A Future and a Hope (Jeremiah 29.1-14 and Colossians 3.1-4)

They say that people used to hold impassioned debates in the Middle-Ages on the question “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.” It’s difficult to imagine anything more entertaining isn’t it? But in fact, it’s a bit of a QI myth, as no trace has ever been found of the question ever having been raised in that form.

The nearest you get to it is in the writings of Thomas Aquinas who raised several questions about angels around the year 1270, including "can several angels be in the same place at the same time?"

But that question, whether it was actually genuinely discussed or not, is a classic example of the church being so heavenly minded that it is no earthly use.

That’s an expression we use to describe people who show no awareness of practical needs while being a bit otherworldly. They spiritualise everything. They see a mighty battle of spiritual warfare behind the provision of a parking space. They agonise in prayer about what colour socks to wear. And forget about visiting a neighbour in hospital and never think about how they can serve others better.

But in Colossians 3, the Bible says being heavenly minded is a good thing to be.

It says “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

And then, as if to really emphasise the importance of this, it repeats that command: “Set your mind on things above, not earthly things.”

“Since you have been raised with Christ.” You see, Easter is not just about Jesus being raised from the dead.

We’ve been seeing the first new buds on the trees this month as spring takes hold. We know that means that very soon, they will be in full leaf. In the same way, Christ’s resurrection is the first fruits, just the start of something much bigger – we are all raised with him too.

Now, we have a calling, a command, to look to heaven and not limit our vision to earthly, worldly things.

One of the really significant events since the last APCM here was Sylvia’s departure. We gladly and willingly released her to pursue God’s call on her life. And as God has led Sylvia to move on, some people have asked me “Who is going to replace her?”

I’ve found it difficult to answer that question because it’s not quite the way I see things. It isn’t like “Sylvia flies off, so hundreds of little beaks in the nest point to the sky, and then the diocese sends another bird to drop worms into them.”

The way I see it is different. Rather, it’s as we bless others and give ministry away in faith – and we’ve been doing this for years now especially to help grow the church at Long Newton – as we give ministry away, God gives more back. He raises up new ministry.

This is why our Growing Leaders course is so important. It means that as we give away our blessings, we have people who are trained and equipped to flourish as leaders in every corner of church life.

As we move into the future I believe God is going to raise up others to stand in the gap and say “It’s my time to lead, it’s my time to serve.” And he already has in fact.

For everything Sylvia did here, with public worship, with pastoral care, with Connect and everything else there are already capable people fulfilling those roles. Not one person, but several. And, as God raises up new ministry and anoints new leaders, he is adding to our numbers.

Just like God said to Israel as they prepared for an incredible national restoration after a time of brokenness, he says to us, “I have plans for you, to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”

I want to say a few things about how God is prospering us at All Saints’ and in what ways I see that promise of a future and a hope being fulfilled here.

Firstly, how is God prospering us at All Saints’? He is prospering us in many ways, but I want to be specific and pick out a few examples. I could have chosen more.

He prospered us in our roof renovation project last year. As we gave with willing hearts, we were able not just to replace the roof but also upgrade it – and there was a considerable underspend, meaning we can do other things too. Thanks once again to all who were involved in that project.

He has prospered our Connect ministry to retired people. As I said earlier, the Lord has raised up new people in the team for the Lunch Club and Seated Exercise. In March we had our record attendance at the Lunch Club worship service before the meal – that was the one after Sylvia left. People are growing in faith. A few months ago, after the reflection at Seated Exercise, people were offered “Why Jesus?” booklets. Many people took one. The Holy Spirit is at work in Connect.

Thanks to all on the Connect team: Dawn, Mark, John, Pam, all the cooks and bottle washers and everyone else. You are inspirational.

Recent research by the Church of England says that churches with young people are twice as likely to be growing.

Churches that employ children’s/youth workers are half as likely to be in decline.

The research concluded that youth/children’s workers are the most effective lay workers in a growing church.

God has prospered our Youth ministry. Our trips to Mexico in 2013 and 2014 have been an excellent way of growing in discipleship. Some of our young people are growing in leadership too through the Doulos programme. Our Youth club on Fridays now has a God slot and numbers are growing. The evening Refresh service has continued to grow. From very small beginnings, just half a dozen or so, Refresh now fills our hall with young people from all over the Tees Valley.

Thanks to Kathryn, John, Tim (who’s now moved on) and all those who volunteer their time to help with youth work whether it’s in weekday life groups, Friday nights, Sundays, weeks away or whenever. You are amazing.

God has prospered our Children’s/Family ministry. Messy Church, which did not even exist this time last year, is now All Saints’ best attended service – we regularly have between 130 and 170 at Messy Church. We’ve been delighted to welcome some people at 10:30am services who first came to Messy Church. Enquiries for Thanksgivings and Baptisms are at their highest level in all my time here.

As I said a few weeks’ back, in 1910 over 85% of children in the UK went to Sunday school. In 2010 it was less than 5%. Much of the dechristianisation of our society can be traced to this trend. I believe we can reverse it and Messy Church is the best way to do it that I’ve seen.

Thanks to Jan, Chris and all those who help with puppets, Play and Praise, toddlers, school assemblies, Messy Church and our amazing Xplore Sunday morning ministry. There is a phenomenal amount of prayer and preparation that goes into all this.

God has prospered our evening services, which looked like they were about to die two or three years ago but are now all doing well. I’ve mentioned Refresh and Messy Church. But the Source and Ablaze are going well too. Most of the most amazing, heart stopping moments of worship in my time here have been at The Source. Ablaze is raising the temperature of intercessory prayer here – and we’re seeing God respond. It’s on tonight and I hope to see many of you there again.

I have rejoiced to see prayer becoming more central to our way of life here since the New Year. I’d like to thank Mark Harrison for all he has done as Prayer Coordinator, especially with Ablaze and the prayer times in the chapel every Sunday between services but in many other ways, we are closer to our vision of praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests than we were before.

So there are a few examples of how God is prospering us. There are more but time is limited.

In what ways do I see that promise of a future and a hope being fulfilled here?

Again I want to just pick out a few things that are coming up.

One of the biggest challenges we face in Messy Church is making messy disciples. Making disciples is always hard work but in Messy Church it is particularly difficult for three reasons:

• because there are so many people it’s hard to know where to start
• because we only see people once a month so it’s hard to build relationships
• because anything in the evening is immediately going to mean babysitters etc

But we must make headway here.

We are going to start a Messy Church Facebook group so people can get to know each other a bit better.

We would like to start giving people who come to Messy Church a takeaway which will be like a mini In Touch with interviews of team members, suggested prayers to pray with children and ideas for going deeper with the theme for both children and grown-ups.

We’d like to run a faith discovery course in the autumn, probably Journeys, inviting the most regular Messy Church people, parents bringing children to baptism and some of the new families who are now on the edge of church life here.

We’d also like to do some other things like John Archer entertainment evenings, family picnics and so on.

Please pray that we will make disciples through Messy Church.

We have spent several months over the last year building a team to run Sozo. Sozo is a form of gentle Spirit-led prayer ministry which has been developed in a church called Bethel in northern California. Sozo is a Greek word that has a depth of meaning, covering the English words healing, salvation and deliverance.

Some people freak out a bit when they hear talk of deliverance but Jesus told us to pray “deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s Prayer so it’s nothing to be especially wary about.

Those who have agreed to be on the team and those who have had a Sozo appointment have all come back very enthusiastic about it. I think this is going to take off based on the testimony of people who have experienced it. Sozo will be a great tool for us to ensure we are spiritually healthy, right with God and free from stuff that would hold us back.

You will be able to book your Sozo appointment in a few weeks – I am first on the list and very much looking forward to it.

Please pray for Sozo and for the team.

The weekend of June 21-22 we will welcome Bishop Paul to be with us.

It is nearly four years ago now that we embarked on a 4-year vision plan to let every home in our parish know that we are a vibrant Christian community ready to pray, serve practically and lead to faith those in our neighbourhood.

Whenever I meet people around the parish I am always amazed at how highly this church is esteemed by people who have little to do with it. Some of the things I mentioned earlier (the Mexico mission that was covered in the local press, Messy Church, youth club, the Connect lunch club and day trips, holiday clubs – and also funerals and baptisms… there are many ways people get to hear about or experience the buzz of faith here) – all this is the fruit of our vision.

But I wonder what the next thing is for us here. I am hoping Bishop Paul will inspire us and challenge us and set the direction for the next few years.

He’s here for the whole weekend and we hope to have plenty of time for fun as well as strengthening our faith and renewing our vision.

Please pray for that weekend.

I want to end by showing you what the Church of England research found to be the common factors in growing churches.

1. They have a clear mission purpose and direction. There is te sense that they are going somewhere.

2. The leaders in those churches don’t go through the motions. They innovate inspire and motivate people around them.

3. They don’t just hit and hope. They are intentional and specific about praying for and working for church growth.

4. They make an effort to nurture disciples. They do this through specific encouragement, small groups and courses.

5. Instead of saying “but we’ve always done it another way” or “we tried that before and it didn’t work” they are willing to adapt and are open to change.

6. They have an overall welcoming culture that encourages ongoing relationships and friendships.

7. They have lay people as well as ordained clergy active in key leadership roles.

8. They actively engage children and young people.

I thought I’d show you that because it shows, I hope, that we’re mostly on the right track.

Everything on that screen I believe reflects All Saints’ to some extent. Let’s pray that the Lord prospers us in the year ahead giving to an increasing number of people a future and a hope.

Talk given at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 27th March 2014

From Grief to Gladness (Jeremiah 31.12-13 and Luke 24.1-12)

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:“ The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”’ Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Introduction

Well, we know what happened. Jesus is alive.

The night before he died, Jesus said to his disciples these words: “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy” (John 16.20).

He was saying that a prophecy given by Jeremiah 600 years earlier was about to find its ultimate fulfilment: “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow” (Jeremiah 31.13).

But it wasn’t comfort and joy at first light on Easter Sunday. It was fuss and commotion. “Where’s the body gone?”

It was panic and fright. “Who are those two men in shining white clothes and what are they doing here?”

It was puzzlement and confusion. "Peter and John saw the strips of linen and wondered what had happened."

It was derision and unbelief. “The men didn’t believe the women. Their words sounded like nonsense.”

You can understand that. What would you think if three women burst through the doors of this church, interrupted the service and said they’d just been to Preston cemetery and saw an open grave wand a dead person come to life.

Not one person would say, “Oh all right then.” And on the first Easter Sunday nobody said “Oh! The tomb’s empty, Jesus must have risen! Alleluia!”

It took a while for it all to sink in. The tomb was empty. "What could it mean?" Then there was an appearance. "Could it be?" Then another. "Yes, I think it could." Then one more appearance. "It really is!" 

Slowly, gradually, reluctantly, grief turned into gladness.

Sceptics Going Nowhere

In the 1990s, about 150 liberal scholars got together to discuss which verses from the gospels were authentic and which were exaggerated or made up. They called their movement the “Jesus Seminar.”

They decided to sort everything we read in the gospels into 4 categories.

1) Yes, Jesus certainly said or did what it says.

2) This is consistent with what we definitely know of Jesus but we are not certain this is authentic.

3) Maybe, maybe not.

4) This is definitely fictional.

They rejected quite a lot. They threw out the verse where Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” They felt it was too exclusive. It was offensive to other religions. So Jesus couldn’t have said that.

They threw out Jesus’ parable about the sheep and the goats. They felt it was too judgemental. It was unacceptable to imply that there will be a final reckoning. And Jesus would surely never say anything that would disturb anybody would he? 

They threw out all the miracles. They decided that these were myths invented to give Jesus a bit of credibility.

And naturally, they threw out the resurrection. It was ridiculous. It was silly.

They ended up with a pretty unimpressive Jesus who said a few nice things and tragically got himself killed for stirring up a fuss.

But who wants to join a movement where God is dead, where Jesus is an unfortunate loser and where new life is impossible? You might as well join Hen's Teeth Appreciation Society.

With the Jesus Seminar if you’re sick, you have to stay sick because there’s no healing.

If you’re addicted, you have to stay addicted because there’s no deliverance.

If you’re banged up for violent crime you have to accept that a life in and out of jail is your lot because Jesus is still in the tomb and he cannot therefore change your life.

Unfinished Business

Have you ever noticed that in John 20.6-7 it says that Peter “saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself” (ESV).

It seems like an incidental detail (and obviously noticed by an eye-witness). OK, so the head bandage was folded up by itself. 

But Andrew White, who is the vicar of Baghdad, says: “This is a powerful oriental symbol, taking from the dining table. If you folded your napkin when you left the table, it indicated to your servants that you hadn’t finished and were coming back. The cloth from around Jesus’ head is deliberately folded because he hasn’t finished. He’s coming back”

Jesus is alive today and he's got unfinished business. Here are some examples.

In yesterday’s Sun newspaper there was an article about Shane Taylor. For many years, Shane was considered to be one of the most dangerous men in Britain’s prisons. Originally jailed for attempted murder, he had his sentence extended by four years when he attacked a prison officer with a broken glass in an incident that provoked a prison riot.

After that, he was sent to some of Britain’s most secure prisons, where he was often held in solitary confinement because of his violence towards prison officers.

But when he was in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, he went on the prison Alpha Course saying “I was mostly interested in getting the chocolate biscuits.” He had a vision of Christ and started to read his Gideons Bible.

Eventually, he got to the Holy Spirit day. The chaplain picked up a Bible and opened up a few verses where it said ‘Jesus Christ died on a cross for you. He died for your sins and you can be forgiven.’

Shane prayed for the first time. “Jesus Christ, I know you died on a cross for me. Please, I don’t like who I am, please forgive me.” He was immediately baptised in the Holy Spirit.

This is Shane Taylor’s testimony; “As I talked I had a weird feeling in my belly. Then I started to feel this bubbly feeling slowly coming up my body – through my legs, my chest. When it got to about halfway I started to feel tears coming into my eyes. I tried to hold it back. I stopped talking, thinking that was going to stop it. Here I was, a hard man in prison – I didn’t want to cry. But it rose up and up and up until suddenly I began to sob. I hadn’t cried in years. I could feel a weight being lifted off me because I felt light.”

And Shane says this: “Everything suddenly became clearer than before. I knew it was real. I knew God existed, I knew Jesus was alive and that I was going to live for him forever. My behaviour changed so much that I went from being in the segregation to getting a trusted job in the prison within a few weeks.”

Almost exactly a year after the Holy Spirit day that changed his life, he was freed. About seven months later he met Samantha. They got married in 2008 at South Bank Baptist Church, here on Teesside.

“Jesus has changed my life” he says. “Before, I was a man of pure hate and anger. Jesus has showed me how to love and how to forgive. Almost all the people I’ve upset, all the people I stabbed, all the people I hurt, have forgiven me and now we can talk.”

And that’s in The Sun. Jesus is alive. And he has unfinished business!

If today was Good Friday I would talk about churches bombed in northern Nigeria and burned down in China. I would talk about Christians sent to labour camps in North Korea, framed for blasphemy in Pakistan, imprisoned without trial in Iran, beheaded in Syria, summarily shot in Libya. I’d be saying that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ. I'd be talking about Acts 14.22 which says "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." 

But this is Easter Sunday and the kingdom is now as well as not yet. I got the latest edition of Premier Christianity magazine through the post this week and there’s a really encouraging article in there about signs and wonders all around the world. Let me read you a few that show that Jesus is alive.

“Jesus is miraculously revealing himself to Hindu people on a daily basis according to Ravi, an Indian evangelist. On one occasion he went searching for a man in an orange robe with a white beard and turban, having received a word of knowledge. He met just such a man who turned out to be a high-ranking Hindu maharishi who had also dreamed that he would meet Ravi. The guru gave his life to Christ that same day and has gone on to preach the gospel to his followers.”

Here’s another one.

“Miracle accounts are on the increase in South America where the charismatic churches is growing rapidly. When American student Alex Humphrey went on a mission trip to Peru with his home church, a colleague prayed that they would see an eyeball grow in someone’s head. The following morning they prayed for a man who had lost an eyeball in a childhood accident. ‘At the end of our prayer I felt something move underneath my hand,’ recalls Humphrey, ‘His previously scarred shut eye was open and underneath I could see the white of an eyeball. By the time we left church he had two functioning eyeballs where once there was only one’.”

And this one’s even more amazing.

“The Far East offers numerous miracle accounts, including people who are being raised from the dead. Elaine Panelo was living in the Philippines when she was dying of cancer. She was admitted to hospital and was eventually pronounced dead. Later in the mortuary, a Baptist pastor prayed over her, and was shocked to see the white sheet that covered her was moving. ‘You’re alive’, the pastor told her. ‘You were dead for almost two hours.’ A later medical check confirmed that her cancer had also disappeared. A Filipino doctor and her husband who had diagnosed Elaine when she was ill were converted through her testimony.”

Would you like to hear one more?

“A revival is taking place among the Makua tribe in Mozambique. Hundreds of deaf people are being healed, according to evangelist Heidi Baker. A healing from deafness rate of almost 100% over the last ten years has led to over 2,700 churches being planted. Baker believes that the physical healings are a sign of the spiritual ears of the Makua people being opened to the gospel. ‘In a village, everyone knows who is deaf, so the miracle cannot be denied. Not only does that person come to Jesus, but so do a huge number of people in the village’.”

There’s lots more. There are reports of signs and wonders attesting to the reality that Jesus is alive on every continent including amongst atheists and in the Muslim world.

Jesus has got unfinished business. And he's been busy.

Response

You might never have done this before, or even thought about it, but I want to ask you give your life to the risen Christ today. I’m not inviting you to join a religion. God forbid! People have got enough problems already without religion adding to them. I'm talking about experiencing a new, living relationship with Jesus Christ.

Let me be clear about this. Religion says “If you do these churchy things instead of these bad things, God will love you.” That’s like a dad saying to his little daughter “If you do all these things on this list I want you to do, then I will be your daddy and I will love you.” So forget religion. The gospel says “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” That’s grace.

Will you give your heart to Christ this morning?

You might have done that a long time ago, and it was great. But maybe you’ve gone off the boil? Why don't recommit your life to him this morning?

Maybe you want to come to him with a request. You’re looking for guidance. You need healing. You crave peace. You’re out of a job. You could do with some encouragement. You need him to provide. You want a new start.

Jesus said “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

That’s why we pray for people in the chancel at the end of our services. Jesus is alive and that he's got unfinished business here. If you want to give your life to Christ, or recommit it again, or ask for healing or the baptism in the Spirit or for a spiritual breakthrough, I want to invite you to come to the front during the next block of sung worship and someone will pray with you.

Why do we ask people to leave their seats and come to the front? Because Jesus did.

To a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, Jesus never said “Lie down and keep taking the tablets.” He said, “Get up, take your mat and walk.”

To a man with a paralysed hand Jesus never said, “Stay seated, I don’t want to embarrass you.” He said “Stand up in front of everyone. Now stretch out your hand.”

To the parents of a convulsing boy he said “Bring your son here.”

To a woman who had been bent double for 18 years he said “Come forward.”

To a man who had the job of feeding 5,000 people he never said “Well this is obviously impossible.” He said “What have we got to work with here? Five loaves and a couple of fish? Well, all right, bring me what you’ve got.”

Listen, bring the little you have to Jesus and let him multiply it.

The head bandage was folded up neatly. He’s not in the tomb. He has unfinished business.

Let's stand to pray...

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 20th April 2014

The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31.31-34)

Introduction

Last Saturday, I conducted a wedding at Long Newton. The groom Kevin arrived early and looked nervous. The bride Lucy arrived late and looked lovely. And everyone else arrived on time and looked happy.

Towards the beginning of the ceremony, I asked the bride and groom if they would take one another as husband and wife, if they would love, honour, protect and cherish each other and, forsaking all others, be faithful to each other as long as they live. They each said “I will.”

They made vows. And those promises were legally binding. They committed Lucy and Kevin to stick with it for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sickness or in health until one of them dies.

And after the vows were said, their new marriage was symbolised by giving and receiving a ring. I said “these rings are a symbol of unending love to remind this man and this woman of the vow and covenant they have made this day.”

I say all this because the truth is that God marries those he loves. This is the language the Bible uses to describe how God relates to his people. He doesn’t say “Let’s just move in together and see if it works out.”

What would you think of God if he said “Do you know what? I’m tired of being God for these people. Forget the Church. I think I’m going to try out the Jehovah’s Witnesses instead.”

No, God loves enough to commit himself, whatever happens. He makes promises. He binds himself to his people. He says “I will.” He is always faithful and he calls you, his Church, the bride of Christ.

The Old Testament is basically the sad and sorry tale of marriage breakdown between God and Israel. They didn’t live happily ever after because, while God always kept his side of the covenant, they broke their vows again and again.

Romance usually starts out fine and dandy doesn’t it? There’s an old story about a young man and his fiancée – this was before the days of texting and Facebook and e-mail. Like Kathie and me, they used to write love letters to each other most days. The young man said, “Whenever I get a letter from you, I always kiss the back of the envelope before I open it because I love to think that your lips have touched it when you sealed it before putting it in the post.” Well, she blushed and smiled awkwardly. She said, “Actually, I moisten the flap on the dog’s nose!”

If I was ever to read our old love letters now I’d probably be embarrassed at the sentimental drivel we wrote to each other when we were 20 and courting. We’ve changed physically and emotionally over time. Having children changed us. We’ve developed new interests as we have got older.

Every married couple knows that no matter how sincere the “I will” on the wedding day, they need to work hard to keep the fire burning. If you don’t, love can lose its appeal and die down.

Fixing Something Broken

In Jeremiah 31, after centuries of a strained marriage between God and Israel, God says that he is going to do a new thing.

Let’s read those words again.

‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’

declares the Lord.
‘This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord.
‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’
declares the Lord.
‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’

God sums up about 1,800 years of Old Testament history here. He says; “They broke my covenant.” This is the old covenant.

He’s talking about the marriage he made with the Israelites who came out of Egypt in Moses’ day. God made fantastic promises towards his chosen people at that time. “I will bless you, I will make you a great nation, I will oppose you enemies, I will provide for you.”

Then he gave them the Ten Commandments to help them understand how to live happily ever after. He said, “If you do this, all will go well for you.”

You see just how much a covenant is like a marriage in verse 32 where God says, “I was a husband to them”.

Life a good husband, he always provided. He nourished and cherished his chosen people: manna in the desert and clothes, which didn’t wear out.

Life a good husband, he always protected. He defended them from their enemies, brought them into a pleasant land flowing with milk and honey.

But it wasn’t good enough for Israel and the marriage broke down.

So God says here “I’m going to renew my vows with you. I am going to make new promises to you” (though he had never broken the old ones) and here they are:

I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel (v31)

I will put my law in their minds (v33)

I will write it on their hearts (v33)
I will be their God and they will be my people (v33)
I will forgive their wickedness (v34)

I will remember their sins no more (v34)

And then, if as that were not enough, he makes it easier for his bride to keep her promises.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, “Yeah, but all this happened centuries ago. Why do we need to look at this now?” But it’s really important for two reasons.

Firstly, this passage shows us how God relates to you and me in 2014, because the new covenant, the Bible says, is an everlasting one. It lasts forever.

You buy a new fridge, even an ultra-reliable German one, and you’ll get a warranty that lasts two years. The best guarantee you can get on a computer is one year. Then you have to pay £70 to insure it for another 2 or 3 years. What’s the shelf-life of the new covenant? It is copper-bottomed to infinity and beyond. It will never be superseded. It will never be annulled. There are no add-ons. These are the terms and conditions of our relationship with God and always will be.

And secondly, this is important because it warns us of one of the biggest threats to our Christian lives today, which is going back to the old stuff, trying to be good enough to make God love us, coming under law which is obsolete, which doesn’t work and cannot give life.

If you had the choice of living in a brand new house with all mod cons or an old shack with lead paint, asbestos and poor insulation, which one would you choose?

If you had a choice between an old banger with broken windows and flat tyres or a new top of the range four-door saloon, road taxed with a full tank of petrol which would you take?

You don’t have to think too long. It’s a no-brainer. You’d take the new.

In v31, God says; “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant.” And in v32, he says that it won’t be like the old one.

The old covenant is about outward religion with its temples and altars and sacrifices and special priesthood and 613 laws to keep. That’s finished now and there’s no going back.

That’s your leaky shack with cockroaches and a busted flush. That’s your rusty Cortina with moss growing on the seats.

The new covenant is not about outward religion at all; it’s about inward reality. The old covenant is between God and one chosen people – Israel. The new covenant is between God and people from every tribe and nation (“all people from the least to the greatest” says v34).

In v33-34, God explains how the new one will be different from the old one. Not only different, but better.

In the new covenant, God reveals his purpose to us in a new way.

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”

Instead of, “Thou shalt not,” you have, “I will put”, “I will write” and “I will forgive.” God says he will write his law on hearts, not on stone tablets.

That means as we grow in our relationship with God, he gives us a desire to please him and do his will. When we wander into sin or get wrapped up in temporary, worldly stuff, we lose the flame of our first love for God and we feel a need in our hearts to get right with him again. It all happens in the heart.

In the new covenant, God is concerned with relationship. God doesn’t want to be in a dreary, loveless marriage.

When our children were young and I asked them to do something, like empty the bin or help with the washing up, it made all the difference if they responded cheerfully. When they grudgingly dragged their feet, rolling their eyes and doing just enough to technically complete the task, I could see their hearts weren’t in it. God says here I’m going to put this in their hearts.

But even though the new covenant is better, some people like the old one and keep returning to it.

Last week, Chris Hughton was sacked as manager of Norwich City Football Club. According to his win/defeat record this season, he was a failure. It wasn’t working. But when he was fired, some people came out and said, “Why are we appointing a new manager? Hughton is one of the nicest guys in football. He’s only been in the job a couple of years. Give him longer. He just needs more time and a few lucky breaks.”

This is exactly what happens with the new covenant. Some Christians want to stick to the old way of doing things even though it doesn’t work. Ritual and law keeping, instead of helping people to know God personally, become substitutes for knowing God personally.

God doesn’t want us to agonise about the fine print of the law as if we were trying to find our way round a train timetable to please him. No! It’s a matter of the heart.

You talk to some people about knowing God. They look at you with glazed eyes. “Oh, I don’t want all that...”

But v34 says, no that’s not right. “They will all know God from the least to the greatest.” Do you know God?

And v34 ends with these words; “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sin no more.”

I once heard a true story about an old lady who was miserable for years because she had done something terrible in her twenties. And one Sunday after a church service, she stayed behind and just cried and cried. Eventually, the pastor finished shaking hands with everyone at the door and went up to the lady and said, “Whatever is the matter?” She replied that she had done a terrible thing many years ago and had been asking God to forgive her ever since.

So the pastor said, “You poor thing, God forgave you the very first time you said you were sorry and meant it. He then forgot all about it. I’m afraid that all these years he doesn’t know what you’ve been talking about.”

He showed her this passage and the end of v34. It took a little while for it to sink in, but she ended up dancing for joy around the church.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament says, “the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”

Why all that blood in the Old Testament? It was to show the seriousness of sin. Romans 6.23 says “The wages of sin is… death.” Hebrews 9.22 says a similar thing. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.”

That blood not only showed how serious sin is - it also showed how enslaving sin is. Sacrifices had to be offered systematically, every day of every week of every year, without a break, according to the exact, prescribed method. What a bind.

But when Jesus said at the last supper, “This is the new covenant in my blood” he was saying that his one sacrifice of himself, once for all, dealt with all sins for all time.

Pathologists who have studied crucifixion have concluded that Jesus probably died from shock due to loss of blood and fluid, plus traumatic shock from his injuries, plus cardiogenic shock, causing his heart to pump weakly, then fail altogether.

Whatever the final cause of death, there is no question that it was truly excruciating. The important thing is this; he died for you.

And the very first thing that happened after Jesus died shows us that the new covenant had come into force. The temple curtain was ripped in two.

It was a huge, woven veil, 18 metres long by 9 metres wide. This ornately decorated blue curtain separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple. Behind the curtain was the symbolic dwelling place of God Most High among His people.

It was a place so hallowed, so sacred, so holy, that it could be entered only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. Only one man, the high priest, could enter, and then only for a few minutes. Having gone through prolonged cleansing himself and having confessed his own sin, this high priest would enter the Most Holy Place in order to sprinkle blood on the altar to atone for the sins of the people.

What’s it all about? Why was the curtain torn in two? It means “no more sacrifices.”

Not only do you not need to bring a goat to church, you don’t need to come to a priest to confess your sins and seek absolution. The Bible says that there is one God, and one mediator between him and us, and that’s Jesus.

The way to God is open and always will be. No more sacrifices, no more mediators, no more separation.

Ending

Has it all become a bit stale lately like a marriage going through the motions? Do you feel you need to come back to God again and make a fresh start, like a couple renewing marriage vows?

Are you plodding through your Christian life grudgingly? Do you need to let your worship come back to the heart. Do you need to taste again and see that the Lord is good?

Are you carrying a heavy burden you need to put down? Do you need to receive forgiveness from God and let go of past sin? Do you need to release forgiveness to someone else so you can be free from the prison of bitterness?

Come with faith, and spiritual need. Come if you are tired or sick or discouraged, or hungry. Come if you are a sinner, come if you are thirsty, come if you don’t deserve to. There is no RSVP. Just come.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 13th April 2014

Making Love Last (1 Corinthians 13.1-8)

A Wedding Talk

Here’s what the Bible says about love.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. 

Well, Lucy and Kevin many congratulations. We are all so happy for you and wish you both well in your new life together as husband and wife.

I say “Congratulations” but I remember very well people saying that to me on May 28th 1983 at our wedding reception and I said, “Yeah but we haven’t done anything yet. Congratulate us in 20 years’ time.”

People change over time don’t they?

We change physically. Did you know that since I started this talk, about a million cells in your body have died and been replaced by new cells. The truth is our bodies are getting older, tireder, greyer, wrinklier, achier and for some of us balder every day. And as we get older we tend to become less physically attractive. Warning, this talk is intended to depress everyone!

Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, now aged 70, was interviewed on a TV chat show some years ago and was talking about how he keeps going at his age. He described the creases on his face as “laugh lines.” The interviewer just smiled and said, “Oh come on, nothing’s that funny”!

So we change physically. We change emotionally. Children change us. We develop new interests as we get older.

They say that women are like wine, they mature with age. Men are like milk… Yes, some do go sour but listen; milk can be turned into a delicious cheese that goes wonderfully well with good wine.

I was thinking the other day about the way Kathie and I have changed since we got married.

We were going out together before the days of e-mail and Facebook and WhatsApp and mobile phones. So we wrote love letters to one another.

There’s an old story about a young man and his fiancée. Like Kathie and me, they used to write love letters to each other every day. The young man said, “Whenever I get a letter from you, I always kiss the back of the envelope before I open it because I love to think that your lips have touched it when you sealed it before putting it in the post.” Well, she blushed and felt terribly awkward. She said, “Actually, I moisten the flap on the dog’s nose!”

If I ever read our old love letters now I’d be embarrassed at the sentimental drivel we wrote to each other when we were in our teens. But I loved her and she loved me and we still love each other but we’ve totally changed. That’s what the Bible means when it says “Love keeps going to the end. Love never dies.” 

Anyway, I asked myself this week “What are the top three things we have learned about making love last in marriage?”

And, other couples who have kept it together for a long time might have their own recipe for happiness but for what it’s worth, here’s our top 3.

Number One: learn how your husband or wife feels love.

There’s a psychologist called Gary Chapman who has worked out that there are different ways that husbands or wives like to give and receive love. He reckons that basically there are five ways. He calls it the five love languages.

So here they are… See if you can work out what your love language is.

Some people feel most loved when their spouse spends quality time with them. It doesn’t have to be anything special; it can just be a walk in the park for an hour together. It can be simple and inexpensive. Making time for each other is the way some people feel most loved.

Others feel most loved by kind, practical actions. To find the bins taken out the ironing done for you or a cake made for you - especially without asking - is for some people they way they really feel loved.

Others are much more tactile. They need lots of physical affection; holding hands and kissing and stroking hair and gently brushing as you walk past each other and giving a back massage – those who feel most loved by touch can feel really rejected if their partner is more reserved.

Others feel most loved by spontaneous gifts. They feel special when they are given flowers or a set of spanners or whatever they particularly like to receive. Some prefer frivolous presents, others prefer practical presents – but if this is your love language a gift-wrapped surprise makes you feel special.

And the last of the five is loving words. The Bible says “Pleasant words are a honeycomb; sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Some people feel especially affirmed by loving words. “You look lovely this morning.” “Thank you for cleaning the bathroom.” “I’m so proud of you.” “You’re the best husband or wife I could ever have.”

I wonder if you’ve identified which is your love language as I’ve gone through the list. And I wonder if you’ve worked out which is your partner’s love language. I hope you’ll study the ways your new wife and your new husband most like to receive love.

Number two: develop the art of listening.

Many, if not most, problems in marriage start when the communication goes wrong.

Here’s what we’ve found, see if you can relate to this. If Kathie wants to say something to me while the TV is on or when I’m reading, she’ll get frustrated because I just naturally block everything else out so she has to stand two feet in front of me and wave a hand in front of my eyes to alert to the fact that she is actually trying to speak to me.

Sometimes Kathie might be talking about something that bothers her. When that happens, I always want to fix the problem. I say “Maybe you should do this” or “Have you thought about that?” But she doesn’t want a solution. Her real need is that she wants to be heard.

In marriage, listening carefully to one another, giving our full attention, without interrupting, is a powerful way of showing how much we value each other.

Number three: always put each other first.

God’s love is the kind of love that puts others first. The Bible says “Love isn’t always ‘me first’.” Let me tell you a true story.

Canoeing became an Olympic sport at the Games in Paris in 1924. The favourites for the four-man canoe race were the team from the USA. One member of that team was a man called Bill Havens.

As the Olympics approached, it became clear that Bill's wife would give birth to their first child near the time he would be competing. In 1924 there were no commercial airliners between Europe and the USA, only ships. And so Bill had a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife's side when their first child was born? Or should he withdraw from the team?

His wife said he should go. After all, he had been working towards this for all these years. It was his dream. But Bill decided to stay at home with his wife so he could be with her for the birth.

Well, the United States four-man canoe team did win the gold medal in Paris. And the birth was late. It was so late that Bill could have competed and returned home in time. People said, "What a shame." But Bill had no regrets. He said “My wife comes first.” The baby was a boy, and they called him Frank.

Twenty-eight years later, Bill received a telegram. It was sent from Helsinki, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The telegram was from his son Frank and this is what it said. "Dad, I won. I'm bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born."

Frank Havens had just won gold for the USA in the canoe-racing event, a medal his father had dreamed of winning but never did – because he put his wife first.

Love each other so deeply that you put each other first.

Love each other so intently that you become great listeners and always feel understood.

Love each other so expertly that you become an authority on how your spouse most feels loved.

And may God, in his goodness, give you grace to do that.

Sermon preached at Lucy and Kevin's wedding, Saint Mary's Long Newton, 5th April 2014