Vision: The Harvest is Plentiful (Psalm 67.1-7 and Matthew 9.35-38)

Introduction

About twice a year I cut the vicarage hedge. This autumn I’m doing it in three sections. After each one, I need a good lie down and the next morning I ache all over. Henry Mitchell once said “Almost any garden, if you see it at just the right moment, can be confused with paradise.” Not mine, Henry! Or maybe I just keep seeing mine at the wrong moment.

But some people absolutely love gardening - especially those who have allotments. The entrance to Preston Park allotments is right by our front gate so we see dozens of keen gardeners going there every week. These people can talk for England about potato blight, pruning, planting, protective polytunnels and picking plums. They get untold pleasure showing off tomatoes the size of tennis balls and pumpkins the size of space hoppers.

Most of us though, have nothing really to do from the actual production of the food we eat. We might hear on the radio that the price bread is going up because of an unusually severe winter in the American Midwest – but that’s about it. So the whole idea of harvest, for many of us, just doesn’t press our buttons in the way it does for those who live off the land or who spend their recreation time on it.

 

A Harvest of Food

But in an agricultural economy, like in Bible times, harvest is the most important time of the year. The three major Jewish feasts centre on the three harvest seasons in the Middle East. The Passover in April is when barley is harvested. Pentecost (about 7 weeks later) celebrates the wheat harvest. And the feast of Tabernacles (late September or early October) occurs at the time of the fruit harvest.

In the Bible the harvest was a time of reckoning, the moment of truth. If the grain, oil and wine were abundant then the nation would reap with joy, and the people would prosper and be secure. But if the yield was poor the nation would go through a downturn, much as we are in the UK today. Everyone would have to tighten their belt and watch the pennies for that year. And if the harvest failed for several years in a row the nation would plunge into prolonged and serious recession. The only reaper people would talk about then would be the grim reaper. Bad harvests were a threat to health, life, and a nation’s survival.

We tend to just accept good yields and bad yields as something of a lottery. If it’s good, fine. If it’s bad, never mind. But for the people of God, in a covenant relationship with him, the harvest was like a divine speech on the state of the nation.

Our Psalm is a celebration song for good harvests. it says:

The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. 
May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

But even if harvest might feel for some of us like a bit of a curiosity it is a really important time for us because it is the one time in the year when we set aside everything else and simply say “Thank you.” Thank you Lord for your plentiful provision, for all you pour out on us, for the abundance of your blessing, your mercies and your kindness.”

Good parents teach their children to say thank you. Sometimes it was easier to get mine to recite the works of Shakespeare than train them to say please and thank you, but they all got there in the end. God, who is our heavenly Father, wants to teach us to say thank you as well.

Why are we sometimes so slow to give thanks to God? Do you remember when Jesus healed ten lepers and only one came back to thank Jesus? Nine didn’t. Why did only one return to say thank you? Here are nine possible reasons:

One waited to see if the cure was real.
One decided that he had probably never had leprosy in the first place.
One said he would see Jesus about it later.
One said he probably would have got better anyway.
One gave all the credit to the priests who pronounced him cured.
One said, "Oh, well, Jesus didn't really do anything."
One felt tired from all the emotion so he made an excuse and went home.
One said, "To be honest, I think I was already much improved."
And one just had so much else to do - so it slipped his mind.

Lord, make us a grateful people! Here’s a prayer I came across this week:

· I clutch my blanket and groan when the alarm clock rings, but thank you, Lord, that I can hear.

· I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible, but thank you, Lord, that I can see.

· The first hour of my day is chaotic, I can’t find my socks, the toast is burned, tempers are short, the bathroom’s still locked and the children are so loud but thank you, Lord, for my family.

· The breakfast table never looks like a hotel buffet or those pictures in magazines but thank you, Lord, for the food we have to eat.

· The routine of my job is monotonous and my colleagues are a nightmare (it’s not me who wrote the prayer!) but, thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work.

· When I wish my life was different to what it is, thank you, Lord, for life itself.

A Harvest of Souls

So that’s why we celebrate harvest; to say thanks to God for his amazing provision.

But the Bible talks about another kind of harvest and whenever Jesus spoke this word he used it figuratively. Here’s what he says in Matthew 9.35-38.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Gardeners, allotment tenants and farmers look into the mud at slug pellets hoping to get some decent looking spuds in a few months’ time.

But Jesus looks up at vast crowds of precious people expecting that the destinies of thousands will be transformed for all eternity.

I like runner beans and courgettes – and I thank God for them, especially at lunchtime - but Jesus has a bigger vision. It’s just food. Jesus said “I have food that you know nothing about.” And it’s interesting what Jesus says he is looking for.

Think about how many people you know who are spiritually curious. Who are motivated to seek the kingdom of God. It’s not that many is it? So we might expect Jesus to say “The harvest is scarce. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send rain onto his field.”

But the harvest is not scarce, according to Jesus. It’s plentiful. From Jesus perspective, there’s been plenty of rain, the soil is fertile, the sun has shone, there have been few pests and right now the fields are white for harvest.

I went up and down Lime Road and Myrtle Road on Wednesday meeting people and giving them Alpha invitations. About a quarter were out. But in two hours I had three really good conversations about the Lord with genuinely interested people. That’s secular, post-Christian Britain. That’s just two roads. The harvest is plentiful.

One person I met was in a right state because she had just heard some traumatic news on the phone the moment I arrived. So we got talking and she shared with me the trouble she was in. I said “would you like me to pray with you right now?” She said “Oh, yes please.” So right there and then I just asked the Holy Spirit to move and I prayed into the situation as best I could, and I watched her calm down and just… settle.

When Jesus saw the crowds, that’s what he saw. They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. That’s why he had compassion on them.

· So many people just don’t know where they’re going in life. They need a shepherd to lead them.

· So many people are exhausted from looking in vain for meaning in their lives. They need a shepherd who will take them to a place of restful pasture.

· So many people are fearful of the shadow of death. They need a shepherd to protect them.

· So many people are broken hearted and hurt. They need a shepherd to bind up their wounds.

· So many people are lonely and lost. They need a shepherd to call them by name.

So Jesus says “The harvest is plentiful. The problem is that the workers are few. So ask God to send out workers into his harvest field.”

What this means is that intercessory prayer is the means of attaining a goal that will certainly be reached. We pray that God will send out workers and that the harvest will be reaped not because the outcome is uncertain if we don’t pray, but because God has appointed prayer as the means by which the world will be reached for Christ.

A Harvest of Righteousness

The Bible also speaks of a third kind of harvest. Galatians 6.7-8 (in the Message version) says:

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others -ignoring God! - harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

God is looking for a harvest in your life and only you can determine the outcome. Basically God is saying here that you will get out of life exactly what you put into it. But if you always do what you've always done - you'll always get what you've always got.

On the allotment, if you plant cucumbers you’ll never get beetroot. And thank God for that!

If you sow responsiveness to God, if you are open to his work in your heart, he will bring about a harvest of blessing in your life. He will mould every aspect of your character into the likeness of Christ, he will increase your generosity, he will multiply your joy, and deepen your faith. And the opposite is true.

Ending

Finally this thought: who blesses the earth to give the harvest of crops? Answer; God does. Who blesses the work of evangelisation to give the harvest of souls? God does. And who blesses your life to produce a harvest of righteousness? Once again, God does.

In each case God is the Lord of the harvest. But in each case God’s blessing is dependent on what we plant.

Just as you’re never going to get a harvest without first ploughing the earth, sowing seed and watering the ground, you’ll never see God move significantly in changing hearts and lives without an investment of prayer. You just won’t.

And just as you’ll only see God move significantly in changing hearts and lives by praying for it, God's Spirit only brings about growth and health in your spirit if you open your heart to God and love him with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19th September 2010

Vision: Leading our Parish to Christ (Acts 16.16-34)

Introduction

Six Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's basement when Paddy Murphy loses £500 on a single hand. He clutches his chest and dies of shock. O'Connor looks around and says, "Someone’s got to tell Paddy's wife." They draw straws and Fergal Riordan picks the shortest. So over he goes to Murphy's and knocks on the door. Mrs. Murphy answers and asks what he wants. Riordan says: "Paddy just lost £500 and is afraid to come home." "Tell him to drop dead!" says Murphy's wife. "OK, I'll go and tell him" says Riordan.

And the moral of the story? Words can be life giving or life sapping. And life can be short. In a week where international leaders have talked about a threat to world peace as a result of the ill-considered words and actions of one man in Florida I do not need to convince you how urgent it is for us as Christians to speak words and take actions that bring life.

Our mission statement says, amongst other things, that this church exists to share the good news of Jesus. We didn’t just make that up. We didn’t just pick that idea out of thin air and say to ourselves, “that would be nice.” It is our obedient response to the mandate Christ has given to his church “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16.15).

I think there are four things that God wants us to grasp this morning about what you might expect when you communicate the good news about Jesus to people. And it all comes from our reading in Acts. In this chapter (16) Paul, Timothy, Silas and Luke, have arrived in Philippi which is significant. It was the very first time the good news about Jesus had been heard in Europe. This was breaking new ground. This was an incursion of the gospel into completely new territory. And as we break new ground by reconnecting with our parish there are four things I believe God wants to say.

1) Expect Spiritual Resistance (v16-18)

Number one: whenever the gospel advances you always get spiritual resistance. So expect it. Spiritual warfare is real. Bishop Tom in his book on Acts talks about “strange spiritual forces which seem to be stirred up by a new gospel work.” If you intentionally set out to talk to people about a relationship with God through Jesus, about how the human heart needs to be changed by grace, you will be spiritually opposed. In v16-18 Paul, Timothy, Silas and Luke attract the attention of a demon possessed woman. Notice two things here.

Firstly they were going to the place of prayer. (You find exactly the same phrase in v13 by the way). That tells you something about their priorities as they set about telling Philippi about Jesus. Without continuous prayer, all Christian ministry is ineffective. “When I work, I work. When I pray… God works.”

Secondly, notice carefully that it says “we were met by a female slave who had a spirit.” Not “we met” but “we were met by…” The sense is that she made a bee line for them and began to harass them. Some people find it strange that this woman, influenced by an occult spirit, was basically telling everyone the truth about Paul and his team. Why would she want to do that? That’s not the point. The point is that she spent days, we’re told, shouting around these men. She must have come across as a bit of a nutter. Paul got cross in v18 for one very good reason. She was really annoying. She was odd.

People are never attracted to weirdness and eccentricity. When you see a loud religious weirdo in the street making a commotion do you think to yourself, “Ah, this looks interesting, I think I’ll go up to him and see what he’s got to say.”? No. If you’re like me you cringe and cross the road. She was scaring away his audience. So they dealt with the situation spiritually, taking authority in the name of Jesus.

Spiritual opposition to the gospel is absolutely real and it comes in many different forms. Unwelcome publicity is one. More common are doubts, temptations, discouragement, sudden lack of assurance, fears… We’ve had our fair share this week. On Monday, the first invitations to Alpha were delivered. I was expecting something to happen – and, right on time, the next day it did. My church e-mail was hacked into and the church Facebook group page was hijacked. As of this morning neither is working which is inconvenient and time consuming. Coincidence? This sort of coincidence always seems to occur in times of spiritual advance.

“Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood… (We’re not against people however annoying, bothersome or dangerous they are. We love our enemies and we pray for those who hate us). No, our struggle is against the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Smith Wigglesworth once said “Great faith comes only from great fights, great testimonies come only from great tests, and great triumphs come only from great trials.”

So don’t be surprised when there is spiritual resistance and associated trouble when the church shares the good news of Jesus. It’s a nuisance but Jesus is bigger, stronger and mightier. If we stand in his authority we share in his ultimate victory.

2) Expect Impossible Odds (v19-24)

Secondly, there are times, living as a Christian, and especially when you tell others about Jesus, when it seems you face an overwhelming challenge and everything is hopeless.

That’s what I might feel like if I was dragged into a public square, falsely accused of a crime, attacked by a vigilante mob, stripped to my underwear, beaten with sticks and thrown into a secure cell with my feet in stocks.

What did Paul and Silas say to each other in that cell? Silas to Paul: “That’s the last time I go on one of these Oak Hall Christian holidays to Greece!” Paul to Silas: “Really? I think that went quite well.”

Hudson Taylor arrived in Shanghai in March 1854. The voyage from England took five months and he narrowly avoided shipwreck. When he finally got to China there was a civil war. He was usually badly received by the people, often leading to a public disturbance. Wherever he went he was referred to as a devil because of the coat he wore. Three of his children died in infancy. His wife died of cholera in her thirties. Their mission premises were attacked, looted and burned during the Yangzhou riot. I could go on...

Hudson Taylor once said, “In any work for God there are three stages. First it is impossible, then it is difficult, and then it is done.”

Despite the impossible situations he found himself in, in his lifetime he was responsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to China who opened 125 schools. Under his ministry there were 18,000 conversions to Christ in all eighteen provinces of that land. Any work for God, is impossible, then difficult, then done. So expect things to be humanly impossible from time to time. It’s why we worship Christ – because nothing is impossible for him and if we are in him – everything is possible for us.

3) Expect Praise to Change the Spiritual Atmosphere (v25-29)

Thirdly, the greatest secret of turning a setback into a comeback is praise.

In v25, in the middle of the night, at the darkest hour, at the lowest ebb Paul and Silas were lifting sung praise to God. With keyboard accompaniment or hymn book /data projector or worship band. It was praise from an overflowing and grateful soul, it was a spontaneous eruption of heartfelt worship.

This is a biblical imperative for us. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5.18).

In all circumstances! Praise God even when your employment contract expires. Praise God even when your bank account is empty. Praise God even when a project fails, when a colleague lets you down, when your heart is troubled… enter into the courts of praise and worship God in spirit and in truth. Bow down before his great majesty and watch your setback become a comeback.

“Christ is supreme in every admirable way over everything: over galaxies and endless reaches of space; over the earth from the summit of Mount Everest 29,000 feet up, to the bottom of the Mariana Trench 36,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean. If there is anything worthy of praise anywhere in the universe, it is summed up supremely in Jesus Christ.”

4) Expect the Gospel to Change Lives (v27-34)

Fourthly, expect the gospel to change lives. There is no power on earth like the power of grace. By grace a despairing prison officer on the verge of suicide in v27 becomes a converted father of a Christian family in v34. In v29 he is trembling with fear and in total anguish. By v34 he is the father of a happy, harmonious and hospitable home and he is so full of joy. That’s what the gospel does. That’s why it’s good news.

It is good news. Let me tell you something. I don’t just preach it; I really believe the saving message of Jesus Christ. I honestly think that every person I know outside the family of faith would live a vastly better, more fulfilled, life if God’s grace and redemption were operating in their hearts.

That’s why our ambition is that every household in our parish should know that we are a vibrant Christian community ready to invite them to encounter Jesus Christ. It’s not like we want to go around adding religious burdens on people. That’s bad news. I’m not interested in religion, we’re about Jesus, the one they called a friend of sinners.

And notice how simple the gospel is. Bishop Tom’s translation of v30: “Gentlemen, can you please tell me how I can get out of this mess?”

It doesn’t say “Paul told him to get in touch with his inner spiritual self.” Or “You need to commit yourself to a life of prayer and good works.” He says “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

In v14 it says “the Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to believe.” Here, in v34 it says that the jailer “had come to believe.” Faith is a gift of God and it’s his work. You don’t have to push it or force it; God graciously gives faith to some when they hear the good news about Jesus.

It’s about putting your trust in the sufficiency of Christ to salvage the old you and make you new again. Jesus has turned me round and cleaned me up. He’s set me right again and given me a new heart. If anyone says “Lord, I want you to do that for me, I’m sorry for the old me, please give me a new heart,” he will and there’s a party in heaven every time it happens.

Ending

About a year after Kathie and I got married, we had a young student to stay with us for a few months. She was the first person I had a hand in leading to faith in Christ. The day she told us near the end of her stay “I’ve given my life to Christ and I’m so, so happy!” we just overflowed with joy. Seeing someone make a new start with Jesus is one of the greatest thrills of being a Christian. Several of our young people made that step this summer. I just delighted in seeing the happiness and satisfaction and pleasure on the faces of their leaders.

I believe over the next four years God wants to release that to us over and over again as we see men, women and children come to believe in God and trust in Christ.

Let’s pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 11th September 2010

Vision: Praying for our Parish (Acts 12.1-12)

Introduction

You might think I’m exaggerating but the story I am about to tell you is absolutely true. When Kathie worked for the British Consulate in Paris, she once had to calm down a man who had left his briefcase on a train. Thankfully the man’s details were marked on a label attached to the briefcase and it turned up, unopened, several hours later. Only then did Kathie see why the man had been so distressed about losing his luggage. He opened it up in front of the Consulate staff and it was chock full of banknotes! It’s one thing for a Civil Servant to lose a computer disk with sensitive or confidential files. But just absently leaving a briefcase full of cash on a train beggars belief doesn’t it? It was a surreal moment and people would be forgiven for thinking I’ve just made it up. I haven’t.

Today’s reading from Acts 12 might also leave you scratching your head. It has a similar “did that really happen?” feel to it. Just compare the situation at the beginning of the chapter to the one where we left off and you’re left with a major incident demanding a public inquiry. Either it’s incompetence on a Keystone Cops scale or it’s a fluke with incredible odds - an extraordinary escape from a heavily guarded jail which occurs at the very moment Christians are praying. If it’s neither clumsiness nor coincidence it’s a miracle.

The Background (v1-3)

Let’s look a little closer. Verses 1-3 give you some background. “It was about this time” we’re told “that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.”

It is the year 44 A.D. King Herod Agrippa - this is not the Herod you hear about at Christmas but actually his grandson - Herod had already had James beheaded which went down well with the Jews. Why? Because, at that time, they were feeling threatened. Synagogues were emptying and churches were growing. The successful spread of the Gospel was putting the future of Judaism in peril.

Herod was a puppet king, backed by Rome. If there was civil unrest on his watch the Romans would just get rid of him and impose direct rule. So Herod had to keep the Jews on his side. He could have just put taxes down. Always popular… but that would have meant cutbacks on his own extravagant lifestyle.

A much cheaper way to keep the Jews happy was to execute a public enemy. That’s why he ordered the trophy arrest of Simon Peter and he chose the week following the Passover to do it because the place was packed with Jewish people at that time. It was a golden opportunity to seize a leading Christian and behead him, thus bumping up his popularity rating and consolidating his power base. It seems Herod knew about Peter’s previous escape in Acts 5.19, so just to make sure lightning didn’t strike twice security was stepped up.

Impossible Odds (v4-6)

The list of security measures in v4-6 is to help us understand this; that escape was against overwhelming odds. It was Mission: Impossible. For a start, Peter wasn’t even awake so any credit for the breakout was nothing to do with him. Secondly, he was situated between two guards, so any movement he made he was an arm’s length from being pulled back. Thirdly, he was shackled to each of them by a length of iron chain. Fourthly, his cell was locked shut. Fifthly, there were additional sentries stationed outside the cell, just in case. And sixthly, there was the small matter of the outer prison wall.

Verse 4 says that Herod had Peter secured by four squads of soldiers. The four sets of guards would have each consisted of four men each, making 16, and they would have rotated their watch every few hours around the clock. Herod made sure that there was no possible way that Peter would get away this time.

I think we can conclude that it was a hopeless outlook for Peter. Death by decapitation was a few days away and even Houdini and the cast of Prison Break would be hard pushed to get out of this one.

The Escape (v7-11)

But v7-11 explain, step by step, how the power of God breaks into the realm of the impossible and unlocks every door. We know that nothing is impossible for God. The love he proved by enduring the cross can melt the heart of the most hardened criminal. His voice stills the most violent storm. His power heals the deadliest disease. His authority brings down the most evil regimes. “His blood can make the foulest clean.”

Jeremiah 32.17 says “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you… Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds… You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day.”

Yes, he has! A couple of years ago, I read Brother Yun’s book, “The Heavenly Man.” Yun is a Christian from China who spent years hunted down, beaten and locked up for his faith. After serving many years of a long custodial sentence, he broke out of Zhengzhou Maximum Security prison, from which nobody had previously escaped. He describes in the book how he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit telling him to simply walk out of the heavily guarded series of prison gates. Risking being shot on the spot, he walked, heart pounding, straight past many prison guards, through several iron gates that were inexplicably standing open. He walked across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate.

Yun says that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him. Many have naturally expressed doubts that any such a thing could have occured, but records show that some prison guards did lose their jobs for an ‘embarrassing mishap’ at that time. The book says that an official investigation by the Chinese Government concluded that “Yun received no human help in his escape.” Yun’s testimony has been also confirmed by numerous inmates who were detained at that time. To this day, Brother Yun is the only person to ever have escaped from this notorious maximum security jail.

It’s a remarkable account and, like this one in Acts 12, it bears the hallmarks of a factual report. In Acts, there is no attempt to build Peter up as a kind of mythical hero which a propaganda story might do. The way Peter is unceremoniously woken up in v7 with a thump in the ribs is rather unflattering. The account of what the angel said to do in v8 is incidental. In other words it appears that is only there because someone remembered things happening that way. In v9 Peter is again portrayed as a dithering antihero – clueless and half asleep, not a superman who singlehandedly overcame the mighty Roman Empire. Verse 10 looks very similar to what Brother Yun experienced in China, walking through doors that open in front of him one by one. It isn’t until v11 that Peter realizes he isn’t dreaming. Again, a detail that has a ring of authenticity about it.

I think it’s worth saying too that the New Testament is honest about other men who weren’t released and who died in prison. Both John the Baptist and James were executed and it says so here. If every imprisonment resulted in a miraculous release it might look artificial, but there is no attempt to hide the fact that some believers died in prison and were not miraculously released.

For all those reasons I take this as a factual, trustworthy and true account of what happened that night. Nothing is impossible with God.

Whatever pain you carry, whatever hardship you bear, whatever despair you face, whatever suffering you endure, know this; God is able.

And I want to say this, at the beginning of our four year vision that every household in our parish will know that we are a vibrant Christian community ready to
. pray for them
. serve them practically and
. invite them to encounter Jesus Christ…

…that God is able… especially when Christians pray - which is what I want to turn to now.

When Christians Pray (v12)

It is our goal that every household in our parish will know that we are a vibrant Christian community ready to pray for them.

While an angel was escorting a half-asleep prisoner out of jail, Christians, we’re told, were praying “fervently.” What do you think praying fervently looks like?

The Greek adverb translated “fervently” is in fact a medical term which was used to describe the stretching of a muscle to its extreme limits. This was prayer stretched as far as it could go. The same word is used in Luke 22:44 for the way Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke writes, “Being in anguish, [Jesus] prayed more earnestly, (there’s the word again - fervently) and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

The believers in Acts 12 were praying like Jesus prayed; fervently, passionately, wholeheartedly, energetically. When they prayed the answer was “yes” and that’s why Peter was released. When Jesus prayed the answer was “no” and that’s why we’re here today, because Jesus drank the cup of suffering that God did not take away, he went to the cross, he died so that sin can be taken away, and then he rose again. In both cases that stretched praying led to great release; release from jail and release from sin.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray - I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Fervent prayer... Do you want to pray like Jesus prayed? It doesn’t even mean you need great faith. Did these Christians have super strong faith? No! When Peter actually turned up they didn’t believe it was him and kept on praying!

Clearly, they were not expecting their prayer to be answered – at least any time soon. But even with a little faith, God is a great God, and when there is fervent prayer he moves.

Ending

I feel that God spoke to me when I was on holiday over the summer. I was reading a book called “Just Walk Across the Room” about which you’ll be hearing more next year. Near the end of the book the author Bill Hybels says this, and it’s such a salutary word for extraverts like me who work long hours and find it hard to slow down or switch off. Here’s what it said: “When I work, I work. When I pray, God works.” Slide 6

Pray for your neighbours. Pray at work. Pray with your children. If you live outside the parish pray for the streets as you drive through it. Pray in home groups. Pray when you can’t get to sleep at night. Pray in triplets. Pray at prayer breakfast. Pray as couples. Pray with friends. There’s no short cut to seeing God move in power – you’ve got to pray fervently or he just won’t.

Do you remember in Acts 18 when God spoke to Paul in a vision? “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

I feel the Lord would say to us this morning, “Don’t be afraid; keep praying, do not be silent. I am with you because I have many people in this parish.” Do you feel God is stirring you to pray?

This month all our evening services are going to be a space for fervent prayer for our parish as we prepare to invite every household to come to Alpha. Next month in our morning services we’re going to try and get a grip on prayer, looking at how Abraham, Moses, Isaiah and other biblical heroes prayed. If we’re going to be a powerhouse of prayer we’ve got to start by being a school of prayer.

This area is where the Lord has placed you and he has placed you here for a purpose. It is no accident that you are here at this time. God said to the exiles through Jeremiah, “Increase in number there; do not decrease. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you... Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29.7).

Let’s pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 4th September 2010

How to be a Peacemaker (1 Samuel 25.2-44)

Introduction

In 2004 a survey was conducted on civility and manners. Over 2,000 people were interviewed and the study was called “Aggravating Circumstances: A Status Report on Rudeness.”

The survey found that 8 in 10 think a lack of respect and courtesy is a serious problem. 6 in 10 said that things have become worse in recent years. More than a third (35%) admitted to being aggressive drivers.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said they’ve often seen customers treat shop staff rudely and 46% also claimed they have walked out of a store because of the way staff treated them. Nearly everyone surveyed (94%) agreed that the biggest complaint is to “call a company and get a recording instead of a human being” and 77% hold the view that telemarketing is “rude and pushy.”

What do you do when you have a persistently noisy neighbour? What is the Christian response to a rude and unpleasant shop assistant? How do you move forward when you have been offended by a fellow church member? How do you speak to the inconsiderate person in front of you on the plane who reclines their seat over your lap? How should we interact with inconsiderate drivers? Or (this happened to me recently) how do you reply to a letter or e-mail that slags you off in no uncertain terms for something you know absolutely nothing about? I think this morning’s story from the Old Testament gives us some clues.

Abigail And Nabal

We’ve been following the life of David, a man who stood out from the rest in his generation because he had a heart for God and today we come to the episode with Nabal and Abigail.

Basically, the story is this: Abigail (a beautiful and intelligent woman) is married to Nabal (a rude and bad-tempered man). She’s the brains, he’s the brawn. She’s the beauty, he’s the beast. What was a sharp-witted and attractive woman like her doing with a dimwit loser like him? People look at Kathie Lambert and ask the same thing.

No doubt Abigail made his money grow and kept him from getting into the kind of trouble he would naturally attract. By the time we get to meet them in 1 Samuel 25, no doubt due to her good business sense, they own vast numbers of sheep and goats. They are therefore considerably wealthy.

Of course, in those days, livestock grazing on open land were easy pickings for poachers and bandits. But the fugitive outlaw David and his band of 600 merry men made sure that no harm came to them.

So when the holidays come round David sends a handful of guys to see Nabal. It might seem at first glance that this is a little protection racket but is David extorting money in return for a promise to not beat Nabal up? No. It’s a bit more like the dustmen at Christmas. He is respectfully asking for a tip in return for a valuable service rendered.

So David’s men cheerfully say “Hey Nabal, so glad to see your livestock business is thriving so well. You’ve had a really good year; not one lamb or goat has been poached, not one shepherd from your workforce has been attacked by bandits. And you know why? Thanks to us crime has been reduced to an all-time low round here. We’ve been keeping an eye on your men and your herds round the clock. So if you can spare a little of what you don’t need during this season of goodwill we would much appreciate it.”

The customs we have in the West are so different to those in David’s world. The code of hospitality demanded that travellers be received with honour and properly fed. In middle-eastern countries today it is still the same. People are honour bound to feed a travelling stranger even if it means their children missing out on their dinner. We find this strange in our culture but that’s the way it is in the Middle East. In any case Nabal was extremely wealthy and could easily have afforded to.

But he keeps them waiting and then basically says “David who? Who is this guy and who does he take me for? I didn’t get where I am today by throwing my hard-earned meat at every scrounging Tom, Dick and Harry. Now clear off.”

David wasn’t expecting something for nothing. This wasn’t handouts for idle dossers. Because David and his men had been protecting Nabal’s workforce they had directly contributed to his wealth and prosperity.

Word gets back to David and when he hears about it his indignation rises up. He has been offended, humiliated, shabbily treated. And David, this man who grew up as the runt of the family, who was always talked down to by his brothers, this wholehearted but insecure young man who defeats Goliath but still finds himself hunted down like a dog by his own king – he loses it. “Get your weapons, who’s coming with me?” 400 guys say, “I’ll go.”

Well, someone raises the alarm and word gets through to Abigail that David is seriously ticked off. She isn’t stupid and she immediately measures the seriousness of the situation. It’s bad. She is going to have to do something quickly.

Put yourself in Abigail’s shoes. How does she feel about this? Her idiot husband has just brought upon her household a major crisis through his rudeness and now she has 400 armed men heading her way.

Writing angry e-mails, shouting people down in an argument, calling people names never tidy up a mess. How do I know? How do you think I know? This is another painful lesson I have learned from the school of experience, whose colours are black and blue. Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers.

On 17th September 1985 an article appeared in a newspaper under the headline Wedded Blitz. “Two starry-eyed newlyweds walked hand in hand to their reception and stormed out of the party an hour later determined to divorce.” Daniel and Susan Stockwell had barely arrived at the reception before they had a furious argument that apparently started when the bride noticed the groom talking to an ex-girlfriend. ‘I must have been mad to go through with it!’ said the groom. ‘I'm better off without her.’”

I think that must set some kind of record. I don’t know if anyone helped them sort it out afterwards, I hope so. That’s an extreme example of relationships ending but it shows this: if a newlywed husband and wife can bust up hours after promising to be faithful until death – any human relationship can suffer strain and breakdown. How we need peacemakers.

How To Make Peace

Abigail was a peacemaker. She understood that rudeness and discourtesy always inflame a situation. However good it makes you feel to let off steam and have a right old go at someone it always makes things even worse. And she understood that you can’t let a toxic situation linger, it is urgent to change the atmosphere.

She acts decisively and in no time at all she rustles up the kind of generous gift her shiftless husband should have graciously offered. She sends the whole lot on ahead - presumably so she can change out of her kitchen clothes and put her makeup on - and because she is a brilliant organiser used to multitasking she has everything done and sorted in time to meet David and his delegation half way.

Interestingly the Bible doesn’t say that Abigail prayed – at all. It would be nice and easy for me if the Bible said “So Abigail cried out to the Lord and the Lord said ‘Don’t worry, I will be with you.’”

The American preacher Bill Johnson said this: “Anyone can pray in crisis. Show me someone who will earnestly pray without a crisis and I will show you someone who is ready when one comes.” This is Abigail’s secret. I think she was ready because she was a prayerful woman who walked with God and in fact it comes out in what she says later.

She was ready to deal with a great crisis in her life – because she had a heart for God when everything was fine. This was the foundation of her good sense; Proverbs 2.6-7 says “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.”

While she’s been organising the roast lamb, granary loaves, wine and choice of fruitcake David has been having a right old rant. Woman working, man talking – sound familiar? David is just seething. He feels really hurt, really used, really upset. Out of the kindness of his heart he’s been breaking his back to help someone he hasn’t even met. Not only is he not thanked, he is totally insulted and he’s on his way to teach Nabal a lesson he’ll never forget.

Just look how things can so quickly get out of hand. Verse 6 – friendliness. Verse 10 – rudeness. Verse 13 – indignation. Verse 17 – alarm. Verse 21 – anger. Verse 22 – threats of violence.

So how does Abigail turn things round and avert this crisis? What does a peacemaker do? This is what you do with a bad neighbour. This is how you move forward with a church member who you have offended. This is how do you deal with the inconsiderate person on the plane who reclines their seat over your lap.

Firstly, respect. However hard it was for her, Abigail showed deep respect for a person who was just about to come and slaughter hundreds of livestock in a fit of rage. She could have said “Look, I know Nabal was bang out of order but come on, you are totally overreacting David!” She would have been right. But peacemakers know that it’s more important to build bridges than win arguments.

No, she fell on her face, bowed to the ground (v 23) and dropped at his feet (v 24). Like in our day bringing a bunch of flowers these were instantly recognisable signals of respect and goodwill. She called herself David’s servant seven times - a record use of the phrase by a biblical character. She reverses her husband’s insult of David as a runaway servant calling him “My lord” 14 times.

Secondly, concession. With one act, in v24 she took her husband’s, and David’s, foolishness, selfishness and pettiness upon herself. And notice she admits the mistake. It wasn’t even her fault, but she still accepted responsibility and said sorry.

Peacemakers know how to say, “Look I know there’s been a bit of an atmosphere between us, I can see you’re really upset by what has happened, I’m so sorry about that, let’s try and make things better.” That’s really hard when you know they have overreacted and inflamed a situation unnecessarily but the world is not going to be a better place just because you’re right all the time.

Thirdly, empathy. She found good in David and drew his attention to it. In v28-30 she talks about the bright future ahead of him, that he has a good heart and means well. She tells him how unfair it is that Saul has been hunting him down. She empathises with him.

And fourthly, persuasion. Only after showing respect, giving concession and showing empathy does she appeal to the goodness of his heart in v31 by saying “Look David, you’d never forgive yourself if you went ahead and took revenge. You know you’re a better man than that.” She’s very wise. She’s giving him an opportunity to climb down without losing face.

And that is how a great but unassuming woman called a great but flawed man back to the pathway God intended for him. David was in no mood to listen to anyone when he set out to confront Nabal. And what I love about David, this impulsive, charismatic but insecure guy is that he’s a man of principle. Because he has a heart for God anyone can come up to him and say the Old Testament equivalent of “Look David – what would Jesus do?” And whenever they do he melts, and says, “You’re right. I’ve been a fool. Thank you for speaking some sense to me.” That, more than always being right, is a sign of true greatness.

No matter how right we think you are in a situation of conflict if you have a heart for God you will have the humility to stop and graciously listen to another point of view.

Ending

Less than two weeks later Nabal went binge drinking and died of heart failure. And that’s how Abigail went from being the wife of a useless drunk to becoming Queen of all Israel. Because she was a peacemaker, obedient to God, willing to humble herself, able to let go of the things that didn’t matter, God prospered her.

God’s word teaches us today that you don’t need a prestigious title or recognised role to play a significant part in God’s story. Anyone with a heart for God will find that the Lord will use them; not just charismatic heroes like David, but powerless nobodies like Abigail. She was considered of little worth by her culture and was stuck in an unhappy marriage, taken for granted by her surly husband. But she offered her gifts to God and she took her opportunities with faith and courage and the Lord blessed her.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 29th August 2010

Tongues and Interpretation (1 Corinthians 14.1-28)

Introduction

My brother and I used to play a trick when we were young. We used to catch someone’s attention and say something inaudible and see how many times we could get them to ask us to repeat what we’d said. “Jsjfvwej” “Hmmmm?” “Jsjfvwej” “What did you say?” “Jsjfvwej” “Pardon?”

The real trick was to say something that almost made sense but didn’t quite. “Did you take the jsjfvwej yesterday? Or where every word sounded distinct but it didn’t make a sentence. “Fourteen get the car in glasses.” We used to play it on my dad too. “Why can’t you articulate properly boy?”

Oh, what fun we had. Now – if you had to listen to a service leader, preacher, worship leader and person leading the prayers doing that all evening you’d be attending a church service in Corinth in the first century. 1 Corinthians 14.23; “If the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?”

Tongues of Men and Angels

Speaking in tongues is when the Holy Spirit enables you to say something in a language you have never learnt. It’s a spiritual gift. It’s a good gift. Verse 5 says “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues.” But it’s not the most important gift. When Paul makes a list of spiritual gifts, tongues usually appears right at the end. So someone might say, “So why are you speaking about it tonight if that’s the case?”

Well, first of all it’s in the Bible. That should be reason enough. But secondly, both in the New Testament and in our experience, tongues seems to be very often a beginner’s gift. It’s commonly the first of the more obviously supernatural gifts that follow the outpouring of the Spirit in Scripture and it’s my observation that it is the first gift many people receive.

What is this all about then? 1 Corinthians 12.10 talks about (note the language carefully) speaking in different kinds of tongues. What might that mean do you think? The answer is found, I believe, in 1 Corinthians 13.1 where Paul talks about human languages and angelic languages.

Human tongues are recognisable languages and dialects like Spanish, Russian, Cantonese and Serbo-Croat.

Here’s an example of that: Dave Bishop, who is a church leader in Bexhill, writes about an experience that happened in his church. After some teaching on the Holy Spirit one of the church leaders offered to take a new couple home. On the way they started chatting about what they had been hearing. The couple brought up the subject of tongues and said how confused they were. At that, a young man, who was a passenger in their car, leaned forward and said, “You don’t need to be so uneasy about tongues – it’s just like this.” And he started to speak out in tongues.

This shocked the couple. They just weren’t expecting anything so normal, that someone could just start and stop at will. They thought it might be some ecstatic and weird phenomenon. And then the husband asked if the young man knew what he had just said. “No, I don’t,” he replied.

Well, said the husband, I am from an Iranian upbringing and you have just spoken in broad Persian.”

So the young man asked, “What did I say?” And the reply was, “You have just said ‘the Lord is worthy. He alone is God. He alone is worthy to be praised.’”

So that is what Paul means by human tongues. It’s what you read about in Acts chapter 2 when 120 people, freshly filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, start speaking out in tongues and the thousands of people gathered there understand clearly what is being said as the wonders of God in their own languages.

I have heard several stories like this from reliable sources - Nicky Gumbel for example talks about a similar incident in an Alpha course in London when someone spoke out in Russian having no idea what she was saying, having never learnt that language. Somebody else understood the language and interpreted it as “My dear child, my dear child.” I have never actually seen anything like that myself. Has anyone here? …

I just want to say that I don’t think that this is what 1 Corinthians 14 is about. This seems to be more about angelic tongues than human ones. The tongues of angels, it seems, are not the sort of languages that you can learn by doing a Berlitz course.

It appears that human tongues are addressed to people and are inspired by God for powerful witness. Angelic tongues are addressed to God and are inspired by him for intimate worship. The language of angels is the language of praise; they constantly adore God around his throne. Most speaking in tongues we experience in church is of this nature and the interpretation will usually be words of praise. Not always, but often.

My Experience

My first encounter with speaking in tongues was, in fact, singing in tongues. I was a new Christian and I was at a Catholic Renewal Mass. Shortly after everyone had taken communion, two or three people started to sing out different but complementary melodies in a strange language. Others joined them one by one, adding new harmonies. Before long there were about 50 people producing the most otherworldly sound that was literally both weird and wonderful. Personally, I was a bit freaked out by it. I could see the look of pure joy on people’s radiant faces as they sang, but I just wasn’t prepared for it.

Not long afterwards I went to a Pentecostal church where in the middle of a time of open prayer someone started speaking out in a loud voice and a foreign tongue. The service leader waited until it was finished, then explained what had happened, and then asked if anyone in the congregation had an interpretation. After a few minutes someone spoke up and what he said was accepted as a rendering in English of what had been said.

I began to speak in tongues a few months after this. A guy offered to pray for me for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and that I would receive the gift of tongues. As he prayed I felt a strong outpouring of love and grace over me. I felt some sounds forming in my mouth but I didn’t have the confidence to speak them out, I was a bit self conscious, so I just stayed quiet. But when I went home and prayed on my own, I spoke the words out quite hesitatingly at first. And the strange thing is this; I only “heard in my mind” the first few sounds, just three or four syllables, but as I spoke them out, others followed. As I used the gift more regularly, the more fluent I became.

When my children started to talk they didn’t all of a sudden begin articulating in eloquent, flowing English. They started with one word and usually that word was “No!” But gradually, as time went on, they developed other words. They learnt the word “Mummy”, and several months later: “Daddy!” Language grows, and as people use language they develop it, and broaden the range of it. I think it is similar with the tongues of angels.

Since those early days, I have spoken out in tongues in church perhaps four or five times. When I do, I get a rising up of a tongue in my spirit that I feel I just need to release. But mostly, it is a prayer language I use more discreetly in praise and intercession. That is what Paul says it should mostly be in v2. “Those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God.” It’s mostly a prayer language.

What Value for the Church?

What should be the normal expression of tongues in church life? Should we be hearing tongues regularly in church? If so, why don’t we hear it more? Can we receive this gift if we don’t have it already? Should we use the gift of tongues, if we have it, whenever we pray alone? What does the Bible say about speaking in tongues?

Do you need to speak in tongues if you don’t already? Is there something wrong with you? No. Not all Christians speak in tongues. Some do, some don’t. It’s not even necessarily a sign of being filled with the Spirit. You can be filled with the Spirit every day and never speak in tongues.

So this being understood that there are no first-class Christians who speak in tongues and second-class Christians who don’t, let’s just have a quick rain check on our experience of this gift. How many here have prayed in tongues at some time? Keep your hands raised if you have spoken out in tongues in a church service in a way that was clearly audible to everyone else?

1 Corinthians12-14 show us that speaking in tongues was a normal and common experience in the church there. Though some of the details in this passage are a bit difficult to grasp, the main point is clear. Paul says here that he favours the gift of prophecy over the gift of tongues. Let me just read verses 4 and 5.

“Those who speak in a tongue edify themselves, but those who prophesy edify the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.”

The reason why Paul had to write 1 Corinthians 14 is because the gift of tongues was being used excessively in church; in their services everyone was shouting together in a long cacophony of unintelligible sounds.

They were tongues fanatics. On and on and on they went, working up a frenzy, babbling away all together in the language of angels (which to the angels was perfectly comprehensible, but to everyone there was like gibberish). So it’s a bit of a surprise that in v18 Paul says, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all.” So Paul liked speaking in tongues. He did it a lot. “But, in the church,” he went on, “I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.”

They’d gone way over the top in Corinth. They were so excited about it they said, “Oh, let’s do away with preaching, that’s dreary!” So instead of having a sermon everyone would stand up and speak in tongues together, and Paul said, in v9 “Look, this is hopeless.”

“Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.”

Let’s go back to v2 where Paul writes, “For those who speak in a tongue, do not speak to people, but to God.” Speaking in tongues is mostly a form of prayer, and Paul says in verse 4: “Those who speak in a tongue edify themselves.” So it builds up the individual Christian. In v14, he goes on to say that it transcends the limits of human language: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful”.

All of us are limited by human language. And sometimes we find ourselves frustrated that we cannot express what we describe as feeling deep down here. Sometimes, even in a human relationship we say, “I can’t find the words to express what I want to say.” And that is even truer about our relationship with God.

Sometimes we feel that we just don’t know how to express to God what we feel in our spirit.” And the gift of tongues enables us to express that without the limitation of human language. It doesn’t mean to say that we’re not thinking - we can be thinking all sorts of things that are on our hearts to pray about, but the mind is not having to go through the process of putting those prayers or praises into sentences of intelligible English.

The speaker, of course is in full control. He or she can start and stop whenever they wish, that’s why Paul can lay down rules here for how the gift is to be exercised. It’s not something that takes over your personality. It’s only in the demonic world where forces take people over. In the Christian, spiritual world, there’s always an element of co-operation between us and God and we can start and stop when we want, and therefore Paul lays down guidelines. This is why Paul says in v4 “Those who speak in a tongue edify themselves.”

On 5th April 1985 I was looking at a heart monitor and listening to nervous medical staff at the maternity unit of the Royal Free Hospital in London. I didn’t understand what was going on but it seemed that our first baby Anna had a slow heartbeat that was a cause for concern. I remember this feeling of dread and panic but at the same time desperately wanting to pray, but not knowing how to pray, and I have never been more grateful for the gift of tongues with which to pour out my heart to God. A great peace came upon me – and Anna was born with no complications shortly afterwards. “Those who speak in a tongue edify themselves.”

The gift of tongues is also powerful when praying for other people. Jackie Pullinger has a fantastic ministry amongst drug addicts, prostitutes and gangsters in Hong Kong. She wrote about the transformation that happened in her ministry as she began to use this gift.

In her book Chasing the Dragon she writes, “I prayed 15 minutes a day in the language of the Spirit, and still felt nothing as I asked the Spirit to help me intercede for those he wanted to reach.” It is significant that it wasn’t a feeling, it was something that she felt led to do and did out of simple obedience. “After about six weeks of this, I began to lead people to Jesus without trying. Gangsters fell on their knees, sobbing in the streets. Women were healed. Heroin addicts were miraculously set free. And I knew it all had nothing to do with me”.

It was also the gateway for her to receive other gifts of the Spirit. She wrote: “With my friends I began to learn about the other gifts of the Spirit and we experienced a remarkable few years of ministry. Scores of gangsters and well-to-do people, students and churchmen were converted and all received a new language to pray in private, and other gifts to use when meeting together. We opened several homes to house heroin addicts and all were delivered from drugs, painlessly because of the power of the Holy Spirit.”

What about v22-25? They are the most confusing verses in the chapter because they don’t seem to be coherent. There is probably something lost in translation.

The Message puts it all in contemporary terms.

“So where does it get you, all this speaking in tongues no one understands? It doesn't help believers, and it only gives unbelievers something to gawk at. Plain truth-speaking, on the other hand, goes straight to the heart of believers and doesn't get in the way of unbelievers. If you come together as a congregation and some unbelieving outsiders walk in on you as you're all praying in tongues, unintelligible to each other and to them, won't they assume you've taken leave of your senses and get out of there as fast as they can? But if some unbelieving outsiders walk in on a service where people are speaking out God's truth, the plain words will bring them up against the truth and probe their hearts. Before you know it, they're going to be on their faces before God, recognizing that God is among you.”

When it says “tongues are a sign for believers” it doesn’t mean a sign that God is real which is what we automatically assume. It means that tongues, without interpretation, are like a great big notice hanging in a church building saying “Are you new? Well, you guessed right – these people are seriously unhinged.”

Ending

I think I want to stop there because I’ve spoken long enough. But I think it would be good to ask God to give the gift of tongues to anyone who would like to receive it for the first time. If you want this gift, ask your Father for it. I think too, it would be good for those among us who have let the gift of tongues fall into disuse to say sorry “Lord, I want to fan into flame the gift you have placed in me, that I may enjoy you with deeper intimacy, praise with greater joy and intercede with an increase of power”…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 18th July 2010

How God Chooses (1 Samuel 16.1-13)

Did you ever have to line up with your school mates at play time and wait to get picked for a team? When I was at school it was always Paul Harriot and Vincent Barnes who picked the teams because they were the best at sports. The rest of us lined up trying to look athletic, hoping we’d get snapped up quickly for the better team - all of us desperate not to be selected last.

That was usually the sad lot of Denis Weeks (name changed) who had thick glasses, zits, a complexion that always looked like he had just been seasick, a stammer, an awkward gait and who was the last in our class to break his voice. He was every inch a loser and could quite effortlessly lose the game for his team in the first 10 minutes if told to play in the back four.

After last week, I seriously wonder if the F.A. hired him as defence coach for the national team… I was usually picked with undisguised reluctance two or three boys before Denis Weeks.

Have you had similar humiliating experiences in life? Of being one of those who never seemed to get into in the in crowd? Of getting picked last? Of missing the boat? Of failing to make the cut? Of getting passed over for selection?

Well, lift your head this morning – because one of the greatest designations of the Church of Jesus Christ is God’s chosen people. God doesn’t choose like the world does. 1 Corinthians 1.27 says that “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

Listen to these Scriptures; if you are a Christian believer today, these words from the Bible are about you.

“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8.33)

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession…” (1 Peter 2.9)

We’re going to look at how God chooses this morning. What are the criteria he uses in his sovereign choices about people? And we’re going to focus on 1 Samuel 16, which is the beginning of the story of David.

Verses 2-5 set out for us the background of the times in which David lived, about 1000 years B.C. God says to Samuel to fill his flask with aromatic oil to go and anoint a future king. Saul, the first king of Israel, and present incumbent, has just fouled up big time in chapter 15 and now the whole atmosphere of his reign is one of fear and suspicion. In v2 Saul is scared to go to Bethlehem because he has to pass through Gibeah - where Saul lives. Samuel would rather avoid that because he knows Saul is out of control. He could easily lash out and kill a man of God in a fit of jealousy. So Samuel has to travel with the pretext of offering a sacrifice to God for fear of his life.

And that atmosphere of instability and intrigue permeates the whole nation. Because in v5, when Samuel arrives in Bethlehem, the elders of the town ask nervously, “Is everything all right? Have you come in peace?” It’s horrible.

You know when a church or a work environment or a family has become dysfunctional when no one trusts anyone anymore. There’s an atmosphere. People are suspicious of each other’s motives. If your family or your home group, or any relationship you are in, has gone that way there’s only one way back - and that’s the cross; the place of forgiveness.

So Samuel says to everyone in Bethlehem living in anxious fear in v5 “Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” In New Testament terms that means “get your hearts cleansed by coming back to the cross; the source of grace.” It’s the way back.

Do you remember when God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac? When they got there Isaac said, “The fire and wood are here but where is the sacrifice?” In other words, “Everything is in position but the essential is missing. That’s like saying “We’ve got everything in place for worship; great musicians, all the latest stuff for the sound, banners, a good building, nice chairs and a decent projector. But God says “Where is the sacrifice?” This is a matter of the heart isn’t it? Are you offering up to God your whole heart, your whole life?” Let me just ask you, are you really giving God the best in worship?

So much for the atmosphere in the nation. What about the atmosphere in Saul? The reason why Saul is in such a bad place is that he has been rejected - by God. We have to understand this; God chooses but God also rejects.

Let’s read v1 again. “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?’”

The Lord is saying to Samuel here, “Don’t be nostalgic for anything that is contrary to my will.” Saul has been continuously disobedient to God. He has not stopped compromising God’s standards. That’s why he has been an ineffective leader of God’s people because he has no real heart for God.

We’ve got to be ruthless in our opposition to sin. I don’t mean we should castigate sinners. How could we? We’re all sinners. But we’ve got to be clear in our minds that we will give no concession to compromising God’s word.

But why would a loving God reject anyone? And does this mean that God might ditch us as his chosen people as well? Should we be feeling a little less secure?

Listen, God never ever abandons or forsakes those he loves. Jesus never ever changes his mind over the chosen people he paid for with his own blood. He never ever lets anyone or anything snatch his treasured possession from his hands. What it says here is quite different. Look carefully and notice that God says, “I have rejected (Saul) as king over Israel.”

It means God was relieving Saul of his responsibilities as king. Saul’s disobedience to God’s word had direct consequences on his fitness as a leader of God’s people. God was therefore withdrawing the authority he had given him. He was removing the anointing he had poured out on him.

God actively regulates the proliferation of evil in the world by limiting the length of office of ungodly political leaders. That’s why, when you work out the average length of reign of all the monarchs in 1 and 2 Kings, the good ones reign, on average, three times longer than the bad ones. It pays to read the Bible with a calculator sometimes! All those elected to office will have to give an account to God for their record in government – and the King of kings and Lord of lords can remove them at any time he wishes.

Similarly Hebrews 13.17 says, “Have confidence in your (church) leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” All those in pastoral ministry will answer to God for their decisions in leadership – and the Lord can relieve them of their posts whenever he wants to.

So much for how God rejects. What about how God chooses?

The gentile journalist William Ewer once said, “How odd of God to choose the Jews.” To which an anonymous Jew replied, “Not odd of God. Goyim annoy ’im!”

But goyim don’t annoy God any more than Jews do. In fact, the Bible says that God chooses in two ways. The first is how he chooses those who are to be his people and is found in verses like Deuteronomy 7.6-7 which say this:

“The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery.”

That means that God’s sovereign choice is nothing to do with the qualities of those he chooses. That God has chosen us as his treasured possession is nothing to do with our merits, our strengths, our attractiveness or our plus points, whatever they might be. It’s pure grace from beginning to end. It is completely undeserved and unconnected to the way we are.

That’s the first way God chooses. But who does God choose among his chosen people to place his anointing on? What are the criteria for that? That’s the second thing and that’s what this story is about.

Verses 6-11 show us just how naturally people fall into the trap of judging by appearances. We all instinctively look people up and down when we first meet them and form instant opinions about them based on their face, hairstyle, shape, clothes, jewellery, age, sex, voice and body posture. Jesus never did. It says he knew all people and what was in them.

Saul had stood out from the rest when he was made king. 1 Samuel 9.1-2 says, “There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish… Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.”

Saul was tall, dark, handsome and from a wealthy family. He was the George Clooney of ancient Israel. Ladies, what’s not to like?

So when Samuel went looking for a new king and saw Eliab he thought “I reckon it’ll be him” because Eliab was the kind of guy who’d look good doing coffee adverts; good looking, with a strong physique. Samuel was looking for more of the same. But it wasn’t Eliab, Aminadab, Shammah or any one else. Verse 7: “The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

That’s one of the reasons why there is no physical description of Jesus in the Bible apart from this one from Isaiah 52.14 foretelling his suffering; “His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.” Yet he was supremely anointed; that’s what the word “Christ” means – the anointed one.

It’s not your face or your physique that qualifies you for God’s anointing – it’s your character. “Character” says Bill Hybels “is who you are when no one is looking.”

Who wants to have a good reputation? Well, God’s not interested in reputation. He’s looking for character.

Reputation is what you are supposed to be. Character is who you are.

Reputation can be made in a flash. Character is built over a lifetime.

Reputation can grow like a mushroom. Character always grows like an oak.

Reputation is what people say about you on your tombstone. Character is what the angels say about you around the throne of God.

So when you read v12 it’s quite a surprise to read that David’s physical features were actually not that shabby. “He was glowing with health, with a fine appearance and handsome features.”

So you don’t have to be ugly, small, bald, hook-nosed and bow legged to qualify for God’s anointing! The truth is it makes no difference at all what you look like.

When it comes to who God is going to pour out his anointing oil, he is not looking at our faces. He is looking into our hearts. And David, the Cinderella of his family, had a heart for God.

As we’re going to be seeing over the next few weeks, he had a worshipping heart. “Psalm 9. A psalm of David. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

God is looking for men and women with a heart for worship who are committed to giving the very best to exalt his greatness worthily. Are you going to be one of them?

He had a servant heart. Acts 13:36 says “David… served God’s purpose in his own generation.”

And he is looking for servant-hearted men and women who are passionate about doing the will of God in ours. Are you going to be one of them?

He had a trusting heart. “David said: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken’” (Acts 2:25).

God is looking for men and women who will not be moved because their hearts have placed their trust in God’s unshakable promises. Are you going to be one of them?

He had an undivided heart. “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” (1 Chronicles 28.9).

He had a prophetic heart. Acts 2:29-30 says “(David) was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.”

God is looking for men and women who will hear from him and speak out his word. Do you want to be one of them?

He had an obedient heart. Acts 13:22 says “God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

In short, David had a heart for God.

And if you have a heart for God you already have the key for the Lord’s anointing over your life as well.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 4th July 2010.

Eat and Drink with One Another (1 Corinthians 11.23-34)

Introduction

On the table in front of us there is bread and there is wine. Why? It is a matter of obedience. Jesus himself told us to this so that we never forget what it cost him to bring us together and win us for himself.

For most meals the essential thing is what the food tastes like. But what is important here is not what it tastes like but what it means. We come to this table, as equals, hungry for God.

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” So I want to take you with me on a journey in time. We’re going to think again about what happened around the meal when Jesus broke bread the night before he died.

1) Past

It’s the night of the Passover festival and Jesus’ twelve followers are with him in Jerusalem. They’re all there; Peter, James and John of course, the inner circle… but unknowns too like Thaddeus and Bartholomew.

Jesus instructs his disciples to prepare the traditional feast in an upstairs room. They don’t know that it’s their fateful last night with Jesus and that by this time tomorrow he will be dead and buried. For them it’s a festive celebration, it’s a gathering of friends in the company of their master.

It’s Jesus’ last ever meal, and he alone knows it. He washes his disciples’ feet, talks with them and takes charge of the meal. He tells them just how much he had been looking forward to it. “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22.15). He says clearly, without parables, that he is going to go through agony and die. “My blood will be poured out for you,” he says. He knows exactly what’s going to happen to him. Arrest, torture, the cross, desertion, loneliness, dereliction, death…

Peter is there, unaware of what he is about to do. In just a few hours he will have categorically denied ever having known Jesus only to bitterly repent afterwards. Jesus knows. But Peter is welcomed at the table anyway. Every week there are Peters at this table; coming with a good heart, earnest, innocent, enthusiastic… but fickle, impulsive, and easily led. The Lord knows that you and I can deny him just as easily. What matters is can Jesus count on us to come back to him broken and sorry afterwards?

Judas is there too. Yes, even him; the Judas who will hand Jesus over to death, the Judas who will show regret and remorse - but not repentance. But Jesus accepts even him as well to this table. On the cross tomorrow Jesus will cry out, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t understand what they are doing.” Was he thinking of Judas as well as the soldiers who crucified him, and the crowd who jeered at him?

Peter, because he allowed himself to be broken, was restored and given a new commission. Tragically, Judas never repented. Listen! Never think you have done something so bad, so shameful, that God would never forgive you. Never think that God is good, but not good enough to forgive you the worst you have ever done. Even Judas wasn’t beyond the pale. “Father, forgive…” He loves you, and nothing can separate you from his love – only your unwillingness to receive his mercy.

After the meal, events move very quickly. Jesus heads towards his favourite public garden just outside the city, called Gethsemane, which means ‘olive press.’ He invites his closest disciples, the ones he can really trust, to accompany him and watch with him through the night. They fall asleep. He suffers anguish and sorrow and mental torment. God presses the cup of his fierce anger against sin to his son’s lips, a cup that no one else can drink or even taste. Jesus drinks the cup dry.

Moments later, Jesus is face to face with Judas, who has come to hand him over. Three years of travelling together, of ministry together, of sleeping under the stars and eating at table together ends in a disorderly confrontation, and an awkward greeting… Face to face.

A bit later still, Jesus, chained up, his hands behind his back, steals a glance at his great friend Peter. Their eyes meet briefly across the crowded square. Peter has just called down curses on his head, swearing he has never met Jesus, adamant that doesn’t even know who he is. Face to face. All that awaits him now is a violent judicial murder. Relentless beatings, blood, humiliations, more blood, insults, more blood.

This meal, for us too, is a face to face encounter with Christ. Look Jesus in the eye with me this morning. Us in all our guilt. Him in all his blamelessness.

2) Present

Those are the events we recall this morning in breaking bread and pouring out wine. It’s an evocative reminder. It’s not like anything else on earth. But it’s not just about thinking back to the past.

Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, says v26 you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. By sharing this meal together we publicly identify with the power of the cross and resurrection for us. Taking bread, sharing a cup is saying openly, “I believe today with all my heart that Jesus really died on a cross, that he carried my sin there in his body and because of him I can know God and be healed.” It’s a perfect opportunity to testify freely to those truths. Jesus didn’t say, “Watch this”, he said, “Do this in memory of me”.

We share this simple meal remembering the past, recalling to mind the agony of Christ on the cross. We also share it to express some profound things in the present; that we belong to a Christian family, that we are in Christ, and that his presence fills our life.

We belong to one another, we are members of one another as the Bible puts it. We, who are many, are one body, because we all share one bread. Meeting together at the same table is about belonging, not just to Christ, but to one another as well. This is a communion table.

That is why it is really important to be right with one another before we come to communion. Jesus said, “If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you… go to this friend and make things right first.” This is why we share the peace.

But of course, we need to make sure we are right with God as well as right with each other. It is a holy communion.

There’s an important parallel between what it says about the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 8-11 and what it says there about food offered to idols. It says that meat sold in the market, having first been offered up to idols is O.K. It’s just meat. You can eat hallal, or in those Chinese restaurants with an idol statue by the front door, with a good conscience, even though the food may have been part of a non-Christian religious ritual.

It’s only food and anyway there is only one God. But it also talks about a spiritual dimension and that pagan sacrifices are offered to demons. Paul seems at first glance to contradict himself. But he is making two different and simple points; firstly, that food is just food; it’s not magic. But secondly, when we eat food in the context of worship, whether of God or of idols, we find ourselves in fellowship with hidden spiritual realities behind.

So when we break and eat this bread, it’s just bread. No more. It’s not magic. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, when we engage spiritually by faith, to us it’s more than just bread. It’s, as Paul describes it in 10.16, “a participation in the body of Christ.” The wine is real wine. If you drink it all, even ‘consecrated’ you won’t drive home legally! The physical ingredients do not change. But when we drink from that cup, in faith, submitted anew under Christ’s lordship and authority, it is the cup of salvation. In this bread there is healing and grace. In this cup, there’s forgiveness and abundant life. In this moment, by the Spirit, Jesus Christ is present.

It’s a bit like a window. You can look at the window; the frame, the handle, the size, the shape… Or you can look through the window and see much more. You can see just bread and wine if you want. But you can also, by faith, look through that and taste and see that the Lord is good.

Physically, we take bread into our bodies and we are nourished, given new energy and strength. Bread is good for you. Spiritually, what’s happening is that, by faith, as we give Christ our hearts, as we meet him, in our minds, face to face at the cross, we tap in to all the blessings that flow from his costly death. It’s the bread of life, the cup of salvation.

By eating this bread and drinking this cup I am saying to the world that Jesus is real and working in my life. He is alive in me. I am letting him work in me. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live is for the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up to die for me” (Galatians 2.20). I am saying, just as Jesus did in the garden, “Not my will, but yours be done.” I am trusting him to guide my life.

3) Future

So we share this meal looking back to what Jesus did. We come to this table too looking in to the present reality of our relationship with God, and looking around at of our unity with one another. But we also eat together looking forward to all that God has promised us. The Bible is extremely clear about this. Holy Communion will one day be obsolete. In eternal terms it has a very limited shelf life. God will one day abolish it. Soon, in fact. If Jesus comes back tomorrow the Communion we share in this morning will be our last. For in taking bread and wine we proclaim his death until he comes again, and only until then.

When one of your loved ones is away you might look at their photo to remind you of them, but not the moment they return. Why treasure a photo souvenir when you have the real thing? When Christ comes back, we shall see him face to face, and we won’t need shadows and symbols any more.

So this is why we eat and drink with one another at the Lord’s Table. But what about verses 27-31? I remind you that Paul says, without any ambiguity, the following words: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. We ought to examine ourselves before we eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For those who eat and drink without recognizing the body of the Lord eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”

Who is not puzzled or troubled by these words? What do these verses really say? What does it mean to examine yourself before eating and drinking?

Clearly, it means that taking communion is a serious business between you and God. You don’t do it lightly. It is a time to remember Jesus’ death and what it cost him to free you from sin. It’s a time to remember his resurrection, his presence in your life, his return. And the prayer we say at communion is designed to focus on those things.

But what if you don’t “recognise (or discern) the body of the Lord?” Does the Bible really say here that if you take Communion insincerely or absent-mindedly you can fall ill and die? It seems a bit extreme doesn’t it? Paul’s words in v30-31 are plain. “Those who eat and drink without recognizing the body of the Lord eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have died.”

And there’s an example of this you are all familiar with. Someone who ate bread and drank from the cup, who shared communion with Jesus and his followers, without having examined his heart? Someone who died very soon afterwards? Judas Iscariot; the one disciple who fell away. Peter, that same night betrayed Jesus too, but he turned back to Christ in tears of repentance, went on to bear much fruit.

Ending

So let’s come face to face with Jesus this morning. Let’s humbly accept Jesus’ forgiveness like Peter did, and not despair in self-pity like Judas.

Let’s eat and drink as an expression of faith; that we might go on to bear much fruit as well.

Let’s eat and drink with gladness - not because we must, but because we may.

Let’s eat and drink not because we love him a lot, but because, like Peter, we so easily discover that we love him only a little. Let’s share this meal to say we want to love him more.

And finally, let’s eat and drink with one another proclaiming the cross with our brothers and sisters on the same journey. Until he comes again.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 27th June 2010

No Compromise (Judges 6.25-32)

Introduction

An atheist turns up on a Rabbi’s doorstep one morning with a dead parrot and says, “Good morning, Rabbi. My parrot died yesterday and I’m looking for someone to do the funeral. Do you think you could do the ceremony and bury him in your Jewish cemetery?” So the rabbi scratches his head and sys, “In thirty years at this synagogue that is the most outrageous request I have ever received. There is no way on earth I would desecrate holy ground with your dead bird. Now get off my land!” Seeing that the rabbi’s answer was pretty clear-cut the guy says, “O.K., I’m sorry for the offence. But do you think the Anglican vicar down the road would do the funeral for £2000?” So the Rabbi says, “£2,000? Why didn’t you say your parrot was Jewish?”

My grandmother was Jewish, and I loved her very much. It's the kind of joke she would have enjoyed. She would have found nothing offensive about it and I would suffer that kind of humour at my expense as a Christian without getting upset at all. But it is a bit close to the bone. And I told it because tension between religious factions is no laughing matter. In Pakistan and Indonesia and Sudan people have been killed for their faith in Christ this year by Islamist extremists. Churches are burnt down in Nigeria. Shiite mosques are targeted in Iraq. Hindu temples are destroyed in India.

On the 1st of March 2001 the Taliban blew up two enormous 1,500 year old statues of Buddha, carved in the cliffs of the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan. The whole civilized world was shocked at this ignorant provocation. Our media showed us ‘before and after’ pictures of the event that was described as a crime against the cultural heritage of the world. A part of history has gone, lost forever, all because of a group of small-minded fanatics with anti tank grenades.

But, at first sight, what we had read to us from Judges chapter 6 - that is to say the vandalising of a religious artefact at a holy shrine - seems to come from the same mould. It’s just another radical group that can’t stop itself smashing up someone else’s sanctuary. In fact, you could even say that the Gideon story is worse than the Taliban one. At least the Taliban had the courage and conviction to destroy those statues in broad daylight and without apology. But Gideon did what he did under the cover of darkness so he didn’t have to face the music.

I live my life by the Bible. I believe that this book contains the words of God himself, that every page is God-breathed. (Well, maybe not the index. Or the maps...) But I believe that the Bible, all of it, is trustworthy and reliable. I believe that God will bless those who read it and live out its message. And, yes, I take passages like Gideon smashing up an altar to a foreign idol as the word of God for me. That is non-negotiable and has been ever since I gave my life to Christ when I was 17.

And yet the very idea of rounding up a gang of thugs to help me blow up a Hindu temple or flatten a synagogue or desecrate a mosque doesn’t enter my mind. Christians should respect the holy places of all other religions, whatever they are, however compatible or incompatible with our faith in Christ. Have I sold out?

These are really important questions for us because the conflict between religions is one of the biggest issues of our generation. And one of the greatest objections to the Christian faith in our day centres on a disgust for passages like this one. Some people can’t get over the seeming contradiction between what they read about God’s anger in the Old Testament and what they read about his love in the New. And it’s a real problem. And in order to try and resolve it, at least as far as this passage goes, with integrity, we need to answer two questions.

Firstly, we know that Gideon demolished an altar that was set up for the god that is called Baal, but what was Baal worship exactly? When we get to the bottom of that we’ll see Judges 6 in a new light. And secondly, in what ways was Gideon’s world different to ours? When we understand the differences in context we’ll have a better understanding of the issues. The answer to both questions will give us the key that unlocks the problem of Gideon’s attack and God’s authorization (indeed God’s commissioning) of it.

Baal Worship

In v25-26 God says to Gideon, “Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this hill. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer a bull as a burnt offering.”

What was this altar? What did people do on it? What was the pole? What was it for? What was it about these objects that God found so offensive?

Baal worship at this time in Israel’s history was quite developed and certainly widespread. It had priestly leaders and sanctuaries on every hill that were (unimaginatively) called ‘high places.’ And the magnetic power of Baal was particularly strong in the time of the Judges. That’s why many of the stories in this book begin with an expression like, “The Lord’s people turned away from him and bowed down before the Baals and Asheras.” Notice that Baal and Asherah were often talked about in the plural. That’s because they both gathered together under one figurehead many cult gods and goddesses, from Babylon, Egypt and elsewhere. It was a kind of nebulous, unfocused, post-modern mishmash of a religion, a bit like the New Age movement in our day. Many different, and even contradictory, ideas, each promising happiness and wholeness, and none demanding any moral commitment.

Quite the opposite. One the features of Baal worship was its runaway eroticism. On each high place there were icons and sometimes sordid statues of Baal, sacred poles, which were phallic symbols, and incense altars. The Baal cult was excessively tawdry. Prostitutes, both male and female offered sexual favours - it was more like a Roman orgy than any worship service we’d recognise. So, there were confused, mixed-up gods, lustful, licentious ceremonies, and to top it all off - barbaric rituals. Baal worship promoted the abomination of human sacrifice.

God talks about this, in Jeremiah 19.5, in these terms; “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal - something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” These macabre rituals became commonplace all over the land as people even burnt alive their own children to secure the blessings of fertility and prosperity from these idols.

That’s the truth about this cult and that’s why God got so upset about it. Can you understand now why his righteous anger burned so passionately against Baal worship? Can you see why it is not possible to talk in terms of tolerance or moderation or respect in this situation? Gideon’s demolition of Baal’s altar and his setting fire to the Asherah pole were not the reckless and ignorant lashing out by a fanatic but a responsible and prophetic stand for justice and decency.

God’s Warning

But there’s another reason why Gideon’s actions were right. Some years before the period of the Judges, perhaps 30 or 40 years before Gideon’s birth, the nation of Israel lived in the desert in tents. They were a nomadic, homeless nation, with no land and no inheritance. And it was at that moment that Moses gave a solemn warning to his compatriots who were about to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, where Baal worship was established. And this is what Moses said at that time, in Deuteronomy 11.16-17; “Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.”

In other words, mixing the Baal cult with worshiping the one true God will result in drought, in famine, in want, and in exile. It will bring a curse on the land and on the people. That’s what happened. Conversely, faithfulness to the Lord will mean abundance, rain, good harvests, peace and prosperity. This is the thing: Gideon’s sabotage of Baal’s altar brought Israel back on course for a blessed future. We shouldn’t be in any doubt about this. It wasn’t that Gideon insulted the respected religious communities of his day. No. The destruction of that pagan shrine redirected his rebellious generation towards the model that God had established for it.

And by the way, notice that God’s promise to bring his people into a land of milk and honey had a proviso. God’s promises always have conditions attached. I like claiming God’s promises. “I will be with you to the end of the age.” That’s nice isn’t it? But check out the small print before claiming it! “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” If I’m not doing that I have no business claiming the promise that is attached to it. In Isaiah 41.10 God says this; “I am with you for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” But that promise is invalid without the disclaimer; “Do not fear, and do not be dismayed.”

Smashing Down Altars in Our Society

If we lived in a land that God had given to us, if our families were abandoning God for degrading practices, sacred prostitution and child sacrifices, the message for us would be clear. But we live in a secular and pluralist nation where there is a multiplicity of different faiths.

Our situation is not like Gideon’s. It’s more like that of the first Christians in the first century. In Acts 17, for example, Paul, even though he burned with irritation at seeing how Athens was full of idols, he didn’t go around smashing up the Acropolis at night. What did he do? He dialogued. He listened. He asked questions. And he spoke with conviction and consideration about the resurrection of Jesus in the most engaging and eloquent terms possible.

Our world isn’t Gideon’s world; it’s more like the one known by the young Christians in Colossae, to whom these words were written; “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” In other words, learn to speak about the Lord in a way that will be attractive to people around. No harshness, nothing judgmental or opinionated but gracious and appealing.

Our society isn’t like Gideon’s; it’s more like the one that the recipients of Peter’s first letter lived in; they were a Christian minority in an overwhelmingly pagan and superstitious world. And this is what the Apostle Peter wrote to them; “Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.” (1 Peter 3.15-16, the Message). In other words, work at defending your belief in Christ when it is attacked, but especially to do so courteously. People are more likely to agree if we are more agreeable.

So is there a word from God to us from Judges 6? What are the altars that God would have us demolish? And how must we demolish them? I believe the combat zones are the same as those in Gideon’s day; muddle and confusion about who God is, the temptations of the body and the devaluation of life. But our battle is not against flesh and blood. It’s not a physical conflict, it’s against principalities and powers. Our fight is spiritual; the theatre of our warfare is in prayer and fasting, in acting in obedience to God’s word. And it’s in the power of the Holy Spirit that God will bring down strongholds.

Smashing Down Altars in Our Lives

In a way, Baal still lives today and this passage is terribly modern. If Gideon’s generation had to smash the altars of confusion, of sex and of child sacrifice, so does ours.

Vast numbers of people in our land run after the shallowest ideas (look at the body, mind and spirit section in any bookshop and count the number of books offering a sane, biblical approach, then compare it with the number peddling occult practices and New Age muddle. It’s an altar to Baal.

Take a walk round any red light district or gay quarter in any of Europe’s cities and study the tortured faces of men addicted to every pleasure and perversion, the majority unable to sustain any kind of committed or meaningful relationship. These are altars to Baal.

In Britain, the most dangerous place to be is not a black spot on the A1 in fog or in Toxteth or Moss Side after dark – but in your mother’s womb. Look up on the Internet the statistics for pregnancy termination or child abuse in this country. The laws of our land side with the aspiration for a comfortable lifestyle more than they protect the chance of an unborn child to see the light of day. It’s an altar to Baal.

Ending

And when these values penetrate our own thoughts and ideas, always very subtly, we need to fight them with strength and conviction, like Gideon did. When Jesus said that the kingdom of God is forcefully advancing, and that only aggressive men lay hold of it (Matthew 11.12) He had this kind of spiritual battle in mind.

Because it’s not those who just weakly accept the values of this world who are going to go forward in Gideon’s commission and anointing. It’s those who resist against the spirit of Baal with all their strength. Are you one of them?

Are you going to oppose, with all your might, the compromise which corrupts true faith and weakens Christ’s lordship in your life and in the Church?

Are you going to be one of the militants who look Satan in the eye and say, “We will fight you in our minds, in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches, in the streets… We will never surrender one inch of ground to you.”

God calls you, like Gideon’s generation, to discover and pursue wholesome, passionate, biblical faith.

God calls you, like Gideon’s generation, to purity and faithfulness in sexual relationships, mirroring his brilliant holiness and his enduring faithfulness.

God calls you, like Gideon’s generation to love life, to nurture it, to protect the powerless, especially the young.

When we respond to that call, the altars to Baal will crumble, in our lives and in the Church - and altars of high praise to the Lord will spring up in their place.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 6th June 2010