The Sound of God // Rizpah, Atonement & The Cross

 

Speaker Tristan Sherwin

'It is Rizpah’s bodily protest that awakens David’s senses, that enables David to realise his involvement in this act of inhumanity.'

As a question to ponder: What should David had done as an act of atonement, an act of justice, in response to the murder of the Gibeonites?

Tristan has posted his sermon on his own blog. Please follow the link to read...

https://tristansherwin.wordpress.com/.../the-sound-of.../

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM / / TABLES

 

Speaker Tristan Sherwin

'Jesus understood the importance of eating together, and the transformative effect that an invitation, a welcome, can have upon the life of an individual or a community.'

Tristan has posted his sermon on his own blog. Please follow the link to read...

https://tristansherwin.wordpress.com/.../upside-down.../

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM / / GREED

 

Speaker Tristan Sherwin

'God’s Kingdom is not about materialism and consumerism, but about communal care and provision.'

Tristan has posted his sermon on his own blog. Please follow the link to read...

https://tristansherwin.wordpress.com/2021/03/21/upside-down-kingdom-greed-the-rich-young-ruler-matthew-19/

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM / / WORSHIP

Speaker Helen Jenkinson

INTRO
I wonder if your family has any traditions? Things that you do that are special to you? They might seem very strange to others but to you they give you a sense of identity, a sense of being connected to the people that you love. When we were kids we used to go to Anglesey every year. And if you’ve ever been you know that as it’s an island you have to go over a bridge to get there. Every time we went over the Menai bridge  mum and dad would wind the windows down and we would cheer (very loudly!) because of the expectation of 2 lovely weeks there. But on the way home we would boo (very loudly!) because we knew that special time had come to an end. Now we have a tradition that Christmas night is spent at mum and dads playing games- Dad’s legendary tray game being our favourite. Who would think that trying to memorise items on a tray that has been covered over with a tea towel would make us happy. But it does! Every country has traditions that are unique to them too. Think about Bonfire night or Thanksgiving in the States. On those days we meet people we love. We eat special food, we do special things. It gives us a sense of connectedness, a oneness.

Now I want you to think about us as the church. What traditions do we have? It might depend on the church you grew up in. In the church we grew up in we would have special weekends to commemorate things like church anniversaries. Do we have a certain way of doing things and when anyone asks us why we do it a certain way we answer “its always been done like that” Traditions are good. They can remind us what is important but sometimes they can prevent us from seeing what God’s priorities are. Because WE think they are important, we assume GOD thinks of them in the same way. And it is this that we are going to look at today.

BACKGROUND
Remember that our theme for this teaching series is the UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM. The way Jesus turned on their head the traditions that the culture of his day thought of as normal or the way God wanted things doing. And today we’re going to look at UPSIDE DOWN WORSHIP. Reading the gospels we see that Jesus would come into conflict a lot with the scribes and pharisees, the teachers of the law, because they viewed things differently to Jesus. They assumed they had an insiders view on what God thought was important. And one of the issues that caused the most conflict was how they viewed the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given as a gift from God as the Israelites entered the promised land after they had been slaves in Egypt with no rest at all. So the sabbath was intended to be a reminder that it is not our work that supplies our needs but that our needs are supplied by God as an act of his grace. Fantastic! But in order to make this a priority, this commandment was hedged around by a whole stack of extra rules just in case a person got near to breaking the actual commandment. Who made up the rules? The teachers of the law. Now we always think of the Pharisees as the bad guys in the gospels and often they were. But what started out as an attempt to honour God became a matter of pride and judgementalism against people who they thought were not keeping the commandment as well as them. They considered the man -made law as important as the actual commandment, completely missing the point of why God had given the commandment in the first place.
 
READ MARK 2:23 - 3:6 link

Why were the Pharisees getting into such a tizz? Because even though the commandment said to keep the Sabbath holy by doing no work, Moses had not given any specifics. It was Jewish tradition that stated  there were 39 forbidden activities on the sabbath and the third one was reaping. The Pharisees interpreted the picking of grain to eat as reaping which they viewed as illegal activity. How does Jesus respond? With a question. He refers back to a story in 1 Samuel 21 where David takes the presence bread that was laid out on a table before God in the tabernacle every Sabbath, eats it and gives it to his companions to eat because they were hungry. Now Jesus (the Son of David) had taken food, eaten it and given it to his disciples on the Sabbath. Here, Jesus is saying that human need is more important than ritual. He’s challenging the Pharisees to choose between human need and religious reputation. Jesus doesn’t defend the breaking of the Sabbath. He just points out that human need is a bigger principle here. As if to reiterate this, we see in the next incident the same principle. Jesus sees a man in the synagogue with a deformed hand.  Jesus’ heart goes out to the man and he heals him. But look at what the Pharisees were doing. Verse 2 says they watched him closely. Jesus was under surveillance! Why? Because the teaching of the Pharisees only allowed healing on the Sabbath if life was in danger. If you weren’t about to die you’d have to wait for a weekday in order for God to show his power by healing you! Had God ever said this? Not at all! Look at Jesus’ question in verse 4:

Does the law permit good deeds on the sabbath or is a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or destroy it?

Jesus exposes the narrowness of their man made rule by asking them if the Sabbath is there for doing good or doing evil? If for good, how can healing not come into that category? He was turning their tradition on its head.

But there is something much bigger here than whether Jesus is breaking Sabbath rules. It’s a heart issue. On another occasion Jesus is at loggerheads with the Pharisees again over ceremonial handwashing. And this time Jesus doesn’t pull any punches. This is how he responds.

Mark 7:6-7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you for he wrote “These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God”

Can you imagine being told that as a Pharisee? You who are an expert in the law, you who are seen as the religious elite, you who think you have an inside track as to what God thinks as important are hypocrites. Actors. Pretending to honour God but the reality of it is that your heart is far from him. Your worship is a farce because you have put man made ideas on a par with what God wants and in many cases have completely ignored what God views as important in order to make you look good or feel superior. No wonder they wanted to get rid of Jesus.

Do you remember the inverted ladders of the upside down kingdom that I talked about in our introduction to this series a fortnight ago? They are in operation here between man’s tradition and God’s truth. Outward forms of rule keeping keep us in bondage. They tie us up in knots trying to keep them. Inward faith brings liberty through God’s grace. The world’s kingdom makes much of rules, God’s kingdom focusses on guiding principles. The world’s kingdom celebrates outward piety. God’s kingdom is all about inward holiness. The world’s kingdom says “lets make our own rules” God’s kingdom says lets exalt the word of God. See what his word says on an issue.

So when we read these accounts of Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees we’re usually thinking “YEH!! YOU TELL ‘EM JESUS!!! But remember if we point a finger at someone there’s always 3 fingers pointing back at us! We can criticise the Pharisees for their attitudes but do we do the same? Do we consider our traditions or our take on situations as God’s view without actually finding out what God thinks about it through scripture? Or do we bend scripture to make it fit our view? Are we more concerned about the upholding of our favourite rule than seeking to extend the kingdom of God? To show God’s love to people who might be different to us? What about our worship? Do we think because we prefer one style of worship then God must prefer that one too? 

One summer I went to Peru as part of an Open Doors team to encourage believers who had experienced great persecution a decade earlier. Being in a Peruvian worship service was something else! On the way home my friend and I spent a week in Georgia staying with friends of my friend. On the Sunday we went to their church which was very formal and very different to Peru. My friend and I were talking about afterwards and comparing the two and she said something that really challenged me. She said it might be different but if it glorifies God, he likes it all. Just because it was not our preference doesn’t mean that it’s not God’s preference. Or if we like to have a quiet time in the morning do we assume that is the most spiritual thing to do? Or because we like to pray in a certain way we assume God will listen to our prayers in preference to someone else who prays differently to us? Or because we consider our area of ministry to be the most important, do we assume God agrees?

So we can get tied up in our traditions, our ideas and our preferences and project them onto God and what we are really doing is worshipping our own ideas. I asked if we could sing Heart of Worship this morning because I love the background to the song. The song was written by Matt Redman in the late 1990s when his church in Watford was going through a tough time. In the world’s kingdom they were really successful. Big church, writing songs that were being sung all around the world. But they realised that something was missing. So the pastor, a great guy called Mike Pilivachi asked his congregation what they were bringing to God in worship- were they just consumers or were they really worshipping? So for some weeks the music faded. They sang unaccompanied. They had times of silence. They prayed together. And they rediscovered what worship was really about. It’s all about Jesus! It’s not our traditions, or our good ideas, or our man-made rules that matters. It’s all about him. Please don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not suggesting we stop worshipping God through song. What I am saying is that we reassess what our traditions, our ideas, our priorities and bring them in line with God’s ideas and His priorities.

So how can we do that? What is upside down worship? How can we make sure Jesus is at the centre of our worship? How can we make sure it’s all about Jesus and not about us?

The answer is in Romans 12: 1-2 (NIV)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In Romans 1-11 Paul has been explaining that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone. And now he urges the Christians in Rome to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. What does this mean? In the ESV the word offer is translated as present. It commands a definite commitment. If you are married it is just like what happened when you made your vows in your wedding service. As part of your vow you said that everything you are and everything you have is now your husband or wife’s. So in the context of Romans 12:1 Paul is encouraging the Christians in Rome to give everything you are and everything you have to God. To be completely at God’s disposal. To be willing to obey Him in every area of our life. Giving him the best of us- not our leftovers. Not out of fear, but out of love. To be a living sacrifice means to daily give our lives as an offering to Him. As the verse says- this is our true and proper worship. True worship stems from acknowledging how great God’s mercies are towards us. How much we are forgiven. How much we are loved, despite our desire to run our own show, to project our own ideas onto God and claim them as his. How do we offer our bodies as living sacrifices? Paul tells us in verse 2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

This is what the Pharisees weren’t getting in their desire to keep their man made Sabbath rules. They were keeping the Sabbath rules on the outside, while their hearts were disobedient to what God would really want. And they were imposing their superficial holy veneer on others. Paul is saying here that the worldly kingdoms will tell you what to think and how to behave- to CONFORM, instead let God TRANSFORM your mind. The word he uses for transform is similar to our word metamorphosis. Just like a caterpillar is metamorphosed into a butterfly from the inside out, we are transformed into becoming more like Christ.  True upside down kingdom worship means letting God transform the way we think which affects what we do, what we feel, what we say.

So at this point of any sermon I’m always thinking “That’s great, but HOW????” Here’s a suggestion. When we wake up tomorrow morning, before we get out of bed offer to the Lord each part of our body. Our mind- so he can transform the way we think, so God’s wisdom may be imparted to us for that day. Our eyes so we may see people and situations as Jesus sees them. I know I definitely need that when dealing with year 11 tomorrow! Our hands so that what we do is pleasing to the Lord and what Jesus would do if he was living our life. Our mouth so our words are honouring to Him- by what we say and the way we say it and what we don’t say. Our feet- so God will lead us to people who need to experience God’s grace in their lives. Our heart so that we can feel God’s love not just for ourselves but for people we rub shoulders with. 

When Simon and I made vows to each other on 27^th December 2008 it was till death do us part. The vow didn’t stop at midnight on 28^th December. If we are married, the vows we made on our wedding day have to be continually lived out. To be continually worked on through the stresses and strains of life. And it’s the same with offering our bodies as living sacrifices. It has to be done on a day to day basis. So what happens Monday morning before we get out of bed, or whenever we speak to God has to happen on Tuesday and Wednesday and every day after that. Christ at the centre of our lives, displaying the values of his upside down kingdom. If everyone is doing that- guess what? Christ’s kingdom will be displayed in our church. And then guess what? If we are seeing people as God sees them and loving them in the way God loves them then God’s kingdom will spread into our communities and into our world. Don’t know about you but I’m excited about the possibilities that might bring. The people who could be reached, lives that could be transformed and the glory of God’s kingdom that could be displayed all because a small group of people in Bury decided to offer their bodies to God as their true and proper worship.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM // CRUSTS, CIRCUSES, AND COERCION - 7th March 2021

 

Speaker Tristan Sherwin

'Instead of grasping for power and imposing himself over others, Jesus is going to exhibit the power of self-giving, self-emptying love.'

Tristan has posted his sermon on his own blog. Please follow the link to read...

https://tristansherwin.wordpress.com/.../upside-down.../

THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM / / INTRODUCTION - 28th February 2021

Speaker Helen Jenkinson

INTRO

Do you remember those days when you could go on holiday? On those things called aeroplanes?! 

In order to go anywhere abroad you have to show your passport. Your passport proves that you are a citizen of the country that you belong to. In our case, when we show our British passport it says that we are British citizens. And being a British citizen means that we have certain rights and responsibilities as a citizen of this country. On the front of my passport it says British Passport United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And we know what that means. But if our passport said ‘Passport of the Kingdom of God’ would we be as clear in our understanding? Would we know what the phrase Kingdom of God really meant? 

Jesus turned the status quo on its head during his ministry by talking a lot about the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God, but what was he really talking about? That’s what we are going to look at today as a way of introducing our teaching series for the next few weeks that is all about The Upside-Down Kingdom.

Our first question today is: 

How can we can gain entry into the kingdom of God?

A few months ago Andrea took a British citizenship exam (which she passed with flying colours!) Passing this exam means that she now has the right to become a British citizen. To have the same rights and responsibilities as a person born in the UK. Because of God’s grace we don’t have to pass any exams to gain entry into the Kingdom of God. 

This is what Nicodemus found difficult to understand in John 3. He was a Pharisee, keeping all the law of Moses (and lots of extra ones too!) He was assuming that this was his equivalent of taking the British citizenship exam. If I keep the law, then I’ll pass God’s exam and I’ll be ok. But what does Jesus tell him?

John 3:3 I tell you the truth, unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven

Jesus is saying - Nicodemus, unless you enter into a new relationship with me you cannot be part of the kingdom of God.

And over 2000 years later, entry requirements haven’t changed. The only way we can be part of the kingdom of God is to have that relationship with Jesus. To be born again. We can’t engineer entry into the kingdom by our own good deeds. It is purely by God’s grace that he invites us into relationship with him through Jesus.

But the kingdom of God is much bigger than just us and God.

Our mission as a church is Jesus at the centre of everything. How does the kingdom of God relate to this? 

In the gospels Jesus is continually talking about the kingdom of God but the way he describes it is could be completely different to the way we, and his disciples, presumed a kingdom should run or what it should be like. What Jesus describes is an UPSIDE-DOWN kingdom. One that is different to the earthly kingdoms but not disconnected to them. 

The kingdom of God is not just another way of describing heaven. It is God’s rule on earth not only in the future but in the here and now. And as kingdom people we have certain rights and responsibilities to demonstrate the values of God’s kingdom to the world. So over the next few weeks we are going to unpack what this upside down kingdom is and what we should be doing to advance it.

BACKGROUND

I want you to imagine that we are together in church. A local lad gets up to speak. We haven’t seen him for a bit. We heard that he’s been on a gap year but we know his parents and his siblings. We know where he lives. We know he’s a trained carpenter. We think he’s just going to tell us what he’s been doing in his time away or read a psalm for encouragement but as he starts speaking, this young man quotes the old testament as though he wrote it himself. You are perturbed by the nerve of him - who does he think he is? But something in what he says and the way he says it makes the hairs on the back of your head stand up. He speaks differently to the other speakers that have spoken before. That’s what I want you to imagine as we read this passage today.

READ LUKE 4: 16-30

Any Jew worth their salt listening to Jesus would immediately have their ears pricked listening to this passage because Jesus is reading from Isaiah chapter 61. 

Isaiah spoke of God’s servant-messiah restoring and healing the marginalised in society. To proclaim the Lord’s favour or Jubilee. You can read about Jubilee in Leviticus 25 and we’ll learn more about it in a few weeks. But very briefly, the year of jubilee was given by God to the children of Israel as they entered the promise land as a sort of re-set button every 50 years. In that year they were to leave their fields bare so the soil had a rest from producing crops. How were they to survive in that year? The Lord would bless the land in the year prior to it so they would have enough to eat. The children of Israel needed to trust that God would provide for them. In the jubilee year people who had had to sell property due to poverty received it back and slaves could be released and return to their families so the poor or marginalised in society would be treated fairly. 

In Isaiah 61 Isaiah makes the connection between the year of jubilee, the Lord’s favour and the servant-messiah. In verse 1 it uses the expression ‘proclaim freedom’ which is the same command used in Leviticus to proclaim liberty in the jubilee. So what Isaiah is saying is that the servant–messiah will usher in a time of grace, a time of release. 

Fast forward 700 years and we see a young girl who has just been told by an angel that the power of the holy spirit will come upon her and she will conceive a child who will be called Son of the most high. His kingdom will never end. After she gets over the shock, this is what Mary says:  

Luke 1:52. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.

Said in another way - through this child conceived in me, God is pressing the re-set button.

Fast forward another 30 years to the synagogue in Nazareth.  By quoting Isaiah Jesus is saying that what Isaiah prophesied is here! I am the fulfilment of it. The servant’s mission is my mission. I am the servant Isaiah spoke about. I am the one who will usher in the year of the Lord’s favour.  I am the one who will push the re-set button because I invented the year of jubilee. What you think of as the norm does not have to stay like that. I am going to show you a new way of doing things. What your present kingdom thinks of as normal, acceptable or just the way things are I’m going to turn on its head.

At first the synagogue worshippers were excited about what Jesus was saying. Yes, that’s what we want. We want Jubilee - freedom from Rome, freedom from oppressive regimes. We want our society to be fairer. We are God’s chosen people - freedom is what we deserve. But then we read that the congregation’s attitude towards Jesus changes. They become angry. Why? Because as Jesus read from Isaiah 61 the people thought they knew what he was going to say. However, Jesus stops just before the punchline. It’s like the end of a film or tv programme ending on a cliff hanger. It’s like the times when you think your spouse or your child will say one thing or react in one way and they don’t. You think you can predict what’s going to happen but you’re surprised. So they get furious because of what Jesus misses out of Isaiah 61. Verse 2 of Isaiah 61 says

He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favour has come, and with it the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

Have you noticed the difference between that and Luke 4? The last statement is missed out -

 and with it the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

What? They’re thinking - Jesus, are you not going to set us free from Rome? Aren’t you about liberating us from oppressive regimes?  But to top it all off in verses 25-27 Jesus dares to bring Gentiles into the discussion. Let’s read what he says.

Verses 25-27.

Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.

Their reaction? Verses 28-30.

When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way

The Jews assumed that the year of the Lord’s favour was their right, their inheritance. The thought that Gentiles could also receive the same favour enraged them. But that was Jesus’ mission - to declare the good news of God’s kingdom is for everyone - the rich and the poor. The in-crowd and those on the edge. Male and female. Jew and Gentile. 

Here’s a question for us. Do we sometimes think like the Jews in that synagogue? We rejoice in the fact that we can enjoy the Lord’s favour, but what about people who we don’t like? People who are different to us? People who are not the same age as us? People who we clash with? People who ridicule our faith? People of other faiths? People who have committed crime? People who we consider less moral or less spiritual than us? Are we a bit reluctant or outright indignant to think that the good news of Jesus, the good news of the kingdom is for them too?

So as I said, over the next few weeks we’re going to look at how Jesus was revolutionary in the way he viewed people. In the way he viewed society. In the way he viewed religion. Be prepared to be challenged!

Question 2: What is the Kingdom of God?

As we’ve said already, Jesus talks a lot about the kingdom of God. But what is it? Is it a place or a thing? Or just a state of mind? 

Put simply, the kingdom of God means the rule or reign of God. It represents God’s government, authority and ruling power. It’s dynamic. Always spreading and growing. The kingdom is present wherever people submit their lives to God’s authority. Jesus at the centre of their lives. Sound familiar?! 

But kingdom living is not just a personal thing - between me and King Jesus. It involves being in relationship with others in the kingdom and others outside of the kingdom. Jesus at the centre of our church, our community and our world. Sound familiar? 

When we learnt about Jesus being at the centre of our church we learnt that we are new creations (Ka-hee-nos) and our role as new creations in the kingdom of God is to demonstrate the values of the kingdom in the world we find ourselves in. Why? So people around us can experience Jubilee. The Lord’s favour. So they see another way of living. So they want to be part of God’s kingdom because it’s so different to the worldly kingdoms that they are used to. So their hearts are changed.

Question 3: Why an Upside Down Kingdom?

Earlier I mentioned that the kingdom of God is an upside-down kingdom. What does that actually mean? 

Throughout all Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God, Jesus took what was considered the norm and turned it on its head. He inverted it. Like we’ve already said, he pressed the jubilee re-set button.  We can think of this like 2 ladders stood side by side. Something highly valued on one ladder ranks near the bottom of the other. 

The gospel portrays the kingdom of God as inverted or upside down in comparison with ancient Palestine but it is also upside-down in comparison to our modern day life. However, Jesus doesn’t see the kingdom as geographically or socially isolated from society. Nor does he see there being 2 separate worlds, the spiritual and the secular. 

For Jesus, kingdom action takes place in the middle of society’s playing field but it’s a different game. Kingdom players follow new rules. They listen to another coach. Kingdom values challenge patterns and attitudes in modern day life that are taken for granted to be the norm. Kingdom habits don’t mesh smoothly with what the media or our culture might say. In fact, they might look a bit foolish to the world.

Let’s look at a few examples of how things high up on the ladder of the world’s kingdom compare to the ladder of the upside-down kingdom of God.

Does this sound familiar in our society today? You are master or mistress of your own destiny. Be whoever and whatever you want to be. As long as it makes you happy. We hear it so much in all sorts of guises that we can agree. Yes, it is my right to be who I want to be. To be true to myself. But in the upside-down kingdom Jesus says,

Luke 14: 26-27. If you want to be my disciple you must hate everyone else by comparison- your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters- yes even your own life. Otherwise you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me you cannot be my disciple

That doesn’t sound very much like the Whitney Houston song the Greatest Love of All which says ‘Learning to love yourself it is the greatest love of all’ does it? Don’t get me wrong. To have self -esteem is right but our self -esteem needs to be rooted in the fact that we are precious in God’s sight. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Not that we are masters of our own destiny. In the kingdom of God, Jesus is the one who calls the shots. Not us. Not what Instagram or snapchat or you tube says we must be like either. Obedience to him, not our own desires or other people’s opinions is what is high on the ladder

Let’s look at something else high on the ladder of worldly kingdoms. Don’t get mad- get even. Take revenge when someone hurts you- you have every right to retaliate. But in the upside down kingdom Jesus says in Matthew 5: 44

Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.

How does this play out in practice? A person really hurts your feelings. You are tempted to use facebook or twitter to have a thinly disguised rant at them but your kingdom values dictate that it is better to go to that person in love to try and restore your relationship.

What about this on the world’s ladder? The more financially secure you are the better. The bigger the promotion, the better it will be for your kids as you can give them the type of life they want and you’ll be set up with a good pension so you can enjoy your retirement.

The kingdom of God’s response? Matthew 6: 25

 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Verse 31

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I am not saying that promotions or pensions are wrong. What Jesus is saying here is that it’s a heart issue. Who or what are we trusting in to supply our needs and that of our family? Ourselves? (being masters of our own destiny like I mentioned earlier) or trusting our heavenly father to supply what we need?

Or what about this that rates highly on the world’s ladder: ‘Push yourself as hard as you can. Your body is a machine. Rest is for wimps!’ Guess what you’re really saying here- I am in charge of my body. Who says I need rest? I’m so important, with so many important things to do, the world will stop working properly if I slow down. And people are admired for it! When did workaholic-ism become normal or even desired? Jesus’ kingdom response:

Matthew 11: 28-30

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

 

Trust me enough to keep the world turning while you have rest. I control the world not you.

Conclusion

Do you see the connection between all these situations? An acknowledgement of the lordship of Christ in every part of our lives. Jesus is the king of the kingdom of God. Remember we are called and chosen like I spoke about a few weeks ago when we looked at Christ at the centre of our service. We don’t call the shots. Have you ever heard the phrase Jesus is either Lord of all or not at all? Let us repent of the desire to be kings or queens of our own kingdoms. Or situations where we don’t want Jesus to call the shots. And let us proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour- the values of Jesus’ upside down kingdom to our families, friends, work places, community, our world.

Let’s pray

 

 

 

CHRIST AT THE CENTRE OF OUR WORLD (PT 2) // STEWARDS: CREATORS OF SHALOM - 14th February 2021

Speaker Tristan Sherwin

"We are to enhance creation, care for it, help it function and flourish—that’s our mandate as stewards under God. Our mandate does not permit us to exploit it, plunder it, or rape it."

Tristan has posted his sermon on his own blog. Please follow the link to read...

https://tristansherwin.wordpress.com/.../our-world-pt-2.../

CHRIST AT THE CENTRE OF OUR WORLD (PT 1) // PRIESTS: INCARNATIONAL COMPASSION - 7th February 2021

Speaker Tristan Sherwin

"In many ways, we could describe a priestly life as one that is both immersed in God and immersed in humanity, for the sake of humanity"

Tristan has posted his sermon on his own blog. Please follow the link to read...

https://tristansherwin.wordpress.com/.../our-world-pt-1.../

Questions to ponder

1. What was your first experience of being taught to ‘other’ someone else? How old were you, and what was this ‘othering’ based upon (colour, neighbourhood, football team)? How did this change your behaviour towards them? 2. Have you ever been on the receiving end of hatred or apathy? How did this feel? How did you respond? 3. Colossians 3: 12-13 says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (NLT‬‬). Which of these “garments” do you struggle to wear most, and who with? 4. How can we help each other as a church to enact kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—not just with each other (which is also necessary), but with our society? 5. In today’s sermon, Tristan said ‘Jesus never added to any cultural or political rhetoric of hate’. Do you agree? What ‘rhetorics of hate’ do you hear today, and how do we resist these?

CHRIST AT THE CENTRE OF OUR CHURCH: UNITY IN OUR GIFTINGS // 24th January 2021

Speaker Helen Jenkinson

INTRO

If you remember last week we looked at a part of Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. Remember that we learnt that if we are in Christ we are new creations and we are to model God’s design for this new creation in our own lives and in the church. Why? So people can have a foretaste of what God’s kingdom looks like.  Remember what he wanted them to focus on? Unity, love, encouragement and service. Today we’re going to look at another aspect of service that is essential if Christ is to be at the centre of our church. It's where we fit in to the plan that God has for his kingdom. If MCC is part of God’s kingdom, what is our role in seeing ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ as we say in the Lord’s prayer.

Read Ephesians 4: 1- 16

BACKGROUND

I remember when we were teenagers (it's getting a foggier memory every day!) we learnt that if a sentence starts with therefore we need to see what its there for! And this is how Paul starts chapter 4.

Chapter 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for serving the Lord. What has he been saying beforehand? Well Ephesians was written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome and he sent this letter to the church in Ephesus that he had planted. 

Chapter 1 heaps statement upon statement about what is our inheritance if we are in Christ. We are saints in Christ (v1) blessed in Chris t(v3) chosen in Christ (v4) adopted by Christ (v5) lavished with love in Christ (v6) redeemed and forgiven by Christ (v7) participants in God's good plan (v11) glorified and sealed with the Holy Spirit (v12-13). 

And that’s just in chapter 1! What’s the common denominator? Is it because we are deserving of all this? NO! Everything is centred in Christ. We can do nothing to deserve every spiritual blessing that becomes ours when we enter into a relationship with Christ. Now we may think - well that is probably true for heroes of the faith like CH Spurgeon, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, David Jenkinson (!) but I don’t feel that I have every spiritual blessing. And I certainly don’t live in the truth of it. Well if that’s us this morning Paul has good news for us. 

If we are in Christ, if we are Christians this morning it says in verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 1 that God HAS blessed us with every spiritual blessing. It's not God WILL bless us if we get our act sorted out. It has already happened. At the moment we accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour we became heavenly rich beyond our wildest dreams. How often do we take these gifts for granted? Or think about our earthly riches much more than what are heavenly inheritance is?  

In chapter 1:4-5 it says 

In love he chose us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ. 

As a Christian we are an adopted son or daughter of God, a prince or princess of the king of the universe! In Paul’s day an adopted child had all the rights and privileges of a natural born child. The Roman court recognized an adopted child as a new person. All your debts and obligations from your former life were wiped out. As an adopted child of God we have a fresh start, a new beginning, a new life. Exactly what we learnt about last week with the word KAINOS (Kahee-nos) - new in terms of form or quality. Of a different nature from what is contrasted as old.

So back to chapter 4. Have you noticed in verse 1 Paul talks about us being called to a calling?

Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to live a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God

The Greek for calling is 'Klesis' which means a call or an invitation. The NT uses this word 'Klesis' to speak of Jesus’ invitation to follow him, to be his disciple. Think about that for a minute. Often we talk about people ‘making a decision for Jesus’ but doesn’t that make it all about the person? If we ‘make a decision’ we can still call the shots. If we still call the shots we may want to pick and choose our conditions of service. We might think ‘Well Lord, you’re really lucky that I’ve decided to do this or that for you’ We’d never actually articulate that but that’s what we feel deep down. Do we sometimes think that we’re doing Jesus a favour? Or we might think ‘Lord you can have this from me - but that I want to keep for myself’ 

In Luke 14: 25-33 Jesus talks about counting the cost of being a disciple. What Jesus is saying is that if you become my disciple you give up your rights to call the shots.

Luke 14:26. If you want to be my disciple you must hate everyone else by comparison- your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters- yes even your own life. Otherwise you cannot be my disciple.

Now obviously Jesus doesn’t mean we have to hate our family. That would be against everything else that he teaches. But he is saying that if we are his disciple, if we are followers of Jesus then he is the boss. He comes before anything else. 

Have you noticed how things work? Jesus is not saying Come and Join My Club. Club rules specify church attendance every week, 15 minutes bible study a day and at least 15 minutes prayer time. He’s saying deny yourself and come after me. You follow me. You see what I do and do the same. You see the way I view things and do the same. You must give up your own rights to follow me. 

We didn’t just decide to become followers of Jesus. We were called by God himself.
Think about what Jesus says in John 6:65. He has just made one of his I AM statements. I AM the bread of life. This is then what he says:

People can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me

Just think about that for a moment because we know it so well it loses its impact. We have been given to Jesus by God himself. The king of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth has called us to be his disciple. Does that sound like anything is on our own terms? It’s pure grace. Not only that, but we are adopted into his family. Therefore, Paul is saying because we are an adopted son or daughter, because we have been blessed beyond measure with every spiritual blessing in Christ, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.
 

At secondary school I really lacked confidence in maths. And I remember on the morning of the dreaded maths test - or even worse the day when everyone’s results were read out to the rest of the class - my mum would say as I left the house “Remember you’re a Greenhalgh” to try and impart something of our family’s resilience and backbone into me before I grappled with trigonometry! 

And this is what Paul is saying here - remember that you have been called. Remember whose family you belong to. You belong to the family of God. The equivalent of my mum’s 'Remember you’re a Greenhalgh' statement is in verse 2.

What are the traits of a member of God’s family? Humility. Gentleness. Patience. Making allowances for other people’s faults.  Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Sound familiar? Sounds like what we were learning about last week about the love that we should be showing for one another doesn’t it? Why should these characteristics be evident? Because we’re members of the same family and members of the family have things in common. 

Look at verse 4 and 5: One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. We all have the same Father. Therefore, the family DNA should be evident.

At Christmas we got the lovely gift of Timmy’s first school photo. We took one look at it and immediately could see that he is the image of Steve at the same age. The Greenhalgh DNA is strong in Timmy! (I just hope he’s better at maths than his Auntie Helen!!) Shouldn’t that be the same with us? Our Father’s DNA should be strong in us if we have been called. Chosen. Adopted into God’s family.

But have you noticed that in the passage Paul speaks about unity NOT uniformity. And that’s what we’re going to focus on today. How we can bring different giftings and abilities to enhance the unity that is already there through the things that we all have in common, through our shared DNA as God’s children.

So we’re going to look at the who, what and why of using our gifts for the unity of the church.
 
1. Who Gives the Gifts and Who Gets Gifted?

Look at verse 7: However, He (Christ) has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.

Before we look at the gifts we need to look at the giver and the beneficiaries of those gifts. Who gives? Christ. The gifts are not of our own making, neither are they to make us look good. The whole purpose of Christ’s gifts to the church is to enhance the unity of the body of Christ. We can be desirous of the gifts, but we can never force Jesus’ hand or bribe him into giving us the gifts through good performance. Every gift is an act of grace. No one is deserving of them. 

But look at how generous the Lord is. Each one of us has been given a special gift. Each one of us. There’s not one of us here this morning, if we are in Christ, that hasn’t been given a gift to use to enhance the unity of MCC. Have you ever given someone a gift and seen the lukewarm, underwhelmed reaction on their face as they rip off the wrapping paper? And you know it’s not really wanted because the gift is never used, never worn, never played with. Now imagine Jesus giving us our very own special gift. We open it, or even worse, leave it wrapped up, and never use it. How must Jesus feel?

So the gifts that we’ll speak about in a moment come totally out of the loving heart of Jesus- none of us are deserving of them. But more than that - each person is given a gift. It is our responsibility to unwrap it and start using it for the benefit of the body of Christ.

2. What are His Gifts?

In his letters Paul mentions 4 lists of gifts, none of which is comprehensive. Here the gifts mentioned are focusing on gifts of leadership in the church. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. 

But then in Romans 12: 4-8 Paul also adds serving, encouraging, giving, and showing kindness. 

In 1 Corinthians 12: 8- 10 he mentions wisdom, special knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, the power to perform miracles, discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues. 

But Paul never meant this to be a definitive list. Think about people who have organisational gifts like administration or a financial brain, or who are gifted in the world of computers? Hospitality? Musical gifts and technical gifts? Serving others? I don’t want to go into detail about each of these gifts. I think that is for another time. But the main point of it is that God promises to gift the whole church with these gifts. It means each individual in it gets a gift that can benefit the church. It’s our job to find out what our gift is, thank God for his grace to us, unwrap the gift and start using it. Why? To build up the body. Not to make us look good or super spiritual. 

On being reminded of these gifts you might think “Well isn’t everyone supposed to do or be these things? Like faith, showing kindness, being hospitable?  And yes, being part of God’s family does mean that we should be seeking to be all those things but when someone has been given that gift especially it’s as though it just oozes out of them. People who just know the right word to say to encourage. People who just ooze kindness in their actions - sometimes just small things that make a huge difference. People who are so gifted at pastoral care. People whose faith astounds and humbles us even when they are facing awful circumstances in their lives. 

And you are a member of the family at MCC who God has given a wonderful gift to. But the most wonderful thing is that the way you use it is unique to you. The way you show kindness can be different to someone else, but it’s still building up the body. Or the way you encourage might be different to someone else but when people receive it they are blessed by both. God’s diversity of gifts brings unity.
Don’t you long for us to be a church family where each person is unwrapping their gift that God has given them and is using it to benefit the other members of the family? 

The world expects people to use their giftings for personal gain. For promotion at work. To get a pay rise or to get in with the boss. As God’s ambassadors of his new creation, his kingdom, we are to use them to benefit others. The result? The kingdom of God breaks through and people see that we’re different and that God is in our midst.

You might say ‘Well its ok for the people who know what their gifts are. I don’t know what my gifting is.’ Well firstly, ask God to give you a passion for something. And when an opportunity arises ask yourself ‘Does that opportunity grab my attention?’ Or even ‘I’m not sure whether this is an area of ministry or gifting that God has given me but I’m going to try it out’. There is no shame in realising that’s not God’s gift for you. God loves it when we have hearts that are ready to serve him. And if it’s not for you, then that’s ok - keep asking God to reveal his gift to you.

So the gifts are not like a Christmas list our kids write where we tell God which gift we want. They are totally his prerogative. Likewise, we can’t win them - they are given totally through grace. And each of us has been given a special gift. No exceptions. Also have you noticed that there are no age limitations on the gifts? There’s no cut off point where God says ‘Ok your time is up. You’ve outlived your gifting? Or ‘Well what do you know - you young whippersnapper! Wait till you’re older!!’ No! The gifts are for you whatever age you might be if you are in Christ. The way you use them might change as you get older but God wants to develop his gifts within us. Why? That’s what we’re going to read next.

3. Why Does God Give His Gifts to the Church?

Look at verses 12-16.
God’s gifts are to build up the body of Christ. This passage talks about the giving of pastors and teachers to the church in order to equip the church for ministry. Not so they lord it over the church but so that they encourage each person to use their gifts for the benefit of everyone else. So everyone becomes mature in the Lord (v 13). 

Maturity is a long process isn’t it? We see it in our children. It doesn’t happen overnight but little by little, bit by bit. And there are degrees of unity that will develop over time. But Christian unity can only grow when each person grows and trusts in the knowledge and love of God more and more. The more we grow, the more we become like Christ. The more we become like Christ the more we demonstrate his new creation and what his kingdom people are like. 

What are the benefits of growing maturity? Look at verse 14:

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We won’t be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth

It’s a graphic image isn’t it? Imagine a small boat being buffeted by the wind and rain. Large waves overcoming it. That’s the image that Paul uses here. Paul uses this analogy to describe Christians who are influenced by each new idea. Instead of knowing what God says in the bible, they have itching ears and try to latch on to the latest YouTube preacher or the next great book. Don’t get me wrong, YouTube is great for listening to great teaching and books are fantastic for explaining the truths of scripture. But neither of them is a substitute for getting to know the Lord more through his word. As we know God more through his word we can more quickly detect whether the person we’re listening to or the book we’re reading is in line with what scripture says. The problem is it that in our culture we want everything instantly. We want a quick fix of YouTube without having to sit down and study for ourselves. 

So if being unsure of what the truth or scripture says is a sign of immaturity what is a sign of maturity?

Verse 15-16: Instead we will speak the truth in love growing in every way more and more like Christ who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

When I hear the phrase ‘speak the truth in love’ it takes me back to being a child in church and knowing that if someone started a sentence with ‘I’m speaking the truth in love’ you knew that whoever they were talking to was going to get a tongue lashing! 

But the verb used for this expression is not just about speech. Literally it means ‘truthing in love’ and includes the notions of maintaining, living and doing the truth. Truth becomes hard if it’s not softened by love and love becomes soft if it’s not hardened by truth. Like the tough love that we sometimes have to give our children! We need to know we are loved before taking what someone says. Likewise, we need to show people that they are loved before we tackle them about something.

Paul loves his body imagery doesn’t he? In a near repeat of what he says in 1 Corinthians 12 he talks about the church being a body of many parts. He is the head, and each of us are a vital part of the body. Each of us have been called. We don’t call the shots. Each of us has a special gift, given to us by the Lord - not earned, but completely by grace - that we need to unwrap and use. For what purpose? To build up the rest of the body. 

The result of a church with each member using their gifts? The other parts grow in maturity, love and we have a healthy church. So we can become a holy huddle? NO! So we can demonstrate God’s Kingdom to our families, friends, people at work. To the people who live around our church. Which is what Dave is going to look at next week. Christ at the centre of our community.

Questions to ponder

1.    Eph 1: 3-14 How are we blessed in Christ?

2.    Luke 14:25-33 What does it mean to really be Christ's disciple?

3.    Eph 4 What you think your gift is? How can you use it to build up the unity of MCC?