Encounter Jesus - The Centurion (Luke 7.1-10)

Image courtesy of www.LumoProject.com

Introduction

Nicky Gumbel tells the story of a young member of his church, years ago, who had a job working in the library of a major national newspaper. This newspaper kept files of old cuttings about every well-known person. The files were kept in rows of long shelves and were separated into ‘living people’ and ‘dead people’.

One day, he was looking through the files of dead people and came across a large file marked ‘Jesus Christ’. He glanced over his shoulder to check that no one was looking and quickly moved the file from the ‘dead people’ section to the ‘living people’ section!

We’re starting a series of talks today about encountering Jesus. That is what everyone needs to do. And you can, because he is alive. I hope that’s why you’re part of All Saints’ by the way. I hope you don’t come here for a weekly top up of religion. If you do, I hope you’re profoundly disappointed.

I didn’t go into church leadership to give people a bit more religion in their lives. If anything, the opposite. I don’t really like religion. I find it annoying. It’s boring. But I would walk through fire to enable people to encounter Jesus.

When people go all religious their lives change; they become dull, unattractive and weird. When people meet with Jesus, their lives change too; they become interesting, attractive and fun. Lost people get found. Broken people get mended. Crabby people become nice to be with. Hating people become loving. Dysfunctional people get sorted out. Messed-up people get straightened out – when they encounter Jesus.

I have seen it again and again, I love it, and I want to see more of it; and that’s what the church is for.

So we’re going to be looking at people who met Jesus in the gospels and how that encounter changed their lives. He will change yours too if he hasn’t already and if you’ll let him.

Did He or Didn’t He?

Luke 7 introduces two main characters who, strangely enough, aren’t even named. One is a high-ranking Roman soldier, and the other is his personal assistant, a domestic servant. Not only are they unnamed, both of are off the stage altogether; we don’t even meet them at all, we just hear about them through intermediaries.

This is a bit confusing. Because in the parallel account in Matthew 8, Jesus clearly does meet the centurion. And he has a very similar conversation with him personally as he does with this delegation we come across in Luke 7. So did Jesus actually meet this centurion or not? Matthew seems to say yes, while Luke appears to say no.

When we do a bit of reconstruction we see that what probably happened is this;

1) The centurion hears that Jesus is in the vicinity and, not wanting to bother him unnecessarily, sends envoys with a hand-written message. Off they go and meet with Jesus.

2) They walk with Jesus along the way, tell him about the centurion, put in a few good words for him, and inform about his sick servant.

3) As they get nearer, some others pass on his message which essentially says “You don’t need to come to the house, you’ve got the authority to just say the word and that’ll do it. I give orders too. I get that.” Jesus is amazed by this expression of faith, sends the delegation back to the centurion’s house and continues his route. This is what Luke reports.

3) Moments later, the centurion sees Jesus with his entourage walking that way, perhaps thinking his message hasn’t got through, he comes out and repeats what he had said earlier, this time in person;. “Look, you don’t need to come to my house, I’m unworthy of it; you just need to say the word.”

4) As Jesus speaks with the centurion, the messengers arrive back at the house and see for themselves that the servant is already completely well. This is what Matthew reports.

This makes sense because Matthew was not part of that crowd walking into town. He didn’t start to follow Jesus until after this event (in chapter 9). He was a tax collector in that same town and he would have known the centurion well because a key job for the military in a town with a tax-office like Capernaum was to provide security around the tax booth.

So Matthew would likely have heard about the personal encounter between Jesus and the centurion, from the centurion himself, but not the earlier discussion on the way, so therefore that is what he reported.

This is why Luke writes about the earlier conversation and Matthew only includes the personal encounter shortly afterwards. Just in case that kind of thing keeps you awake at night, I thought I should just explain.

Setting the Scene

Anyway, let’s set the scene. Jesus has just been rejected and thrown out of his home town of Nazareth and he has made the small fishing town of Capernaum, population probably a few hundred people, his new base.

He has begun to preach, heal, cast out demons and work miracles in the neighbouring countryside. And his popularity is growing exponentially.

He has just had an action-packed day as usual and he is on his way back home when he is approached about some man in town who is dangerously ill, and about to die.

We don’t know his name, how old he is, where he’s from or what’s wrong with him. All we know is that the doctor has done everything he can. He’s on his death bed, nobody can cure him. The breathing is getting weaker and spaced further apart. The colour has already gone from his face. It’s just a matter of time. If you’ve ever seen someone dying you know what this looks like.

Luke knows exactly what this is. He’s a medical doctor, he’s seen people he can do nothing for, and he’s pronounced people dead before.

All we know about this sick man is that he is a personal assistant for a man of military rank stationed in that town, a commander of about 100 men, roughly equivalent to a sergeant-major.

We don’t know his name either but we do know a bit more about him than we know about his assistant.

Centurions were selected for their bravery; they led from the front, inspiring their troops by example, so they often suffered heavy casualties in battle. 

The Roman military manual Vegetius De Re Militari says this: “The centurion in the infantry is chosen for his size, strength and dexterity in throwing his missile weapons and for his skill in the use of his sword and shield; in short for his expertise in all the exercises. He is to be vigilant, temperate, active and readier to execute the orders he receives than he is to talk.”

This guy in our story ticked all those boxes. But he was very unusual in other ways.

Firstly, centurions in Jesus’ day were feared by their subordinates. But this centurion is different. His attitude to his personal assistant is different. He’s not just some kind of tool that is thrown away when it no longer works.

The centurion has real affection for his loyal servant. This is not just some nobody who carries out orders. He may have known him some time. This is a friend. It’s hard to escape the impression that this centurion is a great guy to work for. He cares personally and deeply about his staff.

Secondly, this centurion is different because he has a very unusual attitude towards the Jews and their faith.

The Roman army was famous for its utter contempt of all things Jewish. The locals hated them for their oppression and their open ridicule of Jews. Romans had little patience for this fanatical and obsessive religion as they saw it and they didn’t take kindly to being perceived as impure, unclean gentiles, forbidden to even Jewish homes without contaminating them.

Think of a gum-chewing, beer-drinking, hard-swearing, cocky American marine in a particularly fundamentalist corner of rural Afghanistan and you get a feel for the kind of dynamic that must have existed between Romans and Jews in those days.

But this centurion helped build their synagogue out of his own funds. The locals were poor so he gave a substantial gift out of his own pocket to enable the building to be built.

Some years ago, I went to Israel and spent about a week around Galilee and seeing the ruins of Capernaum’s synagogue. Most of the brickwork you see is limestone and dates to the 4^th century. But beneath the white stones are darker ones, cut from basalt; Roman architecture with Hebrew symbols worked into the stone; these are the very bricks donated by this centurion.

We are opening our gift fund for REACh today. I don’t know exactly how the Lord is going to provide £400,000 for this work we have agreed under God to undertake. I just know that he will.

I know that much of it will come from members here whose hearts have been touched. God has spoken to Kathie and me about how much we should give and we do so with glad and grateful hearts. Who knows how much of it might come from unlikely sources, like this centurion.

The Encounter

Anyway, notice this; the Jewish elders say in v4 that the centurion is worthy of Jesus healing his servant. “He deserves this” they say. Why does he deserve this? “Because” (v5) “he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

In other words, they go to Jesus and say, “Look what this great man has done; he’s paid for our church with his own money, he’s an upright, moral, good citizen, and he’s always nice to us even though he’s a Roman – so you owe this man a favour.”

This is how it always goes with religious people. The reasoning is as follows: when we do good works, we build up credit in the Bank of God so when we’re a bit short, God gives us what is rightfully ours.

That’s all wrong. It’s not the gospel. It’s not Christianity. It’s not what Jesus came to bring. It’s religion. It doesn’t work.

Thank God he doesn’t give me what I deserve! God doesn’t actually owe us anything; everything we have is pure grace. The elders should have gone to Jesus and said “Jesus, Master, would you graciously heal this man’s servant… please?” But no, they come to Jesus and say, “This man deserves to have you do this. After all he’s done, you owe him a favour.”

Nevertheless, Jesus, out of his overflowing compassion and unparalleled goodness, goes anyway. Maybe he has a hunch that, even though the elders say he is worthy, the centurion himself will know that he isn’t. And in v6 and v7 the hunch is proved right.

Not far from the house, messengers arrive with a note saying exactly that; “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof” he says. “Forget the money I spent on the synagogue and all that. I don’t consider myself worthy at all.” In other words, he thinks why would I presume to waste Jesus’ time? Jesus is important. He’s busy. I’m just a military officer. True, I’ve got a lot of money and a prestigious rank, 100 guys taking orders, staff running round me… but compared to Jesus I am nobody.”

And then the note says something else amazing. Verse 8. “I’m a leader. I give orders all day long. When I say to my guys “jump”, they jump. But I’m no big deal. Jesus, you only need to give the command that healing will occur and it is as good as done. You give sickness its marching orders “at the double, quick march” and off it goes.”

Twice in the Gospels it says that Jesus marvelled. He marvelled in Nazareth, at his own people, in his home town, people brought up in church, familiar with it all, he marvelled because of their unbelief.

But he marvels here at the amazing faith of a total outsider. He points out to the synagogue elders, to their embarrassment and shame, he says, “This guy has more faith than you!” What an encounter.

Let’s come in to land… Four things, quickly to end.

Firstly, the centurion let nothing stand in the way of his encounter with Jesus. He could have let any number of things stand in the way; his pride (I don’t want to look needy), his doubts (it won’t work for me), his money (well, I’ve got a nice home and a good pension, I’ll be all right), the language barrier (he wouldn’t understand me anyway), his rank (do you know who I am), his race (let’s not get too cosy with the riff raff) – but he put it all to one side. He let nothing stand in the way. What is keeping you from encountering Jesus?

Secondly, this centurion will have been in battle. I see a strong man with rough hands and scars on his face. He’s a warrior. Young men put their lives on the line for him. And he looks at Jesus and says, “You’re a real leader. You’re greater than I am.” Some contemporary worship songwriters need to get with the programme and so do we; Jesus is not your mate, and he is not your girlfriend; he is your commanding officer, awesome in power, invincible in battle and mighty to save. 

Thirdly, all authority comes from being under authority. The centurion knew that his entitlement to give orders was conditional on him being under orders from Caesar. That’s how he understood that Jesus’ authority came from being under the authority of his Father. I know some Christian leaders with a great testimony but who are nowhere in ministry because they are accountable to no one. I’ve had to learn this the hard way, but listen; God will increase your authority in ministry in proportion to your willingness to come under the authority of Christ and the leadership he has ordained for you. Do you need to come under authority today in order to grow in spiritual authority yourself?

And finally, some of you here today, are like the centurion’s servant. You’re out for the count. You’re low on hope. You’re sick. You need a miracle. Jesus is here. Will you have, like this centurion, the humility and faith to encounter him today?

Let’s stand to pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 30 April 2017

The Bridge Builder (2 Corinthians 5.18)

All Age Easter Talk in 3 Parts

Part 1 - Easter Crossword (from "Easter Cracked", Scripture Union)

Clue 1. Place of a Skull, 8 letters, (Matthew 27.33)

Clue 2. These were gambled for by those who crucified Jesus, 7 letters, (Matthew 27.35)

Clue 3. Jesus the _ _ _ _ of the Jews, 4 letters, (Matthew 27.37)

Clue 4. Jesus was nailed to this, 5 letters, (Matthew 27.31)

Clue 5. This covered the land for three hours, 8 letters, (Matthew 27.45)

Clue 6. The men who watched Jesus die, 8 letters, (Matthew 27.54)

Clue 7. The type of material wrapped around Jesus’ body, 5 letters, (Matthew 27.59)

Clue 8. The time of day when Jesus’ body was buried, 7 letters, (Matthew 27.57)

Clue 9. A messenger with good news, 5 letters, (Matthew 28.5)

And hidden in the crossword is what the good news is. Can anyone spot it?

Part 2 – Bridges and Gaps

A couple of years ago, I drove over this bridge near Millau, in southern France. Can anyone tell me why it is special?

- It’s the tallest bridge in the world. It’s nearly 350m high. This bridge is so high up, it’s often above the clouds as you can see.

What about this bridge? It’s the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in China which opened six years ago. Why this one is special?

- It’s 102 kilometres long making it the longest bridge in the world.

What about this one? It’s on the road from Tiryns to Epidauros in Greece and it’s called the Arkadiko Bridge. It’s only 4m high so it’s not the tallest. It’s only 22m long so it’s not the longest. Can anyone guess why this one is special?

- It is the oldest bridge in the world that is still used today.

This is probably the ugliest bridge in the world.

And this is possibly the scariest bridge in the world. It looks a bit ropy doesn't it? 

When I was a boy, I used to jump across a 2 metre muddy ditch. ButI needed to run up to it very fast or I’d land in the mud.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest jump ever was by Mike Powell in 1991. People have tried for 26 years to jump longer than him and no one has managed to do it yet. The distance is from the glass door there to the edge of the stage here. (8.95m or 29ft, 4¼in).

That’s without the hop and the skip. That’s a different event. This is just the jump! Only once ever in all human history has someone jumped this far.

How easy would it be for anyone here this morning to break that record? Would anyone like to have a go? The prize is a golden egg. Kathie will pay for it (her money is safe, because no one can jump that far).

If we were to pick the fittest, most athletic, person here this morning (I know you’re thinking that must be me!) and even if we were to give me intense training and put me on a special diet, and design a super streamlined kit, and make some new high tech shoes, I could never jump that far.

None of us could. Even for the very best athletes alive today the gap is too big.

Ever since people first saw rivers or valleys or gaps that they couldn’t jump over, they have wanted to build bridges.

We need bridges because we want to be able to get to the other side of things.

Without bridges, how would we ever get to Ingleby Barwick? Life would be awful!

How far do you think it is between how good you are and how good God is? And what could you possibly ever do to close the gap?

Well that’s what Easter is all about – as we’re about to see in this two-minute film clip…

Part 3 – The Bridge to God

How far do you think it is between how good you are and how good God is? And what could you possibly ever do to close the gap?

This is a question that God is interested in. The Bible says that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God. That’s everybody.

Even Gillian - everyone has sinned and, like in the long jump, the gap is too big for us to jump across.

We saw pictures of the tallest, longest and oldest bridges in the world. But this is the tallest, the widest and the oldest chasm of all – it’s the gap between people and God.

Do you ever ask, “Why does God feel far away?” It’s because of this gap.

Even atheists know about this gap. The journalist Julian Barnes said recently, “I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.” This is what he’s talking about, this gap.

And so people try all kinds of things that they hope will bridge the gap from their side of the chasm. This is what all religions do.

You have to bathe in a particular river. You have to go on a pilgrimage to a particular place. You mustn’t eat certain food. Or you must wear special clothes. Or whatever.

The thing is, you never know when you’ve done enough.

In other words, all religions say you’ve got to DO something. That makes sense to us. We caused the gap. So we should fix it.

But Jesus is different to every religion on earth because at Easter he bridged the gap from God’s side.

He knew that we would never be able to do it, so he did. By dying on the cross and rising again, he built a bridge that spans the chasm forever. He made a way.

Because of Easter, it’s not DO, it’s DONE. It’s about what Jesus has done. He loved us so much, he took all of our wrongdoing on his shoulders, and he paid for it, so that we can be right with God.

All the leaders of the world’s religions had some good ideas. You can learn a lot of good things by reading what they say. But all of them are dead. You can visit their tombs and see where they’re buried.

Not Jesus though. He is alive today. That’s why, with respect, only Jesus can give you eternal life.

So how are you going to get right with God? Is it through all the things that you do? Or is it by believing and accepting what Jesus has done?

But there’s one more thing. The Bible says “God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

What does that mean? It means that Jesus has built a bridge between us and God. But not only that, it means that he gave us the job of building bridges between people.

·         People who hate each other can become friends – because of Jesus.

·         Broken marriages and families can be mended again – because of Jesus.

·         Enemies can start to live in peace again – because of Jesus.

What we’re going to do now is sing about the first Easter and how good it is that Jesus is alive.

And as we are singing, I’m going to invite you to walk over this bridge:

No one else can do this for you. This is a decision for you. Why should you walk on this bridge?

- if you believe for the very first time that Jesus died for you and is alive

- or if you have been away from God a bit and want to come back today

- or if God has spoken to you today and you want to say sorry to a particular person and make up with them, build a bridge

- or if you’re a Christian but you've been trying to bridge the gap with all that religious stuff that doesn’t work and today that stops

- or finally because you need to hold on to a promise from God. Jesus said “I will be with you always.” You can trust the promise of a man who came back from the dead. Walk over that bridge today to say you are taking that promise to the bank.

Come up and have the courage to walk over this bridge as we sing. Don’t hesitate. Just do it. Show God you mean business.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 16 April 2017 gratefully borrowing a few ideas from Bill Hybels

The Bottom Line (Ecclesiastes 12.9-14)

So we come to the end of our little trek through the strange little book of Ecclesiastes. For the last couple of months we’ve explored with Solomon the purpose of our fleeting life on earth.

Last year, the ferocious and terrifyingly condescending interviewer Jeremy Paxman commented on why he quit Newsnight a few years ago. Why did he do it? He was at the top of his game. “I‘m no longer interested in catching out politicians” he said. “I’m interested in the bigger questions. Is there a purpose? What do things mean? And what is the right way to live?”

That’s what we all want to know. What is my identity? What is the point of me being here? Solomon spent his whole life searching for answers to these questions that are so fundamental to all of us.  

When Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein comes to life, his dramatic first words are, “Who am I and from whence did I come?”

People go on quests, they go to India, they go backpacking all over the world to find... themselves. The American comedian Jarrod Kinsey wrote recently, “I google myself to find out what sort of a person I am.” He doesn’t have a clue who he is but he hopes that perhaps someone on the Internet will.

We’ve seen as we’ve looked at Ecclesiastes that we can waste a whole life, the only one we have, looking for meaning in all the wrong places.

We saw a couple of weeks ago that our lives take on an eternal significance only when God is at the centre of our personal universe instead of ourselves.

And now, having said that the key to living well is to remember God when we’re still young, Solomon wraps up his book with a bit of autobiographical information and a bottom line.

“The teacher was wise” he says in v9 “and he imparted knowledge to people.” Solomon was wise. He was blessed with something approaching analytical genius. People came to him with personal problems and logical conundrums – and he gave them inspired answers. People went away saying “Why didn’t I think of that, it’s brilliant!” Solomon had a mind that could unlock doors. People marvelled.

But as I said a few weeks ago, though Solomon had plenty of wisdom for other people he tragically never applied it to his own life. Ecclesiastes tells us how he forgot God, how he neglected prayer, how he drifted away from regular worship and got confused and lost and wasted his life.

“He pondered and searched out, and set in order many proverbs” says v9. That’s feels like an understatement. Solomon was really into collecting proverbs. We still live by proverbs today. Finish them off for me:

·         Too many cooks… spoil the broth.

·         A stitch in time… saves nine.

·         An apple a day… keeps the doctor away.

·         Many hands… make light work.

1 Kings 4.32 says Solomon collected three thousand witty and wise sayings like this. Three thousand! He gathered them. He studied them. He catalogued and classified them. He wrote new ones. V10 says “he searched to find just the right words.”

I can just imagine him at work. “A stitch done soon… No. A stitch today saves… dismay. No, that won’t do. Or a stitch early saves three. No. A stitch before saves four. Hmm, not quite right. A stitch… in time… saves nine. Yes! [punches the air] Nailed it!”

That’s not a hobby. That’s an obsession. Solomon was a proverb nerd. We’d say he needed to get out more.  

But he was the wisest person of his day. People came from all over to listen to him. He spoke truth into their lives. How much more do we need to let Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God, speak liberating truth into our lives and shape them? “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” Jesus said.

“The words of the wise,” says Solomon in v11, “are like goads.” Cattle prods. He means that some words can be painful to hear, that’s true, but we still need to hear them. Sometimes, God says uncomfortable things, painful things – it’s to keep us from experiencing greater pain.

Wisdom can be difficult to hear, no doubt about it. The word of God tells the truth about human nature. It isn’t always flattering. We push it away. We resist it. But it is a gift of God, who loves us, to keep us from coming to grief.

A funny thing happened to me. I once shared an office with a colleague who said to me one day, “Do you mind if I just share something with you?” I said, “Of course, go ahead.” He then proceeded to bomb me verbally. I’m sure it was intended as constructive and no doubt it was lovingly said, but all I heard through my filter was “you’re a nice guy John but I hate your guts.” It took a while for me to see objectively the wisdom of his words. Sometimes God’s word comforts the afflicted. Sometimes it afflicts the comfortable.

Then Solomon says, v12, “Of the making of many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” Isn’t that a great verse for when you’re doing GCSEs or A-levels?

I’ve got literally hundreds of books on my shelves. Some of my books I have had for years and never even opened. I could spend the rest of my life reading everything and doing nothing.

Homer Simpson once said, “Books are useless! I only ever read one book, To Kill A Mockingbird, and it gave me absolutely no insight on how to kill mockingbirds!"

So here’s the bottom line from a man who, until Jesus came along, was considered the wisest person who had ever lived.

What pearl of wisdom will Solomon finish his book with? After all he’s said about meaninglessness, about life, about love, about existence, about the pursuit of happiness, what will he conclude to be the point of it all? What brilliant, quotable, timeless, clever epigram will he sign off with? Hold your breath… Here it comes…

Verse 13: “Fear God and keep his commandments.” That’s it.

Fear God and keep his commandments. We know about the commandments. Jesus said they boil down to just two. “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus said, “Do that and you will live.” All you need is love. That is the key to living well.

But what about fearing God? God says 365 times in the Bible “do not be afraid” but almost as many times we find this seemingly contradictory expression “fear the Lord.”

I once met a very intelligent woman who was in my Alpha course discussion group. She was quite interested in Jesus but, when someone mentioned the fear of the Lord, she completely shut down. She walked out. It turned out that she had a violent father and she grew up petrified of him and his violent mood swings. (She came back eventually and became a Christian by the way. It changed her life).

But God does not want us to be scared of him. The fear of the Lord is not dread. It’s not terror. It’s not cowering and hiding from a controlling, bullying psycho. I was never scared of my dad, growing up, but I did hate the thought of offending him.

If we do not fear the Lord, we will probably fear someone else instead. We will let someone else set the agenda, even if it’s not what God’s will for us. The counsellor and author Ed Welch says, “When we are in our teens, it is called peer pressure. When we are older, it is called “people-pleasing.”

Church leader Rick Warren was interviewed recently by Piers Morgan. And at one point in the interview Morgan cornered him and put him in a very uncomfortable position. It was an aggressive line of questioning over an area where western thinking is increasingly at odds with God’s word. Warren explained his position while the interviewer was interrupting and cutting in. In the end he just said, “Look. I fear God's disapproval more than I fear yours.”

I believe the fear of the Lord is an aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit that the church in our country has overlooked. I think this is something that the Holy Spirit wants to bring to greater prominence in our worship.

In Isaiah 11 it says of Jesus, “he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” To fear the Lord is delightful! To live in the fear of the Lord is to just revel in his mighty strength and his majestic grandeur. To live in the fear of the Lord is wonderful. You savour over and over again his breathtaking, awe-inspiring greatness.

The fear of the Lord does not mean that none of the things you are afraid of will ever happen to you. Whatever you fear might well happen to you. But because you fear the Lord what you fear, in the end, will turn out to be nothing to be afraid of.

Last week, I was reading Psalm 34 which mentions fears five times.

Think of the things that can raise your level of fear and worry. Money and debt. Heights. Blood test results. Flying. Job insecurity. Spiders (apparently this is the most common phobia of all, affecting four times as many women than men bizarrely). The threat of terrorism. Needles. Brexit – what’s going to happen? Fear of the dentist…

“I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” says Psalm 34.4. But three verses later it says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him” and “those who fear the Lord lack nothing.”

The fear of the Lord intensifies and magnifies his presence and power among us. When Peter, at the Lord’s command to throw the nets on the other side, pulled in the greatest catch of his life he didn’t say “Ah cool, loads of fish!” He knew he was in the presence of greatness. He was awed. His heart started to thump. His pulse began to race. He had a lump in his throat. The power of God was present! He said, “Go away from me, I’m a sinful man.” The fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord intensifies and magnifies his presence and power among us. When Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord’s glory filling the temple he was undone. It was overpowering. He didn’t say “Wow!” He said, “Woe!” It overwhelmed him. God’s presence was totally gripping. His knees went weak. His hands went sweaty. He said, “How can life be the same again? I’m a man of unclean lips and I’ve seen the Lord!”

We are about to go into a season, maybe a four-year period, where we will make significant changes to this building. The final outcome will be fantastic, I’m sure of it. In my mind I’ve seen it already and I am convinced it will be worth it. But it will be extremely demanding. It will take a lot of work. It will cost a lot of money.

But do you know what I fear? My biggest fear is that we will become so absorbed by bricks and mortar that we’ll forget that all this is about him and for him. My job is to ensure that our eyes are firmly fixed on Jesus all the way through and I am committed to doing that.

“Here’s the bottom line” says Solomon. This is what it all boils down to: “fear God.”

Or as it says in Joshua 3.5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 2 April 2017

Mothers and Others (Exodus 2.1-10)

 All Age Talk for Mothering Sunday

A long time ago, God’s special people, the Hebrews, were slaves in Egypt.They had to work hard every day. No weekends, no holidays. No sick leave. The Egyptians were cruel and they made them work harder and harder.

‘Can’t we just have a little break, just to rest for five minutes?’ They said. ‘No! Work harder!’ said the men in charge of the work.

This is the man in charge of the whole country. Does anyone know his name…? He was called Pharaoh. He lived in a big palace. He had lots of servants. Even his servants had servants. And he didn’t care about God’s special people at all.

Pharaoh hated God’s special people, the Hebrews. ‘If I make them work really, really hard, they’ll be too busy and too tired to have families,’ he said. ‘Then there will be no more of them.’ But guess what happened? God’s special people the Hebrews had even more babies, and there were more and more of them.

So Pharaoh decided to do a terrible, terrible thing. He decided that all the Hebrew babies under two years old should die. ‘No!’ people said. ‘That’s not right!’ But Pharaoh was a horrible man and he said ‘Yes.’

About this time, a Hebrew baby boy was born. Does anyone know his name…? Moses. How do you think his mother felt about Pharaoh…? Scared, frightened, upset... ‘Pharaoh wants to harm my baby’ she said.  ‘I’ve got to do whatever I can to keep him safe.’

Moses was cute and smiley. Like all babies, he gripped your finger when you put it on his little hand. But like all babies, he cried a lot. Pharaoh’s soldiers were nearby, searching every home. She couldn’t hide him in the house much longer. Does anyone know what she did…?

She put him in a small basket, and went down to the river. There were reeds and bulrushes by the river bank.

‘No one will think to look in the river. I will hide him here’ she said. Then, when it is safe, I will come and get him. How do you think Moses’ mother felt now…?

I think she was happy that he was safer. But I’m sure she was so sad not to be with him. I expect she shed a few tears. He will be hungry and will have to wait for his milk. He will need a nappy change and have to wait for a change.

Meanwhile, Pharaoh had a daughter. She was a young woman, and she lived in the palace too. But she was not like her father at all; she was kind and loving. She loved children and enjoyed playing with them. One day, she went down to the river to wash and guess what she saw? What do you think…?

She found baby Moses and picked him up, and loved him.

‘This must be one of the Hebrew babies’ she said. ‘I must help to keep him safe. I will ask one of the Hebrew women to give him milk until he is older.’ Guess who she found to look after the baby...? Moses’ mother.

‘I will pay you to care for him until he is weaned and walking’ she said. So Moses was safe.

He grew up to be a great man of faith. He led God’s special people the Hebrews out of slavery to freedom. And all because he had a mother who hid him to save his life. And Pharaoh’s daughter who was like a mother and cared for him too.

Like Moses, some children don’t live with their mums. A dad or a grandparent or a foster mum looks after them instead. But they love them just like a mother does.

Today, on Mothering Sunday, we thank God for our mothers, and also those who are like mothers who cared for us when we were small – and who love us always.

Today as well, we have brought Charlotte to baptism. Charlotte has a wonderful loving family. And today, through baptism, she now has a Christian family who love her and care for her too.

May she, like Moses, be safe and loved all her life. And may she, like Moses, become a spiritual giant! 



Sermon preached at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 26 March 2017

Youth and Old Age (Ecclesiastes 11.7-12.8)

Introduction

There were men who retired in a certain town. They met up for a chat every day on a particular park bench. Ten years passed, then twenty. One day one said to the other, ”You know, my memory isn’t what it used to be. Can you remind me of your name?” Silence. So he repeated the question. Again there was a long silence. Finally, the other bloke turned to his friend and said, “When do you need to know by?”

The thing is, the older I get, the less far-fetched that story seems… As it says on the birthday card; “At my age I’ve seen it all, done it all, heard it all. I just can’t remember it all.”

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that we left off at the end of chapter 6 last Sunday and today we’re picking up in the middle of chapter 11. So what happened to chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10?

There are three answers to that question; and they are each practical in nature. The first reason is that chapters 7-10 repeat the exact same themes as chapters 1-6. There is very little that’s new there (in fact, nothing new under the sun) but so as not to send you home feeling entirely short-changed, I am going to summarise those 4 chapters in a hundred words after I give you reasons 2 and 3.

The second reason, I have to be honest, is that Ecclesiastes is a challenging book to preach on and, because of its recurring themes, I was beginning to run out of material that enabled me to say anything new.

The third reason is that I want to finish Ecclesiastes before Palm Sunday, which is three Sundays away. Then it’ll be Easter. It wouldn’t do to have a reading on the Day of the Resurrection saying “life is meaningless and we’d all have been better off if we’d never been born!”

So here’s the summary of chapters 7-10; basically they say this: you may as well face the facts about life and death. None of us know in detail how it’s going to unfold, whether things will work out well or not; some things are beyond our control. Nevertheless, one thing is certain; the same fate awaits us all. One day, none of us will be here. In the meantime, do what you can to live wisely rather than foolishly and don’t put all your trust in people – they’ll let you down. It pays in the long run to be respectful rather than rude. Most of all, enjoy life’s blessings as a gift from God.

There you go; four weeks of sermons in one minute. Some of you look like you’re thinking “why can’t it always be like this?”

We all want to live happy lives. The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” That was one of his most famous quotes but Solomon, hundreds of years before him, said much the same thing in this book.

But both were mistaken. There is something even better than happiness. Happiness is the emotional response we have to circumstances around us. If good things keep happening to you, chances are you’ll be happy in life.

But God wants to give you something better than a happy life; he wants to give you a blessed life. You can enjoy a blessed life even when bad things keep happening to you. That’s why in the same passage where Jesus says, “the world is going to hate you” he also says “your joy will be complete.” To be blessed is to have God’s amazing grace and abundant favour lavished on you.

Youth

Today, as we draw towards the end of the book, after going round in circles a bit, Solomon at last gets to the point. I think the whole book can be summed up by what he says in 12.1. “Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say ‘I find no pleasure in them.’”

We’ll come to old age in a while, but I want to begin by looking at youth. 11.7-10 is about enjoying yourself while you’re young. God wants that. As I mentioned a few weeks back, it says in 1 Timothy 6.17, “God richly provides us with everything we need for our enjoyment.”

“Light is sweet” Solomon says “and it pleases the eye to see the sun.” This is probably why Barbados is a more desirable holiday destination than Bolton. I woke up on Wednesday, drew the curtains, and there was this dazzling crimson, orange, purple sunrise stretching out on an opal blue sky. Birds were singing. There was dew on the grass. The air smelt clean. I was in Stockton on Tees but, just for a moment, it felt like paradise.

Life is a gift. There are so many blessings to being alive. When you take the time to count them one by one, you see how many there are. Even simple ones like opening your eyes every day and seeing the light of the sun. Learn to cultivate a grateful heart. It’s good to start each day by saying, “thank you Lord for every good gift.”

“However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all” it says in v8. You appreciate life more when you’re satisfied with what you have than when you’re envious about you don’t have. You’re better off being a contented person with little than a covetous person with much.

Being young has some obvious upsides. On the whole, you’re healthier, you’ve got more energy, greater physical strength, fewer creaking joints, you tend to adapt better to change, you’ve usually got a better memory and you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.

No wonder people covet youth. Bob Hope once took a massive risk and asked a woman her age. This is how he remembered her reply. “She said she was approaching forty, and I couldn't help wondering from what direction!”

Solomon lived before the new covenant, before Jesus, before God’s revelation of eternity was fully made known. So for him, when he says in v8 “Let them remember the days of darkness, for here will be many. Everything to come is meaningless” we need to remember that this is what it looks like “under the sun” rather than beyond the heavens.

All the way through this book his basic point has been, “you will value life much more if you remember that you are going to be dead much longer.” It’s what we call today a secular outlook.

This is Solomon confirming what the New Testament says; without Jesus it’s all loss. There is no hope for those who have obstinately shut Jesus out of their hearts, lived for themselves instead, and taken that stubbornness to the grave.

One day, Jesus met a rich young man (Luke 18). He was just like Solomon in his prime; he had it all. He was young. He was privileged. He was loaded. He was free. He could do what he wanted.

But he’d just got to a point when he realised that one day all his wealth would be gone. And that his money couldn’t buy him everything. So he started wondering if there was maybe a way he could keep it and, maybe like Peter Pan, stay young forever… He was looking for the secret of eternal youth.

So he approaches Jesus and says, “Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?” And Jesus looks at him and says, “You know, don’t you? You’ve read the Ten Commandments.” “I’ve been doing all that ever since I was in shorts, I can tick all the boxes; I’m good” he says.

But Jesus, as always, sees the real issue. “Your identity, your security, your pleasure is in all your money. You want to have your cake and eat it. No, you have to choose. If you’re really serious about living blessed, leave that behind. I’m telling you, you’ll have spiritual treasure instead. Then you can come with me.” The Bible says his face fell. He was crestfallen.

Two people watched a hearse drive by on the way to a funeral. It was a very well-known celebrity who died with fabulous wealth. One said, “How much did he leave?” and the other said, “Everything.”

So Solomon continues. He could have written this for the rich young ruler;

“You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”

In other words, it’s a fascinating world, travel well, live adventurously, explore possibilities, avoid pain if you can and don’t let anxiety consume you. But, whatever you do, remember God.

The Passage of Time

Time drags when you’re young and time flies when you’re older. Einstein was once asked to explain his famous theory and he famously replied, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”

Five minutes of added time for a fan whose team is desperately hanging on seems like a day, but five minutes for a fan whose team has failed the entire second half to breach the opposing defence feels like 10 seconds.

All my childhood I wished I could grow up more quickly. Did you? But the older I get, the more time seems to accelerate. There’s a clock in Chester Cathedral with a short poem by Henry Twells called Time’s Paces and it talks about this phenomenon.

When as a child, I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth, I dreamt and talked, time walked.
When I became a full-grown man, time ran.
When older still I daily grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find on travelling on - time gone.
O Christ, will You have saved me then? Amen.

So Solomon comes to a conclusion from all his swaying to and fro, from all his internal debating, from all his glass half-empty and glass half-full moods.

And here it is (12.1): “Honour and enjoy your Creator while you’re still young” as The Message version puts it. How many of you came to faith before you were 25..? That’s why it’s vital to remember your creator when you’re young. In later years, the human heart becomes harder. That’s not to say you can’t become a Christian when you’re older – but it’s rarer.

The easiest time in life to forget God is, in my opinion, in your twenties and thirties.  I used to belong to a Youth Discipleship group when I was in my late teens. Kathie used to go too. There were maybe 20 of us and we’d meet for simple life-related Bible teaching, testimony, prayer and praise every Tuesday night. It was the highlight of my week. Everybody there was full-on for God.

But when we got into out twenties and thirties, we all got busy. Some got diverted and distracted. Others moved away and couldn’t find a good church. Some of us had problems. Now, only four or five of us as far as I know are committed Christians.

Old-Age

What about old-age? Remember Solomon is an old man when he’s writing down Ecclesiastes so he’s speaking from experience. Someone once said, “Youth for pleasure, adulthood for business, old age for God.” Solomon spent most of his life believing that and now he’s saying “no, that’s all wrong.”

Of course, to very young people, everyone looks old. A little girl came out of church once after learning about Noah’s Ark and she asked her grandfather, “Grandpa, what was it like in the ark with Noah?” He could have seen the funny side but, honestly, he was a bit offended. So he said, “Excuse me, young lady, I was not in the ark with Noah.” She looked very puzzled and said, “Well, how come you didn’t drown then?”

In v2-5 Solomon describes what life is like for him now he’s very old. This will one day be me. It occurred to me this week that I am just ten years away from qualifying as a member of the Lunch Club. The count down to the free bus pass has begun.

Verse 2: Remember your Creator before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain.

Growing old is like going from summer to autumn to winter. Days get darker, and the light fades more with each day.

Verse 3: Remember your Creator when the keepers of the house tremble, (he’s talking about his shaky hands) and the strong men stoop (in other words, my back is hunched over now), when the grinders cease because they are few (he’s talking about his missing teeth that can no longer manage steak) and those looking through the windows grow dim (this is about his eyesight. First he started squinting and needed glasses for reading, then he needed bifocals to see distances as well and no sooner was that sorted out he got cataracts).

Verse 4: Remember your Creator when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades (he’s saying I no longer really understand the world with all its changes now my working life is behind me), when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; (he’s saying my sleep gets disturbed by the slightest noise and my nocturnal trips to the loo. The fading sounds are a reference to becoming a little hard of hearing).

Verse 5: Remember your Creator when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets (he’s thinking I’ve become vulnerable; I’m less steady on his feet, I could fall down the stairs and I can’t defend myself like I once could); when the almond tree blossoms (that’s grey hair) and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred (here’s Solomon saying ‘the spring has gone from my step. He looks at his harem and says ‘I’m too old for all that now.’)

It’s a very moving and poetic description of the declining powers of old age. Your grip weakens, your joints stiffen, you sag in all the wrong places, and your hair disappears from your head and starts to sprout in your nostrils and ears instead. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

What a tragedy when, like Solomon, you have no assurance about life after death. You cannot look forward with anticipation. And you cannot look back with satisfaction. The silver cord snaps and the well is dry. The party’s over. The glass is empty. The bar’s closed. Life is done.

Solomon tried everything and summed up his entire life as useless, vanity. “A tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing” as Shakespeare put it. He took a lifetime to learn that the most important things in life aren’t things and the best things in life are always free.

Don’t get to where he got to. When I look back at my four score years and ten I want to see more than a broken rope and a shattered water jar.

Ending

John Wesley said as an old man, “When I was young I was sure of everything. After a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before. Now, I am hardly sure of anything except what God has revealed to me.”

If your first 25 years are springtime, 25-50 is summer, 50-75 is autumn, and 75-100 is winter, what season of life are you in? When I was in the springtime of my life I never thought that one day I’d be in autumn, but here I am. And winter is next.

As surely as the earth turns round the sun, teenagers become adults, who become mature adults, who become elderly.

What if Solomon could log on to Ask Billy Graham.com? What if he asked, “Dear Billy, when I was young, I loved God and followed him with all my heart. But when I got older, I got distracted and wondered away from faith. Now, I’m close to death and feel I’ve wasted my life. I bet God is angry with me. Is it too late?

This is what the reply would be (and I know because someone did ask a very similar question).

“Yes, it would’ve been better if you had never turned away from God. But listen: he still loves you, and Christ died for you. God’s promise of forgiveness is for all who know they need him: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9). Don’t let another day go by without Christ, but confess your sins to Him and ask him to be your Saviour and Lord. Then ask him to help you walk with him every day.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19 March 2017