Worship: Centred on Jesus (Colossians 2.18-23 and Revelation 1.12-18)

Introduction

Have you noticed how important it is to stress the right words in a sentence? Take the question “What does it look like?” If you say “What does it look like?” you are asking for information about something’s form. If you say “What does it look like?” you’re asking for some kind of comparison with something else. If you say “What does it look like?” you’re my dad commentating on the state of my bedroom when I was a teenager.

What should worship at All Saints’ look like? Should it be like 9:00am?

• structured
• 4 hymns
• liturgical
• dignified

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be!

Or should it look like 10:30am?

• free
• informal
• with provision for all ages,
• contemporary
• open

Or should it look like 6:30pm?

• fluid
• unstructured
• sometimes unplanned
• cutting edge
• experimental

The answer is yes. I am convinced that we have got it right to have developed a mixed economy here.

I know which services you like the most because I know which ones you usually attend. Very few of you go to all three. Which do I prefer? Really? You might think I sound like a politician here but, God is my witness, the truth is that I go to the majority of our services here and I appreciate all three styles just as much… as long as Jesus is at the centre.

I like praying well crafted, familiar prayers with feeling and faith. I like seeing people respond in gloriously unpredictable ways to the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer ministry. I like seemliness and I like spontaneity.

As long as Christ is glorified, exalted and adored, as long as I see that people are delighting in him, I don’t care if I’m dressed up in robes, hearing a tambourine shaking loudly in my ear or standing on my head.

Two Poles

The truth though is that all of our worship services run the perilous risk of drifting away from centring on Christ – and for different reasons. And I think our reading from Colossians 2 speaks into that issue very clearly today.

Colossians 2 contrasts two different unhealthy extremes in worship.

· One extreme is characterised by words like superspiritual, otherworldly, weird, esoteric and excessive.
· The other extreme is characterised by words such as fussy, religious, fastidious, ascetic and pious.

These two opposites are both bad news because, like the north and south poles of our planet, they are magnetic - they both pull people away from Jesus Christ. They lure us into minimising him, they lure us into marginalising his essential greatness. They are a deadly distraction.

The Superspiritual Pole

The first pole (let’s call it the Superspiritual Pole) is described in v18.

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such people also go into great detail about what they have seen, and their unspiritual minds puff them up with idle notions.”

Paul is describing a spiritual movement called Gnosticism. It threatened the health of the church in the first century. It could have squeezed the life out of the church in its infancy. One aspect of Gnosticism was that some people made a big, big thing of weird and wonderful visions, dreams, angelic visitations and special spiritual revelations that only a few privileged and elite people were party to. It was like an exclusive club with a bouncer on the door. There were level one Christians with their special access to God – and the rest.

It’s not that we don’t believe in dreams and visions and angels. We do. But Paul says here that these people “go into great detail about what they have seen.” They are obsessed with this stuff. They go from conference to conference looking for the next spiritual buzz. He talks about “delighting in false humility.” In other words they loved drawing attention to themselves but it was all phoney and showy.

Watch out for people who are not shy of revealing to you their incredible insights into what’s going on in the spiritual realms, especially when they describe a whole catalogue of phenomena that the Bible never mentions. I’ve heard that kind of talk and I’m not impressed.

Paul says that their unspiritual minds puff them up with idle notions. Pride is the worst spiritual illness you can have - because it’s so hard to cure. As American pastor John Ortberg says, “People see therapists and pastors every day for anger or anxiety or addiction problems, but rarely does anyone seek help for their pride problem. There are no Betty Ford Treatment Centers for the Insufferably Arrogant, but not because we don’t need them.”

The Ultrareligious Pole

The second pole (let’s call it the Ultrareligious Pole) is described in v20-23.

“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”

What’s going on here? He’s talking about people in the church at Colossae whose approach to the Christian faith is preoccupied with human wisdom, human regulations and human systems. It’s an approach to worship that is very correct, but quite rigid and rather austere. There’s a nitpicking joylessness about it. Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!

They’ve swapped the simple Gospel of Grace for a thick Religious Procedures Manual. It’s not that we don’t need shape and order in our worship – we do. But we must not obsess over matters of form and lose sight of what it’s really all about.

That’s what was in danger of happening here in Colossae. Look at v19:

“They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”

Spiritual growth and health only occur when our worship and teaching, and pastoral care and service and decision making and giving are Jesus focused.

When we allow ourselves to become fixated with superspiritual phenomena and manifestations or preoccupied by ultrareligious traditions and procedures we get disconnected from the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a spiritual decapitation. Jesus drifts into the background. He becomes little more than an amusing accessory.

Why Jesus is Preeminent

And that’s when, to borrow some phrases from SM Lockeridge…

He who is:

• the King of the Jews
• the King of righteousness.
• the King of the ages.
• the King of Heaven.
• the King of glory.
• the King of kings and the Lord of lords

is deposed from his throne.

He who is:

• enduringly strong
• entirely sincere
• eternally steadfast
• immortally graceful
• imperially powerful
• and impartially merciful

fades into something rather underwhelming.

He who is:

• the grandest idea in literature
• the highest personality in philosophy
• the supreme problem in higher criticism
• the fundamental doctrine of historic theology
• and the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion

becomes just one moral guide among many.

He who:

• heals the sick
• cleanses lepers
• forgives sinners
• discharges debtors
• delivers the captives
• defends the feeble
• blesses the young
• serves the unfortunate
• regards the aged
• rewards the diligent
• and beautifies the meek

gets relegated to the rank of just a good man.

He who is:

• the key of knowledge
• the wellspring of wisdom
• the doorway of deliverance
• the pathway of peace
• the roadway of righteousness
• the highway of holiness
• the gateway of glory

becomes just a way, a truth and a life.

He:

• whose office is manifold
• whose promise is sure
• whose life is matchless
• whose goodness is limitless
• whose mercy is everlasting
• whose love never change
• whose Word is enough
• whose grace is sufficient
• whose reign is righteous
• whose yoke is easy
• whose burden is light

becomes little more than a pretty decoration on a man-made religion.

As SM Lockeridge went on to say;

• He's invincible, and He is irresistible.
• You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him.
• He always has been and He always will be.
• He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor.
• There's nobody before Him and there'll be nobody after Him.

In the passage from Revelation 1 Jesus appears in his risen and ascended glory.

The “robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash” are images of priestly distinction – having dealt with our sin by offering his own life, he is now interceding for us in heaven.

The “hair on his head, white like wool, white as snow”, is a picture of dignity and wisdom.

The “eyes like blazing fire” speak of his all-knowing authority.

“Coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.” This is a representation of the severity of Christ – he will place his enemies; all the forces of evil and all who attack the gospel of grace, decisively under his feet.

“His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” As the blessing in Numbers 6 says, “May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.” The countenance of the Lord is radiant favour to those whom he delights to bless.

No one seems to know what the feet like bronze glowing in a furnace is all about.

I’m not sure you’re supposed to work out what every detail means; I think you’re supposed to be awestruck by the terrible majesty of this vision and moved to worship.

Nobody has more names and titles in the whole of human history than Jesus. In the fields of entertainment, science, politics, philosophy, religion or sport nobody comes close. One website I looked at this week listed 208 separate names and designations. I’m going to finish by going through some of them now.

He’s called the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 3.14) because he was before all things and he when it’s all over he’ll still be there.

He’s called the Amen (Revelation 3.14) because he is God’s “yes” to every yearning question we could ever ask.

He’s called the Lamb of God (Revelation 13.8) because his sin sacrifice alone is perfect, unblemished and acceptable.

He’s called the Shepherd and Guardian of your Soul (1 Peter 2:25) because he watches over your life and goes looking for you when you stray.

He’s called the Wonderful Counsellor (Isaiah 9.6) because when you go to him for assistance his words are uplifting, wise and life changing.

He’s called the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5.4) because every human pastor or church leader is under his authority and will give an account to him.

He’s called the Leader and Commander of the Peoples (Isaiah 55:4) and the Desired of Nations (Haggai 2.7) because nations can only find their true wealth and prosperity under his just government and perfect rule.

He’s called the Chosen One of God (Isaiah 42.1) because his Father loves him, is well pleased with him and delights in his servant obedience.

He’s called the Star of the Morning (Revelation 22.16), the bright morning star, because when all the celebrities and superstars and icons have faded, he will still outshine them all.

He’s called the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) because he went lower than any other man has gone before or since, sounding the depths of suffering and despair – for our sakes.

He’s called the Heir of all Things (Hebrews 1:2) because he was raised higher than any man has been elevated before or since, crowned with majesty and glory and seated at his Father’s right hand.

He’s called the Image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4) because everything you see in Jesus is true of his Father; he is God’s body language.

He’s called the Cornerstone (Psalm 118.22) because you can build your life on him and your foundation will be solid.

He’s called the Deliverer (Romans 11.26) because he sets free those under the power of the occult, the paranormal and evil forces.

He’s called the I Am (John 8.58) because he is the great I Am; Yahweh – the God who always was, always is and always will be.

He’s called the Gate - not a gate - (John 10.7) because eternal life is found only in him.

He’s called the Light of the World (John 8.1) because darkness is a symbol for fear and evil. His love casts out all fear and there is no evil in him.

He’s called the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25) because all those who believe in him will live - even when they die.

He’s called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9.6) because in him there is neither Jew or Arab, Protestant or Catholic. When terrorists in the Middle East and Northern Ireland are converted they embrace those who were once sworn enemies.

He’s called the King of the Ages (1 Timothy 1.17) because he reigns and he rules and he always will.

He’s called the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2) because as the sun rises in the sky, he appeared in history and as the sun’s rays kiss the earth his healing power reaches all peoples.

He’s called the Almighty (Revelation 1.8) because nothing is too hard for him.

He’s called the Pioneer of our Faith (Hebrews 6.20) because he goes before us through life and has opened the door of heaven for us – a door no one can shut.

He’s called the Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Hebrews 12.2) because he is the brilliant writer behind every chapter of your life and only he can pen a happy ending to it.

Ending

That’s why our worship, whatever form it takes, must be centred on Jesus.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 26th June 2011

Worship: Only the Best (Malachi 1.6-14 and John 12.1-8)

Introduction

There’s a bumper sticker you can buy in the USA which says “Honk if you love Jesus! Text while driving if you want to meet him!”

Honk if you love Jesus. Do you love Jesus? So how do you show it? We know loving Jesus is a really important; worship is the first line of our mission statement – this church exists to worship God.

And we know worship is more than just singing.

One of the greatest Archbishops of Canterbury of the 20th Century, William Temple, said this: “Worship is the quickening of conscience by God’s holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of the imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, and submission of will to His purpose. It is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.”

Malachi’s Challenge

That’s all well and good. But in the real world, does our love for God stay constant? No. If we’re honest, the tide of our affections for God rises and recedes. Spiritual commitment in our busy lives has seasons of growth (when we love God a lot) and seasons of decline (when we love him less).

What does decline in worship look like in the 21st Century church? The American humorist and columnist Erma Bombeck put it this way, “We sing ‘Make a joyful noise to the Lord’ while our faces reflect the sadness of one who has just buried a rich aunt who left everything to her hamster!”

There was a time in Israel’s history, About 400 years before Christ, when all the warning lights of spiritual health and vitality were starting to flash. Everything seemed to be in decline at the same time. Standards in leadership were dropping. Faithfulness in marriage was waning. Financial generosity was falling. Morals were decaying. Spiritual commitment was weakening. Quality in worship was in freefall.

There’s a reason why it was all going wrong at the same time. It’s all connected. When my worship is tired and joyless and detached it’s a sure sign that there other things in my life that aren’t right with God.

If you were to grade the state of your heart, the quality of your worship this morning where would you put yourself on this scale? What mark would you give yourself out of 10?

When Israel was slumping about the 2-3 mark God raised up a straight-talking preacher called Malachi to challenge mediocrity and question the standards that people had accepted in worship.

Many years before Malachi’s time, in the Law of Moses, God had told his people that whenever it was time to worship, they should walk among their herds of livestock and select the very best specimen they could find and bring it to the temple to present as an offering to God.

It had to be one year old; that is to say in its prime. They had to find the choicest lamb, the one that would attract the most interest and command the highest price at market. It had to be the best they had. That’s the benchmark. And for many years, God’s chosen people did that. They presented prized, unblemished lambs as their worship offering.

By the way, we don’t ever need to do that now because Jesus, a man in his prime, God’s very best and with no sin offered his perfect life for us. That old way of worship has been abolished by Jesus forever.

But listen to what God had to say at that time through the prophet Malachi:

When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your boss! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty…

Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets.

You see what’s going on here? Instead of selecting the very best lamb from their herds, they would look high and low for the worst bit of mutton they could find in the whole field.

A blind one, a lame one or diseased one that was all scrawny and thin. And they’d bend down, pick it up and walk up to the temple, place it on the altar and say “This is for God! I hope he likes it.”

And so God raised up Malachi to tell them, “No! God… doesn’t… like it. It offends him. It upsets him. In fact, it would be better if you didn’t offer God anything at all than just give him the worst you’ve got and whenever it’s convenient for you.”

What do you think about that? Are you thinking, “Well, hang on a minute. Surely a little is better than nothing! OK, it wasn’t great but at least they gave something!

But, to God, nothing is better than just anything. Jesus said the same thing in Revelation 3.15-16. “How I wish that you were either hot or cold. But you are neither. You are tepid!” We like a cold salad or a hot roast dinner but no one enjoys lukewarm soup do they?

I don’t believe we ever really consciously say, “Oh, I’ve thought this through and I’ve decided I’ll just give God the scraps; it’s only God, he won’t mind.” No.

The problem is we drift, we drift, towards giving God leftovers –

• leftover time - I’m really busy this week
• leftover money - It’s really tight this month
• leftover gifts
• leftover love
• leftover energy

And every now and again God speaks to us about all this and we wake up and notice how far we’ve let ourselves drift and we refocus our priorities. So how far the right on that scale is worshiping God in your life at the moment?

God’s Excellence

Have you ever wondered to yourself why God sets such high standards of excellence in worship?

Is God a critical father, a perfectionist, who feels that whatever his children do is not up to the grade? No. He just doesn’t like worship that has no heart, no passion.

Is God somehow needy and insecure, calling for affirmation in praise worship to make him feel better about himself? No. God doesn’t need us to supply anything lacking in him.

He delights forever in the wonder of:

• his infinite perfections
• his unparalleled glory
• his unprecedented greatness

No. The reason God calls for nothing but the best in worship is because he himself never gives anything but the very best.

Everything God is, does and gives is absolutely top of the range.

For example, how many marks out of 10 would you give God for the job he did in creation? From the complexity of subatomic physics to the incredible variety and beauty of the earth’s flora and fauna, to the delightful symmetry of the sombrero galaxy it is all stunningly good.

What about the story of the Old Testament? How well did God do there?

• His magnificent deliverance from Egypt
• His extraordinary provision in the desert
• His outstanding patience during centuries of unfaithfulness from Israel
• His excellent protection from numerous enemies...

Then on into the New Testament, where God gave his very, very best; his only Son... Think about:

• his wonderful nativity
• his unprecedented wisdom
• his astonishing healings
• his flawless innocence
• his precious death (even in the throes of agony he opened the gates of heaven to one last scoundrel)
• and then his textbook resurrection.

I mean, Jesus didn’t just defeat death and triumph over the grave. As if that wasn’t enough, Jesus did it with class… He even

• folded up the grave clothes and left the tomb nice and tidy
• rolled away a two ton stone without anybody noticing
• did an impression of the gardener that would have fooled his mum

Everything God has ever done for you, and especially in Christ, has only ever been of the highest quality and of the utmost excellence. Nothing but the best.

Think about all this and find the answer to this question: “So, what kind of lamb am I going to present to God, this God who has only ever given the very best for me?”

Ending

Maybe our reading from John 12 will help you answer that question. I just love v3.

Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

What do you know about nard? It comes from a very rare plant that grows in the foothills of the Himalayas. In Jesus’ day, nard had to be transported from northern India, via Persia to Roman occupied Judea. Nard was rare, exotic, luxurious and expensive.

Has anyone here ever smelt the fragrance of pure nard?

I met a man called Mark Marx last year at a training day for healing on the streets. Mark had, a year earlier, accidentally let drip one drop of pure nard onto his Bible. Just one drop!

A full year later, his Bible still had this incredibly strong and indescribably sweet fragrance on it. It’s a difficult aroma to put into words but, if you twisted my arm, I’d say it reminded me of something like a cross between Chanel n° 5 (which is a very fine scent as you ladies will appreciate and a very expensive one too as you gentlemen will be only too aware) - a cross between Chanel n° 5 and the smell of fresh laundry. I just love that smell. It means clean socks!

Nard has an incredibly clean, pure, fragrant, intense and aromatic bouquet… Just one drop and you can still smell it a year later.

This woman poured out a whole pint of it all over Jesus’ feet.

No wonder v3 says “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” It must have been.

Oh, that that would be a picture of fervent and fulsome worship in All Saints’! An undignified passion and an uninhibited love for Jesus that just fills the church. Do you want that?

Verse 3 says “she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.” There was an unashamed intimacy about that act. Mary’s offering was profoundly personal. It was from her heart, not just with the mind.

Oh, that that would be a picture of heartfelt and personal worship in All Saints’! Worship that is real, worship that’s got depth and soul. Do you want that?

And finally, v5 that one jar of perfume was worth a year’s wages. According to the Office of National Statistics, the average income in Britain today is £26,000. Fancy spending 26 grand on a bottle of scent!

The point is not that only the wealthy can offer the best worship. The point is this: worship that is nothing but the best costs me something.

And I say this within a framework of grace but:

• It costs me my free time to establish weekly worship as a top priority
• It costs me my sanity to arrive on time if I possibly can (and sometimes that is not possible and that’s O.K. I’ve had four kids and several unreliable cars. So I know!)
• It costs me physically to worship with all my strength even when I don’t even feel like standing up
• It costs me a little dignity to raise my hands and shout to the Lord

But oh, that this story would be a picture of the gloriously lavish and abundantly sacrificial worship in All Saints’!


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19th June 2011

Acknowledgment: some material on the Malachi passage taken from Bill Hybels 2000 GLS talk  "Leadership Excellence."

Be Converted, Be Courageous (Acts 9.1-19)

Introduction

I got a phone call this week from a guy called Laurent. I know Laurent from my last church in Paris, but he’s been living in Essex working as an engineer for a car manufacturer for the last few years and we kind of lost contact.

About 6 years ago Laurent got to know a girl from England. He wanted to go out with her. She wanted to go out with him - but there was a problem. She was a Christian. He wasn’t. So she kept putting him off. He kept pushing. And she started praying for him. She started fasting for him. She cried out to God for him.

One day, Laurent was driving along in his car and, out of nowhere, the Spirit of God came upon him in such power, such force, such intensity - with a revelation of the love of Jesus - that he had to pull over onto the hard shoulder and give his life to Christ. Laurent became part of my leadership team there and is such a man of God. Plays a mean bass guitar as well… Laurent called me to tell me he is getting married in October and he’s asked me to do the wedding for them.

It was great to hear from him and, as I reflected on his story, and wondered about what I should say tonight, I thought I’d talk about the wonder of conversion.

If you really want the mother of all extraordinary conversions, listen to this extract from the diary of Rev. William Haslam, an 18th century Church of England vicar in Cornwall. These are his words;

“I went into the pulpit and gave my text... I do not remember all I said, but I felt a wonderful light and joy coming into my soul... Whether it was something in my words or my manner, or my look, I know not; but all of a sudden a local preacher, who happened to be in the congregation, stood up, and putting up his arms, shouted out in Cornish manner, "The parson is converted! The parson is converted! Halleluiah!" and in another accent his voice was lost in the shouts and praises of three or four hundred of the congregation. Instead of rebuking this extraordinary 'brawling', as I should have done in a former time, I joined the outburst of praises and the people sang 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow' with heart and voice, over and over again.”

Most of us love to hear about radical experiences like those. But they are unusual even by biblical standards. We may not all have been visited by a manifestation of heavenly power but everyone here needs to be able to say, “I am converted to Christ.” Maybe you can't put a date on it but it's important that you know that some time in your life you turned from sin and placed your faith in Jesus.

Well now, if you have a Bible, we're going to read Acts 9.1-19.

Saul's conversion. Saul; this dangerous fanatic from the Middle-East, determined to stamp out Christianity, is struck down in the middle of the road, where he meets the risen Jesus.

And in that moment, which tips his world upside down, he turns from his murderous ways and becomes a disciple of the Christ he had persecuted. He himself put it this way; "I was on my way to arrest Christians when Christ arrested me."

And now, almost twenty centuries later, the phrase, "Damascus Road experience" is still used in the English language, when people talk of a radical discovery and change of heart. It was a dramatic turnaround.

It was such a turning point in his life that he changed his name soon after to Paul. We’d think something was up if people changed their name by deed poll. Terry might become Merry. Julia might become Peculiar. Saul means “asked for”. Paul means “the least”.

Saul's is one of the most unusual conversion experiences in the history of Christianity, certainly one of the most spectacular and unexpected.

1) Never Limit God

We might describe William Haslam's encounter with Christ - in his own pulpit - as unbelievable.

And "unbelievable" is a good word to describe Saul's conversion too. It seems, for example, that Ananias didn't quite believe it. You kind of get that impression from v13-14.

God instructs this man to go and visit Saul, lay hands on him and minister healing to him. But Ananias says to almighty, all knowing, all powerful God, the ever living Lord of heaven and earth (for whom nothing is impossible), "How can I be sure you're telling the truth?"

Ananias was stunned by unbelief. God has blown his doors off. It's as if Ananias has made up his mind too early. He thinks the Lord can do this much but that much is just a bit too much of a challenge.

Now, we know we shouldn't put limits on what God can do and can’t do, don’t we?

I once met a Ugandan pastor called John Mulinde, to whom God revealed fax numbers, by a word of knowledge, of people he wanted him to contact and meet.

I have a friend in Liberia called Dave Waines. Dave is a Canadian Christian who is red hot radical. Dave picks up thrown away and cursed children, adopts some of them, but loves all of them and watches them became a source of blessing to the very people who had rejected them.

We tend to put limits on God, often subconsciously.

Ananias says, in effect, "No, Lord." He is saying, "Look God, you cannot be serious, you must have got this wrong."

How much are you missing out on, due to limiting God to what your mind can cope with? Don’t limit God. The Bible says “Nothing is impossible with God”. And I’ve looked up that word “nothing”, it means nothing. Never limit God.

2) Follow God's leading

Another thing we see here is that God expects you to follow his leading. Ananias limited God with his thinking. But once he’d risen above his doubts, he had no hesitation in following the leading of the Holy Spirit. God says in v15, "Go!" and in v17 we're told that Ananias went.

I want you to imagine the scene. He walks down the main east-west route called Straight Street which still exists today in the middle of Damascus; this oasis city in the middle of the Syrian desert. He's wondering what he's going to say. His heart is in his mouth. He's petrified. He just knows he's going to stutter and have sweaty hands.

Think about this: What if Ananias didn’t quite hear God right? Or what if this was a trap? Or maybe he wasn’t not fazed at all. Perhaps he was perfectly relaxed and totally at rest in God's peace. We're not told.

The only thing that’s important is this: the fact is he went. And at the end of the day, that's all we need to know. Jesus said, "Heal the sick, drive out demons, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, make disciples!" It doesn't matter what I feel about that, it doesn't matter if I make a complete clown of myself every time I have a go. One thing matters; I say “yes” out of obedience or I say “no” out of fear. That's the issue.

When I was a young Christian, I received a word from God about a man who had been a father to me in the faith, but had subsequently gone off the rails and separated from his wife. It was a really, really hard word, with a revelation from God about an adulterous affair, about which I had no knowledge at all. I shared with his wife what I believed God was saying and asked her permission to confront him with it. To my absolute horror she said "yes."

So I went to see this man - who had given me so much and to whom I was so indebted – and I explained to him that I believed God was saying, in a nutshell, that he should repent of rebellion and adultery. It is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. He looked at me straight in the eye, denied everything, and with an angry tone in his voice he showed me to the door. I felt terrible. When I phoned his wife, she told me that she felt strongly whilst praying that something had broken in him that night. I just thought I'd blown it. Six months later, the truth came out, the word had been spot on, he turned from his sin, they got back together and have enjoyed over 20 years of happy marriage and fruitful ministry since then.

Praise God! When he says "Go for it!", you've got to go for it. Following God's leading. He promises to be with us (as, in v15-16, he promised he was going to be with Paul in his ministry) through suffering and hardship. Notice he didn't offer to spare him from pain and problems. He doesn’t now, but he does promise he will be the solution.

"In this world you will have big trouble," says Jesus, "but take heart, I have overcome the world."

3) Take a Risk to Love the Outsider

I love the way Ananias looks after Saul. One commentator said, "It is not always easy to show love and acceptance to others, especially when we are afraid of them or doubt their motives." That’s true isn’t it? If anyone had a good reason to be afraid or doubt the motives of someone else, it was Ananias with Saul.

Ananias places his hands on the man, imparting the healing power of Jesus.

John Stott wonders if it was also "a gesture of love to a blind man who could not see the smile on Ananias' face, but could feel the pressure of his hands."

Then his words are full of affection too. "Brother Saul" he says. All the fear has vanished. All the barriers are down. All the debt is forgiven. All the past is forgotten with just two words. Brother Saul.

Saul had spent three days completely blinded, taking no food or water stuck in a foreign city. In v18-19 we can surmise that Ananias baptised him, found him a towel, cooked him up a good meal, made sure he was o.k. and put him in touch with other Christians in Damascus. The second half of v19 tells us that he spent three days with them, enjoying their hospitality.

Nothing on earth in the field of human relationships comes close to the love in Christ we share as brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Tony Campolo tells of the time he was walking down Chesterton Street, in Ashburn, Virginia. There was a tramp (he called him a bum) looking on from a bench. Dirty old overcoat, long matted beard with bits of food stuck in it, he was covered in soot from head to toe, and drinking from a McDonald's paper cup... The guy called out, "Hey mister, you want some of my coffee?" "That's all right, but thank you, err, that's kind of you but..."

Then he thought that's wrong. So he said, "I'll take a sip." So he drank some of the coffee. Then he said to the tramp, "You're getting pretty generous giving away your coffee. What's gotten in to you?" The man said, "Well, the coffee was especially delicious today. And I figure that when God gives you something good, you ought to share it with people."

So Campolo said, "Well, is there anything I can, give you?" He thought the guy was going to ask for $5. The man said, "Yeah. You can give me a hug." When he said that, Tony Campolo was thinking, "Oh great, why didn't he just ask me for $5..."

They put their arms around each other, then he realised that this tramp was not going to let him go. He just held on to him. And people were passing in the street, staring at this sight.

Tony Campolo said this; "My embarrassment, little by little, turned to reverence and awe. Because I realised that this was not a whino I was holding in my arms. I heard a voice saying 'I was hungry, did you feed me? I was naked, did you clothe me? I was sick, did you care for me? I was the bum you met on Chesterton Street, did you hug me?' I had Jesus in my arms," he said.

Ending

So, drawing the threads together, what is God saying to us tonight through this word?

Is he saying to you that you are limiting him? Meaning, do we have too small a vision of what he wants to do in our lives? Do we need to be rebuked, and change our thinking, like Ananias did, so that we get a bigger vision – a true vision – of what God is able to do?

Is he speaking to you about following his leading? Some of us here this evening may be facing a choice where we can follow step out in faith. We know that that is going to make demands of us and stretch our faith. Or we can go the other way, which is familiar and which is easier. This man Ananias shows us what's possible when we exercise faith, take a risk and go God's way. Because Ananias did what he did, Saul became Paul; one of the greatest church planting missionaries that ever lived.

Is he speaking to you about showing love to the loveless? Like Tony Campolo with the tramp on Chesterton Street, Philadelphia, or like Ananias with the dangerous fanatic in Straight Street, Damascus. Is he speaking to you about showing hospitality to someone you would rather avoid?


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 12th June 2011

Ascension Day (Ephesians 4.1-16)

Introduction

There were three church leaders who got together one day to compare notes after an evangelistic mission in their town.

So they meet together over a pint in the local pub and the first one (a Methodist minister) says, “For us, it’s been great! Four new people have joined our church, praise the Lord!”

The second one (who is a Baptist pastor) says, “Well, that’s terrific, but we’ve done even better. Six new people have joined our church, blessed be the name of the Lord and hallelujah!”

So they look at the third one (who is a Church of England vicar) and they say, “What about you then? How did the mission impact your church?” And the third one goes, “Well guys, for us it was better still! Glory be to God in the highest, the ten most exasperating people in our parish have left at last!”

I want you to notice a little word that appears twice in our reading, once near the beginning and once near the end. The word is “unity.” Unity in the church must prevail - it must prevail.

Jesus said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” He didn’t say, “a divided house is a bit iffy” or “a divided house is not ideal.” Jesus tells it like it is. He says disunity, disharmony, disarray in the church cannot give birth to success.

Have you ever secretly thought to yourself, “I am glad so and so is a Christian, but quite honestly, I do wish he wasn’t a member of my church”? I’ll be honest with you; I have, definitely. Not in this church... not yet. But I have absolutely wished some people would suddenly feel called to take their ministry of gossip and their spiritual gift of moaning somewhere else.

Maturity

Basically, it’s all about maturity. Newborn babies require close attention 24/7. It’s all hands on deck round the clock. We don’t expect a one-year old to prepare lunch, fix the lawn mower and do the ironing do we? But as human beings grow from infancy to childhood to adolescence to adulthood they learn to take on more and more responsibility. (It’s true that in teenage years there’s a bit of a blip) but basically, we become less and less centred on having our own needs met and more and more aware of our responsibility towards others the older we get. We call that maturity.

And there is such thing as spiritual maturity as well. Spiritual maturity, like personal maturity is when someone really gets what Jesus said that “it is more blessed to give than receive.”

How does spiritual maturity come about? Does it just happen on its own? No. I lost my hair training and educating my kids to get off the computer and lay the table for dinner! In just the same way that you and I had to train and educate our children and grandchildren, those who are more mature in the faith have to train and educate those who are younger in the faith to become more like Jesus.

Our reading from Ephesians 4 talks about the ascended Christ giving gifts to his church to grow leaders and develop ministries that establish people in faith and character. It talks about equipping people and training them and building them up so that the church becomes grown-up.

Here’s a couple of extracts from tonight’s reading.

“When he ascended on high, he… gave gifts to his people… to equip [them] for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature…”

Calling

Verse 1 says, “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

That is why we had a weekend away in Saltburn recently to reconsider what God is calling us to be and to do; to discern God’s direction for us here. There’s only one vision I’m interested in for Saint Mary’s and that’s God’s vision.

We came back with five priorities which the MDT and PCC will develop over the next few months. The priorities are as follows:

- Build up our corporate prayer life
- Grow our work with children and families
- Communicate who we are and what we do to the village, reaching out to all ages
- Build up our people by training and development (including leaders)
- Continue to develop quality worship

1. We’re going to build up our corporate prayer life.

Don’t we pray already? Of course! But prayer must continue to be at the heart of all we do The American pastor Bill Johnson once said this: “Anyone can pray in crisis. Show me someone who will earnestly pray without a crisis and I will show you someone who is ready if one comes.” And we want to get better at praying together as a community.

The risen and ascended Christ is giving gifts to his people to equip them for prayer so that the body of Christ in Long Newton may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature.

2. We’re going to grow our work with children and families. Don’t we do GodZone and assemblies and baptism services already? Of course! But we want to grow that work because Jesus said we are to be fishers of men. And kids teach us so much about the kingdom as well.

There’s a story about a little girl who was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah about that.” The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him.”

The risen and ascended Christ is giving gifts to his people to equip them for growing our work with children and families so that the body of Christ in Long Newton may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature.

3. We’re going to communicate who we are and what we do to the village, reaching out to all ages. But don’t we do Long Newton News, prayer visiting, the Community Lunch and pastoral care already? Of course! But we want to do more because the Bible says “Tell out, my soul, the wonders of the Lord.”

The Chinese church leader Francis Chan once wrote “Christians are like manure; spread them around all over the place and they help everything grow better but keep them all together in one big pile indoors and they stink horribly.”

The risen and ascended Christ is giving gifts to his people to equip them for communicating who we are and what we do to this village, reaching out to all ages so that the body of Christ in Long Newton may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature.

4. We’re going to build up our people by training and development (including leaders). But don’t we offer Growing Leaders, pastoral care training and attend diocesan courses already? Of course! But we want to do more because the risen and ascended Christ is giving gifts to us, his people to equip us for it.

5. We’re going to continue to develop quality worship. But don’t we do that already? Of course! The leaders and preachers here are excellent. But we don’t want to sit on our laurels because the very best worship is fresh and creative and imaginative. Even when you are on the right track, if you just sit there and do nothing, you get run over. It only takes two days for tomorrow to become yesterday. Church is a living organism; not a fossil museum.

Let me quote to you from an article in an American newspaper objecting to new trends in church music.

“There are several reasons for opposing it. 1) It’s too new. Secondly it’s often worldly, even blasphemous. 3) The new Christian music is not as pleasant as the more established style. 4. Because there are so many new songs you can’t learn them all. 5. It puts too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than godly lyrics. 6. The new music creates disturbances making people act indecently and disorderly. 7. The preceding generation got along perfectly well without it. 8. It’s a moneymaking scam and 9) some of these new music upstarts are lewd and loose.”

This was an article from 1723 attacking Isaac Watts, the composer of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

The risen and ascended Christ is giving gifts to his people to equip them for developing quality worship so that the body of Christ in Long Newton may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature.

Serving

What will be your part in all this? How are you going to serve? Some people I have met only want to serve the Lord in an advisory capacity. They like to give Almighty God their helpful ideas and advise him on what he can and cannot do. That’s not the sort of service this passage of scripture has in mind.

Verse 7 says; “To each one grace has been given.” Everybody here has been given a special and unique gift from God in order (v12) “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

That word translated “equip” here has the sense of ‘prepare’, ‘to bring to completion,’ ‘to train’, ‘to perfect’, ‘to enable’, and ‘to bring to maturity.’ In each case it's someone else who benefits.

Let me ask you; are you further on in God than you were two or three years ago? Is your Christian service more fruitful? Are you of more godly character? Do you have the sense that you are learning and growing?

Growth

Some people say that the best way to grow as a Christian is to go away, cut yourself off from the hurly burly and commune with the Lord. That is a good thing to do. But according to the Bible, maturity comes through ministries, not monasteries.

Verse 16 says, “From Christ the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Church is God's maturity workshop. As apostolic, evangelistic, prophetic, pastoral and teaching ministries shape your life, you will (v14) leave spiritual infancy, you will no longer be tossed back and forth or blown here and there by any wind of teaching. You will be equipped to grow and withstand the worst.

Ending

So as I close, let me ask you, “What is the Lord saying to you tonight?” Is he stirring you to be passionate about building unity with other believers? Is he reminding you of his unique calling on your life? Is he challenging you to articulate what that specific calling is? Is he drawing you get serious about fanning into flame the gifts he has placed in you so that others around you can be better equipped to serve? Is he speaking to you about your essential role in his body, the church?


Sermon preached at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 2nd June 2011