Luke 10 verses 1 to 11 and 16 to 17 - Jesus Sends Out the Seventy two

I’m a harvest worker and I remember that day so well. It was hot and dry and dusty. The teacher had been in a strange mood the past couple of days. He’d spent the whole night in prayer and he seemed sombre and quiet. Not full of joy like he usually was.

 Now of course I understand why. There was an urgency about the task he was about to give us. He wouldn’t be passing this way again and he knew this might be the last opportunity for the people and villages he was sending us to, to hear his message.

He called us forward in pairs, 72 of us in all. The Pharisees didn’t like that. 72, the number of families descended from Noah recorded in the Torah, who populated the world after the flood. ‘Who does he think he is,’ they said. ‘He doesn’t just want to pollute Jerusalem with his teaching. It’s the whole world now.’

Of course we didn’t understand the significance either then. We thought he’d come to save Israel. We always thought it was strange that so often he seemed to single out gentiles for praise. Anyway I diverge. He called us forward and laid his hands on us and prayed for us. I remember his words: “Father empower them as you have empowered me. Work through them beloved Father as you work through me.” I felt a sense of power and love come upon me. So did my companion.

He said we were going out to gather a harvest. Again at the time we didn’t really understand what he meant. But we do now.

He said we were going out like lambs among wolves. This worried me a bit but then I thought - he’s always kept me safe up to now. He told us not to take any provisions. 

Again my head told me this was silly, but my heart said trust him, so I did.

And then he sent us off in pairs, to support and encourage each other. We weren’t to stop and talk to anyone on the way. He wanted us to sense the urgency in our task. No time to stop and chat. He didn’t want us to be diverted from our task in any way.

So off we set not really knowing what to think or expect. As we arrived in the village a lady came up to us and said, “I’ve been expecting you.”  This really surprised us. But then my companion reminded me of the time Peter had got the tax money from the fish’s mouth and I remembered the time when the master had fed all those people. 

Perhaps it wasn’t so strange.

The lady took us into her home and welcomed us and set a meal before us. “Stay with me as long as you need to,” she said. My companion nudged me. “Peace” he said; “we haven’t asked for peace to rest on this house,” so we did. As we spoke the words I felt a sense of power upon them. It was as if the master was speaking through me.

We went out that evening to the main village square. We didn’t really know what to say but then we remembered the master’s words. ‘Do not worry about what to say. Words will be given to you,’ so we spoke in turn and the words just flowed. They poured out like a stream from our mouths. We spoke about Jesus and what he’d said and done, about his kingdom.

And then a man came up with a crippled child. “Please” he said. “I heard you have come from the teacher, the one in Jerusalem, Jesus. I’ve seen that God is with him. Please pray for my child.”

 I looked at the man and the little girl wrapped in his arms and I felt an overwhelming sense of love for both of them. I placed my hand upon the child’s forehead and said, “In the name of the God of Abraham, be healed”– the same words that the master used. I felt power in the words I spoke and I knew the master’s power had been in that moment. 

The little girl felt it too. “Put me down Abba, Daddy” she said. “I can walk.” The man placed the child on the ground and she stood up, hesistantly at first – like a new born lamb.

Well that was it. Our little mission took off. The whole village came out to see and people started queing up, asking us to touch them and pray for them. Sometimes we sensed people had demons tormenting them so we commanded them to go just like the master did, and they went.

We returned to Jesus overjoyed.

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So this passage is about going out into the world as Christians and extending God’s Kingdom with both words and deeds. It’s about reaching out because the harvest is plentiful. It’s about being a harvest worker.

And although the passage may seem at face value to be aimed mainly at travelling evangelists, I think the principles it embodies, as I’ve tried to show with the story I told, have relevance for our own lives and evangelistic efforts.

Let’s look at just a few of these principles.

The Lord...sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go

The disciples are to go in pairs. They should not be all alone. If we are going to be effective in sharing the gospel we also need to be united with other Christians. We need to be part of a team, part of a church. We need the support and prayer and encouragement of others.

In practice this means that as well as going to church regularly, ideally we should belong to a bible study or housegroup where we can meet with other Christians, and as well as studying God’s word, develop bonds of friendship. We should have a network of Christian friends who can support us and pray for us and encourage us. Our mission is to be grounded in a team effort.

The harvest is plentiful and workers are needed in the harvest field.

We each have our own personal harvest field to work in. Who’s in our field? It’s our family and friends, our work and social colleagues, and anyone else God chooses to lay on our heart. It’s the people around us that we know of and meet and care for. It can be the lady in the newsagents, our cousin abroad, our nephew or niece, the shy man we sometimes see at work, or even the celebrity in the paper for whom God has given us a particular concern.

Every Christian has their own harvest field to work in. Obviously it’s not possible to pray for everyone we know. God however can see how ripe each individual ear of corn is. We therefore need to ask God to lay on our hearts those he wants us to reach out to and pray for.

Heal the sick who are there

Our task as harvest workers is not just to share the gospel and our faith with words but also with deeds. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, “The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.“

We are not only to preach the gospel but also to heal the sick and to cast out demons as Jesus and his disciples did

This may sound a bit daunting but it’s what Jesus tells his disciples to do in this passage. “Heal the sick and tell them the kingdom of God is near.”

Healing is a very complicated area and we do very much need to be walking closely with God in order to sense when His Spirit in us may be leading us to pray for someone’s healing. We also then need to have the courage to step out in faith and offer to lay hands on them and pray for them.

Years ago I went to an event designed to encourage Christians to pray for people’s healing. The emphasis of the day was to be open to the possibility that God might want to use us in this way and to have the courage to at least offer prayer to someone if you felt it was the right thing to do.

Shortly afterwards, our office secretary came to work in pain with a kidney infection, something she suffered from a good deal. I did feel prompted to pray for her so somewhat reluctantly I asked her if she’d mind if I laid hands on her and prayed for her. 

To my surprise she said she wouldn’t mind at all.

We went to a quiet room and feeling embarrassed and hoping I’d got it right, I prayed a very quick prayer, asking God to heal her and take away her pain. To my surprise she stayed in an attitude of prayer herself for what felt like a long time but was probably only 30 seconds or so and said she’d felt the most amazing sense of peace and that her kidneys felt better.

I mention this as it just goes to show what God can do if we are prepared step out in faith. I felt embarrassed and really unsure that I’d got it right, but God was able to work through that.

Remember that God is the healer not us. If His Spirit is living in us why shouldn’t He be able to work through us in the same way he did with these 72 disciples?

Tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.

Speaking out about our faith is also very important. A lady at my previous church who had come to faith after a length of time told me about her neighbour. For many years she’d had this neighbour who was very kind and helpful, but who had failed ever to mention she was a Christian.

The lady I spoke to said there was something lovely about her neighbour, but because she never mentioned her faith it was of very little benefit to her and in fact if she’d known she would have liked to ask her questions. She only discovered her neighbour was a Christian when she met her at a Christian event some time later.

Of course we should try and lead lives that will attract people to God but we must speak out about our faith or the example of our lives may be wasted.

We don’t need to be theological experts. A simple willingness to share why our faith is important to us is all that is needed.

How many of our friends and neighbours and work colleagues know that we’re Christian?

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I’m a harvest worker and I will always remember those days. But of course those days haven’t ended. Since the master left us, the healing and the preaching have continued. 

That’s what I do now. His Spirit is with me and every day of my life I am a harvest worker. Everyday I tell people about my wonderful Lord and the things he said and did.

Many days I have the opportunity to pray for the sick and the tormented and I do. That’s what He calls each one of us to do. Of course it’s still Him doing the work. I just offer Him my life and seek to follow Him as best I can.

In the name of the living God. Amen

THE LETTERS OF JOHN – 1 John 3: 1 – 10

I was talking with a clergy friend who asked me what I had been preaching about recently on Sundays at Brenchley.  I replied that we were doing a short series on the letters of John. ‘Oh’, he said, ‘some tough lessons there! Are they still coming?’

Well I have to admit that it is very encouraging to see you all this morning - but he has a point! The teaching in the letters of John, although immensely encouraging to those who want to know God and not just to know about him, does have some tough things to say concerning just what genuine and effective Christianity is all about. We’ve already heard from John that knowledge of God is not just – as some were arguing in John’s day – the preserve of an elite few but, rather, is for anyone and everyone, whatever their social standing, whatever their intellectual credentials – or lack of them, whatever their track record to date: Jesus invites all to know him personally, to follow him, and by doing so to discover not only the real meaning of life but also its true purpose, and our ultimate destiny. Certainly today many still search for these things or remain ignorant of them – the real meaning of life, its true purpose, and our ultimate destiny. Equally so, there are still, just as in John’s day, those who are too easily distracted by the temptations of the world, by the arguments of the spiritually blind, or by their own pride in themselves and their own so-called knowledge.

 John, Jesus’ intimate companion, who knew Jesus in the flesh, who met with him after his resurrection, and who continued to know him through the Holy Spirit, has explained that it is only as we commit ourselves to him in faithful service and in sacrificial discipleship that we may truly know him. 

And our motivation for doing so, says John, must surely be the incredible love that he has already shown for us in dying in your place and mine in order to reconcile us to a perfectly just and holy God, a God who hates but sorts out sin.

Now here in chapter three, John reminds his readers of God the Father’s love for them. (Remember, he is writing to people who are already Christians but who are being plagued by false teachers attempting to tempt them away from orthodox faith.) It’s true in life, isn’t it, that so often we actually need to be reminded of facts and of the truth we already know rather than we need to learn something new. One of the great temptations of the world and of those who peddle its anti-God philosophy and principles is the worship of novelty, especially in the areas of morality and social norms. The world tries to persuade us not to listen to what God has already revealed about human nature and about human behaviour; not to take too much notice of history. Yet how easily we are taken in on both counts, how reluctant we are to swim against the tide of innovation, to learn from our history, to stand up against peer pressure – even when in our heart of hearts and in those fleeting moments when we actually take time to listen to the Holy Spirit as he shows us the difference between the world’s way and God’s way, we just know it’s not right, it’s not healthy, it’s not Christian.

So John here reminds us that because of Jesus God looks upon Christians and calls them his children. 

V1 ‘and that is what we are’, he adds. Why? Because we know him. In our hearts and in our minds by faith in Jesus and by the grace of God we know him. John contrasts this ‘knowing’, the knowing that comes not just from facts about God but from the experience of him in our lives, with the lack of such knowledge in those whose god is either the world or themselves. The actual experience of God we have may be as quiet, as gentle, as unspectacular as simply the conviction in our hearts and in our heads that what Jesus has taught is true; that what he has promised is gradually becoming true in our lives; that when we trust and obey, his way works – even though it cost us in terms of our losing out financially perhaps or socially. The experience may be more startling – perhaps finding his healing in our lives, a new desire and ability to love our neighbour as ourselves, a new boldness to actually open our mouths in public and not just in church about our Christian faith or, better still, this Jesus who is a living reality in our lives and not just an intellectual conviction or a warm, cosy feeling when life is going well; absent when it’s not!

In v 2, John is speaking about Jesus’ Second Coming, and says that although he doesn’t know what life will be like then exactly, he does know that it will be very special because we shall be like Jesus. He seems to be saying here that the very sight of Jesus will bring out what is of him in us. This thought leads John on in v3 to say that if the Christian truly loves Jesus then he or she will want to ‘purify themselves’. Well quite simply the only way we can do that is by becoming more like him, by turning from sin and the world’s principles and temptations, to determining, through love for Jesus, to follow him more faithfully and effectively: trust and obedience leads to purity.

Now the next few verses are a little complex and at first sight read like a counsel of impossible perfection. But don’t get despondent just yet! We have to remember that John here is teaching against the false teachers’ teaching, some of whom were arguing that sin doesn’t matter; the idea – still around today - that ‘God loves you, so do what you like.’ Some of John’s opponents, it appears, thought themselves either sinless or were somehow excused their sinning by virtue of their sophisticated ideas about God. Well, John reminds them that to sin is to break God’s law of love, and that the whole purpose of Jesus’ (v5 and 8) coming into the world was to deal with the world’s sinfulness – including yours and mine.  ‘And let no one deceive you’ (v7) because God is holy and just, and because this was the purpose of Jesus’ coming - to deal with sin and reconcile us to God that we become thereby (v1) his children.

Now I hope some of you are already asking yourselves why I have missed out the tricky verse 6. Well I want us to consider it along with verse 9 because these two verses are crucial for understanding the points John is making about Christians and sin. It is actually very complex indeed and has puzzled far greater minds than mine. Is he suggesting that true Christians cannot sin? I don’t think so; that would be unrealistic and actually contrary to the teaching of Jesus about human nature. No, what he is saying here is that sin and fellowship with God are incompatible. The key word here in v6 & v9 is ‘abide’.

We all know that it is wrong to sin, whether by doing wrong or by failing to do good, which is why we must constantly seek God’s forgiveness of our sins to repair what we have broken. But none of us is perfect, so how do we avoid ‘lawlessness’ v4 and become ‘righteous’ v7?                                                                                                                                      

The secret lies in ‘abiding’ in Jesus, that is in developing such a close relationship with him that not only do we not want to sin but we scarcely have time to do so because we are too fully engaged in loving him and our neighbour as ourselves. As the saying goes, ‘The Devil makes work for idle hands.’ So it is not an exaggeration by John to say, v6, that no one who ‘abides’ in him sins. Our problem is that our love for him is often not what it ought to be: it is too easily diluted or undermined by love of the world or love of self; we fail to keep this wonderful relationship in good repair. You see what John is offering to us here, from his own personal experience of knowing Jesus, is a way to overcome the world, the flesh, and the Devil; which is to ‘abide’ in Jesus. And the best way for us to make this a very practical priority in our lives is to reflect more deeply and more often on God’s love for us – what he has done for us, what he has saved us from, and the blessings we enjoy from him. It is not then that we cannot sin but that ‘abiding’ in him is the recipe, the antidote not only to not sinning but to becoming a more effective disciple.

Verse 9 again is tricky and goes hand in hand with v6 to help us understand what John is saying about faithful and effective Christian living. It is quite simply this, and it is precisely what Jesus himself taught. 

We all of us need to be born of God, to be born again, by welcoming his Holy Spirit into our lives. Unless this has happened, it will be impossible for us to ‘abide’ in Jesus. How do we know that we have been born again? Well, we find that God gives us a new nature, a new disposition that we know is different from how we once were. We experience a new love for Him and for neighbour that either wasn’t previously there or has undergone a huge and discernible shift. The new birth enables a new willingness to obey God, a willingness that is both genuine and emerges in actual activities of obedience – such as prayer, bible-study, and service. The first mark of new birth is heart-gripping faith in Jesus as the Son of God. New birth leads away from sinfulness. It is not that it is impossible for the Christian to sin but it is against his or her new disposition, against the new direction and the new priorities the Holy Spirit gives in new birth; sinning is against the flow of the way God has remade and renewed us in the new birth.

It is perfectly possible of course to forget that we have been born again of God – because we have not kept the relationship in good repair or because we have been tempted away by the world or by the specious arguments of false teachers or of the spiritually blind. And as a consequence, we lose or never really discover the love of God that is given at the new birth and which grows and flourishes, convinces, enables, and assures as we ‘abide’ in him.

Finally, v10, authentic Christian love and living, ‘abiding’, the ‘new birth’ is discernible both in ourselves and by others. It is something that breaks the power of sin, something that distinguishes those who truly love God from those who do not. Supremely it shows in a Christian’s love for his or her neighbour in service and in an ever deepening desire to tell others about Jesus.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What does it mean to ‘abide’ in Jesus? How is this an antidote to sinning?

2. Why does Jesus insist that it is necessary to be ‘born again’ in order to ‘see the Kingdom of God’? How does John’s teaching depend on this?

3. Why do Jesus and John confine the term ‘children of God’ to Christians? Why do you think they consider it such an exclusive term? What makes it inclusive?

4. Why and how should our ‘purifying’ of ourselves begin with Jesus?

5. What does the incompatibility of sin and fellowship with God tell us about his nature and character?

6. How easily and in what ways can we be deceived by false teaching and by the attractions, values, and priorities of ‘the world’?

Sermon preached All Saints’, on Sunday 3rd June at a Service in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Today we are giving thanks to God and celebrating this Diamond Jubilee year of the reign of our Queen; and very rightly so for we have so much to celebrate and to give thanks for.

 I’m sure a number of you here this morning will have sworn an oath of allegiance to her at some point in your lives. When I was commissioned from Sandhurst into my regiment in the army I had to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. And as a parish priest I have had to swear an oath of allegiance to her each time on taking up a new post. This I have always gladly done. But I have to say, I have always found it somewhat strange that army officers swear this oath only the once, whereas Church of England clergy must do so every time they change posts. I shall leave it to you to decide what this seems to imply either about their respective trustworthiness – or simply their memories!                   

On day one at Sandhurst each new officer cadet is issued, along with all the necessary kit, with a little red book entitled ‘Serve to Lead’, a title in which the whole understanding of the art or science of effective leadership is expressed: just three words ‘Serve to Lead’.  It was only a little book but it contained great wisdom. Later on, when I became a clergyman, and had begun to witness at first hand the Church of England’s understanding and practice of leadership, I suggested to my bishop at the time that this little red book would be a very useful addition to the reading lists not only of young clergy in training but also of their clerical trainers. In terms of his response, all I can say is that it was very probably from about that time that I began to be marked down as a trouble maker. But I would still recommend it to anyone with aspirations to effective leadership.

Now the reason why I mention that little red book is that the principles you will find there accord very closely with what we discover in the Bible about leadership and in the teaching and example of Jesus. 

Much of what you will find in both books runs counter to the way much leadership is exercised today, whether in politics, in business, in altogether too many walks of life, and, sadly, even in the Church. But in her Majesty the Queen – who, I am quite sure, has read both books because she cares passionately about her duty to and her love for both her Heavenly Lord and her earthly subjects – we see the principles found in this little book very much at work.

Those who know her well attest to the depth and strength of this duty and love in both these respects: indeed an old friend of mine who was A-D-C to the Queen Mother said how profoundly motivating this was and, consequently, how inspiring of service in and from others.

The Chief Rabbi, writing in The Times earlier this week had this to say: ’Hers has been the quiet heroism of service, and in an age of self-obsession she has been a role model of duty, selflessly and graciously fulfilled.’ It is a fact that the Queen has not only set her face firmly against anti-Semitism but she has always warmly welcomed to this country those of other faiths and cultures. It is a great shame, is it not, that more council, borough, Health Trust officers and others have not learned from her about religious and cultural tolerance and about genuine inclusiveness. Again the Chief Rabbi: ‘In her religious role, the Queen is head of the Church of England, but in her civic role she cares for all her subjects, and no one is better at making everyone she meets feel valued. Very interestingly, he adds, ‘the religious dimension of the throne makes it better placed than secular institutions to value and unite Britain’s many faiths’.

If we take the example of our Queen then, we can see that she has embodied the very teaching of our Lord presented in today’s Gospel reading; teaching that is hugely valuable for anyone wishing to exercise authority in a healthy and effective way - as much for themselves as for those whom they would lead. Why there is even something here for atheists and republicans – though I cannot believe there to be many of the latter here in Brenchley!    The context for the teaching is a dispute amongst Jesus’ own disciples as to who would be regarded as the greatest.

Now it is a natural human response to the offer or exercise of authority or power to pursue it for one’s own benefit; in the words of Jesus here, to ‘Lord it’ over others, with all the unfortunate and unhealthy consequences such an attitude has not only for the lives of those they lead but also in the characters of those leading. Jesus adds - strangely you might at first think - that they are called ‘benefactors’. But he is almost certainly speaking tongue in cheek here and poking fun at those in authority whose motivation is solely popularity or the improving of their own social profiles.                                                                                               

‘But not so with you’, he demands of all those who would honour him and follow his example. We see here that two of the key elements in the exercise of Christian leadership, wherever this is exercised – and I think that for the Christian, in whichever way of life we have chosen it is incumbent upon us to practise our leadership in a Christian manner and according to Christian principles – are, first, a willingness to serve all people regardless; and, secondly, not to be ashamed of but to acknowledge publicly and live by our Christian faith.

In our Gospel passage, Jesus actually promises his heavenly Kingdom to those who will be faithful in these very two things: so our motivation must be to serve others, and to serve all – whatever their station in life. And, secondly, when we see Christianity attacked, when we see our fellow Christians being persecuted, whether abroad or, as is increasingly the case, at home here in England, we must stand by Jesus by standing by them in such trials. Remember those harrowing words of his, ‘What you do for the least of these my brethren you do for me’?  

Her Majesty the Queen has most certainly and faithfully fulfilled these two Christian duties and has done so with love; love for her Heavenly Lord and love for her earthly subjects. She has served all and has not been ashamed publicly to confess her faith in Christ. I would just like to end by quoting from her last year’s Christmas Message to the Commonwealth.

‘Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour with the power to forgive. It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.’

God save the Queen! 

John Chapter 2 verses 15 – 29 Pentecost Sunday 2012

This morning I am going to be talking about the first three verses (vs15 – 17) of our Epistle reading as we continue this short series of talks on the Letters of John. And even though the subsequent verses of our reading in this second chapter deal with a hugely important issue facing not only the churches of John’s day but also very much our own Church of England today, the significance of these first three verses for effective Christian living and discipleship is such that we really must give them the time they deserve.

The subsequent verses 18 – 29 deal with the threat to effective Christian living and discipleship from within the church itself, that is, the threat of heresy from false teachers who proclaim a different or an elitist Gospel rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is still very much a threat to today’s church and something we will need to return to because it has caused much damage by its superficially attractive but misleading and destructive ideas. Whereas verses 15 – 17 deal with the threat to effective Christian living and discipleship from outside, from what John calls ‘the world’.

When you have been in the ministry as long as I have, you are tempted, on the basis of reflection about what it is really makes people tick and either attracts or repulses them to or from the Christian faith, to come up with some key facts or issues that generally seem to fit most cases. And in my experience, the two greatest obstacles by far to effective Christian living and discipleship amongst those who attend churches are these: doubt and worldliness.

Many of the doubts people have about the Christian faith actually arise from and are often fed by the very false teaching John goes on to talk about in the second part of our reading this morning – which, I promise, we will return to at a later date. To doubt is fashionable these days and of course doubting requires far less effort on a person’s part than actually getting to know and understanding the Scriptures and the Creeds. Most doubts actually arise from people putting more faith in the current –but ever-changing – ideas, fashions, and discoveries of ‘the world’ rather than in what God has revealed about himself, about us, and about the world to us already.

But it is the second of these, worldliness, the attractions of the world, that is the matter at hand in these first three verses of this morning’s reading: so let’s see what it is exactly John has to say about the danger of worldliness. These words of his, remember, come immediately after those wonderfully encouraging and reassuring words of his in the first part of chapter 2. (If you missed either or both of the first two talks, you can find them together with study questions on our website – or just ask me for a paper copy.)

v.15 states this. ‘Do not love the world or the things in the world.’ By ‘the world’ John does not mean that we should not enjoy all that God has given to enjoy; nor that we should give up our jobs or families or possessions in order to escape from the world – though some might well consider that really quite an attractive idea from time to time! No, what John has in mind here is a disposition, an attitude, a frame of mind. What he means here by the word ‘world’ is ‘that anti-God mentality of the human race’, the worldwide fondness for sin and selfishness which causes women and men to stumble into wickedness and which prevents that true knowledge of God John was describing for us in chapter 1.

If you want a brief definition of ‘worldliness’, it is this: ‘the inclination to be drawn into the ways of the people around us who do not know God’. The ‘things in the world’ are the ways in which the world’s magnetism – keeping in mind that by ‘the world’ John means an anti-God mentality – operates. 

To refuse to love the world means a decisive rejection of the world’s aspirations and outlooks, to refuse to be party to or to be drawn into its grumblings, its covetousness, and its obsessions. (Think of Jesus’ parable of the Sower (Luke Ch 8) and what happens to some of the seed there.)                           

I was talking recently with someone who was complaining about how her children seemed so obsessed with themselves and their possessions. Well, just by looking at her I could see immediately why! Just as 

I could also see that she wasn’t going to appreciate my telling her why. But I do find, I have to say, that people often either cannot or will not see just how much they are led by the world and why – often to their great sadness – they find effective Christian life and discipleship so tough. The English taboo of talking to others about one’s faith is a classic example of the world’s overcoming of Christian principles and priorities – the fear of upsetting people or of being treated as too religious or of being dumped on the heap of social outcasts – avoided at the club; not invited to the drinks party. It’s true, isn’t it! John gives us two reasons why we should not love the world. One is that ‘worldliness’ excludes God’s love (v15 and 16); and the other is that the world will pass away and only love for God will survive (v 17).

First, love of the world will drive out love for God in our lives. As Jesus put it so bluntly, ‘You cannot serve two masters; either you will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.’(Luke 16) The point both Jesus and John are making is this: loving the world is a failure to love God; it is failure to grasp hold of how much God loves us; and it is bound to show itself in failure truly to love other people genuinely and for their good. Loving others is not a matter of showering them with material things, flattering them, or inflating their egos under the guise of building up their self-esteem: it is a matter of our first loving God and asking him – if it’s not already manifestly clear - how we can best serve that person. And if that person does not know Jesus, then the best way that we can serve them, be a ‘good neighbour’ to them, is to introduce them to Jesus.

John goes on in v16 to identify the three channels along which the world attacks us. There are three routes along which we are pulled into earthly ways. First, ‘the desires of the flesh’. This is the pull into wickedness that comes to us through our physical appetites, our sexuality, our hunger and thirst, our desire to protect ourselves. Secondly, ‘the desire of the eyes’. This is the way in which sin’s pull is intensified when we see something that attracts us but are blind to the fact either that it or he or she belongs to someone else or that in possessing whatever it is has ‘caught’ our eye would damage our relationship with others or with God. And thirdly, ‘the pride of riches’. This is probably more accurately translated as ‘the pride of life’ and means ‘the tendency we have to exalt our selves, to manipulate ourselves to look good in the eyes of others’ – which of course often requires some riches to do so! (Which the translators probably realised and so made the translation by association.)

It is interesting to note, and certainly the early Church Fathers noted, that all three of these channels of temptation were operating both in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but with of course different outcomes. I’ll leave you to look at those two passages in Matthew and Genesis and compare the similarities and different outcomes. (Answers by next Sunday on a post card, please!)

Now we need to remember with all this in this letter John is addressing Christians, not outsiders to the Church. He has just, earlier in the chapter, given them great assurance. ‘Your sins have been forgiven.....you have known him....you have overcome...you are strong and the word of God remains in you’. But they need to realise that discipleship, the road to suffering and to glory, demands understanding and commitment. It is also a road from which we can so easily be led astray by those three channels John has just mentioned and also by the false teaching of those, even in the Church, who do not ‘know’ God albeit that they teach about him..... and in some cases in the Church of England are even employed to do so!

I am quite sure that the only way for us to break free of the various holds of the world is to spend time prayerfully considering the gift of God’s love for us. It requires us to consider what we were or are without God and also to consider what we are being offered or now have in God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is primarily, I believe, this reflecting on God’s love which inspires a person not only to faith but, much more importantly, to effective discipleship. And it is so liberating from the cares and false pleasures of ‘the world’. Worldliness does great damage both to us and to our relationships.

But there is a reward for doing the will of God. (Inscription above Chancel steps.) v17. Every part of our lives that is governed by love for the world is already doomed to be useless and to be destroyed: only what has been done out of love for God will remain; it has eternal value. What is done out of love for God is described by Jesus as ‘building up treasure in Heaven’. Notice John says that eternal life is the reward of those who do the ‘will’ of God. And there is no excuse for not knowing the will of God because it is made known to us in His word and confirmed by his Spirit. The only way we cannot know his will is by rejecting His word and His Spirit. This morning we celebrate His gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. If you feel that you are still too easily tempted by the world or too prone to doubt, then today would be a very appropriate day on which either to commit or to renew your commitment to him, to ‘do the will of God’ and to know the liberation from the cares and attractions of the world, to know Him, 

His truth and His love which not only surpasses anything the world can offer but which can keep us from the world as we delight more and more in Him.

QUESTIONS

1. Where and how might we draw the line between enjoying the world and becoming too worldly? What criteria would you use?

2. Why are we so easily tempted by ‘the world’? What are the temptations to follow the world you find the most difficult to resist?

3. Can you think of examples on the T.V. of the way in which the commercial interests try to induce you into worldliness, even making you feel comfortable with your choice to do so?

4. Why do people doubt the Gospel? On what grounds do they doubt? Are the grounds always reasonable grounds or are they actually just excuses to avoid the challenge of the Gospel?

5. What are the striking differences between the two accounts of temptation in Genesis and in Matthew?

6. Have a look at verses 18 – 29. Why is heresy (false teaching) such an issue for John? Why is what we believe so important for how we behave?                   It has been said that each person is his or her own theologian and that ‘what goes on inside my head is none of the Church’s business.’ If that is true, why did Jesus found His Church? Why is what the Church teaches important? 

Talk - 1 John 2. verses 1 to 14.

1 John 2. verses 1 to 14.

As Campbell has explained, the main theme of 1 John is Knowing God, and this is what is at the heart of genuine Christian discipleship.  A true Christian disciple is someone who knows God and experiences fellowship with him.

John is concerned therefore to outline in his letter how true knowledge of God may be discerned in a person. In other words what are the hallmarks of a genuine Christian disciple and how can such a person be sure that they do indeed know God.

If I asked you to describe the hallmarks of a farmer you might come up with a few suggestions. A farmer might have a slightly weather beaten face – a sign of someone who is outside in all weathers.

He may have rough hands. He may well wear practical workman like clothes and drive round in some sort of truck or 4 by 4.

This vehicle is quite likely to be muddy and if you ride in it, it might be advisable to have a tetanus injection first.

He is quite likely to wear boots of some description and to talk about the weather a lot. If someone came up to you claiming to be a farmer but exhibiting none of these characteristics you might be a bit suspicious of their claim.

So in this passage John identifies two particular essential hallmarks of a genuine Christian disciple – someone who really does know God, as opposed to someone who claims to know God but whose lifestyle and actions do not back up this claim.

Firstly in verse 3 John says “Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says “I have come to know him” but does not obey his commandments is a liar and in such a person the truth does not exist.”

The first hallmark of a genuine Christian – one who really knows God - is obedience to God’s commandments. What does it mean to obey his commandments?

Well initially one would point towards the ten commandments but I think there is more to it than this.

Its not just trying to live in obedience to a set of moral guidelines but as John says in verse 6. - Whoever says “I abide in him” ought to walk just as he - (i.e Jesus) walked.

So a genuine Christian should try and live in obedience to God’s moral laws but their lives should also reflect the hallmarks of obedient discipleship that we see in Jesus life.

As we look at Jesus life and see how he walked in perfect obedience to God we can see essential elements of that obedience that should also be part of our own walk with God.

There are numerous elements to Jesus life that we could pick out but I’d like to highlight just a few of what I believe are the most important.

Initially and most importantly Jesus life was totally focused on pleasing God rather than himself.

We see this most clearly of course in the Garden of Gethsemane when he faced the cross. “Father if you are willing remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done.”

Jesus’ will was submitted to his heavenly Father and his whole life was focused on pleasing God rather than himself.

If a person truly knows God, their life should be focused on pleasing God rather than themselves and their life should be submitted to him.

What other elements of Jesus’ life can give us indicators as to how we should live? Well Jesus spent time alone with his heavenly Father in prayer.

He knew how important this was if he was to fulfil his mission and he always made time to do this, whether very early in the morning or at the end of a very busy day.

A person who truly knows God should have a healthy and regular prayer life.

Jesus also knew the scriptures extremely well. He’d taken the time and trouble – one imagines since he was a boy - to learn and study the Jewish Scriptures. He had immersed himself in God’s word and knew exactly what it said.

A person who truly knows God should read their bible regularly and get to know what it says.

And of course Jesus was concerned to extend God’s kingdom at every available opportunity. Even a chance meeting with a woman he’d never met at a well in the middle of the day was an evangelistic opportunity for him.

A person who truly knows God should be concerned to work for and extend God’s kingdom in any way they can.

I was thinking of genuine and committed Christian people I have known reasonably well over the years – people who definitely knew God - some of whom have now died or moved away - and it struck me that without fail their lives had all been focused on pleasing God.

In their own ways they had all sought to walk in obedience to God as Jesus did and to do their best to serve him in whatever way they believed he was asking.

Most of them weren’t in full time Christian work but clearly their relationship with God was at the centre of their lives and something of God shone out of their lives.

What other hallmarks were there to these people’s lives?
The people I was thinking of all belonged to churches with which they were actively involved and they were all people who prayed and read their bibles regularly.

All of them were also concerned to see their families and friends walking with God.

Their lives bore the first hallmark of a genuine Christian as outlined by John in this passage - obedience to God’s commands and doing their best to walk as Jesus walked.

The second hallmark of a true Christian disciple that John identifies is loving our Christian brothers and sisters.

Thus in verse 10 he says; “whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light ...but whoever hates another believer walks in darkness.” So as Christians we should seek to love our fellow believers and indeed to demonstrate God’s love to all those we know.

Now this doesn’t mean saying right – when I go to church today I’m going to make a real effort to love so and so, although I can’t really stand them.

This love should already be in our hearts because God’s spirit is living in us and God is love. So the love we feel for fellow believers and those around us should be a love inspired by the spirit of Jesus living within us.

It’s not a gooey romantic sort of love – its more caring and being concerned for the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s a desire to bless them and encourage them and to build them up in their faith.

A desire to help and support them in practical ways and if necessary to pray for them.

So the obvious question for us to ask in the light of what John is saying here is do we truly know God and if we claim we do, are we walking in obedience to his commandments and demonstrating something of God’s love to those around us?

Are we walking as Jesus did and if so, do we recognise these hallmarks of discipleship and love in our own lives?

If we do genuinely know God and therefore are walking as Jesus did, John has plenty of words of encouragement and assurance for us at the end of today’s reading

and indeed throughout this letter.

However if we don’t know God then we need to recognise it and face up to it and do something about it.

I used to work with a man I’ll call Bob. Bob confused me because he seemed interested in Christianity and liked to talk about it, but apparently despite his best efforts it seemed he hadn’t yet managed to come to know God.

He said he’d asked Jesus into his life lots of times but nothing had happened or changed.

I shared my confusion about Bob with a friend I sometimes pray with. As we prayed about his situation I had a picture of a man who liked to look admiringly at something in a shop window but who would then pass by the shop without going in to buy it.

My friend said the reason the person didn’t actually go into the shop to buy the item was because it was too expensive and they weren’t prepared to pay the asking price.

We both felt that God was saying that Bob was indeed interested in Christianity but that when it came to actually repenting he wasn’t prepared to do so.

He wanted God to be there for him when things got tough but he didn’t want to

pick up his cross and follow Christ. It was too costly.

I think Bob’s predicament is true of many people who would like the benefits of a relationship with God but who do not want to repent and allow God to direct their lives

If you’ve been coming to church for a while and deep down - if you’re honest, you don’t really know God, the solution is to genuinely repent.

What do I mean when I use the word repent? Well to repent means to turn around or change direction. It means to reach a point in our lives where we truly want to follow Christ.

It means to cease rebellion against God and instead to work with Him to extend His kingdom.

It means to make a U turn in life and rather than living for our own purposes and desires, to decide that we want to live for God’s purposes and desires.

Repentance is a decision and not a feeling or emotion.

If you think of your life as a car – before repenting you drive wherever you feel like. You have your own destination in mind.

However a person who has repented has invited Jesus to come and sit on the passenger seat and to give them directions as to where he wants them to go.

Of course the car is still under your control because you have free will but because you know that Jesus loves you and wants the best for you and those around you, you trust him to give you good directions.

Sometimes you may not follow a direction that Jesus gives you straight away, and then you’ll end up at a dead end or getting lost.

Jesus won’t leave the car. He’ll wait patiently and lovingly until you’re ready to listen to him and then he’ll start directing you again.

He’ll always respect your free will and the further you drive with him the more you’ll start to appreciate that he always knows best.

The destination of the car with Jesus in - is heaven, and the way to get to heaven is to follow Jesus.

Sometimes people can feel a bit scared or threatened by the idea of repenting and choosing to follow Christ.

But actually choosing to follow Christ is the wisest decision anyone can make.

The world is a scary and unpredictable place and choosing to put your life in God’s hands is extremely sensible.

Furthermore God loves you perfectly and He always wants the best for you.

As Paul says; “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, those who have been called according to his purpose.”

Whatever you experience in life, if you’ve chosen to follow Christ, God will be working for your good

Because God created you and knows you better than you know yourself, whatever he asks you to do will be ideally suited to your talents and abilities.

The majority of people who become Christians stay in their current roles and jobs and homes and find that God is calling them to extend his kingdom where they are.

Some may feel called to some form of full time Christian work.

As you step out in faith and do the things you feel He is asking you to do, you will derive a great sense of satisfaction and achievement.

God will always respect your free will. He understands that as humans we are weak and we often fail. You will find as you walk with Him that God is extremely kind and patient and loving.

God is also always positive. When we make a mess of something or get something wrong once we’ve acknowledged our mistake, He’s always there to pick us up and dust us off and help us on our way again.

So let me ask you again? Do you truly know Christ? Do you experience fellowship with him? Be honest with yourself.

If not, then I would suggest that God is waiting for you to truly repent, to make that decision to follow Christ wholeheartedly.

Lets pray.

Picture Jesus standing a little way in front of you.

He’s issuing that same invitation that he gave to his disciples – to you.

Come and follow me.

Quietly in your own heart respond to that invitation now. Amen

Questions on 1 John 2 vs 1 to 14

Questions on 1 John 2 vs 1 to 14

1. How can we be sure that we know God?

2. What does to obey his commandments (verse 3) mean?

3. John says we ought to walk just as he (Jesus) walked (verse 6).

a) What does John say we can be sure about if we do this?

b) What does it mean to be “in him” (verse 5) and to “abide in him” (verse 6)?

c) What characteristics of Jesus’ walk with his Heavenly Father strike you as the most important?

4. John stresses the importance of loving other believers – our brothers and sisters (verses 9 to 11).

a) In what practical ways can we do this?

b) Where does this love come from do you think?

5. Think of Christian people you have known. What strikes you about them?

6. In these verses John outlines how we can be sure that we know God. What can we do about it if we don’t yet know God?

The Letters of John’ – week 1 1 John Chapter 1 verses 1 - 10

The Letters of John’ – week 1         1 John Chapter 1 verses 1 - 10

This morning we start our new series of talks on one of the early Christian letters written by the Apostle John. Whilst we cannot be absolutely certain that it was John who wrote it, there certainly is enough similarity with his Gospel and other evidence to presume in his favour as the author of the letter.  And whilst there is an increasingly popular approach in the Church of England to view the scriptures as purely inspirational, and to not worry too much about  who wrote them or the situation either in which the original author was writing or writing to, I think we do John a disservice - not to mention short-changing ourselves! - if we just treat them in that way: he certainly didn’t intend them to be treated as such because he wrote these letters – there are three of them – with two very clear aims in mind.

The first aim was to encourage and inspire his readers in their faith and discipleship of Jesus. He needed to do so especially because – and here is his second clear aim – false teachers had infiltrated the church. Here in the area of Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia in the 60s and 70s of the first century, false teachers were attempting to mix pagan ideas popular in Roman Asia with the Christian faith that had arrived there some thirty years earlier. And certainly two aspects of their false teaching were, first, that knowledge of God was really only fully available to a special few, an elite known as the Gnostics; and, secondly, that Jesus had only seemed to be human: he was really a spirit.

John, however, wants to make it absolutely clear, first, that knowledge of God is open to everyone but only through the true Jesus and only because of Jesus; and, secondly, that Jesus was no apparition; he didn’t just seem to be human, he was human and fully so. (The reason why Jesus’ humanity was an issue with the false teachers was that most philosophies of the ancient Mediterranean world tended to have problems in believing that matter was good. They thought that the spiritual world was the only good and that true spiritual progress involved escaping from the material. But God created our world to be enjoyed ‘God saw what he had created and it was ‘good’’.)

John, as I said, wanted also to encourage and inspire his readers. He is obviously concerned, as we shall see, that the false teaching is robbing his readers of the joy (v4) rightfully theirs through fellowship with the risen Jesus. What he wants them to understand is that in the coming of Jesus and as a result of his sacrificial death, mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension, the world is now a different place; and the lives of those who welcome Jesus as Saviour and Lord are to be characterised by a new kind of love, fellowship, truth, obedience, joy, plus a great deal more to boot!

 John’s experience of knowledge of God makes it practically synonymous with, identical with, fellowship with him. Indeed, John’s major theme throughout his letter as he writes both to encourage his readers and warn them of false teaching, is ‘true knowledge of God’: it was this that was the main matter in dispute between John and the cult that was trying to entice his readers away to erroneous beliefs about the nature and person of Jesus. 

John’s definition, if you like, of ‘knowledge of God’ is this: the rich experience of him, the living God, at work in our lives. It is a knowledge that comes by reflecting prayerfully on what God has done in our lives – in the bad times as well as the good. And when we do reflect prayerfully on what God has done in our lives and are able to relate this to the ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus, together with his teaching, answers, and promises to us, why then our hope, assurance, and confidence in belonging to him will increase. This is knowledge; and if this knowledge is genuine, then it must flow out in love towards others - or else it is entirely fake. The person who claims to know God just because they had an amazing or even a quietly profound experience of God but who does not then evidence a greater loving concern for others is simply deluding themself. For Christians, discipleship and service are the only marks of authenticity: anyone can have a spiritual experience, but taking up our cross and serving others is another matter entirely.

Let’s take a look at the verses of this morning’s reading. The first 4 verses have John explaining his purpose in writing. Those who have seen the life (Jesus) and have been captured, willingly, by its beauty, holiness, and promise, find that they have come to belong to a new kind of family, a ‘fellowship’, which has a very different quality and set of principles and purposes from those of the world.

John wants to emphasize the physical realty of the person of Jesus when he was in the world. And here we have to bear in mind that he is emphasizing this physical reality because of the false teaching opposing it. People need to grasp securely the truth of this in order to have fellowship with God, which is,to know him and to understand what he is about, as also to know the joy which comes from such fellowship. It is only the true Jesus and not any philosophically invented spiritualised phantom who can give us fellowship with God.

John makes three points about Jesus here. First, that he was ‘from the beginning’; that is to say, the Jesus whom they had seen and touched was none other than the eternal Son of God who existed before the creation of the world. Secondly, this Son of God was physically tangible, not an illusion. St. Ignatius, writing early in the second century has this to say.’ Be fully persuaded in the matter of the birth and suffering and resurrection in the time of the regime of Pontius Pilate, for these things were truly and certainly done by Jesus Christ.’ Thirdly, John wants to explain that the Son of God is characterised by ‘Life’. (Remember the opening of John’s Gospel ? ‘in him was life’.) One of the most basic descriptions of God is that he is the ‘living God’. Other so-called gods are idols, the creation of human hands or human minds – gods that cannot actually intervene, however powerful a hold they have over our minds and principles. 

But the essential characteristic of God is liveliness, the ability to get involved with human kind: and this life is light and love – the one who brings true and fulfilling ‘joy’ (v 4).

Now of course it was wonderful for those who were physically present with Jesus to have had fellowship with him, but what about those of subsequent generations? Well, John’s answer is that when Christians who were not eyewitnesses come to accept the apostolic testimony concerning him, they begin to share the fellowship with Jesus and with the Father that the apostles had known. And remember, the apostles themselves had to change the nature of their fellowship once he had ascended to heaven. But through their day to day fellowship in taking up their crosses and following him, through their unashamed proclaiming of him, through their suffering, and through their prayerful reflection on what he was doing in their lives, they  knew him to be no less real: his gift to them of the Holy Spirit ensured this.

And that same gift is available to all today who will only admit their need of a Saviour and welcome him into their lives as Lord. But to do so requires an act of the will on our part to open the door of our lives and welcome him in. We have to do this - and as far as I know the English have not been granted any special exemption – because there is a very strong temptation in some social and intellectual circles to poo-poo such ‘emotionalism’ or ‘excess of zeal’ and to keep God at a socially, culturally,  and emotionally ‘healthy’ arm’s length.

You know I almost despair sometimes at the people who accuse God of being distant or of being absent when they needed him, when they themselves have gone to great lengths to keep him at arm’s length because they’re concerned that he might be real after all and actually interested in them in spite of their opinion of themselves – be that high or low – and in spite of their moral and social track records – be they dazzling or decidedly dodgy. It makes no difference where you or I are on the spectrum of social standing or spiritual success, we shall have neither joy nor fellowship unless we invite him into our lives as Saviour and Lord; and such is the common understanding of the New Testament authors.

In verses 5 – 10, John begins to explain how we may have this fellowship with God. He tells us that there is something we need to know (v6); something we need to avoid (v8); something we need to do (v7); and that something will happen (verses 7 and 9). And he repeats his points for emphasis!

First, we need to know that God is light. To walk in darkness is to walk in sin – whether we realise it or not. ‘Light’ is the opposite of darkness; it is the holiness of God, the sin-hating part of God that is based on purity, justice, and genuine love. It is the characteristic of God that he illuminates: to walk in this light means to walk in true knowledge, true understanding, and fellowship with God. This light is also love and joy, and the mark of genuine holiness. Those who consciously set themselves apart for God and for their neighbour are those who are walking in this light and deepening their fellowship with God and neighbour as a result.

Secondly, because light and darkness are incompatible opposites, we need to avoid walking in darkness – which is both sin and ignorance. This is exactly why Christians are called to proclaim a ‘gospel’ of forgiveness: people need to know! It’s as simple as that.

Thirdly, there is something that we have to do. We have to want to and determine to ‘walk in the light’. It is a Christian’s responsibility and it is highly practical. Fellowship with God will not necessarily come simply by piety or by prayer alone: no, it requires the steady, step-by-step obedience to God’s word and God’s call which always and inevitably leads to the service of others.

Fourthly and finally, something will happen. If we walk in the light we will have fellowship with one another. The idea that one is meant to be or even can survive as an effective Christian on one’s own is nowhere to be found in the New Testament: the whole emphasis is on corporate living, on genuine fellowship within the Christian family. This is why I mentioned it in my AGM Pastoral Letter. It is not an optional extra but a requirement lest we become introverted in our discipleship and exclusive in our relationships. True fellowship with God will always involve fellowship with one another in the Christian community. As the last two verses tell us, an honest and truly humble confession takes away the obstacles to fellowship both with God and with our fellow Christians. Why? Well, because with a clear conscience, with the knowledge that we are forgiven – whatever we’ve done, and with the joy that comes from knowing we are forgiven and put right with God, the more we shall feel free to be open and interested in others – which is what genuine fellowship requires! V10 speaks for itself and is really the beginning of next week’s talk – so I shall leave it to Joe, who will be preaching next week.    

   

QUESTIONS

1. Why is it important for belief about Jesus that he was both God and man?

2. How important is it to hold orthodox views about Jesus?

3. How does doubt affect our fellowship with God?

4. How does fellowship lead to joy?

5. What is it like to ‘walk in the light’?

6. How can we fall into pretending that we have fellowship?

7. How does the character of God affect our relationship with him?