Finding God in Messed-Up Lives (Matthew 1.1-17)

Introduction 

We are beginning a new series today which will run through to the last Sunday of the year and we’ve called it “Finding God at Christmas.”

It’s the nativity as told by Matthew - which is a darker and heavier perspective than Luke’s. 

Matthew probably got his source material for chapters 1 and 2 from Joseph because it tells the story from Joseph’s viewpoint.

Luke must have got his facts from Mary because he writes from hers. That explains the differences between the two gospels but when you compare them, like two pieces of a jigsaw they complement each other and fit together perfectly.

Except for one thing - the genealogies.

Why Genealogies Are Important

If I were to ask you the question, “Who are you?” how would you reply?

You’d probably give me a kind of impromptu CV. “Hi, I’m so-and-so, I come from such and such a town, I’m 25 or 75 years old, I’m a teacher, or a retired nurse, or I work with computers.

That’s why employers ask for a CV when they want to employ someone; they want a summary of that person’s personal details, education, previous experience and interests. And that’s how we say who we are in our culture.

But in biblical times, to say who you were you gave your family tree.

So I, in biblical terms, am John, son of Michael, son of Richard, cousin of Count Charles de Lambert, from the Franco-Russian aristocracy inventor of the hydrofoil, hovercraft and pioneer aviator who was friendly with the Wright brothers. That’s who I am! By the way, he died in 1944 without a penny to his name, having blown all his fortune on research.

Two Family Lines

The two family trees (Matthew 1 and Luke 3) are broadly similar but they go off on two different branches after King David. Here's a simplified diagram.

  

Matthew’s genealogy is on the left and Luke’s is on the right. David had several sons, two of whom were Solomon and Nathan. The dotted lines represent several generations and they show two different lines from King David.

Matthew’s and Luke’s family trees stick to those two different branches until they arrive at Jesus’ stepfather Joseph, where each gospel states a different name for Joseph’s father; Matthew says his name was Jacob and Luke says his name was Heli.

This is a problem. And it has led to some people claiming that the Bible can’t be trusted.

And I just want to deal with this issue right away because it can be a distraction. It can undermine our confidence in the trustworthiness of the Bible. There are in fact four basic theories as to why they are different but I’m just going to talk you through the one I think is right.

I think the enigma is best explained by what is called the levirate marriage custom which you find in Deuteronomy 25.

For Jews at that time, you see, who you are is all about your family tree. To die without an heir was like having your name blotted out from history. So they had a type of marriage in which a man, if an older relative died without leaving an heir, had to marry the widow so that the dead man’s name could be preserved.

Are you with me so far? A good example of levirate marriage is in the Book of Ruth where, if you know the story, Boaz marries Ruth because - and only because - he was distantly related to her former husband who had died before having children.

This levirate marriage custom seems weird to us but it was common in those days and it explains the question Jesus was once asked by the Sadducees; do you remember? “If a man dies and his six brothers each marry the widow, one after the other, each leaving no heir, who is her husband in heaven?”

The apparent contradiction between Matthew and Luke disappears if Matthew’s family tree includes a Jacob who died before he had children, meaning his family line would end.

There would only be one way to preserve his name - desperately important for a first century Jew - and that would be a levirate marriage. So a close relative would marry Jacob’s widow. It seems that this is what must have happened; a relative called Heli, maybe a cousin or an uncle, married Jacob’s widow as was the custom.

And they had a child and they named him Joseph. This is the family line that Luke records. Luke, remember, was a gentile, so he was unfamiliar with Jewish customs. He was also a family doctor, so he was much more interested in biology than legality. It makes perfect sense that Luke would put Heli as Joseph’s father.

But in Jewish thinking, Jacob would be seen as the father, not Heli. And Matthew was a Jew writing to Jews. So it makes perfect sense that Matthew would put Jacob as Joseph’s father.

Genealogies were preserved in two ways in the ancient world. They were remembered by individuals and families and they were registered by governments for tax purposes (a bit like our civil records office in Somerset House). What was Matthew’s job? He was a taxman of course so he would have had access to the official archives and, under Jewish law, they would record Jacob, not Heli, as Joseph’s legal father. Are you still with me?

In any case, both Jacob and Heli trace their ancestry back to David, so Jesus has a claim to be the son of David, the Messiah, through his adoptive father Joseph, not only legally but also biologically which, as we shall see a bit later, is of crucial, crucial importance.

People usually find the genealogies in the Bible boring and pointless. Some of you are glazing over right now, proving my point! But I want to say that the whole Bible is God’s word and it is all inspired, even these family trees.

Admittedly, they are not hugely entertaining. Reading them is a bit like panning for gold. When you pan for gold, you turn your sieve round and round and, every now and then, something catches your eye; something glints in the sun and stands out.

There are priceless nuggets of truth in this list if we can be patient enough to keep panning the sieve.

I want to say that this list of names is good news for messed up people – because there are loads of messed-up lives in here.

We haven’t time to go through all of them so I’m going to pick out just eight who, like little nuggets of gold, glinted at me when I looked at this passage carefully two weeks ago. I’m going to pick out four men and four women.

Four Messed-Up Women

First of all the women; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Uriah’s wife Bath Sheba (v6).

Tamar (v3) what can we say about her? She went through two husbands in a few years, and both were rogues who died young, before she disguised herself as a sex worker, deceived her father-in-law, committed adultery with him and ended up with not one love-child, but two.

She was nearly burned to death in a family feud but she blackmailed her way out of it. She was, it seems, utterly dysfunctional, with serial relationships, each one more damaging than the last. And it’s all there in Genesis 38.

Tamar had a messed-up life. But she was an ancestor of Jesus, the friend of sinners.

Rahab (v5) wasn’t even a Jew. She was from the Canaanites, a pagan people who were into child sacrifice and the occult. She was also a prostitute. And a traitor. She betrayed her own people, giving away state secrets and protecting foreign spies. She lived in the city walls, which is where the marginalised and vulnerable people lived.

Rahab had a messed-up life. But she was an ancestor of Jesus, who doesn’t condemn but says, “you’re free to go, sin no more.”

Ruth (v5) was a Moabitess, another “dodgy foreigner” - so she wasn’t a Jew either. Deuteronomy 23 says that Moabites and all their descendants are not allowed even to come near the assembly of the Lord. She was excluded from the Lord’s people.

She was also a young widow so her life will have been shattered – all her dreams gone. She became an economic migrant, living off hand outs and if that wasn’t enough trouble, her mother-in-law followed her wherever she went.

Ruth had a messed-up life. But she was an ancestor of Jesus, who binds up the broken hearted.

Bath Sheba (v6) was a tragic figure whose beauty led to being seduced by the most powerful man in the country while her husband was serving in the armed forces. She ended up pregnant and before her husband could find out he was bumped off so no one would know. There was a big cover up but it was all exposed and she was caught up in a national scandal. To make matters worse, her love-child died in infancy.

Bath Sheba had a messed-up life. But she was an ancestor of Jesus, who will one day say “Look, I make all things new.”

William Barclay in his commentary, listing those four said “If Matthew had ransacked the pages of the Old Testament for improbable candidates he couldn’t have discovered four more incredible ancestors for Jesus Christ.”

Four Messed-Up Men

Then the men; David, Manasseh, Jeconiah and Joseph. Notice I'm steering clear of Salmon (v4). He was a bit fishy as well. Rumour has it he was related to Captain Haddock, Nicola Sturgeon, Magnus Pike and Michael Fish.

David of course (v6) was the man who seduced Bath Sheba and had her husband murdered. He was hot headed and impulsive. He could be loyal and brave but he was stupid with women and he indulged his children. His family lost respect for him and he ended up a slightly pathetic figure; a former great who threw it all away. He had a heart for God but he also sinned terribly.

But David was an ancestor of Jesus, who asks this basic question to people who really mess up: “Do you love me?” David would melt immediately and say “Lord, you know I love you.”

David is mentioned five times in this genealogy, more than anyone else, even Jesus. That’s because if there’s one thing that all Jews know it’s that the Messiah has to be a descendant of David.

Manasseh (v10) was the worst of all the kings of Judah. This is what the Bible says about him: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord… He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed… He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshipped them… He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practised divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. Manasseh led [the people] astray [and did] more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and… led Judah into sin with his idols… Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end – besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

He was beyond the pale. We’d lock him up as a sadistic serial offender and throw away the key. Manasseh had a messed-up life. But he was an ancestor of Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost.”

Jeconiah (v11) was the last king of Judah. Jeremiah called him “a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants.” Jeconiah was like Saddam Hussein, a sleazy leader living in luxury while his ruined nation collapsed around him.

There’s another thing Jeremiah said about him. He prophesied a curse from God over his life. Listen to this: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule any more in Judah.”

God’s word is final. This means that Jesus could not be King of the Jews if he descended from Jeconiah. That prophecy would disqualify Jesus from claiming the crown if he had been the natural grandson of Jacob, because Jacob was in Jeconiah’s cursed line.

As the slide shows, Jesus' legal descent from David came through Solomon and Jeconiah to Jacob. 

But his biological descent from David, and his human right to David’s throne came through Heli, who was not under Jeconiah’s curse. 

Jeconiah had a messed-up life. But he too was an ancestor of Jesus, who lifts the curses off a thousand generations and proclaims a day of jubilee, a day of release.

And then Joseph (v16). A righteous man who was saving sex for marriage, and finds his fiancée is pregnant. All the village is talking about him and his “damaged goods” girlfriend. The wedding looks like it’s off.

In his culture, the engagement is binding and only dissolvable by divorce. Joseph’s future dreams look to be in tatters. He’s going to be divorced before he’s even married!

Joseph had a messed-up life. But he was the stepfather of Jesus, who gives hope to the hopeless and gives beauty for ashes, wine for water and can transform any situation by his mighty power.

And here’s the thing; had Joseph gone ahead with the divorce when he discovered that Mary was pregnant, Jesus would have had no claim whatever to the throne of David! But he didn’t and Jesus fulfils every prophecy and breaks every curse.

Ending

This list of names tells me it doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been, how low you’ve been, how deeply you’ve messed up.

Because God’s grace is sufficient. It wipes away every tear and it cleanses every stain.

This list of names tells me it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from; it’s where you’re going that counts. Because no family curse, no shameful past can take away what Christ gives you by faith.

This list of names tells me that all that matters is Jesus. His is the last genealogy in the Bible. You won’t find Paul’s, you won’t find Peter’s and you won’t find Mary’s. They’re irrelevant. It doesn’t matter who your ancestors are anymore. Are you in Christ’s family? Matthew 1 is my family tree because I am in Christ. That’s what really counts. Are you a child of God? Are you in Christ?

And finally, this list of names tells me it doesn’t matter where my name is written on earth. You can trace my baptismal record, you can find my entry on the electoral register and spot me somewhere in Somerset House. Who cares? What counts is that my name is written in heaven. Is yours? Do you have the assurance today that your name is written in the Book of Life?

The Bible says “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Have you done that? If you haven’t, do it today!

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 30th November 2014

Be Still and Know (Remembrance Day Sermon 2014)

Psalm 46.1-11

If you have travelled to London to see the amazing installation around the Tower of London you will have been deeply impressed I'm sure. There’s a picture of it on the back of your booklets when our Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited it a few weeks ago.

888,246 ceramic poppies, each one representing one British life cut short in World War I, planted into the ground surrounding the tower, making a sea of red.

It takes something like this to help you see the scale of the loss of life not only our country, but others, suffered from 1914 to 1918.

I am so pleased today that we have a surviving relative of one of our parishioners who fell in that conflict. When, in August, Miriam showed me the scribbled letter announcing the circumstances of John Flower’s death sent to his next of kin I was very moved to hold it and read it. But, of course, hundreds of thousands of similar letters had to be written, despatched, opened and read as that atrocious war raged on.

Its pain was still felt decades on. In 2007, a ninety-seven year old woman laid a wreath at her father's grave at a war cemetery in northern France. Her note said: "Thank you for five years of real happiness... I've missed you all my life."

One of the things I have become aware of in this 100th anniversary year of the outbreak of World War I is the standard issue Saint John's Gospels, that were given to any serving soldier who wanted one, during the conflict.

I never knew this before, but 42 million Active Service Gospels like this one were printed and given away, which is a testament to the huge demand there was for them.

I came across an extract from a soldier’s diary this week that shows how they were sometimes used: “My pal was mortally wounded only a yard from me. I showed him his wife's photo and read her last letter to him, and part of St John 17, and so passed away a real Christian soldier. It was with a heavy heart and wet eyes that I left him with the snow falling on his body. All around lay dead and wounded, and I did what I could... You will gather how we suffered when I tell you that out of forty-two in our platoon, only eleven are left and I am one of them.”

I wonder what words from John 17 he read to his dying comrade? Maybe it was the verse where Jesus says, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Chaplains on the front line asked if a decision form could be added to the back page of the gospels and their request was granted.

This is what it said. Decision Form. Being convinced that I am a sinner, and believing that Christ died for me, I now receive him as my personal Saviour, and with his help I intend to confess him before men.

Servicemen were invited to sign underneath as a gesture of commitment, for their own assurance as they faced the ever-present reality that this day might be their last on earth. And many did sign that decision page, drawing strength and peace from their spiritual commitment.

The trenches were a place where some lost faith, such was the raw horror of what they witnessed. But, in those years of hell on earth, many found faith too.

Scripture Gift Mission who printed these gospels, received many letters of gratitude from serving personnel and here’s a quote from one of them:

“When your small Testaments were distributed on the Common at Southampton I, among others, accepted one in a more derisive than complimentary manner. I little dreamed that I should use it and find in it great consolation in lonely hours. I have learned to realise the great personality of the saviour. When at night I have been on duty alone with him by my side, and the Germans but 30 yards away, I realised that I needed more than my own courage to stand the strain. When the shells of the enemy have burst periodically at my feet I have marvelled at the fact of still being alive.”

Here’s an extract from another letter: “Only recently I was in a very big engagement, when bullets and shells were bursting around us every minute, and none of us knew when one would burst and blow us to pieces. That was the time when I turned to God and prayed for protection, and he has answered my prayers.”

And just one more: “Last night during my watching time I remembered what you told me about the Lord Jesus and sin and the mercy of God. I was feeling the wings of death flying over my head, and at that solemn moment I prayed for the first time in many years.”

Our first reading from Psalm 46 affirms the truth of human conflict. “Nations are in uproar” it says. But it goes on to affirm this great reality; “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Those letters sent from the front lines are hard evidence of how true that is. This is not some academic lecture from an ivory tower. To have to leave your trench, go over the top, dash through no man’s land towards the enemy front line, with grenades going off all around you and deafening machine-gun fire taking men down on your left and your right - to do that and still be able to say “God is my strength, I can face without flinching the possibility that this may be my last day alive” - is a powerful testimony.

At the end of the Psalm it says, “Be still and know that I am God.”

The former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt spoke two years ago about coming to saving faith on the field of combat as he himself did. "Many soldiers came to know that in the Somme in 1916" he said. "Others have come to know it today in southern Afghanistan. And I got to know it on 11th November 1977. That is the date of the anniversary of Armistice Day when… in 1918 the surrender of Germany to end the First World War was announced. A surrender is two things; it’s the end of the fighting and it’s the beginning of the peace. I found that day that if we surrender our lives to God’s will we can gain the peace and purpose in life that only trust in... Jesus Christ can give.”

As we make our bitter-sweet remembrance today, looking back with both sorrow and gratitude, let us also look forward and entrust our lives and our future to the God of peace who, as our Psalm says, makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.

As later this morning we stop and become quiet for two minutes, let us also be still and know deep in our soul that he is God. 

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 9th November 2014

The Secret of Getting Younger

Herbert Silverwood was a Yorkshire-born-and-bred pub comedian, turned old style evangelist who used to conduct beach missions. Quite a character... One very hot summer, he had been preaching all week on Great Yarmouth beach and he thought he’d go for a dip to cool off. The thing is, he couldn’t swim a stroke - but he said to himself he’d just go in waist deep and everything would be fine.

Alas, he hadn’t noticed that the sand sloped quite steeply a few yards in to sea; he lost his footing and started to flail his arms, splashing around and yelling for help.

It just so happened that a life guard was on duty nearby, so he dashed into the water, pulled the old boy out, and pumped him dry. “I don’t know Mr. Silverwood” he said. “All week long I’ve been listening to you preaching about heaven and how you can’t wait to get there. The first opportunity you have to go, you’re desperate to put it off!”

Silverwood, with all the quick reflexes of a stand-up comedian, just smiled at the hero who had saved his life and said, “Listen to me young man, would you want to face the last judgement dressed in these swimming trunks?”

November is maybe the month of the year when we are most aware of our mortality; many churches hold bereavement services around All Saints’ Day. Then there is Remembrance of course, the honouring of lives tragically cut short by war.  

As leaves drop off the trees and the days turn darker and colder, nature itself seems to remind us of the inevitability of the winter of our lives.

Every November, I add a year to my age. Someone once joked “One of the many things no one tells you about ageing is that it’s such a nice change from being young.” But there are advantages to getting older. This month, I turn 53 and the only way to fit that many candles on the cake is to get a bigger one.

Billy Graham once said, “You're born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there's a loophole.”

I don’t think he was just talking about eternal life and the wonderful presence of Jesus, an illuminating glimpse of which we had at All Saints’ when Paul McWilliams came to speak last month. Paul told the remarkable story of how he came to faith after a serious accident from which he was not expected to survive and which resulted in his heart stopping several times. He told of his encounter with Jesus and of his extraordinary healing after the doctors had said he had no chance.

I think that Graham also meant that ageing, for Christians, is only what you see on the outside. On the inside, spiritually, we’re actually getting younger as grace slowly works Jesus’ character into ours - what the Bible calls “sanctification.”

This is surely what 2 Corinthians 4.16 means. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

I think that’s something to make a splash about.

Seven Marks of a Healthy Church (Acts 11.19-30 and 13.1-3)

Introduction

I was once walking around a town on the south coast of England in the late 80’s when I came across a church and noticed the large black sign board outside. It said in large gold letters “Mount Zion Chapel.” And underneath were three words. What three words do you think they’d want to say to the world outside? Welcome to all? Do come in? House of prayer? God loves you? Jesus is Lord? Believe me, I am not joking, the three words they chose were “strict and particular!”

The term actually refers to their policy on membership and communion. But I didn’t think to myself “That looks friendly, let’s go there on Sunday.”

In my research for this talk I found that that church no longer exists. It was sold for demolition and redevelopment. It’s dead.

Churches do become sick and sometimes die. The book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is prepared to close churches that forsake their first love. This church could close one day. There is a course of action we could take that would lead to decline, and eventual closure. I hope that will never happen but the truth is that it could.

How would we know if we were becoming sick? What are the signs of a healthy church? If you want a biblical model of a healthy church as a kind of yardstick, you could do a lot worse than the church at Antioch which is the subject of our two readings from Acts this morning.

Was it a perfect church? No. We know Antioch had some difficulties. For example, two of its leaders had a barnstorming argument at the end of Acts 15. Paul held up the churches in Philippi and Thessalonica as shining examples for other churches to emulate but he never did for Antioch. Maybe knew a few home truths about it that we don’t read in Acts.

But there are 7 signs of health in this local church that I long for at All Saints’.

And here they are;

Contagious friendship   

Wider-church partnership

Teachable membership                               

Prophetic worship

Generous stewardship                                 

Inclusive fellowship

Team leadership                                                                             

1) Contagious Friendship

No one knows who started the church in Antioch. It came into being, humanly speaking, almost by accident. After Stephen was stoned to death in chapter 7, persecution broke out and many Christians had to leave Jerusalem, running for their lives. This is where we started today out in v19.

It's natural that some of these believers would head for Antioch, even though it was about 300 miles away, because it was a large city, well over half a million people at that time. In fact, it was the 3rd city of the Roman Empire (only Alexandria and Rome itself were greater in size).

As these displaced believers fled with their families, naturally enough, they talked to people about Jesus. “You’re not from here, what are you doing in these parts?” “Oh, we had to leave Jerusalem because people were trying to kill us.” “Why was that then?” “Well, it’s because of our faith. They’re trying to wipe us out.” “Oh? What faith would that be then?”

And as they began to share their faith with people they met and got to know, others became Christians. This is what I call contagious friendship.

Raise your hand please if at least part of the reason you are a Christian today is because of someone else you admired or who loved you or brought you to church or something like that? You see? Contagious friendship. That’s how the church started to form and grow.

That’s the main reason churches grow now. People talk about Jesus to others. Churches become unhealthy when nobody in the church really knows anyone or talks with anyone outside the church about Jesus any more.

Up till this point, some Gentiles had come to Christ. The Ethiopian official. Cornelius and his household. But this was the first time anyone had heard about Jesus without knowing something of the Old Testament. These new Christians in Antioch were complete outsiders.

Verse 21 tells us that the Lord's hand was with them, (that’s wonderful isn’t it? Do you feel that the Lord’s hand is with you?) A great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

2) Wider-church Partnership

The second sign of a healthy church is wider-church partnership. In v22-23 the church down south sent Barnabas the encourager to support them. Then in v25-26 Saul the Bible teacher came down from Tarsus to give them some foundational teaching in God’s word.

In v27 they bring in some prophetic ministry from Jerusalem to speak into their life of the church. In v30 they send Saul and Barnabas out with some financial support to the churches in Judea.

I love this flowing in and out from different churches of people and ministry. It’s not “you in your small corner and I in mine.”

This is why we’re part of New Wine, an international network of churches. We want the inspiration of the wider church to impact us. Wasn’t it great to have Paul McWilliams with us last month?

We have Ashley here thanks to our partnership with Youth for Christ and the Vine. In healthy churches ministry flows two ways.

In Antioch, they gave away the best they had. In chapter 13, v2-3 they sent out two valued, key leaders, 40% of their leadership team, in one go. Why would they do that? They wanted to bless others with the gospel. Give it away. They had a bigger vision than just watering their patch.

When you think of this church releasing John and Janet out to Long Newton 15 years ago, sending Alan and Nicky out to Stockton seven years ago and Sylvia to Egglescliffe nine months ago, so have we. Although we love them and miss them, we can see blessing being carried out from here and bringing life to other places. Long Newton and the Parish Church were on the verge of closure. They’re now brimming with life. And new people are starting to come into the church at Egglescliffe as well.

I believe this is the fulfilment of a prophecy we had here some years ago of the river of life, a torrent of blessing flowing from the chancel, through the nave and out the doors to the wider area.

I want All Saints’ to keep resourcing other churches and help them come alive in the Holy Spirit. And as we give away blessing, God pours more in. Healthy churches reproduce life.

3) Teachable Membership

                                               

Every healthy church will have sound Bible teaching. I’ve mentioned that Barnabas brought Saul in to do some teaching with them. There were so many non-Jews coming to faith in Christ with no knowledge of the Bible at all and they needed a lot of teaching so v26 says that for a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church and taught great numbers of people.

Ben Stuart, who leads a fruitful student ministry in Texas, said at the Desiring God conference this year, “I have never met a strong Christian who doesn’t read God’s word every day. And I have never a weak Christian who does.”

Nicky Gumbel tells the story of a man who went to see his vicar and he said, “I don’t read my Bible.”  And the vicar said, “Well, you should, why don’t you?” He said, “Oh, it interferes with my work.” So the vicar said, “Interferes with your work?  What do you mean?  What do you do?”  He said, “Well, I am a pick-pocket!”

The biggest reason, I think, that people don’t grow in their Christian faith is because they don’t read the Bible. Healthy children will only grow if they eat and in the same way this is food. Jesus said, “People cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. It’s spiritual food.  And we need it grow. 

As we read, we are encouraged. As we read, we see the lives of the great men and women of God that challenge us. As we read the Psalms we read about people who are going through the same difficulties that we have.  Each day, as we read this book, if we do it on a regular basis, God will speak to us.

David Suchet, the actor who plays Poirot, came to faith reading a Gideons New Testament in his hotel bathroom and said this, “I find the Bible fascinating because on every page I meet God, and in meeting God I meet Jesus.”

4) Prophetic Worship

But Antioch didn’t only have teachers, they had prophets as well. A teacher in the church helps people see truth by opening the scriptures and it takes study and planning to do that. Prophets don’t prepare sermons; they bring direct revelation, a visual picture or a picture or some other revelation from God.

There were two Christians in a train when there was an announcement from the driver that the brakes had failed and the train was running down a hill, out of control. One Christian says to the other "Oh no, we're going to die!" His friend just yawns and looks at his companion and says, "don't worry, it's going to be o.k. There's unfulfilled prophecy in my life."

People are screaming and panicking. The first Christian says "What prophecies?" "Well", says the second one "Someone once had a word from the Lord that I was going to walk away from a train accident without a scratch.” The first one says, “What else did the prophecy say?” The second one says, “That I'd be the sole survivor!"

Actually, the Bible says that "those who prophecy speak to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort." (1 Corinthians 14.3).

What is prophecy? Is it God's word? The Bible certainly is God's word. So is prophecy equal with scripture? If not, how much of God's word is there in prophecy? If someone prophesies do we have to follow what he or she says?

Prophecy is saying something that God has spontaneously brought to mind. V27-28 say this: “During this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.”

There are detailed records of this period and the reign of Claudius was indeed remarkable for frequent famines. (They occurred in the 1st, 2nd, 4th 9th and 11th years of his reign). There were food shortages and blighted harvests all over the empire during that time. But there never was one great empire-wide famine.

Agabus was obviously inspired but not 100% infallible. So when we prophesy it’s part God's revelation and part our interpretation of it.

That's why 1 Thessalonians 5 says "Do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good." Clearly implying "don't hold on to the not so good." 1 Corinthians 13 says “We prophesy in part.” So we need to catch what God is saying and filter the bits that are from us.

And 1 Corinthians 14 says "Let two or three prophets speak and let others weigh what is said." You don’t weight scripture to discern which bits are true. It’s all true. So, prophecy today should not be considered as equal to God's word in authority.

Healthy churches will encourage prophetic ministry. In healthy churches people eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.

5) Generous Stewardship

The fifth mark of a healthy church is generous stewardship. “I think” said Jim Carrey that “everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see it's not the answer.”

A healthy Christian is a giving Christian and a giving Christian is a joyful Christian.

The church accounts say as much about our spiritual health as any other document in this church.

Susie Thorp, who used to be a curate here, once taught me a prayer to say as the offering is brought forward. You lift the plate up with its envelopes, its banknotes, and its loose change and you pray, “No matter what we say or do, this is what we think of you.”

And that’s true because Jesus said “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”

In verse 29 the Christians in Antioch decided, each according to his or her ability, to provide financial and material help for their brothers and sisters in Judea. That's an expression of generosity in itself. But when you look a little closer, you see it's not just generous, it's sacrificial.

Reading from verse 28, you notice that this collection of funds for victims of famine was a response to Agabus’ word that famine would affect the entire Roman Empire. Antioch was in the Roman Empire. In other words, they decided to give away some of what they had, knowing that they themselves would be hit by shortages.

If you knew you were going to lose your job tomorrow, you might tighten your belt a bit. The Antioch reflex reaction is to not to say: "how can I manage?" but "how can I bless others who will lose their income at the same time?"

Antioch is a great role model for giving. I love it that over and above our committed giving to the Lord’s work here we sent over £2,000 to Christians in Iraq and Syria last month. I love it that, over and above our committed giving to the Lord’s work here, we’re blessing communities who have nothing in Romania with these shoe box gifts of love. I love that. Because healthy churches are generous churches.

6) Team Leadership

Sixthly, team leadership.

Two guys were working along the roadside. Someone came by and couldn't understand what they were doing. So, he said, "I see how hard you're working, but it seems that one of you digs a hole, and then the other guy fills it back up again." So they look at him and say "Oh, the third guy who plants the trees in the hole is off sick today."

I’ve been on leadership teams like that… Not here thankfully. In 13.1-3, we get a glimpse of the leadership of a healthy church. No trace of one man ministry. It was a fully functional team.

There are five leaders with different but complementary gifts. They pray together, fast together, worship together, seek the Lord's face together and hear from God together.

Healthy churches raise up leaders with spiritual gifts to work in teams.

Some leaders are DOTs – doers of tasks. The best leaders are DOPs – developers of people. If you’re a doer of tasks, you get things done but when you eventually go, there’s no one around who can do what you do. If you’re a developer of people, when you leave, you’re hardly missed because you’ve left a legacy of trained teams who are leading ministries.

7) Inclusive Fellowship

Those mentioned in v1-3 were obviously from different backgrounds. Barnabas was a Cypriot, Simeon was a black African, Lucius was a Jew from North Africa, Manaen was from high places and Saul was a Roman citizen from Tarsus. It was a diverse, multi-ethnic and international church.

I once had an ethnic Jew from England and an ethnic Arab from Morocco in a church I led. Jews and Arabs; two peoples who have hated each other since Isaac and Ishmael. But these two guys were great friends. They would hug each other during the Peace and bless one another with tears because the Holy Spirit has made them brothers in Christ. Isn’t that beautiful? That’s just so Jesus isn’t it?

Ending

Finally, I want to say this. When the church started in Antioch there was a problem. Nobody knew what to call them? Up to this point, believers in Jesus were just considered as eccentric Jews. But in this new church, most of the believers were Gentiles. So the question arose, what should we call these people?

Verse 26 says that was, in fact, the locals who gave them the nickname ‘Christians.’

Some churches are named after what most distinguishes them. A group of charismatic believers in the 17th Century used to shake as the Holy Spirit fell on them so people called them... Quakers. Another group of Christians sprung up in the 18th Century who were rigorous and methodical so people called them... Methodists.

Other churches are named after their leaders. Lutherans are named after... Martin Luther. Mennonites are named after... Menno Simons (you knew that didn't you)? 

As the believers in Antioch became a recognisable group, people will have asked them out of curiosity, “What’s your religion all about?” Christ. “Which gods do you worship?” Just one; Christ. “Who’s your leader then?” Christ. “Yes, but who’s in charge?” Christ. “I know, but who actually runs this church?” Christ.

It’s like that story of the little boy who learned by the age of 5 that the answer to every question his Sunday school teacher asked was Jesus. Until one day she said, “Who can tell me what’s small and red with a big bushy tail and stores nuts for the winter? So he put his hand up and said “Miss, I know the answer’s Jesus, but I think it’s a squirrel!” 

I will measure the health this church by how much people love to talk about Jesus and what he’s done for them. It’s all about him.

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 2nd November 2014