EVIDENCE-BASED RESURRECTION FAITH

On April 9, 2023April 8, 2023 By Pastor TomIn Easter, Jesus, Podcast, Religion, Resurrection, Sermon, Uncategorized2 Comments

We generally evaluate any historical event by three main types of evidence: documents, historical studies, and after-effects. By these three standards, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is as plausible as anything else we think we “know” about the ancient world.

What might be the “after effects” of the resurrection on you, personally?

To listen to the sermon, click the play button: To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Resurrection 2023

Resurrection Sunday 2023. Acts 26:22-29

I’m going to use a slightly unusual text for Resurrection Sunday this year. Let’s set it up:

After three different missionary endeavours, Paul journeyed to Jerusalem, because he believed God was leading him there. Once there, Jews from the province of Asia recognized him and began to cause trouble. Some people tried to kill him. Others started riots in protest of his presence. The Romans, never very worried about getting the responsible party, arrested him for causing trouble.

Paul says that the sticking point, the reason people were so angry with him, is because he believes in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 24:17-21). In fact, this is true in almost all of the opposition that the apostles faced. In virtually every sermon in the book of Acts, you find that the main point the apostles make is that Jesus rose from the dead, fulfilling the scriptures, and proving his claims to be the messiah, the divine God-man. Most of the persecutions they faced came about because of that claim, as did Paul’s in our text today.

The Romans kept Paul in prison. Some time later, a new Roman governor, named Festus, was visiting King Agrippa (a descendant of King Herod). They invited Paul to speak to them. Paul told his story, and then ended like this:

²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
²⁴ And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. ²⁶ For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹ And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” Acts 26:22-29

It is Paul’s claim that Jesus rose from the dead that provoked governor Festus to shout: “You are out of your mind!” But Paul’s response is very interesting. He says, “on the contrary, I am speaking true and rational words.” He then appeals to King Agrippa, who has spent his entire life in Judea. Agrippa knows the facts of the life and death of Jesus, and Paul appeals to him on the basis of those facts, and also what he knows of the Old Testament.

This is one of the several important things that make Christianity different from every other religion. In the first place, it is rooted in actual history. It names government officials, and locations, and other historical events. It refers to true aspects of life at that time in history. The stories of Jesus do not read like myths and legends, and in fact, they are not. The gospels and Acts are historical documents that can be placed in real historical time, and in a real geographical place, with known historical figures. There are other ancient documents which (though not as well preserved as the New Testament) attest to many of the same events and people. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus was born just a few years after the crucifixion of Jesus, and he treats that event as well-known history during his lifetime. The Roman court historian Tacitus, alive near the same period, also records many of the same events and several people referenced in the gospels and Acts. Archaeologists have continually affirmed that the New Testament accurately describes the world of the First Century Roman empire.

As Paul says to king Agrippa: “You are familiar with the events I am talking about.” These are not myths, they are actual happenings. As he says: “these things were not done in a corner.” The facts and the situations, and the people were known by many people who were alive at the time, and those people also left a lot of documentary evidence of these things for future generations.

The claims of Christianity might be true, or they might be false, but they are not irrational. They are not made-up legends or “magic” stories like those we tell children sometimes. I want us to spend a little time evaluating the historical evidence for the resurrection, looking at the facts that Paul said were well known.

Before we get into it, however, I want to point out that there is no historical event at all that can be proved the way certain things can be proved in laboratories. For instance, you can prove beyond doubt that water boils at one-hundred degrees Celsius at sea level. But historical events are not experiments in which we control variables and repeat over and over again. We believe in certain historical events based upon evidence, and for most of history the main kinds of evidence come from documents, historical studies (including archaeology), and after-effects.

Let’s take the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as an example. We cannot go to a laboratory and prove that it happened. But there are documents that claim that it did happen. Those documents contain the testimony of some people who say they were there to see it. The documents appear to genuinely belong to the same period in history as they claim to. Compared to other documents that also come from the same time, the use of language is similar. Some of the same people are named elsewhere, by other sources. Documents are the main source of our information about Lincoln’s death.

In addition, there are historical studies. In the case of Lincoln, Ford Theater, the place where he was shot, has been preserved, as has the building across the street where he was taken immediately afterwards. The fact that these buildings are there doesn’t prove that Lincoln was shot there, but it lends credence to the story. Historians know generally about the weapons, culture, and procedures of that time, and the documents describe such things as they would if they were genuine. In other words, there is a great deal of consistency between what we know about that time in history, and the documents that describe Lincoln’s death.

Finally, we see the after-effects (from documents and historical studies) of the event. Immediately after the time Lincoln was allegedly shot, Andrew Johnson became the new President. Lincoln was not seen in public after that time. There is a burial site with his name on it. Mary Todd Lincoln lived like a widow afterwards.

I don’t think anyone seriously doubts that Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford theater, and died on April 15, 1865. It may surprise you, however to know that we have exactly the same kind of evidence, and quality of evidence, for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as we do for the death of Abraham Lincoln.

As with Lincoln, our primary evidence is from documents – specifically the New Testament. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: The New Testament is the best preserved, most thoroughly tested and vetted historical document of its time. The evidence that the New Testament is what it claims to be is many orders of magnitude better than evidence for any other ancient document. If you believe anything at all about the ancient world – say, for instance, that Julius Caesar was a real person, or that the Romans held circuses – then you should also believe what the New Testament says. If you haven’t been around to hear me talk about how we know that the New Testament is so reliable, I can point you to my speaking and writing on that subject, and I am certainly not the only one who talks about this.

Next, historical studies lead us to accept what we find in the New Testament. Pontius Pilate was truly the Roman governor of Judea. The Romans later abandoned the practice of crucifixion as too cruel, but we know that they were still doing it during the time described by the Bible. Even today, you can go stand in the places described by the New Testament.

Finally, we have the after effects of the resurrection. Something surely happened back then. The resurrection started a movement that has literally and profoundly changed the history of the world. It changed the way people think and live. You can trace the emergence of hospitals, universities, science, and even modern democracy back to the movement that began when Jesus rose from the dead.

Let’s look briefly at the substance of the claim that Paul was making to governor Festus and King Agrippa:

First, that Jesus was, in fact, physically dead. This is not described as a coma, but as complete death. The Roman soldiers saw and testified that he was dead (John 19:33; Mark 15:44-45). John describes a physical phenomenon in John 19:34. He writes: “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once blood and water came out.” Crucifixion is essentially death by slow drowning in body fluids. As the pain in Jesus’ arms and feet became too intense, he would be physically unable to raise himself into a position where he could breathe properly. Body fluids would begin to collect around his lungs and heart, eventually either making it impossible for him to breathe, or putting so much pressure on his heart that it would stop. So when the soldier plunged the spear into the side of Jesus, from below, the spear would penetrate areas of the body where those fluids had collected. John saw not only blood, but a clear body fluid he describes as “water.” This is entirely consistent with death by crucifixion. Only one who had seen such a thing would have described it like that.

Some people have protested that the primitive Jews and Romans did not have our modern medical knowledge, and so they thought Jesus was dead, but he was really just in a coma. Therefore, he was not “resurrected,” but rather, just recovered from a coma. But there are two problems with this idea. First, the people in those days saw dead bodies first hand far more often than we do. Ordinary people saw death all the time, and certainly Roman soldiers saw it even more. It is in our modern world that we don’t know what it really looks like unless we are medical professionals. Second, if Jesus was in a coma, consider this: He was brutally beaten and whipped, twice, and then crucified. He was also stabbed in the torso, and given no medical treatment for any of it. Then he was tightly wrapped in burial cloths, in a way that might suffocate an ordinary, healthy person. Then he was placed in a tomb which was then sealed in such a way that two grown women could not open it. After two days, Jesus unwrapped himself, rolled away the huge stone and went walking all over the countryside; in fact, the day he left the tomb he covered at least fourteen miles. No, the coma story requires a miracle just as much as the resurrection.

Next, that Jesus was physically raised. In other words, he wasn’t a ghost. Jesus was physically present on earth after his resurrection. His body was definitely different than an un-resurrected body, since he could go through locked doors (John 20:26) and disappear from visual perception (Luke 24:31). Even so, the New Testament says he ate (Luke 24:41-42), he touched people (John 20:27-29) and his breath could be felt (John 20:22). He said to them:

“Why are you troubled?” He asked them. “And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I, myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” (Luke 24:38-39)

Finally, that both the death and resurrection were predicted by the Old Testament scriptures, and by Jesus himself (look at Isaiah 53 sometime).

Considering the evidence that he was dead, and the claim that he later physically rose from death, we need to ask ourselves: “If he was not raised from death, what are the alternatives?” Remember, we know, from extensive scholarly research the Bible was not edited or changed later; these texts were written not long after the actual events, and they haven’t been changed since they were first written.

One possibility is that the disciples made up the story. This, of course, is what the Jewish and Roman authorities said at the time. But there are some big problems with this. The Romans would often let the dead bodies of crucified criminals hang for a few days after death, as an example for the living to submit to Rome. In this case, they took the bodies down (there were two others, besides Jesus) in order to placate the Jews, since it was during a special festival. But once the disciples started talking about Jesus being resurrected, all the authorities had to do was go get the body and display it outside Jerusalem for all to see. That would not have been an uncommon practice. That would have certainly shut the disciples up quickly, and ended the story. But the authorities didn’t do that. Obviously, they could not produce the body.

So then the next question is, since the officials didn’t produce the body in order to silence the disciples, what happened to the body?

Possibility 1: Since the officials didn’t have the body, the disciples must have stolen it. There are several problems with this. First, these are the same disciples that ran away when Jesus was arrested; they deserted him while he was still alive. Are we to believe that now, after he’s dead, they’ve suddenly found courage to attack the soldiers guarding his tomb and then take his body?

Second, supposing they did somehow become transformed from cowardice to courage, and they fought the guards, or snuck around them, and stole the body. Next, they come back to Jerusalem and start preaching that Jesus is alive. They are brutally whipped for it – and remember, if they stole the body, they know they are suffering for a lie. Then some of them get imprisoned, and then even killed – all the while knowing that they are dying for a lie. If it was a lie, they got nothing from it – no riches, no power, no influence in their own lifetime, no revenge – nothing positive in their lifetimes, and a great deal of suffering instead. Why in the world would they sacrifice so much for no possible gain, and in fact, end up persecuted and dead for the sake of something they know is false? Of course, the answer is, they wouldn’t. So obviously, the disciples didn’t steal the body.

Possibility 2: The body was misplaced. This is the least likely of all alternatives. All four gospels clearly state that a Jewish leader named Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, which he placed in his own tomb (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42). Joseph is described as a member of the Sanhedrin – that is, part of the Jewish ruling council that ultimately condemned Jesus to death. The first three gospels all explicitly state that several of the women who followed Jesus went with Joseph to see where Jesus was placed. John implies that same thing in 20:1. So all three interested parties know how to locate the body: The disciples; the Jewish authorities; and the Roman authorities. Pilate knows that Joseph of Arimathea asked for it. And Joseph isn’t some anonymous peasant – he is a Jewish ruler, and Pilate would know how to lay hands on him and find out where the body was placed, if he needed to. The Jewish leaders knew Joseph because he was one of them. In fact, Matthew records that the Jewish leaders went to Pilate and asked him for soldiers to guard the tomb to prevent the disciples from stealing the body. Pilate granted their request, and there seemed to be no confusion about which tomb it was placed in (Matthew 27:62-65).

On the other hand, there is positive evidence for the resurrection. There is, of course, the documentary record, the New Testament. The New Testament claims there were over five-hundred eye-witnesses who saw Jesus alive after he died (1 Corinthians 15:6). When Paul writes about those five-hundred witnesses, he says, “most of these are still alive.” In other words people could talk to them, and see for themselves if Paul had the story straight. This is Paul’s point to King Agrippa as well. He saying: “You know about this stuff. It didn’t happen in secret. There are still people you could talk to, who remember it personally.”

Once again, some of the evidence in favor of the resurrection is the after effect. There is the amazing transformation of the disciples from cowards to heroic martyrs. In addition, the resurrection of Jesus has continued to transform lives so much that it has affected the entire course of world history. I have already mentioned our learning, our knowledge, our hospitals, universities. There is also the exploration of the world, even our system of dating history – all of these sprang originally from Christianity and the Christian church, which, of course came about because of the resurrection. In addition, local churches and charities have made a difference all around the world for two thousand years. Something happened back then that resulted in a movement that changed history, and all the evidence is consistent with the idea that Jesus physically rose from the dead, giving people the courage to live for something beyond this life.

If Jesus’ resurrection changed the course of history, how might it change the course of your life? What difference does it make to you? Well, of course, it means that the claims and teachings of Jesus are true. He claimed not only to be human, but also to be God living in human form. If he wasn’t raised, we don’t need to worry about that claim. But if he was, we need to pay attention to him. That gives us a starting point, and that’s what makes it so important for us to read the Bible, to find out what his teachings are.

In the first place, Jesus said that his mission was to remove the obstacles between us and God. We are self-centered, and we consistently choose our own desires over those of God. When we do this, we are worshipping ourselves in the place of God. This is sin, and obviously, it creates a problem. But Jesus came, and died, precisely to reconcile us to God:

⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:6-11, NLT)

Jesus calls us to find peace and rest by reorienting our lives around him:

²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT)

We live in a different way because of Jesus, and because he will share his resurrection life with us:

¹ So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. ³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴ He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) ¹⁰ And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. ¹¹ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. (Romans 8:1-11, NLT)

Because Jesus rose from the dead, I have an unshakeable eternal hope. I’m old enough to feel the truth that no one gets out of this life alive. Last year a friend of our family, just forty-years old, died of cancer. Last month we lost two extended family members. We will all follow, someday. And within a generation or two, anyone who ever knew us will also be dead. Everything, all the struggle, all the work to build something good, all of it is pointless…unless there is something more. Jesus’ resurrection gives us a solid foundation to hope for more. His resurrection shows us that there is more to life than just this life we have right now. I can sacrifice and build for a future that I won’t be here to see, because, through Jesus, I actually do have a future that extends beyond my death. I can be at peace, because the very worst that anyone might do to me is to kill me, which only means my resurrection is nearer.

He is Risen!

PALM SUNDAY 2023

On April 1, 2023 By Pastor TomIn Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Palm Sunday 2023

Palm Sunday, 2023. Matthew 21:1-11

This week we celebrate Palm Sunday. In many churches, Palm Sunday is celebrated with waving palm branches, songs of joy and praise and a big celebration. I’ve been in churches where someone actually rides a donkey down the aisle; I’ve seen camels in church (excerpt from building committee minutes “…discussed how to remove camel dung from carpeting in narthex…”) and just big Palm Sunday productions in general. I think Palm Sunday appeals especially to American Christians. It’s loud. It’s super-sized. It’s positive and fun. It’s a big ol’ church party.

Picture it. A swarming, wiggling mass of humanity has gathered near Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover in the Holy City. The crowd struggles to squirm through the ancient gates. This is Christmas, only better, because it’s a week long. Some of the out-of-towners are telling stories about a man they’ve seen out in the countryside, near their homes. They tell that this man, named Jesus, borrowed a little boy’s lunch and fed 5,000 people with it. Some of the people in the crowd had personal contact with this Jesus character, and were healed of various diseases and ailments. One man in the crowd claims he was leper until Jesus healed him – some of the people move uneasily away from that one.

Now some of these country folk meet up with people who live nearby, in the town called Bethany. They recount how one of their own hometown boys, a guy named Lazarus, recently died of an illness. They buried him, naturally, and four days later, along comes Jesus, and raises Lazarus from the dead.

Soon a good portion of that boisterous, loud, pushy crowd is shouting back and forth snippets of gossip about Jesus. And then suddenly, from the middle of the crowd, the yelling rises above the usual raucous level. People ask their neighbors what’s going on. Soon the word comes back.

“That Jesus guy is here. He’s riding a donkey over there. Look at him!”

“He’s got a kingly bearing.”

“Who but God’s chosen messiah could do the things he’s done?”

“Jesus! Jesus!”

“Praise God! The messiah is here! Alleluia!”

The shouting catches on. The crowd sees a few Roman soldiers nearby and yells even louder, in defiance of their oppressors. Soon the whole crowd is cheering in one sustained unquenchable voice. The excitement grows. What a King Jesus will be! He’ll end hunger and poverty – after all he fed the 5,000. He’ll end sickness and disease – he’s done it before! And when we fight the Roman oppressors and kick them out – well if any of us get killed by the soldiers, Jesus will just bring us back to life and we’ll go on. With him as our King, we’ll be unstoppable! And so the crowd cheers. They cheer because it seems like God is about do something for his people Israel, once more. They cheer because they want their lives to be better, and for the moment, it seems like it is about to become so. They cheer because their neighbors are cheering. They cheer because they are stuck in this big hot crowd, and it relieves the boredom. They cheer because it gives vent to inarticulate passions that gnaw unfulfilled inside them. They cheer because they hate the Romans.

But in all that great thronging mass there is one man who is not cheering. He doesn’t rejoice with the crowd. The excitement and noise utterly fail to touch him. Their desire to overthrow the Romans doesn’t even begin to move him. The man who seems so different from the rest of the crowd, so disconnected from their excitement is right there in the middle of it all, even so.

He is the man on the donkey. Jesus.

Because he is a man of infinite compassion, Jesus, when he saw people who were hungry, fed them. Because he cares more deeply than other being that exists, Jesus healed sick people when he was near them. Because of his great friendship with Mary and Martha, Jesus raised their brother Lazarus from the dead.

But he didn’t come into the world mainly to heal people and feed them. He didn’t come to raise people from the dead and place them back into this mortal life of pain, sin and suffering – a two-edged resurrection if ever there was such a thing. And so, in the middle of that rollicking crowd, he’s the only one who truly understands that he is entering Jerusalem not as a King, but as a sacrifice. He came for something better than temporary healing, more satisfying than temporary food and more eternal than temporary resurrection. He came to give these people life that was far greater, deeper and permanent – life far more wonderful than what they are cheering about.

Lloyd Douglas, in his excellent novel, The Robe describes how a fictional Corinthian slave named Demetrius made eye contact with Jesus on “palm Sunday.”

The eyes calmly appraised Demetrius. They neither widened nor smiled, but in some indefinable manner, they held Demetrius in a grip so firm it was almost a physical compulsion. The message they communicated was something other than sympathy, something more vital than friendly concern, a sort of stabilizing power that swept away all such negations as slavery, poverty, or any other afflicting circumstance. Demetrius was suffused with the glow of this curious kinship. Blind with sudden tears, he elbowed through the throng and reached the roadside. The uncouth Athenian, bursting with curiosity, inopportunely accosted him.

“See him – close up?” He asked.

Demetrius nodded; and turning away, began to retrace his steps toward his abandoned duty.

“Crazy?” persisted the Athenian, trudging alongside.

“No.”

“King?”

“No,” muttered Demetrius soberly — “not a king.”

“What is he then?” demanded the Athenian, piqued by the Corinthian’s aloofness.

“I don’t know,” mumbled Demetrius in a puzzled voice, “ but – he is something more important than a king.”
The Robe, Lloyd Douglas

I think that often, I am like that Palm Sunday crowd. I cheer for Jesus because of what I think he will do for me – provide for me financially, or heal me, or get me out of the mess I’m in, or squash the people I don’t like. I am often interested in Jesus because he can make my life more comfortable right now. But Jesus — on that first Palm Sunday, and today as well – is interested far more real, eternal, life for me. That life starts right now – not when I die. But that doesn’t mean I automatically get to be more comfortable here. It’s sort of like asking him to get you an air mattress for the tent you live in next to the city dump, when all the while, he’s building you a 3 million dollar house in the countryside. The difficult part is, you have to give up the dump before you can move the country, before you can even see what the country is like. And you might have to go without the air-mattress so you can learn to want a feather-bed.

Jesus knew that to get that life for the crowd, he had to die. They thought he was coming as a king. He knew that he was coming to die a gruesome, ignoble, humiliating death. That Sunday was the same day that most people drove the lambs into Jerusalem – the Passover lambs that would be killed to remember God’s deliverance of his people. Jesus came into town like them – not gentle and fearful like a lamb – but like a Passover lamb in just this one respect – he was a sacrifice that would save all people from death and deliver us from our slavery to sin and grant us a new life.

There is indeed a lot to cheer about here – but it is not the stuff we most often dwell upon, or think about yelling for. As we celebrate Jesus today, let’s celebrate not so much the earthly, temporary things he could get us, but rather the eternal, unbreakable life, and forgiveness that he won for us, riding a little donkey toward his own painful death.

PSALMS #1: INTRODUCTION

On March 24, 2023 By Pastor TomIn Jesus, Podcast, psalms, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The psalms invite us into fellowship with Jesus in every conceivable frame of mind, state of heart, and situation in life.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Psalms Introduction

PSALMS: INTRODUCTION

Today we will begin a new sermon series on the book of psalms. My goal is to have these sermons continuously available, so you might be reading this years after I wrote it. In my present time, however, I have just finished a sermon series on the book of 1 Peter. It took us 33 sermons to cover the five chapters in that book, or approximately 6.6 sermons per chapter. There are 150 chapters in the book of psalms. If we go at the same rate as we did for 1 Peter, it will take us 19 years to finish the psalms – and that’s if I never miss a single week!

Thankfully, I am planning to approach the psalms a little bit differently. In the first place, I will not preach a sermon on every single psalm. Secondly, there is a large difference between the genre of Psalms and the genre of 1 Peter. 1 Peter is an epistle, and it aims to teach us truth that applies to Jesus Christ in a straightforward, and theologically dense way, which means there is a great deal of meaning packed into every phrase and verse.

The book of Psalms is something else entirely. We will begin this time by considering what it is, and what that means for how we should read the psalms.

Let’s start with the name. “Psalm” is basically a Greek word that is a translation of a Hebrew word that means “song,” or “poem.” There are two other Hebrew words associated with the book of Psalms: one means “prayers,” and the other means, “praises.” The book of psalms, then, is a collection of songs and poems that have been used for many centuries by God’s people for prayer and praise. To reiterate: a psalm is a song or poem.

In a book like 1 Peter, each verse and chapter builds upon what was written before. If you read chapter three without reading chapter two, you will not fully understand what Peter intends to say. In the psalms, however, each “chapter” is actually a self-contained unit. This makes Psalms one of the only books in the Bible where it doesn’t really matter if you read it in order. You don’t need to read psalm 22 in order to understand psalm 23. You could flip to almost any chapter in the book of psalms and find it meaningful without reading the preceding chapters.

There are just a few exceptions to this. It appears that psalms 1-2 are meant to go with each other. It is likely that is also true of psalms 9-10 and also, perhaps, psalms 42-43. The reason for this is that although scholars can be confident about the content of the book of psalms, there has been some confusion, in just a few places, about how, exactly, it is to be divided into separate psalms.

Also, because we are talking about poetry, we won’t necessarily be analyzing each verse the way we do when we look at a letter, or the teaching of Jesus. In general, the best way to approach a psalm is to look at the entire thing, paying attention to the overall emotion and message. There are, however, a few psalms that are too long to do that with. In fact, the longest single chapter in the Bible is psalm 119. I guess we’ll see how it goes as we proceed, but the way we approach the psalms should be somewhat different from how we look at other parts of the Bible.

A quick word about how we talk about the book. The book overall is called “Psalms.” When we talk about a single chapter, however, we are speaking about a single psalm. So I might say “the book of Psalms.” But, about one single chapter I would say: “psalm 10 (no ‘s’).” Again, this is a reflection of the fact that normally, each chapter is its own, self contained poem or song (psalm).

Speaking of poems, at first glance, the psalms don’t appear to be very, well, poetic. This is because Hebrew poetry is a bit different than what we call poetry in English. In English, poetry often has rhyme. Even when it doesn’t, it still usually has meter – in other words, a poem conforms to certain rules about how many syllables should occur in each line of the poem. So there is a kind of obvious rhythm to most English poems. There is also a kind of English poetry called “free verse,” which has basically no rules.

Hebrew poetry – the poetry of the psalms – does not normally use rhyme, rhythm, or meter. Unlike “free verse,” however, It does have a typical form, and that is parallelism. In Hebrew poetry this means that ideas are set up “in parallel.” A parallel consists of the same idea that has already been written, but is now re-stated in a slightly different way. Just as in geometry, you can have a virtually unlimited number of parallel lines, so in Hebrew poetry, parallels might come in groups of two, or three, or even more. There is an almost infinite number of ways to combine parallels. They might be set up to repeat an idea, or to contrast other ideas, or to play off one another, or to highlight certain thoughts.

For an example of one kind of parallelism, look at Psalm 43:1

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me! (ESV)

In the ESV, this is formatted to help us see the four parallel thoughts. The first line, “vindicate me and defend my cause” is parallel to the fourth line, “deliver me.” They are two different ways of expressing the desire of the writer, and he puts them in parallel. The second line: “Against an ungodly people” is in parallel with the third line “from the deceitful and unjust man.”

You can also see that these parallels are organized into a structure with an “outside” parallel (vindicate me/deliver me) containing an “inside parallel” (ungodly people/unjust man). To map it out in an overly simple way, the structure looks like this:

First thought: Help me O God!

Second thought: save me from ungodly people

Second thought in parallel: save me from ungodly people

First thought in parallel: Help me, O God!

But of course, the poet uses more interesting words and expressions to express these parallel thoughts. Besides being ingenious and beautiful, this particular poetic expression has a way of highlighting what is most important. God’s vindication or deliverance are the first and last thought; the ungodly people, though a problem, are contained within thoughts about God’s salvation. In other words, the main point is the writer is praying for God’s help. Though he is in trouble, his main focus is not on his problem, but on God’s help.

By the way, I didn’t spend a lot of time looking for a verse to help me demonstrate this. My Bible app was bookmarked to Psalm 43, and I just picked the very first verse to show us how Hebrew “parallel poetry” works. It’s all over the psalms, though it has many different types of configurations. We’ll consider those different configurations when we encounter them in the psalms that we study.

By the way, when it comes to the psalms, I think it pays to be picky about the Bible translation you use. Not all of them capture the beauty and poetry of the psalms equally well. For instance, I checked a few other English versions, and they did not really capture the inside/outside parallelism I just described for Psalm 43:1. To make sure, I double checked the Hebrew, and the ESV did indeed portray it as it was originally written. Other English translations changed the word order to make it easier to read, but then they lost the underlying structure of the poetry.

By the way, though I know just enough Greek to be dangerous, I am basically incompetent with Hebrew. However, I have been trained in how to use various tools designed for incompetents like me, and so I know how to find the information we need when it comes to that language.

Now, at this point, I know that some of you are thinking, “I’m sorry Tom, but I’m not going to spend hours analyzing ancient Hebrew poetry.” Don’t worry, you won’t have to. But I want you to start with the psalms by understanding that, in fact, they are made out of a very intricate, complex and beautiful poetry. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that the psalms contain some of the world’s greatest literature of all time.

If you want to, you can spend time analyzing the parallels, but you don’t need to do that in order to appreciate the psalms. The biggest thing is to understand that the psalms are expressed in poetic, emotional language. Enter into the thoughts and feelings that are expressed here. Let them move you. If you find you are not being moved, try a different Bible translation.

On the other hand, if, with any given psalm, you are having trouble understanding what the poet is trying to say, you might want to try to see the parallels he uses, and how he groups them. For that, you probably want a version like the ESV.

I say “he” about the poet, because in every instance where we know who wrote a given psalm, it was a man. However, there are many psalms for which we don’t know the author, and some of those could have been written by women.

So, for those we know about, who did write these psalms? A number of them say, in Hebrew “of David.” In some cases, it is almost certain that King David himself wrote them. He was definitely a poet and musician, and a couple of these same psalms also appear in 1-2 Samuel. In other cases, “of David” might mean something like “in the tradition of David.” The same is true for the psalms attributed to Asaph, or the Sons of Korah. It could mean that they were written by those actual people, or that they were written in the tradition and style of those people, or, more likely, sometimes the first, and in other cases, the second. One psalm says it is “Of Moses” but it isn’t clear whether Moses himself wrote it, or it is about Moses, or in the tradition of Moses.

Generally most of the psalms were probably written during a six hundred-year period, going from the time of David in 1000 B.C. until after the time the people of Judah returned from exile in Babylon, around 400’s B.C.. It is likely that many of the older psalms were well known and used in worship by the people of Israel for many centuries.

Some time after the return from exile, in the 400’s B.C., prophets and priests organized the psalms into the order that we now find them. They gathered them into five “books,” which were probably originally, five scrolls with the psalms divided up between them. Certainly, having them all together would have made for a large scroll that would be difficult to use, so it makes sense that they would be divided up into smaller scrolls. Most Bibles indicate these book divisions somehow, usually just by a bold heading saying “Book II” and “Book III” and so on. Also, If you pay attention, you will notice that the last psalm at the end of each book contains a kind of blessing that uses words like: “Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen!” or something similar, and then some other phrases.

It appears that someone (probably a group of people) deliberately organized the psalms within the five scrolls into a certain order. The majority of psalms of lament, and cries for help, are within the first two and a half books. The majority of the psalms of praise and thanksgiving are found in the latter half of the collection.

There are several different types of psalms. Some of them are laments. A lament is an expression of pain and grief, or a cry for help and deliverance, or a cry for God to punish enemies. Others are psalms of praise, which I think is pretty straightforward. There are wisdom psalms, which are poems primarily written to teach us something. There are psalms that seem to be intended for specific worship occasions – some of which are, even today, typically used during the Jewish festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Sukkoth). And there are several psalms that seem to be focused on Israel’s king.

When I preached through Matthew a few years ago, during part of that time I happened to be re-reading the psalms for my daily devotional. I was deeply impressed to realize that Jesus quoted from the psalms constantly. Sometimes, he used direct quotes. Other times, he just used the language of the psalms to express something he was saying, without declaring it as a quote. Since Jesus clearly loved this book, and it was in his heart, it is well worth studying.

Therefore, the very first way we interpret the psalms is to remember that they reveal Jesus to us. Sometimes, they show us his character, what he is like. Sometimes, they remind us what he has suffered for us, and a few of them even prophesy about his sufferings, or prophesy other things about his life. In other places, the psalms show us the types of things Jesus does for us. Many of them can be used to praise Jesus. So, first and foremost, as you read the psalms, ask yourself: Where is Jesus in this psalm? You might be surprised and delighted as the Holy Spirit shows you.

The psalms are also a tool for prayer. Sometimes I simply read a psalm out loud, and with my heart I agree with the words, as a kind of prayer. There are other ways to use the psalms in prayer and worship, and we will talk about those more during this series as we engage with individual psalms.

Another helpful idea in interpreting the psalms is this: they reflect and direct our experiences of living in faith. Through the psalms we can engage with all of life: with suffering, with hope, with joy, with anger, with disappointment – virtually every human emotion can be found in this book. But it is not merely emotion on display. It is emotion, and life experience, combined with faith. There is despair in some of the psalms. But it shows what despair looks like in someone who still has faith. It invites us, when we despair, into fellowship with others who walked through similar experiences while maintaining their faith.

In fact, the psalms invite us into fellowship with Jesus in every conceivable frame of mind, state of heart, and situation in life.

If you are using these sermons in a house-church setting, here is your assignment for this week. In addition to reading this sermon, please pick one psalm (any psalm, although psalm 119 might be challenging) and read it. Come to church prepared to talk about your experience reading the psalm.

1 PETER #33: THE DEVIL MADE ME TO DO IT

On March 17, 2023 By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized2 Comments

The Bible clearly teaches that the devil, and demons, are real, and that we should be on our guard against their influence. Today, we unpack what it means to be on guard against the forces of evil, including a reminder that the authority of Jesus is far greater than all evil power combined.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 1 Peter Part 33

Peter uses the phrase “be sober” three times in this letter: once at the beginning, in 1:13; once in the middle, in 4:7; and now here at the end. Sober is, of course, the opposite of drunk. If you are drunk, you are not really in control of yourself. People who are drunk are often silly, and they typically make very poor decisions, saying and doing things that they wouldn’t otherwise do. Their judgment is impaired. When people are drunk, it is easy to take advantage of them, or trick them, or manipulate them.

Though several modern English translations say “sober minded,” the underlying Greek just says “sober.” Just like in English, it can mean both literally sober, and also serious-minded. I think both meanings are intended here. So, the first thing Peter means is that followers of Jesus should not get drunk. This is reiterated elsewhere in the New Testament:

¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
(Ephesians 5:18, ESV)

1 Corinthians 5:11, Titus 2:3, and a few other places also reinforce this teaching. Also, earlier in this letter, Peter tells us that drunkenness should no longer be part of the life of a believer (1 Peter 4:1-6).

By the way, the Bible does not teach that no one can ever have any alcohol. Jesus and his disciples obviously drank wine, and it was common in the culture of Bible times. Paul even tells Timothy to drink a little wine for his health (1 Timothy 5:23). But the message is quite clear that we should not drink enough to affect our judgment or self-control.

Of course, someone who is an alcoholic can not even have so much as one drink, because, in an alcoholic, that will lead quickly back down the road to full-blown addiction. Even if you aren’t an alcoholic, one good rule of thumb to evaluate your drinking is this: if you usually cannot stop after just one drink, you probably have a problem with alcohol at some level. If when reading this you think, “What is the point of having only one drink?” then that is a pretty strong clue that it already has some kind of hold on you. If the Holy Spirit nudges you about this issue, please pay attention.

So Peter’s first concern is literal sobriety. But I believe he also does mean, in a general way, that we are to take our faith seriously, and consider the way we live and the choices we make. We are to live generally in self control – that is, within the limits that God places on us – as Peter wrote in 4:7.

One reason Peter says that a sober attitude (and literal sobriety) are important is because we have an enemy who is looking for any chance to take advantage of us. Peter first describes him as our adversary. He uses a Greek term that is roughly equivalent to our legal idea of a prosecutor: someone who is actively trying to impose guilt upon you, and get you imprisoned.

The next term Peter uses of him is, literally “diabolos,” which you might recognize as similar to the word for “devil” in Spanish. This term actually comes from another Greek word: diaballo, which means “to accuse.” Likewise the name “Satan” comes from a Hebrew word which means “to attack and accuse.”

This is one of the things the Bible teaches that often makes people uncomfortable. The idea of a literal devil, and actual demons, feels sort of superstitious. It doesn’t feel scientific, and at times it even seems sort of childish. Even so, the Bible clearly teaches that there is a real evil spiritual entity which is called Satan, or the devil, and there are other entities, under his control, called demons, or evil spirits.

¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. ¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
(Ephesians 6:10-18, NLT)

The passage from Ephesians above is one of the most extensive, but there are references to the devil, and demonic powers all over the New Testament. You don’t have to read very far in the gospels to see that Jesus encountered demonic powers, and those powers knew who he was.

Another thing you might notice about the encounters Jesus had with demonic powers is that none of them was able to withstand his presence. The Bible tells us that the devil’s power is not even remotely a match for God’s. In the book of Revelation, when John has a vision of the battle that took place in the spiritual realm, Satan was not even a match for one of God’s angels. Jesus sent out some of his followers, and they found to their amazement that through them, the power of Jesus could drive out demons. He makes it clear that when we belong to him through faith, the devil cannot overcome us:

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
¹⁸ He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ¹⁹ Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you. ²⁰ However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
(Luke 10:17-20, CSB)

So the Bible teaches that the devil and demons are real, but also that Jesus has overcome them, and when we belong to him, we need not fear them. Even so, Peter tells us in our text to be careful, to watch out for the devil.

What exactly are we to watch out for? The very first thing is lies. Any power the devil gains over a person, he achieves by telling that person lies. If the person believes those lies, the devil can use that as leverage to gain more influence on the person. Jesus said this of the devil:

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
(John 8:44, ESV)

Revelation chapter 12, in a picturesque metaphor, describes the devil as a dragon. One of the titles given to him is “deceiver:”

⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
(Revelation 12:9, ESV)

In Revelation 13, it describes the work of the two “beasts” who serve as agents of the devil. One of their main functions is to deceive people – that is, to get them to believe lies.

Now, what sort of lies does the devil want us to believe? There are three broad categories that might be helpful to consider. First, lies about God. When he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3) he tried to get them to believe that God was withholding something good from them. He portrayed God as deceptive and manipulative. He convinced them to take control of their own destiny, even if it meant sinning, rather than trusting the goodness of God. He tries to do much the same to us today. He distorts the message of the Bible. He portrays God as weak, manipulative and even evil. He tries to get us to believe that God is not trustworthy. If possible, he tries to get us to reject God altogether. He twists the message of Jesus either into legalism (“You must do a, b, and c, or you will burn in hell”), or license to sin (“God is loving, so you should do whatever you feel like doing. Sin doesn’t matter any more”).

The devil also lies to us about ourselves. He tries to get us to believe that we are unlovable, hopeless, past redemption. He tempts us to agree that we are really just worthless pieces of slime. If that route doesn’t work with some people, he goes the opposite direction: He tells some people that what is really most important is themselves. He gets them to agree that what they, personally want is more significant than what God wants, more imperative than whether or not it is sinful, or how it affects other people. “The most important thing,” he whispers, “is to be true to yourself above all else.”

He tells us that if we just keep drinking, we’ll feel better. Or maybe, just take that pill, and we won’t have to worry about anything. If we just have that affair, we’ll be happy again. If we need to cut a few ethical corners to get rich, it’s no big deal, because when we have enough money, everything will be all right. Especially, the devil does not want us to believe that God loves us, and that Jesus has saved us. He wants us to doubt both of those things.

A third category of lies the devil tells us are about other people. He gets us to believe the worst about others. He tries to get us to believe that they do what they do, or say what they say, simply because they are hateful, or spiteful, or trying to manipulate things. He wants us to think: “The only reason she could possibly have to say that is because she wanted to hurt me, specifically.”

If he can’t get us to believe that people are worse than they are, he goes the opposite way. He tries to convince us that some people are so much better than us that we should just give up. They have perfect lives, and ours is a mess. We are hopeless. Now, all this is made more difficult by the fact that sometimes people are mean and spiteful. And perhaps sometimes, some people really are doing pretty well, compared to us. However, human beings are complicated, and illogical sometimes, and if you find yourself thinking “this is the only reason they would do that,” you might be listening to a lie.

The way to fight lies, of course, is with the truth. The bedrock of truth is the Bible. It tells us the truth about God, about ourselves and about other people. The better we know the Bible, the more easily we will be able to recognize the lies of the devil.

In addition to lies, the devil does wield some sort of influence in the spiritual realm. Sometimes, this is hard to perceive, because even though we are spiritual beings, our own sin and our imperfect flesh get in the way of our spiritual understanding.

I hesitantly say that we usually notice this kind of spiritual opposition as negative feelings. For instance, sometimes, it might feel like we just have a strong aversion to going to church. Perhaps some of that is just “natural,” but it is possible that there are spiritual forces trying to cut us off from the encouragement we would receive from being with other believers, and worshipping together. Maybe at times we say something that is actually pretty hurtful, and afterwards we think, “what in the world made me say that?” Perhaps you were being influenced. Sometimes it feels like following Jesus is really quite difficult, and we wonder “why that should be? Shouldn’t life be easier once we line up with God’s will?” Maybe, although Jesus himself tells us we should expect trouble. Here, and elsewhere, the Bible says that there are spiritual forces that oppose us when we try to follow Jesus. It isn’t that we just happen to have a bad day when it is time to go to church. It’s not always a coincidence. It isn’t a coincidence that we always get sleepy when we try to pray, or that something always seems to get in the way of reading our Bibles. Sometimes, maybe more often than we think, we are being opposed by spiritual powers.

About half a dozen times in my life, I have encountered demonic powers in a way that was quite clear. Just for a little while, during those times, my eyes were opened, and I could see beyond any doubt that I was dealing with spiritual forces of evil. On the one hand, those were obviously unpleasant, sometimes even creepy, experiences. On the other hand, once those powers were revealed, they were defenseless against the power of Jesus, and of his name. I, and those with me, ordered those powers to leave in the name of Jesus. For some reason, it usually took about a half an hour until all sense of evil was gone, but in each case, the outcome was certain. In one particular case, the same demonic influence seemed to be shifting from person to person, and so kicking it out of one person did not stop the activity; instead, the same thing showed up again in a new person. I asked a friend to pray with me every day about that particular demonic influence, and he did so. The influence ceased within a week, and did not reappear in anyone after that.

Believe me, I know that what I just wrote sounds weird – it was weird. But it is also perfectly consistent with what the Bible tells us about the devil and his demons. This is why Peter tells us to be sober (and sober-minded), and to keep watch. We are still in the middle of a spiritual war. The victory is already assured, but the devil is still trying to pick off as many people as he can, in order to spite God, before the end.

Peter makes it clear, however, that in Jesus, we have the power to resist the devil, and that our future is assured through Jesus:

⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹ To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(1 Peter 5:9-11, ESV)

1 PETER #32: GOD CARES FOR YOU

On March 4, 2023 By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, House Church, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The key to balancing our understanding of God’s care for us is to remember to humble ourselves before God, recognizing that life is not about you or me. At the same time we are called to trust that he does, in fact, care for us. Humility means we do not demand that God serve us, and especially, we do not insist that he must answer our prayers only in the way we intend. We come to him humbly, in awe and wonder at the fact that he really does care for us, knowing that we do not deserve it, but trusting that he does care all the same. We come to him humbly, agreeing that we do need his help and love and grace. And we come to him in trust, relying on him to care for us, knowing for certain he does, because of Jesus.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 1 Peter Part 32

1 Peter #32. 1 Peter 5:6-7

Last time we discussed humility. We noted that there is a connection between humility, and casting your anxieties on God, because in order to give our cares to Him, we must admit that we can’t handle them ourselves. This topic reminds me of the poorly worded church sign that said “Don’t let worry destroy you – our church can help!”

There are two possible errors when we consider the idea that God truly cares for us. The first is to believe that this is the main thing about God. We can begin to believe that God’s main purpose is to care for us; that this is what God is for. We start to think that this is what being a Christian is all about – having a God who will take care of our problems.

Making this error leads to all sorts of problems. The first, and biggest, is that we believe that life is all about us. People think that God is there to serve them, so naturally that means that they, and their needs, desires and problems, are the most important things about faith in God. Now, they probably wouldn’t actually put it that way so bluntly to themselves. But when people make this error, the way they pray, and pursue God, shows that they think God is primarily there to help and serve them (and, to be fair, other believers). This is really where the “prosperity gospel” comes from. One of the big dangers of it is that it is often so close to the truth, yet distorted in significant ways. If the main thing about God is that he exists to care for them, then what they really need is to find a way to get access to God’s caring and blessing. They might do this by reducing how much they sin. After all, (the thinking goes) sin gets in the way of God giving them what they need. Now, reducing sin is a good thing. I’m all for it. But the reason we try to sin less is because God is holy, because some things are right and some are wrong, not because it will help us get more stuff that we want.

People might try to get more of God’s blessing and care through prayer and worship – prayer and worship unlock God’s blessing (so many people would put it). Again, I think prayer and worship are good things. But we should do them because God is God, and deserves our worship, and much more besides. It is true that sometimes we are blessed through prayer and worship. However, doing such things mainly in order to get more blessings is a serious distortion of what the Bible teaches.

People who buy into this error go to church primarily in order to learn how to “release” more of God’s care and blessing into their lives. They give their tithe not because God is God, and owns everything, but rather, they give primarily in order to get greater blessing back.

Many churches and ministries that take this approach are very large and outwardly successful. This is because the whole idea appeals to human selfishness. Instead of dealing with the basic sin of self-centeredness, ministries actually appeal to it in order to get people to do religious things, and to grow the church. It’s easier to grow a ministry if you encourage and manipulate the sinful desires people have, rather than confronting them with the gospel.

When we look at our text today, we can see the main mistake. People who make this error keep “God cares for you,” but they ignore “humble yourself before God.”

The other major problem that comes out of thinking that God is mainly there to take care of us is that when he doesn’t take care of us the way we think he should, our faith is shaken. I have met many, many people who turned away from God, in essence, because they felt like God let them down. He didn’t care for them in the way they wanted to, or in a way that they could understand. It is a fragile and unstable foundation for faith.

I’ll be honest, I do not remotely understand how to reconcile these thoughts: 1) God cares for me. 2) God is all powerful. 3) God has not healed me from my constant, brutal pain. If I thought God’s primary job was taking care of me, I would be tempted to think he’s pretty bad at it, and I might want to abandon my faith. As it is, though I do believe God cares for me, I also believe that his ultimate purposes are bigger than just me, and that, because he is God, I should not expect to understand everything he does, or does not, do. I can trust him beyond what I can understand.

There is another error that people sometimes make about these verses. Some people find it very hard to believe that God actually does care for individuals, families and small groups. They understand that God is God, all right, but they can’t believe he has any true interest in dealing with eight billion separate people, nor yet the time to do it.

This error is also dangerous. It is a rejection of what the Bible actually says. As incredible as it seems, God actually cares what happens in the lives of individual people:

¹⁶ But I will call on God,
and the LORD will rescue me.
¹⁷ Morning, noon, and night
I cry out in my distress,
and the LORD hears my voice. (Psalms 55:16-17, NLT)

¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God! (Psalms 40:17, ESV)

⁸ Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8, ESV)

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Matthew 6:26-32, ESV)

As you might imagine, there are many other such verses. According to the Bible, God really does care for each person in the world. The details of our lives, and our struggles, are important to Him.

In 2017, we were incredibly blessed to take a one month sabbatical in Europe. My wife Kari was struggling to believe this very thing: how can God really care for each one of the billions of people on earth? How can he even keep track of them all? Traveling often brings this up. When you travel, you realize how many people and places there are in the world. It seems impossible for God to keep track of everyone.

We had two surprising experiences in which God showed us once again that he is God. At one point, we went to Venice, Italy, where we stayed in a Methodist guest house. Breakfast was included with the cost of the stay, and one morning we ate next to a German family. I was excited to practice my German, so I spoke to them. The man asked me where I learned German, and I explained that I grew up in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and many of our friends there, including our neighbors, were Germans. To shorten the story, it turned out that he had worked, in Germany, with one of my former German neighbors for several years! The odds of bumping into someone who knows someone else from PNG are astronomically small anywhere in the world. The odds that it would be someone who knew my actual neighbor are infinitesimally small. You would be a fool to bet any amount of money on such a thing happening by random coincidence.

Another “coincidence” began about a week later, when we were in southern Italy on a ferry boat. On the boat, we got to talking with a friendly couple from Australia, and we enjoyed our time with one another. We left them once we reached shore, and didn’t see them again. A week after that, we were in the Rome airport, to take our flight back to the U.S.. That particular airport is stunningly gigantic. We went through all sorts of lines, and rushed from one point to another, passing thousands of people, until we came to the international departures checkpoint. There were several hundred people in the line, which snaked back and forth over a huge area. We got settled into the line, and took a moment to catch our breath. We turned around, only to find the Australian couple immediately behind us. I wouldn’t know how to begin to calculate how unlikely this was. If I put this sort of coincidence in one of my books, people would call it bad writing; they would say that as the author, I am clearly manipulating the plot in an unbelievable way. Perhaps that is exactly what it was, with, of course, God being the author of our experiences, manipulating things so that we can catch a glimpse of him.

Speaking of writing, my own experience as an author has helped me to see how God can care for each individual person. Suppose I am writing a scene in which my main character (Jonah Borden) meets another key character in the story, named Peter. Jonah goes on a hike, and coming around a corner, he meets Peter. In the pages of my book, all this happens instantaneously. But in my life, as the author, I can write (speaking as Jonah) “I came to a fork in the trail, and took it. Around the next bend, I met a man.” Then, I can stop, and take two days to think about Peter, and his motivations and needs, and how he came to be there at that particular time, and everything else about Peter’s life, and how his life will affect Jonah’s life, and vice-versa. In the time-frame of the book, it all happens from one moment to the next. But I can step out of the pages of the book, into my own time-location and take all the time I want to work all this out. I am not bound by the time-frame of the people in the story.

If Jonah believed in me as the god of his world, he could pray, “O Author, please let me meet someone in the next five minutes who will help me with my troubles.” I could take as much time as I need to set up an answer for him, even though only five minutes (or less) elapsed for him, in my story. Or, alternatively, I could see that Jonah’s request doesn’t work with the story I am telling, and so I would not have him meet anyone, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care for him. In fact, he is my creation, and I am pretty fond of him, to be honest, but that doesn’t stop me from putting him into a lot of difficult situations.

In the same way, God is not bound by our time frame. He has all the time in the world to hear my prayer, and yours, and the prayers of believers in China, and India, and South America. He has all the time there is to arrange for us to meet someone significant at just the right time and place. He has much more time, in fact, than I do as an author. God is infinite, and we are not, and so he has, literally, more than enough time, and more than enough capacity, to care for not just eight billion people at once, but even trillions and trillions more.

The ultimate demonstration of God’s love for us is the death of Jesus Christ. God did not have to save us. Jesus did not have to die. He chose to die, and he did so because he loves us.

⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. (Romans 5:6-10, NLT)

He has already proven his love for us, and if we ever doubt it, we can remember the cross, the torture and suffering, the incredible spiritual agony that he endured for you and me. Look at the cross, and see how much he cares for us.

We are called not just to know that God cares for us, but to actively cast our cares upon him. Peter obviously means that we should pray about the things that burden us. Paul says something similar:

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)

Unburden yourself to the Lord. Tell him, in plain language, in your own words, what is troubling you. But there is a second part of casting your cares on the Lord that we often forget. If we cast our cares upon God, that means we have to let go of them. The same word is used in Luke when the disciples threw their cloaks onto the donkey that Jesus rode. They couldn’t throw their cloaks onto the animal, and still wear them, or hold onto them at the same time. To cast your cares on God means to release them into his hands. If you tell God what concerns you, and then you continue to worry and think and imagine about it, you haven’t really cast your cares on him, have you? You’ve just given him a look at your worries, while you still hold them tight. He can’t carry your burden for you if you insist on carrying it yourself.

Now, I do know that this is easier said than done. But the first step toward really giving God your concerns is to recognize that once you have prayed, you must let go of them. I think that sometimes, worrying is our way of trying to control the uncontrollable. We can’t actually stop a loved one from getting into a car accident, but it almost feels like if we worry about it, we have some measure of control. To cast your cares on the Lord, you have to humble yourself to the point where you give up the idea of controlling what happens. You have to trust him.

I have a few practical suggestions about how to actually do that. In the first place, pray to God for the ability to trust him, and the capacity to give up control. Seriously, ask him to help you. As much as you can, give him your willingness to change. I think this is probably the best thing we can do.

Another thing that sometimes helps me is to set a timer for how long I will pray about something that really bothers me. When the timer is done, my time is up. It’s in God’s hands, no take-backs. At other times, I might write down my deep concerns, and, after praying, physically burn them in order to leave them with God. At other times, if I am walking and praying. I might pick up a rock, and use it to represent my anxieties. After praying, I will throw the rock away from me as far as I can.

As I mentioned a while ago, the key to balancing our understanding of God’s care for us is to remember both to humble ourselves before God, and also to trust that he does, in fact, care for us. The humility means we do not demand that God serve us, and especially, we do not insist that he must answer our prayers only in the way we intend. We come to him humbly, in awe and wonder at the fact that he really does care for us, knowing that we do not deserve it, but trusting that he does care all the same. We come to him humbly, agreeing that we do need his help and love and grace. And we come to him in trust, relying on him to care for us, knowing for certain he does, because of Jesus.

1 PETER #31: HUMILITY

On February 23, 2023 By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Bible Teaching, House Church, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Jesus explicitly taught his disciples to be humble. Humility is not the same as humiliation. Jesus, being who he was, understood that he was, in fact, the most amazing being in the universe. Yet, he did not insist that others recognize him as such, even though he knew it to be true. The essence of humility is trusting God to make all things right, in his own time.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 1 Peter Part 31

Humility is a challenging topic for me to teach about, because it’s so difficult to be humble when you are as amazing as me. (Sorry, I had to do that one – it was so obvious!) Actually, when I think of how bad I am at humility, I am humbled. (OK, I’ll quit now). All right, on a serious note, I do actually struggle with the whole topic of humility, because I struggle with the idea of injustice. It seems wrong to me – unjust – when people are not recognized for their amazing gifts, achievements, or personalities, while other people, less deserving, get credit when they don’t really deserve it. However, Jesus and his apostles are crystal clear about humility: Humility is part of the character of Jesus, and therefore it should be part of the character of every Christian. Paul explains this in many places, but perhaps nowhere better than in his letter to the Philippians:

³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:3-11, ESV)

Jesus himself explained the importance of humility to his disciples many times:

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 14:7-11, ESV)

Jesus’ own life was one huge example of humility. Being God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, he humbly confined himself to the limits of human flesh. Even when he did that, he did not choose to be born in Rome, or Athens, which were the centers of power and culture in those days. He did not become the son of a king, emperor, or even just a noble family. Instead, he became the son of a poor family. Not only was he not born in a palace, he wasn’t even born in an ordinary house, but rather a stable. He grew up in Nazareth, which was a no-account town in a no-account region in a no-account country. When he spoke, it was with a Galilean accent, which sounded to the people of Jerusalem like a hillbilly/redneck way of talking. He washed the feet of his disciples as if he was a common servant. He was put on trial and mocked by people who should have fallen on their faces to worship him. The wood that was used to crucify him came from a tree that would not have existed if he hadn’t caused it to be. And even today his name is mocked. This is how it is supposed to be, for now, says Jesus:

²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸ even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Matthew 20:25-28, ESV)

Now, I do think sometimes we misunderstand humility. Perhaps we think it is similar to humiliation. We might imagine that to be humble means to have a low opinion of ourselves, or even hate ourselves. But if we look at Jesus as the greatest example of humility, I think we can see more clearly.

Jesus did not have a low opinion of himself. He did not think of himself as worthless, useless or pointless. If you took every human being who ever lived, and every great work of art, culture, literature or engineering that was ever made, and threw in all the gold and jewels and real estate in all of the history of the entire world, all of it together is not as valuable as the life of Jesus. And if Jesus is who the Bible says he is, he must have known that. He knew that he was the most amazing human being to ever walk on the surface of this planet. He knew that the entire planet was not equal in worth to a single drop of his own blood.

So Biblical humility does not mean self-hatred. It does not mean you pretend you are worthless when you know you are not. But Jesus, being who he was, knowing who he was, did not insist that everyone else acknowledge that. He had self-respect, but he did not demand that others treat him with the respect he deserved. In the verses from Matthew chapter 20 (above) he says: “I didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”

When we are humble, we do not insist upon our own way, even when we could rightfully do so. We do not insist upon getting credit for something, even when we deserve that credit. When we are humble we patiently endure it when others treat us unjustly and unfairly, knowing that one way or another, God will eventually make all things right. We don’t have to defend ourselves, our abilities, our work, or our reputation, because God will do so in his time and in his way.

This leads us to another important aspect of humility. In order to truly be humble, we need to trust God. We need to trust that he will look out for our interests, for our credit, for our good and safety. If we think we are on our own, if it is up to us to look out for ourselves, we cannot be humble, because the world will run over us, and we won’t get what we need and deserve. But if we trust that God will look out for us, we can let go of the need to make sure we get “our rightful share” of everything in life.

On the other hand, in order to trust God, we need to be humble. Humility says, “I need God. I am not enough on my own. I need grace and forgiveness.”

I recently watched a TV show. The story was about a woman named Donna who was married to a violently abusive husband. She had an affair, and got pregnant from the affair. A teenage girl found out, and threatened to tell her husband, so Donna killed the girl. She allowed an innocent man to be convicted of the murder, and that man served twenty-years in prison for Donna’s crime, until she was found out.

When the police finally found out that Donna was the murderer, she blamed everyone but herself. She said it was her abusive husband’s fault. She said it was the girl’s fault for threatening to tell. It was the fault of the man she had an affair with. It was the police’s fault for not making her feel safe from her husband (though she never told anyone, until after he died, that he was abusive).

After serving a few years in prison herself, she developed terminal cancer. The sister of the girl who she murdered came to see Donna, to tell her that she forgave her. Donna’s response was “-—you, and -—forgiveness!” (“—” stands for a swearword). I think this portrays a very real kind of attitude. You see, in order to receive forgiveness, Donna would have to admit that the murder was indeed her fault. She would have to give up defending herself. She would have to put herself in a place of need that she could not fill herself. In short, she would have had to humble herself, and she refused to be humble.

I know that’s only a story, but like all good stories, it connects us to something real about life. Most of us have not committed murder. Even so, we need forgiveness no less than the character of Donna in the story. But in order to be forgiven, we have to admit that we have a need for it, and we cannot meet that need ourselves. Humility means we must depend upon God – we can’t do it alone. We have to rely on him for something – we cannot rely on ourselves alone. We need forgiveness, but we don’t deserve forgiveness, and we are at the mercy of God’s willingness to give it to us. That is a place of humility, and many, many people refuse to be so humble.

We will spend next week on the phrase “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” But for now, I want to point out that to cast our anxieties upon God requires humility. We have to admit that we can’t handle it all. We have to give up trying ourselves to make life work, and trust God. That requires humility.

Peter urges us to be humble not only toward God, but also toward one another. A few weeks ago in one of our local house churches, someone shared some very personal struggles they were having. This person was allowing us to see that they didn’t have it all together, admitting that they had needs that they themselves could not fill. I was struck by two things. First, it required real humility to be so open and vulnerable with us. That person’s open sharing was a demonstration of humility in action. They were willing for us to see their personal struggles, willing to show that they did not have life all working well. Second, it struck me that this kind of humility requires great courage and strength. We tend to think of people who keep it all in as “strong, silent types.” But I realized, while the person was sharing, that I was seeing incredible bravery and incredible inner strength on display. I think it takes much more courage and inner fortitude to be openly humble like that than it does to keep silent.

So humility can be difficult. It requires vulnerability and trust. But Peter tells us that we will not have to humble ourselves forever. Right now, it is the attitude we should have. But what Jesus and his disciples taught, and what the Old Testament teaches also, is that when we humble ourselves, we are trusting ourselves into God’s hands. If we will trust him by being humble, he will make sure that in his own time, we are lifted up. That of course, is what Peter says in the text today: humble yourselves, and then God, in his time, will lift you up. That is the implication of what Paul writes in Philippians: Jesus humbled himself, and then God lifted him up and gave him honor, and he will receive even more honor when he returns. Many Old Testament scriptures teach the same thing:

⁶ Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble,
but he keeps his distance from the proud. (Psalms 138:6, NLT)

¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15, ESV)

³⁴ He mocks those who mock,
but gives grace to the humble.( Proverbs 3:34, HCSB)

We need to trust that he will indeed “lift us up” when the time comes.

A few thoughts for application: As you have been reading this, is there some way in which the Holy Spirit is prompting you to be humble? Is he asking you to be vulnerable about something with other believers? Is he gently calling you to let go of getting your own way in something? Perhaps he wants you to hold your peace when someone less deserving gets credit for something.

On a different line of thought: how is the Lord calling you to humbly trust him right now? Do you need to let go of pride, or self-sufficiency?

Let the Spirit speak to you today!

1 PETER #30: SHEPHERDS AND CHIEF SHEPHERDS

On February 4, 2023 By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized1 Comment

In this text, Peter gives instructions to Christian leaders. In pointing out the kind of person a leader should be, he is actually pointing beyond all human leaders, to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and the qualities we find in Him.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 1 Peter Part

Let’s remember who is writing this letter. It is Peter, whom all the gospels portray as the leader among the twelve apostles. The gospel of Mark was probably already written and known, as was possibly Matthew. Even before these were well known, certainly stories about Jesus were widely circulated, and many of them included Peter. He knew Jesus personally. He was one of only three who were chosen to see Jesus revealed in glory at the transfiguration. He was the only person besides Jesus Christ himself, who ever walked on water. After the day of Pentecost, it was Peter who preached the sermon that led to three-thousand people being saved. Several times he stood before the leaders of the nation of Israel, and proclaimed the truth of Jesus. He was imprisoned, beaten and persecuted for his trust in Jesus. Once, he was miraculously delivered from execution. God used him to heal many people; so much so that, at one period in Jerusalem, sick people would lay in the street in the hopes that Peter’s shadow would fall on them as he walked past.

It is this Peter who now wants to speak a word to church elders – that is, the leaders of local house churches. He could have said: “I command you, as the one God used to heal dozens of people.” He could have written: “As the only person besides Jesus to walk on water, I say…” There are many ways he could have reminded these leaders that they should listen to him. Instead, he writes: “As a fellow elder.” This section ends with Peter urging everyone to be humble, and he certainly put humility into practice here. Though he could have commanded them as an acknowledged leader, instead, he appeals to them as an equal.

I want to use this text to briefly talk about leadership in the early church. Peter appeals to the “elders.” He does not simply mean “the oldest people in the church.” By this time, the word “elder,” for Christians, meant a specific kind of church leader. A lot of elders were indeed older men. But there were also younger men like Timothy who were considered church elders. In other words, the term is more about leadership than it is about age.

There are other words used for the same kind of leader. The term “overseer” (sometimes translated “bishop”) seems to be interchangeable with the term “elder” in the New Testament. Finally, there is a third name given to this same type of church leader: “shepherd.” The Greek word for shepherd was later translated into a Latin word that is still commonly used in English today: pastor. In the New Testament, all three of these words are talking about church leaders who were responsible for directing the affairs of the church, and for teaching and preaching, and caring for the members. Not all of the elders were necessarily teachers and preachers, but virtually all of the teachers and preachers were supposed to be elders.

Here is a brief description of a church elder:

⁶ An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. ⁷ A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money.
⁸ Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. ⁹ He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.
(Titus 1:6-9, NLT)

Here’s another passage. This time the Greek term used for “church leader” is “overseer,” but you can see it is talking about exactly the same thing:

¹ This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position.” ² So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. ³ He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. ⁴ He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. ⁵ For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?
⁶ A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. ⁷ Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.
(1 Timothy 3:1-7, NLT)

With this passage, Peter adds his own instructions to elders. This is all relevant to elders, of course, but it is also relevant to all Christians. Peter is describing the kind of pastor/church leader you should seek out and value. You can use this text to hold pastors accountable, if you need to, including me, by the way.

First, we should shepherd God’s flock. A shepherd leads the flock to places where there is food, water, and safety. So, elders should lead churches to spiritual food and drink through God’s Word (the Bible), prayer and fellowship. In addition, as the verses I just quoted say, an elder needs to protect the church from bad teaching, from things that lead people astray. What this amounts to is good, sensible teaching of the Bible. Teaching elders should take their responsibilities very seriously:

¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
(James 3:1, ESV)

Frankly, I have met many people who call themselves pastors or elders who do not take this nearly seriously enough. I suspect that there are many people who take it upon themselves to teach and preach, who really ought not to. When I read what Peter writes here, I am reminded of a conversation he had with Jesus after the resurrection:

¹⁵ When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.”
“Feed My lambs,” He told him.
¹⁶ A second time He asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.”
“Shepherd My sheep,” He told him.
¹⁷ He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love You.”
“Feed My sheep,” Jesus said.
( John 21:15-17, HCSB)

So Peter, nearing the end of his own life, is passing on the same charge to the next generation of church leaders: “Shepherd the people! Feed them spiritually, care for them as a shepherd does for the sheep.”

The next piece I get from Peter’s words is that the flock belongs to God. I have never had “my own” church. I have only ever had the privilege of caring for parts of God’s flock. Sometimes we pastors, talking shop to one another, say things like, “In my church…” I don’t think that is so terrible, as long as we remember that it isn’t really our own church, not ever. We are only caretakers of Jesus’ church.

The next thing Peter says is that elders should serve willingly, not because they feel forced to. I knew a pastor who went to seminary during the Vietnam War, to escape the draft. He hated ministry, and wasn’t even sure he believed in God, but he felt he had to continue to be a pastor or he would be a hypocrite. What he couldn’t see was that he was a hypocrite anyway. He served under compulsion.

At one time I felt as if I was locked in to being a pastor, and I took this verse seriously: I quit. During the next three years God showed me that I really am supposed to be one of his under-shepherds, an elder in his church, and ever since then I have felt privileged to be called to this ministry.

Next, elders are not supposed to be in it for the money. That’s a good thing for me, because if I was in it for the money, I’ve been doing it very wrong! I’m not complaining, by the way, but I haven’t exactly built a ministry empire for myself, nor a cash-cow. However, we all know about church leaders who have built private empires and cash cows. I would not want to be them when they have to explain themselves to Jesus.

Elders are not to be domineering. Here, we see part of why Peter appeals to them only as a fellow elder, not as one of the great leaders of the church. He is putting his own words into practice. Though he could command them, he is leading in the same way he wants them to lead: humbly, with love, appealing to them, not trying to dominate or browbeat them. Above all, he is leading by example, and exhorting them to do the same.

Finally, elders are to look for honor and reward not in this life, but when Jesus returns. Being a pastor – at least the way Peter teaches us to – is not always a glorious thing. I have as much education as most attorneys, but generally, especially these days, pastors are respected less than lawyers, doctors and other professions. But our full reward is in Jesus, in the New Creation, not in the here and now. We can be patient, knowing that God sees our work, even when others don’t. Just as we are not supposed to be just in it for the money, nor are we supposed to be elders/pastors in order to build our own reputation.

Those who are not elders have responsibilities toward their leaders, as well. Peter says that the rest of the church should listen to the elders. This agrees with many other parts of the New Testament. Here are just two examples:

¹⁷ Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
(Hebrews 13:17, NLT)

¹⁷ Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!” (1 Timothy 5:17-18, NLT)

Now, as I have said, these things give us a good basis to evaluate whether a leader in the church is worthy of our trust and respect. That is good and helpful. But when we consider the characteristics of our leaders, we should also find in them things to imitate. The author of Hebrews writes:

⁷ Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
(Hebrews 13:7, NLT)

We may or may not have a leadership position in the church, but these instructions to elders are things we can all aspire to emulate. If I reflect any of these qualities at all, it is because I learned them not only from reading the Bible, but also from watching more mature believers whom I admire, and aspire to be like. The first such person in my life is my own father, and there were many others also, who showed me by their own lives what real Christians should be like. The goal is not only to imitate such people, but eventually to become the sort of person yourself that others can look at, and imitate.

And of course, the real life that they are reflecting (and that we want to reflect) is the life of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, our focus moves from helpful (though flawed) leaders to Jesus himself. We want our life to reflect and resemble His life, to show His love and grace to the world.

1 PETER #29: THE GLORY OF SUFFERING

On January 27, 2023 By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized1 Comment

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Suffering and glory are deeply connected. Any story that inspires us involves suffering. The more suffering there is in a story, the more glorious it is when the suffering ends, or is redeemed somehow. God wants to include us in his glory, and that means that suffering should not be considered unusual for those of us who follow Jesus. However, in our suffering, we can be confident that God is holding us in his hands, and remains in control. We can trust that he loves us, even in the middle of difficult times. There will be an end to suffering and then we will be participants in God’s glory.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button: For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 1 Peter Part 29

1 PETER #29. 1 PETER 4:12-19

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. ¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. ¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
(1 Peter 4:12-19, ESV)

Before we jump into this passage, I want to use it to reinforce something I’ve talked about before. If you look at the New King James Version, it will have this at the end of verse 14: “On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.” The Old KJV has something similar. These words were almost certainly not written by Peter, but rather, were added in two our three hundred years later by a scribe. The KJV (and versions derived from it) has such things from time to time, because it is based on fewer ancient manuscripts. This is an example of why I don’t rely on those versions (though I do compare them to other versions quite often). It is also why I think the people who claim that the KJV is the only legitimate version of the Bible are seriously ignorant and mistaken.

By the way, although there are a number of things going on in this passage, I’m going to focus on the main thing. Sometimes I worry that I get us too bogged down with every detail. So, let’s get to the heart of the text. There is a fascinating historical aspect to this passage. At the very beginning of this letter, Peter uses the image of gold being tested in fire. He says, at that point, that trials test our faith in a similar way, adding that our faith is more precious and more enduring than gold:

⁶ So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. ⁷ These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
(1 Peter 1:6-7, NLT, formatting added for emphasis)

Now, in our text this time (chapter four), Peter says, “don’t be surprised when the testing fire comes upon you.” Peter is aware of the political climate of the Roman Empire. He knows that emperor Nero has it out for Christians, and so he wants people everywhere to be prepared to suffer for following Jesus. What Peter did not know was the literal role that fire would play in the upcoming persecutions and sufferings of Christians. Probably within a year of this letter (two, at the most) a great fire burned much of the city of Rome. Some historians speculate that Nero himself ordered the fire to be set, so he could rebuild the parts of Rome that burned. Whether or not that is true, Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the fire, though there was no evidence that they were involved either deliberately or accidentally. He used the fire as an excuse to begin a deliberate, systematic city-wide persecution on Christians, imprisoning many, having some killed for entertainment in the circuses, and executing others outright. Even more horrifically, he had some of them bound to stakes in the complex of the imperial palace, and he burned them alive to light up the area at night.

Many Christians chose to flee from Rome during this intense period of persecution. Apparently some of them convinced Peter to leave, also, but on his way out of the city, he changed his mind and turned back, entrusting himself to Jesus in either life or death, which shows that he practiced what he preached here. He was put to death.

I have to believe that when the believers in the provinces heard of all this, and re-read his letter, telling them not to be surprised at the fire of suffering, they were comforted. There is no way Peter could have known that the coming trials were going to involve actual fire. But God knew what was going to happen, and the Holy Spirit slipped in those references to fire to remind everyone that He was not surprised by it, that nothing whatsoever that happens can take them outside of His loving arms.

Peter connects suffering to glory. Paul does the same thing in Romans 8:16-18

¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
(Romans 8:16-18, ESV)

Let’s think about this connection between suffering and glory for a moment. Picture a man who was born into a happy, wealthy family. He grows up with every advantage, and never knows a day’s need in his life. He has been raised as a Christian, and he thanks God for the goodness of his life. His parents send him to the best prep schools, and then an elite university. He meets his wife there. They get married, and start their careers. Set up in life this way, they are successful in their professions, and wealthy. They have two beautiful children who are healthy and happy. They continue to follow God, and then they grow old, and die, and will stand with Jesus in the new creation.

Now, how glorious is that story? It’s a nice thing. We all want that sort of life. There is a glory to the goodness of God there. But let’s compare the glory of that to another story.

Imagine a young lad in the seventeen hundreds in England. His mother is a strong Christian, but dies of tuberculosis two weeks before he turns seven years old. His father is a sailor, and the boy is passed around from place to place a bit, until he is eleven, when he too, becomes a sailor. At this time in history, sailing is a very hard life, with brutal work and even more brutal discipline. He becomes a wild and unruly young man. At one point, after becoming a junior officer, he is given eight-dozen lashes with the whip for disobedience, and is stripped of his rank. After healing, trying to find a better situation, he transfers to another ship, this one used in the African slave trade. His new shipmates don’t like him much, and when they arrive in Africa, the captain illegally binds him, and sells him into slavery. This did happen to Europeans at times. The young man ends up in slavery to an African princess who mistreats him horribly.

After three years as a slave, during which time life is miserable, he is finally rescued. And yet, on the trip back to England, his ship is caught in a storm, and almost sinks. During the storm, he prays to God, and begins, slowly to open his heart to Jesus Christ. The ship finally limps into port safely. He continues to work in the slave trade, eventually becoming the captain of a slave-trade transport ship. Yet, at the same time, this man continues to grow as a Christian. Eventually, he realizes that the slave trade is incompatible with his Christian faith, and he leaves the trade to become a pastor. In fact, not long after, he begins to work for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. He grows older, still working hard for abolition, but still seeing great resistance to it. He has almost despaired of living to see the abolition of slavery, but when he is a very old man, at last the English parliament passes a law making slavery, and the slave trade, illegal. During the middle of his life, while working for abolition, this man writes the most famous Christian hymn of the English language: Amazing Grace.

The second story is, obviously, the true story of John Newton. Newton went through a great deal of hardship and suffering, and involved himself in the shameful slave trade. Yet, I would have to say that his story is more glorious than the first one. It is glorious precisely because of the suffering.

Most people would not be interested in a movie about the first life. Many people did watch the movie of John Newton’s life: Amazing Grace. The truth is, the stories that capture our imagination, the ones that mean the most to us, involve suffering. The story of a young woman from an elite family who had advantages and connections and then became a successful CEO is not particularly interesting. But a story about a woman who grew up poor, and was dyslexic, and was mugged four times as a youngster, who taught herself to read, and overcame all her disadvantages to become a CEO – that is inspiring.

My point is that glory and suffering are connected in some way. I would almost guarantee that any story (true, or fictional) that ever captured your imagination, or inspired you, involved suffering of some kind. The more suffering in the story, the more glorious when finally the suffering is overcome, or redeemed. When Peter says: “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed,” he means that because we are destined for a glorious future, we should not be surprised about a difficult present. When we suffer in Christ, glory is being created in our future.

This raises a question, then, about what it means to share in the sufferings of Christ. First, Peter clearly means suffering that comes about because we are Christians. So, if someone mocks us for being Christian, that is “sharing in the sufferings of Christ.” If we lose a job because of our Christian principles, it is the same. Obviously, if we are beaten, imprisoned or executed for a being a Christian, those things are sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Peter clarifies that he’s not talking about suffering for things like committing a crime. We can’t claim that a proper punishment for a crime that we actually committed is suffering for Christ. In other words, sometimes you suffer as a consequence of your own bad choices – this is not the same as sharing in the sufferings of Christ.

I do think however, that Peter has more in mind than only persecution when he speaks of sharing the sufferings of Christ. He adds, in verse 19: “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good,” (1 Peter 4:19, ESV). I think the primary meaning of “suffer according to God’s will” is not, “God desires you to suffer,” but rather, “when you encounter suffering, God desires you to go through it in a way that is consistent with your faith in Jesus.”

There is a secondary meaning, I believe to “suffer according to God’s will.” I think all of Christian suffering ends up connected, in some way to the cross of Jesus Christ. Was it God’s will for the Romans, and Jewish authorities, to sin by accusing an innocent man and putting him to death? No. Was it God’s will for the soldiers to indulge their brutality and sadism by beating Jesus, and mocking him? No: God desires no one to sin. God did not desire to inflict pain upon Jesus. So, in one sense it is entirely accurate to say: “God did not want Jesus to suffer the way he did.”

And yet, was it God’s will for Jesus to take on himself the sins of humankind by his suffering and death on the cross? Yes. Ephesians chapter one tells us that it was planned from before the foundation of the world. So, in another sense, just as true, it was God’s will for Jesus to suffer the way he did.

So we have a mystery here: God did not desire anyone to sin by hurting Jesus. And yet, when Jesus was suffering, he was completely fulfilling the will of God the Father. Jesus was not at the mercy of sin, or even chaos, while he suffered. He was held in the everlasting arms of the Father.

So it is with us. Because of Jesus’ suffering, we have seen the lengths God will go to save us. We have seen how much he loves us. When we suffer, we can trust God’s love for us, even when we don’t understand. And when we suffer, we can also trust that the universe is not spinning out of control, that God has a purpose in our emotional and physical pain, and that purpose will ultimately work for our good. When we suffer we must trust that God is still in control, and also that he is good, and he still loves us.

Let’s return to the image of the fiery trial. Did God want Nero to burn those Christians alive? Of course not! But were those Christians ultimately safe in the hands of a loving God, even in their terrible trial? Absolutely yes.

I think we have plenty to think about so far. It is a great comfort to me, thinking about the history connected to Peter, to know that God knew ahead of time what would happen to so many Christians. Those first readers of Peter’s letter would be able to see, from the words about the fiery trial, that God knew what was going on, and nothing could take them out of his hands. Perhaps that is what you need to hear today. God knew exactly where you would be, exactly what you would be going through at this time in your life. You are not adrift and alone in a chaotic universe. Through Jesus Christ, you are safe in the everlasting arms of our loving Father. I am not sitting comfortably just proclaiming theology with no suffering of my own while I write this. I am in the fiery trial as well, and I have been for some time. This is not a meaningless platitude. It is true. Receive it in faith whether or not you feel like it, the truth is that if you belong to Jesus, you are safe and secure.

Remember also that your sufferings are creating a glorious story. Last time we learned that when God is glorified, we are blessed. So, through your suffering, as you share in the sufferings of Christ, God is indeed being glorified, and you are being blessed. Again, this is not a truth we always feel, but we hold on to it in faith.

Finally, we should not be surprised when we suffer. This is normal for those who follow Jesus. We should be surprised, instead, when we don’t suffer, and we should be deeply thankful for those calm, peaceful times. Millions of Christians in history, and certainly at least many hundreds of thousands today, are in a fiery trial of one sort or another. You are not alone. God has not looked away from you, or abandoned you. You are in good company, and in God’s loving hands.

1 PETER #28: TALENT ON LOAN FROM GOD

On January 6, 2023 By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Podcast, Religion, Sermon2 Comments

Our gifts, abilities and opportunities are given to us by God. In a way, they are loaned to us, and we are to use them not for ourselves, but rather to glorify God and bless other people. God has chosen to give us blessings when we live that way, though much of that blessing will not be fully ours until we stand in the New Creation. Recognizing all this, and living this way, is part of what it means to follow Jesus, and it will often make us stand out, and appear different from the world at large.

1 Peter #28. 1 Peter 4:7-11

⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:7-11

Last time we looked at how following Jesus causes us to have a different way of looking at life, compared to the rest of the world. We don’t live for our passions and desires. Instead, we trust that in some ways, God has placed limits on us, and we try to live within those limits for God’s glory, and because, ultimately, that is what is best for us, too. Instead of a life focused on ourselves, we are called to live in selfless love, particularly love for other Christians.

Peter then unpacks some of what it means to live in God’s limits, loving others. First, he says, “show hospitality without grumbling.” Hospitality was an important value in the Old Testament, and it continued to be important in the New Testament church. One of the requirements for leaders in the church is that they are hospitable. In Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2, just like here, all Christians are urged to engage in hospitality.

I think this is something that is often neglected among modern Western Christians. What, exactly, is hospitality? In the world of the New Testament, this applied to Christians caring for other Christians who were traveling, or new in town. Luke records a journey with Paul. In the passage below, you see over and over again that when they came to a city, they looked for other Christians, who took them in and housed them and fed them.

² Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.³ After we sighted Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there.⁴ So we found some disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.⁵ When our days there were over, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, escorted us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,⁶ we said good-bye to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
⁷ When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them one day.⁸ The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
(Acts 21:2-8, HCSB)

Of course, usually once they found believers, the believers were eager to host them. A few years before, they met Lydia, a god-fearing woman. Once she became a believer in Jesus, she immediately invited Paul and his companions to stay at her house.

⁴ A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul.¹⁵ After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
(Acts 16:14-15, HCSB)

Hospitality also refers to hosting church gatherings. In New Testament times, and for three hundred years after, there were no church buildings. When churches gathered, it was in the homes of believers. Therefore, if no one opened their home, there would be no church gathering. Some churches apparently rotated their meeting place from home to home (Acts 5:42 & 20:20). Others apparently met most of the time in the same home (Romans 16:5, Colossians 4:15, among others). Either way, unless Christians practiced hospitality, the church had no place to gather. In this way, the early church depended upon hospitality for its very existence. So Peter says, “don’t grumble about hosting each other.” From extensive experience, I can say that sometimes hosting church can be a bit of effort. But by far most of the time, it feels like a tremendous blessing to have church gatherings in our home.

Of the churches in the LTC network, some of us rotate from house to house, and others meet mainly in one home. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but if you have never hosted a house church gathering, I encourage you to try it sometime. It is a special kind of blessing.

By the way, this is one of those instances where the Bible makes a lot of sense to people who meet in house churches. In a church-building paradigm, these sorts of verses are harder to understand. But for house church folks, of course hospitality is an important topic. It’s obvious why Peter brings it up.

Peter goes on: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11, ESV).

Remember, Peter has given us a contrast between the ways of ungodly culture, and those who follow Jesus. Rather than following our own passions, or living for self-fulfillment, we trustingly accept the limits God places on us. That is the paradigm of self-control. Then we live, again not for ourselves, but for others, so that God may be glorified. Within that way of looking at things, Peter tells us to use our gifts as stewards of God’s grace.

You see, God did make each one of us with special purposes in mind. We are unique individuals, and we do have a calling and purpose. But we don’t find those things by looking within, or by “trying to be the best me I can be.” No, we find our calling, and our special purpose by living within God’s limits, and making it our purpose to love others and glorify God. When we trust God by living this way, he leads and directs us in many and various ways, according to how he made us. We do find fulfillment, but it is in God and his purposes, not in self. Our gifts, our uniqueness as individuals, are the result of God’s creation and intention. Peter tells us to use these things as “stewards of God’s varied grace.”

I want to unpack this a little bit. We don’t really use the word “steward” any more, except in some churches where “stewardship” essentially means “giving money.” But stewardship is much bigger than just money. Nowadays, a better word than “steward” might be “caretaker,” or even “manager.”

Imagine a person who manages a store. She is not the Owner of the store. However, she has a connection to the Owner. The Owner has hired her to make sure that the store fulfills its purpose: to serve customers, and make money, and perhaps be an important feature of a local community. The manager uses the resources of the store to accomplish the purposes of the Owner. She does get paid, but in addition to that, she might have a budget that amounts to millions of dollars each year. That is not money to spend on herself. Instead, her budget is a resource which should be used for the store: perhaps to buy goods, and hire employees, or maybe renovate the building. A manager takes care of resources that are not her own, and uses them responsibly on behalf of the Owner.

So we are called to be managers of God’s grace. The personality, talents and opportunities we have do not really belong to us. They have been entrusted to us by God, the Owner. We are to use such things on behalf of the Owner, to accomplish the purposes of the Owner.

Peter gives us just two examples. We aren’t supposed to think that these are the only two things we are to do in service to God – they are just representative examples. He says: “whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

We understand what public speaking and teaching is. As far as “service,” the Greek word has a very broad range of meaning. Because Peter says to serve “by the strength God supplies,” I think he might have in mind physical types of service, like helping someone repair their home, or helping someone else in a physical way.

I think Peter uses speaking and service as his two examples, because they are on either end of a kind of spectrum. Some people have a gift and calling to speak or teach. This kind of ministry usually involves standing in front of people, or in some way, openly communicating with many people at once. It’s a very visible kind of ministry, and often involves public leadership. Some of you might be called to some kind of public, visible ministry like that – it is a legitimate calling of God. For those who are called in that way, Peter urges us to treat it as a sacred trust. When I bring you these sermons, I am not doing something on my behalf, but rather I need to see it as God’s work. This isn’t my ministry – it is God’s, therefore I’m not supposed to be speaking my words, but God’s.

Service is a very different kind of ministry. It may not be public. It might appear very ordinary or mundane to some people. But again, Peter says, this, too is a sacred trust. When you serve, you don’t offer your strength and skill – you offer the strength and skill that actually belong to God.

So whether your gifts and calling are public and easy to see, or if they are quiet, and behind-the-scenes, or somewhere in between, they are from God, and should be used to benefit others and bring glory to God.

Just to make sure this is clear, let’s look at Romans 12:4-13, where Paul says something similar, but uses more examples than Peter:

⁴ Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹² Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. ¹³ When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
(Romans 12:4-13, NLT)

You can see the similarities here. Our talents and abilities are given to us to be used to bless others and glorify God. Here Paul lists a few more gifts than Peter, but this list is not exhaustive, either. It would be hard to catalog all of the different gifts God has given people to be used to bless others and glorify Him, because there are so many. Again, I think that’s why Peter lists only two – one very public and visible, and one fairly private and quiet. In other words, he means to include the entire spectrum that lies in between these two types of gifts. The point is, whatever gift or ability you have been given is a trust from God. You are a manager of those gifts, not the owner of them. Use them well on behalf of the owner. Of course, both Paul and Peter, in this, as in everything they write, are merely passing on the teaching of Jesus. On one occasion, Jesus used an illustration to talk about this subject of being a manager for God:

³⁵ “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. ³⁷ The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! ³⁸ He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.
³⁹ “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
⁴¹ Peter asked, “Lord, is that illustration just for us or for everyone?”
⁴² And the Lord replied, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. ⁴³ If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. ⁴⁴ I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. ⁴⁵ But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? ⁴⁶ The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.
⁴⁷ “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. ⁴⁸ But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
(Luke 12:35-48, NLT)

I think we’ve got the point that our abilities and opportunities are on loan from God. I want to make sure we remember something else. God’s purpose for those things is twofold: to bless others and to glorify himself. Bringing blessing to others glorifies God. Glorifying God brings blessings to others. God did not have to design things that way, but he did. He made it so that when he is glorified, human beings are blessed. This is pure grace – we don’t deserve to be blessed, ever, yet God made it so that he is continually blessing us, because he is continually being glorified. When we become a part of that glorifying and blessing, we get additional blessings of joy and fulfillment.

Let’s go back to the store manager and owner. It’s a little bit like this: the store exists to serve the community and make money. When the community is served, money is made, and when money is made, the community is served. Not only that, but every time the community is served and money is made, the store manager gets a bonus! She is not just a drone that is being used up by the Owner. No! the Owner makes sure that the manager has a stake in the store doing what it is supposed to do. He makes sure that when she does her job well, she is rewarded. So now, when the community is served, and money is made, the store manager also benefits. This is how God deals with us.

Now, let’s be honest. There are times when you are glorifying God, and serving others, and you don’t get so much as “Hey, thanks!” At times, it feels hard to perceive that extra blessing, that reward that Jesus talks about. But in the words of Jesus, above, it sounds like the main reward is coming after he returns. We have many verses reminding us that God does indeed see our work for him, that he does see when we live within his limits, and love others, using the things he has entrusted to us for his glory:

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV)

⁷ Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. ⁸ Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. ⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
(Galatians 6:7-10, NLT)

¹⁰ For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.
(Hebrews 6:10, NLT)

I think we have plenty here for application now. Some questions for application that you might ask: How does thinking about these things help me to live within God’s limits, while loving others? Are there ways that God is calling me to practice hospitality? What are the abilities and opportunities God has given me? How can I use those to bless others and glorify God? What encourages me to persevere in blessing others and glorifying God, even when I don’t seem to get much out of it? How can I help others see the abilities and opportunities God has given them, and encourage them to use those things as managers for God?

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you about these things.

PAGAN PRIESTS FIND JESUS THROUGH ASTROLOGY…?

On December 24, 2022December 24, 2022 By Pastor TomIn Christmas, Faith, Jesus, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized5 Comments

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Christmas 2022

2022 Christmas Eve. The Wise Men, Matthew Chapter 2:1-12

I think it is significant that even people who do not trust Jesus are affected by Christmas. In Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, the six weeks or so before Christmas are noticeably different from the rest of the year. This is true in a lot of South American countries, also. South Korea is less than thirty percent Christian, but the whole population is aware of the Christmas season. We celebrated Christmas in Papua New Guinea, too. It wasn’t really like Christmas in North America, but there was something different about the season.

When I think about the record of the Wise Men, I’m reminded that Christmas is indeed for the whole world. Now, to be honest with you, if I was God, inspiring people to write the Bible, I would either keep the wise men out of the gospel of Matthew, or I would explain more about them.

Only two out of the four gospels tell us much about the birth of Jesus in the first place – Matthew and Luke. Matthew leaves out the shepherds; Luke leaves out the wise men. In the first six chapters of his gospel, Matthew takes great care to point out how the birth and early life of Jesus fulfilled various prophecies about the Messiah from the Old Testament. In fact, in the first two chapters, Matthew points out four specific instances where prophecies were fulfilled. Surely, if there was a prophecy in the Old Testament about these visitors from the east, Matthew would have mentioned it. But he doesn’t.

Not only does this incident have nothing to do with prophecy, at first blush it seems to have nothing to do with Biblical Christianity or even Orthodox Judaism. The term translated “Wise men” or “Magi” usually refers to a sort of Babylonian priest or scholar who was especially acquainted with the study and interpretation of the stars, and of dreams and things like that. In different times or places they might have been called Shamans, or Druids, or Seers, or even Magicians. That’s right. The Babylonian or Arabian Magi held roughly the same position in their society as Druids did in Celtic society. Do you understand? – we are talking about pagan priests coming to see Jesus.

Not only are these people pagan priests, but somehow, they have learned about Jesus’ birth – through astrology. It was the behavior of the stars which told them that someone very important and significant was born. The stars even told them generally where in the world to look for the child. As far as we know, it was not because they searched the scriptures, or listened to a Jewish preacher, or anything else. The wise men don’t really fit into my typical way of looking at world. Pagan priests are drawn to Jesus through astrology?! I think what bothers me most is this question: does this mean that all religions really do lead to the same God?

First, I want to point out that this is another one of those passages that seems to confirm the authenticity of the New Testament. If we are honest, we must admit that it raises troubling questions and ideas. If the New Testament were made up, or if the stories about Jesus were extensively edited and changed, this story would have been one of the first to be cut. In other words, there seems to be no reason to have this here unless it really happened, and God wants us to learn something from it.

I want to briefly set up the historical timeline here. Matthew makes it clear this occurs after Jesus was born (2:1). Herod asks the Magi when the star appeared. When the Magi find Jesus, he is living with his parents in a house (not a stable). Later, based upon what the Magi told him, Herod thinks that Jesus might be up to two years old (2:16). So, while it is very picturesque to imagine the wise-men standing in the stable with the shepherds and donkeys on the night of Jesus’ birth, that is probably not how it actually happened.

So, what does the Lord want to say to us through this little section of scripture? First, and probably most importantly, the message is this: This little baby, born in Bethlehem, in accordance with the prophecies for the Jewish Messiah, is for all people. His life, death and resurrection and his teaching also, are not intended only for the Jews and the small nation of Israel. From birth, his influence and significance are there for the whole world. The wise men were not Jews by religion nor by birth. But Jesus was for them too. We call Christmas a “Christian” Holiday. But God calls it a gift for the whole world; a gift for all people – including pagan priests. Even today, it affects millions of people who are not themselves Christians. Even today, anyone who desires to can receive Jesus in faith, no matter what they have done, no matter where they are from, or what religion they were born into.

Second, let’s look at those wise men. By the way, the Bible does not actually tell us how many of them there are, or what their names were. All of that is folk legend. Probably, the idea of three wise men came about because three kinds of gifts were presented: gold, frankincense and myrrh. We only know that there was more than one (the Greek word for Magi is plural), and it is reasonable to suppose that it wasn’t an extremely large group either. In any case, we can be reasonably sure that not every pagan priest in the region came to see Jesus. Presumably, other pagan priests also studied the stars. They saw what the traveling wise men saw. But why did only these particular men come to see Jesus?

I think the answer is this. These men saw Jesus in the stars because in their hearts, they were honestly seeking the truth and they were hungering for God. When they made it to Jerusalem, they told Herod they were there to worship the child revealed in the stars. When they actually found Jesus, that is exactly what they did – they worshiped him. You see, I don’t think this is an affirmation of pagan religion. Instead, it is an affirmation of honest seeking. These pagans didn’t know any of the Bible. They had never heard of the Messiah. But in their hearts, they hungered for God, and they pursued him honestly and diligently. And even though they were looking in the wrong places, they really were looking. Since there were no other means available, God used the stars to direct them to him.

This is in contrast to Herod and the Jewish leaders. Herod wasn’t a Jew, but he was surrounded by Jews and easily could have learned about God if he chose. The Jewish leaders studied the scriptures. They knew that Messiah was supposed to be born in Bethlehem. In fact, Matthew lists the scripture here, allowing us to see yet another way in Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. But the Jewish leaders at that time weren’t seeking God. Instead, it was pagan priests, completely ignorant of the Bible, who found God when he came into the world. Jeremiah 29:13-14 says this:

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

Jesus says it like this:

Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

The wise men were seeking. And in accordance with the promises listed above, when they looked wholeheartedly, they found the true God. It wasn’t their pagan religion that led them to “the same God worshiped by all religions.” Instead, it was that their seeking, hungering hearts led them to true faith in Jesus Christ. Other pagans didn’t come to Bethlehem, even though they had the same information. Those men didn’t have the same hearts. Herod didn’t come, and neither did the Jewish leaders – even after they heard what the Magi had to say. They didn’t have seeking hearts as the Magi.

The wise men who saw Jesus didn’t go to Bethlehem and then perform pagan worship rituals. They went to Bethlehem, put their faith in Jesus, and worshiped Him, specifically. To express it another way, the moment they worshiped Jesus, they were no longer pagans, but Christians.

That may answer the question about other religions. I think the idea is sort of this: a true seeker will not remain in a false religion, but that false religion may be the initial point from which a true seeker eventually comes to know Jesus. The wise men didn’t receive eternal life through pagan religion – they received it through faith in Jesus. A Hindu won’t get to heaven by being a good Hindu. But suppose something in Hinduism leads him to find out about Jesus. Suppose he eventually puts his faith in Jesus – then he would have eternal life. It would not be Hinduism that saved him, but Jesus. By and large, Hinduism does not point to Jesus; but God could certainly use some aspect of it to draw a true seeker to the truth and salvation found only in Jesus Christ. That is very much like what he did for the Magi.

What initially drew the Magi to study the stars was only a shadow of the reality found in Jesus, who is called the Bright Morning Star (Numbers 24:17; Revelation 22:16). The Christmas tree is a pagan symbol too. But maybe the pagan imagery of tree worship, like that of astrology, is just a memory of the real thing, which goes farther back still, all the way to the Garden and the tree of life. The real thing is what those pagan priests sought.

So, with these strange pagan shamans in mind, I think there is a question worth considering: What are you seeking these days? Are you interested in finding the truth? Do you really want God himself, or do you just want God to do something for you? Maybe, like Herod or the Jewish leaders, your biggest concern is how Jesus might affect the plans and ambitions you have for your life.

What has led you to this place? Family, friends or your horoscope? The hope of a day’s comfort? Whatever it might be, let go of the shadow, and see the true reality that the Magi saw – the little toddler, invested with all the fullness of God. True hope. True life. True love. With the wise men, fall down, and exchange the empty shadows for the truth. Worship him. Receive him.

	fascinating754801318… on CHRISTMAS 2025: IT WASN’…
	fascinating754801318… on CHRISTMAS 2025: IT WASN’…
	Pastor Tom on WHAT DO CHRISTIANS DO WITH SIL…
	candidoolittle on WHAT DO CHRISTIANS DO WITH SIL…
	candidoolittle on WHAT DO CHRISTIANS DO WITH SIL…