Grapes, Grasshoppers and God (Numbers 13.1-33)

Introduction

So we move on in our journey through the Book of Numbers – which, if you’re new to church and are not familiar with that term - the Book of Numbers - you’ll be glad to learn it does not mean the telephone directory.

It is of course the record in the Bible of how God got a stubborn and unbelieving group of people from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land and it explains why it took 40 years to complete an excursion that should have been over in a few weeks.

People often say that life is a journey and so much of this book of Numbers is similar to the business of how we get from (a) to (b) as we travel through our time here on earth.

People use other metaphors to describe human life – have you ever heard it said that life is a roller coaster? When people say that they mean it’s a series of exhilarating highs and depressing lows. Others say that life is like a game - with winners and losers - and when it’s all over, it all goes back in the box. Another famous life metaphor comes in the film Forrest Gump. Life is a… box of chocolates – you never know which one you’re going to get.

In his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says that one of the most important biblical metaphors for life on earth is that it’s a test. In fact, he says, words like ‘trial’ and ‘testing’ occur over 200 times in the Bible.

Adam and Eve failed their test in the Garden of Eden when God said “You can enjoy all the trees in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” So that’s the one they went for.

Abraham passed his test when God told him to offer his son Isaac.

Noah passed his test when God said to build an ocean liner in a country with little rain, miles from the sea.

David failed his test when he saw Uriah’s wife bathing on an adjacent roof and decided he had to have her and then kill her husband to cover his tracks.

Think of Jacob, having to work ten years to win the hand of Rachel. He could have given up – but he kept going.

Think of Joseph, sold as a slave, falsely accused and unjustly imprisoned. He could have become embittered – but he never did.

Think of Ruth, think of Esther, think of Daniel, all of whom passed their tests with flying colours.

And, of course, think of Jesus, the pioneer of our faith, who supremely passed every test set before him.

· He went 40 days without food in a desert
· he turned down the devil’s offer of fame, fortune and a life of ease
· he never once buckled in three years of goading and provocation by the religious establishment
· he never once felt sorry for himself or wavered from his mission despite
· being deserted by his followers
· betrayed a friend
· falsely accused
· unjustly condemned
· cruelly beaten
· and savagely killed.

Well, the devil looked at Jesus’ lifeless corpse, smiled to himself and said “Get out of that one if you’re the Son of God!” But even then, Jesus walked out of the tomb alive and triumphant, risen and victorious. How good is that?

And so you too are always being tested – practically every day. Why? Because nothing reveals what you are made of like the way you handle the tests in your life and, in fact, all of life is a test.

God watches:
· how you deal with difficult people
· how you cope with problems
· how you manage disappointment
· how you tackle conflict
· how you face illness
· how you handle money
· and even how you bear up under the depressingly bad English weather!”

Praying Down the Promises

Now then, Numbers chapter 13 finds the people of God at a key point in their journey from Egypt to their Promised Land.

They’ve made it out of slavery, thanks to God’s dramatic deliverance.

They’ve received the Commandments, so they know what God likes and how he wants them to live.

They’ve also tasted God’s bounteous supply as we saw last week; bread from heaven every morning and enough quail in a week to never want to see it again. So they know that God provides.

Now it’s time to move on. So they organise a reconnaissance mission to run the rule over this land they are about to enter. Moses chooses one leader from each tribe and he sends them off to have a look.

In our reading, we skipped the names in v4-16 because they are not easy to pronounce, but I want to just press “pause” and look at v16 because it’s worth mentioning.

It says “These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua).”

Whenever there’s a change of name in the Bible it’s never because someone just thinks it sounds nicer; it usually means something more significant and this is no exception.

The name Hoshea signifies a prayer for salvation and deliverance; it means “Lord, save!” The name Joshua is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus, it’s the same name, and it signifies, not a prayer for salvation, but a promise of salvation; It means “He will save” in answer to that prayer. So this man went from being called “Lord, save!” to “He will save.”

The relationship between your prayers and God delivering on his promises is very close.

There are many promises in God’s word about your life;
· he promises to be with you,
· he promises to sustain you,
· he promises to guide you,
· he promises to protect you,
· he promises to keep you,
· he promises to bless you,
· he promises to provide for your needs…

but all those promises are triggered by prayer. You activate the promises of God in your experience by asking.

That’s why Jesus said “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33).

Can I just encourage you if you’re waiting on God’s promises – pray them down.

And take encouragement from the story of Robert and Mary Moffat. They worked for 10 years as missionaries in Botswana and in all that time were unable to report a single convert. People began to question the wisdom of continuing.

The thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to them. They felt sure that God had called them and they held on to 1 Thessalonians 5.24 which says “He who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” So they stayed on; and the oppressive spiritual darkness rooted in centuries of spiritism and ancestor worship continued to pervade that area.

Then one day a friend from Britain sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to send them a gift and asked them what they would like. Trusting that the Lord would bless their work, Mary Moffat replied, “Send us a communion set.”

The Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts was gathered to form the first Christian church in that land. The communion set from England was delayed in the mail; but on the day before the very first commemoration of the Lord's super in Botswana it arrived.

Today there are about 1.3 million Christians in Botswana, that is 70% of the population.

So be patient and pray God’s promises down. He who called you is faithful and he will do it. Remember what Smith Wigglesworth once said; “Great testimonies come from great tests, and great triumphs from great trials.”

Spying Out the Land

Back to Numbers 13. In v17-20 Moses tells the spies what to look for. The thing is, God had already told Moses when he met him in the burning bush back in Exodus 3 that it was “a good and spacious land flowing with milk and honey,” meaning it was fertile enough to support grazing cattle and settled enough to have productive beehives – offering an agricultural abundance of both staple food and luxuries.

So Moses knew it was going to be a great destination but he wanted the people to see it for themselves and sample some produce to show them what the future held in store.

But Moses didn’t know then what kind of opposition they would meet, if any. So he also says in v18 and “See… whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many… What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?” In other words, is it going to be difficult for us to enter the land and take it – or relatively straightforward?

I want you to notice this; God expects you to use your mind, weigh things up and think things through. Moses didn’t just say “Come on you guys, God has told me we’re going to enter the Promised Land, let’s go! You just need faith.”

No, he saw the spiritual wisdom of assessing the situation intelligently. He saw the spiritual value of measuring the scale of the task and weighing up the resources available. There’s nothing worldly about that – it is the way God has wired us.

So the 12 spies go off for 40 days, which in the Bible is often a time of testing, and they take a good look around from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, (which is a bit like saying from Land’s End to John O’Groats – it’s a methodical and detailed scouting mission.

When they get round to going into the land and driving out the people who are already there what can they expect?

I think we just need to open a parenthesis here. Some people feel very uncomfortable about this. In fact, the conquest of Canaan with its battles and bloodshed recorded in the Book of Joshua is one of the things you hear about again and again from atheists in their rejection of the Bible as God’s word.

I confess it is, for me, one of the Bible’s take-a-deep-breath moments whenever I read it. We need to ask: “Why would a God of love command the Israelites to march in to Canaan, put its occupants to the sword and divide up the land so that they themselves could resettle in it?”

As I’ve wrestled with this question over the years, I have come to hold four convictions.

Firstly, while it’s true that the land did not belong to the Israelites - it didn’t belong to the Canaanites and Amorites either. Psalm 24 says “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” He made it, he sustains it and he holds the title deeds to it. Anyone living there is merely a tenant and, as in any tenancy agreement, the landlord has a right to evict in the case of bad behaviour.

Secondly, God is a God of love but he is also a God of justice to whom everyone will one day have to give an account. If God gave me what I really deserve the truth is he’d send me to straight to hell this morning without passing “Go” and without collecting £200. I am culpable for the shocking death of his blameless Son - and so are you. We are without excuse. It’s only because he is also a God of mercy that he stays his hand from giving sinners what they deserve. That’s what’s so amazing about grace.

Thirdly, God showed incredible patience by delaying his just punishment of the Canaanites and Amorites for four centuries. In Genesis 15, long before the Israelites were in Egypt, God said to Abraham “Know for certain that for 400 years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there… In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

In other words, God waited 400 years until the wickedness and vice of the inhabitants of Canaan had got so bad that there was no way back.

What was it about the Amorites that justified their obliteration from the face of the earth? Archaeology has uncovered evidence of an evil and degrading society. Their worship cults were sadistic orgies where child sacrifice was widespread. Sexually transmitted diseases were so endemic that any intermarriage with them would have had catastrophic consequences for generations. But God waited for four centuries, giving them time to change. They didn’t. So at the end of that time, when the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure, God said, “Enough.”

Fourthly, it needs to be said that any form of holy war is absolutely out of the question for followers of Christ. Jesus told Peter to put down his sword when he drew it in the Garden of Gethsemane, cutting off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. He told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world and if it were, his servants would fight. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and inasmuch as people have fought crusades and killed in Jesus’ name, they have disobeyed Christ and denied the Gospel. “Our fight is not against flesh and blood” says the New Testament, “it is against the principalities and powers and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.”

I hope that just sets our minds at rest when we encounter violent passages in the Old Testament. Close parenthesis.

Anyway, the spies return with a substantial cluster of grapes, as well as figs and pomegranates – sounds like a pretty impressive fruit salad – and they bring with them a detailed report of what they had seen.

Faith – Sharing God’s Perspective on Your Life

The good news first (v27); “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.”

So everything God said is true. Should they have been surprised?

Then (v28) one crucial word. “But.” So now the bad news. The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak – giants.”

And then the disagreement; Caleb (v30) says “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

But the others disagree and spread a bad and exaggerated report. These are the naysaying pessimists you really don’t need too many of on the PCC! Moses has 10 out of 12 on his.

“The land devours those living in it” they say. Does it?

“All the people we saw there are of great size.” All of them? Really?

“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Grasshoppers eh? Did they actually say, “You people, we’ve never seen humans like you before. Has anyone ever told you look sort of… locusty, like grasshoppers? Because, to us, the resemblance is striking.”

It’s just exaggeration and scaremongering. But they spread it around. We’ll follow this story up next week and we’ll see just how infectious and toxic unbelief is to the morale of God’s people.

I mentioned David earlier – and the Bath Sheba test he famously failed. But what about the Goliath test? How did he do on that one? ‘A star’ with distinction, honours, Academy Award and blue ribbon!

When Goliath faced the Israelites most of them took one look and said something like “We’re grasshoppers compared to this giant.” Only David said “This man has insulted the living God. Big mistake.”

The Israelites said “Well, to be fair he got size on his side.” Only David said, “Yes, but we’ve got God on our side!”

The Israelites said “Wow, he’s enormous! It’s men against boys.” Only David said, “Wow, he’s enormous! With a target that big I can’t miss!”

Ending

So you see, faith is mostly about seeing God’s perspective on our life.

Six American shoe company executives were sent out to do some research into expanding into a country in the Far East. They looked around, conferred, and discussed the potential for overseas investment.

Five said; “There is no market here. Practically everyone goes barefoot.” But one said, “Practically everyone here needs shoes. We should open a factory immediately.”

How big are the challenges you face?

Wondering how you’re going to manage with tight finances? How does God, who owns all wealth and riches, look at your balance sheet?

Wondering how you are going to cope with a major new problem at work? How does God, who is supreme over the affairs of the nations, view your office?

What bad report are you hearing? Who or what are your giants in the land? What challenge are you facing this morning?

Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor says “Don’t just tell God how big the problem is; tell the problem how big God is.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 26th August 2012

Forgiveness in the Family (Hosea 3.1-5 and Ephesians 4.17-32)

Introduction

We are coming towards to the end of our little series about family life, marriage, singleness, teenagers, aging relatives, young children, grandchildren, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. I hope you’ve found it helpful, even when the subject matter does not directly apply to you and your current circumstances.

I think there is so much confusion and chaos in our society caused by the steady drift away from biblical values - and so often the world’s ideas get into the church - that I think it’s essential to try and set out a Christian vision for living. If we adopt the common sense approach that we find in God’s word we will save ourselves and others an awful lot of grief.

What I want to talk about this morning is forgiveness in the family.

Actually, this applies to all relationships, but it is in family life where the fallout, when things go wrong, is greatest. In in my experience (over 20 years of church leadership) I would have to say to you that the overwhelming number one cause of pastoral problems and relationship breakdowns and family unhappiness is unforgiveness.

Why Forgiveness is Important

Whoever you are, and whatever kind of family relationships you have, and I include the wider family here, you have to make a fundamental daily choice. It’s a choice that will determine more than any other how healthy your relationships will be.

Even in the most loving families there will be times when siblings, or spouses or parents or children or even uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews upset and offend each other. It’s barely avoidable and often quite accidental. It’s not a matter of “if”, it’s a matter of “when” we get hurt by others in our family.

Here is a little selection of the kind of thing I mean:

• Have you ever forgotten a birthday or anniversary?
• Have you ever promised a treat to the children, then forgotten all about it or got too tired?
• Have you ever failed to notice all the trouble someone else in the family took to treat you, only to have to have it pointed out?
• Or have you refrained from a hug from a family member because you were in the middle of doing something?
• Did you ever miss your child’s sports day or school play because of an emergency at work?
• Or were you that child eagerly waiting for mum or dad to come and watch you only to feel rejected because they didn’t turn up?
• Have you ever found yourself fighting and arguing in front of the children?
• Or, as a child, blocking your ears as your mum and dad quarrelled.

I can relate to most of the above.

When you do get upset and hurt by things like that, and you will, you’ll need to decide if:

a) you are going to allow the pain fester away and slowly poison your relationships, or
b) if you are going to deal with it.

This is so critical. Personal hurt and personal forgiveness is one of the key areas where we have to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.

Let me try and illustrate why dealing with stored up hurt is so important.

One of the worst household problems you can have is a blocked drain. Have you ever had a blocked drain in your home? We once had one when I was a boy. The toilets took ages to flush and whenever it rained there was a foul smell all around the house.

We got the plunger out and tried it on the sinks and toilets. Nothing happened.

So we poured an acid-based product down to try and dissolve whatever was blocking the drainage pipes. That didn’t work either.

So my dad took the drain cover off and tried to fish out anything obvious that shouldn’t be there; a dead cat or something - to no avail.

So finally, we called in a professional firm who turned up in a day-glow van. They spent quite some time… drinking tea if truth be told… but eventually they sent some long rods down into the main sewer and poked around until, all of a sudden, there was a satisfying slurp and glug, glug, glug – and all the raw sewage quickly drained away.

Unresolved emotional pain in your family is like that drain. If you don’t deal with daily hurt through forgiveness it’s like you’re pouring wax, cement, lard and such like down the wastepipe over many months.

Dealing with the Issues

In Ephesians 4.26-27 it says “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

In other words, whatever you do, don’t let a single day pass without dealing with whatever caused you hurt and resolving it before it becomes unmanageable.

The devil hates families. 1Peter 5.8 describes him as “a roaring lion, prowling about, looking to devour.” He wants to split families up and cause as much unhappiness as he can. Don’t let the devil get his foot in the door by lying awake all night with unresolved anger and festering grievances. Sort it out.

When it comes to dealing with anger in relationships, people sometimes talk about rhinos and hedgehogs. Have you heard that before? When they feel under threat, rhinos and hedgehogs do things differently. Rhinos charge and hedgehogs curl up into a ball.

Some people are like rhinos. When they are hurt by someone they want to talk about it immediately. They confront the issues.

Rhinos say things like, “I just need to say that I felt really humiliated when you were joking about me at the party.”

Some people are like hedgehogs, though. When they get hurt by someone, they tend to become withdrawn and a bit, well… prickly. Instead of dealing with the problem head on they go into a sulk. And when the person who has offended us asks “Is something wrong?” we say, “No, no everything’s fine.”

Let’s have a little show of hands. How many of you would say you tend to behave like rhinos? When someone upsets you, you let them know about it and clear the air...

And how many of you would say you tend to behave like hedgehogs? When someone upsets you, you prefer not to complain so you go quiet and stew...

They say that the population is divided roughly 50:50 on this one.

But I think there are more hedgehogs per head of population in Britain than anywhere else on earth. We don’t like to make a fuss. “Keep calm and carry on.” We love that don’t we?

Other countries have noticed this national trait as well. The Italians (who are 99% rhinos!) have a proverb that says “Step on an Englishman’s toes and he’ll apologise to you.” A German friend of mine once told me that German cafés serve their worst beer to the English because they know that they will never complain!

If you are a rhino, you’ll need to learn to express your frustrations graciously.

“I felt wound up when you turned up 20 minutes late after I specifically asked you to try to be on time.” That’s good.

“You’re always late, you never take me seriously do you?” That’s not so good.

If you’re a hedgehog, I’ll remind you of what you probably know already - suppressing your hurt emotions is not healthy because it usually leads to explosions later.

This is why Ephesians 4 goes on to say in v31 “Get rid of all bitterness… and every form of malice.” Get rid of it. Sort it out. Don’t let it fester.

And v32 says “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

In order to keep the family relationship drains unblocked there are three simple steps:

1. Talk about what has caused hurt
2. Be prepared to say sorry
3. Choose to forgive each other and forget about it

Forgiveness Keeps Trust Alive

That is God’s plan for good, healthy families and it builds the kind of trust the Lord intended for family life.

Nicky and Sila Lee in their excellent The Marriage Book (from whom I borrowed and adapted a lot of material for this) talk about trust in family relationships being like the glass in a window. What’s the glass for in these windows? The purpose of the glass is to let light in and keep the weather and noise out.

Window panes can be surprisingly tough; 4mm glass resists driving rain and howling winds and even footballs - but one hammer blow will shatter it instantly.

Trust between a husband and wife, or between a parent and a child, is equally fragile.

The trust that God designed for family life can be shattered in moments through devastating events like unfaithfulness, and angry outbursts or violence. Children are almost always scarred by marriage breakdown.

I’ve spoken to many couples who have no intention of ever getting married because of the heartache they suffered when their own parents’ marriage broke down. But it’s not marriage that is the problem. The Office of National Statistics reports that the problem is actually worse for cohabiting couples. They found that 8% of married couples split up within 5 years of the birth of their first child. The equivalent for cohabiting couples is over 40%.

The problem is a breakdown of trust due to a failure to resolve differences.

It’s challenging to forgive big traumas like emotional abuse, divorce and infidelity – as Hosea found out. God asked him to take his wife back after she had run off as a prostitute. I wonder how he felt. Well, he felt like God feels about us when we go after our idols, that’s the point of the book of Hosea.

Like a brick through a window pane, trust can be shattered through trauma. But most of the time that window just becomes gradually dimmed by a build-up of relationship dust and dirt.

We get our vicarage windows cleaned once a month. It’s amazing how quickly the dust and rain make them look filthy again. They usually need cleaning after a fortnight.

Family relationships also get messy through the accumulation of thoughtlessness.

Just as we need to regularly clean the windows, we need to make sure that little lies and small acts of unkindness and criticism and nagging don’t build up resentment.

If you never give your children an outlet to talk about what they resent, it can tick away like a time bomb and then explode in the teenage years. Children need to learn to give vent to what upsets them, learn to say sorry and to forgive.

Resentment build up in marriage can be lethal as well. The author John Taylor in his book “Falling” wrote this: “Our marriage wasn’t hellish, it was simply dispiriting. My wife and I didn’t hate each other; we simply got on each other's nerves. Over the years we each had accumulated a store of minor unresolved grievances. Our marriage was a mechanism so encrusted with small disappointments and petty grudges that its parts no longer closed.”

Once again,

1. Talk about what has caused hurt
2. Be prepared to say sorry
3. Choose to forgive each other and forget about it

If this three step process had been applied the grievances would have got resolved and the mechanism wouldn’t have rusted over.

Ending

So as I close, one more thought from Ephesians 4.17-18.

I started off by talking about the growing muddle in our society caused by the steady drift away from biblical values.

The Bible says this: “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do,” (he’s talking about people who don’t do God). You must no longer live as they do “in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Darkened understanding that separates you from the life of God, the Bible says, comes from a hardening of the heart; unforgiveness.

Are you letting the Holy Spirit soften your heart so that forgiveness and healing is flowing in your family?

Are you keeping the drains free from the blockages of unresolved hurt?

Are you regularly cleaning the windows of all that petty criticism and nagging and thoughtlessness?

If you want to ask God to give you grace to do this, ask someone on the prayer ministry to pray with you at the end of the service. Maybe you want to take a step and release forgiveness to someone who hurt you. The Holy Spirit wants to bring deliverance today.

Chains be broken! Lives be healed! Eyes be opened! Christ is revealed!

Let’s stand to pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 15th July 2012

The Church Family (James 2.14-26 and Matthew 12.46-50)

A little girl asked her mother, “How did the human race appear?”

The mother answered, “Well, God made Adam and Eve and then they had children, and then they had their own children and so on.”

Two days later the girl asked her father the same question. “How did the human race appear?” He answered, “Well, many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved.”

The little girl was very confused and returned to her mother and said, “Mum, you told me we were created by God, and dad said we evolved from monkeys.”

So the mother answered, “Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his!”

We are coming towards to the end of our little series about family life, marriage, singleness, teenagers, aging relatives, children and grandchildren.

What about the church as a family? Is the church like a dysfunctional family unit?

Actually, someone might ask, is “family” even the right word to describe relationships in the local church? Some people don’t like the term “family services” because, either they live alone and feel excluded, or their experience of family is so bad they would just rather we find another word altogether.

The word “family” is used 17 times in the New Testament and perhaps only once is it used to describe the local church; it’s in Galatians 6.10 and it says this -

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

That means the church. But it’s just one verse and some people might argue that the church isn’t really like a family at all. There are other metaphors in the Bible that are used much more often to express what church is like.

For example, the church is compared to a healthy body, a holy temple, a beautiful bride, a fertile field, a trained army, a royal priesthood and even a busy building site. (I have to admit I’ve met a few cowboy builders in my time in the church)!

But the Bible often uses family language to describe what happens to us when we come into a relationship with God through Jesus.

When you came to faith, God was no longer a remote and unfriendly being outside your experience. No, you experienced him as your heavenly Father. Christians are called children of God.

And relationships between Christians are given family-like words too. Paul called Timothy his true son in the faith. And in Romans 16, when he is saying “hello” to a list of acquaintances before signing off, Paul says “Greet Rufus… and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.”

All through the epistles believers are addressed as “brother and sisters.”

God does not want us to be on formal terms, addressing one another as Rev. Lambert or Doctor Littlehailes or Mr. Wake, but on first name terms and with the genuine familiarity and affection that siblings have.

You remember Winston Churchill’s speech to Parliament on 4th June 1940: “Whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Well, that sounds exactly like the back of the car on the way to my family holidays when I was about 8.

Most of my childhood was spent being tormented by, my sister (who was bossy because she was the oldest) and tormenting my brother (who got away with murder because he was the youngest).

Siblings do argue from time to time and Christians have disagreements too.

Christians fall out because they are brothers and sisters. God understands that and this is why the Bible says that we need to work hard at maintaining the unity of the Spirit.

And so, in 1 John 4.19, we are given the vision of church being family.

This is how John puts it in that verse: “We love because God first loved us. If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister (he is talking about fellow Christians), we are liars. For any of us who do not love a brother or sister whom we have seen, cannot love God whom we have not seen. And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another.”

It is a wonderful thing that, when we come to Christ, we are born into a family with brothers and sisters. The church throughout the world is family. It’s an amazing thing, you know, you can travel to any part of the world and there you will find believers in Jesus Christ and you have this filial relationship with them as soon as you meet them.

Two weeks ago, I was in Edinburgh for our daughter’s wedding in the Free Reformed Church where she and Iain met. The church was very different in feel to both All Saints’ and Saint Mary’s – but Kathie and I immediately felt completely at ease. We sing the same worship songs, we read and treasure the same scriptures, we love the same God. We share the same vocabulary and values. I found myself thinking “I hardly know a soul in Edinburgh but this is just like home.”

They say you choose your friends but can’t change your family. Take a look around you this morning. These are your brothers and your sisters!

If you’re not a Christian yet, they are your potential brothers and sisters! I don’t know whether that would make you want to be a Christian or not! I hope it would… But we are one family and our common language is love.

In the world, we talk of big families, small families, dysfunctional families, happy families, single-parent families, extended families, weird families, extended families, broken families, famous families, tragic families and so on. What should the family of God be like?

Our reading from James suggests that it should be a community that believes certain things and that behaves a certain way. James paints a vivid picture of what that should look like. Let’s look at James 2.14-18 again:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister [note the family language] is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

So in the church family, there is no favouritism. Love must be genuine and words must be matched by deeds.

Holy Trinity Brompton’s annual Leadership Conference took place in May. Our own Kathryn Belmont was one of 4,000 people representing over 900 churches from over 50 countries who gathered at the Royal Albert Hall, which was full to bursting.

Such was the pressure for space, the Queen had even granted permission for the Royal Box to be used, which is quite something. Who do you think the organisers arranged to be seated in the Royal Box?

Well, Tony Blair was at the conference as a speaker but it wasn’t him. Rick Warren was there too (this is the man who led in prayer at Barak Obama’s investiture as US President and whose book, The Purpose Driven Life, has sold 30 million copies) but it wasn’t him either. Several prominent bishops and politicians and ambassadors were there but none was seated in the Royal Box.

Who then? The organisers used it to seat homeless people and ex-offenders. Isn’t that just genius? I cannot imagine any other organisation on earth who would even think of doing that. But, you see, everyone is a VIP in the family of God - including you.

They say there’s no place like home. Home is where the heart is. But one of the most painful things in Jesus’ life was that members of his family misunderstood him and even opposed him. So he said “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

John’s gospel reveals that, up until the resurrection, his brothers did not believe in him. Mark’s gospel says that they thought he was mad.

The incident in our Gospel reading tellingly finds Jesus’ family ‘outside’ while Jesus is ‘inside’. They weren’t interested in Jesus’ ministry. They wanted him to follow them – and if you’ve got family who aren’t believers you’ll probably know how that feels.

Jesus used this awkward situation to talk about who he thinks his real family is.

“Pointing to his disciples, [Mary Magdalene, Peter, James, John, Joanna, Susanna, Matthew…] he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” (Matthew 12.49-50). What did his family make of that, I wonder?

They say that blood is thicker than water (meaning that family bonds are closer than any other and that allegiance should always be to family first).

But Jesus says otherwise here. When the family you are born into comes between you and the will God, as it did for Jesus, it has to be challenged.

I hope you have acknowledged who Jesus is and made a settled decision to follow him as Lord and Saviour. That alone is what brings someone into a relationship with Christ - and a friendship that, the Bible says, is closer than that of a brother. That alone is what makes you a member of the best family on earth - God’s family.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 15th July 2012

Bride's Father Speech

On the Occasion of the Marriage of Anna Lambert and Iain Hamill - 30th June 2012

Well, I’d like to thank you all for coming from various parts of the country (and indeed from abroad, even from as far as New Zealand) to be with us here in Edinburgh on Anna and Iain’s wedding day.

It shows how much you love and appreciate the bride and groom. Either that or you just can’t resist a free meal! But even that comes at a price, because now you have to listen to me.

Thank you too for all those who have helped plan and prepare this magnificent occasion.

Anna was born on Good Friday in 1985.

I remember vividly the trip to the hospital, the feeling of terror when the monitor showed that Anna had a slow heartbeat as Kathie went into labour, the birth itself around 10:00pm and the trip home in a taxi across London just feeling dazed and elated. I didn’t sleep a wink that night.

As soon as the sun rose the next day I dashed over to the hospital to see my wife and baby girl and this is what I saw.

Our eyes met and she looked at me as if to say… who’s this idiot?

But ever since that day, I have loved her and prayed for her, dreamed dreams for her and enjoyed watching her grow into the beautiful woman and radiant bride you behold and admire today.

Some say that fathers can be a little one sided about their daughters but I have objective photographic evidence here that Anna was destined to be so talented it would be a major headache deciding which glittering career path she would choose and which she would spurn.

Would she be the ribbon-twirling gymnast effortlessly bringing home Olympic gold?

Or, as she giggled excitedly taking her first steps at an improbably young age, would she be the intrepid explorer boldly going where no man had gone before?

Would she transport with emotion the entire Royal Albert Hall as she interpreted the great works of classical piano with a finesse never heard before…

…and win, by several furlongs, every Grand National, Epsom Derby and Cheltenham Gold Cup for three decades?

Or would she perhaps singlehandedly transform a half-witted Sunday driver with a glass eye and wooden leg into a Formula One champion…

…while singing Verdi’s La Traviata?

Or would she become a Structural Engineer to make Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Gustave Eiffel seem like complete morons...

…whilst appearing on the cover of every fashion magazine?

Would she perhaps singlehandedly save every child on the planet…

…and still cross the Tour de France finish line on the Champs Elysees while the peloton was still sweating away somewhere in the Alps?

She would surely be all of the above, as well as an internationally acclaimed artist…

…able to effortlessly find the perfect balance between work and leisure...

...not forgetting family, for whom she would be the perfect mother.

Kathie and I want to say today that we are hugely proud of our daughter and that she has surpassed all our expectations and wildest dreams.

At the risk of this becoming a short sermon, it says in Psalm 145 “One generation will commend your works to another” and I think that goes two ways; not just from elder to younger but from younger to older too.

One damp, misty morning when Anna was about 3 she was strapped into the back of our 2CV (this picture was taken one evening on the way home). I tried turning the engine but it was hopeless. For about quarter of an hour it just wouldn’t start. I was getting more and more annoyed when from the back seat Anna cheerfully shouted “Come on Jesus, start the car!” I put the key back in the ignition, turned it again and it started like a dream. It’s one of our most precious memories of Anna’s childhood and still inspires us today when we pray about wretched situations.

They say that a father’s relationship with his daughter is special and that is true.

A baby, before you know it, is a toddler, is at school, is playing musical instruments and taking exams.

But, in my experience it doesn’t happen gradually. The journey through childhood into adulthood seems to come in sudden leaps.

I remember several occasions when I looked at Anna and my heart seemed to skip a beat. There in front of me was no longer an infant, with all the spontaneity and simplicity that children have.

There before me was a young woman with an emerging elegance, grace and charm.

The thing is that, for a parent, the days pass slowly but the years pass quickly.

When we learned that Anna was courting Iain we immediately went on a scouting mission on Facebook to find out more about him. Was he ever going to be good enough for our daughter?

We discovered he was a Christian. That ticked the most important box.

He was intelligent and studying economics. That ticked the box entitled “I hope he won’t come scrounging the rent having blown it on the horses.”

He was into rugby and mountaineering and was a handsome, strapping lad. That ticked the “good bet for future grandchildren” box.

What was not to like about this young man? And even though we only ever really understood one word in three that he spoke, we unreservedly approved.

So when Iain formally asked me for Anna’s hand last year, I don’t know what came over me when I found myself saying “What would you do if I said no?”

The poor young man looked genuinely distressed! Needless to say, I reassured him that we have prayed all Anna’s life that the Lord would show her the kindness of providing her with a godly man who would love her deeply – and that we believe he is a wonderful answer to all our prayers.

Iain, we are so thrilled to be welcoming you into our family. We so loved staying with your delightful family last year in Northern Ireland and I want to pay tribute to Andrew and Anne for raising such a fine son.

Watching Anna, by the grace of God, getting from (A) to (B) has been one of my life’s greatest privileges.

And when I walked Anna down the aisle and placed her hand in Iain’s today, it was one of the most significant and emotional moments of my life. It was also one of the happiest.

Iain, you have won my daughter’s heart and you can make her happier now than I, or anyone else, ever can - and, for that, Kathie and I are overjoyed.

We wish you both every blessing and happiness together in married life.

Ladies and gentlemen can I ask you to stand, raise your glasses and join me in a toast for the health and happiness of the new Mr. and Mrs. Hamill.

To Iain and Anna!

Walk on Water (Matthew 14.22-33)

"So there we were, 12 men in our prime straining at the oars, putting all our backs into it, trying to make progress. The wind was howl. The waves were relentless.

We had set out from shore early that evening. We were rowing flat out for eight hours and only got three and a half miles. How do you think we were feeling? Well, I’ll tell you. We were exhausted, demoralised, and beginning to wonder how long all this was going to last.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, we see this… figure walking on the sea not far from the boat. I’m telling you now, I have never been so petrified in all my life. I felt this shiver run down my back. I don’t know if I believe in the paranormal, but this was spooky. Some of my mates were so freaked out they started to scream.

But when all the commotion calmed down, we heard a familiar voice. It was Jesus. It looked like he was walking on the water. He was walking on the water!  He looked over to us, and said, “Man up guys; it’s me. There’s no need to panic.”

If you’ve never seen anyone walk on water before – and I suppose you haven’t – you can’t imagine what it’s like. I can’t describe it. You’d have to be there.

Anyway, Peter sitting next to me, all of a sudden says, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

As soon as he said that I turned round and said to him, “I don’t think you’ve thought this through have you pal?”

I saw the look on his face. It was a look that said, “Me and my big mouth!” But the thing about men is this; if you say you’re going to do something in front of your mates – you’ve got to do it, haven’t you?

Peter was always talking like that. Impulsive, that’s the word. It’s as if his brain only ever started working several seconds after his mouth moved.

So when Jesus shouted back, “Come on then” I’m sure I heard Peter swear under his breath. At that moment in time he looked like he would rather have a dozen ferrets down his trousers than have to leave that boat.

Anyway, the boat was heaving up and down with the waves and the wind. We were all watching, wondering what was going to happen. Some of us were poking each other in the ribs and laughing out loud. It was like the blokes on Top Gear when one of them breaks down in the middle of nowhere! “Bye bye, Peter! Ha ha ha!”

He had to do it now. And I tell you what; he put one foot over the side of the boat and then another. He was sitting right on the edge of the deck. Slowly but surely, he slid his backside towards the water – and let go of the side of the boat! And he actually started to walk towards Jesus on the water.

None of us were laughing now. But after a moment, Peter looked round at the howling wind and the rolling waves. He lost his nerve, and started to sink. “Lord, save me.” He sounded genuinely scared. No one thought this was funny now.

But Jesus immediately reached out and he took hold of him. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” he said.

To be honest, in the moment, it was terrifying. But looking back there was nothing to be afraid of."

When I was about 12, I went swimming with my little brother and I told him I could jump off the top diving platform. In fact, I lied to him and boasted that I’d done it before and it was easy. He thought I was an absolute hero. “Wow,” he said. “Show me!” When I got to the top of the stairs, at the highest diving board, the pool below looked about the size of a postage stamp. It seemed to take me about half an hour of looking over the edge, holding on to the rail, before I summoned up the courage to jump in.

Of course it is one thing to say you will do something, it is quite another to actually do it.

It’s one thing to stand up today and say “Yes, I am going to make a stand for Christ” but I’d be the first to admit that it’s much harder to do it than say it.

But there comes a time in life when, like Peter who got out of the boat and took a step of faith, you have to stand up and be counted. As John Ortberg says, if you want to walk on water you've got to get out of the boat.

The story about walking on the water shows us that Jesus helps us to achieve the impossible in life.

Think about the hardest thing you face in your life this morning... With Christ, you can do it. Nothing is impossible with God. Peter said, “If this is really you, Jesus, then tell me to come to you, help me to do something that is impossible for me to do by myself, to walk on water.”

Bringing up a child is not actually impossible – but it is hard. Having four children myself I’ll tell you what I’ve found; the days go slowly – but the years go quickly. Today your little ones think you know everything. But before you know it they will be 16. Then they’ll think they know everything and you know nothing.

How are you going to shape Christian values in their lives in the meantime? You’ve got to make sure you keep walking and don’t sink.

When Peter began to sink, what was the problem? Did he start to doubt that Jesus was really standing on the water? No. There was Jesus, right there, standing and waiting for him. Peter’s problem was that he focused on the wind and the waves. When he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to doubt that he could do it.

You’ve got to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus too. We all have.

And when we fail, as we inevitably will at some point, Jesus is there to pick us up.

When we tell this story, we think about Peter’s failure – he started to sink and drown and he suffered the humiliation of having to be bailed out. But don’t forget that Peter had the guts to get out of his comfort zone in the first place while the others just sat around like lemons.

He had a go. And he actually started to walk on water. How many steps did he take? Two or three? Nine or ten?

Like Peter, there will be days when you and I have that sinking feeling, when everything seems to be going wrong. But when we call out to him, Jesus loves to grab us by the hand. That's why we call him our Saviour.

Setting out to do the impossible with Jesus is the best journey you can ever make.

So, like Peter, take a step of faith in Jesus today. Never mind what other people say, never mind how scary it seems.

It’s better than staying in the boat all your life and always wishing you’d had a go - but played safe and missed out on life’s greatest adventure.

Sermon preached at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 24th June 2012.

Being Grandparents (Deuteronomy 4.1-9, Proverbs 13.22, 16.31, 17.6, Titus 2.1-5)

Just when you've made all the mistakes you can make as a parent, and you finally feel that you’ve pretty well got the hang of being parents, your kids grow up and leave the nest. And before long they have made you grandparents.

Though I am a grandfather to a sweet little girl called Emilie who is about 8 months old, I have only met her once when she was a baby as she lives far away. I will get to see her again next week when my son and his wife travel up for our daughter’s wedding so you can imagine how I am looking forward to all that.

So since I want for experience on the subject of being grandparents I took the trouble of seeking the collective wisdom of about a dozen grandparents from this church this week.

The first question I asked was “What do you think is the most important advice you would give to someone who’d just become a grandparent?” As you might have guessed, I have to declare an interest on this one.

The top themes in the replies were to love the grandchildren, and to enjoy them. As Proverbs 16.31 says “Children’s children are a crown to the aged.”

Grandchildren are a delight of course in sometimes surprising ways. I heard a story about a 7 year-old boy who came home from school and said to his grandmother, “Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today.” The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. “That's interesting.” she said. “How do you make babies?” “It's simple,” replied the boy. “You just drop the ‘y’ and add ‘i-e-s’.”

We love the delightful things they come out with don’t we?

In my little survey people also said to be as available for them as possible but without being afraid to say “no” if necessary. I took this to mean setting limits on excessive requests from parents to babysit their children. And of course, it is their job, not yours.

The second question I asked was “What do you think are the biggest pitfalls or difficulties in being a grandparent?” The overwhelming two answers to emerge were interfering with the family by taking over the parent role and spoiling the grandchildren.

The interference issue is key. Your grown up children might well take a different approach to parenting to your own and this can be especially difficult if your children choose not to follow you in your Christian faith. But I can hardly imagine a situation where undermining parents would turn out well for your grandchildren.

I never thought my parents or Kathie’s parents could quite do the job we did for our children. I’m sure we all felt the same when our children were young as parents; however helpful and supportive our parents were no one knew our children quite like we did and it was our job to raise our children and pass on our values as best we could. Interference just makes things tense.

As for spoiling the grandchildren – whenever I used to visit my grandparents in Wimbledon they always used to give me £5 when it was time to say goodbye which was a lot of money when I was a boy.

I began to see my grandparents as a bit of a cash cow which says more about me than about them, but going overboard on giving material things can actually weaken the genuine affection between the generations.

We need to find a sense of proportion. In the replies to my question, several people said that grandparents have a great opportunity to pass on spiritual blessings to their grandchildren as well as material ones.

Someone said, “I'm a grandparent; I have a right to spoil my grandchildren.” I disagree. In fact, I think we have a responsibility not to.

There’s a difference between treating and spoiling. Treat them by all means, but if you spoil them they will turn out… we’ll, spoiled.

I think there are some wise responses there:
· Love your grandchildren
· Make time to be with them
· Don’t be afraid to say “no” if you need to
· Beware of usurping your children’s role as your grandchildren’s parents
· Treat but don’t spoil the grandchildren
· Pass on spiritual values as well as material treats

Today’s Deuteronomy reading is all about being faithful to God’s word and not drifting from its standard. All the way through Deuteronomy you find this theme; if you want to prosper and live well and live under the hand of God’s blessing you have to live in obedience to God’s word.

People sometimes talk about the Bible as a big black rule book that’s down on people enjoying themselves.

J. John talks about a man who took this view; “The Ten Commandments are so negative – don’t do this, don’t do that. We should do away with them” he said. And J. John thought, “Yes, that you shall not murder really cramps my style!”

In fact, far from being a series of miserable prohibitions, our reading sets out obedience to God’s word as the key to living well and enjoying life.

Verse 1 and 5; God says “Do you want to live and take possession of the land? Well, here’s how - remember to follow my ways and be careful to do so.”

Verses 3-4; God says “Do you want to avoid ruin and disaster? Well, remember those people who went after false idols – look what happened to them! But look, those who kept faith are still here. Think about why.”

Verses 6-8; God says “How do you want a harvest of goodness in your life that is so wonderful that other people will find it attractive and will want to emulate it? Well, remember what I taught you, don’t forget it and put it into practice.”

And verse 9, which has particular resonance for grandparents;

“Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”

It may be if your children are cool towards your faith that you are in a difficult spot here. We’ve talked already about the pitfalls of interfering and undermining. But however uneasy your children and in-laws might be about your faith, you can still pray fervently for the future generations of your family and the Proverbs underline how living righteously, living consistently is a strong element of that teaching.

And, of course, if your life oozes love, kindness, joy, wisdom, patience, gentleness, faith and consistency we will have more impact for good on our grandchildren than if we just rant on and on about God every time they come to stay. I am not saying "Don't talk about the goodness of the Lord" to your grandchildren if you have an opportunity to do so. I am saying that will be counterproductive if you aren't living an attractive lifestyle at the same time.

Proverbs 13.22 in the Message version says “A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren.”

Mind you grandchildren might not always take in what you pass on. One grandfather told about his granddaughter who was visiting one day and said, “Granddad, I know why you are like God?” He mentally polished his halo and said, “Tell me why.” “Well, you’re both really, really old!” There’s nothing like being compared to the Ancient of Days to brighten up your week is there?

But it’s true that “a good life gets passed on to the grandchildren.” Charles Spurgeon once preached on being a grandparent and said, “We have come to a turning point in the road. If we turn to the right perhaps our children and our children's children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to His Word.”

So let me finish briefly with words from Titus 2 which map out the qualities God most wants grandparents to have in order to influence and shape future generations.

In v1-2, Paul speaks of older men who are becoming temperate, worthy of respect and self-controlled, sound in faith, in love and in endurance. You grandfathers, is that how you want your grandchildren to think of you?

Verse 3 speaks of older women urging, (not telling, not preaching, not nagging) the younger women to keep their family strong and stable - loving their husbands and children and building a place of wholesome security. You grandmothers, you have a role in cheering on your daughters and daughters-in-law to be good, respectful wives.

It speaks of older women having a wholesome lifestyle; reverent in the way they live, not slagging people off or always with a glass of gin but commending all that is good. Is that how you want your grandchildren to think of you?

Our faith - and the beautiful fruit of a life lived in Christ - are the greatest legacy we pass on to our children and grandchildren.

So may the Lord, who shows love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments, give us grace to live consistently for him and may we rejoice to see his blessing and favour echo through to our children – and our children’s children. Amen.  


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 17th June 2012