn’t it?) If you don’t change your way of thinking, you’ll never get it. You’ll never know the incredible joy and peace that God is offering to you this morning.

So that’s my Christmas message for you: “you might not ever have thought that it could happen. You might not have ever imagined that you could know the Creator of the universe personally, but you can! Change your mind, and receive the good news! You might not ever have guessed that He wants to talk to you and use you in the world for your joy and His Kingdom, but he does! Change your mind, and receive the good news!” You might think that the birth of a baby boy two thousand years ago couldn’t possibly be relevant to you. If you think that way, you are just like those who, when they heard where Jesus was from, said ‘can anything good come out of Nazareth?’. Their prejudice clouded their thinking, and kept them from receiving the truest source of fulfillment. Don’t let your prejudices cloud your thinking; don’t let your habits of mind keep you from being open to the good news of great joy, which are for all people, including you. “I tell you,” the Bible says, “Now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation.” Change your way of thinking and receive the good news. You might not have thought that it could happen, but God came and revealed Himself to people, and He wants to reveal Himself to you; change your mind and believe the good news.

Don’t waste your time on any of those other structures and Kingdoms in the world. This season, I’ve had the fun of singing in Handel’s Messiah, and if you can, I’d like you to imagine the Hallelujah Chorus with me. It starts majestically (Hallelujah, Hallelujah), but in the middle, there is this sudden hush, and the words of Revelation come through: “the Kingdom of this world is become…the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah. Amen and Merry Christmas!

Abraham

Abraham

“Is anyone here seeking to Lord? Is anyone here pursuing righteousness? Then listen to me!” – these are the words of the prophet. In a minute, I’m going to tell you who that prophet was, and what it was that he said we should listen to. Now some of you might already know who the prophet is. For everyone else, I have a quiz.

The category is “men’s names” and the first question is this: Which man’s name occurs the most in the Bible? (Israel) Which is second? (David)

[Full Bible: God: 4787; Israel: 2601; David: 1064; Jesus: 985; Moses: 847; Joseph: 250]

OK, now that you’re in the mood, I have a second round of questions: Which man’s name occurs the most in the New Testament? (Jesus) Which is second? (Peter/Paul)

[NT: God: 1370; Jesus: 977; Peter: 164; Paul: 163; Moses: 80; Abraham: 74]

Now those questions were really just for fun: kind of trivial pursuit. Now comes the interesting part. As you know the New Testament can be divided into two parts. The first is the historical books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts – mostly the stories of Jesus and his disciples. The second are the letters: written by Paul, and Peter, and John, for example. These letters are a record of what the earliest Christians thought about God, and themselves, and the world. There aren’t any stories in the second part of the New Testament. There is just explanation of the stories that came earlier. So here’s the final round of questions: In the *second part of the New Testament* which man’s name occurs the most? (Jesus) Which is second? (Abraham)

[Romans and after: God: 880; Jesus: 290; Abraham: 32; Paul: 30; Moses: 23]

Now I’m going to ask you to note two things before we go back to what the prophet said: first, Abraham is considered really, really, important by the writers of the New Testament; second, that fact was a surprise to most of you. ;-)

So let’s get back to the words of the prophet Isaiah: chapter 51: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father.” Isaiah says that if we want to pursue righteousness, if we want to seek God, we do really well to pay attention to the life of Abraham. Clearly, the apostle Paul felt the same way: as we just discovered, Abraham was the single-most common object lesson in all of his writings.

Now if that isn’t enough to make you want to learn a little bit more about the life of Abraham, the Bible says that God blessed Abraham “in every way”. Could you use a little of God’s blessing this morning? Then Abraham can provide a model for you.

The life of Abraham covers twelve chapters in the Old Testament, starting with Genesis chapter twelve. In the pew Bibles, this amounts to thirteen pages. With the time we have left, we certainly cannot cover all of Abraham’s life, but I would like to give you the “Reader’s Digest” or “Cole’s Notes” version. If you want to follow along, the story of Abraham’s life starts in the twelfth chapter of the book of Genesis. I’m going to skip over some parts, and if you think that I’ve missed something important, please come and tell me afterwards. Now in order to get the point of Abraham’s life, I’ve put most of his experience into four categories, and I’ve given those categories labels. Some will be obvious, and some not so obvious. But I’ll explain them all when we are done.

• B - was blessed; (command and blessing – 12:2)
• O - did what he was told (went away from home “as the Lord told him” – 12:4);
• T - “called on the name of the Lord” – 12:8, 13:4;
• E - thoughtful to others (deal with Lot) – 13:8;
• B - was blessed (you get both pieces) – 13:14;
• E - thoughtful to others (rescued Lot) – 14:14;
• B - was blessed – 14:19;
• E - thoughtful to others (gave money to a priest) – 14:20;
• B - was blessed (your shield and great reward) – 15:1;
• T - asked God about his childless status; believed God’s answer – 15:2…;
• B - had a son (Ishmael) – 16:15;
• B - confirmation of covenant – 17:2;
• O - did what he was told (had a small operation) – 17:11;
• E - thoughtful to others (entertained angels) – 18;
• T - talked to God – 18;
• E - thoughtful to others (begged God to be merciful to Lot) – 18:16;
• B - had a son (Isaac) – 21:1;
• T - “called on the name of the Lord” – 21:33;
• O - did what he was told (sacrifice of Isaac) -- 22;
• B - was blessed – 22:17;
• E - thoughtful to others (bought a field) -- 23;
• -- buried his wife;
• -- sent his servant to find a wife for his son; re-married; had more sons; died.

B blessing; x8; E ethics; x6; O obedience; x3; T talk; x4

So what did we learn from the life of Abraham? Well, how about a quick check to see is you were paying attention. Which of these three letters did I hold up the most? That’s right: B – and B is for blessing: God blessed Abraham right out of his socks. Now (this is a little trickier) which of the letters did I hold up second most? That’s right: E. I’ll explain what E stands for in a second. Which letter comes next? T – T stands for talk: Abraham talked to God. And, finally, what was the last letter? O – O stands for obedience, doesn’t it: Abraham did what God told him to do.

Back to the letter “E”. This one was a bit tricky – it is difficult to choose an appropriate letter. For the philosophers in the room, the letter “E” could stand for “Ethics” – that is, being kind and thoughtful to others. Remember the events of Abraham’s life that I talked about when the “E” was up? He was honest, and generous, and unselfish. That’s sometimes what we mean when we talk about ethics. But I wanted a label that meant a little more than that. You see, when Abraham is kind and thoughtful, the Bible suggests that his doing so is a way that God blessed those around him. So Abraham’s kindness comes directly from God. I picture it as being an extension of the blessing. So you can say that “E” is for “Ethics” or that “E” is for an “Extension” of God’s blessing.

In fact, God makes this explicit in some of the blessings that he gives Abraham. Here’s the first one (chapter 12):

“…I will bless you…and you will be a blessing…. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

And here is the last one (chapter 22):

“…I will surely bless you…and through you…all nations on earth will be blessed.”

It is almost as if the purpose of God’s blessing to Abraham is to bless the world. And I bet the world would be a better place if we had the same attitude: we are called to extend the blessings that we have received to others.

So as we seek the Lord and pursue righteousness, we need to pay attention to the life of Abraham. And having just heard the summary of that life, I think that we need to ask ourselves a very basic question: “Be to or not be to – that is the question!” You see, there are two different ways of looking at life. There are two different ways to approach God. And they can be illustrated by the order in which you put these four letters. Most of the world thinks that they need to come to God like this: “OTEB.” That is, they think that God couldn’t possibly bless you unless first you obey him, then you talk to him, and then you are the best person you can be.

But the life of Abraham demonstrates that this is exactly the wrong way to approach God. In the life of Abraham, the blessing came first. It’s true! God didn’t wait for Abraham to obey; God didn’t wait for Abraham to pray; God didn’t wait for Abraham to be kind to others. No! God blessed Abraham right up front. Remember the order in Abraham’s life? First the blessing; then the extension of that blessing, then prayer, and then obedience. God blessed Abraham right up front. And God blesses us right up front, too.

Remember what it says in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his love to us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And verse 10: “when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.” Or how about in Ephesians: (2:4,5) “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin – it is by grace you have been saved.”

God blesses us up front: before, not after we are his friends. When we realize this, then we can become the true children of Abraham. “What difference?” you may ask. Well let me tell you.

If we think that we deserve the blessing we receive from God, then we can make the mistake of thinking that if folks fall upon hard times then they deserve it, too – that it is God’s judgment. If it is us who suffer, we can be paralyzed by guilt, and if we see others suffer, we can look down on them. This just isn’t right. Remember the disciples asking Jesus about the man born blind…? and the folks killed when the tower collapsed…?

If we think that the blessing we have received is due to our goodness, we can also make the mistake of insisting that the rest of the world must approach God exactly as we have. We become gate-keepers of the Kingdom, ensuring that those who come must use our words, jump through our hoops, and align themselves with us before they can approach God. Jesus condemns this kind of attitude in the Pharisees when he says “Woe to you, you hypocrites, you shut the kingdom of God in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” Let me tell you, there is a world out there in desperate need of God, and the last thing that they need is a bunch of smug gatekeepers to block their way.

Instead, when we realize that the blessing that we have received is through no fault of our own, then we can be truly generous with it. We didn’t deserve it any more than the people that we’ve been called to share it with. We are all the same before the judge and ruler of the world.

God’s blessing comes before prayer. Without the grace of God, there is not a soul who would be able to pray. God’s blessing comes before obedience. Without the grace of God, we would be unable to do anything right at all. And God’s blessing absolutely comes before any kindness we could ever show to others. In fact, our small kindnesses are simply extensions of God’s blessing. As John says in his first letter, “We love because he first loved us.” Without God’s love, we are incapable of love. Without God’s blessing, we are incapable of blessing others.

But what if you’re feeling blessing-deprived this morning? Well, this might not help a lot, but I’ve got to tell you. God can come in and fill any gap you might be feeling in your life. God says that he is Abraham’s reward, and he can be our reward, too. If life has handed you a short stick, remember Abraham: he let Lot choose the big piece of the pie, only to have God remind him that the future was his. The Bible says God is father to the fatherless and a defender of widows. Remember how Jesus called his disciples attention to the widow at the temple? After guys came with trumpets and front-end-loaded money into the offering, a poor window came and put in two pennies. Jesus said that that widow put in more that the rich man. God will judge us on what we’ve received; not for what we lack.

On the other hand, Jesus says that 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. God requires us to take our blessings seriously.

Do you want to seek God? Do you want to pursue righteousness? Then pay attention to Abraham. Let us, too, be willing to accept God’s blessings and freely extend it to those we meet this week.

Noah

As many of you know, I often start sermons with questions. Sometimes those questions have many answers, and sometimes the answers can be surprising. I was on the internet a few weeks ago, and I ran into a long list of question. These are questions that don't really have any answers at all. They just make you go "hmm". So before we get serious, I'd like to share some of the better ones with you (I’m sure many of you have heard most of them):

1. How do "Do not walk on the grass" signs get where they are?

2. How do you throw away a garbage can?

3. If a train station is where the train stops, what is a workstation?

4. Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways?

5. Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

What is it about the story of Noah and jokes? Really quick: God tells Noah to build a large boat, and then God helps Noah fill that boat with a pair of every kind of animal just in time for a flood to come and cover the world. It does sound a bit funny, doesn’t it? In fact, one of the most popular comedy monologues of the twentieth century was Bill Cosby's "Noah" -- do you remember it? "How long can you tread water?" In fact, even my Dad contributed to my collection of Noah jokes -- he sent me this picture…at least the monkey is laughing:


Here are a few more Noah jokes…

• Why didn't Noah do much fishing?
• He only had two worms

• Which animal brought the most onto the ark?
• The elephant brought his trunk

• Where did Noah keep the bees?
• In the ark-hives

• Which animal could Noah never trust?
• The cheetah

Now as much as I like those jokes, I have to ask: why do we make jokes? Because it is fun, sure – but sometimes we joke about things to make it easier to deal with things that make us uncomfortable, don’t we? People who make movies know this. The easiest way to make people laugh is to create a situation that makes people really uncomfortable. When folks are uncomfortable, they want an escape, and even a bad joke at the right time can be a lot funnier than a great joke at the wrong time.

And so it is with the story of Noah. The reason that we joke about it; the reason that we hide the story in Sunday School and represent it with multi-colored toys is that this story could easily make us feel uncomfortable. Yes – sorry about that: if you came to church this morning wanting to feel better about yourself, it is going to have to wait. The sermon this morning might be a little bit disturbing. But it has to be if we want to be honest with what the Bible is actually saying.

When three thousand people die in a terrorist attack, the whole world rightly and naturally says, “how terrible,” and the history of the world changes abruptly. When two hundred thousand people die due to a tsunami, the world rightly and naturally says, “how terrible,” and a huge effort begins to clean up the mess. But as serious as they are to the people involved, these disasters represent tragedies that will be forgotten in time – almost certainly.

Did you know that there have been natural disasters in which more than two hundred thousand people have died? The most deadly natural disaster on record happened in China – an earthquake caused the deaths of an estimated eight hundred thousand people. But I’m betting that most of you didn’t know about the great Shaanxi earthquake. You see, even the biggest of catastrophes fade out of history over the centuries. Indeed, we could even measure the extent of a natural disaster by how long it remains in the collective consciousness. Small ones get forgotten quickly; big ones not so quickly. And by this measure, the flood at the time of Noah must be the largest disaster of all time. We don’t know when it happened exactly, but it might have been as much as five thousand years ago, but we do know that it comes down to us in at least six different written accounts all numerous oral traditions from many different cultures. It is true: you’ve heard of Noah; you might have heard of Gilgamesh; you might not have heard of Atrahasis, Ziusudra, or Berossus. Each of these represents a tradition going back to the earliest recorded history. And each of them describes God telling a man to build a boat to save himself and his family while disaster fell on the world. People who have studied all these stories have found remarkable similarities between them.

So at the heart of the story of Noah is a really enormous tragedy. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5: “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” And so God decided to destroy them all. Well, not quite all – God saved Noah.

The Bible says: “Noah found favor in the eyes of God.” Now it is only natural to identify with Noah in the story – after all he is the hero, and it is traditional to identify with the hero in all stories. So let’s pay some attention to what makes Noah the hero of the story this morning; let’s pay attention to what gives Noah God’s favor. Genesis chapter six, verse fourteen: God says to Noah: “Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out…. The ark is to be longer than a football field, as wide as this building is long, and a little bit higher than this ceiling. It will have three decks and a roof. Oh, and you can use my Reno Depot account – be sure to put it all on credit.”

You know, sometimes people think that God only asks us to do things that we are good at; that we’re prepared to do; that we’ve practiced. But Noah had almost certainly never built an ark before. As Bill Cosby tells the story, when asked to build an ark, Noah says “right…. What’s an ark?” So God sometimes asks us to do work for which we have little or no experience. No matter. Sometimes God asks us to do things that we don’t think we are capable of doing. No matter. When God’s work is involved, God always fills in the gaps; God always covers for our weaknesses and provides protection along the way. God was asking Noah to build a huge ark; nearly all by himself; without a pickup truck to haul the wood; without Reno Depot to buy the wood; without power tools to cut the wood; without nails or glue or clamps or practically anything. It took him a long time. The Bible doesn’t say how long it took, but some people have estimated that it might have taken as long as one hundred years to finish. This means that Noah’s work probably took longer than you are going to live.

But building the ark wasn’t the most difficult thing that God asked Noah to do. Seriously! In verse nineteen, God tells Noah “You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.” Can you imagine that? Even with rope, tranquilizer darts and jeeps it would take a really long time to fill up two football fields with hundreds of different kinds of animals. Did Noah have a jeep? No! Did Noah have a gun with tranquilizer gun? No!

Now I’d like five volunteers to come and help me with a game. It is a game with animals, and it illustrates Noah’s job of finding the animals for the ark. I have twelve cards with six pairs of animals. I’ll need you to stand here in a line, and your job is to find two animal cards that match. If you do, you get to have a little prize. All you have to do in order to make it work is to remember the instructions. And those instructions are quite simple: “Bring them two by two”. It also helps to be able to spell. Sometimes, if we want to get instructions right, it helps to have them spelled out for us. Now you will notice that the instructions have five words “bring them two by two”, and there are five of you. Each of you will find one pair of animals, and the last pair will be left over for me. Ready? I’m going to put six cards over here, and six over here.

Now I’d like A to start. First, I’d like you to choose either of the two piles. Do you remember the instructions? Your word is “bring”. Do you know how to spell it? For each of the letters in your word, I’m going to take one of the cards from the top of your pile and put it on the bottom. But in between, you’re allowed to tell me to switch piles, ok? B-R-I-N-G. That’s it. We have a match! Good job! Now B. Please choose either one of these piles. Do you remember the instructions? Your word is “them”. Do you know how to spell it? We’re going to do exactly what we did with A, ok? And you tell me when to switch so that we make another pair. Ready? T-H-E-M. Next is C. Do you remember the instructions? “bring them two by two”. Your word is “two”. Do you know how to spell it? T-W-O. Next is D. Do you remember the instructions? Your word is “by” – it is spelled with just two letters, isn’t it. B-Y. Last but not least, E, please tell me which pile you choose. Do you remember the instructions? “bring them two by two” – that’s right. And your word is “two”. T-W-O. There we have five winners. And five prizes. Please let’s give my volunteers a hand.

Now just like the animals sorted themselves out in spite of our best attempts to mix them up, God also helped Noah do his job. In chapter seven, verse nine says that pairs of animals came to Noah. Noah didn’t have to go capture lions and tigers. The animals cooperated. God fills in the gaps. And we do well to remember that, and do what he tells us without arguing - even if the task seems large. But you can still be sure that Noah had to do a lot of work. One hundred years of building, and he needed to gather enough food for the animals, and all kinds of other things. Work. It is a good thing. Believe it or not. Solomon, the wise king wrote this: “There is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, and even this is a gift of God. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”

At this point some of you might be thinking “Hold on.” The Christian life is not about work – the Christian life is about faith. And you’d be right – at least partly. Remember Paul wrote that we need to “work out or salvation.” And what did Jesus say? “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Now when I was young, I thought that Jesus was just being clever when he said this – that he was trying to tell us that God wants belief and not work. But the older I get, the more profoundly I realize that believing in Jesus is indeed hard work. It is not the work of a moment either – it is the work of a lifetime. Work and faith are not disconnected. Work is spiritual and belief is work. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the…spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Not only can believing in Jesus be the struggle of a lifetime, but sometimes we don’t even get to see the results of our work in the present life.

Let me tell you a missionary story – a true story. We can never hear enough true missionary stories…

Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood (that’s right – with a name like that, these folk belong in a sermon about Noah) – David and Svea Flood went to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They felt called to a remote area but the chief there would not let them enter his town. The Floods chose to go half a mile up the slope and build their own mud huts.

The only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week. Svea Flood decided that if this was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. And in fact, she succeeded. But there were no other encouragements. Then Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive wilderness. A little girl was born, but the Mom, who was already weak with malaria, died. In that moment, something snapped inside David Flood. Giving his newborn daughter to another missionary couple, he snarled, "I'm going home. I've lost my wife, and I obviously can't take care of this baby. God has ruined my life." And he left.

Many years later, this little girl had grown up and become known as Aggie Hurst. Her adoptive parents had been open with her about her heritage, and so one day she saw a picture in a magazine that jumped out at her:

There in a primitive setting was a grave with a white cross-and on the cross were the words SVEA FLOOD. The article in the magazine was about missionaries who had come to Africa long ago ... the birth of a white baby ... the death of the young mother ... the one little African boy who had been led to Christ ... and how, after the missionaries had all left, the boy had grown up and finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village. The article said that gradually he won all his students to Christ... the children led their parents to Christ... even the chief had become a Christian. Today there were six hundred Christian believers in that one village... all because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood.

A few years later, the Hursts were attending a conference in London, England, when a report was given from the nation of Zaire (the former Belgian Congo). The superintendent of the national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke at length of the spread of the gospel through his nation. Aggie could not help approaching him afterward and asking if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood. "Yes, madam," the man replied, "It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ. I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother's grave and her memory are honored by all of us."

And if that wasn’t enough, Aggie went to Sweden and brought her father back to the Lord before he died. This was the person closest to Aggie’s Mom, and he had concluded that the work was in vain, and that God had abandoned him. But God looks at things slightly different than we do. Don’t give up on God. Let him work in the world through us, and let him work without having to keep us informed of his progress.

Just like Svea Flood, Noah devoted his entire life to the work that God had called him to. So how are we doing identifying with the hero in our story this morning? I know that some people in this church work really hard. But maybe others struggle with hard work. Not to worry – there must be other things besides hard work that made Noah find God’s favor. What were they? Genesis chapter six, verse nine: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Oof. Blameless. Do we have any blameless people here this morning? You should be preaching. But Noah was not just blameless. He walked with God. There is only one other person in the Bible who is said to have walked with God, and that was Noah’s grandfather, Enoch. Enoch was so special, that the Bible suggests that he never died – God just took him away! Are you blameless? I’m not. Sure, I’d like to be, but I’m not. Are you walking with God? I’m not. Sure, I’d like to be, but I’m not. Are you willing to work for a hundred years on a project that makes you the biggest joke in history? Not sure about that one either.

So if what if…I know it isn’t a very comfortable idea…but what if we might be a little bit more like some of Noah’s neighbors than we are like Noah. Seriously. What does the Bible say?

• In Jeremiah: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure”
• In the Psalms: “All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
• In Ecclesiastes: “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”
• In Romans: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Sorry about that, but in the story of Noah, the character that you represent – the character that I represent – the character that we represent, is not Noah. Instead, we first need to identify with all those who were left behind. What did Jesus say? “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be when I return….they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when I come back.”

But hold on, you might say, Jesus also told us to be watching for his return…and Christians should be doing that. Well, that may be true, but also remember what Jesus asked his closest followers to “keep watch” in his moment of greatest sorrow, but when he returned from prayer, he found them sleeping. He woke them up and told them to “watch and pray” a second time, but when he came back from prayer a second time, they were asleep again. This is the story that the phrase comes from: “the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” And while our spirits might be willing, God knows our bodies are weak – yes, every one of us.

And so we should be going into the story of Noah not as the hero, but as someone who makes jokes about the hero. Not as the savior of the world, but as someone who needs saving. But there is good news! Not only are we in need of saving, but God wants to save us, too. At the end of the story of Noah, God put a rainbow in the clouds. And the rainbow was a sign of his promise never again to judge the world in this way. Here’s the way the prophet Isaiah describes it (54:7-10)

“For a moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your redeemer – “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

If we want to be saved, we need to get to know the carpenter. Only he can save us. The Bible says that the flood that Noah went through is really just a picture of baptism, where, trusting in the carpenter from Galilee, we can be saved by his work from the biggest danger of them all – the danger to our very soul. Don’t miss that boat! Jesus has prepared the way to be saved, and we need to listen carefully to his instructions. Do you know that the Bible even says that Jesus went and preached to all the spirits of the people who died in the flood. God loved them even though their hearts are inclined to evil. And God loves you, too.

One last quick true story to finish up. The boxing day tsunami in 2004 was certainly the greatest natural disaster of modern times. It overwhelmed the beaches in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. Dayalan Sanders looks after an orphanage in Sri Lanka. The grounds of the orphanage were on a little piece of land jutting out into the Indian Ocean, exactly the part of the country that was hit the worst by the Tsunami of 2004. That day, he was working on a sermon and his wife rushed in to tell him about the giant wave. Very calmly, he got up and started down toward the water. But when he finally looked up and saw the tsunami, he turned and shouted, “everyone to the boat!” Afterward he wrote this: “usually, to get all the children and staff to one point it takes a good ten minutes. That day we were all down at the boathouse in ten seconds…. We never leave the outboard motor on the launch. This was the first time we had done this. And it was also the first time that Stefan, the boat man was able to get the motor going on the first try. I called upon the Lord. I prayed and my God answered my prayer.” The God who directed Noah to a boat before a flood, the God of Jesus, whose commands the wind and the waves obeyed. That was the God who saved Dayalan Sanders and every one of his staff and orphans.

God is still in the business of saving people. Pay attention to his plan for you, listen carefully to his instructions and don’t give him a hard time if he asks you to do a bit of work.