Trusting God’s Wisdom – Obeying God

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Trusting God’s Wisdom – Obeying God

(Holland Road Baptist Church Tuesday Community Fellowship, 25/01/2022)

Jeremiah 17:5-10

The reading is from Jeremiah 17:5-10 … This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands, … in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

“I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Introduction and outline

So, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man”; “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord”; and “The Lord searches the deceitful heart” … how does that make you feel?

When I read this, with my natural self-centredness, I think:

- “Argh! I’m cursed, because I know I put my trust in the approval of man, the wisdom of man, the threats of man, the offerings of man!”

… then I think:

- “Ah! … but I’m also blessed, because I trust in the Lord’s promise to save me!”

… and then I think:

- “…but, if the Lord searches my heart, I’m in trouble because I know there’s a lot of sinful stuff down there!”

It’s a real roller-coaster!

But if I read it in faith in God – that is, trusting in Him and how He reveals Himself – then I see that the one who trusts in man is cursed because of God’s love for us, the one who trusts in the Lord is blessed because of God’s love for us, and the Lord searches the heart because of God’s love for us.

So, we’re going to look at trusting God today, and – to do so - I want to show you one storyline that flows all the way from Exodus 17, through Deuteronomy 25, on through 1 Samuel 15, reaching a climax in Esther. (Don’t worry, I’ll be abridging heavily!)

In that storyline, I want to do three things with you today:

1. I want to link our trust in God with our obedience to Him;

2. I want to contrast not trusting and obeying God with trusting and obeying Him; and,

3. I want to show that even though He is worthy of our trust, we do not naturally obey Him – but all is not lost!

Trust & Obedience

Our story starts in Exodus, with the Lord protecting His people against an enemy who was hell-bent on destroying them.

The whole Israelite community – fresh from the trauma of finally escaping their long slavery in Egypt - were in the desert. Hearing of Israel’s weakened state and the plunder that they had been given from Egypt, a merciless people called the Amalekites sought out and attacked the Israelites.

The Lord intervened, protecting His people, and the Amalekites were defeated.

Here was an obvious lesson in trusting God.

But the Lord seemed to know that this was not the end of the matter; that the Amalekites were not taught a lesson; they were not humbled; … and, in fact, that they would come back, in the hatred they harboured for God’s precious people, and attack again and again and again.

So He told Moses: “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered: … I will completely blot out the name of the Amalekites from under heaven.” This commanded their trust.

Later (in Deuteronomy), God assured His people that He had not forgotten … although this time – talking to a people no longer wearied and traumatised – He confides in them that it would their own hands He would strengthen to achieve this: “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind ... When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of the Amalekites from under heaven. Do not forget!” This time, He is commanding not only their trust, but also their obedience.

So Israel’s trust in God and obedience to God are linked: they were to trust God enough to obey Him in everything … but would they?

Distrust & Disobedience

Over 400 years later, after the Lord had given His people rest in the land He had given them to possess, with Saul as King of Israel, Samuel as Israel’s Priest, … and Agag as king of the Amalekites … the Lord decided that it was time to make good on His promise.

In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel tells Saul: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep.’”

So Saul attacked the Amalekites … but he spared Agag, king of the Amalekites, … and the best of his possessions – only what was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

The Lord told Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king … he has turned away from me and not carried out my instructions.”

Saul’s disobedience reflected his distrust for the Lord, which broke God’s heart.

Samuel went to see Saul, who greeted him: “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions!”

Samuel challenged this flagrant contradiction: “The Lord anointed you king over Israel, and He sent you on a mission, saying: ‘Go and completely destroy the wicked Amalekites, waging war against them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord?”

Saul argues, twisting the facts in a bid to deceive – even if only himself: “I did obey the Lord: I went on the mission the Lord assigned me, I completely destroyed the Amalekites … I just brought back Agag their king. And the soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder - the best of what was devoted to God - in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God.”

Samuel’s verdict was damning: “To obey is better than sacrifice! Rebellion is sin; arrogance is evil! Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

Now, I think there are two questions we want to ask of this story to help us on our way:

1. Why did Saul not obey?

And:

2. Why did God command the destruction of an entire people?

So, first, why didn’t Saul obey? Did you notice how Saul describes the Lord not as “my God”, but as “your God”, to Samuel. But this is Saul’s God; this is the God of Israel, who had chosen Saul to be His trusted king over His precious people! So Saul has chosen to not seek to know and trust God, and Samuel calls him an arrogant rebel.

Not only does Saul not trust God but, in verse 24 (which I didn’t read), Saul admits to Samuel: “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them” … well, do you remember our passage from Jeremiah 17 that we opened with? Saul has trusted in man, and now his heart has turned away from the Lord.

Exactly how dangerous this is, we shall find out soon but, for now, let’s turn to the other – potentially more troubling - question: why did our Father in Heaven – the God who is love – command the complete annihilation of an entire people group?

…I wonder if, as our passage in Jeremiah said: “the Lord searched the hearts and examined the minds” of the Amalekites, and found that no matter how much time passed - no matter how much opportunity was given - the Amalekites would never, ever change in their murderous hatred of God’s people. That would, then, warrant God’s death sentence on them, wouldn’t it?

Do we have any proof of this – that the Amalekites would still harbour such hatred, even generations later?  Well, jump, with me, about 525 years forwards in time from Saul’s disobedience in the matter of Agag, king of the Amalekites … to the book of Esther, in the time of Xerxes, king over the Babylonian empire.

Trust & Obedience

King Xerxes ruled a vast area from India to the Upper Nile from his capital, Susa. One of the Jews in exile, called Mordecai, also lived in Susa with Esther, whom he had adopted when her parents had died.

Esther was unsurpassingly beautiful and King Xerxes married her.

It was something of a tense relationship for Esther: King Xerxes had publicly humiliated his previous wife in front of the entire empire, and banished her from her former life of luxury.

And, indeed, he seemed quite happy to go at least a month without feeling any need to see Esther!

Furthermore, if King Xerxes didn’t call for you, it could be a death sentence to simply wander into his presence.

Now, wisely, Esther kept her Jewish roots a secret, even from him.

Haman the Agagite

Amongst King Xerxes’ nobles and royal officials was a man called Haman the Agagite. That name should ring a bell: an Agagite was a descendent of Agag – and, remember? Agag was king of the Amalekites, so an Agagite was also an Amalekite. Haman was a surviving descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites … who King Saul should have killed half a century previously!

Let’s see what the natural outcome of Saul’s distrust and disobedience would turn out be…

King Xerxes came to honour Haman above all his other nobles and royal officials, ordering all others to kneel when he passed. For reasons not detailed, Mordecai would not bow the knee to Haman – and this enraged Haman. However, after making enquiries and finding that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman decided to not just punish Mordecai for this, but to completely destroy all of Mordecai’s people - the Jews - throughout the whole empire.

Given his position of authority, he was able to persuade King Xerxes that the Jews were dangerous insurgents who must be exterminated. Xerxes, trustful of his right-hand man, gave an order for all his subjects to rise up against any Jew in their neighbourhood and kill him and his kin, and plunder his goods - and a specific date in the not-too-distant future was set for this holocaust to be carried out.

Esther’s mission

In the great distress that followed, Mordecai warned Esther that, given her unique position, she would be the one who would have to approach King Xerxes and plead with him to overturn the order – and quickly!

Esther replied: “the king has but one law for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned: that they be put to death - unless the king spares their lives”

Nonetheless, she went on:

“ … so, gather all the Jews in Susa and fast for me for three days and nights; I and my attendants will fast too. When this is done, I will go to the king - even though it is against the law – and if I perish, I perish.”

Here, Esther proves her own trust in God by her actions: it is God to whom she is fasting and praying - and it is He to whom she entrusts the outcome of her actions.

Providentially, King Xerxes is delighted to see his queen and not only permits her to enter the inner court, but also asks her:

“What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”

Now, it’s not immediately clear why, but Esther doesn’t ask for the obvious (either “overrule the order” or “ok, could I have the half of your kingdom where my people live so they won’t be murdered!”) – instead, she asks the king and his top noble, Haman the Agagite, to a private banquet.

The king is only too pleased, and Haman is so puffed up by his personal invitation to an exclusive banquet with the King and Queen that he could almost explode. But on his way home he sees Mordecai and, reminded of his intense hatred of the man, he erects - that very evening - a 75-foot pole outside his house, resolving to ask the king’s permission to impale Mordecai on it the next day.

The Amalekites destroyed

Come the banquet, King Xerxes again asks his beloved Queen Esther what she wants, again promising up to half his kingdom. This time, Esther answers:

“If I have found favour with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life and spare my people. For I and my people have been sold to be annihilated.”

King Xerxes exploded: “Who is he - where is he - the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

Esther said: “Haman, the Agagite!”

The king was enraged and, as his attendants bundled Haman away, one of them told the king: “A 75-foot pole stands by Haman’s house - he had it set up for Mordecai, Esther’s kinsman.”

“Impale him on it!” ordered the king, so Haman the Agagite was impaled on the pole he had set up for Mordecai the Israelite.

That same day King Xerxes gave Esther Haman’s estate, he gave Mordecai Haman’s place of honour, and he issued an order overruling Haman’s edict, and resulting in the annihilation of the enemies of the Jews, including all Haman the Agagite’s offspring.

So, so far, we have looked at King Saul, who refused to trust and obey God, and allowed His enemy to live to hate another day; and we have also seen how Queen Esther did trust and obey God – at the risk of her own life – and a great enemy of all God’s people is destroyed, never to threaten them again.

God is Worthy of Our Trust

It seems to me that God knew, over 925 years previously, that the Amalekites were irredeemable in their murderous hatred for His beloved people – and that is why He ordered their destruction.

Why didn’t He arrange it sooner? I wonder if it was for the sake of the onlookers: billions of us, reading these accounts down through the centuries since these events. We can see that God knew - way back - that they were irredeemable, and we can see that through all those centuries of grace and opportunity to change, the Amalekites never did change in any way whatsoever.

Does that help us to see that the Lord (not man; not flesh) is completely trustworthy?

We Do Not Naturally Trust Him … But All is Not Lost

We, however, are fools: I am sure I am not alone when I confess that I need reminding daily of His trustworthiness; and I need reminding daily that I am in constant danger of distrusting and disobeying this most trustworthy Lord.

So I read: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” and I wonder at who – of all of us – this could be.

Well, if - in all mankind, throughout all history - there is only “one” who is described as trusting in the Lord, surely that is Jesus! Jesus trusted God with protection from His vicious, merciless Enemy, hell-bent on destroying Him – even through that very destruction, … confident that God simply had to command, and Jesus would rise again, to eternal life.

Then I read on: “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes nor worry in time of drought.” I thought we were talking about “one” - who are “they”?

Didn’t Jesus pray, before His death, that “all who will believe in me may be one, Father - just as you are in me and I am in you - may they also be in us”?

We – we, who believe and trust in Christ, albeit with faith like a mustard seed – are as one with Him!

And, as we abide in Him, we are nurtured and perfected by His own Holy Spirit.

And that is how we will - most assuredly - grow in our trust in God to perfect obedience to Him.

The end

I said our storyline starts in Exodus and ends in Esther … but really it starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation.

God’s eventual victory over the Amalekites in the book of Esther was glorious … but there would come many more enemies.

But, in Genesis, we read that The Enemy is Satan, the deceiver of nations, and in Revelation, we read that he will be devoured by fire sent down from heaven, and thrown into the lake of burning sulfur to be tormented day and night for ever and ever!

Let us not be an irredeemable enemy of God! Let us, instead, get to know and trust Jesus, and be counted – with Him – as “one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him, (who is) like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream, (that) does not fear when heat comes, (whose) leaves are always green, (and who) has no worries in a year of drought (as it) never fails to bear fruit”.

Prayer

Let’s pray!

Our Father, I pray you would help us to know you better – through your Holy Spirit’s work in us, and through our reading about Jesus in your word. And, as we know you better, may we come to perfectly trust you … and your wisdom - and every other aspect of who you are … just as your Son Jesus did. And it is in His name and for your glory that we pray:

Amen!

The ten commandments

 

From PxHere https://pxhere.com/en/photo/646394?utm_content=shareClip&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pxhere

I am reading Mike Reeves' "Rejoice & Tremble" - this morning, I read: "...love for God enables love for neighbour (1 John 4:7).  The first table of the law (concerning worship) is the foundation for the second (concerning love for neighbour), and only in that order can the law be fulfilled" (1st ed. p127).

I wanted to check this out for myself, and found myself analysing the ten commandments, breaking them down, simplifying them, and making them personal, but then making internal connections and building them up, prefixing them with a truth about Jesus that related to each point and suffixing them with a prayer asking for His fulfilment of them in me.

Jesus is my Lord and Saviour - there are no Gods before Him.  I will not make any.  When I discover those already in my heart, I will not bow to or serve them, but make them bow to and serve Him.  Jesus, I have no power over my gods, or even my own thoughts, so please protect me and lead and empower me to bring all things under you.

Jesus knows what I need and provides for me; He has also prepared great riches for me in heaven.  Therefore, I will not take up His name for a vain thing - I will not seek Him in order to gain treasures on earth.  And I will not desire anyone else's wife or property.  Jesus, I have no power over my own lusts, desires, or drive to consume, so please protect me from these and let me know the perfect satisfaction and great delight in all you give me.

Jesus has completed His work of saving me, without my help!  I will sanctify the Sabbath-day to Him, doing no work, but resting with those I love, those who love me, those I serve, those who serve me, and those I live amongst.  Jesus, I have no power over my pride or my drive to make a name for myself, so please protect me, humble me, give me the fear of the Lord, and help me rejoice in all your work, and the rest you have given me.

Jesus has given me life and love through my family.  I will honour my parents.  Jesus, I have no power over my self-discipline, my ability to honour anyone other than myself, or my ability to overcome the familiarity of my parents in order to honour them, so please help me to honour, love, and serve them.

Jesus has made us in His image, and does not stop working to perfect that image in us.  I will not foster anger for anyone, or speak falsely against them.  Jesus, I have no power over my path to being made more like you, or even my own willingness to be made more like you, so please overcome me - all day and every day - with your love, with a desire to be more like you, and with the patience to wait for you to complete your work in me.  Jesus, I also have no power over my thoughts, feelings, and judgements about others, so please humble me and fill me with your overwhelming love for them, to drown out any ill-will against anyone.

Importunity

Thanks to BibleStudy1

Importunity

In Luke's account of Jesus' teaching His disciples to pray, He teaches an interesting lesson about His Father's thoughts and feelings about our prayers:

Luke 11:5-13

Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say unto him, "Friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine is come out of the way to me, and I have nothing to set before him!", and he within should answer, and say, "Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed: I cannot rise and give them to thee!"  I say unto you, though he would not arise and give him, because he is his friend, yet doubtless because of his importunity, he would rise and give him as many as he needed.

The passage does not deny the friendship - nor even diminish it - but it does say that it is not because of the friendship that the request is granted.

Many translations use the word 'importunity'.  Defined as "Persistence, especially to the point of annoyance", the concept is supported by Jesus' teaching about the persistent widow.  But perhaps the message "annoy God by praying too much" would be a poor take-home on a couple of levels!

Notes in the Geneva version of the Bible suggest that the translation could also be, "word for word, impudency" suggesting undertones of unashamedness - impertinence, even: "Late Middle English (in the sense ‘immodest, indelicate’) from Latin ... in- ‘not’ + pudent- ‘ashamed, modest’".  The 'New International Version' of the Bible helpfully translates this as "shameless audacity".

There is a sense, here, that our approaching God in prayer should not be done with any consideration of our own worth: there is 'no good' in and of ourselves - just shame.  But this passage seems to be encouraging us to put aside all our shame as we approach God in prayer.

I, personally, find this harder the closer I am to God: the more I share my thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, dreams and nightmares with God, the closer I am to Him - but the closer I am to Him, the more I am aware of my sin and wickedness and shame.  This should force a separation between Him and me - how can such evil and shame be intimate with such goodness and love?  It's impossible!

For man, it's impossible - not for God.  In a love that defies human comprehension, Jesus - the Son of God - chose to 'become' my sin, with all its wickedness and shame, and to die, killing my sin without killing me.

This is what God wants me to focus on when I pray to Him: His love, not my shame.  This is indeed audacious!



What else does this say about what Jesus, the Son of God, wants us to know about how God His Father responds to prayer?

1. The man asking for bread has no bread(!) - he does not even offer to buy the bread: when we go to God in prayer, let's not think - at any level - that we have anything in and of ourselves to make us worthy in His eyes to receive anything good (but ... see below).


2. He wants to serve another: Jesus is always encouraging the blessing of others with good things - this is the essence of love, and God is love.


3. He goes to a friend, not a stranger: to know God is to love God - there is nothing in God that is anything but infinitely lovable.  If God is a stranger to you, why would you trust the Father enough to ask anything of Him?  If you know God, why would you go to anyone or anything other than God?!


4. He asks to take from the friend who has an abundance to give the same to another friend who has none: as above, God is love.  That love is often described as a flowing river of blessing.  Rivers only flow downstream* - God is the source of His love, which is always overwhelming: it pours down to us (the subjects of His love); if it gets stuck there, it does some of the good it is capable of but, if it keeps on flowing, its effective capacity multiplies - we are never without AND we can enjoy the blessing of passing it on to others too.

In summary, we have nothing good in and of ourselves, but we have a Friend who has a limitless supply of goodness, who is keen to give so much to us that we have plenty to share with others, and who wants us to come to Him for it with our hearts fixed on Him, not on our shameful selves.

Father, please fill us with your Holy Spirit and give us (and help us to see those) opportunities to share you with people we meet today.

*If being pedantic, tidal rivers may see upstream flow, but let me push back: pure water only flows downstream!

Christingle Service 2017

(The following is a Christingle Service I gave to Oasis Christian Fellowship in 2017.)

Oasis Christian Fellowship Christmas Eve Carol & Christingle Service 2017

Introit: “Silent Night”

Introduction

Good evening!  My name is Nick, and I’m a part of the church family here at Oasis Christian Fellowship.  We’d like to offer you a warm welcome to this, our last carol service before Christmas and, as we start, I’d just like to pray for a special blessing on us all this Christmas Eve.

Our Father in Heaven, your loving kindness and goodness – your light, and life, and love - has been available to us since the world began.  I pray that you would work something miraculous in each of us this Christmas Eve, for the glory of your Son, Jesus Christ – Amen!

So, tonight, we’ve got loads of carols to sing over the next hour together, interspersed with a few short talks - a bit like the Nine Lessons And Carols service you might hear on the radio or TV … except we’ve got 10 carols (one of which you’ve just heard; the others we can all sing together) and only 5 talks … and each of those will get shorter as the evening goes on!

We’ll also have a little Christingle section fairly early on - where the younger ones create a symbolic, sweet-skewered surprise, just to ensure your children get a real sugar high just before Santa visits!

Now, if any of you have brought along any guests tonight, who have come from beyond our county’s borders, we are going to start, this evening, by enculturing them in song with our first carol!

Nicknamed “The Sussex Carol”, Vaughan Williams collected the lyrics and tune to “On Christmas night, all Christians sing” while visiting in 1904.

If you wouldn’t count yourself a Christian here tonight and you’ve only come along for the carol-singing, jingle-belling ride, don’t be put off by this first line: for the time you’re with us, you’re as part of the family.

So, let’s warm up our vocal chords now as we stand to sing “The Sussex Carol”!

Carol 1: The Sussex Carol

Christingle Invitation

“All out of darkness we have light, which made the angels sing this night” … Light in the darkness will be our first theme this evening, as we incorporate some elements of a Christingle service into our time together.

A Christingle is essentially an orange with a candle stuck in the top … and a ribbon around it and sweets stuck onto it - every aspect of it represents a different bit of Christmas, and those who know the song can sing about that to us a bit later.

For now, though, if you have any young ones who would like to make a Christingle, please do have them join our helpers at the back, and we’ll process them up the front in about 10 minutes or so.

In fact, why don’t we give everyone who wants to do that time to go get set up, while we sing our next carol: Ding Dong Merrily On High!

Carol 2: Ding Dong Merrily On High

Lesson 1, with Reading 1: John 8:12, 1:4, 9-13; 3:16-17, 19-21

“Evetime songs” were for the evenings, when darkness fell, while “matin chimes” were for the mornings, welcoming the light back again.

The Bible describes God, in the beginning, separating darkness from light, and calling the darkness “night” and the light “day”.

I doubt the symbolism of darkness and light is lost on anyone but, just to make the point, which of the following phrases do you recognise, and what kinds of feelings do they evoke?

·     “Like a thief in the night”? … or, “like a thief in the light”?

·     “Things that go bump in the night”? … or, “things that go bump in the day”?

·     “Nightmares”? … or, “daymares”?

·     “In the dead of the night”? … or, “in the dead of the light”?

The night and darkness tend to be associated with bad things.  In fact, one traditional Christmas reading goes as far as to say: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Here, darkness is linked to death, as if to give an indication of just how bad these bad things are to God.  … Conversely - and in Jesus - light is linked to life, as we’ll hear in our first reading: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” … In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind … Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light … it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

So, in Jesus is life, “that life was the light of all mankind”, and that “light has come into the world” … but “people loved darkness instead of light” – that sounds crazy, doesn’t it?!  If the darkness is as bad as death to God, how can we love it?

… Christmas, typically, is a time of overeating (bear with me!) - we all know that eating too much is not good for us: it can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  And yet we still serve up far too much food at Christmas anyway!  Why?  Because there is something very comforting about eating.

Similarly, there are things we do – with deeper effects than overeating – despite knowing they’re bad.  Some of these things are bad just for us, some are bad for those around us too - and yet we continue to entertain those things because in some way they comfort us.  We love (at least, our own) darkness.

Many of these things are so familiar or subtle, we don’t recognise them.  But our love of the darkness is not restricted to our own lives – it has pervaded our culture too.  For example, let me ask you this: what is “a day”?  How do we define this 24-hour period that we call “a day”?

We have inherited our “day” from the Romans.  In the century before Jesus was born, the Romans decreed that “a day” starts and ends at midnight.

Prior to this, “a day” started as the sun began to descend from its highest point at noon.  Daylight faded into the darkness of night, which was then flooded out again by the light of dawn, and, finally, the “day” ended with the sun at its peak again.

But the Romans changed all that … and in a very revealing way: they believed that history started and ended in chaos and darkness.  So, both their decree and their belief revealed a worldview based on a darkness-to-darkness story, with no hope of light finally winning over the darkness.

And, actually, they got that right!  From their point of view: without God, it is darkness to darkness.

So, what’s the alternative?  What did the original idea of “a day” represent?

· In the beginning, there was light - when God walked the Earth with mankind.

· This turned into darkness - as we (as all mankind) chose to distrust and reject God.

· God, in unimaginable humility, accepted this rejection and left the Earth to us … but the absence of God - the light of life - brought in darkness and death.

· Thankfully, that is not the end: one day, God will return, and His light and life will drive out all darkness and death forevermore.

The original definition of a “day” proclaimed the hope of light’s ultimate victory over darkness.

We are, now, in the darkness between the original light and the light to come.  But, as the moon provides light in our earthly darkness, God also provided light in our spiritual darkness – and that is what we celebrate at Christmas: Jesus’ birth - the light of the world coming into our darkness.

Why don’t we get our Christingle-lings up the front as we sing the Christingle Carol (do help them out if you know the song)!  When you guys reach the front, just line up to show everyone your Christingles, so we can all share in their light until we finish singing, and then you can take them back to your seats (they’re electronic candles, so the risk of burning the hair of the lady in the seat in front is quite low!)  After that, Jade and Naomi, two members of the church family here, will read a poem Jade wrote for this occasion.

Song: Hope Of Heaven (Christingle Song)

Poem: “Hope, Light and Peace”, by Jade

Link

It was important, symbolically, that Jesus - the Light of the World - came at our darkest, coldest time: not only in the middle of the night, but in the middle of winter too.

He came when we needed Him most.  Our next carol is about Jesus’ coming in the middle of a cold, dark night, in the middle of a cold, dark winter.  Let’s stand now to sing “In The Bleak Mid-Winter”!

Carol 3: In The Bleak Mid-Winter

Lesson 2, with Reading 2: Luke 2:1-7:  In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree … she wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

So, we’ve had a look at Jesus as the light coming into our darkness, but why did He have to come as a baby human being?  Why couldn’t He have just shone out as a great light from the heavens … perhaps with a big booming voice for a bit more effect?!

I’m going to suggest that there are three big reasons why He did it the way He did.  I want to suggest that Jesus became a human being:

1. to meet us where we’re at;

2. to tell us and show us what God is like; and

3. to suffer and die, as a human being, and for our sake.

So, first, Jesus came to meet us where we’re at.  He removed the distance between God and mankind, and got first-hand experience of what it’s like to actually be a human being – a created being.

So, He tasted food like you and I do; He smelled fragrances as you and I do; He felt with the same fingers you and I feel with; He looked through the same eyes and listened through the same ears as we do.

He experienced the stress of being born, the joys and challenges of learning as He grew up, and He suffered frustrations, disappointments, tears, laughter, delight, and joy, as we do.

As light, He came into our darkness, and yet there was no darkness in Him.  That is something that can be said about no-one else in all history.

There is a story that, as a prank, the Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, sent an anonymous telegram to each of about a dozen of his friends, all of whom numbered amongst “the great and the good” of late 19th century Britain – a time when, arguably, moral and ethical living reached something of a peak.

The telegram simply read: “FLEE!  ALL IS REVEALED!” - it wasn’t signed.

By the following morning, all twelve of his friends had left the country!

There are dark secrets hidden deep within each of us that, at best, threaten our honour and dignity – at worst, a lot more than that.

But, despite this darkness in us, and our rejection of Him, the Son of God came down into our dark, self-absorbed world, and He didn’t just visit, He became like us.: born of Mary, He became the Son of Man – “God made Him who had no sin … in the likeness of sinful flesh”, as the Bible puts it.

I mentioned, before, that we rejected the God of light and life, so were left with darkness and death, but God is also love.

True love always puts others first.  So, our rejection of God has left us with a compromised, self-serving version of love, and we often find ourselves doing, saying, and feeling things that we want to keep in the darkness.

That is why we hate the light.

But in our self-absorbing darkness, we can’t know God – and this brings me to my second reason why Jesus became a human being: to show us who God is … what He’s like.

You’ve heard the expression “it takes one to know one”?  Well, God figures you also need to know one to take one!  In other words, we need to know Him before we are persuaded to take Him as our Father.  So, Jesus came to teach us about His Father, in words and actions.

Jesus, as The Son of God, is a ‘chip off the old block’ - like Him in every way, the Bible describes Him as “the image of the invisible God”: if we look at Him, we see His Father.  So, what are He and His Father like?

Well, this brings me to my third reason why Jesus became a human being: Jesus became a human being to die that we might have life.

Does it surprise you to think of Jesus’ suffering and death at Easter as something His Father did too?

It did me, but Jesus Himself said: “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing”.  On the cross at Easter, Jesus and His Father, God, were separated through death for the first and last time in all eternity.  It was the most terrible and dark time ever … and yet, it bought us forgiveness for our rejection of God.

Another member of the church here, Helen, will now read a poem she wrote about Jesus’ birth and what it brought about, inspired by her own grandson, lying cradled in his father’s hands.

Poem: “A Child Is Born”, by Helen

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Let’s stand to sing of the babe in the stall in our next carol: “Once In Royal David’s City”.

Carol 4: Once In Royal David’s City

Lesson 3, with Reading 3: Philippians 2:5-11

Who is God?  What do you think?  … “His shelter was a stable, and His cradle was a stall; with the poor, and mean, and lowly, lived on earth our Saviour holy”.  Our next reading this evening sheds some more light on what God is like:            Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When you think of “God”, does this sort of abject humility come to mind?

Jesus, as Son of God, was equal with God His Father, but He did not grasp at that.  Instead, He came down, down, down:

-      from holy heaven to dusty Earth;

-      and not only to Earth, but smelly, grubby, sinful humanity;

-      and not only to humanity, but to be born as a helpless, writhing, incontinent baby, completely dependent on a couple of scandal-scarred, first century teenagers in an insignificant corner of the occupying Roman administration.

This, surely, is an upside-down God, no?  I mean, it’s starting to become hard to think of Him as the Son of God, isn’t it?  But, I assure you, the irony doesn’t end there:

·        He came down, that we might go up;

·        He was born into our darkness, that we might be born again, into His light;

·        He suffered ultimate humiliation, that we might ultimately have dignity;

·        He submitted to Man’s perverted judgement, that we might go free under God’s perfect judgement;

·        He suffered separation from His Father, that we might be united with His Father;

·        He died, that we might live.

His loss has always only ever been for our gain.  In fact, He became our servant to such a great degree, that it would be hard to believe He is the Son of God, had He not then risen from the dead too.

Only God has power over death.  Only God could never be in the shadow of death.  And only God can raise us from the dead to give us a second birth, and this one to eternal life.

This is what the final verse of our next classic carol speaks of:

-     “Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His Wings”;

-     “Mild, He lays his glory by, born that man no more may die”;

-     “Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth”.

Let’s stand to sing “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing”.

Carol 5: Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing

Lesson 4, with Reading 4: 1 John 4:7-19

“Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting lord”.

What is your reaction to the phrase, “Jesus Is Lord”?

I’ve been a Christian for almost 20 years, and yet I still find that that phrase bristles – I don’t want a Lord over me!  And yet, I’ve also been around long enough to know that William Ernest Henley is not right either, when he wrote his poem, “Invictus”: I am not the master of my fate; I am not even the captain of my soul.

So, I’m stuck between two worlds.  Before I became a Christian, I chose to not know or trust God at all.  At some point, I got to know Him just enough to put my trust in Him and, at that very point, I became a child of His, which means that, one day, I will know and trust Him completely.

But, right now, I’m just “growing up”.  Like a child growing up in his parents’ home, there are times I push boundaries, argue, and rebel.  But, as a good father, God doesn’t leave me or kick me out, and I can trust Him to finish the long work of pulling me out of the darkness and into the light, that He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6).

So, the phrase “Jesus Is Lord” bristles a bit with me now, but I find myself accepting it more and more as the years go by and I get to know that His being Lord is nothing like any human I’ve known lording it over me.  He is The Servant King.  He is the Lord, who is also my Father.  He is the Lord who loves me this much:

There is a radical verse in the Bible that says: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.  We’ll now hear more of this love in our penultimate reading this evening: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God ... We love because he first loved us.

I can submit to this Lord.  This Lord gives me rest, and has me rest in His merry, smiling embrace.

Let’s stand to sing of that comfort and joy in our next carol: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.

Carol 6: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

Reading 5: Luke 2:8-12

Now, I’d like to set up our next carol with our final reading for this evening – another traditional Christmas passage that leads on from our second reading this evening:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby … So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

Let’s stand to sing our next carol: While Shepherds Watched

Carol 7: While Shepherds Watched

Lesson 5

“When the angels had left them, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing!’” … What would you have done if you were in their sandals?

You’ve just been invited by an army of angels to go to visit the Saviour, Messiah, and Lord on His very first day on the planet – chances are you’re not going to say “no”!

So, you ought to take a gift, right?

But you’re a shepherd - socio-economically, one of the lowest of the low.  And it’s the middle of the night: even if you had money to spend, there’s nowhere open to buy anything.  Some of your fellow shepherds have thought to grab a lamb but, in the rush to be on your way, you weren’t able to catch one.  You are woefully unprepared – this could be embarrassing.

As you enter Bethlehem, you are grateful that it is the middle of the night – usually you are not well treated by city-dwellers.  You scurry through the shadows and when you arrive at the stable, Mary and Joseph are a little surprised to see you.  But one of the other shepherds with you tells them everything that happened with the angels, and the message, and the singing, and – remarkably – they just accept all they hear and beckon you in.

Suddenly, the kings arrive!  The sheer brilliance of their clothing, their entourage, and their gifts forces you into the shadows of the stable, behind Mary.

You couldn’t feel more out of place.

And then everyone wants to present their gifts all at once, and Mary looks around for someone to hold the baby so that she can accept the gifts and thank people properly.  But everyone has their hands full, holding their gifts.  Everyone, that is, except you.  You arrived empty-handed.  You – unwashed, unkempt, and unready you – are … ironically, the only visitor who is actually ready and able to receive Jesus … and Mary calls you out of the shadows and into the light, to take Jesus in your arms.

This is all of us tonight.

Wherever you are, with respect to Jesus – be it that you feel unready, unworthy, some combination of the two, or even if you accept completely where you are right now – Jesus has been offered to you, by God, as a gift of light, life, and love.

If you can relate to anything I’ve spoken about concerning our darkness, or our not having life in all its fullness, or the self-serving compromise in our love for others – know that you have been offered the free gift of light, life, and love.  And, as with all true gifts, you do not have to pay for it, and you do not have to give anything in return - you just have to reach out, and accept it.

Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me … Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves … Anyone who loves me will obey this teaching.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

If you want to take any practical steps towards knowing God more, either before you accept Him or as a result of accepting Him, can I point out 3 opportunities you have right now:

One would be to join us, Sundays – you’d be most welcome!  We’ll meet again 4:30pm next Sunday, and then 10:30am each Sunday after that.

Another would be mid-week: Bob and Rosemary, from the church family here, are giving up an evening a week, starting in February, to chat with you more personally – catch them at the back by the door after this (they’re also great people to ask to pray for you, or with you, if you’d like).

Lastly, if you’d rather start off with something just on your own, please take one of the “Four Kinds Of Christmas” books as a free gift from us to you – they’re at the back of the church and in the lobby - just help yourself!

Let’s finish, now, with a final carol, calling all “the faithful” – all who trust in Jesus, the light and life of the world - to come and enjoy His love, singing in exultation.  Let’s stand to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful”.

Carol 8: O Come All Ye Faithful

Blessing  Father, please give us, this Christmas, a deep and certain knowledge and assurance of your love – in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Well, folks, we’ve certainly sung for our supper tonight so please do enjoy some minced pies and mulled wine (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) before you leave, and take with you our best wishes for a happy Christmas.