The Desired of Nations (Haggai 2.6-9)

Introduction

Who would have predicted this time last year, that an impulsive businessman would be President-Elect of the United States, or that the United Kingdom would be on its way out of the EU, or that Britain would have its second woman Prime Minister? It’s been a year of political surprises.

Or who would have predicted that perenñial also-rans Leicester City would become Premier League champions, that Team GB would finish second, above China, in the Rio Olympics Medal Table and that Portugal would win the Euro Football Tournament? It’s been a year of sporting surprises too, the only constant being the England team’s pitiful early exit and customary managerial sacking.

Pollsters and pundits alike have all but invited ever more generous servings of egg on their faces. Tomorrow seems harder to foresee than ever.

Prophecy

But the Encyclopaedia of Biblical Prophecy, lists 127 separate predictions about the Messiah referencing over 3,000 verses from the Bible. The prophecies say exactly which ancestral line he will spring from, where he will be born, what he will be like, how he will die, why will die, where he will be buried, and even that he will rise from death.

It is little wonder that the earliest church in the first century commanded a huge following amongst Jews. They knew exactly what to look for in a Messiah and Jesus unerringly met all their expectations.

Of course, most Jews today still await their Messiah. They look for a military leader who will come not twice but only once.

Some years ago, the evangelist Billy Graham discussed this very matter on television with a Jewish New Testament scholar. The rabbi explained the modern mainstream Jewish view. He said, “Christians believe the Messiah has two comings: one at Christmas and one at His second coming. We Jews believe He will only come once, at a time of peace on earth just as the prophet Zechariah declared in Zechariah 12-14. Since we still experience wars, the Messiah has not yet come.”

In reply, Graham took that very passage of Scripture and answered, “It says in Zechariah 12.10 ‘They will look on me.’ Who is the one speaking here?” The rabbi replied: “The Almighty himself is speaking.”

Graham said “Thank you rabbi. It says, ‘They will look on me, the one they have pierced.’ How was the Almighty pierced?” The rabbi admitted that he didn’t know. So Graham said, “I believe he was pierced at the cross for the sins of the world.” The rabbi made no further argument.

Desired by the Nations

There were many titles given in the Old Testament to the coming Messiah. Some of them you will have heard of; the Rod of Jesse, Immanuel, wonderful Counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace and Sun of Righteousness have all found their way into our Christmas carols.

But few of us, I suspect, are quite as familiar with the title ‘Desired of Nations’, which comes in our reading from the prophet Haggai, about 520 years before Christ.

It comes in a prophecy about the temple in Jerusalem that was being rebuilt at that time and which was a bit of a disappointment. Work had begun, but then stopped - for a whole decade. People looked back nostalgically at Solomon’s original temple which had been destroyed. But God says, no. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, and in this place I will grant peace.”

And here’s the important part about the Desired of Nations; “This is what the Lord Almighty says: In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty.”

It’s a three-for-the-price-of-one prophecy; one prediction with three meanings.

Firstly, it means that riches would come from afar, and be offered in worship. That actually did happen in a small way and the temple was finished four years later.

But secondly there was a deeper fulfilment 520 years later when the Magi came from the east with treasures and presented them to the infant Christ – the new temple, the perfect bridge between heaven and earth.

The third meaning is that the Messiah, Jesus who would one day walk about in that very temple, satisfies the deepest longings of every nation on earth.

He is desired by the simple, gentle Ethiopian young adults I met at the beginning of this month, who were born into the poorest of poor neighbourhoods, championed by a Christian child sponsorship programme, given education, healthcare, nutrition and a caring friend from overseas who wrote to them and prayed for them, and are now university graduates with a passion to change their nation for Christ.

He is desired by a large crowd of Coptic believers in Cairo who in November defiantly and joyously roared in unison the Apostles’ Creed just hours after dozens of their number were slain by a suicide bomber as they gathered for Sunday worship.

He is desired by the world’s fastest growing church; in Iran – where there are over a million new believers in Jesus since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

He is desired by the Fijian Rugby Sevens team who won their country’s first ever gold medal this year at the Rio Olympic Games. On the final whistle, having thrashed Great Britain, they gathered in a circle, dropped to their knees, pointed to the skies and sang to the glory of Christ with tears running down their cheeks.

He is desired by a woman called Ruth who was brought up in Manchester. Her parents split up when she was very young, she was physically abused by her alcoholic mother.

When she reached her early teens she became addicted to ecstasy and alcohol. Years later her addiction led to the breakdown of her own family. She lost her husband and three children. She ended up in prison for a violent offence. She was in a dark place – angry, confused and lost.

One morning the prison chaplain gave her a New Testament. She opened it Matthew 11.28 where she read the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Ruth thought, “That’s me.”

That very night she asked God to forgive her if he loved her, then she fell asleep. The next morning, she felt calm. She felt new.

She says, “I stopped swearing and smoking. My whole attitude changed. There was still a lot of hurt and fear but I learnt that I could give it all to God. I realised how much he loves me and it completely changed me. I’d been broken and now God was rebuilding me. She now has a steady job, and her family life has been completely rebuilt and restored.

Ending

Jesus is the Desired of Nations. He is the answer to every spiritual longing on every continent and in every land.

If the greatest need among the nations of the world was pleasure God would have sent us an entertainer. If it was education, he would have sent us a professor. If it was money he would have sent us an economist. If it was security, he would have sent us a military general. But our greatest need is actually forgiveness so he sent us a Saviour.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 24 December 2016

Faith Journey (Matthew 2.1-12)

Introduction

The best present I ever got as a child was when I was about 8 years old. It was a plastic astronaut complete with space capsule. I almost wet myself and blacked out with excitement as I took it out of its wrapping. I was so fond of this toy that it went everywhere with me; in bed, on the loo, in the bath, at the table, I was inseparable from it – for all of 48 hours.

But my mum and dad took me to the amusements in Southend-on-Sea the day after Boxing Day and I left my beloved toy in a dodgem car never to see it (or anything like it) ever again. My happiness was, alas, wretchedly short-lived. (If anyone is offering counselling after the service I might take you up on it).

Christmas presents aren’t always spine-tinglingly wonderful though are they? I heard about one little girl who wrote a thank you letter to her grandparents which said, “Dear grandma and grandpa. Thank you for the gloves. They were something I wanted - but not very much!”

The tradition of Christmas presents probably goes back to the three wise men in the Nativity story who presented gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh to the new-born king, and I’ll come back to that in a moment.

The Spiritual Quest

But first of all, I want to explore a bit with you why they went to Bethlehem at all. We know they travelled from the east – but that is a bit vague really; I mean everywhere is east of somewhere isn’t it? In fact, it probably means Babylonia, or Persia, perhaps even India – several hundred miles east of Bethlehem.

What I love about this story is the way it echoes so many other journeys I know, including my own; journeys of faith.

It seems they were just going about their everyday lives when, literally out of the blue, something caught their eye and grabbed their attention and they understood that by following the star it would lead them to a unique new king. It was something that they became aware of and which started a quest in their lives.

Everybody I know who is a Christian has a different story of how their interest in Jesus first came about – and it’s fascinating to learn about that spark, that catalyst, whatever it was, that led to the beginning of another faith journey.

Here are a few examples from people who have been on our Alpha course this last term; several guests on the course noticed something change in a close relative who had been on the course the previous year and that change sparked an interest.

Another was doing the Great North Run and he noticed the t-shirt of a runner in front of him with a message saying something like “Do the Alpha Course.” And he thought, “Yes, I’ve heard of that, I think I’ll sign up.”

Another was just browsing on the Internet for information about local churches, stumbled upon our website, and followed the link to our page about Alpha. These were their “new star moments” if you like that jolted them into beginning a journey of discovery about Jesus.

Someone I know attended a funeral at our sister church in Long Newton a few years ago, and she was suddenly struck by the thought of the inevitability of her own mortality. She thought, “I’ve got to find out if there’s a God and if there’s an eternity.” It was a “new star moment” that started something in her.

David Suchet, who plays Agatha Christies’ Poirot in the TV series of the same name, was in a hotel one night, and got a bit bored of hopping through the channels, so he picked up the Gideon’s Bible in his drawer and started reading it in the bath. It was a “new star moment” that started a journey for him and that ended in him becoming a follower of Jesus.

Most Christians can point back to a “new star moment” that first launched their quest of faith. Some of you here this evening may not have started yours yet. What if tonight God taps you on the shoulder in some way that initiates the beginning of your own personal quest?

But the story of the wise men also shows what so often happens when you start out on a journey of faith. Their quest was going quite well, they were making decent progress – when all of a sudden they come across a paranoid, controlling, pathological psycho called King Herod.

He goes absolutely ballistic when he hears from them about a potential rival and it all gets very awkward. It gets messy, so the magi have to navigate through all of that and find a way to get back on track with their quest.

That’s what happens. I have known so many people on a spiritual journey and who suddenly find it all gets disrupted. A girlfriend feels she needs to call a time out on the relationship unless he shelves his new God thing that's annoying the life out of her. A colleague at work, who was previously friendly, starts avoiding you. Family members think you’ve joined the funny farm. I even heard of two parents who wrote their son out of their will when he told them he was going to become a Christian.

The quest for faith is not often straightforward. It can get complicated. There are almost always obstacles and obstructions to overcome. The wise men, what did they do? They pushed on. They persevered. They found a road blocked with no Diversion signs but they were determined to get to where they were going, and they found a way. And in the end their star led them to the little town Bethlehem where their journey ended.

Can I encourage you, if you’re on a faith journey now to not let anything that gets in your way throw you off course? Don’t let doubts stop you. Don’t let a friend deter you. Don’t let the busyness of life distract you. Don’t let a family member inhibit you. Don’t let your pride and self-sufficiency hinder you. This is the most important journey you’ll ever make in life.

As C. S. Lewis so memorably said, “Look for Christ and you will find him. And with him everything else.” The stakes are high, eternally high. It’s so worth pressing on and finishing this journey.  And I can tell you from experience that one good look at Jesus is enough to make you dissatisfied with anything else.

Well, the wise men finally got to Bethlehem when the star seemed to stop over the place where Jesus was. And there, they bowed down and worshipped, and presented gifts.

The Gifts

Why gold? We know all about gold. It’s what we value highly. When someone makes a fortune we say “he’s struck gold.” When a child is a delight to be with we say “she’s good as gold”. When someone is kind we say “She's worth her weight in gold.” When an athlete excels in his sport we award him a medal of gold.

They gave gold because Jesus is the very best God could have given us.

Why frankincense? It's a perfumed resin from the bark of a rare tree. It was lit in the temple to symbolise prayer rising to God. The wise men gave frankincense because they understood that this child was a bridge between heaven and earth; he is the key that enables us to connect with God.

Frankincense is also used medicinally in the Middle-East to treat conditions as diverse as asthma, fever, rheumatism, gastrointestinal problems, depression and sundry inflammatory conditions. Perhaps the magi knew prophetically that this child was going to bring healing to the sick, mend broken lives, and bind up broken hearts.

Why myrrh? Myrrh is another aromatic gum from a small thorny bush that was used for embalming before burial. It is the strangest gift you could offer a new born baby. Never mind a rattle or a soft toy, here's something for the funeral...

Myrrh was used at Jesus's death and burial. The gospels say they offered him a mixture of wine and myrrh before the crucifixion deaden the pain – and he refused it. Then Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea brought about 35 kilos of it to embalm Jesus' body after it was removed lifeless from the cross.

Myrrh has an aromatic, scented fragrance. Giving such a gift to Jesus was as if to say that there was going to be something sweet and fragrant about his death.

And there was. Jesus went through hell when he suffered and died so that you and I never have to. He gave his earthly life so that we can have eternal life.

Jesus chose to die – not many people do that; some do, but not many. But Jesus is utterly unique because he is the only person - ever- to have chosen to be born.

Follow the star, wherever it leads, however complicated it gets, until you find your way to the king who for all eternity has been awaiting your visit.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 18 December 2016

Call Him John (Luke 1.5-25)

Introduction

I’m going to start with a little quiz. Are you ready? Right. What do the following people have in common? Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander the Great, Napoleon the Great and Herod the Great. Answers on a postcard please… actually, the answer is that none of them were great, as we'll see.

The last of these five so-called “Greats” – Herod was king of the Roman province of Judea at the time Jesus was born and therefore he is in the background to the story. He as half Jew, half Edomite, mixed race – which was never going to work in a place like Israel - and he worked for the Romans which made it worse. He was a client king, a puppet with Caesar Augustus pulling all the strings. Why was he called “the Great”? Because he was a visionary architect. He built amazing palaces and monuments, and harbours, and amphitheatres and breathtaking places of worship including the temple in Jerusalem.

If you go Jerusalem today, nearly all of Herod’s temple is gone. Only the Wailing Wall remains. Jesus said it would be destroyed. Jesus was right. Jesus is always right. But we don’t need the temple anymore as a meeting place between God and man. We have Jesus and we can encounter God through faith in him. 

But Herod, besides being a great visionary, was paranoid and obsessive and controlling. He murdered his own wife and two of his own sons when he suspected they had secret ambitions for his throne.

He killed lots of people. Anyone who stepped out of line was suppressed, anyone who threatened his position was ruthlessly eliminated. He tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby, as we know. He was a megalomaniac.

So when Luke says in v5 that this happened in the time of Herod, king of Judea, he’s talking about desperate days ruled by terror.

But the story is not about Herod. The world calls him “Great” because the world is impressed by power and status and wealth and achievement. But the Bible never calls him “Great” because according to God he wasn’t.

Instead, in v15 it says John the Baptist “will be great” – this hermit who came from a nothing family, ate locusts, lived rough, wore unfashionable clothes, was abrasive in public, and died young. But he was great because his whole life pointed to Jesus. That’s true greatness in God’s eyes.

Does your life point to Jesus? That’s how you achieve greatness for God, and the clearer you point, the greater you are. Herod never pointed to Jesus; he pointed to himself and in God’s eyes he is utterly insignificant.

Zechariah

This story is not about Herod though. It’s about an old priest called Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.

What do we know about Zechariah? First, he’s a nobody, married to Mrs. nobody, from nowhere important. His provincial village might have a population of about 100, maybe less. He’s nothing special.

But one day (v8-9) his number comes up. He gets a sacred, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Out of the blue, his name is drawn by lot, out of 20,000 priests, and if your name is chosen, you get to go in to the inner sanctuary of Herod’s temple, empty a brazier of ash from yesterday’s incense offering and light the censer for a new one.

And then, after that, that’s it. Your name is removed forever from the list of available priests. So it’s probably the highlight of his career. It’s a great privilege. It’s like getting a chance to meet the Queen or appear on TV. This is a big day. But Zechariah is a nobody who gets lucky one day.

Secondly, v7 says that he and his wife Elizabeth are childless. All they ever wanted was to be able to be parents. But years go by. All the friendly talk about the patter of tiny feet dries up. Years, and then decades, pass. The clock ticks ever faster and eventually it becomes obvious. They can’t have any children. Elizabeth slowly advances beyond childbearing age. They’re devastated. They’re heartbroken.

But look, it also says in v6 that they are righteous in the sight of God. How do you deal with pain and disappointment and sorrow when you’re right in the sight of God?

However painful this is for them, notice that it does not drive them apart. They don’t end their marriage over it even though the Law of Moses gave Zechariah legal grounds to divorce Elizabeth and remarry. Does he ditch her and try his luck with a younger woman? No, they stay faithful to their marriage covenant and love one another and console one another in their shared pain.

And notice that they don’t become resentful towards God either. I’ve known people drift from their faith when tragedy strikes. “Oh, you won’t give me what I want, well I’m not going to worship you anymore then. I’m going to go my own way. I’m leaving church.” But Zechariah and Elizabeth don’t say any of that. They just quietly and humbly accept God’s will for their life.

The Lord gives, the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord. We are going to stay faithful. We’re going to close our tearful eyes, and bow our aching heads, and lift our weary hands and worship him – whatever befalls us.

Thirdly, Zechariah is poor. He’s not a high-ranking or prominent priest with a cushy job in the temple. He’s not a megachurch pastor with a TV show, he’s a vicar with a tiny country parish. This is a simple rural guy, probably in his 60’s, from nowhere important, quietly serving an unknown half-full synagogue, possibly with a day job to make up a salary he can live on.  

But, look, after years of being anonymous, he gets to be king for a day in the temple! He gets dressed in his best robes. He turns up early, anxious to do it right. And the big cheeses tell him what to do. Honestly, it’s not all that hard.

All he has to do is go in, sweep up some ash, light a censer, say a quick prayer, and come out again. It’s not rocket science. Thousands of priests have done it before, all without incident. It’s a once-a-day ritual that should take maybe half a minute.

Imagine you’re one of the worshippers waiting outside in the outer court of the temple. 30 seconds pass. Then a minute. You’re kneeling on a hard marble floor and it’s getting uncomfortable. Then two minutes, then five… Where is he? The worship leader goes through all the optional choruses. The service leader tries to fill time by asking if anyone’s got a testimony. Someone rolls his eyes and says “Why do we get these country cousins in to do these important jobs?”

We know why he’s late. He’s swept his ash, he’s burned his incense, he’s closed his eyes and said a short, heartfelt prayer. “Lord save our nation, send the Saviour that the prophet Malachi said would come. Deliver us from this evil tyrant Herod. And… *sigh* no, it’s too late. My wife is too old.”

He opens his eyes – and is startled to find he’s not alone. You know how it is when you think you’re alone in a room and look round and someone makes you jump because you didn’t know they were there? That’s what happens here, but the intensity of the experience is magnified.

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard (v13). Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call him John” (it means God is gracious). He will be great.” Greater than Herod, who is not great at all in the sight of God.

In fact, Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest man who ever lived. “I tell you, among those born of women” he said, “there is no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Why’s that? I think it’s because John never saw the cross. John could only see the need to repent. You and I can marvel at what repentance leads to; the wonders of the cross, the beauty of forgiveness, the triumphs of grace. Not only does God cleanse you from past sin, he crowns you with blessing and adorns you in his flawless righteousness.

“He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.” Did you hear that? That’s why Christians are pro-life, there it is right there in v15.

The Bible is clear that God knows us through and through, even while our bodies were being formed in your mother’s womb. Every one of us is made in his unique image and likeness. God chooses and appoints before the foundation of the world. You can be called by God and filled with the Holy Spirit even as a foetus.

Mother Teresa: once said, “If we accept that a mother can even kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill each other? … Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”

She offered a solution for any pregnant women who didn’t want their children: “Give that child to me. I want it. I will care for it. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child.” She placed over 3,000 children in adoptive homes in Calcutta.

But your own mother’s womb is the most perilous place to be alive in Britain today. 200,000 precious souls, handcrafted by God, are exterminated every year in the UK. People say “It’s a choice.” Fair enough, it’s a choice, but it’s a sinful choice according to God’s word. But if you’ve ever had an abortion or urged someone to have one, it’s not the unforgiveable sin. You can leave this place today forgiven and new.

So anyway, this angelic figure appears from nowhere, he knows your name, he knows your wife’s name, he knows what you’ve been praying about, and he tells you how God is going to answer your private longing in every detail.

The fourth thing we get to know Zechariah is that he’s a simple soul because after this once-in-a-lifetime spiritual experience, with an angelic visitation and a personalised prophetic word Zechariah basically says “Yeah, but are you sure? How do I know you’re telling the truth? I’m no spring chicken, you know. And have you seen my wife?”

I love what Gabriel says. It looks like he takes it personally. I’m not just your bog standard angel you know. “I am Gabriel.” Seriously! “I stand in the presence of God.” And if you’re too stubborn to believe that God can do the impossible, you are going to be silent for nine months and think about it.

Finally, Zechariah emerges - very late - from the Holy of Holies and he has to explain to everyone present without the benefit of speech why he has taken so long.

I wonder if he was good at charades! It says in v22 “they realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.” It must have been quite comical. How do you think he mimed what happened to him? 

Elizabeth

It’s great news for Elizabeth. Although, the timing seems strange, let’s be honest. It might have been easier for her to have the child when she was younger and healthier. As it is, they are already old so they probably died before John reached adulthood.

Sometimes the Lord’s timing seems way off to us. It’s only when we pan back and see the bigger picture, often with a lot of hindsight, that we understand more clearly. God works to his timing, not ours.

But all her life, she’s been waiting for this moment and now she has two for the price of one. She has a baby on the way and, for nine full months, she has a mute husband. How good is that! For the best part of a year she doesn’t have to listen to him moaning about the football and as a bonus she wins every argument.

Waiting

Advent is a season of waiting. The congregation in the temple had been watching and waiting for minutes for Zechariah to emerge from the Holy of Holies and were becoming impatient.

And Zechariah and Elizabeth had been watching and waiting for years for a child and had now all but given up hope.

But Israel had been watching and waiting for centuries for their Messiah. Many were wondering if he would ever come.

·         He never came when the Babylonians marched them off into exile.

·         He never came when the Greeks overran them

·         He never came when the Romans occupied Jerusalem and desecrated the temple.

In fact, since God had said through the prophet Malachi “I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me” no prophet had spoken for 400 years in Israel. People were saying, “God has forgotten us.”

Do you ever say that? God has forgotten me. God has let disaster befall me. God has forsaken me.

No, God will never leave you. In Isaiah, it says he carves your name on the palm of his hand as a reminder; even if a mother forgets her baby he will not forget you. When Jesus came they gave him the title Immanuel, which means God is with us. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit saying he is with you and will be in you. God is for you, and nothing, the Bible says, can separate you from his love.

God made a promise to send an Elijah figure to Israel to prepare the way for the Saviour, and he did that in the form of John the Baptist, the child born to Zechariah and Elizabeth.

God promised to send a Messiah to earth to save the world from sin, and he did that with the birth of Jesus. In both cases, God announced what he was going to do and then he delivered on his promise. God’s track record on promise fulfilment is perfect, 100%.

So this morning, we continue to watch and wait for Jesus Christ

·         that he will come again as he said he will,

·         that he will judge evil as he said he will,

·         that he will bring the reward of a crown of glory to all who remain faithful as he said he will,

·         and that he will save completely all who come to him and trust in him according to his word that is trustworthy and true.

Ending

And as I end, let me finish with a word for those, like Elizabeth and Zechariah, are weary and burdened today.

There was a psychologist who was teaching stress management to students. She raised a glass of water, and asked: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She said, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a few seconds, it’s fine. If I hold it for a few minutes it starts to be a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

The stresses and worries and unanswered prayers in your life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a little while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to weigh you down. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything." Lay your burdens on Christ today.

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 1 December 2016

Certainties of the Second Coming (2 Peter 3.3-10, Matthew 24.3-14)

Introduction

Don’t you just love it when God suddenly does something unexpected and amazing?

The vicar at St Michael Le Belfrey Church in York was saying this week that last Sunday evening at a guy came to talk to the speaker after the service. He said, “I've never been to this church before. I don't know why I'm here. I was walking past, and heard the music, and something drew me in. And then I heard your talk on broken dreams. It was just what I needed to hear, because... I was going to take my life this evening. But I won't now. I've become a child of God!”

This is what God does. This is what Jesus is like. Of course, if anyone here is feeling particularly depressed this morning my sermon might just send you over the edge so I’ll be careful, but listen - God is here. He wants to meet with you and he can turn your life upside down if you’ll let him.

Today and next week, we’re going to be thinking about certainties of the second coming. Honestly, how often do you think about that?

The earliest Christians thought about it all the time. The first eyewitnesses of Jesus’ empty tomb, reported that the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head was found neatly folded. If you fold your napkin when you leave the table in the Middle East, it shows those waiting on you that you haven’t finished yet and will be back. The point about the head cloth being folded is included in the gospels because the people who wrote them wanted to say he’s coming back!

And there are, in fact, eight times more predictions of Jesus’ second coming in the New Testament than there are prophecies about his first coming in the Old. Someone with a shocking amount of time on his hands has counted 318 times in the New Testament, that’s every 30 verses, a reference to this event - to the return of the King.

There are many diverse things that Christians believe about the end times, Jesus Christ’s return and the end of the world.

There are for example key differences of opinion on matters like the role of Israel, the Millennium, whether or not there’s going to be a secret rapture, and what sort of figure the antichrist will be. You can find a wide range of interpretations of some of the symbolism in the Book of Revelation.

But Romans 14 says “accept each other without quarrelling over disputable matters.” These are disputable matters. They are not primary, core Christian beliefs. Don’t leave a church over a disagreement about something like whether the Millennium in Revelation 20 is symbolic or literal. We can disagree without being disagreeable on issues like that.

But there are other things to do with the Lord’s second coming that are pretty clear and practically all Christians who take the Bible seriously hold them to be true. Some things are all but undisputed. Those are the uncontroversial things we are going to look at in the next couple of weeks.

The Bible’s record for future predictions is not just impressive; it is flawless.

Every prediction about the rise and fall of nations in the Bible came true in every detail. Every Old Testament prediction about the Messiah, and there are many, was perfectly fulfilled in Jesus.

There is only really one major prediction in the Bible that’s still future, and it’s this: Jesus is coming back! Everything else forecast in this book has already happened.

Arrival and Unveiling

There are several Greek words used in the New Testament that tell you what the Lord's return will be like.

The most commonly used word is parousia. This word parousia is found twice in our reading from 2 Peter. Verse 4 “where is this ‘parousia’ he promised?” and v12 “as you look forward to the day of the Lord and speed its parousia.” It’s in the Matthew reading too. Verse 3: “What will be the sign of your parousia and at the end of the age?”

It’s translated “coming” or “arrival” here but it was originally used specifically for an official royal visit.

Another word used in the New Testament that describes the Lord’s return is apocalypsis which means to uncover, to unveil something hidden so it can now be seen. We see dignitaries drawing a little curtain to reveal a plaque. This is what it means.

There have only been so far in history two recorded unveilings of Jesus’ stunning glory and radiance - and only a few have ever had a glimpse of it.

The first was when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John. It says it was like direct sunlight coming through his clothes and those who saw it had to hide their faces, such was the intensity of its brightness.

The second was when Saul was converted on the road to Damascus. Again, the brightness of the light was so dazzling, so overpowering that Saul was temporarily blinded in both eyes.

I was driving towards the sun that was low in the sky last week and I had to fold down the visor in order to be able to drive at all. It was completely blinding. This is what the revealing of the Lord’s glory is going to be like.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the brilliance of his appearance was concealed. Nobody saw it. The king of kings, majestic and glorious, appeared in a shed, as a new born baby in cheap clothes, sleeping in a dirty old manger out of which an ox had just lately been eating its lunch. What a shock!

But the shock will be greater when Jesus returns. Because this time he will be arrayed in majesty so awesome, the Bible says, we won’t be able to look at him without falling to the ground or covering our eyes!

When he comes back, his true, magnified, stunning glory will be revealed and the radiance of it will be utterly overwhelming.

The Timetable

What everyone wants to know of course is when it’s going to happen. Despite Jesus saying “nobody knows, not even me,” people have tried to be cleverer than Jesus and work it out.

Jesus does know now by the way. His omniscience was laid aside only temporarily for the 33 years he walked the earth, which is why he was surprised by people’s great faith or lack of faith as we saw a few weeks ago. But now he has been highly exalted and has been given all authority. Now he knows exactly when it’s going to be.

But people (who don’t know any better) have tried to work out the date.

·         A mystic in medieval times called Joachim of Fiore said it would be in 1260.

·         The Anabaptists in Munster said it would be in 1534.

·         The Quaker James Milner (who went on to play midfield for Liverpool and England) said it would be in 1652.

·         The Methodist George Bell said “No it won’t. It will be in 1790.”

·         The Baptist preacher William Miller said “You’re all wrong, it’ll be in 1844.”

·         The Jehovah’s Witnesses said it would be in 1914. When it didn’t happen they said “Yes it did. It happened secretly.”

·         And the Fundamentalist Jerry Falwell said in 1999 that it would definitely happen within ten years. Do the maths…

Can I give you some friendly advice? Don’t be stupid and waste your life working out when the end of the world is going to happen.

But this is what was happening in Peter’s time as well. It says in v3: “In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing (that’s what scoffers do best) and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this 'coming' he promised?’”

It’s a good question. Where is it? When’s it going to happen? Will we know when it has happened?

Fixed or Flexible?

Acts 17.31 says that the Lord has fixed the day. He knows when it is. From God’s perspective, the engagement is written in his diary. There will be no last-minute change of plan. The alarm is set. The clock is ticking.

But our perspective is different. This is one of those areas in which God’s absolute sovereignty touches human real free will in a mysterious way. Because 2 Peter 3.12 says “you look forward to the Day of God and speed its coming.”

There’s something you can do to hurry it up. So is the day fixed in God’s mind? Or is it flexible and dependent to some extent on us? Which is it? And the answer is… yes.

It’s like this: you respond to a call to turn from sin and believe in the Lord Jesus for salvation - and you come to faith. O happy day! But then you open your Bible and discover that actually you were chosen from the creation of the world. Was becoming a Christian your choice? Yes. Was it already decided, predestined, by God? Yes. Both are true and it’s too grand a thing to fully understand.

The day of the Lord’s return is fixed for God, but flexible for us.

Why the Delay?

But “where is this coming he promised?” says 2 Peter 3.3. Have you ever asked that question? Peter says four things in reply.

Firstly, he says in v5 that mockers deliberately ignore the fact that God warned about a great disaster before, Noah’s flood, and he did exactly what he said he would do then.

We now have unmistakable geological evidence of an extensive natural disaster in the Middle East; deep layers of flood sediment that date to ancient times. Furthermore, not just in the Bible, but in other ancient writings in other cultures, there are references to a widespread and overwhelming deluge.

In other words, the evidence is there if you want to look it up in a library or on the Internet but, Peter says, people deliberately ignore it. They shut their minds to it. They did then. They still do. People just don’t want to know. But the point is that God warned, then did it then, and he’s warned again and he’ll do it again.

Secondly, he says in v6-7, that God used elements that were already on the earth to bring disaster before as promised, and he will do so again – the next time though it will be fire, and not water.

Everything we attach ourselves to on this earth; our houses, our cars, our stuff, our savings, our pursuits… reality TV, politics, business empires; all of it will just vanish in a vapour. And in the case of reality TV good riddance…

Thirdly, in v8, Peter says that God experiences time differently to the way we do.

One day for us is like a thousand years to him and a thousand years is like a day. So the time when the Flintstones lived in caves and hunted mammoths is like last Tuesday afternoon to God. But the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is just like yesterday.

If this sermon feels like it’s been going on for days, maybe you’re just becoming more like God! Two minutes can feel like months when you’re stuck with a boring preacher.

And Peter explains in v9 that the reason why it’s taking so long for Jesus to return is not because he is slacking, it’s because he’s patient. And he’s patient because he’s passionate about more people coming to faith.

If yesterday was an average day, 80,000 people become Christians, that’s 3,300 precious lives every hour. That’s a good reason to delay the return of the Lord Jesus isn't it?

If God just waits 10 more years, nearly 170 million more people will have given their hearts to Christ in Africa alone. He wants heaven to be full. So he waits a bit longer.

Fourthly, in v10, Peter says that when Jesus does return it will be sudden and unexpected. Jesus said the same thing; “You also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

And Peter tells us, in v11 and 12, all we need to know about the Lord’s return, and how to be ready for it.

Those who are ready will be looking forward to it, not dreading it, and they will actually be hastening it by living holy and godly lives.

Living holy and godly lives means a clear contrast between the way you live and what society accepts and promotes around you.

It has become unfashionable to speak of living a godly and holy life, even in the church. People feel uncomfortable about it. But you and I will only be ready for the Lord’s return by living in a way that stands out from the crowd.

That’s how you know you’re ready. The trick is to stay ready. I was ready yesterday, but what about today?

But How Will We Know?

But how will we know that the time is drawing near? What sort of things did Jesus say will happen?

In Matthew 24 he gives a list of signals, like warning sirens, that should make us take notice when they happen.

In v8 he talks about the first of pains of childbirth. I’ve been in the delivery suite four times. I kid you not, it’s exhausting! I needed a proper lie down after all that.

I think it must be universally true that contractions begin with more moderate pain. But each contraction grows in intensity and they come closer together and they hurt more and more as the birth draws near.

So there’s a light groan at first, maybe every half an hour, but by the end, when the baby is about to be born, its mother is yelling like Mel Gibson in Braveheart almost constantly!

Jesus said that two things in particular are going to grow in intensity, like a woman in labour, as his return draws nearer. Here they are: we’re going to notice increasing trouble in the world, and intensifying trends in the church.

Trouble in the World 

The trouble in the world (v4-8) includes things like wars, rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes. Natural catastrophes, conflicts and cataclysms are going to increase exponentially. Climate change may well contribute to a sudden growth in all this. But how much worse it will get and how long it will take we cannot speculate.

What we do know is that when this sort of thing kicks off, people feel alarm and insecure and they panic. They look for strong leaders to get a grip and sort things out and Jesus says (v4-5) there will be plenty of them – plenty of false messiahs and personality cults that will spring up and people will follow them.

Trends in the Church 

The trends in the church start with a noticeable increase in opposition; Christians will be hated everywhere says Jesus (v9) and that will lead to a spike in martyrdom. We’re going through one of those now actually – watch that. This may not be “it” but who knows?

The trends will also include growing apostasy (v10-12); people will fall away as their love for the Lord will cool. False teaching will infiltrate the church and lead some astray – that’s why you should know your Bible so you can tell truth from error. Watch carefully for popular fads in the church that make light of sin.

Another trend though as the Lord’s return draws near will be church growth and the advance of the gospel to all nations (v14).

Even though opposition and martyrdom increases, the church will grow. That’s because a church purified by persecution becomes a church empowered for mission. Look at China today, look at Iran.

We’re going to see a growth then in church corruption, like a cancer, and at the same time a growth in church vitality, healthy growth, as the day of Jesus’ return draws nearer.

That’s what Jesus said and that’s what I’m watching for.

Ending

Let me end here. I started by talking about a guy who came in off the streets with thoughts of taking his life and came out at the end with the gift of a new life.

And I said “Don’t you just love it when God suddenly does something unexpected and amazing?”

One day, Jesus will come back – and that will be the most sudden, the most unexpected and the most amazing experience everyone living on earth will ever have.

Will it be in our generation? Will it be in our time? I hope it is. Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Let’s stand to pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 27 November 2016

Remembering Deliverance (Remembrance Day Sermon 2016)

Psalm 3.1-8

From 7 September 1940 to 10 May 1941, a total of 245 days, London was pounded from the skies. There were widespread rumours of imminent airborne gas attacks and the entire population was issued with gas masks. Fears of a chemical weapons attack turned out to be without foundation, which may sound familiar, but every day except one for over eight months, tons of deadly ordnance were dropped on the major cities of these islands, and London was the most targeted and worst hit. Overall, 18,000 tons of high explosives and 1.5 million incendiaries fell on London alone over that time.

Probably the most deadly attack of all occurred on the night of 29 December 1940. 300 high explosive bombs were dropped on the capital that night every minute. This particular assault caused a huge firestorm that ran out of control throughout the City of London. It was terrifying. People called it the second Great Fire of London. 

This whole sustained campaign came of course to be known as the Blitz. Over a million houses were destroyed or damaged. Civilian casualties in London alone during the Blitz amounted to 28,556 dead, and 25,578 wounded. I think all of us were deeply moved by Sonia’s interview. (Earlier in the service she told of being adopted at about 3 weeks old, discovered hidden in a chest of drawers in the rubble of a bombed house; she has never known her original identity, or who her parents were, and often wonders what her life might have been). It brought home to us very personally the human aspect to all the history and statistics and of course this was magnified on a scale of tens of thousands of lives.

The historian Norman Davies, in his authoritative book Europe at War – No Simple Victory (which has been my bedtime reading over the last month) says this about the Blitz, “Death from bombing can be particularly gruesome, not least because the life-stopping injury is often preceded by a period of sustained terror. Those who are close to the point of impact and who die instantly are the lucky ones. Most are burned or buried alive, crushed by falling masonry, asphyxiated, choked, pierced by flying glass or splinters, blinded or deafened, or otherwise struck down by insurmountable multiple injuries.” On reflection, that may not be the best material to read just before nodding off for the night…

Of course, it wasn’t only the Germans who went in for the indiscriminate bombing of civilian neighbourhoods. The Japanese in Rangoon and the Americans in Tokyo and Hiroshima, and the British in Dresden and Hamburg, and the Soviets throughout the eastern front - amongst many others - adopted similar tactics in an effort to break the resolve of their adversaries.

As you can see from the London photos in today’s service booklet, efforts to crush national morale didn’t work. Three homeless children in the East End on page 5 seem quite unfazed sitting on a pile of debris. What was going through their young minds as they looked around to see everything they’d ever known pounded to dust and hardcore?  

And the woman on page 7 looks almost carefree sitting down on the rubble of what was her home. As long as she’s got a nice cup of tea, she can face the day. It's so English isn't it? My grandad’s favourite expression was “Mustn’t grumble“ and he learned it living in London with his wife and two little girls at that very time. Keep calm and carry on… This is what became as the Blitz spirit.

We are quite good as a nation at holding it all together. The French speak admiringly of 'le phlegme brittanique' (we just calmly get on with it and don't make a fuss) but to whom do we turn at times of sheer terror? Of course, for want of anything or anyone else, many turned to God. Everyone else and everything else had been taken from their lives.

Like Saint Paul’s Cathedral, surviving intact whilst the streets around it were flattened, in the same way, our faith in God – in times of distress and ordeal – can seem like the only thing we know that’s not falling apart.

I have talked to people, just hours before their death, who are aware of little else but God’s presence around them, it’s a remarkable thing.

Our Psalm, written at another time by a man under sustained attack, expresses the entire range of emotions those who lived through the Blitz must have experienced. The Psalm can help us feel what they felt.

The hopelessness of feeling overwhelmed and outnumbered: “Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!”

The worry that hope is fading and this might be end: “Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’”

A desperate cry for protection when familiar buildings are tumbling like skittles: “Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God!”

The disgust at those who are pounding your city night after night: “Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.”

There is a “but” though; a confidence and assurance that comes from God’s presence too.

“But you, Lord, are a shield around me… the One who lifts my head high.” Even when you are overwhelmed and outnumbered, grace enables you to look up in hope and not down in despair.

And despite the chaos, peace: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.” Anxiety can keep you tossing and turning all night but peace is when you can sleep restfully even though everything you know, including your very life, is uncertain.

Defiance: “I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.” Getting married, as planned, in a blitzed church. There’s defiance for you. I’m not sure what Health and Safety would say about that…

And faith: “From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.”

I have told this story before but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think it’s worth it.

It’s about a church in London that was preparing for its harvest service in October 1940. People had been in decorating the building and filling it with the fruits of the earth. Marrows, potatoes, carrots, apples – the church looked like an overstocked greengrocer’s shop.

But the Saturday night before the harvest festival a Blitz bomb fell on the church and completely flattened it. Not a brick was left on another, not a pew, hymn book or Bible survived; everything was totally obliterated.

But the following spring, amidst the rubble on that site, a new shoot appeared. It was from the seed of some of that harvest produce on display back in the autumn. You can raze a brick building to the ground in an instant, but all the dynamite in Europe could not destroy the life stored up in that one seed.

Today, as we remember the indescribable cost of war, as we honour those to whom honour is due, as we show respect to those to whom we owe it, we also affirm that even from the epicentre of destruction itself, we can pray for a better tomorrow.

That’s what they did in our first reading in Joshua 4; they built a monument to show for generations to come that all the living owe a debt of remembrance for national deliverance at a time of great peril. It’s why we do this today.

Jesus said, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

May God grant to the departed, rest; to the living, grace; and to all the world, peace.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 13 November 2016